Books I have read

My last post was a love letter to my kindle.

So I thought there should be some fruit from all this love. I have read four books this year already without being on holiday which is pretty good for me.

So here are a few thoughts from a couple of them…

The first book I read was – A Hunger for God (John Piper)

This is my first Piper book I have read and I really loved it. The way he sets out his arguments and solutions really resonated with me and made me want to read more! It reminded me of the passion you have as a young person to do something great for God and how much I never want to loose that passion!

Is fasting Christian? It is if it comes from confidence in Christ and is sustained by the power of Christ and aims at the glory of Christ. Over every Christian fast should be written the words, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).

His Fasting Was Both War and Weapon, Testing and Triumph Now we can see the meaning of Jesus’ fasting more clearly. It was not an arbitrary choice of something to do in the face of Satanic temptation. It was a voluntary act of identification with the people of God in their wilderness deprivation and trial

This is the deepest lesson of Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness. It was a weapon in the war against satanic deception because it was a demonstration that Jesus hungered more for God and God’s will than he did for God’s wonders.

it is possible to do extraordinary fasting and yet not humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and turn from wickedness.

Another book I have been wanting to read for a while is Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith (Shane Hipps)

This really help form ideas in my brain about exactly the media around is shaping our thinking and especially the minds of our kids.

When we fail to perceive that the things we create are extensions of ourselves, the created things take on god-like characteristics and we become their servants.

We must remember that the Bible is not merely—or even primarily—a collection of objective propositions. It is a grand story told through hundreds of different perspectives and diverse social settings. The message is multilayered, textured, expansive, and complex.

The point is that our theology and practice are deeply informed and shaped by our media and technology. We become what we behold.

Our age has seen the disappearance of childhood.

If God’s chosen medium for his message was the person of Jesus Christ, and the church is the body of Christ, that means God has chosen the church to extend his revelation in a special way. The church exists to embody and proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom. If the medium is the message, the message of the gospel is conveyed by the medium of the church’s life in the world.

The great thing is I simply pasted these snippets from a file on the kindle. They were all highlighted as I read the book, saving all the thoughts that jumped out at me!