A few days ago a Nestle brand delivery truck was overstocked with some Nesquik chocolate milk and needed to get rid of it. The driver saw the sign for the Arrowhead bookstore and stopped in to see if they knew of any non-profits in the area that could use some chocolate milk. Well, the obvious answer was, "Yes, we operate two camps in the area that have a winter retreat going on this weekend."That's when I received a phone call asking me how many cases of chocolate milk I would like. We ended up with 50 cases of Nesquik chocolate milk, which as you can see below... translates into 600 (16 oz.) bottles of delicious brand name chocolaty goodness. Praise God for the unexpected blessings that make you smile.
This is one of those top ten books. I strongly, highly, urgently and forcefully encourage you to get a copy of this book and start reading.
This powerful book was co-authored by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. It's been on my list of books to read and I picked it up about a week ago. I will warn you though - I mean it when I say it is powerful.
The book is a compilation of letters written from a pastor to individual people in his care. They are letters much like the letters of Paul or John or Luke to men, women and families that they loved and cared for. Each letter was written by Mark Driscoll and includes a short preamble for context. At the end of each chapter (letter) there are a series of theological questions (which tend to arise from the biblical truths written in the letters) which are answered by Gerry Breshears.
Death by Love is towards the top of my list for two reasons. The first is Mark Driscoll's - God revering, Christ centered, biblical approach that is a no holds-barred, truth-telling, never sugar coated, lovingly masculine style of pastoral writing. The second is the uncommon yet much needed "counseling" content that presents itself in this book. It has been a great encouragement and challenge for me - as a husband/father/camp guy who desires to make disciples. I love Driscoll's (and Mars Hill's) counseling model: Every issue, every problem, every sin is a worship problem. It is never an alcohol problem, a lust problem, a pride problem or a money problem (to name very few). It is a worship problem. Someone or something other than Jesus is being worshipped. So... the answer, is not recovery. The answer is redemption. The answer is to be redeemed - to begin worshipping Jesus, the crucified Christ.
Peter Kreeft said, "The opposite of Christianity is not Atheism, but Idolatry."
I recommend you give it a read. Perhaps even with a group of trusted friends.
Here is a promo-video for the book.
A few months ago God sent the Kubota man to camp.
What does that mean...?
Well, we got a visit from our new local Kubota sales rep. He was traveling around making contact with local businesses to see who's who and what's what.Unfortunately, we do not have any Kubota tractors and the tractors we do have are in very good running condition, which I explained to the Kubota sales rep. Nevertheless I was interested in seeing the full color magazine and other materials that he offered. You never know when you're going to need a new tractor... or when you'll want to switch all your Ag equipment to orange.I perused the magazine a bit and we talked. He seemed very interested in camp... as most people are when they stop by in the winter time surprised to see that we're open year round. So I described the pending winter retreat season, Shepherds Camp, Day Camp and the general usage of the facilities. As he asked more questions about winter retreats we got to talking about snow... the fun stuff like tubing, ice rink, snow plowing and removal. Of course I had to mention that the next Steiner implement on my wish list was a snow blower. Immediately his eyes lit up and he said, "I've got one, you want it." I was slightly caught by surprise so I asked what he meant by replying, "Huh?" He went on to explain that he had a front-attaching Snowthrower implement that was just sitting in his driveway. It was going to keep sitting there and he thought it would be a fine idea if we put it to use. The very next day we picked it up and brought it back to camp.With a little research and about $20 in parts... we were ready to make our new frankenstein. Then, after a few weeks of crazy maintenance issues - like freezing pipes, leaking pipes, golf cart parts and similar winter mishaps, the snowthrower was back on the top of the list. Thanks to Brad and his Jekyll & Hyde welding abilities we've got a new Steiner Snowthrower.
Next up: a sweet paint job (the Krylon touch).
