Coming to the Resource Center - May 4, 2014

Coming Soon to the Resource Center - May 4, 2014

Here are just a few of the new books you can find in the church Resource Center tomorrow, May 4, 2014. In this edition, we offer two closely related books, one on the meaning of true beauty, the other on seeking our approval from God and not the world. There’s also a book on worldviews and a book on what the Bible says about itself... and why it matters. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

True Beauty (2014) Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre

What is true beauty?

Whether it's age-defying makeup or the latest diet fad, our culture continually tells women that beauty consists of flawless skin and a supermodel figure.

In True Beauty, Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter Nicole Whitacre direct us to the truth of God's Word, where we encounter an entirely different--and refreshingly liberating--standard of beauty.

Offering a path to freedom from the false idols that society, the Devil, and our sinful hearts so often create, this encouraging book will help you exchange the temporary glamour of pop culture for the unfading beauty of godliness.

Includes a discussion guide.

Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval - and Seeing Yourself through God’s Eyes (2014) Jennifer Dukes Lee

We all want someone to think we're sensational. We desire to be recognized, to be valued, to be respected . . . to be loved. Yet this natural yearning too often turns into an idol of one of God's most precious gifts: love itself. If you, like so many of us, spend your time and energy trying to earn brownie points--at work, home, and church--all the while fearing that, at any moment, the facade will drop, and everyone will see your hidden mess . . . then love may have become an idol in your life. In this poignant and hope-filled book, Jennifer Dukes Lee shares her own lifelong journey of learning to rely on the unconditional love of God. She gently invites us to make peace with our imperfections and to stop working overtime for a love that is already ours. "The Love Idol" will help us dismantle what's separating us from true connection with God and rediscover the astonishing joy of a life full of freedom in Christ.

What’s Your Worldview? An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions (2014) James N. Anderson

How Do You View the World?

It's a big question. And how you answer is one of the most important things about you.

Not sure what you'd say? Join James Anderson on an interactive journey of discovery aimed at helping you understand and evaluate the options when it comes to identifying your worldview. Cast in the mold of a classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" story, What's Your Worldview? will guide you toward intellectually satisfying answers to life's biggest questions--equipping you to think carefully about not only what you believe but why you believe it and how it impacts the rest of your life.

Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me (2014) Kevin DeYoung

The Bible stands at the heart of the Christian faith, but people disagree about its nature and authority. Can we trust the Bible completely? Is it sufficient for our complicated lives? Can we really know what it teaches? And isn't it more important to focus on Jesus instead of the Bible?

With his characteristic wit and clarity, Kevin DeYoung has written an accessible introduction to the Bible that answers important questions raised by Christians and non-Christians alike. This book will help readers understand what the Bible says about itself and the key characteristics that contribute to its lasting significance. Avoiding technical jargon, this winsome volume will encourage men and women to read and believe the Bible--confident that it truly is God's word.

Calvin and Hobbes

Here's a great article on Calvin and Hobbes (the comic strip, not the theologian and the philosopher), courtesy of Tim Challies's excellent blog Informing the Reforming. If you don't regularly read Tim's blog, you should, especially if you're a Kindle owner, since he passes on information about Kindle bargain books on a daily basis. Also don't miss his Friday book giveaway, which offers some great stuff. (I enter the drawing every week, but have never won. But hey, I don't hold that against you, Tim! :)  

Coming to the Resource Center April 6, 2014

Here are just a few of the new books you can find in the church Resource Center tomorrow, April 6, 2014. In this edition, we offer two more works by David Wells, a book celebrating the power and passion of Easter, and a gospel-driven book on productivity that will both challenge and encourage you regardless of your occupation. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (1994) David F. Wells

David F. Wells’s award-winning book No Place for Truth -called a stinging indictment of evangelicalism’s theological corruption by TIME magazine - woke many evangelicals to the fact that their tradition has slowly but surely capitulated to the values and structures of the modern world. In God in the Wasteland, Wells continues his work on a biblical antidote to the modernity that has invaded today’s church.

Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (2005) David F. Wells

In our postmodern world, every view has a place at the table but none has the final say. How should the church confess Christ in today's cultural context?

Above All Earthly Pow'rs, the fourth and final volume of the series that began in 1993 with No Place for Truth, portrays the West in all its complexity, brilliance, and emptiness. As David F. Wells masterfully depicts it, the postmodern ethos of the West is relativistic, individualistic, therapeutic, and yet remarkably spiritual. Wells shows how this postmodern ethos has incorporated into itself the new religious and cultural relativism, the fear and confusion, that began with the last century's waves of immigration and have continued apace in recent decades.

Wells's book culminates in a critique of contemporary evangelicalism aimed at both unsettling and reinvigorating readers. Churches that market themselves as relevant and palatable to consumption-oriented postmoderns are indeed swelling in size. But they are doing so, Wells contends, at the expense of the truth of the gospel. By placing a premium on marketing rather than truth, the evangelical church is in danger of trading authentic engagement with culture for worldly success.

Welding extensive cultural analysis with serious theology, Above All Earthly Pow'rs issues a prophetic call that the evangelical church cannot afford to ignore. (Publisher’s description)

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (2009) Nancy Guthrie, ed.

This collection of readings, drawn from the writings and sermons of 25 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers, focuses on the wonder of Christ's sacrifice.

In a culture where crosses have become little more than decorative accessories and jewelry, how easy it is for even the most well-intended Christian to rush from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without thoughtfully contemplating the cross and all that it means. Yet we miss out on spiritual riches when we do.

So that we all may linger at the cross during the Lenten season-and stay near it the whole year through-editor Nancy Guthrie has compiled this special anthology. It draws from the works and sermons of classic theologians such as Luther, Edwards, Spurgeon, Ryle, and Augustine, and from leading contemporary communicators such as John Piper, R. C. Sproul, Francis Schaeffer, John MacArthur, Skip Ryan, and Joni Eareckson Tada to help readers enter into an experience of Christ's passion and anchor their hope in the power of his resurrection.

Each essay in this collection holds to a high view of Scripture and expounds on a particular aspect of the Easter story using the appropriate Scripture passage from the ESV Bible. These readings are sure to prepare people's hearts for a fresh experience of the cross each and every Easter season.

What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done (2014) Matt Perman

Do work that matters. Productivity isn't just about getting more things done. It's about getting the right things done---the things that count, make a difference, and move the world forward. In our current era of massive overload, this is harder than ever before. So how do you get more of the right things done without confusing mere activity for actual productivity? When we take God's purposes into account, a revolutionary insight emerges. Surprisingly, we see that the way to be productive is to put others first---to make the welfare of other people our motive and criteria in determining what to do (what's best next). As both the Scriptures and the best business thinkers show, generosity is the key to unlocking our productivity. It is also the key to finding meaning and fulfillment in our work. What's Best Next offers a practical approach for improving your productivity in all areas of life. It will help you better understand: 

Why good works are not just rare and special things like going to Africa, but anything you do in faith even tying your shoes. 

How to create a mission statement for your life that actually works. 

How to delegate to people in a way that actually empowers them. 

How to overcome time killers like procrastination, interruptions, and multitasking by turning them around and making them work for you. 

How to process workflow efficiently and get your email inbox to zero every day. 

How your work and life can transform the world socially, economically, and spiritually, and connect to God's global purposes. 

By anchoring your understanding of productivity in God's purposes and plan, What's Best Next will give you a practical approach for increasing your effectiveness in everything you do.

A Loving Life Paul E. Miller

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships (NF 2014) Paul E. Miller
Crossway, $12.99
ISBN 9781433537325

A few years ago I read Paul Miller’s A Praying Life (2009), a book that continues to change my prayer life. It’s a book I’ve recommended it to others and have sometimes given as a gift. When I heard about Miller’s new book, A Loving Life, based on the Book of Ruth, I was certainly eager to read it. 

Miller does a wonderful job of describing hesed love, which could be translated “steadfast love” and thought of as “love without an exit strategy.” It’s certainly not a self-centered, “What-can-I-get-out-of-this-relationship” love, but a love that gives, even when that love is not reciprocated. Such a love, as Miller often points out, is not based on feeling, which often drives a lot of what we normally call love. It is rather a love based on serving others, a love that loves in spite of the dangers of that love not being returned or even acknowledged. In short, hesed love is the way Jesus loves. 

Miller provides many examples of hesed love from the Book of Ruth, as well as from other Scriptures and stories he has encountered in his own life. The vast majority of the book is filled with helpful, biblical information and teaching. I particularly appreciate Miller’s idea of “God in the Shadows” (Chapter 19), giving examples of how Jesus often deliberately kept to the outer edges of several situations, humbly allowing others to have space in order that faith might emerge. (Examples include the sinful woman crashing the party in Luke 7, the woman caught in adultery in John 8, Jesus hiding his identity on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, etc.) When we love rightly, we often “disappear” so that God can be discovered. 

A Loving Life is filled with many such valuable ideas based on biblical teaching. I do, however, want to make sure I’m not misreading parts of Miller’s book. For instance, while suffering in silence can certainly be an important part of hesed love, I can think of some situations (such as abusive relationships) where suffering should not be silent. I also felt Miller sometimes points a finger at our culture (Oprah, in particular) in a way that clearly identifies a problem (or the symptoms of a problem), but harps on those problems with more force than is necessary. Again, these instances could all be misreadings on my part. 

A Loving Life is a book that will challenge your thoughts on how we think about love in a biblical, God-honoring way. Please consider reading it. 

Some Interesting Thoughts about the Source Material for Noah

I hadn't really planned on seeing Noah, but I thought this review from Dr. Brian Mattson and the video follow-up to it were worth reading and watching. 

A Few Thoughts on Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions (NF 2010) Rachel Held Evans

(The following is not so much a review as a few thoughts on the book.)

Imagine being a Christian when your hometown is Dayton, Tennessee, home of the famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. You’d have to have a strong faith and some strong strategies for defending it. Yet after defending her faith for several years, Rachel Held Evans found she had some questions. Some serious questions. 

Evolving in Monkey Town is an honest look at questioning your faith, a memoir of discovery, and a candid examination of why we believe what we believe. It’s also an unflinching look at doubt. Is doubt necessarily a bad thing? It depends. Evans says (p. 219), 

Doubt is a difficult animal to master because it requires that we learn the difference between doubting God and doubting what we believe about God. The former has the potential to destroy faith; the latter has the power to enrich and refine it. The former is a vice, the latter a virtue. 

Doubt and questioning can be very strong components of drawing nearer to God. (Another excellent book on this topic is The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark.) 

Evans spends a significant amount of time in the first part of the book describing how convinced she was that she was right (and, by implication, that others were wrong) about faith and belief. This really hit home for me. I’ve been a part of churches that had the “We’re right, you’re wrong” attitude that can really cause you to distance yourself from the very people you should be trying to help. I still often ask myself, “Am I trying to serve others or just trying to be right?” 

“Most of the people I’ve encountered,” Evans says (p. 222), “are looking not for a religion to answer all their questions but for a community of faith in which they can feel safe asking them.” Sadly, when they find that they have disagreements with others, some Christians withdraw, saying, “Well, we have nothing further to talk about.” No, that’s when the conversations should just be getting started. Please don’t misunderstand: no one’s saying you have to water down your beliefs or change your convictions to talk to someone else, but differences in faith should not end conversations and/or relationships. 

  

Some of Evans’s struggles may surprise you, maybe even shock you. I know I found myself in many of these pages at different stages of my life. Maybe you will too. I was also reminded of some hard lessons. Maybe you will be, too. Evans isn’t afraid to ask hard, controversial questions, some of them questions I continue to struggle with as a Christian. Maybe you do, too. Evolving in Monkey Town is an excellent book for anyone who has questions, doubts, fears and struggles. It’s an even better book for those who think they have all the answers. 

Coming Soon to the Resource Center - More in Early April

Here are just a few of the books you can find in the church Resource Center in early April, 2014. In this edition, we feature a title mentioned at our recent missions conference, a resource for pastors, a book on youth ministry, a book on writing in the margins of your Bible (really!) and other titles we hope you’ll want to read. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

Serving as Senders: How to Care for Your Missionaries While They Are Preparing to Go, While They Are on the Field, When Then Return Home (1991/2012 reissue) Neal Pirolo

The title says it all! A missionary needs care in at least six areas: Moral Support, Logistics Support, Financial Support, Prayer Support, Communication Support, and Reentry Support. This book gives scores of practical ideas in how a team can provide the necessary care for a missionary. Chapter One tells "when" and "why" a missionary needs care. Chapters Two through Seven deal with each of the six areas of care. Chapter Eight brings it back to the individual's involvement in care giving. A Study Guide for groups is included.

Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home (2013) Gloria Furman

Sometimes life feels a lot like a burden--day-in and day-out its the same chores and tasks, challenges and discouragements, anxieties and responsibilities. Dust bunnies show up on the stairwell, social commitments clutter the calendar, and our families demand daily attention and care. At times, just catching our breath seems like an impossible feat.

So where is God in all of this? Does he care about the way we unload the dishwasher or balance the budget? Do the little things like changing diapers or cooking meals make a difference? And how can we use our spheres of influence for God's glory and our joy?

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a working woman splitting time between the office and home, Gloria Furman--writer, pastor's wife, cross-cultural worker, and mom--encourages us to see the reality of God's grace in all of life, especially those areas that often appear to be boring and unimportant. Using personal examples and insightful stories, her richly theological reflections help us experience the gospel's extraordinary power to transform our ordinary lives.

Reading for Preaching: The Preacher in Conversation with Storytellers, Biographers, Poets, and Journalists (2013) Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. 

In Reading for Preaching Cornelius Plantinga makes a striking claim: preachers who read widely will most likely become better preachers. Plantinga—himself a master preacher—shows how a wide reading program can benefit preachers. First, he says, good reading generates delight, and the preacher who enters the world of delight goes with God. Good reading can also help tune the preacher's ear for language—his or her primary tool. General reading can enlarge the preacher's sympathies for people and situations that she or he had previously known nothing about. And, above all, the preacher who reads widely has the chance to become wise.This beautifully written book will benefit not just preachers but anyone interested in the wisdom to be derived from reading.

Works that Plantinga interacts with in the book include The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario, Silence by Shusaku Endo, How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy,Narcissus Leaves the Pool by Joseph Epstein, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo . . . and many more!

Why Study History? Reflecting on the Importance of the Past (2013) John Fea

What is the purpose of studying history? How do we reflect on contemporary life from a historical perspective and can such reflection help us better understand ourselves, the world around us, and the God we worship and serve?

In this introductory textbook, accomplished historian John Fea shows why Christians should study history, how faith is brought to bear on our understanding of the past, and how studying the past can help us more effectively love God and others. Deep historical thinking can relieve us of our narcissism; cultivate humility, hospitality, and love; and transform our lives more fully into the image of Jesus Christ.

Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible (2013) Lisa NIchols Hickman

No other time-honored spiritual practice is as immediate, raw, and engaged with Scripture as writing--responding to God--in the margins of the Bible. Composers like Bach to theologians like Barth, botanists and saints--all have written their thoughts directly in their Bibles. In doing so they engaged their fullest selves with our most significant text. Some people have lived with Scripture all their lives and yet feel estranged from it. This book inspires a new encounter with the living Word --and jump-starts a deep, creative, and hands-on approach to reading Scripture. As you sit, with pencil, pen, crayon, or marker in hand and Bible in lap, at whatever edges of life you are living within, now that invitation is yours. The creative practice of writing in the margins creates a divine conversation that transforms and guides. Meet God in the margins. Let God shape your character from the living interaction on the pages of your Bible. Writing in the Margins is a book about making connections on the pages of your Bible--and introduces a devotional and scriptural path of engagement that is life-changing."

Miracle Work: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Supernatural Ministries (2013) Jordan Seng 

We are a supernatural people. Made in the image of God and called to follow a risen Lord through the world God made--we're anything but normal. Given all that, it should not be surprising to us when miraculous things happen in our midst. Still, many of us are intimidated at the thought of it, and we stop short of trying so we won't disappoint God with our lack of faith, or--if we're being honest--so we won't be disappointed when God fails to deliver. In Miracle Work Jordan Seng tells remarkable stories of physical healings and prophetic messages. He reflects on the possibility and limitations of a contemporary ministry that believes in the power of God, and helps us train and prepare ourselves for when God works through us in the lives of others. Read Miracle Work for a better understanding of what it means to be agents of grace, healing and even miracles in a world that desperately needs the good news of God's loving, healing touch.

Youth Ministry from the Outside In: How Relationships and Stories Shape Identity (2013) Brandon K. McKoy

We tend to organize our youth ministry from the inside out. We give gathered groups of individual youth tools and teaching to form their souls around a Christian identity. So far, so good. But what if our identity is not merely or even primarily rooted and established somewhere inside ourselves? What if our identity is shaped and cultivated in the relationships we inhabit--each with their own distinctives and demands--and in the overlapping stories we find ourselves in? Prefabricated approaches to ministry that focus on the interior makeup of our youth may make for good youth group members, but these limited approaches don't reach beyond the youth room into other corners of their lives. Rather than centering them on the faith, our inside-out approach may be pushing their faith to the margins of their life. Brandon McKoy mines the insights of social construction theory to help us locate Christ not in our hearts but in our midst. We learn to embrace him as our own and our students as whole people engaging in a life's worth of encounters. Approaching youth ministry from the outside in, we discover our students in a whole new light--and with them, the fullness of our faith.