Abby Dorman

Dr. Wilhoit
CE 221
November 1, 2016

Eat This Book Report

For this project, I focused in depth on Philippians chapter 3. I

broke the chapter into three sections and centered my practices

around one section each week. I began each week by reading the

passage from Philippians several times slowly, taking time to think

through parts that didnt make sense to me at first. Ive read through

the book of Philippians several times on my own already, so I wanted

to take special care to try to re-learn the parts that were already

familiar to me. Each time, I also prayed for God to reveal new things to

me in my study of the passage.

I broke my reading of Philippians 3 into sections based on the

chapters of the book I read along with it, To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

by Matt Chandler. Chandler unpacks each section of the chapter, giving

more detail on Pauls life, the culture, and translation of certain words.

He uses quotes from theologians like Augustine and Tim Keller to help

deepen the readers knowledge of the passages meaning. Sometimes

it would take me two days to finish a full chapter from Chandlers book,

but it helped provide a structure for my journaling as well. I was able to

connect a verse from the chapter with a phrase (i.e. press on) that

Chandler used as a theme throughout his chapter, and then consider

areas of my life in which I needed to press on. I found that I

experienced most of my meditation, oratio, and contemplation through

the practice of journaling. Writing helped me make connections to

other things I had read and provided visual reminders of what God

taught me. Throughout this exercise, I found that by reading slowly and

intentionally, giving the Spirit room to guide my learning through

prayer, journaling, and outside resources, I gained a better and more

personal understanding of Philippians 3.