So ist das leben

I recently received a $25 Borders Gift Card. If you could recommend any book for me to buy, what would it be? I’m willing to chip in a little bit myself, but it needs to be somewhere around $25.

I’d be interested in any recommendations you have.

Earlier this week Stephanie and I listened to Mark Dever’s interview with Carl Trueman, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. It was appropriately entitled “A Sweeping Conversation with Carl Trueman,” because there was quite a broad range of topics covered during the interview. Dr. Trueman is extremely witty-intelligent, and a remarkably clear communicator. So the over-an-hour interview went by quickly-it was really fascinating. He gave his life’s testimony and then discussed the state of evangelicalism in Britain (where he is from), made a case for the singing of the Psalms, talked about what type of music should be used in the church, discussed how pastors could read the Puritans, talked about John Owen, gave book recommendations, gave an overview of some of his books and articles, etc. I highly recommend the interview. Download it to your Ipod and listen to it while you drive. This interview, and frankly all the other 9Marks interviews are well-worth the time.

Last night Stephanie and I went with Mark and Jennifer Whitcomb to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra perform with violinist Gil Shaham. It was an exceptional performance of one of violin literature’s greatest concertos (Brahms). Besides being my first time at the DSO, it was also seminary night-or so it seemed. Not counting Mark and I there were four other seminary students there. I guess that’s what happens when the Tigers are doing so poorly. You can hear samples of Shaham at the DSO’s website.

A life-saving discovery for me has been Dr. Matt Postiff’s Hebrew language audio support. Dr. Postiff has recorded the entire Hebrew alphabet and all of the vocabulary words in Ross’ textbook. Since pronouncing the words is such a crucial part of learning the language, his help has been much appreciated.

We went to the Troy Public Library’s used book sale today. Here’s what we came away with:

“The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper-70 cents (in the classics set we collect nonetheless)

“A Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture” by Thomas Vincent-50 cents (Puritan Paperbacks set)

“A Treatise Concering the Lord’s Supper” by Thomas Doolittle-$1.00 (Soli Deo Gloria)

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

Also, I received LOTS of feedback from comments, private messages, and most of all in person regarding my post baptism. Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts and giving me so much to consider. I am convinced one of God’s greatest blessings in my life thus far has been continuously surrounding me with so many wise people.

Last night Stephanie told me about a conversation she had earlier in the day about baptism. The discussion centered around the fact that a mutual friend at a nearby church was going to be the one to baptize his daughter-as opposed to their pastor (he is a layman in the church). Apparently there are many who do not think that this is appropriate. While the current church I am attending has as a policy that only the pastors baptize the congregants, the church I grew up in (Mount Calvary) allowed fathers the choice to baptize their children. In fact, my dad baptized my youngest sister. So I grew up never thinking twice about a laymen in the church baptizing another believer (at MCBC it was always father-children).

My question is-am I missing something? What Scriptural argument can be brought against this kind of baptism? My initial thoughts is that there are no Scriptural passages that teach that only pastors-elders are to baptize, and there are even no examples of this kind to set a precedent for the church today. In fact, it seems that there is often the opposite example. Philip was a deacon, but certainly not a pastor-elder, yet he baptized (spontaneously!) the Ethiopian eunuch. Paul said to some of his converts that he did not baptize them. Apparently Apollos baptized people. It is possible that at Jesus’ ascencion into heaven he commanded a crowd of nearly 500 people to baptize in His name. On a secondary level church history affords examples of non-pastoral baptisms.

 So aside from comfort with the status quo and perhaps practicality, what argument could be given for non-pastoral baptisms in the context of the local church? Can I (one day in the greatly distant future) baptize my kids?

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin

I thought this video was interesting/funny/ironic. It’s short and worth a look…

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an editorial entitled “Why Obama Can’t Close the Sale.” This is an excellent article that is worthy of your time. It clearly makes the case that Obama’s domestic policy will be harmful at the very least, but potentially devastating. You can read the article here…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122039919493892941.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Yesterday John McCain picked Sarah Palin the little-known governor of Alaska to be his running mate. When I first heard the news I thought McCain had made a big mistake, but after doing a good deal of reading about her and hearing her acceptance speech I’ve warmed up a bit. I still am somewhat nervous about what effect her inexperience is going to have on McCain’s offensive strategy. Thus far McCain’s primary and most effective line of attack has been Obama’s lack of experience. Obama has essentially had no reply when this criticism is leveled but to seek to deflect the issue. He now has an answer-Sarah Palin. Obama’s statements regarding her inexperience and McCain’s judgment in putting an inexperienced politician a “heartbeat from the presidency” will most probably be typical throughout the campaign. If he is smart Obama will not bring up her inexperience lest his own inexperience be highlighted, but we can rest assured that he will use her to deflect the criticism leveled against him. Thus John McCain’s VP pick, while bringing many positives to the table, has effectively taken much of the teeth out of his strongest attack to date.

That being said, I do think that Sarah Palin was a politically shrewd pick in many respects. The strengths she does bring to the table are most certainly a force to be reckoned with. My good friend Paul Matzko highlights and summarizes those strengths in a blog post earlier today. You can find his article here.

Incidentally it seems that the wisest course of action for Republicans would be to not argue Palin’s experience in response to Democratic attack, such as Rush Limbaugh and other radio personalities have done in the last 24 hours. Trying to somehow beef up her political resume by focusing on “quality rather than quantity” is simply smoke and mirrors. She may have more experience than Obama, but comparing the two is comparing apples and oranges. The reality is that they are both inexperienced. Were either one of them to step into the Presidency today they would not be prepared because of their woeful lack of foreign policy and national security experience. Trying to somehow argue that Sarah Palin is more expeienced smacks of partisanship. By simply acknowledging her lack of experience in certain areas, and reminding those attacking her that she is not on the top of the ticket, Republicans will have the leverage to attack Obama on the same grounds. The only difference between the two being that he is on the top of the ticket. This seems to be the wisest course of action as it gives Republicans the opportunity to continue to use their most effective offensive argument to date-inexperience and lack of preparation to be the President of the United States-against Obama.

This last Thursday I started my second of three years working on a Master of Divinity at Detroit Bapitst Theological Seminary. In order to graduate in May 2010 I will have to do 16 credit hours each semester. Here’s the classes I’m taking this semester:

Greek Syntax and Reading (4 credits)

A study of New Testament Greek grammar concentrating in the area of syntax. Attention is also given to increasing the student’s vocabulary. Selected portions of the New Testament are translated.

Elementary Hebrew Grammar (4 credits)

A study of the essential elements of biblical Hebrew grammar. The intent of this course is to focus on the basic principles of Hebrew phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary.

Fundamentalism (2 credits)

An examination of the belief system, distinctives, and history of fundamentalism in America.

Systematic Theology I (4 credits)

A study of material introductory to systematic theology, the Bible’s teaching concerning itself, the dispensational approach to Scripture, the existence and attributes of God, and the origin and ministry of angels.

Homiletics II (2 credits)

A practical course designed to assist the student in the utilization of homiletical principles in sermon preparation and delivery. An emphasis will be placed on the application of proper speech techniques.

It’s going to be a very challenging semester, but I’m excited. I’ve already spent a couple hours memorizing the Hebrew alphabet. What could possibly be a better way to spend your time?

Stephanie and I recently visited Chicago for a long weekend getaway. Here’s some of the highlights of our trip:

We attended the Chicago Shakespeare Company’s performance of The Comedy of Errors. This was fantastic. Everytime I see a play from the CSC it seems to get better. They chose to set the play during WWII in London at the height of the Golden Age of Cinema. The setting was a movie studio and the crew was filming The Comedy of Errors. Shakespeare’s script was interwoven with a script that developed the 40s setting. It was a great choice, worked very well, and really brought the play to life. This was my third time seeing Comedy of Errors, and it was never more clear and more well done than this performance.

We also visited the Art Institute of Chicago, which is one of America’s premier Art Museums. The museum is offering free admission after 5PM during the summer months. Stephanie is a big fan of Impressionistic art, so it was all I could do to drag her out after a few hours.

We tried very hard to get Cubs tickets (they were playing Atlanta-the best team in baseball history), but the cheapest we could find was $90 per ticket. Since we are poor, we decided against it and just walked around downtown instead.

We also were able to see the Broadway musical Wicked. Stephanie has wanted to see this for several years now, but has never had the opportunity. We met an older couple from Utah that sold us some tickets for a great price, and they turned out to be great seats. Of course it goes without saying that this is an awesome production. I saw this 3-4 years ago in Chicago, and interestingly it’s still running just as strong with sell-out crowds every performance.

A highlight for me was being able to visit the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Lord willing, I plan to pursue a Th.M/Ph.D in the next few years, and while it would probably be premature for me to have a list of possible schools, TEDS will almost for sure eventually be on such a list. We were able to spend an hour or so on campus and we really enjoyed our time there. Stephanie gave her approval of TEDS only after she learned that there was a huge outlet mall only 15-20 minutes away from the campus (which we visited-for a long time).

This is a great article.