Last month I wrote about discovering a literary gem on the ski slopes of Colorado, told how it had been received as miraculous by one of the first persons I gave a copy to, and said I had a couple of copies if you wanted one. The day after the article was published I received a phone call from an elderly friend who said she wanted to buy a copy. I told her I wanted to hold on to the copies I had until after Sunday so I’d have one if you asked for it. She said after what I had written everyone would want one. I told her she was more optimistic about that than I, but assured her I’d get a copy for her. When no one even mentioned the book, or the offer, I took her a copy on Monday.
I do hope the lack of response was due to the poetic nature of the book, and not my track record of recommending movies that few seem to enjoy as much as I do. The response to our Sunday night study of Strange New World does give me hope. I was encouraged to keep trying by your willingness to tackle a book that, while not as scholarly as the book from which it originated, is still not easy to wrap our heads around. I really think Carl Trueman understands what has happened to our culture, and his observations will enable us to more effectively address the problems that surround us. In fact, Matt and I are going to hear him speak at a Touchstone Conference in Chicago next week, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
It’s with mild trepidation that I’m going to plunge ahead and recommend another book. Duane gave me another winner, Living Life Backward by David Gibson. It’s the best book I’ve ever read that gives insight and understanding to a book few seem to comprehend or understand. And no, I’m not talking about Revelation. It’s subtitled “How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us To Live in Light of the End.” One copy has already gone to Wisconsin on a fishing trip. There’s only one left.
God Bless, Rick
Chatham Christian Church 