Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham with Ryan P. Burge. Zondervan. 272 pages. 2023
****

This important new book, written by Jim Davis (teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church, Michael Graham (Program Director at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics) with Ryan Burge (associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University), uses research on some forty million Americans (about 15 percent of American adults living today), who have left the church over the last twenty-five years. They tell us that we are in the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country. This would be an excellent book for church leaders to read and discuss and might also be a good topic for an adult Sunday School class.
What began as a desire to equip the primary author’s local church through a podcast called As in Heaven, became a research project that eventually developed into this book. They engaged social scientists Dr. Ryan Burge and Dr. Paul Djupe to do an academic-review-board-approved, nationwide, quantitative study to answer their questions about the dechurching phenomenon. The authors tell us that the size, pace, and scope of dechurching in America is at such historic levels that there is no better phrase to describe this phenomenon than the Great Dechurching.

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My Favorite Books by Tim Keller – Part 2

Tim Keller’s ministry – sermons and books – have had a significant impact on both me and my wife Tammy’s life. Keller died on May 19, after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Here is our brief tribute to Keller, written a few days after his death.

All of Keller’s sermons and talks were recently made available free on the Gospel in Life site. His sermons and books will continue to influence people for many years to come.

I recently wrote about the first six (of twelve) of my favorite books Keller wrote here. Below are reviews and favorite quotes from the remaining six of my twelve favorite books that he wrote:

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller. Penguin Group. 288 pages. 2011. Continue reading →


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My Favorite Books by Tim Keller – Part 1

Tim Keller’s ministry – sermons and books – have had a significant impact on both my and my wife Tammy’s life. Keller died on May 19, after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Here is our brief tribute to Keller, written a few days after his death.

All of Keller’s sermons and talks were recently made available free on the Gospel in Life site. His sermons and books will continue to influence people for many years to come.

Below are reviews and favorite quotes from the first six (of twelve) of my favorite books that he wrote: Continue reading →


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BOOK LAUNCH TODAY! The Sacredness of Everyday Secular Work

 The Sacredness of Everyday Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity (Even When You’re Not Sharing the Gospel) by Jordan Raynor. WaterBrook. 224 pages. 2024
****

Jordan Raynor is a leading voice in the faith and work movement. He is the best-selling author of books such as Master of One, Called to Create and Redeeming Your Time). He also hosts the Mere Christians podcast and the weekly The Word Before Work devotional.
The purpose of his latest book, which was dedicated to Tim Keller, is to help you see how your so-called “secular” work matters for eternity. He begins by looking at the instrumental value of your work. Your work matters for eternity because you can leverage it to share the gospel with those you work with. The core idea of the book is that in addition to your work having instrumental value, it has eternal intrinsic value to God. That is, your work matters for eternity even when you’re not leveraging it to the instrumental end of sharing the gospel with those you work with. Continue reading →


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord by Michael Reeves. Crossway. 193 pages. 2021

****

Seminary president and professor Michael Reeves asks if fear a good thing or bad. He tells us that the most frequent command in Scripture is “Do not be afraid!” Yet again and again and again in Scripture we are called to fear. And perhaps even more strangely, we are called to fear God. The author wants us to rejoice in the strange paradox that the gospel both frees us from fear and gives us fear. It frees us from our crippling fears, giving us instead a most delightful, happy, and wonderful fear. He aims to show us that for Christians, the phrase “the fear of God” in the Bible doesn’t mean being afraid of God.
The author tells us that there are different sorts of fear. Sinful fear drives you away from God. On the other hand, right fear does not stand in tension with love for God. There is no true knowledge of God where there is no right fear of him. Throughout the book, the author compares and contrasts sinful fear and right fear.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

BOOK REVIEW:

Facing the Last Enemy: Death and the Christian by Guy Prentiss Waters. Ligonier Ministries. 150 pages. 2023
****

The author of this book is a seminary professor and a pastor. The material in the book originated as a Sunday school series he taught.
This short, but theologically rich book has three major sections:Part One: Defining Death. This section addresses questions such as what is death, what happens after death, why did Christ die, and why do Christians die.
Part Two: Encountering Death. This section addresses questions such as how do we face the deaths of others, how can we help the dying and grieving, and how we can prepare for our own deaths.
Part Three: Beyond Death. This section addresses what the Bible teaches about the resurrection, what the Bible teaches about the final judgment, and what the Bible teaches about Heaven and Hell.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Best Seat in the House: 18 Golden Lessons from a Father to His Son by Jack Nicklaus II. Thomas Nelson. 166 pages. 2021
***

Jack Nicklaus, now 83 years old, is arguably the greatest golfer who has ever lived. Although Tiger Woods has nine more wins on the PGA tour, Nicklaus has three more major championships, which is generally how the greatest golfers are evaluated.
This book is written by Nicklaus’ oldest son Jack Nicklaus II, who writes that by watching the way his father has lived his life he has spent years in the greatest leadership-parenting-marriage classroom one could imagine. He tells us that he has had the best seat in the house to watch his father live out extraordinary lessons. He goes on to write that his father is simply the greatest man he has ever known, his role model and best friend. He writes that though the world knows him as a great golfer and golf course designer, his father made being a parent one of the most important parts of his life.
In this book, the author, a father of five, shares stories about his father and explains how the stories led to lessons about fatherhood. With each story and the lesson learned from it, he also includes some discussion about how he, as a father, carried that lesson forward to his own children.

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BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by  R.C. Sproul
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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Worthy: Living in Light of the Gospel by Sinclair Ferguson. Crossway. 95 pages. 2023
**** 

This short book, by respected theologian Sinclair Ferguson, is part of a series of books devised by Michael Reeves on the basis of Paul’s words in Philippians 1:27–2:3. This book both introduces and summarizes their main theme.
The title of the book comes from verse 1:27, which reads in part:
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ

Ferguson tells us that being worthy is a sure mark of Jesus’s disciples. He tells us that to “live worthy of the gospel of Christ” does not rank high on the priority lists of the twenty-first-century church, but the Apostle Paul placed it high on his priority list.

A life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ expresses itself in the form of a lifestyle that the gospel teaches in the form of a message. Such a life takes on a character that reflects the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Living “worthy of the gospel of Christ” is not a matter of techniques. It involves the development of Christian character. It’s about who and what we become in Christ.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe by Steven Lawson. Ligonier Ministries. 212 pages. 2021 
****

This book is a part of the helpful A Long Line of Godly Men series, the purpose of which is to explore how these leaders used their gifts and ministries to further the work of Christ in their time.
Steven Lawson begins by giving us a brief biography of John Wycliffe. He tells us that the fourteenth century was an especially dark time for the church. The light of the gospel had been dimmed. Wycliffe was the most learned scholar of his day and a professor at Oxford University, the top school in Europe. He would become the premier figure of his generation who would illuminate the path to recovering the gospel and reforming the true church. He was known as the shining “Morning Star of the Reformation.”
In 1361, Wycliffe was ordained to the priesthood in 1361, and began preaching as the rector of the parish church in Fillingham. Wycliffe soon began his career as a professor at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he gained a reputation as its most brilliant and popular teacher in theology and philosophy. Wycliffe spent most of the rest of his life lecturing at this institution, where he became regarded as the top theologian and philosopher in England.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
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BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
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10 New and Upcoming Books You Might Be Interested In

I enjoy books in a variety of genres (theology, biography, leadership, etc.), and always have an “on deck” list of titles I’m waiting to get to. Here are 10 new and upcoming books that you might be interested in:

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield
From the Amazon description:
Modern culture is increasingly outspoken against a biblical understanding of what it means to be a woman. Even some Christians, swayed by the LGBTQ+ movement, have rejected God’s word on issues of sexuality and gender in favor of popular opinion. In light of these pressures, it’s more important than ever to help women see the truth about who God created them to be.
In this powerful book, Rosaria Butterfield uses Scripture to confront 5 common lies about sexuality, faith, feminism, gender roles, and modesty often promoted in our secular culture today. Written in the style of a memoir, this book explores Butterfield’s personal battle with these lies―interwoven with cultural studies, literary criticism, and theology―to help readers see the beauty in biblical womanhood, marriage, and motherhood. Continue reading →