Book briefs

“What, are you some kind of religious nut?” A stranger in a coffee shop had been sighing repeatedly, and I could tell that she clearly wanted to talk. She asked me if I was religious nut right after I told her that I would pray for her. Had this conversation occurred a few weeks before, I would...

William Boekestein, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing, 2024) 154pp. US$16.95 Reviewed by Guy Waters God commands us to “labor and do all [our] work” “six days” a week (Exod 20:9). That command alone tells us how important our work...

My Favorite Books of 2024 Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung This is my pick for the Book of the Year. DeYoung has taken a rather unique and refreshing approach to a volume of systematic theology. It is composed as a year of daily readings (5 per week). And in terms of categories he does not skimp...

Summary of the Book In the introduction of his book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament , Mark Vroegop contends that “there is deep mercy under dark clouds when we discover the grace of lament” (p. 22). His book is a book about the grace of lament . Vroegop is neither an...

Truth Changes Everything: How People of Faith Can Transform the World in Times of Crisis by Jeff Myers Baker, 2022 256 pages, paper, $17.99 We have all heard or read the alarming statistics. Children from Christian homes, it seems, are just as likely as their secular peers to believe that...

Expository Outlines & Observations on Romans: Hints and Helps for Preachers and Teachers. Ross-shire: Mentor, 2023 Rob Ventura If you walked into any pastor’s study and started looking through his library, you would find that his section on Paul’s letter to the Romans takes up more bookshelf...

The Scandal of Undisciplined Disciples: Making Church Discipline Edifying. James Durham. Reformation Heritage Books, 2022. 165 pp. Softcover. $14. The dying words of Rev. James Durham (1622-1658) [1] was his major writing on the vital need for proper ecclesiastical disciplinary procedures in, A...

The Archetype of the Dying and Rising God in World Mythology By Paul R. Rovang Lexington Books, 2023 224 pages, hardcover, $100.00 Although many of the great Christian apologists of the twentieth century—Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Chuck Colson—converted directly from atheism to Christianity, C. S...

As far as I know none of the books on my list have much to say about global pandemics. But they do have much to say about the goodness and sovereignty of God, anxiety, and our eternal hope. Knowing God by J.I. Packer A contemporary classic that can be read and benefitted from in every season of...