quotes
Friday Five Plus+
08/15/2008 06:17 Past Posts &
ThoughtsPersonal
Well, as you
can tell, I’m still “monkeying around” with
RapidWeaver in attempting to get just the look I want
for this blog. Please be patient with me, I’m trying
not to break the Internet. Here’s my Friday Five
(plus a couple of other thoughts):
Five Observations About the Olympics –
My family hasn’t gotten into the Olympics quite like we have in the past. One year (I believe it was the winter Olympics of 1992?), when our oldest was only 6, we set up chairs in our living room, went through an elaborate ritual to actually pretend we flew to the Olympics that year. We loved it and had great fun. Now, our oldest is away from home, preparing to get married next June; our two youngest are very busy with pre-season sports training and we’re running the parental taxi like crazy, so there’s not as much energy left for the Olympic events. Besides, I’m older now and staying up until 11.30 PM or even midnight and then trying to get up when my body tells me its used to getting up (around 4-4.30 AM) is nearly a disaster. All that said, here are some observations from this go round in ’08:
1. Is it just me, or are the announcers beside Al Troutwig for gymnastics really, really annoying and all pouty when the Americans aren’t doing well. Last night, while watching the women’s all-around, my parental instinct kept kicking in and wanting to look sternly into their eyes and with a firm voice say, “Stop whining. Stop pouting. It’s tremendously unfair to all those around you.”
2. The ubiquitous Michael Phelps is amazing. (he’s ubiquitous because he’s done so well, no one will leave him alone!) I vaguely remember being interested when Mark Spitz won his 7 golds back in ’72, but for the sake of the historical, this is really cool.
3. Okay, I’ll jump on the bandwagon... there’s no way all the Chinese women’s gymnasts are 16 or older. Did you see the photo of one of their tiniest looking girls whose missing a tooth? Unless she’s from the far south in China, and her parents have 2-3 cars up on cinder blocks in their front yard, 4-5 dogs roaming around looking real mangy, and have all married their cousins, then I just have a hard time believing they’re old enough to matter.
4. Michael Phelps again: I wonder what he’ll do, or become when this is all said and done. For the past, what, 23 years, his life has been swim–eat–sleep; swim–eat–sleep. After all the golds, then what?
5. While I understand the modern “need” to get all the news of the Olympics to us as fast as possible, I really wouldn’t have minded tape delayed broadcasting. Then, you could actually watch these games at a decent hour. During March Madness, there’s much ado about how much productivity is lost due to all the watching of basketball. I wonder how much is lost because people stay up way too late to watch these games.
Well, that’s it. That’s my five. I do have one more bit I want to share with you, dear reader. This is another quote from Of First Importance, and if it doesn’t stir your heart, then just reach out and grab that branch anyway:
“Imagine you are on a high cliff and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you is a branch sticking out of the edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and seems more than strong enough. How can it save you?
If you’re certain the branch can support you, but you don’t actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If instead your mind is filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. Why?
It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.”
—Timothy Keller, The Reason For God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 234
Five Observations About the Olympics –
My family hasn’t gotten into the Olympics quite like we have in the past. One year (I believe it was the winter Olympics of 1992?), when our oldest was only 6, we set up chairs in our living room, went through an elaborate ritual to actually pretend we flew to the Olympics that year. We loved it and had great fun. Now, our oldest is away from home, preparing to get married next June; our two youngest are very busy with pre-season sports training and we’re running the parental taxi like crazy, so there’s not as much energy left for the Olympic events. Besides, I’m older now and staying up until 11.30 PM or even midnight and then trying to get up when my body tells me its used to getting up (around 4-4.30 AM) is nearly a disaster. All that said, here are some observations from this go round in ’08:
1. Is it just me, or are the announcers beside Al Troutwig for gymnastics really, really annoying and all pouty when the Americans aren’t doing well. Last night, while watching the women’s all-around, my parental instinct kept kicking in and wanting to look sternly into their eyes and with a firm voice say, “Stop whining. Stop pouting. It’s tremendously unfair to all those around you.”
2. The ubiquitous Michael Phelps is amazing. (he’s ubiquitous because he’s done so well, no one will leave him alone!) I vaguely remember being interested when Mark Spitz won his 7 golds back in ’72, but for the sake of the historical, this is really cool.
3. Okay, I’ll jump on the bandwagon... there’s no way all the Chinese women’s gymnasts are 16 or older. Did you see the photo of one of their tiniest looking girls whose missing a tooth? Unless she’s from the far south in China, and her parents have 2-3 cars up on cinder blocks in their front yard, 4-5 dogs roaming around looking real mangy, and have all married their cousins, then I just have a hard time believing they’re old enough to matter.
4. Michael Phelps again: I wonder what he’ll do, or become when this is all said and done. For the past, what, 23 years, his life has been swim–eat–sleep; swim–eat–sleep. After all the golds, then what?
5. While I understand the modern “need” to get all the news of the Olympics to us as fast as possible, I really wouldn’t have minded tape delayed broadcasting. Then, you could actually watch these games at a decent hour. During March Madness, there’s much ado about how much productivity is lost due to all the watching of basketball. I wonder how much is lost because people stay up way too late to watch these games.
Well, that’s it. That’s my five. I do have one more bit I want to share with you, dear reader. This is another quote from Of First Importance, and if it doesn’t stir your heart, then just reach out and grab that branch anyway:
“Imagine you are on a high cliff and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you is a branch sticking out of the edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and seems more than strong enough. How can it save you?
If you’re certain the branch can support you, but you don’t actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If instead your mind is filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. Why?
It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.”
—Timothy Keller, The Reason For God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 234
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Couldn't Let This One Pass
07/01/2008 21:45 Past Posts &
ThoughtsDoctrine
I've
pointed you to this site before
for some simply excellent quotes.
Today's is no
exception:
“A man is not saved because he believes in Christ; he believes in Christ because he is saved.”
- Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Philadelphia, PA: P&R Publishing, 1965), 101.
It cause me to think of the "Ordo Salutis" (that's "order of salvation" for all you Latin neophytes, like me!)
“A man is not saved because he believes in Christ; he believes in Christ because he is saved.”
- Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Philadelphia, PA: P&R Publishing, 1965), 101.
It cause me to think of the "Ordo Salutis" (that's "order of salvation" for all you Latin neophytes, like me!)
A great site for quotes
06/11/2008 07:51 Past Posts &
ThoughtsQuotes
This is
a wonderful
spot to settle in each
morning and read a short, but heart-filling,
mind-stretching, faith-strengthening quote. And I
even think I understand this one (Rutherford has some
simply marvelous quotes, but they do stretch my brain
a bit with the puritan-esque language. I actually
think he's telling us to pray lots and lots to Christ
because Christ wants to work for
us).
Employment for his calling
“It is our heaven to
lay many weights and burdens upon Christ. Let him
find much employment for his calling with you; for he
is such a Friend as delighteth to be burdened with
suits and employments; and the more homely ye be with
him, the more welcome.”
- Samuel
Rutherford, The Loveliness of
Christ (Carlisle, PA:
Banner of Truth Trust, 2007) 22.
Think on this one a
bit and then find yourself employing Christ. By the
way, I'd encourage you to also be
homely!