Review: What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee

What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee

By Veronica Stone (Woman’s Missionary Union)

What freezes someone with fear?  What causes that fear to take flight? A Chinese drug dog’s sniffs and a tiny room for questioning? Infertility followed by a problem pregnancy where there’s no advanced care? Financial betrayal by “trusted” church members/business partners? A spitting cobra in the living room?

How do missionaries weather not only the day-to-day challenges of language and culture, but also massive storms of medical emergencies, a global pandemic and spiritual warfare? Missionary Veronica Stone shares her story and those of her husband Ron and children Anna and Abe in What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee.

The saga begins when Veronica discovers a one-year teaching job in Korea online when filling out applications and goes for it. The Christian school eventually hires Ron as well, and the newlyweds begin what would become their entrée into international missions.

Taking a detour on their return home, they arrange to spend 10 days “sharing the gospel alongside two missionaries who worked with unreached people.” They arrive in the United States with a new call, and after several years of seminary and preparation, they leave for international mission service in the marketplace.

Veronica’s experiences evoke laughter as she discusses packing for that first term, suffers a horrendous haircut because of language misunderstanding, and becomes a regular wedding crasher with her husband to get to know people and begin conversations. Other accounts bring tears, including saying good-bye to her beloved dog, enduring obtrusive personal questions, and almost dying from an allergic reaction after she receives medication at a local hospital.

Yet, God remains faithful as he times perfectly the births of Anna and Abe, provides a Christian “Auntie Cora” as mentor and friend, guides the family through “unexpected turbulence,” and provides a support system of family, friends and volunteers near and far.

Joy comes in service, in seeing God move in the hearts of the lost, in watching him speak to their children, and even sometimes in suffering but never suffering alone.

Not only does the missionary help readers step into her shoes, but she also offers subtle ideas of how to support missionaries—from adopting their dog when they leave for the field to sending snapshots from home to simply listening and encouraging—usually by email—without trying to offer advice or fix things.

At fewer than 120 pages, Veronica Stone’s What Joy! How to Stay and Not Flee is a quick, sometimes funny, and always inspiring read that provides lessons for anyone desiring to live on mission.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco




Review: The Body God Gives

The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory

By Robert S. Smith (Lexham Academic)

Gender identity is a hot and divisive topic at present—in politics, education and throughout society—frequently referenced by the word “transgender” or “trans.” Christian leaders and thinkers have been responding to this topic for many years, though their work has not always been widely known among Christians. Robert Smith is one such author.

Smith has published two previous books addressing gender identity at a more popular level. His third book on the topic, The Body God Gives, is a much more in-depth study aimed at a scholarly audience.

One clue is the publisher—Lexham Academic. Another is the word “theory” in the subtitle, which indicates Smith is not dealing with street-level gender identity discussions. Rather, he is evaluating the subterranean foundations of those discussions—and that’s the reason this book deserves attention. Every hot topic is built on a preceding foundation not always known or understood by the larger public.

Smith begins with an introduction to the current state of gender identity discussions, a survey of Christian authors who have addressed gender identity, an explanation of his own method, and a description of the history and philosophy of transgender theory, the latter not being for the casual reader.

He argues, in essence, transgender theory is predicated on the separation of biological sex from gender, that gender is not biologically but psychologically determined and thus fluid. Acknowledging there is a difference between sex and gender, “[Biological] sex … is the foundation; gender is the construction that rests on (and can only rest on) that foundation,” Smith contends (p. 167).

Smith’s approach in The Body God Gives is philosophical, theological, analytical and evangelical. He spends three chapters thoroughly analyzing the text of Genesis 1 and 2—with specific focus on biological sex, gender and marriage—and two further chapters examining the treatment of sex and gender identity through the rest of Scripture. As with his philosophical examination, his scriptural analysis is not for the casual reader, delving into the original Hebrew and Greek and more technical theological discussion.

Smith’s conclusions, already noted above, are as one would expect given his starting place. His conclusions do not, he admits, include pastoral counsel for those struggling with gender dysphoria or other gender identity questions. Those can be found in other books, some he includes in his survey of literature near the front of this book.

For those who want to dive as deep into biblical/theological/philosophical study of gender identity as perhaps they have with sexuality—whatever presuppositions the reader brings or conclusions the reader draws—The Body God Givesis up to the task.

Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard




Review: Kurt Kaiser: Icon and Conscience of Contemporary Christian Music

Kurt Kaiser: Icon and Conscience of Contemporary Christian Music

By Terry W. York (Big Bear Books)

Terry York, retired professor of Christian ministry and church music at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, hits all the right notes in his biography, Kurt Kaiser: Icon and Conscience of Contemporary Christian Music.

York’s book beautifully illuminates the musician’s contributions to the changing landscape of sacred music in the 20th century while balancing the nuances of his musical genius, spiritual grounding, and commitment to the church and authentic worship with the business of contemporary Christian music.

Well-researched and documented through personal and family archives, oral histories, interviews, recordings, and both published and unpublished sources, York paints a portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man God used to touch hearts and connect church worship and culture in fresh ways.

The story began Dec. 17, 1934, in Chicago with Kurt’s birth to Otto and Elisabeth Kaiser, the middle of their five children. Eight years earlier, Otto had immigrated from Germany with 32 members of his family, although he had lost an older brother in World War I. Elisabeth joined him after accepting his marriage proposal by letter.

God, music and family filled their home. They attended a Plymouth Brethren Church, read the Bible, prayed and sang hymns each evening.

Kurt, who lived with health issues throughout his life, picked out his first tune on the piano at age 4 or 5, demonstrating his perfect pitch. The children took lessons from Frau Liesch, who had studied with a student of Franz Liszt. When his high school orchestra needed a cellist, Kurt taught himself.

God never wasted a moment preparing the extraordinary musician for his call. At age 9 or 10, Kurt accompanied kids on a radio program and a couple of years later regularly improvised background story music for a cowboy radio serial.

From there, he played for Youth for Christ rallies and spent his junior year in Montana with Montana Gospel Crusades where he met missionary Jim Elliott, who deeply affected him, and Patricia Anderson whom he married in 1956. Countless encounters with individuals whose names read like a religious and musical “Who’s Who” impacted his future, as did two music degrees from Northwestern University.

York weaves in details of the talented musician’s move to Waco to work with Jarrell McCracken and Word Records, where he recruited, arranged, occasionally accompanied and produced albums for a host of artists. In a town with “a Baptist church on every corner,” the Kaisers put down roots at Seventh and James Baptist Church, where they raised their four children.

Kaiser graciously worked with the Baylor Religious Hour Choir that performed on NBC television his best-known composition, the musical Tell It Like It Is (1969) written with Ralph Carmichael.

His song “Pass It On” from the musical and his later “Oh, How He Loves You and Me” (1975) continue to appear in hymnals, be performed in worship and sung around campfires. With music and musicals, he sought to bring youth to Christ and church and keep them there.

York takes the reader through the sale of Word and the company’s move to Nashville, the parting of ways, the decision to remain in Waco, the formation of Kurt Kaiser Music and a myriad of awards, including Doves, honorary doctorates and induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Yet, “fame never came home to live,” because Kaiser saw his music as a prayer and lived with an attitude of “look what God can do.” A music minister at heart, he was generous, consistent, authentic, principled, gifted, discerning, inspiring, insightful, warm, humble and demanded high standards with grace.

Kurt Kaiser’s earthly life ended at age 83 on Nov. 12, 2018, but his music lives not only in the notes he wrote and the lyrics he penned, but also in the lives of those who heard God’s whisper through his music, responded and continue to “Pass It On.” Thank you, Terry York, for passing on Kurt Kaiser’s legacy in a biography that can teach us all.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco




Review: Good News for the World: Baptist World Alliance Resolutions and Statements, 1905–2023

Good News for the World: Baptist World Alliance Resolutions and Statements, 1905–2023

Edited by Lee Spitzer (Baylor University Press)

Good News for the World is a must-have for every student and scholar of Baptist history. This encyclopedic work was released ahead of Baptists from around the world gathering in Brisbane, Australia, for the 23rd Baptist World Alliance World Congress this July.

Lee Spitzer is historian for the Baptist World Alliance and retired general secretary of the American Baptist Churches USA. Good News for the World represents a years-long labor of his love for Baptists, compiling for the first time in one volume the 422 resolutions, official statements and messages adopted during BWA’s history from 1905 to 2023.

BWA has spoken to numerous issues throughout those many years. In response to many of the most-pressing issues facing Baptists and their communities at any given time, BWA passed resolutions and other statements addressing all manner of injustice, war, hunger, moral matters, religious liberty and other faith matters, gender equality, racism and much more.

One of their most important resolutions directly confronted Nazi Germany in 1934. A more recent resolution adopted in Birmingham, Ala., in 2022 condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, called for just peace and pledged solidarity with Baptists in Ukraine.

Among the resources in this large reference work are a reader’s guide, a chronological listing of resolutions by BWA World Congresses, by General Councils and by Executive Committees, as well as BWA-affiliated declarations and statements; a thematic table of resolutions; and an extensive set of indices listing BWA officers and other individuals, countries and territories, and topics cited in resolutions; and a thorough source bibliography.

Just before the indices and bibliography, Spitzer includes a set of tables providing a numeric depiction of resolution types and years adopted. Altogether, this back matter accounts for more than 80 pages of this 793-page book—which accounts for the 74 pages of front matter.

The only reason Good News for the World is incomplete is it stops with 2023—by necessity; it had to be published sometime—and doesn’t include the resolutions adopted in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2024. But that’s what second volumes are for.

Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard




Review: Mostly What God Does Is Love You

Mostly What God Does Is Love You

By Savannah Guthrie; Illustrated by Morgan Huff (Zonderkidz)

As promised, in Mostly What God Does Is Love You, mom and NBC News Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie creates a charming children’s sequel to her best-selling Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere. Again based on Ephesians 5:1-2 in The Message version of the Bible, the Scripture appears prominently on the title page.

Outstanding picture book illustrators bring an author’s words to life in connected two-page spreads. Morgan Huff’s art and Savannah Guthrie’s copy perfectly complement each other. The delightful images of children and adults feature differing shapes, sizes, ages, colors and a few added glasses, broken bones or wheel chairs. And clearly, mostly what God does is love them.

The beautiful volume begins with the invitation to “Just look at what God does …” made more appealing by a purply-blue night sky teeming with shining stars, shadowy cumulus clouds and a bright crescent moon. The following pages explain: “He hangs the stars every evening, And every day, summons the dawn … But mostly what God does is love you.”

After sections on God’s creation filled with birds, bees, butterflies, animals, flowers, fruit and trees, the tone shifts: “He is big, And you are small … But never too small for him.” Words promise the child that God carries their hopes, dreams and fears since “mostly what God does is love you.”

Naturally, since God loves, his children begin to share that love, too. After all, “The world always needs more love and peace.” The girls and boys clearly receive the message as they play together, share art supplies and cookies, sing Christmas carols and visit the hospital. The title closes with the assurance that although they can’t see God with their eyes or touch him with their hands, they can feel him in their hearts and know him in their minds.

In the end, Savannah Guthrie’s Mostly What God Does is Love You is not only strong on biblical truth and encouraging children to feel God’s love every moment, but also is long on lessons of sharing love through goodness, kindness, forgiveness and faithfulness.

The uplifting book can be enjoyed in any setting, at bedtime or any time, by anyone of any age, and makes a perfect gift for any occasion: birthday, graduation, holiday or just because. Some books are “one and done.” This one is an investment.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco




Review: Disciples of White Jesus

Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood

By Angela Denker (Broadleaf Books)

Recent research on Generation Z points to a generation adrift in anxiety, moving away from the church.

But an interesting shift occurred in 2024, a growing gap between young men and women who identify with Christianity—with more young men self-identifying as Christian than young women, for the first time since tracking such trends began.

More recent studies emphasize the trend, showing an uptick in young men who report Jesus is important in their lives. Yet, both young men and young women have continued to fall in other indicators of spiritual health, including regular church attendance.

More boys may be claiming Jesus, but do they know and follow the one we meet through the Holy Spirit and Scriptures?

When white men overwhelmingly are found to be holding the gun in mass casualty shootings, and white men are the most likely to die by suicide, it begs the question: what is going on with young, white men in this country?

Journalist and Lutheran pastor Angela Denker set out on a journey to investigate that question and shed light on what influences are shaping young, male Christians in the United States.

In her new book, Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood, Denker said she focuses on white Christian men because they still hold an outsized number of leadership positions in government and industry and because she knows them best.

Her religious background is in a majority-white denomination with mostly men in church leadership, and her sports-writing career covering hockey brought her close to mostly white athletes, though with a Canadian bent, she noted.

Her book explores what influences have played into a crisis of radicalization among young Christian men of today’s United States and questions who they truly are following.

Denker noted concerns for her own young sons and her journalistic experience and pastoral ministry to predominately white Christians fueled her willingness and expertise to tackle this topic.

Denker approaches the difficult topic by examining theological and cultural shifts related to white Christian men. She also looks at specific communities who have seen an increased presence of extremism and digs into the background of a few young men who, at least for a season, epitomized radicalization. This approach is both a strength and weakness of the book.

It is enlightening to read about white supremacist groups settling in small Midwestern towns and to learn Dylan Roof had a background in church.

It’s challenging to consider where things might have gone wrong in his life, resulting in the hate-based murders of nine Mother Emanuel AME Church members in Charleston, S.C. Denker helps her readers think about the impact of his violence on all who were impacted by it, and to wonder what might be done to prevent such attacks in the future.

Likewise, reading about a former skinhead turned pastor offers an interesting perspective on how young men can be enticed by radicalization, and still eventually see the light and leave.

And Denker doesn’t try to present easy solutions to the problem. She notes addressing such a serious concern requires solutions tailored to specific situations. Yet she offers plenty of insights and troubling observations to ponder.

The weakness, for our tradition and in this cultural moment, is Denker’s progressive perspective. Denker gives her final spotlight on U.S. men who’ve been drawn to extremism to a transexual male. This choice could be off-putting, but I’d encourage you to try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There is important information in Disciples of White Jesus. To get it, it is worth the exercise of looking beyond the parts you might not like.

The discipleship questions her sources utilize will help me as a mother of young Christian boys—who, while I wish they were not, are vulnerable to extremist influences—to challenge bad ideas they might be exposed to with positive, biblical influences.

In fact, I’ve already borrowed several to open conversations with my boys. The onus is on us to inoculate or de-radicalize the young, white men of Christianity’s future. Our daughters, our neighbors of color and the young men, themselves, will thank us for it.

Calli Keener

Baptist Standard




Review: The Unbiased Self

The Unbiased Self: The Psychology of Overcoming Cognitive Bias

By Erin Devers (IVP)

Texans know Texas BBQ is unsurpassed. Memphis and Kansas City have their own ideas about the best BBQ. And then there’s Carolina BBQ. Each one is right in their own eyes.

Erin Devers doesn’t smoke out the best BBQ, but she does shine a light on a common human malady—the inability to know everything about everything all the time. Bias results from our human limitations.

“We want to be right and feel good about ourselves,” Devers asserts. This desire leads us to think we are more moral than we are and have more control over our lives than we do. Bias begins here.

Bias can be an incendiary word today. But this isn’t a book about racial, gender, ableist or other specific expressions of bias—though racial bias does make an appearance in the last chapter. Rather, this is a book about dealing with the log in our own eyes, Devers contends, referring to one of Jesus’ parables.

We can spot other people’s biases, but we often are blind to our own. Devers seeks to move readers from a pursuit of feeling right to a pursuit of accuracy.

Bias is part of being human, a feature of our creaturely limitations. We can’t process everything about everything. Devers explains how our minds naturally create categories for the sake of efficiency and filter new information through these mental categories.

Our biases are exploitable and used by those in the know to grab our attention and manipulate our thoughts.

Devers counters internal bias—thinking or believing better of ourselves than we actually are. She emphasizes rooting our identity in Christ and his salvation from our sin nature, rather than in our self-identification and sense of measuring up to our own ideal self and what we believe others expect of us.

She also counsels against “downward social comparisons” by which we attempt to boost our self-esteem through measuring ourselves against people—and even animals—we see as less than ourselves.

After diagnosing the problem, Devers turns to overcoming it, starting with the pursuit of accuracy. Accuracy calls for slow thinking and interrogating why we want something to be true. This and other ways of pursuing accuracy positions a person for better fast thinking. Here, Devers suggests practical ways to improve thinking, one benefit being to reduce bias.

Reducing bias is beneficial not only for ourselves. It also makes us better neighbors, something captured in the command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Devers returns to a point she makes repeatedly in her chapters on reducing bias—“our position relative to God and others.” We generally are more like each other than we are like God. To combat bias, Devers encourages generosity in our thinking about others.

The Unbiased Self finishes with an examination of group identity bias, specifically in the church.

A cautionary note: Readers should be aware Chapter Six opens with some examination of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde.

Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard




Review: God With Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus

God with Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus

By Matt Mikalatos; Illustrated by David Shephard (WaterBrook)

Cleopas and an unnamed person are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus when Jesus joins them.

The two are talking about Jesus’ crucifixion and his rumored resurrection, trying to make sense of the rumors. They didn’t recognize their new traveling companion, nor did they expect what followed.

“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about himself” (Luke 24:27).

If only we knew what Jesus used from Scripture to explain about himself.

What Luke leaves out of his Gospel account, Matt Mikalatos fills in with imagination and humor.

In the form of a graphic novel, Mikalatos weaves together key moments from the Old Testament and the Gospels that, in hindsight, illuminate who Jesus was, his purpose for coming to live among us and the purpose of his dying and rising again.

The young sister and brother Rachel and Moshe are main characters in Mikalatos’ version of Luke 24:13-35.

As they walk with Cleopas and Miriam—Luke’s unnamed second person—they ask important questions and bring extra life to Jesus’ explanations.

God with Us would make a great gift for young families to read together, young readers to read alone or fans of graphic novels.

Through Mikalatos’ gift for storytelling and David Shephard’s illustrations, those who read God with Us will see not just the walk to Emmaus in a new light, but will come to appreciate what key moments throughout Scripture tell us about Jesus.

God with Us is scheduled to release April 1, in plenty of time to be read before Easter—Resurrection Sunday.

Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard




Review: I’ve Got Questions

I’ve Got Questions: The Spiritual Practice of Having It Out with God

By Erin Hicks Moon (Baker Publishing)

Storyteller and host of the popular Faith Adjacent podcast Erin Hicks Moon reveals her inner wrestling with faith and why deconstruction is a necessary component of the faith journey in I’ve Got Questions.

Moon breaks the deconstruction process into five segments, beginning with the origins of our faith and how worldly influences affect faith perception and concluding with the rebuilding process.

Written in a fun, conversational style, I’ve Got Questions offers readers a personal and general approach to questions about the faith. Growing up in a traditional, Southern Baptist home, Moon did not feel the need to question her faith until she was exposed to other religions and hypocrisy within her own denomination.

Moon learned to “sit Shiva,” the Jewish process of mourning a death. Learning to practice Shiva by lamenting the roots of her faith allowed her to examine where she had questions.

The writer describes experiences of feeling like an outcast in the church for questioning her faith, resulting in isolation.

A turning point came during a church service where she was told about a class helping reclaim communities for God while battling against worldliness. She began questioning the disparity between serving in love and fighting against the world. She wondered how she truly could love those she felt at war with.

Moon addresses this idea and questions Christians may have during their faith journey. She includes quotes, historical references, personal stories and testimonies to walk the reader through her deconstruction process and how it helped strengthen her faith in God.

In the chapter “What If the Wrestling Is the Point,” Moon addresses how Christians have disrupted the status quo throughout history by asking questions. She cites examples such as the Reformation to contextualize how questions in the life of faith have resulted in spiritual growth and new insights.

Moon offers a friendly hand, compelling readers to explore their faith, while acknowledging the roots that make faith unwavering.

This book is for anyone who needs to know it’s OK to ask questions, offering a safe space to lament a changing faith and make peace with the process. Moon encourages readers to think of active faith as one that recalibrates. Our spiritual inheritance involves wrestling with a God unafraid of our questions.

Faith Pratt, Baptist Standard student intern

East Texas Baptist University, Marshall




Review: Mostly What God Does

Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere 

By Savannah Guthrie

NBC News Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie offers honest glimpses into her life-long struggles and faith journey in Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.

Although neither memoir nor autobiography, the lawyer-newscaster seamlessly weaves in personal stories, Scripture and spiritual discernment for the “faith-full, faith-curious and faith-less” and the “churched, unchurched and never-churched.”

Written as 31 conversational essays, the reader can experience them in order or randomly, one or two a day over coffee, a section at a time, or all at once.

The journalist shares her growing up days in a traditional be-at-church-when-the-doors-are-open Southern Baptist home, referring to God as the sixth member of the Clark family. As a child, she loved learning about Jesus but heard more guilt than grace, grew terrified by a preacher’s story illustrating that lack of humility led to humiliation and shyly shied from youth group pressure to witness.

As a college student and adult, Guthrie confesses she went through periods of fervent prayer, consistent Bible study and regular worship along with other times of not-so-much.

However, Ephesians 5:1-2 in Eugene Peterson’s The Message inspired a perspective shift and a statement that Guthrie returns to throughout the volume and is the title of her new children’s book, Mostly What God Does Is Love You. With that in her heart, the author breaks the work into six parts that she considers faith essentials: love, presence, praise, grace, hope and purpose.

 The essays incorporate Scripture, illustrations, quotes, Bible characters and remembrances, though the writer never “airs her dirty laundry.” For example, the love chapter “Like a Mother” honestly shares her journey as mom to Vale and Charley, and the praise section includes how the co-anchor prayed Psalm 121 when lying on her dressing room floor with a migraine her first day on Today. Every chapter ends with a call for 30 seconds of silence before God.

 Savannah Guthrie fills the pages with information, inspiration and insights along with fresh advice for feeling God’s love. She suggests imagining God in the air and on the breeze. She understands God uses what the world may view as failures as long-term blessings—like being fired from her first on-air broadcast job in only ten days.

After discussing a shattered Sandy Hook mom’s unshakeable faith with her, the journalist voices the reality that on this earth, there simply are no answers to the why of such devastating tragedies or to her own rich blessings.

 In the end, Guthrie says, God gives each of his children a purpose, sometimes more than one in a lifetime. The author explains that as a young girl Oprah knew the first time she spoke in church, hers was to inspire. Guthrie sees hers as sharing, which she illustrates through serving communion and using the platform afforded by her profession and position.

Mostly what Savannah Guthrie does in Mostly What God Does is to share how to seek and find the Heavenly Father’s love everywhere. Whether you listen to her read the audible book or savor a print copy, you’ll be glad you did, and maybe like me, you’ll do it more than once.

 Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco




Review: Tricky Times: Patrick Wigglesworth’s Bizarre Bible Adventure

Tricky Times: Patrick Wigglesworth’s Bizarre Bible Adventure

By Liz and Jack Hagler (Tyndale Kids, 2023)

Tricky Times not only describes those tween and early teen years, but also defines the Bible stories in Joshua through Job as seen through a 5th grader’s eyes in Book 2 of Patrick Wigglesworth’s Bizarre Bible Adventure. Once again, Liz and Jack Hagler have combined Liz’s sequential black and white art and Jack’s blend of fact and fiction to create an engaging, funny graphic novel about Patrick’s weird life and bizarre adventures when he’s transported into Scripture.

Patrick starts his second journal upside-down as he begins 5th grade in a redistricted school with few kids from his old campus. As Joshua drags him into his Bible trek, the tween reviews Genesis through Deuteronomy in single sentences like, “Exodus: I saw Moses blast Pharaoh” and “Leviticus: I got squished by God’s rules.”

After checking out Joshua’s worn-out sandals from 40 years of wandering and preparing for “Promised Land Move-in Day,” the two crash through Jericho. Later, in Judges 6 when Gideon puts out a fleece, Patrick decides to put out his own fleece to decide whether or not to run for student council president.

Interspersed among Bible adventures, the reader meets a real boy who struggles to fit into a new school, whines about having his mom teach him Sunday school and suffers a computer crash as he finishes his history report—no, it’s not saved. He also grumbles about his annoying little sister and her friends “helping” with his political campaign, and comes in third (last) in the student council race, meaning he’s stuck as secretary, treasurer and historian.

Patrick’s journal and the art make the Bible relatable and allow him to draw sometimes humorous life lessons. Patrick tells Joshua that Ruth “is the saddest book-hop ever” beginning with a funeral and moving from a land with no food to a land with food but no money. Later, though, he gets to burp Obed and watch as Samuel passes over his big brothers to anoint David.

With David as his guide, he compares his friend’s 5,149-plus science project fire ants that got loose to David’s encounter with Goliath and makes a list of “5 things I learned from David’s tough spot of being anointed king when there’s already a king!” He flies over 1 and 2 Chronicles, learns about temple-building and observes Babylon was no picnic.

Later, Patrick describes Esther’s “beauty school” and how she spoke truth to power—although when his parents tell the story, they leave out “some of the juicy details.” On his very worst awful day, the 5th grader explains it was nothing compared to Job’s, and at least his close friends make him feel better.

Liz and Jack Hagler’s Tricky Times from the Bizarre Bible Adventure series isn’t a Bible storybook, although it contains Bible stories. Instead, the graphic novel offers a friendly way to dig deeper into understanding Scripture and to apply biblical concepts to life’s tricky times. As Patrick Wigglesworth observes, “What a lot of work to get people to follow God.”

Reading Tricky Times isn’t a lot of work, but it can help girls and boys learn about following God.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco

 

 




Review: Becoming the Pastor’s Wife

Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry

By Beth Allison Barr (Brazos Press)

Beth Allison Barr is a pastor’s wife with her own call to support her husband in his pastoral ministry. She loves being a pastor’s wife. She also is a Baylor University history professor specializing in medieval, women’s and church history. Her latest book—Becoming the Pastor’s Wife—marries the personal and professional to properly situate being a pastor’s wife within a woman’s call to ministry.

Barr describes how the role of pastor’s wife took shape over the last century by analyzing, along with her research assistants Katie Heatherly and Brooke LeFevre, 150 books for ministers’ wives published from 1923 to 2023. The authors of these books represent evangelical, mainline and Black denominations and lay out expectations for how a pastor’s wife will look and conduct herself.

During the period they studied, they determined the highest—and sometimes only—ministry role for a woman was to be a pastor’s wife, even if a woman sensed no such call herself. Barr differentiates between a woman’s identity and a woman’s activity. A woman might marry into ministry, but is she called to ministry?

Archaeological evidence suggests women led in ministry for centuries, with or without husbands. This changed with the Reformation and industrialization, as Barr explains, arguing the complementarian conception of a pastor’s wife is a product of those seismic cultural changes rather than Scripture. Even so, Barr points out the New Testament is not an egalitarian document. Yet, Scripture does not relegate women to secondary status.

Barr takes on Southern Baptist proponents of complementarianism directly, such as Dorothy Patterson, Albert Mohler, Jimmy Draper and Adrian Rogers. For example, she notes the silence on the role of pastor’s wife within Scripture and church history, despite modern claims by complementarians—particularly Mohler—to the contrary.

One of the more intriguing explorations is the role of the pastor’s wife in Black churches. Barr sees much for others to learn from the authority held by and the ministry activity of pastors’ wives in Black churches.

While extensive, Barr is fully aware her research on the role of pastor’s wife is not complete. She notes areas for further study, some of which she is conducting already.

Barr doesn’t disparage pastors’ wives or the role of pastor’s wife. Rather, she seeks to situate the role properly.

Becoming the Pastor’s Wife is expected to release March 18, with a book launch event at Fabled Bookstore in Waco. RSVP here for a free ticket.

Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard