GroshLink

For all you wondering minds...

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On Saturday morning, Ellen and Hayley excitedly scurried out the door to a friend's birthday party.  They loved their time with the birthday girl and her/their friends at a theatre party room.  AND the opening weekend showing of WALL•E (they even brought home the free blue rubber, promo wristband watch which is only good until the battery dies ... with Ellen's already on decline, check back later for status report).

With regard to WALL•E, Ellen's favorite character was WALL•E.  Hayley loved both Eve and WALL•E (a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class or do we really have a code name for ADAM, see The Little Robot That Could).  On the ride home we chatted about care for creation, recycling, and not laying around all day drinking while watching TV. 

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Ever wonder what's happening at a major conference for your organization, ministry, and/or denomination? The Brethren-in-Christ (BIC)'s General Conference doesn't just have news, it now has blogging and live stream/broadcast (e.g., Jay Smith and Shabir Ally Christian/Muslim Dialogue, 2:30pm, today)! I wonder if the BIC is on the front-end of a trend?

Note: In conference related events, it's good to read on the blog of the strong day one showing of our local congregation's quiz team, i.e., Elizabethtown BIC.

Ellen & Hayley loved their 1/2 week camp sponsored by the Brethren-in-Christ's Kenbrook Camp, so much so they didn't want to leave!  What was their favorite thing?  Everything!  Theresa and I have enjoyed learning all about their time at Kenbrook, last night they shared from their Bible lessons on the life of Nehemiah. 

Here's a pic of them with their friend Kylie. 

 

Among all the congratulations for the birth of Lily Joy and questions about how our family's adjusting, we've received a variety of inquiries regarding other matters.  One missions team member of a partner congregation shared how a college student, returning from a spring of discipleship in an InterVarsity chapter, presented Carl Ellis' 4-paned window of marginalization with the young adults.  AND the missions team member wanted to know more about Ellis' work.  Why didn't the missions team member just ask the student?  Because the student has already left for a Missions Project with InterVarsity, along with several other collegians from their congregation (who by the way attend a variety of colleges and universities). 

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June 17, 2008

I've let Tom and the girls share all the info about Lily Joy thus far, but I know some of you moms out there really want to hear from ... ME!

Lily is 4 days old today and had her first visit to the pediatrician. She weighed 8lbs 11oz at birth, 8lbs 1oz at hospital discharge, and 8lbs 11oz today! It's shocking to me because our other kids took forever to gain weight. Eden was even diagnosed with failure to thrive and had blood work done to make sure there wasn't something else wrong with her! So to have a baby that caught on to nursing from the moment of birth and nurses like a champ is unheard of for me. But what a relief it is!

Our baby's still sleeping a lot, but does have some kind of predictable patterns of sleep/wake. Sometimes Lily wakes in time for a feeding (about every 3 hours), other times I have to wake her. The first night home was pretty easy. I fed her around 11pm and she went right to sleep. She awoke after about 4 hours and ate again and went back to sleep. And then she woke up about 3 hours later, which was an acceptable hour for me to start my day. Last night was more challenging. After I fed her she didn't want to settle and was awake for about 2 hours. I ended up sleeping with her on the futon in her room. At least we both got some sleep.

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Is that the Colbert Report? -- Theresa inquired just a few minutes ago as I played an Interview on the Colbert Report in which N.T. Wright holds his own while Stephen shares his idea of heaven as getting a harp, drinking a mint julep and asking Ronald Reagan questions ;-) Check it out.*

BTW, looking forward to having Wright speak at Following Christ, InterVarsity's National Graduate & Faculty Ministry Conference to be held December 27-31, Marriott Magnificent Mile, Chicago, IL.  If you're an Emerging Scholar, graduate student, and/or faculty member, come join us.

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More from Tim Keller, thank-you to my friend Kevin for bringing this piece from the Redeemer Report to my attention!  I find Tim's brief thoughts regarding humor particularly helpful in self-examination.  How easily I'm influenced by the nod, nod, wink, wink era/culture in which we live.  No doubt this has been accentuated by my time in campus ministry, with the issues being present both with students and the academic guild. ....

Father, set my compass for the summer season of extended times with those close to me ... Ellen and Hayley being home from school, gatherings of extended family, various summer social events at our local congregation and in the community.  Fill my life and our family's life with the fruit of the Spirit in all our interactions and grant us the grace to love one-another as we laugh and play together!  In the name of your Son Jesus, Amen. 

Below is the conclusion of The Gospel and Humor:

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Thank-you to Miller for emailing me Paradise Lost, Again and Again: A Book Review of Alan Jacobs' Original Sin: A Cultural History. Overall the Wall Street Journal reviewer praises the cultural history presented by Jacobs, although he wishes more pages had been given to the provoking ideas in Genesis than Milton's poetic version in "Paradise Lost." He comments:

The author of Genesis suggests that this [i.e., a radical autonomy wherein the truth is determined not by the nature of things but by your own individual will] is a formula for unhappiness: Genuine freedom is anchored in objective truths that we ourselves do not invent. Otherwise there is going to be a mess. And indeed in the chapters of Genesis that follow, which may have a substratum of historical truth – there was, for example, an enormous flood in the Mesopotamian basin at the dawn of history – mankind lurches from catastrophe to catastrophe.

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Co-parenting makes the research (Journal of Family Psychology), news and blog front for Father's Day! Note: brought to my attention by Fathers.com weekly newsletter (thank-you to Jim for encouraging me to sign-up).   Not bad to be only 1 week behind with a newborn ;-)

What's the big surprise?  Raising children involves shared intentionality, communication, time, and prayer in the home and in the village (extended family, local congregation, community, school, and larger society/culture).  Here's a quote from the WSJ blog post.

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In a recent on-line conversation regarding the relationship of science and faith, several articles were brought to my attention and I commend them to my CMU friends (and to whomever else has interest in such questions):

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Leading up to Lily Joy's birth I had a few evenings to occupy myself and I tried out a few more episodes of the new Doctor Who.  Not bad, but I'm not sure how much space and time will exist in the coming days, weeks AND they're not a family show that our whole family would enjoy. ... Who Altered British TV? Who Indeed provides insight into some of the themes I was noticing but couldn't place my finger upon.  Check it out.

P.S.  As I've noted before, I'm afraid Tom Baker still defines Doctor Who for me.  That's just the way it is, but you know when I go back and watch them they're not as good as I imagined them in my younger years ;-)

Just in case you don't already, keep up-to-date with Byron Borger's (i.e., Hearts and Minds) book reviews. He has two recent postings on new Spiritual Formation books, see here and here (Note:  2 InterVarsity Press books highlighted).

For many of us, the summer provides an excellent time for traveling with God as an individual and a family (not just the earthly family but also the family of God). In the midst of all of the talk regarding church splits, the economy, global warming, oil, politics, and war, make sure you focus first on following Christ and not the spirit of age/day.  If one's schedule doesn't afford the space to read from a book, find a book on tape/CD for the traveling in the car (whether to/from work or in travel).

P.S. I'm currently reading/applying Roger Cross' How We Make Our Kids Angry (IVP, 2008). More on that later.

On Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed, I came across an excellent Leadership Journal piece by Tim Keller entitled The Gospel in All its Forms.  Here's a quote followed by some points regarding Preaching the forms:

If I had to put this outline in a single statement, I might do it like this: Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

Preaching the forms
You would expect me at this point now to explain how we can perfectly integrate the various aspects of the gospel in our preaching. I can't because I haven't. But here's how I try.

1. I don't put all the gospel points into any one gospel presentation. ...
2. I use both a gospel for the "circumcised" and for the "uncircumcised. ...
3. I use both a "kingdom" and an "eternal life" gospel. ...
4. I use them all and let each group overhear me preaching to the others. ...

PS. The article links to Doug Moo's Nature and the New Creation: NT Eschatology and the Environment

The conclusion of Jeffrey Overstreet's review of Sophie Scholl for Christianity Today struck a deep chord. 

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Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to give significant time to prayerful consideration of next steps for faculty ministry in central PA.  In particular, pray for discernment for how this work will tie into the Emerging Scholars Network, Following Christ 08, local events (e.g., conferencing, fund development, partnerships with local congregations, speakers), Pittsburgh commitments, and InterVarsity's Mid-Atlantic Ministry as a whole (i.e., connecting across the spectrum of undergrad, grad, and faculty on a variety of campuses). 

Note:  InterVarsity's Mid-Atlantic Regional Staff Conference will occur the 2nd week in August.  This gathering provides a strategic opportunity for focused prayer, intense Scripture study, deepening friendship with brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ, short/long-term planning, and training.  Pray for God to impress upon me with whom I should be connecting and sharing in this context. 

Lily is a wonderful sister.  She cries.  She's cuddly, chubby and cute. 

 

 

"A Gripping True Story.  Challenges you to gauge your own courage." declares The New York Times box cover:

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As we prepare to bring Baby Lily Joy home today, Eden reminds me she's a big girl.  She most definately is and it is a great joy to see her cross short distances unassisted!  We can't wait to see Eden run and play, but hope that she focuses on where she is going, something which she doesn't do when navigating the halls with her walker.  Last night Eden played with her baby dolls endlessly and she added another to her bedside assembly.  From what we saw in the hospital yesterday, we'll have to fend off a would-be three year old mommy.  Are there any childcare training classes for her age?

Praise be to God for His gift of life and health!  Both Theresa and Lily Joy are in 'good health' with no complications.  Enjoy some more pics here!

 

12:58am 8 lbs 11 oz 20 inches all well. Pics coming.

Have an interest in history? Check out the Books-and-Culture article History, History, and More History, which is a report on the 2008 conference of The Historical Society. Note:  The two journals which The Historical Society publish are The Journal of the Historical Society and Historically Speaking).  Also, in case you don't already subscribe, I'd encourage you to a regular diet of weekly pieces from Christianity Today's Christian History & Biography.  I love it and share various pieces with friends, Sunday School classes, and family members (particularly around the dinner table).

PS.  Conference on Faith and History (CFH) will held in September on World History and History that Changed the World at Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio.  Anyone going?  If so, pass along what you learn.

Pray for a healthy delivery of our baby girl.  We're going in!

Check this out: I came across Mathematical Devotions through the Association for Christians in the Mathematical Sciences. Take some time to reflect upon the below devotional and rejoice in the blessing of mathematicians seeking to embrace and offer their calling with passion and creativity. 

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A friend-in-ministry passed along the link to the Evangelical Political Scholars Association (EPSA).

ESPA exists to serve the Kingdom of God by facilitating interdisciplinary discussion, research and professional contact across the disciplines among evangelical Christian scholars who are interested in political life in all its dimensions - theological, philosophical and institutional, and by providing a forum in which members can provoke one another to think more biblically, more rigorously and more practically about the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men, their different natures and relationships.

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