I'm back! Not in town yet (we've got one more week, this one in Myrtle Beach) but I should be online and able to post a little more regularly this week. Finding a wi-fi signal on Ocracoke Island is no small challenge and proved not worth the effort as the week went on, hence the lack of blogging. Besides, isn't part of vacation being able to disconnect for a while?
Anyway, Annie and I had a great time on Ocracoke. We spent most mornings at the beach (see previous post) and spent the very hot (at least by Minnesota standards) afternoons doing puzzles or laying around reading books. We'll probably post some vacation highlights and pictures on the family blog at some point but in the meantime here are a few highlights from my reading this week.
By far the best book I read last week was The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. This is the best presentation of grace I've ever read. Manning again and again hammers home that it's not what we do but what He did. It's powerful, deeply moving, and definitely one I'm going to need to revisit often.
As expected Philip K Dick's, The Man in the High Castle was a mind trip but a great read. The book takes place in an alternate post World War 2 America where the Axis powers won. The Nazis control the eastern part of the country and the Japanese the Pacific Coast. Slavery is legal and the holocaust is in full swing in America. All that sounds straightforward enough but the story is told through several loosely connected tales that range from somewhat straightforward to very bizarre. There's also an alternate history novel within this novel where the US won the war but not as it happened in actual history. This only gets more weird as two of the characters begin to suspect that their world is really fiction and the novel is real. Confused yet? Me too! I love books like that!
I'll avoid anymore history talk for now but tonight I finally finished John Adams by David McCullough. It's simply brilliant. One of the best books I've ever read and worth reading no matter how boring you find history.
I finished G.K. Chesterton's Heretics at the beginning of the week but I'll hold my fire on that one for the moment. It's a great book and sometime in the next day or two I'm hoping to discuss some of what it talks about more in depth.
On the docket for this week: Eye in the Sky, A Canticle for Leobowitz, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, and rereading some C.S. Lewis.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Summer Reading
Woo hoo! My summer vacation books showed up today! Annie and I are leaving next Friday for a couple of weeks of relaxation in the Carolinas. I'm the type of guy who likes to bring a bunch of books on a trip, not because I'm necessarily going to get to them all but because I never know what I'm going to be in the mood for at any given time. I also like to mix in several rereads. I love revisiting old stories and vacation is a great time to do so. Here's a few snippets of what I'll probably be reading over this year's vacation, starting with the new stuff first.
I'm really excited about this one. I have yet to see the HBO miniseries based on this book but I love David McCullough's writing. Adams is one of the more interesting founding fathers, but smothered between the giants of Washington and Jefferson, his presidency tends to be overlooked. I'm hoping this can help round out some of my knowledge of the early presidents
Epic is one of the few things by Eldredge I haven't read (though i have heard him do a live version of it). The basic idea is to present the Gospel as a story going back before the beginning of time, through the rebellion of Satan, to redemption on the cross and the promise of future victory.
Reading Philip K. Dick is an experience. I've never read another author quite as mind boggling as him. But it works and if you can accept the weirdness it's a blast. If you can't, best to stick to the toned down movies based on his stuff like Minority Report and Blade Runner.
I've never read anything by Brennan Manning before but I've heard enough about him to be excited about giving him a shot. His books all have very high marks on Amazon and I'm hoping he becomes another of the wonderful Christian writers I've discovered in the last year.
I've just finished reading Frank Herbert's original Dune series. This is his son's continuation/conclusion based on notes and outlines found after Herbert's death in 1986. I know there are lots of Dune fans who loathe what Brian Herbert has done by trying to finish his father's series but I'm optimistic.
I've been meaning to read the medieval mystics for a while now. I've heard great things about St. John of the Cross and this is probably his most famous book.
To be honest, I know almost nothing about this book. But it's a sci-fi classic and as a certified sci-fi nerd it qualifies as a major hole in my reading. Hopefully it's as good as the hype.
Rereads:
Shadowland by Peter Straub - Straub is probably my favorite living horror writer. I don't remember this very while but I enjoyed it the first time through. It's not as scary as his brilliant Ghost Story but it's a good book nonetheless.
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy - The movie is better known but the book is a lot of fun too. They're pretty different from but this is one of those cases where both movie and book are equally good.
Miracles and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis - These are two of Lewis's best books. It's been a while and God has taught me tons since I first read them. Hopefully I'll get even more out of them this time around
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - This is my favorite Bradbury novel (unless you count The Illustrated Man as a novel). It's been a while so hopefully it holds up to my memory.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - This is one of the great haunted house novels of all time. Over half a century later it's still very scary and a blast to read.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem - This is a brilliant and beautiful science fiction novel. I'm one of about five people who actually liked the George Clooney movie based on it. But the book is different enough where even if you hated the movie you'll want to give this one a shot.
I'm really excited about this one. I have yet to see the HBO miniseries based on this book but I love David McCullough's writing. Adams is one of the more interesting founding fathers, but smothered between the giants of Washington and Jefferson, his presidency tends to be overlooked. I'm hoping this can help round out some of my knowledge of the early presidents
Epic is one of the few things by Eldredge I haven't read (though i have heard him do a live version of it). The basic idea is to present the Gospel as a story going back before the beginning of time, through the rebellion of Satan, to redemption on the cross and the promise of future victory.
Reading Philip K. Dick is an experience. I've never read another author quite as mind boggling as him. But it works and if you can accept the weirdness it's a blast. If you can't, best to stick to the toned down movies based on his stuff like Minority Report and Blade Runner.
I've never read anything by Brennan Manning before but I've heard enough about him to be excited about giving him a shot. His books all have very high marks on Amazon and I'm hoping he becomes another of the wonderful Christian writers I've discovered in the last year.
I've just finished reading Frank Herbert's original Dune series. This is his son's continuation/conclusion based on notes and outlines found after Herbert's death in 1986. I know there are lots of Dune fans who loathe what Brian Herbert has done by trying to finish his father's series but I'm optimistic.
I've been meaning to read the medieval mystics for a while now. I've heard great things about St. John of the Cross and this is probably his most famous book.
To be honest, I know almost nothing about this book. But it's a sci-fi classic and as a certified sci-fi nerd it qualifies as a major hole in my reading. Hopefully it's as good as the hype.
Rereads:
Shadowland by Peter Straub - Straub is probably my favorite living horror writer. I don't remember this very while but I enjoyed it the first time through. It's not as scary as his brilliant Ghost Story but it's a good book nonetheless.
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy - The movie is better known but the book is a lot of fun too. They're pretty different from but this is one of those cases where both movie and book are equally good.
Miracles and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis - These are two of Lewis's best books. It's been a while and God has taught me tons since I first read them. Hopefully I'll get even more out of them this time around
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - This is my favorite Bradbury novel (unless you count The Illustrated Man as a novel). It's been a while so hopefully it holds up to my memory.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - This is one of the great haunted house novels of all time. Over half a century later it's still very scary and a blast to read.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem - This is a brilliant and beautiful science fiction novel. I'm one of about five people who actually liked the George Clooney movie based on it. But the book is different enough where even if you hated the movie you'll want to give this one a shot.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Striving, Rest and the Beginning of Summer
For a while now I've been signed up on the intercessor's list for Ransomed Heart Ministries. About once or twice a week John Eldredge sends out an e-mail letting those of us on the list know how we can be praying for the ministry and joining in the spiritual battles surrounding what they're doing. Occasionally he'll also add in a few other thoughts on life and what God has been showing him. The letter he sent out tonight had a paragraph I wanted to share with you:
We in the church have gotten pretty good at recognizing it in the secular world. We recognize the emptiness in making materialism our highest goal. We've seen the emptiness of lives devoted to nothing but career, or self gain, or any of the other ways we try and replace God. We get the tragedy of all that and that's good. I don't want to discount that. But at the same time we've completely missed that same attitude within the church and in ourselves.
Legalism is a part of it, but I don't think that nearly begins to cover the whole picture of what's gone wrong. In fact, it's blinded us to similar problems in our own lives. We look at Christians who've given into legalism (the ones who don't dance, play cards, or even think of drinking a drop of liquor) and we thank God we've avoided the trap.
But the problem's still there and it's different in every one of us. For some it's trying to learn enough facts and theology. For others its giving enough time and money, supporting enough good causes, volunteering enough hours. For still others it's a watered down version of legalism where we just try not to sin too much. The list goes on and on.
I'm not deriding any of that stuff. Those are good things. But where's God in the middle of it? I know He's given plenty of lip service but tacking is name onto that stuff is way different than inviting Him to be a part of it. So often those things become another way to strive, to build, to try to make our lives worthwhile, to earn our salvation.
Meanwhile Jesus is outside the empty tomb waiting for us to fall into His arms.
You see, it's not that any of that stuff is bad. It's just that when we're doing it in our own strength it gets really ugly, really fast. It becomes about what we do. Our salvation becomes based on works, not on the cross.
I believe before we can do any of that stuff, before we can really learn theology, help the needy, give our money, be transformed from our sin, before any of that we need to fall into the arms of Jesus and know the transforming power of His love.
Summer is a great time to give this a try. In our culture it's traditionally a time of rest. At some point this summer most of us will be going on a trip, hanging out with friends for a barbecue, or just spending time enjoying the beautiful weather while it lasts. But like Eldredge says, it can be gone in a flash. We can miss it just as easily through our "good works" as the rest of the world does through secular striving.
I believe God has more for us. Not just in summer but all year round. Spend some time in these next few months falling into His arms and being transformed by His love. There's nothing we can do to earn what He wants to do in our lives. It's impossible and we make a mess of trying. He wants more for you. Are you willing to get out of His way?
I hope you are well. And that you are making plans to get some rest and beauty this summer. Don’t let the pace of life sweep you on, and suddenly it’s August and you realize, “Gosh, we were going to take some needed time for our hearts but now it feels too late to plan anything.” Fight for joy. (You will nearly always have to fight for joy).This is something God has been speaking to me a lot on lately. Life is so fast. Too fast really. And the temptation to strive hits us from just about every angle.
We in the church have gotten pretty good at recognizing it in the secular world. We recognize the emptiness in making materialism our highest goal. We've seen the emptiness of lives devoted to nothing but career, or self gain, or any of the other ways we try and replace God. We get the tragedy of all that and that's good. I don't want to discount that. But at the same time we've completely missed that same attitude within the church and in ourselves.
Legalism is a part of it, but I don't think that nearly begins to cover the whole picture of what's gone wrong. In fact, it's blinded us to similar problems in our own lives. We look at Christians who've given into legalism (the ones who don't dance, play cards, or even think of drinking a drop of liquor) and we thank God we've avoided the trap.
But the problem's still there and it's different in every one of us. For some it's trying to learn enough facts and theology. For others its giving enough time and money, supporting enough good causes, volunteering enough hours. For still others it's a watered down version of legalism where we just try not to sin too much. The list goes on and on.
I'm not deriding any of that stuff. Those are good things. But where's God in the middle of it? I know He's given plenty of lip service but tacking is name onto that stuff is way different than inviting Him to be a part of it. So often those things become another way to strive, to build, to try to make our lives worthwhile, to earn our salvation.
Meanwhile Jesus is outside the empty tomb waiting for us to fall into His arms.
You see, it's not that any of that stuff is bad. It's just that when we're doing it in our own strength it gets really ugly, really fast. It becomes about what we do. Our salvation becomes based on works, not on the cross.
I believe before we can do any of that stuff, before we can really learn theology, help the needy, give our money, be transformed from our sin, before any of that we need to fall into the arms of Jesus and know the transforming power of His love.
Summer is a great time to give this a try. In our culture it's traditionally a time of rest. At some point this summer most of us will be going on a trip, hanging out with friends for a barbecue, or just spending time enjoying the beautiful weather while it lasts. But like Eldredge says, it can be gone in a flash. We can miss it just as easily through our "good works" as the rest of the world does through secular striving.
I believe God has more for us. Not just in summer but all year round. Spend some time in these next few months falling into His arms and being transformed by His love. There's nothing we can do to earn what He wants to do in our lives. It's impossible and we make a mess of trying. He wants more for you. Are you willing to get out of His way?
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