A dangerous path

I'm almost finished reading George Barna's "America at the Crossroads."  He spends much time analyzing the effect of "Political Correctness" on our society and how Christians have been impacted by the PC police.  Barna's conclusion:

When Americans are no longer free - or no longer feel free - to hold or express opinions that conflict with the perspectives promoted by certain vocal or activist sectors of society, we are headed down a dangerous path.  (page 136)

I'll be sharing more from this timely book in the weeks ahead.

Luther on the difference between Law and Gospel

I really enjoyed reading Kilcrease and Lutzer's "Martin Luther In His Own Words."  Here's one of the little nuggets I found:

The Law is a statement of debit; the Gospel is a statement of credit.

The Gospel, which is all about the atonement of Christ for sinful man pays our debt to God "in full!"

page 44

Philip Yancey on reading the Psalms

 I come to the Psalms not primarily as a student waiting to acquire knowledge, but rather as a fellow pilgrim wanting to acquire relationship...More than any other book in the Bible, Psalms reveals what a heartfelt, soul-starved, single-minded relationship with God looks like.

From "The Bible Jesus Read," page 115

They say it's her birthday!

Today is my youngest daughter's birthday.  Katie is an excellent wife, mother and friend.  She bring light and life to our family.  Today is another good day to give thanks to God for blessing us with such a wonderful and loving daughter.  Happy birthday, Katie!

Just me and my gal...

If we could only see into the future.  Today, Sherri and I are looking back into the past and celebrating 45 years together.  It's been quite a trip.  Meeting each other in high school, getting married so young (now we know why our parents were so concerned), pursuing careers, raising kids, using our gifts where they could be used best, Sherri in teaching future nurses and me proclaiming God's Word in parish ministry, spoiling grandkids and thinking about retirement and what those years will look like.  God blessed me with a loving, supportive, compassionate wife.  And even though she recently spent 11 days in the hospital, Sherri's home now and we'll have a fine celebration today (even if it will be a little low key).

Join us this weekend for worship at Life in Christ.  Saturday services take place at 5 pm; Sunday worship happens at 8 and 11 am.  It's Pentecost Sunday and I will try to explain why Pentecost is such a big deal.  I hope you'll be there!

The difference between men and women

Author and funny man Ken Davis tries to explain it for us...

Women look at a cat's facial expressions and say, "Look, he's lonely and needs some love." To a man that cat just looks evil.

Woman want to talk about feelings; men don't have any!

Women comparison shop. If a man can find it, he buys it.

Taking a car trip without trying to beat you best time - why even go?

Women know the difference between beige, off-white, and eggshell.  Men know that teal is a certain kind of duck.

Women care about the inaccuracy of the bathroom scale. A man is satisfied as long as the scale is accurate to within 10 pounds!

It was 50 years ago today!

50 years ago today the greatest record album ever made was released.  I was 15 and a year or so from driving.  So, I managed to get my Dad to take me the the foremost record store in Tucson (the name now escapes me) so I could buy my copy.  I purchased the Mono version because it was less expensive than a stereo copy (plus my record player had only one speaker anyway).

I gingerly took the record from its sleeve and began to play the first song.  It was like nothing I'd ever heard.  The crowd noise, the strings warming up and then Paul McCartney's guitar introduction leading to: "It was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play..."  I sat in awe through side one and I thought to myself, "Side two can't possibly be as good."  And, of course, I was wrong. And when the final note of "A Day in the Life" (with each Beatle on a piano) was played, I was gobsmacked.  The Beatles had produced a masterpiece.

50 years on and nothing has changed.  I purchased the newly remastered stereo version of Pepper last week.  It was like hearing it for the first time all over again (Does that sound like something Yogi Berra would say).  Giles Martin (son of Pepper producer, George Martin) took 21st century technology and brought the album alive.  It's like seeing something in black and white and then seeing the same thing again in brilliant color.

A couple of years ago some seminary friends and their wives and Sherri and I met in Branson, Missouri for a reunion.  The highlight of the trip for me was enjoying the performance of the Liverpool Legends.  They are a Beatles tribute band headed up by Louise Harrison, the older sister of George Harrison.  The Legends were amazing! The music was spot on - every guitar lick, every drum fill was perfect! The Pepper logo was painted on the front of the stage and I couldn't resist having my picture taken with it.  As we made our way home following the concert, I had to conclude: "A splendid time was had by all!"