Chess boxing

I think the summer Olympics may have just found their own bi-athalon.

CHESS BOXING.



ht: challies

Looking for a new reason to protect marriage?

Two generations ago, a couple going through a tough time stayed married because they should.

A generation ago, a couple stayed married because of their kids.

Why will this generation stay married? Because "Divorce Is Bad for The Environment".

Career Opportunities

All that a young man can want in life is to be a contributing member of society.

To provide a service to people.

To prove himself useful as a provider.

To show himself to be a hard worker.

To leave this earth a little better than he found it.

I always thought that the only job I could ever do was to be a worship pastor.

However, that judgment may have been premature.

"First Place" gets reviewed

Reformed Worship Magazine graciously included "The First Place" in their column, songs of the season. While I appreciate the entire article, my personal favorite is the MIDI recording at the end.

"Cyberhymnal dot org, here I come!"

The First Place
“The First Place” is not in common currency in the praise and worship repertoire, but that may change with its recent appearance at John Piper’s Desiring God conference, “Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World.” The song is a brilliant recasting of Colossians 1:15-20, portraying Christ’s reign over heaven and earth and in our hearts.

After establishing the supremacy of Christ in the stanzas, the refrain bursts into the Kuyperian exclamation, “Every inch of this universe belongs to you, O Christ.” The refrain concludes with personal application “So you must have in all things the first place”—that is, if Christ’s supremacy is displayed throughout all creation, certainly he should also reign in our lives.

The music complements the text perfectly, with simple chords and a low-range melody in the verses that are answered by the expanded range and energy of the refrain. The song is best accompanied by a praise band, but can also effectively be led by just piano or guitar.

The song’s composer, Matthew Westerholm, is a graduate of Trinity International University. Westerholm has been on the worship ministry staff at Harvest Bible Chapel in the northwest suburbs of Chicago since 1998. He maintains a blog at http://retroevangelical.blogspot.com/.

Click to listen.

Harris and Warren converse on Atheism

There's a facinating article in Newsweek. It's a debate/conversation between Sam Harris (atheist) and Rick Warren (megachurch pastor).

Required [retro] reading.

Click there immediately.

News: Batman sighting puts schools on lockdown

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.- To an Arizona middle school, Batman! Three schools in the north Phoenix suburb of Cave Creek were on lockdown for about 45 minutes Wednesday morning after a student at Desert Arroyo Middle School reported seeing a person dressed as Batman run across campus, jump a fence and disappear into the desert, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said.

The student described the person as 6 feet 3 inches tall and possibly male.

"We're assuming it was male, although they did have a mask on," Clark said.

Officers combed the desert around the middle school. A nearby elementary school and high school also were on lockdown as officers sought the caped crusader.

The result—no Batman.

"It's just one of those interesting little stories that we looked into but we couldn't find anyone," Clark said.

Nedda Shafir, a spokeswoman for the Cave Creek Unified School District, said putting all the schools on lockdown was a precautionary measure.

"We didn't want to take any chances," Shafir said. "We just don't want to put anyone at risk."

First of all, if Batman has left Gotham, it's for a reason. I'm very disappointed in the A.P. news. Does the journalist even both trying to figure out what crime Batman might have just thwarted? No. They just report that he's been seen.

Anybody else seen? The Joker? The Penguin?

Hey, riddle me this, AP News, what is 6 foot 3 inches and possibly male?

"I'm Batman."

recent HBC articles

The Courier News wrote a very kind article about our church here. It's specifically about our Elgin Campus.

Also, the Daily Herald had this article on home churches (ht: JesusCreed), which quotes one of my favorite pastors on staff, Bing Hunter.