| Beloved I’m very excited to introduce to you our first book of the month which will be promoted and available during the month of July. Michael Reeves, the president of Union School of Theology in the UK, has written a theologically-rich, Christ-magnifying, culturally-relevant, and soul-stirring work on the fear of God entitled Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising God News of the Fear of the Lord. I have read a number of books on this subject, and this one is by far the best! Reeves labors to show from the Scriptures (along with quoting extensively from the best of our theological heritage) that the fear of God, to use his own words, is not “the gloomy theological equivalent of eating your greens: something the theological health nuts binge on while everyone else enjoys tastier fare.” Instead, it is “a way of speaking about the intensity of the saints’ love for and enjoyment of all that God is.” The fear of God is a pervasive theme in the Scriptures. Just this morning in my own devotions, it showed up in two of the chapters I read. We have seen it over-and-again in our Deuteronomy series (as it is the heart of the covenant-keeping piety Moses calls us to), and we saw it over-and-again in our humility series (as humility and God-fear are twin-graces that can never be divorced). Copies of Rejoice and Tremble will be available this Sunday for the suggested donation of $10 (that’s a really good deal!). There will be a donation box on the book table or you can send the money via Venmo. If you do the second, make sure to indicate that it is for the book of the month. But if for any reason finances are an issue, please don’t allow that to hinder you from grabbing a copy. So long as you promise to read and digest it, just take one and forget the donation! Let’s be praying with the psalmist throughout the month of July, “Teach us your way, O LORD, that we may walk in your truth; unite our hearts to fear your name” (Ps. 86:11 in the plural). See you Sunday! Yours in Christ, Pastor Nick |
