Book recommendation for parents

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

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

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

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

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.