I love to read. By God’s grace I am a pretty fast reader; I usually read a couple books each week. I find it helpful to summarize my thoughts on each book and I offer those thoughts in the hope that you will be encouraged to either read or pass over the given title.

The Works of George Swinnock Vol. 2. One of my endeavors for 2014 was to read all five volumes from this little known Puritan. With volume two complete I have come to the end of his long treatise The Christian Man’s Calling, his exhaustive application of what it means to “exercise thyself unto godliness.” The meditations are often redundant, but there are illuminated by Swinnock’s mastery of the analogy. I think he offers four to five analogies for every point he makes. Which means there is a veritable goldmine of illustration in the work. I am eager to see what comes next.

Encountering God Together: Leading Worship Services by David Peterson. Peterson’s biblical theology of worship Engaging with God is a marvelous work in every way. If it has a weakness it is that the author can, at various points, overreact against his cultural milieu and seem to deny that the church’s gathering is for worship. Engaging with God makes it seem that the corporate gathering is only for service and edification. This latest work attempts to rectify that criticism as Peterson shows how the corporate gathering is in fact a worship gathering. Then it moves on to consider how pastors can lead such gatherings faithfully. The book is more simplistic than I expected, but it would nonetheless be a useful and biblical primer for anyone that leads the local church’s weekly gathering.

By Faith, Not by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation by Richard Gaffin.  First published by Paternoster in 2006, this work eventually went out of print, but thankfully P&R picked it up late last year. The content originates from lectures Gaffin gave in response to the growing influence of the New Perspective on Paul. But that doesn’t mean the content is dated. Rather, this is a masterful and concise Pauline theology. The great scholar from Westminster clearly and convincingly shows the primacy of union with Christ, eschatology, and resurrection in Paul’s theology. Gaffin is known for being somewhat difficult to read and By Faith, Not By Sight is par for the course in this regard. Nevertheless, I think it is a seminal work. If you read the old version, I’d still pick this one up because Mark Jones’ foreword is concise historical theology at its finest.

King & Maxwell by David Baldacci. With the reading of this book I have completed Baldacci’s series of the same name. This most recent entry finds King and Maxwell investigating an apparently ordinary death that – surprise! – actually cuts to the very foundations of our nation’s security. So much so that the President personally authorizes the protagonists to get to the bottom of a mysterious death and disappearance of $1 billion Euros. Like all Baldacci’s books, this one is a fun and breezy read. I do think, however, the book’s antagonist is incredibly unbelievable, which means the book’s conclusion is an eye-roller. In fact, as the series progressed the “unrealistic” factor increased with each offering. Here’s to hoping that Baldacci’s next K&M entry can rediscover the believability factor of his previous, and better, books.