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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...

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...

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...

(HT: Desiring God)

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...

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 ...

(HT: The Bethlehem Institute)

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

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...

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

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 ...

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. ...

“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...

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 ...

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...

“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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

"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...

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 ...

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...

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, ...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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;...

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 ...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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—...

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...

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...

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

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,...

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...

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, ...

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 ...

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...

“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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

 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 ...

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....

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...

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...

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:...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

(HT: The Bethlehem Institute)

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 ...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 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...

Very blessed.

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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, ...

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

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...

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

Here.

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 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...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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

"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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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

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...

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 ...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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.

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,...

“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...

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:...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

"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...

(HT: The Bethlehem Institute)

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

"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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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 ...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

See this wikipedia link.(HT: Adiaphora)

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

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...

Here.

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 ...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

“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.

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

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...

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....

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...

“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...

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...

Oy.

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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?

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 ...

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

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

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...

“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 ...

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...

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. ...

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—...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

HT: Wendy

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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

Click here.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...