2011 Reading Recommendations

                Whenever I have the chance to spend some time with another pastor, I usually ask them the question, “What have you read lately that helped you?” I don’t always get a good answer (or any answer), but many times I am pointed to a book or a writer that I didn’t know about and am glad to discover myself. With that in mind, here are some of the books I’ve read this year (and am still reading, for that matter) that have proved helpful to me. I will try to organize them by category.

Commentaries:

R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing

As I have preached through Genesis this has been by far my favorite commentary. I love Hughes’ sermonic commentaries. His illustrations are very good as well.

N.T. Wright, The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon

I know that Wright caused no small stir with his recent book, New Perspectives on Paul, but prior to this, Wright had been a sound scholar and writer. I have found his commentaries to be fresh and insightful.

Tremper Longman, Song of Songs

I spoke at a marriage retreat this year, and taught from the Song of Solomon. I appreciated Longman’s honest approach to this difficult book. He avoids allegory and imposed typology.

Theology and Christianity:

Russell D. Moore, Tempted and Tried

Russell Moore is my favorite contemporary theologian. This book is a fresh and powerful look at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. I highly recommend it.

Carson, D.A., The God Who is There

I have come back to this book several times to reference something Carson said about a particular Biblical theme. This is an overview of the Scriptures and it is excellent.

Steven Smith, Dying to Preach

I was only recently introduced to this book. Though I am not completely finished with it, it has already challenged me deeply. If you are a preacher, get this book. Now.

Craig L. Blomberg, Sung Wook Chung, A Case for Historic Premillennialism

This book is a series of lectures given on a premillennial position other than dispensational premillennialism. I haven’t finished it yet and it is not the most exciting book. It is, however, thought provoking. The subtitle is “an alternative to ‘Left Behind’ Eschatology.”

Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan

Idleman pastors a large “Christian” church, whose doctrine I would not totally agree with. However, this book is really good.

Other:

Siddhartha  Mukherjee, The Emperor of Maladies

This book is essentially a biography of cancer. It is written by an oncologist, but most of the language is pretty accessible. I really enjoyed certain parts of this book.

Wendell Berry, The Distant Land

This collection of Berry’s short stories is a great read. Reading fiction makes you a better preacher, and this is good, clean fiction.

Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life

I love biographies, and especially historical biographies. This one is exceptionally good. (The end is the best)

David R. Stokes, The Shooting Salvationist

This book covers the story of Pastor J. Frank Norris’ trial for murder, after shooting a man in his office at the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth. Though Stokes seems to have a bit of a bias against Norris, the story is still worth telling and reading.

Ron Owens, Manley Beasley: Man of Faith – Instrument of Revival

I have heard the name of Manley Beasley for years. This biography helped me to understand why. Beasley was a unique servant of God in his day, and would be even more so today.

Obviously, I don’t endorse everything in these books or by these authors. However, these books stuck out in my reading this past year. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. God bless!

By the way, all of these books were read on my Amazon Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle, shame on you.

A Decade Later

            I felt sick to my stomach. I feel that same sickness when the footage is replayed. September 11, 2001 was my generation’s “day that will live in infamy.” That the terrorist attacks that claimed over 3,000 American lives was the single most formative event of the new millennium is hard to argue. Exactly how that event has shaped us is not so clear.

Initially there was fear as we realized our vulnerability to global enemies. Soon after there was a renewed patriotism, as Americans wholeheartedly supported our president’s promise through a bullhorn to make sure those responsible would hear from us soon. We seemed at first to be galvanized, even somewhat motivated by the new challenge to our nation.

Since then, we have seen a lot of bloodshed on battlefields around the world, and felt the weariness that war always brings. We now have a Homeland Security Department and full body scans at the airport. We understand the terms “threat level” and “state of alert”. We certainly have more security if not any more safety. Yet I can’t help but wonder if a decade later we are really all that different. Did the jarring we all felt when the towers collapsed really move us all that much?

In Luke chapter 13, some folks mentioned to Jesus one of the important news items of the day. Verse one says, “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” The details of this massacre are largely lost to us today, but this would have been the breaking headline for the Jews of Palestine in the first century. Jesus’ response probably surprised some of them. He said, “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Indicating that He was not oblivious to the events of the day, Jesus went on to add in verses 4 and 5, “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

In some ways, it is our sense of American exceptionalism that makes us feel so strongly about the events of 9-11. As an American, some of that is certainly natural and possibly warranted. However, in the larger scope of history, 9-11 is just one of millions of events that point us to the greatest terror and threat humanity has ever faced – our own sinfulness. More than it was middle-eastern terrorists that hijacked those planes and perpetrated that attack, it was fallen men, lost in their sins. Many of those they killed were in the same condition, only under a different national flag and societal creed.

With that being said, as we approach the anniversary of that somber, tragic day, let us not only pause to remember, but let us pray for repentance. Let us pray that people, whether they be American or Afghan, middle-eastern or mid-western, turn from their sins to the only One who can give hope and life to those who live in this sin-torn world. Our government cannot save us anymore than it can save the rest of the world. Only Christ Jesus, slain on the cross and risen from the grave can bring hope to the tragedy that is the fallen existence of mankind.

A Queen and the King

            Around thirty years before Jesus was born in the humble stable of Bethlehem, Cleopatra VII, Egypt’s most famous queen and the last of the Pharaohs, died in Alexandria from an apparent suicide. Her lover, Marc Antony, had died from his own self-inflicted wound just days before. Cleopatra’s kingdom was soon to fall to Octavian, the Roman emperor, and rather than surrender to him, she chose to take her own life in Egypt where she had ruled for 22 years.

In her fascinating book, Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff explains the queen’s morose decision. Octavian was determined to cart Cleopatra back to Rome and parade her through the streets as another of his conquered foes. Schiff writes, “[Cleopatra] has no intention of returning to a city, in chains, where she had once lived as Caesar’s honored guest. To her mind that humiliation is ‘worse than a thousand deaths’.”[i]

As I read over the account of Cleopatra’s life, I was struck by the contrasts between her and the King of Kings who would be born only shortly after her death. She lived in extravagant wealth and luxury. He had no place to lay His head. She was a ruthless politician who portrayed herself a reincarnated deity. He was a humble carpenter who demonstrated Himself to be the incarnate Son of God. When it came her time to die, she deemed suicide nobler than shame and self-destruction better than humiliation. Jesus willingly humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the cursed death of the cross.

In the end, Cleopatra sought to preserve her name, but because Jesus was willing to obediently suffer, God has given Him a name that is above every name; a name at which one day Cleopatra herself will bow the knee and confess that He is Lord. She was arguably history’s greatest queen, but she disappears beneath the shadow of Him who will reign forever over a kingdom without end. Amen.

Terry Trivette

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[i] Schiff, Stacy, Cleopatra: A Life, (Hachette Book Group, New York, eBook edition, 2010), Amazon Kindle Edition

The Pulpit is No Place for a Showman

            I’m reading one of the most interesting books I’ve encountered in a long while. It is called The Emperor of Maladies[i], and it is essentially a biography of cancer. Though written by a doctor, Siddhartha Mukherjee, the book is surprisingly accessible and very engaging. It traces the history of the disease, as well as the progress of various treatments, especially over the last century.

            In one particular section, the author is describing the development and emergence of surgery, and specifically the surgeon as an important medical practitioner. One paragraph jumped out at me, and spoke to me about something virtually unrelated to medicine. It said:

“In the 1870’s…surgery was a discipline emerging from its adolescence. By 1898, it had transformed into a profession booming with self-confidence, a discipline so swooningly self-impressed with its technical abilities that great surgeons unabashedly imagined themselves as showmen. The operating room was called an operating theater, and surgery was an elaborate performance often watched by a tense, hushed audience of observers from an oculus above the theater.”

            When I read that line: “…surgeons unabashedly imagined themselves as showmen…,” I thought to myself, “I know preachers like that.” To be truthful (to my shame), there have been times when I have approached preaching in that way.

            I love preaching. I love every aspect of it, from the creative process in the study, to the act of preaching itself. I strive to be the most effective preacher that I can be. I want people to listen, and I want to hold their attention whenever I “herald” the Word of God.

            Yet, I must always be mindful that the pulpit is no place for a showman. The task of the preacher is not to “show off” his oratory skills, or impress the audience with his own gifts and abilities. In reality, the preacher has the strange and difficult task of holding the attention of the hearers, even while disappearing himself behind the text of the Word of God. In other words, I need and want the people to see me and hear me, but I also want them to forget about me, and see and hear the truth that transcends me.

            If people leave after hearing the sermon, and all they heard was a great preacher, then the great preacher has failed in his ultimate task. When the people hear the preacher, but leave impressed and impacted by the fact that Jesus has spoken; that is when the preacher has done his job well.

           

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[i] Mukherjee, Siddhartha, The Emperor of Maladies, (Scribner, New York, 2010)

Where is God in 2011?

In the fascinating little book, The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal described a conversation he had with some of his friends while they were prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. One of the men had overheard an elderly Jewish woman say, “Oh God Almighty, come back from your leave and look at Thy earth again.” Commenting on that woman’s prayer, Wiesenthal said:

“It is impossible to believe anything in a world that has ceased to regard man as man, which repeatedly ‘proves’ that one is no longer a man. So one begins to doubt, one begins to cease to believe in a world order in which God has a definite place. One really begins to think that God is on leave. Otherwise the present state of things wouldn’t be possible. God must be away. And He has no deputy.” 1

2011 has dawned on a world that for most of us is not nearly as horrible, frightening, and seemingly hopeless as the world in which Simon Wiesenthal lived. Nevertheless, there are still those who might contend that if there is a God, He must be on leave somewhere, disconnected or disinterested in the world He created. To those who look for Him, but do not really know Him, it might be difficult to find real evidence of the presence of God in a modern world.

As a new year begins, I am mindful of the words of Jesus just before His ascension. In Matthew 28:20, He spoke to His disciples, and assured them by saying, “…I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” And how is He with His disciples, even to the end? It is through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter He sent to them (John 14:26, 15:26).

Mindful of the truth of Christ’s presence through the person of the Holy Spirit, we recognize that we do not judge the presence of God in the world by looking at the world. We look for the presence of Christ within us, not around us. Regardless of the external circumstances that surround us in this modern day, whether they seem hopeful or horrible, we are comforted by the fact that God is not on leave. He has not left us alone. In fact, He is closer to His people now than He was when He walked with them 2,000 years ago. Where is God in 2011? He is living in me, and I pray in you as well.

God bless, and Happy New Year

Terry

1. Wiesenthal, Simon, The Sunflower: On the possibilities and limits of forgiveness, (Knopf ebooks, 2008), Amazon Kindle edition