Desks

I know that tagging is a common occurrence in the blog-o-sphere, and I don’t usually pay any attention if it happens to me…but today Fletch sneaked up behind me on the internet playground and yelled “yer it…” (then promptly added: “no tag backs” as he ran away laughing to himself). So…I’ll play…this once…kinda.

What’s on your desk? You can tell a lot about a person by the state of their desk and what they keep on it. So, share what’s on your desk. You can take pictures, take an inventory, or do both. Don’t have a desk? That’s okay, just give us a glimpse into the space where you pay bills, write letters, grade papers, study, or work on the computer.

Office Desk
This is where I pay the bills, edit my audio pieces; Skype with the parents and the kids do their Spanish (and occasional computer games)…its also where a lot of things get stacked (not pictured).

Studio Desk
This is “my space”…everything that would once go to the office, now can reside here…but notice that it has a door that transforms it into just another closet when I’m not home…I also edit video in here. Finally, it is where many of the old books and “forbidden books” reside.

The Portable Desk
This is my most common desk…sometimes casual, sometimes dressy, but almost always available (when the other spaces are too cluttered) unless there’s a kid on it/over it.
From Job 36

16 “ Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress,
Into a broad place where there is no restraint;
And what is set on your table would be full of richness.

Outside Hollywood

Isaac Botkin

I produced this three-part series based series for Prime Time America this week on Isaac Botkin’s book: Outside Hollywood: A Young Christian’s Guide to Vocational Filmmaking.

There are many voices today that call for Christians to enter Hollywood in order to positively influence it…unfortunately, the track record is pretty poor. Some who have tried, have been frustrated at best and contaminated at worst.

Isaac is clear on why independent film-making is a better answer.  Vision Forum has a couple great lecture series on Christian Filmmaking that I highly recommend.

I’m also grateful for my friend Chris Staron for his participation in the features, sharing his experiences with me.

Part I

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood.MP3%5D

Part II

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood%20Part%20II.MP3%5D

Part III

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood%20Part%20III.MP3%5D

Click here for more information about the film festival sponsored by Vision Forum Ministries.

Interview Extras

There are always interview clips that just don’t fit into the features…here are three of them that ended up on the editing floor.

Geoffrey Botkin: more on the Frankfurt School and his own testimony

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood_GBotkin%20Testimony.MP3%5D

Isaac Botkin: on the importance of strong heroes in our films

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood_Heroes.MP3%5D

Chris Staron: on the question “can Hollywood be redeemed?”

[Audio http://www.mediamax.com/ebenim/Hosted/Outside%20Hollywood_Staron%20Redeem%20Hollywood.MP3%5D

Count Your Blessings…

Bless Our Home, courtesy of the Library of Congress

I recently heard an interview on Kevin Swanson‘s radio program with Greg Vaughan of Letters from Dad. The program encouraged fathers to begin writing letters to their families as a living memorial of our love for them, as well as a record of God’s faithfulness to our families.

So I wrote the following letter to my family and read it to them before dinner this evening. It isn’t overly thoughtful or profound, but I hope that it is something that over time becomes a meaningful part of our family life.

For my family,

On the occasion of the 37th anniversary of my birth, I want to take a moment to contemplate the blessings of my life and hope you’ll find encouragement in their telling.

I am blessed to have a wife who is so gifted and chooses to honor God by being obedient and investing those gifts for the betterment of our home.

I am blessed to have children who find such companionship in each other–who lovingly call each other friends.

I am blessed to have a home that is a refuge of love and peace from the world around us.

I am blessed to have a family-line of Godliness–by His grace, a multi-generational work for His glory and to His end.

I am blessed to have a heavenly Father who has chosen to reveal Himself to me–through His Son and His word.

And I am blessed to have this day to remember my blessings and mark another year of God’s provision and care.

May God work His perfect plan through us in this coming year so that we will not only receive His blessings but also freely share those blessings with others.

– Your husband and father
February 21, 2008

Make a Wish

Grandma Taylor Sings to Her Cake, courtesy of Library of Congress

The children have been reminding me today that in three years I will be 40 years old. I know some friends that might freak out when they think of themselves reaching that milestone…but I don’t feel that way at all. What I am a little weirded out by however, is the fact that I am entering the time period of my life that corresponds with some of the strongest memories of my father during my own childhood.

In fact, in my mind’s eye I still see my Dad as the younger man I remember throwing a ball with, or playing chess with, or swimming with. Those images of my father are some of the strongest memories I carry–when my dad was my age…

I am challenged on this day to recommit to taking time to make those memories with my own children. Snow forts, picnics, lunar eclipses, trips to the aquarium, family worship, pizza lunches after lessons, bedtime stories (just to name a few)–for these are the days that they will remember…someday when my sons and daughter are 37…

From Psalm 92

12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
15 To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Audio Feature – Meat Recall

This past weekend the largest meat recall in US history was announced by the United States Department of Agriculture. The recall covers meat packed since February 2006 at the Westland/Hallmark Company in Southern California.

Monday I produced this short feature for Prime Time America on this recall of 143 million pounds of beef.

One More Reason to Homeschool?

To Market, courtesy of the Library of Congress

While we have chosen to Home-educate/disciple our children for theological and philosophical reasons, after today there is yet one more pragmatic reason added to a growing list…the latest meat recall.

The largest meat recall in US history has occurred after undercover video was shot by Humane Society operatives which captured on tape horrendous treatment of sick and injured cattle at the Hallmark/Westland meat packing plant. The recall occurred because they were unable to prove that the meat from these weak and sickened animals didn’t make it into the products leaving the plant.

While this story further illustrates the problems of large-scale, industrial farming, the part of the story that is additionally troubling is where this meat most likely ended up…in the school lunch program. Isn’t it a comfort to know, that in an attempt to make our education tax dollars stretch far enough to pay our teachers’ union dues, benefits/salaries, administrators, computers, janitors, etc. that school boards across the country feed school-aged children the cheapest beef they can find?

Thankfully, McDonalds has assured consumers that they don’t buy their meat from Hallmark/Westland…maybe, like Pepsi and Coke, they could invest in our educational system and begin sponsoring lunch rooms across the country to provide a safer product for these developing minds…

I think we’ll serve peanut butter and jelly today…

From Genesis 41:

And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.

Circular Reasoning

Tea Cup, courtesy of Library of Congress

Today in faculty meeting, I was a bit underwhelmed by the proceedings…so I took out a piece of paper and began a list of words and phrases that followed a stream of consciousness; beginning with what was immediately in front of me…a cup of Earl Grey Tea.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, I was thinking of my beloved–and most connections are in some way shared with her…I know that many (maybe most) of the connections will not be obvious, but they are logical, I promise. Maybe I’ll post another entry that explains the list…or you can ask Pamela about them.

Earl Grey Tea
Captain Jean Luc Picard
Inner Light
Whistle
Flook
Old Towne School of Folk Music
Violin Lessons
Edith Fridley
Tow Truck
IKEA
Cinnamon Rolls
Butter
Shortbread
Bagpipes
Amazing Grace
Slave Coast, Ghana
Luke 4:18 – 19
Tambourines
Dancing
November 15, 1992
Breakers Retirement Home
Blouses and Buttons
Wedding Cake
1 Corinthians 13
The Bond of Perfection
Faith, Hope and Charity Stained Glass Window (somewhere in England)
Hard Cider
“A Punch” (translated: A puncture)
Rebels
Drums by James Boyd
The kid’s bedtime
9:30 pm “coffee-house”
Spanish tutor
Curfew
Mr. J’s
Sauerkraut
Best friend’s dinner table
Boxing
Paul Rader
NIU
Articles on tape (read by Pamela with surprise messages from the kids sprinkled in)
$1.45 with an empty tank and toll-booths
Chicago Ave
“Every heartbeat bears your name…”
Quilts and paintbrushes
Hi-Fi and Banjo
Black and White TV
Star Trek
“Earl Grey, Hot.”

I am grateful for my bride who has traveled so many of these life paths with me. The memories are sweet, the company is sweeter.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

– Lego

In the Fields of Boaz

Ruth in the field of Boaz, courtesy of the Library of Congress

We recently finished reading the book of Judges and started reading the book of Ruth again. Tonight we read the second chapter and I was challenged once again by Boaz. The book of Judges ended with the words “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Yet here in the book of Ruth we meet a noble and honorable man who does not do what is right in his eyes, but rather, demonstrates his character and righteousness by upholding the law of God regarding harvest, reaping and the providing for the stranger (Leviticus 19:9).

The example of Boaz has made Pamela and I consider ways that we could apply these laws from Leviticus in our own modern, non-agricultural lives.

One way we have applied this principle is in our own neighborhood which has a very large immigrant community from Mexico and other Latin American countries. There are trucks that drive up and down the alley picking metal objects from the trash to recycle as scrap (something like $.05 a pound) so a few years ago we began to purposely leave metal scrap for them to pickup (radiators, shelves, etc.) as well as other items that we know we could resell, but know that they would be of use to them (a working freezer and an old frig). When we were rehabbing the house, we tried to place all items that could be recycled in the alley, instead of the dumpster for this very reason.

On a recent blog for our church, Pamela put it this way:

Understanding that the farmer sows a field as an investment for both provision and profit, we see in Scripture that it is right that he not overly account for all his assets in an attempt to recoup each and every possible expense from sowing and gathering the harvest. At the end of the season, he has brought in more than he had put forth, and the surplus is a blessing to be shared.

So our way of leaving perfectly resalable items is one way of expressing, “We received from it what we had invested in it, and that is enough. Let someone glean it who needs it.”

And on several occasions we’ve had the opportunity to greet the scrap collectors, offering to help load it on the truck and expressing to them our gratitude; that they’re doing us a great favor by taking it even as we’re doing them a favor by setting it aside.

The strength of the gleaning principle is that the person who receives the blessing of the harvest also receives the blessing of being able to work for it. There is dignity in that.

It is our prayer that Boaz will continue to serve as a vivid reminder to our family of the scriptural mandate to be people of compassion as we become people of the book–because the LORD is our God.

From Leviticus 9

‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

A Biblical Model for Finding a Wife

Let’s Interlope by EBENIM PUBLISHING

Are you fed up with the sham and charade of the “Christian” dating game? Are you uncertain as to the Biblical veracity of “Kissing Dating Goodbye?” Are you concerned about where to find a good wife for your sons?

Ebenim Publishing announces the unveiling of its new booklet: Let’s Interlope–a truly Biblical model for finding a wife from the book of Judges. This highly acclaimed booklet will bring clear, scriptural understanding to this emotional topic.

You’ll learn from Judges 21 these important principles:

1. How vineyards are the key to a happy marriage,
2. How catching a mate may be easier than you think,
3. How dancing can be the key to your future.

For less than the price of premarital counseling, you to can own this important booklet that will transform your views of finding a wife.

From Judges 21

Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’” Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’”

And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.

The Even Shorter Catechism

William Perkins, courtesy of wikimedia

 

One of my wife’s ancestors is John Robinson, pastor to the pilgrims. Recently, I discovered this short catechism written by William Perkins from the late 16th century that Reverend Robinson is said to have used while in Lyden, Holland. [This copy is transcribed from an excerpt posted on googlebooks.]

To all ignorant people that desire to be instructed.

Poor people, your manner is to soothe up your selves, as though ye were in a most happy estate, but if the matter come to just trial, it will fall out fair otherwise…[Do not be ignorant, for] where ignorance reigneth, there reigns sin; and where sin reigns, there the devil rules; and where he rules, men are in a damnable case.

Ye will reply unto me thus, that ye are not so bad as I would make you; if you need be, you can say the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the 10 Commandments; and therefore ye will be of God’s belief.

I answer again, that it is not sufficient to say all these…unless ye can understand the meaning of the words, and be able to make a right use of the Commandments, the Creed, of the Lord’s Prayer, by applying them inwardly to your hearts and consciences, and outwardly to your lives and conversations. This the very point in which ye fail.

And for an help in this your ignorance, to bring you to true knowledge, unfeigned faith, and sound repentance; here I have set down the principal points of Christian Religion in six plain and easy rules, even such as the simplest may easily learn…If ye do want good direction, then use this my labor for your instruction. In reading of it, first learn the six principles, and when ye have them without book and the meaning of them withal, then learn the exposition also, which being concealed and in some measure felt in the heart, ye shall be able to profit by sermons, whereas no ye cannot, and the ordinary parts of the Catechism, namely the 10 Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the institution of the two Sacraments, shall more easily be understood.

Thine in Jesus, William Perkins.

Question. What do you believe concerning God.
I. There is one God creator and governor of all things, distinguished into the Father, the Son and the holy Ghost.

Question. What dost thou believe concerning man, and concerning thine own self.
II. All men are wholly corrupted with sin through Adams fall and so are become slaves to Satan and guilty of eternal damnation.

Question. What means is there for thee to escape this damnable estate?
III. Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God, being made man, by His death upon the Cross, and by his righteousness, hath perfectly alone by himself, accomplished all things that are needful for the salvation of mankind.

Question. But how mayest thou be made a partaker of Christ and his benefits?
IV. A man of a contrite and humble spirit by faith alone, apprehending and applying Christ with all his merits unto himself, is justified before God and sanctified.

Question. What are the ordinary means for the obtaining of faith?
V. Faith commeth only by the preaching of the word and increaseth daily by it, as also the administration of the Sacraments and prayer.

Question. What is the estate of all men after death?
VI. All men shall rise again with their own bodies to the last judgment, which being ended, the godly shall posses the kingdom of Heaven, but unbelievers and reprobates shall be in Hell tormented with the devil and his angles forever.