There Is Great Value in . . . READING!

Reading — Many of us need to read more. And read with purpose. And read for pleasure.

I didn’t really get serious about reading until I knew God was leading me to be a teacher! I knew I had to keep at least one step ahead of my students — so I gave myself to reading.

John Wesley put it this way as he wrote to a fellow pastor:

“What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear to this day, is want of reading.

Found in a book bought in a thrift shop!

I scarce ever knew a preacher read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety, there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian.

O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant.

Whether you like it or no, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a petty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you in particular.”

– John Wesley to pastor John Premboth, on August 17, 1760.

 

The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Reading)

Reading is sooo under-rated!  In an article entitled “Read My Lips,” David McCullough makes the important point that “Nothing ever invented can give you a bigger life than a book.” He continues, “We’re being sold the idea that information is learning, and we’re being sold a bill of goods…. The greatest of all avenues to learning – to wisdom, adventure, pleasure, insight, to understanding human nature, understanding ourselves and our world and our place in it — is in reading books.”

But getting to know the God of the Bible brings the greatest wisdom, adventure, pleasure, insight. Beginning to study His nature is the key to understanding ourselves and our world and our place in it. How sad it would be to spend all of one’s life reading books but miss THE BOOK!

 

The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Reading)

How’s your attitude toward reading, if you don’t mind my asking? It is so much easier to let the blue light of the TV wash over us, stealing away our minutes and hours and . . . lives.  I’m not anti-entertainment, and I do think there’s a lot of enjoyment in reading. Most of us are not in danger of the following classic librarian’s curse:

For him that stealeth a Book from this Library, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with Palsy, and all his Members blasted. Let him languish in Pain crying aloud for Mercy and let there be no surcease to his Agony till he sink in Dissolution. Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final Punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye.

— Curse Against Book Stealers

Monastery of San Pedro, Barcelona

 

One-on-One Online Bible Study: A Ministry Suggestion! (a new update)

Friends: I believe this challenge is worth issuing one more time!

How do we encourage and minister to other believers when we can’t be together face-to-face? One way that has encouraged me is to do a kind of online Bible study together. I’m not talking about buying some expensive curriculum or installing some new “app” or software on your computer. Here’s what my friend and I have done:

We read a chapter of Ephesians each week. That’s it! We read the chapter once each day and then send a brief email to each other on Sunday sharing a thought or two that we’ve gotten from our “study.” Granted, it’s not in-depth, but there is no substitute for the reading and re-reading of God’s Word!

So, just a thought — is there someone at a distance that you could discuss this idea of doing an online Bible study together? You’ve got 66 books in the Bible to tackle! Or you could follow a theme together (such as the glory of God or the parables of the Lord Jesus, etc).

I’m looking forward to the next topic or book my friend and I choose to read together. Want to try this idea with us?

 

 

The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes! (Thinking)

Yes, thinking can complicate one’s life! But for Jesus-followers, we are to use the minds God has given us. Some writer once said that the early Christians out thought the world!

We who have been in this thing called Christianity for a while need to read what I call “boiling books.” A boiling book is a book that gets you hopping mad before you get past the preface. It would be one that attacks the Christian faith. Why in the world would one want to read such a book?

Certainly not for spiritual nourishment! If I have non-Christian friends who read such books, love requires that I do the same. To engage with them. To debate with them. To seek to persuade them of the truth of the Christian gospel.

I’ve read a number of boiling books over the years (some are shown in the picture). I’m trying to get through one right now that advocates universalism (that all will be saved whether they want to be or not).

What anti-Christian books are your friends reading? Might you consider reading one of those also — so that you can intelligently engage with your friend? Just a thought.

 

Virus-Driven Reading of the Bible — Some Satire from the Babylon Bee!

BURLINGAME, CA—Local Christian Tim Kabara has grown extremely bored during this whole Coronavirus quarantine thing. He has already watched every show on Netflix, done 6,000 push-ups, and read every book on his shelf—every book except for his dusty old Bible.

Kabara grew up in a conservative Christian family and goes to church every Sunday, so it only makes sense that this is the only book on his shelf that hasn’t been read. He is actually quite surprised that it’s still up there.

“Okay, fine,” Kabara said to himself—and to his grandpa, who is in Catholic heaven. “Let’s open this bad boy up, see what’s in here.” Amazed, Kabara read the Good Book for nearly six hours straight.

“Wow, so that’s the book of Genesis,” Kabara said to himself. “Only 820 pages left! I can’t wait to tell all my friends about this!”

It took Kabara a full sixteen hours of quarantine to read the Five Books of Moses, but after that, taking the advice of a good Jewish friend, he just skipped on over to the New Testament.

Kabara is now an entirely new person, thanks to the Coronavirus quarantine forcing him to read the Bible. He has learned some new things, like how to betray your friends, how to get away with murder, and whose feet to wash in an emergency.

Kabara knows deep down that if it weren’t for this year’s Coronavirus, he would have never read the Bible at all. So he did something he hasn’t done since that home run in sixth grade—he thanked God. “Thank you God, for bringing us the Coronavirus.”

 

One-on-One Online Bible Study: A Ministry Suggestion!

Friends: How do we encourage and minister to other believers when we can’t be together face-to-face? One way that has encouraged me is to do a kind of online Bible study together. I’m not talking about buying some expensive curriculum or installing some new “app” or software on your computer. Here’s what my friend and I have done:

We read a chapter of Ephesians each week. That’s it! We read the chapter once each day and then send a brief email to each other on Sunday sharing a thought or two that we’ve gotten from our “study.” Granted, it’s not in-depth, but there is no substitute for the reading and re-reading of God’s Word!

So, just a thought — is there someone at a distance that you could discuss this idea of doing an online Bible study together? You’ve got 66 books in the Bible to tackle! Or you could follow a theme together (such as the glory of God or the parables of the Lord Jesus, etc).

I’m looking forward to the next topic or book my friend and I choose to read together. Want to try this idea with us?

 

Is Reading Complicating Your Life? (Time for a Great Cartoon)

 

Getting into READING! (A Quote from John Piper)

 

Time for a Great Cartoon: Reading and Vocabulary!

How’s your vocabulary? My sister-in-law created a new word: insinuendo! (a combination of insinuation and innuendo).  I like the idea of creating your own words.

What words would you like to create?