Buffalo - Land of the Bored

Such was the scene at Buffalo Airport on May 31, 2007 - two weeks AFTER Buffalo was lasooed out of the playoffs! TWO WEEKS!

On the same day I sat in front of three men on the plane. One of the fellows was coming to Buffalo to start a new job and the other two were waxing eloquent about the city. But then... then the one said in serious tones: "But you really need to go up to Toronto. It's beautiful up there... THEY PUT US TO SHAME." End of direct quote.

And frankly... that is my point exactly.

Have a nice summer grazing, Bisons!

A Tribute to My Dear Friend D.R. on This Wonderful Day!

YES!

Ottawa 3 - Buffalo 2

I warned you, D.R.

“The End” – A Future Tense Tribute Poem to My Good Friend Darrin R. Brooker

A season is a very long time

To watch your bison graze
But what tastes worse than pickled lime
Is when they fizzle out in a haze

That time has come for Buffalo
The city of perpetual losers
And dear friend, Darrin, its time you know
That your bisons are not hoosiers

Unlike that magical team, so small
So unlikely to win the big game
Your sabre-rattling cotton balls
Are about to fade out in shame

So, D.R., I urge you friend
As one who cares for your well-being
Accept the fact, tonight is the end
You’ll find it rather soul-freeing!

GO OTTAWA GO!!!

The Nature of the Gospel

In case you have not been following it, Darrin Brooker and Darryl Dash have been having a very important discussion on the nature of the Gospel (what the Gospel really is) in the comment string to this post.

I think this is a good conversation to eavesdrop on for, as it has progressed, it seems to have narrowed the focus down to the heart of the issue... an issue of critical importance to every true Christian!

Half-mast

Kermit said it was not easy being green.

I would just like to add that it is not easy being blue and white either.

Sigh...

P.S. Go ahead, D.R. Rip away. I am prepared for it. You deserve it. And I would have posted about 27 times by now on your blog if the game had gone the other way!

Time to Wear Out the Old Paths

The Old Paths Blog is Finis(hed)?

The old D.R. over at "The Old Paths" is bluffing. Seems he liked the relaxed pace of vacation a little too much and decided to throw in the towel on the blog.
Thing is, in an ultra-private email to me, he confirmed this was just a hoax - a "fake hang-up" Dr. Leo Marvin. In fact, D.R. told me in the strictest of confidence that if he gets 20 comments on his "Finis" post, he will pick up the shovel again and get back to work.
So, I urge all 9 of my readers to head over to The Old Paths and let Mr. Brooker know how much you want him to continue. Just don't tell him I sent you!

UPDATE MARCH 20, 2007: D.R. has selfishly closed off all comments on his blog. But if you would like to leave a kind encouragement to the hermit, you may feel free to do so here. Because that's just the kind of great guy I am!!

Goings On

It has been a busy few weeks for the kerux.

Saturday night I was privileged to preach at Living Worship, a primarily singing event held every 10 weeks or so by some young adults I know. We were at Tyndale University this time. I was glad to preach about the only Saviour the world will ever know, even though we did not get the crowds we had hoped for.

After preaching twice today, I will begin final preparations for my week away. I am off to California to attend the Shepherd’s Conference with my pal, Tim Challies. You might pray for Tim, he is sicker than a rabid dog on hot July afternoon. We are quite hoping he is better by Tuesday!

While in California, I am also planning to meet some old friends. We will gather at Hodel’s Restaurant in Bakersfield for a little reunion.

I also hope to blog some of the conference. The last time I traveled with Tim I tried doing what he does to see what that was like. Let’s just say I intend to leave the live-blogging to the uber-blogger himself! But I will have my camera and try to give some idea of the “other side” of the conference.

This is reading week at TBS, so I am not missing any classes. Pray that my students read what I told them to read!

Oh, and if you have read this far, you might want to click here and head over to the evil empire to leave a real nasty comment.

D.R. Needs You to Empty His Basement

Have you purchased your copy of the Horatius Bonar CD-Rom?

I love mine, and Darrin has more for sale! This is a great resource.

Let it Snow???

Winter finally arrived in Toronto and two area bloggers had some interesting thoughts on snow, ice and divine sovereignty. Kirk shares how he had to rejoice in spending the day without electricity (didn't that get cold, Kirk?) and Darrin tells us how his face was disfigured from a shower of ice pellets.

Both tell us it is good to rely on the Lord through inclement weather!

As for me, I think I may post on the benefits of mid-winter mission work in the South Pacific.

Chan, White, Pyro’s and the Like

I have left a few comments on various blogs regarding my old college friend Francis Chan and an evangelistic video he put on the web.

One thing this event has taught me is that knowing the person that is getting critiqued changes everything. On the one hand, it made me much more sympathetic to Francis (whether or not he even remembers me!) since I knew him in the past and have kept up on his life through mutual friends. I know something of the guy’s heart. It made me feel a little defensive for him – willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

I also learned that I had better watch out.

What I mean is this.

I put sermons on the web every week. You know, sometimes I preach things and think, “Boy, I wish I could go back and say that differently, or add this and that, or subtract this...” In fact, rarely a week goes by where that is not the case. But I still let our guys stick them on the web, where we average 247 downloads per week. I know that I could go through any one of those sermons and find fault, imbalance, and omission.... especially if I played it back section by section.

If I thought about that too much I would stop doing everything.

Look. I am a simple guy. I barely made it through High School (praise the Lord for summer school!). I managed to pass college and seminary and I work as hard as I can week by week to unfold the Truth of His Word. But I’m telling you – listen to some of my sermons from 10 years ago and you could have a field day with me! You probably could with my sermon from last Sunday, for that matter.

When I watch Francis’ video get picked apart, I just have to wonder if we aren’t going too far.

You might argue that it was an edited and produced piece and could have been corrected and so in that vein is different from a “live” sermon. There is some truth to that, yet if you watch the video it is clear it was not scripted. Maybe that was a bad decision... but in the age of infomercials and “reality” TV I thought part of the appeal of the piece was its very “live” feel. Script it and you lose that.

For an opposing view to mine you should read D.R.’s blog – especially the comments. Darrin is very good at expressing himself and I think he does so with charity and clarity. (I have to warn you though that he is a Buffalo Sabres fan... that could make his entire blog suspect!)

“What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”