"You should write always indepedent of your audience. Aware, but independent. You sometimes seem as if you are overly conscious of how your writing may or may not be perceived. It makes your writing seem either desperate or smug, depending on your perception of how well you have measured up. Maybe you speak to your audience too much. What great writer spoke to his audience? Or if they did, they were completely self-assured. Confidence is everything. You must know that you will be interesting.

Do not try to be different. Do not strive to be unique. Unique writing fades. More important is to be profound. But do not try to be profound. If you are thinking and feeling deeply, you will be profound.

Most of all, polish and work. Why is writing different from any other art? Musicians practice. Artists train. So must a writer. He must be in complete control."

Sage advice.

I have been reading Revelation lately, and man, it is confusing.

First of all, I thought that each confusing passage could be filtered through my knowledge of other parts of the Bible. To some extent, that is helpful, as in the four living creatures covered with eyes. They show up in Ezekiel, and also in Isaiah, playing similar roles.

But only to some extent. I don't know any passage that helps me understand John eating a scroll that tastes like honey but is bitter in his stomach.

Secondly, the sheer diversity of opinion within the church is staggering, even amongst people that agree on 100% of everything else. For example, Jonathon Edwards says that the army of locusts in Chapter 9 represents the "army of the Turks" that invaded Christiandom, taking over its historic churches (Antioch, Jerusalem, Damascus, etc.). I have not found one other person that agrees with him!

Thirdly, the level of disagreement is almost comical. For example, the first "horseman of the apocalypse" is riding a white horse, and goes forth to conquer. My commentary says that the two major interpretations of the rider of the white horse are either A) Christ, or B) the Anti-Christ.

Pause for a second.

In other words, the rider of the white horse is either the summation of all good, purity, and the glory of God; or else the sworn enemy of all righteousness who tries with all his might to destroy the church.

What situation is analogous to this? I can't even think of a good metaphor. In these camps are men who agree on everything else in life, but can't decide if the rider is their best friend or their worst enemy.

For the record, I do not think it is either. But there you are.

Hello, friends and family.

This is my Christmas list, for those of you with love in your hearts, and a bit of spare change in your pocket.

First of all....

1. Books.
--All of the books on my list can be found at the following website:
http://monergismbooks.com/

A) Works of Richard Sibbes
(http://monergismbooks.com/workssibbes3980.html)
B) The Treasury of David...by C. H. Spurgeon
(http://monergismbooks.com/treasurydavid9456.html)
C) Exposition of Ephesians in 8 Volumes...By D. Maryyn Lloyd Jones
(http://monergismbooks.com/mljephesians.html)
D) The Economy of the Covenants...Herman Witsius
(http://monergismbooks.com/economy8708.html)

They are in no particular order.

Of course, I would welcome books I have not read, especially if the giver has read them and greatly enjoyed them, and even more especially if they are science fiction.

And please, Jane, no girly books.

2. Clothes--
--Gift certificates to all major retailers are excepted, although I usually can't find much that fits me at the Gap. Here are some specifics.
A) Shoes-- of some sort. I am size 7 or so. Please let me pick them out, however.
B) On second thought, here are items I am in need of...

"Jeans, shorts, hoodie (no zipper), dressier pants, long-sleeved collared shirts"

My vitals--I am 30/30 on pants, and a small to xtra small on everything else.

3. Ummm..........notebooks. Very prosaic, I know, but a nice, college-ruled, fatty notebook (not a mini-journal type thing, I don't do well if it doesn't lay flat on its own) would be sweeteriffic.

4. That's really all I can think of. Clothes and books. There are some things, however, which I would prefer not to receive..........

1) DVDs. I am trying to cut back.
2) Music in the form of a CD. So late 90s.
3) New television series. I guess that falls under DVDs, but I made a committment not to get interested in any new television series.
4) Clothes not in my size.

Also, I love surprises and unexpected things. This list is mostly for my mother, who has too many people to buy gifts for to worry about getting a surprise, and whether I'll like it.

Thank you. I might continue to post stuff on here, since it seems to be the family trend. Please communicate with each other if you do buy something on my list, so that I don't get two copies of the complete works of Richard Sibbes.