Gimmie That Old Time Religion

Here is a parody of many of the trends and buzzwords of the modern church.  WARNING: FUNNY.  I nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee when I read it this morning!  A crack up.  🙂

Thanks for the link Donovan!

Jeff

Another smorgasboard from around the web

There are a number of posts I’d link to link to, so here’s another “Smorgasboard” post. Once again, I found most of this stuff thanks to Tim Challies and Justin Taylor!

• Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck wrote the widely appreciated Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be, and they’ve just released Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. The duo were also recently given an opportunity to wrote a column for the Washington Post entitled, Church: Love It, Don’t Leave It.
• The Youth Small Groups have been going through Crazy Love by Francis Chan. During the month of July, this excellent book is available as a free audio book from ChristianAudio.com (download it here). Other resources associated with this book include free introductory videos to each chapter (available here), and a DVD of videos that are helpful for encouraging group discussion based on each chapter (available here).
• Ligonier Ministries Blog: “Over the course of several months, Keith Mathison put together a list of his top 5 commentaries for each book of the Bible.” For links to Mathison’s recommended commentaries on each book of the Bible, click here. (Another great resource on good commentaries can be found here).
• On a personal note: In my opinion, rugby is the greatest sport on earth! : ) The South African national team, the Springboks, is currently playing a series against the British and Irish Lions (the very best of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) – a team that is only put together once every 4 years. Well, South Africa have won the first 2 matches! There is 1 more game this Saturday…  For an awesome piece of play, click here and start watching from about 45 seconds into the video…

Blessings…

~Donovan

Christian DVD lending library

Tim Challies: “Puritan Picks is a brand new service that is probably best described as a Christian Netflix. They offer lots of fantastic DVDs (movies, kids programs, conference sets, documentaries, etc, etc).”

This library includes some excellent titles! For example, they have teaching series such as Tedd Tripp’s “Shepherding a Child’s Heart“, conference sets like the Desiring God conference on “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God“, and movies like Luther, Amazing Grace, and Chariots of Fire.

~Donovan

HT: Rod Gomez

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall

Two videos that illustrate the truth of Proverbs 16:18:

And

~ Donovan

HT: Justin Taylor

World Magazine on “Up”

I haven’t seen “Up“ yet, but I look forward to doing so.

Megan Basham, World Magazine:

“In the first 10 minutes of its latest release, Up, Pixar demonstrates why it has gained a reputation as a studio of unequalled integrity and originality. In that short span, the audience is treated to the meeting, marriage, and parting of Carl and Ellie Fredricksen, a pair of wide-eyed kids who trade the fantasy of life in the jungle for a more domestic, but no less interesting dream. With minimal dialogue, Carl (Ed Asner) and Ellie make us laugh and break our hearts at their experiences of love and loss.

From this montage, Up picks up with the rest of Carl’s story. Left without his lifelong partner, Carl grows more cantankerous and more isolated until the day he decides to chuck civilization entirely and pursue the adventure he and Ellie once envisioned as kids. He soon finds, though, thanks to a young stowaway named Russell (Jordan Nagai), that civilization still has need of him, and he has the opportunity to fulfill more than one of Ellie’s dreams.

One of the boldest aspects of Up, besides featuring a 78-year-old main character, is the lovely portrayal it offers of marriage. Countless animated films include a bride being caught up by a handsome prince, but few portray an ongoing commitment and love that deepens over years.

Heavy stuff for a kids’ flick? Perhaps, but writer/director Pete Docter fills it with such hilarious characters and breathtaking artwork, the kids won’t even notice. What parents will notice is that as funny as Up is—and it is often uproariously funny—its laughs flow from the interactions of the characters, not from adult-oriented, tacked-in jokes.

Without cynicism, without the hottest stars (unless you consider Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer hot stars), and without snarky, inappropriate humor, Up entertains kids and pulls on grownup heartstrings.”

Read the rest of the article here.

You can watch the trailer here.

~ Donovan

HT: Tim Challies

True Spirituality

This video is funny! And convicting…

Vodpod videos no longer available.

               

As James 2:14-17: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Let’s be sure our “spirituality” is true, biblical spirituality!

~Donovan

Amazing model of the Temple in Jerusalem during Jesus’ day

A retired farmer has been working on this model for more than 30 years! Check out the pictures here. 

~Donovan

HT: Tim Challies

Life

Funny, isn’t it? : ) Probably, at least in part, because we know the feeling! I find life is like this way too often! So much to consider that you never even would have thought to consider…

That’s why experience is such a blessing. And why its so incredibly helpful to learn from people with experience you don’t have, who can help you think through all you need to…

Live and learn. Seek counsel. Pray for wisdom. And laugh at yourself along the way!

~Donovan

The Dusi (a highlight of the year from my part of the world)

I was born and raised in KwaZulu Natal, a province on the east coast of South Africa. The two biggest cities in the province are Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and two major sporting events involving these two cities take place every year: the Comrades Marathon (run between the two cities), and the Dusi Canoe Marathon (paddled in Canoes [Kayaks] between the two cities). Both events are the most popular of their kind in the country, and draw competitors from all over South Africa and the world.   

The Dusi is held over a period of three days, with each day having a defined beginning and end. The first day is 45 km long, including roughly 15 km of “portaging” with the canoe (carrying it cross-country). There are shorter portaging sections on day 2 and 3. Day 2 is also 45 km and ends with a 10 km stretch of flat water on the Inanda Dam. Day 3 is 35km of clean cold water let out from the dam. That adds up to a total of 125 km over the three days! There are several sections with large rapids (with names like “The Graveyard!”), particularly on days 2 and 3. One of the rules of the race is that you must finish in the boat you started in – so a number of people cross the finish line in semi-submarines “bandaged” together with duct tape and branches for splints. Competitors have a choice to either compete in a K1 (a single person canoe) or K2 (a two person canoe). The current record stands at around 8 hours (over the three race days).

My step father, Crispin, has run the Comrades and paddled the Dusi a ridiculously high amount of times each (and consequently, he still does not have one ounce of fat on his body! He’ll be a Larry Kuechlin at 70!). My sister, Kerry, first partnered with him in the Dusi when she was in high school. I forget how many she’s done now, but she’s getting up there herself… I have many memories from “seconding” the Dusi – driving from one point where you can see the paddlers to the next, much of it along dirt roads in beautiful African bush, where the only human settlements are very rural and simple…

This Thursday through Saturday, my sister and stepdad will be paddling again! : )

Here are a few more interesting points about the Dusi (remember, this is Africa!):

• Concern is expressed almost every year about how healthy it is to paddle in this river. Informal settlements with no sanitation fill the valley through which this river runs… It’s most dangerous after heavy rains, when there’s heavy run off from the surrounding hills. “Dusi Guts” is the “affectionate” term for the vomiting and diarherrea often experienced after swallowing water when “taking a swim” (a softer way of saying you fell out of your boat!). Every so often the race is in danger of being cancelled because of concerns for cholera (see here). 
• The Dusi is also occasionally in danger of being stopped because of concerns over crocodiles in the river! There are generally no crocs in this section of river, but every so often some show up – whether pets that were released when they got too big, or adults that have swum in from further afield. An article from just a couple weeks ago is pretty spine chilling though, if you ask me. Read it here.

So… my sister and step dad will have a blast. But please pray they don’t drown, knock their heads on rocks in any big rapids, die of Dusi Guts, or get eaten by crocs… Thanks!

~Donovan

Here are a few pics of them from previous years:

                                      

This weir in Pietermaritzburg, not far from the start, is one of the first major challenges of the race. 

                                             

   There are many major rapids along the 3 day route.

 

Though this is from a different race, cross-country portaging through country like this is a big part of the Dusi. 

    

The finish in Durban. Less than a mile away, the river meets the Indian Ocean.

Matthew’s Begats

I think this song is pretty clever. And I think a book that can make it’s theme understandable and enjoyable for kids is well worth checking out! Heather and I will take a look at the book (see it here) and let you know… unfortunately not in time for this Christmas, but well in advance for next. See the song performed live (from a concert in 2004) below:

~ Donovan