Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Journey in Grace

by Richard P. Belcher
Crown Publications,
1990 / 154 pages

This is both a really bad book, and a great one.

On the one hand it is one of the very worst pieces of fiction I have ever read. On the other, it is one of the most accessible theological texts I have ever come across. And that also makes it a rather unique piece of writing.

Pastor Belcher's protagonist is Ira Pointer, a seminary student forced to contend with Calvinism. He doesn't know anything about it, so in chapter after chapter he investigates and questions Calvinism's basics, trying to find out what Calvin believed and taught, and whether he was right. There is also a romantic element to the book - Ira has his eye on a pretty young lass named Terry - but this too is used to teach theology. As soon as Terry and Ira start dating he tells her about these new doctrines he is investigating, so in each of their conversations and on each of their dates readers learn just a bit more about Calvinism.

Even though this is not a book you would ever read for the story it is a very enjoyable way to learn about the basics of Calvinism, and to see these basics cross-examined by Ira, and his fiancee, and tested against Scripture. A lousy novel, it is a fantastic theological text.

Discernment label
(For more on this, see "Discernment labels" in our article section)

CONTENT: The cover describes this as a “theological novel.” Seminary student Ira Fife Pointer, is forced into a spiritual journey when he’s asked a question he’s never heard before: “Young man – are you a Calvinist?” Ira doesn’t know, but he’s definitely going to find out. The plot centers around Ira’s quest to find out what Calvinism is, and what the Bible says about depravity, election, atonement, grace, and perseverance.

CAUTION: The author is a Reformed Baptist, who understands both baptism and the covenant in a markedly different way than other Calvinists, but these issues are only incidental in this volume. Also incidental, but, as reviewer Rev. P. H. Holvluwer put it, running "in a different direction than the line of Reformed thinking" is the understanding of conversion in a Christian's life occurring at a specific identifiable moment (which it need not be). Additionally, again as Rev. Holtvluwer has pointed out (in a July/August 2001 review in Reformed Perspective), there is a mistaken emphasis on how we are to go about seeking God's will for our life - here the emphasis is put on waiting for and following the Holy Spirit's inner leading. For a more biblical approach, see Kevin DeYoung's Just Do Something. But these are not major points of focus, and so only incidental matters.

CONCLUSION: Journey in Grace doesn’t really measure up as a novel, but as a theological text, this “novel” approach to teaching Calvinism is nothing short of brilliant.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness

by Edward T. Welch
New Growth Press, 2004, 279 pages

Compassion - not what this book needs, but what it shows. Honestly, I would recommend anything I've ever read by this author, but what makes this book special is its compassion for both sufferers of depression and those who suffer seeing them suffer.
What sets this apart from many other books on depression is that it refuses to get caught up in debates about brain versus heart in depression. Whether depression is an organic illness or a spiritual problem, or both, it feels the same for those who suffer through it. The introductory chapters offer hope for the depressed; careful acknowledgement of how devastating it feels - by examining what many depressed people have written about their struggles; and a hint that even mental illness has a spiritual dimension.

Part One - Depression Is Suffering - does not simply validate how a depressed person feels, but also begins to reveal the Scriptural comfort for anyone who is suffering: God's presence; the psalmists' suffering and crying out to the Lord; Christ's suffering for us and before us; depression as a part of our spiritual warfare; depression as a clue to our need for proper purpose in life; and an urgent exhortation to persevere through suffering.

Part Two - Listening to Depression - shows us how depression exposes the failures and flaws of our culture and our own hearts in dealing with others, our own difficult negative emotions, and death itself.

Part Three - Other Help and Advice - deals straightforwardly with the use of medication to cope with depression; the help of family and friends; 20 ways for a depressed person to deal with their own depression; ways to avoid "helping" (think of Job's three friends - "Miserable comforters are you all!"); and the ultimate comfort for depression in its end when Christ comes again.

Part Four - Hope and Joy: Thinking God's Thoughts - shows how humility and thankfulness bring hope and joy to not only the depressed and those who suffer with them, but to all whom Christ has made His own - even when He does not yet take away their suffering.

Welch's Final Word is not his own, but God's - a word that summarizes Christ's tender exhortation to "all... who are heavy laden" to receive His rest. Read the book to find out exactly what that word is...
This is a soul-stirring book to give to anyone who is "heavy laden" with the burden of his or her own - or someone else's - depression.

You can pick up a copy at Amazon.com here and Amazon.ca here.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Son of Hamas

by Mosab Hassan Yousef
Saltriver, 2010, 288 pages

It’s an autobiography that has the makings of a great spy novel. The central “character,” Mosab Hassan Yousef, is a double agent, the son of a terrorist leader but also in the employ of the Israeli secret police. When, with his help, one terrorist after another is arrested, he knows that for his own safety the Israelis will have to arrest him too – it would be too suspicious if he was left to roam free. So off he goes, at his own initiative, to the harsh Israeli prison camps. And to complicate matters further, this life-long Muslim has started wondering if Jesus Christ might be the Son of God.

Maybe it’s a mistake to compare this to a spy novel – it makes it sound trivial. It is a page-turner, but the reason you should read this book is because it offers an education. If you want to learn how the Israeli/Palestinian conflict started, and understand the motivation of the two sides, there is no better source. What makes Yousef the source? Well, first the fact that his father was one of the founders of Hamas, a Muslim group that is both a Palestinian terrorist organization and the democratically-elected ruling party in the Palestinian Parliament. (That a group can blow up women and children, and still win a popular vote illustrates just how messed up the Middle-East remains.) Yousef grew up in that world, wanting to kill Jews. As an adult, however, Yousef ending up working secretly with Israelis to save Jewish lives by foiling Hamas plans. So Yousef can explain both sides because he has been on both sides.

What also makes this volume unusual is that it doesn’t play favorites. Yes, Yousef clearly empathizes with the Israelis – he understands they are fighting for their lives against an enemy that doesn’t want peace, but only their death – but he begins the book with an account of how Israeli soldiers brutally beat him. Both sides end up looking bad before Yousef finishes telling his story.

Now if spy novels, or Middle East history textbooks are not really your thing, there is still another good reason to pick up this book: it is a beautiful testament to God’s grace and persistence. Yousef was once a hateful man, a worshipper of a false god who went out to buy guns he could use to kill Jews. But God pursued him, and He changed him, and He saved him. Wow!

You can pick up a copy at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Related reviews

A 2014 documentary on Mosab Hassan Yousef called The Green Prince

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Grace and Truth Paradox

by Randy Alcorn
Multnomah Books, 2003, 92 pages

Imagine if this Sunday the service ended right after the reading of the Ten Commandments. You’ve just been confronted with the Truth that you’ve offended God with your many sins and deserve eternal punishment… and then that’s it, the service is over.

Wouldn’t that be dreadful? In his 92-page The Grace and Truth Paradox author Randy Alcorn notes that this is what Christians do too often – we present the world a graceless Truth. Or, if we remember to be Gracious, we do so by minimizing the Truth. For example, some graceless Christians are eager to shout out the Truth about homosexuality. But if that Truth is presented without Grace then instead of prompting homosexuals to ask us Who they can turn to for help, they are sure to run from us. Other Christians, determined to act with more Grace, do so by downplaying the sinfulness of homosexuality – Truth is sacrificed. Once again, instead of leading homosexuals to repentance, our interactions with the world lead to the furtherance of sin.

Alcorn’s little book packs a huge wallop - this is undoubtedly a book everyone should read. It is a book I have bought (and will continue to buy) repeatedly to give away.

Discernment label
(For more on this, see "Discernment labels" in our article section)

CONTENT: While Jesus came into the world full of Grace and Truth (John 1:14), Alcorn illustrates how Christians too often present the world a graceless Truth or a truthless Grace. Take homosexuality as an example: some graceless Christians are eager to shout out the Truth about this sin. But if that Truth is presented without Grace then instead of prompting homosexuals to ask us to Whom they can turn for help, they are sure to run from us. Other Christians, determined to act with more Grace, do so by downplaying the sinfulness of homosexuality – Truth is sacrificed. Once again, instead of leading homosexuals to repentance, our interactions with the world lead to the furtherance of sin.

CAUTIONS: None for this book, though because the reading of this book will inspire many a reader to seek out his other works it may be worth noting that Alcorn has described himself as a four-point Calvinist. While he differs with Reformed readers on the matter of limited atonement, this doesn't impact the theme and thrust of this book.

CONCLUSION: This short book would be of great benefit to young and old. Recommended for anyone who has problems presenting a Graceful Truth, or in other words, recommended for everyone!

You can pick up a copy of The Grace and Truth Paradox at Amazon.com here and Amazon.ca here.