HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I just started another one of the books that I received for Christmas.  This one is titled Spectacular Sins and it is also by John Piper. I didn't know what to expect when I started the book.  The full title should have clued me in... "Spectacular Sins and their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ", but I still wasn't sure what this book was going to be about.  Joni Eareckson Tada wrote this about the book (from the back of the book): "When it comes to holocausts and other horrors, most of us assume God has his hands tied and his back to the wall.  But John Piper paints a different picture from the pages of Scripture that will strengthen your heart, bolster your faith, and deepen your understanding of the 'largeness' of God's sovereignty." I have finished the first three chapters of this book, and I am having a hard time keeping myself from blogging the entire thing.  I believe it is an important book in what it is saying.  I believe that i...

Image from DesiringGod.org I just finished my first Christmas book.  It is called The Gadarene and it is a graphic novel based on an original  poem by John Piper. It was a really interesting book.  It is obviously fictional, but based on the encounter between the demon possessed man and Jesus.  This is the story that is found in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke ( clink this link to read all three gospel accounts ). I enjoyed the writing style and the artwork of this book.  I would recommend this to all interested.  I would also recommend this to teens and pre-teens.  Piper adds in a back-story that fills in the gaps of how a person might have ended up in a situation like this which adds an element of currentness (is that a word?) and made the idea of a demon-possessed man more understandable. Here is a trailer for the book if you care to know a little more about it:

[HT: 22 words ]

"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting,"  (Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV) In the last two weeks I have come across this passage of scripture without intending to.  The first time was during a movie called, The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry .  It is a Christian movie that my wife found on Netflix.  Here is a bit about it from the movie's website: Best buddies Dustin (Jansen Panettiere), Albert (Frankie Ryan Manriquez), and Mark (Allen Isaacson) are twelve year old boys looking forward to a summer of fun in 1970.  When Dustin mows the lawn of seventy-five year old Jonathan Sperry (Gavin MacLeod), a man he has seen at church, a unique friendship develops. What happens the rest of this summer is something Dustin and his friends will never forget! The movie is not being released on DVD until May 4th.  It was a really good movie, but I am only mentioning it because one of the characters, Mr. Sperry, uses this passage in a teachi...

My wife loves to start traditions.  In 2004 she came up with the idea of going to the theater each Christmas season to watch a movie.  This tradition stuck, so each year we plan a Christmas Movie Day; complete with eating out, getting snacks, picking the perfect movie, and going to said movie.  Here is a list of the Christmas Movie Days we have had as a family each year since 2004. 2004: Polar Express 2005: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe 2006: Happy Feet 2007: Bee Movie 2008: The Tale of Despereaux  (which is also a great book ) 2009: Up! This year the movie that we are picking out is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawntreader.  As a child, this was my favorite of the Narnia books.  I loved the different little islands that they traveled to and the imaginative nature (thanks to C.S. Lewis) of the residents of each of these islands.  I have read a few decent reviews of this particular movie...

Scandalous is a book by one of my favorite authors and speakers, D.A. Carson.  I own this book in print and I also just finished listening to it via Christian Audio. I really enjoyed this book.  I feel that D.A. Carson always brings to essential elements to the table that work together at drawing me into the topics that he is discussing.  The first element is his deeper understanding of scripture.  Now, I want you to know that I use the word "deeper" purposely.  You see, it isn't that he has a deep understanding of scripture, it is that he has an understanding of scripture that is always a step deeper than where I am at, and it is always driving me deeper into the Word. The book itself is about the truly scandalous nature of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.  The two chapters that had the most impact on me were the first chapter, dealing with the deep ironies of the cross as told in the book of Matthew.  The other chapter that I really enjoyed ...

About a week ago I applied for the Chrome OS Pilot Program .  This is the program where they send you their new Chrome Laptop... the Cr-48... and you have to agree to use it and send them feedback. This sounded like my kind of thing.  Get a free laptop.  Agree to get on the web.  Tell people what you think. Well.  Guess What?  I GOT ONE! It came in the mail today.  They didn't even send me an e-mail telling me that I had been selected!  I just got a free laptop!  And it is Google's!  This is what I am using right now to blog! If anyone wants to know about the Chrome OS laptop... Send your questions here and I will tell you.  So far it is really cool.

I am two thirds of the way through the King Raven Trilogy . This is a series by one of my favorite modern authors, Stephen R. Lawhead. In this trilogy, Lawhead tells the story of Robin Hood, but he doesn't tell this story the way one would expect. Though there are many familiar names in this series, such as Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Little John, and Merrian, there are other names that are slightly different, such as the lead character, who is named, Rhi Bran y Hud. The location has also been moved to Wales instead of the familiar Sherwood Forest and Nottingham. In the epilogue of the first book, titled Hood , Lawhead does an excellent job of explaining his reasons for these changes. It seems to me that his goal, as with the Pendragon Cycle , is to tell the story with such historical accuracy that the reader walks away believing that IF the story were true... this is the way it surely would have happened. This also means that I walk away with a better understanding of history....

I finished listening to Christian Audio's release of  Sexual Detox by Tim Challies a couple of weeks ago, so I would like to take a moment to recommend this book to everyone that comes by this blog. The subtitle to the book is "A Guide for Guys Who Are Sick of Porn".  So one might think that this book will only be beneficial to someone who is or has struggled with porn, but I want to recommend it, not just to those guys, but like I said, to everyone who comes by this review.  I really believe that this book would also be beneficial to the wives, friends, parents, pastors, etc. of those who have struggled.  I say this for two reasons:  One, this book offers a very accurate view of one who is struggling with porn and everything else that might go along with it.  Two, the "detox" part is also a detoxification of all of the sexual philosophies that are taught in the media today, the scope of which includes much more than porn. In the book Tim Challies do...

image via the Commercial News Black Friday marks opening of new resale shop That's one of the headlines on today's edition of Danville's Commercial News (Newspaper).  Which resale shop is that?  Why would I be mentioning it?  Because it is talking about my wife's parents! The Commercial News article starts like this: COVINGTON, Ind. — Duane and Donna Lathrop have turned their hobby into a business with their new venture — Double D Resale — which opens on Black Friday. The resale shop is outfitted with furniture, appliances, home collectibles and other “what-nots” the couple has been accumulating through shopping trips to estate sales and auctions the past few months. “Our date night is at the auction,” Duane Lathrop said. (Read the rest by clicking here .) I've been on those "auction date nights" and I have to say, they can be fun.

One of these things is not like the others,  One of these things just doesn't belong,  Can you tell which thing is not like the others  By the time I finish my song?  Did you guess which thing was not like the others?  Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?  If you guessed this one is not like the others,  Then you're absolutely...right!

"It is sad to think how many go away from sermons with the word of grace in their ears, but not the work of grace in their hearts." ~Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary, pg. 1271

Reading The Reason for God by Timothy Keller and found a good quote already. Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts -- not only their own but their friends' and neighbors'.  It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.  Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive.

Read this quote over at Tolle Lege : “Not content to create his own story, he creates, with an almost insolent prodigality, the whole world in which it is to move, with its own theology, myths, geography, history, palaeography, languages, and orders of beings– a world full of strange creatures beyond count. The names alone are a feast, whether redolent of quiet countryside (Michel Delving, South Farthing), tall and kingly (Boramir, Faramir, Elendil), loathsome like Smeagol, who is also Gollum, or frowning in the evil strength of Barad Dur or Gorgoroth; yet best of all (Lothlorien, Gilthoniel, Galadriel) when they embody that piercing, high elvish beauty of which no other prose writer has captured so much. Such a book has of course its predestined readers, even now more numerous and more critical than is always realised. To them a review need say little, except that here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart. They will k...

I just finished listening to the Christian Audio Version of What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. It is an excellent little book that adequately deals with the question in the title... Which, I might add, is a question that needs to be asked. The book begins by showing the various responses that the author has encountered when asking the same question. To have clarity on this subject is essential. After enlightening us to our need to ask the question, Greg Gilbert does a great job of laying out the basic elements of the gospel message, while helping his readers do the same thing. He answers the question by looking to the scriptures and then shows the various examples of that same gospel message. Without sounding too deeply theological, he then goes through each element of the Gospel message and brings additional clarity to the subject. Although I had already read through this book, the audio version of this book was excellently performed bringing an even better understanding of the ...

I just got my new book, The Reason for God by Timothy Keller.  Even though I have heard lots of good things about this book and I have read several great reviews, the biggest draw to this book wasn't what I was hearing about the book from other readers.  Sure, everything that I was hearing about the book was like the icing on the cake of my desire to have the book, but it wasn't the cake itself.  The sponge of my "want" was the premise of the book, which can be found in the subtitle:  Belief in an age of Skepticism . You see, I am a Geometry teacher. I have been committed to this occupation long enough that it has finally become a part of me.  It factors into how I think and specifically, how I reason.  That is what much of Geometry is dedicated to, the study of reason.  It is taking those mathematical and algebraic principles (which should have been learned) from the first several years of schooling and putting them into practice in a three-dimensi...

This reminds me that it is OK to preach on certain topics...

John MacArthur does some decent exposure to the reality of the false teaching done by Joel Osteen.

I think that I will need this furniture set... From Dedon Collections

I wish I could remember which blog had these photos, couldn't find that blog, but re-found the pictures here .  They are behind the scenes shots from the making of The Empire Strikes Back. And my personal favorite...

I found this picture to be seriously interesting.  It increases my understanding for the great need of missionaries in Africa. [HT: 22 words ]

The work of the Holy Spirit [from Tolle Lege ] “This is the office and work of the Holy Spirit: to reveal through the Gospel what great and glorious things God has done for us through Christ, namely, that He has redeemed us from sin, death, and the devil’s power; that He has taken us into His grace and protection; and that He has given Himself utterly and entirely for us.” –Martin Luther

[HT: Challies.com ]

[Pictures and idea from this site .] To get a good mental concept of 1 Trillion Dollars, let's start with 1 Hundred Dollars. Now if we stack up 100 of those bills, we get Ten Thousand Dollars. Not a bad sum of money, but lets get stack of those going and make our way up to One Million dollars. Not as big as you thought it would look?  That is how big 100 stacks of those $10,000 bundles would look like.  Now, let's jump up to $100 Million dollars. But now I want to go ahead and jump up to One Billion dollars... are you ready for it? That isn't anything though, compared with our national debt.  We are now up in the trillions... would you like to see what One Trillion Dollars looks like? Here you go...

[I stole this post from Justin Taylor: Between Two Worlds .  Please visit his blog! Always Great Stuff!] Guest Post by Tony Reinke The very idea of a “Christless sermon” appalled Charles Spurgeon. It was a plague he confronted repeatedly (and vividly) in his own sermons. Although sometimes overstated to make his point, his words are a healthy challenge today over 100 years after his death. Here’s a small collection of colorful quips: “The motto of all true servants of God must be, ‘We preach Christ; and him crucified.’ A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.”  [7/9/1876; sermon #2899] “Leave Christ out? O my brethren, better leave the pulpit out altogether. If a man can preach one sermon without mentioning Christ’s name in it, it ought to be his last, certainly the last that any Christian ought to go to hear him preach.” [undat...

North Korea's military parade in slow motion. North Korea's Military parade in Slow Motion from Dan Chung on Vimeo . [HT: Free Tech 4 Teachers ]

Just read an amazing blog post over at the Ligonier Ministries blog. I didn't realize this, but R.C. Sproul was in a train wreck several years ago. The excerpt on the blog comes from Sproul's book, The Invisible Hand. Train Wreck by R.C. Sproul | Ligonier Ministries Blog

On the Front of the Chilean Miners' T-Shirts: 'Gracias Senor' - which means – 'Thank you Lord.' On the back of the Chilean Miners' T-Shirts: Psalm 95:4, which says, "In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him." You can read more of the story on the CNN website: The story behind the Chilean miners' Jesus T-Shirts – CNN Belief Blog

From  Justin Taylor's Blog : "Discipleship is as visible as light in the night, as a mountain in the flatlands. To flee into invisibility is to deny the call. Any community of Jesus which wants to be invisible is no longer a community that follows him." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"We can begin each day with the deeply encouraging realization, I'm accepted by God, not on the basis of my personal performance, but on the basis of the infinitely perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ." -John Owen

I just reviewed the book, Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper , over at the Christian Audio site . (I love that site!) Here is the review: Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper was an absolutely amazing book. He begins the book with a little bit of a personal back story to the topic of the book. He goes into detail about one particular event from his childhood regarding the conversion of an older man and the tears that man shed as ye cried, "I've wasted it, I've wasted it!" Though there is great joy in the salvation of any soul, and in many ways the soul that is in its last days on this earth, there is still that sorrow from a wasted life. The reality of a wasted life leads to the question of, "What is a wasted life?" and "How can I keep from wasting my life?" These questions became important to John Piper, they are important to me, and they should be important to you. I highly recommend this book as it shares Pastor Piper's ...

I think I agree with John Piper.

I couldn't find the original posting of this to verify its authenticity, but if this really is him, it makes me like him even more. “I loved being your president. But frankly, I’m having the time of my life not being your president. I do not miss the limelight. I have zero desire to be in the press. I have zero desire to be on your TV screens. Eight years is enough of that.” ~ George W. Bush [HT: Reepicheep ]

Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe was a completely enjoyable book. After I finished listening to this book, I ordered a hard copy of the book so I could go back through it taking better notes. [ Audio Version available here ] It is exactly what it sounds like: a book on Christian Doctrine. It is different than most theology books that I have read. Specifically regarding the format of the book and the breakdown of the topics. Everything is from the perspective of what God is doing. I loved this approach because it gives way for the bigger scope of the Bible. Though there were a few points and conclusions that I did not agree with, most of those disagreements were left on the sidelines so I could enjoy the great agreements on the big-picture topics! I highly recommend this book both in hardback and in audio! The Christian Audio version left me feeling like I had just sat down to listen to a direct personal interview with Driscoll and Breshears.