recent reads

Here are some books that I have recently read and suggest. A couple I am getting in a day or so and will keep you posted.

The Church- Hans Kung
True Spirituality- Francis Schaeffer
Letters of Francis Schaeffer- Francis Schaeffer
L’Abri- Edith Schaeffer
Demon Possession- John Warwick Montgomery
The Serpent of Paradise- Erwin Lutzer
Unmasking Satan- Richard Mayhue
Satan Cast Out- Fredrick Leahy
Hell On Trial- Robert Peterson
In the Company of Angels- Andrew Bandstra
Angels Among Us- Ron Rhodes
Power Encounters- David Powlison
How to Meet the Enemy- John MacArthur, Jr.
One Minute After You Die- Erwin Lutzer
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ- John Piper
Biblical Perspectives on Evangelis- Walter Brueggemann
The Climax of the Covenant- N.T. Wright
The Challenge of Jesus- N.T. Wright
What St. Paul Really Said- N.T. Wright…
The New Testament and the People of God- N.T. Wright
Christianity at the Religious Roundtable- Timothy Tennent
Christus Victor- Gustaf Aulen
Thinking Spiruality- John Owen
The Drama of Scripture- Goheen and Bartholomew (link takes you to class studies)
God is the Gospel- John Piper

I’m reading the goods on Angels, Demons, Heaven and Hell because I’m going to be teaching a 4 week study dealing with these subjects after the book of Colossians. Fun stuff!

If you haven’t noticed, I love diversity in what I read and I try not to read guys that only “high five” me when it comes to my theological persuasions. I think reading subjects and authors you don’t agree with or take certain exceptions to really helps to solidify what you believe and it might even teach you something ya’ didn’t know…go figure.

I have also been listening to quite a bit of Tim Keller’s stuff from redeemer presbyterian in Manhattan Very helpful if you are looking to understand the Gospel in a way that is not shortened to a personal savior Jesus that fits your felt needs! If you are interested in what I have been listening to, ask and I’ll let you know. Also, I have been listening to a series from Piper called “Men for whom the world was not worthy.” Whew! Listen to the one on Spurgeon if you have any aspirations towards preaching and you may want to hide under a rock and cry for a week before you pick another lecture to listen to. I know I did. I also just got 60 sermons from Piper for free from Monergism.com. You have to pay for shipping which is 5 bucks but you get the doctrines of grace from Romans 7-9. I also have been working through the 24 lecture series on Jonathan Edwards from John Gerstner. It’s a bit dry, but man is it rich with information and very profitable for those who desire to glorify God in ministry. Lastly, I am doing my masters work in Theology with an emphasis on Christianity in a contemporary culture (from CTS). The professor (Jerram Barrs) is a stud. I had him for my Apologetics and Outreach course. He is a 25 year friend of Francis Schaeffer and stayed a dear friend of Edith Schaeffer. The class is dealing with Schaeffer’s early years and next course is Schaeffer’s later years. If you haven’t read any of Schaeffers’ work, you are really missing out on a man who loved God and loved those who were written off by broad evangelicalism as the “unreachable” lost. His work warms my soul for loving my neighbor. Start with his trilogy if you can and try to buy his 5 volume set of his complete works. If you eat a steady diet of Piper, Schaeffer, Keller, Wright, Edwards, Vos, and Owen, you will find yourself rich in the glory of God, the love of the lost, a better understanding of the Gospel, a passion for history, a desire to read the bible as a unified story of redemption with God as the leading Actor, and a good dose of biblical theological framework with a fullness of understanding the affects of the atonement and how to preach it! IMHO.

David