As this is Monday, the day on which I endeavor to have something original to say for myself, I am here to say something original. Now, what shall I say? How about I mark the new year (right on time, as usual) with . . . a list! Lists! Yes, lists are a great way to start the year. Here are a few.
Books completed in 2008
- John MacArthur, The Truth War
- John Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes
- Richard Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist
- John Grisham, The Innocent Man — Non-fiction, and a very sad story.
- Joel Beeke, Heirs with Christ — This is an excellent, easy-to-read treatment of a neglected doctrine.
- Paul Williams, If You Could Ask God One Question — This is a good little book covering some basic theological questions. My only criticism is that it is written at such a low level that the average reader might feel a bit insulted. Set your vanity aside before reading this otherwise useful book.
- Mark Dever, What Is a Healthy Church — Distribute this little book in your church as a vaccination against Hybels-Warren Syndrome.
- Bonar/Haykin/Brooker, Christ Is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar — I loved this book! Read it straight through in an afternoon, or use it as a daily devotional. (The same recommendation goes for this companion volume, Devoted to the Service of the Temple: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins.)
- David McCullough, 1776
- Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone
- Stephen King, Cell — Yes, I read an occasional creepy novel.
- Grudem/Ryken/Collins/Poythress/Winter, Translating Truth — Read this book, toss your NIV.
- C. John Miller, A Faith Worth Sharing — This is an excellent, practical book on personal evangelism, and a quick, easy read to boot.
- David McCullough, John Adams — John Adams is my favorite founding father. He would not like what we’ve done with the republic he loved.
- R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross — A great little primer on the atonement.
- Scott Smith, A Simple Plan — Published in 1994, this is not a new book. However, if you haven’t read it, and you like an occasional novel, I highly recommend this one. This is a parable, however unintended, of the doctrine of total depravity. Never has a secular novelist captured so well the potential of the sin that dwells within “good” men. This is fiction that could easily be true.
- Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency
- Daniel DeFoe, Robinson Crusoe — Okay, I’ll admit that I didn’t finish this one. I had read it as a kid, but this time it just didn’t seem as exciting. Once he got off the island, I lost interest. I had forgotten that the story goes on after that. Still, this is a good story of God’s sovereignty, and one that ought to be read once, at least.
Books began in 2008 (that were abandoned but will be completed eventually)
- Dever/Duncan/Mahaney/Mohler, Preaching the Cross — These are the conference sessions from Together for the Gospel 2006. I have watched them on DVD, so I have sort of finished this one. (You can download the mp3s here. Scroll down for 2006.)
- William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity
- Harold Greenlee, Introduction to Textual Criticism
- Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made — A brief scan of this book, as well as its companion volume The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept tells me that these are must-reads, and I seldom say that.
Books began in 2008 (that I am presently reading)
- J. I. Packer, Knowing God (blogged on Tuesdays) — I’ve never read this before, and I’m glad I finally am.
- F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (blogged on Wednesdays)
- Iain Murray, A Scottish Christian Heritage (blogged on Thursdays) — If I was stranded on a desert island with one author, I would choose Iain Murray. Then I would just sit there entranced while he rambled on.
- John Piper, God Is the Gospel (blogged on Fridays) — If you read only one book by John Piper, read this one. If you read only one gospel-related book this year, read this one.
- David Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant (blogged on Saturdays) — In a day when relevance is supposedly of premium value, this book ought to be read by every Christian. It is relevant in the truest sense of the word, and will be for quite some time to come.
- Stephen Ambrose, D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II — “Fascinating” is an overused adjective these days, but I’ll use it here: fascinating!
Some plans for 2009
- Tentative blogging schedule:
- Tuesdays: Follow Knowing God with The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul.
- Wednesdays: Follow The Canon of Scripture with How to Read the Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken.
- Thursdays: Follow A Scottish Christian Heritage with The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors by Thabiti Anyabwile.
- Fridays: Follow God Is the Gospel with [?]
- Saturdays: Follow The Courage to Be Protestant with [?]
- Sundays: Finish blogging the Psalms in the Geneva Bible (Psalm 119 will be split up over the next several weeks) and begin blogging the Gospel of John (switching to the NASB), accompanied by J. C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels.
- Mondays: Try to have something more clever to say than usual. Someone who shall remain nameless because marriage is difficult enough without dragging your dirty laundry out and blogging about it says I tend to be “dry.” I’m afraid this post is not contributing toward that end.
- Make more bulleted lists, and numbered lists whenever I can justify it.
- Meet last year’s goal (of which I fell woefully short) of averaging one book per week.
- Do more Bible study (vs. just reading).
- Read a lot of history, both church and world.
- Not go Calvin-crazy due to all the quincentenary exuberance all around the web. I will, however, be reading a Calvin biography and purchasing his commentaries and the Institutes, taking advantage of an excellent deal from Solid Ground Books.
As you can see, there are a couple of question marks in the future plans. That, as you may have surmised, is because I don’t know what I will do in those instances. I hope you can tolerate the suspense.
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