Current Reading

So, here are some books I've been dipping into lately....

Wendell Berry's Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition. My friend Ben gave this to me, knowing that Kristie and I appreciate a lot of Berry's thought. This is a very good read. Berry takes on the subtle but dominant scientific mindset that has caused us all to view the world in terms of machinery. I think the book is basically a philosophy primer. It is a breath of fresh air in an impersonal world.

Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I read this book in high school, and I have always remembered being struck by it. I've wanted to come back to it for years now, especially in light of reading that some pastors would put it in their top five books. I'm listening to the audio book version from audible.com. So far, so good.

Stiles' Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel. We are reading this in our small group as a church. It is an easy read with solid truths.

Gilbert's What is the Gospel? This is also a book I've been wanting to read for a little while. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a free copy on a recent trip to hear Mark Dever speak at Southeastern Seminary. Thanks, 9Marks! This book has been a good reminder of what is everyone's greatest need--the gospel.

Lloyd-Jones Spiritual Depression. This is a great collection of sermons. Whether you ever struggle with depression or not, these sermons are full of rich, biblical, practical wisdom.

I've also enjoyed listening to Russell Moore's Adopted for Life (thanks christianaudio.com for the freebie!). His biblical, theological, and practical discussion of adoption has been encouraging for me as I preach through Ephesians.

The One Year Bible

I struggle with reading the Bible through in one year. There are so many good aids and Bible-reading plans out there, but I always revert to my own 'method' of Bible intake. In our recent move, I was glad to find a book my parents had brought us from their old house. It is an NIV "One Year Bible."

It is specifically laid-out for daily reading of different parts of Scripture. The publisher says: "Instead of following a Bible reading chart and experiencing the delay of turning from place to place, you will find the text here in sequence, ready for your quiet reading and meditation."

Kristie and I have really enjoyed this Bible and the built-in discipline and ease of use. Check it out!

What is True Christianity?

"...it is a faith that is lively and full of vigour, so that it spares no labour, when assistance is to be given to one's neighbours, but, on the contrary, all the pious employ themselves diligently in offices of love, and lay out their efforts in them, so that, intent upon the hope of the manifestation of Christ, they despise everything else, and, armed with patience, they rise superior to the wearisomeness of length of time, as well as to all the temptations of the world."

-- John Calvin, in his commentary on 1 Thess. 1:3

The Good Fortune of Wheaton College

Praise God for the new president of Wheaton College, Phil Ryken. I am truly overjoyed at his appointment there. Why? Well, I'm not an alumn, but I did visit Wheaton when I was looking at potential colleges. I held it in high esteem because of their commitment to Christ and to rigorous academics.

In recent years, they have not been a bastion of biblical fidelity in some respects--this is not to say that Wheaton has gone to the dogs; it hasn't. It is to say that their choice of Ryken speaks volumes about the future direction of the school.

Check out a nice photo-tour of his inauguration on the Wheaton College website, and go here for a more in-depth article on why this is a big deal.

Bible Intake

There is no substitute for making sure that we regularly expose ourselves to the life-giving food that is the Word of God. I think this is the bottom line--regular exposure.

Misplaced guilt can come when we get the idea that we have to spend thirty minutes to an hour intensely dissecting a passage of Scripture every day to be holy. Maybe what we need from time to time, instead, is to read a whole book--not for 30min. but in one sitting for hours. Or, maybe we need to make sure that we are caring for others with the Word (our wives, friends, unbelievers) even as we continue to give attention to our own intake.

I have no corner on the market as far as ideas for Scripture intake, but here are a few things I've been doing lately that help me hear and meditate on the Truth:

1) I listen to Bible-saturated music when I can. Specifically, I like to find music that has the words of Scripture verbatim. A Boyce College professor and frequent visitor at the church I attend, Jim Orrick, has a couple of cd's out where he sings some Psalms directly from the New King James version of the Bible. Good stuff!

2) I meditate on Scripture by copying passages down verbatim. Verbatim is a Latin word, by the way.....I think. Or it is from a Latin word. Anyhoo, since I've been working at the Highlands Latin School and their publishing arm, Memoria Press, I've seen the benefit in seemingly small things--things like beautiful cursive writing. So, I've really been enjoying the double benefit of practicing my cursive (which still needs work) by writing down Scripture passages that I read or that I want to meditate on or commit to memory. Usually I take an 8.5 x 11" piece of paper and fill-up one side at any given sitting. Perhaps I will have much of the Scriptures copied one day, and I can give it to my son, Cole.

3) I listen to the Bible being read often. Sometimes, this means listening to my own voice (apparently, it is fairly novel in the history of the world to do what almost all of us do today--read silently) as I read Scripture aloud. But, what I mainly am thankful for in this regard is the gift that God has given us lately in audio Bibles. Go to www.esv.org, type in a particular passage, and then listen to a brother (I don't know who he is) helpfully read the text with appropriate expression. Or, do yourself a big favor and purchase Max Maclean's Listener's Bible, available in several versions. Listening to the Bible as it is read by those who attempt to read it well can be very beneficial.

What are your thoughts or practices in the area of Scripture intake?

Another Blog

I look forward to posting more here at the Pilgrim's Way as often as I am inspired to do so. I will also be posting on the blog of Crossway Church of Goldsboro, where I will serve as a pastor in the near future! Praise God for the work that He is already doing in eastern NC. Pray that the Kingdom of Christ would flourish there.

Check us out at www.crosswaylife.com and click on "blog" to view our thoughts; there are a few posts up already.

Fiction is not False

After months of on-and-off reading, I finally finished Leif Enger's Peace Like a River. Kristie had read it a while back in her book club, and I also found out that John Piper was high on the work. So, I picked it up with eagerness, and I was not disappointed. While it's not my favorite book of all time, it was worth the time and effort.

I like what one reviewer said about the book: "Peace Like a River is a book that serves to remind us why we read fiction to begin with."

Here is Piper's blog about the book.

And, here is a helpful article on why we should give ourselves to fiction . . . becuase fiction is not false.

David McCullough: Literary Historian

I am a big fan of the historical writings of David McCullough. You might be familiar with his recent popular titles, 1776 and John Adams (probably his best known book, which also spawned the HBO miniseries by the same name, directed by Tom Hanks). I am currently listening to his The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge as I drive around town.

I was pleasantly surprised to come across this assessment of one of my favorite authors--McCullough--in Gordon's Why Johnny Can't Preach:

"Now, some historians border on the literary. My family lives just north of Pittsburgh, and the city's own David McCullough is a historian who has developed a fairly compelling narrative style over the years. . . . his later books (especially his book on John Adams, but also his volumes on the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge) disclose a command of narrative that certainly approaches artful."

Treat yourself to a McCullough book; you won't regret it!

*photo credit here

Want to be a Preacher? Major in English Lit.

In Why Johnny Can't Preach, T. David Gordon writes that he encourages college freshmen who aspire to be preachers to strongly consider majoring in English literature. Gordon is not the first to do this. He notes that James Boice, the great expositional preacher of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philly until his death in 2000, was likewise encouraged to make English lit. his course of study in college; Boice followed through with this at Harvard.

Gordon notes that many people have been surprised with the success of Boice's young successor at Tenth Presbyterian, Philip Ryken (who, now, has been appointed president of Wheaton College--great news!!!), also a faithful and effective expository preacher. But, we should not be surprised, because Ryken is the son of the well-known Wheaton English professor Leland Ryken (I cannot recommend the Literary Study Bible, edited by this father and son team, more highly).

The point, again (see previous post), in all of this is that careful attention and acquired ability in the art of reading texts can often have the effect of honing the sensibilities needed for faithful preaching of the text of ancient Scripture.

I am thankful to God that two men whose ministries I have benefitted from preach the Word faithfully--Jeff Long, my home pastor, who first taught me the value of expository preaching, and John Piper. Both of these men and many others studied English literature in college.

Johnny Randolph: Turn off the T.V. and read poetry!

T. David Gordon has written a very helpful little book in his Why Johnny Can't Preach: The Media Have Shaped the Messengers. He argues that we do not even realize the sad state of preaching in the church today. The all too familiar refrain from congregations across our land is, "We love our pastor; he's not the greatest preacher, but he is very good with the people." Gordon's thesis is that this real problem is not wholly due to the minister himself (or herself; unfortunately, Gordon sees the gender issue as relatively unimportant); external factors in our world contribute greatly to the sad state of preaching in our day. Specifically, Johnny is so inundated with media (t.v., movies, internet, etc.) that his sensibilities for preaching effectively are no longer properly developed.

Johnny cannot:
- read texts (closely and carefully read ancient texts like Scripture)
- write (compose his thoughts in an orderly and understandable manner)
- distinguish the significant from the insignificant (because we live in front of the t.v., which, by
its very nature, is a medium for the insignificant)

While much of Gordon's book is critical in tone, his criticism is very helpful. And, he does offer a positive way forward. The sensibilities of aspiring preachers and current preachers can be retrained and positively developed. How? Gordon only briefly highlights a few things, and these include the following:

- the congregation could conduct an annual review of their preacher
- the preacher can become a student of poetry, thereby cultivating the habit of reading texts closely
- the preacher can give himself to write hand-written letters more frequently
- the preacher can seek to regularly write something that requires some degree of care and
thought: a journal, a newspaper editorial, a theological journal entry, etc.
- the preacher can write out his prayers

The Kingdom, Personal Ministry, and My Heart

I am really enjoying reading Paul D. Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. As the subtitle indicates, it will help both those who need change in their own lives and those who want to help others change--and, as it just so happens, all believers fit into both of these categories.

Here is a great selection that I read yesterday:

"Why are we so good at turning moments of ministry into moments of anger? Why are we so adept at personalizing what is not personal? Why does it seem that people, things, and situations are in our way? Why do we seldom go through a day without some experience of conflict? The answer to all of these questions is that we think of our lives as our own, and we are more committed to the purposes of our own kingdom than we are to God's. We need to recognize that the people in our way have been sent to us by a wise and sovereign King. He never gets a wrong address and always chooses just the right moment to expose our hearts and realign them to his." (p.107)

Thanks, PDT, for holding the mirror of the Word up to my face.

Grant Us Wisdom

"I believe that today's lack of interest in guidance to God has resulted in a lot more questions about how to seek guidance from God. We simply don't know God as well as previous generations of believers did and . . . guidance from God is rooted in our knowledge of him. The more one knows of God's character and desires, the better one can live to be conformed to the image of Christ--and make the many daily decisions that must be made." (pp.19-20)

So writes James C. Petty in his book Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians, published in '99 by P&R. I read this book earlier this year, and I benefited from it in many ways, not the least of which was the appendix that helps you assess your priorities in hourly, daily, and monthly life.

Overall, the book is well-worth reading, and I would give it a grade of 7.8/10 (9's and 10's are hard to come by with me). I found it a little uneven at times; some chapters (8, 11) are simply excellent, and other parts of the book are just ok. Here are some highlights . . .

Thesis: "we come to know the will of God by discernment, wisdom, and insight. The purpose of this book is to show that the Bible's answer to our need for guidance boils down to one very rich word: wisdom." (135)

"The path of wisdom is a lifestyle of repentance from serving functional gods like security, safety, control of situations, pleasure, power, ease, avoidance of pain, and approval. God will systematically expose any such rivals in our hearts that divert us from loving and worshiping him. We must be prepared for that and even search out such duplicity in our hearts." (179)

"The inordinate pursuit of entertainment can easily compete with the pursuit of wisdom." (185)

All in all, this book about wisdom is written by a wise man. Learn from him if you get the chance.

A Unique Conference

For parts of the past 3 days, I have enjoyed attending the "Promoting the Gospel" Conference at LaGrange Baptist Church, 25 miles outside of Louisville, KY. I have attended conferences before. At T4G (Together for the Gospel) last year, I joined about 5,000 other believers as we sat under good teaching and sang our hearts out together. I have been to the annual conference of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation outside of Philadelphia, where several thousand of us were priviledged to hear Ed Welch talk about fear, worry, and the God of rest. This was different . . .

Two days ago, on Monday, I pulled up to the church just a few minutes before the start of the first session; regular registration was about to be over. I pulled into the parking lot of the beautiful LaGrange Baptist building and only saw about 10 other cars! What was this?? Well, to cut to the chase, there were 20-25 men in attendance at the conference this week. Aside from the free night sessions, where about 50 people from the church showed-up, we spent our day sessions in the youth room of the church building--just 20 pastors (I was one of the few men there who is not currently serving in a pastoral capacity), Tony Rose (LaGrange head pastor), Paul David Tripp, and Justin Taylor.

I'm glad that I attended this conference. Most of the men, including myself, were greatly surprised at the turnout; why shouldn't we be with the caliber of speakers and the incredible marketing that LaGrange had undertaken to promote the conference? Nevertheless, the smallness of the gathering was to our benefit. We had an intimate time with the speakers, with each other, and with the gracious God of the gospel.

Reasons I Love Summer

1. Long, mostly sunny days

2. Reduced pressure (this one is in direct correlation to the fact that I've been a student most of my life)

3. Baseball season is in full swing.

4. Long, sunny days

5. Great time to hit the golf course, even if it means 9 holes from 7-9p.m.

6. Vacation

7. Great time to read whatever I want to read

8. Fresh corn from the farmer's market

9. Long, sunny days

The Founding of Harvard

Kristie and I were in Boston last month. This monument is in the wall of the entryway to Harvard Yard. I knew about its founding, but it was moving to see this up close.