TSS Bday and Tips for Christian Bloggers

Tony Reinke spurgeon

TSS celebrates first birthdaytssbday.jpg

On June 17, 2006 I decided to start a little blog. I needed something useful to stay in touch with about 10 pastors I had met at Together for the Gospel and to share with them some quotes I had come across in my reading. The blog would function as a notebook of quotations for pastors. I called it The Shepherd’s Scrapbook.

As any blogger can tell you, a blog changes in its first year and TSS is no different. Far from a notebook of quotes, it morphed into a blog of do-it-yourself projects (like the Blank Bible Series) and later moved into areas of exegetical research and using the Puritan literature effectively. The initial idea of featuring straight quotes from important books was replaced with book reviews, book announcements, book photographs, book-of-the-year awards, and then on to essays on various subjects relating to the faith — like understanding legalism, the wrath of God and especially the Cross of Christ and how His Cross impacts our daily Christian lives. Then we looked at a large section of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion in a series on Humble Calvinism and blogged two conferences this Spring.

So what exactly is The Shepherd’s Scrapbook? I cannot say for certain. It’s for pastors but it’s also for laypersons. It’s for book collectors, book binders, book readers and book photographers. It’s a blog for those who read the Puritans and follow the Reformed theological tradition. But most importantly it’s a blog devoted to living a Cross-centered life. Amidst all the essays, quotes and book reviews, the single thread running through the 340 posts of our first year is an emphasis on boasting in the Cross of Jesus Christ! Galatians 6:14 is our touchstone.

Tips for bloggers

I dread reading tips from other bloggers so I hesitate writing tips for bloggers. But on this first anniversary of The Shepherd’s Scrapbook I’ll share some thoughts on some things that have helped set TSS apart in the blogosphere. So here are some miscellaneous points you may consider when starting or maintaining a Christian blog:

1. Don’t follow rules. Obviously we should limit ourselves under Scriptural standards of character. But take lightly the popular blogging structures and even the advice that follows. Know first that blogging is a free forum and, as long as you are God-honoring, you can post your wittings however you like.

2. Make Jesus famous. The trend in Christian blogging is to cover the current events and political rumblings. But there is a growing need for bloggers to use this medium to exalt in the ancient work of Jesus Christ. Even the most popular Christian blogs can go weeks without any serious mention of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Center your blog around Galatians 6:14. Cover contemporary events if you like, but discern which ones are important to the Cross and which ones are not.

3. Identify and use your particular skills. One of my most useful blogging skills is a daringness, fearlessness — and a wee bit of senselessness — to rip an ESV Bible through a humming table saw. You may not have this skill, but likely you have other unique skills that distinguish you from other bloggers that you have never considered. Think carefully how your talents can be used in the Christian blogosphere.

4. Write short posts. If a bumper sticker with 4 words gets readers to think, 250 words are sufficient to get your readers to think. Keep posts short and keep them important. “Avoid needless words.”

5. Use common words. The web is indexed by strands of words and phrases (not by pictures or songs or cool graphics). Effectively reaching your potential audience means using these common words. When you write theologically, make sure you are using the terms most frequently used for your subject. Use creative words but never forget the most common ones, too. Get familiar with the common vernacular.

6. Use creative photos and graphics. I work in retail/secular blogging so I can say with some level of confidence that Christian blogs are often the most bland when it comes to visual creativity! Don’t be the pale white Calvinist on the beach. Get some color.

7. Pray. Writing is hard enough, but when you need to write daily it takes a lot more of God’s grace. Rest in Him and pray that He would lead your thoughts. (1) Pray hard. (2) Think hard. (3) Write hard. Blogging well is tough.

8. Marry a supportive editor. My wife is a precious gift and an excellent editor. I have carefully watched her responses over the months to TSS. Never has she complained about the time I spend developing TSS and many times she has voiced her appreciation for the content and support for the work. Bloggers (and really any married person who spends a lot of time online) MUST watch carefully what effects the Internet is having on their family. When I meet bloggers or people who spend a lot of time online I try to gauge responses from their spouses whether they are supportive or not. Pastors of bloggers should ask the spouses of bloggers these same questions. If your wife/husband is not encouraging you in your blogging, don’t continue! If you are single, be on the lookout for a spouse with editing skills.

9. Be prepared for humility. The idea that people blog out of arrogance is quite unlikely. A blogger takes what is floating in his brain, expresses it to the world, and opens himself up for critical comments from about anyone online, leaving these critical comments for world to read. Honest blogging is a hard path towards humility.

10. Make your site easy to navigate. Use helpful indexes if you run a multi-part series and otherwise think of what a newcomer to your blog is going to see. Who are you? How would a visitor find out who you are? What type of a blog do you run? What’s your philosophy of blogging? Make these things obvious. (I’ve sacrificed far better-looking WordPress templates for the double-column version so all this info can be displayed on the front page of TSS).

11. Build relationships. The hits to this blog are relative to the number of close friends I have met through this blog over the past year. Building and maintaining these connections and friendships is one of the primary uses of this blog. So blog on what interests you and treasure the readers who share these same interests. Don’t blog for the numbers, blog for the friendships. Review #5 for how to find these friends online.

12. Don’t marry a blogger. I said marry an editor, but never a fellow blogger, or something humiliating like this may happen on your birthday.

Blessings and thanks for reading The Shepherd’s Scrapbook!

John Newton: From disgrace to amazing grace

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway, John Newton

Book Announcement
John Newton: From disgrace to amazing grace
By Jonathan Aitken

Today I’ve decided to try something a bit different in our frequent book announcement feature. These book announcements are intended to bring your attention the new releases that look excellent but not necessarily are going to get a full review.

The new look of the book announcement is the product of watching my friends come over and pick through my library looking especially for highlighted and marked pages in my books and reading the comments I write in the back cover. So today I’m going to attempt something similar online by pointed out a few pages from a new book that I found especially interesting and will show you these pages using the online browsing feature from the publisher.

The book under the spotlight today is Jonathan Aitken’s excellent new biography, John Newton: From disgrace to amazing grace (Crossway: 209781581348484.jpg07). Although Newton’s life is worthy of the cinema, even biographies of the slave trader turned preacher of the Gospel are quite rare. This biography by Aitken is a special treat … So like when you take a stack of books to a comfortable chair in the back of Barnes and Noble and relax for a browse, I invite you to brew some coffee, relax and take a few moments to look through these selected highlights:

… Read the interesting background of the author and why it makes him especially suited to write this bio (page 13).

… The song Amazing Grace was originally written in hymn form so its rich theological truths could be easily remembered by a few lace-makers and farmers (read page 351).

… Read about the powerful impact George Whitefield had upon Newton in 1777 when Whitefield passed through Liverpool (pages 133-137).

… Read Newton’s encouragement and exhortations directed towards William Wilberforce that prevented Wilberforce’s retirement from politics. Wilberforce would become famous politically for his role in the abolition of slavery and we have Newton ‘s relationship to thank for this (see pages 314-317).

… Vivid pulled quote from Newton’s pamphlet, Thoughts Upon The African Slave Trade written in 1788 (on page 23). Being so familiar with the African slave trade and willing to talk about its horrors, it is no wonder Newton led such a powerful abolitionist movement himself.

… The introduction to Newton’s life (pages 17-24) and the epilogue of Newton’s life are especially good (pages 351-356).

Overall Aitken has written an excellent biography and will make for a great Summer read to marvel in the amazing grace of God. Highly recommended.

Title: John Newton: From disgrace to amazing grace
Author: Jonathan Aitken
Reading level: 2.0/5.0 > easy
Boards: hardcover (not cloth)
Pages: 400
Volumes: 1
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: glued (not sewn)
Paper: normal
Topical index: yes
Scriptural index: no
Text: perfect type
Publisher: Crossway
Year: 2007
Price USD: $21.99 from Crossway
ISBNs: 9781581348484, 1581348487

Laboring after Assurance > 2

Tony Reinke Assurance, Calvinism, Grace, Joel R. Beeke, spurgeon

tsslaboring.jpg

Part 2: The Biblical Basis for Seeking Assurance

Today we embark on a study of personal assurance. To have assurance is to know with certainty in my Christian experience that I am known by God and adopted into His family through the gospel. It’s one thing to read in the Bible that salvation comes to those who repent and believe in Christ. But how do I know that God’s sovereign and saving grace has been poured out into my own soul? Because of its practical implications the pursuit of “full assurance” (Heb. 10:22) is one of the most important doctrines of the Bible. As Joel Beeke writes, “Many doctrines may escape a typical believer’s notice without serious consequence, but assurance is not one of them” (Quest, 281).

This study is connected with, but distinct from, a study on the perseverance of the saints. The doctrine of perseverance concerns God’s faithfulness to lead His children home without letting any of them perish. The doctrine of assurance, however, is more concerned with how I know that I am in fact one of God’s children (I’ll show later how these two are connected).

The diligent pursuit of assurance

The best place to begin this study of assurance is to open Scripture and see that we are in fact to labor and search after personal assurance. So my goal today is simply to let you read these passages for yourself with minimal comments. For the sake of space I have limited these passages to the New Testament.

2 Peter 1:10-11 … “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 6:11 … “And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end”

2 Corinthians 13:5 … “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

1 John 5:13 … “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

These calls to assurance would be unnecessary if (1) Christians were not called to attain assurance and (2) if all Christians were naturally imbibed with this assurance.

Paul’s deep assurance

Related to these calls to assurance is the example of assurance demonstrated in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. He lived in a profound sense of personal assurance. Notice in these passages not only the sovereign power of God to persevere His children, but especially how convinced Paul is that he is in fact one of God’s children.

Galatians 2:20 … “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

2 Timothy 1:12 … “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”

Romans 8:35, 38, 39 … “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 … “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Paul’s words are a model of assurance for every Christian.

Dangers of false assurance

The seeking of true assurance is motivated by warnings in Scripture of those who have rested in false assurances to their eternal condemnation. If it were impossible to be convinced of the genuineness of our assurances these passages would drown our souls under doubt and despair.

Matthew 7:21-23 … “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

James 1:22, 26 … “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves … If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

James 2:17-18 … “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Revelation 3:15-17 … “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

“We know” in 1 John

But praise God, His children can know for certain they are saved! And if there was a single book of the Bible devoted to the Saints pursuit of assurance it would be 1 John. Listen to the wording as we are called to “know” that we are saved.

1 John 2:3 … “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”

1 John 3:14-24 … “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

1 John 5:2 … “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

And the purpose statement of the entire book in 1 John 5:13 … “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

It cannot be mistaken here that while we are saved by the Cross apart from any works, we are assured of partaking in the Cross by a life marked by change. These passages say to us, “take note of your own heart and labor after full assurance.”

Where has assurance gone?

We don’t need a Ph.D. in church history to see that a pursuit of personal assurance – the personal question of whether I am truly a child of God — is no longer a prominent theme in the Church today (and a reason why Puritan spirituality is so alien).

I think there are two reasons why.

1. The Gospel call has been separated from the call to Cross-bearing. It is fascinating to watch Jesus evangelize. Just listen to one example: “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:38-39). This is no tit-for-tat salvation where we do good things and get life for our obedience. Rather, in Jesus’ call there is a union into Christ’s death (Rom. 6). This union to Christ means salvation and justification, but also self-mortification and self-crucifixion. The goal of the Gospel is total life transformation, beginning in sanctification here, and glorification at the first sight of Christ’s glory (1 John 3:2).

If, from the beginning, sinners were aware that Jesus was calling them to a radically new Cross-centered life, pursuing evidences of grace and assurance would be an obvious step of consideration. The Gospel carries with it God’s holistic transforming grace evident to others and powerful enough to form part of the basis of our personal assurance.

It may be that because salvation in Christ comes by faith alone that we also think assurance is by faith alone. When this happens, the passages above that call us to pursue full assurance are viewed as uncomfortable oddities to be avoided, rather than the means to great joy and delight and personal security in our Father.

2. A neglect or denial of God’s sovereign grace. Probably the most radical passage in Scripture on assurance comes in 2 Peter 1:10-11, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities [virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love] you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Here Peter calls us to make certain our personal calling and election by the demonstration of godliness. Think about this for a moment… God’s children were elected from before the foundation of the earth and here we are called in our Christian experience to make this election certain (Eph. 1:4). God did not pencil us into His family until we wrote our names in Sharpies. Rather, the elected child of God will live a life that affirms God’s sovereign election! In our Christian experience we can know with certainty that we were elected in Christ!

But it’s not only 2 Peter that ties assurance directly to God’s sovereign grace (see also 1 Pet. 1:1-7 and Rom. 8:28-39).

The only way we can pursue our assurance of salvation is to know that God sovereignly preserves His chosen. Where an emphasis on God’s sovereign grace is not found, the pursuit of assurance will not be found either.

For example, Roman Catholicism teaches that “common Christians” will never know for certain they are children of God. At the Council of Trent Rome made it clear that none can know with any certainty that he or she is justified (6.9). It’s no wonder. God’s sovereign preservation of the Christian and the Christian’s assurance in this world undermines the foundations of mass, purgatory and the authority of the church as dispenser of sustaining grace. As Francis Turretin aptly noted, “For he who would be certain of his own salvation would betake himself neither to the patronage of the saints, nor to the merits of martyrs, nor to the absolution of priests” (Elenctic, 15.17.4).

But also for Protestants who believe that salvation can be lost, the pursuit of assurance would not make sense either. How can we ever find assurance in a salvation that we ourselves can undermine?

Theologian John Murray writes, “every brand of theology that is not grounded in the particularism which is exemplified in sovereign election and effective redemption is not hospitable to this doctrine of assurance of faith” (Writings, 2:267). The joy of pursuing personal assurance can only be pursued within a solid understanding of God’s sovereign election and perseverance of the sinner. Our fallible self-sustaining power would prove too flimsy a foundation to base any assurances.

Conclusion

The goal of assurance in the Christian life is not a labor of self-centered, self-righteous and introspective drudgery. The goal of pursuing assurance is a transcendent joy in our Abba Father who adopted His children in love! We are opening our spiritual ears to hear the witness of the Holy Spirit in our own spirits (Rom. 8:16).

Scripture (and especially 1 John) challenges me. I want to know with certainty that I am a child of God. I want to see the life-transforming effect of God’s grace in my heart and enjoy the humbling fact that I was elected from the foundation of the earth.

The act of pursuing assurance is one of deep communion with God that produces nothing short of a deep and abiding joy in the life of the Christian. This assurance is the “summit of intimacy by which the believer both knows Christ and knows he is known of Him” (Quest, 279). Next time we ask the big question … How do we labor after this “summit of intimacy” with Christ?

 
 

Laboring after Assurance > pt. 1

Tony Reinke Assurance, Communion with God, Cross-centered life, John Owen, Puritans

tsslaboring.jpg

I like to think, inquire and pursue answers to pressing questions. Theologically, there is no end to the potential questions and so inquiries begin compiling. On occasion I need to take a few days to search after specific answers. This is my intention over the next week.

For the past several months I’ve had a number of questions floating around that I thought were disconnected. But the more I have thought about these questions, the most closely related they have become. The questions include: What assurances do we have and pursue to give us confidence that we are truly children of God? How does this laboring after assurance intrude or enhance the Cross-centered life? Are the trials and triumphs of the Psalmist a reflection of the normative Christian life, or an ancient pre-Cross lifestyle that we can avoid? Why is the intense internal life of the Puritans foreign to my own personal experience? Were they overly introspective and legalistic, or do they leave a discernable pattern for the Christian life today?

Like I said, these questions appear on the surface to all be unrelated. However, I’ve come to see them all overlapping into one large question that I want to explore in a short series called “Laboring after Assurance” (words of Puritan John Owen). It is impossible to understand the Puritans until we understand what it meant for them to “labor after assurance.” In fact, if we are to understand the Puritans at all we must understand how they understood assurance of salvation. As Joel Beeke puts it, “assurance was the most critical issue of the post-Reformation” (Quest, 275).

To begin formulating an answer to these questions I turn to several passages in the Psalms, 1 John, and Peter, along with some excerpts I’ve come across in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology, John Owen’s long exposition of Psalm 130 (Works, 6:323-648), The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Puritan Walter Marshall (RHB: 1999 ed.), Joel Beeke’s Ph.D. dissertation, The Quest for Full Assurance: The legacy of Calvin and his successors (Banner of Truth: 1999) along with Derek Thomas’ final message at the Banner of Truth Conference.

Tomorrow we will begin a journey of sorts to see what Owen meant when he wrote, “It is the duty of every believer to labor after an assurance of a personal interest in forgiveness, and to be diligent in the cherishing and preservation of it when it is attained” (6:413). To find out what Owen means here, I think, will help us make sense of the Psalmist and the reflective lives of the Puritans.

2007 TSS Book of the Year contenders

Tony Reinke spurgeon

2007 TSS Book-of-the-Year contenders

A number of readers have asked to get a glimpse into my list of forerunners to the 2007 TSS Book-of-the-Year award. To date, here is an alphabetical list of contenders. There will be a number of books printed this Fall so take this list for what it is — a start. … This year we see a heavy emphasis on the themes of the Atonement and communion with God. The overall balance of doctrine and spirituality or contending and communing, is quite striking.

Here is the list to date:

A Sweet Flame: Piety in the letters of Jonathan Edwards (Reformation Heritage Books). A short but excellent collection of Edwards’ best letters edited by Michael A.G. Haykin. Would make for a great poolside read. [PIC]

Assured by God: Living in the fullness of God’s grace (P&R). Edited by Burk Parsons, this volume contains a collection of essays by Philip Graham Ryken, Al Mohler, Joel Beeke, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges and R.C. Sproul on the topic of assurance in salvation.

B.B. Warfield: Essays on his life and thought (P&R). Edited by Gary L.W. Johnson.

By Faith Alone: Answering the challenges to the doctrine of justification (Crossway). Edited by Gary L.W. Johnson and Guy P. Waters but includes chapters by David Wells, Cornelius Venema and Al Mohler this work tackles contemporary attacks upon the gospel but especially those of N.T. Wright. This book also alerts to the growing tendency to downplay the distinctions between the Evangelical and Mormon gospels. [More info] [PIC]

Can We Trust the Gospels?: Investigating the reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (Crossway). Written by Mark D. Roberts (you may remember him as the man who recently debated atheist Christopher Hitchens). The reliability of the biblical Gospels narratives are always questioned and increasingly on a more popular level thanks to NPR and Elaine Pagels. Roberts very detailed works argues persuasively that we can in fact trust the Gospels. [PIC]

Chosen for Life: The case for divine election (Crossway). This classic by Sam Storms was originally published in 1987 by Baker under the title, Chosen for Life: An introductory guide to the doctrine of divine election. [More info] [PIC]

Church History: A crash course for the curious (Crossway). Written by Christopher Catherwood this work will appeal to a large audience. Catherwood sets out the history of the Church from a global perspective and at all times relaying the implications of history to contemporary events. [More info]

Communion with God: The divine and the human in the theology of John Owen (Baker Academic). The long-awaited printing of Kelly M. Kapic’s research did not disappoint. [PIC]

Communion with the Triune God (Crossway). The classic book written by English Puritan John Owen in a new edition edited by Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor. Expected out Oct. 12th.

Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart (Crossway). By John Ensor.

ESV Literary Study Bible (Crossway). With notes written by one of the Church’s great writers (Leland Ryken) this Bible is intended to help readers meditate upon and apply large sections of the text. Due out Sept. 7th.

Exploring the Bible: A Guide to the Old and New Testaments (Crossway). As an introduction to the Bible and an overview of the Old and New Testaments this books is three-books-in-one. Written by R. Laird Harris, Samuel J. Schultz, Gary V. Smith and Walter M. Dunnett, these books were written for the Evangelical Training Association. [More info] [PIC]

The Expository Genius of John Calvin (Reformation Trust/Ligionier). Written by Steven J. Lawson this short work traces out 32 distinctives from the expositional ministry of the great Reformer and sets them out as patterns for contemporary preachers. [PIC]

The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the vision of three pioneering African-American pastors (Crossway). Thabiti Anyabwile’s debut highlighted Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833), Daniel A. Payne (1811-1893) and Francis J. Grimké (1850-1937). The book contains one short biography of each man but is largely comprised of sermon transcripts. Anyabwile’s books are significant in that they challenge the contemporary African-American churches to consider the gospel of first importance and is thereby calling for large-scale reform. [More info] [PIC]

The Future of Justification: A response to N.T. Wright (Crossway?) by John Piper. Due out in November.

The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety: John Flavel’s doctrine of mystical union with Christ (Reformation Heritage Books). Flavel is one of the great Puritans and this study by Stephen J. Yuille looks at one facet of his theology. The doctrine of the believer’s union with Christ lies at the heart of the Puritan pursuit of godliness. [PIC]

John Newton: From disgrace to amazing grace (UK: Continuum/US: Crossway). A new and much-needed biography written by Jonathan Aitken, a former British politician who was sentenced to prison for perjury which led to his bankruptcy and divorce. While in prison Aitken was saved in the manner of Chuck Colson. This 400 page biography is interesting, appropriately detailed and includes a great deal of previously unpublished material. Despite being the author of the Church’s most popular song (“Amazing Grace”), biographies of Newton (a profane slave trader turned Christ magnifying saint) are surprisingly scarce. This is an amazing story of a wretch saved by amazing grace written by a sympathetic author (“like John Newton, Aitken found in abysmal depths the first steps toward redemption”, p. 13). [More info] [PIC]

Justified in Christ: God’s plan for us in justification (Christian Focus). Edited by K. Scott Oliphant this compilation includes an intro by Sinclair Ferguson and chapters by men like Carl Trueman, William Edgar and Peter Lillback on the importance of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone. Looks at traditional problems with Roman Catholic theology and contemporary concerns with N.T. Wright on union and imputation. [More info] [PIC]

The Majesty of God in the Old Testament: A guide for preaching and teaching (Baker Books). Renowned Old Testament scholar Walter C. Kaiser Jr. says we should preach more of the Old Testament and in his newest book he takes the preacher by the hand and shows them exactly how. Walking through 10 texts, Kaiser models exegesis and outlining of each specific texts. But in it’s easy-to-read format and concluding application questions in each chapter, this book will double as a group study of God in the Old Testament. [PIC]

Pages from Church History: A guided tour of Christian classics (P&R). By Stephen J. Nichols, this work looks at the most historically important Christian books.

Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the glory of penal substitution (UK:IVP/US:Crossway). Written by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey and Andrew Sach this has proven to be a runaway success in the UK defending the core of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The American edition will be released by Crossway on Nov. 7th.

Preaching the Cross (Crossway). The transcripts from the 2006 Together for the Gospel conference written and delivered by Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, John MacArthur, John Piper and R.C. Sproul. An all-star lineup and maybe the best compilation on the topic of preaching the gospel.

The Reading and Preaching of the Scripture in the Worship of the Christian Church: The Modern Age (Eerdmans). Volume six of Hughes Oliphant Old’s massive series that has traced the history of preaching from the Biblical era (vol. 1; 1998), the Patristic age (vol. 2; 1998), the Medieval church (vol. 3; 1999), the Reformation period (vol. 4; 2002), Moderatism, Pietism and Awakening (vol. 5; 2004) and now the most recent volume covering the modern age of 1789-1989. Volume six alone is about 1,000 pages and covers preachers like Broadus, Kuyper, Maclaren, Moody, Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones. Very insightful work for preachers. [PIC]

The Reformation: How a monk and a mallet changed the world (Crossway). With brevity, pictures, call-out boxes and humor, Stephen Nichols walks through the highlights of the Reformation to help us see that “the Reformers saw nothing less than the gospel at stake” (p. 21). [More info] [PIC]

Revelation and Reason: New essays in Reformed apologetics (P&R). Edited by K. Scott Oliphint and Lane G. Tipton.

Signs of the Spirit: An interpretation of Jonathan Edwards’s ‘Religious Affections’ (Crossway). Written by C. Samuel Storms. To be released on July 13th.

Sweet Communion: Trajectories of spirituality from the Middle Ages through the Further Reformation (Baker Academic). Written originally in Dutch by Arie de Reuver, this academic work was made available in English in 2007. It traces the influences of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and Thomas à Kempis (1379-1471) upon the “Dutch Puritans” like Willem Teellinck, Herman Witsius and Thodorus and Wilhelmus à Brakel. The seven biographies that fill this volume are excellent. [More info] [PIC]

Through Western Eyes. Eastern orthodoxy: A Reformed perspective (Christian Focus). By Robert Letham.

The Truth of the Cross (Reformation Trust/Ligonier). A study of the Atonement by R.C. Sproul. Due out in July.

The Truth War: Fighting for certainty in an age of deception (Thomas Nelson). By John MacArthur.

Any suggestions to this list? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading and stay tuned later this year when we announce the winner. Tony

         
 

T-shirt PICS

Tony Reinke spurgeon, T-shirt design

This morning I received the new T-shirts. They came beautifully packaged by our friends at Monergism. Who better to model the new look than my son, a small Calvinist named after Jonathan Edwards? The shirts range in sizes from small (for the wee little Calvinist) all the way up to 3XL for the fuller Calvinist. And the shirts come in a pre-shrunk, “beefy-t” cotton. Order some for Father’s Day.

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