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.

2nd Amendment

Last week the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn Washington D.C.'s ban on handgun ownership. The NRA and the pro-gun side are cheering a victory and hoping this open the doors to overturn bans all over the country. The anti-gun side, while disappointed, seems to be breathing a sigh of relief that this ruling remained vague enough to allow states and local areas to maintain certain bans since the majority opinion spoke directly to the plaintiff's wish to keep the gun in his private home for self defense.

There are a couple of things about this case that caught my attention. First, the case itself and the man who brought it to trial. Everything about it grabs attention, from the story to the face of the man himself. CBS Sunday Morning had a story yesterday on the case. Here's a link to the web story. The title sums it up:

Targeting The Supreme Court

How A Libertarian Who's Never Owned A Gun Brought The Decisive Case On The Second Amendment

And here's the man: Robert Levy. It's really priceless. This guy's never owned a gun, but he chose to meticulously plan and self finance this case, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. What's more, it's the only case he's ever litigated. He deliberately kept the NRA out of the trial and specifically targeted the constitutionality the issue according to the 2nd Amendment. Genius.

The second thing is that Barak Obama endorsed the decision and Judge Scalia's majority opinion. There are several thoughts running through my head about that one, but I'm going to leave it at that for now.

So, what are your thoughts about the case and the interpretation of the "right to bear arms"? I think it really captured my attention because from a democracy standpoint I lean toward the ideal of - as Levy puts it - "free markets, individual liberty, private property and, most of all, strictly limited government" but at the same time I don't own a gun. I've never shot a handgun, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've fired a gun of any kind.

From a Christian prospective a whole other issue arises. Whether we should have this right or not, is there a reason that a Christian should own a gun merely for self-defense? A broader way to look at that discussion is: where does self-defense fall in the call of Christ to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, do good to those that hate you? My friend Nick has been discussing the love of enemies in a recent post on his blog here.

I know this post is flying in all sorts of directions. If anyone is interested in following any one (or all) of these rabbit trails, feel free. I'm interested.

Speed. I am speed!

Well, at least at 25 mph.

If you've been bored and looked around my blog recently, you may have noticed a link to the tyler bike club on the interweb and wondered to yourself "what's this here for?" It's actually become a high-traffic link for me lately. You see, my latest passion has become cycling these days. Well, actually call it a renewed interest that has turned into a passion. In high school, I had an old 10 speed that I rode 3 or 4 nights a week with my dad. When I went away to college, the 10 speed road bike got traded for a mountain bike, which was good for campus commuting. Now that I live in Tyler, there aren't mountain biking trails to speak of without driving a ways, but there are plenty of roads. So, I've turned to the road again and really love it. For a while I was riding my old bike and searching for a new racing style road bike -- you know, the kind with the curvy handlebars? I shopped on the internet, went to the local bike shops, and even spent 1/2 a day at bike shops in Dallas one weekend. My problem was that I wanted a high dollar bike for not a high price. These bikes can reach a few Gs very quickly. I finally found a nice used one through a friend of a friend and bought it about 3 weeks ago. Here's a stock photo of the bike. I'll try to post a real pic when I take the time to shoot one.

It's a nice ride - especially for the price. If you're not into biking, please bear with some tech speak for a moment: full carbon fiber frame, shimano 105 complete set (derailleurs, shifters, brakes, crankset, pedals), mavic ksyrium wheels, airborn fizik wing flex saddle, 2 carbon bottle cages, cateye wireless computer, front & rear lights and about 12oo miles on it. Anyway, it makes me happy.

The Tyler Bike Club has group rides throughout the week in the evenings and a large group ride every Saturday morning at 8 am. For the past 2 Saturday mornings I've been hitting the pavement with about 20 other folk leaving Faulkner Park and heading south through the back roads to Bullard. Once we get there, most folks stop for a breather at a little greasy spoon. Some have a quick breakfast. Then small groups start splitting off - some continuing on to Jacksonville, some riding around the Bullard area, and some heading back. Being a newbie, I've been content to ride back home from there. But even taking that "short" ride, I put 32 miles behind me this morning. It really felt great, too. I've been sitting around for far too long lately slowly putting on the pounds and getting out of shape. So, I'm ready to start feeling better physically, and I've found a fun way to do it.

Another plus about the group rides is that since I work from home, I don't get a lot of interaction with people in town outside of church. This has opened a door to a whole new set of guys in town. That has been great. I've prayed about having that opportunity and so I'm excited that this has come.

One of the best feelings, though, is when I'm riding in the middle of the pack and cruising with relatively little effort and I look down at my speedometer to see that I'm going 30 mph. It may not sound fast, but on a bike (at least at my fitness level) that's smokin'! If you ever watch the Tour De France, you hear about the force of the peloton - how riders will try to break away but the group just draws them back in with it's speed. It's real, and it feels really cool when you experience it. Inside the pack, you're shielded so all of your energy is going directly to the road and not fighting that wind. There are a few big guys in the group. I could draft all day behind them.

His Divine Power

Recently, Sunni and I began hosting a small group Bible study in our home on Sunday evenings. We're currently a group of 3 couples who attend 3 different houses of worship. It's a neat group. We're working through a study called the "Second Peter Principle" which is based on 2 Peter 1:3-11.

The clever name is a play on something called the Peter Principle, which states "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." Basically, you're going to get promoted as long as you work competently. Eventually, though, you'll get to a level that you are incompetent, and that's where you'll stay. The passage in 2 Peter says "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness." So, by leaning on God's power, we never have to fear reaching that level of incompetence. Each session takes a look at one of the building blocks of our faith as outlined in this passage -

building on our
faith
goodness and on that
knowledge and on that
self-control and on that
perseverance and on that
godliness and on that
brotherly kindness and on that
love

This study has been a very practical, instructive study so far. When it comes to studies and discussion I like things in the theological/philosophical realm. It's fun and also a lot easier in that upper cosmos of theory. Going through a study that reads like an instruction manual for the building blocks of being a Christian is different. Now I'm looking down at my foundations and seeing some cracks from negligence and poor care. And being the one that is "leading" the group, I can tell you I really am at my level of incompetence. So, thank God that His divine power gives me everything I need, because we'd be stuck if we were relying on my power.

As we go through this study, I'll try to post thoughts, epiphanies, convictions that I get from our meetings so be on the look out.

back in business (for how long??)

So a few folks have bugged me about getting back to my blog...one actually as a comment on my last post, which was four score and seven years ago, or so it seems.

I have a few things going on and always lots of random thoughts running through my head, so I guess I'll start this up again and see how far it takes me. Watch for a (somewhat) more-meaningful post in the near future, and in the meantime feel free to add comments of encouragement to keep me motivated and check out my friends' latest posts in my blogroll.