Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

(A great video clip has caused technical difficulties which slooged the rest of this post when I tried to embed it. It's still worth a look as some folks make a great event out of a little league game. The rest of the post is having to be reconstructed and reposted. Please pray for my sanctification and for my computer to live through the rest of the morning. Truly, I have a case of the Mondays.)

Okay, I had my whole post ready to go, but the video clip I had embeded slooged my whole post, tossing its contents except the video clip. I noticed this when I clicked "View Post." After that, everything else was gone.

Of course, had Blogger not so conveniently saved automatically for me, I could have reverted back to the older version!

After I came back down from my out of body experience, I calmly told myself I would just have to go back through my history and reconstruct the post, even though I SOOO don't have time for that.

But, then even the sloogey video (which was a good one) wouldn't play, so I'm madder than a hatter and have a case of the Mondays like you've never known.

Get that lumber in his teeth. Let 'em know you're there!

Tonight the 2nd season starts for hockey, so it's time to make predictions. (Top 10 story lines to watch this postseason)

While I'm at it, I'll offer my belated baseball predictions and solicit the same from you.

Sheesh, why not NBA predictions as well.

NHL (1st Round Schedule)
Western Conference ...
1Red Wings over 8Predators
2Sharks over 7Flames
6Avalanche over 3Wild
5Stars over 4Ducks

1Red Wings over 6Avalanche
5Stars over 2Sharks

5Stars over 1Red Wings (revenge for '98)

Eastern Conference ...
1Canadians over 8Bruins
2Penguins over 7Senators
3Capitals over 6Flyers
5Rangers over 4Devils

1Canadians over 5Rangers
3Capitals over 2 Penguins

3Capitals over 1 Canadians

Stanley Cup Finals ...
Dallas Stars over Washington Capitals

Notes: I admit limited knowledge of the east, but I still feel pretty good about that first round, especially the Devils eating it for taunting the Lord like that. I'm probably naive with Dallas, but crazy things happen in the NHL playoffs.

MLB
NL East - Phillies
NL Central - Cardinals
NL West - Diamondbacks
NL Wildcard - Cubs

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - White Sox
AL West - Athletics
AL Wildcard - Yankees

World Series - Cardinals over Red Sox (revenge for '04)

Notes: Without anticipated seeding it's hard to know, but I'd like to see Cardinals over Cubs and Red Sox over White Sox to win the NLCS and ALCS respectively.

NBA (anticipated seeding)
Western Conference ...
1Hornets over 8Nuggets
4Jazz over 5Rockets
7Mavericks over 2Spurs
3Lakers over 6Suns

4Jazz over 1Hornets
3Lakers over 7Mavericks

3Lakers over 4Jazz

Eastern Conference ...
1Celtics over 8Hawks
4Caviliers over 5Bullets
2Pistons over 7Raptors
3Magic over 676ers

1Celtics over 4Caviliers
2Pistons over 3Magic

1Celtics over 2Pistons

NBA Finals ...
Lakers over Celtics (just like old times)

Notes: Mavs over the Spurs seems unlikely, but the Dirk & Co. match up pretty well against the Champs, even in the playoffs. NBA playoffs operate under a strict bracket system, so teams are not re-seeded after the first round to give the highest seed, for example, the lowest possible remaining seed as an opponent (like the NHL).

Good relations with the Wookies, I have.

Mark Driscoll's use of Yoda-ese (Trinity: God Is) motivated me to share with you ...

Some pearls of wisdom from Master Yoda.

When 900 years you reach, look as good, you will not.

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.

Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.

Already know you that which you need.

A Jedi's strength flows from the force.

Grave danger you are in. Impatient you are.

Blind we are, if creation of this clone army we could not see.

May the force be with you.

There... is... another... Sky... walker

Strong am I with the force.

Lost a planet Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing.

Agree with you the council does. Your apprentice Skywalker will be.

Around the survivors a perimeter create.

Help you I can, yes.

Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.

Always in motion is the future.

[sarcastically] Ohhh! Great warrior! Wars not make one great!

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

You must unlearn what you have learned.

The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.

Do not underestimate the powers of the emperor, or suffer your father's fate, you will.

You will know when you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

Soon will I rest, yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have. Twilight is upon me, soon night must fall.

Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.

Not if anything to say about it I have.

The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.

Feel the force!

Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the force. But beware of the dark side. Anger... fear... aggression. The dark side of the force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.

Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice.

The boy you trained, gone he is. Consumed by Darth Vader.

Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things.

Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Not victory , Obi-Wan. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun, this Clone War has.

Pain, suffering, death I feel. Something terrible has happened. Young Skywalker is in pain. Terrible pain.

Stopped they must be; on this all depends. Only a fully-trained Jedi Knight, with the force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his emperor.

Obi-Wan: That boy is our last hope.
Yoda: No, there is another.

Already know you that which you need.

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned. Save you it can.

Luke: What's in there?
Yoda: Only what you take with you.

Luke: I can’t believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.

Much to learn you still have.

Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

This is a neat awareness test. I got the right answer, but wonder if you can. (HT Vitamin Z)


Don't forget to vote for Tom Ascol and the Founders Blog in the SBC Blog Madness Final Four. (UPDATE: He's currently in second place, 13 votes behind, but a push before the polls close tonight could pull out a victory for the good guys.)


Read about study results showing the unchurched prefer more traditional worship environments.

"By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building."

Check out Lionel Woods' How Radio Ministries are Destroying the Local Church: The Celebrated Orator Epidemic.

"Lets not compare our pastors to Piper or Sproul. That is like comparing our wives to some airbrushed supermodel who spends hours working out, have no kids to worry about, and probably eats 800 calories per day to look the way they do."

Read the article that prompted Lionel's post: When Your Preacher Is Not John Piper.

"Third, if your pastor is (honestly) dull, but he preaches the truth faithfully, a little statement I once heard might be helpful for you to remember: 'The mature worshipper is easily edified.'"

Read Tim Challies' book review of Instructing a Child's Heart, by Tedd Tripp. Read also Challies' review of Shepherding a Child's Heart, also by Tripp.


Check out a video clip on Reepicheep of John Piper describing the Problem of Evangelicalism. The essence is that they don't receive Jesus for the treasure that He truly is.


Check out Brent Thomas on Why It’s Arrogant to Say “Just Give Me the Bible and the Holy Spirit, I Don’t Need the Opinions of Men” or, Why Theology is Practical. Incidentally, I think he's being influenced by Edwards in his writing, or at least in his titling.


Read George Will's Bleeding Hearts but Tight Fists, noting that conservatives are more charitable than liberals. (HT Matthew Bradley)


Read Abraham Piper's 6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog.


Read 10 biblical guidelines on how Christians can engage in politics without “losing their souls.” (HT Justin Taylor)


Read about the difference between good debt & bad debt.


Check out the 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies: Films that make your high school history teacher cry.


Matt Waymeyer at Pulpit Magazine's blog continues talking about infant baptism. (* indicates those mentioned last Monday)
Read A Biblical Critique of Infant Baptism*
Read Infant Baptism and Acts 16:31-34*
Read Infant Baptism and Acts 2:39*
Read Infant Baptist and Acts 15:1-29
Read Infant Baptism and Divine Adoption


Check out the impressive acting career of Charlton Heston, recently deceased. 2 of his movies (Ben-Hur & The Ten Commandments) make my all-time top 10. Read the AP obituary and/or read the NY Times obituary. Factoid ...

"Mr. Heston was always able to channel some energies into the public arena. He was an active supporter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., calling him "a 20th-century Moses for his people," and participated in the historic march on Washington in 1963."

Read about and watch some Today show videos about a case of mistaken identity where one family thought their daughter was dead and the other thought theirs was in a coma. After 5 weeks they realized Laura was not Laura, but Whitney. That meant horrible news for one family and joyous for the other. Note the exaltation of Christ in the videos by both families. Think about holding a funeral for your daughter and then 5 weeks later hearing, "We have reason to believe that your daughter is alive." These are some pretty amazing words from the father of the girl who died:

"We believe that God is sovereign and that He takes an active part in our lives. Even in sorrow there can be joy."

Read as Darrell Bock takes A Look at the Two Christian Faiths in Our Public Square: Christianity and Jesusanity. (HT Ray Fowler)


Check out the upcoming national Founders conference in Oklahoma, near Tulsa. Anyone from the DFW area interested in carpooling?

"The 2008 National Founders Conference will explore the place, necessity, and some of the God-ordained means for church renewal and church planting under the theme, 'Lengthening the Cords and Strengthening the Stakes: Renewing and Planting Local Churches.'"

Read a powerful and sobering Touchstone article about how we now treat humans life with about the same dignity as animal life. (HT Brother Hank)

"Medical science now treats man as veterinary medicine had dealt with lower animals. Contraceptive and reproductive techniques, some of which have been around for centuries, were never applied to human beings until our own day. Camel drivers on caravans wanted to prevent the female camels from becoming pregnant during the trek across the desert. So they would simply thrust a stone up into the camel’s uterus. Centuries later in America we now thrust IUDs into women’s uteruses for the same reason.

Cats would be spayed, dogs neutered. Now we do it to human beings. Artificial insemination has long been standard in the breeding of cattle. We now do it to women. Human life in its coming into being is no longer considered human life and is subjected to experimentation and the ignominy of cryopreservation. We no longer treat human beings with the awe and reverence due to those endowed with the divine image."

Check out some thoughts from Daryl Wingerd posted by Black and Reformed Ministries dealing the question, "Is it OK for Christians to CUSS?" Being a student of language, a solid definition of "cussing" or "profanity" is often a very interesting conversation.


Check out 7 counterfeit gospels from How People Change, by Tim Lane and Paul David Tripp.

3. Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”

Check out some reflective thoughts 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King at Blaque Tulip: Where do we go from here--Rebuild.


Read 5 Reasons Why [Movie] Trailers Are Bad.

1. If it’s a trailer for a comedy, you have now probably seen the best jokes from the whole movie.

Find out How to Identify the Learning Styles of Your Youth.

"When trying to discover learning styles, a standardized checklist or "test" in Bible study is not going to cut it. Try assessing your teens' learning styles informally."

Read Greg Gilbert's I Move We Don't Vote So Much! He suggests limiting church voting to 5 areas.


Read this ironic story of the man who called the police to complain about the neighbor's cat, but then the police found 84 marijuana plants on his premises.


Read this ironic story about cheating and plagiarizing the honor code of another school, without attribution, of course.


Read Newsweek's The Curious Lives of Surrogates.

"But what kind of woman would carry a child to term, only to hand him over moments after birth? Surrogates challenge our most basic ideas about motherhood, and call into question what we've always thought of as an unbreakable bond between mother and child. It's no wonder many conservative Christians decry the practice as tampering with the miracle of life, while far-left feminists liken gestational carriers to prostitutes who degrade themselves by renting out their bodies."

Read also Al Mohler's thoughts on Newsweek surrogate story.


Read as Johnny Mac lovingly confronts the question, "How do we know when to confront and when to quietly forgive and forget?"


Watch a video clip where Obama labels unwanted pregnancy as being "punished with a baby." (cf. Ps 127:3)


Read as Leslie Follmar wonders about the inconsistency with regard to contentment in desiring a spouse vs. desiring children.

"Why do we pray for contentedness for people that are single, but not usually for people that want children? Why don't we just ask God to bring them a godly mate just like how we pray to bring couples a baby? I've never heard someone pray, "God, make this couple content in their barrenness," but that's basically what we pray when we ask that singles would be content."

Read as Al Mohler addresses The Divorce Industrial Complex. Think about it ... not everyone wants you to live happily ever after.

"Few Americans seem to understand that marriage is being undermined by what can be called a "Divorce Industrial Complex" that includes lawyers, counselors, court personnel, and various others."

Read Rev's conversation with Dr. Bill Wagner, candidate for SBC president who has been critical of Calvinists as being "less missional" than Arminians.

"I [Dr. Wagner] do not see my enemies as the Calvinists or any other theological position. To me we have two real enemies. One is secularism and the other is Islam. We must work together to go against these two dangers."

Check out the controversy with LeBron James on the cover of Vogue magazine.


Read about how theology impacts Protestant bank accounts. (HT Colossians 3:16)

"The one big difference is the conservative Protestants' assumption that God is the owner of money and people are managers of it," Keister said. "They are doing with their money what God wants them to do with it, so that does mean that it is not sitting in their bank accounts."

Read as RC Sproul answers the following: Did Jesus ever laugh? What do the Scriptures tell us about his character and sense of humor? (HT Joe Thorn)


Read some inexpensive ideas for showing appreciation for Sunday school teachers.


Check out the song Indescribable, by Chris Tomlin, complete with lyrics and audio/video. Musical Monday is a regular bit on Samurai's Dogo.

"Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God.
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God."

Comment of the Week:
"Gunny...this is entirely too much work. Haven't you heard of blogging for fun?" (selahV)

“Just as the physically blind cannot see the sun,
the spiritually blind cannot see the Son.”
-John F. MacArthur, Jr.

One grain may tip the scale. One man may make the difference between victory and defeat.

How would you like to REALLY rock the vote?

The Founders Blog is in the Final Four of a "best SBC blog" competition and executive director Tom Ascol needs your vote.

If you're not familiar with Founders Ministries, I encourage you to check out their scene as well.

(conferences - journal - resources)

The gist of it is a group within the SBC committed to its reform and committed to the historic theological roots of the SBC (i.e., Reformed theology).

There are some great resources on the site and some great folks associated with the ministry.

Tom is one of the nicer guys you'll ever meet and is also an Aggie, so he's got that going for him ... which is nice.

Still not convinced? Tom makes a pretty convincing case, complete with some serious "trash talk."

Blog Madness Final Four: Full Court Press

P.S. The polls will close around 8PM (Eastern) on Monday night.

He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.

Many of us have Church History heroes, chief for me is George Whitefield, the Reformed English evangelist & fellow Oxford alum.

Here is a list of questions Whitefield would ask himself each night "as a basis of judging on his actions during the day."

Have I,

1. Been fervent in private prayer?
2. Used stated hours of prayer?
3. Used ejaculation every hour?
4. After or before every deliberate conversation or action, considered how it might tend to God's glory?
5. After any pleasure, immediately given thanks?
6. Planned business for the day?
7. Been simple and recollected in everything?
8. Been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could?
9. Been meek, cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
10. Been proud, vain, unchaste, or enviable of others?
11. Recollected in eating and drinking? Thankful? Temperate in sleep?
12. Taken time for giving thanks according to [William] Law's rules?
13. Been diligent in studies?
14. Thought or spoken unkindly of anyone?
15. Confessed all sins?

-Dallimore, George Whitefield, 1:80

Any other self-examination questions you've found helpful?

It’s anchorMAN, not achorLADY!

The case of Sherri Klouda vs. SWBTS, Dr. Patterson et al is well known in the SBC. The issue of women in ministry is one that every church has to address at some time on some level.

I share with you a list I compiled, an exercise that I've done before on the topic.

101 practical scenarios regarding women in ministry.

Cogitate about the biblical principles that determine what a woman may or may not do within the body of Christ. Some passages to start with might include 1 Cor 11:2-16; 14:33-35; Eph 5:22-33; 1 Tim 2:12; 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 2:3-5; etc. (others?)

After you have drafted up some theoretical, biblical principles that should govern such activity, relate them to the following, asking yourself, "If it were up to me, would I be on board with a woman doing X?"

Be prepared not only to answer "yeah" or "nay" but to support your answer.

In addition, you may want to distinguish for yourself, and for us, those things which you think are (a) biblically prohibited and those things which you're just (b) "not comfortable with" or want to play it safe with, etc. One other suggestion: You may want to try to put these on some sort of continuum and decide where you "draw the line" so to speak.

It seems to me there's a tension. On the one hand, we don't want to violate biblical texts like those above, yet we also don't want to unnecessarily limit the usefulness of the gifted sisters God has graciously given to us.

(N.B. The term "mixed" refers to a group containing both men and women.)

Are you on board with a Christian woman …

1. Being the president of a denomination?
2. Being a member of the governing board of a denomination?
3. Teaching/preaching/speaking at a national denominational meeting?
4. Praying at a national denominational meeting?
5. Being the senior pastor in a church?
6. Presiding over the Lord's Supper?
7. Distributing the elements of the Lord's Supper?
8. Collecting the offering?
9. Administering baptism to a woman in the church service?
10. Administering baptism to a man in the church service?
11. Administering baptism to her daughter in the church service?
12. Administering baptism to her eight-year-old son in the church service?
13. Administering baptism to her seventeen-year-old son in the church service?
14. Being the permanently designated leader of a (mixed) home church or cell group whammy?
15. Teaching the lesson(s) for such a cell group/fellowship family, etc.?
16. Being the committee chair for a mixed church committee (e.g., finance, missions, etc.)?
17. Being the director of Christian Education/Sunday School overseeing mixed teachers?
18. Being a foreign missionary in charge the whole operation, including the teaching, etc.?
19. Leading a mixed short-term mission trip?
20. Being the mixed choir director?
21. Being on a mixed praise team that leads the congregation in worship?
22. Being the lead vocalist on said praise team?
23. Being the leader/organizer of said praise team?
24. Being the minister of music who chooses and leads the congregational singing?
25. Singing a solo during the worship service?
26. Singing a duet with her husband during the worship service?
27. Singing a duet with a man not her husband during the worship service?
28. Singing in the mixed choir?
29. Singing with the congregation during the worship service period?
30. Being an elder?
31. Being a deaconess (i.e., female deacon - assuming biblical understanding of deacons as servants and elders in place to govern)?
32. Being the church secretary?
33. Being the church treasurer?
34. Member of a governing board that operates as an elder board for a congregation?
35. Speaking/preaching/teaching during the "sermon time" on occasion under supervision of elders and senior pastor?
36. Performing a baby dedication during service (assuming on staff)?
37. Speaking in a mixed Sunday school class (i.e., as part of the discussion)?
38. Speaking in a mixed Bible study (i.e., as part of the discussion)?
39. Speaking in a congregational business meeting?
40. Moderating a congregational business meeting?
41. Voting in a congregational business meeting?
42. Being the president of a theological seminary or Bible college?
43. Being the department head over male professors at a seminary or Bible college?
44. Teaching Bible or theology in a theological seminary to a class of women?
45. Teaching Bible or theology in a theological seminary to a mixed class?
46. Teaching Greek or Hebrew in a theological seminary to a mixed class?
47. Teaching Greek or Hebrew in a Bible college?
48. Teaching counseling to a mixed group in a theological seminary?
49. Teaching English (or math, history, etc.) to a mixed group in a Bible college?
50. Teaching any subject at a secular university that would allow male enrollment?
51. Being the principal of a Christian school that has male teachers?
52. Being the teacher of a mixed class in a Christian high school teaching art?
53. Being the teacher of a mixed class in a Christian high school teaching Bible?
54. Being the leader of a mixed Christian high school camp?
55. Being a camp counselor in charge of a mixed (high school) group?
56. Being the supervisor over a Christian man in any secular work environment?
57. Being the teacher of a mixed adult Sunday school class?
58. Being the teacher of a mixed Senior High (ages 15-18ish) SS class?
59. Being the teacher of a mixed Junior High (ages 13-14ish) SS class?
60. Being the teacher of a mixed Elementary (ages 5-12) SS class?
61. Being the teacher of an adult female Bible study?
62. Being the leader of a kids program (e.g., AWANA) that has male leaders?
63. Organizing VBS (assuming mixed teachers)?
64. Teaching on occasion in a mixed adult SS class, under supervision of male teacher?
65. Giving her testimony in the congregational worship service?
66. Giving her testimony in the mixed adult Sunday school class?
67. Writing a book on theology (not specifically designated for women)?
68. Writing a commentary on a Bible book as part of a series with a male editor?
69. Writing or editing a study Bible?
70. Contributing notes for study Bible with a male general editor?
71. Leading a translation team for a Bible version?
72. Being a translator on a translation team for a Bible version?
73. Editing or writing a Bible or theological dictionary?
74. Editing a Christian magazine (e.g., Christianity Today)?
75. Editing the church newsletter or bulletin?
76. Contributing an article to a Bible or theological dictionary (under male editor)?
77. Speaking/preaching evangelistically to an intended mixed group of non-Christians?
78. Evangelizing a man in a random personal encounter encompassing the two of them?
79. Praying to open or close a Bible study or Sunday school class?
80. Praying (aloud, representing the congregation) during the worship service?
81. Reading Scripture aloud to the congregation on a Sunday morning?
82. Reading Scripture to the Sunday school class or Bible study (upon request of male teacher?
83. Praying among a mixed group of praying folk in a Sunday school class?
84. Praying among a mixed group at a congregational prayer meeting?
85. Reading Scripture among a mixed group at a congregational prayer meeting?
86. Participating in the congregational Scripture reading during the worship service?
87. Praying for the mixed group before they consume a meal at a restaurant together?
88. Praying for the congregation at the park before they consume a picnic meal together?
89. Being ordained and bearing the title "reverend"?
90. Having the title "pastor" (e.g., Children's Pastor, Women's pastor, etc.)?
91. Having the title "minister" (e.g., Children's Minister, Women's Minister, etc.)?
92. Being a paid member of the pastoral staff (e.g., overseeing children, women, etc.)?
93. Giving the announcements (regularly) to start the worship service?
94. Giving an announcement on occasion dealing with kids during the worship service?
95. Welcoming people at the door as a greeter before the worship service?
96. Driving the bus to pick up kids for Sunday school?
97. Driving the van of mixed adults going to a denominational convention?
98. Organizing the trip of mixed adults to go to a denominational convention?
99. Owning a Christian bookstore (while employing men)?
100. Managing a Christian bookstore (while supervising men)?
101. Being responsible for (and choosing) inventory in a Christian bookstore?