Top 5(ish) Books I Read in 2010

Honorable Mention: Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
This memoir from my favorite (former) NFL coach is insightful and touching. Tony exemplifies all that is good in professional athletics. May his tribe increase.

5a. Christless Christianity by Michael Horton
Do you ever look around at Evangelicalism and think something is wrong? So does Horton. And he shows us what it is... We, like the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3, have forgotten Jesus and left him out in the cold. This book is a strong critique that the church in American desperately needs to hear.

5b. Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer
Like Horton's book, Spencer sees a number of problems in contemporary evangelicalism. He calls us back to a "Jesus-shaped spirituality." In other words, just don't talk about Jesus, actually walk with Jesus and know him and love him.

5c. Why we Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck
Are there problems in the church? Yes. But like DeYoung and Kluck, I love the church. Horton and Spencer alone may make you cynical toward the church. DeYoung and Kluck help us see the good and all three together give us a good perspective of what church should be.

4. Christ's Words from the Cross by Charles Spurgeon
This little book complies a sermon or writing on each of Christ's seven statements uttered from the cross. I've read this little book several times in the last 15 years and each time its truths become even more precious to me.

3. Church Planting is for Wimps by Mike McKinley
This little book is powerful. It is encouraging and instructive, hopeful and realistic. Best of all, it it rooted in the Gospel and exemplifies true pastoral shepherding.

2. Radical by David Platt
This book will stir your heart for discipleship and missions on every level. Warning: it will kick you in the gut... but in a good way.

1. Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
This is the first book I read in 2010, and what a book to start the year off with. Keller exposes all sorts of idols and calls us to faithfulness to the Lord. A must read!

Review: Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer

I was in seminary when I first read Michael Spencer's blog InternetMonk.com. Back in the day, I was working through some major theological truths that were rocking my world. Theology of Worship with Dr. Holmes was challenging everything I had previously thought about church, worship, ministry, and even the doctrine of salvation itself.

Doing some research for that class on organizing and leading a worship service, Google took me to the IMonk's essay on Christless preaching. This essay has shaped my preaching and teaching ministry since that time. I am now and always grateful for it.

In April of this year, Michael died. But before the cancer destroyed his body, Michael wrote Mere Churchianity. What a way to end one's pilgrimage.

In his later years, Michael became disenchanted with what what he called "church-shaped spirituality" or "churchianity." This is the false form of Christianity that pervades much of evangelicalism today. Instead, he called us back to a "Jesus-shaped spirituality." For all his flaws and struggles, Michael consistently looked to and pointed others toward Jesus. That is what makes this a very good book.

I am in the group Michael is criticizing. I am a pastor in an evangelical, (informally) institutional, Baptist church. Much in my life and ministry has distracted people away from Jesus. My work in youth ministry often replaced Jesus with some cool fad. I was (and in many ways still am) enamored with doctrinal correctness and stiff theologizing. And I can contribute to the problem.

But Michael urges me to keep Jesus at the center, in my life and in my ministry. While I may not agree with Michael's solutions, or even his diagnoses of the problems, I do agree that the answer is always Jesus kept front and center. Or, to say it better, Jesus followed and loved supremely.

I urge church leaders to read Mere Churchianity as a diagnostic tool. Is your church and ministry shaped by Jesus, or by the institution of your church? Michael urges me, and I hope you, to make it all about Jesus in a real way.

Some favorite quotes from the book:

Jesus-shaped discipleship produces people whose lives, habits, commitments, and words resemble Jesus more than the cultural ideals of comfort, convenience, and economic prosperity. (p. 15)

When you view evangelicalism from a distance, it becomes clear that almost all the problems can be traced back to evangelicalism's unquestioned commitment to be successful and relevant. (p. 25)

Wrong ideas about God are, themselves, false gods. They are idols just as much as a graven image. (p. 34)

When I first began to think about Jesus-shaped spirituality, I would ask this door opening question: If I spent three years with Jesus, how would I feel about...? The question is appropriate and revealing, no matter what the subject or issue happens to be. How would Jesus shape me in this area if he deeply influenced my thinking and living? (p. 42)

You can't have a Christian experience, in a church or outside one, without Jesus. (p. 49)

It's pointless to be cool, because trying to make Jesus sexy is a waste of time. (p. 79)

Faith is a lack of contentment with what I am, but a sense of satisfaction with what God has given me of himself in Jesus. The mark of saving faith is not just resting passively in the promises of the gospel (though that is exactly what justification does), but it's an ongoing war with the reality of my condition. (p. 146)

...sanctification consists, in large measure, in seeing our sin and acknowledging how deeply and extensively it has marred us. (p. 149)

Review: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series

The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament is an exceptional series. I picked up James a couple of years ago and was blown over by it. This series is helpful for those who, like me, have had Greek in seminary, know the importance of the original languages, but through the busyness of ministry have neglected to keep it up. The ZECNT serves as a kind of prompt to help you remember what you studied and ease back into using Greek.

But it does more than that. It offers great exegetical insights into the text. Unlike other exegetical commentaries, it does not overwhelm you with interaction from other critical sources. You don't read page after page of interaction with other commentaries and monographs. That is not to say this series ignores other material. It simply keeps the focus on the Greek text. For this reason, I can't recommend this series highly enough.

Zondervan recently sent me a copy of the newly released Ephesians commentary. I plan on preaching through Ephesians in 2011 and this will be a much used resource. Thumbing through it I can already see this will be a helpful resource to enrich my study and sermon preparation.

This may be one of the best new commentary series available. Even though it deals with the Greek text, those with little to no Greek backgrounds will benefit from it greatly.

A Month of Thanksgiving: 30 Scriptures

I intended to post a Scripture every day this month. I even have a Scripture selected for each day. But events and negligence ruined that. So instead, I'm going to post all thirty for your thoughtful reflection.

1. Psalm 69:30 (ESV) I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
   
   
2. 1 Chron. 16:34 (ESV) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
   
   
3. Psalm 30:4 (ESV) Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
   
   
4. 2 Cor. 9:15 (ESV) Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
   
   
5. 1 Thes. 5:18 (ESV) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
   
   
6. Romans 6:17 (ESV) But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
   
   
7. 2 Cor. 2:14 (ESV) But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
   
   
8. Ephes. 5:4 (ESV) Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
   
   
9. Col. 4:2 (ESV) Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
   
   
10. Psalm 56:12 (ESV) I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
    
    
11. 1 Chron. 29:13 (ESV) And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
    
    
12. Psalm 92:1 (ESV) It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
    
    
13. 1 Cor. 1:4 (ESV) I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
    
    
14. Col. 3:17 (ESV) And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
    
    
15. Psalm 107:15 (ESV) Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men!
    
    
16. Hebrews 12:28 (ESV) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
    
    
17. Jonah 2:9 (ESV) But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!"
    
    
18. Philip. 4:6 (ESV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
    
    
19. Psalm 140:13 (ESV) Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.
    
    
20. Isaiah 12:1 (ESV) You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.”
    
    
21. Psalm 9:1 (ESV) I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
    
    
22. Psalm 35:18 (ESV) I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
    
    
23. Psalm 86:12 (ESV) I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
    
    
24. Psalm 97:12 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
    
    
25. Psalm 100:4 (ESV) Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
    
    
26. Psalm 118:1 (ESV) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
    
    
27. Psalm 75:1 (ESV) We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
    
    
28. Psalm 118:28 (ESV) You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.
    
    
29. Psalm 145:10 (ESV) All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!
    
    
30. 1 Cor. 15:57 (ESV) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
    
    

Think: A Review

John Piper is a personal hero. I've read many of his books, listened to dozens of his sermons, watched his videos, and attended his conferences. I always learn and am inspired when I sit under the teaching of John Piper.

Think is a good book and I found it helpful. I don't think that Think will end up on a Piper "must read" list. This book will not appeal to a wide audience. In fact, Piper states so much in the conclusion of the book. However, having said that, I do believe this book should be read by college students and other "thinkers" or people being challenged on an intellectual level. It is not so much an apologetic as it is an antidote to blindly accepting humanistic assumptions. And it is a call to Biblical thinking which is sorely lacking today.

The best chapters in the book are:

• Chapter 3- Reading as Thinking... for help in how to read and understand the Bible.
  
• Chapter 5- Rational Gospel, Spiritual Light... for understanding the relationship between human comprehension of the Gospel and the Divine unveiling of the Gospel to man.
• Chapter 6- Love for God: Treasuring God with All Your Mind... for unpacking the Biblical command to love the Lord your God with all your mind.
• Chapter 8- The Immorality of Relativism... for exposing the sinfulness and corruption of relativistic thinking.
  

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Thinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God." (p. 27)

"...at the bottom of human irrationality ("darkened in their understanding") and at the bottom of spiritual ignorance ("the ignorance that is in them") is hardness of heart. That is, our self-centered hearts distort our reason to the point where we cannot use it to draw true inferences from what is really there." (p. 63)

"What does it mean to love God "with all your mind"? I take it to mean that we direct our thinking in a certain way; namely, our thinking should be wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things." (p. 83)

"...relativism only looks humble but is inherently a cloak of pride. It works like this. Truth with a capital T- Truth rooted in God's objective reality and word- is a massive, unchanging reality that we little humans must submit to. Coming to know this truth is the humble task of putting ourselves under this reality and submitting to it. Understanding is literally taking the humble position to stand under the truth and let it be our rule." (p. 112)

Below is a video of Piper introducing Think.

He's Alive! TBC Sermon Series

November 7
John 20:1-23
He's Alive! Rejoicing in the Resurrection


November 14, 2010
John 20:24-31
He's Alive! Believing in the Resurrection


November 21, 2010
John 21:1-25
He's Alive! Restored by the Resurrection

Come worship with us at Tremont Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ together.

A Month of Thanksgiving: November 4

2 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV) Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

A Month of Thanksgiving: November 3

Psalm 30: 4 (ESV) Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

A Month of Thanksgiving: November 2

1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

A Month of Thanksgiving: November 1

I love Thanksgiving. It is one of the last (mostly) pure and (relatively) uncommercialized holidays we have left.

For the month of November, I am going to post a Scripture a day related to the theme of Thanksgiving.

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"I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving."
Psalm 69:30 (ESV)


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