The Big Fight – e book

The Big Fight – the book I edited with Tim Thornborough is now available as an e-book here.

Tim Challies, posted a review here. In the introductory blurb he says this,

I am in the unique and enjoyable position of receiving copies of most of the latest and greatest Christian books and I like to provide regular roundups of some of the best and brightest of the bunch. Here are some of the notable books that I’ve received in the past week or two.

I wouldn’t want to deceive you, it’s not long. He writes this,

The Big Fight edited by Tim Thornborough and Richard Perkins – “Christian men are in a battle where the stakes are high and the enemy is strong. There is a trinity of evil at work in the world that will knock us out of the fight if it can. This short, punchy and practical book will help believing blokes of all ages and from all walks of life to contend for the faith against these aggressive opponents.”

But that’s encouraging!

A reviewer on the Good Book website, a man named Alistair Brown, wrote this

I’ve just finished working through this book at weekly meetings with just my Church Curate, at local a Cafe. We covered one chapter each week so able to relate text/commentary to own Spiritual issues. Just the pair of us – a brilliant time. Each chapter gave plenty to discuss, learn from and strengthen ourself’s with the Lord.

That’s why we decided to put it together. I’m thrilled that it’s proving useful.

You can buy a copy of the recently re-edited book here.

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April Fool

Loved this

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Planting for the Gospel

This is, quite simply, the best book on church planting that I’ve ever read.

But that’s not quite as impressive an endorsement as it sounds. I’ve not read a whole load of books on church planting and those I have, I rarely complete. But because this book is only 120 pages and it’s written by someone I know, I got through to the end. Twice!

But before we go any further I need to declare an interest. Not just in church planting (that should be obvious) but in the author. Graham Beynon is a mate. And that shapes what I write. If it helps, my own inclination to ‘big him up’ and plug his book is countermanded by my own jealousy at him publishing the only book I thought I’d ever write! I don’t know whether that makes me objective. But I think it makes me honest!

Graham is a prodigious publisher of books (the man needs to get a hobby). He’s the Free Church equivalent of Vaughan Roberts. Barely a year goes by without him producing yet another indispensable paperback to put into the hands of every adoring and appreciative congregational member. (I’m dealing with it). And deep down under the impenetrable layers of envy lies a kernel of gratitude that he’s written so helpfully on this particular issue.

This book is terrific. And I’m not the only one to think so judging by the experts his publishers have lined up to espouse the valuable contribution this book has made to the Christian scene. Whoever was tasked with that responsibility has covered all the bases. The commendations read like a who’s who of contemporary evangelical leadership. Timmis, Jensen, Scott Thomas and Warnock. Some astute promoting has been going on there. Unless I’ve got it badly wrong that’s the Australian, American and European market covered and blogosphere to boot! And why not. If the book is half as good as they say it is, it deserves to be widely read.

‘Planting for Christ’ is not the definitive volume on church planting. It doesn’t try to be. And I’m not going to criticise a book for not being what it’s not trying to be! That would be absurd. Graham’s aim in this book is much more straightforward. He writes, ‘my simple hope is that this will aid anyone and any church wanting to think about planting a new church’ p10. It does that, brilliantly.

It’s introductory; and so don’t expect it to deal with absolutely everything you want to know on the issue. But it does map out the ground that you’ll need to cover in your planning. It’s brief; it only took me a couple of hours to finish and you may wish for more. But that means that it’s ideal to put into the hands of busy lay leaders who need to support any church planting initiative. And it’s helpful; it stimulated all sorts of productive trains of thought as I worked my way through it.

The book consists of two parts. In part one Graham explores the theoretical issues that confront us in planting. And in part two he provides case studies of recent church plants.

Part one consists of six chapters

• Chapter 1 deals with the issue of why we should plant churches in the first place.
• Chapter 2 deals with the issue of what types of churches we could be planting; he provides seven models.
• Chapter 3 deals with the issue of how we decide which church planting model we choose.
• Chapter 4 deals with the issue of the consultative process prior to launching a church plant.
• Chapter 5 deals with the issues that church planting teams need to consider before they plant.
• Chapter 6 deals with the issue of managing expectations both in those who join the church plant and those who lead it.

Part two consists of approximately 30 brief descriptions of recently launched church plants. They’re grouped under the seven different models of church plants given in chapter 2. This part was hugely stimulating, a little voyeuristic and strangely encouraging. It was striking that few of the UK church plants had experienced spectacular growth. Most were trying to grow through the gospel dynamic of relational Bible teaching and since that’s a deep long-term work numerical growth will take some time. It seems to be different in the States. In fact, those that grew quickest in the UK experienced most of their growth through student ministry. Most church plants started which was encouraging because in my small corner of the evangelical world we continually have to struggle against the perceived wisdom of planting with nothing less than 50, a full-time pastor and three years’ worth of funding. That rules out planting for all but the biggest and wealthiest churches.

If I had one criticism. And I suppose I ought to have one to show that I’m not totally biased. It would be that’s it’s a little too introductory. It’s just a little too lightweight for most church leaders. But at least they’ll read it. It does mean that it’s ideal to give to the elders who’ll be expected to support and finance the proposal. But Graham’s such a good thinker and clear communicator that I wish he’d pushed on for another 100 pages. I know there’s more to download; not only from his own experience of planting churches but also from his reading and thinking.

You can grab a copy here.

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Daily Reading Bible

This is a time saver. It’s also a space saver. But principally it’s a life saver. The Daily Reading Bible will help you study God’s life giving word even when life’s events conspire to keep you away. They’re especially appropriate for those of us who find that our daily quiet time is a daily struggle.

Over the last few years I’ve used these on and off. I’m in full time paid gospel ministry and so I study God’s word every day. But I try to carve out specific devotional time where the agenda is being a Christian as well as study time where the focus is preparing a passage for preaching. You may have issues with the distinction but I’m sure you’ll agree there’s a subtle difference. Anyway, I’m in Amos at the moment courtesy of book 13 and it’s going well.

What you get in the DRB is the passage to study, the Bible text, the questions and the relevant cross references. Each book has 60 studies and they cost about £4 each. Alternatively you can order a subscription here. All you need to do is find a quiet corner of the office, the coffee shop or in my case the house and go study.

I’m very grateful for this resource for the following reasons

1. It’s all there in one place and so when I haven’t managed to have a quiet time before leaving the house I can stick it in my bag and grab some moments later in the day. I’ve had some of my best quiet times in Balham’s Caffe Nero. I’ve also had some of my best coffee in Nero’s, but that’s an issue for another time.

2. I can scribble all over the Bible text. This helps me concentrate on what I’m reading. It makes me engage with what God has said because I can look for links, scribble down observations and spot the logic. I feel I can scribble in this in a way that I feel constrained to do so in my Bible.

3. I’m made to think about the text by the questions. Ask me to think about a Bible text and mental drift is just round the corner. Ask me a specific question about the text in front of me and I’m all ears, or eyes. If I can’t write something then I’m not happy. It means I’m not there yet and so the questions help my slumbering brain and sinful heart engage with what God is saying.

4. The ‘ponder’ section points me in the right direction and provides insightful avenues of application. Sometimes I’m confused by God’s word or I’m unsure of the implications. When that happens I feel angst and my quiet times feel unproductive. I don’t like not understanding what God is saying., The ponder questions provide a helpful steer without putting the answers on a plate.

5. The prayer ideas give me a useful summary and stimulates me to pray. My weakness in quiet times is that I love studying the text. I love trying to work out what God’s word says. I’m just less keen to talk to God about the issues that he’s raised. The prayer section reminds me that God’s word is meant to result in repentance and faith. And prayer is the chief expression of faith and the way to access the help needed for repentance. This closing section gets me praying and then, once I’m there, I struggle significantly less to keep going.

In short, this resource is brilliant. It’s the thing I recommend to our men at church. I’m struggling to think of something that I don’t like about it. At a push, then these are some minor quibbles.

1. It’s the ESV which still reads like the Bible Yoda wrote.

2. The shorter sections of Bible text mean that you can lose the flow of a section. For example, I’m in Amos at the moment and we’ve spent quite a few days in Amos 1 & 2 and that section hangs together.

But in summary, these Bible reading notes are simply fantastic. After all, what do you want your Bible notes to do? For my money you want them to get you into a passage of the Bible, make you interact with the text, make you think along the right lines and provide just enough help when you feel a little bit at sea so that by the end you can pray about something concrete. That’s exactly what these do.

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Republocrat – Carl Trueman

This is probably not a ‘must read’. But it is a fun read. It’s a lament on the current American political landscape and the failure of a vast proportion of American evangelicals to think clearly. I bought the book because, after watching the whole series of the West Wing through more times than I’d like to mention, my interest in American Politics is a couple of notches further on than mild curiosity.

It’s written by Carl Trueman who’s an exiled Scottish Theologian on the staff at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. He’s the Professor of Historical Theology and Church History. He’s got a dry sense of humour, a gift for the rhetorical flourish and an axe to grind. I also think he’s got a point. And so it all makes for agreat little book.

It’s American politics that’s got under Trueman’s skin. And in particular, it’s the slavish, unthinking  loyalty of theological conservatives to political conservatism that chafes. And so, to mix metaphors for a moment, he wants to get something off his chest. And he manages to do that with consummate ease. It’s a great read. I ploughed through it in no time at all and enjoyed his witty, perceptive insights. It’s also an easy read, which is always an added bonus. It was thoroughly un-demanding except in the sense that it made me revisit my political assumptions.

Trueman’s beef is that contemporary American evangelicalism runs a massive risk of shooting itself in the foot by ‘requiring’ theological conservatives [such as himself] to also be political conservatives [which he isn't]. He argues that if you hitch the evangelical cause to the Republican wagon then not only do you grossly oversimplify complex issues but you also run the risk of losing the younger generation for whom gay marriage and abortion are not the only political issues on which Christians feel they should engage. But it would be wrong to portray his concern as pragmatic. It’s not. His concern is that Christians think about each issue from a biblical perspective and stop thinking that the Republicans are the automatic party of choice for evangelicals.

In chapter one, entitled ‘Left Behind’, Trueman begins by going after the political liberals. Before he attacks the right he has a go at the left. And it’s sharp. He argues that American Democrats have drifted away from the compassionate care that ought to underpin their political ideology. Instead of protecting the weak and vulnerable from economic oppression they now deal in psychological oppression. In other words, they’ve become obsessed with defending the so-called ‘rights’ of anyone who feels marginalised by the majority. This new left is not the old left who thought of oppression in mainly economic categories.

In chapter two, The Slipperiness of Secularization’, he argues that American culture is much more secularised than they think. He’s not convinced that the religious fervour and rhetoric has much substance to it. The language may be religious but the content isn’t.

In chapter three, ‘Not-so-Fantastic Mr. Fox’, he reckons that American evangelicals pay way too much attention to Fox News. He understands that all reporting has an agenda. He gets that. History is his profession. He knows that News Editors make decisions about what to cover and how to cover it which are informed by the presuppositions of those that control the news agenda. But his issue is that evangelicals seem to think that Fox News is somehow the sole guardian of news reporting truth.

In chapter four, ‘Living Life to the Max’, he argues that American evangelicals have baptised capitalism.This uncritical allegiance to an economic system has led to a litany of ungodly appetites such as consumerism, materialism and acquisitiveness.

In chapter five, ‘Rulers of the Queen’s Navee’, he bemoans the fact that American politics is obsessed with style over substance. In a radio interview he said that the Britain he left nine years ago suffered from the same issue. I have to tell him that things have changed.

It’s engagingly written. It’s provocative but I’m not in the immediate firing line so it didn’t hurt. It’s witty and it’s hugely entertaining. And he’s got a point. I found myself needing to query my political affiliations on more than one occasion. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you buy it. It’s going for a little under £7 on Amazon.

There’s an illuminating 45 minute video discussion and interview with Carl Trueman here, which is well worth watching.

Not everyone agrees with Trueman’s analysis. Kevin de Young has made some observations here.

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