Andrew T. LePeau

Review: She Teaches Me Still

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Cover image of "She Teaches Me Still" by Andrew T. Le Peau

She Teaches Me Still

She Teaches Me Still, Andrew T. Le Peau. Fill Us Publishing (ISBN: 9798993671819) 2026.

Summary: A memoir, by her husband of 47 years, of Phyllis Strong Le Peau, a nurse, campus minister, writer, and church leader.

Reading this memoir made me wish I’d known Phyllis Strong Le Peau better during her life. Although we were colleagues in the same collegiate ministry, we worked in different areas on different teams and only occasionally crossed paths. But two things I can say about her that come up over and over in this biography was that she lit up any room she entered. And while joyous and fun, she was a person of great depth evident in her probing Bible studies and care for people.

In some ways, her generous and welcoming spirit belies her roots. She grew up in a separatist fundamentalist church in a suburb of East St. Louis. But her life was rooted in an intact family with parents who loved her, and while steeped in the Bible. she was able to recognize the central focus on God’s redemptive grace. Thus, she extended that grace in welcome to all she met.

Le Peau traces her educational journey after high school through nursing school, her work as an ER and pediatric nurse, and her work with Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF). She always engaged with ministry with peers and patients. Working in an interdenominational ministry, she began to question the separatism of her youth. That work also brought her into contact with her future husband. NCF was a division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. As it turned out, Andy worked with InterVarsity on the same team as she. He traces their courtship from a 1974 “not-a-date” lunch to a September 1975 wedding.

Marrying Andy meant another big change for Phyllis. During their engagement, Andy accepted an editorial position and InterVarsity Press in the Chicago area. Phyllis returned to nursing. Following chapters chronicle the growth of their family (she was several years older than Andy and so they did not wait long), successive moves to three houses on the same street, and Phyllis’s first study guide–one on Habakkuk I used with a number of groups!

An invitation to spend a summer vacation in Michigan with friends led to the next adventure of their lives. They quickly fell in love with their cottage on the lake in Fremont. This included Phyllis’s struggle to water ski! Then they learned that the owners were selling. They wondered about buying it. Phyllis’s “Andy let’s do it” settled matters. It meant a lot of work, but created a place of welcome for family, friends and other renters.

Opening themselves to hospitality was just something Phyllis did. Andy was an opposite in many ways but he joined her in turning homes and cottages into welcoming places. This part of the book included stories of the ways she was “crazy fun.” All of this was a manifestation of an infectious love for people–family, students, coworkers, people in their church. In her later years, Phyllis returned to InterVarsity as a staff director and then as an evangelism influencer, working with many younger colleagues.

Retirement led to a new season of influence, working with a national ethnic reconciliation effort in her denomination, until a slow growing lung cancer suddenly exploded in 2021. One of the most moving moments in the book was her passing, when Andy told her “it’s okay for you to go be with Jesus.” The final chapter, “Remembering” looks back over their years and all the ways “she teaches me still.”

Andy Le Peau is a gifted writer, but I can’t imagine writing the memoir of one’s wife. Yet I think he succeeds in a way that offers an honest tribute to a remarkable woman. He doesn’t pass over foibles but handles them lightly. The person he portrays is one in the grip of God’s grace, extending his care to all she met. I mentioned at the beginning that I wish I’d known Phyllis better in life. Thanks to this memoir, I think I do now and she also teaches me.

Review: John Through Old Testament Eyes

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John Through Old Testament Eyes, Karen H. Jobes, series editor Andrew T. LePeau. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2023.

Summary: A commentary focused on the Old Testament backgrounds of “history, images, metaphors, and symbols” found in John’s gospel, along with applicatory reflections.

This is the third commentary published in this series from Kregel and I have found them uniformly to be of exceptional quality. Each book in the series provides a running commentary on the New Testament texts providing relevant Old Testament background and specific O.T. references. Three types of insets are also offered: “Through Old Testament Eyes” offering chapter or section overviews noting Old Testament themes and motifs; “What the Structure Means” which notes the structure of passages and how the authors convey meaning through the passage structure; and “Going Deeper” which explores both implications of the text for early readers but also contemporary applications. One overall observation: using a lighter shade of grayscale for these insets would enhance readability.

Jobes breaks John into four parts: Prologue (1:1-18), Book of Signs (1:19-12:50). Book of Glory (13-20), and Epilogue (21). She affirms the purpose of the gospel stated in John 20:30-31 and shows how this gospel reveals him as the long awaited Messiah and the Son of God Incarnate. She provides a helpful discussion of authorship and the relation of John to :the beloved disciple.

Jobes highlights the echoes of the creation account, the theme of light, and the backgrounds of the rejection of Jesus in the Prologue. She offers helpful background on John’s use of “signs” and the seven signs that make up the Book of Signs. In John 3, Jobes proposes on the basis of OT backgrounds that “water and Spirit” together refer to God’s restoration of right relation as a single concept, not two separate things, Her treatment of Jesus sheliach or “sent one” emphasizes his plenipotentiary power of speaking for God.

Throughout she shows the importance of the Feasts as signifiers of his ministry, particularly the Passover, which he would fulfill on the cross. She shows how the extended debates of John 5-10 laid the groundwork for his execution. In John 9 she develops the theme of Jesus as both the light by which men see and the division between those receiving light and life versus spiritual blindness and death. John 10 reveals Jesus as the good shepherd king of Messianic expectation. She helps us see how the resuscitation of Lazarus and the anointing of Jesus are a pivot into the passion narrative of John.

Her coverage of the upper room discourses focus on the call of the disciples to love, serve, and abide, and what the hope of a “place prepared for them” means. I appreciated the very helpful material on the gift of the Spirit as well as the concise explanation of the filioque controversy as it relates to these verses. Finally, she shows Jesus consciousness of how he would reveal God’s glory in the cross and how the disciples would glorify him as they believe and obey. Her Going Deeper on The Resurrection as New Creation is a must read! Finally, in the Epilogue she deals with both the restoration of Peter and speculates on possible tensions between Peter and John reflected in Peter’s “what about him?”

I hope this sampling of insights demonstrates the usefulness of this commentary for both personal study and for teaching and preaching. Jobes offers both granular detail in the running commentary and larger perspective on how particular sections fit into the overall book and its themes. I’m delighted to add John to the volumes on Mark (review) and Revelation (review) already in my library!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: Revelation Through Old Testament Eyes

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Revelation Through Old Testament Eyes (A Background and Application Commentary) Tremper Longman III, series editor Andrew T. LePeau. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2022.

Summary: A running commentary of the book of Revelation that focuses on the Old Testament background running through the book, along with material that goes deeper on the Old Testament material relating to different themes and the structure of the book as well as its contemporary application.

There is a school of thought that tries to read the book of Revelation and relate it to the events of the present day, a trend I’ve observed for fifty years, requiring many revisions in interpretation. This commentary, part of the “Through Old Testament Eyes” series, looks back, providing a running commentary of the Old Testament texts to which many of images and metaphors allude or draw upon. There is probably no New Testament book where this kind of commentary is more necessary, and Tremper Longman III admirably fills this need.

First of all, Longman offers a running, verse-by-verse commentary, offering Old Testament background on references in the text. The commentary is scholarly but not technical, accessible for a lay reader. Just one example, from “Look, he is coming with the clouds” (Revelation 1:7). Longman recalls the ancient Near East background of cloud riding deities, particularly storm clouds, which he believes in view here (cf. Psalm 18:9; 104:3). He cites the prophesy of Isaiah against Egypt in Isaiah 19:1-2 of God coming against them on a swift cloud, and similarly toward Nineveh in Nahum 1:3. He then focuses attention on the vision recorded in Daniel 7:13, where we have God both as Ancient of Days and coming “like a son of man” on the clouds.

These commentaries also incorporate sections called “Through Old Testament Eyes,” stepping back from the text. Following the above commentary, Longman offers an extended discussion of Daniel, as the other instance of extended apocalyptic writing in scripture. He observes that parallels in both where present evil will be overcome with God’s final victory. Where Revelation differs is that it reflects the already and not yet experience of the church having witnessed the resurrection of the son of God yet awaiting his final victory.

There are a number of “What the Structure Means” articles throughout the text as well. One of the most helpful was his discussion on the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, noting Bauckham’s observation that “the seventh-seal opening includes the seven trumpets and the seventh trumpet includes the seven bowls.” He argues that they are not sequential, but spiraling cycles moving toward the end. He notes the interludes and the significance of the seventh in each series–silence followed by earthquakes and lightning after the seventh seal, a vision of the heavenly temple and the ark along with more lightning, thunder, and earthquakes, and after the seventh bowl all of these with a severe earthquake.

Finally the commentary offers “Going Deeper” sections connection the commentary to application. For example, on “Perseverance of the Church: Revelation 11” focuses on the faithful testimony of the two witnesses who represent the church. They are killed by the beast from the Abyss but raised by God to heaven. Later, the pregnant woman, also representing the church is pursued by Satan but twice escapes harm. Finally, in Revelation 19, we have the vision of the wedding supper of the Lamb after the fall of Babylon (Rome). Longman notes how the churches to which John wrote faced persecution, and these words have encouraged the church whenever she has faced oppression, marginalization, and adversity.

One comes away from studying this commentary aware afresh of the seamless garment that is scripture. The Old Testament illumines so much of Revelation, furnishing the stock of metaphors John draws upon in relating his visions, while uniquely expanding upon them. Rather than getting caught up in prophecy chart, Longman invites us to get caught up in the Lamb who was worthy, the victory of God, the defeat of evil, and the enduring hope this offers the people of God of John’s day and throughout the ages down to our own.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength.

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Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength. Expanded edition. Andrew T. LePeau & Linda Doll, edited by Al Hsu. Foreword by Jeff Crosby and Robert A. Fryling. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2022.

Summary: A narrative history of this evangelical publishing house, a division of a campus ministry, upon the publishing house’s seventy-fifth anniversary.

I was a high school junior, eager to grow in and share my faith due to the influence of the local version of the Jesus Movement upon my life. One of our leaders, a former InterVarsity student leader, invited a group of us to his home and showed us a table full of books and invited us to buy (very cheaply) anything that interested us. I chose Know Why You Believe by Paul Little and read it from cover to cover as it spoke to the questions both I and the people I shared Christ with were asking. That was my first exposure to the quality publications of InterVarsity Press, over fifty years ago. In later years, my son started asking the same questions and I took him out for Saturday breakfasts to discuss the book–and lots of other things.

It was an utter delight to read this history of InterVarsity Press. I should mention at the outset that I’m hardly an impartial reviewer. I work for the campus ministry of which InterVarsity Press is a part. I’ve had the privilege to know many of the people in this book, both living and with the Lord, and count some as friends. I’ve lived through a number of the organizational events mentioned in the book. I’ve even been a guest at a couple of the sites that the Press called home. And of course, I’ve read most of the books mentioned here, using many of them in ministry with students as well as being spiritually formed by many of them.

The very beginnings of InterVarsity Press are rooted in collegiate ministry as well as InterVarsity’s connection with InterVarsity Fellowship in the UK. Thoughtful literature was considered an indispensable part of work with students, particularly in the early years where students saw a staff worker maybe once a semester. The UK connection was also important, because the earliest books came from IVF’s publishing and the history notes the continued influence of UK authors from John Stott to J.I. Packer to N.T. Wright on InterVarsity’s publications. These were voices that were evangelical, thoughtful, and articulate–addressing the concerns of students–and as it turned out, a wider audience.

One of the key early moments was the first Bible Study guide published in the US on the Gospel of Mark, written by Jane Hollingsworth. It set an early precedent of women being represented and affirmed, not only in InterVarsity’s field ministry but in its publications. The book tells the story behind many of the publications that established InterVarsity Press as a publisher: the transcription of Paul Little’s lectures on evangelism into How To Give Away Your Faith, the work of editor James Sire with Francis Schaeffer, the connection with John White, a psychologist who wrote The Fight and a lengthy list of other books for IVP, the discovery of Calvin Miller’s The Singer and Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction in the “slush” pile, launching the publishing careers of both authors, and the brief stopover in the UK that led to publication of J. I. Packer’s Knowing God.

The account describes the organizational development of the Press, including the move to its own facilities in Downers Grove–first a house, and later a former auto dealership, and finally the move of the offices to join their warehouse in Westmont, Illinois. We are also introduced to the succession of leaders and editors who gave organizational and editorial leadership: directors Joe Bayley, Jim Nyquist, Linda Doll, Ken DeRuiter, Bob Fryling, Jeff Crosby, and Terumi Nichols, the current president of InterVarsity Press, and editors like Jim Sire, Andy LePeau, Jim Hoover and Dan Reid with academic books, and current editors including Al Hsu, Cindy Bunch, and Jon Boyd. One of the great partnerships at IVP was that of Jim Nyquist and Jim Sire (“the two Jims”). It waa during this time that InterVarsity Press really came into its own and became the resource to thoughtful evangelicals that it continues to be to this day.

The book doesn’t gloss over controversies, perhaps the most significant of which was an early “cancelling” effort by Franky Schaeffer of a book titled Brave New People, which advocated a strongly pro-life stance throughout, but in dealing with the most extreme cases of birth fetal abnormalities (like fetuses without a brain) allowed that these were the only cases where an abortion may even be contemplated. The book was labeled pro-abortion for mooting even this rare possible exception and attacked in various articles, leading to the loss of some InterVarsity donors, picketing at the press, and the withdrawal of the book, causing consternation among other authors, wondering if this could happen if the public didn’t like something in their books. The history explores the particular vulnerability exploited in this instance–the connection between the Press and the donor-supported campus ministry of which it is a part that is not the case with many publishers.

The expanded edition includes coverage of the last twenty-five years of the Press’s work, including a major expansion of its academic publishing, and various new lines like Formatio dealing with spiritual formation and Praxis dealing with issues of practical theology. The history also highlights the huge growth as a publisher of numerous authors who are people of color, of women authors, and the recent launch of a new line of IVP Kids books.

The book has something of the feel of a “family history” and one senses the uproarious fun, the high professional and ethical standards, and sense of mission that have characterized this publishing organization. It gives one a sense of the risks and judgments publishers must assess, and the changes in the marketplace that publishers must nimbly negotiate. For those of us whose lives have been touched by InterVarsity Press books, it is a delight to learn the stories behind the books that have spoken into our lives.

And since I’ve already noted how this is a departure from my usual reviews, I will depart one more time to express to my friends at InterVarsity Press how grateful I am to God for you for the commitment to Christian thought, to publishing authors of color and women, to addressing hard issues and not shrinking from taking positions that not all will embrace. I’ve found J. I. Packer’s assessment, quoted in this book, to be amply true:

“Some publishers tell you what to believe. Other publishers tell you what you already believe. But InterVarsity Press helps you believe.”

Thank you, InterVarsity Press, for helping me know why I believe, and for fifty years of helping me believe more deeply.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: Write Better

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Write Better

Write Better, Andrew T. LePeau. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.

Summary: An experienced writer and editor describes the craft, art, and spirituality of writing well, or at least better.

“Writing is hard work. Writing well is even harder. But there are ways not only to make it easier but better. Having spent my whole career as a writer and editor, I offer a book on craft and character for nonfiction writer” (p. 231).

Andrew T. LePeau uses these words as a model of distilling to an “elevator pitch” what his book is about. This summary characterizes what one will find throughout this work, a skilled writer and editor who shows rather than just tells us how to write better. As a blogger who is also in the midst of a book project, this book was both humbling and a goldmine.

The goldmine is the wealth of practical advice on writing well. LePeau focuses on three aspects: craft, art, and spirituality. Craft focuses on titles, openings, closings, and everything that comes in between. He proposes when we open that we start writing, and then go back and throw out the first three paragraphs, by which time we’ve figured out what to say! He talks about structure while proposing that we scrap outlines because we often don’t know what we want to say until we start saying it. He discusses persuasion, and how to do this with integrity. He emphasizes the importance of story in writing dramatic non-fiction. He offers advice for overcoming writers block. He would affirm that “[t]here’s no such thing as good writing. “There’s only good rewriting.” Then he shows us how to do it.

LePeau begins his discussion of the art of writing with a chapter on creativity that offers the hope that all of us can grow in our creativity. Other chapters argue that all the rules of good writing are made to be broken–especially when breaking them results in clearer and more gripping writing, that tone, the key to powerful prose, is the writer’s attitude toward what they are writing–what the writer thinks and feels, and that we are wired for metaphor. Most of all, he contends that less is more. This last offers the 700 words of Lincoln’s second inaugural address, perhaps among the greatest, as an example of this principle.

The final part of the book treats something you might not expect in a book on writing well. LePeau talks about the spirituality of writing, beginning with one’s sense of calling. He recounts his answer to his daughter’s question, “Dad, what’s your calling?” He responded, “I think it is to glorify God with words, whether written or spoken.” He offers five rubrics for discerning calling, illustrating from his own life how these worked out. The quest for “voice” is de-mystified. All writing is biography in the sense that it expresses what we’ve learned, and experienced and we do well to be self-aware, if not self-conscious about that. He writes about our struggle to let our work go into the world, and how we deal with the responses of others to that work.

The book concludes with practical appendices on platforms, editors and agents, co-authoring, self-publishing, and copyright, including how ownership and proceeds of our work is to be handled should we die (it might be time to get that will revised!).

I mentioned that the book is humbling. I found myself holding my own writing up to LePeau’s descriptions and realized how much work I have to do to “write better.” That didn’t discourage me. He offers alternatives and options I (and probably many other writers) haven’t thought of. He showed me how much better rewriting can be and the benefits of editors, agents, and external readers who help us see the flaws we are blind to in our own writing. He suggests both that it is not crazy to sense one is called to write, and yet not to take oneself too seriously. He gives this down to earth advice:

“Second, some people ask themselves, ‘Am I a writer?’ I don’t think this is a very helpful question because it implies we must have some degree of innate talent to earn the title–and if we don’t have that inborn ability, we should just do something else. My feeling is that if you write, you’re a writer. If you work hard to improve your craft and to communicate clearly to others, you’re a writer. And if others read what you write, let them decide what they think about it and you” (pp. 177-178).

Writing for others not only is hard but uncovers all the insecurities within us. LePeau’s advice here, and throughout the book, is characterized by the unpretentious common sense that calms fears, and offers the coaching that helps the writer lean into the hard work that turns ideas into books. Now, to get back to that book project….

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Thanks, InterVarsity Press, for the chance to read a galley copy of this forthcoming book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Mark Through Old Testament Eyes

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Mark Through Old Testament Eyes, Andrew T. LePeau. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2017

Summary: The first in a series of commentaries looking at the Old Testament background of the New Testament text, with attention to the meaning of structural elements in the text, and the practical implications of the text for Christians and churches.

There are a myriad of commentary series on the market today. Of course there are scholarly exegetical commentaries that work up from the original languages and extant texts to give the best reading of a passage, popular commentaries that distill this information with more emphasis on contemporary relevance, and more recently, commentaries that collect the commentary of the church fathers or writers in a particular church tradition. This commentary, the first of a series focused on the New Testament corpus, explores how the Old Testament, which was the Bible of the New Testament writers, deeply informs their thought, not only where Old Testament material is quoted but also as background to much of its content.

The commentary is organized around four repeating features:

  • Running commentary, that offers Old Testament background and other key information for each paragraph, if not each verse. Working through LePeau’s commentary made the case for the idea of this series. Nearly every verse, and certainly every pericope in Mark is informed by Old Testament backgrounds. In the opening verses of Mark 1, for example, the commentary explores terms like “beginning,” “good news,” “Jesus,” “Messiah,” “Son of God,” “wilderness,” and “baptism of repentance.” And that is just the first four verses!
  • Through Old Testament Eyes, which are summaries at the end of chapters or sections looking at how Old Testament themes are used by the author. At the end of the commentary on Mark 1, the commentary notes how the first chapter draws on the themes of exodus, and sets up how the ministry of Jesus will parallel this in a new exodus narrative.
  • What the Structure Means looks at how the material in the text is organized by the author through things like chiasmus and parallel structures, and how this points to textual meaning. Throughout the book, LePeau looks at the ways Mark structures the narrative, using many tables to do so. One of the most informative sections is the “What the Structure Means: Outline of Mark 13” taking this difficult to understand apocalyptic passage, and proposing an A-B-A-B structure to the passage that makes sense of the whole, alternating passages focused on the temple with passages focused on the coming of the Son of Man.
  • Going Deeper sections unpack the implications of key themes in passages. For example, “Going Deeper into Choosing Life: Mark 3:1-6” explores how this involves both what we refrain from (the prohibitions of the ten commandments, which LePeau calls “ten paths to freedom and life”) and what we proactively embrace that brings life to others, just as Jesus brings healing that liberates on the Sabbath.

The commentary is accessible and organized to be helpful for all who preach or teach the gospel of Mark. No background in original languages is assumed. One of the features I found most helpful, in addition to the extensive Old Testament background are the various tables included throughout the text that offer ideas as to the structure of larger portions of Mark. So often, Bible study is simply one verse after another without attention to the larger framework of a passage or book. At the end of the commentary, lists of “tables,” “through Old Testament Eyes,” and “Going Deeper” discussions are provided. For teachers of this material, it might be a great resource to provide web-based versions of the tables with appropriate permission granted for their use for educational purposes.

It was fascinating to note another “background” for much of the material in this book, one I share. The author, formerly an associate editor at InterVarsity Press, part of the collegiate ministry with which I work, acknowledges his debt to the work of Paul Byer and the tradition of “Mark manuscript Bible study” used in our discipleship efforts for many of the insights (and even some of the tables) in the book. LePeau has made a signal contribution to that tradition in this volume, which I hope many of my colleagues, as well as many others, will use in preparing studies in Mark. And as series editor, LePeau has set the bar high for future volumes in this series, which I hope will bring a deeper appreciation to many throughout the church of the Old Testament background of the New Testament scriptures.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.