Review: The Holy Spirit: An Introduction

Fred Sanders.  The Holy Spirit: An Introduction.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, October 3, 2023.  192 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Are you looking for a summary book on the Holy Spirit under two hundred pages?  This is a book I recommend.  This is from the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series from Crossway and it’s the first volume I read from this series.  I was interested to see if it would be as good as the Short Studies in Biblical Theology Series that I have immensely enjoyed reading for years from the publisher.

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Review: Judges (The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary Series)

 

David J. H. Beldman. Judges (The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary).  Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, January 9, 2020. 316 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Are you looking for a good commentary on the book of Judges?  I recommend this work and found the insights from the author to be very helpful in interpreting the book of Judges.  I think if you are going to be a Bible expositor teaching through the book of Judges you need to have this book as a work you consult.

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Review: Surviving Religion 101

Michael Kruger. Surviving Religion 101.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, March 22, 2021.  262 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Want a book for a Christian going off to College?  This book is a must-read!  Written by a Seminary president and a New Testament professor, this work is accessible for everyday Christian college students, and I appreciate that!  I have seen most presuppositional apologetics books written for the mature Christians and a few for the non-Christians but this is the first I have seen it written for those who are going off to college, so I appreciate the author fulfilling a particular niche that arose when his daughter went off to college.

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Review: Immanuel In Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship

 

Tremper Longman III. Immanuel In Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship.  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, September 24, 2001. 240 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Do you have questions about things in the first five books of the Bible (the Law of Moses) specifically with the sacrifices, priesthood, the holidays and the Tabernacle/Temple?  This is a great resource to read and have in your library!  This is true for pastors, teachers and general Christian Bible readers.  This volume is part of a commentary series titled “The Gospel According to the Old Testament” published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.  I have read five other titles in this series, all of which were very good.  This one too is up there for me.

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Review: The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God

 

David S. Schrock. The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, February 8^th 2022.  208 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

What does the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament has to teach us about the topic of priesthood?  This book is a survey of a biblical view of priesthood, where the author is presenting to readers a biblical theology of priesthood that culminate with Jesus as the High Priest and the Church as a family of priests.  The book is a part of the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series which is published by Crossway.  The author David Schrock has a doctorate from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a pastor in Virginia.  

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Review: The Essential Means of Grace

 

Paul Washer. The Essential Means of Grace.  Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, August 18, 2020. 64 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Are you looking for a book that helps you walk in the Lord and pursue a life that is holy?  If so this book by Paul Washer is a must read.  It is a short book that cover what are God-given ordinary means of grace, what throughout church history has been called Media gratiae.  The means of grace basically means the methods that God gives for spiritual help to grow in conformity to Christ.  I love the fact that this book is short and simple and yet spiritually profound and helpful and practical and God-centered.  I love that it is short since most Christians can read this.  I also appreciate that this is simple and yet beautifully deep.  I read this book with someone younger in the faith from church; I think through that experience I felt no matter where you are at with your walk with God readers can benefit from this book.  It is one of those rare books that I might actually read it more than once.  I love the green cover and the size of this book; it’s a book that I like to also have in my physical library!

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Review: 1 & 2 Kings: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching

David Schreiner. 1 & 2 Kings: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, August 16th 2022. 320 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase:  Amazon

Is there a part of the Bible you wished you had a better grasp on?  The last few years I realized I need to give better study to 1-2 Kings and I imagine many Christians might feel the same way about this part of the Bible.  Fortunately there’s a resource that can help Christians go through 1-2 Kings and filled with insights and observation from the biblical text itself while also giving the occasional background information and original language observation.  This commentary not only has exegetical observations but also sections that are geared towards preaching and teaching.  This dual feature is the key characteristic of this Bible commentary series called “Kerux Commentaries” which is published by Kregel Publications.  The book actually has two authors, with the exegetical portions by Old Testament professor David Schreiner and the homiletical portion by a pastor name Lee Compson. 

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Review: Narrow Gate Narrow Way

 

Paul Washer. Narrow Gate Narrow Way.  Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, April 27, 2020. 53 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Do you need a book that will preach the Gospel to someone who maybe grew up in the Church and need to be awaken with the seriousness of sin and the importance of trusting in Christ?  Usually for evangelistic purposes I like something that is short, to the point and yet brings conviction of sin while preaching the Gospel and turning readers attention to Christ.  This book by Paul Washer fits the bill.  It is a call to repentance; it is a call to trust in the living God and believe in the Gospel of grace!

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Review: A Christian’s Pocket Guide to the Papacy: Its Origin and Role in the 21st Century

Note: Thanks Tom for letting me know about this author and book.

Leonardo De Chirico. A Christian’s Pocket Guide to the Papacy: Its Origin and Role in the 21st Century. Ross-Shire, UK: Christian Focus Publications, March 20th 2015. 128 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Are you looking for a book that summarizes a biblical look at the Roman Catholic Pope and also the history of the papacy?  I would recommend this book.  Written by an author who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Roman Catholicism, the book takes a Protestant perspective and he is balance and fair and more importantly he is biblical and Gospel centered.  The author Leonardo De Chirico is a pastor in Rome and the director of the Reformed Initiative which aims to equip Protestants to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism.  I am also glad that Christian Focus published this book since these days it seems new books addressing Roman Catholicism biblically is rare (this book was published 2015).  

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Review: Resurrection Hope and the Death of Death

 

Mitchell Chase. Resurrection Hope and the Death of Death.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, October 25th 2022.  163 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

What does the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testment has to teach us about the resurrection and also life after death?  This book is a survey of that, giving us a biblical theology of God’s power over death and also the fuller doctrine developed in God’s revelation of a physical resurrection of all humans after death, either to judgment or salvation.  The author Mitchell Chase is a professor of biblical studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and his doctoral work at Southern Seminary was on the topic of resurrection hope.  So it is fitting he authored this book on this topic for the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series which is published by Crossway.  Coming in at 163 pages it is a helpful survey of what does the Bible have to say about the resurrection that begins in seed form in the Old Testament but gets more developed as more of God’s Word is revealed in redemptive history.

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Review: The Question of Canon

Michael Kruger.  The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate.  Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, October 3, 2013.  256 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This book is not your ordinary standard book on the New Testament Canon.  Instead the book focuses on some more foundational questions concerning the canon of the New Testament.  The overall focus of the book critiques the external model of the Canon; while not totally dismissing it the book argues that it is problematic to hold to a reductionist external model of the canon.  This book was very informative and I was blessed to understand better the canon of the New Testament and also church history related to the New Testament canon.  The author Michael Kruger has written for Christians a valuable scholarship work for theology, theology of the canon and apologetics.

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Review: Know How We Got Our Bible

Ryan M. Reeves and Charles E. Hill. Know How We Got Our Bible.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, August 7, 2018. 208 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

How did we get our Bible and what is the history of the transmission of the Christian Bible?  Christians who love God and the Bible should care about this question!  So here is a great resource for general readers by two authors that are qualified to teach us about this matter.  The first author is Ryan Reeves, an Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the second author is Charles E. Hill Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity.  Charles Hill has also written and edited books related to text of Scripture and manuscripts.  Yet they wrote in a way that was accessible for the general Christian audience to understand all the while being informative and narrating the history and contexts of Bible editions.

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Review: The Son of God and the New Creation

Graeme Goldsworthy. The Son of God and the New Creation.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, October 31, 2016.  144 pp.

3 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

What is the significant of the theme of the son and the son of God in the Bible?  If you are interested with this theme this book is for you!  The author is Graeme Goldsworthy a retired Old Testament professor and Biblical Theology specialist.

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Review: The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer

Andrew David Naselli. The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, November 3, 2020.  160 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Looking for a book that will make you be enchanted with the beauty of the Bible?  This book might do it for you!  The author Andrew David Naselli is a professor of the New Testament at Bethlehem College & Seminary and he did a masterful job of showing how the Bible has the theme of a hero that fights a monster/dragon in a great epic that results in the rescue and deliverance of many people.  This isn’t just a minor theme; rather it is a subject that spans the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  I believe this book makes a unique contribution in biblical theology and as the book progresses I am convinced that Nasellis is right of how serpent slaying stories found in many legends around the world echoes the greatest story ever told in the Greatest book of all namely the Bible.  It was not only educational but also a fun read!

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Review: Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God

William R. Osborne. Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, October 20th 2020.  160 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Do you have a biblical view of God’s blessing?  There are those today who get caught up with prosperity Gospel.  That’s one error.  But another error can arise that is born from over-reaction to the Prosperity Gospel in which God’s blessings are denies, downplayed or the subject is diverted.   A biblical theology of blessing is much needed and I believe this book makes a unique contribution since most works against prosperity Gospel engages the topic more in a fashion of “systematic theology” but here with this book the author uses biblical theology in his methodology in tackling the blessing of God.  This I think helps readers to see verses about blessing in its context and also in light of how God’s progressive revelation unfolded.  The author is William R. Osborne , a Professor of biblical and theological studies at College of the Ozarks and he is more than qualified to write a biblical theology of God’s blessing from Genesis to Revelation.

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