Finally another post

More Pictures:

I have been a major slacker with blogging, so here goes some more good stuff.

One of our favorite places to take Avery is Hanging Rock, a state park north of Winston Salem. We love it, and Avery loves it too.



1. Here is Avery in her carrier that she loves to ride in and actually falls asleep in somehow.










2. Here is one of Avery's favorite books called "ABC Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom" or something like that. It is does in 28 seconds what the Sound of Music does for Laura in 3 hours time.











3. Shot of us on the hike together.














4. Here she is sleeping in her "touchdown position."















5. Some great smiling. She's 7 months old now, where has the time gone?

















Laura and I, and Avery...

What does the 23rd Psalm mean?

My wife and I were in a meeting last night where a woman opened the meeting in prayer after reading from the 23rd Psalm. She had an Amplified Bible translation so the reading went something like this:

The Lord is my shepherd, [to feed, guide, and shield me] I shall not lack.

It was then that she prayed a prayer thanking God that he wanted his children to prosper and that was His great hope for all of us.

It really struck me as to how much misunderstanding there is over what Scripture means.

The emphasis of the 23rd Psalm is that SINCE the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Why? Because everything I could ever want has been fulfilled completely in who God is and salvation. This promise is not temporal, it is not physical. I am not in lack of want because God is here to provide everything for me. No doubt God does provide for each of us. But I am not in want because the Lord is my shepherd, he is my portion forever. There is nothing that need be added to the gospel to make it more appealing, God is the shepherd, I have no more need to want anything besides Him.

Book Review: The Prodigal God (Keller)

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller - 4.5 out of 5 stars

My brother bought me this book for Christmas, and I finished it today. I actually was able to go through the entire book today, while taking notes, so you can know that it isn't a huge book. It is small and roughly 13o pages.

The story itself centers around the Prodigal Son (it is completely about the Prodigal Son). He overwhelmingly focuses on the elder son in the story.

Let's start with what I really liked about the book. Tim is very well read, and intelligent. He's a great pastor from everything I can gather at Redeemer Pres. in NYC. He brings out some great stuff in the story and is also able to add an incredible amount from stories and examples in real life.

One of his most striking points is when he discusses how the "Prodigal Son" is the only passage of the three in Luke 15 that doesn't involve someone physically being gone and retrieved, and he makes the claim that perhaps it should have been the older brother to do the retrieving. Keller argues that in a way, Jesus is how the older brother should have been - he left his glory, emptied himself and came to earth to die for the sake of all of us who were guilty while he was innocent. Now this illustration obviously is not what the Scripture says, and depending on how deep you want to go with that it could have its problems, but it still made me look at the story in a new way and with new insight. After all, God implied to Cain that he was his brother's keeper, and no doubt the elder son in Luke 15 was his brother's keeper as well.

Some of my favorite quotes in Keller's book are as follows:

-There are some traditional looking elder brothers that, as a release valve, maintain a secret life of younger brother behavior.
-Elder brothers obey God to get things. They don't obey God to get God himself - in order to resemble Him, love Him, know Him, and delight him.
-One of the ironies of the parable is now revealed. The younger son's flight from the father was crashingly obvious...though the older son stayed at home, he was actually more distant and more alienated...because he was blind to his true condition.
-This quote by John Newton in one of his hymns was one of my favorites as well: Our pleasure and our duty, though opposite before, since we have seen his beauty, are joined to part no more.

The only negative aspect, I think, of Keller's book comes in small sections, and I think after reading the book can only be gleaned from misinterpretation. It is really hard to discuss self righteousness and distinguish between that and piety or seeking to imitate Jesus as Scripture commands. It's hard at certain times for Keller to seem like he isn't making the argument that both doing good and bad things are just as pointless. Quotes that would be dangerous by themselves are:

- (When speaking about the elder son) "it's not his wrongdoing but his righteousness that is keeping him from sharing in the feast with his Father." - well, not exactly how I would put it, and that would be dangerous if not seen in the light of what Keller really means about the elder son's righteous acts being meant to earn his Father's riches and position.

- "So religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as the younger brothers who say they don't believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves." Well, possibly, but that is also going to need a lot of explanation to what you mean by that as well.

Other than that, Keller makes a couple of claims about the points of Jesus' parable on the Lost Things that I don't find as outright wrong, but I just personally disagree with. I don't think that Jesus "is pleading not so much with immoral outsiders as with moral insiders" in these parables. I think this story has depth to offer everyone. I'm not sure that Jesus' intent was primarily directed at the Pharisees on this story as Keller suggests, though he has every right to make that assumption.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think you will too. This is a great book for anyone interested in the story of the Prodigal Son.

4 months

God continues to impress on me the motion of life, its constant progression in spite of us. This week I lost my grandfather. I think losing someone always makes us look back over everything. We see pictures we haven't seen in years and years, and thoughts get brought up that make us realize that time is constantly moving.

I have loved getting to watch Avery grow, and this has been a bitter sweet time saying goodbye and realizing the end of one earthly life, all while continuing to celebrate my daughter's. She is looking more and more like her mother (thankfully) and isn't she just incredibly adorable? Here are some of her four month old pictures:

Avery's first shining moment...

Avery had her first acting job this weekend in our church's Christmas Cantata. She played baby Jesus and had a stellar performance. I made a short video of some of the highlights. She had two scenes, and those are our friends David and Kim as Joseph and Mary.



I loved the cantata, the theme of the service was "still He came." One song in particular mentioned over and over sentences that ended with that statement of "still He came." Every year I get more and more moved by the same truths I have heard since I was a kid. Having a child this year brings home to me a Father's love for His child, and how great God's sacrifice was.

Jesus as the climax of history...

The more I walk through Scripture the more I see that Jesus is the center of everything that ever happened. I made this video several years ago, and we use it each year during our Christmas services. It is pretty basic, my video editing skills were even worse than they are now, but I never cease to be so moved by the message. I love the song, off of Andrew Peterson's Christmas Album which goes with the video - Deliver Us (Derek Webb is actually the one singing it).

Part of what makes Christmas so great is not just the supernatural aspects of it, but the humanity of a people long desperate for a Savior to come, long desperate for hope. Hope you like this :).

Christmas Recommendations...

I've gotten to the point now where the best part of Christmas to me has very little to do with presents. I love getting to enjoy time with family, having time off with that same family, and doing the Christmas-y things that sort of warm the spirit. I love being involved with our church's candlelight service, and taking hope out of Christmas songs of a Savior sent to save all who would come to Him.

With that, I wanted to mention a few things that are essential to our Christmas, that I highly recommend.

Music:

Andrew Peterson: Behold the Lamb of God

This is the greatest Christmas CD I have ever heard. I cannot describe to you enough how much I love this CD. Every single note is a beautiful part of a whole musical masterpiece. By and large Andrew writes some of the most beautiful lyrics, and adapted Scripture to paint the story of Christmas. The CD is diverse, but largely acoustic including vocals from folks like Jill Phillips and Derek Webb, and instrumentation from guitars and piano to accordions and hammered dulcimers. Laura and I go to see the Behold the Lamb tour as well each year, and it is our favorite concert of the year (and we've been to see U2).


Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong

Now I am not a huge Sarah McLachlan fan, I only have one other CD of her. Laura and I love this album though. It is the perfect snowy day album. It is soft, smooth, and there is something warm about the album that we just love. She sings some less popular Christmas songs, and adapts others and adds her own take on them. We love this album though.





Christmas Movies:



Christmas Carol (1951)

There are so many versions of Dicken's story, and in my opinion this is by far the best one. Laura and I watch this each year, in its original black and white, and LOVE it. It is as if Dicken's story is being done as it was actually intended to be done. There are elements of the story that are not mentioned in other versions, and overwhelmingly it is so believably a 19th century story. If you love the Dicken's classic, you have to see this version.




The Stingiest Man in Town

This is also a great version of A Christmas Carol, and it is my favorite Christmas cartoon. Rankin Bass produced this one, just like so many other Christmas cartoons and claymations, and Walter Matheau is the voice for Scrooge. This cartoon is a remnant of a time when it was appropriate to talk about the meaning of Christmas. I'm 28, and I still can't have Christmas without watching it.