the glorious exchange

Just got a couple of books in from WTS:

• The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 1 and 2
• Desiring God by John Piper
• The Legacy of John Calvin by David Hall

Excited about these….

I entered a contest over at Challies.Com, and won a $50 gift certificate to Westminster Books. Now I get more books! My question to you….what books should I purchase? What would you get from Westminster Books (link) with $50?

It’s from Monergism Books and Challies.com. Register using this link: $200 Monergism Books Spree

or click here:

I just finished reading The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Dr. Steven J. Lawson, and I must say, I’m fired up to preach this coming Sunday. The book gives a rundown of Calvin’s preaching methods, how he structured his sermons, and how he saw his congregation with regard to his preaching. Some of the anecdotes Lawson includes I had never heard, and I’m eager to dive into further biographies of John Calvin. I will allow you the luxury of reading the first chapters without revealing their ideas, but I have to focus on the main gist of the book, which is this: expository preaching was not only Calvin’s method of preaching, it should be ours as well, as it is the method through which God’s glory is most shown. And I have to agree. The last two chapters of Lawson’s book examines the doxology in Romans 11:36 with regards to preaching. Romans 11:36 states this:

for from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Lawson then explains the expository method, and indeed Calvin’s preaching, as an exemplification of this verse: that the expository preacher declares things that are from God, that the preacher gets from God all things needed to preach (correct interpretation, wisdom, passion, etc.), so that the message is not only from God, but is preached through God. Finally, the message is exposited so that the hearers will have their affections ignited for the glory of God, and so they will turn towards Him in their daily lives. This is how the message is not only from God or through God, but ultimately, is to God.

Throughout the book, there are “distinctives” listed that make Calvin’s expositions so “genius”, such as a pressing appeal in his conclusion, a stated theme in his concise introduction, so on and so forth. Lawson examines Calvin’s pulpit approach, preparation, introduction, exposition, the delivery itself, application, and the conclusion.

My only problem with the book is that it seemed very concise and short. I would have liked to have more examples of Calvin’s preaching, along with a bit more application to our preaching today. How can we institute some of the distinctives from Calvin? Lawson leaves us on our own to figure that out. But my problems with the book stem from two things, more than likely: it was not Lawson’s intention to tell us how we should preach, only to examine how Calvin actually did preach. Secondly, my yearning for Biblical preaching is overly passionate, so I want more naturally.

Overall, don’t let the hangups of the book (which may not be hangups at all) overshadow the richness of the examination of Calvin’s expository preaching. It truly was genius, and we have much to learn from both Calvin’s preaching and Lawson’s examination of it.

You can buy the book, The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven J. Lawson, from Reformation Trust here for $12: The Expository Genius of John Calvin

Sidenote: The book is the first in a series, A Long Line of Godly Men, by Lawson.

Ok, so my birthday was last Monday. But it was a great one. Here are some quick thoughts:

• Miranda and I used it multiple times as an excuse to go out to eat.
• She got me probably the best birthday present I can remember in quite some time. After I tell you, you will be confused. But I’m a simple man. Here’s the list:
  • A basketball. (Already had much use. Daily as of right now. We’ll see how long that lasts)
  • A soccer ball. (Ditto.)
  • My favorite: subscriptions to three magazines I read the most (Wired Magazine [tech], Paste Magazine [music], and GOOD [society]). She definitely knows my heart: straight through pages.
• As a plus, I got myself a combined graduation/birthday present: a blank Bible. What’s a blank Bible, you ask (I heard you)? Check it out here: TSS Blank Bible Index. I used one of our “table Bibles” (paperback ESV), took it apart, separated it page by page, inserted blank pages, and divided it in the following volumes:
  • Genesis (2 blanks between each page of text)
  • Exodus-Deuteronomy (2 blanks)
  • Joshua-Nehemiah (1 blank)
  • Job-Song of Solomon (1 blank)
  • Isaiah-Jeremiah-Ezekiel (1 blank)
  • Minor Prophets (Daniel-Malachi) (1 blank)
  • Matthew-Romans (2 blanks)
  • 1 Corinthians-Revelation (1 blank)
• Right now it’s at Staples being finished (spiral bound and covered). Total cost: $40 for all 8 volumes. Not too shabby.
• Also raked in some cash from the family…used to pay off bills.

Thanks be to God for allowing me to live in a time and place with the printing press and sports.