About
All feedback (194)
- bargainbookstores (1133285)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- goobys_vintage_dungeon (8696)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseThank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A++++++.
- prepbooks (222141)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseExcellent buyer, fast payment. Perfect transaction! Thanks!!
- second.sale (4251212)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A++++++.
- sugar-beans-deals-and-treasures-4u (56600)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseExcellent buyer and hope to do business with you again!
- thrift.books (3928896)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A+++ ~Thrift.Books
Reviews (4)
Nov 13, 2018
Great book on Christian Praise in music
Wonderful book that examines the biblical standards on singing and praising God, looks at the sad state of modern Christian music and the standard attitude towards it and points readers back to the Bible. It firmly denounces the shallow self centered and experience centered lyrics of many modern songs and draws us back to the God centered, deeply theological, doctrine saturated focus of our forefathers.
While they make an strong case for bettering the words of our worship, they freely admits that all kinds of music, all genres and styles, and effectively equal. I'd disagree, being of the position that genres like rock and rap and loud, beat based and mindless music are at odds with deeper, slower, more thoughtful words. I'm of the opinion that some genres distract too much from any words out to them to be of any value, especially in a church setting.
Other than that, the Getty doing have written the single best book on the philosophy of music that I have ever read.
They touch on out attitudes, the need for total participation and continued emphasis on congregational singing, and inspire readers to make singing to God a part of their everyday lives.
Great book!
May 01, 2018
One of the best commentaries on the kings
Davis is detailed, yet readablbe, insightful and conservative, logically and biblical. He isn't afraid to confront false assumptions, yet is equally quick to embrace traditional views when they actually follow the biblical text.
Great book, highly recommended!
Feb 10, 2020
Fantastic Book that Brings Clarity to a otherwise Clouded Subject
A few words suffice to describe this book:
Life-changing, liberating, controversial, and completely Biblical.
At the time he was penning the book, Dr. Friesen was on staff at Multnomah Bible College, where, as at many other Bible colleges, he was bombarded with questions regarding God's leading for student's lives. Marriage, which ministry position to take, and whether they should be in ministry at all, were all subjects that students were desperately asking about.
Thankfully, this book, (the 25th anniversary edition) has the answers.
It's 526 pages leave few stones unturned. Lengthy endnotes add additional detail at the end of chapters, while graphs, figures, and Scripture references are littered liberally throughout. One benefit of this updated edition is the inclusion of "Frequently Asked Questions" where he addresses the questions most asked of him since the first edition released regarding those particular concepts.
The first of the four major sections does a marvelous job explaining and elaborating on what he dubs the "Traditional View." This is the view that proclaims "For each of our decisions, God has an ideal plan that he will make known to the attentive believer." (Page 28) He clarifies the difference between the oft confused "Moral Will" "Sovereign Will" and "Individual Will" of God. Briefly, the first is God's commands, the second is the unknowable "behind the scenes" working of God, and the third is said to be the perfect plan God has for each individual person that he will reveal step by step if they seek it.
Friesen masterfully explains the reasoning behind the "Traditional View" and details how preachers have defended it, how it is said to work, and how Christians are to know they have found that "individual will."
Part 2 of the book, covering chapters 3-7, critique the "Traditional View." Chapter 3 begins with the bombshell question "Does God have three wills?" and opens with a warning that this critique may be unsettling to those who are used to the "Traditional View." He is right. Over the next 60 pages, he draws readers to the logical and Scriptural holes that pepper the "Traditional View," showing how proper exegesis brings the entire idea to it's knees. In a statement near the end of this section he writes: "Not only is the individual will of God not found in Scripture, but the suggested process for finding it is absent as well."
This will doubtlessly shake your world. About this time in reading the book, I began a personal study of, not only every single use of the phrase "Will of God" in the Bible in the effort to verify Dr. Freisen's findings. The study did not tare down his conclusions, as some might expect, but rather, strengthened them.
If this were the end of the book, it would be a dreary end. The normal paradigm of many genuine Christians would be destroyed with nothing put back in it's place. However, the book is only getting started. The final two sections again draw readers back to Scripture, the logical interpretation of it, and the principles exegetically refined from it to build a new view;
The "Wisdom View."
The vast majority of the book is then dedicated to first explaining this view (Part 3) and applying this view. (Part 4) His premises for this view are as follows:
1. Where God commands, we must obey (chapter 8)
2. Where there is no command, God gives us freedom (and responsibility) to choose. (Chapter 9)
3. Where there is no command, God gives us wisdom to choose (chapters 10-11)
4. When we have chosen what is moral and wise, we must trust the sovereign God to work out all the details for God (Chapters 12-13)
Following after, Part 3 continues to detail the way God guides, how the "Wisdom View" repairs the weakness and even improves the strengths of the "Traditional View," and how this affects the way we think and live.
Part 4 dives into applying this new view in everyday life, not only looking at ministry, marriage, jobs, and the so-called big decisions of life, but also the smaller ones. This section ends with two chapters on how to interact with those that disagree with the "Wisdom View" wrapping up with a chapter devoted to the limits placed on this freedom to chose imposed by Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8-10.
Capping the book are numerous resources, indexes, and even brief reviews of other books on the "Will of God" from all sides of the debate. While the sheer thickness and academic weight of this book may overwhelm some, I firmly believe this, or some other book espousing the same views, should in the library of every single Christian, especially teenagers who are near graduation and about to face many of life's biggest and most challenging decisions.