Entries from May 2009

May 29, 2009

I’m not worthy…

…to be on the same page as David Powlison and Mike Emlet! Check out CCEF’s home page. They have the audacity to put my mug up there (advertising next year’s annual conference) right next to David. That should never be!
Fun.

May 28, 2009

DIY Pictures by request

Since Amy asked, I’m posting a couple pictures of our wall DIY project

The trench

The delivery of stone

All done but the cleanup

Now all I need are some capstones and replanting of the garden…

May 27, 2009

What does it take to be a blessing?

On Sunday, Dr. Frans Leonard Schalkwijk gave a brief but gripping sermonette on the topic of being a blessing. Dr. Schalkwijk has served the church in Brazil as a missionary for nearly 60 years. For those of you in the Philadelphia area, he happens to be ”Timmy D’s” (of WZZD DJ fame) father-in-law.
Using one of this grandsons as [...]

May 26, 2009

Thoughts on DIY Projects

Why is it that do-it-yourself projects are always depicted in beautiful pictures? Why isn’t Home Depot’s motto: You can do it yourself. It will be wrong. Then you can come back and spend more money to do it again and again?
I did a DIY this holiday weekend. I built a “dry laid wall” out of [...]

May 22, 2009

Physiology Phriday: Side Effects of Meds

In a perfect world, our medicines would fix our problems and not create additional ones. Sadly, we don’t live in that world. Antidepressants may induce weight gain, foggy-headedness, flatness, impotence–things that wouldn’t necessarily make one feel better. Stimulants create problems with weight loss, rebound agitation, even tics in some individuals. Pain meds may create dependency.
Some [...]

May 21, 2009

Podcasts for Pastoral Health

last March Biblical Seminary ran a daylong seminar for ministry leaders and their spouses. Podcasts of the plenary and break-out sessions are now available here for a very low price: http://www.biblical.edu/pages/connect/hazardoustoyourhealt0309podcasts.htm
Consider buying some and giving to your pastor and spouse. Other leaders like missionaries, elders, deacons, parachurch workers, etc. would likely benefit.

May 20, 2009

Violating space

I’m not talking about space junk or the old star wars politics of the Reagan era. Rather, I’m thinking about how particular actions violate our sense of space and normalcy. One person’s actions may not actually harm our personhood and yet we feel harmed by it, changed by it. For example, a break-in at a [...]

May 19, 2009

Dialog between Christian Psychology and Biblical Counseling

Yesterday Robert Kelleman made a comment on an old blog post of mine about my model of counseling. In that comment he said the following:
Your readers might find of interest my summary of last week’s symposium on biblical counseling where Eric Johnsons (SCP), myself (BCSFN), David Powlison (CCEF), and Steve Viars (NANC, FBCM) discussed with [...]

May 18, 2009

Thank you Biblical Seminary!

On July 1 this blog celebrates its third anniversary! Over the years We’ve talked about lots of topics that concern folk—everything from abuse to pornography addiction to forgiveness.  I’ve enjoyed the chance to share my thoughts with you and you have been kind enough to respond.
For those of you who blog, you realize that it requires time [...]

May 14, 2009

Some thoughts on scamming

Last night I heard about a local couple who got scammed out of 22k for an adoption that never happened. Seems they gave the money up front but the agency didn’t ever provide a child. The show mentioned 60 some families who had been rooked by the “agency.”
Sad. And I hope they are able to [...]