Experimentweeting

Check out the side bar. You'll see I've plummeted further into the world of social media. I was on Facebook previously for my previous employment and discontinued that. This seems more doable to me.

From the Unemployment Line to Entrepreneur?

Yesterday was my last day on staff at Holy Trinity Church. I was being laid off because of the financial stress the church has been undergoing. There were and are no hard feelings. As in any institution or company, there is no perfect culture. HTC has her organizational problems, but that doesn't change the fact I still love her and serve her regardless of my employment status. I've know this has been coming since March. I've had adequate time to prepare.

On a positive note, I am considering becoming self-employed. I've got a lot to plan as I don't want my wife to carry the load for that long. Lots in my head.... Stay tuned.

Unstoppable Salvation

At HTC, I have the privilege to preach every now and then. The last opportunity was over Labor Day weekend. More than highlight the sermon, I wanted to recognize my brother, friend and co-worker, Samuel Andres, for his creative design. This piece which he created for the Romans series artwork for the HTC website was unfortunately turned down by one of the decision makers. It is so abstract yet compelling, that I had to ask him for it. Thanks, Samuel!

Sermon- God's Unstoppable Work of Salvation

John Piper's Call to the Pastorate

As I'm facing job loss and praying about entrance into a pastorate, church planting and/or the EvFree denomination, I providentially stumbled upon this tribute to John Piper's call to the pastorate. God has used JP in a special and strong way in Gospel Christianity. I praise God for the influence and grace he has spoken into my life.

Here's an example of a talk that God used in my life from the good doctor.

HT: (predictably) Justin Taylor

Mesmerized by the "Princess"

We had the delight of attending the wedding of a co-worker. Gabrielle was mesmerized by the "princess" (the bride) the whole time. Of course, here she looks a bit underwhelmed at being with Papi. That's okay. I love getting in whatever pics I can with her.

Praying before Meals

Lately, I've been thinking about the whole praying before meals thing. I've never really given much thought about why we do other than we're supposed to be grateful to God for all that he gives us and tell him often. No scripture or biblical precent comes to mind as a defence for praying before the meal.

So, we have recently tried praying after a meal or segueing with it into our family worship time. Sometimes, we have thanked God for the food at our bedtime prayers.

Of note, I flipped through Frank Schaeffer's book, Crazy for God, passing the airport recently (I don't recommend; in some respects it seems like a type of dancing on his dad's grave). One of his "fondest" memories with his dad, Francis, is when they would take trips together and purposefully neglected a meal time prayer. I strongly recommend Edith Schaeffer's well-written tome of the history of their ministry, L'Abri.

Guarding the Good News

This is one of the major themes of the book of 2 Timothy which my church is currently preaching through right now. I had the opportunity to deliver the message on July 5th. Here's a link to the recording. The last 20 or so minutes of the recording shouldn't have been recorded. What matters is the first 30 minutes and even more the Word of God itself.