I have just gotten out of my last session of "Evolution of Jazz and Rock 'n Roll.  It was one of my weekend classes that meet on Friday evenings for four hours and three TEN hours class on every other Saturday.  Where as it is nice to be done in jut three weekends, ten hours of anything is a long class.

This class mark two classes down (the Jazz and First Amendment class) and three more to go!  I still have to write two papers for my Nazi Resistance class, two papers for my Human Rights class and a seemingly endless stream of poetry all the way through the end of April.  The poetry class has been fruitful, but man has it been a lot of work.  Poetry is, by far, the most amount of work I have had to do for an EIU class.

All of this is going to pay off though.  I graduate from EIU with my Bachelors in May.  I should have done this years ago, but I guess I could have put it off much longer too, so "it is what it is."  I am now free to pursue more theological training in a more formal manner than my hodge podge of self taught lines of study.  There is something to be said for a specific class to hold your attention on a particular area long enough for mastery of the subject.  I am well versed in systematic theology, Church history, some Ancient Greek and hermeneutics, but I would hardly consider myself as the kind of expert that I believe that I have the potential to be. 

I was going to take summer courses through Southern Seminaries online system, but I think that I am going to take the summer off to decompress and gain my bearings before I start on the long road to a Masters of Divinity.  I have also found that the Urbana Theological Seminary in Urbana, has classes in Biblical Greek.  Greek is not something that can be taken online or at an extension center very easily.  It takes a 6 to 7 day a week commitment of full on concentration to master and I need a teacher that I can listen to in person and interact with.  Many seminary students take their ancient language requirements with an eye towards passing the requirements and I look at them as an important part of my theological education.

Pro Deo Et Patria

This article is from one of the best resources for church health, Nine Marks Ministry (You will find the link for this ministry in my right hand column list). This article addresses a radical idea about the care of a pastor by a church. The idea is not new or particularly radical in fields such as academics but in the church's generally narrow conception of what a pastor should be, a sabbatical could seem outlandish. Please read the article and come back to Fear and Trembling for my comments.

Comments:

There is tremendous variety in the typical work week of a pastor. I have broken these areas into three basic categories (in order of importance as well) . These are based on the experience of a small church pastor and each category takes on different levels of need depending on the particular church

1. Prayer and Ministry of the Word

2. Personal Ministry

3. Administration

Each area takes a different mind set and sometimes radically so. I have found that I can perform two out of three moderately well, but the third always suffers. I have learned that I have needed to continually evaluate which two are the most pressing at any one time. Unfortunately, congregations have a tendency to evaluate pastors on those areas which are most readily quantified. Prayer and theological study are incredibly difficult to apply metrics too and for many pastors these areas suffer. To be a minister of the Word is to deal mostly in the area of ideas, concepts and words. Few people who are not in fields such as these understand the need for the massive amounts of time necessary to deal with ideas, concepts and words. Few people understand the process of thoroughly thinking through a particular biblical issue and preparing the sermons and bible studies necessary to communicate these issues. The constant mental interruptions of who is teaching what Sunday School class, who is running the nursery, has the faulty phone line been fixed, etc. can wreak havoc upon the mental and spiritual productivity of a pastor. I know the frustration of having things only half thought out and it is reflected in my teaching and preaching at times.

I believe that sabbaticals can radically enhance a pastor's ability to be a thorough thinker and even the promise of one in the near future can help him deal with the frustration of lesser, but important duties. The question is : "How can you convince a congregation of people who judge productivity by the number of widgets created in a day or the amount of profit on a balance sheet that a sabbatical has value for the pastor and the congregation. " I would also like to add that this is an incredible benefit to enhance the pastor's overall compensation package without adding too much cost to the church budget. The only real affect on the church's budget is the cost of pulpit supply. In fact, if the church is healthy it will have an internal supply of men that would be able to preach Sunday morning sermons in the pastors place. The end result is that men growing toward eldership have the opportunity to spread their wings, a pastor has quality time to prepare himself in the word and the entire congregation benefits by hearing from a reinvigorated pastor.

My Aunt Connie is a special special women. To summarize Connie in a phrase I would have to say that, "she has excellent intentions." Where does one begin? There are a great many stories over the years that could surely fill many blog post, but I would like to share one in particular that seems to have all of the important elements.

A while back Aunt Connie lost her cat of 47 or so years. I am a little unsure of the exact details but apparently it was the most loved and self-actualized cats known in recent times. When the cat was no more, a great void was open in Connie's heart, who is maybe not as self-actualized and she felt the need to pour her affection into another cat to call her own (does anyone really own a cat, really? or do merely have the opportunity to be with cats for a while?) Aunt Connie wanted to bring meaning to this process and decided to rescue a particular breed of cat. So Aunt Connie started the ball rolling to get this gray paskaloosa or Alaskan mireamount or what ever the breed is, again, I don't think the particulars are important.

To receive this cat Aunt Connie and Uncle John had to subject themselves to strict screening and investigation of their home and cat parenting skills. From the description of the process, I think that Angelina Jolie probably had less hassle getting Maddox from Cambodia. After extensive interviews and inspection, Aunt Connie was deemed unfit to receive such a rare and precious cat. Nevermind the fact that she raised 2 children and, apparently, another well kept cat, she was not fit! During the vetting it was uncovered that her now dead cat may or may not have been declawed (she was unsure at first but then realized that it was her son's cat that was declawed) Upon clarification of this fact, the women in charge of the cat adoptions was still beside herself about the fact that Aunt Connie would raise a child who could declaw a cat. This was enough to stop the negotiations. A real deal breaker in the kitty adoption world, I suppose.

My Aunt Connie's defense and explanation of how this could happen came in one comment about the this feline fascist that sums it all up nicely, "...She is European..."

I teach a Sunday School class for 20 somethings in my church and I use the Explore the Bible material provided by Lifeway Christian Resources, the publication arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. I picked this literature with the notion that it would be more thorough than the other Sunday School series that most of our classes use. However, I have found that, like any material that is written for the largest possible audience, it totally ignores passages of scripture that could be considered controversial. This previous Sunday, the material was dealing with 1 Peter 2 and the problem section is verses 8 and 9

"They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

The student book from the series did not address this potentially difficult passage. Regardless of what your view of this passage is,  I can safely argue that it will at least generate some serious questions and a Sunday School teacher will be ill prepared to answer these questions with the provided commentary. I have also noticed that many of the study bibles that you find on the market follow this same pattern of silence. One of the most popular study bibles on the market has little to no commentary on Romans 9!

Even worse in when Baptist literature makes a statement such as "The only work that you can do to earn salvation is having faith" This leaves a pastor with the difficult task of undoing what has been written in the literature in addition to the natural resistance to Grace that all men have. It is no wonder that when a pastor tries to preaches though Romans 9 or Ephesians 1 and 2, that he is met with confusion at best and hostility at worst. Where can I find literature that does not appeal to the lowest common denominator? Must I write it all myself?  What is the theologically minded, time limited, pastor of a small rural church to do? 

You will notice that in the upper left hand corner I have added an icon for the official blog of Voice of the Martyrs.  Here is a description of their ministry:

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand founded VOM over 30 years ago. He was in prison in Romania for 14 years for his faith in Christ. In the `60s he and his family were ransomed out of Romania for $10,000 and came to the U.S. where he began traveling, educating the free world of the atrocities committed against Christians in Communist and other restricted countries. VOM's five main purposes are based on Hebrews 13:3. They are:

1. To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their involvement in propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. We accomplish this by providing Bibles, literature, radio broadcasts, and other forms of aid.
2. To give relief to the families of Christian martyrs in these areas of the world.
3. To equip local Christians to win to Christ their enemies who are opposed to the gospel in countries where believers are actively persecuted for their Christian witness.
4. To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries that have formerly suffered Communist oppression.
5. To emphasize the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of atrocities committed against Christians and by remembering their courage and faith.

I have agreed to put up at least 2 blog posts per month concerning the persecution of the Church around the world.  Those of you who are familiar with my eschatological teachings know that I am highly skeptical of a pre-tribulation rapture and I am sure that the Christians all around the world who are tortured or lose their life every day would tend to agree with this position.  For many, the tribulation is now.

I see responsible blogging as a way to disseminate information without depending on the dubious "email forwards." which are, more often than not, filled with half truths and, at time, complete fabrications.  I will do my best to verify the post that I make to Fear and Trembling and will place a permanent link to Voice of the Martyrs in my blog list.

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now,--instead of mounting barbed steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,--
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I,--that am not shap'd for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;--
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun,
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore,--since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,--
I am determined to prove a villain,
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,--
About a prophecy which says that G
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul

This blog belongs to Dr. Mark DeVine of Midwestern Baptist Seminary.  I first met Dr. DeVine at a Founders conference in St. Louis a few years ago and I had a short conversation in which I mentioned something like, "You know it is a shame that most orthodox theologians quickly dismiss Karl Barth as a liberal without seeing that there is something to be gained from him."  This may not seem too groundshaking but in some circles this kinda like saying that I like to wear dresses on my day off.  Dr. DeVine responded with enthusiastic agreement and I realized that this guy was OK.

Dr. DeVine was also a speaker at this conference and I quickly saw that he was a man between the two worlds of being a preacher and being a professor.  He presentation began in an academic vein as if he was speaking to a gathering of peers, but it was not long before he began to ramp up and by the end he was in full on preaching mode.  This was encouraging to see and set me to thinking about how much of me was preacher and how much was theologian.  My original resistance to going to seminary was that I understood my own tendency to use academic pursuits as a self-indulgence and was afraid of sidetracking my ministry.  In the end, I realized that I can be both.  Our seminary professors could use a little more preacher in them and our preachers could certainly use a big helping of theologian.

Anyway, many of you might not see the immediate relevance of some of his post, but read them carefully and think about what many of our churches are going through right now.  His audience is probably not the masses but I have confidence  that you masses can benefit more than you realize.  This, I suppose, is the preacher side of me.  What good is all this great thinking without  bringing it to the rank and file Baptist?

I have written in general terms about Christian ethics and the need to develop an active ethic as a tool for Christian living.  At times, a quick overview of the landscape of issues would lead one to believe that conservative, evangelical Christians, like myself, have a limited scope of issues that are dealt with on any serious level.  It is easy to see that right to life issues are well developed in our literature and our position on abstinence programs are well publicized in the media, but other issues such as the environment or racism might be less known and are certainly less developed.  This article that I found from the ethics branch of the Southern Baptist Convention is a refreshing change of pace and encourages me to believe that the SBC is developing a more varied and complete ethic.

A few years back the SBC passed a resolution in favor of the death penalty but the press coverage did not do justice to the complete text of the resolution.  The public perception, and mine as well, was that it was a blanket statement in favor of capital punishment, but upon further investigation I see that the statement was actually more nuanced than this and addressed the important issue of social justice and the lack of equal application of capital punishment.  The resolution gave voice to the fact that poor and non-white people receive more death sentences, but that certainly was not the focus of most reports.  I will say that the SBC should have been more diligent and effective in its communication of the resolutions complete message.  I would also have given more weight to the social justice aspect and toned down the absolute nature of the first.  This however, is a different issue.

Ultimately, if conservative evangelicals do not address ethics issues that have been traditionally the domain of liberal Christian groups, we undermine our legitimacy in the arena of social ethics.  I am not sure I would go as far as to ask "What would Jesus drive?"  but it is probably a step in the right direction.  I also think that this more complete ethic would demonstrate that the Christian ethics are not synonymous with the Republican Party platform.  I vote Republican almost exclusively, but I think that hooking our proverbial cart exclusively to the Republican (or Democratic) horse, will always come back to bite us.

My wife is unique women in many ways. First, as the wife of a pastor she is put into many difficult positions. For years I have asked her to remain quiet through many church conflicts and she has sat by and watched her husband take harsh and unfair critiques from many quarters. Her deepest desire was to rush to my defense but she let me handle these conflicts so that I would not be torn between defending the church or her. Praise God for Tracy, a great and gracious gift to me.

My wife has also been one of my best students. For years she has listened to my sermons and sat under my teaching trying to get an ever greater knowledge of the the Holy Scriptures. She has passed this knowledge to the children that she has given me and never fails to amaze me with her grasp of the Scriptures meaning and application, not merely the words. Praise God for Tracy, a great and gracious gift to my children and scores of other children that she has taught.

My wife has clarity and courage of conviction. She is not swayed by emotional appeals, false teachings, or the pressures of the world. She never fails to surprise me with a directness found in few people that I have ever met. I am never left wondering what is on her mind or what she believes. I am always refreshed by the boldness she displays. Praise god for Tracy, a great gracious gift to the cause of truth.

My wife has a bedrock faith that is never anxious for what the future holds. She knows that there will always be enough to get by and she does not chase after things that will perish with use. She has never pressured me for the fancy car, big house, new clothes or jewelry. Even when she daydreams about owning our own home someday, it never gets in the way of doing the right thing by God or the right thing by her family. Praise God for Tracy, she knows what is important in life.

My wife stands by her husband in the worst of times and draws closer the more I succumb the pressures of the ministry or my own faults. She has seen me at my lowest and has never faltered in her devotion to me because she knows that her devotion to me is part of her devotion to God. Marriage vows mean something to Tracy and I have an absolute trust in her and her in me. There is no wedge that can be put between us. Praise God for Tracy, if only the church was as faithful to Christ as she is faithful to me.

I was proud of my wife today. I gave her free license to say what she wanted and she used that license to speak forth God's unvarnished truth. Is it any wonder that I love her like I do? A great and gracious gift. Praise God for Tracy.

As the day's sane light surrenders, the night's psychotic shadow

presses against the windows of the diner and sick orange neon

,that went unnoticed just moments before, now blares out its call

to those who cannot bear the bright and cannot brook those who have

friends to meet or families to feed or sandwiches to eat on a break

or business to do or deals to make over coffee and polite platitudes

or any one of day's people who cast suspicious eyes upon those who

live in night's cool and quite cover and who gaze on life through

damaged eyes and hear more than they want to hear when all they seek

is a place to sit and tell others of new inventions, like alarms placed

on deer to signal when a car has liberated free meat or clear TV cubes with

floating 3D pictures trapped deep inside, all the while pouring down sweet

tea and lighting up a skinny Capri in a fat face or maybe they want someone

to notice the pretty new hat that she found at the home and tell them about

the dangers of crosswalks and near misses or someone to hear tales of

north wood taverns filled with Canucks looking for copper profits and timber lucre

but only finding trouble at the butt end of a pistol, or waiting out the night with

a steady rocking of man trying to quiet the mind with rhythmic thumping of an

overstuffed and buttoned booth, or a private place to scan satellite snapshots looking for

Templar gold and Aztec relics on North Atlantic isles or those who look for coffee and place to

read Zen books but only to find themselves caught by murderous thoughts for teen

kids in black fingernail polish talking about magic, the "E" and raves they have

been to this week, and they all know the name of the girl at the counter who shoves

tips into a black ketchup stained apron next to her Marlboro lights and her

boyfriend's Zippo that he left on the dash as she dropped him off at weekend

lock up even though the plants in his closet were taken without a proper warrant

and he had a medical condition that kept him from working which forced the girl

to be caretaker of night's people and that preacher in the corner flipping onion skin pages

, scribbling on yellow pads, and watching it all unfold in night's psychotic shadow.

My 10 year class reunion was 8 years ago and I went to the second night with my wife Tracy in tow.  I was pleasantly surprised by how every one's life was turning out so far and really enjoyed myself.  The best part of the evening was being able to connect with several of the men in my class who are Christians.  One of those men was Andy Rice.

Andy and I did not run in the same circles at that time and I remember him as one of "those Christian" types.  This time around we had a lot more in common and stayed in contact by email after that night.  Andy was a Marine Cobra pilot and later flew fixed wind aircraft in several locales all over the world.  Last year Andy separated from the Marines after 10 years, but not entirely on his own choosing.  Through some unfortunate flukes he was passed over for promotion to Major two times and military rules say that you must separate if this happens.  You can imagine this was quite a blow.  Andy returned to Champaign after taking a 30 day Greyhound bus tour of the United States and seeing 12 Major League baseball parks.  He is now finishing a Masters degree in Library Science (as a possible precursor to Law school).

I had lunch with Andy yesterday (for about 3 hours!) and I found out that he was promoted while on Inactive Ready Reserve!  This means that he can get back in if he wants and is trying to decide on what to do.  We talked a lot about life decisions and the "age math" that a man starts to do when he reaches the age of 35.  35 might not seems to "old" but it is certainly a crossroad that demands certain decisions that will affect the next 30 years of your life.  I am also at those crossroads and have to decide whether or not to pursue a Masters of Divinity or a PhD in Theology and then try to figure out how to do this with a huge family and a church to pastor. 

The real moral of this story is about how we perceive our peers and ourselves.  I looked at Andy's life, even after his Marine separation, with a little bit of envy.  He is unmarried, very flexible, well educated and able to pursue any direction that he desires.  His Greyhound bus trip (and the strange people that he encountered in the "bus culture") sounded wonderfully Bohemian! Yet he looks at his life and sees that he is not married, does not have kids and is in a much different place than he imagined 10 years ago.  It is not that his life is actually worse than how I see it, or that mine is worse than Andy's sees, It is that we have a hard time appreciating how good our lives are and the blessings that we have.   Andy was very open about all of these issues and it was incredibly refreshing, a testimony to his spiritual maturity, and it came at just the right time to minister to my current needs.  I suppose that you can either work through the angst of this age and push on into the future or you can come home every night, kick the dog, yell at your kids and feel sorry for yourself. 

I believe that my time in sackcloth and ashes is coming to an end.  I am about to graduate with my BA in May (a long time thorn in my side),  I can start taking Seminary class from Southern Seminary through their extension center in Chicago and the online system, I enjoy my family immensely, I have the best marriage that I know of and I am constantly surprised at what affect my ministry has on people here in Tolono.  I truly have an embarrassment of riches, what in the world am I constantly whining about?  As my loving but sometimes unsympathetic wife would say, "Suck it up."

Ok, here is a poem that I wrote for my poetry class. Modern poetry is not supposed to rhyme (too predictable) but this poem assignment was supposed to be an imitation of poem found in our Norton's Anthology. I chose a poem by Dylan Thomas called "The Hand That Signed the Paper" This was a poem about the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which to most people is not a proper poem topic, but it really caught my eye

This poem of mine is about an occurrence that happened six months ago. Kaiser, who was persistently ill at the time, was thought to potentially have Lupus or some other immune system disease. In the middle of this, Christie Clinic decided to drop Kaiser and the whole family as patients for slow payment of a $150 bill. Since Kaiser and the other kids are on Illinois' KidCare medical program this means that NO ONE IN THE AREA TAKES THIS INSURANCE and even the poor person clinic had a 6 month to a year waiting list for new clients. To add insult to injury we could not even include him on our private insurance since he had a prior condition. So we were in a situation in which we would not be seen by any doctor and we could not get any insurance. Catch-22.

It was clear to me that Christie Clinic did not drop us over the bill, they dropped us because the State of Illinois does not pay its bills. I am absolutely positive that they were systematically purging all KidCare patients that had been grandfathered in (they were not taking new KidCare patients). They denied this claim, but I was eventually heard by the CEO of the corporation and he tried to explain to me the politico/economic situation in Illinois. Why would he go through all the trouble of explaining this if we were dropped because of the $150? I nailed it right on the head and he knew that I caught him. I was eventually reinstated at the Clinic and Kaiser's was able to see a specialist in Peoria. Thankfully, Kaiser's situation cleared up on its own.

Never underestimate the power of calling someone a LIAR when they are trying to pull a fast one. You should see the look on a pencil pushers face when you cry out "LIES!" right in the middle of their lame explanation of why they are denying health care to your sick son.

"The Calculus of Worth"

Notice from an office of pressboard desks 
to those of modest means and no voice.
Black ink edicts made by clerks so Kafkaesque 
seal Kaiser's fate with their cold choice.

Hirelings charged with the calculus of worth
purge the system of its chaff.
The boy's illness eclipsed by financial dearth
and a clerk's yearning to pad his graph.

Fever grips Kaiser as his young frame aches
and father and mother seek out cures.
There is no doctor to see nor salve to take
The calculus includes not the poor.

The father  has only rage with which to fight
and threats fueled by love for the son.
To deadly equations now add fear's hot light
and  clerks recant;  their decree undone.

This may not seem like a lot of post for a website, but considering that it took me 6 month to go from 0 to 2,000 views and only 30 days to go to 3,000, I think that I am experiencing some good growth. To get serious readership increase, however, I really need to do something about the fact the people's commenter's cannot be displayed who are not part of MSN .NET Passports. I also need to start reading more blogs other than my own and leaving comments with them....

Again, as is in the previous post, these observation are as much an indictment on my own leadership as an indictment of the modern American church in general.  I have in recent months been faced with some fundamental questions about the methods that are used to motivate believers and lead them into a closer walk with the Lord.  There seems to be two different, but equally pervasive schools of thought.   The first is the theology of "prosperity."  This line of thought is probably best represented by pastors such as Joel Osteen.  In his book, "Your Best Life Now", Joel Osteen brings his particular brand of biblical interpretation to bear upon Matthew 9:17.

"Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

This is a simple passage that does not take well trained theologian to understand.  The Lord is speaking about the new birth in Christ.   Man is regenerated in Christ, not merely "patched" or fixed.  Joel Osteen, however interprets this as people who do not have a large enough "vision" to accept all of the material blessing that God wants to give us.  In the same chapter he relays a story of man, upon viewing large expensive homes, states that he will never live in a house like that.  Osteen comments that he "thought to himself" that of course the man would not have a large house with thinking like that.  This is an example of a Christian leader using the promise of individual material blessing in this life as a way to motivate people to his particular brand of "Christian" action.   My church, in general, understands the problem with this sort of teaching and is not swayed by this particular "wind of doctrine." 

It is the second school of thought, however, that plagues my way of thinking and teaching and it is this that I want to examine in depth.  This second manner comes down to sowing a culture of fear.  Before I go any further I want to make clear that the fear that I am talking about is not the fear of Almighty God, but rather a fear of everything else. This is much more prevalent, I believe, and it is hard to pick just one representative, but I guess Jerry Falwell would be a good choice.  I want to make it clear though that I am just as guilty as Falwell.   The Bible clearly teaches about persecution and rejection, but the question is this:  how are we supposed to respond to this persecution and rejection?  Practically any group that is based around a particular conviction (whether it is Greenpeace or The Southern Baptist Convention) creates an "us vs them"  atmosphere that emboldens the rank and file to action.  We spend our time and efforts shadow boxing with false threats that ultimately cannot be won by redeeming the culture through our own strengths. 

What do we lose by fighting the wrong battle?  We lose out on the assurance of our salvation.  Positionally we are secure in Christ yet we act in way that is quite insecure.  I am categorically against homosexual marriages, abortion, and the removal of Biblical references from public life and can defend such positions from the scriptures, but what am I "for"?    If I am preoccupied with Egypt how can I take hold of the Promised Land?   When we ask the question about what we are supposed to "be" in Christ, it is then that we realize that our answers are not as well founded and that our spiritual health is waning.   

"^3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ^4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

^5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ^6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ^7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ^8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

^10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ^11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:3-11

After we got married and had K Elizabeth we started to do a lot more family activities and one of them was walking down to the Dairy Queen on the Strip in Carbondale.  It has been there for many years and is the kind that sells only ice cream.  It was closed in the winter (like it is in the picture below).   Right down the road was the Varsity movie theatre where we saw movies such as Forrest Gump and the first Batman movie.

Carbondale in the summer was a great place to be.  There were fewer students and lots of outdoor activities like summer concerts in the park and on campus.  It was one of these summer concerts on campus that was responsible for making Tracy want me to ask her on a date.  On the way to the concert I walked into the Diner to get ice for my cooler and Tracy was in her regular booth and when she saw what I was doing, she wanted me to ask her to go with me.  I did not ask her and just said "hi" as I walked on by.  I watched the concert all alone, but the cold shoulder paid off in the end!  There is nothing quite like blowing a women off to fan the flames of desire.