Archive for the ‘Book Club’ Category
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Our LHC Book Club is discussing The Life and Diary of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards tonight. It is the edited journals and diary of an early colonial missionary to the American Indians (1741-1745). David lived the life of a frontier missionary – he made his home among various Indian tribes, spent the majority of his days among them preaching, teaching, and getting to know them. David also worked himself to death – he died at the age of 29 of TB in Jonathan Edward’s home. All told, his truly is an amazing and inspiring story. (The book by Edwards has not been out of print since its first printing in the 1700s.)
Brainerd was racked by depression. His diary entries become almost oppressive with his personal melancholy and sense of his own sinfulness. If nothing else, he was clear about how deep human sinfulness went, how it separates us from God, and how each human soul needs God’s gracious salvation.
Brainerd was driven to preach the gospel both to the church and the unreached world. Early in his writings he is burdened with the lukewarm nature of the church and how most Christians misappropriate their time in worthless and idle things. He clearly lived what he taught and wrote about, and it is very convicting indeed. Later in his career he became more and more burdened for the lost specifically the American Indian tribes on the frontiers of Western settlements. His journal records powerful moves of God in which entire families and villages were convicted of sin and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
There is much to commend in the work – much more than can be handled quickly here. Maybe you have something to add about the lessons of his life?
Tags: Book Club, Missions, Witnessing
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Holy and Happy
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
I have mentioned that our LHC book club recently read Anselm’s Cur Deus
Homo. After reading the book a second time (and being thoroughly impressed a second time), I read up on Anselm and the book, and discovered it was quite the theological and philosophical revolution at the time. One of the passages that stuck out to me was the first chapter of the second book titled, “How man was made holy by God, so as to be happy in the enjoyment of God.” The first few sentences are provocative.
It ought not to be disputed that rational nature was made holy by God, in order to be happy in enjoying Him. For to this end is it rational, in order to discern justice and injustice, good and evil, and between the greater and the lesser good. Otherwise it was made rational in vain. But God made it not rational in vain. Wherefore, doubtless, it was made rational for this end. In like manner is it proved that the intelligent creature received the power of discernment for this purpose, that he might hate and shun evil, and love and choose good, and especially the greater good. For else in vain would God have given him that power of discernment, since man’s discretion would be useless unless he loved and avoided according to it. But it does not befit God to give such power in vain. It is, therefore, established that rational nature was created for this end, viz., to love and choose the highest good supremely, for its own sake and nothing else;…
What strikes me is the capacity that is made holy by God in order for us to be happy in him: our rationality. We were given this capacity for a purpose. It is intended to judge rightly between right and wrong, good and evil, and even make distinctions between lesser and greater goods. The exercise of my mental capacities is an act of sanctification, or redemption, of holiness to the end that I may be happy in God.
Put the other way around, I am happiest in God when this capacity is used to its utmost. The highest use my reason can attain is to supremely love the supreme good – God. And I learn to love him for his own sake and not for what he does or does not do.
Do I love God with all my mind?
Tags: Book Club, Discipleship, Spiritual Formation, Theology
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Next Book Club – Anselm’s “Cur Deus Homo”
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
For our next book club, we are going to read one of the foundational theological texts in the Christian church – Why the God Man? by Anselm. The whole thing is available here if you would like to read it online.
In it, Anselm wrestles with the question of why God in his infinite glory had to become human to redeem such a broken race. Or as he puts it, “for what necessity and cause, God, who is omnipotent, should have assumed the littleness and weakness of human nature for the sake of its renewal.”
Why indeed! If God is all powerful, then why didn’t he redeem us from his throne in heaven? Why get the dirt of this world under his fingernails?
Read the text, and join us for the discussion!
Date TBD…
Tags: Book Club, Calendar, Jesus, Theology
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Book Club – Pilgrim’s Progress
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Tonight we spent our time talking over bits and pieces of the classic,
Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyon. Written in prison about 1678, it is the story of a dream and allegory detailing the journey from the City of Destruction to The Celestial City.
Among the big picture items we found interesting were the emphasis on the warfare in the Christian life, the many paths that lead to destruction, and how easily one can be tempted off the narrow path. How often do we recognize that there is an enemy of our souls who seeks to do us harm by any means necessary?
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March Book Club
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
For our next book, we are reading one of the classics by a terrific Christian
author: Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer. If you have been looking for a good month to join the discussions, this would be a great time to come. We will post more information the closer we get to the discussion.
Tags: Book Club
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Book Club – This Tuesday Night
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Just a reminder that our normal Tuesday night Bible study is not being held at the church. Our book club will meet at the Panera on Southgate, and the Bible Quiz team will meet at the church.
When? 6:00pm for both.
What? The rest of Dorothy Sayers’, Letters to a Diminished Church
Tags: Bible Quiz, Book Club, Calendar
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Book Club: Letters to a Dimished Church
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
The book we begin in January, 2010 is a wonderful and convicting look at a church universal that needs to recover its roots in Christ to make any kind of real difference in the world. Dorothy Sayers, though known for her fiction, writes powerful essays to the church encouraging us back to what she calls the drama of dogma.
From the Amazon description:
What must a person believe to be a Christian? Dorothy Sayers lays out age-old doctrines without prettying-up or watering-down. She brings them vividly to life by showing how the Bible, history, literature, and modern science fit together to make religion not only possible but necessary in our time.
So whether you are reading the great works of Western literature, thinking about your place in God’s universe, or simply dealing with the thousand-and-one problems of daily living, this powerful book has words of both challenge and comfort for you.
Our first meeting will be Tuesday, January 19th at 6:00pm at the Panera on Powers and Carefree. We will cover the first 6 chapters.
Tags: Book Club
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December Book Club
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
The Case for Christmas, by Lee Strobel.
This short book investigates the reliability of the New Testament version of the birth of Jesus Christ. Are there good reasons to believe the documents are accurate? Is there good archeological and historical corroboration of the story?
Let us know what you think!
Tags: Apologetics, Book Club, Christmas
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