March/April Reading

Here are the books I read during the months of March and April. March only seems thin. I didn’t read a million books in April. I just finished them all in April. Almost everything below is work accomplished for the ClearNote Pastors College. Which, by the way, I have now completed. Which, by the way, means I am now done with school. Forever. Awesome, huh?

 

March

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle (for fun)

Good fun, some memorable stories. It was fun getting acquainted with a great fictional character, but I’m done with Holmes for awhile. On to other things.

Tell the Truth – Will Metzger (for d-group)

This book is not profound, but it is helpful. It is written by an Intervarsity staff worker who is trying to undo the damage of jank evangelism methods that present a truncated gospel in a way that lies about the nature of Jesus’ saving work. To that end, the book is good and I commend it to anyone looking to be faithful in personal evangelism. However, the major failure of the book is that it fails to have any understanding of the relationship of the Church or Christian community in evangelism and discipleship.

Revival and Revivalism – Iain Murray (for class)

Awesome. Eye-opening. This book is essential reading for every one who needs to understand why American Christianity is what it is today. It starts by tracing the revivals of the late 18th century up through the revivalism of the mid to late 1800s. Note the key distinction in terms.

April

Tell the Truth – Will Metzger (for class)

Yes, I read this twice for two different purposes… See above for notes.

Total Church – Tim Chester & Steve Timmis (for class)

Very helpful book. Excellent in tandem with Metzger’s book–they’re complementary.

Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism - Jim Wilson (for class)

Good fodder for thinking through strategies of reaching the community and the world with the Gospel. Written by an ex-Navy dude–who happens to be the father of Doug Wilson.

Evangelicalism Divided – Iain Murray (for class)

I’ve said that you should read everything by Iain Murray, and I mean it. This book might be the single most helpful thing I’ve read by him–a history of evangelicalism from 1950-2000. Tremendous. If you want to understand the contemporary climate of evangelicalism, there is no better book. Very excellent when read after Revival and Revivalism.

The Mortification of Sin – John Owen (for d-group)

This is about the 4th or 5th time I’ve read this book. Never get tired of it. I’m writing a blog post series on it over here.

The Christian Soldier – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for study)

Love, love, love, Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Especially after reading Murray’s Evangelicalism Divided. Though I did not actually finish this book due to time constraints, it was very helpful as I finished out our series through Ephesians at the Fold.

The Full Armor of God – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for study)

See my comments above.

December/January Books

December:

 

Heaven Misplaced – Doug Wilson (for fun)

A fun and challenging take on eschatology. Not buying every bit of it, but it’s a worthy read.

 

Desiring God – John Piper (for D-Group)

A modern classic on practical Christian living. This must be the billionth time I’ve read it.

 

2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Vol. 2: The Middle Ages – N.R. Needham (for class)

Good, accessible.

 

Handbook of Church Discipline – Jay Adams (for class)

Very helpful.

 

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for sermon prep)

Beautiful, rich.

 

January:

 

 

A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle (for fun)

Doyle’s first Holmes novel. Mine, too. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

The Sign of Four – Arthur Conan Doyle (for fun)

Pretty good.

 

Mortification of Sin – John Owen (for class)

Unbelievable. Unparalleled. No one deals with the heart like Owen. No one. Read this book once a year—at the least.

 

Of Temptation – John Owen (for class)

Excellent. Another must-read. In fact, read the entire volume Crossway published called “Sin & Temptation.” You won’t regret it.

 

Christian Unity – Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for sermon prep)

Very good. Lloyd-Jones has been invaluable to me in helping me rapidly process and get to the heart of Ephesians.

 

What I Read This Summer

(Jake) I thought it might be fun to start sharing some of my reading with you guys and a one line review or so. Plus, I figured you’d rather read that than see the pictures of Amanda’s awesome pregnant-on-Halloween costume (not).

I’ll start with this past summer (June-August), but first a word about C.S. Lewis.

Lewis is one of those authors I have a visceral reaction to just because so many people love him–especially evangelical Christians. I know, I know… how pretentious, right? However, I loved reading The Chronicles of Narnia as a kid, and I jumped into rereading them with Amanda. So, as an act of faith (repentance, maybe?), this summer became what might best be called “The Summer of C.S. Lewis.”

The Chronicles of Narnia:

Prince Caspian – C.S. Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair – C.S. Lewis

The Horse and His Boy – C.S. Lewis

The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

 

If you haven’t read these, you should. These books are fun and fun is good.

 

Everything That Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor

 

Excellent. O’Connor gets at the heart of southern hypocrisy. These short stories are somewhat morose and depressing, but always in a good, wholesome way–if you ask me.

 

A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking

 

Brilliant, accessible, humble, and often funny. Very good writing from a very brilliant dude. He’s clearly one of the most strident worshipers of the Cosmos you’ll ever find. If you ever thought reading theoretical physics could be fun, this is the book for you.

 

Lectures to My Students – C.H. Spurgeon

 

Perhaps the best and most helpful book I read this summer–although I stopped reading it when I realized it was in my fall curriculum. Spurgeon is a hero.

 

The Man Who Was Called Thursday: A Nightmare – G.K. Chesterton

 

Exhilarating. Chesterton is always a ton of fun. Read everything he’s ever written.

 

Outgrowing the Ingrown Church – Jack Miller

 

Not ground-breaking by any stretch, but certainly helpful.

 

How to Read a Book – Mortimer Adler

 

Helpful. Very intuitive. Everyone should at least skim it once. It convinced me to mark up my books.

 

The Mortification of Sin – John Owen

 

Killer good, and a must read.

 

Shepherding a Child’s Heart – Tedd Tripp

 

A helpful guide to getting at the root of your kid’s behavior.

 

God the Redeemer – James Boice

 

Eh… Just read Calvin.

 

Sermons on Ephesians – John Calvin

 

Good, but not as helpful as I’d hoped. Probably because I rarely sat down and gave it the time I should have. Oh yeah, and never actually finished…

 

The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis

 

Overrated. But not without merit.

 

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle

 

Read this one as a kid and wanted to reread it. Kind of gross, actually–not nearly as fun as I remembered.

 

The Space Trilogy:

Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis

Perelandra – C.S. Lewis

That Hideous Strength – C.S. Lewis

 

Absolutely brilliant. Adult fiction that couldn’t be farther removed from Narnia in terms of writing style and content. If you don’t read anything else I read this summer, read That Hideous Strength. Very insightful. Lewis’ strengths in fiction lie largely in integrating cultural commentary into the plot, and this book is masterful.

 

Defending the Faith – D.G. Hart

Biography of J. Gresham Machen, Princeton professor at the turn of the last century. Pretentious author, helpful content. Wasn’t able to finish, but definitely intend to when things slow down. Probably not worth your time, though.