December book

We are continuing John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor for the month of December.  If you are looking for more reading, please consult the church library and bookstore.

John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor

John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor
by W. Robert Godfrey

I will get straight to the point:  I think reading John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor is worth your time, especially if you don’t know Calvin’s life or theology well or haven’t thought about it lately.  Why do I say so?  I will give you three reasons.

First, because everyone else is doing it.  July 10, 2009 marked the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birthday and accordingly there has been much ado in the worlds of Reformed publishing and academia.  There have been conferences on Calvinism, new editions published of his most well known works, and a great many books written.  If you peruse our own bookstore and library you will find copies of his Institutes of Christian Religion, his synopsis of the gospel, Truth For All Time, a couple devotionals he wrote, a few biographies, and a couple of the books written this year.  Why all the fuss?  Because God used John Calvin mightily.  This hard-working genius devoted his life to the gospel and the church.  He wrote and pastored with full conviction that he was doing the work of God and it showed.  The body of work that he produced is astounding - commentaries on all but 3 books of the Bible, several editions of the Institutes, and several other books - all while preaching every Sunday and daily every other week and writing a great many pastoral letters.  All the while not living the easiest of lives -- his wife died after less than a decade of their marriage, his only child died in infancy, he was exiled twice, he saw friends burned at the stake for following his teaching, and the list goes on, but I will leave it to Godfrey to tell you the rest.  Calvin’s influence is felt by all Protestants to some degree, but also the unchurched on issues like church and state.  Calvin’s understanding of scripture has been instrumental to all of the pastors at CPC and consequently Calvin’s teachings are influential on our worship.  As you read you may find yourself reflecting on how your understanding of worship, the sacraments, and assurance of salvation has been effected by his. 

Second, of all the books written this year, I picked this book because it is both a biography of Calvin’s life and an examination of his thought.  The book is an accessible read for all of us and often lets Calvin speak for himself.  I found the book to be devotional at times as I reflected on the passion with which Calvin wrote about the gospel. 

Third, the same reason you read any Christian biography, you learn about God.  In studying the piety, the frailty, and the work of Calvin, you see God’s hand in his life.  You will be amazed by the power God can exercise through us, daunted by what He may call us to, and encouraged by the work of the Spirit in humanity. 

Happy reading!

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, by Jerry Bridges (NavPress, 2007)

This is a dangerous book. One that, if read slowly and prayerfully, may cause painful conviction, frequent repentance, and lead to a more joyful grasp of the power of the gospel. It’s that last point that Bridges hammers home so effectively in this book. The gospel is not just for unbelievers! A study of “respectable sins” points out how every Christian must daily apply the gospel to our lives.

“Respectable sins” is such a great phrase because it exposes a widespread but flawed view of sin held even by many evangelicals. The church hasn’t abandoned the concept of sin, but as Bridges points out, it has “been deflected to those outside our circles who commit flagrant sins such as abortion, homosexuality, and murder, or the notorious white-collar crimes of high-level corporate executives.” Notorious sins like these can keep the concept of sin at arms length, while reinforcing a misguided sense of our own self-righteousness.

The real potency of this observation lies in what the author calls the true malignancy of sin. He writes, “Sin is a spiritual and moral malignancy. Left unchecked, it can spread throughout our entire inner being and contaminate every area of our lives.” Even these (especially these!) “respectable sins” are powerful forces that often work covertly to shipwreck our faith.

As you work through this book, you will encounter sins that are rarely identified as such. Each chapter hits close to home: Anxiety, Frustration, Discontentment (gulp), Anger, Irritability, Impatience (gulp!), and the list goes on. Each of these sins are not just respectable, they are ones we easily justify. Many of us feel entitled to frustration, a “victim” of anxiety, and righteous in our anger. Yet, as Bridges works through scripture, we see how harmful these sins can be.

Thankfully, this book does not leave us without hope. From beginning to end we are reminded that the power that saved us is the power that enables us to wrestle with these sins. The gospel not only cleanses us from the guilt of sin, it is also effective at destroying its power.

This fall our adult Sunday studies will guide our reflections on this book. Take this book home; read it; wrestle with it; pray through it; and, come to Sunday studies ready to engage each topic. This is not just a pursuit for “serious” Christians; this is a call to each of us to root out those things that keep us from the love of Christ.

As you read, remember to blog your thoughts. Post a quote; raise a question; challenge an assumption. As the book points out one of the directions for dealing with sin is to do so in community. Let’s take this challenge as a church and deal with our respectable sins.

-Kevin Nelson

Life in Christ: A Guide for Daily Living, by John Stott (Baker, 2003) A good place to start!

Hmmmmm… but where to start????  And then it came to me:

What’s the first thing, and the last, with respect to our being a Christian?   What is it, that if we lose it, we lose everything — the gospel, the church, eternal life, even the knowledge of God himself or any hope of access to His blessed presence?  What is it, of all things, that we ought most fear that we would take for granted?    The answer of course is obvious — JESUS CHRIST!   It just can’t be stressed enough, however interesting and beneficial is our tradition(s), our church history, our doctrine, even our Christian relationship and practices in the church—they are only so beneficial as they are all

in/on/with/through/under/unto/for/like

 Jesus Christ!

Have you ever considered the prepositional phrases that are used in the New Testament in reference to Jesus Christ?   Someone considered one of the most prolific and influential Christian authors/apologists/missiologists/pastors/professors of our age has.   In his little, if not also simple, albeit profoundly insightful meditation of a book Life in Christ, John Stott proposes “to explore the implications of a Christian faith and life which are focused on Christ by means of the prepositions which are used in the New Testament in reference to Him.” 

Speaking of John Stott—I was recently on a “camping” (perhaps better “semi-camping”) trip with three other pastor/scholars, all a “tad” over 50, deep in the Adirondacks.   One evening while enjoying a rich time of fellowship together, we contemplated the most influential Christian apologist/pastor of our lifetimes.    It was unanimous—John Stott.  It’s hard to imagine life without his popular Christology book entitled Basic Christianity or his significant soteriology (doctrine of salvation/atonement) entitled The Cross of Christ and the list could go on—Involvement (a two volume series on vocation/calling), Between Two Worlds (on Biblical Preaching), Baptism and Fullness (on the Work of the Holy Spirit), etc.  Over 50 books in all!  But perhaps more than even his writings, it was his Christian witness over his many years of service to Christ.  I think of his energy in forming such evangelical and missional alliances as the Lausanne Covenant (we recite a portion of this in our worship occasionally).   And there was his firm, if not always civil, advocacy for evangelical orthodoxy in often hostile places.  On a personal note, he was my very first seminary professor in a class on the Pastoral Epistles (I used his notes in my recent Titus sermon series, for instance).  And I can remember ever so vividly his defense of Christian orthodoxy in the face of a virulent antagonist once at Andover Newton—what an incredible witness to a young seminarian such as myself as he demonstrated with amazing firmness and restraint an example of the grace and truth of Jesus Christ that day! 

And therefore, we begin where we also ought to end, with Jesus Christ!  And by none other than perhaps the greatest advocate of Christ in our era, John Stott.  In his writing, even meditation on Jesus Christ, you will, I think, discover a vast treasury of pastoral anecdotes as can only be delivered by someone so globally aware as John Stott in his life-long, if not waning, witness for the sake of Christ.   You will be introduced to many great stories and encounters, but most of all, even if by way of much needed review,  you will be reminded of why it must be “that Christ should have first place in everything” (Col 1:18 — sound familiar?). 

Again and again, let’s pray this prayer for ourselves and for our church “lest we are led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ?”  And by all means, do blog your thoughts even as you read—short brief thoughts will do, but thoughts that revel in the wonder of all things Jesus Christ!!
                                                                                                                                       -Preston Graham