Rest in Labor

I recently came across this quote by Calvin in the O. Palmer Robertson's book I'm reading. It's been mulling about in my head for a couple days...

Sometimes God wants his servants to rest in his authority so as to labor even with no hope of success...Although our labor may be useless, it is enough that it pleases God. When we are ordered to do something, let us learn to leave the outcome in God's hand.

~John Calvin

Thanks for reading,

Miss Pickwickian

Keep Putting Things in Your Noodle!

About a week ago I had a busy, stressful sort of day. Odd animal issues (sheep delivery with a vet, bottle babies, etc...), busy life, and an event at church in the evening.
Anyways...it was pretty crazy and I just wanted to lay down and take a nap. I had the time to write for a moment, but I was just too dead to accomplish anything. I wanted to do something utterly brainless.
You know when you feel like this? You just need to space out if you aren't going to be asleep?

Well, I only had an hour or so before we had to take off for the evening, so I sat down and tackled my "Westminster Catechism Study" book. Something I did not want to be doing at the moment, but really needed too.

Gradually my brain stopped complaining and yawning and I found myself genuinely interested in what I was doing. Within a half hour I had a dozen things I wanted to write about.
I noticed this actually happens a lot to me. And most often during a theology or history book!

I get so full of ideas doing studies that it is very hard to keep concentrating. I try not to allow myself to grab the keyboard and start typing frantically.

Sometimes we don't need to space out (sometimes we do...but it's not good to let yourself to be dumb too often ;-). Sometimes we need to go learn something or maybe do something with our hands.

Next time I get writer's block I'll pick up my Catechism study book. Weird? It works!

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Let the Reader Understand - Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton

Let the Reader Understand: A Guide to Interpreting and Applying the Bible
By Dan McCartney (M. Div., TH.M., Ph.D.) Charles Clayton (M.A.R.)
P&R Publishing - Second Edition




Rating: 9
Readability: 5 (I'd say 8.5 at least for a theology book, though! :-)
Impact: 8

Read it again: I'm sure I'd benefit from it
Recommend it: Highly!

This book is an excellent in-depth look at interpreting Scripture by the it's own methods as well as an overview on Biblical theology.
The Bible is the Word of God. As Christians we should seek to understand it!!! Let the Reader Understand clearly explains tools that can be used by any Christian at any stage in their study. Through careful detail this book uses Scripture to defend Christian theology and stress the importance that we be immersed in the Word.

From the Book:

"We will achieve understanding only if we submit ourselves, presuppositions and all, to the One who understands and interprets all things rightly. The goal therefore is to become, not presuppositionless, but prepositionally self-critical"

"We may only know absolute truth through God."

"The fact that truth is more then doctrine should never be used to suggest that doctrine does not matter. Without its propositions, truth not only would be unknowable and incommunicable, but would collapse in meaninglessness."

"Unless we have repented and are seeking, through the Holy Spirit, to understand Scripture, we are likely to find what we want to find."

"The Bible itself is redemptive-historical in character, it is Christological in focus, and it is ecclesiologically applied."

"We must always be ready to stand back and evaluate tradition, without necessarily rejecting it."

"Study is useless if the reader does not first submit to Scripture's author, expecting to hear God's voice and obey it."



This book has really helped my study. I can not recommend this book enough!

This is the first book to check off my list in the syllabus for Ligonier Academy's Intermediate Biblical Studies Program! Yippee!

Sorry to those you might not get excited about theology on this post! It was pretty funny when I was reading it. I kept stopping and writing down ideas for my writing or day dreaming about plot ideas and cool symbolism and meaning. Goofy? I know, but what we read is going to effect so much of what we write.

Sometimes we get a groove were we are just pumping to much out and not putting enough in. Real, solid, sometimes hard to grasp truth coming in will greatly influence your outlook on life and your writing. I was blessed by this book!

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian