Lemonflation

So, as I returned from the bank, there were some children sitting out on the sidewalk in front of their house selling Lemonade (on the way to the bank they pleaded with me to stop, but I just drove on since I wanted to get to the bank so I wouldn't forget what I had to do).

I pulled up and the older sister (maybe 7 or 8) tells me her friend will be right back with the lemonade, since they were just making some fresh. When her friend got out she told the little brother (maybe 5) that he had to go in the house. Poor kid, he probably won't even share in the profits--all he is is some kind of slave labor.

The girl told me the price for the lemonade was $.75. Now, I'm not a cheap-skate (sp?)--in fact, I gave them a dollar, but whatever happend to $.25 lemonade? Inflation has gone wild when children will charge $.75 for lemonade! Oh the times in which we live...

I actually wanted to have a lemonade stand when I was a kid (I would've charged $.25, for the record). However, my parents always said 'no.' Perhaps it was for safety, or perhaps they figured they'd have to do all the work, but more than likely it was because we lived in a rural community and farmers on tractors probably wouldn't just stop for lemonade. Anyway, I'm sure that this all ties in with some biblical principle, but I just can't think of one. At least these kids are learning work-ethic.

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Previous Post of the Week 6/13-6/19

So, some of you may be thinking, what has happend to Lenny? Has he fallen off his rocker? Did he forget to pay his electric bill? Has he forsaken the faith?

The answer to all of this is "no"--except possibly the one about falling off my rocker. I have just been busy as of late and so I have had no time to write anything. I was preaching for the past couple of weeks at a small church, I am currently in the 'eye of the storm' between two week long classes, I have been working, doing homework, talking to really cool persons, and trying to ascertain an apartment for August. Through all of this, I have found coffee to be a true friend and fellow laborer in the faith.

And so, with no further ado, here is this week's highlighted previous post: Sin and the Mercy of Election

Probably one of the greatest reasons people object to the doctrine of God’s sovereign right in unconditionally electing some, by His great mercy in Christ Jesus, to eternal life is the misunderstanding about sin that persists. This is not the only reason for people’s rejecting of this wonderful Biblical truth (that would be an oversimplification of the matter, as some truly reject unconditional election due to exegetical reasons (misunderstandings of certain texts, such as 1 Timothy 2:4-7, 2 Peter 3:9, etc), and others due to other reasons that are not based upon ill-philosophy stemming from an incorrect world-view (by this I mean the misunderstanding of sin)), but I think that it is quite a hindrance to many. A proper understanding of sin (this implies its moral wretchedness and corruption, its complete control and enslavement of the will and the intellect (besides God’s common grace), and how it condemns us rightfully to be accursed of God under the standard of the Law) will show us God’s mercy in electing any to salvation, why election is necessary, and why God, even in His absolute mercy, is not required to save every single human being that has ever lived.

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OHIO!

"O-HI-O!" Here is Andy (McAndrews!), Chris, the Colonel, Steve, and I sitting at the Colonel Sanders Museum in southern Kentucky. This is from our trip to Tennessee in July of 2004. It was quite an adventure--and it was spur of the moment (Andy, Steve, and I decided at 4:00 PM that we wanted to go to Vegas, but a one way ticket was $65 (with no guarantee of a returning flight). So we decided we'd head to the Great Smokey Mountains and we called Chris, found out he was able to go, and we left around 5:30 PM. Despite rational thinking, we allowed Steve to drive.

When we got to Gattlinburg, we stopped at about a dozen hotels to find a cheap room (Steve drove on the wrong side of the divided highway a few times and at other times made U-turns.) Everytime we stopped we would run as fast as we could to the hotel entrance yelling "Yea! We're in Tennessee!" Though it got old very quickly, we kept it up until God provided us with a hotel (possibly because He got tired of us yelling). The guy at the desk was a kind Southern Baptist gentleman, and so we got a good rate on the hotel and he told us what there was to do in the area (though he was unwilling to talk about his church's theology, but just kept saying, "It's a Southern Baptist Church.")

So the next morning we went white water rafting (I'm not sure what happend to my picture of it, but if I find it, I'll post it). It was a blast, and as we went along we kept yelling, you guessed it "OHIO!" And we also sang hymns and praise songs on our 2 hour journey. People who were in rafts around us referred to us for the rest of the journey down the river as "Ohio." At one time we all took turns getting in the near-freezing mountain water (it was only about 70 degrees that day, and we were in the shade of many trees) and getting pulled out. Thankfully we did this practice, for about 20 minutes later, while attempting to get another raft off of a rock, our raft flipped on top of us--which we later found out is quite the accomplishment, since it is one of the biggest, hardest to flip rafts (about a 1 in 1000 chance).

So, after getting out from under the raft (Steve thought for certain he was going to drown under it), we floated down the rapids until another raft picked us up and we were able to catch our raft (using proper technique of floating, of course). Then we finished the ride about 1/2 mile upstream of a level 6 falls (that is the same level of danger as Niagra--these falls are that bad because of all of the sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom of the falls).

After this, we enjoyed the rest of our time in Tennessee (even though the air conditioner in our room almost caught fire one night). We also visited a Sonic's (with a super-scary, really dark restroom), a Piggly Wiggly (not one of us had ever been to a Piggly Wiggly), and some cave where they try to rip you off. We made it back to Ohio after stopping at Kentucky's largest Christian book store, which was quite the disappointment, as their theological section left much to be desired (but boy did they have the PDL).

So, is another Tennessee trip on the horizons? Doubtful. Steve is married. Chris is busy defending the faith and advancing the truth of God's Kingdom. I am at Southern, busy studying and working. And Andy is on a crusade to put an end to the evil reign of Mullets in southern Ohio!

(By the way, this picture was taken at a point where we had been driving for about 6-7 hours. And after a week of giving the "Jimmie-finger" or just the "Jimmie" everytime we took a picture).

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Previous Post of the Week: 6/6-6/12

Announcing this week's Previous Post of the Week: The Justice of Hell: Why a Loving, Merciful God Requires Hell.

It is the lie of the devil to make people believe that Judgment is not coming and that Hell is only a temporary place where people’s sins are purged or where people are annihilated. This is seared into peoples’ consciences to excuse them (in their own minds) from not preaching and/or to give them a false security if they do not preach or if they do not consider eternity seriously. Such lies are dangerous both to those who seek to be preachers of the gospel and those who hear them. Paul warns Timothy to “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). Those who teach falsehoods are not doing one iota of good. Rather, people may and probably will end up in Hell due, at least in part, to such lies.

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Go Planet! This is from back when I was a break-dancin' environmentalist. Oh yeah, that green hair is definitely my natural color. And I'm not really 4', Charles is just 6'4". 

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Previous Post of the Week 5/30-6/5

This may be my only post this week, as I am very busy with work, preparing for class next week, preparing for class in a few weeks, and writing some sermons for Sunday, as I have been blessed with the opportunity to preach at a small baptist church in Indiana for the next two weeks.

This week's highlighted previous post is: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.

Being American, I scarcely know what it means to “want,” let alone to “need.” The same is probably true for all of my fellow Americans. We have supermarkets, malls, large houses. Builders to make those houses, plumbers and electricians to repair them, and all sorts of aides for our everyday life. We are in such a lack of need that we forget what it truly means to be reliant upon God; or at least I do. I rarely second guess that it is a very real possibility that I will not have food to eat tomorrow or a place to sleep. Sure, I may run out of milk for my cereal, but I always have the back up granola bars.

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