New Books – September 2009

Complete New Book List

September, 2009

The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Jesus, by John MacArthur. These days Jesus is often portrayed as a pacifist, or a meek and mild teacher. These things do represent a portion of the Messiah. But MacArthur shows another side, the bold confronter who contends for truth.

From Tyndale to Madison: How the Death of an English Martyr Led to the American Bill of Rights, by Michael Farris. The author, who is a constitutional lawyer, debunks the myths that the Enlightenment was responsible for the American Bill of Rights and its guarantee of the free exercise of religion. He traces the epic history of religious liberty across three centuries, from William Tyndale’s remarkable translation work of an English Bible, through the Protestant Reformation, to the birth pangs of a new nation.

The End of Secularism, by Hunter Baker. Debunks the widespread myth that secularism is the inevitable wave of the future, coming at us like an unstoppable force of nature. Russell Moore says Baker is “one of the sharpest thinkers in contemporary Christianity”.

Sermons on the Last Days, by Charles H. Spurgeon. This collection includes some of Spurgeon’s finest sermons on the Last Days, including the second coming of Christ and Scripture’s teaching about heaven and hell.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Resistance, by Sabine Dramm. German theologian Bonhoeffer was executed for his involvement in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. This book offers a fascinating and comprehensive view of the historical circumstances and personal involvement of Bonhoeffer in the resistance, delving into such questions as to how he became involved, and how it fit with his moral and theological convictions.

The Friends We Keep: A Woman’s Quest for the Soul of Friendship, by Sarah Zacharias Davis. Why are women’s friendships so tricky? The author is the daughter of best-selling author Ravi Zacharias.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 1859-2009, Gregory A. Wills. History of the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptists, from its Calvinist beginnings, through controversies with modernism and liberalism, to its conservative resurgence under the presidency of Al Mohler. The Seminary now stands as one of the centers of the “New Calvinism”.

Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior, by Jared C. Wilson. Our culture offers us a number of different Jesuses today. Which one do you worship? Jesus has been fictionalized, sanitized, humanized, and romanticized. But the author challenges readers to leave behind their feel-good savior and embrace the true and living Christ.

I Told Me So: Self-Deception and the Christian Life, by Gregg A. Ten Elshof. Do you think you’ve ever deceived yourself? Then this book is for you. Think you’ve never deceived yourself? Then this book is really for you. The author seeks to help us to identify, evaluate, and respond to our own self-deceptive strategies.

How to Read Exodus, by Tremper Longman III. We can read Exodus on our own and its main themes will be clear enough. But an expert can sharpen our understanding of its historical backdrop and drama

I Can’t See God Because I’m in the Way, by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz. Could it be that you are your own worst enemy when it comes to experiencing God’s abundant life? The authors urge us to put behind our self-centered religion and embrace a passionate faith.

Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional, by Jim Belcher. The author has been both an insider and an outsider to the emerging church. Now he brings the best insights of all sides to forge a third way. The deep church is committed to both tradition and culture, valuing innovation in worship, arts and community but also the creeds and confessions.

A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church, by Warren Cole Smith. The author says that evangelizing and making obedient disciples of Jesus, the evangelical church has become part of the cultural decline of the West. He takes a penetrating look at its theology and practice, offers a helpful though difficult way forward.

The Case for Traditional Protestantism: The Solas of the Reformation, by Terry L. Johnson. The author believes that the term “Protestantism” has been rendered virtually redundant by years of misuse and abuse, and has been rendered irrelevant in this age of open-mindedness and political correctness. However, he argues passionately for a serious reconsideration of the great spiritual principles that undergirded the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century, and shows how these principles are the essence of biblical Christianity.

Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question, by Michael F. Bird. The author builds a compelling case that Jesus understood himself as Israel’s Messiah, which explains the nature of the name of the movement that arose in the aftermath of Easter. Bird builds his case by examining the words spoken by or about Jesus during his earthly ministry, the deeds he chose to enact, and the roles he would have been understood to embody by those deeds.

The Lost Commandment: Have We Missed What Jesus Really Wants? By Dave Greber. Jesus gave a new command: that we should love one another. Have we misunderstood His words? Or worse, ignored them? J.I. Packer says this is a “Christ-centered, down to earth delineation of the heart of real discipleship.

The Bible Among the Myths: Unique or Just Different? By John N. Oswalt. Is the Bible a unique revelation or just another example of ancient literature? In confronting Western society’s hostility to the idea of revelation. Oswalt argues that the Bible’s historical claims cannot be disassociated from its theological clams, and shows that whereas other ancient literatures all see reality in essentially the same terms, the Bible differs radically on all the main points.

The Shame Exchange: Trading Shame for God’s Mercy and Freedom, by Steve and Sally Breedlove and Ralph and Jennifer Ennis. The authors say not all shame is equal. Some types of shame can be good for you. Whether or not our shame is useful, facing it is tough, and if not for God’s mercy, we would hide forever, like Adam and Eve. They identify seven types of shame, and how to find your way out of it.

Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home, by Glenn S. Sunshine. Traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world, and demonstrates the decisive effect the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that, based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God, established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.

Calvin in the

Public Square

: Liberal Democracies, Rights, and Civil Liberties, by David W. Hall (Calvin 500 Series). A historical account of Calvin’s influence upon on some our most cherished political ideas and institutions. Hall demonstrates how Calvinism’s theology of government became the foundational fabric of colonial America.

Readings in Historical Theology: Primary Sources of the Christian Faith, by Robert F. Lay. The selections include more than sixty primary sources that have shaped the theological landscape of Christianity, including writings by Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, et al.

Who’s Tampering with the Trinity: An Assessment of the Subordination Debate, by Millard J. Erickson. There are few beliefs more essential to the Christian faith than that of the Trinity. Erickson seeks to provide an answer to the debated question about whether Jesus is eternally subordinate to the Father, or is Jesus equal to the Father.

May We Meet in the Heavenly World: The Piety of Lemuel Haynes, edited by Thabiti M. Anyabwile (Profiles in Reformed Spirituality). An introduction to the black New England preacher Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833), who was one of the earliest points of contact between African Americans and the Reformed theological tradition. In that tradition, they found a language of justice and inspiration that allowed them to criticize slavery and racial prejudice, and offer a Christian vision of a free society.

Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity, edited by Anthony J Carter. D.A. Carson said “this book is a wonderful encouragement to those who love the doctrines of grace”

Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth, edited by Terry Mortenson and Thane H. Ury. Fourteen theological scholars address key topics related to the age of the earth from a young-earth perspective.

The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament, by Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles. J.I. Packer says this NT introduction stands out for coverage, attention to canonical issues, pastoral reflections, and “masterful common sense”.

When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community, by Joseph H. Hellerman. A hopeful look at how the church today can glean what biblical community was from the early church and translate that to what community would like to day.

Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young. Devotions for every day of the year.

The Whole Counsel of God, Volume 1: God’s Mighty Acts in the Old Testament, by Richard C. Gamble. The first in a three-volume series on the theology of the whole Bible, embracing the disciplines of biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology. The author has an international reputation as a Calvin scholar, and John Frame says “nothing comparable in scope has been done in the last hundred years within the circles of Reformed orthodoxy”.

Seeing Things God’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation, by David A. deSilva. A provocative exploration of the challenging and complex book of Revelation. The author suggest the study of ancient rhetoric is particularly valuable in interpreting Revelation, and analyzes how the book persuades us to see the world through the eyes of John.

The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology, edited by Richard Bauckham, Daniel R. Driver, Trevor Hart and Nathan MacDonald. Leading biblical scholars and systematic theologians come together to discuss a number of key theological themes in Hebrews such as the person and nature of the Son, his high-priestly work, cosmology, theology of Scripture, the call to faith, and more.

What’s in the Word: Rethinking the Socio-Rhetorical Character of the New Testament, by Ben Witherington III.

COMMENTARIES: The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians, by Gordon D. Fee (NICNT); Galatians, by David B. McWilliams (A Mentor Commentary); 1 & 2 Thessalonians, by Robert J. Cara (EP Study Commentary);

ADULT FICTION: The Summer Kitchen, by Lisa Wingate; A Dream to Call My Own, by Tracie Peterson (Brides of Gallatin County #3); Try Fear, by James Scott Bell; A Cousin’s Promise, by Wanda E. Brunstetter (Indiana Cousins #1);

ADULT/FAMILY DVDs: Faith Like Potatoes, from Affirm Films (rated PG; based on a true story of a farmer who moves his family to South Africa, and suffers a series of insurmountable losses. However, through unlikely friendships and divine intervention, he comes to grow his faith like he grows his potatoes, unseen until the harvest). The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller (taught in six sessions).