Old Holiness Writings

Last week, I had written about an old preacher who had prayed for me when I was working a medical intensive care unit before he passed on.  My mind has been drawn to that event several times since I wrote about it.  Around that same time, our church hosted a preaching workshop that was an effort to help bivocational pastors with resources and inspiration to help with preaching.  I suppose that as the miles have clicked up in ministry, I have come to an observation that if we are called to preach, if we believe that preaching is important, and if it is one of the most regular things that pastors do, why aren’t their more efforts to help us get better at it?  I have preached more than my share of “bad” sermons, but it is not because I have neglected the efforts to improve.  I cannot even count the number of books I have read on preaching, the Logos mobile ed units I’ve worked through, the You Tube videos that I have watched, and have listened to probably thousands of sermons.

Book Recommendation--Stockholm Syndrome Christianity (Why Christian Leaders are Failing--and What We Can Do About It)--John G. West

I grew up reading books.  I am not sure if it was expected that I should read books but once I learned how to read, books became things that took my mind and spirit to places I had never been before.  I read all the Hardy Boys series, many of the biographies that were prevalent in the children’s library in Dothan, a host of stories about the advancement of America toward the west, and sports stories.  Duane Decker was a fictional writer that wrote about fictional major league baseball teams and the ups and downs of the players.  Beverly Cleary’s books about Henry Huggins were another big hit for me. 

Then I started reading the westerns that were written by Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey which led to Peter McCurtin and his Sundance series.  As I got older, I found Stephen Ambrose (recommended to me by Harold Hoffman) and read Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark and their expedition.  Then I started working through his books on World War II and that opened more books about the great war in the European theater.  Biographies by McCollough, Meachum, Chernow, and others were another avenue that I went down. 

Mixed in was another writer that I found about the time I started in RN school whose books captivated me for more than a decade—Robin Cook!  He has written more than 40 books, and I have read at least 35 of them, some of them multiple times.  Somewhere along the way I accidentally found A. J. Cronin whose writing, even to this day I find incredibly intriguing especially the two that I have read several times, The Citadel and The Keys to the Kingdom.  Another similar incidental find is The Lords of Discipline and The Great Santini by Pat Conroy, which pushed me to read all his other books—deep, melancholy, and provoking characters and twisting plots that have stayed with me for the long years since I have read any of his books.  I could go on and on about books and authors but that is not what this blog is supposed to be about—it is a book recommendation—so I shall commence with that task.

A Lifting Up for the Downcast - William Bridge

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If you are not familiar with the Banner of Truth Trust, you are missing out.  Over the years, I have found that the Banner of Truth does an excellent job with not only the content of their books but the craftsmanship as well.  Their hardbound editions are especially nice, but their paperbacks also hold up well over time.  This is especially true for what they have defined as the Puritan Paperbacks.  I believe there are around 250 separate titles in this series with the pages ranging from generally 100 to as many as 300.  I do not have all of these in my personal library but the ones I do own have always served me well especially when traveling.  Obviously, you can obtain them in digital format, but I still have to confess that I favor actual books themselves given the opportunities to mark up the pages and write in the margins. 

William Bridge has one that the Banner has published on Psalm 42:11 entitled A Lifting Up for the Downcast.  This is a compilation of thirteen sermons on that single verse.  That is one of the hallmarks of the Puritans.  Many of these men were biblical expositors in the truest sense of the word.  They drank deeply from the Scriptures and then mixed in deep meditative thinking over what they had mined out of the Word and preached to their churches.  This series of messages were preached in 1648 to those who were experiencing what we could understand as “spiritual depression.”  I am afraid that the remedy for this generation would be to reach for an anti-depressant or an anxiolytic to provide relief.  However, the Puritans obviously believed that the best remedy for those kinds of maladies was the Word. 

Book Recommendation—Reformed Preaching by Joel Beeke

This blog is a salute to a pastor that I have yet to meet face-to-face.  Several months ago, I was contacted thru Twitter by Pastor Tony Mansinho who is serving his church, Calvary Apostolic Church, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I am unsure as to how that he found me but he has been an incredible blessing to me because at this point, he has sent me nearly 200 books.  The books that he has sent to me are not your pop Christianity sorts of books that litter the bookshelves of most chain bookstores.  Rather he has sent me some of the richest volumes from the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) and OldTestament (NICOT), IVP commentaries, a host of books on preaching, hermeneutics, and even several specialty study Bibles.  Because I love books on preaching, I have benefited tremendously from that genre of books he has sent to me.  I thought that I should do a book review/recommendation on one of the many he has sent.  Obviously as he and I both would affirm that everything we read needs to be done so carefully and with discernment. 

This book is one written by Joel Beeke.  Joel Beeke is a familiar author with me as I have enjoyed his book on spiritual warfare, backsliding, history of the Puritans, and theology of the Puritans.  Beeke is the president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and the pastor of Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids.  The book that he has recently written is Reformed Preaching and is part historical and part instructional.  The book is so good that I even found the beginning written endorsements to be good.

"Fake News" & "Fake Theology" Part 3

In this last post on the matter of “fake news” and its comparison to “fake theology” (Part 1, Part 2), I would like for us to consider what impact that “fake theology” ultimately has on a church.  When Murray takes an interlude in one of his chapters about truth, he wrote that truth has a tendency to create trouble.  The trouble the comes with biblical truth is that it demands something of every person—a demand to yield desires and their desired identity to what God is calling for.  In fact, John captured the words of Jesus when he said, “everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).  “Fake theology” will never make such a vigilant, sobering call because it CAN’T!!!!  “Fake theology” is literally the opposite of what God has spoken and even demanded of this fallen world of mankind.  The curse of sin is death and yet “fake theology” wouldn’t dare to tell anyone that even if they were to ask the question as to what the penalty of death really was.  “Fake theology” leaves a lot of casualties and spiritual fatalities in its wake.  What I have been keenly aware of is the fact that for the most part, the results of “fake theology” flies under the radar for several years before its effects are seen in the veering away from biblical truth and standards that have been forsaken.  The Emerging Church (Part 2) seems so far removed from us at this point and some may not even remember the foothold it gained in a group of pastors not too much younger than I am more than a decade ago.  I had some acquaintances who bought into it completely and their lives and ministries are either entirely shipwrecked or they have become enemies of the cross as Paul described them.  But the real problem is the “fake theology” that the EC managed to weave into the church that has now become very dominant in the thoughts of far too many Millennials.  The all-inclusiveness they were pushing in areas of doctrine, questioning the authority/inerrancy of Scripture, “lifestyle” differences, and social action has created so much chaos in the minds of people that biblical truth bounces off of their hardened hearts as they cry out for their particular social or political cause. 

Book Recommendation - Text Driven Preaching: God's Word at the Heart of Every Sermon - Daniel L. Akin et al

I have long grown accustomed to the understanding that very few people really understand what is involved in truly good preaching.  Not motivational, encouraging, self-help ‘grab yourself by the bootstraps’ and just do it preaching but heart-felt, Scripturally-driven, Holy-Spirit anointed preaching.  It is this kind of preaching that not only will the preacher know that he has been on fire for God but the hearers of that message will realize that it is far more than just a time block that has been filled with religious routine.  But the challenge from getting to from a simple biblical text to that point of powerfully speaking for God has a lot of hindrances, snares, and traps that every preacher will at some point find in his sermon preparation.  Because I have now been preaching for almost thirty years, I find one of those ways that I can improve is to read books about preaching. 

Book Recommendation--How to Understand and Apply the New Testament (Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology) by Andrew Naselli

I am always in the hunt for books that will help me to become a better expositor.  The longer that I preach the more convinced that I become that the best method for preaching is simple verse by verse preaching.  The matter of going through the Bible and allowing the power of God’s Word to speak for itself.  It requires discipline, attention, and time but the dividends that are repaid to the preacher cannot even be added up in this life.  However, to be an effective expositor especially if you do not have a seminary training in original languages will necessitate ways that will help you to overcome this.  I am one of those preachers who did not have a real deep exposure to original Greek in fact I only had one year of it and no Hebrew at all.  Admittedly there are times that I sorely wish that I would have had the necessary training in the original languages.  That is why good books (tools) are so crucial for our preparation to preach.  Good preaching is always hard work! 

A book that I can heartily recommend to those who are moving down the path of becoming an expository preacher is fairly intense but don’t be intimidated by my assessment of it.  In fact, if you look at the Table of Contents there might be a bit of hesitation to purchase this book.  But I would encourage you to purchase How toUnderstand and Apply the New Testament—Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology by Andrew David Naselli.  Just as a point of reference, Naselli, was a research fellow for D. A. Carson for a number of years and it is obvious that Carson’s impact on him was very advantageous.  This book helps to establish Genre, deal with Textual Criticism, compare Translations, work through Greek Grammar, prepare a Diagram, build the Historical-Cultural Context, and do Word Studies.

Top Ten Books of 2016 -- #8 -- The Looming Tower--Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

November 13, 2015 around dusk here in Dothan, I had just gotten in my car around 6 PM for a drive of a little over an hour to a sectional rally when the top of the hour newscast began describing the terrorist attacks in Paris.  These attacks fell into a different category because they had been coordinated to hit several different places in Paris at the same time.  Only 10 months earlier in January, terrorists had attacked Charlie Hebdo and two days later a Jewish grocery store had been attacked as well all leaving a small number of casualties but not a large amount of injuries.  On the way home from the sectional rally, the talk radio outlets, which I hadn’t listened to for several years lured me back in, because they were blazing with opinions and reports.  I cannot remember where or how I ran across a New York Times journalist but Rukmini Callimachi entered my world that evening

Top Ten Books of 2016 -- #9 From Here to Maturity--Overcoming the Juvenilization of American Christianity--Thomas E. Bergler

In the ninth spot for the best books that I read in 2016 is a follow-up book to Thomas Bergler’s TheJuvenilization of American Christianity.  This book, From Here to Maturity--Overcoming the Juvenilization of American Christianity, was written in 2014 after the initial volume was written in 2012 dealing with the immaturity of American churches.  Bergler noted that he wrote the second book as a response to the heavy load of correspondence that he received from his readers.  They understood what he was stating but they wanted to know what the remedy was to move Christians toward a higher level of spiritual maturity.  Chapter 1 is sort of rehash of the first book so that if you have not read the first one, Bergler does his best to give you the first book in a capsule form in 25 pages.  While this book is not written to apostolic Pentecostals, I do very strongly feel that there are some components that need to be taken with the seriousness of which Bergler writes.  One thing that struck me was that spiritual adolescents are drawn to religious experiences that produce emotional highs and sometimes assume that experiencing strong feelings is the same thing as spiritual authenticity.  While emotion is a part of Pentecostal worship, we dare not reduce it simply to that!  We are called to self-denial and to bearing crosses in this life!

Top Ten Books of 2016 -- #10 The Juvenilization of Christianity--Thomas E. Bergler

Reading has long been a vice of mine although it is one of those necessary vices that is important.  I looked at the books that I read this past year and found that my reading preferences have changed significantly in the last several years and that will be reflected in the books that I will countdown this month.  The book slotting in at number ten is by Thomas E. Bergler.  He is an associate professor of ministry and missions at a university in Indiana.  I heard the title of this book mentioned by a preacher whose podcast I frequently listen to and purchased it. 

This book, The Juvenilizationof American Christianity, is not just a book that deals with religious issues and practice but it deals with sociological issues that are facing the church as well.  He also deals with the history of youth movements both political and religious in a way that teaches through an observation of history.  While Bergler is not Pentecostal in his moorings, he makes some observations that fits the variety of every church in America, some of which I see invading Pentecostal churches as well.

Book Recommendation—Engaging Exposition—Daniel L. Akin, Bill Curtis & Stephen Rummage

It is obvious from the flurry of writing that I am doing on the Barnabas Blog that you can tell it is the end of the year.  I generally try to put out a “Top Ten” list of books that I have read the previous year.  This year is a little different because I have read so many good books, helpful books, and changing-my-thinking books that it is hard to say which one was the best one.  I probably read too many books about preaching during the year but since it is what I do, I read in an effort to sharpen both mind and efforts in that category.  I mentioned to the church recently that when they get to heaven one of the jewels they will get in their crown will be from having to endure my preaching.  I hope it is not an endurance factor for them but one that encourages their spiritual growth.

This book, Engaging Exposition, by Daniel Akin, Bill Curtis, and Stephen Rummage will be very difficult to unseat as one of the best I have read and interacted with this year.  It was given to me by one of our lay ministers, Charlie Joyner, a couple of months ago.  It has an incredible range about it.  It speaks to the rigorous academic side that preaching should be subjected to—areas like hermeneutics, the inspiration of Scripture, the different genres of Scripture, and how to identify the main idea of a passage of Scripture.  It also has a section that deals with the nuts and bolts of building a sermon.  Even though I have been preaching for almost 25 years, this kind of practical advice is always good for me.  The last section of the book speaks to the actual delivery of the sermon itself. 

Book Recommendation--A Guide to Expository Ministry--Dan Dumas, Editor

One of the genres of books that I enjoy as a preacher is the group that deals with act and art of preaching itself.  If you have read this blog for any length of time, you have discovered that I have recommended a lion’s share of books about preaching—most have been to do with expository preaching.  It is good for preachers to continue to read books that will sharpen their skills as a preacher.  Because I believe that preaching—both the delivery by the preacher and the listening by the hearer—is an act of worship, I believe a preacher should do everything within his power to get better at preaching.  One of the ways that we can get better is to read books about preaching.

Last week, a friend of mine, Wayne Naylor, sent me a book, A Guide to Expository Ministry which has been edited by Dan Dumas.  It is a little over a hundred pages in length and it is packed with very good advice.  However, the advice in this book comes from a bit of a different angle in that it addresses the expositor in the first half and the listener in the second half.  I believe that churches that trend toward expository, verse-by-verse preaching goes a long way to creating something that takes place in the pews.  What takes place in the pews is a heightened awareness of the power of Scripture.  So Dumas and his covey of writers are working the angles of both the preacher’s responsibility and the saint’s duty as well. 

Book Recommendation--Out of the Flames by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

This past March (2016), a good friend of mine recommended a book to me, Out of the Flames, by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone.  Not only is this book one of the best books I have read this year, it probably will fall into the category of one of the greatest books that I have read in my lifetime.  The subject matter of the book is “the remarkable story of a fearless scholar, a fatal heresy, and one of the rarest books in the world.”  It is the story about Michael Servetus who was one of the most brilliant men that has ever lived.  Not only was Servetus a theologian, he was also a scientist and was one of the first to discover the pulmonary circulation of the blood through the lungs but he also wrote a book that cost him his life. 

One of the reasons that I believe this book is so important is not only for the content of the book but also who wrote it.  It is written by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, a husband and wife team, who are not theologians.  This is important because of the subject matter they write about concerning Michael Servetus and his battle with one of the most sadistic souls who has ever lived, John Calvin.  The Goldstones are primarily book collectors and write about antiquarian books which are books that are very rare and usually very old.  One of the book’s descriptions states that the Goldstones are interested in the “enduring legacy of books.”  Because they are not theologians or church historians they have a tendency to write their book about Servetus without the normal bias that comes against Servetus by so many of the church historians, theologians, and religious philosophers who do undertake the task of writing about the conflict between Servetus and Calvin.  In fact, I have read before various accounts by authors who generally come from a Reformed bent and it appears to me that before they ever get their thoughts off the ground, Servetus is under a severe thrashing. 

Book Recommendation: Unashamed Workmen: How Expositors Prepare and Preach - Rhett Dodson

Increasingly I am much encouraged by some of the conversations that I am having with various Pentecostal pastors around the nation.  It is becoming more and more common that I am finding men who are paying the price with discipline and diligence to really dig into the Word so that their preaching has taken a different direction.  This direction change is coming because of the challenges that we are facing in our culture and the deep moral depravity that is assaulting the church.  We also have to contend more and more with the onward advancement of various world religions that are making inroads to the United States.  Our preaching has to change to meet those challenges for we can no longer afford to simply preach to the moment so that people get out of their seats and flutter about for a little while to satisfy some shallow emotional need they need to feel better about. 

A Book Recommendation - Don Basham, Deliver Us From Evil

I am quick out of the chute this year having already finished a book in the first week of the New Year.  This book is not a particularly new book with an original publishing date of 1972 but it has gone through at least thirteen printings of the original edition.  Furthermore it has gone through a revision in 2005 and I have the second printing of that copy also.  Last year, I wrote several lengthy posts of some personal Bible study notes as I trackedthrough Kay Arthur’s book, Lord, Is ItWarfare?  Those are still available although I did not complete them because I had started writing with a fountain pen as described in the first post of this year.  I do have those notes written in another journal and perhaps may need to revisit them and post the rest of them.

Spiritual warfare has always been an interest of mine and I have more than 100 books in my personal library that deals with this subject.  The only subject that I have more single volumes about is holiness which logs in at more than 150 books devoted to that subject.  I have discovered over the course of the years that when you read and study about personal holiness and spiritual warfare together that you will have to come to grips with the very close link between to the two.  A commitment to personal holiness gives a Christian great power when he is dealing with the attack of the devil.  Indeed!  A real live devil who is not a concept, theme, or ideal planted in the human consciousness but an arch-angel who fell from heaven to lead a rebellion against God.  Spiritual warfare operates in zones that attempts to weaken the commitments that we make toward personal holiness and when we fall in the battle, we suffer and those around us suffer. 

Book Recommendation -- A Commentary on Judges and Ruth -- Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Several years ago, my plan for preaching started making a marked change in its direction.  I started working with the process of expository preaching.  To this date, I have completed several long passages of Scripture in this manner.  When I started this journey, I realized that my study habits would have to change and also my reading tools would have to change also.  Expository preaching means that you will have to use commentaries and language helps to accomplish the task of preaching God’s Word.  So I started the process of purchasing good reference books that would serve more as tools to go back to more than once.  Last year it was my good fortune to become a book reviewer for Kregel Publications.  They have an arm called the Academic division that supplies some very good reference material for an expositor.  This volume on Judges and Ruth was sent to me by Kregel.    

The most recent commentary is written by Robert B. Chisholm Jr., A Commentary on Judges and Ruth.  Kregel sent me this book several months ago while I was just beginning to do an expository series on Psalms.  I judged this book by Chisholm and liked it so well that I ended up purchasing Kregel’s volumes on Psalms by Allen P. Ross (the last volume is not available yet which will cover Psalms 90-150).  The Ross volumes are also very good and worth the investment. 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 1, Day 2

I am continuing from yesterday as we go through the devotional study guide (study guide is a serious understatement) by Kay Arthur, Lord Is It Warfare?  I am in much encouragement of you working with this book and a handwritten journal.  At the end of this, I am certain that you will feel a sense of accomplishment but even more than that you are going to have developed a sense of understanding of what Scripture has to say about the matter of spiritual warfare.  Furthermore for those who serve in churches as Sunday School teachers, Bible study group leaders, and even pastors, you are going to find a wealth of material that will come to you at the right time as you are teaching.

One quick note of explanation for those who are not familiar with some of the Greek language that the New Testament was written in.  On yesterday’s post you would have noticed that after the words for flesh, lust, and war from 1 Peter 2:11 in yesterday’s blog there was a “G” followed by a number.  This is the system that was developed in the original Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance used by Bible scholars, preachers, and teachers who did not have a background in the Greek language.  Instead of having to know the language, the student could work with the number system. 

Book Review -- Apostle of the Last Days -- C. Marvin Pate

Several weeks ago, I was sent a book from the Kregel Academic Division by C. Marvin Pate, Apostle of the Last Days—The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul.  The arrival of this book coincided with a study that I had been doing in Acts and it came at just about the time I was going through the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  While there was some good material about the basic history of Paul, the whole subject matter of the book was concerned with the eschatological stances that Paul placed in his epistles.  One particular thing I appreciated about Pate’s subject matter was his response to some of the critics who have attempted to question the authenticity of the Pauline letters.  I have increasingly noticed in the last five years or so that there is an increasing tide among those who once believed in the Bible to begin to pick at its edges and question the authority of the Word of God.  Pate meets some of that response briefly in the introduction as he moves toward a conservative approach to the Bible.  You will benefit from what he has written and how he has responded (p. 13). 

Top Ten Books of 2013 - #1 - Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy - Steve Gallagher

I come to this last best book slot, being #1, of the books I read in 2013 and have found again it to be a very provoking book.  I have gone back and scanned through and reviewed much of what I wrote in it back in January 2013.  I purchased the book in December 2012 primarily on author recognition.  I read a previous book by Steve Gallagher entitled Intoxicatedwith Babylon and found it to be a very good book.  I guessed that would have a pretty good idea of the content that Gallagher would take up with this book Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy.  This is another book that falls into the category of our personal need for revival and a reawakening of the church to its true purpose.  As I mentioned in a previous post, books on revival and a true need for true repentance and godly conversion was what I spent the most time with last year.     

As a pastor, I often have to deal with very ambivalent emotions concerning the state of the church both locally and nationally.  There are times that I feel the great lift of faith to believe that there is an ardent devotion to the Lord and to His Word among those who follow the Lord.  There are other times when I find myself going into a tailspin at the shallow, uncommitted state that we slop around in.  Perhaps nothing like social media reveals the true nature and direction of where and what we are heading toward.  Jesus noted that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and I think with our modern technological wizardry that now we can discover that the abundance of the heart is revealed through what the keyboard types, what the tweets reveal, and what the Instagram pics expose.  All of this social media exposure can be terribly disheartening when you began to understand the relentless onslaught of the world, the flesh, and the devil on the church.  Visit the profile pages of those who populate Facebook and you see many people who are so immersed in the entertainment venues of Hollywood, the music of Nashville, the insatiable appetite for the fads of Fifth Avenue, and all sorts of troubling distractions that you wonder if there is any hunger for God at all.  Some of what Gallagher addresses in the book relates to this.

Top Ten Books of 2013 - #2 - The Church Awakening - Charles Swindoll

We are at the number two spot in my book reviews of the best books that I read in 2013.  This book is one that published in 2010 and I got around to working with it in 2013.  Chuck Swindoll has been around for a long time and the majority of his books are primarily devotional in nature and it is rare that he would take on a subject like this concerning the need for revival in the church. 

I noticed something about my reading patterns in 2013 and that they were mostly concerned with personal revival and corporate revival among the church.  Anyone who is involved in ministry has to understand the reality that when a church is in a state of revival and devotion that things in churches go much smoother.  Churches that aren’t experiencing a climate of revival often turn inward and over the course of time will ultimately die.  We cannot afford for the local church to collapse even though it is under a very heavy attack both socially and spiritually in our day.  On the other hand, it is clear that when a church has well-defined boundaries and encourages its members to have a high input that the Lord can do great things with it. 

Author:  Charles Swindoll

Title:  The Church Awakening—An Urgent Call forRenewal

Publisher:  Faith Words, 2010