Kevin Smith

The conversations I resolve to avoid...

2012-02-28T17:34:00.002-05:00

1. I will never discuss fitness and nutrition with an overweight person who thinks they are experts in fitness and nutrition.
2. I will never discuss politics with someone who watches Fox News or listens to conservative talk radio.
3. I will never discuss theology with a person who reads Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, or TD Jakes.
4. I will never discuss education with someone who is not in education.

David Christian: Big history

2012-02-26T21:14:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid...!?

2012-02-26T14:29:00.001-05:00

When one turns 30 is seems people start thinking with nostalgia . Your opinion on who is better, Tom Brady or Joe Montana, Joe Montana or Johnny Unites, Johny Unites or Otto Graham, Otto Graham or Sammy Baugh, is based upon your generation. That's sports, what about other things? I hear from some in the church that kids are growing up in a world that is worst than mine, I fear the future of our church, etc. Well, here is what God's word says, "Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this." Ecclesiastes 7:10. That will put some in their place.

I love worshiping in the mist of college students, especially those that attend the church that I'm a part of. They go to the early service, they are on time, and they don't play with their smart phones. They pay attention, they serve well in Sunday school, and they bring their Bibles. The girls dress what I think with modesty and all of them are very friendly with each other as well as the older people at church. They have compassion for the poor, enslaved, and the immigrant. They listen to John Piper and others who challenge them to give up worldly pleasures in order to seek the pleasure of following Christ. They are actively involved with Cru, an organization that stresses evangelism. I see God working in young people today and I fully expect personal and community revivals are in the future. Maybe better things are yet to come?

Illigals Immigrants

2012-02-25T05:19:00.000-05:00

I spent over ten years working with and befriending families who are illegal immigrants. Some on the extreme right seem to think that they have it great here and are bitter and angry at them. Some of my experiences:

A 6th grade girl is being raped by an uncle, her uncle is legal and tells her not to tell anyone or he would turn her family into the authorities.

A single mom with three children is escaping from an abusive husband. I learn from one of her daughters that they have no food, someone found this out because she was stuffing herself with food at school. This same mom is working hard to make money. She works at McDonalds but is only paid during the breakfast and lunch shift which amounts to three hours of work. She doesn't have transportation so between breakfast and lunch she has to hang out outside.

Recently I was wanting to contact a student's family. The phone number had been disconnected and I found out that his family could not afford to pay the phone bill.

A girl came into our school office crying uncontrollably. Her dad has been arrested and is being deported.

A girl just learned that one of her family members had been killed while crossing the border.

A girl confided in me that she will be going back to Mexico and is unsure if she would be able to make it back to America alive.

I see some of my students work so hard at school from 7:30 to 5:00, even giving up their lunch to get help for their homework. Then they go back home to take care of their younger siblings because their parents are working. They wake early the next day to be at the bus stop at 6am.

A mother leaves her child in America with family members. The family members often keep her outside in the cold at night when she is misbehaving. The child was four years old.

Most of my students have sisters, brothers, or parents not with them in American because it can cost over 5,000 dollars to pay a coyote to get one person over the border. Sometimes they don't see their family in years.

Most of my illegals where the same cloths everyday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F4CD7pzmNc

Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two

2012-02-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

I've been a clearly defined evangelical for 17 years!

2012-02-14T22:20:00.000-05:00

One of the things I've heard these past 17 years, from non-evangelicals and evangelicals alike are strong criticisms of the "American Church". I suppose if each of our lives are to look like Jesus', critiques are inevitable. We are apathetic to the poor, we are too much like our culture when it comes to sex, materialism, and our ideas, and our orthodoxy and orthopraxy are best shallow and at worst unbiblical. This is true today and what I've found it's always been true of God's people throughout history. The Hebrews were found sacrificing their young, cutting up women that were raped and murdered, and other detestable things. The early church was heavily influence by the Gnostic beliefs, Greek culture, and some church members were practicing homosexuals and adulterers. In America many churches justified slavery and Jim Crow laws. What came from the pulpit from the "Bible Belt" in the 1960s is alarming and shameful. Okay, I'm not trying say, "I'm okay, you're okay!" But I think even a cursory assessment of history will debunk the notion that there was a "good old days." What I'm meaning to say is that these 17 years I've met so many awesome people in the church. People that are genuine, humble, passionate, giving, sincere, caring, compassionate, sacrificial, understanding, and intelligent. I've never met anybody like Jesus but one thing I can say is that the American Church, though flawed and needing repentance in many areas, is "healthy" and growing!

Thank you Calvin for articulating something that I have been thinking about for years!

2012-02-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

"...following the example of the Ethiopian eunuch, we must make use of all the aids which the Lord sets before us for the understanding of Scripture. Fanatics seek inspirations from Heaven, and at the same time despise the minister of God.... Others, relying on their own penetrating insight, do not deign to hear anybody or to read any commentaries. But God does not wish the aids, which He appoints for us, to be despised, and does not allow contempt of them to go unpunished. And we must keep in mind here, that not only is Scripture given to us, but interpreters and teachers are also added to help us..." John Calvin

"We should also be willing to listen to each other and learn from each other. The Holy Spirit can ilumine our minds through group as well as individual Bible Study." John Stott

"It would hardly be humble to ignore what the Spirt may have shown to others. The Holy Spirit is indeed our teacher, but He teaches us indirectly through others as well as direcctly to our own minds....His work of illumination is given to many also. It is not an individuals merely, but 'with all the saints' that we are given 'power to comprehend...what is...the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.'" John Stott

"It is our Christian duty to listen to them with respect, humility, and eagerness, and to feed upon God's word from their lips when they faithfully expound it, at the same time ourselves 'examining the Scriptures daily to see if what they say is true.'" John Stott

Applications:
1. Study the Bible with humility, with prayer, and with others.
2. Go to church and take notes
3. Join a small group
4. Read books by others that know the Bible better than you do

Joe Paterno

2012-01-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

I watched some of the memorial of Joe Paterno this weekend. A few thoughts. First, staying at a place for a long time(establishing roots) and living a life with good character where you work, in your home, and in your communities will have profound impact on people. Good character is hard to find. Second, it's sad that the people who spoke said that Joe Pa had the most impact on their lives, not their parents, not their friends, and not God. Third, we must tell the people we love and/or admire what we think of them when they are alive. Not by texting or e-mailing but face to face or by written letter. Forth, I want to be a person that has a positive impact on people. Fifth, there are people that inspire me to be a better....fill in the blank....to be like them.....and sadly there are people that inspire me not to be like them....regardless, there is something to be learned from everyone.

Icons and Veneration!

2012-01-28T05:01:00.000-05:00

What is the difference? Perhaps the only difference is that the Easter Orthodox Christian is showing reverence to Jesus and Mary, while the evangelical is showing reverance to Steve Jobs, Zen Budist.

Eastern Orthodox

Evangelicals

Quotes from "Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialigue"

2012-01-24T19:41:00.000-05:00

"We recognise that man finds it easier to subdue the earth than he does to subdue himself." John Stott

"we shall refuse to acquiesce in superficial polarizations, for the truth is alwasy more subtle and sophisticated than that." John Stott

"What science can measure is only a portion of what man can know. Our knoinng reaches out to embrace the sacred." John Stott

Worship and Veneration?

2012-01-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

In Roman Catholic, and Orthodox theology, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the adoration due to God alone.

"We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of the Olympic medals for excellence in sports." Dr. Mark Miravelle

Why do people become vegans?

2012-01-20T18:39:00.001-05:00

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2011/aug/why-do-people-become-vegans-and-vegetarians-survey-says-%E2%80%93-all-above

From Soundmind Investing Blog!

2012-01-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

Kids & money

At the start of the year, my church began offering Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Our church has offered many of the Crown/Compass studies (including the one we're featuring in SMI this year) in the past and it was time for something new. Especially appealing was the fact that someone other than me was going to lead it! I was enthusiastically on board with the idea and signed up to participate, as I've never actually gone through Financial Peace (though I've seen Dave at a live event and am generally familiar with their stuff).

One of the main topics last night was how to raise financially smart kids. Dave isn't big on paying kids an allowance. Instead, he feels kids should be paid for work they do. His emphasis is on tying work and money closely together in those impressionable brains. He does mention that there should be some things expected of the kids that they don't get paid for — that they do just because they're part of the family. But it's pretty clear he falls on the "pay for work" side of that divide.

This was interesting to me, as Austin used largely the opposite approach with his kids. They were brought up understanding that you help with work around the house because you're part of the family, and as part of the family you also are cared for, in part, by receiving an allowance. There were some jobs that were paid extra, but most were expected as being part of the family.

There are definitely pros and cons to both approaches, I've opted more for the "allowance and you work because you're part of the family" approach with my kids. But I do find some of Ramsey's arguments persuasive as well. I think there's something different for a kid when they've specifically earned money — it feels different and they treat it differently. And instilling the idea that if you want to have money, you need to work for it seems like a good idea (although I've not worried too much about that, as I fully expect my kids to work at jobs outside the house when they're old enough to do so).

I'm leaning towards introducing more of a hybrid system at our house, where certain chores are expected but other paid job opportunities are available as well. But I haven't come up with anything specific yet and I'm a little leery of every new job being met with a question of whether they're going to get paid.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your experiences with this issue. What have you tried that worked well, or didn't work so well? Please share via the comments link below.

3:16

2012-01-10T19:23:00.000-05:00

Genesis
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

Matthew
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

Luke
John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Romans
in their paths are ruin and misery,

1 Corinthians
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

2 Corinthians
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

James
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

1 Timothy
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

2 Timothy
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Revelation
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Ephesians
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians
Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Colossians
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

1 Peter
having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Jesus and Economics!

2012-01-03T10:44:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0dmRJ0oWg&feature=related

One thing is true, Jesus did not share Milton Friedman's principle. He gave up everything to die for my sins and what they deserved. Bad economics from Jesus but great Love. I also wonder this, would the government Moses (with guidance from God) instituted be too intrusive for the ultra conservatives today? Not suggesting we should model this framework, just saying that it's difficult to create support from the Bible for our libertarian sided views.

New Year's Resolution!

2012-01-03T08:35:00.001-05:00

I think a "New Year's Resolution" is something you intend to keep for life. A habit to form or break in order to better one self. In the past I've had food resolutions, "No more Pizza, No more sweets, No more chips, No more soda". Having successfully given up these things, I'm forced to start eating healthier things. So now it's 2012 and I have no more "bad foods" to give up. Exercise has never been an issue with me. I played sports through college and it's such a habit where if I don't work out for a week or even a day I don't feel right. Reading the Bible is a discipline I developed over a decade a go. I read through the Bible every year. I have made resolutions to memorize more scripture which I've done faithfully for the past five years. This year I resolve to put what I read in the Bible in my own words. I will do this because it will help me think and reflect more on the passage I read and it will help put what I read in long term memory. Things I can do on my own is not a huge struggle for me. It's more of the interpersonal. I have to force myself to be with people. This is where I struggle in keeping my resolutions, those that are more interpersonal. I suppose it may be my over sensitivity, not being listened to or being interrupted or being misunderstood really bothers me and get's me upset, I just need to get over it and "put on the Lord Jesus and make no provisions for the flesh". Well this year, I will try yet again at a "skill" that I'm not naturally motivated to do and a "skill" that I'm not very good at. God has given me a spirit of "love, power, and self control" so I'm confident of change.

My book reading for 2012 is starting to develope!

2012-01-01T15:41:00.000-05:00

Israel & the Nations: The History of Israel from the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple by FF Bruce

Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal Evangelical Dialogue by David L. Edwards and John Stott

Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics by Nicholas Wapshott

Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by John Furhman

Revisiting the Economics of John Maynard Keynes | PBS NewsHour

2011-12-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

Book Giveaway (Part 1)

2011-12-30T10:01:00.011-05:00

This Winter Break I've been working my shreder overtime and going through my books that I'm ready to part with....Free....if you would like to give a sum of money I will donate it to Compassion International.

John Macarthur Explain the Book of Revelation (John Macarthur)
How To Meet The Enemy (John MacArthur)
The Gospel Accourding to Jesus (John MacArthur)
Charismatic Chaos (John MacArthur)
Speaking with Tongues (John R. Rice)
The Holiness of God (RC Sproul)
God's Passion for His Glory (John Piper)
Daily Readings from the Life of Christ (John MacArthur)
The Problem of Life with God (Tommy Nelson)
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception (John Macarthur)
A Tale of Two Sons (John MacArthur)
The Jesus You Can't Ignore (John MacArthur)
1 Corinthians (commentary) John Macarthur)
Galatians (commentary) John Macarthur)
The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)
Larry Bird Drive: The Story of My Life
Through Gates of Splendor (Elisabeth Elliot)
Stalker's Life of Paul
Jesus Freaks (dc Talk) and The Voice of the Martrs
Know Why you Believe (Paul E. Little)
Concentric Circles of Concern (W. Oscar Thompson)
The Confusing World of Benny Hinn (G. Richard Fisher adn M. Kurt Goedelman)
Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary (Lee Strobel)
True Spirtiuality (Francis A. Schaeffer)
God's Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church (Charles Van Engen)
Heroes of the Faith: Jonathan Edwards
Men of Faith: George Muller
Men of Faith: Jim Elliot
Men of Faith: Eric Liddell
Eternal Security (Charles Stanley)
Counterfeit Revival (Hank Hanegraaff)
The Word in Life Study Bible
Guide to Understanding Personal Finance (The Wall Street Journal)
Guide To Understanding 529 Plans (The Wall Street Journal)

What has technology improved?

2011-12-26T14:14:00.001-05:00

That's a great questions we need to ask ourselves. We assume that a new technology makes our lives easier, more efficient, and better. I presume that sometimes old technology is better. Let's reason together my friends?

Paper and pencil is better than writing on a keyboard or touch screen. It's proven though research that our brains are more activity engaged when we write with a pencil compared to typing on a keyboard. Also, you must ask yourself, if you are going to write a "love letter", do you want it to be typed or written?

Hymnals are better than singing songs using presentation software. Presentation software and the other technologies that are needed when singing in church often disrupts one's communion with God. So often the words on the screen are not the words we are "supposed" to be singing. Sometimes the technology just does not work. Hymnals are great because you can always follow what the "music leaders" are singing. You can also stop and go back to what you just sung and really meditate on the words. Often I used to read through the songs that were going to be sung during service in order to understand more deeply what we are going to be singing about. Also Hymnals always "work".

Reading a book is better than a reading tablet. When you read a real book it's easy to mark pages and write in the margins. It's easy to go back to something you just read on another page so you don't get lost as you continue reading the book. You are less distracted with a real book because there are no hyperlinks. And lets face it, books have that kinesthetic pleasure to it. The feel of turning the pages, the smell of a new book, and the smell of an old book. Plus you can't get books that are out of print with a reading tablet, something that readers need access to.

An appointment book is better than an i-phone. I can write down and find appointments in my appointment book faster than someone with an i-phone. It costs less than 5 dollars a year, compared to the thousand of dollars that people spend on data plans.

Fruit and Vegetables are better than fortified foods. "A whole food might be more than the sum of its nutrient parts."

Lincoln Logs are better then SIMS city. Again your brain is more active when creating with Lincoln Logs, you have the kinesthetic aspect to it, it's three dimensional. And let's face it, it's fun to knock down what you have made and more fun to build something with another person.

Letters are better than e-mail. It takes more effort and thought to write a letter. How many of us keep the letters we receive, I assume many of us, if we don't or didn't we regret it. Is it more exciting to get a letter from your real mailbox than your e-mail inbox? And again, how lame is a love letter sent via e-mail. Spray some cologne on it and you have something really special :)

Reading the Bible in print is better than reading it electronically on a computer or tablet. It's so easy to be distracted to click on this or that. It's also proven through research that when you read on a computer screen you are more prone to skim and less prone to read it is a deep and reflective way.

There are some really neat things that technology can offer however we must realize that technology has the ability to make us "intellectually lazy, spiritually shallow, and relationally distant."

Why did Jesus come to Earth?

2011-12-25T14:03:00.000-05:00

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish (the law) but to fulfill it....I came not to bring peace, but a sword....For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost....The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.....It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners....I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.....For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.....I have come to bring fire on the earth...Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division....God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.....I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.....For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind....I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.....I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

Jesus came to be light in a dark world, to save, to bring division, to give eternal life, to bring judgment, to give his life, to call sinners, to fulfill the law....

Just finished, Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

2011-12-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

This is so good I just have to quote the entire thing....!

"A Nation at Risk...warns what we are raising a new generation of Americans that are scientifically and technologically illiterate....More than two decades later, the US remains a superpower, dominating the world as the most scientifically and technologically advanced nation. The core innovations that drove the global digital revolution were created in the US.....nearly two-thirds of the 300,000 patents (issued) in 2002 were to Americans...How could a nation at risk (be) a nation (that is) "scientifically and technologically illiterate"....very low percentages of foreign born students (are in the fields of science and technology)...our "secret weapon" - "the creative, risk-taking, can-do spirit of its people...This spirit...is not normally measured in standardized tests or compared in international studies...in the US...students...have been frequently encouraged to think outside the box. Our international edge has come from the cultivation of this creativity...Unfortunately, this secret weapon, our single remaining advantage, is seriously eroding....this emphasis on...standardized testing...could kill creativity.....Whereas US schools are now encouraged...to chase after test scores, China, Singapore,....all named as major competitor - have started education reforms aimed at fostering more creativity and innovative thinking among their citizens. The Chinese government, recognizing how standardized testing smothers creative thinking, has issued an executive order to minimize the consequences of testing.

Narrative Theology | The BioLogos Forum

2011-12-23T08:14:00.000-05:00

Narrative Theology | The BioLogos Forum

Biblical Genre and Relational Truth | The BioLogos Forum

2011-12-23T08:11:00.000-05:00

Biblical Genre and Relational Truth | The BioLogos Forum

Blogs and websites I most regulary visited in 2011 (not including banking and discount broker sites)

2011-12-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

Education and Politics (biased I know)
http://www.plunderbund.com/

Christian Fiance (a great resource, must pay $ for membership though)
http://www.soundmindinvesting.com/index.php

Market Analysis (sometimes it's over my head, but the charts are cool :)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/

Nutrition and Fitness (solid nutritional information)
http://www.nutritionexpert.com/index.php
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bios

Nicolas Carr (a modern day prophet warning about the dangers of technology)
http://www.roughtype.com/

Christian Author (always making me think)
http://www.philipyancey.com/archives/category/philip-yanceys-blog

Science and Christianity (qualified scientists, intelligent and well read pastors, and bible scholars give their insights)
http://biologos.org/blog

Christianity and Politics (Jim Wallace biased I know)
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/

Fact Checker (everybody seems to be lying in politics)
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

Economics (Krugman is a liberal and proud of it, I have to balance him out with a little Sowell)
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.thecitizennews.com/blog/46

Streaming Sports (no cable, no problem)
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/source/espn3/

Library (saving me tens and thousands of dollars, thank you library)
http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/

News (hard to find good news sources today....can't do much better then npr and pbs...msnbc and fox news are for the......never mind)
http://drudgereport.com/
http://www.npr.org/
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/politics/political_wrap/

Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas!?

2011-12-18T15:58:00.001-05:00

Who cares or maybe we should? Many evangelicals complain that people are sometimes required by their employees to say Happy Holidays. Is requiring them to say Merry Christmas better? Maybe just giving them the freedom is the issue....to be honest I don't know much about this issue....I figure there is so much out their to get angry about....to be honest I would just like to get acknowledged by people in public instead of seeing everyone on their cell phones or playing on their smart phones..."...people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me......they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Does it honor Christ to have someone who does not believe in Jesus say Merry Christmas? I would say no, it may even dishonor Him. Worship should be done as a genuine expression of their devotion to God. Maybe evangelicals should be more concerned about their presidential candidates who brag about the number of people put to death without a fair trial in their state or the candidate that seems to lie more than tell the truth.

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/michele-bachmann/

Books I read in 2011

2011-12-14T21:01:00.004-05:00

Sports
What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football (Richard Whittingham)

Education
Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do about It (Kelly Gallagher)Every voter needs to read a book like this. The legislation and ideas that are coming out of government institutions are destroying our schools. It's making BIG TEXTBOOK wealthy but our schools are not improving the way they should!

Religious
Four Views on Hell (William Crockett) Made me rethink my view on hell.

Knowing God (JI Packer) I think this was the fourth time I read this book. I read it with my lifegroup. A wonderful book. I get something new from it every time I read it.

Generous Justice (Timothy Keller) This book made it to my top five religious books. This year I quickly became a Tim Keller fan.

Four Views on the Book of Revelation (Multiple) I love thinking through debatable religious issues. It's humbling for me.

King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (Timothy Keller) Some wonderful insights I've never heard before.

Esther (Charles Swindoll) I read almost all of Swindoll's "Great Lives" serious. This was not a disappointment.

Exegetical Fallacies (D.A. Carson)A must read for those who want to understand how to study the Bible.

The God Who is there (D.A. Carson) A very smart guy trying to write to a very average mind like myself.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Mark Dever) Great reminders!

Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (Rob Bell) Raising some good questions, not very meaty and kind of all over the place.

Understanding the Bible (John R.W. Stott) We lost a great theologian this year, he will be missed.

Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We Made Up (Francis Chan and Preston M. Sprinkle) Very heartfelt and honest look about a real place called hell.

The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (Philip Jenkins)

History
Mysteries of the Middle Ages (Thomas Cahill) I have loved every Cahill book I've read. This one is no disappointment.

Jesus: A Biography from a Believer (Paul Johnson)

George Washington (Paul Johnson)

The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas (William J. Bennett) Makes you appreciate this great man of faith and it puts you in the Christmas spirit.

Economics
The Conscience of a Liberal (Paul Krugman) A liberal and proud of it. Made me appreciate and respect other views on politics and economies. "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." Proverbs

Nutrition
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (Michael Pollan)"Eat Food, Mostly Plants, and Not to much!" Great mantra.

The All-Pro Diet (Tony Gonzalez) The book introduced me to the Spinach, Berrie, and Protein shake...Awesome!

Parenting
Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior Character in 5 Days (Kevin Leman) Great advice, very practical.

Other
365 thank yous: how simple acts of daily gratitude changed a life (John Kralik) This guy choose to write a thank you note every day for a year. This was his story. An insightful book and may be the post influential books I read this year and I believe life changing.

What caused me to go to the "other side'..."

2011-12-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

In the 4th grade I chastised my teacher for not voting Republican. In the 7th grade I was distraught when Ronald Reagan left office. In high school I stayed up late to watch Rush Limbaugh. In college I argued with my political science professor. In my young adults years I listened to Rush Limbaugh every day going to and from work. Now, I'm a liberal in many ways. What happened? These are some reasons in no particular order:

The George Bush Presidency, need I say more....
I committed my self in reading the Bible from cover to cover each year when I was 20 years old (reading it showed me that God has a heart for the poor and the immigrant) not to say that Republicans don't, it's just for me it seems that the Democratic Party is the voice of the poor and the minority...
John Kasich and Senate Bill 5 (a very mean person, a bully, and a bill that had special interest written all over it....)
Sarah Palin(just the fact that she was a VP candidate showed me how broken the Republican party is.
Knowing and listening to far right conservatives in my life, I've never met an intelligent and well read far right conservative...
I started to read economic books and history books...
I started to get to know people that didn't have the economic and social advantages growing up like I did and I listened to them....
Fox News

Idolotry!?

2011-12-11T15:06:00.001-05:00

It's really scary how young evangelicals worship this symbol. It's a great company and product, I agree. But to overpay for the latest technology gadget, to wait in line just to enter an opening of an Apple Store or buy the newest i-phone, and to attribute spiritual verbiage in describing Apple products is idolatry. There is no sarcasm in this entry, this is a serious problem in the church. We are to be salt and light, we are to give glory to God and find pleasure in Him, but it seems our obsession in giving glory to this product and the belittling of people who are not "Apple People" is scandalous. Our identity is in Christ, not a computer product that is making us intellectually lazy, spiritual shallow, and relationally distant.

2011 Christmas Letter

2011-12-11T14:52:00.002-05:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been a while since we wrote a holiday letter. I suppose we thought the need for one has diminished, given the advent of facebook. This medium has found to be effective in keeping family and friends privy to the happenings of our lives. All the same, there seems to be something unique and special about someone getting a letter written on real paper.

The Smith family is growing. Our oldest, Natalie, is in the first grade. She loves her teacher and is making many friends at school. She enjoys playing with her stuffed animals, writing in her journal (she must get that from her dad), and playing on her mom's Nintendo DS. She also attends AWANA, a well known children's program at churches. Tessa is in her second year of preschool and is also attending AWANA. She enjoys stuffed animals and taking care of her baby sister. She has a strong maternal instinct! Aubrey, who will be two at the end of January, is walking and running trying to keep up with her big sisters. You guessed it, she also enjoys stuffed animals. I'm sure you are thinking that this might cause some conflict from time to time, well the obvious answer would be yes. Aubrey also loves having books read to her and dancing. That's right, there seems to be a musically inclined gene that runs in our family, this comes as a surprise to us. Kevin is in his tenth year teaching English as a Second Language and he is also teaching Sunday School at church. He is still involved with Compassion International and International Friendships. When he's not spending time with his family he is working out at the gym or reading. Jonna finds being a home maker both challenging and enjoyable. Even though this is a 24/7 job she has found time to start a business where she makes and sells little girl dresses. Her business is less then two years old and is taking off. She has sold dresses as far off as Australia. She also finds time to race and has ran many races this year like the Turkey Trot and Warrior Dash. As a family we enjoy going to the zoo, COSI (a science museum), parks, and swimming. We enjoy our local church and being part of our neighborhood where we have forged wonderful relationships. The Smith family hopes you will experience a Christ centered Christmas this year. If you would like to stay up to date with our happenings, you can find Kevin and Jonna on facebook, call us at -----------------, or do like the Amish and visit us at -----------------------------------------.

Love,

Kevin, Jonna, Natalie, Tessa, and Aubrey

The three wise men in a manger scene is okay with me....?

2011-12-10T19:04:00.003-05:00

As I prepare my Sunday school lesson about the wise men visiting Jesus to bring gifts and to worship Him, I remember how critical I was about how this scene was included in many manger scenes, given the fact that Mary and Jesus were found by the wise men in a house, not a manger and it's suggested that Jesus was probably somewhere between one to two years old. Well, this year I learned about Italy's gift bringer, her name is Crone of Befana, she is an old woman dressed in all black and leaves trinkets for good children and coals for naughty one. (she looks kind of scary doesn't she?) Legend has it that she refused to go to Bethlehem with the Wise Men when they passed her door because she had not finished sweeping. Now, she goes from place to place, hoping that some day she will catch up with the Wise men and find Jesus. Everywhere she visits, she leaves a small gift.

The wise men in the manger scene can be seen as a symbol of an opportunity we all have to worship Jesus. Herod choose to reject Jesus because he didn't want a rival king (Figuratively people do the same thing, refusing to give up their own personal thrones to Jesus), the Priests and the Scribes that Herod consulted seemed indifferent (so many respond to Jesus that way), but the wise men responded correctly. This old woman had an opportunity to come with the wise men but she was too busy. Once she realized what she did or didn't do, it was too late. The opportunity to choose to worship Jesus and make him King of our lives is now, we may miss this opportunity and spend eternity separated from the God of the Universe, like this old woman who is today still desperately seeking for baby Jesus.

Many years ago on December 6th the world lost a great man, a man "of whom the world was not worthy"

2011-12-05T20:41:00.000-05:00

Orphaned at a young age, gave all his money away, he secretly gave money to a poor family with three daughters who couldn't offer dowries and their parents were going to sell their daughters into servitude. Arrested under Diocletian, tortured untill unconscious, allowed to regain his strength just to be tortured again. Freed thanks to the rule on Constantine and participated in the Council of Nicaea. There he slapped Arius for his blasphemous theology. When three innocent men were sentenced to death he went up to the executioner and grabbed the sword from his hand. He quickly untied the three bound men and set them free. The executioner made no objection...I don't think the above picture represented this man very well...

What is a Biblical Myth?

2011-12-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

A myth is like George Washington crossing the Delaware as portrayed in a painting by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze...it really happened but it's doubtful that he was standing on a boat when it happened. This illustration was stolen by me from an Ashland professor....I've heard many things in the Bible are Myth? I used to think that this meant it's a made up story, that's the modern day definition. I've also heard it could also mean that it's a true story but uses hyperbole, etc. to tell it, like the George Washington's illustration...Ran across this quote from a conservative theologian, DA Carson, referring to Genesis 3:15..."Some people think that this is a kind of fairy tale, as origins myth, a just so story about how the serpent lost it legs....I do know this: sometimes God picks up something that is already there and uses it in a new symbol laden way...."

John Walton on Myth and Meaning (video) http://biologos.org/resources/john-walton-on-myth-and-meaning

"The story of Christ," writes CS Lewis, "is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God's myth where the others are men's myths: i. e. the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call real things."

Meaning and Myth (a video my NT Wright) http://biologos.org/blog/meaning-and-myth

Some things I've purchased that I "love"...

2011-12-03T15:42:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a consumer....I believe the best way to save money is not to buy anything....simple yet rarely practiced...okay the things that I've purchased that I use almost on a daily bases are....

I love belending my berrie, protein, and spinach smoothie...I do it on a daily bases...

This bag is big enough for my work cloths, dock kit, and other supplies I need at the gym....believe it or not it's hard to find a gym bag big enough for all this...

This is where I buy my protein powder, cliff bars, organic baby spinach, berries, vegi burgers, organic broccoli, oatmeal, and so much more at a great price...

Bands are great for stretching and is used to change up my lifting routine....deadlifts...reverse hypers....etc...

...I use a deadlift bar by the way....getting old....old back injury...this is not me....:)

One of my favorite possessions that I guess I purchase with taxes is...the library card...I literally save thousands of dollars a year with this piece of plastic...

Something I can't go a day without reading....the Bible!

My journal.....“Writing is thinking on paper.”

What does all this say about me....?

things to chew on about evolution and the creation account in the bible...

2011-12-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Dennis Venema - Can an Evangelical Christian Accept Evolution? - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of0PjoZY4L0

Driscoll, Darwin and Doctrine, Part 1: Science or sola Scriptura?

http://biologos.org/blog/driscoll-darwin-and-doctrine-part-1-science-or-sola-scriptura

Readicide

2011-11-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Readicide-Schools-Killing-Reading-About/dp/1571107800
Picked this book up at the library this weekend. It's scary because I see this happening in our society, not just our schools!"I'm a leader, not a reader." A presidential candidate said this! "The intellectuals have left the building" The speaker of the Ohio House of representatives said this in order to put down public workers. I once mentioned two well known nonfiction book to our now Ohio Governor and he rolled his eyes at me and then proceeded to share a couple patronizing comments. This must be the new mantra for the GOP! Try to reference a book or a study into a conversation and you will be quickly put down and then you will hear someone reference a talk radio host or pull the "It's common sense" trump card, or say that intellectuals do not know anything...example..."John Maynard Keynes absolutely knew nothing about economics." Another presidential candidate! Nerd Persecution must end...the fight continues! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWH1jEgiO0w Funny thing is I can walk into almost any room and I can honestly say I am the strongest, am a better athlete, and have the most muscle mass.

Be watchful...

2011-11-24T14:38:00.002-05:00

Technology can make someone intellectually lazy, spiritually shallow, and relationally distant!

What does my shopping list look like?

2011-11-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

These are items that I buy and eat often. Many of the foods I eat daily. For example I eat 1 to 2 cups of Spinach a day, a cup of Broccoli a day, 2 cups of blueberries, and 1 to 2 cups of oatmeal a day. A serving of Flax Seed and Chia Seed. Simple, Affordable, and most importantly healthy. Live to eat....!

Quinoa
Oatmeal
Flax Seed
Spinach
Broccli
Carrots
Frozen Blueberries
Ezekial 4:9 bread
Protein Powder
Organic Eggs
Bananas
Onion
Almonds
Salsa
Greek Yogert
Pop Corn
Frozen Strawberries
Frozen Rasberries
Chia Seeds
Samon

I'll call you on your cell phone....

2011-11-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

I have to laugh when I tell people I don't have a cell phone. I'm either at work, the gym, or Cosco. Who would I call anyways. I really don't have any close friends and to be honest I don't want to be interrupted. Neurologist studies show that using a smart phone makes you more shallow and dumb. I'm not very smart to start out with, I can't afford to be more dumb. Every doctors visit the secretary asks for my cell phone number. I tell them I don't have a cell phone. They look at me as if I'm lying? When people leave a message on my answering machine, they sound like they don't know what to say and they seem to expect that I will get back to them within the hour. Sometimes people try to text me on my home phone, they think it's odd that I never get their text. People are enslaved by food, TV, and now their smartphones. It's a sad state of affairs!

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

2011-11-05T15:26:00.000-04:00

Recently a family member said, "You're getting to skinny", I was tempted to say, "You're getting to fat." Research would be on my side, but culturally it's not okay to tell someone they are fat even though it is causing them to be unhappy and their life span is shortening. Then I hear people say, "I can't.....". Being an athlete those words are curse words! It's not even in my vocabulary, except in my theological discussions. People are insane. I was a Cosco and I couldn't help but see the food people are buying and the samples they are chowing on. Why are they doing that to themselves. I'm tempted to yell and say, "Stop the madness, how fat do you want to get!" Anyways, some quotes and parphrases from Pollan's book.

I love his mantra: Eat food (not processed and/or man-made foods). Not too much (eat slow and enjoy what God made). Mostly plants (you can get most of your vitamins and minerals from plants).

Most of the nutrition advice we've received over the last half century has made us less healthy and considerably fatter. Pollan suggest to eat like your great or great-great grandmother.

No people on earth worry more about the health consequences of their food choices than we Americans do - and no people suffer from as many diet related health problems. We say we don't want to be fat yet we eat the wrong foods and to much of it. We don't exercise correctly. The studies are there for all of us, yet we trust what the marketers say. "If it sounds good, it must be" is not only creating bad legislation but it's killing us.

Even after adjusting for age, many of the so-called diseases of civilization were far less common a century ago - and they remain rare in places where people don't eat the way we do.

Various populations thrived on diets that were what we'd call high fat, low fat, or high carb; all meat or all plants; indeed, there have been traditional diets based on just about any kind of whole food you can imagine. What this suggests is that the human animal is well adapted to a great many different diets. The Western diet, however, is not one of them. Yet we are choosing to trust in our "common sense".

We also know that when people come to the West and adopt our way of eating, these diseases (cancer, heart disease, etc) soon follow...

When you adjust for age, rates of chronic diseases like caner and type 2 diabetes are considerably higher today than they were in 1900....the chances that a sixty or seventy year old suffers from cancer or type 2 diabetes are far greater today than they were a century ago.

The big money has always been in processing foods, not selling them whole.

Our food system has long devoted its energies to increasing yields and selling food as cheaply as possible.

low omega 3...high omega 6...associated with heat disease and diabetes...

omega 3...dampen the inflammation response, which omega 6 tend to excite.

A diagnosis of diabetes subtracts roughly twelve years form one's life and living with the condition incurs medical coasts of 10,000 dollars a year, compared with 2,500 dollars without diabetes.

80 percent of cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by a change of diet and exercise.

Avoid foods that make health claims

Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food

Don't eat anything incapable of rotting.

Flexitarians...are just as health as vegetarians.

“Free range” doesn't necessarily mean the chicken has had access to grass...look for the word “pastured”. ...in the case of beef, keep in mind that all cattle are grass fed until they get to the feedlot; “grass finished” or 100% grass fed is what you want.

Calorie restriction has repeatedly been shown to slow aging and prolong lifespan in animals...Overeating promotes cell division, and promotes it most dramatically in cancer cells. Cutting back on calories slows cell division.

Diets

2011-10-27T19:50:00.000-04:00

I hear it all the time, diet, diet, diet....from Atkins to Weight Watchers. Fat people seem to know the most about eating healthy. Moderation is the mantra of Americans. Hold on, two thirds of Americans are fat and the ones who think they know it all are fat? I'm to busy to eat health, it's to expensive. Really....I can buy and prepare a whole week of food fore less than 10 dollars (beans, vegetables, and quinoa) I have been learning about diet and nutrition a lot in the last five years. As each year goes by I am amazed how little I knew the year before and even more amazed how little are diet obsessed culture knows. Let me share what I eat on a typical day. I eat lots of fruits, vegetable, beans, lentils, quinoa, oats, a little meat (I'm talking three or four bites), and sometimes eggs. That's about it. The fruits I eat are mostly berries. The vegetables I eat are mostly Spinach, Broccoli, Tomatoes (is that a fruit...who cares...it's great for you), Kale, Onions, and Peppers. I eat every 2 to 4 hours. I don't eat processed foods, sweets, pizza, hotdogs, and, if I do eat beef it's lean. The meat I usually eat is turkey and chicken. The eggs I eat are cage free, etc. That's about it. I usually brings a mix of beans, quinoa, kale, and broccoli to school, I mix in a little salsa for taste...I'm thinking of adding a little humus to spice it us :) I drink up to two fruit and vegetable drinks a day which includes lots of berries and spinach (can't even taste the spinach). Simple, healthy, a cost and time savor.

John Stott on Hell

2011-10-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

‘The [hell] fire itself is termed “eternal” and “unquenchable,” but it would be very odd if what is thrown into it proves indestructible. Our expectation would be the opposite: it would be consumed for ever, not tormented for ever. Hence it is the smoke (evidence that the fire has done its work) which “rises for ever and ever.”’

John Stott

John Stott on Adam and Eve....

2011-10-20T19:27:00.001-04:00

"I propose to tell the story according to what I believe is the consensus of most conservative scholars...Not many Christians today (written in the early 70s) imagine that the 'days' of creation were intended to be understood as precise periods of twenty-four hours each. Indeed, speaking for myself, I cannot see that at least some forms of the theory of evolution contradict or are contradicted by the Genesis revelation. Scripture reveals religious truths about God, that He created all things by His word, that His creation was 'good', and that His creative program culminated in man; science suggests that 'evolution' may have been the mode which God employed in creating....I myself believe in the historicity of Adam and Eve....my acceptance of Adam and eve as historical is not incompatible with my belief that several forms of pre-Adamic "hominid' may have existed for thousands of years previously. These hominids began to advance culturally. They made their cave drawings and buried their dead. It is conceivable that God created Adam out of one of them....Adam was the first homo divinus, if I may coin the phrase, the first man to whom may be given the Biblical designation 'made in the image of God'...." (Understanding the Bible)

An Original Thinker?

2011-10-09T16:40:00.001-04:00

I was recently stopped at a red light and saw an ichthus symbol and the words Darwin inside it. I've seen these before but I began asking myself, Why? There are many evangelicals that hold to biological evolution. Darwin did not originate the idea of Natural Selection, nor is he referenced anymore in scientific journals.

Steve Jobs died last week and all over the news you hear what an innovator he was. Really? He didn't invent the smartphone, personal computer, or the digital music player. He made them better but I wouldn't say he was an original thinker.

Martin Luther is credited with the idea of Faith Alone? Really? John Huss and John Wycliffe were alive years before and they taught the same thing.

When I think about it, ideas do not come up within the isolation of one person but of many over many years.

Mohamed founded Islam, yet most of their beliefs came from the eastern church where he lived. He distorted it and made up some other doctrine sure but much of their beliefs were taken from Christianity and other religions in the area in which he lived.

The list can go on but perhaps the only original thinker is Jesus. His followers said, "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,...and when Jesus was alive on earth people were saying, "He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." The idea that God became flesh to "serve and to give his life as a ransom...." is an amazing and earth shattering idea. The idea that all people (slaves, women, and children) were equal in value were ideas that were shocking at the time. The idea that we don't earn forgiveness but receive it as a gift, can only make people either rejoice and worship or get angry and want to kill Him. The idea that we are to love our neighbor an ourselves (not just our clan) was revolutionary. Yes, when it comes to original ideas, the only person that can claim this is God himself.

What did Steve Jobs contribute?

2011-10-08T08:36:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about this since his death. Did he"invent" the computer? No! Did he contribute to the development of the internet? No! He made the computer experience easier and he changed the "cell phone" but then again he didn't invent the smart phone? iPads are cool I guess but is it really any different than a less powerful computer. Sure you can navigate using your finger and it's small, but he didn't invent the touch screed? I guess you can say he made the computer experience easier and cooler. He "invented" toys for the biological adult and these toys contributed to our consumer debt.

What is a conservative? What is a liberal?

2011-09-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

When I was more of the conservative persuasion I always got mad when liberals thought I was heartless and greedy. Now that I'm more of the liberal persuasion I get made when conservatives think I'm someone who thinks the government can solve all our problems, that we should give handouts to people who are undeserving. Growing up middle class I realize I had advantages that many didn't have. I had opportunities and safety nets (a middle class family) when or if I made mistakes. So many are born in situations in which they lack opportunities and safety nets. Is giving more people "equal" opportunity such a bad thing, is that really a hand out? A child in poverty, America or Sub Sarah Africa, have incredible obstacles that they will have to overcome with very little help from anybody, it starts from conception really, the mother may be smoking and drinking alcohol which will affect that child for the rest of their lives, it may be the years before they enter kindergarten where there may have been abuse or neglect, when entering school the teachers are more concerned about keeping the kids under control than they are about student learning.....the obstacles seem endless and insurmountable...the church you say can do something...well all the middle class churches have moved out so they can afford a big parcel of land to build their church that is equipped with the state of the art sound system and a gymnasium.....I know many of my middle class friends that avoided Juvenal Detention because they had good representation, I know many that got pregnant at a young age but had a mom and dad that took care of the baby and the mother, I know many that spent most of their college career getting drunk and high and their parents kept paying their tuition, I know many that goofed off in class only to have their parents pay for tutoring, the list goes on. We are arguing with each other and not really trying to understand where each one of us is coming from. People are liberals for different reasons, and conservatives for different reasons...ever heard of the Log Cabin Republicans...?...well that's another post :)

Adoption

2011-09-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

Adopting is a beautiful thing and I believe all Christians should prayerfully consider doing such a thing. Having gone through the process I can speak from experience. It is a joyful experience yet a solemn one as well. To know that this child has been abandoned by his or her mother is a painful scar that the child will live with for the rest of their lives. A mother giving up her child has to be the most painful experience one has to go through and will be with her for the rest of her life. When the adoption of our daughter was official many were incredibly excited, I was happy as well yet I couldn't help but think of her biological mother and what she is going through. If is both a joyful experience for those adopting and incredibly painful for those who are giving up their child for adoption.

I am amazed...

2011-09-18T07:31:00.003-04:00

When I was younger sports was my life. I can remeber running around when I was in preschool pretending I was Art Schlichte...when I was in the third grade imitating Keith Byers by kicking off my shoe as I scored a touchdown...or when I decided not to drink alcohal because I heard Chris Spielman did not. I grew my hair like Larry Bird and would spend most my childhood playing basketball or playing around with a football. On the weekends I would watch hours of football. During these days nobody seemed like they cared about sports.

Now that I'm an adult, "I put childish things away...." Sure I enjoy talking, participating, and watching sports but I don't have the devotion I once did. I played sports through college and decided to retire because I had grown out (both spiritually and emotionally) of my devotion.

What is disturbing is all the "boys" who live through young men vicariously, these are often the ones in high school who played dungeons and dragons, video games, or got drunk on the weekends. Many never played football or basketball at even the high school level (let alone college or the pros), they are now overweight, undisciplined, and know nothing about what they talk about. They even spend thousands of dollars to watch such games. I find it interesting how overweight and out of shape those who love sports are, if they idolize young boys like they do why don't they try to be like them?

When I hear people's opinions about sports, I often ask, "When do they have the time to devote to watching film and going to practice? How do they have the access?"

This is perhaps the only topic grown up boys can talk about, reading books is foreign to them, and being focused and devoted to something besides food and watching TV is also foreign.

Sentate Bill 5

2011-09-17T19:41:00.003-04:00

The only adult that cares for many children are teachers, especially those in school districts that have a high poverty demographic. Senate Bill 5 in my opinion is going to punish such teachers!

Parenting....

2011-09-17T19:30:00.003-04:00

Who should parents be....loving, patient, kind, consistent, persevering, protective, challenging, forgiving, disciplined, good listener, encouraging, nurturing, fun, available, .....add any other words you think describes a good parent...

I'm back....

2011-09-17T19:15:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know it's been a while since my last post. I stopped writing on my blog for a couple of reasons. The first is that I thought no one was reading it. Second, I've been mouthing off on facebook too much and that I've come to realize that it's not the best place for blog type posts. If someone is going to my blog they know what they are getting, on facebook what I might have to say is not expected and my not be appreciated. Over the last year there have been a few that said they used to read my blog on a some what regular bases but now they are not, obviously that is because I'm not posting anything on my blog. So, I'm back....and I'm sure many of my facebook friends will probably be happy.

Maturity

2011-01-29T14:09:00.002-05:00

The spiritually mature relates more with the younger son in the "Prodigal Son". The more I get to know God, His heart, and his expectations, "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself..." the more I realize that I fall short. Knowing that even on a good day or even a good ten minutes I fail miserable to in loving my neighbor as myself. I realize more and more everyday that it's Grace that caused me to be born again and it's Grace that will sustain me.... The spiritually immature relates more to the older son because they think they deserve everything they have because they worked so hard and were so righteous.

Technology

2011-01-29T14:03:00.003-05:00

Three questions I ask myself before I decide to commit to a technology device,

1. Will it save me money?

People spending money on data plans will cost them tens of thousands of dollars in their lifetime!

2. Will in save me time?

I see so many people wasting there time playing with their smart phones when they can be reading a book, praying, or just thinking.

3. Will it deepen my relationships with people and God?

I can't count the number of times that the cell phone has interrupted conversations. Research has shone that being tied to a smart phone prevents one from thinking deeply and hinders one's contemplations. "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is..."

Concered!

2011-01-21T14:38:00.002-05:00

Our obsession in America with food, entertainment, and smart phones is disturbing.

People are falling into fountains at the mall and many are bringing them into churches!

People actually think that 24 news stations are legitimate and Sarah Palin is a presidential candidate. Seriously, I'm loosing sleep over this!

People are eating themselves to death!

This is madness!

I love Joel Hunter and I love Marvin Olasky!

2010-11-07T13:19:00.005-05:00

I love Donald Miller, Philip Yancey, Joel Hunter, Jim Walace, Francis Collins, Jimmy Carter, Tony Campolo, and Shane Claiborne and I love Marvin Olasky, James Dobson, Franklin Graham, John MacArthur,George W. Bush, and Chuck Colson. I've read what they have written. One set of men are seen as "liberal", the other as "conservative". They all confess, "with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead (and)....whoever believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through His name." It pains me to see evangelicals express hatred towards political and economic ideologies and those that hold to them. Some seem to suggest that if you don't hold to their political/economic ideologies you are some how deceived. I remember Jesus' prayer, "I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me." The more I read the Bible, the more I read economists, and the more I listen to my friends that are "liberal" and those that are "conservative", the looser I hold to my own economic and political views. I used to do cardio next to John Kasich and he would see me reading a Philip Yancey book, it turns out he is friends with Yancey. Yancey a liberal (politically) and Kasich a "conservative". I hear of Bono and Bill Hybels being friends...so there is oneness among believers...

What I know is that there is not any right or wrong answers to the pressing needs in our world today. The only think I know is true is God's Word, knowing what is true of me and what is true of God....I ask myself, "How then shall I live, or should I say, How then shall I love?

What is a lie?

2010-11-07T06:29:00.002-05:00

I had a quick, yet interesting conversation with a person at church. What is a lie? Since our pastor just spoke on this and it being the Sunday before an election, it was a timely discussion. I believe it's not only speaking a falsehood but it also means withholding what is true. So I checked the definition of this word on www.dictionary.com

noun

1. a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

2. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture: His flashy car was a lie that deceived no one.

3. an inaccurate or false statement

verb

5. to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive.

6. to express what is false; convey a false impression.

From Strong's Greek Dictionary

ψεύδομαι 
pseudomai psyoo'
Middle voice of an apparently primary verb; to utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood:—falsely, lie. 

I look up "lie" in my Richards Dictionary of Bible Words and it says, "Deceit/Falsehood" So I looked this up...

planao - to lead astray or deceive by words or behavior.

pseudo - to be false

"the NT appeals to us to throw off falsehood and speak the truth to each other. This exhortation calls for far more than a refusal to lie. It is a call to live openly with each other, honestly sharing the reality of our lives rather than attempting to protect illusions that makes us appear better than we are."

So is withholding truth with the intent of causing a person to think or do something you want them to do or don't want them to do a lie?

Psalm 72

2010-11-06T15:24:00.003-04:00

"May (the king) defend the cause of the poor...give deliverance to the children of the needy....for he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper....He has pity on the weak and the needy....and saves the lives of the needy...." (Psalm 72)

Some believe David spoke these words about Solomon, setting out the goal for his reign and for the reigns of his heirs.....I pray that our government will reflect the principles established by God himself millenniums ago.

The more tender, gentler "OT God"....

2010-10-29T16:01:00.004-04:00

Read the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy this month...wonderful books...so often the OT makes me feel that I'm seeing things that I shouldn't be seeing, from genocide, insest, homosexual gang rape, men pimping out their wives, adultery, murder, mutilations, fits of rage....even Hollywood wouldn't make a movie that truly depicts what went on in Israel's history.

I agree with Philip Yancey when he says, "I detect in the Old Testament a gradual but certain movement toward grace. The Hebrews lived in wild, barbaric times. Their laws, which may seem harsh to us, represent a great softening compared to their neighbors' law....We must remember as we look back on a time of blood-vengeance, slavery, polygamy, and contract marriage with a brother's wife, that God had to work with people's moral condition at its given stage."

As John Piper once said, "Books don't change you, paragraphs do!" II would agree....

This is a good book on the subject,

http://www.amazon.com/Show-Them-No-Mercy-Canaanite/dp/0310

Anyways...these passages reveals God's heart for the poor and sojourner....I pray that I and the American church will "let their light shine before men..."

"...The Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession..." Deut. 14:2

"...every three years.......lay (the tithe)...up...(for)...the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow..."(Deut 14:28-29)

"You shall give to (the poor brother)...freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him..." (Deut 15:10)

"...you shall not reap your field right up to its edge....leave them for the poor and for the sojourner..." (Lev 23:22)

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

"Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge." Deuteronomy 24:17

Jugling Books again!

2010-10-27T17:36:00.002-04:00

The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)

If you're the parent of someone under 20 and read only one non-fiction book this fall, make it this one. Bauerlein's simple but jarring thesis is that technology and the digital culture it has created are not broadening the horizon of the younger generation; they are narrowing it to a self-absorbed social universe that blocks out virtually everything else."-Don Campbell, USA Today

"An urgent and pragmatic book on the very dark topic of the virtual end of reading among the young."
-Harold Bloom

The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr by Chris Willis (I can be a local history buff...)

A History of the United States by Philip Jenkins (love Philip Jenkins...always edifying)

Knowing God by JI Packer (about the fourth time I've read it...)

The Knowledge Deficit (ED Hirsch, Jr.)

2010-10-27T11:46:00.003-04:00

Some notes....from the book The Knowledge Deficit...

On current scientific evidence, the notion that the job of the schools is to foster the natural development of the child is only a half-truth.

In the global age, a person’s and a nation’s economic success depend on high reading and/or math ability.

Evidence clearly shows that reading and doing math are not natural developments at all.

Inference is the essence of comprehension

Inference is filling in a blank in the text that we need to fill in to understand it. But filling in a blank is not a formal skill; it is not supplying a missing formal operation. It is supplying a missing substance

Experts say that we need to know about 90 to 95 percent of a text’s words to understand it.

Those who know only 70 percent of the words will neither understand the text nor gain insight into the other 30 percent.

The biggest contribution to the size of any person’s vocabulary must come from the printed page (whether it is heard or read), because print uses a greater number of different words than everyday oral speck does. Since children in early grades can’t read these materials effectively for themselves, they should be read to. Reading aloud to very young children is one of the main agents of their vocabulary progress.

The consensus of all researchers is that indirect, implicit learning is by far the main mode of increasing one’s vocabulary.

The low productivity of our schools is chiefly caused by bad theory rather than by innate teacher incompetence. We will not improve teacher effectiveness until we change the unproductive romantic ideas that dominate teacher preparation and guarantee poor use of school time.

Mental overload impairs understanding.

Reading achievement will not advance significantly until schools recognize and act on the fact that it depends on the possession of a broad but definable range of diverse knowledge. The effective teaching of reading will require schools to teach the diverse, enabling knowledge that reading requires.

A universal ability of citizens to read newspapers or their equivalent with understanding is the essence of democracy.

Learning the craft of writing is bound up with learning how to gauge what can be assumed versus what must be explained.

Oral speech tends to use a smaller vocabulary than written speech. Almost all of the rare words that we know have been gained from print – print read either silently or aloud.

The most efficient way of learning thousands of word meanings is through an unconscious, automatic, and implicit process….the weigh of evidence indicates it is so...The vocabulary gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students widens the longer they stay in our schools.

We can greatly accelerate the achievements of all students if we adopt knowledge-oriented modes of schooling that use school time effectively, and if we abandon process-oriented notional like “reading comprehension strategies” that waste precious school time.

Ethnic Celebrations

2010-10-23T07:49:00.003-04:00

The other day I mentioned to some people that it's Hispanic Heritage Month. One listener quickly responded, "What about White Heritage Month?" I've been reflecting on this comment for about a week now and asked a couple of people what they thought about the comment. I did a quick Google search and found these ethnic celebrations:

March

Greek-American Heritage Month

Irish-American Heritage Month

May

Jewish-American Heritage Month

October

German-American Heritage Month

National Italian-American Heritage Month

Polish-American Heritage Month

Today we would say that Greeks, Irish, Germans, and Polish are white. I know I'm part German and Irish. They came over in great numbers throughout the history of the United States. Then I thought, that person may be thinking "white" is being English? One person I discussed this issue with said that they colonized in America, then stopped coming. That would probably be one of the reasons why only ten percent of Americans can say that they have English blood in them. I've been reading a biography about Joe Carr, manager of the Columbus Panhandles and second president of the NFL. His father was Irish. He had a group of brothers named the "Nesser Brothers" whose parents were from Germany. The Germans and the Irish had communities in Columbus (just saw a documentary on German Village). Both by the way faced hardship and persecution (Some things never change in America!). Every American history book I read seem to be about immigrants, even biographies such as those on Bill Belichick, Joe Namath, Johnny Unites, Pete Maravich talk of their parents or grandparents immigration status. A few years ago I read a great book on immigration in America: "Ethnic America: A History"

http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-America-History-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465020755

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Rumors of Another World (Philip Yancey)

2010-10-19T18:38:00.002-04:00

I just finished transcribing my notes....never disappointed with Philip Yancey. I just started reading him less then two years ago. I think that is number seven for me.

What keeps a wealthy nation like the United States from finding shelter for it's homeless population? What keeps the world from feeding the thousands who die malnourished each day? The experts have no answer but "forces beyond our control." New Testament writers agree and do not hesitate to identify those forces.

According to this inside view, a nation built on the back of injustice - exploiting the poor, oppressing slaves, forgetting God, raping the land - will inevitably pay the consequences.

"your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"...God's will done on earth as it is in heaven would mean food, water, and homes for all who lack, justice in politics and economics, peace between nations, harmony with nature, healing and comfort for the sick, souls reconnected to their spiritual source. For each of us, God's will means some small role in furthering the above.

Jesus was the first world leader to inaugurate a kingdom with a heroic role for losers. He spoke to an audience raised on stories of wealthy patriarchs, strong kings, and victories heroes. Much to their surprise, he honored instead people who have little value in the visible world: the poor and meek, the persecuted and those who mourn social rejects, the hungry and thirsty. His stories consistently featured “the wrong people” as heroes: the prodigal, not the responsible son; the good Samaritan, not the good Jew; Lazarus, not the rich man; the tax collector, not the Pharisee.

We are taught to look out for number one, to compete, to insist on fairness, to protect ourselves, to build a secure nest egg, to minimize risk - all reflexes that the Sermon on the Mount directly contradicts.

Grace means that no mistake we make in life disqualifies us from God’s love. It means that no person is beyond redemption, no human stain beyond cleansing.

Grace is irrational, unfair, unjust, and only makes sense if I believe in another world governed by a merciful God who always offers another chance.

Jesus does not say, “My kingdom is not of this world, so therefore just sit around and wait for the next world.” Rather, he says, in effect, “My kingdom is not of this world, so therefore go and fulfill the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, and in so doing point the way to that kingdom.”

Different Values?!

2010-10-16T20:01:00.003-04:00

This Friday I car pooled to a work meeting at the Columbus Convention Center. We went in his 1987 Saab that my coworker purchased for a thousand dollars. He lives in downtown Columbus and goes to a church that meet in homes. He and his wife are socially active. Concerned with the issues of poverty, human trafficking, and the environment. They try to live out the simple words that Jesus spoke, they see materialism as a sin. They listen to NPR and may vote for democrats.

I meet other Christians that live in the safest neighborhood that they can afford or can't afford while attending a suburban church that have a coffee shop and flat panel TVs. They are concerned about the "evil" evolutionist and doctrinal purity, they drive around in the most expensive car they can afford even if they have to lease it. They listen to conservative radio and always votes for Republicans.

I suppose most Christians are somewhere in between. What's concerning is that we are calling other Christains evil because they vote for democrats or because they have a lot of material things. I pretty sure that's not right!

Some things I've written down in my journal recently...

2010-10-04T19:10:00.003-04:00

"God saw the people of Israel - and God knew." (Ex. 2:25)
"...you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." (Ex. 33:17)
"...I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought of me..." (Psalm 40:17)
"...you delight in me..." (Psalm 41:11)

"The Bible uses explicit romantic images to describe God's love for us: what we feel in passing for one person, God feels eternally for the many. If we receive romantic love not as an end in itself but as God's gift, a shining grace, it can become like a shaft of light beckoning us toward what we will someday experience more fully as resurrected beings." Philip Yancey from "Rumors of Another World

G.K. Chesterton

2010-10-01T19:52:00.002-04:00

"There are two ways to get enough, one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."

"Capitalism is that commercial system in which supply immediately answers to demand, and in which everybody seems to be thoroughly dissatisfied and unable to get anything he wants."

Rumors of another World

2010-09-29T16:53:00.003-04:00

"The Puritans had a saying, 'God loveth adverbs," implying that God cares more about the spirit in which we live than the concrete results. They sought to connect all of life to its source in God, brings the two worlds together rather than dividing them into sacred and secular....Pleasing God does not mean that we must busy ourselves with a new set of 'spiritual' activities. As the Puritans said, whether cleaning house or preaching sermons, shoeing horses or translating the Bible for the Indians, any human activity may constitute an offering to God. In that spirit, Thomas Merton would later remark, 'You can tell more about a monk by the way he uses a broom than by anything he says."

"Martin Luther...saw a potential calling in any kind of work. 'Even dirty and unpleasant work, such as shoveling manure or washing diapers, is pure and holy work if it comes from a pure heart.'...Joan Chittister, summarizes spirituality as 'living the ordinary life extraordinarily well...if we are not spiritual where we are and as we are, we're are not spiritual at all.'"

The Knowldge Deficity (ED Hirsch)

2010-09-18T09:14:00.003-04:00

Picked up the book, "The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the shocking educational gap for American Children" by ED Hirsch.

One of his books "Validity in Interpretation", argues that the author's intention must be the chief determiner of meaning, this goes against many postmodern ideology. Hirsch proposes the distinction between "meaning" (as intended by the author) and "significance" (as perceived by a reader or critic). This book was written in 1967. It seems to me that this is a topic largely ignored by evangelicals today, or at least the one's I know.

Western culture as well as evangelicals rely to heavily on getting their information and news from the internet and 24 hour news shows (I suppose this is how the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Michael Moore, and Glenn Beck could garner such popularity), which is disturbing. Here is an interesting quote from "The Shallows", "The academic enthusiasm for hypertext was further kindled by the belief, in line with the fashionable postmodern theories of the day, that hypertext would overthrow the patriarchal authority of the author and shift power to the reader." Concentration, reflection, contemplation, and the accumulation of knowledge is not encouraged by the internet and we are loosing are ability to do such things because of it. It's information is presented in "a concentration-fragmenting mishmash."

“When access is easy, we tend to favor the shorts, the sweet, and the bitty.” Have you picked up an "emergent" author's book, it's like reading a blog (like mine, what a hypocrite, huh? :). It's fun to read but lack substance. Look at the books you see at a Borders (makes my blood pressure increase just thinking of the place), the books are often filled with pictures and captions for the reader to scan and skim. Fun to do sometimes but if that's the type of reading you always do, that's not a good thing.

"Our ability to learn can be severely compromised when our brains become overloaded with diverse stimuli online. More information can mean less knowledge." Yikes!

"To make a book discoverable and searchable online is also to dismember it. The cohesion of its text, the linearity of its argument or narrative as it flows through scores of pages, is sacrificed."

"As we multitask online,….we are 'training our brains to pay attention to the crap.'"

"Intensive multitaskers are “suckers for irrelevancy,”"

“The more you multitask, the less deliberative you become; the less able to think and reason out a problem.”

"Improving our ability to multitask…hampers our ability to think deeply and creatively"

Sorry for the tangent, I'm just thinking out loud, or thinking as I'm writing, anyways I've read "The Schools we need and why we don't have them" by Hirsch and I'm excited in getting into this book, "The Knowledge Deficit", He goes against the grain and if you know me, I've always seem to go against the grain. From listening to Frank Sinatra in middle school, reading evangelical evolutionists, bringing my own food everywhere I go to avoid foods that are high in saturated fast and simple carbohydrates, to reading economic books. No wonder people look at me weird at "dinner parties" (what are "dinner parties" anyways?)

Well, looking forward to reading this book....

Amish Grace

2010-08-21T11:55:00.005-04:00

Being that my dad's side of the family have been living in northeast Ohio for over 150 years, I always found the Amish fascinating. I've always admired them because they are not caught up in many things that me and people around me are caught up in. I've always planned to read a book about the Amish, and now I am. I've already become aware of some misconceptions about them. They don't see technology as evil, yet they are leery of it especially when technology takes people away from their community of faith (that's the main reason they don't have cars). They don't have telephones in their homes but many have phones on their property outside of their homes. The reason is that they don't want the phone to be an interruption to family and community life. In my world, the mobile phones (now the mobile computer) has hindered community. These devices has enabled people to stay connected and reconnect with friends and family, that is good. Last winter, my wife had H1N1, I asked for prayer through facebook.com and people tweeted it, hundreds, perhaps thousands prayed for my wife (that's a good things!) However, this connection more often lacks depth and true intimacy. It is these two things that enables spiritual growth to occur. This would be fine if the times we are face to face with people, those devices would be absent or turned off. Sadly, that is not the case. I took a class last week which involved a lot of group work. Members of my group were texting all during class, constant interruptions hindered us working together and getting to know each other. I have been out with friends before who were more interested in talking on their mobile telephones then they were with fellowshipping with me. When we did talk they seem preoccupied, like he would rather be talking on their phones then be with me. (I know I can be dry and serious but one night with me can't be that bad ;) People even have the audacity to bring their mobiles to church and use them to check their e-mail or to play with an application! I've even been in Bible fellowships where once the study was over, people took out their mobiles like they were in a rush to get the Bible talk over with so that they can check the latest tweet from someone that is miles away. So the Amish have something there about telephones and technology, they have the potential to destroy community. I think we would all be better off if we were at least a little leery of technology, however they would take someone to think and ponder, something that we're to busy to do because someone poked me on facebook or sent a funny u-tube video!

Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)

2010-08-19T20:52:00.002-04:00

I finally finished typing out the notes of a book I read earlier this summer, hear are some of them:

I love to give charity, but I don't want to be charity. This is why I have so much trouble with grace....I am too prideful to accept the grace of God. It isn't that I want to earn my own way to give something to God, it's that I want to earn my own way so I won't be charity....why would I forsake the riches of God's righteousness for the dung of my own ego?

I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time...

Six billion people live in this world, and I can only muster thoughts for one. Me.

Our "behavior" will not be changed long with self-discipline, but fall in love and a human will accomplish what he never though possible.

Can you imagine what Americans would do if they understood over half the world was living in poverty? Do you think they would change the way they live, the products they purchase, and the politicians they elect? If we believed the right things, the true things, there wouldn't be very many problems on earth.

Love your neighbor as yourself....I would never talk to my neighbor the way I talked to myself, and that somehow I have come to believe it was wrong to kick other people around but it was okay to do it to myself....If it is wrong for me to receive love, then it is also wrong for me to give it because by giving it I am causing somebody else to receive it, which I had presupposed was the wrong thing to do.

Sacrificial Giving?

2010-08-19T20:24:00.002-04:00

Is sacrificial giving a life style or a group of individual decisions like giving up eating out for a month to give or not going on vacation in order to give to a missions team from a church. I would guess it's a life style and if I'm correct than I would suppose many evangelical Americans, including myself, don't give sacrificially. One might say that many of the activities put on by churches put pressure on people not to obey in this area of the Christian life? That's a scary question to pose! "Sell your possessions and give give to the needy, provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old." Was this hyperbole by Jesus, probably, but what if he was speaking literally? That would make many drop out of the race. Would I? If sacrificial giving is a requirement to become a member of a church, I know of many, then I suppose these churches are full of people who are lying to themselves and/or others or they are a group of amazing people that I long to be like. Perhaps I'm reading to much into this, or perhaps I'm just trying to make the Christian life more simple and genuine for myself.

Nerdy I know....

2010-08-15T15:20:00.003-04:00

I'm reading my latest economist books, entitled "The Undercover Economist". Part of the book talks about price sensitivity. I'm very sensitive, by the way, which means I like to stretch a dollar. There are things that I have chosen not to purchase on a regular bases, due to my income and my non discretionary expenses: Eating out (it's also as bad for your health as for your wallet), playing golf (an incredible investment of time and money, and being a father of three girls under five, I can't afford to waste either one), and coffee (I brew my own, which tastes much better and a lot cheaper). I calculated how much it would cost for me to regularly consume such items. If I play golf twenty six times in a year at 50 dollars a round, I am spending 1,300 dollars a year. If I buy a 1.50 coffee five days a week, I am spending 390 dollars a year. If I am eating out once a week at 50 dollars a meal, I'm spending 2,600 dollars a year. Total comes to 4,290 a year. If I do this for thirty year, the grand total is 128,700 dollars a year. If I were to put this money I spent on golf, coffee, and eating out and open up an investment account, at 8 percent I will have over 500,000 dollars in that account. I would calculate the time investment of these activities but I've already wasted enough time, I need to wake my daughters up from a nap. Quick calculation though, four hours of golf, 26 times a year would calculate to 3,120 hours over a 3o year period! That's 195 waking days (being we are awake 16 hours a day). If you play 52 times a year, that's 390 days (that's more than a year of your life). I can't afford that with a young family and a modest income. Of course I could calculate how long it took to write up this blog post, but I really need to be going!

2010-08-14T20:01:00.000-04:00

"God flatly declares that, in addition to our private spiritual state, our social concern (or lack of it) - for the poor, for orphans and windows - also has a direct bearing on how our prayers are received. Other prophets, such as Malachi, get even more specific. Those who pay exploitative wages, who break marriage vows through adultery and divorce, who treat illegal immigrants bad, who refuse to share food with the hungry or provide shelter to the homeless, risk closing god's ears to their prayers. As a twenty-first century American, those warnings cut me to the quick."

Philip Yancey

Ben Franklin quote on immigration

2010-08-11T20:31:00.003-04:00

"Unless the stream of these people can be turned away from their country to other countries, they will soon outnumber us so that we will not be able to save our language or our government."

Benjamin Franklin, on the threat posed by German immigration to Pennsylvania, 1753

Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)

2010-08-05T11:50:00.003-04:00

In the churches I used to go to, I felt like I didn't fit in. I always felt like the adopted kid, as if there was "room at the table for me"....but I wasn't in the family....I felt like people were trying to sell me Jesus....The bulletin read like a brochure for Amway. They were always saying how life-changing some conference was going to be...another thing about the churches I went to: They seemed to be parrots for the Republican Party. Do we have to tow the party line on every single issue? Are the Republicans that perfect? I just felt like, in order to be a part of the family, I had to think George W. Bush was Jesus. And I didn't. I didn't think that Jesus really agreed with a lot of the policies of the Republican Party or for that matter the Democratic Party. I felt like Jesus was a religious figure, not a political figure. I heard my pastor say once, when there were only a few of us standing around, that he hated Bill Clinton. I can understand not liking Clinton's policies, but I want my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me reason for it....They left us thinking that our war was against liberals and homosexuals. Their teaching would have me believe I was the good person in the world and the liberals were the bad people in the world....The truth is we are supposed to love the hippies, the liberals, and even the Democrats, and that God wants us to think of them as more important than ourselves. Anything short of this is not true to the teachings of Jesus.

2010-07-31T01:29:00.001-04:00

“I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I don't think you do either.” David Letterman to Bill O'reilly

What a Difference a Daddy Makes: The Indelible Imprint a Dad Leavs on His Daughter's Life (Dr. Kevin Leman)

2010-07-28T19:55:00.003-04:00

Read this book a couple of summers ago, I am going over the notes I wrote. Good to revisit!

I wasn't a perfect dad, but I was an involved dad, and I think I was a good dad. And good is enough...What's happened is that we're so worried about doing the right things, we've forgotten the importance of building the right relationships.

A father who is there; The parameters of life really help children. Having a dad present and active in the home is like having a fence on a playground. His presence provides assurance and comfort and makes a huge difference...That's why I stress that kids need to have dinner with their family – including the father – most nights of the week. Only routine, quality, and regularity can build a healthy sense of belonging. This sense of a father's presence and support – particularly with athletics – is even more important for girls.

Showing up when your daughter is on the court tells her more than that you value her physical health, however. It also speaks loudly about how much you value her: You're important. You matter. What interests you interest me.

There is no better antidote to peer pressure than a father's affirmation.

A daughter should never feel “average” when she sees her reflection in her daddy's eyes.

The best way to build faith in a child is to be an involved father who loves the Lord. Like it or not, men, in the early years your daughter will directly connect you with God...When your daughter sees how you get involved in her dad-to-day activities, she'll learn that her heavenly Father is equally concerned about all areas of her life.

Other-centeredness is, ironically, crucial for our daughter's happiness. A young woman who lives only to be noticed will always be frustrated, because she will never be noticed enough.

Have you taught your daughter the importance of serving? Does she know that life becomes more fulfilling when she concerns herself with making a difference in her community rather than spending three ours a day in the gym trying to fit her size-ten body into a size-four dress?

If a girl is getting this emotional comfort from a dad who lives with her and is involved in her life, she will not need to seek it from a lust-riddled boyfriend.

Skill or Luck?

2010-07-26T15:58:00.000-04:00

http://contenta.mkt1710.com/lp/26966/115068/Untangling%20Skill%20and%20Luck.pdf

Living Small!

2010-07-22T15:20:00.001-04:00

The Science of God by Gerald L. Schroeder

2010-07-22T12:04:00.002-04:00

"Creation of the universe from absolute and complete nothing marked the beginning of space, time, and matter....Just as the biblical God is not composed of space or matter, God is also not bound by time. God is outside of time. And being outside of time means to exist in an "eternal or unending now", an eternal present that includes past, present, and future simultaneously....It is my goal to investigate just this reality: that in one reference frame, all times and all event that pass during those times exist simultaneously while in another reference frame, those same events are separated by time with a past that has occurred and a future that is yet to come."

"Time is nature's way to keep everything from happening all at once."

Carl F.H. Henry

2010-07-19T13:56:00.002-04:00

"If the church preaches only divine forgiveness and does not affirm justice, she implies that God treats immorality and sin lightly."

The Great Theologians by Gerald R. McDermott

2010-07-18T19:48:00.002-04:00

Finished reading this book on some theologians I know about and some I didn't. Some interesting comments the author had in closing his book:

"All theologians work within a distinct cultural environment, which helps shape their thinking. Perhaps you have noticed that every theologian we studied seemed a bit constrained by the worldview of his culture. None was able to free himself completely from the intellectual milieu in which he was immersed. Another way of saying this is that all thinkers are shaped by the culture in which they are raised and live, and can never completely escape it.....This pattern in the history of theology should induce in us a certain humility. We should recognize that we too are blinded to some degree by the prejudices of our own age. This should make us all the more eager to read theology from other ages in an effort to uncover our own distorted perspectives. ....There are too many questions that one theology by itself cannot answer satisfactorily. We must remember that the church is a body with many members. The mind of Christ is never restricted to just one part of the body..."

We expect more out of a 25 year old athlete then ourselves!

2010-07-09T12:16:00.003-04:00

Lebron left the Cavilers for what he thought was a better business opportunity. How many of us live in our hometown? How many of us have moved for a promotion?

Lebron gave up in the Celtics series. How many of us give up on an exercise program, a diet program, or a Bible reading program?

Lebron should be loyal because Cleveland was loyal to him? There are thousands of young boys like Lebron was, growing up without a father and growing up in poverty. If he and his close friends growing up couldn't play basketball or football, the chances that they would be college graduates and earning a sustainable income would have been less likely. If you want to be loyal to Lebron, mentor a young man growing up in poverty! Don't move to the suburbs to hide from him. Lebron actually had a man in his life that mentored him and his friends, his AAU basketball coach. Ouch, it hurts to be honest with yourself!

Lebron, I won't be rooting for you on the basketball court, but I will be rooting for you in the game of life! God bless!

2010-07-08T15:01:00.000-04:00

From Matt Ridley's article "Down with Doom: How the World Keeps Defying the Predictions of
Pessimists":

"When I was a student, in the 1970s, the world was coming to an end. The adults told me so. They said the population explosion was unstoppable, mass famine was imminent, a cancer epidemic caused by chemicals in the environment was beginning, the Sahara desert was advancing by a mile a year, the ice age was retuning, oil was running out, air pollution was choking us and nuclear winter would finish us off. There did not seem to be much point in planning for the future. By the time I was 21 years old I realized that nobody had ever said anything optimistic to me - in a
lecture, a television program or even a conversation in a bar - about the future of the planet and its
people, at least not that I could recall. Doom was certain.
The next two decades were just as bad: acid rain was going to devastate forests, the loss of the
ozone layer was going to fry us, gender-bending chemicals were going to decimate sperm counts,
swine flu, bird flu and Ebola virus were going to wipe us all out. In 1992, the United Nations Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro opened its agenda for the twenty-first century with the words `Humanity
stands at a defining moment in history. We are confronted with a perpetuation of disparities
between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the
continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being.'
By then I had begun to notice that this terrible future was not all that bad. In fact every single one
of the dooms I had been threatened with had proved either false or exaggerated. The population
explosion was slowing down, famine had largely been conquered, India was exporting food, cancer
rates were falling not rising, the Sahel was greening, the climate was warming, oil was abundant,
air pollution was falling fast, nuclear disarmament was proceeding apace, forests were thriving,
sperm counts had not fallen. And above all, prosperity and freedom were advancing at the expense
of poverty and tyranny.
I began to pay attention and a few years ago I started to research a book on the subject. I was
astounded by what I discovered. Global per capita income, corrected for inflation, had trebled in
my lifetime, life expectancy had increased by one third, child mortality had fallen by two-thirds, the
population growth rate had halved. More people had got out of poverty than in all of human history
before. When I was born, 36% of Americans had air conditioning. Today 79% of Americans below
the poverty line had air conditioning. The emissions of pollutants from a car were down by 98%.
The time you had to work on the average wage to buy an hour of artificial light to read by was down
from 8 seconds to half a second.
Not only are human beings wealthier, they are also healthier, wiser, happier, more tolerant, less
violent, more equal. Check it out - the data are clear. Yet if anything the pessimists had only grown
more certain, shrill and apocalyptic."

Rev. Joel Hunter Testifies Before Sen. Judiciary Committee About Immigra...

2010-07-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

The Science of God by Gerald L. Schroeder

2010-07-04T14:35:00.002-04:00

I have been reading this book, my head hurts :)

Here is a lecture from the author:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRxEeHFHc-Y

Tim Keller Quote

2010-07-04T14:34:00.000-04:00

"Many people today, both secular and Christian, want us to believe that science and religion cannot live together. Not only is this untrue, but we believe that a thoughtful dialogue between science and faith is essential for engaging the hearts and minds of individuals today. The BioLogos Foundation provides an important first step towards that end."

– Tim Keller, Pastor,
Author, The Reason for God

Am I really that different?

2010-07-03T14:40:00.003-04:00

Football season is nearing, and I love to start off the season by reading a history book about the game that had so consumed my life as a youth....I can't find it in any public library in Columbus or Westerville. I finaly found one at a library at OSU! The book I found was: "Stagg's University : The rise, decline, and fall of big-time football at Chicago"

I can't find "Leatherheads of the North: The True Story of Ernie Nevers & the Duluth Eskimos" in any library in Ohio.

Believe it or not I can't find, "The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr" The author is from Columbus, Joe Carr is from Columbus. He ran the NFL for nearly twenty years in his office across from Ohio's State House, where the Dunking Donuts is! In a football obsessed city like Columbus, it's shocking that they don't have this book in any of their libraries.

Well, if anybody have copies of this book and would be willing to lend them to me, that would be great!?

What is Solidarity?

2010-06-28T10:24:00.003-04:00

I've never really thought of the deeper meaning of this word. Perhaps I'm a product of my culture, which is full of sit com idioms and social acronyms like lol or bff. I've been reading about the lives of Athanasius and Augustine. Great thinkers, interesting thinkers, odd thinkers, some would say horrific thinkers. I suppose all four would apply. The concept of solidarity and how it applies to man came out of their thinking. Interesting passages from the book I'm reading:

"The key to understanding how God is able to accomplish all this through the incarnation of his Son is the principle of "solidarity." This is the idea, familiar to the ancients but foreign to the developed West today, and we can be joined to a person in such a way that whatever happens to that person also happens as a result to us. This is why ancient and medieval people naturally followed the religious choices of their kings and fathers - because they believed that they were joined to their corporate heads at the level of being, and so the new god or reality which was shared by their head was now also shared with them. This was also why Adam's sin could spread to us so easily, because we were joined to him by solidarity. Athanasius explains this is why Christ's defeat of death destroyed death's power not only over himself but also over us: "For the solidarity of mankind is such that, by virtue of the Word's indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all.""

"This is very difficult for us moderns to accept, since we have been raised from our mother's milk with the Enlightenment-inspired notion that we are all separate individuals, disconnected at the level of being from every other being.....It still makes sense to million of believers in traditional societies where the principle of solidarity is still understood."

As I read the New Testament questions arise for me, Should I read it as a second century Greek thinker, a middle age thinker, an enlightenment thinker, or as a first century Jew? I think I should strive to think as a first century Jew!

Christian the lion - Full ending

2010-06-28T08:27:00.000-04:00

Gospel

2010-06-20T07:48:00.002-04:00

Could it be that the Gospel is not just a track to be reviewed with a lost person, challenging them to repent and trust in the redemptive work of Jesus. Although this is foundational, could the Gospel also be God's people, people who are working is such a way to restore justice to societies on earth? "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.."

Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian (Gary A. Haugen)

2010-06-16T21:32:00.003-04:00

I read this book two years ago, but something caused me to look through the notes that I took on it:

"Sometimes I just want my kids to be safe. And I think they smell my fear, and it build little prisons that can last a lifetime."

"I am much more interested in telling Jesus and others what I believe, but Jesus knows that what I truly believe will be manifested in what I choose to do."

"My vulnerabilities as a parent are such that sometimes I simply want my kids to escape suffering. But if I keep them completely safe, they will never have a chance to be truly good or brave. Is that what I want?"

"Sometimes the will of God is scary because he is asking us to choose between a life that looks successful and a life that is actually significant, between a life that wins the applause of our peers and a life that actually transforms lives through love...Again, Jesus tried to be as clear as he could about all of this (Luke 9:24)"

"According to Christ, significance is found in transforming people's lives through love. This is living a truly significant life."

"The fact is, when people choose to be brave instead of smart, their courage is generally so threatening to those who are smart rather than brave that they end up being maligned, not congratulated. This is what the Bible says we can expect."

"All around the world, rich or poor, parents encounter their own weakness and their deepest vulnerability in their love for their children. We love so much and can control so little."

Friend of God!

2010-06-13T07:01:00.001-04:00

"...Abraham, my friend..."
"...Abraham your friend..."
"....Abraham....was called a friend of God..."
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
"This the LORD used to speak to Moses facc to face, as a man speaks to his friend."
(Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23; John 15:3; Exodus 33:11)

More on John Wooden

2010-06-12T19:24:00.001-04:00

The Blind Side

2010-06-12T12:39:00.003-04:00

Picked this book up at the Library this week, am having a hard time putting it down. I think Malcolm Gladwell voices my sentiments when he says, "The Blind Side is an insightful and moving meditation on class inequality in American as I have ever read - although to put it that way, I realize, makes it sound deadly dull, it isn't." The inequality that children face in America is scandalous, from health care to education. It should be a top concern among evangelicals!

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter

2010-06-06T14:18:00.002-04:00

I finally finished reading this book, a hard read for me. The more questions I activity seek answers to, causes me to formulate more questions. I'm glad I am reading this book with a few others.

Some interesting passages from this book about the development of the alphabet:

"A writing system of some twenty-odd character meant that anyone might learn to read, evn a child, a woman, or a slave. What empowerment this implied! - especially when considered against earlier systems. But the Hebrew alphabet, because of its lack of vowels, still retained a certain mystery, a soupcom at least of the mumbo-jumbo that had been the stock-in-trade of the scribe and segneurs of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Once need to know Hebrew well in order to read it confidently. If Hebrew was not your mother tongue, you would always be guessing which vowel sounds to supply between the consonants. But written Greek, because of the addition of vowels, required no subjective judgment or interpretation. It was completely objective, completely out there, completely distinct form the reader. Just as the simplicity of alphabetical writing made possible general access to literacy, which in its turn encouraged democratic give-and-take, the utter objectivity of the Greek alphabet encouraged the demystification of the world."

"A type of literacy that can be grasped easily by almost anyone will tend to spread some kind of proto-democratic consciousness far and wide, even if this is accomplished only in small steps over a very long period of time. (In contrast, if our laws had been written in cuneiform instead of the alphabet, isn't it almost inevitable that slavery would still be legal?) A type of literacy that demystifies the act of reading, erasing for all time the aura of an unapproachable Sacred Brotherhood of scribes, wisemen, and potentates, will by its very nature tend to demystify additional realms of human experience."

Mencius Quote

2010-06-06T14:14:00.001-04:00

"all the babies who are smiled at and hugged will know how to love...."

John Wooden 1910-2010

2010-06-04T23:56:00.001-04:00

More quotes from Philip Yancey's book, Prayer: Does it make any difference?

2010-05-30T07:10:00.002-04:00

"Those who pay exploitative wages, who break marriage vows through adultery and divorce, who treat illegal immigrants badly, who refuse to share food with the hungry or provide shelter to the homeless, risk closing God's ears to their prayers. As a twenty-firt century American, those warnings cut me to the quick."

"What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse?"

"Those of us who struggle with unanswered prayer dare not overlook an important theological truth about how God acts in this world today. The church is the body of Christ, and as such it does God's work. As Ronald Rolheiser expresses it, 'A theist believe in a God in heaven whereas a Christian believes in a God in heaven who is also physically present on this earth inside human beings...God is still present, as physical and as real today as God was int he historical Jesus. God sill has skin, human skin, and physically walks on this earth just as Jesus did." To pray....'God, do something about the homeless doesntown' is the approach of a theist, not a Christian. God has chooses to express love and grace in the world through those of us who embody Christ."

Financing

2010-05-27T19:19:00.002-04:00

Republicans want to finance two wars and develop more weapons that kill people

Democrats want to finance health care and some even want to finance the genocide of our own people (abortion).

Dictators are financing their personal bank accounts while there people starve

Millions of American citizens are financing their i phones, cable, vacations, and gourmet coffees

Churches are even financing there own personal rec centers!

Perhaps we should all look in the mirror and "make a change"?

Prayer by Philip Yancey

2010-05-22T18:32:00.003-04:00

"A sense of unworthiness hardly disqualifies me from prayer; rather, it severs as a necessary staring point."

"...Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up. Mainly, Jesus pressed home that we come as beloved children to a Father who loves us in advance and cares deeply about our lives."

"Martin Luther, who averaged two hours a day in prayer, counseled other, "The fewer the words, the better the prayer." Indeed, two of the Bible's shortest prayers, from a tax collector and a crucified thief, proved most effective."

Bonhoeffer wrote, "A day without morning and evening prayers and personal intercessions is actually a day without meaning or importance."