Created, Bought, Indwelled

Our body has not only been created by God and will one day be resurrected by him, but it has been bought by Christ's blood and is indwelled by his Spirit. Thus it belongs to God three times over, by creation, redemption and indwelling. How then, since it does not belong to us, can we misuse it? Instead, we honor God with it, by obedience and self-control. Bought by Christ, we have no business to become the slave of anybody or anything else. Once we were the slaves of sin; now we are the slaves of Christ, and his service is the true freedom.

-John Stott, The Cross of Christ

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Fail

Well, I don't know if this qualifies as and epic fail or just your everyday, run-of-the-mill fail, but I'm not going to reach my goal. I'm not too sad. Actually, I'm not sad at all. I am utterly emotionless.

I did get through a few more books and might read a couple more by the first of the year. Here are the books that I completed (sort of) since the last update:

• Shift: What it Takes to Finally Reach Families Today by Brian Haynes
• ApParent Privilege by Steve Wright
• ReThink by Steve Wright
• Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America by Martin Marty
• Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen
• God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitches [portion]
• According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy [portion]
• The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Shift, ApParent Privilege, and ReThink are all essentially the same book (I had to read them for a class). The only real difference is the intended audience: ApParent Privilege is for parents, ReThink is for youth/family pastors, and Shift is for both. All focus on the "family-equipping" model of family ministry in which parents are viewed as the primary disciple-makers of their children and the church is an equipping agent. The books are good, but if you read one, you read them all.

Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America was dry. Good information. Boring. If you are really interested in religion in America, check it out. Otherwise skip it.

Machen's Christianity and Liberalism is one of the best books I read this year. Although it was written over eighty years ago, it's incredibly relevant for today. You would benefit greatly from reading this book.

The next two books I did not read thoroughly, but I'm going to count them regardless. That's how I roll. God is Not Great is nothing more than a list of atrocities committed by religion wrapped up in delicious Christopher Hitchens verbiage.

According to Plan is masterfully written by Graeme Goldsworthy and is a simple introduction to biblical theology. Worth a look.

Finally, The Subtle Knife is the second book the Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series. The first book is The Golden Compass. Honestly I'm not quite done, but I only have a few pages left. Pullman is a great writer although his agenda is pretty bogus. Look him up if you want to know more.

With the titles listed above, the count stands at forty-three. And I am not going to read nine books by the end of the year. Fail.

Here are the others books I read this year:

• Bill Wallace of China by Jesse C. Fletcher
• Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton
• The Story of Christianity: Volume 2 by Justo Gonzalez
• Perspectives on Family Ministry by Timothy Paul Jones et al. 
• Humility by C.J. Mahaney
• Peacemaking for Families by Ken Sande
  The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
• The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 
• A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper 
• Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff 
• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges 
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis 
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Lifeby Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

Happy reading this holiday season!

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Aug/Sep Report

So, I put off updating you on my progress for a couple of months since I had not really finished any books at the end of August. But now I'm good. I'm going to be crunched to get all 52 in by the end of the year, but I should get close. Hopefully.

• Bill Wallace of China by Jesse C. Fletcher
• Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton
• The Story of Christianity: Volume 2 by Justo Gonzalez
• Perspectives on Family Ministry by Timothy Paul Jones et al. 
• Humility by C.J. Mahaney
• Peacemaking for Families by Ken Sande

Fletcher's biography of Bill Wallace is a decent read. Not the first biography I would pick up if I were in a biography mood though.

In contrast, Bainton's treatment of the life of Martin Luther may be the best biography that I have ever read. I would pick this biography up if I were in a biography mood.

The Story of Christianity is a simple, readable, two volume set of church history books. If you are interested in church history I would recommend the set. Gonzalez is a liberal which shines through at some points, but overall his treatment is endorsed by the faculty here at Southern.

Perspectives on Family Ministry is an unhelpful attack-fest by three people who want their individual family ministry model to be the coolest. If you are interested in family ministry types, don't read this book; the dialogue format does not do any of the models justice.

C.J. Mahaney's Humility is a quick read. It is very beneficial in thinking through exactly what "true greatness" is according to Scripture. I highly recommend it and I think that it would make an excellent book study or teaching opportunity.

Finally, Peacemaking for Families contains helpful information that is slightly disconnected from reality in its application. I would read it with that in mind.

So with these six books the count stands at thirty-five. Here are the books I have read not including the ones mentioned above.

• The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
• The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 
• A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper 
• Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff 
• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges 
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis 
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

129,864,880 Books: Time to Read

I have often wondered how many books I would have to read to read all of the books in the world. Obviously one lifetime wouldn't be enough.

Well, Google says there are 129,864,880. That's a lot.

Let's break it down a bit.

• The average individual in the U.S. lives to be 78.2. At that rate, the individual would need to read approximately 4,550 books a day from the cradle to the grave.
• Say an individual reads 10 books a year (which would be well above average), that person will have read about .0005% of all the world's books.
• At the pace of 52 books a year--the pace which I have set for myself for 2010--it would take 2,497,4013 years to read all of the books in the world.
• U.S. adults spend 200 billion hours watching TV a year. If 76% of Americans are over 18, that's about 886 hours of TV a year per U.S. adult. Say it takes 8 hours to read a book. If Americans all read instead of watched TV, each American could read approximately 110 books a year. At this rate, in a combined effort the U.S. adult population could read all of the books in the world in less than two days.

In summary, there's a lot of reading to do. Get at it.

Books vs E-Books

Ever wonder what the differences between books and e-books are? This graphic may provide some clarity:

(Click to enlarge)

I found this chart at the blog Knowbodies.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: July Report

Alright. I am up to twenty-nine.

• The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
• The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The top three books on the list were the conclusion of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series which I started last month. The final three books were as entertaining as the first two and Riordan ended the series strongly. I would very much recommend the set as they are fun, exciting, and even educational. 

Tozer's The Pursuit of God was a quick read. I have not read anything by Tozer in the past; I was not disappointed. His style is clear, concise, and convicting.

The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson is an important book for Christians in a modern context. Watson discusses the nature of sin and what it means to truly be repentant before God. The topic is one that does not get discussed all that often and yet is fantastically important in the life of the Christian. 

Finally, I read The Golden Compass. Philip Pullman is an outspoken atheist who claims to have written "His Dark Materials"--of which The Golden Compass is the first book--to offset Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia." I did not pick up on any themes that would cause me to think that the goal was being met; however, there may be more coming in the later installments. There was one blatant attempt to smear Scripture and its reliability, but ultimately I was left wondering how Pullman intended to achieve the offset. Regardless of Pullman's agenda, he produced an excellent story. He may be one of the most gifted authors that I have read this year.

Here are all of the other books I have read so far:

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 
• A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper 
• Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff 
• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges 
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis 
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

Old and Anxious

Taken from The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

"That's the duty of the old," said the Librarian, "to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old."

They sat for a while longer, and then parted, for it was late, and they were old and anxious.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: June Report

Four more books in June. That puts me at twenty-three for the year. And I have twenty-nine to read by December 31. No problem.

I could have capitalized a little more in June; my reading was light. Oh, well.

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

I really enjoyed Life of Pi. It is the story of a young Indian boy, Pi Patel, whose father is a zoo-keeper. He is thrown into extraordinary circumstances when his dad sells the zoo and all the animals and decides to pursue a new life in Canada. Shortly into the journey, the Japanese cargo ship, which Pi's family has selected for their travel, sinks and Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a orangutan, a hyena, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Not much time passes before Pi and the tiger are the only two left. Needless to say, Pi has to struggle to survive. It is written splendidly; Martel magnificently balances the weight of life-and-death circumstances with a light-hearted style. 

The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's book about a boy who thinks life is boring and meaningless. But when a tollbooth shows up in his living room he is destined to change his opinions. Through the tollbooth he goes on many adventures in places like "Dictionopolis" and "Digitopolis" and meets the likes of the "Watchdog," the "Humbug," and the "Spelling Bee." I am excited to read this book to my kids some day!

Finally, I began reading the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. The Lightning Thief  and The Sea of Monsters are the first two installments in the set of five. The books feature a boy, Percy Jackson, who is the son of a Greek god. In the Greek hero tradition, Percy has an immortal father and a mortal mother. He attends "Camp Half-Blood," a summer-camp for kids just like him. During his time at camp he meets other campers and some mythological creatures. Together they go on quests and fight monsters and do all kinds of cool mythological stuff. Riordan does an excellent job of integrating Greek mythology into modern life. The books are a lot of fun.

Again, the count stands at twenty-three. Earlier this year I read:

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 
• A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper 
• Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff 
• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges 
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis 
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

52 Books in 52 Weeks: May Report

Alright. I read seven books in May. They were:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson












Frankenstein by Mary Shelley












A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper












Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff














The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges











The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis












Paradise Lost by John Milton












Let's go in order. Gilead was a fantastic book. Set in Iowa, John Ames is an elderly pastor writing an account of his life so that he can pass it on to his very young son. Ames married a much younger woman late in life as his first wife died in child-birth many years before. He knows that he will have little opportunity to spend time with his son, so he writes out both current and past events for his son to glean from in the future. I cannot reccommend this book enough; it is magnificently written and uncommonly real.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a classic. I need not recommend classics. Time has written a much better recommendation.

A Sweet and Bitter Providence was a great read. Although very short, it offered a great deal of insight into the book of Ruth as Piper meditates on the God's providence as displayed in a Moabite's life. It would make an excellent companion to a study on Ruth.

Jonathan Acuff has a funny blog called Stuff Christians Like. It's free to read. The book was nothing more that the blog regurgitated. Leave this one on the shelf at the book store (Sorry, Jonathan).

The Practice of Godliness is a great book about just what the title says: practicing godliness. God has commanded Christians to be godly, and you don't become something unless you practice. Bridges discusses practical ways to foster godliness in one's life ultimately being driven by a devotion to God.

C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters is so fantastically creative. I loved reading it. And it really caused me to think about the reality of the straight and narrow path. On one side you have blantant sin and unrepentance, but on the other you have self-righteouness and unbridled religiosity. In his letters to Wormwood, Screwtape is not picky about which the patient succumbs to. And as always, Lewis is an utter delight to read.

Paradise Lost: I must admit this was not a thorough read, but I really wanted to refamiliarize myself with Milton's work as Mary Shelley cited it as her primary inspiration for Frankenstein. And of course it is fantastic literature that is referrenced thousands of times in thousands of works.

Ok, so I am up to nineteen for the year I believe. My earlier reads include:

• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

Support Artists

"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the alter of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."

-Yann Martel

'Author's Note'

Life of Pi

Quoting Satan

Have you ever seen this bumper sticker?

Well, I'm reading Paradise Lost right now and I keep thinking that this quote is going to pop up somewhere. Satan gets way more words in Paradise Lost than he does in the Bible, so if it was going to be anywhere I would guess that it would be in Milton's work.

I imagine the quote going something like this:

"Whence and what are thou, execrable Shape,
That dar'st, through grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates? Through them I mean to vote pro-choice,
That be assured, without leave asked of thee."

Of course in this passage "vote pro-choice" is a simple indicative, not the imperative that the bumper sticker would have you believe. But I think that the people who thought up the bumper sticker aren't all that concerned with context.

Oh, and I don't think that any pro-choicers are going to be dissuaded of their current position because someone's car was garnished with a made-up quote from Satan designed to lambaste their beliefs. That's just silly.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: April Report

I managed to finish five books in the month of April. Here they are:

• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper

All of these books were good, but I would hardly recommend sitting down and reading through all of them. The How and Why of Love and Evangelical Ethics were both books about ethical issues facing the Christian today. I would recommend reading the introductory chapters which deal with constructing a proper lens to view ethical issues through, but the discussions of the actual issues themselves are good to have as a resource, not to ingest in one sitting.

Biblical Interpretation is another good resource. But like the others, don't sit down and plow through the 600 pages. It is utterly dry and tedious. It is good to have on hand though as a history of the interpretation of Scripture.

How to Read a Book was a very helpful book. I found the discussion about assessing a book and giving it the time that it is worth quite profitable. Often times I plunge into a book without thinking much about the nature or quality of the book. This is an error and will hopefully be corrected as I seek to become a more active reader.

Finally, Desiring God is, hands down, the best book I have ever read. I encountered it for the first time five years ago and I did not realize the immense impact it has had on my perspective and world view. Reflecting on the discussions in the book for the second time was incredibly beneficial. I identify myself fully as a Christian Hedonist.

So, I am at twelve books now for 2010. Forty more doesn't seem like that big of a deal. In addition to the books listed above, I have read:

• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

52 Books in 52 Weeks: March Report

Well, we're a solid 12 weeks into 2010. I still don't think that I am behind to reach my goal; I'm reading several books right now that will pop up on the April and May reports.

I did complete two books this month.

• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein

Both of these books I would recommend. They can be a little dry; Stein's book is a little less like a textbook. However, Blomberg's intertestamental material is quite good and he is more readable than your average textbook. If you are looking for help understanding how the gospels harmonize and why the evangelists included what they did in their accounts, then these two books would be worthwhile reads.

That brings my total up to seven. Here are the other books from last month's report:

• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

Again, I am not really behind especially considering the fact that this summer I plan on doing some light reading which always goes quicker; I will set aside the 600 page bombs for a couple of months at least.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: February Report

The only resolution I made this year was to read 50 books. I am going to go ahead and up that number to 52 to make it a book a week.

So, I figured that I will update you at the end of each month as to how I am doing with my goal and to give you recommendations based on my reading.

So far, there have been about nine weeks in 2010 and I have completed five books (don't worry, I am not behind as I am currently working on about five or six other books which should be close to completion by March's end).

In 2010 I have read:

• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

I would recommend all of these books, but not equally. Pilgrim's Progress is an absolute must read for all Christians and a book everyone should have in their library. This is my second time reading it and I was struck again by its how insightful it is on every level. I would check out each of the others as well, but I want to encourage reading Leithart's Deep Exegesis. It is a very good read if you are interested at all in biblical interpretation (which you should be).

There you have it. More to come at the end of March.

Amazon's Commentary on Culture

If you want to see a great commentary on our culture, take a look at Amazon's 100 Best Books of 2009: Customer Bestsellers.

Here are a few observations from the list:

• The largest genre of books are those concerning weight loss.
• Glenn Beck has two books in the top twenty.
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is number 13.
• Richard Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth is number 68.
• Bruce Metzger's successor, Bart Ehrman, managed to slip another irrelevant historical Jesus book onto the list at 82.
• Self-help books seem to still be popular. As long as people have problems, they will buy these by the truckload.
• Three Cups of Tea is probably the only book that I would read from this list, although I would probably not read the young reader's edition which is the only version that made the list.

Foreword Thinking

The easiest way to get your name on the cover of a book is to write a foreword. And you don't even have to be an expert on what the book is about; you just have to say some nice things about the book and its author then shamelessly plug your own work.

I am going to make business cards that say:

Caleb Drahosh
Foreword Writer

Maybe I'll win some free lunches along the way.

My 401k

I decided to retire. I cashed out my 401k and bought some books: BDAG, 1-3 John, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek, and Adopted for Life.


A sound investment. And money left over to help with rent.

The Only Burned-Over Area

Taken from Tell the Truth by Will Metzger

The fire of God's wrath has touched down at one particular point in history. And when it did, it utterly consumed a man as he hung on a cross. It did not burn a large area, but finalized God's work of judgment. The fire of God's wrath will come again in history. This time it will consume the whole earth. Will there be any place to hide? Only on the hill where that cross stood, where the fire has already burned. A person is forgiven if he identifies with Christ who on the cross bore God's judgment for sins. Jesus Christ is our burned-over area, the only safe hiding place.

Book Slaying

Writing a book critique becomes similar to slaying orcs while listening to The Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

Seminary Books

Rebekah and I just bought some of our books for the semester.

Here are the numbers:

Total: 23 books
Total cost: $536.17
Cost per book: $23.31 (sweet deal, the campus bookstore hooks us up)
Total pages: 8906
Pages per book: 387
Largest book: 1059 pages
Smallest book: 79 pages
Estimated library growth: 7%
Books left to buy this semester: 9

Now to reading them...