Mark's #38 - The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

Recently, I've been giving a lot of thought to evangelism.  Since my early days as a follower of Christ back in 1994, I've always believed in the role and necessity of evangelism - telling people the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Several times I've taught evangelism courses in a variety of contexts within the local church.

Two things trouble me when it comes to personal evangelism.  First, I am troubled by the fear-inducing grip of our pluralistic world that has paralyzed Christians from telling other people good news.  When is there any other time in your life that you hesitate to tell someone really amazing good news? You don't.  Second, I'm troubled by my own lack of urgency and intentionality when it comes to personal evangelism, after all, I should know better!

Because of this, I decided to begin reading some books dealing with the issue, and I first picked up this book by Mark Dever.  Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., as well as the leader of the 9marks ministry (www.9marks.org).  He is someone I have to respect very much as a sound theologian, solid pastor, and competent leader in the evangelical world.

In this short book, the first thing that struck me was its rather straight-forward approach and thoughts about personal evangelism.  In short, there was no overwhelming argument that got me fired up about evangelism... but then it struck me. Evangelism is not a complicated thing.  Jesus Christ has made it clear that we are to tell people the Good News.  If Jesus' words on the subject are not a sufficient motivator for evangelism, then nothing will be.

In each of the seven short chapters, Dever answers a question.  Here they are:

1. Why Don't We Evangelize?
2. What is the Gospel?
3. Who Should Evangelize?
4. How Should We Evangelize?
5. What Isn't Evangelism?
6. What Should We Do After We Evangelize?
7. Why Should We Evangelize?

Dever does do a good job of clarifying what evangelism is and is not.  He shows how there are no 'magic' evangelistic techniques.  The converting of dead souls to Christ is preeminently a work of God and not of man.  In His divine Sovereignty God invites His redeemed saints to be tools in His hand for reaching the lost - which is an amazing privilege!

Mark's #37 - Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle

Earlier this year, Rob Bell wrote a book, Love Wins,  where he challenged the historic and orthodox view of God's eternal judgment of unrepentant rebels in hell.  While this sparked a firestorm of controversy (and sold a lot of books), one of the great benefits to the church is that it has gotten people to talk about a topic Jesus spent more time talking about than He did about heaven.

In one sense, Erasing Hell is a response to Love Wins, but the strength of this book is that it's aim and tone will most likely serve the church for a much longer time than a mere rebuttal would have.  There is no attacking of Bell in this book, though they do occasionally use Bell's points as opportunities to engage some of the mythology surrounding the doctrine of hell that has grown up through the centuries - For example, the idea that the word ghenna (hell) derived from the burning trash heap outside the city of Jerusalem... The problem is that this idea does not first surface until about 1200 years after Christ!

In short, this book is both an honest look at what God has revealed about eternal judgment throughout the Bible and a passionate plea to feel the weight and reality of such truths in a way that they change the way we live and engage our world.

Or as the authors put it:

This is not just about doctrine; it's about destinies... you cannot let this be a mere academic exercise.  You must let Jesus' very real teaching on hell sober you up.  You must let Jesus' words reconfigure the way you live, the way you talk, and the way you see the world and the people around you (pg. 72).

While this book is not a rigorous academic and expositional study on the doctrine of hell, I do believe it deals with the doctrine adequately and honestly in a way that will serve as a resources for the masses.  I recommend you buy two copies. One for yourself and one to give away.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnrJVTSYLr8

Mark's #36 - The Tears of My Soul by Sokreaksa S. Himm

As Ron mentioned in his review of this book, this book served to prepare me and the Cambodia Harbor Mission Team to think about the recent brutal history of Cambodia, the problem of evil, as well as the power of the gospel to bring healing and forgiveness.  I'm grateful for having read the book before going to Cambodia and visiting the Genocide Museum and Killing Fields. I appreciated the way Reaksa did not offer up trite and trivial answers to the problem of evil or the difficulty of forgiveness.  Here is a man who experienced and witnessed some of the pinnacle expressions of human evil. As such, his emotional and psychological wounds run deep... Yet, this is also the story about how the gospel of Christ runs deeper still.  Having been transformed by grace, Reaksa is now a pastor preaching the good news of Christ in Cambodia.

Mark's #35 - A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden

Concluding my church history series at The Harbor, I choose to do the final message on Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758).  I didn't have time to read Marsden's 600+ definitive biography on Edwards, but I was delighted to see that he wrote this much shorter (152 pages) biography which was also available instantly via kindle download (I did read several other articles and sections of books, as well as  listened to several other lectures and sermons as well).

Like most people today, the image that I had formed of Jonathan Edwards growing up was that of the old Puritan, no fun, all hellfire and brimstone, "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God" picture in my minds-eye. Like most caricatures, the real Jonathan Edwards is very different.  As it turns out, he is quite a different person with quite a wide and vast impact on philosophy, theology,  church history, and American history.

Marsden does a great job of capturing the depth of Edward's story, his advanced intellect, dogged persistence, theological and philosophical contributions, his home-life, study habits (13 hours a day), his preaching as the catalyst for the first Great Awakening, and his affect on America and Christian world missions for  the past 300 years.

Edwards' consuming and singular passion was to delight in the beauty and glory of God.  He was a towering intellect, but he also saw the necessity and role of one's affections in a person's relationship with and pursuit of God - Edwards connected the head with the heart.

If you really want me to unpack all that I learned in this book and my other studies, you'll need to listen to my message here when I post it.  If you're looking for a brief overview of his life, this book is a great start.

In the meantime, go order this t-shirt (and get me one while you're at it - XL)

For the ultimate resource on all things Jonathan Edwards, go to the Jonathan Edwards portal at Yale University here - http://edwards.yale.edu/

Mark's #34 - Calvin by Bruce Gordon

Currently I'm preaching through a Church History series at The Harbor. One of the catalysts for the series was to provide me with a motivation to read this in-depth biography of John Calvin (1509-1564) by Professor Bruce Gordon of Yale.

John Calvin, and the subsequent theological system known as Calvinism has led many to take an impassioned stand either for or against the man and the system.  Often, on both sides, the debaters are only vaguely aware of the main points of contention, often gleaning their thoughts and opinions from hearsay or passing references in sermons or books.  As such, Calvin is often cast either as a demoniac on the one hand, or an infallible and nearly divine figure on the other.

Thus, as many in the world celebrated Calvin's 500th birthday on July 10th, 2009, there were many biographies published that year.  Of those biographies, many of my sources pointed to this book as a deep, rich, balanced, and fair biography.  Having now read the book, I would agree with those assessments.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being absolute hatred of Calvin, 5 being neutral, and 10 being idolatrous worship, I would say Gordon rests mostly at a 5... He's no pushover when it comes to his assessment of Calvin and his faults.  While, at the same time, he readily acknowledges the great contributions Calvin made during the reformation and theologically through church history.

For the record, I am greatly appreciative of John Calvin, his life, and deep theological insights.  I also understand that, like everyone else, he was a man who fell short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and was in need of God's sovereign grace as much as anybody else.  I'm grateful for the truth that with Calvin, and all the men I've highlighted in the church history series, "we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Cor. 4:7)."

Mark's #33 - The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin by John Piper

This is book one of John Piper's 'The Swans are not Silent' series, which are brief biographical sketches from Church history.  In this book, as the title shows, Piper focused on Augustine, Luther, and Calvin.  The common theme from their lives was their hope, understanding, and proclaiming of the message of God's sovereign grace and the joy that follows this great truth of theology.

None of these biographies are in-depth. All of them have a particular Piperesque slant to their story.  As Piper tries to capture the highlights of their lives, he also labors to show how each life uniquely celebrates an aspect of the doctrines of the sovereignty of God, sovereign joy, the majesty of God's Word, and what that should mean for Christians today.  As such, these would serve anyone well who is trying to get acquainted with their lives and why it matters that we know about them.   Therefore the book seems to be half biography and half application... and since it is Piper pointing us to application, I would say that is a good thing indeed.

In a recent church history series at The Harbor we spoke on each of these men's lives as well as the lives of Athanasius and Jonathan Edwards.  You can listen to those messages here.