The Freebie Round-Up #42

There are three upcoming book reviews you should watch out here on this blog. These are the latest release and I’m so thankful that they gave me review copies of their books. Watch out for these books that I’ll review and share some quotes (coming this week):

So The Next Generation Will Know by Sean McDowell and J. Warner Wallace

Struggle Against Porn by Benjamin Vrbicek

Before the Throne by Allen S. Nelson IV

Anyways, here’s a list of great freebies that are waiting to be downloaded. And if your new here to this post or you missed out other freebie round-ups, check the links to those post at the end of this article.

*Read: Pinoy Preacher List #1

FREE e-course – 1517 Academy is rolling a fresh new course next week and you should sign up. Click here to learn about Christ in the Old Testament.

FREE audio CD- A free audio CD of Jeff Nolbit expository preaching exclusive from Anchored in Truth (available for US and Canada only).

*Read: The Rebel’s Dictionary: Swoonies

FREE music and leadsheets – Matthew Hoskinson has some freebie over his blog that you might like and need in your music ministry.

FREE audio download of The Book of Romans – This 4 session course by Michael Patton is offered for free download if you want a bird’s eye view of this book and to grasp what the entire book is all about.

*Read: Book Review: A Place Like Heaven by Samuel Miller

FREE e-book “The Essentials of Prayer” – A free Kindle book by a Christian giant of the past, E. M. Bounds. In this book he teaches the Christian to pray.

FREE e-book “Women of the Word” by Jen Wilkin- Simply by answering a short survey from Crossway, you’ll get this book that shows how to study the Bible for free.

*Read: Book Review: Competing Spectacles by Tony Reinke

FREE Bible app – Literal Word is a new Bible app on the block . And it promises that there is no ads, no articles, no logging in, no distractions. Literal Word is a NASB Bible with Greek and Hebrew lexicon. Wow cool. And it’s free!

Do you want more freebies? Check out these past blog post:

Freebie Round-Up #41

Freebie Round-Up #40

Freebie Round-Up #39

Freebie Round-Up #38

Freebie Round-Up #37

Freebie Round-Up #36

Freebie Round-Up #35 

Freebie Round-Up #34

Freebie Round-Up #33

Freebie Round-Up #32 

Freebie Round-Up #31

Freebie Round-Up #30

Freebie Round-Up #29

Freebie Round-Up #28

Freebie Round-Up #27

Freebie Round-Up # 26

Freebie Round-Up # 25

Freebie Round-Up # 24

Freebie Round-Up # 23

Freebie Round-Up # 22

Freebie Round-Up # 21

Freebie Round-Up # 20

Freebie Round-Up # 19

Freebie Round-Up # 18

The Freebie Round-Up #17

 

Book Review: A Place Like Heaven by Samuel Miller

I requested this book (or booklet) from Log College Press not only to share some quotes or do a review, but also get to know the Synod of Dort. As you might not know this year marks the 400th year of the event. It’s worth celebrating because how the church stood up and defend the doctrine of grace against Arminianism.  I have been exposed to it on a lecture of Ryan Reeves on Youtube and it’s excellent. And after reading  A Place Like Heaven, all I can say that it can share the impression I have with the Ryan Reeves video. It’s excellent!

A Place Like Heaven is a primer booklet that explores Synod of Dort. The booklet tackles the events that leads to the synod, during the deliberation and the aftermath of this ecumenical gathering with a American Presbyterian perspective. It ends with some defense The title of this work came from on of the moderators of the synod describing it as a “place like heaven’. The title might sound like a devotional book but that doesn’t discount the weight of what has been examine in this booklet. I think it lightens up a bit by putting an encouraging tone to the book.

Though this is a primer, you’ll praise Samuel Miller for his remarkable writing that which makes this booklet accessible and clear. At first you might have some inhibitions  reading this, although short it’s written in an 18th century English. However as you read on, you’ll get the hang of it. The content is actually engaging and what you might dismiss as a Smithsonian relic, this booklet is really good. Whenever you start reading it, it grabs your attention and for me this is not a boring read. Miller ends this booklet by answering some arguments against the doctrine of grace.

For a 48 page booklet, I can’t believe I learned a lot about Synod of Dort. Sometimes I ask myself if this is really a primer because it really covers lots of areas of the event. Not that it gave all that is to know about the Synod of Dort but the content of this is enough for you to appreciate that important event. Once you read this, Log College Press books will be on your reading list.  A Place Like Heaven is a great addition for your Synod of Dort resources. Please don’t miss out on this book. Highly recommended!

My verdict:

5 out of 5

Book Review: Competing Spectacles by Tony Reinke

Last year Tony Reinke announced that he has a new book coming this 2019. What so sweet about it is that he needs folks for his book launch team. Knowing him from his articles on Desiring God and his books, I had to sign up. Come March I received an e-mail about the new book and then the following e-mail has an attached pre-released copy of his book. Competing Spectacles is the title and I immediately dive in to the book.

Competing Spectacles is “the lust of the eyes 2.0” book that really captures how we Christians live in this media age. Bombarded with distractions and gap fillers it seems that we have a never ending supply of digital candy that will not only compete with our attention but also erode our focus on God. Tony Reinke pour out his wisdom and insight on this new media age and offers biblical answer for the believers.

Reinke’s book tells how Christians spent their eyes on digitally and how it deteriorates our eternal perspective. Whether it our habit of binging over Netflix, mobile gaming or selfies, these earth bound spectacles takes over our unsatisfied cravings that the ultimate Spectacle (Jesus Christ) can only fulfill. Questions about how we Christians and the church should do with this spectacles are discussed superbly over the chapters in this short book.

The part that really got me is the chapter about how the church becomes a spectacle of the world. As Reinke traces the definition and history of this fleeting spectacles, he also did it on the church as she displays the everlasting Spectacle. This part of the book really captures the essence of being a Christian in this media age that sometimes we forget. I wish Reinke could put one more chapter about this because this is the game changer of the book.

The chapters are short that you’ll quickly read the next one and then the next. It’s a accessible and fast paced read that you’ll finish the book in no time completely blown away.  However, I suggest that you have to read it again because you might missed something in this book. Some chapters are solid and some are not that quite striking.  Nevertheless, this is a must read because of the brevity and spot on commentary on the digital media.

Competing Spectacles is a relevant book that will stand out this 2019. If you got tangled with this media jungle let this book guide you back to the ultimate Spectacle.

My verdict:

4.5 out of 5

 

The Quotable Round-Up #115

There is new book that I would like to share with you that will hit the shelves on May. It’s from Jen Pollock Michel and the title of the book is Surprised by Paradox. I’m again involved with the book launching team and I’m happy to share the review and quotes from the book.  Surprised by Paradox will be released on May 14, but you can pre-order it on Amazon by clicking this link. While waiting for the release of the book, here are some great quotes from that book.

“Modernity gave us more certainty than uncertainty—or at the very least certainty in certainty. We’ve come to an unassailable confidence that mystery, by dint of inquiry and scientific effort, can be wrestled and pinned down and made to cry uncle. We are no longer victims of the unknowable: we are masters of our own understanding. The great modern lie is one of infinite human autonomy and control.”

As soon as we think we have God figured out, we will have ceased to worship him as he is. God, in his very being, is inscrutable and unsearchable. We do not approach God with the powers of logic, and should we try, we’re sure to stumble over the rock that is the crucified Christ.”

“We are tempted to look for God in the invisible, in the intangible, in the ethereal—and the God of Spirit is invisible, intangible, and ethereal. But the incarnation is also the death of abstraction. Salvation came through a body, redemption through a man. An unbounded, incorporeal God of Spirit clothed himself with flesh and entered the world of matter, never fearing that the act would sully his holiness.”

“The first sin was not only our love of the gift, it was our preference for the gift over the Giver. Sin distorted our relationship to the material world. Creation was no longer a means of knowing and serving and praising God, but a means of satisfying our own greedy appetites.”

“Life-changing encounters with God can begin with something as unremarkable as this: the unheroic decision to turn aside and pay paradox a little bit attention.”

“The paradox of God’s story is that He’s chosen to write it’s timelessness in the ticking heart of His Son and that he’s choosing to write it in our hearts too.”

“God solved the “divine dilemma” by sending his Son as a man, who would both pay the penalty for sin and reclaim humanity’s glory.”  

The Quotable Round-Up #114

Upon receiving my pre-release copy of the book Competing Spectacles by Tony Reinke, I immediately dive in to the book. The book is really good and fast paced to read and I want to share to you some of the great quotes from the book. Competing Spectacles will be released on April 30 but you can pre-order it on Amazon by clicking this link. While waiting for the release of the book, here are some great quotes from that book.

“Only the grand Spectacle of Jesus Christ can reach to the bottom of our loves and longings with power to shape us into something whole and beautiful.”

“The Christian’s great problem is not Hollywood or Bollywood; it’s the unchecked earthly desires that operate within our fallen selves.”

“…the greatest problem with video gaming is not that gaming is innately evil, but that it’s addictively good. Gaming taps our social competitiveness, our love of narrative, and our interest in problem solving. As gaming franchises grow, digital dreamscapes are becoming holistically immersive.”

“Our appetite for worldly spectacles gives us a sense of the expanse inside our hearts for divine spectacles. What we do with this gaze-lust of our eyes is another thing but to be fundamentally indifferent to all the visual glory of this world is not to be subhuman but to be unhuman.”

“The spectacle of the cross is an earthquake that reverberates through our lives and breaks the chains of our earthly spectacle addictions.”

The worst of our compulsive social media habits are filling our days and corroding our prayer lives.”

“The rarity of gold and silver once gave substance to the worth of cash. Today, the scarcity of human attention brings value to accrued likes and plays and shares. The ticks of human attention are the new social currency that determine the value of our media.”

Book Review: The Future of Everything by William Boekestein

End times is such a sticky topic that leaves people ignoring it. And Christians are giving it a bad name through books. Books are notorious in that it they present the last things as a conspiratorial that brings paranoia to people or a dry academic one that no one wants to read.

The Future of Everything brings out the true purpose of end times by providing a very practical and personal approach on this sticky topic. Like evidential apologetics books, I also skip these kinds of books because for me it will consume my reading time, I find it boring and go into a never ending debate over the millennium. The Future of Everything is not that kind of book (thankfully). This book will reinforce your need study the last things, examine yourself in light of eternity and ignites a zeal to work for the coming Kingdom now.

I’m completely sold out with the personal eschatology section. This is my favorite part of this great book. Boekestein placed it in the early part of the book which I’m glad he did. It’s like taking the reader to look at the microscopic view first then on the next section, Boekestein lets the reader peek at a telescope to see the big picture of  the end times.

Death and dying in an eschatology book are rare but in this book the author did  something penetrating to the reader. For me this is the highlight of this section that really get readers come to terms on how the end times and their personal end times (death) intersect.

Part 3 is where the general presents the discussion about the millennium and Christ return. This is the primer part of the book. The Future of Everything is more than a primer it an action book that will drive you to toil for the Kingdom while there is time (Part 4 discusses that).

William Boekestein did an outstanding job in every section of this book. I’m very satisfied with what he want to deliver in this book. Highly recommended!

My verdict:

5 out of 5

The Freebie Round-Up #35

If you’re following my journey on being part of a launching team and reviewing some new books, I’m down to one which is the book of William Boekestein The Future of Everything. I haven’t wrote the review because of I haven’t finished the book, I posted a new book review this time by Flip Michaels titled Five Half Truths. He has no launch team for that book but I post some of the book’s quotes on my social media account and collected them here on this post. Also I started reading Simonetta Carr’s latest book Broken Pieces and The God that Mends Them. Posted some quotes from that book. Last will be Surprised by Paradox by Jen Ollock Michel which will be release on May 14, 2019. So eager to read her book.

Anyways, here’s a new batch of freebies that you can use personally or a resource for the church. If you’re new to this or miss out some freebies, check some previous freebie round-up at the end of this post.

 

*Read: How to Create an Instant Digital Christian Library Without Breaking the Bank*

FREE Bootcamp Guides – These Bootcamp Guides from Blueprint Church are great addition for your church discipleship program. Download the Leaders and Participant guides for free.

FREE e-booklet “Basic Bible Skills” – Need help in your study of Scripture? Check this freebie offer from Knowable Word.

*Read: 5 Reasons Why Your Sermon is Boring (And 5 Ways to Fix It)*

FREE music resource from Brainerd Baptist Church – This resource page caters two free music resources and if you sign up for their newsletter you’ll be updated to new resources.  

FREE teaching notes and slides from Greg Strand – Waterdam Church makes Stay Sharp 2019 by Greg Strand available for free download. It tackles the doctrine of human condition.

*Read: 10 Best Books I Read in 2018*

FREE e-book “A Glorious New Passover Exodus” by John Dunn – A great resource on the redemptive history that tackles the New Covenant as the New Exodus. Christ My Covenant website offers this book for free.

*Read: 7 Awesome Ways to Learn Church History Online for Free *

FREE course from Tim Lane  – Enroll to this free course, Give Us, Today Our Daily Bread that explores the Lord’s prayer and apply it to your Christian life.

*Read: 5 Questions A Biblicist Should Ponder*

FREE e-book “Sipping on Saltwater” by Steve Hoppe– The Good Book offers this e-book that helps you understand idolatry and how it affects believers.  Get it free by signing up to their newsletter.

Do you want more freebies? Check out these past blog post:

Freebie Round-Up #34

Freebie Round-Up #33

Freebie Round-Up #32 

Freebie Round-Up #31

Freebie Round-Up #30

Freebie Round-Up #29

Freebie Round-Up #28

Freebie Round-Up #27

Freebie Round-Up # 26

Freebie Round-Up # 25

Freebie Round-Up # 24

Freebie Round-Up # 23

Freebie Round-Up # 22

Freebie Round-Up # 21

Freebie Round-Up # 20

Freebie Round-Up # 19

Freebie Round-Up # 18

The Freebie Round-Up #17

 

 

 

Book Review: Five Half Truths by Flip Michaels

 Our skeptical world has a way of presenting the truth. It doesn’t dismiss it all out but it distorts it by presenting half truths. It might have some truth in it, but as Phil Johnson points out in his introduction of this book, quoting John MacArthur, ‘Half-truth? That’s a lie. I’d rather they call it a half-lie. It’s a lie intended to cover up or mislead”. That’s were Flip Michaels new book Five Half Truths comes in. This book list down five common half truths that distorts some Christian beliefs and provides the answers or whole truth to a demanding skeptical world. A combination of striking, spot on illustrations with biblical response in a straight forward approach you’ll find this book a winner in clarity and pulls you into the book once you start read. You won’t be lost on every half truths as you read every chapters that is meat. Then in every chapter there is a short summary provided at the end.

If you have read other apologetics book with an evidential approach, you’ll find some familiar points here. But before you dismiss this book, Five Half Truths gets the cake on how five half truths points are presented. By the title itself, it grabs hold of the reader’s attention. I was so interested in this book because of the title alone. Reading it is another thing. It’s not an all out apologetics that list down arguments for and against Christianity with back and forth counter-arguments. Well the reliability of the Bible, validity of the Christian religion and the deity of Jesus Christ were there (the usual stuff evidential apologetics books). However sandwiched within those, are half truths that tackles the character of God which is love (Half Truth #3) and good deeds dealing with faith (Half Truth #5) which made the book more interesting.

I’m into presuppositional apologetics now but Five Half Truths makes me want to look at evidential apologetics again. I make it a point not to include books evidentialism on my reading list. However, this book makes me want to see this apologetic method a second look. This book shows that evidential approach is indispensible in the Christian apologetics. By the Chapter 6, we are invited to read Michaels short testimony and a gospel presentation is provided which is an excellent one. Not only that, thr book helps you in your Christian journey by turning the five half truths as a starting point to know about Him plus some recommended resource (Chapter 7).

Concise, convincing and accessible, Five Half Truths an enjoyable read for believers and non-believers alike.

My verdict:

4.5 out of 5

Book Review: Defining Deception by Costi Hinn and Anthony Wood

What does a fading infamous faith healer do to be back in the limelight, be relevant today and to the coming decade? And what does a popular NAR leader do to go to the next level of his already established ministries? Well collaboration with others is what they need. And collaboration is what they did…with each other! Bill Johnson and Benny Hinn join together to further strengthen their ministries. This and other issues are discussed in Defining Deception  by Costi Hinn and Anthony Wood as they dig deep on the dangerous movement of Third Wave/NAR .

Defining Deception is not no holds barred bashing or tell all book by two guys who are formerly connected with the movement (especially Costi Hinn).   It’s a careful, sensitive and loving evaluation of Third Wave/NAR blended with personal insights and excellent apologetics. The book is mostly about Bill Johnson, Bethel Church and Jesus Culture but according to the authors, its for the Christians who embraces Sola Scriptura and considers the Bible as the deciding rule of faith and practice ( pg. x). As you read this engaging book, you see the lies and deception of the personalities in this movement that undermines the authority of the Scripture. Ample biblical response are sandwiched in every points they are addressing.

But before they address the present day movement, the authors leads the readers a few decades back to see how this movement was born and the personalities of the past behind it. There can never be a Third Wave/NAR without looking at the roots. The rest of the book discusses how up and coming prosperity preachers and the icons of this movement intersect as it furthers strengthen itself for the dawning of a new decade.

The authors are generous to provide an excellent appendix. Aside from the testimonies (Appendix 1), they gave us a primer on the Charismatic Movement with Appendix 2 to 5. So if you’re done with the book and still lost of all of these, the appendixes will be your map to lead you in the right direction. You don’t need a supplimental book to make sense of this book.

 Defining Deception is a trailblazer for other books that will address this issue as it sets the right tone on exposing this dangerous movement. It’s also a beacon of light for the coming decade as it warns Christians on what steps this movement will take. If you picked up this book because of the “Hinn” in Costi Hinn, you wont be disappointed with its balance of expośe and apologetics. But more than that, it is a must read book fot every Christians concerning the New Apostolic Reformation.

My verdict:

5 out of 5

The Quotable Round-Up #107

Someone ask me if I can have a copy of a book that I own. I know this sister in Christ is a single mom and making ends meet with here kids. Rather give her a e-book copy or tell her it’s available at a Christian bookstore, I’m happy to give it away to her. So I plan to give a book this coming Sunday. This got me thinking. Am I willing to give up books for someone who really wants one? Am I ready to empty my bookshelf for a fellow Christian. I know some of you bought books that are rare and expensive but books are still books. You can still but it and own it again. Also it’s much better to keep in mind that someone may be in need of a book. So I must consider buying an extra book when I go to the bookstore in that way if someone ask me one I have something to bless that person.

Anyways, here’s some quotes from the book by Costi Hinn and Anthony Wood  Defining Deception. Order the book on Amazon by clicking this link.

“If personal experience becomes our final guide to truth, no one is left who can discern what is a gift of God from what is a Trojan horse attack from the devil, or from what is a lie from within our own heart.”

“False teachers are good communicators who understand how to manipulate feelings without directly addressing the need for individuals to pursue holiness. To do this they use highly stylized preaching and engaging music content that promises people immediate pleasure and prosperity-be it emotional or physical.”

“It isn’t uncommon for someone questioning the unbiblical practice inside these mystical-miracle churches to be threatened with the three C’s: cancer, curses and catastrophic events. Any of these tragedies” may happen to you” if you dare to speak out against an anointed leader. When you are living under a leader who uses these tactics, it feels a lot more like you are a member of a mafia than a biblical ministry.”

“In prosperity gospel circles, the love of money is prevalent and such love is unapologetic. It can actually be a form of competition to see who God is blessing the most!”

“The past century of Pentecostal/ Charismatic history is absolutely heart-breaking. Millions have lived and died under the guile of false teachers and millions more continue on the path of destruction. Christians need accurate information so they can make informed decisions with regards to the misleading miracles and exercise discernment with any teacher who claims to have a heritage from these teachers. Furthermore, true believers need to be prayerful, faithful, and resilient in reaching out to those caught in this net of deceit.”

“True New Testament miracles always pointed to the person of Christ. Therefore, if the glory of God and the Good News of Christ aren’t clarified or enhanced by a supposedly extraordinary act, it isn’t a miracle of God. Yet, if it’s not of God, then who is it from?”

“The Bible doesn’t say anywhere that Gospel power is evidenced in monetary gain, a life without sickness, Twitter followers, or responses to an altar call. In fact, the Bible depicts the life of those faithful to the Gospel as likely to lead to poverty, abuse by authorities and persecution.”