1. Providence | John Piper Although I began reading this behemoth of a book last year, I completed it this year. But really the content, more than the page-count, demands that this book be read carefully and prayerfully. Piper tackles deep theological matters with the heart and skill of someone seasoned by decades of pastoral …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XoEFi2sI1jxPMsTH2vL8Q?si=M7SLbjX7TZWPM-4v4ARpKQ A couple of months ago, for no particular reason, I grabbed my copy of Tolkien's translation of Beowulf off the shelf and began to read. Having only read bit of Beowulf in high school, I only remembered that Beowulf fights a monster named Grendel and a dragon. While I have since learned that, though …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4P95oSpOFSoAZkYdI2qPjA?si=1P2ShZqWTyy3Z7-FIg50fQ After last reading of the pilgrims’ assault and triumph over Giant Despair and of their coming to the Delectable Mountains and what the Shepherds there revealed to them, we come now to the end of their journey and to the end of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. In these final pages, the company meets …
Continue reading Valiant-for-truth, Enchanted Ground, & Death
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6xEdWlU142mqfZIOvqnz1N?si=Jj4PHM4pQB6sMjbgvThP-Q In our previous reading, the pilgrims left the Arbour and passed by the dread of the giant Grim to come to the Porter's Lodge called Beautiful. There they resided for more than a month. In this week's pages, we read of the pilgrims' next stage of their journey, wherein they must pass through the …
Continue reading The Valley of Humiliation & the Shadow of Death
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KGQq9ZO6lvR0nNOgmlkJm?si=PtPWU0RXQtK4S0PouoeSaQ When we last left Christiana and her fellow pilgrims, they had left Interpreter's House with a new companion to be their guide and protector, Great-heart. Together they came upon the place of deliverance, found the hanged bodies of Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, and began their climb up the Hill of Difficulty. In our present …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Je4cKwFlFYbV3FGaVMYQA?si=2xdhvIMoRL-tHm1TOQYhTQ As we last noted, the content of the ninth stage of Christian's journey was too large for me to adequately capture in one week. Thus, we previously discussed the first half of the stage, particularly Little-faith, Flatterer, and Atheist. Moving on the second half, we shall discuss the Enchanted Ground, Hopeful's testimony, and Ignorance. …
Continue reading The Enchanted Ground, Hopeful’s Conversion, & Ignorance
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5dKoCQegPu8s6nCZYGdBRC?si=f_Zph7wtQMu7hvJx3Sf2xw The previous stage took Christian and Hopeful into both the heights and depths of life, which very often do occur back-to-back as Bunyan has described. Now, as has been the pattern since the Valley of Humiliation, Bunyan follows a stage of much action with a stage of much conversation. In the ninth stage, which …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5s5TmX3W0ZSRkX6bT2QotP?si=X6WWXRbBT0iGiIX7_7SAWw There will be no post on The Pilgrim's Progress this week. The 8th Stage lies still before us with its classic description of Christian and Hopeful being caught in the grip of Giant Despair. Given the ever-growing depression and anxiety rates today, our society as a whole seems to be similarly locked in Doubting …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4NyJ4mmmzM5WE8NxL7CtWD?si=Vh5Bkq0KTLu3VzOfleNy3w After witnessing the death of his fellow companion, Faithful, under a faux trial at Vanity Fair, our last reading ended with Christian escaping from his cell and setting back on his journey, singing in honor of his victorious brother. Along this stage of Christian's pilgrimage, he is joined by a new companion named Hopeful, …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ZOFtj5jaSGiHiVdhrLwvR?si=wvh5MzboRXei5jA4532qKQ After Talkative's departure, Christian and Faithful continue on to the next stage of their journey. In this week's reading, the two pilgrims meet with Evangelist who prepares them for the suffering and even death that awaits them in the town called Vanity. Once in Vanity Fair, the pilgrims are mocked, arrested, tried, and Faithful …
B. C. Newton 