Welcome!
This is the first entry for our MSBC blog! Hope this site will be a blessing and our conversations encouraging. Check back regularly for updates on things happening, thoughts for the day and especially reflections on what I've been reading lately. To get us started, here is a list of the books I'll be working through during the year. Please feel free to comment! God bless you all!
BOOK OF THE MONTH (February 2009 – January 2010)
Below are listed the 12 books to be read over the next 12 months. These include brief descriptions taken from Amazon.com and Christianbook.com.
FEBRUARY 2009: The Pleasures of God by John Piper
TOPIC: The Nature of God
Beginning where the foundational truth of Desiring God left off, that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," this expanded rerelease of another classic by John Piper will further explore a life-changing essential -- "We will be most satisfied in God when we know why God himself is most satisfied in God." Fully understanding the joy of God will draw the reader into an encounter with His overflowing, self-replenishing, all-encompassing grace -- the source of living water that all Christians desire to drink. The Pleasures of God will again put God at the center of Creation and leave the reader very satisfied in Him.
MARCH 2009: The Cross of Christ by John Stott
TOPIC: The Meaning of the Cross
At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed. More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialog with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.
APRIL 2009: Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity by Mark Noll
TOPIC: Church History
Organized around thirteen key moments in the history of Christianity, this popular introduction to church history provides contemporary Christians with a fuller understanding of God as he has revealed his purpose through the centuries.
MAY 2009: City of God by Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
TOPIC: Classic from an Ancient Church Father
Saint Augustine of Hippo is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and this book is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defense of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldly politics and will last for eternity, this book is one of the most influential documents in the development of Christianity.
JUNE 2009: John Calvin: Selections from His Writings from HarperCollins
TOPIC: Classic from the Reformation
A pivotal figure of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin's vision of God changed the world. Calvin (1509-1564), who, in response to God's call became a pastor against his natural inclinations, transformed an unimportant city into a powerful force for religious reform. This volume presents the main facets of Calvin's faith, including his personal religious experience, his pastoral ministry, and his revolutionary theological vision.
JULY 2009: The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1628-1688)
TOPIC: Classic from the Puritans
One of the most powerful dramas of Christian faith ever written, this captivating allegory of man's religious journey in search of salvation follows the pilgrim as he travels an obstacle-filled road to the Celestial City. Along the way, he is confronted by monsters and spiritual terrors, among them Worldly Wiseman, Giant Despair, and the demons of the Valley of the Shadow of Death. An enormously influential seventeenth-century classic, universally known for its simplicity, vigor, and beauty of language.
AUGUST 2009: Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden
TOPIC: Christian Biography
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) led a rich intellectual and spiritual life that went far beyond the more well known fire-and-brimestone sermons he delivered in colonial America. In this biography, Edwards' life is carefully detailed from observing God's handiwork from his childhood through his adolescent struggles with faith. Marsden, a highly regarded American church historian, discusses Edwards' powerful preaching in the revivals that dominated the Connecticut Valley in the First Great Awakening and beyond and evaluates Edwards' successful mission to the Indians.
SEPTEMBER 2009: To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson
TOPIC: Christian Missions
In 1812, Ann and Adoniram Judson sailed from Salem aboard the brig "Caravan" as two of the first missionaries to go out from North America. Watching the shoreline disappear from view, they could not have foreseen the impact of their journey on the future of the Christian world mission or on the thousands of men and women who would follow in their footsteps. After a short stay in India, they carried the Good News of Jesus Christ to the golden shore of Burma. Drawing on letters and church records, Courtney Anderson paints a poignant portrait of Judson's early life in dealing with the conflict between his desire for material success and the inner call to serve God.
OCTOBER 2009: Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)
TOPIC: Thought-provoking Fiction
Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, commits a random murder without remorse or regret, imagining himself to be a great man far above moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a suspicious police investigator, his own conscience begins to torment him and he seeks sympathy and redemption from Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute.
NOVEMBER 2009: Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots by J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)
TOPIC: Holiness and Sanctification
Anglican bishop Ryle was convinced that true holiness is not simply a matter of believing and feeling, but of practical doing. As relevant today as it was 130 years ago, his biblically based masterpiece focuses on the daily details and difficulties of holy living and exhorts believers to strive after sanctification, not passively wait for it.
DECEMBER 2009: The Defense of the Faith by Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987)
TOPIC: Apologetics – Defending our Faith
Attacks on Christianity have become more numerous and more pronounced in today's world. Cornelius Van Til's book The Defense of the Faith is a classic treatment on apologetics and endures for our time as crucial reading for the thinking Christian. Designed to stop secularists in their tracks, it is the kind of seminal work that serious defenders of the faith cannot afford to ignore.
JANUARY 2010: The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
TOPIC: Evangelism – Sharing our Faith
In about a hundred pages, Dever discusses modern apprehensions towards evangelism, what the Gospel and evangelism are (and are not), who, how and why we should evangelize, and what we should do after presenting the Gospel. He minces no words, stripping his message down to the basics, and covers the topics thoroughly while leaving nuances and theory to other writers. Depth isn't his intention here, as the subject is already incredibly deep. This is for those of us who have the knowledge of the mandate to evangelize, recognize the persuasion of the Holy Spirit to do so, and have enough compassion for a fallen world to impel us to follow His leading.