Last week I found myself in a bit of a conundrum.  I wanted to participate in an upcoming blog tour for Planting for the Gospel (Christian Focus, 2011), but had actually lent my copy of the book to a friend.  Fortunately, the kind folks at Christian Focus Publications came to my rescue and provided me with a PDF version of the book, which I loaded up in iBooks on my first generation iPad.  While I’ve read portions of several books on the iPad in both iBooks and the Amazon Kindle app, I’ve never actually read through an entire book.  A couple of hours and 128 pages later, I can say that I officially read through my first e-book.  All things considered it was a decent experience.  On the plus side, I could bookmark where I left off and I found that I was able to skim and scan pages in the e-book much faster than I can in an actual printed book.  I definitely appreciated that the format and medium made the book highly portable and convenient to access as I generally have my iPad with me, which precluded me from forgetting the book on my desk at home.  Honestly, it’s hard for me to think of anything that was negative or frustrating in this whole experience.  For better or worse, I find myself in more and more situations where an electronic or computer searchable format is preferable over a printed book for my writing and research needs.  As a lifelong bibliophile it horrifies me to think of leaving my library of printed books behind.  For now, I’ll have to live somewhere in the middle of this print versus e-book dichotomy, riding the fence on whether or not I should become an ardent supporter of the e-book revolution.  For now my slogan will be:  Long live the printed book, except for the times when an electronic format is more convenient. 

Book Details:
Author: Graham Beynon
Publisher: Christian Focus (2011)
Binding: Paperback
Page count: 128
ISBN: 9781845506360

Recommendation:
Review Date: 5/26/2011 by Shaun Tabatt
Rating: Recommended

Review:
Thinking back to my Bible college days, I don’t remember hearing a whole lot about church planting. That was some fifteen years ago, but today church planting seems to be everywhere. If you search for the term “church planting” on Amazon.com, you’ll end up with a list of six hundred plus books to consider. In addition to the abundance of church planting books available today, there are numerous church planting conferences, seminars and even church planting networks. It is probably an understatement to say that the church planting movement has gained some momentum since my college days. If like me, you are new to the church planting scene, you may not quite know the best place to get started. In many cases when I am looking to learn a new skill or gain some new information, I will seek out a book that promises to deliver what I need. In the case of church planting, a book that may be a useful resource to introduce you to church planting is Planting for the Gospel: A Hands-on Guide to Church Planting by Graham Beynon (Christian Focus, 2011).

Planting for the Gospel explores core issues related to planting a church. The book is divided into two sections. Section one introduces the many considerations that must be made when planting. Chapter one explores the various reasons a group might have for planting a church. Ultimately, each group striving to plant a church must answer the question, “How can we best grow both in quality of discipleship and spread of the gospel?” (p. 19). Chapter two introduces seven different models of church planting:

• Start Up Church – “This is the formation of a new church in an area ‘from scratch’.” (p. 21)
• Mother-Daughter – “This is where a church in one part of a town or city starts a new church relatively nearby.” (p. 22)
• On-Site Plant – “One of the most common tactics when a church is growing too large for its meeting space is to have multiple services.” (p. 23)
• House Church – “House churches are by their nature much smaller in size-they need to fit into someone’s house!” (p. 24)
• Multi-Site Church – “A multi-site church has a number of congregations meeting in different locations but which remain united as one church structure.” (p. 25)
• Network Collaboration – “Some churches are part of a network of churches across the country or in a specific city or area.” (p. 25)
• Re-Start Church – “This is where a group of people move to an existing church to ‘re-start’ or reinvigorate it.” (p. 26)

Chapter three focuses on how to decide on which model will best suit your particular situation. Beynon offers a three-part formula for picking an appropriate church planting model:

1. Our beliefs about what Scripture says constitutes a church and what we think church actually is will influence the model.
2. The decided aim and purpose of the church plant will influence the model.
3. The context of the plant (geography, community, social dynamics, church planting network, etc.) will influence the model.

Chapter four expands on what was covered in chapters two and three, relating the three-part formula to the various church planting models. Chapter five looks at some of the key issues faced by the leadership of the church plant, touching briefly on forming and managing a core group, leadership and vision, constitutional issues, legal considerations, youth and children’s ministry, and staffing / leadership. Chapter six brings section one to a close, outlining some of the challenges planters are likely to encounter during the early days of the new church plant.

Section two offers numerous case studies that are organized around the seven models of church planting that were introduced in chapter two. The context for the case studies is both UK and US. Of the different models represented, the breakdown of case studies is as follows:

• Start up – 8 case studies
• Mother-Daughter -7 case studies
• On-Site Plant – 2 case studies
• House Church – 2 case studies
• Multi-site Church – 1 case study
• Network Collaboration – 6 case studies
• Re-start Church – 5 case studies

The final few pages of the book offers a list of web / ministry resources and books for further reading.

While Beynon has quite a bit of experience with and is passionate about church planting, he by no means claims to be the be all, end all expert. If you are on the lookout for a detailed tome on church planting, this is not that book.  However, if you are looking for a book that will give you a high-level introduction to the practical  ins an outs of church planting, this is just the book you’ve been looking for.  Planting for the Gospel will be a great help to those readers who are just getting started with or are completely new to church planting.

Author Information:
Graham Beynon has experience of church planting having planted the Avenue community church in Leicester. He is currently studying a PhD and acting as Course director for ‘Team’ (Training for East Anglia Ministry) and involved in church ministry in Cambridge. He is married to Charis and they have three children.

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by the Christian Focus Publications for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Be sure to stop by the Christian Focus BookNotes blog this week and submit an entry for their May book giveaway.  Two lucky winners will each receive a copy of Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History by Diana Lynn Severance and Touched by Greatness: Women in the Life of Moses by Dorothy K. Patterson.  Entries will be taken through May 30th.  Click here to learn more.

Book Details:
Author: David Robertson
Publisher: Christian Focus (2010)
Binding: Paperback
Page count: 160
ISBN: 9781845505974

Recommendation:
Review Date: 5/22/2011 by Shaun Tabatt
Rating: Highly Recommended

Review:
If you engage the people around you in conversation about spiritual things, you will quickly find that skepticism seems to be ruling the day. As with any movement, there are an elite few influential leaders who are leading the charge, especially through books and other media. One such influential leader amongst the skeptics is Oxford professor Richard Dawkins. His well-known book The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) is still wildly popular several years after its publication with some 1693 reviews on Amazon. A non-fiction book with this many reviews five years after its publication clearly has a following. As we consider the level of influence garnered by books like The God Delusion that oppose a Christian worldview, an important question Christians need to ask themselves is, “How should a Christian respond?”

One person who decided to respond to Richad Dawkins is David Robertson. During the winter of 2006-2007, he wrote a series of open letters responding to concerns raised by Dawkins in The God Delusion. The first of these letters made its way to Dawkins’ web site and received numerous responses. The chord that his letter seemed to have struck, encouraged David to write more letters in response to Dr. Dawkins, which ultimately led to the creation of this book. Robertson’s aim is “to challenge some of the basic myths Dawkins uses and encourages in his book, in order that you may think and consider these things for yourself.” (p. 9). With the exception of the introductory letter to the reader and the final letter to Dawkins (new to the revised edition), there are ten letters in the book, each of which correspond to a chapter in Dawkins’ book and responds to one or more of the atheist myths that are discussed in that chapter.

The writing style of these letters feels very conversational, coming across as humorous, friendly, and deeply pastoral. If you happen to be reading The God Delusion or have a friend or acquaintance who is reading it, I would suggest picking up a copy of The Dawkins Letters to read in conjunction with Dawkins’ book in order to get a balanced perspective.  The Dawkins Letters is widely available from Amazon, Westminster Books and elsewhere.

Author Information:
David Robertson is a columnist, author and pastor of St. Peter’s Free Church of Scotland in Dundee.

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by the Christian Focus Publications for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Christian Focus Publications is hosting a giveaway for some excellent Bible & theology titles this week on the Christian Focus BookNotes blog.  Looks like they’ll have both a first and second place winner.  First prize is:

• Systematic Theology, Volume One by Douglas F. Kelly
• The Priesthood of Christ by John Owen
• Ezra & Nehemiah:  A Mentor Commentary by Tiberius Rata

Second prize is:

• The Gospel of God:  Romans by R.C. Sproul
• From the Finger of God by Philip S. Ross

Details of how to enter the contest are available at the Christian Focus BookNotes blog:  LINK.

Of Marriage and Celibacy
#718

St. Augustine said, finely: A marriage without children is the world without the sun.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 392.

Of Marriage and Celibacy
#715

A PREACHER of the gospel, being regularly called, ought, above all things, first, to purify himself before he teaches others. Is he able, with a good conscience, to remain unmarried? let him so remain; but if he cannont abstain living chastely, then let him take a wife; God has made that plaster for that sore.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 391.

Christian Focus Publications announced their new blog today.  You can view it at blog.christianfocus.com.

Of God’s Word
#29

Dr. Luther was asked whether the history of the rich man and Lazarus was a parable or an actual fact? He replied:  The earlier part of the story is evidently historical; the persons, the circumstances, the existence of the five brothers, all this is given in detail. The reference to Abraham is allegorical, and highly worthy of observation. We learn from it that there are abodes unknown to us, where the souls of men are; secrets into which we must not inquire. No mention is made of Lazarus’ grave; whence we may judge, that in God’s eyes, the soul occupies far more place than the body. Abraham’s bosom is the promise and assurance of salvation, and the expectation of Jesus Christ; not heaven itself, but the expectation of heaven.

Table Talk: Luther’s Comments on Life, the Church and the Bible, p. 104.

Book Details:

• Author: Catherine Mackenzie
• Category: Children (4-7 years), Activity
• Publisher: CF4K (January 2011)
• Binding: softcover
• Page Count: 16
• ISBN: 1845506057

Recommendation:

• Review Date: 2/3/2011 by Shaun Tabatt
• Rating: Highly recommended

Review:
As a parent of young children, I’m always excited to discover new ways for my kids to interact with God’s word. Attention spans can sometimes be a bit short amongst my youngsters, so a devotional reading or activity that can be covered in just a few minutes is ideal. The main thing I am on the lookout for is a way for my kids to experience God’s word. One of the new resources we have been trying out recently is What God Says:  God does it Right by Catherine Mackenzie. What God Says:  God does it Right is one of four new titles in the Bible Art series published under the CF4K imprint of Christian Focus Publications. The focus of What God Says:  God does it Right is Bible verses about the word truth. Each page, with the exception of the final page of the book contains a picture and a Bible verse. Since this is an activity / coloring book, everything is meant to be colored. The Bible verses used throughout the book are from the English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001). The verses included in the book are:

• Psalm 25:5
• Psalm 119:160
• John 1:17
• Psalm 43:3
• Psalm 51:6
• John 4:24
• John 8:32
• John 14:6
• John 6:14
• 1 Corinthians 13:6
• 1 John 1:8
• 1 John 3:18-20
• 2 Timothy 2:15

The final page of the book contains an age appropriate explanation of the meaning behind the word truth. Parents may want to continue reviewing this page with their children as they are working through the activity book in order to solidify the meaning of the word truth and its relation to the Bible verses they are learning. A few of the possible applications I see for this book are reading scripture to your children, a tool for bible memory, and a Bible-focused art activity. We have been using several of the books in this series as art activities for our younger children. They are very proud to have homework just like their big brothers and sisters, all of whom we are educating at home. What I am most excited about with this series is that it provides a multi-sensory way for my children to interact with God’s word through reading, listening, and physical movement (coloring). My rating for What God Says:  God does it Right is highly recommended. If this book sounds of interest to you, you may also want to consider these other titles in the series:

• What God Says:  Holiness
• What God Says:  Salvation
• What God Says:  Repenting
• What God Says:  Redemption
• What God Says:  Resurrection
• What God Says:  Creation
• What God Says:  God is always Fair
• What God Says:  God is Forever
• What God Says:  God does a Swap

Author Information:
Catherine Mackenzie has written several biographies for young teens in the Trailblazers series as well as other titles for younger children. She lives in Scotland and has several nieces and nephews – a perfect practice audience!

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Christian Focus Publications for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Purchase Options: Christian Focus Publications, Monergism Books, Amazon.com