Category Archives: Books

What “Learning Overload” has taught me: Learning to learn well

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Talk with most people who know me, and they’ll probably agree that I’m a learner.  My top two “strengthsfinder” strengths are “learner” and “input” (a third is “intellection” which kinda goes along with this as well).  I love to ask questions.  My office walls (and a few walls in my home) are lined with bookshelves.  The one piece of artwork in my office is a picture of a guy reading.  I constantly invite “referrals” to good sources of information and each week get a few emails with websites I can visit and where I can soak in learning.  My iTunes downloads a number of podcasts that “re-fill” each day or week with yet more chances to learn.

There’s just one problem:  I don’t have time to spend sitting and learning for 40-50 hours each week (or even a fraction of that).  And even if I did, that probably wouldn’t be enough time to satisfy my love of learning.  In fact, the time I have to devote to learning seems to be shrinking as my kids get older and other responsibilities (understandably) demand my attention.  What’s a philomath (“lover of learning”) to do in this situation?  Here are some of the ways I’m learning (pun intended) to answer that question:

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The Historical Adam: To be, or not to be?

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Anyone who’s been part of church culture for any length of time knows that the relationship between science and the Bible is often a delicate one. Are they competitors or complementary (or, at times, both)? What do we do when the claims of one seem to conflict with the claims of the other?

These questions have been central in the ongoing “creation versus evolution” debate, and are popping up in fresh ways as a recent burst of information is bringing the existence of a historical Adam into fresh consideration. This is likely something you’ll hear about on the History or Discovery Channels, or get into conversation about over some Thanksgiving meal with extended family or friends.

Knowing this, here are a few articles (and one book), written by evangelical Christians, that can introduce you to this topic. Keep this in mind, though: these articles present a variety of evangelical approaches to this topic and may at times even conflict with each other. As always, read with your thinking caps on and with a commitment to the authority of God’s Word.

Here are some articles that will introduce you to things:

Here’s a book that tackles this subject from a firmly evangelical viewpoint:

Purpose in Prayer (Somethin’ ’bout the Sermon, May 22, 2011)

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On Sunday as we continued our “Facetime” series on prayer, Pastor Steve mentioned a book that has been formative in his own thinking on prayer and that he recommended to all of us.  Here’s the book: A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers by D.A. Carson.

The idea of the book is this: A great place to learn about prayer is from the prayers of the Bible.  D.A. Carson focuses specifically on the prayers of Paul, and most of the book is expositions of many of the prayers of Paul we find in the New Testament.

To further whet your appetite and convince you that this book is worth-a-read, below you’ll find the table of contents of the book (so you can see what’s covered), and a few things I underlined in the introductory chapter (so you can get a taste of the actual writing).

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Priorities in Prayer: Some Reinforcing Advice from Martin Luther (Somethin’ ’bout the Sermon, May 15, 2011)

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On Sunday Brookside began a new Sunday morning series called “Face Time,” in which we’re looking closely, over the course of four weeks, at the spiritual discipline (and privilege) of prayer.  In his first sermon of this series, “Priorities in Prayer,” Pastor Steve called our attention to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and drew out certain priorities from this prayer in Scripture that should shape the priorities we bring to our own prayer life.

(To listen to the full sermon, click here to be redirected to Brookside’s “messages” page, then scroll down to the May 15, 2011 sermon.)

Pastor Steve highlighted the ongoing value of the Lord’s Prayer towards the end of this sermon by saying this: “If you haven’t prayed a single prayer in your life, you can’t go wrong praying this one prayer [i.e., the Lord's Prayer] every day…”  And my guess is that Pastor Steve would also agree that, even for those of us who have been praying for years but at times struggle with the practice of prayer, this same advice stands and could be restated this way: “You can’t go wrong praying the Lord’s Prayer whenever you need some fresh life breathed into this habit.”

The great reformer Martin Luther took a similar stance.  In his booklet “A Simple Way to Pray” Luther writes that there were times when he found himself to be “cool and joyless in prayer, because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and devil always impede and obstruct prayer).”  In these times, one of the ways Luther reinvigorated his prayer life was by repeating the Lord’s Prayer word for word.

With these suggestions commending the continued use of the Lord’s Prayer for our own prayers, here are two simple ways to consider using this prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 to (re)invigorate your prayer life:

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Orientation: Book Recommendations by Category

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As part of the fresh facelift on our blog, be sure and notice that we’ve added a “Recommend” tab along the top bar of the page – this will direct you to a page where you can access dozens and dozens (and dozens) of books we recommend, organized topically.  Because we’ve chosen to include a large number of books categorized under certain headings, we’re using this post to serve as a sort of orientation to this “Recommend” page and its categorization; our hope is that once you’ve read through the material included here you’ll be set up to navigate our “recommend” tab comfortably.

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Worthwhile reads: Christianity Today’s 2011 Book Awards

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Let’s face it, one of the first tasks of reading is deciding which books to read amidst the barrage of literature at any bookstore – local or online.  For all of us bibliophiles out there, there’s a tension that pops up every time we choose one book over another with our limited money and/or time, and so this makes it important to make sure that the books we decide to spend our money and/or time on are actually worthwhile.

And that’s why I’m grateful for Christianity Today’s annual book award list – a list that (1) points us toward some great reads in (2) some important categories that (3) helps us achieve some balance/rounding in our reading.

So…looking for some good reads in 2011?  Click here to see Christianity Today’s 2011 book awards.

Finally, what “worthwhile reads” would you add to the list?  Post your recommendations as comments on this post, and help point us towards some good books!

 

Huh? Adult Education? (Or, A Biblical Vision of Christian Learning: Reflections on Piper’s Latest)

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Commonly, when someone hears that I’m a pastor of adult education at a church I can see the “progress bar” start processing in their minds as they try to compute what “adult ed” could mean at Brookside.

  • They may think old-school, and conjure up stereotypes of “adult Sunday school” and ask if Brookside fits that picture (to exaggerate the stereotype, think flannel graph/overhead projector, lukewarm coffee/stale donuts, and a half-prepared teacher asking lots of “so what does that mean to you?” questions).
  • Or they may think “new school” and be fluent in more contemporary church lingo, asking how something like “adult ed” is missional.
  • Or they may think “small group with more people” and (to again exaggerate the stereotype) come expecting to map out their social calendar and find someone with a truck who can help them move.

In certain ways, Adult Ed. at Brookside comes close to all three of these “mental pictures” listed above (minus the exaggerations, of course…except for maybe the one about lukewarm coffee – that’s probably true): we do use presentation tools to enhance communicating truth, we expect to connect learning with mission, and we want community and participation to develop as classes proceed along their timeline.

But even as I affirm certain strengths of these mental pictures, I also look for every way I can to clarify the necessary and relevant role Adult Ed. does play in the life of our church and combat some of the more (understandably) negative stereotypes.  With this as an ongoing goal of mine, then, I’m grateful for how John Piper’s latest, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (Crossway, 2010), reinforces some “ministry-philosophy-type-stuff” for Adult Ed. at Brookside (and just some good biblical truth as well).

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