GroshLink

Came across Catapult magazine at CCO's Jubilee. Lots of brief, helpful pieces on their site, but A baker's dozen of the top ten rules for parenting caught my attention with Hayley and Ellen turning 7 on Friday and Eden turning 2 on February 22.

1. Have as few rules as possible but stick by them.
2. Do not have the television in your main living area. Limit television (and video games, if not utterly excluding them) to one hour per day and find a show the family can watch together and discuss once per week. Parents must adhere to the one hour per day limit as well. Make exceptions only for fine films . . .

Amen! Good to read Parents Seek Simpler Birthdays. Hard work ;-) Looking forward to Friday when our groundhogs Hayley and Ellen celebrate a perfect 7 with their grandparents, Aunt Susan, Uncle Phil, and my cousins James and John.

But on Saturday they'll head to a school friend's party at Hershey's Chocolate World! Check out Birthdays without pressure if you're seeking advise for addressing

What's out of control about birthday parties today:

Party costs are skyrocketing.
The number of children exceeds what many parents can handle.
Children are getting too many presents that cost too much money.
Gift bags contain more and more junk.
Kids get over-stimulated and difficult to manage.
Themes and venues have to be cooler and better each year.
Birthday celebrations are turning into “party weeks” with several parties: family, friends, and school.
Being on the “party circuit” is stressing families’ schedules and budgets.
There is pressure to make parties perfect, original, and enriching—a once in a lifetime experience every year.

 (More)

Just received this from a faculty friend. Strongly stated truth. Although, I do find it helpful to understand the context/story of those with whom I am speaking (individually or in a larger group) in order to address spoken and unspoken concerns more directly by my own story, film, prayer, the Word of God, larger events, etc. Anyone have thoughts on the postmodern (or hypermodern) hype in the Christian sub-culture?

i think "sophisticated" christian leaders love to hear themselves talk about "postmodernism", and how the planet is now covered with an entirely new breed of animal...forgetting that people are the same old sinners still being created in the image of God, however muted and messed up....needs are the same...emphases may be a little different...but we don't have to bow down to, "oh, but these are postmoderns, you must respect them. they won't listen to you if you don't talk their language"....

I've been enjoying the conversations related to Collins' Language of God, I may even venture into offering it for an Adult Education class later in the year. For those interested in the topic add to the list of readings the Collins & Dawkins Debate from Time. Other pieces of interest are

Ted Davis' ID on Trial, note: he has lots of great article links posted at http://home.messiah.edu/~tdavis/home.htm, including a must read:

A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories

Also enjoy:

Stephen Jay Gould, "William Jennings Bryan's Last Campaign." Natural History (November 1987), 16-26.

David N. Livingstone, "Evolution as Metaphor and Myth." Christian Scholar's Review 12 (1983), 111-25.

Eden has been making great strides in speach, expression, and mobility. Most significantly, she briefly walked w/her walker 2x (unaided). Wow! Looking forward to working with her on this tomorrow. We rejoice in your prayers and encouragements during the first years of her fragile life (note: she turns 2 on Feb 22).

Looking forward to hearing Eleonore Stump, Philosophy, St. Louis University, speak on Love By All Accounts at a faculty conference on Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives on Love sponsored by Franklin & Marshall College's (F&M) Philosophy Department. For more on check out Stump, check out Looking into the Mirror of Evil: A Review of the Moral Philosophy of Eleonore Stump. She's posted a few pieces on her faculty page and here's the link to Aristocracy and Obligation: The Medieval Lists of Almsdeeds. This conference looks to be quite stimulating, I've also heard positive reviews of the work of Jeffrey Schloss, Biology, Westmont College, who will be addressing The 'Matter' of Love: Evolution, Religion, and the Internalization of Altruism. Let the conversations flow forth to greater insight, understanding and love directed in a helpful manner!

Did I already rejoice in A call to honor the Sabbath? Not bad for USA Today :-0 Thank-you to Henry G. Brinton, pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia and author of Balancing Acts (anyone read this, looks interesting), for writing:

 

The problem with ignoring the Sabbath is that it hurts us as individuals, families and communities. Wayne Muller, a therapist, minister and best-selling author, is convinced that modern life has become a violent enterprise. We make war on our bodies by pushing them beyond their limits, war on our children by failing to give them our time, and war on our communities by failing to be kind and generous and connected to our neighbors. To bring an end to this destruction, we have to establish a healthier balance between work and rest.

 

Later in the piece, he quotes from Marva Dawn's Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting, which is one of several helpful resources found at Calvin's Resource Library. Join me in dwelling in the Presence of the Lord every day, but taking particular moments to rest and remind myself to dial it down and replenish my strength through leaning upon the strength of the Lord

Earlier today, Carl and I washed, scrubed a bonding agent onto, and re-washed the office floor. About 5 hours later I began to stain the office floor. With Theresa's help it's finished. We'll take a look at it tomorrow to see if it needs a second coat and then onto the trim. Looks like the library and filing system will be on the move by next Saturday. Can't wait for the Mid-Atlantic Faculty Office to come on-line, to go beyond the laptop and a few boxes of materials. Thank-you for your prayers, encouragement, and hands-on work. If you have organizational gifts and time/energy to help out with the next phase, let us know.

By-the-way, the plumbing and flooring for the downstairs bathroom is mostly completed. We're just a few days away from finishing off the floor and vanity, but we're still a little further away from the ceiling, ceiling fan/light/heater, and ceiling fan/light/heater exhaust.

What's up with Dan "Southpaw" Smith? I remember seeing Baby Got Book awhile ago and going through my email I found some recommendations to check out the video on-line. Has anyone heard him perform/talk? Any fans out there? I'm trying to get up-to-date on this form of Christian subculture and I find myself lagging behind :-)

Remember this conversation from a year ago?

Here's a quote from Newsweek's Cartoons: The End of European Tolerance, passed along to me by Toby last March:

But if Europeans aim to build multiethnic societies that play by their rules, they'll also have to get their heads around the fact that this new world will be multireligious, too—a fact that poses awkward challenges. Over much of Europe, for example, established Christian churches enjoy special state privileges and subsidies. Most mosques, by contrast, are hidden in converted shops or tenement apartments. In Copenhagen, a 15-year plan —to build a national mosque has become mired in red tape and local opposition. A German state recently passed a law banning a hijab in schools—but not yarmulkes or nun's habits. A minister in Baden-Wurttemberg last month resigned over an offensive remark about the local bishop. It's hard to imagine this happening had the aggrieved party been an imam . . .

 (More)

Christianity Today just posted an Interview with Francis Collins which includes the opportunity for feedback on The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (thanks for the link Miller). Looking forward to joining the CMU Faculty Book Discussion Group next Tuesday as they consider Chapter 7 and encouraging their participation in Ted Davis' (Historian of Science from Messiah College) visit to Pittsburgh February 21-22. If you're in the area please join us for his presentations on ID on Trial and Protestant Modernism, the “Warfare” of Science and Religion, and the “Religion of Science"

Here's a quote from the Christianity Today Interview with Francis Collins:

If evolution and the Christian faith go together, then what's all the fuss about? One of the main reasons I wrote The Language of God was to try to put forward a comfortable synthesis of what science teaches us about the natural world and what faith teaches us about God. Yet it seems to be a pretty well kept secret these days that the scientific approach and the spiritual approach are compatible. I think we've allowed for too long extreme voices to dominate the stage in a way that has led many people to assume that's all there is. The thesis of my book is that there is no need for this battle. In fact, it's a destructive battle. And we as a society would be well served to recover that happy middle ground where people have been for most of human history.

 (More)

Just came across Random things that I do not want to forget about growing up in black-and-white-public-school-America. A must read personal reflection by a Taiwanese-American, with helpful comments, to enlarge the conversation. The January 15, 2007 post begins:

In the middle of reading out loud in class some material for Martin Luther King Day, the teacher devoted an extra 30 seconds to point me out to the class and mentioned that the Chinese built the railroads. This was news to me in elementary school, and I didn't understand why it was relevant. I was just relieved to go back to the class reading . . .

Why is it so much a surprise that followers of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, follow his teachings? How about this wrap-up as we continue our reflection upon MLK Jr?

It means that the evangelical organizations are doing a good job and that they're respected for that. It also indicates the irrelevance of the more theoretical church-state separation debates that go on in Congress and among interest groups. A lot of these issues can be fought out theoretically, but in the real world, these groups are working together and resolving their disagreements. The lines between Christian agencies, government agencies, and secular nonprofits are not as sharp as they are made out to be in the more theoretical debates.

A related article of interest is Interfaith or Multi-faith? which concludes:

It would be a great tragedy if, after the faith-based initiative has assured people of faith that their religion need not be sidelined as the price of collaboration with government, contract officials, lawmakers, and courts would subtly make interfaithism a requirement for those who want to bring faith with them into public life and service. The government must not establish religion, not even a nonsectarian religion of humanitarianism and service. Government may promote multi-faith alliances, but must not require an interfaith approach.

Thanks for these links Kevin :-)

Here's an articulate piece printed in the Washington Post regarding Why We Left the Episcopal Church. The authors Rev. John Yates, the rector, and Os Guinness, a parishioner, of The Falls Church, are well known Anglican Evangelicals -- thank-you to Kevin for forwarding the article.

John and Os start by pointing out Episcopal revisionism abandons the fidelity of faith. The Hebrew scriptures link matters of truth to a relationship with God. They speak of apostasy as adultery -- a form of betrayal as treacherous as a husband cheating on his wife.

Today take some time to pray for the People of God to receive discernment as they seek to follow the teachings/life of Jesus here and now on January 15, 2007. Part of our family's devotional time will include a consideration of Martin Luther King Jr's I have a dream speech. Lord come quickly, bring your kingdom in fullness for the purity of the Church and the full redemption of your creation to the praise of your Glory!

Thanks to Peter for forwarding From Top Conservative Colleges to 'The Dirty Dozen' found at Christian Post, an online Christian news service. Good to see Grove City College's continued testimony to how an institution when placed under the Lordship of Christ can change direction through a renewed sense of purpose, perseverance, and intellectual/academic focus applied in a particular location. Please join me in prayer that the Light of Christ continues to shine and work out, by the power of the Spirit submitted to the Father, through the people of God on campuses such Occidental College, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, UC-Berkeley, and Hollins University.

Thank-you to Miller for passing along the link to the exclusive interview of Prof. Antony Flew, a legendary British philosopher and atheist who recently became a deist, which ran in the Winter 2004 issue of Philosophia Christi, the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. Rejoice in and continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to draw Flew closer to the embrace of God the Father through Jesus Christ. May this piece serve as a stimulation for you as you pray and engage in conversation many who believe in a God out there, but have yet to place their hope and trust in the revelation of God the Father through the incarnation of His Son Jesus and the outworking of His Spirit and Word through the People of God across time and geography.

 (More)

At their best, movies not only offer glimpses of fantastic imaginary worlds, but also inklings of what is, for children, the most intriguing and enigmatic world of all: the world of adulthood. Yes, but overall, I found And You'll Be a Moviegoer, My Son a disappointing testimonial of teaching one's children 1. appreciation of the varieties of the incomparably rich art form of film, which means learning to endure and even enjoy being occasionally bored, confused or scared. 2. developing a taste for the act of moviegoing.

I was hoping for the NY Times critic to 1. offer a lens for understanding film, besides advocating its rich diversity, and 2. to critique our culture's obsession w/film, advocating other helpful cultural forms for our children.

Over the past several days, our family re-watched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. While Hayley ran around the room engaged in battle, Ellen bridged the Aslan character to Jesus and raised questions such as, Why do people think that they can kill God? How can God die? Both pointed out scenes which differed from the book and yelled at Peter to bring his viser down as he charged into battle (nothing like the need to see an actor's face). Later we had conversations regarding the Person of God, the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (also connected to Sufyan Stevens' The Transfiguration), and the concept of the dying/rising god. Let's appreciate the role of film in raising questions and providing opportunities for conversation. Let's go further in and farther up beyond the hip movies of our day and the classic ones of the past into a daily conversation and life lived out in the messiness of the real world navigated by the Word, prayer, the People of God (past and present with all they've left behind and are offering at this time).

A friend in campus ministry recently asked me if I had ever trained Christian undergrads not only to effectively communicate the Gospel with their non-Christian peers, but also to approach and fruitfully interact with non-Christian faculty. What a great idea! I replied via email with a few endeavors efforts in that direction and where I'd go today, so below. I've never considered this a focus, instead it is fruit of the ministry of drawing closer to Christ and understanding the calling which we have received from the Father to love Him, love our neighbors, and steward the creation. As we work this out in the setting of the university, we cannot help but have conversation with peers and instructors. I explore this (and need to develpment further in the future) in materials such as Indwelling the Biblical Story: A Philosophy of Education in Theory and Practice and other related topics

 (More)

Eden cruises the sofas now and last night she stood on her own for the longest time ever (probably about 10 seconds). She is totally into whatever H and E are doing. And they love it. Ellen especially loves to play with her, dress like her, have the same hair style, etc. We started speech therapy with her. My first assignment is to make a list of her words and their pronounciations. All of Eden's words, with the exception of mama use sounds made in the back of the throat, not with the lips. We're not sure why yet.

She went to the eye doctor on Monday (the first visit to the new doctor). Her cornea in her left eye is not as healthy as it had been so we're trying some new drops. And her left eye is starting to drift out now so we need to increase patching a little bit. Her previous eye doctor warned that that may happen, so I'm not shocked, just disappointed. Eden's also going to start a movement class through the organization that provides her therapy. Actually it started yesterday, but we had to go to the eye doctor.

We're fairly settled in the house. I [Theresa] still have stacks of boxes in my bedroom that I'm trying to put away. Once I do that maybe I'll take some pictures to share with everyone. The rest of the house looks pretty good. There are boxes in closets and the basement, but they will probably remain there until the basement is finished. Which, by the way, is coming along. The walls and doors are up in Tom's office and the first coat of paint is on. I love the color I picked (not to toot my own horn)! One wall is "Apricot" which is more like a nice pumpkin shade and the other 3 walls are a butter cream color. And the walls and tub/shower are up in the bathroom.

Two CMU alum (Thank-you John and Chris) came up this weekend to help, along with Alan from Alleghency Center CMA (yeah! Great to have you stay with the family) and 2 guys from church (not often you get to know a grad student's dad, but we have been afforded this opportunity, and reconnect with a friend from youth -- thank-you Charlie and Greg). A lot was accomplished during the clear 68 degree weather on Sat! It's in the 40s now, that was bizarre but helpful [FYI: When we were married 11 years ago to the day on Saturday a significant snow storm moved in, anyone remember that?] . . . We're going to stain the concrete floor in Tom's office instead of laying flooring on top of the concrete.

As part of World Vision's acting on AIDS program, we celebrated a Broken Meal for Aids of Corn Soybean (CSB) Porridge. The convention center doubted we would have a good turn out and if we had a decent turnout, the convention center doubted anyone would eat the CSB Porridge. I can't give you the numbers, but a lot of people came to dinner. Roger, from Pitt, ate his bowl and I had 1.5 bowls (as it didn't go down well for Theresa). Here's some footage (as this is my first attempt at YouTube, I'll be adding another piece or adding a section to this piece). Thank-you for the YouTube inspiration Carl :-)