I Have A Dream...

So earlier today i heard about the closing of Good News Bookstore. i was sad when i heard about it because i remember going there as a toddler and youngster and going to the little knick knack section and looking at erasers and bookmarks and other little toys they had. Then as I got older, I would go there to buy cds. I kept stickers on the outside of them so i could get one free after buying 5. I actually still have two of the stickers in my wallet today. Then I became interested in books and i remember i had about $60 to spend and wanted a reference book. So i went to the reference book section, tried to recognize some names, and ended up buying this huge commentary of the whole Bible because it had Matthew Henry's name on it and i recognized that name. Then I moved into college and would go there when I was home to buy some good books, but that got harder and harder to do. Why? Because they simply weren't there.

I had to walk past displays of various D.C. Talk books, past Joel Osteen's face, past the Jabez collection, through the Purpose Driven series, around the Left Behind books, and then finally get to a growingly disappointing christian non-fiction section. I went to buy some books for my brother-in-law, and they didn't have J.C. Ryle's 'Thoughts for Young Men'. In fact, there was no J.C. Ryle to be found. I struggled to find a good version of Pilgrim's Progress, nevermind even bothering to find something by John Owens. It was then that I realized that Good News Bookstore was not the same Bookstore anymore. Then I found the "Biblezines" and got sick to my stomach. They were right next to the bathroom, so i guess they fell short of what should have been their intended destination.

So you may be asking what my dream would be... All day i've just been getting ideas about how awesome it would be to salvage that bookstore and make it useful again. I talked to my mom about how we should buy it and make it into a Mother-Son bookstore. I would model it somewhat after the mecca of bookstores out here, Archives. It would be Archives-East. I would get all the classics, stock up on useful reference tools and commentaries. I would provide work stations and reading stations for people to come in and read at. We could even have a little coffee bar, since that would be huge in that area of the country. We could have a little library section where for a small fee each year, people could check good books out if they could not afford to buy the books. We would network with local pastors to supply them with what they really needed. I would scower used book sales and the such and have a used book section that would rival Archive's used book section. Then we could use the upstairs section of Good News as a location for the Institute, to link up with them. We would advertise the classes to the people so we could get more people involved. We would offer reading groups to go through various books. We could provide reading lists for people bring their families through. We would communicate with the local Christian schools so we could provide the resources their students need at our bookstore.

But more significantly, we would be known for what we wouldn't have. We wouldn't carry Bible-zines, we wouldn't carry romantic Christian fiction, we wouldn't carry potpourrie, we wouldn't carry 'Testamints', we wouldn't carry anything authored by a Gaither, we wouldn't carry anything by a Hinn, a Crouch, a Tilton, a Jakes, or a Tammy Fay. We wouldn't carry anything with a TBN stamp on it. We wouldn't carry anything that would be psuedo Christian that would pass as Catholic, Mormon, or JW. We wouldn't carry bubblegum devotionals. We wouldn't carry anything I would be ashamed to have on my bookshelf.

We would work with the local pastors throughout northern Mass and new hampshire to provide a more personal, evangelical bookstore than CBD. We would provide an atmosphere where people could come and talk. We would provide a place where everyone would know your name, where we served the soul, heart, and the mind. We would help unite churches who stand on the same doctrines so pastors wouldn't seem to be on an island to themselves. We would provide a place where these pastors can send their sheep without fearing the wolves. We would provide an atmosphere where peoples hearts, souls, and minds are directed to God for His glory.

any ideas on what I could do with my dream?

a couple links

a great sign for christianity

free Piper mp3

in honor of one of my favorite shows EVER This link may be slow, but keep trying. Gemini was my favorite and i loved the tennis ball game.

oh YES! a true renaissance man

Athanasius- a brief biography

Athanasius came on the scene fighting Arius over the deity of Christ. Arius had gotten a hold in the Christian scene by saying that Jesus wasn’t completely God. Arius, at the time a secretary to the Bishop of Alexandria, became the chief spokesman against Arius at the Council of Nicea in 325. This is where the term homo-ouisis comes from, that Christ was of the same nature of God.

A few years later, Athanasius becomes the Bishop of Alexandria. The argument was not solved and he was urged to negotiate with the people and come to some line that they could agree on. He refused to do so, knowing that it would lead to surrendering the doctrine of Christology in some way. This reluctance to negotiate theology made him very unpopular with Constantine and other rulers and he ends up getting removed from his position a total of 5 times.

Each time he was asked to leave because he wouldn’t budge. From this comes the phrase “Athanasius against the world”. The first banishment, under Constantine, lasted two and half years, ending with Constantine’s death. He was again deposed in 340 by Constantine’s son. After pleading his case again, he is given his position back in 346. Ten years later, he again falls into bad graces for his stand for the deity of Christ, and is run out of his church by soldiers. This exile lasted for 6 years. The next emperor, Jovian, praised his ‘Christian fidelity’ and returned him to his position again. This nice emperor didn’t last too long, and the next guy kicked people out that Constantius had kicked out. This lasted a short time, and was asked to come back for the last time.

"Honor such men..."

On friday nights we've been going step by step through the book of Philippians, and this last friday night we finished the second chapter, so we're half way there! well, as we were going through i ran across something that I hadn't noticed before.

This last friday night we talked about the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus (which one of the kids thought was a sickness, not a person). And at the end of the passage that talks about Epaphroditus, Paul writes a little like "so receive him in teh Lord with all joy, and honor such men." of course that got me going about how stupid celebrities are and how we honor the wrong people today. but instead of making this all into a negative, i thought, 'why not get a list of people that we should honor?' so who are the people that you think we should honor? Who are the people that have lived selfless lives, in humility in the best interest of others? This isn't about glorifying man, just about making sure we honor the right people.

Here's part of my list:

Derek Webb- a man that has stood for truth through music, has said things that aren't popular with a lot of people, and has lived it out. i honor him for spurring many on to worship through thoughtful praise.

The leadership of my church- for putting the Word first and doing the right thing and making the right decisions

my mom- for showing me what a life committed to learning and glorifying the Lord your God with all your mind.

Peter Jennings- for being a self taught person

men like MacArthur, Sproul, Mohler, and Mark Dever for standing firmly on the Word of God.

John Piper for stirring up the hearts of millions to a sincere passion of God and living it out. this guy wore the same suit three days and drives an old clunker of a car.

camp speakers like Darrin McWatters for actually being good. there are few of them.

david ortiz- for being the MAN (sorry, had to put that in there)

Bach- for living out his faith and publicly saying things like, "the purpose of music is to glorify God" (although it may have been easier to do that then)

for the countless missionaries who go on through their lives without any notice, giving themselves up day by day.

this is a short list, and its missing a lot of people. who should be added?