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| Call to Spiritual Reformation, A: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers | 
| Author: D. A. Carson
Publisher: Baker Academic
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
Buy Used: $6.90
You Save: $12.09 (64%)
New (31) from $10.53
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 14897
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 230
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0801025699
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.32
EAN: 9780801025693
ASIN: 0801025699
Publication Date: June 1, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 15 | | NEXT » |
 The Jigsaw Puzzle from God... November 12, 2008
REVIEW NOTE: I don't typically review the details of the book, just how it impacts me. I figure if my life isn't impacted by a book, why did I read it. Here is my review of that impact.
A month or two ago I read "A Call to Spiritual Reformation" by D.A. Carson. At that time I noticed a couple of statements that he made that really impacted my approach to Scripture. I briefly mention one in my books and quotes sidebar, but the other one has changed my approach to Scripture. The quote is as follows:
The Scriptures Reflect the one God, the God of truth...that does not mean the Bible is like a jigsaw puzzle that guarantees all the pieces have been provided. It is rather more like a jigsaw puzzle whose Maker has guaranteed that all the pieces he has provided belong to the same puzzle, even though for various good reasons he has not given us all of them (Deut. 29:29)
Carson goes on to say:
That means that we will always have gaps as we construct the puzzle; it means that clumsy players will try to force pieces into slots where they do not belong and may be tempted to leave some pieces out because they cannot see where they fit in. So we must beware of those kinds of consistency that wittingly or unwittingly eliminate part of Scriptures' witness, or that force the pieces of the puzzle together with such violence that we construct a warped picture, one without gaps, and fail to see that we have denied the existence of secret things. God himself becomes domesticated, neat, controllable
I love what Carson says here, because he makes:
1. God bigger, by saying He has not completely revealed all of Himself to us.
2. God personal, by saying He was / is actively involved in revealing Himself to us.
3. Man accountable, by saying that "clumsy players" can misunderstand who God is.
4. Man look to Scripture, by saying they witness God himself.
I have read the Attributes of God recently and reviewed it. I have spent some time looking at God's wrath from that book. I have also looked at His sovereignty from Spurgeon. I love looking at the attributes of God and may come back to the first two above points sometime, but for now I want to look at the last two. These two notes that Carson makes about man are huge in our approach to Scripture. They provide for us 2 major items of caution in that approach.
1. An approach to Scripture without a proper Biblical hermeneutic will make us "clumsy" in our approach to the Lord of the universe.
2. God should never be put in the box of what I can (or want to) understand.
So now we have to figure something out. How do we study Scripture in an unclumsy manner AND allow room for missing pieces? I don't think this can be answered in one review. So I put together a series of posts on my blog. Go to http://www.kellso.com and look for the Jigsaw Puzzle from God series on the right hand side if you're interested in more.
GREAT book! Every follower of Christ should read & HEED. October 26, 2008
This book will immediately convict you about your current prayer life, then re-shape your approach to prayer & your priorities in your prayers.
Praying more like the Apostle Paul October 6, 2008
D.A. Carson argues that the one thing that demands priority in the attention of the Western church is "a deeper knowledge of God."
Such a quest may sound both ambitious and obvious.
But though A Call to Spiritual Reformation is not difficult to read, it is not simplistic in its instruction, either. And while its focus is necessarily limited, what it aims to do -- guide us toward biblically oriented prayer -- it does well.
The bulk of the book thoughtfully examines several of the Apostle Paul's petitions in Romans, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.
Carson gently and repeatedly coaches his readers to pray more for the kinds of things that Paul prayed for (and perhaps less for the kinds of things we Christians often tend to pray for).
I found this book to be theologically stimulating, sometimes convicting, and always spiritually encouraging. Here is a discerning theologian who writes with a compassionate pastor's heart.
Biblical and so therefore Reforming July 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One would think that if something was important to God and he required his people to do it then he would provide adequate instruction as to how to accomplish it. Right? Why is it then that prayer is often the most over complicated and administered while also being the most neglected Christian practice?
There are myriads of possible answers to this question and instead of trying to answer them, D.A. Carson has chosen to write a most helpful and instructive book dealing with how to pray.
A Call to Spiritual Reformation is a book that walks through each of the Apostle Paul's prayers in the New Testament. Carson provides the careful, clear and thorough biblical treatment that we have come to accept and appreciate from him, while at the same time he provides intensely practical (and convicting!) habits from his own prayer life to serve as an example.
One of the great lessons that this book teaches is the priority of praying biblically. Carson shows throughout the need to calibrate our hearts and our requests with the types of petitions outlined in Scripture. This is to include petitions, thanksgiving, laments, etc.
In so far as this book is biblical it is reforming, therefore it is among the `must reads' for Christians. Don't let the weightiness of Dr Carson's other books intimidate you, this book is easily understood and tremendously practical.
 Dr. Don doesn't find the need to cast his cares upon Christ. January 17, 2008
0 out of 11 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2M0SAS3KXL7J1 Unlike Dr. Carson I would encourage you to make your prayers personal and pray for more than "the success of the gospel". Here are three books to help you do that:
The Prayer of Jabez, 5th Anniversary Edition: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life (Breakthrough Series)
The Master's Healing Presence Bible (Bible Av)
The Complete Personalized Promise Bible: Every Promise in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Written Just for You (Personalized Promise Bible) (Personalized Promise Bible)
Since Dr. Carson devotes a significant portion of this book--about prayer nonetheless--to the topic of hell and eternal conscious torment I will recommend another book for further study in agreement with him:
Eternal Christianity (Cronfel)
Since Dr. Carson's book is also commendably throughly Calvnistic I will take advantage of this oppurtunity to promote the Reformation with him:
Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume Set)
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