This was sweet (H/T: Caitlyn):

As one who lives life with a particular perspective I find that the greatest challenge I face is the ability to engage people who do not share that perspective in a constructive manner. My particular perspective is a worldview shaped by a particular narrative – the Christian narrative. Increasingly in our culture, the western culture, anyway, the mulitiplicity of individual and group narrative is often a barrier to genuine conversation. Sadly, the consequence is an of our inability to communicate produces caricatures of people and people groups which we then engage rather that the real life individual.

My experience, my own and observed, is that when faced with competing narratives we tend to move between two poles: criticism/condemnation and avoidance.

In the following interchange, now almost two years old but brought to mind by Mariann Edgar Budde’s election as the next bishop of Washington DC. As you’ll see (and hear) she and Kendall Harmon have a good back-and-forth, on a difficult topic. I have found Kendall, repeatedly, to be an exemplar of a non-defensive, attentive listening and an conversationalist. Listen to his affirmations and gentle but clear and unwavering engagement.

Here’s an excerpt:

Harmon: This is exactly the kind of argument I think we need to have, by the way. The difficulty here is the context that becomes the trump card, notice in her remarks, is the modern context. And so the Biblical context in the ancient world gets derated and we somehow suddenly know better how the Holy Spirit works in this modern era.

What’s so crucial to point out is there is such a thing as the history of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit works through the church, especially the church globally and the church historically through time. And the church historically through time that has always understood that this kind of behavior is out of bounds and marriage is the context and what’s the height of the arrogance is that you impose this new understanding on the shoulders of the all the Christians we now understand, all the Christians around the world who haven’t been persuaded by these arguments.

Here’s the rest.

Hope all you fathers out there have a great day!

Here’s a nice article about celebrating the Dad’s in your life (H/T Greg):

I’ve learned a few things about you dads over the past few years, because I’ve gotten many amazing letters from you since my book, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, came out. To honor you this entire month, I want to share some of what you said to me so that the women in your lives can help give you what you really need.

Read the rest.

I’m leaving this afternoon for London. The Alpha International Conference, which happens every other year, is being held this week at Holy Trinity, Brompton. I’ll be speaking as a part of the Sr. Leaders Track.

Then on Sunday I’m off to preach at Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing’s church plant, the Latimer Minster. Frog, heads up the work of planting the Latimer Minster while Amy is the UK Director of RZIM Trust and Curriculum Director for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics.

I’d welcome your prayers!

Following is a promo clip on the International Week.

Thanks to Matt Kennedy over at Stand Firm for passing this article by D. A. Carson along.

As is normative with Carson’s writing, I find his clarity of thought and expression helpful. Carson offers here a valuable explanation and correction of an often misunderstood and misapplied text.

Here’s a snip:

Several years ago I wrote a fairly restrained critique of the emerging church movement as it then existed, before it morphed into its present diverse configurations.1 That little book earned me some of the angriest, bitterness-laced emails I have ever received—to say nothing, of course, of the blog posts. There were other responses, of course—some approving and grateful, some thoughtful and wanting to dialogue. But the ones that displayed the greatest intensity were those whose indignation was white hot because I had not first approached privately those whose positions I had criticized in the book. What a hypocrite I was—criticizing my brothers on ostensible biblical grounds when I myself was not following the Bible’s mandate to observe a certain procedure nicely laid out in Matt 18:15–17.

Doubtless this sort of charge is becoming more common. It is regularly linked to the “Gotcha!” mentality that many bloggers and their respondents seem to foster. Person A writes a book criticizing some element or other of historic Christian confessionalism. A few bloggers respond with more heat than light. Person B writes a blog with some substance, responding to Person A. The blogosphere lights up with attacks on Person B, many of them asking Person B rather accusingly, “Did you communicate with Person A in private first? If not, aren’t you guilty of violating what Jesus taught us in Matthew 18?” This pattern of counter-attack, with minor variations, is flourishing.

To which at least three things must be said:

Read the rest.

Last night at 8.43pm Jessie and Aaron had their first-born son: Lucas Christopher Wood. 8.5# 21″

If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall bring little glory to God, do little good to our fellow creatures, and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves. If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side, you have an easy task; but I hope you have a far nobler aim, and that, sensible of the solemn importance of gospel truths, and the compassion due to the souls of men, you would rather be a means of removing prejudices in a single instance, than obtain the empty applause of thousands. Go forth, therefore, in the name and strength of the Lord of hosts, speaking the truth in love; and may he give you a witness in many hearts that you are taught of God, and favored with the unction of his Holy Spirit.

Read the rest.

Woke up this morning to the front page of the Post & Courier featuring this story about two of our parishioners, Ted & Rosemary Ford. The Ford’s had Jacqui and I down to their plantation last spring to see the migration of these birds, and it is truly a sight to behold. Wade Spees, another parishoner, took the photos.

Here’s a clip:

The mill pond is one of those places you’ve likely never heard of — back in the bottom of the Little Salkehatchie River, out in the middle of nowhere.

When the first flight of white ibises sweeps in, the cypress already are clustered with great egrets, showing their plumes, nipping and courting. Wood storks circle in to preen with their mates in the nests. The ibises come flocking, by the dozens, by the hundreds — flight after flight after flight until they swarm across the skies and the pond. The branches hum like bees with honks and whirring.

By dusk, the cypress are thronged with white wings that glow like fresh snow.

Read the rest.

From Rick Reilly:

“The scariest question I ever had to ask was 25 years ago, on the Wednesday of what would become the most unforgettable Masters week ever.

I was greener than an Augusta fairway then. I was 28 and had never covered a Masters, never written golf for Sports Illustrated and never met my idol, Jack Nicklaus.

Nicklaus meant more to me than golf. He was one of the few people I could talk to my dad about. For most of my first 20 years, the two things my dad did best were booze and golf. He was scratch at both. Sunday mornings, though, came down mean and hungover. You’d tiptoe until you heard him leave for the course.

But on one Sunday in April, he wouldn’t go play golf. He’d watch the back nine of the Masters. And I could sit there and watch it with him.”

Read the rest.