Successful Blank Bible

November 14, 2007November 14, 2007 Tony Reinke Blank Bible, spurgeon

Stephen Newell is the Associate Pastor of Louisville Baptist Deaf Church and a blogger. Currently his blog features a series documenting his successful Blank Bible project. The series is titled, The Blank Bible Chronicles, and Stephen took some nice photos of the entire process. I encourage you to check it out.

Patterned after the TSS Blank Bible series, he did a great job following our instructions with precision (note the gender stereotype undermined here).

Nice work on your Blank ESV, Stephen!

I am Calvinist (And so can you!)

November 14, 2007November 20, 2007 Tony Reinke Calvinism, Humble Calvinism, Humble orthodoxy, John Calvin

Few things have been more surprising to me at TSS than the overwhelmingly positive response to the Humble Calvinism series we began at the start of this year. The series was birthed out of a personal interest in John Calvin — a man I knew was important, but for whom I had little direct exposure.

I should not have been surprised, though! The response to the series was a fitting illustration of the influx of Calvinism within the broader American Christian culture.

You’re probably already aware of this sharp increase in interest for Calvinism and the Reformed faith. Spearheaded by men like John Piper, Sam Storms, Wayne Grudem, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, Josh Harris and movements like Together for the Gospel, the Resolved conference, New Attitude, and a host of other conferences, aggressive church planting ministries, global evangelism, influential preachers, theologians and leaders, Calvinism is noticeably on the rise. Interestingly, this list of names and movements committed to Reformed theology includes diverse groups like Missional, Charismatic, Non-Charismatic, Baptist, Presbyterian, traditional and modern.

But most interesting to me, all of these characters and movements are having a strong impact on the 16-30 age group, sewing seeds of a Reformed theology that will blossom for many years to come. Christianity Today captured this trend in a cover story aptly titled, “Young, Restless, Reformed: Calvinism is making a comeback, and shaking up the church.”

The Church is shaking because Calvinism — an understanding of God as He acts and moves according to His own purposes and for His own glory — is on the move.

Roots of Calvinism

So the question many younger Christians are asking now is simply, What is Calvinism and where did it come from? And that probably explains why our series Humble Calvinism has caught the attention of so many blog readers.

Our goal in Humble Calvinism is not to explore the whole body of Reformed faith. Nor are we here trying to trace out the developments of Calvinistic theology. Our goal is simply to get back to our roots by familiarizing ourselves with the teaching of John Calvin, a reformer who lived between 1509-1564. We are not attempting to canonize Calvin’s works, nor induct him into the hall of sainthood. His teaching is only valuable to the level that it faithfully represents the Word of God.

John Calvin

No single individual is more central to Calvinism than John Calvin.

You would think this obvious fact would protect Calvin from neglect. Not so! Just this year a book was written that concluded with a lament over the neglect of Calvin’s sermons and commentaries by scholars [Herman J. Selderuis, Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms (Baker Academic: 2007) pp. 284]. For all the talk of a sharp rise in Calvinistic theology in our culture, there is an odd silence over Calvin’s works among the academia.

What better time to study Calvin for ourselves?

If Calvin today suffers from neglect, he also suffers from inaccurate historical slander, too. The caricature of Calvin as a harsh, grumpy, heretic-burning fundamentalist bent on ridding the world of dissent is sadly misinformed fiction. Physically he may resemble an anemic Saruman, but his godliness is well documented, his compassion was rich, and his piety was genuine.

Yet slanderous caricatures of Calvin flourished throughout church history. One angry author wrote that Calvin was “a persecutor of the first class, without one humane or redeeming quality to divest it of its criminality or to palliate its enormity … one of the foulest murders recorded in the history of persecution” (Wallace; 1850). Ouch!

Truthfully, in an age of heretic-burning, Calvin’s Geneva was a place of compassion. During Calvin’s entire stay at Geneva only one man was burned for his heretical beliefs (Servetus). And this fate was decided by a secular lawcourt – Little Counsel – that openly opposed Calvin! But Calvin did play a role in Servetus’ arrest and this one burning was one burning too many.

Without glorifying Calvin’s errors here, this lone event must be contrasted to the myriads of executed Protestants by the hands of Rome (as fill the pages of Foxes’ Book of Martyrs). If we take care to understand the times, we see John Calvin was a man of compassion in an age of theological intolerance.

The truth is that Calvin was no stoic! He enjoyed jokes and publicly taught his people to appreciate laughter as a gift of God. And Calvin enjoyed the gift with a mouth wide open! But he also cried in the sorrows of life. Aware of God’s sovereignty in all things, Calvin was acquainted with grief, personal loss, and persecution.

Striking to me is John Calvin’s character. He was orthodox, magnetic, humble, beloved, followed, and esteemed. He attracted a large following, which accounts for the massive movement he left at his death. He led a theologically rich movement that — because of its biblical fidelity — continues to shake the Church!

So what did Calvin teach? Next time we resume this question. And more specifically we ask a question Calvin is ready to answer: What is genuine saving faith?

—————-

Related: see all posts in the Humble Calvinism series index.

Precious

November 14, 2007April 24, 2018 Tony Reinke spurgeon

This morning I am overwhelmed with appreciation for my wife. Over the past week she has written some very helpful posts, giving you married male TSS readers a way to soften the year-end book budget surprise that’s coming when your wife compiles the final expenditures (you can’t say we didn’t warn you!).

I am blessed to have such a multi-skilled wife. Even with three small kids clawing and tugging at their mommy throughout the day like she was a rock climbing wall, and under normal online demands as a respected blogger in her own field, Karalee graciously added one more task into her busy schedule and served me for the past week by freeing me from TSS blog duties. And for that I say, “Thank you, precious!”

That’s what I call her – “my precious” (and sometimes in a less-than-romantic Gollum voice. Pray for me). For all your valuable help this past week I say, “Thank you, precious!” And to use a bit of proverbial elitism: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all” (Pro. 31:29).

Your charm, wit, and blogging skill I’ve come to love was evident in every post. And so it was no surprise to see the TSS blog authority on Technorati peaked to its highest point ever during the past week! Maybe – as was pointed out by a friend – I should just let you do your thing and stay out of the way. That would be great for the stats, but most unreasonable and impractical (I cannot cook, for one).

Ahoy! I’m docked and anchored and back. You’re stuck with me. So sit back and together we’ll watch the TSS blog stats drop back to reality.

Tony

Books for Your Bride: The Memory Maker

November 13, 2007November 13, 2007 Tony Reinke spurgeon, Wives

by Karalee

Our final category in the Christmas Books for your Bride series is for the “Memory Maker.”

Tell-tale signs that your wife might fit into this category: At some time during the year, the dining room table resembles a scrapbooking store, with photos and pretty papers decorating every flat surface. She sometimes forgets to pack diapers in the diaper bag, but always remembers the camera. She remembers all the dates and details of your courtship, and knows off the top of her head how many years you’ve been married. Without having to do the math.

All joking aside, there is a memory maker in each one of your wives. Whether she records memories in a scrapbook or in her heart, your wife treasures the days and years of your family. As children of God, we realize that our days here on earth are numbered, and the holidays are a meaningful time for God to teach us to “number our days,” that we might consider His work and “glorious power” in our families (Ps 90).

So we have just one book recommendation to close out our series. Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noël Piper includes helpful ideas for Christmas traditions, yes. But it also drives the heart of every tradition to the Cross.

I think the foreword, by John Piper, is a beautiful picture of God at work in shaping a family’s traditions:

“Treasuring God in our Traditions is exactly the right title for this book. God is the treasure of our lives. We see him in everything. We believe with all our hearts that ‘from him and through him and to him are all things.’ He gets the glory; we get the joy. My job has been to articulate the vision in writing. Noël has shaped a family around it. Now she turns that work into words.”

In God’s abundant grace, He has equipped Dr. Piper to teach and lead his family, and He has encouraged Noël to help teach their children how to treasure the truth that their dad was teaching. As she describes in the book,

“Now although we cannot bequeath God to our children, we can help them know him and understand him in ways that prepare them to believe in his name. ‘Everyday’ and ‘especially’ traditions in a family are an important part of that teaching, of picturing who God is and what he’s done in our home and in the world. Traditions are a vital way of displaying our greatest treasure, of showing what – Who – is most important to us.”

Noël shows how her family has done this in both the everyday and the holiday. A few ideas for Christmas include:

Helpful thoughts and practical ideas on looking forward to Christmas at advent.
Teaching the biblical story in a hands-on way with manger scenes, “Jesus Trees,” and other symbols.
Giving to others in the name of Jesus (Matthew 25:40).

Because Noël’s book is not new, chances are your wife may already own a copy. But maybe your home is a little like ours, where we have read the book and admired the ideas, but primarily just floated through December without being too purposeful in our family traditions.

So this year, instead of walking into the kitchen announcing his own Christmas gift, Tony delivered a meaningful Christmas gift to me and our children by simply asking the question, “What ways can we teach our children to treasure Christ during this season?” Standing in the kitchen over coffee, we were able to talk through the traditions that we feel would help our children to see God in the midst of wrapping paper and bows. Tony’s leadership in this area was a precious gift to me.

We count it a joy to pray for you, that God will give you wisdom in caring for your wife and leading your family this Christmas. Thank you for joining us for this series, and may God be glorified in your homes all year!

Find the rest of the series here:

Books for Your Bride: The Fiction Fan

November 12, 2007November 13, 2007 Tony Reinke Wives

by Karalee

In the (almost) 10 years Tony and I have been married, we have come to one undeniable conclusion: We have different tastes. He likes milk chocolate; I like dark. He orders a Venti Americano; I drink green tea. He likes meaty works like Owen and Calvin; I prefer easier-to-chew contemporary works. But there is one particularly irreconcilable difference between us, one that between bibliophiles the battle-lines run deep: He prefers non-fiction, and I like fiction.

Until recently, I would steal my literature moments like a kid sneaking from the cookie jar: a chapter or two at the gym, a few pages between pushing kids on the swings, or lately, reading the classics to our son. I have actually “saved” fiction books to read while in labor for each of our children. (Apparently we need to get a babysitter more often.)

Why all the caution around fiction? Christian fiction today often gets a bad rap, partly because much of fiction today deserves neither the term “Christian” nor “literature.” From pithy tales to outright sin, the world of Christian fiction is not one we can always confidently recommend. But we are thankful for fictional works that have pointed our eyes to the Cross, and we’re happy to recommend these to you.

1. Biblical Fiction

Lynn Austin. When I discuss fiction titles with other believers, Lynn Austin’s Chronicles of the Kings series is one of the first I mention. Beginning with Gods and Kings, Austin masterfully retells the Old Testament accounts of Kings Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manassah in a compelling and entertaining way. I have such a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s work in the nations of Israel and Judah, and that is partly because these books kept driving me back to Scripture. By far, these are my favorite Christian and biblical fiction books.

One more note on this series: When I read through them, I snatched a book from Tony’s bookshelf that was very helpful in comparing this series to the Bible. It was an old harmony of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles which set the corresponding biblical accounts side-by-side. There are two versions available we found: an older one here, and a newer one here.

2. Historical Fiction

Stephanie Grace Whitson. As a brand-new believer, I walked into a church bookstore in Lincoln looking for something to read on the hour trip back to Omaha. I was pleasantly surprised, after being introduced to the historical fiction of Stephanie Grace Whitson, to discover that not only was she a Nebraskan, she attended the very church where Tony and I were saved. Her Prairie Winds series brought me through the delivery of our first child, Jonathan, and since then I have enjoyed her other historical fiction books as well. I appreciate her faithfulness to the Word and faithful communication of the Gospel. I have not read her more recent books, but her first series starts off with Walks the Fire. You might want to have the sequel ready as well, unless you need a sanctifying lesson in patience.

3. Biographies

If bad Christian fiction is spiritual junk food, a good biography is like a whole wheat cookie — the whole grain goodness of spiritual examples mixed with the sugar and salt of real-life drama. (Be sure to wash it down with the pure milk of God’s Word.)

We covered some of our favorite biographies in the History Buffy post, and you can find those here.

Another excellent recommendation does not fit well into these categories so I’ll jot it down here. Recently, Tony pointed me a new book by Dr. Harry Kraus, a missionary surgeon in Africa. Kraus is noted in the literary world for his fictional writing but his newest is non-fictional. Breathing Grace casts his exciting medical experiences as illustrations of our need to be sustained daily by God’s grace. Just as the body lives off oxygen, so too does the soul live off a moment-by-moment supply of grace. Tony wrote a full review earlier this year. It’s not fiction, but Kraus is tuned into the fictional genre and his book will certainly appeal to fans of fiction.

4. Classics

One of the best things about being a parent is getting to read some of the great classic books you missed as a kid. From the Chronicles of Narnia to the Lord of the Rings, Tony and I are enjoying catching up on our grade school education as we read to our son. Other favorite classics (not quite for a 6-year-old boy) include Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. If your wife has already read these volumes, no doubt she loves them. A thoughtful gift might be a hardcover edition and a date-night “chick flick” movie edition of these books.

So that’s a very short list to get your fiction fix started. Now, will all the other TSS fiction fans please stand up? We’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments. Thank you for sharing!

One more category to come…thanks again for joining us on our early Christmas shopping trip!

Books for Your Bride: The History Buff(y)

November 9, 2007November 13, 2007 Tony Reinke spurgeon, Wives

by Karalee

Since the guys already bought their Christmas presents from Tony’s book recommendations this year, we’re taking time this week to do some early Christmas shopping for the ladies.

First, we looked at a few “one-size-fits-all” gifts, now we’re looking at specific options for different interests.

The History Buff (Buffy?)

Tell-tale signs your wife would enjoy this category: Her lucky numbers are 1517, 1492, and 1776. She knows the difference between the two Martin Luthers, the eight King Henrys, and the two Bunyans (an important fact in our family). She wins the “pin the date on the timeline” game at every homeschool party. Blindfolded.

Gift ideas

Luckily, the History Buffy can be an incredibly easy wife to buy gifts for. She loves books, and biographies are always a great choice. Here are some of our favorites, not only for their entertainment value, but also their sanctifying work and encouraging examples.

Idelette by Edna Gerstner – This is one of my favorite biographies. A good friend loaned me a copy several years ago, and I tracked my own copy down to re-read this year. Though I believe this book is (sadly) out of print, you can still find used copies at Amazon or Half.com. Edna Gerstner beautifully crafted this biographical account of Idelette Calvin, the wife of the great Reformer John Calvin. Since Tony was working his way through Calvin’s Institutes on TSS this year, I thought I’d “follow along” from the biographical perspective of Calvin’s own helpmeet. A quick read that brings historical events to life, this is an entertaining account that challenged me to aspire to the love and care Idelette showed for her studious husband.

Jonathan and Sarah: An Uncommon Union by Edna Gerstner – Another well-written biographical account by Mrs. Gerstner is the story of Jonathan Edwards and his beloved wife, Sarah. I am greatly encouraged by the way the Edwardses lived out Ephesians 5 in their marriage, creating a picture of Christ and the church that even inspired comment in George Whitfield’s biography. (Whitfield’s biography by Arnold Dallimore is #6 on Tony’s Top 20, and his favorite biography set.) Whitfield, who previously had considered a life of singleness, was convinced in his need for marriage due to the Christ-honoring couple he saw when visiting the Edwards family. That example is beautifully described in this book.

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper – Even better than a single biography, Mrs. Piper takes the lives of five seemingly “ordinary” women and highlights God’s abundant grace to strengthen them in extraordinary ways. The chapter titles alone are beautiful picture of faith, such as: “Sarah Edwards, Faithful in the Mundane,” “Gladys Aylward, Faithful in Humility,” and “Esther Ahn Kim, Faithful in Suffering.” This book was so good, I loaned it to a friend, who passed it along to another friend, who passed it along to another friend … maybe I should ask for another one for Christmas! Learning about several of the women in this book encouraged me to dig deeper into a few of their lives. One of my favorites was the story of Esther Ahn Kim (see below).

If I Perish by Esther Ahn Kim – Our son must have heard the second chapter of this book a half-dozen times. Every time he saw me reading the moving biography of Korean Ahn Ei Sook, he asked me to read (again) the story of her standing tall amidst thousands of bowing worshippers at a pagan Japanese shrine. It is an inspiring account of obedience to Christ that illustrates the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before King Nebuchadnezzar. Miss Ahn boldly prayed on her way to the shrine, “Today on the mountain, before the large crowd…I will proclaim that there is no other God beside You. This is what I will do for Your holy name.” The ensuing account of her hiding, persecution, imprisonment, and torture is an amazing story that will leave you in awe of God’s abundant grace amidst trial.

In Trouble and in Joy by Sharon James – Another inspiring collection of biographies, including the lives of Margaret Baxter, Sarah Edwards, Anne Steele, and Frances Ridley Havergal. The Girltalkers did an excellent interview series with Mrs. James earlier this year as a follow-up to their Book Club review of More Love To Thee, the biography of hymn writer Elizabeth Prentiss biography. (More info on that biography in the “Music Mom” post.)

Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot – A classic missionary biography that traces the lives of the incredibly faithful, deeply trusting missionary families who brought the Gospel to the jungles of Ecuador in the late 1950s. There is now an audio book available, too. It would be fun to follow this book with a date night movie, End of the Spear, which dramatically recounts the work of God’s grace in the lives of both the missionary families and the Ecuador natives.

There are so many excellent biographies out there, and even though this list is getting long I have to make room for just two more that are on my current reading stack:

Anne Bradstreet by Heidi Nichols – “Why read Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet?” asks author Heidi Nichols (and wife of Stephen J. Nichols, who has written several excellent books.) Mrs. Nichols answers the question beautifully, “In contrast to the common delusion that we control our lives in today’s society, we can gain in Bradstreet the perspective of one who recognized God’s sovereign hand in every aspect of her life, in times of exuberance and in times of pain.” I am halfway through this book and thoroughly enjoying it. (And for those of you who played the “Who is She?” game … Now you know the rest of the story.)

Lady Jane Grey: The Nine Day Queen of England by Faith Cook – I don’t have this book yet, but have read others on the life of Lady Jane Grey, the “Nine Day Queen of England” and have been inspired by her faith in the midst of persecution. Recently, this account by Faith Cook has been recommended by both Sharon James and Tim Challies. Looks interesting and is even recommended for younger daughters. I think it would be a lovely idea to give to your wife and daughters as part of a “Mother-daughters” date package. Include a Starbucks or shopping center gift card and a copy of Girl Talk and pray for God’s grace to deepen the love and friendship between the women He has given you to lead.

Ultimately, the best gift you can give your wife is not one that can be wrapped in shiny red paper and tied with a bow. Centering your home around the Gospel, loving her as Christ loved the Church, and faithfully serving her in humility and grace is a gift that will prepare her heart not only for the year ahead, but for a lifetime with her Savior. Most importantly, the price tag of the gift doesn’t matter, because the ultimate price for our sin has already been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Loving her with this glorious Gospel is a priceless gift.

May God be glorified in your homes this Christmas!

Stay tuned this week as we serve up gift-giving ideas for: