Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete
By: Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill
The Pastor’s Monthly Book Selection – June, 2017
Hoping to suggest a book that would be an easy but interesting read for the vacation season, I decided upon this biography of the famous basketball star, Pete Maravich. Here is the story of one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His college scoring average of 44.2 points per game might never be broken. Although his professional career began promising, Maravich never played on an NBA championship team. Nevertheless, his style of play changed the game and made him one of the most exciting players of his era. Through it all the man who was known as The Pistol, felt unfulfilled, frustrated, and often alone. By the end of his career self doubts and bitterness caused Maravich to withdraw into his own world. It was at this low point that Jesus Christ reached into his life and changed him into a man dedicated to the Lord. Although his conversion is described in terms that may seem somewhat out of the ordinary to Reformed ears, the power of God to change a life was rather evident in the remaining years of Maravich’s short life. This is a book well worth reading for sports fans and for those who wish to be encouraged by the work of Christ to transform a life.
Banner of Truth Publishers has provided another classic work from the Puritan theologian, John Owen. Edited and abridged by Richard Rushing, The Mortification of Sin, describes the ongoing battle against sin that every Christian is called to fight. Although powerless to win on our own, we are nevertheless given the hope and assurance that victory is achieved through faith in Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this timeless and masterful treatment of a topic that is relevant to all Christians wishing to grow in holiness before the Lord.
For many Christians reading the Old Testament passages that describe the Tabernacle or the Temple can seem as tedious as reading the various genealogies in the Bible. One of the reasons why we might find such passages wearisome is that we are unable to recognize the connection they have with the biblical story of redemption. In his book, The Temple and the Tabernacle J. Daniel Hays describes how both of these structures depict the holiness of God, His relationship to Israel, and the advent of Christ, His person, and His atoning sacrifice. I found the chapter on Christ as the Temple of God in the New Testament to be very helpful in clarifying those prophecies in Ezekiel to which many appeal when insisting on a new temple in a millennial age. I recommend this work as help in finding Christ in the Old Testament and seeing the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ.
Born Slaves is an abridged version of Martin Luther’s classic response to the treatise on free-will by the Roman Catholic humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam. Originally titled The Bondage of the Will, this shortened work demonstrates the insufficiency of the prevalent misunderstanding of free-will by offering Scripture proofs that man’s will is actually enslaved to sin and in need of God’s grace before it is free to make a decision for Christ. Although Erasmus’ view was well received by the Roman Church and is also the current position of most evangelicals today, it was not the view of the Reformers. In this short work of 93 pages, Luther offers a good corrective for the faulty view of salvation that actually elevates the will of man and diminishes the grace of God. I recommend this book to those who wish to gain a better understanding of the biblical view of salvation and the reason why God alone receives glory when sinners come to Jesus.
Seasons of Waiting Was recommended to me by a member of our congregation. A good look at how God uses the periods of waiting throughout our lives to bring us closer to Himself, this short read serves to encourage those who might be feeling as though God simply isn’t hearing them. The majority of the book contains various accounts of believers who waited on the Lord throughout difficult circumstances and learned to turn waiting into a time of fellowship with God. Personally, I gained the most from the chapters at the end of the book. These helped me to gain a sense of the God who is there in my trials, as well as underscoring how waiting faithfully on the Lord can be a powerful testimony to unbelievers and an encouragement to the church. I recommend this easy but profound read to those who are enduring the long night of waiting for the morning.
The Triune God is a compilation of essays by some of the better known Reformed writers of today. Rather than approaching their topic in a purely technical manner, the various authors address the work and attributes of each person of the Trinity in a manner that connects with the reader’s heart as well as his/her intellect. I personally found the contribution of Bryan Chapell to be both warm and theologically engaging. I recommend this book as a refreshing study about our glorious Triune God.
While not an in-depth biography of this Scottish reformer, The Mighty Weakness of John Know offers a compelling glimpse into the motivation and spiritual strength of this man of God. Though he was short in stature and often weak in body, Knox was instrumental in bringing the Reformation to Scotland. Fearing God rather than man or monarch, Knox was divinely enabled to withstand persecution, imprisonment and exile while preaching, writing, and praying in order to call Scotland to Christ.
It is so easy to picture the men and women of Scripture as larger than life characters with whom we have very little in common. When doing that, we often rob ourselves of understanding how God works with ordinary believers to accomplish His redemptive purposes in the world. In Ordinary Men Called By God, Dr. James Boice uses the lives of Abraham, Moses and David to demonstrates how God’s effectual call on an individual equips the person to serve Him even through failures and weakness. The author points out that contrary to how the world views success, those who are humble before the Lord find spiritual victory through the grace of God. This is a practical book for practical Christians.
R.C. Sproul has written this helpful book on the atonement of Jesus Christ that is both informative and inspiring. Each chapter explains a different aspect of the atonement while showing the cross as the centerpiece of our salvation. Although there have been numerous great works written on this topic, many of them are either very lengthy or were penned in a style that is outdated to today’s reader. In 167 pages, this short book is an easy read that can be used for a devotional or to give to another Christian, wishing to have a better understanding of the significance of the cross of Christ. The final chapter includes numerous helpful questions and answers that are frequently asked in any discussion on the atonement. I recommend this fresh look at a timeless and important doctrine of the Faith
Using as his foundational text Rom.8:28,“All things work together for good to them that love God…”, the Puritan pastor Thomas Watson published this short work with the intent of making “the godly joyful.” Knowing that Christians can face discouragement when their lives are interrupted with troubles, the author hoped to lift the reader’s spirits by describing how “their crosses shall be turned into blessings” and that their “afflictions water the root of grace to make it flourish”. Watson actually wrote this book to be read “now and then” or in bits and pieces as medicine for our souls. I highly recommend this insightful little work for those wanting to capture the joy of knowing that, in the Lord’s grace, all things do work together for good to them that love God.
