Church Planter's Library

"Between the Times" a blog run by several profs. at Southeastern Seminary is beginning a brief series on The Church Planter's Library. Check it out.

Doug's Top Books Read in 2008

I think one of the ways that we can be of great service to one another is to share suggestions of resources that have most helped us. This last month has seen the usual surge of "Top Book" lists and I figured I'd throw mine out there and ask that you do the same. These books weren't published in 2008 necessarily, but books that I finally got to last year. I left off classics such as John Owen's Communion With God which was absolutely fabulous - which I assume that we will all draw from in due time, and stuck to more modern works.

I read more than these, but found these, in particular, to be most helpful.

In no particular order:

The Courage to Be Protestant by David Wells

Spirit Empowered Preaching by Arturo G. Azurdia

Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

The Cross and Christian Ministry by D.A.Carson

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

An Ordinary Pastor by D.A. Carson

Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris (written for teens- but a great read).

Why We're Not Emergent by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (as a related note, I read Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis and Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy both of which were enough to tell me why I couldn't be emergent- you ought to read them with a discerning mind and then weep for the church).

Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson (read for the umpteenth time as I've been using it in premarital counselling- excellent!!!)

Handbook of Church Discipline by Jay Adams


Well, I'll stop there since that is ten.

How about you?

Maybe we could share favorite commentaries and classics as well....

-Doug

Book Recommendation

Keith Mathison put together his top 10 books of 2008 list over at Ligoneir and on it he included a book that I have touted-"The Courage to Be Protestant" by David Wells, and he also included a book that has been on my radar screen because of the buzz it has generated. Check it out- sounds perfect for planters:

• Michael Horton. Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church (Baker). Michael Horton's new book Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church is a very important wake-up call to a church that has effectively substituted therapeutic moralism for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a book that ought to be read, and read carefully, by every pastor and seminarian.

Recommended Book

Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor
The life and reflections of Tom Carson by D.A. Carson

Tim Challies of challies.com fame listed this book as his book of the year 2008 writing that it is "D.A. Carson’s tribute to his father, a pastor who labored for many years in relative obscurity. Tom Carson was an ordinary pastor, a man who struggled with depression and who saw his ministry bear visible little fruit, but he was a man who remained faithful and who served the Lord with all his heart. This is a must-read book for anyone in ministry."

I checked out the reviews at Amazon and found myself ordering it immediately despite the backlog of books I have waiting to be read.

I received it today and read the preface before I sat down and am already hooked. Here is some of what Carson writes as introduction:

"Some pastors, mightily endowed by God, are remarkable gifts to the church. They love their people, they handle Scripture well, they see many conversions, their ministries span generations, they understand their culture yet refuse to be domesticated by it, they are theologically robust and personally disciplined....

Most of us, however, serve in more modest patches. Most pastors will not regularly preach to thousands, let alone tens of thousands. They will not write influential books, they will not supervise large staffs, and they will never see more than modest growth. They will plug away at their care for the aged, at their visitation, at their counseling, at their Bible studies and preaching. Some will work with so little support that they will prepare their own bulletins. They cannot possibly discern whether the constraints of their own sphere of service owe more to the specific challenges of the local situation or to their own shortcomings. Once in a while they will cast a wistful eye on "successful" ministries. Many of them will attend conferences sponsored by the revered masters and come away with a slightly discordant combination of, on the one hand, gratitude and encouragement and, on the other, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy and guilt.

Most of us- let us be frank- are ordinary pastors.


Do you see yourself in this description? I sure do.

I'll post any especially helpful nuggets, but if you feel inclined to get the book, drop me a line and lets encourage each other as we read along together.

-Doug