This week I began reading several different types of books--Christian living, children's fiction, and adult Christian fiction. In an evening I finished C. S. Lewis' last book of the Narnia series, [appropriately titled] The Last Battle .  I also began  D. Martin Lloyd-Jones' Spiritual Depression Its Causes and Cure. The title sounds dreadfully boring, but it's actually one of the best things I've picked up in a long time. Here's a challenging excerpt  from chapter three, "Men As Trees, Walking"  :

We are considering this subject not only because it is sad and tragic that any Christian should ever be miserable, but because of the whole state of the Church today. I have no hesitation in asserting again that one of the reasons why the Christian Church counts for so little in the modern world is that so many are in this condition. If all Christians simply began to function as the New Testament would have us to do, there would be no problem of evangelism...It is because we are failing as Christian people in our daily lives and deportment and witness that the Church counts for so little and that so few attracted to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So for that most urgent reason alone it behoves us to deal with this question...

 

On a recent trip to the library I picked up some Christian fiction. The only current Christian fiction author I care for is Jan Karon. Another author came highly recommended and I sighed while pulling it off the shelf, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  Let's just say that Christian Gothic/prairie/Amish/western/modern romances  and Christian serial killer series aren't  appealing to me. But I do like classics, some mysteries, and--of course--Hank the Cowdog books.   Our local library is small and has a limited space [about three small shelves] devoted to classics.

To change the subject slightly, our librarian commented that our local library would be moving into a part of the new public school about to built in the community. It will be a little strange taking my homeschooled kids to school just to go to the library, though  we certainly could use a bigger library facility.  Here's hoping there'll be more room for classics.