On reading books...

For probably many reasons, my passion for reading books-- particularly nonfiction-- has dramatically increased over the past few years. It is simply an incredible way to interact with the world's greatest teachers, and to glean wisdom and understanding from great men of faith.

The only problem is that:

1. I'm a slow reader
2. I read too many books at the same time, thus rarely "finishing" them
3. I have higher priorities that demand time away from reading
4. I don't really have a lot of training in how to really "read" a book, how to interact with it and ultimately be able to reconstruct the main arguments to the satisfaction of the book's author, and I don't know how to make helpful notes for future reference. Things like this...
   

So I have begun a project of sorts to reform my reading habits. I'll have a great opportunity to improve, as I have a lot of reading material to work through. Here is a growing list of books which I plan to read through next year, in no particular order:

1. Peace Like a River; Leif Enger (A fiction book, I'm almost done with this one)
2. God, Marriage, and Family; Andreas J. Kostenberger
3. Christless Christianity; Michael Horton
4. War of Words; Paul Tripp
5. Future Men; Douglas Wilson
6. How to Read a Book; Mortimer Adler. (I'll read this as soon as it's available from the library!)
7. Heaven; Randy Alcorn
8. Worship Matters; Bob Kauflin
9. The Cross Centered Life; C.J. Mahaney
10. Successful Christian Parenting; John MacArthur
11. Grace-Based Parenting; Tim Kimmel
12. Tactics: A game-plan for discussing your Christian convictions; Gregory Koukl
13. Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition through the Lens of Scripture; David Powlison
14. Lectures to my Students; C.H. Spurgeon
15. Speaking the Truth in Love; David Powlison
    
16. The Treasure Principal; Randy Alcorn
17. The Pursuit of Holiness; Jerry Bridges
18. Respectable Sins; Jerry Bridges
19. How People Change; Paul Tripp
20. Desiring God; John Piper
21. The Momentary Marriage; John Piper
    

So here's the plan. For the first time ever, I'm going to read each book, one at a time. And I'm going to make it a goal to read one book every two weeks. This means that with the current list I should be able to finish all of the books by late October of 2010... I've got a good start right now with the first book, Peace Like a River, which should be finished sometime in the next couple of days.

The second part of the plan is that I will write some sort of a review of each book I read and post it on this blog.

I'll end with an encouragement to all of you out there, to look at your own reading habits. Are there any adjustments are resolutions you'd wish to make for the upcoming year?...

Sesame Street Thanksgiving

Why Read the Bible? - Part 4

A Final Exhortation

I'm not exactly sure how to describe this, but over the last few weeks, one thing has been made clear to me, and it is this: as I surrender and turn from my own will to do things my way, and fall on my knees in full submission to the Lord, not only is my affection for His Word and my desire to pray dramatically increased, but it is as if a veil is removed and I am able to see the beauty of the Lord and joyfully behold his glory. My former way seems like silliness, like a mere trifling, and I long for this "clearer vision" to sink deep within my heart and soul and take hold of my will. I suppose it may also be important to note that this "clearer vision" and "awe" I experience is so easily snatched the moment I get up and begin to navigate through life's affairs. But the point is this: the Word of God is useless to us if we are seeking to go our own way. But it is the great teacher to the man who seeks the Lord and all his ways.

This makes sense, I suppose, but I find that we often try to find ways to improve our "devotional life" without first repenting of going our own way, and surrendering all we have to God. It is part of our sinful nature to want to go our own way.

So of all of the additional things I could say about why I or any other Christian should read the Bible, my final exhortation is to repent of going your own way. Without this, you will read the Bible for the wrong reasons, twisting scripture and using it for your own agenda. Repent of this before anything else.

God is not silent, for He has spoken through the prophets and apostles, and most of all speaking to us in the form of God and man, Jesus Christ our Lord. Read the Word, that "you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col. 1:9-10)

Why Read the Bible? - Part 3

Analogy from "the Body of Christ"

Yesterday Pastor Tim used the human body as an example of what the "Body of of Christ" (1 Cor 12:27) should like be like, and how we need one another to "function" as God called is to, based on the gifts and abilities God gave us.

Now, it occurred to me how important the immune system is for the body. Without a healthy immune system, outside viruses will come in and disrupt the functionality of the body, even leading to death. In many ways the Bible, too, has an "immune system" function, enabling each part of the body to fight off the enemy's attacks and stay on track with what we're called to do. There's many other analogies, but to focus on this one you realize that temptations and attacks are constant, which is why Paul calls the church to take up "the Sword of the Spirit", which is the Word of God, "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." (Eph. 6:10-20)

Have the Word of God readily available, for the days are evil. Read it, meditate on it, memorize it, know it well with all prayer and supplication...

Why Read the Bible - Part 2

From Duty to Delight

Let me first say that if you have any desire whatsoever to read the Bible right now, do that instead of reading this blog post, since my prayer here is that God would give you a desire for His Word... but if you lack desire, may these words be of encouragement:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away."

I have come to a realization over the years that, whether we know it or not, we are in a battle for our desires. Test what I'm about to say with scripture, but I would contend that worldly passions which diminish God are at war with passions that glorify God. And I plead with you to not be deceived by the things that war over your desire, for they are pulling you away from the source of life, the Word of God. From the moment you wake up to the moment you lie down-- newspaper, television, food, movies, music, video games, hobbies, sports, dreams, ambitions, money... all of these demand your heart's attention. But they will not satisfy. Pray, pray, pray for God to give you a desire for that which is more precious than all of these. Pray unceasingly (2 Thessalonians. 5:17) for a desire to know Him and to read the God-breathed scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17). There is so much more, but this is the beginning. This is the constant battle for our desires.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

Have the courage to pray to God and ask Him to make clear to you the things that are stealing your desires. Maybe even ask a brother in Christ if they see something you don't (this takes a lot of courage). Then ask God what He wants you to do, praying and searching His Word for answers...

Make the most of every opportunity, and sink your roots deep. May you be like that tree planted by the streams of water, yielding fruit and never withering.

The Marks of Manhood

Al Mohler gives the 13 marks of male maturity.

Why Read the Bible? - Part 1

Late last night, in honor of "Reformation Day", I sat down with my wife's family and watched the movie "Luther", which from all I can tell is a pretty accurate account of Dr. Martin Luther's role in reforming the Christian Church. It's the second time I've seen the movie, but the second viewing certainly hit home far more than the first.

I think the main reason for this is that I've read the Bible more in the past year than probably every other year of my life combined, and my love for the scriptures has seldom been as consistently high as it has in 2009. Yes, there's still books of the Bible I haven't read, but I have had an unprecedented desire to hunt for truth, to seek counsel and understanding from God, to be affected by His Word.

So when I watched "Luther", it really hit me to realize the cost Christians before us have paid for this book, that we might have the opportunity to read the Holy Scriptures for ourselves, to not have to depend on the interpretations of Priests who may not have even studied the Scriptures themselves, but to study the God-Breathed scriptures with my own eyes. Countless great men of faith gave their lives for this Book.

So what has happened in our time? What did men like Luther see and feel and know that we don't? Why do most Christians in America today own 5 Bibles and read none of them? Why do most Christians lack a strong Biblical understanding of what the Bible actually says about life issues? When we counsel one another, why is it not saturated with Scripture? Why do we not tremble with humility and reverence before the Word of God?

One possibility is that we are not truly a Christian. We must test ourselves:

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" - 2 Cor 13:5

However, if we are truly saved by our Father-- that is if we have placed our faith and hope for salvation and life in Christ alone and not in ourselves-- then there must be other reasons why we don't devote ourselves to scripture the way we ought, and why our hearts don't yearn for it more than anything in this world.

So here's the point: I want to desire God's Word far more than I do now, and I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to love God's Word, too. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to dig into why it's important for us to read the Bible in hopes that not only my desire will grow, but that I would also be able to persuade and encourage many others to make Bible study a significant and passionate part of their lives.