Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures
Monday, November 27, 2006
Here are some great pictures from the weekend. Steph and I had a great time except for the 14 hour drive home on Sunday. As you can see from the photo gallery, the weekend not only included more turkey than we could eat, it also invlolved hiking, a giant swing, a high ropes course, and the lights at Opryland Hotel.
And what would a Thanksgiving post be without something that I am thankful for? This year, I am most thankful for my beautiful wife. She is my best friend and the love of my life. I can not imagine my life without her in it. I love you, baby!
--Mike
Posted byMike Fennema posted 10:03 PM 4 comments
Jet showing off his new hairdo (and his true colors)
Monday, November 20, 2006
I love the before and after affect here. He is so adorable, and he's really starting to grow on me...especially after he showed me his true colors (he told me not to tell his mother)!
Posted byMike Fennema posted 1:46 PM 4 comments
I'm more likely to do it, so I guess I should
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
During the wedding, we played the shoe game. For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, here's a brief explanation: The bride and groom sit on chairs, back to back so that they are not looking at each other. They each take off their shoes and hand one of their own shoes to the other person so that each person has one of each kind of shoe. Someone then asks them questions along the lines of "who is more likely to...." or "who was the first to...". Each person raises the shoe of the person who they think is the best answer to the question. This game is quickly turning into a staple at weddings, and it gets a laugh every time. Tons of fun.
Anyways, where am I going with this and a picture of John Calvin on this post? Funny you should ask. My good buddy Ethan was the one asking the questions at the wedding, and one question he came up with is as follows: "Who is more likely to read John Calvin's The Institutes of the Christian Religion cover-to-cover, multiple times?" Since Stephanie didn't exactly understand the signifcance of this particular masterpiece, the obvious answer was me. So we both raised my shoe in response to the question. Since we both thought that I was more likely to do it, I've decided to do it. So far, I've read about 50 or so pages, and it has been quite interesting and enlightening. Briefly, here are some things I have gleaned. Feel free to question, comment, or discuss. (Calvin, although pure genius, wasn't always right.)
I may have this wrong, but I am under the impression that Calvin argues that trying to understand the essence of God is futile because we will never be able to comprehend Him. Instead, we need to understand his works and his actions.
Also, he argues that creation (i.e. General Revelation) is enough for all people in all places to understand that God exists and to see his glory. Creation is too amazing to come to any other conclusion. He follows it up by saying that although we can see God in creation, it will never be enough for us to come to a redemptive knowledge of God. However, even though creation is not enough, we don't have an excuse for not knowing God in a redemptive way because this "not knowing" is bred out of ignorance which has its seeds in man, not in God. In other words, it's not God's fault, it's ours. The obvious argument it seems, though, is: aren't we God's creation? And shouldn't he be in control of both our knowledge and ignorance? If all knowledge comes from God, is it really our fault?
I don't exactly know how to answer that question yet, but I am sure that I will have an idea at some point. All I know at this point is that somehow and in some way, God is glorified in all of this. And if that is the case, then I'm ok with that.
Posted byMike Fennema posted 9:36 PM 2 comments
"Let me tell you how he lived."
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
So why is there a picture of Tom Cruise on our blog, especially in light of how he is perceived now? I'll tell you why. He made a pretty good movie not too long ago called the Last Samurai that I watched for the first time tonight. I am not going to write about the tradition of the samurai and what we can learn from it, although we could probably learn a lot. What I am going to comment briefly on is two quotes from the movie.
(drumroll please)
"We have to remember who we are and where we have come from." (or something close to that)
The emporer, who is portrayed as weak and cowardly throughout the movie, says this with about 10 minutes left to go in the flick. It is is one heroic moment in the whole movie. Here's my Biblical connection that you were all waiting for: the Israelites, when they were truly following the Lord as He intended, knew who they were and where they came from. How many feasts and festivals did they have to remember what God had done for them? And they knew exactly who they were: God's chosen people. As a member of God's chosen people Israel, do I remember who I am (or whose I am)? Also do I remember where I came from? Do I remember what it was like to not be a Christian? Do I remember how Christ, my mighty warrior, died for me?
Quote number two:
"Let me tell you how he lived."
This quote comes from the lips of the great Tom himself when the emporer asks him how Kosumoto (spelling?) died. Tom obviously felt it was more important the life that he lived. Argue this point: what was more imporant, the life Christ lived, or the death that he died? Like love and marriage, you can't really have one with out the other. His perfect life was so important, but also was his sacrificial death. Yes, he came to die, but you can't die without first living.
Intersting...
Posted byMike Fennema posted 10:20 PM 3 comments
Here They Are!
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Seeing as Ethan's latest post contained some pictures from the wedding, I figured it was time to actually post a few of them. In order to see them, just click on the Wedding link on the right under Photo Albums. It will take you to an outside site to view the pics. Enjoy!
Posted byMike Fennema posted 7:00 AM 0 comments
