reasons why

I’ve toyed with the idea of taking this site down but I just can’t bring myself to do it yet. Lots of the old articles are still getting hits and there are also comments from time to time. But the amount of spam was ridiculous. So, I decided to convert everything to Wordpress to manage the spam more easily and just leave everything sitting here for now.

If you’re reading this thanks for stopping by!

Probabally no shock to anyone but I’m going to continue this hiatus for the next 3-4 months. I’ve got some other stuff going on and really just no time to keep this blog updated.

I do plan on coming back(really, I promise) and finally converting to Wordpress when I do. Which means that my RSS feed will more than likely not be the same. So, if you do want to be notified of my return to the blogosphere just leave me a comment and I’ll be sure to let you know.

Happy blogging everyone!

Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites were required to do sacrifice for sins which they had commited in ignorance(see Leviticus 4). Someone was sharing about this a few weeks ago in church and was speculating about the number of sins we unknowingly commit as Christians today. This person’s point was that knowing this, we should be asking forgiveness for those sins and be vigilant to stop them from happening again.

To me, this seems like a recipe for burnout. Perhaps others could do it without becoming entirely introspective but I could not. So, what should be my response knowing that I will do things contary to God’s character without even realizing it?

Will it drive me to the cross or just drive me to do better(with “God’s help”, of course)?

Will it give rise to feeling of guilt or of thankfulness for God’s grace and mercy?

I think I just need to stand on this :

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Heb 10:11-14)

Our sins have been covered. And the only progress we will make in our sanctification is as we grab hold of this and rest in His finished work.

In a recent Thinklings comment, Jeff of The Dawn Treader points to an Andree Seu article which is well worth the read. Andree’s wisdom shows through as she shares some of the things life has taught her. Some of my favorites :

Grand witnessing is spoiled by not returning the Tupperware

Better to let your child make an imperfect bed than to have a perfect bed that you make yourself

I complained, “God hasn’t answered my prayer.” That’s because I was not looking for help in my weakness but for the removal of my weakness to the praise of my own glory

The best teaching moments are never at convenient times

Thinking a lot is not the same as praying a lot

Your child is never angry for no reason.

God will not be trifled with; He is Lord

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

So, the 6yo and I were talking this week and she asks what seems like a simple question. Here’s a peek into the conversation :

A6 - “Dad, what are marbles made of?”

Me - “Uhhh, I think most of them are made out of glass” (notice how wise I sound)

A6 - with a thoughtful look on her face - “I don’t think so. Marbles must be made out of marble. And marble is a rock. So marbles must be made out of rocks”

Me - “Uhhhhhh”

Let’s not dwell on my parenting skills(please) but notice how she works out her conclusion. In the conversation above we have all the pieces of a classic syllogism. Here it is :

Major premise : Marble is a kind of rock
Minor premise : Marbles are made of marble
Conclusion : Marbles are made out of rock

Now of course the minor premise is a factual error but that can be corrected. It’s just cool seeing her think through things.

Ran across a few new blogs lately that I wanted to mention here.

Garry Friesen has a new blog called the Friesen Fortnightly. Friesen is a professor at Multnomah, a C.S. Lewis afficianado and the author of one of my favorite books - Decision Making and the Will of God. I look forward to making this a regular read.

The guys over at In-Depth Studies look to have an active blog with several contributors. IDS is a clearing-house for all things related to New Convenant Theology so take a peek around their web site as well the blog when you have a chance.

We have three children - the youngest of which is just over 1 year old. You’d think that after the first two some things would become obvious. At least that’s what I’d like to think. And so, here’s my short list of things I should know by now…

• Change poopy diapers sooner rather than later. (they hold a lot, but there are limits)
• Don’t leave the mostly-full, blueberry-apple baby food jar open and on the edge of the kitchen table.
• If it’s been climbed once, it will be climbed again.
• Laptop keyboards will always be more interesting than the latest light-up gadget from Wal-Mart
• Toddlers have no understanding of Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion
• Asking a toddler where he left his sippy cup is next to useless
• Food is as much fun to squish as it is to eat
• Toilet paper comes off the tube a lot easier than it goes back on
• Newsprint? Magazines? Napkins? Yum!!!!
• Electrical outlets create a gravity well specific to the mass of the nearest toddler

Have any you’d like to share? Leave a comment and I’ll add to the invaluable wisdom this post represents.

These are great! Thanks guys!

From Melanie Morales - Don’t put the cat’s food in a bowl on the floor that looks like the snack bowl the Cheerio’s are in. Cat food may not taste as good, but it will get eaten anyway by the two-legged mini-person - rather than the four-legged creature with fur!

From Jungle Pop :

• Coffee cups do not belong on a coffee table. Porcelain makes a very distinctive sound when being bonked against a tile floor.

• Two-inch drop-offs (like going from kitchen to laundry room) may be easy for you, but not for a one-year-old new to walking.
• They like what you like. Which is why if you buy them a $1 toy cellphone that makes noise, they will still try to get at yours.
• As cute as it is watching them dance around while carrying your cellphone playing a ringtone: They WILL drop it. The sound it makes striking a tile floor is not as distinctive as a coffee cup, however.

From Amber :

• Cordless phones are great because they can reach anywhere. Problem is they can reach anywhere… including the commode.

• Toddlers will wait to volunteer for a bath until undrained bath water is happened upon while fully clothed for church.
• Spagetti - great for dinner - better for hair gel.
• CPU’s on the floor = bad
• Toddlers find it amusing to horrify parents by either a.) saving the smelliest, messiest diapers for restaurants b.) finding it perfectly acceptable to nearly decapitate by punch a fellow minihuman in a McDonald’s playland c.) eat whatever they can find unattended in said playland or d.)all of the above
• And, my personal fave, while in waiting room, if sitting next to a person who is rather Pat - ie gender unspecific - it is generally a BAD idea to leave outspoken toddler unsupervised for even a moment!

From Danny Kaye :

• Whatever toy the older brother is playing with is the one that the toddler wants to play with–RIGHT NOW!!!

• If you need her to get up early, count on her to want to sleep late.
• If you need them to be quiet during worship time, they will oh-so-innocently flood you with questions.
• Lollypops create massive amounts of drool.
• Toddlers will always to do a dare-devil jump into your formerly waiting arms right when you turn your back to them.

Thanks to all who responded to my last post on what makes a good small group. Lots of good insight and food for thought as our group begins to move forward and develop it’s own unique personality. Since I was a bad blogger(shame, shame) and didn’t respond to the individual comments I’m gonna post excerpts from some of the responses here :

Danny - I would possibly add “humility through gratitude” to the list. I find that whenever a group is made up of people who are humble simply because they are grateful for the Cross of Christ, then the group is “tight”.

Carole - My husband and I lead a group with another couple. We do not engage any other books than the Bible, primarily to avoid the problems that can arise from getting distracted. We see too much ‘Cultural Christianity’ that placates people into a false contentedness these days.

Lynn - A large group is a form that can be good for the function of teaching and communion, but not participation or accountability, so whatever else you do, think of what a small group can do that a large one can’t, and try to emphasize those things — participation, and accountability.

Kathryn - I think it’s also important to remember that the group is made up of “messy” people in a “messy” world. Even the saints of God are “in process” though they are redeemed and though they are being transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are/you are/I am not perfected until the day we are with the Son in the presence of the Father.

The thing that I mentioned in my post, but didn’t expound upon, was the idea that small groups should flow from the overall vision of the church. What I mean by that is that they shoudn’t be an add-on or an afterthought. Does your church have a purpose in doing Sunday School a certain way? Does it have a purpose for being involved in the ministries that it is? In the same way, small groups should be purposeful and not just random formations of people meeting together for random purposes. These are the kinds of groups which die off after a certain amount of time.

Hopefully, your church is working from a set of core beliefs/values which drives and informs the decisions it makes as a body of believers. Surely you’ve all had the experience of asking “What in the world are we doing that for?” when you see something being done which doesn’t gel with purpose of the church. All I’m saying is that when forming small groups you should take great pains to avoid this question being directed towards you.

My wife and I have decided to attend this small group. In fact, we’ve been attending for about the past 3 months or so. Before that, we were in “parenting” small group which eventually fizzled and before that… well… it had been a while. I do have high hopes for this one and perhaps I shouldn’t. I should probably just take it a week at a time and see how everything goes.

Anyway… last week the de facto leader of our group had us write down what we thought the characteristics of a good/healthy small group are. Here’s my list :

Honesty - This doesn’t mean that you’re required to tell your deep dark secrets. What it does mean is that you don’t present yourself to be something other than you are. We have to get beyond wanting to “look good” - which is self-focused - to actually being ourselves so that the group can support each other.

Rooted in the Gospel / Christ - I’m becoming a firm believer that once we detach what we do from the message of the Gospel and the person of Jesus we start down a slippery slope towards mere pragmatism. Given that, I don’t want a moralistic study on 10 Principles for Managing Your Money or 7 Steps to Well-Behaved Children which I could just as easily find in any secular bookstore. The foundation has to be right or everything else is askew.

Scripture Based - This sounds obvious, but how many small groups have you been to where you barely even cracked your Bible? If we are followers of God then we should be looking at His revelation of Himself through scripture. A caveat - I don’t mean that we should only be doing scripture studies during our small groups. But we should have the attitude that scripture informs our attitudes, our actions, and our inter-actions with each other. And of course, Scripture always points to God and to Christ. If you start looking at scripture for a list of “to-dos”, step back and see the bigger picture.

Edifying - To me, this has to be one of the main functions of a small group. As a body of Christ, we are to “build up one another” and I think this is lot more workable in a smaller setting than in a larger one. Unfortunately, I think it’s also one of the toughest to actually accomplish well. There has to be a certain level of trust which is developed and a commitment to not be easily offended, which may take a while to build up to. I also think the 3 “qualities” listed first need to be in place before true “building up” can happen.

Another one I had listed was that the small group must “flow from the overall mission of the church”. But, I’m having a tough time fleshing that one out right now so I’ll save it for another post.

Any feedback you have would be much appreciated.