Currently Reading 10-23-09

Okay, I know it seems like all I've been blogging about is the books that I've been reading. So I have. But I've missed reading books like I used to and since I have time to read when I am running at the gym and some evenings when I go home, I am trying to make the most of every semi-quiet opportunity.

From Religion to Christ by Peter Jeffery
This was a great little book, very solid. The author looked at the book of John chapter 3, Nicodemus's conversation with Jesus and lays out the gospel very clearly. I think this would be a great book for both believers and unbelievers.








Heirs with Christ - The Puritans on Adoption by Joel Beeke...the following is from back of the book...
The Puritans have gotten bad press for their supposed lack of teaching on the doctrine of spiritual adoption. In Heirs with Christ, Joel R. Beeke dispels this caricature and shows that the Puritan era did more to adovcate the idea that every Christian is God's adopted child than any other age of church history. This little book lets the Puritans speak for themselves, showing how they recognized adoption's far-reaching, transforming power and comfort for the children of God.



Restorers of Hope: Reaching the poor in your community with church-based ministries that work by Amy Sherman

In this book Amy Sherman challenges churches to get involved with mercy ministry she makes clear that a church that thinks it should not be involved in mercy ministry should really take a good look at society and more importantly the gospel. The book is very practical for leaders who may be wanting to get more involved with mercy minisrty or for ministries already ministering to their communities.



Evangelism: Doing Justice While Preaching Grace by Harvie Conn

This too was a great little book, only around 110 pages, but full of good stuff. It really focused on holistic evangelism - showing mercy and preaching the gospel together.





Sex, Sushi, and Salvation: thoughts on intimacy, community, & eternity by Christian George

I really liked this book. It is very solid theologically and very practical. He was right on when explaining the gospel and straight up with the reader on many issues focusing mostly on intimacy, community, and eternal issues. The theme of God's sovereignty over all things ran through the entire book as well as the urging for Christians to grow up and grow in their gospel-centeredness.

At times Christian George is a bit Driscollesque in his examples, so I am sure there are some folks out there that might not appreciate that. The one thing I was not crazy about was the place where some of the scripture references came from. Many came from the NIV which I had no problem with, but some came from The Message - a paraphrase of the Bible or I would say even more like a commentary. It is not a translation.