Be Street Smart AND Book Smart #1Book1Week March 2021

 

"I want to do what you do," said a well-meaning student to me. So, I asked, "What is your growth plan?" In less than 5 seconds he replied, "What is a growth plan?" Well, some people are gifted with intelligent minds; some with rich parents; some with astoundingly high levels of ignorance (pitiful but bless their hearts!); and some - me or you, if you too - are average people but have the determination to grow in whatever talents or skills or gifts and mind that God given to them. I use to say: "If you're not beautiful or handsome or good-looking, which is an advantage in an image-driven world today, at least, be smart."

People nowadays want us to choose between Book Smart vs. Street Smart. They said, "Street smart is better than book smart." Or in the religious circle, "Experiential Christianity is superior to intellectual Christianity." To me, it sounds pious but I think it's an anti-intellectual facade. Why not strive to be both Book Smart AND Street Smart? The Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines wisdom as “knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it.” How to gains "knowledge"? Study, and - my purpose of this post - read books! That's Book Smart. How to "make due use of it"? Well, by practicing and applying (based on your contexts) what you have learned or/and read! That's Street Smart. If you combine both, by Webster's definitions, that's wisdom.

Let us come back to a personal growth plan. Do you have it? If not, don't be discouraged. Start smart, start today  To my young friend, you cannot do what I do today not because you cannot do it but because you have to do it from the start. There is no shortcut to growth. In your plan, don't forget to include these four areas: 1) Intellectual, 2) Physical, 3) Spiritual, and 4) Financial. Try it for a year and be practical. As for intellectual growth, you know what I would say, right? One of them is to READ BOOKS! Be Book Smart!  

#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #GrowingLeaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #BeBookSmartAndStreetSmart #PersonalGrowthPlan

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

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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The Central Nature of the Being of God

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3, NIV)

“As I read the Bible, I seem to find holiness to be His supreme attribute”

(Billy Graham, in Till Armageddon)

“It does not seem proper to speak of one attribute of God as being more central and fundamental than another; but if this were permissible, the scriptural emphasis on the holiness of God would seem to justify its selection” (Louis Berkhof, in Systematic Theology)

“Holiness is the central nature of the being of God from which such attributes

as love, justice, and mercy emanate”

(George Allen Turner)

As in Jim Killion’s Set Apart he writes about one man described his observations of the concept of holiness like this:

“There is a simple yet profound word which occurs nine hundred times in the Bible. You see it first in Genesis, as we are told how God created heaven and earth. You see it last in the closing chapter of Revelation where we are told about God’s creation of a new heaven and a new earth. But except for a few grand old hymns of the faith, you do not see this word much today… This word is ‘Holy.’ We get our words ‘saint,’ ‘sanctify,’ and ‘sanctification’ from the same root words. All these term carry the idea of being ‘set apart’…. Just as all the colour of the spectrum come together to form the pure white light which illuminates our world, so all the attributes of God come together into His holiness.”

God is holy,

Our God is holy.

My God is holy.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.