Before todays game I was convinced we'd be done after the first round of the playoffs. After todays game I now think we'll advance to the divisional round. There are two things you need to win playoff games: 1) a solid run game, and 2) good defense. We did both of those things well today. We finally closed out a game with a 12:12 minute drive in the 4th quarter just running it down their throats. Aside from a goal line fumble and a Jacksonville touchdown during clean up time the game was pretty much picture perfect. It's nice to see the defense coming together and stopping one of the premier running backs in the league. This is a team worthy of the AFC East division title that they clinched with the win. This is a team worthy of the 3rd seed in the AFC playoffs which they maintained with the win. This is a team we haven't seen much this season, but if they stick around, they should put up quite a fight in the upcoming playoffs.

This summer my parents are putting together a team to work with His Promise Ministries in Arandis, Namibia. So I decided to join them before my fall semester starts up again next August. We will most likely be working with the orphans and vulnerable children supported by HPM and the ministry's school, Talitha-Kumi Christian Academy. We will also partner with Pastor Tresford and Fabiola Banda and their church, Arandis Christian Center, in the ministries they are involved with. If you're interested in learning more about the team or perhaps even joining us, check out our team blogsite at Nam2010.blogspot.com. Seriously, if you're interested in going, there are spots available. You don't even have to be from Raleigh to go; we'll work it out! There'll be updates to the blogsite building up to and during the trip as usual. Hope you'll follow along with us either in person or online!

Another sloppy victory in the books. We're definitely not one of the elite teams in the league, but at least we can beat the bad teams . . . unlike Pittsburgh. The run game looked good today, although it should against the last ranked run defense. I'm also glad they found ways to get Randy involved. It seems the underneath routes are the Pats' bread & butter. They even swapped Welker to the outside to bring Randy underneath. On the other side, the line was getting wrecked with the run, but fortunately we got enough of a lead to force the Bills into throwing the ball. That allowed our depleted defensive line to get some good pressure on the QB. The most glaring disappointment is our fourth quarter offense, and it's not just today. We had the ball three times with opportunities to run down the clock and ice the game, but we couldn't even get the first down. They know we're gonna run so it gets stuffed at the line and we punt it away. We can't seal a victory for anything! We let the Buffalo Bills get within one possession of winning the game . . . the Bills! I still have no confidence in the playoffs, but fortunately with losses to Miami and New York today, our division title is all but wrapped up. Though with Jacksonville and Houston both fighting for their playoff lives, neither of those games will be a gimme.

My youngest brother, Dakota, had his 5th grade health talks this week. You know, those talks we all got in the 5th grade where they tell you about puberty and hand out free sample sticks of deodorant. So tonight at dinner he said, "The one body part on girls that I know about . . . nevermind." To which I responded, "Good choice!" :) He also told me his deodorant, which he can't stop talking about, smells like me. I guess that's a good thing.

Looking for a cheap Christmas present to give out to friends or family? How about a CD full of free Christmas music! Amazon is offering 30 Christmas songs to download for free! Some of it is worth what you pay for it, but some of it's pretty good, including one of my current favorites, Relient K's "I Celebrate The Day." So go on over to Amazon's free Christmas music downloads and see if there's anything you like! Tell your friends, or don't tell your friends and burn a CD for them instead! Merry Christmas!

Rough win today. This is not a good looking team. We won that game on Panther errors. They had 9 penalties in some key situations. That's why we won, only because we were playing a worse team. Randy Moss was not good. Brady had his issues. Three turnovers! Are you kidding me! The offense could do nothing the entire first half. They finally got it going the second half. Looking for something good, it was nice to see Ben Watson step in as a third receiver. And the running game actually looked good today, aside from Sammy Morris' fumble and 4th down failure. Fred Taylor seems closer to returning every week which will only help matters. If we can make teams respect the run that should help open up the passing game and take some pressure off Brady. Also Wes Welker's got to get his props. The guy's solid and does everything he's asked week in and week out. Defense did their job holding the Cats to 10 points, but it was mostly thanks to an inept offense. There were two easy passes where I know everybody was saying, "Rodney would've made that pick." Truth is, we're definitely missing all that veteran defensive talent and leadership that left in the offseason. That's not something you can draft, but I don't see another Super Bowl ring without it.

Only 3 more finals till Christmas break...and boy am I ready to be done. I finished all my semester work before Thanksgiving so I've had nothing but studying for these finals for the past week and a half. One was a take home, open book essay which rang in at about 8 pages long. I'll take Gospels and Systematic Theology tomorrow which will give me all weekend to study up for Into to Theological Studies which is three 1,000 word essays, ugh. But then I'm off for a whole month during which I'll get a major head start on next semesters reading. Ah the joys of seminary life...

The Patriots could use this kid on defense.

All I have to say is our second half game is awful. We can't get to their quarterback. Miami receivers were finding wholes all over the field. We made Chad Henne look like a league MVP. All around, upsetting. But like I said last week, they're an average team. At this point I'd be very surprised if we make it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs. And if that weren't bad enough, Washington managed to blow my one consolation of the day and let the Saints come back and win.

I had my first North Carolina Christmas tree experience last weekend. On Saturday the fam loaded up the Expedition and trooped off to the tree farm. It was a nice little country place, packed out with families getting an early evergreen for decoration. At the shop I noticed a three legged tree stand that had only a solitary spike that you jam your tree onto to hold it up. I commented how it would probably fall over pretty easily, but a young female employee quickly came to it's defense asking how big a tree we were looking for. I asked what's the biggest they had and she pointed to a row of about 10-12 footers. I couldn't help but laugh inside since our NH trees averaged around 20 feet or so. We went out to the cut-your-own field where they had an assortment of cedars, long needle trees that were trimmed by a cone shaper, and some kind which looked more like they belonged in a fish tank. Needless to say, we went back to the precut douglas firs that were shipped in from the mountains. That's a little more what us northerners are used to. With no great room to put the tree in this year we ended up with a modest 6 footer. It still smells of pine and does the job, so I guess I can't complain. I suppose New England spoils a guy at Christmas time.

It doesn't happen often, but yes, I walked out on the Patriots with seven minutes left to go in the game. It's been a long time since we've been schlacked that bad. With no pressure whatsoever, Drew Brees picked apart our secondary with ease. Their pass rush and inexperienced corners shut down our deep ball. Laurence Maroney (surprisingly!) was probably the only bright point of the evening. He ran hard knocking guys around and scored both our TDs. Before the game the commentators quoted one of New Orleans' coordinators saying, "Either you are or you're not." That about sums it up. Clearly the Saints are one of the best teams in the league. They can score at will and shut down a great offense. They are championship caliber, no doubt. And as much as it hurts to say, clearly the Patriots are not. I know every dynasty has an end, but that doesn't mean it's any less painful when it happens. Last night was the game where every Patriot fan had to realize, we're no longer the standard of the NFL. Since the 03-04 seasons, we've always been an elite team until we proved otherwise. Last night demonstrated that now we're a second tier team until we prove otherwise. We're no longer favored just because we're the Patriots. We're back to being the underdogs, because we deserve to be. Our days of expecting to win every game are gone. That doesn't mean we're not a good team, we're just not great. And for all those emotional fans (mostly female) who are objecting that I've lost hope and I'm bailing the bandwagon after one tough loss, suck it up and be realistic. Sure, we'll bounce back and beat Miami. Sure, we'll win the division and make it to the playoffs. But now greatness has to be attained rather than assumed. But then again, that might not be such a bad place to be because I remember a lowly 2001 franchise who had a lot of attaining to do.

"For he that believes that everything happens to him for the best, cannot possibly complain for the want [meaning "lack"] of something that is better....For as thankfulness is an express acknowledgment of the goodness of God towards you, so repinings and complaints are as plain accusations of God's want of goodness towards you."

Today I couldn't decide who to give photo props to. There were so many worthy contenders. So I picked two: Wes Welker for an impressive 15 catch game and setting a career high in receiving yards in a game (and for the cool stiff arm pictured), and Leigh Bodden with a stellar 3 picks on the rookie QB (pictured taking this one to the house). The defense was relentless on the young Sanchez forcing 5 turnovers and making him look like the rookie he is. The emotion of a new coach and a promising star is long gone and things are back to normal, with the Jets looking 3 games up at the Pats. However, Thomas Jones still churned out a hundred yard game even though it was all for naught. The offense was also impressive. Maroney stepped it up when we needed to wind down the clock, something he couldn't do a week ago. Brady was, well...Brady. The major point of concern I saw was quite a bit of QB pressure in the second half. Everyone knows if Brady's jersey stays clean then the Pats are gonna clean up. Chances of doing that would be greatly improved with a respectable run game, which will hopefully get a boost in Sammy Morris' return in the near future. All in all, the defense did their job making an average offense look bad. The biggest test of this young secondary will be against Drew Brees and his high powered offense next Monday night. We've all seen our offense can score enough points to keep up, but can our defense keep us ahead when it counts. That's the lingering question that makes the difference between a bye and wildcard weekend.

Sometimes people ask since God is sovereign and already knows everything that's gonna happen then why bother praying about anything? This seems quite backwards. If God were not sovereign then why would we bother praying about anything. Why bother asking if he doesn't have the power to do anything about it? God's sovereignty is the very reason why we pray, because He can do something about it.

If you haven't checked out Shane & Shane's new album "Everything Is Different," then you must immediately hop on over to their myspace and click the play button. It's been on constant repeat for the better part of my week. The title track "Everything Is Different" along with "I'm Alive" are not only catchy tunes, but they speak great truth about our salvation by grace alone. The album even includes a few Radio Versions at the end for the more CCM oriented. So go get a free preview online, then go buy the album. You'll be singing these songs in your sleep!

Never have I seen a team so thoroughly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They put up 34 points on a team that previously hadn't allowed more than 23. They forced Indy to punt more than they had all season. They gave up two endzone turnovers and still held a 17 point forth quarter lead. Then they sent their cheerleaders onto the field for the final 15 minutes to give the best roll-over-and-play-dead impersonation I've ever seen. Commentators and reporters are billing it as a phenomenal Colts comeback and singing Manning's praises. But that ridiculous! That's perhaps the worst quarter of football the Patriots have played all season. And the coaching!? Handing the ball to Peyton Manning on your own thirty with a 6 point lead?! Are you flippin out of your mind?!?! I haven't seen a decision that bad since the Bills kick returner ran it out of the endzone in Week 1! Now any hope of home field advantage in the playoffs and probably a first round bye is long gone. But worse then all that is now the Colts have a free ride to break our record 21-game winning streak and match our unprecedented 16-0 regular season record from 2007. We had our chance to do something about it but we handed it to them on a silver platter. Had we won we would've pulled into a tie with them for most games won this decade (109), a statistic that certainly would seal our legend as the team of the decade. But now all that goes out the window along with Belichick's heralded 4th quarter decision making.

Some people claim that the fact that there's evil in the world proves that God doesn't exist. However, it seems to me to be quite the opposite. The fact that there's any good in the world at all proves that He does exist! If there were no God then would you not expect the world to be evil, indeed even more evil then we see now? If it's merely survival of the fittest, the ends justify the means, every man for himself, then why aren't we all completely hedonistic to the fullest extent! The fact that this world isn't completely over taken to the utter extent by sin is only by the grace of God. If there is even one spec of goodness in the world it is contrary to our sinful nature and therefore only a gift of grace from God. Sorry atheists, what else you got?

For those of you who, like me, are always looking for new Christmas music every year, I've got two albums you'll definitely want to check out. The first is Daniel Renstrom's new disc On The Incarnation. Dan's an upcoming artist from Raleigh. This is only his second release but when it came out it reached #7 on iTunes. The opening track "His Company" will be a fixture on my playlist for the next month and a half. His new spins on traditional songs are not just more of the same like you so often find, plus his version of "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" is one of the best I've heard. Mixed with a few originals, it's only 8 tracks long but definitely worth the buy.

Future of Forestry put out their Advent Christmas EP last year but I've been waiting in anticipation all year to break it back out again. It's only 5 tracks of old favorites, but for those needing a little rock twist to some familiar tunes this album is a treasure. From the melodic "O Holy Night" to the rhythmic "Little Drummer Boy," this creative rock band delivers a masterful mixture of holiday goodness. So if you didn't catch it last year, make sure this is part the soundtrack to your Christmas season. You won't regret it.

"As big as you are, the greatest gift God's given you is a wife who can't cook."

Christmas displays in October I suppose I can understand. The industry's trying to stretch the season as much as they can to squeeze out every last dollar they can. I even get Christmas music in November. Granted it's a bit early but you only get these songs for such a limited time every year. But Christmas trees . . . on November 9th?!? No, that's just unacceptable. They'll be dead before Thanksgiving! You gotta be kidding me.

This weeks photo gives props to the Offensive Line. Only nine sacks on the year for Brady is a great stat to boast. These guys have silently been doing their job, no matter who gets injured. So Miami has consistently been the burr under the saddle of the Patriots as the commentators said, but in the end the better team comes out on top. The second and third quarters were tough to watch as the Dolphins just marched their way down the field. A ten minute drive to open the half and take the lead was painful. But it's a 60 minutes game and the Patriots defense came through when it mattered. The passing offense is smoking! It's nice to see Brady with time and receivers finding holes and making great catches. Aside from the obvious, I've been quite pleased with many of the younger guys who've had to step it up this season. "Sea Bass" Vollmer's a stud on the line, Butler on the corner, Tate returning, they all did pretty well today. Last but not least, Stephen Gostkowski has to be the best kicker in the league. Not only did he nail 4 fieldgoals today, but he drilled an 85 yard kickoff out of the endzone and limited Ted Ginn Jr. to only a couple returns. All around a solid effort to be excited about. Next week we'll face our 6th undefeated team this season and this will by far be our toughest. But with Indy having a cake schedule to this point, I see the Pats bringing them back to earth next week.

"The more I looked at what Jesus had done on the cross the more He met my case exactly. I needed someone or something to stand between a righteous God and my sinful self: a God who must punish sins and blasphemies, and myself, who had wallowed in both to the neck. I needed an Almighty Saviour who should step in and take my sins away, and I found such a one in the New Testament."

If you haven't seen this blog yet, check it out. It has some great satire on the state of the Christian church in America. If you've grown up in church and don't at least smirk, then he's probably writing about you.

Do you suppose the law of increase ("To everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.") contradicts the law of reversal ("the last will be first, and the first last.")? Why or why not?

Somebody from the Worldwide Zoo Database saw some of my Namibia photos and wanted to add them to their site. The website is still a work in progress but it hopes to list all major zoological sites across the globe. Again, it's no major accomplishment, but just a little fun exposure. You can see them here:

"I have enough trouble with this keyboard right here. And I'm gonna use a blackberry?!"
~Grandpa, who just turned 81 two days ago

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

"Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple."
~Barry Switzer

I played out at an open mic tonight at The Evening Muse, apparently the place to go for acoustic shows here in Charlotte. It was a cool little eclectic bar, nice venue. Order was decided by a lottery when we first got there. Jeremiah pulled out a number for us...#1, great. So we went first. He played djembe to a couple of my songs that he'd never heard before. It was a good time. The other performers varied from not good at all to quite excellent. My favorite was a guy from Ireland named Andrew Farmer. The first song he played was called Don't Run Away From Grace (check it out on his myspace). Then he offered a classic northern Irish bar song which was phenomenal. I wish I could've recorded it for you, it was that brilliant. Seriously, check out his stuff. I recommend it. And see, you never know what kind of free publicity an open mic gig will get you!

"We'll retire 1-0 internationally." I like the sound of that. Not sure how the 4 hour time difference or clay surface or British accents affected the team, but another double digit penalty week doesn't instill much confidence. Now I suppose I shouldn't complain with a 35-7 victory, but then what am I suppose to write about? :) One disclaimer, for the first time this season I wasn't able to watch the game on tv or online so all my observations come from Gino Cappelletti and the radio broadcast. I must say, I'm pleased with Brandon Meriweather's growth as a solid safety. The guy's a ball hawk, no doubt. And Brandon Tate had a decent showing for his first game in a year. But ten penalties, most from the offensive line, is unacceptable. Against a good team, that's gonna come back and bite you. All in all, we're 5-2, first in the division, with a brutal next 5 games on the schedule. A good week for a bye.

Tragedy. That word seems to be coming up a lot lately. Whether it’s teenagers randomly robbing a house and killing whoever they find inside or a father beating his wife to death before taking his own life. These kinds of things happen everyday all over the world, but when it hits so close to home we’re forced to face it. Why does God let these things happen? Perhaps He’s not powerful enough to stop them? Or maybe He’s not as loving as people say? When everything falls apart somebody has to answer for it, so we level our questions at God, the One who’s supposedly in charge of it all in the first place.

God’s sovereignty means He is in control of everything. That’s part of what it means to be God. He says, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure” (Is 46:10). Nothing can frustrate His plans. If His plans could be frustrated then there is something higher than Him and He is not God. But God’s sovereignty does not stand alone, it is accompanied by other characteristics like His infinite wisdom, His infinite justice, and His infinite goodness. This means that not only will He always do what He wants to do, but it will always be the perfectly wise, perfectly just, and perfectly right thing to do.

So if God controls everything, why does He allow evil to exist? If we were in control of the universe then surely our goal would be to make everybody happy. Our idea of happiness is that there would be no evil or pain or suffering. But remember our wisdom is finite. Because evil exists, that means somewhere in God’s infinitely wise plan there must be some good reason for evil. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts,” says the Lord (Is 55:9). Indeed there is some comfort in the fact that our God knows far more about these things than we do, and that these events do not fall outside of His all wise plan.

In the Old Testament, the events of Joseph’s life will rival any tragic story you’ll hear. The youngest of 11, his older brothers beat him up, threw him in a well, and then sold him into slavery in a distant country. In Egypt, a false accusation tarnished his reputation and landed him in prison for many years before God finally rescued him. As an older man recalling the events of his life he had this to say to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, the preservation of many people alive” (Gen 50:20).

Even our salvation was accomplished as the result of evil. In reference to the greatest crime of all time, Peter prayed, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:27-28). If it were not for the greatest evil in the history of the world, we would never know the extent of God’s divine love and grace.

Our comfort then is this, all the evil in the world cannot frustrate God’s plans. In fact, it is within His plan and He will accomplish His good ends through it. From where we stand we can’t always see what those good ends are, but we can rest in the fact that the all wise Creator of the universe sees all things and knows all ends. He is good. He is just. And His will will prevail.

In no way is this a comprehensive answer to all the different questions that surround this topic which theologians have wrestled with for centuries. If it only raises more questions in your mind, then what an excellent opportunity for you to continue exploring the depths of our great God. In the meantime, may the grace and comfort of our God be with you always.

What can I find to complain about when the offense puts up a franchise record of 59 points and the defense posts a shutout with 5 turnovers and -7 passing yards?! Well first of all, the weather was our 12th defender today. Titans were dropping passes and fumbling the ball left and right. But Pats defenders were missing a lot of first tackles (snowy and slippery I know) and Tennessee got some huge run plays. Now the shutout definitely deserves credit and they took advantage of the Titans mistakes, but if it weren't snowy I'm not sure this would've been a shutout the way Chris Johnson was running. On the offense, here I'm definitely pleased. I'm glad they didn't throw out half the playbook for the weather. I'm glad to see Brady with plenty of time to throw, great accuracy, and finally hitting some long TDs. Maroney and Green-Ellis were solid on the ground. They'll have to keep it up the rest of the season with Morris and Taylor both injured. Overall, it was a good show against a bad team, admittedly a little better than expected, but I'm not getting too excited because it was against a winless team. It was a good building block towards a tough November. And as if today couldn't get any better, the Bills upset the Jets in OT to give the Patriots sole possession of first place in the division.

Thursday was our first day taking fan photos before the NASCAR qualifiers. It was pretty rainy in the early afternoon and cold all day. So between the weather and since it wasn't the race yet there really weren't that many people around. I took about 70 photos over the 5 hours we were out. The boss was going to send out an email with the list of people he wanted back for race day on Saturday. When the email came out...I wasn't on the list. I was kinda disappointed because that means either my pics weren't very good or I didn't take enough, but mostly because it was a fun job and now he probably wasn't going to ask me back again. I looked back at the pics and they weren't all that good, but I knew if I had another chance on a day with more people I'd do a lot better. So I was sulking most of Friday and this morning, but as I was praying today I reminded God (myself) that I trusted Him to provide for my needs whatever that may look like.

So I finally found my first job in the area. It's only a weekend contract job, but work is work. This weekend I'll be at Lowe's Motor Speedway taking fan photos during the NASCAR race here in Charlotte. Basically it'll be two full days of wandering around taking photos of crazy redneck NASCAR fans who've been camping here in their RVs all week, half of whom will probably be drunk through the whole thing anyway (not to stereotype or anything!). Then afterward they can go online and purchase their photo if they like. All in all it should be fun, getting paid to take pictures, can't beat that! Plus free admission to the race...woohoo...I'm trying to contain my excitement...how unfortunate that this blog post can't communicate my sarcasm...I mean, enthusiasm. :)

Well I guess we know one thing for sure now...Denver is legit. Everyone was saying they're not really a 4-0 team but they went out and played some tough ball. I gotta hand it to them...mostly for Josh McDaniels sake. It's a lot harder to hate a team (sports hate) with such a good guy as a coach. How cool was it to see him trade hugs with Ben Watson and Steven Neal after the game...and he was so excited. As much as I hate to drop a game, that makes it a little easier to swallow. But this post isn't about the Broncos...

Did you ever wonder why Amos 1:6-8 mentions four cities of the Philistine Pentapolis (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron) but not the fifth, the large and important city of Gath? Ok, it probably never crossed your mind, you just read right over it, even if you were reading Amos, which you probably weren't in the first place. Well, I'm going to tell you anyway! If you flip a few pages over to Amos 6:2, you see the prophet use Gath as an example of what's going to happen to Jerusalem and Samaria because they're such idolaters. Back in 2 Kings 12:17, we read that Hazael, king of Aram (modern Syria), went up and destroyed Gath. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, man-made seige trench around the remains of Gath and a destruction layer in the city that dates to that same time period. Also N. Israel/Syrian style pottery was found at the bottom of the trench. Seems like good evidence that Hazael built this trench when he beseiged and destroyed Gath. He planned to go and do the same to Jerusalem, but king Joash paid him off out of the temple treasury. When Amos was preaching against the sins of Israel and Judah, the destruction of a big city like Gath would have been a vivid example of God's wrath poured out against those who reject him. I love how archaeology makes seemingly insignificant passages like this one come alive!

Halloween 'decorations' just make me laugh...every time.

It's an exciting time to be a Patriots fan! The number one thing I noticed today was defense making tackles. Baltimore did rack up some yardage, but not very much after the catch. The game ending drive made me a little nervous, that was a little too close for comfort, but in the end, if Mark Clayton can't catch a ball thrown right to his hands, they don't deserve to win anyway. It appears we're back to our "bend-but-don't-break" defensive scheme of a few years back. That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, but the swarming and hard nosed tackling are signs of a playoff worthy defense. I'm not ready to label them championship-caliber yet, but there's still a lot of season left. On the other side of the ball, we managed 80-some rushing yards against a stingy run defense, just enough to balance the attack and keep the blitzers honest. Brady seems to be getting better every week, though I'm sure a healthy Wes Welker didn't hurt. I have to wonder if no Joey Galloway is a sign the end may be near for him. And I'm glad to know we can still get a Red Zone touchdown, finally. I was beginning to wonder if we were purposefully trying to pad Gostkowski's stats. Overall, a solid win over a good team, even if it did take a few well-timed penalties to keep us rolling. Making the most of your opportunities, that's what makes a good team.

And you think your connection is slow...Love it!

Tuesdays are by far my longest day. I have three hours of Gospels in the morning with an hour break in the middle for chapel. Reformed chapels are interesting, very liturgical with a hymn, a responsive reading from the Psalms, a 'Pastoral Prayer', then one of the professors preaches. Nothing groundbreaking, but not bad. Then I spend the afternoon doing homework. Today was gorgeous autumn weather so I took some books out to the park. I tried a new park today and about 3:30 a ton of people came for a jr high cross country meet, so much for my peace and quiet. Then it's back to school in the evening for my three hour Systematic Theology class. Fortunately they invented laptops. If I was gonna try to keep up taking notes for these lectures with a pen and notebook, I'd be toast. But this is great! I can set up my laptop. They give us Word docs of all the notes ahead of time. It's a beautiful thing. How did I ever survive college without this stuff? Anyway, glad my longest day is over. The rest of the week is a breeze from here.

Today deserves two quotes:
"You can't believe everything you hear on the internet. That's how World War I got started."

"I'm an eternal optimist. You could bury me up to my neck in dog crap and I'd be like, 'At least my heads not under!'"

How's that for a welcoming party! Did anyone else remember that this is a New England team that doesn't lose back to back games? Apparently no one warned Matt Ryan and Co. I must say, I was pleased with how much our "weak" points flexed a little muscle this afternoon. How about that defense shutting out the likes of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner for the whole second half. They made some great third down stops and took Tony Gonzalez completely out of the game. Not only that, but when was the last time we had a 100 yard rusher, and who said Fred Taylor was too old? The supposed "strength" of our offense, the passing attack, still wasn't firing on all cylinders, but Julian Edelman had a fair share of grabs for a rookie and Randy Moss is still...well, he's Randy Moss. It's a little frustrating that everybody expects unbelievable feats from this team. Sure they rewrote the record books in 2007, but that was a different team. Some sports writer was saying that Brady's biggest competition these days is his own myth. If everybody's going to expect this team to be the 2007 offense with the 2004 defense, then they'll be sadly disappointed. For all those whining about missing Rodney Harrison or Teddy Bruschi...Get Over It! This is a different team. A different defense, and a different offense. They'll get things done, but they'll do it their way. And after three weeks, maybe they're still figuring out what their way is. So all I have to say is thumbs up for the win, but there's still plenty to work on for next week.

I went over to Freedom Park for the Festival in the Park with Jeremiah this afternoon. The weather was not too cooperative for shooting photos but I managed to catch a few good shots. You can see some more over on my flickr page. This silver painted guy near the Youth talent stage reminded me of Andrew Cass. We also stopped to listen to a teen singer/songwriter playing an acoustic guitar. She had a very mature voice and playing style. Maybe she'll get big and I can say I heard her way back when. There were lots of great photography exhibits, painters, homemade pottery and jewelry, plus lots of fair food and games. The clouds were flirting with rain all afternoon and finally let loose as we were driving home. A little damp and well exercised it was a nice break from the books.

My Statue of Liberty photo was chosen to be a part of the New York City sightseeing guide on Schmap.com. It's certainly no major publishing accomplishment, since there's about a million other photos on there, but it's fun to see my pics getting a little face time. You can check it out here.

I realize I haven't posted any pics from our new pad yet because I figured I'd wait till we'd gotten a little more settled in. Well, as you'll see there's still a long way to go, but it's getting there. There's still boxes of books waiting for shelves and suitcases of clothes waiting for a dresser. But I did manage to find a cheap desk and bed frame from Goodwill, so it's coming along. So here you go, a work in progress:

It's sad when you've watched a team long enough that you know they're gonna lose when they walk away with 9 points in 3 trips to the red zone, of course that's easy to say in hind sight. But that's not the only factor that led to today's loss. First of all, ELEVEN penalties for 89 yards! I don't remember the last time the Patriots had eleven penalties. You just can't do that and expect to win a game. Also, they say you don't know what you got till it's gone, well everyone in Patriot nation now knows what they got in Wes Welker. I'm sure Joey Galloway and Julian Edelman were trying their best, but there's just not the chemistry with Brady. When you have the kind of pass rush they saw this week you have to release the ball quickly and to do that you need good chemistry with your receivers. Speaking of the pass rush, Sanchez had ALL DAY to pass the ball while Brady was getting tossed to the ground almost every play! Everybody's been talking about the NY blitz all week, but they had no answer for it. This is gonna be a loooong season for Brady if he spends half of it on the ground. And it's gonna be a loooong season for the defensive backs if we can't get any pass rush from our D-line. And last but certainly not least, do we have a kick coverage team? Or maybe they just thought it was a good idea to give up 30+ yards and great field position everytime. When the kicker is in on the tackle, you know there's problems.

I'm sure no one would be surprised to hear that with 5 and half minutes left I was as confident as Brady in a collapsing pocket that the Pats would somehow come out with a win. I've been watching this team long enough to know that if you let them keep the game close, they'll find some way to win in the end. And sure enough, when the Bills kick returner thought he was helping run the clock out by leaving the end zone, he should have known they'd be ball-hawking to force that fumble that turned into the winning touchdown. So while I'm pleased to see that we haven't lost the swagger or the ability to play games all the way to the end, there are a few things that are a bit concerning.

In reference to my previous post on work and play, this morning I went to hear Dr. Wayne Grudem teach a lecture series about "50 factors within nations that lead to sustained economic growth or continual poverty." Point #15 dealt with the idea of work. He suggests that in nations with sustained economic growth "honor is given to productive work. The 'ideal' life is thought to be a life of joyful productivity that benefits both oneself and others." By contrast, in nations with cycles of sustained poverty "work is viewed as a necessary evil....The 'ideal' life is thought to be a life of ease, simply enjoying oneself and one's friends, never having to work again at a productive job." Is that not the direction that our very own culture is heading? Don't most people today want to get the most money for the least amount of work? We no longer hold to the idea that our work is making a valuable contribution to society. We no longer work as "unto the Lord." I fear this is dangerous water into which we're treading where our culture work ethic is concerned.

Ok Katie, allow me to teach you about being a good, knowledgeable fan. First of all, I would expect you to like the Steelers, obviously, you're from western Pennsylvania. So I don't question your character or like you any less because you like the Steelers. I also don't dislike you because you don't like the Patriots. Obviously, any good Steelers fan shouldn't like the Patriots because we always beat you in the playoffs. It's a rivalry. If you didn't dislike the Patriots then you would not be a very good Steelers fan. Therefore I respect you as a Steelers fan, that you're a good fan for your team. That said, you should respect me for being a good fan of my team by not liking their rivals. You follow?

I went to a new church today called Nexus. It was a pretty cool, inner-city church in Uptown Charlotte (for some strange reason they call their downtown "Uptown"...southerners). The pastor is a missionary to America from Zimbabwe so again, very cool accent. In his sermon today he brought up some very interesting points about the divergance our culture has made between work and play. It made me think about the overwhelming priority we've placed on recreation. It seems like the only reason people work is so that they can go on vacation or save up money for retirement when they won't have to work. We're always trying to get out of work. Just think of how often we're encouraged to take a sick day or a long lunch. Adventure trips and once-in-a-lifetime experiences are now a dime a dozen. They tell us to "Sieze the day" and "Grab life by the horns."

But take a look at the apostles. Those guys were tireless in their work. Everywhere they went they were sharing Jesus with people. And the church fathers, some of those guys we'd call crazy for the amount of time they put into praying over their ministry. How about David Brainerd who wrote in his journal on his 24th birthday, "I want to wear out my life in His service and for His glory." And he did just that ministering to the Native Americans until it cost him his life just five years later. But above all, it was Jesus who said, "My nourishment comes from doing the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."

For those like me who are always on the look out for new music to spin, I thought I'd drop a few suggestions that I've been enjoying lately.

"Whenever I need to do some serious thinking, I go for a walk in the woods....There are always a million distractions out here!" ~ Calvin & Hobbes

The advantage of only three days of classes is four day weekends! Last night after class, Nate, Jeremiah and I loaded up in Nate's 15-passenger van and trucked it out to Raleigh for the long weekend. Nate's family lives there and Jeremiah has some extended family there so it works great to carpool and split the gas costs. My parents are going to a funeral up in Virginia tonight and tomorrow so it's just me and the kids running the house. No huge plans for the weekend, get some reading done, maybe some R&R. It's just nice to be close enough to the fam to hang out for the weekend.

When I told our maintenance guy, David, that I was in seminary, the first thing he said was, "Oh I'm sorry if a swore a couple times." That's the first thing my neighbor from Merrimack, crazy Bill, said to me when I told him I was a pastor. Maybe it's time I take up swearing to throw off the stereotypes.

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason...I cannot and will not retract anything."
~Martin Luther in response to being accused of heresy at the Diet of Worms (1521)

"If I'd get a light saber I'd seriously contemplate a life of monastacism."

The advantage for you, my reader, of following along while I'm in seminary is that you get to experience much of my learning without having to read all the books or write all the papers. This morning was my first Gospels class, where the professor brought out some excellent points about understanding the original meaning of a text. Now I'm sure you're no stranger to the idea of seeking out what the author (say Luke) was trying to communicate to the original readers (Theophilus). But in the case of the gospels, you're involved with narrative stories. Therefore you have two original meanings. First, you have the original meaning to those who were historically involved in the story. But then you also have the meaning to the original readers. For example, in Luke 9:23, Jesus tells the disciples, "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." At this point in history Jesus had not died yet (obviously) so to his disciples the cross would be considered a criminal's torturous death. However, by the time Luke had written this passage, the original readers (and all those after them) already knew of Jesus' death on the cross, so his reference to 'taking up our cross' would have been a glaring reference to the cross of Christ and added a whole new level of meaning. So the original meaning is two-fold, first to the historical audience, and second to the reading audience, but both are still the original meaning. So in our interpretation of narrative in the Bible, it can help add to our understanding of the text if we take into account what the original readers knew, but the historical audience didn't. Pretty basic, but pretty cool.

I was a minority before I even walked through the door, but a nice, middle-aged, black man named Danny was quite friendly so that broke the ice. When they asked visitors to stand, it was just me and the only other white guy in the room. We were welcomed with the warm smiles I have come to expect. Their gospel music, instant harmonies, dancing, preaching, and "Hallelujahs" all brought back joyful memories of my days at Arandis Christian Center in Namibia. And that's actually why I went. The church I was going to visit meets at 11:30, but they share a building with the GFMBC and when I heard they were an African-American church that meets at 9:30, that's all the convincing it took for me to go early and get my black gospel fix.

"Tiny Tim is the epitome of Christmas goodness!"

It's not often that books make me cry, but I closed this one with tears running down my cheeks. Not because he dies - I knew he died - but because I long to live my life with such passion and purpose. People don't get biographies written about them just because of how they died, but because of how they lived. Jim Elliot wasn't just martyred trying to take the gospel to a violent jungle tribe who had never heard it. He lived with a passion to share the gospel with everyone he possibly could, especially those who had never heard it. That passion, that purpose, met it's fulfillment when he willingly gave up his life pursuing the mission of his Creator. His martyrdom was the natural overflow of the life he lived. In youth group last spring, I told the teenagers perhaps the reason we're not persecuted for being Christians in America is that we're not being very good Christians. Perhaps if we took our mission a little more seriously, like Jim Elliot did, then maybe our opposition would take us a little more seriously. As it is, our comfortable, self-centered culture has lulled us into a tolerant silence so we can no longer tell the difference between Christ and the world. I wish we would stop living such a me-centered non-Christianity. I wish we would read more biographies of people who radically dedicated their lives to the mission of sharing the gospel. And naturally, we starting with me. I highly recommend this book. Prepare to be challenged and inspired. Pick it up. Seriously.

That's basically just a long title for Intro to Reformed Theology. In class today we just went over the course requirements and definted theology and different ways to go about studying it. This seems like it will be one of those foundational, but not so meaty courses. I have to choose one of the five Solas or one of the five points of Calvinism to write a paper on. Of all my courses this is the least intimidating, which is good considering it's most people's first seminary course ever.

This morning Jeremiah and I went out to the most intense disc golf course I have ever played on. Deep ravines, little creeks, bridges, trees, power lines, this course had it all. It's called championship level for a reason. I actually didn't do too bad, 2 or 3 over par on most holes with the occasional bogey. Considering the course I wasn't too disappointed. A good balance between insanely hard and intensly fun!

I spent this morning at New Student Orientation meeting all the other seminary newbies, professors, staff members, and other random people who's names I've already forgotten. Amidst all the info they dumped on us, I was most keenly atuned to the libarian who reminded us that these aren't undergraduate courses. I shouldn't be doing the minimum about of research that my paper requires. I'm excited...and terrified by this prospect. That's part of why I came back to school, to be challenged to think deeply about questions and issues. But I rest in the confidence that whatever they'll ask us to do, they'll also prepare us to do.

I realized there was one tip that I forgot that I remind myself of all the time so I need to add it in...

In this time of financial ambiguity everyone's offering their top 10 ways to save money and whatnot, so I thought I'd chime in with my own helpful tips for those avid shoppers out there. Here's my top 5 practical suggestions on how to spend less money when you go shopping:

The downside of giving away almost everything you own is that when you move into a new place you have to buy it all back. As discouraging as it is watching money fly out of my accounts, God's provision comes as a welcome blessing. Yesterday morning I thought (again) that I need to be more trusting of God by taking my little requests to Him, so I tossed out one of those unexpectant prayers asking for furniture for our new place, especially a bed, since I've been sleeping on the floor the past two nights. Well driving home from Walmart yesterday, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a queen sized mattress and boxspring on the curb waiting for the dump truck. The owners were more than generous allowing me to take it home and even invited me back for their yard sale in a few weeks. Sure it's old and torn in a few places, but it's a mattress, it doesn't smell like cat pee, and it's my answer to prayer!

Getting adjusted to Charlotte feels a little like adjusting to life in Namibia...but only a little. Probably only in the sense of getting adjusted to any new place. There's different grocery stores here and it’s hard to find different stores because they’re tucked back in shopping plazas and there’s greenery everywhere so you can’t always see the signs. I almost missed Wal-mart because there were too many trees…a Wal-mart! But I’m starting to learn the streets thanks to Google Maps and free Wi-Fi at Panera. How did we ever get by before the internet? I certainly don’t remember.

I arrived at my apartment on Monday, but haven’t really started moving in yet because my roommates haven’t arrived. I visited campus for the first time today (after driving right by it because I didn’t see the sign). I got the tour and met a whole bunch of people, some students taking summer Greek, some of my professors. One perk of being here a week before classes is I beat everyone to the textbooks in the library. I found more than half of what’s on my reading list for the semester. I would get a head start on them if I weren’t already so engrossed in Shadow of the Almighty that I picked up in at a used bookstore in Milwaukee. It’s the biography of Jim Elliot, a missionary to the tribes of Ecuador who was martyred for his faith when he was 28 years old. He’s long been an inspiration of mine and I highly recommend the book so far.

So after my first full day in Charlotte, I’ll hold off on my judgment for now. It’s certainly not love at first sight, but I think I could get used to it.

"Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."

2,400 miles, 40 hours in the car, 14 states, 12 days, 2 broken lug bolts, and 1 tow truck later, I finally made it to my parents house in North Carolina.

Fortunately, I pulled over before the wheel fell off. Unfortunately, two of the lug nuts spun off so I had to get the Explorer towed to the nearest shop. Fortunately, the shop was within 4 miles of where I stopped so I didn't have to pay any extra mileage fees. Unfortunately, it's still $70 I wasn't expecting to have to spend. Fortunately, the waiting room has wireless so I'm not too terribly bored. Unfortunately, the only seats are in the sun. So here I sit sweating profusely, waiting to hear how much more I'll have to drop before the end of this little adventure. It's times like this where I'm glad I believe in the sovereignty of God, because otherwise I'd be really frustrated and angry and impatient.

"Domesticated males aren't much use for adventure."

Yesterday I went with Joe's youth group on their annual Cedar Point trip. We woke up at 4am and loosed 40some teenagers on the best rollercoaster park in the country. For me the trip included rides on some old favorites like the Power Tower which shoots you down from a 240-ft tower at 50 mph, and the Millenium Force coaster which opens with a 310-ft, 80 degree drop at 80 mph. Plus I got to check out a few new rides like the Maverick coaster which drops at 95 degrees (which, for those of you mathematically challenged ones, is steeper than straight down; it actually goes back under itself) and the Dragster (see photo) which shoots you out from 0-120 mph in 4 seconds, straight up 420-ft in the air, then crests the top and drops you straight down. Check out some of the other pics at the Photography links above, including ones taken while on the rides! Only the extra brave (or maybe extra foolish) get shots like these. :)

Parmesan Cheese Fail:

"I sneak my candy in like a good Christian."

"The shark's not trying to eat the human. It's just trying to investigate, but it investigates with it's teeth. It'll most likely spit you out, but then you're riddled with holes so it's too late." ~from Shark Week on Animal Planet

Travel Update:

I had a great time with family up in Michigan. I spent my birthday with them, playing in the pool, doing some go-carting, mini golf, and bumper boats. My visit also coincided with opening night of a musical my cousin was in, so it was fun to be there for that. Then after much too short a visit, I made my way down to Indiana to visit with my college friends, Joe & Ashley and Laura & Dave. Now while the other guys are out mountain biking, I'm enjoying a nice quiet morning catching up on laundry, Patriots news, and blogging.

Training Camp News:

Said by a dentist ~ "Teeth are like women, you never know why they do what they do."

As I tell people I'm going to Reformed Theological Seminary, I'm intrigued by their comments on their experience with the Reformed tradition. It leads me to believe there's a lot more to this "Reformed" thing than I originally thought. I have always been of the mindset that by title, a theological position and a denominational tradition can be very different things. For example, the Baptist tradition could easily be stereotyped as quite strict and fundamentalist. However I know quite a few people who would consider themselves to be Baptist theologically, though not necessarily "baptist" in the traditional practice. I assume this may be the case within the Reformed tradition as well. The real question, regardless of the denomination, is how much of our practice is shaped by our tradition vs how much is shaped by our theology.

The quickest way to double your money is fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

It's late and I need my sleep before a long day of driving ahead of me tomorrow, but I was just thinking how cool heaven's going to be where all the cool people I'm friends with will finally all be in the same place. Granted that will be an infintesimally small perk compared to the infinite greatness of being in the presence of the awesome Trinity! But haven't you ever thought how much it sucks that your really cool friends are so spread out that you can't hang out with them nearly as much as you'd like? And how cool it would be if you could all be together in the same place? Not to mention all the really cool people that you'll never get to know because they live in different places! As I spend time with the cool people I know spread out across the country, I look forward to the day when I'll get to hang out with them all together in the same place with Jesus. Reason #1854962 that heaven won't be boring!

It's not until you leave that you realize all the reasons you have to stay.