my wife is beautiful

What a wonderful smile!

The Cracked Pot

There once lived a water carrier in India. He used two large pots for his task. He suspended a pole across his neck and attached a pot at each end of the pole. One of the pots had a big crack in it while the other pot was perfect. The perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water from the stream to the master's house, while the cracked pot arrived only half full each day.
For two years this water carrier made the same journey. The perfect pot became proud of its accomplishments. The cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. Finally, one day by the stream, the cracked pot spoke to his owner about his bitter failure, "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize that I have only been able to deliver half my water to your house. There is a crack in my side which causes water to leak out. Because of my flaws, you don't get full value from your efforts."
Then the water carrier replied, smiling, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
On that trip from the stream, the cracked pot looked around.
"Did you notice there are flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" the master commented. "That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we passed these spots, you watered them. Now for two years I have been able to pick those beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty to grace his house."

the supremacy of Christ in a postmodern world

By supremacy of Christ I mean the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. By postmodern I'm not exactly sure what I mean if you know what I'm saying. Us country folk here in the Midwest tend to be behind times for some reason. So I want to help some young thinkers out there grapple with some present issues. Maris and I are going to a conference at the end of September that addresses the issue of postmodernism. Check out some of the videos for this conference here.

Unfortunately you can't attend the conference because it's SOLD OUT!

Let me know your thoughts...

it is not the critic who counts

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
check out Teddy's mugshot here: http://www.jimpoz.com/quotes/images/speakers/tr.jpg

I've been thinking about this quote recently because I can be a critic at times. I'm trying to discern the difference between godly discernment and ungodly criticism. I ask You, Oh God, for wisdom because I lack...