I can't do that...

In no way is this original. I am totally scamming it from Gabe Noll's blog.

Still, it's worth a re-post on my blog. I love being impressed by things, and this is definitely impressive. Especially for me because, if you know me, you know that I have no skating ability whatsoever. Not even on a flat surface at low speeds. Can't do it. So, this amazes me.


Kilian Martin: A Skate Regeneration from Brett Novak on Vimeo.

Weird NFL Season

It's been a crazy season in the NFL. I played fantasy football for the first time this year, so I followed it a little more closely than I usually do. I also did pretty well as a fantasy team manager in both leagues I played in (12-2 and 9-4). Maybe Sam and I will buy an NFL team someday.....

Anyways, I learned some interesting factoids about the NFL playoff picture this year:

1) The Seattle Seahawks are the first team ever to make the playoffs with a losing record (7 wins, 9 losses). They tied for the best record in their division (the NFC West is horrible) and won a tiebreaker game tonight against the Rams to head to the playoffs.

2) The San Diego Chargers have the NFL's #1 ranked defense and #2 ranked offense and did not make the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

3) The Oakland Raiders won every single game they played against their AFC West division foes (2 wins each against the Chiefs, Broncos, and Chargers), but got 3rd place in their division and did not make the playoffs with an 8-8 record.

Murder, Forgiveness, and a Flying Car

This is absolutely one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Not only because something from decades of science fiction might finally become practical, but because the purpose of its development is to serve the Kingdom of God.

The inventor's name is Steve Saint. His dad was new tribes missionary, Nate Saint. Steve's dad, Nate, flew airplanes into the jungles of Equador to bring the light of the Gospel to tribes deep in the wilderness. When Steve was only 5 years old, his father was killed by the Waodani tribe in an attempt to make peacful contact with them. Dispite the murder of Nate, Steve's aunt, Rachel, continued to try to make peaceful contact with the Waodani's. Eventually she succeed and led most of the tribe to follow Christ.

(Steve's journaling of these events inspired the movie "The End of the Spear".)

In an amazing act of forgiveness and love, Steve, at the age of 10, went to live in the jungle with the Waodani's -- the same tribe that had killed his father. After some time learning the jungle way of life with the tribe, Steve was baptized by two of the men who killed his father 5 years earlier.

Incredibly, it is the Waodani people who led Steve to invent such brilliant machine. Tribes deep in the jungle are usually inaccessable by car and by foot due to bridge washouts or impossibly rugged terrain. The Waodani's asked Steve to make something that could help them reach the other tribes in the Amazon to teach them to "walk the trail of God".

Check this out, then buy me one.

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