Books

Building a Blank Bible (part 1)

Tony Reinke Blank Bible, Books, Exegesis, Jonathan Edwards, Preacher's study, Preaching notes

As promised, this week I’ll be showing you how to build your very own Blank Bible. But first, why would you want one? I don’t know of any publishers who make them and it’s a little time consuming to build. So why go through the work?

Well, there are several reasons actually.

The most important reason being you can keep those precious biblical insights close to the texts they originate. I have a drawer full of notes I’ve scratched out while listening to sermons over the years. And even at times I’ve used a Moleskine notebook for the same purpose. However, notecards and notebooks are scattered and disorganized. Unless I specifically recall a sermon on a certain text, the notes are largely forgotten in a large stack.

Owning one Bible with enough room to hold your personal notes close to the Biblical texts means the next time you study Ephesians you will have the notes from a Bible study on Ephesians five years ago.

Second, a Blank Bible is a great place to collect the fruit of your own meditation. Don’t fill the Blank Bible with notes you can find in any commentary. Make the notes in this bible flow from your own personal reflection and let the commentaries point out the exegetical and technical stuff.

Third, it’s a simple fact that we remember things better if we think about them and write our recollections down. Journaling is a good example of this and the Blank Bible affords enough space.

Fourth, just as Jonathan Edward’s Blank Bible is now a national treasure, your insights may also be treasured by someone else. Whether you leave the Bible to your spouse or children or grandchildren, when you are gone your Bible will continue to speak. So think and write clearly.

Tomorrow … the first attempt at the Blank Bible. And since there will be a second I’ll assume you already know the first was a failure.

Packing a small library

Tony Reinke Books, Great Quotes, Pastoral Ministry, spurgeon

For me packing my library of books is the most delicate and time-consuming task in moving. Certainly it’s a pain in the neck (literally) to move their weight. But for an organization nut like myself the aches can be compounded.

Thankfully the process has been eased by using Booxter, a cheap program for my Mac OS X. I just connect my webcam (in my case a Sony digital video recorder with streaming Firewire) and the camera automatically scans the ISBN bar off the back of each book. Once the ISBN is entered, Booxter does its work, collecting a picture of the cover, author’s name, title and all types of information off the internet automatically. Entering about 20 books a minute is a real blessing!

Then I make my own genre categories to organize the library exactly the way I need it. I can even mark which packing boxes each book goes into.

You can see what I have scanned over the past few days (and take a glimpse at my book collection) here.

So if you want to organize your library and you own a Mac, look into Booxter.

Book review: Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (1581347170)

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Books, BR > Crossway, Great Quotes, Mark Dever, Old Testament, Reading, spurgeon, Together for the Gospel

I doubt I’m alone when I say the Old Testament in my Bible is largely unknown to me. This is probably due to the fact that it’s not chronologically structured and many overlaps and gaps make things confusing. Such prospects can be despairing for a big-picture reader like myself.

Typically before I begin a book I question the themes and overall direction of what I’m about to read. It’s the basic ABCs of critical thinking, really. However the historical big-picture of the Old Testament is often hard to discern and so the details are often disconnected.

Enter Mark Dever.

I remember my introduction to Mark Dever four years ago as a carpenter finishing a basement drywall project. I was somewhat new to drywalling myself, usually opting to hire an expert (the wise choice). So like an amateur, I made the mistake of applying too much drywall mud on the walls. Thus I sanded and sanded for several painful winter days while me and my .mp3 player were both covered in several layers of fine white dust. Audible amidst the white fog, however, Mark Dever preached on.

Over those days I listened to (and was sustained by) Dever’s entire sermon series on New Testament (now also in print). I was amazed at the clarity of his messages and his uncanny ability to summarize whole NT books into nice packages. And I anticipated a survey of the Old Testament.

At Together for the Gospel in Louisville Dever’s Old Testament survey was available for purchase and I jumped at the chance. Although several hundred of you jumped sooner I guess because they were sold out before I could get my hands on a copy. As soon as I returned home I ordered a copy and have not regretted it!

The book is simply a 960-page collection of sermon manuscripts. But don’t be intimidated by its size. Dever’s summary of the message of the Old Testament is terse and clear. With a broad brush he paints the major movements of the Old Testament to highlight the history of God’s chosen nation. In fact, early in the book he summarizes the history of the Old Testament in about 2 pages! Very helpful for big-picture readers like myself.

This is one of the most helpful and (in a world of redundant publishing) truly original books. This volume will provide great help for preachers and laypersons wanting to unlock the message of the Old Testament.

As an unexpected bonus, wonderful reflection questions conclude each chapter perfectly suited for group study and personal meditation.

The Message of the Old Testament is the perfect balance of two worlds – letting the biblical storyline come alive for readers today AND addressing the pressing issues of our lives from the application of the ancient text. Buy it, read it, cherish it and some day pass it on to your children. It’s one of those rare and priceless volumes that will bless your heart and your ministry.

Preach Christ and Him crucified

Tony Reinke Banner of Truth, Book reviews, Books, Cross of Christ, Gospel, Great Quotes, Horatius Bonar, Justification, Justification by Faith

By God’s grace there are a growing collection of excellent books on the doctrine of justification. I am thankful for all the contemporary works that define this essential doctrine with clarity and accuracy. As you may have seen through this bog, however, I am partial to old books and it happens to be that my favorite book on the doctrine of justification was written in 1874 by Horatius Bonar titled, The Everlasting Righteousness (0851516556). Currently it ranks as my third favorite book. I would heartily recommend it to you as passionate but short work loaded with quotes about the beauty of Christ and the Cross. Going into another weekend and sermons this is a great quote to refocus our attention on the Cross:

“We are never done with the cross, nor ever shall be. Its wonders will be always new, and always fraught with joy. ‘The Lamb as it had been slain’ will be the theme of our praise above [Rev. 5:6,12]. Why should such a name be given to him in such a book as the Revelation, which in one sense carries us far past the cross, were it not that we shall always realize our connection with its one salvation; always be looking to it even in the midst of the glory; and always learning from it some new lesson regarding the work of Him ‘in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace’? What will they who here speak of themselves as being so advanced as to be done with the cross, say to being brought face to face with the Lamb that was slain, in the age of absolute perfection, the age of heavenly glory? … the glory of heaven revolves around the cross; and every object on which the eye lights in the celestial city will remind us of the cross, and carry us back to Golgotha. Never shall we get beyond it, or turn our backs on it, or cease to draw from it the divine virtue which it contains. The tree, be it palm, or cedar, or olive, can never be independent of its roots, however stately its growth, however plentiful its fruit. The building, be it palace or temple, can never be separated from its foundation, however spacious or ornate its structure may be. So never shall the redeemed be independent of the cross, or cease to draw from its fullness.”

– Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness (Banner of Truth, 1874/1993) pp. 61-64.