Flying High and Flying Proud!

TORONTO 4 - BUFFALO 1

Toronto Maple Leafs Do What They Meant to Do Last Night!

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!

Erastus, the city treasurer of Corinth

Erastus, the city treasurer of Corinth

A very interesting little post that relates to my sermon from Romans 16:21-23 that is coming up this Sunday, March 25.

Tony Campolo Gets Some Canadian Air Time

Tony was on The Hour this week - you can watch the 10 minute interview here.

Pretty much he is up to all his old tricks. Here are some fairly word-for-word quotes:

The Bible is really about helping the poor and oppressed.

Bono has done more to articulate the Christian faith than most preachers.

Jesus will judge you on whether or not you helped the poor, not on if you believed in the virgin birth.

Jesus was always partying. He loved to party!

I don't see how you can believe in capital punishment and believe in mercy.

Get to the red letters. [This referred to his ridiculous idea that we need to skip other parts of the Bible and only read the red font. In many Bibles, the red font identifies the words of Jesus.]

Nothing surprising here if you know Tony. He does not represent the Jesus of the Bible.

UPDATE: 4/7/07 I have closed the comments to this post.

Pray for These Students, Too! (2007 Class on Worship at TBS)

Not long ago I published a photo of the fellows in my Pastoral Theology class and asked you to pray for one or two of them.

I had intended to publish this photo a few days later, but it has been sitting as a draft post for a long time! There have been a few things going on lately.

Today, I had the joy of teaching these students again. It has been nearly 4 weeks since I last taught them! They are a very patient and kind group - and very insightful! I think this photo includes most of the class, although I took it during a break so we might be missing somebody. Pray for them, too, won't you!? They are cursed with having this guy teach them on the subject of worship.

Attention Students of Toronto Baptist Seminary

I will actually be teaching the Worship class in the morning! (Lord willing.)

See you at 8:19AM!!!

Husband Saws House In Half During Bitter Divorce

Husband Saws House In Half During Bitter Divorce

You just knew somebody had to try this at least once! How sad!

New Hymn Tune for GFC Folks

Have You Not Known, Have You Not Heard

I think it was at Trinity Baptist Church that I first heard this hymn tune (that seems to be where I hear all the good hymn tunes!). It is a lovely English melody arranged by Ralph V. Williams.

We will not be singing the words that this page links to, instead we will sing to another Watts hymn as written below:

Have You Not Known?
Have you not known, have you not heard
That firm remains on high
The everlasting throne of him
Who formed the earth and sky?
Are you afraid his power shall fail
When comes your evil day?
And can an all-creating arm
Grow weary or decay?

Supreme in wisdom, as in power
The Rock of Ages stands,
Though him you cannot see, nor trace
The working of his hands.
He gives the conquest to the weak,
Supports the fainting heart,
And courage in the evil hour
His heavenly aids impart.

Mere human pow'r shall fast decay,
And youthful vigor cease,
But they who wait upon the Lord
In strength shall still increase.
They with unwearied feet shall tread
The path of life divine,
With growing ardor onward move,
With growing brightness shine.

On eagles' wings they mount, they soar,
Their wings are faith and love,
Till, past the cloudy regions here,
They rise to heaven above.
Have you not known, have you not heard
That firm remains on high
The everlasting throne of him
Who formed the earth and sky?

Words: Isaac Watts, 1707. Altered in 1781 in Scottish Paraphrases and modernized by Paul W. Martin. Public Domain. Music: FOREST GREEN, traditional English melody, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906.

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!!

Two Painfully Learned and Immensely Important Lessons

Together for the Gospel

Our friend Mark Dever has an excellent post today on the lessons learned through the fallout of another pastor's moral failure.

Of particular insight was this comment:

"No accountability relationships will work if there is not a commitment to honesty on the part of the person in question. The problem wasn't a lack of initiative toward him; the problem was his hiding the truth from us. If I am committed to my sin above a humble, self-revealing honesty, then I can't rely on any accountability structure or loving friendships to expose my sin and protect my soul. I must remember that if I am to war against sin, I must labor to be embarassingly transparent."

Everything is BIG in America!

Everything is BIG in America.

Big highways. Massive cokes at McDonalds. Huge trucks. Large humans...

People wonder why they are getting fat in America. I can tell you why. Everything is too big.

When you order a large coke in a Canadian McDonalds Restaurant, you get a fist-width plastic cup filled mostly with ice. Order the same thing in America and they hand you a party thermos – for 99 cents!

When Tim and I rented a car for Shepherds’ Conference, we opted for a Ford F150. A nice big 5 adult passenger pick up. We thought we would be massive on the road. But people in California drive Nephilim Vehicles. Our truck felt like an old Pontiac Firefly surrounded by sparkling earth movers.

Not content with that, somebody decided to make all the trucks and autos feel bigger in California by shrinking the lane width on all the highways. So this is great. Everyone driving super-sized, steroided trucks in 6 foot wide lanes!

But it is not just California.

My family spent a night in Toledo last week. At our morning breakfast I scanned the room and have to say that 80% of those present (including children) were in need of some serious weight loss. It got me to wondering what America would do if war came to her shores? Perish the thought, but it would take quite a bit of time to trim everyone down to fighting size!

Why bring this up at all?

Well, I live next-door to America, and I am fearful the same desire for “everything bigger and better” is wafting northwards. I am not joking when I say there is currently a visible difference when you cross the border from Ontario to Michigan. I wonder how long it will last?

And while we are talking about Michigan, here is an open letter to Jennifer Granholm, the Governor of Michigan:

Dear Ms. Granholm,

Fix your roads.

May I suggest you try making them out of asphalt – instead of concrete? You see, it gets cold a lot in Michigan and cement cracks. Asphalt stretches.

Sincerely,

Kerux

And that is all I wish to say about that.

Except this: As much as I might complain about America, I still love it... and Americans. More than you would guess!

I even married one!