A Review of "Children's Stories" by J.C. Ryle

While I was at the Shepherds' Conference this year, I was trying to find some books for every member of my family.  My wife and mother-in-law were easy to shop for...there were plenty of good resources for women.  And I found plenty for myself...they gave us 19 free books and I bought a few more for my own reading.  But then I was struggling with trying to find books for my two sons.  They are 10 and 8 and I am very cautious about what I will let them read...especially when it comes to Christian writing.  There was the usual fare from Answers in Genesis, but we already have a lot of resources from them and I wanted to find something a bit different.  There were a few question and answer books, but I wanted something a bit more literary.  Well, as I was looking through the selection of children's books, I came across this:



I don't know about you, but I love J.C. Ryle's writing.  Sure, there are some areas where I don't see totally eye to eye with him, but he wrote very clearly and addressed matters head on in his writings.  So, when I saw this book, I decided to get it for reading with the boys...and I surely was not disappointed.  Ryle works through 7 passages of Scripture with stories that are aimed at reaching the hearts and minds of children.

He doesn't choose easy passages, either.  He starts off with 2 Kings 2:23-24 and talks about how children who mocked Elisha wound up being attacked and eaten by she-bears.  He definitely doesn't hold back from talking about how God views those (even children) who mock His people.  When is the last time you heard a parent tell their children about the dangers of mocking Christians?  I'd say it is more likely that you'll hear parents mocking Christians in front of their children than to hear parents tell their children not to mock Christians.  How much do we need this message for our children today?

He then discusses 2 John 4 and how much of a blessing it is to mature believers to see children walking in the truth.  And conversely, how sad it is for mature Christians to see children who are not walking in truth, but pursuing the desires of the world.  We should be telling this to our children!  How much do they need to hear that they bring joy to our hearts when they are pursuing the truth of God and walking in His Word?  Again, I think we can all learn much from how Ryle addresses this story to children.

From there he moves on to Proverbs 30:24-28 and discusses how four little creatures are shown to act in a very wise manner.  Then he explains how even though children are little, they can learn from the examples of these four creatures and walk in wisdom themselves.  He shows how each creature in this passage walk in wisdom in different ways and how children can follow each of their examples to walk in the wisdom of God in their daily lives.  And can any of us say that we should not be teaching our children the exact same lessons from Scripture?  Every chance we have to point back to Scripture to teach life lessons about how to act wisely, we should seize upon it and show our dependence upon God's Word.

And Ryle even takes up Revelation 21:4 with the children in order to explain that while we have much crying and pain in this world, after we die we will either be in a place where there is nothing but crying and pain or in a place where there is no crying and no pain.  He also brings back the crying and pain in this world to its source, sin, and how all of the pain and suffering in this world are caused by sin.  And then he doesn't hold back in explaining that many people are indeed going to hell, where there is nothing but pain, crying, and suffering.  He takes the opportunity to tell children to read their Bibles, pray, to love Jesus, and to try to please Him.  How much do we need to be doing this with our children?  I found this to be quite an encouragement to me.  He also went on to describe the blessed hope for all Christians for the future without any crying, pain, or suffering that awaits us in heaven.  We need to also share this with our children so that they are looking upward and ahead instead of getting caught up in the circumstances of this sinful, fallen world.

He also takes up the subjects of being happy and content (1 Timothy 6:6), being fruitful in little things (Luke 16:10), and seeking the Lord early (Proverbs 8:17).  Throughout the whole book, he makes it clear that God wants for children to seek Him and follow Him and that there is no one too young to know and apply the truth from Scripture.  And Ryle is so direct in speaking with the children and letting them know that they are not too young for Scripture to apply to them.

This is the exact opposite view from how modern Christianity handles children.  These days people seem to think that the Bible has many parts which are much too difficult for children to understand or too harsh for them to handle.  Instead of taking that approach, I think parents should read through this collection of stories with their children and learn from Ryle how we can approach our children with the truth from various portions of Scripture.  I highly recommend this book for all parents and would suggest that we learn from Ryle how we can make all sections of Scripture clear and applicable to our children.  Let's work to make sure that our children understand the truth of Scripture before they leave our homes and go out into the world.

Is Birth Control Health Care?

There is a lot of talk going on about birth control and whether people should have religious objections to birth control being covered by health insurance.  Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, calls birth control "basic health care", and President Obama said, "No woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes."  I think that in order to make a determination of whether or not birth control is actually "basic health care", we have to ask ourselves a few questions.  We need to determine what exactly "basic health care" is, what birth control is, and whether birth control falls into the category of "basic health care".  And we will lay aside the issue of whether or not this compromise really prevents religious institutions who object to birth control from having to fund birth control through insurance premiums.  I think we will see that this is a moot point anyways.

First, let's define what "basic health care" is...I'm leaving this term in quotes because those are the words of Cecile Richards, who is clearly spearheading the effort for this bill to pass.  So when we think of health care what comes to mind?  Probably flu shots, vaccines, or surgery, right?  Miriam-Webster defines health care as the following:

the maintaining and restoration of health by the treatment and prevention of disease especially by trained and licensed professionals (as in medicine, dentistry, clinical psychology, and public health)

So, this would mean that any form of health care should treat or prevent a disease or conditon that causes harm to the individual or prevents their bodies from functioning in a normal fashion.  If you have a torn muscle, you might have surgery or physical therapy and that is health care.  If you have strep throat, you get a shot and some medication and that is health care.  One thing my insurance doesn't cover is hormone therapy for fertilization, which actually allows for normal reproductive functions.  I would think that is health care because it restores one's body to its normal functioning abilities.  I think we all get the general idea here...health care is something that helps to prevent our bodies from a) being harmed or b) not functioning normally and to restore our bodies to normal health.

Now let's take a look what what birth control is.  Most people would think of contraceptives or some type of pill.  Let's look at what Miriam-Webster has to say about this one:

1. control of the number of children born especially by preventing or lessening the frequency of conception
2. contraceptive devices or preparations

So, as one would expect, birth control is a way to prevent babies from being conceived in the womb.  This can vary from physical means to prevent fertilization of the egg to chemicals that prevent eggs from attaching after fertlized.  The latter is something that many, including myself, would actually call killing a baby.  Others might call it abortion, while most people probably don't consider that a fertilized egg is actually a person.  One thing we can all agree on, though, is that birth control is a means to prevent babies from being conceived in the womb of a woman.

Now we are left ton consider whether or not birth control falls under the realm of "basic health care".  Let's remember that health care is something that helps to prevent our bodies from a) being harmed or b) not functioning normally and to restore our bodies to normal health.  And let's also remember that birth control is a means to prevent babies from being conceived in the womb of a woman.  Now, I'm not a scientist or doctor (just an engineer), but I think that conception of babies in the womb is actually quite a normal thing and shows that the body's reproductive system is actually fully functional.  Now for quite a small minority of people, becoming pregnant might be life-threatening...and in that case I think that methods that do not include killing babies/fertilized eggs should be used and considered health care.  Outside of that, though, I can only think of the use of birth control as a choice of preference for those who use it.  And seeing as insurance companies can and do deny to cover many elective procedures, I don't see how or why any insurance company should have to cover the cost of birth control.  I'm sorry, Cecile Richards, but it doesn't fit the definition of "basic health care". 

I think this is the argument that people need to put before their elected officials in presenting their case for not having to have birth control covered by mandatory insurance coverage.  I'd still hold to the religious objections as well, but I think this is an even more clear argument.  What do you think?

Thoughts on Leviticus

I've heard many people tell me that they can not imagine a pastor preaching through the book of Leviticus.  To be quite honest, I have thought the same thing myself for the 6 years that I have been a Christian.  All of the repeated instances of offering sacrifices and then the descriptions of clean and unclean and how to deal with them.  It seems to be quite repetitive and preaching through it seems like it would be monotonous and might get boring for the congregation.  However, I have been reading through a book that has changed my perspective on the book of Leviticus. The book is a commentary on Leviticus by Andrew Bonar and I highly recommend it to any Christian.  In fact, my hope is that a few good pastors will take up reading this book and be encouraged to preach/teach through the book of Leviticus.  I now think that Leviticus might be one of the most important books for people to be studying and fed on in order to have a greater appreciation for their sinfulness, the call to holiness, God's grace and our dependence upon it for salvation, and the sacrifice that Jesus made in order to save His elect. 

The book of Leviticus actually shows us much about the depths and multitudes of areas of our sinfulness.  Bonar works through looking at the sacrificial system to show how many different areas of sin there and how personal they are.  People had to lay their own hands on the animal to be sacrificed, acknowledging their personal sinfulness.  This provides a strong connection between the sinner and their sins because they see right in front of them the need for the death of the animal in their place because of thir sin.  Bonar doesn't miss the fact that this is a type of Jesus...I'll address that towards the end of this post, though.  There are sacrifices specified for all kinds of sins...even those that people do without knowing of it until after the fact.  So people are made aware of their sinfulness through the sacrificial system and the different areas of sin that are defined.

We also see that Leviticus has much to say about the call to holiness.  When we look at the priests offering the sacrifices, they have to make sure they first offer sacrifices for themselves before they intercede for the people.  And they continually have to be washed and cleansed before approaching the holy place.  And the high priest has to especially be cleansed before he goes into the Holy of Holies once a year to present the sin offering.  This is because he is entering into the presence of God.  But the priests aren't the only ones who have the call to holiness.  God establishes various ways that people can become unclean and offers a framework by which the people of Israel are to show that they are called out from the world into a system of holiness.  This includes dietary restrictions, as well as contamination by various items or people with illnesses that are considered unclean.  Bonar makes the point that the uncleanness represents sinfulness and that this was a way to show that we are called to identify and avoid sin.  He shows that everywhere the people of Israel would look, they could be reminded of something clean or unclean...just as we can with sin and holiness.  He especially hits on the call to identify and avoid sin with reference to the areas concerning leprosy.  I find the comparisons he makes between sin and the various conditions and examinations of leprosy defined in Leviticus to be very helpful when thinking about the condition of my own spiritual life.  He compares the spread and depth of leprosy to the spread and depth of sin in our own lives and how we should examine ourselves in this regard.  I think that this is the type of thinking that the world needs to engage when examining their spiritual state and that could lead to many nominal Christians realizing their true spiritual condition.  We can easily see that Leviticus shows that God calls His people to live a life of holiness.

Leviticus also has much to say about God's grace to the sinner and our dependence upon His grace for our salvation.  Let us return back to the sacrificial system.  The animals offered for the burnt offering, sin offering, and peace offering, and the bread/flour offered for the grain offering are all provided by God as he showers His people with grace.  The people lay their sins on the animals by laying their hands on their heads and then the animals are offered as a sacrifice to God for their sins.  The burnt offering is totally burnt on the altar to take the wrath of God...this represents Jesus taking the whole wrath of God for our sins in our place ont he cross (again we'll cover this later).  Bonar makes the point that the grain offering "represents the offerer's person and property, his body and his possessions" and that when the offerer sees that the priests eat of this offering, it shows that his sacrifice has been accepted.  This surely is an act of grace by God to provide assurance to sinners offering themselves to God.  It also exemplifies again the call to holiness for Israel.  In the peace offering, we see that part of the sacrifice is for food.  Bonar paints a wonderful picture of this representing "God as one at table with his people; they feast together.  He is no more their foe."  This would make sense for this to then be called a peace offering and again shows God's grace to the sinner.  The sin offering is to be offered for unintentional sins and again the whole animal sacrficed is to be burnt.  However, part of the sin offering is burned on the altar, then the ashes and the unburnt part (skin, flesh, head legs, inward, and dung) to be taken outside the camp.  The ashes are dumped in a clean place and the remainder of the sacrifice is burned on the ashes.  Bonar makes the point that this is a clean place "because, when reduced to ashes by consuming fire, all guilt was away from the victim."  In all of the various types of sacrifices defined here, we can see God's grace being showered upon the people of Israel as He provides forgiveness of their sins and assurance that the sacrifice has been accepted.

And a Christian definitely can not come away from a faithful reading of the book of Leviticus without a good appreciation for the sacrifice that Jesus made for His elect.  Here you see all of the details of the sacrificial system and one can only imagine how often a person would have to offer these sacrifices.  The priests didn't have a seat in the tabernacle...probably because they were too busy offering sacrifices all the time.  And when we see the sinner laying his hand on the head of the sacrifice, we are reminded of how we must lay all of our sins upon Jesus and have faith in His paying the price for our sins.  As the sin and burnt offerings were totally burned, Jesus was fully exposed to the wrath of God.  Bonar also makes the point that when Leviticus describes how some flesh was to be flayed, it shows how deeply exposed our sins must become, as well as the depths of pain and anguish that Jesus faced upon the cross.  And when we see the ashes and remainder of the flesh of the sin offering being taken outside the camp to be fully burned, we can make a clear connection to the fact that Jesus was tortured inside Jerusalem and crucified outside of Jerusalem.  It is very clear that the book of Leviticus provides a type of Jesus' sacrifice for His elect and reading the book of Leviticus will provide an even greater appreciation for this sacrifice.

Before I close, let me say that I have only read halfway through the commentary by Bonar at this point.  I am sure that I will have more to add to this when I finish...and I know that even in what I have read so far, there is a lot more talk about types and how Bonar points out that Leviticus is all about pointing to the anti-type, Jesus.  I just felt the need to write this to encourage people to read Leviticus and even go obtain a copy of Bonar's commentary on Leviticus.  It is lengthy and takes a while to work through, but it is well worth the effort.  And I even got it free by shopping for it on my Nook tablet.  So I'm sure that you resourceful types can find a free copy for yourselves.  I certainly do hope that pastors will be encouraged to preach and teach on Leviticus...I think the church today really needs it.