dord (dôrd), n. density of mind; chiefly exhibited by one who attempts to demonstrate supposed knowledge --adj. dord'ish

8.28.2007

Prepositions: Something to Fuss Over?

The following are a few questions and thoughts I figured I'd toss out:

  • Why is it that prepositions are not proper words to end sentences with?
  • Is this really something to watch out for?
  • Is it truly necessary to avoid this by moving the words around?
  • The rules of grammar are something I strive to adhere to.
  • Nonetheless, this rule doesn't seem to be one to get legalistic about.
  • Must all grammar laws be strictly followed after?
  • Isn't this a rule we could do without?
  • Is this law something archaic that we have passed on from?
  • Must all writers observe it throughout?
  • Literary quality is something I aim toward.
  • But is this law one that even bloggers are under?

If I seem perturbed, it may be a result of the questions you find above. Please offer consolation or add personal insights below.

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8.25.2007

Book Review: What Jesus Demands from the World

Considering it has been the source of the last three quotes I posted, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that one books I recently read is John Piper's book What Jesus Demands from the World. It seems only fitting that, after quoting the book so many times, I take the time to review it.

Over the last few years, John Piper has become one of my favorite authors. Each of his books that I have read has helped me to better understand Scripture, taught me how to think Biblically, and drawn my focus to the Gospel. What Jesus Demands from the World is no exception. Nonetheless, it is a unique book, devoted solely to examining the commands of Jesus in the four gospels. He explains his approach in this way: "My method is to reflect on the meaning and motivation of Jesus' demands as they appear in the New Testament Gospels in the context of his person and work. I do not cite the rest of the New Testament for my understanding of Jesus in the Gospels. Citing the whole New Testament is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, and in my preaching I do not hesitate to bring Scriptures from anywhere to help make any text plain, provided I don't change the meaning of either text. But in this book I have given my rendering of Jesus almost entirely through the lens of his own words as recorded in the Gospels. One of my subordinate aims in this approach is to encourage confidence in the unity of the New Testament, because the upshot of this portrayal is so compatible with what other New Testament writers taught."

Beginning with commands such as "You Must Be Born Again," "Repent," "Come to Me," and "Believe in Me," Piper examines the essentials of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Throughout the remainder of the book, depending on how many different instances of a command appear in the Gospels and on how many aspects of a command Piper examines, a command may cover anywhere from one to four chapters. For instance, he has single chapters on "Rejoice and Leap for Joy" and "Worship God in Spirit and Truth," but spends four chapters (numbers twenty-eight to thirty-one) examining what it means to love our enemies: "Love Your Enemies--Lead Them to the Truth," based on Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27-28,32-34, and John 7:17; "Love Your Enemies--Pray for those Who Abuse You" takes a closer look at Matthew 5:44 and verses 28 and 32 from Luke 6; "Love Your Enemies--Do Good to those Who Hate You, Give to the One Who Asks" derives its content from Matthew 18:21-22, Luke 6:27, and Matthew 5:47; and "Love Your Enemies to Show that You Are Children of God" looks at Luke 6:29-30, 35, 36 and Matthew 5:44-45. In this way, Piper is able to give an in-depth examination of commands that have common themes but varying emphases, without passing over some aspects in favor of focusing solely on others. Other commands that he examined--and ones that particularly impacted me as I read them--were those pertaining to what it means to humble ourselves, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

What Jesus Demands from the World was well worth the time I spent reading it, and is a book that I hope to re-read in the future. While of a somewhat longer length (375 pages), the fifty chapters are each easy to read in a single sitting (as opposed to some books I've read that have thirty or forty page chapters). That being said, for books of this quality, the length of chapters should hardly be an issue. Reading a chapter just to get through it should not be the goal. I found myself several times returning to re-read chapters that were particularly thought-provoking.

Overall, what can I say about this book? Describing it as a good book is hardly surprising, considering the Biblical insight that is so typical of John Piper's writing. Really, I'd love to read all of Piper's books. (That he seems to be writing faster than I can read doesn't help, nor does the fact that he started publishing before I was born.) But I especially appreciated his focused look at the words of our Savior, and his willingness to examine even the most difficult commands (such as Jesus' words on marriage and divorce), submitting personal comfort level and preconceptions to the Scriptures.


Rating: Highly Recommended

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8.15.2007

After The Clash



Well, due to the fact that I haven't had time to post anything on The Clash (or anything else lately, for that matter), I thought I'd point anyone interested in learning more about the conference to a couple of other blogs.

--My friend Brian is in the midst of recapping some of the week's key lectures.
--And Josh Harris has posted pictures, the first of several testimonies, and even a video of a human pyramid come crashing down.

I still plan to blog something of substance about The Clash, but we'll see... I have exactly a two day weekend between the end of work and the beginning of the school semester.

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8.01.2007

The Booklist

This list is limited to Christian non-ficiton. But even with that qualification it is not complete, for I know that there are many other substantial Christian works which I have not yet read. Beyond that, even as a list of Christian non-fiction which I have read, the list is incomplete, as it only includes books which I have read since the start of 2005, when I began to cultivate an interest in regular Christian reading and started a personal booklist. Since I don't know that I can recall all of the books I read previously (nor, since it has been so long, exactly where I'd place them on this list) I have decided to relist only the books I've read since 2005. Several of the "older" titles stand out, however, as books which I would still like to recommend. These include C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey's How Now Shall We Live?, and Josh Harris' I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl, and Henry Morris' The Genesis Record. I'm sure that there are others, but, as I said, I can't remember all of the titles I've read.

All books are listed alphabetically by rating. Those that are hyperlinked have reviews that I have written on this blog. For more on the ratings, as well as a background on why I've decided to write book reviews, please read "Why Review?"

Three Books That Changed My Life
Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper
The God Who Is There, Francis Schaeffer
Money, Possessions & Eternity, Randy Alcorn

Must Read
The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges
The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul
Humility: True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney
Knowing God, J.I. Packer
Living the Cross Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney
The Peacemaker, Ken Sande
Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem
This Momentary Marriage, John Piper
Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey
When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, John Piper

Highly Recommended
The Cross of Christ, John R.W. Stott
Desiring God, John Piper
Do Hard Things, Alex & Brett Harris
Escape From Reason, Francis Schaeffer
Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, Bruce Ware
Finally Alive, John Piper
The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges
Heaven, Randy Alcorn
He Is There And He Is Not Silent, Francis Schaeffer
Her Hand in Marriage, Douglas Wilson
Holiness, J.C. Ryle
The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer
The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges
Not Even A Hint, Josh Harris
Questioning Evangelism, Randy Newman
Reforming Marriage, Douglas Wilson
Spectacular Sins, John Piper
Thoughts For Young Men, J.C. Ryle
What Jesus Demands from the World, John Piper
When People Are Big And God Is Small, Edward T. Welch

Recommended
A Call to Spiritual Reformation, D.A. Carson
The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel
The Certainty of Faith, Herman Bavinck
A Christian Manifesto, Francis Schaeffer
The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Counted Righteous In Christ, John Piper
Doing Things Right In Matters of the Heart, John Ensor
Federal Husband, Douglas Wilson
Fifty Crucial Questions, John Piper & Wayne Grudem
Future Men, Douglas Wilson
Get Married, Candice Watters
The Good Life, Charles Colson
A Good Start, Charles Spurgeon
The Great Exchange, Jerry Bridges & Bob Bevington
Growing Up Christian, Karl Graustein
Jesus Among Other Gods, Ravi Zacharias
Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung
Life As A Vapor, John Piper
Light in the Shadow of Jihad, Ravi Zacharias
The Message of Acts, John R.W. Stott
The Message of Ephesians, John R.W. Stott
Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
The Reason for God, Tim Keller
Seeing And Savoring Jesus Christ, John Piper
Uniting Church And Home, Eric Wallace
What He Must Be, Voddie Baucham Jr.
What's the Difference? John Piper
Why Small Groups?, C.J. Mahaney (editor)

Don't Bother
They're out there, but so far I haven't bothered to read them.


Last Updated: 1/10

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The Queue

The following books are on my bookshelf, waiting to be read. Some I've purchased at conferences. Some I've ordered from Amazon.com. Some I've received as gifts. All look promising.


Above All Earthly Pow'rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, David Wells
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, John Piper
Charity and Its Fruits, Jonathan Edwards
Creation Regained, Albert Wolters
The Discipline of Spritual Discernment, Tim Challies
Disciplines of a Godly Man, R. Kent Hughes
Every Thought Captive, Richard L. Pratt, Jr.
Future Grace, John Piper
The Godly Man's Picture, Thomas Watson
The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul
The Jusification of God, John Piper
Overcoming Sin & Temptation, John Owen
Pathway to Freedom, Alistair Begg
The Pleasures of God, John Piper
What's The Difference? John Piper


These are listed alphabetically (and no, they aren't arranged that way on my shelf), and will be regularly updated as I move some onto The Booklist and as others get added to my shelf.

Feel free to comment on any of these if you have read them, or have heard anything about them. Also feel free to recommend books you've enjoyed. . . or, better yet, donate them to my library.

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Ratings

Those of you who know me well were, I'm sure, waiting for this part. (i.e. Here is where Jason explains how he will run a multi-level numerical analysis of each book's quality.) Well, guess what, I'm not going to give numerical ratings. I have, however, decided to list books that I read/review in one of four different categories:

Must Read
Highly Recommended
Recommended
Don't Bother

Don't think of them as being 1-4 stars. Reading takes time, and I try to choose what I know to be good books. These ratings are a way of separating the good from the really good, and the really good from the exceptionally good. If you really want to think in terms of numbers, even books listed as "Recommended" would probably be about a 7 on a 1-10 scale. When I say that I would recommend reading a book, I mean it. But there are a handful of books that I honestly believe everyone should read. (As an example, I loved reading John Piper's Life as a Vapor and recommend reading it, but don't find myself recommending it as a life-changing book to practically everyone I know, as I do with his book Don't Waste Your Life.)

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Book Reviews

Full Reviews

The Case for Christ
, Lee Strobel
The Cross of Christ, John R.W. Stott
Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, Bruce Ware
Fifty Crucial Questions, John Piper & Wayne Grudem
The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges
The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul
The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer
Living the Cross Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney
The Message of Acts, John R.W. Stott
What Jesus Demands from the World, John Piper
Why Small Groups?, C.J. Mahaney (editor)

Year-End (Mini) Reviews

Don't Wast Your Life, John Piper
Finally Alive, John Piper
The Great Exchange, Jerry Bridges & Bob Bevington
Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung
The Message of Ephesians, John R.W. Stott
The Peacemaker, Ken Sande
The Reason for God, Tim Keller
Spectacular Sins, John Piper
This Momentary Marriage, John Piper
What He Must Be To Marry My Daughter, Voddie Baucham Jr


Last updated: 12/09

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August's Quote to Ponder

"We, must earnestly pray that God would do what he promised he would do. Promises do not make prayer superfluous; they make the answer certain."
--John Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World

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