2/3

I finished my leisure and bathroom reading this week.  I guess there's something about setting goals that really pushes us to accomplish them...fast.  I can't say that I really enjoyed the sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula.  In fact, it was a pretty horrible book that I regret reading.  If there was ANYTHING that I got out of it though, it was one line that came towards the end of the story:  We learn from pain.

When I was in college, the only science classes that I ever took were from this one professor who had a series of courses on the brain.  I remember learning about the rare case of a young girl who was born with a brain that didn't have pain receptors.  While we think it would be wonderful to have a life without any physical pain, it actually endangered the young girl who eventually died at an early age.  Too much harm was being done to her body and she was never aware of it.  She simply was unable to "learn from pain."  It turns out that we need these unpleasant signals in order to survive in this dangerous world...especially in the world of vampires.

My bathroom reading, on the other hand, turned out to be a very good read.  I had often heard preachers praise the commentaries of N.T. Wright, but it wasn't until I first read one of his books that I actually got a glimpse of his brilliance.  I don't have the knowledge or eloquence to give an apt summary of the book or even of what I learned.  So I leave you with three memorable quotes that I took time to write down from Justification:

Quote #1:  Paul does not say, 'I am in Christ; Christ has obeyed the Torah.; therefore God regards me as though I had obeyed the Torah.' He says: 'I am in Christ; Christ had died and been raised; therefore God regards me - and I must learn to regard myself - as someone who has died to sin and been raised to newness of life.'

Quote #2:  We are not saved from the world of creation, but saved for the world of creation. Humans were made to take care of God's wonderful world, and it is not too strong to say that the reason God saves humans is not simply that he loves them for themselves but that he loves them for what they truly are - his pro-creators, his stewards, his vice-gerents over creation.

Quote #3:  When people believe the gospel of Jesus and his resurrection, and confess him as Lord, they are in fact doing what Torah wanted all along, and are therefore displaying the necessary marks of covenant renewal.

I'm finally going to start Wicked and Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage.

Thought of the Day:  회

Song of the Day:  Kim Jong Kook-남자가 다 그렇지 뭐