16?

By the time Calvin was 16 he had earned both his BA and his Masters. Now, you might hear that and think ... man ... I'm slow. On the other hand, I choose to believe there's just a lot more stuff to know now than there was then ... so ... uh ... of course it takes longer. Right?

New Songs?

Hey, I'm looking for some new worship songs to learn. Who's worth looking into, and what songs specifically?

Let me know.

Vacuuming

Have you ever felt like when you vacuum you're just spinning the dirt down into the rug?

I have, and frankly that's fine ... as long as it's down there deep enough that it doesn't come back out right away.

baby sheep

"Because of the dichotomy of salvation and sanctification, millions of undisciplined baby sheep roam the countryside. They've accepted Christ as their Savior but have not been discipled in His body."

That's probably true ... and pretty much not okay.

Inclusion

“… Jesus threatened people with inclusion; if they were to be excluded, it would be because they refused to accept their acceptance. If people rejected his acceptance, he did not retaliate against them, but submitted himself to humiliation, mistreatment, even crucifixion by them.” - McLaren, Generous Orthodoxy, 247

Are we still threatening inclusion in the name of Jesus?

I had never thought about it ...

"Heads bowed, eyes closed please, no one looking around, this is just between you and the Lord. Now raise your hand if you want to accept Jesus Christ into your life."

I've heard that one several times at camps and retreats, but what does that say about a new Christian's position in the new faith? Doesn't that practice encourage current believers to literally turn a blind eye to new converts? Doesn't it also suggest that the new believer should be very careful about how fully he or she lives into their new faith, after all we seem to suggest to them that it might be wise to only accept Jesus when no one is looking?

This thought hit me just the other day ... Is there a better way to do it? Am I missing something?

Shouldn't we push people to understand that accepting Jesus means that you are entering into his body, the church. If we value that, then shouldn't we rejoice together in full sight?

How about, "Heads up, eyes open, everyone is looking, this is between you, the God of the universe, and the church ..."

Blessings

Brother Si is getting married, and we send our blessings!

Scratch Tones

I struck up a conversation with the guy that hands out the pre-screening tickets at a local theather, which if you've never done you should try to check out. Anyway, within seconds of opening the conversation he pulled out his cell phone and said, "call me." I said, "Okay."

So, I called him and his phone rang ... it was a turn-table scratch. Apparently the guy played the tables and had a different scratch for every person in his phone book (I got the generic scratch, though). I told him he ought to market the whole thing ... 'cause it was all just too classic.

Point? Find out something fun and facinating today; talk to someone you don't know.