Five Ways to Improve Your Reading

How much do you get out of your reading? Perhaps you're one of the fortunate few you can read a book quickly and retain it. Most of us aren't like that. We toil over a book to learn and enjoy what we can but soon lose what we've read. Allow me to provide a few ideas to make your reading more profitable. Having trouble just getting started? Check out this link.

Read Slower
If you choose a work to read it must have some envisioned value to you. There's no need to rush through it. Take your time to read it. Slow down. Stop occasionally and ponder what you've just read and make note of it.

Take Notes
Many of us remember what we've seen, read or heard by writing it down. Read with a notebook at your side. Makes notes of the crucial passages you've just read. Write down what you want to take with you from the book. What you want to apply to yourself. I suggest a notebook or journal that you can shelve and refer back to repeatedly.

Write in the Margins
I know some of us are purists and don't like to write in our books. But a book is only a thing. It is the words on the page that are important, not it's pristine condition when we're through with it. Write in those margins! The next person who reads that book may profit from your marginalia.

Highlighting
Closely associated with the last suggestion I would add that highlighting makes it much easier to refer back to those portions that stand out to you. I often joke when I loan a book that all the important passages are already highlighted. So it is for yourself and the next reader, highlighting makes it much easier to go back and find that important passage the made you laugh, made you cry or simply something that you need to remember and apply to your life.

Review the Book When You're Done
Once you've finished reading, making notes and highlighting a book you've only completed the first step. Go back, review what you've read. Review your highlights and marginalia and your notes. Put it all together. Did you understand the thrust of the book? What exactly did you learn? How will you apply those ideas and suggestions from the author to your life and work.

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Having trouble reading academic books?

Great article on reading academic books from Jared Oliphint. Click over and have a read here.

If you can clear the fog of fear and hesitation hovering over academic books, you might find an unexpected depth and richness between the pages. Heavy theological reading will never take the place of a heart-gripping novel or a devotional full of soaring words of worship. But a rich read can often add color, dimension, and vibrancy to your Christian walk and give those devotionals a few more volts. - Jared Oliphint

The Importance of Reading

Another outstanding sermon clip from the good folks at Desiring God.

Gospel eBooks

A Culture of Reading in the Church

What do you think?

The new issue of Themelios is out! Don't waste anytime downloading this issue. Full of juicy stuff for the hungry Christian. Download or read it here.

Kindles, Books and Reading

Old books are like old friends. They love to be revisited. They stick around to give advice. They remind you of days gone by. Books, like friends, hang around. - Kevin DeYoung

Being a theological bibliophile I was attracted to Kevin DeYoung's post from which the above comment is taken.  No, there is nothing like holding that book in your hands and delving into the riches of it's pages. Nothing like it at all. If I have an earthly attachment to any possession it is my books. Some of those old books have been pulled off the shelf numerous times to remind me of the pleasures inside.  But unlike Kevin, my devotion is now split between books and the Kindle. I know it doesn't have the same appeal, the same feel, the same look or even the same smell. But it does have a convenience factor I can't deny. Its great to head off to worship or Bible study and have four translations of Scripture, the Hebrew OT, the Greek NT and dozens of other reference works all in one hand. And, let's not forget, these same works are usually less expensive than their real life counterparts. So, I'm not quite ready to throw away the virtual book for the actual book. I've found friends in both worlds and I think they'll both hang around for some time.

Tony Reinke on His New Book "Lit!"

Reinke's new book on reading from Crossway.

Justin Taylor Interviews Tony Reinke about his new book "Lit!" from Crossway on Vimeo.



Are You a Slow Reader? Me, too

John Starke at the TGC Blog has a great post giving advice for slow readers like myself. He suggests:

1. Read in 15 minute segments.

2. Get up 40 minutes earlier.

3. Use the odd times to read.

4. Read widely and more than one book at a time.

5. Work hard to finish a book.


Some of these work for me and some don't but I'm glad there is advice out there. Read the entire article here and let me know what you think.

Current Reading

We've had the flu or bug or something here in the Renegade household for the past two weeks (hence the lack of posts) but I have attempted to not fall behind on my reading - which I still did. Nevertheless, I've found Hamilton's The Erosion of Calvinist Orthodoxy: Drifting from the truth in confessional Scottish Churches a great read and a serious warning to us all.

Delving into Tributes to John Calvin: A Celebration of His Quincentenary (Calvin 500) has been worth every moment of valuable reading time as well. Taken from the Calvin 500 conference each chapter is a study on Calvin in itself. Worth every penny.

What are you reading?

Mohler at the Resolved Conference

A great video of Al Mohler from the Resolved Conference.


Al Mohler on Reading from Resolved on Vimeo.

Advice on Reading Theological Works

Nick Batzig offers some great advice on reading theological works under nine headings:

1. Read every chapter, article or sermon recommended by professors, pastors and theologians that you hold in high esteem.
2. Make the level of your reading to vary. Be reading more difficult and less difficult books.
3. Don’t neglect the footnotes or endnotes .
4. Ask friends what they are reading and what they have found most helpful.
5. Read those chapters that appear to be most closely related to the subject you are currently studying.
6. Read chapters that are relevant to a particular theological issue with which you are wrestling.
7. Find compilation volumes and familiarize yourself with the contributors and chapter titles.
8. Find and read doctoral dissertations.
9. Guard your heart and mind from intellectual pride.

This is a great post. Read the whole article here and check out the website, too. Thanks, Nick.

C.S. Lewis on Books and Reading

Lewis warned that "every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain maistakes. We all, therefore, need books that will correct the characteristic mistakes ofour own period. And that means old books." ...Lewis more clearly than modersn observed, "the charateristic blindness of the twentieth century...None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our gaurd against it, if we read only modern books (as quoted in A Manual for Officer Training by David W. Hall & Mark A. Bruckner, pg. 206).

What an interesting and insifghtful observation. Might I also add that we can never fully escape our culture, either. Hence we need to be cautious what we read and read those books from ages past that have stood the test of time. Bunyan, Owen, Hugh Martin, Bannerman, Flavel, Vincent, Guthrie, Watson, Sibbes and William Perkins are just a few authors we should focus on. And, as Lewis notes elsewhere, for every modern book we read we should read an old one. What are you reading today?

What Are You Reading?

What are you reading this Easter weekend? I tend to get into reading too deep and read several books at once depending on the situation. For example, I'm continuing my study of Evangelicalism with The Advent of Evangelicalism: Exploring Historical Continuitieswhich is a top notch read on the subject and I have several books to follow up. Such as, Noll's, The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys (History of Evangelicalism)and in conjunction with these I'm taking in Noll's, Christians in the American Revolution. On a more practical side I've just dug into Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implicationsby D.A. Carson. Really looking forward to this one as I've had a few introductory conversations on this and I truly need to know more. What else? We just recceived a shipment of books this week including Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Beand Zinssner's, On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfictionwhich I'm also looking forward to. Not to mention a few Dummines books; Excel 2007 for Dummies, Vista for Dummies and LinkedIn for Dummies.

What are you reading?

Happy Hogmanay and Reading Calvin Part Two

If you don't want to join the guys over at Ref21 reading Calvin through the year there is another way. The team at Princeton Theological Seminary are reading through Calvin as well. Check it out here. Or, you can cut right to the chase and downlaod the .pdf file with the reading schedule at this link. Don't have the Institutes? Click below to check out what Amazon has and get started reading Calvin this year!

Happy Hogmanay!

Valuable Use of Time?

C.J. Mahaney took some time to quote R.C. Sproul recently on time management and a couple of points really caught my attention. Point #4 was, ...use your leisure time for pursuits that are life enriching. Leisure time is often spent on avocations. Reading is a valuable use of time. It enriches life to read outside of your major field or area of expertise. Augustine once advised believers to learn as much as possible about as many things as possible, since all truth is God’s truth. Other avocations that are enriching include the arts. I like to study the piano and I dabble in painting. No one will ever mistake me for a serious musician or an accomplished artist. But these avocations open up the world of beauty to me that enhances my view of God and His manifold perfections. I also enjoy working cross-word puzzles to warm up the little gray cells and to expand my vista of verbal expression. This is the manner in which I have been pursuing my leisure activities (I'm delighted R.C. approves). I spend time reading and try to spend it by reading several areas of study and not limiting myself to just one subject or area. And, if you play guitar like me you know it is great for private worship and opening the my mind to another area of life that can be enjoyed.

Point 6 was just insightful, ...use drive-time for learning. Driving a car is another mechanical function that allows the mind to be alert to more than what is happening on the roadway. The benefits of audio tape can be put to great use during these times. I can listen to lectures and instructional tapes while driving, thereby redeeming the time. I drive quite a distance to work and always felt that it was such a waste of time. Over the last 2-3 years I've spent listening to sermons and lectures and indeed, the Bible. This is a fantastic means of making good use of drive time. Can't afford to download the whole Bible right now? You can download just the Psalms and Proverbs for only 5 bucks from Crossway. Read the whole post here and see where else, like me, you can make better use of the short time that God has given us.

More Books and Reading

Any blog on reading always catches my eye and I'm uncontrollably drawn to it. Justin's Buzzard Blog has a post on 20 books that should be read in your twenties. My twenties are just a memory now (distant memory, that is) but I was happy to see that have read and actually have in my library six of the twenty and have my sites on a few more on the list. Check it out here even if you are a few days, years or decades (like me) past your twenties.

And on the subject of books, Stephen Nichols, author of Getting the Blues, reviews Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction: Christianity and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation by Rodney Clapp. Its an interesting review and the book is now on my Amazon wish list (should any of my family of close friends be reading this).

More on Reading

Hey, speaking of reading (#4 from my last post) here’s a great list on keeping your home library from the latest issue of Banner of Truth thanks to Stephen and Nate.

DIRECTION 1. Always reckon that the best book to be read, the first book to be read, and often the only book to be read, is God’s book.
DIRECTION 2. Give no credit to that opinion which holds bookishness in religion in suspicion or contempt.
DIRECTION 3. Do not be simply a collector of books. Retain them not for the number, beauty, antiquity, rarity, value, or mere possession of them.
DIRECTION 4. Mortify your library. That which you shelve may be construed the measure of that which you approve. That which you retain for reference may be read unwittingly for life (see Acts 19:19).
DIRECTION 5. Reckon that, contrary to popular expectation, those books lately written may be inferior to those of another day.
DIRECTION 6. Judge the importance of a book, not by the author’s exuberance or the publisher’s notices, but by the relative weight assigned that topic in God’s book. Weak books struggle through the press with ease nowadays, which strangely impresses the unwary.
DIRECTION 7. Do not give, lend, or recommend a book which you have not read. Do not trust an author just because he has written helpfully once or upon one subject.
DIRECTION 8. Care for your books. Esteem them as friends, for there may be times when they will be the only friends you have!
DIRECTION 9. And always a. Read widely. Avoid the accumulation of devotional material. Sermons are generally better heard than read. b. Read with discrimination. Be quick to part company with that book which fails to promote sound doctrine, solid thought, balanced inference, experimental godliness, and esteem for Christ.
DIRECTION 10. Never be found without a book nearby.

My disagreements here might be to part a of number 9 where we encouraged to “avoid the accumulation of devotional material.” As we don’t have the accompanying text with the directions I don’t want to put words in the author’s mouth. So, if I may, I would alter this to say that we should balance our libraries and therefore our reading time with both academic and devotional material. If I’m reading one then I’m usually reading the other. Otherwise I’m not academically increasing my general knowledge which should be balanced with devotional reading. In that way the former is not solely for education sake alone. I might also take some slight exception to number 4 and part b of number 9 (again giving the author the benefit of doubt as we don’t have the whole article). We must know our enemy and to do so and to be able to soundly counter him we must study his written work. If we “study to show ourselves approved” first we should then be reasonably able to discern biblical from unbiblical thus avoiding the author’s caution of what we “retain for reference may be read unwittingly for life.” On the whole I take recommendations such as these to heart and give them due thought and application in my life. How about you?

Seven Tips on Book Reading

1. Read books that are devotional as well as intellectually stimulating. Don’t focus on one or the other or limit yourself to one or the other.

2. Read books that are challenging. It’s OK if you don’t understand every fifty cent theological term like presuppositionalism or infralapsarianism. You can start learning now.

3. Read dead guys. Like Mark Driscoll has said, “Read dead people. Living people could still blow it in the end, right? Dead people, they finished well. Ya gotta pretty good idea that they made it through…Read about dead people that loved Jesus…"

4. Read biographies. There is often nothing more inspiring than reading about someone like ourselves who God has used to do His Kingdom work.

5. Read everything by your favorite theologian/author. I think it was Iain Murray who once gave this advice. Find a theologian and make him your life’s work. Read everything written by him.

6. Read and write in your books. Jot notes in the margins, highlight the important bits, write notes in your journal – keep track of what you’re learning and where God is leading.

7. Read books that you don’t want to read. Let’s face it, there are areas of service and parts of our lives we don’t want to confront and yet those are often the places where God is just waiting to reveal Himself and to bless us. Don’t overlook these books.

The Challenge

I like a challenge and this one in particular. I won't be able to participate but I'd like to follow along and see who succeeds and who benefits from it. Reading the Puritans can sometimes be a challenge but its often worth the effort. I'm taking some online classes from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and this next class has quite a bit of reading so I won't over extend myself. But, to those who have some time....well, I dare ya!