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Joy for the World
4 of 5 stars to Joy for the World: How Christianity Lost Its Cultural Influence and Can Begin Rebuilding It by Greg Forster
2017 - I don’t share Forster’s view on the Christian-or-not founding of the United States, nor do I share his view on a variety of other specifics in the book, but I definitely share his enthusiasm for “awakening from the dogmatic slumbers of fundamentalism” and very much enjoyed sharing the “victory feast of [his] liberation” from dualism (page 16).
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On Writing
3 of 5 stars to On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
This book is often near the top of the favorites list by some writers I like. I still like those writers better than this book. It’s the only one by King I’ve read, and it gives me good reason to keep it that way. I was most interested in by the Postscript where he describes what it meant to him to get back to writing after his accident.
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Relentless
3 of 5 stars to Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover
I grew up watching Michael Jordan, and this was an interesting perspective from his first trainer. This is not a book about Christlike greatness. It’s not a book about how to have friends or care about anyone other than yourself. At the same time I found some of the reminders timely and a spur to confidence.
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Stomping Out the Rock Juice
God gave manna to His people every morning as with the dew on the ground and Paul called it “spiritual food” (1 Corinthians 10:3) because it came from God directly rather than through natural channels. God gave water to His people from a rock and Paul called it “spiritual drink” (verse 4) also because it bypassed the expected means. You don’t typically stomp on rocks in a big bucket to get the rock juice out.
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No Mercenaries of Thanks Ministry
In 1 Chronicles 16 King David chose and expressly named men to give thanks to the Lord. This is an interesting vocation at least, and a position which all believers are elected to fulfill today.
David did more than appoint others to give thanks, and he certainly didn’t hire others to do what he was unwilling to do. In addition to appointing thanksgivers, he himself blessed the people and his household.
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A Scholar in Self-Denial
"Just as no one can be a scholar unless he learn his ABC, so you must learn the lesson of self-denial or you can never become a scholar in Christ's school, and be learned in this mystery of contentment." –Jeremiah Burroughs
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A Feast of Self-Control
Most meal plans that emphasize self-control do not include necessary feasting. You may be allowed a cheat day, or you may take one anyway, but the emphasis is usually on limited rather than unlimited portions.
When Christ gives Himself to us, He gives all of Himself. We have a portion in Christ, but we do not get only a portion of Him. We do not have to “cheat” to get more of Him.
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Chosen and Expressly Named
I’m struck by a couple small descriptions in the account of when King David brought the ark back to Jerusalem. David offered sacrifices and distributed food to the people, and it was “on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers” (1 Chronicles 16:7). The middle, and most, of the chapter is a song of thanks, and then more appointments for sake of leading worship, including “Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever” (verse 41).
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It’s the Law
There are only two places in the Bible that refer to the “law of Christ.” The first is in 1 Corinthians 9:21 (ἔννομος Χριστοῦ) as Paul clarifies that he does not abandon righteous living to reach the unrighteous with a message of righteousness. He doesn’t abandon obedience to Christ when calling others to obey Christ.
The second time the phrase is used in Galatians 6:2 (τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ), though Galatians was probably written five to six years before 1 Corinthians.
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Interconnecting Gears
On more than one occasion the apostle Paul wrote about the triad of faith, hope, and love. These three don’t just belong together, like complementary colors on a wall, they work together, like interconnecting gears in an engine.
As Paul gave thanks for the Colossians (whom he had not met in person), he remarked that he had heard of their faith “and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
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Reasons to Study Latin
This is a great video produced by Classical Conversations on reasons to study Latin.
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Dead at the Cross
Rhetoric is deeper than what is said, more than well spoken words, more than clear or persuasive speech. Rhetoric most often involves language, but it also includes lifestyle and liturgy.
Paul’s life was a tool of persuasion. He commanded the Corinthians to use their personal rights for sake of others rather than themselves (1 Corinthians 8), and he modeled this very behavior (1 Corinthians 9). Not only was what he said not undone by what he did, what he said was more effective because of what he did.
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Reset
5 of 5 stars to Reset by David Murray
I give 5 stars when I really like a book (as is the Goodreads standard) but also when I would immediately start rereading the book. Such is Reset.
I did not want to like it. I am less impressed with guys who talk about taking a break and seek my encouragement from men who spend until they are broke. That said, this was the free ChristianAudio book a couple months ago, I started to listen, Mo also started to listen, and we realized that both have some work to do in the various repair garages as Murray refers to them.
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Why Ministers Must Be Men
4 of 5 stars to Why Ministers Must Be Men by Douglas Wilson
Brief observations on the relevant Bible texts along with the implications of what corporate liturgy teaches about God’s nature and our relationship with Him. Plus, some inimitable Wilsonian jibes exhorting guys to put on their man pants.
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Death by Living
5 of 5 stars to Death by Living by N.D. Wilson
Provokes your eyes to see. And to cry. My eyes were busy with both blessings. (2013)
Finished again in July 2015. I was not less blessed by the second reading, though more excited for non-dualism and daily deaths.
Finished again in May 2018 with the L2L leaders at our church. Also reread Empire of Bones at the same time. Glorious.
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
5 of 5 stars to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Read in 2018 with the ECS board. This must have been my third, maybe fourth, time through. It was also my first time through after having read Planet Narnia a couple times. It was better than ever. Apparently I am “old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
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Do Your Duties
"And the truth is, I know nothing more effective for quieting a Christian soul and getting contentment than this, setting your heart to work in the duties of the immediate circumstances that you are now in, and taking heed of your thoughts about other conditions as a mere temptation." —Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 52
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Belly Worship
We’ve been talking about food and gods in 1 Corinthians 8 in our current sermon series, about the connection between eating and worship. In Philippians 3 Paul warns about those who “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ” and it also has to do with an idolatrous relationship with repast.
"Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory on their shame, with minds set on earthly things"
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Anticipate and Finish
I want to add a couple thoughts to my previous post about men taking responsibility.
The sort of seeing “all as his” that I mean can be seen in what a man anticipates. A friend of ours is really good at this, and here’s just one story. When his wife was pregnant he made a sandwich for her and put it in her purse. She didn’t think about packing herself a snack.
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His and Hers
One of the most difficult things to communicate to a guy/husband/father is that all of it is his. He has responsibility for everything, even if he isn’t the one who does all the work.
Marriage is a partnership with the husband as the head. That means that while the wife has work, and the two of them discuss who will take care of what, the wife’s work is still the husband’s to consider.