For All It's Worth

Ordinary: How to turn the world upside down by Tony Merida Helping the vulnerable is not first priority for many churches, but rather saving the lost spiritually comes to the forefront.  In his new book, Ordinary, Pastor Tony Merida turns our old outdated categories of what it means to serve the disenfranchised and vulnerable on their head and promotes a strong theological and biblical rationale for doing so.  In turn, what you find in this book is a work that is wise, challenging, and faithful to the Scriptures.  Tony has seen it all, from the social gospel to an evangelical gospel that has no room for service, and yet he still has hope for the future.  In the opening preface Tony cites Aristides who saw the early Christians as normal citizens caring for the widows, orphans, and one another in love and yet stood for the truth.  These believers were not elites or special Christians, but “Ordinary Christians who proclaim an extraor...

Love Gently Falling by Melody Clarkson Rita is out on the West Coast realizing her dream of becoming a great hairstylist, a vision which was set in her early years working in her mother’s salon.  Suspense sets in as her mother falls ill and is on the road for a long recovery.  Rather than drop in and help her mother back to health, Rita also begins the long process of updating her mother’s salon.  Along the way, Rita meets up with her old nemesis Zinnia, runs into Johnny, Zinnia’s close friend, and this begins the tense relationship between the three, including a promising relationship between Johnny and Rita.  The narrative weaves through the story of Rita’s family, coming together under the weight of Donna’s illness and bringing Rita into a new phase in life.  With the budding relationship between Rita and Johnny, the story unfolds in a unexpected but exciting way.  This kind of story is not one I’m accustomed to reading but one w...

You just don't want to mess with John Frame!  For if you do, you will certainly be scratching your head and wondering what hit you.  No, for real, John Frame is one of the brightest and best systematic theologians of our generation.  He deftly wades in the waters of contemporary, historical, but most passionately biblical-systematic theology with grace, uncanny insight, and sound application.  What I enjoy most about Frame's work is that he carefully thinks through issues, not willing to pass along the same old way many have done Systematics before him, but is hopelessly seeking after the God of Scripture as he has revealed himself in the pages of Scripture.  I have not yet finished John's newest work, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (2013), but already it is a goldmine of truth and passion. Buy it at  http://www.amazon.com/Systematic-Theology-Introduction-Christian-Belief/dp/1596382171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421253240...

Samuel Wells writes, "Fear isn't itself good or bad.  It's an emotion that identifies what we love.  The quickest way to discover what or whom someone loves is to find out that they are afraid of.  We fear because we don't want to lose what we love.  We fear because we don't want to lose what we love.  We fear intensely when we love intensely or when we think what or whom we love is in real danger.  So a world without fear wouldn't be a good thing, because it wouldn't just be a world without danger - it would be without love." ~ Be not Afraid: Facing Fear with Faith , xv Fear can be a crippling emotion that drives us to despair but it can also lead us to revere the things or persons we should rightly honor.  Fear is neither inherently good or evil in itself but points to the overarching foundation of our hearts.  Mary and Joseph are told in the Gospels to not fear because there is great news for them.  Isaiah reminds exiled Israel to n...

God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology by Gerald Bray How has the inception of Christianity in the ancient and modern world changed the lives of its inhabitants?  Gerald Bray seeks to answer this question in his new book, God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology. This weighty tome begins with the parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity, the development of Christian theology as providing an answer to the modus operandi of the church apart from the obsessive nature of those interested in the law.  Bray comments early on that, “The church also had to explain how Jesus Christ was related to the Jewish God. This meant that biblical monotheism had to be interpreted in a way that could accommodate the divinity of Christ” (35).  As such, the attributes of God were often communicated through the life and work of Jesus, his ministry, his law abiding, and his death. Part of the richness of Bray’s writing is his deft grapplin...

A Passion for the Fatherless: Developing a God-Centered Ministry to Orphans by Daniel J. Bennett Actively involving yourself in the care of orphans is part of the Christian life, but for some it is not essential.  Pastor Daniel J. Bennett, in his new book A Passion for the Fatherless, builds the case that orphan ministry is central to the Bible’s teaching and to the Christian life.  Not just vocalizing his passion for orphans, Daniel also writes out of a deep experience caring for orphans.  Yet, this book is unique in that it combines a theological richness and biblical fidelity that is uncommon. Daniel opens the first chapter with an outline of God’s glorious grace found in Ephesians 1.3-14.  In the opening lines of Paul’s one long sentence in Greek, we find that God is the source of grace, we receive his grace, and that we see his graciousness in the provision of his grace.  Not only this, but in line with John Piper’s vision, “God’s gre...