BOOK REVIEW - "EVERY CHILD EVERY NATION EVERY DAY" BY ROBERT J. MORGAN WITH REESE R. KAUFFMAN

 "Every Child Every Nation Every Day" is the story of Child Evangelism Fellowship (afterward referred to as CEF), introducing us to the founder of the ministry and the person who served as President from 1990 to 2022 (this book was published in 2015), as well as CEF's work around the world.

This volume is divided into four parts. "Jesse Overholtzer and the Message of Child Evangelism Fellowship" gives a  short biography of CEF's founder, from childhood to serving as a minister to being convicted that children are as capable of believing in Christ as an adult. It follows the founding of CEF and how the ministry expanded through the U.S.A. and the rest of the world. The final chapter in this section gives a recap of the ministry from Overholtzer's death in 1955 till 1990.

"Reese Kauffman and the Mission of Child Evangelism Fellowship" tells of Kauffman's early life, focusing on his spiritual and career growth, and his 4+ decade ministry with CEF, from being in a local chapter to being President over 30 years. Among the things it mentions is their goal to have CEF ministry in every country by its 80th anniversary in 2017. As of the book's writing, there were 13 countries left, and it's been down to one since at least 2018.

Part three is "Jesus Christ and the Miracle of Child Evangelism Fellowship, with chapters on Child Evangelism in the Bible, Child Evangelism in the home, and how to lead a child (or adult) to Christ. This is followed by "Biblical Convictions and the Ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship," we see how this ministry is empowered by leadership, giving, prayer, and enthusiasm. Finally, the last chapter deals with the importance of reaching children through a pair of anecdotes.

I found this book inspiring and encouraging, and I highly recommend it.

'25 SUMMER READING LIST, #22 - "TOTAL TRUTH" BY NANCY PEARCEY

Those who regularly read this blog know that I use different fonts. The font I chose for today is one Blogspot calls "Philosopher," and that's a fitting font for writing about "Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity" by Nancy Pearcey, who was influenced by Francis Schaeffer's L'Bri Institute. 

This book starts off looking at the major philosophical views, which she terms as lower story and upper story. Lower story, or Aristotlean, focuses on the physical, what we can sense, what we can explain rationally and logically. Upper story, or Platonic, is more focused on values, aesthetics, beauty, etc. The second section deals with evolution, pointing out that its popularity is because it's a plausible naturalistic creation theory. Part three of the book focuses on the role of truth with evangelicalism.

I do have some disagreements For example, she has the view that the various forms of creationism (i.e. both old earth and young earth theorists) ought to stop debating each other and turn our fight to the common enemy of evolution. While I see the rationale for her opinion, I also see why young earth creationists hold that view strongly. And while I'm sometimes hesitant to call myself evangelical, I am more in that camp than she is. Neverthe less, this is a book designed to make you think.

And if you want more, there's her follow-up "Saving Leonardo," where her focus is a history on the arts, looking at what she terms "two paths to secularism," which are the lower story (here called determinism) and lower story (or the continental tradition) theory from "Total Truth." She does a great job at looking at the two views. One thing is she showed several paintings which were large colored geometric shapes. There were artists from both angles that painted that way, but the determinist had solid dividing lines, while the edges of the continental was more fuzzy. By the way, there was also a picture in that book painted by my friend Grace Carol Bomer (Becky and I got to visit Grace's studio in Ashville about 25 years ago).