Growing boys

Many of you remember that our youngest son Asher was born a month early. He was not a small boy. He never has been a small boy. Last Saturday we went to a beach on a small lake. The state was doing some construction on a road nearby and left one of their front-end-loaders parked for the weekend. It is parked about 10 feet behind Asher. In the photo below you are able to see the perspective of the machine next to Asher. He's not a small boy.


Our eldest son Ezra, on the other hand, has always been a "normal" sized boy. Recently he has noticed that Asher is gaining on him. In the photo below you see Ezra watering his shadow in hopes of gaining a few inches. We didn't have the heart to tell him that this would not work.

Strange and unbelievable talent

Randall Les-Lee

It's not the shoe-bomber. It's my friend Randall Les-Lee. Yesterday was his birthday. If you know him wish him a happy belated/bearded birthday. He's a good friend.

How to of the day

I believe I have mentioned before that I have the "How to of the day" as one of my settings on iGoogle. I have never come across anything that has been helpful but they are quite humorous.

The first "how to" is

1. How to stop being a people pleaser.
The warnings are listed at the end of each "how to." The warnings for this one are

• *Some people may take time to adjust to the new you - don't apologize for being you, but be gentle with them!
• *Some people may reject the new you. They were never your friends; they were using you. Let them go.
• *Some things you may want to do may not be work-safe. If you really need your job, think twice before mouthing off or getting a pink mohawk and 5 piercings if you have to be at the investment bank in the morning.

The second "how to" of the day is

2. How to make a citizens arrest.
The tips for this "how to" are particularly helpful.

• *When dealing with potential criminals, it's better to err on the side of caution and leave the crime control to trained professionals.
• *In most cases, you don't need to be a citizen of the country you're in in order to make a citizen's arrest.
• *Be as observant as possible. Even if you aren't able to keep the suspect at the scene, you will be able to act as witness and identify the suspect later.
• *Be confident. Showing the suspect that you don't know what you're doing will make them more likely to leave the scene of the crime.

mmmm...spam

Every now and again I actually read the spam email that I receive. A few questions came to mind after reading one spam message I received this morning.

1. Who actually buys anything from a spammer?
2. Couldn't they pay a more experienced marketing team?
3. Why don't they spend a little more money on a better translator?

The following message is word for word. I received this message this morning. I have removed the hyperlink so that you would not be tempted to buy the medicine.

Hello my friend!
I am ready to kill myself and eat my dog, if medicine prices here (http://*******) are bad. Look, the site and call me 1-800 if its wrong...
My dog and I are still alive :)

Worship problems

Recently there have been a few issues for discussion at our church about worship (through music). Some of the discussions have not been easy. I decided to begin reading through Worship by the Book. I bought this book a few years ago and never started reading it until now. This morning I read chapter 4 - "Reformed Worship in the Global City" by Timothy Keller. It was extremely helpful in many areas and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has thought through the purpose of worship (through music). Keller moves through historical traditions of worship as well as contemporary practices. He provides a few outlines of the services at Redeemer Presbyterian Church and gives rationale for each element in the service.

Although this has not really been part of the discussion at Trinity Church I found Keller's section on contemporary and historic worship insightful. In this section he lists the problems in strictly promoting one or the other.

Problems in promoting strictly contemporary worship:
First, some popular music does have severe limitations for corporate worship.
Second, when we ignore historic tradition, we break our solidarity with Christians of the past. Part of the richness of our identity as Christians is that we are saved into a historic people.
Finally, any corporate worship that is strictly contemporary will become dated very quickly. When [someone] says we should "plug in" to contemporary culture, which contemporary culture does he mean? White, black, Latino, urban, suburban, "Boomer," or "Gen X" contemporary culture?

Problems in promoting strictly traditional, historical worship:
First, historical worship advocates cannot really dodge the charge of cultural elitism. Much of high culture music takes a great deal of instruction to appreciate, so that, especially in the United States, a strong emphasis on such music and art will probably only appeal to college-educated elites.
Second, any proponent of "historic" corporate worship will have to answer the questions, "Whose history?" Much of what is called "traditional" worship is very rooted in northern European culture.

What say ye? What are your thoughts? Would you add any "problems" to his list?

Wide Load

Last Friday I received a brand new wide margin ESV bible. I have been using the ESV for a number of years and have had issue with the lack of margin on the pages for notes. Well it is finally here so I am reading my bible again. I decided to get the hardback edition so that I don't have to worry about killing a cow...and cardboard is half the cost of cow skin. Truth be known - I take my bible in my man-purse everywhere I go and it seems that a hardback would be more durable. I will let you know how it all works out.

So far I have read parts of 1 Kings, Song of Solomon and Hebrews and I have to be honest - it's much better reading now.

The ESV offers "more than 100 highly creative" editions. You can spend a billion dollars on a bible if you so choose. Scroll through the endless options here.

Reason # 284

This is reason 284 why Kirsten is scared to have boys. The list grows as I think of more fun things for our boys to do this summer. When the shorts are wet one can really pick up some speed. No legs were broken and fun was had by all...except Kirsten who watched from the bedroom window.

Nooma on Oil

Utterly Incompatible

As I wrote about last week I am re-reading "God is the Gospel." This morning I read about the "diverse excellencies (lion and lamb) that unite in [Jesus]." The foundation for these "diverse excellencies" is a Jonathan Edwards sermon from Revelation 5:5-6.

• we admire him for his glory, but even more because his glory is mingled with humility;
• we admire him for his transcendence, but even more because his transcendence is accompanied by condescension;
• we admire him for his uncompromising justice, but even more because it is tempered with mercy;
• we admire him for his majesty, but even more because it is a majesty in meekness;
• we admire him because of his equality with God, but even more because as God’s equal he nevertheless has a deep reverence for God;
• we admire him because of how worthy he was of all good, but even more because this was accompanied by an amazing patience to suffer evil;
• we admire him because of his sovereign dominion over the world, but even more because this dominion was clothed with a spirit of obedience and submission;
• we love the way he stumped the proud scribes with his wisdom, and we love it even more because he could be simple enough to like children and spend time with them;
• and we admire him because he could still the storm, but even more because he refused to use that power to strike the Samaritans with lightning (Luke 9:54-55) and he refused to use it to get himself down from the cross.

Um...I don't know what to say

Some people have too much time on their hands. This guy is not supposed to have any musical talent. I don't know. Which is more of a waste of time - this video or the fact that I have watched it several times and took the time to post it on my blog?

Let the naming begin

We are holding the 3rd biannual "Name the Black Boy" contest. Names up for consideration are

1. Jet

2. Coal

3. Ba Ba

4. Randall Earl

5. Susan

6.

*As in previous contests please submit your name suggestion before the birth of the next Black baby and it will not be considered.

*Must be 18 to enter. No purchase required. Please only 3 entries per household. Shipping and handling included in the 48 contiguous states. Prices and promotions may vary. See ad for details. The winning name will also be applied to the Erickson family if they have another male child.

Evangelism strategies

I am re-reading God is the Gospel by John Piper. The main point of the book can be summed up in this quote,

The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God.

How should this change our description of the gospel to an unbeliever?

Discuss....

Superior Hiking Trail

Last weekend Bryan and I hiked several miles of the Superior Hiking Trail. Below are some pictures of our trip showing our enjoyment and God's glory.

Two Falls

High Falls

On the shore of the Baptism River and Lake Superior