Book Review & Giveaway – Where is God?

A family member of mine recently went through a tragic loss and I found myself wondering where the goodness of God was in all this.  I remember saying to myself, “That’s just not fair!”  It was shortly after this that I had the opportunity to review two books, both on the subject of pain, suffering and the providence of God.  It’s amazing to me how some books that we happen upon are needed at just that particular moment in life.  These books  – one was John Piper’s newest book, A Sweet & Bitter Providence – were a great help and reminder to me of God’s sovereignty and goodness.

The other book was John Townsend’s Where is God? In it, Townsend seeks to gently walk the reader through some of the answers to the book’s title question, “Where is God?”  In asking this question, Townsend notes that there are three different questions that could be at the heart of the matter.  In the question of power, we want to know and be assured that God is powerful enough to be in control of life’s circumstances.  In the question of presence, we simply want to know and believe in the comforting presence of God, to experience a close relational intimacy with Him.  The third question is a protest, a cry of anguish, “a statement of how badly they hate what is going on.”  He further discusses why bad things happen and boils it down to one thing: sin.  Sin committed by us, sin committed against us or sin from a broken world system.

The book is organized around three principles: 1. God is for you, 2. Your experience matters and 3. The Bible is our source for understanding God’s ways in hard times.  Building on these principles, Townsend takes the reader through various reasons why and how we look for God in trying times.  The chapters that had the most impact on me were the following ones that addressed various aspects of God’s work.  While each one was relatively short, they were packed with helpful insights.

• The God who suffers with me – in our suffering, God comes along beside us, empathizing and identifying with our struggles, having compassion on us.
• The God who works behind the scenes – God acts for us and for our good in ways that we may not see or understand.
• The God who transforms you – God uses our trials to strengthen us and draw us closer to Himself.
• The God who connects you with others – sometimes our difficult times result in new relationships and stronger bonds with others and reducing our own perceived self-sufficiency.
• The God of faith when there are no answers – in Townsend’s words, “As someone who lives in faith, make it OK for yourself to say, ‘I don’t know why….’  God sometimes does reveal over time the redemptive meaning behind our struggles as we are better able to look back over the seasons of our lives with more perspective.  But sometimes He does not.  Sometimes we must trust.” (pp.138-139)

This book doesn’t necessarily argue for God’s existence.  It isn’t a philosophical or even a theological book.  It assumes God’s existence.  It draws more from counseling and psychology while applying Biblical truths.  Some chapters of the book seemed a little wordy and perhaps could have been more concise.  Additionally, parts of Townsend’s theology felt a little lacking (such as saying “God gives up all the control He could use and puts Himself in an extremely humble and vulnerable position.”) However, there are plenty of points made throughout the book that are both good and helpful.  What Townsend offers in this book is an explanation of what God is doing through hard times and how to find hope in Him.  Recommended: Yes

Next Friday, February 5 2010, I’ll be giving away a copy of Townsend’s book, Where is God?.  The deadline for entering the drawing is Thursday night by midnight, February 4, 2010.  To be entered in the drawing to win Where is God?, you can do one or more of the following.  For each method you use, you’ll receive one entry into the drawing (3 entries possible).

1. Post a comment below.
2. Link to this post from your blog.
3. On Twitter, RT “@Eskypades: Book Giveaway! Enter to win at http://wp.me/pzfPF-a4”

I’ll randomly select the winner sometime Friday afternoon, February 5, 2010.  (Giveaway is open to US residents only.)

(Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing a review copy of this book.)

Which table would you rather sit in on?

Here’s a very fascinating scenario.  Which table would you rather sit at and why?

At Table 1, you’ve got (clockwise from the top) Eisenhower, T. Roosevelt, Nixon, Ford, Lincoln, Bush Sr., Reagan, & Bush Jr.

At Table 2, there is (clockwise from the top) Clinton, Wilson, L. Johnson, Truman, Jackson, F. Roosevelt, Carter, & Kennedy.

HT: James.

Music Monday – Creator King

Here is another artist I recently discovered -  Kathryn Scott.   I am thoroughly enjoying her music so far.  I’ll be featuring a few of her songs over the next several weeks.  Here is her song Creator King (written by Don Moen).   Enjoy.

You made the mountains and the sea
Measured out the universe and you made me
Echoes of the voice that called the worlds to be
Reach through the ages and now speak to me
You’re my Creator King

You made the valleys and the skies
Displayed Your love on far horizons and before my eyes
You, Who lit the stars and set the dawn in time
Called them all by name and now You whisper mine
You’re my Creator King

Chorus
Who am I that You are mindful of me
Who am I that You sent Your love on me
You’re my Creator King

You made the darkness and the light
Sun and Moon to watch the day and guard the night
The hand that stretched the heavens like a canopy
Reaches down to cover and watch over me
You’re my Creator King

Book Review – The Prince’s Poison Cup

It’s not every day that you come across a story that not only helps your child understand something he doesn’t like to do, but (and more importantly) one that uses the same principles to illustrate a great Biblical truth.

In R.C. Sproul’s The Prince’s Poison Cup, a grandfather explains to his granddaughter that some things like medicine, while tasting horrible, help us to feel better.  While he doesn’t really give an answer as to why this is, he uses it as an illustration to teach a greater truth.  He tells the little girl the story of a people who disobeyed a King’s command not to drink from a beautiful fountain.  Even though the fountain was beautiful to look at, the water was bad for them and turned their hearts to stone.  In order to heal them, the King’s son takes his Father’s cup to another fountain in the City of Man to drink the poisonous brew, even though he knows the drink will kill him.  The Prince dies, but is raised again by his Father.  As a result, many of the people’s hearts are changed and love the King once more.

The Biblical parallels in this story are unmistakable.  Sproul weaves the story in a way that makes it very easy to point out to children the similarities to Jesus’ death and why it was that he died.  There are two strong parallels made to the Scriptures.  The first is that Jesus (the Prince) willingly does what His Father asks of him out of love for the Father and for the people.  The second parallel is that because Jesus drank the cup of poison, the Father’s anger is turned into the sweetest water.

It should be noted that the story isn’t a straight point-for-point allegory of the atonement, but I don’t think the story was meant to parallel exactly.  In illustrating the people’s disobedience, the Father’s love, the Son’s willingness and the new life found only in coming to Jesus, this book does an excellent job.  The guide for parents at the end of the book is helpful in pointing out where in Scripture the concepts in the story can be found.  My children enjoyed listening to the story and were able to see the links between it and the Bible.

Music Monday – Blind Boys of Alabama

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day, here are the Blind Boys of Alabama singing their awesome rendition of Amazing Grace.

Book Review – Finding Darwin’s God

There is no lack of controversy and debate surrounding the hot topics of evolution and creation. Evolutionists will often paint creationists as religious nutcases who deny every shred of scientific evidence given to them and go so far as to want not even a hint of creationist teaching in public schools since they claim it is a violation of church and state. On the other side, creationists often consider evolution as a view held only by militant atheists bent on attacking God Himself and thus view any scientific evidence with a great deal of skepticism, if not outright denial.

In Finding Darwin’s God, Kenneth Miller, a professor of biology at Brown University, attempts to show how evolution is compatible with Christian theology. He argues against the main creationist theories including Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and Intelligent Design (ID), showing the supposed logical and scientific flaws in each. He also argues against Michael Behe’s theory of irreducible complexity – the idea that all of life seems to hint at design to some degree or another. While much of the book is aimed at dispelling creation as held to by most Christians, he also takes atheistic evolutionists to task for assuming that a belief in evolution automatically rules out a belief in God. He argues very strongly for a belief in God while at the same time arguing very strongly for a belief in the “fact” of evolution.

As an “Old Earth Creationist,” I was admittedly biased before reading the book. I did not expect any concrete, scientific evidence to support evolution (in the macro sense) and did not come away having a changed mind. However, I was very surprised at how well Miller wrote and presented his arguments. For a scientific book and especially one written by a biology professor, I did not expect it to be so readable. I found his arguments regarding dating methods and support of an old universe especially compelling. His questions pertaining to Young Earth Creationism and the “appearance of age” theory were well formed and certainly demand some sort of coherent answer. While he presents quite a bit of scientific evidence in support of evolution itself, I found it a bit lacking and not really supporting evolution in the bigger picture.

Although Miller is perhaps an astounding biology professor, his theology leaves much to be desired. It seems his science has dictated his theology and the result is very akin to Open Theism. He seems to sacrifice the sovereignty of God in order to keep the “independence of nature” – two concepts that certainly aren’t mutually exclusive, but Miller appears to have trouble reconciling.

Perhaps the greatest takeaway from this book is that Miller does achieve his main purpose – showing that beliefs in God and evolution are certainly compatible. In one of the later chapters, he discusses a very plausible interpretation of the Genesis creation account as seen from the perspective of an evolutionist, yet does not take away from the Biblical account. Though I was not convinced that evolution is fact, reading the book helped me to grasp that while the scientific evidence may not be there (yet!), my theological beliefs certainly wouldn’t suffer should the evidence ever be proven.

Book Review – A Sweet & Bitter Providence

John Piper is perhaps best known for his teaching on and passion for seeing the glory of God in all things.  You cannot read or listen to him without him making a beeline for proclaiming the wonder of the sovereignty of God.  I was excited to have the opportunity to read his newest book, A Sweet & Bitter Providence: Sex, Race & the Sovereignty of God and see how the sovereignty of God played out in the Biblical story of Ruth.  I was not disappointed.

According to Piper, the book of Ruth is for those who, like Naomi, see God’s hand against them but cannot see that even in these dark times of suffering, God is working for their good and His glory.  The question Ruth attempts to answer is “Can I trust and love the God who has dealt me this painful hand in life?”

Much of the book’s focus is on God’s sovereignty and how He is “plotting” for our good.  Comparing the Christian life to a curvy, dangerous mountain road, Piper says Ruth was “written to give us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good….In all the setbacks of our lives as believers, God is plotting for our joy.”  In the narrative of Ruth, Naomi could see that it was God’s hand working against her in events such as the famine which drove them to Moab and the subsequent deaths of her husband and sons.  It isn’t until later in the story that Naomi also sees God’s hand in bringing her through these trials.

As expected, Piper does a great job of pointing us through the story of Ruth to the comfort of knowing that not only is God in control, but He is “plotting for our joy.”  Even though I was familiar with the book of Ruth, it was refreshing to read it in the light of God’s sovereignty, seeing how God was working even in circumstances that seemed to offer no hope.  It was also interesting to read how Piper tied this book in with the ultimate Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Although the book talks about sexuality and racial diversity, these two areas didn’t get very much attention and I felt they could have been flushed out a little more.  Additionally, while many of the statements Piper makes regarding sexuality are true, he seems to be reading too much into the text, making it say something that it doesn’t with assumptions about the situation’s context that aren’t stated.  But these do not detract from the greater message of God’s sovereignty in all circumstances.

On a note regarding the narration of the audio version, Grover Gardner is, as always clear, precise and easy to listen to.   His voice seems to lend itself more to academic books and doesn’t feel like it fits quite right with the book’s poetic, pastoral style, but this doesn’t overly distract from the book’s message.

I would recommend this pastoral book for a study on God’s sovereignty in our circumstances, but not necessarily for the issues of sexuality and racial diversity.   I’ve posted a preview video below, narrated by John Piper.

(Thanks to christianaudio.com for providing a copy of this book to review.)

Crossways TrackBack Thursday – In My Place Condemned He Stood

From Crossway:

This week’s featured trackback title is In My Place Condemned He Stood by J.I. Packer and Mark Dever.

Check out our previous post in which Packer surveys how we have distorted the biblical gospel here. And Kindle readers, download your free copy here (available until the end of January).

A reminder of how Trackback Thursday works: Simply link to the blog post from your blog, leave a comment on Crossway’s Facebook Page, or re-tweet Trackback Thursday on Twitter @Crosswaybooks. Winners are picked on Friday morning.

J.I. Packer on what is the heart of the Biblical Gospel? (Excerpt from pp 41):

By this means justice has been done, for the sins of all that will ever be pardoned were judged and punished in the person of God the Son, and it is on this basis that pardon is now offered to us of- fenders. Redeeming love and retributive justice joined hands, so to speak, at Calvary, for there God showed himself to be “just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.”

Do you understand this? If you do, you are now seeing to the very heart of the Christian gospel. No version of that message goes deeper than that which declares man’s root problem before God to be his sin, which evokes wrath, and God’s basic provision for man to be propitiation, which out of wrath brings peace. Some versions of the gospel, indeed, are open to blame because they never get down to this level.

Kindle for free!

Okay, so not exactly the Kindle itself, but close enough.  Amazon is currently offering their “Kindle for PC” application for free.  This application uses the same software that the Kindle does and allows you to purchase and read books on your computer.  You can download the application to your computer and have books to read in a matter of minutes.  Click here for further details.

And if FREE Kindle application isn’t a big enough enticement, this month Crossway is offering J.I. Packer’s and Mark Dever’s book, In My Place Condemned He Stood for the Kindle – for FREE.  I have not yet read this book on the atoning work of Christ, but I’ve heard many good things about it.  And since Crossway has many such offerings each month, I would highly recommend checking back with them often.

But wait – there’s more!  There are many websites that offer classic literature (mostly public domain stuff) for free for the Kindle.  For instance, check out Free Kindle Books.

So what are you waiting for?  Get reading!

HT: Trogdor

Music Monday – Tears of the Saints

I’ve just discovered a group called Leeland and so far am enjoying their music.  Here is a song of theirs titled “Tears of the Saints.”