The Craw

Sexy Sex

Hey, I got your attention. It seems that we in evangelicalism are typically mum about the goodness of sex. We are either talking about it in very generic terms or saying, "be careful STAY AWAY FROM IT!" As I was preaching through the Sermon on the Mount yesterday and going through Jesus' explication of Kingdom ethics regarding lust, I couldn't help from drawing on the idea of good "lust" in the Proverbs.

In Proverbs 5:18-20 Solomon lays out all the alluring physical attributes of his bride and then says we are to be "intoxicated" in the love of the wife of our youth. The Hebrew verb for "intoxicated" (ESV) is "shagah" and means "to err or go astray." Strong language. So it seems a solution for lusting is not to conquer it but to re-direct it. Conquering it (in the absolute) seems to smack of stoicism and monasticism.

Money, Money, Money

For seminary students, there is no more frightening experience than a car going bad. It could be a $50 problem or a $2000 problem which puts you in the poorhouse. Our '95 Previa van started rattling...and Rattling...and RATTLING. The catalytic converter was breaking apart inside. It was embarrassing driving down the street and having frightened drivers look in their rear-view mirrors expecting to see a Blackhawk helicopter hovering loudly behind them. Especially fun was going through a fast-food drive-through and screaming your order into the squawk-box.

I took it into the shop with fear and trepidation (like going to get tests at the doctor's office). "Uh, doctor, what is it?" Yep, catalytic converter needs to be replaced. The stock part was running almost $700. Yeow! Somehow or another a universal part, on the other hand runs just over $100. What is up with that? Well, I'm here waiting for the repairs to be done at Greentree Automotive in Kirkwood, MO. I highly recommend them.

Playing

The last couple of days have been unseasonably warm (60's) so I took my little dudes out to play on the basketball court and field behind our apartment building. My son was taking a break so I rode his razor around the court a little and then a little more. Later, as the sun was starting to go down a grip of kids gathered around the little hill out back and began sledding down the grassy slope on plastic toboggans. I took a couple of rides and found myself loosening up. Finally, the kids wanted to play "Red Rove" and "Crack the Whip." I played in with them and it was really wonderful hearing them all laughing uproariously. Also, I found that I was tapping into a strange joy that lay in the recesses of my childhood. I'd almost forgotten how fun it was to play.

I think we'll feel that sort of exhilaration and anticipation every day in the new heavens and earth.

Church Planting Assessment

This last weekend I attended the Reformed and Presbyterian Urban Multi-ethnic church planters assessment "gathering." Some of the pointers they gave me were: 1) Cuss allot 2) shave my head bald 3) wear fuzzy sweaters with sleeves that extend to my fingertips 4) quote lots of dark sayings from Russian authors, and 5) frame everything as "post": post-masculinist, post-Protestant, post-radicalist, post-postivist. The culmination of the weekend was the generation of a "personal church-planter profile" which included a church-planter makeover recommendation. This is computer-generated image of what my personal successful church-planter image should be. The results are displayed here dudes.

BRRRRRR

On the way out to preach down state yesterday morning I passed an electronic temperature sign. The sun was already out and it was five (5) degrees.

How we Dress, How we Act

As I was watching "North by Northwest" last night on PBS and I couldn't help but notice how well everyone dressed back in those days. Things were more formal and small events were made more exciting through a change of clothing. For example, people used to get dressed up for a plane or even a train ride. Events were made more ritualized and memorable. Now we might show up for our trans-Atlantic flight looking the way we did when we got up this morning. As American un-fashion (very expensive baggy cheap looking clothing) spreads to every corner of the Earth we are witnessing the death of style.

Wearing an Ascot

As some of you know, I'm a bit of an Anglophile dandy. I would love to have a bespoke suit from Gieves & Hawkes, Savile Row. I also would like to have a pair of Church's English shoes one day although Alden's are nice (and cheaper). Which brings me to the ascot. I have always thought ascots (pictured left) looked really snappy and dignified when paired with a nice cotton shirt and a refined sportcoat. But two things have stopped me thus far: (1) It looks a bit a like Thurston Howell III of Gilligan's Island and (2) It can look...ahem, uh, kinda gay.

But, since I'm turning 40 this year (and can look like  a middle-aged ditherer) I can get away with it now.

Family Nurture

Its interesting to see the confluence between the Reformed Liturgcal World and the Emerging Church. Here's EC specialist from Fuller, Ryan Bolger's take on the non-applicability of "youth pastors." ht: Rudy

Where is Home?

I grew up for part of my life in Tokyo Japan. Some of that time (certainly the fondest memories) was spent living on an Air Force housing installation called Grant Heights. After the Vietnam War began to wind down, the base was slowly abandoned. We were one of the later families to leave. The photo at left is of the gutted and vacant base chapel. I remember my parents taking me to a Christmas Eve candlelight service there. The base was once bustling with thousands of Americans.  It had a theater, high school, and large athletic facilities but near the end it became a ghost town filled with abandoned dogs and a lonely wind that blew through the empty streets. Today the site is concreted over with high rise buildings as though we were never there.

All of of us live lives like this to one degree or another. Unless you aspire to the small handful of historically significant figures, who will remember you 2000 years from now? But God will and so will the multitude of his people and the host of heaven.

What's Cooking

Here's what I made for our dinner tonight. Braised cinnamon and garlic encrusted pork loin chops with a fig and white wine reduction sauce and caramelized sauteed peppers.