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Book Reviews


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Recapturing the Glory of Christmas: A 25-Day Advent Devotional by Albert Mohler. B&H Books. 162 pages. 2024
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In this Advent devotional, Albert Mohler tells us that Christmas means worship and adoration. He intends this devotional as a call to worship and praise. In each of the twenty-five devotions leading up to Christmas, Mohler mines the depths of the Bible and its teachings about Advent and Christmas. He dwells on all the theological riches God has gifted to his people through Christmas.
Each daily reading begins with a verse or short passage from Scripture followed by a devotion that you can read in five or six minutes that will help you recapture the glory of Christmas. This is a wonderful resource to read either individually or with your family.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of Let Earth Receive Her King: Daily Readings for Advent by Alistair Begg
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Matt Smethurst
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

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  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Work as Worship. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question based on “I’ve been reflecting on a few verses in Ecclesiastes lately, particularly Ecclesiastes 2:24, 3:13, 3:22, and 5:19. Those texts repeatedly speak about enjoying the fruit of our labor as a gift from God to be enjoyed. But I struggle a bit to know exactly what that looks like in real life.”
  • Does God Really Care About My Job? In this video, Bryan Chapell tells us that our jobs are important because they are a primary place that we are reflecting our God in what we do and how we do it.
  • “Our Secular Vocation” Interview. This conversation is part of an interview between  J. Daryl Charles, senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, and CRCD’s executive director, Dr. Jordan Ballor.

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

I Heard the Bells (EP) – Sandra McCracken
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This five-song project from Sandra McCracken was recorded at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, and produced by McCracken and Seth Talley. It features collaborations with other artists, including Dave Barnes, Cindy Morgan, and Joseph Bradshaw.
The songs have a gentle – acoustic guitar, bass, piano and drums – sound. Four of the songs are Christmas standards – “White Christmas”, “I Heard the Bells”, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”, and “The Christmas Song”, and the final song is McCracken’s “The Space Between”, which she wrote with Cindy Morgan and Gabe Dixon.
I Heard the Bells will be an excellent addition to your Christmas music collection. Also recommended is McCracken’s 2019 Christmas album, titled simply Christmas.

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  • A review of Song of the Saints by Phil Wickham
  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Rise With The Sun by CityAlight

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life by Paul Tripp. Crossway. 489 pages. 2024
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Over the past year, I’ve been using Paul Tripp’s Everyday Gospel as a part of my daily devotional reading. While I’ve enjoyed many devotional books in the past, including several of Paul Tripp’s, this one is different. With Everyday Gospel, Tripp takes us through the entire Bible over 365 days.
Beginning in Genesis, each day has a few chapters assigned to read, and Tripp then writes a devotion to go along with those chapters. I chose to use the free ESV Bible App to listen to these chapters as I did my daily walks of our neighborhood. I found this book to be a valuable resource to assist you as you read through the entire Bible in a year, and highly recommend it to you.
Here are 25 helpful quotes from the book:

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Matt Smethurst
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • Sorrows Surprised by Happiness. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question that reads in part “I recall you mentioning a season in your life where you were deeply affected by an emotional state that was hard to understand, even to the point of sobbing without clear cause. Reflecting on those experiences, have your thoughts on unhappiness — its roots and how Christians should approach it — changed? Also, looking back at Battling Unbelief, do you still agree with the perspectives you shared, or have your views shifted in light of more recent experiences or understanding?”
  • How Does Union With Christ Affect Our Daily Lives? In this video, Sinclair Ferguson describes how union with Christ affects the believer’s daily life.
  • Sexual Purity is an Act of Love. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question about 1 Corinthians 7:9, which can be summarized as “What advice can you give to a young man who is tempted to burn with desire but who wants to wait?”

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Retirement Mentor: A New Type of Mentor. Hilda R. Davis writes “Consider the idea of connecting to a “retirement mentor” who could influence your next steps and encourage you to flourish and bear fruit as you age.”
  • A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
  • A Reflection on Job Security. Russ Gehrlein writes “Work is always going to be harder than we expect. Major job changes can cause us to be anxious about our loss of income or make us afraid of the unknown. The only thing we can do is to remember that God is with us and has promised to provide for our need to support our family.”
  • What We Need to Learn and Unlearn About Work. Renita Reed-Thomson writes “After teaching about the theology of work for twenty years and struggling to truly convey to people the importance of what they do every day, I have found it immensely helpful to compare their work to the understanding of common and saving grace.”

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

The Still Point, Vol. II – Sandra McCracken and Ben Shive
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Sandra McCracken (“We Will Feast in the House of Zion”) and Ben Shive (“Is He Worthy”) are back with a second The Still Point EP, featuring four new songs. Both are members of the Getty Music writing team. McCracken has said that the songs were born in quiet moments – piano, strings, stillness, and words to help the listener breathe. The songs were written to help the listener slow down and remember what matters most.
The songs were written by both artists, and the EP was produced by Shive. McCracken plays guitars and provides vocals, while Shive plays piano, arranges, and also provides vocals. This beautiful project is best enjoyed by sitting back and relaxing with headphones on.

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  • More of this review and a review of Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years (John’s Version) – John Fogerty
  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ The God We Love (Nicene Creed) by CityAlight, featuring Matt Redman

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Book Reviews

The Sing Hymnal – Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, John Martin, Dan Kreider and Douglas Sean O’Donnell. Crossway. 912 pages. 2025
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Aren’t hymnals a thing of the past? In our church, although we still have hymnals under the chairs, for several years now, the lyrics to the hymns we sing are projected on a screen. I wonder if that is the norm for churches these days. After all, how many people can actually read music? (I can’t).
Keith and Kristyn Getty would disagree that hymnals are a thing of the past. They recently released The Sing! Hymnal at their 2025 Sing! Getty Music Worship Conference.  Here are a few of the highlights of the project, published by Crossway:

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Matt Smethurst
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • Voddie Baucham: A Faithful Witness to Christ. Robert J. Pacienza writes “On September 25, 2025, the church lost one of its great voices. Voddie Baucham is now with the Lord. The news of his passing struck me deeply, not only because Voddie was a personal friend and ally, but because his absence leaves a void in an hour when his voice was needed most.”
  • Voddie Baucham (1969–2025) on the Resurrection. “Voddie Baucham (1969–2025) has gone hometo be with the Lord. In light of the common hope we hold as Christians, we’re looking back at his message from The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference.”
  • My Life’s Journey with Dr Voddie Baucham Jr. Conrad Mbewe writes “I am greatly indebted to Voddie for the nine years he invested spiritually in our people in Zambia and in Africa. I thank God for the friend he gave me in this man whom I now look forward to meeting in glory together with our son Mwansa. Farewell, Voddie, see you in the morning!”

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