Backstage at the Nutcracker

Grace enjoyed her performances at the Nutcracker; thanks to many of you for coming out to watch the show. Here are some backstage pictures.

What Faith said

"I have my Elmos on the table."

"Faith, those are called elbows," instructed Grace.

The object of life

CNN.com posted a commentary by Chuck Colson today about the Illinois governor and corruption. Colson presented his Christian testimony clearly and included this great quote which was new to me:

"Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who wrote from the gulag, 'Bless you, prison, bless you for being in my life, for there, lying on the rotting prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity, as we are made to believe, but the maturing of the human soul.'"

What a great perspective! Live not for prosperity but for the maturing of the human soul! Kudos to CNN for posting this.

How to have a good day

I got to hold a one-day old baby today. No matter how rough a day you were having before that, everything is great with a newborn son of the covenant in your arms.

A Remarkable Discovery

One of the great joys of having a mess of young kids is the daily variety show of budding personalities being expressed and the interactions with other young personalities in the house. Sometimes this is painful, sometimes it's hilarious, but sometimes it's also very helpful.

Lately, we're enjoying Zeke's budding charisma. He's quite the cut-up. But our pediatrician has been a little concerned about his lack of speech development; we recently had an initial appointment with some specialists to look into this.

Last night, however, Nana made a remarkable discovery. She found a way to make the boy talk. Zeke can now pretty much say anything you want him to. The trick?

BIG SISTER!

The way to get Zeke to talk is simple. You ask Faith to ask Zeke to say it. He has enough respect (fear? anxiety?) for his big sister to do whatever she says. Before this trick was discovered all Zeke would say were a few mumbled syllables, but last night, under big Sis's beck and call, he would say as clear as a bell whatever we asked (through Faith).

When I look at your heavens

I spent one night this week outdoors in the unspoiled Oscura mountains of New Mexico. I was there to witness some tests for work, but what I was really doing was gazing into a vibrant starfield and working on my Scripture memory for this week, which was Psalm 8. Talk about a memory aid! Imagine standing at the edge of a mountain cliff after nightfall looking over the basin floor stretching out for miles below and an endless starfield above and letting these words etch themselves into your memory:

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

More friends adopting

We're excited for the Nielsens (a family from Grace and Isaiah's school) that leave tomorrow to pick up their new daughter. Also, we learned today of another family from the same school that has been matched and leaves this week to pick up a new son. These are both Christian families, meaning we have some new kingdom kids. Both families are adopting from the same agency in Alabama that placed Faith and Zeke with us. There's a great need for more families to open their homes to these little homeless ones.

It's time to make a plan

With 2009 just a month away it's crunch time! A question needs to be answered in the next few days that will affect every day of your life in the coming year; what will you use for private worship? Husbands, this is the time to plan together with your wife so that you can encourage each other to keep at it when you hit tough times.

Kristin and I talked about it yesterday; we'll either stick with D.A. Carson's For the Love of God (a Bible reading plan and brief commentary that takes you through the whole Bible once a year and the New Testament twice) or we'll see what Tabletalk is going to cover next year. Carson's devotional is reliably good and at times exceptional; I wish volume 3 were available! I like Bob Pod's idea to use Matthew Henry's commentary too; it'd be even simpler if someone would divide them up into daily portions.

Whatever you choose, choose quickly, January 1 will sneak up on you.

Pocket tools

Now that Thanksgiving is over some of us have found that it is possible to give thanks without a thankful heart. Extra time around family can reveal new layers of selfishness, often resulting in sinful anger. I've made use this weekend of a great tool for dealing with sinful anger in my life and recommend it to others for its very simple yet powerful help. This booklet is a summary of the Puritan Richard Baxter's writings on anger; it's small enough to easily fit into your pants pocket and laid out clearly enough to direct an angry temper towards peace.

One of the common complaints of reading the Puritans is the length. The Pocket Puritans series puts their power of exposition and application easily within reach.

Other topics covered in the Pocket Puritan series: lust, faith, heaven. It could be the best $3.60 you ever spend.

The only things we create that will last forever

"As parents the only thing we ever create that will last through all eternity is children. Your children will be there before the judgement seat of Christ. And these dear children that I see week by week growing up are going to last for all eternity. They're going to last forever and forever and forever. That means the most important thing in my existence is how I bring my children to Christ."

Hear the rest of Dr Ferguson's sermon (#8) from a recent parenting conference. It's very encouraging.

The last great change of all

From this morning's prayer in The Valley of Vision:

"Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess,
but not more than is found in thee.

Do thou be with me, and prepare me for all
the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity,
the losses of substance, the death of friends,
the days of darkness, the changes of life,
and the last great change of all."

Yes, Lord, while my country talks about its "change", remind me of the last great change of all, when You will make all things right--and may it begin with me.

Entertainment and Retirement can kill you

HT: Pure Church

Actions, Habits, Character

Have you ever thought you knew something only to meet someone else who shows you all that you're missing? That's what Whyte's book on the characters of Pilgrim's Progress is doing for me and has done for many through the years. In the past I enjoyed the urgency of Christian's journey and the characters he encountered along the way. But I missed the fundamental point; where do I show up in each of these characters and what will I do about it? Whyte's book illumines and helps, pointing out that actions lead to habits and habits become character. So does this sermon based on Whyte's book. If you need more godly character in your life I recommend both!

Tripping over the tiles

I accompanied my pastor last night on a shepherding visit. The older man we visited lives in a retirement center and joked with us about how before we arrived he tripped over some tiles near the dining hall and entertained the other residents with his quick footwork trying to avoid a painful fall. It sounds like the residents receive great and regular medical care, but we'd all prefer if he didn't need it.

As I reflected on this enjoyable visit while driving home a parallel between the retirement center and the church hit me. Residents in a center like his are frequently in need of physicians and medical attention. They are frail physically and want good doctors that will care well for them. Likewise, as members of a church we are spiritually frail--prone to trip over the tiles if you will--and frequently in need of a physician of the soul. I'm thankful that our church has a good one.

"What then will this child be?"

My Bible reading plan has me in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke and so I get to enjoy one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story, the birth of John to Elizabeth and Zechariah. I especially enjoy the squabbling over what to name the child. Elizabeth proposes "John" to which the extended family and neighbors (!) scoff since no one else in their family has that name. They turn to the mysteriously mute father for his ruling. Zechariah asks for a tablet and writes "His name is John." Immediately his tongue is loosed and he speaks blessing God.

The extended family and neighbors, outgunned by Providence, respond in wonder and fear asking, "What then will this child be?" Again, Zechariah has the answer, which I will give in short here, "this child will point others to Jesus."

That doesn't sound too unusual; why, we can all do that. Perhaps that is why Jesus says of John, "the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." So I take up the words of a man's newly loosened tongue and pray for my soon to be 9-year old daughter. As she "grows and becomes strong in spirit" may she "give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God."

A dangerous journey together

We're just about one week from the start of our study of the greatest book besides the Bible. I look forward to taking the journey again, this time with my friends from church. Don't forget to pick up a copy of The Pilgrim's Progress if you don't already have one.

I'm thankful my wife is "busy at home"

From today's Air Force News...

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - A childcare center on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque may close at the beginning of the year unless a government sponsor steps in soon.

The Shandiin Development Center's previous sponsor pulled out after base security said marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in the cars of three workers last month.

Those workers were immediately fired, and the remaining teachers tested negative for drugs.

In distress

AP/Jerome Delay
Protegee, carrying her sibling on her back, cries as she looks for her parents through the village of Kiwanja, north of Goma, eastern Congo on Thursday Nov. 6. A fragile cease-fire in Congo appeared to be unraveling Thursday as the U.N. said battles between warlord Laurent Nkunda’s rebels and the army spread to another town in the volatile country’s east.


"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
James 1:27

Pray that Christians may do their little bit towards widows and orphans and call others to do their little bit until it is enough.

HT: Amy

Good news to go

All the audio from the conference I attended recently on our Adoption in Christ and what it means for orphans is now available for free download.

I especially recommend these two messages:

Rick Phillips - “The Good News of Adoption“

Carl Robbins - “Adoption and the Multi-Ethnic Family of God“

To those worthy of our thanks

"Two Fridays ago musician Steven Curtis Chapman met Corpsman Thomas McBride. He had been wounded in action in Afghanistan and tragically had lost part of his leg. Steven was deeply moved by this man and the sacrifice he had made for this country. In response and with gratitude to Corpsman McBride and all who have served America, Steven penned a new song, “Thomas McBride.” It’s Steven’s great privilege, that this song was delivered this week to Corspman McBride by the President of the United States, George W Bush.

On this week that marks Veterans Day 2008, we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States. To mark the week, Steven is making available, via streaming audio, this simple demo he recorded of the new song."

Hear the New Song By Steven Curtis Chapman, Thomas McBride

HT: Michelle's Blessings

A strong sense of yieldedness to God

They can keep their horse-drawn buggies, but I'll take their "profound ability to absorb adversity" any day.

HT: Christ is deeper still

Rules for Dating (according to a 10 yr old boy)

Eli was recently "promoted" to the next higher Sunday school class. Today they studied one of the best love stories of all time, Isaac and Rebekah. The denominational curriculum we use took this opportunity to discuss some principles for dating. Eli, putting his mind to this subject for his first time, came up with some additional rules for dates.





Don't kiss anybody
Don't dance; just go out to eat.
Dates can be embarrassing so go in disguise.
If you are out to eat close your eyes when anybody kisses anybody else.
When anybody talks about dating plug your ears.
TOP SECRET: don't tell any girls you like them.
Never make eye contact; look away.
At school sit in the back row so nobody can look at you.
If you send a valentine card don't put your name on it.
Never give a girl flowers.
Never go to weddings.
Close your eyes when people kiss in movies.
Never spy on girls unless it's your sister because if you're caught you are in big trouble.
Never get behind a girl in the lunch line.

Thanks to Sunday school teachers Haley and Dan for instilling a healthy fear of "the other" in my boy. I don't think I have to worry about Eli getting any dates for the next few decades!

A face for interracial families

If I put aside politics, parties, and policies for a moment and instead consider the social effect of this election, it is truly worthy of wonder. Many commentators are remarking on the significance of electing our first African-American president and what it signals for race relations in our culture. Most of the attention focuses on a more accepting white community (without putting it in those words).

I, too, hope this is a lasting change, yet my hope is that both black and white communities will become more accepting of interracial families. When people look at my family, instead of seeing different races, will they instead draw a parallel to the upbringing of Barack? Before when people saw a white mama holding a black baby they probably didn't have a category for that, but now interacial families have a face--the face of a president.
A young Barack held by his mother
A young Faith held by her father

A day-long dose of good news

I'm in South Carolina to consume vast quantities of pork BBQ (vinegar-based!) and other delectables that only Southerners really know how to make. I also came to see my mother and brother (and his wife) and, quite coincidentally, to attend the Together for Adoption Conference today in Greenville.

The "Together" refers in part to the conference speakers from various denominational backgrounds. Forgive me for bragging on my own "team" a little but the Presbyterian preachers (Rick Phillips and Carl Robbins) represented in force! I wish I could have heard these messages back when Kristin and I were first considering adoption--they were very stirring and biblically-insightful. I'll put up a link to them next week when they're on-line, but for now here are a few choice quotes.

"When you hear the word adoption, do your thoughts move to the horizontal (families adopting children) or do they move vertically (God adopting us)?"
Dan Cruver

[note: test question for whether our thoughts are biblically-calibrated]

"'Relationship with God' talk doesn't have much content to it unless you know what we've been saved to"
Rick Phillips

[note: while we may have a strong sense of what we're saved from we suffer from not appreciating what Adoption has saved us to]

"Our manner of adopting: we want white, blond-headed, perfect babies. But God adopted those who were his enemies and had no merits."
Rick Phillips

"The most potent form of evangelism and discipleship is adoption."
Rick Phillips

"Any denial of our togetherness with Christians of other races on the horizontal plane is a denial of Adoption on the vertical plane! And is working against Christ!"
Carl Robbins

"God adopts transracially; He has crossed the boundaries"[...so should we].
Carl Robbins

"The 'end' of our Adoption [in Christ] is not horizontal adoption but the ultimate goal is for earth to become like heaven. God uses us for this purpose."
Tullian Tchividjian

"God is not in the process of giving it [the world] all up but gaining it all back. Christians should engage the world and solve the orphan care problem."
Tullian Tchividjian

There was also a great group of exhibitors representing foster care and adoption ministries. I visited every table and will bring some materials to church with me for those that would like to see them.

Happy Reformation Day!

For us Reformation-minded Christians, Oct 31 marks the 491st anniversary of Martin Luther ushering in the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Why should you join in celebrating the Reformation?

• The clarity of the Gospel was recovered: we are made right with God not by what we do, but by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone
• The Bible was made available (Christians were allowed to have it) and accessible (in a common tongue)
• The Bible was re-instated as the final authority for what man is to believe concerning God and for what duty God requires of man. This restored prayer, worship, Heaven, and Hell (to name a few) to the Bible's clear teaching
• Marriage became honorable again
• Lawful vocations (whether milkmaid, mom or minister) were esteemed as equally valuable in God's eyes when done out of love for your neighbor and love for God
  

For many more good reasons to celebrate the Reformation, head over to Challies for a Reformation Symposium.

Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. Here's an example: family worship in Halloween costumes. I must be becoming a liberal (theologically speaking).

A preacher's nightmare

Since our pastor is out of the country I preached today. Now that it's over I'll share a dream (a nightmare really) about the sermon from a couple of nights ago.

I dreamed that I arrived at church in a raggety t-shirt and shorts. Only 4 people came to church and I forgot my Bible. I borrowed one but when I opened it in the pulpit the letters were so tiny that I couldn't read any of the words. I squinted and stared at it long enough that people started whispering to each other and chuckling. So I borrowed another one. But this one was like a magazine; there were advertisements all through it and even though I feverishly searched I couldn't find my Scripture text any where in it. Now the congregation (all visitors in my dream) was cracking on me outloud and eventually I just gave up and left.

Before leaving the house this morning I double and triple checked that I had my Bible with me.

Doing their part

This video was on ESPN Gameday about Georgia head coach Mark Richt and his family. It focuses on two children that they adopted from Ukraine, including one that has a facial deformity.

HT: Z

A Family Man

Illustrations set to the music of Andrew Peterson's song, "I Am a Family Man"


HT: Between Two Worlds

Tale of a bad date night

If last night's date had been my first with Kristin I'd probably never see her again.

I'll put the good news up front; WE HAVE FOUND A GOOD BABYSITTER. This is an answer to prayer for us as I have shared with our covenant group.

Now for the rest of the story in which whatever Tim does goes wrong. Once the sitters (2) were settled I drove Kristin to my favorite Chinese place. Turns out it was closed for a private party. That's a wasted drive, but we quickly re-grouped because we were pretty hungry and there's lots of good restaurants in Albuquerque when you don't have kids with you. We decided on Greek (which the kids hate), so we drove to one we liked across town. We got there, parked in a riduclously small parking spot, went to enter the restaurant and found the door locked. It was closed for repairs which explains why there was an old, grumpy-looking Greek guy on the roof when I pulled up! I returned to the car, sat there and wondered how hard can it be to find an open restaurant in Albuquerque on a Saturday evening!

I made up my mind that I had had enough. We were near the university campus, hungry, and desperate. We saw a deli and were willing to settle for it. I parked the car (this time dusting off my parallel parking skills) and walked up to The Cheba Hut advertising "Toasted Subs". As we walked in I noticed some strange college-looking signs and posters but it didn't register until it was too late. This was a very pro-pot (as in marijuna) kind of place! No matter how much we stood out in this place, we were there and we were hungry. We tried to overlook the Cheech and Chong posters, Bob Marley photos, and other pot-culture fanfare. We opted to eat outside in case the cops decided to bust the joint during the dinner hour.

After quickly finishing off the sandwich, it was time to head to our next disappointment. We drove over to Justin's house, about 20 minutes away, to check on it (how romantic of me). After we pulled into the driveway I realized that the keys to his house were still back at my house. "Haa haa honey, let's go do something else!"

I won't bore you with more details but suffice it to say that other things we tried to do last night were either closed, broke, or broke while we were there. The Cheba Hut was the highlight of the evening. And I'm glad Kristin married me.

A convicting little movie (6 minutes)

Mr. and Mrs. Sorice

Kristin and I attended a friend's wedding this weekend near Portland, Oregon. We had a fabulous time, thanks in very large part to a great couple that watched all of the kiddos while we were away!

My camera didn't do too well with the lighting, but here are a few wedding photos from yesterday.

The first kiss for Mr and Mrs Soricealt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256384953412089842" />
Presenting the Sorice family...
We also enjoyed catching up with Chris and Jennifer; he was the best man and she sang during the wedding.

Since the wedding was in the evening, that gave us the day (which was sunny!) for tooling around Portland. What a refreshing contrast to New Mexico's desert landsape! It was like waking up to spring after a long winter.

Tributes for a deceased brother

In what may be the best use of blogging I've seen, this week several friends have posted tributes to Brent and his family on the first year of his sudden death (here, here, here, here, and in the comments pages associated with those sites).

We also remember him fondly. Brent and his family convinced us to make Providence our home church. They didn't do this with words; I don't think they even realize that they had any effect on us. But they're the kind of people that once you meet them you can't help but to love them and want to be with them again, and hopefully, to become more like them. And that's what happened to us--it was the easiest church decision we've ever made!

I was visiting my mom in South Carolina last October when a somber phone call delivered the blow that he was dead. Through it all, his wife has rested on God and found Him faithful.

I can't estimate the effect that knowing Brent, even for a short time, has had on me and my family. But one Day I will know and will get to thank him in person.

La Luz hike

Eli and I went for a hike up the famous La Luz trail today with some friends from his school. It was a beautiful, autumn day.

We started a rock slide (by accident) on the way down.

Two kingdoms

There's no better time than election season to become familiar with the historic church teaching of the two kingdoms (how to properly understand church and state). White Horse Inn has a good broadcast discussing how two senior leaders in politics (one a democrat and the other a republican) can share the same reformed faith. The guests are Dan Bryant (former Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice), and Neil McBride (a strategist for the Democratic Party). Good listening!

Been in trouble with the law

On the way home from work today a police cruiser side-swiped me. The collision smashed the passenger side of my car and blew out my tire. The police car's front was peeled off like a banana.

As I watched more and more police officers show up at the scene of the accident and overheard the driver of the police car (a young airmen) tell his side of the story again and again I started to worry about how this might turn out. Then the investigating officer came over to me and opened with the words, "We're not going to arrest you, but...". It looked like I was going to have to pay for the damage and receive a serious citation for "failing to yield to an emergency vehicle."

Thankfully, in God's providence, a friend showed up and recommended getting the legal office involved if they continued to try to pin fault on me when it was obvious from the impact point on my car who was at fault. That advice worked very well. Within an hour I was cleared from any blame and allowed to leave. After I replaced the mauled tire.

Kristin says the car is invisible because people are always pulling out in front of us. We were hit a couple of months ago by a truck pulling out of a parking space. The driver of the truck said he didn't see me.

So now I have matching damage on both sides.

Mid-course corrections

It was time for a mid-course correction. Prayer had atrophied to a rushed and thoughtless routine. I took time today to re-think my priorities and how prayer fits in. I revamped part of my prayer list and renewed my commitment to following it.

We all need mid-course corrections. Make this day a turning to prayer. Make some new resolve. Try some new venture with God.

Presbytery

I returned yesterday from Scottsdale, AZ, the site of our latest Presbytery meeting. As usual it was a great time. At these meetings the elders of the churches in the area (for us, New Mexico, Arizona, and El Paso) meet to guide, pray, and hear updates on the spread of the kingdom throughout our area.

One highlight of this meeting was the attendance of Dr Lig Duncan (of Together for the Gospel fame). He was in town for Ligonier's West Coast Conference and came early to preach and meet with us.

He delivered an edifying sermon on preaching and then spent an hour of Q&A with us. We focused several questions on the role of women in the church, which he handled nicely, but to me the most helpful response he gave concerned unity in the PCA. You can hear both recordings here. (My goofy question to Dr Duncan is about 4:30 minutes into the Q&A session).

Evangelism Linebacker

This copy-cat video of the old Terry Tate commercials is adapted for Christians who neglect evangelism. It's pretty clever.



(HT: Christ is Deeper Still)

State Fair 2008

Kristin and the kids recently went to the New Mexico State Fair. Somehow she managed to take some pictures.

I'm going (November 1st)

I got my ticket right here.

Bedtime routines

Pastor John Piper recently answered a question on how he handles spiritual training in the home. It's short and good, especially this part:

"And then when we put them to bed, we tucked them in, blessed them with

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace,
and joy, and hope, and love, and a good night's rest,
and someday a godly husband. (Talitha will always laugh when I say this last line.)

And then I sing a song for Talitha. And then I give her a big hug. There is a very definite routine that we walk through."

Read the whole thing.

Parental High

I've never experienced the (mythical?) runner's high. Sitting on the sofa worn-out after a run this evening Kristin and I divided up the nightly routine of putting the kids to bed and the house in order. It was then that we realized that there is a "parental high".

Here are a few experiences that can bring it on:
- Putting the kids to bed at night
- Having dinner together while a sitter watches the children
- Sleeping through the night
- No more diapers!

Space Cadet

The boys and I had a great time playing "extreme lazer tag" at Hinkle this weekend. At the end of the game you get a detailed print-out that shows how you performed in the game; here are a few of my stats:

Game Duration: 10 minutes
# times you were hit: 46
# opponents you hit: 9
# shots you fired: 222
accuracy: 4%

Apparently, I was a walking target board. Each time you're hit your gun turns off for 5 seconds. Since I was hit 46 times in 10 minutes, I was "off" for almost half of the game. Not too good. Or in Hinkle's rating: I'm a Space Cadet.

Moore: what adoption teaches about Adoption

No church, no problem? (pt 2)

I'm making a point of inviting more people to church, for two reasons. First, I'd like to see new people added to our number. Second, and more importantly, people need a church.

I've invited two families recently; neither have come (yet). What puzzles me is that both families profess to be Christians and much about their lives back it up. But neither attend any church in town, and they're okay with that. In a city this large with many church choices this strikes me as oddly inconsistent.

Labor Day Road Trip - Bandelier

The blessings of old age

In preparing to teach a class on "What is a good church?", I've used a Google search tool to pull together people's thoughts on this from across the blogosphere. One common sentiment that pops up among bloggers is that they want a church with lots of people their own age. They especially dislike churches that are elderly.

This brought to mind how my thoughts towards the elderly have changed. There was a time when I too avoided churches with older people. In fact, for years, a church I attended had no one over 50 that I can remember.

But this changed when I prayed with an old man in the sunset of his life. He has walked with God longer than I have been alive. His body is failing him, but His God has not. His faith has stretched across time and has lasted through adversity, and this gives me hope that I, too, will not fall away.

When we don't know our elderly fathers and mothers in the faith we miss out on one means that God uses to assure us of perseverance. Just as Jacob, when dying blessed his sons, leaning on his staff to worship (Heb 11:21), so too can our fathers in the faith bless us in their worship of God.

A new job

On Tuesday I'll start my 12th job in the Air Force. That's 12 jobs in 15 years--I can't keep a job!

As work responsibilities have increased over the years, so has my satisfaction with the Air Force. This new job will be a bigger challenge than the last. And it's a good thing that we like Albuquerque, because my boss has requested that I stay here longer than a normal tour. We'll see what the Air Force Personnel Center thinks of that.

Christ the Center

Christ the Center is a fairly new podcast led by a panel of PCA and OPC pastors; I've grown to really enjoy learning more about the reformed faith this way. Here's a list of recent episodes:

The Eschatological Views of the Westminster Divines
Cultural Relevance, Mercy Ministry and the Social Gospel
The Pastor and the Academy
The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century
Recovering the Reformed Confession
Union with Christ and Twofold Grace
Reformed Church Growth
Reforming or Conforming?

Zeke's first word

A few weeks ago the kids watched the movie "Annie". The "Tomorrow" song stuck with Faith; she kept singing it for days. It even affected Zeke, who hasn't said anything other than a "momma"-sounding utterance when he's crying. But tonight at dinner he picked up Faith's refrain, and so his first word is officially "Tomorrow".

Does this word symbolically reveal anything about Zeke's laid back personality? Time will tell.

A General's Staff

Yesterday afternoon I found out that we had another tour to give at work today--we give lots of tours, many of them to high-ranking officers. But this one was different. The staff for this General Officer live in fear of him and they had me running in all directions. In 15 years of military life, I've never seen staff officers ping so hard. They took over my office, re-did the briefing slides many times this morning, asked me to call the whole building to attention when he walks in, and basically stayed on the verge of an anxiety attack the whole morning. To top it all off, one of the staff officers even had my hat for the whole visit, thinking it was his own. You probably have to be a military person to appreciate the embarrassment of missing your cover, especially with General Officers around. I was glad to see them leave, and thankfully I got my hat back.

The Reformation

This book explains the Reformation in an easy and quick manner without being uninteresting. In a fresh way the doctrines of the Reformation are presented through the lively characters of the Reformation. This link keeps the book from being academic without losing the doctrinal nature of the Reformation. My favorite chapter was "The Women of the Reformation", particularly the young life of Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen who at 16 years of age had a remarkable grasp on the gospel.

Ouch! This hits too close to home

Ken Myers (MARS HILL AUDIO) in an article titled "That's why they call them browsers" writes on the detrimental effect that Internet-based communications has on learning and especially deep reading. Here's a summary pieced together from a few quotes that hit me the hardest.

"Carr observes that deep reading--reading that is more like prayer than basketball--is deliberately discouraged by the structure of the Web and in the business models of the Web's reigning powers. 'The faster we surf across the Web--the more links we click and pages we view--the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to deed us advertisements.'"

"We are constantly lured from the important and profound to the distacting, 'interesting', piquant."

"He touches everything brought within easy reach of his mind by the constantly increasing means of transportation, information, education, and amusement, but he doesn't really absorb anything. He contents himself with having 'heard about it', he labels it with some current catchword, and shoves it aside for the next. He is a hollow man and tries to fill his emptiness with constant, reckless activity."

This article is a call to action, but I'm not sure how to go about making the change. Any ideas on how to avoid the pitfalls described here without getting completely off the Information Superhighway?

Read the whole thing.

Brushes with death

The military police knocked on our door last night, showed me a picture, and asked if I had seen this person in the last few hours. I recognized the person in the picture and joined in the search last night through the base and along Central Avenue for a suicidal friend who hours earlier had disappeared on foot with nothing but pajamas. Thankfully this person was found alive and is now getting help.

Pulling out of my neighborhood this morning on my way to work, the car up ahead was driving at idle speed and drifting between lanes. I pulled along side and clearly saw that the driver was unconscious and alone. I pulled ahead just in time to miss him as he veered into my lane and then crashed into a park bench. A small crowd formed, we felt a weak pulse, and got help. I don't know if this man is alive now.

How should we respond when brushed by death? It certainly has my attention today.

Calling out the "Apostates"

After reading the first chapter of our new book for adult Sunday school, I'm really impressed. It unashamedly presents a strong case for the centrality of the local church in God's plan and a believer's life.

The authors square off against the idea that Christians don't need the local church, facing the church's detractors, such as popular Christian pollster George Barna, head-on. Referring to 1 John 2:19 they spell out the principle that those who claim to be a Christian but separate themselves from the church may possibly be just disobedient, but "it is more likely that they are not really believers". Subltly, they mention that in past centuries those that left the church were called "apostates" not revolutionaries.

In another bold statement, the authors call Christians away from fighting for a "Christian America" through para-church organizations and urge us to expend our energies towards the edification and growth of the local church. For God has promised that His church will endure; religious liberty in America has no divine guarantee.

This book is off to a great start!

Sanctification tests

"This is a false understanding of sanctification: that a person's level of sanctification depends on their fervor. And the goal is to increase their fervor. In the New Testament, sanctification almost always is worked out in real life, not in your private activities but in your public activities. Things like how you treat your wife. Things like how you treat your kids. Things like how you treat your fellow church members. Do you call on them when they're missing? Do you take them food when they are hungy? Do you help them find jobs? Do you support the mercy and benevolence activities? Sanctification in the New Testament manifests itself in very concrete, public ways and not in things like private journaling."

White Horse Inn broadcast titled: Calling the sheep to become self-feeders?

Encouraging parents that feel inadequate and guilty

Another good Ask Pastor John:

"First, I want to encourage people that all of us feel inadequate at the front end and guilty at the back end of parenting. We think we're doing our best. We think we've hit upon a way to do this or that. Then 10 or 20 years into parenting we read a book, hear a talk, or observe another person and realize, "Whoa, that's a good idea. I never thought of that, and I never did that. What if I had done that?"

No matter how good we are as parents we wind up feeling inadequate and guilty at the end. The key for having hope and for picking up and pressing on is, first, the cross of Christ, and receiving the forgiveness for our inadequacies and our failures. Secondly—and this is really, really important—it's knowing that God rescues children from the worst of homes, homes way worse than yours."

Read the whole thing.

Faith turns 3

1st day of school

Grace and Isaiah began the school year today at the new classical Christian school in town, Oak Grove Classical Academy. They will attend two days a week and we will continue to homeschool the remainder of the time.

Both children were eager to start school today, but Isaiah's reasons were based on a strange expectation that he would get to play drums and paint all he wants. I don't know why he thought this is what happens at school, and he was a little dejected to have spent a good portion of the day working on his handwriting and math skills. But overall it was a good start to the school year.

How can eternity influence a mother's daily tasks?

From "Ask Pastor John [Piper]":

"I believe it is a very high calling to be a mom charged with teaching everything she possibly can to one, two, or eight kids.

The women who flourish most and who delight most in that calling—and who are best at it—are not women whose lives are circumscribed by their houses. They are women who are aware of the world. They're aware of God's global purpose. They're aware of the ultimate purposes of God in history. They're aware of things in history and in the far off reaches of the world today that God is doing. And those are part of what they want to build into these children. They want to raise global Christians, world Christians.

A mother will delight most in the little baby in front of her when she has a vision of God and a vision of the world that's big enough to admit that this little child has a destiny in front of him or her and might become this or that.

If she is totally circumscribed by her little home—with no vision for the world—then I think her domestic scene is probably going to shrivel up on her, and she is going to feel that it is small and constraining. But if she sees it in the wider context of what she is a part of in the missionary enterprise, I think every detail of her life can take on a global significance, indeed, an historical significance.

I really believe that. When I used to sit down for devotions with our four boys at home my mind wasn't simply, "OK I have a duty as a dad: I'm supposed to do devotions at night." My mind was, "What will they become?"

Ralph Winter used to say that nothing has an impact on kids except what they do daily. So we did Global Prayer Digest daily, and we did devotions daily.

The goal isn't just to fulfill some little task that dads are supposed to do. Rather, you're building men who hopefully someday will have absorbed so much of God and so much of the Bible that it's going to shape their whole world. And they might wind up going to Pakistan to help build shelters for earthquake victims."

Sheep & greener grass

In this sermon Pastor Joel Beeke shares a good anecdote about changing churches.

After a sermon he gave at a conference a woman approached him and fawned over the message saying that she wishes she could hear preaching like that at her church. Dr Beeke cautioned her that if she were to switch to his church, within a few months she would probably be tired of his preaching, too. He went on to explain that as sheep we are prone to think the grass is greener elsewhere and often it can seem that way at first. But soon the newness wears off, other grass looks greener and the cycle perpetuates.

I've experienced this first hand and have come to regret it later. Commitment in all areas of life (which should include membership in a local church) is the better approach.

Echos from last Sunday

This line from a hymn we sang in worship Sunday is taken from Phil 1:21 and expresses the longing of a Christian's heart well:

"...having known it "Christ to live," let me know it "gain to die."

Thank you, Mr. Wardlaw.

Christ, of All My Hopes the Ground
Ralph Wardlaw
1817

Grammar Girl

I'm a product of public education. In the deep South. And I hardly paid attention. Plus my brain is like a bucket without a bottom.

Enter the Grammar Girl podcast. In about 5 minutes I'm reminded of all the things I was supposed to learn by 5th grade like,

• "Affect" or "effect"
• When to omit the word "that"
• "Who" versus "Whom"

Plus 114 other things that I probably don't know about my own (and only) language. Subscribe here or search iTunes podcasts for "Grammar Girl".

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.