A Passel of Prophets
Reviewed by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Nothing stirs the blood of men like watching the work of men whose blood has been stirred. We are inspired by the inspired. As such, I offer for your review, the following books, all of which exhibit the marks of the prophet, all written by warriors who fear God alone.

Let the Nations Be Glad—The Supremacy of God in Missions by John Piper

John Piper says things from time to time that make me mad. There are issues I think he is confused about. But even were he an Arminian, I'd be prepared to look past it, just to get a taste for his passion. You just have to love a guy who so thoroughly loves Jesus, and cares not a smidgen that others might think he's off. In this particular work Piper does what he does best, extolling the glory of God, in a context that makes us squirm. My friend Robert Barnes once quipped, if you want to get rid of your pastor without all the mess of a trial, just have him read this book. He'll be on the mission field in six months.

Piper here not only shows you the glory of God such that your comfortable American life looses all its charm, but in doing so moves you with a desire to help others come and see that glory. Here is a positive way to proclaim the gospel—come to the banquet and meet this King. You'll never hunger or thirst again. As you read you'll find yourself on the mission field, not proclaiming the gospel, but as a heathen, listening to it proclaimed. You'll begin to see the glory, and that's what makes for men of God. Available from Baker Books.

Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson

As Laurence attests in the Open Letter, they don't come much more butch than Doug. More than watching him be butch, however, this book serves as a manual for how men might become men. You are not only inspired, but instructed. This, the book tells us, is how you lead in the home. This, he explains, is how you exercise your authority, how you keep both the servant and the leadership in servant leadership. This, he exhorts, is how you maintain fidelity, and understand it.

As you read this book you come away with one of two responses. Either you squirm and try to wiggle away from the demands of God on your life as a husband, or you repent, and plead with God to give you the strength to do what He has called you to do. You either argue with Doug about how nice your skirt looks, or you rip it off. There is no option where you yawn. Available from Canon Press.

Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators by David Chilton

David has gone on to his reward. Though we talked often on the phone, we never met face to face. I have been told, however, that he was a mountain of a man. He was also one bright and courageous man of God. In this book he became like Elijah, not only prophesying, but going after the false prophets in our midst.

The book is a point by point refutation of a best-selling book by Ronald Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Sider wrapped his socialism in a few misplaced Bible verses, and Chilton came along to show that Emperor Marx, and his court jester, Sider, had no clothes.

Chilton wasn't trying to answer a scholar with care and an aloof posture. He did not dispassionately dismantle Sider's book; he bulldozed it. And like Luther before him, in doing so gave us, in addition to wisdom, the joy of a good laugh. In reading the book you will get an introduction to the folly of the world, the wisdom of God's economic design, and a biblical picture of the hope of the future. I'm not sure if this is still in print, but I bet it's not terribly hard to find. It did very well.

The God of the Church Growth Movement by Martin Murphy

While many of you do not know my good friend Martin Murphy, let me assure you he is a man's man, with the firm set jaw of a prophet. He is a southern gentleman, who takes guff from no one. He is exactly the kind of man that you would want beside you in a foxhole, though you might not find him there. He would probably be out charging the enemy lines. And in this short monograph, he goes to town against that portion of the bride of Christ which has been walking those streets in town.

The book looks at the role of the church, the influence on the church of modernity, before turning its attention to the philosophy and practice of the church growth movement. The book also includes a foreword from Dr. Morton Smith, founder of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and an appendix from Dr. Jay Adams. It seems that prophets tend to move in packs.

When you have finished the book you will no longer look at the church growth movement as merely good intentions run amuck. You will see it instead for what it is, the bride of Christ wallowing in the muck of the world. Like Israel before her, we see the church playing the harlot, in chasing after foreign gods. Jointly published by The Puritan Academy Press and Southern Presbyterian Press.

This list, of course, excludes other fine books. Machen's Christianity and Liberalism fits the bill, but has already been reviewed in these pages. Biographies of fearless men of God are also solid food for aspiring prophets. Iain Murray's biography of Edwards and Bainton's biography of Luther both get the blood flowing. But please remember as you read that these men are just men. It is good to thank God for the gifts He has given these men, but good also to ask that He would give you the same courage, the same prophetic impulse.