current reading...

I've been a bit slack with updating the blog, but thought I would check back in about current reading - it's been months since I have!

I recently finished the book Quest for Love by Elisabeth Elliot which I found was really good.

I loved Passion and Purity and I've wanted to re-read that for a while, but came across this book which is kinda like a sequel. Let me explain.

Basically, the book is a collection of stories that people have written that support the ideas that Elisabeth Elliot had proposed in P&P. People who had read the book, and have either decided to follow what they read (successful love stories) and those who chose not to (unsuccessful love stories) and experienced great hurt as a result. The book also contained the accounts of courtship and marriage of some missionaries and other Christians who preceded P&P. Intertwined with the stories and letters, Elisabeth Elliot makes comments and further explains the different principles. Each chapter also ends with review questions and questions that may be used in discussions.

I personally found the book to be a blessing, but I reckon you should read Passion and Purity first if you have not already done so. I guess I am pretty biased toward Elisabeth Elliot - I have a lot of her books and I also like listening to her sermons (she has spoken at many ladies meetings) that are available online. I won't harp on any more about how great she is, so all I will say is that you should read the book for yourself and make up your own mind.

Hmm OK other reading..

I am nearly finished Esther by Chuck Swindoll and I have also started reading The Savage My Kinsman by Elisabeth Elliot. The last book was one that I picked up from the 2011 Vose Seminary Book Sale that just passed. There's many more that I want to read, but I just need more time!

Also...

Project Library has started! More soon..

vocab-boost

Reading the autobiography of CS Lewis at the moment and I am really enjoying it. The big words have continued to baffle me, which means it’s time for another instalment of the very vocabulous vocab-boost!

pique [peek]

to affect with sharp irritation and resentment, esp. by some wound to pride: She was greatly piqued when they refused her invitation.

obsequious [uhb-see-kwee-uhs]

servilely compliant or deferential: obsequious servants.

harangue [huh-rang]

any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; sermonizing lecture or discourse.

surreptitious [sur-uhp-tish-uhs]

obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.

invectives [in-vek-tiv]

vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach. an insulting or abusive word or expression.

welter [wel-ter]

to become deeply or extensively involved, associated, entangled, etc. to roll, toss, or heave, as waves or the sea.

forsooth [fawr-sooth]

Archaic. (now used in derision or to express disbelief) in truth; in fact; indeed.

mercurial [mer-kyoor-ee-uhl]

changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic: a mercurial nature.

heterodox [het-er-uh-doks]

not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, esp. in theology; unorthodox.

precocious [pri-koh-shuhs]

unusually advanced or mature in development, esp. mental development: a precocious child.

vapid [vap-id]

without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.

jocular [jok-yuh-ler]

given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious: jocular remarks about opera stars.

Impressive list huh? Look, you’re welcome. I’m glad that you are clearly piqued about weltering in this new sea of words. You may think it vapid but forsooth, it is indeed a jocular attempt at helping you become more precocious in your speech – as is quite heterodox in today’s society.

Encouragement: The Key to Caring

This book was written by Dr Larry Crabb and Dr Dan Allender.

I google image searched the book and google gave me this picture...

It's completely different to the copy I have which is a bright green book that looks like this...

The difference between the two is that my version was bought at a book sale for $1! I seriously cannot help bragging about the bargains I get...

Anyway...

The book was so good. I think for me, encouragement has always been one of those things that I had a vague idea about, but that I never really knew how to define. 'Oh yeah, it's just like being nice to someone especially when they are feeling down and stuff'

But it's so much more.

Crabb and Allender help unpack what exactly encouragement is. What it is, what it isn't, why it's important, what barriers there are to it, what an encourager is like, how encouragement works, how it can change others and how to do it. There was just so much in there! I read this book quite quickly because it was really easy to read, and it gave me a thirst to want to know more. A chapter would end talking about some other topic and that would be addressed in the following chapter.

I found the concepts of surface communities especially interesting as this is something I have often observed growing up in church where people have layers that keep other people from knowing their fears. This in effect has the result that people communicate by just talking from one layer to another and never really get to address the core fears of others. They end up thinking they have encouraged someone, but anything that they thought they did was shallow and ultimately ineffective. We are to be totally committed to being instruments used by God in other people's lives.

I also found it interesting that the wrong solution to a surface community was  total openness. Crabb and Allender explain that total openness is self-serving as you are really just presenting your true self and expecting other people to accept you 'just the way you are'. We are to depend on God for acceptance - not other people. Total openness as Crabb and Allender put it is 'falesely courageous self-centredness'. Ouch! But so true.

Encouragement: The Key to Caring is a very practical book and a helpful resource which is fantastic because it is something that we all need to know how to do as Christians.

I'm reading...

Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity by Charles Swindoll

Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes

The Book of Psalms :)

And I recently (today) acquired a few books from Koorong...

The Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot (a biography about Jim Elliot)

and Mornings with Tozer (a devotional by AW Tozer)

That should keep me occupied for a while.

a poem

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

From subtle love of softening things
From easy choices, weakenings
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire -
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
 
Amy Carmichael

How Women Help Men Find God

Time for another book review.

How Women Help Men Find God - by David Murrow

I originally came across this book at Word bookstore in Vic Park when a few of us were browsing before we had dinner next door at Makan Makan. It caught my attention because of the title, and I picked it up to have a flick through. I read a few bits inside (I think the section was about worship) and I liked how it was written and that it made some good points that I never thought about before. It seemed to cover a lot of ground in one book, so I thought I would go buy it.

It was a bit more expensive than what I normally like to pay for a book ($17.95), but because I was interested, I bought it anyway. My rationale was that I spend more on dinner or a CD sometimes so why not spend on a Christian book?

Anyhoo.

Basically, Murrow writes about how the church has been feminised in recent years to the point where men have been gradually put more and more off from going. With more women in church, the church has changed to become more appealing to women (often unintentionally), and as a result, most men have just felt out of place and have ended up leaving the church. He writes about why this is a problem, how it has become like this, the common mistakes that churches make, what the church can do to fix the problem, and practical ways to evangelise to the men in your life.

Personally, I found the book very helpful and it made some excellent points that I had never thought about. It also helped to affirm the things that we do in our own church already which have helped to encourage the brothers to keep coming (e.g. men's fellowship).

However...

I found that there was quite a contemporary slant to what Murrow would write, and coming from a traditional church, I didn't quite agree with everything he wrote in the book. It seemed as though he favoured the idea of a big, slick, tech-savvy, modern church with all the bells and whistles - a view that I didn't necessarily agree with. Also, being from a predominantly Asian church, some stuff was less relevant - he presented an idea of having a group of mechanics at church providing free  repairs to the community, but I ain't seen no Asian mechanic in church recently.. Maybe there can be an accounting or engineering consultation? Maybe not.

It's not that I was being close-minded to the ideas in the book, it's more that I wasn't too convinced that these would achieve the ultimate goal for us as Christians - which is to glorify God. I felt that sometimes, what was written in the book tended to be more fearful of man than of God.

But that's just my opinion.

I would recommend that you have a read of the book, just to get an idea about the problem that the modern church is facing currently. It is definitely a very real problem and one that would jeopardise the future of the church, the family unit and the effectiveness of ministry. Read the book with an open-mind, but with discernment. But really, any book that we read written by man should be read in the same manner.

Faith Beyond Reason

It's been a while since I have reviewed a book. Too long. I will definitely try to do this more often! In fact, I have been toying with the idea of starting a book club for a while now - but I don't know how interested people will be in doing one, and I also don't know if people would have the time. I guess I won't ever know unless I actually do it.

Anyway.

First off, I just want to say that AW Tozer is a great author. I have a read a few of his books now (I think this was my third?). And each one has been a blessing to me spiritually. I actually finished 'Faith Beyond Reason' a while ago now but I feel that I need to share how good it was - just to try encourage more people out there to read this and other AW Tozer books!

Like the majority of books I have in my growing collection, this was another acquirement from a book sale. Two bucks very well spent.

mine was a different cover
but ah well, you get the idea

Faith Beyond Reason is actually a collection of sermons preached by Tozer from the Gospel of John. In this book, Tozer covers a lot of ground - the book is about faith, but Tozer unpacks what faith means in light of conversion, the character of God, discipleship, conscience, hypocrisy, temptation/sin, holiness, and the truth. The great thing about this book (and a lot of Tozer's books) is that truths are simplified into digestable chunks. He can pack a lot (though not too much to overwhelm you) into one sentence, so it doesn't take him a lot of pages to get his point across.  

Because these were a collection of sermons from Tozer, I thought the book had a different style to previous books I had read by Tozer. Faith Beyond Reason had a lot more anecdotes and illustrations in it - though at times tangental, and often hilarious, they still helped to illustrate his point.

If you haven't treated yourself to a book by AW Tozer, get to it and maybe one day we can book club it up.

current reading

Wow, haven't done this in a while!

Well let's see... I'm reading a few books at the moment...

1. How Women Can Help Men Find God by David Murrow - verdict so far? read with discernment, but some good points.
2. A Woman's Choice by Eugenia Price - not far enough into it to comment
3. Faith Beyond Reason by AW Tozer - wow!
4. Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot - easy read so far
5. Be Real by Warren Wiersbe - not far enough into it to comment
6. Book of Psalms - switched to this from Leviticus.. la la laaa..

But I have also recently finished a few other books...

1. Not My Will by Andrew Murray - wow!
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - wow!!

And I have given up on a few other books

1. The Left Behind Series - might come back to this one day
2. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, and a book by Marian Keyes - both recommended by a colleague, OK, but just think my time could be used much better

the home straight

After a long time of procrastination, I finally made a dent in my last book of the Bible - Ezekiel. On the way to Melbourne last Thursday, I had my Bible in my carry-on and I thought it would be a good time to do some reading - it's not like there was somewhere I could go or something I could do - I was just stuck in a seat in a plane for a few hours.

So with the help of my good friend, Alexander Scourby, I started reading, and reading, and reading. I got through half the book! Which was 24 chapters!

It turned out that Ezekiel wasn't as boring as I had remembered it to be, and in fact, there was one chapter that really spoke to my heart. Chapter 16.

Have a read of it yourself here.

The all-too-common story of God finding Israel, caring for her, making her beautiful and respected, and loving her deeply, only to be forgotten, cheated on, humiliated by and despised in return, is told by the prophet, Ezekiel. What a heart-breaking story. It really gives us a true understanding of how bad our repeated trespasses are against our God.

It was a real blessing to read through that big chunk and hopefully, I can finish off the last chunk really soon too.

He lives within my heart!

I really thank God that I have the opportunity to read more these days. With few commitments outside of work, and since trying to cut back on things like shopping and TV, I have found myself with a lot more spare time! It's amazing because since I have tried to cut back, I haven't really missed either that much. I'm honestly enjoying reading more and doing other more productive things.

I managed to finish another book - 'Man: The Dwelling Place of God' by AW Tozer. After reading the Pursuit of God, I was fond of Tozer, but now after reading MTDPOG - I am a complete Tozer fan! The book was a huge blessing to me - through it I really feel as though my understanding of a lot of the basic fundamentals of my faith as a Christian have been cemented and deepened to a whole new level. I understand more now why holiness is so important for prayer. I don't feel as petrified about standing up for God because in the end to be right with God is to be wrong with the world - and I'm cool with that (though time will be the ultimate test). The importance of repentance, true contrition for sins and a longing for holiness have been reinforced in my heart.

Tozer is great. But don't take my word for it, check him out yourself! To read MTDPOG online, click here. For any other Tozer fixes, this is a good website.

Next book on the list is 'Problems with Christian Discipleship' by J Oswald Sanders.

pursuing God

I finished reading Pursuit of God by AW Tozer today. It was a really good read. I found that as I read it, I would tend to re-read paragraphs a few times over just because they contained so much depth and meaning. I also read the book with a highlighter in my hand because there were just so many points that spoke to my heart and convicted and challenged me.

Tozer just has the knack for making things understandable and clear. The book is about how Christians can pursue God, what usually stands in our way, what joy is experienced when one truly pursues God with all their heart, and the right attitude to have to pursuing God. Midway through reading this book, I read the back of the book and was so surprised to read the following:

During a train trip to Texas in the late 1940s, AW Tozer began to write The Pursuit of God. He wrote all night, the words coming to him as fast as he could put them down. When the train pulled into the station, the rough draft was finished.

WHAT???

I seriously can’t believe that. Yeah, it’s a short book (93 pages) but seriously, the draft was completed in a train trip??

Tozer is one talented writer.

another book bites the dust

I just finished a book last night that I had been reading since May 2007. I knew it had been a while, but over 2 years? Wow! I really do have a problem with starting and not finishing books hey? The book is called 'Tired of Do-List Christianity?' and it's written by Scott Morton who used to work with (or still does, I can't remember) with a Christian organisation called The Navigators. I found the book to be a real blessing. The book goes through different misconceptions that Christians usually hold on to - either to make them feel better about themselves or things that actually weigh them down and steal their joy.

Going through the book, there were many times where I read the misconception presented and then thought Hang on a second! That's not a misconception!. But before I could cry 'Heathen!' Morton continued to explain why it was a misconception and I, subsequently, composed myself, realised my wrong, and then settled into a state of deep conviction.

The book is very easy to read too. It has short chapters, it has a very conversational tone to it and it is quite humorous in it's delivery - yet, like I said before, it still continues to pack the punch of conviction. You may not agree with everything in the book, but I believe there's still more than enough to gain from the book to make it worth recommending.

I ♥ book sales!

I got all these books at the SCF secondhand book sale today - and all I paid was $32. Bargain. The annual book sale is held at UWA and the whole room was PACKED with all kinds of books! Most of these books came from the literature section, but there was every genre known to man available at the book sale, and I don't have to tell you that it was a great way to spend an afernoon.

I know I have HEAPS of books to read still, but books have no expiry date so this will keep me going for a while.

current reading

I'm in the middle of a few books at the moment, and all the while I am still trying to finish reading the Bible (which has been extremely slow, and not very steady :( but I only have a book and a half to go!). I'm not really good at maintaining interest in one particular book, I switch and swap, and start new books ALL the time. I wonder if I will ever fiinish any of these...

The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee
Man, The Dwelling Place of God - AW Tozer
Pursuit of God - AW Tozer
Vanity Fair - William Thackeray
Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
Tribulation Force - Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
Prayer - Philip Yancey

Not likely I reckon.

the classics

I finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte last week. What a great book. I actually started reading it at the beginning of the year, but stopped because there were too many difficult words hehe. After picking it up again a few weeks ago, I knocked back the whole book in a few weeks! It was such a good read and though the hard words and the occasional French made it difficult at times, the plot was interesting enough to keep me hooked.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but realise how our language has deteriorated over time. The verbal sparring between Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester is just something that is not really seen (or rather heard) these days. I'm totally guilty of this. My lazy-talk is so habitual that I don't even realise it. I thought I'd try to make a list of lazy-talk words and try to replace them with proper English.

totally = very much so
dude! = Oh dear, how alarming / interesting / fantastic!
kinda = almost as if
sif bro = I find that quite difficult to fathom
you suck = you offend me very much
I'm so dead = I believe I will be in a significant amount of danger
my stuff = my personal belongings
I'm so broke = I am in want of sufficient finances
what the? = that is really quite peculiar..
lol = hahahah you have been esteemed with a wonderful sense of humour
ummm = please allow me a moment to collect my thoughts
gross = that's rather horrid
nup = no thankyou, maybe next time
dunno hey = my apologies, I am unable to confirm your query at this time

Though it's more efficient, lazy-talk just makes me think we're getting stupider as the generations tick over. Just sitting on the bus with some high school students behind me all I could hear was 'like, she just like needs to get over it and stuff' with the f-bomb and the OMG-bomb sprinkled in between.

I think I will try to keep up the reading habit for the sake of preserving at least my own English. If at the very least I learn some new words and expand my vocabulary beyond my default of lazy-talk, I will be happy.

767 pages later...

I just finished my first book of 2009! I finished the complete Chronicles of Narnia tonight - all seven books! All 767 pages! You'd be impressed if you saw the thickness of the book - I have to admit, I am pretty surprised that I finished it too! I started reading in at the beginning of January and read it all with two days left to spare!

You might think I am getting a bit excited about something quite small, but it's a pretty good achievement for me. I really hope I can keep this up!

My Bible readings are coming along nicely too. I've got one more chapter of 1 Kings left, and then a few more books after that. 1 Kings has been really interesting so far. Such an interesting book. The last few chapters I read were about Elijah, and I have to say, they were pretty cool. It would've been really amazing to be Elijah - he truly witnessed and did some crazy things! Still using Alexander Scourby too - I love how he read out 1 Kings 18:26-27 (if you have Scourby's Audio Bible check it out - it's a hoot! 'Oooooooooo Baal! Heeeaaar us!' - Gold!)

I'm really liking this whole reading thing!

vocabulous!

From some of the books I've been reading...

candour: noun
honesty and straightforwardness of speech or behaviour

affectation: noun
1. A show, pretense, or display.
2. Behavior that is assumed rather than natural; artificiality. A particular habit, as of speech or dress, adopted to give a false impression.

decorum: noun
Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety

parley: noun
A discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of truce or other matters.

loquacious: adj.
Very talkative; garrulous

estimable: adj.
Deserving of esteem; admirable

lief: adv.
Readily; willingly: I would as lief go now as later

aplomb: noun
imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance

spurious: adj.
not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit

winsome: adj.
sweetly or innocently charming; winning; engaging

curt: adj.
rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner

current reading

Bible: 2 Chronicles. Very interesting so far.. it's so interesting seeing how the different Kings of Israel ruled. The 'good' and 'bad' kings, and what exactly made them good or bad. I'm still going strong with the audio Bible and have just finished Chapter 12.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I think I'm getting to the end of this book now and it's been pretty cool. While I read this book, I can't help but think it would have been so cool to have read this as a child. But at the same time, I really do appreciate the books a lot more as an adult because there is quite a lot in there that I just wouldn't have fathomed as a child.

Rise and Shine - A Wake Up Call (by Charles Swindoll). This book has been a blessing so far. I picked it up from our church library on Sunday and have been reading it and tagging pages with post-it-notes because there have been so many really good things that I would like to share with other people. Two such gems I will share below.

10 Statements About Ministry (originally from Warren & David Wiersbe)
1. The foundation of ministry is character
2. The nature of ministry is service
3. The motive for ministry is love
4. The measure of ministry is sacrifice
5. The authority of ministry is submission
6. The purpose of ministry is the glory of God
7. The tools of ministry are the Word of God and prayer
8. The privilege of ministry is growth
9. The power of ministry is the Holy Spirit
10. The model for ministry is Jesus Christ

About instruction, Swindoll shares the following:

Before leaving this objective, it might be helpful to add several ways to know when instruction is moving toward an unhealthy extreme. Three situations bear watching.

First, when knowledge remains theoretical, watch out. It will soon breed indifference or arrogance.

Second, when preaching and teaching are not balanced by love and grace, watch out. Intolerance is not far away.

Third, when teaching becomes an end in itself, watch out. At that point, scriptural instruction is coming dangerously close to bibliolatry.

So true.

I'm happy to say that I am still enjoying my reading. On a pretty exciting note, I only have about 8 books left to read until I have finished reading the WHOLE BIBLE!! Wow! Pretty cool hey?

audio-nicles

I have blogged about the audio bible before, but since then, I had kinda forgotten about it until tonight when I was trying to read through 1 Chronicles. With the many genealogies and lists of names, I was starting to lose motivation for reading this book. Though there were little exciting bits in between all the Biblical roll-calls, I have to admit I was struggling.

Then I thought, Why don't I use the Audio Bible! What a brilliant idea that turned out to be! I got myself reacquainted with my old friend Alexander Scourby, with my other good friend Sword Searcher, and he read to me (in a lovely, eloquent voice) while I followed and scrolled through Sword Searcher. After a few chapters of 1 Chronicles I found myself at Chapter 29 and realised I had reached the end of the book! Woohoo!

It must be an audio thing because I reckon in the same time I would read maybe two chapters and not really remember what I had read because my mind would wander off and I would forget what my eyes had been reading. With Mr Scourby reading to me, I have realised that I am a lot more attentive and I actually follow what I am reading! It really works!!

One verse that I thought was pretty good was from Chapter 28. KIng David was briefing Solomon about building the Temple for God and after giving him heaps of instructions he gave him some encouragement (which you could imagine he probably really appreciated having been faced with such a daunting task!). The verse is:

1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Best of all, another book bites the dust and I am one book closer to finishing the Bible in a year (or two).

bookworming

'Readers today, leaders tomorrow' is something my Dad always used to say when we were younger to encourage us to read more. Though our response was typically to roll our eyes and then pass off the comment as another Dad-ism, I think it did encourage me to read more when I was younger, and as I look back now, I do see the value of reading. Dang, he was right again!

Since the new year, I have resolved to read more, and currently, I am up to my fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia, and I am also about halfway though 1 Chronicles of the Bible - hehe I didn't mean to read Chronicles of Narnia and the Chronicles of the Bible at the same time, but it just worked out that way!

I really do enjoy reading now and I find that I don't get bored as much now too. If I have a spare moment, I can always whip out my book, plop onto the couch and continue my adventure! CS Lewis is a fantastic author, and I really enjoy his style of writing. As I read I almost feel as though he is telling me the story himself. The Gospel parallels Lewis weaves into the stories are quite cool (when you realise what they are) and I can't help but think that CS Lewis was such a brilliant mind to be able to come up with so many in a few children's books and yet tell the stories so well.

I do have quite a few books piling up waiting to be read, and I in turn can't wait to start them too! My parents hadn't bought me a Christmas present last year, and when they heard that I wanted to read more last week, I think they were quite delighted and went out the next day to buy me a whole heap of books! So it's not like I have a shortage of books to read hehe.