Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques for my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it to say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It’s rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
Eye am shore your pleased two no
It’s letter perfect awl the weigh
My checker tolled me sew.

Margo Roark.
The English Spelling Society

http://bit.ly/qe04RZ

I only lived under my dad’s direct influence for eighteen years and only twenty-seven years in total before he passed on. I have lived longer without his physical presence (almost forty years) than I was privileged to live with his physical presence. Out of the many things he taught me three come to mind today:

First, he taught me to be truthful by allowing me to experience the consequences of untruthfulness. I skipped school one day and told him I had attended. I was expelled by the school for three days because he turned me in. I thought I was going to have a small vacation from school. But, my dad had talked my boss into putting me to work for those three days without any pay for the work I did. It was a vivid lesson.

Second, he taught me the value of working for yourself instead of the other guy. In his seventy-seven year life, he worked for the other guy for a total of six months.

Three, the power of working hard and taking vacations was important. He was a barber for most of his life and an entrepreneur and owned several other businesses. In my teenage years, he took a two week vacation every summer. He had to shut down his one-man barber shop for those two weeks, which meant there was no income. So, he worked hard the other fifty weeks to have a vacation the two weeks.

My dad was a wonderful father. I think of him often and miss him to this day.

What life lessons did your dad teach you?

Share something that you learned yesterday. Notice something today.

Technology is wonderful. Yesterday, I watched as my daughter, Jeramie Joy, who has a heart pace maker, put a pad over the area where the pace maker is and pressed a button to a monitor which collected information form the devise inside her chest and then automatically dialed her cardiologist and downloaded the information to his computer. Amazing!

Another Sunday has come and gone in which I spent a short period of time inside a building where we followed a pattern that has come to be called church. We gather. We drink coffee and have surface conversation. We sing. We hear announcements. We listen or not to someone teach/preach. We are invited to ask God into our broken lives or we are beckoned to an altar to ask forgiveness of our sins. We drop by a glass with wine or juice and broken crackers and dip and eat or small shot glasses reminiscent of a bar are passed around with juice or wine and we call it communion. Yesterday as I left this weekly routine, I asked myself the same question that the song title asks: “Is that all there is?” Surely, the answer has to be no!

One wonders when we will change our paradigm. When will we discover that Sunday is the day of the week that should remind us that in Jesus we live in a new creation as new human beings with the assignment of demonstrating that new creation to others around us. Tom Wight asked in his recent book, Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today, the following question: “What are you going to do this Sunday that is creative, that brings justice and mercy, that offers healing and hope” (170). One has to wonder that instead of living to turn the world right side up, we continue to live in the world thinking its thoughts and practicing its actions. One wonders what would occur if we took Wright’s question seriously? One wonders why we are always inviting God to do something when he is working already nonstop? One wonders when we will comprehend that he is inviting us into what he is doing, inviting us into his unbroken world instead of us inviting him into our broken world. So, what are you going to do next Sunday that brings justice, mercy, healing and hope to your neck of the woods?

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” —Jimmy Dean

Goals are important. We either set them or we don’t. One thing is sure. If a person doesn’t have something to shoot at, she/he will most likely hit nothing or everything. Having no goals is like playing basketball without any baskets. One just dribbles and passes.

So in three areas, here’s what I’m shooting at in 2011.

Harmon Press
The goals here are:

• Publish 12 pbooks in 2011
• Publish 25-50 ebooks in 2011
• Publish 7 reprints

Personally, I have about 12 nonfiction books in different phases plus one novel. I would like to finish 3 of the nonfiction books and the one novel. In addition, I am writing two chapters for a book on Women in Ministry as part of a writing team. My chapters are: Why Is Interpretation Necessary and an Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11.2-16. This assignment should be fun.

Bakke Graduate University
Continue to serve in areas that will be helpful in forwarding the mission of that school along with a continued teaching role with students, helping them begin their dissertation process and helping others get a basic theological framework.

Personal
In 2010, I lost 36 pounds with a lifestyle change. I am aiming at 13 more pounds. To help my health along, I am starting a walking regiment very slowly so my heart can get a better supply of oxygen and I can burn off some of the excess sugar because of diabetes.

I wrote a paper for the Society of Vineyard Scholars which was accepted to be read at the annual meeting in February at the Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline, WA. It is their second annual conference. My paper focuses on a look at the Ten Commandments, looking at the idea that the first four commandments are the empowering commandments that give us impetus to live out the other six. Churches may be inadvertently producing sinners instead of saints by paying no attention to the literary structure of the Ten Great Words. In conjunction with that I am going to read five Psalms and one Proverb a day, completing the book of Psalms and Proverbs every month for the twelve months of 2011. Reading Psalms will help me continue my relationship with God, while reading the Proverbs will teach me more practical ways to live out the story of God with humankind.

I would like to teach a minimum of twelve times, once per month perhaps in churches around the Northwest or anywhere for that matter.

Sounds like a packed year, huh? So, there’s mine. What’s yours?

I look forward to this time of year. But, for some reason this year, it has just flown by. It seems like it was just summer. Time drags along when you are a kid, but it seems to be in warp speed the older I get.

Here’s a link to our annual Christmas letter. I trust you have a Merry Christmas and the greatest of New Years.

Last weekend I celebrated my 50th high school reunion in Florida. A classmate of mine from high school forwarded this. It was fun to read. For those who may not know Will Rogers died in 1935 plane crash with his best friend, Wiley Post. Below is a collection of sayings attributed to him.

• Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.
• Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
• There are two theories to arguing with a woman — Neither works.
• Never miss a good chance to shut up.
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
• The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket.
• There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.
• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
• If you’re riding’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.
• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier’n puttin’ it back.
• After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you’re full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

On Growing Older

• Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
• The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
• Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know ‘why’ I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren’t paved.
• When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
• You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
• I don’t know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
• One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
• One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
• Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
• Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it’s called golf.
• And finally, If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you are old.

BTW: I’m 68 years old. I think Will is spot on!

In his book Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation James K. A. Smith (I just love double middle initials because I am blessed with two middle initials, can middle really be two?), discusses the benefits of gutty learning verses heady learning as we experience being kingdom people. Dr. Smith will be the keynote speaker at the Second Annual Society of Vineyard Scholars (SVS) meeting “The Renewal Of Your Mind: Imagining, Describing, and Enacting the Kingdom of God” to be help in Seattle, February 3-5, 2011. You can discover more information here about the SVS meeting.

For those of you not familiar with the idea of gutty learning, you can get a preview by watching the video below. If that whets your appetite, you can purchase his book here. Listen up! It’s not too soon to mark your calendars, tell your social networks like Facebook and Twitter about this upcoming conference and start planning to attend. Let your gut help you make your decision!

Did you know:

• text messages outnumber phone calls in the US?
• 95% of all text messages are read within 15 Minutes?
• 17% of all text messages are forwarded Virally?
• 20% of people respond to a text message?
• twice as many people use text messaging as use email?
• 1/3 of human kind has mobile internet access?
• 1.8 billion people will send a text message today?

The marketers’ are coming!

With the new year often comes a New Year Resolution. These resolutions come in all kinds of forms. We all made them and most of them have been broken. It seems to be an endless cycle. One of the resolutions that followers of Jesus often make is a resolution to read the Bible through during the next year. That too, often falls by the wayside. One of the reasons is the call to move from hardly any consistent reading to a commitment to read for the next 365 days and not only that but read it, the text of Scripture, in a chopped up and very fragmented way. Read Genesis 1-2, then Read Matthew 1 or some other routine that tears at the very core of the storyline of the Bible.

So, here’s an alternative, Read the Bible Without Additives in 100 Days (or 200 or 300). What’s the difference you say? Read it as a story using a text of Scripture that has removed all the chapters and verses. Read it in a more chronological fashion. Set the number of days you want to read. Don’t start on January 1, don’t make it a New Years Resolution, pick another day, be intentional, but start soon.

How do you do this? I have prepared a reading guide using The Books of the BibleTM that you can receive every week that provides a suggestion of reading beginning with Genesis and working your way through Revelation on your own time schedule.

Where can you find this information? Just click on the following link and read the information and signup. It’s free!

Reading the Bible Without Additives in 100 Days

It’s a great story, you should read it. Read it again for the first time.

Last Friday I went to an early matinee showing of Clint Eastwood’s film Gran Torino. I have always likes Eastwood ever since B/W Rawhide on TV. Of course, that might be a bit before the time of some you who are reading this.

This film is surely packed with theological dialogue and on occasion theological visuals. If you are interested in seeing current culture played out on the big screen with theological overtones, then you should see Gran Torino. Of course, what movies don’t have some theological overtones.

The language could be considered by some a bit rough, but realistic for the character. The cultural clash that drives the plot is fascinating. If you don’t laugh and cry somewhere during this film, you might need to check your emotional meter in for new batteries.

On a different character, Jack is back! Jack Bauer and the latest edition of 24 has returned to FOX. This year’s day (Day 7) has started on the Right coast in Washington D.C. I think someone should, or maybe they already have, write a “Theology of Jack Bauer.” He is surely a new Western kind of hero without the tobacco stain running down his chin.

Why not leave some thoughts about what you think the theology of Jack is and what theological insights you pick up from Gran Torino.

I am facinated by Tickle’s book, Great Emergence, The: How Christianity Is Changing and Why In just a few short, but poignant pages, Tickle produces a review of history that that can take one’s breathe away while still bringing the reader right into her/his present time.

She recently spoke at a conference in Memphis, TN a true Southern city with BBQ and Southern yarns too boot.

The video below is great fun to watch, but you should to watch the WHOLE thing.

I just received an email from a friend of mine who shared that the doctor caring for his wife has just told him that she has about 4-6 weeks to live. She has cancer. Six months ago she was told she had about a year to live. Six weeks ago, they told her she had six months and now six weeks. I believe that God heals. I have written about it, prayed for it, seen it happen on occasion, but every now and then wonder why we don’t see physical healing occurring more. We are told to pray for the thin place of the Rule of God to enter into this present evil age. We have lots of theories about who is responsible for folks not being healed.

Years ago, a mentor of mine told a story of his days as a missionary in Africa with the Lutheran church. He was visiting other missionaries deep in bush. At one of the missionary outpost, he arrived to find the missionary building a wood coffin. Inquiring what had occurred, the missionary told him that just that morning his son had become ill with a high fever and by noon he was dead. Worse yet, he had lost his daughter the day before in the same time frame. My friend, whose belief system followed the path of thinking that we are at war with Satan, that we are in a conflict between the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God and that this was a direct attack of the enemy on this missionary. The missionary, however, saw it as God’s will to mold him into a better follower of God.

What he learned and passed along is that in those moments, it’s not the right time to debate theology, but to hold the broken family in one’s arms while suffering their grief and tears with them. So, my encouragement to any of you that may be reading this post, is to lay aside all the theologizing about why a friend or loved one may be suffering a certain disease and may be close to death and hold them tightly in your arms, praying for the peace of God to saturate their present situation.

The passing of Tim Russert on the Friday before Father’s Day has been a sobering reminder of just how short live really is and how one never knows what a day will bring. From all accounts of his life being remembered by his colleges, I can only think that when Tim rolled out of bed Friday morning that he was most likely focused on what he was doing on his Father’s Day presentation of “Meet the Press.” Instead, his friends and colleges gathered around the “Meet the Press” set and remembered a kid from Buffalo and his impact.

The art of morning was a fixture in the Southern community that I sprang from. Death was a time of celebrating a person’s life. When my father died, I remember setting in the front room along with his body, a part of the tradition of bringing the dead relative home for the last time, and listening and telling stories about his life. Even then, I remember hearing stuff that I had long forgotten and have forgotten again about my dad along with somethings that I had never heard while he was alive.

My dad was a strong but quiet Southern gentleman. He was soft spoken and loved what he did in life because he sponsored what he really loved which was travel. He worked hard as a barber in the little community that I grew up in. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. If you were going to get you hair cut, he was, for a long period of time, the only game in town. I would set and watch him cut hair and have a conversation with the person who was captive in his chair. He listened, provided stories from his own life, cried and laughed with his customers, many of who were his friends. While we attended church on Sunday, my dad, long before it was fashionable to do so, was missional to his community, functioning as barber-pastor to the community. He cut hair for the down and outer and the mayor calling each in turn without showing partiality.

He would speak his piece with firmness and compassion in public or private. On one occasion, in a hot newly integrated South, he was asked by a black customer to cut his hair. His response, “I’ve never cut a black man’s hair before, but if you will guide me along, I would be happy to do so.” Another customer walking in and seeing my dad cutting this man’s hair retorted, “I’ll never do business with you again.” About an hour later, my dad was standing in a grocery line with the man and the white man who had walked out of his barbershop was standing between two blacks waiting to be checked out. My dad piped up and said, “Are you going to stop buying your food here also?” He grinned knowing that he had sent a message to a white bigot in a public place about how stupid his point of view really was.

One of the things that amazes me and I still think about it often. I’m just a little kid from a small town in the South with a Dad whose parents took him out of school when he was in the third grade because he was almost killed in a hail storm walking home on the railroad tracks from school. Here I am in just one generation allowed to participate in and receive two Doctor of Ministry degrees. It’s still mind boggling to me. Schooling for me was not an option for him. I remember on one occasion that I planned this great day of skipping school and going to the beach which was just a mere sixty miles from where I lived. On that day, Dad took me to school and dropped me off. I met with two other friends, one which had a car, and we slipped out of the parking lot and was off for a free day of sun and surf. When we returned back to the school, I went to my locker and got some books, tucked them under my arm, and my friend took me home. When I walked in the front door, my Dad was there waiting. I made some comment about having so much homework that I had to get to. Without hesitation he asked, “where were you today, son.” I replied, “in school of course, can’t you see all this work I brought home to work on.” Then he told me the short story of how he thought I was up to something sneaky so he had returned to the school and requested to see me. He was told that I was absence that day. He reported how strange that was because he had delivered me to the school that morning. The next day I was expelled from school for three days. I left and went to my Dad’s barbershop where he told me that I should go across the street to the drug store where I worked because the owner wanted to see me. I asked what did he want. He told me that he knew that I was not going to be in school the next three days and he wanted me to work. To myself I thought, that’s great, no school and three extra days of income. I went across the street and the owner put me to work immediately. He also informed me that he needed me the whole day for the next three days. All I could see was dollar signs in my eyes. At supper (what we called the evening meal) that evening, my dad asked about my work schedule. I told him how much I was going to work. He said” Good, you do know the you are not going to get paid for working these three days, don’t you.” I thought my ears was playing tricks on me. Dad went on to tell me that he had “cut a deal” with my boss to provide me with work but that he didn’t have to pay me. I wanted to know why. In his typical soft spoken voice he said, “There are consequences for actions. You missed a whole day of learning that you can’t regain. I thought a different set of lessons would be helpful for you. This was typical teaching from my dad. Learn one way or learn another way, but learn. I’m sure that my son and daughter can understand this because this form of finding consequences has been applied to certain situations during their life. I didn’t even know where I learned that from until I reflected later. That came from Dad.

The last time I saw my dad alive was as we embraced on the front steps of his home as Donna and I were leaving on a speaking tour in the mid-west. He held me tightly and said, “Good by.” It sounded so final. I looked at him and said, “We’re going to be back.” He said, “I know, but I won’t be here.” In less than a month from that exchange he catapulted into the next phase of life. His physical life was no long available to be seen or touched, but his presence lives with me to this day. He was a great dad and I was honored to be his son. I have hopped over the years that I have been able to be as great of a dad to my two children as he was to me. I miss him today, maybe more than before because I am where he was so many years ago, entering into the winter of my life and realizing how life is so precious but so short. Thanks Dad!

Yep, The cool Dr. Todd Hunter is back online and from the looks of him he has taken the pill. From the bowls of Boise, he has created a new ministry called Three Is Enough (TiE). He envisions TiE groups to take shape form Boise to the ends of the earth. He has entered the TiEtrix.

He states in his welcome post:

In one way TiE (Three is Enough) is the culmination of a lifetime of thinking about the intersection of The Gospel, culture, church, kingdom, spiritual formation and evangelism. In another, more humble way, it comes from the closing chapter of my upcoming book from IVP—Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others. In CBB, I try to lay out some of the practical outcomes which surround one’s understanding—or misunderstanding—of the Gospel. Much of the conceptual work for the first section of the book comes from my D.Min. dissertation which was titled: Re-hearing the Gospel: Toward Improved Practices for Evangelism and Spiritual Formation.

So go ahead at take a look. Click here and you will be on your way. Don’t forget to take your pill before you make the leap.

One of the goals of worship is intimacy, which means: belong to or revealing one’s deepest nature to another. Below are some thoughts about a possible Sunday Worship Journey using the Old Testament Tabernacle as a visual.

The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle was a picture for Old Testament Israel of the centrality of God. God was their God, not one who was “out there” somewhere. He was centrally located. Each Jewish person having access to him. The church has often allegorized this picture giving each part, each color, even each thread some meaning which departed from the text. Understanding that Israel thought in pictures, we are left to interpret what these pictures meant to the worship of Israel.

Outside: The Call to Worship
People tend to come to a corporate worship service with lots on their minds. As an example, if they are new parents, they have had to hassle with getting the kid or kids ready to come to church. If they are older, they may have a marriage relationship problem, or a kid problem, or a health problem, or a financial problem. You name it they may have it. They are effectively “not there.” They are “outside.” As a worship team it is important to recognize this and call them to worship. This is an invitation given directed toward the people of God as they have gathered. Acknowledging that we have all come from different places physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and socially may alert the church that we are all here in the “same boat” as it were. Songs like “Come, let us worship and bow down…” or “Don’t you know it’s time to praise the Lord…,” or many others, are calls made to the people of God to begin the process of corporate worship. Scripture readings and the selection of songs for this part of the service is extremely important. This “call” sets the tone for the whole corporate gathering.

Outer Court: Engagement (drawing near)
The worship leader (team) now begins the process of connecting the people who have been called to worship with God. Songs which express love, adoration, praise, jubilation, intercession, or prayer are often conducive for this part of the musical worship. It is important for us to journey toward God in worship. It is not useful to parachute directly into his presence. We need the process so we are prepared to have an audience with the creator of all the universe. It was in the outer court that folks gathered and celebrated the forgiveness of sins.

Holy Place. Expression (physical and emotional)
Here we praise God for who he is. We begin to use more intimate language. We may even become animated or quiet and still. Inside the Holy Place there were three items:

The Showbread. Among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex. 29.2). The showbread consisted of twelve loaves of unleavened bread prepared and presented hot on the golden table every Sabbath. They were square or oblong, and represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The old loaves were removed every Sabbath, and were to be eaten only by the priests in the court of the sanctuary (Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:8; 1 Sam. 21:1-6; Matt. 12:4).

The Lampstand. The tabernacle was a tent without windows, and thus artificial light was needed. This was supplied by the candlestick.

The Incense. Incense is seen by other authors of Scripture as prayer as in the beginning of Psalm 141.1-2, Revealtion 5.8; 8.3-4.

O LORD, I call to you;
     come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
     may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice
(Psalm 141.1-2).

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5.8).

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand (Rev. 8.3-4).

It seems to me that these items may had suggested for Israel the part playing that is involved between God and his worshipers. Showbread and light demonstrate what God is for his people. Incense may have been understood, because of the simple act of breath, as the breathing in of God’s presence.

Holy of Holies: Visitation (Giving time for God to visit)
The Holy of Holies (only entered once a year by the High Priest) was the arena which housed the Ark of the Covenant. It was a perfect cube. It was the place of God’s residence on earth as Israel understood it. There was a veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. In the New Testament this was torn from top to bottom as referenced in Mark 15.38. This implies that all (because we are all priest) have the right to access the presence of God. It is the part of worship that brings us into the very presence of God. When we arrive, we need go no further. The worship (leader) team should be especially sensitive of when this point has been arrived at and stop (even though there may be other songs in the music set). To finish a set may be a high priority for the worship leader or team but the music is only a vehicle to bring us to the presence of God, when we arrive, it may not be needed any longer. We may wait while God communicates to us. We are not waiting for God to make us his mind to visit us. This is often implied by the suggestion that “…now we should wait on the Lord.” I believe that we should train the worshipers that this is a time when God will move in their lives. He may want to speak to us corporately. He may want to speak to us individually. He may want to bring salvation. He may want to heal. He may want to deliver. He may want to…

Response
There is a phase of worship which is produced by being in the presence of God. It is response. We have received, we respond by giving (money, love, hospitality, information, etc.). It may be very appropriate to continue the worship by “receiving” the offering. It occurs to me that it may not be appropriate to bring people to a place of intimacy with God in which he is visiting and then immediately take a break. This would be like making love with a spouse and building to a chanchedo of intimacy and one says to the other, “let’s stop and get a cup of coffee.”

We must create a way for the people of God to come to intimacy, receive, and then give before we break the moment with fellowship, announcements, etc. A finishing song of celebration often allows the worshipper to explode with expression and produces a more productive time to break, if breaks are necessary at all.

Heightened Reception
The journey can continue with the teaching of the word. The spirit of the worshipper is now refreshed by the presence of God. Now we can listen, learn, and interact with his life changing word.

All Is Well That Ends Well
The end of the corporate service is as important as the beginning. Ministry time may be appropriate. Whatever the case, we must summarize and send the people of God on their way with some exhortation. In a traditional church one might sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” rather than “Holy, Holy, Holy” at this point. If we just close with no instruction about what has occurred or what may be expected, with no exhortation for life situations, it leaves a somewhat tainted taste in the mouths of the worshipper who may not be so anxious to return at the next appointed corporate worship time.

On February 25, 2008, my differently-abled daughter, or as she like to think, differently-capable, Jearmie Joy went to the University of Washington Medical Center for open heart surgery. When she was eleven-years-old she was diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis and Insufficiency, which means that when her aortic valve opened for blood to move through it didn’t close completely and let blood slip back out. She had a homographic valve. Little did they know that over the years the homographic valve would cause a build up of calcium in the heart. She was told when she had this operation at eleven that it would last about fifteen to twenty years. Her doctor was right in the ballpark. When it had narrowed sufficiently, it was time for another replacement. She chose a mechanical artificial heart valve because of the possibility that it would last for the rest of her life (no guarantee, however) rather than a tissue valve is commonly a “porcine” (pig) or “bovine” (cow) valve, which would have to be replaced in about fifteen to twenty years. This decision by her means that she will require lifelong treatment with a blood thinner, e.g. warfarin, which requires monthly blood tests to monitor.

When the doctor got inside to make the switch, he found that her heart was really calcified and it took him a long time to remove all the calcium so he could replace the homographic valve. Her overall time in the operating room was officially 10:59. She was about to come home the next weekend when she suffered Heart Block, which means that the top part of her heart stopped talking to the bottom of her heart. After watching to see if the communication would come back, she was faced with having a pace maker put in to regulate the beat of the heart. This procedure was done and she stayed in the hospital for a few more days before coming home. When she returned home, the first thing that occurred was that she wept as she said, “It’s so good to be home.”

Two small reflections on this thirteen day event. First, heart in the Bible is a metaphor for the whole of a human. We are not parts contrary to our propensity to be swayed by Plato even thought we don’t know that we are. It occurred to me that there are many folks whose lives are calcified, hardened by the hand they have been dealt in life. But hardened lives can be rebuilt. The hardness can be chipped away by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and for all purposes a “new heart” or new creation can occur. We are nothing more than mid-wives / caretakers in the process. Second, home, a place where one can feel secure and safe. In the Christian faith, home is usually thought of as heaven, a place where we go when we die, but that really isn’t the case. The final place for life after life after death is a new heaven and new earth which will replace the present one. At death, we go and rest in the presence of Jesus. He referred to it as Paradise. During this 13 day period of time, there were times when I pondered “resting” with Jesus if my daughter didn’t make it through this whole event. It was and is a comfort to believe that “resting” with Jesus is just a breath away. But, it’s not home. But, alas, she is still here with her mission to be partner with the creator of the Universe in his great “renewal project.” Life is worth every breath!

Here are three worship songs. The first one is by John Wimber. I worked with John for several years at the beginning of the Vineyard Movement in the mid ’80s of last century. The second is by Eddie Espinosa. I remember when Eddid brought this song to the Vineyard. I don’t personally know Lenny LeBlanc but I really love this song.

There is something warming about this music. Enjoy!

Isn’t He by John Wimber

Change My Heart Oh God by Eddie Espinosa

There is None Like You by Lenny LeBlanc

Well, it’s only a couple of days to Christmas 2007. Hope you are enjoying this time of the year.

Here’s a link to our annual Griffin Family Christmas Card 2007.

And just for fun!
The Dancing Griffin Elves

Bulimia nervosa, commonly known as bulimia, is an eating disorder and psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation and intentional purging to compensate for the excessive eating, usually to prevent weight gain (see anorexia nervosa). Purging can take the form of vomiting, fasting, inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medication, or excessive physical exercise. The cycle damages bodily organs. Bulimia is common especially among young women of normal or nearly normal weight (Wikipedia).

I am reading a book What the Best College Teachers Do coincidentally, about what great college teachers do to motivate their students in their courses. It is fascinating. Early in the book I ran across the term “bulimic education” a kind of cram (binge) for a test because its important to remember and give back (purge) on a test all those facts the instructors wants the student to remember, thinking that with this common exercise, one has learned something.

When I saw that term, I thought about the thousands of followers of Jesus who have “bulimic spirituality.” They binge on certain spiritual activities and then purge all over anyone who will listen to their new found spirituality. I used to call this part of the flock “constipated Christians” always taking in and rarely giving out until the preverbal cork pops and then they vomit on whoever is the closest. But, I think it is time for a “phrase upgrade” from “constipated Christians” although I still like the ring of that, to “bulimic spirituality.”

In what “spirituality” are you bulimic? If it works like the physical / psychological, we probably don’t ever recognize the condition in our lives, much less know what specific spiritually we binge and purge with.

My favorite time of the year has arrived right on schedule. Christmas music 24 hours a day. Shoppers going wild for the latest deal (well, that not really my favorite, although watching them in a mall is). So, here my annual remembance with some musical gatherings. Some folks just can’t sing, but its fun to listen to them any way.

Here’s UnHoly Night, watch out for the high notes.

And here’s Porky Pig singing with an Elvis classic: “Blue Christmas” Click below to play.

While the USAmerica version of Thanksgiving is not uiversal. Giving thanks should be. This day before Thanskgiving Day 2007, I am thankful for lots of things. Here’s a list offered in alphabetical order. Some with comments…some without.

• Celebrations. I love celebrations of all kinds.
• Children. I have two adult children they are the joy of my life.
• Companionship. I have one wife and we have been together for over 40 years. Today, I love her more that I did yesterday and less than I will tomorrow.
• Contentment. I am learning to be content in the Winter of my life.
• Devotion.
• Diet Dr. Pepper. Now, I have to drink it Caffeine free.
• Family.
• Freedom.
• Fulfilling work. I love writing and teaching and pastoring from time to time.
• Grace and Faith
• Hope
• Hugs and personal touch. Hugs are the greatest.
• Love and adoration
• Mothers and Fathers. I lost both my mother and father during this time of year. Life has always been a bit sadder without them.
• Music. I love to listen and sing but don’t do as much of the latter as I used to do.
• Natural beauty
• Passion
• Peace and relaxation
• Peaceful naps. This one I really love.
• Precious memories. It is wonderful to be able to remember things that have shaped and influenced your life.
• Quietness
• Romance. One is never too old. An older friend of min at 88 years of age who lost his wife two years ago has just remarried. He’s my hero.
• Showers. Warm water that makes me clean.
• Sunrises and sunsets
• Time on earth. I been here 65 years and am thankful for every day of it.
• Unconditional love. From God and others made in his image and celebrating their new humanity in Jesus.
• Warmth of friends. As long as we meet inside.
• Wisdom I find in God’s Story. The more I am exposed to it the better I love life.

What are you thankful for?

Here’s a short video clip of Brian McLaren asking me a question about God’s EPIC Adventure. Enjoy.

Today while doing some research I ran across the following words attributed to Gandhi and though them worthy of sharing.