August Reading

1. The Summer We Read Gatsby - Danielle Ganek
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
3. Thrones, Dominations - Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh
4. Poor Folk - Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. The Diary of Samuel Pepys Volume One: 1660
6. The Wisdom of the Shire - Noble Smith
7. Heaven Bound: Creating a Funeral or Memorial Service for Your Pet - Paraclete Press
8. The Diary of Samuel Pepys Volume Two: 1661
9. The 40 Most Influential Christians - Daryl Aaron

July Reading

1. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
2. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemmingway
3. 4.50 From Paddington - Agatha Christie
4. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
6. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
7. Playing for Pizza - John Grisham
8. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin
9. Biblical Preaching - Haddon W. Robinson
10. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend - Katarina Bivald
11. The New City Catechism

Top Twenty Books by C. S. Lewis Read This Year

A good portion of the 132 books I've read this year have been by C. S. Lewis, so I decided to do a list dedicated just to those.  Of course, who can really rank Lewis' books?  But everyone has his or her favorites.  Here is how I decided to do this one: I will rank each book according to how much I enjoyed reading it.  Certainly, I would recommend all of them.

1. Mere Christianity
2. The Great Divorce
3. Surprised by Joy
4. Out of the Silent Planet
5. Of Other Worlds: Essays & Stories
6. Miracles
7. Letters to an American Lady
8. An Experiment in Criticism
9. The Abolition of Man
10. Perelandra
11. Reflections on the Psalms
12. A Preface to Paradise Lost
13. That Hideous Strength
14. The Screwtape Letters
15. Till We Have Faces
16. Narrative Poems
17. The Problem of Pain
18. Christian Reflections
19. Letters to Children
20. A Grief Observed

October Reading

• The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Philippians - John MacArthur
• Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary - John Phillips
• The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
• Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Philippians - Tony Merida & Francis Chan
• Be Joyful: Even When Things Go Wrong, You Can Have Joy - Warren W. Wiersbe
• The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church - Dave Gibbons
• Aslan's Call: Finding Our Way to Narnia - Mark Eddy Smith
• The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative - Steven D. Mathewson
• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories - C. S. Lewis
• The Quotable Chesterton - Kevin Belmonte
• The Visionary Christian - C. S. Lewis
• Perelandra - C. S. Lewis
• Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis
• The Warden - Anthony Trollope
• Lessons from the Ladder - Neil Joiner
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
• Things That Cannot Be Shaken - K. Scott Oliphant & Rod Mays

March Reading

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
2. Jesus Swagger: Break Free from Poser Christianity - Jarrid Wilson
3. Pastors in the Classics - Leland Ryken, Philip Ryken, & Todd Wilson
4. C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity: The Crisis that Created a Classic - Paul McCusker
5. C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children - Lyle W. Dorsett & Marjorie Lamp Mead
6. Till We Have Faces - C. S. Lewis
7. The New American Commentary: Leviticus - Mark F. Rooker
8. Be Holy: Becoming "Set Apart" For God - Warren W. Wiersbe
9. Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Leviticus - Allan Moseley
10. The Princess and Curdie - George MacDonald
11. Murder in the Cathedral - T. S. Eliot
12. Electra - Sophocles (translated by George Young)
13. Reading Between the Lines - Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
14. The Gospel According to Matthew - Leon Morris
15. Exploring the Gospel of Matthew - John Phillips
16. The New American Commentary: Matthew - Craig L. Blomberg
17. Layman's Bible Book Commentary: Matthew - Clair M. Crissey
18. Studies in Matthew: The King and the Kingdom - Roland Q. Leavell
19. Matthew (Vol. II) - J. Vernon McGee
20. Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew - Stuart K. Weber
21. A Room with a View - E. M. Forster
22. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew - Michael J. Wilkins
23. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 24-28 - John MacArthur
24. Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Matthew - David Platt
25. Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis

Top 20 Books Read for 2015

1. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus - J. Mack Stiles
2. The Pastor As Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision - Kevin J. Vanhoozer & Owen Strachan
3. Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition - Donald Williams
4. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis Volume II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War 1931-1949 - Walter Hooper, Editor
5. Tolkien: How an Obscure Oxford Professor Wrote the Hobbit and Became the Most Beloved Author of the Century - Devin Brown
6. Why Church Matters - Joshua Harris
7. The Spiritual World of the Hobbit - James Stuart Bell
8. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
9. On the Incarnation - Athanasius
10. Preach: Theology Meets Practice - Mark Dever & Greg Gilbert
11. Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien and the Shadow of Evil - Colin Duriez
12. How to Be Rich - Andy Stanley
13. The Knowledge of the Holy - A. W. Tozer
14. Literature: A Student's Guide - Louis Markos
15. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
16. Gorgias - Plato
17. Four Faultless Felons - G. K. Chesterton
18. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
19. Credo: Believing in Something to Die For - Ray Pritchard
20. Strange Fire - John MacArthur

This list of 20 books was compiled after reading 68 books this year.  As always, if you're only going to read one book, make sure it is the Bible.

November Reading

1. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2. Tolkien: How an Obscure Oxford Professor Wrote the Hobbit and Became the Most Beloved Author of the Century - Devin Brown
3. Psalms: Reading and Studying the Book of Praises - W. H. Bellinger, Jr.
4. Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Lewis

September Reading

1. Perelandra - C. S. Lewis
2. The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision - Kevin J. Vanhoozer & Owen Strachan
3. C. S. Lewis: Images of His World - Douglas Gilbert & Clyde S. Kilby
4. Gorgias - Plato
5. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War (1931-1949) - Walter Hooper, Editor
6. That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis

What Is Your Baptism Experience?

After going "all in" for Jesus in 1994, I approached my pastor and let him know that I had become a Christian. The next step was my baptism. After giving me a Survival Kit (which Lifeway still stocks, although in a different form), Bro. Jerry Pickard of Northside Baptist Church in Milledgeville, GA talked with me, met with me, and helped me to begin the discipleship process. Soon the baptism date was set for a Sunday night. I can remember telling many people that I had become a Christian (including teachers at school, I was in the 7th grade). One teacher, Mr. Charles Puckett, my English teacher, was excited with me. Although he couldn't stay for the baptism itself, he did stop by the church just prior to the service beginning. He met with me in the back of the sanctuary, and gave me a cross. He said someone gave it to him when he was baptized and was told to pass it on when the time was right. Then then instructed me to do the same when someone else was baptized.

I was led through the choir practice room, through a door, and into the baptistry. It was there that Bro. Jerry baptized me, and I publicly declared to all who were watching and listening that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I identified myself with Jesus's death and burial. His death is my death. I also identified myself with Jesus' resurrection. His life is my life.

Baptism doesn't save you, but it is the first biblical step of obedience once you become a Christian.

When and where were you baptized as a believer?
If you have repented of your sins and trusted Christ in faith to save you and be your Lord, but you haven't been baptized, come talk to me.

Worldviews

Search the world over, and you find basically seven major worldviews.  Each of those seven worldviews are intrinsically different.  Each one as something that drastically separates it from the other six.  The seven big worldviews are theism, atheism, pantheism, panentheism, deism, finite godism, and polytheism.
You may think, "Big deal!  So there's different beliefs out there.  It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you sincerely believe it.  Their all equally valid and true.  Right?"  WRONG!
Logically, only one worldview can be true, which means the other six must be false.  You may interject at this point, "Wait a minute.  Who cares about logic?"  Well, if you're not interested in what's logical you may as well start talking about a square circle or a one-end stick.  Actually, forget about communication at all because all language is based on logic.
Now, let's delve into the seven worldviews and briefly define and describe them.

Theism
Theism is the belief that an infinite personal God exists (theos=god).  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are great examples of theistic worldviews.

Atheism
Atheism says that no god exists (a=no, theos=god).  This universe is all that there is; there is nothing beyond.  Some famous atheists include Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzche, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Pantheism
Pantheism claims that the universe is god, and god is the universe (pan=all, theos=god).  There is no separation from creator and creation; it's one and the same.  Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Christian Science, and most New Age religions fall into this worldview classification.

Panentheism
Panentheism simply says that god is in the universe, kind of like a brain is in a body.  So the universe is god's body.  Panentheism also claims that god is in the constant process of changing., which is sometimes referred to as process theology.  Some notorious panentheists are Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and Schubert Ogden.

Deism
Deism is the view that holds that god is beyond the universe, but not in it.  Miracles are denied.  A god created the universe, but then he left it to manage itself.  Sometimes this is described as the clock-maker religion: god wound up the clock and just let it run on its on.  Some well-known deists include Francois Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine.

Finite Godism
Finite Godism is similar to Deism in that it claims a god outside of the universe, but he is also involved in the universe.  However, as Deism would say that god is infinite, Finite Godism says that he is limited in his nature and power.  Miracles are denied.  Some who have held this belief are John Stuart Mill, William James, and Peter Bertocci.

Polytheism
Polytheism says that there are many gods, but they are finite or limited in their nature and power.  The gods are active in this world.  Some well-known representatives in this camp are the ancient Greeks, Mormons, and Wiccans.

I know I have been very brief in the descriptions, but I want to emphasize the major differences in the worldviews.  If Theism is true, then logically the other six must be false.  For example, God cannot both be infinite and finite at the same time.  That violates the law of non-contradiction.  He can't be both personal and impersonal, involved and uninvolved, beyond the universe and not beyond the universe, able to perform miracles and not able to perform miracles, changing and immutable.  All worldviews cannot be true.

July Reading List

1. The Grand Weaver - Ravi Zacharias
2. Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis
3. With Calvin in the Theater of God - John Piper & David Mathis (editors)