Highly Recommended Commentary: Judges by Dale Ralph Davis

Dale Ralph Davis. Judges: Such a Great Salvation.  Ross-Shire, UK: Christian Focus Publications, March 20^th, 2006. 240 pp.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This was a very edifying and enjoyable bible commentary through the book of Judges.  The work is authored by Dale Ralph Davis who previously was a professor of the Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS).  This is an outstanding work that helps explain what is going on in the book of Judges.  The commentary divides Judges into three parts with a total of twenty one chapters.  I think anyone who is studying the book of Judge will find this commentary as an indispensable resource.  The great thing about the way the author writes is that it is accessible for preachers as well as the person in the pew.  I learned a lot from reading this book and below are some of the highlights:

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Weekend Book Review: The Only Thing Worth Dying For by Eric Blehm

Eric Blehm.  The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan  New York, NY: Harper, January 19^th, 2010.  400 pp.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This is the story of a US Special Forces team called ODA 574 and their mission in sourthern Afghanistan in the early days of the US invasion after September 11^th.  The author interviewed the survivors of the team, other military servicemembers who interacted with the team and also poured over official government documents.  Most amazing of all is the fact that the author got to interview Hamid Karzai himself, the president of Afghanistan whom at that time was little known.  This is the story of the tip of the spear of the US military bringing the war to the very home of the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan.

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Review: The Doctrine of God by John Frame

John Frame. The Doctrine of God.  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, June 1^st, 2002. 864 pp.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This book is a great resource on a theology of God.  Those who have read other works by the author John Frame will find him on top of his game here as well.  This is a work that pastors and teachers would turn to as reference even after completing it.  I enjoyed reading this book in two separate instances: once when I was in seminary as something I had to read through rather quickly and the second instance being after seminary at a slower pace as part of my morning routine of devotional-theological readings.  I would recommend the second approach as the best way to read this volume.

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Review: An Invitation to Academic Studies

Jay D. Green. An Invitation to Academic Studies.  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, July 14^th, 2014. 36 pp.

This booklet is the first installment for the Faithful Learning Series published by Presbyterian and Reformed that provides an introductory look at various academic discipline from the perspective of the Christian worldview.  As the first volume the series’ editor Jay Green lays the foundation for the rest of the works to follow by discussing how the Christian faith and academic discipline intersect.  It so happened that I read this series out of order.  I have earlier read the series’ work on literature, political science, music and chemistry and have been blessed by them (especially the political science one) that I wanted to read the rest of the series including An Invitation to Academic Studies.  Here is my review of this work.

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Review and Free: No Compromise by Charles H. Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon. No Compromise.  Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, September 5^th, 2014. 24 pp.

This is a sermon by Charles Spurgeon that he preached based upon Genesis 24:5-8.  Spurgeon preached this on October 7, 1888 which would have been around the infamous time of the “Downgrade controversy” in which some of the churches in the Baptist Union that Spurgeon was a part of started watering down the Gospel.  I read this book during a time that I needed to be encouraged while taking a stand on an issue that made others heated.  Knowing Spurgeon’s own battle and that he delivered this sermon during the midst of that time really ministered to me.

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Review: Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone

Scott Shane. Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone.  New York, New York: Tim Duggan Books, September 15^th, 2015. 416 pp.

This book tells the story of radical Islamists imam Anwar al-Awlaki and the US government war against him in the backdrop of the larger issue of President Obama’s war on terror using drones for targeted killing of Al Qaeda members.  The author Scott Shane is a New York Times reporter who specializes in issues of national security.  Shane does a masterful job in his research for this book and his work really shows.  I don’t think there’s any other book length treatment that is as detailed concerning al-Awlaki like this book thus far.  Other than passing news headlines most American don’t really know about al-Awlaki and the shadowy war the US pursued against him.  The subject of this book is already interesting enough to be picked up and read.

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Review: Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook

Robert B. Chisholm Jr. Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, December 1^st,  2006. 231 pp.

This book exceeded my expectation.  I really enjoyed this book on interpreting the historical narratives found in the Old Testament.  Some people might not think of hermeneutics as “fun” but this really was fun to read.  It was also helpful for me too.  I think the book was a rare combination of being meaty and yet insightful into the Scriptures that makes readers excited to want to read the Old Testament.

The book is divided into six chapters.  The first chapter focuses on what is narrative literature with the breakdown on what are the elements of narratives and interpretative principles that are conscious of them.  The second chapter is on the primary themes of the historical books while the third chapter is on the preparing for interpretation.  Chapter four is titled “interpreting narrative texts,” chapter five is “proclaiming narrative text” and chapter six is “From Text to Application: Two Samples.”

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