Goals – Life and Faith

6 Reasons Not To Buy Books In 2019

On my bookshelves sit over 800 books. On my Kindle sits around 250. I haven’t read them all.

Granted, some of these books are more reference material for when required. I have plenty of commentaries and Bible dictionaries that help in Bible study or preaching preparation. However, I also have a lot of books related to the Christian faith which I haven’t read. Last year I went through a spate of buying a number of books but knew I wouldn’t be able to read them for another few months.

So this year is the year of not buying books. Instead, I have given myself a goal of reading the many books on my shelves that are unread. Yes, that’s right, I’m not going to buy a single book this year.

For some people this might be easy, very easy. It would help if one didn’t read. But, for someone like me who enjoys perusing secondhand book stores, or picking up a bargain from the Christian bookstore, then it is a significant challenge.

6 reasons not to buy books in 2019

This personal challenge is exactly that, a personal challenge. I’m not here to rope anyone else into this challenge. I just know I have enough books on my shelves that can and ought to be read. In contemplating this challenge, however, I have six reasons why I won’t be buying a book in 2019.

First, I have enough books to read without having to buy any for 12 months.

I did just say this. I know, I can’t believe I said this myself.

There are books on my shelf that I haven’t read. They should be read. They’re good books, recommended by others or bought for a particular purpose. At some point it is worth saying, “I have enough”. I have enough books to keep me reading and achieve my goals for 2019. With this being the case there isn’t a need to buy more from a pragmatic point of view. I have books to read, this will be sufficient.

Second, I don’t want to waste money.

Books cost money. I have a finite supply of money. Spending money on books that I don’t need right now because I have enough reading material for the moment seems logical. I don’t want to waste my money on books that I won’t read for a number of months, or possibly years!

The other side of this is all the money I have already spent. The sunk cost of the books I have on my shelves. If I don’t read them and they just sit there then this is also wasted money. The financial drivers of the reading endeavour do play into this decision of not buying a book in 2019.

Third, I want to know what I need and what I don’t.

There are books on my shelves that have sat there for years. One would think that if they haven’t been read by now, like 10 years unread, then it might be worth giving them to charity. However, I’m sure there are gems on my shelf that I’m unaware of. It would benefit me to read them, no doubt. There are also some terrible books on my shelf, no doubt. These don’t need to be read as thoroughly as others but they still need to be taken off the shelf and evaluated.

In essence, I don’t know what is in some of these books and I would like to know what’s in them so that I can use them, learn from them, grow in some capacity or make the decision to get rid of them. I want to know what I need to keep and what I don’t need anymore.

Fourth, I need to make space.

Another practical reason for reading the books I already have is that I need to make space for others. While I won’t add to them this year, my bookcases are packed. There is little room for new books. Therefore, in reading more of my own books, and deciding to part with some of them, I will help my bookcases by freeing up space. Of course, doing something for a bookcase is not really truthful, it is so I can buy more in coming years. There are ulterior motives.

Fifth, I can bless others with books I don’t need.

I know a few avid readers and a number of theological students who could benefit from some of the books I don’t need. Giving books away to people I know, with books that I believe would benefit them, helps them as much as it helps me. And while saying good-bye to some books sounds like a sad proposition, if it helps others then that’s great.

Sixth, of many books there is no end.

As the write of Ecclesiastes reminds us, and all good students, at the end of his book of wisdom,

“Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

There will always be books, and in coming years I will no doubt buy more. And while being surrounded by books somehow makes me feel more intelligent than I really am there can be a weariness that comes from it. Although, apparently it is a good thing to be surrounded by more books than you can ever read. In any case, I’ll keep reading, and learn to be a little less precious about my own collection and learn to enjoy them for what they are.

Reading For The Head And The Heart

Over the summer break we’re exploring some of the Psalms in our Sunday gatherings. I was able to kick off the series this past weekend by preaching through Psalm 1. It was an apt Psalm to end 2018 and look toward a new year. Like much of the Psalms there is a call for a response. One aspect to this is the assessment, or re-assessment, of our delight and meditation in the instruction of the Lord.

The start of the year is often a time of assessment. New Year’s resolutions aside; the sun, warm weather, and most people being on of holiday helps conjure up an environment for reflection. Continuing on from my last post, particularly point six of my 10 Tips For Reading In 2019, Psalm 1 challenges us to re-assess our affections and reading habits of God’s Word. Psalm 1 encourages people to delight and meditate on the Lord’s instruction because this is the way to happiness.

Reading For The Head And The Heart

The first three verses of the Psalm read:

¹How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the company of mockers!
²Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
³He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

The central verse for the whole Psalm is verse two. The way of happiness – which is a contentment, a peace, a satisfaction – is through the delight and meditation on the ‘law of the Lord’, the Lord’s instruction, the Scriptures.

And here we find two characteristics of the way of happiness:

First, there is the aspect of the heart. The delighting in the Lord’s instruction.

Here is our emotional response to God.

We are to have affection for him and his instruction. We know God through his Word, through his instruction, and our heart response is to be delight. We are to be moved in feeling and fondness toward God because of his instruction. As Psalm 37:4 says,

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Our heart, our desires, our delight is to be in the Lord and his instruction. This leads to the way of happiness.

John Piper, in his book, Desiring God, puts it this way,

“Strong affections for God, rooted in and shaped by the truth of Scripture – this is the bone and marrow of biblical worship.”

Second, there is the aspect of the head. The meditating on the Lord’s instruction.

Here we read of our knowledge and understanding of God that affects our thinking.

Day and night, we are to chew over the Word of God in our minds. Like a never ending piece of gum, we’re to chew over the Lord’s instruction in our heads. Our minds are created to understand the things of God through our thoughts, this in turn is to influence the way we live. This is why Paul, in Romans 12:2 says,

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

In its proper vision, we find the knowledge of God is to touch our hearts and inform our heads.

Theology, which is simply the study of God, is not just head knowledge. It is something that affects our heads and our thinking, but it should also move us and affect our hearts and affections for God.

As we start off a new year I always find it helpful to re-assess my devotional life. The habits of reading Scripture and prayer. The start of the new year is great for starting a new bible reading plan, creating a new prayer list, beginning a new devotional work. It’s essentially a good time to re-assess a lot of things, so why not be intentional about it for your faith?

This year I’m seeking to read through the Bible using this plan. Other plans worth looking at are the one from The Bible Project (which I wrote about last year) or simply reading through four chapters of the Bible per day. In reality, if you’ve got a Bible and you’re using it then that’s a great thing.

10 Tips For Reading In 2019

Taking the time to read can be a discipline, but it should also be a joy. Like anything goal-orientated, reading can require planning, persistence, patience, and purpose. There are many ways to approach reading, and there’s no rules about it, except those you make yourself.

For me, I have an annual goal of reading 26 books. Which means, as I’m sure you can work out, I aim to average one book every two weeks by the end of the year. I’ve had this goal since 2005, which again I’m sure you can work out as being 14 years, and read 361 books in that time. Go me.

How do I know that’s how many books I’ve read during this time? Well, I’m kinda nerdy with my books and have listed them all in a spreadsheet. Yeah, I’m like that.

10 Tips For Reading In 2019

But, at no time has anyone told me what rules I am to put into place to do this. That’s because there are no rules. You can read anything you like! It’s not like your English teacher is breathing fire down your back as you choose which book you want to read, or how to read it. There’s no set textbooks in life like there are in school. Just read what you like!

But of course, some people like rules, and without any rules chaos reigns or no reading gets done as you’re stuck on where to start.

So with this said, and for what it’s worth, here are 10 tips to influence your reading this coming year.

1. Don’t worry about how you read.

There are so many ways to read these days. Whatever your reading goal, whether it be one book this coming year or 100, there are a variety of different ways to achieve this. To achieve my goal of 26 I count everything from physical form, to digital form, to even audio form. Yes, even audio form! Deal with it. While I might not be able to retain as much as I would in physical form they still count in my book (see what I did there). And, in reality, the books I listen to rarely make it into my “Top Books” posts at the end of the year (see: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014).

2. Think about when reading might be best for you

I’ve worked out that there are certain periods in the year where reading probably won’t happen. At the moment my summer holidays are usually chockablock with reading but I know that come April this will have dropped off significantly. Due to life circumstance and busyness reading can fall by the wayside. I know when this happens I’m either reading really slowly or simply not at all. But, it is helpful to think about when is the best time in the day, the week, the month, or the year for reading. My audiobooks are great in the car commute and while doing the dishes at home. The evenings, if I don’t have anything on, are also a good time for reading.

One of the biggest distractions to reading is the phone. I think this needs to be dealt with in a significant way for anyone who wants to read purposefully and regularly.

3. Choose books you think you will like

There are a lot of different books out there and in many different genres. Read whatever tickles you. I’d still encourage stretching yourself in another genre or area of knowledge, but to begin with and to get yourself going, just pick something you think you’ll enjoy. I know for myself, a good thriller or mystery will do me wonders during holidays times and in-between non-fiction reads. They’re often trashy quick reads, but I still enjoy them. The other area that I’ve found myself reading more is that of biography; finding out someone else’s story can be a learning experience but also just enjoyable. Pick something you think you’d like and begin.

4. If reading a non-fiction book, read with a pencil in hand

I read a lot of non-fiction. Things regarding theology and Christian living are more prominent on my list than anything else. And when I read these books I usually read with a pencil in hand. Books are there to be used and so underlining, writing in the margins, and even dog-earring pages are all acceptable uses of books. If you don’t like that you need to get over yourself. Don’t be so precious about your books, they’re there to be used and learnt from.

5. Make sure you read a fiction book every so often

I make sure I read or listen to fiction books reasonably regularly. At least a third of my list this year was fiction. I find too much non-fiction doesn’t give my brain a break. We need to remember that reading books is only one aspect of our daily and weekly reading. Add to this the emails, texts, documents, and articles and there becomes a lot more reading than we perhaps realise. Give the brain a break and read some fiction.

6. Don’t forget the reading of Scripture

With all the Christian reading available to us it is a temptation to believe our devotional life with God can be sustained through them. This is not so. There is no substitute for Scripture. It is through Scripture God speaks, it is through Scripture we learn of God’s instruction, it is through Scripture the Spirit works within us to shape us and convict us. If we’ve got a goal for our ‘normal reading’ then it would also be worth having a plan for our Bible reading too. I’ve written about that previously, here and here and here.

7. Try books outside your interests or current knowledge

I can’t say reading any deep philosophy or sociology or psychology grabs me. I think it would be terribly boring. The same goes for apologetics or Creation-science or marriage books in the Christian world. Yet, I know that it would be good for me to do so. Every now and then I try to read something that I wouldn’t normally read and it is usually beneficial. If you don’t think you’ll like history then read some. If you don’t think you’ll like science fiction then read some. If you don’t think you’ll like sport biographies then read some (they’re awesome). I’ll try to do that too.

8. Be willing to not finish a book

You don’t have to finish every book you start. You really don’t. I know the English teacher said you did, but you really don’t. They’re disposable. If you’re not getting anything out of it, or it’s gone boring, stop wasting your time and give it to the op-shop.

9. Join Goodreads or write down what you read

I am on Goodreads, which is like a social media platform for book lovers. I record the books I read on here, give them a rating, see what my ‘friends’ are reading, and offer the odd review. It’s pretty good and I enjoy looking at the stats page every so often. It can calculate how many books I’ve read, how many pages, when they were published and so on.

I mean, the other thing to do here is start a spreadsheet. Did I mention that before? It’s nerdy but it’s awesome.

Or, just use a pen and a notebook.

Whatever way you decide to go, I think the writing down of books read helps you know what you’ve read so you won’t pick it up again. But the biggest advantage I find is that it encourages you to keep reading.

10. The world will not end if you don’t meet your goal

Hey, if you don’t get to the goal you set this coming year don’t worry. The world is not ending, you can always try next year. What is more important is just giving it a go. You never know, you may learn something interesting, you may learn something that impacts your life, you may even find that you enjoy reading.

However you do it I hope you have a great reading year in 2019. Thanks for reading this.

My One Blogging Goal For 2018

With the turn of the new year comes the flurry of posts about how to improve your blogging in 2018. I think I’ve read a dozen or so already.

It’s made me think about my own blogging for the year ahead.

My One Blogging Goal For 2018

There is no doubt that I enjoy the writing process. It clarifies my thoughts, it helps me think out loud, it gives me the opportunity to express my opinions and ideas. Depending on what kind of day it is the writing will come easily, but more often than not it is hard. It requires actually articulating my thoughts in a systematic or structured way. Writing requires me to sit in front of a blank screen and turn that white document into something worth reading.

I’m not sure I achieve this very often, but it seems people do read what I write. I am appreciative of that.

And I’m particularly thankful for those who have read the odd post over the last 12 months. I’ve had a focus to increase readership and write more regularly, which was achieved, even if there were seasons where nothing was published.

But they were last year’s goals. And having read enough “Improve Your Blog” type posts it is apparently important to have goals coming into 2018.

For the coming year I have reservations about setting number goals about readership. It keeps me focussed on numbers, which at the best of times are encouraging but totally distracting and beside the point at the worst. So for 2018, instead of focussing on the statistics, which get looked at far too often, I have decided to make my goal writing-based.

That is, I want to write from the heart more this year.

Reflecting on my own writing I don’t believe I write from the heart enough. Sure, I may have a post that moves someone else. I may have a good piece of writing that connects with a reader. But am I actually writing from the heart?

To me, writing from the heart is about putting words on paper that reflect more of who I am.

It isn’t giving more of my opinion, it isn’t making the post feel more energetic with faux-excitement. Writing from the heart is about writing truthfully, clearly, and with an openness that leaves part of me on the page. It means I’m not hiding behind words but I’m putting myself on the line when I write and publish.

While this goal isn’t particularly measurable, certainly not from the outside, it may cause me issues when seeking to evaluate come the end of the year. But that’s my issue. For now I’m committed to writing through this blog, seeking to help others in youth and young adult ministry reflect on their experience and be better in their work.

Let’s see how we go.

What about you? What’s your number one blogging goal for the year?

Is It Time To Take The Guilt Out Of Your Bible Reading?

I suspect, every year, thousands of people give up on their attempted bible reading plan because they’ve fallen so far behind they don’t believe they’ll ever catch up, and they feel guilty about it.

You know the situation, I’m sure. You start off the new year with a plan to follow. You’re aiming to achieve what seems like the impossible–finish the whole bible in one year. But by the time the third week of January comes to a close you find yourself three days behind, the equivalent of 12-15 chapters to catch up on. The doubt about actually doing this in the first place creeps in. The guilt of not doing what you said you’d do piles up. And suddenly you find yourself questioning whether your relationship with God is actually where you thought it was.

Is It Time To Take The Guilt Out Of Your Bible Reading_

From a young age, in church or in a Christian home, we are taught that reading the bible and praying are simply parts of the Christian identity and rhythm. I’m not going to disagree with that. I think the bible itself speaks of the need to read God’s words and be active in prayer with him. This is vital to any relationship with God.

When God gives Moses his words in Exodus 24 there is the understanding that his people are to respond and obey it. Then as part of the words God gives Moses, in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, there is the command to have them on repeat.

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.”

A bible reading habit is about having God’s words on repeat.

Yet, while this is vital, helpful, and beneficial for us as believers we often feel guilty if we skip a day or fall too far back on a bible reading plan.

The point of a bible reading plan is not to make us feel guilty.

It’s to help us in our worship of God. It is to help us hear from him.

It is to help us understand the story we are part of.

It is to help us know more of our identity as the people of God.

When we do fall behind in our bible reading our response doesn’t need to be guilt. We aren’t saved or made right with God because of our bible reading. We are made right with God because of what Jesus has done. The Good News. Instead, when we do fall behind, we just continue reading where we were up to.

You see, there are no explicit rules around reading the bible. No one is restricting or demanding or making it a law to read a certain part or certain amount of the bible. The important thing is to read it. If you read a verse or read a whole book, whatever it is, the aim is to read it.

I was talking with someone a month or two ago who had a 100-day streak in their bible reading. Things then came up and they didn’t do it for about a week. Instead of just picking it up from where they left off, they gave up. They felt they were too far behind that they couldn’t catch up. Therefore, they didn’t see much of a point to continue reading.

But that’s not the point!

It’s an awesome achievement to read 100 days in a row, but the point isn’t how many days in a row you can read your bible. There’s no competition going on (unless it’s self-imposed, and that’ll probably raise questions around ‘heart’). It’s about connecting and engaging with God through his words. The point is that reading the bible is helpful for our relationship and understanding and worship of God. It’s vital.

I like bible reading plans because they actual help me work through scripture systematically. They help me have a goal and show me where I’m going. But at the end of the day they are just that, a plan. If I didn’t have a plan then I reckon I’d be flip-flopping through the bible and never really achieve anything in my reading. Instead, a plan gives structure in my bible reading and shows me what I have actually read.

I’d always encourage a bible reading plan to anyone (this one is a good one). What I wouldn’t encourage is feeling guilty about not meeting someone else’s bible reading requirements. Read what you can, work through a plan at your own pace, and worship God in the process.

My Top Posts of 2017

Earlier this month I wrote briefly about how I’ve managed to achieve a couple of blogging goals this year. I wanted to write more regularly in 2017, and as a result I’ve averaged a published post per week on this site and a few guest posts on others. The second goal was to increase the amount of views from last year. I aimed to double last years result and achieved this too. Happy days.

Achieving Blogging Goals

Today I achieved my main blogging goals for the year.

It’s a day to celebrate!

At the start of the year I set myself two main goals to achieve by the end of 2017.

Achieving Blogging Goals.png

First, I wanted to write and post more often. Making sure I could achieve this meant I needed to make it specific and measurable. The goal was to average a post a week by the end of the year. This is now my 58th post. I achieved this goal with when I posted about freedom.

Second, I wanted to have double the amount of views this year than I did in 2016. Last year I had 2,567 views. Today I tipped over 5,134! This is awesome news, and very pleasing for all the work I end up putting into this site.

So, it is a day to celebrate.

I can tick off two major goals I sought to achieve at the start of the year. It didn’t come easy. There were times when I didn’t think I’d make it. The regular writing, editing, and posting takes more time than I’d like to admit. But, with intentional focus this year it seems to have worked.

More people are reading my stuff, which often blows me away–that people actually take time to read what I write and occasionally comment. And, for a personal blog that is targeted at quite a niche topic it’s certainly on the improve.

So, here’s to achieving goals!

(Let’s not talk about new goals for 2018 just yet)