Well here it is, my first post from the new house. The move yesterday went very smoothly - it took three trips in a 14’ U-Haul with about eleven people helping (most of whom, strangely enough, were pastors). We were amazed with the amount of “stuff” we own, but I suppose there is nothing like seeing all of one’s possessions in boxes to understand just how blessed one is! Our friends were most gracious with their time, muscle-power and, occasionally, their bodies as they hefted heavy items up and down staircases and into the truck.

I am almost six years old now than I was the last time I moved, and it seems that there is a significant physical difference between the early-twenties and the almost-thirties. It was only willpower that allowed me to make it through the day yesterday, and only a dog barking desperately to be allowed out that convinced me to get up from my bed this morning. Even so, it tooks lots of hot water and massaging to get me to be able to stand upright. I’m old before my time!

I seem to have under-estimated my book collection and had to make a quick trip to Ikea to purchase another bookshelf. Even then I am not sure that my shelving will last beyond another year or two. I am greatly enjoying my new office and look forward to many long, product hours spent in here. There seems to be a disctinct lean to the floor on the wall I have setup my desk, so anything that is round in shape quickly rolls from the back to the front and lands on the floor. It is quite annoying, but I’m sure I will get used to it. I am exceedingly glad to have all my books back, as it has been several months since they have all been available to me. My books are among the best friends I’ve got (though they were more of a burden than a help when the call went out to my friends to help me move).

Anyways, there is no rest for the weary. I still have lots to do around here, and the family across the way is moving today and I’ll go and see if I can pitch in somehow. I’m a glutton for punishment. Have a blessed Sunday. I look forward to life getting back to normal tomorrow.

“I think the holiday is total crap,” says a newly married 27-year-old man from Greenwich, Connecticut. Leslie, 28, a single editor at Glamour magazine in New York agrees. “I really hate it. I think I always hated it, even when I had a boyfriend. I always felt that it was really hokey. I’m not a teddy bears and roses kind of person.” “It’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” says a 40-year-old married father of three from Nantucket. “There are a lot of things that run across your mind that you’d like to do, but with busy schedules, you don’t always have the time. But when you don’t do them, you feel guilty.”

A lot of people hate Valentine’s Day, as evidence from those snippets of an article published today at FoxNews. The man from Connecticut explains part of his disgust for the holiday. “All the responsibility for Valentine’s Day falls on the guy. If the guy and the girl both agree to do nothing, and the guy doesn’t come up with at least a flower and the girl doesn’t do anything, it doesn’t hold the same value. There’s no reciprocated holiday for the guy. Like how about a steak and porn night? Would that be so awful?” Little wonder that he requested to remain anonymous. He has vented to his wife about “one of those holidays exploited by the Hallmarks and De Beers” - but despite his best efforts he always gets sucked into the holiday. “Yeah, I rant to her, but I always wind up breaking down and getting her something. I’m a broken man. I don’t think I’ve ever done chocolates. I’ve done flowers and hotel rooms.” What does he get or hope to get from Valentine’s Day? “Nothing. Hopefully sex,” he said, laughing.

I don’t know that I like the chances of that marriage surviving for long. The selfishness of the man from Connecticut is startling. Shocking. He has made the day to be all about himself. He despises the day because he must give rather than receive.

But I can’t deny that I once felt much the same. I regarded Valentine’s Day as a corporate fabrication - a holiday created to bring relief to the late-winter retail blues. I thought it was a holiday created by Hallmark for the sole purpose of marketing and selling cards, gifts and chocolate. I did my duty as a husband, but did it with little passion and little motivation beyond doing what was expected of me. I don’t know that she was convinced.

But then I read my Bible.

What continues to surprise me about reactions towards Valentine’s Day, and the reactions of men in particular, is their hesitation to celebrate their wives. Valentine’s Day may be a fabricated holiday. There is nothing special about February 14 that dictates that we must lavish gifts and attention upon our wives. But when the opportunity presents itself, why would we hesitate?

If my Bible had a home page it would be somewhere in Proverbs. I love that book. I feel at home in that book. When I do not know what to read or when I have a few moments before church begins on Sunday, I turn to Proverbs. I try to spent a full month every year reading and studying Proverbs. I love and adore the book. That Solomon guy had some good things to say. What he said is as relevant to us today as it was to him three thousand years ago.

“Rejoice in the wife of your youth,” he said. “Be intoxicated always in her love.”

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.”

“House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

King Lemuel, another contributor to Proverbs describes the infamous Proverbs 31 woman. He begins by saying, “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.”

A wife is a precious gift. A wife makes her husband look better. A wife makes her husband act better. Her excellence, her prudence crowns a husband. She fulfills him. Completes him. Makes him what he is. Makes him more than he is.

But it is not easy to be a wife. It is not easy to be a mother. It is especially difficult to be a stay-at-home mother as my wife is (and wants to be). Dorothy Patterson says it like this:

Much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even be deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else’s and not your own.

A damning indictment of our society. It may even be an indictment of the church. Or your heart. Or mine. Wives and mothers are desperately underappreciated in our society. But the Bible does not tell us that society should bring them honor and praise. That task, which ought to be done with great joy, great sincerity and great frequency, falls to the husband and children.

Lemuel closes his reflection on the excellent wife in this way. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” A wife, a mother desires and deserves praise from her husband and her children. Her great reward is not financial. It is something far deeper, far more meaningful. Her reward is the praise of those who love her most. It is the praise of those who see her at her best and at her worst. It is the praise of those who see her life of service. It is the praise of those for whom she has labored and sacrificed.

Valentine’s Day may be a contrived holiday. There is no objective reason that I should celebrate love in a special way today rather than yesterday or tomorrow. But if this is a day where people celebrate love, should not I, as a grateful husband, celebrate my wife? Should I not model to my children a love, a passion, a joy in my wife? Should I not reflect today on my intoxication with her love? Should I not praise, honor and bless her for being just who she is: a precious, beautiful, excellent gift from God?

Valentine’s Day provides me with a day to love and honor my wife. It provides me with a day to ensure I take the focus off myself and lavish it on my wife. Why would I want to refuse that opportunity?

As you may know, Aileen and I just bought our first house. While we found the house quite quickly (as these things go), we first toured several towns and walked through fifteen or twenty houses looking for just the right one. As we toured house after house it quickly became apparent which homeowners had invested some extra effort in making their homes attractive to prospective buyers. I’m sure you have experienced what we did. Some houses were immediately attractive to us, even if they did not meet our needs or appeal us as asthetically. The houses that had the greatest appeal were those that were truly homes.

There is a difference between a house and a home, isn’t there? A newly constructed neighborhood not far from me advertises “homes beginning in the low 300’s.” But they aren’t really selling homes, are they? They are selling houses. A house only becomes a home when a person lives in it and when it begins to take on the personality of the inhabitants. An empty house is just a shell. It is much like a dead human body. It is a body, but it is not a person.

There is a lot a person can do to increase the potential of selling his house. Interestingly, many of these revolve around making a house more like a home. A house that has furniture in it is likely to sell for a higher price than a house that is empty. Pictures on the wall, lights that are turned on and beds that are made make a house look like a home. The smell of fresh bread or cookies makes a house smell like a pleasant home. And that is what people are looking for when they buy a house. They are looking for a house in which they can make a home. There is an immediate attraction to a house that feels like a home!

As I was reflecting on the difference between a house and a home this morning I turned, as I often seem to, to the Bible. I found myself reading in the fourteenth chapter of John. We read there an incredible promise of Jesus. Preparing to face his last hours, Jesus spent an evening teaching his disciples and telling them that He would soon be taken from them. Yet in His goodness and compassion He promised not to leave His disciples alone. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.” Jesus promised to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be a helper to His people. But there is more. This Holy Spirit will not only dwell with us, but will make his abode in us. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” God Himself will make His home in us.

That little word, translated home, is used in this chapter of the Bible and nowhere else. The Bible Exposition Commentary says the following: “If we treasure His Word and obey it, then the Father and the Son will share Their love with us and make Their home in us. The word translated “abode” in John 14:23 means “make our home” and is related to “mansions” in John 14:2. When the sinner trusts Christ, he is born again and the Spirit immediately enters his body and bears witness that he is a child of God. The Spirit is resident and will not depart. But as the believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays, and obeys, there is a deeper relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Salvation means we are going to heaven, but submission means that heaven comes to us!”

Is that not an incredible promise? When we are saved and regenerated by the power of God, God Himself dwells within us. He builds not just a house but a home. He takes up permanent residence within us, promising never to forget or forsake us. Once He takes up residence in our hearts He promises never to leave. Heaven truly comes to us! As I meditated upon this promise I was moved to praise God for living in and with me and for giving His word that He will remain there forever. Truly He is good to me.

We have had some fun the past couple of days discussing whether or not it is rude for a person to ask himself (or his family) to another person’s house. Opinion is divided but it seems that most people are siding with my wife and suggesting that I was rude to ask myself to a friend’s house. I continue to disagree.

But before I make this conversation serious, I wanted to point to a couple of comments that made me laugh. A commenter named Aaron posted some interesting biblical interpretation.

What we need here is some sound biblical eisegesis on the doctrine of the invitation system. For our text, we shall turn to the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:25 - “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

First, we note that we must take care not to give up meeting together. So it is apparent that meeting together is good and should be continued. And how should we meet? “all the more.” If the onus of invitational responsibility lies always on the hosting party it is unlikely that meetings will increase all the more. Tim is being faithful to this passage by increasing the “meetings together” twofold by both inviting others over and inviting himself over to the abodes of others. If we all followed such a practice, think how much we could increase our meetings together! And we must not forget to encourage one another. This could mean that we should encourage others to have us over to their place. So I think this system of inviting oneself is not only biblical, but inevitable as we see the day approaching!

I appreciate Aaron’s eisegesis and feel that he builds a strong case, though one that does brutal violence to sound, accepted hermeneutical standards. Of course in this day and age, such eisegesis is accepted and even encouraged. So kudos to Aaron for his eisegetical masterpiece.

Another poster, Andrew, provided the following challenge: “If you can write a valid deductive syllogism from Scriptural assertions/deductions that shows that inviting oneself to someone else’s house is never rude, then she’s [Aileen’s] wrong.” He then said, “There may be a case where Jesus invited himself to someone’s house, perhaps Matthew or Peter’s mother-in-law?” And, of course, Andrew is right. Let’s turn to the nineteenth chapter of Luke.

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

There are two things that we must note in this passage. First, Zacchaeus did not extend an invitation to Jesus. Rather, Jesus simply stated that he would stay at Zacchaeus’ house that particular day. He apparently did so with no remorse and, in fact, suggested that he must stay. There was force behind his reverse invitation such that Zacchaeus felt compelled to obey. Second, note the reaction of this man. He received Jesus not with regret or reluctance, but with joy. Zacchaeus sets a pattern that we would do well to follow.

It is clear, then, that the Bible demands that we invite ourselves to other people’s houses. It also demands that, when asked, we receive other people with joy.

But in all seriousness, I thought the comment made by my mother was profound (and not just because she is my mother). She said, “I have found in life that most people are not interested in getting to know most people. When somebody does have a particular interest in me, I take that as being of the Lord. If they want to come and visit our home in order to get to know us, I feel I am doing God’s work in graciously serving them.” That is the example that was modelled to me when I was young. You may have noted that two of my sisters commented in the thread and both of them agreed with my perspective. Maryanne, who recently went door-to-door in her newly-built neighborhood canvassing for friends, said, “I think a self-extended invitation is a high compliment…and not rude at all, though perhaps unethical in our closed-door society…In suburbia, unless you force yourself kindly on people, they are going to be swallowed up by the garage every evening, and relationships will not happen. So, have at it.” Susanna offered the following advice: “I would say just make sure to offer to bring something if it is over a meal in order to relieve any pressure they may feel which would most likely be about having to make food.” I should have mentioned that my wife all brings a peacemaking salad whenever we go to someone else’s house. She may also bring her famous plagarized spinach dip with nachos.

So as my mother said, if people are interested in myself or my family enough that they ask if they can come over, I understand it to be an honor and privilege and will happily accept the invitation. After all, most people are not interested in getting to know most people. I love people and am always eager to get to know others. If that has to happen in my house and even at a moment’s notice, so be it!

And so I suppose the reverse is true. If I ask another person if he would like to have myself or my family into his house, I would hope the he would understand that I extend the invitation because of my admiration for him. I ask myself to his house because I am eager to get to know him. I would suggest that it is our culture that has taught us that it is an insult rather than a compliment to receive such an invitation.

It was just about a year ago that I first posted an article about my Aunt Nancy, a woman who was the subject of a popular, mysterious song written decades ago. Every few months I find myself reflecting once more on the life of my aunt. Despite having something else I had planned on writing for today, it just seemed right to me to spend some time editing an article I wrote last year. For those who have read this before, I’d encourage you to read it again as I made many changes and additions to it.

In 1969 Leonard Cohen released an album entitled Songs From A Room. The fifth song on that album is “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy.” The song has become one of Cohen’s more popular ones and has subsequently been recorded on one of his live albums and has also been covered by several other artists. If you have never heard the song, you can listen to a short clip here.

I don’t do memes. I have not (to my recollection) done a single one of them since the dawn of this site. I have often been tagged to do them but have always resisted because, quite frankly, I don’t care what character I most resemble, but it a character from Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Napoleon Dynamite. I also don’t really care to know what theological system I most clearly adhere to, what type of flower I would be (if I were a flower), and, well, you get the idea.

This morning I got tagged by Dignan’s 75 Year Plan to answer a few questions about what I wanted to be when I grew up. These questions gave me pause and I thought it might be fun to answer some of the questions, even if I do not participate in the meme.

When I was a child I wanted to be all the things little boys dream of. Mostly I wanted to either kill or save people. If I couldn’t be a fireman who would carry pretty girls out of burning schoolhouses then I wanted to be a soldier who would protect those little girls. You know how it works, I’m sure. I had a vivid imagination but little common sense (and even less sense of reality). As I grew older reality began to infringe upon my dreams and I came to see that I would have to work within my talents. My talents and desires precluded me from carrying people down ladders or from toting a rifle (though I did briefly consider attending the Royal Military Academy in order to install myself with some type of personal discipline).

When I was in my first year of high school my parents decided I would benefit from some aptitude testing. I sat through I.Q. tests and page after page of questionnaires. and quite enjoyed this period of testing and introspection The results were interesting. The counsellor listed my top two aptitudes as: engineering and clergy. He suggested that I was a logical type and would do well in engineering. He also suggested that I had the skills and desire to enter some type of vocational ministry.

If this counsellor had been able to see my math scores he would have realized that engineering really was not an option. I guess a logical mind does not necessarily translate to procifiency in mathematics, something I understand to be important to those who wish to succeed in engineering. Looking at my family I can see that the proficiencies with which I was presented make some sense. On my father’s side I noted that my grandfather was a judge, my uncle is an architect and other relatives were engineers and politicians. On my mother’s side almost the entire family earns a living through either teaching or journalism. I guess the apple does not fall too far from the tree.

It was late in my high school years when I thought I might wish to become a pastor. I began to study Latin and Greek with a view to someday attending seminary. I graduated a year early with mediocre grades (I’m sure I could have done better but just didn’t like school) and headed to university where I graduated three years later with a degree in history. My grades were, once again, summa cum averaga, but I was the undisputed king of euchre in the Togo Salmon cafeteria.

So there I was: twenty years old, engaged and with a degree in history. I had become somewhat disillusioned with the church at that time and no longer felt any great pull to the ministry. While I tried to sort out what I was going to be now that I was growing up, I worked at the local Starbucks and quite enjoyed being able to basically turn off my brain for eight hours at a time. The store was immediately next door to a theatre and I watched far too many movies in that period of life. It was my dad who decided that I needed to get moving towards a real career. Shortly after I got married (it was brave of my in-laws to let me wife marry someone who was working at Starbucks for $9/hour) my dad enrolled me at a local technical college. I did not get a vote, so just shrugged my shoulders and agreed that it looked like it would be fun to study computers. I have no recollection of how we survived financially during the ensuing months while I studied, yet somehow we made it through. God was good to us, I’m sure. The course was supposed to take about a year but, since it was self-directed, I did it at my own pace and finished in about half the alloted time. I graduated with a degree or certificate in some subject, though I can’t quite remember anymore what it is. I believe it may have been Local Area Network Administration. I also earned quite a large pile of Microsoft, Novell and other certifications, all of which are now long-since obsolete. I was now ready to embark on a career as a LAN Administrator. I quickly found employment with a small mom and pop shop about a half hour away from home. During the interview process I forgot to ask how much I would be paid and had to wait until my first paycheque to see that it would be $28,500 per year. That isn’t much now and it wasn’t much more back then!

Once again God took good care of us and blessed us with our first child. I was a LAN Administrator for a few years. I enjoyed the job at first but began to grow tired of it, primarily because the companies I worked for were so poorly managed. Twice I began working for a company that was bought by an American firm who took our technology back to the U.S. and then closed the doors. After the second time I was laid off (which happened to be when my wife was expecting our second child) I decided I had had enough and opted to begin a web design company. I began with no money and no knowledge of how to design a web page, but, as has been the theme of our marriage, God blessed us. I continue to design web sites. On the whole I love web design. It is a nice fit for my personality as it allows me to split my time between work that is creative and work that is technical. I love working from home as it allows me a good deal of freedom and allows me to be my own boss (something else that fits well with my personality). It also provides me with the time and freedom to write, something that has become a passion of mine.

I am now twenty-nine years old and continue to gaze towards the future. I can only speculate on what my future includes. I hope it includes writing a book or two. I hope it includes working towards that Masters of Divinity degree I desired many years ago. I would be surprised to learn that it includes a call to ministry but I would not rule that out. I quite enjoy life as it is right now, yet I am by nature a restless person and tend to look to the future more often than is healthy. I’m getting older but I think I still have some time to learn what I’ll be when I really grow up. Whether I continue to be a web designer or whether I am called to some type of ministry, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will be just fine as long as God continues to travel this road with me, for He is both the theme and the author of my story.

Today I am going to post the blogging equivalent of a “state of the nation” address. We’ll call it a “state of the domain.” I wrote this post earlier and realized that I had not been entirely honest and forthcoming, so have added information to it. I realize that this information (discussing readership, privilege and so on) may be confused with boasting or some other ignoble desire, but I assure you it is nothing of the sort. Because at the end of the article I ask for your help, I feel it is only fair if I provide full disclosure (or close to it). If you know me, you understand how hard it is to post an article of this nature. So let’s discuss the past, present and future of this site with a view towards increasing its impact on the Kingdom of God.

As you may already know, this blog began quite by accident. I first reserved the domain challies.com in 2002 in order to create a family site. And indeed, that is exactly what the site was for the first several months. I would post irregular photographic updates of my children in order to let my family see how they were growing up. At some point I became interested in recording some of my thoughts and subsequently wrote several articles primarily for my own benefit. I posted them online to allow my family to read them and was surprised to see Google pick them up and even more surprised to find other people reading and enjoying them. Over the next months I posted articles only very irregularly and at some point the site became a bona fide blog, though at the time I had never heard that term. In November of 2003, when readership was beginning to increase, I decided that I would commit to daily blogging and have done so since.

The reason I provide this background information is to show that I never had any real strategy to grow or promote the blog. I don’t know that I’ve ever done much to deliberately promote the site. I did not set out to become a blogger and certainly never would have considered that people would care to read what I write. The point is that this site has just sort of happened to me. I sometimes feel that I have just been along for the ride and that I am little more than a spectator.

In recent months I have had the opportunity to meet with several readers of this site. They have been able to provide a unique perspective on what I do well and what I do poorly with Challies Dot Com. A question people tend to ask is what I foresee for this site in the coming months or years. I have to answer that, quite honestly, I have not thought a lot about it. I most often take this site just one day at a time. Most often when I have attempted to do any type of forecasting the results have been less than encouraging (some day I’ll have to see just how many series I have begun and not finished). I do think ahead to future articles and postings but rarely truly plan ahead more than a few days. In some ways that is a good thing, as it allows for spontaneity, but in some ways that is a liability as it encourages me to do less research and planning than I otherwise might.

So what is Challies Dot Com now? I am not entirely sure. I suppose it is, in large part, my brain and sometimes my heart placed on display for all to see. I write what I think about, and what I think about is formed largely from my time spent with the Lord and my time immersed in good books. The primary emphasis of the site, as I see it, is discussing and interpreting contemporary Evangelicalism through what I hope is a discerning, biblical lens. And if that is, indeed, the emphasis, I would like to keep that intact as I feel the topic is worthy of such prominence.

Since mid-2004 the site has grown dramatically in terms of traffic and inbound links, the two most common measures of Internet success. While I keep the numbers private (I’m not entirely sure why), I can post a graph that plots the growth of the site over the past 12 months. As you will see, the site continues to grow almost every month. As something of an aside, the growth in traffic has led to a great increase in the amount of bandwidth the site consumes. As of next month I may need to once again increase my hosting plan in order to accommodate the increase.

I make no money from the site other than a small amount from the Amazon affiliate program that is paid out in gift certificates (which I use to fund birthday presents for my American relatives). On the whole this does not bother me, though I occasionally consider adding some type of advertising to the site. I do, however, receive many tangible benefits: I get all the books I could ever hope to read (and, frankly, a lot which I would never want to read); I have been blessed with some wonderful gifts from readers of the site; I have become friends with people I would otherwise never had opportunity to meet; I receive encouraging emails from brothers and sisters from all over the globe; and I have been offered some wonderful opportunities, the most notable of which are live-blogging major conferences. Benefits that are less tangible but no less appreciated are: the prayer support of many believers; the privilege of introducing readers to new blogs through the A La Carte and King for a Week sections; and the responsibility of owning a popular web site.

That final benefit is an important one. As readership increases I feel a greater desire and responsibility to be a good steward. While it would be easy to see each visitor to the site as merely a “hit,” the fact is that each hit represents a person created in the image of God, who, like me, is most likely searching for answers and desiring to grow in faith.

All this has led me to wonder what the future of this site might be. I am ready, I feel, to invest more deliberate effort in the site. As I assume is obvious I already dedicate plenty of time to the site, but often the time does not necessarily correlate with effort. What I mean is that I am more ready to begin planning ahead and to dedicate effort to longer, more in-depth series. I am ready to serve the readership with articles that, having been more thoroughly researched and better-written, will be able to bless their hearts and minds. All the while I wish to ensure that the site maintains accessible to all believers, not just those with advanced knowledge of theology. And I would like to maintain the personal nature of the site, lest it become something less than a blog.

And so, as I gaze towards 2006, now only a few days off, I would like to ask for your input. I promise not to be offended and am honestly asking for honesty. If you know me, you know that I have any easier time dealing with criticism than praise! You can either post your feedback in the comments area or send me an email. While this site is and will remain my site (and I say that in as non-offensive a way as I can) I am eager to hear from readers what you feel is done well and what is done poorly. Here are some questions that my guide you (and do not feel that you need to answer any or all of them):

• What do you feel the emphasis or emphases of this site are and should be?
• Are there areas of the site that you feel merit more attention?
• Are there areas that merit less attention?
• Are there areas I should do away with altogether?
• Should I increase or do away with the Community Blog?
• Do you think I should consider video blogging or podcasting?
• In short, what I can I do in 2006 and beyond to serve the church, to serve you, and ultimately to serve our Lord?

I look forward to your honest advice and input.

For the past week I have been basking in the warmth of the Atlanta sun. While I will grant that the Atlanta sun is only moderately warmer in December than the Toronto sun, it creates an atmosphere which is, at the very least, on the better side of the freezing mark. Just yesterday we enjoyed a tremendously nice day in which we hiked to the top of Kennesaw Mountain. This is the site of a Civil War battle which was fought on June 27, 1864. The battle pitted Union troops against the defensive positions the Rebels had dug into the Mountain. The American Battlefield Protection Program summarizes the battle as follows: “On the morning of June 27, [General Sherman] sent his troops forward after an artillery bombardment. At first, they made some headway overrunning Confederate pickets south of the Burnt Hickory Road, but attacking an enemy that was dug in was futile. The fighting ended by noon, and Sherman suffered high casualties.”

As we browsed the gift shop at the visitor’s center my son asked me some questions about the battle. As we talked I placed a reproduction of a Rebel soldier’s grey cap on his head. He immediately took it off and said just a little too loudly, “I don’t want to wear the bad guys’ hat!” I had to explain that people in Atlanta consider the grey guys the good ones. It was quite difficult to explain to my son a war in which there were no clear lines between the good guys and the bad! He ended up selecting some (blue) plastic soldiers to play with.

I do believe that hiking to the top of Kennesaw Mountain and watching Pride and Prejudice (see yesterday’s article) are the most significant things I’ve accomplished over the past several days (with the possible exception of meeting a few readers of this site - anyone else who cares to treat me to a coffee is certainly most welcome!).

One thing I have come to understand this week, as I’ve been nearly 1000 miles from home, is how closely blogging is tied into my routine. I found myself nearly unable to find time, energy or inclination to write throughout this week. There was a lot I wanted to say, but I had very little ability to actually say it.

At home, you see, I have a nice little routine. I wake up in the morning long before anyone else and spend some time reading the Bible and praying. I then post my daily “A La Carte” items and usually spend some time reading a book. At some point I begin writing and often spend an hour or so organizing my thoughts for the day. I may not finish writing but at least I have a good idea of what I would like to say and have done much of the necessary research. By the time the family begins to wander the house I have generally accomplished at least something. Yet here, in my parents’ house, I have been out of routine and have thus been able to accomplish very little. It has been a little bit frustrating but quite relaxing.

But this all ends, I trust, tomorrow. Today, and in fact at this very moment, I am heading home to Canada. I have a good fourteen or fifteen hours of driving ahead of me and will need to cover some 1500 kilometers before my day is through. If all goes well I hope to pull into my driveway at around 8:00 PM this evening.

So I’d ask that if you can spare a moment, please offer a prayer for travelling mercies. We have many miles of road to cover through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario. I enjoy driving and only rarely suffer from driving fatigue, but as always, it is the other drivers I fear more than myself!

Today I will make a horrifying admission, one that might just cast a shadow of doubt over my life, ministry and masculinity. Ready for it? I enjoy Jane Austen movies. I don’t just enjoy them, actually, but really, really enjoy them. I hate chick flicks as much as the next guy, but thoroughly enjoy Austen movies. And no, I do not consider those to be contradictory statements.

Last night my sister and brother-in-law suggested that my wife and I join them for dinner and a movie. The options were simple: King Kong (which was deemed to be too long), The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (which I have already seen) or Pride and Prejudice. I eventually convinced the rest of the group that we should see the chick flick. And so we caught a 7:30 showing of Pride and Prejudice.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility and Emma before it. I suppose you could just say that I’m a big fan of these films.

I don’t watch these movies because of the stories. Austen’s plots were adequate, I guess, but I find them quite unappealing. I care little for the love story that holds her plots together. Had the movie ended with Darby and Elizabeth standing before Judge Judy to contest ownership of an engagement ring (instead of the inevitable snuggling and spooning) it would not have made the movie much better or worse for me. You see, there are three things that especially appeal to me in Austen’s stories (and hence in the films): the characters, the setting and the dialogue.

It seems quite clear that Austen had a great and perhaps vicious sense of humor. She always includes at least a character or two in her stories that are pure comic relief. In Pride and Prejudice there is an Anglican rector who is just a pathetic specimen and Austen goes to great lengths to make him a laughing stock. There is also the mother of the main character, a woman who lives her life with only one goal: to see her daughters get married. She is a gossip and a busybody and will stop at nothing to secure relationships. But her mouth always runs away with her and she gets nowhere. These comical characters always leave me laughing.

I also love the Victorian setting. Most of the bigger-budget films are able to satisfactorily replicate the original setting. I enjoy seeing the interaction between the various strata of society. I enjoy the viciousness of the upper class and the disgust elicited by and towards the lower classes. I enjoy interpreting Austen’s own opinions towards those who were fortunate enough to rank higher than she did, and those unfortunate enough to rank lower. One need not look far to find some frank statements about Victorian British society.

And above all I love Austen’s dialogue. It is very difficult to do dialogue properly. I might go so far as to say that it is easier to create good characters and a good plot than it is to craft good dialogue. Yet Austen did dialogue very well. The quick back-and-forth, sarcastic, multi-levelled exchanges between characters is what makes the stories work. The strong female characters always manage to remain a step ahead of everyone else. They are rarely at a loss for words. I often find myself laughing out loud (to my wife’s chagrin) as the characters berate each other in a dignified, backhanded manner.

I suppose the reason I love Austen is that I love words. And Jane Austen was a bona fide master of the word. She was able to craft characters that were just believable enough and dialogue that said just enough but never too much. Learning from Austen is learning from a master.

And so I make this dreadful admission and look forward to the next big screen adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s novels.

There’s something a little bit silly about Christmas, isn’t there? After all, we have no real evidence that Jesus was born on December 25. Sure there have been plenty of people who have attempted to prove some link, but in the end we just have to accept that there is really only a small chance that Jesus was born this day.

Until recently I thought it was silly to remember Jesus in a special way on Christmas.

There’s something a little bit silly about Mother’s Day, too, isn’t there? My wife is no better or worse a wife and mother on Mother’s Day than she is any other day of the year. Yet I love to celebrate her for that day. It provides myself and the children an opportunity to set our thoughts on her and to focus our affections on her in a special way. While the holiday sometimes seems a little contrived, there is great benefit in remembering all she means to me and giving her at least one day of the year when we honor her just for being mom.

The fact is that I need very little incentive to set aside a special day for my wife. It is an honor and a joy for me to give honor to her.

And that is what I’ve come to realize about Christmas. It doesn’t matter if Jesus was born on December 25 or not. Even if Jesus was born in mid-July it benefits me and it benefits Him that I remember Him in a special way on this day. It is a joy and a privilege to bless Him in a special way and to pour out my thanksgiving to Him for assuming human flesh and beginning His life so that He might end His life for me.

And so today I pray that you and I will remember our Lord who, though He was God, became man that he could die for us. I hope and pray that God will extend His richest blessings to you and that you would know His presence this day. God bless you and Merry Christmas.