I know, this is totally shameless. But I thought of two more Christmas gift ideas for those who are interested.
Now that my office at church will be on the other side of the building, I could use this for my XM Radio.
And I’d love some of this, too.
I know, I’m a dork.
I’m working on a project for one of my grad classes and it’s been taking up quite a bit of my time lately. It’s the project I’ve been the most excited about thus far in my graduate schooling. I suppose that’s because I got to choose the direction of the project. I’m researching the uniqueness of communicating the Gospel in our postmodern culture. Over the past few days, I’ve been immersing myself in some great material for my research. For this project I have read (or will read):
A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren
Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt
The Millenium Matrix by Rex Miller
Preaching by Fred Craddock
Experiential StoryTelling by Mark Miller
Preaching to Postmoderns by Robert Kysar and Joseph Webb
Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones
Preaching to a Postmodern World by Graham Johnston
Simply Christian by N.T. Wright
Ancient Future Faith by Robert Webber
The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
The Witness of Preaching by Thomas C. Long
There are a few other books I’m leafing through for this project, but I’ll primarily be drawing from these texts. Any of you read any of these books? Needless to say, I still have quite a bit of reading to do. But I’m loving every second of it.
In addition, the week is shaping up to be a taxing one at church. Two of our members passed away yesterday and both funerals are scheduled for Wednesday. I’ve had the privilege of joining Gary as he’s stood beside these families in their pain. It’s truly a blessing to watch and learn as he ministers so naturally and powerfully. I pray for these families as they grieve. May Wednesday be a day of sweet remembrances.
In the midst of it all, I’m still a husband and father. Tonight as I was tucking Joshua in bed, he looked up at me and said, unsolicited, “I love you, Daddy.” If that weren’t enough, as I was rocking Abby Kate, she lifted her head off my shoulder and gave me the sweetest kiss. Sometimes I don’t understand why I’m so blessed. God is so good. Have a great week.
It’s exciting to hear Abby Kate and Joshua talk about the baby. Every night, we’ll say our prayers and pray for Mommy’s baby. We pray that God will make baby strong and that Mommy and baby will both be healthy. (We’ve asked the kids if they want a little brother or a little sister. Of course, Abby Kate wants a little girl and Joshua thinks it’s a boy.) After our prayer, we’ll give hugs and kisses to everybody. The kids love to “kiss the baby” by coming up and kissing Sunny’s belly.
The other night, we were all laying in bed watching a little TV. Joshua was being cuddly with Sunny and he said, “I kiss Mommy’s baby!” He leaned over and kissed Sunny’s belly, as he always does. But then he crawled over to me, looked me square in the eye and said, “I kiss Daddy’s baby!” after which he planted a wet one right on my gut.
Guess that’s what I get for overdoing it on Thanksgiving. Son, at least Mommy has an excuse for her enlarged belly.
This is absolutely awesome. I love anything claymation. Go Cards!
Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16
In these days, we honor the creative work of Jesus in our lives. We shared with our families over Thanksgiving our wonderful news: we’re expecting another little Bybee baby in 2007! We found out we were expecting about a month ago and it’s been so difficult keeping the news to ourselves for so long! But we wanted to share this news with our families first and we felt that Thanksgiving was the perfect time. Now we share this news with all our friends. We solicit your prayers over these next few months. And we thank God for the wonderful gift of life He’s blessed us with. Praise God, the Creator of life!
Jason & Sunny
I’ve kind of hit a blogging lull here lately. I guess I just don’t have a lot to say right now. Working hard on finishing up this semester’s grad work. By semester’s end, I will have taken 24 hours worth of grad classes in 2006 alone. Only another year and a half and I’ll be done with my Master’s degree. Whoo-hoo!
In light of my blogging drought, I thought I’d come up with my Christmas wish list. Actually, I had a hard time coming up with anything. I had such a great birthday a few weeks back…asking for anything more almost seems gluttonous. But, here are a few things I’ve come up with:
10. Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss. I’m a sucker for any baseball related book and Clemente is one of my all-time favorite players. A great player, an even greater man. I’d also like a copy of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth by Leigh Montville. I do love me some baseball books.
9. SteakOut gift cards are always welcome. I’m not one of those guys who hates getting gift cards. Seriously. I love them.
8. Another suit – Until last year, I didn’t own a single suit. Since then, I’ve accumulated a couple, but I could really use another one. I’m not looking for an Armani or anything, just another one I can wear when I preach.
7. A major free agent move by the Cardinals – I know we won it all last year, but our division rivals have been throwing money around like crazy. Soriano for 136 mill to the Cubs? Carlos Lee for 100 mill to the Astros? We need to make a major acquisition just to return serve. Kip Wells? He’s nice fodder for the back of the rotation, but we need Jason Schmidt. We need Barry Zito. I don’t care which one. Just get another ace to slot in behind Carp, Walt. Please.
6. As far as DVDs go, the only one I really want is Pirates of the Caribbean II. A great popcorn flick.
5. A copy of Ron Shandler’s 2007 Baseball Forecaster. Essential reading for the winter doldrums.
4. iTunes Gift Cards – I struggle to find a complete album I want these days. I’m much more content to get an iTunes card and spread my picks among multiple artists.
3. TiVo or a comparable DVR system. I’m ready to take the plunge.
2. Anything from here. Especially this.
1. Tix to the Cards 2007 home opener, Sunday night, April 1 at Busch Stadium against the Mets. I want to be there as the Cards begin their title defense.
There you have it, folks. Feel free to let me know what’s on your list.
…check out my buddy Mike over at Ocular Fusion. He writes concerning the funerals of Nicole Ford, Tanesha Hill, Christine Collier and Crystalle McCrary, the Lee High students who passed away as a result of last week’s horrific bus wreck. Note Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer’s reaction to those who are choosing to protest at the funerals:
Protesters from “that church” are in Huntsville and are picketing the funerals. The Huntsville Times’ response to their presence was a mere mention in the Nicole Ford story. Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer confined the protesters to a small, cordoned-off space 100 yards away from the funerals. She then proceeded to park city buses in front of the self-appointed prophets so that those arriving at the funerals couldn’t see them. Across the street, anti-protesters held up signs reading, “God is love,” “Judge not and ye shall not be judged,” and “Let them grieve in peace.”
I like Loretta’s style. I heart Huntsville.
Well said, Mike. I heart Loretta and our fair town.
The MLB Hall of Fame ballot has been announced for 2007. A couple of slam dunks in Gwynn and Ripken, Jr. The name that jumps off the ballot is McGwire. Whadd’ya think, does he have a shot? Remember, the steroid allegations against him never been validated. All we have is hearsay and his general evasiveness in front of that congressional committee a year or two ago. But I don’t think it matters much. In the court of public opinion, he’s guilty and that’s all that matters. My opinion: McGwire doesn’t make it on this ballot, but possibly next year. If he doesn’t make it, here’s hoping this is the year that Jim Rice is finally enshrined.
In other news, is it really necessary to include Bobby Witt on the ballot? Please.
Our city is still reeling from yesterday’s horrible tragedy. 4 students have now passed away as a result of yesterday’s bus wreck. The bus driver and 14 students remain hospitalized at this hour. 4 of those students are listed in critical condition.
Our minister, Gary Bradley, pulled us in this morning to debrief us about his role in yesterday’s events. When Gary first heard the news, he immediately went down to the hospital. By the time he arrived, hospital officials were sending family members to the cafeteria. For the next few hours, Gary and many other ministers and counselors tried to bring comfort and reassurance to these frantic families. Gary even had the unenviable task of informing a family that their daughter had passed away. I’m thankful for people like Gary who are quick to act in times of crisis.
Events like this are difficult to process. There’s just no way to understand something so senseless. We pray for the families and friends of the deceased. We pray for those still in critical condition. May God bless them through these dark days.
And yet, I’m also reminded of God’s providence in all this. More students could’ve easily lost their lives yesterday. If you’ve seen the pictures of the bus, you know it could’ve been much, much worse. Thankfully, the paramedics and the police were on the scene moments after the crash. The hospital is only a few minutes from the accident site. Who knows what might’ve happened if this crash had occured in another part of the county? Praise God for these men and women who devote their lives to saving others. We are truly indebted to them.
Continue to pray for us here in Huntsville.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. — 2 Corinthians 1
already & not yet 