Book Review: “Weakness Our Strength"

BOOK REVIEW

“Weakness Our Strength: Learning from Christ Crucified”

By John Hindley

Published by Union Press, 2024

I started this book during a six-week sabbatical from my role as Pastor. I went into both the sabbatical and the book a little tired, a little worn out, and longing for some rejuvenation. As I sit today in my office typing, I am three days away from the end of my sabbatical, and honestly, I don’t feel too different than I did six weeks ago. Still tired, still worn out. And yet, I am excited to return to the pulpit. I am ready to go, like a horse in the starting gate. Not because my weakness has been suddenly turned into strength, but because I have been reminded through these six weeks that my weakness is a chance to witness and experience HIS strength.

That may seem like an obvious truth, especially for a pastor, but somewhere along the way I forgot it. Thankfully God is in the business of reminding us of the important things that we too often forget, and thankfully there are people like John Hindley writing honest and Christ-centred books that become tools in God’s hands.

All that to say, I have found “Weakness Our Strength” to be a tremendous book for several reasons. Right from the beginning John writes in such a transparent and relatable way that every paragraph feels like a coffee with a friend, and with a friend who is going through what I am going through. He also writes about biblical truths in such a simple, straightforward and Gospel saturated way that every chapter feels like its own devotional experience. It is not a long book, but it took a six-week sabbatical for me to read, having to keep setting it down in order to pray and open up the Scriptures.

I came away from “Weakness Our Strength” with one simple revelation. One that is all over the pages of the Scripture, and yet one that I forget so quickly. One that has made my sabbatical everything I prayed it would be. Simply this, that God is my strength.

Weakness proves to be a beautiful thing when it brings us to, “rely not on ourselves but on God” (2 Corinthians 1.9). Because then and only then can we know true strength. God’s strength. As the apostle Paul so perfectly wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12.10).

Book Review: “The Unhurried Pastor"

BOOK REVIEW

“The Unhurried Pastor: Redefining Productivity for a More Sustainable Ministry”

By Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin

Published by The Good Book Company, 2024

I started and finished this book over the course of two evenings. I am not a fast reader by any metric, but I just couldn’t put this one down. It probably didn’t hurt that I also had just began a six-week sabbatical, the purpose of which is for me and my family to find some much-needed rest from ministry and sweet refreshment in the Lord. Since my sabbatical started I have been actively focused on trying to get “unhurried” (is that a real word?), so finding a book entitled The Unhurried Pastor was like a thirsty man finding a sign for water.

The real question though was whether this book would be more than just a great title. Does the sign actually point people to real, thirst-quenching water? Do Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin actually, in The Unhurried Pastor, lead readers/pastors deeper into the unhurried ministry?

Before they dive in to the deep stuff, Croft and Martin lay out their thesis for the book, and it goes like this: to redefine how the work of a pastor is done so that it will lead to joy and longevity for the pastor.[1] In the pages that follow, in an attempt to fulfill that statement, they work through eleven different subjects, most of which are spiritual practices, and a few that one might call spiritual traits or attitudes (i.e. hopefulness, humility, etc.). These eleven are the keys. Croft and Martin believe sincerely, as comes through in their writing, that wholeheartedly engaging with and living out these eleven practices and traits are what will inevitably lead pastors to that joy and longevity that so often seems to be missing from pastoral work.

As far as I can tell, all that Croft and Martin are doing in these eleven chapters is reminding pastors of what matters. They are helping re-prioritize. Through personal pastoral stories (which are powerfully told), together with the Scriptures, they lead readers into seeing what the pastoral life (if not simply the Christian life) should be consumed with, and what it has unfortunately become consumed with in the name of productivity. The chapters are so simple. That’s what makes for a quick read. And yet they are deeply convicting and hope-giving, which is why it should probably be a slow read.

I have got to say, it is a bold move to put the word redefine in the thesis of your book. After so many centuries of pastoral work being done and so many books having been written about it, are Croft and Martin really the ones who are going to redefine it or even a piece of it? It sounds crazy, but according to their own words, that is what they set out to do. Now here is the even crazier thing: I think they did it. At the very least, for me, they contributed something significant, probably much to the chagrin of some in my congregation, to the redefining of my pastoral work. I say contributed because some of that redefining in my life and ministry began with the writings of Eugene Peterson, and has now been taking further by The Unhurried Pastor.

My only grievance with the book, I wish that they had included more Eugene Peterson in it! Perhaps because Peterson has been so impactful in my own understanding of pastoral work, I do wish he had come up more. Of course it is noted in the introduction what an inspiration he was to the project, and that inspiration and influence is obvious throughout all of the pages. But I went in expecting his writings to pop up on more pages. Obviously though, I realize that this is an unfair criticism. If I wanted to read Eugene Peterson, then I should go and read Eugene Peterson.

All in all, this was a great read. For pastors, for anyone in vocational ministry, and even for Christians outside of it, I cannot recommend this book enough. When my sabbatical began, I was aware of the need for re-prioritizing. My pastoral life has not always (and especially lately) been sustainable and honestly not always too joyful either. What I was unaware of was has how exactly to re-prioritize it. The Unhurried Pastor has been a gift to my soul in this way, and it came right at my time of greatest need. Croft and Martin have blessed me beyond on measure, or rather, the Lord through them.

[1] Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin, The Unhurried Pastor: Redefining Productivity for a More Sustainable Ministry (The Good Book Company: Charlotte, 2024), 13.

Book Review: “The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianity"

“The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianity" by Michael J. Kruger

There is something so wonderful about a book small enough to start and finish in one sitting and dense enough to leave you mulling over the ideas for days, weeks and months. Michael Kruger’s latest book out of Cruciform Press, The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianity, is exactly that.

In fifty short pages Kruger sums and responds to the major premises of modern liberal Christianity, as they are laid out in Philip Gulley’s book If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus. Relying heavily on J. Gresham Maschen’s classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, Kruger masterfully breaks down Gulley’s ten main principles, recognizing both the slivers of truth in them and the many reasons why they fail to give life and succeed at distorting the Gospel.

In an increasingly liberal/progressive Christian culture, this is a much needed book. The church needs people like Kruger who are willing to be a voice in the wilderness; willing to stand up to liberal claims and to intelligently explain to the church why they just don’t work.

A lot of the tenets of liberal Christianity initially seem very appealing. The gentle, clever and seemingly unconfrontational language they are often cloaked in makes them appear to be the very things Jesus would be about. It is not until you slow down and begin to examine each one through a biblical lens that you start to realize how unbiblical, unloving, and ultimately destructive the tenets are. That slowing down and examining is what Kruger has done here. He has done the hard work for us, and then has packaged it into the simplest and most accessible form possible: a fifty-page book that requires no prior expertise to grasp what is being written

This is a brilliant book. An informing book. A transforming book.

The size, the price and the content makes this one a must-read for every Christian living in the midst of an increasingly liberal Christianity.

Do yourself a favour.

Book Review: “Why I Am Roman Catholic"

“Why I Am Roman Catholic” by Matthew Levering

I went into reading this book thinking only that it would help me better understand the Catholic position on matters of life, faith and doctrine. What I didn’t expect was that my heart would be so stirred for Jesus, and my faith increased. While there were certainly some things that Levering wrote about that I disagreed with, those things took up very little space. For most of the book I felt like I was reading the challenging, encouraging, inspiring, Christ exalting words of another Christian brother, which I was!

In just under two hundred pages Levering takes readers through six unique chapters: 1) Why I Am a Christian, 2) Why I Am a Catholic, 3) What I Have Found Especially Beneficial About Being Catholic, 4) What I Have Found Difficult About Being Catholic, 5) Catholics and Ecumenism, and 6) Catholic Theological Exegesis. The amount that Levering fits into each one of these chapters is impressive. Even more impressive though is his obvious knowledge of Church History, and the number of sources he relies on and incorporates into each chapter. He rarely gets through a paragraph without having cited and/or quoted at least two different historical voices, plus Scripture. This doesn’t take away from his own writing, it enriches it by giving it a firm historical foundation, and by providing an amazing bibliography!

While the whole book really was exceptional, the standout chapters for me were Why I Am a Christian and Why I Am a Catholic. Reading chapter one, Why I Am a Christian, was a needed and uplifting reminder to my own heart as to why I am a Christian. As Levering told his own story of struggle and conversion, and as he basked in things like the glory of the cross of Christ, the goodness of God and the harmony of the Scriptures, I couldn’t help but remember why being a follower of Christ is not even a question for me. As Peter once rhetorically said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6.68). Or as Levering writes himself, “As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood that I could not do anything other than live for him” (Why I Am Roman Catholic, 25).

Reading chapter two, Why I am Catholic, was a similar experience to chapter one but with some more education involved. I came away with a better understanding of some of the points of disagreement between Levering and myself, such as the Catholic view of Mary and certain parts of the Eucharist. And more than that, I came away again spurred on to love Jesus more. Even without agreeing wholeheartedly, I couldn’t help but say ‘Amen’ as Levering expounded on the Lord’s supper and talked about God’s love for and purpose in marriage. Again, it was like reading the wonderful words of a brother in Christ from a neighbouring denomination.

Now, all of that being said, my caution to readers (non Catholic readers that is) as they read this book is that Levering does indeed seem to consider Protestants as a little less or a little lost compared to Catholics. His chapter on ecumenism is very encouraging and welcoming, but there are still statements like, “While Catholicism is the full realization of the church of Christ, other Christian churches - Orthodoxy first and then the Reformation churches - participate in that church in varying degrees” (130). Of course, in Levering’s defence this a great movement forward from other times and voices that would not put Catholicism and Reformation churches in the same sentence. And on top of that, Protestants would probably make similar statements if they were writing “Why I am a Protestant.”

All in all, a great read. I don’t doubt that this will be an important book for Catholics. I think it is just as important of a book for Protestants. It is a well written reminder not only of where Protestant and Catholics disagree but, and more importantly where they are united. In the words of my Catholic brother, “I love Christ’s cross because, like St. Augustine, I know I need it” (29).

Book Recommendations: 4 Books on the Church

There are lots of good books on the structure, purpose and practice of the church. Here are four of my favourites.

1. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time by Marva J. Dawn.

This book is getting old, but it has aged well. Dawn’s insights into solving our worship wars, and her sketch of biblical, corporate worship is just as relevant today as it was in 1995. Perhaps the strongest part of Reaching Out is her discussion of music, preaching, Scripture readings, rituals, liturgies, art and other worship practices and her advice for making these practices God glorifying and people edifying.

2. In Good Company: The Church as Polis by Stanley Hauerwas.

A heavier read than Dawn’s book, but no less excellent if one is up for the task. Hauerwas brilliantly and biblically explores the beliefs and practices that are a part of the Church’s identity, and that serve to separate her from the world. A warning to the reader, Hauerwas examines the protestant and the catholic church in his study.

3. A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship by Michael Horton

Horton never disappoints in his unrelenting concentration on Scripture. In A Better Way Horton makes the biblical case that the Preached Word and the administered sacraments are the means of Grace which God has chosen to use to save the His people. An especially important read for everyone who belongs to the church and to a church. Even if you are not reformed, as Horton is, I am sure you will find his explanation of biblical worship persuasive, inspiring and applicable.

4. Christ, Baptism and The Lord's Supper: Recovering the Sacraments For Evangelical Worship by Leanord J. Vander Zee

The title says it all. Vander Nee takes on baptism and the Lord’s supper, attempting to explain the deeper biblical meaning of both. This book is a gift to the church, since most people in the church, pastors included, seem to misunderstand or at least lack an in-depth understanding of these practices. As a pastor himself, Vander Zee carefully guides pastors and lay people into a fuller and more Christ centred view of worship.