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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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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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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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Devoted to God’s Church: Core Values for Christian Fellowship by Sinclair B. Ferguson.  Banner of Truth Trust.  200 pages.  2020
****

This book, by respected theologian Sinclair Ferguson, is about what it means for Christians to be members of a church. Some wonder if it is important to be members of a church. This would be a good book to read to help address that question. The author tells us that being a Christian, by definition, involves belonging to the church—and that, in turn, means belonging to a particular church.
Ferguson tells us that family is what the church is. Through faith in Christ, we become members of his family, and when we become church members, we are saying ‘I too am a disciple of Jesus.’
Among the topics covered in the book are church membership, worship, discipleship, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, service, witness, and evangelism.

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Providence by John Piper. Crossway. 752 pages. 2021
**** 

I read this excellent book slowly over a period of more than two years. The book, which is what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of providence, is divided into three parts:

  • Part 1 defines providence and then illuminates a difficulty, namely, the self-exaltation involved in God’s aim to display his own glory.
  • Part 2 focuses on the ultimate goal of providence.
  • Part 3 focuses on the nature and extent of providence.

Question 11 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks what are God’s works of providence. The answer is: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. A brief definition from Piper is “God seeing to it that things happen in a certain way”.
Piper states that the reason this book is about the providence of God rather than the sovereignty of God is that the term sovereignty does not contain the idea of purposeful action, but the term providence does. He tells us that the focus of the book is on God’s sovereignty considered not simply as powerful but as purposeful. Historically, the term providence has been used as shorthand for this more specific focus.
Over 45 chapters, Piper addresses many topics in relation to the doctrine of providence, including creation, Israel, the exodus, the new covenant, suffering, Satan, pride, Pharaoh, repentance, faith, perseverance, holiness, prayer, evangelism and missions.
This is a thorough, in-depth look at the doctrine of providence by a well-respected pastor and theologian.
Below are 30 my favorite quotes from the book:

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Forgive: Why Should I And How Can I? by Timothy Keller. Viking. 271 pages. 2022
****

Forgive the last book Tim Keller published before his death on May 19, 2023, is a thorough and practical treatment of all aspects of forgiveness. It is the best book I have read in some time and is sure to be among my favorite books of 2023. I am certain that it will be a book that I will want to revisit again in the future.
Keller tells us that the ultimate purpose of forgiveness is the restoration of community. He writes that the concept of forgiveness is central to the meaning of the Bible, and that human forgiveness is dependent on divine forgiveness. From the very beginning, the Christian church was remarkable for its emphasis on and practice of forgiveness and nonretaliation.
He then looks at the approaches to forgiveness that have emerged in our secular society (cheap grace, little grace, and no grace). He tells us that what these models have in common is the lack of any vertical dimension. They all contrast with the costly grace model of forgiveness assumed in the Bible, which has both a horizontal and vertical dimension to it. He adds that social media has only accelerated this movement toward a graceless culture.

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What Comes After This Life? (Crucial Questions) by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 92 pages. 2023 
***

This is one of the newest booklets in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, all of which are free in the digital edition. These booklets offer clear answers
to the most common and difficult questions about the Christian faith. In this volume, he examines what the Bible says about heaven and hell.
Sproul writes that death came as God’s judgment for sin. Every human being is a sinner and therefore has been sentenced to death. We are all waiting for the sentence to be carried out. The question then is what happens after death. For Christians, the penalty has been paid by Christ.

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Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen. Zondervan. 309 pages. 2023
****

If you have been blessed by the ministry of Tim Keller as I have (he died on May 19 after battling pancreatic cancer for three years),  I believe you will enjoy this book that tells Keller’s story from the perspective of his influences, more than his influence, by Collin Hansen. The author had three years of interviews with Keller for the book, as well as free access to Keller’s family, friends, and colleagues. The book is the story of the people, the books, the lectures, and ultimately the God who formed Keller.
The book is not the definitive biography of Keller but does follow his life chronologically as it describes his influences. Keller would be baptized as a Roman Catholic, confirmed as a Lutheran, enrolled in seminary as a Wesleyan Arminian, and ordained as a Presbyterian.
His mother Louise moved the family from a Roman Catholic Church to a Lutheran church, and then to the Evangelical Congregational Church. Keller would go to Bucknell University and profess Christ in 1970 after which he became a part of InterVarsity leadership. After seminary, Keller would serve at West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia for nine years. Through role models in books and other pastors in Hopewell, Keller learned what it meant to be a pastor and not just a preacher. Keller would recall his time in Hopewell as the most formative ministry years of his life.

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Galatians: An Expositional Commentary by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier. 143 pages. 2022
****

This is the latest in a series of books containing adaptations of R.C. Sproul’s sermons delivered at St. Andrews Chapel in Sanford, Florida, where he preached from 1997 until his death in 2017. In these sermons, though he sought to at least touch on each verse, he focused on the key themes and ideas that comprised the “big picture” of each passage he covered. Sproul’s recommendation is to use these books as an overview and introduction.
Sproul writes that in all probability, this letter from the Apostle Paul was the first of his letters. It was also the most fiery. Paul wrote the epistle in a spirit of righteous indignation.
A heresy had developed among the Galatians, and it threatened and denied the very gospel. It threatened the authority of Christ. Sproul tells us that the heresy, known as the Judaizing heresy, argued that to be a Christian, you must continue to practice the rituals and the ceremonies of the Old Testament law. This would, by implication, deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ.

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Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play by Bill White with Gordon Dillow. Grand Central Publishing. 309 pages. 2011 
****

I decided to read this book after watching the History Channel Documentary After Jackie, which featured Bill White, Bob Gibson and Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals. White had an incredible career in baseball. He played first base the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Philadelphia Phillies from 1956 to 1969, winning six Gold Glove Awards, and was selected to the All-Star Game five times. After his playing days, he had a second career in the media, including serving as an announcer on New York Yankees games on radio and television from 1971 to 1989. Then, from 1989 to 1994 he served as President of Major League Baseball’s National League. In 2020, White was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame.
White was born in Paxton, Florida, near the Florida-Alabama border, in 1934. His mother was only 16. His father left town shortly after White was born and played no role in his upbringing or his life. In 1937, White and his mother boarded a train to Warren, Ohio, which he has always considered home.
White was an honor student and graduated second in his high school class of 120 students in 1952. However, until the day his mother died in 2001, despite all his accomplishments in professional baseball and beyond, his mother never quite forgave him for not finishing college.

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