"Tithing: Test Me In This" by Douglas Leblanc

This book is part of the Ancient Practices Series put out by Thomas Nelson publishers that examines traditional spiritual disciplines that are making a resurgence in modern day spirituality. Examining the practice of tithing, Leblanc spends time with leaders from a wide spectrum of Christianity, and even outside of Christianity. The book is a series of profiles of these different people, and their experiences with tithing.

It is important to understand that this book is not seeking to give a Biblical basis for tithing or generosity, or trying to explain the difference between tithing in the Old Testament age and if this carries over into the New Covenant Age. The book simply gives us these profiles of people who have trusted God with their giving and what their experiences have been. I cannot help but think the readership would be better served if there had been more of a Biblical apologetic for tithing. The book does not give a concrete definition of what it is even calling "tithing". For instance, whether the giving goes to the local church or to non-profit organizations is not examined.

What is a bit frusterating about the book is that most of it is not about tithing at all. The profiles give miniature biographies about their careers and then at the end there is a piece about tithing.

In the end, I am left with the impression that there are conservatives who tithe, there are liberals who tithe, there are Jews who tithe, and there are Catholics who tithe. While some might find this highly inspirational, I was not left inspired. A compelling gospel-driven apologetic for how we view our finances and how we give to the local church would be much more beneficial. While the Ancient Practices Series is fine for what it is, this is precisely its weakness.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"What is the Gospel?" by Greg Gilbert

This book is part of the 9Marks Series and is written by first time author Greg Gilbert, who is an associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. This book explains the 3rd mark of Mark Dever's "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church", which is "a biblical understanding of the gospel". This is a small, very accesible book, checking in at a little over 100 pages, but there are few books as important as this one.

Gilbert does a wonderful job unpacking what the good news of the gospel is. The reason this is so important is that if we get the gospel wrong (that is, who God is, who we are, how we are seperated from God, and how we can be reconciled to God) then we are not likely to get much else right. Yet the fact that we get such a wide range of answers to the question "What is the Gospel?" shows that this is precisely what is occuring across the evangelical spectrum. When I first read this, I thought I wish I had about 50 of these. I hope you get the opportunity to read this book, whether you consider yourself a Christian or not. I hope and pray this book finds it's way into many hands that have never heard the true gospel, or have a muddy understanding of what that is.

Watch this excellent preview video from the author, Greg Gilbert.

Greg Gilbert - What Is the Gospel? from 9Marks on Vimeo.

"How to Reach Your Full Potential for God" by Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley is a well known and respected author, theologian, and pastor. Reaching Your Full Potential for God is the latest in the large stack of Stanley books that he has authored through the years. A quick amazon search yields 60 books on his author page.

In the middle of the night, God spoke to Charles Stanley and said "If you truly want to reach your full potential, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, and a balanced schedule". The result is the book I hold in my hands, in which Stanley unpacks these three concepts.

These are hardly new or groundbreaking concepts so it was difficult to see how How to Reach your Full Potential for God (Hereto referred to as HTRYFPFG) could stand out in the myriad of self-help Christian literature. In the end, there are some good and bad things about the book. However, the good in the book is done far better elsewhere, and the bad is troubling enough for me to not recommend this book.

The main problem with HTRYFPFG is that it stays far too general and far too simplistic. This paragraph is a good example of what is maddening about this book. In the section about having a clear mind, Stanley says,

"Avoid ungodly jokes and stories. Your mind can become cluttered very quickly if
you listen to and repeat what is lewd, crude, or demeaning. Don't listen to or
use racial slurs. Reject a spirit of criticism toward any group. Avoid judging
people based on their gender, mental ability, physical disability, economic
status, or any outward trait. Don't speak ill of people becuase of their
personal attributes or physical characteristics.".

You hopefully see what I mean. This type of writing is tedious and doesn't change lives.



There were also many times Stanley left me scratching my head. He instructs the reader to literally ask 6 different questions every time a thought comes into your mind to see if you should be thinking that. Can you imagine actually doing that? Along with this is the problem of Stanley's view of finding God's will. Stanley seems to advocate an approach that keeps you from doing anything until you get confirmation from God that it is His will. This sounds holy but in the end, it is incredibly crippling and leaves people looking for "signs" at every corner and needing to experience "liver quivers" before they do anything. We end up seeing God's will as the bullseye of an elusive target and if we don't hit it just right we are not going to be blessed by God. I do not think this is what the Scriptures teach. We end up taking the special occasions where God has worked that way and say that it is normative. What is left out of this picture is the process of sanctification where we grow in Christlikeness and wisdom and we can discern the paths to take. A much better book to read about this subject would be "Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung.

Furthermore, Stanley advocates that if you're doing God's will, whatever you do will find success. This is incredibly dangerous. It may be God's design for you to take up a pastorate in a church and then it closes in 5 years because you were faithful to the scriptures. Is that "success"? I wouldn't say so, but that's not to say that it was exactly what God wanted.

The entire concept of finding YOUR potential and YOU wanting to experience God's best for YOU that we see just on the book's jacket should cause us to pause. We need to be able to say that even if it leads us to utter destruction in the eyes of man...even if we don't "feel" close to God, even in the good times and the bad, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"George Mueller: Delighted in God" by Roger Steer

Any time you read a book about George Mueller, prepare for God to do some serious heart-work in your life. Delighted by God is a great companion to the autobiography of George Mueller, as it fills in answers a lot of questions the autobiography did not touch on. Highly recommend it. If you don't know who George Mueller is, I'm not going to give more details other than he is a great example God has given to all of us of the power of prayer. Find out about him and be challenged by this man's life.

"Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood" edited by Wayne Grudem & Dennis Rainey

This was a very enjoyable and thought-provoking book with different articles dealing with pastoral ministry and gender issues. Contributors include CJ Mahaney, Ken Sande, Danny Akin, David Powlison and Paul Tripp. Subjects hit on include the pastor's marriage, homosexuality, cultivating man-friendly congregations, singles, and male leadership. Some articles were stronger than others, but overall this is a very good volume.

"Christians at the Border" by M. Daniel Carroll R., and an update

Soooo....it's been a while sinceI blogged here last...like, five months. It's definitely not because I haven't read any books! Basically, I found out that moving and going to seminary can throw your life for a loop. I did not have much time to blog, so I quickly fell behind. So, to wrap up this year, I am going to attempt to catch up with every book I've read since the last post, not necessarily in order. Don't worry, I'm just going to write a quick blurb about each one. Some I definitely don't remember too well!

I will start with the most recent book I read. I picked up Christians at the Border for a few bucks on the clearence rack. Working with internationals and helping them adjust to life in the United States of course brings up conversations about immigration. Carroll is a Guatamalen-American and an old testament scholar. What I really love about this book is that it causes us to look at the immigration issue (particularly latin american immigration to the US) by viewing all of those involved as people made in the image of God. We definitely lose that very easily in our impassioned views. Carroll gives a brief history of immigration in the US as well as different governmental regulations through the years. Carroll doesn't throw stones, but shows us the opposing arguements and helps us to see that this is a complicated issue. The book also gives a biblical overview of immigration and what the Bible has to say about how we treat sojourners and the foreigners among us, and what they are called to do as well. Well worth picking up if you're affected by this issue....and if you live on this planet, you're affected by the issue.

"City of Thieves" by David Benioff

This was a very interesting, well written novel based on Benioff's grandfather's stories about Russia during World War 2. The story is about Lev Beniov and his unlikely partner Kolya, and their seemingly impossible quest to find eggs for the colonel's daughter's wedding in a time and place where you may as well have asked for the moon...or face execution. Gripping, yet couldn't recommend it due to the very crass dialogue all the way through it.