Antagonists in the Church, by Kenneth C. Haugk. Antagonism exists in the church. It leaves in its wake broken lives: people who are hurt, discouraged, and apathetic. Although only a very few persons are antagonists, these individuals have the potential to disrupt and even destroy a congregation’s mission and ministry. Kenneth Haugk shows how congregational leaders can prevent or reduce much of the pain and suffering caused by antagonism in the church. He distinguishes between healthy conflict and destructive antagonism and shows how to cope productively with disruption.
The Existence and Attributes of God, by Stephen Charnock. The Existence and Attributes of God comprises the first two volumes of the works of Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), an English puritan divine who was highly skilled in philosophy, patristics, Reformed theology, and Biblical languages. These volumes are his abiding monument. They are worthy of being compared with the finest in theology. “When the existence and attributes of God are called into question, to whom else can we better go than to Stephen Charnock” . . . ”those [things revealed belong to us and to our children forever]. The material that Charnock discusses is firmly founded in the Word of God” . . . ”Both the Old Testament and the New emphasize these two things: First, we should study the whole revelation, not just some easy or favorite parts of it; secondly, the study of God’s attributes is not dry as dust theology, but is practical; that is, it leads to righteousness” (Dr. Gordon H. Clark, from a preface to this great work in a Sovereign Grace edition, 1958). One of the greatest tragedies in these spiritually starved times is the sad fact that most Christians know so very little about their God. It is often said that this is simply because these volumes are exhaustive on the subject. Yet it is clearly filled with sublime expositions of the truth regarding God’s existence and attributes. “Charnock displays God’s attributes not as impersonal abstractions for the mind to juggle with, but as qualities observable in the concrete actions of the living God of which the Bible speaks. The technical terms and sometimes, arguments of scholastic theology are employed, but always with a Biblical orientation. Charnock has no desire to speculate, but only to declare the works and ways, the nature and character, of the God of the Bible. The substance of his doctrine is characteristically Puritan and representatively Reformed.” (Dr. James I. Packer, in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume II, p. 410) The possessor of these rare volumes will be blessed by getting acquainted with the incomparable God, and thereby will reach a higher plane of spiritual enjoyment never attained before. To know Him better is to love Him more.
Christian Atheist, by Craig Groeschel. The Christian Atheist, by recovering Christian Atheist Craig Groeschel, is an honest, hard-hitting and eye-opening look into the ways people believe in God but live as if he doesn’t exist. From his own lapses in faith as a young man to the painful self-admission he had to make as an established pastor, Groeschel’s own journey will immerse you and challenge you into a deeper, Christ-filled life.
The Moment of Truth, by Wayne McDill. Sermon Delivery: it’s more than the mere presentation of a persuasive speech on a religious theme. It is God’s way of keeping the original vision alive. This book will show you how.
Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, by Mark Kriegel. Pistol is more than the biography of a ballplayer. It’s the stuff of classic novels: the story of a boy transformed by his father’s dream–and the cost of that dream. Even as Pete Maravich became Pistol Pete–a basketball icon for baby boomers–all the Maraviches paid a price. Now acclaimed author Mark Kriegel has brilliantly captured the saga of an American family: its rise, its apparent ruin, and, finally, its redemption. Almost four decades have passed since Maravich entered the national consciousness as basketball’s boy wizard. No one had ever played the game like the kid with the floppy socks and shaggy hair. And all these years later, no one else ever has. The idea of Pistol Pete continues to resonate with young people today just as powerfully as it did with their fathers. In averaging 44.2 points a game at Louisiana State University, he established records that will never be broken. But even more enduring than the numbers was the sense of ecstasy and artistry with which he played. With the ball in his hands, Maravich had a singular power to inspire awe, inflict embarrassment, or even tell a joke. But he wasn’t merely a mesmerizing showman. He was basketball’s answer to Elvis, a white Southerner who sold Middle America on a black man’s game. Like Elvis, he paid a terrible price, becoming a prisoner of his own fame. Set largely in the South, Kriegel’s Pistol, a tale of obsession and basketball, fathers and sons, merges several archetypal characters. Maravich was a child prodigy, a prodigal son, his father’s ransom in a Faustian bargain, and a Great White Hope. But he was also a creature of contradictions: always the outsider but a virtuoso in a team sport, an exuberant showman who wouldn’t look you in the eye, a vegetarian boozer, an athlete who lived like a rock star, a suicidal genius saved by Jesus Christ. A renowned biographer–People magazine called him “a master”–Kriegel renders his subject with a style that is, by turns, heartbreaking, lyrical, and electric. The narrative begins in 1929, the year a missionary gave Pete’s father a basketball. Press Maravich had been a neglected child trapped in a hellish industrial town, but the game enabled him to blossom. It also caused him to confuse basketball with salvation. The intensity of Press’s obsession initiates a journey across three generations of Maraviches. Pistol Pete, a ballplayer unlike any other, was a product of his father’s vanity and vision. But that dream continues to exact a price on Pete’s own sons. Now in their twenties–and fatherless for most of their lives–they have waged their own struggles with the game and its ghosts. Pistol is an unforgettable biography. By telling one family’s history, Kriegel has traced the history of the game and a large slice of the American narrative.
Christ Plays in One Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, by Eugene Peterson. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places reunites spirituality and theology in a cultural context where these two vital facets of Christian faith have been rent asunder. Lamenting the vacuous, often pagan nature of contemporary American spirituality, Eugene Peterson here firmly grounds spirituality once more in Trinitarian theology and offers a clear, practical statement of what it means to actually live out the Christian life. Writing in the conversational style that he is well known for, Peterson boldly sweeps out the misunderstandings that clutter conversations on spiritual theology and refurnishes the subject only with what is essential. As Peterson shows, spiritual theology, in order to be at once biblical and meaningful, must remain sensitive to ordinary life, present the Christian gospel, follow the narrative of Scripture, and be rooted in the “fear of the Lord” — in short, spiritual theology must be about God and not about us. The foundational book in a five-volume series on spiritual theology emerging from Peterson’s pen, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places provides the conceptual and directional help we all need to live the Christian gospel well and maturely in the conditions that prevail in the church and world today.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. One of the most popular works of American literature, this charming self-portrait has been translated into nearly every language. It covers Franklin’s life up to his prewar stay in London as representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, including his boyhood years, work as a printer, experiments with electricity, political career, much more.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan. In this first collection of Holmes’s stories, the beloved detective uses his uncanny skills to rescue a king from blackmail, to capture an ingenious bank robber, and to save an innocent son accused of patricide.
