Crazy Love

This Sunday, my Sunday School class begins a journey through Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love. There are several resources available to help us get more out of the book. Go to www.crazylovebook.com to see the videos that go with each chapter. Also, for the month of July, you can download for FREE the audio version of Crazy Love, read by Francis Chan. Click here to get the audio book. 

If you don't have the book yet, click here to order one. It's even cheaper now. 

I'm excited about our journey.  

Founding Fathers

I like this post from Mark Batterson's blog. 

I love history. And I love America! Thought I'd share a little of both as we celebrate Independence Day.

Before I do, let me say a few things. First of all, this isn't meant to be a dissertation. It's a blog. Secondly, I'm not nominating all of our founding fathers for sainthood. Having said that let me say this: there is a lot of revisionist history that totally ignores or distorts the faith of our Founding Fathers. A lot of them were motivated by their faith in Christ.

Here's some back story on some of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence. Most Americans know next to nothing about these fifty-six heroes who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the cause of freedom.

John Witherspoon was an ordained minister and authored several books of sermons, as well as editing America's first family Bible in 1791.

Charles Thomson served as Secretary of Congress and was a Biblical scholar. He helped edit the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint into English.

Charles Carroll, the last of the fifty-six signers to pass away at the age of 95 in 1832, wrote out hisdeclaration of faith at the age of eighty-nine.

On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for my salvation, and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.

Another Founding Father, Benjamin Rush, is considered the "Father of American Medicine." He personally trained three thousand medical students. Dr. Rush also founded "The First Day Society" which was the precursor to the Sunday School movement, as well as founding America's first Bible society. It was Benjamin Rush who said the Constitution was "as much the work of Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament were the effects of divine power."

Francis Hopkinson was a church music director and edited one of the first hymnals printed in America in 1767. He also set 150 psalms to music.

Roger Sherman is the only Founding Father to sign all four of America's Founding documents: the Articles of Association in 1774, the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Articles of Confederation in 1778, and the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Roger Sherman was also a theologian. He wrote a personal creed that was adopted by his church:

I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

I could share story after story, but the bottom line is this: many of our Founding Fathers were motivated by their Faith in Christ. They wrote sermons and creeds and hymns. They founded Bible Societies and Sunday Schools. They served God's purposes in their generation. And I, for one, am grateful.

Hope that adds a spiritual dimension to your 4th of July celebration!

Faith is a Substance

I like this post on  Steven Furtick's blog:

I like the old King James translation of Hebrews 11:1:
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is not an abstract theoretical proposition.  It’s not wishful thinking.  It’s substance.  It’s action.

Most of my life I imagined faith as some kind of force field.  And the way we talk about faith dematerializes it.  By most definitions, faith is synonymous with hope.

The more I study Scripture, the more I detect a sharp distinction between hope and faith.  Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Hope wants it to happen. Faith causes it to happen and acts as if it’s already done.

Faith is not content to want it really, really bad.  Faith consults the drawings and gets busy building.  Hope is the blueprint.  Faith is the contractor.

Some of the things we’re believing God for will never happen in our lives because we stand in hope instead ofwalking in faith.

The Boys Return

My boys have been away for 11 days, the longest time I haven't been with them. They left with Amy and Katherine to see some family, then went to camp. After camp, they went to Amy's brother's for a few days. I'm looking forward to their return. 

While they have been away, we've gotten a little preview for what life may be like after they leave home. Katherine has been my big helper, and we've been able to do a lot of fun things together. I realize that the boys do a lot around the house (chores) that makes life easier. I mowed the yard twice while they were gone, my first two times of the summer. Hopefully, it will be my last two times this year. The benefits of having two teenage boys. 

Most of all, I missed being with them, knowing what's been going on in their lives. I look forward to them telling of their adventures. 

This Week

This week our boys have gone to camp for the week. Camp has been one of the summer highlights for our kids since they can remember. Our kids have been going to camp since 1997. Kendall was 4 and Kaleb was 3. Our first camp was a family camp - and our kids have been at camp at least one week a year ever since. For several years, they spent two weeks at camp since I worked at the children's camps. 

Since the boys are at camp,  I'm home with the girls. It's one of the few times that I've been out-numbered. That's key when it comes to what is being watched on the TV in the living room (that has the DVR). 

The cool thing is that Katherine has been my sidekick yesterday and today. We've had a great time together. We went to the Y both days - today at 5:30 am - and then to Muddy's for a mocha (for me) and a Holy Cow (for her). Great times!  

New Driver

Last Thursday, Kaleb finished up the driving part of Driver's Ed around 12:15 pm. By 1:15 he had passed his Driver's Ed exam, had his picture taken and was waiting for his learner's permit to be made. 

He proceeded to drive me back to Hertford. Then he drove us out to eat that night. Kinda weird. Even with Kendall driving, it is still my habit to go to the driver's door when going somewhere. I guess it is time to kick the habit for a while.  BTW, Kaleb does rather well. My only complaint, sometimes he goes too slow. (I know that will change.)

A Little Fishin'

The kids and I went fishing this evening at a little pond near our house. We've fished there many times, but with little success. This evening was different.

Katherine had caught two fish, and Kendall one, before I ever got my pole in the water. We ended up catching over twenty fish in a short period of time. We  started off catching catfish and finished by catching mostly bream. Katherine caught two rather large catfish, requiring her brothers to help her haul them in. Kendall is now the family expert on getting catfish off the hook. 

The weather was perfect. A little overcast with enough breeze to keep the insects away. What an enjoyable evening!