Category: Books

all about books

Books, Blogs, and Blogging for Books

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

The votes are in from my recent poll regarding books and blogs. Out of 30 votes, 9 read blogs more than books, 9 read books more than blogs, and 5 were a toss up. 6 people claimed to read more because of blogging, and I think I’d find myself in that category too.

I could do another poll to see what we think are more valuable and of lasting impact, books or blogs. I don’t think I’ll do that poll though. Most would agree books are more valuable, yet blogging has value and has a place — it offers something books don’t.

Still, books are important, and as a blogger I want to be reading more books than blogs. I want to push myself to grow more through reading more substantive, edited material.

So why not use my blog to get books? Free books at that. I am a sucker for anything free, but this makes sense really. I can read books and review them on my blog. I already do that.

What I’ve found recently is that if you want to read books and review them on your blog, you are a candidate for getting free books directly from publishers.

The only catch is you must agree to review the book. This will cause a buzz to surround the book and earn the publishers free publicity.

In this post and the next, I will share some secrets on how to get free books for blogging. I’ve just started using this technique and I’m up to around a dozen books to review. Some of them are kids books, so I think I can handle it. In truth I hadn’t thought I’d get so many “yes” responses. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

For starters, two publishers make it very easy to get free books. They are courting bloggers and have blog for book programs.

1) Reformation Trust, which was founded by R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries, will provide up to 2 pdf books for your review. Once you are finished with your review, notify them and they’ll send you a free copy of the actual book. I recommend browsing through their selection and finding one you are truly interested in since pdf books are not the easiest way to read, and you want to make this worth your time. For my part, I got Joel Beeke’s new book Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism. I’m close to 100 pages in to it and I’m very excited about the book.

2) Thomas Nelson. They recently created a Book Review Bloggers club, where certain select books are made available to you and you can request more once you finish the books they’ve sent. You have to select the genres which interest you and there are not an unlimited supply of books available. In fact some of the choices they offer aren’t that great, but when i signed up, I was able to get a copy of the The Chronological Study Bible (NKJV) to review. (They actually sent me two copies, so when I get close to posting my review, I’ll be giving the second copy away with their blessing.) I would at least sign up to be included and then keep checking to see when a book is available that interests you. Or be brave and pick a book you don’t know much about, and explore new territory.

In a follow up post I’ll give pointers for how to get books from other publishers. But for now, let me encourage you to check out Shaun Tabbat’s blog, where he reviews books almost weekly, which he gets from publishers. Seeing how others review books, and promote them, can give you ideas for how to do the same yourself.

One last word. I don’t want to turn my blog into a book blog. I don’t think you have to do this in order to take advantage of free books. I try to choose books which fit in to my blog’s overall theme. I’ve gotten a book on worldliness by C.J. Mahaney, and one on redemptive historical interpretation by Dennis Johnson. These are themes that I already cover in my blog, so reviews of these books will fit right in.

Okay, enough for now. Happy reading, I mean, blogging…. 😉

Quotes to Note 5: Earning God’s Mercy

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

I am currently reading Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures by Dennis E. Johnson. The good folks at Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing kindly supplied me with a review copy.

In a chapter contrasting different approaches to preaching, Johnson picks Tim Keller’s preaching style as exemplary of his ideal view. What distinguishes that style is primarily that the gospel is preached to both saved and unsaved alike in the congregation. Johnson describes this view as follows:

What both the unbeliever and the believer need to hear in preaching is the gospel, with its implications for a life lived in confident gratitude in response to amazing grace. Christians are constantly tempted to relapse into legalistic attitudes in their pursuit of sanctification…. We need to repent not only of our sins but also of our righteousness–our efforts at self-atonement in lieu of surrender to the all-sufficient grace of Christ.

Johnson then points out that Keller traces his discover of the need of “two-fold repentance” to George Whitefield’s sermon, “The Method of Grace”. In the footnotes, Johnson provides the following quote from that sermon. This is the quote that arrested me and I pray will impact you as well.

When a poor soul is somewhat awakened by the terrors of the Lord, then the poor creature, being born under the covenant of works, flies directly to a covenant of works again. And as Adam and Eve hid themselves… and sewed fig leaves… so the poor sinner, when awakened, flies to his duties and to his performances, to hide himself from God, and goes to patch up a righteousness of his own. Says he, I will be mighty good now–I will reform–I will do all I can; and then certainly Jesus Christ will have mercy on me.

I found Whitefield’s sermon available online here. If you have some time, you may be blessed by reading the entire sermon.

To get your own copy of this great book on redemptive-historical, gospel-centered preaching, compare prices at Amazon.com with the Christian bookseller Westminster Bookstore. The quotes above are from pages 55-57 of my copy.

Poll: Which Do You Read More, Books or Blogs?

~ Bob Hayton ~ 11 Comments

Blogs are a great source of information, each post can educate you on a specific topic. Trying to keep up with all the great blogs out there is what makes blogging fun. But it can be burdensome too, at times. So most bloggers have seasons where they stay away from all blogs for a time.

In my three years of blogging, I’ve noticed another side-effect of blogging. At times I get interested in books more, but often I find myself reading books less. The more blogs I follow the less book reading time I have. Personally, I think reading a well-written substantive book is more impactful than getting lots of information piecemeal over the web. But then I like the variety of the piecemeal info, too!

So let’s run a poll here. Which do you read more, books or blogs? And which is more important ultimately? Any thoughts on how blogging and book-reading are at odds with each other? Or do you think there’s a symbiotic relationship and blogging encourages more book-reading? I’m asking for you the reader to respond! Thanks in advance for those who do 🙂 .

“The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” by O. Palmer Robertson

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Author: O. Palmer Robertson
Format: Softcover
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Presbyterian & Reformed
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN: 0875523989
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like most any American evangelical, how the Bible views the modern state of Israel is a topic that interests me. I’ve grown in my understanding of this issue, even as I’ve evaluated competing theological systems such as dispensationalism and covenant theology. For me, the Bible is most important, as I don’t feel compelled to be loyal to any particular theological system.

Perhaps that is why O. Palmer Robertson’s writings have been so helpful to me. I greatly appreciated his Biblical treatment of the various covenants of Scripture in The Christ of the Covenants (see my review). In The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Robertson far exceeded my expectations.

Robertson doesn’t have to convince anyone that interpretations concerning the Bible’s view of Israel are varied and extremely influential. In his book, though, he manages to bring the focus to where it should be: on what Scripture actually says concerning the topic.

And this is where he excels. He doesn’t settle for a few proof texts. Rather he carefully traces out a Biblical theology of the land, the people Israel, their worship and lifestyle, and the Kingdom as it relates to Israel. He offers a careful exposition of Galatians 6:16, Hebrews 7, and Romans 11. All the while, he examines Scripture’s entire testimony on these subjects letting all of Scripture weigh in on this issue.

The book shows how the essence of the land promise was spiritual fellowship with God. This is enjoyed by the church today (Matt. 5:5, Rom. 4:13, Eph. 6:3). It argues that the worship and lifestyle of Israel is radically altered with Christ’s provision of a better covenant (Heb. 7). It goes on to examine how Scripture defines the people of Israel, and it details how Gentile believers in the church are Abraham’s children and heirs, true Jews, yes, even the Israel of God (Gal. 3:26-29, 6:16; Rom. 2:28-29, 4:11-12; Eph. 2:14, 19).

One may well disagree with Robertson’s conclusions. But anyone who cares about Scripture will appreciate his emphasis on letting Scripture speak for itself. I would hope those differing with Robertson would at least give his Biblical presentation fair consideration. His exposition of Romans 11 in particular has the potential of changing the mind of many on this subject. Not because it is novel, but because he shows how clearly the chapter as a whole argues for a present-day focus in Paul’s concern.

I won’t explain all of Robertson’s arguments for you. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book yourself. Its a fairly quick read (196 pages), which will definitely keep your interest. I’m sure you’ll be glad you gave this book a hearing.

For more on the covenant theology vs. dispensationalism discussion, see my blog posts related to this issue. You may also be interested in my series entitled “Understanding the Land Promise“.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com, or direct from P & R Publishing.

123 Book Meme

~ Bob Hayton ~ 5 Comments

I’ve been memed. Shaun Tabatt (of Bible Geek Gone Wild) tagged me. Apparently the meme has been around a while, as Nick Norelli (of Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth) has been tagged twice now this year.

The rules are simple. 1) Pick up the nearest book and find page 123. 2) Count the first five (full) sentences. 3) Then quote the next three sentences. So here goes!

Thus, the “once saved, always saved” notion is incomplete, as if the justification of the sinner were the whole salvation of God, to the exclusion of the “things that accompany salvation,” such as repentance unto life, faith, and holiness. Advocates of this view deny that an important aspect of assurance is the ability to say, “Yes, I do belong to Christ because I find in myself changes which He alone can work and changes which only His unbought love prompted Him to work.” Ultimately, this view teaches that faith can exist in a vacuum and that the believer does not need the law as a rule of life””the essence of antinomianism.

Side-note: I thought it interesting that this quote is a critique of a simplistic “once saved, always saved” view of eternal security. One of my better blog posts is my own critique of that idea.

The book is Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism, by Joel R. Beeke (Reformation Trust).

One more rule, you’re supposed to tag 5 other people with the meme. So I nominate, Scott, John, Will, Rhett, and Seth.