Where are the Shepherds of the Family? A Book Review of Family Shepherds

            Since May of 2011 I have had the privilege of reviewing 14 books on various topics and of different genre, and from various publishers.  I am honored to have this opportunity, and humbled that my opinion is of value to you who have read my various book reviews.  I owe a special thanks to my friend and Christian Brother, Dave Jenkins, who was willing to contact Crossway and let them know that I would be honored to review for them as well.  Thank you Brother.  Dave and I have a lot of similar interests in books, and the book I’m writing on today is no different.  I have just finished reading Family Shepherds by Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr. 

            Dr. Baucham is a pastor at a Church here in my area.  He serves as the preaching pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church out of Spring, TX.  It is possible I have met Dr. Baucham as he is a shopper at a Christian retail location where I work.  I don’t recall if I have or not, but it is exciting that there is a chance if I haven’t I someday may.

            I usually select books that interest me to review for the various publishers.  I figure if I am going to take the time to read a book then it should be something that can give me some practical guidance for where I am at in my life.  Family Shepherds falls well within this category.  As a husband and father of five I am always trying to see the best way to serve and to lead my family in the path of righteousness and to deepen their love for our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.

            Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is a passage that every father/family shepherd should know, for in it we see the very foundation of why we should be the family shepherd. 

            Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of you house and on your gates. (Englsih Standard Version 2001)

            One of the key words in this passage is the word “command”.  God did not ask us to teach our children, He commanded that we do so.  It is with this premise that Dr. Baucham begins to write Family Shepherds.  In Family Shepherds Dr. Baucham breaks the roles of the Family Shepherd into four key areas.  These four key areas break down like this; first, family discipleship and evangelism; second, marriage enrichment; third, the training and discipline of children; and finally, the need for lifestyle evaluation.  Since my job is to get you interested in the book we are only going to take a look at a couple of these areas momentarily, and then you’ll have to read the rest.

            I write out this key passage from Deuteronomy not just to challenge you, but to challenge myself.  This is how I felt as I began to read this newest book from Voddie.  How am I doing in discipleship and evangelism? Is my marriage stronger now than it was ten years ago? Am I training my children as I ought, teaching them the need of salvation for the deliverance of their sin, or am I teaching behavioral/morality changes without the necessary authority and need of Christ as LORD of their lives?  Dr. Baucham quotes Charles Hodge, a well known theologian in the mid-nineteenth century (Baucham, Voddie 2011) who said: “The character of the Church and of the state depends on the character of the family.  If religion dies out in the family, it cannot elsewhere be maintained.” (Hodge 1871)  If fathers are not doing the job God entrusted them with, then we are only leading to our own demise. 

            In his section on Family Discipleship and Evangelism Dr. Baucham discusses the benefit and purpose of having a family catechism.  The idea of a catechism has been part of the Church for probably centuries, and was used by Catholic and Protestant Theologians alike.  To be honest when I first saw this chapter on catechism I was about ready to skip it.  However, I decided to read it because I was curious about what Dr. Baucham’s thoughts where on this idea.

            First, for those who maybe aren’t familiar with the term catechism let me first use Dr. Baucham’s explanation.  “It is simply a pedagogical method employing questions and answers to teach a set body of knowledge.  Ultimately, it is a means of teaching Christian doctrine in a concise, repetitive manner. (Baucham, Voddie 2011)  Although a very foreign concept in today’s modern day Protestants the catechism was used by great Protestant theologians such as Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards.  I am blessed to have in my possession a copy of Luther’s small catechism that belonged to my father.  My wife and I are in discussion in to implementing a catechism in our house thanks to this section of Family Shepherds.

            Another powerful section of Family Shepherds is the section on the training and discipline of children.  This is a very hotly contested area especially in light of the post-modern day view of “love and tolerance”.  So often we hear people say we shouldn’t judge, we need to let our children make their own decisions, so forth and so forth.  To the secular world the very idea of a “family shepherd” is counter-intuitive, yet as we see crime rates grow, never has something been more important than the role of fathers raising their children.

            In Christianity especially there are two authors who have addressed the specific topic of discipline and training of children; Michael Pearl and his book To Train a Child and Tedd Tripp and his book Shepherding a Child’s Heart.  Again I own a copy of both of these books so when I came to chapter 10 I came to it with an understanding of both of the trains of thought represented by these two authors.  Between these two authors there is a major difference that I noticed as did Voddie.  First Michael Pearl has the philosophy that “training doesn’t necessarily require that the trainee has reason; even mice and rats can be trained to respond to stimuli.” (Pearl 1994)  However, Tedd Tripp starts off his book this way, “The Scripture teaches that the heart is the control center for life.” (Tripp 1995)

            One doesn’t have to look very far to spot the vast difference between these two authors.  Michael Pearl believes you can teach behavior through stimuli while Tedd Tripp points to the fact that the heart is the control center of a person’s life which means to train them up you must address the heart.  In Family Shepherds Dr. Baucham says this, “We must have a grasp on our children’s greatest need if we ever hope to see it met.” (Baucham, Voddie 2011)  I would be lying to say that this did not strike me right between the eyes.  So often when I train or discipline my children, I’m not focusing on the control center of their lives, their hearts, I’m focusing on what makes me happy. 

            If we as fathers are only focusing on behavior or morals, then we do not love our children as Christ loved us.  If we are focusing on behavior or morals then we are not training up our children to love the LORD with all of their heart and all their soul and all their might.  Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Englsih Standard Version 2001) Matthew 12:34 says, “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Englsih Standard Version 2001)  If we as fathers do not address the heart of our children, and strive to lead them to saving faith in Jesus Christ, then we are shepherds who have failed.  Dr. Baucham quotes the great Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards (Baucham, Voddie 2011) who said, “How few are there who are thorough in maintaining order and government in their families! How is family-government in a great measure vanished! And how many are as likely to bring a curse upon their families, as Eli.” (Edwards 1835)

Dr. Baucham is a huge proponent of the age-integrated congregation. What this means is that his Church does not practice such things as nursery, children’s church, youth group, or even Men or Women’s Bible studies, although they do have a monthly Men’s meeting. I do not agree with Dr. Baucham on this of course, and in fact want to point out what I see as a slight contradiction in his book.  First, he says this:

Virtually all the debate over the discipleship of young people begins with the assumption that church structures and programs such as the nursery, children’s church, Sunday school, and youth group are foundational discipleship tools and whatever happens must take place within that framework. (Baucham, Voddie 2011)

I disagree with this assumption, and would in fact argue that these programs and church structures are helpful, and can serve as a supplemental, not a foundational discipleship tool.  More so I believe that Dr. Baucham contradicts himself only three pages later when he says, “We do not rely either on the pulpit or on the home.  Both institutions are charged to play their role.” (Baucham, Voddie 2011)  This being said however, I do find this to be a book that every Church leader, father, mother, and Church staff should read.  I agree with the premise that discipleship ultimately rests in the home.  As one looks at the direction society is taking there is no doubt in my mind that it is time for the father to be his family’s shepherd. 

From where I stand, even though I may not agree with everything that Dr. Voddie Baucham believes I still see this book as a must read, and gladly rate it 5 out of 5.  I’m honored to have added this book to my library and look forward to reading through it again and again as Dr. Baucham helps teach me and all men how to be Family Shepherds.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Crossway as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Works Cited

Baucham, Voddie. Family Shepherds. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.

Edwards, Jonathan. "Christian Cautions: or, The Necessity of Self-Examination." In The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 1:183. New York: Daniel Appleton and Co., 1835.

Englsih Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, 2001.

Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol. 3. New York: C. Scribner, 1871.

Pearl, Michael. To Train Up a Child. Pleasantville: NGJ Ministries, 1994.

Tripp, Tedd. Shepherding a Child's Heart. Wapwallopen: Shpherd Press, 1995.

Giveaway Reminder! Win a Copy of Night of the Living Dead Christian

Have you had a chance to check out the newest book review “Night of the Living Dead Christian” at the Emery family blog or Biblically Born Again?  Thanks to Tyndale Publishers and Matt Mikalatos the Emery family blog and Biblically Born Again are giving away a free copy of Matt’s newest book.

            If you are interested in gaining some entries for this book the process is simple.  Become a follower of Biblically Born Again or the Emery family blog and earn 10 entries.  Tell your friends about the giveaway by posting a link or posting about the giveaway on your blog for 5 entries.  Are you into the newest social networking through Google Plus.  Give us a +1 and share us with you circles on Google Plus for 1 additional entry for each of those.  Do you tweet? Send out a tweet regarding the giveaway or book review for an additional entry.  Like the giveaway on Facebook and share it with your friends for two more entries.  As you see you can easily earn 20 entries to win a copy of this book.  All we ask for, for the purpose of confirmation, is comments sent to either of the blogs.

            Contest ends on December 22 so there is still time to get your entries.  Happy monster hunting to you all, and see you on the blogosphere.

Before You Go Monster Hunting; Look in the Mirror! A Review of “The Night of the Living Dead Christian"”

           Monsters are all around us.  Everywhere you look you may see them and not even know.  Some of them are your best friend from high school, your teacher or professor, the neighbor down the street, or maybe even that old lady you just helped across the street.  The truth of the matter is monsters have learned how to live among us, and we have become so desensitized that we don’t even realize…, the monster may be ourselves.

            In his newest book, “Night of the Living Dead Christian”, Matt Mikalatos takes us on a fictional journey as he comes into contact with a werewolf named Luther.  In this book we see Matt take on the challenge of helping his new found friend break free of the curse of the beast.  Through many strange turns and events we see this journey take shape as Matt is joined with a Mad Scientist, an Android, a half zombie, and a vampire names Lara.  The mission is to find out the cure for Luther’s lycanthrope transformation, if it is possible.

            Relevant Magazine offers this praise for the book, “Think Monty Python meets C.S. Lewis.”  While Relevant Magazine may well be right that Matt’s book is like C.S. Lewis, in my opinion Matt’s writing style is completely different than C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis was more of a philosopher and had a more established reputation writing fiction and Christian literature than does Matt. With that said the praise offered by Relevant Magazine is well deserved in the sense that this book is a great spiritual allegory.

“Night of the Living Dead Christian” was a book I found myself immersed in.  I, too, have always had a fascination with monsters and to see them used as representations of spiritual behavior not only hooked me, but kept me latched to every page.  As I read through the chapters and was introduced to the various monsters I kept asking myself, “Which one am I?”

            Amongst the chapters Matt weaved in interludes, which served as a brief distraction from the story.  Each of the interludes was on a spiritual topic from the perspective of the werewolf.  Some of these issues addressed were Fathers, Transformation, and Love.  Although each raised some questions for me on the purpose of the author, especially transformation, these were all a good break from the story line, and allowed the reader to look at some important topics and how they are viewed by the world. 

            I give this book 5 monsters out of 5.  In this world of post-Twilight I think this book serves as a great way of reaching friends who might not be so keen on Christian fiction, and especially Christian allegory.  I have already recommended this book to some of my close friends, and I certainly recommend it for you.  Matt Mikalatos is a name I now know, and I look forward to any additional books he may write.

To see more of what Matt has to offer check out his website at http://www.mattmikalatos.com

See the author’s video about this book at http://www.tyndale.com/video/296

Check out Tyndale Publishers at http://www.tyndale.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Questions and Answers with Matt Mikalatos Re: “Night of the Living Dead Christian”

I would like to thank Tyndale Publishers and Matt Mikalatos for providing me with a unique opportunity.  This week I had the privilege of having an e-mail Q&A with Matt regarding his newest book “Night of the Living Dead Christian”.  Below you will see the transcript of this conversation.  I hope you enjoy.

Me:     I can understand your interest and use of monsters in this book due to your exposure to Monster Mania.  What was the motivating factor that lead you to write?

Matt:   I started writing seriously when I was in high school, and my motivation has always been to entertain and to reveal truth. The use of monsters in my current book was a natural, since I spent a lot of time as a kid reading and watching science fiction with my Dad. I thought it was an apt metaphor for the human struggle, how we’re all desiring to become “more human”... to become who God created us to be. It’s really an extension of the Biblical metaphors about how we must be alive in Christ and dead to sin, but that we wrestle with the old man within us.

Me:     In this fiction book there still seems to be a picture of who you are, as well as your family.  Do you think that this serves as a hook for the reader, or a turn off?

Matt:   Ha ha ha. Well, clearly I hope it’s a hook. I don’t think any author is consciously trying to turn off their readers. A lot of people have told me they enjoyed having a “real life” narrator, and it’s an illusion that a lot of classical novels employ.

Me:     Our more fundamental brothers and sisters in Christ may not be so keen on your use of monsters.  One lady I know attributed your use of monsters in your story as dabbling in the Occult.  How would you respond to such claims?

Matt:   In 1950 some Christians accused C.S. Lewis of “dabbling in the Occult” (or worse) for his book, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Their argument basically said, “There is a witch in this book, therefore it is an Occult book.” It’s a specious argument. There are witches and sorcerers and demons in scripture, too. My book is about overcoming evil in our personal lives, and there’s not a way to write a story like that without acknowledging and portraying the evil which must be overcome. The fact that the book has a couple of vampires and werewolves and zombies in it doesn’t make the book Occult any more than having an angel in a book would make it Christian. The fact is, my book is about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what the Gospel is, and how to know and follow Jesus.

Me:     Reading this book I often found myself asking, “Which monster represents me?” Do you think that people can relate with multiple monsters depending on the day?

Matt:   Absolutely. Since the monsters represent, to some degree, specific sin struggles it’s pretty easy for me to relate to a certain monster depending on the day, the hour, or the minute. I tried to imply that in the book when you see a certain character who has a “trophy box” of his former monstrous characteristics. One of the themes in the book is how the monster will avoid mirrors, because he doesn’t want to see himself. My hope is that this book will be a mirror for all of us that causes us to ask ourselves, “Am I a monster?”

Me:     In the Werewolf’s view of transformation you hit a nerve about how Christians will ignore the raped woman on the sidewalks while holding our anti-abortion signs.  Many Churches and believers are who run battered women shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, and minister to those who are less fortunate.  What would you say motivated this narrative in this chapter?

Matt:   The werewolf character has been badly hurt by a Christian in his own life, so it makes sense that his picture of Christians will often skew toward the most negative aspects of Christianity he has observed, and his observation is a fair one: some Christians, in their zeal to oppose the evils of abortion, create a secondary evil by harming women who are in difficult situations. Undoubtedly, the counter examples you gave are true, but when someone has been hurt by a Christian they won’t point out the most godly person in a church and say “That’s what Christians are like,” they’ll use the lowest possible example. I think, as a Christian, I like to point out the best examples of Christian living and say, “That’s what it means to be a Christian.” But if a Christian behaves in an evil way I’ll say, “Oh, that person isn’t a Christian” instead of dealing with the more difficult truth that sometimes Christians do truly horrible things... that sometimes I can do truly horrible things. In many ways that’s the key theme of the book: if we’re truly following Jesus, why aren’t we more like him?

Again, it was a real privilege to have Matt answer these questions.  

"Night of the Living Dead Christian: A Werewolf's View on Transformation" is available through you local Christian bookstore.  Look for my book review to post on Thursday.  Also don’t forget our first ever blog giveaway which will be linked to the book review for your chance to win a free copy of the book.