The 1st R

So let's keep talking about reading. I really need to create a bibliography of "books I want to read someday." Some way to keep track of the ever-expanding list. This list should be annotated, divided into categories, and perhaps even complete with capsule reviews.

What helps the most is other people's lists. Over at Together for the Gospel C. J. Mahaney has listed the books he's presently reading, and the books that have influenced him the most. From his "presently reading" list I choose 2 that I'd like to get my hands on:

The Cross He Bore, by Frederich S. Leahy. Yup, it's time for another book about the cross. Tim Challies says, "This short book is an invaluable treasure and I am certain that the reflections it contains will stay with me and come to heart and mind whenever I meditate upon the cross of Christ."

Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? Edited by Daniel Wallace and James Sawyer. Forward by Wayne Grudem. So that's two people I greatly admire who endorse this book. That's good enough for me.

By the way, speaking of C. J. Mahaney, I came across this Mahaney-quote at Jacob Hantla's blog, Think about These Things: "We like to feel deeply without thinking deeply. Let us think deeply so that we may feel deeply. What we care about most deeply is that which we think about most deeply."

And since we're talking about books, how about this Richard Baxter quote, which I've stumbled across twice in a few minutes of blog-surfing: "It is not the reading of many books which is necessary to make one wise, but the well-reading of a few, could they be sure to have the best."

Amen to that.