Vale Sister Enda Ryan

The founder and first headmistress of my secondary school passed away today. She was still the headmistress when I attended and she retired at the end of my final year.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/07/assunta-schools039-pioneer-sister-enda-ryan-passes-away-aged-96

She loved singing and our school assemblies often involved some singing (in addition to the state anthem). She wrote and composed the school song, which we sang with gusto at School Sports Days and other school events. At the end of the school day, we would be treated once again to her singing over the PA system (one I remember her singing is “A Cowboy’s Friend”) or some other music would play while we made our way off the school grounds.

Funny memory:

One of the songs that Sr Enda liked singing was “A Little Peace”. We usually just sang the chorus and the refrain at the end. For YEARS, she sang the ending refrain as “FREE AS feathers on the breeze, Sing with me my song of peace.” She later learned that the actual lyrics are “WE ARE feathers on a breeze…” She thought that was ridiculous and decided that we just would continue singing it the way we had been doing, thank you very much!

Sister Enda is now indeed free and singing her praises to her Lord.

March 2024 Reads

𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔: 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝑻𝒐 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 by Alister McGrath

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒘𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏? 𝑨𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 by Alister McGrath

𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎 & 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 by Alister McGrath

𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒐𝒅 by Alister McGrath

𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆: 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒓: 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉 by Alister McGrath

𝑩𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 by Alister McGrath

𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 by Anne Tyler

𝑳𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 by Su-May Tan

𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑲𝑳 by Su-May Tan

𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒚𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑩𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 (started this on January 1, 2024)

February 2024 Reads

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝑭𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 by Alexander McCall Smith

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎? by Michael Green and Alister McGrath

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔 by Robert L. Short

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔 by Robert L. Short

𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒐𝒄𝒌 by Joan Lindsay

𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 by Alister McGrath

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔 by Robert L. Short

Is God at Home? by J. B. Phillips

The following is just some scattered thoughts about this book. Nothing too fancy.

Source: Internet Archive (free to borrow with no time limit)

Published: 1967

Motivation for reading: Finished reading Your God Is Too Small by the same author and was wholly captivated and enthralled!

About the Author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bertram_Phillips

Preface

The author argues that the Church seems strange and alien to the unchurched because the Church has its own language and culture. Christians do no good arguing that the unchurched simply have to learn how to adapt. Rather, Phillips feels that it is the Christians who must find out how to reach the unchurched and bring them into the fold.

If a fisherman must study the habits of the fish he is to catch, it is surely not unreasonable to suggest that fishers of men should study the ways in which men think and feel and express themselves.

It is surely a comfort to know that people are beginning to see that the “real” things are the spiritual. No atomic bomb, however powerful, could destroy, for example, love or faith or hope or courage or self-sacrifice, any more than you can cut a sunbeam to pieces with a sword. The qualities which cannot be bought or sold, which cannot be measured or weighed or seen or handled, they are the permanent, indestructible things. It is the material world which is impermanent and unsubstantial. The body can be blown to pieces, but not the spirit. (p 55)

Here are some passages in the New Testament which may usefully be referred to:

John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 1-21; the eighth chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans; the third chapter of Peter’s Second Letter; the fourth chapter of the First Letter of John.

“If a man is willing to follow God the Father’s plan,” he said, “he will know whether my teaching is really true or just man-man stuff.” (John 7:17.)

Christmas is Coming

God became one of us that we might find the way to become something like him. (p 62)

Why Good Friday?

All religions attempt to bridge the gulf between the terrific purity of God and the sinfulness of man, but Christianity believes that God built the bridge himself. (p 65)

What’s Whitsun?

Man may admire the character of Christ, may see that his way of living is the right one, and may even try to follow him. But unless God can implant the moral power inside , the vision of being a Christian soon fades and becomes just another discarded ideal. (pg 71)

“No! No! A Thousand Times No!”

almost all the things which make life miserable for us or for other people spring from the root of self-love. (p 83)

Every sin that ever was springs from that love turned in upon the self, and every bit of true happiness arises from love given away to someone else.

The trouble is that some people deny their love to themselves but never give it to anyone else. If we do that, we may think ourselves “holy,” but we shall become narrow-minded nuisances to other people! (p 84)

The way out he recommended was to put his confidence in Jesus Christ (who, by the way, is just as much alive now as he was in Paul’s day) and accept the reinforcement of his Spirit into his own personality. (p 104)

Is God Dead?

All serious religions attempt a kind of bridgehead toward God, but only Christianity builds the bridge. (p 108)

January 2024 Reads

Is God at Home? by J. B. Phillips ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Complete Maus by Art Spielgelman⭐️⭐️⭐️

God Our Contemporary by J. B. Phillips ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Making Men Whole by J. B. Phillips ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Church Under the Cross by J. B. Phillips ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

New Testament Christianity by J. B. Phillips ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Paths to Power: Living in the Spirit’s Fullness by A. W. Tozer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Story of the Stone, Volume 1: The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin (translated from the Chinese by David Hawkes) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Story of the Stone, Volume 2: The Crab-Flower Club by Cao Xueqin (translated from the Chinese by David Hawkes) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Story of the Stone, Volume 3: The Warning Voice by Cao Xueqin (translated from the Chinese by David Hawkes) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Inventing the Universe: Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Science, Faith and God by Alister McGrath ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Story of the Stone, Volume 4: The Debt of Tears by Cao Xueqin and Gao E (translated from the Chinese by John Minford) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

More Years, Better Life by Haroldo Level (translated from the Spanish) [not rated because the translation is still a work in progress]

The Story of the Stone, Volume 5: The Dreamer Wakes by Cao Xueqin and Gao E (translated from the Chinese by John Minford) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth by Alister McGrath ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Colours of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

New American Standard Bible 1995

Source: biblegateway.com

[Completed reading this in March 2022, and started writing this back then but am only updating it now and publishing it.]

I have been following a 90-day Bible Reading Plan since 2020. Every single day (weekends included), I read four sections of the Bible — two from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. Of the OT readings, one is from the Poetry section, and one is not. Of the NT readings, one is from the Gospels, and the other not. As far as possible, the readings correspond to events in chronological order.

Following a 90-day Bible Reading Plan allows me to read through the entire Bible four times a year with five or six days left over.

At the end of 2021, I asked my friends on Facebook to suggest what Bible version I should read next. I gave list of the ones I had already read. One of my FB friends (she is someone I met online back when we were both homeschooling with the same curriculum) responded and expressed surprise that I had not read the New American Standard Bible. When I saw her response, I have to admit that I am not sure how or why the NASB somehow slipped under my radar.

And so, 90 days later, I have completed the NASB. On BibleGateway.com, the NASB is listed as having reading level suitable for readers US Grade 11+, which corresponds to roughly age 16 and up. This makes it a good match for me. 😛

The NASB uses US spelling and punctuation, which is pretty much how MOST Bibles are these days, I think. I am okay with this.

The translators inserted headings in various parts as signposts to alert the reader of the topic coming up. I do like headings, but also realise that they are man-made and arbitrary and subjective.

January, 2024:
Overall, this was a good version.

Your God Is Too Small by J B Phillips

Source: This book is available online here

Motivation for reading:

A visitor to our church stepped into our library to have a look at the books there. They were of the strong opinion (and were not afraid to voice it) that all fiction is ungodly because they (fictional works) are a product of man’s imagination.

This demonising of the human imagination took me back 30 years (or more!) where some Christian preachers denounced things which had a ‘fantasy’ element to them. As a young, eager-to-learn Christian, I heard talk that allowing Cabbage Patch Dolls, Smurfs, music with a drum beat, fantasy fiction, etc, into one’s home was akin to giving the devil a foothold.

I thought surely we have matured since those days and can move on.

Nope. There I was, listening to talk of how C. S. Lewis’ Narnia was anathema, and even Lewis’ non-fiction was suspect, as he was writing from his imagination and not from God’s Word.

So, after this visitor left, I chatted with some other church members and one of them recommended I read Your God Is Too Small by J. B. Phillips. He said that this book had a profound impact on him when he first read it.

I had heard of J. B. Phillips but had never read anything by him before. Phillips is most well known for his translation of the New Testament into modern English.

Phillips’ intention for writing this book was to expose the juvenile conceptions of God that some Christians may have and to help them develop a more mature view.

In this first part of Phillips’ short book, he dismantles some wrong ideas about God:

• The Resident Policeman, ie our conscience
• Parental Hangover, ie what our earthly parents are like
• Grand Old Man, ie holding on to ancient traditions and equating that with true religion
• Meek-and-Mild — Jesus was meek and definitely NOT mild
• Absolute Perfection — a sure way to having a nervous breakdown
• Heavenly Bosom, ie a form of escapism
• God-in-a-box, ie limiting God to one church or denomination
• Managing Director — such a God is too busy to bother with individuals
• Second-Hand God — ideas learned from books, movies and other media
• Perennial Disappointment
• Pale Galilean
• Projected Image
• God in a Hurry
• God for the Elite
• God of Bethel
• God without Godhead
• Gods by any other name

In the second part of the book, Phillips focuses on the Bible’s teaching that God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a Visited Planet by God Himself. (I have since read several other books by Phillips and see this oft-repeated ‘Visited Planet’ mantra.)

We as residents of a Visited Planet are called to love God with our whole being and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to love our neighbours as ourselves and make this world a better place.

That’s it in a nutshell.

This book was first published in 1953, ie 70 years ago (!!), yet it is still relevant today! Phillips died in 1982. I wonder what the good man would think about the state of the church today.

May 2023 Reads

The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble

A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community by John Pavlovitz

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen

Through a Glass, Darkly by Jostein Gaardner (translated from the Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan)

Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye by Lois Lowry

A Genius in the Family by Hiram Percy Maxim

The Stranger by Albert Camus (translated from the French by Matthew Ward)

April 2023 Reads

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What W. H. Auden Can Do for You by Alexander McCall Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Power of the Powerless: A Brother’s Legacy of Love by Christopher DeVinck ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Watership Down by Richard Adams ⭐️⭐️

One Thousand and One Nights by Hanan Al-Shaykh ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Betrayed! by Stan Telchin ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Some Messianic Jews Say, “Messianic Judaism Is Not Christianity!” — A Loving Call to Unity by Stan Telchin ⭐️⭐️⭐️

March 2023 Reads

Grown Ups by Marie Aubert (translated from the Norwegian by Rosie Hedger) ⭐️⭐️

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Three O’Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio (translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo ⭐️⭐️ (Don’t hate me!)

The Amplified Bible ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (started this on January 1)