Catch me any time of day and offer me a slice of pizza, and I’ll have a hard time saying no. It doesn’t matter if it’s Gino’s East or Totinos, grilled or oven-baked, hot and fresh or cold leftovers. I like the $2.75 Aldi frozen variety and the $20 Casey’s pie. Chicago-style, new-york style, delivered or take-and-bake, it’s all good.
If you ask me what Pizza I like, I’ll say “all of it.” Each variation on the theme has it’s own pleasures. In the morning, breakfast pizza is kind of an easy call…but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my favorite pizza in the morning is cold leftover Black Olive Papa John’s. If I’m honest, I also have to acknowledge that not all pizza is actually good. Occasionally I find myself warning others to avoid a few specific pizzas! For instance, Aldi’s rising crust pizza is my most frequent go-to, but their four cheese variety is a major disappointment. Casey’s makes an excellent supreme, but my kids turn up their nose a bit at their cheese pizza.
Learning is a bit like Pizza. It’s good to pursue knowledge of God during a Sunday morning service, but variety in our learning is helpful as well. For me, that means personal devotional times, deep study (especially when preparing to preach), sermons from others, YouTube videos of varying types, and also books. Furthermore, just like pizza, much of what is out there on YouTube and in bookstores is good, but there are some misses as well, some bigger than others. How do you know?
I’m of the opinion that you should always read with a discerning attitude, knowing that even our favorite authors and teachers get it wrong from time to time, but even if we do so that doesn’t help with the fact that there are 10 million books out there (and 100 billion YouTube lessons) and you can’t process them all. Why waste time on bad books or sketchy teachings? Furthermore, what if you hear something and you’re just not sure about it. Where can you go to process those questions?
To help resolve some of those difficulties, I will be writing updates occasionally which I will be calling the Pastor’s Study. As I read and listen and learn, I will be posting book and video links as I digest these resources, along with recommendations or cautions. If you are a big reader or love to follow various different teachers online, you will hopefully benefit in a few ways:
First of all, you might find book recommendations that are helpful in your own pursuit of God. Secondly, you will know that if I have mentioned a book or teaching here that I have read it. Thus, if you decide to read it and end up with some questions, you can feel comfortable stopping by to talk it through with me. Finally, I hope that part of this process will help you develop a habit of learning with discernment—how to recognize and filter out mistaken ideas while grabbing a hold of helpful ones!
Please join me on this journey of learning, and if you ever read something that you find profoundly helpful, feel free to pass a link on to me!
In Christ,
Pastor Andy
PS. You didn’t think I’d let you go without a recommendation, did you? Not long ago a member of our church passed along a copy of Christians Get Depressed, Too by David Murray. I found it to be a pretty balanced and helpful read.
(Notice: If you want to borrow a resource I recommend, I’d be glad to lend you my copy if I have one. Just ask!)