Quiet but busy

Sorry it has been so quiet here on my blog. It's been a combination of preparation for our pending firstborn child (due July 19th!) and the fact that I have been working hard to get a house remodeled prior to that arrival (a rental we own). Things will return to normal soon hopefully, whatever "normal" is with a newborn. We are excited to meet and discover the person God has formed in my wife! We can't wait to see early personality traits etc. So I'll keep trying to come up for air from time to time, but be patient with me, I will return to a more normal posting pattern eventually!

Top Commentaries on Every Book of the Bible

(HT: Tim Challies)
This was posted on the Ligonier web site:

Over the course of several months, Keith Mathison put together a list of his top 5 commentaries for each book of the Bible. With his recommendations of commentaries for Malachi and Revelation, he has now completed both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here is a round-up of the complete series. OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 & 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Kings 1 & 2 Chronicles Ezra & Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi NEW TESTAMENT: The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Luke The Gospel of John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians & Philemon 1 & 2 Thessalonians The Pastoral Epistles Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter & Jude The Epistles of John Revelation ***** For more recommendations, see our Recommended Reading List.

Logos Bible Software giveaway!

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

Confronting others Biblically - Paul Tripp

(HT: Justin Taylor)

On his blog Thabiti Anyabwile recently posted an acronym from Paul Tripp's book, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles. It's a model of how to think about confronting others biblically:

ENCOURAGE

Examine your heart. Confrontation always begins with you. Because we all struggle with indwelling sin, we must begin with ourselves. We must be sure that we have dealt with our anger, impatience, self-righteousness, and bitterness. When we start with our own confession, we are in a much better place to lead another to confess.

Note your calling. Remember that confrontation is not based on your opinion of the person. You are there as an ambassador and your job is to faithfully represent the message of the King. In other words, your goal is to help people see and accept God's view of them.

Check your attitude. When you speak, are your words spoken in kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, forbearance, compassion, and love? Failure to do this will hinder God-honoring, change-producing confrontation. We need to examine both our message and our attitude as we speak.

Own your own faults. It is vital to enter moments of confrontation with a humble recognition of who we really are. As we admit our own need for the Lord's forgiveness, we are able to be patient and forgiving with the one to whom God has called us to minister.

Use words wisely. Effective communication demands preparation, particularly of our words. We need to ask God to help us use words that carry his message, not get in the way of it.

Reflect on Scripture. The content of confrontation is always the Bible. It guides what we say and how we say it. We should enter moments of confrontation with a specific understanding of what Scripture says about the issues at hand. This means more than citing proof texts; it means understanding how the themes, principles, perspectives, and commands of Scripture shape the way we think about the issues before us.

Always be prepared to listen. The best, most effective confrontation is interactive. We need to give the person an opportunity to talk, since we cannot look into his heart or read his mind. We need to welcome his questions and look for signs that he is seeing the things he needs to see. We need to listen for true confession and the commitment to specific acts of repentance. As we listen, we will learn where we are in the confrontation process.

Grant time for a response. We must give the Holy Spirit time to work. There is nothing in Scripture that promises that if we do our confrontation work well, the person will confess and repent in one sitting. Rather, the Bible teaches us that change is usually a process. We need to model the same patience God has granted us. This patience does not compromise God's work of change, but flows out of a commitment to it.

Encourage the person with the gospel. It is the awesome grace of God, his boundless love, and his ever-present help that give us a reason to turn from our sin. Scripture says that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4). The truths of the gospel--both its challenge and its comfort--must color our confrontation.

John Ortberg on Vision and Methods

John Ortberg wrote the following on the Monvee blog:

Where this vision is lacking, we can try to push people into all kinds of methods of spiritual growth. We can flood them with classes and bible studies and small groups and services, but it is like pushing noodles up Mt Everest.

We might think of four quadrants:

• Where people have methods but no correct vision, there is legalism.

• Where people have vision but no wise methods, there is frustration.

• Where people have neither vision nor methods, there is apathy.

• Where people have right vision and effective methods—there is growth.

So I find myself thinking a lot about spiritual vision these days. It poses two questions:

Am I teaching this vision? I’m constantly trying to find ways to teach so that people understand that what Jesus offers really is the only way to what they want the most, in their best selves.

Am I living this life? There is no talk in the world captivating enough to speak louder than my life. It was Jesus’ life that made people want so desperately to hear Jesus’ message.

Best and Worst states to get a speeding ticket

Here's a piece from MSNBC that lists the worst and best states for getting speeding and other driving-related tickets.

The state ranked the worst based on 17 factors, including:

• Speed limits.
• The use of red-light or speed cameras.
• Laws banning cell phone use while driving.
• Whether speeders are allowed jury trials.
• The number of speed traps (weighted by population).

The worst five:

1. New Jersey
2. Ohio
3. Maryland
4. Louisiana
5. New York

The best five:

50. Wyoming
49. Idaho
48. Montana
47. Nebraska
46. Kentucky

My home state of South Dakota is #42 and my current state of Minnesota is #44.  The only speeding ticket I have received in my 18 years of driving was in South Dakota (1998).  I think my wife must be seeking out the police in Minnesota!  ;-)

(HT FMF)

Tornados near Waseca and Austin, MN

The first three photos come from the photo gallery on the Waseca County News website. Photo above by Ginny Bergerson, second photo by Wes Ruedy, third photo by Phil Wala. First picture is the storm cell, second picture is of the tornado North of Waseca, third picture is the same cell I saw the beginnings of a funnel cloud in, and the fourth photo is a captured image from my lightning video #2.

Yesterday was an eventful and long day for me, as anyone following me on Twitter would have seen.

I started the evening off with about 25 or so people from our church at a cookout at Clear Lake Park in Waseca. We gather there each Wednesday for supper at 6:00PM and the church provides the hot dogs, buns and condiments. While we were eating we were alerted by phone (plus by people walking through the park) that we were under a tornado warning - yes warning. The sky above us was still blue, but we could see the storms building both East and West of us. We were sandwiched between two super cells. Around 7:00PM after everyone when home, I ran up the street to our house (we live 4 houses up from the park) and flipped on the TV to see what was going on. TV showed a "hook echo" from the back side of the cloud that was quite literally just in front of our house. So I ran outside, down to the lake front to see what I could spot. About the time I got to the water, the tornado sirens started going off and the wind started shifting. It was mid 80's and dripping wet humidity, with a strong breeze out of the Southeast (rare for this region). Within 5 minutes it dropped to low 70's and about 1/2 the humidity. And sirens were still going off. I could see across the lake to the East that it was raining hard, and I could also see what looked like the beginnings of a funnel cloud, though I couldn't see anything that extended all the way to the ground. This was later confirmed by a trained spotter as a tornado. Apparently at this same time people at the North end of the lake in the clubhouse of the country club saw a water spout out on the lake as well. Additionally, there was a tornado sighting 5 or so miles North and a bit East of our house, on the road towards Morristown, MN.

Then my cell phone rings, not a number I recognize, but I pick up anyhow. It is my 8+ months pregnant wife who is in Austin, MN for a Gifted and Talented Teachers Conference sponsored by Hormel. She says that the hotel they are in just asked them all to take cover and put their heads down in the tornado position in the back of their conference room. She also informs me that she left her phone in the car, and is calling on a borrowed phone. And that she has to get off the phone immediately and she'll call later. Click.

20 or so minutes later I get a call, this time from my wife's phone, and she's doing just fine. A bit panicked, but the building and people are all fine. But they have no electricity in town, and the leaders of the conference she is at will not let her drive the 60 miles home by herself. So she asks that I grab an over night bag for her and come get her. She wants to come home, but also wants to be prepared.

The whole drive from Waseca to Austin was a veritable fireworks show of lightning. Literally not a moment where some lightning wasn't flashing in front of me. I left Waseca just at dusk, and it was dark out before I made it to Owatonna. What I could see though was as I got closer to Owatonna, the ditches became more and more full of rainwater. And there was standing water in the fields as well. And this during a period of drought throughout this region. I made my way toward Austin via Blooming Prairie on Hwy. 218, stopping to record some video of the lighting for a few minutes. As I passed through Blooming Prairie I could see into the firehouse, and all the trucks were out of their stalls. A short while later I passed all the trucks returning to the fire station from somewhere the direction of Lansing, just North of Austin.

As I got near to Austin, it became clear that the whole region had lost power. All the farms were dark, and there was no glow from the city to guide me in. As I crested a small hill, I saw flashing lights ahead on the road. As I got to the lights I discovered the road was closed to both Southbound and Eastbound traffic into Austin. I asked one of the support workers and he suggested some back roads that would bring me into town. So I turned around, and managed to maneuver my way down some narrow and very soft/muddy country roads West of Austin. Eventually I snaked my way into the West side of Austin and then blindly worked my way to the hotel my wife was in. It was very difficult to find the hotel, because there weren't any lighted signs to see where thing were located, no moon light, nothing. Pitch black. I managed to accidently find the back side of the parking lot, and after circling the building my wife saw my headlights and confirmed I was at the right place. It was spooky dark out, just a notch above the back of the cave with no flashlight dark.

My wife informed me upon my arrival that we are staying the night in the hotel. Great. I didn't pack anything for me, but she's 8 months+ pregnant, I'm not dumb enough to argue. So we get the last room with a king bed (I need a king bed BTW!) and one of the maintence staff gives us a handful of tea light candels plus a book of matches, and with his flash light leads us through the building to our room. It was a quiet evening, obviously. No lights, no AC or anything. We managed to get hot showers since I figured by morning the water will have cooled or run out.

This video is of the Austin, MN tornado:


This video shows the cloud rotation quite nicely:




BTW, there is nothing really special in these videos, but since I took them I figured I'd include them.

Video #1 - taken from the side of Hwy. 218. I tried to talk but the wind and thunder, and occasional car make it about impossible to hear much of what I was saying.


Video #2 - same clouds, just zoomed in a little bit. I know, I don't have a high quality recording setup.