Kitchen Remodel, Pt II

So a lot has been done since my last post. We actually have cabinets now and can see light at the end of the tunnel. Now that they are in, hopefully everything else will fall in step and maybe we'll be done by mid-August (fingers crossed).

Here's more of the story:

The old entry way walls were removed

And all sheet rock was repaired, taped, floated, and textured - walls & ceiling.

We finally got our cabinets, which was an exciting day.Here are my helpers again.
And now, they've stained the island and caulked the cabinets in preparation for painting. (the splotches are sunspots shining in between the trees through the window. It really does look nice.

You should be able to click any picture if you want to see it larger.

Next up:

• new windows are supposed to be installed tomorrow
• trim (window trim, crown molding, and base boards) will be finished up tomorrow
• Next week, the painters will finish the caulking and any other prep work and then begin painting walls, cabinets, and trim
• Then tile on floors and backsplash
• Granite counter tops installed
• Sink and faucets installed
• Appliances installed

So, we've got lots to do, but I am really hoping all things fall into place and it happens quickly. Stay tuned for the next update . . .

Au revoir, Le Tour. 你好Olympics.

The Tour de France ended yesterday morning. A Spaniard won for the second year in a row. Carlos Sastre put on a great performance in the Alps to take the yellow jersey and then really performed above himself in the final time trial stage to hold onto it. I really enjoyed the tour this year. There were several players who had a great chance to win it all. There were also 3 outstanding teams that have advertized themselves as being devoted to clean athletes. It was great to see that these 3 teams dominated the tour and that the only 2 American teams were 2 of these three teams.

The Olympics are now 2 weeks away. I really enjoy them. (Since my boss reads my blog, I won't say that now I have to wait 2 weeks for the Olympics to begin so I can have something else to watch during the day!) I know I'm a strange breed but I like the long multi-week international sporting events. Of course this year's Olympics comes with its share of controversy. When I did a Google image search for the Olympics to get an image of their emblem, I came across this one.

From the moment it was announced, I was disappointed to hear that the games will be played in Beijing. As the games have gotten closer, the reasons for this disappointment are even more apparent. First and foremost are the political and social issues that come with the Chinese governmental oppression. Second has been the environmental issues. It's crazy to hear that athletes are worried about breathing conditions. I would imagine we won't see many records broken in the outdoor events this year.

The flip side of this issue is that maybe with all the world gazing at China for 16 days, international pressure will force changes - changes that remove the human oppression going on in many areas of the nation and changes that improve our global environment when the most populous nation is forced to clean up. One can only hope. I believe these changes have already begun in some ways. Time will tell how far they will go. Another benefit is the relaxation of travel into China which is allowing more Christians in to spread the gospel if only for a window of time. I've heard many things of the church in China thriving in the midst of oppression. Historically, that seems to have always been the case for Christianity. I hope this window of time helps - if only in bringing encouragement to our existing Chinese brothers and sisters.

Healing conversation

For those of you who haven't been watching, there has been a great conversation on healing and western society hidden down in the comments of my Books blog entry.

Thanks Pedro for the discussion. I've enjoyed it!

. . . and to brotherly kindness, love.

Yesterday evening, our small group looked at the last virtue in 2 Peter study - love.

It was interesting, because our general conversation at the beginning - unprompted by any leading questions or direction - worked its way through much of my notes on the subject. We talked about concern for others, serving the body in the church, and deliberate decisions to express love. Then we got into the study.

Here's a link to the outline notes. I'll paste the notes at the bottom of this post for quick reference, too.

Some observations that came out of discussion:

1. Comparing love to brotherly kindness:
   Brotherly kindness may be like giving a hand out to someone of something you're not going to use anyway - often called "charity" in today's world.
   Love is wanting for that person what you have and enjoy - necessities, opportunities, comforts, etc
2. Agape love is not something you fall in our out of, it's definitely a deliberate choice. But more than that, it is not something that comes naturally for everyone you meet. God grants you this love by the Holy Spirit sometimes. One of our group who works in medicine (and is not Sunni) told a story of how she often cares for people dying of heart failure. A few days ago she met one man and immediately felt this overwhelming compassionate love for him. She wanted for him the same thing she wants for her children - eternal life with God. This impulse to share the gospel with this man out of love was something she doesn't feel with every patient she cares for. But for this time, God placed within her that love so that she could effectively share with this man. There was no dramatic conversion that day, but he's still hanging on physically and now has her personal phone number as well as seeing her in the hospital on occasion.
   
3. Does this love mean we should be close to people - even Christians - who bring us down? Even among the body, there are unfortunate times when bad things happen among brothers. Love calls us to forgive, but does it necessarily mean it calls us to maintain a close relationship that may cripple our own walk with Christ? Maybe love in this case calls us to forgive and show kindness but not be close to that person. One analogy mentioned was that we're at different places in the same journey, so we can't walk together right now. I may be a mile or 2 ahead or a mile or 2 behind that other person. Walking together would pull one or the other back.

I'm still thinking on that 3rd observation: loving my brother in Christ but intentionally not "hanging out" (for lack of a better term) with him. Is that because of the "I love him but I don't like him" excuse and I need to get over it to truly grow in love, or is it out of necessity at this point in our journey?

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on these or any other observations as you take a glimpse into our study.

Add to Brotherly Kindness, Love

agapē n.
ἀγάπη
1) affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love

Where brotherly kindness is a concern for other’s needs, agapē desires the highest good for others.

Root word:

agapaō v.
ἀγαπάω
1) of persons
a. to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
2) of things
b. to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

Agapaō has been described as love which “prized” something or someone. Yet it is not an impulse based on feelings, nor does it focus itself upon someone in whom you have discovered only attraction. It’s based on reason – deliberate choice.

Unselfish commitment

The kind of love God exhibits to sinners – John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9-11

Character qualities of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Suffers all things – not easily roused to resentment
Is kind – inclined to be of good service to others
Vaunts not itself – does not toot its own horn
Is not puffed up – is not swelled with pride
Not easily provoked – does not have thin skin or a short fuse
Thinks no evil – does not keep a record or wrongs
Rejoices not in iniquity – does not enjoy that which is offensive to God
Rejoices in the truth – is moved emotionally by truth
Bears all things – Is protective, covers, and is supportive
Believes all things – Is not gullible, but believes until proven wrong
Hopes all things – Is not negative or critical, but positive
Endures all things – Sustains the assault of the enemy
Love never fails – Unlike leaves and flowers, love never falls off

Illustration – The woman who anointed Jesus with oil: Mark 14:3-9
Vs 9: Jesus calls this expression of love “gospel”.

Galatians 5:22
1 John 4:7-8
1 Peter 1:22 (both brotherly kindness & love)
1 Peter 2:17 agapao adelphotes
John 13:34

Books

So, here are the books I'm "reading" right now. I use that term loosely because I've been "reading" them for a while now. Maybe if I list them here, I'll be motivated by embarrassment to finish them and not let them hang out on my blog for too long.

The first one:


I heard Doris Kearns Goodwin speak at a conference last October. She was really interesting in a "biographer" sort of way, so I added this book to my bookmooch.com list and was able to mooch it a few months ago. After a couple of months I finally got around to starting it. I'm now on chapter 3, but they're long chapters! Anyway, the biography is an interesting view on the Roosevelts. It looks at them through the lens of the guests they kept in the white house during that time or their times spent at their country estate. For example, Winston Churchill came and stayed at the White House on multiple occasions for a few at a time during the war. It's been interesting so far. I've learned quite a bit about Eleanor that I didn't know. She and he had a very unique married relationship.

The second one:


Jack Deere spoke at a discipleship conference in our church a little while back. I bought this book and then forgot about it until just the other day. So, I think I'm on chapter 2 of this one, even though they are quite shorter chapters.

In a nutshell, this is Jack's story of how he moved from a belief that many of the Gifts of the Spirit as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 but also displayed in action throughout the New Testament in (healing, words of knowledge, tongues, etc) no longer function today to a belief from experience to the contrary. Growing up in the pentecostal faith, this has always been an assumed belief in my faith. However, I'm interested to read how he came to this conclusion and the experiences God led him through.

I've also had a strong interest in healing for a while now but have not acted on it. While I've heard stories of people seeing miracles of healing all my life, I've never seen any of the really dramatic stuff personally. I think I'm feeling led to explore this more. Maybe God will allow me to see this work of His in action.

So these are my books right now. I'm adding a sidebar with these on it to the blog. Let's see how long it takes me to get them off the list and replaced with whatever comes next.

Kitchen remodel

We're in the middle of a kitchen remodel at the ol' estate here. It's been quite an undertaking. My in-laws and I demolished the existing kitchen on Memorial Day weekend. We're hoping the entire project will be complete by Labor Day. So, we're going through the whole summer with no kitchen - just a fridge, microwave, and toaster oven in the dining room.

Here are some fun pics of the demo days:

Before - doors and drawers removed


Taking down sheet rock from entry way which will also be taken out


Cabinet removal


One of my helpers!


The end of demo weekend:


Since then:

• the frame of the entry way has been removed
• floors cleaned to prep for new tile
• electricians came and ran new lights and other outlet lines
  
• gas line added for our new gas cooktop
• a little plumbing work
  
• trench dug in slab to run electricity to new island
• new sheet rock patches
• new texture on walls and ceiling - to replace that wretched popcorn that we took down on demo day
• Cabinets designed and measured. They are being built now off site

So, after 6 weeks, the room looks like a finished version of how it looked after demo weekend. However, all the unseen work has been done. Hopefully, once the cabinets are finished, things will fall together quickly. When they're installed, we can then put in the floor, trim, and start painting while we await the granite counter tops.

Why do we continue to torment ourselves with these projects? It's just a sickness that has infested this household!

. . . and to godliness, brotherly kindness . . .

Continuing our study, we talked about brotherly kindness this week.

Here is the study sheet notes I handed out and a link if you want the document.

2 Peter 1:3-11

Add to Godliness, Brotherly Kindness

What is brotherly-kindness?

philadelphia n.
φιλαδελφία
1) love of brothers or sisters, brotherly love
2) in the NT the love which Christians cherish for each other as brethren
3) A fervent practical caring for one another

brother in greek is adelphos : from the same womb
kindness in greek is plileo : deep affection

Other scriptures that contain this term:
Romans 12:10
1 Thes 4:9
Heb 13:1
1 Pet 1:22

Kindness causes us to bear one another’s burdens: Galatians 6:2

Another form of the word kindness (goodness, gentleness): chrēstotēs
1) moral goodness, integrity
a) Expressing God’s action towards sinners: Titus 3:3-5, Romans 11:22
b) As a virtue : 2 Cor 6:4, 6; Gal 5:22-3, Col 3:12

How is brotherly kindness different from this kindness?
How does it relate?
Why would you need godliness as a foundation for brotherly kindness? Why does this virtue come at this point in the order?

Illustration of brotherly kindness: the story of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:30-37

Some thoughts that came out in our discussion:

1. While the OT was heavily bloodline focused, the NT throws out the bloodlines. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, which should be a bond that is stronger than any which comes by bloodline.
   
2. Brotherly kindness must forgive grievances
   
3. Speaking to a brother in love about an issue you see in his life that is truly worrisome could easily end an acquaintance. It shouldn't end a true friendship. And while it may make him upset at the time, it does not normally end a sibling relationship.
   
   Sunni and I know a friend who is a gifted admonisher. When she sees an area where one could improve, she know just how to undergird that person. Rather than pointing out what is wrong in disapproval, it always comes across as encouragement: "you can do better than that". She's a great example of someone who walks in brotherly love.

The overlaying conclusion that we kept coming back to is this: These all should fall under brotherly kindness (or brotherly love as it's translated often in other verses) but none of them are easy, especially when comparing brothers in Christ with physical siblings. This was a challenging study.

We have a few weekends off now because of conflicts, but tune in next time when we'll add to our brotherly kindness, love.

Until then, feel free to comment on what comes to mind from this topic.

Make every effort to add to your faith . . .

Since we started this Bible study several weeks ago, I'm going to just play catch up all in one post to get you up to where we are.

Looking at 2 Peter 1:5-7:

• For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self‑control; and to self‑control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

we have been focusing on each addition to our faith one study at a time.

Someone else facilitated the first couple of weeks, but here are links to the study sheets I handed out since then.

make every effort to add to your faith goodness
and to goodness, knowledge
and to knowledge self-control
and to self-control, perseverance
and to perseverance, godliness

My two main sources for these notes were:

1. blueletterbible.org, which I used for Greek translations and searching the scriptures
   
2. A small prison ministry study guide my father-in-law had on this study authored by Paul Carlin of the Prisoners Bible Institute, Inc of Crockett, TX.

The results you see are a skeletal outline of my thoughts for guiding the upcoming study.

Those were the lessons we went through before my first blog entry on the study. Now that I have you caught up, I'll be posting shortly some thoughts on the most recent study regarding brotherly kindness.

Feel free to save, use, edit, or print and burn any of the notes I've linked you to. Sorry I don't have a sheet for faith or goodness. Since I didn't lead the first 2 weeks, I didn't prepare notes for them.

If you have any comments about these virtues or the study in general, I'd love to read them and discuss.

Tour de France

The biggest bicycle race of the year started a couple of days ago. Today was the 3rd stage. A Frenchman has taken the yellow jersey today away from a Spaniard who held it for the first two days. While there are some U.S. riders in the running, I don't see their chances being so dominant as in the days of Lance. However, after today's exciting race where 4 riders broke away at the beginning and stayed away from the rest of the pack for over 200 km - finishing more than 2 minutes ahead of the next group - an American has taken 3rd place overall. His name is William Frischkorn. I've never heard of him, but I'm sure I'll hear more now.

I like watching the race unfold. It's a great international event, and the strategy of it all is very interesting to me. As I don't think I have too many cycling fans in my reader pool, I'll leave my comments at this for now. If anyone is interested, please comment. I'd love to discuss.

Here's a link to the official site for those interested:
http://www.letour.com/us/

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Yes, my number 1 son is turning 3 years old today. He's a great kid, and I love him with all I've got!


(oh, and happy birthday America, too!)

blood:water mission

Tonight my city hosted a free concert by Christian artist Sara Groves. She was joined by Christian author Donald Miller and a team of cyclists that are on a fund raising coast-to-coast journey from the Pacific Ocean (L.A.) to the Atlantic (D.C.). The cycling tour is called Ride: Well Tour. It is a sister non-profit to Blood:Water Mission founded by the members of another Christian group Jars of Clay and to which the funds they raise on their ride are going. Confused yet? The bottom line is that all of these people and many others are coming together to bring a cold cup of water in Jesus' name to those in need. Here's an excerpt from the blood:water mission website:

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water Mission is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

Sara Groves was interviewed on the local radio today and had an interesting comment. She said that many of us as Christians spend a whole lot of time grooming our faith, but to what end? It's like the person who buys a sports car and then only washes and waxes it but never drives it. God has called us to make a difference in this world while we are on it. Spending every moment in church that the doors are open, listening to Christian music, going to small group Bible studies are all nice, but if we're just grooming our faith without going out and getting dirty once in a while for God, what's the point? When she made this realization, she starting looking for what to do. She found this mission and has given to it. It's a good cause. Take a look. If it's something that moves you, I'd encourage you to give as well. And then go out and find a way to give from yourself above just giving from your wallet.

By the way, I'm excited to say that the little rally here in Tyler had set a goal to raise $40,000 tonight. At the end of the evening, they were up to $72,800 and still counting.