"A More Christlike Word" (Bradley Jersak)

TITLE: A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the Emmaus Way
AUTHOR: Bradley Jersak
PUBLISHER: New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2021, (288 pages).

How do we read the Bible? What do we mean by the Bible as the Final Authority for our faith? How do we apply the Truths revealed? These questions might seem elementary but they are important questions that need to be asked frequently. The Bible is the revealed Word of God and the more we understand the Word, the better for Bible believers and practitioners. Like the two disciples struggling to understand the Scriptures when they were on their way to Emmaus, author and professor Bradley Jersak brings us back to the Emmaus experience in Luke 24, how Jesus helped shed light on interpretation. He does this by following Peter Enns's five words for biblical interpretation. 

• Genre-Calibration: Be aware of the genre of the text concerned;
• Christotelic: Reframe the story of Israel toward the Person of Jesus Christ
• Incarnational: Read the Bible both as God's Word and Christ the Living Word;
• Ecumenical: Be open to the different readings and interpretations from the different Christian faith traditions;
• Pilgrimage: Be humble to learn on the way.

"The Gap Decade" (Katie Schnack)

TITLE: The Gap Decade: When You're Technically an Adult but Really Don't Feel Like It Yet
AUTHOR: Katie M. Schnack
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (224 Pages).

What do I want to do with my life? The immediate answer is: That depends. It depends on are our life circumstances. It depends on our dreams and aspirations. Most crucially, it depends on what stage of life we are in and how God is speaking to us. Waiting is one of the most difficult things we will face. In an increasingly distracted and impatient world, many people find waiting a chore. This is especially at the life stage of a young person moving toward adulthood. In a heartwarming, honest, and humorous manner, author Katie Schnack shares her many moments of waiting. Calling it the ten years between young adult and adulthood, these are the transitional years of waiting and working out on what one needs to do with one's life. She shares how she got to meet her future husband. One major challenge was the school years when their schools were at two different places. Her boyfriend's at South Dakota while hers was in Florida. Despite the challenges, they got married at 21 years of age in Minnesota even before they finish school! Life after that was filled with more questions surrounding graduate studies, careers, housing, starting a family, etc. The big shock of all was the question of calling never stops being asked. She describes seven major transitional phases in terms of her dating life; work choices; paying taxes and other adult duties; moving across states (5 states for her!); marriage; mental health matters; and parenthood. While each of them are unique challenges, the common denominator is in terms of what the best decision needs to be made with regard to one's calling and God's guidance. 

"Where Prayer Becomes Real" (Kyle Strobel and John Coe)

TITLE: Where Prayer Becomes Real
AUTHOR: Kyle Strobel and John Coe
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (224 pages).

The human heart can be one of the most, if not the most difficult thing to change. That is why there are many change specialists who show us different strategies to change the systemic environment that we live in. For instance, top change management specialist, Kurt Lewin popularized the change management paradigm called the "Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze" model. In simple terms, in order to make change more permanent, we need to undo the old, to inject the new, and then freeze it. Just like using super-glue. We clean the surface, apply the adhesive, and then wait for the glue to set. In the same way, if we need to change our own habits, we can learn a thing or two from such change paradigms. As the saying goes, old habits die hard. When it comes to prayer, there are many old habits that simply are hard to change. In this book about learning to pray more authentically, we learn about several habits that could become impediments to prayer. Habits like wandering minds; avoiding truth when it hurts; learning to embrace Gods expectations instead of ours; and how our prayers could be impeded by sin and pain; and others. So authors Kyle Strobel and John Coe give us tips on how to unlearn (unfreeze) our prayers. In fact, the desire to want to "pray correctly" might in itself make our prayers less real than intended. When prayers become performance, it would entail focusing on aesthetics and synthetics more than our organic self. When prayers become a place where we try to hide our vulnerability, we will not be able to present all of ourselves to God. When our prayers are filled with doubts about whether God can really answer us, we limit our faith and as a result, limit God. When we anticipate God only to be a God of good news and nice feelings, we would refrain from presenting our fears, concerns, pain, and heartaches to God. Thankfully, Strobel and Coe didn't stop there. They help us along with a way to pray honestly without ceasing. With guidance from the Lord's Prayer and many other teachings from Scripture, they show us a path forward. Their starting point for us is critical. For any prayer to be real, we need to deal with two temptations:

"The Way of the Father" (Michael W. Smith)

TITLE: The Way of the Father: Lessons from My Dad, Truths about God
AUTHOR: Michael W. Smith
PUBLISHER: Rocklin, CA: K-Love Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).
 

It has been said that our views about God the Father are connected intricately to our relationships with our earthly fathers. Sharing intimate details about his late father, the popular musical artist and performer hail his father as his hero, devoted supporter, coach, diligent worker, his father, and how his life empowers his faith with his Heavenly Father. Smith opens up with how his father would bring his team to a Dairy Queen despite losing 30-0 in a baseball game. While some people celebrate with special treats when their team wins, his dad celebrates with the team regardless of the result. This demonstrated his dad's grace to see the team bigger than any game results. He was a deacon in Church, heading up many leadership roles from pastoral search to layperson's roles. His decision-making with regard to promotions or job opportunities always centers around God and family. Not surprisingly, he gives up promotional moments for the sake of his priorities. This is not something that a lot of people could do. Even though his dad was often tough, he had tender moments like during the aftermath of the Marshall football team air crash. Smith learns that the strength of a person is not defined by how much grit one has but how caring one is. Smith's dad checks out all the boxes. The rest of the book contains many powerful lessons about the impact of his father on him. Lessons such as:

"A Habit Called Faith" (Jen Pollock Michel)

TITLE: A Habit Called Faith: 40 Days in the Bible to Find and Follow Jesus
AUTHOR: Jen Pollock Michel
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (256 pages).

Don't just think your way to faith. Practice it. This is the crux of this book about spiritual formation via the practice of faith. Practice it regularly enough until it becomes a habit. This is the way of faith. For repetition is one of the most proven ways to cultivate memory. What better way than to use 40-days as a memory forming benchmark. The use of "40 days" has been well-documented in both Scriptures as well as popular literature. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. Stephen the first martyr told the story of Moses in three 40-year segments. Rick Warren's famous book about purpose-driven was based on 40 days on intentional purpose forming. Written like a devotional, there are 40 days of exercises with daily readings, Bible verses, the author's reflections, and two questions. Designed more for individual and to some extent for group use, the key advice the author gives to any reader is to simply finish the book. The fruit is sweetest if this is practiced to the fullest. Michel divides the book into two parts. The first 20 days are based on the book of Deuteronomy while the other 20 days are reflections on the gospel of John. Interspersed every five days are testimonies of faith from different people. Mark Lawrence talks about his habits of church attendance and Sunday School. Ian Cusson's experience of Church is very much liturgical. In spite of his indigenous background of the pains of residential schools, he aims to be a bridge between "indigeneity and Christianity."

"Joshua" (Paul R. Hinlicky)

TITLE: Joshua (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible)
AUTHOR: Paul R. Hinlicky
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2021, (320 Pages).

Dogma should clarify rather than obscures. This is the conviction of the publisher who has chosen to let this series of commentaries be based on "Christian doctrinal tradition," such as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. Creeds help unite Christians. They provide a common platform for understanding. They give us a concise explanation of our common faith in God.  In a largely fragmented interpretive community, we need creeds to remind Christians that they still have many things in common. Calling it "textual ecumenism," the central premise of this commentary series is that "doctrine provides structure and cogency to scriptural interpretation." It is also hoped that the commentary will provide an additional platform for Christians and Jews to recognize their common heritage. This is not an exegetical but a theological commentary. That means focusing on the theological themes of Joshua. That means looking at Joshua from a big picture angle rather than a laser beam focus on particular verses. It means reading it with a literary lens rather than a literal interpretation. In doing so, we will be less prone to wrongful applications such as using Joshua to justify war or to support the teachings of triumphalism. Moreover, with doctrine and theology as our lens, we will avoid subjectivism that could turn readers into arrogant dogmatic interpreters. 

"From Widows to Warriors" (Lynn Japinga)

TITLE: From Widows to Warriors: Women's Stories from the Old Testament
AUTHOR: Lynn Japinga
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020, (217 pages).

Through the years, I have heard comments from various people, especially women that the Bible is too patriarchal for their comfort. With the gradual activism of feminism and groups that advocate for gender equality, women's rights have formed a big part of Western society. Many people could readily remember key Old Testament characters like Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, and so on. Yet, when asked about women characters, they might recall relatively less. Of course, the books of Esther and Ruth are named after female leads, but in terms of time and space allocated to various gender leads, most of the prominent biblical characters are male,. This might explain the general perception about ancient society being more patriarchal than in our times. The thing that spurs author and professor Lynn Japinga into action is when she saw so many people who miss out on women in the Old Testament. Plus, stories about women were often deemed uninteresting or mainly about sex and violence; or stories that paint women in a negative light. This is Japinga's contribution to correct that. She offers a way for us to discern how God uses these women in spite of their weaknesses. At the same time, she offers us another way to "dive deeper" into these stories not only to see them in another light, but also to see them for who they are. With over 46 female characters, the book categorizes them as follows:

"Servants for His Glory" (Dr. Miguel Núñez)

TITLE: Servants for His Glory: Cultivating Christlikeness in a World of Performance
AUTHOR: Dr. Miguel Núñez
PUBLISHER: Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2021, (299 pages).

How do we serve in the Church? Why do we serve? What exactly are we trying to accomplish when we serve? In this marvelous handbook for anyone wanting to serve, author Miguel Núñez goes back to the fundamentals of being before doing. In a world where we like to see action first, we have used performance as the primary measure of our success. As Jesus has said, good fruit comes only from good tree. Núñez helps us go back to the foundations of what it means to be a good tree as we serve God. Based on his own experience as a medical professional, a pastor, and a counselor, he cautions us repeatedly about running ahead of God's work in our inner selves. We do not let our works define us. We let Christ in us to define us. Núñez writes that before we can truly serve God's family, we need God's sanctification, which also means the need to let God heal us from the inside, that we can grow up well. Otherwise, we become vulnerable to our sinful nature to let the world outside deceive our sense of identity and worth. He debunks some erroneous measurements of success before giving us several important ways to evaluate ourselves. Instead of being one who depends on approval from the external world, he assures us that as long as we get our inner house in order, we will not easily fall prey to the temptations of perfectionism, insecurity, and fear.