Reformissionary

There is a Fountain

Scot McKnight is sick of Bic pens filling up our dumps, and has a great alternative: fountain pens.

Chief Justice Meets the Judge

Chief Justice Rehnquist has passed away.

World Stunned at US Struggles

Very interesting article about the response of people around the world to the difficulties in helping New Orleans post-Katrina.

Worried About My Anxiety

I was late for a meeting this morning and couldn't get gas when it was $2.79. 

Now it's $2.99.  I know the gas prices have been rising for a few years, but today was the first day I felt anxious about them.  And the last few weeks are the first time in my life I remember shifting plans because of gas prices.  Hurricane Katrina, gas prices, terrorism, Iraq war...it's a lot to think about right now. 

On top of all this, Wendy's didn't have salt packets because the manager forgot to order more.

Weathering Etherington

I think I met Tim Etherington online through Derek Webb's discussion board, which is a good place to argue about stuff.  Somehow we found each other's blogs and have been in email contact for some time.  He is a student at TEDS and a really old guy, like in his 40's.  We have been wanting to meet up for some time and finally had a chance.

We had a great time talking for a couple of hours at a nearby Starbucks about family and ministry and the future for both of us.  We have a lot in common theologically and in ministry, and it was great to meet another blogger in person.  Read Tim's take on our meeting.

Brain Dead Woman Gives Birth and Dies

This just rips my heart out. 

Mohler Disappointed with Frist

At the risk of maxing out my bandwidth because of rabid commenters (kidding, sorta), I wanted to make available Al Mohler's blog post where he expresses that Senator Bill Frist's flip-flop on stem cell research is "very disappointing."  He also offers a number of helpful links on "coverage" and "responses" that make his post a helpful resource on this remarkable shift by Frist.

At one point in his speech he referred to human embryos as "nascent human life." Just how does he understand "nascent" in this context? How does this differ in ethical considerations from non-nascent human life? Senator Frist's shift is inconsistent and his new position is ethically untenable.

Space Shuttle Debris

I had my kids watch the space shuttle takeoff today.  It was fun for them.  Then later the news started to talk about "debris" spotted on shuttle video during the launch.

All day something rubbed me the wrong way, and I'm not sure if I'm right on this or not.  But is "debris" the right word for spotting something falling off the shuttle or fuel tank or whatever?  I looked it up in dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster and neither gave a definition of "debris" that seemed to fit the context.  At best it's a piece of something that's been destroyed, not something that has one piece fall off.  Thoughts?

12 Wonderful Years

It's our 12th anniversary today!  On July 24, 1993 I was married to Molly and we are in the process of living happily ever after.  I can't describe how much I love my wife, so I won't even try.  But I am blessed beyond measure.

Happy anniversary Sweetheart.

Terror in London

Frightening quote from someone trapped in the London subways...

"We were all trapped like sardines waiting to die," said Angelo Power. "I honestly thought I was going to die, as did everyone else."

Grilling in Wisconsin

We were staying at this beautiful cabin on Lake Kegonsa, not terribly far from Madison, Wisconsin.  Beautiful log cabin, two stories, 3 bedrooms, and a very large wrap around deck.  On that deck is a gas grill which was perfect for grilling out some brats.  Or so we thought.

One morning we all went to the beach at Lake Kegonsa, and I decided to make our brats on the grill for lunch.  I lit the grill and noticed the flame was weak.  It was like an enormous candle flame, not a gas grill.  I figured I'd leave the brats on for a few minutes and if it doesn't heat up, cook them on the stove.

I closed the lid and went inside for a bit.  When I came back out, the entire grill was in flames.  The seemed to come from underneath, just above the gas tank.  I began thinking the whole thing would explode.  I grabbed a towel to try to turn the burner off, and the knob melted off into the towel.  I turned off what was left of the knob but the fire kept burning.  Molly found the fire extinguisher and gave it to me.  I let loose.  It took the entire can to put out the flames. 

But I could hear the gas still flowing.  So I had to grab more towels to keep my hand and arm from burning as I turned off the metal valve on the top of the gas tank.   Flames out, gas off, I could take a minute to breathe again.  I looked around and realized how fast that whole deck and wood cabin could have caught fire. 

So we decided we would rather go out to eat.  Short video telling the story here.

iPod Killing

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, apparently called the parents of a 15 year-old New Yorker killed for his iPod, tennis shoes and cell phone.  Jobs offered his condolences and offered to help in any way he could.  After the conversation the father of the boy talked to the New York Times...

We live in a world which is changing rapidly...We have the technology that can give us the iPod and everything else, but it's not all these things. We have to work on the minds and the hearts.

We're failing these kids. We're not loving them the way we're supposed to.

Back to Work

Our vacation is over and it's time to get back to work.  I don't know how any pastor can actually take time off, or any Christian for that matter.  I know we get time away, but The Church should be such a part of our heartbeat that there is no way to truly take time away. 

I'll put it this way: We got time away from my local body and the responsibilities there, but that actually drove us to think of THE Church around the world.  I'll just bet that the thoughts we had during our vacation will color our family for the rest of our lives.  Just wait and see.

Vacation, Marriage, Ministry

In a couple of days I'll have my laptop online so I can get a few vacation pics up.  I also have several things I want to write on, but for now I wanted to write something quick.

This vacation has been pretty relaxing, and the benefits are many.  Among other things, my wife and I have had a lot of time to remember how to dream about ministry together.  There is no one in the world like her and the ministry I do as a pastor is blessed in remarkable ways by her.  She sharpens my thoughts, encourages me to remember our calling, and wants me to do what God made me to do...whatever the cost.  Such a great sanctification God is working in me through my bride. 

Many good things can come through a vacation, including getting away from the routine stuff of life.  But the things I needed to get away from the most were the things that distracted me from my beautiful and encouraging wife, and I thank God for her.

Wisconsin

I'm in Wisconsin right now on a family vacation.  Having a blast with the kids.  I'll be online a little more by the end of the week, but nothing of substance until then.  Thanks for all who continue to comment.  Here's a pic of the family in from of the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison.

Interviewed

I was interviewed over the phone yesterday by someone who is writing an article for Baptist Press.  It should be released on Wednesday and includes quotes from me and a handful of others.  He also hopes another news source will pick it up, and I'll make any links available if that happens.  I'll be on vacation, so my internet access and posting will be very infrequent next week.

Wonders of Creation

The tail end of a thunderstorm just developed right over my house (my city at least).  The weather map in a matter of minutes went from clear to a strong storm just East of us.  We sat outsite for about 10 minutes just watching the clouds mushroom.  It was awe-some.

I've Been Captured

Our local paper, The Woodstock Independent, captured me on film in their latest issue.  I'm sitting at Starbucks reading The Shaping of Things to Come by Frost and Hirsch and sipping a grande-skim-with whip-3 pump mocha.  Uh, that's Don on the right, some other guy, then me.

What the hEcto

This is my first Ecto post. I like the possibilities so far.

Wi-Fi in My House

Oh man.  Wi-Fi in the house is awesome.  It's just one more step into making every moment of my life Internet dependent. 

I tried D-Link, but I hated it.  I had to reset that thing 5 times a day.  It only took me a couple of days to take it back to Best Buy and pick up the Linksys WRT54G (Arrh...arrh...arrh -- Tim Allen style).  Great stuff, easy to set up (they necessarily treated me like an idiot), and the setup was automatic -- meaning they didn't make me try to find IP addresses and other monumental tasks.

After a week of constant disasters in computing (please don't ask...the wounds are too new), my Linksys has renewed my hope.

And Their Faces Shone...

The trip was a success.  It was the first of what may become an every-semester trip to Southern Seminary to talk to potential church planters.  While we aren't prepared to bring church planters to our suburban Chicagoland association yet, we hope to have a clear vision soon.  So our trip was more about getting ready for future trips than trying to fulfill a current church planting vision.  And we really believe that spending time at Southern has given us clear ideas on how things work and what we want to do.

Random and somewhat boring facts and observations...

It was pretty warm the whole time in Kentucky, but a little rainy Tuesday.  Severe thunderstorms were possible, but didn't come through Louisville.  Bummer.  The trees were far along and the flowering trees were beautiful.

We stayed at the SBTS Legacy Center, which is a beautiful, fairly new addition to the seminary.  Well done.

Southern needs to cut their grass.

While in Louisville, we were spent some time talking with fellow bloggers. 

We met up with Richard and Kyle for some food at the Irish Rover.  It was fish and chips and scotch eggs (a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage and deep fried...whoa momma).  Conversation was on the local church and the emerging church.

John Mark hung out with us during our seminary cafeteria lunch, which was the time we used to talk with students interested in church planting.  Conversation was on family and the four seasons.

We had some rather tasty barbecue with Wes at Smoky Bones.  Yeah buddy, it was good food.  We couldn't get our waitress to date him.  Conversation was on church planting, the emerging church, blogging, not being able to sing, and all the girls we loved before (sort of).

We had lunch at Stevens & Stevens Deli on the way out of town with friend and Southern Seminary Associate Professor of Christian Theology, Steve Wellum.  Excellent food, great conversation, and we got a tip on a great new book (always a major plus).

I also had a brief word with friend and John R. Sampey Professor of Old Testament Interpretation, Dan Block.  He is headed to Wheaton College this summer and we are very excited about that. 

On TV after nightfall: ultimate fighting and some bad singing from a televised Baptist service in Louisville.

Joe was very sick on Monday, but a lot better by Tuesday.

We discovered that Louisville is basically a black hole of worthless wi-fi.  None at the Starbucks, poor service at other coffee shops (at least on Joe's computer), and unavailable wi-fi from the SBTS library.  Good to be home for real Internet access.  Sheesh.

Heine Brothers makes some good coffee, but their mocha isn't quite as good as Starbucks.

That's all I can think of for now.

Pilgrimage

Joe Thorn and I have made our pilgrimage to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is deep in the heart of the holy city of Louisville, Kentucky.  Though we have yet to make any saint sitings, we have found the bookstore--which is almost as good.

We are here for a few days representing the Fox Valley Baptist Association to seek out some future church planters. 

Creation Sings

This morning was the first morning this year when the first sound I heard as I awoke was a bird singing outside my bedroom window.  I'm thankful I was able to start the day that way: a beautiful reminder of new life after a long Northern Illinois winter.

Stan Grenz Has Died

Again, from Doug Pagitt's blog: "As hard as it is to comprehend, Stan Grenz has passed away.  I have seen an official statement from the family, but my understanding it that it was a brain aneurism. He went to sleep Thursday and never awoke. He officially died at 4 AM. His wife and family are in great pain from what I have heard. Stan was not only a leader in thinking, and a great benefit to me and many of us, but he was a really good man. He really was a good man. He will be deeply missed."

More on Dr. Stanley Grenz

The latest..."Stan had a serious heart attack and is not expected to live. He has bleeding on the brain."

For those of you who don't know about Dr. Grenz, I wanted to provide some info. 

You can visit Dr. Grenz' website to learn more about him.  It says there, "Stanley J. Grenz is a leading evangelical scholar.  Based in Vancouver, Canada's Carey Theological College and Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle WA, Dr. Grenz has written prolifically and lectured throughout the world."

Here's his bio and a list of his books.

Please pray for this brother in Christ and his wife Edna, and children, Joel and Corina.

Stan Grenz

Found this on Doug Pagitt's Blog: "Please pray for Dr Stan Grenz as he has just suffered a heart attack or stroke today (Mar 11/05) and is in critical care."

Rock the Vote

It's time for a moment of honesty and reality.  I'm better looking than my brother, I could outrun my brother, I would rip his arm off in an arm wrestling contest, and I got better grades than my brother.  But my brother, Scott McCoy, is now the most powerful man in Pontiac, Illinois.  That's right, he is the new mayor of our hometown.  Congratulations Mac.

Giving it a Shot

I'm giving Typepad a shot as a normal Blogger user.  Check out my blog there for now.