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12 February 2012

A day off!  I rode MARTA up to Buckhead to go to church at Northpoint Community's campus there.  They meet in a theater with two levels that must sit a thousand or so and it was full, with a second service to come at 11 am.  It was what you would expect from a mega church...for all their size they all seem to do church about the same way:  A pretty good (and loud) worship band, with low auditorium lights and spotlights on the worship band.  It makes for a good musical experience, but the amped up band is usually so loud that you can hardly even hear the person next to you singing which is unfortunate.  Some of my most emotional experiences of worship have been when I've sung along with the collective voices of a great crowd AND BEEN ABLE TO HEAR THEM.

Andy Stanley started a new topical series on not comparing ourselves to others. The first message was from Ecclesiastes.  It was good.  At the end he asked a series of questions for us to take away and thing about during the week.  Perhaps the most probing was:  "Is there someone that you secretly wish would fail, or would be cut down a notch or two?"

I rode the train back and head for Barnes and Noble to study for my written exam tomorrow.  After that I went home and spent a lazy day in the room, some reading, some watching Netflix (interesting bio of John J. Audubon), stuff like that.

23 January 2012

In Cancun, Mexico at a swanky new hotel.  Wow, gorgeous.

It was kind of painful getting here.  We were delayed 2 hours last night going from Detroit to Pittsburgh waiting for a plane which was coming (at any moment!) from the hangar.  It eventually showed up.  Because we were late into Pittsburgh, our flight out the next day was delayed.  When we got to the plane late this morning, the plane was broken so we wasted another hour or so fixing the it, or rather deferring what was broken (aft drain mast) so we could finally fly to Detroit.  Needless to say we were late to DTW.

We did push back for Cancun on time, but the fuel totalizer on the aircraft was acting up and we had to taxi back to the gate.  Another hour delay, or rather 1.5 hour delay.  We ended up almost an hour and a half late into Cancun.  What a day.

I did get to go for a run on the beach when I got here and the temperature is about 82 degrees and sunny, so it was NICE once I did arrive.  Painful to get here though.  No one enjoys delays, least of all me.

I'm wondering why God created me so, um, non-optimistic (hahahaha - okay, pessimistic).  Is it a gift?  A cross to bear?  Part of my brokenness?  I think I would argue that it is all three.  Obviously, being a human being my character is subject to the fall, so in some sense pessimism is a reflection of that brokenness, something that I will just have to deal with much like others deal with an overly strong desire for alcohol or food or pride or lust, etc.  So if it is part of my brokenness, then it is also a cross to be born, a difficulty to be managed.

I think I would also argue that, in God's marvelous way of taking broken things and making them useful, it is a gift to be used in God's service.  I tend not to look at things the way other people look at them.  So pessimism (realism I say) makes me aware of things that people who are not so inclined do not, or cannot see.  Many times I am aware of upcoming problems before other people are because I've already seen and predicted the problem.  Sometimes this is a good thing, but it is also a weakness as well.  I tend to see barriers rather than possibilities.  God uses both kinds of people, those who see barriers and those who see possibilities.

The challenge for those of us who see barriers is to not let that get in the way of the church moving forward in faith, and believe me, it is a challenge for us!

21 January 2012

A day of short call.  There is a good chance that I'll get called in too, because there is snow out on the east coast.  We shall see.

Cherie and I went swimming yesterday morning, after a short night of rest (finally got to sleep around midnight).  I swam 2000 meters and got a lot of prayer out while I swam, thanks to Cherie's "one prayer per lap" system.  Next, we went to Starbucks, bought coffee, and then carried it to GTPC where we ate breakfast and did our devotions.  After that, we head over to Durand to see Lance.  He is doing pretty well.  Getting along with just a walker now.  He will be released next Friday. 

The afternoon was reserved for a short nap, then we were off to MSU to have dinner with Kelly and Celina.  I tried to go to bed early because I went on call at 0400 today, but that didn't work either.  A good day off.

19 January 2010

Lying in bed at the Wyndham Garden in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  I woke up at 3.30 am and don't leave until 8.10 am!  Doh! Today, I will go from BOS to MSP and then to DTW, then I have 24 hours off.  I still have 5 more days of reserve after today, so I'm pretty sure I'll fly again before the end of the month.

Off to training on 5 February for the 757/767.  I've been doing LOTS of studying in preparation; hopefully that will help out when I start school.

I was reading Thom Rainer's blog yesterday on Seven Reasons that Leaders Fail.  Rainer is the president of Lifeway Christian Resources.  It's a pretty good read if you are in leadership or contemplating ever being in leadership.  I am on a leadership team at my church so I suppose that qualifies as being in leadership, even though there is not a single person responsible; it is a team that is responsible.

At any rate, I think the thing that struck me most is that one of the reasons leaders fail is that they are paralyzed by fear.  Here is how Rainer puts it: On the other extreme, some leaders have almost no confidence. They are unwilling to make decisions because they don’t want to be wrong. They are more likely to move decision making to multiple levels of committees and groups so they don’t have to be responsible for the decision.

I wouldn't say that this is my chief leadership weakness, although it is something that I should probably be aware of.  It is oftentimes easier to put off crucial and painful decisions or meetings because we don't want to go through them, or yes, we are afraid to be wrong.  I agree with Rainer, this is poor leadership.  A leader has to decide and then live with the consequences of that decision, not delegate it to a committee to escape responsibility (which he wouldn't ultimately escape anyway).

What IS my chief leadership weakness?  Probably either a. Not putting enough effort into it; or b. not being organized.  I am terrible at administration.

26 December 2011

Today I go SNA SLC ORD DTW.  I'm sitting in the crew lounge in SLC because I have a 3.5 hour sit until we leave for ORD, ugh.  Waste of time.

Ran into a buddy from the Marines who I haven't seen since I got out; Steve "Scarey" Carey.  He was a good, funny guy.  He's now an A320 captain flying out of SLC.

25 December 2011

We left Aruba at 13.40 yesterday afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day there; in the '80's with typical sea breezes.  Aruba is very close to Venezuala, perhaps 20 miles or so, and actually a little bit further south than the northernmost point in South America.  It is a small island that was originally used to raise horses to be used on the larger and more habitable island of Curacao.  Aruba has no natural water so literally all of its water comes from a giant desalination plant.  It is not a very picturesque place; I imagine most of its beauty is hidden beneath the surface of the ocean.  It's warm and sunny in winter though!

We flew north over the Domincan Republic and then up the Bahamas, touching land in the U. S. at Wilmington, NC.  The Dominican Republic has some very rugged mountains reaching up to 10,200 feet, which kind of surprised me.  I didn't realize they were that high.  The island was mostly clear when we flew over, so we had a great view of the varied terrain from ocean beaches to mountains in the Dominican Republic.  Further to the west and part of the same island is Haiti; it looks the same from the air, but of course is much different than the Dominican Republic politically and economically.

We landed to a nice day in New York City a little earlier than scheduled which is nice because it happens so little at La Guardia. 

Today we will leave shortly after 1400 for MSP and then fly on to SNA.  Too bad we won't be there long enough to see mom and dad.

20 December 2011

Matt home yesterday.  Yay!!  He will be here for 10 days or so, although I wont' see much of him because I'll be working for several of those days.  We are going to do a CCW class together on the 27th of December. 

Reading a couple of interesting books.  Van Gogh: The life and Depression: A Stubborn Darkness.  Both of them are fascinating and well worth reading. 

Hopefully off to hit the gun range with Matt today.

A Visit to SFMOMA

A Visit to SFMOMA

So I had a trip into San Francisco today and with a little time in the afternoon was able to run over to theSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art. My timing was pretty good because the traveling exhibit is part of the collection of Leo and Gertrude Stein which meant a lot of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Naturally, this section of the museum was packed, but manageable and I spent almost two hours wandering through it. I like both Matisse and Picasso so it was pretty interesting. I think my favorite Matisse is "The Woman with a Hat." The image doesn't do it justice, but Matisse was more interested in vibrant colors than he was in reproducing reality, and "Woman with a Hat" is nothing if not vibrant.

I also got to see a very famous portraitof Gertrude Stein done by Pablo Picasso. When Mrs. Stein saw the finished product she supposedly remarked, "but it doesn't even look like me. To which Picasso supposedly responded: "Just wait. It will." That made me laugh. Poor Mrs. Stein, Matisse did a portrait of her and she doesn't look any better. I fear she was as unphotogenic as myself.

After finishing with the Stein collection, which was definitely the highlight of the visit, I wandered through the permanent collection. Some of it is great, some of it is just trash. It's hard to see how some of the stuff that they waste space on is going to stand the test of a century or more. Will we be looking at Jackson Pollock's nonsensical "art" in a hundred years, like I was looking at Matisse and Picasso? I can't imagine so, because Pollock's "art" has nothing to grab us. Indeed, part of the fun of going to the Modern Art museum is to the hear the curators try and explain something unexplainable like a Pollock piece. As my nephew wrote once, "I wish someone could explain a Pollock painting to me with words that meant something." Just so. The curators had a lot of words to say about Pollock, but altogether they meant nothing. The same could be said for some (but not all) of the whole modern art collection.

Take Clifford Styll. There was a whole room of his paintings that all looked something like this one. Is there meaning here? Can you explain that meaning with words that mean something? I didn't think so.

There is a whole room of Styll's stuff and people wandered through it very quickly because there was nothing to hold them, nothing to think about, no transcendent meaning, just modern "art." This is the stuff that to me is a waste of museum space (and don't even get me started on the pile of newspapers in one corner that was super cool "art," that is nothing but a sad joke).

Much of the floor space was allocated to stuff that will be on the junk heap of history in 100 years, like the display that was a video of an "artist" getting plastered by paint spray. Yeah, now THAT is quality art.

I do enjoy the art of Edward Hopper and the Museum had one of his pieces called "Bridal Path."

Some of modern art is interesting and worthy of study. A lot of it is junk which won't stand the test of time. All in all it was an interesting visit and a good day.

Pondering the Sands of Time

I'm hanging out at a Starbucks in San Diego, this morning before heading out to Cincinnati at 11 am, pondering the passing of the sands of time (yeah, I know, even though I don't write on this blog much, when I do I seem obsessed with this, don't I?).

Time hangs heavy these days. I'm closer to 80 than I am 20 (now there's a scary thought). I have begun to see the passing of people that I followed growing up, Bubba Smith died yesterday, great football player, but his time is finished. He was 66.

The longer I live, I suppose by odds, the less likely that Christ will return in my lifetime, which, let's face it means that I, like virtually every human who has come before me, will die. Just so. This is not new; it is not remarkable; it is not even newsworthy; it simply is.

I'm realistic enough to know and understand that, with the exception of the very few people in my circle of influence, family, friends, church, no one will know or care that I lived once, heck, they don't even care now! Hahaha... I am fine with all that as well; such is the nature of life.

What do I want to leave behind? Mostly, a legacy of pointing people to Christ, that is everything. Hopefully, my kids understand this; I know Cherie does. If my words hang around and are discovered 400 years from now, may they point people to what will undoubtedly already be around, the words of the Scriptures, for in them they (400 year youngers) will find eternal life. I'm good with leaving just that.

One of my Bible reading highlights last week was from Mark 13.37: "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch" (for Christ's return). As I growled (meditated) on those words I asked myself the question, "But what if I watch all my life and die without the promise?" The answer came back: "Then encourage the next generation to watch."

So if you are reading this 400 years from now in 2411! it's by God's grace that you have stumbled upon these words. You, dear reader, can do nothing more important than watching for Christ's coming, Oh...and be prepared for it.

World Views Increasingly Separate

I have seen a couple of things this past week which point out how increasingly separated the Christian worldview is from the cultural worldview in which we live. First was the reaction to the case of a wrestler in Iowa who refused to wrestle a girl because of standards gained from his Christian worldview. The reaction from those who do not hold to Christian faith is pretty much expected, "Let the wrestling begin!" When I noticed a comment from a Christian who essentially (with pretty much lousy biblical support) argued: If Christ were that boy, he would have wrestled the girl. When Christians begin arguing this way, let it be known that we are in a world of hurt.

Second, I just watched a sad, stupid movie about relationships between guys and girls. I found myself watching it thinking, "Why would anyone want to be involved in this view of the world? Women spent the whole two hours desperately seeking men. Indeed, giving up their deepest heart needs in the process (presumably because a lousy man is better than no man at all). This works for you, ladies? You are good with it? Amazing.

This is what the modern world has wrought. It is a sad, disconnected, soul-crushing world. I am thankful for hope in Jesus Christ, otherwise I would live with despair.

The Call Arrives at Midnight

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The call arrives at midnight

Don't they always come?

In dank and dreary darkness

No matter who they're from

Still alive at breakfast

Tousled half awake

Shaking out the cobwebs

Another night mistake

"He's dead," he says—then nothing

What else is there to say?

So clear, so frank, so certain

Sure as the break of day

What does one say at midnight?

Or breakfast or at noon

Alleviate the darkness

For one more afternoon

Hug the phone in silence

Can any words express?

Helpless, hopeless, heartfelt

Nothing I possess

KJV: 400 Year Anniversary

2011 marks the 400th year since the KJV was published. I am celebrating its publication in a number of ways. I'm using the KJV in my Bible reading plan this year (McCheyne's Bible Reading plan). I will read through the OT in the KJV once, and the NT in the KJV twice this year. I'm really enjoying doing this. The KJV was my first Bible, my first memory verses were memorized in the KJV so it's bringing back a lot of good memories.

I'm also reading a book about the KJV written by Leland Ryken, professor of English at Wheaton. This has really opened up my eyes to the value of the KJV, both in accuracy and in literary magnificence. No other versions come close to comparing with it when you use these two criteria. Some newer versions are more accurate, but none can approach it for sheer literary brilliance AND accuracy. This is the judgment of many men of literary genius, both those who are believers and those who are not.

While I'm reading the KJV, I'm tagging the word meanings of proper names in the KJV so that I will come back to the version again and again in my study. I think this will be a good thing. Just today, reading in Job, the KJV translates Job 19.2 with much more color and brilliance than the ESV: "How long will ye vex my soul?" asks Job (Job 19.2, KJV). The ESV can only manage: "How long will you torment me?" One can see how the KJV translation adds so much more depth and poignancy, and the ESV is a pretty good translation overall.

12 January 2011

I just remembered that it was Dave White's birthday yesterday. I need to call him.

We started out in FLL where we had the morning off. I did my devotions and then headed out to the pool to pray and read. Hey, I figure that as long as I'm praying I may as well do it in the sun by the pool for some added vitamin D therapy. It WAS a gorgeous pool with a waterfall. One of my goals for this year is to be more consistent in prayer for the Graham church family. Thanks to Johnny Schlaack I have a nice 2011 Graham church prayer guide that I've been using and so far (less than a week), I've been consistent.

We flew up to JFK, landed there an hour before sunset, hung around for a couple of hours, then flew back down to TPA. One of the things that struck me—and I'm not sure why it struck me yesterday—was that, as we flew back into Florida, I said to myself, "I just left here. Another day is gone. Tempus fugit."

Time flies. It was a day of my life that I will not get back. Kind of a sobering thought. One of the things I need to do is live more purposefully and realize that time is as valuable a commodity as there is. What is behind you isn't coming back. See it as precious.
Treat it as precious. Use it wisely.

Nothing I didn't already know, but a good reminder.

4 January, 2011

A new year, my 51st on this earth, and tempus fugit.

I just finished 5 days of flying (2 different trips, I got to be home for 12 hours in between). I've been on the road all but three days between 24 December and today which is par for the course for me. Such is the life of a junior A320 captain around the holidays.

I did manage to fly a charter. We flew the Philadelphia Flyers from Detroit to Philly after they beat us 3-2, Commies! We then flew an empty plane from Philly to MSP, arriving at 2 am. The plane was empty except for the pilots, 2 flight attendants, and the charter coordinator. Those are fun, relaxing flights and there weren't too many other aircraft in the sky late on a Sunday night. The night was mostly clear (except over Michigan naturally) so, even though we were tired, it was fun to be up flying. We feasted on the charter leftovers all the way to Minneapolis.

I flew a Milwaukee turn out of Minneapolis and then a deadhead leg from MSP to DTW to finish the trip. They replaced the expected aircraft with an A330 so there was a lot of empty seats available. I got to sit in a pair by myself which was nice because we had to deice in MSP and that took an extra 3o or 40 minutes.

Off until Sunday. We have an Elder/Deacon retreat Thurs-Sat and then I'm on call again Sunday, so I have time off....sort of. My gorgeous bride is coming in from DFW today at 1 pm. Matt will stay in Dallas for awhile with Badger and Kristen.

28 Nov 2010

Last day of a 5 day trip over the Thanksgiving day holiday encompassing the two busiest flying days of the year (Wed and Sun). I'm typing this at 2.35 am having woken up at 1am, ugh.

I was able to get on the train up to see Mom an Dad on Wed in San Diego which was a great blessing from God. Due to strong headwinds and just missing the van to the hotel, I was late, late, late and literally the last one on the train.

We ate lunch at Polly's pies and then chatted away until I had to take the train back to SAN. Tempus fugit and there will come a day when we will say our last goodbyes on this earth, my parents and I. The thought makes me melancholy and directs my longing to eternity with Christ. How empty life would be; how short; how meaningless apart from Him!

Do thou, Lord, teach me to number my days and give to me a heart of wisdom.

Location:George Washington Memorial Pkwy,Arlington,United States

Thoughts on DG 2010

Just back from Desiring God 2010. It was a great blessing. Highlights:

1. Spending time with Phil, PJ, and Jon. It was great to see them and get to hang out.

2. Kevin DeYoung on the mission of the church. Mr. DeYoung has a knack for clarifying what you already knew, and he did just that in his workshop Friday afternoon on the mission of the church. The bottom line is that, if we are not proclaiming the gospel, if we are not doing the ministry of the word, then we are missing the point of the church no matter how many acts of mercy we are doing. Yes, we should be doing acts of mercy, but no, they should not replace our proclamation of the gospel that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

3. Being present to see the book of essays in honor of John Piper, presented to Piper as a surprise by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Quite a moment. I bought two copies. Cheap! I'm enjoying it so far.

4. Being super-challenged by Francis Chan to love those around me as Jesus loved them. If there is one thing I took out of the conference from the standpoint of something to work on, this would be it. We can think all we want, but if our thinking is not grounded in the love of Christ, then we are wasting our time. Something I need to pray about and give attention to - a lot! Thanks, Mr. Chan.

5. Spending time with Cherie. Really fun to get to hang out with Cherie alone for a whole weekend. There's a reason she's my bestie...oh, and my wife too.

6. Rick Warren via video. Mr. Warren had family emergencies—yes, emergencies—and could not make it, but he challenged us by video. The man is a whirling dervish of energy and ideas. Remarkable. Probably the thing I took away from him the most was the importance of vision in the work that we do. Mr. Warren is also an aphorism machine, not to mention having a gift of humor as well.

DEN - ATL (delay) - DTW

Flew DEN - ATL - DTW yesterday. Naturally, we were delayed in ATL due to weather and a late inbound aircraft so we returned to DTW about 1.20 late. I've got some stuff to accomplish around here today—a little study mostly and packing—then I'm off to MSP for CQ. After that is over, then DG conference! Yahoo! Should be fun. Phil, Jon, and PJ Davis are going to be there as well.

Sunday Morning, 26 September 2010

I woke up early—ugh—because I could not stay awake last night, having woken up at 5 am in Laingsburg. It's a vicious cycle. Flew to DEN and then a layover down town. I took my binos and went walking to a park in the middle of town. Saw some grackles and pigeons before finding my way to a beautiful flower garden and running into a new (for me) species of sparrow. They are called Brewer's Sparrows and they only live in the Western U. S. so had I not been in DEN, I wouldn't have seen them. They seemed to enjoy the dirt, like they were taking a dirt bath, and then were kind enough to perch on tall stalks of bushes in the bright sunshine, only a few feet away so I could study them with my binoculars. Very friendly.

Off to ATL then DTW today, then to training tomorrow evening. I'll be gone a week with the Desiring God national conference going in MSP on Friday through Sunday.

Great Egrets on the Move!

We saw a flock of great egrets hanging out in a swampy pond just off of Alward Rd., when we drove by yesterday. They were still there when we came back from Lansing, so I jumped on my mountain bike, and rode in a (howling) wind to check them out. They were real beauties, and so patient as they waded around the pond fishing. I just wish I would have had a spotting scope so I could have seen them better. Egrets only pass through our area on migration south, so it was a real treat to see them.