Tag: good book

Book Briefs: “The First Thanksgiving” by Robert Tracy McKenzie

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

The First Thanksgiving by Robert Tracy McKenzieEvery year around Thanksgiving, I enjoy reflecting on the Pilgrims, their Mayflower voyage and that first Thanksgiving back in 1621. Being a descendant of no less a figure than John Alden (the one who stole Miles Standish’s girl, Priscilla Mullins) only encourages my Thanksgiving reverie. This year, I enjoyed finishing a first-rate historical survey of that special Pilgrim holiday. The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God and Learning from History by Robert Tracy McKenzie (IVP, 2013), is a book I thoroughly enjoyed but one that challenged me to reexamine the historical record and the reasons why I love to reflect on my Puritanical roots.

McKenzie takes the occasion of writing a book on the first thanksgiving, to remind his Christian audience about the role history should play in our faith. He covers the nuts and bolts of historical research while he’s at it. Now, he does tip some sacred cows. He points out how we have scant records of the actual first thanksgiving, and demurs that it wasn’t the first thanksgiving in any true sense — at least four other public occasions of thanksgiving in America (the French Huguenots on Florida’s shores in 1565 being the earliest) have greater claim to that honor. Intriguingly “Plymouth Rock” was born from second-hand recollections of an original Pilgrim some 100 years or more after their landing. And more importantly, American history didn’t instill the Pilgrims’ autumnal feast with national importance for several hundred years. It was left for Franklin D. Roosevelt to be the first American President to directly connect the national observance of Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims of Plymouth and their historic feast.

The book is not a direct assault on Christian values, by any stretch, however. McKenzie, a head of the history department at Wheaton College, wants us to remember the real first thanksgiving and do the hard work of looking at the actual past and judging what we can learn from our experience of it. He cautions us against twisting the Pilgrim’s “buckle shoes” any which way — supporting our every opinion. Their story should not be a touchstone that we use to win battles of public opinion. Rather, we should learn from their example of heart-felt faith, fierce courage, and providential blessing as we continue to live out our faith in the public sphere.

This book will dispel some myths: the first thanksgiving was likely not thought of as a “day of Thanksgiving” by the Pilgrims themselves. Their first official day for Thanksgiving came two years later after an incredible answer to prayer where God brought colony-saving rain on the exact day set aside as a “day of fasting.” But McKenzie doesn’t set the record straight just to be a good historian. His book aims to inculcate a fuller appreciation for the real Pilgrims. We will not agree with all of the Pilgrim’s idiosyncrasies (most of us enjoy celebrating Christmas, for instance). And some of what the Pilgrims have come to stand for has less to do with their real beliefs than it does those of their heirs. Still, there is much to learn and appreciate in the real Pilgrims. Listening to their true story will challenge our affirmation of a consumerism-driven society and call us to live godly lives in this present world.

I know that Thanksgiving has passed already this year. But if you find some extra time in and around Christmas, perhaps you should pick up this title and reacquaint yourself with the story of those brave Pilgrims who followed God’s call and found themselves on the other side of the world. You will enjoy the book and profit from it, I’m sure.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from IVP.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by InterVarsity Press. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

Meditation on Isaiah 40:1-11 by Alec Motyer

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation by Alec MotyerI have been making my way through Alec Motyer’s book Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation. This hardcover, wide margin book presents Motyer’s fresh translation of Isaiah and includes textual notes as well as introductory material and a devotional thought for each of the 71 readings in the book. It is very well done. Written with the heart of a pastor and the care of a scholar, this volume brings the book of Isaiah alive, and the devotions help the reader apply the text personally.

I want to share an excerpt from this book, from the passage covering Isaiah 40:1-11 (day #43 in the book). I trust you will be blessed by reading this passage as I was. You may also want to go out and pick up a copy of this book for your own devotional reading in the future.

Day 43 ~ Isaiah 40:1-11

The consolation of the world (40:1-42:17)

Astonishingly, no sooner has Isaiah pronounced judgement on Hezekiah’s sin than he is directed to organise messengers of comfort. But (maybe because exile to Babylon prompts thoughts of the wider world) the comfort-message covers all the earth, Israel and the Gentiles.

Consolation for the Lord’s people: Voices of consolation

40:1. Console, console my people,1
      your God keeps saying.
2.    Speak lovingly to Jerusalem,2
      and call out to her,
      that her time of duress has been fulfilled,
      that the punishment of her iniquity has been accepted,
      that she has received from Yahweh’s hand
      the exact payment for3 all her sins.

The first voice: Yahweh coming; worldwide revelation
3.    A voice!4 Someone is calling out:
      In the desert,
      clear a road for Yahweh,
      make straight through the open plain
      a highway for our God.
4.    Every valley must be raised,
      and every mountain and hill lowered,
      and the rough ground must become flat,
      and the mountain chain a pass.
5.    And the glory of Yahweh will be revealed,
      and all flesh will see it together:
      for it is Yahweh’s mouth that has spoken.

The second voice: Human transicence and the permanent Word
6.    A Voice! Someone is saying, Call out,
      and someone is saying, What am I to call out?
      All flesh is grass,
      and all its reliability like a flower of the field.
7.    Grass withers, flower wilts,
      for Yahweh’s Spirit has breathed on it.
      Ah, surely, the people are grass!
8.    Grass withers, flower wilts,
      and the word of our God rises up5 for ever.

The third voice: Good news for Zion
9.    To a lofty moutain, up with you,
      Zion, bearer of good news!
      With strength raise your voice,
      Jerusalem, bearer of good news.
      Raise your voice: do not fear.
      Say to the cities of Judah:
      Behold! Your God!
10.   Behold —
      as a strong one,
      the Sovereign Yahweh will come,
      his arm6 ruling for him.
      Behold!
      the wage he has earned7 is with him,
      and his work is in front of him.
11.   Like a sheperd who shepherds his flock,
      in his arm he gathers the lambs,
      and in his bosom carries them;
      those with young he guides along.

 1Plural imperatives. Against the background of the dire prediction of exile and loss, the Lord has such a full message of consolation that not just Isaiah but unnamed others are summoned to bring the consoling word. Far from judgment having the last word (39:6-7) consolation has the first word!

2 Lit., ‘Speak to the heart of’ — as of an ardent lover wooing his beloved, Gen. 34:3.

3 Lit., ‘the double’, referring to one thing exactly matching another. The preposition ‘for’ (The Hebrew prefixed preposition be) expresses ‘price/value/payment’.

4 See 13:4.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5 The literal meaning of qum. Used to express not just the continuance of the Word while all else wilts but its certainty of fulfilment and its capacity for active intervention — ‘so stand up and be counted’.

6 ‘Arm’ symbolises personal strength. cf., 33:2; 52:10. In 51:9-10 (cf. 53:1) the Lord’s arm is personified, and one is therefore tempted to use the upper case here, ‘Arm’.

7 Lit., ‘his wage’, but a pronoun with ‘wage’ always points to the wage-earner. In ways Isaiah has yet to explain the Lord has worked and earned a wage. The ‘work’ he has accomplished lies in front of him, i.e., the people who are his flock.

Thought for the day: Isaiah 40:1-11

The most wonderful thing about these verses is not the beauty of their expression (though that in itself would have been enough), nor the attractiveness of what they reveal (though, again, that would suffice), but the place where they come. Doom has been pronounced on Hezekiah (39:6-7), and with it the death knell seems to have been sounded for all Isaiah’s glittering predictions of a coming king. At this darkest of moments, the call goes out to speak the word of comfort (v. 1), to proclaim hardship finished and sins forgiven (v. 2), to announce that Yahweh himself is on his way with worldwide significance (vv. 3-5), that his word and promises can never fail (vv. 6-8), and that Zion’s people are the flock he has worked for and now holds in his tender care (vv. 9-11). This is the Lord undefeated even by our most grievous sin; the Lord who never calls back the word he has spoken, and who cannot be deflected from its fulfilment! It will all become even more wonderful as Isaiah develops his message in these chapters. We will learn what the Lord’s ‘arm ruling’ means, that it is in truth his ‘arm’ — the Lord Jesus anticipated in his executive might; we will discover what ‘work’ he has done to earn the ‘wages’ he desired — his people, his flock. So much wonder lies ahead, but let us never lose sight of this initial wonder or fail to stand in awe of it. It is what he is towards us as sinners and failures: it is the way his intentions triumph over our frailties. The Sovereign God is never more sovereign than in the work of mercy and salvation, and it is those who know they have most signally erred and strayed from his ways, who, within the blessed arena of salvation, feel most gently the warmth of his shepherding arms around them, and know themselves for sure to be the lambs of his flock.

~ Taken from Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation, by Alec Motyer, (Christian Focus: 2011), pg. 188-190.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, Westminster Bookstore, ChristianBook.com, or direct from Christian Focus.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Christian Focus. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

Book Briefs: “Crucifying Morality: The Gospel of the Beatitudes” by R. W. Glenn

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Crucifying Morality: The Gospel of the Beatitudes by R.W. GlennThe Beatitudes are perhaps the most memorable section of Jesus’ most famous sermon — the Sermon on the Mount. But understanding what the Beatitudes are is not as easy as memorizing these short, poignant declarations. Is Jesus calling us to obey the Beatitudes — to live the life described as blessed? Or is this description of unparalleled righteousness meant to bring us to the end of ourselves? Another way of looking at the problem is asking whether the Beatitudes are intended to guide us into a do-able ethic, or if they are meant to stop us from any pursuit of self-righteousness?

If you are looking for your Bible so you can review the Beatitudes anew, R.W. Glenn would be happy. He is the author of a new book which explores these very questions. Crucifying Morality: The Gospel of the Beatitudes (Shepherd Press, 2013) is a provocative look at the Beatitudes in a new light. And what Glenn gives us in this book is a gospel-centered, grace-filled romp through this most familiar portion of Scripture.

Glenn’s book is a devotional exploration of each of the eight Beatitudes. He finds the gospel on full display behind and through each of them. Ultimately, he concludes that Jesus ultimately embodies the Beatitudes – and since we are united by faith to Jesus, we are blessed through his perfect obedience.

Glenn writes with an eye for grace over and against moralism but doesn’t speak down to the unenlightened. He aims to inspire and instill hope rather than merely complain about how others are interpreting the Beatitudes. His writing is lucid and clear, even if the truths he drives home are often convicting. But Glenn brings us to Jesus over and over again, and for that he is to be thanked.

Glenn’s writing style and focus on Christ shine through in this brief quote:

If you come to Christ’s table having already stuffed yourself with your own righteousness, you will starve yourself and never know the satisfaction of the gospel. But if you come to this table with an appetite for Christ’s righteousness, it is yours. Bring your appetite and feast at the table of the comprehensively perfect righteousness of Christ, and you will be satisfied. (Kindle Location 1007)

This book is suited well for small groups and Sunday School classes, and includes a variety of application questions at the end of each chapter. Plus, it is not an overly long book and leaves much that can be fleshed out in group discussion. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and spend some time working out the gospel implications of the Beatitudes for yourself.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, Westminster Bookstore, or direct from Shepherd Press.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

“The Handy Guide to New Testament Greek: Grammar, Syntax, and Diagramming” by Douglas S. Huffman

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

The Handy Guide to NT Greek by Douglas HuffmanBook Details:
  • Author: Douglas S. Huffman
  • Category: Biblical Language / Reference
  • Publisher: Kregel Academic (2012)
  • Format: softcover
  • Page Count: 112
  • ISBN#: 9780825427435
  • List Price: $16.99
  • Rating: Highly Recommended

Review:
It goes without saying that learning Greek can be daunting. And the only thing that gives ministerial students more nightmares than Greek is Biblical Hebrew! Whether one is currently immersed in the world of Koine (NT) Greek or if they are years removed from their time spent buried in Greek grammars and syntax books, they are sure to find this new book from Douglas Huffman a true God-send.

The Handy Guide to New Testament Greek: Grammar, Syntax, and Diagramming (Kregel, 2012) is an accessible yet fairly comprehensive resource for the Greek student. And everything from its size and shape (designed to fit nicely next to a UBS4 or NA27/28 Greek NT) to its detailed discussion of phrase diagramming is geared to provide practical help for the average pastor as well as the up and coming Greek student.

I was impressed that it didn’t skip the basics — even covering the Greek alphabet for those of us who occasionally hit a mental block when we try to think Greek again! It provides declensions and grammatical rules, and a helpful listing of syntactical options for the various noun cases, verb qualities (tense, aspect, mood, etc.) and participles. It covers purpose clauses and conditional statements; reviews the prepositions and conjunctions; and it does all this in an incredibly useful format — making this the go-to resource for orienting yourself to the Greek text before eventually giving up and consulting the technical commentary or larger grammatical reference tool.

I most enjoyed the phrase diagramming how-to section, which discusses arcing and sentence diagramming before focusing on phrase diagramming and illustrating how helpful it can be for sermon and lesson preparation. The section on diagramming is worth the price of the book all on its own! The charts and diagrams which fill almost every page of this manual, are clear and crisp; and the explanations stay succinct enough to keep the handbook small and convenient in size.

You won’t be disappointed in picking up this reference tool. Even if you aren’t well versed in Greek, this tool can help you understand the options and make sense of some of the linguistic discussions in critical commentaries. This tool will find a place next to my reader’s Greek NT and will be my first place to turn when trying to work my way through the Greek text on my own.

Author Info:
Douglas S. Huffman is professor and chair of the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies at Northwestern College in Minnesota. He is the co-editor of God Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents God.

Where to Buy:
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from Kregel

Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Kregel Academic. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.