Author: Steven J. Lawson

Pages: 134 pages

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Price: 12.74

Genre: Church Ministry/Pastoral


Quick Summary:

This book is an expansion of a four-part series originally published in Bibliotheca Sacra in 2001-2002. Lawson’s plea in this book is to get back to the expository preaching of the world. In his own word Lawson sees this book to directly address, what is “the crying need of the hour, specifically that the modern-day pulpit be restored to her former glory of generations past, days when God’s truth was fearlessly proclaimed –days when doctrinal clarity, theological precision, and heart-searching application once poured forth from pulpits.”

Lawson hopes in this passionate call for expository preaching to show us the priority of biblical preaching, the power of biblical preaching, the pattern of biblical preaching, and the passion of biblical preaching. The author attempts to define the problem and offer the only biblical solution—expository preaching.

What I Liked:

Lawson draws from some great expositors in the past and as such there are very good quotes strung throughout this book. The author’s passion is present on every page of this book. You know that Lawson avidly practices what he is proclaiming in this book. Furthermore, he is right. I agree with about everything in this book. However…

What I Disliked:

This book might be unnecessary. I hope I am wrong because it is a quality book and it is very beneficial. Yet, Lawson writes in the MacArthur style that does not attempt to prove his statements but merely states them as true. If you are already convinced of expository preaching then this book will simply add a few more bullets to your gun. As one that is fully convinced of the need for expository preaching and as one that agrees with everything Lawson says—I found the book unchallenging. If you are not convinced of the need for expository preaching then I am not certain that this book will convince you. Therefore, it is my opinion that this book might be unnecessary; it reaches neither audience.

And this is a shame because Steven Lawson has a lot of good things to say. He is a man worth listening to and following. I wish that he would have either attempted to prove the need for expository preaching and therefore wrote in a more polemical style or attempted to strengthen those that already believe in the need for expository preaching.

Should You Buy It?

You can get it for relatively cheap on Amazon or Ebay. And even though I say that the book might be unnecessary it certainly is worth 5 bucks. After all I could be wrong. You might benefit greatly from this book. If it is only recently that you have been convinced of the need for expository preaching then perhaps you will benefit. I would however suggest that you buy instead Feed My Sheep, Christ-Centered Preaching, or The Supremacy of God in Preaching, these, in my opinion will serve you better.

Rating: 3 out of 5

UPDATE: I am selling this book for very cheap on EBAY (If you live close to me I'll cut the shipping or just end up giving you the book)...buy it here

This post will officially disqualify me from holding an office within the Southern Baptist Convention for at least 30 more years. It is not meant as slander. It is not meant to trash another man's preaching style. It is not even meant as a criticism. Here is the sacred cow that I'm getting ready to "insult"....I do not like Adrian Rogers' preaching. My pastor loves him, I love my pastor, but I do not share his love for Rogers' preaching. (Neither of us agree with him doctrinally on some points).

Apart from his anti-Calvinistic missiles here is why I do not like his preaching style. The alliteration and the constant "Here's what I'm going to tell you, Here's what I told you, etc." comes off to me as inauthentic and far too crafted. I think in days gone by this was the hip thing to do. Rogers did it better than anyone. Even his alliteration was alliterated. And it is a great tool for learning. Many books on preaching encourage you to use things like this to assist your hearers. Even parts of the Bible use it in forms. So, I am not against alliteration.

I am not sure what the underlying cultural values where that drove this type of preaching in Rogers' day--I was not in church then. But I do know that in our culture today for those under the age of 35 a far more effective method is passionate, messy, yet authentic preaching. I think people my age and younger are turned off by slick preaching and flashy rhetoric. People listen to passion and follow those that have it.

So here is my question and a little advice. The question is this--How do you effectively preach to those congregations that have Adrian Rogers-Charles Stanley-lovin' Southern Baptist as well as "what the heck is a Baptist"-Jesus lovin' postmoderns?

Advice--Preach the Word. Do not try to follow Adrian Rogers and do not try to follow Mark Driscoll or Matt Chandler. Be authentically who you are. If it helps you to think and preach with alliteration then do it but do it authentically. If you could care less about alliteration and are a messy Jesus lovin' postmodern preacher then do it authentically. Do not try to be who you are not. And lastly consider what John Owen said, "If the Word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us."

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

This looks like a pretty neat magazine. Is anyone else familiar with this?

Author: David Benner

Pages: 114 pages

Publisher: IVP Books

Price: 10.40

Genre: Christian Spirituality


Quick Summary:

At the core of this book David Benner hopes that we understand the importance of knowing our true self. The self that God created and the self that God really knows. His hope is that we might reject the false self and embrace our true selves. This book is a book about self-discovery but it is also a book about discovering God. You cannot know yourself unless you truly know God. Benner hopes that this book will set us on a journey of doing both.

What I Liked:

I think the core point that Benner is getting at is pretty solid. We need to be real and part of the process of redemption is God stripping away our false self and transforming us into who He really has crafted us to be. The core I think is good; the layers, however, are muddy at best--unbiblical at worse.

Another positive aspect to this book is the Benner does make the principles practical. He offers practical suggestions for getting to know God better and our true self better.

What I Disliked:

I went through this book with a group of pastors and most of us shared the same dislike—the truth that Benner proclaims in this book is so clouded by psychobabble that it makes the book almost irrelevant. There are statements in this book that cause me to shake my head and wonder not only what Benner is talking about but why he said it the way that he did. There are quite a few statements in this book that tiptoe towards crossing the line of biblical theology. Here are some of the samples:

“No one is born with an identity, and Jesus was no exception…and being fully human meant that he, like all humans, had to discover who he was. Even Jesus had to find his way, his self.” (p.93)

“Jesus’ understanding of his vocation came out of wrestling with God, himself and the devil in the solitude of the wilderness.” (p.99)

And this quote, I think sums up the fundamental problem with Benner’s theology and this book. Speaking of the human capacity for self-deception Benner says this, “This is taught in Scripture and confirmed by psychology.” Since when does psychology have the right to “confirm” Scripture. As one fellow pastor said, “there is a difference between being a psychologist that is a Christian and a Christian that is a psychologist”. Benner seems to be the former and as another pastor said, “a little theology would have went a long way in this book”.

Should You Buy It?

If you have discernment and are able to sift through mud to find gold then it might be a good read. I would not suggest it for the new believer or a Christian that struggles with discernment. I think someone could be a deep sinner, read this book, and walk away from it very comfortable in his sin and comfortable with himself. That would not be Benner’s intent but his writing opens up the door for such things.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

This will certainly prove to be controversial: What will we be in the SBC? by Tom Ascol.

Taylor Buzzard gives us a helpful Algebra equation to mark our time left with our children under our care: x/18=y. According to this formula I already have spent 10% of time with Isaiah under our care. Read the article.

Both Nathan Finn and Alvin Reid write open letters to SBC Calvinists and Non-Calvinists. Read Finn's to the Non-Calvinists and Reid's to the Calvinist.

CJ Mahaney interviews Thabiti. Check out Part 1 and 2.

I love this question by Abraham Piper: How would the Bible be different if you'd been it's editor?

Great article by Matt Chandler on Legalism. He also has good thoughts on Seminary.

Bill Mounce considers Ephesians 4:29 and blogging.

Michael McKinley gives 95 Theses (give or take 85) on Christian humor.

Showing his continuing maturity Joshua Harris lets us know what he has learned since writing I Kissed Dating Goodbye.

This raises an interesting question......should a pastor wear a speedo?

(HT: Tim Ellsworth)