The Year's Best Books for Preachers...Continued from page 4
R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Finally, preachers will want to know of the publication of several books by John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Contending for Our All, Piper presents his continuing series of biographical vignettes, this time looking at the lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen (Crossway). In addition, Piper has released What Jesus Demands from the World (Crossway). In this significant book, Piper reviews all of the commands of Jesus found in the New Testament. As Piper acknowledges, his hope in writing the book is that “God will use [it] to bring about impossible obedience to Jesus. And all of that for the glory of God.” Piper, along with Justin Taylor, has edited Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (Crossway). This volume brings together contributions by figures like Mark R. Talbot, Joni Eareckson Tada and others who have both experienced and reflected upon the meaning of suffering under the sovereignty of God.
Quality works in systematic theology include the translation of volume three in Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck (Baker Academic). The continued translation of Bavinck’s masterful theological exposition is to be welcomed by all who care about theology and its service to the church.
Yet other significant volumes include Truths We Confess by R. C. Sproul (P & R Publishing), Perspectives on Election edited by Chad Brand (B & H Academic), The Reformation by T. M. Lindsay (Banner of Truth), and God the Holy Trinity, edited by Timothy George (Baker Academic).
Sproul has also released A Taste of Heaven: Worship in the Light of Eternity (Reformation Trust). Sproul argues: “In our time, we have experienced a radical eclipse of God. The shadow that has fallen across the face of God cannot destroy His existence any more than a passing cloud can destroy the sun or the moon. But the eclipse hides the real character of God from His people. It has brought a profound loss of the sense of the holy, and with that, any sense of the gravity and seriousness of godly worship.”
Books dealing with the dimensions of Christian ministry, preaching, and worship are among the titles most welcomed by preachers. Accordingly, preachers will want to know of Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Ga
rden to the New Creation by Allen P. Ross (Kregel). As Ross, Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, explains, “The words of worship flow so easily from our lips that we seldom stop to think about them: we casually talk about knowing the Lord; we say we talk to God and in one way or another hear from God. We attend churches on Sundays to have, as we say, fellowship with God and each other. There we celebrate the belief that he is our God with songs and hymns, but even these have become so familiar to us that our minds drift to other, more immediate concerns.” As those words make evident, Ross is concerned that worship has become routine and ordinary in many churches. His massive study should help to rectify that situation and help preachers, along with others, to think seriously about what the recovery of genuine Christian worship would mean in our time.