Mini Book Reviews #2

I’ve slimmed down the stack of books on my nightstand lately. This is, of course, to make room for more books, right? Here are reviews of three excellent books I have recently finished:

Tempted and Tried by Russell D. Moore. We did this book as part of our Sunday Morning Men’s Bible Study at Gages Lake Bible Church and it provoked great discussion. Russell Moore gets behind temptation and testing, offering the devil’s work against Jesus during those forty days in the wilderness as the hope for Christians today. This book will get you thinking beyond the moralistic way we approach sin and instead offers a robust theology and gospel-soaked hope in living the cross-centered life. You can read my interview with Russell Moore here.

The Next Story by Tim Challies. This is a needed book for the digital age. Tim gives a thorough history and theology of the digital revolution. He presents life as it is without alarmism and without legalism. He also asks probing questions about what our technology says to us as a people. I highly recommend this book for those who live and work in the digital world. I suspect it will be a texbook in Christian colleges. You can read my interview with Tim Challies here.

The God Who Is There by D.A. Carson. Carson is a world-reknowned scholar from Trinity International University. He’s a scholar’s scholar. So you might suspect this to be a tough-to-read treatise from an academic mind. Instead, Carson writes with heart and thoughtfulness, tracing the storyline of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This is a great book for those who wonder how the Old Testament fits into the New. Carson clearly presents the “one big storyline” of the Bible. This would be a great book both for new believers and those who have known Jesus for a long time.