Friday, May 16, 2008

The Kind of Review That Makes You Buy a Book

Jeff Straub offers a powerful review of Don Carson's biography of his father.

This sums it up well:
Tom was a man who labored in relative obscurity most of his life. He was not a great leader among men in the popular sense of the term. He wasn’t invited to speak around the country, the continent, or the world like his more well-known son. He was just an ordinary pastor who likely would have remained in obscurity had not his son offered us a glimpse into his father’s life. In doing so, Don Carson has written a book that should remind those who read it of Paul’s important charge regarding faithfulness—it is required of stewards that they be faithful or trustworthy (1 Cor. 4:2). The steward needs to carry out God’s charge without regard to personal gain or professional aggrandizement. Tom did, and therein is his legacy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, good. Very good.

Thanks for bringing this review back up for our attention.

Anonymous said...

Yes--I was struck by the title of this book the first time I heard it. Just an ordinary pastor. Perhaps this will be an encouragement toward self correction in our evangelical society which so loves celebrity.

Kent McCune said...

Being the son of a small town, small church pastor myself, I really enjoyed the book. I gave it to a friend of mine who was a missionary in Quebec for 13 years. He said that reading the book was like stepping back in time for him. He said it was an emotional experience for him to relive God's faithfulness in small, difficult works.