The Miracle of a Child Growing

This week is our 28th week of experiencing the miracle of our third child growing inside the womb. Here are some thoughts.

1. Our baby is 16 inches long! That is a good sized Trout!
2. It weighs approximately 2.4 pounds and the rest of the weight it accumulates will be body fat. This is the only time in life when you are grateful for fat growing and giving you 2/3 of the weight you will need to live outside the womb!
3. When we go to bed Julie just starts laughing because our child starts doing flips inside of her!
4. It's also odd for me to imagine trying to go to sleep with someone always kicking me...from the inside!
5. Both Noah and Josiah think it's a boy. I personally think they just want another person to hit, especially Josiah!
6. We have no names...I mean we know it's last name but that's obvious!
7. Julie has a Dr. appointment this week so we will find out how everything is going.
8. It is so fun anticipating the sex of our child. We keep thinking about what it will be like with three boys or to finally get the princess. It's been great imagining the different dynamics each one of them will bring. We are truly excited to have another ankle-biter in our home.
9. Finally, this child will probably be born during the end of the Olympics in Torrino!

Ten Years of Holidays!

As Julie and I were talking this weekend we realized that we are celebrating our 10th holiday season together. We just sat back in the couch and shook our heads at how fast it has gone.

We laughed when we thought about being in college ten years ago and living in our little apartment eating Mac n Cheese and thinking it became gourmet when we added Tuna! We laughed when we thought about our first tree that was about 2 ft. tall!

Now, ten years later we have two kids who think this truly is the "most wonderful time of the year!" Kids just have a way of making this time of year sweeter. I can't explain it, but there is something about kids that allows them to enjoy the simple things of the holiday. They love lights. They love lights on houses and lights on trees. They are enamored with garland, and there is nothing boring about putting ornaments on a tree. They love seeing Santa on the window and they love squeezing those annoying bears that play Christmas songs all the while never getting tired of squeezing them.

Most importantly though, these kids remind me that after ten years of celebrating these holidays in marriage, I need to make a lot of room in my life for reclaiming a sense of wonder.

A big thanks to my wife for ten great years of holidays. Ten years from now we will have kids that are 14, 12 and 9 as we celebrate the holidays!

Spending Time with the Family!

I absolutely loved this past weekend! I got to spend a ton of extended time with my wife and two sons. It was an awkward holiday because typically we are running from family to family and I typically feel exhausted by Monday. That's not true this year as I feel rested and ready to hit the road running.

We watched a lot of football, played a lot of football, put up the Christmas tree and hung lights on the house outside. It was a great weekend!

Finished Painting the House!

I finished painting my house today. I figured I better get it done before the ACL surgery. It was a great time to connect with my neighbor's! My neighbor next door kept giving me a hard time! The neighbor behind me told me he might be selling his Mexican food restaurant and moving it within 1 minute of our house. Currently it is about 27 minutes! He makes amazing Green Chile!

It was also a great time to get a view of the front range! What a view from the top of the house. Over 60 degrees today and you it seems like you can see forever!

My Black Friday Experience

What can I say? I am a sucker for a great deal and today was the day of deals all over the city! I have never participated in Black Friday so I was a little gun-shy when I woke up at 4:50 a.m.

I got in the minivan and headed to Best Buy! I had my list and I was prepared to take anyone on for what I wanted. The parking lot wasn't crowded, it was jam-packed. As I was walking in I was unsure what would actually happen.

When I got inside it was chaos. People were pulling Plasma's, carrying a handful of DVD's, etc... I was off to the DVD's first. I loaded up about 7 and then headed to the wireless router section. I am currently using it right now as I blog upstairs in my bedroom. Nice. I need the wireless router because I want the internet when I have my surgery in two weeks. A guy has to work even when he goes under the knife! I then proceeded to pay. The line was longer than the line at Magic Mountain. I started talking to a kid wearing a Colorado Christian University sweatshirt. Based on the line I figured I could probably get to know this guy so well I could get him to give me his social security number! Anyway, I realized that he wasn't standing in a paying line and that meant I wasn't either. I was wasting valuable time!

I soon found a paying line and in the process found the 20 inch T.V. I wanted for $58. I waited in line an hour. I saw one of our elders with the same T.V. I bought and Kate from 180 who was with her mom and brother and sister from Europe.

I also got to know the lady behind me who had been widowed for for three years with two teenage daughters, 16 and 18. My heart broke for her, but I was impressed with her perspective and I could tell that she was truly leaning on the strength of the Lord. Later in our conversation I found out she leads the youth ministry at her church as volunteer!

I left and went to Starbucks and swiped a breakfast sandwich from McD's!

If you have stayed with me this far, now you will get my take on this day.

"I like it...I like it a lot." Guess the movie? I kept thinking that I wasn't going to like it.

Thoughts were running through my mind about materialism and could there be any more of a better picture than this day. I am sure that for some this was a day to load up, but I also know that if you are willing to pay the price by getting up, you could say this is a great day of stewardship.

Broncos - Week 12

Broncos 24, Dallas 21! 9-2 baby!

First, you have to love having a game like this on Thanksgiving. There is nothing greater than throwing down huge amounts of calories and then kicking back to watch a great game!

We were all going crazy towards the end. I popped a Pepcid-AC and it didn't even help the rumblings in my gut as I sat on the edge of my seat. All I can say is that this is a TEAM winning games, not just great players! A great example is Ron Dayne stepping in for Tatum today and delivering the knock out punch!! In an interview right after the game he was laughing about getting tackled and said he should of dove into the endzone! I still remember watching him run for the Heisman!

Next week in Kansas City baby! I can hardly wait for that game!

Happy Turkey Day!

Another great day with some bird, taters, family and football! Mom and Bruce came over to the pad for an absolutely wonderful meal that Julie cooked! Nice job babe!

This year our football marathon had some significance because the Broncos were playing...more on this later!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year.....

1. Another child is on the way!
2. Noah's first Broncos training camp this summer.
3. A great group of high school students to serve.
4. A great wife!
5. Friends who fight for my soul.
6. The sale of our rental property.
7. A new minivan...I need to blog on this!
8. Vacation in Illinois and Wisconsin.
9. Birth of Logan and Tanner.
10. A great time of reading and reflecting in several different books.
11. Surgery in two weeks that will cause me to slow down the first half of the year.
12. My grandma's 89th birthday today!
13. Crocs...I love them!
14. Caribou Coffee opening in my area!
15. New flooring in our first level.
16. Great studies in Proverbs, the Prayers of Paul, the Sermon on the Mount and Elijah in 180.
17. Golfing in Phoenix with Chris, Dave and Dave for four days!
18. A life-changing trip to Poland with our high school students.
19. 9-2 start of the Broncos.
20. Another year of experiencing the love and forgiveness of God in new ways.

Can you imagine how long this list could get?

2, 6, 7, 9, 20 and 21

These are my new favorite numbers! Apparently there is an unclaimed lottery ticket out there worth 4.6 million dollars!

How funny is this?

I can almost imagine the story.

The ticket was bought in a mad rush at the last minute at a gas station after a fill up on gas and a 98 oz. Diet Pepsi in one of those huge mugs you buy only when you are traveling across the country along with a Willie Nelson CD!

They went with the quick pick because they had to get home and watch WCW at 9! Upon rushing into their Yugo they threw the ticket and the receipt for their purchase in the front seat. The only problem with this is that those weren't the only two things in the front seat. Upon further inspection, the following was found in the front seat: a pair of goggles, a McDonald's bag, half of a Whopper with Cheese and extra mayo, three fries from Wendy's, last week's Sunday paper with the ads, some flowers they bought for their grandma and forgot to give her a month ago, two bank statements, a letter from their landlord giving them notice that their rent is overdue, 17 sticky notes, two packs of empty cigarette containers, and a shirt they bought at Goodwill for $.75 that says "You Can't Win Unless You Play the Game!"

A House Full of College Students!

This morning I picked up one of our former students at the airport who is back for the Thanksgiving break. We went to Q'doba and then to his house! When we got to his house I found out his older brother was back from Dallas Baptist. It was great to catch up with them both. Then right before I was going to leave their two sisters showed up with their mom!

4 college students from the same home in the kitchen together...home for Thanksgiving. Does it get any better for mom?

It was great to see them interact as they all came through our high school ministry and I can remember them all as seventh graders! They just seemed...well, like they weren't in high school. It's hard to explain.

Anyway here are a couple of thoughts that came to my mind from this experience.

First, it was great to be standing in their kitchen knowing that I have have known them since seventh grade. I thanked God that I could be a consistent male figure in their lives as they come from a divorced home. Who would of thought we would have a moment like this some 8 years later?

Second, I just got fired up to think about what it must be like to be the parent of college age students...besides expensive! It's almost impossible for me to think of Noah and Josiah as college studs! Or for that matter, their soon to be brother or sister!

31 & Counting!

Today I celebrate 31 years of being alive on this earth! It's interesting how important your 30th birthday is supposed to be and how unimportant your 31st is supposed to be.

Here are some highlights that made this day just as special as the 30th one!

1. When I walked down stairs today my boys yelled, "Happy Birthday Dad!"

2. When I walked into Club U.S.A. this morning and swiped my card the computer told me Happy Birthday! I couldn't believe it!

3. I had a great time at Caribou Coffee with Tyler. Tyler is a student at Denver Seminary that I get the privilege of mentoring.

4. I had lunch with my buddy Gary who is the student ministries pastor at Calvary Bible in Boulder. He is truly a kindred-spirit in ministry. He is going on Sabbatical Thursday and I am jealous.

5. I went to Panera and started working on our new series in 180 on Romans 8.

6. We all went to Noodles for dinner.

7. The boys and I found Neverland tonight building a sweet fort as we were escaping the paws of the evil green monster.

Broncos - Week 11

Oh yeah baby...you gotta love what the Broncos are doing this season. I took my wife's brother-in-law Chris to the game! We had a great time at the tailgate throwing down some HUGE Hebrew National hot dogs and some incredible dips!

The game was awesome. 27 to 0! We haven't had a shutout since 1997! I was in my first semester at Denver Seminary when it happened!

First, I have a rant! I love going to the games. I can't stand talking to people who say they like sitting at home better. What? They haven't gone! And what's more, you gotta love watching the game with 75,000 people who love your team with you!

Second, something you probably didn't catch on T.V. Do you remember when Jake Plummer had his helmet torn off? After the scramble he still didn't pass the line of scrimmage so it was counted as a sack. The crowd starts cheering! Mark it down folks! Jake has arrived as the leader of the Denver Broncos. He gets sacked and the crowd is cheering! Jake is putting the good of the team before himself and it's leading him to his best season ever in the NFL.

Hey, T.O., take some notes!

First Snow at the House!

This Tuesday morning when we got up we had a good amount of snow on the ground for the first time this year!

I thought I would post a picture of the house as some of you wanted to see the color we chose to paint it this fall!

Plus, check out the pimp Nissan!

Keeping the Sabbath Holy

This sunday our pastor taught on keeping the sabbath day holy. He gave us this quote by Abraham Heschel that pierced my heart!

“He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisition and the betrayal of embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our souls belong to Someone Else.”(Abraham Heschel “A Palace in Time” in The Ten Commandments William Brown (Editor), p 214)

Oh how I need to be reminded, at least once a week, that my soul belongs to Someone Else! I love the thought of caring for the seek of eternity that was planted in my soul.

Narnia!

I am pumped! I just got invited to see this movie on November 30th here in Denver! This means that I need to bust out the book over Thanksgiving weekend! I will post a blog on my thoughts on the movie two weeks from today!

Check out the webiste at Chronicles of Narnia!

Jake Plummer - This is His Year!

Jake Plummer is having the best year of his career! Props to one of my peers! It's awkward for me to think that Jake and I are the same age and our incomes are slightly off, but not as much as I thought!

Fox has labeled Jake as the number one most underpaid player in the NFL. Click here.

I have always been riding the Jake Plummer bandwagon!

Who wants to join me?

Broncos - Week 10

"The Raiders are a bunch of CHEATERS!"

I owe Mr. Bad who sat behind me for years at Mile High for this quote!

You gotta love it when the Broncos play the Raiders! If you love the Broncos, you hate the Raiders!

I have thought about how I will disciple my sons in this and what I will teach them to hate. I narrowed it down to three things: Sin, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW: The Broncos won 31 to 17! Again, let me state what I said at the beginning of the year! As long as Jake plays within the limits of each game the Broncos will go deep into the playoffs!

We overcame two turnovers in the 4th and won!

Back to hating the Raiders...it's really easy.

As a side note, Rich Gannon did the color for the game and was extremely polished!

Bring on the Jets next week! I am going to the game and taking Chris Lord!

Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology

This week I have been reviewing this book I read in Seminary as I prepare for my ordination council for the Free Church on Tuesday. I have just been reminded of how well he lays out a study of theology!

Wayne Grudem believes that 'theology is meant to be lived and prayed and sung' - but before this can happen, it must be understood.

This systematic should be on the shelf of anyone who wishes to have a resource that will not only sharpen their mind, but strengthen their heart! It's great for all levels of spiritual development.

High School Football Playoffs!

I love this time of year! The high school football playoffs are in high gear this weekend. Here's the scoop from Friday night!

Columbine took out Cherry Creek! Brad, one of my friends was at the game and said Columbine really dominated this game even though the score was close. When we saw this game on the schedule this week it seemed to early for the teams to meet in the first round because they are both in the top ten!

Also last night Ralston Valley and Mullen pulled out victories! Dakota Ridge lost a tough one to Pueblo South!

It's always exciting to route for the teams that are represented in our high school ministry. Out of the 25 high schools represented we have a few schools that should go deep into the playoffs besides Columbine and they play today!

Today, Bear Creek (where Julie graduated) should pull out an easy win against Arapahoe in a 5A battle. Our own Jake Spitzlberger has had a great season at quarterback. He ranks as the NUMBER ONE leading passer in the state! Here are Jake's stats so far...

2005-2006 PLAYER STATISTICS
RUSHING
Yds: 674
Att: 135
Long: 13
TDs: 6

RECEIVING
Yds: 13
No: 1
Long: 13
TDs: 0

PASSING
Yds: 2429
Comp: 180
Att: 289
Ints: 10
Long: 30
TDs:

Also today is Faith Christian's next game as they seek to repeat as 2A State Champs. They have a huge game at Roaring Fork today! Which I believe is in Egypt! It is so frustrating that these teams play all over the state! Anyway, our own Dustin Albright has had a great season at running back. Dustin told me on Wednesday this would be an amazing game! Dustin is the SEVENTH leading rusher in 2A. It's interesting to note that Dustin leads the state with 12.1 avg. per carry! Here are Dustin's stats so far...

2005-2006 PLAYER STATISTICS
RUSHING
Yds: 1152
Att: 95
Long: 45
TDs: 17

RECEIVING
Yds: 155
No: 8
Long: 11
TDs: 2

Breckenridge is OPEN!!!!

Breckenridge is OPEN! I love this time of year! The slopes are open and it's 70 in Littleton!

You gotta love living in Denver.

This year Breckenridge is the place to ski as it will be opening its new Imperial Express SuperChair lift! It's scheduled to debut in January 2006. The resort calls the high-speed quad lift the highest in North America, reaching an elevation of 12,840 feet near the summit of Peak 8.

OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I won't be there with ACL surgery on December 12th...at all this year!

12,840 feet!

The Rental is SOLD!

This past week we sold our rental property!

AMEN!

The great part about selling this place, other than the fact that I no longer have to be slum-lord, is that we sold it to Jon and Kelly who serve in our high school ministry!

We love that house!

Enjoy it Jon and Kelly!

God's Incredibles - Elijah

This week I complete teaching on the life of Elijah to our high school students! He was truly one of God's Incredibles!

This week I am attempting to sum up what we have studied that last nine weeks! The thought keeps going through my mind, "How can I do this in 35 minutes?"

Anyway, what has struck me this week is the privilege I have had to spend 9 weeks out of this year studying a man who lived an incredible life of faith and had a nature just like me! A nature just like you!

James tells us about how Elijah is just like you and me in 5:17 "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours..."

I want to be a person who takes that same nature and have it result in the same action. A life of faith in action. A life of listening to the Word of the Lord. A life of prayer. A life of faith. A life that trusted God in front of a King. A life that trusted God in the Ravine. A life that trusted that a widow was worth ministering to. A life that believed the sick could be healed. A life that believed that God would reign down fire from heaven. A life that was saturated in prayer to the point that the weather could change. A life that confronts the sinner. And ultimately, a life, when it was his time to go, allowed the story to continue through the life of Elisha!

Now that's putting your nature into action!

Pulling the Fire Alarm!

I have to report what Josiah did this morning at his mommy's CBS Bible Study! He pulled the fire alarm! Apparently the fire alarm doesn't look like the one I have pictured here! There was no cover on it! Julie took her eyes off him for a few seconds...she hears the alarm...and sees Josiah running for his life from around the corner screaming, "I sorry mommy! I sorry mommy! I sorry!"

At least we know he repents quickly!

Poland - Nicolaus Copernicus

Each summer we take our high school students to Poland to serve a local church in helping them facilitate English Camp! We work alongside a ministry called Josiah Venture.

Earlier this week Poland was in the news!

Apparently they have found the grave of Nicolaus Copernicus!

This intrigue's me because we walk by the University where he studied. On the other side of the tall tower and down one street is where he studied in the 16th Century!

It's interesting to find out how the religious leaders responded to his heliocentric model that placed the sun at the center of the solar system. You'll remember, the belief was that the earth was at the center of the solar system! They used the following verses to combat Copernicus:

Psalm 19: "He set the tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it."

Psalm 93: "Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm, thy throne firm from of old."

Ecclesiastes 1: "But the earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goes down, and hastens to his place where he arose."

Here's what Martin Luther said, "This fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside down! But as the Holy Scripture testifies Joshua bade the sun to stand still, not the earth."

Here's the passage Luther is referring to in Joshua 10:12-13:

"On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on [a] its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day."

I wonder what I am standing for today that in 400 years will prove to be absolutely silly?

Direct TV NFL Ticket!

This Sunday the Broncos have a bye! This means that Chris and I head over to John's house to watch Sunday Ticket!

Anthony's pizza...and all the football I can muster!

I can't wait!

By the way...the Broncos are the best team in football. Every game has been against a winnning team! Bring on the Colts! How many winning teams have they played? Bring on the divisonal playoffs! And while I'm thinking about it...

Bring on the Raiders next week!

In the words of the famous "Mr. Bad" who sat behind me in the old stadium for years, "The Raiders are a bunch of cheaters!"

D.A. Carson on the Emerging Church

Our pastoral staff is currently reading this book by D.A. Carson.

Reading this book reminds me of being in seminary. Carson has to be one of the smartest guys on the face of the planet besides the guy he mentored, Dr. Craig Blomberg!

While Carson does point out some of his "likes" of the emergent movement (1 chpt.), he is definitely taking a stance at where it is failing.

It's been good to walk through this book as a staff! More to come!

Surgery - December 12th!

The acl gets repaired on December 12th! It's going to be a merry Christmas!

Blankets For Orphans in Central Asia

My wife and her mother made 25 blankets for some of the children who were orphaned during the huge earthquake in Central Asia. Our missions pastor is in the air right now with his wife and four children taking them to our missionaries. Winter is coming and the orphans literally have nothing! They love bright colors and I think Julie and her mom did a great job of picking out the colors. Our missionaries are currently housing these children and they need blankets!

Our missions pastor is going to be there for about six weeks doing "whatever!" Two of his kids are in our high school ministry. I can't wait to hear how God is going to use this unique experience to shape their view of Him!

Another cool thing regarding this story is that Julie sent out an email about the need and 8 people contributed money to make this happen!

Finally, this whole project reminds that God loves all the people of this world! It's cool to actually put that into practice!