Life is crazy. God's in control. I thought I'd post something so that February wasn't a total wash. So . . . here's my paltry reading list from 2008. For those of you that don't know (of course, no one reads this blog anymore anyway, except for my mom probably), my yearly goal is to finish 50 books. I failed in 2007 as well. I almost just typed something like, "But 2009's off to a great start!" before I realized that I did the same thing in early 2008. But it's true; I've already read nine books this year! Anyway, here's the list. Oh yeah, we're moving in a week, too. More on that soon. Maybe.
1. Apologetics to the Glory of God by John M. Frame
2. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches ed. By Robert Webber
3. Minor Prophets by H.A. Ironside
4. Culture Shift by R. Albert Mohler
5. No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
6. The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
7. Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet
8. The French & Indian War by Walter Borneman
9. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
10. A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption by Jay Adams
11. Taliesen by Stephen Lawhead
12. The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper
13. Merlin by Stephen Lawhead
14. Chosen For Life: The Case for Divine Election by Sam Storms
15. Arthur by Stephen Lawhead
16. The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
17. Young, Restless, Reformed by Collin Hansen
18. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton
19. A Godward Life by John Piper
20. Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
21. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
22. Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn
23. The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen
24. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
25. The Gospel of John by F.F. Bruce
26. Baptism and Fullness by John Stott
27. A Promise Kept by Robertson McQuilkin
28. Addictions by Edward T. Welch
29. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by Klein, Blomberg and Hubbard, Jr.
30. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2.27.2009
1.19.2009
USS Boxer
You may or may not have noticed that I added a link to the sidebar for the USS Boxer. This is the ship that my younger brother, Tom, is currently on. He was deployed on Jan. 9th and today marks the 10th day of him officially being out at sea. The blog linked on the side is run by my older brother, Mike, and he's apparently been researching the USS Boxer and other related news as much as I've been thinking about Tom. Please pray for Tom as he's deployed. I think he's scheduled to return in August, and, Lord-willing, won't see much combat. Here's Tom and me this past summer when we went down for a visit...
12.10.2008
My office!
This was on my office door when I got to church this morning. Pretty cool! I'll have pictures of my office when it looks more presentable, so probably in 2009!
12.09.2008
Just One Of Those Days
[Disclaimer: To most who know me, this post will not shock anyone. However, in order to keep up the drama, I will explain things as though they are completely unbelievable!]
Yesterday was just a weird day, the kind you have every once in a while and hope you don't have another like it for a long time.
It started out normally. I woke up, read my Bible and prayed. Then, I got my running clothes on went jogging. Ate breakfast, showered and got dressed. I found my to-do list for the day that I had crafted the night before and reviewed all 12 things to make sure I knew what I needed to do first.
One of those errands involved stopping in at church. On Mondays, our church is locked up and usually no one's there. The same was true yesterday, so I hopped the locked gate blocking people from parking in our lot. Then I unlocked the outer gate that protects the entrance to the gym, the sanctuary and the offices. I did what I needed to do inside and locked everything up inside. As I went to close the outer gate, I walked through and yanked on the gate handle . . . which promptly came off in my hand!
"Fantastic," I thought. I spent the next five or six minutes trying to fix the thing, but given my obvious mechanical prowess (wink, wink for the uninformed), that failed. So I called Pastor Ron and asked him what to do. He told me to put the handle in his dad's box (his dad is the maintenance guy) and it would get dealt with today. So I did and then I left to do some more errands.
Finishing those, I headed home to do the dishes, laundry and the massive amount of homework that I had/have. Now, usually when I'm in my car, I have my IPod plugged into the car's stereo system to listen to some of the 14 days of songs, Bible or sermons that I have on there. Because our car was broken into in October 2007, I now take the radio/CD/IPod faceplate out every time I park the car. Since I had my arms full of groceries and books, I figured I'd come back down and do that after I'd dropped things off in the apartment.
When I got to our door, I put my stuff down on our little balcony table so I could get the keys out of my pocket. Only the keys weren't there. I went back down to the car knowing what I was going to see.
"Yep, there's my keys in the ignition."
I hadn't left the engine running, but the key was turned so that the radio/CD/IPod could still play. And yes, the doors were all locked. I thought about calling AAA to come open it, but I decided to head back up to the apartment. Once there, I figured I could get the screen off of our bedroom window and climb in there. The only problem with that is that we live on the second story and our bedroom window opens to about a twelve foot drop to the ground. Of course, that just made it all the more fun to try to break into my own apartment!
I climbed over the railing, easily detached the screen, opened the window all the way, awkwardly shoved the vertical blinds out of the way, got a good toe hold and jumped onto the sill and then jumped over our nightstand into our bedroom. Well, at least now I had the apartment opened. I decided to forego AAA and just call Amy. It was almost lunch time so it worked out great that she could come home immediately. After I hung up with Amy I opened one of our windows that opens. However, I opened it too high and it came crashing down! A piece of plastic flew off from the side of the window. It was a piece of the larger contraption that involves a metal cable and and spring to keep the window at whatever height we want it at.
Of course, now I had broken the window dealie-thingie. So I called the office and asked if they could send a maintenance man to fix the window. They said they would but I was curious and using a pair of pliers I rigged it so that the window would still work.
Amy came home, unlocked the car and then we got to spend lunch together. After that, my day went fairly normal, as I did laundry, dishes and a lot of reading and Greek work.
Wow, what a crazy day.
Yesterday was just a weird day, the kind you have every once in a while and hope you don't have another like it for a long time.
It started out normally. I woke up, read my Bible and prayed. Then, I got my running clothes on went jogging. Ate breakfast, showered and got dressed. I found my to-do list for the day that I had crafted the night before and reviewed all 12 things to make sure I knew what I needed to do first.
One of those errands involved stopping in at church. On Mondays, our church is locked up and usually no one's there. The same was true yesterday, so I hopped the locked gate blocking people from parking in our lot. Then I unlocked the outer gate that protects the entrance to the gym, the sanctuary and the offices. I did what I needed to do inside and locked everything up inside. As I went to close the outer gate, I walked through and yanked on the gate handle . . . which promptly came off in my hand!
"Fantastic," I thought. I spent the next five or six minutes trying to fix the thing, but given my obvious mechanical prowess (wink, wink for the uninformed), that failed. So I called Pastor Ron and asked him what to do. He told me to put the handle in his dad's box (his dad is the maintenance guy) and it would get dealt with today. So I did and then I left to do some more errands.
Finishing those, I headed home to do the dishes, laundry and the massive amount of homework that I had/have. Now, usually when I'm in my car, I have my IPod plugged into the car's stereo system to listen to some of the 14 days of songs, Bible or sermons that I have on there. Because our car was broken into in October 2007, I now take the radio/CD/IPod faceplate out every time I park the car. Since I had my arms full of groceries and books, I figured I'd come back down and do that after I'd dropped things off in the apartment.
When I got to our door, I put my stuff down on our little balcony table so I could get the keys out of my pocket. Only the keys weren't there. I went back down to the car knowing what I was going to see.
"Yep, there's my keys in the ignition."
I hadn't left the engine running, but the key was turned so that the radio/CD/IPod could still play. And yes, the doors were all locked. I thought about calling AAA to come open it, but I decided to head back up to the apartment. Once there, I figured I could get the screen off of our bedroom window and climb in there. The only problem with that is that we live on the second story and our bedroom window opens to about a twelve foot drop to the ground. Of course, that just made it all the more fun to try to break into my own apartment!
I climbed over the railing, easily detached the screen, opened the window all the way, awkwardly shoved the vertical blinds out of the way, got a good toe hold and jumped onto the sill and then jumped over our nightstand into our bedroom. Well, at least now I had the apartment opened. I decided to forego AAA and just call Amy. It was almost lunch time so it worked out great that she could come home immediately. After I hung up with Amy I opened one of our windows that opens. However, I opened it too high and it came crashing down! A piece of plastic flew off from the side of the window. It was a piece of the larger contraption that involves a metal cable and and spring to keep the window at whatever height we want it at.
Of course, now I had broken the window dealie-thingie. So I called the office and asked if they could send a maintenance man to fix the window. They said they would but I was curious and using a pair of pliers I rigged it so that the window would still work.
Amy came home, unlocked the car and then we got to spend lunch together. After that, my day went fairly normal, as I did laundry, dishes and a lot of reading and Greek work.
Wow, what a crazy day.
11.24.2008
Tolerance?
I know, I know what you're thinking: "Two posts in one day?! What's happened?!"
Well, what's happened is that I read this article that Dr. Mohler published this morning. Interestingly, my dad told me last night about the cited article from the Los Angeles Times. It's incredible to me that these Hollywood people who were crying for "equal rights" and calling Prop. 8 "wrong" can turn around and begin a witch hunt for supporters of Prop. 8. Where did the tolerance go?
Also, how come we as a culture can't settle for a simple yes or no after the people have voted? I think this shows a worrying discontent with the democratic process.
Here's a paragraph if you don't want to read the whole article:
Well, what's happened is that I read this article that Dr. Mohler published this morning. Interestingly, my dad told me last night about the cited article from the Los Angeles Times. It's incredible to me that these Hollywood people who were crying for "equal rights" and calling Prop. 8 "wrong" can turn around and begin a witch hunt for supporters of Prop. 8. Where did the tolerance go?
Also, how come we as a culture can't settle for a simple yes or no after the people have voted? I think this shows a worrying discontent with the democratic process.
Here's a paragraph if you don't want to read the whole article:
Now, as these developments in California unfold, it is clear that where efforts to legalize same-sex marriage fail, proponents will hunt down opponents of gay marriage for sanction and opposition. Note carefully the fact that Hollywood insiders and gay rights activists are scrutinizing the list of those who contributed to Proposition 8 support, looking for individuals, organizations, and corporations to isolate and punish. At least some are out to get people fired.
Wow.
What's Going On?
Once again, it's been a while. Here's some food for thought and some updates.
Congratulations to our President-Elect, Barack Obama.
Clearly, the country believes in you and backed you in a decisive victory over John McCain. We support you when we can, oppose you when necessary and always pray for you. We respect you and your family, but we cannot respect some of your views, such as your stand for the murder of unborn babies and your support of human embryonic stem cell research. God himself has placed you in this position and so we plead with God that you would change your mind on the issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life. God help you Mr. Obama.
I've settled into my new position as Youth Director at Village Bible Church and have hit the ground running. I am learning my way around the office and figuring our procedures. One thing that I have much to learn about is how to handle the paper work and financial processes. I am also trying to learn how to balance my 20-hour-a-week job, my full-time schooling and having time to spend with Amy. It's been challenging to find a happy medium, because Amy is busy working hard to support us and is also trying to keep up with her Financial Accounting class. Pray for us.
My book reading this year has been abysmal, and I'll end 2008 with by far the lowest count since I started keeping track in 2005. As it stands right now, I've read 27 books on the year. Now, with the semester ending in December, I will add some of the books that I've been assigned for classes. However, I doubt there's any chance that I'll rise above 35 books. I know, I'm a failure. But there's always next year!
Speaking of being off the pace, you'll notice on the sidebar that this is only the thirty-second post of the year on this blog. To match last year's pace, we'd have to post 71 more times before January! All I can say is that we'll just have to try harder to post more regularly.
Also, click on the Web Album 2 link on the sidebar to see some new pictures from some of the things we've been doing.
In two days, we'll be heading up to Santa Clarita for Thanksgiving with my family and we'll have Amy's brother Tom with us! It will be a fairly small group, so we're glad to add to that number with Tom. Other than my mom and dad and my two brothers, my grandpa will also be joining us. It looks like there's some rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, but our annual football game on Thanksgiving Day should be rain-free. Amy and I are looking forward to some long walks (to work off all the calories!) in the colder Santa Clarita air. It should be good! There is so much to be thankful for!
Congratulations to our President-Elect, Barack Obama.
Clearly, the country believes in you and backed you in a decisive victory over John McCain. We support you when we can, oppose you when necessary and always pray for you. We respect you and your family, but we cannot respect some of your views, such as your stand for the murder of unborn babies and your support of human embryonic stem cell research. God himself has placed you in this position and so we plead with God that you would change your mind on the issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life. God help you Mr. Obama.I've settled into my new position as Youth Director at Village Bible Church and have hit the ground running. I am learning my way around the office and figuring our procedures. One thing that I have much to learn about is how to handle the paper work and financial processes. I am also trying to learn how to balance my 20-hour-a-week job, my full-time schooling and having time to spend with Amy. It's been challenging to find a happy medium, because Amy is busy working hard to support us and is also trying to keep up with her Financial Accounting class. Pray for us.
My book reading this year has been abysmal, and I'll end 2008 with by far the lowest count since I started keeping track in 2005. As it stands right now, I've read 27 books on the year. Now, with the semester ending in December, I will add some of the books that I've been assigned for classes. However, I doubt there's any chance that I'll rise above 35 books. I know, I'm a failure. But there's always next year!
Speaking of being off the pace, you'll notice on the sidebar that this is only the thirty-second post of the year on this blog. To match last year's pace, we'd have to post 71 more times before January! All I can say is that we'll just have to try harder to post more regularly.
Also, click on the Web Album 2 link on the sidebar to see some new pictures from some of the things we've been doing.
In two days, we'll be heading up to Santa Clarita for Thanksgiving with my family and we'll have Amy's brother Tom with us! It will be a fairly small group, so we're glad to add to that number with Tom. Other than my mom and dad and my two brothers, my grandpa will also be joining us. It looks like there's some rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, but our annual football game on Thanksgiving Day should be rain-free. Amy and I are looking forward to some long walks (to work off all the calories!) in the colder Santa Clarita air. It should be good! There is so much to be thankful for!
10.31.2008
Happy Reformation Day!
Oh, is it Halloween too? Sorry, the fact that people waste tons of money every Halloween makes me more inclined to remember the fact that 491 years ago, a Roman Catholic monk nailed 95 theses to a church door and changed the world. If you have no idea why that's significant, then maybe you should browse around here today. Yeah, it's that important.
Sometime soon I'll post about my reading so far this year and the outlook for the rest of 2008 and for next year as well. To see someone else's reading for 2008, go here.
Also, I wanted to make sure that I added this video on the election. Very centering and focused. I think these seven minutes are better spent than almost any other half-hour or hour-long talking head show on TV.
Sometime soon I'll post about my reading so far this year and the outlook for the rest of 2008 and for next year as well. To see someone else's reading for 2008, go here.
Also, I wanted to make sure that I added this video on the election. Very centering and focused. I think these seven minutes are better spent than almost any other half-hour or hour-long talking head show on TV.
10.27.2008
God Answers Prayer
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." - James 4:3
Yesterday, the members of Village Bible Church voted unanimously to hire me as the part-time Youth Director. Amy and I had been praying for this for several months, and God answered our prayer in a way that was "far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).
After the worship service, the church reconvened in the sanctuary for a business meeting. The meeting was called to order and details were explained. Then, Pastor Ron gave a short biography of Amy and I and then called me up to the stage for a short testimony time, followed by a Q & A time. The questions were good, God graciously gave me the right words to speak, and then we voted. The votes were counted in about three minutes and the tally was announced.
Now, the deacon board will make me an official offer and Amy and will accept and starting November 1, I will have a new job as Youth Director at Village Bible Church!
Soli deo gloria!
To God alone be glory!
Yesterday, the members of Village Bible Church voted unanimously to hire me as the part-time Youth Director. Amy and I had been praying for this for several months, and God answered our prayer in a way that was "far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).
After the worship service, the church reconvened in the sanctuary for a business meeting. The meeting was called to order and details were explained. Then, Pastor Ron gave a short biography of Amy and I and then called me up to the stage for a short testimony time, followed by a Q & A time. The questions were good, God graciously gave me the right words to speak, and then we voted. The votes were counted in about three minutes and the tally was announced.
Now, the deacon board will make me an official offer and Amy and will accept and starting November 1, I will have a new job as Youth Director at Village Bible Church!
Soli deo gloria!
To God alone be glory!
10.21.2008
In Case You Were Wondering
In chapel today, the Biola Gospel Choir sang. I realized two things:
1. I'm not charismatic.
2. I have very little rhythm.
Just thought you should know.
1. I'm not charismatic.
2. I have very little rhythm.
Just thought you should know.
10.09.2008
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