Books On The Parables

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Sower

I'm preaching on the parables of Jesus over the summer. Here are some key books I'm using... 

  • Stories With Intent by Klyne Snodgrass | [Amazon | Kindle | WTS] I got a lot of recommendations to pick up this book after a tweet asking for the best resources on the parables. After wading into the first bit, I've already collected a number of insights and quotes. And it's a massive resource. Excited to read more.
  • Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey | [Amazon | Kindle | WTS] Kindle version is 1/2 the price of the paperback. I've read the introduction to the section on the parables. Excellent.
  • Turning Your World Upside Down by Richard Phillips | [Amazon | WTS] I've used this before and it's been helpful.
  • The Challenge of Jesus' Parables edited by Richard Longenecker | [Amazon] Some good stuff from various essays by leading scholars.
  • Preaching the Parables by Craig Blomberg | [Amazon | Kindle | WTS] Haven't read much yet, but heard many good things.
  • Glory Veiled & Unveiled by Gerald Bilkes | [Amazon | Kindle | WTS] I love that this practical, devotional, personal book is there to temper more scholarly books above.

Jerram Barrs | Echoes of Eden

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Echoes eden barrs

Very excited about Jerram Barrs' new book, Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts.

Been looking forward to it for a while, on an important topic that I think Barrs is well-equipped to tackle. Barrs was formerly involved for 18 yeas with Francis Schaeffer and L'Abri. Now he teaches at Covenant Theological Seminary and is Resident Scholar at the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute  

You can get Echoes of Eden now at Amazon (Kindle), WTS, and amazingly for $2 you can get the eBook from Crossway!

New Music Tuesday 5.21.13

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National

The National: Trouble Will Find Me | 8.4 Pitchfork "Best New Music" 

Delusions of Adequacy: "The National are such a powerfully gifted band, they need no theatrics to deliver an absolutely stone-cold beast of an album. With the music that is on here there is yet another thirteen songs to savor and salivate over until the next batch of songs comes about."

Daft

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories | 8.8 Pitchfork "Best New Music" 

The Telegraph: "Their return should be heralded from on high, because it is the boldest, smartest, most colourful and purely pleasurable dance album of this decade."

Study Group for Pastors

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Bible

My friend, Darryl Dash, attends a study group for pastors that I've known about for a while and is a great idea. Here's a blurb...

Every May I gather with a group of pastors from Monday to Friday. The agenda is simple: to work through a book of the Bible together as we think about preaching it. Every year we bring in a different scholar who has written a commentary on that book. We also have our former preaching professor (Haddon Robinson) help us think through how to preach that book.

We've had Bruce Waltke, George Guthrie, Douglas Moo, Daniel Block, and more. This week we've had D.A. Carson. It's hard to beat. I've been to a lot of conferences, but this by far is my favorite learning event of the year.

You should start one too.

Darryl goes on to explain how a study group can be started and run. You should check it out.

Stephen Um & City Mission

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City walkers crop

Stephen Um, coauthor with Justin Buzzard of the new book Why Cities Matter: To God, The Culture, & The Church (Amazon | WTS), writes on Resurgence about how to be on mission in the city. Here are his 5 points.
  1. Get Grounded In The Gospel
  2. Learn Your City's Story
  3. Engage In The Life Of Your City
  4. Discern Your City's Idols
  5. Retell Your City's Story With The Gospel

Go read the rest of the post.

Tim Keller & Our Character Flaws

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Tim Keller PostPhoto

Tim Keller, through the lens of what he's learned from John Newton, thinks about how we deal with character flaws. 

The final result of all this is that people cannot see their sins because they are looking only at their virtues. ...Christians do not work on the supernatural graces of the spirit that are not natural to us, and that mitigate or eliminate the dark side—the besetting sins—of our nature. 

So how can we be shaken out of our lethargy and awakened to our need to grow? Here are some principles that I have gleaned from Newton’s letters over the years. 

1. Know that your worst character flaws are the ones you can see the least. 

2. Remember that you can’t learn about your biggest flaws just by being told—you must be shown.

3. Be willing to listen to correction and critique from others.

Go and read much more from Tim Keller on this.

Music Monday 5.13.13

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Music Monday 470

You should be checking out Vampire Weekend's new album, Modern Vampires of the City, streaming free on iTunes. It's out tomorrow and I will be buying it.

The Handsome Family: Wilderness is an enjoyable listen. Stream it free. Soothing.

Still $5, but ending today, is Deerhunter: Monomania. I picked it up and really dig it. All Deerhunter stuff is excellent.

Do check out the $5 albums for May, including some of the best albums I own.

If you haven't heard of Colin Stetson, and most of you probably haven't, check this out. He plays for Bon Iver, but this is from his album New History Warfare Vol 3: To See More Light. Stick with it. Quite interesting. He does circular breathing, has a mic on his throat, a mic for percussion on his sax, and more. Wowzers.

The Best Wallet I've Owned | Cinch

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Cinch

I've been using the Cinch wallet for a few months now, and it's easily the best wallet I've owned.

There are three different options, two wood and one steel. I have the darker wood wallet. I figured I'd like the steel backbone better as it's thinner, but I think I'd rather choose a wood one because I can keep it in the same front pocket with my phone and don't have to worry about the wood scratching the screen. Love that aspect.

I keep credit cards, licence, insurance card, money, etc in my Cinch and I almost forget it's in my pocket. I highly recommend it. From the website...

Are you looking to trade in that overly stuffed and morbidly obese pain in the back wallet for an easy everyday carry? For all you minimalist lovers who believe less is more, we have the remedy! Birth out of a need (good-bye money clips, broccoli rubber bands and bulky wallets) we are proud to introduce you to CINCH; an American crafted, industrial style, minimalist wallet that simplifies your life and your pockets. Let the battle against the bulge begin! 

Joshua Elsom | Open-Air Preaching

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Joshua Elsom wrote a nice piece that you need to read: "Open-Air Preaching and the Missional Church." A blurb from the beginning...

The combining of the words ‘open-air’ with the word ‘preaching’ is likely to elicit a wide range of images and opinions in the mind of the person reading them. For some they bring to mind the great evangelists of the explosive revivals of the eighteenth century — Wesley, Whitefield, Tennent, and Edwards; or the prophets of the Old and New Testaments — Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul. While for others, these words conjure up negative images of angry street heralds, with sandwich boards strung over their shoulders, thundering down threatenings of heaven upon all who would wander unawares into their field of preaching. Whatever one happens to think about, few typically associate the practice of preaching in the public square with the missional church movement. Because the missional church places such a high priority on practicing evangelism in the context of ongoing discipleship — on mission and in community — the thought of preaching to strangers who are dissociated from church or discipling relationships may seem at first to be counterintuitive. It should not be.

Check out all my open-air preaching posts and quotes.

Serving Without Sinking by John Hindley

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Serving wo sinking

The Good Book Company has a growing list of solid books coming out lately. I want to recommend you check out a recent release: Serving Without Sinking by John Hindley. A blurb from the first chapter...

...this book isn't primarily about our service. It's mainly about Jesus Christ, and about His service. He said that He "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10 v 45). He meant it. He was taken, beaten, tried, mocked, nailed, hung, cursed, judged, killed. He served. He loved.

So Jesus does not want you to measure your life by your service of Him. He does not want your service to get in the way of your love for Him. He did not come to be served by you--He came to serve you.

If we grasp this, then we will be set free to enjoy His love. And then, oddly, we will also be free to serve Him longer, harder, braver, truer than we ever could otherwise. This is joy, and we'll only find it in Christ.

Here's the promo video from John. Go get Serving Without Sinking (Amazon).

$5 Albums | May 2013

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Sale copyHere are the $5 albums I recommend for May. 

When Children Aren't A Blessing

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This Huffington Post article by an anonymous writer is one of the most brutal examples of what a lot of parents think but don't say out loud. Here's how "My Wife Is Expecting Twins and I Am Not Happy About It" opens...

I've been doing some spying lately, casually asking friends and acquaintances about their experiences with having twins.

A buddy from college said of the first year: "Think of the worst thing you can imagine. That's what it was like."

An industry contact back from maternity leave said: "I literally couldn't wait to get back to work. Every weekend is way too long."

A former colleague was more blunt: "Twins were always my worst nightmare."

And now it's my and my wife's nightmare; we're expecting twins this August.

Read the rest. It's heartbreaking.

Evangelism: Prime the Pump

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Pump

When I was in high school I worked in landscaping: trimming hedges, mowing lawns, planting trees, hooking up decorative fountains and surrounding it with decorative rock. It was hard work, but something I enjoyed as a young man. And it provided me with a killer tan.

The owner of the business lived on a farm that had a well. This wasn’t a bucket on a rope well; it was equipped with a pump. And if you’ve ever pumped water from a well you know that the pump never works right away. You have to “prime the pump” by cranking the lever a few times. A pump that hasn’t been used for a while is full of air from the pump down closer to water level. It takes a couple of pumps on the handle for the water to fill the tube that delivers it above ground. It’s those first couple of pumps that bring the water to ground level and to usefulness. 

As missionaries and evangelists for the supplier of living water, we have to prime the pump in our own hearts so that we are ready to tell all of our King. We need Gospel-readiness and Spirit-reliance right there at ground level. We need to battle with sin and push back against apathy. Evangelism is one of those things that takes God-confidence, courage, and risk. We need a heart that has been primed through dying to self, a reoriented life, a renewed mind, fixing our eyes on Jesus, filled with His Spirit, meditating on His Word, loving Him with all our strength. 

Too often we haven’t prayed as we should and wrestled with our fleeting emotions, doubts, and timidity. We haven’t developed a state of readiness and anticipation. We won’t dispense living water efficiently and effectively unless we prime the pump of our hearts, remembering who God is, what God has done, who we are, and what God has called us to do. We need daily motivation for Gospel-readiness.

When we drink from the stream of living water at the outset of our day, and throughout our day, we’ve already brought it to ground level and are ready to point others to it. We will not only find our thirst quenched, but we will be motivated by our own satisfaction in Jesus Christ to help others to quench their thirst. 

What do you do to prime the pump for evangelism? What resources do you use other than Scripture?

Jesus Wants My Heart by Daniel Renstrom

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Jwmh

I'm listening to Daniel Renstrom's new album, Jesus Wants My Heart. It's a family worship album of songs that kids and parents will both enjoy. enjoy singing together. I can tell you that right off the bat I was singing along. A wonderful balance of Gospel and theology in song.

Here are five things Daniel hopes this album will do. Go Read more at Daniel's blog. 

  1. I hope that families will have rich theological discussions because of the songs on JWMH.  
  2. I hope that families have fun listening to these songs.
  3. I hope that these songs give your kids good categories to love God and fight sin.
  4. I hope that these songs help parents fulfill Deuteronomy 6:6-7.
  5. I hope these songs will have evangelistic fruit.

There are songs Renstrom wrote and some hymns. I think you will love it.

Greg Thornbury | Books & Culture Interview

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Joe Thorn & I got to hang out with Greg Thornbury, our friend and author of Recovering Classic Evangelicalism (also Kindle | WTS), just before this interview with John Wilson, the editor of Books & Culture. A good, short discussion on evangelicalism and Carl Henry and "swagger." I hope many read this book. (via Crossway)

Gregory Thornbury discusses "Recovering Classic Evangelicalism" w/ John Wilson from Crossway on Vimeo.