Right now through January 12, the Westminster Bookstore is offering 50% off of a number of good books online, many of which we have carried or now carry at the Resource Center here at DSC. So, these titles have our hearty recommendation.

Here are a few highlights from Westminster’s sale:

• Marty Machowski, Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments
• Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
• Timothy Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus
• Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
• Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God
• Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change

Last week we published a blog detailing a number of Bible reading plans for you to consider ahead of the first of the year. Yesterday, Justin Taylor published what has become an anual post summarizing a number of different plans. If you’re still considering different reading plans or have yet to survey the options, this is a great place to start.

If having too many options is actually a reason for discouragement, that’s understandable. It is difficult to fully evaluate all your options when you can’t actually test them out. If you are happy to decide between two recommendations, consider George Guthrie’s “Read the Bible for Life,” a chronological Bible reading plan, or the Discipleship Journal “Bible Reading Plan,” by NavPress, which takes you through the entire Bible by reading from four different places each day.

Of course, there’s no rule that we should be reading the whole Bible in one year, though that’s a fine and fruitful goal. Whatever our plan and whatever our pace, may our lives resonate with the experience of the blessed man described in the first Psalm:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
– Psalm 1:1-3

For encouragement in grasping the importance of the Word in your life, consider listening to Ryan’s sermon on Psalm 1, “If You Wanna Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life…” delivered at the front of our current series, Pour Out Your Heart to Him.

With a new year comes a good opportunity to evaluate our Bible reading habits.

Of course, “New Year’s Resolutions” are famous for not sticking, but for Christians this isn’t quite the same thing. We believe in a lifestyle of resolving to be more like Christ, on the basis of God’s resolve to make us more like Christ. The Bible, of course, is right in the middle of how God gets that done as a primary means by which He grows us in grace. And when it comes to a plan for reading the Bible, January 1 is a convenient time to resolve to start or recalibrate our current Bible reading pattern. On the subject of having a plan in general, John Piper has written a helpful article available here.

With January 1 approaching, here are a few options for daily Bible reading in the new year:

• Chronological Reading Plan: Reading God’s Story: A Chronological Daily Bible, George Guthrie:
  This Bible is published with a one year daily reading plan in mind, ordering the Biblical material chronologically along the Bible’s own narrative framework and includes a reading plan. George Guthrie has also published a one year chronological Bible reading plan, “Read the Bible for Life,” available in Pdf form here.
• The M’Cheyne Plan with Daily Devotional Commentary: For the Love of God is a two volume series of books written by D.A. Carson providing daily reading to supplement the M’Cheyne reading plan. The M’Cheyne plan takes you through the Old Testament once and the Psalms and New Testament twice in one year.
• Several Places A Day: Crossway’s Daily Bible Reading Plan is available as a Pdf form to print out as a series of bookmarks. This plan gets you through the Bible in a year, reading from several different places in the Bible each day. Crossway has published 10 reading plans to supplement the ESV, including RSS, email, audio, and print versions daily.
• Just a List of Chapters: The Bible Reading Record, by Don Whitney, is a simple list of every chapter in the Bible. With this, you can read at whatever pace you like and keep track of what you’ve read until you’re through the Bible. This, of course, wouldn’t necessarily be a one year plan, but it could be. To get through the Bible’s 1089 chapters in a year, you need to read an average of 3.25 chapters a day, which comes out to about four chapters per day if you commit to reading five days each week.

Whether you’re starting a reading plan for the first time, or reevaluating your current pattern, it’s important to remember why we read the Bible. According to David in Psalm 19, God’s words are “More to be desired. . .than gold, even much fine gold; [they are] sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” This is because, according to Psalm 19, God’s Word is sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous, and God’s Word revives us, makes us wise, enlightens us, and warns us of danger. That’s what we need, every day.

To help your heart to long for and love God’s words so that David’s words here are your words, listen to Ryan’s sermon from Psalm 19, “God’s Words–Better Than Gold!“

In December, we are highlighting a number of titles at the Resource Center and offering wild and crazy discounts on a few of them.

Two books we have available tuned specifically for Christmas are from Nancy Guthrie. Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent, is a series of Christward advent reflections. And, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas, edited by Nancy Guthrie, is a compilation of twenty fine essays related to Christmas by Christian pastors and scholars, such as John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Randy Alcorn, and Tim Keller.

Then, of course, there are a number of books that we regularly carry that would make for a great Christmas gift. Here are a few of them:

• Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Wayne Grudem
• Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, John Piper
• King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, Timothy Keller
• The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, Sally Lloyd-Jones
• Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, Bruce Ware
• Disciplines of a Godly Man, Kent Hughes
• Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother, Carolyn Mahaney
• The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story, D.A. Carson
• Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know, Wayne Grudem

In addition, we’re offering 50% off a number of titles from previous guest speakers, including books from Wayne Grudem, Carl Trueman, and G.K. Beale, and a number of other books are on sale for $3.00.

Finally, you can pick up a bundle of three DSC CD’s, discounted together for $12.00, including Cause for Praise, Psalterium, Vol. 1, and The Growing Place (a children’s CD).

Stop by the Resource Center this month for resources that center our lives on the One who has life in Himself, Jesus Christ.

Also, if you’re looking for a book to buy for a friend or family member but don’t find a good match at the Resource Center, you can always browse our Resource Page for a thorough list of recommendations organized by topic.

Today is October 31, the anniversary of the day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Door and, thus, began what is known as the Protestant Reformation. So, today is Halloween, but it is also Reformation Day.

Around DSC we have a number of posters with the word “sola” in them, which is Latin for “alone.” These “solas” reflect the heart of the Reformation, and, indeed, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Salvation is:

• Revealed in Scriptures Alone (Sola Scriptura)
• In Christ Alone (Solus Christus)
• By Grace Alone (Sola Gratia)
• Through Faith Alone (Sola Fide)
• To the Glory of God Alone (Soli Deo Gloria)

With that in mind, here are a few resources to help you learn and share about what happened now almost 500 years ago:

• Justin Taylor’s interview with Carl Trueman about the 95 Theses.
• Carl Trueman’s five talks on the subject of the Reformation given during his visit to DSC for Clarus ’05.
• The 2003 movie, Luther, which is a helpfully accurate portrayal of the story and the times.
• Douglas Linder and Chris Castaldo have written helpful accounts of Luther’s trial at the Diet of Worms, the trial where Martin Luther refused to recant of his belief in the saving gospel revealed in Scripture. A 27 minute clip from this portion of the movie, Luther, is available here.
• Max McClean’s audio overview of Luther’s trial, available on YouTube (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

Although it’s a little late to order a book or two for Reformation Day, it’s never too late to learn more about the Reformation. Stephen Nichols’ Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought, is a helpful introduction to Martin Luther. And for kids, there are two books worth picking up: Paul Maier’s Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World, and R.C. Sproul’s The Barber Who Wanted to Pray.

HT: JT