If you know what I normally sound like, this will be especially fun for you. I’m not altering my voice at all in this recording, I’m just relaxing it and speaking normally. Last night I thought it was Barry White. Today, it seems more Shohreh Aghdashloo. Check it out:
Category: Personal
Me and IE
That’s pretty much it.
The Dell Museum
The other day Steph was going to head down to The Bell Museum of Natural History, and we had this brief conversation.
Steph: “Tomorrow I’m going to be at The Bell Museum in the afternoon.”
Josh: “Did you say The Dell Museum?”
Steph: “No, The Bell Museum of Natural History.”
Josh: “Oh! I thought you said The Dell Museum of Insufficient Foresight.”
OH SNAP! YES I DID!
The Hope That We Confess
I’m not a very political person. I lean Republican, but not always very strongly. I tend to be apolitical. If you’ve been reading this blog or known me for very long, you’ll know that’s true. I mention these things to back up the fact that I’ve never been too bothered by anything Obama has said in the sense that I understand what he’s thinking and why he thinks that, even though I don’t usually agree with it. But tonight I heard something that made me nearly fall out of my chair, or shout, or I don’t know what.
This commercial was released by the Obama campaign recently in which they lift some audio from the end of Obama’s recent speech at the DNC. In case you don’t have time to watch the ad, this is the end of the section of the speech they use in the ad, and to which I’d like to draw your attention (emphasis mine):
At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
When I heard it, I had to stop and rewind. Here, Obama is quoting Hebrews 10:23. You might like to take a look at the surrounding passage or the whole chapter to get a little context. It’s worth it, go ahead and read. If you’re not really into reading the Bible, try this version.
With that verse in its proper context, the hope is the promise of God to save us from our sin through the sacrifice Jesus made. The hope we have is based on God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises.
I know Obama is a Christian and not a Muslim. But a person who takes his faith and his scripture seriously, no matter what religion he is and what his holy book is, would never leave the ambiguity that Obama did when lifting that reference to Jesus, the single most important character in the Bible, and his God as a Christian, out of scripture and putting it into his speech. Why? Because in the context of his speech, our hope becomes something else altogether. Hmm… what could that hope be in, I wonder?
I suppose we’ll just have to fill in the blanks ourselves.
I would sooner die than distort scripture like this. Dude is not a Muslim. He’s not a Christian either. He’s an opportunist.
What Happens When I Go to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Get Bored
Caleb Sleeps with Babo
There’s just something about seeing that little boy clutching a monster in his sleep that is inescapably cute.
A Blessing for Caleb
Last Friday Caleb turned one year old. I am so proud of my boy. I love watching him grow, I love getting to know him, I love seeing his personality develop and start to show, and I even love all the difficult lessons fatherhood is teaching me right now. Well, I usually love those. Especially when I finally get the lesson through my thick skull.
One of the pastors at our church, Pastor David Michael, adapted a collection of bible passages into blessings that he would recite to his children before they went to sleep. When he showed these blessings to other parents, they loved them, so he published a few dozen of them in a little booklet. I chose the blessing based on Psalm 112 to give to Caleb, and although I can’t quite get through the whole thing reading it out loud, I wanted to share it here with all of you because it means a lot to me. This is what I want for Caleb. I want this for him more than I want anything else in life for myself.
May you be a man who fears the Lord;
May you find great delight in the Lord’s commands.
May your children be mighty in the land. Even to the next generation, may you and your children be blessed.
May you find your wealth and your riches in God.
May you endure in righteousness forever.
Even in the darkness may the light dawn for you.
May you be a gracious, compassionate and righteous man.
May you never be shaken. And may your name be remembered by the Lord forevermore.
I know for certain because of the DNA I’ve given him and the world he lives in that Caleb will find himself in deep darkness at some point his life, either caused by himself, or by circumstances beyond his control. Knowing that God’s light would dawn in the midst of that is the greatest thing I could ever ask for him. Pain is guaranteed, but rescue isn’t.
Caleb, if you fear the Lord, you don’t need to fear that darkness; the light will dawn for you.