After the Party

Waving goodbye to her friends.

Trying on the new clothes.

Dance, Dance, Dance

On Jill’s birthday, my brother got her the largest birthday card I’ve ever seen. When you open it, it plays the “Peanuts” theme song. We’ve gotten more use out of this birthday card than any card in the history of greeting cards. It sits under Jovi’s crib, and she likes to get it out every week and have a dance party.

I Win

I can turn just about anything into a competition. Not long after Jovi was born, I would always tell her, “Say Dada.” Of course, Jill would always tell her, “Say Mama.” While I certainly know that Jovi love her Mom more than her Dad, I at least won the battle for the first word.

The Passion of Sophie

I keep a list of movies on my fridge so that when I go to rent one, I don’t spend 30 minutes at the movie store trying to figure out what to get. I update my list every few months, normally based on reviews. I don’t always like the movies that the critics like, but if the majority of critics hate a movie, I find that it’s a fairly good indication that it won’t be worth my time. So, over the last month or so I’ve rented Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler. Both were pretty good, but I didn’t love either of them. I didn't find either of them inspiring, and in a few months I will have forgotten much about them.

The best movie I’ve seen in a long time was one that has been buried on my movie list for several years. It’s a German film entitled “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days.” I’ve been thinking about it over and over again since I saw it a few days ago. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say that it’s a very simple movie (not action packed at all). It is inherently Christian without being preachy, and it is deeply moving. I want to write a bunch more, but I hate spoiling movies. Two thumbs way up!

American Idol

I try to keep politics out of the pulpit and for the most part out of my blog, but tonight I just can't resist. I came home from the church this evening and flipped on the old "boob-tube," and there was President Obama answering questions at a prime time news conference. The caption at the bottom of the screen read "First 100 days," and I thought is this his 100th day in office or the 100th time he's holding a prime time press conference? I mean, he's on the TV more than Ryan Seacrest, but I'm sure he doesn't have much else to do being the leader of the free world and all.

So, I looked it up and figured that this is his 4th prime time speech since taking office (3 press conferences and the state of the union address). Assuming this rate continues and that he wins re-election in 2012, we only have 113 more prime time President Obama specials to go!

Rational Faith

You’ll have to excuse my failure to post over the past month. It’s been busy with Holy Week, Easter, and family visiting. I’m also realizing how much less time I’ve had this year compared to last year, before Jovi was born. That darn kid sucks up much of our free time.

Anyway, I still have found time to read (perhaps this is because I’m a pastor and really only work one day a week….haha), and one of the best books I’ve read in a long time is Timothy Keller’s “The Reason for God.” If you are a person who questions whether or not Christianity is true or if you deal with people who are skeptical of Christianity, I highly recommend this book.

Keller is a pastor in New York City, and his book was written from the perspective of the many conversations he has had with skeptical New Yorkers about faith. While Keller’s primary role is as pastor, he is extremely well versed in philosophy. What is great about his book is not the originality of his ideas and arguments. I’ve come across all of his arguments in other books of philosophy or theology. But, what is great is how logical and accessible his book is. He covers the most common arguments that skeptics use to attack the Christian faith, and responds to those arguments with great precision and clarity. He brings together some of the best arguments Christian thinkers have to offer (the book is well documented, repeatedly quoting C.S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, Soren Kierkegaard, and a wide variety of authors from across the spectrum), and he does it in a way that I think most serious-minded laypeople could understand. This is an excellent introduction to apologetics and would be the first book off my shelf that I would give to skeptic of the Christian faith.

Bustin' a Move

Home Alone

Jill went off to a women’s retreat this weekend, leaving Jovi and I to fend for ourselves at home for three days. Surprisingly it has gone really well. Jovi’s been a good girl for me. But, we are looking forward to having Jill back later this afternoon.

Here’s a quick video to show the latest of Jovi in action. And I know what you’re wondering, are those Tristan’s famous chicken legs in the video? Yep, that’s them. I wanted to have my producer photo-shop me some big bulging calf muscles, but due to budget cuts at our production studio, we had to stick with the raw footage.

Death of an Icon

For most of my life I have had my eyes fixed on the future. I always seem to be planning for what is to come, worrying about what might go wrong, and preparing myself for the joys and sorrows that lay ahead of me. If you were to ask me what I have going on next week, I could tell you my schedule in great detail. If you ask me what I did last week, it would take me five minutes to pull that information from my memory banks, that is, if I could remember at all. The very title of this blog speaks to the way I approach reality – driven by the future, quickly forgetting the past.

With that said, I’ve been reflecting about the past more this year than I ever have before. Perhaps it is because I am now a father. Perhaps it is because I’ve entered my 30’s. Perhaps it is because I serve a congregation with a large number of elderly folks and have had to minister to people facing disease, death, and the end of their lives. Whatever the reason, I’ve been thinking a little less about what is to come and a little more about what has been left behind. This was especially true when I heard this weekend that radio legend Paul Harvey died on Saturday.

There are few things that remind me of my childhood more than the voice of Paul Harvey being broadcast over the air waves. My father’s father died when I was only five years old. I don’t remember much about him, but one of my distinct memories from childhood was visiting my grandmother and him in their house in Carrollton, Ohio, drinking sassafras tea, eating cinnamon toast, and hearing Paul Harvey on the radio. On the days that I would follow my dad to work as a kid, we would eat our sack lunches at noon sitting on a couple of five gallon buckets while listening to Paul Harvey report the news on my dad’s little AM radio. My last year of college, I had a class that dismissed at 11:45, and I would listen to Paul Harvey everyday as I drove back to my apartment for lunch. Throughout all the phases of my life, I have memories of hearing Paul Harvey on the radio.

In our world with rapid changes in culture, technology, and worldviews, Paul Harvey was an icon who seemed to transcend many of the boundaries of age and opinions. I imagine that if my grandfather was alive today we probably wouldn’t share a similar taste in music or fashion. I don’t really like Lawrence Welk, and I doubt that he would be a big fan of U2 or Pearl Jam. I’m sure he would be a lot better at working on cars, but I would be more skilled in working with computers. He would know a lot about the political issues that affected his life during the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. I would speak to the issues that are currently shaping our world in impacting my family. My grandfather and I would be divided in so many areas because of time and trends. There are so few things that link my generation to his generation. When Paul Harvey died this past weekend, I feel as if we lost one of those few links.

I’m not sure what this world is going to be like when Jesus comes back to fully establish his kingdom. I’m not sure if there will be radio when the dead in Christ are resurrected and Christ makes all things new. But, if there is radio, I hope Paul Harvey gets some airtime. And I hope my grandfather and I have a chance to once again sip on some sassafras tea, eat some cinnamon toast, and listen to the news from a radio legend.