Website of Dr. John K. LaShell
|
Brief Essays |
In December 2017, after
forty-seven years in ministry I retired from serving Grace Community Church in
Allentown (where I had been for twenty-three years). This allows me to pursue
additional writing and speaking opportunities. I would love to speak at your
church or retreat.
Books
For a further description of individual books, click on the links below. All books are available on Amazon, but you can purchase them from me, usually for less. Contact me at jklashell@gmail.com or jklashell@Godisbeautiful.com.
The Beauty of God for a Broken World:
Reflections on the Goodness of the
God of the Bible
(2010)
You may be hostile to the God of the Bible. Maybe the
church and its representatives have done you great harm. You may be overwhelmed
by the suffering of the world and resentful of a God who claims to be in charge
of the mess. Or you may be a dutiful Christian whose faith has become dry and
stale. You are going through the motions, but your heart is not engaged. Do you
have doubts and questions you hesitate to voice? In this book, I draw on
insights from Jonathan Edwards's to explain God's attractiveness. I write for
two kinds of readers: those who suspect God is unlovely, and those who want to
love Him more. Whether you think of yourself as an ex-Christian, an interested,
thoughtful outsider to the Christian faith or a struggling believer, The Beauty of God will challenge you to
think and hope again.
Limping
Christians:
Help
for Those Who Hobble along the Path of Life (2014)
Hebrews
12 exhorts us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
but that same chapter describes us as lame. How can a 
lame person run if
the best he can do is limp? This book is designed to encourage believers when
they are distressed and disappointed in themselves. They wonder how God could ever
love and accept them when their faith is so small and their failings so large.
Probably all of us fit into that category at times. Clear Bible exposition is
coupled with striking parables that illustrate biblical principles.
Practical Bible Doctrine
How to Live out What You Believe (2017)
I
have observed a lamentable tendency to divorce biblical doctrine from Christian
practice. The major doctrines of the Bible are not dry, dusty subjects. They
are intensely practical truths. Good doctrine is meant to be lived. You may
have good doctrine in your head and live poorly, but you cannot live well
without good doctrine in your heart. Practicing what we believe is the theme of
this short book. Each chapter begins with a brief statement of a major
Christian doctrine. Then relevant passages are provided and explained along
with questions to enable the student to apply the doctrine to daily life.
The Earth Two Adventures
I wrote this
fantasy series several years ago to read aloud to grade-school children. I was
teaching them during our Wednesday Family Night program, so I read one chapter
a week. Over the years, those children (even after they became adults) have
urged me to have them printed. The stories (in four volumes) follow the adventures of three children who
accidentally discover a doorway into Earth
Two. Earth-Two is a parallel
world created by God to preserve the Mother of all Languages that God gave to
Adam and Eve. This language was intended to enable our first parents to rule
the animals and subdue the earth, but like all good gifts this language can
also be used for evil, as the children discover to their peril.
Imaginary
Ideas of Christ:
A
Scottish-American Debate
This is my PhD dissertation
done under Dr. Samuel T. Logan, Jr. at Westminster Theological Seminary in 1985.
It examines the controversy over mental images of Christ that erupted during
the Great Awakening of the 1740s. The study explores mental idolatry and the
appropriate use of vivid images in preaching—both essential topics for
today. Key figures in the study include Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Erskine, and
James Robe. Although the opening chapters are suitable for a general audience,
the bulk of the book is written at a more academic level.
In His Own Words
The Testimony of Jesus Regarding Himself
In
1966 my university professor claimed, “Jesus never said He was the Son of
God.” Five decades later a young lady came to me with the same line from
her professor. In between those two events, I earned a BA from Moody Bible
Institute, an MA from Talbot Seminary, a PhD from Westminster Seminary, taught
humanities for seven years, and served as pastor for four churches. None of
that is necessary to show that her professor and mine were wrong. Any alert
reader of the New Testament should be able to do it.
Religion
professors are sometimes blinded by their own presuppositions, which go
something like this: We don’t
believe miracles are possible; we don’t believe Jesus was God; a first-century
Jewish peasant would certainly not claim to be divine. Therefore, Jesus did not
say He was the Son of God.
My
contention in this book is that Jesus deserves to be heard in His own words.
The early church did not invent the idea that Jesus is God’s Son. Jesus
clearly taught it to those who had ears to hear.