This is a continuation of our interview with Luma from last week. This portion of her interview is chock-full of incredibly and wonderfully gospel-centered resources.
We’ve taken pains to hyperlink them for you because they’re just that incredible and wonderful. Links to books are at the end of the post 
What book(s) are you currently reading for your soul, your ministry, or for personal enjoyment?
As for my soul I have been listening to sermons and lectures by D. A. Carson (sometimes John Piper, Tim Keller and Tullian Tchividjian), on average one a day.
I am currently reading ‘Christ and Culture Revisited’ by D. A. Carson, to help me get a better grasp of the different views on the Kingdom of God and the relationship of the Church and Christians to culture.
To help me learn about Bible study and how to become a fruitful teacher of the Bible I am reading ‘Bible Study: Following the Ways of the Word’ by Kathleen Buswell Nielson.
And because I have finally decided to delve into eschatology a little more seriously, with a desire to understand the Biblical texts and not to just compare and contrast eschatological systems, I picked up Eckhard Schnabel’s ’40 Questions About The End Times’.
I’m co-teaching ‘Respectable Sins’ by Jerry Bridges at our women’s study group and so I’m reading that.
Lastly, my husband and I are slowly reading to each other Tim and Kathy Keller’s book, ‘The Meaning of Marriage’.
Apart from Scripture, what book do you most frequently re-read and why?
I don’t usually re-read books. However, during the years I battled heavily with depression and discontentment I read Martyn Lloyd Jones’ ‘Spiritual Depression’ and Jeremiah Burroughs’ ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’ over and over again. Also, as each of my children grow into a different stage I have found myself going back to ‘Shepherding A Child’s Heart’ by Tedd Tripp, ‘Age of Opportunity’ by Paul Tripp, ‘Grace Based Parenting’ by Tim Kimmel, and ‘Give Them Grace’ by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
If you could shadow any woman for a day who would it be and why?
Well, if I could go back in time I would have loved to shadow Amy Carmichael. I have always been in awe of her tenacious love for Jesus, her deep joy in hardship and physical pain, and the way she emptied herself for other people. If you mean living women, it’s harder for me to say. Due to my education and life experiences, I have rarely been in a position where women were my teachers or role models, and honestly I think that has shaped me in a way that has stunted my feminine teachability. A few weeks ago I was moved to start praying for the Lord to send me a Priscilla and Aquila and I have been praying for that every day since. We’ll see what the Lord does.
In what area of your life are you most regularly tempted to discouragement?
With my sins—my sins weigh heavily on me. I often cry out like Paul, “wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Too many times I stop there and become deeply discouraged when I should go on to: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” My husband is so good at gently nudging me out of these times. I have found that the more I embrace the gospel and the more Christ focused I become, the more clearly I see my sins, temptations and weaknesses. But at the same time I am also finding that the grace of Christ comes in heavily and removes the discouragement, assuring me of the power of the Cross and of the mighty work of the Holy Spirit.
What single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your marriage?
The counsel came early on in our marriage and it came from my husband. I didn’t know how to apologize and ask for forgiveness. I had a lot of pride. He not only asked me to apologize but he taught me how to do it by always being quick himself to make amends and ask for forgiveness. He has always been a man that is quick to offer forgiveness. Of course I’m not saying I do it perfectly now, but asking for and giving forgiveness has saved our marriage many, many times over the years.
What single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your motherhood?
I read Tim Kimmel’s ‘Grace Based Parenting’ and Elyse Fitzpatrick’s ‘Give Them Grace’ within about ten months of each other. This was the same year God was bringing me out of gospel amnesia. At some point in ‘Grace Based Parenting’ Kimmel says something like, “parent your children the way God the Father parents you.” This revolutionized my parenting! I can spend hours talking about how those two books turned my austere “be holy for [God is] holy” parenting upside down. My children are full of the joy of Jesus Christ today. Praise be to God!
What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your effective use of time?
I have had good seasons and bad seasons with being efficient. I don’t remember where I picked this up from but years back I read (or heard) the recommendation to do a task until it was done before moving on to another. Now, granted that doesn’t work for everything, but it certainly improved my housekeeping skills. I also remember when one of my physics professors said that my best characteristic was diligence. I was shocked at that, I had not thought of myself in those ways. This stayed with me over the years and has helped me more times than I can count in doing a task that the Lord has set before me.
If you had two extra hours every day to spend however you liked, what would you do?
I would study, write and teach. I would increase my Bible reading, take an online class (preferably from D.A. Carson) and work on the different writing projects that are on my heart. And then I want to take all that and pour it into teaching the glorious gospel. I want to read about, think about, write about and speak about—my Magnificent Obsession.
Thank you, Luma! You’re an encouragement to us and you’ve share so many great ideas for growing in grace and godliness.
Here are a few more of Luma’s links from her blog “Gospel Grace”:
“Discouragement and Women”
Related Resources
- ‘Christ and Culture Revisited’ (by D.A. Carson) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Bible Study: Following the Ways of the Word’ (by Kathleen Buswell Nielson) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ’40 Questions About the End Times’ (by Eckhard Schnabel) at Amazon
- ‘Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate’ (by Jerry Bridges) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God’ (by Timothy Keller) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Spiritual Depression’ (by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’ (by Jeremiah Burroughs) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart’ (by Tedd Trip) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Age of Opportunity’ (by Paul David Trip) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Grace Based Parenting’ (by Tim Kimmel) at The Book Depository or Amazon
- ‘Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus’ (by Elyse Fitzpatrick) at The Book Depository or Amazon
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