Leaving for China

If you're reading this you probably know that my family is leaving next week for China to complete our second adoption. And since I completely dropped the ball when it comes to blogging, I'm not going to pretend to have resumed. However, a few of you might stop by because you know that last time we traveled, I did post pictures, videos and journal entries from our trip (check October 2008). But for that sort of thing this time around, you are safer to follow my wife's blog www.raisingtomatoes.blogspot.com.

However, here are a few picks we have of our son, Jack Yintao.

iPad 2

So I have new toy.

So far I've justified purchasing it by complaining how slow & old my regular computer is comparatively, that it keeps me from having to lug my laptop home every night, that it's easily transported to the youth room for teaching lessons & plugging into the stereo up there for music, that I'm able to paperlessly lead worship from it on Sunday mornings, that it helps entertain our kids from time to time, that I can use it as an e-reader for books, and that I can listen to (or watch!) my podcasts. And if that wasn't enough, now I can say I can blog from it (though I'm much more likely to continue "micro blogging" via twitter).

Family Experiential Lent Calendar

Last year I blogged about my experience with the season of Lent and mentioned a calendar I was using that I found here. Since I work with students, children, and families in my ministry, I had an idea to come up with a similar kind of calendar intended specifically for families, the 2011 Family Lent Experiental Calendar. Before Ash Wednesday, I distributed it and posted it on-line. My hope is that as families participate in fasting-from and living-to during these forty days, they will draw closer to God leading up to Resurrection Sunday. I feel like our own family has benefitted from this already.

Click on the link highlighted above if the picture is too small to read. Just thought I'd share...

teenagers and "moralistic therapeutic deism"

There's an interesting article on cnn.com about teens and faith. Check out the full write-up here.

I didn't really agree with the whole thing (mostly because their claims relied on weak anecdotal support); however, I thought this passage in particular was compelling:

How 'radical' parents instill religious passion in their children

... [Dean] says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips.

A parent's radical act of faith could involve something as simple as spending a summer in Bolivia working on an agricultural renewal project or turning down a more lucrative job offer to stay at a struggling church, Dean says.

But it's not enough to be radical -- parents must explain "this is how Christians live," she says.

"If you don't say you're doing it because of your faith, kids are going to say my parents are really nice people," Dean says. "It doesn't register that faith is supposed to make you live differently unless parents help their kids connect the dots."

What do you think? Comment on here if you have any thoughts.