learning to enjoy Christian poetry (what I'm reading: Lit! and A sacrifice of praise)

When I say the word "poetry", how do you feel? Be honest!

I'm sure some of you love poetry. Some of you probably find it boring or bewildering. But perhaps you're like me: you'd like to like poetry, but you don't know quite how to read it or where to start. I'm thinking of you as I write today.

I love reading, but I've always found it hard to appreciate poetry. I read too fast, and it's difficult to slow down and let the words sink in. That's starting to change, thanks to bloggers like Ali and Nicole. I've also been inspired by Tony Reinke's encouragement to read Christian poetry to kindle spiritual reflection.

One of the few things my son Ben wants to do when he has a migraine  is to listen to me read, so once or twice we've read poems together. Some are from our old copy of The Norton anthology of poetry, others from A sacrifice of praise, an anthology of Christian poetry. If you want to get to know and appreciate Christian poetry, this is a wonderful place to start (I bought it Reinke's recommendation in Lit!, the book I've been blogging through recently).

Where do you turn when you want to read a Christian poem to your son? My first choice was God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889), an English Catholic poet. This poem echoes uncannily in my mind, no doubt because my mum used to quote from it, especially the last two lines: she was an English teacher, and is far more poetry-buffish than me.

Like every poem, if you want to enjoy this, try reading it slowly and out loud. Read it again. Read it to someone else. Let the images sing to you of how God's glory still shines from his crushed and broken world. I want to commit this poem to memory so, next time I watch the sun rise over our back verandah, I'll remember how, in and after darkness, "the Holy Ghost over the bent / World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings".

God’s Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

the danger and delights of books about personal change (what I'm reading: Tony Reinke's Lit!)

In his wonderful book Lit!, Tony Reinke gives us six categories for reading. So far, we've looked at three of them: theology, reading for pleasure, and reading to kindle spiritual reflection.

His fourth category - the one we'll look at today - is reading to initiate personal change. He says,

In this category I slide down into the muddy trenches of life. These are the books for battle, the sharp weapons for putting off sin and putting on righteousness. These books help me confront and defeat personal sin and unbelief. They help me to honor God in my role as a husband and as a parent...This reading category forces me to think proactively about personal growth and to determine where in my life I need to focus my attention. Carefully selected books will set the pace for focused and long-term change. 

If you go to a Christian bookshop, you'll find heaps of books in this category. Christian living, marriage, parenthood, overcoming worry, learning to pray: who doesn't want to know about these things? It's easy to be motivated to read books like this, because they promise to answer our felt needs. Yet such books can be dangerous:

How each writer approaches these topics can be wise and biblically informed – or not. And due to the spiritual dangers associated with these practical books, readers should choose them very carefully. 

What are the dangers of such books? They easily slide into legalism. "Ten rules for personal change!" "A proven method for praying!" "What you need to do to be a godly wife and mother!" The assumption is that if you follow the author's particular program, you'll be able to change. The result, more often than not, is discouragement if you fail to live up to the "rules", or pride if you manage to keep them:

I have seen wisely chosen books transform marriages, free sinners, and gladden grumblers. I have seen poorly chosen books feed a person’s doubt, entrench a soul in legalism, and ignite a heart with self-righteousness.  

If, like me, you're a perfectionist and a rule-keeper, you'll need to be even more careful: books which are helpful for others may not be helpful for you, unless you read them with great care. So how do you choose books to initiate personal change? One place to start is to ask someone you trust, who knows you well, and who can be your reading guide:

Specific recommendations are often best discovered under the guidance of a wise and well-read pastor who knows you.

If you're searching for a book on a particular topic, look for books that are gospel-centred. Books that start with God's grace, rather than a set of rules for change. Books from writers you know will take this approach.

Here are a few authors who write about practical issues whose books are radically gospel-centred: Tim Chester, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Ed Welch, Philip Jensen, Jerry Bridges, John Piper, David Powlison, Tim Keller, Josh Harris, CJ Mahaney and Paul Tripp. They've written books on everything from personal change to depression to sexual purity to marriage and parenting.

If you want to find a gospel-centred book on a particular topic, please ask me in the comments (click here). This is a hobby-horse of mine, so chances are I've read or know of something. And if I don't, I'll ask someone who does!


Quotes are from Tony Reinke's Lit! pages 99-100.

image is by Brett Jordan from flickr

my favourite Christian novels (what I'm reading: Tony Reinke's Lit!)

How do you choose what to read? So far, I've talked about two of Tony Reinke's six categories for reading: theology and reading for pleasure. Here's a third: reading to kindle spiritual reflection.

I think it's fantastic that Reinke included this category of reading. It's not one I've thought much about. But it's one that has grown my faith and brought me great joy over the years.

So what does he mean by books that kindle spiritual reflection? Not books about theology or Christian living, but novels and poetry and biography and history: books by Christians that help us reflect deeply on faith, grace, sin, death, and eternal life.

Let's start with novels. Here's a short list of favourite writers whose novels have kindled spiritual reflection in me: CS Lewis, Elizabeth Goudge, Patricia St. John, Marilynne Robinson, Francine Rivers, Bo Giertz and George MacDonald.

If you recognise the names, you know they're a mixed lot, from evangelical (Francine Rivers) to Anglo-Catholic (Elizabeth Goudge) to universalist (George MacDonald). I read them with discernment. But in different ways they feed my faith, enlarge my joy, deepen my experience of grace, and spur me on to love and obedience.

CS Lewis needs little introduction, except to say this: if you haven't already, read the Narnia series and The Screwtape Letters and his autobiography Surprised by Joy. I also love his Perelandra trilogy (particularly for sci fi and fantasy fans), When we have faces (a Greek myth retold), and The Great Divorce (the theology is unreliable, but the reflections on sin and temptation are profound). What's your favourite CS Lewis novel?

Elizabeth Goudge, author of the children's book The Little White Horse, comes in second place because she is a true encourager to me. My mum used to pick up her novels whenever we went to the second hand bookshop. While I don't agree with everything she writes, I love her books dearly, especially The Dean's Watch. Her characters discover and re-discover faith, learn about suffering and faithfulness, and grow in hope and love. I'm always left with a bunch of quotes I want to meditate on further. I'll share some with you soon!

I grew up reading Patricia St. John, a missionary who wrote lots of Christian classics for children. If you're a Christian parent, make sure you get hold of Treasures of the Snow, The Tanglewood's Secret, Rainbow Garden and Star of Light, especially the first. They will teach your children - and you - huge amounts about the gospel, and they're well-written and absorbing, with strong narratives and likeable characters.

If you're a Christian woman, chances are you've picked up a Francine Rivers book. If you haven't, try Redeeming Love, a novel about a "lost woman" loved by a Christian man, based on the story of Hosea: an allegory of the gospel in the guise of a relatively well told romantic novel. I also love her five short biographies of women from the Bible, A Lineage of Grace, especially the story of Tamar (there's a similar book about men from the Bible called Sons of Encouragement).

I was glad to see Marilynne Robinson on Tony Reinke's list. Her novels are a rare treat: she's only written three, and they're so carefully and thoughtfully written that you have to wait years for each one to come out! My favourite is Gilead, an aging pastor's letter to his young son, with Home close behind (see my summer reading and Meredith's review). These are literary masterpieces from the best-seller lists, as well as novels with thought-provoking Christian content.

Bo Giertz was a recent discovery for me, thanks to Wendy's review of The Hammer of God. This story of three pastors is not an easy read, but it's well worth the effort: it will help you dig more deeply into God's grace as each of these young pastors come to understand it for the first time. The Knights of Rhodes, a historical novel about the crusades, is also a good read in which the main character comes to understand grace more deeply.

George MacDonald was a great influence on CS Lewis, and some of his books for children - The Princess and the Goblin (see this quote) and The Little Princess - have done more than most to encourage me in courageous, trusting holiness. These two books are well worth reading to your children or reading yourself if you love books for young people.

That's my short list of favourite Christian novels that have encouraged me and grown my faith. I'd love to talk about Christian poetry too, but I'll leave that for another day.

What about you? What are your favourite Christian novels that kindle spiritual reflection in you? Tell us about them here.

image is by Sapphireblue at flickr

why I read novels (what I'm reading: Tony Reinke's Lit!)

I put myself to bed with a novel every night. I borrow a stack from the library, and work through them one at a time. I always have a novel on the go. Some are worthy, old or modern classics; but mostly they are just for fun.

Sometimes Christians feel guilty about reading novels. Sometimes they should, if the novel encourages unhelpful fantasies, glorifies unbelief or leads them into sin. But there's also a (wonderful, glorious) place for reading novels in the Christian life.

The last of Tony Reinke's six categories for reading is reading for fun. He says,

Christians should not blush when they read for pleasure, for escape, or ‘just for fun’. Provided that this is not a form of escapism – and assuming the book does not glorify sin – the practice is enjoyable and honors God.

Truly, many Christians today measure their reading success with nothing more than a purely utilitarian gauge, either by how many book pages they can burn through, or by the amount of information they expose themselves to in the process. Too often we fail to read simply for pleasure.

...Reading for pleasure does not mean we cannot be educated at the same time. Robert Frost once said that a good poem begins by delighting the reader and ends by bringing wisdom and clarity to the reader’s life. That’s a great way of saying it. …Good literature instructs the reader as it delights the reader, because thoughtful readers are ‘putting together what should never be split – excitement and knowledge, joy and truth, ecstasy and value’.

So sometimes I read just for pleasure. But it’s not an easy pleasure...

Reading is a difficult pleasure because it requires discipline, diligence, and focus. But like in any pleasure, it is a pleasure that can be done for God’s glory.

Tony Reinke Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books page 103-04.

image is by Tololy Tutunai at flickr

how to choose what to read (what I'm reading: Tony Reinke's Lit!)

"For every one book that you choose to read, you must ignore ten thousand other books simply because you don't have the time" (page 94). So says Tony Reinke in Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books.

He gives some hints. Choose carefully. Decide why you're reading a book before you read it. Don't finish the book if it's not achieving anything. Read bits of some books, and all of other books. Yes, it's true: you don't always have to read all of a book!

How do you choose what to read? At the start of each year, I make a list of books I want to read in particular categories. Tony recommends something similar. Here are his six categories (yours will look different - except the first, I hope):

1. Reading Scripture - both in big chunks, and small bits for close study


2. Reading to know and delight in Christ - theological books about Jesus, his cross and resurrection


3. Reading to kindle spiritual reflection - this can include anything from a book of poems or an autobiography to a Christian novel


4. Reading to initiate personal change - such books pack the shelves of Christian bookshops, but must be chosen and read with care, or they will lead to legalism or pride: books on Christian living, prayer, anxiety, parenting etc. Choose ones that major on the gospel and biblical truth (e.g. Tim Chester, Ed Welch, Jerry Bridges, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Paul Tripp).


5. Reading to pursue vocational excellence - business, writing, teaching, studying, homemaking, etc.


6. Reading to enjoy a good story - yes, it is okay for Christians to read for joy not just usefulness! More about that next week.

Why not go away and write a list of categories you'd like to read in this year? (You can check out mine here here and here.) Then choose some books (you can ask me for ideas, or ask someone you trust). Just make sure you include the Bible and books about Jesus' death and resurrection. And a little something just for fun!

You can comment here.

image is by pamhule at flickr

why women should read more theology (what I'm reading: Tony Reinke's Lit!)

Do you find it easy, or hard, to read books? Either way, this one's for you.

Top of the list of books I've read recently is Tony Reinke's Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books. I'm an avid reader, and I learned heaps about what and how to read. If you struggle to read, I suspect you'll find this book even more helpful.

Maybe you want to read more, but don't know where to start. Maybe you love books, but your reading feels a little aimless. Reinke covers it all, first with a great theology of books, then with a whole heap of practical tips about how to choose and read books.

This week I've chosen a quote that encourages women to read theological books about Jesus. Next week, I'll go for the other end of the scale, and share something about why we should read novels. Just so you can't say I've left anything - or anyone - out!

Theologically weighty books about Christ are essential for the soul—for men and women. And although women purchase the majority of books released by Christian publishers, women are far less likely to read theological books, writes counselor and author Elyse Fitzpatrick. In her 2003 evaluation of the Christian publishing industry, she writes, “Many women are intimidated by the thought of studying something that is ‘theological’ in nature. They are afraid of being bored, looking foolish, becoming unattractive to men, or becoming divisive.”...

She confronts women who would rather read only novels as a way to escape personal disappointments, and who read these books to “build fantasy castles filled with knights on white steeds who will come to rescue her from her mundane, stressful, empty, or disappointing life.” Rather, she offers this challenge: “Let’s become known as a generation of women who delight in, tremble before, receive counsel from, drink, devour, digest, muse upon, and absolutely cherish God and the truth that He’s revealed about Himself and about ourselves. Let’s not worry about whether we look dumb or too smart.”...

If women commit to reading books of solid theology, their knowledge of Christ will grow..."This is the most delightful pursuit any woman could ever know."

(And who should you read? Reinke suggests, among others, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Jonathon Edwards, John Owen, JI Packer, Don Carson, John Stott, John Piper and CH Mahaney. On the topic of Christ, I'd add Tim Chester and Tim Keller. A good place to start is John Stott's The Cross of Christ and Tim Keller's King's Cross - or how about this one, which I haven't read, but it's by The Don, and that's all the recommendation I need: Don Carson's Scandalous: The cross and resurrection of Jesus.)

Quote is from Tony Reinke Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books pages 96-97.