Brian's Life

My Favorite Albums of 2010 - How Could I Forget Andrew Peterson

2010-12-18T17:36:00.004-06:00

In my previous post of my favorite albums of 2010, I somehow managed to neglect one of the best, from one of my favorite artists. Don't ask how, especially considering that I attended an incredible concert of his last night, which I had been planning for months.

Here it is:

Andrew Peterson - "Counting Stars"

Genre: Folk, Americana

Favorite Songs: "You Came So Close," "In the Night My Hope Lives On," "The Reckoning (How Long)"

Comments: Andrew Peterson is a mainstay in my queues these days. He regularly produces albums filled with subtle poetry and complex layerings of the best of American instruments (guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin, and more). "Counting Stars" is no exception - an album focused on life and legacy - a worthy tribute to the promise given to Abraham: "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them...So shall your offspring be."

Links: www.andrew-peterson.com. Also check out The Rabbit Room - a site dedicated to Christian discussions of music, literature, and art, complete with a store which sells everything from classic literature to hand-crafted mugs named after literary greats!

My Favorite Albums of 2010

2010-12-17T09:24:00.023-06:00

I listen to a lot of music. Not as much as the real pros, but quite a bit. And of all the music I discovered in 2010, here are my seven favorite albums:

1. Thad Cockrell - "To be Loved"

Genre: Folk, Country, Gospel, Peace

Favorite Songs: "Pride (Won't Get us Where we're Goin)," "Rosalyn"

Comments: For the past five months, when I have really wanted to listen to pleasing music, music that I can just...enjoy...(sigh)...I turn to this album. His heart is on his sleeve, whether singing about love, pain, or simple expressions of faith. No question - my favorite album of the year.

Link: www.thadcockrell.com

2. Jars of Clay - "The Shelter"
Genre: Modern Rock, Acoustic Rock, Makes-you-want-to-join-the-Anthem

Favorite Songs: "We will Follow," "The Shelter"

Comments: The title comes from an old Irish proverb: "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live." Keeping with the theme, a dozen or so of Jars' friends join them on the album, including Derek Webb, Leigh Nash, and Thad Cockrell. Jars of Clay is my favorite band, and this is the best work they have done in the past five years.

Links: www.jarsofclay.com. Also check out their incredible work Blood:Water Mission.

3. The Civil Wars - "Live at Eddie's Attic"

Genre: Dark-Folk, Jazz, Bask-in-the-Sultriness

Favorite Songs: "Dance me to the End of Love" and "Poison and Wine"

Comments: Joy Williams and John Paul White have joined forces to create the best male-female duet I have ever heard. Seriously. The melodies and harmonies, not to mention the purposeful, crisp guitar-playing of White, will grip you all day long.

Links: www.thecivilwars.com. Download the entire album for FREE here. For an incredible song from their upcoming album, check out the official video for "Barton Hollow."

4. Sara Groves - "Fireflies and Songs"

Genre: Acoustic/Piano, Country, Understands-real-life-Relationships

Favorite Songs: "Twice as Good" and "Different Kinds of Happy"

Comments: The whole album is a meditation on the real-world of relationships: the difficult, the mundane, and the beautiful. "Every burden I can't carry; every joy, it's understood. Life with you is half as hard, and twice as good."

Links: www.saragrov es.com. You can find her incredible previous album, "Tell me What you Know" here.

5. The Beaten Sea - "The Beaten Sea"

Genre: Southern-Country, Folk, Give-me-a-banjo-and-spoons-so-I-can-play-along

Favorite Songs: "Doctor's Not Gonna Cure Our Ills" and "Hard Way"

Comments: The Beaten Sea brings together some of the top musicians and songwriters of the rising Dallas music scene. This is toe-tappin', sing-a-long, thought-inspiring music at its best.

Link: www.thebeatensea.com

6. Sleeping at Last - "Storyboards"

Genre: Piano, Orchestral, Dreamy

Favorite Songs: "Chandeliers" and "Timelapse"

Comments: You're not going to jam to this album. You're going to bask in it. Ryan O'Neal's tenor and the flowing orchestration combine to make you want to lie down and enjoy pleasant dreams.

Link: www.sleepingatlast.com

7. Andrew Foster - "The Garden"

Genre: Acoustic, Americana, Folk, Tim-Burtonesque

Favorite Songs: "Evil Tree" and "I Can't Help You Now"

Comments: Hailing from the United Kingdom, Andrew Foster has created - and I mean "created" - a piece of art. From the cover artwork, to the mythological and Tolkenesque feel of "Evil Tree," to the sounds of footsteps tromping through the forest between tracks, this album is a wholistic experience.

Link: www.andrewfostermusic.co.uk

I'm sure I left your favorites off the list. Hey - I can't listen to everything! Please help me solve this problem - COMMENT and tell me your favorites of 2010. I would love to check them out.

Top 5 Books of 2010

2010-12-08T12:26:00.012-06:00

It's that time of year - time for me to share with you my Top 5 Books of the year! I know - exciting, right?!

The one important clarification is that these are my favorite books I read in 2010, not the top 5 published in 2010. I wouldn't dare read only books from the past year...or past fifty years for that matter!

After you've read, let me know what you think, and please share some of your favorite books from the past year.

5. Purgatory (translated by Dorothy Sayers) - Dante Aligheri
C.S. Lewis would be proud of me: avoiding "chronological snobbery" by reading something old, and something so important to Western and Christian culture. Technically, this is 1/3 of the complete book, The Divine Comedy, but no matter. As Dante makes his way out of Hell and up to Paradise, you can't help but rise with him. Take passages like this:

"This water that thou see'st wells from no spring

By condensation of cold cloud supplied,

Like streams that have their spate and slackening,

But from a fount whose sure and constant tide

Ever by God's good grace will regain at source

Whate'er it freely spends on either side.

With twofold powers it runs a twofold course:

This side blots all man's sins from memory;

That side to memory all good deed's restores." (Canto XXVIII, lns. 121-129)

(Make sure you get Dorothy Sayers' translation. She writes in 20th-century English, but maintains the poetic form and structure of 14th-century Dante)

4. This Momentary Marriage - John Piper
There are a million books on marriage, but I doubt many better than this. I liked this book because:

- It focuses on the theological and spiritual centers of marriage, rather than dwelling only on practical issues (those books can be helpful too).

- It features the sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on marriage. Those are a treasure in themselves.

- It considers the issue of marriage more broadly, highlighting how the church should approach subjects like singleness, hospitality, and divorce.

Some beautiful words, and some hard words, but all good words.

3. Counterfeit Gods - Tim Keller

Tim Keller has been preaching from Manhattan for more than twenty years, but his writing career has only really taken off in the last three. And what a flurry it has been - five books in three years, and counting.

The subtitle says it all: The Empty Promises of Sex, Money, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters. Keller takes a look at how these things have become idols in our present-day society, and argues why Jesus is the solution. This guy is a committed Christian, a voracious reader, and he loves New York City. He is likely to quote ancient-near-eastern academic works, biblical commentaries, and The New Yorker on the same page. And I think that's cool.

2. One of Ours - Willa Cather
If I read a Willa Cather book, chances are, it's going to be on my "Top 5" List. I don't think anyone creates such realistic, such human characters as Willa Cather. When I finish her books, I feel like I've known the characters all my life.

Although this novel begins in Nebraska (like My Antonia and O Pioneers!), it follows Claude Wheeler as he makes his way to Europe to participate in World War I. An honest portrait of a young midwestern man, who constantly struggles between his love for home, and his desire to know the wider world around him.

1. The Book of the Dun Cow - Walter Wangerin, Jr.

Don't let the odd title turn you off - The Book of the Dun Cow won the American Book Award in 1978, and is my greatest discovery of 2010. The story is an allegory, in which all the characters are animals - Chauntecleer the rooster, Pertelote the hen, Mundo Cani the dog, and many others. But the story is anything but a simple farm tale.

It's an epic tragedy, a story about how a community, in the bonds of faith and love, can overcome the most painful disasters, and the greatest of evils. I won't command you to get this as a must-read, but you should strongly consider picking it up.

Please share some of your favorite books in the Comments Section. I'd love to hear about them!

Here are links to my favorite books of the past few years:

Top Books of 2009

Top Books of 2008

Top Books of 2007

Free $3 of mp3s at Amazon.com

2010-11-22T15:40:00.002-06:00

Until Monday, November 29, you can get $3 of FREE credit for downloadable mp3s at amazon.com.

Just go to this page at Amazon.com, make sure you're signed in to your account, and enter the code "GET3MP3S" when prompted.

A message box should immediately pop up, showing that your account has been credited with $3.

You should now be able to purchase $3-worth of songs, and the credit will automatically be applied to your purchase.

I downloaded Thad Cockrell and Caitlyn Cary's "Begonias" album.

Remember, the $3 credit will disappear after 11/29, so don't save it!

Free Music from Cardiphonia

2010-11-08T14:07:00.002-06:00

The folks at Cardiphonia have collaborated to produce a new album. The fifteen songs are reworkings of an 1866-collection of hymns based on the Apostle's Creed.

A bunch of artists contributed, but the basic style is acoustic, folk, minimalistic.

Best of all, you can listen and download the album for free! Here's the link.

Enjoy.

Individual Rights and The Public Good - How do you Draw the Line?

2010-11-02T23:14:00.005-05:00

As I watch election results, I am realizing that for the most part, one dichotomy seems to summarize the ideological rift between Republicans and Democrats: "Individual Rights" vs. "The Public Good."

In one corner, you have the
Republicans, who champion individual rights. For example, Republicans oppose health care, because it takes away individuals' rights to choose their own health care, and takes away individuals' money, distributing it to the public.

In the other corner (now, weighing in at much less),
you have the Democrats, who fight for the public good. Keeping with the health-care example, Democrats support public health care, precisely because it is for the good of the broader public, even if it does take away some individual rights.

Of course, this isn't a comprehensive description, free of exceptions. Republicans like to talk about the public good when defending foreign wars (it's for protecting the public), and Democrats like to espouse individual rights in their support for abortion (the woman's right, that is). Both support an individual's right to free speech, and both support taxes for building roads for the public good. But for the most part, I think this dichotomy sums it up.

So, here's my question: How do we draw the line between the two? Or, when faced with the choice of one or the other on a particular issue, how do you choose between supporting individual rights, or supporting the public good?

To my Republican friends: How do you decide where individual rights should end, and the public good should begins? (Think of things like taxes and medical care)

To my Democrat friends: How do you decide when the public good should end, and individual rights should begin? (Think of things like property-ownership and parental authority over childhood education)

Most of the time, I think I like the Libertarian answer best: "I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure it's not the federal government's job to figure it out."

Field of Dreams - Fathers and Sons

2010-10-31T20:24:00.004-05:00

We watched "Field of Dreams" on Friday night. I hadn't seen it in years, and Janelle had never - yes, I said "never" - seen it. As usual, I laughed, questioned, and enjoyed myself throughout.

Have you ever thought about how truly weird that movie is? Not the baseball field in the corn field - that's not too weird. I mean, the voices from the sky, dead guys playing ball, and time travel that form the backbone of the movie. I love it, but when I think about most movies, I think, that one is weird!

The whole movie, really, is about the relationship between a father and a son. It's a good story, but lacking a bit in the end for depth of relationship. It made me think of three of my favorite movies about fathers and sons, which do a much superior job:

1. "Big Fish" - my favorite movie, period.
2. "Dead Poet's Society" - explores the theme, but through tragedy
3. "Up" - there is not a father to be found in the movie, but I'm pretty sure that's what the movie's about anyway.

Do you have any favorite father-son movies?

Free $3 of mp3-credit at Amazon.com

2010-10-31T06:52:00.003-05:00

Until Monday, November 1, you can get $3 of FREE credit for downloadable mp3s at amazon.com.

Just go to this page at Amazon.com, make sure you're signed in to your account, and enter the code "STUDENT3" when prompted. A message box should immediately pop up, showing that your account has been credited with $3.

I think I'm going to have to see what all the hubub about Kings of Leon is all about.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan Edwards

2010-10-05T09:06:00.007-05:00

307 years ago, my hero was born. Happy Birthday to Jonathan Edwards.

Through Edwards's life, writings, and influence on others, I have become the man I am today. I'm thankful to Jonathan Edwards for so many reasons. Here are a few:

1. He married Sarah Pierpont at the age of twenty-four, and was faithful to her for the rest of his life (which ended early, and tragically, at the age of 58, when he died from complications from a smallpox vaccine).

2. He raised eleven children, and considered them his primary flock, more important than his ministry and work.

3. When controversies broke out, he was well-known for being a voice of peace and reason. For example, he tried to bring together vying opinions on the revivals of the First Great Awakening by appealing to Scripture, rather than to feelings or tradition. At one point, he even worked himself out of a job in order that his congregation might be peacefully reunited to the congregation and pastor from whom they had split.

4. Edwards was a scholar. He wrote voluminously, and he wrote with incredible breadth. Theological essays on the nature of God, philosophical works on the freedom of the will, and scientific inquiries on light and spiders all flowed from his pen. His brilliance was recognized by Princeton University when they asked him to take over as President late in his life. Perry Miller, one of the greatest historians of America, and a professed atheist, considered Edwards the greatest mind that America has ever produced.

5. Edwards was a passionate man. Being a scholar did not preclude him from experiencing and expressing deep emotion toward God or his fellow humans.

6. Jonathan Edwards had a missionary mind. He was never content to hole up at home, but always looked for ways to extend the kingdom of God. This led him to become a pastor to all sorts of people, including white colonists, Indians in Massachusetts, and university students.

Thank you, Jonathan Edwards, for your life of passionate faithfulness. I hope, I pray that I will imitate you, as you imitated Christ.

If you're interested in reading about Edwards (and I hope you are!), check out:

Jonathan Edwards: A Life (THE biography to read)

A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (excellent, succinct, less-scholarly, biography)
God's Passion for His Glory (a short bio, along with a text from Edwards)
To Live Upon Hope: Mohicans and Missionaries in the Eighteenth-Century Northeast (broad look at missions to the Mohicans, which includes an excellent chapter on Edwards's work as a missionary)

The Essential Edwards Collection (five-volume explanation of major themes in Edwards's writings)

If you're interested in reading some of Edwards's work, I recommend:

The Religious Affections (my personal favorite)

The End for Which God Created the World

Charity and its Fruits

Mosque in Lower Manhattan - Why we Should Allow it, and Answering Objections

2010-08-17T08:48:00.005-05:00

The issue of the construction of a Muslim mosque and community center in lower Manhattan has been everywhere for the last few weeks. I have been thinking and talking about it for weeks, and I'd like to offer my thoughts on the issue here, in two parts: First, by providing reasons why we should support allowing the mosque to be built, and second, by answering common objections to its construction.

REASONS WE SHOULD SUPPORT ALLOWING THE MOSQUE TO BE BUILT
1. The First Amendment
The 1st Amendment to the Constitution declares that all citizens have freedom of religion. More than that, the state constitution of New York also allows such freedom. In a country which, along with all its fifty states, has codified freedom of religion, all private citizens should be able to practice their religion freely, within the bounds of the law. Building a mosque is a prime example of private citizens, practicing their religion, within the bounds of the law.

2. Private Property
Private property has been jealously guarded by Americans for centuries. As long as people are operating according to local laws and ordinances, they should be allowed to do whatever they want on their own, private property. To deny this right is to deny one of the fundamental - if not THE fundamental - principles of our country (remember that whole "taxation without representation" thing...). This includes building a house of worship.

3. Precedent
The group that wants to build this new mosque and community center has already been worshiping, in a mosque, on the same property, for years. This "new" mosque is basically a major expansion, not a new thing. Furthermore, another mosque exists just two blocks further from this site (4 blocks from Ground Zero), and this mosque predates the construction of the twin towers. Why has no one been protesting this mosque the last four decades?

ANSWERING COMMON OBJECTIONS
1. This is a Christian nation; we shouldn't be allowing mosques
This is a big issue, but I'll focus on the most important part. The vast majority of the Framers of the Constitution supported freedom of religion in society. Most of them would have personally identified with Christianity, but fought hard to make it legal for anyone, of any religion, to practice freely in the United States. This included Muslims, with whom they were all well-acquainted when they wrote the Constitution.

2. This is hallowed ground
Ground Zero should absolutely be set apart as a special place, a place of memorial, a place of mourning for our country. No question. Building a mosque - or anything - on that property would not be a good thing.

But the proposed mosque is NOT being built on Ground Zero; it's being built two blocks away, on different ground. Have you ever been to Manhattan? Need I list the other sorts of places which are only two blocks from Ground Zero which certainly do not qualify as holy...

3. This is just Muslims "rubbing it in," "twisting the knife," etc.
These Muslims tell us that they are trying to establish a peaceful place of worship, and a service-center for the community. If all (or even many) Muslims disputed this, and meanwhile claimed that they supported the 9/11 attack, this objection might be true (this, of course, assumes that you don't think that all Muslims are secretly liars and terrorists. If so, this sort of post is not going to work for you).

But we must remember: terrorists committed this crime, not Muslims. I know that they claimed to be Muslims, but it does not, therefore, logically follow that all Muslims supported this. If this logic held, we would have to blame the Catholic Church for the Oklahoma City bombing and Southern Baptists for the murder of abortion doctors and the bombing of abortion clinics (because the respective terrorists at those sites claimed those religions). Of course, this is ridiculous.

4. Saudi Arabia won't allow any churches. Why should we allow one more mosque?
You're right - Saudi Arabia doesn't allow Christians to build churches. That's because it's the law there. They also don't allow freedom of assembly or freedom of the press like we have. Again, it's their law. It may be wrong, but it's their established law. But our law guarantees freedom of religion for all, regardless of creed.

So be honest: Do you want to respect the law, or do you want your particular views on religion to be the law. Just be careful what you wish for.

5. This is not particularly wise, especially considering the timing.
This objection is the only one I've heard thus far that holds any water. Constructing the mosque may be legal, but it may not - may not - be wise at this time.

My only problem with this argument is that it has no expiration date. If you object based on this, I ask you - In your estimation, when will it be good timing? When will it be wise? If you answer "never," then the issue for you isn't wisdom; it's something else lurking beneath.

I would love to hear your comments. But please, be kind, and be on-topic.

1833 Headline - Keep Church out of State!

2010-07-08T14:37:00.005-05:00

In 1833, many people rejoiced in Massachusetts. Their state passed an amendment that abolished official state support for church. They were the last state in the Union to do so. Finally, thousands of people thought, the government would stop supporting particular religions and would get to its proper business - government.

Who do you think the most avid supporters of this amendment were?

"None had greater occasion for rejoicing than the Baptists."

Why would religious people - evangelical Christians - support the idea of the state NOT officially supporting religion? Because they had "suffered much injustice by being taxed for the support of a State church." Baptists had been the minority Christian religion, and because of this, they had experienced the violation of their civil rights for decades.

Evangelical Christians championed the idea of getting government to stop declaring a particular religion, and start providing religious liberty for all. "Massachusetts Baptists were first and foremost in the assertion of the principles of soul liberty and universal toleration.” Likewise, in 1800, Virginian evangelicals purposefully supported Thomas Jefferson for President, not IN SPITE of his being a non-Christian Deist, but BECAUSE he was a Deist who avidly believed in religious freedom for all faiths. Did you get that? Deist Jefferson won the presidency BECAUSE of Christians who supported his belief that the government should NOT endorse a particular religion!

If this is American evangelical Christianity's heritage - rejecting the idea of the state or national government supporting particular religious groups - then why is it that evangelical Christians today are the ones MOST upset about the views of our leaders regarding religious toleration?

My answer: Because evangelicals are no longer the minority. They're now the majority. It was one thing when Congregationalists and Anglicans ruled the roost in 1800. Now they're on top. The rulers now get to make the rules...and they want it to stay that way.

Sad.

All quotes come from W.H. Eaton, A Historical Sketch of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society and Convention, 1902)

Warfare and Oil

2010-06-04T15:45:00.005-05:00

Stephen Colbert on the prospect of nuking the oil spill:

"The nuclear option is always on the table. Of course, we'll never use it, but it acts as a deterrent against that oil spill. And we already know it has chemical and biological weapons, because it is them."

Speaking of warfare and oil spills: Why do you think it is that the oil spill is being covered 24-7, while the TWO wars we're in get covered in the news every once and a while. I mourn the death of pelicans, but I mourn even more the death of innocent Afghani and Iraqi civilians.

Is it because of the moral implications of the ecological disaster?
Or is it because we simply care so much about anything to do with oil?
Or is it something else?
Thoughts?

Newcastle Brown Ale and Adoption

2010-06-01T10:17:00.002-05:00

No deep thoughts today. This commercial just cracks me up:

Family Guy and the Founding Fathers

2010-05-18T20:35:00.002-05:00

Considering my last post, I couldn't resist posting this clip:

(Thanks to my friend Raghu for pointing me to this. It will definitely be referenced in my future U.S. History courses!)

Four Reasons we Should Never Invoke "The Founders"

2010-05-18T13:36:00.008-05:00

In any political argument, it's the ultimate evidence; the ultimate trump card; the ultimate way of stopping your opponent in his tracks - just say, "The Founders believed..."

It's also a terrible intellectual blunder. Here are four reasons why no one should ever invoke "The Founders":

1. There is no one recognized club of "Founders" (If only there was a Facebook group).
- Are you talking about some of the common big names, like Washington, Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson? Or, are you talking about some lesser-known men like Witherspoon, Henry, Marshall, and Jay? Maybe you're more progressive and want to talk about Abigail Adams. Turns out, no one is EVER talking about the same individuals in these arguments.

2. There is no one point or event in United States History that can be dubbed "THE founding."
- Could be the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Could be the Articles of Confederation in 1781. Could be the Constitution in 1787. Could even be the Virginians in 1607 or the Puritans in 1620. Who your "Founders" are will depend on which dates and events you choose to focus on.

3. The "Founders" were a diverse group of people, with a diverse set of beliefs on everything.
- The Constitution did not fall out of heaven already complete, with everyone in perfect agreement on its divine origin. It was forged through days of debates, and scores of compromises. No single man at the Constitutional Convention got exactly what he wanted. What every man did get was a document of compromise that they could all settle with, even if they didn't agree with everything in it.

4. The "Founders" were humans, who changed their minds over time.
- A good example of this is James Madison. In 1787, he was the primary architect of the Constitution, pushing for a stronger national government than many of his contemporaries wanted (Jefferson, Henry). Only a decade later, in 1798, he helped Jefferson draft the Kentucky and Virgina Resolutions, classic defenses of the rights of states to challenge the power of the national government. So if you're referring to Madison in your founders argument, which Madison are you referring to?

The Founders were many, diverse, and human. Appealing to them like they're Jesus re-personified, or a unified biblical text is unfair, and unhelpful.

Spoof of Alabama Gubernatorial Candidate's "English Only" Commercial

2010-05-14T09:02:00.002-05:00

As many of you may have seen, Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James released a commercial a few weeks ago which advocated "English-only" drivers licenses tests in Alabama. His argument for this boiled down to two things:

1. "This is Alabama. We speak English." (I think the British would beg to differ)
2. "It just makes sense." (to whom?)

Today, I ran across this spoof video. Regardless of what you think about the issue, you've got to admit, this is funny!

P.S. - I still can't figure out how to NOT get my blog to NOT cut off the right side of embedded videos. Can anyone help?

In Feast or Fallow

2010-04-28T10:59:00.002-05:00

Sandra McCracken has just released another GREAT album. She calls it a "new old hymn" album, recordings of old hymns set to new music.

You can download the album today at Amazon.com for only $5.99.

Noisetrade - Great Idea, Great Music

2010-04-08T09:42:00.007-05:00

There's a great website out there for musicians and music-lovers:
Noisetrade
Artists - many of them independent of record labels - can place their albums on this website for a small fee. Then, fans and music lovers can download their music directly. You have the option of "tipping" the artist ANY amount you want, or you can even download the album for free. All the site asks for is your email address and zip code (if you pay, then of course, you give a credit card number).

Normally, musicians make only a couple bucks off of a $15 album; the rest goes to everyone else involved in the process. But through noisetrade, you connect directly to the artist, and thus, ALL the money you give goes DIRECTLY to the artist. So, if an artist normally makes only $2 off a $15 album purchase through retail, a tip of $4 for an album through Noisetrade would actually double their normal profits.

So, let's sum up:
1. Great music for anything you want to pay.
2. Lots of publicity for aspiring musicians.
3. Dealing with the artist directly, thereby helping them more efficiently.
4. Be generous. It's hard being an artist!

Here are some of my favorite Noisetrade artists so far (I don't guarantee they're all still on the site):

The Allens

Micah Dalton

Jill Phillips

Sleeping at Last

The Civil Wars

New Names for PETA

2010-04-08T09:30:00.004-05:00

I got a really good chuckle out of the following blogpost this morning. And no, it's not because I enjoy killing animals (although I do enjoy eating meat). It's really short, and you should read it:

5 Suggestions in case PETA Ever Wants a New Name

Here's my entry:

Bringing Understanding To Carnivores: Herbivores Eat Right!

Opening Day

2010-04-06T08:30:00.003-05:00

Opening Day for baseball! Go Red Sox and Rangers!

And Mark Buehrle - wow! Check out the play below - likely the best defensive play he will make all year (or maybe in his whole career). Stick around for the slow-motion view.

(P.S. - I guess you'll have to go to Youtube to see the entire frame. I have no idea how to keep my blog from cutting off the video. Anyone have any recommendations?)

Easter...for the grandparents

2010-04-05T16:52:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Some pictures for the grandparents, and for all those who enjoy photos of really, really adorable little 3-year-old boys!

Five Reasons why Current-Day Tea Parties are NOT like the Boston Tea Party

2010-03-31T09:27:00.005-05:00

We all have beliefs. And we all want really important people to back up our beliefs; it gives us a real sense of confidence. It makes us even more confident when we can expropriate people or events from the past in support of our current-day agenda.

This is almost always a problem.

The problem with claiming historical people and events as support for your present-day agenda is that those things from the past arose and played out in a completely different context than your own. Of course, this is no problem for people who are willing to bend the historical record anyway.

Take, for example, today's "tea parties." They claim that they are acting in the same spirit as those patriots of 1773 who helped lead the thirteen American colonies toward independence. Obviously, this gives them a leg-up - How can anyone question them when they're simply doing the same thing that our founding fathers did?!

Well, here are five ways that the current-day tea parties are different from the tea parties of the 1770s.

1. The colonial tea parties protested taxation without representation. The current tea parties protest taxation that they don't like.

2. The colonial tea parties sought to produce unity among the colonies against an oppressive government. The current-day tea parties do not produce unity among anyone but themselves. In fact, they seem to promote disunity, particularly when it comes to race or party-affiliation.

3. The colonial tea parties focused solely on indictments of what they believed to be an oppressive government. The current-day tea parties indict the Democratic party (as if the previous administration was so different) and also happen to be filled with people who think that shouting racist remarks at United States congressmen is part of the agenda.

4. The colonial tea parties propelled American-wide sacrifice in the form of boycotts in order to get their point across. The current-day tea parties propel mass-spending and nationwide events (which are very profitable for a few) and say nothing of families cutting back on their own spending to curb possible higher taxation rates.

5. The colonial tea party-goers understood that their organized resistance could undermine society and government, and acted accordingly. Current-day tea party-goers are quick to complain and talk of secession, but very few seem to understand (or even talk about) the ramifications of such talk.

I'm upset about too-high taxes and too-involved government too. But I'm also a historian, and I refuse to illegitimately draft historical persons and events into my own war.

Cool Stats from the NCAA Tournament

2010-03-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Nothing original from me here. Just some cool stats about the NCAA tournament thus far:

- For the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, three one-bid conferences (the Horizon League, Ivy League and Missouri Valley Conference) had their teams advance to the Sweet 16.

• Thirteen games were decided by three points or fewer and four games were decided in overtime.

• Lower-seeded teams won 16 of the games during the first two rounds, including 11 won by double-digit seeds.

• The South Regional semifinal game between 1-seed Duke and 4-seed Purdue is the only matchup in which the highest possible seeds reached the Sweet 16. And one could argue that even that matchup is a surprise. If they're honest, most will tell you they didn't have the Robbie Hummel-less Boilermakers in the Sweet 16 in their bracket.

• For the first time in four years, none of the four regions has each of its top four seeds in the Sweet 16. That "Bracket of Death" that we all talked about on Selection Sunday -- the treacherous Midwest? Well, that regional is down to a 2-seed, 5-seed, 6-seed and 9-seed.

• The Big Ten sent three teams (Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue) to the Sweet 16, more than any other conference. Big Ten teams went 7-2 in the first two rounds.

•The Big East, which had eight of its 16 teams playing in the NCAA tournament, has only two teams in the regional semifinals (Syracuse and West Virginia). Big East teams went 6-6 in the first two rounds.

• For the third time in four seasons, only one ACC team (Duke) reached the Sweet 16. Before this current stretch, the conference sent at least two teams to the regional semifinals in each of the previous 27 NCAA tournaments. ACC teams went 5-5 in the first two rounds.

• How's this for parity? Eleven different conferences have teams playing in the regional semifinals, including two teams (Kentucky and Tennessee) from the much-maligned SEC and one team (Washington) from the much-more-maligned Pac-10.

• And for only the third time since 1985, four teams seeded 9th or worse (No. 9 Northern Iowa, No. 10 Saint Mary's, No. 11 Washington and No. 12 Cornell) reached the Sweet 16.

Bottom line: That was one heck of a way to open up the 2010 NCAA tournament.

What was wrong with the Tebow Ad

2010-02-10T21:21:00.005-06:00

Focus on the Family could have - should have - done better. Don't get me wrong - I'm in favor of pro-life ads. But when you have an opportunity like they did, and then you use it to display some slapstick humor, you've lost a bunch of my confidence, in both your aims and your methods. I agree in a major way (although not totally) with Amy Hall when she said:

"The ad implies that a woman shouldn’t abort, because if her fetus is brought to term it could grow up to be a wonderful, well-mannered and stunningly successful young man. There are other messages packed into the 30-second commercial, but the gist is clear: save your pregnancy. Wager for life, and you too might win the grand prize of proud motherhood...

Family life, like most football, is about mud and mess more about than winning a lottery. We love the kids smearing nacho cheese on the couch, not because we wagered and won, but because they are our children...We signed on for kids knowing that life wasn’t going to be a Super Bowl game. It was going to be many smaller games, games such as Pick Up The Toddler’s Cheerios, played again and again...

But that message would have required more time and more moxie to present. It might have included a woman finding out that her baby could be born with cognitive disabilities, then signing on only to learn that her city’s services and public schools lack the funding to help her and her child. It might have shown that child’s big sister helping him across the street, love mixed with sheer sibling resolve. A truthful snippet on mothering would have been smaller scale and rawer. Using a Super Success Story to promote the value of all life is silly."

Maybe, maybe, "silly" is an unfair word. But if it wasn't silly, it was, at the very least, wasteful - a major opportunity squandered.

You can find the whole article here

30 Rock and American History

2010-01-26T13:47:00.003-06:00

This post isn't nearly as culturally thoughtful as the title might suggest. I just saw some funny American History clips on 30 Rock and thought I'd share them:

(p.s. - there are three different clips, and sorry for the right side getting cut off. I don't know how to fix that)

Why Work?

2010-01-18T10:41:00.002-06:00

A great quote from Dorthy Sayers' "Why Work?":

"The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables."

The Apostles complained rightly when they said it was not meant they should leave the word of God and serve tables; their vocation was to preach the word. But the person whose vocation it is to prepare the meals beautifully might with equal justice protest: It is not meant for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the word."

I am SO glad that people like Dr. Williams and Dr. Naugle taught me this at DBU. Before that, I assumed that the only way I could serve God was by being a pastor. Now, I know I can do it by reading American History books too (although I'm not enjoying it too much at this moment!).

Five Favorite Books of 2009

2009-12-10T16:28:00.001-06:00

Here are my favorite five books I read in 2009. They're not necessarily the best-selling books, the funniest, or even the most engrossing - just the ones that I liked the best at the end of the year. In no particular order:

Adopted for Life - Russell Moore

The theology, ecclesiology, and practical

aspects of adoption, all wrapped up in an intensely personal story. Everyone - especially Christians - should read.

Thoughts for Young Men - J.C. Ryle

Honest, frank, and deep little book from an old Anglican bishop to the young men in his congregation. I worked through this with the high school guys at my church this Fall.

The Minutemen and their World - Robert Gross

Why did the Minutemen of Concord fire the first shots of the American Revolution? This book seeks to understand their reasons in light of the history of the people of the town, not just the immediate "no taxation without representation" business.

O Pioneers! - Willa Cather

I heart Willa Cather. You meet engaging, down-to-earth characters (as if they were people you've known for a long time) and explore the beauties of the land. The stories are never fantastical, but always intriguing enough to grip your heart even after you're done.

The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

3rd time is a charm. Once when I was 14, once when I was 19, and now again. I think I like LOTR more this time for two reasons: I've grown up, and just feel more keenly the moral weight of it, and second, I've grown to love the land in fiction. And Tolkien does that just about as well as anyone else.

Please, take a few minutes and share your favorite books of the year with me. I'd love to hear from you.

iTunes Holiday Sampler

2009-12-10T14:24:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know, iTunes gives away 2-4 songs for FREE every Tuesday. Their selections reflect a really broad range of musical styles, so chances are that you'll find something you like every couple weeks.

For those of you who like Christmas music, this week, they're actually giving away 20 free songs on the "iTunes Holiday Sampler." Just go to iTunes main "Store" page, and you should be able to locate it pretty easily.

Enjoy

Now that's "Reporting from the field."

2009-08-31T09:21:00.001-05:00

Thoughtful Soccer

2009-08-28T13:53:00.002-05:00

I think most people would find this video funny. Or, maybe it will just be those who are interested in philosophical/theological topics.

Or, maybe I'm alone, and I'm just a nerd...

Time's Top 50 Websites of 2009

2009-08-24T20:48:00.002-05:00

Time Magazine has just released its Top 50 Websites of 2009.

If you want to find out about some really cool websites - everything from music, to cooking, to astronomy, to traveling - then you should check this out. But be prepared; once you start looking, you may on the net for a while!

Correction on Chick-fil-a

2009-08-24T09:52:00.002-05:00

Correction - your shirt does NOT have to be NCAA, just your favorite sports team. I'm pretty sure that it can be any college, any pro team, etc.

That should help some of you out.

Free Chick-fil-a

2009-08-24T07:57:00.002-05:00

For you Chick-fil-a lovers out there (and really, how could you not be), if you got to www.chickenwave.com, sign up, and then (I think) show up on Labor Day wearing NCAA apparel, it will earn you a free chicken sandwich.

It sounds a little complicated, and it may be. My guess is that they're doing it on purpose because of what happened last year. They gave away 3 free chicken strips to ANYONE who came into a store in NCAA apparel, and then proceeded to lose quite a bit of money from handing out free food to a bagillion people all day.

Classical Guitar meets Michael Jackson

2009-08-16T20:04:00.001-05:00

I don't care whether you like Michael Jackson or not. This is cool.

Incidentally, I'm a fan of quite a few of Jackson's songs, particularly this one.

Remembering Hiroshima

2009-08-06T16:16:00.003-05:00

Remembering the 100,000 innocent men, women, and children who died in Hiroshima sixty-four years ago.

Old Pics of Jonathan

2009-07-30T14:09:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago, some very dear people send us pictures of Jonathan from his first 20 months of life, before we got him. They are family of Wayne, the man who kept Jonathan for most of those 20 months.

Of course, I know all about adoption from the adopted end. But, it's really odd to be on the adopting end, and realize that you've never seen what your son looked like before you got him, that he had a whole life going on before you met.

Here are a couple pictures for fun:

He still makes that face!

Christian Providentialist History at its finest

2009-07-24T14:41:00.004-05:00

Current Christian Providentialist History bothers me to no end. Now, I'm not talking about the belief that a providential God directs all of history; I believe that.

I'm talking about Americans who try to teach that America is or ever has been God's chosen nation (which it hasn't). Or Americans who teach that most of the founders of the Republic in 1776 or 1787 were orthodox Christians themselves (which they weren't). Or those who believe those same founders were doing everything they could to establish an avowedly Christian nation (which they weren't).

Now, it's no secret I disagree with this providentialist view of American history. However, I respect people who do honest historical research and come to different conclusions than I do. What I don't respect are people like David Barton who purposefully tamper with documents to make founders like John Adams sound like they are orthodox Christians, when in fact, they claim just the opposite (Adams openly rejected the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, and many other doctrines that all orthodox Christians have always believed).

I also don't respect the guy in this story. Basically, this man - Terry Kemple - has decided to put billboards up all over his county with quotations from founders of the republic. These quotations all have something to do with the importance of religion in American society. If he wants to put up quotations like this, with his own money, that's his business.

But the problem comes with this: He put up one billboard which cites George Washington saying, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

One minor problem - George Washington never said that. The greater problem - Kemp KNOWS Washington never said this. Read Kemple's response when asked about this:

"I don't believe there's a document in Washington's handwriting that has those words in that specific form," Kemple said. "However, if you look at Washington's quotes, including his farewell address, about the place of religion in the political sphere, there's no question he could have said those exact words."

Are you kidding me?! Let me get this straight: you think U.S. politics has thrown off its Christian heritage. So, in order to get it back into the public-political square, we should flat-out lie about the past, as long as it supports our agenda.

That sounds so...unchristian.

P.S. - George Washington is one of my heroes...and I don't hate America.

Saving the Perfect Game

2009-07-24T11:32:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game. For you non-baseball fans out there, that's when a pitcher throws for all nine innings without allowing a single hit or walk. That's a big deal. To put it into perspective, it's only the 18th perfect game EVER thrown in Major League Baseball.

Of course, a pitcher can't do it by himself. Check out this video of Dewayne Wise saving the perfect game in the 9th inning, with only three outs left.

Very cool.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Professor/Robber?

2009-07-22T15:55:00.004-05:00

Everyone see this news story?

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., distinguished professor at Harvard University, and probably the most influential and powerful black scholar in U.S. History, was arrested at his home last week.

Why was he arrested?

Because he was black. Call my cynical, but that's just how I see it.

Here are some facts: He came home to Cambridge, MA, from a trip to China to find his door jammed. He and his driver had to give it a good shove to get inside. A few minutes later, the police showed up, responding to a neighbors' report that two black men with backpacks were trying to break into his house (seriously, his long-time neighbor didn't recognize him? Give me a break).

When the office got there, confrontation ensued. Stories differ from this point on, but basically, the officer assumed that Gates was breaking in. Even after Gates showed the officer his IDs (a Massachusetts drivers's license and his Harvard ID), the office arrested him for disorderly conduct. Gates spent a few hours in jail, complete with mug shot.

Seriously?!!! I shouldn't be surprised. I've never been arrested, but the same kind of racial-profiling nonsense has happened to me, and it's been happening in our country since its inception. Blacks have always received it, as have Indians. The Irish immigrants got it in the early-19th century, Italians and southeastern Europeans in the mid-to-late-19th century, Chinese immigrants in the early-20th, Germans during World War I, Japanese and Germans during World War II, and most recently, anyone who looked anything like someone from the Middle East post-9/11.

Sad, just sad.

God is invisible, but what about his car?

2009-07-08T14:11:00.003-05:00

After putting Jonathan down for a nap, I had to go back in his room. He was screaming because of monsters (I still don't know if he's honestly scared, or if he's using the monster-scheme to get me in there. It could be either).

Either way, I comforted him, and told him that the monsters aren't real. Here was our short conversation:

"Who is real?" I asked.
Jonathan immediately replied, "God. Mommy and Daddy."
"Are monsters real?" I asked.
"No."
"Good, son."
"See God?"
I was ready for that one: "No, son, we cannot see God. He is invisible and infinite," I assured him. "But He watches over you, and he sent us Jesus so that we could better understand Him."

After about five seconds, during which I could tell he was really thinking about something, he asked, "See God's car?"

That kid loves cars. Since he thinks my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am is cool, I'm sure he was thinking, if God is that big, He must have a totally awesome ride.
.

Over-spiritualizing is really unspiritual

2009-07-07T08:27:00.004-05:00

I found this comic today, which made me have all kinds of funny and unfortunate memories:

Don't get me wrong - it's not that drinking coffee can't be spiritual. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us that whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. So, drinking coffee with a friend, done to the glory of God, can be a spiritual act of eternal significance.

But, it's also ok to just like some good coffee. It's ok to just like a book because it awoke some deep emotion in you, and you really don't know why. It's ok to have a conversation about sports over the dinner table.

When I was at DBU, there was a group of students on campus that my friends and I dubbed the "psycho-Calvinists." We didn't call them this because they were Calvinists. After all, my friends and I were all either already Calvinists ourselves or were on our ways there. I found out later that there were lots more budding Calvinists on campus than I ever knew, but many were closet-Calvinists because they didn't want to be associated with the psycho-Calvinists.

We called them this, because no matter where we were or what we were doing, all these people wanted to talk about was Calvinistic theology (usually double predestination, the multiple meanings of the love of God, or some other Calvinesque topic). We couldn't just sit at the lunch table and talk about English class, or the weather, or our love for Arminius (that's what we call a boring theological joke). Their forcing us to overspiritualize every topic of conversation made life very annoying, tedious, and frankly, unspiritual. And last time I checked, those are not enjoyable or profitable adjectives.

This is no call for thoughtlessness, just an apologetic for being able to enjoy the life God has given us. And Christians of all people should learn how to do that.

A President's Note

2009-07-06T14:28:00.003-05:00

Remember those times in your school years when you had to bring a doctor's note back to class to prove to your teacher that you weren't absent? Really annoying.

Well, Kennedy Corpus made it a much less annoying, much cooler experience: Here's her note:

In case you can't read it, it says:

To Kennedy's teacher:

Please excuse Kennedy's absence...She's with me.

Barack Obama

That's cool, and totally worth missing your last day of school in 4th grade.

What did you say?!

2009-06-24T16:20:00.002-05:00

Almost every time Jonathan gets hurt, he comes up to me and says, "Daddy, kiss [insert hurt body part here] please," as he points to where he got hurt.

Yesterday, he tripped over something while walking backwards. After a short cry, he walked up to me, and with his sad little face said, "Daddy, kiss my booty please."

Proof that language is more about meaning than it is about the actual words.

Martin Luther and Literature

2009-06-17T07:48:00.003-05:00

Just when I thought Martin Luther couldn't get any cooler (ok, I never really thought that), I find this quotation from a letter he wrote to a friend in 1523:

"I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters [literature] have declined and lain prostrate, theology too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate; nay, I see that there has never been a great revelation of the Word of God unless he has first prepared the way by the rise and prosperity of languages and letters, as though they were John the Baptists. . . . Certainly it is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies, as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily."

Did you get that? Theology won't endure without literature, because it is through things like fiction that people begin to grasp deep truths which they otherwise might not pick up in systematic theology books.

If I knew how to insert a little heart, I would write I [heart] Martin Luther. But I can't, so I won't.

An Irony of the "Christian Nation" claim

2009-06-16T16:13:00.003-05:00

I like this post I found. Sums up a good irony that I completely agree with:

James F. McGrath, Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University, Indianapolis, nails the problem with the "Christian Nation" thesis as articulated by David Barton and many others who like to proclaim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and has, only of late, become secularist and against Christianity:

"It seems unlikely that at any point in the past the vast majority of inhabitants of the United States were devout Christians with a personal faith, as opposed to nominal Christians for whom their Christianity consisted largely of a "tribal identity" including churchgoing and assenting to some doctrinal beliefs and moral precepts.

Does it not seem ironic, then, that the notion of American having once been a "Christian nation", and nostalgia for that bygone golden age, is found largely among Evangelicals, those very Christians who emphasize the need for a personal faith, and the inadequacy of a Christianity that consists merely of church attendance, denominational affiliation, or even moral living?

Am I missing something? Why would the very Christians who deny the adequacy of such nominal Christianity today, depict its heyday as a sort of golden age for American Christianity?"

There never was a "golden age" in American History when the nation was somehow truly Christian. Maybe there was a lot more church attendance, and there was certainly a time in the not-too-distant past when more people lived more outwardly moral lives. But that doesn't mean the nation was more Christian. It just means that they went to church more, behaved better in the civic squre, and kept more of their personal sins in private for fear of public shame.

This nation has probably not ever been much more, or much less, genuinely Christian than it is now.

Birthday Coming Up!

2009-06-15T15:48:00.000-05:00

Get the John Calvin birthday clock at Calvin 500

Lion and the Lamb...sort of

2009-05-29T22:21:00.002-05:00

Here's a really great short video I ran across today. It really brings the Biblical idea of lions and lambs, someday, lying down together in peace. What I like about that image isn't just that the two animals aren't fighting (which is great), but that they will actually repose together in peace. As everyone knows, there's a HUGE difference between simply not fighting, on one hand, and being at peace.

I look forward to a day when this will be the same with humans, when we won't be so ridiculously prejudiced, unnecessarily segregated, and constantly suspicious; when we will repose in peace together.

Reason # 87 Francis Schaeffer was cool.

2009-05-26T21:04:00.002-05:00

This is a cool story about Francis Schaeffer, one of the great minds, servants, and apologists of the faith in the 20th Century:

"In 1966 I joined Operation Mobilization for a year of ministry in France, but spent two years in India instead. While in London that summer, at the one-month OM orientation, I volunteered to work on a clean-up crew late one night.

Around 12:30am I was sweeping the front steps of the Conference Centre when an older gentleman approached and asked if this was the OM conference. I told him it was, but most everyone was in bed.

He had a small bag with him and was dressed very simply. He said he was attending the conference, so I said, "Let me see if I can find you a place to sleep." Since there were many different age groups at OM, I thought he was an older OM’er.

I took him to the room where I had been sleeping on the floor with about 50 others and, seeing that he had nothing to sleep on, laid some padding and a blanket on the floor and used a towel for a pillow. He said it would be fine and he appreciated it very much.

As he was preparing for bed, I asked him if he had eaten. He had not as he had been travelling all day. I took him to the dining room but it was locked. So after picking the lock I found cornflakes, milk, bread, butter and jam—all of which he appreciated very much.

As he ate, we began to fellowship. I asked where he was from. He said he and his wife had been working in Switzerland for several years in a ministry mainly to hippies and travellers. It was wonderful to talk with him and hear about his work and those who had come to Christ. When he finished eating, we turned in for the night.

However, the next day I was in trouble! The leaders of OM really "got on my case." "Don't you know who that man is on the floor next to you?" they asked. "It is Dr. Francis Schaeffer, the speaker for the conference!"

I did not know they were going to have a speaker, nor did I know who Francis Schaeffer was, nor did I know they had a special room prepared for him!

After Francis Schaeffer became well known because of his books, and I had read more about him, I thought about this occasion many times—this gracious, kind, humble man of God sleeping on the floor with OM recruits! This was the kind of man I wanted to be."

Incidentally, reason #86 he was cool is that he created the place that served as my vacation/road-trip home for a month in the Summer of 2004.

The Case of the Elusive Pillowcase

2009-05-25T07:12:00.005-05:00

Eight months ago, my wife kindly made a new pillowcase for me. One of the pillows I sleep with is a four-foot body pillow, which is great for wrapping around and relieving some back pain. The problem: every year, when the winter comes, I really don't feel like wrapping around a cold pillow.

Janelle solved this dilemna for me by making me a flannel pillowcase. Very comfy. As winter came to a close in Bryan, TX (I think that was back in mid-January...), I began to look for my old pillowcase. After all, nobody wants to wrap around a flannel pillowcase when it's 80 degrees outside, with a humidity of 1 billion percent.

But I couldn't find my old pillowcase. I looked in the linen closet. I looked in drawers and the under-the-bed storage boxes. I started looking for it in weird places (maybe it got stuffed in the couch, or or behind the blender?).

Last night, I was getting ready for bed, once-again mourning over my lost pillowcase. The body pillow had gotten all bunched-up and out of place, so I picked it up to shake it and even it out. And as I picked it up, I felt a strange mass at the bottom of the pillowcase. No. I can't be. But I knew it was.

I found my long-lost pillowcase - in my pillowcase. For months, it had been hiding from me, thwarting my search attempts and preventing me from having temperature-comfortable sleep. But I vow that it shan't happen again!

Now, I wonder where I put my David Crowder cd...

Corrective Tract for the Prosperity Gospel

2009-04-20T21:15:00.002-05:00

Doesn't all this talk of "your best life now" and "prosperity will follow faith" seem absolutely ludicrous when it's seen in any context other than the rich, self-absorbed, 21st-century Western world?

Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

2009-04-03T13:59:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, April 4, marks the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Life magazine has published thirteen never-before-seen photos that were taken later in the day, after the murder.

These are some powerful pictures. You can find them here.

Two Random Bits of News

2009-04-01T07:44:00.004-05:00

Two random bits of news from my life this morning:

1. A possum walked through my front yard today and almost up to my front door. My first thought was, That's a funny looking cat. My second thought was, Oh, that's because it's a possum. The end.

2. I came across this disturbing advertisement from Saddleback Church. Seriously? So, if people don't want the free gift of salvation from the God of the universe, we offer them a photo-op with Pastor Rick, a magazine subscription, and a Cliffs-Notes version of a membership class?

Well, pastor, I wasn't really interested in this "salvation of my body and soul from the wrath of God" thing before, but since you offer me a one-year magazine subscription for free, I can't turn it down now.

News item #1 brought much more rejoicing in my house this morning than #2, and that's sad.

Chilin Together

2009-03-18T10:11:00.002-05:00

I sure am thankful for these days, when I get to spend lots of time with Jonathan during the day. I know those days are numbered.

And no, that's not what we do ALL day.

Yes, he is that cute

2009-03-07T10:18:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Heather Ferguson for taking this picture!

Which is which?

2009-03-05T21:16:00.006-06:00

When it comes right down to it, there's really never been that much disparity between political parties in the U.S. Monarchy and democracy = different. Stalinism and Fascism = different. Democrats and Republicans = different emphases, but same story. It's been like this since Adams and Jefferson fought it out in 1800, and it's been like that ever since. Sure, each party's policies come out appearing differently, but at heart, they mostly agree.

Exhibit A - Iraq. Jon Stewart sheds light on the Iraq policies of Bush and Obama. It's only four minutes, and it's very enlightening. And, very funny.

(NOTE FOR PARENTS - THERE ARE SOME BLEEPED-OUT EXPLETIVES IN THIS VIDEO)

Exhibit B - Economics. BOTH parties agree on deficit spending, government bailouts, federal welfare, the devaluation of the dollar via excess printing of bills, and a host of other things. They just disagree on exactly HOW MUCH should be spent. Republicans want less, and Democrats want more. But they both still want it.

That's enough exhibits. Besides, the main reason I posted in the first place was because Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head, and made me laugh.

British Scholar

2009-02-23T07:06:00.003-06:00

I attended and presented at my first scholarly conference this past weekend in Austin - The British Scholar Conference. It was a good experience overall. I didn't realize how big a deal it was until I got there. People had come from all over the U.S. and some had even come from England and Germany. Apparently, there's a running joke among historians in London that if you want to really study the British Empire, you have to go to Austin, TX.
That's funny.

I even got to hang out with some of the top historians in the world, including Linda Colley, a professor of history at Princeton - very cool lady. Apparently, the British have five levels of honor that can be placed upon citizens (the highest of which is knighthood). She holds a title just below knighthood, and it's called "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE). How cool would that be to sign your name that way - Brian Franklin, CBE. Forget the "Ph.D." - I command the British Empire! Incidentally, I convinced her that she absolutely had to try some Blue Bell ice cream at dinner Friday night. I'm pretty sure she was pleased.

I presented a paper on the work of British missionaries in America, during the American Revolution, asking whether their sending organization was more committed to the extension of the kingdom of God, or the empire and culture of Britain. I got some good feedback that will hopefully help me move toward submitting the article for publication. We'll see. If nothing else, I've got a line-item for my c.v. now.

Sleeping in Peace

2009-02-13T20:58:00.002-06:00

Jonathan has officially memorized his first Bible verse!

We were doing our normal bedtime ritual tonight. Part of that includes us teaching him a Bible verse - Psalm 4:8 - just before we leave him to sleep. We started a story in the Bible on David, and Janelle said, "Jonathan did you know David is the one who wrote your Bible verse?" Then without prompting, and in broken toddler English, he said:

"I will...lie down...and sleep...in peace...for you...alone...O Lord...make me...dwell...in safety."

After a really hard week, after lots of training and discipline, after wondering if anything was getting through to him, and after feeling like I wasn't going to make it through Saturday sane, that was a heart-encouraging denouement to my Friday.

So, how's your Bible memorization going?

Answers to my "Don't Forget the Lyrics"

2009-01-27T14:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I had something of a turnout, but people didn't do so well. Then again, I'm not really that eclectic in my music library. So, if you don't listen to some of what I listen to, you probably don't listen to most of what I listen to.

Oh well. Here are the answers:

1. Fly from Heaven – Toad the Wet Sprocket
2. Abraham – Sufjan Stevens
3. Shiver – Coldplay
4. We’ve come to Declare – Shane and Shane
5. Let Everything that has Breath – Matt Redman
6. Jimi Thing – Dave Matthews Band
7. Wedding Dress – Derek Webb
8. If I Could - Jack Johnson
9. Sing Your Praise to the Lord – Rich Mullins
10. Everyone Knows - Delirious
11. Callin’ Baton Rouge – Garth Brooks
12 Signs of Life – Steven Curtis Chapman
13 Walking Man – James Taylor
14 Above Ground – Norah Jones
15 Everything’s not Lost - Coldplay
16 He – Jars of Clay
17 In Christ Alone – Michael English
18 Feelin the Same way – Norah Jones
19 Ants Marching – Dave Matthews Band
20 She Held my Hand – Steven Delopolous
21 I Wish you Would - Train
22 Famous Last Words – Derek Webb
23 I’m Letting Go – Big Tent Revival
24 This Road – Jars of Clay
25 My Heavenly – Jars of Clay

Don't Forget the Lyrics - My iPod "Charley"

2009-01-22T20:31:00.003-06:00

Here's a game for everyone who is so inclined to play (thanks Matt). I'd love for lots of you to comment/respond.

I put my iPod (its name is Charley) on random and have put the first line or so of the first 25 songs that came up.

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to post with your guesses for both the artist and the track - do as many as you can. NO CHEATING by looking up lyrics. The winner gets to have the privilege of knowing that they have great musical taste, just like me.

If you like the game, you can use your own music and post the game yourself. It might be a fun way to get to know each other. Give it a try, and enjoy!

1. "Paul is making me nervous. Paul is making me scared."
2. "Abraham, worth a righteous one."
3. "So I look in your direction, but you pay me no attention, do you?"
4. "Your heart was torn, forgiveness was born. Yet through your pain, you called us by name."
5. "Praise you in the morning, praise you in the evening, praise you when I'm young and when I'm old"
6. "Lately I've been feeling low, a remedy is what I'm seeking"
7. "If you could love me as a wife, and for my wedding gift your life..."
8. "A brand new baby was born yesterday, just in time."
9. "Sing your praise to the Lord. Come on everybody, stand up and sing one more..."
10. "Everyone knows that this fire grows, and I'm a man who knows where this fire glows."
11. "I spent last night in the arms of girl from Louisiana."
12. "Come in base, I've landed my ship on a planet in space."
13. "Moving in silent desperation, keeping an eye on the holy land."
14. "Underground I'm waiting, just below the crowded avenue, watchin' red lights fading out of view."
15. "When I counted up my demons, saw there was one for every day."
16. "Don't try to reach me, cause I'm already dead."
17. "In Christ alone will I glory, though I could pride myself in battles won."
18. "The sun just slipped its note below my door, and I can't hide beneath my sheets."
19. "He wakes up in the morning, does his teeth, bite to eat, and he's rolling."
20. "Made a deal with the Devil. Said he'd make me famous."
21. "Sleepless nights and endless days, and all I do is promise to change my ways."
22. "Is it just me or have the last few weeks just come and gone?"
23. "I am a man who hides his feeling, but I don't think I can keep from revealing..."
24. "All heavy laden, acquainted with sorrow, may Christ in our marrow carry us home."
25. "Let the wind fall wild across my path. Even though we barely move..."

Steinbeck Library

2009-01-05T14:44:00.003-06:00

For all those interested, the Library of America is offering a great deal: 13 of Steinbeck's works, in 3 volumes, for only $15.90 ($9.95 for the books, $5.95 for shipping). Click here for the link.

After you buy these books, you can cancel your subscription at any time. You're under no obligation to buy anything more. However, you should remember to cancel immediately afterward. Otherwise, you'll start receiving one book/month at the ridiculous cost of $30/book.

If you're a Steinbeck fan, and you don't mind slightly larger volumes, this is a great deal!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-01T22:20:00.005-06:00

I've only got two New Year's resolutions this year, and they're related to one another:

1. Read a biography of John Calvin
2. Read Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.

John Calvin is one of the most influential Christians to have ever lived, especially so when we're talking about all the Christian denominations which trace much of their theological roots back to him, including Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Dutch Reformed, and pretty much anything else descended from Western Europe in the 16th century. This year is his 500th birthday, and I figure that the best way to celebrate him is to learn more about him and his legacy.

I think my goals are doable. I'm hoping to good Calvin-accountability from friends will help me along the way.

All you readers out there: Any New Year's resolutions you care to share? I'm interested in what you're interested in!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:15:00.001-06:00

New Species of the Mekong

2008-12-16T13:54:00.009-06:00

In the last ten years alone, scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species of plants and animals in the Mekong River Region, which includes southeast China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. 1,000 in just the last 10 years!

I've always loved wildlife, and some of these are crazy cool (and crazy creepy):

Dragon Millipede

It's bright pink, has way too many legs and spines - oh, and it secretes CYANIDE.

Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper

Wouldn't you just hate to be climbing a tree, and lift your head up to see one of these? (When I was about 8, I climbed a tree when and came face-to-face with a praying mantis. I ran screaming back into the house. Those things still creep me out.)

Some kind of spider

It's not enough that this thing is huge and hairy, and could probably eat my parents' Yorkshire Terrier. No, no - it has to hunt it's prey by hanging out on bamboo or trees 5-10 ft. above the ground, and then jumping down and ambushing them from above. I'm glad I don't live in the Cambodian jungle.

Tree Frog (Scientific name Chiromantis samkosensis)

Normal tree frog, right? Except for the fact that it has green blood and turquoise bones! Very cool. (No word yet on whether it secretes something like dynamite or bleach.)

Just thought everyone might enjoy a nice wondering at creation. If you want more, you can probably search for "Mekong new species," or something like that.

My Top 10 Books of 2008

2008-12-13T20:42:00.018-06:00

I read lots of books this year - lots. I'm guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 150. Don't worry, I don't want to talk about all of them, or even most of them. If I only talk about a few, maybe everyone will be interested enough to read my post!

I would LOVE to hear some of your favorite books from this year too. It doesn't have to be 10. In fact, if you would just leave one - maybe your favorite - in the comments, that would be great!

Here are my Top 10 Books of 2008, in no particular order:

So Brave, Young and Handsome - Leif Enger
This guy is EASILY in my top five favorite authors of all time. This book is set in the early 20th century and is a story about a man, an outlaw, lost love, boyhood, and a chase from Minnesota, to Oklahoma, and to California. Some of the most enjoyable reading I have ever done. I can't possibly recommend this author higher (including his first book, Peace Like a River)

The Marketplace of Revolution - T.H. Breen
My favorite explanation for what made the unity of the American Revolution possible. His answer (simply): all classes and races shopped in the same markets, and bought the same tea. Therefore, when British policies started hitting America, they hit everyone. And when it did, everyone rose up in defense of their right to purchase what they wanted, when they wanted. Not your "rise up in defense of freedom" story you heard in high school, right?

East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Steinbeck remains one of my favorite authors, and this book was easily one of his best. With lots of overtones of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, the story is all about family, and how it determines much of who we will be for generations to come.

The Damnation of Theron Ware - Harold Frederic
One of the most underrated novels and novelists in all of American literature. The story of a prideful, ambitious Methodist minister and his experiences in a small New York town with other ethnic groups, science, biblical criticism, Catholicism, a temptress, and the symbol of all things sexually deviant, Frederic Chopin.

Heaven - Randy Alcorn
The most comprehensive stuff I've ever read on the subject. Turns out we won't be disembodied spirits, but instead, we may eat lots of food, practice our jobs and crafts to our utmost potential, and see our old pets. After all, we'll be living not in a disembodied, spiritual heaven, but on a very real, touchable, experiential new earth.

My Antonia - Willa Cather
Ever thought Nebraska was boring? Well, if you read Cather, you shouldn't ever again. Winters, sunsets, grasslands, and old stories about the Russian and Scandinavian homelands. Feels like home.

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling - Richard Bushman
Newest and best biography of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. This author is a practicing Mormon and a top-notch historian, which allows him to write in a way that both takes religion seriously, and keeps a critical eye out. It's hard to find that sort of thing these days.

Old Times on the Mississippi - Mark Twain
My favorite Twain writing. Before Twain was an author, he was a riverboat captain. This is the story of those days. Moving rivers and sleepwalking boat pilots. (By the way, this is where Samuel Clemens got his pen name. He called out from the pilot position "Mark the twain," to make sure that the waters were deep enough to continue through.)

Evangelizing the South - Monica Najar
A story about how the Baptists grew to become one of the most influential groups in the U.S. in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. And, it's a story about how Christians began letting the culture define their position on racial slavery, rather than defining it for themselves.

Shepherding a Child's Heart - Tedd Tripp
Couldn't have had a better introduction to parenting. Explaining the title alone was worth the price of the book - shepherding our children toward righteousness,
not merely punishing them for wrongdoing. I need to read this again...

Oxen and Children

2008-12-13T10:19:00.003-06:00

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of an ox." ~ Proverbs14:4

Brian's 21st Century application:
"Where there are no children, the house is clean, but abundant joy comes by the laughter of a child."

P.S. - Jonathan seems to be doing much better today. He has actually smiled and played a little today. We haven't been so happy to see him smile since the day we got him.

Treasuring the Bible

2008-12-08T12:48:00.003-06:00

I was doing great on my Bible memorization for a while, but have slacked off lately. Here are some convicting words I read today that have spurred me on to begin again with memorizing a verse every week:

"You may doubt that you can do this, especially if you are older. But ask yourself this question, If I offered you $1,000 for every verse you memorized in the next week, how many do you think you could memorize? Yet God says of his word in Psalm 19:10-11, "They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward."

The real value of the word is far greater than $1,000 a verse. The question is, Do you believe this? Believing this will be the crucial motivation you need."

Jonathan's First Sentence!

2008-12-02T16:15:00.003-06:00

Jonathan said his first sentence last night: "I see you."

It was great! We play a little game covering and uncovering him with his towel after his bath, and after saying it myself probably a hundred times over the last few months, he said it back to me.

The next closest thing he has to a sentence is when he puts together a string of words that goes something like this: "Daddy car car daddy go daddy red car daddy car red mommy." Less grammatically correct, but equally cute.

Laundry oops

2008-12-02T16:12:00.002-06:00

I opened my dryer yesterday to find that all of the clothes (and it was a large load) were spotted with blue ink. Yep, I left a very inky pen in some pants, and it exploded in the dryer. EVERYTHING was spotted in blue, and the inside of the dryer had a nice blue-streak sheen to it.

Just when I thought I was building up a decent nice-clothes wardrobe, I ruin half of it. Nice. At least it didn't ruin Jonathan's navy blue pajamas, or my black socks.

Anyone else had some big oops moments at home lately? Sharing them would make me feel a lot better.

Yea for Adoption!

2008-11-26T13:55:00.006-06:00

As of about 1:40pm on November 25, Jonathan is officially adopted and officially a Franklin! Woohoo! We've taught Jonathan to say "yea!" every time we say the word adoption so that he can share in our excitement, even if he doesn't understand it all yet.

Our hearing was scheduled for 1:30 and lasted a grand total of about 10 minutes. Just some swearing to tell the whole truth and answering some really basic questions. The best part was when Janelle was on the stand and Jonathan insisted on sitting with Mommy. We were trying to hold him back when the judge said, "Let him come up here. This is his day anyway!" So, Jonathan waltzed up to the stand with Janelle and played with the microphone while Janelle answered her questions!

Last night, we had a party with a bunch of friends and family here in Odessa to celebrate. We probably saw around 40 people, and had a great time. And like a stressed, unthinking parent, I didn't even think about taking any pictures until afterward. I guess we'll have to remember the night according to all the gifts Jonathan got, including a really cool Tonka Dumptruck. We now measure how tired he is according to how quickly (or slowly) he pushes the truck around the house.

Here are a couple pictures from yesterday:

Us with the judge - Judge Bobo (Yes, that's his real name). And I'm leaning on the back of his chair, not chilling on his shoulder.

Outside the courthouse, after it was all done

After his adoption party at my parents' house

Thanks to all our friends and family for all your prayers and support. You have been a blessing and help through the whole process.

Fun Pictures

2008-11-17T14:59:00.004-06:00

Just a few fun pictures for those of you who are interested:

Jonathan, on one of those days when he happens to LOVE spaghetti:

We like to wash dishes together (neither of us barefoot)
Since we haven't finished unpacking yet (actually, I can hardly say that we've begun), we've got a nice fort of boxes in the kitchen that Jonathan loves. He loves to hide out, play with his cars, and pop in and out of sight. He also uses this as his private quarters...you know, when he needs to have somewhere private...

Happy Birthday Martin Luther! 525 and still young at heart!

2008-11-10T07:05:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to Martin Luther, one of my heroes. Reading his works have done so much to shape my life and thought. Below is short post from desiringgod.org that I like:

It was a backwater German town called Eisleben on November 10, 1483—today marks 525 years.

There Martin Luther had his inauspicious beginning. He was born a poor boy, son of a coal miner. And by a strange providence, Luther died in the same town 62 years later on February 18, 1546, even though he spent barely any of his life there.

In the intervening 6 decades, the world changed—and Luther, under God, was the chief catalyst.

The pope excommunicated Luther in January of 1521, making him a marked man. For the last 25 years of his life, he lived with the awareness that each day could be his last. He often expressed surprise that he was still alive.

To the right is a 1526 painting by Lucas Cranach, which may be the most authentic portrait we have of Luther. And, so that you can join us in celebrating Luther’s 525th, below is a timeline of his life, highlighting some of the most significant events of his 62 years.

Thank God for Luther—simultaneously righteous and sinful.

Timeline of Luther’s Life

1483, November 10 - Born to Hans and Margaretta Luther in Eisleben
1484, Summer - Luther family moves to Mansfeld
1501, May - Enters university at Erfurt (age 17)
1502, September 29 - Receives Bachelor of Arts (age 18)
1505, January 7 - Receives Master of Arts (age 21)
1505, July 2 - Vows to become a monk
1505, July 17 - Enters the monastery in Erfurt
1507, May 2 - Celebrates his first mass as a priest (age 23)
1510, November - Journeys to Rome and is disturbed by its corruption (age 26)
1511, April - Transferred to Wittenberg to teach at the university
1512, October 19 - Receives his Doctor of Theology (age 28)
1517, October 31 - Posts his 95 theses (age 33)
1518, April 26 - Defends his theology at Heidelberg
1519, July - Debates prominent theologian John Eck at Leipzig
1520 - Publishes Address to German Nobility, Babylonian Captivity, and Freedom of the Christian; breach with Rome now irreparable
1521, January - Excommunicated by the pope (age 37)
1521, April 18 - Gives “Here I stand” response to the emperor at the Diet of Worms
1521, May - Kidnapped and hidden at Wartburg to preserve his life; begins translating the New Testament into German
1522, March - Returns to Wittenberg to lead the Reformation
1522, September - Publishes his German New Testament
1524, November 30 - Writes that he has no intention to marry
1525, June 13 - Marries escaped nun Katherine von Bora (age 41)
1525, December - Responds to Erasmus’ Freedom of the Will with The Bondage of the Will (which J. I. Packer calls “the greatest piece to come from Luther’s pen”)
1527, Summer - Composes “A Mighty Fortress” during a season of sickness and deep depression
1529, October - Meets Zwingli at Marburg and is unable to come to agreement on the Lord’s Supper
1534 - Publishes the complete German Bible (age 50)
1546, February 18 - Dies while traveling in Eisleben (age 62)

Making American History...in clip art

2008-11-05T14:54:00.002-06:00

I found this really cool picture online today. As an American historian, and an American, I think this is really cool. Otherwise, I offer no further related political comments on this blog.
Who can spot Franklin Pierce?! How about Chester Arthur? Or everyone's favorite, Millard Fillmore?!

Exams

2008-11-05T14:51:00.004-06:00

If you've wondered what in the world I've been doing the last six months (other than taking care of a son, buying a house, etc.), then wonder no more: I've been studying for the biggest exams of my life, which begin tomorrow.

Five exams total, four of them written, one oral. Each written will be 4-5 hours long, and the oral will be about 2 hours. My first one is tomorrow, and my last one will be on Friday, November 21. Obviously, I would appreciate your prayers.

Schruteian Hermeneutics

2008-11-02T14:13:00.002-06:00

This hilarious bit comes care of another blog at www.merechristians.com, written by a friend of a friend:

Schruteian Hermeneutics
Whenever I’m about to interpret the Bible, I think, “Would a heretic interpret it like that?” And if they would, I do NOT interpret it that way.

Thought you pastors and Josh Butchers out there might enjoy this!

How could God do this to Us?

2008-11-01T14:25:00.003-05:00

Great short post from John Piper, reminding us of some questions we OUGHT to be asking:

How Could God Do This to Us?

November 1, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

Thursday in Minneapolis it was so gorgeous walking home I thought: I should write a post on how astonishing it is that no earthquake swallowed up this city today.

Instead God sent warmth and crystal skies and cool breezes and golden leaves and hanging sea gulls over Elliot Park.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing!

We deserved the 52-story IDS tower to fall, and bridges to collapse, and poisonous gas to kill thousands. But instead God gave us over-the-top foretastes of heaven.

This is why everyone is crying out, Where was God on Thursday! Where were you God! How could you do this? Why did you let this happen?

Everybody is saying that, aren’t they?

Reformation Day Celebration

2008-10-31T22:02:00.005-05:00

My Reformation Day, October 31, 2008:

6:15am - alarm goes off at my hoped-for time of getting up
7:15 - I actually get up
8:10 - prayer, special thanks to God for one of my heroes, Martin Luther
8:13 - Jonathan wakes up

Morning - feeding Jonathan, about 45 minutes of "Cars," turned in the keys to our old apartment, had carpet installed in the bedroom which was converted from a garage

12:00 - Beans and rice for lunch.
12:30 - I finally get Jonathan to eat his beans (no rice) for lunch.
1:30 - nap time for Jonathan
2:45 - Jonathan finally begins nap time

2:45-4:45 - Studying for exams

5:00-5:30 - At Janelle's office party - a combined "Fun Friday" and pumpkin-carving extravaganza. Apparently, Janelle is the Speed Racer of pumpkin carving

5:45-6:30 - Off to the church for a big Reformation festival. Jonathan wasn't too sure about wearing a tiger at first, but once we put it on him, he loved it (that's us in the bounce-house)

6:30-9:30 - I leave the really fun party to go study. On the bright side, I did get to eat an always-amazing Tejas Blue sandwich from Blue Baker.

9:45-now - hanging out with my wife, at our new house, with my son sleeping down the hall, blogging in a temperature-controlled room, on a day marking a great stride forward for the Church. When you end a day like that, it's hard to complain much about mere busyness.

Amazing Photos

2008-10-08T08:38:00.005-05:00

Just for fun and amazement, you should check out this link for some amazing overhead photos of places all over Earth. Here are a couple of them:

Change in Adoption Day

2008-10-02T08:36:00.002-05:00

Good news on the adoption-day front. Thanks to my mom (who works for the attorney who is handling Jonathan's adoption) making some phone calls, the adoption has been moved to Tuesday, November 25. This is going to be better than November 22 for a couple reasons:

1. I don't have to leave my comprehensive Ph.D. exams on Friday morning and drive straight into Odessa that night.

2. Since it's only a couple days before Thanksgiving, we're actually going to get to spend a good part of a week, including Thanksgiving, with my family (instead of a really fast weekend). I haven't seen them for Thanksgiving in four years.

Just thought you'd all like to share in good news!

The Arctic has ice?

2008-10-02T08:26:00.003-05:00

Here's a link to a funny story:

Apparently, a team traveled to the Arctic to document the massive effects of climate change, i.e., to find out where all the ice has supposedly gone.

One problem: once they got there, they got stuck. "How?", you ask? Ice.

Now I'm no expert on climate change, and I don't necessarily dispute that the climate may have changed a little over the last couple decades due to human pollution/waste/misuse (whatever that may mean), but still, stories like this just make me laugh.

(Just so no one thinks I'm too morbid, the crew is all fine with no real worries)

Good News on the Adoption Front!

2008-09-15T21:03:00.003-05:00

We got good news on the adoption front a couple days ago. Rather than having to wait until at least January before we can legally adopt Jonathan, our case worker has petitioned successfully to have the adoption declared on November 22! Apparently, November 22 is national adoption day, and lots of counties make a big deal of it, trying to consummate as many adoptions as possible on that day.

So, Lord willing everything goes smoothly, Jonathan will be legally ours in just a couple months! Thanks for all your prayers and support so far!

Jonathan's Birthday Party

2008-08-25T15:21:00.007-05:00

Jonathan's 2nd birthday was on Friday, August 22. Here are some pictures from the party we had to celebrate his birthday and the birthday of Ayden Ayers, who turned 6. For the party, we had most of our best friends in Bryan/College Station and some Odessa family over to the Ayers's home for pizza, cake, and presents. It was a ton of fun. Thanks Ayers family for hosting us!

Jonathan unwrapping presents

Most, but certainly not all of the kids there!

The cookie cake Janelle made!

Our great friends Joshua and Hannah, with Emma and their soon-to-be-adopted son Jeremiah

Ahhhh hypocrisy

2008-08-23T11:13:00.003-05:00

(breaking story, courtesy of the blog of my friend Matt)

I have to laugh (in amazement, certainly not because it's funny) when such blatantly hypocritical statements like the following one come from the mouths of people like the Secretary of State of the United States (who holds a Ph.D. in international affairs):

"Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used …when it wishes to deliver a message, and that's its military power. That's not the way to deal in the 21st century."

Seriously?...You can't be serious...Is she serious! Wow. Because the way we deal with things in the 21st century is through book clubs, tea, and respectful conversation...and bombs.

On a related note, last night, my pastor asked me who my top five favorite presidents of the U.S. are. I responded: "George Washington. Post-Washington, everything was downhill in foreign affairs." And as great as he was, he wasn't anywhere near perfect on the issue.

Noisetrade

2008-08-10T23:02:00.002-05:00

My blog immediately before this has a link to some great music! There's a new site out there called noisetrade.com, from which you can download music from over 50 artists (and growing). As payment, the artists ask for one of two things: pay what you want, or simply tell three other people about the album and then download for free.

The album I posted is by The Allens, some great friends of mine. The fact that they're on the front page of the website is a small testimony to how good their music is. Out of little-old West Texas, their album has remained as one of the most downloaded albums on the site. It's great stuff - acoustic, folky, and just cool.

(As a side note, I used to be in a band with them back in high school and early college. Our biggest gig was opening up for a big music festival in West Texas called "Rock the Desert," at which the most famous Christian artists were Chris Tomlin and The Newsboys. Fun days.)

The Allens, at Noisetrade

2008-08-10T22:59:00.001-05:00

Vote for David Ramirez!

2008-07-19T17:20:00.003-05:00

If you've got about 30 seconds of time, take it to cast a vote for my friend David Ramirez, who is an excellent singer/songwriter. Dell is doing a contest to see who will get a chance to play on a main stage at the big music festival in Austin next year. You can vote at this website

All you have to do is scroll down and click "Vote Now." It will ask for your email address (they don't send you anything). Then, it immediately sends you an email with a link you just have to click on to confirm your vote.

Only one vote per person, per day, but you can vote for as many days as you like. Do it for the sake of good music everywhere!

(You can also listen to some of his music here)

Rare set of twins

2008-07-18T09:25:00.002-05:00

Has anybody seen this story yet?! A set of fraternal twins was born in Germany yesterday. The rare part - one of them has dark skin and African features while the other has light skin and European features. The dad is German and the mom from Ghana. Very cool.

A Little Jonathan Edwards Humor

2008-07-15T12:23:00.003-05:00

Jonathan Edwards preached what is probably the most well-known sermon in American History - "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." That title, much less words like "sin" and "God" (capital "G") wouldn't go over so well today, especially when people like Gene Robinson get up in front of a church and say things like, "If someone were to call a practice of yours a sin (like adultery, homosexuality, abortion...you know, the small stuff), would that make you want to know God?" Such a ridiculous question misses the entire message of the Bible and definitely is an apple far from the tree of the great Jonathan Edwards (who my son is admirably named after).

Jonathan's Baptism

2008-07-07T15:26:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday, June 29, we had the God-given opportunity to baptize Jonathan. God has always made covenant with families and has always called on parents to apply the sign of the covenant to their children. Abraham, the father of faith, circumcized his children as a sign of their set-apart nature, in hopes that they would profess faith in God and live faithfully in the covenant. Now we, Abraham's children, baptize Jonathan, giving him the new seal of God's covenant, and praying that he will grow up to be a man who loves God and is faithful to His covenant.

My family, Janelle's family, and lots of my friends made the trek to Bryan to share this weekend with us. Here are some pictures from our celebration-picnic on Saturday and the baptism on Sunday.

Too cool for school

2008-07-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Golden Rule?

2008-06-27T07:00:00.003-05:00

(Political and historical thoughts following...)

As Americans, how would we feel if a foreign country decided that we were a nuclear threat to the world, and then tried to diplomatically, politically, and possibly militarily control us? In their eyes, they would have many reasons to believe this. We have lots of nuclear research going on and everyone knows we have nuclear weapons. And in the nuclear age, only one country has actually used nuclear weapons against another people, incinerating tens of thousands of helpless women and children - the U.S.A.

Then, how would we feel if that country decided that in order to protect themselves from us, they were going to place military and government officials around all of our borders. Then, they announce that they plan to inspect every single person, plane, train, boat, and piece of cargo that enters our country, without our consent.

Wouldn't we consider that unacceptable? Wouldn't we consider that as something illegal by international expectations of law, and according to our own Constitution? Wouldn't we consider that a virtual declaration of war? (Which is basically what happened in World War I when the Germans blockaded Britain)

Well, news is that this is the very thing our Congress is close to voting for and approving within the week in regard to Iran. Read this announcement and comment from Congressman Paul:

"Now the one issue that I do want to mention tonight is a resolution that is about to come to this floor if our suspicions are correct, after the July 4th holiday...It will be expected to be passed easily. It probably will be. And it is just more war propaganda, just more preparation to go to war against Iran.

This resolution, H.J. Res 362 [listed as H. Con. Res 362 online] is a virtual war resolution. It is the declaration of tremendous sanctions, and boycotts and embargoes on the Iranians. It is very, very severe. Let me just read what is involved if this bill passes and what we’re telling the President what he must do:

"This demands that the President impose stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or departing Iran, and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials."

This is unbelievable! This is closing down Iran. Where do we have this authority? Where do we get the moral authority? Where do we get the international legality for this? Where do we get the Constitutional authority for this? This is what we did for ten years before we went into Iraq. We starved children - 50,000 individuals it was admitted probably died because of the sanctions on the Iraqis."

But they say, “Yeah, but Ahmadinejad — he’s a bad guy. He’s threatened violence.” But you know what? Us threatening violence is very, very similar. We must - we must look at this carefully. We just can’t go to war again under these careless, frivolous conditions."

It's not that we should never go to war. It's that we should only do so when it is just. Because it's natural for us to be unjust, to point out the wickedness of our enemies while spotlighting only the glories of ourselves and our friends, Jesus gave us a rule for behavior: the Golden Rule. Considering what we would have others do to us is a really powerful way to prevent ourselves from doing something we will regret, individually, or as a nation.

Hitting a Ball with a Stick

2008-06-20T12:28:00.004-05:00

Here's a very funny, short article from The Onion, (a newspaper dedicated to being sarcastic about everything) and some not-so-funny thoughts following.

Man Who Used Stick To Roll Ball Into Hole In Ground Praised For His Courage

June 19, 2008 | | Onion Sports

SAN DIEGO—A man who used several different bent sticks to hit a ball to an area comprised of very short grass surrounding a hole in the ground was praised for his courage Monday after he used a somewhat smaller stick to gently roll the ball into the aforementioned hole in fewer attempts than his competitors. "What guts, what confidence," ESPN commentator Scott Van Pelt said of the man, who was evidently unable to carry his sticks himself, employing someone else to hold the sticks and manipulate the flag sticking out of the hole in the ground while he rolled the ball into it. "You have to be so brave, so self-assured, so strong mentally to [roll a ball into a hole in the ground]. Amazing." The man in question apparently hurt his knee during this activity.

(For those of you who don't know, this is talking about Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open earlier this week, and him doing so with an injured knee that will keep him out of golf for the rest of the year.)

What drives me crazy about the REAL quotation from the ESPN guy is that I hear this sort of stuff all the time - that athletes have done something "heroic" or "brave" by playing a sport when it was difficult, or when the other team was really good, or when they had a boo-boo on their leg. This kind of language is especially prevalent in college sports, as if the kids are doing something amazing because they play sports well, and, GASP, they're in college too!

Now don't get me wrong. Playing through pain and difficulty shows determination and will. It may even show a measure of leadership when a person does so for the good of the team. But it is not, I repeat, IT IS NOT, heroic.

Heroic is a few men storming the cockpit and taking out the terrorists, even though saving the day meant sacrificing themselves. Heroic is a firefighter storming into a burning building to save someone he doesn't know. Heroic is dying on a cross in humiliation when the glory of the universe is within your grasp.

Hitting a ball into a hole with a stick, throwing a ball into a hoop, kicking a ball into a big box - not heroic.

Oh, Down in Mexico. Sounds so sweet, with the sun sinkin' low...

2008-06-18T14:01:00.010-05:00

Last week's mission trip to Mexico was great. The kids and I had a great time, learned a ton, and worked so hard. You should definitely check out the website of the ministry we went with: Isaiah 55 Ministries. Here are some highlights from the week:

1. We spent most of the week doing construction, primarily lots of digging, leveling, and pouring concrete.
A woman named Kelly Green (that's her in the picture below, the one that's not a guy) has a ministry down in Reynosa that is just unbelievable. There's a section of the city called Boystown. Everything imaginably illegal used to happen there - drugs, mafia, prostitution, etc. Because the Mexican government couldn't (or wouldn't) handle it, they simply walled off a small part of the city and said, "As long as you do it in here, we don't care." So, guards stand outside the one entrance/exit every day, and keep watch over who goes in and out. Five years ago, Kelly Green decided that she was called to minister here. So, she sold everything she had that wouldn't fit in her car, and drove from Tulsa, OK, to Reynosa, where she now lives and ministers to the prostitutes, drugattics, and needy people of Reynosa. Wow.

The building we were working on will house her and anyone who decides to come and serve for her for a minimum of two years. Wow.

2. Visited a government-run orphanage that has a great relationship with Isaiah 55. There were lots of kids there, including one family of five children. I got to hold a little boy named Diego for much of the time - so cute :)

3. We hosted a big cookout at the park next to the main deaf school in Reynosa. Isaiah 55 is doing awesome work with deaf children and their families, helping them to learn sign language and communication, for the ultimate end of getting to the point where they can share the Gospel with these children. Most kids take at least 2-3 years before they're even able to begin to understand a concept like God, or sin, or grace.

The two guys in the picture are Zach and Brent, two young guys who both own their own contracting businesses in Tulsa and Nashville, who simply left their businesses for the summer in order to serve in construction with the mission. They were great leaders and great examples to us all.

4. We spent our evenings hanging out at the Isaiah 55 headquarters, located on three floors of an apartment building in downtown Reynosa. Soon, thanks to a new purchase, Isaiah 55 will be building their own building, on their own land! The picture has everyone on our team in it (plus one of the missionary-kids, Rebecca Clow).

That's it for now. Praise God for a wonderful trip, and for getting me back home safely to my family.

A Little Pun-Fun from "Pearls Before Swine"

2008-06-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

Pictures and stories from Mexico, coming soon...

Just call me J-Raf

2008-06-05T08:37:00.002-05:00

Peru Mission in Christianity Today

2008-06-04T12:46:00.003-05:00

In this article about foreign missions and business, Christianity Today covered the work of Peru Mission - how cool is that! It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Peru Mission. It makes me excited to see that their gospel-centered, community-transforming vision for Trujillo is bearing fruit and gaining recognition.

(The section about Peru Mission runs from pages 4-5)

May Book Log

2008-06-03T20:01:00.003-05:00

The amount of books on the monthly book log will be increasing dramatically over the next few months as I prepare to study for my doctoral exams in November. It's not going to be an easy six months. In fact, it will probably be the hardest six months I've had so far as I juggle studying, working at school, serving at the church, oh yeah, and being the husband and father I'm called to be. All prayers are much appreciated. Here's the list:

Enger, Peace Like a River - Wow. I've discovered a new author to add to my list of favorites. The West, an asthmatic narrator, a miracle-working father, cowboys and outlaws - you won't regret reading it.

Alcorn, Heaven - easily the most informative book I've ever read about heaven, and the new heavens, and the new earth. So comforting, and so exciting!

Thornton, Politics and Power in a Slave Society: Alabama, 1800-1860 - ok. Very thorough, and had a great quote about us needing to forget the idea that having democracy is so morally superiour, that somehow it means that we'll always choose the right direction.

Ford, Origins of Southern Radicalism: The South Carolina Upcountry, 1800-1860 - great on understanding South Carolina not as an anomaly in the South, but still with enough unique characteristics to lead to secession. Also good in emphasizing that despite the state constantly being under elite control, those leaders never gained their positions without the consent of common folk.

McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum Low Country - ok, just ok

Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow - very enlightening. Strange, because considering the times, this period of time was so short.

Owsley, Plain Folk of the Old South - amazing. From 1948, the first book to really recognize that the old South was not the Gone-with-the-Wind society of rich white planters, black slaves, and poor white trash. In fact, the vast majority of southerners were average, plain, farmers and herders.

Hyde, Jr., ed., Plain Folk of the Old South, Revisited
- informative essays

Sellers, The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846 - huge, lots of unintelligible terms, and can you say, "I'm a Marxist historian, which means I don't allow anything other than economics to matter in history."

Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 - Puts the Populist movement of the 1890s in a long-term perspective.

Escott, After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism
- Despite Davis's promising leadership skills and the promising early years of the Civil War, he argues that the South could not win because it could never develop a strong enough sense of nationalism. Factionalism between states and leaders of states hindered Confederate progress.

Wetherington, Plain Folk's Fight: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Piney Woods Georgia - one of the best this month. Lots of focus on plain folk and why they decided to live and fight - mostly about community and religious commonality

Because it's both cute and hilarious

2008-05-30T22:36:00.001-05:00

P.S. - Thanks again, Marian.

Pictures at the Park

2008-05-26T14:19:00.006-05:00

Marian Coleman is an awesome friend and photographer! Here are a couple photos she took of us last Wednesday at Tanglewood Park:

Pearls Before Swine and Comic Mornings

2008-05-24T14:56:00.004-05:00

Janelle and I read the comics together every morning over breakfast. "Pearls before Swine" is one of our favorites, along with "Get Fuzzy" (Janelle's is a big fan of "Dilbert"). To make the hilarity more concentrated, the Houston Chronicle has obliged us by putting all three of these right next to each other. Here are a couple of my favorites from the last few weeks; they all almost caused me to lose whatever breakfast happened to be in my mouth at the time:

Scholars at Work

2008-05-23T19:09:00.002-05:00

We hope to instill in all our children a love for reading. No time is too early to start!