Yesterday I started to list the 16 books that impacted me in 2016. Today I follow with the second half. (Read part one here.)
9. Old Paths, New Power by Daniel Henderson. I received this book after a workshop with Henderson at the Moody Pastors Conference in May. Henderson's focus on Acts 6 as the basis for the church in its mission of prayer spoke volumes to me, and led me into a summer of reading on reveival in the books that follow (#10-13)
10. Lectures on Revivals by William Sprague. This 1832 classic includes a series of letters from famous 19th century church leaders on the subject of revival.
11-12. Pentecost Today? and Revival and Revivalism by Iain Murray. Murray's work on revival puts the focus on where it should be, the action of God and the Holy Spirit. He is scathing in his words about those who turn revival into a recipe to be followed.
13. History of the 1859 Ulster Revival. 7 volumes. I am still reading this history, but the story of how a small prayer group of two people affected a whole nation is awe-inspiring. The set does allow the voices of those who are skeptical of the revival to poke through, but it is for the most part a positive treatment. The stories can get repetitive, I will admit.
Finally three books on various topics
14. Thoughts on Public Prayer by Samuel Miller. This book was written in 1849. I love to read 19th century books on ministry because of the awesome seriousness with which they take their office and their approach to the throne of God on behalf of a congregation. The book left me humbled in my own approach to public prayer.
15. I'll Praise My Maker by Erik Routley. A book on 18th century hymn writers in the Calvinist tradition, it makes the case that a great poet is not necessarily a great hymn writer. It's long discussion of William Cowper and John Newton are the highlights.
16. The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk. Although I disagree with some of Kirk's statements about Edmund Burke, this book is a wonderful journey through the voices of English and American conservatism. It has caused me to seek out and read other volumes in the upcoming year by W.E.H. Lecky, Henry Sumner Maine and Irving Babbitt.
Wednesday 4 January 2017
Tuesday 3 January 2017
Reading in 2016 (Part one)
I am a voracious reader. I read for my work as a pastor, and read a lot in my spare time. Sitting with a book, a baroque composer and a single malt scotch is a perfect evening for me. So looking back at 2016 I had a very busy year reading both physical books and e-books on my Kindle. My final total was 177 separate volumes. I do not mean to say I read that much in depth. Some of the volumes only received a scanning read, which is a bit of a cheat I admit.
So with that much verbiage behind me, what books had the most impact on me in 2016. Below I list 16 volumes (or sets) that I will carry with me into 2017 and beyond.
1. Core Christianity by Michael Horton. Horton would be a favourite every year because he writes with an eye to the age in which we live. His focus on the core beliefs of Christianity keeps us away from the polemic fringes that get us distracted and take so much of our church energy in these difficult days.
2. Puritan Theology by Joel Beeke. This is a large volume dedicated to the systematic, biblical and practical theology of the Puritans from the late 16th to the early 18th century.
3. Ecclesiastes by Michael Eaton. This is a short commentary in the Tyndale series but opened up the book of Ecclesiastes for me in ways I never thought of before. (see my post Reading in Ecclesiastes).
My love of biography continued in 2016, and below are several of the lives that I enjoyed reading last year.
4. A Grief Sanctified by J.I. Packer. This includes Richard Baxter's memoir of his wife, and is a wonderful treatment of the Puritan pastoral response to death and grief.
5. J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life by Leland Ryken. Packer is the grand old man of evangelicalism today, and Ryken shows him in his fights and battles from England to Canada and his fight for the traditional Christian faith.
6. J.C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone by Iain Murray. Murray shares the life of Ryle, a nineteenth century Anglican bishop who stood by himself as the evangelical standard bearer of his day.
7. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth Century by Arnold Dallimore. This 2 volume set is by an obvious fan of Whitefield, and he seeks to correct the historic record on Whitefield. (Although admittedly at times he overcorrects that record.)
8. Ty Cobb: a terrible beauty by Charles Leerhsen. As a long time baseball fan I found this book on the life of the great hitter eye-opening, and it seeks to set the record straight on the real Ty Cobb, and not the caricature we often imagine.
(Continued tomorrow)
So with that much verbiage behind me, what books had the most impact on me in 2016. Below I list 16 volumes (or sets) that I will carry with me into 2017 and beyond.
1. Core Christianity by Michael Horton. Horton would be a favourite every year because he writes with an eye to the age in which we live. His focus on the core beliefs of Christianity keeps us away from the polemic fringes that get us distracted and take so much of our church energy in these difficult days.
2. Puritan Theology by Joel Beeke. This is a large volume dedicated to the systematic, biblical and practical theology of the Puritans from the late 16th to the early 18th century.
3. Ecclesiastes by Michael Eaton. This is a short commentary in the Tyndale series but opened up the book of Ecclesiastes for me in ways I never thought of before. (see my post Reading in Ecclesiastes).
My love of biography continued in 2016, and below are several of the lives that I enjoyed reading last year.
4. A Grief Sanctified by J.I. Packer. This includes Richard Baxter's memoir of his wife, and is a wonderful treatment of the Puritan pastoral response to death and grief.
5. J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life by Leland Ryken. Packer is the grand old man of evangelicalism today, and Ryken shows him in his fights and battles from England to Canada and his fight for the traditional Christian faith.
6. J.C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone by Iain Murray. Murray shares the life of Ryle, a nineteenth century Anglican bishop who stood by himself as the evangelical standard bearer of his day.
7. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth Century by Arnold Dallimore. This 2 volume set is by an obvious fan of Whitefield, and he seeks to correct the historic record on Whitefield. (Although admittedly at times he overcorrects that record.)
8. Ty Cobb: a terrible beauty by Charles Leerhsen. As a long time baseball fan I found this book on the life of the great hitter eye-opening, and it seeks to set the record straight on the real Ty Cobb, and not the caricature we often imagine.
(Continued tomorrow)
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