I think my brain's trying to get out of my head.

I've been experiencing a little twitch in the middle of my forehead, for the past week and a half or so.
I emailed my doctor, and have yet to hear from him (maybe he doesn't know what to do!).

but it's getting so bad that I'm keeping track now at work with a little notepad I keep beside me for exactly this purpose. yesterday at work alone, i had 9 little spasms. Today, at this moment, I'm up to four, and one of them was a Dualie.

I've never had this before. It's like someone pinching my forehead. a gentle pinch.

Update on The Pooklet

found out today that our little pooklet has eczema on his face. living in the valley with a friend whose child had a bad, bad case of it had made us worry about this, but thankfully, it appears isaac's little bumps are manageable. we just need to moisturize that kid. the wife has already been staying on top of that.

living in the central valley has given me my share of bumps that seem to migrate/flee to different parts of my body while i chase them with flucinonide gel. lousy air...

we also found out that it's too soon to let him sleep through the night (shoulda known that was too good to be true). Four months was kaiser's recommendation. This oughta work well for us, though, cuz he does make little peeps in the middle of the night, but they don't amount to much, so we've been letting him sleep. we'll now take advantage of those cues to give 'im a midnight snack.

that's the news for the day.

Rules for Church Service

Today, I presided over the congregation and led our church in scripture reading, prayer, and singing. There was no sermon, however, and this upset a couple members of our church.

You see, our pastor was away, and in his absence he had arranged for a substitute from the Association to preach in his place. The bulletins were even printed to reflect this.

However, being close as we are to our pastor, we suggested an alternative last Wednesday evening, a plan we got from attending another church's prayer night.

We proposed to instead take a text from Romans and pray through it, encouraging the congregation to let the text and the lyrics we sang inspire and inform much needed prayer. After all, we felt attention to prayer is something our church could use more of. Our pastor was enthusiastic about our plan, expressed that he wished he could be there for it, and even mentioned doing it again when he's around.

So the Pookies spent most of Friday, and Saturday evening, creating an order of worship in three parts. We would look at who God is, who we are, and how we are changed.

The first section began with a reading and brief application of Romans 11:33-36. We prayed aloud as a congregation, those who felt led filling in the following sentence: "God, we praise you because…"

The second section drew our attention to our nature as we continued into Romans 12:1-3. What is keeping you conformed to the pattern of the world? A few minutes were structured to give our brothers and sisters quiet time in prayer to confess sins.

The last section focused on Romans 12:9-21, which is enough material to convict any Christian. We exchanged one prayer request with the person next to us, to use in petition this week.

Nine and a half well-chosen, smoothly executed songs were woven throughout. This is a credit to our piano-playing collaborator, and the wifey who alternated between guitar and djembe.

Three other scripture passages were read in addition, and the whole mix felt to me Spirit-filled and reverent, and edifying.

Two people walked out at the beginning, however, displeased with what we had done, unhappy that what was happening was not what was in the bulletin.

We attended a big church in Houston this summer where the sermon was replaced by prayer. We found this acceptable, in the way we believe this morning's service was pleasing to God and edifying to His people. That, to me, is the litmus test. We gather together as Christ's body to edify one another, to hear God's word, to praise God, and to examine one's heart before Him.

What do you think?

Worldview Rules of Engagement

I'm currently preparing to substitute-teach the high school sunday school class at our church (a series on the attributes of God) tomorrow, and I'm reviewing my old notes from an apologetics conference at the Moody Church. I found a great quote from Ravi Zacharias that brilliantly explains the test through which we should run all our worldviews. I actually tried to place it on the right-hand sidebar of the blog as a replacement for my photo (which is far less instructive), but there was a technical problem. I'll try again later.
In the meantime, here's Ravi's excellent test for your belief system (I've put his conclusion before his points, but haven't changed the meaning):

Life must move from truth to experience to prescription. If either the theist or the atheist violates this procedure, he or she is not dealing with reality but is creating one of his or her own.

First, can I defend what I believe in keeping with the laws of logic? That is, is it tenable?

Second, if everyone gave himself or herself the prerogatives of my philosophy, could there be harmony in existence? That is, is it livable?

Third, do I have a right to make moral judgments in the matters of daily living? That is, is it transferable? — Ravi Zacharias

Is he breathing??

Our Pooklet slept the entire night (after some exceptional fussing) last night!

What was it, honey? 'bout 11:15 to 6:15?


He is 2 days shy of being 3 months old. We may be entering a new era.

Let the good times roll!

Picture of the Day

Today's Pic(k) of the Pooklet

Listening to Plumb's new album, which serves as a nice collection of lullabies.
This and Leeland's first album I bought yesterday and recommend them both.
It'll be interesting to see how 17-yr old (and thereabouts) Leeland grows as a band. What will they sound like in ten years? They already impress me with their maturity and, of course, their sound.

I slowly got sick over the weekend, and now have a cough that just might prevent me from rejoining the workforce tomorrow. I usually feel uncomfortable taking sick days, so I may cave in but another day of rest sure sounds good now. I have two canker sores right next to each other that fill me with such rage when I eat that I think this may be one of the cruelest sufferings I've endured.

Right.

I'm set right now in my camera search on the Rebel XTi body and the Canon 17-85mm lens. I have my eyes on Canon's 10-22 wide angle lens as well but that will wait, maybe even permanently.

So I'll pray over it, and if I discern this is still a wise purchase, I'll order it through Amazon.

Hey, anyone heard Passion's new CD? I particularly like Chris Tomlin's "God of This City" and "Sing Sing Sing." "Sing Sing Sing" and two other recent purchases of mine, Paul Baloche's "Kingdom of God" and "Solution" by Hillsong United border on the punk sound I used to cherish so much.

It's a good time to be alive.

Pancake in a can

Easy and good!

Consumer Research

This and yesterday's picture were shot with brother-in-law's Rebel XT. I'm thinking of (and slowly researching) getting an XTi body for the 2 extra megapixels and, more importantly, the bigger and easier-to-view screen.

After using the 20-35 lens on my company's camera, I want to buy something wider - 16 or 17 - without getting into a thousand dollars.

I also want to sell my big Mamiya 645. Seems the responsible thing to do.

Any suggestions?

Family Portrait