This morning in our RMM readings we read Peter’s warning about false prophets:
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1–3 ESV)
As I mentioned this morning in my sermon, the Bible draws a line from bad belief to bad behavior to a bad reputation for Christ and the Gospel. If our beliefs are faulty then sooner or later our behavior will be faulty and we will act in such a way as to bring Christ and the Gospel into disrepute. That is why the Bible takes false teaching so seriously.
In light of that, and being aware that Christmas is a great time to give the gift of good teaching to your friends and loved ones, I thought I might take a minute and recommend some great books by safe and helpful Christian teachers from my 2014 reading log. Every year I keep a log of what I have been reading and the following represent my top 5 recommendations for this coming Christmas and reading season.
1. Adoniram Judson: Devoted For Life - Vance Christie. I love biography and this book by Vance Christie on Adoniram Judson was one of the best I’ve ever read. When you read a good biography you are not only learning from the example of great and godly saints, you are also learning the theology of our Evangelical grandparents. Theirs was a more robust faith and it produced a more faithful and fruitful behavior. Biography is probably the easiest way to learn theology and this book is an excellent place to start.
2. Evangelism - J. Mack Stiles. This little book is easy to read and it will help you see evangelism as an ordinary activity of the whole church – yourself included. Filled with lots of practical strategy and heart warming anecdotes from real people in real churches that are seeing people come to Christ, I found this book to be remarkably helpful. It is not reductionist with respect to the Gospel – a too common habit of evangelistic writers – but neither does it overcomplicate with respect to the message. A perfect balance of practicality and faithfulness.
3. Taking God At His Word - Kevin DeYoung. A useful primer for lay people on the doctrine of the Word of God. At the root of most modern day controversies in the church lies an inadequate doctrine of the Word of God. The Evangelical collapse with respect to marriage, divorce, gender, homosexuality, hell and the Sovereignty of God are all different fruits growing from this same deadly root. The urgent need of the hour is for Christians to know why we believe what we believe about the Bible. This book is targeted at that need.
4. Ordinary - Michael Horton. I plan on buying multiple copies of this book and giving it out to friends. This is a very helpful counter argument to the constant calls for “radical”, “extreme”, “dangerous” Christian living. While not wanting to pour cold water on Christian enthusiasm, this book aims to elevate our appreciation for the ordinary means of Christian life and living. It reflects upon the power of ordinary faithfulness and it looks at the pattern of the Scriptures with respect to clay vessels and regular people. A great book for tired Christians wondering whether their faithful lives as parents, employees, neighbours and church members really makes a difference. Spoiler alert: IT DOES! Buy this book and read it yourself and then give it to a friend.
5. Salvation To The Ends Of The Earth - Kostenburger and O'Brien. I’ve put this one last because it is definitely not for everyone. It is dense and scholarly and exhaustive (not exhausting!) and it is the most useful source of missions I have ever read. We have a lot of thinking to do around this topic in the church and for those who can handle the 274 pages of small print with footnotes, this is an incredibly useful resource for us at this point in our journey as a congregation.
What you believe will effect how we behave as a church, which will in turn effect the spread of the Gospel in this city and indeed around the world. As a pastor I want to encourage you to feed your heart and mind with good, solid, Biblical resources and I think these 5 books would make a great start to any reading list in 2015.
Happy reading!
SDG
Pastor Paul