After a brutal course load over the spring, summer, and fall I’m finally recovered and ready to return to the blogosphere! No need to whine, just a need to post. My goal is be concise in future entries so I don’t get too overwhelmed.
I’m Back…
Dec 22
All-Star Friday
Mar 21
Here’s a quick round-up of posts from around the web that have piqued my interest this week.
War is Boring – A quick gloss as to the issues facing the replacement of our current fleet and getting the US Navy up to the planned 313 ships.
The Blazing Center – We’ve all sat there, thinking about box scores when we should be paying attention to the sermon… Stephen Altrogge gives some good and clear tactics when approaching this coming message on the Lord’s Day. I find it very hard to listen with humility and listen critically at the same time, I appreciate his comments
Ben Witherington – He brings an excellent and trained eye to Deepak Chopra’s new book, The Third Jesus, he has said all I wanted to say and in a manner far better than I could say it!
Jesus did not, and does not come to take us to a higher spiritual plane, so that we might better get in touch with the little bit of God that is in us all or our own God-consciousness. Indeed, he seeks to lead us to have a relationship with the God he called Abba who is wholly other, and who urges us to recognize the Creator Creature distinction. We are not God, nor is God inherently in us or a part of our being. The end result of navel gazing is that we may well get more in touch with ‘our inner child’, but we do not get more in touch with the ‘outer’ God who created the universe and all that is in it. The former sort of spirituality is a form of narcissism, or at its worse, self- worship. The latter form of spirituality reinforces the Creator/creature distinction and leads to worship of the one true God.
Thank you brother Ben, ἀμήν!
The Thomas Watson Blog – Highlights events surrounding the discussion of covenant children
The Riddleblog – Kim posts an excellent meditation for today, Good Friday (in the western church), and is well worth looking at a couple of times throughout the day if you are so inclined.
—–Side Notes:
Covenant Blog has been kind enough to post explanations of both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (which they get from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist.
Also, this is my first time attending a church that does not change its worship to reflect the liturgical year. I’m still trying to figure out what I think of it… perhaps I’ll try and address it in a post when I can do so thoughtfully.
edit: Ecto seems to have mangled this every time I post it, hopefully I’ve gotten the kinks out. Apologies if you saw it and it looked mangled, it was!
The Agony
Mar 20
For those who are celebrating Holy Week – a wonderful poem from a seventeenth century Anglican rector, George Herbert. You can find a collection of his works for free at Google Books.
The Agony
Philosophers have measured mountains,
Fathomed the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walked with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things
The which to measure it doth more behoove:
Yet few there are that sound them: Sin and Love.Who would know Sin, let him repair
Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains that all his hair,
His skin, his garments bloody be.
Sin is that press and vice, that forceth pain
To hunt his cruel food through every vein.Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquor sweet and most divine
Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.George Herbert (1639)
Many thanks to the Mere Comments Blog over at Touchstone Magazine for this in their original post.
Tim Keller in Authors@Google
Mar 20
A lot of folks went into Cambridge to hear him speak, sadly I could not go. Anyway, here he is speaking at Google’s HQ – Enjoy!
The folks over at Logos Bible Software have gotten the alpha version of the software for the Macintosh out the door and into the hands of their eager fans who have been waiting for years to see it released. I installed it on my mac and was greeted with repeated crashing in the gospel of John… oh well. Great Job Guys! I look forward to using this natively on my mac and am looking forward to each bug-fix and patch with quiet anticipation.
click on me to go to the
Logos for the Mac website
For those who are wondering, alpha is the stage before beta, which is generally the stage where you get kinks out… in the alpha you are still adding features! So lets be clear, if you want this to be perfect out of the gate, wait until it is shipped GM (gold master.)
Perpetua and Felicitas
Mar 7
Craig Uffman writes in Covenant a wonderful little sketch covering the story of Perpetua, Felicitas, and a group of early martyrs. Peace be on you as you read their story.
You can find an old translation of the full text here on Google Books.
Check out the newly-redesigned PuritanLibrary.com, they’ve done a wonderful job of making it much more user friendly! A great place to find all those classic puritan authors, without having to worry about running out of shelf space!
No… I’m not dead…
Mar 7
I’m still here, seminary is just way more work than I expected (or I have made it that way, but that’s besides the point.) Anyway, this thought came into my mind today and just left me thinking for a while…
“postmodernity is the disenfranchisement of the dead.”
Think about it, let me know what you think.
In a real and decisive sense, therefore, he is the miracle, the miracle of all miracles! Whoever takes up the subject of theology finds himself inevitably confronted with this miracle. Christ is that infinitely wondrous event which compels a person, so far as he experiences and comprehends this even, to be necessarily, profoundly, wholly, and irrevocably astonished. -Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology
—-
A thousand pardons, I am swamped at school.
On the Word of God…
Aug 8
Where the Word of God is neglected, real and true personal religion collapses. Where this collapses, no one can or will be saved. If our sins, our reckless and godless shame, our secure and knavish life, our wickedness and wantonness are compared with the misdeeds of the Jews and our ancestors, I think that we shall not be far apart. It is my considered opinion and judgment that it is not possible for real and true religion to survive amid our devilish, epicurean, and sardanapalian living.
Philip Jacob Spener, Pia Desideria
…and that was written in 17th century Germany! How true is it now?