A Day in the Life of Isaac

This post was inspired by someone who emailed me requesting a little picture of what a day in the life of Isaac Knopp was like. I think it is harder for me to write about just the everyday for several reasons. In part it seems like it is an unnecessary input. Who wants to hear what flavor coffee I had with breakfast this morning. Some things contrary to my modernist stream of consciousness friends should never be chronicled. But the main reason why it is difficult to write about the practicals that make up my life right now is that it is so fluid. Undoubtedly if I were to take one day and highlight it there would be more disanalogy between it and the subsequent day than analogy.

That being said, Last night I had my birthday party. Contrary to popular opinion birthdays are a time for grand and happy remembrance not simply a time of depression. Time is no mans master marching into the future carrying with it ever increasing riches, and boasting of its exploits. This past year has been a time of sowing and reaping a lot of riches. I have gained a tremendous amount of relational wealth and am rich indeed.

You know it is everyone's duty to enjoy what God has given to Him. And to me in large part has been given the wonderful ministry of being a herald: a trumpet for God's Kingdom in Japan. I have been reading Ezekiel and the price of being such a one is apparent in that he is responsible for others before the Lord and expressly comes bearing a message that some will like and others will not. Most of the practical side of this involves traveling here and there, in town out of town, encouraging people. Last week a man wrote me an in-depth personal letter after having just met. It's things like this that prove to me the effectiveness of partnership ministry. My prayer is simply that I may be more like Christ in it.

Another large slice of the pie is working. I have recently been working 20-30 hours a week doing construction. There is something peculiarly good about doing physical labor. At the end of the day I can feel it.

The rest the interests that I pursue on a regular basis are sort of like a baker's last loaf. The scraps individually are not large enough but all together they make up a fairly sizable and satisfying loaf. Just a few of these are, language study, the current theological read, church fellowship, encouraging college students, and spending time with my family.

I hope you have enjoyed these coffee shop statistics on my life. Until next time- Isaac

Another Excellent Read

I had heard stories all of the men in this book. Except for maybe Charles Simeon, whose story is possibly the most powerful in the book. As all of Pipers books are this book is deeply truthful and passionately Humane. There are two main reasons why I think this book is compelling. First all three individuals did have incredibly power to endure. The most remarkable thing was not that they merely endured, but that they endured with a distinctively engaged and upbeat demeanor. Newton liked to tell a parable about a man who was given a carriage to travel a thousand miles at the end of which he was to receive an unimaginably large estate and inheritance. A mile from his destination the wheel broke on His carriage. Newton liked to pose the question at this point, "this being the case how silly would it have been if this man wept that whole last mile saying, 'my carriage is broken, my carriage is broken!'?" Now how Characteristic is this of our hearts at times. God is lavish in all of his promises and slack in none. Yet we still want to cry, "my carriage is broken," about the small sufferings we endure. There are many other and far deeper insights into how these three men found deep roots of endurance in their lives that are detailed which I will not go into. I reserve that Magellan like voyage for those who wish to read the book. But I will say that it was a very satisfying read for me. Which brings me to the second reason why this book was compelling. It was easy to mull over current modes of how I deal with suffering in light of their lives. This is part of the benefit of biographies which other genes cannot touch. It is clear to see how they trusted the Lord, feared man, repented, and obeyed. Their lives act as a foil for what they believed. In this there is great opportunity for improvement upon the principals they lived by and an even deeper encouragement because they made it!