Brother Jon,

Pretty lame that your wife hit you because someone on Hearthkeepers told her to.  To heck with them, I say.

Your friend,

Sean

Figured it was time to write something again on this blog.  So, I’ll start with an exegetical question for you.  How do you see Mark 1:1 functioning?  A title, a summary, only pertaining to the first few verses or the book as a whole?   What does “the beginning” refer to?  I am starting a study of Mark and trying to see what import this verse might have for the whole.  Thanks for your thoughts.

You da man,

Brother Jon

Brother Jon,

Thanks for the birthday greetings.  Happy Birthday to you, too! Being 36 hours older than you, I feel I ought to have something especially wise and profound to say, but alas…

I’ve been reflecting on our last 12 birthdays.  That is pretty wild. Remember our first birthday party, with the Yoda cake and only one child between us? It seems like ages ago.

Anyway, I hope your birthday was a joyful one, and as always, gregoreite, stekete en te pistei, andrizesthe, krataiousthe.

You are the man.

Sean

A “Happy 37th” to you, my dear brother.  Hard to believe this is the 13th year for us to celebrate our birthdays together (at least in spirit, if not in body).  As always, let us remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 16:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  Do everything in love.

The Lord’s blessings upon you, my friend.  I look forward to seeing you next week.

Grace and peace,

Jon

Thanks for an easy post to respond to.  I am reluctant to respond to your “what is the gospel” post because the first thing I would do is contradict what all the nice folks said on your Xanga site. So here are some answers. 

1.  Anyone who says BBQ is bad for you is a Gnostic.

2. Don’t ask.  Just do it. Seriously.

3. Some folks are wishful thinkers.

4. Probably has something to do with the ’school’ they went to.

5. $$$

6. She’s a lot prettier than you are.

7. 6-6, but only one game matters.

8. I asked her, and she said something crass that means “a lot”.

9. Peter Leithart

10. September 13, which is the Gregorian equivalent of September 22 by Shire-reckoning. Which as you know is Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday.

If BBQ is so bad for me, why does it taste so good?

If I already own more books than I could possibly read, why do I get this huge rush of adrenaline when I buy another one?

Why do some think Notre Dame’s football team is so much better this year?

Why do former KU basketball players get caught with marijuana at their NBA rookie camps?

Why does UVa schedule USC as their opening game?

Why does my wife’s blog get so much more traffic than mine?  (I already know the answer to this one)

How well will K-State do this year?  Opinions about the Aggies are not necessary.

How much yarn does it take for your wife to make you a pair of socks?

Which author has influenced you the most?

When will you start reading the Lord of the Rings again?  I know you say ‘Fall’ but that is kinda hard to determine down here in Texas.

Inquiring mind wants to know.

Brother Jon

Brother Sean,

Just wanted to know how your Labor Day went.  I labored the first half of the day and then enjoyed good food and good friends the rest of the day.  Unfortunately, one of those friends had to watch his team get beat last night.  I am glad K-State won this weekend because most of the other teams I have connection with lost.  Miss. State, Aggies, and my alma mater, Virginia, who hopefully were well compensated for being humiliated and beaten down.

Also wanted you to know we are joining with you and your family in thanksgiving to our God for the blessings of Ellie.  I still remember the phone calls from you when all the stuff was happening that day.  Thanks be to God for His great mercies!

Finishing up Surprised by Hope.  Don’t know if you have heard anything about it but it is pretty good.

Laboring, rejoicing, and reading,

Brother Jon

Brother Sean,

I have been pondering this question lately and would like your thoughts.  I asked it over on my other blog but value your insights, so wanted to make sure you saw the question.

Thankful for your wisdom,

Brother Jon

Brother Sean,

Can you explain to me the allure of procrastination?  What good comes out of putting off doing what you know needs to be done, only to stress out about it as the deadline draws near?  Yet, again and again, I find myself ‘puttering’ (HT:  Eric Alexander) around, wasting my time, energy, and resources on the trivial to the detriment of the vital.  I used to think I did it for the rush I would get, the adrenaline kicking in to get it done on time.  Now, procrastinating simply lulls me to sleep.  The next thing I know days have passed without meaningful communion with Christ, meaningful conversation with my wife, or meaningful time with the kids.  I need to do something about this.  Maybe later.

Brother Jon

Brother Jon,

I’ve another sad story to tell, again involving baseball.

In August my employer is sending me to Pittsburgh for two separate weeks of training.  Naturally, when the dates were set the first thing I did was check to see if the Pirates were going to be in town.  I did the same with my Royals when I was sent to KC a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed a couple of great games, despite the whipping the Royals took the first game I watched and a thunderstorm that hit in the seventh inning of the second game I took in.  I’ll write more about all that later, and I’ll embed the clip of me at the first game (or on that evening’s Sportscenter if I can find it). 

Anyway, I was thrilled to see that the Cubs were going to be in town for one of the weeks, and even more thrilled that the Reds would be there for the other.  I’m no fan of either team (nor the Pirates) but it’ll be neat to see the Cubs while in a pennant race, and the Reds–well as you might have guessed, the reason I was looking forward to see the Reds play because it would have been my first (and presumably only) chance to see future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. play a game.  And that’s where this sad story comes in, as you have no doubt figured out.  Ken Griffey, Jr. is now the center fielder for the Chicago White Sox.  Alas.

Baseball fever, catch it,

Sean