If you’re a student, you may cringe at the thought of more reading, now that the semester is coming to an end. But, before long, you should consider making a list of what you would like to read over the break.
If you’re not a student, this time of year might still afford you some extra reading time that should not be wasted.
At the top of my recommended reading list for thoughtful Christians is John Piper’s new book Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God. I won’t offer a whole review here. If you know anything about John Piper, you can guess that he argues convincingly for the inseparability of intellect and emotions and the need for both in the life of a Christian.
Here’s just a taste from his introduction. I have reread these two sentences many times and enjoy them more and more each time:
“…I hope this book will help rescue the victims of evangelical pragmatism, Pentecostal shortcuts, pietistic anti-intellectualism, pluralistic convition aversion, academic gamesmanship, therapeutic Bible evasion, journalistic bite-sizing, musical mesmerizing, You Tube craving, and postmodern Jell-O juggling. In other words, I believe thinking is good for the church in every way.”
It’s not too long of a book (only 224 pages) and a rather easy read, compared to some others of Dr. Piper’s. There’s a good deal offered at Desiring God’s store where the book is bundled with three others for only $10. Sounds like a nice Christmas present, doesn’t it?
(see: http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/Sales/2010Christmas/)
