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Update on Abby

2011-09-16T13:46:00.002-05:00

Abby is doing much better. The last five months before going to the hospital she literally gained no weight. She gained about a pound, and then in the last two weeks before taking her to the hospital she lost it. This is no surprise since she wasn't eating well. However, in the 19 days since taking her to the hospital she has gained three pounds! She's been eating like crazy the past couple of weeks, and she's been sleeping well, too. She's just an overall happier little girl.

In managing her diabetes, we check her blood sugar about 7 times every 24 hours, including once at 2:30 am just to make sure she's not going too low at night. While going too high is problematic, too, we are mostly concerned with her going too low, and there have been a few nights where she has gone low and we've had to keep her up for a few minutes while feeding her a snack to raise her blood sugar. In addition to checking her blood sugar, we also give her an insulin injection before every meal and (almost) every snack. The amount of insulin we give her is based on how many carbohydrates we expect her to eat. Our prediction of how many carbohydrates she's going to eat for each meal has not always been accurate, but it's not too hard to make the necessary adjustments if that happens.

While it has not been fun to make these changes, Abby's transformation since finding out about her diagnosis has been remarkable.

Regarding our future plans changing, we're still really not sure. We've settled on the idea of not going overseas for now. Perhaps in a few years we'll be ready, but I don't feel comfortable bringing a 2-year-old with diabetes to the sorts of places we were considering. I do hope and plan to go some day, but not yet. We also are not sure what we're going to do in the meantime. We'd appreciate your prayers for us as we make some of those decisions in the next month or two.

Abigail and Diabetes

2011-08-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weeks, Abigail has been drinking a lot and been fussier than usual. Late last week she was not sleeping well, in addition to drinking a lot, and not eating as well. So, yesterday morning Kim brought her to our pediatrician and she discovered that Abby has diabetes (type 1). We were shocked. I am still in shock. Diabetes is not the worst thing. If it is not controlled it can be very bad, but it can be controlled, and if it is done well there aren’t necessarily any long-term problems. It’s not the worst thing, but it means big life changes for all of us.

Kim asked the endocrinologist how many very young people like Abby are diagnosed with diabetes, and apparently it is very rare. Type 2 diabetes is the far more common form, and usually hits adults. In those cases diabetes is often a result of diet and lifestyle and genetics. Type 1 has been called juvenile diabetes in the past because it hits children, and its causes are not known. Even among those who get it as children, it is very rare for someone just 17 months old to get it.

It seems to me that managing diabetes is more of a hassle than anything else. It means we become experts in food and nutrition, particularly counting carbohydrates. Abby’s blood sugar level will have to be checked several times a day, and she will need insulin injections several times a day. She will see an endocrinologist every three months for the rest of her life. If she gets sick, we’ll have to watch her especially carefully. If she gets sick and starts vomiting, the doctors recommend just bringing her to the ER so that they can hydrate her and make sure her blood sugar remains stable.

These seem to be the basic adjustments, but along with that go a bunch of other things. Like, what to do for babysitting, nursery at church, preschool, sending her to birthday parties, etc. Abby can’t just eat anything, and most people can’t check glucose levels and administer insulin injections. Millions of kids have dealt with these same things. We aren’t the first, but it’s a “first” for us so it will take some adjusting.

Even beyond these things, even bigger adjustments need to be made. We were tentatively planning to go overseas next year, for at least a year. After yesterday’s revelation, I doubt that’s going to happen. Right now, everything seems kind of scary, and going to a place like Africa, where diabetes is not common and endocrinologists don’t exist, seems downright dumb. I may think differently in a few weeks or months, but that’s how I feel right now. There are other major decisions on the horizon that we were planning on as well that now need to be reconsidered.

I am not angry about this, nor do I doubt God’s providential hand in it or his goodness. Those days of doubt may come, but that’s not how I feel now. Something like this changes everything – from some of the smallest things to some of the biggest – and I’m still trying to get my head around it all. I expect it may take some time until I get used to the “new normal” (as my pastor has put it). I am thankful for the wise doctors and supportive friends and family. We are very blessed.

Update on the Larsons

2011-06-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

It's been far too long. I have considered shutting ye olde blog down, but I will keep it going for now. The past semester was interesting. I was teaching Greek at TEDS, taking classes, volunteering at church, and taking care of the kids when Kim worked. I felt like I couldn't do anything as well as I wanted. I hate being pulled in so many directions, so I'm glad that season is over.

Here's a brief update on what where we're at now:
I am finishing my MDiv this summer. I have 9 more credits to finish, but then I'll be done (Yay!). I don't have long to celebrate, though, because in the fall I will start the ThM in NT program at Trinity. This is a one-year degree for those who have already completed the MDiv, and it focuses on academics and research. After that, we are not sure, but are considering going overseas to teach for a time. There are many opportunities in that field, so it will be a tough decision.

Kim is still working; just 24 hours a week, though. Isaac is 3 and Abigail is 1. She is walking and getting into all kinds of stuff. She loves her big brother and wants to copy everything he does.

Kim recently went to the Netherlands with her mom and sister, and came home with these T-shirts for us boys. Isaac has a long time to grow into his. :)

Abby is crawling!

2010-12-16T16:02:00.000-06:00

And some people in the house are not too excited about this. Isaac will have to soon learn more about sharing if any of us are going to survive.

Abby and Isaac Eating

2010-10-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

This video is from a few weeks ago, when we started giving food to Abby to eat. So far she is a much better eater than Isaac was. And still is.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

Kim and Luanne took Isaac and Abby to a Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. They got some good pictures.

Apparently, this was one crazy pumpkin patch. They had the typical stuff: some farm animals like pigs and goats, tractors, a hay ride, and pumpkins of course. But they also had some things you wouldn't find in a normal midwestern farm. They had two giraffes and a camel! I am not sure how African animals have anything to do with a pumpkin patch, but it gave me a good laugh when I found out about it.

Marcion

2010-10-02T10:04:00.002-05:00

Marcion (n) - A famous heretic of the Christian faith (d. 160).

And, related to this...

Marcionism (n) - A heretical Christian belief which pits Yahweh of the OT against the God of the NT.

I had never heard of this man before coming to TEDS, but he is a rather important figure in church history and his influence continues today within the church. He is primarily known for claiming that the God of the OT was a wrathful god and not the same as the God of the NT, who is a loving God and sent Jesus to save the world. Does this sound familiar? I think a lot of people tend to see the Scriptures this way. Some do so rather innocently, and others do so with intention (e.g. Brian McLaren). But consider this: Jesus himself spoke of hell more than any other figure in Scripture, and in Revelation it is God on his throne in conjunction with the Lamb who brings divine wrath upon the inhabitants of the earth. This wrath is not only future but also presently being enforced. In addition, the OT contains some of the greatest expressions of the mercy of God (e.g. Exod. 34:6).

Marcion also created his own canon of scriptures, which consisted mostly of the writings of Paul but stripped of the heavy Hebrew/Jewish parts. This spurred the church to create an official canon, the Scriptures that we have today. Marcion is just one example of the many early heretics who forced the church to clarify and defend its views. This is how many of the creeds were formed.

Marcionism's present influence is one example of how "there is nothing new under the sun" and that the heresies of the past have a way of being expressed in later times. We must not think that the God of the OT is in any way different than the God of the NT. "He is the same yesterday, today, and forever" and he has revealed his word in both the OT and the NT. If we create a canon within the canon, or exclude certain parts of it, then we prevent the Triune God of history from breaking into our lives in prophetic ways. Instead, all we're left with in the Scriptures is a reflection of our corrupt thoughts and preferences. We need the whole Bible to speak to the whole church and the whole individual Christian in order for God's word to have its full effect.

Uganda: The Group

2010-09-30T21:31:00.000-05:00

One of the interesting things about this trip is that most of us on the team first met each other the day before we left for Uganda. Considering this, I think we got along remarkably well. It was a pleasure getting to know each of these talented and fun people. Here's who they are (from left to right):

Michelle and Nate Banker - They live in Minneapolis, and I found out they know my cousin, which was a neat connection to make. Nate is in the Air Guard and works with youth in Minneapolis. In Uganda, he did some carpentry work for the school, and Michelle helped out in the library and with a conference the school was putting on. Nate was the instigator of much theological discussion on our trip!

Darren Carlson - He's the director of TLI, the sending agency, and also lives in the Twin Cities. He's also a TEDS grad, so we had a nice connection there. He's the one that dumped Revelation on me so I give him the blame and the credit for my deep interest in that book now. :) He was the leader of our trip and then abandoned us halfway through, but we survived nevertheless. // In all seriousness, Darren did a great job preparing us for the trip and helping us think through some of the issues that came up while we were there.

Me

Ben and Bethany Hartzell - They live in the Twin Cities and go to Bethlehem Baptist Church, where I went when I lived there. Ben knows Nate from the Air Guard. Ben and Bethany were just married earlier this year. In Uganda, Ben and Nate were often working together, and Bethany and Michelle were often working together. Ben and Nate built several picnic tables for the school with a relatively limited set of tools. I, as well as the Ugandans, were impressed.

Dan Herron (standing behind Ben and Bethany) - Dan is a Covenant Seminary student in St. Louis. In Uganda, he was teaching a class on Preaching, which he is eminently qualified to teach since he is Bryan Chapell's TA at Covenant. Chapell wrote one of the best preaching books out there today. Dan's also a wonderful preacher himself. He preached at a Ugandan church for 70 minutes on the Sunday in between our two weeks of teaching and did a great job. Dan is passionate about church planting and building up church planters.

Ryan and Christie Davidson - Ryan is a pastor and counselor in Virginia. He taught a class on Marriage and Family Counseling. As you might expect, this class created lots of interesting questions from our perspective (e.g. how to handle polygamy). On the flight out to Amsterdam, he kept asking me questions to find a hole in my theology and found none! So we enjoyed good theological unity together. Christie came for the second week of the trip and was often with Michelle and Bethany. At one point, they visited an orphanage and were very impressed with the facilities and how well it was run. They got to name a 4-day old baby boy who was found abandoned. They named him Samuel.

For all of us the trip was a learning experience, which was an intentional focus of the trip. Teaching classes and helping the school with other things were hopefully beneficial to the school, but from the start we recognized that we were the guests in their home and that we had much to learn from them. I think we all found that to be true.

Sojourn Music

2010-09-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

While I was in Uganda (more on that eventually; I promise) I was hooked on an album I recently downloaded on iTunes. It's a kind of worship album by Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY. Only, it's different than typical worship collections.

The first track on it is called Warrior. It's a description of Christ as the Divine Warrior, who destroys his enemies in his wrath, and it glories in the power of the Lord. Because it pulls some its imagery from the book of Revelation, I was particularly drawn to it while teaching on that very book. I think another reason I am so drawn to it is because you don't often find worship songs even mentioning these aspects of Jesus, which seems odd considering how prominently they appear in the Scriptures. So, when I find something like this, it is refreshing to hear.

Here are a few lines from the song:

Your hand shall find out every foe
And as a fiery furnace glows
With raging heat and living coals
They will feel your wrath upon their souls

Oh the warrior will conquer all
The world will fall before His feet

You can listen to Warrior here: http://sojournchurch.com/wp-content/uploads/01%20Warrior.mp3

You can find out more about the church and the music here: http://www.sojournmusic.com/albums/over-the-grave/

A New Semester Begins

2010-08-30T15:47:00.000-05:00

I began my third year here at Trinity last week. This semester is going to be very different than previous semesters, for several reasons:

- My schedule is unusual. I have one night class, and one class that simply meets over three weekends during the semester.
- I now have two children (!) and Kim is working just two nights a week instead of three.
- In addition to being a student, I am also a professor. I am teaching Beginning Greek this year to first-year M.Div. students. Strangely, this means I am an adjunct faculty member of the New Testament department. I had my first class last week and it went fairly well. I am excited to try this teaching thing in a more long-term situation than just 2 weeks at a time.

My hope is that my teaching experience in Uganda and here at Trinity will help me determine what to do when I'm finished with the M.Div. program. At this point, I expect to finish in the summer of 2011.

I am looking forward to all 4 of my classes:
- M.Div. Capstone - a very short class which helps me synthesize what I've learned at Trinity.
- Social and Cultural Exegesis with Dr. Peter Cha
- The Atonement with Dr. Graham Cole - Dr. Cole just published a book on the atonement, and I am especially looking forward to this class.
- Teaching the Bible in an Intercultural Setting with Dr. James Plueddemann - I am looking forward to this class because it will help me prepare for my trip to Uganda. Oh, wait; nevermind.

Why I Love the Book of Revelation

2010-08-28T19:00:00.011-05:00

Before I was asked to teach on the book of Revelation this summer, I tended to avoid it. I considered it too bizarre and too controversial for it to really be worth it. But then I was asked to teach it in Uganda, so I spent a lot of time in the book of Revelation this summer. And as I grew to understand it I also grew to love it. It really is an amazing book.

My hope is that you will not avoid it like I have generally done, and instead seek to understand it and love it for what it is. I thought of 8 reasons why I love the book. They're also 8 reasons why you should love it, too.

Eight Reasons Why I Love the Book of Revelation
1. It's in the Bible. This is probably the most important reason of them all. Because it is in the Bible, it is true. Because it's true, it's real and authoritative and faithfully communicates God's message. Because it's in the Bible, all the following reasons appear even more vividly.
2. It's a carefully crafted literary work. John took great care in putting it together. It isn't just a random compilation of visions. It is a carefully assembled series of visions which expand, explain, and complement one another. Even many of the small details are carefully placed. And not only this, but it was intended to be read aloud in church, almost as a kind of performance or presentation. Therefore, there are dramatic elements within the book that are not found in the regular NT epistles.
3. It has some of the highest Christology in the NT. The picture of the Lamb, in ch 4-5 in particular, is so lofty that it is impossible to avoid a Trinitarian conclusion. Jesus is who he said he was, and he is who Paul said he was. The divinity of Jesus is clearly and carefully affirmed in the book of Revelation.
4. It was intended by John to be read by the whole church. In sending it to 7 churches in Asia Minor, John sends it to the church worldwide. In sending it to 7 different churches, each with unique issues, John addresses many issues that are found in every church, even the unfaithful ones, which we have in the world today. Therefore, its message is very relevant.
5. It closes the Bible's message. This is especially the case as it relates to the prophetic ministry of the other books of the Bible. John communicates the fulfillment of much of OT prophecy. He wraps ups and expresses their final completion. Revelation also brings to a close many important biblical themes, such as: rest, the presence of God, the people of God, the Lamb, sacrifice, the devil, judgment, the Bride, etc. Therefore, the book of Revelation helps you to understand the rest of the Bible.
6. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God. In Revelation, God is sovereign over all: God alone accomplishes judgment and vindication, and how those are worked out even within history and today. Nothing happens apart from his will. Jesus reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords even now. John's emphasis on God's sovereignty is designed to give hope to some of his readers and to warn other readers. Christians who remain faithful receive hope that God has a purpose in their sufferings and will ultimately destroy their enemies and uphold his justice. Christians who have compromised their witness are warned of impending judgment and calamity if they continue in that state. There is no escape for those who deny their Lord through their duplicity.
7. It emphasizes the centrality of the Lamb's sacrifice in the history of the world. In ch 5, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the one who conquered, is the Lamb that was slain. The sacrifice of the Lamb is what accomplishes the salvation of God's people. Not only that, the worthiness of the Lamb is what allows the plan of God's redemption of the world to be carried out to completion. And it is the Lamb, on the basis of his being slain, who carries it out.
8. The destruction of idolatrous and evil forces is assured in Revelation. This includes the demonic, but it is much more than that. This is political kingdoms, businesses, rulers, and traders. In the OT, the Lord says "vengeance is mine" and now in Revelation we see that vengeance carried out. Because the Lord does this, we ought not carry it out ourselves.

So, there are eight reasons to love the book. I could list more, but these are some of the more important, in my view. I've got Revelation on my mind these days, so I expect to write a little more about it over the next few weeks.

What is the Bible Basically About?

2010-08-27T09:29:00.002-05:00

Tim Keller:

I'm back

2010-08-26T20:53:00.000-05:00

Yep, I'm back!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement for the trip. It was a tremendous experience, and one that I will be processing for some time to come.

I hope to share a few other thoughts on this blog in the days ahead, but first I should share some of the basics, now that the trip is complete.

Overall, the trip went very smoothly. No one got significantly sick on the trip, which was truly a blessing. One of our team members had trouble getting to Minneapolis before taking off for Uganda, but he made it just in time to catch our flight out of the country. The team got along remarkably well. In fact, one of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to know the others on the team. We had a great time together.

My class went fairly well. I had periods of frustration, but overall was happy with the results. The students and the school seemed to be blessed by it, as well (which is more important than how I felt about it). Below is a picture of me in the middle of class.

And here is a picture of the whole group:

I taught on the book of Revelation for two weeks, three hours a day. The students were pastors or soon-to-be pastors. I had avoided Revelation my whole life and then I was asked to teach it. Thankfully, I can say now that not only do I know the book fairly well, but I also love it. Learning how to read the book of Revelation is like finding buried treasure.

Being away from home for 2 weeks was difficult. I missed Kim terribly and missed the kids, too. Getting home to see them was one of the best parts of the trip, too. :) I hope to go on a similar trip again next summer, and would really like it if we could get Kim to come. We shall see.

I will post more in the coming days, Lord willing, along with a few more pictures. If you have any specific questions about the trip, let me know.

Kampala, Uganda

2010-08-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

Schedule:

Friday, Aug 6: fly to Minneapolis to meet with team.
Saturday, Aug 7: travel to Kampala, Uganda (via Amsterdam) and arrive on Sunday.
The following two weeks I will teach on the book of Revelation, from 2-5 pm each weekday.
I leave Uganda on Friday evening, Aug 20, and arrive home Saturday evening, Aug 21.

See an earlier post here on the school that I'm teaching at. There is a helpful video that describes their vision. I believe I will be mostly teaching pastors, who are about my age.

We're staying at a guest house across the street from the school. There are a few other teachers on the trip: one is teaching Preaching, and the other is doing a class on Family and Marriage Counseling. I believe there may be a class on Missions as well.

In addition to the teachers, there are two couples coming who are going to be participating in some of the other ministries that the school is involved in, for those with AIDS, disabilities, or with children.

Here is the email I sent out today:

Hey folks,
I fly to Minneapolis on Friday (just 4 days away). Then on Saturday afternoon we fly out to Uganda.

Please pray for our team, that we would be helpful to those we visit and wise in our interactions with everyone. And pray that God would help me finish the preparation I have yet to do.
Please pray for the Ugandan pastors and teachers at the school, that God would bless and protect them.
Please pray for Kim and the kids who are staying home, that the kids would be good and that Kim's sanity would be sustained.

If you want to follow along while I'm gone, there are few ways to do so:
- Check my blog: http://reedlarson.blogspot.com. My latest post has more details on what I'm doing.
- If you're on Facebook, check out the Training Leaders International page. Darren Carlson, the director of TLI, is leading our trip and will be updating that page.
- I also may upload some photos to Google, in this album: http://picasaweb.google.com/reedlarson/Uganda2010

All this is subject to change, of course. I may not have the time/energy/ability to do some or all of these things, but we shall see. Regardless, I'll send out a follow up after it's all over.

Thanks for your prayers.
-Reed

Potty Training

2010-07-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

Last Monday we started potty training Isaac. He has done pretty well. He still needs to get comfortable with doing #2, but overall he is doing well. It has also been more stressful than I expected (and Kim did most of the work!). It's easily one of the most stressful periods of parenting that I've gone through so far.

However, one of the benefits is the $$$ we save. Every week he's not in diapers we save about $10. That's a nice chunk of change!

A New Kind of Christianity

2010-07-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

Some of you might be aware of Brian McLaren. He is a Christian author who over the past several years has had a tendency to stir up controversy. I had never read one of his books, so when his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, came out I decided to check it out. I had read some bad reviews of it, but I went in with an open mind. I found it to be worse than I expected. It was actually colossally bad.

Here are just a few thoughts I had about it. This isn't a review; just some reflections. If you've read it I'd love to hear what you thought, too!

First, his representation of Evangelical Christianity is so off the mark it makes me wonder what exactly he is rejecting. The straw men he knocks down aren't even men; they're like chickens or something. He never actually quotes or references any writing or person with which he disagrees, which is maddening for someone who's actually trying to interact with his statements. I conclude that he must either be:
- Stupid. This is doubtful.
- Deliberately lying in order to manipulate his readers. Saying things about his opponents that he knows aren't the truth. This is also doubtful.
- Just really, really careless. Completely out of touch with what Evangelicals are really saying. Particularly Evangelical scholars.

Second, as others, such as Scot McKnight, have shown, his views of church history are woefully inadequate and he believes his kind of Christianity is new when in fact it is 150 years old and has already been shown to be devoid of any legitimacy.

Finally, what might be the worst is the sheer hubris of the book:

- He boasts in having no theological training. But if he had had any theological training, his book would have been 1000 times better. Instead he demonstrates that he is in way over his head.
- He piggy-backs on Phylis Tickle's claim that the emergent movement, of which he is a leading voice, is one of the four great movements in the history of Christianity. I am not making this up.
- He claims that all Christians since Constantine have not embraced the true God. (Until now, apparently.)
- In the span of just a few pages, he claims that those with him are like Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Galileo, and Martin Luther. Those opposed to him are all those who opposed these men: monarchists, biblical literalists, Newtonian physicists, racists, Romanists during the time of Luther, etc.

Yes, the book is really bad. What is most disappointing from my perspective is how sloppy and arrogant he was. I expected to disagree with him. But I didn't expect that he would demonstrate such a poor understanding of evangelicalism. And I didn't expect that this "mild-mannered" guy who doesn't go out "looking for a fight" turned out to be such an arrogant person.

Abigail Laughing

2010-06-26T19:42:00.001-05:00

Abby's been laughing some lately, with some encouragement from mom and dad. It's fun now that she's being more interactive. :)

Isaac sings Jesus Loves Me

2010-06-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

He still needs to work on it. :)

Outside Baseball

2010-04-17T13:38:00.000-05:00

I have a hard time believing the Twins are playing baseball outdoors now. From what I have seen and heard, the new stadium is amazing, and we're looking forward to taking in a game this season. Kim and I are planning a trip up to the Twin Cities the weekend of June 11-13 to catch a game against the Atlanta Braves. I am very excited. (Of course, we're excited to see our friends and family there, too.)

(from the Star Tribune)

Gaba Bible Institute

2010-04-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

In August I am planning to take a trip to Uganda. I will be working with a Bible college there, to teach and to see the issues that pastors in Uganda face. I am really excited and also nervous about it. I certainly don't feel qualified to teach, but I am going to give it my best shot.

Below is a video that describes some of the issues that the school and the region faces. The man who narrates it is the principal of the school. He is American, but actually most of the faculty and staff of the school are African/Ugandan. I don't know a lot about the school; this is just what I was able to learn from the website. I expect to learn quite a lot more over the next several weeks. I will send out more information later so that you can pray for me and support the ministries I'll be working with.

Gaba Bible Institute from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

Twins 2010

2010-04-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

A new season starts for the Twins.

I think the biggest question mark is how the new stadium will play out for them. Will they continue to have the home-field advantage that they've enjoyed in the past? I don't know. I hope so, of course, but I have a feeling that the home-road splits in their record may change for the worse. On paper, they're a better team than last year. I believe their pitching, though mostly the same players, will improve, as well. They lost Joe Nathan for the season (and perhaps forever), which is a big blow, though not as much as many might think. Francisco Liriano looks to have turned a corner in his recovery from surgery. They've added a couple good infielders in J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson. And having Jim Thome is going to be a huge help.

Their fielding is not going to be a strength, but pitching should be decent and they have one of the better lineups in the AL. I think not finishing in first place in the division would be a major disappointment, considering who they have added and their competition.

I am very excited for the opening of Target Field. Kim and I are planning a trip to the cities on June 11 to take in a game. From what I've seen of the new stadium, it looks incredible.

Go Twins!

Psalm One

2010-04-02T22:53:00.000-05:00

We have been reading Psalm 1 at supper time for a little while now. Isaac picked it up pretty fast.

He obviously doesn't understand what he's saying (he says "wicked" a little too cheerfully in my opinion). But it is fun to start introducing him to the Bible like this.

I got the idea from one of my professors. He said that kids pick up on repeated things like this very quickly. He's right.

Abigail Pearl Larson

2010-04-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

She's here! Of course you probably know this already. We had a girl, Abigail Pearl Larson, born March 17 at 6:45 pm. She was 9 lbs 7 oz and was 22.5" long. She had her 2 week appointment today and is doing great.

Someone at church told us that you don't become a parent until you have two kids. That could possibly be true. She definitely makes things much more complicated. But Isaac is doing well so far at adjusting, so that has helped.

She doesn't do a whole lot. Actually, Isaac is more fun right now, but I'm sure she'll grow into it. It's hard to believe we're a family of four already!

Variegated

2010-03-10T22:42:00.000-06:00

Here's another word I have learned at seminary (though it's not a strictly religious word by any means).

variegated (adj)

It essentially means "varied" or "multi-faceted." I don't remember where I first heard it, but when I hear this word I usually then think of a work co-edited by Dr. Carson at Trinity called Justification and Variegated Nomism. It's a two-volume work of about 1200 pages. Dr. Carson has written/edited dozens of books, but in my class with him last Spring he flat out told us not to buy this one. At least, not unless we really wanted to get into it. It's a rather scholarly work which discusses a debate which is related to the "New Perspective on Paul." If you're interested you can take a look here for a "primer" on the NPP (using the writing of John Piper and N. T. Wright as two opposing examples): http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/june/29.34.html

Carson's work addresses the section of this primer called "First Century Judaism." N.T. Wright's position could be called "Covenantal Nomism," which states that the Jews considered themselves justified by grace but kept in the covenant through works/badges of identity such as circumcision. The contributors to Carson's work argue that first-century Jews took a variety of views of the basis of their justification before God.

Now that I have possibly butchered the views of several scholars, I can only hope my reader(s) (I'm not sure if I have more than one or not) don't tell them about it.

We Are Far Too Easily Pleased

2010-02-09T13:53:00.000-06:00

What's New?

2010-01-29T21:33:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted anything about me in a while.

So, let's see...

Last semester finished well. Overall, I enjoyed it but I wouldn't say I had any stand-out classes.
This is what I took:

Pentateuch and Historical Books, from Richard Averbeck
Gospels and Johannine Literature, from Grant Osborne
Christian Ethics, from Tom McCall
History of Christianity, from Scott Manetsch
Financial Counseling in the Church, from Shannon Plate

Isaac is growing and growing and growing. It's a lot of fun to watch him grow. He's got a great spirit, and sleeps well, and is happy and healthy. We're really grateful.
This semester I am tutoring a Somali family that lives in North Chicago. They have 8 children, from age 1 to 8th grade. They moved here 5 years ago from Kenya, where they had been living in a refugee camp for some time.
I am preaching at our church in three weeks, on Feb 21. I am excited and thankful for the opportunity.
This semester I am taking some great classes:

World Religions, from Harold Netland
Apologetics, from Harold Netland
Poetic and Prophetic Books, from Willem VanGemeren (a Dutchman!)
Advanced Greek Grammar, from D. A. Carson

We had a busy winter break. Kim and I went to Washington, DC for a few days to celebrate our 5-year anniversary. Isaac stayed with Kim's parents in Chicago. We had a great time. I had never been there before, so we went to a lot of the standard tourist attractions. We also ate out at some nice places. We went to a place called Georgia Brown's, that serves "Fine Southern Cuisine." The sweet tea was very good. :)
Kim's pregnancy is going well so far. She is due March 17, so we have only 7 weeks left! We're both really excited to meet our little guy/girl. The birth will bring big changes, and maybe a few tired weeks at the beginning, but it's more than worth it.

I'll leave you with a quote from one of my textbooks this semester. It contains a definition of Verbal Aspect in the Greek New Testament, which is the primary subject we're studying this semester in Carson's class. It's amazing to me that I actually understand what this quote is saying. I guess I must be learning something, anyway, because 18 months ago I wouldn't have had a clue what it meant.

Verbal aspect is "a morphologically-based semantic category which grammaticalizes the author/speaker's reasoned subjective choice of conception of a process..."
Stanley Porter, in Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, pg. 1.

Isaac's Funny Faces

2010-01-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

This post is just for the Isaac-junkies out there who can't get enough of him.

He has been talking a lot more lately, and it seems he says a new word every day. It's a lot of fun. In this video I tried to get him to say some of his words, but what was probably the funniest was the weird faces he made for the camera. We have watched this video together a few times, and he busts up laughing every time he sees himself make one of those faces. I'm not so sure why he thinks it's so funny but it's hilarious to see him laugh at it. I'm sorry I couldn't get that on video!

Isaac so far in 2010

2010-01-23T09:24:00.000-06:00

Isaac in his new big-boy bed!This is what he does now when you ask him to smile.

He had fun climbing on these boxes.

If you look closely you can see Isaac hiding in the pantry.

He likes eating out of these bowls.

Matt Chandler

2009-12-08T22:36:00.002-06:00

Most of you probably don't know who Matt Chandler is. Well, he is a pastor in Dallas, TX. He is only 35 years old, but the church he leads has grown from a couple hundred to several thousand in just a few years. I have never heard him speak in person but have listened to several of his messages online and really appreciate his ministry.

He preaches the gospel very clearly and has a gift for preaching, which is primarily why I appreciate him. But also, he's also not beholden to any particular subgroup of Christianity. He's willing to ask tough questions of himself and others. Sometimes when I see leaders of churches that have exploded like his has, I get the impression that they think they've got it all figured out, but he goes out of his way to admit that he doesn't and that he has real fears and reservations about a lot of it.

The reason I mention him is because he recently had a siezure. It turned out he had a tumor on his brain and, a week after the incident, had surgery to remove it. The surgery was last week Friday. As far as I know, it went well and he's recovering fine, although I'm sure his future health has a big question mark on it.

This is a profound 5-minute video he recorded before the surgery for his church; please watch it (I couldn't figure out how to embed it, sorry):
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/?p=363

In the video he talks about how he has always felt a little strange preaching about faithfulness in the midst of suffering because he has been blessed so much with good things. I don't pretend to compare my accomplishments with his, but I feel the same way about being blessed. I hope to have the same spirit as he does when suffering comes.

Please also pray for him and his family, and his church. They are facing a lot of uncertainty right now.

Update: The pathology report says the tumor is malignant: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=202928898946

Dinner Parties

2009-11-10T22:06:00.001-06:00

Limping Along

2009-10-24T14:10:00.004-05:00

About a month ago, Kim was carrying Isaac down the stairs and fell. She apparently fell on Isaac's right foot or ankle, because after the fall he wouldn't walk (Kim was fine). If he tried to walk, he would fall over and cry. Kim took him to the doctor and the x-rays didn't turn up anything, so they said we should give it some more time.
About a week after the fall, Isaac started walking, but it was with a big limp. It gradually got better, and about three weeks after the fall, he didn't have the limp anymore. He doesn't appear to have any more problems with his foot.
What was so interesting about it was that Isaac was totally happy for the most part through this whole thing. For a while, he would crawl instead of walk, which looked really weird. But he never seemed to get frustrated with himself or with his foot. He was just like his normal self except for the problem with his foot.
I caught some video of him limping. This is later on, after his walking had improved somewhat.

There Are No Children Here

2009-10-23T21:35:00.007-05:00

Tonight, I just finished There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, which is the true story of two boys growing up in the projects of west Chicago. It was published in 1991, and is a very popular book about inner-city poverty.

It's impossible for me to give a full reaction to it right now. What I read in there is so shocking that I can't fully comprehend it and understand what to do. I also wonder why it shocks me, because it makes sense, given what I have seen and read in the past. Maybe the shock is not so much from learning new information but rather being presented with the reality of it again, in my face. Maybe another reason is that this is about kids growing up just a few miles from where I live. This isn't Africa or Asia; it's my fellow Americans, Illinois residents, growing up nearby. They're practically my neighbors.

Even though the events in this book took place 20 years ago, the reality in Chicago is much the same, from what I can tell. Do you remember the 16-year old kid who was beaten to death in Chicago, and it was caught on a cell-phone video? He was the 3rd kid killed in Chicago that month (September).

I encourage you to read the book. Ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Related to this, here is an interesting talk about the economics of gangs, given by Steven Levitt (author of Freakonomics). It does have some foul language, but take a look.

The co-author that Levitt talks about is Sudhir Venkatesh, who wrote this book.

Fun at the Park

2009-10-19T20:37:00.005-05:00

I'm going to take a quick break from midterm studying to post a few pictures from this afternoon. Kim and I took a walk with Isaac to a nearby park because the weather was so nice.

This was on the way to the park. He was very excited:

Isaac acted like he was going to climb the ladder, however we persuaded him not to try just yet.

This was on the way back. He cried almost the whole way home. When we drive by a park, he says "Wheeeeee!" So, all the way home, he would lean out of his stroller, look back, and say, "Wheeeee!" It was so sad to leave. :(

Collision

2009-10-17T19:57:00.003-05:00

Adding to my run of video-posts. Here is a teaser trailer for the new movie Collision. It follows Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson as they engage one another in a debate about Christianity and athiesm.

See the short video below to get a flavor for it.

Roar!

2009-10-04T17:05:00.004-05:00

Isaac likes lions. They are his favorite animal. He particularly likes to roar.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Isaac got to see the lions and tigers. One of the tigers started roaring while we were there, and this was Isaac's reaction.

We have since shown him this video, and he absolutely loves it. Now, every time we walk by the computer, he roars and roars, indicating that he wants us to play the video for him.

Ricky Gervais

2009-09-04T22:06:00.004-05:00

This is a video of Ricky Gervais, the man behind the original TV show "The Office" (the British version that the US version is based on). He's an athiest, and this is a comedy bit based on the first three chapters of Genesis. At times I had to laugh, and at times I felt terrible with the way he was treating the word of God.

The first few minutes are probably the best, but feel free to watch the whole 10 minutes.

I don't want to take myself or the subcultures I am a part of too seriously to laugh at, but there are actually a lot of logical problems with the things he brought up. Although, at times the things he said hurt not because he was twisting the word of God but because he was making fun of legitimately stupid Christians. Watch and see what you think.

New Stuff for Isaac

2009-08-15T14:41:00.002-05:00

I haven't put anything about Isaac on here in a while, so I thought I'd put a short video out there. It's nothing too special, but you can see what it's like to have a meal with Isaac and go for a walk with him.

He got a haircut recently, too, as you will see. :)

Beijing Beijing

2009-08-07T14:00:00.003-05:00

One year ago yesterday, we left on a flight for Beijing to go to the Olympics. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since then.

A lot of things have stuck with me from that trip, but one of strongest is a song that we heard everywhere. It was playing at the venues during breaks and, seemingly, every streetcorner. Plus, we would 'sing' it everywhere because it was so catchy.

Enjoy!

Graham Cole

2009-08-05T11:55:00.003-05:00

Next week I take a summer class from Graham Cole, from whom I also took a class this past Spring. He has a new book out on the atonement. Here is some info on that book, along with an interview with him: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/08/graham-coles-book-on-atonement.html

The class I am taking next week will cover this very topic! It is Systematic Theology 2: Christ, Man, Sin, and Salvation.

I really enjoyed my class from him last semester, which was on Biblical Theology. He is very clear and enjoyable. Plus, he is Australian. We have class from 8 am to 5 pm every day next week, so by the end of the week I may pick up a little Australian accent of my own...

Anachronistic

2009-06-24T22:38:00.006-05:00

I have been in seminary for a year now, and I've picked up some new vocabulary. I'm going to share some of it with you. If you don't find this interesting, you're probably normal. But don't worry, I'll give more than just a definition.

Anachronistic (adj)

This word gets used a lot, because it's easy to commit an anachronistic fallacy in exegesis. For example, one could take a definition of a word that is used in later times to apply it to an earlier time. Or, what preachers sometimes do is take an ancient Greek word that sounds like a modern English word, and assume that the modern English word sheds light on the meaning of the ancient Greek word.

For example:
The Greek verb kosmeo means "to adorn." A bad preacher might think, oh, that's where we get our word "cosmetics" and so kosmeo must have something to do with make-up. That is wrong, and also silly.

Unfortunately, many (ancient) Greek words are similar to (modern) English words, and it allows preachers to say a lot of dumb things, with most of their congregation not realizing it. I am going to go out on a limb and say that 75% of the time that I've heard a preacher say anything about a Greek word in a sermon, it's wrong, sometimes because they're committing an anachronism. Often it's not a big deal, but it's still embarassing for me to sit in church and hear a preacher say something like this. It's like I just realized his fly is down, but most of the others don't see it.

Last fall, a friend told me about a sermon that his pastor had just preached, and how great it was. He told me two of the main points of the sermon. One of them was based on an anachronism. The other point I also knew was based on a false understanding of the book because I had just studied the book in a class. I wouldn't say that what the preacher said was wrong, but that it was wrongly based on that passage. It was surprising for me to realize the pastor's sermon was based on a completely erroneous understanding of the passage, and that 3 months earlier I wouldn't have known it. Seminary must be doing something for me, even if it's just to make me a more discerning thinker (and hopefully not more prideful).

This doesn't mean I'm a better preacher or pastor. I usually come away from such a situation realizing that I have a lot to learn. It also makes me very wary of ever saying anything about Greek in a sermon.

Tim Keller in CT

2009-06-06T19:51:00.002-05:00

I have a lot going on with Hebrew Exegesis, but wanted to put this article on Tim Keller out there. It's an interesting introduction to his church and what they're doing in NYC.

Tim Keller on the Grand Demythologizer

2009-04-26T22:39:00.003-05:00

My favorite talk at the conference last week was given by Tim Keller. The gist is this: in order to preach the gospel you must confront the idols of your hearers. Paul did this by discerning, exposing, and destroying the idols.

You can watch or listen to it here: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/resources/a/The-Grand-Demythologizer-The-Gospel-and-Idolatry

Here at the Gospel Coalition Conference

2009-04-22T10:38:00.004-05:00

This week I'm attending the Gospel Coalition Conference. It's a national conference (actually, international) for the Gospel Coalition, which is an organization started by D.A. Carson and Tim Keller to renew the center of confessional evangelicalism.

Yesterday, we heard Tim Keller, John Piper, Phil Ryken, and Mark Driscoll speak.

This afternoon I'm going to two workshops; one lead by Erwin Lutzer (pastor at the Moody Church here in Chicago) and Joshua Harris.

You can watch the large-group talks live here: http://www.christianity.com/gospelcoalition/
See here for a schedule: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/conferences/2009#t=schedule

The conference ends tomorrow. If you want to watch/listen to the talks afterward, you will be able to here: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/

I'll probably post more thoughts later (and a funny story), but here are two:
- The conference is sold out; and I believe they had to turn away some folks. About 3300 attendees.
- I would estimate 90% of the attendees are men; and by far most of them are young men under 40. This is one the most encouraging things about it. Frankly, when young men are together in such high numbers, it usually means God is doing something significant; I'm really excited for what he is doing through the Gospel Coalition.

Christ Is Risen!

2009-04-12T18:49:00.004-05:00

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (ESV):
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The church at Corinth had a lot of issues when Paul wrote to them, and one of those was that certain people within the church denied the possibility of bodily resurrection. They likely made the doctrine into a metaphor by saying something like "We have been resurrected in spirit." So, at the end of his letter, Paul wants to explain again the gospel, and he spends a large amount of time then expounding on the resurrection. The whole chapter is great to read and meditate on with respect to the resurrection, but there are numerous implications of the resurrection even in just this short passage above. I count five things in this passage whose validity depends on the bodily resurrection of Jesus:

1. Paul's preaching. (vs 14)
2. The Corinthians' faith. (vs 14, 17)
3. Forgiveness of sins. (vs 17)
4. Life after death. (vs 18)
5. Vindication for the 'wasting' of our lives (in the eyes of the world). (vs 19)

This last one is sort of a summary of the previous four and I want to say a few words about it.

We have probably all heard 'testimonies' that go something like this: "Before I knew Christ, my life was empty and I was depressed, but then I put my faith in Christ and now I am happy and fulfilled, even though I still encounter struggles."

My church periodically has individuals present their stories in the Sunday service, and I have been saddened to see that most of them are like this. When a person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, happiness and fulfillment come to him, but if this is all he says about it, then his understanding of his faith is very shallow.

I once heard a guy say (not at my church) that even if Christianity is false, it's still worth it for him to believe because it brings so much fulfillment to his life. I question how deeply this person understands the significance of the resurrection. Why? Becuase his faith doesn't cost him anything.

If Christianity doesn't cost you anything, then you can make a statement like that. But if it costs you a lot then it better be true because otherwise you've just ruined your life for the sake of a lie. If I paid $250,000 for a house that I hadn't seen yet, and it turned out to be a sham, I would be pretty upset (to say the least). When it comes to houses, I don't buy on faith but on sight. In the case of the Kingdom of God, however, it comes on faith. If your faith doesn't cost you anything, then have you really believed? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know.

Now, this is what reveals Christ's genius: He expressed this same idea in two sentences.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. - Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

This is why the resurrection is so precious. If the resurrection doesn't do much for me, then maybe my faith is just not very costly. I pray that I might be able to say with Paul, "If I have believed only for the sake of this life, then I am ruined."

Alas and Did My Savior Bleed

2009-04-10T14:24:00.001-05:00

Alas and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree

My God why would
You shed Your blood
So pure and undefiled
To make a sinful one like me
Your chosen precious child

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut His glories in
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man the creature’s sin
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear Cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt my eyes to tears

Music and chorus lyrics by Bob Kauflin
Lyrics by Isaac Watts

Opening Day 2009

2009-04-06T18:30:00.003-05:00

Today is opening day, and so a few comments on the upcoming baseball season need to be made.
I am excited about the upcoming season because the Twins have a great shot at winning the division and have several young players who could really surprise some people or improve on their success last season.

In 2008, the Twins were not expected to do much in what was considered a strong division. Many so-called experts picked them to finish last in the division after losing Johan Santana (still the best pitcher in baseball) and Torii Hunter (still overrated). However, at the beginning of last season I predicted that they would finish at about .500, good for 3rd place in the division. It turned out that the division was a lot weaker than everyone thought, and the Twins' 88-74 finish put them in position to win the division when they faced Chicago in a one-game playoff. They lost the playoff, but everyone was pleasantly surprised by how well they did overall.

When one considers that the Twins gave a lot of playing time to Livan Hernandez, Mike Lamb, and Adam Everett early last season (before finally replacing them with much better young players) there is a lot of reason for optimism this season. They have 4 quality outfielders for 3 spots, which gives them a lot of depth there (and a playing-time problem). The young starting rotation is very strong and healthy. The biggest question marks at this point are the health of Joe Mauer and the state of the bullpen. Mauer is the Twins' best player, and if he's not healthy then the Twins don't have much of a chance to win the division. It sounds like he will only miss 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the season, and if that's the case, then there are no concerns there.

The Twins did essentially nothing in the offseason aside from signing Joe Crede to play 3rd base. Crede is an excellent player, when healthy. From what I am reading, he is healthy with no signs of his previous back problems. If that holds up, then it will turn out to be a great signing. However, the Twins did almost nothing to address their bullpen problems from last year. The bullpen is the primary reason the Twins didn't win the division last season, so one would have expected them to do a little more to address it in the offseason. There were plenty of opportunities to sign a good reliever, but they didn't bite. In the few seasons previous to last year, the Twins had one of the best bullpens in baseball; perhaps they see last season as an aberration and didn't want to overreact.

One last point on the Twins: last year, several young players had break-out seasons in which they did better than expected (Span and Casilla in particular, but also a couple starters). I expect they might come back a little from last season's performances, particularly Span. I hope I'm wrong, but I would be surprised if they all maintained or improved off of last season.

Regarding the rest of the division, it doesn't appear on paper that any of the other teams have dramatically improved. The White Sox, who last season beat the Twins in the one-game playoff, are getting older and lost some important players without doing much to make up for it.

The Indians could easily bounce back from last year's disappointing season. However, their starting rotation is very suspect.

The Tigers and Royals nearly tied for last place last year, and I expect them to continue that. It is amazing how quickly the Tigers have faded since their dominance just a few seasons ago.

So, given that, I expect the Twins to finish with about the same record as last year, with 88 wins, and this time winning the division outright. Here's my prediction:
1. Twins
2. Indians
3. White Sox
4. Tigers
5. Royals

Spring Break & Isaac Is 1 Year Old

2009-03-05T14:07:00.003-06:00

Today is a reason to celebrate in the Larson home because I am on my first day of Spring Break and it is Isaac's first birthday. It's crazy to think that it has been a whole year since he was born. So much has changed, not just with Isaac, but for all of us, of course.

On Monday night, we took Isaac to the ER because he was wheezing. It turned out that he has RSV, so we've been working on keeping his nose clean and giving him motrin to keep his fever down. Kim took him to the doctor today and he's doing very well, so we're happy about that. One of the reasons we're happy is that Kim and I are driving to Ames tomorrow to drop Isaac off with my parents. Then, Kim and I are flying to Utah to go skiing at Alta. We're both really excited, and my parents are excited to see Isaac since they haven't seen him since Christmas.

I am so glad it's Spring Break, not primarily because I have a few days off, but because that means I've gotten through the worst part of my schedule this semester. I have a really front-loaded semester, and so the final few weeks will be easier. I am really looking forward to that.

His First Steps

2009-02-20T13:50:00.002-06:00

Isaac took his first 'real' steps today. He walked about 4 feet from me to Kim and back this morning. This video below is the best I could get later today.

Anyway, Isaac doesn't seem to be very thrilled with walking, but Kim and I are. :)

This video also features my butt. Sorry.

The Gospel Coalition Conference

2009-02-12T19:52:00.003-06:00

I just registered for this conference in April, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time thinking and meditating on the gospel under the guidance of leaders in the church today whom I greatly respect.

Recently, one night, I was doing some reading online and was just struck with (near) despair over the state of the church today, worldwide, with its corruption and failures, and how it doesn't reflect the glory of Christ the way that it should. Even worse, I saw myself as part of the problem.

But what happened that night was that I began to read the Bible and meditate on the power of Christ in the gospel message. There is no other hope for the church, because there is no other hope for sinners. I believe this with all my heart.

The Faces of Isaac

2009-02-08T11:24:00.007-06:00

I took these pictures at supper one night this week.

What I Like about Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

2009-01-23T13:42:00.000-06:00

I realized this week that the professors from my four classes have the following backgrounds:
- Born and raised in (French) Canada (D.A. Carson)
- Born and raised in Germany (Eckhard Schnabel)
- Born and raised in Australia (Graham Cole)
- Born in Zaire and raised in Jerusalem (John Monson)

What did it grow out of?

2009-01-21T15:30:00.005-06:00

(In order for this to make sense, be sure to read part 1 and part 2 first)

The second question to address is what situation did this come out of? Another way of putting it is to ask, what was the seedbed that caused this heresy? The answer lies in verse 12 - "only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ." According to Paul, the Judaizers were requiring the Galatians to be circumcized out of fear of persecution. Now, this persecution was from the Jews. The purpose of circumcision is so that those in the church would meet the demands of the Torah through external means. This was not a direct attack on some doctrine, but a reaction to fear of persecution.

This is actually exactly what Dr. Fields said in our class about heresy, as well. It usually is not a direct attack on the gospel, but a reaction against something else. No one in the church says, "Look, we need to get away from all this 'gospel' stuff." Rather, there is a concern that they have, perhaps valid or invalid, and their reaction to it causes them to lose the gospel itself. The implications of this are great. The things we believe always have more far-reaching implications that we first think. Sometimes it can take a while for the implications to be known; other times it's immediately obvious. As I thought about this, I was reminded of something I read in a book by Richard Lovelace called Dynamics of Spiritual Life. In the chapter on evangelicals and social concern, he says this:

The formula which insists that the gospel should deal with "spiritual matters"
and not meddle with political or social affairs, the familiar Fundamentalist
argument for passive support of the status quo, emerged before the Civil War as
a conservative evangelical defense of resistance toward or postponement of
abolition. The seriousness of the break in evangelical ranks on this issue can
hardly be overestimated. (pg. 376)

So, as some evangelicals opposed abolition, they did so by relegating Christianity to affect only 'spiritual matters' because they would rather not allow Christianity to affect their support of slavery. And thus, not only did they do the wrong thing in supporting slavery, but they castrated their Christianity so that it could do nothing from a social perspective.

The Judaizers didn't want to offend the Jews. In doing so, they offended God. In our society, if you take a stand on anything, you will offend someone. The question I think we rarely ask ourselves is if we would offend God by a particular belief or action. The Judaizers put the concerns of other men above the concerns of God himself.

Now, some of us might be thinking, Those nasty Judaizers! But who hasn't been afraid? And who wouldn't be afraid of persecution? This is why this is personally very important to all of us. Perhaps you're not afraid of persecution today, but maybe you're in fear for your finances, or maybe a relationship that is on the rocks. Or, perhaps it's a health issue, or maybe even something so silly as how your basketball team is going to play this week.

No fear is too small to pay big consequences in other ways. How you handle a fear today will affect your relationship with God tomorrow. A long while back I learned a great acronym from John Piper that helps with addressing fear. This is something that one would use if entering a fear-inducing situation. The acronym is APTAT:

A - admit you are not able to do what God has called you to do.
P - pray to God for his help and guidance
T - trust a particular promise of God that will help you in this situation
A - act on what you know to be right
T - thank God for helping you in this situation

The first T is the crucial one: Trust. You've got to find a particular promise that will help you in the situation you're in. For example, this past semester I did some evangelism to strangers I met in various places, which is certainly a fear-inducing situation for me. The verses that I would use are Luke 12:4-7 – "Do not fear those who can kill the body but after that can do nothing; rather fear him who after killing can cast both body and soul into hell! Consider how God cares for the sparrows. You are of much more value than the sparrow, so do not be afraid." and Proverbs 29:25 - "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."

It's my prayer that you and I will be freed from the fear of man, and rather fear God, for the sake of our own souls and for the sake of the gospel. This is not what the Judaizers did. They feared the persecution of the Jews and thus were leading the Galatians churches astray. The last question we come to, then, is What is Paul's response?

Twins Stuff

2009-01-19T20:00:00.000-06:00

I never did write anything about the Twins after last season.

I was busy with school, and the season was fun, yet ultimately disappointing as the Twins lost a one-game playoff to the White Sox 1-0. Thus, they missed the playoffs, while the White Sox thankfully lost in the first round.

The Twins have done essentially nothing this offseason. They haven't signed any new players, and they didn't lose anyone from last season. It's been rather disappointing. Although, I have to say a lot of the possibilities brought up for free agents or trades have not been very intriguing. Their biggest need is at 3rd base in my opinion. Their bullpen faded last year, after it was a strength for a long time, but I believe they have some good players internally who could step in and do well.

I am guessing that they will pull off a trade or sign someone before the season begins, but I am almost sure that it won't be anything too significant.

Maybe Bill Smith is gun-shy after all of his moves backfiring last year? I wouldn't blame him after how poorly all of the players he brought in did.

By the way, if you want good Twins coverage, check out http://www.aarongleeman.com/. It's a lot better than any of the local newspaper coverage (although I am annoyed by some of the other stuff he has on his blog).

Spring Semester

2009-01-17T14:27:00.000-06:00

I began a new semester at TEDS this week!

Here are a few anticipated highlights of my semester (mostly school-related):
- I have three 20-page papers due in the next 7 weeks, all for my Greek exegesis class. Please kill me now.
- I get to take a class from D.A. Carson called Acts, Pauline, and General Epistles. I am very excited to take this course. I was kidding about killing me. Please do not do so.
- The weekend before finals, I am in Kent's wedding, in Indiana. Last semester, Luanne (his sister) got married in Colorado the weekend before midterms. I think they are trying to make me fail.
- However, at most, I will have only 2 finals.
- Kim and I are going to Alta again over Spring Break! Isaac is staying with my mom and dad. They are very excited, and we are, too. I have posted about Alta before.

Sounds in the Living Room

2009-01-16T15:37:00.000-06:00

Sounds in the Night

2009-01-15T15:20:00.000-06:00

This fall, we would occassionally hear these noises outside our apartment. I took this video in September. What do you think it is?

Where Did It Come From?

2009-01-14T13:15:00.000-06:00

The first question is where (or who) did the heresy come from? In my Systematic Theology class last semester, my professor, Dr. Fields, said, while speaking about the doctrine of the Trinity, that heretics generally do not come from outside the church, attacking it. They usually come from within, and are simply trying to address a problem or issue that they see. They don't think they're being heretical. They may be our friends, and very nice people.

But is this what happened with the Galatians? In the context of the letter to the Galatians there are generally three groups of people. The first is simply Paul himself. The second group consists of the churches in Galatia, a region in modern-day Turkey. The third group is called the Judaizers, and there are a few indications that what Dr. Fields said in my class also was true of them. They were teachers in Galatia who were deceiving the churches. It is clear that they were not strictly Jews who wanted to prevent the churches from leaving Judaism. In verse 12, Paul says that the Judaizers wanted to avoid persecution for the sake of Christ. It is not that they rejected him outright. And in 1:7, Paul says they want to distort the gospel of Christ. They did not reject Christ altogether.

Paul has some very harsh language regarding the heresy and the heretics. In 3:1 he calls the Galatians foolish for falling into the trap of heresy. He implies that they have been "bewitched" by the Judaizers into not thinking correctly about salvation. The word "foolish" in 3:1 is not the foolishness that Proverbs often speaks of, which emphasizes corrupted morals and behavior, but the "foolishness" is a foolishness of the mind. The Galatians had been tricked by the Judaizers. Paul was furious, and in 5:12 he says that he wishes the Judaizers, who emphasized circumcision, would rather simply castrate themselves.

This is harsh language indeed, and remember it was for those who were in the church, or who appeared to be in the church. These were folks who you could say believed in Christ. Paul doesn't use this language for those outside the church. Why would he? They don't claim to believe in Christ and therefore are not a threat to the gospel. Instead, the greatest threat to the church comes from within the church itself. This is similar to when, after a team loses a football or baseball game, someone on the losing team will say something like, "We beat ourselves." What they're implying is that they believe they are the better team, but through their own mistakes and internal problems, they lost the game. If I challenged Tiger Woods in a round of golf, it would be preposterous to imagine that I would beat him. However, if he did lose, it would not be merely because I played out of my mind, although that would be required. Rather, it would be because Tiger beat himself, or maybe because he was injured or something. It would be a particular weakness in him that would cause him to lose. He's his own worst enemy. If he just plays the game to his ability and training, he'll win every time. The same is true of the church.

The church's greatest threat is not outside of it. It doesn't come from any government, or military, Hollywood, Satan, other religions. It comes from within. Second Peter chapter 2 speaks of this as well: false teachers rising up among you and leading many astray, to their destruction.

Is this going to lead to McCarthyism? Mass-paranoia? Accusation, suspicion, witch-hunts?

If we stopped here, it might. But there are two more questions to address.

Look Out World

2009-01-07T22:43:00.003-06:00

Isaac is officially crawling.

Evidence is below:

We haven't baby-proofed our apartment yet, so that has become one of our top priorities. He's all over the place now...

Heresy and the Galatians

2009-01-05T19:52:00.000-06:00

This past fall I preached a sermon for class on Galatians 6:11-18, which contains the final words of Paul's letter to the Galatians. I will share some of the sermon with you all here, but I'll break it up into a few different posts over several days since it's a little long.

11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (ESV)

If you Google the word 'heresy' and any popular Christian author or speaker you'll find a lot of interesting stuff. For example, I found this website called Balaam's Ass, which tells you why C.S. Lewis is in hell and was a tool of Satan. I am not going to claim that Lewis was a perfect man, but to make these claims is preposterous and evil itself. What is amusing about this particular site is that it is also a website for a Piano-tuning and repair business. I guess the owners felt like addressing both issues at the same time. Incidentally, I have to also say that these sites are always really poorly done, as if they were created 15 years ago, in the dark ages of the internet. But, despite the fact that heresy is often a word abused by those who seem to have too much time on their hands, it is important to understand how to deal with it.

I want to make it clear that heresy does need to be dealt with. There are many who will avoid any and all conflict in church, claiming that when the church fights with itself it loses an opportunity to actually accomplish its mission. It is true that much time and effort is wasted in petty arguments within the church, and it is a grevious sin that the church has not better spent those efforts on accomplishing its God-given mission. However, the example set by Jesus and the apostles shows that they are no strangers to conflict, and actually ran to conflict and stirred it up when it was needed.

Paul's letter makes it clear immediately why he is writing: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of Christ and are instead turning to a different gospel" (Gal 1:6). This indicates the occassion for so strongly addressing heresy - the deserting of the gospel. This is what heresy is: a statement which undermines or contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the case of the Galatians, the heresy taught that in order to be in a right relationship with God, you must have faith in Christ and also be circumcised. They were adding something to faith. As it has been said elsewhere, "when you say that salvation is by faith plus something else, you no longer have faith, and you no longer have salvation."

We need to address heresy, for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of Christ, but at the same time we don't want another witch-hunt. The way Paul addressed the problems with the Galatians gives us insight into what to look for and how to respond to it. And not only this, but they also serve to help us understand our own hearts and how to examine ourselves. These last few verses of the letter serve as a summary of the whole letter, and so as one considers Paul's final words to the Galatians, insight and clarification of his whole letter is seen in just a few sentences.

There are three questions I'm going to address in this passage:
First, where (or who) did the heresy come from?
Second, what situation did it grow out of?
Third, how did Paul respond to it?

Olympic Stories

2009-01-02T20:22:00.000-06:00

1. When we were at the indoor volleyball match between the USA and Russia (which we won), there were a lot of Russians there waving their flag, but we also saw at least two of the old USSR flags. I'm not sure if that's a result of someone just being a little (a lot) behind the times or trying to make a political statement, or maybe some other reason. Regardless, I thought it was a little sketchy.

2. When we saw Rafael Nadal play, we noticed that he would put on a new shirt after every set. He would go over to his bench, sit down, pull a new plastic-wrapped shirt out of his bag, take off his old shirt, unwrap the new one and put it on.

3. On the highways outside of Beijing they had humongous signs over the road that said "NO LITTERING." I found this interesting because when I noticed these signs, the smog was so thick you could not see very far in front of you. The signs were as big as the regular road signs that they had over the road. No doubt part of China's image improvement plan.

4. The church that we went to while in Beijing was called Beijing International Christian Fellowship. It was mostly in English but some of the singing was in Chinese and they had headsets that would translate the rest of the service into Chinese if you wanted. For those of you who have sat on U.N. councils, it is similar to what they do there. Also, similar to the U.N., you have to show a passport to get into the church. This is because only non-Chinese citizens/residents are allowed in the church. Other than these differences, the church seemed like any moderately shallow run-of-the-mill evangelical church in America.

5. This is the video I took of Usain Bolt winning the 200M gold in world-record time. I was with Kent, and he's the main guy you hear screaming, although you can also hear the other 90,000 people who were there. Sorry for the audio quality:

Peace Like a River and The Prodigal God

2008-12-31T23:13:00.007-06:00

I asked for a lot of books for Christmas. I received eleven!
Here they are:

I have already read two of them.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger takes place in a rural area of Minnesota in the 1960s. I heard about the book a while back somewhere and then I read this review: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1542_not_heartwarming_christian_fiction/

I took John Piper's advice and asked for it for Christmas. It's a great book, and I highly recommend it. I love the language Enger uses, and the way he describes and illustrates faith is powerful. I encourage you to read the review above, as it's more compelling than my couple of statements about it, and it's a little humorous, too.

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller is a great little book about the parable of the Prodigal Son. The parable could be the most famous of Jesus' parables, and Keller does a great job in unpacking the meaning of the parable in a way that is enlightening to both believers and unbelievers. I think this, rather than The Reason for God, is what I would initially give to someone who was interested in Christianity. Not so much because the content is better, but because it's shorter and communicates the message more compactly. It's short, but there's not a lot of fluff.

Christmas Time

2008-12-29T11:37:00.006-06:00

Yes, I am alive.

I finished the semester almost two weeks ago, and since then we've been busy "doing Christmas" with my family and Kim's family. Two weekends ago we drove to Ames and had a great time with my family. On the drive home we saw 48 cars in the ditch (yes, I counted), all before we even got to the Chicago area. Fortunately, the roads were clear for us; most of the cars in the ditch were from the previous day when there was a lot of bad weather. It's still a little nerve-wracking to see all those cars in the ditch. I discovered a day after the trip that my lower back hurt, I think from just being tense most of the way.

Then last week we spent Christmas with Kim's family here in Chicago. We had a big group at our apartment, but it worked out really well.

I still have a couple weeks off before the next semester begins. The class I am most looking forward to is a class from D.A. Carson: Acts, Pauline, and General Epistles.

Isaac is really getting around, but not quite crawling yet. He can move in every direction and in every way, except crawling forward. He recently got his first tooth, and is now eating some big boy food, like Cheerios and oyster crackers. It's crazy how fast he's growing, and yet he's still really small. :)

The Devil in the White City

2008-11-16T13:45:00.001-06:00

A long while back (in the summer), I read The Devil in the White City, the popular historic novel by Erik Larson (not my cousin Erik Larson, but some other guy named Erik Larson). It was a particularly interesting book to me as it takes place in Chicago.

I bought the book at Barnes & Noble with a gift card that had probably been sitting in my wallet since Christmas, and I also purchased another book, Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler. It amazes me that Barnes & Noble, or really any other bookstore, is still in business. You can get any book on Amazon.com for 20-30% less than at B&N. I paid $15 for each at B&N; they're $10 on Amazon.com, with free shipping on orders more than $25. Not only that, but the B&N website also lists them at $15. Here's my book-buying tip of the day: avoid Barnes & Noble, regardless of whether it's down the block or on the internet.

Anyway, about the book: it describes the late 1800s in Chicago, in particular the World's Fair in 1893, and focuses on two men, Daniel Burnham and Dr. H. H. Holmes. Burnham was the lead architect of the World's Fair, and the primary man involved in making it happen. Holmes was a murderer, who killed many people in Chicago during that time, and used the fair as a way to attract his victims.

A few thoughts:

- Chicago was gross in 1893. Dirty, smelly, loud.

- During the summer, as I was in the middle of reading the book, I actually ate at the Burnham Hotel in Chicago, with Kim and her mom. It is one of only two remaining buildings that Burnham designed, and one of the first skyscrapers ever built.

- The people of Chicago took tremendous pride in hosting the World's Fair. It reminds me of the sort of pride that China took with the Olympics this year. Chicagoans wanted to show the world (and in particular the east cost of the USA) that they were not some back-water pig slaughterhouse, but that they could host a world-class event. They were even too self-conscious about it - they became too offended by any perceived slights from others.

- For me, one of the most entertaining parts of the book is the description of how a detective went about trying to retrace Holmes' steps in order to find some of his victims.

I highly recommend the book. It's a great light-reading book, which for me is a nice change of pace from some of the other stuff I read.

Have any of you read it? What did you think?

So Big!

2008-11-14T13:24:00.005-06:00

In an earlier post I mentioned how with Isaac even the smallest things make me and Kim excited. Here is one of those things.

In other news, school is going well. It has been a little slower the past couple of weeks, which is good since Kim just went back to work. So, I have been spending a lot of time with Isaac; great fun! Work has been going well for Kim overall. Their orientation process has been very disorganized, but Kim thinks that it will work out on her unit. Even though it is also an ICU, just like her last position, the demographics of the nursing staff and the patients are different, so it will be a unique experience. Plus, she gets to use Epic, so it is interesting to me to hear about that.

On Saturday we are having a bunch Chicago-area friends over. We're looking forward to it, especially to see 4-month old Eliora. I haven't seen her for 3 months, so she has grown up a lot since I last saw her!

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Wife and Mom!

2008-10-31T11:46:00.008-05:00

Tomorrow, November 1, is Kim's 27th birthday, and I can't help but say a few things. Kim is a great wife and a great mom. Perhaps the greatest! She knows what's the best for her family and she does everything to support it. Our nearly four years of marriage have been as great as can be imagined, and I'm thankful to God for her.

A story: At the Olympics, one time when going through security she had a bottle of breastmilk with her, for Isaac. The thing is, food and liquids were not allowed in the facility. The security folks understood that it was breastmilk, so they would let her take it in, but only if she would take a taste of it in front of them. We were all standing there, and I tried to explain to them that it's not really appropriate for her to do that...but security either didn't understand or didn't care. So, Kim took a taste of it, and then they let her take it in. For this, Isaac was very grateful. And Kim and the rest of us were grossed out.

Happy Birthday, Kim! We love you!

GI Issues?

2008-10-19T17:41:00.003-05:00

Having serious trouble with diarrhea?

Perhaps you should eat someone else's poop. It could be your cure.

An Apartment With a View

2008-10-17T10:50:00.008-05:00

Our apartment is located next to a forest preserve, with our balcony and windows overlooking its woods. There's also a path through the forest that is connected right next to our apartment.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures that I've taken from our balcony. The first is of the sunrise, and the second is at the end of the day, with the moon in the sky.

School is kicking my butt

2008-10-07T10:14:00.007-05:00

So far, it's more work than I expected. Midterms are next week, and I think after that I'll be doing better. But I've been spending almost all day every day and all evening doing schoolwork, including weekends. Fortunately, I enjoy the work overall, but I'll be glad when it slows down a little (i hope...) and I can spend a little more time with Kim and Isaac, and sleeping.

Speaking of Isaac...
He is growing up really fast! Here is a picture that Kim took when trying to get him to use a spoon. He's getting better.
Here's another really good one:

And believe it or not, this is what he looked like just 7 months ago:

It seems like he's doing new things every day. It's funny how even the smallest things can make Kim and me really excited.

First Week of School

2008-08-29T11:40:00.003-05:00

Hey, I started school this week!

This is strange for me, as I have not been in school since 2002. I went to the store to buy school supplies and realized I didn't know what to use for taking notes, for organizing everything, etc. I will have to figure it out as I go.

In case you're interested, here's what I'm taking this semester:

Theology and Methodology of Preaching/Preaching Lab
Elementary Hebrew 1
NT Greek Exegesis 1
Foundations of Christian Mission
Foundations of Evangelism
Theology 1

It looks like a lot, but it's just 16 credits.
I am most looking forward to Greek and Foundations of Christian Mission: the former because I enjoy the language and want to begin to actually use some of the knowledge I've gained in it, and the latter because the professor has done some theological teaching overseas and I look forward to hearing from him about that.

Here's a picture of most of my books (there are a few that I haven't purchased yet):

We're Back!

2008-08-25T20:04:00.006-05:00

Hey folks,
We're back in the states! We got in yesterday afternoon. I didn't sleep much on the plane, and so I really crashed last night. I just fell asleep sitting on the couch watching the closing ceremonies. It was weird to watch it, knowing I had just been there a few hours earlier. At orientation today at school I was talking to some guy about going to the Olympics, and it was almost surreal to talk about it. Did I just dream that whole trip? I don't think so...but it doesn't seem quite real.

I have lots of stories, anyway, so that's real enough for me. I will share more of them over the next several days/weeks, but I need to run so I will just share a couple more pictures.

This is a store we passed every time we walked to the subway station:
This is a weird store that had a manequin with the head of a deer in the front window (sorry about the glare):

Last Day

2008-08-22T22:09:00.010-05:00

Today is our last full day here in Beijing. Kim and Isaac and I are going to stay at the apartment tonight while the rest of the group goes to one last athletics event. It should be a good one; lots of finals: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/AT_2008-08-23.shtml

Yesterday afternoon we went to see indoor volleyball. We got to see the USA defeat Russia in the semifinals. It was a very exciting match. We won the first two games, then Russia won two, and then we won the final game 15-13 to win the match. There were a lot of Russians there. Luanne took this picture:

Smiling fans after winning the match:

Last night we went out for a nice dinner:

Fake?

2008-08-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

I find it ironic that I read this in Beijing: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3542649

More on this stuff when I get back.

More Disappointments

2008-08-21T07:30:00.005-05:00

Some of the events here at the Olympics are rather long; up to 6 hours. Then, if you include travel time of 1-2 hours each way for each event, the extended time away from the apartment (or a restaurant) means that we need some decent food at the events. We cannot bring our own food and unfortunately, the concessions at the venues are pathetic. Here is a sample menu:

Food:
Biscuits (i.e. some kind of crackers)
Bread - yes this is an actual menu item
Chips
Butter Cookies
Sausage
Yogurt
Popcorn
President Noodles (like Ramen, except they do not provide hot water nor any way to heat water)
Snickers
Ice Cream

Drinks:
Water
Various sodas (Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, etc)
Beer
Orange Drink with some real orange juice

Every event has essentially the same menu. We have gone to an event nearly every day, and this means that almost every day one of our meals must be eaten from this menu. It's okay once, or twice. But two and a half weeks of it gets really old fast.

The other bad part about it is that the lines are sometimes very long. One time Kim and I waited 45 minutes. Not only that, but often they have often run out of several things, so the selection is even more limited. The only positive side is that it is very cheap. A beer costs about $1. A bottle of water costs about 40 cents. The "bread" costs about $1, too.

The other major disappointment for me on this trip so far is that they have completely run out of decent shirts to buy. At the first event we went to (Handball) I saw this really cool shirt at the merchandise booth. The shirt is white and has a yellow and red swirly design on one sleeve, and then on the back it says CHINA in red letters. You will often see people wearing these shirts on TV (by coaches, etc). When I saw it, I decided to not buy it then because I didn't know what else was available. Since the first week, I haven't seen the shirt being sold anywhere. And, people everywhere are wearing them. Crap, they sold out. Well, that's okay because there's another red shirt that I like, too. Oops, that one sold out, too. The shirts are Adidas shirts, so we went to the Adidas store here in Beijing, and they didn't have them either. But they did have some other shirts that I liked. I hadn't learned my lesson, however, and I didn't buy one then. Two days later Kim and I went back and they were all sold out.

Frankly, it's maddening. The Olympics are being held for the first time in a country that has 1.3 BILLION people. My guess is, you're gonna need a lot of shirts.

It's only a silly shirt, but it's frustrating. It was the main souvenir I wanted to come back to the states with, and unless there's a reversal of things in the next couple of days, it won't happen.

Overall, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but so far these are my two biggest disappointments.

Disappointments

2008-08-21T06:48:00.010-05:00

The US Track and Field team has not been doing very well. We're getting shallacked by the Jamaicans. Losing to Usain Bolt is not surprising, but there have been several other races that we have done more poorly than expected. It's frustrating, given the number of golds that the Chinese have taken.

The last couple of days, I have seen canoeing/kayaking (boring! they start 1 km away from you), taekwando (confusing!) and then last night Kent and I went to athletics. We had just two tickets, so it was just me and him. We saw Usain Bolt win the 200M and break Michael Johnson's world record, among several other events.

Right now, Kim and Isaac and I are by ourselves at the apartment while the rest of the gang is attending the Bronze and Gold matches for women's soccer. USA is in the Gold match, facing Brazil, so it should be interesting.

Here are some pictures!

Some weird building on the Olympic Green (the place where many Olympic venues are located, including the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube):

A nice picture on the Olympic Green (the tall building is the media building - it's positioned so many TV stations can have their anchors sitting with a view of the Bird's Nest in the background):

Our day seeing Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson take Gold and Silver in the womens individual all-around:

Table tennis (nice table):

The medal ceremony for the men's 100M (we did not see the event, however):

Slowing Down

2008-08-18T22:07:00.005-05:00

Outside the Bird's Nest on Sunday night:
The view from our seats:

The past couple of days have been a little slower, and that has been nice. We had a lot of stuff packed in last week, and we were all tired.

The acrobatics show on Saturday night was amazing. There were contortionists, people jumping through hoops, people swinging others, spinning through the air. After seeing that, it does not surprise me that the Chinese won the gymnastics gold in the men's and women's team competition.

We went to another round of athletics on Sunday night, and this time our seats were MUCH better. However, that did not correspond to a better showing of the US track team. We got dominated in the women's 100M and the men's 1500M. We did get to see the mens' 100M medal ceremony, however, so that was kind of nice.

Last night we went to a Chinese vegetarian restaurant. It was good food. The atmosphere of the restuarant was interesting. If I was in the states, I would have called it new-agey, but I'm not sure what that corresponds to in China. Jack dropped me, Kent, and Kim off in the back alley because he thought that's where the front of the restauarant was. It was pretty sketchy. There was a naked man lying in a shack, and other people loitering around, and then staring at us as we walked by. Eventually we found the restaurant, even though no one had told us the name, and then after Jack had parked his car he met us at the front. He was very glad to see us, saying "So, you do not know Chinese; how did you find it?" Apparently the restaurant had undergone major renovations recently, including changing where the entrance is, and Jack did not know it.

Tonight we see yet another round of athletics at 1900: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/AT_2008-08-19.shtml

Silk Market

2008-08-16T04:43:00.004-05:00

A few days ago we went to the silk market, which is a popular market for tourists to go and bargain for stuff. It's 6 floors high and has just about everything you could imagine. Most of the brand-name items are knock-offs (i.e. fake). Maggie, who is one of Kim's father's business associates, went with us and bought a small emporer's hat for Isaac. There are six Olympic mascots, and we bought a stuffed one for Isaac. It's name is HuanHuan.

Athetics

2008-08-16T04:27:00.004-05:00

Last night we had our first event in the Bird's Nest, for "athletics" (Track & Field). Our seats were in the second to last row in the upper deck. The stadium seats 91,000 people, so we were waaaaaay up. There are also multiple events going on at the same time. We got to see the women's 10k Final and the men's 100M 2nd round, among several other events. The winner of the 10k was only the second woman to ever finish the 10k in less than 30 minutes. She finished with a 29:54.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, as you can see from the picture above.

Tonight we go to see an acrobatics show and tomorrow (Sunday) night we go to see another round of athletics: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/AT_2008-08-17.shtml

Gymnastics

2008-08-16T04:12:00.003-05:00

We saw the Women's Individual All-Around Gymnastics Finals yesterday. As you may already know, the US came away with Gold and Silver. There were 24 people in the final, broken into 4 groups of 6. There are four different areas of competition: vault, uneven bars, floor routine, and balance beam. Each group goes at the same time, so there are 3-4 events happening at the same time. Whenever I've watched it on TV in the past, it's been presented in a more organized manner, so I was surprised by that. It's strange how some of these events are gone about without any kind of pomp (not just gymnastics, but everything). On TV, they play dramatic music and the announcers talk things up, but in person it's all done rather ho-hum. And then the event is over, and so-and-so won!

Isaac is still popular in Beijing

2008-08-13T23:04:00.002-05:00

This is on the subway

I slept in today

2008-08-13T21:31:00.010-05:00

I slept until 10 am today. I was tired. We got back from seeing a soccer match at nearly 1 am, and the past few days have been very busy.

On the 12th, we went to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square; it is indeed "very huge," as Jack our Chinese friend would say. The Square is the largest public square in the world. They can fit a million people in it.

Afterward, we went out for Peking Duck, which was delicious. We saw the man cut the duck for us, and we ate the skin, too. After dipping the skin in the sauce, it tasted like bacon. They also cut the duck's head in half and put that out for anyone to eat. Kent ate the duck's brain.

Then we went to see Beach Volleyball in the evening of the 12th. We saw 5 matches, and in the fifth match the US (Rosenthal/Gibbs) defeated Germany. The benefit of going to low profile events is that the athletes are more accessible. After the handball games I saw some of the athletes wandering around in the building. After the US played we went down outside the stadium and Luanne and Joan got one of the US players (I forget if it was Rosenthal or Gibbs) to sign their tickets.

On the 13th, we went to see swimming in the morning. We saw Michael Phelps win two of his gold medals; in the 200M Butterfly and the 4x200M Freestyle. The team who won the 4x200 just destroyed everyone else. They also broke the world record by nearly 5 seconds. It was very exciting to be present when he won. They also award the medals soon after the event, so we got to see that, too. The version of the US National Anthem that they play is not very good, I think.

Then, in the evening of the 13th we went to a soccer match in Tianjin, which is a good drive away from Beijing; something like 2+ hours away. It was a fiasco. Our driver didn't know how to get to the stadium so we were very late; the stadium was beastly hot; the games were boring. Then when we were driving back to Beijing, there was one point where the police were making everyone turn around and go back, so it delayed our return. I'm not sure why they were doing that, but it was kind of interesting.

I should also say that the 12th was beautiful here. There was almost no haze or smog at all. We had not planned to go to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on that day, but it was so nice we changed our plans. But then yesterday on the 13th it was back to being smoggy again.

Today we have a rest day - we're just hanging out, and this afternoon we'll go to the silk market.

Tomorrow we have two events: the women's gymnastics individual all-around finals in the morning, and then track & field in the evening. Everything here after 19:00 - http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/AT_2008-08-15.shtml

Tennis

2008-08-11T20:33:00.009-05:00

Yesterday we saw three tennis matches. The first one was with Rafael Nadal, the second with Serena Williams, and the third with Roger Federer. It was exciting to see such good players; they all won. Nadal was the only one who had some trouble; it took three sets for him to win. Here are some pics, including a video of the final point for Nadal.

Nadal serving on far side:

Serena Williams:

Roger Federer:

Nadal's final point:

Today we're going to Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City, and then tonight we see Beach Volleyball. Here's the schedule for Beach Volleyball; we'll be there from 18:00 to 24:00.

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/BV_2008-08-12.shtml

Two Things I Did Not Anticipate

2008-08-10T06:09:00.015-05:00

1. The popularity of Isaac. By the time we go back to Chicago, I believe he will be the most famous person in Beijing. Wherever we go with him, Chinese people come up and smile at him, make noise, grab his hand, touch his face. We also have had lots of people take pictures of him. Sometimes they will pose next to him and have their picture taken. Yesterday as we walked to the Handball games, I was carrying Isaac on my back and when people would see him, they would start walking next to me and talking to Isaac. I have noticed that lots of people make a clicking noise at babies, and they also do this thing with their hand where they open and close it, kind of like a duck. Then they'll say something like, "Hallo hallo hallo" or "cute baby!"

I haven't figured out why there's such a fascination with him. Maybe it's because they don't see white babies very often? Maybe there's just a higher level of interest in babies? Maybe it's just because Isaac is just really really cute? Take a look at these pictures and determine for yourself:

2. Handball is a very exciting sport. We saw two games as part of the preliminary round of the women's team handball competition: Norway vs. China and then Brazil vs. Germany. Norway is considered the favorite overall, and with China being the home country, the first game was very exciting. We had the best seats in the building, other than those for official people. So we were extremely close to the action. You can see how close we were from these pics:

This was the view from our seats.

Other Notes:
Today we went to the Summer Palace, which is where the Chinese Emporer lived in the summer. It's essentially the summertime equivalent of the Forbidden City. It was very impressive. As with the Forbidden City, it was absolutely closed to everyone but the Emporer and anyone he invited for hundreds of years, but in 1949 after the "liberation" it was opened more to the public. Jack, who has been guiding us around Beijing, visited the Summer Palace in the 1950s when he was a low-level officer in the Red Army. Jack works for Kim's father and I think helps him with government relations. We will visit the Forbidden City later, so I will be able to compare them.

These people are watching the Olympics on a huge screen behind this pavilion.

Brief Update

2008-08-10T00:20:00.004-05:00

It's about 1 pm on Sunday in Beijing now, and we just got back from church at Beijing International Christian Fellowship and having lunch at the Kempinski Hotel. The lunch was amazing (the desert table was huge, and all the deserts almost looked too good to eat), and church was amazing in the sense that I felt like I could have just been in any run-of-the-mill evangelical church in the states. Except I wasn't; I was in Beijing.

The Opening Ceremonies were very impressive, huh? We did not attend, but we watched it from the 50th floor of the complex we are staying in, along with lots of other foreigners and Beijingers. We could see the pride of the Chinese as we watched it, and they cheered at just about any provocation. They are extremely proud of the opportunity to host the Olympics and are so glad that everyone was impressed by the show.

I have several other things to mention, including our first event last night, Handball, and how popular Isaac is. But, we're just about to leave for the Summer Palace, so I will cut this one short. I hope to post an update in a few hours when we return.

Great Wall

2008-08-08T04:00:00.006-05:00

Hey folks, We're here! We arrived in Beijing yesterday afternoon/last night, and then spent most of the day today (8/8) at the Great Wall.

A few brief thoughts:

1. Isaac did very well on the 13 hour flight.

2. It is extremely smoggy. Even well outside of the city, at the Great Wall, it was bad.

3. We had a "typical countryside lunch" after visiting the Great Wall: green beans, corn, tofu, lamb, some local green plant, fish caught and prepared after we arrived. Perhaps I'll include some pictures of that later.

4. There is almost no congestion or bad traffic. Apparently, many people were "asked" to leave Beijing for the Olympics, so what we have seen so far has been very unusual.

5. They just built a new airport dedicated to international flights. It's HUGE. Apparently, it's one of the largest buildings in the world.

I took some video, too, and I'll see if I can include some of it later. That takes a little more effort to upload, too. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Stay tuned for more!

Reporting in from Chicago

2008-08-05T13:59:00.001-05:00

We're here! We arrived in Chicago on Friday night, and spent the night on the floor of our new apartment, while our belongings stayed in the truck. Both of our sets of parents came to help move in on Saturday, along with Britta and Kent and Sarah. Moving in was easier, and more exciting, than moving out. Thanks to all of you who helped us, especially those of you who helped get things ready on Thursday night. Kim and Isaac and I are very blessed to have such generous friends and family. Once we get settled I'll include some pictures of our new place.

We have made good progress in getting settled, and the apartment is definitely livable now, but we don't have much more time to get settled because of our next big adventure: tomorrow we leave for Beijing! Kim and I have been spending most of our time getting things ready for our trip, and now that the move is behind us I'm getting super excited for our trip.

Here is the plan as far as I know:

Our flight takes off at 12:40 PM (flight # UA851) from O'Hare, and we arrive in Beijing approximately 14 hours later (August 7 at 3pm Beijing time).

On August 8 we are planning to visit the Great Wall, and then watch the opening ceremonies (on TV) from some kind of communal area at the complex where we're staying.

The first Olympic event we're attending is on the 9th: Handball! It should be interesting. I believe it's the women's prelims, but I'll let you know when I get confirmation on that.

I should get back to packing, but I'll post again when we arrive, Lord willing, in Beijing.

Beijing Olympics 2008

2008-07-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

Kim, Isaac, and I are going to the Beijing Olympics in a few days. We are travelling with Kim's family, and all staying in an apartment together. We will have an internet connection, so I hope to blog our way through the Olympics, including pictures and what we do each day. My hope is to post at least something each day; at worst, every other day. Also, I'll try to give you a heads up for what events we'll be attending so you can watch for us in the stands. :) Here is a list of the types of events we'll get to see: track & field, gymnastics, handball, tennis, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, swimming, soccer, table tennis, and canoe/kayaking. I will give more details as we get closer.

We also have some time reserved for things other than the Olympics, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.

We leave on Wednesday, August 6, and we return on Sunday, August 24. Now that I'm finished with my Greek exam (took it on Monday), the trip is starting to become more real to me, and I'm getting more excited about it.

Stay tuned!

Hold on to your butts

2008-07-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

Countdown to...

my last day at work in Madison: 9 days

we move to Chicago: 10 days

we leave for Beijing: 15 days

I start at Trinity: 36 days

Best Fireworks Ever

2008-07-08T22:44:00.002-05:00

For the fourth of July weekend Kim and Isaac and I went to Chicago to spend some time with Kim's parents and enjoy the weekend festivities in Chicago. We went to the Taste of Chicago, which is a fair in Millenium Park with music and good food. I ate a huge turkey leg, and got barbeque sauce all over my face.

On the 4th, we went to a White Sox/Athletics game at US Cellular Field. After the White Sox lost, they had a fireworks display (did I say it was the 4th of July?). The fireworks were decent, but the most entertaining thing about it was that Isaac LOVED it. He just sat in Kim's lap staring at the fireworks. We were concerned about the noise disturbing him, but he just ate it all up without a problem.

The fireworks at the stadium were pretty good, but what we saw walking out of the stadium was absolutely amazing. We had upper-deck seats, so as we walked out of the stadium we had a nice high view of the city of Chicago. To the right was downtown Chicago, and the rest of the city & suburbs stretched in front of us and to the left.

Here was the amazing part: everywhere we looked, there were fireworks displays going on. Some were close to the stadium, some many miles away. I bet we could see over 25 individual fireworks shows going on at the same time. There was one particularly long section of the city skyline completely full of fireworks going off. It was 100 times better than the fireworks we saw in the stadium. As people left the stadium, most stopped at the top and watched the fireworks, before walking down the ramp to ground level.

So, we had a nice weekend; the fireworks being the highlight, with the White Sox losing coming in a close second.

Larson Activities

2008-06-21T22:59:00.001-05:00

As mentioned earlier, we've been on the move the last few weeks.

1. We went to Minnesota to see my sister Britta graduate from Bethel. Britta did a great job at Bethel, getting a degree in English Literature (or is it Litrature?), now she just needs to get a job (Britta, mom told me to put that in here).

2. We went to Minnesota again the next weekend for my cousin Anna's wedding. I had never met her husband, Nick, until the day before the wedding. It was kind of sad that it took that long. It was also an opportunity to see cousins and other relatives that I hadn't seen in a while, so that was lots of fun. And finally, it was also a time of seeing people I knew at Bethel, but haven't even thought about in 6 years, and having that awkward "I remember you and feel like I should talk to you even though I don't care" situation, and then feeling bad about thinking that. Am I the only one that experiences that?

3. The next weekend we went to Chicago, and saw Luanne and Larry (who just got engaged and were in town from Colorado). We also went to the Twins game and saw them get spanked by the White Sux (see attached photo documentation). The Twins have actually turned it around since that series, having now won 5 in a row. Somehow, the Twins have managed to score the 8th most runs in the majors while at the same time hitting the fewest home runs as a team. That can't last for long; something's got to give, and I have a bad feeling that it's going to be the total runs scored.

Reed Larson on YouTube

2008-06-19T23:13:00.003-05:00

This is a video from 1997, when I was in high school.

Isaac can talk

2008-06-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

Sort of.

I asked him about his day and this is what he told me.

It's funny how he occassionally glances at the video camera, as if he's nervous what he's saying might come back to bite him.

Leaving Madison

2008-06-17T19:56:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, I am going to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School this fall. My family and I are moving from Madison to the northern surburbs of Chicago on August 1st.

I'm finally going to seminary. Some of you might have been surprised by this, and others may be thinking "it's about time" since I've been contemplating seminary for a long time.

When I moved to Madison in April 2004 I really didn't know what to expect. I was glad to finally have a decent job (which turned out to be a fantastic job) and looking back on it now, I'm kind of surprised I made the move from the Twin Cities. Those first several months in Madison were spent thinking about where I had left (and going back on the weekends frequently), and it took me a while to start to feel like Madison was home.

I also spent those first few months getting engaged, and then married, and then buying a house. Being in a new place with a new wife was a great thing for our marriage, because we didn't have a lot of other commitments and relationships pulling us in every direction. We had a lot of time to just be together and enjoy each other's company.

It also meant that it took us a while to get connected elsewhere. It can be hard for me to step out of a comfortable place and seek out new relationships with others. Ultimately, however, we did make some good friends in Madison, although not in every case with the sort of people I expected (in a good way). It's been a joy to get to know Randy, Andy & Margaret and their 2 boys, Ed & Margaret, and our community group. I have met some great people at work and have enjoyed getting to know them, too.

I'll be sad to leave Madison. I can't say that I don't have any regrets, however. My biggest regret is staying too close to my own comfort zone and not branching out more in my 4+ years here. It's a mistake I don't plan to repeat in Chicago.

I'm very excited to go to Trinity. It's a fantastic school and has lots of opportunities to learn and grow. I have never been too keen on living in Chicago, however. Actually, it's funny because Kim always said that she would never live in Wisconsin, and I always said I would never live in Chicago. Go figure. But, I am actually excited for the opportunities of living in such a big city. And, Kim's parents live in downtown Chicago so that will be nice in many respects, especially with little Isaac.

Believe it or not, this whole post if sort of an apology/explanation post. There hasn't been much activity on this blog, and frankly I'm disappointed in myself. I've always thought that if you're not going to update your blog regularly, there's not much of a point to it. (Come to think of it, even if you're posting regularly, there still may not be a point to it, but I'd like to think there's at least some point to this blog.) But, for the past several weeks I've been studying for a Greek proficiency exam that I am going to take on July 21st. It takes most of my free time, especially when we are gone on weekends, which we have been lately (more on that later). And then, with Isaac, it also makes for less blog-time. Too bad for you, huh?

This post is already long enough, so I'll end it here. Stay tuned for more regular updates from me, and I promise to throw in some really profound thoughts along the way, too.

Slavery and Social Concern among Evangelicals

2008-05-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

I recently finished Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Richard Lovelace. It's 450 pages long and was written in 1979. The cover looks like this.

Looks inticing, eh?

Actually, I enjoyed the book very much. It's touches on many subjects, most of which were very interesting and relevant to 2008. The author looks at history and the Bible to determine the primary and secondary factors of past revivals, and what this means for today. I mean, 1979. I will perhaps share those later, but for now I just want to mention one thing that struck me, which was the chapter on social concern. Particularly, I want to share what he saw as the three primary reasons for the decline of social concern among evangelicals in the 20th century.

It's important to realize that there was a time when evangelicals were socially active. In the 18th and 19th centuries, evangelicals were doing very well at engaging with their culture at all levels of social and economic statuses. But by the early 20th century that was no longer the case. Social concern went from being a strength of the movement to being an interest of only small pockets.

Lovelace points to three factors which contributed to the decline in social concern among evangelicals:

1. Loss of unity amongst evangelicals in general.

2. Particularly, the "emergence of diverging opinions over the issue of slavery" (pg 375).

3. A growing emphasis on a brand of premillenial eschatology that lowered concern for social and environmental issues.

Regarding number 2, here is a quote that made me stop:

The formula which insists that the gospel should deal with "spiritual matters" and not meddle with political or social affairs, the familiar Fundamentalist argument for passive support of the status quo, emerged before the Civil War as a conservative evangelical defense of resistance toward or postponement of abolition. The seriousness of the break in evangelical ranks on this issue can hardly be overestimated. (pg 376)

It is remarkable to me that the decline of social concern can be traced to this. We're still paying the price for the conflict of slavery in more ways than we might think. It's also interesting to see how the justification for a largely wrong view can have an impact far beyond the scope of the original view.

The third factor, mentioned above, is also related to this. The people who originally held to this particular brand of eschatology had in general good records of social concern (D.L. Moody is one example cited by Lovelace), but as their ideas were passed down, their social concern didn't get passed down because the social concern was tied to an idea which was not in sync with their eschatology.

It shows how ideas can have a far-reaching impact even beyond the intentions of those who believe it or who originally popularize it.

Something to think about.

On Men and Garages

2008-04-26T23:30:00.002-05:00

So, what is up with making the garage part of your living space?

There's a house down the block where, nearly every weekend, there are at least two or three big trucks parked in the driveway and on the street, and a few guys standing in the garage, drinking and watching a TV that is mounted on the wall.

It's been going on for some time now, and it makes no sense to me. At all.

Then, I recently found out my neighbor across the street does this, too. I watched as his wife came home, opened the garage door, and pulled in her car as he got out of a chair and moved it so she could pull in. He was also watching TV. I think he was drinking something, too.

What's this all about?

Is it because they don't have enough money to purchase a home with more space?
Is it because the garage is "manly" and a place for the guys to get away from the fresh flowers and fragrance of the home?
Do they get better reception in the garage?
Do they not want their wife/girlfriend/kid(s) to see what they're doing?

I don't know the answers to these questions. Maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to ask my neighbor why he does this. Then again, maybe I don't want to know.

Isaac at one week

2008-03-25T21:53:00.004-05:00

There's not much here. Newborns don't do a whole lot. But enjoy!

Isaac John Larson

2008-03-08T17:25:00.004-06:00

Isaac John Larson

Born 3/5/08 at 6:48 pm

8 lbs 11 oz, 19.5 in

He's now three days old and Kim and I are loving being parents so far. We had one really bad night with him, but overall it has been very nice. He's absolutely adorable!

Spring Training 2008

2008-02-27T19:53:00.003-06:00

Spring Training is well under way and I am very excited for the upcoming baseball season. The Twins' hopes for making the postseason are fairly low, but if things go well they could make it. The Tigers look to be very good, having picked up Cabrera and Willis from Florida, so the Twins' only shot is really to make the wild card.

The Twins' offseason was very busy, losing Hunter, Santana, Garza, and Silva. Those are some very key players, although losing Santana is the only one I'm really disappointed about. It will be hard to see him in a Mets uniform.

But they also picked up a few guys:
1. Delmon Young - no one is a lock to be a superstar, but he could easily become one. I bet he puts up better numbers than Hunter this year. And he's only 22.
2. Harris, Lamb and Everett - all three should be upgrades over what we had last year at their respective positions (2B, 3B, and short), but they're nothing to get too excited about. Punto, who played 3B most of last year, had one of the worst individual offensive seasons in the history of Major League Baseball, so Mike Lamb is actually a big step up for 3B.
3. The Mets prospects received for Santana - They won't contribute much this season, but I am confident at least a couple of them will be very good contributers in a few years.

In addition to this, there are a few guys who missed all or most of last season coming back from injury:
1. Francisco Liriano - he was better than Santana in his time with the team in 2006. If he can regain that form, or even somewhat close to it, it will make up for the loss of Santana, believe it or not. I'm not sure how likely that is, though.
2. Perkins, Reyes, and Crain - very important pieces to the bullpen who were missing last year. Perkins could actually start this year.
3. Mauer - he was hurt for just part of last year, but the nagging injuries apparently limited him. I expect a rebound year for him.

The Hernandez and Monroe signings seem like a waste to me. I hope Monroe doesn't get too much playing time. Hopefully they will keep Kubel in the DH spot and he grows into it well. He started playing very well during the second half of the season last year.

Overall, the Twins are not in good shape to be a strong contender this year, but if things go well, they could be. If Liriano regains his 2006 form, Kubel and Young have the breakout years they're supposed to have, our other core players stay healthy, we'll have a shot. The biggest question mark is the young starting rotation. I don't have much hope for them, but I am excited to see the young guys pitch.

I don't expect them to have a worse record this year than last, despite the players they have lost. I expect a .500 record and 3rd place in the division again. I'm hoping it's a lot better, though!

Go Twins!

Isaiah 51:17-23

2008-02-20T19:18:00.004-06:00

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the
hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the drgs the bowl, the
cup of staggering. There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up.
These two things have happened to you - who will console you? - devastation and
destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you? Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of
the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God. Therefore hear this, you who are
afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Lord, the Lord, your
God who pleads the cause of his people: "Behold, I have taken from your hand the
cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put
it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, 'Bow down, that we
may pass over'; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street
for them to pass over."

This doesn't really complete the thought of Isaiah; it goes onto the next chapter, but I think we will end here. Most of the ideas below are repeated from last time, but it's too good to pass up again.

This was written for Israel as they were in captivity and being oppressed, and God promises them that the cup of God's wrath that they have been drinking will be given to their oppressors. I am sure this gave them great hope.

But what hope is there then for the oppressors? For we have all been oppressors, in one form or another, and in one degree or another. Even today we may have oppressed someone. This passage makes it clear that we cannot bear the cup of God's wrath and survive. But now even oppressors can have hope, and not because of anything in this passage above.

The hope is that there is a man who drank from the cup of the wrath of God for us. As it says just two chapters after the one above: "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Because he laid himself down to do this, God has raised him up again, and all those who believe will see him again in his glory. It's gonna be good.

We are getting close

2008-02-11T22:19:00.001-06:00

Kim's due date is March 5, so we are rapidly approaching the day!

We are both ready to have the baby be born, especially Kim. We are almost done with our baby classes. The first three weeks were on labor and delivery, and made me scared. Then last week was the first of two weeks on newborn care, which made me excited to finally have a little guy or girl to take care of, so we're both very excited.

The classes have been interesting. There's one girl in the class that asks TONS of questions; sometimes good ones, often not-so-good ones. She and her husband are kind of strange. For example, each week, two couples bring snacks for our break. A couple weeks ago, this strange couple was sitting in front of me, and towards the end of break, the wife went up to the snack counter and grabbed more snacks. She said to her husband that she was full, but wanted to take some home for later. They're just small snacks, but really now, the whole point of the snacks is for break time, not so you can stock up on things for later! Weird.

Other observations:
Last week while we were practicing changing a diaper, the teacher played crying-baby-noises on a CD-player. I think it won a grammy a few years ago, but I forget who the artist was.

Also last week, we saw video of a baby boy peeing on his parents while changing his diaper, and then the parents bursting into laughter. Maybe we really do need to get a Wee-Wee Man Weeblock (if it's a boy!).

The Reason for God

2008-02-11T22:08:00.001-06:00

Tim Keller, who I am growing to appreciate more and more, has written a book called The Reason for God. It is related to a series of 7 sermons he preached not long ago called The Trouble With Christianity. It's an excellent series of sermons. I recently purchased the series from their website, and now (go figure) you can get it for free from their website, here.

I highly recommend downloading these sermons. They have greatly helped me interact with my doubts about Christianity recently, which have been relatively strong lately.

I also got the book for Christmas and just started it. It is officially released on Feb 14th, but I got it a week ago in the mail. It is excellent so far. I would give this book along with (possibly) Blue Like Jazz to anyone who was thinking about Christianity but did not believe in Jesus yet. It contains some extremely reasonable and compelling arguments for Jesus Christ.