Radical

"Radical" (David Platt) - I'm not sure who the audience for this book is.  It proposes that many Christians are caught up in the American dream and that we need to live more radical lives for Christ.  He proposes several steps:

• praying for the entire world
• reading through the entire Word
• sacrificing our money for a specific purpose
• spending time in another context (specifically - spending a week in missions)
• committing to a multiplying community

First, these don't seem that radical to me.  Most Christians know they need to read through the Bible - they're either working on a one year plan (even if it takes 2), or they know they should.  Similarly, prayer - I think we all would say we should do more.

Canon of the New Testament

The development of the New Testament canon (the 27 books we include in the back half of every Bible) is a remarkable story (I'm certain I'll do more posts on it, eventually).

Perhaps the most remarkable things is the amount of agreement among Christians.  I'm unable to think of any other doctrine that has so much agreement.  Even the Trinity (crucial for understanding who God is) doesn't enjoy the level of agreement of the NT canon.

Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, even Muslims have no question as to what the New Testament is (even though they seek to add other things of equal weight to it).

As I mentioned previously, an issue with the canon was one of the earliest debates among Christians.  Marcion was soundly rebuked, and many early fathers wrote against him.

When the Reformation came, there was no question of the canon (much is made of Luther's disapproval of James, but it's in every edition of his translation).

The idea that the canon cannot be known without some special human authority does a disservice to everyone.  It ignores the historical facts, and demeans the words from God's mouth (θεοπνευστος).

The Shepherd as Leader

"The Shepherd as Leader" (John MacArthur, ed.) - this is a collection of twelve sermons from various Shepherd's Conferences.  It is part of a set of three books.

All the sermons will be convicting and edifying for anyone who is a pastor, or would like to be one.