Author: Davy Ellison

 

I think that it is fair to say that since Christians are people of the book Christians should be people of books. This is not to say every Christian must be reading a mountain of books every year. Rather, Christians should be people who read steadily—whether quickly or slowly—and widely. We should continually renew our mind with both Scripture and written materials that will help us to better understand Scripture (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23).

At the Irish Baptist College we recognise that not everyone is a reader. For this reason we have established an initiative entitled Let’s Read with the aim of encouraging Christians to read trustworthy books in manageable chunks. Periodically we will invite you to read through a book over a period of months and during that time we will post a monthly reflection on the blog to encourage further contemplation on what is being read.

Our next book is Why Should We Love the Local Church by Dustin Benge. Benge writes: “This book has one aim: to set before you a thoroughly biblical portrait of the church that derives its life from the sweet fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit, creating a community of love, worship, fellowship, and mission, all animated by the gospel and empowered by the word of God” (p. 15). On the final Monday of each month a reflection will be posted on this blog.

For ease of reference here is the proposed schedule:

September: Read Chapters 1–5, pp. 13–37 (reflection posted on Monday 26^th September)

October: Read Chapters 6–10, pp. 39–61 (reflection posted on Monday 24^th October)

November: Read Chapters 11–15, pp. 63–86 (reflection posted on Monday 28^th November)

Participants are also invited to share striking quotes or personal reflections from the book on social media using #LetsRead to connect with each other.

Happy Reading!