Brace Yourself

Okay, I have a confession to make.

I’m not presently reading any Biblical literature. Lately my fascination has been taken over by classical literature and histories. It all started with a post by George on his blog, Exceedingly. In it he mentioned he was reading War & Peace, and because of the interest his post stirred in me, I picked up a nicely bound hardcover at a local used bookstore.

I must admit that I am constantly impressed by George’s reading selections, and I consistently find myself questioning why I never read any classics of literature in school. The only classic that I really read during my high school years was JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which I read because my dad owned a copy, not through school. So, I’ve decided to start reading some classic works by various authors. Now that I’ve graduated from my University, I had to go in and manually apply for a special library card for alumni, as I no longer have a current student account. Hopefully it comes in the mail this week.

Back to War & Peace though. After reading the first few chapters, I realized that I didn’t know much about the Napoleonic Era. So I’ve taken a break from War & Peace, and am now about a third of the way through Chandler’s The Campaigns of Napoleon. It has been incredibly interesting, and I’ve already been doing quick internet searches to supplement information not included in the book. For example, how the events in the early 1800s were linked to the start of World War I in the 1900s, and then how it was tied into World War II… I will likely be reading some general histories of WW2 once I read War & Peace, though I may keep reading some other fictional works instead.

All of this to say that I am really enjoying the classical and historical literature right now. I am still reading the NLT Study Bible in preparation of my review of it, but for the most part, much of my in depth Bible study is related to blog posts by other people. The most recent example was at Lingamish, which was quite fun to read up on:
Chewing on Pearls

 

Sex and Marriage

Damian at the Castle of Nutshells blog continues to provide the most interesting rolling conversations about sex, engagement, and marriage. For this weekend, my wife and I have made plans to sit down together and read through his last few posts this week. His most recent post continues to apply his perspective of sex and marriage to our modern society, and I still find his stance very compelling. Here’s a quote from his latest post:

However, this understanding of sex and marriage (which endured well into the 1400s), cannot work in modern society unless modern society recognises that the secular, legal components of marriage are immaterial to the divine, sacramental components of marriage. That is: In God’s eyes, you are married, as soon as you sleep together. It is our responsibility not to anachronistically impose our 21st century institutions on 1st century and ancient Jewish texts, and to conform to God’s intentions in those texts, rather than our own institutions. It is our responsibility, therefore, to teach our youth commitment, that marriage is what sex means, and hence they do not dishonour God.

Basically, this view means that in God’s eyes, once you have sex with someone you are initiating marriage with them. This spiritual view is different from our modern ceremonial and legal perspective of things. I will post more about this later once my wife and I have had a chance to work through the posts and comments. You will have to dig back a few pages to read his older posts, but you can read Damian’s latest post which I’ve quoted from above at this link:

Sex is Not About Waiting

 

Five Influential Books Meme

There is a meme floating around that asks what five books have most influenced the way you read scripture. I am going to list the five books that have most influenced me in the past year, in which I have spent a significant amount of time rediscovering scripture. During the past year I have radically changed my approach to scripture, and much of this has been due to my interaction with the biblioblog community. However, these books and authors have been influential. Here they are in chronological order:

1. Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell
2. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth -Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart
3. New Testament Exegesis – Gordon Fee
4. Greek for the Rest of Us – William Mounce
5. The Message – Eugene Peterson

This last one is a work in progress as it is a more recent acquisition. Reading the Bible in paraphrase has been very enlightening however. I tag anyone that has not completed this meme yet to go ahead and do so. You can read all of the responses to this meme at the original blog here:

So Many Books, So Little Time

 

Update

I have updated my About Me page as the information there was a year old. Also, I have made a few revisions and updates to my blog roll. This past week I have added around a dozen new blogs to my feed reader, and if they prove to be interesting I will add them to my blog roll.

Also, I will be shifting the focus of my blog from Greek and Biblical Studies into one that is more generally focused on life and my faith. I think that it will be more interesting for me to blog, and hopefully more interesting to read.

 

It

It

How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It

By Craig Groeschel

I read this book last week, and it is a worthy read. Primarily written for the leadership of the church, I found it to be a helpful tool for analyzing how churches function. I largely agree with pretty much everything he said, as he is attempting to identify what factors cause a church to have it, or not have it.

The book is divided into three parts, and the first part (2-3 chapters) is only worth skimming through. Parts two and three are worth reading every word however. If you are a pastor, or are involved in the leadership at your church, then I strongly recommend you pick up this book and read through it. Also, I was impressed that the author did not offer a list of steps to figure out the formula for growing your church. Instead he seems to have hit on some key issues that churches should look at and revise if necessary.

Unlike the emerging church movement, I feel that this book offers very valid suggestions for altering the present day church. Primarily, this is geared around focusing the church’s efforts on only a few core ministries, instead of spreading efforts too thin on many ministries. The book doesn’t address the emerging church movement, but I felt that it offered a good alternative for those that are not satisfied with the status quo, and seeking some sort of improvement. My main gripe with all things emergent is that there is a fundamental flaw of lack of oversight or accountability, but I digress.

If you end up reading this book, I’d be curious to know what you think of it. Also, I may make a subsequent post that goes into more detail, if anyone is interested in that. I would prefer people actually read the book for themselves though, as it is worth the time and money required to do so. On a side note, I am hoping to finish up my post about the NLT Study Bible, and get that posted later this month, or in July.