One of the privileges of my job is time to read and study. And I love to read anyway in the evenings before I go to bed. So, from this month on, I intend to record on this blog the books I read each month, with some lessons and reflections and some recommendations for books I think all Christians should try and read.
Top Recommendation: Sunday Matters by Paul David Tripp
Every Christian who ever feels tempted to miss the weekly gathering of the Church should read this book. Tripp writes 52 short chapters, one for each week of the year, with 52 wonderful reasons to prioritise gathering with God’s people on the Lord’s Day. He includes several encouragements and some Bible verses to read and reflect on each chapter. I loved it. It increased my faith for what God can do each time the Church gathers and increased my excitement for each Sunday morning. We’re going to incorporate some of Tripp’s content into our social media on Saturday evenings.
Other Books I’ve read: The Forgotten Way by Alan Hirsch
A few weeks ago, leaders from all the UK Commission churches gathered together. Vinu Paul, supported by Samir, led a really interesting discussion about the future of the Commission family. Samir presented the way Commission in India have adopted APEST Hubs to grow the Church. APEST stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, so this is a way of organising apostolic mission around the Ephesian 4 gifts. To educate myself further, I picked up Hirsch’s book. This is a book for church leaders to think about how church should organise herself, so I wouldn’t recommend it to people in the Church necessarily. It’s certainly a provocative book, calling churches not be stuck in historic systems that hold back the growth of the Kingdon of God. APEST hubs sound good, although I think the system would be much improved if they were led by pairs of people with a recognised apostolic ministry rather than individuals. Apostles working in pairs is the Biblical pattern. APEST is just one sixth of what Hirsch writes about and there’s lots good in what he writes. I’m not fully sold, but enjoyed the provocation.
Walking With God by Richard Baxter
I’m using this link for inspiration on short books I can read in an afternoon – https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/50-short-books-wisdom/. Baxter’s Walking With God was a real joy. During the first chapter there’s an emphasis on the simple but glorious reward of being with God. He is the reward Himself! Rachael and I will sometimes go for a walk together, with our dog, once Rachael is home from work. It’s good to stretch our legs, but the real reward is time together talking and catching up. This book reminded me that the real joy of Christianity is being with God, every step of life! I also always enjoy the Puritan technique of anticipating objections to their teaching and doing question and answer style chapters to anticipate any opposition the book’s argument may get.
God, Greed and the (Prosperity) Gospel by Costi Hinn
Thanks to Mike Thompson for buying this for me. I lectured at London Seminary this month on the history of the Restoration movement, Reformed Charismatics and the dangers and heresies associated with Charismatic churches. Namely, that means a 40 minute lecture on how, even though I’m a Biblically convinced Charismatic, I recognise that a large portion of the Charismatic Church believes in the False Prosperity Gospel. This book was really helpful preparing for that. If you’ve ever been a fan of Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland or Kenneth Hagin, read this book. These guys preaching Prosperity Gospel are False Teachers, deliberate liars making lots of money off of their lies. Costi Hinn lived it before seeing the truth for himself and the book is excellent. I think Benny Hinn has repented now, but haven’t researched what he said, so can’t vouch for that.
Samuel Rutherford and some of his correspondents by Alexander Whyte
I had hoped to just read and digest some letters written by a Puritan Christian, but Whyte includes quite a lot of his own narrative and the odd quote here and there. Wasn’t patient enough to read the whole book and skimmed a few pages. The great lesson here is that Rutherford loved to write to people to encourage them in the faith. I would like to do more and certainly need to write a good newsletter and encouragement for CCF as we head into 2025.
Unruly by David Mitchell
Can’t recommend this to Christians because of some of the language, but mostly it’s an amusing, interesting history of British Kings. I genuinely chuckled out loud quite a few times while reading it. Interestingly, when commenting on the Venerable Bede’s works of History, Mitchell says he used to be a definite agnostic, who didn’t much understand or like religion. But now, he said he’s “much less confident rejecting” the Christian Worldview than he was thirty years ago. I prayed for his salvation and think many are now realising that the atheist/agnostic Worldview just doesn’t lead to fulfilled lives.
Top Article Recommendation: “John Mark Comer’s View of God” by Wyatt Graham – https://www.wyattgraham.com/p/how-john-mark-comers-view-of-god
This is probably quite heavy for your average Christian. I’m recommending this article for two reasons. Firstly, John Mark Comer is probably the author I have heard mentioned most often amongst New Frontiers Leaders in the last two years and I’ve skimmed some of his stuff and been surprised at how influential he’s become. Secondly, I think the Sovereignty of God is a really beautiful doctrine and Comer gets it all wrong. Graham does a good job of gently showing where there are concerns. Comer is a Christian brother and a really brilliant thinker and writer, but is also definitely deviating from and slightly misrepresenting historical Reformed Christians.
Another article recommendation: “Forget About Yourself” by Scott Hubbard – https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/forget-about-yourself
For a slightly more relevant article for most Christians, check out this call to humility or self-forgetfulness by Scott Hubbard. Very helpful.
Top Reference Recommendation: So, each month I’ll recommend a book that I have not and probably never will read cover to cover, but a book that I use for reference often.
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament by G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson.
This book is amazing. It is a catalogue of all the times Beale and Carson have noticed that a New Testament passage references, quotes, alludes to, builds on an Old Testament passage. It is a phenomenal piece of work that is so helpful for going deeper into New Testament and Old Testament passages. If I am reading a passage in the Old Testament and thinking “this is hard work”, I’ll often grab this book and see if the New Testament ever references what I have read. If I am preaching in the New Testament, I will nearly always have a quick look at this book to see if there are any Old Testament References I have missed.
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