Shepherding a Child's Heart - Tedd Tripp, Part 1

I am starting this review with scripture, because that is where truth is found and that is what God has given us for guidance. The actual review will be in another post.

(2 Tim. 3:16) All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

(Daniel 2:20) Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him."

(1 Cor. 1:25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

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(Deut. 6:1-7) Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Isreal, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of you fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Isreal! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in the house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

• God gave Moses authority over Israel as His agent and commanded to teach the Isreal the commandments, statutes and judgements of God.
• Israel was responsible to obey and do them, this was a sign of the Fear of the Lord (which is wisdom according to Proverbs and the contrast to foolishness).
• The result for the Israelites was prolonged days and that things might go well with them. Simply, obedience to God is for their benefit.
• The words are to be in their heart.
• Everything that you do throughout the day should be viewed as on opportunity to teach your children about obedience to God.

(Eph. 6:1-3) "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth."

• This is a reference back to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12) with similar promises to those given to Israel in Deuteronomy 6.
• This verse gives two reasons for obedience. (1) God has placed parents in authority over children and has commanded that they obey. (2) Children benefit when they obey, just as it is profitable for all of God's children to obey God.
  

(Mark 7:21-23) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.

• Jesus is concerned with the heart and recreating the heart. He is not concerned with behavior modification, such that rules are followed and everything looks proper. This is the hypocrisy that he condemned in the pharisees, who he referred to as white washed tombs.
  

(Prov. 22:15) Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

• Foolishness in this verse should not be confused with childishness (such as accidentally spilling a glass of milk). Foolishness is contrasted in Proverbs with wisdom, which is the fear of the Lord. Foolishness, then, is living without regard for God and his authority.
  

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

I must say I quite enjoyed Great Expectations. I will also say it took me a long time to get through and I am not going to bore anyone with a summary here. If you are interested in a summary you should talk to me in person. One of the reasons I enjoy the book was that it was written differently than any book I can recall. The story is written from the first person perspective of the main character (Philip Pirrip, aka Pip). This creates a wonderful sense of friendship with Pip, because it feels like he is relating his story to you and not telling you some tale that he heard.

I will illustrate what I mean with an example, though not taken from the book.
A scene as most books would write it
As Pip walked along the road, he came upon the town bully, Johnny Apple Seed. Johnny was tall and thin, with long greasy hair. Often he would torment little Pip. As Pip approached, he kindly asked, "How are you today, Johnny?" However, being the constant target of Johnny's pestering did not make Pip really care how Johnny was doing.

Same scene as it would be written in Great Expectations
As I walk down the road, I saw that I was approaching the most troublesome person in all of town, Johnny Apple Seed. Knowing good Christian standards, I kindly asked, "How are you today?" Of course, I didn't really care how he was. Actually, I hoped that he was not well all and that his tall, thin frame and long greasy hair was the result of some strange disease that plagued him.

Often I felt like I was in Pip's head because you hear him talking through what he is thinking "behind the scenes" as he talks to or describes the situation he is in. This is particularly entertaining at the start of the book because Pip is only about 8 year's old and the world that he presents in the story is from the knowledge and understanding of an 8 year old. I feel that Dickens did a marvelous job staying consistent with that perspective. There is never a time that you get information or descriptions from someone other than Pip.

On an philosophical note, the book makes you really think about the things we give up and compromises we make in order to obtain wealth.

I would definitely recommend this for some pleasure reading.

Start of my Reading Blog

Today I decided to start a blog to document the books that I am reading. I saw several benefits of doing this.

1. It will help me process what I am reading and make me think critically about it.
2. I will be able to share condensed summaries and reviews, which I hope this will serve as a reference for others that may be interested in a particular book or topic.
3. I will have a history of what I have read.
4. Others will see what I am reading and be able to challenge the way I live if it does not line up with the things I have shared.
5. It will give me insight into the amount of reading I am doing.

I plan on having a list of what I have read and what I plan on reading, along with some indication of the books I am currently reading.