Extreme Sheep Herding...

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

They have been the rocks in my life. Always there, always supportive.

Happy Anniversary!

Back from Oregon

We pulled in about 12:15 last night on our return trip. Here are the highlights.

• Our car passed 200K miles on the way back. Many people have difficulty believing that a Dodge Caravan could do that well being "American made". Some of this is because we do care for the car, some because it is a good car, 11 years old and this makes just over 18K miles per year.
• Marj and I had a pleasant journey out alone because Kyle flew out a week early to visit cousins, etc. We finished "Transition" on the way.
• The Garmin GPS was invaluable... I like the interface and, with a few quirks, it was accurate. Once, a wrong turn by me proved to be a great re-route through the desert of Eastern Oregon. It helped us find a good Chinese restaurant up the coast and even provided the phone number for it.
• If you have to go through Eastern Oregon, I-84 is a lot more scenic than US-20, until you hit the Willamatte Valley.
• We got a couple of clearer days but the spot we were in on the Oregon coast was somewhat overcast most of the time... But BEAUTIFUL! Living in Colorado all these years, however, I could see that I might start getting a little crazy without nearly daily sunshine.

We arrived at the coast yesterday, after dropping the dogs off at a kennel.

I thought the temperatures were chilly (about 60F) but was told they were perfect.

I took the following pictures as the sun set over the horizon.

On vacation...

We've been on vacation since Friday. Packed up the dogs and headed west.

Here are some of the photos we have taken...

These were taken over the Snake River near Twin falls, Idaho.

Listen to the Jesus Manifesto

Last month, I wrote about the Jesus Manifesto. I have read the manifesto several times but listening to it was a big treat for my ears. Especially to hear the authors read it. You can listen here. Turn it on, sit back and close your eyes...

Stockholm Syndrome

Derek Webb is in the process of releasing a CD called "Stockholm Syndrome". It's got challenging lyrics to listen to. Jesus Creed posted about it and you can listen to one of his songs there.

Stockholme Syndrome is described here as:

The term, Stockholm Syndrome, was coined in the early 70's to describe the puzzling reactions of four bank employees to their captor. On August 23, 1973, three women and one man were taken hostage in one of the largest banks in Stockholm. They were held for six days by two ex-convicts who threatened their lives but also showed them kindness. To the world's surprise, all of the hostages strongly resisted the government's efforts to rescue them and were quite eager to defend their captors. Indeed, several months after the hostages were saved by the police, they still had warm feelings for the men who threatened their lives. Two of the women eventually got engaged to the captors.

As I thought about is, I started wondering why the title? Is it possible that I am experiencing Stockholm Syndrome?

Completing the TULIP/BEERS debate

Grace has completed the TULIP vs BEERS debate with her final post, TULIP or BEERS: Perseverence of the Saints. I also updated the list I posted earlier.

From Eternity to Here - Take a listen

Frank Viola has posted chapter 1 of his book in audio format here. If you want to hear what struck me, take a listen.

Interesting postings 2

The second series of interesting posts is from the "From the Pew" blog. I got interested in Steve's work when he posted "What I used to believe, What I now believe".

He has a series he calls "Scripture American Style". His first post (and introduction to the series) is here. Again, I find Steve's blogs thought provoking.

Interesting postings

I've been following a couple of bloggers with interest. I'll detail them in separate posts.

The first is from "Kingdom Grace". She has been posting for the last few days on "Doctrines of Grace". She has had 5 posts looking at the 5 points of Calvinism -- TULIP vs. her view she calls BEERS.

TULIP is an acronym for a systematic theology (a systematic way of looking at how God operates in our world. This interests me for several reasons.

• First, I've had several discussions with people around many of these points. In fact, while in college, many of the friends I had held fast to many if not all of these points.
• Second, as I listen and apply the Bible (through Daily Audio Bible), I am gaining a different picture of how God has and does work in this world.

While I don't agree with everything Grace talks about, I have found the discussion compelling and thought provoking.

So far, along with the introduction, there are only TULI and BEER so I am expecting one more post soon.

You can read them all

• Introduction
• Total Depravity vs Broken Icons
• Unconditional Election vs Eternal Purpose
• Limited Atonement vs Extravagant Atonement
• Irresistible Grace vs Response to Grace
• Perseverence of the Saints vs Shalom

I'll add the last post to this list when it appears.

Save The Antelope

A friend sent this video to me. I just knew it had to be out on YouTube (and it was).

A Jesus Manifesto

Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet have published an excellent document called "The Jesus Manifesto". Whether you agree or not, it's worth the read. You can also download the manifesto here (to save it to the drive, right click and "Save to Disk").

Toto’s “Africa” performed by Perpetuum Jazzile

Brian from the Coverville podcast posted this and thought I'd share it here. I love the sound effects they create at the beginning of the song but found they sound better through headphones than my laptop speakers.

Perpetuum Jazzile is a vocal group from Slovenia*. There are several more videos available on YouTube.

* Location above was corrected...

The worst...

I was listening to a radio show (on the web) today that mentioned Men's Health Worst Meals.  You can get the list of the "worst" things to eat here.  Quizno's does make the list, Subway does not.

From Eternity to Here - Part Three...

Part 3 of "From Eternity to Here" describes God's Eternal Purpose as starting a new species.   Frank reasons that Adam and Eve were a new species which gave birth to humans.  Christ, however, was completely man and completely God, a species not seen until that point in time.   As followers of Christ, we also become part of that new species.

I was a little sad as the book ended.  Only because it ended, however.  Frank finishes the book pointing us back to Christ through telling us about his experiences up to the point of realizing what God's eternal purpose really is.   This is going to be on my "to re-read" list.

What my dog teaches me about God...

Having adopted Kiva at the beginning of the year, I am gaining some appreciation of my position within God's family.  Here is why...

• One of the meanings of the word worship is to lick the face of the one you are worshiping... Like a dog.  Kiva likes to lick my face... From what I understand from other dog people, this is a sign of subordination.
• He loves to interact with me when I arrive home.  In the same way, I should love to interact with God in the same way.
• Kiva watches me intently as I do things to make sure there is nothing he should be doing in response.  In a similar way, I should be watching God as he works, looking for the things he wants me to do.
• Kiva is eager to anticipate my needs.   In the same way, I should be looking to anticipate Gods desires.
• Kiva corrects himself when his anticipation is wrong.  When I act wrongly, I should correct my actions and align myself with his desires.
• Kiva has a desire to live in his masters house.

Time Warp

It is a weird journey that got me to this post...  The short explaination is that one of my favorite shows these days is Discover Channel's "Time Warp".  It is a couple of guys with some very fast (and expensive) video cameras doing some high speed video.

Here are some of my favorite clips...

In this clip, an arrow is shot through three water balloons...

And some trick shooting (this one is long)...

Just some fun

I realized how poorly written my last post was... I really need to be more awake when I post.  Rather than retract or change the last post, I figured I'd leave it and, instead, provide you with some amusement.

A song I remember growing up with was called "The Typewriter Song" which was composed by Leroy Anderson.  A conventional version of the song can be seen here.  If you are not familiar with the Typewriter... It predates computers and, for years while doing papers, was the bane of my existence.

Instead, however, I wanted to let you listen to a modern rendition, live, complete with mechanical failure....

From Eternity to Here - Part Two...

The second section of "From Eternity to Here" is about God looking for a place to dwell... a home.

In this section, we get a view of a God who has a throne in Heaven but wants to "dwell" on earth.   We see this in the Ark of the Covenant and David's Temple.