And we're back

We had a good time in Seattle over the last week, enjoying friendships new and old, attending the Continuous Worship conference (more on that later), and hanging out at the Seattle Zoo.

One thing that kind of dampened our spirits over the week was that our daughter Adelaide caught some kind of flu bug and she "exhibited" symptoms of that bug for about 5 days, with one particularly spectacular episode occurring at the zoo, cutting our visit short. Not so fun...

Well, she's feeling better...but it appears that Dallass, Hugh, and I have caught the bug. Yuck. I was supposed to preach at church tomorrow but it doesn't look like that's going to happen now. Hopefully we'll get over it quicker than Adelaide did!

In spite of the flu, it's great to be home. Thank you Jesus for a good week and an encouraging time with our brothers and sisters in Seattle.

----------------
Now playing: David Crowder Band - The Glory Of It All
via FoxyTunes

Headin' out...

We're leaving today for Seattle. The blog will be on temporary hiatus, unless I can find a computer somewhere to use.

I will be attending the Resurgence conference titled "Continuous Worship" on Monday and Tuesday. We'll also be visiting friends at Mars Hill Church (and elsewhere) and hopefully making new ones. We'll also be enjoying hanging out in the beautiful city of Seattle

The conference will feature Harold M. Best, author of Unceasing Worship and Music through the Eyes of Faith, pastor Mark Driscoll, author of Radical Reformission and Confessions of a Reformission Rev from Mars Hill Church and worship pastor Tim Smith from Mars Hill Church.


You can read more about the conference here.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death

Madeline L'Engle- 1918-2007.

“Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have something to do with faith, faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.”

You can read some tributes to this marvelous woman here and here and read an older interview that Christianity Today published a number of years ago (Thanks to JT for pointing out this interview).

D. James Kennedy- 1930-2007

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”

Click here for a tribute page for Dr. Kennedy.

Walk with me quiet, walk with me slow

Nate and Dallass go on a date:

Ahhh....what a wonderful evening it was. But wait...that's not all...

(Sorry for the low quality photos. It was on a cell phone...and heck, I still think that's pretty cool.)

Sing me Italian opera

As many of you (whoever you are) know, famed opera singer Luciano Pavarotti died of pancreatic cancer on Thursday, Sept. 6.

As a teenager, I listened to lots of music but I still remember the first time I heard Pavarotti sing. I was at my Grandpa's house and he was watching a tape of the 3 Tenors. It's fuzzy in my memory but I remember that I was blown away by the beauty of those three voices, especially Pavarotti's

Later in my teen years I actually became a fan of opera music. Though I don't listen to opera as much as I used to, there is nothing like listening to Pavarotti sing Nessun Dorma.

I recommend you try and do that as soon as possible.

Free music...

Since so many of you (5 so far!) are helping me get free books I thought I would be a generous blogger and give back a little.

One of my favorite joys in life is to share another of my favorite joys in life: music. I am constantly (probably irritatingly) recommending new music to friends and reprimanding people for not listening to such glorious artists as Sigur Ros or such landmark artists as Bob Dylan.

Problem is, music costs money...usually. But not today. I have scoured the interweb, done the footwork and I now humbly present to you some free music.

Jeremy Casella~ Recovery (full album- streaming)
This is a really fantastic record that I have yet to buy. But I constantly listen to it at Jeremy's virb site and it doesn't get old.

Band of Horses~ Is There a Ghost (song from upcoming album Cease to Begin- download)
Band of Horses first album, Everything All The Time, was one of my favorite records to listen to last year and this first track gives me great hope that the next album is going to be solid.

Rogue Wave~ Asleep at Heaven's Gate (full album- streaming)
Their first album was good, some really great melodies on a few songs.

Pinback~ Autumn of the Seraphs (full album- streaming).
You can also download the track "From Nothing to Nowhere" here.

Andrew Osenga~ Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1 (full EP, download)
Andrew is a fantastic songwriter who currently makes his living improving each musical project he is part of. This project is "...an acoustic EP [Andy] recorded in the early Summer of 2007. All the songs are written from ideas submitted by fans and supporters of my music. The download contains the six MP3’s and a PDF “virtual booklet” with the lyrics, credits and all sorts of other information."

May your ears enjoy and your hearts be thankful for God's marvelous gift of music.

Calling in the favors...

Alright friends...if you know me, you know that I love books. And you know that there is something I love even more than books: free books! And you also know that I become a shameless self-promoting jerk when free books are involved. See below.

Well, Tim Challies is doing a book give-away over at his site. Here are the prizes:

• First prize: All six available volumes of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.
• Second prize: Any three volumes of the Reformed Expository Commentary series (to be selected by the winner).
• Third Prize: Any one volume of the Reformed Expository Commentary series (to be selected by the winner).

All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail address and you are signed up for the book give-away. You can only enter once...but if you get people to use your referral code then you get an extra entry.

So here's what you can do to show me your love: in the next 10 days, click on the banner below and sign up, using my referral code.



If you want, you can send this link to your friends, family, work associates, etc.

And remember, every time you click on the Westminster Books icon on the right side of my blog, you help me earn free books also.

If I had any shame, I would hang my head in it. But these are free books we are talking about here. I told you I was shameless.

Bocce!

One of our favorite family activities is to play the marvelous game of bocce ball. For those of you under the age of 65, let me explain: bocce is a game where players toss/roll balls at a smaller target ball (referred to as the pallino, which is a really fun word to yell out with a faux-Italian accent) within the confines of a large court.

The fair city of Rio Dell (officially known as "The Warm Hearted City"), where we make our home, put in a public bocce court last year and we have been using it frequently.

Here are some photos from some of the Downey's bocce escapades:

...like a gazelle in motion

My brother Nick, nervously anticipating my next move

Dallass and I, surveying the court

And just for fun, this is Ken Dothee, former president of the United States Bocce Federation. His beard is so awesome I had to include a picture of him.