This year has been a
year of indescribable grief and hurt for our hearts as we lost our youngest son
Devin in February. December 20th would have been his 16th
birthday. Without a doubt, God’s Word has ministered the most to our
hearts and brought comfort in ways beyond what we could have imagined.
God has used many authors and books to help us to try and come to terms with
such a terrible, terrible loss. One of the first books we read after our
loss was a book passed on to us by a co-worker of my wife. The book is
called Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss. It almost looks
like a children’s book, but it really is not. It is both simple and deep
at the same time. It gives some good perspective where it is so
welcomed. It is a book that can be read in about 30 minutes and it is
time well spent. For a much more involved and in-depth look at the
subject of grief, we greatly benefited from Walking with God through Pain
and Suffering by Timothy Keller. The first part of this book is
theoretical in that it gives the history of how those from the past have
historically viewed grief and dealt with grief. It moves from there into
the more practical and finally ends in the Scriptural in its 325 total
pages. It is a book that will take a person some time to work through but
the benefits are significant.
Another great book that helped me put grief and pain in perspective was Ray
Stedman’s book Let God Be God: Life-Changing Truths from the Book of Job.
Job is a difficult book to wade through and most people do not do much more
than merely read it from time to time. Few messages are preached on it
and few memorize passages from its pages. Stedman does as good of job as
any author I have ever read at the point of breaking down Job’s meaning into
understandable, usable truths. Like the sub-title indicates, it can be
life-changing when we understand more about suffering and pain, Satan’s
desires, and God’s ultimate sovereignty. Understanding Job goes a very
long way toward understanding life here on this earth.
I have always been greatly encouraged and strengthened by reading of the
martyrs down through history. Men and women have been so strong in their
faith they have given their lives for the truth of Christ. This year in
our family devotion time we read a new book, which is a fresh perspective on
the martyrs by author Bryan Litfin called Early Christian Martyr Stories: An
Evangelical Introduction with New Translations. It was very
encouraging to us as we considered again the enormous and unwavering faith of
those who came before us.
I believe the Lord’s Supper is of extreme importance in the life of the
church. Sadly, it has become just another Sunday for people to miss
church. But when you consider what it is and why it is important it is
then not so easy to dismiss. R. C. Sproul has a great little book that is
concise in its explanation of this special celebration called What is the
Lord’s Supper? It will help deepen your understanding and
appreciation for the sacrifice of our Lord.
I have argued for many years that legalized abortion is the single most
revealing facet of our godless culture. Many things are bad, but the mass
slaughter of our children and the embrace of this culture of death, is
incomprehensible. The Gospel & Abortion, from “The Gospel For
Life Series” by Russell Moore and Andrew T. Walker, gives some great insight
into the issue and how we as Christians can respond. The book is concise
and a great tool for all believers. Pornography is another pervasive
problem that is far worse than many realize. It is hard to talk about and
often is not talked about by believers. Another in the Gospel for Life
Series is The Gospel & Pornography. It offers a concise
challenge to all believers to consider pornography through the eyes a Scripture
and see it as God sees
it.
I had the privilege of preaching through the Old Testament book of Judges and
finishing it earlier this year. The book describes a wicked and Godless
period in Israel’s history where everyone did what was right in their own
eyes. It is exactly that which drew me to preach through the book.
So much of it parallels the United States of America in the modern era.
The most helpful resources I used in my study were Judges: Such A Great
Salvation by Dale Ralph Davis, Judges For You, by Timothy Keller
both which are great for laymen. For more depth study, and especially for
pastors studying/preaching through Judges, do not miss Daniel Block’s
exposition of the book in the New American Commentary Series (NAC).
This past spring I was able to preach through the Old Testament Book of Ruth on
Sunday evenings. The 4 chapters in the book tell the story of God’s
providence in, not only the lives of the individuals – Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz –
but of God’s greater work in providing an earthly King, David and an eternal
King, Jesus I found Sinclair Ferguson’s book Faithful God: An
Exposition of the Book of Ruth very helpful and insightful. I also
got much from John Piper’s book A Sweet & Bitter Providence: Sex, Race,
and the Sovereignty of God based on the Book of Ruth. Dean R.
Ulrich’s book From Famine to Fullness: The Gospel According to Ruth was
really good at helping me keep this Old Testament book in a New Testament
perspective. For pastors and those who want to study deeper, I was
thoroughly blessed by Daniel I. Block’s commentary on Ruth in the New
American Commentary (NAC) series. It is deep and breaks down words
and customs in an exhaustive manner. Probably the best commentary
available on Ruth though is Robert L. Hubbard Jr.’s exhaustive commentary (316
pp.) in the New International Commentary Old Testament (NICOT) series.
I found it to be the most helpful tool overall in my study of Ruth.
For pastors, I would recommend The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have to
Preach by Bryan Chapell. The book includes insights for ministering,
particularly in the time of death and funerals, to those left behind.
Life is full of tragedy, hurt, and pain and pastors are appointed to help give
biblical perspective on what has taken place. The circumstances covered
by the book include such things as sudden deaths, suicide, abortion, murder,
death of a child or baby, etc. Each circumstance has a manuscript of an
actual message that was preached upon the occasion discussed.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor,
Pastor
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