Whole Church, Whole Gospel, Whole World

Helpful.

HT: Tim Brister

Top Ten Books of 2012

Here are my top ten reads of 2012.

Kingdom Through Covenant, by Steve Wellum and Peter Gentry.  Both of these men heavily influenced me in seminary.  Their new position is called progressive-covenantalism.  The most important chapters are the first three and the last two.

The Hole In Our Holiness, by Kevin DeYoung.  This is a concise and practical book on holiness.  DeYoung never divorces holiness from the gospel; and despite its short length, he manages to cover the topic of holiness quite well.

Dangerous Calling, by Paul Tripp.  A challenging book to read; not from a literary standpoint, but from a pastoral standpoint.  Tripp holds nothing back in his book.  I found myself agreeing and lamenting throughout this book.

Everyday Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.  A follow-up to Total Church; Chester and Timmis exposit 1 Peter and lay out how the church is a community on mission.  A lot of good and practical stuff in this book.

Christ-Centered Biblical Theology, by Graeme Goldsworthy.  Although discernible in his past works, Goldsworthy has finally put together a volume in which he lays out his hermeneutical method.  A very helpful book for thinking through issues of typology.

Church Membership, by Jonathan Leeman.  A sorely needed book.  Leeman manages to pack a lot into a little book.  He uncovers the reasons why people object to membership, lays out the biblical reasons for it, and provides a lot of good practical stuff on membership.

Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, eds., Mark Boda and J. Gordon McConville.  This is the final volume of the IVP OT Dictionary Series.  Many solid contributors and an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the OT prophets.

Gospel-Centered Discipleship, by Jonathan Dodson.  Although this book is an expansion of his previous shorter work, Fight Clubs; Dodson identifies well the problems with most “models” of discipleship and provides some real depth and clarity to the topic.

Creature of the Word, by Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger.  This is a really helpful book on how the gospel must shape the theology, philosophy, and practice of the church.  This is not just a book for church leaders, but all Christians.

Center Church, by Tim Keller.  The format of the book is like a textbook, but it is far from boring.  Keller lays out various dynamics of how to minister as a church in a post-Christian context.  Although Keller serves in an urban context, the book is helpful for all.

I’ve Caved In

I caved in and finally got on Facebook and Twitter.  If you would like to connect with me, click the links below.

Facebook: Chad Knudson

Twitter: Chad Knudson

More Stuff on Gospel, Community, and Mission

What Does It Mean to Be Missional?

The Lord has been working in my heart this last year or so to think more clearly about what it means to be missional, why it’s important to plant churches, and what a culture of multiplication looks like.  These two videos are good places to start.

T4G 2.0

I’ve been hoping a second album would be produced after the first one.  Now it has.  Pick up your copy here.

HT: 9Marks

Acts29 Bootcamp Observations

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Acts29 bootcamp in St. Louis. My wife was able to go with me, and I must say we both left encouraged, challenged, and thankful. I’ve long appreciated what Acts29 guys are saying, promoting, and writing (The Resurgence); so I wanted to get a closer look and here are some of the observations I walked away with.

• They want to make Jesus and the Gospel big. They want to preach Jesus from the Scriptures, and they want to make the gospel the core of everything they do. This emphasis was not just theme of the bootcamp, but it is the theme and driving force of the entire network.
• I saw a real sense of brotherhood. These guys care about other pastors. They want to coach, mentor, and disciple you. We had so many great conversations with other men and women; people facing similar challenges, but trusting in the same Lord.
• As much as these guys care about pastors, they care the same, if not more about healthy gospel-saturated marriages. The had some really good stuff to say to men about being husbands, and had a time for the women to interact and talk about the challenges of ministry and church planting. This emphasis was really encouraging for both of us.
• They want a culture of multiplication. They are all about sending more men out and planting more churches. As much as they want to see more church plants, they are honest about the struggles and pitfalls associated with it. I was deeply challenged and grateful at the same time as I heard this theme of multiplication throughout the bootcamp.
• These guys are honest about their struggles and sins. I sensed a real transparency from the speakers and the men I spoke with. I see that the gospel is not just something these guys preach, but actually believe. Despite our sin, they continued to point all of us back to our acceptance in Jesus.
• The network is more diverse than I thought. A lot of men at the bootcamp were from all walks of life. I think there are some stereotypes about Acts29 guys that are misguided. These guys care about seeing the church made-up of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.
• Even though the network doesn’t have a strict top-down model on ministry philosophy, almost everyone reflects the same mindset. They are big on strong leadership, godly men, relationships, discipleship, being missional, and multiplication.

While there still is a lot to process from these two-days, more than anything the Lord gave us confirmation on many things we were already thinking and believing. Whatever place you find yourself in; you should attend a bootcamp.