Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Gunnerisms
"Only two people can save anyone... God and superheroes."
Gunnar Holloway, 3 years old and quite wise.
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Dave Tallman's orchard, Hood River Valley
Monday, December 20, 2010
The guys I work with... (Populi staff)
Friday, December 17, 2010
Check out my sis-in-law, conductor extraordinaire...
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Abby's new iPhone...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Abby and Signe skate...
We Are Not Good
One of the most important things that we confess every week is that we are not good. We are not even a little bit good. We love to compare ourselves to other people; we love to excuse our evil by pointing at other people who we think are worse than ourselves. Well, I’m not as bad as him; I’m not as bad as her. But we are not good. We are backbiters and liars; we are full of jealousies and hatreds. We are quick to take offense; we are slow to forgive. And despite all of this, God is the faithful Lover who prepares this world for us every day. He draws the sun into the sky; He spins the earth in its orbit. He winds up our bodies while we sleep. He puts food in our refrigerators and piles it on our tables. He blows air into our lungs and walks beside us, holding us up, defending us from harm and evil. He runs before us in this world, preparing good things. He sends us warmth and comfort; He sends us friends and gifts. He sent us His Son. He smiles at us day after day, and He speaks to us in His Word, writing us letters, assuring us that He loves us and that we are His and that we are forgiven. And He does this day after day like a faithful Husband, like a faithful Lover. And so often, we hardly even notice. We are so easily distracted. God piles up gifts all around us, and we whine because some of them are not as big as we wanted. We have bad attitudes when there are only 4000 presents, and we think we’re getting ripped off when something doesn’t go our way.
Why do we do this? Why do we snap our children? Why do we get impatient with our spouses? Why do tell lies to our friends? Why do we look the other way when someone is in need? Because we are not good. We are not good. We are evil. We are perverse. We love sin. We love injustice. We are covered in filth. “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags…” (Is. 54:6) And it is only from this position of complete desperation, only from the position of absolute need that we have any hope. It is only when you have come to the very end of yourself. When you see and you are utterly convinced that there is nothing good in you, when you have no hope, when you have no alternative, when you have nowhere else to turn. When you are powerless, when you are disgusted with your sin, when you absolutely hate yourself, it is only then that there is hope. But because we are evil, we do not want to admit that we are evil. And this is one of the most dangerous and challenging aspects of growing up and being in the Church. It’s so perilously easy to believe that being in the Church means that you are good or that you are at least trying to be good. But it is only when we admit completely and whole heartedly that we are not good, it is only when we call out to Jesus in desperation that we can have hope because He only came for people who are not good.
“But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Mt. 9:13)
Why do we do this? Why do we snap our children? Why do we get impatient with our spouses? Why do tell lies to our friends? Why do we look the other way when someone is in need? Because we are not good. We are not good. We are evil. We are perverse. We love sin. We love injustice. We are covered in filth. “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags…” (Is. 54:6) And it is only from this position of complete desperation, only from the position of absolute need that we have any hope. It is only when you have come to the very end of yourself. When you see and you are utterly convinced that there is nothing good in you, when you have no hope, when you have no alternative, when you have nowhere else to turn. When you are powerless, when you are disgusted with your sin, when you absolutely hate yourself, it is only then that there is hope. But because we are evil, we do not want to admit that we are evil. And this is one of the most dangerous and challenging aspects of growing up and being in the Church. It’s so perilously easy to believe that being in the Church means that you are good or that you are at least trying to be good. But it is only when we admit completely and whole heartedly that we are not good, it is only when we call out to Jesus in desperation that we can have hope because He only came for people who are not good.
“But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Mt. 9:13)
Pastor Toby Sumpter
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
When Gratitude Should Kill Envy
Follow the link and you'll see one of the reasons I am a postmillenialist. These are some great stats about the improving wealth and health of all humankind in the last 200 years. God is saving the world through his Son and all of the outworkings of His influence.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Dave Tallman and the effects of Tryptophan.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Populi staff on one computer...
Winter is here.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
First Snow...
Got our first snow of the 2010-2011 winter here in north Idaho. Zane was pretty interested. However, once he touched it, he seemed to lose interest.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Our great hope.
Click here to get an excellent discussion of living forever. Read it all. It's quite good.
Having been raised in a pre-millennial Christian tradition, we saw the world as evil, everyone around us evil, and that things were only getting worse. Jesus was going to come down in a spiritual helicopter and 'rapture' us all away from this sinful mess. A quite pessimistic, destructive and, in my opinion, irresponsible way of looking at the world. It only encouraged detachment, aloofness, elitism, and a weird gnosticism
Moving to the post-millennial side of Christianity, we see a much more optimistic view of things. The world is indeed corrupt, sin happens, but things aren't getting worse, they are getting better. Indoor plumbing, iPhones, central heating, A/C, Christian philosophy, morals, and worldview growing from 12 Hebrew stiffs to a worldwide movement that converted an entire empire (thanks Constantine). The post-millennial view of the kingdom of Jesus and eternal life is both responsible and creative. It encourages engagement with the world around us and requires that we build.
Is man still inhuman to man? Does tragedy happen? Yes, of course. This is not a pollyanna-like naivety. The coming of the kingdom of Christ is an incremental, slow working of the yeast through the entire loaf. The kingdom doesn't happen all at once. Our microwave, want-it-now approach fits perfectly with our length of life, but is oh-so-short-sighted. But if we have a long-term view of the coming kingdom, death does seem as if it's only a nap and we raise our kids and build our communities in anticipation of the fullness and fulfillment of time, the coming of Christ.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A poor substitute for a stick.
Hockey puck Zane.
Monday, November 1, 2010
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