Month: September 2020

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Monday, September 30, 2020, by devadmin

To help you with this journey, I’ll start by clearing up several questions that popped into my head:

• What is meant by “good” literature?
• How does a person get started?
• Will any book do?
• If not, what criteria for choosing should a person use?

The definition used by the National Endowment for the Arts will help us.  The NEA asks, “What is literary reading?”  Answer: “It is the reading of novels, short stories, poetry, or drama in any print format, including the Internet.” Therefore, any type of reading, from romance novels to classical poetry, works for our purposes.[1]

The harder question is, “What is meant by ‘good’?” Does “good” refer to an interesting story with good character development? Could it be describing an exciting thriller, an intriguing mystery, or a compelling drama packed with great suspense and adventure?  Certainly, all of these things make reading fun and interesting, but they don’t necessarily make it “good.”  The “good” that I am talking about is “good” in the moral sense.

In, Philippians 4:8, Paul writes, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
If you want to find a “good” book, look for a book that will help you achieve the thought-life that Paul describes above. Paul sets this standard for whatever enters your mind, but I’m suggesting that you start by applying this standard to your reading material. commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.”

Now that we’ve defined good, let’s be deliberate and thoughtful in our pursuit of it.

Raymond Tallis describes deliberate action as an essential part of our humanness, “At the heart of our exceptional nature… is that we are explicit creatures who do things deliberately.  This transforms every aspect of our lives. It lies at the root of so many things that we guide, justify, and excuse…”[2]

Today is your opportunity to make an exceptional choice. Choose today to become an “explicit creature.” Look for books or stories that are good, true and beautiful. Follow Paul’s advice and actively search for the commendable.

To help along these lines, I recommend looking for books written before the 1920’s. I am not saying there are no modern “good” books, but in the past century the literary field has become cluttered.Today, there are so many sources – eBooks, self-published novels, academic literature, that it is much more difficult to distinguish the good from the bad, or the ugly.There are literally thousands of good books from every age. However, I want to help you gain an easy victory.

I want to encourage you to pick up a classic. Start by trying a book by Defoe, Cooper, Dickens, Hugo, Alcott, or one of the Bronte sisters.

Also, sample the book by looking at the preface, author’s note or epigraph (which is the quotation or motto often placed at the opening of a chapter in older literature, designed to give insight into what the book is about). For example, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” is the epigraph from Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (1873).

This epigraph, taken from Romans 12:19 which in turn is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35, gives you, as a reader, insight into the author’s moral perspective. This is worth noting because Tolstoy is providing his readers with a hint. He has created an intriguing and dynamic story about husbands, wives, lovers and enemies, yet he is opening the door to God’s moral presence. Tolstoy is trying to entice you with a comment straight from God’s mouth. He wants you to accept a worldview that gets its focus from God’s vantage point.

We also get to see into our author’s worldview in the author’s preface. In the typical preface, the author has the opportunity to express his thoughts, ideas and desires. He may even allude to details about a character that might come from another story or book. This will help set the scene and flavor of the piece with more accuracy than the back-cover or jacket-flap. The back-cover is designed to entice you to buy the book. It is not necessarily designed to inform you about the real story, the author’s goals, or his moral intentions. Remember, we should be looking for books that are morally “good,” not books that only have tantalizing cover-art.

As another example, here is the entire preface to Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (1887) :

“So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.”[3]

In one paragraph, (actually, one long sentence) Hugo has informed the reader of his goals. Hugo’s challenge is directly to you: are you willing to awaken your soul to its natural abhorrence to injustice, class damnation, corruption, poverty and ignorance?

If so, this will be a “good” book for you, but you must be willing to be an “explicit creature.”  You must be willing to weigh your effort, in deliberately finding a “good” book, against God’s Word to measure your success. Remember, our goal is to find real goodness, truth and beauty in the book we choose to read. Victor Hugo writes later in Les Misérables that, the “conscience is the chaos of chimeras, of lusts, and of temptations; the furnace of dreams; the lair of ideas of which we are ashamed; it is the pandemonium of sophisms; it is the battlefield of the passions.”[4]

It’s incredible how well authors like Victor Hugo can bring light to evil and give us cause to rejoice in good, awakening our often chaotic consciences through compelling stories and Biblically-based truth. Astoundingly, more than a century after it was written, Les Miserables continues to captivate us with its story of sacrificial love, honor and justice. Stories are a powerful medium for truth, and through deliberate pursuit of “good” literature do we discover those stories that, as Hugo rightly predicted, cannot fail to be of use.

So, this week, here is your challenge: pick up a book that will challenge your soul. Make the deliberate choice to read something morally uplifting, both to you and to those you discuss it with

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Friday, September 30, 2020, by devadmin

In my last article: Finding Good in Classic Books I encouraged you to read a classic book as a way of thoughtfully pursuing things that are “good” in a Godly and eternal sense. One of the books I recommended was Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which was recently released to movie theaters as a musical. The success of the movie demonstrates the power of the original story, and in this post, I want to make a case for reading the book as well, because I think that taking the time to read the story will grant you even more insight and fulfillment, rather than simply seeing the film alone.

Yes, the book is more than 150 years old, and it weighs in at 1500 pages – but the eternal themes and the incredible story make Les Misérables one of the best dramatic and romantic novels ever written. Les Mis is a perfect example of what makes a classic story a “classic.”

In Les Misérables, the transcendent themes come alive through the art of story-telling. These themes are eternal because they are not bound by the here and now; they are the self-evident truths that transcend time and technology – they remind us that “eternity is written in our hearts” (Eccl. 3:11) and that God reveals himself in part through the world around us. (Romans 1:20)

This will be easy for you to recognize as you start the story. Hugo tells us that, “Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. Facts form one of these, and ideas the other.”^[1]  Throughout his novel, Hugo delivers the ideas: moral principles inherent in our God-given natures, juxtaposed with the facts:the specific circumstances in which we find ourselves. Therefore, the focus of Les Mis becomes a story of balance – how does one proceed through life while holding both facts and ideas; while weighing good and evil?

As we also struggle to hold facts and ideas in balance, I suggest that we use this classic story to train our minds, as suggested in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” As we read Les Misérables, it’s easy to identify God’s principles. For example:

Single Parenthood – “The father of her child gone… she found herself absolutely isolated, minus the habit of work and plus the taste for pleasure.”^[2] (Prov 21:16-17)

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin Thursday, September 30, 2020, by devadmin

I was recently elected as a County Commissioner (a.k.a. County Supervisor) in South Central Oregon, and in the process, had become interested in the ideas that forged our Nation’s Constitutional Republic. Although most of us are familiar with the names of our founders – Jefferson, Adams, Washington, etc., and even know a few important dates – have you ever read any of their original writings?

I hadn’t either, until I decided to investigate, and I was amazed and fascinated by what I found. Biblical truth tied with careful thinking dominates the pages of these older books. The technological limitations of the day (the feather quill, ink-pot and blotter) forced these writers to craft their arguments far in advance of taking their seat at the writing stand. This seeming hardship actually created a bounty of well-reasoned writing.

Today, we perhaps rely too much on our technologies. Our reliance has led to complacency and laziness because we have allowed technology to invade our humanness and our thought-life is suffering. Sometimes I fear that we don’t think through our beliefs carefully enough, or work out our worldviews with solid logic and reasoning, and we are thus unprepared for the attacks of modernism and post-modernism on our faith and life.

Therefore, my goal is to mine these older books to help bring Biblical reality and careful thinking back into our hectic lives. God’s truth is all around us and it is evident in literature from every age. For example, here is a piece of advice from Benjamin Franklin, written in 1733:

“Reading makes a full man – meditation a profound man – discourse a clear man.” [1]

Consider for a moment, how closely Franklin’s advice follows Biblical principles – read, meditate, discuss, share and live out. For example:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”    (Joshua 1:8)

Or,

“You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.”    (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

Certainly, our Lord cares about what we read. Otherwise, why read the Bible and not Hustler magazine? This website is called “Trochia” ( trociav) and most of you are familiar with its definition. It is the New Testament Greek word for a path, like the track of a wheel, or figuratively, a course of conduct. Our conduct will be influenced by our thought-life and our thought-life by what we ingest in various forms of media, such as good books (or, not-so-good magazines).

The Old Testament Hebrew equivalent to “trochia” is “derek” ( Krd ) meaning way, behavior,  journey, conduct, deeds, direction, routes, lifestyle and destiny. It is used in Deut. 6:7: “as you walk along the road.” This is the essence of our journey. Our calling is to think and live beyond the mundane. It is a moral, decision-making journey and there are God-given principles we should be following.

God has called each of us into unique positions, both as individuals and as members of the church. “Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.” (I Cor 7:17)

Whether you are a programmer, plumber or paralegal, each of us is in a unique situation with uncommon relationships and exclusive conversations. This is Martin Luther’s powerful concept of vocation, but it is not the mundane world of work. Instead, it is a calling to relationships.

Consider your relationships – family, friends, co-workers, service providers, kids in the neighborhood.  No other person will encounter the myriad of unique individuals that you will. This is your “calling.” It is God requesting your life’s commitment.

This “calling” brings me back to my fascination with old books, and with improving our thought-life through meditation, reading and discourse. Only through careful thought can we truly impact those relationships, for as 1 Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Let’s take the time to read and think carefully about what we’ve read. Ask questions of yourself and wonder. Wonder out loud – discuss your ideas with others.

Over the next several weeks, I will continue thinking about authors, books, and how beautifully matched we are to the calling that God has given us. I’m suggesting God’s glory is all around us and that we will discover it more readily if we listen to old Ben Franklin, who, in turn, was listening to God’s counsel, “Reading makes a full man – meditation a profound man – discourse a clear man.”

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin sunsday, september 30, 2020 by devadmin

In my last article about Biblical Truth and Careful Reading, I wanted to spark your interest in good books, authors, and your own personal meditation on the things that you read. God’s glory is all around us and we can discover it more readily if we read, meditate, discuss, share and live according to Biblical principles.

In Romans we read that God’s glory can be clearly seen throughout the world. The Apostle Paul writes:

“… because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

If this is a true claim, that, “God is not hidden and God’s invisible attributes can be seen,” then it seems that Scripture is telling us that God is able to be discovered, so finding Christ in every facet of our lives shouldn’t be as hard as we might think.

Could it be that Biblical truth is, indeed, everywhere? Could it be that you and I are simply unfocused or too distracted to see it?

Our culture is constantly bombarding us with ungodly messages via the Internet, TV, magazines and movies, so becoming distracted is all too easy. One of the ways that I think we can learn to look for the divine in the midst of the seemingly mundane is by measuring our Biblical knowledge through our reading. Reading quality literature allows us to turn our focus back towards those things that are true, good, and beautiful. You might be wondering, how? And, why books?

When reading a book, you are in charge. You become the director; you control the flow, tempo, volume, and texture of the voices. The author provided the details, but you’re in charge now. You get to tell the story. Think of a story told in movie, or video format. It will be told through the director’s eyes. It will be told with the speed, tempo and music that he envisions.

When you read a book that connection becomes your intimate opportunity. You gain control. You get to slow down, meditate and reflect on the characters in the story, and this is extremely important. This is where we avoid conforming to the patterns of this world and become transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). Our desire should be to fit every loose thought, emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). You can accomplish this by using God’s Word to help focus your mind as you contemplate what you’ve read.

After you’ve read a bit, stop and think about the characters, their circumstances and their interactions. Why did they say what they said? What decisions were made and why? How do you see God working in the story, even when there is no allusion to God’s active involvement? Do you see honor, integrity, or fallenness?

Take for example, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, a story oft mistaken as a children’s book. In the very first chapter, our hero describes his dilemma, “in which I do not heed my father’s advice”:

“[Facing perplexing circumstances] …my head began to be filled very early with rambling thoughts… my inclination… led me so strongly against the will, nay the commands of my father, and against all the entreaties of my mother and other friends…

“But one day… I went casually, and without any purpose… I consulted neither father or mother… without asking God’s blessing, or my father’s, without any consideration of circumstances or consequences, and in an ill hour, God knows.”

Now, in your mind’s eye, try to recall memories that echo these circumstances – self-centered desire and will, wise counter-counsel, obstinacy or casual enticement without appropriate consideration. Are these events similar, or dissimilar, to anything you’ve experienced? Do these words describe a friend or family member’s recent situation?

Defoe’s crisp moral insights provide us with a timeless perspective encased in an engaging story. In fact, these paragraphs could easily be used to describe any of us in high school, or college. Or, maybe these words fit an episode in your life where you are currently perplexed.

Our goal should be to interpret what we read through a Biblical framework. We should think critically about the stories we hear and read through the prism of God’s Word.

For example:

Can you relate these paragraphs to any Bible verse?
Any from the New Testament?
Any from the Old Testament?
In your reading, do you recognize characters that relate positively to Biblical truth?
Do you find any encouragement in the realization that others have faced the same spiritual struggles that we face today? (Young Crusoe, in the mid-1600’s, faced dilemmas familiar to each of us.)
Your thoughts are worth sharing and discussing. Are you willing to engage others?
Even young Crusoe meditates on his experience, which I’m sure many of us can relate to, and he recounts his thoughts, as follows:

“I began now seriously to reflect upon what I had done, and how justly I was overtaken by the judgment of Heaven for… leaving my father’s house, and abandoning my duty; all the good counsel of my parents, my father’s tears and my mother’s entreaties came now fresh into my mind, and my conscience, which… reproached me with the contempt of advice, and the breach of my duty to God and my father.”

By reading a fictional story about a headstrong young man and his adventures at sea, I found pieces of wisdom regarding thoughts that I could take captive to Christ. These observations, in turn, become powerful reminders of my own personal journey as a believer.

I challenge you to give it a try with a good book. Endeavor to see Him in everything. Try using literature as a tool for focusing your thoughts and looking for God’s glory in all things. Then, watch and see how your view of the world changes. Your journey, relationships and conversations should reflect transformative qualities when seen in the light of His attributes.

In my next post, I’ll help you walk through more of these truths by using other illustrations from timeless literature. Along the way, remember to share your thoughts with others, as we continue this journey together, discovering the mind of Christ in all that we encounter.