I love to read. 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.

Awakening: The Life & Ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne by David Robertson. Robertson’s chronicle of M’Cheyne comes with the author’s unique vantage point: he is the current minister of St. Peter’s in Dundee, M’Cheyne’s church of old. The consistent interest and “unrealistic expectations of many who came to inquire about M’Cheyne” set Robertson on a course of discovery. He cynically thought, “Was [M’Cheyne] not just famous because he died young and had a book book written about him?” Robertson’s research lead him to conclude . . . wait for it . . . M’Cheyne has amazing relevance for today! The saintly Scotsman continues to awaken ministers today. Like almost every biography of M’Cheyne, Awakening is arranged topically instead of chronologically. Will we ever have a modern, chronological biography of RMM? One day, I hope. I personally found Robertson’s lack of citations maddening from a scholarly perspective, but his work on setting M’Cheyne in his historical context is magnificent.

Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors: Reading an Old Story in a New Way by Voddie Baucham. Several years ago Baucham woke up from homiletical moralism when a Conservative Jew sent him a letter after listening to one of his Old Testament sermons. She said she’d “never imagined being able to get so much out of a message preached by a Gentile!” This started Baucham on journey of evaluating the degree to which his preaching was Christ-centered. Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors represents his model of Christocentric, not moralistic, preaching on the Old Testament. I figured I’d give the book a whirl as I plan to preach Genesis 37-50 tomorrow night at IDC. He does an excellent job focusing on Genesis’ land, seed, and covenant themes, but I felt he missed some big redemptive-historical points on God’s election of Judah and providential protection of His people by placing them in Egypt. Ironically, almost every chapter’s exposition ends with a section of “Takeaways,” which—from my perspective—are actually very . . . well, moral. So, maybe there is a place for moral application after all.

Creation & Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis by Allen Ross. Throughout the summer we’ve been preaching through the book of Genesis with some noticeable velocity (doing all fifty chapters in fourteen weeks). As such, I simply didn’t have time to read many commentaries cover to cover. Walton’s commentary alone takes almost two hundred pages to just get through Genesis 3! Ross’s work is long (coming in at over 700 pages), but gloriously useful. Not every expositor will agree with what Ross contends to be the main point of a given pericope, but I found him especially helpful on historical context and contemporary application. Any pastor preaching through Genesis should have this resource on hand.

Genesis by Derek Kidner. The only other Genesis commentary of which I read every page is this one by the venerable Derek Kidner. I found it characteristically lucid, occasionally brilliant, and consistently insightful. The book’s brevity (just over 200 pages) means it won’t be as exhaustive as some preachers might want, but it is nonetheless a model of essentiality in biblical studies. Thus, Kidner doesn’t veer into every possible debate, but instead chooses to focus the reader’s concentration on the concentration(s) of Genesis itself. Well done.

American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism by Matthew Avery Sutton. Sutton’s history of modern evangelicalism breaks from the common historical mold on four points: 1) he places substantial emphasis on World War I’s impact on radical evangelicalism, 2) he argues historians have exaggerated the significance of the Scopes trial, 3) he stresses greater continuity in the fundamentalist story than Marsden, and 4) he eschews sharp distinctions between the politics and tactics of pre-World War II fundamentalism and postwar evangelicalism. Knowledgeable readers understand that what Sutton attempts in American Apocalypse is nothing less than a reshaping of how we interpret the history of evangelicalism. The unifying force for his interpretation is late-19th century to late-20th century evangelicalism’s love affair with premillennialism. His impressive, sweeping research shows how apocalyptic sensibilities dominated evangelicalism’s political moves in the 20th century. Not everyone will agree with his conclusions, but this reading of modern evangelicalism is one to be reckoned with. Tolle lege!

A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A.W. Tozer by Lyle Dorsett. Before reading Dorsett’s work my knowledge of Tozer was limited to his two most famous works: The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God. He had a huge impact on my grandparents and subsequently my parents, so I thought it’d be enjoyable to dive into this brief introduction. I can’t say I was disappointed; what an interesting life and ministry! Here we find many strange inconsistencies housed in one man (but isn’t that true of us all?). He came out of Pentecostal background and didn’t ever repudiate it, nevertheless he focused not on Christ as Healer, but Christ as Savior and Sanctifier. He was a powerful preacher and man of prayer, but fell way short as a shepherd, husband, and father. Dorsett ably moves the story along, but I found his pen regularly repetitive and somewhat odd (see his affinity for the word “purposive”).

Flight of Passage: A Memoir by Rinker Buck. In the summer of 1966 brothers Kern and Rinker Buck—aged seventeen and fifteen respectively—flew from New Jersey to California in an old Piper Cub. Their story captivated the media and had reporters chasing them from one country airport to the next. Rinker’s memoir of that special summer makes for perfect summer reading. The prose is breezy, the story is simultaneously poignant and hilarious, and the history is joyfully informative. I found myself longing for youthful days of old when summers with friends were times of unusual freedom to pursue our wildest dreams.

A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett. Around twenty years ago, while gardening at High Glen House, Follett found a prisoner’s collar with the engraving, “This man is property of Sir George Jamisson of Fife, AD 1767.” The keepsake became a paper weight and eventually the catalyst for A Place Called Freedom. Here Follett creates some historical fiction about one who may have borne the collar, a Scottish protagonist he names Mack McAsh. With Follett’s usual intensity the story moves along rapidly, finding McAsh heading off to the New World to find freedom, all the while with his enemies in hot pursuit. The portrait of plantation life in early Virginia is particularly fascinating, even if a few of Follett’s sociological conventions are a bit too modern.

Hornet Flight by Ken Follett. Before his smashing success with The Century Trilogy Follett’s bestsellers usually were works of World War II-era historical fiction. Hornet Flight is one of those works. Here Follett’s invents immense intrigue in the realm of Danish resistance to Nazi occupation. The Danes developed one of the most successful Nazi resistance movements of the war, helping almost all Denmark’s Jews escape Hitler’s grasp. Follett tells the story of a few ordinary Danish citizens trying to help the RAF successfully breakthrough the Luftwaffe’s hold over Denmark. I’ve come to the conclusion that Follett is so adept at historical fiction page turners because he’s quite superb at developing believable, yet tyrannous villains. And few places in history had so many ghastly, ordinary villains as Nazi Germany. This one is entertaining all around.

Click here to find other entries in the Recent Reads series.

I love to read. 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 Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision by Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson. I must say from the start, “This is a magnificent book!” It will undoubtedly be very high on my favorites reads of 2015. Whatever high expectations I had were well surpassed as the authors promote a compelling vision for recovering the long hallowed, but now forgotten, role of the pastor theologian. Full of piercing historical and sociological analysis, rich reflection on God’s word, and surprisingly helpful tips, this is a book every pastor should read. Not all of us will become Ecclesial Theologians (the true burden of Wilson and Hiestand’s model), yet we all need fresh encouragement to zealously pursuing a learned ministry. Tolle lege!

Robert Murray McCheyne: A Burning Light by Alexander Smellie. Out of all the M’Cheyne biographies I’ve read Smellie’s might just be the best one after Andrew Bonar’s classic. Written in the early 20^th century Smellie’s account benefits from simultaneously being near enough to interview some who knew Mr. M’Cheyne and having enough historical distance to provide pointed analysis. Smellie’s pen is also up to the task of the great Scotsman; he eloquently says of M’Cheyne’s preaching, “There was pathos in it; there was winningness; there was fire.” This is stirring stuff.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne: A Good Minister of Jesus Christ by J.C. Smith. Smith’s entry into the cottage industry of M’Cheyne appreciation is quite scattered. He spends more time collecting stories about M’Cheyne from contemporaries than giving a linear account of the pastor’s life. But what is surely a drawback to most readers is a gift to M’Cheyne students like myself. For here we have documented eyewitness experiences and firsthand accounts of the man’s power in preaching, prayer, and pastoral ministry. A goldmine indeed.

They Were Pilgrims by Marcus Loane. I had never heard of Loane before picking up this book, but have since found out he was a formidable figure in the mid-20^th century Reformed world. They Were Pilgrims is a delightful “Banner-of-Truthy” (let the learned understand) book consisting of four biographical portraits: David Brainerd, Henry Martyn, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and Ion Keith-Falconer. Each man died around the age of thirty, burning out with a missionary zeal. Under Loane’s able hand each man’s zeal for Jesus and His salvation bleeds through each page. Readers beware: the lives and ministry of these humble men just might be what the Spirit uses to ignite a white-hot, fast-burning flame in your life.

Her Hand in Marriage: Biblical Courtship in the Modern World by Doug Wilson. This book is brief and full of everything one would expect from the “Moscow, Idaho Man.” He is unrelenting in his call for parents to take a biblical role in the relationships of their children. The idea of “courtship” connotes lots of crazy things with modern Christians, but I found Wilson’s vision to be utterly compelling and needed. The simple statement, “Boys leave for marriage, and girls are given in marriage,” may reshape some parent’s view of the whole business. If you take anything away from the book it ought to be a re-centering of children’s relationships around the wise, loving authority of the father. You may read it and disagree, but that’s just fine—Wilson is always good for stirring up convictional conversations.

My Life for Yours: A Walk through the Christian Home by Doug Wilson. It took me a while to “get” what Wilson was up to in My Life For Yours. As the subtitle indicates, Wilson walks the reader through a Christian home and meditates on whatever major theme is present in the given room. So, when he comes to the Living Room he speaks of humility and holidays, the Dining Room calls to mind idolatry and food, and the sight of an Entertainment Center gets him going on worldliness. Almost no stone related to the Christian home goes uncovered in this excellent little book. It would be a good tool for discipling church members to use their home for the glory of God.

Praise Her in the Gates: The Calling of Christian Motherhood by Nancy Wilson. Having finished reading every Family Series entry from Doug, I ventured over to read those written by his wife. Reading such books help me understand my wife and, I hope, better ministry to the women in my church. Wilson says, “Building a home—childbirth, education, discipline—requires holy joy and a love of beauty. The mother who fears God does not fear the future.” And all God’s people said, “Preach!” Although her literary pen isn’t as potent as her husband’s it is mighty clear nonetheless. Praise Her in the Gates represents Mrs. Wilson’s splendid and short manifesto on motherhood. She hits all the necessary parts with biblical sensibility and without belaboring the point. Her chapters on “The Church as Mother,” “Loving the Kids,” and “The Pleasant Home” will encourage mothers across the spectrum. This would be an excellent book for a few mothers to walk through and encourage each other in the high calling of motherhood.

The Fruit of Her Hands: Respect and the Christian Woman by Nancy Wilson. I’m not sure if there’s much I can say about this one as it’s overwhelmingly about wives respecting their husbands. I think Praise Her in the Gates is more useful and pithy, but The Fruit of Her Hands will surely be of use to women desiring to honor the Lord in marriage. I’m still waiting for my wife to finish it and let me know what she thinks. Until then, I’ll just mosey on over to a corner of Recent Reads where I better belong . . .

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David Hoffman. I’ve long fancied that in another life I’d be some type of super spy or intelligence agent—think Jason Bourne. So naturally my outlet for such silliness has been studying the Cold War, those golden decades of espionage. Yet, as time has gone on I find myself increasingly fascinated by the politics of the age as well. When I thus saw David Hoffman’s Pulitzer winner on the untold story of nuclear arms race I knew I had to pick it up. What a fantastic work of scholarship and narrative history! If only every award winner had such verve in telling its story. I never knew how close the world came to nuclear meltdown in the 1980s. Additionally, the fall of the Soviet Union has a new depth of meaning after reading this one. Hoffman’s portraits of Reagan and Gorbachev are most illuminating. The Dead Hand is essential reading for any armchair historian—or professional historian, for that matter–of the Cold War.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. My journey through Middle Earth continued with The Two Towers. As I said last week, it’s been about thirteen years since I last ventured upon these hallow grounds and many of the intricacies had been forgotten. For example, I hadn’t remembered—I blame it on Peter Jackson, of course—how compartmentalized the original narrative is. Tolkien doesn’t weave the separate stories of the broken Fellowship together, instead choosing to tell each one’s part in full before moving on to the next. I’m pleased to tell you the Battle of Helm’s Deep is still passionate and heroic, and the last march of the Ents remains a joy to behold.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien. One thing that must be said about the Jackson versions of LOTR is house stupendous was his job with brave Samwise. For throughout the whole trilogy, and most acutely in The Return of the King, the Gaffer’s son is a model of selfless valor. One can’t read this final volume without feeling stirred by the courage of Frodo, Sam, and their hobbit friends. I confess to getting a teary-eyed as I turned the final page and the Grey Havens came . . . such is my love for this wondrous world of fiction.

Click here to find other entries in the Recent Reads series

I love to read. 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.

Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind by P.T. Forsyth. A few months ago I noticed a trend in several of the preaching books I’d read: some of the best parts of each book were nothing more than quotations from Forsyth’s Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind. “Ad fontes!” I cried and so here we are. Forsyth’s opus on preaching was originally delivered as part of the Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale University in 1907. The Scottish theologian barrels out of the gate saying, “It is, perhaps, an overbold beginning, but I will venture to say that with its preaching Christianity stands or falls” (3). “You sir,” I say, “are worth listening to.” Forsyth wanders around more than I’d prefer, but he often finds himself in a place of brilliance. His thoughts on preaching and “Religious Reality” are particularly smashing. This isn’t a fast read, but you’re preaching will be helped.

The Soul of Prayer by P.T. Forsyth. I liked Positive Preaching enough to pick up Forsyth’s much shorter (95 pages) work on prayer. The book is straightforward enough as it consider seven attributes of prayer: Prayer’s inwardness, naturalness, moral reactions, timeliness, ceaselessness, vicariousness, and insistency. He rambles about again without a cohesive center, but—like Positive Preaching—the rambling proves to offer continual spiritual profit. I found myself freshly challenged to prayer through an old man illuminating old truths in fresh ways.

Constrained by His Love: A New Biography of Robert Murray M’Cheyne by J.L. Van Valen. Originally published in Dutch in 1992, Christian Focus translated Van Valen’s work and made it the most recent major English-language bio of M’Cheyne in 2002. The work reads less like a chronological narrative and more like a systematic treatment of M’Cheyne’s thought/practice. Once I got around that—and what seemed to be some literary verve lost in translation—I found my soul edified. Frankly, it seems impossible to me for anyone to write anything about M’Cheyne and not edify the reader. The Scotsman is just that compelling. Pictures of M’Cheyne’s cultural context, personal letters, and major figures help illuminate the story at every turn. Van Valen’s final chapter of summary thoughts on the man’s life and legacy is worth the price of the book.

Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture by Barry Hankins. I picked up Hankins book as something of a personal treat after completing my spring seminars at The Institution back in early June.  Hankins book attempts to answer the question, “How did the conservative leaders of America’s largest Protestant denomination come to hold culture views that put them at odds with the moderates who had preceded them in the leadership positions of their denomination?” His short answer is, “Conservative leaders came to believe that America, including the South, was in the throes of a cultural crisis that necessitated a warlike struggle against the forces that were hostile to evangelical faith.” Sounds fun, doesn’t it? I thought so. As a conservative Southern Baptist I predictably disagree with some of Hankins’ more moderate conclusions, but on the whole this is some mighty fine denominational history.

Baptists in America: A History by Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins. The month of Baptist history continued with Hankins joining forces with the redoubtable Tommy Kidd. They ably tell the fascinating story of Baptists rise from persecuted minority to the Protestant majority in our country. Their research is impeccable and immense, best seen in the very personal vignettes woven into each chapter regarding forgotten individuals. I did, however, find this literary approach giving the story some narrative slack. But these brothers can be forgiven. The chapters on “Slavery, Schism, and War” and “Black Baptist in Babylon” were particularly insightful. At the end of the book the authors write, “In all of this, Baptists are notorious for two things—evangelism and schism.” Sounds about right to me. Well done!

Reforming Marriage by Doug Wilson. I know some think of Wilson as the dark lord of Reformed theology, particularly all you “TR” (Truly Reformed ©) brothers. But I love him. Not that I agree with everything he says, far from it. But, Wilson always makes you think and he writes with skill that’s, as the kids say, “stupid good.” I’ve long considered his Future Men as my manual for raising boys, so I decided to dip into the rest of the Family Series catalog. First up was his little treatise on marriage. And let me say what many don’t want to say, this is brilliant. I thought his chapter one honoring the marriage bed is as good as anything I’ve yet read on the topic. This is biblical conviction worth listening to.

Fidelity: How to Be a One-Woman Man by Doug Wilson. Wilson ups the ante in Fidelity by saying, “Some of what is said here may be offensive to some Christian women, but the point is certainly not to give offense. The point is to provide biblically specific and pointed help for Christian males” (13). “Help on what?” you might ask. The answer is, of course, being a one-woman man grounded in God’s word (1 Tim. 3:2). So, while the book is certainly not for all people, it does have many helpful things to say about “the various allurements which distract Christian men from their sexual responsibilities.” While I didn’t find every chapter useful, his work on “Lust and Pornography” and their incumbent perils is oh so helpful.

How to Exasperate Your Wife and Other Short Essays for Men by Doug Wilson. The cover and title are quite hilarious, but they belie a serious little book. After Reforming Marriage and Fidelity I wondered if Wilson’s latest was going to be something of a “Doug’s Best Hits on Husbandry” album. So I was pleasantly surprised to find him treading on familiar ground in a fresh way. Every chapter is short, packed with pithy little punches and delightful spiritual digs at much of the masculine bufoonery plaguing Christian men today. I’ve already invited a few men to read the book with me as I think it will be quite edifying for all as we desire to represent Christ in our homes.

Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship by John Macarthur. Every Tuesday morning at 7:30am I meet with the other two staff members of IDC and we’re always working through a book. I can’t remember how it came up, but one of them suggested we read Macarthur’s Strange Fire. And read we did. And that particular staff member still isn’t sure if his decision was a good one. He thought Macarthur’s arguments were compelling biblically, but failed the “winsomeness test.” I’m not sure if I agree with the latter issue, but I can see how Macarthur’s utter confidence in his interpretation of God’s word can come across as arrogance to some. I still believe anyone looking for a popular, evangelical case for cessationism would do well to read and wrestle with this book.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. One day while running—any good thought I have usually comes while on a run—I decided I’d been away from Middle Earth for far too long. I soon realized it’s because I last ventured into the original, literary world of Tolkien about thirteen years (!) ago. That’s terribly long for a Hobbit loving soul like mine. So back to the world of hobbits, dwarves, elves, wizards, rings, and bad guys I went. I’d forgotten how much singing there was in middle earth and actually managed to lose a few characters over the years (Beorn being the most notable). After the book finished you know what first popped into my mind? “My, my how Peter Jackson bungled the whole Hobbit franchise.”

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. Peter Jackson’s version of The Hobbit again managed to weave it’s way into my mind as I read the next book in the series. I was surprised to find how many little asides—Radagast anyone?—in the cinematic Hobbit actually came from The Fellowship of the Ring book. The Fellowship’s glory and beauty remain unstained, I am pleased to report. Tolkien’s longer introduction to the history of hobbits in this volume caused me to realize something for the first time: my natural disposition is strikingly hobbit-like. Let those who know me best and love “the trilogy to rule all trilogies” understand.

Click here to find other entries in the Recent Reads series.