Six Reasons Pastors Should Blog

Good advice–I think–from Abraham Piper.

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God is Sanctifying Michigan

Right now God is washing away the piled up and dirty remnants of winter with our first spring thunderstorm.

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Quote of the Day

Jonathan Edwards…

“For he offered a sacrifice, that was sufficient to do away all the guilt of the world.  Though the guilt of man was like great mountains, whose heads are lifted up to the heavens; yet his dying love, and his merits, appeared as a mighty deluge that overflowed the highest mountains, or like a boundless ocean that swallows them up; or like an immense fountain of light, that with the fullness and redundance of its brightness, swallows up men’s greatest sins, as little motes are swallowed up and hidden in the disk of the sun.”

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Humor and Talent are Gifts from God

I’m wishing I had learned about Victor Borge earlier than last year.

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Um…Where Can I Get One?

And, um….what is it? I don’t know if he’s serious, but he sure seems sincere.

I love how he inserts that, “Now basically…” like he’s trying to tame the description down.

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Yeah, It’s Like That?

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Ross is on the Mend

Surgery was Wednesday, March 26. It was done outpatient!

Nine pins. Two plates. One very happy surgeon.

Ross with his roving pain-control pack (3/28).

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Quote of the Day

J.I. Packer, explaining why the Puritans insisted on inserting so many Uses (or Applications) into every sermon and strung every precept out to be reworked from so many angles.  Their insistence on doing so is aggravating to the modern readers who only like to lick the fat off the theory instead of enjoying the rich and satisfying meat.  Also, this summarizing mantra of the 17th century (and earlier) educational theory:

“Application brings understanding.”

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Quote of the Day

General George Patton…

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

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How Careful is Your Eye?

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Interesting Tidbit

Recap:  My 15 yr. old brother broke his left elbow at church on Wednesday night by falling hard in the gym during a basketball game.

History:  In 1992 as a 15 year old I broke my left elbow at school by falling hard in the hallway during a recess soccer game…approximately 15 paces away from where Ross would fall 15 1/2 years later.  And then it gets creepy, he and I have the same first and last initials.  Mindblowing!

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A Good Reason to Mosey South Tomorrow Morning

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1059 AM EDT THU MAR 20 2008

…SNOWFALL POTENTIAL FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT…

. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT IS MOVING ONTO THE HIGH PLAINS TODAY WILL
MOVE EAST ACROSS THE LOWER GREAT LAKES FRIDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY
SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW TO MUCH OF SOUTHERN LOWER
MICHIGAN WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS FAR
SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF SIX INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE ALONG THE INTERSTATE 94 CORRIDOR STARTING FRIDAY MORNING
NEAR SOUTH HAVEN AND AROUND NOON IN JACKSON AND CONTINUING THROUGH
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.

Actually…no.  I’ve been saying my goodbyes to the snow…even the really dirty piles of snowplowed snow that lie emaciated on the wayside.  I will miss real winter.  Maybe it will follow us!

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Update

Ross’ orthopedic surgeon considers this a complicated break.  The pictures in the previous post were enough to convince me.  The bone is broken near and on the joint.  He has asked an elbow specialist to take the case, and he will.  This will make the likelihood of needing to purposefully break another bone during surgery (in order to get better access to the joint) less likely though still possible.

It’s all terribly interesting.  If Josh would take a break in Balad from sewing up soldiers and soccer kids and stop confusing arteries for veins, maybe he could handdraw us all an animated explanation documenting the procedure.  Please use fisted crayons, Josh, so we dullards can better know it.  (Thank you for your service, Doc.  =).  [Also, a nota bene to you in front of the rest of my readers:  Josh, whether or not you remember, you are the one who introduced me to classical education.  You insistently put into my hands the Sayers essay that Henson made you read.  I read it, thought it was interesting, noted it had nothing to do with me and filed it during our senior year.  I did that process two more times in the next three years until it struck me that I could do something about it...maybe.  And hence, but with help from others, Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy--one of a kind--is in the works.  Thank you.  You're good for more than war wound stories and as a mobile multi-syllabic-medical dictionary.  My worldview is significantly improved because of that long ago gift.  Thank you.]

The surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday at 11:15a.  This works well into my schedule, as my family and I are going to go do a bit of house-hunting in Nashville over this long weekend and then driving back on Wed.

Thanks for your help in prayer.

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A Not So Humorous Humerus Break

Tonight just before 6p, my brother Ross fell and broke his left arm while playing basketball at church. He was to the hospital within 30 minutes, and I was there before 7p. It’s two pretty severe breaks and a dislocation so tonight they set the bone back in place so it didn’t cause any trouble before surgery, which may be tomorrow afternoon.

The two drugs they gave him for the set/relocation combined with the morphine made him Loopy Level 17. I’ve never seen anything like it. Afterwards, while heavily under the influence, he gave me permission to record him, so I took more than 20 minutes of video of him coming back into consciousness. It was something else. I have no rights to the video, and he will show it to you if he wants, and I would doubt he will…I wouldn’t, at least not much of it.

It took him a very long time to get straight enough that they would let him leave the ER. He got into to his room in pediatrics by 1:15a, and I left him alone there about 45 minutes ago at 1:30, still pretty nauseous (him not me). If you read this on Thursday, please pray for him. He will likely be getting a plate and some pins in tomorrow/today.

Here are some pictures. They might make you woozy, too, so I put them in the full post. You can see them if you hit the Continue button below.

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Boys Wanted

Boy Wanted
Frank Crane

This “want ad” appeared in the early part of this century:

Wanted — A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight;

A boy whose fingernails are not in mourning, whose ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are well cared for;

A boy who listens carefully when he is spoken to, who asks questions when he does not understand, and does not ask questions about things that are none of his business;

A boy that moves quickly and makes as little noise about it as possible;

A boy who whistles in the street, but does not whistle where he ought to keep still;

A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody, and never sulks;

A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every woman and girl;

A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to learn how;

A boy who is more eager to know how to speak good English than to talk slang;

A boy that never bullies other boys nor allows other boys to bully him;

A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, “I don’t know,” and when he has made a mistake says, “I’m sorry,” and when he is asked to do a thing says, “I’ll try”;

A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth every time;

A boy who is eager to read good books;

A boy who would rather put in his spare time at the YMCA gymnasium than to gamble for pennies in a back room;

A boy who does not want to be “smart” nor in any wise to attract attention;

A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from school than to tell a lie or be a cad;

A boy whom other boys like;

A boy who is at ease in the company of girls;

A boy who is not sorry for himself, and not forever thinking and talking about himself;

A boy who is friendly with his mother, and more intimate with her than anyone else;

A boy who makes you feel good when he is around;

A boy who is not goody-goody, a prig, or a little pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life.

This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him, the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys want him, the girls want him, all creation wants him.

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Remembering to Remember History

Here is a video from Maranatha’s Conference on Biblical Fundamentalism. There are some good points made in introductory remarks by Dave Burggraff…

• We have lost an appreciation for the dead guys.
• We can easily lose all sense of heritage in three generations.
• We do not have a great historical self-consciousness.

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Free Book

Missionary Aviation Fellowship is offering a completely free copy of their book Jungle Pilot, the story of Nate Saint. You can request your copy here.

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I Hope You Love Spurgeon

This is a wonderful devotional Spurgeon wrote…

“Search the Scriptures.” John 5:39

The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires searching—much of it can only be learned by careful study. There is milk for babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say that a mountain of matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of Scripture. Tertullian exclaims, “I adore the fulness of the Scriptures.” No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid treasure. The door of the word only opens to the key of diligence. The Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur—who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises them despises the God who wrote them. God forbid that any of us should leave our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account. The word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn—we have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with splendour of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No merchandise is like the merchandise of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: “They are they which testify of me.” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.

Evening. June 9.

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Quote of the Day

Abraham Piper…

“Everyone always thinks they’re right. The moment we discover we’re wrong, we’ve already changed our mind, and we think we’re right again.”

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In Cool vs Cool, Cool Always Wins

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Celebrating Drew

“Trust ye in the Lord forever for in the LORD Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

This is an email I sent on March 10, 2007:

 

From: RyBoom4@aol.com
To: RyBoom4@aol.com
Sent: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 7:12 PM
Subject: prayer request

Please pray for my sister Dana. She is in her 28th week of pregnancy and after a difficult night last night, she went to the hospital this morning.

After bloodwork, they discovered that she likely has a severe preeclempsia (toxemia). She was transferred by ambulance to Lacrosse, WI to a more specialized facility. Dana’s platelet count is supposed to be 100,000, and this morning it was 27,000 and then recently down to 12,000. She is undergoing a transfusion currently. Some decisions are going to be made in the coming hours, but Dana feels the doctors are leaning toward delivering the baby.

Thank you for praying. Please pray for safety for Dana and the baby… 1) that God would preserve life and health for Dana and the baby, 2) that God would give strength to Dana and the baby, 3) that God would strengthen and encourage Andrew, and that 4) the doctors would be full of wisdom and skill.

Chrissy and I are going to be driving to WI tonight.

Details to follow as available.

 

On March 14, 2007, after a great number of tears and urgent happenings, I sent my 11th update to friends and family that read:

 

God has seen fit to bring forth Andrew Joseph Blondo into the world in His time, and His time was yesterday afternoon.

Dana delivered Drew under general anesthetic via C-section at 12:33 p.m. CST yesterday.

Drew was born at 2 lbs. 4 oz. and was 13.78″ long. He is breathing normally under his own lung power. The doctors have not expressed concern about any of his functions. He cries, kicks and relieves himself normally.

Dana is taking some morphine. She is also still on magnesium sulfate, which blurs her vision and causes her much weakness and grogginess. Her platelets are still low and her blood pressure is high, and the doctors are discussing different options, including the possibility of a platelet transfusion. As of noon today, Dana has still not seen the baby (she may not be near him while she is on the magnesium for her blood pressure, and she is still not very mobile.) She will still be a patient here for at least 4-5 days.

Thank you for your continued help in prayer.

 

And Drew’s little pilgrimage began. He spent eight weeks in ICU and finally went home on May 13th weighing 5 1/2 lbs. In his journal, “Drew” recorded on May 15th,

 

“Home is definitely the funnest place to be. Mommy is with me all day long and daddy would be too if he didn’t have to go work at our church. They both love holding me all the time! I LOVE BEING HOME!”

 

Thank you for your interest and your prayers of thanksgiving and of continued strength. Here are some pictures below of Drew then and now (last weekend). He currently weighs 20 lbs. Drew’s life is a gift from God alone. God has the power to give and take and keep.

Send Drew a note for his birthday on Friday: adblondo@yahoo.com

 

The first time I met Drew.

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Get Blown Away, Guys

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Four Masters

I have no idea why I haven’t posted this earlier, but here are four geniuses working together: Ma, McFerrin, Meyer and O’Conner.

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Bridal Shower

Danielle and Eddy are home this weekend from BJ for Dani’s wedding shower.

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Cool New Slow Motion Camera

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Easy PDF

Wish you could easily convert files to PDF without the cost of Adobe Acrobat? doPDF is a free and very simple program that downloads very painlessly. After installation, it’s a simple conversion. While viewing the file or spreadsheet you wish to convert, you click “print”, choose the “doPDF” option from the list of printers and then hit print. The file will save as ad PDF to the same folder as the original.

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Quote of the Day

Paul Harvey…

“I’ve never seen a monument erected to a pessimist.”

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John Adams is Coming

I don’t have HBO, but I’m sure the DVD will be out shortly after is shows. Last month I listened to McCullough’s biography of Adams. Here is the trailer for the upcoming mini-series.

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What a Pilot!

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Quote of the Day

John Ruskin…

“The entire object of true education is to make people not merely to do the right things, but to enjoy them; not merely industrious, but to love industry; not merely learned, but to love knowledge; not merely pure, but to love purity; not merely just, but to hunger and thirst after justice.”

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