Blog

Charles D’Ambrosio: I feel like a good personal essay captures the nap and texture of the mind thinking, so I know I’m all over every piece I write, and in tha...

That sanctification is a relationship with God that occurs in time. That means I experience forgiveness in time, and I experience that cleansing in time. I can...

When I make first contact with my students, I tell them that there are no rules anymore because they never existed in the first place, but there are guidelines...

This is the first post on this new website domain. It is built with Jekyll and hosted on Github. You may learn more about Jekyll on Git at the Jekyll repository.

Even the dream of soundly defeating an atheist college professor in a debate about the existence of God isn’t rich enough. Marriage, children, and evangelism are ...

Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.—2 Kings 22:10 — This is...

[George] Borrow was a walker of awesome stamina and a linguist of almost inconceivable talent, who is said to have been able to speak twelve languages by the time...

It is the easiest thing in the world to work all the time, compared to the incredible difficulty of spending one hour or one day of rest in a proper way.—Eu...

ayjay:

I understand myself as part of a Christian narrative. Whatever I experience, I understand it as part of that story. My sister’s death from cancer made sense to me...

But Cowperthwaite didn’t believe it. Stripped of his numbers an economist would have to resort to the old home truths about how the world works: If you tax someth...

Wisdom from G. K. Chesterton: “If the characters are not wicked, the book is.” We must tell stories the way God does, stories in which a sister must float her lit...

That increased satisfaction, however, may merely mask the fact that younger workers also suffer in open offices. In a 2005 study, the psychologists Alena Maher an...

If you can manage to read three novels a day, you might just about stay afloat, but then what about the previous years’ floods, only a little smaller as you...

Now, as a senior professor at the University of New Hampshire, where we are a little less pretentious, I more readily confess my gaps. Of course, I have fewer to ...

In Narnia, as Joe Rigney, author of “Live Like a Narnian,” told me on “BreakPoint This Week,” Lewis has created a complete and total world that helps us live bett...

If the reader will suspend his disbelief and exercise his imagination upon it even for a few minutes, I think he will become aware of the vast re-adjustment invol...

The picture of Eli happily browsing George III chinoiserie tripod tables is so un-Manning-like that it actually manages to be a little startling. It just makes no...

He’s stressed out enough that you don’t quite want to be him, but benevolent enough that you’re glad he’s out there.—The Dad-Rock Prometheus I thought Brian...

Still, Portland has benefited from its image as a fashionable city: According to research by Greg Schrock and Jason Jurjevich, two urban-studies scholars at Portl...

More recently, Taylor has written the greatest work yet completed on the secular reality of our times. In A Secular Age, he describes three successive sets of int...

But there’s more here than just an irrational fear of people with lots of kids. “Ah yes,” Hemingway points out with a little snark of her own: “How ‘intensely wei...

Finally, both the nature of the argument (which brings in the presence of the Spirit in their lives as the clincher) and the emphasis on the “presentness&rd...

Nor is Microsoft Word easy to use. Its interface is convoluted, baroque, making the easy difficult and the difficult nearly impossible to achieve. It guarantees j...

This says something important about the power of story. Whoever seizes control of the story controls the debate—and actual facts become secondary. Another tragic ...

2Pet. 1:16-21 ¶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of ...

But Hank’s death is radically different from the various killings Walt has orchestrated during his rise to power. It’s one the anti-hero doesn’t actually want, th...

One of the things that has mystified me for years is the standard contempt that is shown for the suburbs. The first house that Nancy and I bought was a little pos...

There’s some talk afterward, as there always is these days, about whether Federer should retire. This drives me crazy, so give me a second. Watching Federer decli...

I’ve been a little down lately. Not a lot down. But a little. I’ve got a bum shoulder, lately turning 50 has seemed like something that might actually happen to m...

I ran across this poem by Gerald Costanzo the other day and it made me long for the Pacific Northwest. I grew up just outside of Portland, but my dad lived there ...

“But there is another way God is honored in our grieving. When we taste the loss so deeply because we loved so deeply and treasured God’s gift — and God in his gi...

Recently, two connected thoughts have entered my conscience. First, that at 42, an end approaches. Second, that I still live much of my life in my teenage years. ...

“Time is the raw material of creation. Wipe away the magic and myth of creating and all that remains is work: the work of becoming expert through study and practi...

From the Page CXVI and Autumn Film announcement:To celebrate 7 years of making music together, the members of Page CXVI and The Autumn Film are giving away their ...

People think I am just an Apple fanboy, which I am, but it is because of people like Joni Ive. TUAW recently wrote this:In a May 2012 interview with the Tele...

“All of these approaches can help achieve Lahey’s aim of giving shy students the confidence to speak up for themselves. But none of this necessarily means we shou...

My friend bought me Reamde for Christmas, a massive 1,044 page techno-thriller written by Neal Stephenson. It is brilliant. I am only 169 pages in and loving...

BCS recently announced that we are hiring Andy Naselli as our new Assistant Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology. I am very excited about him coming o...

Here is the list of books I completed during the calendar year 2012. My goal is a minimum of 12 books completed per year, or an average of one per month. If I sta...

“What follows when a belief in objectivity and truth dies away in higher education? In time an educated person comes to doubt that purpose and meaning are discove...

I wrote an article for Bethlehem College and Seminary that can be read here.

Someone asked me the other day why I would bake a cake on my charcoal grill. The obvious, if somewhat snarky answer, is “because I can.” I believe that the same a...

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into...

Friday: Mesquite Smoked Cheeseburgers (Sorry the pic is a bit blurry. Can’t take another picture, though, the burgers are all gone.) The salsa included mesquite s...

I may be a middle-aged git, but I also love rock-n-roll (especially the classic rock genre; I’m in good company, so does Carl Trueman). Therefore, I jumped a...

From Douglas Wilson:“The point is that questions, even tough questions, can be answered. And when they are answered, the questioner grows in his knowledge and und...

Taken with my iPhone through the eye piece of a $30 telescope.

Quoted from Carl Trueman’s post of the same name:It belongs to the very essence of the type of Christianity propagated by the Reformation that the believer should...

Why is waking up so hard to do,When the day is work and not play,And the bed is warm andThe room is cold?Why is the alarm hard to hearAnd the sleep so deep?But on...

By Alan Jacobs, of course, from the January, 2000, First Things. His last two paragraphs follow, but you really ought to read the whole thing.In this sense t...

Two completely unrelated quotes:“This gives his novels a relentlessness, barreling the reader through his gloomy worlds. If one theme is consistent to McCarthy’s ...

“My job as a writer is to whittle my story down to the bare truth at its heart and then build around it the best illusions I can muster, illusions that support an...

Oy.

Grilling has been a significant delight now for several years. As my skills have increased (marginally, I know), I have desired to grill a wider variety of foods;...

I have written this before, and will probably write it again: Andrew Peterson is one of my favorite musicians and authors. We have most of his albums and all his ...

“Fiction is, among other things, an aid to reflection: a means by which we can more vividly and rigorously encounter the world and try to make sense of it, to con...

“At every institution studied, from research universities to small colleges, some students performed at high levels, and some programs fostered more learning than...

As are most things I read from Carl Trueman, this is worth your time to read the whole thing. Here is an excerpt.To listen to a lot of public prayer in churches i...

“What might be delicate or unseemly in normal life, however, is daily meat for the butt-wiggling exhibitionists on the Internet; otherwise there would be no blogs...

“The Town hall, which looked as if it had been designed by a committee of morons in an excess of alcohol and civic pride, stood in isolated spendour bounded by tw...

Here is the list for 2011. My goal is a minimum of 12 books completed per year, or an average of one per month. If I start a book in one year, and finish it in th...

Jennifer Trafton is an author of children’s fiction. Her book, The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, was read aloud by yours truly across many evenings with the Ab...

Alan Jacobs at More Than 95 Theses...The least likely things in the world are Bach’s B Minor Mass and the Iliad. There are no plausible ways to account for that h...

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things presen...

The youngest four of the Abell Six are home schooled. We have attempted to teach them using what is commonly called “Classical Education.” Starting in 7th grade, ...

Five of the Abell six have now completed N. D. Wilson’s latest fictional creation, The Dragon’s Tooth. Unanimous consensus is that this book is simply fantas...

The whole post by Douglas Wilson is about Missions, but the first two paragraphs seemed appropriate to my job description. Too much truth here...Inside each capab...

toes, originally uploaded by wenabell.Wendy is fantastic. Can you guess whose toes are whose? Hint: I am not pictured and Wendy took the picture.

Life has been so busy that I haven’t grilled anything in a long time. Today, in the Lord’s kindness, I had an afternoon off. I finished a book I had been reading ...

In 1995, I attended Portland State University’s civil engineering school. I was friends with Alex and Tim, two of the most dedicated baseball fans I know. I was a...

“G.K. Chesterton said somewhere that if a book does not have a wicked character in it, then it is a wicked book. One of the most pernicious errors that ...

From Rob Neyer:youneverknowWhat single word could better summarize what Milwaukee Brewers catcher George Kottaras did, Saturday night in Houston?Kottaras, the Bre...

“Stanley Yelnats was the only passenger on the bus, not counting the driver or the guard.”—Louis Sachar, Holes, pg. 6

Sara’s brand new album, Invisible Empires, is available right now for pre-order and download. I love waking up to surprises like this.Sara Groves has been a famil...

I am sure this is not news to most now. I am not trying to break news. As an Apple fanboy, should I be worried? Maybe, maybe not. Here is a paragraph from John Gr...

This book arrives at theAbellsix doorstep today. We can’t wait. Wendy and I listened as the author read the first chapter to us back in June and are so excited to...

I know nothing about Jared Weaver other than he is in a race for the Cy Young this year. Based on this article I am rooting for him to win.Rob Neyer reports:Well,...

“This is also why the new novels die so quickly, and why the old fairy tales endure for ever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adve...

Rob Neyer writes about the runs-scored differential in the AL Central...[As of August 5,] The first-place Tigers have been outscored by seven runs. The second-pla...

Yes, you read that right. Raspberries. A group of 13 and 14 year old boys named their maroon-shirted soccer team the Raspberries. Well, I guess that is OK, since ...

I heard about the new Josh Garrels album, Love & War & The Sea In Between, from The Rabbit Room, NoiseTrade, and a friend at nearly the same time. I have ...

w00t! We have tickets to the midnight show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 for tonight at 12:01am.  Mackenzie, Chase, Kayleigh, Matt, and I w...

This morning in the shower doubtful thoughts about Christianity were attempting to enter into my thinking like 10,000 Uruk-Hai trying to enter Helm’s Deep. Relent...

Cousinswaiting for the pool to fill...oh, so slowly, originally uploaded by wenabell.Kell’s Irish Publucky ceiling @ Kell's, originally uploaded by wenabell.Trees...

Throwing frozen hamburger patties on a gas grill is not true grilling. It does require a lot of skill in flare-up management though. Think on the bright side.

I was happy to see Derek Jeter gain his 3,000th hit with a home run. I have always appreciated his clutch skill when watching him during the playoffs against my f...

Yes. Only in the Pacific Northwest.

the mischievous grin of my 13-year old son … a sudden hug from my 10-year old daughter … Burgerville cheeseburgers with extra spread … a hot shower at the end of ...

Speaking of running, Wendy successfully completed her first half marathon on Sunday. She ran it with her running buddy Cara. For those of you on Facebook, you kno...

Wendy and I ran a casual 4 mile run this morning. Casual until the last half-mile when we ran up a hill we strive normally to avoid. Amazingly, we ran up with lit...

Nick Nowalk, whose quotes have graced this site before, writes a frightening essay on the significance of sexual sin for the right thinking of individuals, and li...

spring moss, originally uploaded by wenabell.This picture, again taken by my talented and godly wife, reminds me of the Pacific Northwest. It was taken at the Uof...

The menu for today’s Memorial Day barbecue included grilled burritos as part of the main course.We started by grilling chicken breasts seasoned with olive oil, cu...

We spent today, Memorial Day, with our dear friends, the Crutchmers, who are longing to help provide theological education to pastors in Finland. We played soccer...

In formal writing, the future tense requires shall for the first person, will for the second and third. The formula to express the speaker’s belief regarding his ...

I ran a half marathon this morning. Not an actual race, but the same distance. 13.11 miles in 2:05:00. I am very thankful that it was still in the mid-fifties.

For as far back as my early college years I have always had a strange notion that when I get to heaven I would be able to ask strange statistical questions and&nb...

21 years ago, originally uploaded by wenabell.Can you guess what this is?

“The use of like for as has its defenders; they argue that any usage that achieves currency becomes valid automatically. This, they say, is the way the language i...

I am very thankful that the Bible does not sugarcoat anything. Even the greatest of prophets hated their life and the work to which they were called. Just before ...

“Here Tolkien enables Andreth to remain profoundly faithful to both the Bible and Christian tradition. Genesis’s second creation account envisions our humanity as...

rhododendron, originally uploaded by wenabell.I love that Wendy has such talent with nature shots. She captures things I usually just walk by. This picture has NO...

“Jesus has many lovers of his kingdom of heaven, but he has few bearers of his cross. Many desire his consolation, but few desire his tribulation. He finds many c...

Christopher Hitchens with advice to writers in a recent Vanity Fair article:“Don’t say that as a boy your grandmother used to read to you, unless at that stage of...

I snoop around the Rabbit Room because I like its proprietor.There are two beautiful paragraphs in an excellent article written by Lanier Ivester that I am going ...

In Leviticus 16, the word Azazel is used four times. In fact, Azazel is only used four times in the entire Bible, all in Leviticus 16. This wouldn’t be too big a ...

“Sometimes it’s books or songs that tear away at the carefully crafted shackles we have allowed around our wrists, the bonds that blind us to the evident wonder o...

My godly bride took up running two years ago. I have been chasing her around the house for over twenty years; now I have to actually get outside to try and catch ...

I am thankful that a I have the opportunity to work from home a day or two per week. In January an average fill-up at the gas station ran me $53. Today it is runn...

The post just before this one, titled “Your Help is Found in Christ,” was the 300th post on this blog.I didn’t think about it or plan it, but it is fitting that a...

I have a very dear friend who has suffered much. He is the most joyful man I know. I am reposting his blog entry from today because his quote of Spurgeon is so go...

This is a repost from Justin Taylor’s Between Two Worlds:From an interview with with Albert Mohler in TableTalk magazine:Although there are many, is there one les...

Did you hear that they were casting for the live action version of The Incredibles?

“A paradoxical noun because it means beauty but is itself one of the ugliest words in the language. Same goes for the adjectival form pulchritudinous. They’re par...

visitor, originally uploaded by wenabell.Wendy caught this bird on the deck yesterday. The snow had melted and the birds were out.Does anyone know what kind of bi...

Recently, a buddy of mine told me that he wanted to buy a grill and asked me what he should get and if there were any accessories he should look for. The followin...

Douglas Wilson points his acerbic wit towards “seven memes for keeping Christians in their place” in a post today. All of them are good and worth thinking through...

“Even so, we must face the fact that God’s interaction with his creation is not always constructive and restorative but is often shockingly destructive. It is tru...

OK, so if I were a cool artistic hipster type who had my own website and domain, I might create my own logotype. If I did that, I might try to come up with a tag ...

There is a delightful pleasure derived when serving a meal that is really enjoyed by those eating it. After last week’s rookie but successful run at a barbecued c...

I was hungry last Saturday. Usually when I’m hungry that means I want to make something that would taste good. Well, that has turned out to be the main reason I g...

I had a thought this morning as I was trying to wake up and get out of bed. Strange, I know.“It seems likely that an unbiblical response to suffering in the Chris...

Mom, and any one else stumbling by who knows my friend Joe, check out the latest video of his son and the alphabet.

This quote is from a blog post advertising a Christian artist conference, and furthermore, from The Jesus Storybook Bible, but it is a great quote nonetheless:“Th...

Two things came together yesterday to cause this post. The first was a paragraph quoted by Alan Jacobs on his common-book website, More than 95 Theses, and re-twe...

I have written before about Tom Schreiner being one of my heroes. It is good to have heroes. It is also good when they are mild-mannered scholars.I have not writt...

For those creative, and not-so creative types:But as the mists of my dullness gradually cleared, the truth broke with a light that pierces to this day: she was pr...

Back at the end of January, I attempted to barbecue steak and potatoes. You can read about the attendant failures here. The disappointments of that cold January n...

rose, originally uploaded by wenabell.

As linked from Daring Fireball, look here. Please go look. They are fantastic.

What do we choose to imagine, when we choose? The answer is always revelatory, which is one of the reasons Chesterton was right to say that “the simple need for s...

Alan Jacobs:The other day a homeschooling parent, whose child is in the ninth grade, wrote to me to ask what books I thought are essential for a young person to h...

Then came riding into the fray a young man — twenty-five at the time — named Gilbert Keith Chesterton, who, though a young journalist and an intellectual himself,...

“It is also worth noting that the rise of literary scholarship is roughly contemporaneous with the move of the realistic novel to the center of literary experienc...

“One reason [the term invention disappeared from the vocabulary of literary criticism] involves the development of literary criticism as an academic discipline, s...

birthday girl - 10 years today, originally uploaded by wenabell.I love you, baby girl!

From the TUAW post...The new application contains details on every major league game played from 1952 to 2010. That's more than 115,000 games!The application uses...

Likewise, Wycliffe, for all his faith in the power of boys who drive plows to know their Bibles, makes it clear that Scripture exhibits its clarity only to those ...

clouds, originally uploaded by wenabell.Can I say again how much I love my wife? Not just because I think she takes great pictures, but because she is great. I am...

I love buffalo hot wings. I have even developed a taste for Bleu Cheese dressing to go with them; it balances the spicy hot goodness with cool creaminess. Yes.But...

The last post is a quote from a book I am reading regarding two kingdoms theology, Living in God’s Two Kingdoms, by David VanDrunen. The subtitle is “A Biblical V...

“Though we still live in this world, with all of its limitations, temptations, and hardships, our true identity even now is as citizens of a heavenly kingdom wher...

more than 95 theses:James Wellman’s fascinating Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest compares and contrasts evangelic...

I have a lot of thoughts about this post and, if I were a good blogger, would write them down. But, I am not a good blogger, so I will only quote a paragraph or t...

Snarky JackFM radio spot overheard while driving to a meeting today...“You can now download the Radio.com app for your Android phone. Wow. Because you could downl...

This is simply a re-post from Alan Jacobs, but it ties nicely with the reality of our opportunities growing thin as time marches on...“Such wistful desire to evad...

“I am convinced that poets are toddlers in a cathedral, slobbering on wooden blocks and piling them up in the light of the stained glass. We can hardly make anyth...

Lonely Tree—Sepia, originally uploaded by wenabell.Lonely Tree—Black and White, originally uploaded by wenabell.

What started out almost perfectly, I will sadly tell you at the outset, ended in near disaster. I could lie, show you the pictures displayed below, and tell you t...

breakfast, originally uploaded by wenabell.

Quote from my oldest as she left the house tonight...“Oh my. It’s 24 out. What do we need coats for?”

steaming soup on a cold day, originally uploaded by wenabell.

“The task of adding new lines and sentences and paragraphs to one’s collection can become an ever tempting substitute for reading, marking, learning, and inwardly...

I am reading a collection of essays titled, Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant, by an author, blogger, essayist that I increasingly enjoy reading, Alan Jac...

One of the banes of my personality is procrastination. When I a was an engineer, I used the phrase “Do the hard thing first,” repeatedly in an attempt to keep mys...

I am re-posting this from my friend’s blog The Works of God. I find Sproul’s distinction between ultimate and proximate very helpful.R.C. Sproul on Romans 8:28:Go...

Since I am not on Twitter or Facebook, I will write a purposeless “what am I up to now statement” in this outdated mode of social media, a.k.a. blog.I am down to ...

Charles Colson writes today in his BreakPoint article,Since 1973, [Walter Hoy] notes, over 14.5 million black babies have been killed by abortion. Every, single d...

snowflake, originally uploaded by wenabell.My wife is ah-may-zing. Click on this photo to see more at her flickr site. She had to stay outside and freeze to get t...

From Daring Fireball:Ars Technica reports:Apple’s own Phil Schiller assured the press that Verizon would not be loading up the device with crapware, too. “We want...

A paragraph from a recent Run of Play post—A Wrinkle in Time—that wonderfully portrays the reality of opportunity costs. And, no, he is not talking about American...

Tony Sumpter wrote an excellent post over at Credenda.org about pride and guilt that ties in with much of what has been both in and behind the posts on this blog....

My son and I have been competing on an iPod Touch app called Infinity Blade. I taunted him last night because I reached level 45 and obtained the Infinity Blade—t...

There are activities that seem to fall into a few different camps. The camps are Love to Do, Hate to Do, Good At, and Bad At. Any activity can have the following ...

In many of my recent, apparently varied posts (i.e. Harry Potter, opportunity costs, and even grilling) there has existed—in my mind, at least—a common theme. Thi...

Apple-brined Barbecue TurkeyDid I mention that I am baking also...Silky-Smooth Cheesecake.

“At the Q gathering in 2010, urbanologist Richard Florida observed that young adults meeting one another no longer ask, ‘What do you do?’ They ask, ‘Where do you ...

lily, originally uploaded by wenabell.Lily

Wendy dragged me out of bed in summer and fall 2009 to start running. She had started four months earlier and part of what got me out of bed was guilt that she wa...

Not much, I know, but it is better than 2008 and 2009 combined.Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor, by D. A. CarsonThe Return of the King, by J. R. R. Tolkien...

A former classmate, Nick Nowalk, wrote this post, which has much to do with all that I have been writing and thinking lately. The post is titled, “Why I Read Fant...

A former classmate of mine, Wesley Hill, has written a book titled, Washed and Waiting.Another former classmate of mine, Nick Nowalk, reviewed Wesley’s book on it...

As I have written before, I am moody and prone to extremes. I have noticed over the years that my extremes can play havoc with the way that I see and understand t...

huge boots, originally uploaded by wenabell.Wendy's most popular (by views) photo from her flickr site.

I have spent the last four hours alone while Wendy and the kids were out. It is interesting that I can miss them so much when I love being alone as much as I do. ...

“Handed-down wisdom and worked-up information remain the double piers of a cook’s life. The recipe book always contains two things: news of how something is made,...

Very blessed.

The Gospel story, wherein Jesus was incarnated, lived a sinless life, died a sin-filled death, was resurrected, and now sits at the right hand of God, is glorious...

2010 has been a big year. Wendy and I celebrated 20 years of marriage, I turned 40, and I entered fully into my second career. (The first career was in civil engi...

From AyJay's "more than 95 theses"...“There are many people – happy people, it usually appears – whose thoughts at Christmas always turn to books. The notion of a...

Now that our family’s friendship with Harry Potter is public knowledge, I can begin to move into what I really want to write about. In previous posts, I wrote the...

Someone recently learned that I celebrated my 40th birthday in 2010 and asked if we had a big shindig. Yes, we did. Because I don’t like birthdays, nor do I like—...

layered spices, originally uploaded by wenabell.This is a double mix of my favorite barbecue rub. After this shot, we mixed it up real good. One tablespoon per po...

candy canes, originally uploaded by wenabell.

Hooded Merganser pair, originally uploaded by wenabell.I think my wife is awesome, so I want to highlight things she does well. I think photography is one of them...

“What you’ve probably discovered, at least at some level, is that a calendar, though important, can really effectively manage only a small portion of what you nee...

I grew up with a stepfather who loved to barbecue. When seasons changed and I moved out in 1989, somehow I inherited his 22.5” Weber black porcelain grill. I was ...

My son’s definition of hypothetical: Really pathetic.

I have been writing quite a few posts regarding books, reading, and specifically Harry Potter. Since our family started reading Potter, we have encountered strang...

Alan Jacobs quotes the following in his recent post. As he says, it is a “wonderful passage from Edward Mendelson’s book The Things That Matter.” I re-quote it he...

 Biblical theology indicates that God has progressively revealed himself to his people. God revealed more of himself to Moses than Abraham, and more to Paul ...

My children began complaining about having nothing to read in early summer 2010. Please try to understand how painful this is. Mackenzie and Chase had just finish...

Between the Voice of Prophecy broadcast and 2004, nothing happened to change my mind from a negative view of Potter. Once we arrived in Minneapolis several events...

A little over a week ago, our hot water heater died. It simply went kaput and stopped working. No gas flame, and rusty water all over the floor. We actually had t...

One of my children has—for the first time ever—seen a first run film before me, on opening day, no less. A travesty.Dawn Treader, in her words, is “not like the b...

John Gruber, in response to Philip Elmer-DeWitt’s analysis:“That’s crazy. If Verizon gets the iPhone next year, they’ll sell a million on the first day.”Read Dari...

Apparently the post at Hogwarts has recently been filled.(HT: AyJay and litfolksarehip)

In 2004, when we moved to Minnesota, I was convinced that I was coming to train to be a pastor. It is difficult to explain how convinced I was of this. Not only w...

It appears that certain traits are just part of being a fallen human. For instance, forgetting something previously learned and having to learn it again is human....

I know of a prominent Christian pastor/speaker/blogger/writer that has been reading about one book per week for decades. The wife of one of my pastors set a goal ...

Following a rabbit trail turning off of the previous post….In 1997, when the Bible suddenly became real to me in a new way, I swept my bookshelves clean of all fi...

As I continue with my posts on literature and Harry Potter, I think it helpful to give a bit of back-story. I have been reading fiction my entire life, beginning ...

I remember the moment quite vividly. It was sometime in the late 1990s, probably late 1998. I was driving into the garage of our first home, listening to the Voic...

While the main reason I haven’t posted since my anniversary is because my job has consumed too much time and energy, another significant reason has been an intern...

Today is the 20th anniversary of being married to my best friend, lover, and partner in everything. She has put up with a lot in the last 20 years. She is God's g...

“Life is deadly serious and wonderfully joyful.”—Pastor David Livingston during Wednesday morning prayer.

ChipotleCheck out picture 219 at the link above.[Update: Chipotle changed their site and our picture disappeared, but they still sent me TEN free burrito cards. H...

See the post from John Gruber of Daring Fireball. He writes:I say the unsung hero of Empire is screenwriter Leigh Brackett. George Lucas wrote the story, but Brac...

This boy from Washington State absolutely loves mornings like this. It is raining relatively hard, lighting is slamming the Shoreview Towers, and thunder is rolli...

One of my elders at Bethlehem is one of those Godly men that you point to when someone asks you what a Christian is. At this point in my life, I know I don't trus...

Conversation overheard at a local high school:“I threw a tomato at the wall yesterday, but my parents didn't do anything. Nothing I do anymore phases them.”If we,...

A year or so ago, an Indy Christian band called Page CXVI put out an album of hymns that had been filtered through their musical style. The issue of hymns in the ...

19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,and I will change their shame into praise and renown...

spring lily, originally uploaded by wenabell.Wen got a new macro lens and is going to town. Check out her flickr site to see more. Yes, she is my wife, but I thin...

Way to Earn Loyalty #1:I took my iPod Touch in to the Apple store this morning because somehow dust had gotten behind the screen and was visible whether the iPod ...

“These three ‘literary Brits’ [C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Dorothy Sayers] shared more than a lively Christian faith, the writing of imaginative literatur...

“On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.”—King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Some days my mind is cloudier than others. It is relatively easy to ask big why questions of God when we see photos of Haiti or Chile. When we are closed up in ou...

The weather forecast shows 70% chance for precipitation on Wednesday. Several times during the last week of sunny days, I realized that this Washington boy longs ...

My Friend posted what he considers to be the “best definition of theology I’ve ever read.” Here is the full quote:“Dogmatics is the system of the knowledge of God...

A friend of mine reposted a quote regarding friendship, Facebook, and technology. The gist is that technology should not attempt to represent friendships. The pur...

“Fine,” Henry said. “Once my family is free and Flax gets them out, the rest of you can fight where you will or go home.” He pointed at Fat Frank. “Make sure they...

I just finished N. D. Wilson’s latest book, The Chestnut King. Wow. It was fantastic. The Chestnut King was the third and final installment in the 100 Cupboards s...

“A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is. You tell a story because a s...

ND Wilson has become my kids’ favorite author. His latest book, The Chestnut King, moved into the top three books ever for Kenz and the top one for Kayleigh.I beg...

Son: Elizabeth has a guinea pig.Dad: Why would she have a pygmy goat?Eldest daughter: It's name should be Higby, the pygmy goat.Son: Higpee, the pigby goat?Younge...

"Yes, that's so," said Sam. "And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things i...

Christianity is no longer about changing the world. Christianity is no longer about facing the darkness and walking into shadow with souls full of light. We don't...

I see craft in the world. I cannot watch dust swirl on the sidewalk without seeing God drag His finger, or listen to spring rain running in the streets without he...

Every soul waits in the wings. Every life taken in age, tired and ready, taken in youth, in shock and sorrow, taken in pain or taken in peace, every needle now hi...

I work for Bethlehem College and Seminary, and am happy to pour out my life for an institution that seeks to raise up men and women to treasure Christ in every sp...

Answer from John Piper:

Okay, so I am going to copy Doug Wilson's post in its entirety, mainly because I laughed out loud.The EPA, under the adroit leadership of Saruman, has now declare...

Our recent drive to Washington passed through Montana. We talked a lot about what it might have been like to be the first people to walk through that area. Who fo...

“We err in that we judge the work of God according to our own feelings, and regard not His will but our own desire. This is why we are unable to recognize His wor...

Switchfoot's new album Hello Hurricane is a lot of fun. It is loud and rowdy and has lots of Jon Foreman screaming. One of their songs, Made a Mess of Me (iTunes ...

I often think that I am schizophrenic when it comes to my career. We moved to Minneapolis believing that I was called to teach and preach the Word of God. Over th...

I have thought a lot lately about how I should be ministering better to the non-Christians I have contact with, as well as the Christians that I have the privileg...

A friend speaks face-to-face. (Exo 33:11)A close friend can be described as one “who is as your own soul.” (Deut 13:6)A friend is expected to be loyal. (2 Sam 16:...

This week, someone close enough to know some particulars about our life gave us a gift anonymously. Since we don't know who you are, we are spreading our thanksgi...

Some people who know us have questioned why we home school our children. Hey, even I have. My first answer is that I want my kids to be able to think for themselv...

I have written about Sara Groves in this space before. She is easily in my top five favorite musicians, if not the top three. Her music never fails to elicit some...

The title of this post is a direct rip-off of Rich Mullins' song, "The Maker of Noses." You can google it to see the fantastic words.I have been in a meeting all ...

HT: Wendy

Check out this statistical website. If you do, make sure you have the time to dink around, as it is very addicting—and informative.http://www.gapminder.orgHT: Chip

I am working at home today and my son came down and asked if he could ask me a question. Sure."I am reading 1 Samuel 15 for Omnibus today and I read that God regr...

Abell 370: Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Lens Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team & ST-ECF Explanation: What is that strange arc? While imagin...

I could not let this picture go by with out referencing it here. From the September 9, 2009 Astronomy Picture of the Day: Star Trails Over Oregon Credit & C...

"The question is not whether you have a theology. Every person has a theology. The question is whether your theology is good or bad."—Quoted in various forms by l...

"The thief on the cross repented at the very last, but as a wise Puritan put it, God gave us one last minute conversion in Scripture so that no one would despair,...

The gracious folks at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN, invited me back to preach on two Sundays earlier this month. The two sermons are below. Right-c...

Gordon Fee writes regarding the chapter break at 1 Thess 2:1:While these aid in "finding" things, they are unfortunate in that they cause people to read the Bible...

I grew up escaping life into fiction. I went through a comic book phase, but mostly I read plain old escapist fiction. Starting in 3rd grade I read Narnia over an...

Andrew Peterson:I remember feeling something when I was a kid. It’s this tickle behind your bellybutton, a sense that you’re brushing up against something magical...

Doh!

Way back in the day when I was in a small church youth group, the youth pastor repeatedly taught on what he called "The Lie." He would quote Romans 1:24-25, "Ther...

There is a good deal to be said for excluding literature from school curricula altogether. I am not sure that the best way to make a boy love the English poets mi...

But there is a profound misunderstanding here. These well-meaning educationalists are quite right in thinking that literary appreciation is a delicate thing. What...

Since I began formal theological studies in 2004, I have been using BibleWorks as my preferred Bible software. I have often argued for this software over Accordan...

To save any word from the eulogistic and dyslogistic abyss is a task worth the efforts of all who love the English language. And I can think of one word—the word ...

The truth is not simply that words originally innocent tend to acquire a bad sense. The vocabulary of flattery and insult is continually enlarged at the expense o...

Is it wrong to motivate a congregation toward holy living by holding up the Thessalonians as an example to imitate? No, I don’t think so, because Paul indicates t...

The other night we read Luke 11:1-13 as a family. Now, to be perfectly honest this passage of Scripture has always eluded me. For those of you who get this text r...

I have a friend (here and here) who has introduced me to the world of typography. I am a total neophyte, but hopefully I am learning. I ran across this new typefa...

Justin Taylor quotes Mark Dever saying that having a millennial view written into a church's statement of faith is sin. Having experienced this sort of thing firs...

Douglas Wilson writes,But people act the way they do because of sin. And if sin made sense, it wouldn't be sin. This is the mystery of lawlessness. A man can enga...

Today is the 19th anniversary of being married to my best friend, lover, and partner in everything. She has had to put up with a lot of crap in the last 19 years....

The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by 'the veil of familiarity'. The c...

But in the Tolkienian world you can hardly put your foot down anywhere from Esgaroth to Forlindon or between Ered Mithrin and Khand, without stirring the dust of ...

Since it is so likely that they [children growing up in this world] will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Oth...

It is usual to speak in a playfully apologetic tone about one's adult enjoyment of what are called 'children's books'. I think the convention a silly one. No book...

Until, that is, he came under the altogether benign influence of a fellow don at Oxford, Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. Not only was Tolkien a Christian, but, as Lew...

"You know," Henry said. He was talking more to himself than the faerie, trying to believe something. "A man once told me that sometimes winning a fight isn't as i...

Ron was silent for a moment. Then he spoke. "Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is right to...

Henry successfully kept his mind on the game, which might seem strange for a boy who slept beside a wall of magic. But baseball was as magical to him as a green, ...

Douglas Wilson writes,Three solutions present themselves—two of them false and one true. The first false solution is to continue to hide the sin, on one's own ter...

Windows Secrets, a popular online newsletter for Windows users, had the following lead-in to their top story, written by Woody Leonhard:If you've ever wondered wh...

Chase's team was down 8 to 0. Yes, the big fat zero. Chase was up to bat. Two strikes. One ball. Lined one into the outfield for a double. Stole third. Third base...

(HT: Desiring God)

"True freedom before God is the freedom to do what is right as God defines what is right."This quote is from Doug Wilson when discussing Augustine's definition of...

Often times, when men talk about lust, they put the onus on the word lust. I lusted yesterday. While this is true, I think the word has taken on a milder connotat...

Years ago I led a Sunday school class through the doctrine of election. I had wonderful Christian friends in that class who really struggled with accepting the do...

Christian Audio's free download of the month: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian LifeEnter code: MAR2009

A slight modification from a recent post on TUAW:Windows VistaIf you play the Windows Vista CD-ROM backwards, you'll hear a satanic message. That's frightening. E...

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.3 Indeed, n...

Ligonier Ministries has published a new book, The Christian Lover. The book is filled with love letters between spouses written by heroes of the faith over the ce...

Our brains have an amazing capacity to be messed up. The mental problems that normal people face can be excruciating. Of course, the mental problems that people c...

A good friend of mine has a blog. You might want to check it out. Yesterday, he placed a quote from Chesterton that I think is worth repeating and thinking about....

Stephen Nichols continues:The second teaching moment of apostasy lit concerns the Christian environment. Thankfully, correcting the stifling environment is far l...

Raising four children is a difficult thing, especially if you are a Christian and want your children to have a deep and saving faith. There are pitfalls and teach...

more music charts

"I am not saying that Obama had any connection with this particular eBay treatment of his old Senate seat. But he had lots of connections with lots of other funny...

I had the pleasure of preaching at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN last Sunday. My sermon on Psalm 107 is available for listening. Right click to do...

My kids, who don't get to watch TV much, have still gleaned enough about the national election to be worried. It is not right if kids are worried about the state...

A Meditation on Matthew 3:13-17John stared naively at Jesus, words forming on his lips, but no sound coming out. Water lapped at their garments. Finally, he said...

A new website for the "becoming" Bethlehem College and Seminary is up.

In regard to a previous post on Christian music and where all the good music went, I have been pondering what music I listened to in the 1990s.  Clearly, the most...

you who live in heavenhear the prayers of those of us who live on earthwho are afraid of being left by those we loveand who get hardened by the hurtdo you remembe...

See this wikipedia link.(HT: Adiaphora)

One of the most comforting words that God has spoken into my life the last two months has been this psalm. It begins with a rejoicing cry, “Oh give thanks to the...

My son's reason for not writing a book report longer than one page. Double-spaced.

Apparently, there are still people who worry about nuclear holocaust and the extinction of mankind, including some prominent American politicians. Read Chuck Col...

My oldest daughter came and sat on my bed last night, while I was sitting at my desk grading her latest essay. She saw some blog post on my screen about politics...

Okay, I have been driven to write this post because of what is going on in our house and the recent posts of 1) a friend, and 2) an acquaintance.We have become ti...

Okay, I am totally naive, know next to nothing about the financial crisis, and don't know who I am going to vote for, only who I am NOT going to vote for. It wou...

Click here.

I realize that there is a lot more going on in Ecclesiastes than meets the eye. Is there one writer or two? Is it Solomon or not?Yet, there are nuggets of truth...

1Pet. 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of th...

One of my pastors visited a couple in the hospital this last weekend whose adult son had been involved in a heavy equipment accident. Apparently a hydraulic hose...

Gracious fathers lead their sons through the minefield of sin. Indulgent fathers watch their sons wander off into the minefield. Legal fathers chase them there.Re...

...without acknowledging that it is the first day of my favorite season...Autumn

What caption should be here?

The reason for this is that all men are separated from God because of their true moral guilt. God exists, God has a character, God is a holy God; and when men si...

Woohoo! My commute just went from 35 minutes each way to 17 minutes each way. The I-35W bridge is finished and I drove over it this morning! I am sure that tho...

The first point that we must make is that it is impossible even to begin living the Christian life, or to know anything of true spirituality, before one is a Chri...

Here.

I just received an email from a fellow student at The Bethlehem Institute:Hey friends,I wanted to let you all know that BibleArc.com has been updated. There are q...

Some days, the seriousness of life makes me want to cry. At those times, and others, of course, a little laugh-out-loud satire is pleasant.But in the meantime, w...

You have to read this. Justin Taylor provides the closing paragraphs to an article by a feminist liberal woman named Camille Paglia. This woman has unashamedly ...

wordle.net

The moon between our Two Towers -- without a tripod.

"Most denominations have done studies in worship and may even review it frequently; they have also produced books that set forth their worship and their hymns. T...

Acedia [uh-see-dee-uh] Laziness or indifference in religious matters.A significant part of Norris' agenda is to distinguish acedia from depression: two intersecti...

I need to explain that last quote, not necessarily for my two readers, but for myself. Why, indeed, would I post such a quote with all of its two-bit philosophic...

"I replaced her rings, her bracelets, her combs, before I closed the grave, and that was Lorraine. All that she had ever been or wanted to be had come to this, a...

I have seen it written (I just can't remember where - maybe here or here) that posting quotes from books you are reading without providing your own commentary is ...

On Friday night, Wendy and I and two friends were driving through Elliot Park neighborhood in Minneapolis. We saw something moving across the road. I slowed dow...

I know that this has been seen over 18,000,000 times (as of right now), but it is still hilarious - and catchy too.

(HT: The Bethlehem Institute)

I stumbled upon a church website near my home town the other day. Here is how they described their worship:At Journey we believe that connecting with our Savior ...

Wendy and I (especially Wendy) are challenged by how to feed a family of six in a healthy way. In light of our desire to feed our family well and of the Olympics...

One of the things that makes a story a good story is when all the loose threads are tied up in the end. A story that weaves an intricate tapestry but leaves many...

I have been reading The Brothers Karamazov, and was struck by a sentence. Ivan, the atheist brother, is talking with Alyosha, the hero of the story who is a monk...

A new curriculum will be available August 2008 from The Bethlehem Institute Title: Abortion Is About God: Reframing a Moral Issue Short Description: "Abor...

Sunday morning, on our way to church, we drove down Highway 96 and I contemplated the median. The curbed median had been landscaped, with trees and flowers and s...

The first eleven verses of Psalm 74 are a cry out to the Lord for help. The “enemy” of the Lord, the Lord’s “foes” are destroying the meeting places of God. The...

There are some big decisions going on in our lives right now: what job should we move towards (there are several options), should we visit Kentucky in April, what...

After I finished thinking about God hearing us, I thought about other things in the Bible that could be comparable. Specifically I thought about how David wrote ...

I have been stressed at work lately, and this morning as I drove in I attempted to pray. As I looked at the masses of people in cars around me, I wondered how co...

Click below to listen to a recent lesson I taught on John 10:1-21. There has been a lot of problems with audio lately, as the first ten minutes of this teaching ...

This is the best and shortest description of what it means to be emerging vs. emergent that I know of. If you care about the church, and recognize that there is ...

I had the privilege of preaching at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN last Sunday. Here is the audio for the sermon titled I and the Father are One.Ple...

I read about this from Justin Taylor's blog, Between Two Worlds, and I thought it was definitely worth reproducing here. To find the main Puritan Reading Challen...

In the third book of C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, That Hideous Strength (Collier, 1986, p. 353), Lewis describes the mindset of the chief villain. It is frightenin...

Jason had the pleasure of worshiping with Riverside Church this morning and providing the message. Click to listen to the sermon on Galatians 3:10-14.

As Christmas approaches, the Bible has struck me in a new way when talking about Jesus. Christmas has always been an amazing time to think about how a baby in a ...

I had the pleasure of preaching to the Bethlehem Career Adults today. The sermon is available here.

Between July 14 and September 26, we attended four funerals. The first funeral was for Wendy’s dad, killed by an incredibly rare form of cancer. The second fune...

John Piper on the prosperity gospel.(HT: Joe Rigney)

Be careful, some background language...(HT: Mom)

In February, 2007, Pastor Tom Steller and I had the opportunity to fly to my hometown of Vancouver, WA, and teach a weekend seminar on the Bible study method call...

Clicking on the link below will play the very first sermon that I ever preached to a congregation. I had taught in Sunday school situations for over five years, ...

From Chuck Colson's Breakpoint:In October, surgeons removed 500ccs of bone marrow from Carron’s left hip. The cells were cultivated, and four hours later, 30 mill...

Mark Dever (and others!) have noticed a resurgence in the Doctrines of Grace (or Calvinism), especially among younger Evangelicals. In an effort to analyze this ...

Every parent's fear is to have a rebellious, wayward child. Sometimes, despite the best effort at raising a child for Christ, they rebel.Abraham Piper was such a...

I remember my years in elementary school. All that I longed to do was go outside and play. Once I learned to ride a bike, we went all over the county (literally...

For those of you with children, we think you will appreciate this "ditty."(HT: Between Two Worlds)

Wendy's father passed away on July 5, and our family life has been dominated by this event for the last three weeks. If you have experienced death before, you kn...

On Wednesday afternoon, August 1, 2007, at approximately 6:05 PM, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi river collapsed. It was also my first day of full-time wo...

I had the amazing privilege of learning from Dr. Tom Schreiner this past week. I took a modular class on Galatians where we spent 9 months translating, diagrammi...

The most devastating news for a sinner is that Jesus rose from the dead. This news is devastating because it means that Jesus really is God, he really does reig...

D. A. Carson writes (Still Sovereign, Baker, 259):One must not conclude…that new covenant believers are anywhere promised moral and spiritual perfection this side...

Our church hosts what they call “First Friday Films,” which happens (usually) on the first Friday of every month. A documentary film with a global message is typ...

Have you ever noticed that the Bible commands you to feel something? Here are some texts: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Rom...

"If the affections of the soul are not supremely fixed on God, and if our dominant desire and primary goal is not to possess God's favor and to promote His glory,...

Naturalism ad absurdum. Read a rebuttal of Dawkins by Alvin Plantinga.The God Delusion is an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in God in p...

Apparently, this article from the Washington Post has been heavily discussed in the Blogosphere for the past several weeks. The Desiring God blog and my friend N...

Jonathan Edwards writes (Religious Affections, Yale, 312-314):The essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility, as becomes a creature, in itself e...

C.H. Spurgeon writes (Lectures to My Students, Zondervan, 331):Have you not by this time discovered that flattery is as injurious as it is pleasant? It softens t...

Sin is sin. Blatant immoral sin certainly leaves behind a mess; simply look at the many prominent Christian ministers who have shipwrecked on the rock of sexual ...

Derek Webb releases a new album and graphic novel tie-in on May 1. Yes, you read that correctly, "graphic novel tie-in." The album is titled The Ringing Bell.

I preached my second of two sermons for preaching class on February 25, 2007. The assignment was to preach on any Old Testament text.Right click here and choose ...

When most of us think of social justice we think of Darfur or human trafficking or the right-to-life. However, I wonder if this article shows another form of so...

This is why my kids are learning to play the piano. I would love to see them play like this to the glory of God.(HT: Nate)

One of the things that keeps me from being in the same stratosphere as many of my classmates is that I am not bothered by the Bible like they are. Let me give an...

Hello Jason,This is John Doe from Northwestern College, and I'm in Dr. Jason DeRouchie’s Biblical Worldview: Personal Responsibility class. Dr. DeRouchie has req...

A lot has happened since the last post. One of the biggest things was a trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the Together for the Gospel Conference. About thirty pa...

Last Saturday night, April 15, Chase and I had the good pleasure of attending a Minnesota Twins baseball game in the Metrodome. The Twins were playing the Yankee...

Many years ago, a trilogy of books was placed on my shelves as a gift. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis, despite good intentions, has sat there ever since. Have ...

It is amazing to me how quickly time flies. I wanted to write about this last Thursday, and am just now getting to it.As part of the Easter season at Bethlehem B...

The following sentence is controversial: We are reading Huckleberry Finn to the kids before bed. Despite the controversial nature of that, it was quite interest...

After much prayer and discussion, Wendy and I decided that we would extend our time in TBI to three years. The Bethlehem Institute is set up to be a two year pro...

I know that seminary professors do not make the top-fifty-most-famous-people edition of your favorite tabloid; however, it is amazing to me how many truly amazing...

Nine times in two years our church holds TBI seminars that are open to the whole church and required for the TBI Track 2 guys. These seminars include topics like...

I have been meaning to write about this all week, but alas, now is my first chance to write.Monday morning we woke up with about nine new inches of snow on the gr...

Minnesota has a reputation for being cold in the winters. While there have been a few days this winter where the temperatures dipped below zero, the vast majorit...

Dad,We all wish you a happy birthday. We tried calling several times today and weren't able to get a hold of you. We trust your day was great.We love you!The Ab...

We have exciting news. Our bestest friends are going to fly their family out from good ol' Vancouver, WA to visit us next week. Trevis and Rebecca and the kids ...

Here are some corny jokes for you. These came in an unsolicited email. I think they are common enough that I don't need to give a source. Enjoy.1. How Do You C...

Strange things are afoot at the Abell home. After a hard day of math, Mackenzie seemed to have multiplied, and Chase flat out lost his head.

This last Monday through Wednesday was the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors. Over 1,200 pastors from around the world came to Minneapolis for this conference. T...

Proverbs 24:10-12 says:If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbl...

As I mentioned in the last post, here is a link to the sermon from last Sunday. It is well worth the read.Before Pastor Piper preached, our Lead Pastor for Life ...

Yesterday was a great day. It was one of those days where everything went right. First off, Pastor Piper recently announced that he has been diagnosed with pros...

Here is a picture for those of you who want to see a current image of us. We hope that the first week of your year is going well.All of last semester, I have bee...

Happy New Year! We wish you all a wonderful new year. May God bless you as you strive to find your joy in Him. For, as my pastor says, "God is most glorified i...

Have you ever tried to scream when you have no voice? Jason did his best to make the van spin and slide in the Target parking lot tonight. We got yet another sn...

It is the day after Christmas and all through the malls, people are taking back the stuff they asked for and don't want now...Oh, if we stop and think carefully, ...

On Thursday, I took my last final for the Reading the Greek New Testament class. It took almost three hours. After that I was pretty drained. Fortunately, Wend...

I clicked send on the email last night at 11:57 pm. The paper was not late if emailed by 11:59 pm. Barring any internet glitch, it was turned in on time. I really...

Today was a momentous day this week. I stayed up Sunday night and worked on my paper. At 5:00 am this morning, Wendy looked up from bed, looked at me working at...

I can hardly believe Christmas is almost here! I've been wrapping presents tonight, which I love to do! Jason is working on his paper. It's cram time for school. ...

Hello! We received about five inches of snow today. The kids loved it! You can see in the picture two birdhouses covered with snow.We hope that you are enjoyin...

It is Tuesday night and the weatherman says that we should be getting five to eight inches of snow between now and Thursday. That sounds kind of fun. Despite th...