David Whiting Live

Gospel Powered Parenting - A Quote

Last year I read the book "Gospel-Powered Parenting" by William Farley. The subtitle is "How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parents." It was good.

A member of the church staff is now reading this book and reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from the book. I thought I'd share it since I will be teaching on parenting tomorrow:

In the introduction, Farley is talking about children who either thrived in their faith and carried it into adulthood versus those who abandoned their faith as a teen or adult. Here are two of his conclusions:

1. The results appear to have nothing to do with where the child was educated.  In my experience, there have been no qualitative differences in the spiritual output from home schools, Christian schools, or public schools.
2. The common denominator between success and failure seems to be the spiritual depth and sincerity of the parents, especially the spiritual depth and sincerity of the father.  There seems to be a strong correlation between the faith, commitment, and sincerity of the family's head and the spiritual vitality of his adult children.

That is SO true. Tomorrow I will talk about the need for it to be "in you" before it ever gets into your children.  This is a good reminder. Parents often struggle with schooling choices - and those choices MUST be made carefully.  But there is something FAR more important than that schooling choice, and that is the importance of living our faith in Christ.

29 Years Ago - Keith Green Died (Video)

29 years ago yesterday (July 28, 1982), Keith Green died at the age of 28. I didn't really know his music until several years after his death while in college. There are a few of his songs that I still love ("O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "Your Love Broke Through"). Those songs still impact me in a very emotional level when I hear Keith sing them.

This morning (my day off), I watched a documentary on Keith Green and was once again very moved by his life (even more than his music). I know an hour is a HUGE investment of time, but I would imagine that it may be the best use of one hour of your day. You WILL think about it for quite a while.

If you watch, join me in being challenged by his total, radical commitment to Christ.

 

As always, if you receive this by email, click HERE or the title above to see the video.

Sunday's baptisms @ Northridge. Watch them HERE:

We baptize in both our AM services, so unless you attend both, you will not see everyone baptized.  Here are the baptisms from Sunday. I love these stories!!

Here is the baptism of Carlos (1st service):

2011.07.24 - Carlos Torres Baptism from Northridge Media.

Here is his wife, Maribel's, baptism (also 1st service):

2011.07.24 - Maribel Torres Baptism from Northridge Media.

And here are the two baptisms from the 2nd service, Jacob & Danielle:

2011.07.24 - Jacob Phillips and Danielle Rizzo Baptism from Northridge Media.

As always, if you receive this by email, you need to click HERE or click on the title above to see the videos. I LOVE these stories!

Dying for Christ...

I read this quote from a man who was assassinated for his faith in Christ during Idi Amin's regime in Uganda. And I can't help but wonder if I would display this same bravery, love, and God-focus if I were in the same circumstances:

"I do not need to plead my own cause. I am a dead man already. My life is dead and hidden with Christ. It is your lives that are in danger, you are dead in your sins. I will pray to God that after you have killed me, He will spare you from eternal destruction."

 

Video Intro - Ephesians 5:25-33

Here is the video intro from last Sunday's talk on husbands - in case you missed it.

Ephesians 5:25-33 Intro from David Whiting on Vimeo.

As always - if you receive this by email - click HERE or on the title above to see the video.

Tomorrow @ Northridge - more baptisms!

There are four more baptisms tomorrow. Great stories! You won't want to miss them.  We will baptize two at the first service and two at the second.  If you want to see all four baptisms live - we are baptizing at the end of the service - not the beginning. Come and rejoice with those being baptized!

Technology & the Church

I came across some statistics that surprise me, and make me wonder: "What implications does this have for the Church?"  Here are a few that I found most interesting:

• There are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (that's 77% of the world population).
• Within 5 years mobile will overtake PC as the most popular way to get on the web.
• In 2011 over 85% of new handsets will be able to access the mobile web.
• $240 billion worth of bills will be paid by mobile phone (called m-payments) in 2011.
• M-payments are expected to reach over $1 trillion by 2015.

Some churches ignore technology (Amish); most are just a few decades behind; and some pay close attention yet aren't driven by technology. That is who we want to be.

I can think of several implications for the Church. What about you?

Erie Canal Bike Trip - Day Five (final post)

We made it! 378 miles over five days! I haven't done an extended bike trip like this in several years, and I love getting out in God's Creation and taking my mind off of the daily things that can consume it. It is very freeing and relaxing for my mind - but very taxing on my body.  Well worth the vacation days!

Here is a final video (15 seconds) of what it "feels" like to go downhill at about 33 mph.  The larger number is the speed. The smaller number was mileage for the day.  We were coming into a town for our lunch break (45 miles).

Bike Trip Video - Down Hill from David Whiting on Vimeo.

As always, if you receive this by email - click HERE or on the title above to see the video.

 

Erie Canal Bike Trip - Day Four (some photos)

Day four is done. We are staying in Palentine Bridge at a bed and breakfast.  Sue drove the support vehicle the first two days. One of the riders took day three off, and the other five of us are splitting up the last two days.  Friday morning will be my turn to drive the truck. I will not ride the first 20 to 25 miles. My legs are happy, but mentally, I'd rather ride the entire time. But I'm sure we all feel the same.

To get an idea of how dusty the Erie Canal is - take a look at this photo. I was hosing everyone's legs off at the end of day three and couldn't resist taking this photo of Jason. Can you tell where his shoes and socks were? :)

One of the guys riding (Tim) got married in Utica. So we made a half-mile detour to take a photo for his wife:

This is my favorite traffic light we've seen (in Canajoharie)

Friday is the final and shortest day. Albany, here we come!

Erie Canal Bike Trip - Day Three (a video)

Instead of posting a description or a lot of pictures - I wanted to let you "experience" what travelling 15 or 16 mph on the Erie Canal is like.

Watch this video:

 

Erie Canal Bike Trip Video 1 from David Whiting on Vimeo.

 

As always, if you recieve this by email - click HERE to see the video.

Here is what our day more often looks like in a draft line: