God created the world to display his glory. We exist to display God’s glory. Okay.

How does the Trinitarian nature of God come into play here? God’s glory is the display of his nature, and thus creation is a display of God’s Trinitarian glory.

This is the world that BEST displays the relationships between the Father and the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit and the Son… for us to marvel at and enjoy.

The Father sending the Son to die, and the Son enduring the Cross and submitting to the Father’s will “for the joy set before him” shows us the glorious relationship between the Father and the Son in a way that couldn’t have been shown if there was no sin or death and this world was different.

Crazy.

-Ben

Click here to pre-order “Rebel.” Releases 9/30/08.

I’ll post lyrics as soon as I get them. Here’s the album cover:

-Ben

I don’t go out of my way to get you to use Google Talk, Gmail, Google Docs, etc. because I think you’re amazing.  I do it because I think they’re amazing.  My love for you, as demonstrated by me commending Gmail to you, is not based on how amazing you are.  My love for you plays itself out by me working for your good – using Gmail .

Gmail is pretty amazing, but it isn’t that amazing.  I wouldn’t die so that you would use Gmail.  But there is something worth dying for:

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. – 1 Peter 3:18

Why did God die for us?  Because He loves us:

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

How does that love play itself out?  By working for our ultimate good.  By bringing us to God!

How much is God worth?  How good/satisfying is God?  We get a glimpse of that when we see what God was willing to do to bring us to himself.

The incomparable terror of God pouring out his wrath on Jesus points to the value that God places in Jesus. Jesus was terrorized so that we might be satisfied in Jesus above all things, and see that Jesus is satisfying above all things!

-Ben

[Video is at the bottom]

Saturday, July 26th

Rajiv: is tomorrow.  Is anyone gonna cake him?  I feel like he needs to be caked real good.  Every part of his face should be covered.

Joe: Yo, he’s gonna get cakes so hard. So whats the gameplan? Do we have a digital camera (daniel)?

Rajiv: “He’s gonna get cakes so hard?”

I think it’d be cool to trick Ben into thinking he’s not going to be caked. And then cake him late at night.

So … if Daniel could arrange for a little party at work, then he could play it off as if the caking isn’t going to happen.  Daniel can mention that he called Joe to come hang out, but Joe said he couldn’t make it.

Later at night, Daniel lets Joe into his apartment.  Joe ambushes Ben with a cake.

Joe: Yo, I think ben is so smart that he’ll suspect we are going to try to double-fake him…so we need to be extra-crazy smart to out-wit him. Here’s what we should do: daniel should secretly let me into the apartment, I’ll hid in their bath tub and pull the shower curtain shut. when ben comes go “#2″, I jump out and get him while he is “most vulnerable.” how does that sound?

by the way, i’m half serious about my plan.

Rajiv: Didn’t I just say you’re not gonna do that?

Daniel: I definitely think i should let you in and hide you. Got a cake?

Joe: i can get a cake….at ALDI’s!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A bunch of stuff transpired (that's not as funny), and caking got put off til Tuesday]

Rajiv: You should get Piper to cake him.

Daniel: That strikes me as… unlikely…

Ray: YO NICE NICE NICE

Monday, July 28th

Daniel, to Jon Bloom: Mr. Bloom… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to cake Benjamin Lanning Hutton at Desiring God Headquarters after 1300 hours on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008. The method of attack will be delivered by Joseph Scott Tehrab to the door at that time, and he will remain to film the deed. It remains to be determined how the goose will be lured to the pond… I will pay you a visit soon after my own arrival to seal the cracks in the plan.

May the sugary goodness of the frosting in Ben’s beard be acceptable in the sight of our God.

Daniel: Jon Bloom has agreed to cake Ben. The deed will be done tomorrow (Tuesday), time TBD.

Liang: sweet! make sure jon doesnt pull a ray li and miss ben’s face… maybe train him in the art of caking beforehand by the power of the Spirit? just make sure to remind him of 1 peter 4:11 – “if anyone serves (cake), let him do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God might be praised through Jesus Christ.” 

Rajiv: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe: Alright, I just bought the cake from Cub foods, we are locked and loaded….

Daniel: Excellent… Ben said that Joe and I had fallen out of the good graces of many a tiny asian girl because we didn’t cake him yesterday. We’ll have to make it extra good. I’ll make sure the rest of DG is notified…

Joe: Yo, We should get Piper to cake Ben on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 29th

Ray: yo take pictures and video

Liang: might wanna de-knife him b4 you try to cake him… little boys w/ knives can get fiesty when caked

Rajiv: Use chloroform.

Jon Bloom: Very funny! I will cake in the strength the Lord supplies.

Jon Bloom, to me: After today I’m gone the rest of the week for a conference, and I have a dental exam at 1 PM. I have a couple quick questions regarding the M:A things you’re working on. Could I meet with you guys at 11:45 am? Sorry about the very short notice. Just come to my office. Won’t take long.

For some reason, my digi-cam didn’t record audio.  I’ve added a bit of commentary.

Thanks guys. I was completely surprised. Well done!

Before:

During:

After:

Slideshow:

1. Preaching & Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones – I started reading this over winter break, read a handful of chapters over the course of last semester, and finally finished it this summer.  It talks a lot about the life of a preacher, how preaching should work, and why preaching should be done.  Very helpful.
2. The Reason For God by Tim Keller – I only read the second half of it.  It is an apologetics book, meant for nonchristians and Christians who talk to nonchristians about Jesus.  Quite interesting and helpful.  The first half I intend to use as a reference.
3. When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper – Tremendously helpful, practical book.  It’s essentially a sequel to Desiring God, and talks about how to pursue joy in God through truth, the Bible, prayer, meditation, etc.
4. Memoirs Of An Ordinary Pastor by D. A. Carson – Carson wrote a biography of his dad’s life and ministry.  His dad was a church planter in Canada with a modest sized congregation and a very interesting story.  The wannabe church planter in me found it very interesting.
5. Counted Righteous In Christ by John Piper – Piper gives an exegetical defense of imputed righteousness as a component of justification.  A short book, but a hard one.  If you want to see how closely reasoned exegesis looks, I recommend this to you.  Difficult, but worth it.

What I’m working on:

1. Future Grace by John Piper – A 31-chapter book (one per day for a month) elaborating on the concept of living by faith in future grace (hoping in future blessings of Jesus instead of simply banking our hope on past blessing (which is still important)).  If you decide you want to read this, let me know.
2. Instruments In The Redeemers Hands by Paul Tripp – an amazingly God-centered book on Christian counseling.  I dare say that Piper could not have written a more glory-centered, sovereignty-centered beginning to the book.  Immensely practical and helpful, I recommend this to everyone who doesn’t feel called to be a hermit.  It will help you help others and be helped by others, with God at the center, for God’s glory and your joy.
3. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem – An enormous theology textbook (basically).  My goal is to finish it by the end of the summer.  It is very well written, very pastoral (as opposed to inapplicably dry), and covers a comprehensive set of subjects about God, his work, and his people.
4. Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud – I started this and I’m not sure if I’ll finish it.  Our Cru staff gave it to me.  I think/hope that Instruments In The Redeemers Hands will sufficiently cover the same material (but I may be wrong – I’ll probably read a bit more of it just to make sure).

What I’m planning to read:

1. Tell The Truth by Will Metzger – A book on evangelism with a stunning list of endorsments – Piper, MacArther, Ryken, Packer, and others.
2. Teaching To Change Lives by Howard Hendricks – John Sullivan recommended this.  I’ve read another book by this guy, and found it quite helpful.
3. Whiter Than Snow by Paul Tripp – After reading him in Instruments and reading snippets on JT’s blog, I think I’m sold.
4. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper

There are probably a lot of others that I intend on reading, but I forget what they are right now.  When I’m done with Systematic Theology, I’ll probably move on to Calvin’s Institutes.

Yes, there’s a lot of Piper in there, but 1. he’s good and 2. I work for the guy and get his books for free, so I might as well.

-Ben

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. – John 2:18-22

The disciples were good Jews.  Surely they thought they knew and believed the Scripture (OT writings).  But we see here that it wasn’t until after “he was raised from the dead” that they “believed the Scripture.”  What was the problem here?  They didn’t understand the Scripture, and they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying about himself.  You can’t have believe without understanding.

To believe what Jesus says, you need to understand what Jesus says.

To believe what Jesus did, you need to understand what Jesus did.

Not a comprehensive understanding, but a correct understanding.

How?

For God… has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4:6

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” – James 1:5

So we pray and ask God to give us understanding as we read the Scripture… and then we READ THE SCRIPTURE.  Two parts.  Gotta have both.

-Ben