Leland Ryken

Book Review: Journey to Bethlehem

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

Rating: Put it on your list

Level: Easy, Short (5ish minutes a day/30 days)

Summary

In some ways, this is a typical 30-day devotional, with a section to read, then reflection, etc. However, I think Ryken has done something unique in his choices. It is easy to find a 30-50 day devotional that has writings from numerous authors in the past, but Ryken has only reserved 10 of the days to pure thoughts of others, the remainder of the days are reflections on hymns or poems. 

The book is broken into three sections, the first being Hymns, then what he calls ‘Classic Prose Devotionals’, and finally Poems. Each day follows the same format – the text (e.g. Joy to the World, an excerpt from On The Incarnation, The Magnificat), then a commentary/reflection, then a brief ‘devotional takeaway’, before a final note and word of scripture. There is also a short intro into each of the three sections. Finally, what he calls ‘notes’ which is essentially a bibliography, if you want to find more info, as well as two indexes – one for the people in the book, another referenced scripture. 

My Thoughts

I’ll start with the only thing I didn’t like, and that was the choice of categories. Choosing Hymns and then Poems, is too similar to me (he acknowledges as much in his into to Hymns, stating, ‘Every Hymn begins its life as a poem.’ That is very minor and nit-picky, maybe I just like symmetry too much, but I wonder if the book would have been better off as just hymns/songs/poems. 

Other than that, the book is great, it should be on everyone’ s list/rotation to read around Advent/Christmas. Ryken is a great write, and maybe an even better editor. I really appreciate the summary takeaway and then ending with scripture. His choices for each day are interesting and spread out (there are so many options), but there are plenty you will be familiar with, while adding some that may be new.

I knew six of the Hymns (and four are probably one everyone sang at a Christmas Eve service), the Prose included big names (Calvin, Luther, Augustine) but then other maybe not everyone has heard of (Bernard of Clairvaux, Spurgeon, Athanasius). Interestingly, he added the Nicene Creed to this section, which I really enjoyed. Similarly, the Poems included works of Chesterton, Milton, and Eliot, but I didn’t know any of the others. Except he put the Magnificat in this section, which was a good and interesting point to make. If you aren’t familiar with that name, it is the historic name for the section in Luke 1:46-55w here Mary responds to Gabriel after being told she will give birth to Jesus (it also kind of answer the question Mary Did You Know?, but I’m not trying to start a fight a Christmas). 

Overall, I highly recommend this book, the devotions are short enough to fit into a busy time and his choices of authors and especially hymns/poems makes it interesting and different enough compared to the so many other great and traditional ones out there. So, if you didn’t get to a devotional reading this past December or you did and are looking for something different next year, this is a book to put on your list. 

*I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Book Review: The Beauty and Power of Biblical Exposition

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

My Rating: Put it on your list

Level: Easy read, some Biblical knowledge needed; moderate length (under 300)

Summary

As the subtitle indicates, the book is about preaching the genres of the Bible. It is written to pastors, but I think anyone leading a Bible study, or interested in getting a better understanding of genres can benefit. The book is broken into six chapters – The Greatest Story Ever Told (Preaching Narrative), Let Him Who Has Ears Hear (Preaching Parables), Love Letters (Preaching Epistles), The Beauty of Simple (Preaching Poetry), Words of Wisdom (Preaching Proverbs), And I Saw (Preaching Visionary Writings). Each chapter is broken into two parts, reading and preaching. Additionally, each chapter ends with resources for deeper dives into the genre. There is also an introduction and a conclusion. 

My Thoughts

This book is a great introduction to the genres (broadly defined) of the Bible. While it is geared toward preachers, with additional notes about preaching and parts of sermons in various chapters, it is still a helpful book for any Bible teachers or anyone interested in a better understand of the Bible. If you haven’t been exposed to literary aspects or genres of the Bible, this will help you read it well, and I think the book could also be used by itself as part of a study for a community group. People are generally familiar with narrative, you’ve probably heard a sermon/teaching on parables, but most people have not had much introduction to proverbs or visionary wittings, and certainly not much about poetry. The poetry chapter alone is probably worth the price of the book. 

The author does a good job of not being too narrow (explaining how much poetry is throughout the Bible, and looking into proverbs that aren’t just the book of Proverbs). This is especially true in the visionary writings chapter, while heavy on Revelation, the chapter didn’t focus on it only. The split of each chapter on reading, then preaching is valuable. The first part offers a great intro to the genre, with the second part being on preaching (or teaching). 

In some ways, it was odd that this is written for preaching, as I would expect most preachers/pastors to have learned these structures in seminary or somewhere else before preaching. That said, I think it is great that genre is getting some publicity, and it’s focus is getting to more people, especially those interested in teaching. Too many errors in interpreting various verses/chapters in the Bible come from not having even a basic understanding of literature. 

Overall, the book is valuable and a good place to start for those wanting to learn more about writings of the Bible, the end of each chapter gives additional resources (books) you can look into to expand your understanding. For those who aren’t preachers, it is still a book to add to your list. I’m not sure you’ll find a better intro to genres of the Bible. O’Donnell has a bit of a ‘preaching’ stick that gets a little long/redundant, but most points are still applicable to regular teachers and Bible study leaders. 

 

*I received a free copy of this book from Crossway, in exchange for an honest review.