Here are a couple of the books Joe enjoyed in 2009.

Pleasures of God by John Piper

God’s Passion for His Glory by John Piper (with Jonathan Edward’s The End For Which God Created the World)

Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism by Iain Murray

The Forgotten Spurgeon by Iain Murray

Here are a few of Mike’s favorite books from his 2009 reading.

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore

Quotes from Joe’s message:

“He who says ‘Jesus’ also says ‘history’.”  – Stephen Neil

 “I am an historian.  I am not a believer.  But I must confess that as an historian this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history.  Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all of history.” – H.G. Wells

 “As the centuries pass the evidence is accumulating that, measured by his effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on the planet.” - Kenneth Scot Lauderette

 “Man’s ultimate destiny depends not on whether he can learn new lessons or make new discoveries and conquests, but on the acceptance of the lesson taught him close upon 2,000 years ago.”  – inscription at Rockefeller Center in NYC

 “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man.  Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison.  Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I have founded empires, but on what did we rest the inspiration of our genius?  Upon force.  Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love… At this very hour millions of men would die for him.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

 “Christ is the central fact of the world’s history.  To HIM, everything looks forward or backward.  All the lines of history converge upon him.  All the great purposes of God culminate in Him.  The greatest and most momentous fact the history of the world records is the fact of his birth.”  - Charles Spurgeon

 “The truth is that unless people realize they have a sin problem, they will not come to Christ for a solution… Thus Jesus came to expose us all as sinners.  That is why his message was so penetrating, so forceful.  It tore our self-righteousness away and exposed our evil hearts, so that we might see ourselves as sinners.” – John MacArthur

 “The baby was born so that ‘he who had no sin’ would become ‘sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’  The baby’s destiny from the moment of his conception was hell – hell in the place of sinners.  When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins… Only those who have been profoundly disturbed to the point of deep repentance are able to receive the tidings of comfort, peace, and joy that Christmas proclaims.” – William H. Smith

Hi Friends!

Mission 28 has had a great semester and is pretty much wound down until after Christmas. We had our last Bible Studies, Open Discussions and Big Meeting a few weeks back, plus an awesome Christmas party involving exploding gingerbread houses and fire extinguishers. (Yeah it got a little crazy.) Now we’re just hanging out with students as they finish finals and head home for Christmas break. I think we are all looking forward to the rest and refreshment break will give us. Be praying that this time off (for both the M28 Intern Team and all the students involved in Mission 28) would be a time to dig deep in God’s Word, read good books and be encouraged and strengthened in our walks with God. It can be such a temptation to waste break – sleeping, eating or watching tv – but we really want to be purposeful to use this time away from the busyness of school and Mission 28 to really refresh us so we are ready to come back for another semester of ministry and outreach.

We (Joe + the Interns) just finished our planning days plotting out the spring semester’s outreach, meetings, and our spring break trip, Rekindle. It is certainly going to be a busy semester starting in January! Begin praying even now that many new students would become a part of our ministry next semester. That students who came last year would return more interested than ever, bringing their friends. Pray that the Lord would open many doors for ministry and opportunities to share the gospel with students we interact with.

Specifically be praying for Rekindle. Rekindle is one of the biggest opportunities where we are able to have an extended time of focused fellowship, teaching and gospel opportunity with the students that come. The Lord has used Rekindle in past years to change people’s lives, increase their love for Him and save students through the gospel. Pray for our team as we plan the trip and for all the administrative and preparation details to fall in place. Pray also that the Lord would create a huge interest in both the Christian and unbelieving students to come on this trip with us. We are excited to see what the Lord is going to do this year!

So that’s a little about what’s coming up next semester. Now one last thing. I wanted to take a moment to let you know about how support raising is going for all of the Interns. First off, I want to thank you all for praying for us and also to those of you who have financially supported a Mission 28 Intern. We are so grateful for you. Without your support we could not be doing the ministry the Lord is allowing us to do. That said, we each have a good bit of support to raise for next semester. Most of us will be running out of support money either this month (December) or sometime early next semester. Would you please consider continuing to support us in our ministry for Mission 28? All contributions are tax-deductible and are able to be given directly to a specific intern (Stephanie, Tim, Keri, Me, Tyler, Rannon) or in general to the Intern Fund (which gets split up to the interns who need it most). Just make the check out to “CrossWay” with “Intern Fund- General” or “Intern Fund – [name of intern]” in the memo. Thank you so much for being such a caring and generous church. We are blessed to be able to serve on behalf of you guys on the campus of UNCC.

The Interns and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! You can look forward to another Mission 28 Update mid-January.

Love you all,

Charlotte

Here are a few of Nick’s favorite books from 2009.

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

Words from the Fire by Albert Mohler

Walking with the Wind by John Lewis

The next couple of weeks (both before and after Christmas) we are going to give you some of our favorite books we’ve read this year.  Each post will show you some of the books a particular pastor read.

Mickey’s Picks:

Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

Redemption:  Accomplished and Applied by John Murray

Adopted into God’s Family by Trevor Burke

The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800  by Jay Winik

Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind by Bruce Watson

[written by Mike Seaver, originally posted on his blog on biblical roles]

The recent reports of Tiger Woods’ affairs is saddening (11 and counting). I think this is a good time for all of us (especially men) to take a step back and evaluate life. If you are anything like me, you were pretty surprised by Tiger’s hidden lifestyle and now you are disappointed in him. Let’s remember though, that we are all capable of such acts. We may think, “I would never do such a thing to my wife and children.” Well, I pray you and I don’t, but these kinds of sins don’t begin in full-blown adultery. They begin in the lustful glance, the inappropriate website, and the friendly conversation with someone of the opposite sex.

Let Tiger’s mistake(s) be for our learning. Here are a few things we could evaluate from this.

1. Where are the “little foxes” that will ruin the vineyard of our relationship with our spouse? Pornography? Lingering over an immoral past? Second glances?

2. The phrase “I can look, I just can’t touch” is just the beginning of “I need to touch.” We must see that sin is never satisfied. If we don’t sever it, it will grow. If we don’t starve it, we are feeding it.

3. I once heard Jerry Bridges say for men to “live scared.” He didn’t mean we needed to be crippled by the idea of adultery, but to be very aware that we are all capable of extreme sins.

4. Have accountability. Do you have someone you talk to about even the smallest lustful glances or immoral dreams or accidental pop-up ads? If you can’t think of anyone…you don’t. Get someone…now! Confess your temptations and fight lust in the very early stages so it never leads to the hotel room with another woman, the fight with your wife, and the crashing or your marriage.

5. Be in a church that practices church discipline. Mine does and I am glad. If I wander, I have men (and women) that will come after me and confront me. This is grace even to know it is there. It is also God’s grace as a warning to me as I have seen others confronted (and even had to confront some).

6. The verse, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul” (Mark 8:36) should make us evaluate the way we value “things” and the way we pray for Tiger Woods’ soul.

May God grant repentance to Tiger and may his marriage be saved. I pray that the heat would continue to come to him until he sees that there is only one treasure…and it is not girls, golf, or gold…it is Jesus.

[You can find another helpful post about Tiger Woods by C.J. Mahaney here]

We wanted to make sure you were aware of the announcement of the Manhattan Declaration that was released a couple weeks ago at the National Press Club.  It is a statement of unified commitment to life, marriage and religious liberty from Christian Orthodox, Catholics and Evangelicals.  About a 100 Christian leaders (including Albert Mohler, Timothy Keller, and J.I. Packer)  have been working on this for several months.  This historic statement is designed to send a strong message that the Church is drawing a line in the sand on these fundamental truths and will not be moved – regardless. 

The goal is to have millions of Christians sign the statement.  Please read it and consider signing it.

For more information, you can read Justin Taylor’s helpful post.

Someone in the church passed this along to me (Joe) a while back and I recently stumbled across it again as I was going through some papers and notes.  I thought it was blog worthy and worthy of our reflection.  Enjoy!

The Benefits of Spending Time in God’s Word from Psalm 119:

1. God’s Word establishes my way (v.5)
2. God’s Word purifies my life (v.9)
3. God’s Word removes anything false in me (v.11)
4. God’s Word produces reverence for God (v.12-16)
5. God’s Word increases my courage (v.46)
6. God’s Word comforts me in afflictions (v.50)
7. God’s Word guards me from panic (v. 61)
8. God’s Word teaches me discernment (v.66)
9. God’s Word makes me useful to others (v.79)
10. God’s Word cultivates perseverance (v.87)
11. God’s Word keeps me spiritually alive (v.93)
12. God’s Word accelerates my understanding (v.98-99)
13. God’s Word creates a joyful heart (v.111)
14. God’s Word sustains me when I feel helpless (v.116)
15. God’s Word enables to honor right and hate wrong (v.128)
16. God’s Word causes me to walk in the truth (v.129-130)
17. God’s Word surrounds me with delight in spite of difficulty (v.143)
18. God’s Word develops the discipline of prayer (v.145-149)
19. God’s Word rescues me when I am defenseless (v.153-154)
20. God’s Word fills me with praise within and peace without (v.164-165)
21. God’s Word draws me back when I go astray (v.176)

[This is an excerpt from God is the Gospel, p. 121]

God’s Best Gift: Being Eternally Enthralled with God

This is crucial to see.  Many people seem to embrace the good news without embracing God.  There is no sure evidence that we have a new heart just because we want to escape hell.  That’s a perfectly natural desire, not a supernatural one.  It doesn’t take a new heart to want the psychological relief of forgiveness, or the removal of God’s wrath, or the inheritance of God’s world.  All these things are understandable without any spiritual change.  You don’t need to be born again to want these things.  The devils want them.

It is not wrong to want them.  Indeed it is folly not to.  But the evidence that we have been changed is that we want these things because they bring us to the enjoyment of God.  This is the greatest thing Christ died for.  This is the greatest good in the good news.  Why is that?  Because we were made to experience full and lasting happiness from seeing and savoring the glory of God.  If our best joy comes from something less, we are idolaters and God is dishonored.  He created us in such a way that his glory is displayed through our joy in it.  The gospel of Christ is the good news that at the cost of his Son’s life, God has done everything necessary to enthrall us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy–namely, himself.