Winter Break Reading List

I used to be an avid reader. I would read everything under the sun -- anything that was well written that I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, that passion for reading has faded over the past five or six years. Life has happened and the joy I once found in books, languages, and learning has been replaced by unhappy events, stressful semesters, and the drama of real life relationships. Not all of life has been bad but it seems that energy that has been required to live life has left little energy for anything else.

Lately, however, I have seen my time and energy wasted on Facebook, chatting, and even tv. The more time I have wasted the more I've disliked this easy, dare I say lazy, lifestyle. Finally, I decided to do something about it. I went to Barnes and Noble and wandered aimlessly until, finally, I found something and set my mind to reading it. The 460 page book was read entirely within the course of a few days. Though just a historical fiction novel, it gave me so much food for thought and new desire to learn again, not for the sake of passing a class or getting a grade but for the sake of truth and growth.

For all of that, I present not only the book that started it all but also the books that have and are intended to follow.


REDEEMING LOVE by Francine Rivers

Oddly enough, this book has been around since 1997. I hadn't heard of it until this year. What I enjoyed most is who it presents God to be.

The story is based loosely on the story of Hosea and Gomer but while it builds the character of Hosea it also builds the character of God (after all, Hosea was supposed to display an image of God as He interacts with Israel).

I do not know if I have ever felt more convicted at my own behaviour, as I compared myself with Angel (Gomer), or more gratitude and love for my Saviour because of His unending faithfulness and grace, as displayed by both Hosea and God himself, than I did when I had finished reading this book.



THE GIFT FOR ALL THE PEOPLE by Max Lucado

Admittedly, I am not far into this book, and yes, I do realize that it is not a theology book, but I picked it for a number of reasons.

The book picks up where Redeeming Love left off in that it continues to build my appreciation for what God has done in sacrificing Himself to secure my freedom in Christ.

It is also a short book and not a difficult read so it caters to my need to ease myself back into the world of reading. I find Lucado's writings are always a good way to remind myself of the gospel and light enough to slowly retrain my mind to focus long enough to get through a chapter.





LUKE FOR EVERYONE by Tom (N.T.) Wright

I began reading this one a little more than a month ago and I am taking it very slowly. I bought it initially for a devotional aide and that is what I am using it for.

In short it is a commentary, but as the title says, it is for everyone. Everyone can be defined as anyone who wants to know more about The Gospel of Luke but would not pick up a standard commentary and read it for fear of being lost or not knowing enough Greek.

I have a feeling I will be reading it for a while because I am going through it so slowly but I am not complaining. I am enjoying it.





HE IS THERE AND HE IS NOT SILENT by Francis Shaeffer

I bought this book for a class but, because I discovered the class was unnecessary, I dropped it and as a result never read the book. I want to remedy that.

Though it was written well over 30 years ago, the questions Shaeffer addresses in this book still perplex people today. His writing style is sometimes considered difficult to follow but I am convinced that a little perseverance for such a small book will prove fruitful.








THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS by C.S. Lewis

I can't lie. I've started reading this book countless times before but the fact of the matter is that I never had the attention span for it.

I cannot deny that is a lousy excuse for not completing one of the best works of the 20th century so I am attempting it once again. I am convinced that with renewed vigour and mental discipline I will complete it and gain much helpful insight in so doing.

Don't be misled by my poor history. This book is by no means dull. The letters exchanged between demons are helpful for understanding Satan's intent on destroying God's people.

Well, I am certain that this list is just the beginning of fulfilling one of my new years resolutions: To be diligent in my studying and growth and to enjoy reading with renewed energy, self discipline, and excitement.
There can never be a good excuse for apathy in any area of our lives.

Dr. David Platt (Days 1 and 2)

Day 1:

The Presence of God... There is much to be sai don this topic but those that most profoundly struck me were these:

• The Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our Great High Priest, Wonderful Counselor, Creator, Sustainer, the Suthor and Sustainer of Life... These are but a glimpse of Jesus Christ and we have reduced Him to a puny saviour who waits eagerly -- yea, even yearns for our acceptance? Jesus Christ does NOT need any of us!
• Everytime Moses would leave the camp and go to the tent of meeting all of the people would stand at the entrances of their tents and watch as he passed by. When he entered the tent and the cloud of smoke would descend upon the tent all the people would bow in worship. Today, we need no person to go for us and plead our case because Jesus has torn the curtain in two and now we are able to enter and meet with God ourselves.
• What struck me so severly was this: We are now the tent. The Holy Spirit of the Living God dwells in us! How amazing! How grieving...! How can we, who have the Spirit allow ourselves to ever willingly or knowingly engage in sin?! How can we so defile that dwelling place? While sin is inevitable in this life, it should so much more motivate us to flee from it at every turn...

Day 2:

The Power of God... most specifically in the church and individuals pertaining to the Discipleship and witness:

• He is worthy of our worship but not only this. He is worthy or THEIR worship! This should be the primary thrust of missions and outreach. The evangelical church is missing the mark. The point is NOT:

To rush the return of Christ (because He can only return when all the nations have been reached).

To make good citizens who live peacefully.

To meet the social needs of the world.

• THE REASON WE DO MISSIONS IS BECAUSE GOD IS WORTHY OF EVERY MAN'S WORSHIP!
• Are we teaching to create listeners or reproducers? (Are we being taught for our own gain of knowledge and wellbeing OR do we listen so that we can in turn teach what we have heard and learned to others so that they may do the same and so on?)
• The key to reaching the masses is NOT by reaching the masses but rather by investing in the few so that they too can invest in a few and so on. That is Christ's model and that is essentially discipleship.
• Are we discipling or DISINFECTING Christians?

• "Disinfecting isolates a Christian in a spiritual safety deposit box called the church building and teaches him or her to be good."
• "Discipling propels a Christina into the world to risk his or her life for the sake of others."
• "Compassion is not selective!" We don't only minister to Christians here or abroad. We minister where we are as effectively as we can for as long as we have. The question has nothing to do with be called to foreign missions.

Intruder?

We've all heard ridiculous arguments concerning abortion but I think this one takes the cake. This is the latest pro argument:

"It doesn't matter at what point a fertilized egg becomes a zygote or a zygote a fetus or a fetus a baby. Personhood is irrelevant. The state simply does not have the right to require any citizen to use their body to keep another citizen alive, much less for nine months. The state can't force us to donate blood or organs. The state can't make us sign up for bone marrow registries. If we choose to do these things, it is noble and good, but we still would never tolerate, as a society, being forced to do so. How much less, then, should we tolerate the state forcing women to use their bodies to keep other people alive for nine full months, with all the risks and permanent changes in the body this entails? How is this permissible if women are fully functioning moral agents with all the rights of citizenship and not state-owned incubators?"
(More from Intruder Alert)

What's worse than this is the response of Matt Kaufman, the writer of the article in Boundless. Maybe I should say that what's worse is his lack of argument. While he doesn't ignore it, he most certainly doesn't set forth a convincing thought. He appeals to the reader's sense of responsibility for those less able to care for themselves.

Lets think about this. How many people would actually walk by a child on the street and think nothing of it? How many people watch the food for the hungry commercials and just change the channel? Wake up people. We don't live in a perfect world. Why do we try to argue like we do?

Maybe a better way to approach the subject, as Christians, is to view it through the lens of Scripture. It's clear that a fetus is actually a person and there are numerous commands in the Bible that address the need to care for the helpless. "Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me." The words of the Messiah for His people.

Granted those arguments won't stand amongst the godless of our generation. For them I propose a different tactic. First, I propose that you pray. The truth is there is absolutely nothing that we can do. Sorry. We aren't in control. God is the one that softens the heart.

My response to those who would use this argument is probably not so gracious.

If you don't want to get pregnant, maybe you should be more responsible or better yet stop fooling around. Granted, there are circumstances that are out of our control. Rape is never pleasant but should one sin lead to another? Killing a child, unborn or otherwise, is still sin. You can't get around it. People argue for the rights of the mother all the time. What about the rights of the child? Or does it forfeit rights because it can't speak up? (Much more can be said about this but for now I'll leave it alone)

Unfortunately, the majority of abortions are instigated not by a woman who has been raped but rather by a woman who was careless.

On The Golden Compass

Many of the Christians I’ve talked to about The Golden Compass have had a very negative opinion of the movie – whether they have seen it or not. I finally decided to see it for myself. While entertaining in the least, it left me with much food for thought, and now that I’ve spent the last week mulling it over, I think I am finally ready to write something.

It’s true that The Golden Compass has a hidden agenda. I could see where the author was going before the movie was half over. Yes, there is a lot of symbolism and ultimately the characters in the movie are at war with the entity that represents God. I found the question of why very intriguing. The author clearly has a problem with God because He is sovereign.

The reason the characters are fighting is because this entity, referred to as the Magistrate, is out to rob people of their free will, represented by the small animal (known as a daemon) that follows around each person. The focus is on children because children are impressionable – a point of which the author is keenly aware. The children’s daemon is constantly changing shapes because they have not fully formed there opinions.

I find it interesting that the author makes this clear and one of his underlying messages is that we are ruining our children by instilling in them certain values and standards. In teaching our children about God we are destroying any possibility for them to develop and form their ideas on their own. But while this is the case, he has resented his ideas in the form of a movie that is directed toward children. Funny. So his ideas are okay to instill in children whereas Christian ideas are dangerous? Or maybe he didn’t think of that.

I don’t think that I would send my children to see the movie but I do think that when the movie comes out on DVD it would be well worth renting. I think Christians ought to be aware of what is being taught and not shy away from it. It’s true that the message is anti-God but it’s also true that we should be educated about what is going on in our world and what is being taught so that we can better minister to the world.

It’s also true that those responsible for production of the movie seem to have paid very close attention to the way The Chronicles of Narnia was made and the feel of the movies are similar. The movie is pleasing to the eye. Those responsible for the aesthetics should be proud. They did well but it really did lack originality. I felt very much as though they were trying to copy Tolkien and Lewis. The Nordic feel to the movie was very reminiscent of Tolkien’s trilogy, while the colours and the animals seemed to be from Narnia itself.

However skewed the message is, the movie was very entertaining. Yes, the polar bear are amazing and there is a sweet polar bear fight. See the movie and draw your own conclusions. These are mine.