Archive for the Book Nook Category
Oct 11
At the Book Nook in October: Global Missions
DSC’s annual Global Missions Emphasis will take place this month from October 27-30. Follow the Missions Blog for details, and be sure to register for our second annual Dinner with the Missionaries, Sunday, October 27 (learn more here).
While we have a column of shelves dedicated to missions and evangelism, this month we are featuring three books on global missions. Below you’ll find Amazon links and descriptions for each.
Finish the Mission: Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged, by John Piper and David Mathis
“This is no ordinary missions book. The theme isn’t new, but the approach is refreshing and compelling, as contributors David Platt, Louie Giglio, Michael Ramsden, Ed Stetzer, Michael Oh, David Mathis, and John Piper take up the mantle of the Great Commission and its Spirit-powered completion.
From astronomy to exegesis, from apologetics to the Global South, from being missional at home to employing our resources in the global cause, Finish the Mission aims to breathe fresh missionary fire into a new generation, as together we seek to reach the unreached and engage the unengaged.”
The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence, by Thabiti Anyabwile
“There are between five and eight million Muslims living in the United States today. They either are, or soon will be, your neighbors and co-workers. Does the thought of reaching out to them with the gospel make you nervous? How can you effectively communicate the good news with such large theological differences? The Gospel for Muslims can help make sharing your faith easier than you think.
Thabiti Anyabwile, himself a convert from Islam to Christianity, instructs you in ways to share the good news of Christ with your neighbors and friends. The Gospel for Muslims allows you to focus on the people rather than the religious system. Meant for the average Christian, this book is not an exhaustive apologetic or a detailed comparative study of Christianity and Islam. Rather, it compellingly stirs confidence in the gospel, equipping the reader with the basics necessary to communicate clearly, boldly, and winsomely.”
Window on the World: When We Pray God Works, by Daphne Spraggett and Jill Johnstone
“Stunning photographic visuals complement this A to Z collection of countries and people groups providing an exciting learning experience and guide for prayer. Short stories about featured countries or people groups help relate foreign lands and people to children in the West. Each page includes a small map putting the country into perspective with neighboring countries and a fact box with essential country and people information. . . . This invaluable resource develops cultural, political, and geographical awareness through a Christian lens . . . [in order to help all of us] pray more effectively for [our] world.”
Dec 28
Help for Understanding the Bible in 2013
Last week we posted links to a number of helpful Bible reading plans. Here are a few books that can help you understand the Bible better as you read it. Each of these titles are available at the Resource Center or at Amazon:
- How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour, Gordon Fee, Douglas Stuart
- For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Volume 1 , D. A. Carson
- For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Volume 2 , D. A. Carson
- According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, Graeme Goldsworthy
- God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, Vaughn Roberts
- The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story, D. A. Carson
- The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made, Mark Dever
- The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept, Mark Dever
- Survey of the Old Testament, Paul Benware
- Survey of the New Testament, Paul Benware
Sep 20
More Books, More Love – Resource Center Relaunch
If you were at DSC on Sunday, you noticed that our Resource Center is back open, and in force. With 250 titles including 150 titles we haven’t carried before, the Resource Center has a broader selection of books from a broader range of categories.
More books around is good for our church. As Christians, we are learners, thinkers, and reflectors. God has made us that way, and this is part of what it means to know God, and it’s part of how we grow as Christians. Jesus even summarized God’s entire law with the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Books work on the heart and the soul through our mind. Some the heavier ones (try picking up the 6 pound Large Print ESV Study Bible) even work on our strength! What is a good Christian book but the careful work of another Christian person to learn, think, reflect, and then write on a subject for the growth and maturity of God’s people?
On the week of the relaunch, here are three things to notice about the new Resource Center:
New Hours
The Resource Center is open on Sundays before and after each service, and during the week during regular office hours. Browse any time, and purchase books during those hours.
New Checkout
Out with the big kiosk and computer. In with the iPad and The Square. This should make buying books faster and easier, with cash, check, or credit card.
New Titles
More shelf space means more titles.
On the square island are seasonal books, books at a deep discount, featured books related to DSC’s preaching and teaching ministry, and books authored by guest speakers.
Along the wall you’ll find a column of Bibles along with five columns focused by subject with topical shelves. Right now we carry one title of each book, and in time we may carry two copies of some books. This approach allows us to carry a breadth of titles, so don’t feel bad about taking the “last copy.” When a book is sold on Sunday, it’s purchased for replacement on Monday.
We will highlight specific shelves and titles here on the blog in the future, but for now here’s an outline of the columns and shelves you’ll find along the wall. In addition to an entire column devoted to Bibles, we have five columns with topical shelves:
Biblical Studies
- Old Testament, New Testament
- Biblical Interpretation, Bible Studies
- Biblical Theology
- Systematic Theology
- Historical Theology
- Biography
Christian Life
- Devotionals
- Christian Life 101
- Spiritual Disciplines, Prayer
- Suffering and Loss
- Vocation, Decision Making, and Money
- Manhood and Womanhood, Sexuality
Church
- Church 101
- Corporate Worship, Church Leadership
- Various Church Topics
- Biblical Counseling 101, Conflict
- Issues in Biblical Counseling
- Perspectives on the Church
Family
- Marriage, Dating and Courtship, and Singleness
- Parenting
- Books for Children
- Books for Youth
Mission
- Global Missions, Church Planting
- Introduction to Christianity
- Evangelism 101
- Apologetics 101, Issues in Apologetics
- Worldview and Culture
- Issues in Worldview and Culture
We pray for this Resource Center to encourage, equip, and build up the church here at DSC. For recommendations of books to purchase online, many of which are not available on site, visit DSC’s Resources page.
Dec 2
Resource Center in December: Christmas Features
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.
Oct 3
Reverberation, at the Resource Center
When we hear the word, “reverberation,” we usually think of sound. But while a reverberation is a sound on its own, it is also the effect of a sound. It’s the presence of a sound once that sound is gone, but in the form of echos. There are more technical ways of putting it, I’m sure, but that’s the gist. The church, we could say, is a kind of architecture designed and build by the Word of God for the reverberation of God’s Word in the world. We are a reverberation of the very voice of God.
Earlier this year, Jonathan Leeman published a helpful book, titled, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People. This book explores the nature and function of God’s Word in and through God’s people in every aspect of our life and mission together.
This past week, Fred Zaspel published a review of Leeman’s book. Here are a few paragraphs from his review to whet your appetite this helpful word about God’s Word:
Leeman, editorial director for 9Marks ministries, begins with a discussion of the power of God’s Word. This is nothing new, of course. But his presentation is unusually compelling. Indeed, one of the leading values of this book is that it not only informs the reader in regard to this so very important article of our faith; it also leaves the reader utterly persuaded of it and moved by it. Reading as he unpacks this wonderful theme of the transforming effectiveness of Scripture you sense your own perspective being sharpened, your appreciation of God’s Word deepened, and your eagerness to see it put to further use increased many times over. Certainly every believer has experienced the soul- and life-transforming power of God’s Word, and as Leeman articulates this theme for us we find him articulating our own experience with God—which is, of course, what makes this to us such a joyful theme.
Leeman wins his case in this first section so well that you will find yourself eager to see how this theme affects church and Christian worship, which is what the subject he takes up in the rest of the book. First, of course, is the matter of preaching. Here Leeman describes preaching in terms of the “exposing†of God’s written Word, apart from which preaching has no value whatever. Then he explains—again, so compellingly—how God’s Word then “reverberates†in our singing, praying, disciple-making, and evangelism.
What distinguishes Christianity, at bottom, is the message. We Christians have the audacity to claim that God has spoken, and that the message we proclaim is from him. We are a “people of the book,†and we believe with all our hearts that this message is the means through which God works mightily to claim and transform those who are his. What Leeman provides for us is both a very clear and persuasive exposition of this truth and a discerning application of it to church life. After reading this you will want more than ever to see your church become increasingly Word/gospel-centered—in its preaching, its singing, its praying, its ordinances, and in every other aspect of its life.
Reverberation is available at the Resource Center for a suggested donation of a measly $3.00. Get one to read, and several to give away.