Advancing

Doumit On the Rise in August

I live in a small (17,000 population) farm hub in eastern Washington.  Not a lot happens here.  Sagebrush is our city flower.  Don't get me wrong:  I really like my hometown.  We have a nice lake for recreation and the sun's always shining.  And hey, lest we forget, Starbucks moved in a few years ago. 

In the sports arena, however, we haven't been on the map for a long, long time.  Ryan Doumit(pronounced DOE-mitt), a 1999 graduate of Moses Lake High School, has changed all that.  On June 5th, Ryan made his major league debut with the Pittsburg Pirates.  Pittsburg coach, Lloyd McClendon, has nice things to say about the rookie.  "He's done OK.  He's not overmatched. Really, with some of his at-bats, you kind of forget he's a rookie. Less than two weeks in the big leagues, he's had some good at-bats."  Doumit did struggle in his first two months in the majors.  This was to be expected.  It's difficult to find your groove when you don't know if or how much you'll be playing day to day.  But in August things are looking up for the 6' 0", 200 lb. switch hitting catcher.  As of tonight he's hit 10 for 18 or .588 for the month!  Keep it up, Ryan! 

(UPDATE:  08/15/05 -  Another homer for Doumit!  .522 in August!)

How Did Blue Impact You?

Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz has become a great discussion piece.  What's your take?  I appreciated Don's vulnerability regarding his doubts, fears and sins.  He pens a confessional, of sorts, and while criticized by many as being self-absorbed Miller must be given the same permission to be himself that he freely offers others.  A refreshing component of reformed theology is it's appreciation of saving and common grace.  Miller's Jazz celebrates like a prisoner freshly pardoned.   If we all embraced culture with the same childlike faith and love our churches would be more effective at fulfilling the great commission.  It takes boldness and courage to face yourself as Miller has.  A beautiful read.

3-D Pavement Drawings

Julian Beever has been painting the pavement for over 10 years.  He has worked in the U.K., Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, the U.S. and Australia.  His anamorphic illusions are drawn in a special distortion in order to create the desired 3-D effect.  Has anyone seen one of these in person?

Justice and Mercy

Rick McKinley, founding pastor of Imago Dei (The Image of God) and author of Jesus in the Margins just returned from a one month study sabatical and a couple weeks with his family in Mexico.  I love this guy.  Frank Martinez and Quinn Crandell, a couple close friends from Portland, turned me on to Imago Dei.  Donald Miller, author of the popular Blue Like Jazz, belongs and speaks occasionally. 

God must have done some great things in Rick's heart while he was gone.  Yesterday's sermon was one of the best presentations of the gospel I've ever heard.  Download the mp3 here!

National Study of Youth and Religion Conclusions

I was recently impacted by a LifeWay article entitled Why Parents May Be Losing Their Teenagers, written by True Love Waits co-founder and seminary professor, Dr. Richard Ross.  I emailed Dr. Ross to express appreciation and ask if there were additional parenting resources he might recommend.  In his reply I learned that he and best selling author, Dr. Ken Hemphill just released an awesome parenting resource, Parenting with Kingdom Purpose. 

Most of Ross and Hemphill's conclusions are drawn from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), a recent survey based on telephone interviews with over 3,300 youth/parent pairs.  Soul Searching:  The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lunquist Denton was the first important book based on this study. 

Chapter 5 of Parenting with Kingdom Purpose is titled Introducing Children and Teenagers to God.  In it a progressive chain of facts are laid out that, soberly considered, should send a chill down the spine of any loving parent.

1.  No parental duty matters more than introducing one's children to Jesus.

2.  Even though teenagers and children tend to be religious, the great majority have not grasped the basics of salvation.

3.  Parents who do not teach what the Scriptures say about salvation almost guarantee their children will simply make up their own ideas.

4.  Children who make up and trust their own ideas about salvation likely never will be saved.

5.  Children from Christian homes who never are saved spend eternity in hell.