Mark Driscoll is pastor of Mars Hill Church. He’s a unique character – reformed evangelical theologically, pastoring a rapidly growing, culturally relevant church in Seattle. His sense of humour and strong opinions which tend to polarise his hearers as either friends or enemies pretty quickly. I would strongly recommend you check out his sermons online at www.marshillchurch.org. Despite the “hip and trendy” nature of his church, the teaching is very theological and bible based, with sermons lasting well over an hour.

The point of this book is to explain what he calls “reformission”, which he simply defines as a radical call to Christians and churches to recommit to living and speaking the gospel. He speaks about the need to remain faithful to the gospel (love the Lord), to our culture (love our neighbour) and to the church (love our brother). He goes on to show how many have opted for just two out of those three options (resulting in parachurch, liberalism or fundamentalism).

The first half of the book is about the gospel, showing how the old message can be presented in a fresh way to answer new questions. There is a fundamental commitment to the belief that the gospel connects with this life. He urges us to let non-Christians come among us and see the gospel in action, hear us talk it and live it, before they come to accept it for themselves. Essentially we must be willing for people to “belong” before they believe. He claims that the transformed lives of people in the church are both the greatest arguments for and the greatest explanation of the gospel.

If we are to do this we first need to confront and deal with our prejudices and start to be aware of our culture, which is the subject of the second half of the book. We need to immerse ourselves in our culture for education not entertainment – so we can understand the “why” and not just the “what” of our culture.

He warns us against equating culture with worldliness, but at the same time, there are many ideas in our culture that must be challenged with the truth of the gospel. So for example, our culture encourages us to see ourselves as victims where the Bible says we are sinners.

The issue of how exactly Christians relate to their culture is notoriously tricky, and he helpfully warns against four “ruts” that we can get into – separating from culture (like the Pharisees), blending into culture (the Saducees), ruling over culture (the Zealots) and ignoring culture (the Essenes).

Towards the end of the book, he deals with postmodernism, a culture as much in need of redeeming as any that have gone before it. He distances himself here from some of the ideas of the emerging church (in his usual unsubtle manner).

There are parts of the book that will be controversial for more conservative evangelicals, for example, his more permissive attitude towards subjects like alcohol. His robust complimentarianism won’t win him any friends amongst egalitarians either. Each chapter is interspersed with an interview of a Christian whose line of work raises issues of engagement with culture – a brewer, a tattooer, a band manager, a former pole dancer and so on. The book is by no means academic and dry in style – it is littered with his pithy one-liners and off the wall illustrations, making it a very easy read.

I recommend this book as a worthwhile and enjoyable read for anyone thinking about how the church can reach an increasingly “unchurched” generation. The answer isn’t to modify the gospel to make it more acceptable, or to retreat into holy huddles and wait for the rapture. As the tag-line for the book states, we need to be “reaching out without selling out”. From listening to his sermons online, I can also add that he does seem to be practising what he preaches. He proclaims a Jesus-centred message that deals seriously with sin, but presents it in a very contemporary style.

This book tells the story of Rolland & Heidi Baker’s remarkable ministry amongst the poor in Mozambique. After briefly covering the story of how they met and married, and their missionary work prior to Mozambique, the story quickly moves on to focusing on how they started reaching out to the poor with practical help and the gospel. The story covers about six years from 1995 to 2001, which includes the devastating flooding of 2000.

A number of features stood out for me in this book. First, though they are working in one of the bleakest situations in the world, the book is anything but depressing and melancholic. Even when reporting the most tragic situations, they speak of the joy of seeing what Jesus was doing in the lives of the people there.

Second, while they report many amazing miracles, there is no romanticising or glamourising of their work. They are honest about setbacks and difficulties in the midst of amazing reviving work of the Holy Spirit.

Third, the book presents a passionate call to its readers to lay their lives down to serve the poor and needy without ever resorting to guilt manipulation, emotional blackmail or condemnation. Rolland & Heidi have an incredible capacity to love the most broken and needy people, and it seems to me to stem from an equally passionate love for Jesus. They are not living for this world. The challenge comes from realising that we need our own love for the Lord to increase so that he might change our hearts to love others more, and become less attached to the passing material possessions of this life.

Fourth, though both Rolland & Heidi are highly qualified in theology, it is clear that they devoted to simply presenting the gospel. This is not a book trying to prove that God is blessing them because they have got all the fine details of eschatology and eccleisolgy worked out. Their humility in this regard is striking. The book starts with Rolland saying that he wanted to believe and live the Sermon on the Mount – if Jesus says we can trust him without worrying about tomorrow then we can. You can see this worked out practically in the rest of the story, as they preach the gospel of trusting Jesus to these people who are poor financially and poor in Spirit.

If the book has a weakness, it is that the story is not always filled in in as much detail as I would have liked. Some chapters are written by Rolland and some by Heidi, and they include diary entries. There are lots of little details that fill in interesting aspects to life in Mozambique, but in some places I felt there were gaps in the story.

In one chapter, they tell of a vision one of the children had. It was of Jesus saying that he was coming again, sooner than they expected. But he also said that feast was prepared but the church was not ready. They needed to wake up. The poor had not yet been invited to the feast. This is the heart-cry of this book. The poor must be invited to the feast. Heidi says, “we should stop every single time for each person”. I can recommend this book as one that will inspire you, encourage you, and call you back to a first love for Jesus and a love for the lost.

The Tide is Turning, is Terry Virgo’s latest book, and is billed as a book on seeing the tide turning against secularism as we build strong churches that bring in the kingdom of God. Essentially the title can be thought of as a prophecy that the decline of the church is slowing and that a new wave of growth of vibrant biblical Christianity is coming. The book reads as a series of expository teaching on the lives of Joseph, Gideon and Nehemiah. From the lives of these Biblical characters, he draws out lessons for the church, but also touches on many topics directly related to individual life.

I actually think this approach is a very profitable one. It means that the book is not topically organised, but actually I think that it results in a book that covers a broad range of subjects, and will have something for pretty much every reader. It is not pitched at scholars or intellectuals, but written in a very readable style, with no footnotes. As will all of Terry’s books I have read, you can almost hear him speaking, which makes me wonder whether this was originally a sermon series.

So the first section is on the life of Joseph, and there are many lessons to be learned about godly character. The need for patience and personal integrity, avoiding cynicism. Terry Virgo often speaks directly to those who came out of more traditional churches to join the house church movement, and addresses some of the criticisms they faced. Its interesting stuff, but possibly an out of date issue, as the new churches are increasingly populated with people who have been born or saved into such churches. The focus must shift from our differences with the old, to ensuring that what we have truly represents the values that we left for.

Thankfully, Terry addresses this very point, when drawing on how Joseph had remained true to the vision God had given him, so the churches with a vision of “restoring the church” must ensure that they do not give up on their dreams. Just as Joseph was able to change a nation for the better, and as a church, we have the principles to do the same.

The next character is Gideon, who demonstrates that God can use the insignificant and the insecure, if they have a hunger to see him move. Again there is some very down-to-earth teaching here as we are encouraged to deal with the idols of our day – money, sex and worldly wisdom. For the church, Terry Virgo draws out principles of not digging in, but going forward in faith and unity. He warns against the destructive power of gossip and rumours in church life.

Finally Nehemiah is dealt with, who is of course a restorationist favourite. The parallel is drawn between Nehemiah rebuilding Zion and us seeking to restore the church. Virgo speaks about needing to pray based on the promises of God, and that we will face opposition in all forms – mockery, disloyalty, slander and disunity. He devotes a chapter to a reminding us that the word of God is central to restoration in the church and our lives. He also calls us to be more aware of church history, that we are not the first generation of Christians that God has used.

He doesn’t ignore the fact that Nehemiah does not have a hollywood happy ending, but that Nehemiah had to deal with sin amongst God’s people. He deals with the subjects of tithing and the Sabbath, arguing for generous giving to support the work of and that though Sabbath observance is no longer binding on Christians, we are called to live differently to the world.

Overall I would recommend the book as good summer holiday reading, particularly for those from church backgrounds such as newfrontiers. You can take each of the three sections one at a time, each requiring only a few hours to read. It will cause faith to rise in you that in our day, despite the bleak outlook in many ways for Christians and the church, God is able to bring something out of nothing.

I think many evangelicals would consider Piper to be one of the finest expository preachers in modern times, so if there was ever a subject he was qualified to write on, preaching would surely be it. But those looking for a practical how-to guide on effective public speaking will not find it here. This book is about the driving force that Piper believes must be behind all true preaching – a passion for the glory of God.

The book falls into two parts. First, Piper makes the theological case that what people need more than anything is a vision of the glory of God. It is the preachers task to give that to people. Piper is concerned that as preachers strive to be relevant, speaking on parenting, current events, AIDs, finances, etc, they actually become irrelevant as they focus on man not God. He contends that at the heart of all true preaching, whatever the topic at hand, is the glory of God. The gospel itself centres on his glory.

Piper moves on to demonstrate how the cross testifies to the worth of God’s glory and the immensity of our sin (as opposed to the popular idea that it shows how much we are worth). He reminds preachers of the need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit if God is to get the glory. He also makes a brief but impassioned plea for preaching that is expository and patently based on the Bible. The texts must be quoted not just alluded to. Simply telling people without demonstrating it to them from the Scriptures is just a case of pulling rank.

To close off the first section of the book, Piper argues that the preacher’s task is both joyful and solemn (“gladness and gravity”). The modern trend is for more jokes and “bloodearnestness” is out of fashion. But this is not to say we are miserable and angry. There should be joy in the ministry of preaching.

The second part is about the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards, whom Piper has already used in the book as a fine example of what preaching ministry should look like. He gives a brief biography, before going on to discuss some of his theological emphases. Edwards stressed the importance of the emotions – the need to delight in God, and he preached to call people to persevere. He was intense but tenderhearted, preached for a response, was willing to use warnings of hell, saturated his sermons with scripture.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to any preacher. It’s short enough to read through in a couple of days. It serves as a timely reminder of what the real issues that are at stake when we are preaching. As someone who has the occasional opportunity to preach, I need to be reminded that its not about whether people like me and congratuate me afterwards, or view me as clever or funny, but whether I have given them a glimpse of the glory of God.

This book, subtitled “Reflections on Suffering and Evil” does not make for easy reading. First, the subject it covers is not one that we naturally like thinking about. And second, this is no lightweight treatment of the topic with simplistic answers to the “problem of evil”. No, here we find Carson as Biblical exegete and philosopher tackling some of the toughest problems in theology, and often engaging in some quite in-depth debates.

The reason for the book is simple – all you have to do is to live long enough and you will suffer. So Christians ought not to wait until it happens before they start seeking answers, but to have a robust Biblical theology that will help them to make sense of things when their world starts falling apart.

The opening chapters contain many heart-wrenching examples of people who have suffered horribly, often without any obvious reason why it should be them. Carson addresses the pain that many feel when they start to think that their beliefs are inconsistent. Each chapter concludes with some questions for reflection, some of which are quite soul-searching in nature.

A good proportion of this book deals with what Carson believes to be sub-biblical views, and in many instances he is arguing against fellow evangelicals. One particularly important view he defends is what he calls “compatibilism” – the belief that God is both sovereign and humans are morally responsible for their actions. Any view that denies one or the other or even softens them is flying in the face of the biblical evidence. If the biblical writers saw no contradictions in these two assertions, he argues, then neither should we.

The book covers a wide range of forms of evil and suffering, including wars (and holy wars), illness, bereavement, God’s discipline, poverty of various kinds, natural disasters and hell. Many of these subjects are controversial, and his usual style is to make a number of biblical points that he feels are overlooked without trying to exhaustively cover the topic.

There is an extensive chapter on Job, in which he attempts to establish that we don’t necessarily get the answers to all our questions. Yes, there is such a thing as “innocent suffering”, but “there are things that you will not understand, for you are not God”. In a chapter on the “suffering God”, he rejects the idea of the “impassibility” of God (albeit with some important qualifications), and asserts that God can suffer. This is seen most clearly at the cross.

As large portions of this book discuss illness, many might wonder what Carson will have to say on the subject of healing. He does interact briefly with Wimber, acknowledging that his concept that the kingdom age has dawned does have biblical warrant. However, Carson believes that many charismatics have failed to see the triumph of the kingdom when God works in the midst of sickness, weakness and opposition. This is of course the classic ‘over-‘ or ‘under-realised’ eschatology debate. If Wimber and co. can be show to expect too much now, dare I suggest that Carson has backed off too far in the opposite direction?

The book concludes with a few pastoral reflections, and Carson freely admits that this is not the sort of book you give to someone in the midst of suffering. In fact, he cautions against even being too quick to give theological explanations to people who are suffering. There is an appendix that deals with the delicate subject of HIV, and whether it can be thought of as constituting judgement. His comments are carefully balanced but will certainly not please all readers. The statistics quoted are somewhat out of date now, but Baker are advertising a new revision of this book to be published later this year.

This is by no means a “feel-good” book, but for those who want to wrestle with the biblical, theological and philosophical issues raised by the presence of suffering and evil in our world and in our lives, it is a very helpful overview. And as Carson points out, having a good theology of suffering and evil will help us to stand firm when our turn to face it comes.

Generosity is one of those qualities we’d all like to have, but aren’t overly keen on developing as we know it will cost us. In this short book Michael Wakely, gives a Biblical overview of the subect of generosity. He starts with the character of God himself, a who created us that we might be able to enjoy him. He then moves on to consider the process of sanctification. If we are to become more like God, then we are to become more generous. Generosity is not just a mark of spiritual maturity, but human dignity.

The main thrust of the rest of the book is devoted to encouraging us and helping us to be generous with our finances. This includes making wise ‘lifestyle choices’ that enable us to give, and considering where our ambition lies. He takes a couple of opportunites to criticise the “prosperity gospel” that idealises luxurious lifestyles for Christians and is often manipulative in its methods of fundraising. There is a chapter on “extra mile living” considering the teaching in the sermon on the mount, and a good chapter on making excuses, using the church in Corinth as an example.

After establishing the need for generosity, the final chapters fill in some very practical details on how to go about it. This includes the values we need, principles of how to give, and the discernment of who to give to. He highlights the poor, the local church, and Christian mission / charity work as the three primary areas requiring our generosity.

Throughout the book there are helpful anecdotes and illustrations, but this is a book that bases its message on Scripture, and each chapter draws on Bible references to establish its main points.

Overall I would say this is an excellent book on a subject rarely written about, and is presented in a way that is challenging without being emotionally manipulative. It is full of practical advice, and its style and length means that it is accessible to a wide range of readership. Of course, with books like this, it is one thing to agree with the message, and quite another to put it into practise. In his bibliography at the end, Wakely says:

Giving is something that all Christians should be doing by regular habit, rather than becoming a subject of study. We should beware making ourselves experts on the theology of giving, without at least becoming a stumbling practitioner.

postscript: I’ve actually met the author of this book once, and he paid for my dinner, which was generous of him. (It was at his daughter’s wedding, who is a good friend of my wife)