Category: Book Reviews

Book Review of Warren Wiersbe’s Looking Up When Life Gets You Down

Why Us? Book Review by David P. Craig

LUWLGYD Wiersbe

Originally published as ‘Why Us?” in 1984, this reissue by Wiersbe seeks to answer the question: Why do bad things happen to seemingly innocent people? Other questions addressed by Wiersbe include: If God knows everything and is all powerful then why doesn’t he stop tragedies from happening? Is God limited in what He can do? Why does God seem so absent during our disappointments and pains? How Big is God? And When life falls apart, how do you pray?

Wiersbe wisely and sensitively tackles these tough questions and many more, pointing us to faith in the grace and power of God as our greatest hope in our time of need. He motivates the reader to not run or hide from God, but to “look up when life gets you down.” The author does not minimize the harsh realities of suffering but provides a plethora of resources from the Scriptures to help us cope and grow during the difficulties of life which are sure to come.

If you are looking for a clear, comforting, and helpful book to help you deal with difficult times in life this is a great place to start. Wiersbe writes a book that will not bog you down in philosophical discussion, but give you practical solutions to your grappling with pain and suffering. He will guide you into peace and rest as you encounter God’s grace and power in a new and fresh way through the ultimate sufferer – the Lord Jesus Christ.

I slowly read this book during a period in which I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer, and went through a very difficult treatment and recovery process. Personally, I was helped immensely by Wiersbe’s care and wisdom and highly recommend this book for those going thorough suffering and would recommend it even more in preparing for future suffering which is inevitable.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Two Advocates

Book Review: “The Two Greatest Advocates One Could Ever Ask For” by David P. Craig

TTA Keller

In this seventh essay by Tim Keller on great encounters with Jesus in the New Testament there is a topical focus on the two great advocates that are necessary for our salvation and sanctification: the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. Keller argues compellingly from John 14 and numerous other passages that it is impossible to be right with the Father without the person and works of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit on our behalf.

Keller articulates key doctrines of the Christian faith including the atonement, the justice of God, propitiation, and imputation with excellent illustrations that show clearly why we need two advocates in order to make us justified, righteous, and holy in relationship to the Father. We need Jesus to speak to God for us, and we need the Holy Spirit to speak to us on God’s behalf.

This essay is a fascinating exploration into a deeper understanding and appreciation for how the Triune God accomplishes and applies our salvation for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Great Enemy

Book Review: “Satan is No Match for Jesus” by David P. Craig

TGE Keller

In this sixth essay on significant encounters with Jesus from the New Testament Tim Keller addresses Jesus’ baptism and subsequent temptation by Satan in the desert as depicted by the Gospel of Matthew in chapters 3 and 4.

Keller goes on to dispel the notion that if we do things God’s way that we will protect us from the evil one. The reality is that no one was more obedient to God the Father than was Jesus, and yet His life was one of constant battling with the evil one. As Jesus had to battle the enemy, so must we.

Tim answers three crucial questions in relationship to our own warfare with Satan: (1) Who is Satan? (2) Where  and how does the enemy fight us? and (3) What is our best defense against the wiles of Satan? He then goes on to demonstrate the erroneous views of Satan in our day namely: monism and dualism. We either have a tendency to underestimate or overestimate the power of Satan over us.

Ultimately our best defense against the enemy is in our knowledge and application of the truth. Jesus knew and used the Word mightily in His battle with the enemy and so must we if we expect to stand in the day of temptation. The most important reality we have in the battle with the enemy isn’t just the Word on paper, but the Word Incarnate.

Keller writes, “We don’t simply have a Book, as perfect as it is–we have Jesus himself, who has been through fiery trials so intense that we can’t imagine them. And he has done it all for us. Now, strengthened with his deep empathy and tender power, we can come through it all at his side.

In this short essay Keller provides encouragement and steps for victory in the battle with Satan as we seek to live our lives in, through, and for the Lord Jesus Christ. We can have no fear of the enemy because Jesus has already won the battle, and will lead us on to victory in the end.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The First Christian

Book Review by David P. Craig: “Mary Encounters the Resurrected Christ”

TFC Keller

The First Christian is an exploration of the paradox that Christian faith is both impossible and irrational. Keller demonstrates how this paradox is true in light of the resurrection account as told by John in chapter 20 of his Gospel. In this essay by Keller we learn what true faith is about in the light of Jesus’ encounter with Mary Magdalene after his rising from the dead.

The impossibility of faith resides in the fact that all people are spiritually dead. Despite Jesus’ many references to his death and resurrection his disciples totally failed to recognize Jesus immediately after his rising from the grave. When Mary sees the empty tomb she immediately thought that Jesus’ body was stollen. The reality is that whether in the first or twenty first century belief in the resurrection of Christ doesn’t come naturally to anyone. All theological traditions agree that we can’t produce saving faith in Jesus solely through our own ability. The reality is that saving faith is impossible without the supernatural intervention of God Himself. Therefore in the first section of this essay Keller explores our natural skepticism and how to deal with our doubts.

In the second half of the essay Keller shows how rational biblical faith is. The faith of the first Christians was the result of a personal encounter with Jesus – based on objective evidence. During the time of Christ (much like in today’s skeptical climate) Jews, Greeks, and Romans all denied the possibility of a physical resurrection. Salvation was primarily viewed as the liberation of the soul from the body. Keller explores several of the reasons why the disciples were initially so skeptical of the resurrected Jesus. The disciples were no more expecting a bodily resurrection of Christ than people in the twenty-first century are.

Keller goes on to show the evidence required of a skeptic (whether back then or now) to actually believe in a resurrected Christ. He gives a compelling argument for the literal bodily resurrection of Christ and how it objectively provides the evidence necessary for a cogent faith.

Tim states it this way, “What kind of evidence would you need in order to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, resurrected from the dead? Whatever that evidence is, you can reasonably conclude that they must have had something like it. And if that’s so, the evidence that convinced them and brought them to faith might be enough to convince you too.”

In this essay Keller provides the skeptic with much food for thought in giving a convincing argument for why faith in Jesus leads to salvation, and fortifies the existing faith of the Christian giving him or her rational reasons for why faith in Christ makes sense in this life, and the one to come.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Wedding Party

Booklet Review By David P. Craig: Jesus Knows How To Party!

TWP Keller

The Wedding Party is the fourth essay in the Encounters with Jesus Series – based on several lectures given to students by Tim Keller at Oxford Town Hall, London, in 2012. In the previous three essays Keller has tackled some of the most important questions one can ever ask. In this essay Keller tackles the question: “What did Jesus come to do?” He answers this question by giving us an exposition of Jesus’ first recorded miracle, or sign at a wedding feast in Cana as recorded in chapter two of the Gospel of John.

The miracle of Jesus’ turning water into wine was ultimately a symbol or a signifier of something greater to come. Keller masterfully gives three future signs that Jesus’ miracle at the wedding banquet point to. There are three symbols or types in this wedding encounter that all ultimately point to our future with Christ. This story is a picture of how Jesus enjoyed the joy at the wedding feast by providing more wine, and yet how He became our substitute on the cross by receiving the cup of God’s wrath that we deserve so that we can one day receive the coming joy provided by Him.

Keller unfolds the big story of all of the Scriptures in this one story from John 2. He shows our need to be reconciled to God, how Jesus provides what we need, and how Jesus is the provider of the feast that we all ultimately long for. We can face anything in life knowing what awaits us at the Lamb’s party that is to come in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Insider and the Outcast

An Insider and and Outsider Encounter Jesus: Review By David P. Craig

TIATO Keller

This booklet is the second in a series of essays based on lectures to students given by Dr. Tim Keller in Oxford, England in 2012. This essay is based on an exposition of two stories in John chapters 3 and 4 where Keller addresses the question ‘What is wrong with the world the way it is?” The reason that Keller addresses this question is that the solutions to the worlds greatest problems cannot be solved, or solutions prescribed without a proper diagnosis at the outset.

In John chapter 3 the focus is on Nicodemus – a religious insider – a highly reputable and moral leader of the religious establishment. In John chapter 4 the focus is on the Samaritan woman – a religious outsider – socially and morally reprehensible in that culture. Instead of dealing with these individuals separately, Keller makes the point that it is a mistake to deal with these two individuals apart from one another. These two encounters were meant to be contrasted by Jesus in order to show what the insider and outcast have in common. All people (including us moderns) have differences, but in the greater scheme of the human dilemma – we are all alike.

In examining these two encounters with Jesus, Keller reveals how John’s stories are relevant about the world we live in today, and how both “insiders” and “outsiders” are the problem. The problem back then with the world is the same problem we have today. It all comes down to the fact that we are all sinners. We either have a tendency to be self-righteous and smug in our works (the insider), or think there are too many barriers to bridge the gap between ourselves and the holiness of God (the outcast). Both individuals are spiritually dead and spiritually lost.

Keller compellingly reveals that the greatest problem in the 1st century and now in the 21st century is still the same. He defines sin thus, “Sin is looking to something else besides God for your salvation. It is putting yourself in the place of God, becoming your own savior and lord.”  Both Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman are equal sinners in need of the grace of God. The good news is that the solution to mankind’s great problem is that satisfaction and peace that come from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus came to die on the cross to give eternal peace, satisfaction, and hope to anyone who comes to Him in faith and repentance.

The good news for all of us is summarized by Keller in this manner, “It is because Jesus Christ experienced cosmic thirst on the cross that you and I can have our spiritual thirst satisfied. It is because he died that we can be born again. And he did it gladly. Seeing what he did and why he did it will turn away our hearts from the things that enslave us and toward him in worship. That is the gospel, and it is the same for skeptics, believers, insiders, outcasts, and everyone in between.”

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Grieving Sisters

Two Grieving Sisters Encounter the Vulnerable God: Book Review by David P. Craig

TGS Keller

This booklet is the third in a series of essays based on some lectures that Tim Keller gave to students in Oxford, England at the Oxford Town Hall, England in 2012. This essay is an exposition of Jesus’ encounter with May and Martha and the death and resurrection of their brother Lazarus in John 11.

The encounters that Jesus has with Martha and Mary demonstrate both the supreme power of Jesus in His Divinity, and the humble humanity of Jesus in his weakness displayed in His grief over the death of Lazarus. Jesus is portrayed in this story as both fully God, and fully man simultaneously. Jesus gives Martha and Mary exactly what they need in their extreme loss over their brother – He is empathetic toward their suffering and suffers with them, and He is omnipotent and reveals His compassion in raising Lazarus from the dead.

Tim Keller shows in this short booklet why it was necessary for Jesus to take on flesh in order to save us. He needed to become powerless, and vulnerable in order to go to the cross to obtain our salvation. He writes, “The founders of every other major religion said, ‘I’m a prophet who shows you how to find God,’ but Jesus taught, ‘I’m God, come to find you.'”

We ultimately have no reason to despair because Jesus is the “resurrection and the life.” He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because He became weak unto death, and He is able to grant us eternal life because He is able to raise the dead. What Keller drives home in this exposition of John 11 was how He loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus – but also how Jesus “became human, mortal, vulnerable, killable–all out of love for us.”

I would recommend this booklet especially for those who have lost loved ones, or are experiencing great suffering. Keller’s essay will give you hope in your grief and show you how to be comforted by the sacrificial love of Jesus. The gospel is powerful for believers to strengthen their faith, and for non-believers to begin their journey of faith. Tim Keller addresses the man or woman with faith, as well as the doubting and grieving with compassion, guidance, and compellingly presents how in the Lord Jesus Christ we can find our satisfaction and abundant joy.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s The Skeptical Student

Nathanael Encounters the Divine Logos: Booklet Review By David P. Craig

TSS Tim Keller

This booklet is the first of a series of essays based on a series of talks that Tim Keller gave in Oxford, England at the Oxford Town Hall, England in 2012. Based on John Chapter One Keller gives a reasoned exposition of the passage with special attention given to Jesus’ encounter with Nathanael and walks us through     his problem as a skeptic, his need as a skeptic, and the prescription for a skeptic.

Keller bridges the gap between the biblical text and the modern day skeptic and shows how Jesus as the Divine Logos is the only one that can truly meet the skeptics greatest problems and needs. In exchange Jesus offers the skeptic a purpose for living, and an eternal hope.

Central to the theme of the essay Keller articulates the essence of Christianity. All other religions focus on what you have to do – works. Christianity on the other hand is the exact opposite. Jesus Christ came to earth in order to do for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves – the perfect life required by the Law.

Keller writes, “But Christianity is not just for the strong; it’s for everyone, but especially for people who admit that, where it really counts, they’re weak. It is for people who have a particular kind of strength to admit that their flaws are not superficial, their heart is deeply disordered, and they are incapable of rectifying themselves. It is for those who can see they need Jesus dying on the cross, to put them right with God…The very genius of Christianity is that it’s not about ‘Here’s what you have to do to find God.’ Christianity is about God coming to earth in the form of Jesus Christ, dying on the cross, to find you…because of the depth of our sin, God came in the person of Jesus Christ to do what we could not do for ourselves, to save us.”

This short read is an excellent introduction to the gospel – the essence of Christianity. It is an open invitation for skeptics to be open enough to evaluate the claims of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John and to respond to his offer of purpose and meaning in this life, and the offer of eternal life with Him in eternity.

Book Review on Tim Keller’s King’s Cross

KC Keller

Highlights of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark by Dr. David P. Craig

King’s Cross is a study of the Gospel of Mark designed for both followers of Christ and would-be followers of Christ. Tim Keller’s expertise is that he is always able to take a passage of Scripture and show how it’s all about Jesus. The Bible is not about us, but always finds its purpose in every story in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This work is not an exhaustive study of the Gospel of Mark, rather it highlights the two primary themes of Mark: Chapters 1-8 – Christ the King – highlighting His teachings, miracles, and authority as God ; and Chapters 9-16 – Christ the Servant – highlighting His sufferings that culminate in His death on the cross.

Keller throughout this book manages to weave in and out how Jesus is the answer to all of the major questions, needs, and realities of life. This book is an excellent reminder for the Christian that all of life only makes sense with Jesus at the center of it. For the non-believer Keller makes a cogent case for the necessity of Christ in his or her life. King’s Cross would be an excellent gift to give to college students, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, and family members who are unfamiliar with the main story lines of the Bible.

The gospel in the life of Jesus is presented clearly, articulately, and compellingly in this concise presentation of Mark’s Gospel. The Gospel of Mark gives more than just information about Jesus. It is the account of the person that every human being longs for. We all desperately need Jesus and Keller brilliantly shows us why. One cannot read this book without desiring to have a deeper connection with the Triune God through a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Book Review on John Piper’s Risk is Right

Risk Makes Sense for the Christian – A Book Review on “Risk is Right” by David P. Craig

RIR Piper

I have to own up to the fact that I own every book that John Piper has written and yet find that I have a hard time reading most of his books. He writes with such depth and verbosity that I often have started his books and left many of them unfinished. I do better with his devotionals and shorter works like this one. This is a very short book that can be read by slow readers like me in less than four hours (I read at the speed of the spoken word – due to 3 detached retinas in my right eye in the last several months). One of the common denominators that make Piper’s books and preaching so compelling is that he is a man who walks the talk. John Piper has addressed virtually all of the so-called “Politically Correct” issues of the day like abortion, homosexuality, racism, and numerous other issues head on in his ministry and has never veered to the left or to the right to teach, preach, and write on the whole counsel of God no matter what the cost or consequences.

If anyone has earned the right to speak on “risk” in the Christian community its John Piper. He owns up to his own sin and imperfections and always exults in the cross, forgiveness of sins, and God’s glorious grace. This book is to sanctification what Pascal’s wager is to justification. The gist of Piper’s writing in this book is that everyone is risking their life in one way or another. Therefore, the greatest use of one’s life is to risk it for and in Christ. The greatest risk of all is to not live for Christ – that is a tragic risk that is not worth taking.

In the Introduction David Platt writes,

“This [risk] is the picture of Jesus in the gospel. He is something–someone–worth losing for. When we really believe this, then risking everything we are and everything we have, to know and obey Christ is no longer a matter of sacrifice. It’s just common sense. To let go of the pursuits, possessions, pleasures, safety, and security of this world in order to follow Jesus wherever he leads, no matter what it costs, is not sacrificial as much as it is smart. In the words of Jim Elliott, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lost.”

The truth of the matter is that Jesus risked his own relationship with the Father and the Spirit in going to the cross. He was totally forsaken so that we could be forgiven and accepted by the Father. However, He did this for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). What makes this book powerful is that John Piper has modeled a life of risk – in his faithfulness to God’s Word; entrusting his finances totally to God (he doesn’t earn a penny from his writings), and in his sold out total dedication to his tireless endeavors of spreading the gospel for the glory of God – so that everything he says about risk carries the weight of his own integrity (1 Timothy 4:16).

Giving examples from both the Old and New Testaments on risk, and honing in on the greatest risk taker of them all – the Lord Jesus Christ – Piper does an excellent job of tackling the objections we all have to taking risks. He then demonstrates the tremendous joy and how ironically low the risk actually is for the life of the Christian.  When we fully entrust our lives to living in faith on the promises of God in Christ there is ultimately nothing to lose, but everything to gain. In Piper-esque fashion at the end of the book one is left being satisfied in Christ and in the glory of God and with a desire and passion to spread the gospel among the nations so that they like us may live to worship Him in all His splendor. Piper motivates and stirs up a passion for Christ and His gospel in the soul like few others – and for that this book is definitely recommended and worth your time, mediation, and application of the truths explicated.