Archive for 2007

Nicole and I just returned from a last-minute trip to Knoxville, TN. We learned on Saturday that one of Nicole’s best friends was in a fatal car accident the day before. Alexis had been driving out with her two young sons (ages 4 and 2) to Nashville to sing at her brother’s wedding when she lost control of her vehicle. The boys didn’t get any serious injuries, but Alexis died instantly.

Alexis and her husband Tim were there with us when I first met Nicole. I proposed to Nicole when I came down to Knoxville for their wedding. They were our closest friends during the first two years of our marriage (spent in Knoxville). Nicole and Lex even experienced their first pregnancies together; their eldest son was born only weeks after Katie. Needless to say, we’re grieving now and will be for a while yet. It’s not a grief without hope, but it’s rough to lose a friend so young. My heart goes out to Tim, their two boys, Alexis’ parents and the rest of their family.

In the midst of this tragedy Tim and Lex’s church has really stepped up to help. Tim has so many things to deal with right now, and it’s enough to break a man… but God’s grace is stronger, and he’s showing his grace in part through the men and women coming alongside Tim right now.

Still, this is a difficult journey to be on. So if I could ask one thing of you, my friends… would you please pray that God would draw close to the Cantrells and Shraders this Christmas?

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Noon-1pm (aka right now!)

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• Bear Stearns Loss Presages More Turmoil - New York Times [NY Times]
  “Morgan Stanley on Wednesday announced the sale of a $5 billion stake to China’s sovereign wealth fund, and both Citigroup and UBS made similar deals with Middle Eastern and Asian governments…”
• The alliance between China’s communist government and Wall Street deepens [Roubini Global Economics Monitor]
  “The CIC’s big stake [in Wall Street] still worries me—in large part because the CIC also owns three of the four large Chinese stake banks, and is expected to own two others after the recapitalization. And there is no doubt that the state banks have been managed in part to achieve non-commercial goals. China’s banks have historically been used to implement China’s version of industrial policy—directing credit to favored sectors of the economy.”
• Crazy For China [Forbes]
  “This is China’s century. The rest of the world is just living in it.”

America isn’t just bleeding money—Asia is busy holding buckets underneath to catch it all. You never know… this might be a good time to brush up on your Mandarin. :/

Popularity: 9% [?]

Wow. Codepoke came out early this morning with both guns blazing:

I realize there will be some argument against my definition of paper as the enemy, but I think it’s pretty close. The real enemy of the church is the flesh of each of her members. I attack paper because it’s our generation’s go-to defense for our flesh. Lurking behind every piece of paper you’ll find a sin waiting to happen. Whether it’s the church budget allowing greed, the bylaws enabling sloth, the calendar supporting procrastination, or the membership roll feeding pride; red tape is always the first defense of the bureaucrat and the cheapest ammunition to fire at messengers of the Spirit.

Here is my proposal.

Ignore all paper in the church.

Statement of Faith? Burn it. Bylaws? Owe all men nothing but love; against such there is no law. Denominational missives? Chaff. Membership rolls? Printed lies.

I already felt like God was moving me in this direction. It’s encouraging to see other Godly men moving the same way.

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Ten years ago today, the term “weblog” was first coined. In honor of this anniversary, here’s a “true weblog” of a few links related to our family’s new hometown—Marietta, PA (not to be confused with Marietta, GA):

• Marietta, PA
  Yup, I moved to a small town with its own website. Would you expect anything else from me?
• Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce
  See that photo above? I pass by that sign coming home each night.
• Marietta Factsheet (Wikipedia)
  Just in case you want to know what the latest census figure were.
• Marco’s Restaurant and Motor Inn
  Love the food and the atmosphere here. Wish they had a web site.
• Borough of Marietta, PA
  Okay, now it looks like this is the official web site. (Added May 13th, 2008.)

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