The Berean Bookclub: Recent Episodes
Francois Pauw & Conrad Rheeder
The Berean Bookclub is a monthly podcast where we discuss books by Saints, both dead and alive, to see what they have to teach us and the church today and hopefully spur us on to love Christ more.
In this fourth episode of season three, we chat through "Can We Trust The Gospels" by Peter Williams. The four gospels have regularly been put under the microscope in order to determine whether they can be trusted. In this book, Peter Williams presents the evidence in a comprehensive, clear and accessible way. "Can We Trust The Gospels?" is a must-have on your bookshelf. And, as always, well worth a read.
In this fifth episode of Season 3, we discuss "Raising Confident Kids in a Confusing World" by Ed Drew. This book offers Christian parents insights on grounding their children's identities in Christ and the implications for engaging with topics like gender, sexuality, and body image.
Joining me in this episode is my lovely wife, Jessica, and we share some of the practical applications for parenting that we gained from Ed's book.
Ed Drew will be in South Africa this June, speaking at St Stephen's Church in Claremont on June 12th and at Emmanuel Church in Belleville on June 13th. For more information, click the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=444346728227024&set=pcb.444347718226925
In this fourth episode of season three, we chat through "Can We Trust The Gospels" by Peter Williams. The four gospels have regularly been put under the microscope in order to determine whether they can be trusted. In this book, Peter Williams presents the evidence in a comprehensive, clear and accessible way. "Can We Trust The Gospels?" is a must-have on your bookshelf. And, as always, well worth a read.
In this episode, we discuss why a book like this might be helpful for us today, how to think about the 'historical bias' of the gospel writers, the significance of external and internal evidence for the gospels, and the meaning of the undesigned coincidences in the gospels.
In this third episode of season three, we chat through C. S. Lewis' "The Inner Ring". Originally a lecture he gave at King's College University of London in 1944, Lewis describes the existence of the unseen social circles around us and warns about the dangers of our insatiable desires to enter into them. Later transcribed and published as an essay, this piece by Lewis is honest, challenging and incredibly insightful. As always, well worth a read.
In this episode, we discuss what exactly an 'Inner Ring' is, what our desires to enter them may result in, and how we might avoid the dangers of relentlessly pursuing the Inner Ring.
In this second episode of season three, we chat through Randy Alcorn's "Managing God's Money," exploring some foundational principles of financial stewardship and biblical perspectives on money. In his book, Alcorn covers key concepts addressing topics such as cheerful giving, contentment, eternal rewards, debt and more. This book is challenging, freeing and incredibly practical. Definitely well worth a read.
In this episode we discuss God's ownership of all resources and the shift from being owners to stewards, how money is not the root of all evil and the principle of working for eternal rewards.
In this first episode of season three, we chat through Hannah Hurnard's book: Hind's Feet on High Places
In this allegory, Hurnard writes of the Christian life as a journey from the valley up onto the high places. Perhaps a little less known than its counterpart The Pilgrim's Progress, Hind's Feet on High Places has breathtaking insights into sorrow, suffering, inadequacy, doubt, trust and many other aspects of the Christian life. What it lacks in popularity it holds in value, making it a hidden gem in the truest sense. It's an exhilarating journey, well worth the read.
In this episode, we discuss the best companions for a journey up to the high places, a rare flower to be found along the way, and a magnificent waterfall which calls for a closer look.
In this episode of the Berean Bookclub we chat through Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey.
In this book Ramsey wants his readers to learn to love art through the eyes of faith. There is only one way in which he tries to do this: by showing that there is beauty in brokenness. Through ineradicable storytelling skills, he traces the lives and art of 9 different artists through the ages, showing how the brokenness of their lives, families, situations and selves produces art which points toward the beauty in God their art longs to capture. Along the way, he teaches us a way of engaging with art - of Christians and non-Christians - which helps us to deeply appreciate these masterpieces as part of our lives before the Lord. This makes it a book well suited for both the art novice and the critic.
In this episode we speak through neglecting the pursuit of beauty for pursuing what is true or good, how beauty is the application of goodness and truth, how there is beauty in brokenness, how brokenness points toward a beauty outside of itself, how our creativity is borrowed and dependent on one another, why we need one another to create, how Michelangelo's 'David' is a testimony to a decaying world and why vulnerability is necessary for beauty.
In this episode of The Berean Bookclub we chat through Songs of Suffering by Joni Erickson.
This book walks through 25 songs which have accompanied Joni through what seems to be a lifetime of suffering. Along the way, she not only offers personal reflections on the place these songs have had in her own suffering, but reflects on the place of suffering in our lives, the purposes for which God allows suffering and the place which song has to lift our eyes to Jesus in the midst of suffering. In this book, Joni marries two of her great loves: Jesus and song. This makes it not only a sobering reflection on suffering but an incredibly practical read which seeks to equip us to love Jesus through song in the midst of suffering.
In this episode we speak through the value of memorizing God's promises through song and the place of this in suffering, how orchestrated sufferings by the master vine-dresser are an essential part of abiding in Jesus, how to press into suffering rather than fight against it, how to speak about our suffering without creating more anxiety and fear, the ability of suffering to choke out our gratitude, the power of focusing on Jesus cross rather than our own crosses, the beauty of not regaining what was lost through our suffering and trusting God to conform us to the image of Christ through our suffering.
In this episode of The Berean Bookclub, we chat through The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax.
In this book, we walk along a path with Trevin Wax as he makes a case for why pursuing ancient orthodoxy is a thrilling adventure. He puts forth Orthodoxy as a way of life which fuses our actions with what we believe in a way which is thrilling, humbling and life-giving. This is a book which is hard to walk away from without a renewed hunger for knowing God.
In this episode, we speak through some of the concerns folk have with pursuing doctrine, why conflict around truth should be expected, how we as Christians have tended to respond to doctrinal conflict by withdrawing or accommodating, why following Jesus is not only about what we believe or only about how we act, how the pursuit of knowing God is an expression of love, how pursuing something greater than ourselves is thrilling and how pursuing orthodoxy is able to change us.
In part two of this first episode of season two of the Berean Bookclub we chat through Strange New World by Carl Trueman. We continue our journey with Trueman to understand how the modern man has come to think about himself, and how we have come to understand our identities. Looking at various thinkers through the years, considering how they have shaped our cultures and the way we think. If you are feeling confused about the strange new world you find yourself in right now this book helps us make sense of it, see how we're complicit in it and hopefully bring us to a place where we can talk about it a little better. In this episode, we speak through how we have come to understand psychology primarily in sexual categories: how Freud defines humanity through sexual desire and happiness, how sexuality is ingrained in modern identity markers, Freud's explanation for societies' regulation of sexual desires; how sex has moved into the political sphere: why sexual codes are perceived as oppressive, the need to overthrow any authorities which impose sexual codes, why the states must be the ones to facilitate the change, the personal offence inevitable in disagreements and how the gospel offers a hopeful alternative to expressive individualism.
In part one of this first episode of season two of the Berean Bookclub we chat through Strange New World by Carl Trueman.
In this book, we take a journey with Trueman to understand how the modern man has come to think about himself, and how we have come to understand our identities. He does this by looking at various thinkers through the years, and explaining how they have come to shape our cultures and the way we think. Not only does he look at people like Marx, Nietzche and Oscal Wild, but he also considers technology and economics and how they have contributed to how we think about ourselves. If you are feeling confused about the strange new world that you find yourself in right now this book helps us make sense of it, see how we're complicit in it and hopefully get us to a place where we can talk about it better.
In this episode, we speak through how it has come to be that our inner feelings are the most important part of us; how religion, the state and families have come to have less influence on what we believe to be right and wrong; what a world looks like that has moved from external communal authorities to internal individual authorities and the effect this has on the church and inter-generational discipleship.
In this twelfth episode, we chat through an advent devotional by John Piper: Good News for Great Joy
In this devotional, Piper builds up to Christmas with 25 devotional reflections, each with one express purpose: to kindle affection for Christ this Christmas. Piper reflects on an array of themes from sin and freedom to God's sovereignty and humiliation. These 25 reflections certainly have had the ability to achieve their intended purpose for us this Christmas.
In this episode, we discuss the benefit of following the church calendar, the hopefulness of Jesus' birth, Jesus' humiliation displayed at his birth and the danger of being indifferent to the Christmas story.
Quotes
"Yes, God could have seen to it that Jesus have a room at his birth, But that would have been a detour off the Calvary road."
“Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really hopeful. But which is better? The hopefulness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom actually step around the corner?
That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our high priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing: Mom stepping around the corner of the aisle and all the relief and joy that gives to a little child.”
“Christmas is for freedom—freedom from the fear of death. Jesus took our nature in Bethlehem to die our death in Jerusalem—all that we might be fearless in our city today.”
In this eleventh episode, we chat through Dustin Benge's book: The Loveliest Place. In this book, Dustin Benge encourages us to see the Church not through all its faults and failures but rather through the eyes of God. It is filled with an extended meditation on the church's place in God’s heart, primarily displayed in Christ's life-giving death for his bride. He goes on to encourage us to see the implications for how we talk and interact with the church both visible and invisible. This book is an encouragement to the soul for both those who are tired and disillusioned with the church and those who are actively involved in her work — a recommended book for all.
In this episode, we discuss the disillusionment we sometimes feel with the church, what it means to see the church through God's eyes, the Spirit as the one who beautifies the church and the roles of the bible, baptism and the Lord's Supper in making the church beautiful.
Quotes:
“It’s for all those who sometimes struggle to see those qualities in her. If you tirelessly serve within her ministries while dismayed by her apparent failures, or have rare, unsustainable glimpses of her beauty, this book is for you. The singular goal is to awaken your affections. Not affections for form, methodology, structure, organization, or programs, but affections for who she is and why she exists.”
"The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross—the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. His cross makes her beautiful. His perfection makes her beautiful. It is his sacrificial, substitutionary, sinless blood that washes her garments as white as snow. The cross of Christ makes her beautiful not only inwardly by justification but also outwardly through sanctification. From giving second birth to final glory, the righteousness of Christ creates a beautiful church."
"God doesn’t begrudgingly give himself to the church. He doesn’t bemoan the home he has made among us. He doesn’t regret pursuing us with his everlasting love. God delights to make the church his household and makes her beautiful by his presence among her. She can unwaveringly trust that the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:3–4)."
"In Paul’s meticulous description of Christ’s church, he is saying to Timothy that once God’s truth is removed from the church, her humanly devised structures, programs, and purpose for existing will collapse. The truth given to us through Scripture is the pillar and buttress of the church, having the same authority, relevance, and sufficiency as God himself, for the Bible is his divine breath."
"This book has essentially served as a visit to the sacred chambers where Christ dwells alone with his church. We have been led into the inner workings of the triune God as he rescues and sanctifies a people and makes them fit for his glory. Here, we are called his friends, his bride, his possession, his children, his house. Here, we can call him our Father, our Friend, our Savior, our Head, our Helper, and our Beautifier. Within these chambers, the church is robed in beauty, arrayed in loveliness, and set upon a path of lifelong adoration, intimate fellowship, selfless service, and gospel proclamation."
In this tenth episode of The Berean Bookclub, we talk through a book by A. W. Tozer called The Pursuit of God
Tozer, born in the 1890s and died in the 1960s, was a pastor and author best known for a burning concern that the Church lose sight of what it means to pursue God and instead pursue the things of this world. In this book Tozer opposes the idea of merely knowing about God, showing that the Christian life is a pursuit of God not only to know him but also to experience him.
In these ten chapters Tozer considers what this pursuit might look like, the things which stand in the way of this pursuit, how we understand God's presence in this pursuit, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and how we reconcile secular work with this sacred pursuit. In a tangible way, Tozer calls us to run hard after God and shows us how to do so. It's a book which challenges what it means to truly follow Jesus, it challenges our desires for God and tests the way we think about experiencing God.
In this episode we discuss our proneness to gather up stuff for ourselves which keeps us from God, experiencing far-ness from God, how our self-love may keep us from experiencing God, the necessity and pain of dying to self and union & communion with God.
Quotes
"The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution."
"Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal, there will be those who will delight to offer an affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them. Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and gentleness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, “Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.”
"Lord, how excellent are thy ways, and how devious and dark are the ways of man. Show us how to die to our selfish desires, that we may rise again to newness of life. Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down as thou didst rend the veil of the temple. We would draw near in full assurance of faith. We would dwell with thee in daily experience here on this earth, so that we may be accustomed to the glory when we enter thy heaven to dwell with thee there. In Jesus’ name, Amen."
In this ninth episode of the Berean Bookclub, we chat through two essays: The Lord's Work in the Lord's Way and No Little People, written by Francis A. Schaeffer.
In these essays, Schaeffer teaches believers how to rely on the Holy Spirit—not personal effort or status—in matters of service and leadership. He focuses on how we walk in the power of the Spirit, essential to this is our deep recognition of our need and dependence for God to work in us. This will produce humility and promote true Spirituality, as he terms it, which leads to the Lord’s work being done in the Lord’s way, instead of mere activism. Overall this book reorients us to seek the Lord and do his work being content with his results instead of falling prey to the world’s measures of success in ministry. A short accessible book recommended for all Christians. In this episode we speak through what working in the Lord's way means, the place dependence on God has in our work, the false comfort behind the frantic activity, the cost dependence on God has on us, equating size with success, the importance of commitment and consecration in any place, being extruded into higher offices, the basic relationship between all Christians and two reasons why Christians should pursue the lesser place.
Quotes:
"If we put activity, even good activity, at the center rather than trusting God, then there may be the power of the world but we will lack the power of the Spirit."
"Nowhere more than in America are Christians caught in the twentieth-century syndrome of size. Size will show success. If I am consecrated, there will necessarily be large quantities of people and dollars. This is not so. Not only does God not say that size and spiritual power go together, but he even reverses this (especially in the teaching of Jesus) and tells us to be deliberately careful not to choose a place too big for us. We all tend to emphasize big works and big places, but all such emphasis is of the flesh. To think in such terms is simply to hearken back to the old, unconverted, egoist, self-centered Me. This attitude, taken from the world, is more dangerous to the Christian than fleshly amusement or practice. It is the flesh."
"Though we are limited and weak in talent physical energy and strength, we are not less than a stick of wood. But as the rod of Moses had to become the rod of God, so that which is me must become the me of God. Then I can become useful in God's hands. The scriptures say that much can come from little, if the little is consecrated to God. There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people."
"To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him, this is the creature glorified."
"The basic relationship between Christians is not that of elder and people or pastor and people, but that of brothers and sisters in Christ. There are different jobs to be done and different offices to be filled but we as Christians are equal before one master."
"Each Christian is to be a rod of God in the place of God for him. We must remember throughout our Christian lives that in God's sight there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us at each moment. Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under his Lordship in the whole of life, may by God’s grace change the flow of a generation. and as we get on a bit in our lives, knowing how weak we are if we look back and see we have been somewhat used of God, then we should be the rod surprised by joy."
In this eighth episode special of The Berean Bookclub, we interview pastor Ludwig Alberts on Gospel Fluency, written by pastor and author Jeff Vanderstelt.
In his book, Jeff's primary concern is how we may learn to speak the gospel to ourselves and others... fluently. His argument is, that just like the most effective way to learn a new language is to be immersed in a community that speaks that language, in order for us to become people who are fluent in speaking the gospel we must be immersed in a community that speaks the language. To put it another way: we learn through immersion. Jeff's starting point is that we are all unbelievers. Meaning, that through the everyday stuff of life we often find ourselves not trusting in the truths of the gospel. This is where the need for fluency in the gospel comes from as we seek to direct our wandering hearts toward the truths and promises of the gospel. After setting out what the gospel is (part 2), he thinks through three spheres: ourselves (part 3), the Christian community (part 4) and those who have yet to trust in Christ (part 5). For each of these areas, he considers practical and intentional ways in which we create a culture which is immersed in the gospel and speak the truths of Jesus into everyday life. Jeff gives us a portrait of a community grounded on the gospel in a way we can't help but be attracted to.
In this episode, we speak with Ludwig through the concept of unbelief and how to move toward belief, how our conversations reveal what we really love, how Gospel Fluency may influence a pastor's way of doing church, simple ways to foster affection for Jesus in ourselves and how winning people for Jesus is more important than winning arguments.
In this seventh episode of the Berean Bookclub, we talk through Rejoice and Tremble by Michael Reeves.
In this book, Reeves attempts to address a perplexing question that many Christians have: "Why would we want to fear the Lord?" He recognizes how strong an emotion fear is and how it drives us. He then gives a presentation on how the Bible talks about fearing the Lord, showing that it does not mean being afraid of God. After he distinguishes between a sinful fear and right fear, he demonstrates how a right understanding of the fear of the Lord flows out of knowing God both as creator and as redeemer, showing how God’s great power and majesty are matched by his mercy and grace directed towards us. This right fear is intense and is made to transform our most inner being and our relationships with others. It guards against our tendencies to be thick-skinned tyrants or gentle people-pleasers and rather gives us a humble strength. He then finishes with a short chapter on the ecstasy of being in the new creation with God and how fearing Him is a good thing.
In this episode we talk through misconceptions of fear in our own lives and in culture; the positive, negative and physical components of fear in the bible; the inadequacy of synonyms like reverence and awe; the necessity of understanding God as both creator and redeemer for right fear; the place of the cross in our fear and fear as a 'heart-issue' which forms our character.
In this sixth episode of The Berean Bookclub, we talk through an essay by B.B. Warfield: The Emotional Life of Our Lord. Warfield was a theologian who lived at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. He wrote extensively on many subjects, perhaps most famously on the doctrine of scripture, but among many others wrote this essay on the emotional life of Christ in 1912. In this essay, he focuses on Jesus' humanity as he looks at three of his emotions: compassion, anger and sorrow, showing how these aspects contribute to a more glorious portrait of our saviour. Warfield's intention is to draw us in further with Christ's beauty expressed through his humanity. This old classic will enhance your appreciation of Christ as he seeks to glorify God through his incarnation.
In this episode, we discuss the tendencies to portray Christ as either unsympathetic or unworthy of reverence, Jesus' compassion drawn out by our helplessness, the connection Jesus' emotions have with his mission and what lies behind Christ's anger.
In this fifth episode of the Berean Bookclub we talk through an old lecture or sermon, we're not sure, by Thomas Chalmers called The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.
Thomas Chalmers was a remarkable man that lived in Scotland (1780-1847). After being in the pastorate for a few years he came to faith through the writings of William Wilberforce. After this, he went on to become a professor teaching a whole range of subjects. Though he was influential in geology and astronomy, Christian apologetics, relief for the poor, economics, Calvinistic orthodoxy and church leadership, nevertheless, it was the force of his words that gave effect to all of these engagements.
What we have in The Expulsive Power of a New Affection is a lecture or sermon given to answer an essential question for this Christian: How are we freed from our deep love for the world? He answers this by demonstrating how the understanding of the futility of the world will not go far enough. Rather one's love for the world must be ultimately replaced by a greater love, that is, the love of the God primarily displayed in Jesus. It is here that the power lies, the power of a new affection to displace an old one. This short book will help you as you seek to be obedient to the call of all Christians to be in this world but not of the world.
In this episode, we discuss the most effective way to shift the desires of our hearts. Along with Chalmers, we think through our heart's inability to love nothing, displacing loves being better than destroying loves, the worthiness of the things we love, the affection ultimately demanded for in Christ and an essential element of effective discipleship and preaching.
In this fourth episode of the Berean Bookclub, we change things up a little as we talk through an article by the late David Powlison: Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair
Powlison is a writer, professor and Biblical Counsellor who has worked for Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) since 78'. 'Idols of the heart, and Vanity Fair' was first published in 91' then again in 95' followed by a revised version in 2013. It's an article about the inner workings of the human heart. In Powlison's own words, he explores one weighty question: "How is sin more than behaviour?". He focuses on two forces, ourselves and the world around us, and shows how they push and pull our hearts towards the things they run after. Few things will cut your heart open and lay it bear on the table like this article - its fame certainly speaks for itself. It has the ability to help you make sense of our hearts and others', and run to God for the things we have not before.
In this episode, we discuss the internal and external components of 'sin', the inadequacy of categories such as drives and goals, how all our motivations are ultimately religious and two common mistakes we make in administering the gospel to an idolatrous heart.
Reference
Powlison, D., 2013. Revisiting idols of the heart and Vanity Fair. Journal of Biblical Counseling, 27(3), pp.37–68.
https://www.ccef.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/revisiting_idols_of_the_heart_powlison.pdf
In this third episode of the Berean Bookclub we talk through a classic: The Confessions by Saint Augustine.
The confession was written around 400 AD. Some would call it an autobiographical account of Augustine's life, but as one delves into it you'll recognize that its more than just that. It is part spiritual autobiography, memoir, dialogue between himself and friends, but ultimately a dialogue between himself and God. It's an extended prayer to God as he reflects on his life before knowing Christ. In the first couple of chapters he traces his upbringing from North Africa to Rome and Milan. He later describes his conversion and the role of his mother. He dabbles in philosophical discussions on time, memory, sin and the happy life. His honest reflection draws the modern person in a unique way with his ability to dissect the heart and point it towards God.
In this episode we discuss what Augustine teaches us about confessing, an unfamiliar motivation behind sin, searching for fulfillment with a restless heart and the beauty of a mother’s persistent prayers for her son.
Quotes:
I wish now to review in memory my past wickedness and the carnal corruptions of my soul—not because I still love them, but that I may love you, my god. For love of your love I do this, recalling in the bitterness of self-examination my wicked ways, that you may grow sweet to me, you sweetness without deception! You sweetness happy and assured! Thus you may gather me up out of those fragments in which I was torn to pieces, while I turned away from you - Confessions, Book 2
You are great, lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and infinite is your wisdom. And man desires to praise you, for he is a part of your creation; he bears his mortality about with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof that you resist the proud. Still, he desires to praise you, this man who is only a small part of your creation. You have prompted him, that he should delight to praise you, for you have made us for yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you. - Confessions, Book 1
This is what happens whenever you are abandoned, fountain of life, who are the one and true creator and ruler of the universe. This is what happens when through self-willed pride a part is loved under the false assumption that it is the whole. Therefore, we must return to you in humble piety and let you purge us from our evil ways, and be merciful to those who confess their sins to you, and hear the groanings of the prisoners and loosen us from those fetters which we have forged for ourselves. - Confessions, Book 3
To overcome self-absorption—and the whirling eddies of comparison and shame—we cannot merely scrap or empty ourselves in some Zen-like forgetfulness. Read the Confessions to discover a path toward whole selfhood oriented toward our true end, true fulfillment, and true completion in the praise of God. “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in You” (Conf. 1.1). The way toward this rest is confession. Follow Augustine’s lead. Take up and read. Take up and be read. - Ryan Reeves
References:
Augustine, (2020). The Confessions. Narrated by Smith, L., Available at: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/476724163/The-Confessions
This podcast was brought to you by BTI Stellenbosch, we believe that theology is for the church, to find out more go to www.btistellenbosch.com
Episode 2: RC Sproul: A Life by Stephen Nichols
In this second episode of the Berean Bookclub we talk though the first published biography of R.C. Sproul.
This book, written by close friend and colleague Stephen Nichols, starts with Sproul's early life and recounts the significance of certain moments and influences for the path of his life and ministry. It outlines Sproul's legacy as a theologian as focuses in on his contributions to the inerrancey conversation, his love for classical apologetics, his passion for the holiness of God and his convictions on justification by faith alone and imputation. Finally, the books shifts to the later part of R.C.'s life as he takes up a pastorate and founds a bible college. This book is about a man's unmovable conviction of the holiness of God and how this single conviction motivated his entire ministry. It is encouraginng, challenging and surprisingly emboldening.
In this episode we discuss the challenge of conviction in the Christian life, the effectiveness of clarity and precision in communication, the struggle between ambiguity and certainty in God's word, the beauties and necessities of gospel partnerships and the function of theology for ordinary people.
References
- Nichols, S. J., (2021). R.C. Sproul: a life. Wheaton, IL. Crossway.
- Nichols, S. J., (2021). R.C. Sproul: a life. Narrated by Parks, T., Available at: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/487032260/R-C-Sproul-A-Life.
This podcast was brought to you by BTI Stellenbosch, we believe that theology is for the church, to find out more go to www.btistellenbosch.com
Episode 1: John Calvin A Little Book on the Christian Life
In this first episode of The Berean Bookclub we talk through John Calvin's A Little Book On The Christian Life. We discuss the function of doctrine in the Christian life, the road to self-denial, the purpose of afflictions, and the joys and dangers of Christian liberties.
References:
www.btistellenbosch.com
Calvin, J., (2017). A Little Book on the Christian Life [audio book edition], Translated by Deliger, A & Parsons, B, Narrated by Parks, T. Available from: http//scribd.com
Calvin, J., 2016. On the Christian Life, Translated by Beveridge ,H. New Kensington. Whitaker House.
Quotes:
"Doctrine is not an affair of the tongue but of the life; and it is not apprehended by the intellect and memory merely, like other branches of learning, but is received only when it possession the whole soul and finds it's seat and habitation in the inmost recesses of the heart" (p. 33)
"For he who has learnt to look to God in everything he does is at the same time diverted from all vain thoughts." (p. 43)
"Show me, if you can, an individual who , unless he has renounced himself in obedience to the Lord's command, is disposed to do good for its own sake." (p. 44)
"Adverse circumstances will keep their bitterness and we will feel their bite. When afflicted with illness we will groan and toss for health. When pursued by poverty we will feel the stings of sadness and anxiety. we will bear the weight of sorrow, dishonor, discontent and injustice. When loved ones die we will naturally weep. But this will always be our conclusion: never the less the Lord has willed it. Therefore let us follow his will."
"How powerfully should it soften the bitterness of the cross to think that the more we are afflicted with adversity, the surer we are made of our fellowship with Christ;" (p. 69)
"People bowed men's consciences more narrowly than the word of the Lord bind them"
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Over the course of the next year, we at The Berean Bookclub are going to be reading some great books that the saints both past and present have written. Our hope is that in doing so, we would be encouraged to look to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ more and love Him deeper. As “Bereans” we strive to be open to hearing what the authors have to teach us while looking at our ultimate authority God and His Word to see if it lines up
We would love for you to join us
Proposed Schedule For 2022
January - A Little Book on the Christian Life Written by John Calvin
February - RC Sproul: A Life written by Stephen J Nichols
March - Confessions written by Augustine
April - The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance written by Sinclair B. Ferguson
May - Heaven Is a World of Love written by Jonathan Edwards
June - You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World Written by Alan Noble
July - The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Written by Jeremiah Burroughs
August - Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord written by Michael Reeves
September - The Expulsive Power of a New Affection Written by Thomas Chalmers
October - Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community Written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
November - Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness Written by Blair Linne
December - Redemption Accomplished and Applied Written By Murray John and Carl Trueman
You can start your free 3 month trial with Scribd and listen to the books there, this is currently how we are listening to the book.
Scribd 3 month trial: https://www.scribd.com/g/88dxsg
Scribd Book List: https://www.scribd.com/lists/24744675