Discovering Joy

Pictures of the Day:
They let us leave work at 4:00 today because of the steady snow that had started much earlier, probably by noon. That was good, because I needed to get home, pick up Evelyn, and then get back to pick up Dave and Mary Lautzenheiser, our traditional Valentine's Day dinner partners. (Is this the third or fourth time we've celebrated Valentine's Day with them?) The snow was coming down steadily, but most of the roads were still clear as I made my way home late this afternoon. The trees, bearing a coating from the heavy, wet snow, were more beautiful than I could capture with my iPhone.

The snow continued throughout our trip to pick up Dave and Mary and throughout our dinner at

Mimi's. Service was slow, and our conversations were rich, and we lingered at our table for almost two hours. The trip home was a bit more challenging. Some of the roads were covered, as if they had never been touched. But we got home without incident, in time to put our things together for our trip to Indy tomorrow, with time left over to watch some Olympics before going to bed.

Quotes of the Day:
The American church often shares the surrounding culture's obsession with glory and power. One of the reasons our ministries are so ineffective is because we don't make room for God's power, since we are so enamored with our own. We don't make room for weakness—everything in our churches has to be dynamic and excellent. So we schedule things by the minute, rehearse our transitions and prayers, seek out the next killer series or curriculum or program. And all the while Jesus has moved on to people who have nothing other than him.

The American Dream is to live in our strength; God's dream is that we live in our weakness. 
—Mike Erre, "The Way of Weakness" at leadershipjournal.net


Along with hearts and flowers this Valentine’s Day, successful Christian marriages will celebrate the self-sacrifice and kind deeds that may express love better than any greeting card. And so they can realize what my preacher encouraged and our Lord taught: The way to discover joy for yourself is to provide it for someone else.
—"Real Love, Real Joy," the column I wrote a year ago for christianstandard.com

Thunder and Thoughts--Some Sweet and Some Not

So here's the thing: deciding on a list of under-40 leaders who will help shape the face of our movement in the next decade is a lot harder than it sounds.
There are a BUNCH of dynamic leaders under 40 years old in our fellowship. But which of them is influencing beyond their own situation or location? And how do you really evaluate that--in a way that will seem fair to those who see this report (and in a way that will seem fair to those NOT chosen)? I spent quite a bit of today chewing on that. I hope to come to some closure with this by the first of the week.

The day began very well, with a good discussion of the Seven Churches of Revelation with my Thursday-morning men's Bible-study group. My friend Milt Pippenger recommended to me a wonderful book he has used as background when he taught the book of Revelation. Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination is by Eugene Peterson, the paraphraser who produced The Message. I read through his chapter on the Seven Churches yesterday and chose a couple of spots in it to read to the guys during our discussion this morning.
The book is full of application, with just the right amount of Bible background and explanation to show why the application works. I'm looking forward to reading it as we proceed through the whole book.
Today's Valentine's Day. I had an e-mail today from a lady who was writing to me and several men about something else.  "It's not too late to get your wives roses for Valentine's Day," she said as she ended her note.
"I already ordered tulips for my wife for Valentine's Day," I answered, "because I know she loves 'em."
And she did!
Evelyn and I worked at the Healing Center tonight, but we're going to try for a nice dinner out tomorrow evening. We exchanged cards today, though; we each chose one sentimental and one semi-outrageous.  (The pictured card is not the outrageous one!)

Love and Laughter

We've established a tradition! This is the third Valentine's Day in a row we've had dinner with our friends Dave and Mary Lautzenheiser. We arrived before Mimi's was full and stayed and talked after most of the crowd had left. I hope we can do this again next Valentine's Day!

Party Time!

I'm posting this just a few minutes before our guests arrive for the Valentine's Day dinner Evelyn and I are hosting. Three couples will join us for pork roast, asparagus, Kirsten's yummy potatoes, and a new lettuce salad dressing Evelyn found. Spiced apple juice and bruschetta will be the appetizer, and sundaes with peaches and raspberries and shaved chocolate will be dessert. It's going to be yummy!

The table is set with four miniature roses as the centerpiece. They will each go to one of our guests as our gift.

We Skyped with our "adopted daughter" Wendy Wagoner this morning. It was afternoon where she is attending language school in Tanzania. I could write posts and posts about Wendy, but suffice it to say she is recuperating from malaria, and it was so good to see and hear her back to her perky self this morning!