5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow

5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow is a book about Christians and farming. R.C. Sproul suggests five things that every Christian needs to grow–barley, wheat, corn… OK, I’m just kidding. But don’t you think the strangely ambiguous title could fit such a book? In reality, 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow is a reprint of a small book published in 2002 by Thomas Nelson. Revised, expanded and given a great new cover, the book has been republished by Reformation Trust, the publishing division of Ligonier Ministries.

Just as any living organism has requirements if it is to grow and thrive, in the same way Christians have God-given requirements that are necessary elements if there is to be any growth in grace and godliness. In this book R.C. Sproul describes five spiritual “nutrients” crucial to spiritual maturity: Bible study, prayer, worship, service and stewardship. In the Introduction Sproul borrows the biblical metaphor of athletics and writes, “Christians are called upon to train, to make sacrifices, and to embrace certain disciplines in order to give God ‘our utmost for His highest.’ This book deals with five of those disciplines: Bible study, prayer, worship, service and stewardship. Just as Olympic athletes work hard to achieve their best performances, our diligence in attending to these aspects of the Christian life will help determine our effectiveness in serving our Lord.”

Sproul teaches that the Word of God is God’s instrument for both conversion and spiritual growth. “By immersing ourselves in the Word of God, we begin to gain the mind of Christ and learn what discipleship is.” He offers advice on getting started in reading the Bible suggesting both methods and resources that will assist the new believer. When it comes to prayer, Sproul distinguishes between prayer as a duty, a privilege and a means of grace before offering practical tips on praying effectively. The chapter dealing with worship speaks of God’s regulations in worship, of the importance of worshiping in both spirit and truth and of the importance of preparation for times of worship. He then writes about service, saying that it is a practice essential to a vibrant faith and discussing the nature of servanthood. In the book’s fifth chapter he looks at sacrificial stewardship, discussing the tithe and the value of investing in the kingdom of God. And finally, in chapter six Sproul addresses a variety of relevant questions and answers (“Does God hear, act on, or grant the prayers of unbelievers?” “Should worship services have any focus on unbelievers?” “How often should a church celebrate the Lord’s Supper?”).

This is a small book, gift-sized really, and one that is very easy to read and digest. It is an ideal book to hand out as a gift or to give to a new believer. It offers introductory wisdom on disciplines that are crucial to the Christian life. Yet there is enough here that even a long-time believer will find biblical wisdom to challenge his Christian walk.

Review by Tim Challies – www.challies.com

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Whiter than snow

Through these meditations on David’s words in Psalm 51, readers discover there is mercy for every wrong and grace for every new beginning.

What do you do when you’ve really blown it? Is sin really as dangerous and is grace really as powerful as the Bible says they are? Is there such a thing as a new beginning?

Sin and grace—these are the two themes of our lives. We all blow it and we all need to start over again. In Psalm 51, David tells his story of moral failure, personal awareness, grief, confession, repentance, commitment, and hope. And because David’s story is every believer’s story, Psalm 51 is every believer’s psalm. It tells how we, as broken sinners, can be brutally honest with God and yet stand before him without fear.

Whiter Than Snow unpacks this powerful little psalm in fifty-two meditations, reminding readers that by God’s grace there is mercy for every wrong and grace for every new beginning. Designed for busy believers, these brief and engaging meditations are made practical by the reflection questions that conclude each chapter.

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My First Book of Questions and Answers

Children always have questions about what it means to be a Christian. Do they need a long philosophical answer? Not always and it is simple answers to deep questions that feature in this book. If you have ever wanted to know how to explain the Christian faith to young children in bite-sized chunks then the 114 profound questions and answers, backed by scripture proofs provide an invaluable tool to get you started.

Truth, clarity and simplicity are the great virtues of this God-exalting catechism for children. It was a great pleasure to watch our daughter learn these answers. As usual teaching a child great truths enriched our thinking and our own worship.

John and Noel Piper

God centred. Christ honouring. Character building

Sinclair B Ferguson

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Age of Opportunity – Parenting teenagers

What an encouraging and challenging book for parents. Tripp doesn’t pull any punches in this outstanding book that challenges parents to be more deliberate and intentional about their parenting.

The primary emphasis of the book is getting through to parents that raising children is not about how they look, how well they score on some standardized test, or how many touchdowns they score, but ultimately if they have a heart for God. Tripp first deals with the perspective of parents on this issue refocusing them on what’s really important, then he dives in to encourage parents to pursue their teens and accept this stage of parenting as a God-given opportunity instead of dreading it and working to avoid it at all costs. Tripp encourages parents to find a balance between protecting them from the world and allowing them to assimilate themselves into the world. Tripp knows that many parents of teens are tired and worn out – but he thinks that the reason is because they are spending too much time and energy addressing the wrong thing. Tripp warns parents that they should not focus on behavior modification, but be willing to spend the time and energy to find out the root causes which underlie their behavior.

One theme constantly running through Age of Opportunity is the emphasis given to conversation – parents making the effort to talk with their children While the intended audience is parents with teenage children, much of the sage advice is applicable to parents with any age children and the book might be a better read for parents before their children hit the teen years. Outstanding book, easy-to-read, biblically sound, challenging and encouraging – Age of Opportunity has my highest recommendation.

Dan Panett

Shepherding A Child’s Heart – Parenting pre-teens

There are many things in life that are easy to do poorly but are much more difficult to do with exc

ellence. It did not take me long as a parent to discover that it would not be difficult to raise children, but that it would be exceedingly difficult to do it with excellence. In the six years since my eldest child was born I have looked often for help and advice in becoming an excellent parent. Unfortunately my wife and I have received little mentorship in th

is area. Thankfully, there are many books written about this topic so we have often looked to these resources to provide the wisdom and training we know we need.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp came to us highly recommended. In fact, I can’t think of a book on this topic that was recommended to us more often. It is a book that deals with speaking to the very heart of your children. Realizing that too many parents react only to symptoms of underlying sin, Tripp attempts to help parents look deeper, to see that all the things a child says and does flow from the heart, for as Luke 6:45 says, “…out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” If a parent can understand a child’s heart and shepherd that heart, he can deal most effectively with a child’s deepest needs. And through it all he seeks to keep the gospel central to a parent’s calling and to a child’s response.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first, Tripp lays the foundation for biblical childrearing. He shows that the heart of bad behavior is a sinful heart. He discusses a child’s development, showing that a child is shaped by various influences on his life and that a parent needs to help a child have a Godward orientation. He discusses authority and suggests that, despite our culture’s disgust towards authority, a parent must assert himself as being in a position of God-given authority over a child. A child must realize that parents speak not of their own authority, but of God’s. He also di

scusses goals, methods, communication and discipline.

Where the first part of the book lays a foundation, the second part guides a parent through shepherding a child through thr

ee stages of development: infancy, childhood and teenagers. For each of these periods he suggests the training objectives and then procedures a parent should use to attain these objectives.

A section I found particularly interesting, perhaps because I have young children, was the section dealing with punishment. Tripp advocates spanking as really the only biblical method of punishment (and certainly the only one that is specifically mandated by Scripture) for correcting yo

ung children. He lays out very clear circumstances in which children should be spanked and suggests many circumstances in which parents must not spank. He makes this type of corporal punishment very deliberate and very loving. He suggests that parents must be fully in control of themselves when they spank and must not be filled with anger. Parents do not punish their children out of anger, embarrassment or retribution, but to teach children that defying authority will bring about consequences. Children must know that God demands obedience to authority and that there are consequences for defiance.

In his endorsement of this book Edward Welch wrote,

Dr. Tripp’s material on parenting is clearest, most biblically framed, and most helpful that I have ever encountered. It has become the backbone of my own parenting.

I agree entirely. Throughout the book Tripp focuses on Scripture and on the gospel. He focuses on human nature and on the grace of God in providing a solution to the needs of our children. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to any parent, and especially to new parents. Read it now, pray about it, and let God direct you to His ways of shepherding the hearts of your children.

Review by Tim Challies

www.challies.com