Hi, my name is Terence, and I’m your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. And this is a special episode, the Year End Reflection for 2024.

In this episode, I look back at the books I read and reviewed and having gained some distance I can tell you which books made the biggest impact on me.

I didn’t review many books in 2024. In January and February, I only reviewed four books. Then, I had a six-month book review hiatus because I was helping my church because our pastor took a much-deserved sabbatical. I returned in September, and from September until December, I reviewed eight books. So, 12 books in total for 2024.

Jesus and the Land by Gary Burge

2024 started with a free book from Logos that was unfortunately pretty timely: “Jesus and the Land: The New Testament Challenge to ‘Holy Land’ Theology” by Gary M. Burge. The Israel-Gaza was a full-scale war, and the church was heated up. Loyalty to Christ seems to be equivalent to loyalty to the Israel state. Devout pastors and church members almost seem to make a pledge of allegiance to Israel based on supposedly crystal clear Bible passages.

So Gary Burge’s book is a good counterweight to the overly pro-Israel push. Burge has been accused of being overly pro-Palestinian. I don’t know his politics, and I don’t know the extent of his activism. Based solely on the book, he raises good points that every thinking Christian needs to consider.

For example, Jesus never fought for the land. He never talked about ousting the Roman occupiers out of Israel when it would be the obvious Messianic thing to do.

After the Resurrection, the disciples never mobilised support for a New Jerusalem. Or, to be more accurate, the New Jerusalem they envisioned would only be ushered in on the Day of the Lord when the Lord Jesus returns.

As I critiqued in my review, Burge doesn’t deal enough with opponents who draw upon Old Testament passages. Maybe it’s because he is a New Testament scholar. Maybe it’s because he is constrained by the publisher’s page count. Maybe he doesn’t think it’s necessary since the New Testament is the interpretative key to the Old Testament.

Yet, what he has in this book is sufficient for readers to be wary of pro-Israel and anti-Israel propaganda. Both are actively recruiting supporters to win public opinion.

I know that after reading his book, I was even more careful with the news.

I learnt to peek behind the curtain of propaganda. Actually, that’s not a good metaphor. It’s not behind the curtain that is important; it’s the box seat, the VIP seat, the divine throne. I learnt to look up and to get my cue from my divine master, to cry when Jesus weeps and applaud when he applauds.

And most of all, to not say more, or commit more than I should, since I’m often not in possession of all the facts. It looks like fence sitting which infuriates people but it is not. It is a strong conviction that justice, mercy and righteousness are necessary for all men and to be wise to say less when I know so little.

Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer

The next book is the climax of an ideological journey. For a few years now, I have been following the lunacy of Critical Theories in their various forms. Some of my earliest book reviews are in this space. For a time, all seemed lost to this unstoppable wave.

Then, the book “Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology” by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer emerged. The wall that breaks the wave. The gibbering tide crashes against resolute reason. And the once mighty tide whimpers back to sea.

In particular, this year-end reflection allows me to appreciate that I may not need to read a sequel to Critical Dilemma. With the collapse of the far-left Democratic platform and its authoritarian social experiment, Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer can go on to fight a different cause, write other books because the fight against Critical Theories has been won.

Is it too early to celebrate a victory? Well, I am hopeful that the monster that is Critical Theory would die once and for all. Or would it be like Godzilla, coming back over and over again to terrorise another generation?

Preaching and Preachers by Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones

Now, we come to the most influential book for the year 2024. This should be no surprise since I especially picked this book to celebrate my 100th episode in the podcast.

It is from Preaching and Preachers that I got the title for the podcast Reading and Readers because I wanted a title that would sustain me and remind me of why I do what I do and to remind me of the imperturbability of the man who, when in World War 2, a bombshell landed near the church while he was preaching, paused for a moment then carried on preaching as if nothing happened.

“Preaching and Preachers” by Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones has cast a long ray of light in my life. I picked it up, wanting to be better at preaching, but I didn’t realise I would be captivated by the good doctor; that I would go on to read more of his books or rather his sermons published in book form; that I would read one of the best biographies ever based on this remarkable man’s life. He has proven to be an inspiration in how I approach preaching and not just that but the Gospel and the entire Christian journey.

A.I.

And while I was reflecting on this book’s decades-long influence on my life, I wondered whether the young people of this generation will experience what I experienced. 2024 is also the year of Gen A.I., or to say it in full, Generative Artificial Intelligence.

Let’s imagine a young Christian, a young man 25 years old, who experienced the power of the Gospel and is curious about preaching. That was me so many years ago. But let’s say this happens to someone today. What would he do?

Would he pick up a book?

I think such a man today would just Google. And read an article, perhaps one of those “Ten Tips to Preach with Power” type of articles.

Or he would search YouTube and, being more thoughtful, he would not be satisfied with a 30-second short but would look for a video that was more substantial. Hopefully something between two minutes and five minutes long.

The young man would call out to me and say I am too outdated. Hadn’t I mentioned Gen A.I.? Google and YouTube is too slow. You still need to filter and evaluate from a list of links and a grid of thumbnails; the best way is to just prompt ChatGPT or any of its Large Language Model cousins.

I wonder if a young man today, who wants to be a better preacher, would ever be able to find Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones.

Someone to be a mentor speaking from the past. To tell stories. To share his ups and downs of ministry. To be so convinced of his positions, positions you may come to just as fiercely adopt or embarassingly put away.

Would a young man today prefer to deal with a Christian, alive through his writings, or prefer a digital montage of a database?

Does the database have Christian sources? Probably a sample but no one knows what is in the database.

Have they preached before? Not ChatGPT but some in the unknown sources, presumably yes.

Does it tell me that preaching is the most greatest need of the church and the world? Depends if Martyn Lloyd Jones is in the database, if he ranks highly in the database, and if others found him helpful. Whatever the algorithm thinks is best for you.

I wonder if that young man, 20 years later, when he reflects on his spiritual journey, would he say, “I give thanks to God for ChatGPT, it really sustained me and inspired me to live a life for Christ.”

Don’t laugh. That might happen. If God can use a donkey to rebuke a man, he can use a Large Language Model to inspire another. But what a sterile testimony that would be.

Preaching and Preachers Answers Gen A.I.

In a prophetic way, Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones through Preaching and Preachers has given us a definitive answer to the incoming Gen A.I. wave.

In his time, the latest innovation intruding into the church was the tape recorded sermons. But he saw all too clearly that technology must not replace what happens in true Gospel preaching.

To quote Martyn Lloyd Jones:

It is a fundamental failure to understand the true doctrine of the Christian Church — ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’, the gathering together of the people of God. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst.’

A.I. is not going away. If the experts are right, A.I. will be everywhere, disrupting industries and our way of life. But as we consider the promises or even the threats of A.I., let us reflect, not just the year, but the technogical ages.

The steam engine, the transistor, the Internet. These inventions began the industrial revolution, the computer age, the Internet era, and wow! Life has literally never been the same since.

Except the important things are literally unchanged. None of them has been able to solve the problem of sin and death, nor have they been able to overshadow the amazing grace, the faithful promise and the sure hope we have in Christ.

So as we all enter into the new year 2025, not knowing what the new year will bring — but we never know do we?, what even tomorrow brings — I thank God for the lives and the work of the saints, especially their written works.

Last Sunday, my pastor preached from Psalm 51:10-12 as an appropriate way to end the year. Taking his cue, I would like to close by reading Psalm 51:10-12:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

And sustain us, he must! Happy New Year. Bye bye!