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Pastor’s June Book Selection

June 3, 2023 by Bill Mayk

Fire Road by Kim Phuc Phan Thi

After a hiatus from doing book reviews, I am happy to suggest “Fire Road” as a possible read on your summer vacation. Having recently listened to an interview with the author, I was moved to purchase her memoir. Kim Phuc was a happy 9 year old girl, living in a relatively safe part of South Vietnam even though war continued to rage throughout the country. Her life was changed dramatically on June 8, 1972, when South Vietnamese troops dropped napalm on her village to stem the flow of communist forces. The tragedy that entered her life was captured in a Pulitzer prize-winning photograph, showing her running naked and burning down Highway Route 1 along with her brothers.

What that picture could not depict would be the years of pain, emotional suffering, manipulation by a victorious communist government, and the anger and bitterness that consumed her. Her biography tells the story of how Jesus Christ entered into her life, brought peace into her heart, and put her on a road of forgiveness, healing, and sanctification. I highly recommend this book as one that encourages faith and demonstrates the hope of the Lord even in the most trying of circumstances. Read this work, it will be a blessing to your soul.

Pastor’s January Book Selection

January 15, 2023 by Bill Mayk

Augustine on the Christian Life by Gerald Bray

Throughout the years I have recommended a number of works by or about Saint Augustine. “Augustine on the Christian life” is one volume in a series of works about various Christians throughout the ages. If you’ve never read a biography about Augustine or his famous “Confessions”, this is a work that not only offers an overview of his life, but discusses his ministry as a teacher, pastor, and his significance for us today.

When I first began reading, I wasn’t impressed because much of the material was covered elsewhere in greater detail. However, the section on Augustine as a teacher, which is a synopsis of some of his most important ideas, and the chapter on Augustine as a pastor made the book well worth the read. Therefore, I would recommend Bray’s work for those who are not familiar with the life of this important figure, as well as those who would like to become more familiar with his theology and pastoral ministry without trying to wade through an entire volume of his own writings.

Pastor’s December Book Selection

December 13, 2022 by Bill Mayk

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

Difficulties, especially those that are unexpected or inexplicable, can leave us questioning God and even doubting his care for us. “Trusting God” is a work that is meant to glorify God by offering a thorough explanation of his sovereignty and goodness, while encouraging Christians from Scripture that God is in control of their lives, that he loves them, and that he does indeed work all things for their ultimate good.

In a caring and pastoral way, the author tackles some of the more perplexing questions we may have when facing various trials. He does not shy away from wrestling with why a good God would allow suffering in our lives or what the point is in praying if God is truly sovereign. His discussion of Divine Providence acts as a great encouragement to trust the Lord even when his purposes do not seem immediately clear to us.

Jerry Bridges has written a work that will challenge the more theologically minded reader, but also bring hope and comfort to those who are struggling with God’s frowning providence as it unfolds in their personal experiences. I highly recommend this book as a help in drawing close to God whose loving control of all things is a reassuring comfort when things so often seem out of control.

Pastor’s November Book Selection

November 10, 2022 by Bill Mayk

One Holy Passion: The Consuming Thirst to Know God by R. C. Sproul

Over the years as a Christian and a pastor, I have come to the conclusion that the greatest remedy for the feelings of depression and despair, for our worries, for the habitual sins that simply seem to hang on to us, and for many of the other spiritual and emotional afflictions that weigh us down is … to dwell upon, and develop a passion, for the incomprehensible God of Scripture. While such an undertaking may seem paradoxical R.C. Sproul helps us to do just that in his marvelous book, “One Holy Passion”.
Beginning with his own thirst to know God, he takes the reader on a journey through the attributes of God that force us to think deeply about our Maker. The author encourages us

to consider those aspects of God that set him apart from all other creatures
to understand that this God has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ
to know that he loves us,
to recognize that he has redeemed us as his own. Contemplating these ideas will help us to grow in a holy passion that lifts our souls and inspires us to pursue our Father above all else.

I cannot suggest a work on the attributes of God more than “One Holy Passion”. I encourage us all to read this book so as to develop a consuming thirst to know God.

Pastor’s October Book Selection

October 20, 2022 by Bill Mayk

Hide Or Seek: When Men Get Real With God About Sex by John Freeman

In today’s world, and in the Church, sexual struggles are too often kept in the closet by people wanting to be set free, but terrified about opening up to others. Consequently, they live in the shadows, vainly trying to shed the guilt and shame of their battles, while growing more and more hopeless as time wears on. John Freeman, founder and director of Harvest Ministries, has provided a great resource for this problem. Drawing from real-life accounts, and years of experience the author describes, analyzes, and offers hope to men caught in the relentless cycle of sin, shame, repentance, and further sin. Freeman does not simply offer shallow self-help techniques that never seem to work, rather, he walks with the reader through the lonely and debilitating helplessness that accompanies habitual sexual sin. Shining the light of the gospel into the darkness of despair “Hide or Seek” lets the reader see Jesus standing with him in the midst of his sin, pain, and confusion. If you are one that struggles with pornography or other unhealthy sexual practices, this book will give you confidence that God is able and willing to change your heart, that he has provided the means to do so, and that (as it says in chapter 9) he will lead you out of the fog and into the light of a life of repentance. I cannot recommend a book on this topic more highly than Hide or Seek.

Bill Mayk

September Men’s Fellowship

September 1, 2022 by Tom Albrecht

Pastor’s September Book Selection

September 1, 2022 by Bill Mayk

The Holy Bible by God

I had already chosen a book to recommend this September when I decided instead to suggest The Holy Bible. There are many other fine works by Christian authors throughout the centuries that can be beneficial to our spiritual growth. However, none of them have any lasting value unless they teach what God has revealed in the Scriptures.

As God’s people, we believe the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible Word of God that is necessary for our salvation and growth in godliness. Our own confessional standards teach us that only in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments do we learn how to glorify and enjoy God. It is for these reasons that I recommend that we all either continue or begin to, not only read select portions of the Scriptures on a daily basis, but that (as much as possible) we read and meditate deeply on the entire Bible, seeking to hear from the Holy Spirit and to apply God’s word to every area of our lives.

Consequently, I highly recommend The Holy Bible to all those wishing to know God, to be saved by our Redeemer, and to grow in godliness, glorifying and enjoying our Father, His eternal Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Pastor’s August Book Selection

August 3, 2022 by Bill Mayk

The Time Is At Hand by Jay Adams

The Book of Revelation is certainly one of the most debated books of Scripture. Many people tend to approach it as though it were a biblical crystal ball that depicts current news accounts spread out before their eyes from the pen of an apostle living 2,000 years ago. Others read it as a duty without any sense that it can be understood by the normal person. And finally, others simply disregard it altogether. But what if this ancient prophecy actually spoke clearly to people in the first century about major events in their day, while offering encouragement to saints throughout the ages? In his short work, “The Time Is At Hand”, Jay Adams approaches Revelation from the perspective that the prophecies were written prior to 70 AD, and therefore describe the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the fall of Rome, rather than the rapture, the second coming of Christ, a future physical millennium, and the end of the world as we understand it. While I do not agree with everything in this book, it is nevertheless a very helpful work that opens the reader’s eyes to a different understanding of the apostle John’s vision. Although Adams does tend to be rather technical in some areas, I recommend “The Time Is At Hand” to those wishing to break free from the various scenarios that turn Revelation into more of a comic book fantasy than a prophetic word of God to beleaguered Christians in the first century,

Pastor’s July Book Selection

July 7, 2022 by Bill Mayk

Lessons from the Upper Room by Sinclair Ferguson

If we could choose to be transported back in time to when Jesus walked and taught on this earth, I suppose that we would each have a specific moment when we’d like to simply hear the Master’s voice. For some it might be the “Sermon on the Mount”, for others it might be the day Jesus dinned at the home of Zacchaeus, and yet others might wished to have been eye-witnesses of the context in which Jesus taught in parables. In “Lessons from the Upper Room” Sinclair Ferguson gives the reader an inside view of the final meal Jesus spent with his disciples. We see what motivated him most, how he would comfort those he loved knowing the trials they’d soon face, and hearing him describe the nature of his messiahship.

Having first presented this material as lectures for Ligonier Ministries, Ferguson does us a huge service by putting it in book form. I recommend this work for those who would enjoy drawing closer to Jesus as he teaches his disciples what he wants them to know most, before going back to the Father.