1. You can now subscribe to the blog by email so that you will receive notification whenever a new post is published. (See the top right of the page, under the Search button.) Your email will not even be seen by me and will not be used for any other purpose. If you don’t like using an RSS reader and don’t like to have to go to the blog everyday to see if there is a new post, this is a nice way to be notified and save time.

2. What you see in your RSS feed is no longer truncated. I found that it’s hotly debated among business bloggers as to whether it’s best to truncate the post so that the readers will have to go to your site to read the rest of the article there and see the advertisements and your other content, or not be frustrated by having to do so and not even subscribe to the blog, which some people won’t if they see that. I admit that I truncated it so that people would come and see the affiliate banners in column on the right or books in the post, and possibly click on them. I decided that whether or not it’s a good ‘business decision’, it would serve my readers best by them not having to click on the subject line in the RSS feed in order to see the whole article, and that’s what I should care about. I know that some people like to click on it anyway and read it at the blog’s site if it’s a longer article, which I appreciate.

I’m not saying that those who truncate aren’t serving their readers in the best way. I just think in my case it is. But please click on the banners of your favorite blogs to see the interesting content they provide like best selling books, recommended books, etc. or when you buy books.

‘Never before has it been so important to say “No.” No, I’m not going to read that article. No, I’m not going to read that email. No, I’m not going to take that phone call. No, I’m not going to sit through that meeting.

It’s hard to do because maybe, just maybe, that next piece of information will be the key to our success. But our success actually hinges on the opposite: on our willingness to risk missing some information. Because trying to focus on it all is a risk in itself. We’ll exhaust ourselves. We’ll get confused, nervous, and irritable.’

–Peter Bregman Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning at Lifehacker (bold added)

In my quest to spend less time on the internet, this really stuck out to me. This article is on being more productive at work, but for me it can apply to being more productive in life by using our time better.

The reason I spend time on the internet other than social reasons–interacting with the friends I’ve made–is to learn. And I have learned a lot. But there is a lot of other stuff to wade through to find it, and as we all know, it’s easy to get off track and spend time on articles or blog posts that may be interesting, but not worth spending our time on. I’m always afraid of missing out on that free book, that great quote, or even that bit of knowledge that may help me understand an important Bible truth that I’ve been wrestling with. But I know that spending time reading the Bible along with Matthew Henry’s commentary, Calvin’s Institutes and learning Greek, as I’m doing now, will be profitable. There is no risk there. So am I willing to risk spending time on the internet to find a few gems and spend less time reading and studying the things that I know will give me a return and more importantly, [how I] worship?

I also need to ask myself, “Do I really need to read that article? Do I really need to respond to that post? Do I really need to defend myself?” Not that there should be no leisure time, spending time on hobbies and areas of interest, or interacting with friends and reading their blogs. But spending an hour in a maze of nothingness is a waste of time compared to reading the Bible or any lesser but trusted people from Calvin to D.A. Carson.

Spending less time on the internet has been something I’ve been working on for a year and I have cut down. But I want to take it a step farther. The above quote adds a new dimension to my perspective on the whole thing.

I’m not sure if the Scripture below is used in quite the right way, but I’ll risk quoting it anyway. I don’t think spending some time on the internet is foolish or like living in darkness, as the context indicates, but we do need to live wisely and spend our time well. Plus it’s more satisfying and I get less confused, nervous and irritable as the above quote says if I spend my time reading trusted authors as opposed to reading about people bickering over secondary or “thirdary” issues. (If scholars can make up words, so can I.)

Ephesians 5:15-16
Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

I’ve started using Evernote for a lot of things related to Christian stuff and was wondering if anybody has other ideas. Bitsy let me know about this free program/service.

Each of these is a Notebook:

• God Spoke–(always something Scriptural of course) or revealed something in Scripture or gave me a new thing to praise him or thank him for or opened my eyes to sin–I realized these really need to be written down
• Quotes
• Scholar Terms–that I’ve never heard of
• Scripture Subjects-this is like my own personalized concordance, like what’s that verse in Acts about Limited Atonement? I had these written in the back of a Bible, two Bibles ago.
• Notebook for saved web pages, basically articles or blog posts, very easy to do but I haven’t tried organizing it into sub-notebooks yet
• Subjects in Commentaries and Books–If there is section in a book that describes something that I might want to use as a reference later on, I write it at the top of the page. But what good does that do? So now I’m going through all of the commentaries that I’ve read (almost all of them) and some books and looking for those words written at the top of pages so I’ll know where they are. As of now I do it right the moment I see one. When I get the old ones done, this along with the web clipping Notebook will be a decent resource. I’ve read about authors who write these things on note cards, but I have no idea how they keep track of them. With searching and the addition of tags (key words), it’s so easy to find things, as long as they’re thought out well when entering them.
• Photo Ideas-I used to use bookmarks, but now I can include the photo and when I “clip” the link, it automatically includes the URL (address). If the page is later gone, I still have the picture for the idea.

I use Amazon for my Wish Lists and mainly Goodreads for books along with LibraryThing. Right now I need to get caught up on eBooks. Otherwise my small paper book library is completed, which I did a while ago and wasn’t too difficult with less than 100 books at the time I did it.

Any other ideas?

Evernote.com

Lifehacker looks like a good book. Click on each to see them at Amazon (affiliate links).

If you would like to help support this blog (Jeff), please consider making your Amazon, Westminster or Monergism purchases by going through the links to the right. Your cost is the same and I get a very small commission. It takes a very long time to get a $10 gift certificate from Amazon, but when I do, it’s pretty exciting. Westminster’s may take about 5 years to get anything. I just started Monergism. Westminster’s has some really interesting links in the left column just to look at and Monergism has some great sale items and eBooks. If you don’t buy from mine, buy from your favorite blog’s affiliate links if they have any. I sometimes forget and feel very stupid. Don’t let yourself feel stupid.

I’m also on Pinterest. One of the few men and people who isn’t into fingernail art, planning weddings, buying furniture I can’t afford and basically living an Rachael Ray life. The men will come around.

Thank you for anyone who has clicked or bought through here.

(Aren’t I original?)

I don’t want to read anymore about what’s wrong with evangelicals, labels, who’s pilfering from their ministry, why Arminians don’t get it, vitriolic comments, doctrinal minutiae, what Pat Robertson said, what translation philosophy is best, how the internet is ruining our minds, how social media is ruining our relationships. It fuels my judgmentalism, pride and wastes time. But there is good stuff on the Web including excellent blogs. I’m still trying to figure out how to choose, filter and navigate. Sometimes I just want to read books–which without online reviews I wouldn’t know about or be able to have about a 90% success rate for quality–which are by far the best source of teaching, but I don’t want to miss other good stuff. Sometimes a lot can be learned from some good short articles. I also have some pretty valuable online relationships. I’ve reduced time on the internet, but need to do more. I’ve read good stuff about that from secular sources, but that only brings me so far.

Know what I mean?

The most searched for term that people land on this blog is… Naked Lady. But this is no April Fool’s joke. To see the naked lady on my blog, which is rated G, go to the Naked Lady post. I did it for search engine bait and it worked. I really need to present the gospel on that page along with the Scripture. Does anyone have the Twitter versions of the gospel from well-known preachers?

P.S. The blog has been down for a few days at the end of each month because of going over bandwidth. I may need to change web hosts.

Our blogging friend Mark Stevens asks us to post pictures of our office, which most of us find interesting. In the past I showed mine:
“Office” of an Invalid; Meme
but a few things have changed so I have an updated picture from a year ago that is now again in season. I won’t go through details of things that have changed from the last post that can’t be seen. The computer stand is a big help.

I will have a pain pump installed (by a doctor) for partial relief, God willing, of low back pain but still have the problem of chronic fatigue and other things, so I don’t know if I’ll stay here or move part-time to a recliner.

Click the picture for a larger one. (This is HDR, for photography enthusiasts, although it’s not a whole lot different than a single exposure.)

Library Thing – my library is small enough that they all fit in a free account

This may sound awfully strange, but I’m so thankful to have a nice place to be miserable, or a place that helps me to be a bit less miserable. I can’t imagine the conditions most of the people in the world live in. I don’t see how I could stand it. I’m so blessed to have this, and more importantly a loving and supportive wife.

If you would like to show us your office, please do.

Athletes have been “Tebowing” since 1977 according to this article. Why do people think Tim Tebow invented it?

Why pray or praise or thank after a touchdown anyway? I can see praying for safety (as in being safe) but that doesn’t need a public gesture.

An athlete praising God after a loss, saying that there is a much higher purpose in life (which I did see on TV once), goes a longer way with me. Not that Tim Tebow wouldn’t do this.

Losing faith in the NFL

Also see this great post:
“Tebowing” -The new planking for God?

Some people say, “God will never reveal his plan for you if you don’t seek out to him for guidance” as Greg Jennings* did. Well if that’s true, I wish God would have told me that I would deal with mental illness, chronic fatigue and chronic back pain so I could be ready for it. But God doesn’t work that way. I can’t find any place in the Bible where God reveals his plans for your life. Certainly he has plans and God’s will comes about no matter what.

Another thing is, when God does supposedly reveals plans, it never seems to be things we would consider negative. But these are the things that God often uses to bring us much closer to him, if we are willing to submit to God’s will.

Just as if God were to answer all of our prayers in the affirmative, can you imagine the chaos if God revealed to us his plans for us? This would have unimaginable ramifications. We need to live by faith and not by sight.

From a human logical point of view, if God revealed to us that we would be successful, we might not work as hard. If he revealed that we would become very ill, we may despair and give up. As far as the small things, learn what God’s will is as well as you can as life goes on, want desperately to please Him, ask for knowledge and wisdom, and if you truly delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4), do whatever you want.

*I love Greg Jennings and the Packers. He is obviously a brother in the Lord and could very well be more mature (more than I was at his age for sure), more faithful and more knowledgeable that me. I disagree that God will reveal to us specific extra-Biblical material, with some minor exceptions. Jennings does come from a very different denominational background that me. “Be Great” is maybe a subject for another post. I hope he can play at his highest level until he’s at least 40 and keep publicly speaking about God as he matures.

2 Corinthians 5:7 GW
Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight.

For those unfamiliar, a testimony in most evangelical Christian lingo is how you became a Christian. Most people say, “I shared my testimony.” The word share is an  over-used catch-all for explain, say, proclaim (as in proclaiming the gospel), talk, speak, preach and many other words which involve speech. I’m writing this because my ‘testimony’ is so short that I thought I’d write about some other things.

My testimony:

I read the book of John in the Bible and within that time the Holy Spirit came to me and caused me to believe.

That’s about it. I’m so thankful that God used the Bible in his own timing and I can’t claim anything. I didn’t even buy or ask for a Bible. Someone gave it to me and suggested I read the book of John and ask God to speak to me. What a wonderful thing God did and is still doing.

At the time, the sinner’s prayer (asking Jesus into your heart, which I still don’t understand or find in the Bible, accepting Jesus as your personal savior, etc.) was, and probably is so in vogue that I prayed it later on just to make sure I ‘did it right’. I now know those were brought about in large part because of Charles Finney. Because of God working in us even though we don’t deserve it, belief in Jesus dying and rising again and being the way to God is how we become Christians, not going to church or being a good person (which none of us really are–not enough anyway) or doing good things. (John 5:24, Ephesians 2:8-9)

I’m also practicing explaining things without using Christian lingo. I like to say things in my own words anyway.

So that’s my boring but wonderful testimony. I love how God worked that out so that I can’t brag about anything and he only used Scripture. If you aren’t a Christian and would like to try it, please do. If you need any help with a Bible, how to go about it, or especially need help after you read it, let me and my blogging friends know.

If you haven’t see this plugin/web site feature: Try highlighting any text, like this:
Is God a Moral Monster?
or anything like, propitiation, or D.A. Carson or anything else in any post that you’re interested in. Hover over ‘Learn More’ when it comes up and you can find it at whatever site it thinks would be best (many times Wikipedia unfortunately), search results from this site, and at the top you can also find videos and images. This will make it a lot faster to look up books than going to Amazon and searching for them there. Opt out at the very bottom if you don’t like it.

This is powered by Apture and can be installed as a plugin in your browser or included in your web site by adding a bit of code just above the body tag. You have to be really smart and have your own site to do that though.

I’ve been reading Is God a Moral Monster? and enjoying it a lot. There are a lot of things to praise God for that are explained in that book.

I’m not so sure exactly what the first quote is meaning when it comes to wearing the cross as jewelry. Obviously there are people who wear it and have no idea what it means or even use it sacrilegiously. For a while I was rather against using the cross as adornment, although not having a problem with others who know what it means wearing it, but this second quote makes me think. Let me know what you think. (Scripture added)

The cross has become a piece of jewelry, a beautiful decoration in a church, a symbol of faith. It is difficult for us to pass back through the centuries of tradition to see crucifixion as a form of capital punishment so horrible that polite people would not so much as mention it… If the idea of crucifixion was abhorrent to decent people in the ancient world, imagine the difficulty of trying to convince them that a god—indeed, the God—had willingly endured such a punishment.

– Thomas Schmidt (from A Scandalous Beauty)

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Once a Muslim expressed to me his disbelief and even scorn at the idea of Christian wearing crosses: “How can Christians wear with pride the instrument of torture and humiliation? If your brother were killed in an electric chair, would you wear an electric chair around your neck?” I replied that it depends: “If my brother happened to be Jesus of Nazareth and his death in an electric chair brought about my salvation and was the means by which evil was defeated and creation renewed, then he would have transformed a symbol of shame and punishment into something glorious.”

–Paul Copan, Is God A Moral Monster?

Colossians 2:13-15
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Another ranty, possibly unfocused post without a clear point to it.

There are the stereotypical (having some truth) old Calvinists like John MacArthur, recently slinging his guns, and the stereotypical ‘New’, or ‘Young, Restless and Reformed’, who got shot at. (Let’s say Calvinist and Reformed are synonymous.) Then there are those in between, which is where I am, but don’t yet know where on the spectrum I lie. It probably doesn’t matter a whole lot, as long as I’m headed in the right direction. But it sure can be frustrating and I would like to briefly write about some things I’m wrestling with, especially near the end of the post.

Erik Raymond knows first hand what it’s like to be in MacArthur’s sights, even if it’s indirectly, and he isn’t the type MacArthur is referring to. We’ve both learned so much from John MacArthur. MacArthur and John Piper (another one who is getting a little weird) were instrumental in the beginning of my path to learning so much about God’s sovereignty at a very difficult time in my life. It has been life changing to start to really learn about God’s character as revealed in the Bible.

John MacArthur referenced Erik Raymond (the very first link in the post, unfortunately), who has a blog called Ordinary Pastor (the link is his ‘rebuttal’ of sorts, which is excellent), formerly Irish Calvinist. This was very unfair and I doubt MacArthur went on his computer (if he has one–seriously, he might not, which is OK) and sought out this link himself. MacArthur’s ministry, Grace To You, has now issued a followup to MacArthur’s blog post. He said he did it out of love but he never seems to say that the first time.

Among the old guard there are also sometimes things like this:

In recent church history, earth-toned paisley ties fell off the necks of pastors and were replaced by mock turtlenecks and open-collared shirts of every color in the rainbow.

Open-collared shirts–God help us! I have always hated suits and ties. Why do some people think pastors and churchgoers have to look like corporate executives when we’re supposed to be separate from the world? Some of you will vehemently disagree and say that we should respect God by what we wear when hearing His Word. I still hate dress clothes.

On the other hand: I didn’t come from Arminianism to Calvinism quickly or easily  by listening to a few sermons by “famous” pastors or by reading some blog posts. It was with kicking and screaming (in my head). Although it was without having read Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, which should probably be a prerequisite, I have read quite extensively, including a couple of overview type books, too many articles and posts to count, and I especially have a knowledge and liking of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession. I have the Institutes in my possession and will read them most likely next year. I also went back and read more about Arminianism from good sources, which means material not written by Calvinists, just to make sure I knew both as best I could. I’ve read completely through the Bible, sometimes even trying to see things from the Arminian perspective, but the extent of God’s sovereignty, among many other aspects of God’s character, and doctrine that happens to line up with Calvinism, just keep coming through everywhere. So I know I am a Calvinist.

I’m also not into the stereotypical (which is in the minority, I hope) Young, Restless and Reformed style of boasting about drinking beer, watching MMA (because I’m a real man who believes in a Jesus who could ‘take me’ and not one with flowing blonde hair who always speaks soothingly), and just wanting to be  ’other’ than the typical evangelical. I’m not going to comment on those things at this point. I’m not saying they’re wrong or I do or don’t participate or believe those things. What I’m saying is I’m not constantly talking about it to brag about how different or manly I am. I used to think this way about some other things and it’s very arrogant. I think this is what John MacArthur was trying to get at in his abrasive way.

So I’m not into suits and ties, at all, I don’t like the stodgy old guard, I don’t shun everything new, I don’t like the ESV, and I think the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is kind of creepy even though I’m a complementarian of sorts. And as mentioned in the last paragraph I’m also not into the stereotypical young, [N]ew Calvinist thang. (Do they say that anymore?) So I don’t know exactly what kind of Calvinist I am. And you may notice, I’m not even talking doctrinal stuff, although that is a big factor I’m just not writing about here.

This has been my quandary for a while: I feel like if I didn’t read blogs and material from unproven sources on the webternet, I might be in a better position to just learn, without all the labels and infighting and outfighting and all the peripheral stuff. On the other hand, I have learned a lot from blogs and very much appreciate my blogging friends. It’s lonely being someone who likes to read a lot, studying theology, knowing the difference between a Calvinist and Arminian etc. My blogging friends can help fill that void a little.

Just between us, because it can sound arrogant, here is a great quote on that, found in a comment on a blog post:

jangulat says:
May 22, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Nathan, oftentimes the path to greater learning is a lonely one. We humans are generarally content to possess a breadth of knowlege a mile wide [that's pretty wide though] and an inch deep.

Dig only slightly deeper and the crowd thins out dramatically.
You are apparently past digging and now mining. Hence, your travel companions on the path you’ve chosen will likely be few and far between.

So I’m not about to leave my friends. But when you get on that interwebz machine, even if you’re at a legitimate place of higher learning, it often takes you to the places that suck you in and you don’t realize you just wasted time until after you’ve wasted it (like this blog post?).

So I will keep on trying to keep in step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25), trying to figure out which blogs to follow and which to not, try to spend less time on the internet in general–which I’ve improved on–and more time reading proven authors, including the inspired ones, and try to keep my eyes on things above.

I’m not intending to teach or tell people what to do with any authority, but I want to add some value to this post by listing some things I think are important. I hope I’m not embarrassed about this five years from now. Take it for what it’s worth.

• As I’m learning in Genesis right now, God’s purposes will be done no matter how much we think we may mess things up. We don’t need to defend God for how people act other than to let people know who God really is. We need to let people think what they will. Many people hate God and hate Christians and this is how it will always be. (Matthew 10:22)
• If you want to be a Calvinist, make sure to know what it is. Make sure you also know what Arminianism, Open Theism and Universalism are, especially if you want to defend your views. People are misrepresenting each other all the time and it’s maddening to see. I’m not an apologist for Calvinism so I don’t get into that very much. If you’re not very sure about what something is, don’t say anything about it. (This is also why I don’t talk much about politics and economics.)
• Don’t pester those who are solid Christians by trying to convert them to Calvinism unless they have an interest. They’re already Christians! They are in God’s hands now whether you like it or not. (Rom 14:8)
• Lift up Christ, not Calvin. We are a Christians first. If I’m thinking about Calvinism more than Christ and basic Biblical doctrine, I’ve gone off the path.
• If you are a hyper-Calvinist, stop it right now. (Two links there)
• When interacting with other Calvinists, bear with one another. (Colossians 3:13) Realize that we have freedom in Christ, to a point, and not quibble about a beer or open-collared shirts unless alcoholism or addiction to open-collared shirts is involved. There are all kinds at many different levels of maturity. It’s hard enough for Christians to be united. Can we at least as Calvinists show some love towards each other in addition to all kinds of believers? (Galatians 6:10) I’ll try my best to bear with those who don’t like open-colored shirts.
• My only hero is Jesus. The rest are too flawed.

This is not directed in any way towards my blogging friends and those who have blogs devoted to Calvinism. The good ones have been very helpful to me and the people have been great in backing me up here and helping me along. If you disagree with any of this, feel free to continue sharpening in the comments. (Proverbs 27:17)

Colossians 3:1-3 NRSV
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Also see:

• “What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol / wine? Is it a sin for a Christian to drink alcohol / wine?” – explains possible alcohol content too
• New to Reformed Theology

• The London Riots: The Whole Truth With No Ifs And No Buts! – a terrible subject but I think a well-written perspective on it
• G.K. Beale’s Magnum Opus: A New Testament Biblical Theology – looks interesting
• Bible: Sola Scriptura – by Peter J. Leithart
• Is Philippians 4:19 a Promise You Can Claim? – I plan to compile a post on another one of these–Jeremiah 29:11
• I cried out to the Lord for healing. – an excellent post on healing that will make you think

Many of these will be very offensive and politically incorrect.

——

You don’t have to tell people there’s going to be a beep when leaving a message. They already know that.

“Finding a bathroom can eventually become a process of elimination.”
–Accidentally made up by an unnamed friend of mine, which I slightly reworded

Have you ever noticed that it’s almost always pastors who say you need to become a member of a ‘church’? Much worse, that you should “tithe” beyond your means. Um, Paul was saying what the Philippians did, not what people should do. I’ll stop there before I get driven out of blogdom. (Although this stuff is politically incorrect, I don’t mean to offend or ‘go after’ all pastors here. It’s just the idea–and a hotly debated one.)

By Biblical definition, our heart is also our head. I hate to tell you this, but there is no gulf between our head and heart. The two terms aren’t mutually exclusive. Intellectual knowledge vs. true belief may be more to the point in some cases. There may be a post on this someday.

How do you “ask Jesus into your heart”? Could someone tell me what verse this comes from? Do we have the authority to do that? Isn’t it the other way around?

Do we “accept Jesus” or does He accept us? (The NLT and GNT ruined this for me. How could they do that?)

Whenever somebody says they, “Ran into a friend of mine”, I wonder if they got hurt.

The word “share” seems to finally be on the decline after decades of overuse. Or maybe my mind is sparing me and I just don’t notice it as much. I hope the same happens with “comfort zone” and “closure” and asking and answering your own questions. Do these things drive me nuts? Yes. Is there anything I can do about it? Unfortunately, no, other than calling these people dweebs, one at a time.

Speaking of overused words–I know John Piper wants his translation (version) of the Bible to have “all of the words”, but we don’t need the word “for” at the beginning of every sentence in English. Really. I’ve asked. (Read 1 Cor. 1:17 through the end of the chapter in the ESV.) I’m sure there is something else to base a sermon on. And by the way, as much as I like them, I think it would be just great if the big three–Sproul, MacArthur and Piper, would never ever be allowed to say anything about translations ever again. Please forgive me for my lack of humility towards my elders. They have shaped my view of God’s sovereignty in very major, life changing way during the time that I needed it most.

I don’t care what some Baptists on a committee think about the new NIV any more than I care what liberals think about guns. The NIV and guns will always be there and they both work pretty well for good or bad.

Some praise choruses cause many people to (unknowingly) lie, like when they sing, “I Surrender All”. The more you lose, the more you realize how difficult it is to Surrender All. Maybe I’m taking it too literally, but that’s how the song is worded. It could have said it’s a goal or frame of mind.

What if the leader says to pray if you “feel” led and I don’t feel led but I still want to pray?

All of my blogging and Facebook friends are great about handling my comments and prayer requests regarding chronic suffering of various sorts. How is it that all of them know not to give dumb advice and just give a word of encouragement and/or let me know they will pray? Those of us who suffer chronically will tell you it can be a nightmare when it comes to the “advice”. I can’t tell you how nice this is not to have to be afraid every time I post something personal in that regard. I’m very thankful for that.