God is Love, Right?

I enjoyed reading through D. A. Carson's little book The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Originally a lecture series at Dallas Theological Seminary 13 years ago, the book has been tightly focused and provocative in thinking about the love of God in the Bible. Carson did a great job in translating his mostly serious, sometimes witty style of speaking into the text of the book.

I especially appreciated Carson’s refusal to capitulate to easy, casual explanations of God’s love. It is right that Carson ends the book by encouraging the reader to engage the abstract thought world of God’s love, but not without connecting it to the living, breathing world around us where so many are unloved.

I found the following quotes very helpful:

"Strange to tell, not once is Jesus or God ever described in the Bible as our friend. Abraham is God's friend; the reverse is never stated." p. 41

". . . the love of God in our culture has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable. The love of God has been sanitized, democratized, and above all sentimentalized." p. 11

“God in his perfections must be wrathful against his rebel image-bearers, for they have offended him; God in his perfections must be loving toward his rebel image-bearers, for he is that kind of God.” p. 69

1 & 2 Timothy

I have the privilege of teaching through 1 and 2 Timothy for the next several months on Tuesday nights at our church's youth service called Reality Check. As I continue to learn and develop as a teacher/preacher, I refine my style and habit of study. Of course, my study habits and times are also governed by my school schedule. I still have almost four weeks until school starts, though, so my schedule is much more flexible and open. I am hoping to utilize my knowledge of Greek in a more extensive way than I've been able to previously in teaching. To aid in my teaching, here are the resources I'm using:

Entrusted With the Gospel, edited by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Terry L. Wilder.
The Pastoral Epistles, by Donald Guthrie.
1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, by Gordon D. Fee.
Pastoral Epistles, by William D. Mounce.
1-2 Timothy & Titus, by Philip H. Towner.

I've yet to come up with a title for the series, but I love the intimacy of the letters from Paul to his "true child," Timothy. I also was attracted to the amount of topics that Paul touches on in the 10 chapters of 1 and 2 Timothy: stewardship, the gospel, money, widows in the church, biblical inspiration, church structure, elders, deacons, dealing with false teachers, just to name a few!

I look forward to laboring through these books over the next few months.

2010 Books

My goal was to read 60 books this year. I failed. However, for the first time since 2006, I've read 50 books in a year. Below are the books in the order I read them. The bolded books were my favorites of the year. Feel free to comment below.

1. The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
2. Understanding Four Views of the Lord’s Supper ed. by John Armstrong
3. Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
4. The Reason For God by Tim Keller
5. College Ministry 101 by Chuck Bomar
6. Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong by John MacArthur, et al.
7. Adopted For Life by Russell Moore
8. The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen
9. Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
10. John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life by Herman Selderhuis
11. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
12. Calvin and the Atonement by Robert Peterson
13. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
14. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
15. What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert
16. The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
17. Start Your Family by Steve & Candice Watters
18. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke
19. Pendragon by Stephen R. Lawhead
20. Invitation to Biblical Preaching by Don Sunukjian
21. A Harmony of the Gospels by Stanley Gundry and Robert L. Thomas
22. The Words and Works of Jesus Christ by Dwight Pentecost
23. Grail by Stephen R. Lawhead
24. Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur
25. Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey
26. Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne
27. War by Sebastian Junger
28. Taking Your Church to the Next Level by Gary McIntosh
29. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
30. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
31. Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung
32. Going Solo by Roald Dahl
33. The End of the Law by Jason C. Meyer
34. A Painted House by John Grisham
35. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
36. The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander
37. Looking For Calvin and Hobbes by Nevin Martell
38. The Green Mile by Stephen King
39. Trail of the Spanish Bit by Don Coldsmith
40. Radical by David Platt
41. The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire
42. Life After God by Douglas Coupland
43. Here Today, There Tomorrow by Gary McIntosh
44. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
45. The God Conversation by J. P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff
46. The Elk-Dog Heritage by Don Coldsmith
47. Follow the Wind by Don Coldsmith
48. The Rainmaker by John Grisham
49. Buffalo Medicine by Don Coldsmith
50. The Heart of a Great Pastor by H. B. London Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman
51. More Than A Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell

The Christmas Story

Here's the Christmas story via our friends' daughter Gracie. This is great!

Shocking...

Just read this quick post entitled "So, Why is Incest Wrong?" on AlbertMohler.com. Wow.

Alice Vs. Butternut Squash

 

Amy recently made tons of meals for Alice from butternut squash, carrots and yellow squash. Alice got most of it in her mouth . . . I think! New pictures on the right sidebar under Web Album 2!

How About Some Peas?

Alice's face in this video is priceless.



Also, check out new pictures in "Web Album 2" on the right.

Alice at Work

I think this video is hilarious. I know, I know, I'm her mom, but it is pretty excellent. Enjoy!

Change of Scenery

Yes, you're at the correct blog. I just decided that it was time for a new look for our blog. Thoughts?

Should we keep the old videos on the sidebar? Bernal videos? Hawaii videos? Should we add any elements? Tell us what you think!

Meanwhile, In Garden Grove . . .

First things first, there are hundreds of new photos (mostly of Alice!) if you just click the link to Web Album 2 on the right side of the page.

Last night, Amy and Alice and I visited our friends Jacob and Sarah Ailes in the hospital and got to see and hold their baby girl, Lucy Amanda Ailes. Sarah's blog details the meaning of Lucy's name, which I think is very thoughtful. That, and I'm a Narnia fan!

October is a busy month. This Friday is our "dateiversary" and we'll be celebrating six years since we started dating/courting/going out/"liking" each other. It's a surprise to Amy where we'll be going, but it's going to be a blast!

I have an exam on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

On Sunday I have a missions team meeting after church on Sunday and then we have a youth fellowship night that evening.

Next Wednesday I fly up to Oakland to help move my 86-year-old grandpa move out of the house he bought in 1954. It's time for grandpa to move to an assisted living place across town from my parents. It will be a bittersweet time as a lot of family says goodbye to the home Grandpa raised a family in. I'll be driving home on Saturday. Amy and Alice will meet us in Santa Clarita so that Grandpa can meet his great-granddaughter.

Then, on Reformation Weekend (Oct. 29-31), we'll be in Santa Maria celebrating my maternal grandmother's 75th birthday.

Phew! A lot's going on, but God is gracious in supplying strength and his power is made perfect in weakness. Amy continues to work hard at Pan-Pacific and I'm working at church and going to school full time. Alice is growing up so fast and we're amazed at her alertness. She brings lots of laughter and joy into our lives.

So often I'll see something while driving and think, "I should totally blog about that!" only to forget about it until I'm going to bed or before class or before church. Maybe some day soon I'll stop and blog about one of those things.