HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I am preparing for our Wednesday night Bible Study. We are currently ready for chapter 3 in the book, Love Into Light by Peter Hubbard. As I am reading through this chapter on "Change" I am once again finding so many connections between the topic of the book and our everyday Christian Struggles. More specifically the unbiblical/wrong methods of change are so familiar to me as the typical way that many in the church have attempted and hoped for change. The one I am noticing now is "Moral Determination." Read this quote and tell me if it rings true to Scripture: Determination alone cannot lead us to God -- only to gods, individually constructed deities that are manageable and obtainable. If in myself I am determined that I will be able to please God, I am confessing worship to a false god -- either I am turning my aspirations themselves into gods, or I am creating a false version of the true God, a god whom I think will be pleased by my resolutions and performance....

I love books. I am not sure if those of you who follow my blog regularly know this little tidbit of truth about me. Maybe you have noticed. Or maybe it has slipped past your keen, intuitive perceptions as you have followed my blogging over the past several years. I know it might be difficult to pick up on this infatuation of mine, but it is very true... I love books. I will admit right now that I mostly love theological works. I am not saying this to say that I am any better than anyone else. This isn't a prideful, show-offy sort of statement. This isn't meant to be bragging because it isn't that I believe that all of the high, intellectually minded people read theology, I know that is not the case. I just mention it to say that this is what I enjoy: I love thinking about God. Who is He? What is He like? What are His attributes? How does all of this truth about God tie together? So, there is not intentional braggadociousness happening when I mention that I love reading ...

I was immediately interested in a review copy of this book from Christian Audio for two reasons. One, a book called The Pastor's Kid: Finding Your Own Faith and Identity  was written by a Pastor's Kid, but not by just any Pastor's Kid... It was the Pastor's Kid of all Pastor's Kids... Barnabas Piper (Son of John Piper). That is interesting. There is a bit of sarcasm there, obviously. Barnabas Piper isn't really the Pastor's Kid of all Pastor's Kids. Especially since John Piper has other kids! And yet... there is still something in the name. A book written by any of John Piper's children would be of some interest to me, and surely he knows that as well. Second, and this reason is a bit more important to my heart, I have two Pastor's Kids living in my house. They are my two sons, and I have an ongoing concern for them. As far as I can tell, my boys are doing great. I love them to death, they are not perfect, but I am exceptionally proud of ...

I am almost done with the book Drinking With Calvin and Luther!: A History of Alcohol in the Church  by Jim West. Even though I am not quite finished with this book, and still have a few pages remaining, I wanted to go ahead and write the review because I have learned and enjoyed so much during its reading. In fact, as soon as I am done writing this review, I am going to go finish the book. I grew up in a home, church, and social circle that viewed all forms of alcohol as ... well... evil. When it was mentioned that someone was drinking or that someone drank occasionally or socially, it was absolutely appalling. I am not sure how much of this was because of actuality or because of my perceptions of the situations where drinking was encountered, but it was a definite no-no to drink in any way, shape, or form. When I got older, I began encountering people that caused my views to conflict with the reality around me... in other words, I was meeting people who were clearly steadfas...

I love listening to audio books that are narrated by the actual author.  There is always something a little extra that comes through in the reading by the author over the reading by a narrator. The emphasis on certain words is always appropriately placed, and there is almost always a very personal "feel" to the audio book. You feel as if the author decided to sit down and read their book to you. The most recent audio book that I finished listening to, called  Is God anti-gay? (Questions Christians Ask) , was written and narrated by Sam Allberry. This audio book is  no exception, and that personal touch came through very clearly. This personal touch was a wonderful addition to a book on such a "touchy" subject. Sam Allberry is currently an associate pastor at St Mary’s Church in Maidenhead, UK and Sam Allberry has dealt in his life with Same Sex Attraction. His compassion and understanding paired with his Biblical wisdom and knowledge came through in the actual...

The thing I love most about John Piper books is that they are some of the most scripture-saturated books I have ever encountered. Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ is no exception to my encounters with his literature. I started this book quite a while ago, you can read some of my first thoughts on this book by clicking here . Even though I started this book quite a while ago, I didn't finish it right away. I was working on several other books at the time, so this one got shuffled to the back burner. Last week I remembered it and started from the beginning again: This time I devoured the book in just a few sittings. Who sent Joseph into slavery? Who was behind that? Who planned the murder of Jesus? Why was Adam allowed to fall into sin?  What about Satan? There are little answers for these questions. There are answers that are rooted in our own thoughts and are drawn from the shallow well of consensus public opinion, but there are other answer...