By Adam Clarke
The Power of Words and the Wonder of God 
This edited work by John Piper and Justin Taylor is a must read for any church leader.
There are seven other contributors to this work and it does just as the title suggests - it informs us that words are powerful and they can be used or abused. I never fully understood how much of an influence my voice had until I started to lead and minister to youth, and this was a wonderful example of how to best use this influence in my ministry.
The first entry is about actively making decisions that put your heart in the right place, so that your words speak truth. Therefore your words correctly represent your heart. Our greatest danger, as Paul David Tripp points out, is not when we speak about the outside influences in your life, but when we allow those outside influence fill your heart. (read more below)
The theme of heart health carries into an exposition of James 3:1-12 by Sinclair B.
Ferguson. The learning point in James would be that “tongue mastery is the fruit of selfmastery.” For Ferguson, the dilemma we will face if we donʼt tame our hearts is that our
tongues will allow everyone to notice our false intentions. This problem will ultimately
trickle down into our ministries, causing them to flounder beneath our sometimes
unknowing eyes.
John Piper provided, for me, the most intriguing piece as he addressed the problem of
eloquence in Christian prose, and within the Biblical Narrative. Paul would experience
this problem in Corinth and speak out against the Sophists, as eloquence was their tool
of clever deceit. But as Piper points out, there is room for Christian eloquence in writing
and speech as it engages emotionally, and reflects the beauty and greatness of God.
Mark Driscol provides the reader with a cutting edge approach to dealing with the
“sheep, wolves, swine and dogs” that dwell within the church. Christ and others
addressed these different individuals with a passion and an anger that isnʼt addressed
today.
Are we too afraid of conflict to save the sweep from those that seek to lure them away?
He suggests that true gospel will separate people into repentant and non-repentant,
instead of the typically and more usually present “righteous or not.” Driscol surprised me
in his writing, and his passion for truth within the church is very apparent in his very
pointed approach to his texts.
Story Shaped Faith, by Daniel Taylor, was the reason I picked the book up, and it
provided a new approach to teaching for me. Quite simply: Move away from teaching
only the propositions of the Bible (God is powerful, Jesus did rise on the third day, etc.)
and place them into the larger context of the story. The propositions are great as they
provide the stories with historicity, but when left by itself, it teaches a faith that is based
only on facts and not experiences. The story teaches the proposition.
Joshua 4 tells us that God is powerful - how?
Earlier in the story, the God shows His power by providing a path that is free and clear
of water. The proposition or fact is placed within the larger story and allows us to
connect to the broader meta-narrative of Godʼs restorative plan.
Singing is important to God, but many times it will divide a congregation. Bob Kauflin
suggests that singing helps us to remember phrases and connects emotionally with
words, as well as helping us express unity among us. The question becomes: Are we
allowing generational differences to divide us before we allow the words of Jesus to
unite us?
This book is all about the power of words. Words that will unite us in solid teaching,
solid living, and allow us to be the solid influences that our youth need and expect. Pick
up a copy of this book and read it constantly, so we remember how much of an impact
our words and heart have in our relationships.
