The Sound of Forehands Clapping

This is a book of truth. These Sketches are taken from real life. They are facts, not fancies. They are the experiences of some whom the author has known in the course of his ministry. He has not given to them an item of colouring. The only thing about them from which any erroneous impression can possibly arise, is to be found in the fact that they are only sketches, not containing all that could be given in respect to the individuals here mentioned. But they are believed to contain a fair and sufficiently full representation of each case.

The author has made this selection from the materials in his possession, on the principle of avoiding useless repetitions as much as possible, and on the principle of meeting some of the strange difficulties which sometimes trouble inquirers after salvation.

I didn’t know what to expect when I began reading a A Pastor’s Sketches by Ichabod Spencer. Out of the blue I was asked to review the book by a small publisher I had never heard of which was odd for two reasons: 1) I hadn’t updated my blog in months and 2) I would expect a publisher to want well written reviews of their books. I was also worried that if the book was bad I’d have to write a review saying as much, but in the end the lure of a free book was too much for me!

What I found though as I began reading the book was amazing. In fact I was weeping at the end of the first chapter. The book is a collection of conversations that Ichabod Spencer began putting to print in 1851 while pastoring in Brooklyn, New York. This was a time between the Second and Third Great Awakening in America and as such it was a unique period of time. It’s also written in an older, more proper, style of American English. Yet, the relevancy of the book was astonishing to me.

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A while I ago I briefly highlighted the book Total Church that Steve Timmis (one of its authors) taught from at an Acts 29 boot camp that I attended.

Shortly thereafter I read the book and loved it. We all need direction in our lives and Total Church provides it in some of the simplest of terms. If you’re a Christian and wondering or not if a book about “the church” would really provide direction for you, then you absolutely need to read it! The first three chapters are worth the $10 by themselves.

It’s also come to my attention that Veritas Community Church has created a free study guide! I’ve only flipped through it, but I can’t wait to dig into it later.

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The Resurgence is launching a new music branch named Re:Sound. Part of me doesn’t understand why, because all of Mars Hills excellent music is already available for free on their site. But hey, maybe in the future they’ll help get some music from some other local churches on folks radar. I’d love that.

Re:Sound will be launching on June 11th and until then they are giving away a free sampler with tracks from Joe Days Northern Conspiracy, Joel Browns Red Letter and Tim Smiths Ex Nihilo – All Mars Hill bands. They’ve also included all the chord sheets for the songs which I am guessing is great if you know how to read music and play an instrument.

Here’s a few of my favorite tracks:

Red Letter – forthcoming release – Author and Perfector

Northern Conspiracy – forthcoming release – What Have We Done

Ex Nihilo – Rain City Hymnal – I Sing the Mighty Power

Tim Keller spoke at the 2009 National Conference for the Gospel Coalition. In his talk Keller reveals the truth about present day idol worship in the world and in the Church and while these conference talks are often directed towards pastors and preachers in particular, I believe that this talk will benefit anyone, believer or otherwise.

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David Clarkson (1621-1686)

“You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or covetous person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a such a person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world.” Ephesians 5:5

A covetous man is an idolater. Not only the covetous, but the immoral, are idolaters. For the apostle, who here makes covetousness to be idolatry, considers voluptuous people to be idolaters also, where he speaks of some who make their belly their God (Phil. 3:19). Indeed, every reigning lust is an idol—and every person in whom it reigns is an idolater. “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” Pleasures, and riches, and honors are the carnal man’s trinity. These are the three great idols of worldly men, to which they prostrate their souls! And giving that to them which is due only to God, they hereby become guilty of idolatry. That this may be more evident—that covetousness, immorality, and other lusts are idolatry—let us consider what it is and the several kinds of it.

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Monergism Books
Monergism.com is one of the best collection of online theological resources out there. If you haven’t been to the site and looked around then you don’t know what you are missing! I also just signed up as a Monergism Books affiliate this week. Basically it means that if you buy a book from their bookstore they give me a cut which I can in turn use to buy books! You pay the same price either way, so hey why not! They only know to credit me though if you use my link, which I added to the right side bar.

Greek & Hebrew Reader’s Bible
John Dyer, who I am not familiar with, created this online Greek and Hebrew Bible . . . for free! It reminds of Zhubert.com, but it also has Hebrew and not just Greek like Zhubert. If you mouse over words you can get a quick dictionary definition of the word and also case information. This site looks perfect for someone getting started in Greek!

Believin’ Stephen
Now I just recently heard Believin’ Stephen for the first time. This is Timothy Brindles little brother. If you aren’t familiar with Tim, you should be. Believin’ Stephen just recently released 19 tracks titled The Perseverance MixTape which you can down for FREE right here. The songs don’t seem to conform to an overarching theme that well, but overall I am liking it and looking forward to what else comes out of Believin’ Stephen.

BestCommentaries.com
I noticed this site floating around in the blogosphere before, but never got around to checking it out until today. The site looks fantastic – content wise that is, the design is another story. ;) The Unashamed Workmen has a short review of the site.

Total Church by Steve Timmis & Tim Chester
I heard one of the authors of this book Steve Timmis speak earlier this week at the Acts 29 boot camp. Life has been so busy I’ve hardly been able to process his talk and some others, but let me just say that the vision of the Church that he described was at the same time glorious and desirable and yet also simple and I think realistic.

Saint Augustines battle against lust and fight for joy
John Piper speaking about the life and passion of Saint Augustine fighting his failures in lust and killing his sin not by his own strength but with the word of God, and the sheer beauty and joy of knowing Christ..

A Testimony to God’s Grace
In this video C.J. Mahaney shares his story of coming to faith. Our stories are similar in parts and different in others. While we were both slaves to the drug culture, he was loving it while I was internally being crushed by it, but both of our experiences confirmed the Scriptures testimony: You did not choose me, but I chose you . . .

Page CXVI
Not sure who these folks are, but register and get a free album of some good covers of old hymns. While you’re at it (in case you live under a rock) check out all the free music over at Mars Hill. My favorite is a band named Team Strike Force.

The Centrality of the Gospel
When I first read this paper by Tim Keller I thought (I’m just being honest here) that he was over-emphasizing the importance of the Gospel for day to day living. I am now at a place where I don’t think it can be emphasized enough.

Win a Calfskin ESV Study Bible!
Boomer in the Pew is offering a free calf skin ESV study bible to anyone who does what I am doing right now! Check out this posting for all the details.

The Jonathan Edwards Center
Yale has blessed the world by opening up their collection of Jonathan Edward’s works online. For a taste of what is available check out these bite sized chunks of Edwards collected by Adrian Warnock: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints.

James’ Resolutions on Speech
Ryan Townsend has a great post over at the 9Marks blog on 20 resolutions that he has culled from the epistle of James. Paul instructs us to think sober-mindedly about ourselves and while we all have unique combinations of struggles, James makes it clear that the tongue is of central importance to all of us who wish to walk in a manner worthy.

Finally Alive by John Piper
Finally Alive is the title of Pipers latest book. It’s on regeneration (aka being born again). This book is getting a uniquely powerful response from reviewers. Tim Challies while reviewing the book says that this is “Piper’s best yet, addressing a topic of massive significance” and is in agreement with Adrian Warnock that “this is the most important book Piper has written.”