Proverbs 19:21 (ESV):

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

God’s sovereign plan often amazes me, especially when the plans that we make for ourselves are overruled and we are sent on a different path than the one we might choose for ourselves.

After my first year of college, I decided to persue a degree in Theology, and transferred to Davis College.  When I arrived I made a number of new friends, many of who wanted to serve as pastors, missionaries, and in other ministry positions.  Two of the guys who desired to be pastors are still dear friends of mine.  

When I arrived at Davis, I had absolutely no desire to be a pastor.  I wanted to know more about my newfound faith, as I had only been a Christian for a year, but occupational ministry was not on my radar.  I thought it might be good to get an undergrad degree at Davis, and then go on for a masters in counseling or political science, with the goal of serving as a counselor or professor.

During that first (sophomore) year I felt God calling me to the pastorate.  I did a pastoral internship at North Country Fellowship in the summer of 2003, and haven’t looked back.  I’m now serving bi-occupationally as a Pastor/Elder at North Country Fellowship, and would like to go full time at some point in the future, Lord willing.

You know what happened to my two close friends who wanted to be pastors?  One discerned that he wasn’t called to be a pastor, but was called to counsel professionally. He is now working to finish a masters degree in marriage and family therapy.  The other guy is currently serving as a Youth Pastor, but is working on his MDiv, with the ultimate goal of earning a PhD and a professorship.

Funny how we all sort of swapped paths a bit, eh?

According to a post on a LGBT site, this is a pregnant man, Thomas Beatie.

Beatie, who was born a woman, chose to undergo medical procedures aimed at changing her gender to male.  Her reproductive organs were not modified when she chose to become he.

I’m almost at a loss for words with this one.  I guess I can make the obvious statement that I don’t think this is “right”, not just from a moral or theological perspective, but even from a secular social and cultural perspective.  

I mean, heck, I struggle to refer to Beatie as a he, simply because he’s a she, and I’m of the (non-religious) opinion that gender isn’t something that can be “reassigned.”  

On the other hand, I do feel badly that these folks feel they are being discriminated against, particularly in regards to medical care.  If indeed this isn’t a hoax, and there is a baby involved, I sincerely hope that appropriate medical care is found.

We’re going to be seeing a lot more of these types of currently-atypical cases in the years to come, and if the only thing we do is condemn people, we’re stupid.  At the same time, one must recognize that this sort of thing is so severely out of the revealed will of God for marriages and family units, that it must be commented on.

So how is the church to respond?  In what ways can we as Christians both love God and love others, in this case?

The folks over at Logos Research Systems recently released an alpha version of the forthcoming Libronix Digital Library for Mac. This is literally the one program I was sad to lose when I made the switch to Mac over a year ago. (I had Parallels, but didn’t use it much.)

Since that time, I literally lost my Logos discs off the back of a truck, during our move from the last apartment we were in to the one we currently occupy. I didn’t have much of a collection; certainly not the Scholars Edition or anything cool like that, but I was sad to see it go.

However, I do still have the free ESV CD that came as an offer with one of my ESV print editions. So, I installed the Alpha, got my licenses plugged into it, and copied the resources over.

I now have a (surprisingly reliable) copy of Libronix running on my Mac with the ESV and KJV, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and a number of other resources. Sweet!

I’ve been using the English Standard Version of the Bible as my standard translation for about four years now. I preach from it, teach from it, do personal study with it, and generally use it for everything. It’s a great translation.

One of the first things I noticed about the early ESV product line in 2004 was the lack of a solid study bible, containing notes and commentary. Over the years, there has been the Reformation Study Bible, as well as a Literary Study Bible, however both of these have a specific audience in mind. I was looking for more of a general purpose study Bible. The ESV site said they had one in mind for long-term planning, but no details were available.

Over time, my personal desire for a Study Bible has lessened, primarily because I’ve found my other tools and scholarly texts to be more useful as study aids than any one condensed study bible could be. However, I do actively teach verse-by-verse studies through the Bible in my church, and more often than not, the folks I teach don’t have the resources or desire to purchase dozens of commentaries and systematic theology volumes.

That brings me to the point of this post. Crossway is about to announce information regarding the release of the ESV Study Bible. This is quite exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with, and have signed up for email news bulletins as info becomes available.

Justin Taylor has confirmed that Wayne Grudem is also the General Editor of the Study Bible. This makes me even more excited. I’ve found Grudem’s Systematic Theology to be immensely helpful, and am sure this study bible will be great for my people.

I’ve registered for the Pastor’s Conference to be held on Tuesday, April 22nd at Davis College. Are any of you planning to attend? I’d love to meet up with old friends, or make some new ones.

I’m especially interested in seeing and interacting with the college’s new president, Dr. Dino Pedrone, who was scheduled as the “guest speaker” before his presidency was announced.