BOOK REVIEW - RETROCHRISTIANITY: RECLAIMING THE FORGOTTEN FAITH BY MICHAEL J. SVIGEL

 "If the Church Fathers or the Reformers Showed Up at Your Church, Would They Worship ... or Run?" This quote graces the back cover of RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith by Michael J. Svigel.

Change is reality, and can either be positive, negative, or neutral. Sviegel did an excellent job of recognizing a church that has lost its way and reconnecting it to the historical church. He warns us to avoid the extremes of trying to relive the past we no longer can or extreme progressivism. He also is responsible for the great quote at the beginning of this review.

He gives some good suggestions on strengthening the church. One includes that when one evaluates their spiritual gifts they note where they're lacking as well as where they're strong. He recommends an altar pulpit centered church, with a solid emphasis on the sacrament of communion as well as Biblical preaching, and that the church has an elder based leadership.

You've heard my thoughts - I also would like to do something I never do, and that's share another view on the book. This is from a person I highly respect: Dr. Mark Bailey, President and Senior Professor of Biblical Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary (2000-2020) and graduate and former professor/academic dean at Southwestern Conservative Baptist Bible College (now known as Arizona Christian University), where I had the privilege of sitting under his teaching for several classes. He stated:

“Rarely does one find a book so rich in content communicated so well. RetroChristianity is anything but retrenchment. Instead, Michael Svigel advances an agenda to move the church forward without losing the moorings of sound theology grounded in a history of biblical conviction. His words say it best: ‘It’s not rewinding to a more favorable era, but reclaiming the forgotten faith for the future.’ This is a most worthy read!”

Enough said? I highly recommend this book.

 

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 18 OF 48 - PSALM 85:13

 

Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, OH

"Righteousness will go before Him,
        And shall make His footsteps our pathway."
                     Psalm 85:13, New King James Version

Psalm 85, like a lot of other Psalms is a blessing. But I want to focus on the final verse. 

Is righteousness making God's footsteps our pathway? Or are we prone to go to the right or the left?

There's an excellent book Turn Neither To The Right Nor To The Left by Eric Schansberg, focusing on politics. But we must not assume "right" and "left" deal solely with politics.

Going to far to the right can refer to a legalistic mindset. It also can refer to a reluctance to change but maintain the status quo. There's a book titled The Seven Last Words of the Church: "We've Never Done It This Way Before." (I once say a cartoon where there was a banner reading "Week Two of The Church Plant," and one person said, "We didn't do it this way last week.")

While the right side has the danger of not changing things that are at the minimum don't hurt being changed and at the maximum things that really should be changed, the left side is the opposite, changing things that should be left alone. (Pun unintentional). 

Some of the changes are to be seen as "being compassionate," accepting cultural norms instead of the truth of God's Word. Some of the changes are to be seen as "being intellectual," assuming scientific theory is more valid than Biblical fact. And sometimes it is us just being selfish, defending things we like and not wanting to be judged (sometimes that judgment is what Jesus is condemning in Matthew 7:1, sometimes it is an attempt to turn a sinner from the error of his way in James 5:19-20.

Are we asking God to make His footsteps our pathway?

A LOOK BACK AT 2021

 

End of June, 2020:

• Preparing to move from our home where we lived for 12 years which we sold.
• Attending Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, where we had been members for 16 years (and had previously been members for another 2 years before that).
• Working at MACL (Mid-America Clinical Labratories) in the Processing department, having celebrated my 20th anniversary there that March, but knowing that one of the co-owners of MACL (Quest Diagnostics) bought the others out.
• Starting to adjust to a COVID world where everything was closed.
• Working again to get my novel published.

A year and a half later:

• Finishing our fifth month in a Senior apartment after leaving another apartment complex where we stayed one year (Aug. 1, 2020 to Aug. 1, 2021).
• After moving further away from Arlington Avenue, we joined Northside Baptist Church this May, where I help in the streaming booth with the videos of the church service. I'm also in a small men's group that meets Tuesdays, and I just finished leading them through three months in Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction by Bryan Litfin.
• Finishing a year being an official Quest Diagnostics employee and six months working in the Purchasing department. Different employer, but still the same building, same co-workers, same supervisor while I was still in Processing. 
• Still adjusting to a COVID world (I'll be glad to get off any second now). Voluntarily got my vaccines (not required to at work where I'm at). Voluntarily wear a mask in grocery stores and as required at work and the library. Mourning the frequency of restaurant dining rooms (and in one case a gas station 7pm on a Saturday evening) being closed to staffing problems and some of our favorite items vanishing like McDonalds' Steak and Egg Bagel and Grilled Chicken sandwiches.
• No progress on novel, except for having Beta readers read it; praying about trying to publish it as is or completely rework it or wave the white flag (having been working on the novel since 2007, this is familiar territory).

This year, I set a goal of reading 12 non-fiction books (1 a month) and 24 novels (2 a month). Final count - 23 non-fiction (including 3 previously read) and 28 fiction (including one previously read - first time I've reread a novel for 20 years or more - and not including the one I just started and will probably be half way through by year's end).

The next two days, I'll do my annual tradition of giving lists of favorite fiction and non-fiction. The day after that, I'll let you know what I'm looking forward to in '22. Then, New Year's Eve, I'll mention what's coming up in this blog next year.