By R. Albert Mohler Jr.
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Other Volumes of InterestOvertime, the preacher’s bookshelf is likely to include an entire collection of books that defy categorization. The past year has seen the release of many volumes that will be of interest to preachers. These range from works that engage the culture to others that preachers will find helpful in dealing with particular issues of current controversy or church ministry.
Considering the ministry itself, historian E. Brooks Holifield has produced God’s Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America (Eerdmans), which should be of interest to every preacher, as he traces the development of the ministry in its American setting. Holifield explains that, in some sense, the Christian ministry “will always be in crisis.” A bit of historical perspective will help to calm the waters and help pastors to focus on the enduring tasks of ministry.
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Robert Wuthnow of Princeton University has produced another interesting volume in After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty-and Thirty-Somethings are Shaping the Future of American Religion (Princeton University Press). Wuthnow turns his attention to the generation that has followed the Baby Boomers, noting that this generation is redefining much of the culture and establishing a significant challenge for the Christian church.
Other helpful books released over the past year include Pleasing People: How Not to be An “Approval Junkie” (P&R Publishing) by Lou Priolo. Priolo, well known as a biblical counselor, argues the desire for approval can become a form of idolatry. Two books related to local church ministry were produced by Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. In The Gospel & Personal Evangelism (Crossway), Dever encourages the expectation “that Christians will share the gospel with others, talk about doing that, pray about doing it, and regularly plan and work together to help each other evangelize.” As Dever insists, evangelism ought to be normal, not exceptional in the life of Christians and the church. Dever also produced What Is a Healthy Church? (Crossway), a most helpful volume related to the display of God’s glory within the local congregation.
John Stott, now in retirement, offers reflections on his ministry in The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor (InterVarsity Press). Helpfully, Stott directs himself toward younger ministers — something he has done now for several decades. “Now that I am in the ninth decade of my life,” Stott observes, “I often find myself looking into the future and longing that God will raise up a new generation of Timothys.”
Two truly helpful volumes related to preaching have appeared as Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from all the Scriptures by Dennis E. Johnson (P&R Publishing) and Preaching Christ from Genesis: Foundations for Expository Sermons by Sidney Greidanus (Eerdmans). Both of these volumes represent helpful models for the Christological interpretation of the Old Testament and both belong on the preacher’s bookshelf.