Reading Rainbow...

So, I've been reading a lot recently...ok, so not a lot in comparison to what "a lot" has looked like in my life in regards to reading, but it's a lot for being in Mexico. Usually I can't stand reading anything other than fiction and at any time other than just before bed because I spend so much time alone here in Mexico, that I can handle the quiet I need to concentrate on what I'm reading. But recently I put myself to reading some C. S. Lewis. In the past I've steered fairly clear of him. Other than The Screwtape Letters (which I read freshmen year of college and found fairly easy to understand) and The Chronicles of Narnia (which I read for the first time last year), I have never read much of his stuff because every time I tried, I couldn't wrap my mind around a word he said, and I finally just put it down out of frustration. But I'm realizing that there are some things that one should just fight to read in life, and Lewis is high on my personal list of those people.

I read The Great Divorce before my trip home in February, and I had difficulty with that one. I think I need to do some other reading first, or so I'm told by a friend of mine who is an amateur Lewis scholar (yup, that's you Beth!). Then a couple of months ago I started Mere Christianity, and I'm finding that I really like it! He has such a simple way of explaining some pretty complex concepts, and his perspective provides such a fresh perspective that it's like a breath of fresh air in some ways. And it's SUCH an easy read! So, far, I'm really enjoying the read, and I highly recommend it. I'll probably read it again more closely and underline and highlight things, but for now I'm enjoying just getting to know Mr. Lewis a little bit and his wonderful freshnocity!

I also have The Screwtape Letters to read again, and more closely, since when I read it the first time in Intro to Christian Theology I could have cared less. The Four Loves is also in my stack of Lewis books, which is one that deterred me many years ago. However, I'm willing to give it another go!

At the same time as Mr. Lewis, I've been re-reading a small book called Jewish Insights into the New Testament by Barbara Richmond. She is a Bible teacher from Florida who is also a Messianic Jew. According to the forward, this book was published from information that an Hassidic Jewish man gave her in the old city of Jerusalem when she was there as a guide once. Apparantly this man approached her and told her that Yeshua told him to find her that day and tell her his story: that he and about 40 other Hassidic Jewish men had come to know that Yeshua was the Messiah and that they had been studying the New Testament together in secret since He had not yet revealed to them that it was time to reveal their faith in Christ. All of this was a very rare experience for her since apparantly Hassicid Jews will not speak to women in public. In the end, he found out what she does and offered her his notes from their studies, and those notes contained insights into fairly well-known passages of the New Testament that only someone coming from the Jewish culture would know. It is a very thing book and very interesting. Some of the notes that she chose to publish in this book provide very interesting perspectives on stories such as the meeting between Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, the story of Blind Bartamaeus, and the story of what Peter and John found they went to the empty tomb after hearing that Christ had risen. There are several other passages that she explores, but it's an easy and very interesting read. I recommend it.

Next on my list is a book called Spiritual Mothering. It's a look at discipleship/mentoring relationships as modeled after Titus 2, and as far as I can tell it is directed specifically to women. This book was given to me by my InterVarsity staff worker several years ago, but I never ended up reading it. I've been in discipleship relationships since she gave me that book, and I'm sure it could have helped me, but for some reason it just never called to me. However, I find myself in a quandry here in Mexico with the young ladies of our youth group. That quandry has to do with trying to disciple people who don't open up to me. However, I've noticed that the younger girls open right up to Mili and Sandy, who are very open with me. So, I'm starting to think that one strategy that I need to start implementing is training Mili and Sandy to disciple other girls, and well, while I seem to have a handle on discipling others (though let's face it I'm sure I could use some help as well!), I have no handle on training someone else to do it. So, this is the first step in trying to put together some sort of strategy in this aspect of ministering to the girls in this area: reading Spiritual Mothering. I'll let you know what I think about it once I've read it.

In the meantime, I've started reading the minor prophets in my morning quiet time. Every morning over breakfast and coffee I spend time reading in the Word and soaking it in, and then I have some pretty significant prayer time. I have truly come to treasure that time, and I miss it dreadfully if I don't have it or if I only do it out of habbit rather than truly engaging my heart in it. I started with Hosea, a book I've read many times before and continue to love. Yesterday I finished Joel, and found myself stuck on a passage in Joel 2:

"I will repay you the years the locusts have eaten -- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm -- my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed." (2:25-27)

I was captured by the part where God describes the different kind of locusts and then calls them the army that HE sent. Later on he says they will praise Him for the wonders He has worked through that restoration of all that was lost as a result of the judgement that He himself sent upon them! Some might read something like that and claim that it's evidence for how fickle and manipulative God is. I read this passage and I am comforted by the truth that our God Almighty cares about us enough to discipline us. But he doesn't just discipline us like our parents did: I know mine would spank me when I deserved it, let the punishment sink in, and then discuss what happened and comfort and hug me and reassure me of their love. The Lord "spanks" us for sure, but he doesn't end the restoration with a little comfort and a hug. No way. Our God disciplines us, and then He doesn't just restore to us what was lost during that discipline but He works wonders that cause us to turn around and praise Him! And the end goal? That we would know that He is God and there is no other and that His people would never again be shamed. What an awesome God we serve! It's all for His glory, but He includes us in that glory! He shares it with us and all shame falls away.