Just 24 hours until our summer intern, Dave Luke, arrives from Belfast. There is still a lot to do around the McLane house. The room is painted, we have most of the furniture… but I still have 2-3 items that need to get taken care of. OK, so a mattress is pretty important. But beyond that we are covered!
We’re getting geared up on the "Dave Luke Welcome Committee." We leave Thursday at 2 PM for the airport. Should be funny.
More proof that Congress has absolutely no idea what the average American is like. There is so much stupidity and racism in this clip… I don’t even know where to start. Well, let’s start with it being funny.
As I look back on the last few days I see monster days with monster accomplishments. As I look at today and the week ahead I see more monster days in the aims of more monster accomplishments.
Big personal stuff. Big family stuff. Big projects at la inglesia loca. Big stuff for wrapping up the big building project. Right now live is just big and monsterous.
The amazing thing for me is that normally when my life is monster-like I have a hard time seeing what God is doing. I long to catch my breath, to run up the proverbial mountain for a break. But right now that is not the case.
This happens rarely, but it is clear to see by a lot of people what God is doing. We are not left questioning the unknown, for once we see it with our own eyes. God is at work, He is orchestrating amazing things for His glory. He has brought the right people together at the right time for this church. He is bringing in more people, more helpers. Kristen and I aren’t running at break neck speed for no reason… we’re just trying to keep up with all that God has laid at our feet.
How cool is that? Thank you Jesus for allowing us to partner with you when you don’t even need us.
In case you missed this, Warren Buffett donated about $30 billion to the Gates Foundation.
In an announcement on the Gates Foundation site the world’s richest man said about the second richest man, "We are awed by our friend Warren Buffett’s decision
to use his fortune to address the world’s most challenging inequities,
and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it
to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."
Read all about it at Fortune Magazine.
Needless to say, this is incredible news.
A few weeks ago I posted an entry about the ownership of the LaShish Restaurant chain being investigated for possible ties to terrorism. Here in Detroit, this has been an ongoing story with regular updates and tabloid quality reporting.
This Saturday we had our annual June Birthday and Anniversary 
Celebration for everyone in our family. (I think there are 10 or more celebrations combined into that single meal.) As usual, everyone got together and we devoured the infamous "Flaming Tower." This tower of Palestinian goodness packs beef, chicken, lamb, shrimp, and vegetable skewers together… all piled high and topped with a ridiculous bowl of fire. It’s so tacky that you have to get excited about it. As my beloved wife mentioned a few weeks ago, I don’t like holidays or celebrations all that much. But for once, I love this thing. It’s just a lot of fun and the flaming tower is the center piece to our day.
But, this is what bothered me with this trip. The place was empty. The sad thing is that I think the place was vacant because of the investigation into the ownership. And, it was really sad to see such a great place so empty. Now, I’m as red-blooded as everyone else… but I just don’t get why people would stay away from LaShish. Here’s a couple of things I thought of.
So, if you’ve been staying away from the place because of this investigation… cut it out! The place is still fantastic.
Man, I’m so positive you would think I were hired to endorse them or something? I can see that headline "Baptist pastor signs endorsement deal with Palestinian restaurant" Bring it on.
In case you haven’t noticed, the Detroit Tigers are just about the best team in baseball. Somewhere there in Hell, Michigan Satan has cancelled his Fourth of July BBQ and had to mysteriously start wearing ice skates.
As a Cubs fan, let me share a pressing reality. Don’t believe the hype until they win the pennant, OK? Enjoy it, get excited, but don’t get a Ivan Rodriguez tattoo just yet.
Yesterday we went to Brian and Kerry’s wedding. It was a lot of fun from beginning to end.
My big thought about weddings yesterday is this. From a church perspective we really need these moments of celebration. It’s very healthy to see so many members make their way to the ceremony and reception. It’s fun to party together. Heck, I’m pretty sure it’s healthy to even see everyone dance together.
Great night had by all.
As Kristen reported a few days ago, Paul has fallen in love with the iPod. He’s two you know? He likes to sit very quietly and listen to music. Now that he’s discovered that I purchased a few songs from Cars, he won’t let me have it back.
This morning, as soon as he got us, he asked for the iPod. As I turned it on and gave it to him (which he can do on his own now) he said he wanted the Cars songs and he wanted it loud.
I’m with Paul, I like it loud.
This is so silly. But I’ve not sold something on Ebay for years. Right now the church is selling an item, and I’m watching it.
Why is this so exciting for me? Why am I walking around the building and looking at everything and saying… "We don’t use that, wonder if we could sell that."
Got any ideas?
Tonight we are beginning our series on Mormonism. I’m pretty excited about it as this is a very relevant topic to our community. To read the transcripts of the talk, just click that "read more" button.