Author: Dave Deuel

Book Review of Angry with God: An Honest Journey through Suffering and Betrayal by Brad Hambrick

Book Review of Angry with God: An Honest Journey through Suffering and Betrayal by Brad Hambrick

Posted by | Feb 21, 2023 | |

Angry with God offers guidance specifically for when pain leads to grief that gets stuck in the anger phase. For this review, let’s call it grief-anger. The author explains, “Anger with God is often stunted grief with the loss or destruction of something good” (p. 39). He explains the book’s title and purpose: “This entire book is an invitation and a process for sharing your pain with God as a means of processing what you currently experience as anger at God” (p. 25). Intentionally understanding anger as a part of the grief process can move us forward in our pain and suffering. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church and Why Should We Love the Local Church? by Dustin Benge

Book Review of The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church and Why Should We Love the Local Church? by Dustin Benge

Posted by | Jul 26, 2022 | |

How would you describe the church to someone who asks? In The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church (full-size book) and Why Should We Love the Local Church? (concise version), Dustin Benge observes that we naturally resort to structural and organizational language. In response, he warns, “Defining the church in institutional terms is futile, for the church belongs exclusively to God.” That’s why he can argue, “The church is God’s household and our family.” God describes His church with relational imagery as He views it. Church is home. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord and What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord? by Michael Reeves

Book Review of Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord and What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord? by Michael Reeves

Posted by | Jun 21, 2022 | |

Few concepts confuse Christ-followers more than the fear of the Lord. Michael Reeves aims to clarify this issue by defining and explaining the biblical term ‘fear’ as well as treating the broader concept. He does so within a broad framework of fear and anxiety as common human experience; that is, he uses the current universal notion of fear to help explain the fitting biblical response to God. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners and How Does God Change Us? by Dane C. Ortlund

Book Review of Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners and How Does God Change Us? by Dane C. Ortlund

Posted by | May 17, 2022 | |

Christians should grow spiritually. Dane Ortlund’s most recent study, Deeper, continues a discussion from previous studies such as Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp, How People Change (2003) and David Powlison, How Does Sanctification Work? (2017), each new study a quest for a clearer understanding of how we grow spiritually. But uniquely, Deeper builds upon another Ortlund study, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (2020), in which the author calls us back to gaze precisely and endlessly at the person of Jesus as our impetus to grow spiritually. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Suffering Wisely & Well: The Grief of Job and the Grace of God by Eric Ortlund

Book Review of Suffering Wisely & Well: The Grief of Job and the Grace of God by Eric Ortlund

Posted by | May 3, 2022 | |

Why do we suffer? What is God’s purpose for pain in our lives? How do we respond in God-honoring ways to suffering? We know that suffering requires wisdom because James reminds us that if we lack wisdom for trials or suffering, we only need to ask God (James 1:4). In Suffering Wisely & Well, Eric Ortlund agrees that wisdom is essential to suffer well. But interpreting God’s design for someone else’s suffering—even our own—can be difficult. Continue Reading →

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