Review of Five Points by John Piper

            If you are familiar with Piper at all then you know how much he loves Christ, the body and the Book. In this short book he gives us a good introduction in to the doctrines of Grace (a.k.a. Calvinism). He does something very interesting instead of sticking with the old acronym TULIP he switches the place of irresistible grace, and unconditional election. However, he does it in a way that it does not feel disjointed it actually seems to flow better; each chapter he writes builds upon its successor.

            Before he gets in to the points themselves he gives us a brief history lesson which I for one did appreciate. He tells the reader things like, “So the so-called Five Points were not chosen by the Calvinist as a summary of their teaching.  They emerged as a response to the Arminians who chose these five points to disagree with.” (pg. 12) He spends the majority of the rest of the book giving us detailed yet concise material dealing with each of the five points, and closes the book out with his and other pastor’s testimonies in how important Calvinism is to the faith, read especially the testimonies of Whitfield and Spurgeon. 

            I would happily recommend this work to anyone and everyone. It does not matter if you have been part of a reformed tradition for years this book can help you explain/argue your stance much better. And if you have no idea what I have been talking about this is a great introduction into reformed theology. I was given a copy of this work in exchange for a fair review, I did not have to give this book a good review in order to receive it.  So go pick up a few copies and have them to give out to those you know and those you don’t.   

Should Christians Litigate Against One Another?

Why is it better for Christians to lay down their rights and suffer injury than to litigate? In short, why shouldn’t Christians sue one another, and what’s wrong with litigation?

Provide a well-thought out answer to the question above, and address any collateral issues that come to mind, such as,

The failure of the church to teach this principle, or

The possible lack of receptivity in western-minded believers

            No, as Christians we should not enter into litigation with one another. There are numerous reasons why. One of the reasons is that we are supposed to be setting an example for the rest of the world to follow and if we are going around suing each other what type of standard are we really giving?  Jesus said that you will know who belongs to him by the love they have for one another. In John’s Gospel these are the exact words of Jesus, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:35, ESV).

            Also, when we litigate against one another particularly it shows that we are unwilling to be wronged whether it is for the cause of Christ or not. Peter tells us how Christ handled persecution when he says, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23, ESV) Therefore if we are supposed to be like Christ we are to take persecution as though it comes with the territory.

            It is a shame that most churches will never teach on this topic, not because it is irrelevant for our time but out of fear. There are all of these mega churches preaching heresy, while the church that preaches truth is often condemned as being intolerant. While this principle should be taught even if it is on the larger scale of not expecting to be rich, and always healthy.  We want to believe that the life of a Christian is supposed to be easy with no challenges. But that is not what Jesus told his followers, he told them that if the world or even the religious leaders persecuted him because he was teaching truth that they would get the same treatment (Matt 10:16-25).

            In the west we have come to believe that culture influences the Bible and it is backwards, the Bible should influence society. And if that is the case we should be willing to give to our brother/sister in Christ and suffer that loss. Look at the believers in Acts who sold everything so that they could share and take care of one another as a community and a body/family of believers.  But our western mindset has taught us that we have to look out for numero uno,  and to get what is coming to me. That however is not what scripture teaches us it is the exact opposite and until we as a body can begin to exhibit love for one another and not take each other to litigation over things that can be settled at home the world will always think we are a joke.

Review of A Call to Resurgence by Mark Driscoll

            Let me start by saying I am usually a huge fan of Mark Driscoll especially of his theology. When I heard he had a new book coming out I could not wait to get my hands on a copy. Like anything else he has written this is a meaty book weighing in at 250 pages of actual material and then another 60 pages or so for the appendices. The book is broken up into seven chapters and two appendixes. In the first chapter Driscoll explains how we no longer live in a world ruled by Christian values and how Christendom as we know it has DIED. To make his point of how Christianity has lost its pull in this country in particular he says, “When evangelicals can’t even land a token appearance at an event orchestrated to reflect the various facets of American society, it’s clear that Christian clout has reached its expiration date and been pulled off the shelf.” (Driscoll,7) He also points out our failure to proselytize, “the percentage of Christian converts is not keeping pace with our growing population as unbelief overtakes Christianity.”(page 22.)

            Deep into chapter two he has a chart that describes the different “tribes”. It is rather informative and let me know that I am all over the map with several exceptions being that I don’t fall in to the Charismatic Pentecostal category. Most of the rest of the book almost feels like a rehash of some of his previous work. So as long as you are  a fan of Driscoll you will find something to like, if you are not there are still something’s you can take away from the material. So if you can get a copy of the book check it out and take the time to process it, if you own most of Driscoll’s other works you may not be missing out on much new information here. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

A Critique of Humilitas by John Dickson

Summary

            Humilitas by John Dickson is not some great treatise on humility. It is a rather short work that borrows a lot from other sources, but Dickson tells you that from the onset. John Dickson is a man of many talents according to the dust jacket of the book; he is a PhD in history, he was a musician, and he is also a pastor at a church in Australia where he is from.  As stated before this is not an extremely large book it comes in under 200 pages of material.

            With his background in history it is no wonder that the majority of this book is committed to the historical background of humility and the role it has played in different societies. There is a shift not only in history, but also in the book that takes place with Christ. Before Christ most cultures were based on the shame-honor system, even things in his own Jewish community were set up that way. It is in the context of this society that Christ’s new teaching made him a radical. One aspect of the book that helped to drive home the point Dickson was attempting to make was his use of stories actually depicting acts of humility; in particular the story of Joe Louis.  In short this book can be broken up into three sections, the history of humility before Christ, after Jesus, and application.

Critique

            Dickson’s book as a whole was okay, it was not something that I was blown away by, nor was it something that felt like a complete waste of time.  Throughout the book you will find some nuggets of value such as, “One of the keys to developing humility is spending more time with friends who speak plainly.”[1] There was not much I took away from chapter one, however in the next chapter on leadership I did manage to glean more. He makes a good point in distinguishing art from science when he says, “Leadership is more of an art than a science. This is why there are as many leadership styles, books and courses as there are forms of art.”[2] He goes on to make several other important observations about leadership and how being a good performer will not make you a good leader, while a good leader always did well in some aspect of the work before becoming a leader.[3] There is one thing I was not crazy about when dealing with this chapter it felt disjointed being in a book on humility, because it seemed like it took forever to get to the topic and then covered it poorly.

            In his next chapter subtitled common sense he has a superb point that is often over looked not only in the corporate setting but in other areas such as the home and church. He says, “Humbly acknowledging limitations and refusing to engage in competency extrapolation are not signs of weakness. The demonstrate realism and are therefore strengths.”[4]  In chapter four he points out that in some cultures that humility was not a virtue, it was so ill received that on a list of over 147 virtues it did even make the list.[5] It was thought of so lowly that, “humility was the stuff of slaves, not respected rabbis.”[6]

            He makes the point about respect making a huge difference on how we receive things said by people.  For instance, “The same words my be used by both of us; the same evidence may be presented; but, somehow, the words of the trusted friend are much more compelling.”[7] Some would say that by holding to a solid set of convictions and being unwilling to yield makes us intolerant and unable to be humble. Dickson suggest, “Humility applied to convictions does not mean believing things any less; it means treating those who hold contrary beliefs with respect and friendship.”[8] In building humility we should keep examples worth following before us, “if we are shaped by what we admire, finding admirable examples and studying them will go a long way toward forming humility in us.”[9]

Evaluation

            It would be hard for  me to recommend this book to anyone, unless they were looking for a historical perspective of humility. While this book is used in class on preventing ministry failure I saw very little in this book that was an encouragement. From what I have read there is a book of similar size by C.J. Mahaney entitled Humility that would be far more appropriate on the topic. Dickson’s work is a good historical approach, but as far as practical it misses the  mark.

            I would like to have seen more of a biblical perspective on the topic of humility. He gives us a brief understanding of the humility of Christ, and it stops short. From the vantage point of a pastor or elder in the church there is not much here to take away from this book to be of any benefit to the body, it could very well be applied to the secular context and you would not be able to make any major distinguishing comments between who the intended recipients are supposed to be. Was this book written for the body of Christ or the rest of the world? While it is published by Zondervan a prominent name in Christian publishing, its listing is under business and economics proving that it is not truly set for Christian ministry or living. In  my opinion it is still miscategorized and should be under history.  So in the end I would not recommend this work for use in the body in any capacity.

Bibliography

Dickson, John. Humilitas: A lost key to life, love, and leadership. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

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            [1] John Dickson, Humilitas: A lost key to life, love, and leadership. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011)12.

            [2] Ibid., 34.

            [3] Ibid., 37.

            [4] Ibid., 56.

            [5] Ibid., 88-89.

            [6] Ibid., 104.

            [7] Ibid., 139.

            [8] Ibid., 167.

            [9] Ibid.,175.