Feburary Books...

My goal for this blog is to highlight the books that I have read and it give you a brief summary of those books. Here are three books that I have read during the month of February. 

The first book is "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. 
This book I have been meaning to read for a long time. I should have read it a lot eariler as it gives some excellent instructions in the area of raising children. The author's main focus of the book is that, as parents we need to aim at heart of our children and not just focus on altering the behaviour. In part one of the book, the author deals with the foundations for biblical childrearing. He talks about things like the shaping influences upon our children, the authority of the parent, examining our goals in parenting, communication with our children, questions about the rod, and appealing to the conscience of our children in parenting. Part two of the book takes you through the different stages of childhood and gives some practical advice on raising your kids at the different stages of their life. This is a great book for all parents.

I have one caveat with this book and all books on parenting. These kind books can give the impression that if you follow their advice carefully, your children will turn out perfect or that they will automatically become Christians. Yes, we are called to parent biblically and constantly live and talk about the gospel to our children and I do believe that God has placed parents to be the primary evanglists to our children, but it is up to God to save them. Scripture clearly teaches that God is sovereign in salvation. What this means is that I cannot make my kids believe no matter how hard I try.  We are called to teach and live the gospel constantly to our children and trust that God will be gracious to them.

The second book is "New Testament Exposition" by Walter L. Liefeld.
This book is a must read especially for all of those who are called to the ministry of teaching and preaching.  The material in the book is divided into three main parts. Part I  deals with introductory matters such as what is the definition, importance, advantages, goals difficulties and the characteristics of expository preaching.  Part II deals with preparing the text for expository preaching.  Such things as understanding the theme of the text and preparing an outline of the passage.  Part II talks about applying the text, which looks at application, sermon form, preaching from difficult texts.  This book is invaluable to the preacher.

The third book that read in February was "Keeping Your Greek" by Constantine R. Campbell.

I am currently auditing a Greek course to brush up on the Greek I learned in seminary and this was one of the books that was recommended reading for the class.  This short book provided invaluable strategies that busy people can use to keep their Greek fresh.  The tips include making sure that you read it every day to keep it fresh, burning your interlinear bible, using software tools wisely, making vocabulary your friend and many more simple tips to keep ones Greek.  This book is useful for those who have busy lives and do not want to lose their Greek.