Going to Seminary

Mahaney, C.J. Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. 191 pp. $12.99.

C.J. Mahaney has become one of the most beloved charismatics of our time. I say that tongue-in-cheek and as one who has greatly benefited from his ministry. This book illustrates why everyone runs to Mahaney to see what living a cross-centered life looks like in today’s marginalized Christianity. He does not disappoint with this little volume.

Mahaney is joined by Craig Cabaniss, Bob Kauflin, Dave Harvey, and Jeff Purswell in exhorting the believer to flee worldliness. C.J. introduces the book with a chapter that looks hard at how often we disregard certain verses in the Bible. He compares this to Thomas Jefferson who removed everything in his “bible” that conflicted with his own thinking. How much more do we do that today and not even realize it? If we are to believe the Bible to be God’s Word, then we must adhere to all of it and not just what we agree with.

The proceeding four chapters in the book are all titled “God, my Heart, and _______.” They include the media (television and computer), music, stuff, and clothing. In each of these four chapters, the reader will be shaking his head as if to say “Yes, that was me once” or “Wait a minute that is worldliness?” You will be both challenged and comforted in reading these pages.

The final chapter explains how to love the world without losing focus of Who we worship. Jeff Purswell shows, in essence, how to be in the world and not of the world as so many Christians claim they do. What many will see is that they are in fact living for the world rather than living for the glory of Christ.

There are two appendices that are worth reading. Both are directed at women and dressing modestly (something that seems to be foreign even in our churches today) daily, and perhaps more importantly, on her wedding day. Even though they are directed at women, husbands, fathers, and young men would do well to read them and use them as a guide when shopping with a daughter, wife or wife-to-be.

We all struggle from time to time with what kind of music we listen to or what media we allow in to our homes or how much stuff we own. We would all do well to heed the call to flee worldliness and to live a more Christ-centered and God-glorifying lives. This volume shows what that looks like and offers the encouragement to “go all in for Christ.”

Ligon Duncan offers this statement in his blurb on the back of the book: “I now know the first book I am going to reach for when a Christian is wrestling with worldliness—or isn’t but should be!” I include this statement because it best sums up my recommendation. This will be a book that you will want to purchase multiple copies of to loan out to those needing counsel on worldliness.

Chester, Tim and Steve Timmis. Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. 224 pp. $15.99.

Introduction

The authors of this book are also cofounders of a church planting initiative in Sheffield, UK called The Crowded House. The name of that initiative might have doubled as the name of this book. Both men have experience in what they write. Timmis is a former director of Radstock Ministries. There he helped the local church engage in world missions. Chester was a church planter for 15 years. Currently they are serving together as the codirectors of the Porterbrook Network a training and mentoring ministry for church planters.

Summary of Total Church

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is the foundation for the entire book. In it, the authors set out the two key components to the thesis of Total Church. The subtitle of the book shows what these two components are: gospel and community. In this part, Timmis and Chester argue that for a church to be biblical, it must be centered first on the gospel (if Christ was not crucified, buried, raised and ascended, then we have no church). The second focus is that of community. All throughout the book of Acts and the epistles of Paul (as well as the general) we read of a community of believers.

This community is a must in a world that no longer views a Christian as someone who is trustworthy and retainer of the truths found on in “The Book.” Without community, it is so easy to see believers leave the church disenfranchised with fellow believers. Perhaps one of satan’s greatest victories is a lack of community in the local church.

Part two comprises the majority of the book and looks at eleven different areas of “doing church” and how they would be impacted if the gospel and community were central to the local church. Here we see what evangelism and social involvement would look like and how they go hand in hand. Church planting would no longer be a concept approved of but would become a way of life in the local church. Discipleship and Training would not be sought out by young Christians longing to be discipled; rather, they would automatically be discipled and trained without having to sign up for a class. Things like theology and apologetics (seminary or local church?) would be taught.

All of this, plus much more, would ultimately lead to a deeper passion for God. Instead of “doing church” in the form of meetings and administrative work (yes, those have their place in the local church but are not as central as many think), the local church would actually be involved in the community by default. In other words, the content of the local church is the gospel while the context is the community of believers.

Recommendation

While you may not agree with everything the authors have to say, I think the concepts in this book deserve to be looked at and judged in light of Scripture. I would contend that the precepts found in the pages of Total Church are in fact biblical. Thus, I would recommend this book as a mandatory read for any young aspiring pastor. It is even more recommended for those who have a heart for planting churches.

As a matter of church government, I think a third part would have been nice to see that dealt with how best to govern this local body of believers. It is hinted at all throughout the book but never really dealt with explicitly. I realize there are differing opinions on church government, and entering into that debate is not within the parameters of this book, it still would have been nice if they took a stab at showing the infrastructure (humanly speaking) of the local church and how it shapes the duties of the church.

While the subtitle claims “a radical reshaping” of the church, I believe what is at issue is not so much a reshaping as much as it is an issue of sola scriptura. Most churches need to do away with the business and pseudo-business models of church life that focus on administrative work and get back to the heart of what a community of gospel believing sinners should be. In other words, we need to stop doing church in our meetings and offices and be the church doing the work of the gospel in our communities.

The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ, ed. By John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. 254 pp. $16.99.

The New Media Frontier (TNMF) is a call to arms for the Christian where it concerns the use of technology. This book is directed at any Christian who uses a computer, especially those who blog. The book begins with the oft quoted statement (changed somewhat), “It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.” Those reading this review immediately know what is being implied in regards to TNMF. Every search in a search engine runs the risk of pornography. However, the Internet can most certainly be used for Kingdom purposes as is evidenced by this website and others like it.

TNMF is a series of papers divided into two parts. The first part is called “The Landscape of New Media” and offers an introduction to things like blogging and podcasting. Matthew Lee Anderson offers three dangers to accepting this new media uncritically: desensitization, the deficiencies of online communication, and losing reality by sitting in front of our computer screens.

The second part of TNMF is how to engage the new media. With chapters topics like youth ministry and facebook and virtual classrooms and evangelism and apologetics, this section of the book is like one of those Time Life do-it-yourself series (before DIY was cool!) offering up tips and advice on how to use the Internet for the glory of God.

Each author does a decent job of providing the pros and cons to the use of TNMF. They caution against getting carried away with this new resource and to be mindful of Who is reading. One statement in the book that I thought was of special interest was at the end of the chapter on pastors and the new media. “Blogging turned out to be, like most pastoral efforts, hard work with limited rewards (at least this side of heaven).” (p. 136)

If you are reading this review, then you should read this book. Because the Internet is here to stay, we must all as Christians, and even more so as ministers, become conversant with what is being called the New Media. Yes, it does have its evil side, but it also has its good side. It is our job, I believe, to use this resource for the purpose of the Kingdom, but to do so in a discerning and critical way. This book will be a good start to becoming just that.

Have you ever been in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where all you see is water everywhere you look? Have you ever driven in North Dakota where you actually see the rolling hills? In both instances, you realize that you are only able to see a fraction of the beauty that you could otherwise see from high above in the air. However, in most cases, you must be content with the fraction that you are able to see and praise God for the beauty you can behold. The same is true for the ESV Study Bible. There is so much in this study Bible that one does not know where to begin.

Contributors

With an editorial oversight committee including Wayne Grudem, J.I. Packer, and Thomas Schreiner, you know that you are getting quality study notes. The study note contributors come from institutions such as Union Theological College in Belfast, Regent College, Covenant Theological Seminary, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Westminster Seminary California.

In addition to the editors and the theological institutions, you have theologians like John Polhill, Ray Van Neste, Paul D. Wegner, and Gordon J. Wenham among those contributing to the study notes. As if these study notes were not enough, there are forty-four articles written by even more scholars that appear after the Bible itself. Some of the writers of these articles include Gregg R. Allison, Daniel R. Heimbach, Mark Dever, Darrell L. Bock, and Ron Rhodes.

Contents

A quick perusal of the table of contents pages shows how in depth this study Bible really is. The Old Testament begins with “The Theology of…” and then gives a timeline of the OT. Before each genre found in the OT, there is an introduction that explains how to read the next portion of scripture along with various themes found therein.

In between the testaments, there is a rather lengthy (18 pages) “Background to the New Testament.” The New Testament is introduced with the theology and the timeline of found in the Old Testament. Also included, is a great article on the date of the crucifixion of Christ. As before the various genres in the Old Testament, there is an introduction to the reading of the gospels and Acts and the Epistles. The Scriptures themselves are in a single column with a center-column cross-reference system. The single column is offset by the double column study notes at the bottom of each page.

Some of the articles after the text of the Bible itself include Biblical ethics, Biblical doctrine, the Bible and world religions, archaeology and the Bible, and the reliability of the Bible manuscripts. The color maps throughout the Bible are a nice added touch usually reserved for what is commonly called “The Book of Maps” at the end of the Bible. Finally, the concordance has been expanded for this study Bible.

Critique

Alright, with all that is right with this study Bible, there has to be something wrong, right? While I am sure there are more notable reviewers who have criticized various components of the ESV Study Bible, this particular reviewer is not one of them. However, I did notice a couple of things.

First, with over 2,750 pages, this Bible is best used at your desk. It is hardly a Bible that can be carried everywhere you go as some do with other study Bibles. Second, I would have liked to have seen an introduction to reading apocalyptic literature especially with the book of Revelation since this book has been at the center of much debate and discussion in recent decades.

Recommendation

The love affair with the ESV will not only continue, but, I believe, will escalate with the publication of this study Bible which has become (almost by default and certainly by design) the premier study Bible available to Christians today. A tip of the cap goes to Justin Taylor (project director and managing editor) and Lane T. Dennis (executive editor) for their work in producing this magnificent Bible.

I think it goes without saying that I would recommend this resource to any Christian unhesitatingly. The ESV Study Bible takes a backseat to no other study Bible available on the market. However, I would not recommend this Bible as an everyday Bible. What I mean is that when you are reading the Bible for daily devotion and personal edification the study notes end up becoming more of a hindrance than a help. It is too big to carry with you to church or in the car or to the coffee shop on a regular basis.  I think it would be best suited as a desk reference Bible more than a “nightstand” Bible.

What more can be said than already has been said? I would like to submit that by reading through this particular study Bible a Christian would receive an introduction to the seminary educations found in the institutions represented by those who contributed.