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hodegeo
ὁ•δη•γέ•ω verb – [ho-de-geh-oh]
definition: to assist in reaching a desired destination; lead, guide; to assist someone in acquiring information or knowledge; teach, explain, instruct.
example usage:
πῶς γὰρ ἂν δυναίμην ἐὰν μή τις ὁδηγήσει με; (Acts 8:31)
An Ethiopian eunuch, traveling home on the Gaza road, was confused reading the prophet Isaiah. Directed by the Spirit, Philip ran over to the chariot and asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading.
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Mission Accomplished
A friend of mine in Canton introduced me to the hip-hop of Shai Linne last summer. Lord knows I tried not to enjoy this.
This video via Nathan Bingham. Read the lyrics in one place here.
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A Call to Gospel Ministry - Now
When I began pursuing a call to gospel ministry, and even as I started studying gospel theology and pastoral responsibility, I did not realize how much more was required than faithful proclamation of the gospel message on Sundays and at funerals. There are a thousand and one ways to get exegesis and theology wrong. The temptations for a preacher to compromise or remain silent are legion. But proclaiming the gospel with accuracy, boldness, and constancy is not as difficult as also ministering the gospel through dying, forgiving, and hoping.
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Thugs and Criminals
I can’t decide if my favorite part is (political) “thugs and criminals” who keep people in the dark, or “who on earth would support such a dummy” with a close-up on the horse’s meditating mug, or “we should be better than that” while conspicuously shifting his rifle into the shot.
via The Washington Post
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Laugh Track
On laughing as responsible leadership:
For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.
—King Lune in The Horse and His Boy by C.
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Sharing What We Got
Meals that are centered on gratitude and thanksgiving—like harvest home festivals and this Eucharistic meal—are never times for grabbing and getting your own. We not allowed to pretend that the blessing we enjoy begins with us. We must not refuse the son of David if the son of David is the one who set the table in the first place. And He has, and so we come with gratitude and a willingness to imitate the attitude that blessed us, which means a willingness to share and to overflow.
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Chrome
I’ve been toying with Google Chrome as a secondary browser (after Safari) since the Mac beta became available. A new version is available today as explained in this post, Pedal to the Chrome Metal. Whether you read the post or not, whether you try Chrome or not, you should at least watch this video. Loading (and filming) 2700 frames per second is taking dominion type of work.
via Daring Fireball
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A Call to Gospel Ministry - Then
I grew up wanting to be a professional baseball player. I dreamed of standing on a well-manicured, thick, dark green grass infield, singing the National Anthem, and waiting for the umpire to yell, “Play ball!” Playing ball was virtually the only occupational desire I had, at least until the summer before my senior year of high school.
My summers were filled with baseball. The summer before my junior year I joined a traveling team and missed eight weeks in a row of Sunday services.
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Why International Adoption
Why International Adoption ➔ A long time friend of mine, Dave Cleland, and his wife are well into the process for their third adoption, their first international (from Ethiopia). He recently began to offer some specific reasons for adopting beyond our domestic borders.
“Why adopt a child from a godless country so far away?” Because God our Father adopted us to be His children even though we belonged to a godless country far away from Him.
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The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Mo informed me this afternoon that my two oldest children have found a new way to copy me and that they are delighted by it.
They take their Red Robin kid cups, put the lids on them, leave the straws out and drink out of the straw holes, saying it’s their Starbucks cup.
Apparently, it’s actually reduced the amount of spills as well.
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No Conclusion Necessary
Abraham Piper posted about why sermons are easier than other kinds of public speaking, namely, “All pastors have to do is pause—after any point they just made—and then say, ‘Let’s pray.’” I try to apply at least a little more effort at my conclusions than that, but maybe all the extra effort isn’t necessary in light of this comment by Chris Roberts.
It also helps that 80% of the people aren’t listening to the sermon anyway; 15% of the remaining 20% will forget the sermon as soon as they realize you are winding up; and the remaining 5% contains the preacher’s wife, a deacon, and two old ladies looking for ammunition.
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This Was Grace
HT: Justin Taylor
The husband/father/narrator in the video is John Knight, Director for Development at Desiring God Ministries. He’s also written about some of the difficult lessons learned through having a multiply-disabled son.
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Not What I Once Was
In his T4G 2010 message, Mark Dever mentioned a paraphrased version of the following quote by John Newton.
I am not what I ought to be–ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be–I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be–soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection.
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Chill Out
Wisdom, Complexity, and Chilling the Heck Out ➔ Kevin DeYoung offers some perspective as he responds to responses to Justin Taylor’s repost of Jared Wilson’s thoughts on gospel freedom.
There are some in the church who need to step back and inhale, and it’s not only young Christians.
Young Christians, especially when they are getting meaty theology and God-centeredness for the first time, can be prone to manic bouts of self-flagellation, spurts of judgmentalism, and unhealthy hyper-watchfulness.
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A Cruel Mistress
Cultural acceptability is a cruel mistress.
—Carl Trueman, Life on the Cultic Fringe
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Calvin's Shorter Catechism
Calvin created a new shorter catechism at the breakfast table this morning. Four year olds don’t know fully, but they can know truly.
Q: Who is the boss of everything?
A: God
Q: Who is the boss of us kids?
A: Momma and Dada
Q: Who is the boss when Momma and Dada aren’t here?
A: GG and Boppa
Q: Who is the boss of my guns?
A: Dada
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Migrating to Jekyll
Subscribers to my blog are now seeing some of my most recent posts for the third time in less than three weeks. I write this post to apologize for that and to explain what’s happened. From this post on things should be back to normal in the RSS feed. If you care to know more, here goes.
The reason for the disruption is that I’ve moved to the Jekyll blogging engine.
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Down the iPad Rabbit Hole
I probably won’t buy the book, but wow, this gives an idea of what the iPad rabbit hole looks like.
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The Great Auction of Stolen Goods
[O]ur elected representatives are not confiscating all this wealth for themselves personally–although they are doing quite well, thank you. They are more clever than that. They are taking this plunder, and distributing it to others in such a way as to create constituencies with a sense of entitlement. And if you create enough of these constituencies, and tangle them up enough, then this creates the need for pollsters, political consultants, and political experts, and the science of modern politics is born.
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myPad
Yes, I’m posting this even after Mohler’s twarning earlier today.
The iPad walks into the wild on Saturday. I’ve done a great poor job of telling myself that I don’t want one since Jobs introduced the “magical” device a couple months ago. As they arrive in hands and as more reviews go online, all the Apple-gadget-new toy-parts within me spark.
A similar process occurred with the iPhone. I was convinced the first generation iPhone would be glitchy.
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Why Piper Invited Warren to the 2010 DGNC
Agree or disagree with Piper, it is interesting. Good timing, too, stirring the pot before taking a sabbatical. Update - April 6 at 3:07PM: Here’s a reasonable video response by Doug Wilson. Update - April 10 at 11:16AM: Here’s another reasonable, yet more settled than Wilson’s, written response by Phil Johnson.
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Cynicism Is Not Wisdom
“Cynicism is the air we breath, and it is suffocating our hearts.” That’s true on cable news shows, that’s true even in many church leadership meetings, and sadly, that’s often been true of my own heart. Paul Miller wrote it on page 82 of his book, A Praying Life, which I said I would read, so I am. I started a month or so ago and, even though I haven’t loved every turn, there are occasional, exceptional views that keep me from jumping out of the car.
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Ridicule for Argument
When ridicule is substituted for argument, the result is thorns crackling under a pot.
–Doug Wilson, The Laugh Track of Unbelief
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The Criterion of Successful Churches
Indeed, the criterion of successful churches in the future is not how much Bible knowledge their people have, [or] how strong their pastor is in the pulpit….While content and pulpit expertise aren’t to be minimized, the biblical measure of success is whether they’re making disciples.
-Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches For The 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), 30 (via mijah)
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Sharkey for President
Sharkey for President ➔
Doug Wilson observes that a majority observation makes things more difficult.
All the tawdry dishonesty on exhibit in Congress right now has been there for a long time. Those who understand biblical principles of governance have understood that, and have been writing about it for decades. And (I am convinced) they were right, at least as far as the argument goes. But there is an immense practical difference between a naked emperor that just one boy sees and a naked emperor that the whole populace sees.