Drinking fountains

I have mentioned that Elisabeth feels constrained to sit on every rock in the park to take a picture. She has a similar obsession with drinking fountains - not to take pictures, but to drink. Of course, she's intent on being able to push the button herself and drink at the same time. This one, with its step, makes that possible.

The Gospel is a Command

Three times in the New Testament the Gospel is explicitly treated as a command by the use of he word obey, and all in the context of those who do not obey.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” (Romans 10:16)

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-8)

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)

The good news is a command: repent and believe. It is not merely an opinion for a person to adopt to make their life more meaningful. Nor is it merely a historical fact to which one must intellectually assent. Not to obey is to disobey, and to bring on oneself the terrible things spoken of here.

On the Carousel...

Watch that 2 year old climb!

We have no right to keep silent

We are commissioned to bring good news, to tell the story of God's marvellous and mighty acts for the salvation of the world. We must not withhold this story from anyone. To keep it to ourselves, as though it were a private 'in-house' story of the Church, as though Jesus were Lord of the Christians, but not the lord of all, would be intolerable sectarianism. We have no right to keep silent about it, and if we try to do so, we deny its truth. (Weston, Paul. "Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 p182)

Once again, Newbigin has reminded me, in vivid terms, that proclamation is not optional.

The Crucifixion

This morning I listened to the beginning of Death by Love: Reflections on the Cross where Mark Driscoll drilled the fact that Jesus is not to be pitied; He is to be worshiped. Then this evening I read Jesus' own words to those who mourned and lamented for Him as He went to the cross:

" . . . do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children . . ." (Luke 23:28)

He went deliberately, and with mercy that we cannot fathom. Driscoll unfolds the vicious, excruciating pain that was inflicted upon those who were crucified. With that freshly imprinted on my mind, I was shocked to read Jesus say from the cross:

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (v34)

No man ever spoke like this from the agony of the cross. He had human reasons to curse those who did this evil. He had divine reasons to curse those who were in the act of executing the Righteous One. Yet in infinite mercy, He prayed to His Father, "forgive them . . ." This is mercy that I cannot fathom, that all eternity will not be enough to exhaust.

We are dead people. We are like the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus, "under the same sentence of condemnation . . . indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds" (v40-41). We may revile and mock, as the first did, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Or like the other condemned criminal, we may confess "we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom" (v41, 42). And the King, who died willingly and mercifully on that cross still has authority to say, "Truly, I say to you . . . you will be with Me in Paradise."

Uncle Gordon came to visit!

Mesopotamia

Last week we read in Elisabeth's children's Bible about God calling Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. In the margin, the Bible noted a little of the history of Mesopotamia. Just for fun, I asked Elisabeth to try to articulate it, and she did! So far as I know, it is her first six syllable word!

First day in Sunday School

Yesterday was Elisabeth's first time in Sunday School! We're going to straddle the fence and let her go to Sunday School during the education hour, and (until her third birthday) nursery during the service. The first week seemed to go well, and she loves her new teacher!

Say something

Yesterday I went to a Save Darfur rally, expecting to learn how I could be active and influential in ending the crisis in Darfur. I was disappointed by all but one of the speakers. There was a lot of hype, but not much content - and very little that I had not already heard. (I was very disappointed by the spokesman from the National Council of Churches, who said he primary reason for the NCC's particpation was a sense of moral responsibility - not love for Jesus Christ.)

On something as critical as Darfur, there is much that can, and should be said, even by people who have no relationship with Christ. As the crisis is so great, it must be said well. At a rally like this, the critical thing is to enable participants to become advocates after the rally is over. I wish they had done that.

Take my picture!

Elisabeth has decided that rocks are the perfect place to take pictures. So every time we see a rock outcropping in the park (which is not infrequent), she runs to it, perches upon it and says, "Take my picture!" Here are two of the many pictures taken upon rocks in the park.

What is holding the airplane up?

This summer when we were flying to visit family and friends, Elisabeth sat next to the window. While in flight she asked me,

Daddy, what is holding the airplane up?

That is a very good question, and very difficult to answer in 2-year-old concepts.

Preaching the whole counsel of God

Perhaps I can clarify this by reminding you that it is obvious that in New Testament times, in the early days of the Christian Church, they did not preach in the manner that has become customary with us. They did not take a text out of the New Testament and analyse it and expound it and then apply it, because they did not have the New Testament. Well, what did they preach? They preached the great message that had been committed to them, this great body of truth, this whole doctrine of salvation. My argument is that this is what we should always be doing, though we do it through individual expositions of particular texts. This, to me, is the general relationship between theology and preaching. (Lloyd Jones, Martyn. "Preaching & Preachers." Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1971. p67)

"This is what we should always be doing . . ." The big picture, the kingdom of God, must always be in view. I find that many proponents of expository preaching (of which I am one) don't consider this unity that Lloyd-Jones defines for true expository preaching: the whole doctrine of salvation

Super Slide!

A lesson at Barnes & Noble

One of the things that I love about our local Barnes & Noble is that they have an entire rack devoted to Caldecott Medal books, so it is easy to quickly find the good books.

Yesterday, however, I learned that the presence of so many books can be a distraction. We picked up Kevin Henkes' Kitten's First Full Moon from the Caldecott shelf, and although Henkes is an excellent author Elisabeth was frequently distracted from the story by other children and other books. Whereas at home she usually sits through multiple books with good comprehension, at Barnes & Noble, it is rare to make it through a book.

Lesson learned: Check things out from the library and read them at home.

I don't want you to teach me

After a weekend with her grandparents, Elisabeth's Grandma commented on Elisabeth's throwing arm, "She throws like a girl." (It was not intended as flattery.) So I figured it was my fatherly responsibility to make sure that our little girl be recognized for her feminity in areas other than her throwing arm.

Our bowling alley apartment configuration works well for teaching a child to throw, so we took full advantage for throwing lessons. After working on the arm motion and stepping forward with the foot opposite her throwing arm (in both of which she showed significant progress), Elisabeth said to me,

"I don't want you to teach me; I just want to do it."

How many times in the history of the world has that sentiment been expressed?

"My sister . . ."

In recent days, Elisabeth has become quite the storyteller. She has realized that we tell stories about people and places, so she does the same. It is not uncommon to hear her say,

"I came here with my sister last Saturday."

or

"My grandfather likes to do that too!"

or

"I was in Chicago with my friends."

You never know who is going to be in the story, or where!

Fun in the park

Brain Quest

Elisabeth was given Brain Quest for 3s and 4s, and she loves it. In doing it again yesterday with her, I was reminded of why I like it. Not only does it reinforce developmentally appropriate skills, but through repetition, it shows me which skills she doesn't yet have - so that I can work on that more deliberately.

An outstanding toy - for parents and kids.

Old McDonald's

Yesterday Rebecca got on the bus with Elisabeth. As the bus was fairly empty, Elisabeth realized that all eyes were on her, and she exclaimed (to everyone on the bus),

Grandma and Pop-pop took me to Old McDonald's for ice cream!

It made us realize that, apart from some McDonald's fries, this may have been Elisabeth's first McDonald's experience.