Frederick III loved studying the Word of God.  Through the providential work of God, he became a very important ruler in Heidelberg, Germany.  Most of the people belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and just accepted what the leaders taught them.  The reformation of doctrine through the work of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli brought many good changes, but there was still a lot of unrest and strife.

Frederick desperately wanted to bring peace in his land and to teach the people in a simple way what the Bible really said.  Discover in this book how God used three godly men from different countries to make this possible.

THROUGH THIS STORY CHILDREN WILL LEARN:

• What the Heidelberg Catechism is and why it was written.
• The providence of God in the lives of people to advance the gospel.
• The importance of the truth of God’s Word in the Bible.
• How God uses many difficult circumstances and sorrows to prepare us for His work.
• How godly leadership can influence many people, even nations.
• The blessing of working together as God’s people.
• Where to find the only true and lasting comfort and help.
• The encouragement found in history.

DESCRIPTION:

Written in plain language easy enough for young children to understand, this beautifully illustrated hardcover book will whet their appetites to learn more about God‘s Word and boldly live for the single purpose of glorifying His name through all of life’s ups and downs.  Evan Hughes has done a wonderful job of creating a visual telling of the story through his colorful and well thought out illustrations. 

The Heidelberg Catechism: A Study Guide by G.I Williamson would be a good resource to study with your family after reading A Quest for Comfort.

Review by Tunize Bezuidenhout
Augustine Bookroom
South Africa

When it comes to old books, I am a purist. Ordinarily, something is lost along the way in translations or abridgments. However, as a pastor, I have come to recognize that most Christians do not have adequate time or dedication to become familiar with the language of older authors. This means that a rich treasure of unparalleled Christian literature is lost to vast body of believers today. Reformation Heritage Books has sought to remedy this problem with the series,Puritan Treasures for Today. The books in this series are neither translations nor abridgments. Instead, the publisher has sought out authors who are familiar with the Puritans in order to smooth out difficult language for contemporary readers. The language is updated with great care in such a way that the original though remains intact. Moreover, they have selected books that are short in length and that address issues of contemporary importance. The result is a series of small, inexpensive, and easily accessible books that bring the wisdom of the Puritans to a contemporary world. These small works encapsulate warm-hearted practical theology that is so rare in our age that most church members do not know what they are missing.

Read Rev. Ryan McGraw’s full reviews of  George Swinnock’s, The Fading of the Flesh  and William Greenhill’s, Stop Loving the World. 

I still remember the very first time that I stood behind a pulpit to deliver the message on Sunday morning.  I had prepared for hours upon hours.  Crafting my sermon to be faithful to Jesus, helpful for the congregation, and biblically faithful.

Finally it was Sunday morning and I drove one hour to fill the pulpit of I Forget the Name Baptist Church.  I believer there were about 25 dear saints there that morning—gracious enough to have a young pastor wannabe preaching the gospel to them.  My knees were knocking as I began the discourse.  The first five minutes were really rough.  And then something happened…

I began moving a little outside the manuscript and speaking from what the Spirit had laid on my heart.  I felt for the rest of the sermon a good deal of freedom and a growing sense of love and unity with these dear believers.

Towards the end of the sermon if I remember correctly I also had a heightened sense of pride, “I’m really doing it, look at me I’m really preaching…”  Then I started to feel quite shackled again.  My freedom of speech was gone.  Something was missing.  In that brief moment I started trusting in my competency as a preacher.  God was gracious, left me, I fumbled and stumbled, and then once again threw myself on the mercy of the Lord.  I closed the sermon with freedom and what preachers of old would call “unction”.

What brought about that freedom, heightened sense, growing love, and greater confidence in the Word?  According to Albert N. Martin I was in those moments engaged in Preaching in the Holy Spirit.

Summary

Preaching in the Holy Spirit is a helpful little booklet published by Reformation Heritage Books.  Its 67 pages are actually the fruit of Martin’s 2 messages at an annual pastor’s conference in October of 2002 on “Preaching in the Spirit”.  For the readers benefit the booklet is broken up into five chapters.

In the first chapter Martin hopes to chart the course, explaining that this booklet will address the agency and operation of the Holy Spirit (as a sovereign divine Person) with reference to the act of preaching itself.  After this introduction Martin argues in chapter two for the indispensable necessity of the Spirit in preaching.  Here he shows that the Spirit was needed in the ministry of Jesus, the apostles, and all new-covenant ministry.

The third and fourth chapters are the meat of the booklet.  In these chapters Martin attempts to explain what preaching in the Spirit looks like as well as the experience of diminished preaching, respectively.  He concludes with a passionate plea to “let Christ loose” (66) and to keep preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Analysis

Do you ever have certain beliefs, passions, or experiences that you never really tell anybody, but finally some brave soul opens up and shares that they too have the same experience?  What a relief to know that you aren’t a total nutjob; at least not in this area.

I felt that way reading this book.

What Albert N. Martin describes about the preaching experience—both in the positive and negative—has been my typical experience in preaching for the last ten plus years.  I was deeply encouraged to know that what I am experiencing is not just being amped up on an extra does of caffeine but it is the operation of the Holy Spirit.

I was also rebuked and helped by Martin.  Not every time I preach do I do so with an enlarged heart, heightened sense, growing confidence in the Word, and great freedom.  And because of this I could sadly identify with Martin’s fourth chapter on a restrained or diminished measure of the Spirit.  It was helpful to know some of the pitfalls that preachers fall into that might cause a diminished measure of the Spirit.

One of the greatest strengths of the work is Martin’s balanced view of the relationship between Spirit-driven study and Spirit-directed preaching.  Sometimes the Spirit is quenched because of our lack of study, and other times he is grieved because we are more shackled by our manuscript than we are free in Jesus.  Martin encourages intentional study for the sake of freedom in preaching.  Very helpful.

This book should be a welcome addition into any pastor’s library, if nothing more than simply to paint a picture of what your Sunday morning should look like.  This is not an exhaustive study of the topic.  (For a more thorough treatment I would suggest Arturo Azurdia’s Spirit-Empowered Preaching).  Thought not exhaustive this primer still packs a punch.  There is plenty within these 67 pages that will edify the preacher and cause us to long for more of the Spirit’s work in our preaching.

You can buy your copy here.

“Homiletics.”  What is it?  One educator defined “homiletics” as, ”the art and science of saying the same thing that the text of Scripture says. The study of sermon preparation is technically called homiletics.”  At its most basic level, homiletics is the study of the preparation and delivery of a sermon.  Truly, books on the subject of homiletics abound.  While they are undoubtedly helpful to the preacher in his preparation, there is still a vital need for something (or, perhaps, Someone) else to be addressed!  What of the Holy Spirit in relation to homiletics?

One may spend hours diligently studying the Scriptures, desiring to clearly communicate God’s Word to the gathered church, but without the agency of the Holy Spirit illuminating the text, empowering the preacher, and giving spiritual life to the congregation, the words spoken by the preacher may be no more than a loud gong or a clanging cymbal in the ears of God’s people.  Albert N. Martin, in his book Preaching in the Holy Spirit (Reformation Heritage Books, 2011), has done preachers a great service in zeroing in on “the agency and operations of the Holy Spirit in and on the preacher himself in the very act of preaching” (p. 3).  Brief and pointed, Martin explores, in 67 pages, the agency and operations, indispensable necessity, specific manifestations, and restrained or diminished measure of the person of the Spirit in preaching.

Beginning with “The Agency and Operations of the Spirit in Preaching” Martin seeks “to demonstrate that [the Spirit's] agency (His active power) and His operations (the effects of that power) are direct and immediate in and on the preacher in the act of preaching” (p. 3).  His brief introductory chapter clearly and concisely establishes 3 fundamental presuppositions about the Spirit’s person and work that will serve as the foundation for the subsequent chapters.  Martin notes that the Holy Spirit is:

1. a person.
2. a divine person. (emphasis mine)
3. a sovereign, divine person. (emphasis mine)

Taking up his study, Martin addresses “The Indispensable Necessity of the Spirit in Preaching.”  Not being relegated to a “fanatical fringe of preachers” the experience and operations of the Holy Spirit in preaching, Martin notes, “are an indispensable necessity for every preacher of the Word of God if his ministry would meet the biblical standard of what preaching ought to be” (p. 7).  Surveying the indispensable necessity of the Holy Spirit in the ministries of Christ and the Apostles, Martin notes the that, in light of 2 Corinthians 2:14-4:18, “to be made a minister of the new covenant is to be a constituted a minister of the Spirit” (p.15).  If the Spirit was necessary for the efficacious nature of the preaching of Christ and the Apostles, we cannot conclude any differently as those who preach the Word upon the foundation of the apostles and Christ, the cornerstone.

Moving forward, Martin examines the “Specific Manifestations of the Spirit in Preaching.”  One of these manifestations is a “heightened sense” of the spiritual realities we aim to preach.  Martin describes this as a “genuine emotional as well as intellectual engagement with the truth you are preparing to preach” (p. 18).  After study, and in the act of preaching itself, Martin says the Spirit manifests himself in giving the preacher an heightened energy, passion, degree of experience regarding the glory of Christ that he would not care if everyone left the building.  Martin says, at times, while preaching the glory of Christ, the preacher’s preaching may become a, “sacred soliloquy about your Savior–an internal rapture in the act of preaching” (p. 20).  Though these descriptions may largely be subjective in nature, Martin summarizes his aim by quoting Whitefield when he said, “I would not for one thousand words preach an unfelt Christ.”  Martin is pointing to the work of the Spirit which manifests itself in an increased passion for, confidence and freedom in, the truth, person, and glory of Christ in the act of preaching.

Regarding the reality which every preacher faces at some point, “The Restrained or Diminished Measure of the Spirit in Preaching” may be experienced for several reasons.  The measure of the Spirit may be “held back” Martin notes for no other reason than, “the reality of the inscrutable and absolute sovereignty of God.” Other restraints may be caused by a disregarding of the necessity of the Spirit, a grieving of the Spirit, a quenching of the Spirit.  Martin says, and I agree, “the Holy Spirit, who is a divine person, generally does not provide gracious and copious measures of His agency and operation where His presence and power are not treasured, earnestly sought, believingly expected, and jealously guarded” (p. 42).

Martin aptly concludes his work writing, “God has chosen preaching as His grand weapon to dismantle the kingdom of darkness and to establish the kingdom of His dear Son.  But not just any kind of preaching will serve.  God’s grand weapon is preaching with the powerful agency and operation of the Holy Spirit” (p. 67).

Overall, I appreciate the brevity with which Martin takes up his topic.  He provides a much need primer on the agency and operation of the Spirit in and on the preacher in the act of preaching.  I would welcome a volume that addresses the topic in more depth, but that does not take away from the nature of Martin’s work.  Preachers often give themselves to “the what” of preaching, or “the how” of preaching, even perhaps “new and improved methods of communication.”  O, that preachers would give themselves to the Spirit Himself that they would be empowered to preach, with holy power, Christ and him crucified to the glory of God!  Martin’s Preaching in the Holy Spirit is a welcomed voice and a needed work in exhorting preachers to that end.  I recommend it!

I received an email the other day offering me the opportunity to review the book Faithfulness Under Fire: The story of Guido de Bres. Of course I jumped on it, and am glad I did.

Faithfulness Under Fire does a remarkable job of telling a short, but robust story, of the short, but robust story of a man named Guido de Bres. Pronounced “Gee-doe de Bray,” this remarkable man lived in Belgium in the early to middle 1500′s. Influenced by the Reformation truths of justification by faith alone, and the protestant discovery that you could read the bible for yourself, he soon became a marked man. On several occasions he fled to different countries like England and Switzerland to study and learn God’s Word under Calvin and Company. Eventually he married and returned to Belgium. He began pastoring and preaching in secret, though those longing for the spiritual milk of the Word began to number in the thousands. You can’t be too discreet with those numbers!

Dodging the Holy Roman Emperor King Phillip II could last only so long. Eventually he was imprisoned and hung for his faith.  Yet during his short life time of 44 years, he penned what became known as the Belgic Confession of Faith, still used by many Reformed churches today.

The illustrations in this short children’s book really make Guido’s story come alive today. My spirit truly stirred within me. I personally hadn’t ever heard of this man before, but upon reading this story, I now have a greater appreciation for the story behind the Belgic Confession. I’m quite guilty of looking at such confessions as though they appeared out of nowhere. Familiar with the story and creation of the Westminster Confession (part of our denomination’s constitution), I know little of the blood, sweat, tears, and martyrdom which often accompany many such articulations of faith. Such documents are more than documents: they are doctrine not just penned by authors but sealed and spread by the very blood of those who believed in such doctrine.  Nowadays such formulations and articulations of doctrine cost us very little. But that was not always the case. Faithfulness Under Fire moves us to a simple, but greater appreciation of such confessions.

As a children’s story, I think the book also succeeds in telling the story of someone very much in love with the person of Jesus. He loved Jesus so much he was willing to die for him. I didn’t find the details overly graphic or morbid, but instead felt they helped illustrate the true battle for the gospel. A battle which sometimes, and in may places today, gets more heated than it does here in the States. Boekstein does a good job of capturing the past Protestant struggle against an oppressive Catholic Empire without trying to re-cast the present day Roman Catholic church in the same light.

With every biography, we must take pains to not make it a hagiography. In a short book like this, no flaws in de Bres were addressed. And that is OK, because we don’t get a picture of flaws in the book of Daniel either. Biographies, as with bible stories where the “main character” is Noah, David, or Daniel, must point us and our little ones to the true Hero behind the story. TheJesus Storybook Bible uses language like, “God sent someone to deliver His people” and then concludes the David v. Goliath story pointing to One who would later come to deliver His people for good. I don’t know if we can expect a short children’s book to explain all of this or completely contextualize this story in the larger story of redemption. Parents can do this with any book or story very easily.

So provided the parent provides this framework, this and other short biographies can be very powerful to show that Jesus’ love for us truly does compel and empower us to live boldly and not even shrink before death, much less peer pressure. He writes, “By God’s grace, Guido lived a life of total service to God.” It is clear to the reader where this power came from. But as a parent, we need to be intentional at certain points in the story. For instance we must regularly ask such questions with biographies and stories like, “How did this dude get so bold? How was she able to persevere?” These kinds of questions can transform a biography to a true Christ-centered teach devotional.

On the last page Boekstein gives some instructions for thinking through this story and how to read it to children.

This is the value we see in teaching our children about Guido de Bres-not to glorify him, but to be drawn by his example to live to the glory of God.

I think there is much value in reading biographies ourselves, as well as teaching them to our children. The goal is not to make much of Guido but make much of Jesus for His work in Guido. Yet we also need not ignore the great examples in church history of what it actually looks like to follow Jesus in this world. I learn what forgiveness looks like not simply by studying a passage, but also by reading As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda.

We’ve been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, both in the present and in the past. We would do well to learn about them. Not for the simple goal of emulation, but to encourage us that Jesus testimony is true: he can save a life from not only the punishment of sin, but also from the power of sin and fear.

This review is quite a bit longer than the actual book itself, which I commend to you. For more information, check out the you tube trailer.

(Post by Kevin Fiske)

“Prayerful praying.”  Far from a mere redundancy, it is what Joel Beeke and Brian Najapfour hope to encourage within the body of Christ through the rich prayer lives of the Reformers and the Puritans in, Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer (Reformation Heritage Books, 2011).  Taking Hold of God compiles some of the richest theological meditations on prayer from Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Knox, Henry, and other “giants of the faith” within the Reformed and Puritan traditions. Beeke, Najapfour, and others have sifted through the weighty primary sources to leave the reader with the pure gold and potent perspectives of these men for whom “prayer was a priority.”  Beeke notes:

These giants of church history dwarf us in true prayer.  Is that because they were more educated, were less distracted by cares and duties, or lived in more pious times?  No; undoubtedly, what most separates them from us in is that prayer was their priority; they devoted considerable time and energy to it.  They were prayerful men who knew how to take hold of God in prayer (Isa. 64:7) [p. 224].

Focusing in on the theologies of prayer among 9 influential Purtians and Reformers (along with the aforementioned, also include: Perkins, Burgess, Bunyan, Boston), together with some additional men along the way, Beeke and Najapfour aim to guide the reader in allowing this treasure of theology, practice, and experience to make our prayer lives “more informed, more extensive, more fervent, and more effectual” (p. xiii).  I would say that they accomplish their task quite well.  With the amount of significant theology and testimony in each of the essays on prayer, it would be a book the reader would do well to read more than once.

Additionally, Taking Hold of God aims to develop a robust theology of prayer as it addresses how other theological aspects relate to and inform one’s prayer life and experience.  My favorite bits included Beeke’s chapters on Calvin (Prayer as Communion with God), Matthew Henry (a Practical Method of Daily Prayer), and Thomas Boston (Praying to Our Father), and Prayerful Praying Today.  Also, Peter Beck’s chapter on Jonathan Edwards (Prayer and the Triune God) proved to be edifying and informative as well.

Particularly worth noting within these chapters was Calvin’s perspective on the purpose of prayer in light of the sovereignty of God.  Calvin taught that prayer was “not primarily instituted for God, but rather for man.  Prayer is a means given to man so that he might, by faith, “reach those riches which are laid up for us with the Heavenly Father” (p. 29).  Calvin’s theology of prayer was such that, “Prayer is a way in which believers seek and receive what God has determined to do for them from eternity” (p. 30).

Furthermore, I found Matthew Henry’s remarks on prayer and the importance, practice and purpose of family worship to be convicting and encouraging.  “[Henry] considered family worship as a time for the whole family to come to God in prayer, seeking His blessing, thanking Him for His mercies, and bringing Him fractures in our relationships so He might heal them” (p. 148).

Henry also favored format in daily prayer. Though a Christian can occasionally be caught up with the greatness of God in such a way that methods may hinder, those times are likely quite rare.  Utilizing the Westminster Directory for Public Worship (1645) Henry outlined effective ways to keep prayer focused and substantive so as to “not be ‘rash with our mouth; and let not our heart be hasty to utter any thing before God;’ but let every word be well weighed, because ‘God is in heaven, and we are upon the earth,’ Eccl. 5:2” (p. 154).  Beeke includes one such helpful outline from Henry on adoration within our prayers.

As well, within Beeke’s chapter on Thomas Boston, Boston’s theology of prayer in light of the doctrine of adoption and the Trinity was immensely heartening and enlightening.  Boston taught that, “adoption is the foundation of prayer, and prayer is the fruition of adoption” (p. 161, emphasis mine).  Moreover, in light of Boston’s theology of prayer/adoption, “Prayer is not just a privilege of adoption; it is a sign of the adoption, for it is the fruit of the Spirit of adoption” (p. 168).

All together, Taking Hold of God demonstrates that what seems to have characterized the prayer of these men, and the others within the book, was their focus and dependence upon God’s Word to shape, sustain, and give substance to their prayers to the glory and enjoyment of God.  Beeke fittingly concludes with a chapter aimed at helping the reader practically move in the direction of the Puritans and Reformers so that we, by God’s grace, may achieve a life of “prayerful praying” that “clings with one hand to heaven’s footstool and with the other to Calvary’s cross, stirring itself “to take hold” of God (Isa. 64:7).”

I wholeheartedly commend this book!

Since very few people have heard of Lodenstein the first twenty or so pages are dedicated to introducing the reader to his life and times.  Written by Joel Beeke, this section is worth the price of the book for history nerds like myself.  I’ve studied English Puritanism pretty extensively but have heard little of the parallel Dutch Further Reformation.  This introduction is helpful and informative.

Book Description: A Spiritual Appeal to Christ’s Bride consists of nine sermons preached by Jodocus van Lodenstein, one of the most prominent leaders of the Dutch Further Reformation. The sermons stress themes that are dear to the preacher’s heart: the need for the Holy Spirit to carry the Reformation further than the mind, the need for perpetual reformation and growth in piety, the need to cultivate holiness and self-denial, and the need to know and experience as Christ’s bride an intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ the perfect Bridegroom. The book calls nominal Christians to a more profound commitment to Christ, stressing that only such a commitment can deliver the church from shallowness and unholiness. Today, more than ever, the church needs to heed this call to awaken from its spiritual slumber.

“Anthony Selvaggio has provided the church with a small, but robust, biblical theology of the Gospel of John. His approach to the Word of God is thoroughly Christ centered.

Selvaggio opens his book by examining the use of signs in redemptive history. Beginning with Moses, he explains that the purpose of signs is to authenticate God’s messengers (p. 4). Selvaggio then moves to the New Testament and to John in particular, focusing on the signs in the first half of the book. From John 20:31, he explains that these seven signs are recorded by John to lead people to believe that Jesus is the Christ, so that in believing they might have eternal life. Like the signs of the Old Testament, these signs authenticate the messianic person and message of Jesus. And in so doing, they lead us to behold the divine glory of our Savior (p. 11)!”

Read more here and buy here.

Joel R. Beeke (editor). Calvin for Today. Reformation Heritage Books: Grand Rapids, 2010. 279 pages.

Introduction

Calvin for Today is an edited compilation of the addresses given at the 1st Puritan Reformed Conference, which was hosted by Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, Michigan), in August 2009. The theme of the conference was “Calvin for the 21st Century,” and was attended by a diverse group of people with interest in the Reformed faith. The addresses in Calvin for Todayreflect the richness of Reformed theology as they examine a number of different ways in how John Calvin’s ministry continues to be relevant to the 21st century. Furthermore, the articles do not need to be read in their specific order, which makes it an excellent topical resource for theological libraries.

Summary

Calvin for Today contains both information and practical applications of how to use Calvin’s thought in the world and culture in which we live today. Written for the man or woman in the pew, yet retaining a flavor of the spoken style, it is informative to the mind, stimulating in thought, and practical for one’s life. The book begins as the conference did, with an introduction sermon by Dr. David Murray, entitled “What Kind of Love is This.” From there, the book is broken into five different overarching topics dealing with John Calvin and his theology:

• Calvin and the Bible
• Calvin the Theologian
• Calvin and the Church
• Calvin the Ethicist
• Calvin and His Contemporary Impact

Within these five topics are addresses which focus on a number of different subjects including Calvin on preaching Christ from the Old Testament, missions, the church, Scripture, the Spirit’s work, redemption, ethics, believers’ benefits, the early church, reprobation, marriage, reforming the church, the resurgence of Calvinism in America, and why Calvin is important for the 21st century. The contributors of these addresses include Jerry Bilkes, Michael Haykin, Nelson Kloosterman, David Murray, Joseph Pipa, Neil Pronk, Donald Sinnema, Derek Thomas, and Cornel Venema.

Analysis

Calvin for Today is particularly good for the resurgence of Calvinism in American evangelicalism. In this day and age, as Calvinism has been growing more than ever in the last 150-years, it is important to know Calvinism in its entirety and not limit oneself merely to the doctrines of grace or God’s sovereignty. Here readers will see that Calvin was more than just 5-points; that Calvinism actually affects all areas of life. For example, John Calvin’s high-view of the Scriptures and his view of family and marriage, to his view on how the Spirit works, and the role, doctrine, and reforming of the Church, are all best seen as they are put together in the book’s conclusion which looks at Calvin’s contemporary impact in the 21st century. “The Resurgence of Calvinism in American” by Ligon Duncan runs through the nine influences over the last 150-years in the American culture that has helped bring about the resurgence of Calvinism, both old and new. Concluding the book is Joel Beeke’s “Twelve Reasons Why Calvin is Important Today.” In his typical systematic approach, Beeke spends his time addressing what he believes to be the 12 major reasons that John Calvin is still contemporary and important to the Church today.

Conclusion

Out of the number of books that have been published in the past couple of years, this title stands out in a way like none other which I have read. Calvin for Todaydeals not just with the more familiar issues of Calvinism—that is, not only the doctrines of grace—but digs deep, showing that Calvinism is more than soteriology. Furthermore, not only in great depth, but in a way that is understandable and applicable for the layman in the pew. The book—being that the chapters are edited addresses—is easy to read and comprehend, but still has the level of richness and information as a lecture in a seminary class. I do not know of a book that exists which consists of scholars and pastors like those listed above that deal with Calvin, and better yet, relate his theology to the 21st century Church. Regardless if one is an old or new Calvinist, this book will help shed light on how to properly understand and learn Calvin’s theology, and how to apply and reform the Church today.