(thanks, Ben)

While true friends have close to innumerable worth, I was thinking recently of two especially valuable benefits friends bring.

First, friends are a great place to learn and use your spiritual gifts. In the middle of a discussion a while ago about finding one's spiritual gifts, I began noticing the dynamics of my closest group of friends. From acts of leadership to quiet displays of mercy, spiritual gifts previously unnoticed began gaining my attention. I'm certainly no fan of charts and surveys used to "discern" spiritual gifts, but in the wake of those discussions focusing on gifts I began to see them in living color in our daily interaction.

Second, true fellowship with friends brings ideas and concepts into sharp clarity. Ideas that had long been a mere haze in the back of my mind take clear form in the natural flow of a conversation. In fact, I regularly find myself walking away from an indepth conversation with a friend realizing I had never thought an idea so clearly or cogently as when I had been forced to speak it, and that moment of clear revelation comes as a bit of shock to me, even though I'm the one presenting the thought.

Frienship-a precious gift from the greatest Friend and Lover of fellowship.

As a side note, the game Shawn Hatcher is holding is called Settlers of Catan. It is by far the best board game I have ever played. It is the first board game I have to refer to as "addictive." I've never played Risk, but I hear it's somewhat similar. At any rate, it's a blast. The $35 price tag and two hour games are slight drawbacks, but I really enjoy it. Thanks for the intro to it, Ev.

A.A. Hodge on "evangelical Arminians":

I attribute the peculiar theoretical indefiniteness which appears to render their definition obscure, especially on the subjects of justification and of perfection, to the spirit of a warm, loving, warring Christianity struggling with the false premises of an Arminian philosophy.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness...

When was the last time my desire for righteousness could be classified as hunger? Thirst? When did I long for even the smallest growth in righteousness, like a newborn gaping stubbornly for the elusive bottle? When did I rejoice in the thought of upright living, like a scorched roofer who gladly enjoys a long swallow from the sweat-beaded bottle?

Oh Father, when have I longed for more than just survival Christianity? When have I hoped expectently, not to endure the ravages of a temptation but to burst through into a rich and full and abundant life of righteousness?

Blessed? Blessed is the one who passionately seeks positive righteousness, who does not settle for the mediocre life of getting by or not slipping backwards.

Oh Father, that I would be one who is filled.

Andrew Murray, in his first sermon:

Young men and women, my one great attempt here at Aberabon, as long as God gives me strength to do so, will be to try to prove to you not merely that Christianity is reasonable, but that ultimately, faced as we all are at some time or other with the stupendous fact of life and death, nothing else is reasonable. That is, as I see it, the challenge of the gospel of Christ to the modern world.

A classic example of resisting change for tradition's sake:

During D.L. Moody's evangelistic campaigns, Ira Sankey played a key role. He introduced new songs and even a new instrument to the services--his travelling organ. At one of their meetings in Scotland, Sankey was about to start playing his organ when an elderly woman suddenly bolted from the church, crying, "Let me oot! Let me oot! What would John Knox think of the like of ye?"

from Warren Wiersbe's Walking with the Giants

Well, today was the first day of one of my summer jobs. 11 hours, a toasty sunburn, general tiredness, and over 4 tons of debris later, I'm about ready to go to bed so I can do it again tomorrow. :-)

It's a good switch from the rather...non-physical school routine, and I love being outside. Basically, I'm a glorified garbage man. (no theological implications at all behind the word. :-) We go from subdivision to subdivision emptying dumpsters of the construction waste, including everything from paint, plywood, sheet rock, and an unbelievable plethora of etceteras.

Two things caught my attention today. One, Amercians waste a lot of things. Two, landfills are disgusting. Now, I'm no tree-hugging, trash collecting wacko, but I am now convinced landfills are the environmentalists best source of propaganda. I mean, have you ever been to one? Piles and piles of reeking, mounded garbage are mixed into the ground by giant bulldozers, forming heaping mounds soon to be poorly disguised by the thin grass sprinkled sparsely on the facade of the rounded hills. Yuck.

So what's the point? Well, first, I'm thankful for my God's provision of just the right job to meet my needs. Praise Him for His gracious provision. Second, you and I are stewards, are caretakers of the Creator's earth. Perhaps we would do well to consider more often how we're treating His splendid handiwork.

When I left Mom on Tuesday to return to Greenville, she was doing much better. She'd been able to eat and looked and felt much improved. Thank you to any and all who prayed for her. Several more surgeries could be upcoming, but I'll be sure to post as things develop. Thanks again.
david

Mom came home on Saturday. The reconstructive surgery took a little longer than expected, and she's in a lot of pain and having a lot of nausea.
Beside the pain and sickness, we'd also appreciate your prayer that infection wouldn't set in, which would ruin the skin graft she had to have. Thank you for your prayers.

Trying to tap the vast resources of the internet for linguistic software, resources, or other helps
if you know of any other relevant sites, please comment on this blog

This is the first of an upcoming group of blogs containing links to web pages I have found to be valuable. I hope it can be of use to you, and that through your adding sites I don't know of be of value to me and to any other reader.
In the future, the "Language Sites" link under "Sites of interest" will bring you to this blog. I hope you add to my lists greatly. :-)

www.sil.org
Dedicated to studying and preserving "endangered" languages, SIL is an international service organization with a ton of resources. From fonts to downloadable software to extended papers (in PDF), SIL has more to offer than just a peak at an unknown language. Their purpose is "to work with language communities worldwide to facilitate language-based development through research, translation, and literacy. This site is intended to serve those who share our interests and goals as expressed in the Linguistic Creed." For the serious linguist in you.

www.basicsofbiblicalhebrew.com
Perhaps obviously for Hebrew, the purpose of this site is to "support and complement" the grammar of the same name. (written by Gary Pratico and Miles Van Pelt) Boasting "hundreds" of free charts, overheads, and flashcards, the site also offers FlashWorks--a vocabulary flash card program--and audio files of the pronunciation of the Hebrew alphabet. You can buy a CD with the pronunciation of every vocab word in the BBH grammar for $12 .

My mom is having eye/reconstructive type surgery today, and I'd appreciate your prayer for her. They're hoping she'll be able to go home tomorrow.