William Boekestein, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing, 2024. $16.95, paperback. As a pastor, I have come alongside both 20-something and older congregants who struggle for vocational clarity. Could one of the reasons be that pastors, churches, and parents have failed to speak sufficiently to our youth about this critical topic? If so, Christian young people and those who guide them will find a valuable resource in Finding My Vocation. The book’s three parts – Pondering Vocation, Preparing for Your Vocation, and Practicing Vocation – provide a concise, biblical, and practical theology. The author has drawn from the deep wells of Reformed teaching on the topic, as well as more recent literature.…
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William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, and Andrew J. Miller, Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2023. $22.00, clothbound. “Catechisms are small books of big doctrines” – that’s the claim made by the authors of Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Catechisms, they write, “boil down Scripture into major theological themes reflecting the high honor Scripture gives to doctrine” (33). Page by page, the authors back up their claim. The scriptural doctrines set forth in the Westminster Shorter Catechism are presented, accompanied by clear expositions of their biblical foundations. The devotional quality of the book lends itself to profitable personal use by believers at every…
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C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935–1947, by Mark A. Noll. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023, xviii + 158 pages, $18.69, paper. The works of C. S. Lewis have found a home in America for nearly nine decades. His technical studies in literary criticism, imaginative works, and expositions of the Christian faith have been well received by Christians of various denominations. Avid Lewis readers are found among adherents of both Protestant and Catholic traditions. Reviews of Lewis’s books were numerous and not limited to Christian publications, but also appeared in secular magazines and journals. One would be hard pressed to think of other writers so highly acclaimed by such a diverse readership. With modest revisions, the book contains…
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The Psalms occupy a prominent place in the pastor’s life and work. He uses them to summon his congregation to worship. Their vocabulary and poetry shape the language of his prayers, both public and private. With them, he comforts the sick, gives hope to the despairing, and consoles the mourner. They supply cherished words to lead his flock in praises, thanksgivings, and intercessions. No pastor’s toolbox is properly furnished without the Psalms. To be used effectively, any tool must come with instructions for its proper use. Experienced craftsmen must teach their apprentices—which is why pastors will find How to Read and Understand the Psalms a valuable resource. Like master craftsmen, Bruce Waltke and Fred Zaspel instruct readers about the structure of…
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When I finish reading or listening to a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2023 list is at the end of this post. 2023 READING HIGHLIGHTS A new book I loved reading and hope finds a wide readership is Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions on the Westminster Shorter Catechism by William Bockestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, and Andrew J. Miller. “Catechisms are small books of big doctrines,” the authors claim, and “boil down Scripture into major theological themes reflecting the high honor Scripture gives to doctrine.” Page by page, the authors back up their claim. The scriptural doctrines set forth in the Westminster Shorter Catechism are presented, accompanied by clear expositions of their biblical foundations.…
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My Dad would have turned 100 today, and I’m thinking about all he gave me. My Dad gave me a home. He loved the orphan. He worked in Arkansas and Missouri orphanages. On his 36th birthday, December 16, 1959, my adoption was finalized. I never knew my biological mother. Thirty years old and unmarried, she chose to deliver me, her fifth child, in another part of the state, away from family pressure to keep me. She had a ninth grade education. I am grateful to her for giving me life, for making a choice to put me up for adoption. And I am grateful for my Dad and Mom for giving me a Christian home. My Dad…
Read MoreAfter family and church, Scouting was the most significant influence in my young life. Fifty years ago today I received the rank of Eagle Scout. I am grateful to my Dad, who encouraged me to join Troop 339, sponsored by his church in Smyrna, Tennessee. In 1974, I moved to Troop 120 in McMinnville, Tennessee. One of Scouting’s primary purposes, Dad said, was to teach young men wilderness survival skills. My Scoutmasters – Mr. Craig, Mr. Justice, and Mr. Van Cleve – led by example, and held me to high standards. They made a lasting investment in my life. I no longer have any formal association with Scouting. In 1973, my troop shared the same commitment to my moral and…
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The heart of American Christians rightly goes out to persecuted Christians in other parts of the world. But we mustn’t forget that our nation has its own tragic history of persecuting believers. The persecutors have often been professing members of the Christian church. Sixty years ago today Denise McNair looked forward to a special Sunday. She would participate in her church’s Sunday morning service, which would conclude with the sermon, “The Love That Forgives.” She dressed carefully for the day. The case above includes her purse, Buster Brown shoes, a Ten Commandment bracelet — and the piece of brick removed from her skull, a fragment of the explosion that claimed her life. Three 14 year-old friends perished with her: Addie…
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Conrad Mbewe, Pastoral Preaching: Building a People for God. Carlisle, England: Langham Partnership, 2017. $20.99. Every year Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson hosts the John Reed Miller Preaching Lectures. Guest ministers speak to various aspects of the life and work of the minister. Both students and veteran preachers leave encouraged in the Lord. Our 2015 lecturer was Conrad Mbewe, who for three decades has pastored Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia. I found his lectures to be among the best I have heard on preaching. The instruction was clear, direct, and winsome, offering entirely satisfying nuts-and-bolts counsel to the preacher. Judging by the feedback, students were as personally renewed in their commitment to biblical preaching as I was. The publication of Mbewe’s Pastoral…
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I am grateful to serve with a ministerial staff that is expected to pray – and does pray with and for the church. Yesterday each of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson’s ministers received Dr. David Irving’s Devote Yourself to Prayer. “Brother pastors,” he writes, “it is your duty to be devoted to prayer for your people. To put it bluntly, it is your job to pray.” This outstanding booklet demonstrates from Acts 6:1-7 the principal role of prayer in the apostles’ work. It summons pastors to reflect on the duty, difficulty, discipline, and delight of prayer. His reflections are full of sound Bible teaching, quotations from praying pastors, and practical advice for those who are serious about dedicating themselves…
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