Pastor Treick, with pastoral emphasis, has given us a spiritual oasis on many relevant and gut-wrenching issues that will broaden our spiritual life in our present evil world. In so doing, my good friend of 55 years shows how the old and relevant Reformed faith is applicable to our culture and personal daily life. His apt, and sometimes delightful, metaphors and illustrations get your attention and explain what he wants us to know and do. You always get the point. His story telling, from “Rooster Church” to “Caligula’s Ear,” not only amuses but also shows his meaning and point with a bit of humor. Paul’s dedication to explaining the unalterable, unchanging, infallible, and inerrant Word of God is obvious on every page. He loves his Bible. Our writer does not have the “scribble” of some recent daily-devotional essays. As a good preacher and teacher, he has the sound theology of Reformed creedal declarations. Pastor Treick knows and understands our culture, from “Hate Crimes” to “Global Cooling” to “What is Your Life?” Paul influences our mind set and our personal prayer life.
Let me present a few of his 134 “Reflections” as examples of his integrated world-life view, with examples of ordinary life we encounter in our daily pilgrimage. He begins with “There Is a God,” (pp. 3-4), and ends with “Glory to God,” (pp. 339-341). Our pastor’s well-ordered outline contains sections on “Standing before God,” “Christian Maturity,” “Thanksgiving,” “Christmas,” “The New Year,” “Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Christ,” “The Church,” “Reformation,” and “Issues in Our Society.”
Rev. Treick and I attended the acknowledged premier graduate school, Westminster Theological Seminary, in Philadelphia, PA. There we were tutored by C. Van Til, E.J. Young, and J. Murray. Their influence on Paul is clearly seen in the first chapter, especially the apologetics of C. Van Til. “There Is a God” shows why atheists are fools, from Psalm 14:1 and Romans 1:18-20. Man’s soul (his intellect, emotion, will, and self-consciousness) proclaims God’s existence. Man suppresses that inherent knowledge and gives himself a substitute in animals, images, and even himself. When the suppressing person looks through the James Webb telescope and sees the design and vastness of the dark matter of the universe or when he looks through the strongest microscope and sees tiny machine-like creatures holding the universe together, he is without excuse as he changes that natural revelation into a lie. The natural man runs from God and puts a new face on reality. We cry out, “Atheist, take off your mask and see the Creator God and believe in Jesus, and you will be saved from your wicked Godless theory!” I know. That is what happened to my atheism when in a spiritual foxhole.
In the chapter “Cudda, Shudda, Wudda” (pp. 69-70) our author says mankind believes “I could have,” “I should have,” “I would have” mentality along with “but,” “if,” “except.”
These are all devices to get forgiveness for mistakes, failures, and sin. Paul writes, “Sometimes we satisfy people with these excuses … However, they will never satisfy God. There is ‘no excuse for sin, but there is pardon’… More than just forgiving past sins and removing them forever, He has imputed to us the perfect righteousness of Christ. Then also, He gave us His Holy Spirit.” The Spirit of God gives us the ability to die to sin and live a life conformable to Christ’s teaching (Col. 3:1-11). First John 1:8-10 tells us to acknowledge our sin, be sorry for it, confess it, and change our lifestyle.
Our able Bible tactician, in the chapter on “Hate Crimes,” understands our present battlefield with our contemporary anti-Christian federal government’s legislations that thought-polices Christians. Our current society wants the Church to shut up when it comes to morals and the good way to the good life found in the Ten Commandments. Churches in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, and elsewhere are feeling the pressure of being suppressed for preaching against homosexuality and gender identity. Paul points out that we are to love folks when they fall into sin, and the best way to love them is to call them to repentance―to acknowledge, to sorrow, and to turn from sin. I would also note that 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “such were some of you … but you are sanctified,” that is, homosexuals were forgiven and changed their lifestyle.
The Church and its ministry speak to the state and its hate-crime presentation, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). Our teacher ends this section with this suggestion: “We would do well to pray for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel, even as the disciples prayed, ‘Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,’” (Acts 4:29).
My friend’s last chapter is “Glory to God.” Are we self-conscious in all we do to glorify God? Pastor Treick illustrates this very well. We should honor the purposes of God by considering how He saves His people by doing His will, by acting as temples, by believing His doctrinal teaching, by worshiping and praying to Him and by looking for the day when He will honor us with full redemption. “It must be our highest aim in life is to honor and magnify the name of our God. God has given us a new nature for this purpose” (Eph. 2:10; 4:24). This is not just a once-in-a-while but in everything we do and think. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31).
I would recommend folks should independently read and profit from this fine work. It would be beneficial for its use with group Bible studies in the Church and in homes. One pastor in the RCUS has distributed this book to members of his congregation. Good idea!
Rev. Howard E. Hart
Corsica, SD