These were taken at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL on Monday. It was a sweltering day, and I was sick, so double sweltering. At the first aid station they had fan misters that were wonderful. Sarah is cooling off on a bench in the first pic. Danny is enjoying the misty blast in the second. See my other Six Flags pics and all my photography.
Watch the PGA Championship online for free 9am-7pm each day. Nice
Drew Goodmanson gives a nice history of his church's website, Kaleo, through version 5. Helpful in thinking about church websites.
"Church Squared" by Stetzer
We are hoping to make a train trip into Chicago again before school begins. Here are two videos of previous trips...
UPDATE: Grudem has now responded to Piper.
__________
Here we go again. Wayne Grudem tweaks his take on baptism and church membership in his Systematic Theology (HT:JT), and Piper isn't happy with the results. Justin Taylor writes...
Grudem previously argued for "allowing both views of baptism [i.e., paedobaptism and credobaptism] to be taught and practiced in denominations on both sides of the question." Grudem has since changed his mind.
Remember Piper going through this issue with his church and constitution? From his response to Grudem...
Evidently, Wayne is not so sure any more that we should make the effort to overcome the divisions among evangelicals for the sake of welcoming true brothers and sisters as members in the local church. I think his first edition was closer to the biblical balance.
I originally posted on this issue back in September of 2005.
From Tyler at the Desiring God blog...
Every two years John Piper completes a rotation of weekend seminars on different aspects of Christian doctrine and practice. These seminars include:
- Biblical Eldership
- Desiring God
- Future Grace
- Gravity and Gladness on Sunday Morning: The Pursuit of God in Corporate Worship
- Prayer, Meditation, and Fasting
- Sexual Complementarity: The Pursuit of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
- Suffering for the Sake of the Body: The Pursuit of People Through Pain
- TULIP
- Why We Believe the Bible
The audio for each of these seminars is now online. Complete course notes are also available so that you can follow along.
Gary Rohrmayer adds another post on spiritual conversations (I already linked to the 3 by 5 rule). His four points so far have been...
1. Make it a priority (3x5 rule)
If leaders are going to be serious about connecting with people they need to uncover at least 5 new contacts a day, equaling about 35 a week, which will lead to 3 "sit-downs" for a meaningful conversation.
2. Pray for opportunities
I remember praying one morning, “Lord, it has been a while time since I led someone to you. Open the doors and show me who I need to speak to today.”
3. Get out and into your community
I encourage church planters to think about tithing their time to community service and interaction.
4. Establish routines and cultivate relationships
I encourage leaders to establish routines and patterns so that you build relational presence with business owners and servers.
Gary concludes...
I learned a simple lesson over twenty-five years ago from an old missionary who said these words to me, “Gary you can’t serve God where you are not!” That statement helped me move away from dreaming about future ministry to engaging myself in the daily personal ministry right in front of me every day.
Next week Gary will be writing about creating spiritual thirst in our conversations.
What do you think?
A brief Music Monday (this is a timed post as I'm at Six Flags with my family). Three new albums you should check out.
Tegan and Sara: The Con -- Really digging this one, though it's still pretty new to me. Catchy but thoughtful pop.
Woven Hand: Mosaic -- Striking biblical imagery enveloped in thick, moody music. Ugh, this is awesome.
Jeremy White: Asleep in a Storm -- This is Sovereign Grace music remixed by White. Hear song clips. It's an odd sound for someone who knows SG worship music (their singing with dance remixes), but it's somehow appealing, interesting.
CT talks Glocal with Bob Roberts
Tentmaker Group looks promising
I heard an interview with Eric Maisel on the Writers on Writing podcast (see Pen on Fire). A couple of interesting thoughts on creativity. Here's Maisel's site.
Simpsonize yourself. Here's what Jonathan Edwards would look like on the Simpsons.
Two new fantastic movies: The Bourne Ultimatum & Sunshine
This is online elsewhere, but The Gospel Coalition has now put up J.I. Packer's introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Good reading. (HT)
Sorry I don't have much in terms of new photos this week, but I do have this photo of my smokin' hot wife who has pretty much completely recovered from her Chiari 1 Malformation surgery 3 weeks ago. She has now starting driving and is doing incredibly well post-surgery. We are so blessed and thankful, so I offer you this wonderful view of her.
The Cubs are now in 1st place in the NL Central thanks to a great mid-summer stretch of exciting, well-coached (rare in these parts) baseball. From Sportsline...
The Cubs, who were 8½ games behind on June 23, finallyovercame the Milwaukee Brewers -- at least for a day. Chicago's win, coupled with the Mets' 8-5 win at Milwaukee, puts the Cubs a percentage point ahead of the Brewers.
"You can't make too much out of it on the first of August," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We've got a lot of baseball to play. We can't get caught up in it."
It could all change tomorrow, as I know having lived through 2003, but this has been a fun summer for Cubs fans...especially my son, Elijah. He has gone from watching the occasional game on our limited cable setup to following all of them in real time on Sportsline.com. I've really enjoyed cheering along with him as he comes into my office to give me the latest update on who's on base, who hit the latest homer, which players are on the bench, how much he loves Soriono, and so on. A few days ago we got him a Soriono T-shirt. And yesterday (Wednesday) we followed the latest game on the computer, then listened on the radio for a bit as we sat in the car, then back on the computer again, then to the radio for the finish. Lots of fun with my little athelete.
John Piper reflects on the bridge collapse in Minneapolis today. For some reason this paragraph (near the end) stood out to me...
The word “bridge” does not occur in the Bible. There may be tworeasons. One is that God doesn’t build bridges, he divides seas. The other is that usually his people must pass through the deadly currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2). They may drown you. But I will be with you in life and death.
Thanks to an email from James I can offer you two links to new Tim Keller sermons preached at St. George's-Tron Church in Glasgow. Enjoy.
I remember asking Ed Stetzer about interacting with unbelievers and getting something similar to what Gary Rohrmayer wrote in his post Engaging in More Spiritual Conversations...
Evangelism has moved in the last 20 years from being a monologue (one-sided conversation) to a dialog (two-way conversation.) Thereare people all around us who are receptive to spiritual discussions and open genuine spiritual guidance. George Barna sites, “That 62% of American adults consider themselves to be not merely ‘religious,’ but ‘deeply spiritual.’” This means that there is more than a 50-50 chance of getting into some type of spiritual conversation with people who travel in and out of your life. Learning to engage people in a meaningful, spiritual dialog is critical for a spiritual leader.
[...]
It is important for a leader to think strategically about their conversations throughout the week. If you don't plan it or make room for it, the likelihood is that it is not going to get done. I agree with Brian McLaren’s statement, “We should count conversations rather than conversions, not because I don't believe in conversions, but because I don't think we'll get many conversions if we keep emphasizing them.” The number of conversations you have is directly related to the number of conversions you will see happen over a year. In coaching church leaders we use the 3 by 5 rule. If leaders are going to be serious about connecting with people they need to uncover at least 5 new contacts a day, equaling about 35 a week, which will lead to 3 "sit-downs" for a meaningful conversation.
Hey, hey, it's Music Monday.
I've been enjoying some Dr. Dog lately. I read a quote from Jeff Tweedy recently where he mentioned Dr. Dog. Then I happened upon Dr. Dog's new album, We All Belong, at a Borders . Decided to take a risk and I dig their Beatlesy vibe. This is a fun introduction...
Got a free download from the Kinetic Stereokids (MySpace) and it's really good. Love this...
The new Spoon CD, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is fantastic. I dig the live Letterman version of "The Underdog", though you may wonder when Gary Busey started a band...
I'll leave you on a funny note. Flight of the Concords' "Part-Time Model" just kills me. Warning: It's not for kids. But adults with a sense of humor will dig it.
The Gospel Coalition website (which has gone from a little helpful toward really helpful in a short period of time) has a number of short video interviews (linkable) with key players: Don Carson, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and yes, Tim Keller. As you could have guessed, I'm linking the Keller (and Carson/Keller) ones here for you. To see them more quickly, just go to the interviews page and scroll to them. And don't forget to visit my Tim Keller Resources page.
Great news today. Despite another awful drive to the U of Chicago (rain, accidents, ugh), Dr. Frim and his colleagues thought things were great and that Molly's few remaining issues were normal.
Actually, the only issue that really concerned us was lightheadedness when Molly stands up. Dr. Frim told us that lightheadedness is not only not a bad thing, it's actually a good thing. Now that the brain/brain stem area is decompressed her CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) just falls out of her head, so to speak, making her lightheaded. To have this problem at times post-surgery means the area is sufficiently decompressed. And eventually her body will compensate and this issue should go away. Awesome.
So, yeah, really good news. We are very, very thankful to God for his many blessings in recovery, but also for the peace we have had throughout these two scary months.
Things are going so well we are beginning to plan a train trip into Chicago with the kids in a couple of weeks (or so), a trip to see my family soon, and more. Trust me, Molly is still taking it slow. It's still months before she can lift anything of any weight at all and she is being extra cautious. But things like walking, driving, and doing most other normal life activities are based on how she feels. And she feels great.
Thanks yet again for praying for my wife, for me and for our kids.
We are headed out (with our kiddos) at 7am for a 9:40am appointment with Molly's surgeon, Dr. Frim, at the University of Chicago. We expect to hear only good things and have a handful of questions for him. On our way home we will, Lord-willing (and we're sure He is!), stop at P.F. Changs for the greatest Chinese food on the planet.
Thought this would be a good time to put up our favorite "get well" card. Love this...
Dana Gioia, American poet and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivered the commencement address at Stanford in June. Here's an excerpt, but you should read the whole thing...
Marcus Aurelius believed that the course of wisdom consisted of learning to trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones. I worry about a culture that bit by bit trades off the challenging pleasures of art for the easy comforts of entertainment. And that is exactly what is happening—not just in the media, but in our schools and civic life.
Entertainment promises us a predictable pleasure—humor, thrills, emotional titillation, or even the odd delight of being vicariously terrified. It exploits and manipulates who we are rather than challenges us with a vision of who we might become. A child who spends a month mastering Halo or NBA Live on Xbox has not been awakened and transformed the way that child would be spending the time rehearsing a play or learning to draw.
[...]
Art is an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing the world—equal to but distinct from scientific and conceptual methods. Art addresses us in the fullness of our being—simultaneously speaking to our intellect, emotions, intuition, imagination, memory, and physical senses. There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories, or songs, or images.
Art delights, instructs, consoles. It educates our emotions. And it remembers. As Robert Frost once said about poetry, "It is a way of remembering that which it would impoverish us to forget." Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity. You don't outgrow art. The same work can mean something different at each stage of your life. A good book changes as you change.
(HT: BHT)
