Book Review: Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus
Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus by Mark Dever
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The core message in this book is simple. The logical deductions from Scripture are simple. The common-sense factor in this book is simple. You might say it’s mostly intuitive. Despite all that, few churches seem to be doing this well, or at all. Discipling a person is aptly explained by the subtitle: “How to Help Others Follow Jesus.” That’s it.
It is not about elaborate systems or programs. It is about following Jesus in your life and helping another to do the same. I think we can make it complicated, but consider jesus’ approach, as Dever writes: “The most famous discipler of all, of course, is Jesus Christ. Christianity did not start with a mass-market product rollout. There was no 24/7 media coverage surrounding his travels. It began with a series of personal engagements among a small group of men over a three-year period.” It’s not hard to understand, but we might say it’s hard to do.
I can’t think of a more accessible or concise place to point you than this book.
Book Review: Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an excellent incorporation of story structure into the brand marketing of businesses. The book has helpful ideas as well as exercises to use the framework to clarify a business’ message to customers and potential customers. I could see it being helpful for small business owners.
Book Review: The Code of the Woosters
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a book! Bertie Wooster gets thoroughly into the soup and gets out again. This is Wodehouse on his game and a whole lot of fun.
Book Review: Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age
Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age by Mark Dever
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a collation of chapters from various contributors primarily centering around church polity. The book makes a strong argument for congregationalist polity. Some parts of the book are better than others and some parts I sharply disagreed with. Overall, I think it is a useful read and could help to think about some of these issues from different perspectives.
Book Review: The Marks of a Spiritual Leader
The Marks of a Spiritual Leader by John Piper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This booklet has some gold in it. Piper breaks it into two parts–inner and outer. The inner has to do with the self-watch of the spiritual leader and the outer has more to do with the leadership of others. I like the focus from the start that spiritual leadership is to help people glorify God.
The second part is particularly useful as Piper lists 18 marks of a spiritual leader. These are principles drawn from Scripture and helpful in at least two ways. First, a man who is in leadership or is wrestling with his calling into leadership can be helped by thinking through these marks with honest self-examination of whether he has these or not. Second, the marks are useful in identifying others in the church who may potentially be leaders. Perhaps a third use would be the congregation being equipped in what to look for and expect from spiritual leaders.
As with anything from Piper, there are odd statements here and there. Nevertheless, this is a useful little book.
