Watch this Space

What 2022 will bring

First Things First

Before I say anything else, I should say a huge thank you. I know it’s a cliche to say “I couldn’t have gotten here without your support” but it’s true. I have written consistently now on this SubStack for longer than I’ve ever written anything, anywhere. Knowing that no matter what I write, how long it is, or what the subject matter will be, someone will read it, is so deeply encouraging and I just want you to know that whoever you are, wherever you are, you’ve been a huge encouragement to me. Everything that Anna and I have planned has your fingerprints on it too.

With that said, though I have given small updates here and there as to our plans, I felt it would be good to share with you what’s ahead as fully as I presently can.

All Things Considered

As you are probably aware by now, we have a podcast coming out in January which we’re incredibly excited to share with you. We haven’t set a day of the week yet but it will likely be mid-week and I hope that by next week we’ll have a live link for you to subscribe to be notified when each episode airs.

The podcast is called “Consider the Ravens” and we’ve recorded some episodes already, including a couple of interviews with Authors, discussions about Anna’s favourite books and we’ve more much more on the way. Our mission is to get people reading yourself included, whether that’s helping you to find your first book of the year, to help you to get more out of what you’re already reading, to better discern the content we consume on social media and in the news and also learning together how to dive into lengthy theological tomes which are often as mindblowing as they are dense. We believe the primary context of discipleship is the local church. We recognise though that discipleship has been aided throughout history predominately through literature, from letters to books to magazines, and that is still true of our world today.

The Podcast will run on a four-week cycle, the first will be either an interview or a deep dive into a subject I’ve covered here, the second will be a deep dive into a particular book, the third will be a monthly rundown of everything we’re reading and what we’re learning through it. The fourth will… you know what I’ll tell you about the fourth a bit later.

Tracking Well Worn Paths

The second project is a free eBook I’ll be releasing before the end of the year for everyone who reads this newsletter. Earlier this year I outlined what I call, “The Three C’s” which I believe can aid us in everything from our daily bible reading to sermon and teaching preparation. I have expanded upon that in this book and have also included printable bookmarks as well a 28 Day study guide to help you to get stuck right into your bible reading this coming year.

Here’s the cover which you’ll be able to download on your computers, eReaders, and Kindles before 2022 begins:

Though this will be the first free eBook I’ll be releasing here from the Raven’s writing desk, it won’t be the last.

Speaking of…

This cover isn’t quite as primed and polished, but I’d still love to share it with you so you can see what a work in progress looks like!

As I mentioned earlier, we have a fourth week in the cycle on the podcast, which we’re dedicating to something wonderful. Over the past few years the name Herman Bavinck has come up on the radar everywhere in Christian media. From a critically aclaimed biography by James Eglinton to name drops and arguements on Knowing Faith and every reformed podcast out there.

Here’s the rub though.

You may found this odd thing which seems to happen in theological literature.

When a Christian starts reading, they come across easy, well written books which give readers an easy time, but are excellent on the basics of theology (Tozer, Piper). After reading a few of those and they then move onto practical theology about particular topics, maybe books by Gary Thomas on Singleness or by Timothy Keller on Marriage. Up and up they go and once they're absolutely set on growing in your knowledge of the Lord… bhlam… there’s a giant jump and seemingly nothing but money or sheer grit will get them over the wall. This can be so discouraging for many who genuinely would love to read this tomes and hear all about Bavinck, the Puritans, or Augustine, but don’t know where to begin.

Once every four weeks we’ll be releasing an episode based on one chapter of Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, a set of books I’ll tell you more about in the future. For now all you need to know is that if you want to join us in reading through these amazing books, we wont just be talking to (or at) you about them, but I’m putting together and reader’s guide for every chapter in the book called “It’s all Dutch to me” which will include introductions, glossaries for each section, and questions to help you get the most out of each and every chapter. We’ll then make sure to collate and answer any questions we can along the way, perhaps with guests on so you don’t just have to hear from us! These will, of course, also be avaliable free for any one to use in PDF or eBook formats.

A Final Note

Thank you for reading. Not just today, but thank you for reading throughout these past few months. It would mean the world to me if you get this far if you could drop me a comment or a like. It really helps when people do. If you’d also consider sharing your favourite article of the year on your social media platforms, that would be so, so welcome.

Until next week though,

As always,

Grace and Peace,

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