Happy Birthday!

Today is Owen's birthday. He's 2 years old now!
I just heard him wake up...so Jennifer and I are going to go sing to him!

Author of the Week

This week I've decided to focus on a particular author's writings rather than on a single book. David Wells is a professor of theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I'm planning on reading excerpts from several of his works this week.

Hospitality

I had to go get the car inspected today, and while I waited I read a book called, "Hospitality Commands" by Alexander Strauch. It was a great and convicting book for me. It made me extremely thankful for Jennifer's incredible gift of being hospitable, and it revealed some of my weaknesses in this area. The overall message of the book was the importance of the home as a place of showing the love of Christ to people. I highly recommend it...and it only took a couple of hours to finish!

Expelled

Ben Stein has a very interesting movie coming out in the Spring

You can make a toy out of anything...apparently

The most disturbing bowling game ever. 10 plagues...10 pins. Makes sense to me.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name.

-Charles Wesley

Close talkers...close singers

This is one of the most awkward music videos I've ever witnessed. They couldn't be any closer to each other while they're singing this...

35 years...46 million people

Today marks the 35th year anniversary of Roe vs. Wade which legalized abortion in the U.S. Since that time, an estimated 46 million babies have been aborted in our country...a number that is entirely too difficult to grasp

Joseph

I'm studying the life of Joseph right now in my personal study. It's a remarkable story of God's providence.
Check out this toy that depicts him with blue eyes and bright blonde hair. Come to think of it, what's more disturbing than the color of his eyes & hair is the enormity of his feet and hands.

Everyday Gospel

"Preach the gospel to yourself everyday..."
-Jerry Bridges

Happy MLK Day

Book of the Week

This week's book is a parenting book called, "To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debi Pearl. Jennifer read it and wanted me to read it when she finished. It's written by an Amish couple and so far its been pretty funny as well as helpful. Even the structure of the book is funny. The first subtitle of the first chapter is entitled: "Switch your kids"...and he's not referring to trading them in, but rather to spanking them. Other than the somewhat dated language and strong opinions, it is a good book. Here's an excerpt that captures the goal of the book:

"Parents should not wait until the child's behavior becomes unacceptable before they commence training..."

It's got certain parts that neither Jennifer or I would agree with, but as an old professor of mine used to say, "Eat the meat and spit out the bones."

New Pet

Jennifer and I decided this morning that we're going to try to get one of these as a pet. I love to see animals make fools of themselves

Encouragement

"However many things fail us that have to do with the maintenance of this life, God will never fail."
-John Calvin

Book of the week

This week's book was written by my former pastor in Raleigh, David Horner. Its called, "Firmly Rooted, Faithfully Growing." It's about principle-based ministry in the Church. Its a great book that helps think through the proper order of asking why things are done in a church and then asking how they should be done. A lot of churches start with the pragmatic questions like, "how do we get more people here?," without asking the more foundational questions of "why do we do or not do something?"...or "what is the purpose behind what we do, or not do?" I'd recommend it to any leader in a local church.

Book of the week

This week, I'm reading through the classic "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller. I read it several years ago, but I wanted to reread it in part because I'm teaching on Psalm 23 in a couple of weeks. I started it this morning, and it's an enjoyable read. Plus, you can find it used for 14 cents!

Book of the week

From time to time different people will ask me about what I'm reading. Each week, I plan on posting something about the book that I'm currently reading.
The first book of the week is called "Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries" by Joachim Jeramias. I don't really recommend this book to anyone unless you're extremely interested in the subject. I'm sure it will be a good book documenting the early church fathers' views concerning this topic, but I'm not sure its that interesting to most people.

Happy New Year

I don't really do New Year's Resolutions, but if I did, I would adopt Jonathan Edward's 22nd resolution (22 of 70 he wrote when he was 19):

"Resolved, To endeavour to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."