Ron’s #27: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper

John Piper writes the collection of 30 short essays addressing topics affecting pastors today. Some of them are excellent (“Brothers, Read Christian Biography”; “Brothers, Fight for Your Life”), and some of them are duds (“Brothers, Pray for our Seminaries”). They all capture what we love about John Piper: creative insight, Scripture-based, and passionate pleas pointing us to Christ.

We read this book for our leadership meetings at church this year, taking one chapter to read and discuss. I enjoyed that way of reading this book.

My copy is well underlined, and I’m sure to return to it in the future.

I’m embarrassed to say that the part that I’ll always remember from this book is the fact that the Puritan Richard Sibbes was referred to as “The Sweet Dropper.” Piper never elaborates on why he is called that, or what that even means.

Pure gold.

JRF's #22 - The Gospel Focus of Spurgeon by Steven Lawson

The doctrines of grace, often labeled Calvinism, have often and unfortunately been misused, misunderstood, and misrepresented throughout church history.  Some misunderstand the Scripture's teachings on election and predestination to mean that humanity has no responsibility for the state of their heart and behavior.  Others misuse the sovereignty of God to foolishly and blasphemously cultivate a pride that they are elect and others are not.  Still others suppose that the predetermined and unalterable plan of God's redeeming work in the world negates the need to be obedient to His command to preach the Gospel to all nations.  Perhaps most commonly, Calvinism is often misrepresented as portraying a cold, distant God whose eternal sovereignty overrides man's free will in a way that allegedly makes a truly loving relationship between Creator and creation impossible.

Charles Spurgeon stands in the pages of history with such greats as William Carey, Jonathan Edwards and Calvin himself as a example of one who was driven by a deep commitment to the doctrines of Sovereign Grace while not veering into the dangers of misunderstanding and misapplying them.  Not only did Spurgeon not see a contradiction between the absolute sovereignty of God and the absolute necessity of evangelism, his conviction of the former drove his passion for the latter.

Pastor Steven Lawson does an excellent job of showing this connection through navigating the reader through many well chosen quotes from Spurgeon himself.  There are so many quotes in fact that in fairness I think Spurgeon should be listed as the co-author of the book.

I highly recommend this book to all believers, but especially those who may have doubts about Calvinism and/or those who may have found that their version of Calvinism has sadly produced a cold numbness towards the lost.

"The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you.  If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest, too.  But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy, too." - Spurgeon

"Spurgeon boldy declared that preaching unconditional election is evangelistic.  He said, 'I have never preached this doctrine without seeing conversions, and I believe I never shall.'  When people asked him how he reconciled preaching election with extending the gospel, he asserted, 'There is no need to reconcile them, for they have never yet quarreled with one another.'  He was right.  Divine sovereignty and gospel evangelism go hand in hand, the former preparing the way for and ensuring the success of the latter."

JRF's #1 - Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

Ya, I know.  Kind of a late start.  I have no delusions that I am going to make 52 books this year.  But I find that reviewing the books I read is a good discipline and perhaps you might find something edifying as well so here we go...

I finally made enough 10 minute drives back and forth to work to finish this audio book version of Jerry Bridges classic.  As you may remember from last year's audio book experiment, I have book on CD issues.

That said, Trusting God was an immensely encouraging listen.  In it Bridges takes the clearly taught, yet so often misunderstood or denied,  Biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty and shows how the simple act of trusting that God is who He says He is will profoundly change your life.

Perhaps the phrase that sticks with me the most and was oft repeated in the book was, "God's will is not in competition with our good".

This book helped expand my view of God's greatness and goodness.  In addition, it helped me see how the Big God of Scripture is involved with every detail of my life, and how that knowledge can give me strength in the midst of trial and uncertainty.

Read (or listen) to this book to help your Theology inform and transform your worship of and walk with King Jesus.

The good that God works for in our lives is conformity to the likeness of His Son. It is not necessarily comfort or happiness but conformity to Christ in ever-increasing measure in this life and in its fullness in eternity."  p. 120.

God's unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God's love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son."            p. 155.

Mark's #41 - Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

If you're a follower of Christ and you only read one book this year, it should be this book.  By far this book is the best book I've read in respect to the biblical mandate to evangelize.  This book is a thoughtful, clear, biblically sound look at how the doctrines of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility work together in respect to the advancement of the gospel. This relatively short book is divided into four main sections:

1. Divine Sovereignty - Here Packer shows that regardless of what a Christian may say they believe about the doctrine of divine sovereignty, all true Christians believe in it. In prayer, we are acknowledging our helplessness and God's sovereignty.  We give thanks to God for our salvation, not to ourselves. We pray for the salvation of others. etc...
2. Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom - Packer calls these these an antinomy - an apparent contradiction; two truths standing side-by-side that both have cogent reasons for believing them.  The Bible teaches both of these, and we should not put the two in opposition to one another, because the Bible doesn't.  We have to recognize that our minds and our reasoning is finite and that our ways are not God's ways. The only way to handle an antinomy is to accept it and learn to live with it.
3. Evangelism - Here Packer explains what evangelism and the gospel are and are not. For one to evangelize, one must faithfully teach and apply the truth of the gospel message.  There is no one single mode of evangelism, but a variety of way in which this can and should be done (i.e., personal evangelism with friends, family, co-workers, regular church services, Bible studies, etc.).
4. Divine Sovereignty and Evangelism - In conclusion, Packer shows once again, that these are not in contradiction, but rather it is the sovereignty of God that is our ground and hope in evangelism.  When we share the gospel with people and the offer of salvation, they have a real choice they will need to make and be accountable to.  Likewise, as Christians, we too will be held accountable for our faithfulness in obeying the command to evangelize.  Nevertheless, God is sovereign over the ends as well as the means of salvation.   Successful evangelism without God's sovereign grace is impossible.

A couple of months ago I read an article about one of my favorite pastors and teachers: John Piper.  In the article, Piper was asked what would he do differently after 40+ years of ministry.  His answer: He would pray more and he would do more personal evangelism.  I've tried to take that advice to heart.  This book is certainly and encouragement to that end.

Mark's #52 - Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges (240 pages)

God in His love always wills what is best for us.  In His wisdom he always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.

As my last book of 2010, I decided to read Jerry Bridges classic book about trusting God in the midst of pain and suffering. Trusting God is a solid book for people to read - and not just when they're in the midst of suffering.  In fact, the best time to read this book and meditate upon its truths is when you aren't necessarily in the grip of suffering.

Jerry spends the first half of the book establishing the absolute sovereignty of God over all of Creation.  Here he shows that God has, "designed His external purpose so that his glory and our good are inextricably bound together."   Without this understanding of God's sovereignty, one is left to grasp and wonder if God is really in control of their lives.  Or they come to ill-fated conclusions such as Rabbi Kushner's book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, where he argues that God is good, he's just not powerful enough to stop all the bad in the world.

Having an a biblical understanding of God's sovereignty is not sufficient for truly trusting God.  One must also know that God is both infinitely wise and perfectly loving as well.  Here, once again, Bridges does a great job of demonstrating from the Bible these essential truths.

The remainder of the book deals with some of the practical application from all this in your life and mine.  Jerry discusses how we can personally experience God's love, how we can embrace who God has made us to be, how we can grow through adversity, how we should give thanks continually, and how we should willfully choose to trust God in the face of adversity.

In conclusion, all of us will go through adversity on this side of eternity.  Furthermore, we'll be surrounded by loved ones, friends, co-workers, and even strangers who will be  in the midst of suffering.  Let me encourage you to prepare your mind and spirit now for those times, so that you will either be comforted as you trust God, or you will have the right answers from God's word to offer hope to others in their time of need.