Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A Little Humor to Keep You Warm


I Can't Blog Because My Fingers are Frozen

It's -20 this morning. Yes, I said NEGATIVE TWENTY!

Pardon me for yelling. I'm just trying to keep warm.

That's without the windchill.

-50+ with the windchill, since the wind is blowing at over 20 mph steadily.

I am staying inside and drinking lots of coffee.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Mini Road-Trip

We are heading southwest to Dickinson, North Dakota this weekend to visit our friends at Calvary Chapel and share a little about Gospel for Asia during the Sunday service.

I'm looking forward to 3 hours in the car with nothing to do but catch up on a bit of reading!

Quote of the Day: on the Wisdom of the Ages


The venerable dead are waiting in my library to entertain me and relieve me from the nonsense of surviving mortals.



Or, in the words of our pastor at Calvary Chapel Omaha:


If they ain't dead, they ain't read.

~Pastor Steve Johnson

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A Sad Anniversary


January 22, 1973
The upholding of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court

I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.
~Ronald Reagan, quoted in New York Times, 22 September 1980
There are no easy answers but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
~Ronald Reagan

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Quote of the Day: Charles Spurgeon

Here's another gem from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon.

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. ~Proverbs 28:13

Here is the way of mercy for a guilty and repenting sinner. He must cease from the habit of covering sin.
This is attempted
  • by falsehood, which denies sin;
  • by hypocrisy, which conceals it;
  • by boasting, which justifies it;
  • and by loud profession, which tries to make amends for it.
The sinner's business is to confess and forsake. The two must go together.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Pilgrim's Progress Begins...


Tonight we are beginning a children's study of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. We are using a version called Dangerous Journey, which abbreviates the original text, but keeps the beautiful language and has very compelling artwork. Add to this some object lessons, digging into the scripture and memory verses, and I think we are ready to go!
Here's one of my favorite quotes from Mr. Bunyan:
But pleasures are like poppies spread:
You seize the flower,--its bloom is shed.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Recovery Group

No, I haven't joined a twelve-step program.

But I am part of the "re-covery group" at church. We're working on the theater renovation, and our part is the refreshing of the seating. Head over to the Minot Building blog for a brief update and some photos.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Anything? Really?

Please pardon a little shameless self-introspection. It's been a rough 24 hours. As I got in the car today to run work errands, I flipped on the car radio (to our network, of course) and said, "OK, God, I need a little encouragement here."

Despite my treatment of the Lord as my personal "genie-in-a-bottle", He did answer my prayer...just not in the way that I expected, or wanted.

The song "Jesus Bring the Rain" by MercyMe was playing when I turned the car back on. This is NOT the song I want to hear. Here's the chorus:

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

So I can't sing along, because right now it's a total lie. I don't want "anything" that brings Him glory. Right now I want a little relief. I want the $5000 a week for life from Publisher's Clearing House. I want a foot massage. I want a vacation at the beach.

Whiny self-introspection over. I'll try to have a better word of encouragement tomorrow. Of course, blogs that are always happy-happy-nice-nice bore me to death.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

So I'm a Lemming...

Hey, everyone else is doing a retrospective of favorite posts from 2007! I just want to be part of the gang...peer pressure has gotten the better of me! Here they are: enjoy reading (and re-reading).

North Dakota Beauty (a reminder I need in mid-winter!)
I'm With the Band (back from last March, when I was very cool for a fleeting moment)
The Food Fairies (hi neighbors)
Housekeeping 101 (because I needed a gentle reminder myself)

And with that, I will go to work.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

As we all rise this morning with a fresh page in our journals upon which to write, with new resolutions to be thinner and healthier, to read higher quality books, to write more often and with more thought, we ponder upon the following.

First, a thanks to the Lord for what Has given us, and second, a slightly more cynical look from Mr. Mark Twain.

We meet today
To thank Thee for the era done,
And Thee for the opening one.
~John Greenleaf Whittier

Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.
~Mark Twain