Gestures + Postures Toward Culture

“When we set out to communicate or live the gospel, we never start from scratch. Even before church buildings became completely indistinguishable from warehouse stores, church architects were borrowing from ‘secular’ architects. Long before the Contemporary Christian Music industry developed its uncanny ability to echo any mainstream music trend, church musicians from Bach to the Wesleys were borrowing well-known tunes and reworking them for liturgical use.

Why shouldn’t the church borrow from any and every cultural form for the purposes of worship and discipleship? The church, after all, is a culture-making enterprise itself, concerned with making something of the world in the light of the story that has taken us by surprise and upended our assumptions about that world. Copying culture can even be, at its best, a way of honoring culture, demonstrating the lesson of Pentecost that every human language, every human cultural form, is capable of bearing the good news.

The problem is not with any of these gestures—condemning, critiquing, consuming, copying. All of them can be appropriate responses to particular cultural goods. Indeed, each of them may be the only appropriate response to a particular cultural good. But the problem comes when these gestures become too familiar, become the only way we know how to respond to culture, become etched into our unconscious stance toward the world and become postures.”

- Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (IVP, 2008).

Decoding LOTR

“This treatment of Tolkien’s great story is about God first of all. Then it is about (in no particular order) Providence, history, demonic forces, archangels, bondage and liberation, justice and mercy, failure and restoration, friendship and sacrifice, sanctification and glorification, divine election and human freedom.

The Lord of the Rings is like the Bible in its narrative structure, for the Bible is above all a narrative—a narrative of God’s mighty acts of deliverance being widely misinterpreted. An article in The New York Times at the time when the third movie, The Return of the King, was about to win eleven Academy Awards stated that ‘The triumph of good over evil is the main theme of the story.’ Well, yes and no.

If the ‘main themes’ of this present analysis were to be distilled into a few words, I suppose I would say two things:

1. It is primarily about the unseen Providence of God operating for good through human (and angelic) agents—especially the ‘little’ ones that no one else has noticed.

2. Secondarily it is about the universal propensity of human beings (and angels) to fall into evil unless they are aided by power from that ‘unseen but ever-present Person.’”

- Fleming Rutledge, The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien’s Divine Design in “The Lord of the Rings” (Eerdmans, 2004).

Water

“…[I am reminded] of something I saw early one morning a few years ago, as I was walking up to the church. There was a young couple strolling along half a block ahead of me. The sun had come up brilliantly after a heavy rain, and the trees were glistening and very wet. On some impulse, plain exuberance, I suppose, the fellow jumped up and caught hold of a branch, and a storm of luminous water came pouring down on the two of them, and they laughed and took off running, the girl sweeping water off her hair and her dress as if she were a little bit disgusted, but she wasn’t. It was a beautiful thing to see, like something from a myth. I don’t know why I thought of that now, except perhaps because it is easy to believe in such moments that water was made primarily for blessing, and only secondarily for growing vegetables or doing the wash. I wish I had paid more attention to it.”

- Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (2004).

Poem: “Zeph 3:17”

darkened playhouse
small church in worship
indie music on stage
percussion clanging
guitars sagging
praises sung

together
in the worshiping shadows
stands one white Midwest mom
with one dark Ethiopian infant son

now located in Nebraska cold
cradled softly in glad mother’s
outstretched arms
eyes filled with wonder looking up
to absorb his mother’s song

voice above him
assuring arms beneath
held in love
unfamiliar yet at peace
marveling to listen at the foreign song
of adopted love rejoicing

Tip 2: Read with a Pen in Hand

When it comes to writing in books, I have no fear. I litter books with my indecipherable scribbles for three specific reasons:

1. To highlight what I appreciate.
2. To notate content progression.
3. To critique what I don’t appreciate.

Let me explain each of these specifically.

1. Highlighting Highlights

From short phrases to full pages, I identify sections that I find helpful and persuasive. With a highlighter or pen, I mark those sections so that I can I return to copy the quote into a database for later reference. A while back I posted more detail about how to organize these quotes (here and here).

My process is pretty intuitive, so I won’t develop this much here.

2. Notating Progression

My problem with highlighting (#1) is that I too frequently scrape my nose on the tree bark. I’m a detail guy myself and this practice of notating as I read has helped me to pause and consider the author’s big picture development.

For these notations, I fill the white spaces of a book. At the top of the first page of a chapter there is usually 1/3 of a blank page where I jot notes after I read every page or so. Here I can connect the small details of a chapter together into a visual linear progression as I watch the author develop an argument.

My practice is simple: As I progress through the chapter, I jot little summary phrases and connect them with arrows on the opening page. This helps me track how the chapter is developed.

Naturally, section headings are helpful for following the progression of the book. But a number of books—especially Puritans—are long paragraphs of prose smashed tighter than the stones of Solomon’s Temple. In that case it’s necessary to crowbar the text apart with my own section headings written in the margin. It improves readability and comprehension.

And I use those blank pages in the front and back of a book as a personal notebook for all types of notes, questions, and things to remember. For example, whenever I read a book on Christian living, I make a note in the back for every reference made to the gospel. Each time I find a specific reference to the gospel, I’ll scribble the page number in the back. So in the back of my books you will likely find something like this:

“Gospel: p. 12, 56, 120, 187, 220.”

And this little discipline also helps me track any number of themes throughout a book, not just the gospel. What does this book say about sin? Justification? Sanctification? The local church? As we will see next time (tip #3) first determining these categories is very important to healthy, critical reading.

Like looking through a telescope with one eye and a microscope with the other, writing in a book helps focus my attention on the large-scale development (#2) as I mark helpful stand-alone sentences (#1).

3. Critiquing Lowlights

Reading with pen-in-hand is also important because good readers are critics. And reading with a pen reminds me that I am a critic. Open to new discoveries, yes. But always a critic.

Two clarifiers here. First, when I say “critical,” I mean a state of humble evaluation, not a state of prideful negation. Next, let me say that each of our hearts struggle with sin in different ways. Some of us find it easy to thrash books with the scissors of criticism, but resist being chiseled ourselves by wise books. This is pride. Some of us will find it easy to praise good books, but difficult to criticize specific thoughts. We will lift the thoughts of others without critique and discernment. This is laziness.

My struggle is with laziness. And so I started writing in my books to confront this tendency.

Identifying the lowlights in a book is my means of drawing attention to sections or arguments that:

1. Appear to be wrong.
2. I know to be false and can prove to be incorrect.
3. What I think lacks collaborative evidence and substance.
4. What lacks biblical support.
5. What portions of a book lack elements of persuasion.
6. What has been recycled and developed in the book already (business books are infamous for this).
7. What lacks vigor and consistency (for novels especially).

When I read sections that appear to be wrong I simply make a “?” in the margin or at the top of the page. When I read sections that I disagree with and can prove to be incorrect, I unsheathe the pen and start x-ing pages. At times I cross out an entire page when I disagree.

G.K. Chesterton has felt the sword on a few occasions. Chesterton is one of my favorite writers, but when he starts spewing off disdain for John Calvin I mute his mutiny with a black line.

You may be gasping that I would draw a line across a page, but please try this at least once. Unsheathe a Sharpie and, in a swift Zorro-like move, x out an entire page.

This practice is significant and important. This x-ing out discipline is important because that dark line reminds us that our books exist to serve us and our learning and our priorities. We, the readers, do not exist to gulp down the book’s entire content.

Only one book (Scripture) is inherently above x-ing. The rest are not.

Now please don’t think that I’m suggesting you read only what is easy and comfortable. Read what will stretch your mind. Read what you will disagree with. But make sure as you read with a pen in hand.

Books as Roof or Foundation?

Or take this building analogy. Books should lay the foundation for our thoughts, not serve as the roof—or cap—for our thoughts. We should think further beyond what we read (foundation). Not under, and limited to, what we read (roof).

Books help us develop and refine our own thoughts. Yet my lazy temptation is to live in the fragmented world of borrowed thoughts. Interacting with the author’s thoughts—by highlighting, notating, and critiquing—helps us develop our own thoughts, brick by brick.

I find this especially true for preachers in their use of books and commentaries. I can speak from personal experience that too frequently commentaries and books became a roof over a sermon, providing a cap for what can be said, rather than a properly laid foundation for which a sermon is constructed. As I look back, I have noticed that when I was quoting other’s words most frequently from books and commentaries, these were the periods where I was most commonly borrowing thoughts rather than building from them.

I think C.H. Spurgeon was a master of this. Just consider his wide familiarity with the Puritans, having read Owen and Brooks and Bunyan since childhood. Yet if you read his sermons you’ll notice just how few direct quotations he used in the pulpit. Spurgeon said a man who does not use the thoughts of others proves he has no thoughts of his own. He was not talking about the lazy copy-and-paste lifting of quotes, but reminding us that books help develop our own thoughts.

When I fall into the tendency of simply lifting quotes from other books without developing my own thoughts, I’m confusing the fundamental purpose of my books.

Conclusion

Reading with pen-in-hand is one of the most crucial and fundamental tips for reading effectively and efficiently. This discipline reminds me that books are tools, raw materials, and a foundation. It keeps books in their proper place.

With a pen, I am positioned to highlight what I appreciate, to notate content progression, and to critique what I don’t appreciate.

————

Series posts:

On Reading
Tip 1: Capture Reading Time
Tip 2: Read with a Pen in Hand (just read it)
Tip 3: Read With Purpose in View (next)

Tip 1: Capturing Reading Time

On the first day we moved into our home in Maryland, our gracious friends arrived in work clothes to help unload furniture and boxes from the truck, to fill the air with sweet fellowship, and to assemble beds. O, the sweet taste of hard labor accomplished within the ceaseless hum and energy of joy-filled fellowship.

On the second day I said, “Let there be a library.” And by the end of the second day there was a library—my library. All my books were unboxed, organized topically, and aligned properly on the bookshelves. It took the entirety of the second day. The boxes full of, oh little things like clothes, toys, and my wife’s books could wait until the third day.

I love books. I love to buy new books, collect old books, and cover my walls with books. Books are the scholarly jolts that begin my day and the literary nightcaps that bring my day to a close. Books are my hot chocolates, my Irish cream coffees, and my hot lattes with extra shots of espresso.

Are my biblio priorities healthy? I suppose at times I lack self-control, like the jogger who runs for 20 miles when he should only run 5. Or maybe like the chocoholic who measures serving sizes by the bag, not by the piece.

Vice aside, I suppose it’s out of a love of reading that I invest so much time in the discipline. But a question I receive a lot, and even more frequently now that I’m posting my reading digests, is this:

How do you read so much?

Which is a misleading question because it can be interpreted and answered in any of three different ways:

(1) Often the question arrives more in the form of a rhetorical exclamation than a question, more like: How do you read so much!

(2) Sometimes the question is asked with a schedule in mind, like: How do you find all the time to read?

(3) Sometimes it’s asked with achievement in mind, Like: How do you read so many books?

In the case of (1) let me just say that I’m a normal guy. Maybe less than normal. One fact I try to forget—and would forget if not for its value as a bludgeoning cudgel to smack pride in the nose—is that for at least one third of my college years in I found myself on “academic probation.” Which sounds a lot like criminal probation, except that criminal probation is a recovery phase following a guilty verdict. “Academic probation” is what you get on the spiral downward before someone officially pronounces you guilty of stupidity and kicks you out.

So I don’t read a lot of books because I got born smart.

In the case of (2) I don’t think I spend much more time reading than some of you. My calendar is full, my honey-do list is long, my kids are hyper, and my boss is active (or is it the other way around?). My running shoes are muddy, my weight bench is dusty, and my 10-foot front yard needs to be mowed at least twice a year.

And this leads me to the first of three tips.

Tip 1: Capture Reading Time

So, when do I read? Everytime I get a spare moment. Sometimes I read over my morning bowl of Crispix, sometimes I read over my lunchtime can of tuna, and sometimes I read over my evening cup of decaf.

I read at the DMV. I read when I’m waiting on my barber. I read when the kids are climbing all over my back on the living room floor. And on Mondays I retreat for 4-6 hours to read at Starbucks.

Books I have no intention of reading cover-to-cover are kept beside my bed. I’ll grab one of these volumes and read for about 20 minutes each night before falling asleep. This stack is constantly cycled, but here is a current picture:

Kindle

A month ago a friend introduced me to the Kindle, Amazon.com’s electronic book reader ($359). Having immediate access to 200 books on this one device has improved my reading productivity, especially while traveling. The little device switches between books quickly, allowing me to pick up books where I left off. I’ve found ways to make my own free ebooks of Spurgeon sermons and the works of Jonathan Edwards. Really any text document can be converted into a book (via Mac OS X and the free program Stanza). And there are more than 23,000 free books already formatted for the Kindle. The Kindle is a traveling library of sorts.

Hours x WPM =Books Read

In sum, I read for about 15 hours a week. This sounds like a lot, but you can capture 15 minutes here and here and easily come up with 5 hours of reading time per week.

Here’s a quick calculation (from someone who took the same college Algebra class three times) to prove how small moments of reading time really do add up.

The average reader moves through a book at a pace of 200-250 words per minute. In finding 15 hours to read each week, I read for 900 minutes. Assuming the average book is around 60,000 words in length, and figuring nothing more than an average pace, I am positioned to complete 3-4 books per week! Do the math: That’s a pace of nearly 200 books per year. At this pace, I could read the complete works of William Shakespeare (850,000 words) in a month (but that would be an awfully boring month).

Your personal goal may be 5 hours of weekly reading. Sounds like a lot. But you hit this goal if you set aside 15 minutes to read the morning, 15 minutes to read at lunch, and 15 minutes to read before you fall asleep. Reading at 225 words per minute, you could easily read one book every week.

My point is that time is a precious commodity for the reader. And we all can make extra time within our day to invest in reading. Reading 50 books per year is a realistic goal for most of us (paying for 50 books is quite another problem).

Conclusion

So perhaps you can now see, I don’t read a lot of books because I have an abundance of smarts or free time. I just try and capture moments throughout the day, and redeem the time.

Next time, I will disclose tip #2 for reading more efficiently and effectively (no Kindle needed).

Glorifying God in our Christmas Shopping

I wrote a little feature article for Christianity.com on Christmas shopping. Really the goal of the article was to remind myself of three questions:

1. Does my gift serve the soul of the recipient?
2. Does my gift promise life transformation?
3. Does my gift encourage faith?

The article is now online here.

2008 Books of the Year

An annual highlight is to pile up all the books we’ve read for the year and select our favorites. In 2008 we have chosen as our top books of the year The ESV Study Bible and Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck. What follows is our top 15 books of 2008:

1. ESV Study Bible by various authors and edited by Wayne Grudem and J.I. Packer (Crossway). Think of this: When George W. entered the White House, there was no published ESV. We were all using the NASB, NKJV, NIV or KJV. And now just a few months before W’s presidency ends, the ESV now celebrates the crowning achievement of any translation—a study bible. With a library of commentaries, theology, ethics, bible interpretation, apologetics, and references all contained in one volume, The ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive study bible since John Brown’s Self Interpreting Bible was released 230 years ago.

And when you purchase the print version, you gain access to the online version of the SB where all the illustrations are viewable, all the notes are included, all the cross-referenced texts are hyperlinked (very slick), and the audio version is available. And you can highlight portions and add personal notes in the margins. What more do you want in a study bible?

2. Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck (Baker Academic). Although the first three volumes were completed in previous years, 2008 marked the translation of the fourth volume and the completion of the set.

It’s hard to state the importance of these volumes beyond the words of J.I. Packer, who writes: “Bavinck’s Dutch masterwork was the Everest of which the textbooks by Louis Berkhof and Auguste Leoerf were foothills, and Berkouwer’s studies in dogmatics were outliers. Like Augustine, Calvin, and Edwards, Bavinck was a man of giant mind, vast learning, ageless wisdom and great expository skill…Solid but lucid, demanding but satisfying, broad and deep and sharp and stabilizing, Bavinck’s magisterial Reformed Dogmatics remains after a century the supreme achievement of its kind.”

While certainly not the most important systematic theology in the development of the church, this is to my knowledge the most theologically rich. Already in 2008 a rising interest in Bavinck has resulted from the completion of RD and I assume we will be hearing a lot more about the Dutch theologian in this country over the next several years. No doubt this growing interest in Bavinck will be traced back to the printing of this English translation, one of the crowning achievements of 2008.

3. Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Moody). Evaluating the emergent church is a tricky thing. There are many nuances and a cast of characters that try hard to avoid creating a cohesive unity that would be more easily definable (and therefore critique-able). But DeYoung and Kluck were able to do this very thing.

Using sharp wit, theological discernment, and humble evaluation, they have crafted the most important and most potentially influential critique of this new trend. And what ranks it as the third most important book of the year is for what it is not—a technical book written by socio-theological theorists for seminary professors. It was written by two normal guys in a format that will appeal to the very same audience drawn towards the emergent ‘movement.’ Brilliant.

4. Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World by Carolyn McCulley (Moody). Carolyn carefully chronicles the history and influence of feminism and why it matters today. She explains the roots of feminism that arose during the Fall, and she does this with a genuine care for women and with a style that merges both her journalistic excellence and her gift of storytelling. Chapter titles include: “’Men are Scum,’” “Men Aren’t the Problem,” “The Mommy Wars,” and “Raunch Culture Rip-Off.” A fantastic book for women and men alike in understanding God’s created purposes. For more information, watch Carolyn’s 5-minunte intro video here.

5. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Tim Keller (Dutton). Few men are better gifted at articulating the message of the gospel for a broad audience than Tim Keller. The fact that he has written an entire book on issues directly related to the gospel—and the fact that this book is featured in Barnes & Nobles across the country—make The Prodigal God one of the most important books of 2008. But its value extends beyond non-Christians. Christians who struggle with grasping the depth of the cross and grace, and those that struggle with self-righteousness will benefit from the book as well. In other words, Keller’s target audience is the whole world. A fairly small book that would make a great Christmas gift.

6. The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World by David Wells (Eerdmans). The final volume in Well’s tetralogy that includes: No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, and Losing Our Virtue. I personally liked all four volumes but especially No Place for Truth and The Courage to Be Protestant. This latest volume is the most theologically constructive of the series. It doubles in my library not only for helping me to understand the present theological health of the broader church, but also as a frequent reference in my systematic theology studies.

7. Complete Works of Thomas Manton in 22 volumes (Solid Ground). One of the most important Puritan publishing achievements of the year was Solid Ground Christian Publishers re-printing of the complete works of one of the most prolific authors in history. Add to that the excellent index in the back of the final volume, and this set will provide preachers and pastors with decades of reading and a seemingly endless supply of spiritual food. We completed a full review with detailed pictures here.

8. Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp (Shepherd Press). From the author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart, anything by the Tripps on parenting makes this list automatically. Instructing is the latest gem. As to be expected, this latest book is filled with theology and practical helps to help parents grasp the big picture of parenting priorities and drops down into the specifics of how these priorities are expressed in daily life.

9. Pocket Puritans by various authors (Banner of Truth). For a while I wasn’t sure the Banner was going to be capturing the attention of Puritan novices. In this country Crossway and overseas Christian Focus were repackaging the Puritans for a new audience. Well, this year the Banner came out with a winner—edited and abridged sermons and book excerpts from the Puritans in a pocket-sized format. Titles include Impure Lust by Flavel, Living Faith by Ward (personal favorite), Heaven, A World of Love by Edwards, Anger Management by Baxter, Repent and Believe by Brooks, and Binge Drinking by Flavel. Whenever I travel, I put two of these titles in my computer bag and have found them to provide excellent devotional material when I have limited time. Great work, Banner!

10. A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden (Eerdmans). Marsden on Edwards is always worth a read. This is not better than Marsden’s large and defining biography Jonathan Edwards: A Life (Yale, 2003) but it samples some of the highlights of Edwards life in a very helpful way. If you are intimidated by A Life, start here. And if you have read A Life, you’ll still benefit from A Short Life.

11. Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin (Crossway). Kauflin’s chef d’oeuvre. Bob is one of the most gifted worship leaders and songwriters I’ve seen. I get this from watching him lead musical worship. And he is very wise and humble man. I get this from observing him in my living room. A friend, author, and worship leader. If you lead worship in a church, this is your go-to manual for everything related to leading worship. There is really nothing like it.

12. Concise Reformed Dogmatics by J. van Genderen and W. H. Velema (P&R). A contemporary Dutch systematic theology, recently translated into English. At 940 pages it’s hardly brief, but it is concise. Somehow the authors have captured in this single volume some of the best dogmatic exegesis, the most valuable contributions of Augustine, John Calvin, and Martin Luther, the best of Dutch scholars like Herman Bavinck, Wilhelmus à Brakel, and Abraham Kuyper and manage to interact frequently with the notorious Karl Barth. The authors have composed for us a treasure of theological gold that is to-the-point. For its size it packs the same theological weight as a multi-volume systematic theology.

13. Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey With the New Calvinists by Colin Hansen (Crossway). The rise of Calvinism among young Christians caught the attention of Christianity Today editor Colin Hansen. Hansen invites others to ride “shotgun” as he travels across the country discovering the far reaches of the emerging Calvinism. One of the most engaging and adventurous books of 2008. Read it to meet the cast of characters behind this rise; read it to discover the far-reaching influences of Calvinism on the lives of young men and women; read it for the excellent and descriptive perception of the author.

14. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam (Portfolio). Thought I would add at least one business strategy and problem-solving book to this year’s list. Thinking through, solving, and explaining complex problems on a napkin with a pen, icons, and stick figures. Wonderful book for visual thinkers like myself. A gem!

15. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company). Gladwell’s inquisitive nature frames all of his books and makes them always interesting and often quite fascinating. Outliers is no different (though The Tipping Point is my favorite).

Gladwell covers too many different facets of success to boil down here. But the one argument I thought he made well was related to the IQ threshold. He argues that once your IQ hits the “above average” category, your ranking of being, say, a “genius” is no longer a determinative factor in your success. As an illustration, he points to professional basketball. If a guy is 5-feet tall, he has little or no chance at playing in the NBA. But if he is 6-foot-6 his chances are greatly improved. However, if he’s 6-10, his chances do not greatly improve over the 6-6 guy because once you hit this threshold your chances of playing pro basketball are then determined by other factors—speed, smarts, etc. It’s a compelling argument. What I most appreciate about Gladwell is not his research, but his ability to craft words. He is an excellent writer and this factor—more than any other—is why I’m putting this on the list of top 15.

So there you have it. My top 15 books of 2008. Would you add any to the list? Please let me know in the comments.

And for those of you interested, here are the winners from the previous two years:

2006 Book of the Year

1. Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson (Reformation Heritage).

2007 Top 10 Books of the Year

1 (tie). ESV Literary Study Bible edited by Leland and Philip Ryken (Crossway).

1 (tie). An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach by Bruce Waltke (Zondervan).

3. Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution (UK:IVP/US:Crossway).

4. The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones (Zondervan).

5. When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage by Dave Harvey (Shepherd Press).

6. Communion with the Triune God by John Owen (Crossway).

7. Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart by John Ensor (Crossway).

8. The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World by Stephen Nichols (Crossway).

9. The Reading and Preaching of the Scripture in the Worship of the Christian Church: The Modern Age by Hughes Oliphant Old (Eerdmans).

10. Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards’ ‘Religious Affections’ by Samuel Storms (Crossway).

Virgin Birth

“So do not let it surprise you, unbelieving soul, whoever you are, do not let it strike you as impossible that a virgin should give birth, and in giving birth remain a virgin. Realize that it was God who was born, and you will not be surprised at a virgin giving birth.”

- Augustine, Sermon 370.3

Shepherding a Child’s Heart

Tedd Tripp has taught me more about parenting than anyone else. His books are fantastic (Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Instructing a Child’s Heart). And now you can listen/watch Dr. Tripp’s recent conference. If you are a parent, please–I beg you–make time to watch/listen to this series.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart Conference
By Tedd Tripp

Session 1: The Call to Formative Instruction
Session 2: Giving Kids a Vision for God’s Glory
Session 3: Helping Kids Understand Authority
Session 4: Helping Kids Understand the Heart
Session 5: Overview of Corrective Discipline

See here for audio and video.

HT: L’Amy Lka’