January Reading Log

Okay, here goes...

 1. The Grace of Repentance, by Sinclair Ferguson. 3 stars.

This short little booklet by Sinclair Ferguson sets for a classic, Reformed understanding of the doctrine of repentance.  The book has six chapters, the first three of which deserve 4 stars. The last three I thought were the weakest of the book, and seemed to be essays the author had written elsewhere that were thrown into this work to make it a short book length study.

I picked this book up in preparation for an upcoming series at New City Church, & there are some good nuggets that will prove helpful.

"Faith is trusting in Christ; repentance is turning from sin. They are two sides of the same coin of belonging to Jesus." 

"Evil deeds [& thoughts & words] are the fruit of an evil heart. They are not an aberration from our true self but a revelation of it."

 2. The Gospel & the Kingdom, G.E. Ladd. 4.5 stars.

I was first introduced to George Eldon Ladd in seminary with his massive, A Theology of the New Testament." This smaller book dealing with the Gospel and the Kingdom of Christ is a good work highlighting the fact that Christ's kingdom is both a present and future reality.  I enjoyed the chapter called "The Kingdom is Today" the most. Overall, it is a very important work.

"The kingdom of God belongs to the Age to Come. Yet the Age to Come has overlapped with this Age. We may taste of its powers and thereby be delivered from This Age and no longer live in conformity to it. This new transforming power is the power of The Age to Come; it is indeed the power of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is future, but it is not only future. Like the powers of The Age to Come, the Kingdom of God has invaded this evil Age that men may know something of its blessings even while the evil Age goes on."

 3. The Gift & Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today, by Craig Keener. 3 stars.

I picked up this intro to charismatic theology by the respected scholar, Craig Keener. It had some great moments, but the consistency seemed to be off. He took on John MacArthur's Charismatic Chaos in a few places accusing him of using the worst examples / excesses of the Charismatic movement to make his case. Despite some of the uneven aspects of the work, it was a good overall primer on charismatic theology. It is an important reference for study in this area.

"It is most fully in worship that our hearts can embrace who God is, adoring him and finding the ways of his heart."

 4. Licensed to Kill: A Field Manual for Mortifying Sin, by Brian Hedges. 5 stars.

Brian Hedges has one of the best introductions to the Christian life that I have seen. It is called, Christ Formed in You: The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change (5 stars. Get it!). In that book, he has one chapter on the subject of mortification--or putting sin to death in our lives. What was in good, seminal form he unpacks further in Licensed to Kill. 

This little book comes with a powerful punch and is very practical. I read through it with some men from New City Church and we all benefitted from it immensely. The plus of Hedges work is that he roots our calling to put sin to death in our lives in the Gospel of grace itself. Therefore, there is no "Let go and let God" theology here. Neither is there a "Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" mentality. Hedges does an excellent job teaching us how the Cross kills sin, and further what our active responsibility is in this endeavor.

"If we want to kill sin, we must aim at the right target. That target is not merely bad behavior but the sinful desires of the heart that produce the behavior. Mortifying sin will certainly bring about changes in what we say and do, but we need more than external reformation. Many people change their behavior without changing their heart to any significant degree. But Jesus is concerned about the root and motivation of sinful behavior--our drives and desires--not simply the behavior itself."