It Feels Nice to Finish...

It has been a little while since I finished a book. For the past couple months I have not spent much time reading at all. Recently I've started to find time each night to read a chapter or two and finally finished "Living for God's Glory" by Joel Beeke. It took me a while for sure, but it feels great to finish a book again. I'm feeling encouraged to continue on.

The book was very good. It's basically an introduction to Calvinism, but it goes past the normal discussion of the five points. There are multiple chapters of discussion on Calvinist, Reformed and Puritan views on family, marriage, politics and ethics, centered around historical accounts of how these viewpoints developed. It was a nice, engaging read and I was glad to finally be able to read one of Joel Beeke's books after hearing him speak at PCRT and seeing his work in the "Meet the Puritans" resource.

Next up I intend to read through "Desiring God" by Piper. I've tried to read it multiple times but have gotten distracted every time. Maybe taking some notes and putting together a couple blog posts will help me to keep focused. Hopefully I can finish sometime in February before I try to kick off a reading of "The Christian in Complete Armor" with a couple friends.

I started "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler again as well, but I've decided to table it until a little later in the spring. Instead I'm going to be reading "The Back of the Napkin" by Dan Roam to add a little variety to my reading. It seems like its going to be a fun read about using pictures to communicate ideas.

Looking Forward, Part 1

Maybe it's getting a little late for gearing up for the new year, but I thought it might be good to kick out a post with a couple of my plans if only for accountability to myself.

1. Growth in Bible Study - I've spent the past couple months struggling with the discipline to meet with God by reading his Word and praying. By God's grace, I've been convicted again of the importance of this practice and God has helped me to begin to reestablish this practice in my life. As the routine returns, I also want to deepen this time during the year by growing in prayer and in application of what I am reading.

I'm using the plan in D.A. Carson's book "For the Love of God Vol. 2" and reading in the ESV Study Bible. If I stick to the plan, I should get through the entire Bible at least once and some portions twice.

2. Back to Books - Similarly, I haven't spent as much time reading books other than the Bible either. It is a lot harder to find time to sit down and read than in the past. I read a great post by a well-read blogger who explained how little time one has to spend reading each day to read a large number of books in a year. So I've started to find small bits of time every day to find a bit and it still surprises me how fast you can get through a book reading just a chapter a day.

I've got several book goals for this year. I intend to finish a couple big books that I've been meaning to read for awhile and finally finish a few books I've started multiple times. Four books I intend to read this year are "The Christian in Complete Armor" by William Gurnall, "Institutes of the Christian Religion" by John Calvin, "Desiring God" by John Piper and "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. I'd obviously like to read some other things as well, but I hope to get all these books in for sure.

Books Are For Reading

Tim Challies has a great post today with a quote from Mortimer Adler, author of How to Read a Book. A great reminder that what matters is to come to grips with the knowledge in the book and to know it well. With my temptation to buy many books, it's important to remember that books are for reading and not for displaying on my shelf.

A great reminder that I need to go back and finish reading Adler's book and also that its ok to mark up and dogear a book in the pursuit of gaining knowledge from it.

HT: Tim Challies

Reading A Book For All It's Worth

There is a great post today over at The Blazing Center. After identifying himself as a fellow "book freak", Stephen Altrogge goes on to share some advice from CJ Mahaney regarding how we approach reading. CJ basically advocates getting to know a small list of great books extremely well over trying to read massive amounts of books and not getting as much out of it. Stephen's post has some good tips on what this might look like.

I know my tendency can be to get so excited about getting new books and reading the next book on my list that I may fail to get as much out of the book I am reading as is possible. Anyone who knows me can attest to the eagerness I have to talk about books and how I get excited when I hear about a cool new (or old) book coming out. I need to remember that the primary goal is not to read the most books or accumulate the most knowledge but to be conformed to the image of Christ and to grow in godliness.

Hopefully this blog will continue to be a help to me as I strive to more deeply understand what I am reading and to apply it. Also, when you see me, please ask me about what I am reading. I'd love to talk about it and to hear about what you are reading and how God is using that to create change in your own life.

HT: The Blazing Center

A Heart Humbled By Reading

There is a struggle I've often dealt with in reading and studying. The sinful tendency in my heart is to become prideful because of books I've read or knowledge accumulated through reading (even though there are so many others who have read more and know more than I do). It becomes very easy in conversation to toss out a names of authors and books or to use some obscure theology term in a way that seems far more concerned with directing attention to myself instead of encouraging others in their faith. It's also easy not to correct how other people view my reading and knowledge. If I seem excited about reading and talking about books, buy good books and try to read a lot of books that still doesn't mean I am actually smarter, more motivated or more godly, but that tends to be something I rarely point out to people.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is merciful to bring conviction and encourage growth of humility because of my reading. As I read books by men who love and know God in far greater degrees than myself, my spirit is humbled. While I work through Grudem's Systematic Theology, I am humbled by a God whose vastness and greatness defies the power of my intellect and understanding. I can clearly recall a prideful reaction several years ago when I heard others describing the difficulty of reading The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs. In my head I thought that I would be able to easily understand it and it could not possibly be so hard. I have recently started reading it as part of the Puritan Challenge and have realized that I clearly overestimated my own abilities and underestimated the focus and concentration it would take to read the book. My struggle to understand and work through a tough book to gain a better view of God is another area where my pride is brought low as I realize that in and of myself these things are difficult or impossible to comprehend. Not to mention how I am often humbled by how easily I forget what I have read and how difficult it can be to apply these things to my daily life.

Whatever knowledge and understanding (and it's not as much as I sometimes want think it is) God has given me is a gift. I am called to be a steward of these things just as I am called to wisely use my finances. In both cases, the gifts of God should be used to glorify, enjoy and serve him and not to glorify myself. When God humbles me in my learning and my weakness is revealed, it helps me to depend on him more. Ultimately, he is the one who will reveal himself to me through his word. I pray that God would help me to be humble in my reading, guide me to use what he is showing me to edify others and help me to apply his word to my own life and know him more.

Puritan Challenge - Update

So, it's almost the end of March and how is the puritan challenge going? Well, if you were to base your impression solely on my blog posts, you would assume not very quickly. And you would be right.

I definitely fell off track in regards to my reading. This was for numerous reasons but mostly poor time management (i.e. video games) and laziness in taking notes or posting about what I was reading. So, it's the end of the third month of the challenge and I only have one book done. Now in fairness, I didn't start until the end of January, so I am really only a month behind. However, I haven't really posted on or fully digested even the first book I read, "The Bruised Reed". Things certainly are not going to get easier either as I start up grad class again next week at Drexel.

So, the current plan is to start the book for next month at the beginning of the month, and as time allows to finish processing the first book. I hope to make these puritan paperbacks the focus of my self-organized reading and not to get distracted with other unread books on my shelf. Also, I will probably be switching up my posting style as well. Trying to write a comprehensive summary on every chapter is daunting and time consuming. Instead, I will be aiming to grab an applicable point or thought from a chapter, a supporting quote and Scripture, a quick summary and a question or point of application for myself.

This should make the posts easier to digest and to write and should make them more attractive and helpful for me to review at a later date.

Edit: Update - To clarify, the next book in the Puritan Challenge is "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs. This is a change in the reading schedule I posted a month ago which came about because the original book scheduled for April was widely out of stock for awhile.

A Lesson In Humility

When it comes to reading, books and discussing what I am learning, I tend to get a little excited. I'm always interested in trying to read and learn more and I find it helpful to read along with others. Perhaps it might be better to describe it as a "foolish overzealousness", particularly when it comes to determining how many books I am trying to read at a time, trying to take notes while doing so, seeking to discuss with others and, now, to write a blog post about it.

Is wanting to read a lot of books a bad thing? Certainly not. And to take notes, retain and apply the material? These are definitely good desires. Part of the problem comes when I start to think that I can read and grow in a knowledge of God without God's help. I wouldn't ever say that, but sometimes I think that's how I approach reading. I need to have a heart that depends on God and pray that as I seek to study and learn more, that he will provide grace to help me understand and apply.

Why do we need this grace? Well, I don't know about you, but sometimes I lack the desire to read. God's definitely grown me in this, but there are definitely times when I can get easily distracted or choose to do something less valuable with my time. Here's another reason. CJ Mahaney quoted David Powlison in his closing message for New Attitude last year. He said that we were "simple people". This weekend I was trying to catch up on the Systematic Theology reading plan that some people at church are using. The section I was in was discussion the attributes of God. As it began to get later, my eyes started getting heavy and I was having trouble remembering what I had just read. The next day, I was reading some more and I began to realize that I didn't remember much about what I had read. I began to think about God's omniscience and of our dependence and difference from God. He knows all and our finite minds have trouble comprehending and are apt to forget. We are "simple people" and we need the help of God and those around us to understand and apply.

So, what do we do in light of this? We pray and ask God for help. We lean on his promises to continue to conform us to Christ. And in humility, we take steps to read and retain the best we can. That means accountability, having others ask us about what we read. It means studying and taking notes. It means asking questions when we don't understand. It means having the humility sometimes to admit our forgetfulness and reread a great book that affected us in the past instead of pressing on to something new.

It also means seeing evidence of God's grace in the small steps we take. I can often dream big and set my goals very high. And there is nothing wrong with that. It may be that I desire to read a ton of books. Or that I want to take comprehensive notes on each chapter. Or that I want to write a blog post with a thought on every chapter I read.

And that's good, I want to strive hard for those kinds of things. But, I'm not there yet and it's bad when I get discouraged because I read and didn't take notes or haven't got the "perfect" blog post prepared for a chapter. My own ideas of what growth looks like and the areas where I can be tempted to perfectionism can get in the way. I need to walk in faith and trust God for the growth in my life. Then I can see his grace in the way I attempt to take notes in just one of the books I am reading or read one more book than I did last year or write a blog post that honors him even if it doesn't contain the complete annotated outline of a chapter I read.

God I pray that I would trust you for my growth in godliness and wisdom. Would I strive hard to know you more, but not trust ultimately in my plans or expectations. I pray for a patience that rests secure in your promises for my life. Would I give thanks and glorify you for every evidence of grace in my life, whether large or small, because of all it is undeserved and outside my power to obtain. In Jesus name, Amen.