Current Reading Feb 2017

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi 

Friday being the one day I try to get something posted, I'll give you the best I have right now...which happens to be the books I'm reading at any available time.

Starting at the lower right, The Power of Humility by R.T. Kendall is required reading for everyone in the worship department at church.  We're discussing it at choir practice, as are the other arts ministries.

Humility is not a popular subject, but, wow this book is good.  I'm about halfway through chapter 5, as I took it with me to a couple of dr appointments this week and read in the waiting room.  Chapter 4 was on wisdom, and it was an eye opener, to say the least, to see the connection between wisdom and humility so clearly laid out.

The second book,  The Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill Hull, is from Navigators and it's the textbook for my current class in the online Master's program.  It is rich.  It's also dovetailing nicely with the choir study, since...surprise...humility is a key part of discipleship.

In other words, my paradigms are getting punched one-two, left-right.

The cover on the discipleship book is curling badly; I couldn't get it to lay flat for the picture.  My Bible was laying on the table, too, so I used it to anchor the cover on the paperback and then realized that yes, it belongs in the picture, too.

I'm still plugging along on the 3 + 1 reading, although I did get a bit behind on the trip to Indiana for my dad's birthday last weekend.  But I have so far finished all the writings of John (Gospel, Epistles and Revelation) and I'm heading into Matthew.  I'm 1/3 of the way through Psalms and I'm well into Leviticus for the Old Testament.  This is a relatively new Bible,  so I've got my 4 color pen to hand and I'm marking as I go, which keeps me paying attention to what I'm reading so I don't fall into just skimming through.

But being a bit behind on the Bible reading and definitely behind where I want to be on the schoolwork, I'm pushing to catch up.  Other things that I want to do are, well, not getting done.

But it's just for a season...right?

Everything We Need

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I'm still whaling away at the Counseling class in my Master's of Ministry program.  I should've finished it by the end of January, so I'm behind.

The text for this class, however, is a deep word. I just can't charge through it.  It wants slow, considerate reading. And it keeps coming back to a basic text:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in this world caused by evil desires.  -- 2 Pet. 1:3-4

If I were doing the scripture memorization challenge this year, this passage would make my list.

I've been pondering it off and on as I've been reading...slowly...through the textbook.

Do I really believe I have everything I need for life and godliness?  What in my life shows that I do ...or do not...believe that?

But there are some sort-of qualifiers on that.  I have what I need through my knowledge of Him Who Called Me.  So if I don't have all I need, or don't believe I do, that's not a reflection of Him Who Called Me, it's a reflection of how much I have pursued knowledge of Him.

If there's something I feel like I need... either I don't really need it OR I'm pursuing it instead of pursuing the One who holds it.

Either way, I need to look at what I'm pursuing.