Think

Typically, reading anything written by John Piper is like eating spinach. I know it's good for me, but I don't particularly like the taste or texture. Piper's book Think is different. It's smaller than other books of his that I've chomped through and it's more personal and "on the street", something I can more easily identify with. Ironically, I think because he gets fairly personal and less heady in this book, I am able to more easily connect with it.

Here are a couple excerpts that I really like:

• [This book is] mainly for the Christian - in or out of school - who wants to know God better, love him more, and care about people. (p 16)
• It's about using the means God has given us to know him, love him, and serve people. Thinking is one of those means. I would like to encourage you to think, but not to be too impressed with yourself when you do. (p 17)
• ...the serious thinkers may be humble. And the careless mystics may be arrogant. The aim of this book is to encourage serious, faithful, humble thinking that leads to true knowledge of God, which leads to loving him, which overflows in loving others. (p 20)
• Without a profound work of grace in the heart, thinking puffs up. But with that grace, thinking opens the door of humble knowledge. And that knowledge is the fuel of the fire of love for God and man. (p 21)
• Some of my notions about God went up in the flames of biblical truth. (p 26)
• ...the soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears. Some joys are only possible on the other side of sorrow. (p 26)
• ...all training is painful and frustrating on the way to skills that later become second nature and lead to greater joy. The person who will not embrace the pain and frustration will remain at lower levels of achievement and joy. (p 47)
• ...the golden rule of reading implies: work hard with your mind to understand what an author intended to convey. (p 45)

I like the recurring theme: know God better, which leads to loving him more, which leads to loving people in deeper and more God-like ways.

Spring

I like spring:

daylight savings time means more time in the evenings after work
green grass
blue bonnets
warmth
new babies
looking forward to summer where the pace of life seems slower, even when it really isn't
the plants on the back porch that made it through the winter are now showing new life
salads
Sonic root beer floats
shedding horse and dog
iced chai lattes
hope
newness
reminder that after the night comes day
Genesis 8:22: God has promised that as long as this earth remains, the seasons will not cease and Spring will always follow Winter

Stars by David Crowder

you should see the stars tonight
how they shimmer shine so bright
against the black they look so white
comin down from such a height
to reach me now, reach me now


you should see the moon in the flight
cuttin cross the misty night
softly dancin in sunshine
reflections of this light
reach me now, you reach me now


and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful again


and you should feel the sun in the spring
comin out after a rain
suddenly all is green
sunshine on everything
i can feel it now, i feel you now


and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful


and you should hear the angels sing
all gathered round their king
more beautiful than you could dream
i've been quietly listening
you can hear 'em now, i hear em now


and how could such a king
shine His light on me
and make everything beautiful
and i wanna shine
i wanna be light
i wanna tell you it'll be alright
and i wanna shine and i wanna fly
just to tell you now
it'll be alright, it'll be alright
it'll be alright.


cus i got nothing of my own to give to you
but this light that shines on me shines on you
and makes everything beautiful, again.
it'll be alright, it'll be alright.

pooh bear

springtime

Excerpt from The Reason for God

"The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus' miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming." (p 99)

Tim Keller