Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin. Every Thursday I meet with a couple guys from IDC who lead us in song each week. It is our normal practice to review the upcoming service and discuss a book related to worship/music. We just wrapped up Kauflin’s book and the work is engaging and wide-ranging. He leaves precious few stones unturned in his aim to help worship leaders “think carefully about what we do and why we do it” (19). A valuable, and dare I say necessary, read for every pastor and worship leader.
The Pastor’s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry by Jared Wilson. I hadn’t planned on reading this book until I saw Joe Thorn call it “an instant classic.” Although it didn’t join my personal list of classics, it is nevertheless a quick and encouraging read. Wilson is a gifted writer who understands the need for pastors to continually feed from the never ending well of Christ’s grace. I found his chapters on “The Holy Pastor” and “The Watchful Pastor” to be particularly encouraging.
Indwelling Sin by John Owen. Owen’s Mortification of Sin and On Temptation are among the most influential books I’ve ever read. So it’s a bit of a mystery to me why it took me so long to read the other member of his “sanctification trilogy.” More complex and difficult (i.e., quintessentially Owen) than Mortification and Temptation, Indwelling Sin works out the doctrine that “there is an exceeding efficacy and power in the remainder of indwelling sin in believers, whit a constant inclination and working toward evil.” Owen exhaustively covers the dominion, power, opposition, and deceit of the sin that still resides in the Christian’s heart. I found myself frightened anew by the power of sin, but comforted even more so by the Spirit’s power to overcome the enemy within.
The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash. This book was given away at T4G in 2010 and somehow got lost in my library. I recently discovered it, and how thankful I am! Ash writes, “This little book is written for ordinary ministers who preach regularly to ordinary people in ordinary places, who may dream of being world-renowned but are going to be spared that fate” (12). The book’s treasures are too many to count and surely will encouraged any pastor discouraged in the power of expository preaching. Chapter three, “Preaching that Mends a Broken World,” is worth the price of the book.
Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty. This title proves my wife’s assertion that my appetite for history can be ridiculous. Captain Morgan is much more than a brand of famous rumbulllion, he is one of the most notorious pirates to every wreak havoc in the Caribbean. With captivating prose Talty recounts Morgan’s stunning ascension to power and equally stunning fall from it. The fascinating details of Caribbean piracy in the mid-17th century are set against the backdrop of the Spanish Empire’s inevitable fall. Talty puts some historical meat on the Hollywood’s Pirates of the Caribbean, and the meat is quite tasty.