Antioch Road

One Paragraph Review: The Church Treasurer’s Manual by Bruce Nuffer

The Church Treasurer's Manual: A Practical Guide for Managing Church Finances by Bruce Nuffer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bruce Nuffer's The Church Treasurer's Manual is short and unlikely to be of much help to church treasurers who have served in that role for any amount of time and have some bookkeeping and accounting background. The book largely just compiles information available online from a number of denominations and Internal Revenue Service guidance. There are some practical suggestions and some forms that come on a CD, but I do not anticipate referring to this book much, if at all, when questions arise. For the amount of money (list price: $49.99, though you should be able to find it cheaper), I expected more. It addresses too few topics. It addresses some topics in a cursory manner. For example, the section on "How Do You Determine the Annual Budget" contains less than a page of any real substance. Here is the problem, I think: the back cover indicates the editor is "a freelance writer" and a "marketing manager." There is no evidence that he is or has been a church treasurer. For church treasurers that use QuickBooks, Kathy Ivens' Running QuickBooks in Nonprofits is a much more helpful resource.

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One Paragraph Review: Redeeming Law by Michael Schutt

Redeeming Law: Christian Calling and the Legal Profession by Michael P. Schutt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Redeeming Law aids the Christian lawyer in transforming his view of his practice. Its best quality is emphasizing that work (vocation) is serving Christ and our neighbors; it is not distinct from "Christian ministry" within the local church. Our calling as lawyers must be integrated with the other aspects of our lives -- our callings as husbands, fathers, and church members. We serve and love God and our neighbors by doing our work in a biblical way and with a biblical mindset. The book is more theory than practice. Significant (though surface-level) practical applications don't come until the final 18 pages. It contains too many sentences like this: "We work out norms (through general and special revelation) in light of community (historical and present) existentially (in the context of our dignity as a human and in the context of calling, role, or office)." It is uniformly humorless. But it has helped me recognize the significance (and the benefit if done right) of what I do as a lawyer, not on a global level, but on a personal and spiritual level.

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One Paragraph Review: What He Must Be by Voddie Baucham

What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie T. Baucham Jr.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In What He Must Be, Voddie Baucham gives us a Biblical model for what our sons must be to fulfill their roles as husbands and fathers, and what our daughters must expect in a future husband. This book is primarily written for fathers. It challenges current dating and parenting models as unbiblical. It calls us to reevaluate how we train our children. For if we care at all about the lives our children lead as adults and about our grandchildren and great-greatchildren, we must care deeply about the spouses our children choose and how they go about making those choices. As Baucham notes, it is a father's duty to protect his daughter, provide for his daughter, and lead his family in worship of God and in Biblical instruction. As a result, when a father gives away his daughter to another man, he must be certain that man will assume those roles. To be so certain, a father must play a significant part in assisting in his daughter's choice of a husband (and protecting her physically, emotionally, and spiritually until that time). Not just any one will do. There are clear things "he must be."

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One Paragraph Review: America in Crimson Red by James Beller

America In Crimson Red: The Baptist History Of America by James R. Beller

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the best worst written book I have ever read. Or maybe it is the worst best written book I have ever read. Either way, everyone should read it. "The Baptist History of America" is really a history of how the United States went from independent states that almost uniformly practiced religious persecution to United States that understood religious freedom as a basic right. Before the formation of the United States, many Baptists died, lost their homes and other property, and were kicked out of their communities merely because they refused to baptize infants and refused to pay the tax for the salaries of the pastors of government-established churches. Through the persecution, the Baptists in America thrived and ultimately led America to embrace religious freedom. We have since lost that understanding, meshing Baptists into Protestantism. James Beller, importantly, reminds us of this history and the important people who played a part in this history, with great attention to detail, good story telling, and impeccable research. Unfortunately, he needed an editor, or a better one, for every page of the book contains poor sentence structure, commas out of place, and many other grammatical problems. Nevertheless, everyone should overlook those faults and read this book.

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One Paragraph Review: The Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure by Buddy Davis

The Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure by Buddy Davis

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the story of the true journey of fine men into Alaska in search of unfossilized bones. As an adventure story, it's good. I learned a lot about Alaska (watch out for the mosquitoes!). It's also a very quick read, as it's just 133 pages in relatively large typeface. I did expect more from the book on the significance for a young earth of unfossilized bones. But I had fun reading it nonetheless.

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The Religious Case for Throwing Away Your Issue of Newsweek

In Newsweek's Dec. 15 issue, someone named Lisa Miller makes "the religious case for gay marriage." Except the magazine put a picture of the Bible on the cover. The "religious case for gay marriage" is not the same thing as "the Biblical case for gay marriage." Newsweek would have given itself more intellectual credibility had it at least gotten the cover right.

Anyway, on to the story behind the cover.

Wait a second. I don't want to go on to that. The "religious case for gay marriage" has been "made" a hundred times. What a boring cover story. The Bible is antiquated. Modern scholars have found new meaning in the passages or now doubt their veracity. God is love and all He wants is for us to just be happy, however we define happiness. King David was a polygamist. And on and on and on.

Ms. Miller even writes that "while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman." Well, she's got us there! There is no verse in the Bible that says "the definition of marriage is the union of one man and one woman." I don't know how we could have missed that.

Anyway, let's leave Ms. Miller's story before she starts writing things like "the Bible endorses slavery." (Oops, too late.)

Instead, let's go on to Newsweek editor Jon Meacham's editorial note on the cover story. Unlike Ms. Miller's story, Mr. Meacham's note is interesting, if in a train wreck sort of way.

Mr. Meacham writes that "conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism." The worst kind? Really? He can't think of a kind of fundamentalism worse than that?

And, is liberal resort to biblical authority OK, then? Apparently not, for "to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt—it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition." That's right—Mr. Meacham says that resort to Biblical authority is "unworthy" of the "Judeo-Christian tradition." Also, it is "intellectually bankrupt," which does not exactly explain why he just put a cover story in his magazine resorting to Biblical authority to argue for one side of an issue. Intellectually bankrupt for thee, but not for me?

But if we are to discard Biblical authority, to what authority should we resort? The closest Mr. Meacham comes to offering an alternative is when he says that "history and demographics are on the side of those who favor inclusion over exclusion." So history--by which Mr. Meacham means historical trends--and the opinions of younger generations (i.e., "demographics") are to be our guides, eh? Those guides are less than definitive and consistent.

Perhaps, then, Mr. Meacham himself is to be our authority, given as he is in "full possession of the relevant cultural and religious history and context" of the important issues.

Not doubting his good intentions but his omniscience, I pray that he will excuse me from submission to his authority, though it appears that he has already declined my request.

One Paragraph Book Review: Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement, by Dan Lucarini

In Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement, Dan Lucarini recounts his immersion in, and abandonment of, the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) movement. And then he equips us to defend traditional music from CCM promoters and challenges the "Contemporaries" to leave behind the favored, man-centered music of the world and return to God-honoring musical styles. In short but substantive chapters, Lucarini answers tough questions such as Isn't music amoral? (partial answer: the general concert of music may be amoral, but particular musical styles -- developed by man -- are not), Isn't CCM easier to sing than traditional hymns?, and Isn't God using CCM to save and disciple teens? Lucarini also responds to the "show me" challenge: "Show me where the Bible says that rock music is evil." Lucarini writes well, is challenging yet humble, and has given us a book worth reading, owning, and sharing.

Finding Happiness

Syracuse University Professor Arthur Brooks, author of Who Really Cares? The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, has a new book out on happiness titled Gross National Happiness. WORLD Magazine has a Q&A with him in its May 17/24 issue in which he summarizes some of his survey findings:

There are three basic things that make people happy: meaning in their lives, control over their environment, and success in creating value in the world. And the way people get these things is not with money or power or fame—it is with their values. People who are serious about healthy values in their lives, families, and communities are much happier than others. The data say that these values come in eight categories: faith, family, personal liberty, private morality, non-materialism, opportunity, work, and service to others. Many journalists and academics dismiss these as just "cultural issues." But what happy Americans know is that nothing is more important than these things for building true happiness.

Other interesting conclusions from his book:

--People who identify as conservatives are generally happier than people who identify as liberals.

--Regular churchgoers are twice as likely to be happy as those who seldom or never attend a worship service. ("Happy is that people, whose God is the LORD" -- Psalm 144:15.)

--Though people complain about economic inequality, economic inequality does not make them unhappy, lack of economic mobility does. Says Brooks: "The irony is that when politicians fight income inequality they often lower economic mobility by wrecking the rewards to hard work. And this makes the real problem worse, not better."

One issue I wonder whether Brooks' book addresses is the relationship between number of children and happiness, for the Bible says that "happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them" (Psalm 127:5). It appears much, if not all, of his other findings are consistent with the Bible's prescriptions for happiness and joy.

Hope

When people today say they hope for something, what they often mean is that they wish for something.

"I hope that my children turn out right" means "I wish for my children to turn out right." "I hope I will have a bigger home someday" means "I wish that I could have a bigger home." In both instances, the hope is some uncertain thing in the future. We do not know that our children will turn out right.

But when the Bible uses the word hope, it is often referring to something that, while in the future, is certain. It shall--not may--come to pass.

In my prayers, I often thank God for the hope of heaven. That is not because I am uncertain about my eternal home, but because I am certain. Colossians 1:5 speaks of "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel."

1 Thessalonians 5:8 says that the "hope of salvation" is part of our protection. Something that is uncertain is not much protection, but our salvation is certain, if we have accepted the free gift Ephesians 2:8-9 speaks of. That free gift is Jesus, "which is our hope" (1 Tim. 1:1), being born to die--"the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18)--for you and for me.

It is my prayer that you have that hope this Christmas season. If you do not, please read this. God's blessings on you and your family.

One Paragraph Review: The Modern Creation Trilogy: Volume I: Scripture & Creation

The first volume of Henry & John Morris's creation trilogy sets forth the Biblical argument for a six-day, young-earth creation. In doing so, they effectively argue against various Biblical interpretations that seek to line the Bible up with an old earth viewpoint, such as theistic evolution, progressive creation, the day-age theory, and the gap theory. The most valuable part of the book is its explanation of why recent creation is an essential doctrine. Everything about our lives -- from sin-led separation to Christ's redemptive sacrifice to repentance to salvation -- flows from God's creative acts and the timing of those acts. God's gifts are great and the first Gift is Life. After reading this book, one can no longer take the importance of Genesis for granted.