Into the Wardrobe

I'm not usually that much into devotional books per se, but On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus, by Lev Gillet ("Monk of the Eastern Church") is a wonderful little volume, I'd say. Years ago I loaned my copy and forgot to whom I loaned it (whoever it was may consider it my gift). A few days ago I saw it on Amazon and purchased for myself another one (and may have got the last quickly available copy -- many apologies!). I've been reading again it in bits over the last few days -- and finding it truly nourishing.

Anyone else read it?

Anyone else care to share other recent spiritual reading that you found of particular personal value?

Reflecting the Glory: Meditations for Living Christ's Life in the World by N.T. Wright. I'm very fond of Wright. He writes very scholarly works, such as his Christian Origins and the Question of God series (each a massive tome), and also writes beautifully for the layman. And most of all, he writes well. It's a pleasure to read good modern Christian prose, which has been in short supply since CS Lewis.

I am reading Taste and See by John Piper. It was a gift from my Dad, who is beside himself with joy that I have returned to the faith. It is not one that I would have chosen myself, but that's the good thing about gift books....they get you to take a look at something that you might not otherwise.

I haven't seen a lot of devotional books, so I don't know what they are usually like. Each reading in this one is 1-2 pages. You can read them in a few minutes.

I try to read something out of it each day, and sometimes I read a few of the selections. It's good stuff......I always find something meaningful in there, or something to think about.

The only thing that's annoyed me so far is Piper's reading on how women should and should not relate to their appearance in the world. He had some good points, but I'm SO not interested in hearing that stuff from men.

Henry Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man is an outstanding work on spiritual formation. Scougal is rare among the Puritans in that he makes righteousness readable. I recommend this book especially for vacations--you can finish it in three afternoons at the beach. As for its availability, Christian Focus published an edition with an introduction by J. I. Packer, and it's also available for free online at www.ccel.org.

Other ideas: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together and Jerry Bridges's The Pursuit of Holiness.

I've been reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest for the past year... And I think I will for a long time to come. I love his focus on Jesus Christ, the Beginning and End of everything. All my Christian work, all my artifices of virtue—none of it means anything if I am not devoted to the Person of Jesus Christ. It's eye-opening :)

You can read it online too at http://www.myutmost.org.

I read My Utmost for His Highest every year, and am just starting The Ragamuffin Gospel. So far, so good!