Book Review: A Year With Bible Prophecy

366 Page to a Day Readings
by Donald Cameron

I found this book both encouraging and exhilarating. Mind you, I confess that I read it entirely the wrong way – racing through its 366 pages in a couple of months instead of savouring it day by day over the period of a
year. Binge feeding is never the best method of assimilating God’s Word, or books about God’s Word. Although daily Bible reading guides are fairly thick on the ground, this one certainly fills a niche. Unlike others, which are normally written by multiple authors, A Year with Bible Prophecy is held together by absolute consistency of outlook and is neatly though unobtrusively inter-referenced throughout. Its author, well known for his many publications on End Times subjects, brings to his writing a wealth of information and expertise. Reverently taking God’s Word at its face value, his viewpoint is solidly futurist, pre-millennial and pre-tribulational.
To some, the title may initially sound rather narrow in its focus, but two facts should be borne in mind. First, prophecy constitutes a substantial portion of God’s inspired Word. Some experts have calculated that at least one quarter of the Bible is composed of predictions either already fulfilled in history or yet to be fulfilled. Second, all the teachings of Scripture are tightly interlocked. It is impossible to read about God’s programme for Israel, for the Church, and for the world without reaching a new appreciation of the glories of Christ, the greatness of God, and the importance of godly living. As A J Pollock puts it, “God never records the past, nor reveals the future, without designing to affect us by His Word in the present.” The daily readings in this book, which use as their text the New King James Version, consist of a few verses printed in italics at the head of the page, followed by a commentary which deftly combines doctrinal exposition, devotional encouragement and practical challenge.
The author has organised his material with great care so that the reader is led systematically through the major interests of the prophetic Word in 31 appetising sections, starting with “A Thirty-One Day Tour of Key Prophecies” and ending with “The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will Perform This”. The book includes a handy glossary of prophetic terms and (very useful, this) an index of Biblical passages used in the readings.
The style is easy to read but packed with data. To give a taster, I quote part of the author’s comment on Revelation 7.3-4:

God is not going to allow an evangelisation vacuum or absence of witnesses after the Rapture of the Church. Since Jesus was rejected by His city and nation, the Church has filled the vacuum left by the side-lined Jews. But the Church is to be taken to Heaven just before the storm breaks. So witnessing Jews, genuine faithful, spiritual remnant Jews are going to do what their ancestors failed to do effectively nearly two thousand years ago. They are going to be God’s sealed witnesses (p 213).

A Year with Bible Prophecy is a rich and varied book which does far more than conduct the reader through some of the key prophetic passages of the Bible . I gladly recommend it. David Newell

Review taken from http://www.believersmagazine.com
To purchase a copy: A Year With Bible Prophecy

 

Saturday, July 7, 2018

DAILY READINGS: Joshua 24; Isaiah 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:5

From the beginning, God has made distinctions: between light and darkness, night and day, earth and sky, land and sea, as well as different species of animals. The greatest distinction lies between the Creator Himself and His creation. The essence of holiness is the Almighty’s uniqueness—He is utterly unlike anyone or anything in His universe. How wonderful then that He wants us to be like Him (2 Peter 1:3-4). Rather than another type of animal, humans are actually invited to be like their Maker in His moral and spiritual character. —K. R. Keyser

Here in the body pent, absent from Him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent, a day’s march nearer home.
—James Montgomery

Book Review: Daniel: Godly Living in a Hostile World

Daniel: Godly Living in a Hostile World

Author: William Burnett
ISBN: 9781897117736
Pages: 85

Mr. Burnett does not present your average book on Daniel. He purposefully delves into the rich character of Daniel and his friends, with applications to our lives today. He gives a clear and conscise introduction of the historical aspect of Daniel then goes on to cover in detail the first ten chapters. Many of the chapters have a helpful summary at the end to review the main points given. This book brings out beautiful examples of a man dedicated to God that will be an encouragement and a challenge to any reader. It is well written, in a style that is very comfortable.

Daniel: Godly Living in a Hostile World is an encouragement and a challenge. Throughout his life, Daniel exemplifies what a true believer ought to be, completely reliant on God. He goes through many situations where his life for the Lord is made obvious. While the book covers many topics, such as trusting God, standing for truth, trials, value of a testimony, prayer and evangelism, here are a few of my favourite:

However, like Joseph, Daniel and his companions had a firm grasp of the sovereign ways of God, and, despite the situation and its complexities, he refused to compromise his faith. He acted in Babylon as he would have acted under better circumstances in Jerusalem (pg.23).

Sadly, standing for truth has often been done in a wrong spirit. Many Christians have felt that being severe, surly and uncooperative is part of the requirement, and that this is the manner in which to face the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to develop good relationships with our colleagues at work, and with our unsaved friends and neighbours, without compromising our faith, so that when we are against the wall and needing some elbow room, they will give it to us. Daniel was able to persuade Melzar, whose life incidentally was on the line in this matter, to allow him a ten-day testing period of abstaining from the king’s meat. Daniel was granted his request because Melzar had come to love him. So we must conduct ourselves in a manner that will attract people, and earn a character credit rating that will stand us in good stead when it comes to spiritual challenges (Pg. 24).

Daniel believed that God was sovereign, and that this crisis was a time of opportunity rather than a disaster, and he did not panic (pg. 28).

While this book has much to recommend it there is one item I didn’t  agree with. Mr. Burnett includes his personal convictions regarding music. I agree with some of what he said regarding secular music, and the dangers thereof, but cannot agree with the whole of his statements.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for others. There are many situations that arise in our lives that I think Daniel would have handled well. We have much to learn from his life of service to God. He stayed humble despite his elevated status, was wholly dedicated to his God, and communed with God closely. This book shows that indeed “there is no new thing under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9) and God is still in control.

Danielle Robins