Stoked
One of my very good friends, Daniel Day, has recently written a book. Stoked is aimed at helping Christian students maintain their passion for God while in college.
I am particularly excited to recommend this book because Daniel himself played a huge role in helping me to maintain spiritual vibrancy while in college. For more info about the book and how you can get a copy, visit thestokedbook.com.
Primal: A Quest For The Lost Soul Of Christianity
I have really enjoyed reading Mark Batterson‘s newest book Primal. In the book Mark takes us on a quest to rediscover some of the “primal” essence of Christianity. He uses the Great Commandment, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, as a grid to explain how each of these facets is basic to the Christian faith.
According to Mark, these aspects of loving God lead us to rediscover compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy in our relationship with God. Mark’s writing style is creative, interesting, and thought-provoking. “Primal” is a very enjoyable read. I would recommend it for your 2010 reading list! Click here to get your copy in time for Christmas.
Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers for the free review copy.
Preaching Paradoxes
I’m currently reading through John Stott’s book “The Living Church.” In the chapter on preaching, he shares five preaching paradoxes that are helpful for any pastor or student. These are:
1. Biblical and Contemporary
This means that preaching is an exposition of Scripture which is related to the world in which we live. Authentic preaching must be faithful to the Biblical text and the modern context. He says, “In our resolve to be biblical, we refuse to lapse into irrelevance. Instead we seek to relate the ancient text to the modern context (99).”
2. Authoritative and Tentative
By this he means that preachers should declare with authority “what the Bible says” provided they have done their hermeneutical homework and applied proper interpretive principles to the text. While we believe that Word of God is infallible, we humbly recognize that we as human interpreters are fallible. While preaching should be dogmatic about the things that are plainly revealed, it should be tentative regarding the things God has kept secret (Deut. 29:29).
3. Prophetic and Pastoral
“Prophetic” refers to the ability to declare the truth and call people to it. “Pastoral” refers to the ability to gently deal with those who are slow to believe biblical truth and/or fail to attain biblical standards. Stott writes, “It is not easy to combine prophetic witness and pastoral care, firmness and gentleness, discipline and compassion (104).” Balanced preaching involves “disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed.”
4. Gifted and Studied
This paradox acknowledges that God is the one who calls, anoints, and appoints preachers. On the other hand, this calling does not excuse the preacher from rigorous and disciplined study of the Scriptures. He quotes Billy Graham who announced what he would change about his ministry if he could do it over again. Graham said that first he would study three times as much. “I’ve preached too much, ” he said, “and studied too little (107).”
5. Thoughtful and Passionate
This paradox highlights the truth that in all authentic preaching, both “the mind and the emotions are engaged; clear thinking and deep feeling are combined (108).” Some preachers tend toward the thoughtful side while others toward the emotional side. There is a danger in only leaning in one direction. Balanced preaching will engage both the mind and the heart of the preacher.
Recent Reads
Some books I recently finished:
The Prodigal God- Tim Keller. Great book on sin, grace, and redemption. A fresh look at the story of the prodigal son.
The E-Myth Revisited- Michael Gerber. One last chapter to go. FANTASTIC book about organizations! Bought a copy for my board members and staff. A very practical, systematic guide to building a healthy organization.
Currently reading:
Total Church- Tim Chester & Steve Timmis
The Religious Affections- Jonathan Edwards. Taking this one slowly!
Power Through Prayer
On Friday afternoons at 4:00 I host a men’s prayer group in my office. We are about to read through the book Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds. I read this book a long time ago and am really looking forward to digging into it again. I love the following quote from the opening chapter:
What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods. She needs men whom the Holy Spirit can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer!
If we are not careful, our prayer lives can easily digress into something we do out of rote tradition rather than heartfelt passion. I love reading books that stir up my hunger for God and awaken a new passion for his presence and power.
Current Reading
I’m kind of a book-a-holic. Though I’m not a very fast reader, I typically have about 5-6 books going at any given time. Here are a few that I’m working through right now:
Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs- Bill Hybels. Short 1-2 page chapters. Very succinct leadership wisdom.
Death By Meeting- Patrick Lencioni. Heard this business book recommended over and over. Only a few chapters into it. Easy to read.
Vintage Church- Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears. Mark’s newest book. Pretty good so far.
Crazy Love- Francis Chan. Picked it up yesterday. Also heard it recommended highly.
It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It- Craig Groeschel. Craig’s newest book. Really enjoyed his previous book, Confessions of a Pastor. Looking forward to getting into this one.
The Silmarillion- J.R.R. Tolkien. I hardly ever read any fiction but I love the works of Tolkien. Read this one as a kid so this is a re-read.
Giveaway- Driscoll’s new book
Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!
I get an extra chance to win by including the above paragraph in a blog post!
Last week Mark Driscoll was interviewed on Nightline. They did an interesting story on Mark and the growth of Mars Hill Church. Check out the video below:
Meet My New Best Friend
The new ESV Study Bible is my new best friend (no its not a puppy). Just received my copy this week! It is literally the best study Bible I’ve ever seen. It’s like a complete biblical studies library in one book.
It contains over 20,000 notes, 80,000 cross-references, 200 plus full-color maps, 40 all new illustrations, 50 articles (including articles on the Bible’s authority and reliability; on biblical archaeology, theology, ethics, and personal application), and more than 200 charts.
This is an investment worth every penny.
ESV Study Bible Video
Check out the video for the new ESV Study Bible. I’ve already ordered an advance copy. Really looking forward to receiving it!
If you’ve been thinking about getting a new Bible, this would be a great investment.
A Good Re-Read
I first read this book a little over two years ago just before I started pastoring. It was tremendously helpful in helping me get started. Now I’m going through the new 10th anniversary edition. So far its been a great refresher on the big principles of leadership.
Maxwell’s also added two new laws of leadership, consolidated some others, and added more relevant content. I definitely recommend it to anyone in leadership whether church, business, or non-profit.
Anyone who leads people would benefit from it. Its definitely a classic on the subject of leadership.
Wild Goose Winner
I will now proceed to declare the winner of the free book Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. And the winner is… drumroll please… Daniel Day! Congrats man. Enjoy the book.
Win A Wild Goose Chase!
Just finished Mark Batterson’s new book Wild Goose Chase. You can visit the official book website here. The publishers have given me an extra copy to give away on this blog. I’m going to post some quick thoughts from the book and then give one lucky winner a chance for a free copy. Here’s a summary from the introduction:
“Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…”
The book is written to help Christians rediscover the adventure of pursuing God by coming out of various “cages” that tend to hold us back from achieving God’s purposes for our lives. These are the cages of responsibility, routine, assumptions, guilt, failure, and fear.
The Cage of Responsibility
“I’m not convinced that your date of death is the date carved on your tombstone. Most people die long before that. We start dying when we have nothing worth living for. And we don’t really start living until we find something worth dying for.”
“Here is the mistake so many of us make: we start out pursuing a passion and end up settling for a paycheck. So instead of making a life, all we do is make a living.”
“Your greatest responsibility is pursuing God-ordained passions.”
The Cage of the Routine
“change of place + change of pace = change of perspective”
“You can do the work of God at a pace that destroys the work of God in you.”
“Hurry kills everything from passion to creativity. And when you’re in a hurry, you don’t have time to get out of your routine, do you?”
The Cage of Assumptions
“The smartest people are the people who know how much they don’t know.”
“Children do not know what cannot be done…The only limitation they know is their God-given imagination.”
“Faith is trusting God more than you trust your own assumptions.”
“It’s never too late to become who you might have been.”
The Cage of Guilt
“If you focus all your energy on past failures, you’ll have no energy left over to dream kingdom dreams or pursue kingdom purposes.”
“Through his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus destroyed the evidence against us… Not only does our sin get paid for out of his account, but all of His righteousness gets credited to our account.”
The Cage of Failure
“Failure handled improperly can be devastating, but failure handled properly is the best thing that can happen to us.”
“Getting where God wants me to go isn’t nearly as important as becoming who God wants met to be in the process.”
The Cage of Fear
“Most of us are far too tentative when it comes to the will of God. We let our fears dictate our decisions. We are so afraid of making the wrong decision that we make no decision. And what we fail to realize is that indecision is a decision. And it is our indecision, not our bad decisions, that keeps us in the cage.”
“We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes.”
“Too many of us live by default instead of by design.”
Ok, so if you’re still reading this post and would like to be the one lucky winner of a free copy of Wild Goose Chase then post a comment about why you think reading this book would be amazingly beneficial for where you are currently at spiritually and situationally in life. I’ll cover the shipping costs. The winner will be announced next week on this blog. (I tried to think of some kind of cool competition to give it away, but I have no creative juice left in my brain at the moment 
.
Mark Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C., a church with 6 services in 4 locations (3 of which are movie theaters). I had the privilege of meeting Mark when he was in town last year to speak to a group of area pastors.
Wild Goose Chase Blog Tour
I’m excited to be participating in a small way with the blog tour for Mark Batterson’s new forthcoming book Wild Goose Chase. Our assignment is to read the book and blog about it by August 19.
Mark is the author of In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day and Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C.
Just received my 2 free copies! Looking forward to posting the review… Stay tuned!
Book: The Reason For God
I’m currently reading The Reason For God by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. This is one of the best books I’ve cracked in a while. Written in an extremely sensitive and professional style, Keller presents articulate and thoughtful answers to common objections to Christianity such as:
There can’t be just one true religion, How could a good God allow suffering? Christianity is a straitjacket, The church is responsible for so much injustice, How can a loving God send people to hell? Science has disproved Christianity, You can’t take the Bible literally, and so on.
If you have ever wrestled with any of these questions or know someone who has (and I’m guessing we can all think of someone!) I would highly recommend this book!
New ESV Study Bible
I’m really excited about this! Crossway publishers has just unveiled a website for their new ESV Study Bible to be released this October. Check out the website here.
For more on the English Standard Version visit their website here.
Practical Scripture Meditation
I’ve really been getting a lot out of John Ortberg’s book The Life You’ve Always Wanted. It is a great introduction to spiritual disciplines and developing a God-centered life.
In one chapter he shares some really good practical tips for making the most of Scripture meditation. Here is his list of suggestions:
- Ask God to meet you in Scripture
- Read the Bible in a repentant spirit
- Meditate on a fairly brief passage or narrative
- Take one thought or verse with you through the day
- Allow this thought to become part of your memory
Sometimes Scripture reading and meditation can seem a little cumbersome, but if we approach God’s word daily with the right posture of heart, it has the power to change our lives. Let these tips be an encouragement in your own Bible journey.
A Preaching Story From Marytn Lloyd-Jones
I came across this fascinating story as I was reading today in Preaching and Preachers by the late Martyn Lloyd-Jones who pastored Westminister Chapel in London from 1943-1968. He writes:
“I was staying in a village in a certain part of England and went to the local church across the road from where I was staying. I found that the preacher was preaching that evening on the prophet Jeremiah. He told us that he was starting a series of sermons on the prophet.
So he was starting with that great text where Jeremiah said he could not refrain any longer, but that the Word of God was like a fire in his bones. That was the text he took. What happened? I left the service feeling that I had witnessed something quite extraordinary, for the one big thing that was entirely missing in that service was ‘fire’. The good man was talking about fire as if he were sitting on an iceberg. He was actually dealing with the theme of fire in a detached and cold manner; he was a living denial of the very thing that he was saying, or perhaps I should say a dead denial.
It was a good sermon from the standpoint of construction and preparation. He had obviously taken considerable care over this, and had obviously written it out every word, because he was reading it; but that one thing that was absent was fire. There was no zeal, no enthusiasm, no apparent concern for us as members of the congregation. His whole attitude seemed to be detached and academic and formal.” (emphasis mine)
Puritan Exhortations To Pastors
I found the following quotes to be extremely challenging and inspirational from a book I’m reading called Light and Heat: The Puritan View of the Pulpit.
“We must study as hard how to live well as how to preach well” – Richard Baxter
“He that is more frequent in his pulpit to his people than he is in his closet for his people is but a sorry watchman” – John Owen
“Believe it brethren, it is easier to declaim like an orator against a thousand sins of others than it is to mortify one sin like Christians in ourselves; to preach twenty sermons than one to our own hearts” – John Flavel
“Ministers knock at the door of men’s hearts, the Spirit comes with a key and opens the door” – Thomas Watson
Some Books
Last week I finished Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders by Earl Creps. Great book. Earl is a professor at the seminary I am currently attending and is preparing to plant a church in Berkeley, CA. Earl has spent years traveling the country observing and researching various churches. His book is very honest, intimate, and full of humility as he shares much of his personal journey with God and his perspectives on spiritual leadership in today’s culture.
Currently I’m thoroughly enjoying John Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines For Ordinary People. I just heard too many extremely positive recommendations for this book that I had to check it out. It’s really down to earth and to the point. Ortberg has a really clear and captivating way of teaching on spiritual disciplines. Can’t wait to finish it!
Practicing Greatness
The premise of the book was basically that great spiritual leaders do not become great accidentally, they become great on purpose. McNeal then describes 7 key disciplines that leaders must pursue in order to become great in the sight of God. I’ll explain them below:
- The Discipline of Self-Awareness- McNeal says that great spiritual leaders have a great sense of self-awareness. In other words, they know who they are and what God has called them to do. They also know how God has wired them as well as the different experiences and of their lives that have made them into the people they are. They are also aware of their strengths and weakness. They also aware of how they come across to others. They are comfortable with who they are.
- The Discipline of Self-Management- Here he discusses how great spiritual leaders learn to manage their emotions and guard against temptations.
- The Discipline of Self-Development- Great spiritual leaders never stop learning. They never stop growing. As they are aware of who God has made them to be and who he’s not made them to be, they focus on developing their strengths. They know that their greatest potential for God’s kingdom will be reached through developing the gifts and strengths God has given them.
- The Discipline of Mission- This is the conscious discipline of staying focused on the mission that God has called the leader to. They know how to keep themselves from time-wasting distractions.
- The Discipline of Decision Making- Here he contends that great leaders develop their decision making skills. They know how to stay in touch with God for his direction and are also in touch with the people they are leading. They make sure to get all the facts straight before making decisions and are also sensitive to the timing of certain decisions. They know that the right decision at the wrong time is just a bad as making the wrong decision.
- The Discipline of Belonging- This is where great leaders intentionally build close relationships and guard against isolation. They are close with their spouses and family. They realize the importance of developing deep and meaningful friendships.
- The Discipline of Aloneness- Great spiritual leaders build time into their schedule to meet with God. They know that their relationship with him is the ultimate source of their life and ministry vitality.
Devotional Literature
One thing that has really helped me in my spiritual formation has been the reading of devotional books. I’ve recently decided to become more intentional about reading devotional classics.
One thing about devotional classics is that they must be read with both an open heart and caution. An open heart because it is good for us to fill our minds with writings that direct our thoughts to God. Caution because not everything that any particular writer says is always 100% biblical all the time. It basically comes down to eating up the good and throwing out the weird.
That being said, I feel like reading devotional books along with daily Bible reading can be a tremendous benefit for our spiritual growth. I’m currently reading through The Imitation Of Christ by the 16th century monk Thomas a Kempis. It’s split up into nice little 1-2 page chapters that makes for good succinct daily reading. A couple other devotional books I’d recommend are:
The Way Of The Heart- Henri Nouwen
The Pursuit Of God- A.W. Tozer
In The Name Of Jesus- Henri Nouwen
The Divine Conspiracy- Dallas Willard
Celebration Of Discipline- Richard Foster
Power Through Prayer- E.M. Bounds
Secrets Of The Secret Place- Bob Sorge
The Practice Of The Presence Of God- Brother Lawrence
My Utmost For His Highest- Oswald Chambers
A Hunger For God- John Piper
I’ll stop there for the sake of time. I’ve deliberately kept this list to the kinds of books that are easier to read. There are many, many other good devotional books out there. Are there any others that you have found helpful in your life? Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment.
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Devotional Literature
One thing that has really helped me in my spiritual formation has been the reading of devotional books. I’ve recently decided to become more intentional about reading devotional classics.
One thing about devotional classics is that they must be read with both an open heart and caution. An open heart because it is good for us to fill our minds with writings that direct our thoughts to God. Caution because not everything that any particular writer says is always 100% biblical all the time. It basically comes down to eating up the good and throwing out the weird.
That being said, I feel like reading devotional books along with daily Bible reading can be a tremendous benefit for our spiritual growth. I’m currently reading through The Imitation Of Christ by the 16th century monk Thomas a Kempis. It’s split up into nice little 1-2 page chapters that makes for good succinct daily reading. A couple other devotional books I’d recommend are:
The Way Of The Heart- Henri Nouwen
The Pursuit Of God- A.W. Tozer
In The Name Of Jesus- Henri Nouwen
The Divine Conspiracy- Dallas Willard
Celebration Of Discipline- Richard Foster
Power Through Prayer- E.M. Bounds
Secrets Of The Secret Place- Bob Sorge
The Practice Of The Presence Of God- Brother Lawrence
My Utmost For His Highest- Oswald Chambers
A Hunger For God- John Piper
I’ll stop there for the sake of time. I’ve deliberately kept this list to the kinds of books that are easier to read. There are many, many other good devotional books out there. Are there any others that you have found helpful in your life? Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment.
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Simple Church
Today I finished the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. It was definitely one of the best books on church ministry I’ve read. The premise is basic, but powerful. It argues for simplicity against complexity in church ministry. The book is based on extensive research of vibrant, growing churches and stagnant, declining churches.
The book’s goal is to help churches develop a simple strategy to make disciples. Amid case studies and stats the book presents several helpful steps in creating a simple church. It argues that so often churches mistake complexity and activity for effectiveness. The truth is, some churches have no discipleship strategy or process that they lead people through. More and more myriads of ministries are added the calendar becomes increasingly full. The result is divided focus, divided resources, and burned out people.
The book proposes 4 concepts to be embraced. They are:
Clarity
Movement
Alignment
Focus
Clarity means having an easily definable spiritual growth process. It is something that is easy to understand and communicate. This is the overarching ministry process that the church has embraced in order to create disciples.
Movement is about helping people to keep progressing. The stages of the process are leading people to increased commitment and maturity. Movement helps to keep people from stagnating or stalling in their spiritual growth.
Alignment is making sure that every program in the church contributes specifically to the spiritual growth process. It is also making sure that every ministry also models the spiritual growth process.
Focus is the ability to stay on target and not follow diversions from the spiritual growth process God has called the church to embrace.
That’s a very brief rundown of the book. It is very good. I highly recommend it to pastors and church leaders.
Commentaries
One of my values in preparing sermons is to understand the text of Scripture as accurately as possible. I feel that since the Bible is the Word of God, it is my responsibility to do as Paul said and “rightly handle the word of truth.”
While praying and researching the text, I always consult numerous biblical commentaries. These are some that I have found to be most helpful:
Word Biblical Commentary- One of the most thorough and exegetically accurate commentaries available. Top notch scholarship.
Baker Exegetical Commentary On The New Testament- Another extremely thorough, in-depth commentary set.
NIV Application Commentary- Insightful commentary set, especially in drawing practical application points for today’s world out of the text.
New International Commentary Old Testament/New Testament (NICOT/NICNT)- Written by great scholars. An easier-to-read commentary set.
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries- These are short and to the point. Easy to read, but not as comprehensive as others.
In addition to these, I frequently consult individual commentaries that were not written to be a part of a set. These are often extremely helpful. I’m grateful to the library at Trinity Seminary in Ambridge for allowing me access to these resources. I realize that these commentaries are not as easily available to everybody, but I would still recommend them for study if you ever have the chance to consult them.
May 30, 2008 | Categories: books, ministry resources, studying | Tags: Commentaries | Leave A Comment »