the untimely death of a loved one

People often talk about “the untimely death of a loved one” as though there is such a thing as the timely death of a loved one. The general assumption is that we all die so therefore timely deaths are those that happen to your grandparents or a great-uncle or even your parents as you get older and untimely ones are those that happen to your spouse, siblings or your children.

There is some truth in this of course, as the oft quoted Hebrews 9:27 says “it is appointed unto men once to die…” so we must accept it. However, that misses the full picture. Death is always untimely. By its very nature it is a result of evil and thus “untimely” even to the oldest of us. Moreover it takes us outside of time and is thus untimely or shall we say non-time-ly. Lets read Hebrews 9:27-28 and get the fuller picture.

Hebrews 9:27–28 (NIV)
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

I would urge you to read the entire letter but just these two verses enlighten us with so much more. Death is not final. Following death there is judgement. This will be an unfortunate wake-up call to the “death is a great experience filled with bright lights” crowd but it is what has been revealed to us by him who went through death and came back. There is also good news, indeed great news, Christ was sacrificed so that sins would be removed and when he returns he will bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Are you waiting for him? If not, there is nothing beyond death but judgement my friend. That is the stark reality and I would sooner believe an incarnate God who died and rose again than those who promise pie in the sky…

Looking for a daily devotional for 2012?

In 2011 I finished reading D.A. Carson’s For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word. There are two volumes for use over two years. They run about 400 full pages each so they are a little more in-depth than much of what is available. He chooses from one of 3 or 4 texts each day and comments on it, ending with an application. If you follow his reading plan you will also read through the Bible during each year.

They are also available online from Carson himself. Take a look here http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Devotional/ for his books and a number of other daily devotionals.

2011 in Reading

This year’s post is once again dedicated to Aunt Joan who cares about such things .

2011 was a super busy year for us. Even busier than 2010, which I remember as being busy. I still managed to do some reading in my spare time; on buses, on airplanes, on trains. Statistically speaking it ranked well behind last year but I tried to read selectively and stick with winners. At least those available to me.

Total books finished: 143
Total pages read 31,836
Average length of a book: 223 pages
Number of non-English books: 6
Best month: January (28 books)
Slowest months: March-May (12 books total and only 2875 pages)

My page count average is a little higher than usual; the highest it has been since 2005 when it was 229. I compared my reading to the New York Times bestseller list again this year. Last year I had read 126 of 8,756 New York Times bestsellers. I am now up to 152, however the total number has mushroomed to 10518! You can check out the list on LibraryThing. http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/New+York+Times+bestseller

Why were the Nazis evil?

Why were the Nazis evil?

That’s a jolly good question but not one that psychologists were able to solve according to Howard Triest a translator involved in interviewing Nazi leaders after the war.

He says that, despite the psychiatrists’ best attempts, no great insight was gained into psychological source of the Nazi mentality.

“Did we learn anything from these psychiatric tests? No. We didn’t find anything abnormal, nothing to indicate something that would make them the murderers they would become.

“In fact, they were all quite normal. Evil and extreme cruelty can go with normality.

Imagine that, they were all “quite normal.” I would go as far as to say that not only can evil and extreme cruelty go together with “normality” but it is normality in a world lost without a Saviour. Watch End of the Spear for another great example.

Free resources for Logos Bible Software

Who doesn’t like to get something for nothing? If that includes you be sure to check out Logos Bible Software’s blog post. They are preparing to release over 3000 Perseus documents for free. These will integrate with Logos Bible Software and provide a ton of material for scholars and others to wade through. It is currently on pre-order as they finalise things and then prepare to release the material in batches in a first come first serve order. The download will be about 1GB so it will require a lot of bandwidth.

Here’s the list:
1. Perseus Classics Collection (1,114 vols.)
2. Perseus Arabic Collection (37 vols.)
3. Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (257 vols.)
4. Perseus Renaissance Collection (22 vols.)
5. Perseus Civil War and 19th-Century American Collection (340 vols.)
6. Beowulf
7. Richmond Times-Dispatch (1,355 vols.)

Quote of the Day

Today’s reading in DA Carson’s For the Love of God vol. 2 caught my attention because I have seen many entertaining the goats recently, not realising that the sheep are hungry. It can be discouraging to see others acclaimed by the goats but we are called to provide solid food.

(d) We must use whatever gifts we have received to serve others (4:10–11). Peter gives some examples, but his list is not exhaustive. If one is called to speak in the church (for example), it is not a time for showing off or for amusing the goats, but for feeding the sheep, and that means speaking “as one speaking the very words of God” (4:11).

D. A. Carson, For the Love of God : A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word. Volume 2 (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1998), May 17.

How do I read so much?

I’ve been asked how I’m able to read so many books every year. Do I “speed read,” do I just “skim” them or what? Let me explain, beginning with some background detail. First, I do read them cover to cover. If I count a book as read it means I have read every word in it. To qualify as a book it has to have an ISBN and page numbers. I could read a lot of short books but last year my average length was 192 pages so that isn’t the case. My overall average since I started keeping track (on Dec 9, 1986) is 178. I originally pondered counting lines per page or something to provide a more accurate count of how much I am actually reading but that seemed like too much work and now in the age of the e-reader it is possible to count actual words read. I am amazed how much books vary in words per page. You can see this when a book is originally published in hardcover and subsequently in paperback > the paperback version will usually have substantially more pages.

That said. How do I actually read so much? As of the end of February I have read 589654 pages, which takes:

1. Time. There’s only so much time in the day so where do I find time? I don’t watch TV. I gave it up for lent in 1998 and haven’t gone back. That’s not to say that I never watch it but I don’t follow any series and there is no such thing as “must see TV.” If I want to watch a series I buy it on DVD, like Corner Gas. This saves me having to watch the ads as well. Also, I am married but don’t have any kids. Kids take time, and rightly so, but I don’t have any yet. I also don’t work 70 hours a week. If you want to read a lot don’t get into management and work 70 hour weeks! I read wherever it’s convenient – on the bus, the train, the plane, in waiting rooms…Don’t get stuck reading 10 year old copies of Home and Garden or the airline magazine!

On top of finding time to read there is also the admitted fact that I read fast. I don’t “speed read/skim” because I enjoy reading and it’s hard to relax with a book if you are intent on pounding it back like sports drink after a game of soccer. I prefer to sip my books like herbal tea while playing tiddlywinks. Perhaps I should clarify that there is fast and superfast. In other words, I read a word at a time and not a paragraph at a time but I read those words pretty quickly.

Practice made me perfect, which is to say that the more you read, the easier it becomes. If you remember the first time you read Dick and Jane it took forever. The first time you picked up a textbook on elementary particle physics it took you a week of all-nighters. Now you can read about Dick, Jane and Spot and understand quarks and gluons with little trouble and your reading speed has increased.

Variety. Some people pick up their Calculus handbook and vow to read it if it kills them; usually they survive but their love of reading is gone afterwards. So read a variety of material. If you don’t feel like reading pick up a western.mystery.fantasy.romance and pound it back. You will be surprised how your brain responds with gratitude.

e-Reader. My wife bought me an e-reader in October and I’m sure I read 20% faster with it. The font is uniform in size and style which is nice. Turning pages is a click away and I hate to crack my spines so now I can be less careful about opening the book too far .

Consistency. The longest book in the world was written by someone. Imagine how much longer it took him or her to write than it will take you to read. At a chapter per day most books can be read in a couple of weeks, no matter how difficult the subject matter. I admit to having started lots of books that I haven’t finished (yet!) but the way to finish a large book is one page at a time consistently. Just remember that sometimes the second half is better than the first and you will enjoy it!

Join a club. I have a LibraryThing account and some of friends and I have a group on there where we can chat, exchange book thoughts and see what each other has read recently. Of course, having someone like me in your group can be overwhelming – sorry about that folks. Do you still love me?

I hope this explains things and I hope that you can enjoy reading all the more!

P.S. If you’ve actually read this post you obviously enjoy reading.

Open letter to the NHL

Open letter to the NHL

It has saddened me to read about the brawl between Pittsburgh and New York Islanders on Friday. I am no fan of either team and my hometown Vancouver Canucks are at the top of the league (for the first time in history!) but it is time to call it a day. Hockey seems to have become a cross between WWE wrestling and UFC no holds barred fighting. NHL league officials seem happy to continue with this state of affairs as shown by their response to this brawl and the events that have led up to it. It is their failure in the little things that has led to the current state of affairs and until attitudes change hockey will continue to be about something other than playing the game by putting a puck in a net. Why is it that the tough physical NFL manages to get through a game without fights constantly breaking out? How is it that the NBA manages to deal harshly with players after altercations to prevent future violence? Sports are contact and sports can be rough but let’s start playing skilled hockey and not this abomination which sickens even Mario Lemieux.

Some minor league ice rinks have long been known as places where a hockey game occasionally breaks out during a boxing match but it is time the NHL decided which sport it is promoting. Until that time I will no longer be buying NHL merchandise or spending any time on their product. As a hockey fan that is truly my only voice and I exercise it as my right. And no…I won’t let the door hit me on the way out.

Yours truly,

Thomas

P.S. I have been a Canucks fan since those ugly V-jerseys – and I gotta say the skate was the best logo ever! Remember Thomas Gradin – what a man – what a name.

Bart Ehrman and the Bible

Anyone who has read Ehrman’s recent books knows that he takes great care in undercutting the authority of Scripture. Now a project has been launched to refute his many and popular writings. Much of what he has written is popular in university religion classes so it is worthwhile engaging his views seeing as how they have been promulgated. You can check out the website here, where there are links to numerous Youtube videos by other scholars.

2010 in Reading

This post is dedicated to Aunt Joan who cares about such things .

2010 was a busy year for us but I managed to do some reading in my spare time; on buses, on airplanes, on trains. It turned out to be a bumper year in the statistics department. I read more pages than in any year other than 1989, which was awhile ago!

Total books finished: 237
Total pages read 45, 580
Average length of a book: 192 pages
Number of non-English books: 1
Best months: January (30 books), February (27) and April (26)
Slowest months: June and October (13 each and only 2261 pages in October)

My average is consistent with other years; above my overall average of 178 but below other years. This is due to a number of short books I read. There were no monster months – the page count was pretty steady throughout the year. My longest book of the year was definitely Three Kingdoms, the classic Chinese historical novel. I’ve finished the first two of four volumes. The volumes are paged consecutively, weighing in at over 2300 pages total, including notes.

I discovered that I have read 126 of 8,756 New York Times bestsellers, which is 1.4390132480584741891274554591138%. You can check out the list on LibraryThing. http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/New+York+Times+bestseller

My wife bought me an e-reader for Christmas but gave it to me a little early in October! I’m enjoying the e-ink screen and battery life. I haven’t had to recharge it yet and I’ve read thousands of pages. I’ve discovered the joys of free epubs on sites like Gutenberg.org. I read some Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer of course), and some Lewis Carroll and P.G.Wodehouse. Perhaps you can tell by my NYTimes statistic above that I’m not that interested in bestsellers (and over 10% of those are by John Grisham) and with all the free classics available I wonder why people still shell out good money for the latest and greatest overpriced bestsellers. I suppose they need to look cultured and not in a snooty librarian way (sorry hard working bibliophiles!).

I read my first all Chinese book last week. It was a murder mystery aimed at those of us with little vocabularly. It wasn’t bad and I enjoyed being able to recognise most of the characters I have learned.

Have a great 2011 and don’t forget to read a few books!