7 Books I would Definitely Read

Last 36 books I read sorted in descending order by date

Tim Challies just published a blog post that intrigued me. The title of his blog post (“blost”) is the same as mine, or should I say, my title is the same as his, since he had it first.

It made me think. Which 7 books that have not been written yet would I definitely read?  This, especially since I saw a link on Facebook yesterday in which the BBC (or an unknown individual) thinks that the average person has only read 6 of a list of 100 books “they” think should be read. The questions arises, “Who decides what the top 100 books that everybody should read are?” Hold a survey? Is it a democratic decision? What people find important to read right now, in ten years could be considered just so-so!

I have only read 7 of that list of 100. However, I have read 100s of others. The list of books on the right is made up of the last 36 books I have read. The list is sorted in descending order by date, meaning, that the last book I read is the one in the top left corner, and the first of these 36 is in the right bottom corner. 6 of these are novels, of which I disliked 2, found 2 to be average and 2 that I enjoyed. I am in the process of reading 3 others, “American Sniper,” “NCT: Time For A Most Accurate Way,” and “New Testament Theology” by Morris.

So, what are the books that I would definitely read?

[An In-Depth Biography of John Piper]: I first met John Piper (not personally) via listening through his sermon series on the New Testament book of Romans. I have read commentaries on Romans and have heard pastors preach on parts of Romans, but I have never heard anybody expound the text of Romans with the theological clarity and passion like John Piper did. He started this series on 26 April 1998 and finished it on 24 December 2006. I know we all have our favourite preachers, and some of you may disagree. If you haven’t listened to his series on Romans, listen to it before you disagree. John Piper has had an amazing ministry and you can see much of it at Desiring God.

[Al Mohler’s Memoirs]: Here I agree with Tim.

[Paul, the apostle, in the 21st century]: Many books have been written on Paul, but that is not what I want here. What I would like to see is a book, fully based on Paul’s theology, on how he would have dealt with the issues of our day. Books on Paul have been written by men like Ridderbos (Paul: An Outline of His Theology), Reymond (Paul, Missionary Theologian: A Survey of His Missionary Labours and Theology), Bruce (Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free), and Fee (Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study).

[New Covenant Theology: A Systematic Theology]: The theological system known as New Covenant Theology (NCT) has been around for some time now, and although there are some differences of thought on its core, I believe that the time is ready for its belief system to be explained via the tried-and-tested format of a systematic theology. Who would write such a book? I have a list of names that could perhaps work together on such a project: John Reisinger, Moe Bergeron, Blake White, and Gary D. Long.

[D.A. Carson on Revelation]: I once again agree with Tim on this one. If you do not know who D.A. Carson is, shame on you! I believe Carson is one of today’s treasures in the church.

[Commentary on Romans by John Piper]: As I’ve written in my first point, Piper has done an amazing sermon series on Romans, and I believe that he could perhaps, based on his knowledge of Romans, set forth the definitive commentary on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman church.

And, that wasn’t the last time I am mentioning John Piper…

[Interpreting the Bible: A God-glorifying Pursuit by John Piper and D.A. Carson]: With their combined knowledge of the Scriptures and their expertise in the area of Biblical interpretation, I think that such a book could perhaps be one of the best books on Biblical interpretation for theological students and bench warmers alike.

So, there are my 7! They are perhaps not earth shattering, but that is what I thought of now!

What would be your 7. Remember, these are books that have NOT been written yet!

[VIDEO] Dr. Al Mohler speaks the truth on homosexuality and the Bible on CNN

Religion and politics in America over the last 50 years

Dr. Al Mohler had a very interesting interview with Professor Robert Putnam, Malcolm Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, about his book American Grace:  How Religion Divides and Unites Us, co-authored with David Campbell.

There are some interesting things that came out  in this discussion (and in the book)! By 1990, young evangelicals outnumbered those young people that did not have any religious affiliation (nones) 2 to 1. Now, twenty years later, that number is totally reversed, in that the nones outnumber young evangelicals 2 to 1.

Here are some quotes:

Books I ordered to arrive soon

I am somewhat of a book "junky." Whenever we walk past a book store, my wife tries to distract me from entering. I find it very difficult to simply cruise past a book store. Hence, I buy a fair amount of books s far as the budget allows.

However, I do have a problem! I am not a fast reader and tend to dwell on books, and so I have an unread pile of books that grows faster than I can read them. How I wish I could read as fast and as much as Dr. Al Mohler and Tim Challies.

Al Mohler - Study Tour from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Kidults: Adults that fail to grow up

Dr. Albert Mohler
Image courtesy
AlbertMohler.com

"Failure to launch." 

That is the phrase used these days for adults, or rather kidults that fail to grow up into mature adults. The issue of "Failing to launch" is reaching major proportions and will still be discussed for a long time!

Dr. Al Mohler writes,

"The reason for this [discussion] becomes clear once you read the essay. Henig lets her readers understand the scale of the issue — we are not talking about a passing phenomenon that is linked to the economic recession. We are talking about a major change in the way young people move toward adulthood . . . if they are moving toward adulthood."