Abouts:
So for those who don’t know I will leaving for China in a few weeks for a mission trip from LAX and then after I will be flying home to SFO, because I didn’t want to bring my computer to China I have left it at home, so I will be without a computer for about a month. (In case you were wondering I am using the school’s computer right now)
Thoughts:
One thing I’ve learned is that I have conditioned my heart to be sustained by this world. I have wasted more time than I have ever thought, talk to me if you want to full story, no it’s not that interesting if that’s what you were thinking, I just don’t have time to spend on the computer here.
Abouts: Here I am at Resolved it has been a great time of fellowship and refreshing time spent with God. So that this post will not be a total meaningless update one thing I learned through this conference and not even from this conference is that we must pursue Christ, we must yearn for Him, if we do not we are not in danger of slipping, we are slipping from our God.
Abouts:
This weekend I will be going to Resolved 2008 where I will be live-blogging next to Tim Challies… actually it will be a time for me to just rest in the good Word, hear amazing preaching, and fellowship with incredible friends. The conference runs from Friday the 13th to the 16th so I am sorry to say I will not have time to attend to this blog.
For the ‘Reviews’ section I will put a symbol for the length of the review (L = Long, M = Medium, S = Short)
Summer Readings:
As I promised here is my summer reading plan, I am purposefully making the list longer than what I am capable of reading because if by some chance I did finish the shorter list I would like to have back up, also I like options. The list won’t be too long though because I am going to China this summer for mission work.
This is a book I have heard rave reviews over from those well-informed. There isn’t much I can say about this book but that it intrigues me. Although I might never need to preach ever in my life I think that learning about the process is good for me and any Christian, because preaching requires one to exposit the Word correctly, teaches one to stay focused on the Cross, and refines the way something is taught/preached. If that isn’t applicable to Christians I don’t know what I would do.
I bought this book when I was in the infancy of my Christianity and didn’t know what I was getting into. I saw ‘Christian Apologetics’ as the cover and bought it off christianbook.com. When I picked it up years later, I went on to figure out who this Van Til was and later was introduced to presuppositional apologetics. I’ve picked up this book and started it multiple times but because this book is so dense I had to put it down every time, so this summer I would like not to continue the tradition and finish this book. Seeing how I already started with this book because I finished my school year books already, you can make this #1 in my order.
Recently I wanted to start studying the trinity and get more into John Owen’s work, so what better way of doing that then spending time in this book. I bought the reprint edited by Justin Taylor of Between Two Worlds and Kelly M. Kapic, associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Covenant College. But to be honest I think I will make this one one of my back-up books, because if I read this this summer I would have no time for other books, why make it a back-up book then, you might ask, I don’t know, I know I most likely will not even touch this book this summer, only to put it in my luggage and then take it out of my luggage back on to my bookshelf.
I have been meaning to start my deeper study of covenant and dispensational theology for awhile, and now with a summer full of motivation I think I’ll start. Having a quick look at it, it looks like it could take a week to finish this book, but if I looked a little closer I noticed that it will take awhile to go through this book because of the density of the content. I think I will make this #3.
This book comes from a couple of recommendations by friends. I have been meaning to dive deeper into Martyn Lloyd-Jones, so I think this book would be a good book to continue with. Finishing a in-depth study of Matthews during my weekly bible study, what better way to review and refreshed with a deeper study on the Sermon on the Mount. I have been encouraged to read this so I will make this #2.
Orders:
From some thinking and deduction I got this order
1. Christian Apologetics by Van Til
2. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Lloyd-Jones
3. God of Promise by Horton
4. Between Two Worlds by Stott
5. Communion with the Triune God by Owen
Abouts: Because next week is finals week here at UCI I will either not post, or have a extremely short post or if I feel like procrastinating I will have the longest post of my life…
Ooh, just came up with an idea, for next week I will reveal (make) my summer reading plans and I will include reviews, summaries, and whatever else I can find on the books I will be reading this summer
Articles: Six Ways to Hinder Your Prayers (Challies) Selfish Motives, Turning Away From Scripture, Unforgiving Hearts, Family Discord, Unconfessed Sin, Doubt
If sin be but a common scar or wrinkle, to be erased from the soul’s surface by a few simple touches; if pardon be a mere figure of speech, meaning God’s wide benevolence or good-natured indifference to evil, why tell of wrath and fire and judgement, the never-dying worm and the ever-rising smoke?
Horatius Bonar is also known for his book, Words to Winners of Souls, and one section I found very rebuking/refreshing was a extensive quote of a public confession from the Church of Scotland in 1965, I could not find the origin document, if there is one, so I found a pdf version of the whole book and the excerpt is in the 4th chapter extending from page 16-21, if you have time read the book, better yet if you have money go buy the book; if anyone knows of the origin document can you please inform me about it or where I can find it
We are al living distracted lives that promise only to grow more complicated and distracted in years ahead. The discipline and stewardship of our attention is a matter of great and unquestionable urgency.
The Ultimate Conference Guide (The Blazing Center) Rule 1, 2, and 3
This week over at Woot Shirts they have some pretty funny slogans, I might buy the blue one, tempting…
Thoughts: Watch the video first if you haven’t. The saddest part of watching that was when panning through all those scenes of the doctors after work has to be Cutner’s scene. It was the scene where after a day as a doctor we see him just sitting at home eating cereal while mindlessly watching TV. Every time I see that my soul just cries, “STOP IT!” What makes it sadder is just how we see what he went through the rest of the day saving lives, seeing lives end, and some change, but at the end of the day where does he find his rest, in a bowl of cereal and some tv shows. I feel bad for him (as much as I can for a made up character), but how much different is that from our lives; after a day of hard work, seeing life changing, seeing tragedy in the news, we end up coming home and become a couch potato, thinking we lived life enough for the day and now we have gained enough life points to waste it away on the night being totally idle.
Videos: Iron and Wine – Passing Afternoon (Season finale final scene of House)
Verses: Hebrews 5:11-14 About this we have much to say, and it ishard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
So after going to my friends graduation and hanging out with him the whole day Saturday, inevitably I was tired on Sunday morning. So by the second half of the message I started to nod off a little. When I was thinking about it I started thinking about those people who go to church every week, listen to the messages and then goes home and when you ask them what they think about the message or church they have no idea what you are talking about. Then when you see them fall away from church and you ask them why they did, because they didn’t get anything out of it. But when you look back, they are the ones sitting down and nodding off during the sermon, they are the ones texting while the word is preached. They think that to be holy, to be sanctified is an involuntary motion. What happens every Sunday is the pastor takes the ingredients he has, prepares and prepares them throughout the week, cooks everything, makes a nice presentation, places the plate down with the right utensils and then on Sunday presents the meal in-front of everyone to enjoy. The pastor’s hard work is in-front of the congregation, sometimes the meal isn’t that great, and sometimes it’s amazing, but no matter what, he sets this meal in-front of them and then he goes on to prepare next week’s meal. What am I missing, where is the eating portion of the meal? Well, that’s my question as well. The pastor presents this meal but does he hand feed everyone, does he go to every member of the congregation and cut up the meat and then place the piece of food in their mouths? Of course not, he does all the preparing but leaves it up to the congregation to feed themselves. He goes and looks the Word, find the treasures that are in it and then prepares it into a message that will be impactful, applicable, and clear. Then on Sunday he presents this message to the congregation, but then here is where so many go wrong. People just tend to stop here and go, “Ok, now effect me sermon!” They think it is as involuntary as digesting food, but the truth is they don’t really care for the food. They look at it at a distance and think it’s nice and might even admit that it’s good for them, but when it comes down to it, they don’t feast on it. They sleep during the message, they listen to the sermon in one ear and it leaves out the other, and when you talk to them they explain how they don’t get anything from church, they say they aren’t being feed any food. The problem is that they aren’t taking the time to examine the food that is presented in-front of them, they don’t take the time to pick the food up and put it in theirs mouths to chew on, they don’t apply it to their lives to see what they may do with that new information. They
Verses: Exodus 33:18-20
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
I must admit, I don’t fully understand this excerpt yet.
When these verses were brought to my attention this week, I was a little perplexed at a section, specifically the second part of 19 (which I will refer to as 19b), “‘And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’” At first it doesn’t sound to weird, you’ve probably seen it used in the context of Romans 9:15, but as I looked at the whole excerpt again, I was confused.
We start out with the Lord staying away from the people of Israel because of their disobedience, so then Moses had to take the tent away from the camp so that he would be able to commune with God and intercede for the people. God then grants Moses request to guide him, and now it gets interesting. Moses then requests to see God’s glory. God answer’s, “‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The LORD.”‘” That is the understandable part, then He goes on to say “‘And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” Now if I was God (gratefully not!) I would have not said 19b, and leave it as: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 19b just seems out of place and doesn’t fit with the flow of what He is saying, but as I meditated I find it fits perfectly.
If we take 19b by itself and examine it we could sum it up in two words, God’s sovereignty, but why assert His sovereignty in the middle of answering Moses request to see His glory? That is exactly why, He wanted to affirm and confirm His sovereignty over everything, to Moses and to us. God wanted to tell Moses before He showed His glory to Him was that He is the one who is doing this. Who’s presence will go with His people, God’s, why? Because Moses asked nicely, NO, because God will be gracious to whom He will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom He will show mercy! Is Moses deserving of seeing God’s glory, NO, but God will be gracious to whom He will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom He will show mercy! And as the LORD proclaimed his name in 34:6-7, I can only speculate that He proclaimed His name in a similar way here.
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Gospel and Ministry (New Attitude) “How do I lead people into a robust understanding of gospel-centered living? How can I make sure they don’t dismiss the gospel off to the side of life for a litany of good things?”
Resources: Remember Sinim Books, if you thought that was sweet I found this site recently, China Christian Books, it has some of the same resources, different books, and other reformed literature, but what the kicker is, is that it is all online to read for free. So if cost was an issue all you need is the internet (or a friend with the internet and printer…)
Verses: Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
What then is the point saying that the “word of God” pierces to the “division of soul and spirit”? The point is that it’s the word of God that reveals to us our true selves. Are we spiritual or are we natural? Are we born of God and spiritually alive, or are we deceiving ourselves and spiritually dead? Are the “thoughts and intentions of our heart” spiritual thoughts and intentions or only natural thoughts and intentions. Only the “word of God” can “judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” as Hebrews 4:12 says.
A subjective sense of leading–when we’ve asked for it (as in James 1:5 we ask for wisdom) and when God freely gives it–is wonderful. The desire for such a subjective sense of leading, however, is too often, in contemporary evangelical piety, binding our brothers and sisters in Christ, paralyzing them from enjoying the good choices that God may provide, and causing them to wait wrongly before acting.
Formal religion pleases the natural indolence of man. It attaches an excessive importance to that which is the easiest part of Christianity, – the shell and the form. Man likes this. He hates trouble in religion. He wants something which will not meddle with his conscience and inner life. Only leave conscience alone, and, like Herod, he will “do many things.” Formalism seems to open a wider gate, and a more easy way to heaven. (Mark 6:20)
Thinking about Seminary? (Between Two Worlds), Justin Taylor directs us to some resources that can be beneficial to someone thinking of going to seminary. Included is an intimate look at one’s personal experience going through seminary documenting his entrance, stay, and exit from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, interesting tangent is his inclusion of the aspect of being single in every entry (I thought that was kind of funny). Some great articles and then finally a recommended book list from Reformed Theological Seminary for pre-seminary, the first “short” list consisted only of 3 books, which caught me by surprise, so when I saw the “extended” version I was expecting around 20 books, but in the “Essential Reading” section alone there were 60 books and that is not including the “Further Reading,” and “Advanced/Comparison Reading” sections
Believing-the-Bible Book List (Desiring God), a nice general overview of books on the canon, reliability, and responses to critics of the Bible
Resources:
If you liked Sinim Books, then here is another resource you’ll love, Gospel Translations is a project to make biblical books and articles freely accessible in as many languages as possible. We accomplish this by partnering with Christian publishers to build our own free resource library, and then recruiting and equipping volunteer translators to convert those resources into a variety of other languages. Currently they have only six languages Español, Français, Bahasa Indonesia, Português, Русский, and 中文.
Videos:
Best part is from 1:17-1:24, although the whole thing is funny (them Koreans…)
Verses: 3 John 1:8
Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
A Must Read (9 Marks), Jonathan Leeman points us to a great article of a fellow 9 Marks brother’s reflection on 3 John 1:8
John knows that one of the most reliable indicators of our love for Jesus is the degree to which we will work for the advancement of his truth when there is nothing directly in it for us.
Our love for the gospel is most clear when we delight to see it prosper—and to help it prosper—when other people will be viewed as the human agents of its success.
So, in the last analysis, there is only one method of evangelism: namely, the faithful explanation and application of the gospel message. From which it follows–and this is the key principle which we are seeking–that the test for any proposed strategy, or technique, or style, of evangelistic action must be this: will it in fact serve the word? Is it calculated to be a means of explaining the gospel truly and fully and applying it deeply and exactly? To the extent to which it is so calculated, it is lawful and right; to the extent to which it tends to overlay and obscure the realities of the message, and to blunt the edge of their application, it is ungodly and wrong.
Randoms: The Full Armor of God (Christian Books) PLAYSET; why I never thought that this would exist kind of surprises me, click on the picture to see a child actually wearing it
This is for all you comic geeks out there, pretty cool illustrations of the superhero and their alter-ego (Deviant Art)
Videos:
Verses: Psalm 33:18
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love
Humble hope shall have its share as well as courageous faith. Say, my soul, is not this an encouragement to thee? Dost thou not hope in the mercy of God in Christ Jesus? Then the Father’s eye is as much upon thee as upon the elder born of the family.
- Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers), 108. (Of First Importance)
News: Bottom Line for (Red) (NY Times), what do you think, spending $100 million on advertising and raising $18 million for the Red AIDs campaign, if you don’t know the Red campaign it is the effort to raise money for the Research center for AIDS, where company’s participate by selling red products, like Apple with their red iPod, or Dell with Red laptops
Audios:
All the audio and transcripts of the 2008 Conference for Pastors (Desiring God) has been uploaded on the website, the theme for this year was “The Pastor as Father & Son,” and had D.A. Carson as one of their speakers
Beulah, great fun indie band, there are some youtube videos of them below. Eclectic, relaxed-summer feel, fun feel that is a little reminiscent of the early 90’s alternative pop like the upbeat side of Oasis with a little Ska like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and a little Rooney and the Shins mixed in, everything that makes a sweet indie find, plus they are from San Francisco, another bonus. Of course my description doesn’t really do them justice so just listen to them.
Keep your heart as you would keep a WATCH. The heart will unwind to the world; therefore wind it up every morning and evening by prayer. The motion of a watch is not constant: sometimes it goes fast, sometimes slower. And so it is with the heart: sometimes it goes faster in vanity and sometimes it goes slower in duty. Therefore set this spiritual watch by the sundial of the Word.
It is not a message paralleling the heart with a watch, this is just a paragraph I liked; what it is, is a exposition of Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
I don’t like how the indent for the block quotation makes it seem that that quote has something to do with the topic above it so I wrote this so it wouldn’t look that bad
The true Christian is the only man, because he has sources of happiness entirely independent of this world. He has something which cannot be affected by sickness and by deaths, by private losses and by public calamities, the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” He has a hope laid up for him in heaven; he has a treasure which moth and rust cannot corrupt; he has a house which can never be taken down. His loving wife may die, and his heart feel rent in twain; his darling children may be taken from him, and he may be left alone in this cold world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his health may fail: but all this time he has a portion which nothing can hurt. He has one Friend who never dies; he has possessions beyond the grave, of which nothing can deprive him: his nether springs may fail, but his upper springs are never dry. This is real happiness.
-J.C. Ryle, Practical Religion
Videos:
Verses: Galatians 6:1-3
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Recently reading Respectable Sins (Jerry Bridges) while in the envy, jealously, and competitiveness chapter I was directed to this passage. The feelings of envy, jealously, and the related all have something in common, if nurtured enough will divide brothers and sisters. These are the sins that look at others and start comparisons. Now what does it have to do with the passage, this passage leads us to humility when dealing with others, it is easy to find someone who isn’t as good as you in something, there is always that person who just isn’t that smart as you, or as mature as you are; so what does it say “if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him,” of course being human we stop reading there and finish that sentence in our own minds. “you who are spiritual should restore him,” because you are so great, now pat yourself on the back because you did something good, and they better appreciate it because they should be begging for someone like me to help them. Of course the Bible won’t have it that way, so continuing we read, “in a spirit of gentleness.” Of course rarely do we admit or say such things out loud to the person we are helping, but if you read the message up there by Thomas Watson he points out that even if you don’t verbally announce your feelings it begins with the heart, it comes from the condition of the heart and spirit, you could look perfectly clean on the outside but your heart could be a black abyss . Paul didn’t write “in the voice of gentleness,” but the “spirit.” After figuring that out we stop once again and feel that we have done right which you would not be wrong about, you have done right, but he continues “keep watch on yourself,” what?! Why do you need to address me, the other person is caught in transgression, not me?! Well, “lest you too be tempted.”
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Every Monday I will update you on happenings in my life, interesting articles I have read, and whatever my crazy mind can think of, and hopefully it will help in yours and mine worship of God.
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Posted by ChristianSmoker 
