Beloved,
I’m beginning to wonder if Danny Olinger, our General Secretary for the Committee on Christian Education, can see into the hidden recesses of my heart. In the past year, he has asked me to review two books for New Horizons, both of which spoke to my heart precisely what it needed at precisely the right time.
The first was Jonathan Gibson’s Be Thou My Vision, a liturgy for private worship. It arrived in the mail at the end of December when I was feeling a bit stagnate in my private pursuit of the Lord. God used that book to breath fresh life into my soul, and I thought, “Wow, how did Danny know this was what I needed when I needed it?”
I’m currently thinking the same thought as I finish up a second book he asked me to review, Brian Rosner’s How to Find Yourself: Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer. Again, this book has addressed me right where I needed addressing and has profoundly helped me personally and pastorally (though I must warn you that the chapter on social justice is not as strong, clear, and careful as one could wish).
The truth is Danny doesn’t know my heart. In fact, he barely knows me at all. But God in His providence has graciously directed our brother to send me the right books at the right times. And I am deeply grateful to Him!
It has been a fresh reminder to me of the blessedness of good books. The greatest proof of that is that God Himself has chosen to record His thoughts in a book. And throughout Christian history (especially after the inventing of the printing press), God has used solid Christian literature to advance His cause in the earth in mighty ways! That conviction drives me to write, and it also drives me to foster a culture of reading in my family and church.
Toward that end, the session has decided to begin doing something new. Don’t worry, it is not a big change! (Remember, no big changes during elder sabbaticals!) It is a small addition which I’m simply calling “The Book of the Month.” Each month a solid, experiential, Christian book will be promoted and made available to the congregation for purchase (at a suggested donation price). There will be no requirement to purchase it, no reading schedule, no formal meeting to discuss the content, and no homework or expectations. You may shelf the book and not read it until 2062! But the goal is to promote the reading of good literature in our church and to promote deeper fellowship as people are reading the same book at the same time and naturally discuss it together. Our first book will be available beginning July 3. I’m excited to grow together with you through reading!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick