For our 13th anniversary my wife and I spent the night in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (about 20 minutes North of our home in Woodstock, IL). We ate great food, walked hand-in-hand around town, talked for hours, and took a beautiful sundown boat tour around the lake. This photo was taken on that tour. The views around the lake were beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as my bride is on any day of the week. I submit into evidence the most gorgeous view on the boat (well, half gorgeous)...
Desiring God conference video with Mark Driscoll: Relating to Sinners. Driscoll talks about getting out of the Christian ghetto and getting to know sinners. Great stuff.
Ugh. Look, I waited until AFTER the Tour de France to even post on the event because it's so doped up. I wanted to be sure all was fine. And now it appears that TdF winner, American Floyd Landis, may have been testosterone doping.
The B sample needs to be tested to be sure, so it's unfair to call him guilty yet. But he has been suspended from his team and will be fired if the B sample is dirty.
I would love to see this be a mistake. I would love to find out that it was simply a surprising result to natural processes that came due to his horrible hip problems and efforts to relieve pain. But I'm not optimistic.
UPDATE: Landis responds on SI.
What are you doing right now? Whatever it is, it's not important. Stop it.
Now, go and listen to Matt Chandler's message from Reform & Resurge called Gravity: The Weight of Pastoring and the Knowledge of Christ (video). One of the most important and helpful messages I've ever heard. It sparked a very sober discussion with my buddies in Seattle, and I hope the trend continues.
Matt Chandler is the pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas.
UPDATE: I just finished listening to the message from Matt Chandler again and I almost broke down. It's directed toward pastors and people in ministry, but it's relevant to you no matter who you are. I'm working hard to not get too dramatic, but please, seriously, listen as soon as you can. It just may save your life, or your marriage, or your church or ministry.
My wife and I were married on July 24th, 1993 in Pontiac, IL. We have since moved six times (Carbondale, IL, Denver, CO, Fort Worth, TX, Louisville, KY, Lexington, KY, & Woodstock, IL) and produced four amazing kids (Sarah, Jack, Elijah, and Daniel).
In 13 years I can honestly say, HONESTLY say, that my wife is as hot now as she ever was. And that I am still the recipient of a wonderful gift: a beautiful woman who loves me despite all my failures and faults. What a treasure she is to me.
Kevin Cawley has done Friday photo lovers a service. Joe and I started the Friday Photo thing a couple of months ago (actually, I think Joe might have started it). Kevin Cawley has created a Flickr group so all Friday Photos can be found in one place. Great idea. From Kevin's blog...
Earlier in the summer, I felt inspired to follow Joe & Steve's example by featuring one of the pictures I had taken during the week on my blog each Friday (not because I possess a fraction of their skill in photography, but because I thought it was fun).
As the number of people continues to increase that are posting "Friday Photos" on their blogs, I wanted to make it easy for us to aggregate all the "Friday Photo" entries in one location. Enter the new Friday Photo Group @ Flickr. I've set it up as an open group (eight members so far), and all are welcome to join and post one picture each Friday (read the rules here). Now, instead of cluttering up your Friday photo with thirteen links, you can just link the Friday Photo Group. Spread the word.
If you haven't noticed, I've killed my other blog: Missional Baptist Blog. Just thought I would let everyone here know that.
With Lance Armstrong in retirement and the Tour de France field torn up by a doping investigation, American Floyd Landis has taken advantage in today's stage (bad hip and all) and will almost certainly be the last man wearing the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) after arriving in Paris tomorrow. He leads by 59 seconds.
I remember learning about Floyd back in 2002-2003 and wondering if he was the guy who would follow in Lance's footsteps. I guess we have our answer, at least for this year. Floyd will have off season hip surgery though, it's that bad, and that may make future wins very difficult.
My middle son (our third child) is soaking wet because he's trying to stay cool on a scorching summer day. He's a good boy and tends to make the most interesting faces. See more of his expressions here, here, here, and here.
Every day is Photo Phriday when a picture is this good.
Joe Thorn and I were photographed by Olan Mills at the Southern Baptist Convention. I just received it in the mail and couldn't resist scanning it and putting it up. The photographer thought it was funny, but a few SBC'rs walking by the booth seemed a little freaked out. Imagine trying to take this pic and keep a straight face!
Some of you will be offended by it. When you are offended and choose to tell me, it won't be a surprise. So save your fingers from violently typing your thoughts and laugh with us.
I think it's unbelievably funny and still laugh out loud whenever I see it. It's really the continuation of a running joke. Enjoy!
More Keller video promos for the upcoming Desiring God conference.
Is Redeemer Church Emergent?
Characteristics of a Missional Church
Read Mark Van S' post on the Crisis in Generica (his name for suburbia). A blurbia...
These days, when we think of Genericans, we think of vacuous, vapid,consumers. Lonely plastic-people who pretend that everything is all right. Urban folk, and rural folk, both are suspicious of such plastic people. In our cities and towns the problems are obvious. The poor folk aren’t hidden. Our lives are lived in public. When we go to the streets of Generica (those streets with deceptively pretty names), everything looks the same…the pleasant exteriors betray the brokenness of their residents.
And in response, the Suburban church–the Church of Generica seeks to save these people by catering to their broken impulses. We feed the individualism by giving them individualized sermons (David Fitch can detail this phenomenon much better than I can). We try to attack the isolation by introducing small groups (which are usually pretty anemic and unoffensive…being centered on things like the Purpose Driven Life). And so the Generican Church tends to have the same ailments as the Generican people–and all their blessings as well (like resources and a value of excellence).
A spiritual crisis is growin in Generica. The people are dying there. They have money, but it has secured their sense of disillusionment. Materialism grows, but the people cry out for substance. They moved out to the burbs to find sanctuary, but they crave relationship.
But as missional pioneers emerge–those uniquely envisioned folks that can utter prophetic voice to their brothers and sisters in Generica–they flee to the cities with their obvious problems. Urban has its own challenges, to be sure, but it is easier to be missional in the city, in many ways, than it is to be missional in the burbs. Generica needs missional leaders. Missional leaders who reject the homogeneous unit principle (the idea that folks don’t like crossing cultural boundaries so we should do church in a way that appeals to particular cultures rather than being mulit-ethnic in our approach), who reject consumerism and materialism, who embrace authentic community, who care about the poor and the marginalized should come back to the suburbs and minister there. Generica is growing in its diversity. Generia has its poor. And most of the churches in Generica tend to assume that issues of race and poverty and crime are urban issues. But new churches must come to Generica.
Churches that value social justice.
Churches that cross cultural boundaries.
Churches that challenge consumerism.
Churches that build authentic community amidst fracture.
Who will respond to the cries for healing in the broken land of Generica?
Read Crisis in Generica.
I want to encourage any of you who are interested in planting a church, replanting/renewing a church, or just learning to be a better pastor or church leader to attend the Acts29 Boot Camp in San Diego. There will be some really good guys speaking there including David Fairchild, Scott Thomas and Daniel Montgomery. It's at Kaleo Church where my friend Drew Goodmanson is an elder.
My Acts29 Boot Camp experience was in Dallas last fall. It sparked much conviction about my calling and direction in ministry. It was also life-changing for my wife. I highly recommend it.
Reform & Resurge audio: Tim Keller on Doing Justice. This was his third message. Message 1: Being the Church in Our Culture. Message 2: Preaching the Gospel.
"Christianity Gets a Reality Check" - an article about Rob Bell's Everything is Spiritual tour.
This is my nephew hiding safely between his mother's legs. My dad was spraying water in the backyard and he was trying to stay as dry as possible. I think it turned out beautifully in sepia. Another similar photograph.
Reform & Resurge audio of Tim Keller: Preaching the Gospel. Also hear his first talk at R&R: Being the Church in Our Culture.
My Tim Keller Resources page.
Mark Driscoll interview in CT: Men Are From Mars Hill.
