Tomorrow we are heading out for the first family vacation we have taken in five years. Back then we had one baby, and one on the way. Now our family has doubled, with three children and one on the way.
I am really looking forward to spending a few days on the beach relaxing, exploring the tide pools, enjoying our family and reading.
These are the books I will be reading while away:
How People Change by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David TrippHere are a few excerpts from chapter one "The Gospel Gap":
"The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a 'then-now-then' gospel. First, there is the 'then' of the past. When I embrace Christ by faith, my sins are completely forgiven, and I stand before God as righteous. There is also the 'then' of the future, the promise of eternity with the Lord, free of sin and struggle. The church has done fairly well explaining these two 'thens' of the gospel, but it has tended to understate or misunderstand the 'now' benefits of the work of Christ. What difference does the gospel make in the here and now? How does it help me as a father, a husband, a worker, and a member of the body of Christ? How does it help me respond to difficulty and make decisions? How does it give me meaning, purpose and identity? How does it motivate my ministry to others? It is in the here and now that many of us experience a gospel blindness...
The 'here and now' hole in the middle of our lives produces three fundamental forms of spiritual blindness. First, there is the blindness of identity. Many Christians do not have a gospel perspective on who they are....Second, a 'here and now' gap in the gospel also causes us to be blind to God's provision....A third form of blindness that a gospel gap produces is blindness to God's process."
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth PrentissFrom the forward, written by Elisabeth Elliot:
"This book is a treasure of godly and womanly wisdom, told with disarming candorand humility, yet revealing a deep heart's desire to know God. We need such intimate accounts, need them desperately when the word commitment is so little understood and so seldom practiced. We need to see that love for the Lord reallydoes make a difference, not merely on Sunday, but from Monday through Saturday. We need to be able to enter this woman's life, her home, her kitchen, and see, as she so generously and honestly lets us do, just what the crucial difference is."
I have already begun both of the above books, so should I finish them early I am bringing these two along:
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Have fun on the beach! Our kids are the most content with sand and water.
Stepping Heavenward is one of my favorite books...a dear friend gave it to me as a gift when Jonah died. Let me know about the Grief to Glory...I have wanted to read that one.
Have a relaxing time before the next little one arrives...it's not far off :o)
Mrs. "M" said...
8:41 AM
I hope you have better luck getting to read on your vacation than I did on my vacation. I took three or four books and didn't read a single page! How People Change is very good.
Leslie said...
10:41 AM
Hey Mel
I have a little surprise for you on my blog :o)
Mrs. "M" said...
9:56 AM