As For Me and My House...

A little laugh.....

2008-07-21T22:20:00.003-05:00

Sometimes it's good to laugh - even if the laugh is at our own expense. A Recent thread over at SharperIron is taking a rather humorous approach to the subject of "You Might be a Fundamentalist...."

Enjoy!

A letter to Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers...

2008-07-18T09:39:00.003-05:00

I've got a three word solution to this entire Brett Favre situation: Take him back.

It’s simple really…..one of the top 5 quarterbacks in NFL history is coming off arguably his best season ever and he wants to throw the ball for another year or so. Take him back. The man had such an incredible season last year that he actually got an MVP vote even with the year that Tom Brady put together and he wants to give it another shot this year. Take him back.

Let’s face reality….without Brett Favre during the last 15 years, the Packers would likely still be mired in meiocrity as they were prior to his emergence as a dominating force in the NFL. Three MVP’s, two Super Bowl appearances, a perennial Pro Bowler, the career leader in every major QB stat…..and he’s still playing at the top of his game! Take him back!

I know it’s tough. Pride’s a rough thing and Favre has gone about trying to get his way in somewhat of an embarrassing manner. He’s all but used the word “liar” to describe you. And while he’s still one of the most likeable individuals to ever don an NFL uniform, he’s been a bit of a drama queen about the whole retirement thing. But in making your decision about this entire situation you should keep one thing in mind…..he’s Brett Favre! Every NFL team would love to have a guy leading their team with the kind of grit, determination, and pure toughness that Favre has displayed season after season and week after week. He’s the closest thing the NFL has to Superman and all you have to do is take him back!

Sure, this Aaron Rogers thing is tough. He’s been on the sidelines for three years (by the way, Steve Young spent 4 years on the sidelines watching Montana) and he’s chomping at the bit to take over this great franchise. Rogers had a great game against Dallas last year. On that particular day he was the better quarterback. He outplayed Favre and went toe-to-toe with Romo….but that was only one game. Other than that, what’s he done? I don’t recall a single preseason game where he’s looked anything other than mediocre. He broke a foot in another regular season appearance and spent the rest of that season on crutches….Favre wouldn’t have used crutches and he would have kept playing. Now I certainly am not saying that Rogers can’t play. Who knows…he might be the next Steve Young. However, he might be the next Ryan Leaf. With Favre you know what you’re going to get: a certified winner.

Listen, you can’t win this battle by any means other than surrender. If you let Favre go things could get real ugly. The only way you win that one is if two things happen: Favre has the worst season he’s ever had and Aaron Rogers leads the Pack to a dominating Super Bowl victory. Now if you are willing to bet the farm on those two things happening….and they both have to happen….then go ahead and send Brett packing. But let’s face it; the notion of Rogers leading the Packers to a Super Bowl victory this season is pretty farfetched. If you let Favre back at the helm this season, you can’t lose – unless of course he has an abysmal year, but that’s not likely to happen given the season he’s coming off of. If you keep Rogers as your starter, every single loss will sting a little bit more. Think about it, what if you go from a 13-3 season that ended with on OT loss in the NFC Championship to a 7-9 season and no appearance in the playoffs? Not likely with Favre at the helm; a possibility with Rogers there.

If you choose not to take Favre back as your starter, I’ll understand. I’ve never responded well to employees dictating terms to me, either. Oh, I’ll mourn a bit if Favre’s wearing a different jersey. I’ll even be cheering for whatever team Favre goes to, but I’ll still support the Pack. And if Favre’s new team meets the Packers this year, you can bet that I’ll be cheering for Woodson and Harris to pick off every pass he throws and for KGB and Hawk to hit him in the mouth a couple of times. But a part of me will be a little sick at the spectacle….Favre needs to be in a Packers uniform this year finishing the job left over from last year. Take him back…….please.

“In Remembrance of Me….”

2008-07-15T20:58:00.003-05:00

Note: Our two oldest children both recently – at different times – made professions of faith. We’ve been extremely careful in not forcing the issue with either one of them and we’ve also been quite cautious with our choice of words. We’ve never told them that they were saved and we continue to proceed with a great deal of caution as we watch for some developing fruit. For additional thoughts on children and salvation, please read a post I added some time ago on the subject - it can be found here.

The other night I had one of those first time experiences that I think is a blessing for every Christian father. We were observing the Lord’s Supper at our Sunday evening church service. My wife and youngest son were both at home sick, so it was just Trey, Ashleigh, and me. I spoke to both of them about Communion on the way to church and asked if they wanted to take part….they did. I asked them to pay "extra-close attention" to what our pastor was saying and to let me know if they had any questions at any time. As the elements were being passed to us I took the opportunity to whisper to each of them individually the significance of each element…what it was and wasn’t, as well as the symbolism involved.

I think they understood and approached it all with a measure of gravity. I certainly approached it much differently than in the past. Explaining to them what we were doing and why….walking through the crucifixion story and reflecting on salvation…..all of it caused me to reflect deeper on the sacrifice and love shown to us by the Savior. In all it was one of those experiences that I’ll always treasure!

A few changes.....

2008-06-29T14:03:00.002-05:00

You'll notice that my "blogroll" on the left hand side of the page is now in a new format. Rather than an alphabetical listing of my favorite blogs, the roll is now set up in more of a "feed" format. As the 20 or 30 blogs to which I link update, their updates will be listed at the top of the roll.

I've also taken the opportunity to add a couple of links that I enjoy but have never linked to from this site. Take the time to check out some of these places. Most of the blogs and sites to which I link have edified, encouraged, or educated me. Some of the others have made me think, while there are some to which I link simply because they make me laugh!

I've also removed a couple of links.....mainly because, while their site still exists, they've stopped updating (yes Hannah.....I'm talking to you :) ).

Why do foolish men claim to speak for an infinite God?

2008-06-19T11:08:00.004-05:00

The first five paragraphs of the following article are preparatory words to get to the main point of the article which starts in paragraph six. I make this statement in hopes that you don’t get bored and leave off reading the article prior to that point!

I’ve spent most of my 35 years of life living in Kansas. During that time I’ve seen several “natural disasters”. Tornadoes, flooding, large hail, ice storms, and damaging winds are simply not all that uncommon in Kansas. Granted, they aren’t an every-day occurrence, but some years bring about more of these types of things than other years. Occasionally you’ll see one part of the state take more of a beating than other parts of the state. Some years back, when we were living in the southern most part of the state, we saw massive flooding and catastrophic hail hit during the same calendar year. One other thing I remember about that year was standing in the parking lot at my job watching a tornado that was hitting the ground about 15 miles to the north…pretty exciting stuff!

Now those of you who do not live in the Midwest might assume that tornadoes are a nearly daily experience around here, but that’s not quite true. Every year that I can remember there have been tornadoes hit somewhere in the state, but most generally they hit in outlying areas and cause little property damage. While Kansas has a goodly number of tornadoes some years, we also have plenty of open land upon which those tornadoes can run amuck without posing any immediate threat to life and property.

I say all that to get to this point: The last 12 months have been unusually volatile as far as the weather is concerned. During that time I’ve seen flooding that nearly had me trapped in town; an ice storm that knocked some outlying areas out of power for weeks and placed my family and I in a Red Cross shelter for a short time; softball-sized hail that destroyed my (under-insured) automobile; and a record high for tornadoes that have touched down. The most uncommon aspect of the tornado season thus far this year is the damage it has brought to many communities and cities. Last week a town that is 10 miles down the road from us was all but leveled and a larger city also saw an incredible amount of damage (including more than 20 million dollars worth of damage to the campus of Kansas State University). Additionally, there 2 people killed and several more hospitalized as the result of the tornadoes that dropped last Wednesday night. This years tornado season has brought about more deaths in a shorter period of time than any other on record.

My Uncle and Aunt’s house was destroyed by a tornado last week. They’ve been in the house for 40 years and their two youngest children were raised there – all four of their children spent at least some portion of their teenage years there. They certainly weren’t the only folks in that town who lost their homes, as some 70% of the city was completely destroyed and another 15% suffered varying levels of damage. It was somewhat heartbreaking the first time I entered town and saw how torn up it was. As I was watching the news that night and reports were coming in of the damage and deaths caused by the tornadic activities, I shed some tears. I called my Uncle as soon as the tornado had left his area and asked if they were OK. “We’re fine”, he said, “but the house is destroyed, the garage is gone, and our cars are smashed.” As I’ve been in town a couple of times now, it’s been difficult to see some of the raw emotions. So many memories lost forever….many folks were still attempting to process it all.

Now to the point of this article…..When it comes down to it, sin is the root cause of all “natural disasters”. Without sin, the earth wouldn’t be behaving like this, I suppose. I doubt seriously that Adam and Eve ever had to climb into a tornado shelter before the Fall, or worry much about outrunning lava from a volcanic eruption…..there’s no doubt about it, sin is the reason behind these sorts of things.

That being said, nothing makes my angrier than wicked men claiming to know God’s “motivation” behind these sorts of disasters. On two different occasions during the last week I’ve heard men claim that this tornado that destroyed Chapman, Kansas last week was simply God dealing with some wickedness (one of these men was a preacher). I’ve heard many people claim that the disaster in New Orleans several years ago (Hurricane Katrina) was God judging a wicked city. One man I heard this week even alluded to the idea that 9/11 was God’s judgment on New York City and he hopes that God takes out San Francisco next. Aside from the shear idiocy and hate-mongering of these ridiculous statements, I am most amazed at the audacity of any man who would brashly assign motivation to a God whose thoughts are beyond ours. How on earth does any man find justification for this sort of thinking and speech? Who are you that you attempt to speak for God? What revelation is this which you claim?

I certainly would never dismiss the idea that God could use this sort of thing as a judgment for sin. The Noaic Flood, the earth opening up to swallow Korah and his cohorts, the fire and brimstone that rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah, not to mention the plethora judgments of Egypt in Exodus are all examples of God using “nature” to judge. But in each of these instances, the “disasters” were exta-ordinary. While many of the weather-related disasters of the last 5 or 6 years have left an extra-ordinary amount of damage and an atypical loss of property and life, they have certainly not been the result of anything that is outside of the natural course of things. Every time I see the results of a weather related disaster, it causes me to marvel at the power of God, but it wouldn’t be proper for me to ever assign motives to God for allowing it to happen. I would be a fool to do so.

The fact is that nobody is surprised when a hurricane leaves a swath of destruction on many coastal cities and states. There has never been surprise when a tornado touches down and causes damage in the Midwest. Earthquakes along fault lines are expected to occur every now and again. The only question about these things is whether or not the damage will be severe and, in the instance of hurricanes and tornadoes, will there be significant property damage and loss of life, or will the damage occur in less populous are open-range areas? The idea that God is arbitrarily taking out certain cities because of their wickedness is a foolish one. If God is going to destroy a place because of sin, why did He allow the tornado to pass right over the top of the adult bookstore outside of town and instead destroy a city that boasts one church for every 300 residents?!

I refuse to leave with the conclusion that God destroyed Chapman last week, or New Orleans 3 years ago, or Greensburg last year as a judgment for the specific sins of the specific people in those specific cities. Could He have? Certainly. Is there precedent for such a thing? Not without warning. Is it OK for a pastor, evangelist, or any other Christian to claim anything else? Absolutely not – those people would serve the cause of Christ better if they kept their mouths shut and committed themselves to studying the Scriptures a bit……

More Hail Storm pictures

2008-06-03T09:27:00.005-05:00

FOR SALE: 1 car....slight hail damage.....

2008-06-02T13:53:00.005-05:00

A small, destructive storm cell passed directly over my place of employment today. For nearly an hour it was so dark outside that, had I not known better, I would have thought that it was 9:30pm. With the darkness came some rain, tornado sightings, and then some pretty serious hail. As a matter of fact, it hailed nearly non-stop for some 20+ minutes. Some of the hail was larger than baseballs....I've never seen anything like it. When the storm finally subsided, there was significant damage. As a matter of fact, of the 350 or so vehicles in our parking lot, there was only one I saw that didn't have the windows all broken and smashed in. Here's a few pictures of my car.....if you're interested in buying it, just leave me a note here... :)

I think McCain might be a Young Fundamentalist....

2008-04-29T11:50:00.001-05:00

I’m sure that somebody has already seen and noted what I’m about to say, but since I’m spending less and less time online these days, I haven’t seen it. Part of this is tongue-in-cheek, but the main point is valid, I think. Enjoy.

I’m beginning to think that Young Fundamentalists everywhere ought to be unanimously rising to our feet in support of Senator John McCain. He is, after all, cut out of the same piece of cloth as most of us…Don't let the necktie and hair style fool you folks....John McCain might just be a Young Fundamentalist! Consider the following key principles about McCain:

Associations. McCain isn’t afraid to associate with people whom those in his particular circles have long shunned. I offer as proof the McCain-Kennedy bill and the McCain-Feingold act. Or how about his association with other "RINO's" (Republican In Name Only) in his infamous "Gang of Twelve"? I mean, there is some discussion brewing that he has considered placing Joe (or is it Joseph?) Lieberman on his ticket as a running mate in November!

Criticisms. McCain is quick to criticize those in his circles, but not so quick to criticize the other side. He has often displayed how quickly he will criticize those who would criticize his more liberal counterparts even if the criticism is justified. What more proof do we need to offer than his recent criticism of the North Carolina GOP? How about last January when he jumped all over Vice-President Dick Cheney for his "terrible mishandling" if the war? Or his statement that Donald "Rumsfeld will go down in history, along with McNamara, as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history"? McCain almost seems eager to defend Obama (having done so on several fronts including Obama's associations and friendship with Jeremiah Wright) yet quickly jumps to conclusions about his own party, often assuming the worst.

Heritage. McCain claims to be cut out of the same mold as a bunch of history’s great “dead guys”. You know, the guys that both sides like to claim as their own….

Personality. McCain is considered a “maverick”. This is a moniker he proudly displays as a badge of honor. With no regard as to the reasons behind some the stances of the party with which he is currently affiliated, McCain is quick to point out all the flaws and foibles from an “insiders” perspective.

The more I observe McCain, the more I’m reminded of myself, I guess. Quick to criticize the group I’m affiliated with, even though I don’t intend to end my affiliation anytime soon; quick to defend and even endorse those who have never been, nor ever will be part of my group because they take the "more practical stances" on some “hot-button” issues; quick to claim my affiliation with a whole bunch of dead guys from my particular “group” while careful not to align myself too closely with a lot of the live ones; proud to wear the badge of an intellectual, practical, relevant, compassionate proponent of truth while careful to let people know that I’m somewhat of a “maverick”…a “non-conformist” when it comes to matters that I deem as “non-essential”.

When I see this behavior displayed in politics, it makes me a little sick. As I watch McCain I begin thinking, “why don’t you just call yourself an ‘independent’ rather than a ‘republican’”? The man’s quickness to jump on his own while giving a free pass to those who are his enemies on the political front (even though they might share some common views) is a tad revolting. Yet every day, I see this same behavior in myself.

Watching politics the last several weeks has been a tad entertaining, but it has also caused me to reevaluate some things spiritually. Asking questions, calling for change, and criticizing some of the lunacy that exists within Fundamentalism are all good things. However, one has to be careful. There is a tendency towards arrogance, bitterness, and a critical spirit that can ultimately put more of a bite to your criticism than you ever set aside to have. McCain has made a career out of doing this sort of thing, and now the criticism and finger-pointing at his own come so naturally that it’s almost comical. So many YF’s seem to be headed towards the same fate, I think. I'm afraid that many of us have become something akin to "Fundamentalist In Name Only".

A brief "commercial break".....

2008-04-11T22:16:00.002-05:00

Josh Gelatt over at Ephemeros offers a great "commercial" for Calvinism....his catch phrase: "Calvinism: It's nutritious and delicious". You'll have to read the whole thing to understand!

An apology - my final comment on Joe Zichterman

2008-04-10T20:22:00.004-05:00

For personal reasons I've chosen to remove my blog articles regarding the Joe Zichterman controversy, as well as all the subsequent comments, from my blog archives. I regret much of my verbiage as well as the offense I may have caused to any who read them. Please don't misinterpret this as a show of support for Joe's actions and current alliances...it's not. While I feel that Joe is in error and has chosen a foolish path, that does not give me license to publicly disparage him. Joe is a brother in Christ.

While the recently removed articles were written last summer, I've received two separate emails about them this week - one in support of them and one asking me to remove them. My decision to remove them was made only after I re-read them. I regret the posts and truly wish that nobody had seen them.

A couple of my favorite websites.....

2008-04-06T21:16:00.003-05:00

If you are anything like me....you are unbelievably charming, good looking, and you have a great sense of humor......! Additionally, you like to listen to quality preaching whenever you can. I recently got a great deal on an mp3 player and I'm making pretty good use of it, I think. My initial thoughts were to fill it with music and enjoy it on my 45 minute commute to work each morning, but I've found myself downloading and listening to sermons and books instead. A couple of websites that might interest you are:

SermonAudio.com - this is a terrific site that is chalk full of quality sermons from all sides of fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism. I probably download and listen to 5 - 10 hours of sermons from here every week. You can search for sermons by passage, speaker, topic, or date. There are thousands of sermons there covering about everything.

Christianaudio.com is another favorite. They offer thousands of titles of books - but you have to pay to download them. However, each month they offer one book for free. It's the only time they will ever offer that book and they offer some great free titles every now and again. I've donwloaded David Brainard's diaries as well as Confessions of the Reformed Church (containing the Augsburg and Westminster Confessions amongst others). If you like audio books, this is a great site....if you like free audio books, it's an even better site! Well, at least once a month! Enjoy!

movin' and groovin'....

2008-04-02T17:35:00.000-05:00

We've been in the process of moving the last couple of weeks, so I haven't been around. There will be new articles coming soon....as for now, I'm just grateful to have internet access after a week off!

He is Risen!

2008-03-23T08:53:00.002-05:00

Note: This is a slightly modified post I put up last Easter......

He is risen!

Can you think of more wonderful words than these? The blood-soaked cross and the blood-stained ground beneath it both look magnificently different today than they did yesterday. For yesterday they reminded me of a dead man and the death wherewith he died. Today however, they serve as witness to what a living Savior endured out of total love for me and total devotion and obedience to the Father!

Alas, today I have a new emblem! There is an empty tomb! An angel sits atop the stone that once sealed its’ entrance and proclaims, "He is no longer here, for he is risen – just as he said"! His death gave me hope – his resurrection gives me life! His last words on that cross, “It is finished”, hinted at victory. His resurrection gave credence to his claim of being “the Resurrection and the Life”.

Yet, as beautiful and victorious as this empty tomb is, my eyes keep glancing back at that wretched cross. The prophet said that I would be healed by His stripes, but I never expected those stripes to cut so deep.

I cannot understand this amazing love. For centuries men have pondered the question…. “Why would One such as this suffer and die for one such as I?”

Why would He trade in His kingly crown for a crown of thorns?

Why would He give up His place in the Heaven of heavens shrouded in glory to be wrapped in this putrid flesh?

Why would He exchange angels worshipping at His feet for men pounding nails through them?

The angels sang His praises. Men mocked Him and spat upon Him.

In His former estate, the entire heavenly host gave to Him…worship and adoration. Here, the creatures of His creation took from Him….always wanting food, or a miracle, or health.... They took everything they could from Him…even His life.

Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Do not mourn the crucifixion…hope thou in the Resurrection! Oh, what a glorious thought this is! My Lord has risen and He reigns in majesty! He sits clothed in glory, angels worshipping Him in His righteousness! And wonder of wonders, His very presence at the right hand of the Father perpetually satisfies the just judgment and punishment that my sin deserves!

My risen Lord and Savior hath clothed me in His righteousness! My soul leaps within me! Death hath no power! The cross is no longer a picture of horror, but one of beauty! HE IS ALIVE! HALLELUJAH! I will shout with joy today! As long as I have breath, let me not forget to praise thee, oh my Lord! And when I’ve breathed my last…oh, how I long to be in thy presence and at thy feet, and sing glory, glory, GLORY to your wonderful name!

____________________________________________________________________

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
by
Isaac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

Friends, Snobs, Jazz, BBQ, and a Free Steak: My Trip to Kansas City.

2008-03-16T14:19:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a business trip to Kansas City. The highlight of the trip was a long visit with on old friend on Wednesday night (my first night there). I'll talk about that a bit later on, but first a couple of other brief stories about the trip.

The Bass Pro Shop in Olathe is an extremely cool place. There's a fairly decent restaurant in there and the entire place is just fun to look at. I wasn't able to spend much time in there, but it was fun!

I was shocked to find that some businesses are a bit snobby when it comes to their customers using cash! My company put me up in a fairly "ritzy" hotel. Any incidentals I incurred, I paid for out of my own pocket (internet access, room service, etc). These people honestly seemed put out that I used cash rather than plastic.....I didn't bother to waste my breath explaining that I haven't used plastic in five years and don't expect to ever use it again......it frustrates me that green money is somehow inconvenient these days.

I ate one meal that I probably shouldn't have due to cost. While my company was reimbursing me for my meals, I still felt a bit guilty about the price of this one. The restaurant was extremely nice and the food was priced very high. I ordered steak and lobster....it took so long for it to get there that they ended up giving me the meal for free! Normally, I would have said, "well, if I knew it was going to be free I would have ordered the steak and lobster tail"! Since I couldn't say that, I simply told the waitress that her tip just got a lot bigger than it was going to be! The food was fabulous.

As I said earlier, the hotel I was in was quite nice. There were 16 stories in the place and the higher you went, the nicer and larger the rooms and suites were (I was on the 3rd floor!). Thursday evening I got into an elevator with a guy and asked him what floor I needed to push for him. When he said he was on the 15th floor, I replied with a hearty, "Well, congratulations!"......he didn't get my joke.

I did get to enjoy a little jazz and BBQ while I was there. Kansas City is really a unique place with a neat culture. I enjoyed it!

Now, regarding my visit with an old friend... Tim and I worked together at the Wilds of the Rockies for two summers ('93 - '94). We "hung out" a bit, but I don't know that we were ever super close as friends. He was one of only a few guys who was there from the previous summer, so we had a good familiarity with one another and often went the same places on weekends. After that last summer, I'm not sure that I ever saw or spoke to Tim again until recently when our paths crossed on SharperIron and Facebook. When I found out that I was going to be in the KC area for a few days, I got in touch with Tim and asked if we could get together for a bit. So on Wednesday night (my first night in town), Tim and his wife had me over to their house for dinner.

The food was great, but the highlight of the evening was the conversation. For nearly 4 hours we talked about the goodness and grace of our Lord. While we did some "catching up", the bulk of our conversation was spent talking about lessons learned in our respective lives as we've strived to please God and get to know Him better. Honestly, it was one of the sweetest times of fellowship I've had in the last several years. I'd never met or spoken to Tim's wife until I walked into their home, but instantly I felt a kinship with her as if I'd known her forever. From the moment I walked into their house, I felt like I was family.....that sort of warmth and comfort only comes with Christian kinship I think. At any rate, the food was wonderful, the fellowship was superb and the ice cream hit the right spot!

As enjoyable as the trip was, it was certainly nice to get back home to my family. I got in a tad later than I expected, but everyone managed to stay awake and greet me (with the exception of our youngest child.....he was out cold!). As excited as my wife and kids were to see me, their enthusiasm paled in comparison to that of our dog, but his level of enthusiasm is just as high if I walk outside for 10 minutes and come back in!

I don't really enjoy taking trips without my family, but finding an old friend to fellowship with certainly makes it much more enjoyable!

Not a typical music post...

2008-03-03T17:28:00.003-06:00

I came across this today over at Sharper Iron. I've never read it before now, but it made me laugh.....enjoy!

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the farmer, "it was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."

"Praise choruses?" said his wife. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife.

The farmer said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha, the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a hymn. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:

'Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows,
the brown cows, the black cows,
the white cows, the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN.'

Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that would be a praise chorus."

The next weekend, his nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to visit and attended the local church of the small town. He went home and his mother asked him how it was.

"Well," said the young man, "it was good. They did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."

"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.

The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha, the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:

'Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'

Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn!"

--Author Unknown

It's easier when you have all the answers!

2008-02-21T20:28:00.002-06:00

*****UPDATE: My friend Marty Colborn recently wrote an article on this subject that you might find interesting. I've known Marty for nearly 3 years and have come to appreciate his thoughts. He's one of the most genuine, godly men I've ever had the privilege of calling a friend. We come down on different sides of some issues, but in the end, we both love our Savior and we both want to serve Him. By the way, Marty and I attend the same church.....we even sing in a quartet together! You can find his article here. *****

I remember it like it was yesterday......I had it all figured out! I knew all the answers to the real important questions regarding life, Christianity, holiness, and sin. It was so simple and I couldn't believe that everybody else around me didn't see it - it was as clear as the nose on my cleanly shaven face!

The year was 1993 and I was a 20 year old bible college student. Everything made a lot of sense to me back then. I knew what a "real" Christian looked like, acted like, dressed like, etc...all others were counterfeit Christians. I knew what kind of music good Christians listened to, what Bible version they used, what kind of churches they attended, and what kind of haircuts they sported. I remember meeting a young man who's father pastored a different kind of church....you know, the kind that was full of "deceived, fake" Christians..... This young man seemed to love the Lord and he had a passion for the things of God. We were talking one night and he told me how the Lord was using his brother in the ministry his brother had. When I asked him what that ministry was, I was shocked to discover that his brother was the lead singer in a Christian Rock Band (one that is fairly well known these days). I was flabbergasted! Fortunately I was able to tell him with a great deal of confidence that his brother was probably not saved.....I explained how the term "christian rock" was an oxymoron - the two words ought not even be uttered in the same sentence. That's right - I had all the answers and that night I lost a friend because of it.

One of the first churches I worked in after college was a small non-denominational church in southern Kansas. The fact that they had the word "community" rather than "baptist" in their title really bugged me, but they preached from the KJV and had conservative music from a good old hymnal, so that was good enough for me. I left that church when I "discovered" that they were supporting an SBC ministry financially - after all, the SBC was filled with compromisers...not "true" Christians. Again, I damaged some good friendships and hurt some sweet servants of God with my damaging words....all because I had all the right answers.

I like for things to be "black and white". I've got an extremely analytical mind and "gray areas" used to bug the living daylights out of me. It was much easier to write people off as being counterfeit than it was to try to understand things from a truly biblical perspective. In my mind I couldn't rationalize how a Christian man could ever have long hair, or wear jewelry, or (gasp!) have a tattoo on his body! As a matter of fact, a man who would put a tattoo on his body had disqualified himself from any usefulness in ministry as far as I was concerned. Yep....I had all the answers...

I guess the Lord began to open my eyes a bit when I finally found a church to attend that felt the same way I did. The lack of love; the separating from the world to the point that we were perceived as haters; the constant denigration of any Christian or Christian group who listened to certain types of music, read certain bible versions, or dressed in a certain way.....you get the picture - anyone who was different. Those things began to make me realize that I might just be missing something.

It was a lot easier when I had all the answers.....but it was lonely. I mean lonely in the sense that I went out of my way to ostracize myself from other believers. I viewed things such as music, bible versions, and calvinism as separation issues. I used to get mad when I would hear about or read interviews with CCM musicians and they would talk about ministry or speak of their relationship with Christ. I didn't understand how Satan was using them, but I just knew he was. After all, those within CCM were likely unsaved.......

All the answers.

Well I'm glad I'm no longer deceived into thinking I have all the answers. I've come to realize that God doesn't fit all that well into a little box, no matter how well that box might seem to be constructed. I've made dear friends who seem to have incredible walks with the Lord, yet they just don't see eye to eye with me on everything....I've come to love them and accept them....even the ones who have all the answers! I've come to find that two of the most important characteristics that a Christian should display are humility and love....it was difficult to display those characteristics when I was so convinced of my own righteousness.....

I realize that I don't have all the answers. Sometimes that makes things difficult, but.....I think it's better!

A correction.....

2008-02-14T18:08:00.002-06:00

I am sometimes (OK....often) guilty of overstating something for effect. My last article was such an occasion, I think.... I have no intention of voting for Hillary or Obama (although I like Obama.....he strikes me as the most honest liberal that's ever run, even though he's left of nearly everybody in the US!).

All that said......I also won't vote for McCain. McCain is conservative in name, but not in practice. I like his stance on the war and on abortion, but those two things alone are not enough to win me over. The fact that our current President gave him the resounding endorsement of being "a true conservative" certainly doesn't add much credence to his cause, in my opinion. I will vote this election, but I'm not sure for whom. It will likely be 3rd party or a write-in....but I may change my mind between now and then - time will tell.

So it seems that this go around, we are destined to get either the first female, black, or really, really old President.....either way, we will likely see more of the same - a political quagmire in D.C.!!!! I just love politics!

My political post

2008-02-07T10:07:00.000-06:00

I don't really talk about politics too often, because the subject frustrates me. Each Presidential election brings us news that is nothing more than "all politics, all the time", so the political discussion is now on my mind. Of course, this frustrates me all over again, so I'm going to use my little slice of the internet to discuss my frustration.....

For most of my adult life I've been a registered Republican. After all, we know that all good Christians (and especially fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals) simply have to support the GOP! This is the same GOP that has given us the President we've had for the past 8 years and is apparently going to throw all its muscle behind a marginal (at best) Republican like John McCain for the upcoming election. The same GOP that turns utterly spineless when at a crossroads with Democratic opposition in the Senate. Quite frankly the GOP has abandoned most of its conservative principles and is causing me to refer to myself as a man without a party.... It frustrates me that the "conservative base" in the GOP are perceived as such dullards that all it takes to get our vote is to attach the term "pro-life" to your name. Equally frustrating is the fact that we've earned that reputation! You have to look no further than how this primary season has shaken out for McCain....a man who is more of a Democrat than Leiberman ever was is getting the vote of conservatives for two reasons...he's pro-life and he takes a good stance on our current war situation.

The only viable conservative that even ran for the Republican nomination this year was Romney (who will have no choice but to drop out soon), yet conservatives by the truckload threw their support behind Huckabee and McCain (who are essentially the exact same on most issues). This upcoming election is likely to pit McCain against Obama......in that scenario I'd likely vote for McCain, but if Clinton wins the Democratic primary I might just vote for her this year. A McCain Presidency would look a lot like a Clinton Presidency with the exception that Clinton has the benefit of being married to a former President. I guess I'll have to see who their running mates are. If the ticket is Clinton / Obama, there's no way I'll vote for it. If McCain chooses someone like Lieberman or Huckabee, I feel the same way. I don't know, maybe this is the year that I don't vote....

By the way, after this primary season is over, I will no longer be registered as a Republican.

Humility

2008-01-24T08:56:00.000-06:00

In Philippians 2 we are reminded to be of the same mind as Jesus Christ. As the passage continues, we are reminded of the great humility displayed by Christ by, not only in His willingness to leave heaven and live for a short while as a man, but to have that life taken by the hands of His creation in the most brutal of methods. If we take pause, however, after that short phrase, “….let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”, we cannot help but to tremble at the thought.

I, for one, fail so often in this matter of humility that it’s depressing to even think about it. The idea of self-sacrifice and completely selfless living is often so foreign to me that I wonder if there’s anything other than selfishness coursing through me. Christ’s humility involved a measure of this selflessness and self-sacrifice that sinful man is unable to achieve, yet the Apostle cautions us to, “let this same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus…”. Is it really possible? In this day and age I meet precious few people who are willing to put into practice some of the basic lessons that Christ taught us both in word and deed. Commands like, “love your enemy”, “turn the other cheek”, “bless those that curse you”, or even “love each other” – as in agape. I don’t mean to come across as if I display these things on a daily basis. I don’t even display proper love consistently to those whom I hold dearest in this world.

Sometimes the study of the Word will prompt one to ask oneself some difficult questions. Some questions I’ve faced recently during my study times have been:

How can I claim to be a follower of Christ when I consistently fall short in nearly everything He’s commanded?
How can I maintain a right relationship with my Lord when I bristle at the most petty of differences between myself and those whom I call my brothers and sisters in Christ?

I’ve been confronted with many more questions than these, but they are personal enough that I won’t share them here…

So why am I sharing this with you? Simply put, I’m beginning to grow tired of the mediocrity that typifies the lives of most Christians, but specifically, my own life. I sometimes wonder if I know the first thing about humility, sacrifice, and selflessness. I don’t know that I’ve ever been accused of “turning the other cheek” and of loving my enemies. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact. In some venues I’ve garnered a reputation that says I’m not a good man to cross…..I don’t think that’s the type of reputation that God would have one of His children possess. It's certainly not the example left by our Savior as He was "led as a lamb to slaughter".

In a couple of weeks I’m beginning a study with our adult Sunday School class on some of these things. We’ll be taking a 4 or 5 week look at some examples of humility from the life of Christ and drawing some practical lessons from them. I’ll be posting some of my notes here following each class.

I hate seeing football season end...

2007-12-28T22:31:00.000-06:00

I don't generally talk about sports here, but with football season drawing to a close, my mind is going back to the year that was. All in all, I've enjoyed this season of football (both NFL and NCAA) more than any other I can think of off the top of my head (although the Packers last Super Bowl season was fairly memorable...). First off, let's look at the college game this year.

It seemed like there was a different number 1 or number 2 team every single week, which made for the most exciting and dynamic season there has ever been. Being a Kansas Jayhawks fan, I generally don't have much to cheer about until basketball season, but this year saw the very surprising KU squad get within 9 points of the number 1 ranking going into the last week of the regular season, and they get to play in a BCS Bowl in January. Nobody predicted it - not even close - but it was a lot of fun to watch in this most unusual year. Equally exciting was to see another Big XII team get a BCS Bowl. I'm certainly not a Mizzou fan, but I always enjoy seeing the Big XII on top.

As if the NCAA season wasn't exciting enough, this NFL season has been a great a deal of fun to watch as well. First of all, the Bears returned to their pathetic form and played well only three times this season (their recent loss to the Vikings was probably their best game of the year). While some Bears fans are talking trash about their sweep of the mighty Pack this year, it should be noted that the first game was an absolute gift (anybody who isn't a brain-damaged Bears fan will agree ;) ) and the second game was all about the Packers absolutely pathetic special teams play and Favre's horrendous 3rd quarter. Orton looked OK, but the dude had nothing to lose. Chicago still doesn't have a QB that's capable of winning more than 2 consecutive games, so expect the next two seasons to look a lot like this one for duh bears.

More impressive than the Bears return to form this season was the resurgence of the Pack as one of the premier teams in the league. They went to Dallas with four key starters watching from the sidelines and still managed to stay in the ballgame against a team that was touted as being head-and-shoulders above the rest of the NFC. Look for this young, talented team to be one of the top-tier teams in the NFL for the next 4 or 5 years.

Speaking of top-tier teams, the New England Patriots have been nothing short of amazing this season. Forget about "spygate"...these guys are absolutely incredible and seem to be about three steps of everybody else in the NFL. They will go down in history as one of the best single season teams ever and will break nearly every single-season team and individual record there is to break this season. If they manage to continue this impressive run and win the Super Bowl they will no doubt be ranked as the best single-season team in history knocking off both the '72 Dolphins and the '85 Bears claim to that title. I've never been a Pat's fan, and I'm still not, but watching them play this year has been a real treat.

The other great streak that's been fun to watch in the NFL this year was the hapless Miami Dolphins. I think their better than at least 3 other teams out there (Jets, Falcons, and Chiefs - although the Lions, Bears, Cards and Niners also come to mind), but they just couldn't win games this year. I was really hoping to see them go winless just for the opportunity to see both perfection and the exact opposite happen during the same season!

Now, all that being said, I'm going to make a bold prediction regarding the playoffs and Super Bowl. I think the Redskins will beat Dallas this week and make the playoffs as the hottest team playing in the NFC right now. They will win their first playoff game and then pull off an upset in Dallas (the Cowboys are getting a little worse each week it seems) to get into the NFC Championship game against Green Bay. If the weather is lousy, I think we'll see the Redskins in the Super Bowl against......Indianapolis. Yep, Indi. As much as I want to see New England finish off the perfect season (unless they play the Pack in the Super Bowl), I think that Indi is going to pull off the upset and repeat as Super Bowl champs over the winner of the Green Bay/Washington game.

Either that, or New England will stomp Dallas in the big game (how's that for waffling?).

By the way, another great memory from this year was the fact that my wife and I were able to go to our first NFL game this season. We went to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and watched the Packers win one of their 13 games. It was a great time and the Chiefs fans we were sitting near were a lot of fun. The picture to the right was taken right after the Chiefs fans began to exit en masse and the one to the left was taken as the Pack began their last key defensive stand that resulted in a interception return for a TD.

Is Theology really all that important?

2007-12-26T23:09:00.000-06:00

I've been asked that very question more than once and in more than one way. A lot of Christians get a bit "put off" at the thought of studying theology or doctrine. Those two words, theology and doctrine, tend to be met with moans and groans when mentioned in any setting of Christians outside of academia. One of the best answers I've ever heard or read to the question, "why should I study theology?", was put forth by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. He said, "{If} you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones - bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas.

I was once asked to give a brief overview of systematic theology to an adult Sunday School class. That overview was to be followed by a 4-week study on the subject of Christology. I began the first class by asking the question, "what's the first thought that enters your mind when you hear the term systematic theology?" That question was met by audible groans, some laughter, and one man shouting out, "TROUBLE!" The responses caught me a bit off guard, but I guess I wasn't really all that surprised...people tend to view the study of theology as something that should be left to "professional theologians" - pastors, professors, and the piously argumentative intellectuals who like to hear themselves talk and are visibly shaken when a conversation takes to using too many monosyllabic words!

The fact is that all Christians are theologians...some are just bad ones. We should be constantly striving to learn all that we can about our Heavenly Father. Too many Christians allow their pastor or their church's doctrinal statement to tell them what they believe without ever having bothered to study for themselves. I think it's an understatement to say that this is tragic....why would a Christian operate under the notion that that sort of laziness and apathy is acceptable?

Obviously, study isn't the end all. Increasingly deeper study should lead one to correct doctrine and a correct view of God. A solid grasp on correct doctrine, coupled with a correct view of God, ought to lead one to a more holy way of living as he strives more and more to please God.

Too often I've seen blissfully ignorant Christians take some sort of ridiculous pride in their ignorance of even the most rudimentary portions of theology. I once heard a pastor proudly proclaim, "I ain't no theologian" (that's a word-for-word quote). The sad part was that this proclamation was made during his ordination (a sham if I've ever seen one). The purpose of the ordination was so that he could be sent out to pastor a church elsewhere. He went and within 2 years the church had all but vanished from the face of the earth. That pastor went back to his sending church with tales of how the people were against him the whole time and he was just glad to be back amongst "God's people". (By the way, even though this guy should have known that he was in no way prepared for the pastorate, I hold the pastor of the sending church even more responsible.....another reason I'm so thrilled to be away from the psychotic fringes of IFB-dom). While this is purely anecdotal, there are a million stories just like this one. While these same people can quote Matthew 22:37 by heart, very few of them have ever bothered to consider what the phrase "with all your mind" might encompass.

Is the study of theology really all that important? Absolutely! Let's strive to engage our hearts and minds in diligent study of the things of God. I began a new study on the Doctrine of Scripture this week and came across this great statement from R.C. Sproul, "The Word of God can be in the mind without being in the heart; but it cannot be in the heart without first being in the mind."

Finally back!

2007-12-24T11:38:00.000-06:00

We've been without internet access since my last post on 12/12. We've had cable the entire time, but we were waiting for the cable company to get out here to replace our fried modem - they finally showed up today and all seems right with the world once again!

No lights, no heat, but a lot of fun....

2007-12-12T17:52:00.001-06:00

It's been an interesting couple of days out here in the Midwest US. Ice began flying on Monday early evening and didn't stop until sometime Tuesday mid-morning, only to start up again on Tuesday night. We lost power at our house at about 5:00 Tuesday morning and decided to "hole up" for the day. We were grateful to have our power restored at about 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, but that only lasted for a couple of hours....

So, Tuesday night we moved a large mattress into our bedroom and put the kids down on it. We shut everything up and managed to stay pretty warm in the bedroom even though the temperature dropped below 20 degrees overnight. When we woke up this morning our room was still fairly comfortable, but the rest of the house had dropped down below 50 degrees and was steadily dropping. Listening to the radio we discovered that there was no power anywhere in town, so we went to the Red Cross shelter so we could get a warm cup of coffee and try to find out some information from the folks there. As soon as we got there the Red Cross representative asked us if we wanted to get cots reserved for the five of us since power wasn't expected to be restored for at least 2 days! We got the cots, came home and got bedding, and headed back to the shelter to ride the rest of this thing out.

We spent about 3 hours at the shelter mingling with the folks, eating lunch, and watching "Cars" when suddenly, the lights came on! The problem turned out to be a tad less major than the power company had assumed and they were able to get power restored to a large part of the city...as it turned out, our house was part of that section (although, not everyone in our neighborhood has power just yet).

So, we're back home where it's warm and cozy and I'm sitting here drinking coffee out of my favorite coffee cup. Rarely has a shower and shave felt as good as they did this evening! The kids are a tad disappointed that we didn't get to sleep on the cots at the shelter, but when they found out that school was canceled tomorrow (for the 3rd consecutive day), they kind of forgot about missing out on the adventure of sleeping on cots with a couple of hundred other people!

The entire town is a mess right now. Enough ice dropped that a lot of power lines and a few poles broke. There are trees down all over town and several of the trees in our backyard sustained some pretty major damage. Thankfully, we haven't heard about there being any injuries or deaths due to the storm. Some of the clean up began today, but we've all got a heck of a long week ahead of us. Tonight it's supposed to drop down to 18 degrees or so, but it doesn't like there going to be much moisture in the air, so we shouldn't have any problems overnight.

I'll try to post some pictures of the damage to our property later this week...

Criticism, love, and finding the right balance.

2007-11-28T16:34:00.000-06:00

I’m not a terribly arrogant individual. I’ve been accused of that from time to time, but that’s part of the price one pays for being so darned good looking … people just assume your arrogant. (Note: the last sentence was complete sarcasm….). For one to be involved in blogging, one has to be equipped with a certain level of confidence as well as a fairly “thick skin”. In blogging I tend to be fairly critical of the extremes within Fundamentalism as well as Evangelicalism. More often than not I find myself critiquing and criticizing the whole of Fundamentalism from an insider’s perspective. That’s earned me some well-deserved criticism which has caused me to take a look at what and why I do what I do here at A s For Me and My House … I’m not at all uncomfortable being lumped in with the ever increasing group of people who have grown more and more dissatisfied with what they see in this movement. However, I dislike being summarily written off as a “trouble-maker” or as a loud dissenter who is questioning just for the sake of questioning. I certainly do not want to put forth the notion that I’m merely looking for ways to justify my own fleshly desires. So I’m going to take a little time with this article to attempt to explain my heart a bit.

During the time I’ve been blogging, and really even before that when I was more involved in other venues on the internet, I’ve taken quite a bit of criticism for some of my opinions, questions, thoughts, and (at times) attitudes. Sometimes publicly and other times in email exchanges or personal conversations. Now I’m certainly not alone in this and I willingly admit that I’m a relatively “small fish” in the blogosphere by any standard; however, I want to offer up a small defense for why I choose to question, point out faults, and (at times) name names.

I want to say from the outset that I realize that I’m not always right. As a matter of fact I’ve been proven wrong on many occasions. My approach to whole Joe Zichterman issue is a good example of this. I called the man a false teacher several times and even constructed an utterly foolish “open letter” to him (which, thankfully, I only left up for a few hours before obliterating the post altogether). There are many other examples of where I’ve screwed up here, but I’m not here to talk about those. I only mention these “wrong steps” so that I can say that I understand that in my criticisms of “the movement” I may not be spot on all the time. Having said that, I do criticize openly and without remorse because I think it needs to be done.

Not too long ago I was called (in a private conversation) a “novice who has not earned the right to criticize Fundamentalism”. In so many words I was told that I should keep my mouth shut and turn the guns on the enemy (presumably, the Evangelicals). This took me back a few steps because I have a great deal of respect for the individual who spoke these words to me, but, after some careful thought and prayer on the matter, I think the individual in question is dead wrong. I’m glad to be part of a growing number of people within Fundamentalism who are no longer afraid to tip some sacred cows. I’ll discuss in a bit why I think I’m justified in my approach.

I should note that I understand my limitations. I’m a 35 year old Bible college drop-out who has never been in full-time ministry. I’ve never been a leader within Fundamentalism, nor have I rubbed elbows with very many of the “important folks” within the movement. While most of the "big names" I have gotten to know personally are still thriving within the movement, there are a handful of exceptions who have either left the movement or are now being cut off from large portions of the movement. The way some of them have been “cut off” has caused me an increasingly high level of frustration with the Bob Jones and Northland “orbs” of the movement, but that’s an entirely different discussion (no, that last comment has nothing to do with Zichterman).

With my limited qualifications, I understand the frustration that some might have with unknowns like myself attempting to “call Fundamentalism to the carpet”, but I think I’m justified in doing so. The fact is that I’m a Christian who has spent my lifetime in the movement and who has seen just enough lunacy to justify a response. Like it or not, much within the bulk of Fundamentalism has done a great deal of harm to the body of Christ and to the cause of the Kingdom – that should be addressed.

It wasn't until 6 or 7 years ago that I began to understand that the Body of Christ extended beyond the boundaries of Fundamentalism. I had this idea that anything outside of the movement was sub-par Christianity at best. I couldn't understand how anybody could think otherwise....I've gotten past that Pharisaical judgmentalism, but I still find that sort of thing to be a somewhat common factor within the fundy movement. I admire Fundamentalism's dedication to separation, but I think we've often gone too far and that our contribution to the Body has been to make it increasingly fragmented. A Christian has, I think, an obligation to call attention to this and to point out the errors to those within his sphere of influence (however small that may be).

If our goals - my goal - in criticism is purely to spew, spit, and get a reaction, then everyone is better served if we keep our mouths shut. However, if the goal of criticism is to foster a conversation, generate positive change, and to lovingly work together towards a common good, then we should encourage and welcome the criticism. I think the key to all this is held in looking at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. If you haven't read them before, I've got a series of posts on that passage of Scripture here, here, and here - the last two in particular are worth a read.

Imagine if all our actions were governed by Paul's description of love in the passage mentioned above. I don't know that we could correct all the problems or even get on the same page on everything. But I do think that we would go a long ways in ending some of the infighting and "fragmentalism" that has become such a large part of the movement.....

I'm still here...

2007-11-13T01:08:00.001-06:00

I'm working more often than I'm not these days, so blogging has taken a back seat for a while. I've got more than half a dozen articles that are started, but I just haven't found the time to finish them up. Hopefully I'll be back to blogging sometime this month.

Some of the articles that will be forthcoming will be a series comparing the the basic tenets (thanks for the correction, Don :) ) of Calvinism and Arminianism; an article on the home; a discussion about "rules"; a discussion on worldliness; and a short article concerning discernment. All of these are in the works, and I hope to finish some of them up soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out some of the new blogs I've listed in my blogroll on the left side bar.