Thankful Thursday: Reading Edition

This week, I'm particularly thankful for reading. It was a blessing to read the beautiful, wandering prose of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. It's the narrative of a proper English butler, now past his prime. I would describe it as Carson (of Downton Abbey) meets John Ames (of Gilead).

I've also  been blessed to read a real-life Carson.  I finished D.A. Carson's Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus this week, and was it ever wonderful! There's no way I could adequately describe it; reducing Carson to a blog post is tantamount to blasphemy. So, I will simply share some of my favorite quotes and encourage you to put this book on your reading list.

To take up your cross does not mean to move forward with courage despite the fact that you lost your job or your spouse. It means that you are under sentence of death; you are taking up the horizontal cross-member on your way to the place of crucifixion. You have abandoned all hope of life in this world. And then, Jesus says, and only then, are we ready to follow him. (p. 25)

Many in our society have been taught that in the religious realm the only view that is wrong is the view that says that any other view is wrong. The only heresy is to insist that there is such a thing as heresy. Compound such social trends with moral and theological indifferentism and prayerlessness in many of our churches, and it is easy to detect widespread malaise. And the church is suffering on account of it. (p. 78)

How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil. This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. Nothing. (p. 103)

Coming to the end of these books gives me time to focus my full attention on Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. I've been taking this one in small bits, but now I'm ready to immerse myself in it. I'm hoping to blog through portions of each chapter and share what I'm learning.

A friend recently told me she believes a quiet life leads to deep thinking (which has been lacking in my life lately).  As I ponder over these works, I pray I will find she is absolutely right.