Fireproof

Fireproof was a success! Thanks for everyone involved in helping, supporting financially and praying.

We were able to show it to approximately 200 good citizens of Golden Valley and I think it really helped our church get out of it's 'comfort zone' as we attempt to show God's message of hope and love to others.

People always say that the 'Devil is in the details'. But I think that it is sometimes through small acts of encouragement, love, support, charity, and selflessness that God uses us to work in the hearts of others.

I'm reminded of Rahab, a prostitute, who knew that God was going to destroy Jericho. So, she hid a couple of Israelite spies in her house and helped them escape. It was credited to her as righteousness and as a result, she spared many other lives than her own. Instead of knowing what God was going to do and simply not participating, she DID something under penalty of death.

I think that action is something God so wants us to do so that He can demonstrate his love through us. Quite a profound concept...

G&P

PLW

Heard on the Street

It has been an interesting summer to be sure but the activities are winding down and school is about to start.

• We shipped out my nephew, Ben, to Maranatha Baptist Bible College this week in hopes that he will someday graduate. Seriously, Ben has been a great addition to our family and fun to be around. God has blessed Ben with some amazing gifts which he has modeled for our kids to follow. We will miss him but not his messy room ;)


• We had a church service/picnic out at the Weld Farm last Sunday. The picnic included a formal welcome of our new pastor and his family, a log rolling competition, and 5 baptisms in the pool. Church is not about a building but the people and there were about 200 in all. Here are a couple of pictures:
  



• Hunter & Jalen are with my Mom and Dad for 'Grandsons' week which involves rifle ranges, golf courses, fishing poles, etc. The kids have a blast and Heidi and I get to spend some quality time together which is rare but necessary

Grace & Peace

PLW

'Fireproof' Drive-In

I am married to an incredible woman who loves Christ and faithfully puts up with me and my idiosyncrasies. Sometimes we don't agree, we 'discuss', and we sometimes fall in the habit of co-habitation as opposed to husband and wife like God intended.

In a recent message by John Piper, he quoted CS Lewis who said, 'The ideal marriage is one that is most like a crucifiction' - in other words, the husband DIES for her. I think that is the way Jesus meant it to be and that is how much I love her.

I have never seen this movie as I live in a closet socially, but I have heard some incredible things about it.

Sometimes, movies have the ability to evoke emotions within us that we find individually difficult to outwardly express. That is what I LOVE about movies. Like Rocky Balboa running up the steps in Philly to Gonna Fly Now, I have high hopes for this movie and look forward to this weekend. If you are living in the Golden Valley area or thereabouts, pile the kids in the car and come out.

Here is the trailer...

Grace & Peace

Cash For Clunkers 101

There are a couple of economists that I follow regularly that I tend to align with. This happens to be one of them. Brian writes an article for a company called First Trust Portfolios and has been featured on CNBC, etc. etc. etc. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts...

Congress is the Clunker

Auto sales spiked 16% in July and likely rose again in August. Much of the increase is due to the “cash for clunkers” program, where the federal government gives car buyers up to $4,500 to trade in older, lower miles per gallon, vehicles for brand new autos with better fuel efficiency.

Given the increase in sales, it’s not hard to see why so many people like the program. Everyone who had a clunker that they knew they would be replacing in the next couple of years is happy that the government is now subsidizing them for a purchase they would have been making anyhow. And of course, the car dealers like the sales volume, while auto makers and their workers enjoy the ramp-up in production to maintain, or even replenish, inventories.

Trouble is, almost all the gain in sales simply transfers sales across time. Some car buyers who were walking showrooms in May and June decided to postpone their purchases so they could get a government check. In addition, some sales that would have been spread out over the rest of this year and 2010, were brought forward in time.

Meanwhile, other workers and businesses that make a living maintaining older cars and trucks are suffering. Take a news story in this week’s Fairfax County Times, a weekly local paper in northern Virginia. Just before the clunkers program was announced, Bill Wiygul put $1 million into expanding his family’s four-shop car repair operation. Business had been booming as more frugal car owners were squeezing their vehicles for every last drop of value. Now Mr. Wiygul is losing customers. Another nearby repair shop claims business is down 25%.

The basic problem with cash for clunkers is that it uses the old “broken windows” theory of economic activity. Everyone who lives in a hurricane zone knows that typically people are never busier than right after a major storm. Roofs need to be replaced, while damage to vegetation, glass, power lines, boats, etc., all require overtime to repair. All that activity gets counted in GDP.

But everyone also knows the storm was a bad thing, destroying property that was built at a cost in the first place. Sure, everyone is as busy as a beaver, but they’re just busy replacing what they had, not actually improving their standard of living.

Every clunker that gets traded in has to be wrecked: its engine has to be destroyed with chemicals and then the car gets crushed. In a way, it’s no different than if a storm came along and ruined each of these cars and then the government gave the owner a check to go out and buy a new one, as long as the new one is more fuel efficient.

Sure, the auto industry is busier for the time being, but every extra dollar getting spent has to be paid for, through a combination of higher taxes on the more productive segments of our economy as well as less spending on other businesses that provide worthwhile services without asking for a handout.

Ironically, the auto industry was primed for a revival over the next two years with or without government help. Cars and trucks were selling below the pace of scrappage earlier this year. This was unsustainable. Now, with the economy bouncing back, and unemployment at or near a peak, we suspect that car sales will begin to build. Look for auto sales to slump slightly (and temporarily), once the clunkers law lapses, but then start to move up substantially, and without government help, later this year.

Brian S. Wesbury - Chief EconomistRobert Stein, CFA - Senior Economist

Bradford Named Big 12 Athlete of the Year

Everybody knows I bleed Crimson and Cream. But, I was surprised that Bradford was rewarded with the Big 12 Athlete of the Year, ahead of Colt McCoy and others.


What's more impressive to me is that the 2008/2009 Heisman trophy winner is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which rocks...




Grace & Peace
PLW

Favre Fevre...

Some details of Brett Favre’s two-year, $25 million contract with the Vikings have started to emerge, thanks to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The $12 million Favre will get for 2009 will be paid in three four-year installments. One will be paid this season,another in March and the third not until 2011.The contract also contains $6
million guaranteed for skill and injury, meaning if he plays poorly and the team releases him, Favre will get $6 million.

Grace & Peace
PLW

Introductions

After a lot of prayer, meetings, tears, and petitions to God, our new senior pastor from Portland, Oregon has arrived with his family.

His name is Brad Little and he, his wife and family are living in a townhome near the church for the moment.

In my brief conversations with him, he has a tremendous heart for discipleship making and being purposeful in our journey with Christ. I'm excited to serve with him.


Also, on a completely different note, I would like to introduce to Minnesota basketball, our arrival:



Grace & Peace

PLW

For Your Reading Pleasure

Here were a couple of interesting headlines and articles this week that caught my eye. Click on the links for the article(s) that might fit your fancy.

• Irony


• Accomplishment


• Economy

Grace & Peace

PLW

PGA at Hazeltine National Golf Club

The professional golfers have arrived and have been practicing and preparing for perhaps the longest PGA tournament in history starting this Thursday at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Chaska, Minnesota. Hazeltine is a golf course I am familiar with, having played it a number of times in high school (my best round being in the low 80's).

For those of you who don't know what golf is, its a game played on grass with a small white plastic ball. Its an irritating, frustrating act of skill, absurdity, and patience mixed together with scenic beaches, lakes, streams, trees, and tall weeds for challenge and embarrasment.

I think people who want to start this game should stop, buy a bike instead, and enjoy the many paths and roads of Minnesota in the summertime as opposed to playing golf. Its cheaper, takes less time, burns fat and is infinitely less stressful.

My neighbor was out cleaning his garage this weekend and, while spotting his golf clubs, it struck me as odd that I didn't see any woods (i.e. metal monstrosities - some metal heads are now bigger than my little brother's rock-star ego).

I asked him, 'Where are the woods'? He said, 'They're in the same place they have been since 1986 - a golf course pond somewhere in the heart of Texas'. (Texas, for those that are geographically challenged, is that puny little state right below the most beloved state in the union, Oklahoma (BOOMER SOONERS)!)

I'm sorry, but any 'sport' that can make nice, sincere and genuinely peaceful people like my neighbor swear, curse, throw tantrums like my 5 year old daughter, yell at others for talking, shout obscenities, and vow never to play the game again certainly requires pause before beginning.

However, if you are like me and still enjoy a nice day with birds chirping, the smell of cut grass, clear blue skies, and a nice walk for exercise to observe some unbelievably skilled players at the top of their game, then I invite you to our humble state to watch the 91st PGA...

Grace & Peace
PLW

Weekend Highlights

Fun weekend -

• My nephew registered and completed the Turtleman Triathalon on Saturday morning despite Tornado warnings, hail, and thunderstorms (they didn't do the run nor the swim but he got to bike 21 miles at least). He finished at or near the top of his age group


• Saturday morning we had 6 beautiful cousins over for Olivia's 5th birthday party. Horses, horses, and more horses were the theme this year. She was quite happy and slept a LONG time Saturday evening. Among the gifts were horse shirts, clothes, videos, and hair stuff


• We attended my wife's 20th highschool reunion (mine's next year - wow). I know she had a great time and was able to connect and catch up with long-time friends. And yes, I was one of the 'husbands'...it was cool though. One of my favorite things in the world is to watch my wife laugh and smile. I'm smitten ;)


• Sunday church and Kentucky Fried Chicken afterwards. Delicioso!

Grace & Peace

Theological Question

How could a God who loves us and created us also be a God of destruction and punishment as outlined in Joshua and Exodus, Samuel, etc.?


This was a question a friend of mine asked the other day.

The best answer I have ever heard on this question comes from a Q&A session by Ravi Zaccharias at the University of Michigan.

1) God must be a part of the answer because without God, there is no absolute moral basis. With no God, there is no good. Without good there is no evil so the question falls apart because of a lack of morality. Whose right do we have indeed to call something good or evil?

2) When God called the people of Israel a chosen nation, they were a small, weak nation (much different from Rome, Greece, Babylon, etc.). This was UNMERITED love. They did nothing to deserve the blessing.

3) God said to the Israelites that when they would follow Him, they will be blessed. When they would turn away from Him, they will be cursed. The manifestation of His presence was as dramatic and as literal as that. The dramatic period of miracles in the Old Testament with Moses & Elijah, the destruction of the prophets of Baal, the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. And then in the New Testament with Jesus curing the sick, casting out of demons, God stating in a loud voice 'This is My Son with whom I am well pleased'. These were dramatic events. With that literal demonstration of God's presence, it is equally likely that a rejection of that truth carries with it a dramatic judgement at the same time. But the blessings largely outweighs the curses as was shown in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

4) When people take a life, they are wrong because they do no have the power to restore it. When God takes a life, He also has the power to give it back. That which God protects and preserves are His. As horrible as it may seem to see the tragedy of death, its a grim reminder of what sin really is (a rejection of God and His ways). However, to the believer, He gives us the hope and the confidence to carry us through those difficult times.

Grace & Peace...

PLW

WSOTW

I sang this song at a wedding last week and at church on Sunday.

(One week and counting until the PGA at Hazeltine and golfing with a friend - can hardly stand it)

Grace & Peace

PLW

One Idea to Fix the Financial Industry

Paul Krugman, a professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton, when interviewed, discussed this as an answer for financial institution regulation:

What are your thoughts on regulating financial institutions going forward?

In a nutshell, anyone who borrows short and lends long and who offers safe assets for savers but invests in riskier products is a bank and needs to be regulated like a bank. Otherwise, our system remains prone to the catastrophic meltdown that we’re experiencing.

What made this crisis possible was that the banking system expanded beyond traditional banking, which was covered by the safety net built in the 1930s. The system of deposit insurance and regulated lending was undermined as banking activities expanded beyond regulatory control. So I believe we ought to be expanding old fashioned banking regulations to a much wider range of institutions and activities.

The ideal solution is to subject all such institutions to bank-type capital requirements. They should have a well-defined set of government guarantees that apply to a wide range of assets, financed through an equally well-defined set of premiums like those that banks currently pay into the FDIC, to help finance rescues when necessary. If you are a hedge fund, for example, you should be subject to the same kind of regulation and oversight as any other financial institution.

Depending on how it’s applied, an administration proposal which would allow the Fed to identify systemically important institutions and subject them to regulations, would pretty much do what I’m proposing. Take a business that sells auction-rate securities, something that technically does not involve bank deposits, but sure as hell functions like one. We’ll say that you will have capital and reserve requirements like an ordinary commercial bank because for all practical purposes, you’re doing the same thing.

Key to all of this is codifying principles-based, not rules-based, policy. This would more likely inhibit the financial industry, with their very good lawyers, to find ways to evade legislative intent.

This is an interesting take. Let me know your thoughts.

Grace & Peace

PLW

Weekend Mutterings

Wow! This was a weekend that broke records in terms of me being responsible for a zillion activities:

• My best friend's daughter was married on Friday, the wedding of which I played piano, which was a ton of fun but a lot of work and stress for me (timing, notes, accompaniment, etc.)
  
• Drove to church Saturday morning early to hand out flyers in the neighborhood for upcoming Drive-In Movie which also included cleaning up the church after the wedding


• Saturday pm worked late at the office then came home ironed some shirts and studied for my Sunday school lesson


• Sunday - church all am then straight to a picnic in the afternoon, moved the pastor to new place, Hoops Church in the evening, home at 9:00pm

This morning: Tried to do some mobile blogging...didn't work very well.

Grace & Peace

PLW

me at 9pm

nd studied for my Sunday school lesson
4) Sunday - church all am, picnic in the afternoon, moved the pastor to new place, Hoops Church in the evening, ho

in the neighborhood which also included cleaning up church after the wedding
3) Saturday pm worked late at the office then came home ironed some shirts a

ughter was married on friday and I played piano for the wedding, which was a ton of fun but a lot of work
2) Church Saturday am early to hand out flyers

Weekend mutterings:

Wow! This was a weekend that broke the record books in terms of being responsible for a zillion activities.
1) My best friends da