Please Get This: A Free Will Is the Equivalent of Reprobation

Sometime during my youth I heard the song “I Give You Freedom.” It stuck. That’s just how I am with music; it’s both a blessing and a curse. And by the way, that’s why the music Christians sing is so crucial. It both reflects and shapes what we believe, and what it teaches us endures. [...]

Sound Words: Intentional Ministry

“Pastor, where are we going and how are we going to get there?” That question was posed to a friend of my father’s in Colorado, and his inability to formulate a satisfactory answer eventually led to his departure from the ministry. Sound extreme? Sure. But I fear that many churches give little thought to their [...]

More Useless Stuff: Pip Is Too Funny

I’ve not posted anything worthwhile for a while, so why start now? My girls and I have been laughing about this (and they’ve been acting it out) ever since we watched Enchanted over the weekend:

“It’s goo-ood!” :) Too cute.

Olympic Moments, Part 3

I understand that many NBA players are thugs and prima donnas. I’m not forgetting that. But I think “The Redeem Team” generally showed class at the Olympics, both in the way they played and the way they carried themselves. (At the very least, they didn’t kick any refs in the face.) It was fun to [...]

HELP!!!! Emergency Data Retrieval

I need some serious tech help, and it’s been recommended to me that this may be the best way to find it.  I have other lines in the water, too, but this can’t hurt. Here’s the deal:
I’ve been using a second hard drive in my computer for several years. It’s old—11 years old, to be [...]

Ouch Again! A Synopsis of the Apostles’ Teaching on Money

Last week I published a summary of a sermon which gave an overview of Christ’s teaching on money—what I referred to as “red letters on the green stuff.” Sunday night I preached a follow-up message, this time focusing on the Apostles’ teaching on the same subject—black letters, if you will. You can find the first [...]

Borrowing Brains: Music Ministry Name

Greg Habegger and I are preparing to start a new website that will make the new hymns that are somewhat buried here at My Two Cents more accessible. We have some technical and artistic gurus ready to help, and we’re hoping to have the site up and running before long. However, we’re missing something important—a [...]

Olympic Moments, Part 2

I stand corrected. And emotionally spent!
Here’s what I said about the men’s 4×100 freestyle:
“I don’t imagine that any of the posts to follow will top this first one. The final of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay (complete with French trash talking, swimming phenom Michael Phelps, a world record time for the 5th place finishers, and [...]

Ouch! A Synopsis of Christ’s Teaching on Money

I’m in the middle of a two-part series on The Christian and Money, and it’s killing me. Seriously, comparing my thoughts on money with Scripture’s is devastating, though necessary. All of us—rich or poor, old or young, male or female—struggle with greed. In fact, I think there is probably no part of life in which [...]

Quick Hits (8/12/08)

Here are some miscellaneous thoughts and links for your consideration, including bits about Matt Hoskinson, The Solid Rock, homeschooling, how sanctification is like building boats, and a crazy YouTube link:
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Pray for Matt Hoskinson…and Grow with Him
Matt Hoskinson’s cancer journal has been extremely encouraging to me. Matt has been intentionally devotional, focusing more on spiritual than [...]