August 2006 Entries
Are your Sunday mornings like ours? Probably. Most folks that I know have hectic Sunday mornings - sleep in (just a little), get themselves ready, get their tribe ready, collect whatever "stuff" they need for the morning, load their vehicle of choice, deal with traffic construction, clueless drivers, screaming kids, get there, drop off the kids - no wait, their teachers aren't here yet...FINALLY, get to class or worship and immediately engage your mind and heart to delve deeply into God's Word to be moved dramatically closer to Him in a worship experience like you've never had before. Um...yeah. And...
Long time friend,
Tim Ellsworth
and his wife Sarah (notably, NOT in order of significance of the event)
have had their second child
, Emmalee Ruth Ellsworth:
Ms. Ellsworth was born at 11:12 a.m., named after her grandmother, Emma Lee, whose birthday is today. While I realize it's not polite to discuss a lady's particulars, Emmalee was born weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces and 19 inches long, delivered by a sucessful c-section.
Reports are (from TimEllsworth.com) that mother and baby are doing well. Big brother Daniel is well-prepared (thanks to his parents) to be a big help for his sister and Dad (last but not...
I went to a school dance on Friday night. Mrs. Ketteman.com went too. It was her very first school dance. It was my first in quite some time.
OK, let's just cut to the chase - it was frightening. I was unnerved in so many ways, it's hard to really organize it, but let's start from the top...
First, the person checking people in had to continually repeat, "No drop-offs. No drop-offs." OK, there's only one reason you say that. Apparently, some of the boneheads that we allow to procreate unmonitored determined that it would be OK to drop of their ELEMENTARY...
Some of the readers of this site know that I have a background in pharmacy. I have a continued interest in the profession - mostly because of the disillusionment I dealt with - and when it crosses with a socially-relevant Christian worldview topic, I just can't resist.
Well, today I found an article that mixes the many facets of the "emergency contraception" (EC) drugs that face pharmacists that claim to be Christians in one tidy article (here). Certainly, there have been PLENTY of articles covering what are generally painted as "renegade" pharmacists in the popular media. But the one at Christianity Today...
Happy happy! Joy, joy! According to
LiveScience.com
, within 3 years, people could be testing their blood sugar regularly and painlessly in the convenience of a department store or pharmacy just like they do their blood pressure. Nope, this isn't a scary "stick-your-finger-here" deal, but rather a measurement taken from your tears after a chemically induced cry.
I've been amazed how since I've given my own health (in general, and blood sugar in particular) more attention, how many people have talked to me wondering what was going on with them. So few people know the difference between diabetes (hyperglycemia, which is too high) and hypoglycemia (which...
In
a recent post
, I listed out some of the books I was impacted by. In similar form, I discovered a great little find of books that other leaders in the Christian community recommend.
I ran across
this gem
at a favorite website of mine,
Discerning Reader
. While the site as a whole is useful to get a quick review of a lot of books from folks with a stated worldview similar to my own, I particularly value seeing what respected and esteemed thought leaders I'm already familiar with and that have a proven track record of being God-focused in their work...
Well, I've got quite a few little things I've neglected to post about. I've been so on the heavy side of posting lately. Oh well. It beats not having anything meaningful to talk about. Anyway, to the quick hits:
I neglected to post that I had lunch with an old friend of mine a couple of weeks ago when he came to town.
Tim Ellsworth
(who runs a site I regularly link to and participate on) was in town doing what has to be one of the coolest side-jobs in the world. He got to hang with
MLB
umpires in preparation for an article he's...
I lead a Sunday School class (referred to as a Connection Point for Adult (CPA) class in our church) that is officially categorized as an "Adult, 22-29" grouping. Unofficially and more widely known, is that my class is "the Newlywed Class". I HATE both of these methods of organization. Why? I'm glad you asked. :)
First, churches today need to understand that while "Promotion Sunday" where kids graduate from one classroom/age group to the next works and serves very valid purposes, adults don't bother to graduate classes as they age. I've never seen it happen widely (meaning that there are individual, rare cases of obedience)...
"Blue Like Jazz" has received a lot of attention fairly steadily since it's publishing in 2003. It's STILL (as of this writing) #104 on Amazon.com's Top Books (volume sold) list. Has there been a lot of mainstream media attention? Not that I've seen. It's largely been a grass-roots, word of mouth scenario where folks just talk about this book.
What do they say? Well, you're not likely to find a lot of consensus. By many, it could be considered somewhat "offensive". At minimum, it's a little irreverent. Others see a long-needed shove at the "institution of religion".
It would be...
Not long ago, I read a couple of blogs (here and here) about "daily quiet times" where the discussion turned to the lack of Biblical support for a legalistic approach to setting aside time for what we traditionally think of as our "quiet time". In essence, we shouldn't beat ourselves up because we don't spend our "10 minutes of prayer then 15 minutes reading the Scriptures and 5 minutes of thanksgiving" as our day starts. While I understand and agree with the spirit of these discussions, the principle of this tradition (rather than true Biblical INSTRUCTION) is that we need...
I've been wanting to post more about the books I've been reading, so this seemed like an appropriate start, thanks to my friend TimOne book that changed your life:Aside from the Bible, Visioneering," by Andy StanleyOne book that you have read more than once:"The Purpose Driven Life," by Rick WarrenOne book that you would want on a desert island:I can't substitute the Bible, NASB please!One book that made you laugh:...don't know.One book that made you cry:The Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry JenkinsOne book that you wish would have been written:Since I do write, I rarely think of what I...
Tim Challies
, blogging from the
WorshipGod06
conference, run by
Bob Kauflin
recently had this as part of
report from a recent session
...
How many times have we gathered with the church to worship God and been unaware or only vaguely aware that God is present in His house? How many times have we sung songs of praise with our minds distracted in a thousand different places, completely unaware that God is present in His house? How many sermons have we listened to and been aware of the pastor's voice, but only vaguely aware of God's voice? How many times have we...
I'm going to try hard to NOT make this a rant. We'll see how it goes.
Here's the deal: I'm tired of the Prima Dona attitudes that seems to accompany many in the music field (hobbyist to professional) in supposedly Christian circles, particularly in the arena of worship. That wasn't rant-like, was it? :)
Too often, I've seen many people of varying skill levels be WAY too focused on themselves. Too often, they believe that THEY should be the center of a worship set (of music). Too often they’re incensed when THEY aren’t being used in the way “God told them” they...