Into the Psalms

Into the Psalms by Rolan Monje

Book Review by Tammy Fleming

In my fifty-plus years of familiarity with the Bible, the book of Psalms is probably the section of Scripture I have read most often. In the last ten years especially, I’ve been delighted to discover new spiritual treasures there. Reading commentaries on the Psalms has opened my eyes to riches I doubt I could ever have found there on my own – such as those by C.S. Lewis, Timothy Keller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and lately, Into the Psalms, by our brother Rolan Monje.

What Monje’s work has contributed to my own spiritual growth has been a deepening understanding of the person of Jesus in the Psalms; and a greater appreciation of experiencing God and knowing God (the Hebrew yada) in praise and worship, even in the depths of ugly emotions like hatred and despair; in Christian (as differentiated from Eastern) meditation, and in the power of our own words that we speak aloud – before God, about God, with God. Excerpts from Ronje’s chapter entitled, “Psalms as Life-Tools,” have become an often-used instrument in my ministry tool-box that I share with a lot of people. Practical, enlightening -- Into the Psalms is well worth the read!

Tammy Fleming has been a women’s minister in the International Churches of Christ for over 30 years. After studying at Cornell University, she pursued a career in music until becoming a Christian in 1985. She married Canadian evangelist Andy Fleming in 1987. Together they have served the churches in Scandinavia, the UK, Los Angeles, and the nations of the former Soviet Union. From 1991-1999, while living in Moscow, Russia, they oversaw the planting of 24 new congregations, the largest of which are Moscow and Kyiv, now with each over 1000 members.As retired empty-nesters, Tammy and her husband reside in Kyiv, Ukraine, near their daughter and her family. They divide their time between volunteering for churches in Eurasia, visiting their adult son in the Seattle church, and supporting Andy’s aging mother in Canada.Tammy serves as chair for the Women’s Service Team and readily admits she has been the least-educated member of the Teachers Service Team. She is an Advanced Grief Recovery Method® specialist. She speaks Russian and Swedish, loves to swim and ski, and takes her travel-sized guitar just about everywhere she can.