PVC Instrument

Hello Blog,

Sorry it's been a little while since I've written. I promise, a more meaningful post is coming quite soon. As soon as time allows and inspiration's light bulb flickers on.

For today, though, you have to see this video. If you haven't already, it's worth watching all the way through. This kid is a high schooler and he built this instrument on his own. Pretty amazing talent!

Moralistic Theraputic Deism

This is a good interview that puts its finger on the pulse of the "new religion" of America. The religious concept itself isn't at all new (in fact, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were Deists), but the way it is sweeping the United States is striking. It has been perpetuated by the media and the social norms during the past few decades, certainly, but the roots reach back over two centuries.

Take a few minutes to watch:



So, what do you think? Do you identify with what he describes in the interview? Or are you in agreement with him? Or complete disagreement? Post a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love to open this up for some dialogue.

And, if you're interested in hearing more about this and how it makes our charge for evangelism even more urgent, take a listen to the excellent sermon my pastor gave on the subject last Sunday: "Evangelism in Light of the Truth of the Gospel"

Jesus, the True and Better

We spent an hour yesterday morning in our Bible study at church going through the book of Matthew. The only thing we studied out of the book were the specific Old Testament prophecies it records that Jesus fulfilled. I plan to do a post on that someday. 

It reminded me, though, of a quote Pastor Michael used in one of his sermons, "The Purpose of the Big 12 [Minor Prophets]," he preached a couple of weeks ago. In the sermon, he quoted from a 2006 sermon by Tim Keller. The quote, to me, is a powerful (and extremely brief and non-exhaustive) summation of the general foreshadowing of Jesus Christ that God accomplished in the Old Testament. It speaks to me about God's sovereignty. The OT is not just a collection of stories about God's chosen people, Israel. (Speaking of sovereign, God choosing the nation of Israel is a pretty sweet argument for election, but I won't go into that now.) The OT was orchestrated by a powerful and sovereign God to point like a flashing arrow towards the coming life and sacrifice of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.

Check this out: 

-   Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed (credited) to us (his people).

·  Jesus is the true and better Able who though innocently slain has blood now that does not cry out for our condemnation but for our acquittal.

·  Jesus is the true and better Abraham who full of God left the comfortable to go out into the void to create a new people of God.

·  Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was offered but not just offered up on the mount but, was truly sacrificed.  God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because did not withhold your son, your only son from me.  Now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your only Son, whom you love, from us.”

·  Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow for us so that we could receive wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

·  Jesus is the true and better Joseph who sits at the right hand of the king and forgives those who betrayed him and uses his power to save them. 

·  Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

· Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses who being struck with the rod of God’s justice now gives us water in the desert.

· Jesus is the true and better Job with truly innocent suffering who now intercedes for us and saves his ignorant friends.

· Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes the people’s victory because they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

· Jesus is the true and better Ester who didn’t just risk loosing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate heavenly palace and didn’t just risk his life but gave his life to save his people.

· Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

· Jesus is the real rock of Moses, he is the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect.

·  He is the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread—the Bible is really not about you is it?  It is about Jesus Christ!

Chris Johnson and Simon Estes

Chris Johnson, our worship minister at Grand Avenue, directed a concert for a Habitat for Humanity benefit at Cornerstone. The choir consisted of 200 singers from Ames, Ballard, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-Nesco, Gilbert, Nevada, and Roland-Story High Schools along with the choir from Grand Avenue Baptist Church, and Simon Estes.

Check out a photo slide show from the Des Moines Register:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D2&Dato=20101010&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=10100801&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr%3D1&ref=nf

Oops...

I recently posted about a movie I saw called "Outsourced." I loved the movie, and still recommend it for the reasons I listed in that post.

You might remember that I was also excited for the new TV show, based on the movie, starting soon on NBC. Well, that show premiered tonight and I watched it with great anticipation.

But, it was awful.

If you took time out of your day to watch that show because I recommended the movie, I'm sorry. We both wasted half an hour of our lives. The acting was poor, the writing was lame, and it was tacky-- just like I feared.

If you saw the TV show, don't let it stop you from watching the movie. And if you haven't seen the movie yet, give it a watch and let me know what you think.

Big Hit

Have you seen this video?! If you watched the ISU vs. Iowa football game, you probably did (they showed it during the game). Even so, it's worth a blog post.

They give football players mo-peds at the University of Iowa. Josh Koeppel, the second-string center on the team, was driving his in Iowa City a couple of days before the game against Iowa State. The dashboard camera on a police car caught this video of Koeppel going through an intersection. The incredible thing: he wasn't injured. Not at all. They did a full-body MRI, and found nothing out of the ordinary. He even got in the game against ISU a few days later.

(P.S. Watch his shoe fly in the air!)

God is More Astounding Than OK Go

To find out why OK Go is astounding, check out my last post.

To find out one small reason why God is infinitely more astounding than OK Go, keep reading.

Remember this post about Sam taking me to Half-Price Books? We bought six of John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (also titled The Passion of Jesus Christ). That was just enough, plus one extra, for each of the high school guys in our youth group to have a copy to work through during our 6:30am Thursday morning Bible studies we are starting this week. (I ask for your prayers for that, by the way!)

I thought we would try going through the book (we're also studying Hebrews) with just the guys. If it was good, I'd buy a few more copies and have Sam lead the girls through it, too. When I mentioned this off hand to our pastor, he said he had a few more copies he could give me so the girls could start studying it right away. Unfortunately, his copies plus my copies left me four copies short of what we needed for everyone to get one.

For the last two weeks, I've been looking for cheap copies online but I haven't been able to find them in bulk for a reasonable price. As I continued searching for cheap copies, I felt increasingly convicted that we need to be studying this book as an entire youth group. I kept feeling like God wanted to use this book to change my heart and my view of Him, as well has the hearts of the students in the youth group. But I still didn't have enough books, and our study starts in less than a week.

Yesterday, God blew me away. After youth group, Sam and I walked over to the main church building for congregational meeting. As we came around the south corner of the building, a woman from the church got out of her car and walked up to us.

"Do you have any use for these in the youth group?" she asked me, as she handed me FOUR copies of Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper!!!

My jaw hung open for several seconds.

"How did you know we needed those?" I asked her.

She explained that she had no idea we needed them. In fact, she found them on a bookshelf in her home and decided to bring them to the church library where they would get some use.

"I was just going to give them to the library," she told us, "if you two hadn't come around the corner just as I was getting out of my car, I never would have thought to ask if you could use them!"

It's not astounding that the Creator of the Universe is astounding. That makes sense. Of course He is astounding. He defines astounding. He knows us and our needs. And He provides for them, big or small, according to His perfect timing and will.

God is on board with this Bible study. In truth, He is the one leading it. Please pray for me and for Sam that we will be blessed with insight and humility as God leads us to unpack the truths in Hebrews to our high schoolers. Pray also for the kids, that their hearts will be like soft clay in the Potter's hands.

Finally, praise God for His provision in the tiny details of our lives and our ministries. May He be glorified above all things in both.

OK Go is Astounding

This band, called OK Go, puts together some magnificently unique and stupendously creative music videos. Here is their latest one:



In case you've never experienced the internet before today and have never seen an OK Go music video previously, here are three of my favorites:

Outsourced

About a week and a half ago Sam and I watched a movie called "Outsourced" with my family in Clarion. We found it by accident on that new "stream-movies-for-free-through-your-Wii" program thingy that Netflix is doing. If you're like me, you've never heard of the movie before. I'd never seen a trailer or a promo.

Needless to say, I didn't expect much. It's about a guy's job at a call center getting outsourced to India, so I thought it would be funny for Sam to point out all of the movie's shortcomings since she spent two months in the country.

We were astounded not only by the accuracy of the movie, but by the funny and extremely clever writing and the excellent acting. It was fun for my family and me to get a better concept of my wife's time in India while laughing at the comedy created by the culture chasm.

Here's a trailer:


There are a two "awkward scenes" where sex is strongly implied, but neither shows anything and they are easy to skip. Other than that, I remember the movie being pretty clean. (It's such a low-budget film that Focus On the Family's "Plugged-In" doesn't even have a review of it.)

Despite skipping two scenes, this was one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. I'm excited to see that NBC has a new show based on the movie! It looks like "The Office" meets India. It will probably end up being tacky or inappropriate, but here's to hoping!

Spending Spree

Sorry it's been awhile since a real posting. Unfortunately, things haven't developed very much with our neighbors. Esther doesn't come by any more. We think her mom found out she was coming over and put a stop to it. Frank and Kevin are both around from time to time, but we haven't had a chance for any conversations.

So, instead of posting about our neighbors or a cool video, I'm going to post about my wonderful wife!

Yesterday, Sam and I took our first free Saturday in more than a month to go shopping in Des Moines. I needed a new pair of boots for work. I did a little shopping around, and ended up buying from Red Wing Boots. And I definitely recommend them.

I got some all leather, water-proof, GoreTex-lined, composite-toe boots (as opposed to steel-toe, which are heavier and get cold in the winter). It was one of those purchases that it seemed wisest to spend more money now and get a more quality product that will last several years. This is an exciting step up for me from the $6 work boots I got at Salvation Army and have been using for the past 6 months. They served me well, but it was time for them to go.

BEFORE RED WING:

 

AFTER RED WING:

In case you're in the market for some good work boots, Red Wing Boots rocks. Along with extending the 20% off State Fair discount for me, they provide free monthly boot cleaning, free laces for the life of the boots, and a good warranty.

After boot shopping, Sam took me on a surprise birthday excursion (a couple of weeks early) to Half-Price Books. I'd never been before, but her little plan was brilliant. Any time we go into a bookstore, we have to agree with a handshake that we won't spend anything. Bookstores are a budget-busting weakness for both of us!

Sam informed me that this time was different. Half-Price Books buys used books in good condition and sells them at super low prices. Most paperbacks range from $2-7 and hardcovers go for $5-10. And, once again, God blessed us with a 20% off sale! Best of all, Sam said for today only I was to be un-restrained by our budget. What an awesomely clever birthday gift! I love my wife.

Here's what I got for $45 total:

•  The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper (5)
  (I'll use this for a Bible study with the GABC high school guys)
• Epic by John Eldridge (2)
• What is Reformed Theology? by R.C. Sproul
• Where Your Treasure Is: What the Bible Says About Money a Bible study by James and Martha Reapsome
  (Sam and I need some help on this topic after our spending spree!)
• Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
• To Live is Christ: Embracing the Passion of Paul by Beth Moore (this one's for Sam)
• And 3 movies for $3 each: "Gladiator," "The Recruit," and "Breach"

To end the night, Sam took me out to Texas Roadhouse. If you've never been there, you must go. I had an incredible sirloin and amazing cheesy mashed potatoes. But the best part? All you can eat shelled peanuts and soft, delicious dinner rolls for FREE!

Silent and Invisible U.S. Military Heat Ray Non-Lethal Anti-Riot Weapon

I saw this on TV a couple days ago. I thought it was fake at first, but this amazing piece of weaponry is for real. Astounding.

Fishy

I plan to post something a little more substantial soon, but it's already past my bedtime (man, I'm getting old...) and I just found this online.

The diversity of our King's Creation blows me away. What an awesome and creative God!

On a different note, how is it that we never learn about most of these creatures in school? Now that would've made elementary school interesting!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1TPenW/www2.yk.psu.edu/~mer7/Phil/fish.htm/r:f

My Kind of Jokes

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was --
--Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, --
--but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whisky maker, --
--but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class --
--because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. Time flies like an arrow. --
--Fruit flies like a banana.

6. Atheism --
--is a non-prophet organization.

7. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. --
--One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'

8. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison --
--was a small medium at large.

9. A backward poet --
--writes inverse.

10. In democracy, it's your vote that counts. --
--In feudalism, it's your count that votes.

Legacy

Last night the guys in our youth group had an all-night hang out at the church. It was pretty sweet. We ate pizza, watched the Bourne Supremacy, and had a Nerf basketball tournament. I won. We also had an awesome late-night discussion about "legacy." Around the "campfire"-- a candle lit in the center of the room (we were forced to camp inside because of potentially tornadic weather)-- the question was asked, "If you died tonight, how would you be remembered by those closest to you? How about those who aren't as close to you (classmates, co-workers, etc.)?" In effect, the question was, "What would your legacy be?"

This is an extremely valuable question to help followers of Christ assess their ministries. It was convicting to me that my high school classmates, if I were to die today, would probably feel as though they lost a friend from high school who was a nice guy, smart, and a little bit too silly at times. I don't think they would remember me as a man who loved Christ with all his heart and was excitedly devoted to his Savior with all he had. Hopefully, those closer to me now would remember me a little bit nearer to the last description (though I'm still far from it). But what about my college classmates from last year? Or my co-workers? How would they remember me? Is the light of Christ shining bright enough through me that I would even be known as His follower?

These questions are important and convicting. I should revisit them often as my ministry and outreach develops over time. But we must also be careful how our hearts cling to our legacy. I've heard song after song play on Christian radio talking about leaving a legacy. Many pastors and preachers excite their listeners by challenging them to leave a legacy when their time is done on this earth. It seems like a very Christian idea to "leave a legacy of love," right?

So, I looked to see what the Bible hast to say about legacies:
Nothing.

Nothing at all. The word "legacy" is never once used in the NIV, ESV, CEV, or NLT translations of the Bible. Eugene Petersen paraphrased it out of scripture eight times in The Message version. Twice it was used to describe a negative inheritance left by a foolish or lazy person. The other six times he used it to refer to the legacy left by God.

What do I conclude from this? What our actual legacy ends up being is not important if we have lived our lives for the glory of God. It is extremely valuable to consider how boldly we are living out our faith by how those around us will remember us upon our death. Use that as a tool for changing your heart and lifestyle to proclaim the Truth of the Gospel. But do not get caught up in how your name will be remembered.

Life is not about my name on a plaque, how much is in my bank account, the tears and fond memories of family and friends when I die, or my four paragraphs in the obituaries section of the paper. In fact, it's not about ME at all. It's about Yahweh. It's about Jesus Christ. It's about the work of the Holy Spirit in the souls of believers around the world.

It's about the legacy of the Gospel. So let's live it out for the glory of our King.

Surrogates

Sam and I were watching that new movie "Surrogates" a few nights ago. It stars Bruce Willis and the basic plot is that like 15 years in the future everyone owns a perfected robot version of themselves that they live through vicariously because they are too self conscious of their physical bodies to interact with anyone. Interesting concept. Not the greatest movie, but it made me think a little.

Anyways, that's not really what this is about. In that movie, one character played the tech geek-dude, and was one of the only people in the film who didn't use a robot surrogate. This is the dude:

Recognize him? I did. Right away for some reason. I "imdb.com-ed" my hunch and, sure enough, I was right! He played a minor character in one of my favorite movies that came out when I was 3 years old. You've seen it. He's changed a ton since then (no pun intended).

Who is he?

Buzz McCallister from the Home Alone movies! Remember?

Don't know why, but I thought this was hilarious.

Paper Towel

Sorry it's been like a month since I've posted. Finding time to write is a challenge, but it's worth making time tonight.

So, my wife and I were sitting one our futon catching up on the latest episode of LOST (only 1 episode left, forever!) online when there was a knock on our door. It was like 9:00pm and we weren't expecting anyone. I looked through the peephole and could see that our screen door was open but there was no one standing there. Thinking that was a tad shady, curiosity won out over protectiveness and I opened the door.

I'm glad I did, because God answered prayer.

Standing at the door was this little African-American girl named Ester. She's in 3rd grade and lives in an apartment across the street with her mom (who is pregnant with twins!) and her little brother and little sister. She said, "Is Sam here? I have a note to give her."

When Sam got to the door, Ester handed her a note written in black marker on a paper towel (we don't know who Angie or Jackie are, but that adds to the fun):

The funny thing is, we barely know Ester. Sam met her a year ago when we first moved into our apartment. Ester was sitting on the curb by our carport and Sam introduced herself for a few seconds. Every time Ester saw Sam after that, she remembered her name and waved at us. The only reason we can think of that she gave Sam this note is because she sees Christ in her. We have never had a conversation that lasted more than a minute or two, and those are few and far between.

Here is the coolest part. Just last night we had a meeting for our summer Vacation Bible School program at church. A big part of VBS is the opportunity for outreach to the community around Grand, which Ester happens to live in. We often see her and her siblings playing outside and they have been on our heart for nearly a year. Last night, I specifically prayed that God would give us an opportunity to share the light of Christ with Ester and her siblings through the VBS program!

God answers prayer.

Praise God for the way He has worked in and through my wife so that a child is drawn to the light of Christ shining through her. It is DEFINITELY not anything we have done. The glory and credit is God's alone. He is majestic and mysterious. How fun it is to get a small glimpse into the way He is working all around us!

Anyways, Sam gave Ester some cookies to take back to her family, and we're hoping this will open the door to invite them to church and VBS. Please pray that God will reveal Himself to that family. VBS is June 13th-17th, please pray for that also. We are asking God for 75+ kids this year--

And God answers prayer.

Another baseball video

My wife showed me this. Maybe you've seen it. Pretty sweet. I always dreamed about doing this in little league, but I didn't get on base much and never had the ups to make this kind of a play happen.



Does it match the play in this post?

Laughing Gravy

Sam and I are taking our youth group to something called Challenge 2010 this summer. It's an E-Free conference for high schoolers in Columbus, Ohio. It also features missions opportunities for our kids, including church plants in more "un-churched" parts of the city. I'm excited.

Anyways, we are doing some fund-raising to go. Last Sunday for youth group we played "Bigger & Better". To play, the group divided into three teams and we drove them around Ames from door to door, wherever they wanted to go. The teams each started with a quarter and, as they went door to door, asked if the resident has anything "bigger and better" to trade for a quarter. You keep trading up and up and so on, but many people just give us stuff they have lying around rather than trades us for something else they don't really want. We played the game for an hour. Tomorrow after church, the youth group will auction off the items we collected, as well as some other items donated by church members.

Here's a picture of what the three teams acquired:

Some of the acquisitions: chandelier, karaoke machine, stereo, 2 kites, wheel ramps, size 12 shoes, a tiny chair, a microwave, and lots of other miscellaneous stuff.

Oh yeah, and here's the kicker.You can barely see it, but on the right side of the picture there is a rudder and a box holding a sail for this bad boy:

Yep, we traded it for a quarter. Trailer included. Good job girls' team. We'll be selling it tomorrow after church, in anyone needs a sailboat.

The boat's name is the best part:

Keyboard Drums

This is one cool cat.

Watch the whole thing... pretty sweet.

The best play of the year on opening day?

Incredible.



Thanks, Martin Kalkwarf, for the vine.

Church was Cool Today

Not that church isn't always cool.

I just learned something I never knew before. Maybe you know it, but I didn't.

You know when the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ the Redeemer, was on the cross and He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I had always taken this to mean that Jesus, bearing our sins upon Himself, was now separated from God the Father. I'm not sure how much theological sense this makes, but I won't get into that now.

My pastor, Michael, presented a far different interpretation of Christ's quote in his sermon this morning:
Jesus was presenting the Gospel in His final breaths before His death. Jesus was quoting the first line of Psalm 22, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?").

In the time of His crucifixion, written passages were referred to by their first line or two, not titles or labels like we have today. It is likely that it was the entire passage of Psalm 22 that Jesus wanted to convey as He was being asphyxiated by His own weight on the cross. When you read the passage, read it as if this is what Christ wanted to get across:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
       Why are you so far from saving me,
       so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
       by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
       you are the praise of Israel. 
 In you our fathers put their trust;
       they trusted and you delivered them.
 They cried to you and were saved;
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
 But I am a worm and not a man,
       scorned by men and despised by the people.
 All who see me mock me;
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
 "He trusts in the LORD;
       let the LORD rescue him.
       Let him deliver him,
       since he delights in him."
 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother's breast.
 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother's womb you have been my God.
 Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.
 Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
 Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.
 I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.
 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
       you lay me in the dust of death.
 Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.
 I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.
 They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing.
 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.
 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
       save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
 I will declare your name to my brothers;
       in the congregation I will praise you.
 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
       All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
       Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
 For he has not despised or disdained
       the suffering of the afflicted one;
       he has not hidden his face from him
       but has listened to his cry for help.
 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
       before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
       they who seek the LORD will praise him—
       may your hearts live forever!
 All the ends of the earth
       will remember and turn to the LORD,
       and all the families of the nations
       will bow down before him,
 for dominion belongs to the LORD
       and he rules over the nations.
 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
       all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
       those who cannot keep themselves alive.
 Posterity will serve him;
       future generations will be told about the Lord.
 They will proclaim his righteousness
       to a people yet unborn—
       for he has done it."

Not only was Jesus proclaiming that He fulfilled the prophesy of the Messiah's death on the cross ("they have pierced my hands and my feet"), He was proclaiming the Gospel to the world.

He was proclaiming the way in which he was mocked by sinners unto His death ("He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD rescue Him").

He was proclaiming His Message to me and to you, "a people yet unborn."

He was proclaiming that His righteousness is inherited by faith, not by works.

"For He has done it."

When Hitler found out UNI beat Kansas...

Death

Hi there. Sorry it's been so long since we've talked. You know how it is... things get busy, and, well... blog posts are the first thing to go. I'm going to try to mend this relationship. Here goes:

So, I've been thinking a fair bit about death lately. You see, my Grandma Young, 85, passed away on Valentine's Day from complications from open heart surgery. She and I were really close, so it's been hard for my family and me. It's also a time for rejoicing, though, because Grandma's trust was in Christ. I was blessed to have an opportunity to give a eulogy at her memorial service. These were some of my thoughts:

If you met Grandma even once, you know that she was an amazing woman. She had this incredible ability to make people feel welcome and loved. She often took people into her home to feed them, to give them a bed, to listen to what was on their heart, and to lend her advice (whether they asked for it or not!).

There is so much I could say about how she was an inspiration to hundreds of people. She went back to college (ISU!) in her 40's when her youngest son (my dad) graduated high school and went there as well. She then became a high school English teacher in Clarion for almost 20 years and was simply called "Ma" Young by her students. Towards the end of her life she divulged to me that she would occasionally shut the door to her classroom to pray with her students. Even though it was illegal, not one of her students ever complained or reported her. Dozens of her former students came to her visitation or funeral. How many of your high school teachers made such an impact in your life that you would go to their funeral --- thirty-five years after you last had a class with them?

Grandma never really retired like we think of retirement. She worked part time for my dad until October of last year. Until two weeks before she died, she played piano for the contemporary service at her church. When I asked her how she could stand the drums being so loud, she said, "I just turn down my hearing aids and I can't hear a thing!"

Grandma's greatest inspiration, though, wasn't any of the things she did. If that's all we're inspired by, we've missed the main point of her life--- her faith in Christ. My last memory of Grandma is visiting her in her hospital room, a week before she died. It was just Sam and I at her bedside when she asked us to pray for her. When I asked her what she wanted me to pray for (I get teary-eyed just thinking about this...) she said, "Please pray that I would help people to know the Lord."

Grandma's life and love was invested in the Creator of in the universe and His Son, the Savior of humankind. Her love for family and friends (though great) paled in comparison. Certainly she was far from perfect, but she realized that she fell short of God's holy and perfect standard and knew her need for a Savior. Her trust was in Christ for her redemption, not the work of her hands. This was her greatest inspiration.

The wonderful 18th century American preacher/theologian, Jonathan Edwards, had a similar outlook on death as my grandma did. Edwards wrote the following note to his daughter, Lucy, as she was the only family member present at his deathbed. His love for his wife is so eloquently and beautifully expressed that it causes my heart to well up with excitement as I look forward to having such a deep and long-lasting marriage with Sam. The last two sentences of this letter are so faith-filled and God-centered that I even get pumped at the thought of my own death! I'll end with Edwards' simple last words to his family:


"Dear Lucy, it seems to me to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you; therefore give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual and therefore will continue for ever: and I hope she will be supported under so great a trial, and submit cheerfully to the will of God. And as to my children you are now to be left fatherless, which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a father who will never fail you."

Fantastic Photos

Here are some of the results that turned up as I searched the web for funny/amazing pictures from around the world:

Pretty sure this would qualify for the HOV lane:

 

I'll never complain about the #23 route on CyRide being crowded on cold winter mornings again:

 Keeping with the "overloaded vehicles" theme:

Maybe you've seen this... this dude draws sweet art with chalk on sidewalks in cities:

I thought you had to be in great shape to be a boxer?

Those tinted windows can make driving hazardous:

Is this what the actor who played Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia wore?

How does this even happen?

 
Gotta love those Chinese delicacies! (The origin of stinky tofu.)

 

Wonderful prank:

  

I know it's photoshopped, but it's still hilarious:

 

Disney World, Mini Golf, Jousting and Parkour

Sorry it's been over a month since I've posted. I've been crazy busy over the holidays, but I'm looking forward to getting back on track with my blogging with the rest of this month. Here goes:

So this weekend I was chilling in Florida. Yep, I got to go to Florida. My parents invited Sam and I for a long weekend (Friday-Monday) in the Sunshine State. We stayed in a condo, continued our family mini-golfing tradition (I won!), got to go to Disney World and experienced this sweet medieval kingdom dinner and jousting reenactment arena thing (we even got to eat our food without silverware). It was an amazing blessing to spend time with my wife and family and to get out of this blustery mess and into some 70 degree sunshine. But that's enough making you jealous.

I was sitting on the couch in our condo yesterday talking with my mom and she made a sad fact known to me: she had no idea what parkour is. I was proud to tell her that one of our ISU friends (Tim Odell) is the president of the Parkour Club at Iowa State. Most of you have probably seen videos like this, but, just in case you haven't, hopefully this blows your mind and makes your day: