Monday, September 29, 2008

Shoot the Wolves



Driscoll included five contexts and what kind of words should be used in each.
  1. Feed the sheep
  2. Rebuke the swine
  3. Shoot the wolves
  4. Bark at the dogs
  5. Pray for the shepherds

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Resolution 9

Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

I am not quite sure what this resolution means. My guess has to do with James 4:14.

If you have an idea, go ahead and make a remark.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Pastor Steve Sighting

For those of you who attend Metropolitan Baptist Church in Fargo, I have found what Pastor Steve did before joining staff.


If you happened to miss it, here is the screen shot of him singing backup:

And you thought he was in Seattle...

Friday, September 12, 2008

Sifted

Please join me in welcoming my friend and brother, Josh, to the blogosphere. His new blog, Sifted, has begun gracing web-browsers all across the country, nay, the world. 

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Sarah Palin Distraction

Everyone is throwing in their two cents on Sarah Palin and I am beginning to feel left out. So I will join the I'm-gonna-throw-my-two-cents-in-on-Sarah-Palin party.

Sarah Palin has been a success as a vice-presidential pick. Why? Because she has distracted the media from Barack Obama. I think that's why John McCain picked her. And it was brilliant.


It doesn't matter if you think that Sarah Palin is a good VP choice or a horrible one, she has distracted the "Great Eye" of the media like Aragorn marching on the gates of Mordor while John McCain tries to slip into Mt. Doom/The Oval Office unnoticed. 

Here is some media to show how this is happening:
Palin is front and center of the New York Times home page.


And observe the "Latest News" section for September 11 on CNN.com. Note occurances of "Palin" versus occurances of "Obama" or "Biden."






























Some are even saying that Obama Can't Win Against Palin and adsiving Obama to Just Leave Her Alone For Now

Would Sarah Palin be a good vice president? It doesn't matter. Could the Sarah Palin choice pay off? It already has. She has fulfilled her duty. We are less than two months from election day and the Obama/Biden ticket is old news. 

Sarah Palin is a distraction. A successful distraction.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Phil Wickham

Resident Thorns poet, Jordan, recently pointed me to a free download of Phil Wickham's album, Singalong. I have really enjoyed the album in its entirety, but this song has stuck out to me, especially the final stanza.


"Beautiful"

I see Your face in every sunrise,
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes,
The world awakens in the light of the day,
I look up to the sky and say,
You’re beautiful.

I see Your power in the moonlit night,
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright,
We are amazed in the light of the stars,
It’s all proclaiming who You are,
You’re beautiful.

I see you there hanging on a tree,
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me,
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne,
Soon we will be coming home,
You’re beautiful.

When we arrive at eternity’s shore,
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more,
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring,
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing,
You’re beautiful.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Don't Equate Faith And Family

Often times when people are asked what they value most, they answer "faith and family." That's a cute cliche, but should we really put faith and family on the same level?

Don't get me wrong here. I think family is very important. I love my wife, someday kids (Lord willing), my parents, and my sister. That's not to mention my in-laws and my extended family. However, the reason I think that family is important is because it is a means to an end.

So, don't equate faith and family.

Faith represents a connecting agent; the God-granted allotment that allows us to be right with God. When we are justified by faith we are adopted as sons and daughters into a much larger, much more important family.

Take Jesus' words in Matthew 12:

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
And in Mark 10:
Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Maybe when people say that "faith and family" are the most important things to them, they actually mean that faith is a far superior number one and family is a distant second. Maybe. But somehow the proximity seems unwarrented.

Faith is such an amazing gift. It is an awakening to the knowledge that we can be completely satisfied with all God is for us through Jesus. And when we have faith, we are sure of what we hope for, that is, that God is faithful to all the promises that He has made. We hope in God.

Family, while not on the same plain, is also a gift. But take note: the spouses, children, parents, and siblings God has put into our lives, good or bad, are only means to reach an end. The end is the belief that we can be completely satisfied with all God is for us through Jesus connecting us to a right standing with God, or in fewer words: justified by faith.

Praise God for each of these gifts, but don't equate faith and family.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Like Keanu Reeves

While driving home from the Twin Cities, Rebekah made a phone call to inquire about a job that had been offered her in the recent past.

"Would you like my name as it appears on the application?" she asked since she had applied before we were married.

"Yes."

"First name Rebekah," she answered fervently, "last name Reeves..." and then with a little less fervor, "...like Keanu Reeves."