Books

Before You Leave A Church

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Advice from Mark Dever (originally found here) on what to do before you leave a church and if you leave a church. Good advice that is rarely followed. (I may have listed some of these before, but saw them again at Challies.)

Before You Decide to Leave

  1. Pray.
  2. Let your current pastor know about your thinking before you move to another church or make your decision to relocate to another city. Ask for his counsel.
  3. Weigh your motives. Is your desire to leave because of sinful, personal conflict or disappointment? If it’s because of doctrinal reasons, are these doctrinal issues significant?
  4. Do everything within your power to reconcile any broken relationships.
  5. Be sure to consider all the “evidences of grace” you’ve seen in the church’s life—places where God’s work is evident. If you cannot see any evidences of God’s grace, you might want to examine your own heart once more (Matt. 7:3-5).
  6. Be humble. Recognize you don’t have all the facts and assess people and circumstances charitably (give them the benefit of the doubt).

If You Go

  1. Don’t divide the body.
  2. Take the utmost care not to sow discontent even among your closest friends. Remember, you don’t want anything to hinder their growth in grace in this church. Deny any desire to gossip (sometimes referred to as “venting” or “saying how you feel”).
  3. Pray for and bless the congregation and its leadership. Look for ways of doing this practically.
  4. If there has been hurt, then forgive—even as you have been forgiven.

Lots-o-Links 8.17.12

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Some new, some I'm just getting to, but here are some links to check out...

Good Book Company Giveaway: Tim Challies is giving away a bunch of The Good Book Company Bible study guides. Great chance to get theologically solid studies by guys like Tim Chester, Justin Buzzard, and Mark Dever. Also, keep an eye out for $2 Tuesdays from The Good Book Company starting next week!

GCM Conference: Highly recommend the GCM Conference coming up in September in Huntsville. My Soma School experience has me in love with GCM and what it is working to do. Sign up!

Paul Tripp: 6 Traits of a Pastor In Awe of God (get your awe back) | "I counsel you to run now, run quickly, to your Father of awesome glory. Confess the offense of your boredom. Plead for eyes opened to the 360-degree, 24/7 display of glory to which you have been blind. Determine to spend a certain portion of every day in meditating on his glory. Cry out for the help of others. And remind yourself to be thankful for Jesus, who offers you his grace even at those moments when grace isn't nearly as gloriously valuable to you as it should be."

J.I. Packer: Advice to Aspiring Writers - 1. Go deep in personal worship. 2. Write to hit hearts. 3. Write from a sense of calling.

The Gospel Project is worth checking out, if you haven't already. Curriculum for kids, students, and adults. Exciting new resource from Ed Stetzer, Trevin Wax, & LifeWay.

While I Was Away...

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I was very isolated from my laptop on vacation (which lasted 2 weeks), but I did find stuff that looked interesting on my feed reader and my Twitter feed and then saved them for later. Here are a few things that caught my eye...

New Books In The Mail

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A few new books worth checking out have found there way into my possession. I hope my readers will check them out...

Founders-whomever

From Founders Press, Whomever He Wills edited by Matthew Barrett & Tom Nettles. It has some outstanding authors who have written different essays, including a forward by Timothy George.

Here are just a few of the essays I'm looking forward to reading...

2. Total Depravity: A Biblical and Theological Examination by Mark DeVine

8. God’s Sovereignty Over Evil by Stephen J. Wellum

10. John Calvin’s Understanding of the Death of Christ by Thomas J. Nettles

13. The Glorious Impact of Calvinism upon Local Baptist Churches by Tom Hicks

Missofgod study

Founders Press has more info. Check it out.

Another book worth checking out is the Mission of God Study Bible (HCSB) edited by Ed Stetzer & Philip Nation. Been looking forward to this for some time, and it looks great. Contributors include good pastors and thinkers like Trevin Wax, Matt Chandler, Joe Thorn, Eric Mason, and Tullian Tchividjian.

Go read 7 reasons why I love the Mission of God Study Bible by Devin Maddox. Here are a couple...

  • Study for a Purpose: Mission
  • Portable Size
  • Dynamic Content Powered by Technology

This is a nice addition to the growing group of excellent study Bibles out there.

Unbelievable_gospelJonathan Dodson's new eBook, Unbelievable Gospel, is another one worth checking out. From their website...

Very often we find it difficult to share our faith. In the workplace, neighborhood, or social settings, talking about the gospel doesn’t come up naturally. “Jesus” isn't a topic that hits the neighborhood Google groups, flows naturally on coffee breaks, or crosses our lips in local pubs. But when it does, all too often what we have to say is simply unbelievable. Even the way we share the gospel is often unbelievable.  Are there actually good reasons for our hesitation in talking about Jesus? Despite what you might think, there are very good reasons for not talking about the gospel. In Unbelievable Gospel, Jonathan Dodson explores ways we shouldn't share the gospel as well as ways we could, to make the gospel more believable.

You can also see Desiring God's Helpful Quotes from The Unbelievable Gospel and reviews by Luma Simms, Tom Farr, and Greg Willson. Go buy Unbelievable Gospel.

The Big 5: Books on Church History

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I have been asked by a friend about my favorite books on church history, so I thought I would throw it out for everyone. Try to limit to the most expansive books on church history, at least for your first few. If you want to add a couple of faves from certain time periods (reformation, early church, baptist, puritan, etc), feel free to do that as well. But make sure they are books about the history of that time, not books from that time. And do your best to stay to 5.

So, what are your big 5 books on church history?

Underprogram Your Church

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Jared Wilson shares ten reasons to underprogram your church. Here are a few that resonated most with me, though they are all good reminders of what's most important. (By the way, Jared's new book, Gospel Deeps, is coming in September. Pre-order it.)

1. You can do a lot of things in a mediocre (or poor) way, or you can do a few things extremely well. 

2. Over-programming creates an illusion of fruitfulness that may just be busy-ness. A bustling crowd may not be spiritually changed or engaged in mission at all. And as our flesh cries out for works, many times filling our programs with eager, even servant-minded people is a way to appeal to self-righteousness.

7. Over-programming creates satisfaction in an illusion of success; meanwhile mission suffers. If a church looks like it's doing lots of things, we tend to think it's doing great things for God. When really it may just be providing lots of religious goods and services. 

8. Over-programming reduces margin in the lives of church members. It's a fast track to burnout for both volunteers and attendees, and it implicitly stifles sabbath.

Read Jared's post, "Ten Reasons To Underprogram Your Church."

Introverted Church Moves On

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Adam McHugh, author of Introverts in the Church (my review), says this over at his Introverted Church blog...

I leave this blog today, not because my convictions have faded, but because I know that the message is out there now. Believe it or not, last month tallied the highest number of visitors in Introverted Church history, coming in at almost 25,000 people. Some people will think I am crazy to step off this platform now, but in my mind, last month gave me the permission that I needed to stop. People are talking about introverts and church, and I have accomplished what I set out to do.  It was never my intention to become The Voice for introverts. It was always my intention to help my fellow introverts find their voices.

Read the entire post "A Moment of Silence". I'm thankful for Adam's book, blog, and ministry. Looking forward to his new book, The Listening Life, coming out next year.

Help Crossway - Urgent Need!

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I got an email from my friends at Crossway on a great opportunity to get a massive grant. Please help, give, spread the word! From the email..

As you may know, Crossway is a not-for-profit ministry that relies in part on gifts from people like you to accomplish major ministry projects worldwide.
 
We’ve recently been presented with an extraordinary opportunity. Generous donors have offered an all-or-nothing matching grant if we are able to raise $270,000 by May 31st—just days from now.
 
This grant could not have come at a better time. In God’s kindness, we currently have unprecedented opportunities for creating, translating, and delivering ESV Bible resources for Christians in great need—especially in China, India, and multiple countries in Africa.
 
Will you help us toward meeting this matching grant before the end of May? ...a gift of any amount will help Crossway provide significantly more Bibles and Bible study resources to the church worldwide.
 
We would be grateful for your generous response to this urgent opportunity.

Give here or view the progress toward our goal.

Please support Crossway. Their books have been such a blessing to many and the ESV is my favorite translation.

Francis Schaeffer & L'Abri

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Schaeffer

Over the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying working out with Jerram Barrs audio from his two classes on Francis Schaeffer (Early Years & Later Years) at Covenant Seminary. Specifically, I've been listening by streaming through the Covenant Seminary Worldwide Classroom app on my Android phone.

I've thought for several years that one of the best things that could happen in American churches is that we would take a more L'Abri-like approach to our mission. You can read the Schaeffer's ministry at L'Abri in The Tapestry (out of print, but I just picked one up used but in perfect condition for $25) and L'Abri. I think churches like Soma Communities are doing this kind of thing better than most.

Whether or not you pick up the books, please go pick up these very helpful, free audio classes from Jerram Barrs are hard to beat as resources in thinking about mission, apologetics, living missionally, hospitality, etc. Download Francis Schaeffer: The Early Years and Francis Schaeffer: The Later Years now. You can get them through iTunes, or stream them over the Worldwide Classroom. While you are at it, find more great stuff from Jerram Barrs including his books The Heart of Evangelism and Learning Evangelism From Jesus.

Music Monday 4.30.12

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Gramophone-turntablist

CHEAP

STREAMING FREE

WORTH CHECKING OUT

Learn to play the songs from Kristen Gilles... 

BURNING UP MY iPOD

Cheap Kindle Books 3.25.12

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Kindle

Kindle has some good, cheap books out right now. Buy a Kindle ($79), Kindle Touch ($99), or Kindle Fire ($199). Or simply get a free Kindle app to read these books for cheap!

Cheap Kindle Books 2.13.12

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Kindle does a good job of offering good, cheap books. Buy a Kindle ($79), Kindle Touch ($99), or Kindle Fire ($199). Or simply get a free Kindle app to read these books for cheap!

FREE

$1.99

$3.99

Also check out...

Explore App - The Good Book Company

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Explore app

I really like The Good Book Company. Brad Byrd is a friend and is always telling me about new resources they are putting out. But before he could even tell me about it, I noticed the Explore app on The Good Book blog and downloaded it on my phone. It's excellent.

It's a self-paced devotional that you can use daily or use as you want. You start with 28 daily devotions free as an introduction to the devotional, and then you can subscribe to more. And these aren't just written by some no-name dude behind the scenes. They come from guys like Tim Chester, Christopher Ash, and Tim Keller. 

Go to your app store and find Explore and give it a try. I think you'll like it.

Lots-o-Links 1.18.12

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The Death of the Fringe Suburb

For too long, we over-invested in the wrong places. Those retail centers and subdivisions will never be worth what they cost to build. We have to stop throwing good money after bad. It is time to instead build what the market wants: mixed-income, walkable cities and suburbs that will support the knowledge economy, promote environmental sustainability and create jobs.

Seven Tips for Talking with Your Neighbors About Jesus

For whatever reason, it’s easy for Christians to clam up and get weird when talking about their faith in the day-to-day. Here are a few tips to make bridge those inhibitions and get the conversation going...

An Appreciation of Bird By Bird by Anne LaMott (get it at Amazon or on Kindle)

I thought I was teetering on the edge of crazy with no way to explain to anyone for fear they would quickly need to catch a bus. I was not crazy, or at least not in an inordinate way. With each turn of the page a brilliant sky of possibility opened up to gaze in. Now I might look crazy to some when looking up into that firmament. But, I knew I wasn't the only one. 

Richard Baxter on Meditation

The duty which I press upon thee so earnestly, and in the practice of which I am now to direct thee, is, “The set and solemn acting of all the powers of thy soul in meditation upon thy everlasting rest.” More fully to explain the nature of this duty, I will here illustrate a little the description itself-then point out the fittest time, place, and temper of mind, for it.

Groundhog Day is coming, and it's Groundhog Days in Woodstock, IL -- the movie Groundhog Day was filmed in Woodstock, IL 1992 and released in 1993. Watch it again this Groundhog Day. And if you are in the Chicagoland area, stop by Woodstock for the festivities.

Challies Reviews Keller's The Meaning of Marriage

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Meaning of Marriage

Tim Challies provides an excellent review of Tim Keller's newest book, The Meaning of Marriage. Below is his strong conclusion, but go and read the whole review and buy the book.

This is a powerful book; it is my new favorite book on marriage and the best of all the books I read in 2011. The Meaning of Marriage elevates marriage, making it something beautiful and holy and lovely. And with it comes friendship and companionship and sex and everything else God has packaged into the marriage relationship. This book celebrates it all and it does it within the greatest context of all—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Having read the book through two times, I’ve found myself wondering how to best measure or evaluate it, but perhaps these criteria are useful: Would I want to read it with my wife or would I encourage her to read it on her own? Would I recommend it to the people in my church? In both cases the answer is an unreserved yes. In fact, I bought the audio book and listened to it with my wife and her assessment is the same as mine: Though there are many great books on marriage, this is the one we will recommend first.

2012 Reading Plans

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Bible-Reading

I'm working on choosing (or tweaking) a Bible reading plan for my family for 2012 so the kids can each work through some of their ESV Student Study Bibles, and so we can enjoy daily family discussions on what we are all reading at the same time. Thought it might be nice to list a couple of resources I'm looking at for the Bible as well as other good theological and devotional resources. 

Justin Taylor has a wonderful (fairly comprephensive) post on many reading plans out there, including options you may not think of on your own. He also has a post that includes a reading plan for Calvin's Institutes.

Joe Thorn's reading plan for the Puritan prayers found in Valley of Vision might be a great way to start the year devotionally.

The ESV has a number of plans available, and the ESV Journaling Bible I now use daily has a plan in the back I'm considering. 

David Murray, who has quickly become one of my favorite thinkers through his blog and Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary podcast, has a yearly children's morning and evening Bible reading plan. The explanation is here, and the plan is here.

Please feel free to share other plans you recommend or the plan you are using next year.