Two Book Reviews (long overdue)

A couple books provided by Graf-Martin for which the blog reviews below are long overdue.
The Gospel Commission by Michael Horton (Baker, 2011)

I believe this will be an excellent book… however I have only gotten through the first 50 pages because it is densely packed and you do not want to skip over the depth contained therein. Horton chooses his words carefully and they cause one (at least this reader) to read slowly… not great if you are supposed to write a blog review within 30 days of a 300+ page hardcover book. It is not that the reading is difficult, it is simply full of good theological argument/discussion and one should not read over it hastily.

One example: "We often speak of 'making Jesus our personal Lord and Savior," but this obscures two important points. First, we do not make Jesus anything, especially Lord and Savior. It is because he already is Lord and Savior that we are freed from death and hell. All authority belongs to him already." (second point follows in the next paragraph). If I really grasp this concept, it will (and has) changed the way I pray for my children. Yes, I have prayed they will "accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour" but actually I should pray that they "will recognize Jesus as the Lord and Savior of all people, and of them individually."
My regrets this review is so short, yet I believe its strengths and weakness are accurately depicted.


Small Groups with Purpose by Steve Gladen (Baker, 2011)

My wife and I lead and host a small group in our home and I have done so for many years as single man with a variety of groups (ie. college students, congregation members). I’m also looking at the possibility of serving as a small groups coach in the near future and so this book seemed to be a good choice for a blog review. Written by Saddleback’s Pastor of Small Group Community, Steve Gladen very clearly says at the beginning that the advice in this book is for you to go out and in most ways replicate because it is based on biblical principles. Personally, I liked that because I have encountered many books where an author says, “don’t try to do this strategy in your church but here’s how it works and why it works well.” If it works so well, why wouldn’t I use the strategy?

Gladen does a good job of giving a variety of options in each chapter so that the book is not an overly prescriptive manual, but a small group’s guidebook based on biblical principles with a selection of ways that might look in different settings. Easy-to-read and highly practical, each chapter also includes “study questions” at the end for discussion or planning.

I would highly recommend this book to small group coaches as well as leaders.