Mourning the loss of my beloved dogwood tree, companion of my youth, first herald of Spring, Summer air conditioning for my bedroom.

All 50 feet slowly caved under the relentless onslaught of ice rain yesterday. We watched in disbelief as it leaned, inch by inch, further and further over our driveway. My Dad moved the car around Noon. The tree finished its graceful descent, landing neatly between the house and the car, at exactly 1:01 A.M. last night (or would that be this morning?). My window commanded an excellent view, and yes, I saw it fall.

We thank God that it didn’t damage the house or its occupants—only the landscape and the view from my room.

• “I’m seeing more and more how truly selfish I am.”
• “I must die to self!”
• “Lord, help me not to be so self-centered.”

These are sincere confessions that I have heard from many faithful Christians. To be honest, they are things I have said myself, with deep conviction and a desire to change.

The irony is — these thoughts, however well-meant, are still self-centered. They are cloaked in self-revelation, self-will, and self-desire.* Thus they can never result in a self-less life.

[*Footnote: Modern Christianity in general has become extremely self-absorbed. Even a plainly self-less Biblical doctrine, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” has morphed into a selfish exhortation to “learn to love yourself first, so you can better love your neighbor as yourself.” But the Bible says, “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it...” (Ephesians 5:29). Even people bent on self-mutilation and suicide are motivated by a misguided self-love: to find emotional release, pleasure, or freedom, or to gain attention and notoriety.]

There is nothing wrong with Biblical self-examination and self-judgment (I Corinthians 11:28, 31). But they won’t cure us of selfishness.

You know the old gag:

“Don’t think about pink elephants. Don’t think about their powerful pink trunks, their large pink tusks, their strange pink lips, their skinny pink tails, their bright pink toenails. Stop thinking about pink elephants right now. Why are you thinking about pink elephants?”

If we truly want to overcome self-centeredness, we must introduce a new object into our thinking.

• “I am learning about the Lord Jesus Christ.”
• “I am listening to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
• “I am following the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ, Himself, is the only object capable of producing a truly selfless life.

I don’t mean our personal relationship with Him.
I don’t mean our heart to know Him.
I don’t mean our desire to be changed by Him.

I mean simply Jesus Christ.

When did Job “abhor himself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6)? It was immediately after God had revealed Himself to Job, showing him something of His unfathomable power and wisdom as displayed in His creation.

If we want to have a right view of ourselves, we should study the Only God, Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe (Colossians 1:6). Who Is He? What is He like? How has He acted through the ages?

Read the Bible to learn about the Lord Jesus. He is woven into every page. We could learn one new thing about Him every day for our entire lives, live forever, and still not exhaust “the magnitude of His enterprises in arranging and governing the universe” (P. Keller).

He is Infinite God.

As we learn about Jesus Christ, our faith will grow.
As we look to Jesus Christ, our desires will change.
As we seek Jesus Christ, our self-interest will diminish.
As we obey Jesus Christ, our love will blossom.
As we abide in Jesus Christ, our life will please Him.

And as we learn more about Who He Is, our natural response will be unfeigned humility and self-abnegation.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Bible reading doesn’t count toward my total. In 2011 I read 2–8 chapters every day (no exceptions), but didn’t set any consumption records. Quantity is so NOT the point of reading the Bible. Jesus Christ IS.

Picking my favorite books from 2011 is HARD. Harder than last year. Really, really, really hard. How can I say … REALLY hard. There were so many books that I “happened to read” at just the right time to teach or encourage me.

But for our purposes here, I’ve selected 7 books that made a lasting favorable impression, meaning that I can still quote/relay a faith-building truth, an arresting fact, or a helpful scenario from the book.

I’ve already reviewed 2 such books, so I won’t repeat them over again redundantly here, but simply point you to my original posts:

• The House on Garibaldi Street, by Isser Harel
• Why Isn’t a Pretty Girl Like You Married?, by Nancy Wilson

Now for the rest …

Top Book Picks of 2011

Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line, by Abby Johnson
I love this lady. She saw that she was wrong and did a complete 180. She made waves like you wouldn’t believe, and thoughtfully provided a lifeboat for anyone who might get swamped.

Hitler’s Cross, Erwin Lutzer
Wagner is now on my list of banned composers. Hitler loved Wagner’s music, and Wagner warped Hitler’s understanding of Jesus Christ, which Hitler used to justify his evil agenda toward the Jews. Don’t believe it? Read this book.

Aside: In 2011 I read almost two dozen books about WWII and the Jewish Holocaust. Hitler’s Cross was one of the most riveting. Other notable reads were the following 3 personal accounts (among many) of Jewish survivors:

• An Unbroken Chain: My Journey Through the Nazi Holocaust, Harry A. Oertelt
• The Iron Furnace: A Holocaust Survivor’s Story, George Topas
• The 23rd Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir, George Lucius Salton

The First Soprano (1912), Mary Hitchcock
My sweet friend Leah sent me this wonderful old book for my birthday. She knows what I like. The best part is the author’s ability to make her characters state a firm and logical Scriptural conclusion, then by degrees have their point of view corrected and grown through further Bible teaching. She also beautifully illustrates how true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ can exercise different Biblical convictions without being unfriendly toward one another. (Not like that subject would appeal to me in any way.)

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, by Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zercher
Interesting commentary on the 2006 shooting in an Amish school. This book expounds the subtle difference between full Biblical forgiveness and absolute pardon. (A forgiven person may still require punishment.) I was also intrigued by the shared grief and support of the Amish community.

Saving Sammy: A Mother’s Fight to Cure Her Son’s OCD, by Beth Alison Maloney
There may be some bad language in this book; I don’t remember. What I do remember is the devastating effects of divorce on this family, and the surprising medical remedy for a supposed mental illness. Did you know strep could cause OCD? I’ve had strep throat. (gulp) I count steps and play all kinds of mind games with myself. (gulp, gulp) I also self-diagnose myself with every illness I read about.

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller
I’ve read this book several times. Each time I come away with a deeper love and longing for the Good Shepherd Who gave His Life for His sheep. It is such a simple book, yet deeply profound. It’s one book I wish everybody would read. Have you read it?

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches, by Russell D. Moore (I have the audio book read by the author.)
Where do I start? I appreciated the carefully drawn analogy between a father who adopts two orphans and Our Father in heaven Who adopts us as His own. One detail that has stuck with me is the significance of our being adopted as sons (not daughters) by God. (Romans 8:14; I John 3:1; Galatians 3:28). I tuned out toward the end, during the practical how-to-adopt section, but am still chewing on the rest.

What books did you read in 2011?

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(Disclosure: Book titles on my website are almost always affiliate links. I receive a tiny compensation from Amazon if you buy from them after clicking one of my links. It won’t make me a millionaire any time soon. If you don’t want to support an online affiliate program, don’t click my links. But do read the books.)

To show my appreciation for your continued interest in Merrysarieland, please accept your 2012 PocketMod Calendar. (See PocketMod.com for folding instructions.) Yes, this is the same gift I gave you, my gentle readers, last year. I don’t like change. But this one is updated for 2012, so that it might still be useful. I do like useful.

If you’re new to the tradition, I print this handy little calendar double-sided on one sheet of paper and keep it, folded, on my bedside table. I use it every day to record personal milestones and outstanding events. It’s amazing how much stuff I can cram into those little squares. Strokes and hospital runs fit as easily as dinners and concerts. With varying degrees of angst.

I’m also looking forward to posting my 2011 Book Blast (remember this one? and this one?). 2011 was a good year for reading—and I’m not done yet. There’s a whole week left for me to max out my book list in style. And my Kindle runneth over with public domain jewels from Project Gutenberg (love that site).

Check back in January. Until then…

Happy New Year!

SK: )

There seem to be two opposing views about high-profile Christians. I’d like to try to find the balance between them, if I can.

One group seems to think that Bill Gothard, Doug Phillips, and a number of other Christian pastors and leaders are closer to God than anyone else, and blindly follow their lightest suggestion.

This is false and wrong.

The other group knows this is wrong, so they think Bill Gothard, Doug Phillips, and a number of other Christian pastors and leaders are purposely misleading people and should be scorned (if not stoned to death).

This is also false and wrong.

Just as every Christian has a different role within the Body of Christ, I believe Christ-honoring ministries, collectively, also contribute to the well-being of the church. We need different perspectives to help balance and correct our theology.

We shouldn’t expect any one ministry to perfectly address every issue. Each ministry has a unique perspective and usually one specific goal or mission. If we discover what a ministry’s perspective is, and focus on that, we will be better able to make wise personal decisions about peripheral issues.

Now (don’t be shocked) Bill Gothard is not God, nor is he the enemy. Nor is his teaching God-breathed or evil. He teaches seven Biblical principles. All his other ideas stem from this. If people would grasp the principles, rather than focusing on his examples (good or bad):

1. one group of people would find freedom from legalistic implementation and self-imposed policing of other believers; and,
2. another group of people would find truth to help them grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

By the same token, Doug Phillips is not God or the enemy either. He encourages Christians to apply Biblical critical thinking to everyday family life. This is not wrong. This is very, very right. He lives his life as an example of his teaching. Some people imitate it like a puppet, and others reject it because they won’t be like someone else. Both sides have a grain of truth but an incorrect understanding of his true message.

The real problem is not with the Christian leaders, their messages, or their ministries. These men do a good work, living out the calling God has placed on their hearts. The heart of the problem lies in pragmatic Americans, who lean toward practical ideas that “work,” rather than objective truth. We tend to reject a teacher when his practical examples don’t fit every situation, or when we see someone misapplying his ideas. Disappointed, we then find the extreme opposite idea and call it truth instead.

But if we judge a Christian teacher by the example of his supposed followers, we are no different from the atheist who rejects Christ because of all the hypocrites in the church. People are not the thermometer of truth. This is the pragmatic approach—“If it works, it’s true.” Not so. Truth is truth, no matter what. Jesus Christ is Truth, therefore, we need to know Him first of all. Secondly, God’s Word defines truth for us, which means we also need to know the Bible. Then we can embrace truth wherever we find it, whether or not it has apparent “good results.”

This is not to say that there are no false teachers in the world, working under the guise of Christianity. Far from it! We do need to be alert and exercise discernment, then avoid the real heretics. Examine every professing Christian’s Gospel message. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, appropriated by faith and repentance. Good works do not justify us before God. Free grace does not give us permission to sin.

If a teacher has the true Gospel, we can have fellowship with him. We can learn from him, whether or not we agree with everything that comes out of his mouth.

Let’s learn to find the Biblical principle behind every practical teaching, and keep love of the brethren in our faith.

~*~
Read more: Nothing But the Truth