Middletree

I don't post a lot about parenting here. I remember when I didn't have kids yet, thinking to myself that parents seem to be obsessed with the topic of parenting, and I didn't want to join that crowd. I haven't changed my mind. Don't get me wrong: I love being a dad. I love Abby, Jacob, and Zachary with all my heart, and I also know that I have a lot to learn about my role as a father. But I don't want to be one of those people who talks about my kids, or about parenting, all the time. Having issued that disclaimer, I must say, as a dad, i am saddened at what I see on ESPN.com today. See, my 8-yr-old son Jacob, while not being allowed to surf the entire internet yet, is free to go to the ESPN website. He also gets to read the sports section of the local paper. He likes sports, and I've seen some good things in his life as a result of his role as both a spectator and a participant. Thanks to baseball cards and the stats and standings listed in the paper, he...

I recently heard a liberal who I like saying some things about how mean and ridiculous Glenn Beck is. I’m not defending Beck. I don’t have cable so have never heard him say anything, the sole exception being except a youtube clip where he misinformed about the cars.gov site. However, the comment about him, similar to what I have heard about Rush, O'Reilly, Coulter, and other commentators from the Right, all have one thing in common: they come from people on the Left. It’s my view-–and this is a view I cannot support with Scripture or anything else–-that people should be more prone to cleaning their own house that the house of others. In other words, liberals should be slamming the rude people who are in line with them politically before they go off on conservatives who draw their ire. And conservatives should do the same. It’s incumbent upon us on the Right to let Rush, Beck, Coulter, etc. know that their tactics are unacceptable, and it’s up to those of you on the Left to conc...

"What Difference Do It Make" , by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent, is a follow-up to their best-seller "Same Kind of Different As Me". And when I say follow-up, that's exactly what I mean. It isn't a sequel; it's a continuation. It's a way to reveal the bountiful fruit yielded by the first book. If you have not read the first book, I don't recommend this one. It might be understandable, but it won't pack a punch. That said, for those who have completed SKDAM, the new piece is a valuable read. In summary, WDDIM is made up of vignettes; we get to hear Denver and Ron speak through chapters individually, in one or the other man's voice. While the book as a whole doesn't have a real defined structure, each chapter does, and each is filled with stories that tell us the effects of the first book on various readers. Some are heart-warming, some heart-tugging, and all are inspiring. In many cases, SKDAM served as a catalyst in th...

I have to say, this is one of the most exciting passages I have ever seen. God answers people who have confronted Him because their prayers and fasts haven't impressed Him, and haven't yielded the kinds of results they have been looking for. He responds by saying that the problem is that they have been fasting according to their criteria, not His. Their idea of serving God kept them in their comfort zone. In contrast, here's what will please Him: Isaiah 58 v.6 "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke? v.7 Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, and that you should bring home the wandering poor? When will you see the naked and cover him; and you will not hide yourself from your own flesh?" And check out the results! v.8 "Then shall your light break out as the dawn, and your health shall spring out quickly; and your ...