Tag: recommendation

“Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem” by Kevin DeYoung

~ Bob Hayton

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoungBook Details:
  • Author: Kevin DeYoung
  • Category: General Christian Interest
  • Book Publisher: Crossway (2013)
  • Page Count: 128
  • Audio Publisher: christianaudio (2013)
  • Audio Length: 3 hours
  • Read by: Adam Verner
  • Format: audiobook
  • ISBN: 9781433533389
  • List Price: $11.99
  • Rating: Highly Recommended

Blurbs:
“A great book for the stressed-out. DeYoung shows that Jesus was busy and Christians should be busy discipling nations, parenting children, and bearing burdens. He rightly differentiates that from ‘crazy busy,’ a frenzied trying to please some and control others—and he shows how biblical rhythms and trust in God’s providence can keep us sane. Also a great book for parents who live in a Kindergarchy, over-programming their children: DeYoung says let them play, because it’s not easy either to ruin them or to assure their success.”
—Marvin Olasky, Editor in Chief, World News Group

“Busy, hectic lives are the bane of the modern world. This book is not profound; rather it simply offers a lot of that most unfashionable commodity—common sense. DeYoung exposes the nature of busyness, the various ways in which it deludes us, and offers some basic advice on what to do about it. A fine, short book which deserves a wide readership.”
—Carl R. Trueman, Paul Woolley Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary

Overview:
DeYoung tackles the problem of busyness head on, not as an outside critic, but as one enmeshed in all of the mess that our modern world’s busyness brings. The book covers all angles of its topic from a Christian perspective. DeYoung opens up and shares a look at his own hectic life throughout the book. He shows the dangers of being “crazy busy” and tries to get to the heart of the issue. Why do we allow ourselves to get so busy? It could be pride or panic, a desire to protect our kids or an over-distraction by our electronic devices. Whatever it is, it detracts us from the one thing we must do — make time for Jesus. And while busyness can be bad, it is also something we should expect as followers of Christ. There are things we should be doing — but in proper perspective, priority and order.

Quotable:
“For too many of us, the hustle and bustle of electronic activity is a sad expression of a deeper acedia [or sloth]. We feel busy, but not with a hobby or recreation or play. We are busy with busyness. Rather than figure out what to do with our spare minutes and hours, we are content to swim in the shallows and pass our time with passing the time. How many of us, growing too accustomed to the acedia of our age, feel this strange mix of busyness and lifelessness? We are always engaged with our thumbs, but rarely engaged with our thoughts. We keep downloading information, but rarely get down into the depths of our hearts. That’s acedia—purposelessness disguised as constant commotion.” (p. 82)

See also this excerpt from Crossway.org.

Evaluation:
DeYoung’s analysis is helpful and hopeful. He doesn’t promise ten simple steps to cure busyness, but he has done his homework. There are loads of practical pointers and a lot of sane advice. But as a pastor, he takes us beneath the surface problem of busyness to where the real problems lie. As a soul-physician, he cuts with a sharp point — more often than not hitting too close for my comfort. His writing style is engaging and open, humorous and insightful, yet simple and direct. The audiobook I listened to was clear and non-distracting. The format servers for a great use of my commute time, and the nature of the book lent itself well to listening in bite-size chunks to and from work each day.

Recommendation:
This book is a necessary balm for the ills of modern culture. If you find yourself “crazy busy” you really owe it to yourself to carve some time out for this book. If you’re as busy as me, you’ll appreciate the audio version. The book will not wow you with inaccessible and profound wisdom, but it may slap you in the face with common sense realism and a dose of healthy spiritual advice. I highly recommend this book and think it will make a great addition to any New Year’s “to read” list.

Where to Buy:
  • christianAudio.com
  • Westminster Bookstore
  • Amazon
  • Christianbook.com
  • Crossway.org

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

Book Briefs: “Timothy: A Little Fish with a Big Purpose!” by Brad Riley

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Timothy: A Little Fish with a Big Purpose! by Brad RileyI have read my fair share of kids’ story books. I’ve read about talking pigs and meandering puppies, about cats with hats and showers of noodles. Christian books come in almost as wide a variety too, from talking vegetables to time travelers and more. But I have never heard of a book about the fish Peter caught for Jesus — the fish that had money in its mouth, remember? This unique story is what you’ll find in Timothy: A Little Fish with a Big Purpose!

It takes a pretty imaginative mind to think of a back-story to the fish with a coin in its mouth! Author Brad Riley pulls off an intriguing yet captivating tale with a moral. The illustrations by Krystahl Goodale are bright and fresh, and the result is a captivating picture book with a story that will interest adult readers.

The book seems designed for children too young to read. I have the kindle version, but even that makes it seem like this is more of a picture book than a story with pictures. And while the stories will capture the interest of little readers, the story is more involved than most picture books. Riley also takes liberties with the story, and children should be cautioned that this is just a guess at what the fish might have been thinking. Some may think the story is overly done and that too much is made of the imaginative angle. But this is a story that will spark conversation and that is saying something for a kids’ picture book that comes in at only 30 or so pages.

I was fascinated and delighted by the tale, even if I didn’t totally buy the author’s take on the story. I thought the illustrations were bright, colorful and engaging. Little hearts will be directed to Jesus and the place of faith in the reading of this book, and for that reason I hope it gains a wide audience.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or direct from Vox Dei Publishing.

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.

“Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles” by Graeme Goldsworthy

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Book Details:
  • Author: Graeme Goldsworthy
  • Category: Biblical Theology
  • Publisher: IVP (2012)
  • Format: softcover
  • Page Count: 240
  • ISBN#: 0830839690
  • List Price: $20.00
  • Rating: Must Read

Review:
In recent years biblical theology has enjoyed something of a comeback. A robust, Christ-centered, confessional variety of biblical theology is becoming more and more widespread and influential. And if we wanted to find someone to thank for this development, Graeme Goldsworthy’s name would come up on anyone’s short-list. His books Gospel and Kingdom, The Gospel in Revelation, and Gospel and Wisdom touched a nerve in the 1980s [get all three in one volume from Amazon]. And his later book Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture was picked up by many a Gospel preacher. Some have bristled at what they think is his wild approach to typology. And indeed, for many who pay attention to this theologian from down under, his approach to the Bible is nothing short of revolutionary. His redemptive-historical approach to the Bible has made the Old Testament come alive to thousands of rank-and-file Christians the world over.

Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles is Goldsworthy’s latest book, and in it he traces some of the influences to his thought. Along the way he gives a history of evangelical biblical theology and weighs the relative merits of competing approaches. He details the tripartite division of redemptive history that he inherited from his mentor, Donald Robinson. And by the end of this book, he has demonstrated just how careful and faithful his approach to Scripture really is.

Goldsworthy begins by explaining the problem. Biblical theology opens the way to a “big picture,” grand view of all of Scripture. Yet too many view it as a “lame duck” and a distraction. Goldsworthy’s faith in the potential of biblical theology stems from his simple faith in the entire Bible being “the one word of the one God about the one way of salvation through the one savior, Jesus Christ” (pg. 19). Drawing from his mentor, Donald Robinson (also a professor at Moore Theological College in Sydney) Goldsworthy sees a threefold structure to Scripture:

  1. Creation to Solomon’s Temple (The Kingdom of God revealed in OT history)
  2. Solomon’s Decline to the end of the OT era (The Kingdom revealed by the prophets in a future, glorified, Israelite form)
  3. The New Testament inauguration of the Kingdom (The Kingdom revealed in Christ)

He develops this further:

The Old Testament… can be represented as a manifestation of promise and blessing reaching a high point in David’s Jerusalem as the focal point of the land of inheritance, in Solomon as David’s heir, and in the temple representing the presence of God to dwell among and bless his people. After Solomon’s apostasy it is history primarily as a manifestation of judgment… overlaid with the prophetic promises that the Day of the Lord will come and bring ultimate blessing and judgment… It takes the person of Jesus, his teaching and the proclamation of his apostles to restore hope in the original promise of God. (pg. 25)

Goldsworthy addresses some of the objections to his approach as he traces out its foundation throughout the book. But at the onset he points out his pastoral concern in this whole debate. He is concerned with the simplistic way that so many Christians handle the Bible.

Many have learned one particular way of dealing with the Bible and have not been exposed to a comprehensive biblical theology as an alternative. Some acknowledge that the Bible is a unity and that the heart of it is the gospel of Christ. But they have never been shown, or have tried to work out for themselves, the way the various parts of the Bible fit together. Reading the Bible then easily becomes the search for today’s personal word from God, which is often far from what the text, within its context, is really saying…. Too many Christians go through life with a theoretically unified canon of Scripture and a practical canon consisting of favourite and familiar snippets and extracts removed from their real canonical context. (pg. 29, 37)

The heart of the book is Goldsworthy’s romp through Scripture looking at its structure and storyline. He is convinced that the New Testament provides a model for how to interpret the Old Testament faithfully, but he focuses on the Old Testament’s own use of earlier Old Testament themes and writings. The Old Testament creates the typological categories that the NT authors pick up. I found this point most intriguing, and cannot help but reproduce Goldsworthy’s quotation from Donald Robinson to this regard.

The blessings of God’s End-time are described in the Old Testament for the most part in terms drawn from Israel’s past history. The day of the Lord would be Israel’s history all over again, but new with the newness of God. There would be a new Exodus, a new redemption from slavery and a new entry into the land of promise (Jer. 16:14, 15); a new covenant and a new law (Jer. 31:31-34). No foe would invade the promised inheritance, “but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid” (Micah 4:4). There would be a new Jerusalem (Isa. 26:1, Ez. 40) and a new David to be God’s shepherd over Israel (Jer. 23:5, Ez. 34:23,24) and a new Temple where perfect worship would be offered and from which a perfect law would go forth (Isa. 2:2-4, Ez. 40-46). It would not be too much to say that Israel’s history, imperfectly experienced in the past, would find its perfect fulfilment “in that day.” Indeed, nothing less than a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth, could contain all that God has in store for the End (Isa. 65:17) (pg. 173 -174 [quote is from Donald W. B. Robinson, The Hope of Christ’s Coming (Beecroft, New South Wales: Evangelical Tracts and Publications, 1958), pg. 13]).

When Goldsworthy looks at typology, he takes great care not to endorse a “no-holds barred” approach. While he advocates a macro-typology recognizing that “there is no aspect of reality that is not involved in the person and work of Christ.” On the same hand, he argues that seeing “the pomegranates on the robes of the Israelite priest” as “types of the fruits of the Spirit;” or even “the redness of Rahab’s cord” as a “type of Jesus’ blood,” is to pursue “fanciful, non-contextual associations that avoid the real theology behind these things” (pg. 186-187).

Throughout his book, Goldsworthy compares and contrasts his approach to biblical theology with several other evangelicals of note: Geerhardus Vos, Edmund Clowney and Dennis Johnson, Willem VanGemeren, William Dumbrell, Sidney Greidanus and others. He also details Donald Robinson’s approach and legacy. In his assessment of differing approaches, he doesn’t portray his view as the only faithful one, but as one faithful approach among many.

He doesn’t provide a biblical theology in this book, but sketches the background for how to pursue a biblical theology. He does address a few issues more directly, since they focus on Robinson’s legacy. One of these is an interesting discussion of the continuing distinction between Israel and the Church in the New Testament. He explores Robinson’s contention that there remains a distinction between new Israel and the Church. The Gentiles get the blessings promised to Gentiles in the OT, while the blessings promised to Israel are experienced by the believing Jews in the NT era. Both groups of people are then subsumed in the new revelation of God’s intent to make a new man, a new people for himself (cf. Eph. 2).

Christ-Centered Biblical Theology manages to keep from being merely a last word from an old theologian. There are memoirs and reflections, to be sure. But the over-all thrust of the book is to equip the reader to pick up the torch and take biblical theology into the new millennium. Numerous charts and diagrams help communicate the concepts of the book, and Goldsworthy ends with a litany of possibilities for furthering the discipline of biblical theology.

This book will kindle a fire in many hearts for biblical theology. And for those who are familiar already with this important discipline, it will stimulate further reflection on the structure of Scripture and the centrality of the Gospel. I hope it will find a broad audience, and that a new generation will carry on Goldsworthy’s work.

Author Info:
Graeme Goldsworthy was formerly lecturer in Old Testament, biblical theology and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College, Sydney, where he still teaches part time. His other books include Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, According to Plan, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, Prayer and the Knowledge of God, and three books on biblical studies collected as The Goldsworthy Trilogy.

Where to Buy:
  • Westminster Bookstore
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from IVP

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Inter-Varsity Press for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

New Release: “Christ-Centered Biblical Theology” by Graeme Goldsworthy

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

I am really excited about this new book from Graeme Goldsworthy: Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles (IVP, March 2012). Goldsworthy is known for trumpeting a redemptive-historical approach to hermeneutics and that approach has had a big impact in how I understand Scripture.

This book traces the development of Goldsworthy’s hermeneutical approach and in that sense is somewhat autobiographical. He also comments on the state of biblical theology today. This promises to be an excellent follow up to his earlier works, most notably Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation (IVP, 2010). I’m looking forward to reading this one!

Here’s the publisher’s description and some glowing endorsements for this latest work by Graeme Goldsworthy:

The appeal of biblical theology is that it provides a “big picture” that makes sense of the diversity of biblical literature. Through the lens of biblical theology the Bible ceases to be a mass of unconnected texts, but takes shape as a unified metanarrative connecting the story of Israel with that of Jesus. It presents the whole scene of God’s revelation as one mighty plan of salvation.

For fifty years Graeme Goldsworthy has been refining his understanding of biblical theology through his experiences as a student, pastor and teacher. In this valuable complement to his Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Goldsworthy defends and refines the rationale for his approach, drawing especially on the work of Australian biblical scholar Donald Robinson.

“Over the years readers have benefited from Goldsworthy’s work in biblical theology. Now we have the mature and wise reflections of a veteran scholar on how to do biblical theology. I found this book to be edifying and stimulating. Even those who disagree with some dimensions of Goldsworthy’s approach will find him to be a challenging conversation partner.” ~ Thomas R. Schreiner (James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

“Graeme Goldsworthy’s contribution to the study of biblical theology has been enormous. In this informative study, he helpfully compares different evangelical approaches, explaining his own preference for the method advocated by Donald Robinson. Supporting a ‘three-stage structure of revelation’ (biblical history from creation to Solomon, prophetic eschatology, fulfillment in Christ), Goldsworthy gives an interesting insight into those influences which have inspired and shaped his passion for defending and expounding the theological unity of the Bible. For anyone fascinated by biblical theology, and especially Goldsworthy’s contribution to this field of study, the present volume is essential reading.” ~ T. Desmond Alexander (Union Theological College, Belfast)

“For many years I have admired the good things coming out of Moore Theological College. It’s high time that the biblical theology being done down under be put front and center in North America. In an age of increasing specialization and fragmentation where even biblical things come apart, Goldsworthy’s approach to the unity of Scripture is an important countercultural blast.” ~ Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Wheaton College Graduate School)

The table of contents provided below gives a sneak peek at what biblical theological gems this new book will cover.

1. Biblical theology: lame duck or eagles’ wings?
    Confessions of a biblical theology addict
    The big questions about the big picture
    The Robinson-Hebert schema
    The role of Genesis 1–11
    The question of reductionism
    Why is biblical theology so neglected?

2. Evangelical definitions and presuppositions
    Tentative steps towards a definition of biblical theology
    Evangelical theological presuppositions in biblical theology
    Evangelical hermeneutical presuppositions in biblical theology

3. Salvation and history
    The idea of salvation history
    The biblical history as salvation history
    Salvation history within Scripture: Old Testament
    Salvation history within Scripture: New Testament
    Conclusions

4. Evangelical practice
    The lack of consensus among evangelicals
    The shaping of a biblical theologian: my debt to Donald Robinson
    Some leading evangelical biblical theologians
    Conclusions

5. Multiplex biblical theology
    The problem of unity and diversity in method
    Proponents of the multiplex approach
    Conclusions

6. Letting the Old Testament speak I: biblical history
    What kind of epoch?
    The main foci in Old Testament history
    Conclusions

7. Letting the Old Testament speak II: prophetic eschatology
    The pattern of prophetic eschatology
    The canonical shape
    The main foci in prophetic eschatology
    Conclusions

8. Letting the New Testament speak
    Is the New Testament normative in the interpretation of the Old Testament?
    Does the New Testament exhibit a structure of revelation?
    The Abraham-David/Solomon axis and the fulfilment of prophecy
    A comparison of approaches

9. Typology
    Robinson’s typology
    Approaches to typology
    Some issues in the debate
    Macro-typology

10. The Robinson legacy
    Robinson’s typology and method in biblical theology
    Israel and the church
    Eschatology
    Baptism
    Assessment

11. How to do biblical theology
    Is there a future for biblical theology?
    Possibilities for biblical theology
    Epilogue

Book Details:
  • ISBN: 9780830839698
  • List Price: $20.00
  • Book Detail Page: Here

Book Details:
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • Barnes&Noble
  • IVP

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

“A Visual History of the King James Bible” by Donald L. Brake — A Video Review

~ Bob Hayton ~ 10 Comments

Today is the 400th Anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible. In honor of that, I tried my hand at my first video book review. Below, you’ll find a video review of A Visual History of the King James Bible by Donald L. Brake. While there are a few audio glitches, the stunning visual beauty of Brake’s book is put on full display. I hope you’ll consider picking up a copy of this book as a way of celebrating this momentous occasion.


A Visual History of the King James Bible — A Video Review from Bob Hayton on Vimeo.

The book can be purchased from these retailers: Christianbook.com, Amazon.com or direct from Baker Books. Also, be sure to check out Dr. Brake’s other book: A Visual History of the English Bible (Baker Books, 2008).

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