Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Isaiah Reading

My son, Isaiah, officially read for the first time last night! We've been working on letters and sounds and some words.

Last night Stephanie pulled out beginners' reading material, and I sat down with him to read. He read two books "Matt" and "Sam" all by himself!!!

As I posted on FB, it was a sacred moment for me. From this day forward, Isaiah will never be the same. The wealth of human knowledge passed on through millenia is now open to him through something we take for granted: Reading.

Being an amateur student of languages, I've experienced the difficulty of learning to read and write in new ways as an adult. I've also experienced the awe of having new information being opened up to me by learning a new language and writing style.

"Matt" and "Sam" are the beginning of an adventure for Isaiah. Interestingly, he and Sophia during the night will pull books out of their bookshelves and bring them to bed. When we come into their rooms in the morning there might be 5-10 books in bed with them. They love books. They love stories, and right now they do their best to put the stories together through the pictures...

And now, Isaiah will be putting together the stories with a whole new set of tools: Words. From now on, those books will be read. Most of all, Isaiah has begun the process of self-learning. He will no longer be dependent upon another person showing him or telling him (orally). Now he can read and figure things out on his own.

My little homo sapien is developing, and I couldn't be prouder.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Easter TV: CSI Miami



I'm using this clip Sunday morning to help illustrate the historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Resurrection is not something we believe blindly; however, it is something we believe by faith. Did you know that NOTHING is historically "provable?" Prove George Washington lived without relying on someone saying he did. The first step to historical research is understanding and rating the trustworthiness of your sources.

The resurrection of Jesus is found in all four Gospels, in the Epistles, and in other Early Christian literature. Christian claims are prevalent in Roman texts without firsthand dispute. That's fairly strong textual evidence!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Sunday Communion

We used a beautiful, poetic communion liturgy for Easter Sunday.

Thanks to Johnny Baker for getting this liturgy started...


The word became flesh,
and the flesh becomes bread.

Today the bread becomes the body,
and the body becomes the word.

For God is bread,
and the bread is broken.

His pain becomes wine,
and this wine becomes our joy.

The wine bursts the wineskins,
just as God bursts out of the tomb.

The stone rolls away...
Bread breaks into song...
As together we shout:

"Hallelujah! Christ is risen today!"