The Reformed Community is known for its ability to plumb the depths of theological knowledge.  There are many great books by Reformed scholars that testify to this fact.  Whether one reads the works of B. B. Warfield, Louis Berkhof, Meredith Kline, or Cornelius Van Til.  More often than not, though, many of these authors deal with issues on a very technical level.  The practicality of their work is sometimes obscured by the technical nature in which they deal with their subject matter.  This, however, is not the case with Terry Johnson’s When Grace Comes Home.

Prayer is unquestionably a central part of the life of any Christian, or at least it should be.  To this end Dr. Bruce Wilkinson several years ago wrote a book entitled, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life.  So, then, should not The Prayer of Jabez, a book encouraging Christians to pray a scriptural prayer, be received with open arms?

Letham begins with the biblical data and surveys various texts beginning with the Old Testament confirming the doctrine of the trinity from Scripture.  In the section on historical development Letham traces the doctrine from the early church, through both the western and eastern churches, culminating with a chapter on John Calvin’s (1509-64) understanding.  In the section on the modern discussion, Letham explores the trinitarian thought of several important contemporary theologians, such as Karl Barth (1886-1968), Karl Rahner (1904-84), Jürgen Moltmann (1926-), and Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928-).  In the last section, Letham treats the implications of a trinitarian understanding of the incarnation, worship, prayer, creation, missions, and persons.

All Christians know that prayer is an important aspect of the Christian life.  Yet, prayer is often ignored.  Well, if prayer is often ignored, we can well imagine that fasting is ignored to an even greater degree.  John Piper is well aware of this fact because of our hunger for the things of this world.  He writes that “the greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.  It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.  It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. . . . the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth.  For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable” (p. 14).  It is with this knowledge of the dangers of the pleasures of life that Piper makes his case for Christian fasting, which he says is “the hunger of a homesickness for God” (ibid).

Currently there are three major controversies surrounding the doctrine of justification: (1) the ecumenical question raised by ‘Evangelicals and Catholics Together,’ (2) the debate surrounding the rise of the New Perspective on Paul, and (3) the Norman Shepherd controversy.  In each of these debates questions surround the doctrine of justification: (1) Do Evangelicals and Catholics believe the same thing regarding justification, (2) What is the relationship between justification and the Law, and (3) what is the relationship between justification and good works?  It is in midst of this tempestuous time that John Piper has written a book defending the traditional Reformed understanding of justification, especially as it relates to the doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.  Piper bypasses debates (1) and (3), and deals with the challenges of the New Perspective on Paul.

This book is a collection of essays that Hart wrote over the last several years on subjects related to the doctrine of the church and especially worship.  These essays appeared in various publications ranging from Modern Reformation to scholarly journals.  This means that the book on the whole has something for everyone, the layman to the learned scholar.  Hart has organized the essays into five parts: the Church’s commission; contemporary worship; office and ordinances; Presbyterian parochialism; and worship and revival.

Each year publishers release hundreds of new titles for consumption by the theologically thirsty masses.· Unless one knows the author, trusts the endorsement on the back cover, or perhaps sees the book recommended elsewhere, the reader is often left wondering whether a book is worth the money.· To assist the reader in the process of sifting through the vast sea of ink, we can briefly survey four recent and noteworthy monographs that can be of great benefit for both the pastor and ruling elder alike.· In commending these books, however, the reader should in no way consider such commendation as a whole-sale endorsement of the whole book.· There are always areas where the reader will disagree with the author.· Nevertheless, a discerning reader, a good Berean, will be able to read these monographs and reap great benefits.

Anthony Thiselton’s shorter commentary on 1 Corinthians is not merely a cut-down version of the author’s lengthier 1446 page scholarly tome, but is one that the author specifically wrote for a different audience.  This commentary is primarily aimed at “clergy, pastors, and leaders of church Bible study groups” (p. xiii).  The author does not expound at great length other exegetical views but essentially states his own.  Also, what differentiates this shorter commentary from his longer work is its practical aim, embodied in fifty-two pastoral observation sections that follow the exegesis of each passage.

Mel Gibson’s movie about the last twelve hours of Christ’s life has created quite a stir over the last several months.  It has been criticized and praised from both within and without the Christian community.  The secular media has brought a great deal of attention to it for its supposed anti-Semitic message.  Many within the Christian community, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, have hailed the movie as a panacea for ailing spirituality and a great evangelistic tool to bring throngs of people into the kingdom of God.  And still others, most notably those within the Reformed community, have argued that the movie is a violation of the second commandment.