the sosebee's

In case you haven’t seen it yet, or I haven’t emailed you, or you haven’t seen the link I’ve been posting on FB and Twitter and everywhere else I can think of…. here it is again: Pilgrim’s Tent

This is a new project I just recently began. It’s mostly a site where I’ll be reviewing the books that I have been reading. There are a couple of reasons I wanted to do this. One, I thought it would be a great way to share great new books that I have come across, and two, because I think it will help me process what I’ve been reading a little better.

Not to mention I usually have strong opinions on what I read. And I am definitely passionate about the content, so I want to share that with everyone. This is my attempt.

I hope you enjoy reading some of it and find it beneficial. Please let me know if you have any suggestions and leave some comments!

I’ve been ordering books lately. This isn’t too out of the ordinary. It’s safe to say the wife and myself splurge on books. It’s what depletes our entertainment budget. Something I came across a while back has led me to these specific books.

9 Marks

“a ministry dedicated to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources. Our goal is simple: churches that display the glory of God.” (from their website).

I first found 9 Marks through Together for the Gospel. A biennial conference that encourages pastors to take their stand together for the gospel. Al Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan began the conference. And so I started listening to all the sermons from past years. It’s amazing how the Lord speaks through his word being preached.

Back to 9 Marks. It began at Capital Hill Baptist in Washington D.C. where Mark Dever is the pastor. A well read pastor in Ecclesiology, he has studied the church for many, many years and makes very apt observations concerning the state of modern evangelical churches.

From 9 Marks I’ve been led to a few books:

The one I’m currently reading: The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer.

Biblical Theology by Michael Lawrence. Who was the associate pastor at Capital Hill but is now the lead pastor at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, OR.

The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.

and finally Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

I commend all of these resources to you and will hopefully get a chance to write a little more on them individually.

driving home last night, corey and i spotted a big, yellow sign advertising the greenville county library book sale! much to our delight, it was still going on this morning when we arrived ( i was afraid we had missed it). i love library book sales. you can’t beat the prices, and it is so much fun to spend a morning digging through piles of old books and uncovering treasures. when we drove up, there was no parking and people were leaving the building with boxes of books in their arms. because i’ve only been to library book sales in arab, i was a little worried that there wouldn’t be anything left. in arab, the only car in the parking lot is mine, and the only people inside are me and jenni and the little old lady who takes up money. but, oh my word. today there were shelves and shelves of books and crowds of people. corey and i spent an hour or so perusing, and ended up leaving with a box of our own.

To The Golden Shore is the biography of Adoniram Judson. I could hardly put this book down once I began reading it. A missionary to Burma, Judson translated the entire Bible into the Burmese language. He left as a young man and only returned to America once, after 35 years on the field, in the hope of his wife recovering from an illness. He later returned to Burma and spent the rest of his life where he lived the most of his life, on the golden shores…

This is truly an inspiring book. And it is by far the best Valentine’s Day gift I’ve ever received. Thank you, my Dearest. May the Lord use the life and the story of this man to further his Kingdom.

If you enjoy biographies, I highly recommend this one. Even if you don’t, and you want a little Baptist history, I suggest you pick up a copy of this book.

You will be challenged and forever changed.

Counterfeit Gods is the title of the book I just recently finished by Timothy Keller. As you can see, if you click the “Books” category to the right, we haven’t really written too much about what we’ve been reading lately. This isn’t for lack of reading that’s for sure. In fact, I meant to post something about the previous book I read too (Hudson Taylor & Maria by John Pollock) It too was a great read.

Timothy Keller’s book was eye-opening. I highly recommend you pick up a copy that you may have revealed to you the truths that this book proclaims. The title is appropriate because what the book really deals with is idols. But as he mentions in the opening, the word idol brings a lot of imagery along with it. It can easily be passed over, cast off to the side. “This book isn’t for me.” he could hear one saying.

But that’s just it. That’s exactly what this book reveals.

We ALL have idols. We have all set up things in our lives that have become counterfeit gods. Things that we look to that we want find satisfaction in, things other than God.

This is a very convicting book. If you want to be challenged, then you should read this book. If you want to grow in your affections for Christ throughout every area of your life, then you should read this book.

But especially…. especially if you just said to yourself… “I don’t have idols or counterfeit gods in my life.” then you should read this book.

it’s filled with more knowledge than i could ever wrap my head around. even if i chose one subject in particular it would take a long time to sit and read all the information on that subject. and this is just one of a handful in the surrounding area. not mention one of thousands across the country.

each a little unique in it’s content and container. each brings with it a familiar feeling, though.

i’m talking about the library.

maybe it takes us back to a happy time in our childhood. going to the library with the other children for story time! or maybe back to that day when you got your library card for the first time. oh the excitement and the joy of it.

it makes me sad to think that kids in today’s world probably miss out on these experiences because of the digital age.

the feel of a book in your hands and the paper between your fingers as you turn the page just doesn’t have that same appeal to them anymore.

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so my thoughts progressed as i sat and did some research on grant writing and as i strolled the aisles and took a few photos of row after row and stack after stack of books. what a captivating sight.

visit your local library.