Slothink About Life

Reviewing "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day"

2011-06-25T09:50:00.004-05:00

This is the third book Multnomah has sent me to review and I think I see a pattern. The authors seem fairly interchangeable. They are all approaching middle age, yet already touted as Christian leaders on a national level. They are good at thinking outside the box. They all like to call Christians Christ followers instead of Christians. They all like to talk about how bad the church has become and complain about Christians turning people off to Christ. Then they fill their books with stories of Christians who are doing wonderful things to serve God and bless others and reach people for Jesus. Go figure.

Back to the book at hand. I'm having trouble deciding whether I like this one or not. Author Mark Batterson is pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. The book title derives from II Samuel 23:20-21 where we learn about a warrior named Benaiah. One of Benaiah's heroic deeds was chasing a lion into a pit, on a snowy day, and killing it. Later Benaiah was promoted to the highest position in King David's guard. Still later Solomon made him commander of the entire Israelite army. Like I said, Benaiah was a warrior and clearly he was good at it.

Batterson's thesis is that if we all developed the kind of mind set and intensity that it takes to jump in a pit and kill a lion then we would be much better at doing the things God has called us to do and therefore at building the Kingdom. He spends most of the book developing this idea around a few character traits, or skill sets, he feels we should all develop. These include: try to grasp God's greatness; face your fears; reframe your problems to get God's perspective; take risks; accept that you are going to look foolish sometimes.

While I think Batterson has gone a little too far in developing this whole model based on the brief little story of Benaiah, I have to admit it is actually pretty good advice. Plus, he does back most of his ideas up with other scriptures. Even though we do not all have the personality or the skill set of a savage warrior, most of us probably do need to go to battle, so to speak, for the Kingdom in ways and degrees that we have not been. And, yes, that will involve adopting Batterson's skill sets.

The writing was okay. He had a few inspiring paragraphs. Batterson uses a lot of illustrations and analogies from the world of science. In my opinion, he over uses them, and I enjoy science illustrations. Also, as mentioned earlier, he uses real life stories of Christians who are taking risks to better live for Christ. Most of these are interesting.

Overall, I'm somewhat ambivalent about this book. Read it if you need a good pep talk regarding your Christian life. Read it if you need some good illustrations and stories for your preaching or teaching ministry.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Message to the class of '81

2011-06-03T09:56:00.004-05:00

(Family friendly warning, following some of the links below might lead to sites with songs or message boards containing naughty language.)

To the rest of you who graduated from high school in 1981, and especially from Dulles, what the pooh happened? One day you're walking across the stage grabbing your diploma, on top of the world, with big dreams and your whole life ahead of you. A couple days later you wake up and suddenly you have arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis, fasciaitis, reflux, receding hair line, cellulite, can't see too well, can't move too well, can't hear too well, can't remember too well, etc., etc., etc.

We're the last of the Baby Boomers. And I think we are the last generation to remember life before cable TV, computers, cell phones, and rap. We remember Blackwater as a song instead of a mercenary army or an oil spill. We remember the original Sesame Street gang, Reagan telling Gorbachev to tear down the wall, Lennon getting shot, and knowing that every Friday night Another One Bites The Dust.

Seriously, though, congratulations on the past 30 years. If you've made it this far you deserve to pause and have a little Celebration of your journey and all you've accomplished and all you've learned. You know, as great as we thought things were in 1981, I've learned that right now, these really are The Best Of Times, watching my kids grow and experiencing God's grace as my mind and body start going downhill. I've learned that love really is More Than A Feeling. I've also learned that there is no Stairway to Heaven, but There Is A Savior.

Take a few moments then, to simply be Still and enjoy this milestone. But, don't waste much time on that. You see, life really is just Dust In The Wind that flies by, and the next thirty years looms ahead. So whether you are an Urban Cowboy, Just A Good Old Boy, a Dancing Queen, a Desperado, or a Renegade, buckle up and Carry On My Wayward Son. Don't Bring Me Down by giving up, get back On The Road Again.

And as you travel through this Grand Illusion, learn from the past and things that happened All Those Years Ago, but don't cling to it. Dream On for a better future, but make the most of this moment--no regrets today.

This probably wasn't exactly your Rock 'N Roll Fantasy, or even a trip through Boogie Wonderland; but hopefully it brought back some good memories. Its shown me that clearly, I have Too Much Time On My Hands.

Congratulations class of 1981 on the 30th anniversary of your parole, i.e., high school graduation.

A Review of "Awakening"

2011-04-20T14:52:00.006-05:00

I've recently completed Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom by Stovall Weems. Pastor/teacher types are forever exhorting their congregations and classes to spend time alone with God praying and studying his word. However, one rarely hears these folks include a call to fast in their teaching. Awakening changes that. Reverend Weems is the pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida and he regularly includes fasts as part of his relationship with God. In the book he shares why he does so and why he thinks it is important for all Christians (who are medically able) to do so as well. Specifically, he calls for a 21 day fast to "revolutionize your relationship with God".

The teaching part of the book is 124 pages long. Weems uses scripture and personal experience to explain how and why Christians should spend time in personal study and worship, including fasting. The chapters are readable and most conclude before they get boring. Each one ends with a personal testimoney from a member of Celebration church who tells something of how God used the 21 day fast in his/her life. These testimonies of God's activity are really neat. Another thing I enjoyed about the book is that Weems is really passionate in his love for Jesus and that comes through in the writing.

The next 20 pages lay out the plans for several types of 21 day fasts. Weems gives his thoughts on the value of each type of fast as well as providing medical cautions where appropriate. Following these plans are 21 days worth of personal devotional readings to use while on the fast. Reverend Weems also throws in some ideas of what to expect your body to do as it responds to various phases of the fast and encouragement to keep going. The final six pages consists of study questions to use if one is leading a small group through a study of this book. I found this to be the weakest section.

I have to admit that I do not understand the subtitle, "A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom". There is really nothing new here. It is a book about spiritual disciplines that many Christians have been practicing for centuries. Still, it is a book worth reading and it is my hope and prayer that many who read this book will apply these disciplines to their own lives.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"The Next Christians" a review

2011-03-09T15:06:00.010-06:00

I've just read The Next Christians: The Good News About The End Of Christian America by Gabe Lyons and a few thoughts follow. The Next Christians makes the case that Christianity in America is in sad shape; so sad that we are actually in a post Christian era. Lyons however, is persuaded that we should be optimistic about the future of Christianity due to those he dubs "restorers". Lyons proclaims that the work of Jesus was/is all about restoring people and the universe to the state of wholeness and goodness that existed before the fall. Restorers then, are Christians who seek to restore goodness, beauty, truth, justice, etc. to our culture; indeed to all people.

Lyons describes how restorers live out six special characteristics in seven channels of cultural influence. They desire to do this for the sake of Jesus. If I understand what Lyons is saying, the difference between restorers and the Christians of the past 2000 years is that the goal of the restorers is simply to do these good things. If people find salvation through Christ in the process, that is a bonus, but not necessarily the main objective. To his credit though, Lyons does exhort Christians to keep the gospel as the highest priority of life. He claims that when Christians practice the lifestyle of a restorer the result will be that people are saved.

Lyons has certainly done his homework here. He provides statistical results from various studies to support his claims. He also provides numerous real life illustrations based on personal friendships and interviews to demonstrate the demise of Christianity as well as to illustrate the good things that restorers are doing. Some of the stories he cites are interesting whereas others, not so much.

I did enjoy the book. Lyon's writing is clear and easy to follow, although not extremely engaging. However, I did find his narrative of the gospel in chapter four to be fresh and enjoyable. Overall I give the book a C+ for writing, B for holding interest, C+ for consistency and logical conclusions, A for optimism, and B for provoking further thought.

In short, if you put all the trendy phrases and personal illustrations and anecdotal stories aside, Lyons is saying that he expects revival. I hope he is right.

Who might enjoy or benefit from The Next Christians? Any Christians interested in ideas for social justice ministry or outreach to the lost. Anyone intrigued by the message of the emerging church movement (this is not to say that Lyons is definitely a part of that movement). People who think Christians are jerks. Christians who are interested in living more fully for Christ.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

PFSAD

2011-01-10T16:39:00.008-06:00

I know there are others out there. You, like me, experience a melancholy as football season winds down. Maybe it comes on after the high school playoffs, maybe after your university's bowl game, maybe after the BCS championship, maybe after the Super Bowl, but at some point when you face life without football for 8 months, you get depressed.

Last year it wasn't so bad because we had the Winter Olympics to distract us. Once they were over however, my support group realized that this year would be extra bad with no distractions. Our physicians wanted to put us on meds which none of us were too keen on. Our thrapists kept asking about our childhoods. Of course we all had the same answer, we spent 85% of our time out in the yard playing football with every other kid in the neighborhood. DUH!

So, in our quest for help we got together and commissioned a nation-wide survey to try to find some answers. The polling organization contacted dozens of PFSAD sufferers to ask what works for them in overcoming this condition. Surely, in the collective wisdom of this great nation we can find help. What works for someone in another state, just might work for you too.

Read on, then, and maybe the therapy that has helped another will be your solution as well.

"Wayul, my wife's sister's son's best friend's piano teacher is good friends with the coach down to the high school. He gets us the hook up e'ery year. We go into the field house during the school lunch period and sit in the equipment room and watch the video from every game, one per day. If we 'uz in the playoffs that season that's almost three weeks of therapy; for free! Shoot. You can't beat that with a stick."

--Jim Bob Jumpback
Pascagoula, MS

"I always just go quail hunting. Makes me feel much better."

--Chick Daney
Beeville, TX

"I light a few candles in my Grant Teaff shrine and meditate. Ya, I chant my mantra. What is it? "waytilnexcheer, waytilnexcheer, waytilnexcheer'. I just repeat it over and over, you know, between six packs. I always end up feeling much better. Been doing it since 1987."

--Jerry Don Spruill
Waco, TX

"I like to get an SUV. I equip the locks with a remotely controlled mechanical system that cannot be overridden without the proper radio frequency. I fill up the gas tank, park in front of Al Gore's house, leave the engine running, and lock the doors." --Dan Quayle

"I run down to the hardware store and buy a jug of denatured alcohol. Then I go out in the backyard and use it to set all the anthills on fire. Makes me feel much better."

--Bubba Barnes
Gatlinburg, TN

"What's football?" --Elliot Higginbotham, Bangor, ME

"Soon as I start to feel those blues coming on I know exaclty what I gotta do. I start collecting daily water samples in all the local cricks. I plot the water temperature and clarity with the day length, moon phase, and ambient temperature. In just a couple weeks I can predict the exact date and time that the white bass will start spawning. That way I will be ready for it. I'm always on the water as soon as they start. Fill my freezer with filets the first week every year."

--Billy Boudreaux
Munroe, LA

"Donuts. Lots of donuts and I always feel much better." --Joe Don Jackson, Huntington, WV

"Shoot. I found out a long time ago how to deal with that. The day after the Super Bowl I start making my brackets for the NCAA basketball tourny. Then, I spend the next several Saturdays with a pencil and eraser changing them up and getting them fine tuned. When March madness gets here I'm ready for the real thing. By the time that's over I'm feeling pretty good and I can go up to the high school and watch spring training."

--Eddie Ray Kincaid
Houston, TX

"Hog hunting. Every Saturday until turkey season I go hog hunting. The more I kill, the better I feel."

--Bubba Washington
Alpharetta, GA

"Buying a new gun always makes me feel better. The problem is that every time I get a new gun I have to buy my wife something too; its only fair. So, I was going broke getting my wife outfits and computers and jewelry every time I got a gun. Of course, being broke negated the benefit of the new gun. I found, though, that I can get my kid new stuff and that's fair for everyone. So, when I start getting depressed, Robyn gets a new gun. She's not really sure why she needs a closet full of guns, but she's happy to get presents. And for just a trip to Baskin Robbins, she lets me borrow them for the weekend."

--Jeb Gordon

Farmers Branch, TX

"I bake a lot." --Girard Odgen Thayers, Boston, MA

neat song

2010-12-22T12:09:00.002-06:00

This song will help get you in the Christmas mood. Click here.

Couple thoughts about Christmas

2010-12-21T15:26:00.004-06:00

I'm feeling a bit scroogey and grinchey this week. Not exactly sure why. I'm definitely not bummed about the birth of Jesus. I'm very thankful and joyous about that. Perhaps I'm kind of dejected about what the celebration of that birth has turned into. I'm also a little stressed about how much need there is in our little corner of the world. So many people need help with bills and medical care and food and gifts for their kids. That in itself is overwhelming to me, but it is magnified by the fact that so many of them are not getting much help, if any.

I know many of you have helped someone. Maybe you gave to your church or the Salvation Army or some other ministry or an individual family that you know. Its great if you have helped someone. Whether you have or have not reached out with an act of benevolence this holiday season please consider helping someone else this week, before Christmas gets away again. There is still so much need out there.

Especially, if you are rich please consider helping someone (else) this year. If you are not sure if you are rich, click here to find out.

Also, to help focus a little on the wonder of Christmas, read this short piece over at EO. I think you'll like it.

Merry Christmas!

Pink Ladies

2010-12-16T12:00:00.004-06:00

So, the grand-mas steal the children's Christmas show? Well, they didn't steal it, but they definitely added to the fun. I know they can't wait to see themselves ;-)

Seriously, ladies, y'all are terrific. It was really good of you to do that for the kids.

cool object lesson

2010-11-18T08:28:00.004-06:00

We've been studying Judges on Wednesday nights in our youth meeting. The Israelites were really on a slippery slope or downward spiral. One act of disobedience would lead to another and so on and so on until they were really out of fellowship with God. This always resulted in dire consequences for them.

So I was trying to think of a good object lesson but couldn't come up with anything. I got on the discussion forum at Pastor2youth.com and someone gave me a great idea. He had seen it in a sermon illustration. It was really cool. Here's the video.

It not only illustrates the idea of one sin leading to another, but also the idea that our sin affects people around us.

The person that told me about it said he saw it with about 100 mouse traps. This is only 48. 100 would definitely be cool!

Jonathan plays flag football

2010-10-21T21:08:00.005-05:00

Gotta love the way he protects the goal line.

I think he just got so tired of trying to grab those little flags that he just decided to get in front of the guy before the guy got to the end zone. It worked too. Cute kid.

A little Friday apologetics

2010-09-24T17:01:00.003-05:00

Chocolate exists.
Therefore there must be a God and he is clearly a benevolent God to make a luxury as wonderful as chocolate for us to enjoy.

Chocolate is soooo good. There's just no way it could be a happy accident of evolution!

aaaaaaaa!

2010-09-23T12:22:00.004-05:00

Remember the movie, "It's a mad mad mad mad world"? Well, it is.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1181170

A night out

2010-09-03T21:55:00.003-05:00

Dear Midway, Congratulations on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a nice new stadium. And on the very clever idea of making general admission seating and then selling more tickets than there are seats. I guess you can use the extra money to get all your campuses on the accelerated reader program. You could even advertise it as such. "Come stand for 2 1/2 hours so our new schools can have AR." I think people here care enough about reading to do it.

While it may have been a little misguided, I have to admit that the new stadium is very spiffy. And even though the game was boring it was a pleasant evening. I enjoyed parking half way to Lorena and then hiking to the field in order to stand the whole time. It actually was not hard to see around the extra wide gentlemen standing in front of me except that they wouldn't be still. Lean left, lean right, lean left, lean right. I'm a little sea sick now.

Thank God for the good ol' BMBC yutes. They stopped by periodically and kept me entertained. Way to go y'all!

Summer time

2010-07-10T15:07:00.003-05:00

We had a good trip to Houston last weekend. We visited my folks and sister to celebrate Independence Day and Jonathan's birthday. It was a good time. Thankfully, for a change, everyone stayed healthy.

On the drive back, I had one of those strange, sudden revelations. I realized that the older I get the less I need mountain fixes. Really not sure why that is. I suppose it has something to do with my decreased cold tolerance and increasing laziness. Still, I never dreamed my affection for mountains would diminish. Maybe if I just spent a week in NM or CO it would come back?

The week before the holiday weekend was our Vacation Bible School and it too was a lot of fun. One night we studied Titus 2:11-14. It reads, "11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

Wow, what a great passage! I'm not sure why I never really noticed it before, but I sure like it. Don't you? What do you suppose Paul is talking about when he speaks of saying "No" to ungodliness? I'd be curious how many different ideas are out there.

Speaking of ungodliness... Here's is a very timely and important article from Sue Bohlin at Probe Ministries. I highly recommend it. Read the whole thing because she makes a plethora of points.

I'll try to get back to some thoughts about kid's sports soon.

Some Memorial Day free time

2010-05-29T14:51:00.004-05:00

Ahhhh. Finally a chance to relax a little and write something. First, thank you! Thank you to all who have served in our armed forces, and their families, who must also make sacrifices so we can live in a free society. Thanks especially to those whose loved ones paid the ultimate price. Thank you and God bless you.

Krista took Kris out for a birthday outing. Jeremiah is at a friend's house. Jonathan is at a friend's house. I have some precious peace and quiet. Well, except for the sounds of me coughing up my lungs. Still, its good to get a little break. Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Now, back to what I started several weeks ago. I was talking about how sports have really become an idol in American culture, for sure here in the south. My thesis stems from that. It is that we have really created a monster out of children's sports. We have made sports for kids so ridiculously serious that it is not good for the kids or the parents or the coaches. It has become a place in our society where our depravity frequently gets the best of us.

I gave a couple of examples in the previous post and I feel they are very typical of where we are in America with kid's sports. There is a lot more to say about the issue. However, before delving into more of it, lest you think I'm anti-sports, I want to offer a little personal testimony.

I really like sports. I would say that I "love" sports, but that is part of the problem. I have great parents and they gave me a wonderful childhood. My father really likes sports too. He was an all around athlete in high school. In fact, I'd venture to say he is still one of the best 84 year old golfers around. Because of his interest in sports they were always on in our house on weekends (remember this was back when there were just three channels and sports only aired on Saturdays and Sundays). Actually, one of my fondest childhood memories is that of lying in the living room beside Dad on Saturday nights while he tuned his old transistor radio between college football games. We lived in Oklahoma, but with careful tuning he could listen to several Southwest Conference games in an evening. It was fun!

Couple that with the fact that the kids in my neighborhood were always playing football or basketball or baseball or kickball and the result is that my first grade teacher said I knew more about sports than any little kids she had known. I don't say that to brag but to make the point that I am a sports fan. I am not against sports. They can/should be fun. They can/should be healthy.

However, there can be a dark side to sports as well. By the time I was in junior high football was my idol. I can remember if the Cowboys lost a big game I would become incredibly upset; even to the point of crawling under my bean bag chair and crying. Crying over a game is ridiculous. Thankfully, though, God convinced me of my sin. Between eighth and ninth grades the Holy Spirit really got my attention and showed me that the position of sports in my life (specifically football) rightfully belonged to God. With His help I repented and actually quit football.

Now, I cannot honestly say that I never again gave sports an improper place in my life. However, that was the first big step in getting my priorities straight. The more I have matured intellectually and spiritually the better I have become at keeping sports in their proper perspective.

So, please don't think that I dislike sports or that I look down on those who idolize them. Been there done that. I'm not making these posts to condemn anyone. Hopefully, God can use the ideas here to help put sports in perspective for someone else who needs it. In turn, hopefully, that will allow some children to play sports for the right reasons and in the right atmosphere without overzealous parents and coaches making it a miserable experience rather than a fun one.

Kids and sports

2010-04-09T21:34:00.004-05:00

I live in the Bible belt; in fact, pretty much the buckle of the Bible belt. There are a whole lot of born again Christians in Texas. However, we are not a majority by any stretch of the imagination. In the culture at large God is still popular, but it is more akin to the way Santa Clause is popular than to a true widespread recognition of the God of the Bible. Anyone who lives here can tell you that the true objects of worship in this neck of the woods are beer and sports.

Making idols of beer and sports is bad enough, but down here we've developed an especially sad version of sports worship. We have combined the need that many parents have to vicariously live the life of a sports hero through their children with the notion that sports are worthy of worship. This has created a monster of sorts that I have long found to be disturbing. I have wanted to write about this monster often but never seem to get around to it. The other day, however, I heard a story that is very typical of the monster about which I speak. It hit so close to home that I got pretty riled up about it and decided to finally write, or begin writing, some of my thoughts on this monster.

A friend has a child involved in a local Little League baseball program. The child's coach is a man who previously coached one of my kids. I felt at that time that this man took kids' sports way too seriously. Well, the coach said something to the child that bordered on a threat. When the parent confronted the coach he denied it saying that the child had simply misunderstood. A few days later one of the parents witnessed the coach treating several of his players in a way that bordered on physical abuse. Let me take a moment to note that this parent is not an over-reacting whimp like some of you are thinking right now. This man was a soldier and is a sports fan himself. He was not over-reacting.

At this point the parents had knowledge of two extreme incidents in a week's time, their child was rapidly becoming disenchanted with the coach and the sport itself, they wanted to make sure that things did not get any worse. Therefore, they decided they ought to take matters to the league officials. They phoned the league president. The man admited that they had received other complaints about this particular coach. However, he said that he also had parents request this coach for their children because this coach gets results. Furthermore, he stated that his own son was on the coach's select team and he would not offer any type of reprimand. He also refused to transfer the player to another team.

There ya go. There's a perfect example of what has gone wrong with sports. We have adopted the attitude that in the sports world, even the sports world of nine year olds, that the ends justifies the means. The coach, by virtue of the good ol' boy club (which is also prevalent in Texas), gets to use unethical methods because he wins. The boys learn that its okay to break the rules as long as your team wins.

Think this is an isolated incident? Think about the NCAA basketball tournament that we watched all during March. What happens at the end of a game when one team has a slight lead and the other team needs the ball back? The losing team fouls.

"So what?" you say. "That's just strategy."

Ya, the strategy is that you break the rules if it gives your team a shot at winning. That's what we're teaching our children. Then we are surprised when we hear about individuals at all levels of the private and public sectors who willingly engage in unethical or illegal behavior if it helps them "win" at making money or getting elected or getting a job or whatever.

I'm sleepy. More on this subject soon.

The lost art of teaching

2010-04-01T21:57:00.004-05:00

First, a life update. Granny died on Monday. We had the service on Wednesday. Been a tough year. Been a tough week. Lots of good people from BMBC and Meadowbrook and other relatives and friends have really stepped up ministered to us with calls and visits and food and so forth. Thank God for his people.

Now, have you noticed that its no longer politically correct to teach? Apparently its not couth anymore to have a class where one person teaches and a few others learn. One can be a facilitator, or one can invite others to "join the conversation", or one can make suggestions, or blah, blah, blah. Drives me crazy.

We have become so arrogant as a culture that we can't stand the idea that someone else might be able to teach us something. Therefore, we have had to find another way to describe this communicative process where someone transmits knowledge and wisdom to others. The problem is that none of these politically correct descriptions are honest. The truth is that it is, in fact, possible for one person to teach another something.

Furthermore, the implications of the notion that we are above another teaching us something are rather daff. If one says that he cannot be taught then the options that follow are pretty illogical. If one cannot be taught the first possibility is that one already knows everything there is to know. Obviously, that is not logical. The second possibility is that one already knows everything the "teacher" knows and therefore, the teacher cannot impart learning to him. Very arrogant, hard to measure; yet totally unlikely. The third possibility is that one is not capable of learning. That would be pretty sad but cannot be true since one learned enough to make the claim. Not logical either.

I say, then, that we just quit all this politically correct crap and admit it when we have a class or seminar or conference or whatever. Call them what they are. They are not merely conversations or dialogues or thought sharing communities or whatever other touchy, feely, stupid names one wants to give them. The first step to solving a problem is admitting one has a problem. So, admit that you are capable of learning and that someone else is capable of teaching you. You might just enjoy this freedom of being intellectually honest instead of being trendy.

Hello again

2010-02-18T20:04:00.003-06:00

Hello Blog. I've missed you. On Facebook I have to be careful not to offend people. But here, since nobody will be reading it, I don't have to worry about offending anyone. I can say whatever I want.

Why write if nobody is reading? It will provide something to job my memory about life a few months from now.

The holiday season was pretty nice until right after Christmas. Granny got sick and hospitalized. Mark died on New Years Day or the day after. Granny got sick again and was hospitalized two more times and is now in a nursing home. So the last six weeks have been extremely difficult. But God has seen us through.

You know, I am so sick of people spending boat loads of money on "rescuing" animals. I'm not anti-animal and I don't want animals to suffer. But good grief, with all the people that are suffering let's not waste money rehabilitating wild animals who only live a few years anyway. And let's sure not waste money on dogs and cats. Its not like we're facing a shortage of them.

There's a commercial out these days that shows some pitiful dogs and cats and puts human emotions to them. And lots of people out there are gullible enough to fall for it and spend thousands of dollars on shelters and "rescues" and stuff like that. Its ridiculous and I'm tired of it.

The great outdoors

2009-10-22T08:17:00.003-05:00

Two camping trips in one week; its not hunting or a mountain fix, but for now it will do.

Last week I took the boys on their first camping trip. We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park on Monday and Tuesday. Dinosaur Valley is one of my favorite places for a short get away. Unfortunately, it rained just about the whole time and we didn't get to do everything I was hoping we would. But the boys handled it really well. They made the best of the situation. They did not complain. They followed instructions.

We had a fun time and I was extremely proud of them. God willing we will hopefully be able to camp together more in the future.

Then, last Saturday and Sunday I took my Sunday school class camping. The main point of the trip was to go see The Promise in Glen Rose. I thought those guys would enjoy camping so I made that part of the trip too. We camped in tents at Riverbend Retreat Center. The weather was perfect. The kids were pretty good. We had fun.

It had been a long time since I had gotten outside and it was good to spend several days in the country. If you live in the central Texas area or the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I highly recommend Dinosaur Valley and The Promise. Check them out, you'll be glad you did.

Happy Anniversary

2009-10-02T09:22:00.003-05:00

Hey, today is the two year anniversary of this blog. The first entry is here.

Meanwhile Facebook and Twitter seem to have taken over a lot of people's screen time so there's less time for blog reading. But there are still a whole bunch of good blogs around.

Its been a crazy two years. We've seen economic catastrophe and political catastrophe with the election of a president who goes around apologizing for his nation being great and liberal legislators trying to re-engineer our society into something bordering on socialism. Every day the news is filled with stories of unbelievable human depravity such that nothing seems to shock us anymore.

Kris has gone from a Claymaniac to a Jonas Momma. She's had to give up some of her Stampin' Up time to take a part time job. The boys are really growing up, doing well in school and they seem to be growing spiritually. Blake and I are finally seeing a little spark of growth in the youth ministry.

Lately I've been trying to figure out why primarily spiritual beings have to spend a blip on the eternal radar screen trapped in a material world. We're forced to live in two realities at once. We're constantly pulled in two opposite directions. We spend tremendous amounts of time, energy, and resources to satisfy our material needs and wants when we should be storing up treasures in Heaven. Why are we given this struggle? Why is it so easy to give ourselves to the material world at the expense of the spiritual?

Makes you really appreciate Enoch doesn't it. Genesis 5:24 says, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." Apparently Enoch was so given over to the spiritual rather than the material that God translated him directly into Heaven. Isn't that cool? He must have been something.

The Enoch challenge: depend less and less on the material and more and more on the spiritual. Any takers?

A Prediction

2009-10-02T09:17:00.003-05:00

Someday society will mine landfills for resources such as metals and organic matter.

"Sounds like a great job for our great grandchildren," he said facetiously.

More health care reform

2009-09-10T08:45:00.003-05:00

I did not hear the president's speech last night. However, I heard part of an interview with him on Nightline. During that interview he said that he is very interested in changing the way health care is delivered in the United States. I found that to be a very clarifying comment. It really gets down to the crux of this whole health care reform issue. And it depresses me so much that half the country is okay with that.

Honestly, who is he (a lawyer and politician) to tell doctors how they should deliver their product. It is not the role of government to do that. Congress needs to back off and find another way to deal with people who cannot afford their own medical care (i.e., insurance reform, healthy lifestyles, tort reform, etc.).

If they do pass this huge, sweeping, reform bill, then someone needs to write a law that puts the American Medical Association in charge of reforming the legal profession.

Are sports life?

2009-09-02T08:53:00.003-05:00

As if there were any doubt left about whether sports have become way to important in our society, get a load of the conversation I heard on the radio this morning. The morning host and the sports caster were arguing about the fact that Tony Romo has a new girlfriend. If you don't know, Romo dumped Jessica Simpson just two months ago and he is now apparently seeing another attractive, blond, semi-celebrity.

The sports guy was upset that this will be a big distraction to Romo and the team here at the start of a new season. The host felt like Romo has the right to a private life. Duh.

With all the junk going on in our world that needs to be newsworthy and that people need to talk about and deal with, and these guys think its important to talk about Tony Romo's love life. As if it matters to anything going on in the real world. We have so lost it as a society.

Edwards' town hall meeting

2009-08-29T13:30:00.004-05:00

This morning Kris and I attended a little over half of Chet Edwards' town hall meeting on health care reform. It was in a large room at the convention center and we were in the back and had trouble hearing everything. Following are my observations on what I could hear and see.

-Nobody really understands everything the health care reform bill requires, what it will take to implement it, and the effects it will have if enacted.
-A clear majority of those present were in favor of smaller government.
-A clear majority of those present were in favor of lower taxes.
-A clear majority of those present were against the house bill in question.
-Half or more in the room would even favor doing away with Medicare and Medicaid.
-Chet Edwards does not care what his constituents want, he is going to support what he feels good about. But at least he was man enough to admit it. (Specifically, he said that he would never vote for a bill that took away Medicare or Medicaid and that he understood he could have honest disagreement with his constituents on those points. It seems evident however, that he is also more concerned with getting a health care reform bill passed than he is in listening to his constituents who do not want it.)

I have to be honest. What bothered me the most about the meeting was the way people behaved. A room full of adults and many, many of them acted like unruly school children. There was a good deal of downright rudeness; booing, cat calling, screaming, not letting the speaker talk, name calling, etc. It was very sad. It reminded me of what I said after the speech Obama made when he won the election. Namely, health care, the environment, education, the economy, etc. are not the real problems with America.

The real problems with America are in our souls. We, like all humans, are sinful. We will never solve any of these other issues until we come to the cross of Christ and let God deal with our sinfulness. America needs heart reform much more desperately than we need welfare reform, tort reform, health care reform, education reform, or anything else. Pray with me that we can see what the true problems in our land are and that we will choose the right solution.

Health care

2009-08-27T08:51:00.002-05:00

I'd still like your opinions on whether health care is a right or a privelege.

Here's the thing though, as far as the whole reform issue goes. There are lots of problems with our current system. Among these are medical malpractice suits, the incredible costs associated with medical technology, the cost in the pharmaceutical industy for R&D and advertising, the enormous overhead associated with medical practice, government mandates to insurance companies, etc. However, more government is not the answer because it cannot be the answer.

Government's job is to provide for our common defense, to make sure that free enterprise operates on a level playing field, to enforce the constitution, to protect us from crime, to protects us from tyrrany (political or religious). Government was never meant to operate health care or any other business.

Senses and memories

2009-07-31T15:41:00.002-05:00

Its very interesting to me how our senses can trigger memories. If any of you out there are into neuroscience you can explain it for us. I think its cool how certain sounds or smells can trigger memories and seem to transport you back to another place and time. You know what I'm talking about, right? Like hearing a certain song can make you feel like a kid again or like a newlywed again. It comes on the radio and suddenly you feel like you are back in your childhood home or on your honeymoon, or wherever. Has that happened to you?

This time of year if I go out in the morning and the dew is still on the ground and I smell fresh cut grass it takes me back to those early season two a day workouts of high school. There, I re-live some of the sensations from so long ago. The smells of the locker room--sweat, spray disinfectant, Kramer's heat balm all come back. Feelings too. Like the feel of the ground vibrating when the o-line comes off the ball, the feel of sitting down in the dew drenched grass to do the obligatory pre-workout stretches and the moisture soaking into everything, the feeling of the sun baking you and the temperature inside your helmet going up and up and up, the feel of exhausted, sore muscles screaming for a respite.

You know, come to think of it, there are a lot of good reasons why only young people play football. Maybe the stereotype of the dumb jock isn't so off base? ;-)

Bravo for our senators

2009-07-29T17:42:00.004-05:00

We still have not received the rain that was supposed to happen on Monday, but maybe tomorrow... On the positive side, it has been cloudy and we have not been above 100 degrees since Sunday. That's pretty sweet for late July around here.

Kudos to our Texas senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. They have both opposed Sonia Sotomayor's nomination as a supreme court justice. Their opposition is on principle. They feel she will (and has) decide cases on things other than their strict legal/constitutional merits. That alone is certainly worthy of our respect.

However, their stand goes even deeper. There are many people who are supporting Judge Sotomayor just because she is a minority; even as there were many who supported Obama simply because he is half black. This kind of support is certainly racism and therefore unfortunate. But it does exist and it is likely to cost Senators Hutchison and Cornyn politically.

You see, Texas is about 36% Hispanic. Obviously, most of that population is not racist. However, that number probably represents a lot of folks who would be upset with our senators for opposing Sotomayor since she is Latina. So this had to be a tough decision for our senators. I applaud them for doing what they feel is right without regard for the possible political consequences.

When a legislator makes decisions based on what is most likely to keep him/her in office then he/she has transitioned from public servant to self servant. I'm thankful that Hutchison and Cornyn are doing their best to act as public servants for all Texans.

What's happening here

2009-07-25T11:40:00.003-05:00

The last three weeks of June and the first couple weeks of July were incredibly hot and dry even for Central Texas. Then almost two weeks ago we had a couple of nice little showers and since then we have been below 100 degrees. In fact we have even had a couple of cloudy days that were almost comfortable. I've been really thankful for the little weather break. It is supposed to be 100 again today but then we get a little front tomorrow that cools things back to the mid 90s.

So its really becoming the dog days of summer as we brace ourselves for six or so more weeks of extreme heat. There is hope, though, that provides a little psychological boost to get through. NFL training camps start soon which is a promise of things to come (the promise of fall and all the good things that go with that). Meanwhile we make the most of summer.

I must be grumpy lately because the other day Kris told me it has been too long since I killed something. So last night when I went out to move the sprinklers and found a snake under the live oak in the front yard I figured I better kill it. Of course, that upset Jeremiah who thought it was way too cute to kill. He's a twisted little kid.

Last night Nana and the boys and I watched a good old John Wayne movie, The Cowboys. The boys had never seen it before and they loved it. I view that as comforting proof that kids are capable of enjoying something besides high tech entertainment. Now I may have to convince them that they don't need a horse, they can just use their bikes and pretend.

This morning I put on my Daffy Duck short which Jonathan laughed at. At first, Jeremiah agreed with me that they're okay because we like Daffy Duck. But a few minutes later he said, "Seriously, you're going to go out in public wearing that? Kind of tacky." I told you he's a twisted little kid.

Such is life, mid summer 2009.

Inquiring minds want to know

2009-07-23T19:35:00.002-05:00

How come they don't make vanilla syrup to put on chocolate ice cream?

Seems like rather a double standard doesn't it?

Thinking out loud

2009-05-19T08:50:00.005-05:00

Here are some thoughts that have been rolling around my head. They are just thoughts and not even to the opinion stage yet. As such, I hope nobody takes them as criticism. They're not critical, just thoughts.

So I listen to a lot of preachers on the radio. I read a few Christian blogs. I read Christian articles from several sources on a somewhat regular basis. I try to read the Christian books my pastor assigns us for staff development. One thing I've noticed over the past five to ten years, these speakers and authors increasingly use the phrase "follower of Jesus Christ" or "Christ follower" to refer to one who is a Christian. I think that makes me sad.

Don't get me wrong. I don't really have a problem with the phrase. It is similar to the early biblical description of Christians as "followers of the Way". I certainly don't have a problem with people following Christ. I guess its the larger circumstances that bother me.

It seems that over the years the term Christian has taken on negative connotations in America. Although, I'm not really sure why that should bother us, it had negative connotations to many segments of the population in the first century as well. I guess another problem with the term is that many use it simply to indicate that they are neither Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, nor Atheist but not necessarily to mean that they are born again.

That being the case, apparently a bunch of Christian authors and speakers got together somewhere in the middle of the night and decided that they needed a new term to differentiate between "good Christians" and "bad Christians" and between "nominal Christians" and "real Christians". And they decided that "Christ follower" or "follower of Christ" phraseology is the ticket.

Somehow, in my little brain, it doesn't seem to help the situation. According to the Bible, born again people were first called Christians at the church in Antioch (Acts 11:26). We know from history that they got this name because they acted like Jesus. Maybe instead of changing the way we refer to ourselves we should change the way we act? On the other hand, Jesus said that if we acted like him we would have to expect persecution. So maybe its a good thing that "Christian" is sometimes a "bad" word?

I don't really know. It just seems kind of silly to me to stop referring to ourselves as Christians if that is what we are. I mean are we really solving any problems by adopting the trendier terminology? I have to admit that whenever I hear or read the terms "Christ follower" or "follower of Christ" the thought that pops into my head is, "well, for about three years Judas Iscariot was apparently a, 'follower of Christ'."

Book recommendation for parents

2009-03-31T12:38:00.004-05:00

You know that I don't read many books. However, here is one that I have read and which I recommend to any of you who are rearing children or preparing to do so.

Kid CEO is not the premier book on parenting but I think it is an important one to read because the author says a couple of things that a lot of the other Christian parenting books don't.

Ed Young writes in a very conversational style and he avoids a lot of Christian-ese. I assume his intention is to make the book attractive and applicable to non Christians. At any rate it results in a book that is very straight forward and easy to read. He also tries to be very homey and down to earth. Towards that end some of his illustrations are too sappy and some are really too much of a stretch to go with the point they are supposed to illustrate. But the content that he is teaching is good enough to make wading through some of the negatives worthwhile.

Pastor Young very clearly lays out the biblical model for how a home should operate. Then he proceeds to address very practical ways to make that happen. He deals with the pace of modern life, the importance of the marital relationship, discipline, and other issues universal to families in our culture.

Based on my observations it seems that parents today need a lot of help and I feel that this book is certainly a great place to start. Happy reading.

Words to live by

2009-02-24T14:10:00.002-06:00

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

And when life gives you nasty, mushy, over-ripe bananas-make a chocolate banana milk shake. Ooooo ya!

A Tale of Two Worldviews

2009-02-11T08:38:00.003-06:00

Status report: Millions of people experience intense suffering every day from the ravages of disease. Almost a billion people in the world don't have access to safe drinking water or proper sanitation. Millions are starving. We manipulate our environment to sustain ourselves and in the process we often completely remove other species from the planet. We fight and kill each other with knives, swords, drugs, guns, tanks, bombs, etc. We argue about whether or not torture is okay. And while many deplore this kind violence, many others will pay money to watch two guys in a cage beat the snot out of each other and consider it entertaining. We're not content just to kill soldiers, we also kill babies. We pull them half out of the womb and jab scissors in their head and slice their brains into quivering masses of amorphous tissue. Some of us profit off this and have no shame over it. Yet, we are appalled if a baby seal is killed or a whale is stuck on a beach. We appoint whoremongers, fear mongers, crooks, liars, and traitors to be our leaders. Then we are surprised, upset, and angry when they cheat us, prey on us, steal from us, lie to us, and betray us.

There is a lot of bad in the world. Yes, there is a lot of good as well. However, its not like the good makes up for the bad. The good does not somehow cancel out all that is wrong. Bad is bad and it hurts regardless of how much good there is.

Based upon the status quo, you tell me which of the following scenarios makes the most sense and offers the most hope.

Scenario one: We live in a universe that appeared accidentally from eternal matter. Said matter overcame the laws of entropy to form a universe. Eventually, some of this matter also accidentally organized itself into living cells. Through the randomness of mutations these primordial cells eventually gave birth to more and more complex cells. As these organisms became more complex and numerous they were not only acted on by random mutations but by natural selection to continue to produce more advanced life forms. Which brings us to the status quo. We who fit the description reported to you above are the pinnacle, the zenith, the grand culmination of evolution. The status quo is as good as it gets!

Scenario two: A loving, purposeful Creator formed the universe and all living things. He created man out of love. To make sure that we could decide for ourselves whether or not we wanted to love him back he let us make decisions for oursleves. These decisions led to the status quo. Even as bad as things are, the Creator is using the bad to show us the good. He gave himself to redeem all that he created and is still at work in the universe today. When his purposes are accomplished he will bring about the fulfillment of this redemption such that all who follow him will be set free from the status quo and live in everlasting fellowship with him.

In which scenario do you put your hope?

The old hymn comes to mind:

"My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand."

One week and I've had enough

2009-01-27T23:24:00.002-06:00

Its stinking cold and sleeting outside. I'm sitting by the fire making s'mores waiting for my wife to get off the phone (surprise).

Man, one week of Obama and I'm already sick of this administration. As I said after the election it really bothers me that he doesn't know what the real problems facing America are. What I am particularly sick of at this moment is how he keeps using fear to get his way. He keeps playing on Americans fears, using them to convince them to approve his radical agenda. He won't be happy until America looks more like a socialist nation than a republic. Makes me sick!

Foooey on the liberals.

Getting told, by your 5 year old

2009-01-14T08:10:00.002-06:00

First, Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a great holiday time.

Don't know what the attitude is like at your house, but it is deep and thick at mine.

Yesterday, Kris had a conversation with Jeremiah something like this:

"Mom, you know you are always stepping on shadows." Such a random statement that Kris looked perplexed. "Your feet make shadows so you are always stepping on shadows."

Kris still looked a little dazed trying to figure out why he was thinking about that. So he says, "You didn't know that did you?"

"Well it makes sense." Kris said.

"But you didn't know it did you?"

"I just never thought about it, Jeremiah."

And with a sigh and a scowl he says, "I guess I'm the only one who thinks."

Man, he's a trip. Then last night Jonathan fell asleep first so I thought I'd mess with Jeremiah a little. "Jeremiah, you told Mommy that we always step on shadows because our feet make shadows?"

"Yes."

"Well, what if you are walking in the dark? Then your feet are not making shadows."

"A shadow is when something blocks the light."

"Yes, so if you are walking in the dark then there is no light so your feet cannot make a shadow."

"Shadows are dark, so you are always stepping on the dark."

He absolutely refuses to be wrong about anything, ever. It would be cute if we didn't know where he gets it from and how annoying it can be. My poor wife has a lot of bad attitudes to deal with.

Let's get this over with

2008-12-27T17:02:00.004-06:00

Okay, by now you know that I think it is stupid (and dangerous for Christians) to read novels about vampires and other similar fare. Yet, millions of people are going to do it anyway. They can think that my hobbies are stupid and we'll be even.

There is one more argument from the Twilight-o-philes that I want to answer. I confess that this is probably the weakest answer I have for you folks, but I'm gonna stick by it at least for now. The argument is, "If its not okay to read/watch Twilight, Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, etc. then why is it okay to read/watch things like The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and so forth?

Great question. Obviously, I think that the "bad" ones offer glimpses of, and connections with, the occult that Christians should avoid. As for the "good" literature, my first thought is that these take place in completely fictitious universes. Narnia and Middle Earth are imaginary places, although they contain symbols, types if you will, of things that are real.

That leads to the second point. Narnia and Lord of the Rings were written by Christians who wanted to teach spiritual truths in creative ways. They are parables or allegories that teach real spiritual truth. They bring us in line with scripture rather than out of line with it.

Works for me. That's all I've got to say about that.

Twilight ad nauseum

2008-12-27T16:17:00.002-06:00

I'm bored with this Twilight stuff so I can only imagine how bored you must be if you are reading this. However, I need to finish it because I said I would.

I left off with I Timothy 4:7 which says, "...have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales..." However, we need to understand the context. Paul is teaching Timothy his job as a pastor and there were a lot of false doctrines circulating back then. By false doctrine I mean things that people were teaching as truths which scripture would teach us are not. A current example would be the modern practice of feng shui in which people try to arrange things in their home or workplace in such a way as to funnel the energy of the universe in order to benefit them or help them achieve their goals. People practice and teach this as truth.

So Paul starts the chapter by admonishing Timothy:

1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Later in the chapter he tells Timothy what it is he should teach the church. I will readily admit that most stories about vampires and werewolves are not taught as doctrine; they are stories meant to entertain (although, we must be aware that occult practitioners can use these stories to teach their ways). Therefore, they don't really fall within the realm of the strict interpretation of this passage. On the other hand, anytime one dabbles in the occult whether it be ouija boards, seances, horoscopes or whatever, one opens oneself up to the enemy. For that reason, for my own life, I take I Timothy 4:7 at face value and avoid all that stuff including vampire type literature, even for entertainment.

Should all mature adult Christians think the same way? Maybe, maybe not, as Jimmy pointed out in the comments. I surely would urge you not to let your children and teens use this kind of entertainment. Most of them are still working out their world views and still immature in their faith. Reading stuff like that has great potential to harm their relationship with Christ by distorting their views of spiritual reality and opening them up to oppression from demonic forces.

Let me give you a sort of challenge to close this post and then I will just have one post to go to finish out this topic. Someday we will all stand before Christ and our works will be judged (see I Corinthians 3:12-15). This is not where our sins will be judged, they were judged on Calvary and removed when we were born again. This is where God piles up all the time we spent playing Freecell, watching football, reading Twilight, playing golf, hunting, fishing, shopping for frivilous wants, watching worthless TV & movies, worshipping, serving, praying, witnessing, etc., etc., etc. and shoots it with his celestial flamethrower.

In a moment the only things left will be what we did for him. So, what do you want left in your pile? My challenge is, for every hour that you spend reading Twilight (or something similar) this week, spend an hour in prayer, Bible study, worship, or some similar activity. Do that for a couple of weeks and see if that affects your attitude about vampire stories. I'm not making an assertion that it will or will not; I'm just saying give it a try.

A Shepherd's Prayer

2008-12-17T14:25:00.004-06:00

We'll return to the Twilight ideas later. For now I want to share this song from Evie. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsulPG6dWeM . It is a great reminder of what our goal should be for Christmas and all year. I love her voice too. I first heard this song on the way home from the deer lease about four or five years ago. I always find it touching and helfpul for getting refocused. Hope you enjoy it.

More on the "Twilight" issue

2008-12-12T20:32:00.004-06:00

The last post ended with the question, can vampire stories, even when clearly identified as fictitious be harmless entertainment for the Christian? First, it would probably be helpful for Christians to ask themselves a few questions about entertainment in general. When we consider how to spend our discretionary time, energy, and money we need to be sure that our choices will be pleasing to God. So here are a few thoughts that, in my opinion, Christians ought to apply to their recreational choices. Am I wasting God's time right now, is there some Kingdom activityI should be doing, or is this okay for now? Will this activity honor God? Will this activity help me become more Christ-like? Will this activity be a positive witness for Christ to the lost world? Will this activity be a stumbling block to any of my weaker brothers and sisters in Christ? Of course there is also the notion that Wachsman Family brought up in her comment on the last post, i.e., would Jesus participate in this with me?

Assuming you agree that Christians should scrutinize their recreation as outlined above we can now apply those ideas to Twilight (if you already disagree then we're kind of stuck). We have established that the whole vampire thing is demonic in origin so does using them for entertainment honor God?

Does it make us more Christ-like? One argument I have heard from the pro-Twilight side is that Edward exhibits many Christian virtues and so we can learn from him how to live the Christian life. Well, why would we not just learn it from Jesus? Why would we want to learn it from a counterfeit. You know the Bible says that the devil masquerades as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14). Does that mean we should look to him as our example?

Does reading Twilight improve our witness for Christ? Is reading Twilight a stumbling block for weaker saints?

I'm running out of time so I'll leave these questions up to you. Let me just close with I Timothy 4:7 which says, "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly." and which I'll explain a little more next time.

Should we or shouldn't we?

2008-12-10T13:20:00.013-06:00

So, I've sort of gotten myself into this debate--imagine that, moi in a debate--and I'm going to use this forum to discuss it. I need to let you know a few things up front. First, I tried to keep my mouth shut about it (I know, it is hard for me to believe too) because this general idea about what is acceptable entertainment for Christians has been beaten to death in cyberspace and other media, but I've heard enough falsehood that I feel the need to respond. Secondly, I'm addressing these thoughts to Christians. Third, its going to take more than one post to explain my position. Fourth, I realize that in some ways parts of this discussion involve gray areas; those things for which we might exercise Christian liberty. I don't want to break fellowship with those of you who disagree with me on this. I don't want us to look down on each other because of our differences.

So, what the poooh am I talking about? Well several of the females in my life have become big fans of the Twilight books. Someone in that population actually questioned whether it was a good thing for Christians to be reading a book about vampires. Naturally, the rest of them are trying to legitimize the books and their infatuation with them. Rather than argue with all of them about it, I've decided to just write my thoughts here and be done with it.

Right off the bat let's establish that the person who said this is not part of the occult is wrong. According to Merriam Webster Online occult is defined as: " matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them —used with the ". Clearly, vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, witches, fortune tellers, horoscopes, etc. all fall within the realm of the occult.

So, how should we think about such issues? We should go to God and his word for guidance. Deuteronomy 18:10-13 says, "10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God." In this text God is preparing the Israelites to enter the promised land and is giving them a lot of rules and principles to live by. The tribes that would become the Israelites new neighbors were completely pagan and God knew that if his children picked up any of the pagan practices that it would be to their own detriment. He was trying to keep his children pure for their own good and for the good of his larger plan in the world.

Admittedly, vampires are not specifically in that list. However, the vampire legends and occult practices are in the same vein as these things; especially, the idea of consulting the dead. I know people don't consult vampires, but they fall into that idea that if the dead are interacting with the living it must be a demonic deception.

These kinds of things are condemned in the New Testament as well. Revelation 21:8 says, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Many of the things listed in this passage are still practiced today in occult circles. They are essentially ways of investigating the supernatural world or trying to use the supernatural to manipulate the natural. They are all void of God. The only sources available to us regarding the supernatural are God and his angels and Satan and his angels. Since the practices listed here are an abomination to God we must conclude they come from Satan.

The first argument I heard from the Twilight-ophiles was that vampires are not real so this literature cannot be condemned along with the things these verses are condemning. I will admit that is a pretty good argument. Personally, though I don't feel like it works.

First, there might be a sense in which vampires are real. Historians think that the vampire legends got started when people observed corpses that had not decomposed as much as expected. The superstitious people explained this by coming up with ideas about soul-less bodies who had somehow come back to life to torment the living. That may be how the myths came about. But what if there were other cases of demon possession that caused people to behave in ways that we would associate now with "vampire" behavior. After all, Satan is in the business of counterfeiting God. It would be like him to want humans to think he could cause a body to be alive.

Also, we know that there are occult practitioners who have taken the vampire legends and tried to animate them. There are folks who sort of adopt the vampire lifestyle so to speak as part of their spiritual lives. I guarantee you these people are not worshipping God. And as you can see from the verses above, God is not pleased when we substitute other spiritual entities for him because he knows that it will end in our destruction.

So I think that even though vampires are probably not real, the idea of vampires is real. There are people who place vampires above God. In general vampires are representative of evil, they are antithetical to Jesus in most vampire mythology, they represent a demonic rip off of true life and the true God. They are not something to glorify. But can they simply be harmless entertainment? I'll continue rambling about that another day.

Little Help Here, Please

2008-12-08T19:46:00.002-06:00

The older I get the less I like cold weather. However, there are some things about the cold that are fun. One of my favorites is making a fire and letting the boys roast and eat marshmallows. The relish with which they eat a toasty marshmallow is a lot of fun to witness.

Now, here's where I need your help. Its always fun to sacrifice a marshmallow just to watch it burn up. Have you ever noticed that it flames up and burns quickly for a few seconds and then there is a little bit of it that stays on the coat hanger and burns for like an hour or something? Why is that?

My hypothesis is that there is a lot of air whipped into those things and the oxygen makes for quick combustion. Once the oxygen is gone you are left with just sugar or starch that takes longer to burn. That's what I think but I really don't know. So if any of you out there understand this phenomenon I'd really like to get your answer. Thanks!

BTW, yes I do have better things to do with my time than wonder about incinerating marshmallows, but being an underachiever I really don't care.

What do you think?

2008-11-25T13:50:00.003-06:00

I'd really like to hear y'all's ideas on this. Is medical care a right and privelege that should be available to all? If so, does that include all levels of medical care, primary care, trauma care, advanced life support, advanced therapies, rehabilitation, etc.? Or, is medical care a service that should be availabel based on the laws of economics like many other services?

The good the bad and the ugly

2008-11-18T08:07:00.004-06:00

Ugly first: The KKK. Nightline had a report last night on the KKK in America and those people are definitely one of the uglier faces of humanity. How peculiar that humanists/materialists can look at people such as the Klan and still honestly believe that there is no such thing as evil, no such thing as sin, and that people are basically good. How peculiar that anyone could look at the clan and still believe in evolution. I mean, if after 5 billion years of evolution the most advanced species is still producing the likes of the Klan... Can you say "fairy tale"?

One point the report made is that the traditional clan was exclusively "Christian" while the new clan cooperates with atheists, neo-nazies, skinheads, etc. Let's be really clear--no true Christian, no follower of Christ, should be a Klan member. The word of God says that "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." I John 4:20-21.

It might be concievable for a genuine Christian to fall into that kind of sin for a while. But they would be living in direct disobedience to God. They would be under constant conviction from the Holy Spirit. They would be detrimental to the Kingdom of God. I think its much more likely that Klan members who claim to be Christian have never really had an experience with Jesus.

The bad: the more subtle and more common forms of racism. If people voted for a white candidate solely because he was white that would be wrong and the media would condemn it. It was every bit as wrong for people to vote for Obama just because he is black. The nation will not get past racism and heal from its devastation until we admit that prejudice by minorities against whites is as real and as wrong as it is by whites against minorities.

The good: Political talk radio. No seriously, listen to this. Last night Kris was working, so while the boys were doing homework and getting ready for bed I had to go to Wal*mart to get some things for the teacher appreciation luncheon at the school today. On the way I was listening to Hugh Hewitt interview Michael Medved. Apparently, Medved has a new book coming out today which I'm sure is interesting, but he said something really cool; at least I thought it was. He said that America is not sunk yet and he started talking about Great Awakenings and religious revivals. He said we have had them before and it is time for another one.

Don't you think that is cool? Here are some guys who have right wing, political talk radio shows on secular stations and they are talking about America needing a touch from God! I find that very encouraging. Not that it should be (or ever was) mutually exclusive for people who want God to move in America to be involved in the political process, but its great that they recognize the need our country has for God and they are broadcasting that nationwide. I just hope they understand our role in that process and they can broadcast that too (see II Chronicles 7:14).

A prediction

2008-11-15T09:37:00.003-06:00

We're off to family Thanksgiving in Mexia. Which is great, but all the TVs are gone since we emptied the house. Not a good day from a football perspective to be sans TV.

Anyway, Tech seems to be peaking, but I want to go on record as predicting Oklahoma to beat the poooh out of them. I think OU is better overall and I don't think Tech can play at such an emotional level 3 weeks in a row.

Soooo... Boomer Sooner, Hook 'em!, and Sic 'em. (Having a chance to beat the aggies is so cool.)

Later that day... O, btw, yes I am ignorant. I thought OU and Tech played today but they don't. I still think OU will win and I did get turkey and dressing today and Baylor did beat the aggies. So, I'm ignorant but happy.

good quote

2008-11-12T12:04:00.004-06:00

For all you youth leader types out there (ministers, SS teachers, small group leaders, etc.), here's a great quote, that is actually a great idea, that can actually become a great ministry paradigm. It is from JD Tomlin who works for Student Life in an article about the future of youth ministry.

"Youth leaders must ask, 'What will bring glory to God?' rather than 'What will bring students to our church?'"

Isn't that good? Of course the rub is in why does it have to be "rather than"? Why can't it be what will bring glory to God and bring students in? I suppose if it brings glory to God then the elect will be drawn to it. What do you think?

I actually read an entire book

2008-11-11T08:55:00.007-06:00

Warning: Long Post Ahead.

In one bite I can pretty much tell whether or not I like a new casserole. That bite is obviously not the whole casserole and it may not have all the casserole ingredients in it. However, it is usually enough to know whether or not the casserole is good. Hold that thought and we'll be back to the casserole analogy in a bit.

I am a very slow reader. Therefore, I seldom tackle a whole book. I read a couple of blogs, I read articles and essays, I read the Bible a few verses or chapters at a time. But I rarely try to read a book. It is even more rare that I finish a book.

So it is that my knowledge of the emergent church movement is like taking one bite of a casserole. I've only read a minuscule bit of its literature and only interacted with a few of its proponents. That was all it took for me to gag. However, even though I don't like it I've tried not to offer criticism of the "conversation" since I don't have a big picture understanding of it. Since I do not have the desire or the time to read enough to get that kind of understanding I have tried not to say much about the movement (or whatever it is). Several weeks ago, however, I saw a review for this book:

Sorry for the terrible picture. The book is Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), co-authored by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. DeYoung is a pastor and Kluck is a writer. The review really piqued my interest and I wanted to read the book, but I'm not in a position right now to spend any non-budgeted funds (either at home or work). Then, thankfully, about four weeks ago I got a card from Mardell's offering free copies of the book to local ministers. How cool is that? God is so good.

I managed to read the whole thing in just a couple of weeks and I enjoyed it immensely. I was impressed by the authors' humor, their research, their theology, and their style. These guys really did their homework. They literally read multiple thousands of pages of material as well as attended conferences, worship services, and did personal interviews to prepare themselves for this book.

DeYoung and Kluck alternate chapters. Along the way they explain various emergent ideas and then compare those ideas to traditional, orthodox, biblical Christianity. Often they also compare emergent culture to the larger culture. They admit that not every emergent notion is bad. In fact I think their overall treatment is quite fair.

Now that I have heard what these well informed guys have to say I feel much better about gagging on the emergent church. In fact, I can see how it would be possible, should the influence of certain emergent proponents continue to grow, for this group's belief system to become so unbiblical that it eventually fits into a category of religions like Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses. These groups want you to think they are included in biblical Christianity, but they do not qualify.

Therefore, this is an important book and I heartily recommend Why We're Not Emergent to most of you. If you have already aligned yourself with the emergent church (or the emerging church if you are someone who makes a distinction between those terms) then don't read this book. The logic will be lost on you and as Kluck admits, "Those who aren't inclined to the emergent/emerging thing will probably support most of what we've written, and those who call themselves emergent will find a million reasons to find fault with it. The idea that people read much of anything and have their minds changed by it is less and less realistic to me. People usually just dig in."

Then who should read this book? If you're an orthodox Christian whose heard of the emergent church and want to begin learning about it this would be a great place to start. If you are interested in theology in general you might like this book. If you know someone who has had their feelings hurt by a Christian and you have concluded that the western church is a monster that needs to be deconstructed you should read this book. If you think evangelism is more about what we do than it is the message of the gospel you should read this book. If you believe that post modernism is so widespread that it has grossly changed the way the average person thinks and functions in the real world, then you probably should read this book (and this article). If you are not sure what you believe about Jesus, then you should definitely read this book, and keep a Bible close by.

So, thumbs up to DeYoung and Kluck. If any of you would like to read the book I'll be glad to loan it to you.

My Fellow Texans

2008-11-05T08:38:00.002-06:00

Secession anyone? I'm thinking Dixie would go with us again, and this time we might get the heartland as well. We could make W the president of our new republic...

Okay, on to more realistic thoughts. Read what Dr. Corduan said about the election. He is taking it much better than I. He's pretty mature in Christ.

The rich and famous, the humanists, the liberals, and the president elect want you to believe that America's biggest problems are "two wars", a "planet in peril", and "the economy". O, my friends don't believe the lies. War is terrible but these wars have to be won, not abandoned. The planet is not in peril. The planet has been through a lot and it will be okay. The economy has been bad before and it will get better. Even if it gets worse first and even if it takes a long time, we are still wealthy compared to most of the people in history and in the world today.

No, those are not America's biggest problems. The problems we face are the culture of death, the erosion of the traditional family, greed, the abandonment of traditional Judeo-Christian values, and so forth. These are not post modern issues. These are post Christian issues.

I suppose one comforting thought is that whenever the church is persecuted she grows. But still, I'm not exactly excited about some possibilities of the next four years. Obama said "change is coming". I don't doubt that. I'm afraid, though, that the changes will be for the worse in the lives of those who vote red. Before its all over I have a feeling even the blue voters will realize the changes Obama wants will not be good for America.

Ok, got that off my chest. I'm sure I"ll cheer up in a bit.

An Historic Election

2008-11-04T08:42:00.002-06:00

America is a special place; a place that I love. I have lived here most of my life. However, I am an American citizen by choice. I was not born here. I'm incredibly thankful to be an American and I love the USA. But we have done wrong.

We have decided that it is okay to kill babies. We have decided to call things normal and good that God considers sinful. Other sins we have called diseases. We have decided that humans are not created by God in his image but that we are accidents of the universe, no better than animals. Therefore, we have decided that it is good to teach our children to act like animals. In the same vein we have decided that it is okay to kill someone if it will relieve their suffering. God says to trust him with our suffering.

In the choices we have made as a nation we have devalued human life, we have exalted sin, and we have denied God.

The Bible says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20.

Now, if all the polls are correct, we are about to elect a president who has no problem with killing babies. We are about to elect a president who wants to take away the wealth we have earned and give it to people with less. We are about to elect a president with ties to known terrorists and with sympathies to anti-American nations. We are about to elect a president with an obvious socialist agenda. We are about to elect a president who will not even honor our own flag. How sick is that?

So, what do we get if Obama wins? We get what we deserve!

What do we get if the polls are wrong and McCain wins? I'm not crazy about McCain as president, but compared to Obama I would have to say that a McCain win would be America getting grace, again.

Rerun

2008-10-31T13:33:00.001-05:00

At the risk of being redundant and repetitive, let me just restate what I said last year at this time.

This is the eve of a very important national holiday here in Texas. Tomorrow is the opening day of the general whitetail deer hunting season! If you are not a hunter you just can't grasp the excitement and anticipation building in the hearts and minds of those going to the deer woods this weekend.

Here's to all of you who are headed out for a sporting, ethical, legal hunt. May the good Lord bless you with a safe trip. May the beauty and wonder of nature declare to you His glory! May the new season dawn brisk and wondrous. May the game always be upwind. May the snakes and ticks avoid you. May the fellowship in camp be sweet. May you see the antlered one. May your drag be short. May your trip be a success whether you kill anything or not.

Couple Thoughts on Capitalism

2008-10-24T10:09:00.002-05:00

A lot of people do some of their best thinking in the shower. Can I get an 'Amen'? So this morning in the shower I was thinking about capitalism. Yes, we've seen some pitfalls in these days. But for crying out loud it is still way better than socialism. I am appalled by people I have heard in the last couple of weeks advocating the abandonment of capitalism. Even more appalled that half the nation wants to elect a president who is going to lead us into socialism. It is disgusting what Obama want to do to America.

God reminded me, however, that even if He uses Barack Hussein to wipe America off the map, Christians still have hope. Listen brothers and sisters, if America is ruined it does not effect your true citizenship at all. You are citizens of a Kingdom that will never end. You are citizens of a Kingdom of total and perfect peace, a Kingdom with no suffering, a Kingdom where we know Jesus even as we are fully known, a Kingdom where we worship a living, loving God in total purity, a Kingdom with no fears, no tears, and no good byes. So vote McCain, but if he doesn't win, relax; God is in control.

My next thought about capitalism is on the lighter side. There is one capitalist practice that is really annoying--selling up. You know, like when you order your Chik Fila sandwich and the clerk says, "Would you like fries with that?". Uhhh, no, if I wanted fries I would have ordered them. Or when you take your car to the shop for a $75 repair and they call you and say, "We fixed your car but we noticed when we test drove it that your engine has an even bigger problem. Not to worry, we can take care of it for a mere seven thousand dollars." I hate that crap.

Can you imagine if the clergy did business that way. So this guy goes to his pastor for counseling because he's addicted to pornography. After a couple of sessions the pastor is like, "Well you're making progress on this addiction but I've noticed something else. Your soteriology is really bad due to your poor hermeneutics of the Johannine literature. Not to worry, if you'll just bump your tithe up about $50 a month I can get you straightened out. Or while a minister is doing a wedding, right before he pronounces the couple he leans over to the bride and says, "Ya know for an extra twenty I can give the people directions to the reception." Imagine the pastor making a hospital visit and stands up to leave, "Well, Joe, would you like me to pray for you before I go, it's only $5 today, I'm running a special." Or when your pastor is talking to you about baptism and he says, "Would you like the water warm today? We start at fifty degrees and you can buy up in ten degree increments for just $5 each."

Bullfrogs and Butterflies

2008-10-21T08:46:00.002-05:00

Anybody remember Barry McGuire? He was one of the earliest artists in what we now know as the contemporary Christian music industry. The only two of his songs that I can remember for sure off the top of my head are Cosmic Cowboy and Bullfrogs and Butterflies. I confess to really liking both of them. What's the cool thing about bullfrogs and butterflies? They've both been born again. I love it.

I hate frogs. I love butterflies though. Those of you who live in Central Texas, have you noticed lately how many monarch butterflies are in the air? I passed three or four of them in a half mile stretch of road Sunday afternoon. Pay attention as you are driving around and you will see them flittering by, especially on days as beautiful as today.

Question: Do you know why your are seeing so many of them this month?

More important question: Have you been born again?

Another question

2008-10-10T10:52:00.003-05:00

I was browsing some articles about the campaigns and it reminded me of another question I've had for a while. Who does the politicians' jobs when they are out campaigning? You know, McCain, Biden, & Obama are all senators, Palin is a governor, and they just left their jobs to campaign for the past year. Who's running Alaska? Who's handling senatorial duties in Illinois?

And if their jobs are so easy that they can be left undone or left to subordinates for months on end, it seems to me that they are grossly over compensated for what they do. Don't you think?

No comprendo

2008-10-10T08:21:00.003-05:00

I know enough to know that I don't know much. But when it comes to politics and economics I am really stupid. So I have a couple of questions and I'm hoping that some of you who understand these things can explain it to me.

We're in a financial crisis that has become global in scope. I've heard several different reasons for its cause. They seem to boil down to greed in futures trading, greed in the housing market, and stupidity on the part of the government. My question is basically, if the government is largely responsible for this crisis why do we think it is capable of getting us out of this crisis? They weren't diligent enough or altruistic enough or smart enough or something to prevent the crisis. What makes us think they are going to do a better job of solving it?

Secondly, the government keeps promising money; 700 billion for a bailout, raise the FDIC cap, give tax rebates, give tax credits, give health insurance to everyone, buy up all the bad mortgages, blah, blah, blah. I want to know how they can make these promises? Where are they getting this money? They can't balance their own budget. They owe foreign governments tons of money. How can they promise all this and not tax somebody a whole lot more? They would have to slash the federal operating budget by closing thousands of offices and eliminating thousands of jobs. You know that won't happen. So where is the money gonna come from?

Can you help me?

Kids

2008-10-06T20:04:00.003-05:00

Question: What do a tattoo pen, a harmonica, a tube of chap stick, and a pair of binoculars have in common?

Answer: These are what Jeremiah takes in his pockets and around his neck to a major college football game. Of course he never even looks towards the field. He writes on himself, writes on the harmonica, smears chap stick on everything, dances, sings, looks through the binoculars, "plays" the harmonica, etc. But he never, never looks at the field or the players, except when he wants to say that he hopes they both lose because he doesn't like either team.

So I ask him, Jeremiah, why do you come to football games if you don't want to watch the game? And of course his answer is that "feetball is my favorite sport." One would never know it.

Baylor football is always frustrating, but Saturday's game was very much so. We had a chance to watch the #1 team in the nation play. I was not even hoping for a Baylor upset; I just wanted them to do well. I was looking forward to a relaxing couple hours and seeing OU play in person. Didn't happen that way at all.

It was already the second quarter when we got to the game and OU was already up 28-0. I tried to watch the game but it was really hot, Jeremiah was hot, he wouldn't sit still, he wouldn't watch the game. Baylor was terrible. Then, with about four minutes left in the half, JT's nose started bleeding.

So, we got it stopped, went down the restroom and cleaned up, and made the long trek back to the truck. We salvaged the day by getting donuts at Wal*mart on the way home. It was a frustrating outing. But it was fun too. I mean you gotta love a kid who gets a major kick out of being able to stop and use the port-a-potty and who can have a great time playing with his little toys and dancing around in the middle of 30 thousand people with absolutely no worry what anyone else is doing or thinking.

Another bright side was that when the nosebleed started some very polite teenagers who were sitting behind us handed me a wad of kleenex to do first aid with. One of them even brought me some extra napkins when he went down to get some half time refreshments. Nice kids. Teenagers really can be good people.

Good stuff

2008-09-27T07:44:00.003-05:00

A little while ago the sun came up and the 2008 archery deer season began in most Texas counties. This begins year number three sans hunting in my world. I miss it, but I'm not unhappy. I have plenty to do without it. Besides, its too hot to be out there right now.

Actually life is really good. I turned 45 last week and got to see all my family. I also got a new watch, a new shirt, gift cards for new shoes, a ton of chocolate, two new tires, a new rake, and a repair job for the TV in the living room. Lots of good stuff which we are really enjoying.

The best thing of late though, happened last Sunday. I got to baptize Jonathan. I just can't explain how cool that was.

Thank you Jesus.

What do you think?

2008-09-16T08:17:00.003-05:00

Argghhhh! Kris and her mom spent three straight weekends (including a holiday and several hours of help from me) packing up the house in Mexia. It was a huge job. The garage sale did not go well because the newspaper only ran the ad one day instead of three. Had there been more time we would of had another garage sale and we would have tried to sell some things that they ended up just giving away. They worked doubly hard to empty the house this weekend so they could close Friday. In fact, when they got home Sunday night they both looked like they were about to pass out. After all that, the realtor called yesterday and said the buyers had moved the closing from Sep. 19th to Oct. 3rd. Go figure.

Now, what do you think? When there has been miscommunication and misunderstanding in a relationship, at what point does it become the best thing to bury it? How long do you keep talking and trying to find resolution? What has to happen to make it preferable to just quit?

Ike leaves his mark

2008-09-13T23:44:00.003-05:00

The past week seemed really long for some reason. And then, it was topped off by Ike, the category two hurricane. Ike roared through Texas Friday night and today. It did a good bit of damage and I've heard of at least three deaths related to Ike. My parents and sister live in Houston and spent a sleepless night listening to Ike roar through. They lost electricity and water Friday night. However, there was no damage to their house and the power and water were restored in about 23 hours. Thank you Jesus.

Please pray for the millions of other people who are still without power and/or water and of course for those who lost loved ones and those who lost property.

Meanwhile back at the ranch... Ike stayed farther east then initially predicted. We had very little wind and rain. Honestly, I needed a lot more rain to help my yard out. Now I'm going to have to water this week :-( .

Jeremiah and I went to the first half of the Baylor game last night. Jeremiah is not a sports fan...oi. On the positive side Baylor won and we got to visit with Aaron B. and Paul M., two old Baylor Camp friends. I had not seen either of them in years and it was such a delight to catch up a little. That was another little blessing of the weekend.

Finally, Kris and her mom are back in Mexia packing up the big house. Its ridiculous how many man hours have gone into that task. I think I have to make one more trip over to get the remaining few heavy, bulky items. Hopefully, the closing will proceed on Friday and it will all be over.

Alrighty then, I'm really sleepy. More later...

What do you think?

2008-09-04T08:27:00.003-05:00

When Jesus ascended to heaven, two angels told the disciples, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." See Acts 1:11.

In Acts 7 Deacon Stephen saw heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This seems to have been a brief glimpse from one realm into another. Later, on the road to Damascus Jesus appeared to Saul as a light and spoke audibly to him. See Acts 9. Finally, the apostle John also saw the glorified Christ, but by his own admission he was "in the spirit", Revelation 1:10. In other words he was praying and had some type of spiritual vision or out of body experience. And in that experience Jesus appeared to him in several different forms.

Other scriptures talk about seeing Jesus again. Matthew 24:27 says, "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." I Thessalonians 4:13-18 says that when Jesus comes back all the dead Christians' bodies will rise.

Now here's the what do you think part. Do you think that it is possible for Jesus-in bodily form-to visit people here on earth in these days? Would such an occurence contradict scripture? And for those of you who want to think even deeper, if you accept that Jesus can, in fact, visit people bodily-does that lend credence to the preterist view of prophecy?

And so it begins...

2008-09-03T08:44:00.003-05:00

Not the beginning of fall, but the beginning of the end of summer. Its still hotter than blazes outside but there are some tell tale signs that summer is winding down. First, football season started. Baylor got stomped in their opener. No surprise but still disappointing. Fortunately UT started off with a big win. Second, I had John Denver songs stuck in my head while I was mowing the yard Friday. Third, I awoke Monday morning to the sound of shotguns in the fields down the street--the opening of dove season! Yay for September and the changes in the air.

On the homefront, Nana finally got a contract on her house, thank God. So, she and Kris spent four bittersweet days packing it up--and that's just the little stuff and the kitchen is still full. Yikes. They are really tuckered.

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-08-29T08:20:00.004-05:00

This morning I saw a great bumper sticker. It said, "Stop Gobal WHINING". Isn't that classic? It reminded me of this video sent to me by my fellow former Baylor Camp counselor, Ford B. It is called "Democrats on an Escalator."

Speaking of Baylor Camp. One day I was walking a young camper from the dorms to the buses and talking about what little kids talk about. At one point he said, "When I grow up I'm either gonna be a doctor or a lawyer or a camp counselor." Of course it made me laugh. And later I told my parents and they laughed. However looking back 20 years later I think he had it right. Camp counselors and others in that genre are pretty important--especially in the context of the Christian life.

When I reflect on my adult life--outside my family--I probably feel better about the time I spent as a camp counselor than anything else I've done. Well, maybe helping with Special Olympics is up there too. I don't know if its because those things were just extra fun or if they honestly made a Kingdom difference. Whatever it was they were really good.

Standard of living?

2008-08-26T17:01:00.004-05:00

Once again, time has flown. Here's a little summary of what has been going on around here. Three weekends ago we celebrated Granny's 93rd birthday. Its always fun to be with everyone.

I watched as much of the Olympics as I could. Extremely entertaining! I really enjoyed them.

Kris has had three weeks of the medicine I mentioned in my last post and she has tolerated it fairly well. It caused some tough days but she has handled it like a trooper. Hopefully it will start making her feel better soon.

My parents celebrated their 46th anniversary last week.

The boys started back to school today. I don't know if Jeremiah is ready for Kindergarten, but I'm pretty sure that Kindergarten is not ready for him. Although, we are very pleased that he is going to be in Mrs. H's class. Both boys reported having a good day.

Now for my latest random thoughts. As everyone knows our economy is really struggling now. The causes are more complex than I can grasp, but I suppose it was inevitable that the developing world would start catching up to us and compete with us for resources. That surely has a lot to do with some of our current troubles. One thing I have heard people, including Christian leaders, say is that we need the government to do things that will allow us to maintain our American standard of living. And that individuals and business should work to maintain the American standard of living.

Really? Standard of living? I surely do enjoy our standard of living. But, what makes us think that it is a right instead of a privilege? And what makes us think we are more derserving of being well off than any other nation. God certainly never promised that we should be wealthy. And Americans are wealthy. Even many Americans who live below our official poverty level have a lot compared to many people in developing nations. He only promised to meet our daily
needs (Matthew 6:25-34). Plus, I believe He expects his people with means to share with people who have needs (see Luke 3:10-11for example).

Maybe we Chistians should spend less time and energy trying to sustain our standard of living (possessions, diet, recreational indulgences, etc.) and more time and energy and resources trying to raise the standard of living of others?

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done." Proverbs 19:17

Medicine and Machine Guns

2008-08-04T10:48:00.021-05:00

Its been an interesting few days for us. Kris went to the doctor Friday and finally fessed up as to how serious her health problems are. The doctor prescribed a very powerful drug for her arthritis. The good news is that if it doesn't kill her it should make her feel a lot better. We are looking forward to that. And we are sooo thankful to God that this is not an expensive medicine. The bad news is that it will (and is) make her feel worse before it makes her feel better. So she is having a rough few days physically.

Last April I told you about a visit from an old friend. Well Charles stopped by again this weekend. It was great to see him. I know he is a busy man with a very important job, but he took the time to hang out with us and he even arranged for the boys to get to see some way cool stuff at the Marine facility here in town.

I must say that all the marines there were very friendly and went out of their way to make a couple of little boys day something they will never forget. I mean, what little boy would not like to play with a machine gun?

Seriously, if Lt. Col. Sides and his marines typify the folks protecting our nation then we are in fantastic hands. Thanks to all you who are serving. And thanks to the marines here in Waco who made two little blond boys way happy. And to be honest, their dad got a big kick out of it too, especially the night vision goggles. Thanks!

There are more pictures on Kris's blog.

What do you think?

2008-07-27T13:39:00.006-05:00

This weekend Kris had to go to a PTA leadership training conference. So I took the boys to Houston to see Gran'mom and Gran'dad and Aunt Kerry all three of whom have had a lot of health problems over the past few months. Thankfully, grandchildren seem to be good medicine. I think we all had a really good time. We laughed a lot. I hope the aftershocks of having two busy little boys in the house were worth the fun for Mom, Dad, and Little Sister.

Now for the what do you think question. Consider Genesis 1:28, "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." I remember hearing a radio show several years ago on which the guests shared his opinion that we have pretty much completed the command to "fill the earth". He was advocating for zero population growth.

Considering the billion people with no access to sanitary water, and the millions of children who die every year from causes related to poor nutrition, and the vastness of our waste stream, and the tons of carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere, and the number of extinctions we've seen in the past 100 years, I'm inclined to agree with him.

I know it is typical for very conservative Christians to argue for big families. I've even heard some preachers (not mine) imply--just imply mind you, not come right out and say--that people who only had one or two children were less spiritual than those with big families.

Let me be clear, I'm not prepared at this point to say that having a big family is wrong. I'm just saying I think the idea of zero population growth is a good one.

So, what do you think, have we obeyed that command or should we still be trying to fill the earth?

Camp Update

2008-07-23T14:36:00.003-05:00

Ok, we're home from camp. It was a good week. Wanted to let everyone know that despite the very unusual situation with the "preaching" at camp last week God still worked.

Not to be critical of the camp pastor. He worked hard and did a good job, it was just very different than what one expects at youth camp.

Anyway, quite a few teens responded to God by receiving Jesus for salvation. There were also some who rededicated their lives to Christ. A great many others prayed at the altar and got relationships right in within their youth groups. I also know that within our group almost all the teens said they felt that God had worked in their lives during the week.

It was an exciting week from a spiritual standpoint. So, thank you Jesus.

And now for something completely different...

2008-07-16T11:49:00.002-05:00

So I'm at youth camp this week. Those of you who have been to a Baptist youth camp, either as a camper or worker, will totally understand what it is like. It is a lot of fun, but also has a serious side. The goal is for people to really connect with God.

One important part of that is the Camp Pastor. The Camp Pastor is usually a professional "youth communicator" or "youth evangelist". This week, the camp director wanted to try something different, which I admire him for, and he hired a stand up comedian. It is not quite as weird as it sounds. The guy is a media minister at a big church in Colorado Springs, and does stand up comedy too. But I don't think he has a lot of experience preaching at youth camps. His first night was completely a comedy routine. As you can imagine if you are familiar with camp, that really freaked all the leaders out.

Last night he actually used the Bible a little to talk about the Messiahship of Christ. Plus, he gave a personal testimoney so I think folks are feeling a little better. Over all it has been a good camp so far. Our kids are being very good and discussing during church time. I think they are having fun too.

Gotta run, more later, I hope.

Couple things

2008-07-10T20:51:00.006-05:00

Here is another interesting article about global warming, http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/ .

Earlier this week I read a great article at Christianity Today by William Lane Craig related to philosophy and the existence of God. Its long but really interesting; I recommend it.

A while back I wrote a little satirical post called "An Emergent Teaches Math". It must have been late at night because it made me laugh at the time. I never really finished it and therefore did not ever publish it. It was not intended to be mean, just a silly little satire to make a point. Some of the things that Craig said in his article seemed to affirm the point I was making and therefore reminded me of the unposted post. So, after you read Craig's article, then just for fun, here is "An Emergent Teaches Math"...

"Good morning fellow travelers. Today I'll be facilitating a conversation about an idea known as the Pythagorean Theorem. I had hoped that we could continue all sharing our stories of how we came to be math students. However, my department head was rather disturbed that no one scored higher than 62% on the last examination.

"Now, now, let's not be judgmental. I tried to tell him that he is just being an old fashioned linear thinker and that he really does not understand how to function in the post-modern world. But for now, he is the boss, so we need to explore this concept.

"The Pythagorean Theorem is a formula that applies to right triangles. A right triangle is a triangle that contains one angle of 90 degrees and two lesser angles that add up to 90 degrees (he displays one on the camera projector). Of course, you might not be comfortable with that. I guess there are a couple of things you might do. You could go down to Starbucks and begin a discourse about what a right triangle ought to be. Or if you don't have that much time, you could just recalibrate your protractor so that you have 90 degrees at any point you are comfortable with.

"The sides of the right triangle that form the 90 degree angle are called legs and the side opposite the 90 degree angle is considered the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse is the longest side. The Pythagorean Theorem gives us a way to find the length of one side if the other two sides are known. Specifically, it says that the sum of the squares of the legs is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. We represent it as a²+b²=c². Where a and b are the lengths of the legs and c is the length of the hypotenuse."

The class practices the formula a time or two and then little Johnny has a question. He says, "Mr. Teacher, you said we could recalibrate our protractor to make 90 degrees something we are comfortable with?"

"Yes Johnny."

"So, what if I were, say, I don't know, designing a bridge and I was using triangular shapes to determine various areas under the bridge and then I wanted to use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the heights of the supports. With me? Good. But if I wasn't comfortable with the constraints of 90 degrees so I changed my protractor to suit me, wouldn't the supports end up being the wrong height? and then the bridge would not connect properly, and there could be a big waste of materials or worse, we could end up with an unstable bridge and people could die?"

"Well Johnny, I suppose that's one scenario. You've obviously only experienced a strictly Euclidean metaphysic. You're being a little arrogant to think that there is only one way of looking at things. You need to open your mind to what others on your journey may be comfortable with...

Quickie

2008-07-07T12:18:00.004-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. I've been meaning to, but tend to fall asleep before I can get on line and write something. So, today I'm cheating and posting at work--so it is going to be really quick.

All two of you who read this know how much I like the Evangelical Outpost . Well, today Joe Carter has really outdone himself. You gotta go check out his list of 33 Things; they're really good. Especially the first one, and I liked the one about English evolving or devolving, and some others too, but I gotta go.

A couple of thoughts related to time

2008-06-18T13:48:00.004-05:00

Technically, it is not even summer yet, but today I found myself longing for fall. However, I quickly stopped. You see, I have learned, especially since becoming a parent, not to wish life away. If one is wishing for a future moment to hurry and get here, one tends to miss the blessings of the "now moment".

For example, say one has a child in the diaper stage of life. Changing diapers gets old fast and it is tempting to yearn for that stage to be over with. The problem is that it will go by all too quickly. Once it is gone one can never get it back. To further the illustration, even though I love my boys now, sometimes I miss what it was like when they were babies. Its not that I have regrets from those days, I just want to hold one of them again as a newborn. But I cannot--ever.

Therefore, do not wish too zealously for the future. It will be here soon enough. Enjoy this season.

In Poems and Prayers and Promises, John Denver wrote,
"The days they pass so quickly now,
The nights are seldom long.
Time around me whispers when its cold.
The changes somehow frighten me,
But still I have to smile.
It turns me on to think of growing old."

When I was younger I agreed. I thought that growing old sounded cool. I envisioned myself as successful and wise and enjoying the fruits of a good life. I think I have come to disagree with myself. I see so many people in my life struggling with the problems of "the golden years"; some physical and some otherwise. It is kind of a welcome to reality show.

The Teacher understood this. He wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:
...3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; 4 when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; 5 when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets. 6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!"

Sounds bleak. However, he also knew the solution. He wrote in verse one, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them.'..." We should not long for the future or the past. Neither should we fear the future or the past. We should seize the moment, not in a sense of self gratification or personal fulfillment. Rather, we should seize the moment by "remembering our Creator", that is, living for the glory of God right now, building the Kingdom, right now.

Updates

2008-06-14T21:30:00.003-05:00

The mission trip went well. The teenagers did a great job and I think all the campers enjoyed the recreation. Thursday we had a 3% chance of rain, but we beat the odds. I believe that thanks to many prayers we had rain on Thursday. The area is still in a serious drought though, so please keep praying.

It is soooo nice to be back home. I was greeted by squeals of delight from the boys. Of course, five minutes later they were fighting like cats and dogs. But, hey, like the song says, it IS good to be back home again.

A major event happened while I was gone. I am sad that I was not here, but still excited. On Wednesday night at First Baptist, Jonathan made a public profession of faith in Jesus. Many people have prayed for this, even before he was born. So, thank you Jesus. Thanks to all who prayed.

I'm a skeptic by nature, so I am tempted to bug him a lot to find out if he really knows what he is doing. But ya know, Jesus said not to hinder little kids from coming to him. And like I said, many have prayed for this. Therefore, I am trusting that this is real.

He is such a sweet kid. He told our pastor, "Hey, you were there when I was born, and you were there when I was reborn. And maybe you'll be there when I get my new body!" So cute.

So, I've seen a lot of prayers answered this week. Thank you Jesus.

A blog from the road

2008-06-10T23:06:00.002-05:00

So I'm in far west Texas on a mission trip of sorts. Specifically, I'm between Alpine and Marfa at Paisano Baptist Encampment. It is remote here and rustic. I suppose there are folks who consider this part of the country to be pretty in a rugged kind of way. Clearly, these are people who have great fondness for the color brown. That's mostly what is here; brown dirt, brown rocks, brown grass, brown trees, etc. What they do not have here is water, brown or otherwise. They are in drought conditions and things are pretty bad.

It really makes me wonder why people settled here in the first place. Water and shade are hard to come by. Farming would be incredibly difficult without modern implements. There is game here but the populations are not dense. Its very hot and dry in the summer and cold in the winter. The wind is tough and it keeps the brown dust in the air so that it coats everything, including the upper respiratory tract. So any kind of life for the first inhabitants-whether agricultural or hunter/gatherer-would have been harsh. Why they would not have moved on to a friendlier environment I have no idea.

Back to the mission trip. I'm here with six teenagers, Alex, Colton, Dustin, Katy, Rachel, & Savannah. We are serving as the recreation team for a Girls Mission Camp. The camp is put on by some of the churches in this sparsley populated area. I think there are four or five churches represented from a radius of over 30 miles. Yet there are only about 45 campers here.
So far the teenagers are doing a great job. My challenge is to try to show them how much better they could be doing if they put more focus and energy into preparation. I have an idea about how to do that. Maybe it will work, but I'm not hodling my breath.

I miss my family soooooo much. Please pray for them while I am gone. Its hard on the boys and because of Kris' arthritis it is really hard on her to have to be the mom and the dad. (My hat's off to you single parents. I don't know how you do it.) Thankfully, Nana is there to help at night. But we know from experience that these weeks are still hard. So any prayers would be appreciated.

TTFN

A lesson from Narnia

2008-05-30T23:34:00.004-05:00

First let me say how proud I am of Kris. She has been asked to be a weekly guest blogger on the Scrapping for Inclusion blog, which is affiliated with the Bubel-Aiken Foundation. Yay for Kris!

Now, what to discuss? There is so much going on: social re-engineering in Colorado; the high prices of gasoline, food, and health care are really starting to put the middle class and below in a pinch; my wife is mad at me because she double booked herself; lots of graduations going on this week--makes me nostalgic; the presidential race; movies; etc.

Movies, that reminds me. There was a scene in Prince Caspian that God really used to speak to me. Its early in the movie. The children have started their adventure in Narnia but have yet to meet with Aslan. Lucy, the youngest, dreams of an encounter with him. When she sees Aslan, she runs up to him in great exultation and wraps her arms around him like one would a close loved one that one had not seen in many months.

So, what did God speak to me? He said that I don't long to meet with Jesus like Lucy did to meet with Aslan. I don't joyfully run to him and hug him. Now, before you start to look down on me, examine yourself. Is that how you greet Jesus every morning, or do you ignore him completely until you need his help? Or are you somewhere in between?

Think about it.

Why are we so concerned with why?

2008-05-20T08:15:00.003-05:00

Remember when you were a kid and someone asked why and you didn't know and you would say, "Just because."? (O, was that just me?) Well, it might not be such a bad answer.

We Christians like to ask God why when bad things happen. I guess its a natural reaction. However, I don't think knowing the answer would help as much as we'd like to think.

Then, skeptics like to ask why as a challenge to our faith. They like to say things like, "Why would a loving God send people to Hell?" "Why would a God who doesn't need anything make a universe?" "Why would we be required to worship a God who is supposed to be self sufficient?" "If God is real, why doesn't he just show himself to people so they could believe in him?" etc.

If you're ever dealing with someone like that, I think I have a great answer for you. Its short and I suspect that most intellectually oriented skeptics would not find it very satisfying. But I think its right. Its kind of like a kid saying, "just because". The honest answer is--it doesn't matter.

Seriously, first of all, knowing why would not really solve their intellectual problems with God. Secondly, if there is a God (and there is), then by definition he is perfect. Being perfect he gets to do whatever he wants to do. It doesn't matter whether or not we approve or understand. Thirdly, if Isaiah 55:7-8 is true (and it is), then God is so different, so beyond us that we would not understand why he does things even if he told us.

So, why ask why when it probably won't help the situation? I remember my New Testament professor at Baylor, Dr. Hillburn, telling us that our Christian lives would be better spent asking God "what?" and "how?" and then obeying, rather than "why?" Great idea, why not try it?

A little catching up

2008-05-12T16:57:00.004-05:00

A belated wish: Happy Birthday Kris! two days late. I love you. We'll have to have another party sans spending all day out in the heat, on your feet.

A prayer request: Please pray for my mother. She has been in the hospital in Houston for 8 days. She is having terrible pain in her right side, down the inside right leg to the knee, where it switches over to the outside of the leg the rest of the way. She has had a bunch of tests and the doctors still do not know what the source of the pain is.

So, yes, we've had better Mother's Day celebrations in our family.

The latest Jeremiah funny: Waiting in line to drop JT off this morning at preschool, I aksed him if he remembered calling me into his room at 3:45 this morning. He said he did and we talked about it for a minute. He was frustrated that I did not stay there after he went back to sleep. So, he tells me that he never really goes to sleep. We argued about that for a minute and he says, "I never really go to sleep. I'm more nocturnal."

I guess you had to be there. Its just funny to hear a five year old use the term nocturnal. He's a trip.

A lesson that: God reminded me of today. I've been pondering Hell lately. I've been thinking that I really don't want anyone to go there. I mean, eternity is a really long time to be punished for 70 or 80 years of rebellion. I've been a little frustrated that God would not find another way to deal with people who reject him (I know in my head that He is only giving them what they want, but it makes my heart sad). I've also, wondered what lengths I would go to, to keep people out of Hell.

So, in the truck this morning with JT, God puts a song on the radio. The main line was something like, "I could never love the world like you do, now that I have a son of my own." Wow, that's good! I mean as much as I don't want people to go to Hell, I wouldn't let them kill either of my boys to set them free. But, God let Jesus die to keep me out of Hell. How much He loves me, and you. How much He loves the whole world, even the ones that reject him. Ya gotta be in awe of that kind of love, that kind of God.

No one said random thoughts couldn't be stupid

2008-04-30T11:55:00.005-05:00

So, this morning, standing in the shower trying to wake up, I'm reading one of the many bottles of feminine beauty & cleaning products that adorn my bathroom. I'm not complaining, because I have to admit, there are not nearly as many of those products as there used to be. Having kids really helped with that. When Kris was pregnant with Jonathan she got to where many, many smells mader her nauseous. So she stopped buying all that crap you get at places like Bath & Body Works, etc. See, God can bring good things out of difficult circumstances. But I digress.

Anyway, you know how often on a sitcom or goofy movie they will get a laugh out of showing a woman in a facial mask? Its usually green and there are often cucumbers involved. It is pretty funny looking. Well, on the back of this particular bottle of cleansing face mask was the statement, "non-comedogenic". Really? Isn't that good to know? Clearly, they've created a facial mask that you can wear and people will not laugh at you. "Non" meaning not, "comedo" as in comedy, laughter, and "genic" from genesis or starting or creating. So wearing this mask will not make people start laughing at you; but it is good for your pores, I suppose.

I'd love to really be able to tell you what comedogenic means, but I couldn't find it at Merriam Webster online. So if anyone knows, please enlighten me.

Worried about your carbon footprint?

2008-04-29T10:02:00.004-05:00

"When these activists lobby our denomination and its leaders, we risk a diversion of our attention and resources away from our commissioned purpose toward one based on an uncertain science whose advocates call for actions which inflict suffering on the 'least of these'."

So says John Christy, research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntville, in this week's Baptist Standard . His article is titled "Facing fears & global warming". Its definitely worth reading. As Christians it is important that we teach and preach and apply truth. The agenda of many environmentalists too often plays on fears rather than truth. Information like this can help us teach truth to those whose trust is in the creation rather than the Creator.

Long day

2008-04-21T21:08:00.003-05:00

So yesterday I come home from outreach to pick the boys up for AWANA. When I get in the driveway, A, our across the street neighbor, is walking Jeremiah home and they're both holding his right arm. Seems he fell out of the play fort, which is about six or seven feet high. It hasn't been two weeks since he tried to jump of the monkey bars on a school field trip and got hurt pretty badly. His teacher was kind of surprised that nothing was broken. I guess he thought he was invincible.

Anyway, he didn't rebound this time like he usually does. We spent an agonizing couple hours trying to decide whether or not to go to the ER. Finally, we decided to tough it out until morning. It was a really long night. Jonathan is the only one who slept much. Although at some point Kris did find out that the little guy had actually jumped off the fort, not fallen. He wants to be a marine you know.

Kris and Jeremiah were waiting at the doctor's office when they opened at 8:00 this morning. Turns out he broke his radius at the elbow and dislocated his shoulder. He never told us that his shoulder hurt.

Dr. T found an orthopedic guy that could see him at 3:15. Now here's the funny part. She said, "Jeremiah I sure hope you've learned your lesson about jumping off things." And my little genius replied, "Ya, next time I jump off something I'm gonna keep my arm up."

Well, Kris was not too content to spend all day with a 5 year old in extreme pain, plus she didn't want to spend all the gas of driving back and forth. So she took the x-rays and her cell phone and called around until she found a doc that could get them in a little earlier. They went in a did paper work and then went for lunch. When they got back the doctor saw them and splinted the arm which made Jeremiah feel much better. When Kris asked about the shoulder the doctor said that the x-ray did look like it was dislocated but he was feeling it and everything was where it should be.

Turns out Jeremiah said that the last time Kris put him in the carseat he heard his shoulder pop and it felt much better after that. Funny little kid. Apparently the muscles had finally relaxed and he relocated his own shoulder, albeit accidentally. I think he'll make a good marine.

Thankfully there was no damage to the growth plate and he is sleeping peacefully now. Y'all pray for us. We need it. There is never a dull moment around here.

An Old Friend

2008-04-17T08:19:00.003-05:00

What a treat I had Tuesday (CW--not what you're thinking). In 1973 my family moved to Stafford, TX. The first night we were in our new house we met the family across the street. There were three brothers and it so happened that the middle one's birthday was that day. They invited us over to play and shared some birthday cake with us. That began a friendship that still exists. I basically grew up with those guys and have great love and respect for the whole family.

So, back to Tuesday. I got home from a church function and had a message on the answering machine. That middle brother that I mentioned above was in town for a short visit. He is now a lieutenant colonel in the US Marine Corp and one of the units he commands is in Waco. I sort of held him hostage at my house for four hours so we could visit. It was great fun though, to see an old friend. Thanks for stopping by.

Item two for today: Check out this story . Seems that a court is forbidding a football coach in East Brunswick, NJ from kneeling and bowing while his team prays. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? And I remember more than one of my coaches who actually prayed for us before and/or after games. As far as I know it didn't do any permanent damage to anyone. In my mind it surely didn't constitute the establishment of a state sponsored religion. Wow, our society gets wierder by the day.

A Pet Peeve

2008-04-15T08:35:00.005-05:00

I've heard that Christians are not supposed to have pet peeves. I don't know why that is. Maybe I just need to spend more time with God about it because I do have quite a few of them. Here's one for today.

There are a lot of atheists and other skeptics out there. They like to attack Christianity but strangely, many of them don't seem to get too worked up about Judaism, Islam, etc. Anyway, I hesitate to say this because it might come out wrong. But, I have a certain amount of empathy for their skepticism. I mean when they ask good questions I can relate to where they are coming from and feel for them. Of course most of the time they are not really searching for an answer they are just trying to defend their choices. Never the less, I do sort of appreciate their ideas sometimes.

However, there is one skeptic's argument that bugs the hound out of me. You may of heard someone say something like, "I can't believe in a God who would send people to Hell." This is an expression of a belief that because bad things happen then either there is no God or God is not moral. Oooooo, that bugs me. How dare an imperfect human exalt himself/herself to the place of passing judgement on God's morality.

"Can the pot say to the potter, 'He knows nothing' ?" Isaiah 29:16.

Its ironic that most of these folks pride themselves on being thinking people. Think about it then. Even from a strictly theistic point of view, not necessarily just a Christian one, God gets to do what He wants. By definition God is perfect and good. Therefore, his morality is perfect and good whether we like it or not. Who are we too accuse him of being immoral?

All who would accuse God, all who would place their own sense of morality above his, all who would say that He does not do enough to alleviate evil and suffering have but to go to the cross of Calvary. And there find that God himself has done everything, infinitely everything, that could ever be done to prove himself good and moral. There every evil has been overcome. There, and only there, can we find the answers to our questions and the assurance that not only is God good, but his intentions for us are good. There we find that his intentions are good, even for those who, thinking they are better than he, reject him.

How great is our God?

Been Busy

2008-03-31T09:21:00.004-05:00

Had Easter get together in Mexia. Had Easter get together in Waco. Granny got sick. Granny got better. The week was full. The weekend was fuller. Kris' business is busy. The boys are busy. Church is busy. The calendar for April is filling up fast.

This is funny. Really funny, check it out.

What do you think?

2008-03-17T22:15:00.003-05:00

First, a great big shout out to R and B for letting the boys come over and ride horses. They had so much fun. Thank you very much!

Now for today's question. In the garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. " -Genesis 1:29.

After Noah and his family got off the ark, there were no crops, so God told them, "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. " -Genesis 9:3.

Many scholars believe that God designed mankind for a vegetarian life in the paradise of Eden. So, my question is, if they are right about God's original intent, and if Jesus' atonement served to restore mankind to a right relationship with God, as in the original state, should people who have recieved Christ now return to a vegetarian diet?

Wanna see something cool?

2008-03-17T09:53:00.001-05:00

If so, go to the March 17 post over at Evangelical Outpost. Find the 33 Things list and go to the very last one and watch the video.

Texas weather

2008-03-14T18:46:00.004-05:00

Last Friday Jeremiah and I had a snowball fight. Today it was in the 80s with a blazing south wind that made being outside feel like walking around in a convection oven. There's no place like Texas.

So the boys and I went to the park and played and rode bikes. It was a good time. Thank God for spring break.

Now, they are watching Star Wars--Phantom Menace, Kris and Krista are hanging out in the Stamp Therapy room, and I've gotta go study for Sunday School. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Don't forget to go to church on Palm Sunday. Hosanna!

Should Homeschoolers Get A By?

2008-03-11T09:38:00.003-05:00

All the homeschoolers are upset because an appellate court in California thinks people there who home school should be trained to teach.

Boo hoo.

We would be all upset if public schools let people without any credentials teach there. Why? Because we want what is best for the children. Why should people who teach their kids at home not have to uphold the same standard?

Sure, there are valid reasons for keeping one's kids home and teaching them one's self. However, I do not believe that should excuse families who choose to do so from paying their share of taxes to support the public educational system. Nor does it excuse them from getting proper training in content and methodology in order to teach.

Homeschooling may be a right. But it seems to me that it comes with the responsibility to be as qualified as any other teacher. This serves the common good of society at large as well as the best interests of the children one teaches.

So, what do you think?

What do you think?

2008-02-26T16:19:00.003-06:00

"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

What exactly did Jesus mean when he said that?

Seems to me like there is a pretty sizeable chunk of the church in the US that views denying themselves in terms of "don't rules". You know, don't be gay, don't have abortions, don't drink, don't smoke, don't cuss, don't fornicate, and don't hang out with anyone who does any of that. These folks have a lot of rules but not much love.

This group seems to have made an idol out of morality and they like to impose morality on the unregenerate population. Isn't this the essence of pharisaism? {Don't misunderstand. I think those rules are pretty important for Christians to live by. Its just that our lifestyle has to be born out of love for God and for others, not for following rules.}

Then there is another pretty big portion of the church in America whose version of denying self (it seems to me anyway) is to "be relevant" to the unregenerate population. This group wants to get everyone saved, which is admirable. However, they're really worried about offending anyone. So they spend their time trying to keep lost folks happy and be their buddies. Unfortunately, I think its all to seldom that they actually get to the gospel with them. They forget that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, not relationships.

Some birds have two retinas in each eye. That way they can focus on multiple obstsacles as they flit through the treetops. Maybe the church needs to do a better job of focusing on more than one thing. Maybe we can take a stand for holiness, be nice to people, and still manage to tell them that Jesus is the only way to God. Maybe? What do you think?

Spring begins

2008-02-24T12:57:00.003-06:00

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. While folks up north are still shovelling snow and trying to keep warm, here in Central Texas we are already seeing definite signs of my second favorite time of year, spring. The days are getting longer and quite a bit warmer. The warmth feels good to me after being cold all winter. About three weeks ago the first trees started to bloom. Redbuds will be flowering shortly and a tree in my neighbor's yard has leaf buds on it but I'm not sure what kind it is (I think it is an Ash tree). There are lots of little forbes (weeds) flowering; including dandelion, mint, sheep sorrel, and others. Soon we will see the first robins stopping in the backyard on their way back up north. In another two or three weeks the dewberries will be flowering. I'll spy the little white flowers while driving around town and try to remember where all the patches are so I can pick some when they are ripe. They're great on cereal and make incredible cobbler. And soon the blue bonnet and indian paintbrushes will start blooming, reaching thier zenith some time in April. I'll try to remember to post some pictures then. It really is a thing of incredible beauty to see a roadside or pasture completely painted in the blue and red of these little plants (its not actually the flowers of the indian paintbrushes that give them their great colors, but the bracts).

Spring around here really is nice. There is a problem though. Here, spring starts while it is still winter and lasts about three weeks. That means summer weather starts really early. So summers here are looooong and blazing hot. Thank God for air conditioning. But, its okay, we adapt. I'd rather be a little hot and sweaty than shivering and freezing cold.

Things you'ld just as soon not hear your kids say

2008-02-23T20:09:00.005-06:00

-"I ate a cicket leg once."
-"Hey Jeremiah, where's the screwdriver?"
-"Jeremiah's stuck to the tree!"
-"Don't worry about us."
-"We fished with sticks and sometimes we got a drink out of the lake."
-"I'm gonna grow a grape in the microwave."
-"You know that thing you said had snakes under it? We climbed to the top of it."
-"Holy guacamole, all the juice came out."

Lucky me, so far this weekend I've heard all of that. Never a dull moment here. But that's okay. I'm so thankful for my boys.

Just An Old Married Couple

2008-02-18T09:33:00.003-06:00

There have been several things floating around in my mind that I have wanted to write about. The changes and beauty of springtime here in Central Texas & public education are the two main ones. However, there just hasn't been enough time.

I'm on vacation today so I finally have a few minutes to write. The aforementioned items notwithstanding, I will devote today to the celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary. Kris and I were lauging this morning that we did not get each other any gifts and the day is so busy we will hardly see each other. I decided we're just an old married couple and Kris decided that was a good thing. And she's right.

Kristin Lea, you really are right that the little things we do for each other every day are much more important than candy, flowers, jewelry, expensive clothing, or anything else that will eventually just be firewood. We have given each other ourselves and two incredible boys. What could be better?

When I think about what I want the boys to remember about us in 50 years I surely would not want them to remember a bunch of stuff. It makes me think of the Rich Mullins song...
"Talk about your miracles,
talk about your faith.
My dad he could make things grow
out of Indiana clay.
Mom could make a gourmet meal
out of just cornbread and beans.
They worked to give faith hands and feet,
but somehow gave it wings."

If we can give faith wings for Jonathan and Jeremiah to see, that's better than all the money in the world--and I know we'll have more fun doing it. Happy Anniversary. I love you!

What do you think?

2008-01-28T09:19:00.000-06:00

Here's a good one from my pastor. Concerning the church in America today, so how come we're open on Easter and closed on Christmas?

Good question huh? Kind of makes you wonder what we're really all about.

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

2008-01-16T09:53:00.000-06:00

If you have any interest in the ongoing battle to credit Intelligent Design as a valid part of scientific inquiry and/or to demonstrate the flaws of Darwinian evolution, then please read Win Corduan's latest blog entry.

Pondering Poultry Preferences

2008-01-14T16:47:00.000-06:00

I hope you had a great holiday season and enjoyed all your holiday meals!

Now, if you only eat white meat turkey and chicken stop reading here.

I've heard that Christians shouldn't have pet peeves, but I'm afraid I have some. One of them is listening to people whine about dark meat. Seriously, did you have a holiday meal where someone refused to eat any of the dark meat from the turkey? Seems like there is always at least one poultry snob at a traditional turkey and dressing meal.

Seems to me that the white meat snobs need to grow up and get over it. Like its going to hurt you to eat a different part of the bird. Seriously people, get a grip. The dark meat does taste a little different than the white, but not that much. If anything it is better because of the moisture content.

For crying out loud, how spoiled are we? There are millions of people around the world that would be so incredibly thankful and gracious to get one of our American holiday meals in a lifetime and we're going to act like eating a chicken leg or turkey thigh might ruin the whole month of November. Jeepers.

Okay, well I'm all better now. It's nice to have the internet where I can express my feelings without fear of prosecution knowing that nobody reads this anyway... he, he, he... Along those lines check out my first blog, http://slothsrcool.blogspot.com/2007/10/to-blog-or-not-to-blog.html .

Have a great evening and thank God for turkey legs. And don't get mad or be offended, I know everone has the right to their own personal poultry preferences. I'm just having a little fun.

The consistent incosistency of liberals

2008-01-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

Is a pretty frustrating, albeit entertaining thing. Last week I saw a car in Taos, New Mexico with several bumper stickers. On one side was a sticker which read something like, "The last time we mixed religion and government [or politics], people got burned at the stake." The other side of the car had a sticker that said something about how wonderful the first amendment is (sorry but I have already forgotten the exact phrase).

Isn't that a great illustration of the duplicitous nature of the typical liberal in the US today? They love their freedoms and rights. They love to express them. They just can't stand it for anyone who disagrees with them to express themselves. Free speech is great until a Christian speaks up. Tolerance is the highly cherished virtue, but there is no tolerance for Christianity.

This all becomes so incredibly ironic when we consider the flaw of the first bumper sticker. The last time we mixed religion and government was not the Salem witch trials. Probably the most important time we mixed religion and government we got one of the greatest documents in the history of civilization, i.e., the United States constitution. Our founders took many biblical principles, applied them to government, and codified them in the constitution.

So, yes, the rights, like freedom of speech, freedom to not worship, etc. that liberals cherish so much are a result of government being informed by religion--or actually by the Bible. Don't you love it?

James 4:8 says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

What do you think?

2007-12-21T09:12:00.003-06:00

At what point does support of a company become support of the company's values? Buying their products? Buying their stock? Selling them advertising? Becoming an employee? Never?

I would ask that you refrain from saying something like, "a company can not have values, only people have values". Companies are made up of people and pretty much every major corporation in the U.S. has a code of ethics written in their by-laws. They have value statements, they have official stands on moral positions, they advertise that they are not in business only to make a profit but to benefit society, and so on.

Future dentist?

2007-12-13T20:25:00.000-06:00

This may be one of those things that only a parent can appreciate. Tonight after supper my 7 year old was wiggling his very loose tooth. But as usual, he was too scared to pull it out--he hates pain. So, my 4 year old started begging to pull it out.

What possesses a 4 year old to pull out his brother's tooth? I have no idea but the kid was intent on doing it. So after a lot of bartering and cajoling and screaming Jonathan finally let Jeremiah reach in his mouth with a kleenex. Jonathan jerked back and Jeremiah calmly said, "I dot it." And sure enough he had the tooth. There was much rejoicing all around.

Guess you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.

In the beginning...

2007-12-04T14:01:00.000-06:00

I'm at home sick, so I have a little time to write something. Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure I can keep this one short enough to hold your interest. So the three of you who read this might just have to skim.

On November 14th I asked you if you thought Adam and Eve had immune systems before the fall. Let me explain a little about why I was pondering that. There are some pretty foundational truths in the book of Genesis. They help shape our theology and therefore how we live and respond to God. A proper understanding of Genesis can also help us solve some problems that one searching for God might have with Christianity.

I find it really sad that, as important as Genesis is, not only do Christians argue its message with non-Christians, we also argue about it with each other. You know that in the culture wars we have this huge debate of Darwinism vs. Creationism. However, do you realize that within the walls of the church we also debate Old Earth vs. Young Earth Creationism, Darwinism vs. Creationism vs. Intelligent Design, Theistic Evolution vs. Creationism is six literal days, and other conflicts over this primary book of God's word?

So, for the sake of unity and usefulness I think it is good to work towards an accurate understanding of this vital book. There are a couple of options that vie for our interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2. First, there is the literal six days of Creation. This basically says that Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 is a literal account of God's creative work in our universe and the rest of Genesis 2 is a more detailed description of God's relationship with Adam (and Eve).

One problem is that since God declares all of creation good it offers no real explanation as to the origin of the evil serpent that enters the picture in Chapter 3.

One alternative to the literal six days of creation interpretation is the Gap Theory. Gap theory basically says that God created the universe in Genesis 1:1 but there is a time gap of unknown magnitude between 1:1 and 1:2. During this time Satan rebels in heaven and is cast down to the earth resulting in the chaotic state of the planet that we find in verse 2. Then God comes along and decides to prove to Satan that there are beings who will love and serve him voluntarily so he (God) continues his creative process by fixing up the earth, forming the garden, and humankind, and so forth.

Back to the idea of creation being good. Opponents of the gap theory point out that the world could not have been spoiled by Satan prior to chapter 3 because in Genesis 1:31, "God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." Those who want the Genesis record to be a literal six days of creation often state that there was no death in the universe and certainly not on earth prior to the fall.

I have not picked a side yet. I want it to be a literal six days of creation because I feel that overall, the best way to interpret the Bible is literally (taking into account the type of literature, historical context, biblical context, etc. of each given passage). So far, I'm not convinced that six days is correct though. If it were and there were no death on the earth think about the populations that would grow unchecked. The world would fill up with bacteria and mold and insects faster than Adam and Eve could tend to them. These populations would become huge and quickly consume all necessary resources, like oxygen. Also, Adam and Eve were eating, so plants were dying. And did Adam and Eve utilize every nutrient from their food or were they creating waste materials. Without bacteria and fungi that feed on dead things what would happen to the wastes and the wastes of all the elephants, and hippopatami, and girrafes, etc.? And again, if there were no death, no sickness, no evil, then Adam and Eve would not need immune systems.

So, now you see how my pea brain got to the question of immune systems in the first humans. I'm sure you wish I had something better to do. There is another theory about Genesis that intrigues me a lot. It is similar to the gap theory but it places the events of Genesis 1-3 as God's preparation of the Holy Land for his people rather than as a garden for only the first man and woman. Maybe one day we can talk about that some more...

Good reading

2007-11-27T09:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday over at the Evangelical Outpost, Joe posted kind of a "best of" list of his 33 Things lists. If you have some time check it out. There are a lot of fascinating links there. I especially enjoyed the test of the five second rule.

Happy reading.

Quickie

2007-11-26T14:44:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving was good. Its so nice to be able to be with family, for whom I am extremely thankful. The food was superb. The Cowboys won. It wasn't hot. Good stuff. I am very blessed and have a loooooong list of things for which I am truly thankful.

I am totally bummed out that UT lost to a & m again this year.

This week is jam packed already. Lots to do at work, JT is sick, lots to do at home, so TTFN!

Got Turkey?

2007-11-20T09:09:00.001-06:00

So this past Thursday we had a traditional Thanksgiving lunch at Jonathan's school. Saturday we had Thanksgiving with Kris' family at Fort Parker State Park. Sunday night was the annual Thanksgiving banquet at church. That's three turkey dinners in four days and another one coming up this week.

Cool! A lot of y'all don't like turkey and once a year is enough for you, but I love pretty much everything about a traditional holiday meal. The only thing I skip is the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. I even like turkey sandwiches with the leftovers.

So thank God for turkey and dressing and everything else that we consider a holiday meal and all the excuses we have to eat it this time of year.

Now, here's a totally unrelated thought of the day for you: If time were a currency, how much of yours would you be spending on that which is eternal?

What do you think?

2007-11-14T12:08:00.001-06:00

Were Adam and Eve created with immune systems? If not, why not? If so, why so?

What do you think?

Sadly ironic

2007-11-08T08:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I mentioned that there are some sad ironies in our land that stem from, or at least go along with, what I perceive to be unreasonable thinking. I guess the one that is most obvious to me is the disdain that our nation has developed for the church (by 'the church' I mean all Christians).

For centuries the church has been doing good things like building and operating schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, soup kitchens, rehabilitation centers, food pantries, etc. Christians have long served this country as statesmen and in the military. I will readily admit that the church does not always do good, as with the inquisition, and blowing up abortion clinics, and heckling at the funerals of honorable soldiers who gave their lives for our country, etc. These things are wrong and stupid. However, reason has become so clouded by fear and prejudice that we see only the bad, not the good. We can't see the forest for the trees and now, in a sadly ironic twist, the church has become the enemy of many.

Isn't it also sadly ironic that our intellectual pride has allowed us to cast off the traditional values of our nation. We have reasoned that the Bible is just great literature rather than God's word to be obeyed. And as mentioned yesterday we have reasoned away the concept of sin so that now the worst thing someone can do is to speak out against sin (unless you are speaking out against someone speaking out against sin). The country is going to Hell and people are mad at Christians for it. We've returned to the days of Judges when each one did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). We deserve the judgement of God as much as any nation has.

The most sadly ironic thing may be that even though we deserve the judgement of God, Jesus Christ, the God-man, has taken this judgement upon himself for us, yet we have written him off as a mere teacher or prophet. We have reasoned away the Savior.

How does one reason with the unreasonable?

2007-11-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

When my oldest son was about 3 I started trying to reason with him about his behavior. You know, trying to help him see the logical reasons why he should obey his parents and why he should not do things like hang on the garage door while it is opening, or run across the street without looking, or diving in the shallow end, etc. I soon realized that logic was completely lost on him. Apparently three year olds just can't grasp even the simplest syllogism.

Well, I'm still working on him. I figure he will eventually start to grasp reasonable arguments. Meanwhile though, for his own good, Kris and I have to try to manage his behavior with positive and negative consequences.

It works okay on kids but what about unreasonable big people. Like, how can we convince someone who thinks they will go to heaven by flying a plane into a building full of people that this makes no sense? How can we convince someone whose mental framework has no concept of sin that they need salvation from sin? How can we convince someone who thinks that planet earth is an organism that the people who live here are actually more important than the planet?

Friends, if you are interested in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people in your world, this is what you are up against in the 21st century.

The unreasonableness (is that a word?) prevalent in society has also lead to a lot of sad ironies in this country. More on that tomorrow...maybe