Books, books and more books

My goal - to read 1-2 books a week.

But right now, I have a number of books I'm reading at the same time, all for different reasons. And a couple good quotes from each one ...Steve and I started reading Intimate Allies when we took Dan Allender's class, Marriage and Family, at MHGS. His chapter on Shaping Beauty and Order out of Chaos is exceptionally good!

"We either create and shape life through words or destroy it. Too often we create chaos an destroy beauty with our words. ... The world is a dangerous place to live ... we are caught up in a cosmic struggle ... marriage is part of the battle. It is a battle that calls us to engage the enemy and push back the forces of chaos. The beauty of marriage is that it is God's gift of an intimate ally in the struggle."

"Marriage unites two image bearers ... it also brings together two sinners. The combination of glory can multiply the glory, and the combination of sin can enhance the sin. Marriage is an institution of joy and grief. And the glory often comes through the struggles. Anyone who expects glory without a fight is foolish."

"Our marriages are the ground for change. It is the place where exposure of our need for the gospel is most profound; therefore, it is the relationship where depravity is best exposed and where our dignity is best lived out. Marriage is the battleground of sin and the place where the Cross is revealed as the only hope for life and joy. Marriage is the ground for growing glory in each heart as the Curse paradoxically breaks us and draws us to seek God. The curse is a friend that drives us to the hope of redemption."

We are reading this book for the class we're taking with CCEF - Dynamics of Biblical Change. Powlison is the lecturing professor for this class.

His chapter, X-ray Questions, was excellent!

"Counseling that is faithful to Scripture must do justice to what God says about the whys and wherefores of the human heart. "Why?" questions, framed concretely as "What?" questions help you draw out what gives specific direction to a person's life. The Bible goes below behaviors and emotions in order to expose our motives before God. Change happens in specifics!"

This book is also a CCEF book. We had to read it for a paper. The last half of the book was excellent!

"God Himself brings us through experiences in His sovereign directing of our lives in which He shapes us by suffering and sorrow, by trial and difficulty, just as He did with His own Son. There is a rhythm, a pattern to our Christian experience: suffering leads to glory; trials lead to victory; hardships are the pathway to maturity. ... Discipline is intended to produce holiness of life an character - a quality of life that is pleasing to God, because it shares in His own holy nature. This should be both illuminating and challenging to us: illuminating because unless we see the ultimate reason for chastisement and the various painful disciplines of the Christian life, we will find them extremely difficult to accept; challenging because unless we share the purposes God is fulfilling, we shall constantly wriggle under the painful experiences tha come our way. If we do not value holiness, we will not welcome discipline."

This book I'm reading for my women's group at Mars Hill Church. I love Gary Thomas's stuff! He always has such a way of getting me to focus on Jesus and not offer "pat answers." He writes ...

"I want you to think about something: What if your husband's faults are God's tools to shape you? What if the very thing that most bugs you about your man constitutes God's plan to teach you something new? Are you willing to accept that your marriage makeover - the process of moving a man - might begin with you? ... The reason it's so important for you to concentrate on your own growth is so that you can avoid the sin of pride, which constantly tempts us to focus on changing our spouses while neglecting our own weaknesses."


I haven't read anything by Paul Tripp, but he is also a CCEF guy. I started reading this book with the ladies in my community group at Mars Hill Church. I've only read the first chapter and WOW!!!

"As sinners, we have a natural bent to turn away from the Creator to serve the creation. We turn away from hope in a Person to hope in systems, ideas, people, or possessions. Real Hope stares us in the face, but we do not see Him. Instead, we dig into the mound of human ideas to extract a tiny shard of insight. We tell ourselves that we have finally found the key, the thing that will make a difference. We act on the insight and embrace the delusion of lasting personal change. But before long, disappointment returns. The change was temporary. So, we go back to the mound again ... but we always end up in the same place. Heart-changing hope will never be found in the mound. He is the only answer. We don't offer people a system; we point them to a Redeemer. He IS hope."

I just got this one from the library. My friend, Jody Landers, has been listening to and reading Keller. So, I thought I'd join her. I'll let you know what I think later...

Whew!!