Tag: recommended books

Books for the Bullied: Recommended Resources Dealing with Grace & Legalism

~ Bob Hayton ~ 7 Comments

My post yesterday, on “The Real Meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5:22” seemed to touch a nerve. Sharper Iron excerpted this line from my post: “1 Thess. 5:22 Often ‘Used As a Bully Club to Keep People in Line with the Group’s Expectations'”. If that’s all you see, it comes across a bit strongly. But this is the real beef with the misuse of 1 Thess. 5:22. It really is used in such a harsh, unloving and hyper-critical way.

A friend of mine from college posted the following on my Facebook page in response to my post:

Good read! I have been doing some extensive studies on the subject of “living under grace” these past few months. I have sat under many of these “bullies”…it is almost as if they are trying to bully us back under the law. It is interesting…when you read the Scriptures through the eyes of Grace…it sheds a whole new light on everything…

I replied back with some of the books that I’ve read over the years that helped me grapple with Grace vs. Legalism. I thought I’d share some of them here with you today.

I should first stress that the definition or the use of the word “legalism” can be much more incendiary than using the term “bully club”. I don’t want to offend and I don’t conclude that people in most fundamentalist churches are legalists. The tendency to legalism in the manner I am talking about, is a wider problem than just fundamentalism. But let me be careful to define what exactly I’m talking about. I’ve defined legalism in the past, but will try to give a quick explanation here as well.

Legalism is an attitude of the heart that depends on self-efforts to please God. It can apply to sanctification and not only to justification. I used to wonder how people could call fundamentalists “legalists” because none of us were close to a works-based justification. But as I left the movement of fundamentalism (I’m still a historic fundamentalist at heart), I came to grips with a real legalism of my own mind and heart. I really did think I was better than other Christians because of the positions I held or the level of personal sanctification (as evidenced by my external standards) that I maintained. I had to be honest with myself and admit that I used to actually think things like: “Those other people must not be as serious about the Lord or love Him as much as we do, because…”.

This kind of performance-oriented Christianity is legalism. When your relation with God ebbs and flows in direct correlation to how much production you have achieved recently in keeping the do’s and don’ts and in evangelism and service, then you really are legalistic and you don’t understand grace. This doesn’t mean you aren’t saved. It means you are missing out on the true glory of the Gospel of grace.

The following books helped me as I thought through these things, and may be a help to you as well.

The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney This book is a real gem. It has been revised and expanded and is now available under the title Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing although you can still find the first edition. This book will help you see how the Gospel intersects with all of life, and it has a chapter devoted to the legalism of which I speak. I highly recommend it. (Click on the picture of the first book, for a post I did on it way back in 2005.)

The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance by Randy Alcorn This book is an easy read and quite helpful. Sometimes we feel that you can either be gracious or stand for truth, but Alcorn shows us that dichotomy is false. Jesus perfectly lived a life balancing an emphasis on Grace and Truth. This book cuts at the heart of legalism. (Click on the book’s cover to read my review with excerpts.)

Extreme Righteousness: Seeing Ourselves in the Pharisees by Tom Hovestol This book studies the Pharisees through new eyes. Instead of seeing how bad they are, or even how bad others are, Hovestol stresses that we are in their shoes. Evangelicals are the closest thing to a conservative religious establishment today, and we would be the target of Christ’s anger too. This book can be biting, but in much of it, Hovestol is sharing his own journey. It’s refreshing to be honest and to really see yourself through different eyes. (Click the book’s cover for the Amazon listing for this book.)

40 Loaves: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day by C.D. Baker is a book I reviewed recently. It is a devotional book with 40 small readings. It is packed full of grace from cover to cover. The author told me he shares a similar legalistic past and wanted to stress grace. You will be blessed by this book. (Click on the book’s cover to read my review.)

More on Helping Your Kids with Salvation

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

A few days ago, I posted on this question: How do we know our children are saved? After that post, I found a few more resources about this issue.

Justin Taylor highlighted a free series of sermons on how children come to Christ. The 6 part sermon series is available for free download.

My friend Jamsco of The Responsible Puppet, has a new blog about parenting: Responsible Father. One of his recent posts addresses this issue head on: Altar Calls for Children: I’m Against Them. As my previous post would let on, I agree with him on this one. Altar calls for children are more dangerous and confusing then helpful.

Finally, I should mention a book I’m working my way through. It’s by Donald Van Dyken, entitled Rediscovering Catechism: The Art of Equipping Covenant Children (2000, P&R publishing). Instilling the facts of the gospel into our children’s hearts is something we can all agree on. After this book, I’ll pick up Shepherding A Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp (1995, Shepherd Press).

As parents, we can’t think more deeply about, or read more widely on this issue. It is the most vital aspect of our Christian parenting. Lord, have mercy — on us, and our children.

“101 Portraits of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures” by Bob Beasley

~ Bob Hayton

Author: Bob Beasley
Publisher: Living Stone Books
Format: Softcover
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9780979973147
Stars: 3 of 5

Many Christians are bewildered by the Old Testament. They start reading in Genesis and give up by the time Leviticus comes around. They remember bits and pieces of a smattering of OT Bible stories: David and Goliath, the Red Sea, Daniel and the lion’s den, etc. But the Old Testament (except for Psalms and Proverbs) remains generally obscure and mysterious to many.

For those who have discovered the many connections between the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, this is quite sad. Recognizing how Jesus fulfills the types of the Old Testament truly makes the Bible come alive. Nothing is so spiritually impacting as finding Christ in the Old Testament, and being moved by the picture of our God so beautifully illustrated by His works with the Israelites.

Bob Beasley is eager for the average Christian to become familiar with the many portraits of Jesus in the Hebrew Old Testament. In his book 101 Portraits of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures, he marches through the Old Testament highlighting many of the clearest pictures of Jesus found there. He uses promise/fulfillment and type/anti-type models as he explains the significance of the OT’s witness to Christ.

Beasley explains:
…Jesus does not jump into the pages of history as a little child in a stable in Bethlehem. His story begins much further back in history than that…. all history is His Story. Jesus is the Creator God, the promised Redeemer, the great Prophet, Priest, and King of the Hebrew Scriptures. He is Yahweh, Jehovah””the great I AM””of the burning bush. He is Immanuel — God with us!

The book deals with 101 such places in the Old Testament. Each is given just two pages of space, which is why no passage is really covered in too much depth. The result is a good introduction to the Old Testament witness to Christ, most helpful for the new Christian who may be inexperienced with the Old Testament.

Beasley will give one an eye for finding Christ all throughout the Old Testament. The book’s emphasis on the unity of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ make it especially good. Anyone interested in learning more about the harmony of the Bible and how the OT speaks of Jesus Christ, should certainly consider this book. With its simple layout, 101 Portraits makes for a great devotional book. Each portrait of Christ can be considered slowly and provide meat for one’s soul.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the author for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

This book is still available for purchase at Amazon.com.

“Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Isn’t Enough” by Michael E. Wittmer

~ Bob Hayton ~ 11 Comments

DontStopBelievingAuthors: Michael E. Wittmer
Format: Soft cover
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 9780310281160
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m guessing that many who will read this review will be younger evangelicals who are aware of the Emerging Church movement. Many are intrigued with the idea of doing church differently. We’ve awakened to inadequacies in the church our parents raised us in. For people like us, the generational appeal of the Emergent movement is strong. Polarizing doctrines along with the conservative-liberal divide turn us off. A welcoming community of large-hearted lovers of Jesus sounds both authentic and attractive.

This desire for authentic Christian fellowship is not wrong by itself. Doing church in new and tantalizingly different ways isn’t either. Luther, Wesley and Moody attest to that. Yet the newness of the Emergent movement is often all that is needed for it to earn sharp and stinging conservative rebukes. Such smug dismissals only prove the point of these “postmodern innovators” , as Michael Wittmer dubs them. Conservative Christians today are infected with a rampant modernism that assumes it has arrived. With everything figured out, conservative Christianity has no room for postmodern Emergent craziness.

Put me down as one conservative who doesn’t think we’re above criticism. I tend to see the Emergent movement as reacting against some very real deficiencies in some versions of conservative Christianity. Before reading Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough, I wouldn’t have been able to articulate all of this exactly. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was that seemed right about the Emergent phenomenon. With Michael Wittmer’s book, however, I’m much more equipped to think through the all the ramifications of the postmodern innovations so popular today.

Wittmer isn’t afraid to listen to the postmodern innovators. Listen and learn. From what I can gather from reading the book, Wittmer hails from a staunchly conservative background. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is intimately familiar with independent Baptist fundamentalism like I am. From such a background it is easy to see how many of the Emergent criticisms would hit home.

Post-moderns claim we conservatives often love the sinner’s soul more than his body. We aim for conversions more than lasting social change. We care more about deathbed conversions than good works and justice. Our churches are not welcoming and inviting to the unchurched, and our world-view comes off too cocky and self-confident. We have everything figured out and don’t struggle with doubt or pain. We care more about scientific and logical proofs for inerrancy than we do for the Bible’s overarching themes and meta narrative. We’re too quick to distance ourselves from the world than be friends to publicans and sinners.

There’s more. Must you believe something to be saved? Are people good or bad? Is Homosexuality acceptable biblically? Doesn’t penal substitution turn the cross into divine child abuse? Does Hell really last forever, and would a loving God really send anyone there? Is it really possible to know anything for certain? These questions and more are raised, and carefully dealt with in Wittmer’s book.

As one can see, with the Emergent movement, valid criticisms and sincere questions often get muddled together with a more radical revision of the fundamentals of the faith. In light of how many postmodern innovators are quick to embrace full fledged inclusivism (the idea that people will likely be saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ), and their lack of owning up to virtually any non-negotiable beliefs, it is easy to see why many dismiss the movement as a whole, out of hand.

The strength of Wittmer’s approach lies in his patient hearing out of both sides. He sketches the conservative view and the postmodern reaction. Then he paves a middle ground that holds to a high (conservative) view of Scripture while appreciating insights from the postmodern position. He argues for a both/and approach which often does more justice to the Bible than either extreme. While he ends up defending conservative doctrines, he is not afraid to challenge conservative methods and motifs.

Such a discussion could easily become tedious and overly philosophical or theological. Wittmer’s writing style is so clear and lucid that with the help of illustrations and personal anecdotes, he makes the discussion fun to read. His many charts help convey his point even more clearly. The diagrams capture the discussions well, summarizing the perspectives of each side along with his middle ground approach.

Postmodern innovators and Emergent church leaders are not likely to change course as a result of this book. What I hope happens, is many a young evangelical is equipped and encouraged to opt for a conservative Christian approach that aims to both believe and live life here on earth well. As Wittmer puts it: “Genuine Christians never stop serving because they never stop loving, and they never stop loving because they never stop believing.”

If you are looking for a helpful introduction to the postmodern/Emergent church discussion, look no further than Don’t Stop Believing. And if you are concerned for a friend, or even for yourself, about the doctrine-is-optional appeal of postmodernism, pick up this book. You will be challenged, and encouraged in the faith.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com or direct from Zondervan.

On My Shelf: Books I’m Reading Now-2

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

The books are stacking up around here. I thought I’d give a brief update on what I’m reading, and what I’m looking forward to reading in the near future.

I’m nearly finished with The Witness of Jesus, Paul and John: An Exploration in Biblical Theology by Larry Helyer (IVP Academic). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s designed as a textbook, and so I could probably have had my review up already. It’s such a good book, however, that I want to read the book in its entirety, not just skim through it and give a good recommendation.

I’m also about half way through Joel Beeke’s Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism (Reformation Trust). Since my copy is a .pdf file (until I post my review), I’m finding it hard to stick with the book. I forget about it, and I really don’t enjoy reading e-Books on my PC. I don’t have a Kindle or something like that, so I’ll keep plugging away at this one.

I’m about done with 101 Portraits of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures by Bob Beasley (Living Stone Books), and I just need to find time to crank out my review of Philip Comfort’s New Testament Text and Translation Commentary (Tyndale House). On a similar note, I was thrilled to get my review copy of The King James Only Controversy, revised edition by James White (Bethany House) today. It will be hard to keep that book on the bottom of my review pile. I read the first edition about 10 years ago, and much has changed in my position with respect to that issue since then. I look forward to reading it again from a new perspective.

I’m now working my way through Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough by Michael Wittmer (Zondervan). I’ll post about this book in conjunction with Zondervan’s book blog tour on May 12th. It’s an interesting book, especially as Wittmer hails from fundamentalist circles. I’ve found it thus far (1/3 through it) to be a good critique of the Emerging phenomenon, from a careful and charitable perspective.

Recently I was given two more books to add to my growing review pile. I’m thrilled that P & R Publishing has given me the chance to review Keith Mathison’s new book: From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology. This book is massive–750 pages! Despite its length, it seems to be a very approachable work, surveying the entire Bible in a readable way. I’ll post more on this as I start working through it. The other book is my first copy of P & R’s new commentary series: the Reformed Expository Commentary. The commentary on James by Daniel Doriani now sits on my shelf. It looks very good.

I shouldn’t jump too quickly to my new books, however. Beside the one’s I’m working on now, I still have quite a few more on my review list. My review of Ron Rhodes’ Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses: Clear Explanations for the Difficult Passages (Harvest House) will be ready soon. And we’ll see where we go from there.

If my blogging slows down from time to time, know I probably have my nose in some good books!