"As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God."

This article I found over at Between Two Worlds, comes from London's Times Online. Here is a snippet:

"Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good. "

Christmas Gifts for Dad

Often when the kids have asked me what I want for Christmas or for my birthday I have echoed the oft heard response from my father, "Just give me your obedience." Nothing would be more delightful as a gift than for our daughters to be joyfully obedient to our desire to shepherd them toward God. With this in mind I listened to a short podcast from a former professor that I thought was a great remembrance for parents at Christmas.

Here is John Mark Reynold's podcast. It's only 2 minutes so give it a listen.

My daughter the Theologian

This morning Haley and Darcy were writing a little note to stick in their stockings about what they wanted to give to God for Christmas this year (Annie's idea). Darcy said she wanted to give Him a Bible. Haley's note was a bit more insightful. "I want to give you my love, ...which means that I need to obey you," was Haley's response; a simple rehearsal of the words of Jesus, "If you love me, keep my commandments." I do not know that she had Jesu's words in mind when she made the declaration; it is highly unlikely. Instead, in a child-like straight-forward way, she understood that to claim love for God without obedience is no claim at all. 

The New-found Joy of Digiscrapping

Tis the Season

This Christmas, my friend Melissa sent me the "Advent Jesse Tree" to use with the kids this season. It includes 25 devotions and 25

 ornaments that correspond to the devotional theme. The kids love opening a new gift every night and this will be a fun tradition for all the years to come.

We also got to do our first Gingerbread house together (thanks, jennie!). For some reason, blogger takes forever uploading pictures..facebook is fast, so I'll upload more there (C'mon, Brett...you know you want to requ

est me as a friend...).

Still looking for that perfect Christmas gift?

I have wanted to post this video for a few weeks now, but haven't done it for a few reasons:

1. I don't know how to post a video.
2. Colby is always on the computer. (that's neither true nor a good excuse).
3. I don't want to be misunderstood.

I think giving gifts is fun and I truly appreciate all the gifts I receive every year. At the same time, I think there is a danger of making Christmas the opposite of worshipful. This video does an excellent job heralding a strong message that we need to be reminded of.




If you are looking for a meaningful gift for someone who "has it all" (and/or has a small living space!), try looking here or here. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Jennie, for this website and her alternative gift ideas this year!

Win Some Books!!

Trevin Wax at the Kingdom People blog is doing a nice little book giveaway between now and Christmas. He is giving away his ten favorite books from 2008. You can click on the link on the blogroll and check out the giveaway yourself if you would like. If you win because I pointed the contest out to you, it would only be right that you share the love.

Jingle Bell, Jingle, Bell, Jingle Bell, Run

Annie, Brooke, and I headed out early this afternoon to join 1300 others for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis 5K, sponsored in part by the Lancaster Orthopedic Group; the employer of this guy. We had PR's all around; Annie (22:46), Brooke (22:20), Colby (19:03). For three sweet miles you could hear the jingling of the bells as the runners made their way through the course. 

Defining Ourselves

I think this billboard may say as much about Starbucks as it does about McDonald's. Sometimes our lives can be the same way. We define ourselves by becoming reactions to the people or challenges in life that bother us the most.

There's a Lion in the Streets!

If you are familiar with the Proverbs you may have recognized the title. The proverb reads:

The sluggard says, "There's a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets." Prov. 22:13

Faith-filled journeys require courage and sanity. After reading this proverb we quickly want to distance ourselves from the sluggard and recognize how foolish it is to use such a lame excuse. We say to the sluggard, "Enough with the excuses, go get a job, do something productive. Be done with squandering your life." It is not totally irrational. I guess there could someday be a lion outside. But we recognize it is so unlikely that to live like it is true would be irrational and non-sensical. 

But I think there are times for all of us when we share in the sluggards way of thinking. There are things that we would like to do or maybe now wish we had done, but we found a convenient excuse because the risk was more than we wanted to take. Maybe there have been times where felt the Spirit of God calling us to come and follow and we found a reason to stay comfortably inside the house. Churches do it often as well. What if we don't have the money? What if our plans fail? What if we encounter unexpected obstacles that we are not prepared for? There is only one cure for this way of thinking. Go outside! Out there you will find that even if your plans fail or you encounter unexpected obstacles it is far more interesting than staying behind. And hey, even if there is a lion, you might just be in for the encounter of your life. In my moments of clarity I absolutely love where God has our family right now;  uncertain, unexpected, dependant, hopeful, expectant. In the words of the great theologian Matt Eachus (pronouncd a-hos), "This is the stuff memories are made of!"