How do I decide what to read?

 The author of Ecclesiastes reminds us that "Of making many books there is no end.." (Ecclesiastes 12:12). Therefore, we need to be both discerning and selective about what we read. How then do we decide what to read? Here are some thoughts from John Piper on how he decides what to read. You can listen to the short interview, or read a transcript by clicking here.

Book Review| Little Black Books

Little Black Books is a series of books by Scott Petty (youth minister at Christ Church St Ives in Sydney) written for teenagers. They are designed to "get straight to the point on the topics Christians always have questions about." Little Black Books are unashamedly grounded in Scripture, whilst at the same time written in a clear and engaging style, which makes them a great read and a great resource to get into the hands of young people.

So far in the series there are five books: 'predestination', 'sex', 'the Bible', 'suffering and evil', and 'what's life all about?' All of these are a fantastic blend of faithful Bible teaching, clear and easy to read writing and a great sense of humour.

Predestination
'Predestination' grapples with the issue of how God's will or decision making interacts with our will or decision making. Petty begins by giving the Bible's picture of the 'super-involved God', showing us the sovereignty of God. He then moves to look at God's sovereign choosing of His people, before addressing what this means for our freedom and how God is fair in choosing some and not others.

Sex
'Sex' gives a clear and faithful summary of the Bible's teaching on sex, providing teenagers with a robust theology of sex. Petty rightly emphaises the goodness of God's gift of sex, whilst at the same time clearly showing marriage as the only and right context for sex. Having laid the foundation of a theology of sex, he then goes on to examine dating relationships, before discussing homosexuality and pornography.

Suffering and Evil
Here Petty gives an excellent overview of the book of Job, clearly setting out the picture of God and His utter sovereignty over suffering and evil, whilst at the same time doing so in a way that is pastorally sensitive. Petty shows just how comforting the truths of the Bible are to the sufferer, and challenges his readers to trust the God who is in control of all things, including suffering and evil.

The Bible
The whole Little Black Books series is firmly grounded in the Bible. In this book Petty makes explicit why this foundation is the only one worth standing on. He gives a clear introduction to the doctrine of Scripture as the word of God, showing its authority, trustworthiness and sufficiency.

What's Life All About?
Petty here shows that it is only in relationship that we can understand what the point of life is. He introduces us to the significance of what it means for us as men and women to be created by God made in His image for relationship and to rule. From there he moves to show the significance for Chroistians of who we are as those who have been saved by Jesus and belong to His people, the church.

Overall I highly commend this series of Little Black Books. They are firmly grounded in Scripture, and therefore lay a great foundation for teenagers to think biblically about things. They are clear, engaging and easy to read, therefore young people will not come away from them thinking that the truth of the Bible is uninteresting or not for them. I highly encourage you to get these into the hands of the young people you know.

You can order Little Black Books from the Good Book Company by clicking here (buying them this way also helps support the work of AEN).

On Reading

Have you ever thought about how important reading is in the Christian life? A former minister of mine used to comstantly remind us that we should "always have a Christian book on the go." Reading is one of the ways in which we keep ourselves fresh and growing as Christians. Recently I was reminded of the importance of reading when I came across the following two quotes. Have a read and be challenged to be a reader!

John Wesley had these words to say to when he wrote to a younger pastor. They are something that anyone in Christian ministry would do well to heed, and indeed any Christian. He recognised the huge importance for pastors to be reading, that they might nourish their own souls, and be able to faithfully nourish others:

What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is lack of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercise. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you, and in particular yours.

Recently Tim Challies quoted from Warren Wiersbe’s book 50 People Every Christian Should Know. If the quote from John Wesley challenges us on the importance of reading, the following quote challenges us about what kind of readers we ought to be. That is, how we read. In his chapter devoted to Alexander Whyte he has this to say:

Alexander Whyte loved books, and he read them to his dying day. The Puritans in general and Thomas Goodwin in particular were his main diet...Whyte constantly ordered books for himself and his friends in the ministry. However, he cautioned young pastors against becoming book-buyers instead of book-readers. “Don’t hunger for books,” he wrote a minister friend. “Get a few of the very best, such as you already have, and read them and your own heart continually.” Whyte often contrasted two kinds of reading—“reading on a sofa and reading with a pencil in hand.” He urged students to keep notebooks and to make entries in an interleaved Bible for future reference. “No day without its line” was his motto. He wrote to Hubert Simpson: “for more than forty years, I think I can say, never a week, scarcely a day, has passed, that I have not entered some note or notes into my Bible: and, then, I never read a book without taking notes for preservation one way or another.

Listen Up!

Have you ever thought about what's involved in listening to a sermon? That may sound a bit like a stupid question. Surely all we need to do is to make sure that we're sitting there in front of the preacher and that we don't fall asleep?

The reality is that there is much more involved in listening properly to a sermon than simply sitting there. It is all too easy to hear the word of God preached yet not hear. Too many listen attentively to the Bible taught week by week yet at the same time are not listening. Jesus calls us to "Pay attention to what you hear" (Mark 4:24), yet often we necgect to take time to think about how we listen to a sermon.

Christopher Ash, director of the Cornhill Training Course in London, has written a very helpful little booklet on how to listen to a sermon. LISTEN UP!: A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons is an excellent resource. In an extremely clear and readable manner, Christopher spells out seven ingredients of healthy sermon listening, then gives some advice on how to deal with bad sermons, before finally challenging us with how we as listeners can encourage the preacher in his ministry.

This is a rescource that every Christian should get their teeth into. Why not buy a few copies (it's not that expensive) and read it together with a couple of others, using the questions at the end of each point to let things sink in a little deeper. May we be those who do not neglect to consider carefully how we listen.

Worth a Read

Here's a list of books I've read recently or am in the process of reading that are worth sinking our teeth into and digesting:

1) 'The Enemy Within' - Kris Lundgaard.

"If God has redeemed me from sin, and given me his Holy Spirit to sanctify me and give me strength against sin, why do I go on sinning?" (pg 13) In answering this question, which every Christian asks at some stage in their Christian life, Lundgaard has sought the help of the Puritan John Owen. Lundgaard has dug deep in the mines of two great John Owen books: Indwelling Sin and The Mortification of Sin, and presents the treasures he has found in a fresh and extremely readable way.
Lundgaard's clear and concise chapters help us delve deep into understanding why it is we continue to sin, and help us to take action in the ongoing battle against sin as he brings us right to the heart of the problem. The questions at the end of each chapter make sure that we don't go away without thinking seriously through the implications, and make the book a great resource to use with an accountability group.

http://icmbooksdirect.co.uk/product/3691/Enemy-Within

2) 'Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ' - John Piper.

This is the latest collection of biographical sketches to come from the pen of John Piper. He looks at the lives of William Tyndale, John G. Paton and Adoniram Judson, highlighting especially the huge sufferings that they faced in order to see the gospel advance. These three men faced exile and eventually execution for translating the Bible into the language of the people (Tyndale), sickness, danger and loss of loved ones to see foreign nations reached with the gospel (Paton and Judson). However, Piper does not merely want to tell the stories of these men, he wants us to be challenged by their example, he is constantly pressing home lessons from their lives. The overall challenge that Piper leaves us with is: if we want to see the nations come to "worship at the Saviour's feet" (Paton's phrase), then this will mean suffering for Christ's people. This was a huge challenge to me and made me think through the ways in which I must suffer in order to see the gospel advance in Ireland (where I plan to serve after my time at college, God willing), and not to shy away from such suffering but to gladly embrace it so that Christ might be glorified.

http://icmbooksdirect.co.uk/product/4820/Filling-up-the-Afflictions

3) 'The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment' - Jeremiah Burroughs.

This great Puritan classic is centred on Philippians 4:11 - "...I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." (ESV). Burroughs spells out in great depth what it means for us to have contentment in any and every situation and how we can come to such contentment. Don't be put off by the age or the old language of the book, whilst it might take a bit of time to get used to the slightly older English, it is well worth the effort. Here is a man who knows his Bible and knows the human heart, and skillfully applies the Bible to the heart. There have been times in reading when it seemed as if Burroughs was addressing my situation directly (even though he was writing in the 17th century!). Here is great riches to help us to glorify God, by being those who rejoice in Him in any and every situation.

http://icmbooksdirect.co.uk/product/1327/Rare-Jewel-of-Christian-Contentment-Puritan-Paperback

4) 'At the Heart of the Universe' - Peter Jensen.

This book is a short overview of Christian doctrine with a difference - Jensen has decided to reverse the traditional order of the way what Christians believe is usually presented. He starts with the 'last things' first and works backwards. In the first section of the book he looks at the goal of all things, the end towards which God is working the whole universe. Then having established this, it helps us make sense of our existence and shows us how the rest of the themes of Scripture fit together as a whole. This is a very refreshingly Christ-centred book, and also helps us to see clearly the vital relevance of Christian doctrine for our lives and our world. A great read for someone wanting to get a grasp on the big picture of Christian doctrine, or for someone about to start at theoogical college as they prepare to study systematic theology.

http://icmbooksdirect.co.uk/product/3171/At-the-Heart-of-the-Universe

Book Review: 'Keeping the Heart' by John Flavel

Solomon calls us to "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23 - ESV) It is this text that is the foundation for 'Keeping the Heart'; or, to use Solomon's language, this verse is the spring from which the waters of Flavel's writing flow in this classic work.

John Flavel (1628-1691) was a Puritan pastor, who laboured for almost the whole of his ministry in the busy seaport of Dartmouth in Devon, England, and knew much opposition and persecution because of his faithful preaching of the gospel. His writings have been much loved by Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, Robert Murray M'Cheyne and Andrew Bonar.

He says in his introduction:

The heart of man is his worst part before it is regenerated, and the best afterward; it is the seat of principles, and the foundation of actions. The eye of God is, and the eye of the Christian ought to be, principally fixed upon it. The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God; and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart with God.

It is this insight, drawn from Solomon's words, that leads him to say: "The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition, is one great business of a Christian's life." It is the duty of every Christian to be engaged in the hard, constant and important work of keeping the heart, by the grace of God, from sin and for communion with God.
This is what Flavel urges upon his readers as he shows: first, what it means to keep the heart; secondly, why we should take this work seriously; thirdly, particular occasions which "require our utmost dilligence" in doing this; and finally, pressing this home to his hearers.
I have recently finished reading 'Keeping the Heart' for a second time, this time with pencil in hand, and I have hardly left a page without underlining something.
What makes this such a great book? The following are just some of the reasons to read:
It is saturated with Scripture: Flavel's thinking and writing is very evidently shaped and moulded by Scripture, he is clearly someone who delights in the word of God and has immersed himself in Scripture, letting it shape and affect his life, therefore 'Keeping the Heart' oozes with Scriptural wisdom.
It is evidently written by someone who knows what it is to work at keeping their heart: as you read it becomes evident that we are sitting under a very godly older brother, who is deeply experienced, and who draws on his experience of living the Christian life.
It is practical: throughout the book Flavel is constantly concerned with pressing the lessons home to his readers, he does not want them to go away unaffected after reading, but wants them to bring glory to God by the diligent keeping of their hearts. He is constantly preaching to the heart.
It is clear and easy to follow: although the language is quite old (it was written in the 17th century) and at first some phrases may sound strange to our ears, Flavel is very readable, his points are clearly signalled and his arguments easy to grasp.
Finally, it is well illustrated: illustrations and pithy quotes abound throughout, drawn from church history and the world around us. These open windows and shed light, and drive home his teaching.
As with the Puritans as a whole, Flavel is well worth being discovered by a new generation of Christians, 'Keeping the Heart' is a great place to start. Well worth reading and re-reading and being challenged to "Keep your heart with all vigilance".

Book Review: 'The Word Became Fresh: How to preach from Old Testament narrative texts' by Dale Ralph Davis

Those who’ve read Dale Ralph Davis’ commentaries on Joshua – 2 Kings will be familiar with his unique blend of careful scholarship and explanation of the text, witty humour and homely illustrations, and clear and challenging application of the text. ‘The Word Became Fresh’ is no different and does not disappoint.
Spurred on by the fact that so many Christians think the Old Testament is such a ‘problem’, and why so many pastors shy away from expounding the Old Testament in their churches, Davis sends forth this tome as “an exercise in reading the Old Testament for fun and profit.” (preface, page ii). He takes us through the principles for handling the Bible, and Old Testament narrative in particular. He equips us with the tools for the task; but he by no means leaves us there. He then goes on, with many examples from his own study, to get alongside us and show us how to use these tools in mining the riches of the Old Testament narrative books.
One of the many great strengths of the book is that Davis keeps our noses in the Bible. He gives us principles for approaching, handling, applying and preaching Old Testament narrative; and then brings us immediately with him into his study working with us through a passage. Further, he doesn’t want us to remain unchanged as we see our glorious God revealed in the pages of the Bible, he is constantly pressing home the great truths of these passages as he works through them with us. This is very refreshing to see, a book on handling the Bible that keeps us in the Bible.
This is one of the freshest, clearest and helpful books I have read on handling the Bible. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I cannot count the number of times I have come back to it. It is a great reminder of how exiting Old Testament narrative is, and of the great riches there are to be mined within as we diligently study it in dependence on the God who has given it to us. Therefore it spurs us on to faithful study that we, and those we serve, may know and love the God who has revealed Himself through His Word (which includes Old Testament narrative). Buy it, but don’t lend it; buy them their own copy instead!

Book Review: ‘Contending for Our All: Defending truth and treasuring Christ in the lives of Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen’ by John Piper

Jude reminds us in his letter to “…contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3). In this short study John Piper introduces us to three men whose lives show that they understood this; namely Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen. All three of these men stood for the truth of God’s Word even when this meant opposition, unpopularity, threats, exile, sickness and suffering. They took no pleasure in getting involved in controversy just for the sake of an argument; rather, they were prepared to contend out of a deep love for the Lord Jesus and His people, recognising that when the gospel is at stake our all is at stake. In Athanasius’ words, “Considering that this struggle is for our all…let us also make it our earnest care and aim to guard what we have received” (pg 20). Piper’s book, as with his other biographical sketches, is a great reminder of the value of church history. He introduces us to Athanasius in his lifelong battle for the deity of Christ against the Arians; John Owen the Purian pastor and writer, whose great desire was for holiness – both his own and others’; and J. Gresham Machen the seminary founder of who contended for the gospel in the midst of liberalism. However, Piper doesn’t stop there. He goes on to show the profit of looking at the lives of Christians from the past, how we can learn from their example and the way they stood for the truth, reminding us that the battles they fought are not too dissimilar to the ones we need to fight today. Specifically, as he looks at the lives of these three men, we are challenged to recognise the need to contend for the gospel in our day and to do so in a godly and gracious manner. Well worth investing in and digesting!