Classes

The DVDs for my first classes -- Basic Evangelism and Baptist History -- arrived yesterday. I guess that means life now goes from just really busy to incredibly busy. Despite the demands on my time, I'm really looking forward to these classes, particularly the Evangelism class. I know I don't do a very good job sharing my faith with others, and I want to do better. I listened to the first Evangelism lecture last night, and Dr. Reid had a great quote -- our passion for witnessing comes out of our love for Christ. The logical conclusion to this assertion is that few disciples of Christ (myself included) love Him much. God give me a love for you, a love that will tell others about You!

Hawaii

I got to go to Hawaii on a business trip. Yes, I managed to squeeze in a little sight-seeing; no, I didn't get to take Ann. We never had peace about her coming along. At first we just thought it was because it was so expensive. Now we know it's because God was helping us save our money for seminary. God is good. Look at the menu on the left or click here:

Hawaii Trip

I'm full

Dad came over for dinner last night. As we were nearly done, Jacen asked for another BBQ brisket sandwich (ask Ann for the recipe, 'cause it's delicious!). Dad told Jacen to save some room for ice cream, as he was taking us out to Dairy Queen for dessert. Jacen smiled real big and said "I'm full!" (Related note to self: don't let the kids get Dilly Bars when it's warm out; they make way too much mess.)

Adultery Prevention

Allan Blume, Senior Pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone, NC, spoke in our church last Sunday about moral purity. He mentioned one study that caught my attention: someone surveyed 400-some Christian men who had committed adultery. They found that all had these four things in common: 1) they were not participating in an accountability group, 2) they were not have a regular time of Bible reading and prayer, 3) they were counseling women, and 4) and they thought something like this could never happen to them.

Hey guys, have you got all four of these areas covered?

2 Samuel 11

Acceptance

"On behalf of Southeastern's Faculty, I am happy to inform you that your application for admission has been approved..." Woohoo! I'm in.

Southeastern

No more training wheels

We were out taking a family walk last week when I saw a kid younger than Jacen riding a bike without training wheels. It was more than I could take. The next day I took the training wheels off of Jacen's bike and began to teach my boy how to ride a bike. After one session, I was pretty much certain I had made a colossal mistake. After five sessions, he was riding on his own. God gave me Jacen to teach me patience.

Salesman of the quarter?

As we expect to be downsizing sometime in the next few months, Ann decided to hold a garage sale to get rid of our extra stuff. I've decided that attics are actually evil things to have -- they allow you to accumulate all kinds of stuff that you should really give away or sell.

The kids wanted to do something, so Ann made some cookies and zucchini bread for them to sell. $7 in a 2 hours ain't bad.

Reasons for believing

Many people are looking for God, but have some tough questions they want answered first. "Can I know for certain that God exists? How do I know if the Bible is totally trustworthy? Was Jesus God or just a good teacher?" Answering these kinds of questions is known as apologetics. In his book "Reasons for Believing," Frank Harber does a great job answering these questions and others like them. If you're looking for God, I highly recommend this book. If you have friends that are looking for God, buy a copy of the book and give it to them.

Amazon

Full-time service

God has been working on our hearts for a while, and a couple weeks ago Ann and I surrendered our lives to full-time Christian service. I will take a couple seminary classes online in the fall, and then if God doesn't call us in another direction, I will go full-time in the spring. I am currently enrolling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. I will be pursuing a Masters of Divinity, a pretty common degree for people going into ministry. Although it will be hard to leave our family and church home, we know God has great plans in store for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Southeastern

I've been flocked

Somebody flocked my yard for my birthday today. When I went out to jog this morning, I found my front yard full of these little, pink flamingoes. Apparently it's a rather strange type of fundraiser for a missions trip at our church. Anyhow, to whomever flocked me, thank you!

John Hooper

I'm reading through the book The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs. I'm not sure why I've never read it before, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it now. It's an encouragement, and I highly recommend it. I've just finished the life and death of John Hooper. Have you ever wondered what the epitat on your tombstone will say? Here's how Foxe summed up Hooper's life -- "He was earnest in his doctrine, eloquent in his speech, perfect in the Scriptures, and untiring in his efforts." Wow, what an example! That's what I want to be said about me.

Emmy's Three!

Time continues to fly. Emmy turned three last Saturday, and we had a big birthday party for her in the backyard. Lots of friends, food, games, and presents. Maybe everything is slower the first time, but it seems to me that Emmy is growing up quicker than Jacen did.

HVAC

In our house the heater and air conditioner are in one big unit located behind our house. The original unit was about 14 years old and at the end of its expected life, so we saved up and bought a new one. It's a monster, but I think we got it just in time as it's been warm already this spring. If you live in the area and need a new system, I know a great company to buy one from.

Fish

I have a 35 gallon fish tank at work. When we moved office buildings last fall, the fish didn't survive the move. I've been wanting for a while to try an African cichlid tank, so I'm working on that now. I've done quite a bit of reading online (how did we survive before Google and the internet?) and finally settled on two species: labidochromis caeruleus (aka yellow lab cichlid) and pseudotropheus socolofi (aka powder blue cichlid). Both are fairly small and non-aggressive, at least for cichlids. There are from Lake Malawi in Africa, and they like a lot of hiding places in the tank. While in DC this week, I picked up a couple synthetic stumps with lots of hidie-holes. Damages? $100 for the pair. Ouch. But it really fills up the tank and looks nice.

Lumberjack

A few weeks ago we went to Karen and Eric's to chop down some small gumball trees. Dad orchestrated the whole thing, and Eric and I put in all the labor. :-) Despite a couple tense moments, everything worked out well.