Review: When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage
When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage by Dave Harvey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. Outstanding. Five stars doesn’t mean perfection without any weakness, but a great book. Of the writing and printing of books on marriage there is no end, and much reading of them is weariness to the flesh. So many of them are naught more than manipulation manuals and “how does that make you feel?” therapy sessions. The problem is that those kind of books never get to the root of the problems and end up only trying to control the symptoms. A good way to be miserable.
Dave Harvey understands the root of the problem and it is the theme of this book. The sin problem in marriage is not referring to the sins spouses commit against each other, but it is an acknowledgement that both spouses are sinners and houses of indwelling sin. This is what the Bible teaches about the true nature of man–we are not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners. When you bring two such sinners together to live in the same house and share the same space day after day, you multiply the opportunity for sin to manifest and offense to abound.
This book is a good mix of doctrinal and practical instruction. It provokes to self-examination and teaches. Rooting these things in God’s Word means that it gives a strong foundation and reason to hope for sinners who say “I do.” I highly recommend it.
Review: The Life of God in the Soul of Man
The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book comes from a collection of letters the author wrote in counseling another man. There are many precious gems of truth in it. The book reveals a spiritual insight and discernment that is very rare in our sound bite age. It seems few can discern the true work of God in man’s soul and counsel soundly concerning the spiritual struggle of life. I recommend a careful reading of this small book.
Review: Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good book. Mark Dever gives us nine different marks of a healthy church. This is not a full ecclesiology and there are more marks than these required to be a biblical church. However, the author states severally in the book that his design is not to write a full ecclesiology, nor does he mean to say these are the only marks of a healthy church.
Taking it for what it is, it is a good book that fills a gap in contemporary books on the church. The majority of books published on the church in the last couple of decades have been of the “church growth” variety. This book stands out in that crowd and that pushed it four stars for me.
The text is a mingling of doctrinal and practical issues concerning the church. The book does a good job provoking us to thought on these issues. The notes and appendices provide you enough additional reading sources to keep you busy for a long time. There are too many listed to comment about them except in a general way. The books listed are not of equal value and some I could not recommend at all. I hope you will exercise discernment in further reading. This book is not the only book on the church you should read, but I do recommend it to you.
Review: God and Marriage
God and Marriage by Geoffrey William Bromiley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one of those little books that turns out to be a big blessing. It’s a little different from most other books on marriage in that it is strongly doctrinal and not so much advice. There are certainly practical aspects but it is put upon a strong foundation.
Bromiley develops a biblical theology of marriage in four parts—God the Father and marriage, God as the husband of Israel, God the Son and Marriage, and God the Holy Spirit and marriage. The chapter on Israel is outstanding. He traces the rise and fall of Israel from the perspective of their practices concerning marriage.
The number of books on marriage has to be nearing infinity and much of them range from worthless to harmful. The bad marriage books turn out to be nothing but manipulation manuals or technique how-to’s. There is a place for some of that, but only if you have a solid theological foundation to stand on. Bromiley does a lot of work here to put some rock under your feet. I highly recommend it.
Review: Mind Siege: The Battle for Truth
Mind Siege: The Battle for Truth by Tim LaHaye
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Mind Siege” by Tim Lahaye and David Noebel is a reworking of an older book, “The Battle For The Mind.” This edition has been updated with current information. The copy I have was printed in 2000. “Mind Siege” is very informative about Humanism and Secular Humanism. Lahaye shows that Humanism is unquestionably the established state religion in America and that this religion is observed and honored throughout the government, public schools, big business, entertainment, and news media, etc. In short, it’s everywhere.
Lahaye also discusses the fervent indoctrination practice of Humanist adherents. They have an extremely aggressive program of brainwashing the general public in order to create good world citizens after their own image. This book is a real eye-opener and should be read by every Christian in this day. Unfortunately, we do not seem to understand who the enemies are and what the battle really is.
The only weakness to the book is that the author’s conclusions are somewhat lacking. Some of the solutions offered are not necessarily in line with spiritual warfare and the Christian commission. We have powerful weaponry in Jesus Christ and we should not abandon it to try to fight the world on their terms. While the practical applications could be more biblical and thorough, this is still a very worthwhile book. We have to know what the problem is before we can begin to address it. On that score, this book is helpful.
