Book Review and Sunday Snow

    

A light coat of snow

            Since “Maverick” has been off work due to injuries, I gave myself the goal of not buying anything unnecessary.  But today, I bought a book.  It isn’t that I don’t have enough un-read books here at home; on the contrary, there must be a stack of at least twenty books in the lounge and several more in my office.    The book is one I mentioned last week; Everyday God, The Spirit of the Ordinary by Paula Gooder. 

                In late October 2015, a group from St. Francis church, Langley, started a Book club, meeting about every three months.  It is an open group, discussing Christian books or books relevant to our Christian faith.  The first book they talked about was The Grace Out-pouring” by Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts.  While I did read the book, I didn’t make it to the discussion group. 

                The next time the group meets is on Sunday, 31^st January.  That is the reason I have chosen to concentrate on completing my read of  Everyday God.  The book has several endorsements, one by Nicky Gumbel, who is well known for his involvement with Course. 

                My impression of Paula Gooder is what I would call a “Common Man’s” theologian.  In other words, she teaches Bible theology in a very down to earth manner and helps the reader see things in a new context. 

               One of her suggestions in regards to reading the Bible, is to read several versions to get different facets of meaning.  Quotes of scripture come from the New International Version, Revised Standard Version, The Message and others.  The Bible I read is an Amplified Version.

                While “Maverick” was out on errands this morning, I took the time to sit and read a large chunk.  I want to get it finished as quickly as possible, as I need to pass the book along to someone else.  And that is part of the reason I decided to buy my own copy.

                The section I read today was about The Kingdom of God.  In this section, Mrs. Gooder expands on Amos 5:21-24

²¹ “I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savour your sacred assemblies.
²² Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
²³ Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
²⁴ But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.

Mrs. Gooder writes: 

“At the same time God is as concerned with what we do every day of our lives as he is with what we do when we set aside time specifically to worship him.  Even more that this, he is so concerned with what we do on the ordinary days that he will reject our worship if it is not built on the firm foundation of justice and righteousness in every part of our lives.” Page 83

As of this writing, there remain just over twenty pages for me to read.  I highly recommend reading this book, as it presents us with a Jesus who is highly touchable, a kingdom that is tangible without being seen and a God who isn’t afraid of the grittiness of life.

On Sunday, 17^th January we woke up to snow.  This was the first time for Maisy to experience the snow.  She wasn’t too keen at first—as it was cold to her little paws.  But then she discovered she could eat it, and she suddenly liked it.