Restart

 It's been 15 years since the original inception of this blog. I have not posted anything on a regular basis. Not sure I could come up with something to say even once per month. Yet, the discipline required to write could perhaps strengthen my faith and deepen my love for Jesus, my wife and children. Who knows?

BOOKS 2011

It's a new year. Look for some older reads as well as some formal reviews.

1. The Joyful Christian by C.S. Lewis ... reading
2. Sex and the iWorld by Dale S. Kuehne ... reading
3. The Faith of Ronald Reagan by Mary Beth Brown ... reading

Books on the docket to read

BOOKS - 2010

Books I have read in 2010 and brief description (result in life)

1. A Praying Life by Paul Miller ... pragmatically exciting (result=praying more)
2. Raised With Christ by Adrian Warnock ... refreshingly reassuring (result="life" focused)
3. The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers ... riveting illustrations (result=expanded understanding)
4. Practice Resurrection by Eugene Peterson ... enlivening revelations
5. The Screwtape Letters with Screwtape Proposes a Toast by C.S. Lewis ... it's C.S. Lewis, classic
6. Adopted for Life by Russell Moore ... encouraging
7. A Quest for More by Paul Tripp ... hopeful
8. Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcy ... illuminating
9. More Than Equals by Chris Rice and Spencer Perkins ... completely ripped my heart open
10. Generous Justice by Tim Keller ... convicting and provocative
11. Son of Hamas by Mosab Hasson Yousef ... great
12. Who Made God by Edgar Andrews ... excellent
13. The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes ... reflection of absolute truth
14. Knowing God by J.I. Packer ... foundational
15. Growing in Christ by J.I. Packer ... great devotional
16. Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul ... solid
17. God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation by Andreas Kostenberger ... essential and practical biblical teaching with incredible depth, research, and insight
18. Issues Facing Christians Today by John Stott ... very educational
19. Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis ... irresistible verbal enticement
20. The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard ... reminder to hate sin
21. Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore ... great

More

2010 is here. Not one for resolutions. I do pray through a theme during the year. The basic theme this year is to love Jesus more. The first book I finished this week was A Prayer Life by Paul Miller. My description would be pragmatically exciting. I definitely will be putting many of his practices into my own prayer life.
The next two books are finishing The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers and Raised with Christ by Adrian Warnock.

Callousness of suffering

I got busted today. Thought I had done a real good job of hiding my arrogant self-righteous attitude. But, there was Greg in front of the whole church stating that people who have endured a lot of suffering can even look down on those who have lived a charmed life. That's me. Busted. Kinda seems counter intuitive. Yet, it's accurate to say that because I have lived a rather difficult life at times, because I have run from God, that I have suffered and therefore have been callous in my empathy for those who have done it right. Father God, would you transform my hardened and narrow attitude to see people with the same love that You have for all people, charmed, anguished, entitled, or ambivalent, by the way of Jesus, amen.

Freedom

Do you need freedom from something that can't love you back?

Letter to my wife

Dear sweetheart,
I am writing you, in the event you doubt, question, or forget, so that there is a written reminder of what you mean to me. There is every feeling of assurance that God brought us together. You are the perfect wife for me.
I want to express my sorrow, for perhaps hurting or wounding a sensitive area in your life. I do a poor job of expressing myself at times. You do a great job of listening to my lengthy explanations and meandering thoughts. At times, I realize after the fact that my meandering thoughts have expressed something that is not quite developed or is just plain wrong (because of faulty thinking on my part).
You are the only wife made especially for me. During the course of the past year, you have challenged me to soften my heart, cool my anger, focus my activities, be vigilant as a provider, and my pursuit there of, and to grow into a more Godly man. All of these are positives. They have made me a much better servant, husband, father, step-father, friend, co-worker, and citizen.
I am so thankful for you. Our marriage and the growing pains we have been through and will always go through cause us to look to God and the life of Jesus. Our life first belongs to Christ. If we are willing to allow him fully into our life, He will show us in what areas we must be broken in order to seek him. It is at this moment that we recognize our complete brokenness that God constructs or produces a new truth or revelation within us, that allows us to grow closer to Him and be healed of some earthly or fleshly attachment or wound.
You continue to expand my horizons and show me brighter sunsets. I look forward to the rest of our life together, and the manner in which, if we are willing, Christ will increase our dependence, knowledge, belief, and trust, in the cup that will never run dry.
I love you with all my heart, (which is capable of a richer love because of you),
Ben