Prayers...

...for my dear and beloved friends Matt and Lauren Larsen, and little Davi still growing in Lauren's womb. Lauren is in the high-risk pregnancy center as I write this. Her fluid level which should be at 20 is at 5, and if they don't fix it, Lauren is going to go into labor ... 16 weeks early.

For Lauren...
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beg you to behold, visit, and relieve your sick servant Lauren for whom our prayers are offered. Look upon her with the eyes of your mercy; comfort her with a sense of your goodness; preserve her and give her patience under this affliction. Restore her to health. O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Lauren the help of your power, that her sickness may be turned into health and that, her health being renewed, she may bless your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Matt...
O merciful Father, Look with pity upon the sorrows of your servant Matt for whom our prayers are offered. Remember him, O Lord, in mercy, nourish his soul with patience, comfort him with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon him, and give him peace; O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we will be saved, in quietness and confidence will be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift Matt, we pray, to your presence, where he may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Davi...
O eternal God, you have promised to be a father to a thousand generations of those who love and fear you: Bless this child and preserve her life; receive her and enable her to receive you. Heavenly Father, watch with us over your child Davi, and grant that she may be born in perfect health. Into your hands, O God, we place your child Davi. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Almighty God, who hast promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son's Name: We beg you mercifully to incline your ear to us who have now made our prayers and supplications to you; and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to your will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thought for the Day

True freedom is not simply doing what we please. True freedom is doing the will of God and delighting in that doing. Sin, in this sense, is what imprisons us and keeps us from being free.

An Evangelical Manifesto

In case you haven't heard, Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, and Rich Mouw to name a few of the dozens of signees, have recently released An Evangelical Manifesto.

The stated purpose of the document is to be "an open declaration of who Evangelicals are and what they stand for. It has been drafted and published by a representative group of Evangelical leaders who do not claim to speak for all Evangelicals, but who invite all other Evangelicals to stand with them and help clarify what Evangelical means in light of “confusions within and the consternation without” the movement...the Manifesto is a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ."

I have not had an opportunity to read the EM closely, but still considering myself an "evangelical" in the best sense of the word, I am very interested in what it might say. Take a look at it, let me know what you think, and perhaps I'll post some thoughts on it in the days to come.

http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/

What is happening?

Lost Virtues: Simplicity

I am going to begin to do a series of posts on "the lost virtues" of Christianity...that being virtues that I percieve to have been at one time very important to Christians and the Christian community, that are no longer widely practiced or encouraged. The purpose of this posts will be, obviously, to re-commend these virtues to my brothers and sisters. The first lost virtue...simplicity.

Lost Virtue: Simplicity

Christian history is replete with stories of the faithful who valued simplicty as part of their calling and mission as Christians. As of late, though not surprising in our captivated by capitalism consumeristic society, simplicty is looked on with disdain or as some sort of oddity at best. Look around at our churches. Most leaders are very succesful in a material sense (fat wallets, nice cars, big houses), and those who are simple or from lower class will most likely never be seen in anything resembling a leadership role in the community. And the "health, wealth, and prosperity gospel"...don't even get me started. Garbage! That rant aside, here are the reasons I commend simplicty to you as a very important spiritual discipline and virtue:

1. As Witness

When Christians live simply and joyfully, it is a witness to the surrounding community that we are satisfied by something much more glorious and certain than cars, money, houses, and possesions. It makes Christ look glorious, and it is the aroma of heaven to all those others who are looking for their joy and self-worth in the things that they own but turn into dust in their mouths.

2. As Discipline

I know discipline is a "four letter word" in our culture right now, but simplicity is good for the Christian soul in the same way that fasting is. In fact, it could be considered a type of fasting. It keeps us from eating to much at the world's table so that when we show up at the table of the Lord we are already full and have no appetite for spiritual food. It increases our capacity to desire and appreciate God.

3. As Stewardship

In is a plain and simple fact that there are not enough resources in the world for everyone to live like an American. By refusing to own status symbols or gratuitous amounts of material possesions, we are conserving the limited resources of our home and planet. In that way we are loving not only the creation, but also our neighbor, and there for God as well.

4. As Devotion

We only have a limited amount of time, energy, and emotional resources to spend in any given day. If we are spending them worrying about the mortgage, upset about ruining our new shirt, or taking the other car in for another oil change, that means we cannot be spending those personal resources on loving God and our neigbor. By owning to many things, we end up spending all of our personal resources on ourselves. It is a selfish way to live. Having to spend less time on the things that we own frees up incredible amount of time, energy, and emotional resources to spend on the things of God and His Kingdom.

5. As Generosity

The almost goes without saying, if we spend less on ourselves, we have more to spend on others who may be in need.


For these reasons and others that have gone unnamed, I commend living simply to all my brothers and sisters. It will certainly not be easy. There are people spending billions of dollars, literally, to get us to believe that our lives consist exactly in the things we own and the things we do for ourselves. It is a lie. Do not believe it. Live simply.

Birthday Trip to the NorthWest

What it is like to travel with Jason Ballard

I took this picture of our nightstand at our hotel in Vancouver so you might get a real personal look at what it is like to travel with my husband Jason Ballard. This was just a spur of the moment 5 day trip mind you, and I could only laugh when our nightstand turned into a temporary theological library! The only demand that I had was that he carry the suitcase!

Here Come the Maoists

Former communist rebels won the most seats in Nepal's new governing assembly, taking more than double the number of their nearest rival, an election official said Thursday.

The former insurgents, known as the Maoists, are now expected to form the backbone of Nepal's new government and usher in sweeping changes to the impoverished Himalayan nation, although they will not have an absolute majority in the 601-seat Constituent Assembly. Among the biggest likely changes is the abolition of Nepal's 239-year-old monarchy, which the Maoists have repeatedly said must go.

But the Maoists, who are considered terrorists by the United States, have made it clear they are committed capitalists, albeit left-leaning ones, and have no plans to transform Nepal into a communist state. Apart from that, there's still much uncertainty over what the new government will look like.

The Maoists have been in talks in recent days with the other major parties about forming an administration and are pushing for the creation of a president. That job they want filled by their leader, who is known as Prachanda, or "the fierce one" in Nepali. "It is my desire to be the president," Prachanda told reporters Thursday after meeting with U.N. officials and foreign ambassadors in Kathmandu. "But since there is no provision in the present constitution, we will have to reach some agreement with the other political parties." Prachanda's reaction to Thursday's news was subdued -- he spoke about the mechanics of government and shied away from grand statements about Nepal's future. It was clear that the Maoists, who have led the vote tally since counting began, have moved past celebrating and are now trying to figure out just how to run the country.

Coffee With the Bishop

This is one of the most fantastic interviews of NT Wright I've ever read. Most of you know that NT Wright has been tremendously influential in my spiritual formation. If you are interested in him at all, you should take five minutes and read this. It addresses the Gospel in Public, John Piper, Doug Wilson, Resurrection, The Ascension, Third World Debt, his upcoming book on Paul (rubbing my hands together), and much more.
Read it: Wax with Wright

For those of you who don't know, NT Wright is the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and probably the world's leading New Testament scholar. He studied at Oxford and Cambridge, was a former professor at McGill and Oxford, and was previously the Canon Theologian of Westminster.

Vancouver and Out

Tonight we will be getting on a plane in Seattle to head back to Denver. It has been a heck of a time, and much needed. Jenny made an interesting point when she told me she had planned this trip. She said, "Well, we are heading to Nepal in just ten months, and then we will be there for several years. By the time we come back, we may already have children or we will be ready to have children. This could be our last chance to travel around our home country without kids." I thought it was a good point, and it has turned out to be a remarkable trip.

The highights of the last three days: tulip festival near Mount Vernon, wine tasting in the Pacific Northwest, exploring small coastal fishing villages, the town of Fair Haven, camping out in a small state park near the border, touring the University of British Columbia's Botanical gardens (amazing!), checking out Regent College (home of JI Packer and Eugene Peterson), walking down Jericho Beach, eating Afghan food, riding a tandem bike around Stanley Park and the seawall, exploring various old churches, having communion at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, , strolling through Gas Town and China Town, and having romantic meals in small coffee shops and cafes.

Pictures to come soon, and a post or two by Jenny... I promise.

Two Days Down

Two days down in Seattle, and it is everything I hoped it would be. Romantic, exciting, new, beautiful and adventurous. Highlights so far: Pike Place Market, World's First Starbucks, Space Needle, the troll under the bridge, Capital Hill, Mars Hill Church, taking the ferry to Bainbridge, the brew pubs, and walking hand in hand with my lover around the city. We have stayed the last two nights in the Green Tortoise Hostel, but we are heading out today for Mount Vernon area. Stay tuned, and we'll keep you posted.

Unbelievable Birthday

Well, my wife threw me an unbelievable birthday party tonight at the apartment. And aside from the Literary Study Bible (which I have been coveting for months), a membership to the Boulder Wine Club (from Jenny's parents), and the a bottle of Woodford Reserve Bourbon (thanks Tim), the big surprise of the night is that my wife surpised me with a trip to the Pacific Northwest tomorrow (well, technically today)!!!

We are flying out for Seattle at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, going to Mars Hill Church on Sunday (I love that my wife knows me so well), checking out the original Starbucks, going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, heading out to the San Juan Islands, and then we are going up to Vancouver. I have no idea how she pulled this off. She even got my shifts covered at work without me knowing. Unbelievable!!! My wife is indescribably thoughtful and amazing. I have never had such a birthday surprise in my life. I'll give a full report here when we get back.

I love you Jen.

Apostles to the Apostles

If you believe, as I do, that God is sovereign in all of life, then what are the implications of the fact that He ordained that women be the first witnesses to the resurrection? Apostles to the Apostles if you will.

I'm not sure the weight of this reality has been sufficiently felt by modern evangelicalism, especially Reformed types like myself. It would have been an apolegetic liability to the early church, and yet, there it is, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Next Up

...for those of you observing a Christian Calendar,

May 1st -- Day of Ascension

May 11th -- Pentecost

I'd love to hear from those of you who are thinking of observing these days and how you go about doing it. My wife and I started observing the Christian Calendar this past Advent season and it has been tremendously beneficial to both of us. As I've never celebrated either of these days before (my Reformation hertiage threw the baby out with the bath water), I'm still looking into exactly how Christains have gone about their discipline of celebration.

Tell Us How You Really Feel Piper

The Good Bishop on The Mission of the Church

Mission must urgently recover from its long-term schizophrenia. The split between saving souls and doing good in the world is not a product of the Bible or the gospel, but of the cultural captivity of both. The world of space, time, and matter is where real people live, where real communities happen, where difficult decisions are made, where schools and hospitals bear witness to the "now, already" of the gospel while police and prisons bear witness to the "not yet."...And the church that is renewed by the message of Jesus' resurrection must be the church that goes to work precisely in that space, time, and matter. -- N.T. Wright

Ballard Update

Well, sorry we have been away from the blogosphere lately, but here (by popular demand) is a quick update:

Jenny and I are enjoying marriage tremendously. We keep waiting for it to get proverbially difficult, but it continues to be nothing but pleasant.

Jenny is working at Pharmaca and I am still working at BSH. Our jobs are good as far as jobs go. We enjoy them, but we are really looking forward to heading to the Himalayas.

We have a Nepali language helper here in Boulder who is slowly but surely helping our language training come along.

We went up and did some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park this week and got some much needed time in nature. We are looking forward to spring here on the front range and getting in mountains as much as possible.

Books we've been reading:
Surprised by Hope
The Reason for God
Cultural History of Nepal
Kingdom Under Siege: History of Nepal's Maoist Movement
The Resurrection of the Son of God
Dancing with Siva
History of Tibet
Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees

Nepal Update

Well, Nepal has been in quite a whirlwind these past few weeks, and we have been keeping up with events as we prepare to head to Kathmandu in about 10 months. In fact, you might say that things are a bit of a mess over there. If it is not, it will do until the mess gets there. For those of you who are interested, here is a rundown of the latest events:

A Maoist Bomb Killed Two Yesterday in Jajarkot

Two Were Killed by a Bomb in Biratnagar on Friday

Nepalese Police Arrested 84 Protesting Tibetan Exiles on Saturday

Peace Rehabilitation Center

These are some very informative videos about the organization that Jenny and I will be moving to Nepal to help with next year.

Part 1


Part 2

Seminary Anyone?

Thinking about going to seminary? Currently in seminary? Check this out:

For Theological Students

Peter the Brave (or Going for the Kill)

Some thoughts on a conversation I had with a good friend a few months ago.

My Issues

With 2008 being an election year, and with myself being a blogger with professed political interest, I thought it was time to show my cards. What follows is a rundown of issues that I think are important, my position, where that position falls on the left/right spectrun, and an explanation of my position. Please feel free to interact with me on this one. I would appreciate feedback.

War: Anti-war. Abolish war. Get the troops the heck out of Iraq. Close down our overseas miltary bases. (Left) In light of the New Testament's radical teachings about enemy love, the global communion of believers, Jesus's command to love our neighbor, and my belief that our journeys should, as much as possible, resemble the destination - which is a place where swords are beaten into plowshears and where they shall learn war no more - I am opposed to war in all forms, and for all reasons. I believe that Jesus' example of willingly suffering evil in order to overcome that evil is the only way out of the vicious cycle of wars and more wars, and I believe that the so called "just war" theory has gone over like a lead balloon. I insist that to resort to warfare, even for a moral end, is to adopt a means inconsistent with the Christian’s calling. The Christian Gospel is primarily a message of love and peace, and militarism & imperialism stand in stark contrast to the way of Jesus.

Abortion: Pro-Life / Anti-Abortion (Right) I hope and pray (not nearly with the tears that I should) that abortion will one day be just as abhorable and reprehensible as slavery. This use of catch phrases is surely tired. “Right to choose.” “Equal rights for women.” The grandchildren of the sixties are waking up to the vagueness and danger of those phrases. Right to choose what? Anything? All laws that protect children limit the rights of moms (and dads) to choose. You can’t choose to starve them. You can’t choose to lock them in closets for three weeks. You can’t choose to abandon them. You can’t choose to strangle them five minutes after they are born. And “equal rights for women”—equal with whom? Equal with the irresponsible dad. Dad has sex and bears no responsibility for the baby. Mom should be equally able to have sex and bear no responsibility for the baby. Young people are looking at this and saying: Something is wrong with this picture. Maybe our lives are as broken as they are because our parents have twisted their hearts and minds so deeply to justify equality in irresponsibility.

Health Care : Universal. Possibly socialized, at least subsidized. (Left) Why not? We have socialized education in this country. Why? Because we believe that an educated country is a better off country. In the same way, a healthy society is better than an unhealthy one. We also have socialized fire departments, police departments, roadways, etc., and we have managed to not become marxist commies. If you can find money to kill Iraqis, then you can find money to help Americans. We are the only large, developed country that hasn't clued in on this.

Marriage: Get the government out of my marriage (Far Right - almost Libertarian). Marriage is a religious institution, not a civil one. The government shouldn't have anything to say about my marriage. You cannot legislate righteousness. I am interested in the ideas of civil unions for govenmental purposes.

Imperialism: Anti-Empire, Anti-Imperialism (Left) America is becoming a defacto empire, especially through the arm of uncontrolled American-based global corporations. Which leads me to my next point....

Corporations: Stronger anti-trust laws. Limit corporate power. (Left) Corporations control our country and our foreign policy more than the politicians do, and certainly more than the People (capital P) do, and they aren't governed by conscience, they are governed by earning. This is getting out of hand. Time to pull in the reigns.

Capitalism: Conscious Capitalism (I can't find this on the political spectrum). I support capitalism as the best economic system that we have come up with so far, but this social darwinianism of earning as much as you can at whatever cost is maddness. We need a capitalism that has social, environmental, and moral boundaries.

Guns: Right to bear arms, not assault rifles and grenade launchers. (Slight Right). People should be able to own guns for sport and for hunting. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. However, I can see nothing good that can come from M16 wielding citizens.

Education: More funding, better pay for teachers. (Moderate) Our children are our future. An educated society is harder to govern, and that is a good thing. Governments should be afraid of their people, no the other way around. Everyone benefits from an educated society.

Taxes: No more IRS. Back to the gold standard. Sales Taxes, not Income Taxes (Far Right) We need to stop printing money out of thin air. AND, the Federal Reserve is a private (!) bank. What the heck? Tax spending so that people who are trying to be frugal and save aren't punished, and people who have money to spend on Ferraris carry more of the burden.

Death Penalty: No more. Done. (Left) We need a consistent ethic of human life. No war. No abortion. No death penalty.

Peace: Department. (My own idea) We have a Department of Defense, and a Department of Homeland Securtiy (waste of money), why not a Department of Peace.

Democracy: The fairest, most just system of governing a society that we have thought up so far...if people show up to vote!!! It is not without it's flaws. Perhaps in the future we will have something even better. Until then, democracy is where it is at.

Two Party System: Bad (Left?) We need more parties that more acurately reflect the people who are registered under them. This would also force us to learn to work together.

Political Accountability: More (?) Politicians should be held to account for their good and bad decisions by more than just getting voted out if they do a bad job. That seems very a very trite punishment for starting an unjust war that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Campaign Financing: Gov't Financed (Left) Each candidate should get a set amount of money to spend from the public, and that is all they get. This keeps rich elites from always running the show, and it keeps the influence of corporate lobbies at a minimum.

There you have it, or at least a part of it. As you can see, I don't light up particularly well with either party, so I have got my work cut out for me when it comes to voting (which I strongly believe in).

The Smart Shepherd

I know I just did a post on Keller, but NewsWeek just did an article on him that is a must read. Check it: The Smart Shepherd

Update: I just read the article again, and it is really and truly worth your time.

Keller's Reasons

Tim Keller's new book The Reason for God comes out in a week or so. Tim Keller (along with John Piper and NT Wright) has had some of the most profound impact on my life and living. This is the first book that he has written for the general public, and I am anxious to get it in my hands (He wrote a book entitled Ministries of Mercy for people in "vocational Christian service" a few years back).

His church, Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, has put up some free sermons related to the book. Whether you read the book or not, I really recommend them. Enjoy:

Exclusivity: How can there be just one true religion?

Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?

Absolutism: Don't we all have to find truth for ourselves?

Injustice: Hasn't Christianity been an instrument for oppression?

Hell: Isn't the God of Christianity an angry Judge?

Doubt: What should I do with my doubts?

Literalism: Isn't the Bible historically unreliable and regressive?

TIME Magazine interviews Wright

TIME Magazine just interviewed NT Wright about his new book Surprised by Hope and his views on Heaven.

Read the interview here.

Another Book to Get Excited About

Healing for a Broken World: Christian Perspectives on Public Policy by Steve Monsma

“Urgent, compelling, readable. An important book on a crucial topic. Monsma’s entire life—as a successful politician and a gifted professor of political science—has prepared him to write this clear, compelling book. Every Christian with any interest in politics should read it.” —Ronald J. Sider, Evangelicals for Social Action

“Monsma is one of the most important scholars writing on church-state issues today. This latest contribution is perhaps his finest work. It brings together his wide-ranging knowledge of the history of politics and jurisprudence with a theological seriousness that is often lacking in church-state scholarship.” —Francis J. Beckwith, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University

About the Author

STEVE MONSMA is a senior research fellow at the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College and professor emeritus of political science at Pepperdine University. He has published widely in the fields of church-state relations and faith-based nonprofit organizations.

Abortion Debate Transcript

Here is the transcript from the Boonin-Kreeft Abortion Debate that I went to a few weeks ago. Sorry this is so late. Moving and getting back to work has kept me rather busy lately. Enjoy...I did.