glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- preach the text It is 5:37 AM early Friday morning in the flow of existence. I got up at 4:58 AM this morning due to a weird intense dream. I had one of my preaching dreams that woke me up. In this dream I was talking to a fellow going to a Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in GR MI. We were talking about preaching and the 17th century English Puritans. I was telling the seminarian that when we preach from the Bible we have to preach the text and not Puritan theology. We talked about Matthew Henry's commentaries and how he does not always explain the biblical text. I said to the fellow do not repeat what I just said to you in front of Dr. Joel Beeke the president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and also Professor of Historical Theology. Also in this spiritual dream there were some old Puritan books for sale. One of the old books was a commentary on The Book of Lamentations by an old 17th century Puritan I had never heard of. In the dream I told the person selling the old Puritan commentary I do not think this commentary would be valuable in preaching Lamentations. I think I was having this spiritual dream because today in the mail I am suppose to receive two commentaries, a modern commentary on the Epistle to the Romans and a Reformation Commentary on First Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, Second Kings, First Chronicles, and Second Chronicles/one massive volume over 700 pages. I told Carol last night I might read through this new commentary on Romans in my videos in BookTube. I have been reading and studying the apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans for many years. At the same time I realize the world could care less about the Epistle to the Romans/the teachings of the Word of God. Also people in the Christian world could care less about the teachings of the Epistle to the Romans. How many Christians have commentaries on Romans in their homes. In the end I always tell myself it is better to read the Bible than commentaries. In the end there are no biblical commentaries in the New Creation. I am just an old dumb ass Christian bookworm who loves studying the Epistle to the Romans as I slowly rot in during the Last Day of the American Empire. I am getting old and somethings are not worth fighting about. Last week when I was volunteering at the library book nook I got to talking to a professing Christian fellow who attends the local Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I repeated my old rap of why I stopped going to church. I get sick of hearing myself repeat that old dead end rap. Nobody cares if I go to church or do not go to church. Sometimes I wonder if I am stuck in the mud just spinning my wheels going nowhere. Last night I mainly read before going to bed the book "At The Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails" by Sarah Bakewell. I also read yesterday these books, "Paris Vagabond" by Jean-Paul Clebert and "Spain In Our Hearts: Americans In The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" by Adam Hochschild. Today my wife is leaving this morning to spend the day with girlfriends. I plan to go back to bed when she leaves this morning. I need to get coffee beans today at Simpatico Coffee down the street. It is a blessing being able to buy fresh coffee beans from Mexico. We are richly blessed and that scares me. For those who are given much, much is required. I usually read these Christians books for devotions in the morning- "The Presence Of God: Its Place In The Storyline Of Scripture And The Story Of Our Lives" by J. Ryan Lister "The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life: Ethical and Missional Implications of the New Perspective" Edited by Scot McKnight & Joseph B. Modica "Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation" by Michael Allen & Scott R. Swain "Making All Things New: Inaugurated Eschatology for the Life of the Church" by Benjamin L. Gladd & Matthew S. Harmon "Progressive Covenantalism" Editors: Stephen J. Wellum & Brent E. Parker Carol is up so I will close to make oatmeal for breakfast. All we can do is scream. 6:18 a.m. - 2016-04-15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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