Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free by Tullian Tchividjian - 208 Pages

I read Glorious Ruin on a trip we took as a family to grieve and process a loss we suffered this year.

In many ways I found this book similar to C.S. Lewis'  A Grief Observed in the sense that it identifies well the feelings and confusion of experiences of grief, while being slow to offer any explanation or purpose for the suffering.

This was perhaps what I found to be the most helpful aspect of this book - the realization that for God to be good and trustworthy He is not required to give me a detailed explanation of why exactly everything has happened as it did.  The urge to - either from a sanitized "Oprahfied" church culture or an understandable personal desire to suffer as little as possible - to see a silver lining in every cloud is to minimize the depth of real pain that suffering brings.  And to minimize suffering is to minimize the power of the Gospel - a Gospel that is present in suffering and gives us hope in the future sinless, painless eternity with Christ.

Another Gospel-denying response to suffering that Tchividjian points out is the practice of moralizing.  He defines moralizing as interpreting "misfortune as the karmic result of misbehavior. This for that."  In other words believing that all of your suffering is a direct punishment from God for something bad that you did.  This errant view of suffering puts the solution and hope of the sufferer back on their shoulders, making them think that since their suffering was caused by their bad deeds, their good deeds will be what will turn their luck around.  As he states, "Karma puts us in control."  This is a false hope.

Contrasting a "theology of glory" (which sees God only present in situations of victory) with Luther's "theology of the cross" Tchividjian calls the reader to see how suffering unites us to the suffering of Christ, the God Man who suffered on our behalf.  It is by hoping in the power of his suffering, death, and resurrection that we can be assured God is present in our season of suffering and that He will preserve us until the day that He finally wipes away every tear, sickness, and sorrow.


A few quotes:

"The required cheerfulness that characterizes many of our churches produces a suffocating environment of pat, religious answers to the painful, complex questions that riddle the lives of hurting people."

"Thankfully, the good news of the gospel is not an exhortation from above to “hang on at all costs,” or “grin and bear it” in the midst of hardship. No, the good news is that God is hanging on to you, and in the end , when all is said and done, the power of God will triumph over every pain and loss. William James once wrote, “Where [God] is, tragedy is only provisional and partial, and shipwreck and dissolution are not the absolutely final things.”"

"Our point of pain reveals to us our greatest need— our need to be set free from false hopes and to cling to the only hope of the gospel."

"Suffering has a way of stripping all resources away from us so that in the end, all that we have is the only thing that matters: the approval of God based on the accomplished work of Jesus."

What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an by James White - 311 Pages

This is a great book for interacting with orthodox Muslims.  However it may not be the most effective approach in evangelizing nominal or folk muslims as they may not have the necessary knowledge about their own faith to even interact on a critical level.

James White does here what he does best, and applies his wealth of scholarly expertise in exegesis and ancient manuscript transmission to the text of the Qur'an.  After doing his best to fairly represent the basic tenets of orthodox Islam and history he lays out his arguments.  His basic arguments are:

• The author of the Qur'an did not have accurate understanding of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity:  "The Qur'an's representation of the the Trinity as "three gods" comprised of Allah, Marry, and Jesus is a complete canard..."
• In light of this gross misrepresentation and therefore unnecessary refutation on behalf of the Qur'an, the divine authorship of the Qur'an must be questioned.  This fact "...raises serious questions for the honest Muslim who wishes to believe the Qur'an truthful in all things because its author is Allah.  How could Allah misrepresent beliefs as the Qur'an so clearly does?"
• The claim of the Surah 4:157 that Jesus was not put to death on a cross puts it in clear contradiction with the preceding Scriptures (which the Qur'an claims to be in agreement with) and history itself.
• The Islamic view of Divine judgement, justice, and forgiveness is arbitrary and is in complete disharmony with the Old and New Testament view of sin and grace.
• The claim of many modern Muslims that the New Testament has been corrupted is in direct conflict with the teaching in Surah 5:47 that the New Testament (Injil) was intact in the days of Muhammad and should therefore be obeyed.  We know that the modern New Testament is in line with copies and of the New Testament dating hundreds of years prior to the time of Muhammad.  
• Contrary to Surah 10:94 there is no recognizable prophecy in the Old or New Testaments about the coming of Muhammad.  
• "Finally, the Muslim needs to recognize that the Qur'an has a history, in terms of its utilization of previous sources, which Islam seems intent upon denying, as well as a history of textual transmission" - in contrast to the Islamic claim that the Qur'an has been preserved in the exact form in which it was delivered to Muhammed.

Each of these claims is thoroughly explored and defended, with many (many) references and recitations of the originals sources.  

While I found Dr. White's arguments sound and helpful, perhaps the aspect of this book that most impressed me was the firm but respectful tone in which it was written.  It was clear that the author's intention was not to merely win and argument and shame opponents of Christianity but to seek the truth in the hopes that people will genuinely be set free from deception.  I hope to carry that attitude into conversations I have with Muslims in the future.  

For more good stuff from Dr. White check out his ministry's website:  Alpha and Omega Ministries

The Synthetic Men of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - 160 Pages

Another solid pulp fiction entry in the John Carter series. Damsels in distress, chivalry, gelatinous mutant flesh blobs, sword play, and space ships - Yes please! I'll be sad to say goodbye to this series in a few more books.

A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle - 49 Pages

This short book accomplishes what it's title proposes - calling the reader to prayer.  Ryle's basic premise is that nowhere in Scripture is the idea of true believer who is not a man or woman of prayer found.  Ryle's emphasis here is to point out to the professor of faith the essential nature of prayer in the life of a believer.  This he greatly and powerfully succeeds at.  There is a brief outline of how one should pray in the last chapter, but the focus is on the why here.   The questions at the end of each chapter in this addition made it an even more useful tool for meditation and growth.  A great exhortation to which I intend to return to if my prayer life grows cold.  

"I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved."

"I ask again whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian."

"A man may write books and make fine speeches and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Isacariot.  But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest."

Being a Dad Who Leads by John MacArthur - 143 Pages

Short, solid, simple. The first part of the book focuses on the direct instruction to fathers from Ephesians 6. From there MacArthur exposites applicable passages from from the Proverbs and I Thessalonians in his straightforward, accessible style. This book, though short, was a great reminder and encouragement to love and lead in a way that reflects my Heavenly Father.





"Ultimately, the Christian husband loves his wife not for what she can do for him, but because of what he desires to do for her"



"If you really love your wife, you're going to hate anything that defiles her."



"It's quite true that saving faith is child-like in the sense that it involves humble, unquestioning trust (Matthew 18:3-4). But faith cannot exist at all where the truth of the gospel is unknown (Romans 10:14). Authentic faith comes with spiritual understanding (I John 5:20). Don't assume your child's earliest signs of interest in Jesus signify full-grown saving faith. I've known countless people who 'invited Jesus into their hearts' as toddlers only to fall away from Christ before faith could come to full fruition. Again, both Ephesians 6:4 and Deuteronomy 6:7 employ expressions that underscore the need for persistence in the nurture and admonition of our children."



"As a father, then, you are the guardian of your children's minds."


"A father is to face life with courage.  He is to believe certain truths and take a stand on them."

Disciplines of the Christian Life by Eric Liddell - 159 pages

Eric Liddell, Olympic Gold Medalist and missionary martyr, is one of my heroes. In this short book he lays out his philosophies of pursuing holiness. The emphasis here is on obedience. As he states early on, "One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having his peace and assurance in your heart: it is obedience."

I think his focus on obeience could have been balanced with more discussion of the Grace of God as a motive for obdience, however since I find it easier personally to drift towards antinomianism, Liddell's emphasis was appreciated. 

Liddell's book is divided into Three parts: The Life of Discipleship (a brief description of what Discipleship looks like), A Year of Discipleship (a list of daily scripture readings centered around monthly themes), and The Disciple and the Church (A brief description of the role and relationship of the individual disciple to the people of God and the ordinances of the Church).

Although I did not agree with every thing (eg. Infant Baptism), this is a helpful resource and great reminder to run the race as if to win it.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - 268 Pages

Before Fahrenheit 451. Before 1984. There was a Brave New World. First published in 1932, Alduous Huxley's classic is terrifyingly prophetic. Where 1984 was all about controlling the masses with force, violence, and pain, a Brave New World looks past that to a world controlled and numbed into passivity through base sensuousness and sterile civility. The disassociation of sex from monogamy and childbirth is hauntingly similar to the trajectory our culture is currently rushing along. Well written. Engaging. Haunting. Here's a gist of the message from this excerpt where one of the world controllers is reviewing a paper that was submitted for publication approval: "He sat for some time, meditatively frowning, then picked up his pen and wrote across the title-page: 'The author's mathematical treatment of the conception of purpose is novel and highly ingenious, but heretical and, so far as the present social order is concerned, dangerous and potentially subversive.  Not to be published.'  He underlined the words.  'The author will be kept under supervision.  His transference to the Marine Biological Station of St. Helena may become necessary.'  A pity, he thought, as he signed his name.  It was a masterly piece of work.  But once you began admitting explanations in terms of purpose - well, you didn't know what the result might be.  It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes - make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere; that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge.  Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true.  But not, in the present circumstance, admissible.  He picked up his pen again, and under the words 'Not to be published' drew a second line, thicker and blacker than the first; then sighed, 'What fun it would be,' he thought, 'if one didn't have to think about happiness!'"

When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey - 183 Pages

	This book has one note - but it is a strong and beautiful one. Harvey takes the couple back to the Gospel and shows over and over again how it is the only effective weapon against the greatest enemy of every marriage - our sin. A great read and resource that I have used not only in my counseling sessions with couples but in my own marriage as well.

There is no problem or trial or sin in marriage for which the Gospel is not a sufficient remedy.  That sounds utterly foolish in today's world, but the humble couple willing to listen to the wisdom of God will gain greatly from this Gospel-centered book.

H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian - 405 pages

Book three in O'Brian's classic Master and Commander series lives up to and exceeds the standards set by the first two books.  H.M.S. Surprise continues to follow the adventures, friendships, and loves of Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this series for the compelling characters, beautiful prose, and historical attention to naval detail.  The chapter in which Dr. Maturin explores 16th century Bombay is some of the most exquisite writing I have read in a long while.

I leave you with a sampling of favorite quotes:

"Yet autumn is a kind of spring, too: for there is never a one but is pushed off by its own next-coming bud."

"Two hundred and fifty-nine men living in promiscuity, extreme promiscuity for the lower-deck, and the two hundred and sixtieth a hermit: of course it was the common lot of captains, it was the naval condition, and like all other lieutenants he had strained every nerve to reach this stark isolation; but admitting the fact made precious little odds to what it felt like."

"do you not find that a spoken language wafts in and out of your mind, leaving little trace unless you anchor it with print?"

"Once he had established that Jack and Hervey were connected with families he knew, he treated them as human beings; all the others as dogs - but as good, quite intelligent dogs in a dog-loving community."

"Stephen looked sharply round, saw the decanter, smelt to the sloth, and cried, 'Jack, you have debauched my sloth.'"

"They will not be pleased.  But they know we must catch the monsoon with a well-found ship; and they know they are in the Navy - they have chosen their cake, and must lie on it."

"I had expected wonders from Bombay; but my heated expectations, founded upon the Arabian Nights, a glimpse of the Moorish towns in Africa, and books of travel, were poor thin insubstantial things compared with the reality."

"I was speaking today with an unclothed Hindu religious, a params-hamsa, on the steps of a Portuguese church, a true gymnosophist; and I remarked that in such a climate wisdom and clothing might bear an inverse proportion to one another."

"This city has immense piety, but old Adam walks about; bodies I have seen, some starved to death, some clubbed, stabbed, or strangled; and in any mercantile city one man's evil is another's good.  Yet a materialism that would excite no comment in Dublin or Barcelona shocks the stranger in Bombay."

"A true spit-and-polish frigate, with the highest rate of punishment and desertion in the fleet."

"Gunnery and seamanship come first, and there never was a ship that fought well without she was a happy ship."

"...and when I think that their teeming loins will people the East...Pray pour me out another cup of coffee."

"It occurs to me, that our race must have a natural propensity to ugliness.  You are not an ill-looking fellow, and were almost handsome before you were so pierced, blown up and banged by the enemy and so exposed to the elements; and you are to marry a truly beautiful young woman; yet I make no doubt you will between you produce little common babies, that mewl, pewl, and roar all in that same tedious, deeply vulgar, self-centered monotone, drool, cut their teeth, and grow up into plain blockheads."

"War is nine parts boredom, and we grow used to it in the service.  But the last hour makes up for all, believe me."

Passion by Mike McKinley - 160 pages

I read and finished this during passion week but am just now able to review it.

McKinley walks the reader through the events and implications of the last day of Christ through the crucifixion to His resurrection.

There isn't much new or groundbreaking in this book, but don't let that make you think it isn't worth a read.  This book helps to focus on the crux and apex of the Gospel and reflect on how when believed and properly understood, those events affect everything about my present and future reality.

A great devotional read.

"You really are just like Barabbas!  You and I are sinners; we sit in a spiritual prison, bound helpless, awaiting the day where we get the just punishment that we deserve.  But then Jesus goes off to the cross in our place.  He gets what we deserve: we get what He deserves."  - p.79

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway - 144 Pages

A classic collection of Hemingway shorts. His skill in creating characters with whom you are simultaneously fascinated by, disgusted with, and sympathetic for excels here. Great insight into human nature.  Like all works of literature, this requires discernment when reading to be useful for edification. 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - 473 pages

Rags to riches, Olympic Medal winner, WWII, lost at sea, POW, torture, alcoholism, PTSD, and the power of the Gospel. 

Hillenbrand masterfully tells the powerful true story of a real hero, Louis Zamerini. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this book is going to be the best book I read this year....because it's one of the best books I've ever read. And it's all true. Read it.

top ten of 20013

Since you asked....or should have....here's my Top Ten reads of 2013.

Didn't quite reach 10,000 pages but now I've got something to shoot for next year.

Click on the link to read my review for each book.


1. Isaiah by the Day by Alec Motyer

2. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

3. Finally Free by Heath Lambert

4. Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

5. In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson

6. The Conviction to Lead by Al Mohler

7. Post Captain by Patrick O'Henry

8. The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller

9. World War Z by Max Brooks

10. Down the Great Unknown by Edward Dolnick

Honorable Mentions:

When God Comes Calling by Ted Fletcher

Time Machine by H.G. Wells


See you in the future!

Galatians by Martin Luther - 304 pages

One of the classics of the Protestant Reformation. Surprisingly accessible.  Read this as our church in Okinawa was going through Galatians.

The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 960 Pages

I started reading this book with a group of friends.  To my knowledge, I am the only one who finished it.  I'm not sure who among us was the wisest.

I did not enjoy this book.  I know it is a classic but neither the characters or the story was gripping enough for me to justify the amount of time it took to read the almost 800 page monster.  I have nothing against long books (Les Miserables at 1200 pages is my favorite book of all time), I just wasn't compelled enough early on to stay mentally and emotionally with this book.  By the last half it was just sheer will that got me through it.  By the time something actually happened I was so sick of these hyper-sensitive, overly-philosophical, and exceedingly nick-named characters that I just wanted them to go away.

I know I'm being a little harsh, and there were some interesting commentaries on atheistic relativism, the nature of man, meandering chit-chats with Satan...etc.  Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more if I had a guided discussion group or class, but this experience was painful.  Next time I have a need for Russian fiction, I'm going back to Tolstoy.

Visit the Sick by Brian Croft - 128 Pages

I read this book a few years ago.  Since I have been doing quite a bit of hospital visitation for my new assignment as Wing chaplain, I pulled this off my shelf and reviewed it.  In doing so I was reminded of how useful a resource this is.  Here is my review from 2011:

Do you consider care for the sick an essential activity for Christ followers?  Do you have a theology that is sturdy enough to shine even in the darkness of those on the brink of death?  Do you think to pop a few breath mints before you go and pray with someone on their sickbed?

This book presents a concise, Biblical and practical guide for caring for the sick in Christ’s name and strength.  While Croft’s many years of experience as a pastor as well as being the son of a doctor provide ample material for practical advise, it is the Biblical foundation that Croft lays prior to discussing the practical implications of that foundation that is the real strength of this book.  Too often books either expound on Scripture and theology but never make practical demands from that theology, or even worse, start with the pragmatic and then search for prooftexts in Scripture to give weight to opinions.    Croft does an excellent job of letting his practical exhortations flow from the Word of God, both from specific texts on caring for the sick and dying and from the metanarratives of Scripture.  Above all he shows that caring for the sick is about the Gospel.

This book was a great reminder of the essential ministry of caring for the physical needs of people as well as a great tool for accomplishing that task.

Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon by Edward Dolnick - 400 pages

My super awesome sister-in-law Miriam bought this book for me a few years back and I finally got to it this year.  It's the story of the first expedition down the Colorado into the Grand Canyon. 

Adventure, white-water danger, one-armed manly men, presuppositional atheistic geology, Mormon murder mystery...all told in breathtaking detail by award winning journalist Edward Dolnick.

 Excellent read!

Good News of Great Joy by John Piper - 57 Pages

I read this book last year during the Advent season.  I returned to it again this year and read it with my wife every morning.  I think the tradition will continue.

Here's my review from last year:

Although I tend to be schizophrenic when it comes to traditions (my tradition is not being tied down by tradition…unless I want to be) –  getting married, growing a family, and getting older has shown me the importance and value of traditions, especially within the family.  Every family has traditions, even non-traditional families.  The question is to what purpose do our traditions serve?  Are we are slaves to our traditions, as if they exist for their own sake?  Or are traditions our slaves, our tools, or old testament Ebenezers – reminders to point us to something more important and meaningful than the tradition itself?   As we strive to create a Christ-centered culture in our family, we have looked to some traditions that God’s people have observed throughout history and tried to incorporate those that help us keep our eyes and hearts fixed on the Gospel.  Advent is one of those traditions.  And that’s where this book comes in.

Released this year as a free ebook, Good News of Great Joy, is a collection of short daily Advent devotionals taken from John Piper’s sermons and writings.  We found this to be a great resource for focusing us on the celebration of the Incarnation of God at Christmas.  It’s short daily readings made it more realistic that our family would find the time to actually read it and meditate on the truth it highlighted.

A great Scripture driven, Gospel-centered, Christmas resource.  I think a new tradition has begun.

Finally Free by Heath Lambert - 176 Pages

This book has been on the top ten lists of many Christian book reviewers this year.  I won't repeat what they say, only refer you to their excellent reviews and tell you that this book is every bit as good and helpful as they say.  The best, Gospel-centered book on purity I have read.

- Tim Challies' review

- Mark Mellinger's review

A Short Life of Jonathan Edward by George Marsden - 152 Pages

Despite the fact that this is a distillation of Marsden's much larger biography - Jonathan Edwards: A Life - this book still delivers much insight, information, and illustration of the dynamic life that was Jonathan Edwards.  In this short work Marsden captures the impact that this obscure pastor in an obscure new world was used by God to change the whole world.  Like most historical figures, the extent of Jonathan Edwards' influence was not seen until after his death and Marsden does a great job of connecting the dots for the modern reader.

Three thoughts that have lingered since reading this book are:

1.  Conflict:  Most of Edward's defining moments came out of conflict.  Conflict with his culture, conflict with his congregation, conflict with his soul.  Edwards was a man of conviction - compromise - for better or for worse - was completely foreign to him.

2.  Emotion:  I had no idea how emotion driven the Great Awakening was.  I wonder what the Strange Fire crew would have thought of it.

3.  Benjamin Franklin:  Marsden often brought attention to the fact that Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards where contemporaries.  Although they never met as far as we know, their stories and journeys intersected in many places and Marsden masterfully weaves the reader through understanding the significance of these two lives.


I look forward in the future to reading more of and about this influential jar of clay.