Reasons to Get Reading, Reloaded
This is a great list and I have experienced nearly every one of them.
This goes along with:
Reading Better with Richard Baxter
(I’m having computer problems and am doing some short posts.)
Archive for the 'Reading' CategoryPage 2 of 2
Find free online books here at desiringGod.org.
Although it may be difficult to read books online without a book reader or laptop, you can still sample them to see if you would want to buy one. The book Desiring God also has a study guide that can be printed out for small group Bible study use.
I was always taught that we should memorize Bible verses (a good thing) that pertain to salvation and go to them when we doubt our salvation and they will give us assurance of salvation. Is this Biblical?
But what is that witness? It is nothing physical, vocal nor psychical. The Spirit never commits Himself to the flesh. The only witness He gives is a subjective one, known to the individual alone. The Spirit announces Himself to the deep, inner spirit of the man. The flesh profiteth nothing, but the believing heart knows. Holy, holy, holy.
The Bible says “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:16 NRSV) “by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” (2 Corinthians 1:22 NRSV) and “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 5:5 NRSV)
The Spirit is our guarantee that we are truly in Him and are saved. The changes the Spirit makes in us are evidence that He is in us.
We are not truly born again unless by the Spirit. “But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” (Romans 7:6 NRSV) “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:2 NRSV) “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14 NRSV)
While the infilling of the Spirit is received by faith and only by faith, let us beware of that imitation faith which is no more than a mental assent to truth. It has been a source of great disappointment to multitudes of seeking souls. True faith invariably brings a witness.
After a man is convinced that he can be filled with the Spirit he must desire to be. To the interested inquirer I ask these question: Are you sure that you want to be possessed by a Spirit Who, while He is pure and gentle and wise and loving, will yet insist upon being Lord of your life? Are you sure you want your personality to be taken over by One Who will require obedience to the written Word? Who will not tolerate any of the self-sins in your life: self-love, self-indulgence? Who will not permit you to strut or boast or show off? Who will take the direction of your life away from you and will reserve the sovereign right to test you and discipline you? Who will strip away from you many loved objects which secretly harm your soul?
Unless you can answer an eager ‘Yes’ to these questions you do not want to be filled.
How many authors are willing to say this nowadays? (Tozer wrote this in 1957.) Paul preached Christ crucified to the Corinthians which was foolishness to them. Jesus asks us to count the cost. He turned away the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-27). How many of us try to make it easy for others to be saved only for them to fall away because they didn’t count the cost?
Grace has become… cheap. We are busy these days proving to the world that they can have all the benefits of the Gospel without any of the inconvenience to their customary way of life. It’s ‘all this and heaven too.’
So often when a Christian is faced with a problematic situation, he is told to ask himself, ‘What would Jesus do in this situation?’ That is not always a wise question to ask. A better question would be, ‘What would Jesus have me do in this situation?’
(This book was written before the What Would Jesus Do? fad.)
Titus 3:1-2
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
Those of you who are into books may find these lists interesting:
Westminster Bookstore Top Ten Books of 2007
Favorite Books I Read In 2007…What About You? - Tullian Tchividjian
My Top 7 Books of 2007 - Challies.com
Top Books of 2007 at adoption-through-propitiation (what a great blog name)
Scroll down on that page to find more lists.
Update:
Best Christian Books of 2007
Scroll down on that page to find more lists.
For what’s it’s worth, my top five books:
- The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine by A.W. Tozer
- Knowing God by J.I. Packer
- The Lord by Romano Guardini
- The Gospel According to Job: An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt from the Life of One Who Lost Everything by Mike Mason
- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Favorite books I read in 2007 (not written in 2007):
- Cries of The Heart by Ravi Zacharias
- Romans (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Thomas Schreiner
- 1 Corinthians (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by David Garland
- 2 Corinthians (New American Commentary) by David Garland
- God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer by Pete Grieg
- The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life by A.W. Tozer
Books to read in 2008:
- Polishing God’s Monuments: Pillars of Hope for Punishing Times by Jim Andrews
- Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges
- Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper et. all
- Praying Backwards: Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus Name by Bryan Chapell
- I Will Follow You, O God: Embracing Him as Lord in Your Private Worship by Jerry Bridges
- Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney
- Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 41, Galatians by Richard N. Longenecker
- The Letter to the Ephesians (Pillar New Testament Commentary) by Peter O’Brien
- Colossians & Philemon by R.C. Lucas
- Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (New International Commentary on the New Testament) by Gordon Fee
Stinkers:
- Abandonment to divine providence - Jean Pierre de Caussade
- The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee
- Prayer by Richard Foster
As a tangent, I’ve become interested in reading more about the (negatively stereotyped) Puritans like Richard Baxter, John Owen etc. If you’re interested here is a post to get you started:
Puritans, We Greet Thee in 2008
Updated Link:
Join the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge!
If there are other lists out there or if you have your own, please post them here.
From The Blazing Center blog:
8 Ways to Get More out of Your Bible
and
Bible Boost Part II
Be sure to read the comments too.
The book In Christ Alone: Reflections on the Heart of the Gospel by Sinclair B. Ferguson has a chapter called Santa Christ. You will find the whole chapter and two others within the sample PDF file:
http://www.wtsbooks.com/pdf_files/9781567690897.pdf (1 MB)
I have included an excerpt here:
The Scriptures systematically strip away the veneer that covers the real truth of the Christmas story. Jesus did not come to add to our comforts. He did not come to help those who were already helping themselves or to fill life with more pleasant experiences. He came on a deliverance mission, to save sinners, and to do so He had to destroy the works of the Devil (Matt. 1:21; 1 John 3:8 b).
Those whose lives were bound up with the events of the first Christmas did not find His coming an easy and pleasurable experience.
Mary and Joseph’s lives were turned upside down.
The shepherds’ night was frighteningly interrupted, and their futures
potentially radically changed.
The magi faced all kinds of inconvenience and family separation.
Our Lord Himself, conceived before wedlock, born probably in a cave, would spend His early days as a refugee from the bloodthirsty and vindictive Herod (Matt. 2:13-21).
There is, therefore, an element in the Gospel narratives that stresses that the coming of Jesus is a disturbing event of the deepest proportions. It had to be thus, for He did not come merely to add something extra to life, but to deal with our spiritual insolvency and the debt of our sin. He was not conceived in the womb of Mary for those who have done their best, but for those who know that their best is “like filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6)—far from good enough—and that in their flesh there dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18). He was not sent to be the source of good experiences, but to suffer the pangs of hell in order to be our Savior.
When reading and studying I don’t want to just build up knowledge, especially not knowledge that “puffs up”. (1 Corinthians 8:1) In addition to praying prior to each time I read and study I have come up with some indicators.
1) Does what I read and study cause me to pray about what I’m learning or being convicted of?
2) Do I ponder and meditate on what I’m reading?
3) Is what I’m learning producing change?
4) Does what I’m learning cause me to worship God?
5) Am I growing more humble with an attitude of fear and trembling instead of being puffed up?
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Do you have anything to add? Since there aren’t many reading this blog I know I may be risking silence as I shout alone in my little corner of cyberspace.
In the last chapter of A.W. Tozer’s book Knowledge of the Holy he spells out six conditions. I’d like to summarize them with just a few added Scripture references. (Click on Scripture references.)
“…this knowledge is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them.
Let me present a brief summary of these conditions as taught by the Bible and repeated through the centuries by the holiest, sweetest saints the world has ever known:”
“First, we must forsake our sins.”
Isaiah 55:7, Acts 3:19
“Second, there must be an utter committal of the whole life to Christ in faith.”
Psalm 63:8, Psalm 84:1-2, Luke 9:23
“Third, there must be a reckoning of ourselves to have died unto sin and to be alive unto God in Christ Jesus, followed by a throwing open of the entire personality to the inflow of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:25
“Fourth, we must boldly repudiate the cheap values of the fallen world and become completely detached in spirit from everything that unbelieving men set their hearts upon, allowing ourselves only the simplest enjoyments of nature which God has bestowed alike upon the just and the unjust.”
Psalm 1:1, Romans 12:2
“Fifth, we must practice the art of long and loving meditation upon the majesty of God.”
Psalm 1:2, Psalm 63:6, Psalm 145:5
“Sixth, as the knowledge of God becomes more wonderful, greater service to our fellow men will become for us imperative. This blessed knowledge is not given to be enjoyed selfishly.”
Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:4, Titus 3:8, Titus 3:14, James 2:17-18
If you wish to derive profit [from the Scriptures], read with humility, candor, and faith, and never seek to have a scholar’s reputation. Inquire willingly, and listen to the words of the saints; let not the parables of the ancients be displeasing to you, for they were not uttered without good reason.
Thomas à Kempis, De imitatione Christi, I. V. 2
Found at:
http://voxstefani.blogspot.com/2007/08/on-reading-holy-scripture.html
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Another introductory entry. I hope to start posting on what I’ve been learning within a few days.
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