6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical Theology, July 2, 2005
This review is from: He Speaks to Me Everywhere: Meditations on Christianity and Culture (Paperback)
A friend of mine, who is far more qualified than I am to make such judgments, tells me that Philip Ryken is among the top two or three preachers in the world today. That is quite a claim, but one I am more willing to believe as I continue to read Ryken's work. Until a few weeks ago I knew little about the man, having encountered him only as co-author of a book he wrote with James Boice. But then I read his book City on a Hill and so enjoyed it that I almost immediately turned to He Speaks to me Everywhere.
During evening services at the church he pastors, Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ryken delivers not only a sermon, but also a short cultural reflection. He Speaks to me Everywhere is a compilation of fifty of these commentaries divided into nine broad categories. Topics range from Muslim dress code, to pressing theological errors of our time; from sports and recreation to the acts of terrorism on September 11th; from the Church Mothers to Intelligent Design. These commentaries show a man who knows the issues that people in our culture, believer and unbeliever alike, struggle to understand.
A pastor who is wholly disconnected from our culture (and I have known many who are) will have less to offer our world than one who heeds the admonition I have heard attributed to many pastors or theologians - that a good pastor keeps the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. I once sat through a sermon where the pastor lamented the state of the church, exclaiming that now "even the church has its own rocks and its own rolls." It is sad when Christians keep themselves so far removed from the world. A pastor who coaches a team in the community, who keeps up with what is popular in the culture and who knows what people read, watch and listen to, will have a superior ability to build bridges with unbelievers.
But Ryken does not examine culture simply for the sake of keeping up. No, he does so to show that theology is not an obscure, irrelevant pursuit. Instead he shows that the Bible, through which we study God, is relevant to every area of life. Far from being mere personal opinion, these commentaries continually point to the Word of God as the key to understand all that happens in the world around us.
While I do not consider this book required reading, I very much enjoyed it and am happy to recommend it to anyone. It is easy to read and is divided into chapters only two or three pages in length, so can be read in short increments. Ryken provides a great model as to how we, as believers, can be in the world, but never of the world. We can know, understand and appreciate aspects of our culture, while still maintaining strong, biblical standards. And most of all, we can find in the Bible all that is necessary to react to our culture and to stand strong in the faith. This book is practical theology at its strongest.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Follow-Up to My Father's World, December 1, 2004
This review is from: He Speaks to Me Everywhere: Meditations on Christianity and Culture (Paperback)
Dr. Ryken is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. As the Senior Pastor of Tenth Presbyterian church in Philadelphia, he is leading a church that is attempting to reach and transform the city in all areas of life based on a Reformed Biblical world-view. This book is the follow up to his "My Father's World: Meditations on Christianity & Culture", and again it is composed of messages he gave during his Sunday evening "Window on the World" talks. He divides the book into sections, focusing on areas such as: Love, Marriage and Family; Sports and Leisure; Science and Technology; Social Issues, Feasts and Festivals; Church History and Christianity Today (to name a few). It is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I highly recommend it. As you read his musings and reflections on all aspects of life, and then his thoughtful application of Scripture to them, you will hopefully start to see how faith in Christ works through all areas of life. It is my prayer that more and more believers will learn to think biblically, and then to act biblically. If that is a desire of yours, Ryken's work is a great place to start!
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