Book Review

Grace for Today: Daily Readings from the Life of Christ - Volume 3 by John MacArthur

This is an excellent daily devotional reading from John MacArthur. This is volume 3 of 3. This volume focuses on the end of Christ's ministry and His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. 

MacArthur may spend several days on a particular passage of scripture. Each devotion ends with some thought provoking questions.

I highly recommend this series of daily devotionals to anyone looking to get a deeper look at the life of Christ.

Book Review

One Perfect Life by John MacArthur

This book is an interesting compilation of the life of Christ. MacArthur has a unique way of harmonizing the life of Christ as recorded in the Gospels with relevant Old Testament and New Testament Scripture.

While the book is large, over 500 pages, it is separated in such a way to make a nice easy read. The book is divided into 11 major parts of Christ's life. Within each part are sections dealing with a topic or event related to the main part. In traditional MacArthur style, each portion of Scripture has relevant notes to explain the passage as needed.

While not my most favorite life of Christ book, I recommend this to anyone interested in the harmonization of the Gospels and the life of Christ.

The Interpreter Magazine Question

The Interpreter Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine from the United Methodist Communication Office of Public Information. They are adding a new feature starting in January 2014 where they ask readers a question and print some of the responses. Below is the question for January and my response is listed below that.

With what kinds of personal issues are United Methodists dealing that might benefit from spiritual support?

United Methodists struggle with the same personal issues as any other Christian. Living in a fallen world has been a challenge and will be a challenge until Christ returns for His children. The unique struggles that United Methodists would be dealing with are those that originate from the United Methodist Conference. How does a Christian following the teachings of a church when the church no longer stays true to the Word of God? No doubt, at the next General Conference there will be a battle over issues that are clearly addressed in Scripture.

Guns & Ammo Question

Here is a letter I sent to the editor of Guns & Ammo regarding an article about caliber calculations. The author's calculations for 9mm and below are more than what I was calculating manually. We'll see what the response is.

Mauser’s Metrics?

I was not able to duplicate the Mauser’s Metrics  calculations of Craig Boddington in the January issue of Guns & Ammo.

Based on my calculations, I get the following:

6.5mm = 0.256
7mm = 0.276
8mm = 0.315
9mm = 0.354
9.3mm = 0.366
9.5mm = 0.374
10.75mm = 0.423

Am I missing something?

Shadow Adventures: Last ride of the season?

I haven't had many adventures recently for a various number of reasons.

Yesterday, however, was an excellent riding day. I decided to take advantage of the situation and go for at least one more ride this season.

I have been wanting to stop by the Staple Bend Tunnel at Mineral Point for some time now, so I decided to take a ride and check it out. The ride was pretty uneventful and most were rural roads with very little traffic, so the ride was enjoyable. The weather was sunny and about 65 degrees.

I wasn't really sure what to expect to see, but when I got to what I thought was a tunnel was just a small overpass. Here is a picture of what I thought I drove 24 miles to see.

There isn't really anything spectacular about it, except for the fact that once you drive through the "tunnel" there is a 90 degree turn on the other side. Hence the stop light directing traffic one way at a time through the tunnel.

After driving through the "tunnel," I decided to continue on down the road a little ways before I turn around. It's a good thing I did, because the "tunnel" was not really the tunnel! I came across a nice parking lot with a trail to access the real tunnel!

This will have to be another adventure to hike the two mile trail to see the tunnel.

The return trip home was a nice ride, I decided to take a different route home. It total it was a 47 mile trip and a great afternoon!

Until the next ride.....

Shadow Adventures: Commuting

I haven't really gone for many joy rides on the bike recently.
I spent some time working on my saddle bag brackets and finally got them installed.

They didn't turn out too bad. Some schedule 40 PVC pipe and mending braces is all it took. They may not look pretty, but they work just fine.

Since the bracket install, I have been taking the bike to work on sunny days. It is a great way to start and end the work day for sure. Plus, I get the added bonus of around 60 miles per gallon. The coldest morning temperature has been 41.9 degrees. I was comfortable, but the ride home was rather warm wearing all of the cold weather gear! I am hoping to continue riding as long into fall as possible.

Book Review

At The Throne of Grace: A book of Prayers by John MacArthur

Inside the book jacket summarizes this book perfectly. "At the Throne of Grace is your invitation to more intimate, more worshipful prayer." There is no better summary description.

The book is divided into 6 sections.
Prayers on Worship and the Attributes of God
Prayers on Joy and Longing
Prayers on the Cross and the Gospel
Prayers on Personal Holiness
Prayers on Useful Service
Prayers on Holy Seasons

Before each prayer there is a passage of Scripture. MacArthur then prays through that Scripture and includes other portions of Scripture as well.

This is a powerful and deep practice of praying. It isn't just shallow prayers about asking God for "stuff", it is praising God and worshiping Him during prayer time.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in deepening their prayer life.