What's In The Backpack?

A question I am often asked... Thus, on any given occasion, a perusal of said satchel may produce one or more of the titles that have been frequenting my lap over the last few months. All have been quite stimulating and thought provoking as I looked toward the Lord for His ultimate truth. Remeber, "all truth is God's truth." These are some tools to help me build the bridge along the way. At some point I hope to publish the list of books that I desire to read yet have not found the time to do so yet...maybe Christmas break...

The Autobiography of George Muller. Excellent book taken from Muller's own journal. A little slow start, but he must do this in order to lay the groundwork for his ministry. If I may say so, he's a dandy fellow and the idea of not taking a salary from his congregation is quite fascinating - given the day and time in which we live. Kimberly and I hope to gleam some faith-based truths out of this little dity.

Introducing Christian Doctrine by Dr. Millard Erickson. This is definitely an introduction to doctrine and is by no means considered to be exhaustive. It is an adaptation of his thicker model Christian Doctrine. Hence, he added the "Introducing" to the title. Catchy, eh? Reformed (for the most part) and biblically grounded (except for a few points that I think he stretches on) but still well worth the investment if you are looking for a good introduction to theology. My pastor shared with me that he thinks Dr. Erickson is one of the most brilliant men in the world. However, on one occasion, Dr. Erickson could not find his car in a tiny parking lot at Wendy's...go figure.

The Words and Works of Jesus Christ by Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost. Dr. Pentecost hails from Dallas Theological Seminary fame and I will be the first to say that he is much more interesting to read than he is to listen to. This volume is based on Christ's life (obviously) and is written in chronological order. He draws liberally from Alfred Edersheim and others and gives great insight into the historical background of the Jews during Christ's day. This isn't an easy read, but probably moreso fulfilling because of it.

Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Dr. Nancy Pearcey. I am reading this with another group of guys and have finally trudged through to get to the good parts. If you read this one, hang in until chapter 4. Before then you will only hear one statement: You need to have a Christian Worldview. What's a worldview? Read the book. You'll be popping through the Creation/Fall/Redemption Grid in no time.

Living By The Book by Dr. Howard Hendricks. Another DTS icon, "Howie" or "Prof" as he is affectionately referred to by fellow DTS staff and students takes you on a journey of how to truly study God's revealed truth for yourself in an inductive manor. This book will be worthless to you if you do not follow through on the exercises. Since this was a required textbook for one of my classes, I was thankfully forced to do so. I will not regret the experience and have already improved greatly my skills in observation, interpretation, consultation, and application (the four steps to inductive Bible study).

PS - All of these with exception of the Pentecost book are available at The BookStore @ Hunter Street P:205-739-5376 (admittedly a shameless plug).