Pastor Mark's 2009 Reading List

The following list of 36 books is what I hope to read in 2009 (3 per month)...no promises that I'll actually make it. If you are interested in reading along with me you can buy the books by clicking on the link for each. I will also write a short review of each book so we can interact.

I've listed books by general reading category. I will announce ahead of time which book I will be reading next.

Theology
Providence and Prayer by Terrance Tiessen
Chosen but Free by Norman Geisler
The Potter's Freedom by James White
Arminian Theology by Roger Olson
Chosen for Life by Sam Storms
Pierced for Our Transgressions by multiple
The Great Exchange by multiple**
Future Grace by John Piper**
Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches by John Hammett
Elders in Congregational Life by Phil Newton
Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson
The Israel of God by O. Palmer Robertson

Church and Culture
Christless Christianity by Michael Horton**

Hermeneutics
Plowshares and Pruning Hooks by Brent Sandy

Church History
10 Great Ideas from Church History by Mark Shaw
The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper**
The Roots of Endurance by John Piper**
Contending for Our All by John Piper**
also, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper is in his history series, but I have already read it

Leadership and Strategy
The Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Parenting
The Habits of a Child's Heart by multiple
If You Take My Hand, My Son by Wayne Hastings

Evangelism
The Heart of Evangelism by Jerram Barrs**
The Pastor-Evangelist by Roger Greenway
Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar**
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer**
Just Walk across the Room by Bill Hybels**

Christian Life
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges**
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges**
Praying Backwards by Bryan Chapell

World Religions
Islam: What Every Christian Should Know by Bassam Chedid
Islam in Context by multiple
Jesus and Muhammed by Mark Gabriel
From Jihad to Jesus by Jerry Rassamni

Fiction Novels
The Shack by William Young
I am not recommending that you read this book. I am reading it for the purpose of being able to tell the church the dangers of the book. It is a fictional book with loose connections to Christianity and with many doctrinal problems.

Okay, so there's my list. It's a daunting task for 2009, but I will be the better for it. Again, I want to invite you to read along with me so we can discuss what we read.

If you feel there is no way you could tackle this, I have designated a lighter reading list. There are 12 books that have ** beside them. These 12 are very good reads and would impact your life and would set you on a one-book-per-month pace.

Happy reading...

Pastor Mark

What's the Future Hold???

I want to get you thinking about what the future holds for us at First Baptist Smithville.

Church, would you dare to dream? Church, would you dare to think that we could be more than we are now...so much more?

Will our dreams come true because we will dream small dreams? I pray not.

I remember a few points in my life where someone asked me the question, "Mark, where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Intriguing question. The question shows how big or small your vision is. It shows how big or small your world is. It shows what your priorities are.

So...church, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Dream big. I am.

Peru Info Meeting

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to everybody from the TBC annual meeting to remind you about the Peru info meeting.

It's this Sunday evening (11/16) immediately following the evening worship service.

If you're even the least bit interested in possibly going with FBC to Peru in 2009 then come to this meeting.

Mark

Sunday Preview: Politics (11/9)

So...now that the election is over we'll be talking about a political issue this Sunday. I'm going to tell you exactly what the Bible says this Sunday (just like I do every Sunday).

If you want to read ahead a little bit you can check out 2 Peter chapter 2 and Romans chapter 13. Good stuff.

See you Sunday...

Mark

Sunday Preview: Worship and Life (11/2)

This Sunday we will finish our worship series with the sermon "Worship and Life."

So what you do think? How is worship connected to life and not just something that we do for an hour on Sunday morning?

Our text for this Sunday is Romans 12:1-2.

See you Sunday...

Mark

Peru Mission Report & Involvement

I'll be sharing this Sunday night (10/12) about the Peru mission. At the end of the service we will take time as a church body to affirm whether or not this is the direction that God has for our church. Please be in prayer for this time as we discern God's will.

We start at 6:30pm. Don't be late!!!

Sunday Preview (10/12): Worship and Eternity

We start a new sermon series this Sunday about worship. Our first sermon will be on worship and eternity. Here's some Scriptures for you to preview that we'll be looking at this week.

Revelation 5
Revelation 7:9-12
Revelation 19:1-10

For our discussion this week...

What is worship???
How important is worship in the life of a Christian?

Last Day in Coracora

Today is our last day in Coracora. We will begin the long journey back to Lima this afternoon.

Yesterday we spent several hours at the orphanage playing with the kids and talking with the house parents. We shared the gospel with the house parents. They were all very deeply entrenched in Catholicism. Catholicism is not only the religion of the town, but it is completely interwoven with the political and business aspects of the town as well. You cannot turn anywhere that you do not see it. More about this later.

We had a great night with our Bible study group last night. As I told you yesterday we have found and man who will continue leading the group. Yesterday afternoon we were also able to work out a location for the group to meet. Praise God.

The situation is very fragile because all of the people meeting in the group are new believers, but we do not trust in human strength. We trust in God who is able to do far more than we could ever ask or think. We have given Andres, the leader, a schedule of Bible passages to lead the group through until we can send another team back to Coracora. Pray for him to understand the passages and lead well.

Pray for our safe travel. I look forward to seeing you and worshiping with you again. We are blessed.

I love you church...

Mark

I´m Learning Lots

Our Bible study last night was fantastic. We had our regular people and about 6 teenagers from the orphanage and a house parent showed up also. I got to share the gospel with all of them and give them a little thing to take home with them so they could remember the gospel.



Here were our basic two goals that we wanted to accomplish while we were here. First, to find a place for the Bible study to continue after we are gone. We have been meeting in a little lobby outside our hotel room. The group can´t meet there if we´re not staying in the hotel. We´re close to finding a place but haven´t yet. Second goal, to find a person who will lead the Bible studies after we are gone. We have found this person. His name is Andres. Bobby and I are paying for him to go to an IMB sponsored and led training in a town somewhat nearby at the end of November. I´ll tell you more about him when I return.



This morning we met a man named Isaias. He heard we were here and Andres brought him to us. I learned that he was a part of a Baptist church that tried to get started aseveral years ago, but this church folded because they could never find a pastor. And that is the number 1 challenge that we will face. Finding a Peruvian pastor who will come to Coracora or training a person to become the pastor. I will speak more about this when I get back.



God bless and thank you for your prayers...



Mark

Monday Morning Update

Hey church...

Bobby and I have really enjoyed our time so far. We had a lady last night at our Bible study who was very close to receiving Christ. Her name is Islena. We didn´t want to pressure her so we told her we would follow up later this week. Hopefully she´ll come back to Bible study tonight.

As Bobby and I talked together this morning, we both agreed that the absolutely critical part that will make this thing go is to have a man who is willing to lead while we are gone. If this is to become a church eventually then someone will have to step up and be the pastor. This is our main prayer focus now. There´s a lot of details that I will tell you when I return that would take forever to write.

We´re going to visit the orphanage here in a few minutes. Blessings church...

Mark

God Is Working

Hey First Baptist...

We´ve had a good day and a half so far in Coracora. God has literally been bringing people to us who are wanting to study the Bible and be part of a church.

I led Bible study last night using the story method I had been doing on Wednesday nights at FBC over the past month. It went really well and we had some awesome interaction with the people who came. This morning at 10am we met again and talked about baptism and what exactly a church is.

We met a lady this morning while we were eating breakfast. Her name is Janet. She sat down to eat and overheard our conversation (she speaks a little english). She just moved to Coracora one week ago and had been looking for a Bible teaching church. Guess what? She couldn´t find one because there isn´t one here, so she came to our Bible study and she´ll be back again when we meet tonight.

Keep praying hard because God hears your prayers and he works as we ask him. I love you all church and I prayed for you as you met together for worship this morning. Do you know what a priviledge that you have???

Blessings...

We´re in Coracora

We made it in the middle of the night last night, found our hotel, and got a few hours of sleep. I got up and read some Scriptures this morning. I read Psalm 96 about the worship of God and the call of missions. Check it out.

We have already reestablished contact with a man named Dante that a previous group made a relationship with. God literally brought him right to our lap first thing this morning. So we´ll be doing a Bible Study tonight with him and with another person we met to work in the restaurant beside our hotel.

I looked out over the town from my hotel window (good view) this morning and took some photos and videos. It is so heartbreaking to me that this place has no, zero, zip evangelical Bible preaching churches. They don´t have access to the gospel. I thought about Jesus as he looked over the crowd and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Lost.

¨Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.¨ Psalm 96:3, 4

I´ll check in later.

Arrival in Lima

Mark called me at 7:30 am and said they arrived safely in Lima last night around midnight. They were an hour and 1/2 late leaving Miami because of mechanical problems but it was smooth sailing the rest of the way! It's a good thing God gave him and Bobby strong, healthy backs because the taxi driver taking them from the airport to the IMB housing hit a pothole and ripped the tire apart. So, Mark and Bobby were changing a tire on the side of the Pacific coast at 12:30 this morning!! Thank you God for their safety!!
He could not get any internet access but he said he hopefully could find some in Cora Cora. They were on their way to the bus station this morning for the 18 hr. trek of the trip! (Let's pray they don't lose any tires on the bus!!!)

Thoughts on Discipleship

The church has been given one task...to make disciples of all nations (peoples).

I (Mark) have been thinking a great deal lately about discipleship. I have a ton of thoughts about it swirling in my head, but I want to comment briefly on what I feel is the state of discipleship in the 21st century American church. My feeling is that many Christians feel this way...

"Discipleship is for the super-Christian."

Have you ever thought that? You have to be a cut above the rest to really qualify for the label "disciple of Jesus."

Simply put...a disciple is a person who is actively engaged in becoming like his or her master.

Here's where the 21st century church struggles greatly. As I observe the landscape of church life in the 21st century, for the most part, I see that today's church is a passive event where you sit and observe. That will not make disciples. It cannot.

I am leaving for Peru shortly. I am excited. We are looking to make disciples of Jesus there. I want discipleship and missions to be at the very heart of everything we do because it is at the heart of what Jesus commissioned us to do. (Matthew 28:18-20)

For you to interact with...

1. Do you feel like discipleship is for the super-Christian or for everybody?
2. Looking back over the last 5 years, would you say that know you have become more like Christ, or stayed about the same, or gone backwards?
3. Any other thoughts you have about this post/discipleship...

To leave your answers click on the "comments" link below.

Blessings...Mark

Next post from Peru!!! (as soon as I can find internet)

Sunday Preview: The Greatness of God – part 4 – Glory

Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

We don’t often think of jealousy as a positive quality, but in this case we see God’s jealousy for his own glory. It is loving of God to desire to see himself glorified for the Scriptures tell us that we find the fulfillment of our life’s purpose when we are glorifying God with our lives.

Here’s some other Scriptures we’ll look at this weekend
• Isaiah 43:7, 21
• Isaiah 48:9-11
• Ephesians 1:4-6
• 1 Peter 2:9

The message of these verses is that God saves us for his own glory. Wow.

See you Sunday…

Mark

Welcome to Smithville FBC Gateway

This is a new blog designed for the members and attenders of FBC Smithville. On this blog the church staff will write about different topics. We'll write about mission trips, upcoming weekend services, encouraging and inspiring thoughts from God's Word to help you live a God-centered life, do book reviews, and just about anything else church related.

We want you to leave comments and interact with us online. Here's the rules for commenting...

1. We will moderate (approve) comments before they appear on the website.
2. No anonymous comments. Please use the "name/URL" feature for identifying yourself if you don't have an account.

I'm looking forward to it. Blessings...

Mark