10 U.S. Places I'd Like to Visit

1. Mount Rushmore
2. Yellowstone National Park
3. The Grand Canyon
4. Disneyworld
5. Seattle, WA
6. Fenway Park
7. The Village Church
8. San Diego Zoo
9. Nashville, TN
10. Augusta National Golf Course

10 Reasons Why Beer is Good

God is Great, Beer is Good, and People Are Crazy

pt. 2 - Beer is Good

1. Beer is good when you've spent the day moving rock, mowing the yard, racking leaves, or pulling the dock out of the lake at the cabin.

2. Beer is good when you're eating chicken wings and watching the Vikings dominate the Packers at your Wisconsin native neighbors house.

3. Beer is good when you're staring at the stars and watching the embers glow inside the fire pit.

4. Beer is good when you're on hour 3 on day 4 of a Rook game that just won't end.

5. Beer is good when you're at the wedding of someone you don't really know and you've decided there is no way you're ever doing the Chicken Dance again in your lifetime.

6. Beer is good when you're sitting on the tailgate of your pick-up discussing the success/failure of your hunt.

7. Beer is good when you're taking all your buddies money after going 'all in' with your Aces over 10s full house.

8. Beer is good when you're burning your shoulders and chest in the sun waiting for the walleye to bite.

9. Beer is good when you're stuffed from your 6th Cinco de Mayo taco and your mouth is still on fire because you bet your buddy you could fit 10 jalapenos into your mouth.

10. Beer is good when you're celebrating any occasion not mentioned in reasons 1-9.

10 Reasons Why God is Great

God is Great, Beer is Good, and People Are Crazy

pt. 1 - God is Great

1. Though I am a wretched, daily sinner and idolator God chose before the foundation of the world to save me from hell through the substitutionary death of his Son Jesus.

2. While I was still in my mothers womb he gifted me with the talents and abilities that make me the person I am and enable me to live in this world.

3. He determined the time and place of my birth and placed me in the loving care of two Christians parents who love Him and one another deeply.

4. Like a loving Father he brought me along in my youth, allowing me to live and learn, fall and be bruised, all the while staying close by my side and drawing me back to himself.

5. He has given me godly, golden crown of a woman as my wife and a quiver full of children who make me laugh and smile everyday.

6. Each day he is faithful to raise the sun, breathe breath into my lungs, put food on my table and keep my children clothed.

7. He promises not to harm me, and shows me small glimpses of the plans he has for my future which fill me with hope.

8. He is faithful and just to forgive my sins and by abiding in his truth I am set free to live.

9. Through faith in his Son he gives me special abilities which fill me with energy and joy when I use them to glorify him.

10. He has given me friends with whom I can eat, drink, and be merry, experiencing love and support, hope and joy, happiness and delight.

D.A. Carson on Suffering and Good and Evil

How can God allow suffering and evil in the world? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

Book Review: The Snake Charmer

I have no idea why I pick up and read through some of the books I do. The amazing thing about books is that sometimes a certain book grabs your mind (and occasionally later your heart) inexplicably in a moment, and when the moment is gone (or missed) that same book becomes nothing more than a dust collector on the shelf of your home or local library.

Monday I was at the library with the kids when I saw "The Snake Charmer" by Jamie James. I think it was the secondary title on the cover that caught my eye: A life and death in pursuit of knowledge. After reading a few pages I was instantly hooked. The Snake Charmer is a biography about the life of a herpetologist named Joe Slowinski. Before reading the book I had no idea what a herpetologist was; a herpetologist is someone who studies reptiles and amphibians. Until his untimely death in September 2001 from a snake bite in Burma Joe Slowinski was at the forefront of snake studies for much of the 90's decade.

James does a great job of summarizing and telling the story of Slowinski's life, a life centered on natures, learning and exciting encounters with animals. Slowinski comes across as a brilliant yet down-to-earth scientist who had a passion for life and wanted to live it to the full. In keeping with Malcolm Gladwell's observations in his book Outliers, there is much in Slowinski's life that uniquely lined up to shape him into the person he was. His parents freedom to travel due to thier profession gave Slowinski the chance to explore. His proximity growing up to a creek bed filled with fossils. Two essays written and scholarships awarded to help him continue his studies. Ending up at a college that was nationally recogized for its efforts in the field of herpetology. All of this, and more, built Slowinski into the scientist he was.

I apprecitaed the way James recalls the final expedition of Slowinski's life. He retells facts and anacdotes with the support of Slowinski's journal and conversations with many eye witnesses. In all the biography reads much like Jon Krakauer's account of the 1996 tradgey on Mt. Everest Into Thin Air. It is fast paced, informative, eductaional, and emotional.

A great read, even if you hate snakes!

Ever Rate Yourself 1-10 on the Following...

CHARACTER (MORAL/SPIRITUAL INTEGRITY)

JUDGMENT

EMOTIONAL STABILITY

MATURITY

COMMITMENT TO CHURCH RELATED VOCATION

POTENTIAL FOR EFFECTIVE MINISTRY

SKILL IN RELATING TO OTHERS

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

SPOUSE/FAMILY RELATIONS

ACADEMIC/INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES

Present Yourself to God, not Sin

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. - Romans 6:12-14

Children's Books to Review

I received some books today from WaterBrook Multnomah that I am excited to read and review.

Two of them are children's stories which I'll be reading the kids before bed tonight.

Theology from Kid's Mouths

Tonight we were having some bedtime theology conversation and I asked the kids, "What does it mean to be a sinner?" See responses below:

Jacob: It means you tell a lie.
Andrew: It means you go in the pool.
Izzy: It means you don't love God and you disobey God and you want to kill Jesus!

After explaining the gap sin creates between us and God, and telling the kids how Jesus makes a bridge for us back to God and to forgive our sins Izzy says, "And Jesus rose from the dead." See what happens next.

Jacob: Na uh. The soldiers didn't see him.
Izzy: Yes he did. Actually, the soldiers are in hell.
Jacob: No they're not.
Izzy: Yes they are. They are in hell. Like Darth.

Izzy is so intense but also, in many ways, so in tune with truth. She has a sharp, powerful mind. God use her.

Life List

My wife Stephanie has a list of things she'd like to do before she dies. I have been putting together my own list in the back of my journals. As I come to the close of another Moleskine, I thought I should bring all my lists together on my blog. I write things down spur of the moment so I have some pretty ambitious goals. Here's my list:

1. Write something that is at least 50 pages
2. Coach one of my kids sports teams
3. Play a round of golf under 85 (done summer of 2009)
   
4. Play a round of golf under 80
5. Run another marathon
6. Pay off all our debt
7. Become an STL
8. Visit England/Ireland
9. Go back to Hawaii with Stephanie
10. Take my boys to watch the MN Gophers play the WI Badgers in Madison
11. Build the kids a tree fort
12. Shoot a deer
13. Climb Mt. Rainer
14. Hike the Grand Canyon top to bottom
15. Camp w/ my family in the Black Hills
16. Take boys to baseball games in other states
17. Family trip to Boston
18. Family trip to Disneyland
    
19. Ride my bike to Duluth
20. Trip to Yellowstone National Park
21. Visit a cave
22. Trip to the Redwood Forest
23. Attend a service at Mars Hill church in Seattle
24. Finish our basement
25. Do the Polar Plunge
    

It is interesting to see my goals written out like this. Many of the outdoor goals have come from the influence of books I have been reading this year. I'm excited to see how this list takes shape in the years to come.

My Week

Sunday - come home from working all night, watch the Vikings with friends from Owatonna, write a sermon for Wednesday night

Monday - come home from working all night, watch the children while Stephanie substitute taught, write a sermon for the weekend, go back to work for a meeting until midnight

Tuesday - sleep until 11, write second sermon for the weekend, watch the kids while Stephanie has a meeting, write a third sermon for the weekend, family movie night

Wednesday - meeting at 8 AM, more work until 12, watch the kids while Stephanie does the Gecko outfit at school, write fourth sermon for the weekend, give Wednesday night sermon, work

Thursday - come home from working all night, sleep, review 4 weekend sermons, make changes/updates, work

Friday - come home from working all night. quick nap, pack up and drive 5 hours, talk to Ben Arment, and speak at Youth Retreat

Sat/Sun - deliver 3 sermons, eat camp food, sleep in freezing cabin

Sun - drive 5 hours home listening to the Vikings game, work