not another blog, v2.0

Resolved: with God’s help, to lose not another moment of this life to vanity, but to work, study, pray, teach, play, and even rest with all vigor, to the glory of God.*

I’m 30 today.

* (No, this is not one of Edwards’ Resolutions, but it’s partially inspired by them.)

. . . but I probably shouldn’t wear it to the polls tomorrow.

Zoe’s first goal today (of six) from Rae Whitlock on Vimeo.

I started the recording a little too late, trust me, she was the one who kicked it in. She’s got 15 goals for the season

The above is what a friend of mine told me during a discussion/disagreement on worship.

Umm… thanks?

I just find it funny, since just a few years ago, I was on my way to becoming a dyed-in-the-wool (Reformed) Southern Baptist.  Also funny, because the guy who said this is arguably more Presbyterian than I am.

Family

• Zoë started kindergarten last week.  The initial separation was difficult for her (surprisingly . . . first day of preschool last year was easy), but when we came to get her, everything was great.  She’s really enjoying it, and already doing well, academically and socially.  Amy and I are sending her to a really good Christian school, but we’re not anti-public school or anything.  We’re just anti-THESE public schools around here. (They’re… not good.)
• I still like being married.
• It’s reported that Amy likes it, too

Church

• Things are going well.  We’re planting another Grace Central congregation (with a view toward even more over the next ten years). Folks are being gathered, forming relationships, believing the Gospel, serving eachother.  It’s cool to see Jesus work in and through people.
• Greg has been preaching through the book of Ezra, which is just what we need to hear at this stage — the story of God rescuing his people from exile, and then working through them to build his temple.  He’s doing the same now — his temple now known to be his people, the Church.
• (Feel free to subscribe to Grace Central’s podcast to hear these sermons, by the way.  Maybe you’ll want to come join us! The iTunes link is here, or you can subscribe manually here.)
• I’ll be preaching my first sermon (ever) at Grace Central some time in the next few weeks.  Please pray for me as I study and prepare to deliver God’s Word to his people.
• Home groups are starting back up in a couple of weeks after a Summer hiatus. We’re looking forward to that.

Tech

• I’ve been enjoying Ubiquity, a new experimental extension for Firefox. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like Quicksilver, but for your browser. You should just watch the video and try it out for yourself. It has the potential to change the way we browse.  Seriously.
• We got an Xbox 360 a few weeks ago.  I’ve actually been using it as a media extender (thanks to Rivet and a Linksys WRT54GS w/ DD-WRT firmware — in bridge mode) almost as much as I’ve used it to play games.  The ability to watch HD video podcasts on our TV rather than on my Macbook’s screen is pretty darn nice (not to mention streaming the iTunes library to the TV, as well).
• (My Xbox LIVE gamertag is raekwon00, by the way. Add me as a friend!)
• I added an Airport Express router to our home network (this is in addition to the Airport Extreme and the aforementioned Linksys).  This little thing is fantastic for extending your network’s range or creating a dual-band 802.11n/g network.  It’ll come in handy if I’m ever again in a hotel with wired-only internet as well.

Music

• I wish I had something to report here. I need some new tunes. Suggestions?

Zoë is an occasional “model” for the Ohio Department of Education’s early childhood brochures. This photo (taken by Amy about a year ago) was recently being considered for a “Read to Your Child” brochure.

Well, apparently, there was a two hour special meeting today at the ODE over this picture, because (despite numerous other department people loving it), according to one of the department’s photographers/art directors, it’s was “inappropriate”. Why? Because we’re on a bed. And I’m the “main focus” of the picture instead of her (mainly because I’m bigger . . . shocking, considering I’m an adult and she’s a child). But, mostly because we’re on a bed.

TWO HOURS today discussing this!

Your tax dollars at work, Ohio citizens.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations . . .” – Dueteronomy 7:9

My five-year-old daughter, Zoë, will be baptized in a couple of weeks.  Amy told her Grandma this the other day, and Grandma responded with “Is it one of those ‘infant’ baptisms, or is it a REAL baptism?”

After getting angry, calming down, and then thinking about it, I think that the answer is “yes”.

(Obviously, Zoë’s not an “infant” at five, but for the sake of this discussion, her upcoming baptism falls under what most people call “infant baptism” — that is, baptism given to the children of believers, usually soon after their birth.)

Baptism — whether it comes after someone has made a profession of faith or it comes after someone’s being born into a Christian home — is baptism.  The bifurcation between “infant” baptism and “believer’s” baptism is the creation of a false dichotomy.  Both are covenant baptism.

I think I’m going to pick up where I left off in the long-forgotten series of posts on Baptism to flesh this out.

Okay, so I lied. Heidelberg’s been sitting there at one post for three weeks now (along with the rest of the blog, really).  Truth be told, I’ve personally been a bit out of whack lately.  Stress has been unusually high and energy has been low for a multitude of reasons, and it appears that one way I deal with that is by closing off from others and being quiet.  (Blame my INFJ personality, perhaps.)  I’ve also noticed that those others who I tend to close off from include Jesus and my family, so this is unhealthy.

If you have a minute, pray for me. I’ll get back to blogging soon.

My wife Amy has decided to kick off her 29th year of life by starting a blog of her own.  About time!

Check out her (hilarious) inaugural entry: Snow Cones and Ovens. Drop by and leave a comment (and a birthday wish) or two.

(Also – I’m well aware that it’s been two weeks since Day 1 of Heidelberg Musings. Day two is coming tomorrow. Seriously.)