Albert Mohler: Ten Books Pastors Should Read in 2012
March 14, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Thanks to Rick Holland for posting this list!
“Every year I am excited to see what books Dr. Mohler recommends for pastors to read in that calendar year. In the March/April edition of Preaching magazine, he provided the following list. I’ve included links if you are interested in grabbing one or more.
Ten Books Every Pastor Should Read in 2012
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction Alan Jacobs (Oxford University Press: Oxford)
The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way Michael Horton (Zondervan: Grand Rapids)
Reading Scripture with the Reformers Timothy George (IVP Academic: Downers Grove)
The Next Decade: Where We’ve Been…and Where We’re Going George Friedman (Doubleday: New York)
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other Sherry Turkle (Basic Books: New York)
The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion Rodney Stark (Harper One: New York)
Christian Apologetics: Past and Present, Vol. 2 William Edgar & K. Scott Oliphant (Crossway: Wheaton)
A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New G.K. Beale (Baker Academic: Grand Rapids)
Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Gregg R. Allison (Zondervan: Grand Rapids)
Lost in Translation: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood Christian Smith, Kari Christofferson, Hilary Davidson, Patricia Snell Herzog (Oxford University Press: Oxford)”
-Rick Holland, http://approachingdamascus.com/2012/03/14/albert-mohler-ten-books-pastors-should-read-in-2012/
Undivided Attention
July 23, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“You cannot spiritually multitask.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 141
Run!
July 21, 2011 § Leave a Comment
…it’s only when you start running, trying to live a holy life and see past the eclipse, that you even recognize that you have encumbrances…. Only those who are pursuing Jesus are truly sensitive to what’s holding them back. You have to start running!”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 138
Jesus-focus
July 20, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“Focusing on Jesus and dealing with sin are not two seperate exercises.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 140
Sin
July 20, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“The gates of Heaven are broad enough to receive the worst of sinners, but too narrow to admit the smallest grain of unforsaken sin.”
J. C. Ryle, The Christian Race, 131
“Anything that is hurtful to your soul must be laid aside if you would see and live in the glory of Christ as He intends.”
“He’ll take any sinner, but you have to be willing to leave your sin.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 137
Learn Christ
July 15, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“How do you learn how to walk differently from the world? How do you learn to fight the indwelling sin from which you’ve been saved? You learn Christ. Please, please, please don’t miss this: holiness, growth, and maturity in your Christian walk is enlarging your understanding of Jesus. If you want to learn how to please the Lord, if you really want to move the eclipse out of the way, you must learn Christ.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 93
Proclaiming Jesus
July 13, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“…the gospel is not a plan but a Person. Witnessing is sharing what we’ve seen of Jesus, simply proclaiming the facets of His ineffable person.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 126
An Umpire
July 12, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?… How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him? For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge… If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?… For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, That we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both.”
-Job 9:2-4, 14-15, 19, 32-33
“If only God were, say a man. The thought almost seems blasphemous, to wish God was a man. Yet that is the cry of the entire Old Testament. God is not a man! We can’t deal with God! He’s Spirit! Send us an umpire!”
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
He passed through the heavens and stopped in here. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you encounter the almighty God walking on Israel’s dusty roads. Job wanted to meet God in a court where each party could be represented by a Mediator. The request was granted on behalf of all mankind just outside the northwest wall of Jerusalem, on a hill called the skull, on a primitive execution device called a cross. But the strangest thing happened at this court proceeding at Calvary. Instead of both parties meeting together to work things out through the Mediator, they both abandoned Him.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 53, 55
Self-knowledge
July 11, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“Labor to know your own frame and temper; what spirit you are of; what associates in your heart Satan has; where corruption is strong, where grace is weak; what stronghold lust has in your natural constitution, and the like.”
-John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation, ed. Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor, 202
“In other words, know what you’re like. Where are your strengths? Where are your weaknesses? When are you inclined to sadness and melancholy? What gets you up? What gets you down? What kind of temperament has God given you?”
“Satan has been alive for a long time. His minions have been active and mobilized since the week the world was created. The Scriptures don’t give us any indication that they sleep. They’re watching you all the time. They recognize your habits and weaknesses, perhaps better than you do. The enemy knows what to put on the table to tempt you.”
“The truth is we must labor to understand our unique weaknesses, so that we can be prepared for Satan’s customized temptations.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 84-85
Angels Watch With Wonder
July 10, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“God hath manifested His love in the death of Christ in a way which much have astonished every inhabitant of heaven, and ought to ravish every native of this lower globe.”
-C. H. Spurgeon, “The Blood of the Testament: A Sermon Published on March 14, 1912,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 26:629
“The Angels watched God decisively judge so many of their kind at the beginning for their rebellion. Now they see God extend His judgment to His own Son so that He might deluge generations of rebels with mercy and grace and total forgiveness. It’s inconceivable, but it’s real.”
-Rick Holland, Uneclipsing the Son, 22
