Almost everyone who believes in the existence of heaven also believes he will be there. I cannot count the number of times I have heard the statistic that fully 99% of Americans believe they will be in heaven some day. However, the Bible certainly gives no reason to believe that 99% of people will be welcomed into heaven. Thus many people, and perhaps even the majority of people, live with false assurance of their eternal destination. How Can I Be Sure I’m A Christian by Don Whitney, is a book concerned with helping Christians understand how they be assured of their salvation and how to discern true from false assurance.

Sometimes I read a book that has come with such numerous and lofty recommendations that really it can only be disappointing. Having heard so much about how the book will change my life and cause my faith to grow in leaps and bounds, I have often found the reality to be disappointing. Conversely, sometimes a book comes unhyped and unheralded and takes my heart and mind by storm. Such is the case with The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy.

I admire John Piper and have grown tremedously through his ministry. He is a gifted teacher and one I deeply respect. Yet for some strange reason I do not enjoy his books. I have tried reading several of his books several times and have never enjoyed doing so. I don’t know why this is, but I suspect it may be his style of writing. He employs many short sentences and writes in flowery prose I usually find only in the writing of Victorian authors. Maybe there is another reason that is hidden to me. What I do know is that, as tragic as this may be, it will probably be a long time before I read one of his books again. I feel guilty about this, especially when I read other reviews where people praise this as being one of their favorite books and one that has done so much for their spiritual formation. Perhaps I will pick one up and try again next year.

It takes a brave man to write another book geared towards convincing unbelievers that being good simply isn't enough to earn God's favor. There are so many similar books available and most unbelievers have heard the arguments so many times that they simply fall on deaf ears. Andy Stanley, though, wrote How Good Is Good Enough? to cover this topic one more time and he covers it admirably.

"Getting The Gospel Right" is R.C. Sproul's sequel to the popular book "Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification" and is a thorough treatment of the subject of Christian unity. It is essentially a response to a document that tested the boundaries of unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants: "The Gift of Salvation" (also known as ECT II) which was released subsequently to the original "Evangelicals and Catholics Together." These documents were both written and signed by leading members of Evangelical and Catholic churches as a means to promote unity between the churches. They chose to find common ground and unite on that basis rather than focus on the differences that separated them. Sproul and several other prominent Reformed Christians stood against this document, insisting that it did not form an adequate basis for unity with the Roman Catholic Church.

"Hard to Believe" is another hard-hitting, no-holds-barred strike against the modern church. Much as he did years ago in "Ashamed of the Gospel", MacArthur takes aim at easy-believism and a watered-down, seeker-friendly gospel. In particular, he criticizes the influence of those who preach self-esteem, a health and wealth gospel and aim to be overly seeker-friendly. This book forceful - so much so that there were several places where the force of his words and his anger at the perversion of the gospel shocked me and stopped me short. MacArthur's righteous indignation reminded me of Spurgeon who wrote many similar books and essays in his day. In case you are wondering more specifically who he is writing about, the only person he mentions by name is Robert Schuller and his infamously antibiblical book "Self Esteem: The New Reformation." However, it is easy to see shades of many popular Bible teachers if one reads between the lines.

While I admire John MacArthur for his doctrinal orthodoxy and his willingness to stand for Biblical truth, however unpopular that may make him, what I most admire about him is his remarkable ability to teach from the Scriptures. I have found few people who are better able to carefully and accurately exposit God's Word. Because of this ee has become one of my most trusted teachers.

"Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace?" is exactly the sort of book you might expect a traditional, Reformed pastor and theologian to leave as his final message to the world, for before this book was published, James Boice, long-time pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia went to be with the Lord. This book stands as a call to the church to rediscover the principles upon which the Protestant church was built. It was Boice's conviction that much of what passes as Christianity today is anything but. The church will only be able to be an effective witness for God when it returns to the foundation of the five solas that defined the Reformation (Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, glory to God alone).