Tag: Book Review

I recently finished the audio version of Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation. It is challenging to review an audiobook since I cannot refer to a particular page with all my highlights, but I will share some of the book's key themes. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist from New York University, writes engagingly and uses numerous charts and statistics to trace the mental health struggles of Gen Z. The book is divided into three sections: The Decline of Play-Based Childhood, The Rise of Phone-Based Childhood, and Collective Action for a Healthier Childhood. He begins the book by discussing how childhood has changed over the last few decades. Childhood has slowly changed from a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood. The early 2010s were a critical period that coincided with the rise of social media and many kids having cell phones. He quotes statistics that show there is a rise in mental health struggles among adolescents, with anxiety, depression, suicide, and other...

What is so great about the life and death of Jesus? What does God require for eternal life? Patrick Abendroth answers these questions and more in a new book, "The Active Obedience of Christ". The active obedience of Christ helps believers understand the work of Christ more deeply. When I started teaching the Bible, I emphasized Jesus’ passive obedience (his dying of sins) but often neglected his active obedience (his perfect life). Although Jesus dying for sins is essential for understanding the gospel, there are glorious truths about the work of Christ and all that he accomplished in his perfect life. This book is a primer that helps readers understand the importance of Jesus obeying the law on behalf of sinners, known as his active obedience. There are short chapters on the meaning of the doctrine, the need, the biblical basis, history, and objections. In the appendix, he provides a short discussion of opposition from dispensationalists. Abendroth writes in a simple, straightforward...

My first book review for 2024 is for a book I picked up a year ago from an advertisement I saw while scrolling through Facebook. I was unfamiliar with the book and the author, but the title was so captivating that I bought the book. The book is called “Man of Sorrows King of Glory” by Jonty Rhodes. The book explores the meaning of Jesus’ humiliation and exaltation. Humiliation refers to Jesus’ life from the incarnation to the cross and exaltation from the resurrection to the present. Rhodes examines these two states of Christ (humiliation and exaltation) through the three offices of Christ: prophet, priest, and king. He explains why this topic is vital in the opening chapters, “It is not just that Jesus was our Savior; he remains so today.” The author is concerned that when believers only focus on the work of Christ in the past, this creates burdened pastors and guilt-laden sheep. Although the role of pastors is...

There are some books that I wish I had come across sooner in my life. A friend recommended the book “Serving without Sinking” by John Hindley. I had not heard of this book, which was written in 2013, but the subtitle captured my attention, “How to Serve Christ and Keep Your Joy.” I immediately connected with the author. He admitted that, at times, he had lost his joy. Serving Jesus was now something he resented and a duty to fulfill. The busyness of life had sucked out the joy. The current season of life has challenged my joy, so this book came at the right time. The central theme of Hindley’s book is that Jesus did not come to be served by us but came to serve us. We read in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He said, “The...

I recently read a book on poverty with some of my coworkers. I work at Children's Hunger Fund, a nonprofit organization that addresses poverty. The mission of Children's Hunger Fund is "Delivering hope to suffering children by equipping local churches for gospel-centered mercy ministry." We read and discussed the book "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...And Yourself" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. The book was first released in 2009 and has influenced many on how to address poverty. The title of the book is intriguing because it poses a question that I had not thought about, can helping those in poverty hurt others and oneself? The book begins with a story from one of the authors, Brian. Brian traveled with his family to do mission work in Uganda. While in Uganda, he taught a biblically based small-business curriculum at St. Luke's Church. He met Elizabeth, the women's ministries director for one of the local denominations....

I was recently at a counseling conference, browsing through the bookstore. One of the newer books displayed was Tim Challies' new book, "Seasons of Sorrow: the pain of loss and the comfort of God." I was looking for a book I could read during my flight home, and this book was my companion. Every person will face pain and loss in this world, and there are different responses to those events. Suffering is part of living in a sinful post-fall world. All of us will suffer in this lifetime (Christian and non-Christian). The question is when and to what degree. All will suffer in this life, but not all will respond the same to suffering. I think suffering leads us to a crossroads in life. One path is to turn away from the Lord and focus inward, allowing the devastation to shape one's thinking and identity in life. The other path leads to the Lord, where the truth of Scripture and...