Reading Update

I put the Navy Seals book to rest this weekend (just shy of 400 pages in one week, possibly a new record for me...and it wasn't even written by Driscoll) but I have some ground to make up in Calvin. I've also become a bit distracted by McKnight's recent work A Community Called Atonement. G reccomended it to me and let me borrow it. It was just intended to be a weekend fling, nothing more than a regular page turn and skim, but by Sunday night I had already read three chapters (they're short). I think it's enough ot put it down for now, but I definately want to come back to it. Still I've passed the 500 mark and I'm still going. Bob would be thrilled to see Calvin spends several sections dealing with the importance of the Ascension as it relates to Redemption, something he (Bob) has elsewhere rightly pointed out is a common neglect. I must admit, though, my tremendous progress in reading nowhere near rivals that of my wife. She banged out ALL of the Harry Potter books between the middle of August and the middle of September. Sure, you may sneer, they're just kids books. Fine, nevertheless it totals to well over 4,000 pages in less than 30 days. Wow. We're looking into a detox program for her even as I type...

Currently Reading

Since I'm just about done, I'm not going to bother adding this one to the sidebar, but it rocks! Dawn and I were in Barnes and Noble this past weekend and it caught my eye. Always the cheapo, we immediately drove 3 blocks to the library so I could check it out. I started it on Sat night and have banged out about 300 pages already (if only I could read Calvin and Vanhoozer that fast). It's about a 4 man SEAL recon team in Afghanastan back in '05. They got pinned down by roughly a 160 strong Taliban force that held the upper ground. The 4 SEALs wiped out roughly half of them before sustaining any losses, though ultimately only one survived. This book recounts his journey into the SEALs, BUD/S training and Hell Week and then the ordeal in Afghanastan.

Special warfare, particularly the SEALs has always been a hobby of mine and every so often I'll pick up a 400 page book and devour it. The first half of this one makes you want to pray your son grows up to be a SEAL (the training and discipline and toughnes) the second half makes you want to pray he never sees a battlefield in his life. It's amazing, one of the SEALs endured several falls down the mountain side, had his thumb blown off, took an AK round to the back that came out his stomach and 2 more to his neck. He was still firing his M4 as his buddies dragged him out of a clearing. These guys are unbelievable. It's always good to do some outside reading and while the literary style may be lacking here and there, the plotline is entirely compelling.

Update on My Reading

Amazingly and ironically I'm perservearing in Calvin's Institutes. Sure, I'm a little behind the curve, but I passed the halfway point of the first volume this past weekend (which is to say I'm almost 1/3 of the way through the whole) and still going. The prognosis, however, is not nearly as good for Marshall's NT Theology. In fact, I haven't touched it in almost two weeks and though I did pound out about 175 pages, I've decided to officially abandon the pursuit. No real criticism for Marshall, it's just not exactly what I was looking for. Much of the material is sort of an advanced survey. I don't personally profit much from this type of approach. I never know whether it would help or hinder to have a text open alongside; I think surveys work best for me when I'm the one doing the survey, firsthand. His synthesis was fantastic though and if you're like me and don't think the survey material matches your learning style you owe it to yourself to at least read the synthesis sections. In it's place, you'll notice on the side margin that I've replaced (yes replacement theology at work here) it with Hay's book on ethics (props to Barker for hooking me up with this volume), which I just started this morning and it looks very promising.

A Koine Reader

Looks like there's a sweet new resource coming down the pike pretty soon from Rod Decker, who has, incidently, recently entered the blogosphere.

Now Reading

Alright, I think I've made it far enough to go public with what I'm currently reading (I'm finallly going to update my side bar too). I am currently reading The Institutes by Calvin and NT Theology by Marshall. I was reticent to mention these books because: 1) They are both well over 200 pages 2) neither has any pictures 3) Driscoll did not co-author either of these. Nevertheless, I am in book two of The Institutes and closing in on the 100 page mark for Marshall. Will I ever finish either them? Only time will tell...though I'm sure a reprobate snowball would stand a better chance.

P.S. The Kingdom and Gospel discussion is still going in the comment section of Part 2. I may end up with a part 3 in a week or two, but we'll see. Either way, I appreciate all the contributions so far. I tend to sharpen ideas by tossing them out for discussion and I have benefited from all the responses so far. Please keep them coming.

Recent Acquisitions

If you didn't get in on the DG sale a month or two back, then it sucks to be you. While I was tempted to go hog wild, I limited myself to these three (to be fair, I do already own a book or two of Piper's). Future Grace is a must for discipleship in your church, I plan on reading The Justification of God when I hit Romans 9 preaching through the book (when I plant a church some day) and Dawn and I are planning on reading through What Jesus Demands from the World together.

Cokesbury Rocks!

Okay I may be one of the last few stuck in Virginia, but nothing beats Cokesbury's book sales. They're finishing off what's left of their inventory reduction and now it's down to bags. Bags? you ask...yes bags. You buy a bag and take home whatever you can fit in it. Today's accquisitions:

Science and Religion: An Introduction - McGrath
Engaging God's World - Platinga
The Ressurection of Jesus - Wright and Crossan in Dialogue
A Biblical Theology of Exile - Smith-Christopher
The Last Days of Jesus - Bovon
The Romans Debate - Donfried
Justified Before God - Kaiber
He Came Down from Heaven (on Preexistence) - McCready
Jesus and the Father - Giles
Breaking the DaVinci Code - Bock
Truth and Fiction in the DaVinci Code - Ehrman
From Christ to the Word - an ethics reader including everyone from Calvin and Luther to Hauerwas and Yoder.

How much was the bag? a measly $5. They never saw me coming...

Reading Projects

Though my current reading list is no longer reflected in the margin, I hesitate to update it. I have finished Smith's book on Postmodernism and the church and will probably blog briefly about it if a week or two (though in that amount of time most people could probably read it through several times). I'm reticent to post the new volumes I've undertaken because both of them exceed 700 pages. Of course, this means 1) no I probably won't ever finish them, seeing Vanhoozer's work is sadly the longest I've read in the last 8 months or so 2) I'll probably get distracted and start reading something else in the next few hours and 3) Even if I did finish them, It would be several years from now and that's a long wait for a review. So...maybe I'll add them and maybe I'll just read Confessions again (Yes, Driscoll, not Augustine).

Books I'd Like to Read...Someday

While some may happen sooner than others, and some aren't in print yet, these are some titles I've come across recently that I'd really like to read sooner rather than later. Since the pictures are kinda blurry, they are The New Perspective on Paul by James D.G. Dunn (forthcoming this fall), A Better Hope by Stanley Hauerwas and Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer. No agenda here or anything, I've just been thinking about these titles a bit lately and thought this might help get them off my mind.

Another One Bites the Dust

Last Friday night, prior to leaving for NH, I finished Vanhoozer's Drama of Doctrine. Yes, I have silenced the mouths of all ye who slander me...at least until you hit the comments section. Nevertheless, its' been quite a journey. I started back in March and I can honestly say it's been the weightiest book I've read in a loooong time. Forget the prospect of a book review from me; I'm not even going to try. Read it for yourself - it's worth it. I may post some of the most significant lessons learned in coming weeks, but that remains to be seen.

One more thought: I'd like to conduct an informal pole in the comment section. Thought it's presumptious to think there are very many people reading this still, as my blogging has been sporadic at best, google reader gives me hope. Were you more suprised that 1) I got a tattoo or 2) I finished a 400 plus page book by Vanhoozer? I figured I'd post these two dramatic (yes the pun is intended) posts back to back.

It's Here!

For those who haven't seen it, Bock's commentary on Acts in the BECNT series is available on Amazon. A major exegetical commentary on Luke and now Acts...wow...that's hardcore.

Recent Acquisition

Cokesbury comes through again! Every so often we stumble onto a phenomenal sale at Cokesbury (located right behind Hooters on Battlefield for those in VA Beach - yes it's a terrible landmark, but you know right where I'm talking about :-) This time Julie discovered a 50% off inventory reduction sale and was gracious enough to let us know. Ok, I was with her husband when she called, but he could have lied and said he had to tend to a family emergency (I wouldn't put it past him :-) Anyway, this was one of my treasures, acquired for just $10. I couldn't wait to at least page turn through it (the typical fate of most of my books) so I gave it a go yesterday afternoon (which we spent at the beach...I love VA in January!). Suffice it to say, this is one of the first books I've ever come under conviction through from just flipping through the pages and randomnly stopping. I can hardly wait to read the whole thing (silence, you scoffers). Just consider this representative quote from his synthesis:

"Again, Jesus; model of ministering to people of all backgrounds challenges us to cross the culture-gap between the Christian sub-culture of cozy meetings and holy talk and the pagan culture of our local community. The task of identification with and incarnation into our contemporary paganism, of all kinds is one of the biggest tasks confronting the church. If Jesus was right, and the prevailing view in ancient Judaism wrong, so that holiness can be more contagious than impurity, then we need not fear such activity. the sad examples of Christians being corrupted and adopting the sinful practices of their non-Christian acquaintances with whom they associate is a testimony to thier unwillingness to rely on the Spirit's power and not a disproof of the viability of Jesus model" (p. 173).

Now that's not Nate Mihelis talking (though I've been trumpeting the last sentence since I burst the bubble of Bible College after graduating from such a sub-culture), nor is it even Driscoll. It's Craig Blomberg, as a summation and application of 160 plus pages of wrestling with OT, NT and Intertestimental texts! Good stuff, though it's bound to step on your toes. Gotta love those United Methodists (especially their book sales)!