Reading the Call of the Wild by Jack London Chapter 1

 Reading The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Chapter 1 - Into the Primitive

Psalm 4:1-3

A portion of my scripture reading this morning...  

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
      You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
     O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
     Selah
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
     the Lord hears when I call to him.

Psalm 4:1-3 (ESV) 

coffee house

I am not sure what this says about me, but if I could, I would sit in a coffee house several hours a day. I sat at Mad Goat Coffee in Danville yesterday for about 4 hours. I didn't even realize I had been there that long until I was ready to leave. (Actually, I guess I should say, "I didn't even realize I had been here that long..." ...considering that I am currently in Mad Goat as I am typing this.)

If I could just find a job that would allow me to read, study, and write throughout most of my day... that would be bliss. I get giddy just thinking about the prospect. What jobs are there like that? ... jobs that could actually support a family? I am guessing that teacher and pastor of a small local church are not the occupations to choose from in order to have extra time to read and think...

If there is anyone out there in the world that would like to hire me to read books and drink coffee, please comment on this post.

:)

Lay Elders eJournal

Click to Read

The new Nine Marks eJournal for November/December is covering the topic of Lay Elders.  I am looking forward to reading through this edition.  I always find their work to be both enlightening and encouraging.

I noticed that it was titled, "... part 1" so I am hoping for more on this topic.  As I looked through the table of contents, I didn't find anything about my situation exactly.  It is mostly geared toward elders in the church who are also holding down a full-time job.  That is me, but the journal isn't really dealing with Lay Elders who are the only Elder in their church.

It still sounds really interesting with articles titled:

• A Job Description for Lay Elders
• How Much Time Can a Lay Elder Give to Ministry?
• Raising Up Elders: Three Areas to Address
• Raising Up Elders: Four Foundational Principles
• Four Ways to Equip New Elders
• Besetting Sins of Lay Elders
• How Pastor Mark Passes Out Authority

They have a printable pdf version available or a Kindle or epub version.  Click on through to download your copy today.

Desktop Background for December 2012

I love to change my desktop background on my computer every so often.  I used to post my backgrounds on the blog, but fell out of the habit.  Thought I would pick this habit back up, I am not ready for my blog do die!

Here is December's background... via 22 Words.  A little bit of a retro poster that goes along with my love of books.

Reading Theology

I just re-started a book by Karl Barth.  I picked it up at a library sale (I think) and started it right away.  I was sidetracked by The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink, so I put it down for awhile.  Since I am done with that now, it is time to pick it back up again. It is called God in Action: Theological Addresses .

I have to say, I am really enjoying these theological works.  I've been trying to read some other books and even some fictional stories, but I just can't get into them.  Reading theology, especially accurate and well-written theology, can be very uplifting.  It is about God.  It is about who He is.  It is about what He is like and what He does.  They remind me that He is a rock... He is my rock.

If you have never taken the time to read any theology, I would like to recommend a place to start, so that you are not overwhelmed.  The book is Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (RE: Lit) by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Bershears.  It is a really good book on doctrine that follows the story line of the Bible.  It was really easy to read, but at the same time it was chock-full of information.  There were footnotes in the hundreds.

Feeling discouraged at the state of the world today?  Get away from your TV and jump into a good solid book.

(Don't forget.  If you buy something through Amazon, use one of my links.  I will get a small portion for advertising.)

On Reading

I am definitely not the first to say it, but reading is important.  And I mean good, deep reading.

I have been pondering ways to promote this concept with my family, my church members, my friends, acquaintances, and possibly even with complete strangers.  I haven't come up with anything substantial yet, but the thought keeps moving closer and closer to the front of my mind.  I feel the need to do something, but I am just not sure what that something is going to be.

In the meantime, just to prove that I am not alone, here is a C.H. Spurgeon quote on reading:

We will look at Paul’s books. We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.

Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra-Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot and talks any quantity of nonsense is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains – oh, that is the preacher!

How rebuked they are by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet wants books!

He had been caught up into the Third Heaven and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says to every preacher, “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13).

The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible.

[HT: Trevin Wax]

I also ran across a blog post from Douglas Wilson.  He is talking about being a writer in this post, but his main point is Read until your brain creaks.  Here is a snippet:

Read. Read constantly. Read the kind of stuff you wish you could write. Read until your brain creaks. Tolkien said that his ideas sprang up from the leaf mold of his mind. These are the trees where the leaves come from.

Read the rest of the article here.

Well, if you have any ideas on how I could promote reading, let me know.

The Pharisees' Guide

Just started a new book called The Pharisees' Guide to Total Holiness by William L. Coleman.  I found the book on a book shelf in the closet at church.  I was clearing the shelf off to take into my office for all of my books.  This is one book that came with me into the office.

I have never heard of this author, so I hesitate recommending this book, but so far it has been pretty good.  I just finished chapter 5 and I am plowing ahead into chapter 6.

It is keeping my attention (which means something for a guy with such extreme ADD).  It isn't a perfect book: there have been a couple of things that I don't quite agree with how they were phrased, but overall I think this guy is onto something.  It might be a tad bit outdated, but it really does offer a good synopsis of who these Pharisees were and what they were all about.