READ FOR YOUR LIFE

Below are books that Pastor Don commends to you as books that over time have proven to be reliable Christian classics that stir and feed the souls of Christ-followers. These books are in the evangelical tradition and reflect full confidence in the inspiration and authority of the Christian Scriptures.

Knowing God, JI Packer

Basic Christianity, John Stott

Mere Christianity, CS Lewis

The Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, RC Sproul

Church History in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley

New Testament History,  FF Bruce

What's in the Bible, RC Sproul

The Holiness of God, RC Sproul

Desiring God, John Piper

The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? FF Bruce

Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald

The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel

The Christ of the Covenants, O Palmer Robertson

Survey of Israel's History, Leon Wood

Life in the Spirit, Robertson McQuilken

Keep in Step with the Spirit, JI Packer

Making Sense Out of Suffering, Peter Kreeft

Heaven, Peter Kreeft

The Cross of Christ, John Stott

Concise Theology, JI Packer

Finally Alive, John Piper

Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die, John Piper

Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan

With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray

The Meaning of the Millenium, Robert Clouse

Loving God, Charles Colson

Quiet Time, Inter Varsity Press

What If Jesus Had Never Been Born, D James Kennedy

The Reason for God, Tim Keller

Rebuilding Your Broken World, Gordon MacDonald

The Story of Christian Theology, Roger Olson

From Dust to Glory, RC Sproul (audio/video series)

From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions, Ruth Tucker

The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren

The Last Days According to Jesus, RC Sproul

BIBLE STUDY HELPS

At the root of the Christian life is knowledge of the Bible. Without Bible knowledge we cannot know Christ, for the Christ we seek to follow is just that Christ who is presented to us in the Bible. In the spirit of the Protestant Reformation, we seek to put the Bible in the hands of the people and commend to them its study to feed faith, hope and love. Listed below are Bible study tools that are useful to understanding the Bible.

The first tool is, of course, the Bible itself. There are many translations of the Bible into English today, ranging from those which seek to use simple vocabulary and ease of grammar construction to those which tend to be more word-for-word translations out of the original Hebrew and Greek in which the Old and New Testaments were written. Our Pastor's all-purpose translation is The English Standard Version. However, a variety of translations are referenced in his teaching and preaching ministry. You can view the various translations at www.biblegateway.com/

There are various study Bible's available as well.

A study Bible includes both the text of the Bible as well as explanatory notes that seek to illuminate the meaning of the text. Most study Bibles also include articles on basic Bible themes, history, customs, characters, etc. The most popular study bibles today are The English Standard Version Study Bible, The New International Version Study Bible, and The Life Application Study Bible (in several different versions).

A one volume Bible commentary, such as The New Bible Commentary.

A Bible Atlas. Most study Bibles have an extensive atlas section included.

Nave's Topical Bible. This work seeks to list all Bible verses that are directly related to a specific subject, such as Jesus Christ, salvation, creation, sin, etc. This is available at no charge at http://www.biblegateway.com/topical/

A concordance. This tool allows you to trace all Bible verses that use the particular word that you are interested in. The most complete concordance is Strong's Concordance, which not only allow you to trace all the uses of a single word but also offers a key to the Greek and Hebrew texts that underlie each English word. Strong's Concordance is tied to the King James Version. Here is a link to Strong's online.

A cross reference. This is a tool that allows you to look at other verses that are related to the verse which you are reading. Those other verses might not use the same words that are in the verse, but they bear upon its topic or meaning in some way. The Treasury of Scripture Knowlege is the all purpose tool for this. It is available online here. Many Bible come with a cross reference.

A one volume theology reference. Millard Erickson's Christian Theology is an evangelical guide to basic Christian theology that evidences a generous spirit to the various sides of disputed issues. While the word "theology" scares not a few people, the reality is that theology is a necessary and really unavoidable task. It is simply faith thinking about itself with an open Bible in hand.  I.Howard Marshall's "A Pocket Guide to New Testament Theology" is online here.

A Bible reading plan. Rather than skipping through the Bible, the Bible student should systematically move through the text on a plan of regular reading. There are many plans available. See here.

A recommended radio program for you! Steve Brown, a former Presbyterian pastor and now seminary professor, radio personality and all-round good guy, keeps to the center of the Christian faith while exploring the hard places of the Christian life. Don't let the humor fool you. The man has some serious gray-matter above the eyes and brings serious questions to the table in his interviews. He is on WARV 1590AM, 11:15 AM Monday thru Friday.World-Today's News, Christian Views - a news magazine with a distinctly Judeo-Christian worldview response.

Should faith healing be legally protected? Here's what some are saying.

PCUSA Votes to Allow Openly Gay Clergy

This is the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. It is hard to overstate the dramatic difference this English translation of the Bible out of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts have made in not only the spiritual condition of untold millions but in our very culture. Take a look at this article by Mark Noll titled "A World Without the King James Version."

Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, has won him a cover photo on Time Magazine and a hornet's nest of controversy in the church. He brings to the forefront questions concerning the church's traditional understandings of Hell and wonders out loud if things are so settled as they seem to be. Scot McKnight reflects on the firestorm and what it says about the church, the media and the way we do dialogue-not to mention his own concerns about Bell's teaching-in this article. For an upfront, take him to the woodshed review, here is Kevin DeYoung's piece.

Struggling with temptation? Duhhhhhh! Lose some, win some? Want to win more, lose less? Here's a review of Russell Moore's new book, Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ.

Go Figure
Numerous recent stats on martyrdom, church discipline, theology, and other topics.

So how did Pastors handle the topic of Usama Bin Laden's death?