Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Church: Why Bother? - Part 1

Chanced upon a book by Philip Yancey in Borders today. Of course everybody knows Yancey is a great author and had been given various awards for his works. Actually, it was the title that caught my eye and stirred my interest.


2004_08_19yancey


The title: "Church: Why Bother? " It is the same question which I have been asking lately. I wonder why ... perhaps.. it's because of several people I know that asked themselves the same question?

In his conclusion, Yancey said that the church is the way God has chosen to be present on earth, as imperfect as it may be. He wrote:

"Yes, the church fails in its mission and makes serious blunders precisely because the church comprises human beings who will always fall short of the glory of God. That is the risk God took. Anyone who enters the church expecting perfection does not understand the nature of that risk or the nature of humanity. Just as every romantic eventually learns that marriage is the beginning, not the end, of the struggle to make love work, every Christian must learn that church is also only a beginning."

We are all imperfect people and it is not reasonable to expect others in the church to be perfect or "a bit more" perfect than ourselves.

As an illustration of what others may see through the church:
Just as when we watch our kids perform a musical special for Mother's Day service, we do not expect the presentation to be perfect and slick. We enjoyed just as much despite all the imperfections, because it was a great moment for us to watch them doing what they love and singing to someone they love.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

A Book Sale?

I only came to know of the sale at this bookshop, Evangel Book Centre, in SS2, Petaling Jaya when I was around the neighbourhood today. As usual, "hurt" Bibles were on sale, with discounts ranging mainly between 15% - 30%. All books were sold at a discount, starting from 10% up to 70%(?).

Some books were a real bargain. For example, this book by Leonard Sweet, which I got for only RM10-00(!):

Nuts_Sweet

And also this hardcover(!) book by Philip Yancey (normally sold for RM56-00), selling now for only RM10-00(!):

Rumours_Yancey

There are other books which I couldn't resist buying, like the hardcover copy of Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" for RM102-00 (after a discount of around 33%) and this hardcover copy of "The Message" by Eugene Petersen for only RM45-00 (i.e. at a discount of 50%)

Message_Petersen


I was sold just by the title of the following book:

Who Runs Church

Bought it for RM36-00 (after a discount of 20%; seemed like most current books were discounted at this rate).

Not sure if I could read them all ...By the way, the sale is until 19 May 2007.