The horse and his boy

Eli has always loved horses and has ridden for several years. But today was his first time bareback.

No church, no problem?

The latest podcast of White Horse Inn is really good, especially if you're not sure why it's important to be part of a local church. The corresponding magazine articles in the current issue of Modern Reformation is also well done.

Rise in the Darkness

Good music, good for your soul. I'm enjoying some great passages of Scripture, old hymns, and original songs set to a mix of meditative and stirring acoustics. My favorite so far is the great job he does with "Not What My Hands Have Done". We met the artist when he passed through ABQ a couple of summers ago and it looks like he's coming back to NM pretty soon.

A good tool for family worship

I've been impressed with this book as we've used it during family worship. It's an easy way to explain the answers to the Westminster Shorter Catechism and to read through the supporting Scriptures, too.

By the way, the author lives in this area (Mesa, Arizona) and, if she's able to come, would make a great speaker for a woman's retreat.

"Bud-bud"

The kids have taken to calling Zeke by the nickname, Bud-bud. You needed to know that to understand the Line of the Day, which was from Isaiah's lips.

"Hey Mom! Bud-bud has strong toes. When I ran over them with the scooter he didn't cry."

Also, today I'm kicking off another series titled "Mess of the Day" and there are two for the day both involving Bud-bud. The first was discovered when Kristin found Zeke perched on the dining room table happily shredding paper napkins. The second occured when Zeke cluster-bombed the kitchen floor by emptying the whole containter of Beta fish food that he lifted unknowningly from the girls' room.

American Generalship: Character is everything

I read this as part of Air War College, one of the Air Force's military education programs. It's an easy read, although lengthy, because the author had such personal access to some of the greatest American generals: George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, and down to the '90s with Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf. In fact, in over 35 years he has interviewed more than a thousand officers of flag rank, over 100 of those being 4-star generals.

This book is about effective leadership and leader development, but the reason I'm blogging about it here, is because it has value for more than just military leadership. I want my children, and especially my sons, to have rock-solid character, but that can be difficult to define. That's where I found this description of Gen Marshall helpful and can use it as a prayer for my children as they mature:

"his unshakable integrity; his consistent courtesy and gentlemanliness of conduct; his ironclad sense of duty; his imperturbability--the imperturbability of a good conscience--in the face of harassment, pressures, and criticisms; his deliberateness and conscientiousness of decision; his serene readiness--once a decision has been made--to abide by its consequences, whatever they might be; his lack of petty vanity or ambition; his indifference to the whims and moods of public opinion, particularly as manifested in the mass media; and his impeccable fairness and avoidance of favoritism in the treatment of subordinates."

This is certainly an illustration of good character and I pray that my household will be known for it.

What is a Healthy Church Member?

Many, and perhaps even the majority of Christians, have a fear of commitment to the church. Two reasons in particular concern me the most. First, some of the most popular churches I know do not practice membership and second, a large number of Christians have an unhealthy desire for independence or autonomy in their personal life. In both cases, many Christians do not practice biblical membership simply because they've never been taught how to or seen it lived out firsthand.

This short book (120 small pages) helps Christians understand what church membership is supposed to be and how God has designed it to help both the local church and you grow in maturity to Christ.

Here are the ten points Anyabwile focuses on:

A healthy church member is an expositional listener
A healthy church member is a biblical theologian
A healthy church member is gospel Saturated
A healthy church member is genuinely converted
A healthy church member is a biblical evangelist
A healthy church member is a committed member
A healthy church member seeks discipline
A healthy church member is a growing disciple
A healthy church member is a humble follower
A healthy church member is a prayer warrior

Each of these ten points receives a chapter-length treatment that concludes with good questions for reflection and application.

I wish I had read a book like this years ago; it may have prevented some painful mistakes I made in being part of a local church.

Staycation -- The End

Staycation Day 5

The saga continues, yet at a slower pace. Our only destination was the new playplace, ABQ Jump. As the pictures below show, this is an indoor area stuffed with 7 gaint, inflatable, vinyl jumpy playsets. The kids enjoyed themselves immensely, until a troupe of teenagers invaded and ran rough-shod over the little children, which is when we left.

Staycation Day 4

Today we enjoyed the Rio Grande Zoo, the Wall-E movie, and our favorite ice cream place, I Scream Ice Cream. This little locally-owned shop has the best toys in town and diverse ice cream flavors, but you have to watch out for the celebrities.

Staycation Day 3

Day 3 began when I woke up, stepped into the hall, and found this...
As Isaiah tells the story he was on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night but collapsed en route (a distance of 3 feet from his room) from "tiredness" and made the hallway carpet his bed for the remainder of the night. To me this is a sign that we're having a good vacation; if the 6 year old is worn out, things are going well.

Today took us to the Tram with grandma, a 4,000 feet climb up a suspended cable in 15 minutes.
The crest is a refreshing getaway from the city with its cooler, wet climate and lush forest greens.

IT'Z was the second stop of the day. For those lucky enough not to know what IT'Z is, it's a mega-sized Chuck-E-Cheese. It's easy to know what it sounds like inside an IT'Z; simply turn on every TV, stereo, and alarm clock in your home to different stations, crank them up full blast, and let them go while you try to communicate with others scattered throughout the house. Throw in an assortment of strobe lights and a couple thousand flashing lights to complete the effect.

Staycation Day 2

Today was spent at the Explora children's museum/science center, a picnic lunch, and ice skating.
They could have spent the whole morning building a better ball drop.
He built it.


We skate on the edge (of the wall). This is how we roll, er, skate.

Staycation Day 1

We're on our version of a vacation, one where we stay put in Albuquerque and see the local sights. Dubbed "Staycation", it saves on gas and lodging, and still provides a good time with the comforts of home. For day 1 we went to the city Aquarium and Botanic Gardens. The children never tire of the Alice and Wonderland effect of the magic garden with its larger-than-life vegetables, caves, and maze.

In other news, the older children were able to save up $200 between the three of them and thus fulfill a deal we made with them to purchase a Wii. Surprisingly, Grace has found her athletic niche and so far is undefeatable at any Wii sport. The most humbling defeat for me was boxing; my Mii character was decked four times in three rounds by her little girl Mii before finally being KO'ed. Kristin had a good laugh at my desperate lunging punches and Grace's rabbit-like speed punching.

The opposite of a guardian angel

With Shadow around, you have to stay alert. Glory (our dog) wasn't checking six and got jumped. The same thing happens to us way too often when we enter a room or just turn a corner.

Children unplugged

Take away the DVD players and the X-boxes from a neighborhood full of children and what happens? Games of freeze tag, backyard baseball, and touch football break out. The sound of children's laughter is heard all over the block. Parents get to know each other, share stories, and swap memories.

Just behind our house is the Temporary Lodging Facility (TLF); the place where families stay when their household goods (including collections of videos and video games) have been packed up and are in transit to or from Albuquerque. Summer is the moving season, and the TLF stays busy.

On these summer evenings the kids and I enjoy hopping the back fence and playing in the neighborhood games. Last night it was twilight baseball, the evening before it was dodgeball.

One of the parents who recently sold their house and is staying in the TLF for 3 weeks said, "I've never seen so many children! This is like another world from our neighborhood on Tramway; we never saw any children besides our own!"

After talking for a while he asked me some questions about adoption, which as usual, allowed me an opportunity to talk about Jesus and the family of God.

Community comes alive when children are unplugged.

Humility: True Greatness

Confessing my sins is no indication that I'm sufficiently convinced of their danger in my life. Rather, the fact that I haven't done something as simple as read a book about my most common sins is an indication that I'm not taking my walk with God seriously. So with this book I am beginning to fight back against a sin that has schooled me for years.

I enjoy the ministry of C.J. Mahaney, who is the author of this book and a conference speaker at great events like Together for the Gospel, Ligonier's National Conference, etc. Humility is short and easy to read. But it still packs a punch if pride is a sin in your life.

Tabletalk magazine gave it a glowing review; their only complaint was they wish it was longer.

Here are the points that I don't want to forget in my battle with pride:

• Pride has one end: self-glorification; it desires to rob God of his due and in fact contends for supremacy with him. The proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God.
• Pride is ranked by many as the most difficult sin to root out
• True greatness as biblically defined is not self-glorification but serving others for the glory of God

As with all of C.J. Mahaney's efforts, Humility is focused on the Cross for putting the sin of pride to death and he makes sure to include many practical applications (ex: a list of daily suggestions to fight pride, how to have humility in parenting, in trials, in sports, etc).

Crisis Pregnancy Chronicles

Kristin has recently switched from being a scheduler/secretary at our city's Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) to serving as a counselor. This is a high-stress job, but one that is of utmost importance when you consider what is at stake.

This week a teenage couple came in for an ultrasound and counseling, along with the girl's mother. When the young man found out his girlfriend was pregnant, he declared that he would not look or speak to her until she had an abortion. The mother was indecisive about what to do and put the decision squarely on her daughter's shoulders.

There's more to the story than I can share here but the couple stayed a lot longer than scheduled and it appears some progress was made. Kristin was able to pray with the young lady.

Meanwhile, the leading abortion-advocacy organization, NARAL, has apparently stepped up their efforts to shut-down CPCs, or at least dissuade as many pregnant women as possible from going there. This recent report describes CPCs as deceptive and misleading. NARAL continues to lobby Congress for legislation to severely limit the work of CPCs. The CPCs and those that volunteer there are worthy of your prayers.

An Ordinary Pastor

The prolific biblical scholar and ubiquitous speaker, Don Carson, tells the story of his father, Tom Carson, through a collection of his father's private journal entries. Here we see the life of an "ordinary pastor"--one who does not rise above the local level, preach to thousands, or write books to millions.

This short and easy book convinces the reader that the work of an ordinary pastor, if he is faithful to his call, is not short and easy. Tom's love for the flock meant that he patiently endured hardship and poured himself out--well after "retirement age"--in life-long service to his Savior's bride. This is just what an ordinary pastor does.

Tom Carson was more aware of his faults than his strengths and he struggled with seasons of depression when he doubted his abilities and service. But he was a man who remained faithful and who served the Lord with all his heart.

I enjoyed reading this book from first to last. There is much we can learn from a faithful, but ordinary, pastor.

Loving adopted children

What a joy it has been to study the way God has saved us through adoption into his family (Gal 4:1-7, Rom 8:15-17). C.J. Mahaney was right in his recent message on adoption that meditating on this truth of Scripture will lead to assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and I believe, increase of grace.

All Christians doubt, at times, whether it's possible that the Father really loves us as much as he loves his only begotten Son, Jesus. Could he love his adopted children as much as he does his only begotten Son?

My experience as a father of adopted and biological children is that there is no difference in the love I have for them. Whether through adoption or birth, they are all part of my family, and being in the family is what counts.

If you are in the family of God, you are loved as much as Jesus himself is loved by the Father. Believe it! Rejoice in it!

Googling got me

Here's a google search that took me by surprise tonight and moved me to tears (just a little, of course). Type in "Gotcha Day adoption" and click on images. ("Gotcha Day" is adoption lingo for "the day we got you.")

You'll see page after page of great photos of beaming parents and orphans finding homes. We love gotcha day stories! Here's a few great pictures.

Isaiah's 6th

Isaiah celebrated his 6th birthday this weekend with his traditional blue-icing cake.


He was fearless at Cliff's Amusement Park here in Albuquerque.

He was the only one of our children daring enough to ride the cliffhanger. And the speedy Rattler was no match for him.

After Cliff's Isaiah went on his first overnight camping trip at Cedro Peak in the mountains east of town.

His grandfather treated him and the rest of us to the restaurant of his choice (so long as it wasn't Chuck-E-Cheese). We were pleasantly surprised to dine at Olive Garden last night; this kid has good taste, too.

Of course no day would be complete for him without a good wrestling match and some Uno.

What a delight it is to be Isaiah's daddy!

Ruidoso

I was able to join Kristin and the children for the last couple of days of fun in the lovely mountain-town of Ruidoso, NM and its vicinity.

From the visit to Capitan, NM; the birthplace of Smokey Bear (I've now been educated that it's not Smokey THE Bear, just like it's not Easter THE Bunny).

We're really glad we planned a trip to White Sands. In the cool of the day its a breath-taking and fun place to visit. Three hundred square miles of pure white dunes.

It doesn't take very much to fascinate children. Cheap fun was had by the hours in the shady waters of the Carrizo creek.

Kristin and Isaiah leading the pack, with Grace in 2nd, and Aunt Lynn and Cousin Parker coming up fast. As expected, the race track was a big hit with everyone.

We celebrated our 14th anniversary a little late and with 5 tag-a-longs.

Happy Juneteenth!

Remember and celebrate freedom from bondage to sin! Can't hardly think of a better day to do that than the old Texan holday, Juneteenth, something that I learned about when we lived in Texas. Read on with thanks from The Evangelical Outpost.


The Gospel of Juneteenth
"Although bad news travels fast, good news often takes the scenic route. That appears to have been especially true during the Civil War. Although Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became official on the first day of January 1863, word didn't arrive in Texas until June 19, 1865. On that day Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston with news that the war had ended and that those who were once enslaved were now free.

One of Granger's first acts upon landing in the Lone Star state was to read Texas General Order #3, which stated,

The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.

Although we can't begin to fathom the jubilation these new citizens must have felt, we Texans set aside the third Saturday in the month of June to honor the event, an annual tradition known as Juneteenth.

Like Thanksgiving (which also originated in Texas), Juneteenth is a day when families gather to pray, count their blessings, and gorge themselves on great quantities of food. Barbeque mostly. Lots and lots of barbeque. And strawberry soda.

But, for me, the day has come to represent more than just spending time my friends in the black community, sharing food and laughs. It has become a reminder of another kind of emancipation; the day I first heard that other good news.

For I too was once enslaved -- shackled by chains of sin and death. Long before I was even born, though, the Greatest Emancipator paid the price to set me free. This good news was transported across time, carried across continents so that I would know: I had been set free.

True freedom becomes a most precious gift. And every day becomes Juneteenth."

Nineteen hundred and ninety-four

Fourteen years ago I had the great honor of marrying Kristin. Since that day of joy and gladness, she has been true to her word, performing her wedding vow to me with love regardless of circumstance. I am firmly convinced that God brought Kristin into my life to save and sanctify me. She is truly a remarkable woman, a help-meet, completing me in very significant ways on a daily basis. "A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 18:22).

EGG hunt everyday

In this enjoyable audio from Ken Sande (author of The Peacemaker) on humility in marriage he describes his family's EGG hunt, where EGG is short for Evidences of God's Grace. Every day each member of his family is actively looking out for evidences of God's grace in one another's life. This would fit well in a daily family worship routine, where Dad would take the lead with remarks such as, "How patient you all were today when I came home late from work", or "How kind my boys were today to the girls", etc.

A design for your happiness

I've known too many sincere Christians that have been less than convinced that God really loved them. They thought, well he tolerates me, or he is always frustrated with me, and they've never been able to rest in the Father’s abiding, deep love for them.

Yet redemption starts with God’s nature, his absolute and unquenchable love for his people. God made us for this very reason—so that in Christ we can be his beloved children.

The study we are going through in Sunday School has been helpful and thanks to Google documents I can at least share the slides with you.


Sources cited (besides Peterson's book): Heirs with Christ (Beeke), Communion with the Triune God (Owen), Communion with God (Kapic)

I once was blind, but now I see

"If you once considered Christianity boring, uninteresting, stupid, irrelevant, scary, and you didn't want anything to do with it...And then something happened. And now when you look at the Cross you just want to SING because there is so much wisdom, and so much love, and so much justice, and so much power because of what happened there. What happened in your life is that the eyes of your heart were opened. That's the vocabulary of the New Testament." John Piper, Fighting for Faith with God's Word

This bit of Piper's sermon struck me; I can remember clearly when Christianity was uninteresting and I just wanted to get away from it. And then something happened to me and in a moment there were desires in my heart that had never been there before. A desire for God. A desire to humble myself. A desire for worship. A desire for church.

I once was blind--Christ was uninteresting--but then he opened my eyes, revealed himself to me and I see, I see!

The good life and the easy life

The current of our culture flows towards the easy life. Leisure, entertainment, prolonged adolescence, early retirement and the like are thought to be the good life. In this old video clip Francis Schaeffer laments that such thinking leaves only two horrendous values: affluence and personal peace. But someone has now said that "fun" has become the only value; if something is not fun then it must not be right or either not worth doing.

Does living the good life have anything to do with a life of fun or prosperous ease? This article in a recent WORLD magazine resonated deeply with Kristin and led her to conclude that no, the good life is not the easy life. "Christ does not call us to a prudent life, but to a God-centered, Christ-exalting, justice-advancing, counter-cultural, risk-taking life of love and courage."

Let's go honey, I'm game!

Understanding 2 year olds

Faith loves to "help" around the house. One of her favorite chores is folding laundry, which for her means balling up the garment and then placing it in a pile of other crumpled clothes belonging to one of her siblings or parents. The curious part is that she hums just like her momma does when she folds the wash. What's going on here?

When Faith tries to clear the table, or buckle her little brother in the high chair, or clean the bathroom mirror with her licked hand, or any number of other assists, what I think we're really seeing is not some mess-making, mischievous toddler, but a sprout that one day will flower into a very helpful big sister.

My oldest daughter, Grace, is an invaluable help around the house. And if I recall correctly back when she was knee-high to a grasshopper she made her fair share of messes, all the while thinking that she was helping.

So go on Faith and get to work. I can't wait to see the result.

Daddy Adam, mommy Eve

I really have to video Faith doing her catechism, it's a hoot, but I doubt that she'll "perform" for the camera. The question we've been working on lately is "Who were our first parents?", which is to be answered with "Adam and Eve."

Faith is clearly puzzled by this one. She knows that I'm her daddy and Kristin is her mommy so why this talk about some couple named Adam and Eve? The expression on her face when she parrots the answer makes me want to know what she's thinking. "Is Adam a different name for Dah Dah (her grandfather)?"

I wonder what she'll do when she meets someone named Adam or Eve!

Are they all in your group?

by Kristin

I like to read and hope that all the kiddos will grow up loving to escape with a good book as much as I do. Albuquerque has a wonderful summer reading program. This is our 3rd summer, and today was our favorite show of the summer (Mr Stinky Feet). We did not get to go to our favorite library (Ernie Pyle) to see the show, but all the same I think the kids liked that the show was inside. They got to—were even encouraged to—yell UNDERPANTS as loud as they could along with the song inside the library! Isaiah is still laughing about that--it was a rare treat.

We baffled yet another adult, though. The library-lady trying to make sure each child got adequate rewards for time reading wondered aloud if the kids were “all in your group?”. My response, "Yes, I'm the mom." (I’ve never thought of myself and the kids as a group before.)

And I think Faith should get the line light again today. She said, “Shadow licked me”. I replied in the affirmative. Faith then comments, “I no licks cats”.

I didn’t look if she had a mouthful of hair; some things a two-year old says you just take their word for it.

Troubling news from Dallas

Our denomination's General Assembly (our largest gathering of elders from across the nation) is occuring in Dallas this week. One of the issues they're wrestling with is whether the office of deacon is for men only. Scripture at its most clearest point (1 Tim 3) indicates 'yes'. Our Book of Church Order for hundreds of years (I believe) has clearly stated 'yes'.

Granted, there is an inference from Scripture (Rom 16) that many use to argue for deaconesses, but the real fear among some in the PCA is that we're starting down the path again towards liberalism. It may begin with deaconesses, but it tends toward female elders and pastors, and ends with a rejection of Scriptural authority.

Here's the situation, two high-profile PCA leaders are in strategic positions to take the first denominational step towards this direction. Both these men are godly and respected and have done much good for the PCA. For that I am very thankful and have personally profited. However, it appears that these men aren't fully in step with complementarianism, what many in the PCA believe is a biblical view of manhood and womanhood for the home and church.

A lively debate among the elders is expected tomorrow; let's be in prayer for truth and peace.

2-for-1 "Line of the Day"

I missed my chance to blog last night so here are two "Line of the Day" entries.

At the sprayground recently, Little Chole asked Kristin if boys could have babies. She was satisfied with Kristin's answer and added, "it just looks like Zeke has a baby in his tummy."

Kristin asked if anybody wanted anything from Walmart yesterday. Isaiah blurted out that he "doesn't want pictures of people and things on [his] underwear." Apparently, he's become a boxer man.

Oh no, not again!

There are so many notable sayings (most funny, some really great) by loved ones in my life that I think there's enough to post something in this category (Line of the Day) almost everyday. That's if I remember and the internet connection works.

Today's Line of the Day goes to Grace for making this remark while holding baby Jonah at church today:

"Mom, can we please get another baby, I don't even care if it's another boy!"

And then there was one

It looks like we're down to just one child in diapers now! That's a great Father's Day present. For the last couple of weeks Faith has been doing very well, even at night. She's definitely earned the special bedding that her Nana made for her when she reached this milestone.