Potpourri of Thoughts...

What truly defines a word- its etymology or its usage?

In French "pot pourri" is literally a "rotten pot"

In modern English it's a mixture of flowers, herbs and spices kept in a jar and used for scent

I'll let you decide...this post is a potpourri of thoughts from last week.

OLD TESTAMENT CLASS

I've been enjoying this class that Alex Tuckness has been teaching. It's one of many classes our church offers to equip the next generation of up and coming leaders. I've enjoyed being forced to read large chunks of scripture all at one time. I'm plagued by the "devotional reader" complex. There's something about my mind that will only read the Bible slowly, in a meditative way. This is mostly good. But the inherent weakness of such reading is that you miss the big picture. You end up staring at a single tree, and missing the beauty of the forest, as it were. I have seen the centrality of the book of Deuteronomy. If there's one OT book to master, that's it. I love what Alex said, "Basically the rest of the OT can be summarized, 'Moses wasn't kidding.'" If you haven't understood Deuteronomy, then the Psalms, Proverbs, Prophets, and history books won't make much sense. I also enjoyed a jet tour of Joshua. In my mind, it seemed to be to the OT what Acts is to the NT... God powerfully on the move. 

Do it again, God, in our day.

LEATHA FOUNDATION ORPHANAGE

We just got a great update from the orphanage. This will get a separate post, but I'm having trouble with our scanner, so it will have to wait. Pictures always tell a thousand words. But here's a sample from one of the enclosed letters, "Dear my parents in the Lord. I am Deborah Paundi 11 years old, schooling at Milepa...I lost my parents 3 years ago both father and mother. Since my parents died I had no hope for my future, especially for school and my daily living. But since Leatha Foundation started in 2006 it has come to my rescue, because I am receiving food, cloth, soap, pens, books and blankets which makes my life change many things...I always pray for the poeple who are supporting Leatha foundation. May God bless you all."

That blessing is for all of you who have given generously for the orphanage. May God hear her prayer for you. I'm confident He does- there's a special place in His heart for them. (Ex. 22:22-24)

HEADBAND

I bought Leatha a headband for Valentines Day from this website (click here). She loved it! Fellas, you might want to check this out. The main thing is to do something for your wife that required some thought and planning. I'm no expert on these things, but I was a blind squirrel that found a nut this year...

BIG FAMILIES

Interesting article in the NY Times on big families, which I happen to be a fan of (big families that is, not the NY Times. Click here for the article) Great thought: "Lifestyles are expensive, not kids." Props to Challies Dot Com for the vine. 

PANDORA

Check out www.pandora.com if you haven't yet. It's free and customized radio based on what you like. Just type in a band you like and, "tahdah" you'll be listening to a bunch of music you'll probably enjoy.

SALT COMPANY

Well, once again Alex took us to the depths of the Mariana Trench of the Bible this week with Romans 11. He did a great job, once again. I'm glad he was willing to take 9 and 11 for me. But to be honest I'm looking forward to coming up for air with the rest of the book. Romans 12 has the biggest "therefore" in the whole Bible.

ANTHEM SONGWRITING

The team is writing some really cool songs these days. However, today's practice reminded me of how difficult it is for a song to come together and truly hit its "sweet spot." It's a unique thing when the content, melody line and musical style perfectly collide to produce an "encounter," for lack of a better word. The Anthem band will be leading worship in the auditorium at Cornerstone next weekend, where we'll present some of the new songs.

Just a few days ago we decided to push the live Anthem recording to be on the last TSC of the semester (April 30). There will be two services in the Cornerstone auditorium at 7 and 9. It's going to be an amazing night. The Willow Creek Association is interested in marketing all the Cornerstone Christmas productions and original Anthem music, so we hope the blessing of what God is doing here will reach more people. His will be done.