Slice of Laodicea

I received a book this week in an inauspicious brown envelope that I actually almost threw out by mistake. Inside was a book that knocked me into my chair and kept me there for considerable time. Here is what the accompanying press release said:

Bold New Book Beckons to the Days of Godly Obedience

For those willing to listen to a voice echoing from the ancient past, retired pastor Arnold Frank’s new book, The Fear of God—A Forgotten Doctrine, (Nordskog Publishing, 2007), teaches about a principle so vital that it could revolutionize modern day Christians and churches across America.

In The Fear of God, Frank sets out to revitalize a doctrine that in times past—from the biblical era to the founding of America—both empowered and emboldened Christians to lead lives that distinguished them among their peers as godly, meaningful and productive.

Today’s churches ” are marked by irreverence, immorality, and hypocrisy,” says Joseph Pipa, Jr., resident professor of historical and systematic theological at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in the foreword tp Frank’s book. “When Christians are ignorant of the fear of God, they fail to live their lives Coram Deo, aware of the presence of God to whom they must give an answer.”

The result of a lack of godly fear and reverence is a foolish life, Frank says, hearkening to the words of Proverbs that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”

The press release goes on to summarize the contents of the book. I want to say a word about the author. Arnold L. Frank is one of the gray heads before which we should rise up in respect and to whom we should listen. Why? He is found in biblical wisdom. He is a retired teaching elder in the PCA, married for 56 years and continues his speaking and teaching schedule even in retirement. His book is filled with biblical wisdom, and it contains a call that needs to be heeded by young evangelicals who have grown up, as I did, in a religious atmosphere of casual treatment of the Lord, and a constant desecrating of holy things in the name of relevance. When I write on this site about churches that feature Michael Jackson Thriller dances or Elvis impersonators, this is exactly what I’m talking about.

I fully intend, the Lord willing, to promote this book through the Crosstalk program, because it explains the root cause of the foolishness we see in churches today. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Not the right kind of fear. (His book explains in detail the various kinds of fear, both the correct fear and the incorrect fear of the Lord.) If you want to cut through a thousand sociological explanations for the train wreck of modern evangelicalism, you can get right to the heart of it all with this book.

I want to publicly thank Pastor Arnold Frank for his work. It is refreshing to hear such a clear voice of biblical sanity in the midst of doctrinal anarchy today. The opening line of the press release says it all: “For those willing to listen to a voice echoing from the ancient past…” I’m listening, Pastor, I’m listening…

This book can be found here for purchase. I strongly recommend this book. Spread the word.