The King's Heart

In light of all of the political happenings (which I am interested in), I thought that it would be a good time to for us to remember that God is the One who has sovereign control over all leaders:

Proverbs 21:1 - "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;he turns it wherever he will"

Jeremiah 27:6 - "Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.

Romans 13:1 - "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Creature of Habit

I thought about choosing a new template for 2008, but I think I want things to stay just like they are currently. I'm a creature of habit.

God or god?

After Christmas I used one of my gift certificates at Barnes and Nobles to purchase St. Augustine's Confessions. Of course, the Confessions were originally written in Latin, so I had to purchase a translated version. I chose to buy the Barnes and Noble's translation of the work because it was the best price...only $6.95. Yet, after I got home I found something strange about the translation: Throughout the book the translater chose to use the word "god" in every place where Augustine addresses the Triune God. For instance, in Chapter 2, the translation read, "How shall I call upon my god, my god, and my lord..." The major problem with such a translation is that it fails to do justice to Augustine's belief that the Triune God is the only true God...all others are just gods of man's making. To put the triune God in the same place as those that are not gods at all is, to say the least, quite dishonest to Augustine's theology...and the theology of the Christian Church. So, I took the book back and got a better translation. I think Augustine would have been happy with my decision.

Ministry, Trinity, and a Few Things In Between

Once again, I received a lot of books for Christmas...which is great for someone who loves reading as much as I do. The only problem with getting so many books is deciding which ones to read first. So, I have chosen to take a random approach in which I close my eyes and grab a book from the stack.

I just finished reading The Crucifixion of Ministry: Surrendering our Ambitions to the Service of Christ by Andrew Purves, which was a great read. Currently, I'm reading two books: I'm about halfway through Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance by Bruce Ware, and I'm eight chapters into Pierced by the Word: Thirty-One Meditations for Your Soul by John Piper. The next book I plan to read before the Spring seminary semester begins is The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I had already starting reading this book before the Bruce Ware book, but I accidentally dropped The Cost of Discipleship into the toilet...so, I had to let it dry. And, yes, I know that sounds nasty but the water was clean. Well, as clean as toilet water can be.

Have any of you read anything good lately?

Five

Since Amy and I've had a chance to tell our family the good news, I can now share it with all of you: our family is growing to five! In the Lord's timing, He's chosen to bless us with another child. Amy and I found out about two weeks ago that she is pregnant. The baby should arrive sometime in August...of course we'll have a more accurate estimate once she has her first ultrasound.