2011 Reading List

At the end of every year, I always find it interesting to list out all of the books I read in the past 365 days and compare them to what I read in years past.

Below is my list of the books I read in 2011. Each book is ranked using the highly sophisticated star system (more stars is better). Let me know if you have any questions about any of the books.

1. Lit! by Tony Reinke (5 stars)
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (4 stars)
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (4 stars)
4. Auschwitz by Miklos Nyiszli (4 stars)
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (5 stars)
6. Knowing God by JI Packer (5 stars)
7. Manhunt by James Swanson (3 stars; stopped at 25%)
8. The Roots of Endurance by John Piper (4 stars)
9. What Is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert (5 stars)
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars)
11. Jim & Casper Go to Church by Jim Henderson (2 stars)
12. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (3 stars)
13. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (5 stars)
14. King's Cross by Tim Keller (5 stars)
15. The Holiness of God by RC Sproul (5 stars)
16. Money by Jamie Munson (4 stars)
17. Power Encounters by David Powlison (4 stars)
18. Getting Things Done by David Allen (5 stars)
19. First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham (5 stars)
20. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (3 stars)

2010 Reading List

Here's what Aaron and I read for the year of 2010.

Jonathan's Reading List 

1. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (70% complete) 
2. Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraff (30% complete) 
3. When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert & Steve Corbett (50% complete)
4. Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas (5 stars)
   
5. The Mortification of Sin by John Owen (5 stars)
6. Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo (5 stars)
7. The Life of Edward Irving by Arnold Dallimore (5 stars) 
8. The Glory of God edited by Christopher Morgan (4.5 stars)
   
9. The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy (5 stars)
10. Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray (5 stars) 
11. The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips (5 stars) 
12. Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey (4.5 stars) 
13. Is God Really in Control? by Jerry Bridges (4.5 stars) 
14. A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden (5 stars) 
15. The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels by Gordon Fee (4 stars) 
16. Radical by David Platt (5 stars) 
17. Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff (4 stars) 
18. Family Worship by Don Whitney (5 stars) 
19. What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert (5 stars) 
20. Be Still, My Soul by Nancy Guthrie (5 stars) 
21. In the Land of Believers by Gina Welch (3.5 stars for interesting read, not content) 
22. Holy Subversion by Trevin Wax (4 stars) 
23. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller (5 stars) 
24. Family-Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham (5 stars) 
25. God's Big Picture by Vaughn Roberts (5 stars)

Aaron's Reading List

1. Finally Alive by John Piper (75%)
2. The Future of Justification by John Piper (75%)
3. Justification by N. T. Wright (45%)
4. What Is The Gospel? by Greg Gilbert (4 stars)
5. The Case for Classical Christian Education by Doug Wilson (15%)
6. The Kingdom of God by Martin Lloyd-Jones (25%)
7. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (80%)
8. The Reason for God by Tim Keller (5 stars)
9. Young, Restless and Reformed by Collin Hansen (4 stars)
10. Gospel and Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy (4.5 stars)
11. Church Planting Is For Wimps by Mike McKinley (4 stars)

Anyone Else Excited!?

Coming November 2010.

Have theologically conservative evangelicals over-reacted to the "social gospel only" views of many mainline denominations? Tim Keller seems to think we have. The argument that a "purely social gospel is no gospel at all" has never necessitated a view that strips us from responsibilities Jesus laid on his people to serve those in need. I'm excited to announce that Tim Keller addresses this issue head on in his upcoming book Generous Justice. He also seeks to establish the link between modern understandings of general welfare and the Bible as their foundation.

Three Book Recommendations

I was recently looking thru my old posts and noticed there were a few that were still in draft form that I never posted.  This is one of them.  These are three books that I finished a short while ago, and I want to recommend them to you.  They are all outstanding.

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp is hands down the best book on parenting I have read yet.  The one thing I won't forget from it is Tripp's emphasis on going after the child's heart rather than the child's behavior.  If you go after their heart, the behavior will inevitably follow.

In God's Big Picture, Vaughan Roberts seeks the big picture of the entire bible.  His conviction is that the whole bible is telling one story, not lots of little stories all disconnected and such.  This book will help you when you are reading through books of the Bible like Leviticus and cannot fathom how in the world this relates to Jesus Christ.

And last but not least, Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham Jr.  This is not lay-down-on-the-couch-and-relax book.  Make no mistake about it, Voddie brings it hard.  He hits parents right between the eyes with conviction after conviction on their responsibility to "raise their kids in the way they should go."  It's not the job of a youth pastor, and it's not the job of a Christian school teacher.  It's the parent's job.  So do it.  That's the constant message of Mr. Baucham, and I commend it to you.

Book Review: Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey

The topic of ambition has scarcely been addressed by the Christian community in the last couple of generations.  Even hinting at the fact that someone might embody just a smidge of ambition is enough to make a person question his motives in his own endeavors.  This is largely due to the preconceived notion that all ambition is selfish ambition.  Dave Harvey, in his new book, Rescuing Ambition, is out to combat that ideology with the biblical notion that there is another kind of ambition that is not selfish, but selfless...  Godly ambition.

Harvey begins by laying out the biblical foundation for ambition - the pursuit of glory.  What we pursue determines whether our ambition is godly ambition or selfish ambition.  Harvey puts it well when he says, "We will always pursue glory.  The only question is, 'Where will we find it?'  Will we love the glory that comes from God, or will we love other glories?"  Herein he shows how ambition was corrupted during the Fall of mankind in the garden of Eden and how ambition was converted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was converted from an inward focus on self to an outward focus on the glory of God.  Harvey again and again reminds us that all godly ambition is for the glory of God.  The rest of the book is spent unpacking that idea, the implications of it, and an admonishment to go dream big for God's glory.

The most helpful chapter for me in Rescuing Ambition was the chapter entitled, "Ambitious for the Church."  Too often I tend to disconnect godly ambition in my life from the life of my local church.  I am prone to think that being ambitious has to do with high & lofty ambitions like finding a cure for cancer or preventing sex trafficking, all the while neglecting the very specific purposes God has placed right in front of me, one of which is contributing to the building & perfection of God's church in Oswego, IL.  Harvey reminded me to be ambitious for the church for the glory of God.
"Ambition for the church compels us to join our imperfect self with other imperfect selves to form an imperfect community - all for the glory of God...  When church is not an ambition but only a place, the real ambitions of our lives inevitably crowd it out."
Readers will really appreciate three things about this book.

1. Harvey has made this book very readable & enjoyable.  He does a great job of systematically unpacking what God's word has to say about ambition without making it too complicated as well as supplementing his careful exegesis & thoughts with many stories from church history and people from his own church.  This mixture makes for a very enjoyable read.
2. Just reader his chapter on "Ambitious Failure" is worth the price of the book.  His aim in this chapter is to answer the question, "Where is God when our dreams lead to defeats?"  I'm so glad that he took a whole chapter to answer this very important question as it is directly related to our ambitions.
3. Harvey never lets the gospel come out of focus for the reader.  Our ambition is directly connected to the gospel, and Harvey will not let the reader forget that.

This book is for anyone who has ever dreamed big dreams.  And this book is for anyone who thinks dreaming is for chumps.  Get it, read it, and may we all have big ambitions for the glory of God.

Thanks to Crossway for publishing this fantastic book.  You can buy it here.

On Reading

For the first 18 years of my life, I hated reading.  Seriously.  If I had to choose between pulling weeds, chopping firewood, file my taxes, or read a book, one thing's for sure...  I would never have chosen to read a book.  This even included reading my bible.  As a Christian, I knew that reading my bible (along with prayer) was the only way I could commune with the God I loved.  But the times I spent in His Word would sadly be short because I loathed reading.  Then, during the summer of my freshman year of college, God did a work in me that only He could have done.  I picked up a copy of Desiring God by John Piper and read it fervently to the end.  Since that time, I haven't stopped reading.

I now look back on those years when I hated reading and see one thing.  Pride.  Reading is an act of humility.  The act of reading says this:  "I don't know everything.  In fact, there are many other people out there who know much more than I do.  So I'm going to take some time out of my day to have a conversation with someone else about the things of God."  Reading our bible is a given.  God has spoken to us and has written it done in the form of a book so that we could read it.  We have to do this daily.

But we begin to walk a slippery slope when we read our bible in isolation, with only our own interpretations.  Theology must be done in community.  That's why we have bible studies, where we can gather together to discuss God's Word.  That's why we gather at coffee shops with friends to talk about the hard questions of the Christian faith.  And that's why we read.  We read to converse with other Christian saints (living and dead) around the globe about the things of God.  I cannot tell you the profound influence that men like John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, DA Carson, and Charles Spurgeon have had on my life, and I have never even met them (besides John Piper... I met him at T4G 2010. But I think you still get my point.).

Take it from a former book-hater.  We are not as smart as we think we are.  Let's humble ourselves and gather together in community with the friends around us, the living Christians around the globe, and the past saints of old to push one another closer to the God we love.

And if you don't listen to me, at least hear the prodding of the late English pastor, Charles Spurgeon.  Here's a quote from his sermon on 2 Timothy 4:13 ("When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments" ).

"We will look at Paul’s books. We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.

Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra-Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot and talks any quantity of nonsense is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains – oh, that is the preacher!

How rebuked they are by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet wants books!

He had been caught up into the Third Heaven and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says to every preacher, “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13).

The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible."

Thanks to Trevin Wax for pointing me to this quote from Spurgeon.

New Recommended Reading on the Gospel from CJ Mahaney

In the past few years, CJ Mahaney (along with many other faithful friends & pastors) has helped me realize that as a Christian, I still need to hear the good news of the gospel, day in & day out.  To that end, here are 6 new books on the gospel that CJ recommends you think about reading.

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“The gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough,” wrote Martin Luther.*

By God’s grace I have been a Christian for 38 years. I agree with Luther—I still cannot hear the gospel enough. Each morning I seek to preach the gospel to myself by my study of Scripture and through the strategic reading of supplemental books about the cross. Over the past several months it has not been difficult to find enough books to fill this role. Six wonderful new books on the gospel have been published in the last five months, and they constitute a portion of my recent reading diet. Here they are:

God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalom by Graham A. Cole (Dec 2009), 257 pages. This is a technical but reader-friendly addition in the NSBT series (New Studies in Biblical Theology). And not only is it detailed and readable, but I found it to be deeply moving, too. Many times throughout this book as I read about the atoning sacrifice of our Savior I ceased reading, looked up from the book, and broke into song. (In the interest of full disclosure, this often happens when I read. I am a noisy reader and often break into song while reading.)

God the Peacemaker is a wonderful book that explains why God's intention to restore shalom (peace) to his creation requires the death of Christ. Cole writes in the introduction:

We live in a troubled world. As I write, there are reports of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, an earthquake in China, fighting in the Sudan and Iraq, shooting death after shooting death on the south side of Chicago. The list could go on and on. The waste of human life is enormous....Yet Christians believe in a good God who as the Creator has never lost interest in his world. The key evidence and the chief symbol of that divine commitment is the cross of Christ....Central to the divine strategy is Christ, his coming and his cross. The troubles and calamities will end. (19)

In recent years there have been many books that emphasize God’s restoration of shalom, but too few that highlight the central role of the cross in this plan.

By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me by Sinclair Ferguson (Feb 2010), 118 pages. Few have taught me more about the gospel of the grace of God than Sinclair Ferguson. I was reminded of the profound influence of his ministry in my life a couple years ago when I did this interview with him about the cross. Through his sermons and writing I am personally reminded of grace, affected by grace, and inspired to lead by grace. His latest book on the gospel of the grace of God is a gem—showing us why we should be amazed by it. Ferguson writes,

Being amazed by God’s grace is a sign of spiritual vitality. It is a litmus test of how firm and real is our grasp of the Christian gospel and how close is our walk with Jesus Christ. The growing Christian finds that the grace of God astonishes and amazes. Yet we frequently take the grace of God for granted. (xiv)

Ferguson writes as a man who is himself amazed by grace.

Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D.A. Carson (Feb 2010), 168 pages. In the preface Carson writes,

Nothing is more central to the Bible than Jesus' death and resurrection. The entire Bible pivots on one weekend in Jerusalem about two thousand years ago. Attempts to make sense of the Bible that do not give prolonged thought to integrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are doomed to failure, at best exercises in irrelevance. (11)

This book is not only not doomed to failure but destined to serve readers in their appreciation of the gospel as he expounds on both the death and resurrection of the Savior. As Mark Dever says in his endorsement, "This professor can preach. These are model messages on crucial passages." They are crucial passages, presented as a model of exegesis and exposition. The book is developed around five core passages: Matthew 27:27–51, Romans 3:21–26, Revelation 12, John 11:1–53, and John 20:24–31. Pastors can easily adapt this structure and use these passages to develop a sermon series to serve their churches.

Atonement by various authors, edited by Gabriel N.E. Fluhrer (Feb 2010), 142 pages. This is a compilation of messages delivered over the years at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology. Contributors include J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, and Ferguson. In his preface, editor Gabriel Fluhrer opens the book with these pointed words: "This is a book about blood and it soaks every page" (ix). And a little later he writes,

Today, along with other great doctrines of the Christian faith, the doctrine of the blood atonement of Christ is under attack. It is derided as “cosmic child abuse” and traded for a grandfatherly sentimentalism that muffles the piercing cries of the Savior being nailed to the cross. The pride of our sin dilutes the simple, clear, and shocking teaching of the New Testament: God killed his perfect Son to save hate-filled rebels from the wrath they deserve. (x)

The messages included in this book were finely chosen.

What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert (April 2010), 124 pages. Gilbert's new book on the gospel is clear and compelling. I wrote in my endorsement that I hoped to place this book in the hands of every pastor and church member. And the only thing I would add is that I hope it finds its way into the hands of non-Christians as well. I agree with Mark Dever: "This little book on the gospel is one of the clearest and most important books I've read in recent years." Help me put a copy of this book into every hand. Buy a case of them and begin giving them away immediately!

It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement by Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence (April 2010), 223 pages. This series of sermons was published out of concern over the neglect of the gospel in the life of local churches. In the preface Dever writes,

Have you wondered about the cross lately? Have you wondered where it is in your own church, or in your own life? It's our prayer that these meditations will help you re-center your life on God's sacrifice for us in Christ and join in the celebration that's going on eternally as the saints in heaven praise God for the Lamb who was slain for us. (15)

Like Carson’s, this book can provide a pastor with a sermon series on the gospel. The 14 sermons are presented in canonical order on these texts: Exodus 12, Leviticus 16, Isaiah 52:13–53:12, Mark 10:45, 15:33–34, John 3:14–18, 11:47–52, Romans 3:21–26, 4:25, 5:8–10, 8:1–4, Galatians 3:10–13, 1 Peter 2:21–25, and 3:18.

I am grateful that we have many wonderful (and affordable) books about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need these books because we cannot read enough about the gospel. We cannot read enough about the gospel because we cannot grasp it well enough.
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* What Luther Says: An Anthology, compiled by Edwald M. Plass (St. Louis: Concordia, 1963), vol. 2, pp. 563–564.