Books Read In 2012

Goodreads shows it but some are partially read.

• The Gospel of Luke by Green, Joel B. – huge and pretty good; his Wesleyism only showed up a few times
• A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty by Tada, Joni Eareckson – very good, slightly repetitive and self indulgent (I should talk)
• The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Bridges, Jerry – very good–a Puritan book may have been better, like some ones he quoted; I got it free as Kindle
• A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1 by Ross, Allen P. – perfect for me just like his exposition of Genesis, must get the other two volumes despite cost; I read the whole intro and a couple Psalms
• Acts by Bock, Darrell L. – commentary on commentaries; I should have gotten Bruce or Witherington
• The Most Misused Verses in the Bible: Surprising Ways God’s Word Is Misunderstood by Bargerhuff, Eric J. – very good, simple language, I already had a couple of these previously worked out on my own
• The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Keller, Timothy – 38 fantastic pages, must read again
• The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul – very good and different; he starts from the Old Testament with everything with is nice
• You Gotta Keep Dancin’ – guy who lives with extreme pain, cheerleady but some good points, admits that emotional pain is even worse

Remember to add as year goes on.

Use of time

I’ve been making better use of my time and spending less time on the net. I still have to write a post about that. I’ve been spending more time with Greek  because of it and working on the Proverbs group study guide a little everyday to get it done so I can concentrate on what’s next which will probably the commentary on the last three books of the Bible. Whatever else I do after that, I plan on reading a Psalm a day along with the Essential Companion book.

Reading Plan So Far

Tabs don’t seem to work here when I tried <code>. I know they don’t work with HTML but the checkmark lines should be lined up. Up to day 31 is complete.

001.__Gen 1-3 __Mark 1-2 __Prov 1 __Ps 1-2
002.__Gen 4-6 __Mark 3-4 __Prov 2 __Ps 3
003.__Gen 7-9 __Mark 5-6 __Prov 3 __Ps 4
004.__Gen 10-12 __Mark 7-8 __Prov 4 __Ps 5
005.__Gen 13-15 __Mark 9-10 __ Prov 5 __Ps 6
006.__Gen 16-18 __Mark 11-12 __ Prov 6 __Ps 7
007.__Gen 19-21 __Mark 13-16 __ Prov 7 __Ps 8
008.__Gen 22-24 __Mark 15-16 __ Prov 8 __Ps 9
009.__Gen 25-27 __James 1-2 __ Prov 9 __Ps 10
010.__Gen 28-30 __James 3-5 __ Prov 10 __Ps 11
011.__Gen 31-33 __Gal 1-2 __ Prov 11 __Ps 12
012.__Gen 34-36 __Gal 3-4 __ Prov 12 __Ps 13
013.__Gen 37-39 __Gal 5-6 __ Prov 13 __Ps 14
014.__Gen 40-42 __1 Thess 1-2 __ Prov 14 __Ps 15
015.__Gen 43-45 __1 Thess 3-5 __ Prov 15 __Ps 16
016.__Gen 46-48 __2 Thess 1-3 __ Prov 16 __Ps 17
017.__Gen 49-50 __1 Cor 1-2 __ Prov 17 __Ps 18
018.__Exo 1-3 __1 Cor 3-4 __ Prov 18 __Ps 19
019.__Exo 4-6 __1 Cor 5-6 __ Prov 19 __Ps 20
020.__Exo 7-9 __1 Cor 7-8 __ Prov 20 __Ps 21
021.__Exo 10-12 __1 Cor 9-10 __ Prov 21 __Ps 22
022.__Exo 13-15 __1 Cor 11-12 __ Prov 22 __Ps 23
023.__Exo 16-18 __1 Cor 13-14 __ Prov 23 __Ps 24
024.__Exo 19-21 __1 Cor 15-16 __ Prov 24 __Ps 25
025.__Exo 22-24 __2 Cor 1-2 __ Prov 25 __Ps 26
026.__Exo 25-27 __2 Cor 3-4 __ Prov 26 __Ps 27
027.__Exo 28-29 __2 Cor 5-6 __ Prov 27 __Ps 28
028.__Exo 30-34 __2 Cor 7-8 __ Prov 28 __Ps 29
029.__Exo 35-38 __2 Cor 9-10 __ Prov 29 __Ps 30
030.__Exo 39-40 __2 Cor 11-13 __ Prov 30 __Ps 31
031.__Lev 1-3 __Rom 1-2 __ Prov 31 __Ps 32
031.__Lev 4-6 __Rom 3-4 __ Acts 1 __Ps 33
032.__Lev 7-9 __Rom 5-6 __ __Ps
033.__Lev 10-12 __Rom 7-8 __ __Ps
034.__Lev 13-15 __Rom 9-10 __ __Ps
035.__Lev 16-18 __Rom 11-12 __ __Ps
036.__Lev 19-21 __Rom 13-14 __ __Ps
037.__Lev 22-24 __Rom 15-16 __ __Ps
038.__Lev 25-27 __Col 1-2 __ __Ps
039.__Num 1-3 __Col 4-4 __ __Ps
040.__Num 4-6 __Phlm __ __Ps
041.__Num 7-9 __Eph 1-2 __ __Ps
042.__Num 10-12 __Eph 3-4 __ __Ps
043.__Num 13-15 __Eph 5-6 __ __Ps
044.__Num 17-19 __Phil 1-2 __ __Ps
045.__Num 20-22 __Phil 3-4 __ __Ps
046.__Num 23-25 __ __ __Ps
047.__Num 27-29 __ __ __Ps
048.__Num 30-32 __ __ __Ps
049.__Num 33-35 __ __ __Ps
050.__Num 36 __ __ __Ps
051.__Deut 1-3 __ __ __Ps
052.__Deut 4-6 __ __ __Ps
053.__Deut 7-9 __ __ __Ps
054.__Deut 10-12 __ __ __Ps
055.__Deut 13-15 __ __ __Ps
056.__Deut 17-19 __ __ __Ps
057.__Deut 20-22 __ __ __Ps
058.__Deut 23-25 __ __ __Ps
059.__Deut 27-29 __ __ __Ps
060.__Deut 30-32 __ __ __Ps
061.__Deut 33-34 __ __ __Ps

Post Surgery Post

I’m depressed yet feel like writing.

My reading plans have changed a little so I should write about that. I had this year planned out at the beginning of the year but had no idea I’d be having surgery.

I was supposed to be done with the OT by now but that will be delayed by about six weeks. I will only finish about 2-3 weeks early.

In addition, I feel like right now I need to read more about suffering and related issues like worry which have gotten out of control.

I just got done reading Unburdened (with a review on the main site soon as of this writing). Out of that I made a commitment to worry less but I need God’s help of course but also direction and some sort of structure theologically and practically. I’ve been doing well so far but it’s only been two weeks at the most and it hasn’t been tested in trials yet.

Right now I’m going to move on and read How Long O Lord by Carson. This is instead of reading OT related material. During and after the hospital was so traumatic and my faith was tested so much that I really need to be better prepared. I thought I was doing so well with all the books I’ve read on suffering, all the Scripture I have memorized, all the suffering I’ve done etc. I was almost prideful about it and then it really got tested and I failed miserably. I prayed and asked others to pray for spiritual matters as much or more than physical before the surgery and what I got was unexpected but I certainly got answered prayer and it will make me more Christ-like which is good.

By the time I’m done with the OT though I plan on my extra reading to be related to the OT. So I need to get a better action plan going for when big trials come up before then.

The extra OT reading will go well into 2011 instead of being done by the end of this year. So that’s the way it goes. No need to hurry.

I’m still sleeping so much because of medication even though I’m tapering that I haven’t been spending time with Greek. I must get back to that or it will slip too far.

I plan on reading:

• Haggai Zechariah Malachi
• Handbook on the Pentateuch
• Creation and Blessing (Genesis)
• Finding Jesus in the Old Testament
• Old Testament Theology by von Rad (possibly)

Then I plan on finishing up the NT commentaries which is Luke and Acts. I would guess that will take me to almost the end of 2011. In 2012 I want to start reading Calvin’s Institutes and study Colossians as thoroughly as I can. And just read books and books. Whatever I feel like. I’ll have to see about Professor Horner’s reading plan of 10 chapters a day which I want to do.

Greek, Photography, Reading, Health

It’s been too long since I’ve written to myself.

I’ve still be reading Mounce and now I’m going through the companion workbook to the Black book. I want to learn this stuff well although I could study it even more. So it’s been a long time since I’ve moved on from Chapter 18 but going through the workbook has been good. Since I got it as a review copy I should use it. I’m still a bit behind in vocabulary but getting better with the flashcards.

My renewed interest in photography and interest in digital photography is taking some of my reading time. I’ve been reading about technical, creative and software stuff. At some point around the middle of the year that will need to simmer down. My reading about the Bible time has been cut in half but I think that’s OK for a season. Bible reading is ahead of schedule so that’s why I want to be ready to get back to reading as much as I can when I finish the OT in the middle of the summer. I plan on a commentary on the last three books of the Bible, commentary on Genesis, Handbook on the Pentateuch and whatever else.

Reading the OT has been great. God’s hatred of sin and his holiness are what stick out. How disparate that is from our society, including Christians. Even the less exciting stuff is great because I know it’s inspired by God and we have the privilege of reading it.

My back and fatigue have been really bad. I often sleep for 2 1/2 hours during the day and my back keeps me even from concentrating at its worst. It’s starting to scare me. I can’t read as much when I’m sleeping so much but sometimes I literally can’t stay awake.

Photography and Reading

I got my new camera and am re-interested in (D)SLR photography, this time without film. When I was using the point and shoot I was just kind of taking pictures and doing a little correction afterward. Now I’m back into perfecting everything and learning everything I can. It’s more fun that way. But there is so much to learn it’s overwhelming and I want to learn it all at once. The equipment itself is the easy part. With the internet now there is not only technical information but inspiration. So I find myself wanting to shoot stuff and spending time doing that and post processing, but then not reading enough about the minutiae of the new equipment to complete my knowledge of that.

Because of that I’m doing less reading about Bible stuff. Devotional type stuff is uncompromised but I’m not reading as much extra stuff and I don’t like that.

So I’m frustrated, somewhat excited, enjoying photography a lot more again but very impatient. It’s an uncomfortable mix right now. A prickly spot. I just have to do a little each day and not be in a hurry. I wish I didn’t need so much sleep and had more energy with a good back.

I’m doing the last two chapters of Ecclesiastes for our Bible study. I love that book. I want to be more content and more humble in acquiring knowledge and wisdom.

I’m going to read and review Why Is God Ignoring Me? I’m not sure if I’ll like it.

I’m reading Numbers now. The OT has been great. How much God hates sin is very obvious this time around. And he not always all nicey nice like most people seem to think. I need to blog about what I’m reading but I just haven’t been wanting to spend the time.

Still reviewing Greek vocab and rereading much of the book. I should be moving on in about a week.

Greek, Reading, Studying

It hasn’t been until now that I made flash cards for Greek. I thought I could just use the book and go back and forth. Was I ever wrong. Take them out of the order they are in the book and I’m lost. Plus some need to be reviewed more often than others. I first realized this when I read a blog post about having a three pile flashcard system. So when Dave Black posted PDF files of all the words in his beginning grammar, I printed them. Thankfully we have a (dull) paper cutter and I got it done. But now I’m so far behind I’ve mainly been working on vocabulary.

I also have the workbook and would like to spend more time with that and reading Mounce’s book but I just don’t have time/energy to spend doing that much. Maybe after I get the vocab solid. I really need to utilize the workbook to get at it from different angles.

It’s been too long since I’ve written. I finished the commentary on John. I read The Prayer of the Lord and How To Enjoy Your Bible which I’ll be doing reviews on. Both were more introductory than I thought and have their problems but were very good. Sproul seemed to get providence and provision mixed up which was strange. And even worse, he used the old Greek dynamis being like dynamite analogy! I lost some respect for his scholarship.

Reading the OT has been great. I’m about 11 days ahead at this point. I should be done with it by mid-summer instead of the scheduled Sept. 24. I’m trying to decide if I should finish off my NT commentary reading of Luke and Acts now or wait until next year. If I do it now I really want to get them done by the time I’m done reading the OT. The rest of the year will be spent reading the Handbook on Pentateuch, some OT theology, Finding Jesus in the OT etc.

Right now I’ve been reading some free chapters from books on intros to the Pent. and reading intros in the ESV and NLT SB’s.

I requested a commentary on Ps and Prov from Tyndale after I saw Jim West review it. That would be great. I want a 3 volume set and 2 vol. set respectively but that would use up more than my book budget right now just for two books of the Bible. I really want something for Proverbs though.

I’ve been feeling a little better lately. The switch from the generic to name brand of the main med has been helping. I wish I knew that 6 months ago! It’s so expensive but almost anything is worth it. Back pain has been a little less. Still a miserable life but so much to be thankful for.

Debating with myself about my wife wanting me to get a good camera like when I was a pro. My last two photo ‘sessions’ with the cats were SO frustrating! And because of the camera and flash, not the cats for once.

Talk to myself later…

What I’m Reading and Studying

Now that I’ve got my new wireless keyboard hopefully I’ll type a little more.

I really lagged in reading the commentary on John in December and am still reading it. I really wanted to be done with it by now.

I started reading the OT using NLT 24/7. Fascinating. I wanted to be open minded about others views and try to see what they see but things I hadn’t really noticed before stuck out and I only stengthened my own fairly literal view. I don’t know if I dare post on that or not. I may read two days worth every now and then, especially when I’m done with the commentary on John, although I still have Luke and Acts to read.

I’m reading Mounce’s Greek grammar in addition to studying Black’s and it has been helpful. It slows things down but I’ll learn more thoroughly.

I started reading The Prayer of the Lord by Sproul during our trip and will finish and review it when I’m done with John. Then Learn to Enjoy Your Bible. It was really nice to write to a publisher I hadn’t heard of and have them agree to send me a book for review.

I’m still recovering from Christmas travel and seeing people. It takes me so long to recover it really annoying. I can’t do too much reading/studying either because that takes energy which is something I’m learning about chronic fatigue. I’m learning to pace and realize how much is too much with exercise and mental stuff. Greek is good for the brain though and will help keep me young.

Carson’s John; Greek Verbs; Polishing God’s Monuments

I started Carson’s commentary on John a few days ago. I had a great time reading through John in the NLT first.

I forgot to review Greek verbs! I don’t know how, I just forgot. I’ve been reviewing words and my noun, definite article and adjective conjugations are fine but for some reason I neglected verbs. So I got myself in such a mess I had to spend three days just concentrating on verbs. Not just remembering them, but going back and reading how and why they’re formed the way they are so that they make sense to me. I think I’m OK now and am ready to move on to chapter 15. I’ve learned my lesson.

Polishing God’s Monuments was very good. Some of it was a bit cheesy and some was a little preachy with really basic advice but much of it was exposition of the OT related to suffering which I love and was very good. I don’t know if I’d want to read it again but there are some quotable quotes so don’t get rid of the book.

Reading Polishing God’s Monuments; Plans

I’m reading Polishing God’s Monuments as my in-between book. It’s OK but not as good as I had hoped. A great/terrible story within it.

I’m reading through Matthew again in the HCSB and will read through John in the NLT and then read Carson’s commentary on John.

I think I’m going to read the NLT Mosaic devotional starting Nov. 29.

I’m halfway through Black’s Greek grammar and want to use the workbook more. I have to write a review of the book which will be difficult.

Finished France’s Matthew

I finished the commentary last night. That took a lot longer than I thought it would. I was sick, had a couple of back procedures, depressive episodes, but the last couple of weeks I really got more disciplined with not wasting time in the internet and also learned a couple of speed reading tricks which actually helps me to concentrate more.

That was the longest commentary I plan on ever reading straight through.

I may do a post on the main blog.

Over being sick – Matthew commentary

Being sick was awful. Wanted to die. 5 days ago I finally started feeling “normal” again. Funny how I’m thankful to be back to my normal depressed chronically in pain self instead of wanting to throw up and die and being in medication withdrawal self.

I got really behind on reading France’s Matthew. Partly because of being sick and partly because I read the intro to Matthew in deSilva. Now I’m back at it and a little more than a third of the way through. This puts me behind in the three year plan but there’s no hurry.

I think I’m going to start reading through the OT beginning of 2010 no matter where I am with other stuff, God willing. I wanted to be done with the gospels by then but there’s no way.

Day With The Lord

My day with the Lord on Monday went well. Fasting from the computer, internet, TV and music was very difficult at first, then really great, then kind of lonely. Then at the end of the night I felt like I had done everything I wanted to do which was great. I only ate bland food that’s quick to eat or drink while at the kitchen counter.

I prayed through all the prayers at the end of the chapters of Tozer’s The Pursuit of God throughout the day. I did my normal praying I’d do on that day, praising, thanking, confessing, petition and prayed for some friends too. At night I got down on my knees and acknowledged His greatness, my need for Him, asked for grace to live for Him and abandon myself to Him and prayed for healing.

I reviewed almost all memorized Scripture. I looked at the context of some of the shorter ones, especially the OT.

I read through Colossians in the GNB and Ephesians in the REB for something different. 6:10-18 is great in the REB. 1 Thess in HCSB. I read some other stuff I can’t remember. I noticed how often the Bible speaks of gentleness, forgiveness, bearing with one another etc. which is something God has been working on me a lot. I hope and pray this helps this to increase in me.

Give thanks every day (I can’t find the verse! May have been REB). God has been more and more giving me a spirit of thankfulness, which I’m very thankful for, more and more but the everyday part kind of stood out for some reason. I think I do, but I should make sure I do. There is no lack of things to be thankful for.

I went outside and looked at the flowers.

I didn’t want to spend time on Greek on this day but did keep up with the vocabulary stuff.

That took up the whole day and night even though it doesn’t seem like it would.

I’d like to do this once a year.

Starting France’s Commentary on Matthew

Here we go! I’ve been practicing wasting as little time as I can on the internet lately so that I can spend as much time as I can reading. Conversely, there are a lot more blog posts I’d like to write. I just want to only read things on the interwebz that are beneficial. I’m really looking forward to this. John, Luke, Acts and Genesis will seem short compared to this (but not by much).

Finished Mark; Greek Plodding Along

I finished Cole’s commentary on Mark and really got a lot out of it even though it’s somewhat basic. Some questions weren’t answered but I learned a lot from it and there are the other synoptics including France’s imposing commentary on Matthew. I asked myself a few times if I really want to go through that 1200 page tome and yes, I really do.

I just started Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation.

I’m considering copying my notes from my NRSV to my HCSB even though the NLT will be my main reading Bible for at least another year. I’m reading the NLT before I read the commentary and now the HCSB after and might start taking notes in the HCSB. Maybe.

Apparently I’m unusual because I’m Reformed and don’t like the ESV.

I’m in chapter 10 of Croy’s book. It’s going slow because of my age, time I’m willing to spend (although I’m working on it every day), mental energy or lack of, especially with all the medical stuff and wanting to learn it well. I decided not to think negatively of this in any way. In fact I’m glad I’m not learning Greek in school or I would forget the majority of it by the time I’m finished racing through it at college speed.

Revelation, Mark and Ferguson

I’ve finished Revelation and I really enjoyed it. It’s so nice to read again how things will end up. That’s been comforting.

My in-between book is In Christ Alone by Ferguson. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I’m a little more than halfway through right now.

I’m going to start reading Mark in the NLT and want to read as much as I can at a time to get a good overview. Then I’ll start the commentary by Cole. It will be nice to get back to the Gospels.

Greek is hard! These paradigms just don’t stop. I have no timetable though and I’m learning things pretty well as far as I can tell. I’m only on chapter 7 right now.

Gospel Commentaries!

I’m nearing the end of Revelation. I will be going to the commentaries on the Gospels, since I started my commentary reading in Romans. I’ve been looking at the page counts of the Matthew-France, Luke-Green and John-Carson. (Mark by Cole is shorter.) I didn’t realize how large they were. Most will be as long or much longer than the Romans commentary which was a huge undertaking for me. I really want to do this though. Do I really? I think so.

I’m not sure how I’m going to handle the Old Testament. I was going to read about four commentaries in-between the Gospel commentaries but I think I may read through the whole OT first, then the commentaries.

Learning Greek has slowed down my reading a bit so I hope it’s worth it. My 3 Year Plan may become more like 3 1/2 and that’s not including Calvin’s Institutes, Ladd’s NT and a couple other biggies. And there’s all the “regular” books I have that I want to read.

Revelation and Greek

I’ve been reading Keener’s commentary on Revelation and really like it. I started it about two weeks ago.

Other than the Gospels, I think Revelation may be my favorite NT book behind Colossians and Hebrews.

I decided to slowly redo the exercises from chapters 2-5 in Croy’s book but should be on to chapter 6 next week.

Tour Tony Reinke’s Library

HT: Shaun Tabatt

“Three Year Plan” Might Be On Schedule

Three year plan of reading commentaries for all of NT and about four OT plus OT Theology by von Rad, Use of OT in NT seems to be on schedule. I just got done with Hebrews and liked Bruce’s commentary very much.

I’m trying to read a regular book in between each commentary but Greek stuff has been slowing me down and I want to keep going. I am reading John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion Doctrine & Doxology right now which I’ll be reviewing. It’s fascinating.

What I’m doing now is read the book in the NLT first and not slowly like I was doing before but trying to read it all at once to get a better overview. Then after reading the commentary I read the book again in the NRSV where I write any notes.

I’ll need to go back to the Gospels and Acts because for some reason I started in Romans. I was going to do Genesis, Job, Ecclesiastes and Daniel in between the Gospels but I may do Isaiah instead of Job since I’ve gone through Job a couple of times. We’ll see.

After all that I want to do some serious exegesis and in-depth study of the Sermon on the Mount (which we did in group study), Colossians and part(s) of Hebrews.

All subject to change. But I think I’m about halfway through and it’s been about a year and a half.