A Really Big Piano

This has nothing to do with church or God or even my life. I just thought it was cool.

A Walk in the Park

This morning we decided to take a little hike in Cullen Park before it got too hot. We wore our day packs, but there's nothing in them except some bottled water.

It's a nice walk with some wooded areas. Plenty of red shouldered hawks, crows, and song birds. The kids also saw a red fox.

It started to get a little hot as the morning wore on.

It isn't Rocky Mountain National Park, but hey, it's better than sitting inside all day.

Easter at Lifepath

Colter Jones took some pictures on Easter morning of what it was like at our 11:09 worship service. I know the lighting was a bit tricky. Thanks, Colter!

Don't these look like a friendly bunch of greeters?

As people begin to gather, they hit the coffee and donuts first.

Our little cafe was filled with folks socializing before the worship service started.

The room starts to fill.....

Here I am with a couple of our elders, David Crews and Stan Stevenson. We're wondering if we need more chairs.

Worship begins!

Our Director of Worship, Stan Armor, does a wonderful job. He's the one in the blue shirt. My wife, Allie, is in the dress with the blue and brown flowers.

We are thankful for Labay Middle School. They are so easy to work with and their cafeteria makes a great worship sanctuary.

One of the fun things I got to do that morning was announce the engagement of our Director of Student Ministry. Congratulations Nicholas and Lianne!

Me reading the Bible.

It's a bit hard to see but this is me praying with baby Cooper and his parents. It was Coop's first visit back to church after being in the hospital for a month. He is our very own resurrection story.

It's time to take down the chairs and put everything back the way we found it. I hope everyone had as blessed an Easter as we did.

Lifepath Helps Build a House

I love my church. Here are some of them participating in a Habitat for Humanity build out.

Benjamin Linus and Little Boy Blue

The fifth season of LOST is winding down. Michael Emerson plays Benjamin Linus, one of the creepiest guys ever to grace a television show. Thanks to Ashley, who sent me this.

What I Have Been Reading - And Confirmation that Pastors are Nerds

Does God predetermine who is saved? Are human beings free to choose or does God's will determine everything? This book presents five views on what is called the doctrine of election.

I read this book about a month ago and found it helpful but a bit narrow. Of the five theologians, two were Calvinists (of slightly different stripes), one was an Arminian, one a Universalist, and one an Open Theologian. I could have done without one of the Calvinists and the Universalist.

Instead, it would have been helpful to have an Eastern Orthodox and a Roman Catholic for some wider perspectives. Protestants tend to go round and round a few verses of Romans. They are also locked into supporting or rejecting the Augustine/Luther/Calvin protestant hegemony over this subject. There are vast areas of Christianity that don't take Augustine as the starting point on this discussion.

I need to read more Patristics.


So next I read this. Meh. Not quite what I was looking for, but it is a great intro to the first couple of centuries of Christian thinking.

And for those of you who believe that the Church fell into apostasy right after the New Testament was written until Martin Luther came along, well, no. Calvin, Luther, and the Reformers loved the Church Fathers and used them extensively in their theological battles against medieval Roman Catholicism.

The foundation of all Christian theology, inclucing Protestant theology, was laid by these guys.





I missed the whole Nicholas Sparks phenomenon so I picked this up. I loved the way he wove the story together, even if I kind of wanted to throw up a couple of times when the hero would start crying.

I wonder if it sets women up to have unrealistic expectations of men. Who can measure up to Noah? But I suppose it might inspire us men to try a bit harder.






Who knew there were so many nice hikes in the Houston area? Allie and I have already used this book and found it very helpful








Back to the theology. I'm very fond of N.T. Wright but I'm enjoying this critique of his doctrine of justification by John Piper.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" - Proverbs 17: 27













A book on church leadership that I keep starting and stopping. If I can get through it, it will probably have a big impact on me and the congregation.














This is sitting on my nightstand and I'm still thinking about it. It's a big commitment. But I love Goodbye to All of That by Graves and he and Lawrence were friends. Besides, they made a movie out of this, so it's got to be good, right?

Men, Women, and Proper Etiquette

I thought you would all like to see some of the material we've used in our Men's Bible Study as we've studied the difference between men and women. The men found it very helpful.