I can't wait to enter the annex.

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I am currently reading the book How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home, by Derek Thomas. It has been an interesting book so far: well written, Biblical, and practical.

Today I ran across a quote in the book from John Calvin: (John Calvin, commenting on I Peter 1:11)

The Church of Christ has been from the beginning so constituted, that the cross has been the way to victory, and death a passage to life ... The order is to be noticed; he mentions sufferings first, and then adds the glories which are to follow. For he intimates that this order cannot be changed or subverted; afflictions must precede glory. So there is to be understood a twofold truth in these words, -- that Christians must suffer many troubles before they enjoy glory, -- and that afflictions are not evils, because they have glory annexed to them.

Even as I type this, my thoughts are, "That is profound. Suffering is a hard truth, not a soft one... But what an important truth!"

If you are in the midst of suffering in your life, please heed the words of John Calvin. They are true words. Embrace your suffering as a preliminary to embracing your glory.

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The Seed and The Soil of Education (New Learning Project Part 1)

(This is my entry for the first part of my project for my New Learning course that I am taking.) Introduction Corn Fields in Illinois I have lived the majority of my life in the Midwest: mid-state Illinois to be specific. Where I live, farming is everywhere. My grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family were farmers. My dad grew up on a farm and owned farmland, well into my own adulthood. But, even if it wasn’t in the family, I still would have been surrounded by farming. You can’t go more than a mile outside of my city’s limits without encountering miles and miles of fields. Most of our highways, and even interstates, are located between acres of farmland.

This too shall pass...

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The Minnesota Crime Commission wrote:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.

HARMLESS THOUGHTS

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