A Bible Field Trip

This is what an incarnational view of mission looks like: the human translation of divine action in the world. If we take the Incarnation seriously, mission becomes more like translation than ideological, territorial, or even spiritual conquest. God models translation by pouring out the divine self into human form; as Walls puts it, 'The Incarnation is God's perfect translation. '

From Almost Christian, by Kenda Creasy Dean, and quoting Andrew Walls, page 97.

Lamin Sanneh views the gospel's translatability as one of Christianity's signature qualities. Unlike [a certain false religion] he observes, 'Christianity spread as a religion without the language of its founder' . . .

Ibid, quoting Lamin Sanneh.

Translating Scripture into the common, spoken languages of laypeople is arguably the most basic of all missional practices . . .

Ibid, page 116. 


Okay, guess what book I read last week.  :)

And then I went to Bearing Precious Seed last Saturday to assemble Spanish scripture booklets containing the books of John and Romans. After the translation of God's Word into human flesh (see John 1:2) helping to get the translated written word to individuals who need it is a small thing.

It's Friday! Time to Wrap up the Vacation

While we were in Nevada we visited Valley of Fire State Park. Lisa blogged about this a few weeks ago and you can see her article here. She posted some of her wonderful pictures, too. Thought I'd share a few of the ones that I took.

This park has some very interesting geographic formations, petrified trees, animal species, Native American hieroglyphs, and history. (Here's the link for more park information and some great professional photographs.)

Dan and Lisa playing at the Beehives.

Whenever I couldn't find The Bear I just kept looking up and his head and body would eventually appear on the rock formations above me. From his vantage points he managed to see more than the rest of us could from below. It was hard to keep him safe on the ground this trip.

I think Nevada has beautiful scenery based upon the various colors that can be found within the rocks. The photos I showed last week of Red Rock Canyon's calico hills were one example of the diversity. This park was just as aesthetically pleasing.

This boy below is, um, "native" to America, but he and his "kind" didn't make these marks on the rocks. The cliffs along this trail were literally covered with ancient symbols.

(What "kind" is that, you ask? I was thinking of destructive teenagers, but then, I couldn't really say with any certainty that ancient Native American teenaged boys didn't leave some graffiti here while their mothers yelled from below, "Get down from there before you kill yourself!" I suspect ancient moms were not so different from modern ones.)

Here's The Bear with just one of the ground squirrels (a.k.a. "chipmunks") that we fed. I'd brought nuts to snack on in the car which we then shared with the little beggers. Word of our generosity spread quickly and before long there was a groundswell of critters heading our way. We soon drove on, leaving the picnickers nearby to deal with any late-comers. :)

Here's a photo of one of the petrified logs in the park. Looks like there was a catastrophic flood there at some time in ancient history! Ya think?

See the guy waving a cap in the picture below? That's Dan. Evidently you can't let your brother-in-law have all the fun trying to break a neck climbing on rocks. :)

And yes, just in case you're wondering, we did actually go into Las Vegas itself. Here's Pastor Dad (and Lisa) waiting patiently for the Bellagio fountains to begin their show.

That's the end of the vacation pictures that I'll be posting although I think I took a couple of hundred of them. I would probably never get tired of looking at them but I suspect that you might. New subject next Friday!

Free Friday: Return to Vacation

Oh, I wish!

It can't be done so I'll just return to the pictures of vacation. If I'm really delusional --er-- blessed I might even start to feel a bit warmer than I do right now just remembering the desert. Well, I can dream, can't I?

This year Lisa and I decided to take the power plant tour since the guys were there to share the experience with us. It was very enjoyable and very educational. (But don't tell The Bear because he just thinks we were on vacation!) These are some of the turbines that provide electricity to most of the southwestern United States.

And not only is the facility functional, but it has its artistic elements too. (There I go again with all that educational talk!)

I shot this picture blind. No, really. I couldn't see a thing with the blazing sun shining directly in my eyes so I closed them. I thought it turned out surprisingly well under the circumstances.

After we finished our tour we walked across the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, the same one you saw behind Dan, Lisa, The Bear, and Pastor Dad in the previous picture, and the same one casting a shadow across the face of the Hoover Dam in this picture. (I'm feeling warmer already! How about you?)

The turbines we saw are housed in the building on the bottom left of this photo. And that's Lake Mead in the background.


A few days later we went to Red Rock Canyon to descend and ascend the rocks. What a workout!

Down we go!

And up and over we go! Pastor Dad wanted to know if I was coming. I explained to him that it's very important for the photographer to stop and take pictures and gulp air so I made sure I took lots and lots of pictures. (I won't bore you with all of them.)

Sometimes it is important for the photographer to have a picture taken of herself just to prove that she really was there. Or maybe she just needed to sit for awhile and gulp air.

Some folk didn't seem to require much rest. (And some folk were in danger of breaking his their necks a great deal of the time. Not to mention any names or anything, but even big sister looks like she's delivering a stern lecture.)

The park itself is full of diversity! Not only are the formations different from place to place but even the temperatures differed by several degrees depending on how much sun the locations receive. We saw our first snow of the season near an area overshadowed by some high hills.

Brr! Now I'm cold again! And it's time to wrap up this segment of the travelogue from our December Vegas trip. One more post ought to finish it. That's it until our next Free Friday!

BB Boatin'!

Pastor Dad and I have had a wonderful week attending a conference in a nearby state. As a matter of fact, the state is so nearby that we didn't need to travel to be a part of it. The conference ended last night but we were not able to be part of the finale since we had services at our own church to attend.

On the following day the host pastor and wife traditionally entertain those who haven't returned to their own homes by showing them some of the local sites. Pastor Dad and I decided to participate this year as a way of getting better acquainted with other ministering couples. 

This year the tour consisted of a tour of the Ohio River aboard the BB Riverboats boat Belle of Cincinnati. It was a lovely day to be cruising on the river

The sun was shining and the temps were so warm that I never put on the jacket that I'm carrying.  And that gleam in my eye is the result of taking a day off to play!  Well, okay, it's really just a glare on my glasses, but I prefer to think of it in a positive way.  :)

After the boat cruise we crossed the river and had a late lunch / early dinner at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse Restaurant.  Mmm!  Mmm!  No pictures of this part of the tour but all the men were wearing bibs if you can picture that.  If not, picture me hitting the "Publish Post" button now and going upstairs to get my leftover ribs out of the refrigerator before the Bear or Pastor Dad beat me to them!  :)

Business or Pleasure?

On the last leg of my trip to Vegas I sat next to a couple who were on a weekend vacation away from their teenaged children that were having their own vacation with grandma. On the way back I sat between 2 men who had attended a convention in town. The discussions initiated by my seatmates were interesting to me, however I fear that my answers to their questions tended to bore them.

The lady on the going-to-Vegas trip was somewhat stunned that I wouldn't be staying on The Strip. No, I would be staying with my daughter. She wondered why I didn't stay on The Strip and go visit my daughter each day. I tried to explain that Lulu's birthday occurred a few days after her husband's scheduled departure for the other side of the world and she didn't want to be alone: I was coming for her. For me, the opportunity of providing my daughter some small pleasure was the business at hand. This was also pleasure for me, but not the kind that the lady understood. How could she? Her kids were still living with her and she was traveling to get away from them. I, on the other hand, was going to see my child who just happened to live in Las Vegas. The sights and sounds of the destination held no particular enchantment while the daughter and son-in-law who live there did. Well, would I at least be taking in some of the shows? I explained that would depend upon what my daughter wanted to do. I was sure we'd have lots of fun, but how do you explain to someone that not all travelers to Vegas are there for the casinos and shows?

On the way home, the man to my left was sorry to leave. He said his company's convention meant business during the day and pleasure all night. I didn't ask him to elaborate because I could tell by his wistful backward glances toward Sodom Vegas that he was not happy to be on the plane home. My other seat companion was retired military and was more sympathetic to my own plight. He was returning to his wife and family after a camping trip.

So what did we do on this trip? We did a bit of sight-seeing:


Lisa ("Lulu") at Hoover Dam



The new bridge in the background that connects Nevada and Arizona, bypassing the road over the dam itself.

And we went hiking at Red Rock Canyon. The calico hills were gorgeous and the temperature was a bit warmer than it was at Hoover Dam which was surprisingly c-o-l-d.

 



Lisa taking a break in a rock cavern



At one point on the hike I realized that even if I wasn't a casino-goer I was a bit of a gambler as we had descended down rock walls which would then require scaling rocks on the return trip to the surface. Just what did I think I was doing risking my neck like that? After we'd made it back to the trail heading to the car my body decided I needed a quick sit down session. Have you ever surpassed your target heart rate to the point that you're gasping for breath and feel that you're on the verge of either passing out or vomiting? I was there. And neither of those options sounded particularly appealing so I took an emergency breather untiil I could breathe normally again. Lisa kindly mentioned that the elevation is higher than what I'm used to and that the thinner air was making me light-headed. I don't know if that's true or not (I haven't checked the almanac) but it was kind of her to say so. Actually, I think the fact is that I'm 51 years old and have no business acting like I'm the same age as one of my own children! After that day of exertion we both slept late the next morning so I think we got quite the work out.

 

We drove most of the rest of the 12 mile trail, stopping occasionally to take pictures and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

 



The beautiful colors of the calico hills



The desert is a beautiful place

 

Field Trip Friday

We visited the Creation Museum yesterday with Karen, Philip, and the granddaughters.  Polly, Tigger, and Sweet Pea rode Gomer (the camel) and met Buddy Davis (the musician and dinosaur sculptor). 

Pastor Dad and I bought the grandchildren a CD of Buddy's music when we took Fen to the museum last month.  I take it that the girls have been listening to it quite a bit because they were able to sing along during yesterday's concert.  Unlike Fen, though, they weren't prone to dancing in the aisles.  :)

It was a beautiful day of not-too-hot-but-not-too-cold-weather.  It wasn't raining either.  We had a nice time walking in the gardens and feeding the animals and fish.

When Pastor Dad, Philip, and the Bear left to attend a science workshop courtesy of Cedarville University,  we females attended the Buddy Davis concert where the girls were thrilled to be situated on the 2nd row.  After the concert they had their picture made with him and also aquired his autograph.

It was a wonderful day!

(Background paper courtesy of Kimeric Kreations.)

Field Trip Friday

This was a different kind of field trip week for us:

• Pastor Dad went to Louisville, KY and participated in the Andrew Fuller Conference at Southern Seminary.
• The Bear is currently on his way to Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains where he's spending the weekend with friends.
• And me? I went shopping!

While Pastor Dad and Philip were gone to Louisville on Monday the Bear and I met Karen and her munchkins at the mall in Florence, KY. We were on a quest for a dress!

This was no ordinary dress. This dress is to be worn by the newest munchkin on her first day in church. It has become a tradition - Polly and Tigger recently reminded me - that Gram buys each grandbaby her first dress. And so began the search for the dress.

This isn't as easy as it sounds. Have you noticed that even the dresses for newborn girls look like they were designed for the Miley Cyrus crowd? Unbelievable! I can't imagine dressing any girl in some of the clothes I saw, but a newborn?!!!

I began to search online for something suitable. I found a few that I liked but I couldn't decide from the grainy pictures that closely resembled the kinds of photos that I am prone to take!  The retailer stated that their Florence store had the dresses in stock. Florence isn't their closest store, but it is the closest that had the dresses.  Comparing the dresses in real life seemed the best option.

We planned our outing to coincide with the two men's absence. I'd say that I felt sorry for the Bear but that isn't true. And he was suitably rewarded for his patience with some new additions to his own wardrobe. The hardest part for him was getting things he liked past the committee of female critics. Come to think of it, that was the hardest part of picking out the baby's dress, too!

The first thing we had to do was d-e-l-i-c-a-t-e-l-y eliminate Sweet Pea's choices. Her three-year-old tastes tended to the gaudy. Big, bright, multi-colorerd polka dots = a three-year-old's dream! Karen made the final decision and it wasn't as hard to convince the rest of the committee of her choice as it was Sweet Pea who held out a while longer for the Bozo the Clown outfit.

I think Baby Girl #4 will look beautiful in her little pink dress on the first day that she attends church. And I can't wait to see her in it! Really, I can't wait to see her! And it won't be too many more weeks before I do.

In other shopping news, I went to the grocery store this week and was handed the following coupon with my cash register receipt:

I don't know about you, but I don't think saving a half-penny is going to convince me to try this, or any, product!

Field Trip Friday, Continued

Part 2:

This seemed to be the appropriate time to segue into our visit to the Korean War Memorial in June.

Those who came close to losing their freedom never forgot the Heroes who came to their defense.

Field Trip Friday (A combo pack!)

Part 1:

We took Pastor Dad's Daddy to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Museum yesterday. We had a lovely time eating lunch together and shopping at the B/X, although I'm not sure it was wise for us to take the Bear into a place that has discounted prices on electronics! His papaw promised to go back with him if the Bear ever saves enough money to make such purchases. Today he was just content to get some new earbuds for his iPod.

The educational portion of this field trip came a bit later when we stopped by the museum. My father-in-law is a Korean War veteran who rarely speaks of his service, and for good reason. He was destined to be wounded and evacuated. That's about all we know. Or should I say, knew.

Here are the three generations of men who let me tag along while they discussed the features of various warplanes:

When we walked into the World War 2 display my father-in-law was unexpectedly startled by the B-29 "Superfortress" we encountered. He said he once had a bad experience when a B-29 pilot saw movement on a hill in Korea and mistook him and his buddies for the enemy. He was in the army and at that time the U. S. Army and the Air Force were literally not on the same wavelength when it came to radio communications. Someone finally managed to get a message through to call off the airstrike before my father-in-law and the rest were hit. He said he could see the pilot sitting in the cockpit much like the mannequin of today, only higher, of course.

The particular B-29 we encountered in the museum was The Bockscar that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. At that moment the three of us who heard my father-in-law's wartime memory looked like a verbal bombshell had just been dropped on us! We stared at each other with our mouths and eyes wide open. He came close to being killed by friendly fire!

There were a few other pieces of information gleaned today. Perhaps it is important to the man who spent most of his life trying to forget his wartime experiences that the rest of us do not.

May we learn our lesson well.

The Blackberry Decided to Cooperate

Field Trip Friday

Blame it on operator error or equipment malfunction. Whatever. Either way, there will be no pictures today. Which is a shame, too, because we had a really nice time on our field trip(s) to the Creation Museum this week.

We made 2 trips there. The first one was Tuesday and it was supposed to be an extended family outing. Okay, that didn't happen (not naming any names here because you already know who you are; and that means all of you), but Pastor Dad, little Fen, and I went anyway.

[First picture that you won't see because we can't get it uploaded from Pastor Dad's Blackberry. Hmph.]

This is Fen "feeding" the animals at the petting zoo. Actually, he was quite content to let his Grandad feed the animals. He wasn't sure he wanted his hands anywhere near those large mouths! Can't say that I blame him.

Since it was such a hot day we only stayed outside for a few minutes. Once inside we attended a concert by Buddy Davis. We stayed in the back since Fen isn't quite ready to sit in a theater (or anywhere for that matter!) for about an hour. Instead, he amused the other stroller-toting families and wheelchair-bound folks in the accessible area with his interpretive dance routine. It was a mixture of free-spirit and hoedown. I mean Fen's dance, not the music, although the two weren't so dissimilar. We bought Fen a CD so that he can practice his moves at home.

[Second photo that you will not see because it is pitch-black]

Really. It is pitch-black. This would be a photo of us, the night-sky, and the telescopes in the parking lot at Answers in Genesis.

We went back last night for an after-hour event called Stargazer's Night. It is a shame that we couldn't take pictures because the night sky was beautiful. There were a few wispy clouds that occasionally came between the planets, star clusters, and nebula that were sighted in one of the three telescopes, but the meteor shower overhead provided enough of a display to keep us all occupied while the equipment was being adjusted elsewhere. It was a pleasant evening and it was spent with the very nice Dr. Jason Lisle and his assistants who patiently answered every question.

Pastor Dad, the Bear, and I drove away quoting Psalm 19: 1 - The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.