I’ve always wanted to read the gospels in chronological order. There are reading plans available all over the Internet and in apps that guide you in doing just that, but these never clicked for me.

Christ Chronological changes that.

Where the reading guides and apps have the reader scrolling from screen to screen or flipping through the pages of the Bible, this volume puts the passages in chronological order for you. Where only one gospel records the scene from the life of Christ, the passage stretches across the page. Where two or more depict the scene, the passages are presented in side-by-side columns.

Throughout the beautifully-designed book, there are headings to delineate between scenes as well as brief commentaries that explore the differences in the accounts and the motivation of the author in their choice of which details to include and which ones to omit from their gospel. The passages are also color coded to allow the reader to know instantly which gospel they are reading.

Another added bonus is the blank, lined pages are included at the back to allow you to write in your own notes.

Christ Chronological is an excellent resource for group study or individual reading. It would be fascinating to use it in a small group or Sunday school setting to further and more deeply explore the life of Christ.

Personally, I am planning to break the book down into daily readings for Lent which should put the pages on the last week of the life of Christ into the final week before Easter. What better way to prepare to celebrate the Resurrection!

Disclaimer: Thank you to B&H Publishing for providing me with a copy of Christ Chronological in exchange for my unbiased review.

Unlike perhaps many of the people who will flock to this book, I am a relative novice in the world of famed 19th century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I know of his revered Morning and Evening devotion book, but little of the prolific writer and speaker behind it.

Yet, even to a such a novice, The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon there was much to appreciate about the volume.

As beautiful as it is with full color reproductions of Spurgeon’s actual notebooks, it is not conducive to reading through from cover to cover. It is precisely as it states, “outlines and sermons.” Some of these outlines are more complete than others, but there are many that contain incomplete thoughts that would have been filled in during the actual delivery of the message.

Edited by Christian T. George, the volume contains plenty of footnotes to help guide the reader to other materials – such as Spurgeon’s autobiography and collections of his lectures and sermons – that help fill in the blanks left by the outline format. The notes also help to guide readers through the potential thought process of the great preacher as it notes places where words were added to the outline or where words and phrases were stricken.

The introduction to the book is truly an asset in establishing the setting into which Spurgeon was writing and delivering the sermons he outlined. It also contains colorful charts, graphs and even a word cloud to illustrate the content on which Spurgeon concentrated during this season of his ministry.

While beautifully presented, this book is best considered as a reference work for scholars, pastors and students looking for more insight into the world of Spurgeon. Casual readers or newcomers to Spurgeon’s writing may be better served by starting with one of his more accessible volumes.

Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon: His Earliest Outlines and Sermons Between 1851 and 1854 in exchange for my unbiased review.

Put aside for a moment the arguments over the style of music in churches. Why do we sing in the first place?

Hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty guide the reader in an exploration of this question in Sing! How Worship Transforms the Church, a short book that incorporates Scripture with personal experience and the words of classic hymns.

As international worship leaders and conference speakers, the Gettys have written songs in a variety of genres which all teach sound doctrine. They bring to the book their experience not only as members of a local church but also as musicians who have led worship in congregations around the world.

The first three chapters build the Scriptural case for congregational singing. In these chapters we are reminded that we are created to sing, commanded to sing and compelled to sing. The next three chapters offer suggestions on incorporating singing into your personal devotions, into your family time and into the life of the church.

A powerful chapter near the end of the book speaks of our singing as witness to an unbelieving world. It is here that the Gettys powerfully drive home their point by sharing how their most familiar song, “In Christ Alone,” has been means of proclaiming the gospel of Christ through its clear message. The chapter reminds us, “As you stand and sing in your church this Sunday, you do not know who is listening, and you can never imagine what the Lord might be doing.”

The book concludes with a short section of practical suggestions for pastors, musicians, worship leaders and song writers.

Singing has, for some in the church, become a tradition that has lost its meaning. We sing the words by rote without contemplating their deeper meaning or even the reason why the Church has always been a singing Church.

In their clear, simple way, the Gettys remind us that singing should incorporate mind, heart and soul – as should all of our worship. Their suggestions for different members of the church body are valuable for focusing the attention of the congregation where it rightfully belongs with the God who created us to sing.

Sing! would be an excellent resource to use within the local church to not only encourage its members to sing, but also to approach our worship in song joyfully no matter how skilled our voices.

Disclaimer: Thank you to B&H Publishing for providing me with a copy of Sing! in exchange for my unbiased review.