On the Clock...

I realize most people don't care about this, but I wanted to add in a quick note about my building excitement for the NFL Draft in a couple of weeks. The Jets have a high pick because (uh-hum) they stunk last year. Draft day is always fun for a Jets Fan, here are some of the GREAT picks they have made in previous years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxNeFLuY98

It's a Girl!

O Lord, you have searched me and known me
You know when I sit and when I rise up
You understand my thought from afar
You scrutinize my path and my lying down
You are intimately acquainted with all my ways
Even before there is a word is on my tongue
Behold, O Lord, You know it all
You have enclosed me behind and before
And laid Your hand upon me
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me
It is too high, I cannot attain it

Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea
Even there your hand will lead me
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say 'Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
and the light around me will be night'
Even the darkness is not dark to You
and the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You

For you formed my inmost parts;
You wove me together in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works
and my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you
When I was made in secret,
and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
and in Your book were all written
the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Psalm 139:1-16

Trip to Florida

We got a chance to go to Florida for a week because of a Timeshare offer (go down, listen to the presentation, and when they realize you don't have money they let you leave, but they pay for almost everything).

It was a lot of fun, we know we are going to be out of the realm for vacations for a while, so it was great to get to enjoy some time together in tourist land. We took a cruise on a pitiful little ship for 2 days but we did get to hang out in the Bahamas which was great for a day.

We also got to go to Disney, and there are pictures obviously from there as well.

More than Nostalgia...

A couple of days ago I was able to take a quick walk down memory lane. Some of you who read this may remember me as someone who listened to at least one of these groups almost non-stop, but it has been several years (mostly because my car's CD player broke) since I have really listened to either one of these groups. It's funny how God refreshed my sense of amazement at some of the truth contained in these.

I don't know why I started to listen to DC Talk's Jesus Freak album while doing work around the house. To be honest, I probably think of them as a sort of "fun" band at best, not really something that would challenge me spiritually. Once again, I'm stupid. I was taken back to 1996 listening (on tape) to these songs in my '85 Buick Park Avenue. I remembered the impact of lyrics like "will the love continue, when the walk becomes a crawl? What if I stumble?" and "in my pursuit of God, I thirst for holiness, as I approach the Son I must consider this, offenses unresolved can keep me from the throne." There in my house, that truth really started to work on me and it was really great.

The other album I started listening to now that I was in throwback land was the Chronicles album by Caedmon's Call. They are probably my all time favorite band, and I remembered why. I don't think I'll ever get tired of songs like "This World" and "40 Acres." It made me want to pick up my guitar and relearn all the riffs and solos.

Overall, it made me think about how our past shapes us so intently, and how, at least I, can hardly remember who I was 5, 10, 15 years ago. Not because I am somehow such a better person, but because I just don't have a great memory. But God left me road marks, and one of those is the memories that these songs bring back of the challenges of the road we walk. I am challenged to remember that we cannot forget where we were, who we were, because that shows the reality of God quite clearly. As one Caedmon's song put it "I had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view, looking back, I see your lead of love."

Greek Days...

Well, I'm one of the only guys I know that has a Greek life that doesn't include some sort of fraternity. Last semester I took what was probably the most involved course I have ever taken - Elementary Greek. I'm currently on the 6 year plan at Southern Baptist Seminary in KY (online). I love languages, and this was the strangest one yet. For the first time it's a non-Latin language (besides English I guess) which means I get to learn new letters and sentence structure. I'm still an apron strings novice, but I am beginning to see the payoff for delving into this.

I also think it is funny that because of the nature of the course, I haven't been taught how to say "where is the bathroom?" or "what time is it?" like in a Spanish course. But I guess if I were ever in Greece I could walk up to someone, and in a language that must sound the way that an Amish American speaks in terms of outdatedness, ask them "do you know the Lord of heaven who by his love has cleansed his children of all unrighteousness?" hahaha, good conversation starter.

We have just started going through 1 John, and I must admit that it has been refreshing to look at the passage from the original language. Things seem to come out that are harder to express in English. John literally writes in verse 5 of chapter 1 "and we proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness nothing/nowhere" with a double negative that is not taboo or contradictory in the Greek language, but instead is emphatic as to how holy God is.

Also in verse 6, as John says "if we say that we have fellowship with him and we walk in the darkness, we are lying and don't do the truth." Really challenging to look at and examine the truth as something we don't just believe, but are called to perform and be a part of, and to be in the truth or not being an active choice that we make.

I look forward to going on in 1 John, I've only accomplished 10 verses so far :). What an exciting and refreshing reminder that the message of God long pre-dates me, and will long outlive me, spanning languages and cultures I have never even seen.

We're Having a Baby...

Laura and I are really excited to be welcoming a little one into the world around the time of September 25th. We have known for a few weeks now, and we are doing the best we can to sift through both Laura's round-the-clock morning sickness, and all of the fun questions you get to ask yourself when children come along about finances and planning.

We can't wait, and we are excited about posting pictures of our child whenever that time comes! Please pray for us, Laura especially, and our little bundle of joy :).

Romania - July 2007

We were able to take a group of students from our church to be involved with World Changers International, a short-term branch of the International Mission Board, in Romania this past summer.

It was a great trip, only about 8 days, but a huge experience for all of us, and hopefully made an impact on the Gypsy community in the towns outside of Cluj-Napoca (NW Romania). I've included some pictures below. We mostly just put on VBS' for all ages out in these rolling fields.

















It was great to get to go back to Romania, and we hope to return before too long again. We cannot help but still feel God's quiet sense of leading us towards eventual missions placement, but we both feel like that is not what God has for us in the immediate future. Below is a video from one of the days showing a landscape of where we were, the other is a song that we closed each day with (Hosanna, Amen Hosanna, O Hallelujah maranatha).