(Part 3) Top products from r/Reformed

I think you are absolutely right in your assessment of the situation and linking the events of childhood to the beliefs of now. It seems to me that you've precisely identified both the cause and the problem which is impacting your prayer life - even though you understand intellectually that God is good, there's a wall that comes up preventing this truth from entering your heart.

Through this author, I have broken through a wall very similar to what you are expressing here. This book is particularly focused on how to break through this wall into the truth of Scripture:

https://www.amazon.com/Victory-Over-Darkness-Realize-Identity/dp/0764213768/

The backstory of this book is very relevant to the situation, I believe. The author came into the ministry out of a burden: he saw that in Scripture Jesus came to set us free and transform us, but when he looked around, he didn't see many Christians who were living as though what the Bible says were truth for today. So he became a professor at Talbot seminary and ran a graduate course for 10 years in which he worked with Christians who are struggling to believe the Gospel and live a transformed life. This book is what he has discovered as part of personally counselling 2,000 Christians and leading a ministry that has impacted millions.

After going through this author's work I was able to move into persistent prayer. At times I was able to experience uninterrupted prayer that would stretch for hours. It became a delight rather than a burden because I fell in love with God and just wanted to lay at His feet and praise Him. The "switch" for me was allowing the love of God to move from my head to my heart and that changed everything. This book gives super practical guidance and help for doing just this.

Here's a few quotes that capture the heart of the book:

• "I believe that your hope for growth, meaning and fulfillment as a Christian is based on understanding who you are - specifically, your identity in Christ as a child of God. Your understanding of who God is and who you are in relationship to Him is the critical foundation for your belief system and your behavior patterns as a Christian."
  
  
• "We must have a true knowledge of God and know who we are as children of God. If we really knew God, our behavior would change radically and instantly."
  
  
• "We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted, so we serve God. We don't follow Him to be loved; we are loved, so we follow Him. It is not what we do that determines who we are; it is who we are that determines what we do."
  
  
  It helped me in a very similar situation that you are in. I'd highly recommend it! (I own it on Kindle and can send it to any email address for two weeks - if you want to read it but don't want to buy it, just PM me an email [throwaway is fine] and I'll shoot you my copy)
  

Book nerd, reporting to duty! Some ideas to spice it up:


Christian Living

If you've done much searching in this area, you've doubtless come across Dr. Neil Anderson - and for good reason. Anderson is the best Christian Living author I've encountered. Head of the Practical Theology department at Talbot (same school as MacArthur) for a decade, all of Anderson's teaching and core material has been "approved" by the theology department at Talbot and rooted in real world experience. Anderson specializes in giving practical steps for getting right with God and becoming more like Christ. By far my favorite author in this genre. Some of his books which changed my life the most:

• Victory over the Darkness - Powerful. Walks you through what happened to your identity when you gave your life to Christ and gives practical ways to grow in sanctification.
  
  
• Freedom from Fear - If you've ever had issues with anxiety, this book will break it. For the first time in my life, I experienced "the peace that surpasses all understanding" through this book.
  
  
  Theology
  
  
• What's Wrong with Protestant Theology - This remains one of the best books I've ever read, regardless of genre. The author was a professor of Theology at Regent Theological (J.I. Packer's old school). In this book, Ruthven slaughters a few sacred cows in a quest to just see "what does the Bible say?" The basic problem is this - during the Reformation, the primary debate was over salvation: "what must I do to be saved and how much does it cost?" We focused so much on this question that we omitted many of the main themes of Scripture (namely the experiential aspects of the New Covenant). Ruthven ruthlessly marches through most of Bible to answer questions like: What does it mean to "know God"? What is "the word of God"? What does it mean to "be like Christ?" What am I supposed to do now that I'm saved? A masterpiece. One of the only books I've ever read that made me sit up, sweating and saying "oh my...he's right...woe is me."
  
  
  Evangelism
  
  A few years ago, I came across a list of the top 50 books which have shaped Evangelicals. I saw a book that interested me: Power Evangelism by John Wimber.
  
  
• Power Evangelism - This book is what actually got me up off my rear end and start doing real, in person evangelism. Not only that, this book motivated me to share Christ with others out of excitement. Led a few people to Christ, seen a few cool miracles - and it all started here.

We use in-house materials that I, unfortunately, don't have permission to share with you. But one of the pastors of our church and his wife meets with the couple. We usually do 4 sessions. The classes we cover are:

1. The reason for marriage. It is God's idea and it's good. In marriage the couple is meant to represent God, to rule over the 'garden', to rule united, and to multiply. Sin hinders the marriage union. Marriage points to Christ and his marriage to the church - it's the ultimate reason for marriage.
   
2. God's Design. The different roles God designed in marriage. The husband: Christ-like servant leadership, temptation to abdicate. The wife: Respectful submission, temptation to resist husband's leadership (or take over).
   
3. Growing through conflict. What causes conflict? (James 4:1-4) Humility to resolve. Humble before God, humble before spouse. Helping your spouse humbly. Reconciliation and what it looks like. (Also see Ken Sande's Peacemaker, esp the Seven A's of Confession)
   
4. Passionate Pursuit. Love originates with God and is defined by God. Romance is work, not automatic. Things that can spoil romance: spiritual neglect, selfishness, bitterness. Romance displayed is: committed, passionate, constant thoughts of affection, spoken with crafted words, planned and spontaneous.
   
   Depending on their age, we'll give them Intended for Pleasure as a wedding gift to be opened soon after the wedding.
   
   In each of the classes, we teach, we discuss, and we try to get the couple to talk about their thoughts, temptations, fears, etc. to bring it out in the open - and then work through things that need to be worked through.
   
   Sometimes the couple has a conflict (or it's revealed they didn't actually resolve a conflict) in the midst of the sessions.

I think Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is perfectly compatible with Paul's teaching.

In fact, the Apostle's all eventually accepted Paul and his experience on the road to Damascus was accepted as well and, along with it, Christ's blessing on his teaching.

Jesus wrote no books of the bible. Paul's letters are equally as authoritative and inspired as the Gospel's written by men who ... were also not Jesus.

This is why the whole "Red-letter" Christian thing never made sense to me. The words written attributed to Jesus (while I believe they are accurate) were not written by Jesus and Christ spoke also through his apostles! They should not be ignored.

When it comes to members of the Church we have a responsibility to correct each other.

If it comes to light that a member of a congregation is sleeping around or being unfaithful to sexuality as God intends it than, yes, it is our responsibility to faithfully correct them and, if a person would refuse, than yes, they should be cut off.

First they should be confronted individually with love and asked to turn from their ways.

Second, from a group.

Finally, by the whole church.

If all the time the person refuses to turn from ANYTHING which is clearly as sin than, yes, they need to be cut off from the Church in the hope that separation would allow God to work through them by showing them how important the body of Christ is to true living and that the commands to keep each other accountable, as one Psalm says as iron sharpens iron one man sharpens another, is only out of love because Holiness and Godliness is only for our benefit. This is not legalism because legalism sees our works as the prerequisite for our faith. That is not true. Faith and repentance are prerequisites for fellowship as part of the body of the Church. And the second is being ignored in this scenario.

Now, those who are not within the Church we should welcome, not be coy or misleading about what we believe, and enjoy the fact they have come to the Church even as one-time inquirers. We cannot judge them because why would we judge anyone outside the Church as behaving as they are outside the Church?


The Gospel changes people. But the Gospel comes first.

A stagnant Gospel is no Gospel at all. One that does not move you is hardly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, to me, it seems like you've made your mind about this issue and everything else, what you think about scripture, Paul, etc, seems to fall in line with that. But, I could be VERY, wrong and I'm sorry if I am for even suggesting such a thing.

Matt Chandler's seminar on homosexuality talks about some of what you've asked and really talks about the Church's role in responding with love in one of the segments.

Also, Christopher Yuan is a speaker who was as sexually active gay man. You may be interested in his book or another by a gay celibate Christian, Wesley Hill.


Christopher is not any longer but denies that the "goal" is heterosexuality. He claims neither heterosexuality or homosexuality though he is predispositionally homosexual.

In his words, "God never said be heterosexual as I am heterosexual, he said be holy as I am holy". So he follows what he calls "Holy sexuality".

Christopher is celibate because he believes that is what he is called to do if he is not married and his understanding of marriage comes as between one-man and one-woman as found in scripture.



So he is NOT one to say "Them gays? Ship 'em to the repurative THUR-APY!" (...to imitate a stereotype evidently no one has a problem with me using :)!)

Perhaps it works for some, and if someone feels lead, then maybe Exodus international could help them but I don't believe we should act as if it is a guarantee or promise. Can God do anything? Yes.

But we shouldn't act as if God will. What if it fails? Does this person go through life thinking they aren't good enough or God doesn't love them enough to heal them? We should never hope for such a thing.

In the Resurrection, all in God's family will rise with a new body and no sinful desires -- and, in fact, no sexual desires of any kind.

We all have our stumbling stones and our temptations. They are different for everyone. Full acceptance of homosexual behavior may fill the pews in some places and it may be a good PR thing for the Church to do and help the Church get closer to open, practicing, homosexual-oriented men and women but it will not get them closer to Jesus.

The Western World may be quickly going toward full-acceptance.
Much of the Church may follow.
But my understanding of scripture, Jesus, his teaching on marriage and his message in general, and the spirit impacting my conscience in general cannot permit me to follow suit.

However, this does not mean I feel at liberty to treat anyone with disrespect for that person is made in the image of God.

Some may argue that I am inherently treating them with disrespect for regarding something core to their identity as sinful.

I regard everyone has having sin close to their identity. But Jesus says to take up your cross and follow him. It's not easy and, like I said, everyone who preaches the Gospel is a hypocrite. But it is the message.

I do not hate everyone. I do my best to love them. And loving them means telling them to flee sin when it is bad for them. I don't beat them over the head with it, in fact, I am more times than not confronted with the issue of homosexuality than I bring it up.

Maybe that helps explain some things. But you're older than me and have been around a few more blocks. It could come up as naive trash. It's all I can offer.

EDIT: clarification in one sentence. Also, anyone who would like to add scriptural references would be appreciated! I forgot mine... :(

Like, /u/DrKC9N, I don't get to pray for 3 hours everyday, but I try to at least once per week. There is something about spending a really long time in prayer, getting everything out and going through a whole gamut of emotions that is amazing.

99% of the time I pray for, well, more than half an hour, I'm praying through a Psalm or someone else's prayer in Scripture. An excellent book for this practice is Don Whitney's Praying the Bible.

My time breakdown looks very similar to /u/DrKC9N's. I also have an (semi) updated list of personal and church member prayer requests in my PrayerMate App, and I have a list of every family in our church that I pray through each month. I have that broken down into equal families for all 30 days, but find myself falling behind often, so I'll try to catch up during my lengthy prayer time.

I don't do this often, but sometimes I'll grab the latest Sunday issue of the New York Times or some other national newspaper, and pray about the stories that have been reported; for healing, repentance, confession of national sin, etc. I kind of enjoy it, but it still feels weird because praying through Scripture has been so ingrained into my head.

Edit: wanted to add one thing. Like everybody else, while I'm praying my thoughts tend to wander to other things. It's important for me to remember that whatever I end of thinking about is worth praying for, too. We are to take every thought captive to obey Christ, including the random ones that seem to interfere with prayer.

Something you'll learn if you spend more time around Reformed folks is that "How is the Gospel preached" has a specific technical meaning generally limited to what pastors do on Sundays. Interacting with others about the gospel, i.e., evangelism, is certainly something we do, and certainly something we have opinions about, but we don't generally call it "preaching".

One thing I think you will find is that the Reformed tradition is somewhat resistant to short, memorize-able pieces as adequate expressions of theology. There are definitely catechisms out there, which come in bite-sized chunks, but there are 107 questions in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, so I don't think that's what your looking for.

If you're asking about Reformed evangelism, I suggest you check out J.I. Packer's Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God which is about as good a take on the subject as any. Packer is Anglican rather than Presbyterian/Reformed, but he's a conservative, Evangelical Anglican, so he's definitely worth reading.

If you're asking about what it means for pastors to preach, that's a whole different subject, one about which there are many opinions. But if you've been dealing with Reformed theology for only a few months, I'd suggest that's getting a little inside baseball. That issue shouldn't really come up for you for quite a while.

So check out Packer's book. For a more general exposure to Reformed theology, particularly the Reformed way of reading the Bible, check out Graeme Goldsworthy's According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. That will really give you a good foundation of the Reformed understanding of Scripture which will serve you very well in the long run. It's an excellent place to start.

Elements of Exegesis the guy is a moderate evangelical, but the ideas here are pretty good.

How to read the Bible for all its worth by Fee and Stuart Great intro to reading the different genres of scripture. Two evangelical scholars.

Invitation to Biblical Interpretation Written by two heavy hitting scholars, it's a big book with a ton of info on how to interpret all parts of scripture.

Grasping God's Word Probably a good place to start as it is a workbook/textbook rolled into one. You get a lot of great info with tons of exercises.

Some recommendations, as promised.

• I highly recommend Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship by Leonard J. Vander Zee. It's more pastoral than heavy duty theological, but definitely worth reading.
  
  
• Read the treatments of the Lord's Supper in Reformed Systematic Theologies. Calvin's Institutes is a must, I think, but also Bavinck. The part on communion is in volume 4, I believe. If you don't have access in Bavinck (a situation you should resolve) then Berkhoff would do.
  
  
• Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper by Keith A. Mathison is supposed to be very good.
  
  
• If you want a non-Zwinglian perspective from a Baptist, check out Richard C. Barcellos' The Lord's Supper as a Means of Grace: More Than a Memory
  
  
• If you are up for technical theology, I'd recommend The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Tradition by John Riggs.
  
  
• RC Sproul's What is The Lord's Supper? in his Critical Questions theory is currently free on Kindle. It won't answer all of your questions, but the price is right.

Preface

Unfortunately I don't think there's a "one stop shop" book on the atonement. The atonement has a biblical/exegetical basis as well as philosophical and theological ramifications. Hence, to do justice to the atonement as a full-orbed topic in a single book, you'd have to find a scholar who is well versed and up-to-date in the relevant biblical scholarship as well as philosophical theology. That's exceedingly rare, and in fact I'm not sure if there is such a scholar today.

What's more, the atonement can be framed in terms of additional categories or sub-categories like biblical theology, Pauline theology, Johannine theology, and so on. (By the way, Tom Schreiner, Simon Gathercole, and Jarvis Williams are good in discussing the atonement in Pauline theology.)

In short, the atonement is a massive topic.

One book

However, if I had to pick a single book on the atonement that gets as close as possible to this ideal (but ultimately falling short of it), I think I'd recommend Pierced for Our Transgressions. The book has decent biblical/exegetical and theological (including historical theology) foundations. Not stellar in these categories, but not bad, solid. However, it significantly lacks in philosophical theology. In any case, I think you'd have to supplement this book with other books. I'd recommend:

Biblical/Exegetical

• Beilby, James and Eddy, Paul (eds.). The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views. This book is a debate between four scholars arguing for four different views on the atonement: Gregory Boyd argues for the Christus Victor view; Tom Schreiner argues for the penal substitutionary view; Bruce Reichenbach argues for the healing view; and Joel Green argues for a kaleidescopic view. In my view, Schreiner makes the best case, but read it for yourself to decide.
  
  
• Morris, Leon. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Either this book or its less technical and more popular but still strong treatment The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance. This is an older text, but it was and remains a landmark text. D.A. Carson still tells seminarians and ministers to "sell your shirt and buy" Morris' book if they have to. Likewise see Morris' brief essay "Theories of the Atonement".
  
  Theological
  
  
• Murray, John. Redemption Accomplished and Applied. A classic Reformed text from a stalwart Reformed theologian.
  
  
• Nicole, Roger. Our Sovereign Savior. A good chapter on the atonement by a world class theologian. Nicole was a Swiss Reformed theologian.
  
  
• Nicole, Roger. Standing Forth: Collected Writings of Roger Nicole. Includes essays on the atonement and related matters.
  
  
• Packer, J.I., Dever, Mark, and Duncan, Ligon. In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement. This book contains several essays on the atonement from J.I. Packer including Packer's classic introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.
  
  
• Warfield, B.B. "Atonement". A brief article that gives an overview of five possible theories about the atonement. Warfield has other good material on the atonement, but I thought this would be a decent representative.
  
  Philosophical
  
  
• Craig, William Lane. The Atonement (in the University of Cambridge's Elements in the Philosophy of Religion series). A short book. An overview of the philosophical issues. Cambridge Press did offer it for free as a downloadable pdf, which is how I obtained it, but I don't know if that's still the case now.
  
  
• Helm, Paul. "John Calvin's Position on the Atonement". Free article from an astute Reformed philosopher. Helm has discussed the atonement in published books too.
  
  
• Helm, Paul. "The Logic of Limited Atonement". Another free article.

Hi, I'm so glad you found a PCA church that you feel great worshipping at! I have been a member of a PCA church in Oklahoma for about a year now and I love it. I think everything that's been recommended has been wonderful. I do, however want to add a suggestion. On the more theological side of things (since you mentioned that you don't know if want to become Presbyterian), I'm not sure your background on dispensationalism/covenantalism, so I'd like to recommend the book Far As the Curse Is Found by Michael D. Williams. It is a wonderful introduction to Covenant Theology, to which the PCA (and Presbyterianism in general) subscribes.

Not saying that books are the answer, but Wesley Hill might be someone up your alley. In actuality, his book has helped me as a heterosexual tremendously (dealing more with self-loathing in my context) as he struggled to deal with his homosexuality and still be faithful to God.

Here is his current book: Washed and Waiting

His second book is coming out, too: Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian

Edited to add: This blog may help you.

1. YouVersion has some great Bible reading plans. I would suggest McCheyne's
   
2. A great companion for reading in a McCheyne plan is D.A. Carson's For the Love of God Part 1 Part 2
   
3. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you as you read scripture is to look at the big picture. Try to see where the passage you are reading fits into the grand storyline of the Bible.
   
4. May I also suggest picking up a book that will cover Bible doctrines? It's really helpful to have a grasp on what the Bible says about God and how He interacts with His creation. On the layman's level I would suggest Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem. If you feel like going a little deeper, check out Grudem's bigger book Bible Doctrine. If you feel like really digging in, go with Grudem's massive Systematic Theology, which I believe is the most readable systematic theology available.
   
5. I'm a Baptist so I think getting rebaptized is great, assuming you are a genuine believer at this point, which I have no cause to doubt. In fact, if I was being a cranky Baptist I would tell you you're not getting rebaptized, you were just a wet sinner the first time. However, I'm only occasionally a cranky Baptist, and have nothing against my paedobaptist brothers (other than thinking they're wrong on this one).
   
6. Get into a good church. I know you mentioned you're following Christ and not a church, but the local church is one of the primary means of doing so. Maybe you already have done this, and I am misinterpreting what you were trying to say. Lone ranger Christians are unhealthy Christians. If you are looking for a good church check with 9Marks and The Gospel Coalition.
   
   I hope this helps.
   
   edit: spelling

You err when you conflate causal links with temporal links.

If you want to understand Reformed soteriology (which I would unfortunately question based on this thread), I would recommend reading John Murray's Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

Let me quote a few relevant portions:

> The priority of regeneration might create the impression that a person could be regenerated and yet not converted. These passages in 1 John (2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 5:4, 5:18) should correct any such misapprehension. We need to remember again that the leading emphasis in these passages is the invariable concomittance of regeneraton and the other graces mentioned.

> We must not think of regeneration as something which can be abstracted from the saving exercises which are its effects...We are warned and advised, therefore, that while regeneration is the actions of God and of God alone we must never conceive of this action as separable from the activities of saving grace on our part which are the necessary and appropriate effects of God's grace in us.

So...there you have it. Your post is doing exactly what Murray says that Reformed theology does not and cannot do regarding regeneration.

As for your objection to the Lordship of Christ, your issue is not so much with Reformed thought as with the New Testament. Christ is the one who proclaimed that He had all authority (Matthew 28). Paul expands this in our understanding in Ephesians where he emphasizes that Christ rules and reigns right now over all things. Christ is king over all at this moment - over all people, all nations, all governments, all associations...whether they recognize it or not. What could be wrong about calling people to recognize what is already true?

Do you have time to read a book? The message in this changed my life and it sounds very relevant to the difficulties you're going through.

https://www.amazon.com/Victory-Over-Darkness-Realize-Identity/dp/0764213768/

The book is basically a huge dose of comfort, hope, and peace. It digs into the truth of who we are in Christ and shows that all things are possible through Jesus. Very comforting and hope-filled resource.

Some people here might not like his take on 2 kingdoms theology, but Michael Horton's "Ordinary" was really helpful to me about a year and a half ago when I was a sophomore in college. His take (which is, I believe, the correct Reformed take) on what the Christian life looks like and how we should find fulfillment put me at peace with pursuing a career outside of the ministry.

If you’re interested in learning more about Radical Orthodoxy, I’d recommend Jamie Smith’s book Introducing Radical Orthodoxy. Smith is Reformed, and is not part of the RO movement but Milbank wrote the foreword.

I like a lot of the stuff the RO folks say, as well as the postliberals at Yale and Duke more broadly. Evangelicals would benefit greatly from reading them more.

Maybe talking about guidance is a good way into sola scriptura. Everyone (especially a youth group?) wants to know what God wants them to do - so if you work through the principles in a book like this you end up with a strong case for sola scriptura, and you also give them something practical to think about as well - keeping it a sermon, rather than a lecture.

>I guess I'd say I'm still a Continuationist and a Credobaptist

There are several of that variety around here. Welcome.

>Do most reformed people believe that the majority of the events depicted in Revelation have already taken place?

No, I don't think the majority of us hold to the partial-preterist view. In my view, for instance, the events of Revelation are taking place and have been since the book was written. Though, the book ends with Jesus coming back, which hasn't taken place, it starts by saying the book is about "what must soon take place". So it makes sens to read it as what has been and is still happening.

>Where is the easiest place to start to read up on some of this stuff?

The easiest place to start getting a Reformed view of eschatology, I would say, is from Kim Riddlebarger. Go to his website, look at the side bar on the right and scroll down to see the "Amillenialism 101". Obviously this presents a specific view, but it's a great place to start with non-pre-trib, non-pre-mil views.

>Any similar resources/commentaries from someone in the reformed camp?

If you want a straight-up Reformed commentary on the book, you can't go wrong with Revelation: A shorter commentary by G.K. Beale. Don't let the name fool you, it still weighs in at 552 pages. In the commentary, Beale shows that the things described by Revelation are not all past and not all future, but shows, "The goal of Revelation is to bring encouragement to believers of all ages that God is working out His purposes even in the midst of tragedy, suffering, and apparent Satanic domination. It is the Bible's battle cry of victory."

If you want a work that's about half that length and available to read at no price, take a look at The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation by Vern Poythress, where he writes, "You can summarize its message in one sentence: God rules history and will bring it to its consummation in Christ." This one seems more similar kind of resource to the one you linked, as far as accessibility and organization.

>Maybe you could briefly explain to me some of the different eschatological beliefs and views on the book of Revelation.

In the Reformed camp, I've encountered several positions. These positions are usually defined as some combination of a general view of Eschatological revelation and a specific view of the Millenium in Revelation 20. I think I've encountered these:

|Millennium|Partial-Preterist|Historicist|Idealist|Futurist|
|------------|-----------------|-----------|--------|---------|
|Pre-mil |X | | |X |
|Amil |X |X |X | |
|Post-mil |X | |X |X |

• Partial-Preterist Views most of eschatological revelation as having been fulfilled already.
  
• Historicist Views it as fulfilled in specific events through the history of the church.
  
• Idealist Views it as being continually fulfilled through the church age
  
• Futurist Views it as being almost entirely fulfilled in the future
  
• Pre-millennial Expects Jesus to come back before the Millennium, which will be a golden age on the earth under Jesus' direct rule
  
• Amillennial Expects Jesus to come back after the Millennium, which is symbolic of the Church Age where Jesus is building His kingdom
  
• Post-millennial Expects Jesus to come back after the Millennium, which will be a golden age on the earth as Jesus' kingdom as the church pervades the world.
  
  The pre-trib view of Calvary Chapel and others is a specific kind of Pre-millennial Futurism that's distinct from the Historical Pre-millennial view.
  
  >I think that the secret rapture is probably not true.
  
  You're on the right track there.
  
  EDIT: missig lettrs

the bible is hopefully obvious as a choice. approaching it with the right heart is important so i recommend this strategy

praying the bible is a short, easy read that changed my prayer life forever

I suppose you could start here:

Q. 58. How do we come to be made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath procured?

A. We are made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath procured, by the application of them unto us,[249] which is the work especially of God the Holy Ghost.[250]

Q. 59. Who are made partakers of redemption through Christ?

A. Redemption is certainly applied, and effectually communicated, to all those for whom Christ hath purchased it;[251] who are in time by the Holy Ghost enabled to believe in Christ according to the gospel.[252]

For more on this, you could see John Murray's first section "Redemption Accomplished and Applied" which he speaks about the atonement.

My mum loves her Kindle :-) I don't read enough to justify one, even though my inner geek wants one lol

Paper Back

Kindle

If you buy the paperback, might be better to buy it here as then all the money will go the the author's apologetic ministry. It's a little cheaper too, not sure after postage though.

Other people have answered this question well. If you're looking for a more extensive defense of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, which is what your question is dealing with, then I would suggest Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution by Steve Jeffery et al.. I've been reading through this book, and they offer an amazing defense of the Penal Substitutionary view of the Atonement from historical, philosophical, biblical, and theological viewpoints. They also deal specifically with arguments about "Cosmic Child Abuse", and offer a good apologetic.

G.K. Beale Commentary on Revelation or his Shorter Commentary on Revelation as well as many of the other books he's written on Thessalonians, New Testament use of Daniel, etc. are some of the best resources for an amillennial, idealist interpretation. He also has a lot of shorter articles and lectures available online, if you're lazy like me.

While not directly about leadership, I think Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung was the most "leadership inspiring" book I've ever read. Incredibly edifying, and a pretty quick read. It's short, about 100 pages iirc, so I'm not sure if that would fulfill your time requirement.

I know how you feel sister. I texted a friend and mentor the other day asking for some prayer and he reminded me of the simplicity of Philippians 4:6. I often recite it to myself and proceed to pray in times of anxiety.

>I know that this is a part of what's meant for me.

Also, God's will for you is peace. Don't believe this lie. ^
I've not read it yet but it's written by an author thay I really like called Neil Anderson. He writes one called Victory Over The Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ that I really like but another that's on my wish list may be even better for you. Freedom from Fear: Overcoming Worry and Anxiety

Exegetical Fallacies is great, and I really like Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility.

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship

Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper as a Means of Grace: More Than a Memory

The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Tradition

What is The Lord's Supper?

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

1. It means being recognized and affirmed to the work and to be supported and have fellowship with others doing the same thing.
   
2. Do tasks in and around the church. Visit people in the hospital. Call/visit people. I also lead a group.
   
3. Most of them are older folks who have been in the church for a long time, though we've recently brought in some folks in the early 30s to mid 40s. I'd say most of our deacons are 60+.
   
4. Knowing what you ought to do and not being able to do it--that is sometimes we know we need to care for X more but given that I have a job, small kids, etc... it can be hard.
   
5. Building relationships with people that you might not normally associate with in the church.
   
6. James 1:27
   
7. We meet with Elders regularly and the deacons meet once a month.
   
8. Not sure about that.
   
9. We were given copies of The Peacemaker when we became deacons. But really I've found a healthy look into the workings of the Holy Spirit to be something that is essential to life and ministry.
   
10. I filled out a long "application" and then met with the Deacons for an hour.
    
11. I went a few times to the hospital with our Pastor and for our ministry to widows we work in teams.

The Covenant of Redemption was a covenant of love involving our Triune God.

Here’s a book recommendation for you and your pastor
https://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Accomplished-Applied-John-Murray/dp/080287309X/ref=nodl_

There is a really good book, Pierced For Our Transgressions that does a nice exegetical study of how the Scapegoat is a type of Christ as it relates to penal substitutionary atonement. I highly recommend checking the book out if you can.

I don't really see the Scapegoat relating to Christ's temptation in the wilderness. For me, this is more of a parallel to the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert, or perhaps to Elijah and Moses fasting 40 days and nights. I was listening to Michael Kruger's lecture series on the Gospels from the RTS mobile app, and he mentioned that some scholars have drawn parallels of Jesus' life to the Exodus. I'll have to go back and find those sources, but I found them to be quite interesting. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable than I can shed some light here.

We read Intended for Pleasure by Dr. Ed Wheat and his wife Gayle Wheat as part of our pre-marital counseling. Both of us found it very helpful.

I've heard good things about Sheet Music, which was published more recently, I think.

Here is a fine short book on covenant theology.

https://www.amazon.com/Far-Curse-Found-Covenant-Redemption/dp/0875525105

This is also great.

https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Covenants-Palmer-Robertson/dp/0875524184

I've found the OT background commentary to be a helpful place to begin. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830814191

You could then move to Walton's Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801027500

This is much more in depth, but could be another good place to go if you end up looking for more. The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801039185/

The textbook I used in my hermeneutics class was [Grasping God's Word] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0310492572/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=30968505261&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11654403599380140192&hvpone=22.16&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1x21vrvqwq_b) with a supplement text of [How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth] (http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310246040). Both I would suggest, they take a position of inerrancy and do an excellent job of teaching Scriptural study.

Look for this book, Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung. It's a good, short book about working through God's purpose.

On a more practical note, what you're feeling isn't uncommon.

The book is very good, IMHO.

• According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy
  
• God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts
  
  These books helped me to get my bearings right when I look at a particular passage in the Bible. I now ask questions like, "Where is this passage in relation to the redemptive history?" and "How does this OT passage point to Jesus?"

Here is a nice, basic book to get you started: https://www.amazon.com/Far-Curse-Found-Covenant-Redemption/dp/0875525105

2. I'll recommend a book by John Walton
   http://www.amazon.ca/Ancient-Near-Eastern-Thought-Testament/dp/0801027500

https://www.amazon.com/Praying-Bible-Donald-S-Whitney/dp/1433547848

Read this little booklet. Its basic goal is to use scriptural text as a framework for your prayer, so that you no longer are in the rut of praying "the same old things about the same old things".

Actually that's "Bible Doctrine" and "Christian Beliefs" is the concise version of that. In other words, it's the condensed condensed Systematic Theology

Based on a recommendation from this sub: Ordinary by Michael Horton.

God's Word Alone by Matthew Barrett

Scripture Alone by James White

Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible by Joel Beeke, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Ray Lanning, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Derek W. H. Thomas, and James White

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0800719379?pc_redir=1412321771&robot_redir=1

Wife and I read this as part of our premarital counseling.

I haven't read it but this book by James K.A. Smith seems just what you're looking for.

Here are some of my favorite books outside of the Reformed tradition.

These are books which didn't just tickle my brain with interesting ideas but rather utterly changed my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to these authors for how God used their works in me.

• Power Evangelism by John Wimber - This book is about reaching the lost through demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit. This book got me out on the street sharing Christ with people and I have since been privileged to lead a few people to Christ.
  
  
• What's Wrong with Protestant Theology by Jon Ruthven - This book is about comparing the main themes of Scripture to the main themes of Protestant Theology. This book pushed me back into a personal relationship with God in which I hear God's voice and obey.
  
  
• Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere - This book demolished many of my misunderstandings of the gifts of the Spirit. It set a hunger in me to see the miraculous power of God in and through me.
  
  
• Freedom from Fear by Neil Anderson - this book is about how to overcome fear and anxiety by the power of the cross. Through this book, a fear / anxiety pattern of nearly 2 decades was broken over the course of a few hours.
  
  And many more along these fronts. I'm not Reformed, so here's a snapshot into what is feeding someone outside of your stream!

Given for You seems pretty good, but I haven't read it yet.

Richard Muller should have a book that deals with the Reformed view of the Eucharist, I believe it is Calvin and the Reformed Tradition but I could be wrong.