"Living the Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney

“Each of our lives is centered on something. What’s at the center of yours? What’s really the main thing in your life? Only one thing can truly be first in priority; so what’s at the top of your list, second to none? What are you most passionate about? What do you love to talk about? What do you think about most when your mind is free? What is it that defines you?”

These powerful questions open C.J. Mahaney’s book Living the Cross Centered Life. He doesn’t take long to get to his main point: “If there’s anything in life we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel…passionate in thinking about the gospel, reflecting upon it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world and all of life.” That’s what this book is written to help us do – understand what the gospel really is and how it should affect every area of our lives.

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You can purchase a copy here

"Courage to Flee" by Jeffrey Klick

Most of us don’t have the time, money, or desire to wade through a stack or relational/purity books looking for a few diamonds in the rough. So where do you even start? Well, I believe that Pastor Jeff Klick’s Courage to Flee: Living a Moral Life in an Immoral World is an excellent starting point for anyone desiring to bring their love lives under Christ’s control. I have personally known Pastor Klick for many years, so I can appreciate how he honestly and openly shares about our ability to avoid and overcome sexual temptation. Whether you are single, dating, courting, engaged, married, or parenting, Courage to Flee should be a book in your library. No matter your situation in life, whether on the road to becoming or simply trying to remain pure, this book will encourage you to escape the traps of immorality and raise your children with positive, Biblical values. The pledge to abstain from sex before marriage is not enough. Single people must follow through with a life of sexual abstinence except for marriage. And all people who marry must remain faithful to their spouse. And if people are widowed or divorced, they must resume abstinence. Scripture gives all humans two options to fulfill their sexuality: abstinence while single or heterosexual marriage. And if we have fallen from sexual purity, God can cleanse and restore us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. I appreciate the fact that Pastor Klick talks candidly about purity and relationships, the way he addresses these topics is never inappropriate, so a preteen could read Courage to Flee without losing a piece of their purity and innocence in the process, a single adult could read it without feeling talked down to, or a married person can read it as a message of hope and victory.

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"Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby and Claude King

Experiencing God was originally released as a Bible study workbook back in 1990. By 2000, 3 million copies had been sold in 47 languages. The success of the workbook lead to the release of a paperback book, a devotional, a youth edition, a preteen edition, a collegiate edition, a couples edition, and even a musical! (HT: Lifeway.com)

I still have not participated in the study, but I recently had the opportunity to read the book based on the wildly popular workbook. What I found really surprised me. Though there are some interesting points and some sections of the book that are okay (but not great), the whole concept of Experiencing God is built around principles and ideas that are not only nowhere to be found in the Bible, but that actually contradict what the Bible clearly teaches.

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Quotes from the book with commentary by Jared

Some other helpful reviews of Experiencing God:

9 Marks

Thoughts to Ponder

A review of another Blackaby book on the will of God:

part 1, part 2

"What is a Healthy Church Member" by Thabiti Anyabwile

If I were to ask you how you feel about your church, what would you say? Even if you are completely happy with the local church you are a part of now, almost everyone has either had to deal with problems in a church at some time either personally or through someone you know...

When the author, who is a pastor, had a church member express some of her dissatisfaction about the way things were being done, he challenged her to change her perspective. He asked her, “So what are you going to do about the state of the church? How will you become a better member and contribute to the health of God’s family in this place?” What a great question! One of the key points that this book makes is that “the health of the local church depends on the willingness of its members to inspect their hearts, correct their thinking, and apply their hands to the work of the ministry.”

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You can purchase a copy here

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

The other day a friend of mine gave me a 900-page book called the Catechism of the Catholic Church, so I started reading it. I got to page 26 where the relationship between "tradition" and sacred Scripture is discussed, which stopped me dead in my tracks. All of a sudden this was no longer a leisurely read. I am still having trouble grasping the many errors in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Trying to discuss them all would be far out of the scope of a simple book review, so I am going to focus on the four most shocking to me personally:

1. Their denial of Scripture being the one and only source of divine
inspiration (aka Sola Scriptura)
2. The transubstantiation of the Lord’s Supper
3. Their view of the Virgin Mary
4. Their blatant denial of the biblical teaching on justification

To be quite honest, because of how the Roman Catholic Church has refused to submit itself to the authority of God’s Word and to embrace the gospel of Jesus taught in Scripture, I can’t help but say that it has set itself apart from the true body of Christ. This false and deceptive form of Christianity is one of the largest tools of deceit, misleading over 850 million well-intentioned Catholics all over the world and keeping them from having a personal, saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I will address my four largest concerns with the Roman Catholic Church in this review of their Catechism, although I don’t think I am even scraping the top of the iceberg on this one.

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"The Lightlings" by R.C. Sproul

In his book, The Lightlings, RC Sproul does a wonderful job of sharing the redemption story through an allegorical tale of tiny beings called the lightlings. The lightlings represent the picture of humanity from creation, through the fall, and finally the redemption of mankind.

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You can purchase a copy here

"Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow" by R.C. Sproul

In his book, Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, RC Sproul states that being a Christian is not an acquired skill or discipline, but that it is a living, vital relationship with the God of the universe, a relationship that begins when a person becomes a new creation in Him and receives Jesus as Lord by faith. He states that, like Olympic athletes, Christians are called upon to train, to make sacrifices, and to embrace certain disciplines in order to give God “our utmost for His highest.” This book deals with five of those disciplines: Bible study, prayer, worship, service, and stewardship.

Read Jared and Julian's reviews

Read Jared's summary (7 page PDF)

Read Julian's summary (8 page PDF)

You can purchase a copy here

Discerning the Doctrine of Election

The doctrine of election has confused many people and it is difficult to fathom the balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Is our eternal destiny entirely left up to us, or is it sealed by God without regard to our own will and actions? My personal opinion on this matter is that Scripture clearly speaks to both sides of the equation.

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"Become a Better You" by Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, is perhaps the fastest rising TV preacher in our country. Many would look at Houston's Lakewood Church, with its 30,000 people attending services each Sunday in a 16,000-seat arena (once home of the Houston Rockets basketball team) as the epitome of church success. But that success was achieved at a cost to sound doctrine and spiritual integrity. I‟ve had too many people tell me they like listening to Osteen because they are encouraged by his ministry, so I decided to do check him out for myself.

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"The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence

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"Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper

In his book, Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper points out that God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. He states that the wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work, not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.

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You can purchase a copy here

"The Prince's Poison Cup" by R.C. Sproul

The Prince’s Poison Cup is an amazing book by R.C. Sproul geared for children but just as good for parents. Dr. Sproul is a pastor, teacher, theologian, and philosopher who understands God’s Word so well that he is able to make it understandable to children without sacrificing any of the deep, important meaning of important concepts. This is his fourth book for kids and each one keeps getting better.

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You can purchase a copy here.