As I write this I should be writing papers, assignments, and other things. However, I needed a break from writing so I decided to write. Makes sense, write(right)? Anyways, as far as things go it has been a fairly good summer so far. It has been less than crazy hot until just this last week, ministry is going very well, and for the most part my children and wife are doing quite well.
Usually, this is where I might delve off into something theological, philosophical, or even political, but not today. I am here to say that, as mentioned in a post around my birthday, I am an old man trapped in a young man's body. That being said I am going to have an Old Man gripe session for a minute.
Why in the name of everything that is good and decent do people not read anymore. I don't mean they don't read much, they don't read good material, but that they do not read. The average American could not tell you anything of the classics. Homer? Virgil? Shakespeare? Chaucer? I do not understand it. How in the world does someone get to be 20 years old in America, especially the South, and not know what To Kill a Mockingbird is? It's criminal.
I know people that won't watch foreign films because they do not want to read the subtitles. Books are the lifeblood of any culture. In this age of digital books we can obtain reading material that we could never hope to get through in 100 lifetimes for free. That's right , free. You don't even have to use gas to go to the library. I hope to instill in my children a love of books. Perhaps not the obsession I have, but a love nonetheless. Now, for those of you reading this that do not like to read I would say at least you are reading this. Some time back I was asked to make a list of my favorite books. My favorites change often, but here is that list. It was a list of 20 books that have meant something to me. I might redo this list soon, but here it is. The catch was you could not spend more than 20 minutes making the list.
Yes, I did put the Jeffersonian Bible on my list. Yes, it's probably heresy, but it is a study in how even the greatest of minds sometimes cannot grasp the simplest of God's truths.
Remember this, Matthew 24:35 says Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
If you will not read anything else, the Bible should still be required reading. Claiming you are a Christian, while not actively reading and studying God's Word is as blatant a hypocrisy as can exist. We cannot hope to put together the pieces of this complicated machine called life if we do not look at the instruction manual that the manufacturer(God) has given us.
Sure, sometimes it may sound like a different language. The Bible has some tough reading in it, but if you can put together your kid's toys with only a couple pictures and some Chinese characters, you can comprehend the things of God if you prayerfully seek to do so. My hope and prayer is that this week, we all read something. Hopefully, that dusty old Bible on the top shelf of your bookcase.
Bro. Russell
Usually, this is where I might delve off into something theological, philosophical, or even political, but not today. I am here to say that, as mentioned in a post around my birthday, I am an old man trapped in a young man's body. That being said I am going to have an Old Man gripe session for a minute.
Why in the name of everything that is good and decent do people not read anymore. I don't mean they don't read much, they don't read good material, but that they do not read. The average American could not tell you anything of the classics. Homer? Virgil? Shakespeare? Chaucer? I do not understand it. How in the world does someone get to be 20 years old in America, especially the South, and not know what To Kill a Mockingbird is? It's criminal.
I know people that won't watch foreign films because they do not want to read the subtitles. Books are the lifeblood of any culture. In this age of digital books we can obtain reading material that we could never hope to get through in 100 lifetimes for free. That's right , free. You don't even have to use gas to go to the library. I hope to instill in my children a love of books. Perhaps not the obsession I have, but a love nonetheless. Now, for those of you reading this that do not like to read I would say at least you are reading this. Some time back I was asked to make a list of my favorite books. My favorites change often, but here is that list. It was a list of 20 books that have meant something to me. I might redo this list soon, but here it is. The catch was you could not spend more than 20 minutes making the list.
- A Gathering of Old Men- Ernest Gaines
- Glory of Their Times- Lawrence Ritter
- My Life on the Plains- General George Armstrong Custer
- John Wayne, The Man Behind the Myth-Michael Munn
- Mere Christianity- C. S. Lewis
- An Autobiography- Thomas Jefferson
- America’s Godly Heritage- David Barton
- Boys Will be Boys- Jeff Pearlman
- The Odyssey- Homer
- The Old Man and the Sea- Ernest Hemingway
- Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
- Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters
- The Last Lecture- Randy Pausch
- This Boy’s Life- Tobias Wolfe
- The Bulletproof George Washington- David Barton
- Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion- David Barton
- The Jeffersonian Bible- Thomas Jefferson
- The Art of War- Sun Tzu
- Where the Red Fern Grows- Wilson Rawls
- The Bible
Yes, I did put the Jeffersonian Bible on my list. Yes, it's probably heresy, but it is a study in how even the greatest of minds sometimes cannot grasp the simplest of God's truths.
Remember this, Matthew 24:35 says Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
If you will not read anything else, the Bible should still be required reading. Claiming you are a Christian, while not actively reading and studying God's Word is as blatant a hypocrisy as can exist. We cannot hope to put together the pieces of this complicated machine called life if we do not look at the instruction manual that the manufacturer(God) has given us.
Sure, sometimes it may sound like a different language. The Bible has some tough reading in it, but if you can put together your kid's toys with only a couple pictures and some Chinese characters, you can comprehend the things of God if you prayerfully seek to do so. My hope and prayer is that this week, we all read something. Hopefully, that dusty old Bible on the top shelf of your bookcase.
Bro. Russell
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