Best Books of 2014, Part One

Pastor Josh Stinger had this to say about some of his best books of 2014

  • In Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering, Timothy Keller, as usual, provides a masterful blend of biblical scholarship, cultural apologetics, pastoral care and sensitivity on a difficult subject. Consider reading this before you go through something difficult.  It’s better to get your feet firmly planted on the rock before the storm hits. 
  •  1776 by David McCullough takes the reader through one of the most pivotal years in American and British history, primarily through the eyes of George Washington. The book is well paced and packed full of excellent historical narrative.
  • Having shared in the preaching duties through Romans at the south Wheaton campus, I found Romans (volumes 1-3) by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones to be theologically helpful and pastorally insightful. Originally preached by “the Doctor” over 50 years ago, it was fun and refreshing to read, particularly as commentaries go. I’ll be looking forward to reading the next few volumes this year in this 14 volume set.

The book that topped Pastor Steven Lee's list was Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller. Writes, Steven, "The best book I've read this year and the best book on prayer that I've come across. A Praying Life by Paul  Miller was also a great read on prayer (I've read it many times over the years) and I've read my fair share of E.M. Bounds, but Keller's book is particularly helpful because he shows the reader the reasons and motivations behind prayer, defines prayer against other writers that may have had a skewed understanding of prayer; then delves into practical ways to learn how to pray (citing extensively from Calvin, Augustine and Luther). It has enlivened by prayer life and I would highly recommend it.

Pastoral Resident Michael McKittrick describes some of his best books for 2014.

  • Everyday Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. Church is more than an event on Sunday morning. The church is God's people together on mission for him. In this book, the authors use 1 Peter to help us think about how we can be the people of God every day. It is both a book that casts vision and practical ideas on how to be used by God all week long.
  • The Gospel at Work by Greg Gilbert and Sebastian Traeger. In my own life and as I talk to other, I have seen a struggle to know how one's work fits in with the calling to be a disciple of Jesus. This book helps answer that question. It is short, biblical and practical. If you want to learn more about how to honor God in your work or how your work has any value, then please read this book.
  • The Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter. While I do not agree with everything in this book, the author does a great job of helping Christians see how the Old Testament tells one big story that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is useful in understanding both the background of the Old Testament and how the storyline fits together. This the book I would recommend as an entry point for those wanting to better understand the Old Testament.
  • Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell is a good writer. I'm not sure if he is a Christian, but I found this book fascinating as I read about how our minds work. Gladwell's book made me appreciate how intricately God has designed us and left me wanting to better follow Paul's instruction in Romans 12:1-2 to conform our minds to God rather than the patterns of this world. It also has some interesting thoughts that pertain to recent racial tensions and police actions that I found helpful.

 

 

 

 

Holy Light in a Down-to-Earth Home

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Jen Brewer and her husband, Jeff, went out from College Church to plant a new church, Hope Fellowship in Lombard, where Jeff is now the lead pastor. At the College Church Women’s Bible Study Christmas celebration, Jen talked about how her family shines holy light this Advent season and throughout the year.

There’s a sign in our kitchen that says, "Welcome to our crazy, fun, happy, loud home." Granted it's certainly not a complete description, but it's accurate, to one degree or another.

We are the kind of parents who have our kids dump out all their Halloween candy in the middle of the family room floor just to see the massive mounds of candy given out that year. It's just fun.

When the kids were little we often had 80s dance parties to get out all our energy at the end of a long week—and we turned up the music really loud! Today, the music is still loud on occasion and we have four girls who enjoy hearing themselves talk. We’re an all there kinda family. We’re excitable, we’re loud.

Our evening Bible times would hardly ever be described as smooth sailing. Take the night when our story of Mary and Joseph was interspersed with random discussions, wonderful insights and revelations and thoughtful questions from our youngest daughter about exactly how babies are delivered.

In the midst of the chaos, we desire that the overriding tone in our home reflects our faith in Jesus, our love for others overflowing from the hope laid up for us in heaven, the gospel, the word of truth, bearing fruit and growing, increasing knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God resulting in lives that please him, endurance, patience, joy, thankfulness and forgiveness through God's power at work within us.

These are the beautiful qualities Paul praised and prayed for the Colossian believers in his letter. And these are the beautiful qualities we want exemplified in our family, in our lives. Along with Paul's praises and prayers in the Book of Colossians, he shared loving encouragements, warnings, admonitions and instructions about how to live out the Christian faith.

And I need this help. I need all of the Word of God to help me for two reasons—so I can recognize lies and so I can respond in truth. When we studied Colossians in Women’s Bible Study, we discovered one of the main reasons Paul wrote was because the believers there were being deceived by various false teachers.

There are a myriad of ways we are influenced, and sometimes deceived, by the world—television, movies, ads, books, Pinterest, Facebook, well-meaning friends, churches, seminars and blogs that all share how to be a phenomenal (or at least, a more effective) wife, mom, grandma, sister, friend, neighbor, hostess, community member, co-worker, coordinator, communicator, caretaker, cleaner, crafter, Christian.

And many of these things are fine and helpful. But what's not helpful is when they become our highest ideals instead of God's standards ruling our lives. But there is one other influence that deceives me most. It’s my own dreamy, often unrealistic expectations that cause wrong thinking about how life ought to be or ought to go. My standards. My ideas. My ways.

Recently, there was an incident in which my girls needed correction for their relationship struggles. Since they are older, I was delighted with the opportunity to sit down and share much of what we had learned in Colossians—about what Christ did for us and how we are now to live out our Christian lives with one another.

Here's what I envisioned happening, and what I would like you to believe happened at that moment (and every moment I discipline my children).

The classical music started playing overhead....dun, dun, dunna, dun, dun, dun, dun... And the girls profusely thanked me with, "Oh, thank you, dearest mother, for so clearly and faithfully revealing our hearts to us through God's wonderful Word. Please forgive us and continue to pray for us as we live out our lives together in a manner worthy of the Lord." They hugged each other and merrily skipped out of the room together. Oh, what a delight to this mother's soul!

Recognize the lies, the lofty expectations in my head?

Here's what really happened. There was no classical music, just some barely audible mumbled apologies, some rolling of the eyes, furrowed brows, two unhappy countenances, and then the question--"Can we go now?" That's it. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect and it certainly didn't fulfill my picturesque dream.

So, I respond in truth. The reality is that just like me, my kids are sinners and are still growing in the grace of God. Like me, they are still being established in the gospel. Once again, I'm reminded that I cannot control my kids' responses or change their hearts, but I can trust God to bear fruit in all of  us—in his timing, in his ways, for his glory. 

Author Paul Tripp states, " Admit it, we’re all still a bit of a mess; that’s why we need God’s grace today as much as we needed it the first day we believed. You and I need to say it to ourselves again and again. We need to look in the mirror and make the confession as part of our morning routine. Here’s what we all need to say: 'I am not a grace graduate.' "

You and I need to come to him broken and acknowledge that we can't fix ourselves. We need to truly believe that through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, Jesus is able to forgive us and restore our relationship with God. If you've hesitated and never confessed your need for Jesus or never submitted to him as the ruler of your life, that is something you can simply do now. You will become a child of God. You will have new life in Christ.

I'm not sure if you will ever visit our home. If you do, I hope you will enjoy a warm, pleasant, peaceful atmosphere. You may not get a sense for how loud we are. You might not notice the crazy. You probably won't have the privilege of being folded into our 80s dance parties. But I do pray that you find our family rooted, established, built up and walking in the faith of Christ Jesus our Lord, abounding in joy and thanksgiving.

Softly, Softly

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a Christmas poem by Marilee Melvin

Softly, softly,

the truth came.

(slow motion salt ocean waves rolling

spreading moving inland,

filling caves and coves and foaming white at breaker’s edge)

No one would have seen it,

No one could have heard it,  

                        But there was one bright star,                        

And angels sang.

(sunset over the ocean all at once too grand,

                                    too glorious for anything but silence;

                sunbursts into sanguine skies: purple pushes

stone silence

into hearts all human and humble)

The truth is hard to our hard hearts.

The best is yet to come:

                Word become flesh,

and dwell among us.

 

Surviving the Holidays

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Memories linger in holiday rituals--picking out the Christmas tree, the ornaments you bought on vacation, the cookies she baked and wrapped for neighbors--and now the first Christmas without your wife or your mother or your husband or perhaps a child. You can barely discern the light of the season but you know it's there because the light shines in the darkness and the darkness doesn't overcome the light, even the darkness of grief and loss. Diane Neptune shares perspectives from GriefShare.

If you have recently lost a loved one, you are likely experiencing a jumble of emotions that you have  yet to sort out. Facing a holiday after the death of a loved one can be more difficult than your friends and family members may realize. GriefShare has provided a video which outlines some basic principles to follow to find strength, healing and tools to move forward in your daily walk through the deep pain of grief. For example:

  • Being prepared for surprising emotions that may hit over the holidays
  • What to do about traditions and other coming changes
  •  How to handle Christmas parties and invitations
  • How to survive potentially awkward moments with other people
  • Where to find comfort, strength and hope in a seemingly hopeless time

A few years ago, you probably found yourself complaining about the hectic nature of the Christmas season. There were numerous programs to sit through, countless gifts to buy and way too many parties to attend. If you even had time to think about what you wanted for Christmas, your list would have been short: fewer places to be and more money to spend.

But now that you might be wrestling with grief this season, you’d gladly take those busy times over what you’re going through now. That’s because no matter whom you have lost, the holidays are a constant reminder that he or she isn’t with you anymore. And with the holiday season lasting over a month, the pain seems to last forever.  So what’s the best advice for making it through the holidays?

Focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

While that may sound like a cliché, focusing on the true meaning of Christmas can actually be a surprising source of comfort.  It leads directly to hope and pervasive healing. Let’s look at three reasons why.

Reason 1: At Christmas, Jesus came to end all suffering.

God sees all the problems in the world, including yours. And he has promised ultimately to fix them. To do this, he sent Jesus to carry out a plan to end all suffering. At Christmas, we celebrate Christ’s entrance into the world to do that, Because of what Jesus came to do, the Bible tells us that one day there will be no more tears.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying. . . 'There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3-5b)

We can be absolutely certain that one day, there will be no more disease, no more tragedy, no more suffering, no more death. That’s a reason for hope and celebration!

Reason 2: At Christmas, Jesus came to deal with the source of our suffering.

As part of God’s plan to fix what is wrong with the world, he’s going to do more than stop disease, famines and natural disasters; he is also going to renew people. And yes, we all need to be renewed. Why? Because the same thing that causes all the world’s problems is the same thing that causes us to be selfish, bitter, unforgiving, unfaithful and unreasonable. The Bible calls it sin. The Bible also teaches us that sin affects everything: our thinking, our relationships, our environment and our health.

In addition to creating problems in your life, your own sin is a barrier to having a relationship with God. It also prevents you from experiencing the comfort and healing that he offers you. This comfort and healing is especially important to you as you grieve. The good news is that, at Christmas, Jesus came to offer a way to remove that barrier. Here’s how he did it.

God says sin is such a serious offense that it must be punished by eternal separation from Him. But since God loved us so much, he sent Jesus to earth to live a sinless life and to take the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. Three days later, he rose from the dead. This was the only righteous way to defeat sin and death and to pave the way for the tear-free world God has promised in the future. But knowing what Jesus came to do is not enough to experience the benefits.

Reason 3: This Christmas the gift is available to you.

Just as a Christmas present only becomes yours as you receive it, the gifts of forgiveness and a new life in Christ Jesus only become yours as you receive him by faith. God offers you this gift of a relationship with him, a relationship that allows you to experience the healing and comfort that you desperately need, and a relationship that guarantees an eternity spent with Him in the perfect, tear-free reality that He’s designing for you.

You may have worries that you do not deserve to be forgiven by God, that your sin is too “bad.”  No matter what you’ve done, you can be forgiven! His love goes beyond anything you have ever experienced. He loves you without conditions. And if you enter into a relationship with Him, He accepts you because of what Christ did for you, not because of anything you have done or ever will do.  As God's Word reminds us:

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3:5a)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast”. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

I hope by now you can see why focusing on the true meaning of Christmas can be so comforting. At Christmas, we celebrate the gift of Jesus. His birth marks a new chapter in God’s plan to end our suffering and save us from our sin. So, if you’re discouraged during the holidays, remind yourself that the baby Jesus came to heal your heart, and this world. Because of him, one day there will be no more suffering. And even right now, in the middle of your hurt and suffering, Jesus wants to be a part of your life, comfort you and help you heal.

If this is your first Christmas without your loved one or the second, third or more, the pain of the holidays may still be very fresh for you. Our GriefShare group meets every Monday night at College Church, and we come together to share experiences of grief and turn mourning into joy. Please join us, you are always welcome.