In This Edition:
A Reading Plan for 2024
What’s New On The West Side? Airplane Mode
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A Reading Plan For 2024
“Tolle Lege (‘Take up and Read’)”
— a mysterious voice, heard by St. Augustine
This year, I would like to share my daily reading plan with you. I am grateful to Peter Rice for pointing me to George MacDonald’s Diary of an Old Soul, to Chuck Grantham for the hard work of splitting up the Deutero-Canonical books and Early Church Fathers into 365 manageable reads, and to the faithful through the centuries who read, preserved, copied, translated, printed, and shared the Scriptures for us all.
“I know hardly any other writer,” reflected C. S. Lewis, “who seems closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ himself” than George MacDonald. In Diary of an Old Soul, MacDonald provides 365 7-line stanzas (is that a “septet”?) that will awaken a thirst for beauty in each of us. It was a dead heat between this one and Dallas Willard’s Hearing God Through The Year. Perhaps that will be next year.
These are important for several reasons. First, these books are perhaps some of the earliest interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. Second, they have proved to be a great source of inspiration for many believers. Third, they provide stories and insights that became part of the collective consciousness of first-century people, even serving as the background for some references and allusions in the New Testament.
The Apostolic Fathers (or the Ante-Nicene Fathers) are comprised of 8 authors or writings from the first and second centuries AD who reflected on the teachings of the Apostles and influenced the trajectory and growth of church history.
Reflect on a beautiful painting or other work of art.
I plan to end my morning devotion with praise for God through the creative arts. Whether it be searching through the National Portrait Gallery, or the National Gallery of Art, or visiting with friends and fellow-church members who are accomplished artists, I hope to catch a glimpse of the beauty of Christ.
Do you have your own reading plan for 2024? I’d love to hear about it. Don’t have one yet? Why not join me? You can write to me at nguy@harding.edu. Happy New Year, and may God richly bless you.
What’s New On The West Side? Airplane Mode
I first heard the idea for a series on prayer titled “Airplane Mode” from Grace Church in Kansas City. I do not know how they developed the lessons, but the series title is perfect.
Airplane mode disables all wireless and cellular signals coming from your phone. It quiets the noise and stops the outside voices clamoring for your attention. It forces you to be still.
Why would they make you do this? The concern is that a phone’s radio transmissions could get in the way of the plane’s communication and navigation systems that planes use during the flight.
Prayer is like that. Going to God in prayer is meant to disable all the signals coming from our culture, and even quiet the noise in our heads. It stops the outside voices clamoring for our attention, and forces us to be still. Why? Because we are not actually in control of our lives; and God wishes to communicate with us and even navigate our way in the world.
Oh, we still sometimes fuss on the airplane, don’t we? Think of the questions we ask (even if not out loud):
Do you really think the systems aboard this 400,000 pound Boeing 747 are in danger of my wifi-connection? Can you even imagine a call to the Captain from ground control: “I’m sorry, Boeing, you won’t be able to land, we are unable to see you on the monitor until the passenger in 17A finishes his phone call”?
We do the same thing with prayer, you know.
-Why should I pray if God already knows everything? I mean, what’s the point?
-If we really don’t even know what to pray for or how to pray as we ought to (as the Bible says), then why do it at all?
-How can I trust God when I have so many unanswered prayers in my history?
-Is God even really listening at all?
With help and insights from Augustine, C. S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, Tim Keller, Richard Foster, Don Aycock, and Ruth Haley Barton, I plan to preach four sermons addressing four big questions:
Jan 7: “Is God Really Listening?”
Jan 14: “Does Prayer Do Anything?”
Jan 21: “What If He Doesn’t Answer?”
Jan 28: “How Do I Pray?”
Stream our lessons Sundays at 9 AM (CST) on facebook or YouTube or on our website as we explore key questions that can keep us from (or drive us toward) an intimate prayer life with God. If you are in the middle Arkansas area, we would love to have you join us in person. I’ll save a seat for you.
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My name is Nathan Guy, and I serve as the preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of little Grace and baby Henry. You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. Though I am on a social media fast, you can follow me: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), Threads, and YouTube.