The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World

Stephen J. Nichols has been coming out with a lot of books lately and has been highly recommended by a lot of people that I respect. I decided to take a look at a couple of his books and this one in particular, being that I am always looking for more information on the Reformation.

Nichols sets this up for an introduction for the differing reformations that happened all over the globe after the way that was paved by Wycliffe and Hus and then finally with the most powerful Martin Luther.

You can actually get a great understanding of where the book will lead you by seeing the different chapter titles.

1. Five Hundred Years Old and Still Going Strong: Why the Reformation Matters Today

2. A Monk and a Mallet: Martin Luther and the German Reformation

3. Some Middle-Aged Men and a Sausage Supper: Ulrich Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation

4. The Not-So-Radical Radical Reformers: The Anabaptists and the Reformation

5. An Overnight Stay in Geneva: John Calvin and the Swiss Reformation

6. A King and a Divorce: The Anglicans and the British Reformation

7. Men in Black: The Puritans and the British Reformation

8. Women in Black Too: The Untold Story of Women and the Reformation

Appendix: In Their Own Words: Selections from Documents of the Reformation

So, as you can see Nichols tries to cover a lot of ground in one little book, as the book, including the appendix is only 150 pages. It is very short in a lot of areas but it has to be so that the reader that is not accustomed to the Reformation can get their pallet wet enough to want to read other works that get more detailed each of these particular reformation periods.

The one thing that was stated at the first of the book that I was excited to see more about, that I found lacking, came when Nichols said we need to "humanize" the people of history. Meaning, we need to show who they were and not merely what they did. I felt as though Nichols did a pretty good job in this with Luther, but felt that this dropped off in the future chapters with the others. This, by no means, makes this book a disappointment and would definitely recommend it to others for an introduction to who and what went before us.

Nichols does make this history very readable and interesting to read without merely spitting out facts, which is happening in another book I am reading on the same subject. The book flows very well and makes you want to learn more about the reformers, instead of seeing history as a dry and dead subject.

I look forward to reading more books by Nichols and would defnitely recommend this to any who need an introduction to the Reformation from Wycliffe to the Puritans.

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Martin Luther's Here I Stand: The Speech That Launched the Protestant Reformation (Audio CD)

This is a pretty cool little audio book. Max McLean is the narrator and this is the least that he does. He presents the material in a very well done manner. He does more than just recite, he gives the impression that it is how Luther would have presented the speech if he were here today recounting this pivotal time.

Track Listing:
1. Introduction

2. The Road to Reformation

3. Luther’s Prayer

4. Here I Stand

5. Eck’s Response to Luther

6. Luther’s Final Response

7. Conclusion

8. Sources and closing comments

The CD starts off by giving some background to what is taking place, in not only the Roman Catholic church, but also in Luther's life. The leading up to the speech takes about 11 minutes, which not only covers the aforementioned material but also the prayer that Luther recited the night before he was to stand and defend his new found understanding of Scripture. Then the time comes to recite the speech that Martin Luther brought forth at the Diet of Worms as he began what we now see as one of the most pivotal times in all of church history.

McLean presents the entirety of not only the speech but even the questioning of Johann Eck, which is when Luther's famous words that ring so true to rebut the questioning being presented was brought forth:

My conscience is captive to the Word of God, I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither honest nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.

I would highly recommend this audio book. The speech itself is very emotional to read, but to listen to it with such passion from Mr. McLean is something that I will enjoy for a long time. Link to buy

Blue Like Jazz

I entered into reading this book with a lot of opinions thrown to me from those who have read it. What I learned before I even opened the book is it seemed as though people either loved it or hated it. I have some really close friends who loved the book and thought it was a breath of fresh air, and I also knew some of my friends thought that it's only good was to start a fire with it.

So, because I trusted on both sides, I felt like I could come with no preconceived notions. It was like I heard each debater by themselves but couldn't make a decision until I heard them both at the same time. So, the only way to do this was to read the book. What kind of irritates me is that I landed right in the middle. I can see why people love the book, but I can also see why people hate the book. There are some great discussions in the book but some very bad views on some theology that I feel could hurt those not driven by the word of God for discernment.

Donald Miller is a writer and a poet first, you can see that from the title of the book and in the opening pages. I like poetry when I am reading a poem but find poetry to be distracting when I am trying to read a book. What Mr. Miller does in this writing, in my estimation (although I am no expert) is try and use his poetry skills too much at times as one navigates through his story of redemption. It just isn't for me, that is, his way of writing. But I can get through that, not enough for me to put it down.

The book is really Donald Miller's testimony. It is his writings of how he came to know Christ and how he has grown in Christ, for this it is hard to say, "it is good" or "it is bad." At times, Mr. Miller seems to be scattered in thought and goes from one topic to another without leading the reader to where he is going. But, it is a testimony of what Christ has done for him, and that is much to sing praises about. Miller's book also punches some evangelicals right in the face with some realities of what is going on in today's conservative circles and it sickens not only Mr. Miller, but also myself. I have to say I felt it was worth the read to get a fresh perspective of contemporary Christendom. Mr. Miller brings up a lot of good points, like feeding the homeless, caring for the homosexual and liberals, and loving people yet still telling them the truth of the Gospel. This love, Mr. Miller finds to be happening more in the "pagan" circles than inside the church of the living God and I have to agree. Mr. Miller though does not point fingers but he actually comes to the conclusion that it is HIS fault for this not happening and then asks all who read to understand that it is also their fault for this contemporary slide of hate instead of love for those outside of the body of Christ. I have to say, I like that perspective. Mr. Miller is very honest with his afflictions as a non-believer and a new-believer and I know this makes many people very uncomfortable. But for me, I enjoy when I can be honest with someone and they can be honest with me. It actually helps in prayer to know specifics of someone so that you can be praying for them. This is what Mr. Miller gives us in this novel of his life: An honest testimony of what Christ has done.

What I found to be dangerous are his thoughts on depravity and the atonement of Jesus Christ. He simply says that since he sees people doing good, then he doesn't believe that people are completely evil like some (one of them being me) say. I would have to ask Mr. Miller to trust in the Living Word instead of his eyes. I would ask him to interpret many Scriptures that would point him in the opposite direction, such as: Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 6:5;8:21; Romans 3:10-18; Psalm 14; Jeremiah 13:23; Psalm 58:3.

He carries this thought though and it becomes disconnected as he then states the issues of us, including himself, being evil. So his description throughout the book of Christ's atonement and death on the cross becomes one that is to make evil people good. It is a moralistic redemption. This is not the reason Jesus died for our sins, He died to make dead people alive to God. He died to bring His children to His side for God's glory not ours. One of the fruits of a Christian is definitely to do good works and so this is definitely one of the benefits, but is not the primary reason for the atonement. So, this, in my estimation, is a very large error that Mr. Miller makes.

It seems as though Mr. Miller also relies much more on his experience than the unchanging word of God. I don't know this to be true, but this is the way it comes off in my reading of his book. This can be very dangerous, especially in light of knowing our heart is desperately sick, who can discern it...Jeremiah 17:9.

Also, his last chapter on "How to Love Yourself" is a little strong in parts. I do understand that his intent is to understand that God loves us and we need to accept that. I will be careful to say that this is probably a very good chapter, in parts, for those who have had terrible parents or disastrous intamacy issues for whatever horrific reasons, that I cannot empathize with since I myself have never had these kinds of experiences. But there are times in this chapter that go too far in my estimation. The Bible tells us to "die to self" "to deny self" and for what reason? So that we can "live to Christ" and to "follow Christ." So the author would have done better, in my estimation, to balance these understandings.

My recommendation to any who are thinking of picking up this book is to be discerning. I compare it with someone telling their testimony before they are baptized. The story of conversion is wonderful to hear. But, they say those two or three things that make you wince and say, "oohhh...wouldn't have said it that way..." But, that does not ruin the testimony of Christ in their life, and I don't think the errors in this book will ruin Mr. Miller's testimony either. I would recommend it for church leaders needing to understand what errors are creaping in the church as Mr. Miller points out. For the others, if you do read it, please be sure to be discerning when Mr. Miller brings theology and his experiences into the discussion, because I find it to be lacking in many ways. But, be challenged by his words when he calls us to be more loving to those who aren't like us and to understand that the issue is US not THEM. Link to buy

The Case for Faith

I want to show some grace here in this review so that I am not coming across as attacking the author or the participants that the author interviewed. I read The Case for Christ and very much enjoyed that book and thought it was done in a very tasteful manner, but this book left me shaking my head.

Lee Strobel unpacks this book just as he did with the Case for Christ, in that, he has 8 different questions that he would like answered and then goes and interviews 8 experts in those fields to answer those questions. The one thing I wish that he would have done is read some of the reviews and thoughts from readers and taken them to heart. The main complaint is that he just interviewed those who agreed with the Christian position and chose not to interact with those who were on the opposed side of the debate.

Although Strobel starts the book off on interviewing an atheist, Charles Templeton, this was the last time that he interviews anyone on the opposing side. Although, I do really like the way the book is set up with the interviewing process.

The questions that were to be raised in the book are the following:

1) If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?

2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?

3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?

4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?

5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?

6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?

7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?

8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?

Strobel, to answer these questions, goes to eight different men to help him answer these tough questions posed to the Christian faith. Some of those interviewed were Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Peter Kreeft, Ravi Zacharias, John Woodbridge and others.

We could always discuss the theological differences that I have between myself and the contributors, such as their views on libertarian free will, the views that hell is not a literal place with flames, the view that the big bang is true and God was the originator just 'tweaked' it to make it work, that God reacted to man and created hell, but it wasn't in His original plan, and so on. These are all things that contributed to a very poor discussion on the reason for faith. But, even above all these problems, Strobel forgets the biggest reason for faith in God and Jesus Christ: our sin.

Sin was completely left out of the discussion. This topic of us needing a Creator and Saviour to take our place of our sin was not in any of the discussions. The route that Strobel takes is more of a route in putting us in a court room. The atheists and agnostics as the prosecutors, God as the defendant and we are the jurors. We sit, listen, weigh the evidence and then choose who to follow. The problem is that this leaves God as a powerless being, ringing His hands, hoping we choose him. This is not faith! This is just choosing the lesser of the two evils, or the better of the two goods, depending on how you see it.

This book is really a bad attempt at presenting the true God. It really leans more towards Aristotlianism, where "reason governs us" instead of what we are told it should be: God and His word governs us. I am afraid that the bad theology presented here is not going to strengthen anyone's faith but in actuality, will make them rely on their intellect and thoughts on the issue. This is actually the reason that Strobel is able to bring in a Roman Catholic theologian (Peter Kreeft) and no have no issue with his thoughts on issues. Strobel really doesn't differentiate between the Catholics and Protestants but just merely continues to call them both "Christians." Ignoring the reformation or the Pope calling the Catholic church, "the only true church." (sidenote: I know this book was written before this declaration, but it was not a new declaration or something Protestants and Catholics didn't already know was the foundational thoughts of the Roman Catholic church)

Anyone who takes a long look at themselves will know that they change their minds on things all the time. They change their views on things all the time, so what is going to be different this time? The main proponent of faith was left out: Jesus Christ died for the sins of the people, the Holy Spirit gives them faith, calls them to His side, God justifies them with the blood of Christ, and perfects them until the day Christ returns. It is God's power that holds us, not our "weighing of evidence."

This is the reason I cannot recommend this book to anyone. It seems as though Strobel has placed God on the side of the road trying to "sell" His religion to people and hoping some will just choose Him. God is not a beggar.

One contributor said this: "God sends no one to heaven and He sends no one to hell" Although I agree that sin is what sends people to hell, it is not true that God doesn't send anyone to heaven. He is the only power that is able to send people to heaven.

It seems as though this book missed some key verses in the Bible:

For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.
2 Corinthians 13:4

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44

Most important Paul lays out the importance of the Gospel, not secular reasoning or secular evidence for the case for faith:

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:2-5

The Deliberate Church

This is a great handbook for any preacher. It is seriously a handbook for the church. It gives great reminders and ideas for those that have been in a church for years and for those who have either just planted a church or that have taken over the reigns as lead pastor. Some of the greatest advice in the book focuses not only on the theological implications of the different methodologies in the church but in exactly how to implement different things in churches so that you don't scare off the sheep.

This book is amazing in its practical instruction on certain issues, even the particulars of how to run an elders meeting. So, it is truly designed for use throughout one's ministry and to be used almost as an encyclopedia of sorts of a "how to" for the local church. The book is broken up into four parts:

Part I: Gathering the Church

In general this section focuses on expository preaching, prayer, missions, membership and discipline

Part II: When the Church Gathers

This section focuses on worship and the regulative principle of worship, the ordinances, the role of the pastor, etc.

Part III: Gathering Elders

This section focuses on things such as the biblical mandate for elders, the searching for those men, staffing, etc.

Part IV: When the Elders Gather

This section is very practical and walks through how Dever's church handles elder meetings and the role of the lead pastor in those meetings. Very practical.

All in all this is a great book. I do not agree with every aspect of it, but those that I don't agree with I never felt as though Dever was "pushing his convictions" but was just putting them forth. This is great to see a man of God just showing the way their church do things without purporting it as the ONLY way, but A way. Very encouraging to see and more understanding of why Dever has been so successful in starting and maintaining the ministry of "Together for the Gospel" with others that don't see eye to eye with him on every aspect of the non-essentials.

I would very much like to see this book on the top of every list of books that pastors are ready and wanting to read. Very much needed book when the next great "how to grow your church no matter what" is probably just around another corner. Link to Buy

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce

I am not a history buff by any means, so it was safe to know that I had no clue who William Wilberforce was. I picked up the book because I am sucker for both John Piper and biographies.

This book was intriguing being it is so small and wasn't in one of Piper's "Swan Biographies," and was on someone that I wasn't familiar with. I didn't know what to expect from a small biography, and to be honest, wasn't expecting much.

The biography really is just a mere introduction to the life of Wilberforce and his convictions. He was a young rich man in British Parliament that ended up, through a close friend, surrendering to Christ. After his conversion he was wondering whether politics was a calling or curse from God and was thinking of leaving his post in parliament. That all changed when he met with another pillar of the faith in John Newton on December 7th, 1785. Newton challenged him to stay within the confines of parliament to change it for the glory of God and Wilberforce did just that. He not only was the sole reason for the abolition of slave trade in Britain but he was also the reason behind the complete abolition of the practice of having slaves as well.

This small biography gives insight to the man and his mission to do all things to the glory of God. It is well intentioned and a great introduction to "tease the mind" to want to learn more of this man's convictions.

For this reason I would recommend the reading to anyone, but don't expect this to be a very deep biography or one that will give you all the ins and outs of the circumstances of the life of this defender of glory and righteousness. But, I also don't think that was Piper's intention, but his attention was to get the reader to be introduced to another dead man that stood for Christ, another man that we can imitate, as he imitated Christ. Link to Buy

Humility: True Greatness

I haven't wanted to read this book for the mere fact that I am selfish and didn't want to be that convicted of my prideful attitudes. It wasn't until one of my elders read the book and told me what impact it had on his thoughts and attitudes of his daily walk, that I decided to pick up the small, but towering book of truth.

CJ Mahaney has put together a very strong book that seems to come from the outworking of his previous works which focus on Christ and His cross. This seems as though it is the natural outflow of his writings on "Christ our Mediator" and also "The Cross Centered Life." CJ comes to this conclusion and outworking by writing the book "Humility: True Greatness."

The book is broken into three parts:

Part I: Our Greatest Friend, Our Greatest Enemy: The Battle of Humility Versus Pride

In this part CJ comes out and helps define what humility is and what pride is. He then walks through the implications, promises and perils of both.

Part II: The Great Reversal: Our Saviour and the Secret of True Greatness

This is classic Mahaney. Pointing us back to our Saviour. It is as although he has "defined" humility and pride in the first part he cannot truly define humility without coming back to the Saviour and the cross. Mahaney shows some ways that the Christ shows humility to his disciples in Mark 10 and also through the great redemptive plan in the cross. This is where you start to simply understand your need of humility to truly walk in the ways of Christ and this is where I started to ask, "give me some ways to understand this practically" and that is what Mahaney delivers in the third part of the book.

Part III: Our Great Pursuit: The Practice of True Humility

Mahaney really lays out some great practical ways to come to an understanding of humility in our lives and ways to see the pride in them as well. He lists out for most of the book, as this is by far the longest part, practical ways to be humble and ways to continually point out prideful parts in our lives.

All in all, this is a very hard book practically to read, as I have found all of Mahaney's books to be, but very easy for any layman to pick up and walk through. Very challenging without being a cry from the high towers of holiness as this book is read and written through the eyes of someone you feel is having the very same struggles you are in the subject that is being written, yet someone who has much knowledge to share on how to "accomplish" the set thesis.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to understand this subject, and if you feel you don't need to understand this subject...you really need to read this book, cause you are missing the point...

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The King James Only Controversy

I honestly didn't pick this book up for a long time because up here in Seattle we just don't see that much importance placed on this position. We struggle for people to just take interest in any Bible, so to have a controversy over the KJO position is just not seen all that often up here.

The reason I decided to finally pick it up was because I wanted some better background of the translation process that our contemporary Bibles use and also the reasoning for all those annoying brackets around verses like Acts 8:37.

What I found was a wealth of knowledge of understanding in the translation process and also it taught me what I thought was already laughable and that is the thought that God has inspired and preserved an English translation of the original Greek and Hebrew.

Dr. White, like usual, handles this work in a very easy and readable format. He goes through the background of simply the translation process that happen (ed/s) with every translation, the manuscripts used and also their differences and the reasons why.

If you are not immersed into the difficulty, as I am not, it becomes quite repetitive in a lot of aspects as Dr. White goes through and breaks down MANY verses and compares different versions with each other, allowing the reader to better understand not only the differences but the reasons why the differences exist.

If you are in this controversy and having to fight against it, you will not find it to be repetitive but really an encyclopedia of knowledge and defense against the KJO position.

I really commend Dr. White for this work because he made it very interesting even to us who don't have to communicate with such a strange position. I believe he handles this very fairly and gives extensive footnotes to the reader for fuller explanation and directives if needed. I am sure that those who are in the movement will feel attacked but Dr. White continues to give praise for the KJV when needed but also points out its fallacies to just make the point that it is not the KJV that is infallible but the original words of our great and glorious God.

I would definitely recommend this book for any who are looking for a deeper explanation of how the Bible they hold in their hand was put together.

I highly recommend. Click here to purchase.

Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out

Loved it. I have given Mark Driscoll a hard time in the past but I can tell you he is starting to change how I look at the culture and Jesus Christ, in a good way. The thing I like the most about Pastor Driscoll is that he does not water down the gospel or theology in any way to reach the lost, but instead focuses on going to where the lost are instead of waiting for them to walk through the church doors.

He walks through many things in this book, but the main theme is making sure that we are Hudson Taylor's here in the states and also to understand that sin is not contagious, you can't catch it like a cold. He walks you through how Christ lived and was around sinners so much that people, the religious people, called Him "glutenous and a drunkard." Mark tells the story of him running into one of the men that was crucial in his conversion, where the man reveals that he is gay. Mark then asks the man to visit the church again and the man balks by saying, "Why should I go to your establishment when you would never set foot in one of mine?" So Mark takes the challenge and goes to a gay bar with the man. Please don't judge this story until you read it and see the outcome of it. Because to be honest, it shook me up and brought me to my knees in repentance of thinking, "I would never be seen there!" Part of me was revealed that I was one of the religious people calling Christ, "a gluten and a drunkard."

We must engage sinners with the gospel where they are! We don't engage in their sin, but we must engage the sinner. That is what this book is about, engaging the culture because the culture is where the sinners are.

Please read this book no matter your perspective on ecclesiology as it will at least open your eyes to those around you a little more. There is some course jokes as usual from Pastor Driscoll, some funny, some a little tough to swallow, but get past that and see the content. I would highly recommend this book. Link to Buy

Living the Cross Centered Life

This book is truly a great one as C.J. Mahaney brings it all back to the cross. A lot of this book includes previous works, "The Cross Centered Life" and "Christ Our Mediator." I also had just listened to C.J.'s sermon from the 2005 Resolved Conference called "Interrogating the Legalist Within" so most of this was review. But if you have yet to read or listen to these, please pick this little book up, you will not be disappointed.

C.J. continues to bring out the cross in everything in this dissertation of the cross centered life. C.J. goes into understanding the cross in defining our lives, feelings (experience), God's love, Gethsemane, our part in the cross (sin), our suffering, legalism, condemnation (with much more) and then just the practical application.

C.J. gives five practical ways to live a cross centered life:

1. Memorize the Gospel: Memorize those scriptures that remind us of the gospel (2 Cor 5:21; Romans 8:31-34; Isaiah 53:3-6)

2. Pray the Gospel: Since the Gospel is the reason we can approach such a holy God, continue to pray the Gospel as a reminder of why you can speak to such an awesome God.

3. Sing the Gospel: Find songs and CD's whose focus in on the great and glorious Gospel and not on man. Those songs that concentrate on what He has done for us.

4. Review How the Gospel Has Changed You: Looking to your past, not for condemnation's sake, but for the reminder of mercy and grace

5. Study the Gospel: Don't only study books on the Gospel or only on the New Testament, but study the Old Testament and see Christ's fulfillment of It. Making sure that our studies don't leave the Gospel behind but builds itself upon It.

I would really recommend this to any and all Christians. Great reminders of how the Cross should impact our lives and how it has freed us from condemnation and the errors of legalism. Link to Buy