Leaves & Lewis

The changing of seasons invigorates me.  When fall waltzes in, I feel a light breeze blowing through my own soul, sweeping away the dead leaves and lifting the humid blanket of summer.  I find the harvest ripe, the sun bright, and familiar paths, though often taken, have a new appeal for me.  

C.S. Lewis offers an insightful perspective on the changing seasons.  Here's a quote from The Screwtape Letters, which I thought you might like to ponder on one of your autumn walks:

He [God] has balanced the love of change in them by a love of permanence. He has contrived to gratify both tastes together in the very world He has made, by that union of change and permanence which we call Rhythm. He gives them seasons, each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always felt as a novelty yet always as the recurrence of an immemorial theme.

Mark Driscoll Interviews John Piper

Today, I listened to a recording of Mark Driscoll interviewing John Piper. I am a huge fan of John Piper and a growing fan of Mark Driscoll, so I found this interview delightful. John Piper talks about growing up, raising a family of his own, understanding his wife, and some of the personal challenges he has experienced. After listening to him preach and reading some of his books, I admire him and am deeply grateful for his words. It's nice to know he was a kid once. And he had to learn how to have a good marriage. And looking back, he wishes he had parented differently. It's nice when those folks I tend to put on pedestals become real people in my mind. Other John Piper fans may enjoy the interview, too. You can watch it on video at The Resurgence.

Questions for Sinlges Considering Marriage

The Lord has sometimes challenged me with questions about my feelings and motives concerning marriage. I am still thinking about all of these questions, even years later, and have not completely answered any, but God has used them to graciously reveal my heart to me, which is sometimes painful and always valuable. Maybe he will do the same for you. I encourgae my single friends to prayerfully consider the following:

1. Do you think more about the kind of husband you would like to have or the kind of wife you would like to be?

2. Do you appreciate marriage for its own sake or do you simply think of it as the ultimate form of acceptance?

3. What are the habits you hope to have as a married person? (For example, keeping a tidy house, being industrious, and being a good steward of time and money) Are you forming them now as a single?

Man Uses Barbie Fishing Rod to Make Record Catch

Fri Aug 22, 2:51 AM ET ELKIN, N.C. - David Hayes' granddaughter just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce. Alyssa's father had bought the pink Barbie fishing rod for Christmas and she had caught a few bluegill before her grandfather hauled in the catfish.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported the catch Aug. 5 in eastern Wilkes County has been certified as a record by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Hayes and his granddaughter have been fishing in the pond behind his house since she was big enough to hold a pole. Hayes said his granddaughter worried he would break her rod. He landed the 21-pound fish on a 6-pound test line. It was 32inches long, 2 inches longer than the rod.

Yesterday, I was thinking about evangelism and remembering with much disappointment that I've never shared the Gospel with any success. Or at least, no one I've talked to about Jesus has decided to accept him. I've concluded that I will never be much of a fisher of men, since it appears that I'm using pretty poor equipment. However, this story reminded me that while Jesus said he would make his followers fishers of men, he did not say he would give us all the same fishing pole. Maybe I should keep talking to people, keep praying for them, and see what God might do with my version of the Barbie fishing rod. Here's a video about the famous catch: