To Be In a Band

From my friend Tucker’s blog…

At the end of the eighties, we campaigned for Martin Luther King Day. I remember, in Arizona, we got into trouble, and we had some death threats. Normally, they happen. But occasionally, you get one that the police and FBI take seriously. There was a specific threat: “Don’t go ahead with the concert. And, if you do, don’t sing ‘Pride (In the Name of Love),’ because, if you do, I am gonna blow your head off, and you won’t be able to stop this from happening.” Of course you go onstage and you put it out of your head. But I do remember actually, in the middle of “Pride,” thinking for a second: “Gosh! What if somebody was organized, or in the rafters of the building, or somebody, here and there, just had a handgun?” I just closed my eyes and sang this middle verse [Early morning, April 4 a shot rings out in the Memphis sky...], with my eyes closed, trying to concentrate and forget about this ugliness and just keep close to the beauty that’s suggested in the song. I looked up, at the end of that verse, and Adam [Bono's bass player] was standing in front of me. It was one of those moments where you know what it means to be in a band.

-Bono (Lead Singer of U2)

I’ve been thinking about this story a lot the last couple of days…desiring to have a group of friends (brothers) like that.  I thank God for the friends that I do have like that, although many of them have moved out of the area.  I also realize that God has given me a number of other good brothers at my church that I can build those types of relationships with.  Time to get started…more later.

How not to do New Year’s Eve

From Ray Ortlund’s blog: 

Couldn’t help passing this along.  Whatever you do, don’t give up on the video….watch it until the end.  Trust me…

Personally, I don’t have to worry about this.  I’m usually in bed by 10pm on New Year’s Eve, which also happens to be my birthday.  I may not be a party animal, but I’m well rested!  Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving…

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with the family….

Here we are…everyone except Mark, who’s in the Air Force (We miss you and love you buddy). 

We didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the last holiday we would spend with my Grandma Marie.  What a blessing it was to have one last great day with her.  She suffered a stroke the Sunday after Thanksgiving and when home to be with the Lord on December 11.  She was on this earth for 100 years and was healthy and strong and funny right up to the end.  Here she is holding Grace on Thanksgiving (she’s on the left)…

 I have a lot of things to be thankful for… my Grandmother is certainly one of them.  I am thankful that the Lord blessed our family with such a wonderful woman.  I am thankful that the Lord gave her a long life.  I am that I was able to tell her how much I loved her before she died.   I am so thankful that she was here to meet our baby Grace.  I am thankful for all the wonderful memories.  I can’t wait to tell Grace all about her Grandma when she gets older.

She will be missed…

Dating Tips from a Nine-Year-Old

Came across this video this morning on my blogroll courtesy of Joshua Harris: 

Couple of thoughts rolling around my head…

1.  To Harper Collins (the publisher):  How do you even entertain an idea like this?  You must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for childrens books.   How do you sleep at night?  Have you no shame?

2.  The last thing I want my son to do is take relationship advice from from a 9 year old.  Seriously.  It’s like recommendations from a single buddy about which girls to date (don’t do that…if the girl’s so great, why isn’t he dating her?  Also, what the deuce does he know about finding a good girl.  He’s still single).  With that being said, I know some guys in their twenties that would probably benefit from this book….especially the part about not eating too much sugar and talking too much. 

3.  Just the thought that a 9 year old is even thinking about this kind of thing, let alone ‘write’ a book about it (I smell opportunistic parents) is disconcerting.  When I was nine, I was too busy playing Cowboys and Indians in the backyard to be  thinking about this kind of stuff.  Besides, as far as I knew, girls had cooties.   

4.  Grace isn’t leaving the house until she’s 30.

HT:  Joshua Harris

Today is a Special Day

Proverbs 18:22   He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Four years ago today, I met Catrina Gallagher for coffee at Starbucks in Tukwila…it was our fist date.  

Three years ago today, I watched as she walked down the aisle in a beautiful white dress….it was our wedding day. 

This morning,  I woke up and got to see my wife holding our baby daughter Grace….it is our third anniversary.

Proverbs 31:10  An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.

By God’s grace, I found an excellent wife.  I am a blessed man.  Happy Anniversary Catrina.  I love you…

Reorienting to What’s Important

In the midst of extremely frustrating days at the office, and today’s been no exception, it was good for me to find this song on my computer and give it a listen….a couple of times.   I hope it encourages you as well.  Courtesy of Bob Kauflin and Together for the Gospel:

Jesus Paid It All

The 2 Aims of Higher Education…

…Ccourtesy of David Powlinson as said in an interview with Mark Dever found here (The entire interview is worth listening to).

Education should always kill two birds with one stone. You should always be studying something you want to learn and it should always open a door for you.  If it doesn’t do the latter, you can always do self study.  If it only does the latter, you’re a hypocrite.  

 

 

That’s the reason why I never seriously considered getting an MBA.  I don’t want to be a hypocrite.  I much prefer self study, especially with the easy access to quality (and free) theological content available online.  It’s much cheaper than going to seminary, I can pick my ‘professors’, and I don’t have to write papers.

Why Dedication?

A post from my wife discussing the reasons why we will be dedicating baby Grace at church….

Why Dedication?

 

Baby dedications.  Have you ever been to one?  Usually the family gathers in front of the church congregation and they have a prayer and maybe a few comments about the baby and family raising the child to serve the Lord and someone definitely takes pictures.

In anticipation of dedicating Grace in the coming weeks (wearing, by the way, the same dress my mother and I were each dedicated in), I’ve been giving some thought to why I want to have this little ceremony and why it seems very important to me.  Here is my conclusion:

When I got married to Paul, God gave to me the gift of a relationship to steward.  There are some very specific ways I am to steward this relationship. (ie honor/respect my husband, submit to him, etc).  I made some vows in front of God and in front of other people so that I could be kept accountable for the promises I made regarding the stewardship of this relationship.  If I begin to drift from my promises, there are about 350 people who ought to take me to task over it. 

So now, God has given to us another relationship: a daughter.  Again, there are some very specific ways I am to steward this relationship.  For example, I am to raise her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  I am to discipline her in such a way that she learns to love Godliness and hate folly.  I am to steward this gift.  So I think it is important that, once again, I get up in front of God and other people to make some vows about how I will raise this child.  The ceremony is not so much about Grace as a baby; it’s more about Paul and me as parents and about promises we will make regarding the stewardship of this amazing new relationship.  I want to be held accountable in the physical right now, because I know that I will be held accountable before God.  Something to be considered with a little trepidation, I think.

Oh yes, and someone will definitely take pictures. 

Baby Grace

My blog posts have been limited (nonexistent) as of late for good reason.  Grace Elizabeth Majack was born on Sunday October 26th.  Mom labored for about 10 hours (with no drugs…she’s amazing) and delivered Grace at 8:22 am.  She weighed 8 pounds and was 20.25 inches long.  Needless to say, the last week has been one of the most amazing in my life…

Pictures of our baby can be viewed here. 

My semi-regular blog posts should resume in the near future. 

I’m not sure how you rationalize a vote for Obama….

….If you consider yourself Pro-Life.  If anything, it speaks to how important (or unimportant) the Pro-Life issue is in this election.  For us, it’s not just an issue, it’s THE issue, especially given the impact this election will have on abortion in America.   Following is a number of articles discussing the importance of this issue….and this election:

An article by Robert George (Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton,  Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions) discussing Obama’s abortion views and declaring him the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever.  This article is a must read. 

Robert George responds to Obama’s statements regarding the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which he voted against and said was ‘unnecessary’.   

Justin Taylor has an overview of the Freedom of Choice Act, which Obama has promised will be the first thing he’ll sign as President here.  Why is this a big issue?  No more parental consent for abortions for teens.  Government funding (our tax money) for abortions at any stage of the pregnancy.  Hospitals/Physicians will not have a choice regarding the performance of abortion….among other things. 

Randy Alcorn answers the question:  ‘As a Christian, should we vote for who we think should lead our country solely based upon their stance on abortion?’ He looks at this issue with a view towards our own history and political fights over things such as slavery, as well as looking to Scripture. 

Here’s an article titled ‘Pro-Life Politicians Have Made a Difference, Pro-Life Laws Work’ that looks at the gains made the last 35 years from the pro-life movement. 

Finally, a good article by Albert Mohler called ‘The Abortion Question and the Future’.  It’s a good overall summary of the articles by Robert George above, but also addresses the issue of fatigue amongst pro-life voters.

HT(Justin Taylor, Randy Alcorn)