The Bourne Ultimatum

Theatrical Trailer

Little too much info as far as trailers go, but boy do I have goosebumps! Counting down the days...

The Gospel Coalition

The Gospel Coalition

Almost two years ago I first mentioned how exciting I found the new alliances that were forming in the Church. Here's another great example. Check out the Stakeholder list!

Piper on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

What Therefore God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate, Part 1

Amazing! I know of nobody whose saying this today. Nobody! It takes about 45 minutes, but it's well worth it. Amazingly enough, I don't agree completely. But it's still incredible.

Thanks for Praying

I really mean it! It worked at least in that I kept my cool and we still have our kids. The CPS agent just left, and it looks good long term. The only thing he said he needed to address with his supervisor is the sleeping arrangement, and maybe the spanking, which is exactly what we thought would concern them. Other than that, nothing. Thank God.

More complete response later.

Please Pray for Us

Of course about the stresses and sadnesses associated with the big move. But more immediately, because we're stressed and saddened by something potentially a little (lot!) more serious: tonight we were visited by emergency CPS agents who were responding to an anonymous tip that our children were allowed to be in a dangerous situation. Whoa!

Though they read the complaint to me, they wouldn't give me a copy, so I'll have to summarize. Someone saw one or more of our kid(s) sitting naked on the window sill, and were told that(by?) the father (me) that it was not a problem. Hmmm... True on both accounts, but not true, in my mind of course, that the children were endangered.

Nevertheless, an investigation is underway, and we'll be visited sometime in the next day or so by more agents to determine whether there's any truth to the claim. If they conclude there's not, case closed and file sealed. If they conclude there is, well... don't really want to think about that. Suffice it to say, Alden's still nursing, and Hallie's nearly sick at the possibilities.

So if you think about it in the next day or so, pray that I'll keep my cool (this really - really - gets under my skin! I just ordered this...), that I'll do and say what's best for Hallie and the kids, and that the agents would see and act on the truth. And pray that we all continue to trust the God who promises to never leave us nor forsake us.

Thanks.

Ruth Graham (1920-2007)

Billy Graham’s Wife, Ruth, Dies at Age 87 - New York Times
Ruth Graham Memorial

What an amazing statement from Billy of his wife of 63 years.

"I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

PCA General Assembly WebCast

PCA General Assembly WebCast

Ah, this should help take my mind off the bad news over the next few days. O, how Robert's Rules brings comfort to a troubled soul. :-)

Bad News, Bad News, Came to Me...

You can read about it here and here. Below is the comment I left in the comments section of DFWB's post.

Thanks to everybody back in the Fort who either called or emailed to let me know. And thanks to Kathleen Quilligan of the NS who conducted a very pleasant interview with me via phone after the vote. (Look for an article in tomorrow's NS.)

Also, I want to make very clear, there is nothing personal between me and SJLC. They seem to be a good church with a good mission. We have begun and hope to continue a very amicable and, as much as possible, a mutually beneficial relationship. We simply disagree strenuously on the the merits of historic preservation and the best way to positively impact downtown FW.

I could only speculate on the motives of the Councilmen, so I won't. But I am very shocked and perplexed. I mean from a distance, at least, it doesn't make any sense.

Regardless, I wonder if everyone is aware of exactly what this means? Having just spoken tonight with Don Noland from SJLC, I'll tell you exactly what he told me: the two two southern buildings will be razed within the month and be sodded in time for the start of school in August! That's right - two more historic buildings gone and replaced with grass. And in this case, as in so many others around FW, it will likely remain grass for a long, long time.

You see, contrary to recent editorial inferences, SJLC is neither planning nor even able to consider expanding their facilities at the present time. Indeed, they're not even remotely close to considering such an endeavor. Razing the buildings is not about preparing to build, but simply about removing the unsightly and deteriorating buildings from the view of current and potential school children and their parents, who, apparently, hightail it the other way when they notice those building during school orientation.

How do I know, you ask? One, I've talked to the church and, to their credit, they've been very candid. Two, when my building - 1010 (the white one) - was listed on the open market in December for $115K (we settled on $95K), the church didn't even call the broker or the seller, let alone make an offer! Having spent years on the goal of obtaining all the land for future expansion, when the 8th lot of 9 finally came up for sale, they had to pass because they didn't (don't?) have the money! And if they don't have the money to even buy all the properties, how in the world would they have the means to build a multi-million dollar facility?

The point is, though the church's desire to grow and expand might be laudable, it's simply not probable. And not mainly because other property owners stand in their way. Rather, it's because, even if they owned all the land - even if Bill and I essentially gave them our properties! - they're not now and might never be (if national and local trends for urban mainline churches are any indication) in a position to achieve their expansion goals.

Nevertheless, get ready to say goodbye to two historically significant buildings (sorry, JG) and say hello to more grass downtown. Say goodbye to density and less opportunity for small-scale businesses to find affordable and interesting spaces, and say hello to emptiness and loss.

And for what? Good intentions? Ah, you know what they say about those.

PS - The church claims the buildings are not and could never again be commercially viable. That years and years of failed businesses prove that. I tried to persuade them otherwise, that times they are a changing, and possibilities now exist that haven't before. But alas, to no avail.

360 deg. Views of Our Apartment

link

Where we've lived for 12 years. It pretty much looked liked this when Hallie and I first moved in, but not so much over the years. Last week before the photos and open house, we did a radical cleaning and painting and purging, storing tons of stuff off-site. Now I walk around telling the kids, "Don't touch that wall!", and "Put down that pen!" Pray it sells quickly, because a family of six can't pretend to be a hip young bachelor for long!

Open House Results

13 visitors, no offers. :-( Another one is scheduled for Wednesday night.

John Piper on the prosperity gospel

Notwithstanding the annoying background music, this is why I love Piper so much. He's tells it like it is without holding back. Amen!

Financing a One-Bedroom in Manhattan

$51,516/year to finance a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. And that's after a down payment that's more than we paid for the whole thing 12 years ago!

What in the world can explain this? And exactly what kind of future does a city like NY have when a middle class (forget about lower class!) single or even family can't afford to live in the city?

Strange times, indeed.

Apartment 1F for Sale

NY Times listing
PDE listing
Good news for a Sunday open house.

Me and Alden

Mama wanted me to highlight this one.

Spelling Bee Winner CNN Interview

video link

Priceless!

I ended up watching this more than a few times, calling Hallie over to watch with me a few of them. Amazing on so, so many levels - and not just because we're homeschooling. On initial viewing, it doesn't look too good for the home schooled genius. He seems awkward, slow, and frankly, weird. Guaranteed fodder for the anti-homeschool crowd. But upon multiple viewings, it's the interviewer who begins to look silly and thin while the kid, though still seeming a bit odd, begins to look smart, well mannered, cognizant, comfortable, and even a little witty.

Take for instance his one word answers. At first they seem pitiful, but then you realize she asked him a yes or no question. She's probably so used to asking these yes or no questions and having squawk-boxes drone on and on that she didn't realize her questions were really lazy. When she asks a yes/no question, she gets a yes/no answer. When she asks a serious question, she gets a serious, even complex answer!

Then there's the subway sandwich question. Clearly a cheap late-show-type gimmicky question, which backfired in a most hysterical way. And the last question and response about spelling the word... Wow! I couldn't stop laughing. Again, she thought she'd just throw out a lazy question, get a lazy response, and then sign off with a smile. Boy, did she miscalculate! She's the one who looks ill-prepared and unable to respond without looking to others for help. And remember, he's trained himself to approach spelling by knowing word roots. That's how the whole process works (rent Spellbound).

And lastly, it has to be one of the greatest split screen interviews of all time. The facial expressions of both participants are priceless.