La Leche Link

Hope everybody had a great weekend. It was dreary and drizzly in Nash Vegas, but that's my favorite kind of weather. We visited with some friends of ours from Chicago who were in town for the weekend and did a little shopping Saturday, and then Sunday we enjoyed front row seats for the Titans-Texans game at LP Field. It was awesome. Best seats I've ever had at a game, and it was the girls' first visit to such a spectacle. We were right behind the Texans bench, so it was a treat to hear our "neighbors" heckle the kicker and punter for the Texans (Brown and Turk, respectively), as well as, for some reason, #64 (Studdard). All three players thought it was hilarious, and Turk dramatically referenced his wedding ring when one heckler tried to get him to contemplate the Titans cheerleaders close by.
Oh, and the Titans won of course, so that was cool. :-)

Here are some quality links to get your week started off right . . .

A shot of theology with an affirmational chaser:
Bill reminds us that God's wrath is a good, if heavy, thing.
John Piper reminds us that we are greatly loved.

Steve McCoy has started a promising new blog: Mission to Suburbia

Did they find Nehemiah's wall? (HT: Vitamin Z, who HT's RelevantMag)

The Resurgence reprints Tim Keller's "Preaching that is Christ-Centered" and it is phenomenal. A must read. (HT: Transforming Sermons)

I just footnoted a bit on the so-called Gospel of Judas in my book on Jesus, so I read this piece from Al Mohler with much interest: Revising the Revisionists: New Controversy Over the Gospel of Judas

On the lighter side, this from Lark News:
Graces revolt

Grace Sauersby was born premature and her parents weren’t sure if she would live.
She did live, and now attends a Christian college, but says she is a victim of "name baggage."
"I almost died and my parents named me Grace," she says. "How original."
Girls named Grace say they face a unique hardship by being saddled with the central Christian concept.
"When people meet me for the first time they say, ‘Aww,’" says Grace Benson of Seattle. "Then they look at me like I should embody Christ’s work on the cross."
Grace Riley of Wisconsin was born after her parents nearly divorced. Now 17, she feels she can’t ever be rebellious because her name "evokes God’s redemptive work in my parents’ marriage."
"I’m the miracle unity child," she says dryly.
Grace Siskin did rebel as a young adult, and when she returned to her family and to church at age 24, she was annoyed at how people waxed eloquent about her name, and how God had extended grace to her.
"My whole life became a metaphor," she says with a sigh.
Siskin recently discovered there were girls named Faith, Hope and Joy in her same college. They dread being found together lest the jokes start rolling.
"At least they understand my name predicament," says Grace. "We always threaten to change our last names to Less and see what kind of meaning people pull out of that."

I've been tempted numerous times to write a message on grace, using my four-year-old Grace as an illustrative template (Grace is Wild, Grace is Unpredictable, etc). Prompted by this article, I just asked her if she feels having the name Grace saddles her with emotional and spiritual baggage, and in response, she picked up her Snoopy doll and said, and I quote, "Snoopy's really crazy, do you wanna see?"
So there you have it.

Oh yeah: Despite some positive leads and one or two doors still not entirely closed, I'm still on the market.

Happy surfing!

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