January 5, 2009

10 Reasons to Read Good Christian Books, Cont'd.

I began, last week, compiling a list of reasons to read good Christian books. Here are five more …

6. Good Christian books teach us history. One of the greatest blessings I have received in all my reading is the gift of history. So many saints of old have gone before us. And their stories are so compelling – watching them struggle with the same things we do; seeing them win victories that we are striving toward; learning from their mistakes; and understanding how we got to the places we are today. All of these are huge blessings that can be gotten, almost exclusively, from books!

7. Good Christian books are more edifying that TV or internet. OK, every now and again there may be a good program on Nova. And I did enjoy watching a few football games this year. But most of what is on TV is not all that helpful to body, mind, or soul. Interesting? Sometimes. Edifying. Often not. And who know how many hours many of us spend idling around on the web! But what if a large chunk of that time, in 2009, were spent on good Christian books? How might our lives, families, and brains be better off at the end of the year?

8. Good Christian books sharpen your mind. When you read, you force yourself to think about why the author stuck a comma in that place, or why he began a new paragraph there, or why he inserted an “although” in between those two clauses. Reading makes you think! And, since it does, what might be the effect on your ability to listen to sermons and understand the Bible if your mind were better trained to think? And if you are getting more from sermons and Bible reading, well then spiritual fruit cannot be far behind!

9. Good Christian books are wonderful teaching aids. You often hear me quote authors, or tell stories of Christian heroes in my sermons. That’s not because I have a file somewhere that has 12 stories and 6 quotes to use if I’m preaching on “faith”; and another with 9 stories and 3 quotes on “justification.” Most of the quotes and illustrations come right out of something I have recently read. And, if you are a teacher (or a parent who ‘teaches’ all the time, unofficially) what a resource for examples and illustrations a regular reading habit could be!

10. Good Christian books are available in the church Book Rack. OK, this last one is mainly for my church folks. But maybe your church has a book rack, or a good library, too! Perhaps your pastor could give you a few recommendations. And, since I know you have internet, you can certainly go to http://cvbbs.com/ ... the best bookshop on the web. Everything they sell is good.







Happy reading!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kurt,

You've given me every reason to justify to my wife my purchases of books over the years- thanks!

:)

Jeremiah