Books

Cheryl Teal wrote this review of Ed Welch's Running Scared for her blog, and I asked if we could use it for ours. She does an excellent job of capturing the essence of the book in a way that explains, encourages, and edifies.

"Here is something marvelous: the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, he willed to be borne in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet he continuously filled the world even as he had done from the beginning!"John Calvin, The Institutes, Book II, Chapter 13, section 4

As we've mentioned over the last few weeks, we have several book and Bible studies available for our ladies to enjoy together this fall. 

Our accountability suffers when we forget why we do it, or we aren't sure how to do it. Coming Clean, a new e-book by Covenant Eyes' Luke Gilkerson, helps us on both counts. It provides an insightful, biblical rationale for our need for it, and then it provides accessible steps and tools to get started.

Reformation 21 has posted a well-written review on Rob Bell's new book, What We Talk about When We Talk about God. I have not read the book myself, but it sounds as if Bell is continuing his journey into quasi-orthodoxy. When it comes to being radical as a Christian, this must always be about how we obey what we believe, not how we change what we believe. 

One of the purposes of great art is to bring the overwhelming realities of life and thought within reach of normal, distracted, minds like ours. Without it, the gap between my own wisdom and the wisdom necessary to properly comprehend the wonder and mystery of birth, the changing of seasons, a fire in the hearth, sickness, and death is too wide to measure. 

Paul Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands was written to help Christians counsel other Christians. While there is certainly a place for professional counseling, the book underscores the idea that most of our giving and receiving of counsel will not be in the therapist's office, but in living rooms, coffee shops, church lobbies, offices, classrooms, and grocery stores. All day we are listening to and giving counsel. The question is, are we doing that well?

As God has been teaching our church the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are reminded that the greatest blessing offered to us in the gospel is to experience the presence of the Creator God. In his short, but profound book, The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer writes, "To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love."