If I Stand...

So, do you ever notice threads reappearing throughout your life? Sometimes it's reassuring, like coming home and sitting around the table with your family. Other times your weaknesses and fears rise up again despite being put down a thousand times before, and you get that awful dread in the pit of your stomach all over again.

On Thursday night, I went to the Behold the Lamb Christmas concert with Kristen, my brother Andrew, and four of our closest friends. I am continually overwhelmed by the talent and and genuine passion that the musicians on stage exhibit. I will quickly mention some of them and encourage you to purchase some of their music. They're all incredibly talented. Andrew Peterson is the creative genius behind the Behold the Lamb of God album (here is a short documentary about the album), Ben Shive plays piano, accordian, hammer duclimer and other miscellaneous, Andy Gullahorn, his very talented wife Jill Phillips and Andy Osenga rounded out the group on stage. Often they are joined by Derek Webb.

On the way home, my good friend Stephen Farrior asked George and I if we share his sentiment about the experience. He said, "Listening to them talk about Christ, community and loving others, think to myself- I used to talk like that. Why don't I anymore?" I share this sobering realization, and it's connected to someone that continues to reappear throughout my life.

When I was in High School our Dean of Men's name was Mike Proko (it's still weird to use his first name, in high school he was Mr. Proko). He was more of an example of Christ to us than any of us realized. His fair discipline was always tempered with the grace and love of Christ, and he made sure you knew that you were loved, by him and by Christ. He loved the music of Rich Mullins deeply, and though I didn't realize it yet, so much about him was shaped by it.

The summer of 2003 was a pivotal summer for me as I began to feel the Lord's call for the first time toward full-time ministry. The changing of my major, the first date with the woman I now am privileged to call my wife and plans for seminary were all to follow. In the midst of all of this, I was reading one of my top five favorite books, the biography of Rich Mullins.

Last semester I traveled down to the Abby at Gethsemani for a short retreat as an assignment for one of my classes. While there I walked the halls and campus of the monastery there and followed a path through the forest to a statue of Christ kneeling in the garden of Gethesemani. The experience was breathtakingly beautiful, moving me to tears as I stood at the image of my Savior kneeling in the garden, praying, "Not my will but thy will be done." Rich Mullins was a regular at this monastery, taking several retreats here over the years.

One of the great things about the concert was the ability to stand around and talk with the artists after the performance. Rich Mullins name came up in two of the three conversations I had, and Andrew Peterson makes mention of the Rich Mullins song "If I Stand" in the track "The Good Confession (I Believe)." It is the song that, as he says, "led him home."

There's something about the way that Rich Mullins saw the world that just doesn't click with me, but I want it. The way he loved, his understanding of God and the impact of Christ's death and resurrection were all profound in ways you don't gain from reading about them. I read about his life and struggle to think how I could devote myself in the ways that he did, allowing himself to be Christ to others. He wasn't perfect, but that was the beauty of it, and should be the beauty of our lives in Christ. This intimacy with the Creator and the truth of his Scriptures is hard to describe, but I know it when I see it and I know that I don't have it. But I want it.

In Celebration of the Conclusion of Exams

I try to stay away from too many car-related posts, but this video floors me every time I watch it. Trust me, you might roll your eyes at motorsports in general, but you should watch this video, it's flat-out amazing. If I could, I would do this...

A Proclaimation of Thanksgiving

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore if, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

-A. Lincoln

Source: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1862.htm

Join the Conspiracy

I encourage you to rethink Christmas. Our church is participating in this amazing opportunity and I must admit, I'm moved by this video every time I see it. The world is bigger than our little corner.

The Reports of My Carving Have NOT Been Greatly Exaggerated...

Apparently there has been some question as to whether I actually carved the pumpkin in this post. I must say that I am saddened by the lack of faith that my friends and particularly my family have in my artistic abilities. That said, the proof is in the pudding (or pictures in this case) so here I am, pumpkin carving. Please, no more disparaging remarks.


In this photo, I am pondering the mysteries of the universe and also trying to figure out how to put my carving talents to their most effective use.


Figuring that I may as well get to it, here is my hand in the pumpkin. I would appreciate it if all of the libelous things being written about my fear of pumpkin innards would be put to rest by this picture.

Mmmmm...raw pumpkin is good!


Here I am carving the pumpkin. Paisley's wondering what is going on...


I only used a stencil because I wanted to see what it was like. I can carve without it...

And there you have it. I carved my first pumpkin just like that. I hope you're all satisfied!

All About Paisley

We're constantly amazed and entertained by our puppy. She's growing like crazy...I think she about 70lbs as I write this, at almost 20 weeks. Today we took her out to try and get a few pictures of her in the fall leaves. Here are some of the more successful pictures...

That last one makes me laugh...once she realized she could chase the falling leaves, it was all she wanted to do!

A week ago, I brought home a pound of Anniversary Blend (courtesy of my good friend George Bednar) and set it on the dining room table...Paisley was immediate suspicious. Here's what ensued (if you look closely, you can see the hair on the back of her neck standing on end):



Occasionally, Paisley gets excited and runs around the apartment at a frenzied pace. We call this the "zoomies" and I was quick enough to capture a bit of it on film. Here's our pup with the zoomies:

Democracy in Action

Tomorrow we vote. It's a privilege and a responsibility, one that we too often take for granted. I encourage you to vote, whomever you vote for.

I'm a Republican, and one that more and more sees value in the Libertarian idea (formerly a Republican idea) that smaller government is better. Lower taxes, less regulation and more local governing are all good ideas that the framers of the constitution embraced. We've forgotten much of the value in these ideas, and forgotten that a growing government will encroach upon our freedoms.

John McCain isn't a true conservative as I would define him, but as I look at the whole picture in this election, I see a man with mountains of experience, and a man with very little. Sex appeal and youth are no substitute for years of experience working across the aisle. These are serious and perilous times, and we need someone who has been here before and knows how to handle what is coming. John McCain does not do everything well, but he's done much more than Barack Obama.

I don't agree with Barack Obama on any number of issues- social issues, economics, national defense, just to name a few. I don't buy the sketchy link between Obama and 70s radicals either. I just think that his vision for America is the wrong one. It's great that an African American received his party's nomination for President of the United States, but the potential significance of having our first African American President shouldn't overshadow the qualifications and experience of the candidates.

Tomorrow I'll vote for John McCain. If you're still undecided, I would encourage you to look at the candidates carefully one last time, asking yourself which candidate will do the best job as the President of our country. Vote on the issues. Look at their records, their positions on issues and think about their character. Then, cast your vote for your choice thankfully, realizing that your freedom is precious.

John McCain's Wall Street Journal Editorial

Barack Obama's Wall Street Journal Editorial