Veritas et Lux

Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering – Timothy Keller

I have yet to meet a person who enjoys pain and suffering. Yet suffering is a part of the warp and woof of life. It is not a part of God’s original intent for creation. Since Adam’s first sin, pain and suffering have been an abnormal part of the cosmos. Suffering is an unwelcome guest who bullies his way to the table and makes demands – much like a soldier on a bloody battlefield.

Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller addresses this topic with candor and clarity. Keller leaves no stone unturned here. The book is organized into three sections:

Understanding the Furnace

Keller introduces the problem of pain and suffering and explores some of the philosophical challenges that Christ-followers must understand and address.

“Nothing is more important than to learn how to maintain a life of purpose in the midst of painful adversity,” writes Keller. Yet our culture has a tendency to respond to suffering in ways that are helpful and wrongheaded. The moralist response to suffering is to “do good.” The fatalist’s response to suffering is to “hang in there” and “endure.” The dualist response to suffering is “purified faithfulness.” And the secular response to suffering is focussed on “technique.” A combination of these erroneous responses to suffering litter the current milieu and produce a generation of confused and discouraged people.

Keller rightly alerts readers to the importance of worldviews and their relation to the subject of pain and suffering. Ultimately, the matter of pain and suffering is a matter of faith. “Faith,” writes Keller “is the promise of God.” He adds, “We can be fully accepted and counted legally righteous in God’s sight through faith in Christ, solely by free grace … It means freedom from fear of the future, from any anxiety about your eternal destiny. It is the most liberating idea possible and it ultimately enables you to face all suffering, knowing that because of the cross, God is absolutely for you and that because of the resurrection, everything will be all right in the end.”

Facing the Furnace

Part two provides readers with the theological muscle – a crucial part of the battle. Keller unpacks the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and provides a painful but biblical rationale for the role of suffering the lives of people.

At the heart of this discussion is an important look at the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. The author summarizes, “That is, in order to satisfy justice, in order to punish sin so that in love he could forgive and receive us, God had to bear the penalty for sin within himself. God the Son took the punishment we deserved, including being cut off from the Father. And so God took into his own self, his own heart, an infinite agony – out of love for us.”

Keller’s treatment in part two travels great distances to help resolve the problem of evil – the so-called “Achilles heal” of the Christian faith: “So while Christianity never claims to be able to offer a full explanation of all God’s reasons behind every instance of evil and suffering – it does have a final answer to it. The answer will be given at the end of history and all who hear it and see its fulfillment will find it completely satisfying, infinitely sufficient.”

While Keller never attempts to provide a comprehensive answer to the problem of evil, his treatment of this thorny subject is some of the best in print. He may not satisfy the disciples of David Hume, Voltaire, or Sam Harris – but he does give ample ammunition for believers who are looking for honest answers.

Walking With God in the Furnace

Parts one and two explore the philosophical and theological angles of pain and suffering. Part three helps readers with practical application. They are given practical tools for “walking with God in the furnace.” The very notion of walking with God in the furnace assumes pain – pain that some are unwilling to admit. But practical experience reveals that we live in a broken world; a world which has been torn to shreds by the consequences of sin.

Keller urges readers to walk with God in suffering: “If you go into the furnace without the gospel, it will not be possible to find God in there. You will be sure he has done terrible wrong or you have and you will feel all alone. Going into the fire without the gospel is the most dangerous thing anyone can do.” So the gospel is the first and last defense of every Christ-follower; indeed it is the hope of the watching world.

Second, the author stresses the importance of weeping during seasons of adversity. Elijah serves as an example of a man who cried out in great agony. He was a man unafraid of weeping. Such an approach is not only honest – it is a sign of emotional health.

Third, Keller demonstrates the need for trusting in God during days of pain and adversity. Joseph is portrayed as an example of a man who trusted: If the story of Joseph and the whole of the Bible is true, then anything that comes into your life is something that, as painful as it is, you need in some way.” Jesus too demonstrated trust in his Father and points believers in the identical direction. Keller continues to alert readers to other tools that they should utilize during their dark days.

Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering is a watershed book that deserves to be read. Christ-followers will no doubt be encouraged by this Christ-exalting book; a book which drives readers to the cross of the suffering Savior.

Highly recommended!

The City of God and the Goal of Creation – T. Desmond Alexander (2018)

city T. Desmond Alexander, The City of God and the Goal of Creation. Wheaton: Crossway, 2018, 190 pp, $15.99

“God’s purpose in creating this world is to establish a resplendent metropolis that will fill the earth, where God will reside in harmony with humans,” says T. Desmond Alexander. The author’s latest work, entitled The City of God and the Goal of Creation is a book that tackles the important subject of biblical theology. Alexander’s book is the latest offering in Crossway’s Biblical Series which is sure to please readers accustomed to solid scholarship.

The aim of the book is to present the biblical reality which concerns the city of God, which stands at the heart of God’s redemptive purposes. The author begins in the garden of Eden which “anticipates God and humanity dwelling together in harmony.” Sin short-circuits the hope of a temple-city but God is committed to his original plan.

Alexander carefully guides readers through the various minefields that surface in Scripture, all of which are a part of God’s sovereign plan. The trajectory which anticipates the city of God is a theme that runs through the entirety of the book and finds its culmination in the New Jerusalem which will be fulfilled when Christ returns.

The City of God and the Goal of Creation is short but packed with theological nuggets that should attract readers drawn to eschatology and beyond. This is a dense work that invites careful study and contemplation and promises some special challenges for readers with a commitment to Dispensational theology. This work is a true feast that will cause students to dig deeper into God’s Word and greatly anticipate the goal of creation, the city of God.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

Designed to Lead

Veritas et Lux

Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck, Designed to Lead Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2016, 234 pp. $16.16

The systematic and purposeful development of leaders in the church is sorely lacking. This reality is reinforced in Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck. The authors argue at the outset that leaders must be developed in the church context: “The church is designed to lead, designed to disciple leaders who are, by God’s grace, commanded to disciple people in all spheres of life.” Therein lies the central theme of the book.

But make no mistake – Designed to Lead is not your typical leadership book. While the authors do interact with current leadership literature, their primary aim is to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The authors add, “The locus of the Church is and must be Jesus and His finished work for us. The center of the Church must…

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John Knox and the Reformation – Iain Murray and Martyn Lloyd Jones

knox Martin Lloyd-Jones and Iain Murray, John Knox and the Reformation Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 2011, 130 pp. $11.00

“The fact is that you simply cannot understand the history of Scotland unless you know something about the Protestant Reformation. It is the key to the understanding of the history of your great country in the last four hundred years.” So said, Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his short work, John Knox and the Reformation.

Lloyd-Jones and Iain Murray combine forces to commend the life and ministry of John Knox in a book that should be read by young and old alike.

Lloyd-Jones sets the context for the Protestant Reformation and alerts readers to the cultural and theological landscape that God sovereignly placed John Knox. Lloyd-Jones considers Knox to be the founder of Puritanism and makes a cogent case for this thesis.

Knox is painted as a man of ability, energy, and shrewdness. He was a godly man; an original thinker; a man filled with courage. These combined qualities helped propel him onto a stage in world history that shaped a nation for the glory of God.

Murray’s contribution to this volume is more specific in nature as he discusses how God prepared Knox to serve in the Scottish Reformation. Murray maintains:

Knox became a man of prayer.
Knox’s long exile made him an international Christian.
It was during Knox’s exile, and especially in the final years in Geneva, that the master principles which governed his thought on Reformation came to maturity.

Life lessons are drawn from the example of John Knox making this a fascinating and encouraging read. I commend this little work to students of church history and Christ-followers who battle timidity. Surely the example of John Knox will embolden the most fearful saint.

Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality

Nancy Pearcey, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018, 337 pp. $15.31

The publication of Nancy Pearcey’s book, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity sent shockwaves throughout the evangelical world and help equip a new generation of apologists. Total Truth confronted the notion that scientific knowledge and moral knowledge are separated into two domains. The lower story includes objective truths that are public and valid for all people. This is the realm of empirical science. These truths are true and verifiable. The upper story includes the realm of moral knowledge which is private, relative, and subjective. Hence, the so-called unified concept of truth was obliterated and separated into two domains.

Pearcey’s subsequent works, Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning and Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes have also left an indelible mark on the church and culture at large. The impact of these books on me personally, cannot be overstated. My suspicion is that many people would concur.

Nancy Pearcey’s newest offering, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality pick up where the other titles left off. The overarching goal of Love Thy Body is to “uncover the worldview that drives the secular ethic.” Ultimately, the book is designed to “show that a secular morality doesn’t fit the real universe.”

Readers familiar with Pearcey will quickly see the influence of Francis Schaeffer on her thought. It was Schaeffer who originally exposed the so-called “fact/value” split which has created a fractured epistemology that continues to be propagated today.

Pearcey shows the practical outgrowth of this fragmented worldview (or the two-story worldview) by pointing to several contemporary culture matters including abortion, euthanasia, “same-sex marriage,” and transgenderism. She helps readers understand how these various worldviews have been smuggled into our culture and links each of them to the two-story dichotomy.

Readers will be encouraged and challenged to walk through the argument of Love Thy Body and will be better equipped to not only contend with culture but also reach out to people who have been deceived by a pagan worldview.

Readers will discover that Pearcey’s argument is not combative. Rather, her heart cries for people who have been co-opted by this deviant worldview. She pleads with readers to reach out and love people with Christ-centered love: “Christians must present biblical morality in a way that reveals the beauty of the biblical view of the human person so that people actually want it to be true.”

Love Thy Body is a book that is filled with description and prescription. Facts and figures run through the book but the author is not content to leave her readers with data alone. She sets forth a workable prescription which is set on helping people and healing them at the deepest level. Therefore, “We must work to educate and persuade on a worldview level,” writes Pearcey. Such an approach is imperative if Christ-followers have any hope of reaching a lost world with the saving message of the gospel. Running through the book is a mindset that Pearcey, no doubt, learned from Schaeffer, namely, sharing the gospel with a tear in one’s eye.

Love Thy Body is riveting, challenging, educational, a shot to the heart, a challenge for the mind, and bold push for the feet. It will spark controversy in some venues and may even precipitate debate in the local church. Surely, this kind of debate is necessary as Christians seek to influence culture for God’s glory.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Life and Theology of Paul – Guy Prentiss Waters

paul Guy Prentiss Waters, The Life and Theology of Paul Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2018, 132 pp. $15.00

It was one of the most dramatic conversion experiences in redemptive history. The apostle Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus was miraculously transformed into a man who found his delight in God. Guy Prentiss Waters tells the story of Paul’s conversion in his latest book. The Life and Theology of Paul not only unpacks some basic biographical details about the apostle Paul – it explores the basics of Pauline theology.

In some ways, this work is a mini-systematic theology. While the author does not cover every branch of theology, he does present Paul’s hamartiology, soteriology, and the ecclesiology. Also, included is a brief discussion of personal eschatology.

Each chapter concludes with a section of practical application. Here, the author presents real-life principles that readers should wrestle with and apply to their lives.

The Life and Theology of Paul is accessible to a wide range of readers and is a faithful treatment of Reformed theology that will provide deep encouragement for many people. It is my privilege to commend this new volume and trust that it will receive a wide reading.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Tunnels – Greg Mitchell

tun Greg Mitchell, The Tunnels New York: Broadway Books, 2016, 381 pp. $7.38

The Tunnels by Greg Mitchell is a captivating book that captures the drama surrounding the Berlin Wall. Researched with meticulous detail, the author presents real-life stories of escape, heroism, betrayal, and courage.

History buffs will be fascinated by the story that unfolds that involves the Kennedy administration. The combination of political and personal history makes for good reading that will unquestionably keep readers up and begging for more.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

Are People Basically Good? – R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul, Are People Basically Good? Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2016

Whenever a friend purchases a Kindle or e-reader, I always make an important recommendation – Pick up The Crucial Questions Series by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries has graciously made this 25 book series available, free for the asking. Subjects explore basic matters of the Christian life and provide encouragement for Christians at different stages of maturity.

The most recent offering, Are People Basically Good? helps readers wrestle with a vital question. Most people in post-modern culture affirm that people are in fact, basically good. Indeed, this is the premise of secular psychology. Such a premise is flawed from the start, as it ignores the biblical doctrine of original sin.

Dr. Sproul answers the proposed question with Bible-saturated wisdom and guides his readers through this thorny matter that not only addresses original sin; he also presents broader anthropological matters such as the image of God and the constitution of man.

The concluding three chapters go to the heart of the matter as the author explains the reality of sin, the depth of sin, and the extent of our sin. Readers will learn about the clash between Pelagius and Augustine and will see how this debate has shaped the thoughts of many, both for good and evil.

Are People Basically Good is introductory material. It is not meant to be a comprehensive treatment of original sin or the Pelagian/Augustinian controversy. But make no mistake – this is a solid offering, one that is worthy of careful study, especially for new believers.

Some Pastors and Teachers – Sinclair Ferguson

ferg Sinclair Ferguson, Some Pastors and Teachers. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2017, 802 pp. $45.00

The day that Sinclair Ferguson’s new book, Some Pastors and Teachers arrived, I was like a kid in a candy store; a monkey in a banana factory; a shark in blood-infested waters. Gazing at the table of contents caused my heart to race, which is a testimony of my deep love for the church, theology, and pastoral ministry.

It was immediately apparent that Dr. Ferguson was attaching a high degree of importance to the past by acknowledging some of the great pastor-teachers in church history – men like John Calvin, John Owen, John Murray, and the Puritans.

Some Pastors and Teachers is a mixture of biography, systematic and biblical theology, and pastoral theology. Ferguson writes with theological precision and pastoral compassion and experience. He writes with a gravitas that is both weighty and inspirational.

While each of the thirty-nine chapters are commendable in their own right, chapter thirty-seven, was especially meaningful to me. Ferguson argues with great force that “all truly biblical preaching is preaching to the heart.” This kind of preaching is marked by several characteristics:

A right use of the Bible which must first be directed to the mind. Ferguson adds, “When we preach to the heart, the mind is not so much the terminus of our preaching, but the channel through which we appeal to the whole person, leading to the transformation of the whole life.
Nourishment of the whole person. Ferguson makes it clear that spiritual nourishment must be carefully defined: “There is a difference between a well-instructed congregation and a well-nourished one.”
An understanding of the condition of hearers.
The use of the imagination.
Grace in Christ.

This behemoth of a book is filled with rich material that promises deep pastoral encouragement, comfort, and instruction. This “doxological Calvinism” is the best of all worlds. Such a theological framework strengthens minds, nourishes hearts, and ultimately equips pastors to feed, lead, love, and protect the flock – all for God’s glory.