All About Those Books

Read ALL the books!

Some of these have to do with having an eternal perspective. It's something that's been coming to light more for me. This video of Francis Chan showing a demonstration of eternity with a rope is particularly powerful.

Additionally, as we have been covering eternity in church, this Scripture was pointed out:

 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Also pointed out was Wycliff's goal to have the Bible translated into every language by 2025. 

I'm an excellent procrastinator, but my time is precious, and I am seeing the need to live out an eternal perspective now. Not all the books below are directly about an eternal perspective, but it is ever so, and there is a theme there.

One Thousand Gifts:

 http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-Gifts-Fully-Right/dp/0310321913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424409361&sr=8-1&keywords=one+thousand+gifts

I was told I was supposed to have this book, which makes so much sense because it deals with some of the things that I struggle with. Well, it's in my possession now because it was a book Zane was assigned to read during the internship this year. Anne Voskamp writes beautifully.

"We look and swell with the ache of a broken, battered planet, what we ascribe as the negligent work of an indifferent Creator (if we even think there is one). Do we ever think of this busted-up place as a result of us ingrates, unsatisfied, we who punctured it all with a bite?"

Another thing I've never forgotten was when I was sharing some of my struggles with a friend in our church. It was extremely helpful when she suggested looking at the awful situations of this world with an eternal perspective. I can think of a couple examples regarding when children die, or others have less than me. When I grapple with all of the injustice and loss in this world, I filter these things through this perspective and sometimes it really does help. Other times, I continue to contend with God. And I will continue to read this book.

This Momentary Marriage

Piper. Need I say more? Well, I will.. John Piper has some beautiful things to say about marriage- like how marriage is not the point of marriage. He says that when we get to eternity with Christ, we will get to experience what this (married life on earth) has been all about. Piper, who has been in "covenant-keeping" marriage with his bride of 40 years, preaches that "the ultimate purpose for marriage is to put the covenant relationship between Christ and His church on display for the world.
I have enjoyed listening to him speak on the subject and i would definitely like to read his book, which desiringgod.org has made available as a free pdf file. You can access it here:

http://cdn.desiringgod.org/website_uploads/documents/books/this-momentary-marriage.pdf?1414777989

 

You and Me Forever

 I ordered this one!

Francis and Lisa Chan are all about living with an eternal perspective. They devote their marriage to serving God and people and it is beautiful.
Francis Chan actually did that rope/eternity demonstration that is posted at the top of this page.

http://www.youandmeforever.org/

 One great thing about buying this book is that ALL the money goes to charity. This is further explained in the video.


There you have it. Books on my horizon. :)

Honorable Mentions:

Pilgrim's Progress- My husband has never heard of this book. "Whaaaat????" - My response. Granted, I never actually read it myself. I think I watched some children's cartoon portrayal of the story when I was little. But my sister in law mentioned in a fb post recently that they had been reading the children's version with her littles.

Captivating- I have just not been.. uh.. captivated by this one. We read "Wild At Heart" by her husband, John Eldridge, and Zane LOVED it. I had asked if anyone had a copy and one of the lovely gals at church lent me this one. It's lower down my list to read, but I think I should give it another try.