So today I got home from work and wanted to read something. I decided it would be a good idea to go to the library down the street from my home. I got there and there was a massive book sale going on, and they were charging $4.00 for as many books as you could fit into a paper grocery bag. At first I thought that it would be a lame sale with a bunch of crappy romance or mystery novels that would be a waste of money, but I came out with a list of 21 classic and good pieces of literature all short of a five dollar bill! Not to mention I only had about 10 minutes to pick from all the books that were there because the library was closing. Anyways, these are the titles and authors I picked out:
1. After the Fall, Arthur Miller
2. Modern Poetics
3. Collected Stories, William Faulkner
4. Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy
5. Babylon Revisited and other short stories, F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. A Seperate Peace, John Knowles
7. A Child's Bible
8. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
9. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulker
10. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
11. A Guide to Prayer
12. Short Stories II
13. The Pearl, John Steinbeck
14. Demian, Hermann Hesse
15. Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne
16. John Keats, Walter Jackson Bate
17. Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
18. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
19. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
20. The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
21. Tender Is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Not bad for four bucks huh?I have only read one of these pieces, but I have just added them all to my library. I find much truth in the statement: "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
First Editon!
So I found out today that I have in my possession a 1952, Scribers first edition copy of Hemingway's novel, The Old Man and the Sea. If you didn't know (I didn't either) it is worth roughly $1,000 dollars or more depending on it's condition. The copy I have currently had in my library for the past 2 years or so is in fair condition and it's missing the book jacket, but regardless I was stunned.
The thing is that it belongs to my old church's library, so I can't sell it. I was meaning to get it back to them eventually...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Black Squares
The black squares
falling from a fair,white sky.
Those intergalactic moons come out and
while buffoons pilfer the whiskey from saloons,
looting the mothers and children
Then sudden zaps of lightening and lost warnings of monkey men.
Eating the fish
raw out of the unsalted seas, abundant with salamanders,
Morphing into sand,
to fill the eternal hour glasses.
The lost time is in hand.
Check out their watches and nostril breathing gases.
Get the picture?
You're a temporary lighting fixture.
The world blinds you,
and holds onto your past.
Every single person autonomously breathing
their last.
Until the next time the black squares turn white and then explode bright
and the night sky,
will die.
Then man will fly, upward
and outward
through the anti-air
without a possibility of stopping
Relentless rocks will knock you
over
to the next age of mankind
Hanging between the landmines
of their space men and sun-gods
Falling from freely distributed grace
through a perfectly stolen space
falling from a fair,white sky.
Those intergalactic moons come out and
while buffoons pilfer the whiskey from saloons,
looting the mothers and children
Then sudden zaps of lightening and lost warnings of monkey men.
Eating the fish
raw out of the unsalted seas, abundant with salamanders,
Morphing into sand,
to fill the eternal hour glasses.
The lost time is in hand.
Check out their watches and nostril breathing gases.
Get the picture?
You're a temporary lighting fixture.
The world blinds you,
and holds onto your past.
Every single person autonomously breathing
their last.
Until the next time the black squares turn white and then explode bright
and the night sky,
will die.
Then man will fly, upward
and outward
through the anti-air
without a possibility of stopping
Relentless rocks will knock you
over
to the next age of mankind
Hanging between the landmines
of their space men and sun-gods
Falling from freely distributed grace
through a perfectly stolen space
Monday, June 9, 2008
Satan's Unsteady Knowledge
It’s funny how Satan thinks he can somehow stop God. The enemy thinks it is making some sort of advancement against God or that in some way God might die at the hand of evil. I can only imagine the delight Satan must have felt when Christ was suffering on the cross, but if only he knew...
James Stewart of Scotland said, “They nailed Him to a tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to His feet. They gave Him a cross, not guessing that He would make it a throne.”
The glory in the resurrection makes my bones shake. And no other thing has ever brought such a shudder to my soul. It is astounding how Christ “did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil, [but] conquered through it.”
I cannot help but laugh at Satan because he thinks he had God and the human race cornered. He thought He was killing God, when in all actuality it was God’s will to redeem man and conquer death. How incredibly ironic.
I cannot help but think of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Aslan is being bound and shaved at the Stone Table by the evil beasts of Narnia. The demonic laughter and mocking of the hideous creatures are excruciating and strewn with wickedness. The pain of the scene is tragic and dark. As Aslan is tied down Lewis describes him as resembling a “mass of cords” and as Susan sobs she says, “Are they still afraid of him, even now?”
The hope of Narnia hangs in the balance and before the Witch kills Aslan she chooses to rant: “And now who has won? Fool, did you think by this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the deep magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your life and not saved his. In that knowledge despair and die.”
Still, the Witch did not have the knowledge of Aslan, who knew that “when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.”
Just like everything the Devil lives in victory for the brief moment, but God’s triumph knows no end. There is no love or glory if you are not walking with God, just the cold darkness of Satan to pull you farther and farther away from Him. The good news is that Christ died for us to pay the debt of our sin. He died in our place. He was fully man and fully God and He came forth and showed the greatest act of humility in the history of the world, by dying for the world that was undeserving.
Satan thought he had victory over God, but on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and redeemed every man that chooses to follow Him. Through Christ, we can all conquer the grave, and Satan will never have power over us.
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” I John 4:15
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
James Stewart of Scotland said, “They nailed Him to a tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to His feet. They gave Him a cross, not guessing that He would make it a throne.”
The glory in the resurrection makes my bones shake. And no other thing has ever brought such a shudder to my soul. It is astounding how Christ “did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil, [but] conquered through it.”
I cannot help but laugh at Satan because he thinks he had God and the human race cornered. He thought He was killing God, when in all actuality it was God’s will to redeem man and conquer death. How incredibly ironic.
I cannot help but think of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Aslan is being bound and shaved at the Stone Table by the evil beasts of Narnia. The demonic laughter and mocking of the hideous creatures are excruciating and strewn with wickedness. The pain of the scene is tragic and dark. As Aslan is tied down Lewis describes him as resembling a “mass of cords” and as Susan sobs she says, “Are they still afraid of him, even now?”
The hope of Narnia hangs in the balance and before the Witch kills Aslan she chooses to rant: “And now who has won? Fool, did you think by this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the deep magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your life and not saved his. In that knowledge despair and die.”
Still, the Witch did not have the knowledge of Aslan, who knew that “when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.”
Just like everything the Devil lives in victory for the brief moment, but God’s triumph knows no end. There is no love or glory if you are not walking with God, just the cold darkness of Satan to pull you farther and farther away from Him. The good news is that Christ died for us to pay the debt of our sin. He died in our place. He was fully man and fully God and He came forth and showed the greatest act of humility in the history of the world, by dying for the world that was undeserving.
Satan thought he had victory over God, but on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and redeemed every man that chooses to follow Him. Through Christ, we can all conquer the grave, and Satan will never have power over us.
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” I John 4:15
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Sunday, June 1, 2008
There always seems to be something difficult to give up to God. Whether it be a girlfriend, or drugs, anything can keep us from a relationship with our Savior. There are so many things of this world that keep us bound. There are so many things that give us a false sense of reality, hope and love that make us "go with the flow" of the world instead of investigating taboo subjects like the meaning of life or God.
My friend once described bringing God into a discussion amongst non-searchers or unbelievers was like throwing a grenade into the middle of the room. Everyone is so afraid of what the idea of God might truly show of them, and convict in them. Man is so afriad of being inadequate or falling short of being 'good'. God definately sets the standard high. He sets it at Jesus Christ who obeyed God in every way. His was the only true innocent and perfect blood that was ever shed on this Earth.
2 Peter says that the day of the Lord will come as a theif in the night. And by that time it will be all over and there will be no second chances. The devil is at work as we speak. He wants to keep you away from being with Christ and He wants you to eat of the forbidden fruit and "be like God." He wants you to live for the moment, while God wants us to be patient and listen to Him. And the more we analyze the contents of the world the more we long to replace it for God. Christ said anyone who loves the world and anything in it does not have the love of the Father.
Christ also knew the world would hate Him and His followers.
Jesus said," In this world you will have trouble." Regardless of the fact that you follow Christ or do not, suffering is inevitable. I don't know of anyone who has not endured suffering and one of the most unexplainable phenomenons of this world is the problem of pain. There is pain and suffering everywhere we look. We are in trouble. But then this is why I love Christ: He brings us back and gives us the only real hope there is to live and die for, He then says, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." While man lives and suffers pain and trouble, there is still hope to overcome the burdens and anguish of this world, and to have everlasting life, but it is only through the matchless King, Jesus. He has conquered the grave, He has given us the chance to live forever in peace with Him. He has given us the ticket to heaven. He has placed before us the pathway to God and has given us an ultimate meaning to life and holds the key to living abundantly.
My friend once described bringing God into a discussion amongst non-searchers or unbelievers was like throwing a grenade into the middle of the room. Everyone is so afraid of what the idea of God might truly show of them, and convict in them. Man is so afriad of being inadequate or falling short of being 'good'. God definately sets the standard high. He sets it at Jesus Christ who obeyed God in every way. His was the only true innocent and perfect blood that was ever shed on this Earth.
2 Peter says that the day of the Lord will come as a theif in the night. And by that time it will be all over and there will be no second chances. The devil is at work as we speak. He wants to keep you away from being with Christ and He wants you to eat of the forbidden fruit and "be like God." He wants you to live for the moment, while God wants us to be patient and listen to Him. And the more we analyze the contents of the world the more we long to replace it for God. Christ said anyone who loves the world and anything in it does not have the love of the Father.
Christ also knew the world would hate Him and His followers.
Jesus said," In this world you will have trouble." Regardless of the fact that you follow Christ or do not, suffering is inevitable. I don't know of anyone who has not endured suffering and one of the most unexplainable phenomenons of this world is the problem of pain. There is pain and suffering everywhere we look. We are in trouble. But then this is why I love Christ: He brings us back and gives us the only real hope there is to live and die for, He then says, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." While man lives and suffers pain and trouble, there is still hope to overcome the burdens and anguish of this world, and to have everlasting life, but it is only through the matchless King, Jesus. He has conquered the grave, He has given us the chance to live forever in peace with Him. He has given us the ticket to heaven. He has placed before us the pathway to God and has given us an ultimate meaning to life and holds the key to living abundantly.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
White Walls
My friend said today that he gets freaked out when he looks at white walls. He said that he sees little dots and stuff, some kind of disorder in his brain or something.
I'd like to think he has spent so much time in dark things that looking at white is unnatural or something, but I think it's just his brain.Regardless, I talked to him breifly about science and math and discovered that he is a naturalist. He is also a math major in college.
I think that sometimes our brains let us get the best of us. We sort of head out on our own phiosophical or theological tangents and our brains get cluttered. We think and analyze too much. There's a time and a place for it I guess, but it's the worst when we are by ourselves, soaked in the tears of self-pity or depression. We sit and put on weird tunes, or do drugs but it's all temporary. We remove the problem breifly just to enjoy the time we slip away into madness, then the problem is back the next mourning along with everything else. We all yearn for someone to trust and love us.
I think I've found Him. The One I can put all my trust in, that is.
I'd like to think he has spent so much time in dark things that looking at white is unnatural or something, but I think it's just his brain.Regardless, I talked to him breifly about science and math and discovered that he is a naturalist. He is also a math major in college.
I think that sometimes our brains let us get the best of us. We sort of head out on our own phiosophical or theological tangents and our brains get cluttered. We think and analyze too much. There's a time and a place for it I guess, but it's the worst when we are by ourselves, soaked in the tears of self-pity or depression. We sit and put on weird tunes, or do drugs but it's all temporary. We remove the problem breifly just to enjoy the time we slip away into madness, then the problem is back the next mourning along with everything else. We all yearn for someone to trust and love us.
I think I've found Him. The One I can put all my trust in, that is.
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