Bless this Mess

Favorite book from the 70s, Knowing God by J.I. Packer Randy Alcorn was in conference with the gentlemen recently. He is a giant of the faith.
Worst Book from the 70s, The Late Great Planet Earth-a really bad theology that we are still attempting to survive.

During the 80s I had learned that preaching comes best from the overflow of a full head and heart. My reading and study habits improved as did my involvement with community and people. I met with many young men for lunch and our conversations on spiritual truth was wide ranging and edifying. I was learning theology, psychology, and finding real treasures in my library. One book was out of print and had been declared a Classic. When I discovered it I devoured it. A.B. Bruce The Training of the Twelve. I still remember my thirties as a time of really developing the habit of expository preaching so I read commentaries and theologies quit a bit. You can see my present office has a neat commentary bookshelf and a chaotic reference and general book shelves. The 80s were a time of fruitfulness in a good place. I read a blog post last week where a young preacher said his favorite part of sermon preparation was going to movies to get illustrations......duh. It was not like that in the 80s in my denomination....really.