Reading In The Digital Era Still Matters #LeadersAreReaders June 2024

In the digital era, it might seem like YouTube is the best place to get information (at least for me). However, as writer and illustrator Tomie dePaola said, "Reading is important because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything." While videos can help you grasp a topic quickly, they don't offer the deep understanding that reading does. One of the best examples I can think of is the wonderful overview videos of each book of the Bible by The Bible Project YouTube channel. These videos are great resources, but they can never replace the value of reading the Bible for ourselves.

Jim Kwik, a Brain Coach, said that multimedia's impact on learning is limited without reading as the foundation. Books, especially good ones that distill decades of experience, provide a depth that short videos can't match. Digital sources (with the exception of longer and in depth videos) are useful for starting your research and sparking your interest, but for true understanding, reading is essential. Maybe I'm in the minority... but I'm right, right? 

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Reading to Escape - And Come Back #LeadersAreReaders February 2023

My leader once asked me, “You read a lot of books. Is this a form of escapism for you?” My answer was (and is): “Yes, in one sense it is for the purpose of escape, but not so much as escapism. I’m not reading to avoid reality, but I do read to temporarily escape to another world.” For me what’s dangerous is when we read to escape from responsibilities. What I’m promoting is that we read to escape to another world where we get help, encouragement, and inspiration in order for us to return home to reality and live responsibly.

Good - Christian or non-Christian, fiction or non-fiction - books can bring glory and honor to God, the Giver of Thought and Word when they help us to see more of God’s greatness, beauty, creativity, and reality. Books that help us to understand and appreciate His creations and providence in history. Spark our imagination and critical thinking. Bring awareness to things visible and invincible. See good versus evil. Light conflicts with darkness. These are the kind of books that I want to escape to. Nora Ephron writes, "Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real."

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Introducing Christian Doctrine (2nd edition, 2001) by Millard J. Erickson, Brief Review

Finished reading this book last week but I don't think I can write a proper review due to lots of work this month. Here is a brief one: This is an abridged, less technical version of Erickson's classic Christian Theology. When I was a new staff, this is one of the books that we use for theological training. Back then I read it just for reference but this year (that's after so many years!) I decided to read it from cover to cover. It was life-giving! Perhaps due to an increase in understanding or Christian experience or growth in the knowledge of the Scripture or all of it and more factors, although it is still somewhat academic and formal, I find that this book is enjoyable to read.

Why you should study doctrine and theology? Here are the first two (2) reasons that the late Erickson points out: 1) "Theology is important because correct doctrinal beliefs are essential to the relationship between the believer and God" and, 2) "Theology is necessary because truth and experience are related. While some would deny or at least question this connection, in the long run, the truth will affect our experience. A person who falls from the tenth story of a building may shout while passing each window on the way down, 'I’m still doing fine,' and may mean it sincerely, but eventually, the facts of the matter will catch up with the person’s experience."

I have other things to say on this subject, and perhaps recommend other theological books for beginners... But time and space won't permit it. Until then!

#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #TheologyMatters #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

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The Supremacy of God In Preaching (1990, 2004) by John Piper, Book Review

The Supremacy of God In Preaching (1990, 2004) by John Piper

 

“There are always two parts to true worship,” writes John Piper, one of the role models who taught me to delight in God, to love the Scriptures, and to proclaim the truth with passion, “There is seeing God, and there is savoring God. You can’t separate these. You must see him to savor him. And if you don’t savor him when you see him, you insult him. In true worship, there is always understanding with the mind, and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But the understanding of God that doesn’t give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate, on the other hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad, on the other hand. Both are essential for worship.” This is one of the most critical passages in the book. If you get this - especially the preachers - you will see why the work of preaching is not just informing but also transforming the mind and the heart of the (listening) hearers to look Godward. Piper continues by saying that the reason that preaching is so essential is that “it is uniquely suited to waken seeing God and savoring God… with the exposition of the Word of God and exultation in the God of the Word.”

Few people like John Piper understand the real goal, purpose, and high calling of preaching today. Perhaps the other preacher is the late Martyn Lloyd-Jones (I’m currently reading Preaching & Preachers by Dr Lloyd), who said: “To me, the work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” It is always dangerous, in my opinion, to compare previous faithful preachers with contemporary preachers because times have changed. But if the truth is unchanged, then the means to declare the truth is unchanged too, namely, through preaching. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). But many of the so-called preachings nowadays is nothing more than just a motivational talk or an inspirational sharing or a psychological counselling session. Sprinkling Bible verses here and there, exciting the audiences with music and dramatic actions, delivering TED talks-style man-centred teachings, which people call preaching today. Far from the truth! As much as the judgment of God goes to the modern-day false preachers, the people also play the role and are held responsible for lifting them to celebrity status (read 2 Timothy 4:3). Preachers must teach the truth, and the people must hunger for the truth. How do you know if the preacher is teaching the truth? He will point you to SEE God. How do you know if you are hunger for the truth? You will be longing to SAVOR God.

Read what Pastor John said about the supremacy of God in preaching: “The dominant note of preaching be the freedom of God’s sovereign grace, that the unifying theme be the zeal that God has for his own glory, that the grand object of preaching be the infinite and inexhaustible being of God, and that the pervasive atmosphere of preaching be the holiness of God.” It is God from beginning to end. God reign! There are many gems in this book, and I highly recommend it to every pastor, teacher, preacher, and growing Christian. Although I’m not particularly called to be a preacher but a staff worker, I find this book helps me to remind myself that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. [Note: The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes the chief end of man by using the word “and” to connect the two statements, but John Piper has suggested that the word “by” would be more consistent]. I have read this book for the third time. The first time I was in the FES Penang office during my visit many years ago, the second time I moved back to FES Sarawak, and again this year. Read it!

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Holiness Provokes Hatred

"Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’" (John 15:23-25, NIV) #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #JesusHolinessProvokesHatred

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Summary of Christian Doctrine (1938) by Louis Berkhof, Book Review

 
Summary of Christian Doctrine (1938) by Louis Berkhof

This book is a summary of the Manual of Christian Doctrine (1939, was known as Manual of Reformed Doctrine), and that itself is a condensed version of his huge classic Systematic Theology (1932). What I like about Berkhof, late professor of Dogmatic Theology in Calvin Seminary, is that he teaches in a very clear (except for some parts) and understandable even for people who are brand new to the Christian faith, the beginners. For an average person like me, when I first noticed that this book was written in 1938, I thought it's going to be using outdated language and boring. But I was wrong. I mean, he did use archaic KJV or Authorized Version as the main Biblical text, and this is understandable since the more modern and reliable versions were unavailable yet during his lifetime, but the manuscript is in the simplified language (In the preface, Berkhof did say that he made some changes and omitted “technical terms and unfamiliar words”). Perhaps 5 years ago or so, a book like this will bore me to death. As we are getting more mature in the faith, our taste in the types of books we read evolves, and our appetite for knowledge increases. At least, ideally, that should happen to anyone who professes to be a Christian a.k.a. a Christ-follower a.k.a. a disciple which partly means - a learner.

 

There is another thing that I like – and at the same time not so excited – about this book and his Systematic Theology in general, namely, since Berkhof is through and through Reformed or to be exact, Calvinist, his writings is obviously biased toward that theological views and interpretations. I say I like NOT totally in agreement. When I read a book, it is helpful – and safe! – if I know the author’s theological stands and/or ideological background instead of being very vague and taking a long time to figure out (this is a case for me with N.T. Wright). I know Berkhof is a Reformed and so I should read this book as such. Aware of his biases and knowing my own biases is one of the keys to learning. But what I’m not so excited about? Well, another key to learning is knowing other alternative perspectives before I make my conclusion. And this is where you mustn’t hold on to one or two favorite authors to inform you about Christian theology. The worst is when you idolize them. You cannot learn everything from only a few people (your favorite pastors or theologians) but you must learn as many views as possible. “Bible only,” sounds pious… and ignorant. Learn from great men and women of God before us! For me, Louis Berkhof is on my list and I recommend him to you too.

 

This book is divided into seven (7) parts: 1) Introduction: Religion, Revelation & Scripture; 2) The Doctrine of God and Creation; 3) The Doctrine of Man in Relation to God; 4) The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ; 5) The Doctrine of the Application of the Work of Redemption; 6) The Doctrine of the Church and the Means of Grace; and 7) The Doctrine of the Last Things. In closing, if the words ‘theology’ or ‘doctrine’ overwhelm you, let me reminds you what Paul wrote to Timothy which MUST be applied to all of us, Christ-followers, especially teachers of the Word: “Take heed [or “Keep a close watch”] to yourself and to the DOCTRINE. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (2 Timothy 4:16, NKJV, bracket and capitalize mine) #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #LeadersAreReaders #GrowingLeaders #LouisBerkhof #ChristianDoctrine #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

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You Are HERE to Know God

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24, ESV) #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #KnowingGod

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