John Piper's Sermons on Romans

For my morning reading, I decided that a good "quiet time" would be to read a sermon a day through Piper's exposition through Romans. (Cf. the tab above "What Tim is Reading" if you are interested in what else I am stimulating my cerbral cortex with)

 If you know me, you know I can't stand "devotionals" that are shallow, short, and shamefully lacking theological value (pretty much all of them!). What I love about this is that it is sermons from one of the 20th centuries greatest preachers (of course he is still preaching). So it is loaded with the practical value that many desire for a quiet time devotional. But it also has the great value of John Piper's insights into Romans (perhaps the most important book in the NT). Oh how I wish he would do a commentary on the book (cf. my review on his short commentary book on Rom. 9).

 The major downside is that sermons don't always communicate most effectively through manuscript. But if you have heard Piper preach at all, you can picture and hear his words in your mind. All in all, this series is excellent and highly recommended for Christians wanting to dive into God's Word and be challenged by it at the same time.  Double thumbs up for a "quiet time devotional" (we need to change these lame cliche titles for this)!!!

What are you doing with your 2012???

I had a mission in 2011 to make it a year of growing in various areas of my life.  One area that I wanted to improve most was my reading.  I set out a reading list at the beginning of the year of books that would challenge me and cause me to grow spiritually and academically.  I would challenge you to do the same thing this year.  It is also nice to be able to choose books that you are interested in and not just books that you have to read b/c a professor assigned them to you.

For me, it took getting rid of cable TV (sad commentary about me, I know).   This year, I am challenging myself to read again with an emphasis in a certain realm of areas.  I am also reading through a new novel series for variety.  I never plan a "read your Bible in a year" thing.  But I am going through it once canonically for kicks (Hebrew canon not English).  

So what will you do with your 2012???  Will it be squandered in front of the idiot box?  Or will you expand your horizons and spend time with Jesus?

(For what it is worth, I still watch movies, so I'm not overly self-righteous or falsely pious.  Balance is the key.)

Here is the list of books I read in 2011 with some comments:

Biblical Theology

1.      The Drama of Scripture by Goheen and Bartholomew (great for small group/SS study)

2.      The Mission of God by Christopher Wright

Systematic Theology

3.      By Whose Authority by Mark Dever

OT Studies

4.      Jesus in the Old Testament by Christopher Wright (awesome!)

5.      Latter half of Hill and Walton's OT Survey (I plan on re-reading this entirely in 2012)

NT Studies (do you see a pattern of emphasis here?)

6.      Byzantine Text-Type & NT Textual Criticism by Harry Sturz

7.      The Case for Byzantine Priority by Maurice Robinson (great prof!)

8.      Jesus and the Victory of God by N. T. Wright

9.      NT and the People of God by N. T. Wright

10.  Ephesians commentary in WBC by Lincoln

11.  Ephesians commentary in TNTC by Foulkes

12.  An Introduction to the New Testament by Carson & Moo

13.  Cradle, Cross, and Crown by Kohstenberger, Kellum, & Quarles

14.  Studies in Matthew by Dale Allison (amazing!!!)

15.  ICC of Matthew vol. 1 (pages on the SotM) by Davies and Allison

16.  Reading the Gospels Wisely (pre-pub) by Jonathan Pennington (an amazing teacher and skilled writer, get your hands on this guys stuff)

Christian Living (all of these were powerful and should be read)

17.  Adopted for Life by Russell Moore

18.  Radical by David Platt

19.  The Jesus Paradigm by David Alan Black (my faculty mentor at SEBTS; an amazing scholar and exemplary servant of Jesus)

20.  Desiring God by John Piper

Other

21.  Many, many journal articles on my nook

Currently Reading

22.  Progressive Publication of Matthew by B. Ward Powers

23.  God, Family, and Marriage by Kohstenberger & Jones eds.

24.  New Testament Biblical Theology by G. K. Beale (outstanding so far!)
25. A Game of Thrones by George Martin (my new novel series, interesting so far)