I follow every move Piper makes. His stuff is solid.

Also, Andrew Peterson has started a podcast. He has a new CD coming out this month too. I have always loved his music and he hangs with cool people like Michael Card. AP has a blog that is made up of a bunch of fellow musicians and oddballs. Cool stuff. You can get his podcast from itunes.

Just a few of my faves these days.

Here are a few of the shots I took of her poses.

Thanks again Mom for letting me tag along. Now I want my own Nikon!

Francis Chan (the ‘just stop and think’ guy) has written a book called “Crazy Love”. It’s a great book calling people to more than just a nominal, whatever love for God. Here is a quote from the back of the book.

Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it?

It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.

there is another show that is in its infant year that shows some promise. the “Tokens Radio Show” here is how the founder of the show, Lee Camp, describes it.

Part theology lecture, part cultural analysis, part old-time radio show,
part good conversation, part good music;
all of it serious, and all of it, for us at least, fun,
and we trust it will be fun for you, too.

i have reservation about Tokens concerning the “theology” part of the show. it seems they have pitched their tent in the emergent camp which means they could be soft in areas they should not be. there is error in the interview with brian mclaren concerning heaven that you can listen to on the web site. so in the end, i’m not sure you’re any better off listening to Tokens vs. A Prairie Home Companion at lease with garrison keillor you know where he is coming from. at any rate there is some good music on Tokens. give this a listen.

In the summer of ‘02 my brother Chuk and I and a group of teens from our youth group hiked a 75 mile section of the Appalachian Trail (AT). We hiked with a guide by the trail name of ‘Circuit Rider’. He gave up his full-time paid position in a ministry to follow his calling to be a ‘hiking missionary’. His goal was to thru-hike all 2000 plus miles of the AT and spread the gospel on his way. On July 14, 2008 he will embark on his 9th thru-hike. Groups join him along the way and he teaches the Bible around the camp fire. We were with him for six days. That week on the AT has surfaced over and over again in my memory over the past six years. Scenes like Circuit Rider reading from the book of John using his headlamp. I remember his ‘followers’, those who he had reached with the Good News along the AT with names like ‘Gorilla Jim’, ‘Splendid Shower’ and ‘Sherlock’. At the end of the week Circuit Rider said something that has stayed with me, “For some of you the Trail will keep calling you back, it may be next year or years from now, but you’ll be back.” Since that section hike of the AT from Salisbury, CT to Lee, MA I have known that I will return to the trail. Maybe in the form of a thru-hike, maybe just sections at a time, but I will return. Maybe the next time it will be with my son K2.

The AT is about so much more than just a walk in the woods. It’s about community and relationship. “Trail Magic” is a term that hikers use to describe “Acts of unexpected goodwill”. It can be anything from bottled water left for hikers on a dry stretch, to the annual festival in Damascus, VA “Appalachian Trail Days”. We experienced “Trail Magic” during our week of hiking. It was a little general store off the path about a mile that sold Stewarts Soda’s and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Circuit Rider bought a round of each for all of us. We had been on the trail for a few days and the novelty had worn a bit, we were tired, some sore, some blistered and Circuit Rider kept telling us we would stop for this piece of “Trail Magic”. We finally made it, dropped the packs and the ‘magic’ tasted sweet.

Jesus used Creation to illustrate many of his points and often Jesus taught under open skies. Jesus was the Ultimate Outdoorsman. The idea of “Trail Magic” is a Godly one and originated with Him. Jesus Himself was the One to bring “peace on earth, goodwill to men”. I like to relate the idea of “Trail Magic” to our thru-hike of the Christ-life. Many times on the path Jesus will drop some “Trail Magic” along the way. Like a passage of scripture that meets a need for you at the right time or a wife and family, or the answer to a prayer. Those are sweet times.

I look forward to the day when I can answer the call and my feet hit the Trail again. Maybe I’ll have another story of more “Trail Magic”.

we are about to drive down the coast to the shores of eagle harbor for our last trip to ‘good eggs’. if they had a web-site i would link them. they are that good. soft tortilla shells wrapped around pipping hot eggs and your choice of meat (sausage fo me) and a pick of your kind of cheese. it’s about eight hours of happiness, it keeps you full that long. the shop is part of the experience, it’s part surf shop part back porch part coffee shop. great place. anywho, that’s where we’re kickin’ it today.

it’s cool to know we are fourth generation pastors. my great-grandfather Kenneth Dale was a pastor on the back roads of rural Ohio. i never met him but i wish i had. i’ve heard many stories about him and i live in his legacy. my grandfather Kenneth Fredrick has been a pastor most of his life and he raised my dad (and uncles and aunt) to love the Lord Jesus and to love the Church. chuk and i are thankful for our own dad who raised us to love the Lord Jesus, to love the Church and to love the work of the ministry. both chuk and i can’t envision doing anything else with our lives other than loving people and showing them Jesus.

that’s why when chuk and i were asked to sing for special music in church this morning it was an obvious choice to reach back into our past and sing a song our dad taught us to sing, and one we probably sang a hundred times as a family growing up. (i couldn’t get the recording of the actual service, i may get it tomorrow)

so dad, this is to you. thanks for modeling love for Jesus, love for people and love for Church.