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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Sermon: The Art of Being Yourself #5: Loving Yourself and Living for Others
The Art of Being Yourself #5: Loving Yourself and Living for Others
by Don Bromley
July 7-8, 2007
This weekend, I’m doing the fifth and final sermon in our series entitled “The Art of Being Yourself.” The subject of my sermon is “Loving Yourself and Living for Others”
The text I’m looking at is in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10:
Jesus is talking with his friends, his students, and two of them have been saying they want to sit on his right and on his left when he becomes King, because they want to be in great glory with him.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45)
“We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
James and John didn’t have problems being assertive, or asking for what they want!
One of the interesting things you’ll notice when reading the Bible is that there aren’t many texts that deal with the topic of low self-esteem. You don’t see a lot of the characters in the Bible struggling with it, and there isn’t much that addresses the issue. It’s hard to know exactly why. Maybe people did, but just didn’t write about it. Nevertheless, it seems that the average person in the ancient world wasn’t quite as introspective as we are.
Anyone who’s taken Psychology 101 is probably familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At the bottom you have physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst. If these needs aren’t met, every bit of your energy and resources are spent obtaining them. These needs must be met before you move up the pyramid to the next level of needs, which are safety needs, like security and protection. Next on the pyramid are social needs, such as a sense of belonging and love. Then esteem needs: self-esteem, recognition, status. Finally self-actualization.
So it’s not until you’re in a place where most of your basic needs are met that your mind can wander to issues of self-esteem and self actualization. One theory is that people in the ancient world were much more preoccupied with the lower, more basic needs than we are—just trying to stay alive—and so ideas of self-esteem and self actualization weren’t at the forefront of their thought.
Anyway… in the Bible, the idea that people have a fairly positive view of themselves is pretty much a given. It’s assumed that everyone loves themselves, in the most basic sense—everyone is taking care of themselves, because if you don’t, you won’t last long.
This idea of self-love is fundamental to the Old Testament’s law code:
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:18)
Jesus assumes self-love when reaffirms the greatest of the Old Testament laws:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)
Paul, in speaking to husbands, assumes that they love themselves first:
“…Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Eph 5:28)
Jesus doesn’t correct this attitude and tell us that we really shouldn’t love ourselves. Instead, he says that we should love others as we love ourselves. If we don’t love and take care of ourselves, how can we even begin to love others?
Sometimes Christians get the false impression that following Jesus means some sort of loss of self, or de-selfing as Ken talked about a few weeks ago. As if we stop existing and somehow are absorbed into some kind of cosmic consciousness. This is the negative sense of “living for others.”
People sometimes say a prayer like this one, "Lord, make me nothing." Did you ever hear that prayer? It's not a good prayer, because what if God answers it. Think about it… What if he should say, "Okay"?
It is a very good thing that you exist. You can’t reject yourself and love God.
Self love is a horse that you can fall off either side of. On the one hand a person can love themselves in such a way that they are selfish and narcissistic. Their interest is only in themselves, see only themselves, and they overlook the needs of others. They’re often aggressive with others.
But falling off the other side of the horse are those that are self-less in the negative sense of loss of self or “de-selfing.” This can take the form of codependence—in which the person’s needs are met in an unhealthy way through their relationships. Their interest is only in others (or so it seems), they “live for others,” overlooking their own needs and desires. They’re often passive and lack assertiveness—thinking that those are Christ-like qualities. I’m unhappy and my needs aren’t being met—so I must be following Jesus.
It’s true that there is a degree of self-denial and selflessness in living for Jesus, properly understood. But first a few things self-denial does not mean. Self-denial does not mean that being miserable is a good thing to God. It does not mean that you are supposed to deny your feelings or that you should try to avoid pleasure. It doesn't mean that it's a bad thing that you exist.
Following Jesus doesn’t mean I should move to a country I don't like, wear ugly clothes, eat bad food, date unattractive people and inflict pain on myself. Sometimes we act as if it is, and we wonder why people aren’t flocking to church.
Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Living life to the full isn’t a selfish life, and it’s not a life in which we de-self. Jesus’ desire is that in loving ourselves, in discovering our true selves, we will live our lives to their fullest.
When Jesus speaks to his disciples, he’s assuming self-love, and a desire for good things. “Whoever wants to become great among you…” And Jesus doesn’t reprimand James and John for what they ask; he only instructs them in how their thinking about leadership is wrong. Of course, all the other disciples are upset with them—but probably only because they wanted to ask the same thing of Jesus!
Let’s talk about this idea of what it means to “live for others” in a healthy sense—the idea of servanthood.
There is, Jesus says, a standard approach in this world of power and greatness among the Gentiles. That's his way of saying, "The world apart from the kingdom of God." The rulers lord it over their followers.
He says their “high officials” -- the Greek word is the megaloi we get our word "mega" from this word -- the mega leaders, the big kahunas, are tyrants in this world. They use power to dominate, control, gain status and inspire fear. Life among them is a competition. Who's the greatest? Who can climb the ladder the highest? Who can impose his will?
Jesus says, "Not so with you." Now, because power and leadership can be abused and can be dark in the hands of fallen people -- because Jesus has warnings about it -- some people get distrustful about any form of leadership or the exercise of power. They don't initiate, they don't challenge, they don't stretch those who are around them.
They hold back from leading when they ought to lead, and they hold others back from leading. That’s not a good thing. Their families, their churches, their organizations suffer. When people aren’t envisioned and challenged and stretched to grow, they suffer.
To lead is a good thing. At the very beginning, the Bible says that God created human beings to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, to subdue it and have dominion over it. Jesus doesn't reject leadership or even the use of power or greatness for that matter, but he redefines it, he redeems it.
As he says here, Jesus himself is the ultimate example of redeemed leadership. He says, "I didn't come to be served," which is generally the measure of leadership in our world. How many people are below me, serving me?
He says, "I came to serve." That's what servants do. Here's a real key point. In Jesus, to lead is to serve. In Jesus, leadership is simply one form of servanthood. In God, to lead is to serve those he leads.
When Jesus places a towel over his arm and washes the feet of those that he loves, he's not disguising who God is; he's revealing who God is. He says God is up to the same old tricks he's been up to before time began.
This takes a little bit of thought, because it’s hard to imagine what this means before Jesus was born, or even what it means today.
Scripture tells us that God is basically community; that within the being of God there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in a relationship of oneness, a relationship that is unbreakable, unassailable because together they make one being.
These are three expressions of the same divinity but with different roles/functions—they practice these in deference to each other so that the Father gives everything he has to the Son, the Son gives to the Father everything that he is, and the Holy Spirit puts himself at the service of both.
The Father glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, the Holy Spirit glorifies both. It's a mutuality arrangement where each one’s function supplements the other’s function so that there is dynamic within the being of God.
Indeed, the Scripture tells us that God is love, and where there is love, that love seeks expression. It has to give—give of itself, and we know that God assumes servanthood in the fact that he created. Just the work of creation is an expression of God's servanthood, when he lavishes his bounty over his creatures. Actually, in creation he wants to give them all that he has that is give-able, that is transmissible, and the highest good that he can provide in servanthood to his creatures is himself, his image.
There is not only a relationship of servanthood within the persons of the Godhead, but whenever God expresses himself it is for the good, it is to serve, it is to give, it is to support, to provide, to sustain, to nourish, to grow, to develop.
God is community and oneness, and there is servanthood bounding that community together, and God establishes the human community as his reflection, his image, and he wants that community to be bounded by a mutuality of servanthood. Servanthood is not just a passing idea; it has to do with the very essence of who God is and therefore with the purpose of creation.
When Jesus goes to the cross, when he's whipped and beaten and battered and bleeding and dying, he's not disguising who God is. We think that because we misunderstand God. Jesus, on the cross, is revealing. It is the ultimate revelation of the heart and the nature of God -- Jesus hanging on a cross.
"For," Jesus says to his friends, "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."
At the same time, Jesus had the strongest character of anyone who ever lived. He was never intimidated. He was always assertive. He defied those who held immense power without batting an eye. He threw full grown men out of the temple area with a whip. He is a servant, but he didn’t suffer loss of self; he wasn’t passive; he was truly in touch with his real self.
He calls us, calls his followers to be that form of servanthood – being “servant leaders.”
People who love themselves in the best way: are in touch with their God-given aspirations and dreams, understand that they’ve been made in the image of God, and are seeking to understand the true self that God has created them to be. They’re people who understand that living for others means leading through servanthood. That in being servants we are not debasing or lowering or losing ourselves, but we are expressing the very essence of who God is—a community of love.
by Don Bromley
July 7-8, 2007
This weekend, I’m doing the fifth and final sermon in our series entitled “The Art of Being Yourself.” The subject of my sermon is “Loving Yourself and Living for Others”
The text I’m looking at is in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10:
Jesus is talking with his friends, his students, and two of them have been saying they want to sit on his right and on his left when he becomes King, because they want to be in great glory with him.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45)
“We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
James and John didn’t have problems being assertive, or asking for what they want!
One of the interesting things you’ll notice when reading the Bible is that there aren’t many texts that deal with the topic of low self-esteem. You don’t see a lot of the characters in the Bible struggling with it, and there isn’t much that addresses the issue. It’s hard to know exactly why. Maybe people did, but just didn’t write about it. Nevertheless, it seems that the average person in the ancient world wasn’t quite as introspective as we are.
Anyone who’s taken Psychology 101 is probably familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At the bottom you have physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst. If these needs aren’t met, every bit of your energy and resources are spent obtaining them. These needs must be met before you move up the pyramid to the next level of needs, which are safety needs, like security and protection. Next on the pyramid are social needs, such as a sense of belonging and love. Then esteem needs: self-esteem, recognition, status. Finally self-actualization.
So it’s not until you’re in a place where most of your basic needs are met that your mind can wander to issues of self-esteem and self actualization. One theory is that people in the ancient world were much more preoccupied with the lower, more basic needs than we are—just trying to stay alive—and so ideas of self-esteem and self actualization weren’t at the forefront of their thought.
Anyway… in the Bible, the idea that people have a fairly positive view of themselves is pretty much a given. It’s assumed that everyone loves themselves, in the most basic sense—everyone is taking care of themselves, because if you don’t, you won’t last long.
This idea of self-love is fundamental to the Old Testament’s law code:
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:18)
Jesus assumes self-love when reaffirms the greatest of the Old Testament laws:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)
Paul, in speaking to husbands, assumes that they love themselves first:
“…Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Eph 5:28)
Jesus doesn’t correct this attitude and tell us that we really shouldn’t love ourselves. Instead, he says that we should love others as we love ourselves. If we don’t love and take care of ourselves, how can we even begin to love others?
Sometimes Christians get the false impression that following Jesus means some sort of loss of self, or de-selfing as Ken talked about a few weeks ago. As if we stop existing and somehow are absorbed into some kind of cosmic consciousness. This is the negative sense of “living for others.”
People sometimes say a prayer like this one, "Lord, make me nothing." Did you ever hear that prayer? It's not a good prayer, because what if God answers it. Think about it… What if he should say, "Okay"?
It is a very good thing that you exist. You can’t reject yourself and love God.
Self love is a horse that you can fall off either side of. On the one hand a person can love themselves in such a way that they are selfish and narcissistic. Their interest is only in themselves, see only themselves, and they overlook the needs of others. They’re often aggressive with others.
But falling off the other side of the horse are those that are self-less in the negative sense of loss of self or “de-selfing.” This can take the form of codependence—in which the person’s needs are met in an unhealthy way through their relationships. Their interest is only in others (or so it seems), they “live for others,” overlooking their own needs and desires. They’re often passive and lack assertiveness—thinking that those are Christ-like qualities. I’m unhappy and my needs aren’t being met—so I must be following Jesus.
It’s true that there is a degree of self-denial and selflessness in living for Jesus, properly understood. But first a few things self-denial does not mean. Self-denial does not mean that being miserable is a good thing to God. It does not mean that you are supposed to deny your feelings or that you should try to avoid pleasure. It doesn't mean that it's a bad thing that you exist.
Following Jesus doesn’t mean I should move to a country I don't like, wear ugly clothes, eat bad food, date unattractive people and inflict pain on myself. Sometimes we act as if it is, and we wonder why people aren’t flocking to church.
Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Living life to the full isn’t a selfish life, and it’s not a life in which we de-self. Jesus’ desire is that in loving ourselves, in discovering our true selves, we will live our lives to their fullest.
When Jesus speaks to his disciples, he’s assuming self-love, and a desire for good things. “Whoever wants to become great among you…” And Jesus doesn’t reprimand James and John for what they ask; he only instructs them in how their thinking about leadership is wrong. Of course, all the other disciples are upset with them—but probably only because they wanted to ask the same thing of Jesus!
Let’s talk about this idea of what it means to “live for others” in a healthy sense—the idea of servanthood.
There is, Jesus says, a standard approach in this world of power and greatness among the Gentiles. That's his way of saying, "The world apart from the kingdom of God." The rulers lord it over their followers.
He says their “high officials” -- the Greek word is the megaloi we get our word "mega" from this word -- the mega leaders, the big kahunas, are tyrants in this world. They use power to dominate, control, gain status and inspire fear. Life among them is a competition. Who's the greatest? Who can climb the ladder the highest? Who can impose his will?
Jesus says, "Not so with you." Now, because power and leadership can be abused and can be dark in the hands of fallen people -- because Jesus has warnings about it -- some people get distrustful about any form of leadership or the exercise of power. They don't initiate, they don't challenge, they don't stretch those who are around them.
They hold back from leading when they ought to lead, and they hold others back from leading. That’s not a good thing. Their families, their churches, their organizations suffer. When people aren’t envisioned and challenged and stretched to grow, they suffer.
To lead is a good thing. At the very beginning, the Bible says that God created human beings to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, to subdue it and have dominion over it. Jesus doesn't reject leadership or even the use of power or greatness for that matter, but he redefines it, he redeems it.
As he says here, Jesus himself is the ultimate example of redeemed leadership. He says, "I didn't come to be served," which is generally the measure of leadership in our world. How many people are below me, serving me?
He says, "I came to serve." That's what servants do. Here's a real key point. In Jesus, to lead is to serve. In Jesus, leadership is simply one form of servanthood. In God, to lead is to serve those he leads.
When Jesus places a towel over his arm and washes the feet of those that he loves, he's not disguising who God is; he's revealing who God is. He says God is up to the same old tricks he's been up to before time began.
This takes a little bit of thought, because it’s hard to imagine what this means before Jesus was born, or even what it means today.
Scripture tells us that God is basically community; that within the being of God there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in a relationship of oneness, a relationship that is unbreakable, unassailable because together they make one being.
These are three expressions of the same divinity but with different roles/functions—they practice these in deference to each other so that the Father gives everything he has to the Son, the Son gives to the Father everything that he is, and the Holy Spirit puts himself at the service of both.
The Father glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, the Holy Spirit glorifies both. It's a mutuality arrangement where each one’s function supplements the other’s function so that there is dynamic within the being of God.
Indeed, the Scripture tells us that God is love, and where there is love, that love seeks expression. It has to give—give of itself, and we know that God assumes servanthood in the fact that he created. Just the work of creation is an expression of God's servanthood, when he lavishes his bounty over his creatures. Actually, in creation he wants to give them all that he has that is give-able, that is transmissible, and the highest good that he can provide in servanthood to his creatures is himself, his image.
There is not only a relationship of servanthood within the persons of the Godhead, but whenever God expresses himself it is for the good, it is to serve, it is to give, it is to support, to provide, to sustain, to nourish, to grow, to develop.
God is community and oneness, and there is servanthood bounding that community together, and God establishes the human community as his reflection, his image, and he wants that community to be bounded by a mutuality of servanthood. Servanthood is not just a passing idea; it has to do with the very essence of who God is and therefore with the purpose of creation.
When Jesus goes to the cross, when he's whipped and beaten and battered and bleeding and dying, he's not disguising who God is. We think that because we misunderstand God. Jesus, on the cross, is revealing. It is the ultimate revelation of the heart and the nature of God -- Jesus hanging on a cross.
"For," Jesus says to his friends, "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."
At the same time, Jesus had the strongest character of anyone who ever lived. He was never intimidated. He was always assertive. He defied those who held immense power without batting an eye. He threw full grown men out of the temple area with a whip. He is a servant, but he didn’t suffer loss of self; he wasn’t passive; he was truly in touch with his real self.
He calls us, calls his followers to be that form of servanthood – being “servant leaders.”
People who love themselves in the best way: are in touch with their God-given aspirations and dreams, understand that they’ve been made in the image of God, and are seeking to understand the true self that God has created them to be. They’re people who understand that living for others means leading through servanthood. That in being servants we are not debasing or lowering or losing ourselves, but we are expressing the very essence of who God is—a community of love.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Eve on her "computer"
This is Eve on her little laptop, which does the alphabet, phonetics, and music. She loves to sit at her desk and draw with crayons, or play with her laptop.
Movie: Eve & Her Computer
Movie: Eve & Her Computer
Monday, June 18, 2007
Eve loves to swing
she could swing for hours. i ask, "are you ready to get down?"... she anwers, "nooo". 30 minutes later, same answer.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Eve and cousin Madeline driving!!!
This is a little movie (wmv format) of Eve and her cousin Madeline driving in a toy car in April...
Movie
Movie
Friday, June 08, 2007
Eve is tired...
Eve must have been tired this morning...
So far she has thrown her sippy cup at my computer, drew on the wall next to her desk with crayons, and put a coaster into my cup full of coffee...
I put her down for an early nap at about 10:45.
So far she has thrown her sippy cup at my computer, drew on the wall next to her desk with crayons, and put a coaster into my cup full of coffee...
I put her down for an early nap at about 10:45.
Friday, January 12, 2007
time for an update, eh?
well, it's been almost 6 months, so it's time for my biannual blog entry.
Eve has grown since my last post--she's put on an additional 25 pounds and lost an inch in height--oh wait, that's me. It's amazing how fast they grow. It seems like only yesterday she was learning her ABC's and could barely throw a football.
Life has been great. No problems or issues that I can think of... pretty much smooth sailing all around. Never been healthier, happier, smarter, richer, better looking... marriage is perfect. I've pretty much got it all.
Okay, seriously... I still love being a dad. Eve likes to come up to me when I'm sitting on the couch and say "uppees"... which means "up, please." It's pretty hard to resist, so I sit her next to me, put an arm around her, and let her flip through a magazine while I work or watch TV. My other favorite Eve moment is when i come home from work. As soon as she hears me drive up, she starts yelling "dada"... then when I open the door she practically hyperventilates, trembles with excitement, and her eyes get really big. I kid you not. It's nice to be loved! I can't wait to get home every day. Julie does the same thing (but she says "honey" instead of "dada").
gotta run...
Eve has grown since my last post--she's put on an additional 25 pounds and lost an inch in height--oh wait, that's me. It's amazing how fast they grow. It seems like only yesterday she was learning her ABC's and could barely throw a football.
Life has been great. No problems or issues that I can think of... pretty much smooth sailing all around. Never been healthier, happier, smarter, richer, better looking... marriage is perfect. I've pretty much got it all.
Okay, seriously... I still love being a dad. Eve likes to come up to me when I'm sitting on the couch and say "uppees"... which means "up, please." It's pretty hard to resist, so I sit her next to me, put an arm around her, and let her flip through a magazine while I work or watch TV. My other favorite Eve moment is when i come home from work. As soon as she hears me drive up, she starts yelling "dada"... then when I open the door she practically hyperventilates, trembles with excitement, and her eyes get really big. I kid you not. It's nice to be loved! I can't wait to get home every day. Julie does the same thing (but she says "honey" instead of "dada").
gotta run...
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
january
eve had her doctor's appointment on monday morning... she's about 17.5 pounds now, and 26 inches (i think)... she's 99% for height and 97% for weight! i'd been thinking, "wow, she sure seems to be getting heavy!"
being a dad continues to be wonderful... eve's 5 months old now, so lots more laughing, grabbing, "talking" to herself, and almost rolling over. part of me wishes she'd stay this age forever, and the other part can't wait to see what she's like a month from now... not a bad place to be.
winter in michigan sucks... i'm sorry, it just sucks--really nothing mitigating that suckiness either. not like i'm out there cross-country skiing or snowmobiling. i wish they'd create some SUPER-MALLS here in Michigan... i'm thinking like a square mile indoors, 3-4 levels high, sunroof everywhere, plus artificial sunlight. playgrounds, basketball courts, etc... wouldn't that be cool? heck, i'd go there every day.
i'm preaching again next weekend, on *anger*.. part of a relationship series we're in. can't wait! i was really pissed when ken suggested that i preach on anger... almost lost it and went ballistic on him. where does he get the nerve? (just kidding, of course)
i just bought BDAG and HALOT for my Accordance program. if that doesn't mean anything to you, you won't really care even if i explain it. i'm very happy with my Mac these days... the more I use it, the more i like it. even the things that annoyed me are starting to fade away as I get more comfortable with things. microsoft programs still seem to work a bit better in Windows, but that's no surprise.
i'm listening to 'lolita' (nabokov), 'truth & fiction in the da vinci code' (ehrman), and listening to the history of early christianity, a lecture series by ehrman. i'm thinking of starting 'the historian', which is a novel by someone in ann arbor (i've heard) and is selling very well... kind of a thriller/historical kind of novel.
just started our new small group on Tuesday evening... i loved it! there were three couples, the bromleys, the botts, and the thaxtons... our fourth couple, the o'neills couldn't be there. what a great bunch of people... i'm really looking forward to it.
being a dad continues to be wonderful... eve's 5 months old now, so lots more laughing, grabbing, "talking" to herself, and almost rolling over. part of me wishes she'd stay this age forever, and the other part can't wait to see what she's like a month from now... not a bad place to be.
winter in michigan sucks... i'm sorry, it just sucks--really nothing mitigating that suckiness either. not like i'm out there cross-country skiing or snowmobiling. i wish they'd create some SUPER-MALLS here in Michigan... i'm thinking like a square mile indoors, 3-4 levels high, sunroof everywhere, plus artificial sunlight. playgrounds, basketball courts, etc... wouldn't that be cool? heck, i'd go there every day.
i'm preaching again next weekend, on *anger*.. part of a relationship series we're in. can't wait! i was really pissed when ken suggested that i preach on anger... almost lost it and went ballistic on him. where does he get the nerve? (just kidding, of course)
i just bought BDAG and HALOT for my Accordance program. if that doesn't mean anything to you, you won't really care even if i explain it. i'm very happy with my Mac these days... the more I use it, the more i like it. even the things that annoyed me are starting to fade away as I get more comfortable with things. microsoft programs still seem to work a bit better in Windows, but that's no surprise.
i'm listening to 'lolita' (nabokov), 'truth & fiction in the da vinci code' (ehrman), and listening to the history of early christianity, a lecture series by ehrman. i'm thinking of starting 'the historian', which is a novel by someone in ann arbor (i've heard) and is selling very well... kind of a thriller/historical kind of novel.
just started our new small group on Tuesday evening... i loved it! there were three couples, the bromleys, the botts, and the thaxtons... our fourth couple, the o'neills couldn't be there. what a great bunch of people... i'm really looking forward to it.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
our new pet!
well, julie and i finally broke down and bought a pet. he's short, round, and a little noisy, likes to eat off the floor, and we love him. his name is Roomba--he's a vacuuming robot. bought him at Sam's Club.
i'm preaching this weekend... part 2 of an evangelism series. ken started the series off saying that everything he's heard on the topic really frustrates him. that's a great set-up for me to do part 2!!! no pressure. fortunately he's preaching (part 1 of the series) in milan this weekend.
we're having a few friends over for a new year's get-together this evening. i'm really looking forward to it. i guess i'll be a little bleary-eyed tomorrow morning for the 9:30 celebration, but starbucks is on the way there.
we had a wonderful christmas at the chilimigras ranch... julie's brother & sister were there, along with their spouses and kids. it was absolutely adorable having the three babies there together... see below:
i'm preaching this weekend... part 2 of an evangelism series. ken started the series off saying that everything he's heard on the topic really frustrates him. that's a great set-up for me to do part 2!!! no pressure. fortunately he's preaching (part 1 of the series) in milan this weekend.
we're having a few friends over for a new year's get-together this evening. i'm really looking forward to it. i guess i'll be a little bleary-eyed tomorrow morning for the 9:30 celebration, but starbucks is on the way there.
we had a wonderful christmas at the chilimigras ranch... julie's brother & sister were there, along with their spouses and kids. it was absolutely adorable having the three babies there together... see below:
Friday, December 23, 2005
december
okay... it's been a long time without a post. i feel like the longer i go between posts, the better the posts should be, so i end up writing nothing. kinda stupid.
anyway, being a dad is just wonderful. i love every minute of it... or 99% of it anyway. i'm sure there are moments when she's really fussy that i'm not "loving" it, but that's pretty rare. but i do look forward to waking up, just so i can go in and see her in the morning. she always gives me a huge smile and even a giggle sometimes.
what's new? hmmm... well, i made a DVD for my in-laws. it features slideshows (set to christmas music) of all 7 grandkids. i had each of the siblings send me 30-40 pictures per kid, from birth to present. then i arranged them, did a lot of photo-shopping to make them all look great, and did the Ken Burns effect on them (moving pictures, panning in and out, etc.) also did a cool DVD menu and such... i'm really happy with how it all came out, but MAN it's a lot of work. i also had to scan a lot of pictures from when the parents didn't have digital cameras.
i'm home working with eve today. i love it... she's taking naps really well now, so i can actually get some work done too.
i've been listening to some good books recently. on the fun side i finished "the lincoln lawyer" by michael connely (sp?)... it was a good, action-packed story... great for summer or vacation reading/listening. right now i'm listening to some lectures by bart ehrman, a biblical studies guy at UNC--great stuff.
the ph.d. research is a bit slow right now just because of the holiday busy-ness. hoping to ramp that up in January.
julie started her new part-time job at U of M. she's really enjoying it, and gets to work some of her hours from home. plus, full benefits! thank you jesus.
looking forward to a new year's eve get-together with a few friends. i have to preach that weekend, so should be interesting! might be a tad tired on sunday morning.
see ya later!
anyway, being a dad is just wonderful. i love every minute of it... or 99% of it anyway. i'm sure there are moments when she's really fussy that i'm not "loving" it, but that's pretty rare. but i do look forward to waking up, just so i can go in and see her in the morning. she always gives me a huge smile and even a giggle sometimes.
what's new? hmmm... well, i made a DVD for my in-laws. it features slideshows (set to christmas music) of all 7 grandkids. i had each of the siblings send me 30-40 pictures per kid, from birth to present. then i arranged them, did a lot of photo-shopping to make them all look great, and did the Ken Burns effect on them (moving pictures, panning in and out, etc.) also did a cool DVD menu and such... i'm really happy with how it all came out, but MAN it's a lot of work. i also had to scan a lot of pictures from when the parents didn't have digital cameras.
i'm home working with eve today. i love it... she's taking naps really well now, so i can actually get some work done too.
i've been listening to some good books recently. on the fun side i finished "the lincoln lawyer" by michael connely (sp?)... it was a good, action-packed story... great for summer or vacation reading/listening. right now i'm listening to some lectures by bart ehrman, a biblical studies guy at UNC--great stuff.
the ph.d. research is a bit slow right now just because of the holiday busy-ness. hoping to ramp that up in January.
julie started her new part-time job at U of M. she's really enjoying it, and gets to work some of her hours from home. plus, full benefits! thank you jesus.
looking forward to a new year's eve get-together with a few friends. i have to preach that weekend, so should be interesting! might be a tad tired on sunday morning.
see ya later!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
thanks
we had a great little poker night yesterday. there were only four of us, but that didn't seem to diminish the fun of it one bit. played 'texas hold'em' as usual, and all four of us were still in the game at 8:45, which is amazing... usually someone is out long before that. all four of us were "all in" at some point in the game, which is also crazy. i ended up winning--i can't remember if that's the first time or not. sam bott came for the first time, along with jeff zapor and peter VW. three great guys.
i just downloaded Enya's new CD, "Amarantine"... I love Enya! I used Enya tracks on the Eve DVD I made a while back. I'm sure to use this latest album for the next DVD I make. listening to her music is like getting a spa treatment... just makes you feel relaxed all over.
we're heading out to Kalamazoo tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with the Chilimigras family. it should be a fun time, and lots of babies! Ava (Eve's cousin) will be there, who is only 2 months older than Eve. Christine's family will be there too.
i finished installing a bathroom fan in the upstairs bathroom. wow, what a project! had to cut a hole in the bathroom ceiling, install the fan housing, install a new switch (which involved cutting a larger switch box hole), install a new junction box in the ceiling, run new cable from the switch and the fan to the junction box, reposition the insulation in the attic, cut a hole in the roof, go up on the roof to install the outlet duct (quite a hairy project on a 2-story house), and then connect the ducting in the attic.
yeah, i'm looking forward to thanksgiving!
i just downloaded Enya's new CD, "Amarantine"... I love Enya! I used Enya tracks on the Eve DVD I made a while back. I'm sure to use this latest album for the next DVD I make. listening to her music is like getting a spa treatment... just makes you feel relaxed all over.
we're heading out to Kalamazoo tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with the Chilimigras family. it should be a fun time, and lots of babies! Ava (Eve's cousin) will be there, who is only 2 months older than Eve. Christine's family will be there too.
i finished installing a bathroom fan in the upstairs bathroom. wow, what a project! had to cut a hole in the bathroom ceiling, install the fan housing, install a new switch (which involved cutting a larger switch box hole), install a new junction box in the ceiling, run new cable from the switch and the fan to the junction box, reposition the insulation in the attic, cut a hole in the roof, go up on the roof to install the outlet duct (quite a hairy project on a 2-story house), and then connect the ducting in the attic.
yeah, i'm looking forward to thanksgiving!
Friday, November 11, 2005
back in the USA
it's SO good to be home. i had a fantastic time in England, and a great response to my paper, but it's SO good to be home.
Eve looked just a tad bigger than when i left, but hadn't started walking or anything while i was gone (thank God). she's kicking a lot more now, which is fun, and her neck is much stronger, so she can keep her head straight when she's vertical. right now she's on her little play mat talking to the little lion suspended above her. she seems to really prefer the lion, so the giraffe is getting ignored.
the best thing happened yesterday while i was watching her... she laughted at me! i was smiling at her, so she started smiling really big, which caused me to start laughing, and then she laughed back. it was the cutest thing in the world.. one of the highlights in my life so far. Eve is staring at me whenever she has the chance... i must look funny to her, because my face is fascinating.
life is good. julie's back to work part-time now, so i work from home on thursday afternoon and all day friday. i can only work about half the time while i'm watching her, so will have to make up the extra time during the week.
i'll write more later... gotta get to work.
Eve looked just a tad bigger than when i left, but hadn't started walking or anything while i was gone (thank God). she's kicking a lot more now, which is fun, and her neck is much stronger, so she can keep her head straight when she's vertical. right now she's on her little play mat talking to the little lion suspended above her. she seems to really prefer the lion, so the giraffe is getting ignored.
the best thing happened yesterday while i was watching her... she laughted at me! i was smiling at her, so she started smiling really big, which caused me to start laughing, and then she laughed back. it was the cutest thing in the world.. one of the highlights in my life so far. Eve is staring at me whenever she has the chance... i must look funny to her, because my face is fascinating.
life is good. julie's back to work part-time now, so i work from home on thursday afternoon and all day friday. i can only work about half the time while i'm watching her, so will have to make up the extra time during the week.
i'll write more later... gotta get to work.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
englishman
i'm sitting here in my room at Trinity. i'm very happy the wi-fi is working... i've got a nice view from my window, and it's very quiet--perfect for study.
i really miss my family! it's amazing how connected you become to your spouse and child. i really wish they were here with me. we'll have to find a way for them to join me next visit. i miss seeing eve when she wakes up, with those big full-body stretches, and rubbing her eyes with her fists. i miss hearing her talk to the fishes on her crib's mobile (thanks dad!) just miss being at home.
i've got another meeting with nolland today at 2pm. his new Matthew Commentary is coming out soon. should be excellent from what i've heard.
on saturday i'm going to be getting together with the hardison's daughter and son-in-law, who live in Bristol. it's a small world!
i really miss my family! it's amazing how connected you become to your spouse and child. i really wish they were here with me. we'll have to find a way for them to join me next visit. i miss seeing eve when she wakes up, with those big full-body stretches, and rubbing her eyes with her fists. i miss hearing her talk to the fishes on her crib's mobile (thanks dad!) just miss being at home.
i've got another meeting with nolland today at 2pm. his new Matthew Commentary is coming out soon. should be excellent from what i've heard.
on saturday i'm going to be getting together with the hardison's daughter and son-in-law, who live in Bristol. it's a small world!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
in the UK
i'm back in Bristol for the week, doing meetings with my advisor and a paper presentation on monday. i had my first meeting with dr. nolland this afternoon, and it went better than i had expected. the paper i put together was quite a bit rougher than i had hoped, because i really didn't work on it much before October. having a baby kinda puts things on hold! anyway, the overall gist of things was that he's happy with my writing style, and although i'll have to do a much more interacting with secondary sources in my final project, he thought i had some originality of thought expressed in what he's read. that's a nice compliment, considering he's written two major commentaries on the gospels and a couple hundred articles. so, not feeling to bad.
i really miss julie and the baby. i've been used to seeing the baby every day over the last couple of months, and it's weird being away. can't wait to get back and play with her. man, i just couldn't have one of those jobs where you have to travel a lot... at least not unless i could take the whole family with me every time.
the flight over wasn't bad. it was very full, but they put me in a seat that doesn't have another seat in front of it, which was great. didn't sleep, but sort of rested. i'm struggling to get back on some kind of schedule today. still quite tired.
i love england. i love the climate, the scenery, the history, the people, the language... love it. i love being able to study here, interact with a scholar like nolland... man, this is too cool. i'm so blessed.
well, i'll try to keep in touch this week. the college finally got wi-fi, so i can do this from my room, which is great.
bye!
i really miss julie and the baby. i've been used to seeing the baby every day over the last couple of months, and it's weird being away. can't wait to get back and play with her. man, i just couldn't have one of those jobs where you have to travel a lot... at least not unless i could take the whole family with me every time.
the flight over wasn't bad. it was very full, but they put me in a seat that doesn't have another seat in front of it, which was great. didn't sleep, but sort of rested. i'm struggling to get back on some kind of schedule today. still quite tired.
i love england. i love the climate, the scenery, the history, the people, the language... love it. i love being able to study here, interact with a scholar like nolland... man, this is too cool. i'm so blessed.
well, i'll try to keep in touch this week. the college finally got wi-fi, so i can do this from my room, which is great.
bye!
Monday, October 24, 2005
U2, paper, curly hair
Should be a fun day today--going to see U2 tonight at the Palace with Ken and Craig. I think I'll enjoy hanging out with those guys as much as the concert.
Still trying to get a paper written! Man, I only have until Sunday.. still a long way to go on it. Maybe I'll just show them pictures of my baby instead of giving a paper.
Whenever we give her a bath, Eve's hair turns all curly!
Still trying to get a paper written! Man, I only have until Sunday.. still a long way to go on it. Maybe I'll just show them pictures of my baby instead of giving a paper.
Whenever we give her a bath, Eve's hair turns all curly!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
i'm still alive
here's one of my favorite pictures:
life is good! eve's sleeping about 7 hours a night for the last couple of weeks... wow, what a difference a few hours makes!
just got back this afternoon from a pastor-board retreat; what an awesome group of people! couldn't ask for a better bunch.
i'm trying to put together a paper to present in Bristol the first week of November. it's a bit daunting, but i'm fairly confident i'll come up with something.
looking forward to another guy's poker night, if i can ever schedule one... hopefully in a couple of weeks.
ta ta
life is good! eve's sleeping about 7 hours a night for the last couple of weeks... wow, what a difference a few hours makes!
just got back this afternoon from a pastor-board retreat; what an awesome group of people! couldn't ask for a better bunch.
i'm trying to put together a paper to present in Bristol the first week of November. it's a bit daunting, but i'm fairly confident i'll come up with something.
looking forward to another guy's poker night, if i can ever schedule one... hopefully in a couple of weeks.
ta ta
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