The Barnabas Blog

Moving along to the fifth best book that I read in 2012 is one that is short (73 pgs.) but packs an incredible wallop.   I am certain that the title probably stimulates a strong response that is either positive or negative.   It also is curious to note that this is a single sermon that Greenhill preached to his church.   Speaking of long sermons, this is one.   I doubt Joel Osteen will be preaching anything remotely related to this theme in 2013.   However, we who serve as pastors owe it to ourselves and to those who hear us to preach this kind of content.   I am reminded of what Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:16) and it is sharpened by the Amplified Version: Look well to yourself (to your own personality), and to [your] teaching; persevere in these things—hold to them; for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who hear you .  Author:   William Greenhill Title:   Stop Loving theWorld Publisher:  Reformation Heritage Books, 2011.

The next book that I found to be immensely helpful in 2012 was a book about preaching by Charles Swindoll.   I always enjoy reading books that are geared toward helping a man become a better preacher.   This is a book that helps prevent one from preaching “long-horn” sermons.   You may wonder what a “long-horn” sermon is and all who preach probably have to at least privately acknowledge they have been guilty of preaching a “long-horn” sermon a time or two.   A “long-horn” sermon is one that has two points and a lot of bull in between.   Just as physicians and other ancillary medical staff members are required to have continuing education units, I believe that preachers should fall under that same mandate.  Many times preachers who have been in one place for a long time can get stale in their preaching and praying and it will affect the church they are serving.  I am certain that Saying It Well is a book that will have a measure of inspiration for those who fall into this categor

As I have been trolling through and reviewing the books that I read in 2012, it has been a bit self-revelatory concerning the books that I am now gravitating to saying were the best of 2012.   I can remember hearing various leadership gurus quote the Charlie “Tremendous” Jones thought that we will be same person we are in five years except for the books we read and the people we meet.   All of these books that I am listing in this blog series have caused me to think deeply.   In fact, most of the books that I am placing on the Top Ten are very sobering in their content.   This book by Joel Rosenberg is no different.  

I am continuing along with the top ten books that I read in 2012.   I purchased this book and several others in this series because of my past familiarity with the writings of A. W. Tozer.   His books are geared toward personal consecration, worship, and with a deep opposition to lukewarmness.      Author:   A. W. Tozer (Compiled by James L. Snyder). Title:   The Dangers of aShallow Faith Publisher:   Regal, 2012. The book itself is the work of A. W. Tozer but James Snyder was instrumental in compiling some of Tozer’s work after his death.   This book comes from a series of messages that Tozer preached in response to critical developments that he saw within the church.   Perhaps the primary theme of this book is the idea that the world is too much with the church.   He noted that the church is so intertwined with the world that instead of appearing as two, they really are one.  

  Yesterday , I started listing the top ten books that I read in 2012.   Much of the reading that I did this year was motivated by a reading contest that I got into with my boys.   The book that comes in at Number 9 was a book that I just happened to run across in a Books-A-Million in Texarkana, Texas in August.   As with many books that I have read over the years that have been very good ones were those that I wasn’t necessarily looking for.   This book fell into that category.   It actually happened to be a book that was on one of the mark-down tables when you walk in the door.   I judged the book by its title and cover and decided to read it.         Author:   Michael Holley. Title:   War Room Publisher:   HarperCollins, 2011. The book primarily is about Bill Belicheck the coach of the New England Patriots.   The book is mostly about the path the Belicheck took as a coach before ending up in New England.   I have noticed over the years that when you read books abo

At the beginning of 2012, I was challenged by my two sons in a reading contest of sorts.   Nate (who likes to remind me to call him Swaggy Nate) and Justin decided they would read more books than I would in 2012.   In fact, Swaggy Nate decided that the all-out prize would be a big steak going to the winner with the losers having to ante up and foot the bill.   So now the year is finished and I have long stopped counting the books I read because it wasn’t even fair to continue keeping the score.   Some of the books I read were nothing more than books that fall into the “zone out” category and were nothing but mindless drivel.   However, other books fit into the category of helping me to climb a few rungs higher in my spiritual life.   Coming in at the Number 10 spot is a book that provided some inspiration to me in the area of preaching and the importance of loving the Bible.  

After starting this series on spiritual warfare yesterday , I want to continue with some more thoughts about it.   I will do my best to stop writing before you get tired of reading.   I do know that I have a tendency to over-do it sometimes and you as the reader should not be penalized for that.   I trust that you will get something worth-while out of this post today also.       To reiterate, we are in a spiritual battle and our attendance in it is not by choice .   It will continue as long as we remain faithful to our calling and active in our walk for the Lord.   While the series may seem a bit random as they are written, I would say that these are some of my own observations on the matter of spiritual warfare that has been years in the making.   The seeming arbitrary nature of this series is due to the fact that I am using my Moleskin notebook where over the last two months I have jotted down random things about spiritual warfare as they came to me.   The challenge now beco

I can remember more than twenty-five years ago reading both of Frank Peretti’s gripping books about spiritual warfare.  The first one was This Present Darkness (1986) and was followed by Piercing the Darkness (1988).  Both of the books are fictional but there were elements of each book that had core elements of truth about them.  As with all fads that come and go in the church world, there were some who went way overboard with their actions and started stalking demons and getting involved in all sorts of weird practices that they believed would bring spiritual authority to their lives.  On the other end of the spectrum were those who vociferously opposed any thing that remotely looked like spiritual warfare and they cautioned the church about the danger of seeing a “devil behind every bush.”  In my youthful exuberance and inexperience, I got caught up with believing that Peretti’s books were the way to go and begin to follow some of his concepts about “prayer cover” and “bind

Part 10—Preaching That Changes Lives, Michael Fabarez, Thomas Nelson, 2002. Continuing with this series on the best books on preaching, we get to a book that goes into a bit of different direction than some of the others.  Michael Fabarez’s book, Preaching That Changes Lives , is a book that reaches for a couple of areas of preaching.  First, he believes that preaching can indeed change lives and then he goes into the reason that it does so.  This works around the paramount issue of application.  If there are not any areas of application that the preaching brings to the ears of the hearer, a call for change, for transformation and action, then we are just wasting our breath.  Paul said that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, rebuke, and instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).  Instruction in righteousness is the task that preaching uses to help the church to see how to walk in this world.  Preaching has to be more than

Part 9—Expository Preaching—The Art of Preaching Through a Book of the Bible, Harold T. Bryson, Broadman and Holman, 1995 I would like to take another book about expository preaching and review it for your consideration.  This review will not be as long as the one on yesterday which was written by John MacArthur, Jr. et al.  However, I would say that Harold Bryson’s book, Expository Preaching—TheArt of Preaching Through a Book of the Bible , is almost as good.  I have greatly benefited from this book over the years.  It is another book that you can tell how much it has been used because of the dog-eared pages, highlighted areas, and scribbles in the margins.  Admittedly there is some overlap that Bryson and MacArthur’s books have.  This is primarily in the areas of defining what expository preaching is and is not.  Bryson’s steps are a little more defined in telling a preacher how to go about preaching through a biblical book.  He gives the following seven disciplines that

Part 8—Rediscovering Expository Preaching, John MacArthur, Jr., Richard Mayhue—Editor & Robert L. Thomas—Associate Editor, 1992, Word.  Republished as: Preaching:  How to Preach Biblically, Reprint of original in 2005. Perhaps I should have written a review of this book on the first or second day when I began to undertake the month long project of the best books on preaching.  I have to say that this book is probably my favorite of all the books on preaching that I have in my own personal library.  In my opinion, this book, and one other book on expository preaching by Harold Bryson have helped me the most in this area.  I never pick this book up without bringing something useful for me personally.  My exposure to John MacArthur, Jr. came when I was at Texas Bible College and his commentary on 1 Corinthians was the textbook for that class taught by A. B. Keating.  It was through his encouragement that I began to read after JMac.  He also encouraged me to listen to Grace

Part 7—The Sermon Maker—Tales of a Transformed Preacher, Calvin Miller, 2002, Zondervan There are a couple of things that I would like to do before I launch into the best books on preaching this week.  First, I would like to extend my thanks to Nate Whitley for giving me the idea for these series of posts on the best books on preaching.  This blog series started when he sent me an e-mail asking me to guest blog on his A Life of Study blog last month.  Secondly, I have ran across some more old J. T. Pugh preaching tapes and have listened to a couple of them over the last few days and find that Brother Pugh was an incredible preacher who had the ability to connect with any group that he was speaking to.  It is remarkable how timeless that his preaching really was. Today I am going to pick up with a rather light-hearted but fun little book on preaching.  There are books that are extremely academic and technical when it comes to preaching.  Sometimes if you are not careful, yo

Part 6—The Preacher and Preaching, Reviving the Art, Edited by Samuel T. Logan Jr., 1986, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing The next book that I would commend to you is actually a compilation of various subjects dealing with preaching by various authors.  It is The Preacher and Preaching—Reviving the Art.   The book is 460 plus pages and is very provoking in some of subject matter that it chooses to deal with.  As for all the books that I recommend to preachers, I trust you will understand that just because that I have recommended it does not mean that there are things that I whole-heartedly accept and approve of.  All reading should be done with a spiritually discerning filter so that you can toss the bad and keep the good.  The introduction in itself is a very stimulating essay written by J. I. Packer answering the question of “why preach?”  He found that when we look to Scripture itself there is a very high priority placed on preaching.  It is the plan of God for the

Part 5—Thoughts On Preaching, Classic Contributions to Homiletics, James W. Alexander, Reprint 2009, Originally Printed 1864, Solid Ground Christian Books Marching along with our series on the best books in preaching, we come to the fifth one.  Again, these are not necessarily in an order of importance but just books that I have gained some good thoughts from over the years.  The fifth book is entitled Thoughts on Preaching, Classic Contributions to Homiletics by James Alexander.  This is a book that I purchased when I went to Solid Ground Christian books in Birmingham last fall.  This book is very unique from all the rest of the books on preaching.  James Alexander had a desire to put together a book on homiletics but he died before he could write the book.  However, someone took it upon themselves to take the private journals of Dr. Alexander and compose them into a working order in the form of a book and have them published.  I was greatly enriched reading through the v

Part 4—The Preacher and His Preaching, A. P. Gibbs, Reprint 2002, Originally Printed 1939, Walterick Publishers Progressing along with our series on the ‘best books on preaching,’ we come to another accidental find.  This book has proved to be a treasure because it is absolutely loaded with material.  It came on a recommendation from Mike Gaydosh who owns Solid Ground Christian Books just south of Birmingham, Alabama.  I had purchased the works of Thomas Manton’s that comes in a 22 volume set.  When I looked in the front of those books for the publisher, I found SGCB and was very surprised that it showed a Birmingham address.  So I called the number and discovered a very friendly and hospitable man who owned the business.     So on my way to general conference in 2011, I stopped in to Mike’s “store.”  It is actually his home but he has taken his basement and converted it into a bookstore/publishing and it is an absolute preachers’ paradise.  His forte is reprinting massive

Part 3—Preaching With Freshness, Bruce Mawhinny, Kregel, 1997 I hope you will discover the treasure trove of books about preaching that will inspire you and help you to become better at it.  Every pastor ought to aspire to be a great preacher!  Not in the aspect of being on the conference circuit but rather to take the Bible and use it in such a way that your hearers anticipate the preaching as a very important part of worship.  Years ago, I found some good advice from H. B. London in one of his books on pastoral ministry when he said that every preacher ought to work in such a way that he literally has the knack for making the biblical characters get up and walk around in front of the congregation as he is preaching. Reading this particular genre of books can encourage even the most tired and weary of preachers.  The first book by Lloyd-Jones was a book that addressed the soul and internal motivations of the preacher.  The second book by Rummage was a bit more technica

Part 2—Planning Your Preaching, Stephen Nelson Rummage, 2002, Kregel In the last post on the best books on preaching, I encouraged you to read the book written by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preachingand Preachers .  With this post, I hope to inspire you to read a book entitled PlanningYour Preaching by Stephen Rummage .  If you have been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you will have discovered that I have been a strong supporter of expository orverse-by-verse preaching .  There is no more solid way to instruct the church and yourself in the concepts of spiritual growth than moving through the Scriptures at a steady pace.  It also encourages people to read their Bibles and it causes the minister to become adept at understanding what God has to say about things rather than our own human leanings.  If you want to know what God thinks, you have to read His Book because it is there that He has spoken!  All of the books that I am going to review with you this month a

Part 1—Preachers and Preaching, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Last month, Nate Whitley, over at A Life of Study blog , sent me an e-mail asking me about what I might consider to be the best books on preaching.  He invited me to write a guest blog for him on that subject.  Because we were in the middle of our camp schedule, I told him that I would get back to him after we had cleared all of our camps.  During that period of time, I was able to give some thought to this matter of books on preaching.  Most men who are involved in the week-in and week-out preparation of preaching clearly understand the responsibility of reading.  I once heard J. T. Pugh make a statement during one of his messages that has stuck with me over the years.  He said that a young man approached him one time with the question of what it took to be a great preacher.  Brother Pugh’s reply to this young preacher resounds even many years after he spoke it.  “Young man, to be a great preacher, you will have to be a

Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV   Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. SPIRITUAL APATHY General Quotes Anonymous —Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hand. Elie Wiesel —The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference and the opposite of life is not death, its indifference. Martin Niemoller —First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;   Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;   Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;   Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;   Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me. G. Bowes —One apathetic Christian may do untold harm to a whole chu

                 Thirty Sins of the Tongue to Avoid As a conclusion to this part about the little fox of sinful speech, I discovered the old Puritan Richard Baxter wrote a book that was primarily intended for the people in the church he pastored in Kidderminster in the 1600’s.   He called it A Christian Directory and he noted that there were thirty sins of the tongue to avoid. Understand and remember what the sins of the tongue to be avoided are.    And they are very many, and many of them very great: the most observable are these: 1.   The first among all sins of commission is that of blasphemy, which is the reproaching of God:   to speak contemptuously of God, or to vilify him, or dishonor him, by the denying of his perfections, and to debase him, by false titles, doctrines, images, resemblances, as likening him to man in any of our imperfections; anything that is a reproaching of God is blasphemy. 2. Another sin of the tongue is, false doctrine, or tea