Reading and some books to recommend

The books on my table are piling up and despite my efforts to read them, this trajectory appears to be unstoppable. This is despite the fact that my pace of reading has picked up considerably and I've similarly become more attentive to absorbing as much as I can from my readings. I call it the Malthusian book dilemma - The number of books will grow in a geometric progression but the pace of reading can only grow in an arithmetic progression. :P With it my mum gets miffed at the mess the in my room, and i get miffed because my mum is miffed and I don't think i can finish my books to make my mum less miffed.

Of course, the situation is not as bad as it seems and really, my book collection has not become a librarian's dream come true... yet. But over the past few years, especially during my time in university, I've made a few observations about reading that I wish to share here.

1) its not how many books we read that matters, its how much we absorb from the reading.

2) choose our books wisely, whatever that is reflected on the pages often affects our thoughts and is played out in our lives. The books become a huge part of us. There is no clear segregation between narrative and living as some of us would wish to believe. that's why reading the bible is so fruitful and reading lousy books is so damaging.

3) Thus we must never read good books, we must read only the best! Just think about it this way, an average man reads 10 books cover to cover a year (I'm proposing a wildly optimistic statistic here since most chaps in the 21st century just simply do not read that many books), and he begins to read this much from say 20 years old. So for approximately 60 years, he would have read 600 books only. How many of them are comics, trashy novels .. etc. How many of them are the best and most meaningful literature that actually make a difference in our lives?

4) Contemporary books are not necessarily the best books available. we must search for books that stand the test of time and not those with nice flashy covers. A good way to find the best books is to ask for advice from friends we trust or to look at the bibliography of authors we know are worth reading ( see who inspires them and most certainly, they'll inspire us) . I'm pretty careful with modern books. For example, i will never buy a book that has a title like "How China will rule the world in 20 years" or " Church growth strategies for the 21st century". The china book will be part comedy in less than 10 years and the church growth book is probably a passing fad.

5) Know thy author. The book is a reflection of its author. Find out about the author before we commit to his book. This really helps in understanding if the book is good, and if it is, knowing the author makes the reading so much more meaningful.

6) Lastly, read them with prayer. No book should be read without putting them within the context of the wider plan of God. Every book I read, whether history, politics, economics and of course theological become deeply revealing when placed under prayer and the knowledge of a God who is sovereign and mankind who is deeply in need of a Saviour.

These are some of my thoughts on reading. Other than that, I would like to recommend some great books on the cross. Do read them if you have time. There is great joy and fruit in this endeavour :)

1) Living a Cross Centered Life by C J Mahaney
Its easy to read and really, its beautiful. For me the past week was dominated by the stuff this book discussed. It opened the bible for me again and thus I recommend this highly.

2) The cross of Christ by John Stott
its Stott's magnum opus because its discussion on the cross is deep and wide ranging. lots of referencing to be done.

3) The discipline of grace by Jerry bridges
I agree that the first 3 chapters of the book are worth re-reading for the rest of our lives

4) In my place, condemned He stood by J I Packer and Mark Dever
J I Packer's essay on atonement is fantastic and precise. Its Christ magnifying and I learnt a great deal indeed. The 1st and 2nd essay in particular are excellent.

Hope this blesses anyone who happens to pop by.

The gospel

"I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry" Don Carson

"We never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross."
David Prior

"Our consistent pursuit has always been to keep the gospel central in everything we do. We never assume that there's already sufficient understanding, appreciation, and experience of "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." C J Mahaney

"The gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough.... Moreover, our greatest task is to keep you faithful to this article and to bequeath this treasure to you when we die." Martin Luther

"Now I would remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you .... for I delivered to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE what I have also received: that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS"
Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church

I grew up learning much of the periphery around the cross. In fact, I thought the gospel was a very basic doctrine that had to be learnt and after which moved on from. But the past few years in particular had been particularly intense simply because God allowed me to see my error and had mercifully corrected me. I am now convinced that the gospel is indeed, of first importance- to be preached again and again until the day i die. Everything else should be expounded according to its relationship with the center. I am fully convicted of the fact that the deepest and most precious thing we learn about Christianity is the first thing we learnt about it upon conversion - that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS.

I believe that we would discover almost everything about eschatology(Revelations and all that) but we would spend our whole lives marvelling at the grace of God upon the cross. The cross will still demand eternal amazement and our hearts will learn an infinity about its beauty at every moment and yet realise that there is still so much more.

I was brought up with the periphery for much of my teenage life. As you might then suspect, I became really angry with the fact that no one taught me about the gospel. For so long I was taught to admire light emitted from light bulbs. No one put me through the bible to gape in wonder at the sun. It was by grace that I was led to the gospel, not just as an item of salvation but as the center of all theology. Till today, this alone, this illumination has made all the difference and I am exceedingly glad in Christ.

Oh give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name,
Make Known His deeds among the people
Pslams 105: 1

I lunged upon my easy chair and stared upward into the night sky. Having cast my eyes upon the vast black space, I drifted briefly into my thoughts. The past week had been more wonderful than I could have asked for. Having plucked my wisdom teeth, I was given 8 days of MC. Prior to that I had to reschedule this extraction twice, from december the year before to March and finally to late June. And throughout this week, He has shown me why He is indeed God alone.
While I thought and marvelled, I could sense my King's beckon and I scribbled this down on a note pad

Grace has called my name
My heart throbbed at His beckon
For my heart was no longer mine

The days of my MC allowed me to join a 24 hr prayer meeting with Cornerstone church. Chong Wei and Oliver came along and from 12 to 3 we joined with our brothers and sisters in prayer and it left me humbled at how the Lord was convicting His church to intercede. I was able to see my primers again for bible study because on tuesday, the day i had my teeth plucked out, Lee Min asked me to come and share on Luke 12 (i prepared for Luke 11 :P). And it was a joy to just talk about Jesus with them and I thank God that He kept me in His grace throughout. And then there was youth camp where rather unexpectedly, I could share the gospel with some youth. To be able to share the gospel! What joy to know that the Lord should give me the undeserved honour of talking about Him.

And to think I started the week, really sapped out. Really cranky in fact. And He gave strength to a weak spent out man so that we may know that He is indeed good and in supreme command!

What Grace! He has planned and determined it all along and now I must as Pslams 105 says, tell everyone of His good work.

Shall we praise Him even now? Can I encourage all who read this to just look back upon our lives and remember the mighty and good things He has done and bless His Holy name.

Grace has called my name
My heart throbbed at His beckon
for it is no longer mine.

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass wither, and the flower thereof falls away: But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you

1 Peter 1:24-25

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Pslams 103:15-18


I am a frail creature and the more I think about my life the more I am sure of it. With "Who am I" by Casting Crowns in the background, one can sense the mood of the moment.

Increasingly I see why its a joy to glory in one's weakness because it glorifies the cross. Why boasting in the cross is a great delight.

Anyway, am rushing back to camp.... :)

The next batch goes

So I thought to myself, " thats pretty saddening, ain't it?" and the truth of the matter began to hit home. Here I was, standing before an emptied Company line, looking up into the once-lively bunks of my recruits and feeling a distinct sense of nostalgia. Sentimentality has always been a great friend of mine, in fact, we are so close people gossip. Never liked to leave home without her really. Anyhow, another batch of Recruits had finished their short 2 month stay in our lovely resort and were embarking on their next adventure - into some dark and wet jungle, somewhere if not anywhere.

Of course, that had to mean abandoning me behind in this regimented disneyland. And seeing people come and go hardens one abit as well as saddens one continually. On one hand, the sadness depreciates as every batch leaves because I'm getting used to seeing them go. On the other side of the coin, I wonder if I'm destined to be with people only for a while and then watch them fly away. Take my BB Boys for example, I think many of us officers commit way loads of time to the Boys. The problem, of course, is that we aren't paid like teachers and we don't get to teach and meet the Boys everyday though many of us would want to meet them more often than the casual saturday. But we sacrifice tonnes and tonnes of time/money/friendships (you name it) during the week. But at the end of the day, I sometimes feel like a side dish, you know the french fries to the main course. Really adds to the flavour, but we can do without you.

So when I watched my BB Boys finish their term, I thought well, there they go, at least I was a stepping stone to their next stage in life. We worked with them toward their President's awards, their university placings, tuition them in subjects they were weak in and teach them the bible. The real joy was in seeing them grow closer to Christ. Certainly, some of them disappointed, some grew unexpectedly but the truth still remains, all of them moved on. But at the end of the day, there were few illusions, we were there so that they could learn about Jesus. Despite some of the ideas of what we had to be, I still strongly believe that we're there solely for their eternal good and not to raise the reputation of some organisation, or to play some tactical game to be the most well liked officer in the Company (which is crazy, because to be that sort of officer, you just had to be nice and teach an easy to swallow Jesus. ) Like my army Boys, who happen to be rather more grateful (perhaps its because I became like a teacher finally, I could have them everyday, 24/7 uninterrupted to teach them everything), after spending time together, its just time for them to get along with life and i just hope that they learnt a little abit about my God at the end of it.

The grand truth? well I would like to have them call me and talk to me or at least tell me how they all are, just once in a while, doesn't have to be too often really (not once every hour, once a day would be nice :P I'm kidding, just once in a while). Its sentimentality whispering in my ear really. But at the end of the day, hopefully, I was used by God to show more of Christ because people like myself, just happen to be stepping stones to Jesus Himself. I find myself very flawed and its easy to find my weak points. Yet its in my flawed nature that I know when God uses me, its a divine privilege and i just hope that when I meet God, He would become my prize.

So here I am staring at the bunks, the sadness has departed with the writing, I'm about to move on, but before that I am going to smile.

Gaping at giants

"Men go to gape at mountain peaks, at the boundless tides of the sea, the broad sweep of rivers, the encircling ocean and the motions of the stars; and yet they leave themselves unnoticed; they do not marvel at themselves" Augustine, Confessions

prayerless dogma

All of us are guided by dogma of some sort. We believe a certain set of beliefs to be self evident as the American constitutional writers so cleverly put it. We expect many people to agree and therefore share such common ground with us or at least to be willing to engage with us on these terms. They are basic assumptions about life that we regard to be objective and thus True, becoming core pillars of our entire worldview. More so, dogma is often believed rather than argued and its association with faith rather than logic in the epistemological realms set mental barriers to how they should be understood. They exist in every person and there is no naturalist, positivist or empiricist who is above dogma. In short, we are all beholden to dogma, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or may I add, Atheist.

Therefore, undoubtedly, all men are dogmatic in some form. The atheist insist that there is no God, though he is ultimately unable to prove it. But he insists upon it and thus shares in the same dogmatism that he accuses the Christian of possessing. Well the Christian is dogmatic about his fundamental truth assumptions, that God is omnipotent, omnipresent and He has manifested himself through the incarnation of His Son on earth. He too is unable to prove it but he shares it with an extraordinary passion because he believes it to be of cosmic importance. Certainly I agree with that, wholeheartedly in fact, but like the atheist, i find an aspect of Christianity very discomforting. That is as the title suggests - Prayerless Dogmatism.

The arrogance of the shallow and the humility of the deep.

I've often found an arrogance in the shallow and a profound humility in the deep. What do i mean by that? Very often, those who engage deeply in their subjects, and in this case christian doctrine are drawn to humility at the expense of their limitations. They are aware that beyond what Christ reveals to them, they are ill-able to discover on their own. What they do know, they hold firmly and humbly. When in conversation, they are prone to contemplate carefully, they do not have to name big names to state their point, for by sheer logic and careful consideration, their points are proven sufficient. There aren't many -isms in their speech.

Ultimately, the key mark of such humble and might I say intelligent men is their love for prayer. They engage with God and think within the comforts of His grace. What they shout in the pulpit is earned in prayer. What they've learnt over the years through the Word and their books has humbled them and they are aware of their limitations. I think of Leonard Ravenhill and Paul Washer and the throng of people who want to be like them. These throng scream and wail against problems in the church, expound theology like they're some expert and in imitation of Washer and Ravenhill, scold the flock. But here's the nub, do you share in Ravenhill's and Washer's prayer life? Do you want their dogma earned with prayer or do you just want to imitate their dogmatism?

Ironically, the shallow are prone to arrogance. They like the pulpits because it is elevated, they like to study theology because it makes them look rather smart. Yet they do not have a passion for the Lost or even if they do evangelise, they evangelise for numbers. They do not know the many deaths a pilgrim faces in prayer. They are dogmatic about their dogma without prayer and when we're like that we become arrogant. Reading the bible and books often, they do not have life. Why is that? They do not pray. They do not love prayer.

My recollection

My friends come from a varied spectrum of thought - and if you ask me honestly, I'm rarely bothered about whether they're Calvinist or Arminian (i could be shot for this). If they believe that man are liable for sin and that God is sovereign, i don't really bother too much. I'm interested in their views on Jesus, revival, prayer, humility and the state of the church. I'm interested if they believe the bible is the sole authority, sufficient for teaching unto salvation with the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to know if they want to have Jesus and die for it. I want to know if they want to preach this Jesus authentically to the dying world.

That is why despite some theological differences with my friends in India, I count them as brethren, in fact I'm very honoured if they count me as one of them. I remember their sacrifices, their prayers and I thank God for that. Their dogmatism is prayed over and over again and they breathe in it. Rather than those who walk around sprouting theological learning without prayer, who haven't given much thought to what they believe in, except that they like the cleverness of it all.

All theology is for doxology and with it comes humility and much prayer. Thats good dogma.

The mortality of humanity hangs like long hair over my eyes, occasionally irritating my vision and then brushed aside. Yet with the coming of every sunset and fading away of my years, the strands of hair creeps over my eyes and allow me to stare into the inevitable - that I would one day perish like the rest and sleep. Permanence has become a blessed luxury, for in the face of dying, nothing appears to last. So much that seems to be so important, amounts to no more than vanity.

Do not our short lives make plain the supremacy of your eternity O God? and should not our short lives stare humbly into the realms of forever and be drawn towards You for You have set eternity in our hearts? Deep calls unto deep at the sound of your waterfalls and how endless are the depths of your mercies that they do not run dry for all eternity! and how sweet the taste of your love that makes our love look like stale water against the fresh waters of a mountain brook.

O Lord, whilst I was in the army, you have shown me death and the fragility of life and I have pondered anew your mercies. How the pride of youth misplaced my attentions and how You have desired to free us from it. More time, more time, there is always more time, my youth calls out, but flowers and grass that do not last your Word announces violently to me.

I remember Your love in the nights and in the mornings I am awakened by Your whispers yet still I have brushed it aside so often! How much does eternity weigh O Lord? Is it not more than 5 more minutes of slumber? Is it not more than the pride of a moment? How can mortality boast as so many mortal man do in the face of an eternity in worship to God! Can we not do anything unless You have given us grace to do so?

Pride of Youth, Boastfulness, idleness... they stare foolishly and crookedly in the face of men and their ways are ways of death, but Your ways are humility and self denial and they are life everlasting. Teach me O Lord Your ways and I will follow, give me Your grace that I may do what you teach so that I may live to glorify You forever.