Mark Dever. What is a Healthy Church? Crossway, 2007. 128 pp.
I spoke to Mark Dever just about a year ago and asked him if there were any books in his future. At that time he mentioned that he’d soon have a book out dealing with personal evangelism but that he had nothing planned after that. It seems that his plans changed! The book on evangelism is due for release in just a few days (September 11). It has been preceded by What is a Healthy Church and will be followed by The Church and Her Challenges. What is a Healthy Church? is a shortened, introductory version of Dever’s previous book 9 Marks of a Healthy Church written primarily for people in the pews rather than the men in the pulpits. After all, church health is not the sole responsibility of a local church’s leadership.
Reviewed by Tim Challies.
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Brian J. Walsh & Sylvia C. Keesmaat. Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. IVP, 2004. 256 pp.
Occasionally, a book comes along that ignites the fires of my imagination and fuels my passion for being part of the counter-culture we call the Church. Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat’s Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire is one such book.
Colossians Remixed goes where regular commentaries rarely go. The authors rewrite Colossians as if Paul were writing to postmodern, postChristian, 21st century Americans living under the rule of the American Empire. They go about this task by showing how deeply subversive Colossians was of the Roman Empire, and they seek to translate the subversive nature of the tract into today’s world.
Reviewed by Trevin Wax.
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J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, Daniel B. Wallace, Reinventing Jesus: How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular Culture. Kregel, 2006. 352 pp.
This book is a very good introduction to the topics of Contemporary Issues, Apologetics, and Textual Criticism for the dedicated layman or the serious-minded Bible study leader. I was surprised by the popular level approach to these topics brought by some of the top-shelf names in Christian scholarship. When life-long church members can say things such as “No one can really know what happened two thousand years ago,” the pastor must know that their knowledge is lacking and wonder what is the object of their faith. Their theological training from Sunday School classes has not prepared them for current challenges to the faith, and to their own faith. For pastors with members that are interested in the subject of how we know what we know about the faith, this would make a good gift to show your appreciation for their commitment to the task of teaching the Word. This book, though good for a lay introduction, does not suffice for the seminary student.
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Iain H. Murray. Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000. Banner of Truth, 2000. x + 342 pp.
Iain Hamish Murray (b. 1931) has authored about two dozen books on historical theology from a Reformed perspective. His mentor was David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whom Murray assisted at Westminster Chapel from 1956 to 1959 and about whom Murray wrote a stirring two-volume biography (vol. 1, vol. 2). In 1957, Murray co-founded the Banner of Truth Trust, which has published his many writings and for which he serves as Editorial Director.
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Jim Henderson & Matt Casper. Jim & Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversations About Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians. Tyndale, 2007. 172 pp.
Jim Henderson, the co-founder and executive director of Off the Map, has been looking for ways to improve churches for years. His desire is to reach “the people Jesus misses the most” (formerly known as “lost”) with the love that Jesus offers. To this end, he has paid people to go to church. Enter Matt Casper, atheist without an agenda.
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