Odds and Ends - 6/16/2008

A few quick thoughts for now.

1. The day has finally come. Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" is now available on the internet. Hit up this link to check it out. Now you don't have to lug the whole thing around in your backpack (and it might make searching through a section a bit easier as well).

Update: Apparently this posting of "Systematic Theology" was unauthorized. Apologies to the author and publisher. Please delete the bookmark if you have it.

HT: Tim Challies

2. I was taking some time today to read from "The Life of God in the Soul of Man" by Henry Scougal. I was feeling a bit tired and reading on a computer screen doesn't always work that well so I was just coasting along. Then I read this line about Jesus and his prayer life:

Another instance of his love to God was his delight in conversing with him by prayer, which made him frequently retire himself from the world, and, with the greatest devotion and pleasure, spend whole nights in that heavenly exercise, though he had not sins to confess, and but few secular interests to pray for; which, alas! are almost the only things that are wont to drive us to our devotions. Nay, we may say his whole life was a kind of prayer - Henry Scougal, "The Life of God in the Soul of Man"

The part that really stood out to me was considering how much time Christ spent in prayer despite no need to confess sin and "few secular interests". In my own life I see how much my prayer life can be motivated almost solely by my confession/fight with sin and my petitions for earthly things. Neither of these are bad by any means and they are things we should praying about, but Jesus' example reveals that there is much more to communion with God then asking forgiveness and asking for things. When we talk with our closest friends our conversation is more than asking their forgiveness or asking for their help. Part of that relationship is simply being with the other person, talking to them and enjoying who they are. I hope to focus more on knowing, enjoying and listening to God during my quiet times with him.

3. This weekend was a delightful whirlwind of activity that culminated in the wedding of my sister Natalie. I'm so grateful that her and I have been so close for so long and it was such a blessing to have her so close by as she studied at Temple for the last couple years. I'm glad we got to hang out and I'm so happy to see the way that God has worked in her life during that time. I'm going to miss her and Nick as they move out to Dayton, but I know that they will be happy together and that God will provide grace for them during their transition.

The weekend itself was a lot of fun and it was great to talk to so many friends and relatives that I hadn't seen in awhile. Despite those little details that always seem to be forgotten till the last minute, everything went wonderfully (even though I got a little grumpy at times partially due to tiredness). The ceremony went well and Andy Farmer did a great job. The pictures went smoothly and the rain held off until we were pretty much finished. The reception was a blast with all kinds of nice little touches and some excellent food. There was some great live music followed up by some awesome dancing.

Stephanie was along for the whole weekend, which was great. She got to meet the whole Prazenica family and helped by taking care of music at the ceremony. We had a lot of fun and managed to garner some compliments on our dancing (which is most likely more of a reflection on Stephanie's skill as a dancer and teacher than my innate abilities as a dancer). The weekend finished up with a nice slow Sunday hanging out with my family for the day before driving Nick and Natalie to their hotel at the airport so they could leave for their honeymoon this morning. It doesn't get much better than that.