Book Review - Savoring Scripture, Andrew Abernethy IVP Academic

 

Right off the bat I should share in interest of full disclosure that I know the author of this book...maybe knew is a better term. To be honest we really don't know each other presently other than interactions on social media. I played basketball against him in college and with his twin brother during that time as well. We spent a week as counselors at a Christian camp one summer in college too. 

Clear as mud, right?

Andrew has gone on to distinguish himself in the academic world of Christendom. Proficient as a scholar, especially in the area of Isaiah and the prophets. 

Savoring Scripture (2022) is broader than that singular genre though. It aims to help its reader be a better student of the Word of God as a whole. As he states in the prologue, this is a book for any believer to learn "how to read the Bible".

Dr. Abernethy offers six helpful steps readers to better relate to Scripture and the Author behind it. They do not come off as rigidly formulaic, but he spends time developing each carefully enough where they separately be used to deepen our love for God and his Word. 

The steps work out like so:

• Posture: We need to evaluate our heart as we approach Scripture and make sure our attitude is one of humility and teachability. 
• Flow: Once a passage has been selected, we need to be sure we understand what's being said and what the main ideas that are being communicated.
• Context: Beyond the particular passage, we need to discern the setting of a passage both of the book and where the book and passage fit historically.
• Whole Bible: This step focuses our attention on how a passage connects to the redemptive arc of Scripture and how, even tangentially, it relates to Christ.
• Savor God: This is a devotional step where we meditate on what we've learned in the above areas and pray to God, considering what we learn about him in the process.
• Faithful Response: This final step assesses how we can apply what we learn from the passage. "What is God calling me to do in and through this passage?"

Going through this book, it fanned a flame in my own heart to break out of stale routines when it came to my own personal time with God's Word. There's a certain liturgy to these steps and I appreciate how each carries its own weight and importance in and of itself. They all build on one another of course too, but Abernethy has outlined a process that can be utilized in part and as a whole.

Kudos to him for authoring a work that can benefit any pastor, scholar, or beginning student of the Bible.

Book Review - Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy, Alex Mar Penguin Press (2023)

Let me quote the inside of the book jacket to introduce you to this story:

"On a spring afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, a fifteen-year-old girl kills an elderly woman in a violent home invasion. In a city with a history of racial tensions and white flight, the girl, Paula Cooper, is Black, and her victim, Ruth Pelke, is white and a beloved Bible teacher. The press swoops in.

When Paula is sentenced to death, no one decries the impending execution of a tenth grader. But the tide begins to shift when the victim's grandson Bill forgives the girl, against the wishes of his family, and campaigns to spare her life." 

As that introduction conveys, this is a compelling story in so many ways. There are twists and turns featuring side stories that themselves deserve their own novel. 

Full disclosure - I became aware of this book after the author called me as she was doing research. I am not quoted nor did I provide anything more than background information during our conversation, that if memory serves lasted between a half hour and an hour.

The reason Ms. Mar contacted me was due to my role as a Region denominational leader with The Brethren Church. And the victim, Ruth Pelke, grew up in one of our Brethren churches in the Wabash/Peru area (Center Chapel). The book incorrectly ascribes the church as belonging to our sister denomination, Church of the Brethren - but that is a common mistake. The book does accurately describe our foundational values of peacemaking, forgiveness, and desire to imitate Christ. These values became the driving force behind Bill Pelke's advocacy campaign on behalf of his grandmother's murderer.

The story can be summarized in straightforward ways like in the quote above. But Mar does an excellent job highlighting all of the complicated factors that contributed to this tragedy as well as the myriad of people and issues that that pulled it towards redemption. 

Be prepared though, this is a real life story and does not have a convenient fairy-tale ending. 

It is hard to give a concise review of this book because of its complexity. This is a fascinating story that features religion, politics, capital punishment debates, media hysteria, family trauma, and the prison industrial complex. 

Kudos to Alex Mar for her intrepid research and her gracious perspective in retelling this story. She confronts the good, bad, and ugly parts of this case with curiosity, honesty, and integrity. Extra credit from me for her end of book "A Note on Sources" that describes her own process and how she made certain decisions in approaching this project. Overall, she connects dots of various parts of this world in ways that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It is an easy read and a book that in so many ways can be summarized by the simple label of "compelling". I highly recommend anyone to purchase and read this book. You will walk away from it challenged and changed.

It will stand as one of the favorite books I have ever read because it is so expertly written and because it is such a profound look at how hard it is to actually apply Jesus' call to forgiveness:

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." - Matt. 18:22

Book Review - Elisabeth Elliot: A Life, Lucy S.R. Austen Crossway (2023)

I didn't intentionally take a hiatus from the blog but after a 2.5 month break, we're back!

Last year, I made a personal commitment to read more books. I easily let my free time get preoccupied with web browsing, online games, and endless podcasts. Those things are fine, but it certainly feels more productive when you can give yourself over to starting and finishing a book. 

I want to kick off this little series with the longest book I read, Lucy Austen's new biography on Elisabeth Elliot. It tops out at 609 pages when all footnotes and bibliographies are included. Elliot was an evangelical figure I knew about to an extent. Her life is famous for being a missionary widow at age 29, with 76% of American adults reading her story in Life magazine. Yet as this book recounts, her life encompassed so much more than that one tragedy. 

Austen presents a phenomenal work detailing Elliot's life. This bio is impressively researched, citing her personal journals and letters. The author conducted copious amounts of personal interviews with Elliot's close family and friends. It's clear this work is the product of years, if not a decade or more of hard work. My highest respect to Austen for the blood, sweat, and tears she put into creating this comprehensive account of an individual who has been a spiritual hero to so many.

The book itself is broken down into three main parts - Part 1: 1926-1952, Part 2: 1952-1963, Part 3: 1963-2015. Flows chronologically, Part 1 deals with her early life up to her departure for Ecuador. Part 2 covers her time as a missionary in Ecuador, and Part 3 describes her life and career back in the States.

Beyond the well-known aspects of her life, I enjoyed learning quite a bit of interesting features about her, including:

• Their actual missions efforts to the Auca, more accurately known as "Waorani". The fairytale version I thought I knew was much different than the actual evangelistic efforts to the tribe after the martyrdom of the young men. This biography peels away the sugar-coated veneer of cross-cultural ministry that sometimes gets promoted. It's hard, real, and complicated.
• Her two other marriages are featured in great detail. The ups and downs of life didn't stop in Ecuador. Really I found the rest of her life post-missionary intriguing as she sought to balance God's call and her sudden world-wide fame.
• Because of the aforementioned record of personal journals and diaries, Austen was able to track her personal development beyond just her published writings. While always one to adamantly support her convictions, it is clear her views on a variety of topics changed and evolved over the years.

I walk away from this book with a clear impression of three things from Elliot's life. Her personality, her theological astuteness, and her service-oriented nature are all clear marks of her legacy.

Austen is able to paint a pretty well-rounded picture of Elisabeth's personality here. I probably connect most with her self-critical features because of my own tendencies in that way. She would leave the impression with others as self-assured, but it is clear from all of her writings that she was very self-aware and introspective. That could often lead to negative self-criticism but also caused her to seek to be a voracious learner and deep thinker.

Growing up in the context that she did, there were certainly less entertainment distractions than present day. Still I come away from this impressed by her theological astuteness. "Avid reader" hardly does it justice but the list of works this book recounts that she read is astounding. Her thirst for God's Word is inspiring and convicting. And her never-ending quest to ascertain God's wisdom and will comes through clearly as well.

Finally, as exemplified in her missions work, she was consistently service-oriented. She did not hesitate to lend a hand to causes and opportunities she was in line with. There certainly seem to be seasons of her life where she was over-committed to her speaking engagements and conferences. But her impact for God's Kingdom over her 89 years was remarkable.

Austen's book has an epilogue as it wraps up. And I'll let her words summarize my own conclusion:

"For Elisabeth Elliot, the foundation of life was trust in the love of God. Not trust that she would live...not trust that things would go well, but trust in who God is. If the great hope of her faith is true, then in the end, the rings spreading out across the surface of the pond, the air displaced by the stone as it flew, the stone itself, are all held in the heart of God, where mercy and justice are never in contradiction, and all things in heaven and earth will finally be made whole."

On Lament and Lamentations (pt. 4)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

Lamentations is a book about wrestling. It wrestles with the pain of judgment. It wrestles with all that has been lost. It wrestles with the God who has sent the suffering. 

While turning to God as the only source of relief, the author of Lamentations never turns against God. 

Lamentations still portrays God as good, even if it doesn't feel that way. Look how the book ends:

You, Lord, reign forever;

    your throne endures from generation to generation.

20 

Why do you always forget us?

    Why do you forsake us so long?

21 

Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;

    renew our days as of old

22 

unless you have utterly rejected us

    and are angry with us beyond measure.

(5:19-22)

God is still in control, he is still the one to make this right. He is still good...but the results are up to him. Lamentations reveals a genuine faith - a complete commitment to letting God be God. Ending it ambiguously, "unless you have utterly rejected us...", leaves us with the tension of waiting on God. And that's ok. 

God would step by step bring the restoration this book is so hungry for. They are restored back to their land under Ezra and Nehemiah. They are delivered in the inter-testamental period from their Greek aggressors. And finally, some five centuries later, Jesus arrives. The promised Messiah appears to restore the people to their God and inaugurate his Kingdom.

The story of Lamentations leaves things open-ended in the short-term because it leads us to Christ in the long-term.  God is still on the throne; he is still good and will make good on his promises to his people.

On Lament and Lamentations (pt.3)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

If there’s any passage you know from Lamentations, it is the verses of 3:22-24:

22 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

    for his compassions never fail.

23 

They are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

24 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

    therefore I will wait for him.”

These lie at the center of the book in chapter 3 and I don't think that is an accident. The pivot point for lament is this core truth about God. Lament could turn into bitterness if we didn't have this as our hope. 

In the previous post, we noted how God harshly judges sin. He's the ultimate cause of their suffering as they have forced him to punish their sin because they've refused to repent and loved their rebellion. So as chapter three is added to the equation, Lamentations confronts us with this paradox:

While God is the source of our pain, he’s our only hope of relief.

Later on in the chapter – 3:55-57

I called on your name, Lord,

    from the depths of the pit.

56 

You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears

    to my cry for relief.”

57 

You came near when I called you,

    and you said, “Do not fear.”

They have endured God's wrath, but they know they can still turn to their God.

And this isn't just limited to this part of Scripture. If you go to other places in the Bible with laments, you’ll see this same pattern. Google “Lament Psalms” almost every single one will end with an expression of trust and hope in God.

Even if answers aren’t apparent…

Even if relief isn’t on the horizon...

...We can still trust God. He's our only hope of relief.

On Lament and Lamentations (pt.2)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

Last week we worked through how Lamentations shows us that it is ok to complain to God in our misery. Another general theme emerges when we read through the book of Lamentations:

God is a strict judge of unrepentant sinners.

We are given the freedom to complain to God, but make no mistake - Lamentations does not try to excuse the predicament they are in. Lamentations does not deny that they deserved punishment. It accepts this punishment as just: 

“The Lord is righteous,

    yet I rebelled against his command.

Listen, all you peoples;

    look on my suffering.

My young men and young women

    have gone into exile. (1:18)

It still hurts of course. Their reality was still disastrous and no less horrifying.

Lamentations 3:42-48:

“We have sinned and rebelled 

and you have not forgiven.

43 

“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;

    you have slain without pity.

44 

You have covered yourself with a cloud

    

so that no prayer can get through.

45 

You have made us scum and refuse

    among the nations.

When we work through this book we would do well to remember that God is not a wrathful God at his core. God is not, by nature, one who takes pleasure in punishment. It is something he does when his hand is forced. Something he does, not the core of who he is.

But Lamentations records the aftermath of events at a time when his hand was forced. Over decades and even centuries, Judah was unfaithful to their covenant. Over and over again they refused to follow what God wanted. Instead they pursued other false religions and the false promises of political alliances to try to achieve their own ends.

And finally, God had to strictly judge them. It was fair and deserved, but it was also harsh and painful. 

When we relate to our Creator, we should not conceive of him as a displeased authority just waiting to strike us down at our first misstep. But we also should not imagine him as a cuddly teddy bear Santa Claus who only ever nice. He will judge when rebellion and wickedness call for it. But the one who is Judge is also our hope...and that will be where we camp out next year.

 

On Lament and Lamentations

For thousands of years, the people of God utilized the spiritual practice of lament to express their struggles and draw closer to the Lord. 

Apart from liturgical worship, lament has fallen out of favor with modern-day Christians. I don't have any hard data on it, but my theory is that we prefer cheap confession and quick restoration, choosing whatever path of least resistance will allow us to fear better about ourselves as quickly as possible. 

We don't like to sit with our pain and grief. We don't like to wrestle with the shame of our own mistakes and that is why lament is often neglected. Raw and honest lamentations won't write many best selling books or create very many hit songs for Christian radio. 

When we survey our holy Scripture, we'll discover lament all over the place: Job, Psalms, the Prophets, and Jesus himself offers up laments. And what those examples reveal to us is that God uses lament as part of our healing process. God meets us in our lament and uses it to draw us back to himself.

Mark Vroegop, a pastor who did actually write a book on lament, defines it as "a prayer in pain that leads to trust." I also like Jacob Wright's description that lament grieves "a past of violence, a present moment of suffering and torment, and a future that does not have certain answers." (h/t Scott McKnight).

We prefer our quick-fixes and black-and-white answers. Lament offers none of that. But what it does offer is better. Because until we can come to grips with how truly awful the bad side of life is, we won't be able to fully appreciate how beautiful the good news of Jesus is.

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations specifically has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

The first is a self-evident truth, that it is ok to complain to God in our misery. 

The fact that Lamentations is included in God's Word establishes this truth. This book - along with the plethora of other instances - reveals that we have the freedom to express our pain honestly to God. 

It is a collection of poems written after the Babylonian exile of 587/6 BC. 587 was the culmination of Babylon's domination of Judah. It is forever etched in Israel's history because these conquering forces destroyed two locations once thought to be 'invincible' - the Temple and Jerusalem. Jerusalem as a capital and the Temple specifically were seen as symbols of God's abiding presence and protection. Two places that would never be touched by heathen armies. Judah had seen their northern counterparts succumb to invading armies. But that was different. The southern Kingdom had the proper Temple and the true throne of David.

Things didn't work out for Judah though. Their sins and rebellion went unchecked and they turned to political alliances time and time again rather than seek spiritual reform.

Lamentations expresses the raw emotion of desperation and horror after the atrocities of these events took place. 

Lamentations is upfront about the 'cause' of all of this too. It recognizes that the people's sin brought this on themselves (1:18, 3:42-48). These were self-inflicted wounds and yet still they lament. 

God didn't ignore their pleas. He didn't mock their prayers as 'too little, too late'. He heard them. He included them in Scripture and eventually he did bring them redemption - punishing their punishers and ultimately bringing Jesus the Messiah. 

But don't miss the fact that Lamentations gives us permission to complain to God in our misery. He invites and encourages it. He meets us in all of it. 

When you feel like you're drowning in your troubles, don't hold back and don't try to hold it in. Take it to God. He's a good confidant and a patient listener. And he'll answer our cries with his presence...and there will be nothing else that will compare.