Book Log: May 2010

45.  Beyond Smells & Bells:  The Wonder & Power of Christian Liturgy.  6 out of 10 stars.

I hate it when you have high expectations for a book and then it just crashes & burns.   That's how I felt with this book by the managing editor of Christianity Today.  I must admit, I fell for the title.  But, as my Grandpa used to say, that paper will hold still and let you put anything on it you want.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm a liturgical kind of guy--when it is done right & well.  But I was hoping for a book to be able to give people that gives a biblical rationale for the different parts of the worship service.  But I was disappointed.  This book was at best a feel good explanation that probably satisfies very surface questions of what does the liturgy does for me.  There were a couple of good quotes, such as...

"The liturgy lives out a story in a story-deprived world...By participating in the liturgy, we're doing more than 'attending a service.'  We are entering a story--a story in which we also play a role.  We are the people who have indeed been gathered.  We ar ethe people who share in Go's very life.  We are sent forth to proclaim God's story and to invite peole into the grand story." 

46.  When Helping Hurts:  How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...And Yourself.  8.5 stars out of 10. 

This book is an excellent resource that would serve people well on a number of levels:  short term & long term missions, mercy & social justice ministries, as well as Christians who desire to make a dent in the issues of poverty that surround us.

The contribution this book makes is in its understanding of the creation & fall grids through which we should view the issue of poverty.  Building on the work of Bryant Myers, Walking with the Poor, the authors concur:

"Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable.  Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings."  

Basically, the book rightfully contends that poverty is much more than the lack of economic resources.  Economic, social, political & religious systems are broken.  The Gospel address all of these, and seeks to heal humans in each of these realms.  The book addresses the god-complexes of the Western rich as well as the shame & feelings of inferiority that the poor carry with them.  The book is well worth the read for any Christian that wants to help and have their help really help. 

47.  Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne.  7 out of 10 stars.

I read this book to the family after meals and we had a good time following the adventures of the cool Mr. Phileas Fogg, his servant Passaportout, and their perils around the world.   I must say, even though I consider myself fairly educated, I don't think I have read a book in my whole adult life that contained so much new vocabulary for me.  I take comfort in the fact that my brilliant and educated wife didn't know what half these words meant.  It's hard to fathom how my son, Jason, read this book when he was 10.

At any rate, we had an enjoyable time, and even though we knew Mr. Phileas Fogg was going to make it around the world in 80 days, we were still surprised and delighted with how the story ended.  If you are going to read through this book, keep a dictionary close by!

Reading List: April 2010

36. The Dante Club.  6 stars out of 10.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't get there.  It even had an endorsement from Dan Brown which suckered me into reading it.

It's the story of a group of scholars--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J.T. Fields--who are translating Dante's Inferno into English for the first time.  There are powers that be at Harvard who don't want it to be published in English.  But when some murders appear that could only have arisen from an intimate knowledge of the sufferings in The Inferno, the scholars track down clues to prevent more deaths.  

It had lots of potential, but the book tried too hard.  It had a couple of more exciting parts to it, but for the most part, it just dragged.  It could have been about a third shorter & would have been a lot better. 

"We all revolve around God with larger or lesser orbits, I suppose, Wendell, sometimes one half of us is in the light, sometimes the other.  Some people always seem to be in the shadow....."

37.    1 Corinthians, by the Apostle Paul.

This is one of two letters that Paul wrote to an amazing gifted & amazingly twisted church in 1st century Corinth.

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

38.  "Revelation," by Flannery O'Connor.  10 out of 10 stars.

This is my favorite story by my favorite southern author.  I recently reread it for about the 4th or 5th time, and it simply gets better with every reading.  I told my wife that this might be the perfect short story.

Ruby Turpin gets a surprising "revelation" from a college girl who throws a book--aptly titled Human Development, at her in a doctor's waiting room.  The girl grew irate after listening to the jolly but self-righteous Mrs. Turpin talk about herself & condescendingly about others.

"Her gaze locked with Mrs. Turpin's.  'Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog,' she whispered."

The rest of the story deals with Mrs. Turpin's "revelation" & her anger at God.

" 'What do you send me a message like that for?' she said in a low fierce voice, barely above a whisper but with the force of a shout in its concentrated fury.  'How am I a hog and me both?  How am I saved and from hell too?'"

A-gruntin and a-rootin and a-groanin.

She unexpectedly gets one more revelation, and was graced to hear "the voices of souls climbing upward into the starry field and shouting hallelujah."

This is no cheesey Christian fiction stuff that is so prevalent today.  O'Connor was a Roman Catholic writer writing in the Christ-haunted protestant south back in the 1st half of the 20th century.  Good stuff.  Go get it & read it.

On a side note, one's reading pleasure from O'Connor will be enhanced if one reads along with it Baylor Professor Ralph Wood's excellent work, Flannery O'Connor & the Christ-haunted South which I am doing as I'm making my way through her works.

39.  "Parker's Back," by Flannery O'Connor.  9 out of 10 stars.

This is another favorite story of mine.  O.E. Parker meets the ugly (speaking more to the inside) Sarah Ruth.  They have nothing in common.  He's a regular ol' guy, lost as he can be both in relation to God & in life.  She's a stuck-up, self-righteous, Scripture quoting, people-hating Christian (I know, an oxymoron).  They end up married.  And nothing good can come of that.

When Parker was 14, he saw a man at a fair whose body was covered in tattooed from head to foot.  O'Connor narrates,

"Until he saw the man at the fair, it did not enter his head that there was anything out of the ordinary about the fact that he existed.  Even then it did not enter his head, but a peculiar unease settled in him."

One day, while driving a tractor, he runs into a tree & it bursts into flame.  Parker shouts, "God above!" as he falls out of the tractor.  His conversion experience sends him immediately on a search for a tattoo that will impress his wife.  He settles on getting a picture of Jesus tattooed on his back--the only place where he has any blank canvas left.

He goes home to show his wife, takes off his shirt & makes her look at it.

"Don't you know who it is?" he cried in anguish.

"No, who is it?" Sarah Ruth said.  It ain't anybody I know."

"It's him," Parker said.  

"Him who?"

"God!" Parker cried.

"God?  God don't look like that!"

I'll leave the rest to you, but there are so many layers to this story, from the significance to their names, to his longing for communion, to the emptiness of self-righteous religion.

Again, go & read it. 



40.  1, 2, 3, John & Jude.

Great *little* letters at the end of the Old Testament.  The letters of John were written by the Apostle who also wrote the Gospel bearing his name plus the book of Revelation.  John writes,

"Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Jude, the brother of James writes this short letter urging, among other things, that we "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."

41.  Total Church:  A Radical Reshaping around Gospel & Community, by Steve Timmons.  8 out of 10 stars.

This is a good book that connects gospel communities ("the church") with Jesus' mission in this world.  There is so much good stuff to say, but let me just point out on a chapter on evangelism in which he ties in the importance of the church.  Here's a diagram illustrating the connection:

Here's a couple of videos explaining more if you're interested.



42.  Job.  This ancient, classic text tells of a man named Job who wrestled with a lot of junk that happened to him.  He lost his family, his children, & most of his wealth.  The bulk of the book is a dialog with Job & his friends, who implicated him for suffering for the guilt of his sin.  Job was guilty of accusing God of wrong & being more worried about clearing his own name.  In the end, God blesses him more than ever.  In the meantime, Job (& we) learn much about the mysterious ways of God.

"For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another."

43.  Acts, by Luke.  Acts is the second volume of Luke's work on Christ, the first of which was the Gospel according to Luke in which he describes all that Jesus began to do and teach.  Acts is about the continuing work & teaching of Christ through His Church.  In this book, we see the birth of the early church, the preaching of Peter, and the conversion & ministry of Paul.  My favorite chapter is number 17 in which Paul speaks to the Epicurean & Stoic philosophers in Athens.  My favorite verse comes from ch. 20:

"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

44.  Unpacking Forgiveness, by Chris Brauns.  9 stars out of 10. 

An excellent book on forgiveness.  Brauns avoids the trap that says we should forgive others so that we will feel better.  Christians should always be ready to forgive, and to offer forgiveness, but we forgive others based on their confession of wrongdoing, just as God forgives us in Christ.  Filled with real-life stories & examples, this book is an excellent resource & guide.

Reading Log: March 2010

23.  The Cellist of Sarejevo, by Steven Galloway.  My wife recommended this fictional work by a Canadian author after she had read it in her book club.  This character driven novel is a good read as you get to know what it would have been like to have lived through in the terror of the siege of Sarejevo.  The author had a talent for painting pictures.  For example, you could just say, "A bomb exploded killing everyone within its radius." Or you could say,

"It screamed downward, splitting air and sky without effort.  A target expanded in size, brought into focus by time and velocity.  There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were.  Then the visible world exploded."

Pretty cool, eh?  Evidently the author liked it as well b/c he repeated it two more times in the first chapter.

I also like this line:

"It is impossible to tell which version of a lie is the truth."

I give it 7.5 stars out of 10.  A good read, but I'll probably never pick it up again.



24.  James.  This book written by the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ is packed full of practical directives for a faithful life.  I've taught through this book multiple times from large groups to small groups so I'm very familiar with it.  While in Peru, one of our former seminary professors, Dr. Knox Chamblin, came and did a spiritual life conference for us and did sort of a biblical theology of James and helped me see even more gold that I was blind to previously.  Dig in & enjoy.  Hear & do.

"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." 

25.  1 & 2 Peter.  These two letters written by the Apostle Peter & member of Jesus' inner circle of friends are pure gold.  I had the privilege of teaching through 1 Peter over the course of a year with the students at Texas A&M.  Really, you could dive in anywhere and marinate in soul-edifying & stretching truths.

• "...you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not withh perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1, ch. 1:18-19).
• "For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1, ch. 3:18).
• "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2, ch. 3:13).

27.  Just Walk Across the Room:  Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith, by Bill Hybels.  7 out of 10 stars.  This is a book by the pastor of Willow Creek Church in which he does a good job of trying to get ordinary Christians to initiate spiritual conversations with ordinary people.  Much of what he teaches here is based on his opening premise that Jesus left his comfort zone to reach us and we should do the same.

"...even the most 'Christlike' Christians on the planet will be totally ineffective unless they get near people who are living far from God....If you're attempting to do the work of evangelism and your life is stuffed with believers, you'll find yourself out of work pretty quickly."  

He develops the approach of "Living in 3D":

When effective walk-across-the-room people interact with others in their world, they 

• Develop friendships--by engaging in the lives of people around them;
• Discover stories--before sharing their own story and God's redemptive story
• Discern steps--by following the Holy Spirit's direction. 

28.  Proverbs.  Proverbs is one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament.  Every time I read through this book, I realize how unwise I am and how much more time I need to soak in its wisdom.

• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction" (1:7). 
• "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." (30:5)

29.  Undefiled:  Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, by Harry Schaumburg.  8 stars out of 10.

Dr. Schaumburg pioneered writing on this topic from a Christian perspective with his work, False Intimacy.  This follow up book focused on where the problem needs to be addressed:  the heart.  While not mentioning any books by name, he took jabs at approaches that amount to behavior (& thus 'sin') management and don't deal with the core of the problem.

"We can't manage lust simply by diverting the eyes....We must understand the proper cause and effect for real change.  Start at the beginning and don't put the proverbial cart before the horse:  Sin in our lives causes the enslavement of what is popularly called a sexual addiction.  In other words, disease or sexual addiction does not cause lust, adultery, or any form of sexual immorality.  You and I sin because we are sinners.  A sexual sinner is dealing with the bondage that comes from what's inside--the sinful nature.  The will is in bondage to sin.  Therefore, we inevitably and naturally sin."

Because Schaumburg starts in the right place, he can apply the only remedy for change:  The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This book was good and I'll undoubtedly refer back to it, but I think the gold standard book, the one I don't need to write b/c it has already been written, is Joshua Harris' Not Even A Hint (whose title has been unfortunately changed to Sex is not the Problem (Lust is).)

30.  The Praying Life:  Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul Miller.  9.5 stars out of 10.

This is by far the most helpful book on prayer out there.  Just get it and read it.  I am already planning on reading this again, and I'm giving copies away to people.   One of my friends said that this was not only the best book on prayer that he had read, but it was the best book on the Christian life that he has read.

Drawing from the Scriptures and what God has taught him, Paul Miller calls us to enter into a praying life as a child relates to & trusts in his father.  Almost every page has a memorable quote.  Most helpful to me were his chapters on "Understanding Cynicism" and "Following Jesus out of Cynicism."

"Cynicism is the air we breathe, and it is suffocating our hearts.  Unless we become disciples of Jesus, this present evil age will deaden and then destroy our prayer lives, not to mention our souls."

"Both the child and the cynic walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  The cynic focuses on the darkness; the child focuses on the Shepherd."

One more quote:

"Sometimes when we say 'God is silent,' what's really going on is that he hasn't told the story the way we wanted it told.  He will be silent when we want him to fill in the blanks of the story we are creating.  But with his own stories, the ones we live in, he is seldom silent."

Trust me.  You need this book.  Make it your companion in life.

31.  Organic Outreach for Ordinary People:  Sharing Good News Naturally, by Kevin Harney. 9 stars out of 10.  This is a great book for people who are wanting to be more intentional about reaching out to others with the Gospel.  We are going to use this book with our launch team for our new church plant here in Calgary.

"Evangelism is not a spectator sport.  We are all called to get into the game.  God invites every follower of Jesus to get off the sidelines and onto the field."

Stuffed with good advice, this book teaches how to raise one's temperature for outreach, to pray for people, to live incarnationally among those who do not yet know Christ, and to engage in spiritual conversations.

He begins the book by stating that everyone is engaging in evangelism, that is, they are telling family & friends things they are excited about.  This really sunk in for me in a new way at a recent dinner party with friends and people were talking about favorite television shows, movies, & books that they liked, why they liked them, and were commending them to others.  This is essentially what Christians are called to do with others.  And this book is a good tool to help us do that.  Highly recommended.


32.  1 Corinthians, by the Apostle Paul.  Great book in the New Testament that was Paul's letter to a very messed up, struggling first century group of Christians living in Corinth.  Paul addresses all sorts of issues, from divisiveness to immorality to abuse of the Lord's Supper.

"For the Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1:18).

33.  Joshua.  This OT book picks up with the death of Moses having occurred and his successor Joshua picking up the mantle.  Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan to take possession of the Promised Land.

"Thus, the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers....Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass" (24.43, 45)

34.  The Reason for God:  Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Tim Keller.  9.5 stars out of 10.  I finally made it through this book, and I was delighted with it.  This is an excellent work by Pastor Tim Keller giving both a defense of belief in Christianity and a challenge for skeptics to stop doubting everything but their skepticism.  Keller rightly shows how every doubt rests on another (blindly accepted) belief.

"All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they seem to be, are really a set of alternative beliefs."

Even a statement like, "I feel no need of God in my life," is an alternative belief system. "The speaker is betting his or her life that no God exists who would hold you accountable for your beliefs and behavior if you didn't feel the need for him."

Keller address a number of common defeater beliefs, that is, beliefs that our culture holds that automatically rules out any consideration of Christianity.   This book is written fairly, and I'd have no problem handing this book to any skeptic or any person who wants to think deeply on these issues. 



35.  Hebrews.  This NT book is simply about the Superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ over every other option.  It was written to Hebrew Christians living in Rome who were tempted to ditch the faith, no doubt in light of rising and heated persecution.  This book is a call to persevere b/c, as Peter says elsewhere, Jesus has the words of eternal life.  Where else can we go?

Book Log: February 2010

Here's my list of books I finished in February.   A couple of notes:  I'm changing the rating system from 5 stars to 10 stars.  Why?  Because I feel it gives me more flexibility.  An illusion?  Probably.  Secondly, I'm not going to rate Scripture.  It's understood on this blog that it's off the charts. Lastly, I'm going to add a snippet from most books that I appreciated.

11.  Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn.
8.5 out of 10 stars.  I started reading this to the kids back in TX, and we finally finished it.  Alcorn does a great job with a story of persecution in present day China.  Spoiler:  I cried when martyr Li Quan entered heaven.  Alcorn portrays the hosts of heaven & the Li family as anxiously awaiting his immanent entrance into heaven.

They [Li Quan & his guardian angel, Jadorel] passed through the between-world and came to a portal, with faces looking out at them.  Quan heard voices, some Chinese, some English, and at least a dozen other languages that he was somehow able to understand.

"He's coming," shouted someone on the other side.  "Li Quan is coming, and Jadorel carries him."  [This is where I lost it while reading it out loud to the family.  Now understand, we had grown to love Li Quan, and watched him through his imprisonment, starvation, & beatings.]

12.  2 Timothy, by the Apostle Paul.  Paul is in prison and here writes his 2nd letter to his young protege encouraging him to be bold in the faith, to have strength in Christ, & to preach the Gospel in season & out.  So many good quotes here, but this one is one of my favorites:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith...The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.  To him be the glory forever and ever.  Amen."  (4:7, 18)

13.  The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engles.  5 our of 10 stars.
The only reason this didn't receive a rating of 1 star is b/c of it's historical significance.  Communism is responsible for more deaths in the 20th century than any other philosophy of life.  It's listed as #1 in another book I'm currently reading, 10 Books That Screwed Up The World.  I agree.  Communism is an inherently atheistic approach to life and oppression.  It fundamentally misreads human nature & the will to power, not to mention capitalism.  Most telling quote: 

"Abolish the family!  Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the communists." 

On a side note, a quote I came across in Kingdom Culture (see below) is appropriate here:  "We have nothing to fear from those who do not believe in God; we have much to fear from those who do not believe in sin" (Chris Hedges). 

Addendum:  After consulting with my friend, David (see comments), I adjusted the rating from 2 to 5.  It's always good to read something like this which has had a profound impact on humanity, even only if it is to understand better how to defeat it.  Note:  generally, the ratings are my subjective impressions on how much I liked the book.  Hence the original rating of 2 for Marx & Engles.  Another system of rating could have it much higher, such as the 10 books that screwed up the world.

14.  Lamentations, by Jeremiah.  Great little book nestled in the OT after the Book of Jeremiah.  Lamentations details the after-shock of OT Israel after they were carried off into exile as an act of justice (b/c she had become more sinful than the surrounding nations) & mercy (God had to put an end to her wickedness, child-sacrifice, sexual perversions, murder, etc).  Favorite line:

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will have hope in him."  (3:21-24)

 2nd favorite line:

For the Lord will not cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief,
he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steafast love;
for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the children of men.

15.  Black Hawk Down, by Mark Bowden.
9 out of 10 stars.  A very well told story of 'the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War.'  Many people had never heard of Samolia until CNN carried video of the bodies of US troops being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. My favorite quote from the book:

"[Captain] Steele gave the unapologetic impression that he could break you with his bare hands if it weren't for his strict devotion to Jesus...." 

16.  Titus, by the Apostle Paul.  Paul's letter to his 'child in the faith,' Titus, whom he left in Crete to establish the church there by appointing elders.  So much of this text has to do with God's people being marked by good deeds--not in order to earn salvation, but to display the salvation received already by faith.  Favorite line:

"The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (2.11-14).

17.  Philemon, by the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote this letter to his friend, Philemon, pleading for Philemon's runaway slave, Onesimus, who evidently became a Christian under Paul's ministry while he was in prison.  Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon encouraging the latter to receive "him as you would receive me." My favorite line is subversive of an institution at its most powerful for those with eyes to see it.

"For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother" (vs. 15-16).  

18.  Kingdom Culture:  Growing the Missional Church, by Phil Wagler.  8 of of 10 stars.
This is an excellent book for doing what the subtitle suggests:  growing the missional church, a theme that is very much in line with my heart.  It was good to see him saying the very things I've been saying:

• No One Gets Left Behind
• Our Leaders Lead
• I am a Disciple of Jesus & I Contribute
• We Exist for the World Our Lord Came to Save

This will be a trusted resource to go back to over and over again as we go about our business of church planting in Calgary. 

19.  The GOD i Don't Understand:  Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith, by Christopher Wright.  10 out of 10 stars.
I can't say enough good things about this book.  Ever since reading his book, The Mission of God (which has had as big an impact on me as any book I've read), I've had a man-crush on Christopher Wright.  I'm even reading through his commentary on Deuteronomy.  In this book (The GOD i Don't Understand), Wright deals with three questions:  (1)  What about evil and suffering; (2) What about the Canaanites?; & (3) What about the Cross?  I give this book 10 stars b/c I had to put the book down at numerous places having been moved to worship the GOD i don't understand. 


20.  Acts, by St. Luke. This is Luke's record of the Acts of Jesus Christ, Part II.  Part I was the Gospel that bears his name, and Acts is a continuation of the story of Christ's mission that he continues through his church.  There's so much that is good & instructive in this book.  My favorite chapter is Acts 17 where Paul is preaching the Gospel in Athens.  My favorite verse though comes from 20:24 where Paul says,

"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." 

21.  Tactics:  A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, by Greg Koukl.
9 out of 10 stars.  An excellent book by the founder & president of Stand to Reason, an apologetics ministry that seeks to equip believers to share & defend the faith.  This book is a 'must-read' for any Christian who wants to speak intelligently to others about the Gospel.  There is so much practical advice & tactics that I couldn't possibly distill it here.  Just get it, read it, digest it.  You'll be a better equipped disciple if you do.  Favorite quote:

"The most important gauge of our success will not be our numbers or even our impact, but our fidelity to our Savior...Push yourself beyond your comfort zone."

22.  The Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, by John Calvin.
7.5 out of 10 stars.  This book is a almost a collection of proverbs by Calvin arranged by topics.  Good solid counsel & nuggets of wisdom.  7.5 stars b/c it just didn't read well, but the content was good.

"A true Christian will not ascribe any prosperity to his own diligence, industry, or good fortune, but he will acknowledge that God is the author of it."  

23.  The Logic of Evangelism, by William Abraham.  8 out of 10 stars.
I recently read a blog by an evangelist who said that his church had passed out over 3 million tracts in his city, but saw no noticeable difference in attendance in their church.  This only confirmed to me that so much of evangelism is simply off base, and doesn't take into account a changed life here & now (note:  I'm sure some people were genuinely converted with the tracts--I'm not dogging tracts at all).  But when you read the NT, there was really no such thing as coming to Christ that was not at the same time coming to be a part of the people of God marked out by baptism.  Abraham seeks to address this issue by stating that "we should construe evangelism as primarily initiation into the kingdom of God."  He argues that 'coming to Christ' should entail understanding the rule of his kingdom since he is a king, as well as entrance into the church through the sacrament of baptism.

"What is important is to combat the isolation of evangelism from the full ministry of the church and to rescue it from the shallow anthropocentrism and individualism into which it has tumbled in the last two centuries." 

 Though I definitely do not agree with everything written in this book (why do I even feel the need to qualify my comments?), there is much here that is spot on.  Favorite quote:

"In the end, the kingdom will come; in the meantime let us prepare the world to receive its Lord & Savior."

Book Log: January 2010

1.  Born To Run:  A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, And the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, Christopher McDougall.  4 out of 5 Stars.  Great read about a lost tribe of ultramarathoners that the author discovered after asking the question, Why does my foot hurt when I run.  Riveting with unforgettable characters; humorous (in the sad sort of way) chapter on evolution, & great incentive to run!

2.  The Lotus & the Cross:  Jesus Talks With Buddha, Ravi Zacharius. 3.5 out of 5 Stars.  Fun little read of an imaginative conversation that highlights well what Jesus has to offer & why Buddhism is ultimately bankrupt.  Left me wanting more, but the design of the book is for a short conversation.

3.  The One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven, Mark Cahill. 3 out of 5 Stars.  A book mostly about the author's experiences in sharing the Gospel with others--some amazing like with his former teammate Charles Barkley & Michael Jordan, along with an attempt to teach along the way.  Not very well written, IMHO, but a rah-rah book nevertheless. 

4.  Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell.  4.5 stars out of 5.  Fascinating read written by the lone survivor of a group of Navy Seals in Afghanistan.  Fun to read about Navy Seal training, sad to read about the doom sealed by their fear of crucifixion by the liberal media in the USA, & riveting to hear about their gunfight with Taliban being outnumbered by at least 35-1.

5.  Questioning Evangelism, by Randy Newman.  4.5 stars out of 5.  Great read about the art of asking questions when engaging people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   Newman insists that Christians need three skills:  declaring, defending & dialoguing the Gospel. 

6.  The Gospel of Matthew, by Matthew.  5 stars out of 5.  Eyewitness account of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the inauguration of the Kingdom of Heaven that He proclaimed and ushered in with His life, death, & resurrection. 

7.  Romans, by Paul the Apostle.  5 stars out of 5.  This is Paul's great work detailing for us the revelation of the righteousness of God in how through the work of Christ, God is able to demonstrate His Justice while at the same time being able to justify those who place their trust in Christ. 

8.  1 Timothy, by Paul the Apostle.  5 stars out of 5.  Paul's pastoral letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, in which he calls Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith entrusting to him the teachings that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 

9.   The Externally-Focused Church, by Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson.  4 stars out of 5.  The title sums up the book in which they stress that we are not social workers but kingdom builders.  They insist that Christians cannot really grow if they are not involved in service & mission to the communities in which God has placed them.

10.  Heaven is a Place on Earth:  Why Everything You Do Matters To God, by Michael Wittmer.  4 stars out of 5.  Good worldview book about Creation, Fall, Redemption & Restoration of all things in Christ.  The part on Redemption emphasized the cosmic scope of Christ's work almost to the neglect of the personal aspects of redemption (~ 2 pgs.).  Other than that, it is a great read with many memorable quotes.