tohuvabohu

I won’t miss the opportunity to blog on a day that only occurs every four years. So if I fail to post something substantial later today, Happy Leap Day! In the meantime, the ESV Bible Blog recommends what to do if your Bible reading plan skips February 29.

Series | Making Disciples The Christian life is simple. It’s hard, but not complex. Christians follow Jesus. Our single responsibility includes watching and learning from Jesus, loving and worshipping Him, then submitting and obeying everything He’s commanded. We follow Jesus. In other words, we are His disciples. Too often, however, Jesus is not the center of Christian life but a tangent. We confuse weekly, religious routine for supernatural relationship. We schedule meetings instead of living life like Christ.

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Kiwi and an Emu paid me a compliment by questioning if “without form and void” really applied to my blog since I mistakenly published some content. I’m blushing.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled post of substance to report this recent medical incident. I took my first trip to the Emergency Room via ambulance Tuesday morning. On my way to work I was in so much pain that I pulled off the road. Quickly realizing that I could not continue I drove home and immediately dropped to the floor, writhing and wriggling, sweating like nobody’s business. Unable to diagnose the sure problem, my mom-in-law concluded that calling 911 was the best option and I agreed reluctantly.

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Series | Accountability Still there are those who hate accountability. I guess they don’t want the protection, though I’ve never heard anyone complain about the guardrails on narrow, windy mountain roads that keep their car from slipping over the steep cliff. So what if the car gets banged up, at least they have their life. God-given accountability is like protective guardrails. Even more than protection, accountability helps us better glorify God by increasing holiness.

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Series | Accountability Accountability is troubling because the natural man hates holiness. Almost no one in our culture promotes accountability–no movie, no music, no MySpace page. We don’t want, we think we don’t need, people pressing into our personal soul-space. But if we’re going to observe everything Jesus commanded accountability is essential. Three Levels of Accountability to God 1. PERSONAL - We are accountable to God Himself. There is a place for accountability to fellow human beings, and we’ll see that in the last two levels.

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Series | Accountability A person is accountable when they are required or expected to justify their actions or decisions; they are responsible, liable, answerable. Schools give account to parents for how they educate. Teachers and administration must be able to justify their decisions. Banks give account to their investors. They are liable to protect the money entrusted to them. Employees give account to their employer. What they do is a reflection on their boss and the organization.

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Series | Accountability Jesus could have made our job as Christians a lot easier. All He needed to do was tweak His commission a little. He didn’t need to cancel the entire assignment, just make a minor adjustment. If only He would have said something like, As you are going, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them everything I said. That’s close to what He said in Matthew 28:18-20.

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All six Snow Retreat sermons are available for audio download here. The messages cover Playing for Keeps: The Gravity of Guarding Your Heart.

In seven previous snow retreats I had never visited the tubing hill at the Double-K. For years I’ve heard stories, seen pictures, and watched video. But I never made the trek across the field and gone down for myself. That changed last week. Now there’s a story circulating that Phil’s sons gave him significant grief for wearing the helmet. Darlene took pictures with her iPhone and apparently the family sent emails back and forth amongst themselves all afternoon questioning the preacher’s manliness.

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We saw over five feet of fresh powder fall at our Snow Retreat last week on top of the five or six already on the ground. Apparently it was record snow for the Snoqualmie Pass region over the last 30 years. Though the weather made travel to and from the Double-K a bit dicey, it was a flurry of fun for everyone–including our speaker. With a little encouragement and a little bike helmet, Phil tackled the tubing hill just like last year.

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Winter pleasures have made blogging sparse here at the void. Last weekend I was in -25 temperature with Dave Cleland in White Lake, WI for his annual Snow Fever high school retreat. It was very much a pleasure to hang with Dave (as it always is), including our dinner at Lambeau Field two nights before the NFC Championship. Last Thursday Andy Bowers, Jonathan Sarr, Curtis Wentling and I celebrated five years of weekly, early morning meetings.

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Friend, fellow GBC member, and Maggie’s fantastic art teacher, Joan Dabrowski, graciously photographed and uploaded pictures from my ordination last night.

I’ve had more than ten days to think about resolutions for 2008 and if I put it off any longer the year will no longer be new. I’m only making two, but both are aimed at long-term life approach rather than short-term accomplishments. Build more structure into my supplication struggle. In assessing 2007 I mentioned my lackluster labor in scheduled, systematic prayer. To vitalize that discipline I have begun my first ever prayer journal (better at 33 than never).

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Sans wedding date, here is reliable info from an insider that the MacArthur Study Bible is engaged to the ESV. A happy marriage between my English version of choice and my most recommended resource may just be irresistible.

Though apparently not everyone agrees, I think the new year provides a perfect opportunity to examine if there are lifestyle changes or attitude adjustments necessary to better enjoy the process (and make progress in Christlikeness). Especially in light of Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, if we’re eating our bread with dissatisfaction and dressing down and wasting life with our wife and loafing around, we may need to reshape our whole modus operandi (or at least tweak it).

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In August the Capranica went dark. But Bret has been back for a few weeks now. So Happy New Year indeed to one of my favorite ordinary pastors!

A few weeks ago I noticed incoming traffic from a notable blog. I held my breath as I clicked the address and scrolled down the sidebar. Low and behold, there it was in all its emboldened glory: my very own link on PyroManiacs. Now that my self-referential hyperventilating is aside I’m ready for another year of posting without form and void.

If you’re undecided about how to read the Bible this year take a look at these eight Bible reading plans for the ESV. Each plan can be read on the web, received through RSS or email, or printed out for to carry in your own copy of God’s Word.

The last couple years I’ve made resolutions, posted them publicly, then reviewed my progress publicly as well. This is good accountability especially since there are some significant consequences of breaking resolutions even though it’s so easy to do. We are always to be progressing in our devotion to Christ and good resolutions are made with that in mind. Spiritual transformation and progress is essential–not optional–for Christ followers. Therefore it is not only beneficial to consider our failures, weaknesses, and sin and address them, it is needful!

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