RELIGION SAVES
+ NINE other MISCONCEPTIONS
by Mark Driscoll
Table of Contents
Introduction
Question 9: Birth Control
Question 8: Humor
Question 7: Predestination
Question 6: Grace
Question 5: Sexual Sin
Question 4: Faith and Works
Question 3: Dating
Question 2: The Emerging Church
Question 1: The Regulative Principle
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Review of "Religion Saves"
RELIGION SAVES
+ NINE other MISCONCEPTIONS
by Mark Driscoll
Another Mark Driscoll book, another hard-hitting winner as far as I'm concerned. Mark takes the top 9 questions people submitted to him and answers them in his no-holds-barred straight forward style. You may not agree with him on every issue, but you won't wonder where he stands.
Mark takes on "religious" people, who go beyond what the Bible has written on issues and draw firm lines where the Bible has not. Instead, he attempts to think biblically about the issues that seem to dominate some intra- and inter- faith discussions. You may have other pressing questions than these nine, but reading through this book will give you a great sense of where many people are and how Mark answers them as a pastor and a man who cares about truth.
+ NINE other MISCONCEPTIONS
by Mark Driscoll
Another Mark Driscoll book, another hard-hitting winner as far as I'm concerned. Mark takes the top 9 questions people submitted to him and answers them in his no-holds-barred straight forward style. You may not agree with him on every issue, but you won't wonder where he stands.
Mark takes on "religious" people, who go beyond what the Bible has written on issues and draw firm lines where the Bible has not. Instead, he attempts to think biblically about the issues that seem to dominate some intra- and inter- faith discussions. You may have other pressing questions than these nine, but reading through this book will give you a great sense of where many people are and how Mark answers them as a pastor and a man who cares about truth.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Prodigal God
The Prodigal God
Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
by Tim Keller
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Parable
ONE - The People around Jesus: "All gathering around to hear him."
Two Kinds of People
Why People Like Jesus but Not the Church
TWO - The Two Lost Sons: "There was a man who had two sons."
The Lost Younger Brother
The Younger Brother's Plan
The Lost Elder Brother
THREE - Redefining Sin: "All these years I've been slaving for you."
Two ways to find happiness
Two Lost Sons
A Deeper Understanding of Sin
Both Wrong; Both Loved
FOUR - Redefining Lostness: "The older brother became angry and refused to go in."
Anger and Superiority
Slavishness and Emptiness
Who Needs to Know This?
FIVE - The True Elder Brother: "My son, everything I have is yours."
What we need
Who We need
SIX - Redefining Hope: "He set off for a far country."
Our Longing for Home
The Difficulty of Return
The Feast at the end of History
SEVEN - The Feast of the Father: "He heard music and dancing."
Salvation is Experiential
Salvation is Material
Salvation is Individual
Salvation is Communal
Babette's Feast
Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
by Tim Keller
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Parable
ONE - The People around Jesus: "All gathering around to hear him."
Two Kinds of People
Why People Like Jesus but Not the Church
TWO - The Two Lost Sons: "There was a man who had two sons."
The Lost Younger Brother
The Younger Brother's Plan
The Lost Elder Brother
THREE - Redefining Sin: "All these years I've been slaving for you."
Two ways to find happiness
Two Lost Sons
A Deeper Understanding of Sin
Both Wrong; Both Loved
FOUR - Redefining Lostness: "The older brother became angry and refused to go in."
Anger and Superiority
Slavishness and Emptiness
Who Needs to Know This?
FIVE - The True Elder Brother: "My son, everything I have is yours."
What we need
Who We need
SIX - Redefining Hope: "He set off for a far country."
Our Longing for Home
The Difficulty of Return
The Feast at the end of History
SEVEN - The Feast of the Father: "He heard music and dancing."
Salvation is Experiential
Salvation is Material
Salvation is Individual
Salvation is Communal
Babette's Feast
Review of "The Prodigal God"
The Prodigal God
Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
by Tim Keller
The Prodigal God is one of two books I have read on the "Prodigal Son" parable (A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur being the other). Both books have added depth to my understanding and appreciation for what is often known as the "best short story ever written." Neither of the authors focus solely on the Younger Brother, as most discussion I have heard have done - but Tim Keller speaks to all the characters - and the audience of the parable.
One must start with the title, which probably has given many people a bit of a pause - and I think Dr. Keller did that on purpose. I know I tended to associate the word "prodigal" with the excessive lifestyle and wanderings of the younger son, but Keller points out that the definition of prodigal includes "recklessly extravagent" and "having spent everything" - both wonderful descriptions of the lavish love the Father of this story has for his wayward sons. Keller masterfully points us to Our Heavenly Father, who has been "recklessly extravagent" in his pursuit of changing sinners into sons.
Dr. Keller's treatment of the condition of the older son is masterful, and he emphasizes that though both sons are alienated from the Father in different ways, the Father loves both and calls them to reconciliation. He also explains why we are left hanging about the resolution of the Elder brother's relationship to the Father and how that related to his audience - the Pharisees.
This is another book making my top list, and it is one I would recommend to people - even people wondering about Christianity. This really does show how this parable gets to the Heart of the Christian faith - not the religion.
Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
by Tim Keller
The Prodigal God is one of two books I have read on the "Prodigal Son" parable (A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur being the other). Both books have added depth to my understanding and appreciation for what is often known as the "best short story ever written." Neither of the authors focus solely on the Younger Brother, as most discussion I have heard have done - but Tim Keller speaks to all the characters - and the audience of the parable.
One must start with the title, which probably has given many people a bit of a pause - and I think Dr. Keller did that on purpose. I know I tended to associate the word "prodigal" with the excessive lifestyle and wanderings of the younger son, but Keller points out that the definition of prodigal includes "recklessly extravagent" and "having spent everything" - both wonderful descriptions of the lavish love the Father of this story has for his wayward sons. Keller masterfully points us to Our Heavenly Father, who has been "recklessly extravagent" in his pursuit of changing sinners into sons.
Dr. Keller's treatment of the condition of the older son is masterful, and he emphasizes that though both sons are alienated from the Father in different ways, the Father loves both and calls them to reconciliation. He also explains why we are left hanging about the resolution of the Elder brother's relationship to the Father and how that related to his audience - the Pharisees.
This is another book making my top list, and it is one I would recommend to people - even people wondering about Christianity. This really does show how this parable gets to the Heart of the Christian faith - not the religion.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Review of "Lost in the Middle"
Table of Contents
Preface: A New Awareness
Introduction: The Bible and Midlife
Chapter 1: Midlife: A portrait
Chapter 2: Two Midlife Psalms
Chapter 3: The Death of Invincibility
Chapter 4: The Leaves are Off the Trees
Chapter 5: Towers to the Sky
Chapter 6: Lost in the Middle: Don's Story
Chapter 7: Painful Faith: God's Story and Suffering
Chapter 8: May I Speak to the Manager Please?
Chapter 9: Golden Calves
Chapter 10: Finding the Real You
Chapter 11: Last Chapter, First Values
Chapter 12: Grace That is Greater
Preface: A New Awareness
Introduction: The Bible and Midlife
Chapter 1: Midlife: A portrait
Chapter 2: Two Midlife Psalms
Chapter 3: The Death of Invincibility
Chapter 4: The Leaves are Off the Trees
Chapter 5: Towers to the Sky
Chapter 6: Lost in the Middle: Don's Story
Chapter 7: Painful Faith: God's Story and Suffering
Chapter 8: May I Speak to the Manager Please?
Chapter 9: Golden Calves
Chapter 10: Finding the Real You
Chapter 11: Last Chapter, First Values
Chapter 12: Grace That is Greater
Review of "Lost in the Middle"
Lost in the Middle
Midlife and the Grace of God
by Paul Tripp
Life interrupted my reading of this book. I read the first three quarters of it a few months ago and put the book down in favor of other pressing responsibilities. Now that they are completed, I have had time to pick up this book again, and it was refreshing. Reluctantly, I will admit that I am now in "mid-life" - although I surmise that Paul includes just about anyone whose life has shaped up to be different than they planned, but not yet contemplating "retirement." In short, just about everyone.
I have less hair than I used to, and my beard is peppered now. I have been going to the gym to try to regain at least a rough outline of my wrestling physique. My life is certainly not the way I would have arranged it or predicted it, and this book helped me to continue to deal with the fact that the plan my loving heavenly Father has for me is better - even though I don't understand it.
I love Paul's style and his use of real life as examples. I may not be able yet to identify with all the particulars of his examples - but I can see they are just around the bend ... however, the underlying categories of struggles are more than familiar to me ...
My Story is not primarily about me, and it is not limited to my myopic view of the world. Paul points at that we must recognize that there is a larger story in history, a story that includes millions and billions of people - individuals known by name to the Lord and yet gathered as a people for His Glory. Unless I see the bigger story, and see the hand of the Lord moving in my life to make me more into the image of his son for his glory, I will not be able to make sense out of life. If I live for money, pleasure, prestige, or anything other than God, midlife has a way of exposing empty dreams and unfulfilled promises. Just as Adam and Eve fell for the serpent's lie and found much bitterness in following him, we too fall for his tricks as we live for things that will ultimately not satisfy.
God is present in the midst of our lives, and he is present in our sufferings, mistakes, and sins. He is there because He is committed to us for His name's sake more than we are committed to our folly. Thus, we must know the end of the story - where He is taking us - before we can make sense out of where we are ...
I am planning to give this book to a number of people in my life, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is between graduation and the grave ...
Midlife and the Grace of God
by Paul Tripp
Life interrupted my reading of this book. I read the first three quarters of it a few months ago and put the book down in favor of other pressing responsibilities. Now that they are completed, I have had time to pick up this book again, and it was refreshing. Reluctantly, I will admit that I am now in "mid-life" - although I surmise that Paul includes just about anyone whose life has shaped up to be different than they planned, but not yet contemplating "retirement." In short, just about everyone.
I have less hair than I used to, and my beard is peppered now. I have been going to the gym to try to regain at least a rough outline of my wrestling physique. My life is certainly not the way I would have arranged it or predicted it, and this book helped me to continue to deal with the fact that the plan my loving heavenly Father has for me is better - even though I don't understand it.
I love Paul's style and his use of real life as examples. I may not be able yet to identify with all the particulars of his examples - but I can see they are just around the bend ... however, the underlying categories of struggles are more than familiar to me ...
My Story is not primarily about me, and it is not limited to my myopic view of the world. Paul points at that we must recognize that there is a larger story in history, a story that includes millions and billions of people - individuals known by name to the Lord and yet gathered as a people for His Glory. Unless I see the bigger story, and see the hand of the Lord moving in my life to make me more into the image of his son for his glory, I will not be able to make sense out of life. If I live for money, pleasure, prestige, or anything other than God, midlife has a way of exposing empty dreams and unfulfilled promises. Just as Adam and Eve fell for the serpent's lie and found much bitterness in following him, we too fall for his tricks as we live for things that will ultimately not satisfy.
God is present in the midst of our lives, and he is present in our sufferings, mistakes, and sins. He is there because He is committed to us for His name's sake more than we are committed to our folly. Thus, we must know the end of the story - where He is taking us - before we can make sense out of where we are ...
I am planning to give this book to a number of people in my life, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is between graduation and the grave ...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Review of "The Reason for God"
Table of Contents
Part 1: The Leap of Doubt
ONE: There Can't Be Just One True Religion
TWO: How Could a Good God Allow Suffering
THREE: Christianity Is a Straightjacket
FOUR: The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
FIVE: How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
SIX: Science Has Disproved Christianity
SEVEN: You Can't Take the Bible Literally
Intermission
Part 2: The Reasons for Faith
EIGHT: The Clues of God
NINE: The Knowledge of God
TEN: The Problem of Sin
ELEVEN:Religion and the Gospel
TWELVE: The (True) Story of the Cross
THIRTEEN: The Reality of the Resurrection
FOURTEEN: The Dance of God
Epilogue: Where do we go from here?
Part 1: The Leap of Doubt
ONE: There Can't Be Just One True Religion
TWO: How Could a Good God Allow Suffering
THREE: Christianity Is a Straightjacket
FOUR: The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
FIVE: How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
SIX: Science Has Disproved Christianity
SEVEN: You Can't Take the Bible Literally
Intermission
Part 2: The Reasons for Faith
EIGHT: The Clues of God
NINE: The Knowledge of God
TEN: The Problem of Sin
ELEVEN:Religion and the Gospel
TWELVE: The (True) Story of the Cross
THIRTEEN: The Reality of the Resurrection
FOURTEEN: The Dance of God
Epilogue: Where do we go from here?
Review of "The Reason for God"
The Reason for God
Belief in an age of Skepticism
by Tim Keller
It is rather remarkable to have read 4 of my top 10 books in the past six months, but that is what has happened. I had heard good things about this book from my friends and it did not disappoint, as it became the third best book I have read - and it is not far from How People Change and Desiring God, although I would be surprised to see them toppled in the coming years.
Just about everything I have read from Tim Keller's pen has been good, and much of it inspires me to think beyond my own life. I wish this book had been available 20 years ago ... but God planned for me to read this book right at this point in my walk with Him, and so I shall not grumble ...
One can tell from Keller's book that he has had much interaction with real people asking real questions. I don't know how to go about describing this book without writing one myself, so let me share a few quotes that I wrote down as I read:
"Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. He comes to forgive us and save us through his life and death in our place." (p.19)
"God's grace does not come to those who morally outperform others but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior." (p.19)
"Religion operates on the principle 'I obey - therefore I am accepted by God." But the operating principle of the gospel is "I am accepted by God through what Christ has done - therefore I obey." (p. 179-180)
"If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with "rights" - I would have done my duty and now would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace - then there's nothing he cannot ask of me." (p. 183)
"The latter is ... an effort to get control of God through your prayers and practices ... approaching God as a means to an end ... using God rather than trusting him." (p. 228)
Obviously, those are sections that stuck out to me, based on my history and where I am currently in my walk with God. There are plenty of other great sections of the book that others will highlight. Dr. Keller has done a great job of taking the most profound objections to Christianty and turning them around to show the logical inconsistencies in the argument against the Christian God.
While I wouldn't recommend this for my daughter quite yet, I would definitely recommend this to any teen or adult who wants to have a serious discussion about faith in the God of the Bible.
Belief in an age of Skepticism
by Tim Keller
It is rather remarkable to have read 4 of my top 10 books in the past six months, but that is what has happened. I had heard good things about this book from my friends and it did not disappoint, as it became the third best book I have read - and it is not far from How People Change and Desiring God, although I would be surprised to see them toppled in the coming years.
Just about everything I have read from Tim Keller's pen has been good, and much of it inspires me to think beyond my own life. I wish this book had been available 20 years ago ... but God planned for me to read this book right at this point in my walk with Him, and so I shall not grumble ...
One can tell from Keller's book that he has had much interaction with real people asking real questions. I don't know how to go about describing this book without writing one myself, so let me share a few quotes that I wrote down as I read:
"Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. He comes to forgive us and save us through his life and death in our place." (p.19)
"God's grace does not come to those who morally outperform others but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior." (p.19)
"Religion operates on the principle 'I obey - therefore I am accepted by God." But the operating principle of the gospel is "I am accepted by God through what Christ has done - therefore I obey." (p. 179-180)
"If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with "rights" - I would have done my duty and now would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace - then there's nothing he cannot ask of me." (p. 183)
"The latter is ... an effort to get control of God through your prayers and practices ... approaching God as a means to an end ... using God rather than trusting him." (p. 228)
Obviously, those are sections that stuck out to me, based on my history and where I am currently in my walk with God. There are plenty of other great sections of the book that others will highlight. Dr. Keller has done a great job of taking the most profound objections to Christianty and turning them around to show the logical inconsistencies in the argument against the Christian God.
While I wouldn't recommend this for my daughter quite yet, I would definitely recommend this to any teen or adult who wants to have a serious discussion about faith in the God of the Bible.
Summer Reading Plan
Here's my summer reading plan:
Galatians (8 times)
Romans
Psalms 1-12
Psalms 138-150
Exodus 20-33
The Expositor's Greek NT Commentary: Galatians
Galatians (MacArthur)
Galatians (Ramsay)
Galatians (Calvin)
Galatians (Ryken)
Galatians (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Galatians (Wiersbe)
Galatians (Matthew Henry)
Sections on Justification in Chafer, Hodge, Grudem, Tennet
Sections on Sanctification in Chafer, Hodge, Grudem, Tennet
Sections on Just./Sanct. by Edwards, Van Til, Warfield
The Justification of God (Piper)
NT Wright and Piper
Sproul on Faith alone
Just./Sanct. in Paul:An Outline of His Theology (Ridderbos)
Whiter than Snow (Tripp)
The Reason for God (Keller)
Lost in the Middle (Tripp)
A tale of two sons (MacArthur)
The Prodigal God (Keller)
A Quest for More (Tripp)
Step by Step (Petty)
War of Words (Tripp)
Future Grace (Piper)
When People are Big and God is small (Welch)
Let the Nations Be Glad (Piper)
The Dispensational/Covenental Rift (Mangum)
Speaking Truth in Love (Powlison)
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen)
Seeing with New Eyes (Powlison)
Depression: A stubborn darkness (Welch)
Maybe overly ambitious ... we'll see
Galatians (8 times)
Romans
Psalms 1-12
Psalms 138-150
Exodus 20-33
The Expositor's Greek NT Commentary: Galatians
Galatians (MacArthur)
Galatians (Ramsay)
Galatians (Calvin)
Galatians (Ryken)
Galatians (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Galatians (Wiersbe)
Galatians (Matthew Henry)
Sections on Justification in Chafer, Hodge, Grudem, Tennet
Sections on Sanctification in Chafer, Hodge, Grudem, Tennet
Sections on Just./Sanct. by Edwards, Van Til, Warfield
The Justification of God (Piper)
NT Wright and Piper
Sproul on Faith alone
Just./Sanct. in Paul:An Outline of His Theology (Ridderbos)
Whiter than Snow (Tripp)
The Reason for God (Keller)
Lost in the Middle (Tripp)
A tale of two sons (MacArthur)
The Prodigal God (Keller)
A Quest for More (Tripp)
Step by Step (Petty)
War of Words (Tripp)
Future Grace (Piper)
When People are Big and God is small (Welch)
Let the Nations Be Glad (Piper)
The Dispensational/Covenental Rift (Mangum)
Speaking Truth in Love (Powlison)
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen)
Seeing with New Eyes (Powlison)
Depression: A stubborn darkness (Welch)
Maybe overly ambitious ... we'll see
Top 10 books
My Top 10 recommended books that I have personally read ...
10. The Dispensational-Covenantal Rift (R. Todd Mangum)
9. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis)
8. When Sinners Say "I Do" (Dave Harvey)
7. Mere Christianity (CS Lewis)
6. Whiter than Snow (Paul Tripp)
5. Instruments in the Hands of the Redeemer (Paul Tripp)
4. Death By Love (Mark Driscoll)
3. The Reason for God (Tim Keller)
2. How People Change (Tim Lane)
1. Desiring God (John Piper)
10. The Dispensational-Covenantal Rift (R. Todd Mangum)
9. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis)
8. When Sinners Say "I Do" (Dave Harvey)
7. Mere Christianity (CS Lewis)
6. Whiter than Snow (Paul Tripp)
5. Instruments in the Hands of the Redeemer (Paul Tripp)
4. Death By Love (Mark Driscoll)
3. The Reason for God (Tim Keller)
2. How People Change (Tim Lane)
1. Desiring God (John Piper)
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