a very kiwi christmas

go sophia! go! go!

i'll be back... really i will

My apologies for the blog silence over the past two weeks. I've had several things I've meant to post about and a video or two to put up but in the busyness of life I just haven't. The end of the year is turning out to be a bit hectic.

Anyway, there'll be some more posts coming soon. Until then consider this little gem I cam across while preparing to teach class tonight.

"An 'open mind' can be an 'empty head,' and 'tolerance' can be indistinguishable from believing nothing." - Os Guinness

week 52

Wow!!! It's hard to believe that Sophia was born a year ago today! It has been a crazy, exciting, hard, and good year. Our daughter is amazing and we are so thankful for her.

This week concludes my 52 week project. Obviously this doesn't mean that I'm never going to put pictures of Sophia up again but they my not be as regular as they have been. If you're not finding enough pics of Sophia here remember to check Brooke's blog as well to see if she has some up.

These first two photos are from some playtime in the park earlier this week.

Sophia needed to check a few emails before her birthday party today.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Her mum made her a special birthday girl hat.

Sophia was a bit indifferent when she first saw the cake...

... but she eventually decided it was pretty good.

Call me biased, but I still think she's incredibly adorable.

And

Introducing

Week 10!!!

ex libris

"One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol [counterfeit god] is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic. We do not say, 'What a shame, how difficult,' but rather 'This is the end! There is no hope!'

"This may be a reason why so many people now respond to U.S. political trends in such an extreme way. When either party wins an election, a certain percentage of the losing side talks openly about leaving the country. They become agitated and fearful for the future. They have put the kind of hope in their political leaders and policies that once was reserved for God and the work of the gospel. When their political leaders are out of power, they experience a death. They believe that if their policies and people are not in power, everything will fall apart. They refuse to admit how much agreement they actually have with the other party, and instead focus on the points of disagreement. The points of contention overshadow everything else, and a poisonous environment is created.

"Another sign of idolatry in our politics is that opponents are not considered to be simply mistaken, but to be evil. After the last presidential election, my eighty-four-year-old mother observed, 'It used to be that whoever was elected as your president, even if he wasn't the one you voted for, he was still your president. That doesn't seem to be the case any longer.' After each election, there is now a significant number of people who see the incoming president lacking moral legitimacy. The increasing political polarization and bitterness we see in U.S. politics today is a sign that we have made political activism into a form of religion."

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, 98-100.

week 51

Sophia has been developing her tastes and preferences. Even though we don't let her watch TV she's already making a list of what to watch when she's old enough.

She's a big fan of various kinds of cheese and crackers.

Her favourite flavour is still "green pacifier" though.

And her choice in theologians is off to a great start.

brisbane

Sunday I flew into Brisbane, Australia to attend a church planting conference with several other folks from our denomination.

The first day of the conference went well. Nothing really new content wise, but some very encouraging reminders as well as some confirmation regarding a few decisions I've made and need to make. The best part has just been meeting and talking with guys who are in the same position as me and, more importantly, guys who are veteran church planters. Some challenging, humbling, and encouraging conversations.

On the negative side, this is my first time to Australia and I haven't really seen much more than the airport and the inside of a few buildings. Nor will I have any time to see more than that before I head directly from the conference back to the airport to fly home tomorrow. I'm looking forward to heading back to Auckland though, it's way too hot and muggy for me here.