Kindergarten Graduation

We enjoyed the short and sweet program, the hugs, the singing. Ben had a performing part in a poem recitation, and my first pizza slices in months to celebrate.

We are proud of Ben learning to be part of a classroom environment. He is a shy and quiet but we know he is ready for first grade, and he is very smart, just ask his grandparents!!!!

Memorial Weekend

I am remembering my Mom’s family this weekend. Uncle Bob lived a long and blessed life, born in 1923, he must have been real young when he enlisted and flew in WWII.

This picture is from a family gather of some sort, and my couson Kathleen posted the medal and flag display from the funeral bulletin. The Kennedy Clan had some great reunions when I was young.

Seven weeks of clutter

We went from a cramped and separated room to an expansive space with storage and counter top functionality galore.

Today our family moved the final two heavy pieces of furniture back in place and we finally have our house back. We are very pleased with the finished product and will continue to fine tune and add some finish items. I know we have added usability to our home and am pretty sure we helped the resale value if that should be necessary.

I took 225 pictures throughout the tear out and rebuild that captured all the crews at work. It was a big task.

Happy wife, happy life, and all that!!!!!

A long weekend, American traditions like the Indy 500, Flag Ceremonies, it is the simple passing of daily life I find so wonderful and meaningful.

The New Athiests and the Truth

If heaven is a place on earth, Kauai gets my consideration.

I am enjoying my way through "God Behaving Badly" as he wrestles with our modern cultures inability to deal with the stories of the Old Covenant.

The books The God Delusion, and God is not Good, have highlighted attacks on the character of God which offend modern sensitivities and lead these authors to actively campaign against the Christian faith.

I have some sympathy for them, as one who has overcome a view of God triggered by my own sensitivity to reading Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Johnathan Edwards, and by being tutored for decades in the strictest of Calvinistic doctrine.

My own quest to answer the core questions, Who is God and What is the Gospel have led me to disagree with the status qua in some very important areas. For that very reason I applaud the conversation that our current culture has allowed in these areas. Wrestling with long held dogmas can indeed, make us less dogmatic and more open to considering another point of view.

The biggest change in my thinking lies in taking a much larger view of the Gospel as being God's ages long plan to defeat the works of the devil, not by His own might alone, but through the very creation of humanity from the dust of the earth and the breath of His spirit.

I see judgment and mercy kissing at the cross, and reconciliation of all things on earth and in heaven as a distinct hope, with the ecclesia of God playing the key role in the plan. I see a unified body of Christ judging angels, and I see a judged and transformed humanity enjoying things in ages to come that the mind of man cannot conceive, and right now, with all the brokenness in me, and the world, I have a deep abiding joy that God is good.... very, very good. "That all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well, and the fire and the rose are one."

Mrs. Laura is on the countdown

This is the last time I grew a beard about 10 years ago. I am pretty sure I used some darkener, and yes, I was in pretty good shape that year.

Just a few more days till summer break. I marvel at how a year changes things. Last summer we planned three trips, and this summer we are planning to stay put and chip away at the kitchen remodeling debt.

Laura is so ready to have extended time to work on the house, and read, and relax. She had a challenging class this year and deserves a break.

I plan some in state mini trips. It has been four years since I visiting the Grand Canyon and I really want to visit. Larry and I are hoping to golf the high country later in the summer. I am finally looking for a conference or study event to attend.

On a different note, I am a bit dissapointed in the Niaspan news with the ceasing of an extended trial. I was hoping this treatment might help reverse some of my narrow arteries. Thank God I have the continue option of diet and exercise, and the close care of my physicians, and some pretty important drug therapy I am already using.

Uncle Bob, a Veteran who returned Home

Many served, some came home, some did not. We honor their memory and service this weekend.

My mom's large family of nine brothers and sisters is down to one, the youngest girl Millie. Uncle Bob passed away today. I remember him as successful in business and handsome. The stories of his war record as a fighter pilot were part of my youth.

They lived for many years in Terre Haute Ind. and retired to Florida where he had a large oxygen tank distributorship.

They adopted two sweet girls who have families of their own, and both shared their sadness at his passing.

Book Wars

A view of Maui's sister islands.

Frances Chan and Mark Galli are both writing books that will oppose some of the issues raised in Rob Bell's book Love Wins. Apparently one of the books will be entitled God Wins.

If God is Love, does that mean if God wins, Love wins?

At the bottom of this latest and in my view, very important debate is the traditional view of hell. Does God win when Hell is full, forever and ever?

Bell's book asks many questions without giving answers, and it is not in any way a Bible study with proof texts. I never felt when I was reading it that God was under attack. Our interpretations of the gospel were being questioned, and that is good and necessary.

This is why I enjoy reading books by people who are dead. They have had their say, and cannot defend it, nor will they be upset if someone agrees, or have to watch someone write a book to oppose what was said.

At the beginning of a new reformation, these questions will be discussed, and new paradigms will replace old ones. Love will win, and God will win. I have seen in my own little view of the world great blessing done my believers and great harm done by believers. The tradition teaching about hell has done more harm than good the way we have construed it, and it confuses who God is, and what the Gospel is.

The Cat is out of the bag on this debate, and no one will ever be able to return to the status quo on it. So, read, think, pray, listen, be slow to respond and remember that anger does not advance the will of God.

The Personal Cell Phone

Having a camera in your pocket allows you to capture a funny sign like this and share it all over the world.

I am watching the story of the birth of the cell phone by Motorola Corp, beginning in the early 70s. The early phone weighed almost 3 lbs. Marty Cooper still has groundbreaking ideas for the future of the technology

It has not taken long for me to embrace this brave new world and get most of my headlines from my Android smart phone.

The changes to our culture are really phenomanal, and to read or hear daily from my friend in Kenya, my sisters on opposite sides of the country, its just amazing.

Now, lets do something about online costs????

Six Square Miles

I remind you again that I subtitle my blog "wonderful life" after George Bailey, who never reached his dreams but realized he had a wonderful life. I was leading a Bible study last week and took this picture which is an airplane view of my little hamlet south of Chandler.

For my out of town readers our church and office are in the circular streets in the lower left hand square. My home is in the upper right hand square. What you cannot see is the territorial separation of Sun Lakes into phases.

In this place we have built a home and a life, not what we were expecting, but what God has for us to extend my ministerial life. I do not think I would have made it out there among the English, with drums and guitars and practical sermons to help you live a better life.

So today I visited a 93 year old man in a home, and a good friend who had chest pains, and a man dealing with the loss of his son and daughter in an accident, and...it is a wonderful life. I also enjoyed a workout and had several friends ask me about the rapture non incident knowing I would listen without trying to be someone I am not.

Evolving morally

New Pots and Pans, Woo Hoo!!

I am going to tackle an important subject this month. How Jesus and Jehovah are related. How does God in the Old Covenant become Christ in the New, with a message of loving our enemies instead of anihilating them.

Thanks to Scot McKnight for recommending a good book, God Behaving Badly, to help in my thinking.

There is a real sense in which we have evolved from Old to New, and are more sensitive to acts of genocide like we read in the conquest of Canaan, and this is good and right. The problem is learning to defend the scriptures while remaining sensitive to the changes that come with the civilizing of our cultures.

Putting our Kitchen back together

Here is a natural light picture that shows the look of our kitchen a bit better. Laura and deciding where things belong. It was really convenient to prepare lunch standing so close to the fridge and with plenty of space on the island to work.

The four congregations that use the Chapel has a nice picnic late this afternoon. Barbequed chicken prepared by a chef and sides aplenty. Good fellowship and warmth between the congregations.

I am hoping Harold Camping with make a cogent statement tomorrow. Many of this followers invested heavily in this non event and will have to figure out what to do.

My friend Mercy is spending six months ministering in Kenya, she suggested you get out in this needy world and be a help to someone in need. Give a cup of cold water to a thirsty child and look in their eyes and see Jesus. Amen to those thoughts.

This is the day, will there be another?

My rapture beard!!!
One of the leaders in my church wondered why the Camping prediction bothers me so. It is not because of my faith, but the faith of countless younger people who see these things and lose respect for the reasonable faith we proclaim.

So, If I am here to proclaim the word tomorrow, I am taking as my text, James 1, which states...Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

We will have been decieved by a well meaning but deluded Bible scholar, not the first or the last, but each deception hurts the witness of the truth, and this grieves my spirit. Anyway, we will see what the day brings.

Hallelujah we have a kitchen

The original construction crew became the final installation crew today, putting in and testing all our new appliances, and plumbling the sink and garbage disposal.

There will be a final walkthrough next week to deal with any small issues we find, but we can begin using and moving our stuff into the cabinets, and beginning to cook like regular folks again.

Wrong place to be clumsy

I wish I was kidding, but I shocked myself three times installing three replacement plugs and switches today. I shut off the breakers in the kitchen and two of those suckers were still hot, and the last was making a last minute adjustment and touching the wrong duflagee.

I do not really know what a duflagee is, but I heard the term growing up, as in, Please had me the duflagee thingy.

Electric shock is quite electrifying and hard to describe. I have deep sadness for anyone who experiences a bad shock. I actually lost a college acquaitance to an accident while he worked for Memphis Power and Light one summer.

I did manage to get three of six fixtures put in, and maybe the crew will finish for me. The next picture you see with be the almost finished product after the appliances are installed.

Juxtaposition

I have an ambitious summer reading project, assuming we are still here next week. Three books hovering around the same subject in an odd way. I will be sharing some of the ideas harvested from time to time.

The first is a recent publication by an Old Testament Scholar and teacher entitled, God Behaving Badly. It addresses in a popular way the struggle many are having today with the violence of the Old Covenant and the apparent peaceful and non violent goals of Jesus in the New Covenant.

The second is a book written by a Christ converted former Arab Terrorist, who believes Muslims will only have peace with the west if the west converts to Islam, period, exclamation point. I will share some insights from this book and its name later.

The third is a book written early in this century, that fully embraces the character of God in the Old and New Testament as cohesive and complimentary, but he also believes God's ultimate goal is not to separate and punish but to restore and reconcile all humanity through the cross of Christ.

Can all these ideas be juxtaposed? Will I have enough time to read them all? Stay tuned for more....if time permits.

Kitchen has a European feel to me.

Dear reader, I hope you have been able to endure our excitement over our kitchen remodel. This was a big scary move for us that eliminated the homes two biggest weaknesses, the tile and the layout of the kitchen.

In recent years the kitchen has become symbolic of my own remodeling project in my quest for nutritional health. I do not want my trips to the gym to be canceled by lunch and dinner.

As I have learned to eat healthier I see the need to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables, to shop around the edge of the store and stay away from processed foods. Now that we are just days away of taking possession I know this kitchen will belong to both of us, to be used for sharing and preparing and living our lives with friends and family.

The back splash really ties the project together and is so beautiful. We have a brand new stove and microwave boxed in the garage we cannot wait to see and learn how to use. We have been playing with the new faucet and deciding what will go where in our greatly expanded storage capacity.

Waiting for Sunday to come

Waiting to see if Harold Campings prediction is right. Honestly it creates a heightened sense of observation about how we live and the situations our current culture is facing. The very survival of our country seems to be in danger due to massive debt. For me it emphasizes the escape response that takes Christians out of the battle for a better expression of the kingdom as people sit and wait to be removed from it all.

A normal week involves so many routine things that one wonders just how to spend his last week, if indeed the end is near. Its all so surreal.

Even this long awaited remodel would seem to be a total waste of time and money if we prepare no meals there and never restock the cupboard.

The biggest thing of all in end times theology is this....who is the God we serve? Are we still sinners in the hands of an angry God? What about the end of the law as the standard for relationship with God. What about the better promises of the new covenant, what about God's expansive love? I still have this deep conviction that end timers are reliving the end of the old covenant by not understanding the nature of grace and the promise of the new covenant. But....what do I really know??? So I wait for Sunday.

Granite Countertops are cool

We are thrilled that our kitchen will be ready for use by Friday. The granite looks beautiful and the installers worked with some odd problems with the walls and cabinets to make it all look great. The tile crew will install the backsplash and the builder crew will install the appliances and hook up the plumbing and electric.

Atlas Shrugged

Skillfully carved in South America, sold to American tourists to be displayed and enjoyed with the telling of the story, that's free enterprise.

The sound was poor and the movie was a bit hard to get into, but Ayn Rand's philosophy of hard work, risk and reward free enterprise came through loudly amidst the thinly disguised calls for equality that were in reality, the confiscation of wealth. A timely message.

I first read Ayn Rand's philosophical and preachy novels in high school, and felt a bit uncomfortable with her defense of pure selfishness and her hatred of anything that smacked of compassion for the weak. I think Christianity strikes a better balance in defending ownership and yet seeking to help those unable to survive through sickness, birth defect, accident or hardship.

America has done a good job of helping the unfortunate as well. Socialism which seeks to keep anyone from hardship by penalizing everyone has never worked and will never work, though many see the early attempt in Jerusalem during the famine as a sanction for the hope that it could.

One more week

If Campings bible predictions are right we have a week. Most are dismissing him, yet it is odd to me that many of those same people do not dismiss LaHaye, Lindsey, and the current crop of end time prognosticators because their theological understandings are more popular than Campings.

When we attempt to read the scriptures along with the news we are pretty much marching down a fruitless path. Tomorrow I will discuss the word tribulation and then will move on to other subjects while we wait for the fallout to come from Campings end time hysteria, or the world's derision that will certainly follow such a bold attempt to parse the timeline of scripture.

Personally this warning has been too long to take. I have not know what to do with myself without long term planning. One friend suggested we go and run up our credit cards, but we would not have enough time to enjoy the booty, and, if he is wrong we will be in serious debt. Its a good thing congress isn't adding this to their spending equations or we would be in serious trouble......wait....we already are in serious trouble. Enjoy your Saturday.

And Behind Door Number 3???

I am back after the blogger hiccup. I appreciate Blogger for its flawless performance and am glad to be back online.

Our painting project is done, and Monday the Granite counter tops will be installed which means we are really getting close. For those new to the blog, we had a pipe back up and spill several hundred gallons of water in the house about a month before we started our kitchen remodel so we have had many weeks of messy house, torn up floor boards, and today Jack and his partner did a great job of painting the newly installed baseboards, eight of our doors, and all the kitchen, living room/dining room and hallway.

When we moved west 22 years ago, I had the hope of owning my own home after living in church owned property for years. We have enjoyed purchasing a home that had never been occupied, building a home from an empty lot, and remodeling a home that was built 22 years ago. It has been fun and finacially beneficial to own our own home.

On a related note, I have a new tree outside my office window. Its a Wireless Palm Tree 100 ft tall. Pretty cool, hope I can finally get 4G in my area.

Front Porch Gray

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Kitchen is painted and ready for the final steps. Jack the Painter spent a lot of time with the baseboards. The grey paint has a bluish tint, we will carry that color throughout the halls and living area. We matched the baseboard with the island...antique white.

Our backyard palo verde is dropping a yellow carpet that is very pretty.

One month of disorganized living

I love AZ sunsets.

The weeks of trying to find enough to cook,cooking in the garage, trying to live with furniture all crammed together and the fridge in the living room is getting old.

Painters coming tomorrow, still waiting on countertops.

Doing without for a while will make the joy of having a new kitchen sweeter.

Obviously more than fuel

I am not on a diet, I am changing the way I view food, and developing a lifestyle that will minimize insulin spikes in response to eating excess glucose creating products.

Yesterday, I tested out my new theories during a visit to a brand spanking new and impressive Chinese Buffet nameed Linn's. The layout and food selection was impressive and the clientele contained many single men built like NFL linebackers who do great feats of eating at places like these.

I report that I was fairly successful in choosing vegetables, unbreaded meat, fruit and healthy soup. The coatings on most Chinese food created the most difficulty.
I love good food and the joy of eating. The two competing philosophies can meet, food as fuel, and food as joy. For the sake of candor and honesty, I still did eat more food than usual....or what's a buffet for????

Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, been doggin my life

The couple who own this home have a hobby of buying distressed homes, fixing them up, and selling them. They were able to build their own dream home with this hobby. My admiration for their hard work.

I love Ray LaMontaynes song lamenting the difficulties of his life and praising a women who would not let him go. Our Mom's played that role for most of us, and yesterday we thanked them for it.

The news seems to be over filled with trouble these days. Unrest in the Arabic countries, floods and tornado's in the south, economic struggles with unemployment and high costs of living. Seems like we are in a full court press.

The information revolution has made the world seem so small and accessible, yet there are so many things any one person cannot change that I feel overwhelmed by what I know of the world and the burdens of my heart. I offer my prayers, affirm my hopes, and keep on living with my own set of struggles and joys. That's life.

There was the cutest comic in yesterdays paper emailed to me about a grandmother who believed her worries actually averted problems, since the things she is anxious about rarely come true. It reminded me of my mother, who developed that art to a high degree. I have always been drawn to biblical psychology at this point...Have no anxiety about anything, but by prayer and supplication makes your requests known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Teachers Party

Laura teaches first grade in the Chandler Public School System. Her principal hired her in the Gilbert System and brought her to the opening of this new school six years ago. Her principal is leaving for a new position. Bittersweet news for the staff.

Laura has developed a friendship and professional collegiality with so many of these teachers. Many of them have been together over 10 years. She works hard and is so dedicated to her career and I am deeply respectful and proud of her efforts.

Our gracious hosts are a teacher and a firefighter in their beautiful home in Queen Creek. It was a lovely evening.

Odds and Ends on Saturday.

Whenever I have found a hair stylist I like, he or she moves. Today I tracked Andre to her new location and got a hair cut I am pleased with.

I tried the Atkins low carb diet in the 80s, and remember feeling starved and deprived. Tho early days of low carb living were spoiled by the bad press of guys filling a plate with bacon and announcing it was healthy. I think I would have discovered a healthier lifestyle if I had understood more back then. I hear the movement has become more balanced after Dr. Atkins death by new physicians and scholars and more balanced approaches that include that last 30 years of research.

Building regular exercise into your schedule is one of the best things you can ever do for the quality of your life. If none of this works to save my life I will not regret one moment in enjoying walking, stretching, and lifting.

I understand Campings vision of May 21st is an earthquake surrounding the globe and hitting your street at sunset, unleashing untold death and suffering for those left behind. The open graves of the wicked with serve to shame and desecrate them and leave the world in the stench of death from May till Oct....and....have a nice day.

Harold Camping is delusional

Well, I have been trying to be fair minded and light hearted with the latest date setter controversy, but yesterday got to me. I have lived for many years with the dream of seeing this Changing Lives Center for Women opened. We toured the property 8 years ago when the old structures were still there and it looked like an insurmountable task. The beauty of the campus and the sacrifice of the Christians who have the burden to help was overwhelming. This is what Christianity is all about.

So, coming and going I see two versions of Campings Posters along I-10. Both of them give the date, and say "The Bible Guarantees It". What??? Campings interpretations and dating methods are suddenly infallible Bible promises????

The Bible may speak boldly about the return of Christ, but May 21st???? Come on Harold. I feel sad for those who have bought your predictions, and I am willing to go out on a limb and say that God my come today, or next year, or a thousand years from now, but I sincerely doubt your delusional predictions are worth the billboard rent and the unrest and damage you are doing to the body of Christ. That Women's Center will bring light in the darkness and hope for troubled families for many years to come.

The Changing Lives Center Dedication

I had the privilege of attending the formal dedication of a 66 unit apartment center for homeless women and children, abused and abandoned women and children, and others who will come for healing, training, and preparation for a new life.

Nine years and many obstacles later, the 12 million dollar facility in a poor neighborhood downtown a few blocks from our State Capitol and Federal building will soon open for full time ministry.

They have thought of everything from worship, to childcare, to security, and it brought tears to my eyes all morning to see this site transformed from an old travel court motel in the 50s, to a slum dwelling in the 80s, to its new form to transform lives and protect children who will be given the best gift a child can receive, a mother free from addiction and double minded living.

Kitchen has a cavernous feel

For the first time since we moved here in 2003, the colors of our home are matching. The tile just fits everywhere, and replacing the carpet in the guest bathroom will be so much easier to keep clean.

We are close to the finish line of a project that began on April 13. Still to come, are grout sealing, repair of all baseboards, painting, installation of new granite countertops, installation of tile blacksplash, placing of all appliances, changing of cream colored plugs and switches to white, new lighting and tables and chairs for the countertop eating area. Fun, Fun,Fun.

Watching the news about UBL, I thought we called him Osama years ago? I am wondering how the world of Islamic extremism will exact their own version of revenge?

Tile 95 percent done, personal renovation ongoing

Cat approves of the project so far, notice all the baseboard are off because of the water damage we had.

We have been so pleased with the work done by Stradling's Cabinets installation crews. Care and skill demonstrated daily. because we did the tear out of the old tile in three stages, this job has probably taken them longer than most, and I am thinking we will see grouting done today.

Since it is so important for me to lose weight and maintain healthy blood sugars, I am really doing a lot of study on the best ways to eat and lose weight safely and healthily. I have come to realize that there really is no way to lose more than one or two pounds a week safely and have it actually be fat, not water and muscle. The sooner we fatties get that through our head the easier finding a diet for the long haul will be. Eating naturally with healthy fats, nuts and fruits, small amounts of healthy proteins, and abundant vegetables and legumes has been an adventure.

I am now at the weight I maintained through most of my 30s, and hoping to head to the weight I maintained during the last part of my 20s, Unfortunately, after college when I ate in the cafeteria, and before marriage, I gained lots of weight living in a bachelor situation during grad school. This coincided with the popularization of a health nemesis.....HAMBURGER HELPER!!!!!! It was so simple, so filling, so full of salt and carbs..... Thankfully after marriage I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and began my ministry as slender as I ever have been, that was age 26, and that is my goal weight.

Internet glitches are a way of life

This is a sharper image of the Napali Coastline from the ocean than the one in my opening page. I should put this one there, or have the courage to change it more often.

There are three computers in my connected life, two laptops, one office, and one home, and Laura's Dell. I can get online with any of them with this WWAN toy I share with the church office. In truth, my Android is a personal computer with Internet as well, so that's four.

I decided to update my personal laptop to the latest Internet Explorer version and now all kinds of things are not working. Picture uploading, final uploading of new blog posts have been accomplished with my cell phone link. I will work and worry until the glitches are ironed out.

It's Monday, my latest recuperation period is over and I am back in our summer schedule, which gives us a Bible Study break until Fall. It allows me to read more and think more and enjoy a short vacation during Laura's quick six week summer holiday which will begin next month.

Our seven week Sabbatical was so wonderful last summer that we cannot complain if this summer will be less ambitious. I hope to see more of the local Arizona sights, which includes a photography trip to the Grand Canyon which I have not visited since moving to a Canon Digital SLR with good lenses.

To any friends or relatives passing through the state, in two weeks we will have a kitchen, and we have a nice guest room with your own Bathroom outside the doors. Stop by for a visit, we mean it y'all, we are not "whistling Dixie".

From Pastor Don, very glad to still be alive and working. Thankful for our country and the apprehension of the 9/11 mastermind.

He brings me to His Banqueting Table

The Lord was so present in the breaking of the Bread today. We thought about our brothers and sisters in the south and the devastation of so many communities.

I spoke on the latest rapture predictions of Harold Camping and Family Radio. I simply think all date setting is missing the point. Wolf has been cryed thousands of times in church history, and so far, as of today, the date setters are batting the big "zero". Just live and serve God, the final invitation to the Feast and the Wedding are in God's mind alone. I look forward to being surprised.

I was mostly undogmatic about anyones views, except I have a deep dissatisfaction with those teachers who keep writing books and profiting from decades of failed prophecy's. At some point its about fear and greed and the desire to be in the spotlight with our national evangelical obsession.