This is the 2nd book I have read this summer. On The Incarnation is a 4th century apologetic by St. Athanasius explaining the many reasons why Christ had to become man, be fully God and fully man, why he had to die by the cross, be resurrected and so on. The book starts with creation and the fall moving its way to the resurrection and it has brief sections of refuting the jews who say Jesus is not the Christ, and refuting Gentiles. This quick and amazing read tackles an issue that is still talked about and written on today, and can I repeat, it was written in the 4th Century! One reason to read this book is to follow Peters command in the second half of 1st peter 3:15, that we are to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us. Another reason is by way of reading about why Christ had to do these things, we remind ourselves of the Gospel and all that Christ has accomplished for us. Which that is then in turn an encouragement and calling to continue living for Him.
I encourage you to pick up the translation with the introduction by C.S Lewis. That introduction entitled On The Reading of Old Books is an article that is a wonderful read within itself, and is linked here. In this article, Lewis makes an argument for why people should not only read books from their own day and age, but the books of old as well. I am doing my best to stay as close to his 1 old book for every 3 new ones as I can. Here is my reasoning, Christianity is 2000 years old and the authors of today are not the only ones who have things to say about it, also newer is not always better. Christianity has been passed on from generation to generation, so I would like to do my best to learn from the generations that have come before (which is also the third reason to read this book).
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Preciousness of Time
The Preciousness of time and The Importance of Redeeming it, a sermon based on Ephesians 5:15-16, by Jonathan Edwards.
Those verses read (in the ESV): Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
This sermon may be the most important thing I read (or have read) this entire summer, outside of the Bible of course. We all know that how we use our time as Christians is important, but simultaneously time management and preventing time from being wasted is one of the greatest struggles in the Christian life. So the question is, do we truly have a sense of just how precious the time God has allotted for each one of us to live on this earth is? Jonathan Edwards helps us answer and think through that question. You can read the entire sermon here but below I have posted an outline of his main points:
Those verses read (in the ESV): Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
This sermon may be the most important thing I read (or have read) this entire summer, outside of the Bible of course. We all know that how we use our time as Christians is important, but simultaneously time management and preventing time from being wasted is one of the greatest struggles in the Christian life. So the question is, do we truly have a sense of just how precious the time God has allotted for each one of us to live on this earth is? Jonathan Edwards helps us answer and think through that question. You can read the entire sermon here but below I have posted an outline of his main points:
SECTION 1
Why time is precious.
1. Because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it.
2. Time is very short, which is another thing that renders it very precious.
3. Time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance.
4. Time is very precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered.
Why time is precious.
1. Because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it.
2. Time is very short, which is another thing that renders it very precious.
3. Time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance.
4. Time is very precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered.
SECTION 2
Reflections on time past.
Reflections on time past.
SECTION 3
Who are chiefly deserving of reproof from the subject
of the preciousness of time.
1. Those who spend a great part of their time in idleness, or in doing nothing that turns to any virtuous account
Who are chiefly deserving of reproof from the subject
of the preciousness of time.
1. Those who spend a great part of their time in idleness, or in doing nothing that turns to any virtuous account
2. They are reproved by this doctrine who spend their time in wickedness
3. Those are reproved by his doctrine, who spend their time only in worldly pursuits, neglecting their souls.
3. Those are reproved by his doctrine, who spend their time only in worldly pursuits, neglecting their souls.
SECTION 4
An exhortation to improve time.
1. That you are accountable to God for your time.
2. Consider how much time you have lost already.
(1.) As your opportunity is so much the shorter.
(2.) You have the same work to do that you had at first, and that under greater difficulties.
(3.) That is the best of your time which you have lost.
3. Consider how time is sometimes valued by those who are come near to the end of it.
4. Consider what a value we may conclude is set upon time by those who are past the end of it.
An exhortation to improve time.
1. That you are accountable to God for your time.
2. Consider how much time you have lost already.
(1.) As your opportunity is so much the shorter.
(2.) You have the same work to do that you had at first, and that under greater difficulties.
(3.) That is the best of your time which you have lost.
3. Consider how time is sometimes valued by those who are come near to the end of it.
4. Consider what a value we may conclude is set upon time by those who are past the end of it.
SECTION 5
Advice respecting the improvement of time.
1. Improve the present time without any delay.
2. Be especially careful to improve those parts of time which are most precious.
3. Improve well your time of leisure from worldly business.
Advice respecting the improvement of time.
1. Improve the present time without any delay.
2. Be especially careful to improve those parts of time which are most precious.
3. Improve well your time of leisure from worldly business.
For me, laziness is the one of the most plaguing sins in my life. If left alone to my own devices, I know I could easily waste this entire summer (as I did so last summer, and the one before). Graciously God has been showing me the folly of my ways, and I know that a good portion of the 21 years that I have been alive has been wasted. This summer I hope to do more than just recognize that time is valuable (though that is a huge step in itself), but also make better use of the time I have been given. Hence the summer reading and the blog. We live in a world full of distractions, and it is very easy to get caught in them, but our time is meant to be spent for the glorifying of God (which can be done in may ways). So the question is not simply how are you spending your time, but also ask yourself why are you spending your time doing the things that you are. This is something that needs to be done daily, and there is so much more I could talk about (such as what are things that can be deemed a waste of time, or how we are to go about making good use), but the heart of the matter is this, time has been given to us by God, the days we live in are evil, and so we are called to redeem that time. So I ask that you please be praying for me this summer, that I learn the value of time, and that I make use of it in a way that is glorifying to God.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Unbroken (Book 1)
This summer I have quite the reading list I am looking to conquer. And as I read these books (or article, sermon, w/e), I hope to blog about each posting my thoughts on the material, things like what I've learned, what I hope to apply, etc. So here goes the start of something that I hope to be a reoccurring event.
The first book I've read is Unbroken: A WWII story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Unbroken is the story of Louis Zamperini, an American lieutenant serving on the pacific side of WWII. The story traces his entire life but it mainly focuses on the story of his survival from a plane crash out on the pacific. It is written as a narrative, presenting the facts of history in a gripping and engaging way. Not only did this man endure weeks out on the pacific, but he ended up being captured as a POW by the Japanese and experienced extreme amounts of torture. Once he returned home, he succumbed to drinking trying to run away from his post traumatic stress, mostly the haunting memories of the day in and day out beatings given to him by "The Bird."It was while he was in this state, that in an attempt to save their marriage, his wife brought him to hear the great evangelist Billy Graham. After hearing him a few times, he eventually became a Christian. Through his Christian faith he was no longer haunted by his memories of the war, and even came to a point of forgiving the Japanese soldiers who took part in belittling and beating him and others in his time as a POW. He then spent the rest of his life sharing his story and the faith that he came to know through it all.
I can almost guarantee, go through that much physical and psychological suffering and the average human would think twice before spending the rest of their life praising God because of it. That is the amazing capability of the Gospel though, someone who by most standards should be cursing God for all that has happened to Him is now able to see the hand of God through it all, and give Him glory. This story is yet another reminder that God uses all sorts of ways to draw His people near to Him. It is also a reminder that all that God has given to me in my life is an amazing blessing. There's not a day that goes by in which I have to wonder where my next meal is going to come from (even if it's from the caf, haha). It is very easy to take that for granted and sadly at times push God out of my life. You see the opposite should be true though, since everything in my life is a blessing, it is also a calling to live for Christ all the more, a calling that I sometimes fail at.
Another random thing that stuck out to me that I would like to mention is the clarity thought that Louie and Phil experienced when they were adrift on the Pacific. Not only is it amazing they were able to keep their minds on anything that was not food when they were on the brink of starvation, but the depth and detail they had while recreating memories was also astounding. A lot of that depth came from the fact that while on the pacific, they were free from distraction when it came to their thoughts. Just something to think about since we live in a world where distraction from reality is the goal of just about everything we interact with, be it television, video games, the internet, w/e. Though it goes without saying, I am not condemning those things, as I watch television, have played video games, and use the internet quite often. I am just inviting people to think about how those things are being used in our lives (especially my own), and also, how much. Distraction is interesting topic that I will be looking into deeper this summer when I read a book entitled: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
With all that said, if you have any interest in WWII history, or just love good story telling, pick up and read Unbroken. It is a wonderful story of Gods providence and protection over a young man who saw and experienced far worse in that short period of time than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime.
The first book I've read is Unbroken: A WWII story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Unbroken is the story of Louis Zamperini, an American lieutenant serving on the pacific side of WWII. The story traces his entire life but it mainly focuses on the story of his survival from a plane crash out on the pacific. It is written as a narrative, presenting the facts of history in a gripping and engaging way. Not only did this man endure weeks out on the pacific, but he ended up being captured as a POW by the Japanese and experienced extreme amounts of torture. Once he returned home, he succumbed to drinking trying to run away from his post traumatic stress, mostly the haunting memories of the day in and day out beatings given to him by "The Bird."It was while he was in this state, that in an attempt to save their marriage, his wife brought him to hear the great evangelist Billy Graham. After hearing him a few times, he eventually became a Christian. Through his Christian faith he was no longer haunted by his memories of the war, and even came to a point of forgiving the Japanese soldiers who took part in belittling and beating him and others in his time as a POW. He then spent the rest of his life sharing his story and the faith that he came to know through it all.
I can almost guarantee, go through that much physical and psychological suffering and the average human would think twice before spending the rest of their life praising God because of it. That is the amazing capability of the Gospel though, someone who by most standards should be cursing God for all that has happened to Him is now able to see the hand of God through it all, and give Him glory. This story is yet another reminder that God uses all sorts of ways to draw His people near to Him. It is also a reminder that all that God has given to me in my life is an amazing blessing. There's not a day that goes by in which I have to wonder where my next meal is going to come from (even if it's from the caf, haha). It is very easy to take that for granted and sadly at times push God out of my life. You see the opposite should be true though, since everything in my life is a blessing, it is also a calling to live for Christ all the more, a calling that I sometimes fail at.
Another random thing that stuck out to me that I would like to mention is the clarity thought that Louie and Phil experienced when they were adrift on the Pacific. Not only is it amazing they were able to keep their minds on anything that was not food when they were on the brink of starvation, but the depth and detail they had while recreating memories was also astounding. A lot of that depth came from the fact that while on the pacific, they were free from distraction when it came to their thoughts. Just something to think about since we live in a world where distraction from reality is the goal of just about everything we interact with, be it television, video games, the internet, w/e. Though it goes without saying, I am not condemning those things, as I watch television, have played video games, and use the internet quite often. I am just inviting people to think about how those things are being used in our lives (especially my own), and also, how much. Distraction is interesting topic that I will be looking into deeper this summer when I read a book entitled: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
With all that said, if you have any interest in WWII history, or just love good story telling, pick up and read Unbroken. It is a wonderful story of Gods providence and protection over a young man who saw and experienced far worse in that short period of time than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Start of Summer
Well, we're almost two weeks into summer and I thought I would take some time to reflect a little bit over the school year and my hopes for the summer.
Academically this semester was both a success and a failure. The success is the fact that I was able to complete 18 units of course work, doing pretty well grade wise, 12 units being business courses, and not drop a class, when a year ago this was not the case. As 6 weeks into the spring semester of 2011, I was forced to drop my American Lit class. Thankfully the Lord grew me in that year, showing me the immaturity of my ways and my lack of discipline, though that did continue somewhat this past spring. The failure of this semester is that procrastination controlled almost every assignment I completed. I continually put assignments off to the last minute to do other things, and the worst part about it is, the other things I usually did were completely unproductive in and of themselves. Yes, I can shamefully admit that many times throughout the semester I would put off homework to play a video game with roommates.
Emotionally I think it has been a much better year this time around than years past. The two areas emotionally where I believe I grew the most this school year were in the realm of girls and social awareness. When it comes to girls, this year I only had one DTR talk as compared to the ridiculous and unhealthy amount that took place last year due to my immature mindset about finding a wife. And even more than the pure amount, the way the DTR came about was much different compared to the past. I was the one that brought it up and let the girl know of my feelings, instead of letting the relationship get to a point where she was forced to ask what is going on here, which is something I did countless times in the past. The cool thing about it is this girl and I have become better friends because of it, while in the past that friendship would of just faded away and she would have become nothing more than an acquaintance. When it comes to social awareness, it has come to my attention that I can be a very loud and completely unaware of how my actions affect those around me. So these are things I have began working on, realizing that there are appropriate times and places to act certain ways.
Spiritually it was yet another roller coaster of a year. Going along side what is written above, I feel I grew in the way I treat women, finally seeing them as sisters in Christ, and learning to guard my heart and protect theirs when interacting with them. I realized that the secret is not to avoid woman, which I tended to do in the fall semester, but to interact with them in an appropriate and God honoring manner realizing that since they are sisters in Christ, they can be an encouragement to me and me to them. There can be good friendships between brothers and sisters in Christ, but precautions must be taken, and it is the role of the guy that when feelings do develop, he made them known instead of playing games with her heart and his. Although if the guy does not do his job and make feelings known, before either is dragged too far in to an inappropriate emotional attachment the girl should most definitely speak up. Sadly there is a downside to my spiritual development this school year, and it came in the way of reoccurring sin and laziness. Laziness in completing work, laziness in building relationships, just laziness all around plagued my entire school year. I made it to about spring break working out on a regular bases, and then it just seemed to die. My fight against other sins, was weakened by this laziness to a point where it got very ugly at times. In a setting where holiness is the "cool way to live", it was hard to share my struggles with those around me and that pushed me further into a black hole to a point where personal devotions had died and I was beginning to enjoy my sin. Thankfully through reading portions of John Owen's Mortification of Sin (during the semester) and getting back on track with devotions this summer, God is helping me climb back out of that hole and drawing me nearer to Him showing me what sin really is, and how much of life is destroyed when you openly live in it. Also during the last month of school I was able to make more new friends than I had the entire school year, and I thank God for that.
So this summer I hope to recapture the spiritual discipline of reading my Bible daily and setting aside time for prayer. I have a fair amount of books I'd like to read, but understand that no book will help me unless it is supplemented and superseded by time in the word and my relationship with my Lord. I'd ask that those who ever take the time to read this would pray for me this summer, asking that God would "create in me a new heart, and renew a right spirit within me" as the psalmist says. Pray that I learn the value of time, and learn to use it wisely and make the most of it with my life. And finally, pray that every day, I grow closer to and more in love with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Academically this semester was both a success and a failure. The success is the fact that I was able to complete 18 units of course work, doing pretty well grade wise, 12 units being business courses, and not drop a class, when a year ago this was not the case. As 6 weeks into the spring semester of 2011, I was forced to drop my American Lit class. Thankfully the Lord grew me in that year, showing me the immaturity of my ways and my lack of discipline, though that did continue somewhat this past spring. The failure of this semester is that procrastination controlled almost every assignment I completed. I continually put assignments off to the last minute to do other things, and the worst part about it is, the other things I usually did were completely unproductive in and of themselves. Yes, I can shamefully admit that many times throughout the semester I would put off homework to play a video game with roommates.
Emotionally I think it has been a much better year this time around than years past. The two areas emotionally where I believe I grew the most this school year were in the realm of girls and social awareness. When it comes to girls, this year I only had one DTR talk as compared to the ridiculous and unhealthy amount that took place last year due to my immature mindset about finding a wife. And even more than the pure amount, the way the DTR came about was much different compared to the past. I was the one that brought it up and let the girl know of my feelings, instead of letting the relationship get to a point where she was forced to ask what is going on here, which is something I did countless times in the past. The cool thing about it is this girl and I have become better friends because of it, while in the past that friendship would of just faded away and she would have become nothing more than an acquaintance. When it comes to social awareness, it has come to my attention that I can be a very loud and completely unaware of how my actions affect those around me. So these are things I have began working on, realizing that there are appropriate times and places to act certain ways.
Spiritually it was yet another roller coaster of a year. Going along side what is written above, I feel I grew in the way I treat women, finally seeing them as sisters in Christ, and learning to guard my heart and protect theirs when interacting with them. I realized that the secret is not to avoid woman, which I tended to do in the fall semester, but to interact with them in an appropriate and God honoring manner realizing that since they are sisters in Christ, they can be an encouragement to me and me to them. There can be good friendships between brothers and sisters in Christ, but precautions must be taken, and it is the role of the guy that when feelings do develop, he made them known instead of playing games with her heart and his. Although if the guy does not do his job and make feelings known, before either is dragged too far in to an inappropriate emotional attachment the girl should most definitely speak up. Sadly there is a downside to my spiritual development this school year, and it came in the way of reoccurring sin and laziness. Laziness in completing work, laziness in building relationships, just laziness all around plagued my entire school year. I made it to about spring break working out on a regular bases, and then it just seemed to die. My fight against other sins, was weakened by this laziness to a point where it got very ugly at times. In a setting where holiness is the "cool way to live", it was hard to share my struggles with those around me and that pushed me further into a black hole to a point where personal devotions had died and I was beginning to enjoy my sin. Thankfully through reading portions of John Owen's Mortification of Sin (during the semester) and getting back on track with devotions this summer, God is helping me climb back out of that hole and drawing me nearer to Him showing me what sin really is, and how much of life is destroyed when you openly live in it. Also during the last month of school I was able to make more new friends than I had the entire school year, and I thank God for that.
So this summer I hope to recapture the spiritual discipline of reading my Bible daily and setting aside time for prayer. I have a fair amount of books I'd like to read, but understand that no book will help me unless it is supplemented and superseded by time in the word and my relationship with my Lord. I'd ask that those who ever take the time to read this would pray for me this summer, asking that God would "create in me a new heart, and renew a right spirit within me" as the psalmist says. Pray that I learn the value of time, and learn to use it wisely and make the most of it with my life. And finally, pray that every day, I grow closer to and more in love with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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