I wanted to make a blog post and couldn’t decide on what to write, also my mind is elsewhere so I just wanted to write something so as to distract me. So, seeing as the last time I wrote a what I’m reading was about seven months ago, I figured an update was in order. I’ve read quite a bit since then (not as much as I’d like but still a good amount) and am in the process of finishing some things as well. Here are the lists…

Books I’ve finished (as of Dec 9 2016)

• ‘Canon Revisited’ – Michael Kruger
• ‘Mere Christianity’ – C. S. Lewis
• ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Writings’ – Johnathan Edwards
• ‘Redeeming Singleness: How the Storyline of Scripture Affirms the Single Life’ – Barry Danylak
• ‘What Is Biblical Theology?: A Guide to the Bible’s Story, Symbolism, and Patterns’ – James M. Hamilton Jr.
• ‘Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus’ – Mark Dever
• ‘The Intolerance of Tolerance’ – D. A. Carson
• ‘The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations?’ – James R. White
• ‘This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence’ – John Piper
• ‘Did Jesus Speak Greek?: The Emerging Evidence of Greek Dominance in First Century Palestine’ – G. Scott Gleaves
• ‘Don’t Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congregationalism’ – Jonathan Leeman
• ‘When Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Got Lost in History’ – Stanley E. Porter
• ‘They Were Single Too: 8 Biblical Role Models’ – David M. Hoffeditz

Of all of these to pick ones that were my favorite is a bit difficult. I would suggest all of them to any who asked, but four stood out the most for practical purposes and two for sheer enjoyment’s sake. ‘Canon Revisited’, ‘Did Jesus Speak Greek?’, ‘Redeeming Singleness’, and ‘This Momentary Marriage’ are extremely practical and enlightening. Though they are both enlightening and practical, ‘Sinners’ and ‘Don’t Fire Your Church Members’ were just an enjoyment to read. For the reason being that I love Jonathan Edwards and am an ardent Congregationalist.

Books I’m currently working on (as of Dec 9 2016)

• ‘Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies’ – Stephen J. Wellum and Brent E. Parker
• ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’ – John Calvin ed. John t. McNeill [this is a work that is reread every year]
• ‘Synopsis of the Four Gospels’ – RSV ed. Kurt Aland [this is a daily read that reoccurs every year]
• ‘With the Clouds of Heaven’ – James M. Hamilton Jr.
• ‘Praying with Paul’ – D.A. Carson
• ‘Moby Dick’ – Herman Melville [I read the kids version when I was younger]
• ‘The Holiness of God’ – R. C. Sproul
• ‘Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates’ – David Cordingly
• ‘A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: It’s History, Methods & Results’ – Paul D. Wegner
• ‘The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible’ – Michael S. Heiser
• ‘Jonathan Edwards: A Life’ –  George M. Marsden
• ‘Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine’ – Wayne Grudem

So just to compare with where I was at seven months ago, there were 8 then as apposed to 13 now as far as books I’ve read; there were 8 then and 12 now I’m currently working on. I didn’t purposely add more, some just sit on the shelf and I just feel the need to open them up and start “going at it.” The two I’m particularly loving going through are the biography of Jonathan Edwards and ‘Under the Black Flag’, I love Edwards and I love Pirates. A couple of these I don’t foresee finishing any time soon, but a couple I will probably get through in a few more days (before the year is out). The most amusing thing to me is four of those in the currently reading list are in no way light reading and two of those are technically textbooks in colleges/seminaries.  Just an interesting tidbit about my love of theology (or nerdy-ness if you will).

I promise the next post will be substance and not a blasé boredom post…