Book Briefs

Here are some of the books I’ve been reading over the past couple months.

Christopher Ash, Zeal Without Burnout (Good Book Company, 2016). A terrific little book you can read in under an hour. Ash’s personal story is fascinating and instructive and his counsel is thoughtful and wise. At some point in ministry, every Christian leader is going to need a book like this.

John Lennox, Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science (Zondervan, 2011). An easy to follow guide to the opening chapters of Genesis from a well-respected scientist and Christian apologist. This wouldn’t be the first Genesis-and-science book I’d recommend, but it’s a fine introduction to the issues and ideas at play.

John Piper, A Camaraderie of Confidence: The Fruit of Unfailing Faith in the Lives of Charles Spurgeon, George Muller, and Hudson Taylor (Crossway, 2016). I love Piper’s mini-biographies. I can’t think of one that hasn’t been interesting, edifying, and inspiring. These are no different. Learning (or re-learning) about Spurgeon’s melancholy, Muller’s prayers, and Taylor’s faith will encourage every Christian.

G.K. Beale and Mitchell Kim, God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth (IVP Books, 2014). A solid introduction to the themes of biblical theology. Depending on how familiar you are with Beale and the contours of biblical theology, this could be a groundbreaking work or a nice refresher. We used this as our staff book for the past semester.

Craig Hamilton, Wisdom in Leadership: The How and Why of Leading the People You Serve (Matthias Media, 2015). Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. I love Matthias Media, but the cover is cheesy and the book is way too long. This volume is going to reach a smaller audience because it is 78 chapters and 495 pages. Which is a shame, because this is an outstanding book. Hamilton’s thesis is that most Christian leaders are into theology books or leadership books, but rarely both. And that’s a problem. He thinks (1) Christian leadership must be rooted in good theology and (2) theologically-minded pastors cannot ignore principles of good leadership. The result is an extraordinarily practical book that is full of invaluable insight and hard fought common sense. Pick 20 or 30 small chapters and use this book with your staff or your leadership team. I like “Time Management Won’t Help You,” “Praise Publicly,” “Ideas Are Born Ugly,” “Public Fans and Private Critics,” “Choose Your Lieutenants,” “There’s No Point Having a Dog and then Barking Yourself,” and “Why Systems Matter.”

Michael Kruger, ed., A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel Realized (Crossway, 2016). I was excited to get this book in the mail last week. It looks and feels like a serious book (and it is!). Mike Kruger and Crossway are to be congratulated. Here’s my blurb: “With the right mix of academic integrity and purposeful accessibility, this New Testament introduction will serve time-crunched pastors, ministry-minded students, and church members looking to better understand their Bibles. What makes this new volume unique is the emphasis on examining the theological themes in each book of the New Testament, rather than focusing on arcane debates prompted by liberal scholarship. The result is an insightful and impressive resource, one I will use in my own studies and often recommend to others.”