Friday Favorites - Date Night

On a chilly November night in 1973, I went on my first date with a farm girl from southwest Nebraska. We were at a high-school program (I was a senior and she was a freshman) at Nebraska Christian College in Norfolk, NE. Late one night after the evening programs we left campus and went to the Pizza Hut. Being a local kid with a car had it's advantages!

I was surprised when she ordered a glass of milk to drink with her pizza. Honestly, that seemed a little weird to me, but I gave it a try and low and behold it was pretty great. So ever since then, drinking milk with pizza has been on my list of good things I might have missed if it weren't for that girl.

Tonight, that very same girl and I are going to a Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concert. Pretty sophisticated, right? Before that, however, in honor of this momentous anniversary 41, we're going to go out for pizza at a friend's 41st birthday party. I bet we'll be the only ones there drinking milk.

Thursday Thinking - N. T. Wright on Church

Here's a short but interesting conversation with Tom Wright about new-creation-shaped church on the Nomad Podcast. The folks at the Nomad Blog ask him some questions about the overarching message of the Bible, the nature and purpose of the church, and his own practical experience of participating in the life of the church.

I had never heard of this blog or podcast until just this past week when I came across this first podcast episode through another blog. Click Here to visit the podcast blog or click on the player button below to listen.

About Nomad:
www.nomadpodcast.co.uk
www.nomadblog.co.uk
www.twitter.com/nomadpodcast

Nomad is an opportunity to explore Christian community, mission and the future of the church. Join two fellow pilgrims as they journey the post-Christendom wilderness, in search of signs of hope

November 12 - How Is It that the Snow

How is it that the snow  
amplifies the silence,  
slathers the black bark on limbs,  
heaps along the brush rows?  

Some deer have stood on their hind legs  
to pull the berries down.  
Now they are ghosts along the path,  
snow flecked with red wine stains.  

This silence in the timbers.  
A woodpecker on one of the trees  
taps out its story,  
stopping now and then in the lapse  
of one white moment into another.

“How Is It That the Snow” by Robert Haight
from Emergences and Spinner Falls, © Copyright © 2002.

Tuesday Tome - Pilots in Command

My good friend, Kris Pierson, has written a book which was recently published and is, as of today, available through Amazon. Pilots in Command was published by ASA - Aviation Supplies & Academics, a major supplier of pilot supplies and educational material in the United States.

Let me encourage you to tell the professional pilots in your life about this helpful new book. I read the book, though I know nothing about flying, and even I gleaned a few good leadership tips.

Congratulations, Kris, on this wonderful achievement!

From the publisher's description...
Pilots in Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip goes beyond the requirements of flight training curricula into what is both a rarity and a necessity: sage advice from real pilots, for student and professional aviators alike, about how to be true leaders.

Captain-candidates at air carriers go through a “captains class,” an extra module in pilot upgrade training that helps them learn to operate each flight as a good leader. Yet not every captains class provides tricks of the trade or solid, experience-proven, leadership advice. Pilots know that when things go wrong, everyone looks to the captain — the pilot in command — to make things right.

In an easy-to-use format, on a range of topics that all tie into the application of basic leadership skills, the author covers crew roles, crew briefings, flight attendants, crew resource management (CRM), threat and error management (TEM), ground services, dispatch, customer service, abnormal and emergency situations, layovers, crew dynamics, 14 CFR Part 117 rest rules, and a new model of transformational leadership and professionalism for pilots.

Effective August 1, Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license applicants must complete a comprehensive ground school with instruction on leadership, professional development, crew resource management, and safety culture. This book is an excellent resource for the new ATP training requirements.

Pilots In Command shares with you the insights and techniques typically gained only from years of experience and interaction with your fellow pilots and crew at 35,000 feet.

Monday Music - She Loves You

  

You think you lost your love,
Well, I saw her yesterday.
It's you she's thinking of
And she told me what to say.

She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
She loves you
And you know you should be glad.

She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mind.
Now she said she knows
You're not the hurting kind.

She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!

She loves you,
She loves you,
With a love like that
You know you should be glad.

You know it's up to you,
I think it's only fair,
Pride can hurt you, too,
So apologize to her

Because she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
She loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!

She loves you,
She loves you,
With a love like that
You know you should be Glad!

She loves you,
She loves you,
with a love like that
You know you should be Glad.

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.

"She Loves You" by Lennon and McCartney © Copyright 1964 by Northern Songs UK. This performance from If I Close My Eyes by Dave Burkum, © Copyright 2002.

Sunday Supplication - Raise Us and Transform Us

O God, we give you thanks for your Son, Jesus, who came into the world to overcome evil, and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life. Help us to become holy even as he is holy. And make us ready for the day when he will come again in glory to set the world right.

Gracious Father, in our weakness and selfishness, we often fail each other, fail ourselves, and fail you. We humbly recognize our need for forgiveness and restoration. We also recognize the hope and power we have in Christ.  Raise us and transform us by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Forgive us our sins, and make us ready and able and quick to forgive others, even as you forgive us.

You give us hope and salvation, O God. Save us from the forces and the circumstances that threaten to defeat us. Lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen us—that we might delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your Name.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Lincoln Ads Spoof

Friday Favorites - Grandad Bluff

Cheri and I really enjoyed the many breathtaking views we experienced last week on our trip to Mineral Point, Wisconsin. One of the amazing views was from Grandad Bluff in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

This 600-ft high bluff overlooks the city of La Crosse. You can see miles and miles of the Mississippi River Valley with panoramic views of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.

If you're ever passing through the area on a nice day, you really ought to check it out!

Thursday Thinking - Faith and the Public Square

David Brooks recently spoke at The Gathering 2014. As a person of faith who lives and writes in a secular context, his talk is well worth a listen. You can read or skim through the transcript HERE.  I've included a couple of pull quotes below to give you an idea of what he presented.

Click the icon below if you would like to listen to the audio file. You can start listening at the 10:15 mark if you'd like to skip the introduction and banter before the actual presentation. The actual talk is about 36 minutes long.

"...what I thought I’d want to talk about is how to be religious in the public square. What does the culture need from you? At least in my opinion.

Now I grew up in a slightly different atmosphere than a lot of people in this room. I work at what I think of as the greatest newspaper in the world, but being a conservative, religious person at The New York Times is a bit like being the chief rabbi in Mecca. There’s not a lot of company there some days.
I grew up in a very left-wing household in Greenwich Village in New York. Nonetheless I went to Grace Church School. I was part of the all-Jewish boys’ davening choir at Grace. We sang the hymns, but to square with our religion we didn’t sing the word, “Jesus,” so the volume would drop down and then come back up.

I went to the University of Chicago, which we called the Wheaton of the Southside. The best line about Chicago: it’s a Baptist school where atheist professors teach Jewish students St. Thomas Aquinas.

I’ve lived much of my life in the secular culture. And it’s an achievement-oriented culture."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"...I spend a lot of time in the Christian world, and I am going to try to describe things I have observed, both walls and ramps. The first part, I‘m going to try and describe some walls that I think the Christian culture has erected for the secular culture. This part is going to be a little harsh. I’m trying to...be a “holy friend,’ which involves some criticism."

Wednesday Words - Faith & Learning

Praise the source of faith and learning
who has sparked and stoked the mind
with a passion for discerning
how the world has been designed.
Let the sense of wonder flowing
from the wonders we survey
keep our faith forever growing
and renew our need to pray:

God of wisdom, we acknowledge
that our science and our art
and the breadth of human knowledge
only partial truth impart.
Far beyond our calculation
lies a depth we cannot sound
where Your purpose for creation
and the pulse of life are found.

May our faith redeem the blunder
of believing that our thought
has displaced the grounds for wonder
which the ancient prophets taught.
May our learning curb the error
which unthinking faith can breed
lest we justify some terror
with an antiquated creed.

As two currents in a river
fight each other's undertow
till converging they deliver
one coherent steady flow,
blend, O God, our faith and learning
till they carve a single course
while they join as one returning
praise and thanks to you their source.


"Praise the Source of Faith and Learning" by Thomas H. Troeger, from Borrowed Light: Hymn Texts, Prayers, and Poems, © Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.

Tuesday Tome - Every Good Endeavor

I've just posted the dates for my next book club group which will be reading Tim Keller's book, Every Good Endeavor. You can view the dates and get more information at the Valley Christian Church book club webpage.

Thanks to a partnership with MacLaurinCSF at the University of Minnesota, and a grant from the Kern Family Foundation, the books will be free for the first ten participants. If you would like to be a part of this reading group, please let me know and I'll reserve a book for you.

Book Description from the publisher...
New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller shows how God calls on each of us to express meaning and purpose through our work and careers.

Tim Keller, pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church and the New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, has taught and counseled students, young professionals, and senior leaders on the subject of work and calling for more than twenty years. Now he pulls his insights into a thoughtful and practical book for readers everywhere.

With deep conviction and often surprising advice, Keller shows readers that biblical wisdom is immensely relevant to our questions about work today. In fact, the Christian view of work—that we work to serve others, not ourselves—can provide the foundation of a thriving professional and balanced personal life. Keller shows how excellence, integrity, discipline, creativity, and passion in the workplace can help others and even be considered acts of worship—not just of self-interest.

Monday Music - Mercy Street

Too long my feet have wandered these winding roads;
But I keep searching through this town.
My back in breaking under this heavy load;
Where can I go to lay it down?

What I would give if you could point me to that place!
I'm lookin' for Mercy.
I want to live on the avenue of grace;
I'm looking for Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

How I kept walking is a mystery;
My wasted days turned into years.
Until a stranger came along side of me;
He took my hand and dried my tears.

He said I've come from the place you hope to find,
I am from Mercy.
Cast off your burden and leave the past behind;
Leave it on Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

And now I walk the same old streets I used to roam,
Handin' out Mercy.
Come take my hand, I have been sent to bring you home;
I am from Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

"Mercy Street" by Dave Burkum, from Breathe a Little Deeper, © Copyright 1993 by Dave Burkum. Listen or Buy

Sunday Supplication - Holding Fast to Hope

Lord God, we give you thanks for the Holy Scriptures you inspired to be written for our learning. Help us to hear them, read them, mark them, and learn them. Help us to take them in so deeply and apply them so personally that we become more and more able to live for you and hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your promise to forgive and purify us. Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ.  And as you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Help us, O Lord, to know and understand the love of Jesus. Help us to experience it. Help us to share it. Help us live out love in such a way that it becomes clear to all around us that we are following Jesus.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Witch One?