January Staff Seminar

 The entire Staff Seminar was very illuminating for me, but here are a few things that Dr. Scott Sundquist and Herb Kolbe said that I wanted to share, without much further comment or explanation, but please let me know if you'd like to talk more about this stuff!

"The greatest scandal in the church today is our segregation.  Not only are we segregated, but, by and large, we see nothing wrong with that!"~Herb

"Every political party and entity is going to be critiqued by the gospel!  So with big issues, ask what somebody else thinks about them; ask a brother in Christ who does not look like you!"~Scott

"Principalities and Powers are trying to keep the gospel from having the impact it’s supposed to have in the world. They keeping people entrenched, instead of diversifying."~Herb

"Evangelizing is not done until it crosses ethnic barriers."  Read Luke 4:16-30  

~Scott

Read Revelation 7:9-17

"If a many language Heaven is where we’re going, let’s start moving now, because if we’re not, then we’re reinforcing the broken divisive world."  "Many Languages, One Lamb, No Tears" ~Scott

Let's join in the work Jesus is doing.  He invites us in to participate in the reconciliation of his world.  We must be careful not to make an idol of reconciliation in and of itself, but:

"Our responsibility as Christians is to reconcile others through Jesus, who wipes away every tear!"~Scott

Amen!!!

Quotes

We ought to think about getting tangled up.  The streamlined life is not worth living, Community and friendship are things to get tangled up in.  They aren't easy or efficient.  But they give meaning to our lives. -Greg Veltman, Comment Magazine, "Making Friends for Life", 2006.

To be a Christian is to work for the new humanity.  Jesus commands his followers to feed and clothe and visit and take care of those who need it.  They're fellow image-bearers, they're just like us, and when we love them, we're loving God-Rob Bell in "Sex God"

"To criticize pornography is not repressive," writes Jensen. "To speak about what one knows and feels and dreams is, in fact liberating.  We are not free if we aren't free to talk about our desire for an egalitarian intimacy and sexuality that would reject pain and humiliation.  That is not prudishness or censorship. . . It is to say that people matter more than the profits of pornographers and the pleasure of pornography consumers."  Dines asserts that speaking out against harmful sexuality makes us no more anti-sex than speaking out against unhealthy fast food makes us anti-eating.  We hate pornography precisely because we love sex so much!  As Christians, we affirm the beauty of the body and the sanctity of God's gift of sexuality.  Let us reclaim it, unashamedly.-From "Living in a Rape Culture", Prism Magazine, Sept/Oct. 2008

Kids

What can I say, we have cute kids:)  Ana is super excited about her big girl and Zeke finally rolled over!  

Hurricane Ike

We were effected by high winds from hurricane Ike.  We were without power for one week.
This is down our road, a street light blown over.

These trucks are parked here because there is a tree across the road preventing them from going any farther.

We had some of the crazy winds. Then the power went out on Sunday.  The college had power by Monday night, so we were able to eat meals in the dining hall.  We camped at out house for awhile and then eventually stayed with friends.  Our power returned Saturday night.

Baby Zeke

It's taken us a long time to finally post some pictures of Zeke and the fam. It is definitely much busier with 2 children. But, they are both well, cute, and fun! Ana continues to amaze us at her learning. She has also begun potty training! Here are some photos.