The Shepherd’s Scrapbook Christmas shopping discounts

Tony Reinke Great Quotes

The Shepherd’s Scrapbook Christmas shopping discounts

Remember there are two important discounts available …

Works of John Owen (35-percent off) lasts until Dec. 15th. Details here.
Meet the Puritans (discounted rate) lasts until Nov. 30th. Details here.

Discounts: Why do we get discounts for our readers? It’s simple really. We can profit from affiliate networks (by making a percentage commission off each book sold through links from our site). But we think it’s best to remain a no-profit blog, and pass all the discounts on to our readers … No, thank you.

DIY: Blank Bible (part 3) Slicing and Stuffing

Tony Reinke Blank Bible, Books, Reading

DIY: Blank Bible (part 3) Slicing and Stuffing

[read parts 1 and 2 here]

By this point you have cut the binding off your bible. It now sits in a pile of loose pages. The next two steps are slicing and stuffing.

Slicing

We need to get blank pages cut exactly to fit our bibles. So measure the size of your loose pages. A good and accurate dimension is essential for the office supply store to cut blank pages. For the interlinear, I will need paper cut exactly 6-5/16” by 9-5/16.” If you are unsure how to measure (or if you are not skilled in fractions) you can take your bible into the store and let the friendly associate take the measurements.

If your bible is 1,000 pages long (and double-sided) there are 500 individual sheets of paper. You will need 500 blank sheets if you insert a blank page between each bible page. The total size of the bible would be 2,000 pages. Don’t even try carrying that to church!

On to paper… I am not too picky on the paper I use. Just make certain it’s acid-free. The thinnest paper I can easily access is 20 lb, and the ream comes in 500 sheets. Brightness does not matter because most bibles are off-white anyways.

Now to the office supply store. If your blank pages are less than half the size of a sheet of paper (8-1/2”x11”) you can get 1,000 sheets out of one ream. The classic reference ESV in the first project was like this. However, the interlinear pages are larger. I will need 550 blank sheets and so I will need to purchase two reams.

Using a paper cutter, the office supply store can cut the ream of paper down to your exact dimensions. Once you have them cut, it’s time to return home.

Stuffing

It’s time to assemble your blank bible. For the first blank bible I did not put a blank page in every page of the Old Testament narratives, and I put 2 blank pages in the books of Romans, Galatians and Ephesians. It just depends upon the density of note taking you are going to need. For the interlinear I will be inserting one blank page between every bible page.

I usually set up something like this…

As you can see I have coffee and iTunes (these help deaden the painful shoulder cramps). To the back-center I place my stack of blank pages from the office supply store.

Closest to me I make three piles. To the right are the bible pages themselves. The middle pile is where I bring the blank pages and the bible pages together. With my left hand I pull down a blank page onto the pile and simultaneously with my right hand I flip a bible page from the right stack down on top of the blank page. When I’ve stacked 40-50 pages I neatly align them and stack them (without flipping them) to the pile on the far left. Because the bible paper is thinner than the blank pages, its necessary to occasionally take time to carefully align the pages together.

It’s important to always be aware of the binding edge of the bible pages. In the far right the binding edge is on the left. The middle pile its on the right. And on the far left stack its also on the right. The bible pages flow from right to left. From the first stack they are turned (like a book) onto the middle pile. But the stacks are not turned again when going from the middle to the left piles. In other words, page one of the bible would be on the top of the right pile, but the bottom of the middle and left piles. Make sense? Good.

As you can see, the interlinear bible is going to be much larger than the 3 volume blank bible we made earlier. This will be a New Testament for the serious bible student!

It is awesome to know that God, through His Spirit, can fill every blank page through humble meditation as the “living and active” Word of God comes alive. Each blank page represents our anticipation that God will open up His Word to reveal more of the width and height and depth and length of God’s love in the Cross!

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Coming up next, the conclusion … DIY: Blank Bible (part 4) Punching and Binding

Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway, Great Quotes, John Owen, Mortification, Sin, Sin in the church, Sinfulness

Christmas gift idea:

Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen

“As I look across the Christian landscape, I think it is fair to say con­cerning sin, ‘They have healed the wound of my people lightly’ (Jer. 6:14; 8:11, ESV). I take this to refer to leaders who should be helping the church know and feel the seriousness of indwelling sin (Rom. 7:20), and how to fight it and kill it (Rom. 8:13). Instead the depth and complexity and ugli­ness and danger of sin in professing Christians is either minimized—since we are already justified—or psychologized as a symptom of woundedness rather than corruption. This is a tragically light healing. I call it a tragedy because by making life easier for ourselves in minimizing the nature and seriousness of our sin, we become greater victims of it.”

– John Piper, foreword (p. 11)

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Title: Overcoming Sin and Temptation
Author: John Owen [1616-1683]
Editors: Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor
Contributors: John Piper
Rating (1-10): 10 (excellent)
Reading Level (1-10): 9 (tough)
Boards: paper
Pages: 462
Dust jacket: no
Binding: glue
Paper: normal
Topical index: yes
Scriptural index: yes
Text: perfect type
Extras: Excellent outlines, glossary, overviews, introductions and biography.
Publisher: Crossway
Price USD: $19.99
ISBNs: 9781581346497, 1581346492

Valley of Vision Christmas

Tony Reinke Great Quotes

Valley of Vision Christmas

For the next few weeks The Shepherd’s Scrapbook is going to look more like a bookshop than a blog. I know many of you are considering buying excellent books for your spouse, children, ministry associates, friends etc. So we will be recommending more books than usual.

One of the most versatile and best Christmas resources available is the book The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotion. The book is great because it focuses the readers attention towards deep experiential themes found throughout scripture and presents an excellent balance between doctrine and practice. It works great as a devotional, but also as a great resource to read as personal prayer.

There are few Christmas gifts like it. For my family and I, it’s going to be a Valley of Vision Christmas.

We have just completed the “Blank VoV” and soon I will show you how to make this yourself. It would make a great gift to encourage meditation, reflection and journaling.

Our Valley of Vision Christmas will include the following gifts…

1. The classic book itself. The Valley of Vision is available in paperback and leather bindings from the Banner of Truth. I have taken the paperbacks apart and inserted blank pages to make a special Christmas gift even more precious. Details on that to come later next week.

2. The Valley of Vision audio CD collection read by Max McLean (also available from the Banner of Truth).

3. The Valley of Vision music CD, a collection of songs inspired by the book (available from Sovereign Grace Ministries). This is one of my all-time favorite Cds.

Together, these combine to give a number of great gift options for a wide variety of Christian readers and listeners.

Update: The Blank Valley of Visions are complete and the Blank Interlinear project is coming to an end as well. We will be publishing complete DIY guides and giving away one of each so stay tuned.

See you Monday and have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Book of the Year, 2006: Meet the Puritans by Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson (9781601780003, 1601780001)

Tony Reinke BR > Reformation Heritage Books, Joel R. Beeke, Puritan CD-Rom, Puritan Library, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Puritans, Reading, Willem Teellinck

Book of the Year, 2006
Meet the Puritans
by Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson

This was a great year for Christian publishing. We saw the first installment of Justin Taylor’s edited version of John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation. John Piper’s What Jesus Demands from the World was also excellent. Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, edited by Piper and Taylor and Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? by Wayne Grudem were also very good. We saw the release of the The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament: English Standard Version. [Can someone at Crossway please give Justin Taylor a vacation already?] John Calvin’s excellent Sermons on the Beatitudes was released by Banner of Truth. Steven Lawson released the first volume of A Long Line of Godly Men, titled Foundations of Grace, which covers the history of the doctrines of grace in what is certain to become his greatest accomplishment. Reformation Heritage Books released the Works of Thomas Goodwin (12 volumes) in paperback form, containing much rich teaching on the beauty of Christ. No doubt, the second best book published this year was Mark Dever’s incredible, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made. Perhaps no book has better opened up the Old Testament storyline.

Each of these books are tremendous accomplishments in themselves. I thank the publishers and their devoted writers, editors, administrators and warehouse managers who seek to magnify Christ in their publishing endevors. Thank you!

With all respect for these books released in 2006, none topped Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson. We had the honor of announcing this book to the public a few months ago. By any standard, this volume is a monumental accomplishment.

It’s endorsed by Packer, Piper, MacArthur, Sproul, Duncan, Mohler, Ferguson… and the recommendations go on and on. It’s packed with terse information, illustrations, great biographies on more than 140 individual Puritan authors, overviews of over 700 individual Puritan volumes, a list of all the known reprints published beween 1956 and 2005, excellent articles ,and a glossary of terms used. At 900 pages, its a deep well of information. As clothbound, it’s made to endure years of use.

Important helps include chapters on who the Puritans are, why we should read them, and short histories of the English, Scottish and Dutch Puritans. I found the short history of the resurgence of Puritan literature in the 20th century especially interesting.

Here is just one quote, taken from the section explaining why we should read the Puritans today:

“With the Spirit’s blessing, Puritan writings can enrich your life as a Christian in many ways as they open the Scriptures and apply them practically, probing your conscience, indicting your sins, leading you to repentance, shaping your faith, guiding your conduct, comforting you in Christ and conforming you to Him, and bringing you into full assurance of salvation and a lifestyle of gratitude to the triune God for His great salvation” (xix).

Perfect for the beginner and the more advanced reader, Meet the Puritans will help guide and direct your way through the forest of Puritan authors.

In summary, I cannot say it better than our friend, Dr. Ligon Duncan:

“Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson have produced a tremendous gift to and resource for all who want an entryway into the study of the Puritans. They not only provide accurate biographical and theological introduction to every Puritan whose works have been reprinted in the last fifty years, but also combine with their helpful summaries an insightful analysis. If this were not enough, they’ve added major appendices that include the so-called ‘Scottish Puritans’ (that is, the great Scottish theologians who were contemporaries of and like-minded brethren in doctrine and piety with the English Puritans) as well as the Dutch Further Reformation divines. Meet the Puritans, With a Guide to Modern Reprints is a must have. I know of nothing like it. If you are looking for a reliable window into the life, theology, piety and ministry of the Puritans — this is it.”

Like I said, a monumental work!

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FREE: Reformation Heritage Books graciously provided The Shepherd’s Scrapbook with a special peak into the book… Here is one of the 140+ biographies in this volume: Dutch ‘Puritan’ Willem Teellinck, pp. 782-791 [download .pdf file].

SPECIAL DISCOUNT: Purchase Meet the Puritans directly from Reformation Heritage Books for the special discounted price of $22.50 between November 21st and 30th. You need to do two things. First, call the bookstore directly (1-616-977-0599 ext. 2). Second, tell them you are “a friend of The Shepherd’s Scrapbook.” [While you are there, consider buying The Path of True Godliness, the incredible book on pursuing godliness by Teellinck you can read about in the free chapter above].

Meet the Puritans (details)

Boards: clothbound, hardcover (blue, silver gilding)
Pages: 900
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: Smyth sewn
Paper: normal
Text: perfect type
Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books
Price USD: $35.00/$22.50 for a limited time (see discount above)
ISBNs: 9781601780003, 1601780001

update

Tony Reinke Great Quotes

Hello everyone. We had every intention to complete the following book reviews before the end of the year but it looks like some of them will be pushed back into early 2007. Below you can see the list of reviews in the order we hope to get to them. (We will begin releasing Christmas book lists next week.)

Also, by this time in the year, the major publishers have released all their top books. And so we are ready to announce our first ever “The Shepherd’s Scrapbook, Book of the Year” award. We will do that tomorrow.

Upcoming reviews…

1. Savior, Sovereign Grace Christmas CD.
2. John Gill’s complete commentary on the bible (9 vols from Vision Forum).
3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (Augsburg Press).
4. Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology (3 vols from P&R).
5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ: Studies in 1 John (Crossway).
6. Richard A. Muller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725 (4 vols from Baker).
7. C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces (Harcourt).
8. Works of Edward Reynolds (4 of 6 vols from Soli Deo Gloria).
9. Works of John Owen (first 9 volumes from Banner of Truth).
10. Jonathan Edwards, A Just and Righteous God (Soli Deo Gloria).

See you tomorrow.