Wow.

I don’t know how else to say it… Wow.

They get hammered in their first game at the College World Series and then just start winning. They get to the final series and lose the first game on a triple and a passed ball. They’re down 5-0 early in the second game and it seems to be all over. Their closer pitches over five innings in Game 2 and then comes in to get the save in Game 3.

What an amazing game, series, and set of playoff games. Very exciting. Very fun to watch.

Congrats!

You read that right. It’s a mix of chess and boxing. You have to read it to believe it.

If you can handle it, read about it at ESPN here.

If someone is going to try to make a real game out of one described in science fiction, I vote for a professional Pyramid league. Who’s up for a game?

Wow, what an amazing playoff series. The whole NBA playoffs was a step above previous years.

I had more fun watching the Clippers, Suns, Mavericks, and Heat than I’ve had watching the playoffs in quite a while.

As for the Finals, I was ready to place money on the Mavs after the first two games. The Heat played amazingly well in Miami. It was really a joy to watch an exciting, well-played Finals with some different faces and different styles.

I think it just may have re-sparked my interest in NBA basketball again. I think David might be hooked, too.

Way to go!

This is the quintessential example of the consequences of the slippery slope. I saw this story about the election of a new leader for the Episcopal Church. Man, do I have to take issue with this entire situation.

First off, I believe that Scripture is clear about the fact that only men are called to be pastors and elders. The fact that the church allows female bishops is already a smudging of God’s Word. But, that wasn’t even the item that bothered me the most. No, that came with the following quotes:

Interviewed on CNN, Jefferts Schori was asked if it was a sin to be homosexual.

“I don’t believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us,” she said.

“Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender.”

The interviewer pressed her concerning Scripture that contradicted her opinion:

Asked how she reconciled her position on homosexuality with specific passages in the Bible declaring sexual relations between men an abomination, Jefferts Schori said the Bible was written in a very different historical context by people asking different questions.

“The Bible has a great deal to teach us about how to live as human beings. The Bible does not have so much to teach us about what sorts of food to eat, what sorts of clothes to wear — there are rules in the Bible about those that we don’t observe today,” she said.

Let that sink in a second. How, exactly, does the leadership of a major American denomination that proclaims to follow Jesus Christ get so out of sync with the Word? It’s the gradual, methodical slide of compromise that has made its way into the hierarchy.

She has fallen into the politically correct assumption that homosexual behavior is genetic and cannot be controlled. Guess what? People are born with genetic predispositions to sinful behavior every day. It happens to be an area of their life that they need to learn to master with God’s power. We don’t tell alcohol or drug addicts that that’s just the way they are, so live with it. No, we try to help them fight their tendency toward addiction. We don’t excuse those who have a predisposition to kleptomania. Why have we selected out this behavior as one that should be excused?

Then, the excuse that the Bible doesn’t cover all of life is a beauty. I’m sorry, but how exactly to you prevent believers from simply saying, “Well, I choose not to follow the rules about sex outside of marriage. I choose not to follow the rules about lying.” How is that any different than her excuse to say she chooses ignore the rules about sexual behavior? Besides that fact, she’s using a false analogy to make her argument. It’s a long way from food preparation rules to sexual behavior rules. That same analogy can be used to dismiss any part of the Bible. What use is it then?

I ask the same question that I always ask those who pose that excuse. If you can pick and choose which parts to believe, why do you believe any of it? What validity does it have at all if you get to simply decide what’s valid?

I’m sorry to say that I’m not surprised, but I am deeply disappointed.

Okay, so it wasn’t a new house or a complete room remodel, but it’s a change nonetheless.

After three years of fighting the elements and the neighborhood kids, we’ve given up trying to grow grass in the front yard. So, this past Saturday, Stef and I changed it to be covered with bark and planted a few shrubs that will hopefully grow to fill the space better.

We’ve also decided that we won’t be doing much landscaping in the front yard in the future. Just digging the shallow trench for the edging and to plant the shrubs has just about killed us. The ground is very hard clay that could only be broken up with the steel digging wedge we bought. We’re still nursing sore muscles. Yike.

Here’s what it looks like now:

As a comparison, here’s what it looked like when we moved in.

Well, we’ve passed the last milestone on the way to being an official high-schooler. Last Wednesday was David’s (and our) last night in the middle school youth group. Starting this coming Wednesday, we will all be in the high school youth group.

It’s only next door, but it’s worlds apart. We’re looking forward to deeper Bible studies, more serious prayer, less babysitting, and more connecting with older teens.

Here’s the cake we bought:

And all of the graduating 8th graders:

David’s in the back. His friend Micah is in the guy you can’t see in the green hat. His friend Matthew has his arms crossed.

Hooray!

As I mentioned in an earlier post about David’s testing, this was one of the few years when we needed to have him take a test with a third party. The group we chose administers the current California Achievement Test in abbreviated form. That means he’s only tested in reading, language skills, and math. That’s all the state needs, so there’s no need to do more.

David took that test yesterday and the results were even better than his previous one. He ranked in the 86th percentile. That means that of all the kids who take this test, he did better than 86 percent of them and only 14 percent did better than he did. In the area of grade equivalency, all of his scores ranked him as 11th grade or higher.

As I said in the title: Nicely done.

It’s taken me too long, but I’ve finally moved all of our photo albums over from the old site. You can access them by clicking the Photos tab at the top of the page.

For an extra bonus, I’ve put up all of the interesting photos we’ve taken since August of last year. You have a whole year of pictures to catch up on.

Enjoy!