Life Together

Apparently it is a trendy thing to read Bonhoeffer - honestly I didn't know that.  I read this little classic under duress about ten years ago when I was doing some post grad study.  At that stage I was reluctant as a liberal university prof was recommending it to me.  I don't remember getting much out of it the first time through back then - I guess the filter level was too high.
It is not a long book but each paragraph needs pondered slowly to mine the nuggets just beneath the surface.  For me the massive nugget was the article in a previous post.  But here are a few more:

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” 

“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.” 

“Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.” 

 "The root of all sin is pride, superbia. I want to be my own law, I have a right to my self, my hatred and my desires, my life and my death. The mind and flesh of man are set on fire by pride; for it is precisely in his wickedness that man wants to be as God. Confession in the presence of a brother is the profoundest kind of humiliation. It hurts, it cuts a man down, it is a dreadful blow to pride..."

“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.” 

“A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.” 

“The brother is a burden to the Christian, precisely because he is a Christian. For the pagan the other person never becomes a burden at all. He simply sidesteps every burden that others may impose upon him.” 

Life Together

Reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together at the moment.  What about this for some thinking. Read and ponder.
"Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both.

A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves this dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians which his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together.

When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first the accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself."

The Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller

The Christian book scene is awash with books on marriage.  Some are better left on the shelf as they are filled with self help DIY philosophy, you can do it ideology.  This book on marriage is very different and is a must read not just for everyone who is either married or planning to be married but for single people also.  The subtitle of the book summarises the content well - "Facing the complexities of commitment with the wisdom of God."  It is filled with solid Biblical exegesis and warm clear application of the Biblical principles that are well unpacked.  What this book does that so many books on marriage don't do - is to get you to the cross.
 It is made up of eight readable and thought provoking chapters:
1. The secret of marriage
2. The power for marriage
3. The essence of marriage
4. The mission of marriage
5. Loving the stranger
6. Embracing the other
7. Singleness and marriage
8. Sex and marriage
Every now and then I come across a book that I think - if I had a spare £200 I would buy twenty copies and give this to all my married friends.
I will take the cheaper option and say - if you are reading this and are married - then love your spouse by buying this read it and live it in the grace of God.

JC Ryle Mark

Just finished going through Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark in my daily devotions.   Like the other volumes the text of the gospel is broken down into short portions and a two page warm and devotional comment made.  This is exceptional reading for daily devotions or family worship.  Not sure if the Banner of Truth publisher's offer is still in place for ministers.  I got the whole seven hardback volume set for £15 (minister's rate).  No Christian home should be without a set of Ryle.   In this volume Ryle starts to add just a few footnotes which are well worth the read.

Embracing Obscurity, Anonymous

The subtitle is, Becoming nothing in the light of God's everything.
In a day and age when self and promoting self is of the essence of life this is a needed book to call us back to Christ like humility.  It is a book to remind us to be content with who we are in Christ. Ten short snappy chapters to help you untangle yourself from yourself.  Be ready to be hurt and challenged.
This is a must read for every young Christian and a few older ones too who haven't stopped looking in the mirror.
Perhaps I should wipe this blog?

Right in their own Eyes, George M. Schwab

This 240 plus page commentary is part of a series edited by Tremper Longman III.  The book is an absolute must read if you are preaching through Judges.  It divides up into three main sections.  The opening section comprises three chapters to give the reader the tools to read the book with proper understanding.  The second section goes through the twelve cycles of the judges and the concluding section has two chapters on the conclusion of Judges.
This book has the balance of depth and application.

Judges Resources

Just finished preaching through Judges in 16 sermons and thought I would recommend a few commentaries and resources that I found helpful.
The New American Commentary, Judges, Ruth, Daniel Block, B&H Publishing ****
The NIV Application Commentary, Lawson Younger Jr., Zondervan ***
The Preacher's Commentary, David Jackmann, Thomas Nelson ***
Such Great Salvation, D.R. Davis, Baker *****
Right in their own eyes, George M. Schwab, P&R Publishing *****
Online Sermons
Michael LeFebrve http://www.sermonaudio.com/
Carl Truman http://www.cornerstoneopc.com/audio.php

Spirit Empowered Preaching, Arturo Azurdia

I usually avoid an author who states their name as "someone the III".  But I am glad that I didn't give this volume on preaching a by ball. It is in fact essential reading for anyone who preaches.
The book has three main threads:
Spirit empowered preaching is the principle means of advancing the kingdom of God
Spirit empowered preaching will be evangelical in emphasis
Spirit empowered preaching is the responsibility of the church
Azurdia argues that too much preaching going on today is void of the power of God.  In around 180 pages of packed reasoning the writer sets before the reader the need for the work of the Holy Spirit at every stage of preaching.
Azurdia has Biblical balance in his whole approach to preaching.  It is not pray more to prepare less - but prepare and preach in the power of the Spirit.
Highly recommended

Work Matters

One of the most common pastoral issues that pastors face is seeking to counsel people who are struggling with their work.  Many who are in work suffer the Sunday evening blues and those out of paid work wishing they had the Sunday evening blues.  Many have a sense of dissatisfaction and frustration in work and have a disjointed view of work.  This 2011 publication from Crossway publishers from the pen of Tom Nelson will both equip the pastor to counsel and counsel those who need counselled.  The basic premise of this book is that we need to be able to reconnect what is happening in our lives on the Lord's day and what we do the other six. As you would expect this Christian book on work starts at the start ie Genesis showing why we work and why it is so frustrating. Each of the ten chapters are well thought through and applied.  There is much here that will encourage any believer in their work place.  My only criticism is that although the writer roots our work in the character of God a fuller covenantal view of work is rather lacking.  That said this is a very useful book.  It would be a great book for group discussion.  Much here too for the pastor wanting to do some teaching on work.  The big challenge that I found was teaching people that what they do in their work is valuable and important and not to speak in a way that gives the impression that the only work that is important is the life of the church.  Nelson is basically saying that our daily work is to be an extension of all that we are as the people of God.