Anyone?

Just purchased these three items. Anyone got any input? The cable is a Monster cable (12ft $39.99), so thought that would be good enough for this amateur. The tuner is a Yamaha YT-250 Tuner ($34.99), and got all good reviews. The Gig Bag was a tough decision. I was gonna go with a hard case, but didn't feel justified to spend the money with as little moving around as my bass gets. Of the inexpensive Gig Bags, this one seemed pretty good. It has an inch of foam padding?? It's a Road Runner Roadster Bass Gig Bag ($49.99).

Good Listenins

I'm a huge fan of the learning about the heros of the faith. It's where I seem to get most of my steak dinners. I was sorting through christianaudio.com for some good listening material for work and came across some sermons from the Desiring God conferences. Every year at that conference John Piper does a biographical sermon on a giant of the faith. People like Jonathan Edwards, C.H. Spurgeon, John Calvin, William Wilberforce, John Bunyan, etc. They're amazing! Some of these guys were psyco for the Lord. John Piper does an excellent job of exalting them where they need exalted, but revealing sin or bad doctrine when he sees it. Very helpful in having a sober view of our heros. These sermons are excellent in putting our lives in perspective. The death to self that these guys modeled is pretty extraordinary, and something I need desperately in my life...and I'm guessing yours too. The latest sermon was from the 2009 conference and it was on George Whitefield. This dude was a supernatural phenom! (only possible for christians) He was preaching at least 40 hours a week, but a lot of times would preach 60 hours! What the?! I like what Piper said: "The facts about Whitefield's life, as an 18th century, itinerant, anglican, evangelist, from the beginning of his ministry until the end, are almost unbelievable. I mean can they really be true?! And all I know to say is that multiple attestations of his life, from those who knew him, and the agreement of biographers that don't like him and do like him; all of that seems to say that these things are so, as incredible as they are!" Here is the link if ya'll would like to indulge in a little self-defemation:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/43/3573_I_Will_Not_Be_a_VelvetMouthed_Preacher/

Nasty Sloppy Goodness

Felt I needed to blog about this place. Becky and I have been meaning to stop in at this place to try it out for a while. The venue has been owned by several different people in the past few years...all trying to establish a local pub. This time is no different. A couple of dudes moved here from Germany and are trying to do what 5 people before them have failed at. But sense it's the closest eatery to where we live, we figured we should try it out. The pub is called "The Bird", and specializes in German beers and meat. The location is about 5 miles south of Jackson, which makes it unappealing to those who are wanting to get drunk as they have to risk getting a DUI to get home. Most likely that is why the previous pubs didn't make it. The scenery off the back deck is amazing, and that is where we ate in the pictures. The pricing is ridiculous, but so it goes in a resort town. We got a burger w/fries and a pickle for $16...but I have to say it was one of the best burgers I've ever had! The patty's were like an inch and a half thick. The fries we all homemade and delicious! Even the pickle was homemade. To wash it down, I got an authentic German dark beer. Yep, it was fantastic. The portion size was huge as well. Becky and I split the meal, and it was plenty. So, for those coming out here this summer, keep this place in mind.

The Romans 7 Dilemma pt. 5

In the last post I was trying to make the point that an unbeliever can't love the law of God from the "inner being". In making that point I was taken back by the consistency of the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul. Now, let's look at a couple of passages where we know for sure Paul is talking about himself as an unbeliever, and compare them to Romans 7 to see which view would be more consistent.

The first passage is in the first chapter of his epistle to the Galatians. In vs 11, Paul is defending his authority and apostleship by explaining how he was called by God to the ministry. He starts by giving a short testimony of his conversion. "For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers." - Galatians 1:13-14. Does this sound anything like Romans 7:18 - "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is , in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out"? It seems to me, the implication of Galatians 1 is that Paul demonstrating his own rightousness by carrying out the "right doing" of violently persecuting the church of God. How about Philippians 3? "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more; circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; AS TO RIGHTEOUSNESS UNDER THE LAW, BLAMELESS." - Philippians 3:4-6. The implication of these verses has to be that this is how Paul saw himself when he was an unbeliever because in Romans 8:5 he says "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh". This is a far cry from "Wretched man that I AM!".

Comparing the verses that we know Paul is an unbeliever in, to the Romans 7 dilemma I think makes it pretty clear that Paul cannot be talking from before salvation.

As per request, these are the resources I've been using for my researchmenting. From top to bottom: Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, The Greek New Testament, the ESV Study Bible, Precious Moments NIV Bible, and a NASB Bible.

Our glorious bill!

This is the second set of pics from the restaurant where we had diner. The package included two appetizers, two main courses, and two desserts. I forgot to take a picture of the desserts though. Our first appetizer was just some basic jumbo cooked shrimp. The second appetizer was an assortment of olives in warmed olive oil with some kind of delicious bread. Becky's main course was the Filet Mignon with a pepper espresso sauce and cooked carrots. She also got a side of asparagus. My main course was the Elk Tenderloin on a bed of spinach in a delicious cajun sauce. Oh, and I got a Black Butte Porter to wash all that down. For dessert, Becky got the double chocolate chip bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. I got the carmel apple tart with vanilla ice cream. Fantastic!

Hokay, so, this is the first set of pics from our Spring Creek getaway. Spring Creek, a local high end resort, does a "locals package" in which you get a nights stay, dinner for two, and breakfast for two for only $119. They do this once in the spring, for about 4 weeks, and once in the fall for the same amount of time. From the bottom up, the first picture is of our lodge. It's actually a set of four lodges, each with it's own view of the Tetons. The second pic is of the pond that doesn't have a variety of ducks on it yet. The third is Becky in her element. Fourth is the sweet fireplace at the foot of our bed. Fifth is the view from the resort restaurant.