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RADIO RHEMA – “BETWEEN THE COVERS” BOOK REVIEWS [if gte mso 9]> [if gte mso 9]> [if gte mso 9]> [if gte mso 9]> Radio Rhema - “BETWEEN THE COVERS” – 5th February 2011
“WHAT GOOD IS GOD?” by Philip Yancey. Hodder & Stoughton.
If you were to ask me who my favourite authors are my answer would depend on what subject matter I was looking for in a book. If I was looking for sound Bible teaching it would be J.I. Packer, John Stott and Alister McGrath. If it were something prophetic I would look to Charles Colson or Dr David Jeremiah.
For some light hearted humour, Adrian Plass. To be stimulated intellectually Ravi Zacharias, many other authors could be named but for a good stimulating read my favourite author would have to be Philip Yancey.
He is always interesting to read and quite provocative. He calls a spade a spade, as the saying goes, and he doesn’t suffer fools lightly. He shows up sham and hypocrisy and replaces it with cogent and reasoned arguments that are biblically sound and make sense in the world we live in.
He is also honest, insightful and inspirational in what he writes. His best known book would be “What’s So Amazing About Grace”, but he has many other books to his name. His latest, published last year, has the intriguing title: “WHAT GOOD IS GOD”.
Another thing that appeals to me about Philip Yancey is that he has travelled the world extensively, visiting and speaking to a very wide range of people, in vastly different situations and, in doing so, has tackled some of the most challenging questions facing humanity at this present time.
Each of the ten chapters, in this new book, starts by giving the background to the situation in which he was asked to speak. He explains the context, names the people involved and describes his impressions in an objective and colourful way, adding a little history and cultural background for good measure.
Then follows the message he gave at each of these places. In doing so he raises questions and provides answers and encouragement that was appropriate to each individual occasion and situation.
To a church, mainly full of students, following the campus massacre at Virginia Tech, he posed the question “Where is God when it hurts?” Then to China where the winds of change have brought some remarkable results. His message given there was entitled: “From the Bottom Up”.
In the third chapter he is at a conference for Christians reaching out with the gospel to prostitutes at Green Lake where he hears stories that should never need to be told. Where he also hears of the work being done by dedicated Christians to bring freedom and healing to those trapped in this degrading profession. His message here was that “Grace, like Water, Flows Downward.”
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Then on to Cambridge, England, to speak to students and faculty about C.S. Lewis and the impact his writings had made upon him at a time in his life when he struggled to believe.
In chapter five he is back at the Bible College he attended as a young man. Though he has much to say that is critical his message, on that occasion, was to recount what he wished he had known during those years.
The next chapter recounts much of the recent history of South Africa and the on going changes that are taken place there along with an appraisal of the present situation. Philip’s message: “Growing in Grace”.
Memphis is the subject of chapter seven. A city he visited at the time of the presidential elections in 2008. He was there to speak to a group at the Church Health Centre, a hospital founded by Dr. Scott Morris in 1987 to meet the needs of the poor, homeless and uninsured.
Then readers are transported to the Middle East where the Church is at risk, where there are sand dunes and skyscrapers, but also streams in the dessert that show that God is at work in the hardest and most restricted places on earth.
In Chicago he speaks to a group who are fighting addictions of many kinds. His message here has the title: ”Why I wish I was an Alcoholic”. There are grave dangers in thinking we have it all together.
Then in chapter ten it is off to India, to the city of Mumbai, in November 2008 when terrorists were wreaking havoc in the centre of the city. Philip’s scheduled meeting had to be cancelled but, never-the-less, he spoke to a group of some three hundred on the subject of “Grace Under Fire”.
In many diverse places, Philip Yancey found evidence of God being at work. Of the gospel of Jesus Christ being lived out in a hundred and one different ways by Christian people dedicated to the service of the poor, sick, frightened, homeless and addicted. Through their example the grace and caring love of God was seen in action.
I close with the final paragraph of this amazingly stimulating book. Philip Yancey writes: “I have reported on ten places where I have seen the question (what good is God?) answered-incompletely as it must be when entrusted to people, yet in a way that assuredly releases the fragrance of hope and transformation. May that fragrance continue to spread.”
“WHAT GOOD IS GOD – On the Road with Stories of Grace” by Philip Yancey is published by Hodder & Stoughton R.R.P. $34.99. 272 pages. (ISBN 978-0-340-996114-0 Published in 2010 Trade Paperback)
Reviewed for Radio Rhema by John Ward and recorded by John Lindsay in the Christchurch studios of the Christian Resource Centre INTERNATIONAL. Radio Rhema – “BETWEEN THE COVERS” 12th February 2011
“FROM KABUL WITH LOVE” compiled by Dr. Faith Goldberg. Castle.
When I emigrated to New Zealand in 1964 I made a commitment to write to my parents every week. They are now with the Lord but my step mother is still alive and I continue to write to her since my father’s death in 1999.
I doubt that they have kept these more than two thousand letters nor have I kept theirs to me. Fortunately some people do keep letters and today’s book, compiled by Dr Faith Goldberg, is a fascinating collection of such letters written between February 1954 and December 1976.
In the foreword Howard Harper writes…”My Dad (Stan Harper) was a pharmaceutical chemist in New Zealand with a long and strong involvement in foreign missions. My daughter Faith has recorded the private letters which passed between father and son over many years. We never thought of publishing them, but enjoyed a close and loving relationship which was only broken by the death of my father in 1976.” (End of quote)
From the age of fifteen Howard had a strong calling to the mission field with a special interest in Central Asia. Eight years later, in 1953, he sailed with his friend, Colin Blair, from New Zealand to Pakistan.
His first letter, written on 17th January 1954 from Karachi, tells of his journey and their experiences upon arrival. After less than a year he sensed that God was calling him to study medicine as a means of reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
With very little money, and a lot of faith, he headed for England even though he had no confirmed place in a medical school. His letters during this period recount some of the frustrations and setbacks that he experienced along with God’s obvious leading, enabling and provision.
His father’s letters express concern that Howard should have left his first placement in Pakistan so soon and, in spite of the opposition expressed by many of those who supported him in New Zealand, gone ahead with this radical change of direction.
After lot of hard work and God’s enabling he qualified as a doctor and for a short time practiced as such in the UK. He married Monica, a nurse, and together headed back to Pakistan overland with a large caravan in tow behind their overloaded Land Rover.
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Numerous letters tell of their adventures on this journey through many countries, of places visited, people encountered, breakdowns and the Lord’s protection and provision just when it was most needed.
His medical skills became the means of entry into Central Asia and eventually in the mid 1960’s enabled them to move to Kabul in Afghanistan to pioneer a medical programme involving relief aid and the establishment of an eye hospital.
From time to time they returned to New Zealand for furloughs and to the UK for further training. They were blessed with three daughters who it would appear fully entered into the ministry their parents were involved in.
These many letters, from son to father, from daughter in law to father in law and from father to both or either are most absorbing. In fact I would not have thought, prior to reading this book, that I would be so gripped by what was recorded in them.
At times, because there is no explanation as to many details not mentioned that had obviously taken place in between each letter, they do seem rather disjointed but this does not spoil the overall enjoyment of what is written.
The reader is privileged to be able to share in these intimate insights into a father’s concern for his son, and a son’s awareness that sometimes he had made questionable choices and not always done what his father thought was best. Such an honest and open relationship is of great value and benefit.
There were certainly times when Howard seems to have “done his own thing” and been unaware of how his decisions affected others in ministry with him. But, through it all, is Howard’s earnest desire to serve his Lord and as a result many hundreds of lives have been blessed.
There are many photographs dotted throughout the book and these add to its interest. This is an unusual and informative read, especially for those interested in mission and the passionate outworking of a God given vision.
“FROM KABAL WITH LOVE – Letters from a 21st Century Pioneer” compiled by Dr. Faith Goldberg is published by Castle and released just prior to Christmas. I’m told it is already one of their best selling titles. R.R.P. $27.99 (ISBN 978-0-9582822-5-3)
Reviewed for Radio Rhema by John Ward and recorded by John Lindsay in the Christchurch studios of the Christian Resource Centre INTERNATIONAL. Radio Rhema – “BETWEEN THE COVERS” – 19th February 2011
“WHY IS GOD IGNORING ME?” by Gary R. Habermas. Tyndale Press.
Because the Bible as a whole is the complete revelation of God in written form it is dangerous to take statements out of their context, or without reference to other parts of the Bible that deal with the same subject.
This is no where more true than in the matter of prayer. Jesus, during His earthly ministry, and certain other New Testament writers, make statements about prayer that, if taken and applied in isolation, can lead one to be quite disappointed and maybe even disillusioned when the answers are not what is asked for.
Ideally prayer is an intimate conversation with God that can, at times, be very beautiful and rewarding. But, to be honest, it isn’t always that way. In times of trouble and suffering, times when we feel most in need of God, it can feel like He just doesn’t hear. Maybe simply ignoring us!
Like me you may well have wondered why this is. Why do our earnest prayers seem to go unanswered? I’ve heard a lot of pat answers over the years, some of which have been far from helpful, so it’s good to be able to review a book that takes a broad, yet balanced, look at this sometimes confusing issue.
In “WHY IS GOD IGNORING ME?” Gary R. Habermas introduces his subject by saying…Wouldn’t it be wonderful to receive mail from God? What would it be like to open our mailbox and, just for once, find a letter with a heavenly postmark? Would it even need a stamp? And what if it contained very loving and personal words from your heavenly Father, the sort of thought you would treasure for the rest of your life.”
During the coarse of his many years of ministry the author has spoken with many Christians who experience doubts about their faith and all too often it has resulted from disappointment or frustration regarding seemingly unanswered prayer.
He experienced it most profoundly himself as he watched his wife of twenty-three years, the mother of their four children, dying of cancer. Maybe you can relate to that. If God loves us so much, we might well ask, why, just when we need Him most, does He seem so far away?
So to understand why God acts in the way He does requires that we be unwavering in our trust and confidence in Him. God is at work in our world, He is real and all powerful, and His ways and purposes are beyond our knowing. In chapter one the author cites many examples of God’s supernatural activities in our world - past and present. This is a great confidence booster. 2.
But, as chapter two suggests, there are times when we need something more personal. Once we know that this world has God’s fingerprints on it we are free to look for other signals of His more personal actions in our life. These signals are identified and explained in a very helpful way.
Chapter Three deals with those favourite Scriptures that promise so much but rarely seem to fulfill what they appear to be promising. Gary writes…”We must not take biblical promises as clear cut statements that God will always remove us from life’s worst moments.” (End of quote)
There are times when He has a purpose for our life that requires that we suffer such things, and learn and grow through them. Even the Lord Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed that what He faced be removed. This request wasn’t granted and we can be eternally grateful that it wasn’t.
Gary Habermas then goes on to cite many other situations in the Scriptures where God’s response to the prayers of His servants was not what they were asking for. It can be said of Job…”Though he never received a specific answer as to why he had suffered so much, Job’s knowledge of God convinced him he could trust Him with question marks in life.” God intends the same for us too!
When we study the subject of prayer in the Bible it is not long before we discover that there are conditions attached. These are detailed and explained in chapter six. There are times when we are the hindrance to our own prayers!
Not answering our prayers as we would like them answered tests and strengthens our commitment to know and do His will. Along with this He knows what is best for us and often the answers to prayer we are looking for are not in our best interest. There have been times when I have thanked God that He did not do as I had asked – invariably because it turns out that He had something different and better in store.
Another aspect in all of this is the place of Spiritual Disciplines in our relationship with God. Disciplines that draw us closer to Him, that make us more reliant and trusting.
He desires that we learn to see things from His perspective rather than the world’s. To learn to think His thoughts and grow in our understanding of His purposes for us, the Church and the world in general.
“WHY IS GOD IGNORING ME?” by Gary R. Habermas is published by Tyndale R.R.P. $27.99. (ISBN 978-1-4143-1688-8 Published 2010 153 pages)
Reviewed for Radio Rhema by John Ward and recorded by John Lindsay in the Christchurch studios of the Christian Resource Centre INTERNATIONAL. Radio Rhema – “BETWEEN THE COVERS” – 26th February 2011
“THE AEDYN CHRONICALS” by Alister McGrath. Zondervan.
When looking for books to review this month my eyes settled on a new book by the theologian Alister McGrath, currently Professor of Theology, and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture at King’s College, London.
With those credentials I expected a book that dealt with some serious aspect of the Christian faith, but, much to my surprise, like J.R.Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, Alister McGrath has turned his literary skills to writing a fantasy novel for children.
I nearly discarded it because of my aversion to such books but, on second thoughts, decided that I should not let my bias deter me from reviewing a book that might well be of considerable interest to a lot of people.
“CHOSEN ONES” is what I presume may well be the first book in a series with the title “THE AEDYN CHRONICLES”.
The land of Aedyn is a paradise the beauty of which would be hard to imagine. Those who live there do so because their previous home land was threatened by an active volcano.
A prophetic warning sent them on a journey across the seas to this land that held so much promise. Sadly, there are those, the fearsome hooded lords and their minions, who desire to control others and, for centuries, the bulk of the population have been subjugated and used as slaves.
Their children are taken as hostages so that the slave parents remain submissive. But there are those who have retained their freedom and live in hiding. They have the promise that two white people will come to their rescue and they live for the day when this will come about.
Peter and Julia never suspected that a trip to stay with their grandparents in Oxford, England, would result in anything out of the ordinary but that was before Julia stumbles upon a mysterious garden that shines on moonlight nights.
It was no accident that she fell into a pool in the garden and pulled her brother Peter in with her, but, like the wardrobe that led to Narnia, this pool is the entrance way to a strange new world.
This is a world of unimaginable beauty, rugged and bursting with life, inhabited by strange beasts and peculiar whisperings, mysterious horsemen and a monk who appears when least expected.
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Julia and Peter are captured and taken before the masked war lords. I quote from page sixty…”Peter heard a sharp intake of breath beside him, and nearly stumbled again when he saw what had startled Julia. On the thrones sat three hooded figures, and where their faces ought to have been, there were masks, gilded and embellished with mysterious symbols.”
“They were like the animal gods of ancient people, Peter thought. The central figure wore the mask of a wolf, and the other two the masks of a leopard and a jackal.” (End of quote)
In an attempt to impress them Peter produces some gunpowder from his breast pocket and explodes it. The three war lords recognize its potential and order Peter, under threat of death, to make more and show them how it can be used.
Foolishly he describes a canon and how the gunpowder can be use to propel a ball and they order him to make one. Julia thinks her brother has betrayed them and while being held captive her escape is secured by some of the slaves who are aware of the danger she is in.
Peter realizes his mistake and instead of designing, and having built, a canon of metal construction he has it made of clay so that when it is fired it explodes and in the confusion, gives him an opportunity to escape. Which he does and eventually meets up with Julia again.
The freedom fighters, in their forest hideaway, believe Julia and Peter to be the “Chosen Ones” they have been waiting for and so, with their leadership, plans are made to overthrow the evil warlords and their wicked subjects.
To tell you more would spoil the story should you choose to read it. In spite of my admitted dislike for such stories I have to admit that this one held my interest to the very last page.
It is, in a way, allegorical. A kind of parable of paradise lost, of evil rulers, slaves and exiled freedom seekers who long for the day when a saviour will come, turn the tables, and restore paradise to its original state.
The clothbound edition that I have to hand is beautifully illustrated by the Polish artist Voytek Nowakowski who uses old-world techniques to create enchanting places and an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue.
“THE AEDYN CHRONICLES - CHOSEN ONES” by Alister McGrath was published in 2010 by Zondervan R.R.P. $29.99. (ISBN 978-0-310-71812-3)
Reviewed for Radio Rhema by John Ward and recorded by John Lindsay in the Christchurch studios of the Christchurch Resource Centre INTERNATIONAL.
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