Help for the Small-Church Pastor

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Help for the Small-Church Pastor. By Steve R. Bierly. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995. 110 pp. Paper, $10.99. I really liked this book! As someone who has pastored two “small” churches now for almost 15 years, I read it thinking, “At last, someone in print who has walked in my moccasins!” At one level
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The Evangelical Essential: What Must I Do to be Saved?

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The Evangelical Essential: What Must I Do to be Saved? By Philip Janowsky. Graham, OR: Vision House Publishing, 1994. 132 pp. Cloth, $13.99. Here is a really refreshing and valuable little book by a minister in the United Methodist Church. Janowsky holds degrees from Houghton College (NY), the University of Kansas, and Ilift School of
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Jesus: His Life and Ministry

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Jesus: His Life and Ministry. By Derek Prime. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. 280 pp. Paper, $10.99. Written with the lay person in mind, this book gives an overview of our Lord’s life and ministry. Its best features are the many helpful tools the author has included which equip the reader to “dig deeper” on
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Guilt-Free Living

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Guilt-Free Living. By Robert Jeffress. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1995. 256 pp. Cloth, $15.99. According to the author the purpose of his book is to help the reader “eliminate those unrealistic, self-imposed expectations about different life areas” that cause a person to wallow around in guilt and never truly enjoy life (p. 5). Jeffress believes
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Hard Sayings of Jesus

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Hard Sayings of Jesus. By F. F. Bruce. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983. 265 pp. Paper, $10.99. The obvious purpose of F. F. Bruce’s Hard Sayings of Jesus, is to make difficult teachings of Jesus easier to understand. Yet, Bruce’s theology makes them impenetrable. Don’t misunderstand, the bookdoes offer some valuable insights. Bruce’s historical
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Vital Theological Issues: Examining Enduring Issues of Theology

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Vital Theological Issues: Examining Enduring Issues of Theology. Roy B. Zuck, General Editor. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1994. 232 pp. Paper, $12.99. This is the fourth volume in Kregel’s Vital Issues Series. Eighteen articles centered around crucial theological concerns are assembled from Bibliotheca Sacra, the journal published by Dallas Theological Seminary. The articles span a
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Money, Possessions, and Eternity

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Money, Possessions, and Eternity. By Randy Alcorn. Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1989. 451 pp. Paper, $10.95. As a pastor, Alcorn set out to preach a three-message series on money. His study led to this twenty-one chapter book with five appendices and a study guide. As a pastor, I too set out to preach a three-message series
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John the Maverick Gospel

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John the Maverick Gospel. By Robert Kysar. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993. Revised edition. 157 pp. Paper, $12.99. When I first began reading the book I had high hopes of finding some worthwhile observations within it, despite the author’s liberal credentials. And I was encouraged, while still on the first page of the preface,
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The Power of His Presence

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The Power of His Presence. By Adrian Rogers. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1995. 191 pp. Cloth, $14.99. This motivating book for Christians by Southern Baptist pastor Adrian Rogers merits a somewhat mixed review, I believe. First, three points of commendation are in order. First, it is a book on the inner, or spiritual, life. We need
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