Happy New Year!!

I would like to wish all my brothers and sisters in Christ a happy and wonderful New Year!!

I have three more book reviews coming (maybe four). I will post those sometime after New Years.

I have very much enjoyed my trip to Texas to see my mother. I have gone to one Baylor basketball game and will see another this afternoon. Go Bears!!

Review: Jesus - Made in America by Stephen J. Nichols

I hope everyone had a very merry and blessed Christmas!

I almost didn't buy this book but I happened to catch Dr. Derek Thomas and Dr. Nichols talking about it on the Reformation 21 blog.

Jesus Made in America - A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ

I would recommend this book to everyone to read. Dr. Nichols shows that we are erring on the side of emotion and experience (with very little doctrine) in today's Christianity. While we need both orthodox doctrine and religious affections we should err on the side of doctrine. Christ has become a nice guy with good moral teachings. He is no longer the God/Man who came to die on the Cross to make atonement for our sins. Dr. Nichols uses humor to help lighten things up. This is a sad picture of what the majority of the Church has now become. It should serve to help motivate those of us who care about doctrine and true Christianity.

The book consists of 8 chapters and is 216 pages long.
Here are the chapter titles with their sub-titles:

1. The Puritan Christ - Image and Word in Early New England
2. Jesus for a New Republic - The Politics and Piety of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and Paine
3. Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild - Nineteenth-Century Makeovers from the Frontier to Victorian Culture
4. Jesus, Hero for the Modern World - Harry Emerson Fosdick, J. Gresham Machen and the Real Meaning of Christmas
5. Jesus on Vinyl - From the Jesus People to Contemporary Christian Music
6. Jesus on the Big Screen - The Passion for Hollywood
7. Jesus on a Bracelet - Christ, Commodification and Consumer Culture
8. Jesus on the Right Wing - Christ and Politics in America
Epilogue: Jesus and the Gospel in the Twenty-First Century

I hope all you have a good New Year!!

May we all work to further our Lord's kingdom during the coming new year!

Review - The Prodigal God

I have just finished reading The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

Those who have read John MacArthur's book A Tale of Two Sons will enjoy this book.
The book is a small hardback consisting of seven chapters and is 133 pages long.

Pastor Keller is concerned with the differences and similarities between the attitudes of the Younger and Elder brothers.

The Elder brother has an attitude that can be associated with religion. "Religion operates on the principle of 'I obey - therefore I am accepted by God.' The basic principle of the gospel is 'I am accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ - therefore I obey."

Pastor Keller says that the majority of problems in churches today are caused by "Elder brothers". The younger brothers leave the church because of the "Elder brother" attitudes.

I enjoyed reading this book very much.

In my Place Condemned He Stood Review

In my Place Condemned He Stood - Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement by J.I. Packer and Mark Dever

This book is about 140+ pages in length.

The contents of the books is as follows:

Preface: A Tract for the Times - J. I. Packer & Mark Dever
Introduction: Penal Substitution Revisited - J. I. Packer

1. The Heart of the Gospel - J. I. Packer
2. What did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution - J. I. Packer
3. Nothing but the Blood - Mark Dever
4. Saved by His Precious Blood: An Introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ - J. I. Packer

Epilogue: Christ-Centered Means Cross-Centered - J. I. Packer & Mark Dever
Annotated Bibliography: Ligon Duncan

This is a good book. I must admit that I got bogged down in the second chapter for some reason.
The fourth chapter is worth the price of the whole book!!

The Annotated Bibliography is also excellent. I am looking forward to reading George Smeaton's two books on the Atonement!

Comments

Just a note. I have turned comments on.
I think you need a gmail account to comment.

Review of The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven Lawson

Well I guess it's a two-for Saturday!!

This book is about the same size of the books by C. J. Mahaney.
It's 133 pages in length, but try not to read it too fast.

This book is an intimate portrait of John Calvin the preacher. His core beliefs determined his preaching style, the step he took to prepare a message and how he handled the Scriptures.

Calvin did not preach the way he wrote his commentaries and the Institutes. He made sure that his expositions of scripture were accurate and that everyone present would be able to grasp and apply his preaching.

He knew the original languages so well he preached from a Hebrew or Greek text depending on his text. He rarely uttered a Greek or Hebrew word. He wanted there to be no obstacle for his hearers in understanding his exposition of scripture. While he also read other works in preparation of his sermon he did not refer to any of them while preaching.

If you enjoy reading about pastors and preaching this book is a good one to read.

Review of in Christ alone by Sinclair Ferguson

This books consists of 50 chapters (actually they were originally articles).
Each chapter is 4-5 pages long. This book would be a Great book to read for devotionals!

Jerry Bridges calls this book "a basic systematic theology in the form of a very readable book".
I wholeheartedly agree!

The book is broken up into 6 parts.

1. The Word Became Flesh
2.The Heart of the Matter
3. The Spirit of Christ
4. The Privileges of Grace
5. A Life of Wisdom
6. Faithful to the End

I have enjoyed reading this book very much.
If your a new christian or don't' like reading books that are heavily theological then this book is for you!

My God richly Bless you!!

Review of God's Greater Glory by Bruce Ware

The sub-title for the books is "The Exalted God of Scripture and the Christian Faith".

WOW!! Are my first thoughts about the book. I would agree with Dr Mohler and his assessment "belongs on the bookshelf of every pastor and Christian believer".

The book is about God's providence and sovereignty. If ever a book is needed in this day and age this would be it. It has some heavy things to say but Dr Ware explains things on a more normal level.

The books is divided into two parts. Part 1: Foundational Theological Bases for Divine Providence. Part 2: Practical Christian Relevance of Divine Providence. Please do not let the sound of these parts scare you away. It is very down to earth.

Reading this book has been very humbling as well as a devotional experience for me. There were many times were I had to put the book down and break out in prayer or praise. It has had a profound effect on me spiritually. This book has put the Sovereignty of God in concrete terms for me.

I will re-read this again. In fact reading it once a year might not be a bad idea.
So if you have not read this book yet then you need to run get a copy!

Grace and Peace!

Calvinistic Book Reviews Part 1

I decided that I would review a few books that I have read some time ago. These books are good books as an introduction to Calvinism (or Reformed Theology). Here are the books that I will review:

The Five Points of Calvinism by Steele, Thomas and Quinn
Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace by James Montgomery Boice
The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice/Philip Graham Ryken
Chosen by God by RC Sproul

My recommended reading (or listening) order:
Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace by James Montgomery Boice
The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice/Philip Graham Ryken
Chosen by God by RC Sproul
Willing to Believe by RC Sproul (mp3 lectures, it is also available in book or video form)
The Five Points of Calvinism by Steele, Thomas and Quinn

The Five Points of Calvinism
This is the first book I read when I started my reading about Calvinism several years ago. While this is an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone, there are other books that I would recommend to read first.

The book starts off defining what is Calvinism and Arminianism. This is mainly why I would recommend other books first. I believe that it's helpful to get a good understanding of what Reformed Theology (Calvinism) is before looking at the other approaches of Theology. There are many scripture proof texts for each of the Five Point of Calvinism (or Tulip). It also contains an excellent recommended reading list (many pages). For some folks this books might be enough but I still had a good deal of questions afterward.

Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace
This is the second book I read. This is also the book where the "light came on" for me. I consider this book very practical (less academic). His starting premise is that our current form of Christianity has not been working. The downhill slide started in the 1900's. So he starts out with a chapter on the New Pragmatism. A couple of chapters later he begins to talk about the 5 solas.

Scripture Alone
Christ Alone
Grace Alone
Faith Alone
Glory to God Alone

It's just an excellent book as far as I'm concerned.

The Doctrines of Grace
This book was not completed by Dr. Boice before he went home to be with his Master. Dr. Ryken who is now the pastor in Dr. Boice's former church finished the book.

This book goes into the 5 points of Calvinism. The names for the five points have been altered (I believe for the better) and do not conform to the Tulip acronym.

They are:
Radical Depravity
Unconditional Election
Particular Redemption
Efficacious Grace
Preserving Grace

This is just another excellent book it pretty much nailed it for me.

Chosen by God
This book by Dr. Sproul is just excellent as well. He does an excellent job at taking deep theological subjects and making them understandable to the masses.

This book covers Reformed Theology topics. Such as:

Predestination and the Sovereignty of God
Predestination and Free Will
Adam's Fall and Mine
Foreknowledge and Predestination

I would also highly recommend Dr. Sproul's Willing to Believe. He covers the history of Reformed Theology.

All of the above are some of the best Calvinistic resources available (I'm sure there are more, In fact I'm in the process of reading one now).

Grace and Peace!!

Regular Posts

Well at the suggestion of my pastor I will do my best to post book reviews of what I am reading. I read a LOT so I think it's a good idea to share what I am learning with others.

Grace and Peace

DKS