Five favorite books?

Great question. Here are the ones that come to my head in no particular order.

On Being a Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard Forde. Highly, highly recommend this one. It’s a commentary on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation that shows the difference between a theologian of the cross and a theologian of glory - in our words, religion vs. the gospel. Powerful and devastating.

The Courage to be Protestant by David Wells. His first four books coalesced into an incredibly helpful critique of church and culture. Wells is a sociological theologian.

The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Most people know Luther for the Five Solas, the Protestant view of salvation. What, unfortunately, most people don’t know is how that is applied. The Bondage of the Will is what he called “the hinge upon which everything turns”. He also said that if all of his writings were burned but one survived, he’d wish it was The Bondage of the Will. J.I. Packer’s intro is worth the price of the book alone.

Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman was a writer for SPIN, Esquire, and, I believe now, ESPN. Has some entertaining and sharp insights into culture.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I read this in my early 20s and had never seen someone write with such power. The way he uses words and the way he can paint scenes is really unique. It is a fictionalized autobiography about how both of his parents died when he was 21 and he had to raise his 11 year old brother. This book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Eggers went on to write other highly acclaimed books as well as the script for Where The Wild Things Are. Lastly, he art directed Thrice’s album Vheissu.

Bonus:

Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. I think anyone in the church in their 20s should read this.

What about you?

While Kim and I were in New York this week we stopped by Strand Bookstore - if you’ve never been there, you need to go next time you’re in the city - and I came across this great find. It’s an out of print collection of Luther’s theology. It’s by no means exhaustive but it is a great collection of his writing on central topics like the bondage of the will, the preaching of the church, the missionary message of the church, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the person and work of Christ. The best comparison I can think of is that it is like his Table Talk meeting a systematic theology. It is out of print but you can still pick up a few used copies on Amazon.

While Kim and I were in New York this week we stopped by Strand Bookstore - if you’ve never been there, you need to go next time you’re in the city - and I came across this great find. It’s an out of print collection of Luther’s theology. It’s by no means exhaustive but it is a great collection of his writing on central topics like the bondage of the will, the preaching of the church, the missionary message of the church, the nature of God, the nature of man, and the person and work of Christ. The best comparison I can think of is that it is like his Table Talk meeting a systematic theology.

It is out of print but you can still pick up a few used copies on Amazon.

Most people, if they have really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some foreign country, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy. I am not now speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or holidays, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we have grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality. I think everyone knows what I mean. The wife may be a good wife, and the hotels and scenery may have been excellent, and chemistry may be a very interesting job: but something has evaded us.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

* Students learn only a small part of what you teach them. They learn what teachers are excited about, what they talk about all the time.

* If you merely assume the gospel while being excited about implications of the gospel, then the next generation may not even assume the gospel. Keep central what is central.
DA Carson on The Gospel & Social Action.
Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.
Diedrich Bonhoeffer quoted by Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, page 85

First Mars Hill Church Orange County Pre-Launch Gathering With Pastor Mark

I wrote a recap of our first Pre-Launch meeting with Pastor Mark over at the Mars Hill Orange County site. We had prayed for 300 people but God blew apart our expectations and nearly 700 showed up to hear about Jesus, the Gospel, and God’s mission. I got to meet a ton of people passionate about people meeting Jesus in Orange County and heard great stories about people bringing Muslim families and people who left the church to hear the Gospel. I can’t wait to see where God leads all of this.

Jerome Tso took some great photos for us including the four below.

7 Things I Learned in Media & Communications

For the past two years, I’ve served on Mars Hill Church’s Media & Communications team as the PR/Media Relations director. On Monday, my wife, daughter, and I are flying to California to plant Mars Hill Church Orange County. The list of things I’m thankful for from being on this team feels endless but I wanted to share seven things I’ve learned from the fine men and women I’ve served alongside.

 

  1.  The Gospel is sufficient. The good news of reconciliation to the Father through Christ on the cross is central to everything Mars Hill. It is easy for Christians, pastors, churches, heck even whole denominations, to veer from the sufficiency of the Gospel in the name of cultural accommodation. As incredibly talented and media-savvy as each person on this team might be, the Gospel is central in every team meeting, new hire, blog post, or video.
  2.  Jesus is the hero. This is a result of the Gospel being primary. Because the Gospel proclaims Jesus as the hero of our salvation and of history, we make him the hero. If Jesus isn’t the hero of the video, testimony, graphic, or anything else, we don’t do it. The glory doesn’t go to an individual or even the church; it goes to Jesus.
  3.  Christ and Culture aren’t mutually exclusive. I came here after ten years in the music industry and thought I understood a lot about culture, and I did in a sense, but what I lacked was an understanding of Christ and culture. As culture makers, we aren’t to accommodate Christ to culture, pit him against it, or see him as deistically aloof to it, but to see how he transforms it. Christ and culture aren’t mutually exclusive and they aren’t synergistic.  Instead, as Christians, we are to be faithful messengers of the Gospel in whatever role God has called us. It was the presence of thousands of faithful Christians, speaking and living the Gospel to those around them, that led to over 700 being baptized on Easter.
  4.  Service to the church is primary. Some of these guys on this team did work at the church long before they ever got were paid for it. They painted walls, emptied trash, swung a hammer, and volunteered countless hours because they loved seeing people meet Jesus and wanted to play whatever role they could in that. That same servant’s heart permeates their approach to their work now. It is constantly humbling.
  5.  Challenge the creative ones. In many corners of the church, the creative people in the church are catered to and sought after. In the case of Mars Hill, the creative people are challenged. They are challenged to serve and to be faithful where they are. Mars Hill’s culture is simultaneously encouraging because “creative” and “Christian” aren’t seen as mutually exclusive, but it is also challenging because it isn’t pandering.
  6.  Know your priorities. While service and creativity are high values, they never subsume biblical priorities. We’re called to be faithful 1) Christians, 2) husbands and wives, 3) and fathers and mothers before anything else. I’ve learned more about being a good man, husband, and father than I could’ve imagined. The men here have shaped me and changed my life, marriage, and family in numerous ways. The first thing they do is to challenge me to love God first, my wife second, my daughter third, and everything else (including myself) after that. 
  7.  Influence comes through humility. In summary, I’ve learned from a department made up of people who are Gospel-centered, Jesus-focused, missiological in their approaches, have servant hearts, and are immensely talented, but who keep the first things first. Simply by osmosis and the demonstration of their character, they’ve made me a better man and have played a crucial role in my development as we prepare to plant Mars Hill Church in Orange County. It is immensely humbling and we’re grateful every day that God brought us to Seattle.

 

Friends, it has been an honor. Thank you.

 

Nick