Next Door As It Is In Heaven is a great book for us to start the new year with. Ford and Brisco show us how to live a missionaries right where we are, bringing the Gospel to bear on every part of our life.

This book is challenging, but practical. It shows how all of us can be better neighbors, and therefore bring to life the Kingdom of God right where we live. I look forward to reading this with all of you next month.

We will discuss Next Door As It Is In Heaven on January 31st, at 5:00 PM. Sign up to take part in the discussion here.

In February we will be reading the first novel of the book club Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

I’m really looking forward to this month’s book, The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul by Russell Moore. Dr. Moore, the President of the ERLC, is one of my favorite authors and preachers, and I have been anticipating this new book since he announced it over the summer. You can see this announcement on Youtube, and learn a bit more about the book straight from the writer.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet Dr. Moore several times, and whether we were talking about books, Batman, or the church, I’ve always found him to be humble, intelligent, wise, and joyful. When you read him or hear him speak he is scriptural and challenging, which is what we will see in this book.

I think Dr. Moore is right when he says that what we often think in courageous is not what the Bible defines as courage. As we study the life of Elijah with Dr. Moore is this book, we will find a new lens to look through to understand courage, as well as ways to stand strong in our biblical convictions.

Sign up here to let me know you are going to be a part of this month’s book club.

Next month we are going to reading The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley.

I am really excited to read this month’s book, On the Road With Saint Augustine : A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K.A. Smith. It has been sitting on my shelf since it came out last year, and though I have skimmed it, I haven’t gotten a chance to really read it yet.

I’ve been fascinated with Augustine for a long time. Much of what he wrote is still foundational to what we as Christians believe today. I always appreciated that his theology and practice always felt grounded in the real world, that he knew what it is to be a sinner, to mourn that sin, and to be saved from that sin by a gracious and loving God.

In high school I had the opportunity to walk the streets that he walked, when I visited the ruins of Carthage. It wasn’t until I was much older that I found out that some of the baptistries that I saw in the region were likely used by him.

This book intrigued me not only because the author was dealing with Augustine, but because of the way he was coming to it. Smith, a professor at Calvin University, uses Augustine’s life and writings to look at life in our current times. He wants us to wrestle with the everyday issues, the recurring temptations and doubts in our current culture, just as Augustine did in his day. The blurb on Amazon reads, in part:

This is not a book about Saint Augustine. In a way, it’s a book Augustine has written about each of us. Popular speaker and award-winning author James K. A. Smith has spent time on the road with Augustine, and he invites us to take this journey too, for this ancient African thinker knows far more about us than we might expect.

Amazon.com

The reviews have also piqued my interest in Smith’s book. It was awarded a Christianity Today 2020 Book Award for Spiritual Formation, as well as a featured review. One pastor and author writing for the awards article stated:

Augustine towers over history. I knew this, but I’d forgotten how much he wrestled with the issues that keep me awake at night: ambition, sex, friendship, death, and more. He’s been where we are. On the Road with Saint Augustine is a rare book. It’s weighty, beautiful, and insightful. I opened this book expecting to learn from and about Augustine, but I didn’t expect that he would become my traveling companion. We have more in common with this ancient African monk than we realize.

Darryl Dash, pastor and church planter, author of How to Grow

Several of the reviews draw parallels to one of my favorite books, Jack Kerouac’s One the Road, including David McLemore, writing for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He writes that Smith:

“wants to hop in the car with us, but he’s bringing a friend along for the ride. And he’s not just any friend. He’s “a prodigal who’s already been where you think you need to go”… Channeling Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Smith takes the form of Sal Paradise, giving us the view from the backseat, interpreting what’s taking place in front of him between two new friends.

David McLemore – For the Church

Other reviews that led me to the book include those from The Gospel Coalition and America: The Jesuit Review.

I hope that you will come with me on this road trip with Saint Augustine. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good ride. We will gather to discuss the book on Sunday, September 27th. This may be fully online again, or a combination of online and in person. I will let you know. Sign up here.

Next month we will be reading The Courage to Stand by Russell Moore.

A. W. Tozer was a pastor and author in the early and mid twentieth century. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1897, and served in C&MA churches in West Virginia, Chicago, and Toronto. In a review of a biography of Tozer, Tim Challies writes,

Tozer was a man who dedicated himself to reading, study and prayer and who delighted to be in the presence of God. “There is no way to measure the hours he spent in a typical day or week reading books and wrestling with ideas, but it was substantial. In a similar vein, we know that he increasingly devoted many hours each week praying, meditating on Scripture, and seeking deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Pursuit of God is one of Tozer’s best known works. His goal in this book is to encourage readers to truly experience the presence of God in their life. He shows that we do this when we get rid of distractions and pursue Christ daily.

I love the simplicity of Tozer’s language. He writes of profound ideas in simple ways. His writing is also timeless. It is amazing to see how he anticipated the future problems of the church, as well as how Christians had many of the same challenges in the fifties that we have today.

I’m looking forward to reading this classic devotional with you this month, and discussing it on Sunday the 30th. This month our discussion will be fully online. If you would like to join in, fill out the form here, and you will be sent a link to a Zoom meeting.

You can order the book from your favorite bookstore or the library. Since this book is in the public domain, you can also get a digital copy for free from the Gutenberg Project.

Next month we will be reading On the Road with Saint Augustine by James K. A. Smith.

Starting this month I am going to begin what I am calling the Pastor’s Book Club. This will be an opportunity for us at The Bridge, and anyone else who would like to join, to read a book in community. Each month I will choose a book and we will read that book together. Those of us who are able will then meet on the last Sunday of the month to discuss what we have read.

I am going choose a wide variety of books. Some will be new and some will be classics. Some will be obviously Christian, such as this month’s book The Pursuit of God, and others will be secular. At times we might be looking into the biography of a missionary, and at others a popular book that has touched the current zeitgeist.

Just because a book is chosen, it doesn’t mean the I or The Bridge endorse every part of the book. Even in the best books there is probably something I disagree with. Part of the nature of this book club will be looking at aspects of the culture and discussing them from a biblical perspective.

Since this group will not be fixed, and only meets once a month, it will be great for those whose schedules do not allow them to gather with a weekly or bi-weekly group. My hope is that these discussions will not only help us grow culturally and spiritually, but also help to build connections within the church as well as with those in the community.