GroshLink

Hard to illustrate John Michael Talbot's The Creed.  If you're unfamiliar with the song, I'd recommend you listen the first time through before considering the pictures which this youtube presentation offers.

 

 

When the dead walk, the living will fill these graves.

Should I have been taking in the mysticism and the violence associated with Sherlock Holmes on Easter Sunday?  No, but the return of Sherlock Holmes to the screen was too hard for me resist.  Although the action hero approach was overdone, it probably better protrays late Victorian Era dabbling into the Other better than some of the 20th century renderings which focused on the sharp modern/scientific detective skills. 

PS.  No doubt designed for a sequel, the cast even signed on for doing such ... possibly to be joined by Brad Pitt as the arch villian and I read somewhere that it was possibly in jeopardy.  Another mystery to solve?  Not worth my use of time, I'll wait until word comes back to me.  Is the sequel worth watching?  I think that I may be giving up this dabbling into films which dynamically protray death and violence in this manner.  More thoughts on this coming ...

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man -- Chorus, Rich Mullins, Creed

Note:  Before the video runs, there is a slide from the person who posted the video on Youtube.

What do you think about Surprisingly, Family Time Has Grown?

Initial response:  Even though Theresa and I spend a lot of time with our four girls, I guess we're a little old school in

• getting married early (i.e., relative to current trends, but not as young as older generations)
• having children before 30
• having so many children (i.e., relative to larger society, but far below some communities in our area)
• releasing a college-educated mother to be present with her children -- Thank-you to those who support our ministry through prayer, giving, and all the little things you do to help us out!
• finding value in older children learning how to watch younger children
• encouraging children to learn to play/read some on their own and across generations (not just in age specific specialized activities)
• being wary of hyper/helicopter-parenting

Praise God the article reports a decreasing divorce rate, marriage decisions involving more shared interests/professions*, and more parental investment in the lives of their children! 

Yes, we do desire to spend more focused time with each of our four girls, particularly in reading/conversation.  As we've shared at other times, we've been afforded much of our opportunity to do such through living in the midst of family, having some flexibility in campus ministry responsibilities, and an encouraging/supportive local congregation.  Here's a quote Surprisingly, Family Time Has Grown.  I'd encourage you to check out the whole piece.

The study, by two economists at the University of California, San Diego, analyzes a dozen surveys of how Americans say they use their time, taken at different periods from 1965 to 2007. It reports that the amount of child care time spent by parents at all income levels — and especially those with a college education — has risen “dramatically” since the mid-1990s. (The findings by the husband-and-wife economist team of Garey Ramey and Valerie A. Ramey appear in a discussion paper presented in March at a Brookings Institution conference in Washington.)

Before 1995, mothers [Note from Tom: I assume this is meant to be "mothers who have an additional occupation/responsibility than parenting"] spent an average of about 12 hours a week attending to the needs of their children. By 2007, that number had risen to 21.2 hours a week for college-educated women and 15.9 hours for those with less education.

Although mothers still do most of the parenting, fathers also registered striking gains: to 9.6 hours a week for college-educated men, more than double the pre-1995 rate of 4.5 hours; and to 6.8 hours for other men, up from 3.7, according to an additional analysis by Betsey Stevenson and Dan Sacks, economists at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Family researchers say the news should offer relief to guilt-stricken working parents. -- Tara Parker-Pope, Surprisingly, Family Time Has Grown, NY Times, 4/5/2010

Time to start tracking my hours ;-)

*Note: Is it so unique that my sister and I practically grew up in a Dental Office where our parents work together, Theresa and her siblings spent their early years living in a residence on the edge of a children home where their dad served his alternative service, that I spend a lot of time working out of the home, and our family loves hanging out with students and faculty?  I guess it probably is ...

Who makes your faith? 

I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. ...

On Easter Sunday, I read, walked through, and re-affirmed The Apostles Creed with the twins using The Apostles' Creed: Follow and Do (Joni Walker, Concordia College Press, 2005).  Note:  Although the art and some of the text is a little young for the twins, leading to some smiles, but the explanatory text is quite helpful.

We're going to dig into The Apostles Creed of the course of the coming week as part of raising our children in the reality of affirming life lived in Christ.  Any tips which you have regarding the introduction of youth to and the continuing affirmation of one's walk in Christ as a family?

 

 

A brother in Christ passed along Psalm 28 as a note of encouragement.  May you likewise find Psalm 28 a blessing as you begin this week.

Psalms 28   NLT

¹ I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.
      Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
   For if you are silent,
      I might as well give up and die.
 ² Listen to my prayer for mercy
      as I cry out to you for help,
      as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

 ⁶ Praise the Lord!
      For he has heard my cry for mercy.
 ⁷ The Lord is my strength and shield.
      I trust him with all my heart.
   He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
      I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

 ⁸ The Lord gives his people strength.
      He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.
 ⁹ Save your people!
      Bless Israel, your special possession.^a]
   Lead them like a shepherd,
      and carry them in your arms forever.

Watch and listen to the story of the Resurrection as it is found in the Jesus Storybook Bible from Zonderkidz. Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Jago, and read by David Suchet. Find out more at http://www.jesusstorybookbible.com.

Hayley and I recently concluded C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew (1955).  Below is a quote which led me to pray for the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve to open their ears this Holy Week ... for new life to burst forth in many places this Easter.  May God the Father grant grace to each and every one of his children to be little Christs proclaiming His Reality through words/life as individuals and the people of God, so that many may step into Reality and draw close to Him through the grace of His Son and the quickening work of the Word and Spirit.

"He [Uncle Andrew] thinks great folly, child," said Aslan.  "This world is bursting with life for these few days because the song with which I called it into life still hangs in the air and rumbles in the ground.  It will not be so for long.  But I cannot tell that to this old sinner, and I cannot comfort him either; he has made himself unable to hear my voice.  If I spoke to him, he would hear only growlings and roarings.  Oh, Adam's sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!  But I will give him the only gift he is still able to receive."

He bowed his great head rather sadly, and breathed into the Magician's terrified face.  "Sleep," he said.  "Sleep and be separated for some few hours from all the torments you have devised for yourself."  Uncle Andrew immediately rolled over with closed eyes and began breathing peacefully." -- Chapter 14.

Bobby Gross

Director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Graduate & Faculty Ministry

May 12, 7pm, Acorn Farms
Faith on the Edge, Ministering in Higher Education. An Invitation to Partner.
RSVP to tgrosh4 at gmail.com Click here for the Facebook Event Page.

May 13, 7:30 pm, 1st Presbyterian Church, York
Living the Christian Year:  Time to Inhabit the Story of God -- Author Night
In partnership Hearts & Minds Bookstore.
Click here for the Facebook Event Page.

Theresa and I give praise to God the Father for the many answered prayers of the people of God in response to Prayer for the Groshes Family & Ministry. To God be the glory!

Open up April 2010 Prayer Calendar to read some ... more coming in an upcoming post.  BTW, in case you haven't noticed, the prayer calendar has two pages, the second has an upcoming event calendar.  Some of the events are sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, others are strategic opportunities offered by local congregations or colleges/universities.  With regard to this later category, I use the opportunity to learn from, meet, network with, and pray for those present.

For those in Central PA, please swing by Mark Your Calendar for May 12, 13.  Note:  Email and Facebook invitations will go out next week.  But if you have time this weekend, feel free to sign-up and begin inviting your friends :-)

While listening to Jim Belcher's Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional (InterVarsity Press, 2009), I was deeply moved by the reading of the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed. The affirmation of faith, timely to Easter which has been the traditional time of completing catechism with baptism into the community of faith, reminded me how I grew up saying the Apostles' Creed, but not living in the Reality of the Story/Truth which the Apostles' Creed tells/proclaims. 

What is the difference between saying the words and living in God's story?  A transformation of heart, soul, mind, and strength enacted by the God the Father, drawing us close to Himself by the love, life, death, resurrection, of God the Son who spoke/embodied the Word and breathed out His Spirit (and don't forget this includes the fruit of the Spirit) upon His Body, i.e., the Church. The radical transformation to loving God with our whole person leads to the radical, daily, messy loving of our neighbor (even those we are close to and have difficulty doing such in the mundane aspects of day-to-day living), the very creation, and even our own being (loving our neighbor as ourself is rooted in coming to understand/embrace who we/I/you have been been created to be as one who reflects the image of God, one who is called to become more and more like Christ each and every day, i.e., a little Christ as part of the Body of Christ). Given below, for our mutual edification, is the Athanasian Creed.

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