This Strange Land

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-21T05:45:00.001-08:00

This guy is Great

Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson Debating

2011-12-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

Cello Wars

2011-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Buddy Greene at Carnegie Hall

2011-10-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

The Boys Are Back...In School

2011-08-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Caden at the Pool

2011-08-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the pool today and decided to try and capture a few shots of Caden. I'm not sure about the end result but I had fun with editing in various ways. Let me know what you think.

Beautiful, Haunting Music from Josh Garrels

2011-06-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

Mason Jar Music Presents... Josh Garrels from Mason Jar Music on Vimeo.

Furniture Assembly With the Boys

2011-06-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Farmer Max

2011-06-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Why Young People Leave the Faith

2011-05-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Drew Dyck write's,

Over the past year I've conducted dozens of interviews with 20-somethings who have walked away from their Christian faith. Among the most surprising findings was this: nearly all of these "leavers" reported having positive experiences in youth group. I recall my conversation with one young man who described his journey from evangelical to atheist. He had nothing but vitriol for the Christian beliefs of his childhood, but when I asked him about youth group, his voice lifted. "Oh, youth group was a blast! My youth pastor was a great guy."
I was confused. I asked Josh Riebock, a former youth pastor and author ofmY Generation, to solve the riddle: if these young people had such a good time in youth group, why did they ditch their faith shortly after heading to college?
His response was simple. "Let's face it," he said. "There are a lot more fun things to do at college than eat pizza."
college?

Read the Whole Article at Out Of Ur

HT Ur via Z

Pseudo-Repentance and Porn

2011-04-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

Dr. Russell Moore writes in his book Tempted and Tried,

In our time pornography has become the destroying angel of male Eros. I don’t mean to suggest that pornography is only a male temptation (it is not), but pornography, because of the way a man has been designed toward arousal is, when available, a universal male temptation. It has come to the point now that whenever I meet with a couple in which there is a man who is an emotional shell of himself—dead to intimacy with his wife—and a marriage is fraying apart, I ask how long the pornography has been going on. In every case it’s there.

There is a kind of helplessness that a man engaged in pornography exhibits. He often speaks of it in terms of a “struggle” or an “addiction.” Now both of those terms are accurate, I believe, but they distance a person from his sin in a soul-decaying manner. Pornography is not just an addiction; it is occultism. The man who sits upstairs viewing pornography while his wife chauffeurs the kids to soccer practice is not some unusual “pervert”; he is (like his forefather Adam) seeking the mystery of the universe apart from Christ. That’s the reason the one picture, stored in his memory, of that naked woman will never be enough for him. He will never be able to be satisfied because he will never be able to get an image naked enough.

I say pornography is occultism because I believe the draw toward it is more than biological (though that is strong). The satanic powers understand the “the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). They understand that the pornographic act severs a one-flesh marriage union at the very point of intimate connectedness and instead joins Christ, spiritually, to an electronic prostitute (1 Cor. 6:16). They also know that those who unrepentantly practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Pornography is, in one sense, no different from any other form of sexual temptation. But in another sense it is even more insidious. Pornography brings with it a kind of pseudo-repentance. Immediately after it is “over,” the participant feels a kind of revulsion and self-loathing. Whereas an adulterer or a fornicator can at least rationalize a kind of transcendent “love” behind his sin, even a conscience thoroughly seared over rarely wants to write love songs or poetry in celebration of his pornographic self-satisfaction.

Typically—at least in those who have some sort of Christian or moral identity—the pornographic act is followed by a resolve never to do it again, to leave it behind and find some sort of accountability. But what masquerades as a repentant conscience is in most cases little more than a sated appetite. When the appetite is “hungry” once again, the demonic powers will collaborate with the biological impulses to find a way to make it seem irresistible again. As the cycle of temptation grinds on, the illusion of repentance keeps the sin in hiding, so that actual repentance never happens until, as with Esau, the conscience is so seared that repentance is then impossible (Heb. 6:4-6, 12:16-17).

And this is, of course, exactly where the powers want any child of Adam—and especially any professing brother or sister of the Lord Jesus.

Dr. Russell Moore via Challies

Preview of the New "Hobbit" Movies from Director Peter Jackson

2011-04-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan and can't wait for these movies to come out. Feast your eyes "Lord of the Rings" nerds!

Visible Signs of Holiness

2011-01-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Good Stuff Here posted by Kevin DeYoung from J.C. Ryle,

What does holiness look like? J.C. Ryle explains:

True sanctification then does not consist in talk about religion.

True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious feelings.

True sanctification does not consist in outward formalism and external devoutness.

Sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life, and the renunciation of our social duties.

Sanctification does not consist in the occasional performance of right actions. (p. 32)

Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual respect to God’s law, and habitual effort to live in obedience to it as the rule of life.

Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual endeavour to do Christ’s will, and to live by His practical precepts.

Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual desire to live up to the standard which St. Paul sets before the churches in his writings.

Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual attention to the active graceswhich our Lord so beautifully exemplified, and especially to the grace of charity.

Genuine sanctification, in the last place, will show itself in habitual attention to the passive graces of Christianity.

This list would make a good tool for self-examination and a good prompt for prayer. Ryle’s signs are biblical, and easier to understand that Jonathan Edwards.

Hide & Seek (with a 3 year old)

2011-01-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

One Spectacular Waste of Time

2011-01-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

I think we could all just watch the end of the year YouTube compilations like this and save a lot of time throughout the year. Anyway, Feast you eyes on the awesome, weird, and just plain silly best youtube videos of the last year.:

First Snowball of the Year

2010-12-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

New Instrumental Derek Webb Album

2010-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

Always a fan of new Derek Webb.

In describing the album Webb writes:

"Worship is a complicated idea. Arguably, it’s what we all do, 24 hours a day (regardless of what we’re worshipping). And I’m aware of a lot of “worship product” in the marketplace I sometimes occupy. So I was cautious when I first started receiving the coordinates that would lead me to make ‘Feedback’. It was immediately conceptual and ambitious, so much so that I genuinely wasn’t sure I could do it. But this seemed to be the perfect posture in which to create something worthy of being called a “worshipful” piece of art. So I studied, meditated, struggled and prayed my way through this creative process, and it’s easily the most challenging thing I’ve done in my career. But I believe it’s been worth it, even just for the ways it’s stretched both my creative process and my faith as a follower of the Way."

Feedback [2.1] from Scott Brignac on Vimeo.

Blind

2010-11-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

Nice short film with some great music from Page CXVI:

Blindness from Michael Snowdon on Vimeo.

Distraction 2.0

2010-10-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm talking about people:

I'm pretty sure that a phone, no matter how great, can save us from our addiction to distraction.

Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed

2010-10-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Isaac Watts:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sov’reign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died
for his own creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.

But drops of tears can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.

A simple rendition by Nathan Clark George, from his album Pull Up a Chair:

HT Taylor

Distraction

2010-09-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

I found the following via Google News. The video shows some fake possible future uses of technology. I'm sure the creators meant to wow the watcher with how cool the possibilities of the future can be. I watched and grew mildly concerned at how distracted everyone seemed to be. The first individual wakes up and immediately grabs his cool tech and browses some sports/pop culture before getting out of bed. Images of a women brushing her teeth and browsing through media blend into two guys on a park bench exchanging what looks like an interesting graphic of their favorite sports team and then doing something similar at work. Setting aside the content of their attention it just seems that everyone is so distracted by all this rich media in front of them. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure their are amazing possible uses for most of these hot new gadgets. Libraries, hospitals, and I'm sure church's and ministries will most likely leverage the power of any new technology to great good in the world. I just sit typing this in front of my laptop with my headphones in and know that I battle everyday to try and give my attention to things that matter. Not just give my attention to things that matter but give more than 30 seconds to anything in my life that doesn't have an LCD screen and a radio in it. There was a time when books and information was a luxury. Our struggle is not with finding things that are helpful and uplifting but shutting out the noise and giving God, our families and our neighbors a sizable piece of our love and attention.

I've been laboring over the last 3 weeks at significantly reducing distractions in my life. I whittled the amount of webpages and blogs that I read from nearly 70 to 5. I deleted miscellaneous podcasts and programs on the radio that I regularly kept up with to only what has substance and will bring me to focus on God and others more. I'm trying to completely stop watching movies and/or TV programs (netflix or otherwise) unless I'm watching with/engaging with a family member or friend in the process. I don't say this because I am proud or strong; quite the opposite. I wish desperatley that I could be a man of balance, easily juggling the different responsibilities and entertainment in my life with care and vision. It is because I'm weak and undisciplined that I must fast, or cut off a limb (to use another phrase). It greatly saddens me that many times I look back over my week and realize that I didn't read a story to my kids one night but found time to watch some sci-fi show on TV before bed.

Many things we fill our lives with are not in and of themselves harmful but taken to extremes they may destroy us. Let's all continually examine our distractions and find rest, peace and joy in our Savior, our families, our neighbors, and the real world around us!

Labor Day Shot at The Apple Orchard

2010-09-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Jack picking apples at the Apple Orchard on Labor Day:

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

Glen Beck's Gospel

2010-08-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Reflecting on the Glen Beck's Tea party rally on the mall in Washington D.C. Russ Moore writes in a need-to-read essay:

"A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln Memorial and calls American Christians to revival. He assembles some evangelical celebrities to give testimonies, and then preaches a God and country revivalism that leaves the evangelicals cheering that they’ve heard the gospel, right there in the nation’s capital."

"...It’s taken us a long time to get here, in this plummet from Francis Schaeffer to Glenn Beck. In order to be this gullible, American Christians have had to endure years of vacuous talk about undefined “revival” and “turning America back to God” that was less about anything uniquely Christian than about, at best, a generically theistic civil religion and, at worst, some partisan political movement."

"...Where there is no gospel, something else will fill the void: therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do. The prophet Isaiah warned us of such conspiracies replacing the Word of God centuries ago (Is. 8:12–20). As long as the Serpent’s voice is heard, “You shall not surely die,” the powers are comfortable."

Read the Whole Short Article Here

Saturday Shots of the Boys

2010-08-28T18:56:00.000-07:00