When portable media devices such as the iPod began gaining market share and popularity in the early 2000’s, it is doubtful that many could foresee the revolution in consumer media consumption that was happening. Many undoubtedly felt that the advent of iTunes and the iTunes Music store in 2003 was amazing, but that was just the beginning. After this came podcasts. These user-created free programs exploded in popularity because of the diversity of topics and formats available. Podcasters began also making free video content. Finally companies like audible.com have made it easy for consumers to enjoy audio versions of modern and classic works of fiction and nonfiction.

Last Christmas (2006) I received St. Augustine’s magnum opus “The City of God”. From it I have gained a wealth of insight into how he views the world and it has shaped my outlook. Furthermore it is interesting to see someone from several centuries ago analyze current events of his day (in this case the fall of the Roman Empire) in light of his spiritual and theological convictions. This is something that I will often engage in with current events. Of course I am not talking about the kind of current event analysis that Hal Lindsey and his ilk engage in whereby they see every car bombing or war as some kind of fulfillment of prophecy or end times event. Augustine’s great work found the theologian defending the Christian faith which was being blamed, in a sense, for the fall of Rome. The Roman sentiment, as he describes it, is one in which the citizenry of the eternal city were under the conviction that their way of life was coming to an end because they had turned from the gods to Christianity. “The City of God” is a work that every Christian should read and study. It is indeed very long and it will be a while before I read it all but the topics are broken up in a way that makes it possible to skip around and read different points that are of interest to you.

Now this past Christmas I received another St. Augustine work, “Confessions”. This book could also be entitled “The Memoirs of St. Augustine”. “Confessions” is biographical in nature but it focuses more specifically on his spiritual journey. He begins with a lengthy discussion on how in his youth he was not only a sinner but he reveled in sin and it brought pleasure to him to do that which was evil. Whether it was neglecting his studies in defiance of his schoolmasters or lusting in his heart, St. Augustine goes to great lengths to confess how his sin nature left no room in his heart or mind for the things of God. But it was by the prayers of his faithful mother that God in His mercy brought salvation to Augustine. It has been so encouraging to read of the weaknesses and struggles of this great man.

Then I thought how wonderful it would be to have a similar confession or diary, if you will, of the other great men of God who have impacted my life. Martin Luther’s life story has been written numerous times and his personal demons have been discussed in those writings. I would like to study those as well and really get inside the head of someone like Luther the way “Confessions” has allowed me to do with St. Augustine. Then it would be great to seek out similar works by or about John Calvin, Thomas Aquinas, Jonathan Edwards,

I do not know about you but it blesses me, being intimately familiar with my faults, failures, and shortcomings, to see that the lives of the men I most respect were not all unblemished portraits of refined piety. To know that they not only struggled in their faith but to know the kind of wicked men they were prior to conversion and to see how far God took them would encourage me greatly.

Maybe I can get together some writers to put together a collection. Imagine a multi-volume book set, each volume covering the pre-conversion lifestyle, conversion and struggles of a great man (or woman) in the history of the faith, preferably ones who had a great impact or who were a part of milestone events in Christendom. And it should span history. I would submit that the set could be of about 6 or 7 volumes and should cover the apostle Paul, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and C.S. Lewis. I think that would just about cover the entire gamut.

Who would you propose to be covered in a set like this? Is there anyone I have mentioned that you think should not be included?

Josh H.

*Update*
It has been brought to my attention that while I mentioned that women could and should be a part of this multi-volume book set idea, I did not mention any. And now that I think of it, it is very difficult to name some. Women have no doubt had their role but there seem to be no female counterparts to the likes of Augustine and Luther. But some women that probably deserved to make the cut are Corrie ten Boom, Joan of Arc, and Mother Teresa. Who else?

I could not be happier for my experience in upgrading my Mac to the new version of the Macintosh operating system was smooth with no surprises. The most important asset that I had at my disposal was a good plan. I listened to podcasts that discussed how to do the upgrade as well as read articles covering the same topic. I was then able to take that information and apply it to my particular situation in order to come up with a course of action.

The first and most important part of the plan was to have a proper back up of all of my important files since I would be doing a clean install of Leopard. This means that I would be taking my computer’s hard drive down to nothing. It would be wiped clean, every iota of information and then the new OS would be installed on it. So it’d basically be like having a brand new computer. This was compounded by a few factors so I had to do some techie acrobatics. I have a hard drive that is split into two partitions. On one I keep a back up of my system in case my internal ever has trouble (to this day I have not needed it). The second partition is where I keep my music and movies because I do not want it taking up so much space on my Mac’s internal hard drive. Well Leopard has a great back up utility called Time Machine which would require more space on the external hard drive than I had previously allocated for back up. In order to resize the two partitions they would both have to be blanked out. I needed somewhere to save my music and movies. Thankfully a coworker had an external hard drive that he loaned me for a few days that helped me out with this (thanks Joe!). Once I had it all re-partitioned, I kept the back up partition blank (because this is where I would tell Time Machine to back up stuff). I put my music and movies back on the other partition and I also backed up all of my important files that I would need to bring back over after installing Leopard (Documents, pictures, and a few folders of settings). I also downloaded and used Apple’s free Backup application to back up things like my calendar, Address Book, Stickies (little virtual post-it notes in Mac OS X), and Firefox settings. This last item required me to install a special Firefox module into Backup since Firefox is not a native Apple application.

Finally it was time to do the deed. I inserted the Leopard disk and when it launched I told it to “zero out” my computer’s hard drive. This was a scary feeling because everything was going bye-bye. It would be erased and overwritten with zeros (in other words, utterly irretrievable). That took about 10-15 minutes and then in launched into the actual installer. This took only about 45 minutes (some people were reporting as long as an hour and half to two hours for the upgrade).

At this point I had to simply wait for it to finish. So I decided to wax ironic. It just so happens that over the past week I have been reading George Orwell’s classic 1984. Furthermore, it just so happens that the very first Macintosh commercial was based on 1984 (it features Big Brother, representing IBM, and a host of mindless drones who are set free in the end by a sledgehammer-wielding heroine who represents Macintosh). As a sidenote, 1984 is a very disturbing book. It does not contain any gross violence or imagery, but it is scary what could happen if the government ran everything (anybody up for being arrested for “thoughtcrime”? ).

Meanwhile, back in GeekLand, the installation completed and I had but to enter a small amount of personal information, enter my Admin password, and then it booted into the new OS. The next part is what I really loved. I dragged my backed up files from the external hard drive and into their appropriate places on the Mac’s hard drive. They all worked flawlessly. Backup brought my settings, Address Book, Stickies, and email back over. So within about 10 minutes I had everything looking and working like it had been before. I launched Time Machine, told it which volume to back up to and it went straight to work and now I have an automatic back-up system that I do not have to think about. It just happens for me in the background.

I could not be happier. It was definitely worth the wait. And is it just me or is this thing running even faster? If anybody out there needs more details on the nuts and bolts of upgrading to Leopard, leave a comment and let me know and I will share what knowledge I have. The best source of information that I found was the 10/24/2007 episode of the Maccast podcast at www.maccast.com.

Josh H.

Anyone who has heard my testimony knows that as a child I was greatly interested in God and the whole concept of one person paying the penalty for another. I do not know if it is because I was teased when I was young or not but I have always loved the idea of someone stronger and greater coming to the rescue of one that could not stand up for himself. I have always been intrigued by stories where the underdog wins or the good guys win against disheartening odds. Needless to say, with these types of interests, I was ripe for the picking when it came to God calling me to salvation (yes, I know that is a very Calvinistic statement, but let’s leave that to another post).

To this end, Providence seems to have constantly brought me in contact with works of literature that have a spiritual nature to them. From the time I was in primary school until now I have loved (mostly nonfictional) books about the attributes or activities of God. So I thought I would lay out here the books that I feel most shaped my theology. Also I hope this list may be helpful for people who may be looking for materials to deepen their walk. And please, if any of you would like to contribute to the list, share the love by leaving a comment. I have attempted to put them in the order that I read them, if my memory does not fail me.

My Book of Bible Stories

This book was given to me early in elementary school. At this time I had not gone to church much. So I knew, basically, nothing. I could not even quote John 3:16, I don’t believe. But my a friend of mine gave me the book (and he wrote my name on the front page). This friend, I discovered years later, was a Jehovah’s Witness and the book was published by the Watchtower organization. However looking back my theology was not hurt any by this. The only thing that really stuck out was this: the book was illustrated and the drawing which depicted the crucifixion had Christ on a stake rather than a cross. But despite this I learned many, many Bible stories before I ever went to church regularly. From this book I first learned about Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, the three Hebrew boys, the Flood, Jeremiah, and of course the horrors of the crucifixion of our Lord.

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

I read this book years later when I was in college. Lyndsay’s mother gave it to me. It is one that has ministered to her for years. Brother Lawrence was a 17th century monk who, before being transformed by the love of God, was a soldier and mystic named Nicholas Herman. His days in the monastery were spent in the kitchen doing menial tasks. Yet in these tasks he sought to live each day in the presence of God by having a constant open line of communication with the Father. This book is partly his memoirs and partly a biography about him done by a friend. This book was given to my at a critical time in my life and was pivotal in my grasping the concept that God…hears…me!

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

After I married Lyndsay in 2000, she began to harp on me about reading the Chronicles of Narnia. I was vaguely familiar with the books on account of a television production I had seen of some of the stories on video (the episodes were from a series made for public television). I finally gave in and I discovered the world of C.S. Lewis. I would never be the same. It was these simple, but powerful stories that opened me up to read Lewis’s nonfiction works. The most amazing episode in the entire series was Aslan’s death on the Stone Table. I knew the story of Christ’s atoning death for sinful man, but to see it in this new setting with a slightly different looking savior, made me look at the cross again in a sobering way. I learned a different lesson from each story. From Prince Caspian I learned that God’s plan for our lives can only be thwarted by our cowardice and lack of faith to let Him bring it to pass. From The Horse and His Boy I understood more of what the Apostle Paul meant when he penned 1 Corinthians 1:27. And The Silver Chair taught me a lesson in obedience.

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

This is another oldie written in the 17th century. It is an allegory who’s main character Christian is making his way to the Celestial City. Along the way he faces obstacles and temptations and relies on the power of Christ to overcome them. As I read Pilgrim’s Progress, simple as it is, I was able to meditate on the areas of my life that create obstacles to my reaching the Celestial City. The most powerful part of the story to me is a vision of a palace that Christian was shown at the House of the Interpreter:

Then the Interpreter took him, and led him up towards the door of the palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men, as desirous to go in; but durst not. There also sat a man at a little distance from the door, at a table-side, with a book and his inkhorn before him, to take the name of him that should enter therein; he saw also, that in the doorway stood many men in armour to keep it, being resolved to do the men that would enter what hurt and mischief they could. Now was Christian somewhat in amaze. At last, when every man started back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, Set down my name, Sir: the which when he had done, he saw the man draw his sword, and put a helmet upon his head, and rush toward the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them all [Acts 14:22], and pressed forward into the palace, at which there was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying–

“Come in, come in;
Eternal glory thou shalt win.”

So he went in, and was clothed with such garments as they. Then Christian smiled and said; I think verily I know the meaning of this.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I am not sure if Lewis would call this his magnum opus , but in my book (forgive the pun) it must be. This is the first of ol’ Jack’s nonfiction that I was ever exposed to. I suppose that what took me so long to get around to this great book was the false impression that his theological works were “too deep” (if there is such a thing). But his writing, though not simple, is quite easy to follow and I have been greatly rewarded in my life by reading Mere Christianity. He covers so many topics the most important of which is absolute truth and right and wrong. But he also covers Christian marriage and the many facets of Christian behavior. This book made me think more about absolute truth and the fact that some things are just wrong. And that idea of “just wrong” comes from a great truth outside of ourselves or even outside of the cosmos. The result of reading this book has impacted everything from the type of advice I give people to how I vote.

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

Though not a theology book per se, God used Wild at Heart to show me the reason for many of the barriers to a deeper relationship with Him that I had perceived in my life. Most notably father-son issues. Having not had a father at home, I grew up with a sense that God was far away. The wisdom of Eldredge greatly ministered to me in this area. Furthermore, Wild at Heart is about men rediscovering the purpose for which they were created. They are the protectors, the warriors, the rescuers. They bear the image of God as a father, a provider and a defender, but man have abandoned this role because the church has emasculated them. This book helped me to see and recapture this about myself.

End Times Fiction by Gary DeMar

This book by DeMar challenged me to re-evaluate how I viewed eschatology particularly in light of the Left Behind series. End Times Fiction taught me to study each book of the Bible (especially Revelation) in light of its intended audience, historical context, and spiritual significance to the ones to whom it was written. I emerged from reading this work with a very different view of the future, the present and prophecy. I encourage anyone to read this book and to be willing to reconsider what they believe and see if it truly lines up with the teaching of scripture.

Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace

I admit that I cheated with Ben-Hur. I watched the movie a couple of years before I read the book. This was a grave mistake on my part. I wished that I had read this classic so much sooner. To follow the life of Judah Ben-Hur is to understand that God never forgets His people and that His sheep hear His voice. Furthermore the amazing faith shown by the characters who love God is inspiring. Though Judah’s bitterness caused him to forget God, his Heavenly Father was always calling to Judah. There were many times that I just stopped during the reading of this book and thanked God for His providence and sovereignty and for working in my life.

Humility by C.J. Mahaney

I read Humility earlier this year. When I saw it in the store of the New Attitude conference, I knew it would be one that would greatly benefit me. Pride is my greatest vice. Mahaney encouraged me to consider how great is the God that I serve. When He saved me, I had nothing to offer to the Lord of the cosmos. Everything good that I had ever tried to accomplish was like filthy rags. Humility is the key to walking in the grace and favor of God: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit (Isa. 66:2, ESV).” It is hard not to humble myself when I consider the life from which God saved me:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

Josh H.

Something that many people don’t know about me is that I am fascinated by the ancient Roman Empire. The Romans amaze me. They were ahead of their time in matters of law, warfare, government, technology, architecture. In many ways, Rome reminds me of America: proud, strong, wealthy. However, my fascination with Rome can be a two-edged sword because I see its more negative traits exhibited in America as well.

Now recently, I have been reading “The City of God” by St. Augustine, a book which came out of the author’s meditation on the fall of the Roman Empire. In it, Augustine covers everything from the fall of Rome to the miracles of the early church. The greater purpose of the book is to illustrate that there is a City of God and there a City of Man. These two cities are at enmity with one another. Of course the City of God will be the one to triumph (and indeed already has). He illustrates this by examining pagan religions, philosophical issues, and political/social happenings of his day (namely, the sacking of Rome). All of his digressions are meant to bring home the point that the City of God is made up of people who have chosen to live according to God’s precepts.

The first portion of the book is so interesting to me because it gives me a glimpse into Roman thought. Books I through V are a rebuttal of some of his contemporaries who blamed the sacking of Rome by the Goths, and the Empire’s subsequent end, on the Christians. After all it was the teachings of Christ that had lead to the abolition of worshipping the gods. The gods, they argued, brought this fate upon Rome for turning away from them and to the Christian faith. Augustine shows how calamities had come upon Rome in the past even while they served the gods. The historian Sallust stated that it was because Rome had become so powerful that it began to corrode from the inside. Indeed he said that between the second and third Punic wars (a series of wars fought against the ancient city of Carthage) is when Rome enjoyed its greatest harmony and its “pur[est] state of society. However, Sallust further states, this did not come out of their love of order but out of fear “lest the peace they had with Carthage might be broken.” Augustine points to Scipio Nasica, a Roman consul, who opposed the destruction of Carthage because if Carthage (and the fear thereof) was taken out of the way a host of evils would erupt out of Rome’s new found comfort in the absence of her enemies. Unfortunately, the Senate did not listen to Nasica and that is precisely what happened: bloodshed, civil wars, “the lust of rule”, etc. Thus inner corruption was its downfall and such corruption had begun to come upon Rome before Christ even appeared in the flesh.

Now if the gods had cared about preserving their servants, they surely would have given to the Romans some holy precepts for righteous living, but none are ever mentioned. In fact, you can see that the gods were known to be licentious and cruel themselves by seeing how they are depicted in ancient Roman plays. The ancient poets who wrote these plays, Augustine says, were thought to be doing so at the command of the gods! The gods, we can conclude, wanted to be seen as being adulterous, conniving, cruel, and vain.

St. Augustine, after explaining this (and many other) things, grabs my attention fully when he begins to state the true motives of those who are using the Christian faith as a scapegoat. They are not concerned about Rome:

“But the worshippers and admirers of these gods delight in imitating their scandalous iniquities, and are nowise concerned that the republic be less depraved and licentious. Only let it remain undefeated, they say, only let it flourish and abound in resources; let it be glorious by its victories, or still better, secure in peace; and what matters it to us? This is our concern, that every man be able to increase his wealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities, and so that the powerful may subject the weak for their own purposes….Let the people applaud not those who protect their interests, but those who provide them with pleasure….

Let the laws take cognizance rather of the injury done to another man’s property, than of that done to one’s own person. If a man be a nuisance to his neighbor, or injure his property, family, or person, let him be actionable; but in his own affairs let everyone with impunity do what he will in company with his own family, and with those who willingly join him….Let there be erected houses of the largest and most ornate description: in these let there be provided the most sumptuous banquets, where every one who pleases may, by day or night, play, drink, vomit, dissipate….If such happiness is distasteful to any, let him be branded as a public enemy; and if any attempt to modify or put an end to it let him be silenced, banished, put an end to. Let these be reckoned the true gods, who procure for the people this condition of things, and preserve it when once possessed.” (emphasis mine).

Before you think this is another “bash modern America” tirade about how “tha church needs ta git on fire fer God!”, let me explain why I have gone on and on about Rome, St. Augustine, and the City of God. I don’t deny that I’d like to see the modern church (and myself) be more on fire fer..I mean, for God. However I am interested in a little more introspection here. You see, I definitely see all of the traits that Augustine mentions in the above quote in the attitude of modern America (especially the ones in bold). But more disturbing, I see some of them in myself. It is true that I have bought into American materialism and at times I am thankful for America being so great a world power just because it affords me to have the things I want. Never mind that I am not beaten for my faith day in and day out. Never mind that I am free to tell anyone I want about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a higher calling and the freedom I have in America affords me the opportunity to live out that calling.

Even though Augustine wrote his book 1,500 years ago, I do not believe its teachings have expired. I still believe in the City of God. I do not buy into the idea that God has forsaken “the late great planet earth” or that I am just waiting around to get out of here. I also, like Augustine, take Christ at His word that His Kingdom is not earthly; but that does not mean it is not present on the earth. I believe that you, me, and the church are here for a reason and we are here to stay. Let’s be who we are! We are the citizenry of the City of God.

I am thankful for what I have, but I will not let it become the most important thing anymore. Computers, cars, guitars, and iPods are nifty and even quite useful. But they are no substitute for living daily in the presence of God.

Josh H.