Dan Allender Quote

“What does it mean to be a man who leads? It means you repent first, you allow yourself to be broken first.”

4 Essential Elements for Parenting

Listed below are what Dennis Rainey describes as the 4 essential elements for parenting. I caught this a while ago on a Family Life Today radio broadcast and wanted to share them here. It makes a lot of sense and keeps it simple. Would love to hear thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. from all the Dads out there who have a whole lot more experience as parents than I do. I’m posting this minutes after coming in from outside, playing with my daughter (Summer, who is almost 3) and two of the neighbor kids. They were playing baseball and hockey… no, …

Movie Review: Star Trek

Of course we know where this review should begin. It should begin with what “Star Trek” was all about in the first place, right? That this was a re-visioning of a franchise that began over 40 years ago. That this was something that should’ve been left alone. I mean, for God’s sake, what happened in the last three movies under the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”? After “First Contact”, what did we have? Does any real self-respecting Star Trek fan consider “Insurrection” and “Nemesis” a part of the real Star Trek narrative? Can any Star Trek fan call …

The Experts Say (Only for the fathers of girls.)

(This is something I wrote for Kai, my ten year old daughter, while I was on my way to Israel…so guys who don’t have daughters, you’re dismissed until the next topic…) How long does it take to become an expert? The experts say it takes 7-10 years and 50,000 “chunks” of new knowledge. You can’t paint a picture in Sunday School class, sit around and in 7 years call yourself an expert. You have to gain new knowledge and continue to gather this new knowledge everyday for 7 years. Many of your friends will appear to be experts at many …

How's it going husbands?

I remember a thought I had before Nicol and I got married, when we hadn’t yet encountered any significant tests or trials, and when we certainly weren’t able to comprehend the meaning of marriage as the most effective tool in God’s sanctification tool box.   My thought went something like this: Everyday, when I get out of bed, the way I’m going to start my day, the first thing I’m going to do, is kneel down beside the bed and pray for my wife and ask God to bless her and our marriage. A rather ideal thought, huh? Nicol jokes that …

Love and Donuts

I went with my son Noah to Krispy Kreme donuts to grab some glazed donuts. We got to the counter and he asked me if he could have a chocolate milk.    I thought to myself “Buddy, you are going to have a sugar overload…but okay.”   I said “sure”.   Then he asked me if he could have two donuts.   My alarm went off “warning, warning…you are about to hit sugar coma…do not, I repeat, do not let him have another donut.”   I said “sure”.   The alarm came back on “hello?  Is there a responsible parent …

Movie Review: Observe and Report

Writer/director Hill goes for dark humor, and it’s brazenly illustrated in this uber dark comedy that has a lot of similarities to his new HBO sitcom, “Eastbound & Down” which I think is a very promising show and I’m glad it’s being continued. Seth Rogen’s character, Ronny, is somewhat like EB&D’s “hero”, Kenny Powers. He is self-unaware, and a low life. But Rogen has more charm to him and has the ability to make you laugh with him, and Danny McBride’s approach to Kenny Powers is a little more cynical. The film follows the misadventures of a rent-a-cop head of …

GO Outside!

Here is something I’ve been wondering about today. “Why do I feel pressure to spend more time outside when the weather is nice?” I am not only speaking about pressure from external sources like friends and family, but internal pressure to ‘go outside.’ It strikes me as odd that I should feel this way. Yesterday I spent the afternoon napping and watching baseball. I would love to do the same again today, except that it is warmer and sunny. Maybe I should be outside instead of watching TV. Do you agree? Part of this stems from my childhood I am …

Movie Review: I Love You, Man

A girl I was dating once told me she was concerned with a friendship I had with another guy because she was suspicious of how close we were. She didn’t understand that he and I were “like soul-mates”. Not that you should ever tell a lady friend of any kind something like this, mind you–you’re really asking for trouble; but, you know, I was young and stupid. She took it the wrong way. She thought I might have homosexual leanings. But it was nothing like that at all. Put it up on the chalkboard: We don’t understand women, and women …

atheists … mark your calendar

A friend recently brought this to my attention. It seems those that deny GOD … atheists, as they are called … have complained that Christians have Good Friday, Easter and Christmas, but they have no special day of celebration. Many outspoken atheists have even gone so far as to register their complaint to the State and Federal government. But actually atheists around the world have had a special day all along … built right into our calendar … and that day is today … April 1st … April Fools Day. It appears King David founded this day when he wrote …