Book Log: February 2010

1. John Piper. Finally Alive. 160 pages. Christian Focus Press. One of my favorite books. Piper makes clear what it means to be saved--breaking it down for us to understand. This book gave me a deeper love for the gospel, a greater sense of who God is (and thus, I can worship God more richly), and motivated me for evangelism.

2. Francis Chan. Crazy Love. 192 pages. David C. Cook Press. This was a great book--challenging me in areas of my lukewarmness and giving me a better sense of God's love for me. I really appreciated the online videos that went with the chapters--really worthwhile.

3. D.A. Carson. Call to Spiritual Reformation. 230 pages. Baker Academic Press. Great book on prayer. This helped me to pray richer, fuller, more expectant prayers. I often struggle with what to pray for people. This book showed me how to better use Scripture in praying for others.

4. Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney. Jonathon Edwards on True Christianity. 160 pages. Moody Publishers. Really challenging. These two authors take 18th century preacher Jonathon Edwards sermons and admonish the present-day readers to take his words seriously. This book focused on nominal Christianity--where people claim the name of Jesus, but don't have His fruit in their life.

Book Log: January 2010

Not much this month...

1. Douglas Wilson. Future Men. 199 pages. Canon Press. This book talks about raising young men to become spiritual leaders. A friend suggested I read this book, not because I'm raising sons, but because one of the primary goals of my ministry is to build young men into men of God. This book provoked much thought and I hope to do a study of manhood on the blog for an upcoming month. A good read.

2. Donald Whitney. 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. 112 pages. NavPress. This book systematically asks 10 questions on the state of one's soul. Whitney is an easy writer to follow and he cuts right to the heart with many of his questions. The youth ministry at RBC is using the book on Wednesday nights in the spring semester as we help students grow in their walks with Christ.

Book Log: November 2009

1. Ted Kluck. The Reason for Sports. 256 pages. Moody Press. I like sports. I like Kevin DeYoung (whom Kluck has co-authored two books with). So, I read this book. And I'm still not sure if I liked it. The book really isn't a theology of sports as much as it is a collection of sports/Christian articles. Some of Kluck's thoughts were refreshing, and at times, Kluck had good insights, but the book overall lacked final conclusions.

2. Robert Gundry. Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian. 156 pages. Eerdmans Press. Some of the book was a little over my head, but Gundry had some very practical (and profound) thoughts on what it means to "be in the world but not of the world."

3. Mark Allen Powell. Introduction to the Gospels. 160 pages. Fortress Press. This book was a little bit more left-of-center than I am, but Powell sees some really good themes that run through each gospel book. Good to skim through before studying one of the gospels.

4. Aubrey Malphurs and Keith Willhite. A Contemporary Handbook for Weddings and Funerals. 368 pages. Kregel Press. The book contains dozens of weddings messages and funeral messages. Its a helpful resource for getting some ideas for message preparation.

Book Log: October 2009

I did not finish a non-school book all month. How sad. Here's what I did finish last month:

1. Mark Dever and Paul Alexander. The Deliberate Church. 221 pages. Crossway Press. The only redeeming book of the bunch. Basically a how-to book on how to build your church on the Gospel. There were a lot of good chapters in here that flush out the premise of how the Gospel impacts: selecting elders, church discipline, organizing the worship service, and introducing new members. A really good read.

2. B. J. Worth. Worth's Income Tax Guide for Ministers. 136 pages. Evangel Press. Perhaps the single most boring book I have ever read. Really. 136 pages felt like 3,000 pages. Page after page of over-my-head, difficult to understand, tedious tax laws. But, it is a necessary book. Like if you don't-want-to-go-to-jail-for-tax-violations necessary.

3. Philip Jenkins. Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way. 272 pages. Oxford Press. Not written by an evangelical (I think he's Anglican), but he defends why the four gospels in the New Testament (for those who also aren't evangelical, that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are the only gospels that should be in the Bible. There are all kinds of goofy "books," (read: edited books written by heretics several hundred years after the actual disciples recorded the actual gospel in the actual books we have in our actual Bible) that liberal (read: non-Christian) scholars (read: people smarter than me who will do whatever it takes to convince people Jesus is not God) think should be in the Bible. Jenkins handily disproves these scholarly theories.

4. Marvin Meyer. The Gospel of St. Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus. 144 pages. Harper Press. You've probably heard of it. Its a book written well after all the disciples (and their kids) were dead. And its heresy.

Book Log: September 2009

1. Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. Why We Love the Church. 224 pages. Moody Press. I really enjoy these authors, especially DeYoung, and this book continued to impress. While it is kind of written against the emergent church, it has a lot of reasons to be grateful for your local church. Many people (including many young people) don't value church like they should. It isn't an add-on to your spiritual life and it isn't optional--Jesus died for the church. This book helped me to love the bride of Jesus more.

2 R. Kent Hughes. Disciplines of a Godly Man. 304 pages. Crossway Books. Drew and I went through this book together every Friday morning. I learned from the book, but learned more in talking with Drew about the book. The book goes through several areas men specifically need to grow in: relationships, soul, character, and ministry. Within these areas are several individual disciplines to study and develop. End result: I want to work on the disciplines of prayer, the mind, and the tongue.

3. Craig Blomberg. Jesus and the Gospels. 440 pages. B and H Academic. The next four books on the list I read for school. This was a fairly heady book, covering a broad scope of issues related to the gospel. Blomberg discusses five main areas: (1)a history of the inter-testamental period (between the OT and NT) (2) ways scholars study the gospels (3) an overview of each gospel (4) a summary of the life of Jesus and (5) a synthesis of the major issues surrounding Jesus. Well-written, but mainly a seminary-type book.

4. R. Kent Hughes. Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. 208 pages. Crossway Books. A helpful book about why its important to "do" ministry for God and not for people. It can be easy, when serving in the church, to become discouraged--especially if the number of people attending the church/youth group/Sunday School class is shrinking. Success in ministry, Hughes argues, can't be measured by numerical growth or increasing offering totals. Instead, it is found in faithfulness to God.

5. Jeanine Bozeman. Interpersonal Relationship Skills for Ministers. 253 pages. Pelican Publishing. This book covered multiple areas to help pastors better relate to the people in their congregations. There was a psychology/self-love/you-are-ok slant to the book that I disagreed with, but there were some redeeming moments. Much was covered--from how to be a better listener to proper table manners when eating at someone's house to how to handle difficult people. Some chapters I liked, some I didn't.

6. Richard Swenson. Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. 240 pages. NavPress. The title is so long I think it says it all. Basically, we are too busy and we need to have space (or margin) in our busyness. The book was ok, but missed the key to the Christian life: the gospel. Instead of talking about how the gospel allows us to live whole and complete lives, Swenson gave us tips on how to live life with less stress. Though more narrow in scope, Mahaney's Biblical Productivity series is much better.

So, if I were recommending a book, I'd recommend one of the first two. DeYoung is always good and Hughes is very practical.