The Purpose of Adoption

I am reading Reclaiming Adoption Dan Cruver, John Piper, Scotty Smith, Richard D. Phillips.  


Here's a great quote that explains clearly and succinctly the purpose of adoption:


As we will see later in this book, the ultimate purpose of adoption by Christians, therefore, is not to give orphans parents, as important as that is.  It is to place them in a Christian home so that they might be positioned to receive the gospel so that within that family the world might witness a representation of God taking in and genuinely loving the helpless, the hopeless and the despised.

The World's Best Bookstores | Spot Cool Stuff: Travel

Love Bookstores. I think a really awesome trip would be to plan to visit each of these bookstores....

The World's Best Bookstores | Spot Cool Stuff: Travel

How to Write a Book

In the midst of this insomnia filled night, I came across a fantastic article titled "How to Write a Book".  The author, Rand, has some obvious things to say about writing, but says them in a not-so-obvious way.  To read the article in it's entirety, CLICK HERE.

Below are just a couple of the paragraphs though, that I absolutely loved: [I am going to start using square brackets, his idea for using them is tremendous]

"A blank page. A scribble in a Moleskine. That tweet that captured your thought better than a chapter ever would. Quietly crossing out paragraphs you loved. These are the acts that comprise writing a book, not talking about it, not announcing that you’re going to do it, and certainly not reading an article by a blogger who at this very moment is procrastinating finishing his own book by writing about how you should start yours.

The Journey is the Book"

"My other momentum move involves the [square brackets]. The writing zone is a tenuous one and sometimes the thought just can’t be expressed in words, yet. Rather than getting lost in a single sentence, I put my best effort in [square brackets]:

• [Something about writing being hard]
• [You can say this better]
• [Blah blah blah I can’t be eloquent in a chair where my feet touch the floor].

[Square brackets] get those niggling thoughts out of your head and onto the paper so you can focus on moving forward."

August Book Log

Well, July was a failure.  In terms of reading, that is.  Circumstances and situations severely hampered the amount of reading I was able to accomplish during both the monts of June and July.

But I came across Kevin DeYoung's Book Log for July, Part 1.  That gave me the idea to write a brief summary of the books I have recently completed, and the books that are beside my table to be read this months.  Spoiler:  If you are a book nerd, this post is for you.  If you are not, you might want to go watch the Sesame Street video I posted a couple of days ago.....just saying......

Finished:  Anna Karenina by Tolstoy:  Excellently written book exploring so many different facets.  While reading Crime and Punishment by Doestoyevsky last year,  I did not have the same sense that I do having completed Tolstoy's lengthy work.  I want to find out more about Tolstoy, how his mind worked, what his theology was.  Highly recommend that every one read this at least once in their lives.

On My Book Table:
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.  Jury is still out on what I think about this book.  It seems to be that he has an excellent grasp of the middle eastern culture.  However I find the mechanics of his writing style to detract from the actual characters and events.  Still  yet, I will plod forward.

Collected Writings in Scripture: by DA Carson.  I have only read the first few pages, but believe that this book will be a great resource.  I appreciate Carson's straightforward academic approach to the subject, and the tremendous job he has done as editor to putt together these essays on these very difficult concepts.

Another book by DA Carson:  The God who is There.  I am currently reading this book on my phone's Kindle app.  Carson is straight up.  I appreciate the academic lessons I am gaining in that book, which helms me to navigate THE BOOK with more confidence and understanding.

If any of the above books interest you, feel free to click on one of the pictures below and it will take you straight to Amazon.

          

The Richness of Reading Biographies

I'm not sure why some of us are so drawn to biographies.  I particularly enjoy reading autobiographies.  The authors of this genre diligently work to capture the thought process, the details of experience, and the outcomes of their subject's decisions in such a way that is captivating, informational and educational.

Timothy George, the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School, provided Christianity today with a list of his Top Five Biography's that he likes to read.  You can find them HERE.

(Warning: This Post is Strictly for Book Nerds)---List of 5 Book Recommendation Sites

Today at LifeHacker, they listed their top 5 websites for getting book recommendations.  All of us book geeks can relate--we finish a book, we have another 20 on our bedside table waiting to be read, and yet we still want to find the perfect book to read next.

Click Here to go to the LifeHacker site and read their review.  I personally use both Shelfari and Good Reads, as two of my 5 places where I track the books I read and the books I want to read.  Told you, only for the nerdiest, geeky book people!

Absence of Mind | Books and Culture

While I have not read Marilynne Robinson's book reviewed below in Books and Culture, I have read her fiction books "Gilead" and "Home", and came away from both books refreshed, encouraged, and deeply pondering the uniqueness of "existing". Robinson is not afraid to unabashedly take on weighty topics, nor is she afraid to speak plainly, respectfully and firmly in the face of potential criticism. I look forward to reading this new non-fiction book of hers soon.

Absence of Mind | Books and Culture

Movie Trailer for Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be released next fall.  Not a fan of my Uncle Lewis' non-fiction, allegorical writing, however I have enjoyed the previous Chronicles of Narnia books.

My Top 5 Books on Sabbath Rest | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Books recommended by Christianity today, on the concept of Sabbath Rest.

My Top 5 Books on Sabbath Rest | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

John Adams and the importance of books and writing

Excellent writing on the importance and value of reading and writing, based off of thoughts in David McCullough's biogarphy of John Adams.

Essay below is written by Tim Challis, who regularly blogs HERE

Reading and Writing with John Adams

by Tim

Earlier today I was looking through some notes I took on David McCullough’s great biography of John Adams. I found there a few quotes from Adams about his love of reading. He was an avid reader who had a very substantial library—far more the exception than the rule in his day. Here is how he spoke of how reading ranked in his life in terms of priority.

I want to see my children every day. I want to see my grass and blossoms and corn … But above all, except the wife and children, I want to see my books.

As with Adams, my books are among my greatest pleasure and when I find I do not have time to read, I miss it a lot. There is pleasure to be found both in the books and in the experience of reading them. A day without a book is just not quite the same as a day with at least an hour or two spent reading.
Adams also said this about the way he did his best thinking:

The only way to compose myself and collect my thoughts is to set down at my table, place my diary before me, and take my pen into my hand. This apparatus takes off my attention from other objects. Pen, ink, and paper and a sitting posture are great helps to attention and thinking.

I, too, find that I can get very little thinking done, and cannot hold my attention for long, if I do not do my thinking with the assistance of pen, ink and paper (or the digital equivalent—a word processor and a keyboard). I love reading, I love writing and, like Adams, I love words. So I suppose one of the reasons I enjoy reading about Adams is that I feel a real affinity with him on that level

Book Review: Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

I started reading Kauflin's book, with the expectation that what I was about to read, would be geared mostly toward Worship Pastor's--those minister's whose calling and responsibilities encompass the music/drama/worship service details of a church body.  I was wrong.  While obviously that audience is the primary target, I found the material to be hugely engaging, theologically sound, and hugely educational for a person such as myself, a lay member involved in the music/worship ministry of our church.  Kauflin seems to cover all details, big and small, that make up a sound worship ministry.  He truly gives credence to his title "Worship Matters."  It matters because it is commanded.  It matters because it is Biblical.  It matters because God delights in it.  We must be professional in our attention to details, while open to flexibility and sensitive to what is happening in the moment.  We must examine our hearts, our motives, our plans to make sure they are Christ centered, to make sure they are scriptural centered.

Kauflin has written an easy to read, thought provoking treatise on worship, out of his own personal experiences and wealth of knowledge.  I am grateful for his willingness to share his thoughts and by doing so, bolster a continuing dialogue in our churches to emphasize that worship is not just the music on a Sunday morning, nor is it a battle between contemporary verses traditional styles of worship.  Rather, it is the all encompassing meeting of the church, to worship God through music, prayer, tithes, scripture, Biblical preaching and responsiveness to God.  It is all worship, we would do well to remember that more often, as Kauflin urges his readers to do just that.

What is the Value of Reading a large amount of material, if one is frustrated by their lack of retention?

There is much value.

And C.J. Mahaney, in his post HERE gives some of the best answers to that question.  He also quotes John Piper, a quote that I recently also shared here on this blog in an earlier post.

One must always push themselves to read, understanding that the effort may only produce one new idea, one new insight into scripture, one new thought about leadership.  But who is to say that that one "gem" is not going to be a catalyst for great impact and chance in one's life and those around him?

A Brief Review of Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividijian

Tchividjian examines the story of Jonah with a microscope, with words that in turn causes the reader to examine their own heart, their own soul with an equally strong microscope. Grace, which the author proclaims is the bottom line for the story of Jonah, is a difficult concept to understand. Yet in this relatively short book, grace is not only defined in words that provide a framework for a deeper awareness of that grace, it also encourages an acceptance of the truth that there really is not human explanation for grace. Without grace, our existence would merely be mechanical and worthless. With grace, genuine worship of our God and our Jesus, becomes not just an act that we perform out of duty, but it becomes our lifeline and the central purpose for our lives.


I would consider this book to be a "must-read" for those who habitually run from God.

Even BETTER Recommendations :)

More Great Book Recommendations

Where and Why We Buy Our Books | Challies Dot Com

Where and Why We Buy Our Books | Challies Dot Com

Tim Challies shares and discusses the results of a survey that netted 2,222 responses about book purchases.  Fascinating results, well presented with plenty of geeky Pie Charts and Bar Graphs.  Delightfully geeky, I might add.  Some of the results were surprising.  Definitely worth a couple of minutes to look over.

My Top 5 Books on Doubt | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

My Top 5 Books on Doubt | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Mark Twain's Personal Books and Marginalia

This is a very interesting article in the New York Times about the books that Mark Twain owned, and his use of marginalia (the art and practice of writing commentary on the pages of a book in the margins, or the top and bottom of the pages) to execute literary criticism.

All self-described nerds and geeks (myself included), and those who love literature and the power of the written word, will find a kindred spirit in the persona of Mark Twain--not the author, but the person who respected and cherished books as well as cherishing his own reaction to that which he read.

New York Times Article on Mark Twain

John Piper Shares about his writing plans for 2010

My 2010 Writing Leave: What? and Why? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

John Piper provides a preview of what he plans to work on during his annual writing leave this year. But what I particularly find interesting is his list of 6 reasons or explanations as to why he writes.