Altar
Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter
Albritton
May
19, 2013
Tasty morsels of
truth for folks who never read a book
Have you read any good books
lately? This was a question I posed to a
young man. His reply stunned me: “No, I
can’t remember the last time I read a book.
I don’t have time to read.”
I enjoy reading. I like books. I got
hooked on books when I was a boy. Tarzan and the Rover Boys were some of my early
heroes. I have been reading books all my life.
My mother was wise. She did not push
me to read the Bible when I was a boy. Instead she got me interested in a book
of Bible stories. Reading about David and Goliath and Daniel in the lion’s den
stirred my interest in the Bible. Eventually I became fascinated with the
wonderful stories of Jesus.
But back to my young friend who never
reads a book. His comment prompted me to look into matter. I discovered that
his disdain for books is not uncommon. Millions of literate people never read a
book.
A survey in England reveals that two in
five Britons have never read a book. Other surveys report that one-third of
high school graduates never read another book after graduation. And consider
this: 42 per cent of college graduates never read another book!
Reflecting on this I wondered if some of
the readers of this column are among those who never read books. So with that
in mind I decided to share a few tasty morsels of truth from some good books in
the hope that these scraps of wisdom might stimulate non-readers to repent and
read.
“I walked out of that hospital room a
new man. The Lord Christ had entered in. The transformation was as dramatic as
I could have ever imagined. There is no other way to describe it. From then on,
my longings, my hopes, my dreams, and my every effort have been to live for Him
who rescued me, to study for Him who gave me this mind, to serve Him who
fashioned my will, and to speak for Him who gave me a voice.” – Ravi Zacharias (Jesus Among Other Gods)
“I do not know
what God will do with you and me, but I know this: When we stand before our
Lord one day, our lives will not be without meaning. ‘No one is without a
divinely appointed task,’ John Ruskin said, ‘and the divine means for getting
it done.’” –
Steve Farrar (Finishing Strong)
“He that is
moved neither by the praise nor the censure of men enjoys great tranquility of
heart.”
– Thomas A Kempis (The Imitation of
Christ)
“At times God puts us through the
discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing
in the dark and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear
Him.”
– Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His
Highest)
“If
you are ‘in Christ’ you’re ‘in life;’ if you are ‘out of Christ’ you’re ‘out of
life, here and now, and hereafter.’” – E. Stanley Jones (In Christ)
“If we fall down
– and we will fall down – we get up and seek to obey again. We are forming the
habit of obedience, and all habits begin with plenty of slips and falls and
false starts. We did not learn to walk overnight. Or to play the piano. And we
do not condemn ourselves unduly when we stub our toe or play a wrong note, do
we? We must not condemn ourselves unduly in the spiritual life either.” – Richard Foster (Prayer)
“I would plead
strongly with those whose churches have not yet done so to regard all the
baptized, including children, as rightful recipients of Communion. Baptism is
the way into the family; the Eucharist is the family meal.” – Tom Wright (The Meal Jesus Gave Us)
“A Christian
society is made up of men and women whose powers in the ministry are largely
unused because they are unsuspected. The Christian coach will be one who is
more concerned, therefore, in developing others than in enhancing his own
prestige.” – Elton Trueblood (The Incendiary Fellowship)
“Christianity
is the only religious faith that says that God himself actually suffered,
actually cried out in suffering. Now what good is that? To Jesus’ followers
assembled around the cross, it certainly seemed senseless; that there was no
good in it at all. But in fact they came to realize that Jesus’ suffering was
of immense good to them, as can we. Why? Because they would eventually see that
they had been looking right at the greatest act of God’s love, power and
justice in history. God came into the world and suffered and died on the cross
in order to save us. It is the ultimate proof of his love for us.” – Timothy Keller
(King’s Cross)
“Basically
there are two kinds of people: people who choose joy and people who don’t.
People who choose joy pay no attention to what day of the week it is. . . or
how old they are . . . or what level of pain they are in. They have
deliberately decided to laugh again because they have chosen joy. People who do
not choose joy miss the relief laughter can bring. And because they do not,
they cannot. And because they can’t, they won’t.” – Charles Swindoll (Laugh Again)
May the Creator of heaven and earth
motivate you to pick up a good book and, inspired by these tasty morsels, begin
to enjoy the feast that reading can provide! + + +