New Books–October 2014

New Books–October 2014

Complete New Book List

October, 2014

Why God Created the World: a Jonathan Edwards Adaptation, by Ben Stevens. From the mind of one of America’s greatest theologians, Jonathan Edwards, comes a classic work on why God created the universe and everything in it. Many of Christianity’s modern thinkers (including John Piper) consider it one of the most important books they’ve ever read. Explore these truths in this updated version paraphrased especially for today.

Jesus on Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel, by David Limbaugh. A lawyer’s intellectual journey toward Christianity.

The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis, edited by John Piper and David Mathis. Includes articles on Lewis and Scripture, his use of imagination in theology, heaven and the new earth, and creation.

George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father, by Thomas S. Kidd. Mark Noll says this is “now our fullest biography” of the 18thcentury British evangelist. Catherine Brekus says he was “perhaps the most important evangelical leader in American history” and was “the most responsible for the rise of the evangelical movement in the decades before the American Revolution”. Whitefield shared relationships with Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.

C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity: The Crisis That Created a Classic, by Paul McCusker. Discover the people, the adversity and the history behind a classic work from the early days of WW2

From Creation to New Creation: Making Sense of the Whole Bible Story, by Tim Chester. Packed with diagrams, illustrations, and timelines, this Bible overview unlocks the storyline of the whole Bible focusing on God’s promises regarding: a people (God promised to save a people who will be His people), a land (fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth), a king (fulfilled in the son of David, Jesus Christ) and the nations (as God’s salvation plan expanded to include Jews and Gentiles). Al Mohler says this book “packs an enormous amount of theological thinking into a remarkable economy of pages”.

D.L. Moody: A Life, by Kevin Belmonte. Phil Cooke says:” I thought I knew William Wilberforce and G.K. Chesterton until I read Kevin Belmonte’s brilliant books and saw them from a completely new perspective. Now Kevin Belmonte has done it again with D. L. Moody.” In this new biography, Moody is portrayed as an innovator, evangelist and world-changer. As a champion of Christian education (Moody Bible Institute, et al), his legacy endures today.

The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus, by Michael F. Bird. Craig Evans says Bird “asks all the right questions about the NT Gospels—what they really were, why they even exist, and why these four Gospels and not others—and then provides very sensible answers”.

Edwards on the Christian Life: Alive to the Beauty of God, by Dane C. Ortlund. Exploring Jonathan Edwards’ central passion: God’s resplendent beauty. Whether the subject was the nature of love, the preeminence of Scripture, or the glory of the natural world, the concept of beauty stood at the heart of Edwards’ theology and permeated his portrait of the Christian life. Sam Storms says, “no one has articulated the role of beauty in Edwards’ understanding of the Christian life better than Ortlund”.

Hidden in the Gospel: Truths You Forget to Tell Yourself Every Day, by William P. Farley. Argues that mature Christians solve many spiritual problems in their lives by preaching the gospel to themselves. The gospel is not one event but a story that began before time and stretches into eternity.

Raised? Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection, by Jonathan K. Dodson and Brad Watson. The authors don’t shy away from the hard questions and settle for easy answers, but they demonstrate the plausibility of the resurrection of Jesus leading to a life of hope.

Old Testament Essentials: Creation, Conquest, Exile and Return, by Tremper Longman III. Workbook format surveying key texts and themes from the OT.

Echoes of a Voice: We Are Not Alone, by James W. Sire. The author has studied a massive number of the accounts of experiences leading to intimations of God, and has concluded that they are signals of transcendence, or what N.T. Wright has called echoes of a Voice, the voice of Jesus calling us to follow Him into God’s new world. Os Guinness recommends this book as one to be read by all who wrestle with communicating faith persuasively today.

ADULT FICTION: Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry (Port William series). Berry is considered one of America’s finest writers, and has been compared to William Faulkner. While his novels are permeated by his Christian worldview, they are not considered in the genre of Christian fiction. In this novel, Hannah Coulter, now in her seventies, twice widowed and alone, has lived in this community for her entire life. She reflects on life, young love and loss, raising children, and changing seasons. Through her memories, Berry emphasizes the importance of community, family, and a love for creation. Though an imaginary community, as you read the book, you will be swept into the place and among the people.

BIBLICAL FICTION: The Advocate, by Randy Singer. The author is a veteran trial attorney and author of numerous legal thrillers. The Gospel of Luke and its sequel, Acts, were addressed to someone named Theophilus. Singer envisions Theophilus as a young legal advisor to Pilate, who witnessed Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. Much later in life, he came to accept to Christianity, and agreed to defend Paul who was imprisoned in Rome. Singer envisions Luke and Acts as written to Theophilus in order to provide documentation of the burgeoning Jesus movement for Theophilus to use in defending Paul.

MORE ADULT FICTION: Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, by Jan Karon (Mitford #10); Angels Walking, by Karen Kingsbury (Angels Walking #1); Nowhere to Turn, by Lynette Eason (Hidden Identity #2); When a Secret Kills, by Lynette Eason (Deadly Reunions #3); Firewall, by DiAnn Mills (FBI: Houston #1).

SHEPHERD’S NOTES (Summary and outline studies of books of the Bible in a Cliff Notes type format): Jeremiah/Lamentations, by Paul R. House; Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, by Barry E. Morgan; Hosea, Joel, Amos and Obadiah, by Robert W. Lintzenich.

COMMENTARIES: John (Vols 1 and 2), by Richard D. Phillips (Reformed Expository Commentary).

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