Summer Reading: Pilgrim's Progress

I am considering having my JH/HS students read Pilgrim's Progress this summer. Any thoughts on this?
Does anybody know of a good version for students to read? Are there good study questions I should use? Thanks.

Why Study Biblical Languages

Horses fascinate my wife. She is mesmerized by their beauty, by their strength, and their graceful gallup. However, I like a different type of horses.....Hobby-Horse :).

We all know that we have some and frequently despise them when we hear others "ranting and raving" about something. One of mine is the "importance of biblical languages" for the pastoral office, expositor's of God's word, scholarship, etc.

Over the years, I have spent numerous hours attempting to gain further insight in grammar and translation. It was something I made a priority in my studies, so much so, that it sometimes impeded my theological development.

I have a few questions for you guys if you wouldn't mind humoring me for a bit.

1. What are reasons seminaries should/shouldn't make "Biblical Languages" a priority.

2. In the heat of ministry, what are problems that you have found within the realm of "biblical languages."

3. How are the biblical languages apart of your current life?

4. What resources would currently help you in your local church ministry to maintain language studies? Or is that not a focus?

5. If you had a disciplee desiring ministry and you began to train him in Biblical languages, not necessarily methodology, but how would you cultivate the necessity of Biblical Languages?

6. What are some good articles, quotes, statements, etc. you have found on the "why's" of knowing the biblical languages.

Some resources:

John Piper, "Brothers, Bitzer was a Banker," in Brothers, We are not Professionals.

Martin Luther stated the following: "Let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6:17] is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored. . . . If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God forbid!), we shall . . . lose the gospel." (From http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the_profit_of_employing_the_biblical_languages_scriptural_and_historic)

John Piper, Legacy of Sovereign Joy.

Random Resources

I tend to come upon a lot of different free resources or articles/ideas on the internet. I want to pass those on to you men in case you don't follow the same people I do or read the same blogs I do. Here are some resources for you to check into:

Man Up Message- Byron Yawn preaches at a men's breakfast regarding his book, "What Every Man Wishes His Father had Told Him." Good message.
http://www.lakesidebiblechurch.org/media.php?pageID=30

Youth Group Game- The Moooo Game. Kind of like a prank game. Sounds fun.
http://www.jubed.com/youth_ministry/view/The-Moooo-game/?k=moo

Free ebooks/Kindle deals- 

Porn Free Church- http://timchester.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/porn-free-church/

Commentary on Revelation, Robert H. Gundry- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LRC7M0/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_iLyEpb0Y0XN2B (note: I know nothing about him. Does anybody?)

Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault- http://www.amazon.com/Rid-My-Disgrace-RE-ebook/dp/B004IEAJM8/

 Jeremy Lin: Faith, Joy, and Basketball [Kindle Edition]- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P3QV5I/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=sixste-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B007P3QV5I&adid=1G94AXB5TDQJXDM0R26A 

Enjoy!

Back to the Future

Men I am teaching a 6-message series on End Times prophecy next week during our spring break. Topics include: Rapture, Glorification, Tribulation, Great White Throne Judgment, Millennial Kingdom, and Heaven (Eternal State). One of the keys to teaching is great illustrations so I am throwing this out there to any of you who have taught this before or who have some killer illustrations you can send my way. Thanks ahead of time for your input. You can post to the P to P blog or email me at wcostello23@gmail.com. Thanks guys.

The Writing Shepherd

The items in life that bring me joy, besides my wife and dog :), are reading and writing. My wife picked up a book for me. Once I creased the first page, I could not put it down. Rather than being a book on the nuances of grammar, style, composition, etc., this book is very similar to a spiritual disciplines book. Gearing the mind for a life-style of writing, Douglas Wilson, in Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life, was playing the role of Jiminy Cricket to my already attuned soul.

One thing Seminary provided for me was the constant demand to write. Now that I’m in a different program, the demands of writing have subsided for a short while. However, I was still finding the urge to pick up the pen (or keyboard) and start writing.

Writing aids my thinking in a number of ways and has been a means of grace in my life. This was not always the case, but writing has provided much solace to a vexed soul or great joys over a finished product. I’m never viewed myself as the “go-getter” (except for dating my wife, I wanted to marry her and quickly :). However, Wilson stated a few things in his book that have ignited a flame within me.

1. Do what you would love to be able to do someday.

2. Concert pianists can do what they do because they practiced scales for years. Be at peace with being lousy for a while. Nothing worthwhile ever comes without practice.

Why wait until tomorrow for aspirations, desires, dreams, etc. that you feel, yes subjectively feel, God has given you. You can rationalize all you want about the inability or un-“fitness” of your strengths; what you would like to accomplish tomorrow, start today.

Publishing is not the goal. Writing to aid my thinking is the goal. Clarity in writing demands clarity in thinking, which will aid clear communication. Similar to Pastor-to-Pastor, another group of my friends decided to begin a public-forum designed for theological thinking and writing as the pastor-theologian to help each other think through our current development of theological/biblical thinking. It is an attempt to do Theology in Community. The first post will be up tomorrow morning at 8am if you would like to enjoy the musings of another blog! shepherdthesheep.com

The Doctrine of Imputation

I am attempting to teach my students on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. I have been preaching through Phil. 3:4-11 and I am beginning to see that they don’t understand the concept of imputation. Forgiveness is an easy concept; imputation is easy as well but just not understood. Here is a graph I believe may help teach them on what happens in justification and the difference between forgiveness of sin and imputation of righteousness.

What do you think of it? Is it biblically sound? If forgiveness is the removal or cancelling of sin, we are back to zero, not in the positive. We need to get into the positive for entrance into heaven. Only Christ’s righteousness, his obedience to God’s laws and death on the cross, give us the merit we need for entrance.

How Long Should a Pastor Preach - Graph