Category Archives: Rest

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Recent Reads

I love to read. By God’s grace I am a pretty fast reader; I usually read a couple books each week. I find it helpful to summarize my thoughts on each book and I offer those thoughts in the hope that you will be encouraged to either read or pass over the given title.

0801026326mReformed Dogmatics Vol. 1 by Herman Bavinck. One of my Endeavors for 2015 is to read through Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics. Volume 1 covers the matters of “Prolegomena,” which Bavinck breaks up into five parts: 1) Introduction to Dogmatics, 2) The History and Literature of Dogmatic Theology, 3) Foundations of Dogmatic Theology (Principia), 4) Revelation (Principium Externum), and 5) Faith (Principium Internum). The Dutch Doctor’s grasp of the relevant material is nothing short of astonishing. His immense, God-given ability in linguistics, history, theology, hermeneutics, and application shine through every section. I did get bogged down at various points, but that’s probably due to my having a more limited interest on some the volume’s subjects. The next volume is on “God and Creation” and I expect to be keenly engaged from start to finish.

TSSMThe Seven Storey Mountain: An Autobiography of Faith by Thomas Merton. For years I heard about The Seven Storey Mountain, but only now got around to reading it, and only because it’s required for a June seminar on “20th Century Spirituality.” Many have called it the best autobiography of faith since Augustine’s Confessions. Such sentiment is surely overstatement, yet one can’t deny the smashing worldwide influence Merton (d. 1915-1968) has had over the last seventy years or so. The power of Merton’s story doesn’t lie in its uniqueness—he was one of many who converted to Catholicism in search of peace and meaning. No, the force of Merton lies in his literary skill in relating to the common man. His autobiography is beautifully, hilariously, and masterfully written. I can’t remember the last book I read in which author’s skill in writing so consistently amazed me.

Anyone who knows me well knows I’m sympathetic to many aims of the monastic life. I love the solitude, simplicity, devotion, and earnest pursuit of God. So maybe I am unusually inclined to enjoy Merton’s autobiography—not for his conversion to Catholic faith and doctrine, but for his single-minded devotion in service to God.

TRDThe River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard. I loved Candice Millard’s account of President James Garfield’s assassination in Destiny of the Republic. In that book she compellingly and insightfully retells famous stories of days gone by. Although her book on Roosevelt is not as strong as the one on Garfield, The River of Doubt is still is outstanding. After TR lost out on a third bid for the presidency he turned to explore one of the last unknown areas of the globe: the Amazon. In particular, a yet-to-be traveled body of water known as the River of Doubt. “Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunted its shadows; piranhas glided through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turned the river into a roiling cauldron.” And there TR nearly died. What a story! I can’t wait for Millard’s next book, on Churchill and the Boer War.

TLCThe Last Child by John Hart. Whenever I’m at a loss for what fiction book to read next I tend to gravitate towards Edgar Award winners. And so it was that John Hart’s The Last Child, winner of the 2010 Edgar for Best Novel, recently came into my home. Hart tells his tale is with profound earthiness and emotion. Johnny Merrimon, the titular last child, is a thirteen-year-old boy in search of his sister who went missing over a year ago. His investigation is full of hope, agony, and tension to boot. The publisher’s summary says, “Traveling the wilderness between innocence and hard wisdom, between hopelessness and faith, The Last Child leaves all categories behind and establishes John Hart as a writer of unique power.” I totally agree.

TAThe Accident by Chris Pavone. The Edgars are also responsible for my recent foray into the C.V. of Chris Pavone as his debut novel The Expats won the 2013 Edgar for Best Novel. I enjoyed his first offering enough to check out his second book and The Accident is no sophomore slump. The plot centers on an anonymous book manuscript that has the power to bring down some of the most powerful men in the world. The action develops quickly and spans the globe as some are interested in profiting off the book, while others will—literally and prosaically—stop at nothing to burn all evidence of the manuscript’s existence. I was freshly surprised at several different points, but the novel’s ending unfortunately doesn’t live up to the great tension Pavone succeeds in building. And what do they say about a book’s ending? It’s the first thing you remember. Maybe that’s why, a few weeks on since finishing The Accident, I think of it as something of a disappointment.

GPGood People by Marcus Sakey. My love for Sakey’s “Brilliance Saga” is admittedly rapturous. Only “The Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” interest me more. Since reading the first two Brilliance installments around the turn of the new year I’ve slowly been working my way through Sakey’s older novels. While they aren’t nearly as captivating as the Brilliance books, they are page turners nonetheless. Good People revolves around Tom and Anna Reed, who are confronted with an expected predicament. Upon finding their downstairs tenant dead they also discover $370,000 in cash laying around the kitchen. Will they take it or report it? They take it . . . and madness, of the hard-to-believe kind, ensues.

TDThe Descent by Tim Johnston. The press clippings sucked me in and probably created unrealistic expectations for Johnston’s debut novel. The Washington Post says, “The story unfolds brilliantly, always surprisingly . . . Read this astonishing novel.” Vanity Fair exclaims, “Tim Johnston’s high-wire literary thriller . . . will leave you gasping.” If you’ve yet to hear of the genre, a “literary thriller” is a somewhat snarky label for thrillers written in creative, supposedly artistic prose. The Descent is full of surprises and occasional moments of splendor. On the whole, however, I found Johnston’s artistry will frustrating and obstructive.

Click here to find other entries in the Recent Reads series.

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A Mountain Retreat

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Lord willing, tonight after our church’s corporate gathering, my wife and I will head out to Breckenridge, Colorado. It will be our first vacation in over three years.

Our three little boys will remain in Texas with gracious family and friends and so a week of quiet, unhurried time in the Rockies awaits. We couldn’t be more excited.

BOOKS FOR THE MOUNTAINS

The blog will thus be silent until September 22nd. I’m taking a cadre of books, but here are the three I hope to read from cover to cover:1

GFFGod’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America by Larry Eskridge. The Jesus People movement was a unique combination of the hippie counterculture and evangelical Christianity. It first appeared in the famed “Summer of Love” of 1967, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, and spread like wildfire in Southern California and beyond, to cities like Seattle, Atlanta, and Milwaukee. In 1971 the growing movement found its way into the national media spotlight and gained momentum, attracting a huge new following among evangelical church youth, who enthusiastically adopted the Jesus People persona as their own. Within a few years, however, the movement disappeared and was largely forgotten by everyone but those who had filled its ranks.

God’s Forever Family argues that the Jesus People movement was one of the most important American religious movements of the second half of the 20th-century. Not only do such new and burgeoning evangelical groups as Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard trace back to the Jesus People, but the movement paved the way for the huge Contemporary Christian Music industry and the rise of “Praise Music” in the nation’s churches. More significantly, it revolutionized evangelicals’ relationship with youth and popular culture. Larry Eskridge makes the case that the Jesus People movement not only helped create a resurgent evangelicalism but must be considered one of the formative powers that shaped American youth in the late 1960s and 1970s.

BHBurning Hearts: Preaching to the Affections by Josh Moody and Robin Weekes. Affection is often a neglected theme in our generation of Bible believing Christians. It has not always been so. Previous generations thought a great deal about the centrality of the heart in the Christian life and the need to preach to it. This book will prove a valuable resource as we learn about the place of the affections in our walk with Christ and in preaching Him to ourselves and others. D.A. Carson says, “For some, this little book will be a healthy reminder; for others, it will revolutionize their preaching.”

YTYawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God, So Stop Trying by Drew Dyck. When was the last time you were overawed by God’s majesty? Have you ever stood in stunned silence at his holiness and power? In our shallow, self-centered age, things like truth and reverence might seem outdated, lost. Yet we’re restless. And our failed attempts to ease our unrest point to an ancient ache for an experience of the holy. Drew Dyck makes a compelling case that what we seek awaits us in the untamed God of Scripture—a God who is dangerous yet accessible, mysterious yet powerfully present. He is a God who beckons us to see him with a fresh, unfiltered gaze.

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  1. Book descriptions are taken from the respective publisher. ↩
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A Short Sabbatical

In Quest of Rest

Later on today I will leave for a 19th-century era cabin with one goal in mind: rest.

One of my many ministerial flaws is an almost complete inability rest for an extended period of time. But I am trying to grow in this area with the help of a loving wife and caring congregation.

OUT OF THE HARNESS

I have long cherished Spurgeon’s passionate labor and self-conscious desire to exhaust himself in the gospel ministry. He said,

‘If by excessive labour, we die before reaching the average age of man, worn out in the Master’s service, then glory be to God, we shall have so much less of earth and so much more of Heaven!’ 1 ‘It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed.’ 2

Such Christ-fueled energy (cf. Col. 1:28) is a great challenge to much of our contemporary evangelical culture that bristles at the thought sweaty ministry. Yet, like any author, we can read the Prince in a vacuum or in isolation. For he was just as keen to seize sabbath opportunities when it was wise to do so,

It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation may suit spirits emancipated from this ‘heavy clay’, but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while.3

I count it no small act of God’s providence that the very week I reread the Prince’s passages above4 my wife gave me an anniversary getaway. She saw knows me better than anyone and said, “You need a break.” That 36 hour “out of the harness” endeavor begins this afternoon.

RESTING THROUGH READING

My aim is simple: rest through reading. Few things calm my soul as extended and uninterrupted times of reading. Here are the four books I hope to complete by Friday morning:

It may sound like a lot, but I am already at the finish line of the last two. Thus, I should be able to close out Turley, Hastings, and Iles tonight. Which leaves tomorrow dedicated to Beaty’s promising study of M’Cheyne, further memorization of 1 Timothy,5  and much time on bended knee.

I am excited and eager. Bring on the “holy inaction.”

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  1. Spurgeon, An All Around Ministry, 127. ↩
  2. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 157. ↩
  3. Ibid, 161. ↩
  4. In preparation to preach this sermon. ↩
  5. I’ve memorized the first four chapters and would love two write the last two on my heart this week. ↩