Miscellanies.

a Cross-centered blog

Introducing: takeupandread.com

takeupandread.com

As you can tell from The Shepherd’s Scrapbook, I love to read, collect and photograph books. So I was excited when my friend John at Monergism.com contacted me to see if I would be willing to direct my love of books in their direction. Beginning today, I am very excited to announce my newest endeavor with a website I’m simply calling takeupandread.com (hosted by the newly designed Monergism.com).

“Take up and read” is the English translation of Augustine’s famous Latin phrase tolle lege, a statement that floated out of the mouth of a child at a neighbor’s take-up-and-read-mug.jpghouse that caused Augustine to pick up the Bible and find salvation in Christ. The phrase “take up and read” permanently symbolizes the life-changing potential of published truth.

This new endeavor will also help organize my two pursuits. This new website will allow me to move a number of past and future book reviews off the blog and to allow TSS to focus more as a forum for essays about the Cross-centered life. I will still use TSS to announce new books and review music and DVDs, but my prayerful intention with takeupandread.com is to provide a larger audience with a one-stop archive of full book reviews.

My hope is to introduce readers familiar with contemporary Christian literature to the rich heritage of excellent works from the past. Men like Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Horatius Bonar, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, and others stand in a long line of Reformed authors that are greatly needed in our generation. And for those who are familiar with these old authors, we need to become aware of the great books being published today by men like C.J. Mahaney, Wayne Grudem, Paul David Tripp, John Stott, John Piper and David Powlison. Just as the fonts in the graphic suggest, I’m trying to merge the antique and the modern into one life-changing library.

Being encouraged to pursue reformed books is a treat because each of these authors saw/sees the centrality of the Cross in everything. Literally tons of reformed literature is today being churned out by publishers around the world and I’ll help you figure out which volumes are best suited so you can “take up and read” and get on with the life transformation.

Have a Cross-saturated weekend!

-Tony

March 16, 2007 - Posted by spurgeon | Book reviews | | 8 Comments

8 Comments »

  1. Tony,

    Sounds like a *GREAT* idea. Looking forward to bookmarking it :) Good luck with it.

    Comment by Esau | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  2. I rejoice with you and congratulate you on this new endeavour. And I admit it’s also selfish motivation because I really appreciate your book reviews.

    I also appreciate your passion for the Puritans and great Christian writers of yesteryear who have been unjustly neglected by today’s Christian book readers (which is only a percentage of Christians anyway).

    At the church I pastor we have a remnant that love Philpot, Kershaw, Boston, Bunyan et al. And they sometimes begrudge Parables, the big Christian bookstore in Omaha, for not carrying these treasures. I guess it’s a Catch 22: the demand is low because few people know about these books, and few people know about them because they aren’t exposed to them on bookstore shelves.

    So here’s trusting God to give your site high traffic and an influential readership that will spread the word about all the substantive reading to be had!

    Comment by Gary Peterson | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  3. Thank you Gary! I am familiar with that bookstore and am encouraged that in the past 4 years they have added an entire section on systematic theology. So there is hope for change and like you said, the demand needs to be there, too. People’s reading habits need to change before bookstores change (but how will people be exposed to excellent literature like Boston and Bunyan if the local bookstore doesn’t sell them to their audience?). Catch 22 is right. Thanks again for the encouragement! Tony

    Comment by spurgeon | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  4. Tony,
    I’m excited about your increased effort in an area in which you are obviously gifted. My library already bears the mark of some of your suggestions!

    Comment by Joe | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  5. Joe, that is an incredibly encouraging and humbling comment. Thank you! Tony

    Comment by spurgeon | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  6. Here’s how to make the Catch 22 disappear: Tony opening up an offline bookstore.

    Comment by hanz | March 16, 2007 | Reply

  7. Since URL addresses are case insensitive, I suggest you publicize it as TakeupAndRead.com – my first glance at the address saw “dread” at the end of it.
    Keep up the great work. And may the Lord bless your day and this week.

    In Him,
    Boyd
    1 Tim. 3:16

    Comment by Boyd Moore | March 18, 2007 | Reply

  8. Thanks Boyd. I always make the words bold or separate them when possible to make the distinction. Thanks for the kind words. Tony

    Comment by spurgeon | March 18, 2007 | Reply


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