Find your rest in wonder

by Joshua

This is what it looked like to have your mind blown away 1600 years ago. It still happens...

(Augustine here contemplates the unsearchable mysteries of God in predestination)

"You a man expect an answer from me: I also am a man. Wherefore, let us both listen to Him who says, 'O man, who are you?' Believing igorance is better than presumptuous knowledge. Seek merits; you will find naught but punishment.
O the height!
Peter denies,
a thief believes.
O the height!
Do you ask the reason?
I will tremble at the height; I cannot sound the depth. Paul found rest because he found wonder, He calls the judgements of God 'unsearchable;' and have you come to search them? He says that his ways are 'past finding out,' and do you seek to find them out?"
Augustine

Book Plan, Year Twenty-Ten

2010 Book Pile as it appears thus far

As promised several weeks back, here is my reading plan for the year. I am in all these books now except for Finally Alive which I finished about a month ago. s for the rest of these books, I plan to take them in slow and easy. Especially the Greek textbooks.

Finally Alive - John Piper

In this book Piper unpacks the resplendence of the new birth in a God exalting manner.

Valley of Vision

The valley of vision is a collection of prayers from the Puritans. It's so good, I could write a meaningful post on it every time I pick it up. There's a prayer for almost every season of the soul. Here's a few excerpts.

"Help me to see how good Your will is in all. And even when it crosses mine, teach me to be pleased with it. . ."

"... let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley."

Communion With God - John Owen

Like Calvin before him, Owen is also known as the Theologian of the Holy Spirit. And he has a remarkable gift to the church in this book. In my life I have not came across many if any who point us towards fellowship with each person of the Trinity on the level Owen does. I intend to post a deal more on this later.

Lectures To My Students - CH Spurgeon>

Packed full of wisdom and instruction in ministry from the life of the prince of preachers Charles Haddon Spurgeon, this book is more than worth its weight in gold. The book starts out with a sturdy smack in the face and is fast moving. The first sentence is a direct quote from 1 Timothy 4:16. Right in there with the main tenants of this blog.

"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine"

New Testament Greek For Beginners - J. Gresham Machen

Since I wrote a little about the Author of this book in my Greek Fire post a few weeks back, I will spare you any more details on it, for now.

Basics of Biblical Greek - William D. Mounce

William (Bill) Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek is the standard for beginning Biblical Greek in our time. He really wants to take every difficulty and hindrance out of learning Biblical Greek that he can. Who knows, in a few decades he may even reach legendary status.

I am also in a few other books,

Newton's The Meaning of the Jewish Tabernacle
and CJ Mahaney and Robin Boisvert's This Great Salvation


Soli Deo Gloria,

Josh

Reform your life and doctrine, meet with God in the text

First Week of Greek

Good times in Greek Class

Okay, here's the low-down on Saturdays' Greek class:

We gathered at the kitchen table around seven-thirty am, prayed, covered chapter one of Machen's New Testament Greek For Beginners, and got a slight head start on verbs in chapter 3. Great discussion, as well as helpful q&a.

I am hoping to get the audio of the session on-line. If anyone has an idea of how to upload 2+ hours of mp3 to the web and link to it for free please let me know. Gcast is no longer allowing uploads, and it will be missed.

Homework for the next Greek class gathering is as follows,

For Session 2:

1. Write at least two rows of each letter
2. Learn the Alphabet in order and be able to say the sounds.
3. Be able to say all the sounds.
4. Learn vocabulary on page 20 very, very well.

Don't Waste Your Legendary Notebook

Notebook containing Edwards' observations from the scriptures

A few days ago I was browsing the Yale University online digital library collection of some of the original writing of Jonathan Edwards.

Edwards' notes on 'particular redemption'

I have heard that Edwards wrote continuously. Whenever ideas would come into his head he would write them down as soon as possible. Often times he would be out walking, or on horseback and that meant he would have to write on scraps of paper, his coat, or saddle.

I don't know for certain, but I imagine he did the majority of his writing in notebooks. And back then it wasn't your dime-a-dozen spiral bound 'kiddie' notebook. No sir, back in Edwards' day, they used legendary notebooks. Those puppies were tougher than nails; Built to last, they bound hundreds of pages up in tough, hardbound leather covers.

'Kiddie' notebook

These days, it seems when most of us break away from writing on the pc, we use generic, run-of-the-mill spiral bound notebooks. However I have found a few guys like Mark Driscoll that are an exception to the rule. They use notebooks of the legendary quality to write down their ideas as God gives them. It could be that a good notebooks demands more from the writer. Or it could be that good ideas demand a good notebook. Either way, I think there might just be something to having a good notebook. (I personally have a dislike for anything spiral bound.)

These days if a guy wants a legendary notebook he picks up a Moleskine. They are made in Italy, but are available pretty much everywhere in the world. This is one company that still makes tough leather bound notebooks that are designed to last. No, they are not made from Mole's skin, but they are leather bound.

Moleskine Legendary Notebook

At any rate, if you do decide to pick up a legendary notebook, the standing challenge is to fill it up with as much meat as Edwards' did.

Treasuring Him

This video asks and gloriously answers the question;

How Does Paul Make Christ Look Great In His Life And Thus Not Waste It?

Before you watch another youtube video, watch this one.

Questions For Thinking

Adams Synchronological Chart or Map of History

by Joshua

Before going to work today, I consulted my copy of the Teacher's Guide for Adams time-line of history. In Appendix A, I discovered a table describing thinking skills that would be helpful for teachers who are looking to promote thinking in their students. The best part of the sheet is a list of questions to get things rolling.

There was also a brief reason why teachers should ask these kinds of questions;

"As teachers , we tend to ask question in the 'knowledge' category 80 to 90 percent of the time. These questions are not bad, but using them all the time is. Try to utilize higher-order level questions. These questions require more 'brain power' and a more extensive and elaborate answer. The chart shows the six question categories as defined by Bloom." Teachers Guide Pg 18

The Chart is more than 20 feet long

Sample Questions:

Knowledge:

• Who, What, Where, When, How ...?
• Describe

Comprehension:

• Retell ____.
• Summarize the main point, in the correct order.
• What was the problem - how was it solved?
• Predict how the story will end.

Application:

• How is ____ an example of ____?
• How is ____ related to ____?
• Why is ____ Significant?

Analysis:

• What are the parts or features of ____?
• Classify ____ according to ____.
• Outline/diagram ____.
• How does ____ compare/contrast with ____?
• What evidence can you list for ____?

Synthesis:

• What would you predict/infer from ____?
• What ideas can you add to ____?
• How would you create/design a new ____?
• What might happen if you combined ____?
• What solutions would you suggest for ____?

Evaluation:

• Do you agree ___?
• What do you think about ___?
• What is the most important ____?
• Place the following in the order of priority ____.
• How would you decide about ____?
• What criteria would you use to assess ____?

Of all these sample question categories, I think comprehension is my favorite. Take for example, the grand narrative of the bible.

How well can we,

A.) Retell the biblical narrative to others who need to know their origins, their sin, need of a savior, and the gospel?

B.) Summarize the main point of the biblical narrative, in the correct order?

C.) Say what was the main problem and how it was solved?


Soli Deo Gloria,

Josh

Reform your life and doctrine, meet with God in the text