Like Mike

I'm trying to work on getting some good video of Emily doing something - anything really. Whenever I film though, she just wants to come and grab the shiny silver camera. As you can see, when she's concentrating really, really hard, her tongue sticks out - just like MJ.

Cable TV

Today Lacey and I finally decided to get cable TV - at least I think that's what we've decided. Currently, the one channel we pick up well is Cornerstone - a Christian channel. It is such an awful channel. Although there are a handful of decent programs, most are nowhere close to reflecting Biblical truth. Lacey saw a woman prophesying to someone on one show - the prophesying woman told this man that he was like the Indiana Jones of the spiritual world. She then compared another woman to a character in a Jodie Foster movie. Apparently the more movies you see the better able you are to prophesy.

Anyway, we decided the Christian channel is harmful to our faith. We don't want our daughter growing up on that stuff.

OK, maybe that's not the real reason - but we did decide to get cable. And no thorough scientific study which suggests that television raises the risk of bad eyesight, obesity, premature puberty and autism (among other things) is going to stop us.

Way Left

Here's another Garber/Amburgey vacation video. This was for Chris's wedding - golfing in San Diego. Glynn hits it left - way left. Notice where the green is as opposed to where he is looking. And, of course, he reaches for another ball.

I'll work on some Emily videos for the grandparents. Emily doesn't realize it, but she's starting to stand unsupported.

Bobblehead Parents

I'm experimenting - going through some old files trying to figure out how to post video. Alex sent me this one - brings back some great family memories of Nashville.

Theological Worldview?

After taking the theological worldview quiz I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I'm 82% Reformed Evangelical. I guess that's pretty good since I am a Reformed Evangelical pastor. Some of the quiz questions aren't the best. The quiz is both interesting and unhelpful all at once. A good waste of time if nothing else.

You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.

Reformed Evangelical		82%
Neo orthodox		71%
Fundamentalist		68%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		68%
Emergent/Postmodern		43%
Roman Catholic		36%
Classical Liberal		29%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		18%
Modern Liberal		7%

December Pics

Here's a few pics of our beloved daughter taken around Christmas time. Better late than never. Her name is Emily Ruth, but she has a lot of nicknames. Ru, Ems, Emmy, Spunky, Spunkers, Daughter, etc.

Statistically Indistinguishable Christians

As usual, one of Barna's latest surveys indicates that born again Christians are not much different in their behavior than the rest of Americans. That is in almost every area but music piracy. Only 2% of Christians pirate music. At least we've got that going for us.

The Role of Faith

Faith commitments sometimes play a role in what people do - but less often than might be assumed. In comparing the lifestyle choices of born again Christians to the national norms, there were more areas of similarity than distinction. (Note that in Barna surveys, the born again segment is not based upon whether a person uses that label, but based upon their profession of faith in Christ and confession of personal sin.) Born again Christians are more likely to volunteer for their church; however, they are no more likely than average to help the poor and homeless. Born again Christians were also among the least likely groups to recycle.

In evaluating 15 moral behaviors, born again Christians are statistically indistinguishable from non-born again adults on most of the behaviors studied. They are less likely to view sexually explicit movies and magazines, to use profanity in public, and to buy a lottery ticket. However, even in these cases, the gap between born agains and the norm is not wide - roughly one-third of the non-born again audience say they had engaged in the three activities compared to one-quarter of born again Christians.

The fourth area of difference is the lower rate of music piracy among born again Christians (2% versus 9% among non-born agains).

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was truly a wonderful place. I wish we had more time to do some hiking. Although it was January, the weather was quite nice. Wondering where to go on your next vacations? Tell your family you'd like to take them to one of the finest examples of arid-land erosion in the world.

The national park website describes the Canyon in the following:

Well known for its geologic significance, the Grand Canyon is one of the most studied geologic landscapes in the world. It offers an excellent record of three of the four eras of geological time, a rich and diverse fossil record, a vast array of geologic features and rock types, and numerous caves containing extensive and significant geological, paleontological, archeological and biological resources. It is considered one of the finest examples of arid-land erosion in the world. The Canyon, incised by the Colorado River, is immense, averaging 4,000 feet deep for its entire 277 miles. It is 6,000 feet deep at its deepest point and 15 miles at its widest.

National Parks

Since 2003 we've been trying to see as many of our national parks as possible. Many of the places are quite spectacular. Just this January we were able to see the Grand Canyon... it's pretty big. Our two favorite parks so far are the Grand Tetons and Glacier. I can't imagine a more spectacular drive than the "Going to the Sun" Road that runs through Glacier. It's really one of those things you ought to do sometime in your life.