Archive for the 'Books' Category

2011 Reading

Published January 2, 2012 Books 10 Comments
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Here is a list of the books that I have read in the past year. As in prior years, I cannot recommend every book on the list, but many were simply outstanding. Email me or leave a comment if you want to know what I thought of any of these books.

  1. God So Loved the World (Lyle Lange, NPH)
  2. Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved (Martin Luther LW 46)
  3. Positively Lutheran (John Braun, NPH)
  4. The Kingdom of Christ (J.P. Meyer)
  5. Dying to Live (Harold Senkbeil)
  6. The Papacy Evaluated (E.G. Behm)
  7. Johann Kilian, Pastor (George Nielsen)
  8. A Tale of Two Synods: Events That Led to the Split between Wisconsin and Missouri (Mark Braun)
  9. The Christian & Birth Control (Robert Fleischmann)
  10. Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Eugene H. Peterson)
  11. On Being a Christian: a personal confession (Henry Hamann)
  12. Motivation for Ministry: perspectives for every pastor (Nathan Pope)
  13. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
  14. First Conversation (Bethesda Institute)
  15. What in the World Is Going On?: Identifying Hollow and Deceptive Worldviews(David C. Thompson)
  16. Down Range: to Iraq and Back (Bridget C. Cantrell, Ph.D., & Chuck Dean)
  17. Examination of the Council of Trent, part 2 (Martin Chemnitz)
  18. Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns (T. David Gordon)
  19. The Cradle and the Crucible: A history of the forming of the Arizona-California District (Charles E. Found)
  20. The Ministry of the Word (John Brug)
  21. Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An Enchiridion (Martin Chemnitz)
  22. Gazelles, Baby Steps, and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt (Jon Acuff)
  23. Strong Father, Strong Daughters (Dr. Meg Meeker)
  24. The Hammer of God (Bo Giertz)
  25. Luther’s Liturgical Music (Robin Leaver)
  26. Why Johnny Can’t Preach (T. David Gordon)
  27. The Theology of the Cross (Daniel Deutschlander)

The most useful things I read this year were the two titles by Martin Chemnitz. They do not call him the “second Martin” for nothing.

The Amazon Kindle has made an impact on the way I buy and read books. Only two of the books on this year’s list were read on my Kindle, but that’s mostly because I had more than a year of reading in my “to-read” pile. That pile is beginning to dwindle, and I suspect that more than half of the books I read in 2012 will be in Kindle format. There are some books that I will still prefer to have and use in hard copy—especially reference books that won’t be read straight through. But right now I have at least three books loaded on my Kindle ready to read as soon as I get to them.

Kindle

Published July 26, 2011 Books 7 Comments
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Over a month ago I bought myself an Amazon Kindle. For those of you who haven’t seen these or heard of them, the Kindle is an electronic book-reading device.

I should mention that this decision was a bit of a dilemma for me. On the one hand, I am a techy guy who loves gadgets. On top of it, I’m a big Apple user and am very interested in devices like the iPad. But on the other hand, I love books. Real books, with real paper. I hate to read longer documents on computer screens, and only do so when absolutely necessary.

But I bought a Kindle. And I love it. Here’s what sold me (and a few reasons I bought this rather than just saving up for an iPad).

Reading on a Kindle is like reading a book. It really is. It’s not a back-lit screen, but what they call their e-ink technology. It doesn’t seem to cause the same kind of eye strain that you would have with an LCD display, nor do you get glare from surrounding light. I know that the iPad has a great e-book reader, and there is even a Kindle app which can be used on the iPad and iPhone. But for the reading experience, the Kindle display wins hands-down.

Shelf Space –  I am now getting to the point that I really don’t have much more room in my study at church for too many more books. My shelves are nearly full. I don’t think this means that I will never buy a hard-cover book again, just that I need to be more judicious about which books deserve a place on my shelf. I’ll save the paper for books that I will want to have on hand, like reference books, lexicons, and some of those classics that I’ll want to fill with marginal notes and highlights. But for many volumes, I will be happy to be able to carry them all around in an 8.5 ounce device.

Cost – The Kindle is available for as low as $114. Obviously, this doesn’t really compare to something like the iPad, because the Kindle basically does one thing, and does it very well. The iPad does lots of things really well. And that is reflected in the price. There are also free readers available for Mac and PC, iPhone and iPad, Android, etc. Additionally, many of the books available on Amazon are cheaper in Kindle format than their print counterparts. And no one has to pay to ship an e-book to you since it is immediately available on your devices. I already prefer to buy books from Amazon.com, because their books prices are generally cheaper and because it’s easier to qualify for free shipping than most other online retailers. The Kindle store even has books from smaller publishers like Concordia Publishing House, which carries a great selection of Lutheran material.

Another great feature is the ability to send personal documents to read on the Kindle. This is great for longer documents (Word, PDF, RTF) that I have on my computer, but in order to read it I would either need to read it on the computer screen or print it out. Most often, these are things like essays and papers. Reading it on the Kindle is much more pleasant than any alternative.

The Kindle even gives me the ability to share highlighting and notes. It’s that much easier than typing out interesting quotes and then posting them to something like a Tumblr account. Here all I need to do is select the section, type a note, and post.

So, as you can tell, I’m sold. If you do lots of reading, and would appreciate the portability and convenience, I would highly recommend the Kindle. If you’re not interested in an e-reader, but want all the features of the iPad, go ahead and save your pennies. I hope that someday I might be able to have that, too. [One interesting side note: I have talked to a few people who have never been avid readers, but having this device has sparked their desire to read considerably more.]

If you are already a Kindle user, go ahead and follow me here.

Examination

Published June 29, 2011 Books Leave a Comment
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Professor Daniel Deutschlander often told his students that every Lutheran pastor should read Martin Chemnitz’ Examination of the Council of Trent (at least the first volume) every now and then—just to ensure that he is still a Lutheran.

A couple weeks ago I finished reading part II of Chemnitz’ monumental work, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. As Deutschlander says, “It’s so Lutheran!” The Examen is a Lutheran response to the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, which began in 1545 and was in many ways a response to the Lutheran Reformation. Many of the decrees of the Council are specifically condemning the teachings of the Lutherans. In other places, they continue to group the Lutherans together with the Anabaptists and other radical reformers. However, the main opponent seems to be the Lutheran teaching. The format goes like this: “If anyone says…let him be condemned (anathema sit).” Many have said that if you removed the anathemas from the decrees, you generally have a good statement of Lutheran teaching.

This second volume deals with the Sacraments. It first deals in a general way with the Sacraments, especially with the fact that the Roman Catholics insist on the number seven, and Chemnitz maintains that no matter how you define sacrament, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper stand out as distinct from all others. Then, Chemnitz works through each of the so-called seven sacraments and examines the doctrines and practices which the council commends and condemns.

One of the things that makes this work so brilliant is the way Chemnitz not only deals with the false assertions of the Council, but he manages to present the true, orthodox Lutheran teaching on each of these doctrines. And just because the Lutherans did not maintain seven sacraments does not mean that they had no teaching or practice concerning confession and absolution, ordination, consolation for the sick and dying, confirmation, and marriage.

That said, I think that many Lutherans would be surprised to read the way Chemnitz describes the way “our churches” practice. It appears that Lutheran practice and piety today has been shaped much more by American Protestantism than by the Lutheranism which Chemnitz describes.

Additionally, it always amazes me just how familiar men like Chemnitz were with the church fathers. And then, it strikes me that Chemnitz considers them worth listening to. The Council of Trent regularly made appeal to antiquity and tradition, and repeatedly Chemnitz shows that true antiquity was not what the Tridentine fathers were claiming. Many of the “ancient customs” to which Trent referred were not that ancient, or their writings were taken out of context, or the cited statements were exceptions to normal practice. History was on the side of the Lutherans.

But I don’t know anyone in Lutheran circles today who has this kind of knowledge of the church fathers—not even Seminary professors. And I know many more Lutherans (pastors, even) who wouldn’t particularly care. It is not as though we take our doctrine from the fathers, but I think Chemnitz (and many others) would make the point that they should be listened to. For me, reading more Chemnitz is a start down that path. I have just started reading Chemnitz’ Enchiridion, in which I’m finding much of the same stuff—brilliant. Definitely must-reads for every pastor.

Here’s a page where I started posting some quotes as I was reading: http://caauwejw.tumblr.com/

2010 Reading List

Published January 2, 2011 Books 1 Comment
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Last year I posted a list of books that I read during 2009. This year I created a separate page where I will keep a running list of the books I am reading. You can find this page under the “Reading” tab at the top of the page. As I look at this year’s list, it’s a bit more eclectic than in years past. I actually managed to get some fiction in there. There are a few books that I wouldn’t recommend to others. There are a few on the list that I have read multiple times, which I never tire of reading (Lutheran Confessions, Hammer of God, Law & Gospel).

I would have to say that this year the most interesting read was Christopher Boyd Brown’s Singing the Gospel. I’ll have much more to say about this book in an upcoming separate post, but for now I’ll just say that any book that is about the Lutheran Reformation, music and hymnody, and the home, family, and children is going to be right up my alley.

I still have my reading pile, and it’s probably still over a year long. But I’m looking forward to getting into some of the titles on the top of the pile, and the books on the bottom of the pile also keep me motivated to someday get to those as well.

Would you share with me the top two or three books you read this year? Leave your answer in the comments section.

Law and Gospel

Published June 26, 2010 Books Leave a Comment

This summer, besides reading through the book of Concord, I am also reading two other rather heavy books. The BoC reading, as I’ve mentioned before is just something I try to do every other year, and is a part of my daily devotions. The other two books are just the next two in my reading stack. Let me explain. I have a stack of books in my study at church that I intend to read. I add books to the bottom of the stack and read them when they get to the top. I have two books going at one time, one at home and the other at church. This disciplines me to not read books as soon as I get them, to read books that I really need to read but may not be my favorite, and to not read ten books at one time and never finish any of them.

Right now I am reading some fiction for a change, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The other book is C.F.W. Walther’s Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel. Students who are training to become pastors are often told that they should read Walther every year. [I would be interested to know who first suggested that—because it seems to be universal advice.] I haven’t read it every year, but this is my fourth time through. I first read it one summer while in college. I was working out at Bush Lake Park and remember reading the book on my breaks. Time #2 was sometime while at Seminary. #3 was one of my first years in the ministry.

I remember struggling through the book the first time through, but simply being more and more delighted and refreshed with each subsequent reading. What I also realize now is that the struggle to apply the law and the gospel appropriately in the life and work of a pastor is indeed something that can only be learned in the “school of experience,” and that experience only teaches just how difficult this art truly is.

This month, Concordia Publishing House has released a new translation and edition of this classic work. They have updated the language and apparently provided a more authentic translation. I will miss all my highlighting and underlining from these previous reads, but I heartily welcome a new translation. I am sure that the translation contributed to my difficulty in reading the book the first time. I am still noticing that this time, especially now knowing that a new translation has been produced. In addition, the amount of additional material in this volume will make this book even more valuable. It is full of historical notes, maps, timelines, etc. I will continue plowing through the old edition (probably) one last time, and sometime, when I have the money to do so, I’ll pick up a copy of the new version and use that for reading #5. I guess I’ll just put it at the bottom of the pile, and I’ll get to it in about a year.

Law & Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible [CPH]

The New, Fresh, Powerful Edition of Walther’s Law and Gospel is Available Now [Cyberbrethren]

When I Told My Pastor [Weedon's Blog]

Reading

Published June 4, 2010 Books 2 Comments

I am encouraged by the response to my last post about reading the Book of Concord this summer. There were more than a dozen people who commented on the blog or emailed me to say that they were going to be giving it a try. About 40 people have logged into Google Wave to follow the discussion there. Perhaps what I’m most encouraged by is variety of people who are excited to be reading the Book of Concord, especially the number of lay people who are reading it for the first time. So many have said, “I’ve always wanted to read the whole thing.” I would expect Lutheran pastors to do it. It should have a regular place in their reading and study schedules. But as the section I quoted in the previous post notes, the Lutheran Confessions were never meant to be for clergy only. And it always encourages me to know that lay people are interested in really learning what it means to be a confessional Lutheran.

When I was in college I received a bunch of books from the family of my great-uncle, who had just passed away. I visited him just days before he died, and sang some German hymns to him in his final days. He wasn’t a pastor. He was a farmer. But he was also a student of the Scriptures. Among the books I received were a bunch of music books, a book of Walther sermons, Stöckhardt’s Bible History Commentaries, and a German-Latin edition of the Book of Concord. Uncle George wasn’t a pastor, but he wasn’t a stranger to theology either.

I hope that the discussion is helpful in keeping everyone on schedule this summer. I’m still not convinced that Google Wave is the best tool for this kind of discussion. It’s pretty new, and most people are just getting used to it. But it seems to be working. If you aren’t interested in digging into Google Wave, you can try to start a discussion on the Book of Concord Facebook page, or leave me a comment on this page. I’m looking forward to hearing people’s questions or observations as they read. It’s already been quite interesting to see the thoughts that people have been having. I will be occasionally posting some of my more general observations from this summer’s reading here on The Shepherd’s Story.

If you’re still interested in starting, it’s not too late. We’re just starting the Augsburg Confession. If you still need/want to pick up a copy of the book, right now the best price is at Amazon.com. I’m sure they’ll go on sale a CPH again.

Happy reading!

Read With Me

Published May 26, 2010 Books 23 Comments

This summer I will be reading through the Lutheran Confessions, and I wonder if there is anyone out there who would like to read with me. Several years ago I came across a schedule for reading the Book of Concord during the summer (May 30–September 6). I like doing it in the summer because my schedule is a little lighter, and it seems better to read this in longer sections, rather than to spread it out over the whole year (using the schedule included in the Reader’s Edition).

I will be using the CPH Reader’s Edition (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions) again. This has become my standard English version which I use.  If you don’t have a copy of the Book of Concord, get one. Read the paragraph below to explain why. It is currently on sale for $20 at cph.org. If you have a different version (Triglot, Tappert, Kolb/Wengert), there is an older version of the summer schedule here. If you don’t want to buy a book, you can read it on the internet right here, or purchase an electronic version here. You might also consider the pocket edition if you want to keep reading while on vacation and not have to lug a big book around.

Are you interested in reading with me? If so, I’d like to hear from you. Perhaps we can even discuss a few topics as we go through it. I’ll warn you that the schedule is pretty ambitious. This is the third time I’ve attempted this schedule and I’ve never yet finished on September 6th. But maybe if I had a few reading partners, you can help me stay on track. You can download the schedule through this link.

This is not just a book for pastors and church “professionals” or “academics.” In fact, it is important to realize that the people most directly responsible for the Lutheran Confessions were laymen, not pastors and theologians. At tremendous personal risk to their own lives, their property, and their profession, laymen boldly stepped before the emperor and the pope’s representatives. They asserted that these Confessions were their own. They did not back down or compromise. For this reason, it is unfortunate that down through the years the Book of Concord has come to be regarded more as a book for pastors and professional theologians.

Tucked into the middle of this book is the most widely used of all the Lutheran Confessions: Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Luther wrote this document not simply as a resource for the church and school, but, first and foremost, for the head of the household. Luther intended this little book to be used by laypeople, daily, to help them remain anchored to the solid teachings of God’s holy Word, the Bible. So keep this important fact in mind: The Book of Concord exists because of the faith and conviction of laypeople, who risked their very lives in order to have these Confessions produced, published, and distributed. The Book of Concord is a book for all Christians, church workers and laypeople alike.

Christians who want to be true and faithful to the teachings of the Bible return, again and again, to this book. In these confessions of faith they find agreement, unity, and harmony in the truths of God’s Word. (from the General Introduction to the Book of Concord)

So dust off those Concord Books and we’ll get started in just a few days!

What I’ve been up to

Published April 26, 2010 Baseball , Books , Church Year , Ministry , School , Worship 1 Comment

I’ve been pretty silent here lately, so I thought I’d give you a quick rundown on what has been keeping me busy.

Lent and Easter
Yes, this is perhaps the busiest time of the year. People will make comments to me about how busy I must be, with all the extra services. And this year we even added a service on Good Friday—five unique services from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday. But I’m never exactly sure how to respond. Yes, I’m busy. And it is a struggle to get ready for all the services, especially when they come so quickly, and especially when other issues inevitably come up during holy week. But I really don’t want anyone to think that I would rather be doing anything else.

For all of the busy-ness and the craziness, there is simply no time of year I love more than holy week, and especially the feast of the resurrection. It can be such a temptation to get through Good Friday, and sort of coast through Easter. But, no. The festival service on Easter is the most important of all, the highest festival in the entire year. This year I preached on the historic epistle for Easter Sunday, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. What a joy to keep the festival, and for it all to culminate in the feast that is the Lord’s Supper, a foretaste of the feast already enjoyed by the saints in heaven.

Here the true Paschal Lamb we see,
Whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree—
So strong his love—to save us.
See, his blood now marks our door;
Faith points to it; death passes o’er,
And Satan cannot harm us. Hallelujah!

So let us keep the Festival
to which the Lord invites us;
Christ is himself the Lord of all,
The sun that warms and lights us.
Now his grace to us imparts
Eternal sunshine to our hearts.
The night of sin is ended. Hallelujah! (CW 161, st. 3,4)

School Planning & Accreditation
We are busy planning and preparing for the next school, and even beyond. In January we began the process of a school self-study for accreditation. But we’re also gearing up for next year by getting all of our enrollment materials in place. This week we’re distributing fliers throughout the area. We’ve already delivered 2,000 to surrounding homes, and we’ll be getting more out as soon as they’re printed. El Paso is a growing city, with lots of young military families. Accreditation is an important part of serving these families, partly because Ft. Bliss requires school to be accredited in order to be recommended on post, and also because military families move so often that we want to make sure our students records easily transfer to the schools nationwide, even worldwide, where our students end up.

Home
I’m trying my hand at desert gardening this summer. The kids and I have planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. We’ll see how things grow here. We definitely have plenty of sun. It should be a fun little experiment. and if we get some food out of it, great.

Last month Sara’s sister Liz arrived in El Paso. She is an Army nurse and will be stationed at William Beaumont Army Medical Center for the next two years. She will be staying with us until she finds a place of her own. We’re not really in any hurry for that to happen, however; it’s nice to have her here. And it will be a real blessing to have family within a few miles instead of a few hundred miles (or thousand).

It’s baseball season again, and I’ve again been enjoying the MLB AtBat app on my phone. As much as I wish I could be in Minnesota to actually see outdoor Major League Baseball in Minnesota this summer, being able to listen to the games on my phone is better than nothing.

Reading
I’m still trying to make my way through my “to read” stack of books. However, I just can’t resist adding more books to the pile. If you want to, you can watch what I’m reading on the web site GoodReads.

I’m looking forward to reading through the Lutheran Confessions in the Book of Concord again this summer. I try to do that every other year. I’ll write more on that in the next couple weeks.

Coming Up
Right now I’m especially gearing up for our Ascension service. I’ve always had a service on Ascension wherever I’ve been, even though they’re not always well attended. This year we’ve invited our area congregations to join us and with our combined efforts hope to have a service fitting for this high festival. It seems that every year I appreciate the significance of Jesus’ ascension even more.

Next week I’ll be heading to Flagstaff Arizona for pastor’s conference. In a few week, we’ll have confirmation here. And just after that school will be out for another year. Wow, it’s gone by fast.

Prolixity

Published January 20, 2010 Books , Study 2 Comments

I’ve been reading Martin Chemnitz’ Examination of the Council of Trent. It’s a four volume analysis of the 16th Century council which solidified Roman Catholic doctrine and condemned Lutheran doctrine following the Reformation.

I had to laugh when in the section I was reading today, Chemnitz says that there is plenty more to say about the issue at hand, and he would say more, “if I were not afraid of prolixity” (Vol. 1, p. 595). I laughed (after looking up the word) because this work is already so comprehensive and thorough, that I can’t even imagine what it could say. But Chemnitz could go on and on.

I am completely impressed by the scholarship of these giants. I have another set of books that Chemnitz contributed to, which is a series of text studies based on a harmony of the gospels put together by Chemnitz, Johann Gerhard, and Polycarp Leyser. The books I have were printed in the 1860s. They cover the Gospels for the historic church year. Some of these studies are as long as 75 pages. Talk about serious exegesis!

So, on the one hand, it’s kind of funny for Chemnitz to talk about sparing words for the sake of brevity. He is anything but brief. And sometimes it’s hard to wade through pages and pages that cover every single aspect of a particular topic. But on the other hand, I admire their use of words. I feel as though even our best scholars today couldn’t come close to their understanding and depth of scholarship. Yet it makes me want to read more, study harder, and think more clearly about the things I study. I may not be able to produce the kind of work that these men created. I struggle to complete each sermon, and I have to push to be able to get a few words onto a blog every once in a while. But if nothing else, a little more careful study will give me a better grasp of the center of all this study—Christ Jesus. And that’s good enough for me.

2009 Reading List

Published January 9, 2010 Books 5 Comments

Here is a list of books that I have read in 2009. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get the order correct. There’s also the chance that I’ve missed something, because I didn’t keep a running list during the year.

  1. The Lord’s Prayer (Martin Chemnitz)
  2. On Being A Theologian of the Cross (Gerhard Forde)
  3. Family Life Series from NPH
  4. Why I Am A Lutheran  (Daniel Preus)
  5. “Out of the Depths” Devotion Series (Richard Lauersdorf)
  6. The Theology of the Cross (Daniel Deutschlander)
  7. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions
  8. Prepared to Answer: Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told (Mark Paustian)
  9. More Prepared to Answer: Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told (Mark Paustian)
  10. The Shepherd’s Assistants: A Handbook for Church Elders or Deacons (Arthur Clement)
  11. The Seven Laws of Teaching (John Milton Gregory)
  12. God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Gene Edward Vieth)
  13. Luther on Vocation (Gustav Wingren)
  14. Getting Things Done (David Allen)

I would have to say that the best book I read this year (besides, the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions), was Deutschlander’s book on the Theology of the Cross. The runner-up would have to be Vieth’s book on Vocation. If anyone is interested in what I thought about any of the above books, leave a comment or send me an email.

I still have a tall stack of books I am planning to read. Hopefully I’ll chip away at that pile during 2010. Right now I’m working on finishing up the first volume of Martin Chemnitz’ Examination of the Council of Trent. I know that somewhere in the stack is actually a couple of fiction books. It’s been a while. If anyone wants to follow what I’m reading, I’ve started keeping track on a web site called Goodreads. Or share what you’ve been reading by leaving a comment or signing up for Goodreads yourself.

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