One of the authors I plan to read this summer on my sabbatical is Marilynne Robinson. Regarding her Gilead: A Novel, John Piper posts:
“[It] continues to move me, months after I read it. I have waited to comment on it since I knew it would be around for decades (centuries?). I wanted to let it ripen in my memory.
Rev. John Ames is dying. The book is a kind of last testament he would like his young son to read when he is twenty-five, long after his father is dead. His voice is still with me.
So I went back to gather a few treasures. Gilead is not a "must read.” There are no “must reads” but the Bible. None.
So how do you choose what to read before you die and give an account to Jesus? I do it largely by what is awakened in me when I read samples. I hope these help. Some of the treasures.
He’d walk fifteen miles across open country in the dead of winter to settle a point of interpretation. We’d have to thaw him out before he could tell us what it was he had on his mind. (p. 16)
Existence seems to me now the most remarkable thing that could ever be imagined. (p. 53)
With A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ: 100 Daily Meditations on 2 Corinthians Sam Storms has served a splendid reflection on 2 Corinthians that will benefit readers at all levels. Those with no theological training will profit from an accessible and clear style learning not only the rich content of 2 Corinthians, but also how to study the Bible and apply it to life. Those with questions about what happens after someone dies, or, how to handle discouragement, or how we can be more confident in sharing our faith with others, will find biblical answers. Pastors preparing for sermons on 2 Corinthians will appreciate Storms’ interaction with commentators, his careful exegetical decisions, and the pastoral application of 2 Corinthians. A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ is a book that is at once exegetically responsible, theologically profound, and pastorally relevant. I highly recommend it.
Here is a quote that Storms writes in reference to 2 Corinthians 3:18.
. . . We see here that ‘beholding is a way of becoming.’ That is to say, we always tend to become like or take on the characteristics and qualities of whatever it is we admire and enjoy and cherish most. Fixing the eyes of our faith on Jesus is transformative. Gazing on his glory as seen in the gospel and now preserved for us in Scripture has the power to bump us along, as it were, whether minimally or maximally, whether in short spurts of sanctification or great and notable triumphs, toward the fullness that is found in Christ alone but will one day be found in us, by grace, as well.”
If you are in the midst of a conflict, Molly Friesen has posted an excellent prayer on the Peacemakers web site.
Maybe if you are in the midst of a conflict, you could print this out, get on your knees and pray through it. (If you are really environmentally conscious, rather than printing it out, kneel next to your computer).
The prayer is from The Peacemaker written by Ken Sande. I highly recommend this book as well as the other resources available in their resource store.
On pages 84-85 of The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict , Ken Sande explores what it means to obey Paul’s command to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phi. 4:4), even when we are in the midst of conflict. He asks, “What on earth is there to rejoice about when you are involved in a dispute? If you open your eyes and think about God’s lavish goodness to you, here is the kind of joyful worship you could offer to him, even in the midst of the worst conflict:”
Oh Lord, you are so amazingly good to me! You sent your only Son to die for my sins, including those I have committed in this conflict. Because of Jesus I am forgiven, and my name is written in the Book of Life! You do not treat me as I deserve, but you are patient, kind, gentle, and forgiving with me. Please help me to do the same to others.
In your great mercy, you are also kind to my opponent. Although he has wronged me repeatedly, you hold out your forgiveness to him as you do to me. Even if he and I never reconcile in this life, which I still hope we will, you have already done the work to reconcile us forever in heaven. This conflict is so insignificant compared to the wonderful hope we have in you!
This conflict is so small compared to the many other things you are watching over at this moment, yet you still want to walk beside me as I seek to resolve it.
Official Christianity, of late years has been having what is known as a bad press. We are constantly assured that the churches are empty because preachers insist too much on doctrine – -dull dogma as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man – - and the dogma is the drama. . .
Now, we may call that doctrine exhilarating, or we may call it devastating; we may call it revelation, or we may call it rubbish; but if we call it dull, then words have no meaning at all. That God should play the tyrant over man is a dismal story of unrelieved oppression; that man should play the tyrant over man is the usual dreary record of human futility; but that man should play the tyrant over God and find him a better man than himself is an astonishing drama indeed. Any journalist, hearing of it for the first time, would recognize it as news; those who did hear it for the first time actually called it news, and good news at that; though we are likely to forget that the word Gospel ever meant anything so sensational.
Perhaps the drama is played out now, and Jesus is safely dead and buried. Perhaps. It is ironical and entertaining to consider that at least once in the world’s history those words might have been spoken with complete conviction, and that was upon the eve of the Resurrection.
For more on Dorothy Sayers, see this recent post. Notice the question I asked in the comments.
Luther died on February 18 of 1546, 464 years ago yesterday. The news didn’t reach Wittenberg until the following day.
Heiko Oberman:
The town and university were totally unprepared for the news. It was early morning, and as usual during the semester Philipp Melanchthon, Luther’s longtime colleague and comrade-in-arms, stood in the hall explicating St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans for his students. In the middle of the lecture the messenger burst in with the news of Luther’s death. Melanchthon struggled for control, unable to speak, but finally – - his voice faltering—told his students what had happened, breaking out in anguish with Elisha’s horrified cry as he saw the prophet Elijah ascending to Heaven in the chariot of fire: “The charioteer of Israel has fallen”—“Alas, obiit auriga et currus Israel” (2 Kings 2:12).
We are fast becoming the pornographic society. Over the course of the last decade, explicitly sexual images have crept into advertising, marketing, and virtually every niche of American life. This ambient pornography is now almost everywhere, from the local shopping mall to prime-time television.
By some estimations, the production and sale of explicit pornography now represents the seventh-largest industry in America. New videos and internet pages are produced each week, with the digital revolution bringing a host of new delivery systems. Every new digital platform becomes a marketing opportunity for the pornography industry.
To no one’s surprise, the vast majority of those who consume pornography are males. It is no trade secret that males are highly stimulated by visual images, whether still or video. That is not a new development, as ancient forms of pornography attest. What is new is all about access. Today’s men and boys are not looking at line pictures drawn on cave walls. They have almost instant access to countless forms of pornography in a myriad of forms.
Guys –-here is one of the reasons I am making ministry to our men such a priority.
Colin Marshall and Tony Payne in the recommended, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind Shift that Changes Everything:
But if we pour all our time into caring for those who need help, the stable Christians will stagnate and never be trained to minister to others, the non-Christians will stay unevangelized, and a rule of thumb will quickly emerge within the congregation: if you want the pastor’s time and attention, get yourself a problem. Ministry becomes about problems and counselling, and not about the gospel and growing in godliness.
If you’re married or a pastor (or perhaps if you simply know someone who is married), then order it now.
There is no doubt about it: too many of us are trying to have hundred dollar conversations in dime moments. Too many of us have left little time in our schedules for meaningful conversations, tender connection, and focused problem solving. Too many of us have little time for relational reflection and introspection in our marriages. Too many of us are doing marriage on the fly. Marriage, too often, is what we do in between all the other things we are doing that really determine the content and pace of our schedules. But marriage doesn’t function very well as an in-between thing, and marriages surely don’t tend to thrive when we leave them alone and ask them to grow on their own. A marriage that is going to grow, change, and become increasingly healthy needs cultivation. Like a garden, it doesn’t do well when it is being neglected.
I do have a Kindle. It is an extremely convenient device. Otherwise, I relate very directly to this post.
I am, unashamedly, a book man.
You may have expected me to say a “reading” man, which would also be true. As St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “Be assiduous in prayer and reading. In the one you speak to God. In the other God speaks to you.”
But for me, it’s not just about reading – it’s about books. I agree with the monk in Normandy who, in 1170, wrote that “A monastery without a library is like a castle without an armory. Our library is our armory.”
This means we should engage in building it, fortifying it, at every opportunity. When I was in graduate school, I recall one of my professors saying that we should have a line-item in our budget for books. That building a good library is one of the most important things we can do in ministry and for impact.
I tell my own graduate students the same thing – to invest in books. They are our tools. A mechanic has his set of wrenches; a doctor has his stethoscope; a chef has his cookware. Those of us in ministry, or scholarship (and ideally they are joined at the hip), have our books.
When I “require” books for my students, my intent is simple: these are worth not only reading, but owning.
Buy them. Build your library. It is your armory.
But let’s return to the book as a physical manifestation. Because it’s not just its content – it’s the importance of the book itself.
I love the feel of a book, holding it in my hands, smelling the paper and, if old, the dust and age. I love marking it up, highlighting key passages and annotating it along the sides.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
Here is the endorsement I wrote for this book.
. It will be out soon . . . I highly recommend it.
, Ken Sande explores what it means to obey Paul’s command to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phi. 4:4), even when we are in the midst of conflict. He asks, “What on earth is there to rejoice about when you are involved in a dispute? If you open your eyes and think about God’s lavish goodness to you, here is the kind of joyful worship you could offer to him, even in the midst of the worst conflict:”
:
. But, every pastor probably should. In the mean time, I have scanned Al Mohler’s thoughts.
