Reading is Fundamental

I took seven different videos of the boy's the other night when they came over with Alayna.  They speak for themselves.  The only problem is that one minute of video is about 100Mb and I think you can only upload about 10Mb at a time.  I've tried over and over ... guess I'll have to put 'em up on FaceBook.  

Started reading a book last year (a few months ago, I don't know).  I've made it to page 143 (of 590 pages).  Wow, at this rate I might finish it by 2016.  The really sad thing is that it is a most excellent novel by George MacDonald, Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood.  The dude is amazing, how he spins a tale.  I can listen to a good book being read to me by an actor as I drive around town.  I average about 15o miles every day, driving 3 to 4 hours.  Most books on CD are about 26 hours of reading.  So, 6 or 7 days of "reading" gets me through a book, so I can "read" 40 or 50 books a year!  So, you see why it takes me so long to just set down and read a book.  Oh, I love to read (for about 10 minutes at a time).  To me its kinda like running (which is another good time to "read" an audio book).  I can run for 30 minutes to an hour, but I am really ready to quit after about 10 minutes.  Its a little different, because I usually want to quit running because my legs are tired and I'm out of breath.  But the other day I ran slow for about 45 minutes, my legs weren't tired and I was hardly breathing.  My heart rate barely got above 120 bpm, but still I was ready to stop after 10 minutes.  I usually go for about 10 or 15 minutes and then do something different, like walk.  Reading is similar, only after about 10 minutes, I'm ready to watch TV, take a nap or get something to eat.

How I came about reading George MacDonald is kind of a funny story.  I did a little research on C.S. Lewis, and found that he really liked George MacDonald, so I looked him up and my search engine (way before yahoo or google) pointed me to a site where you could buy used books.  I mean really used books.  So I ordered one, and a book by John Owens, and low and behold, they were more than used.  They were antiques!  Ancient first addition manuscripts, probably from some old-guy's library and sold in an estate sale or something.  The book I got by MacDonald was a sequel to the one I'm reading now.  I read a few pages of it (over a period of several years) an thought one day that I'd like to read the story that inspired the sequel, so I looked on Amazon.com and found the book (used, but not an antique).  Unless you've bought an antique book that you never heard of before and started reading it to find that it is awesome, then you've really never experienced real reading.

Anyway, reading is fundamental.  You (and I mean alyson, amanda, or shannon, since I can't imagine anybody else reading this) should stop reading this and go get a George MacDonald novel and do some productive reading.  You can borrow my copy when I get done.

Christmas time is here.  Jesus Christ is Lord!  You know, Christ is not His last name, it is his title...His position.  In fact, Jesus is how we know him, but it is a fairly common name.  I've got 2 or 3 guys working for me with the same name.  No, that is not his name either.  The name of the Christ, Jesus is ... you guessed it ... it is LORD!  Oh, and you can know a lot of stuff about a lot of things ... like principles of Christian Life, or doctrines of grace.  You can know the law and keep it (to the best of your ability).  Or, you can be "free in Christ" and do anything you want.  But if you don't know Jesus the Christ as LORD ... well all you know and all you do is in vain.  It is vanity to be a Christian,  talk like a Christian, act like a christian and celebrate the birth of Jesus if you don't have an intimate knowledge of the God/Man.  If you have that knowledge, then guess what, He is LORD.  How, you might ask, do you get this intimate knowledge?  

According to Paul, you have to hear it.  You know the passage ... Rom 10:13-15, "For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  and How shall they hear without a preacher?"  So, the case for audio ... but it has been written and therefore, it must be read (preached).  Oh, and the next part is interesting ... the reader (preacher) has to be sent.  We need to put feet on the Gospel.  

Now, I will refer to George MacDonald here, because he is the one that made me think.  He wrote that Jesus IS the Gospel.  To know Him is to know the Gospel.  The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS ... about Christ.  The good news is ... Jesus Christ is LORD.  Oh, it is everything about HIM.  It is an inexhaustible book.  You can read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and you must, but keep reading.  He reveals himself in the whole book.  He is the WORD!  He created it, he breathed it, he lived it.  He even died it and resurrected it.  He has given us His Spirit.  The Holy Spirit lives in all who have called upon the Lord, an thus, he reveals himself in them (you an me).  We are living testament to Christ, Jesus the LORD.  

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom 10:15)

Merry Christmas.  Jesus Christ is Risen.  He is Lord!