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Showing posts from February, 2014

Tolstoy, after Rousseau, on Knowledge and Wisdom

“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”

World Christian Week Photoblog

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Photoblog: Typewriters

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Art Display at Richland Library

Measured in Hamburgers

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I've burned off 14 Hamburgers in 22 days. There's no secret--just get up and do it. Finishing dead last always trumps not starting at all.

Remembering Dr. Larkin

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Longtime Columbia International University professor and friend Dr. Bill Larkin passed away on Feb. 18, 2014 following a battle with cancer. Dr. Larkin taught for 38 years at CIU until his retirement in 2013. His life included a long list of accomplishments. He was an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and joined the faculty of CIU after a year of pastoral ministry in Philadelphia and the completion of graduate studies in England. He authored or co-authored several books, including Bible commentaries. More information will be posted as made available .

**gasp**

Doctor Who - Trek Through Time Parts 1 - 3 Joined from Rick Kelvington on Vimeo .

Photoblog: Tomes

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Art Display at Richland Library

"We're Your Friends To The Bitter End."

Every time I go for a run at home then collapse in the back yard after my final sprint, these guys show up. I feel dead; I'm sure I look dead, but really guys?

Love is in the air?

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I love my wife anyway. Every day.

My Talented Boys

No More Excuses

Evangelical Missiological Society to Meet at CIU

The 2014 Southeast Regional Conference of the  The Evangelical Missiological Society  will meet Saturday, March 29, 2014 on the campus of Columbia International University . The theme will be “Missions and Diaspora.” The conference is open to professors, students and mission practitioners.   Session speakers include:  CIU alumnus Leiton Chinn , (international student ministry organizer with the Lausanne Movement) will speak on “Reaching the International Student Diaspora in North America.” CIU alumnus Ken Katayama (President of Crossover Communications International ) CIU alumna Jessie Udall  who recently defended her thesis, “Preparing Ethiopians for Cross-Cultural Ministry: Maximizing Missionary Training for Great Commission Impact.” CIU professors making presentations include: Dr. Jerry Rankin, the director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies   Zwemer Center Assistant Director Trevor Castor,  Dr. Mike Naylo r, New Testament Professor Dr. David Cashin , Profes

Snow Day Workout

I'm doing: 50-40-30-20-10 of Burpee, Squats and Sit-ups. Post your at-home workout!

Jesus, Our Owner

"Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ's, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he [is] Christ's, even so we [are] Christ's." (2 Cor 10:7) If you belong to Christ, know that you are individually owned. “He is Christ’s.” Twice in his previous letter, Paul reminds the Corinthians of being “bought at a price” and with that purchase we are free to glorify God and no longer be slaves. The chains are gone! If you belong to Christ, know that you are corporately owned. "We are Christ’s.” Have you ever visited a model home? The Church is a kind of model home, a preview house of what the rule of Christ should look like, a sample of what will be. Our doors should be open to invite future residents to Christ. We are not isolated survivalists who hoard for the apocalypse of the end times, but a local version of the new city within the old city. “Now when He was asked by the Ph

Photoblog: If Norman Rockwell was still alive . . .

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he could not have painted a better picture.

Let's go for a run . . .

A Divine and Supernatural Light

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."  (2 Corinthians 3:18) “He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart. There is not only a rational belief that God is holy, and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God’s holiness. There is not only a speculatively judging that God is gracious, but a sense how amiable God is on account of the beauty of this divine attribute.” Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Prayer Focus: Adyghe

Olympics open today in Sochi, Russia. We are praying for the Adyghe people @ Calvary Chapel Blythewood . Join our study of "True Spirituality" this week at 10:30 (live) and 11:00 (streaming).

"Old guy in the house!"

Walked into the Cardio room at the gym and everyone stares. What'd I do, people?!

Jesus, Our Gift

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Cor 9:15) How does one describe an indescribable gift? With words! It's not a trick question because we are not trying to describe that the indescribable, but the gift. Just because something is difficult to explain does not mean that it cannot be explained at all. We are thinking of the gift of Jesus. A gift is something given from one person to another for the purpose of the receiver to have possession of what is given. So, what kind of gift is Jesus? Charles Spurgeon said, “ Heaven itself is nothing, as compared with Him! If a man had to wade breast deep through a thousand hells to obtain Christ it would be well worth the venture, if at the last he might but say, ‘My Beloved is mine and I am His!’ Jesus is so precious that He cannot be matched! There is none like Him. The most lovely of the lovely--are vile and deformed, when compared with Him. As Rutherford would say, ‘Black sun, black moon, black stars; but, O

Jesus, Our Substitute

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"For He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV) A substitute is when one person or thing stands in place of another, but that which stands in place must meet specific criteria: First, the substitute must be similar to the original. Let's put this to the test: What replaces a burned out lightbulb? Something made of glass with a threaded end that can be screwed into the socket. A condiment bottle (though made of glass with a threaded end) will not work because it is NOT similar to the original.What replaces a flat tire? Another tire, right? Why won't a cinder block work? Because it is not similar to the original. The acceptable replacement must be similar to the original. Jesus qualifies as our substitute because He was fully human. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace an

Photoblog: Last week's South Carolina Snow Day

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Can't believe it's been a week already. Taken 1/29/2014

Happy Groundhog Day

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Forgiveness and the Lord's Table.

Without #forgiveness there would  be no Lord's Table ( Mt 26:28 ). Prepare: Reflect, Repent, Remember @ Calvary Chapel Blythewood

Soooo . . .

. . . if my wife makes the muffins, does that make me The Muffin Man? 

Family Movie-night Recommendation

I was a small when I first learned about Kon-Tiki and read the book of the experiment/adventure a couple of times. This movie came out two years ago, limited release in America. When I saw it on Netflix Instant View, it was instantly added to my queue. This film hits the high points of the experiment/adventure with one graphic scene (I don't remember in the book, most likely added for the film) involving angry fishermen and one shark. Beautifully photographed, not burdensome in story but (as always) the book is always better.

Done

Was looking forward to a run outside today in the fresh air. Saw it was overcast, but was not going to let that stop me. As I stepped out to run an errand with my darling bride, it started drizzling. Ok. Though not wild about going to the gym, I silently prepared myself for an inside workout when I returned from our errand. We were on the way home (about mid afternoon) when we saw him. The sky: still overcast, grey. If it was a few degrees colder, it would be snowing. But there he was, trudging along the road. If I had to guess I'd say he's in his mid 70's. Tall. Slow. Many could walk faster than he runs, but there he was. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Running. In the drizzle. In the cold. If he could do it, I can do it. So I did. I got home, changed clothes, bundled up, cranked up the MP3 player, started my stopwatch and put one foot in front of the other. 50 minutes and 4.53 miles later, I lay down gasping in the backyard on the cold, wet grass. Done.