Favorite Photos from My Day

This was my view as I left the farm this morning to grab some coffee at Bo's. So mundane, I know. 

This is called a notepad. 

You may never have seen one before. It's made out of something called paper. You know, the stuff that comes from trees. You do know what a tree is, right? I fill in one of these notepads about once a week. Most of the time I am journaling. A journal is magnificent spiritual therapy. Don't confuse it with a day planner. A journal is not a diary of places and events. It's a record of what God is teaching you and how you are dialoguing with him. I find that thoughts disentangle themselves in a notepad. There's something about pushing words through your fingers -- not over the computer but by hand. It's called "handwriting." Some of my thoughts end up as blog posts, but not all of them. 

Bible study being over, it was time to head to Farmville and get in a few miles on my bike. 

My triathlon in Dallas is only a week and a half away, and I need to train for the 13.5-mile bike portion of the event. 

I used the High Bridge Trail of course, passing Rice and then circling back to town. 

I have never been one to drive for an hour and a half only to bike a few miles. 

Time will tell if my hard work will pay off. 

Well, hope you enjoyed my pics. Here's to a long life filled with beautiful mornings and yellow note pads. 

The Song of Songs and the Permanence of Love

Heard the story about the kid who was asked what Christians believe about marriage? "In Christianity," he said, "you can only have one wife. This is called monotony." 

This morning my Bible time was spent in Song of Solomon chapter 8. Yes, a widower who is now a confirmed bachelor reads the book of Song of Solomon. What struck me the most about this chapter is love's permanence. Solomon writes: "Love is strong as death." He then adds, "Many waters can't quench the flame of love, neither can floods drown it." Such lovely words! God designed love between the sexes to be monogamous and permanent. But marriage is so much more that that, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Song of Solomon. This wonderful book gives us a window into the purity and goodness of God's original plan for marriage.

Let me clear about my position on divorce and remarriage. I oppose remarriage after divorce as long as one's first spouse is alive. To me, the Scriptures are pretty clear about that. Can a biblical case be made for remarriage after divorce while the original spouse is still living? I think so, but it would be an exceptional one. I could agree with it if I interpreted the final clause of Matt. 19:9 (in the Greek text) the way they do. But since I don't, I can't support their position. But even if we "agree to disagree" on this issue, there is another argument against remarriage that is, I believe, even stronger. I was not aware of it until I read it in Lewis's famous book Mere Christianity. When you got married, said Lewis, you said something like "Till death do us part" or "As long as we both shall live" or something along those lines. This is a solemn pledge made in the presence of both God and man. And men keep their word. Karl Barth put it this way:

To enter upon marriage is to renounce the possibility of leaving it.

You are in it for good, decade after decade. There is no ripcord. No ejection seat. Idiosyncrasies, personal failures, the difficulty of making decisions together, personality differences -- these are all to be expected and, indeed, marriage calls for a lifetime of adjustment. Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it like this: "It is not your love that sustains your marriage. It is your marriage that sustains your love." 

None of us has anything to boast about in this respect. I am as guilty as any man for failing to love my wife as I should have. But in the school of God, married partners can adapt and grow, as Becky and I did during 37 years of marriage. It is the gospel that makes the whole thing achievable and worth the fight. The fact is, God is a forgiver and a redeemer. In addition, the Holy Spirit says, "I will help you." Only the gospel can do that in a marriage.

In Hebrew, the title of Song of Solomon is Shir hashirim, or "Song of Songs." Luther called it das Hohelied, "the finest of songs." Eugene Peterson calls it "The Song -- best of all songs." The ISV calls it "The Most Beautiful Song." The book is just that.

I am a big fan of reading the entire Bible, including those books that deal with love and sex. How can you, husband, be more faithful to your wife? You can know her. You can listen to her. You can ask her to hold you accountable for holy living. She can encourage you to live the life of the Spirit. You can model servanthood before her. Keep active together in worship and service. 

You can do these things even during the "monotony" of marriage -- not just when doing holy things, but understanding that everything you do together holds the possibility of the holy. 

A Killer Biceps Workout

Today I enjoyed a killer workout at the gym. I performed several "supersets" consisting of waiter curls (pictured here), regular curls, and hammer curls. 

My inspiration came from this YouTuber who gave me the idea of combining these three exercises. 

The truth is that you certainly don't need fancy biceps curls to build arm muscle effectively. Many lifters over-complicate the process. That said, there are certain time-tested biceps exercises that are ideal choices and that you're best off using in your weekly routine. These would include the three exercises featured in the above video.

The other exercise I focused on today is the pull up. 

Both pull ups and chin ups are fantastic exercises for stimulating the lats and are basic bread and butter movements in any training program. Don't be discouraged if you can't do pull ups or chin ups at the moment with your current body weight. You can train with assisted pull ups and practice scapula extraction before commencing the main driving part of the movement. Your hard work will eventually pay off. Every time you do a basic pull up or chin up, you're performing elbow flection which is the primary function of the biceps. The point is that there is no magical biceps exercise that you MUST perform or that will produce some sort of special result above and beyond anything else. Simply find a biceps exercise or two that you enjoy, utilize sufficient training volume and frequency, combine it with a proper back workout, and then leave the results with the Lord. 

My goal, as you know, is to climb another Alp next summer if the Lord wills. This climb will involve a lot of rock scrambling requiring good upper body strength. I don't know if I've got it in me to complete this climb. But I do know it would be foolish to head back to Zermatt without being as fully prepared as I can possibly be at my age. As you take action toward your goal -- put your gym clothes on, drive to the gym, do your warm-up then your first set, etc. -- your whole mindset will automatically shift as you get started. When you are done, you will always feel better than you would have if you had stayed home. And you will thank yourself for it. This is not only true in fitness but in practically every other area of life as well. 

Happy training! 

Hay There!

Getting the barns ready for winter. 

Ishi will LOVE his hay. 

Forthcoming Book on Textual Criticism

In case you were wondering, my next book will be released in November. 

If you weren't wondering, that's fine too. 

The Perfect Exercise Routine (for Me)

As we age, we face the reality of weight gain. In the U.S., the incidence of obesity has skyrocketed and continues to climb. The CDC estimates that over one-third of Americans are obese. That includes millions of kids. Thankfully, even low to moderate levels of exercise, sports, or exertion at work can improve health. In fact, I would argue that you don't have to "exercise" at all. Instead, engage in a variety of activities and movements you enjoy. 

But what does weight lifting have to do with weight management? It's a proven fact that weight lifting isn't great if you're looking to burn calories. It's much better for muscle building. In fact, exercise is not very effective for losing fat if your diet is out of control. But with a proper diet, adding the right kind of exercise can significantly improve your results. In fact, while resistance training doesn't burn many calories as compared to cardio, it does have one very significant advantage over the latter. Doing cardio alone can lead to a significant amount of muscle loss. And it is muscle that will keep your metabolism high as you age. This means that if you're wanting to burn fat and build muscle at the same time, a combination of weight lifting and cardio is best. 

Research suggests that you can almost double the amount of calories you burn doing a workout by lifting lighter weights for more reps. For most of us, this means choosing a weight you can perform around 15-30 reps with. The key is to push yourself hard enough and use a circuit style of training. That is, you will progress from one exercise to the next without taking long breaks in between sets. When I train, I usually walk between sets. I don't like to stand or sit down. You'll get the most bang for your buck if you implement this training program no less than 2 times and no more than 4 times per week. 

Remember:

• Lift lighter weights.
• Do more reps. 
• Take shorter breaks.

Also, make sure you find a cardio exercise that you enjoy. There are plenty of cardio options out there, so keep trying different ones until you find something you love to do. Take it from a novice lifter: You don't have to lift heavy. And remember: Safety comes first. 

Happy training! 

Logos, Ethos, and Pathos

In the ancient world, you needed three qualities to be an effective public speaker. 

First, you had to have something to say. That's your message. Second, you had to have the respect of your audience. That's credibility. Finally, you had to love what you were doing. That's passion. It's no different with classroom teachers. If he's boring, he's not a teacher. It's that simple.

One Week Before Class Starts

One week from today! We'll kick off class with chapter 14. 

Only two chapters to go and we're done with the entire indicative mood. Phenomenal! 

The Structure of 1 Thess. 5:12-22

According to William Barclay, 1 Thess. 5:12-22 is a "chain of jewels of good advice." Every injunction Paul gives here is for every Christian and every local church. The structure of this part of 1 Thessalonians is amazing. I would encourage you to ponder the passage deeply if you have never done so. 

Slowing Down

Our bodies, nerves, and lives pay a very high price for the clock-dominated, haste-driven way of life we choose for ourselves. Slow down and smell the roses. It will do you good. 

Race Day in Culpeper!

I'll say this about myself. I love to compete. Who doesn't? Even though the temps were in the upper 90s and the humidity was off the charts, I RACED. 

Plus, today's race was organized by the famous Fredericksburg Area Running Club. 

I mean, these are some fit people. As in fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. You get the picture. I lost the race by an even greater margin than if my competitors were all grandmas who worked at Walmart. What's a man to do? I did finish the race -- and ended up looking more like a wet dishrag than a human being. 

The good news is that my kids won't have to listen to me regale them about another great race. So it's all good. 

Yesterday was an amazing tour of the Brandy Station Battlefield. 

The battlefield was the scene of 21 total military actions that took place at Fleetwood Hill during the war. This is far more than other battle venue in the country. Bet you didn't know that. Neither did I. But Brandy Station was the scene of another battle --  a high-profile preservation battle. I mean, at one point the city fathers rezoned 1,500 acres of the battlefield to allow for an industrial park. What in the world were they thinking? Later, a formula one racetrack was proposed for the site. Good grief. Thankfully, due to the relentless efforts of preservationists, plans to develop the battlefield were abandoned. Today, 878 acres of the Brandy Station Battlefield are open to the public, including walking trails and a driving tour. Nice. I congratulate the American Battlefield Trust for doing the right thing and for their diligence and dedication to make this happen. It was a great victory for Civil War preservationists for sure. It pleases me no end that there are people in the community who recognize the value and significance of our national battlefields. 

To recap today's race, 10 miles is a long way to run, in case you didn't know it. It's also a long way to bike. Shoot, where I live, people don't even drive 10 miles in a whole day. I'm serious. But when the day is done, 10 miles is just 10 miles. Even though the thermometer said 100 degrees, I knew there'd be some shade eventually on the course. (There wasn't.) Some runs are just like that. Could it be I possibly deserve these problems? (Note to self: next time take a bit more water with you than just two 8-liter bottles.) 

At any rate, I'm signing off now. Need to apply as a Walmart greeter. God knows I'll make a good one. 

A Cavalry Fight Like No Other

Once, when I lived in Southern California, I saw an add in the paper calling for volunteers to join the 1st Maine Cavalry. Soon I enlisted and was riding in battle reenactments. In 1861, the U.S. army had a grand total of 5 mounted regiments. You had 2 regiments of dragoons, which were equipped to fight both mounted and dismounted. You had a regiment of mounted rifles, which was basically mounted infantry. And you had 2 regiments of light cavalry that were designed to be fast-moving and to perform various duties other than fighting. With the start of the Civil War, those units were merged into one fighting unit whose mission now was basically threefold: scouting, screening, and reconnaissance. However, by 1863, as repeating carbines came into play, that mission evolved into a mounted strike force, similar to a modern armored operation. 

In June of 1863, the cavalry of both sides clashed in what has become known as the largest cavalry engagement of the war and probably of the western hemisphere. This weekend, while doing a 10 mile race in Culpeper, VA, I hope to visit the sight of this famous battle at a little whistle stop called Brandy Station. By this time in the war, the Army of the Potomac's cavalry had been recognized into a single cavalry corps led by General Alfred Pleasonton. Union officers, suspicious of a sudden buildup of Confederate horsemen in the vicinity of Culpeper, assumed that J.E.B. Stuart was about to launch another one of his trademark raids. When the blue and gray troopers clashed at Brandy Station on June 9, 1863 (June 9 is my birthday, by the way), there were a total of 18,500 horsemen involved. Pleasonton's goal of dispersing or destroying the enemy cavalry failed, but the 14-hour battle proved to have a great positive impact on the morale of the Northern cavalry. For the first time in the war, Union cavalry had matched the Confederate cavalry in both skill and determination. Less than two months later, both sides would clash again at Gettysburg. 

The American Battlefield Trust (yes, I'm a supporter) has done a great job of preserving the Brandy Station battlefield. I'm eager to see places like Beverley's Ford, Yew Ridge, St. James Church, and Fleetwood Hill. Stories of valor, hardship, and sacrifice have always appealed to me. I am neither a military nor an academic historian, but the more I read and travel, the more fascinated I become. I consider myself blessed to have easy access to so many historic sites of both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. 

On Unexpressed Appreciation

In 1 Thess. 5:12-13, Paul instructs us to respect our elders/pastors because of their 1) labor, 2) leadership, and 3) love. In Gal. 6:6 he tells us to share with them "all good things." How long has it been since you expressed your love and appreciation to your leaders at church? Unexpressed appreciation doesn't go very far. 

Whether It's Spiritual Or Physical Health, It's All God's Grace

Hey folks. Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you're here, tuning into God with this zany surfer as your guide. That's just it. Life is zany (crazy) at times. In my own life, there are very few things that are "normal." But two of them are these: daily Bible study, and daily exercise. This morning I was in 1 Thess. 5. 

There's a verse I wanted to memorize in the Greek. In fact, I remember writing an entire term paper in college on this one verse. 

After writing it down as you see above, I recited it to myself over and over again while at the gym this morning. 

Here's how I might translate it:

Now may the very God who gives us peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being -- spirit, soul, and body -- free from every fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

Isn't that a great prayer? God desires to leave no part of us unsanctified -- our reasoning, our intellect, our affections, our will, even our bodies. Our entire being is to be dedicated to and employed in God's service. Physical exercise can become a great practice that transports us into the weightier matters of the spirit. The more I prove to myself the sufficiency of God's grace in my athletic endeavors, the more I will be equipped to face tough times in my spiritual walk. 

Workouts require time and effort. I apply myself no less in my daily Bible study than in my gym work. Both the material and immaterial parts of our being are important to God. That's why, after a good workout (be it spiritual or physical), we can say with Paul, "Whatever I am now, it's all because God poured out his grace on me. For I worked hard, yet it was not I, but God who was working through me by his grace" (1 Cor. 15:10). 

In short, it's all grace. I was reminded of this when I saw this interview after one of the Flying Pig Marathons in Cincinnati. 

Watch until the end, where the legally blind winner of the women's race gives glory to God for her stellar performance. Thank goodness for runners like this.

Believers, rather than focusing on our inadequacies, let's remember that it's God's grace from which we labor. He has the ability to strip away all the parts we get wrong and help us to embrace life, warts and all. That's just how much he loves us.

Got Another 10 Miler This Weekend

Well, I did it. I signed up for a race this weekend, even though I wasn't planning on doing it. It's a 10-miler up in Culpeper, about a 4-hour drive north of me. I hold a lot of sentimental attachment to this distance. So far the Lord has allowed me to complete 10 of them. 

A lot of people seem to neglect the 10-miler -- it kinda gets forgotten between a 10K race (6.2) miles and a half marathon (13.1 miles). But it makes a lot of sense to run a 10 mile race. It's a great way to gauge my fitness before my 42nd half marathon in 2 weeks. Plus, if you already have a baseline of fitness, it shouldn't take you too long to get ready to tackle that distance. 

My favorite 10 mile race is the famous Virginia 10 Miler, held in Lynchburg every year. I have done that race 4 times. The race is made even more exciting because of its elite field of runners (the winners are almost always Kenyans or Ethiopians) and its large prize money. A 10-miler requires a little bit of everything -- 10 miles is long enough to demand endurance and strength but short enough to also allow for speed. The race is long enough that you can't recover if you go out too fast. I usually find my pace by mile 3 and then just coast to the finish line after that. I'm never fast, but occasionally I do have a new PR, as in this Virginia 10 Miler a few years ago. 

In my opinion, it's a good idea for runners to conquer this distance before moving on to racing half marathons. The distance is a good predictor of how well you might do at 13.1 miles. Really, the 10-miler is the best of both worlds. It takes less time to prepare for than a half, but it is still quite an achievement. 

All You Can Eat!

Just back from a Chinese buffet with six grandsons and their mom and dad. 

I think it's safe to say the restaurant lost money today. 

Training Like a Hybrid Athlete

As you know, I recently pivoted from cardio training (running) to a hybrid training program, incorporating swimming, biking, and weight lifting. 

Hybrid training is very satisfying to me. 

But it has its dangers. Make sure you get proper rest (I napped for an hour yesterday), don't overtrain, and have a good night's sleep (I slept for 9 and a half hours last night). I think it's also important to eliminate as much sugar as possible from your diet. I would love to see a "Couch to Hybrid Athlete" program, especially for older men who are about to get started back on their fitness journey. Despite conventional wisdom, I enjoy lifting and running. I know I don't have to pick only one activity, and I'm excited at the prospect of learning how to do both safely and for the long term. You just have to know yourself and what works best for you. Consistency is the goal. I love the feeling of physical freedom it gives being able to combine these disciplines. Hybrid training has definitely exponentially increased my love for fitness and health. 

Farm Update

Today I continued to work on landscaping the farm. I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've been able to make. What do you think? 

And get this. When I went to get the mower I saw that my grandsons had washed it while I was in Hawaii. Looks as good as new, don't it. What a kind thing to do. Thank you, boys! 

Tomorrow -- mulch spreading. 

"Through Many Tribulations" (Acts 14:22)

Today's run was at the Tobacco Heritage Trail. 

While running I committed to memory a verse that I had wanted to memorize in Greek for a very long time. 

The ESV renders it, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." Eugene Peterson writes, "Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times." This is the only time in the book of Acts that we have a message/sermon given to a congregation of believers. All the other sermons in Acts are to the lost. That shouldn't surprise us. The "preaching" word group in the New Testament normally refers to the ministry of evangelism, while the "teaching" word group normally refers to the edification of believers. When I first read this verse it put a chill down my spine. I signed up for "trouble"? And Luke has the nerve to call this an "encouraging" message? What's going on here?

Then I remembered what someone in a Biola chapel service once said. "When God wants to do an impossible task he takes an impossible man and crushes him." That's an unpopular notion in our egocentric era. Life is all about me, mine, myself, my comfort, my desires, my plans, my will, when in fact the Christian life is none of the above. We are not called with "me" in mind. He is the reason for our calling. His plan is the plan to follow, and it's often both surprising and painful. Haven't you found that to be true? The Lord breaks us down -- crushes us -- to carry out his will through us. 

During my 63 years of walking with the Lord, I've come to know something of that crushing, though not nearly as much as many of my brothers and sisters in Christ. But I know of no one greatly used of God who has not also been wounded, deeply hurt, bruised, broken, crushed. It's just an essential part of his plan for us. It's called a crucible -- from the Latin word crux, meaning "cross." That's what the Father puts us through. If you are wondering if that's going to happen in your life, I tell you, yes it will, though I can't tell you how or when. He will break you. He will shape you. He will conform you to the image of his Son, and the cross will often be very difficult to bear. 

Is it interesting to see that a regular part of Paul's teaching to new converts was the inevitability of suffering. Jesus too had plainly taught it. The thing is, God wants our whole heart. Not just a part of it -- not even the biggest part. All of it. For Christians, life is a difficult journey that is homeward bound. And though on this side of heaven the sufferings don't become any easier, there is a bright side. Those who live in the Lord will never suffer in vain. 

In Praise of Morphology (Word "Morphation")

In two weeks, we'll be back in school, teaching the Greek language to eager students. Much of what we will be doing is learning how words are formed. This is called:

Morphology

Morphology is the study of 

Phorm

Oops,

Form (morphology) 

Phorm and morph almost make an anagram. Thus, when we study morphology, we are studying word

Formation

Phormation

Morphation 

Here are some Greek morphemes my students have learned. 

This is how you say "I, you, he, we, you, they" in Greek. Without knowing these suffixes in Greek, you will never be able to understand how Greek words are phormed or morphed. 

Morphology is a very interesting and useful way to study Greek. That's because the basic unit of meaning in language is not the word but the morpheme. Some languages like to put spaces between their morphemes. Others/tend/to/combine/them. Ourgoalistoundertsandtheinternalstructureofwords. We ask, "What is inside a word?" For example, here's how to say "I will hear" in Greek, Spanish, French, and German:

Greek has one word that contains three morphemes. They are:

• akou, meaning hear
• s, meaning will
• and ō, meaning I

Thus, akou-s-ō means hear-will-I, or "I will hear." 

Spanish works in a similar way. 

In short, the morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in language. Some languages tend to combine their morphemes into words. Others tend not to. 

Mastering Greek is a lot easier if your teacher uses a morphological approach to language. That's because rather than just memorizing words, you are now understanding how words work. 

Here's to morphology!

On Sanctification (the Greek Root Hag)

My Bible time this morning was in 1 Thess. 4. 1. Thess. 4:3 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. 

Here Paul tell us that the will of God for our lives is our sanctification. Interestingly, the English words "sanctification," "holy," and "saint" all share the same Greek root (hag). 

• The verb is hagiazō
• The adjective is hagios.
• And the noun is also hagios.

The basic idea of the root hag is not progress in practical holiness. If that were the case, it would be impossible for God to sanctify himself, for God does not need to make progress in holiness. Yet the Bible says that both the Father and the Son "sanctify" themselves. For example, in John 17:18 Jesus says, "For their salvation I sanctify myself." He means that he had set himself totally and completely apart to the will of God (see also Heb. 10:8). This clearly reveals that the basic idea of "sanctification" is "set apart." We see this also in 1 Cor. 1:2, where Paul writes "to the church of God at Corinth who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." Note again that in the original text the word "saints" comes from the same Greek root as the word "sanctified." Paul is referring primarily to their position, not their practice. When God looks at us, he sees his child having been set apart unto himself, one who is a saint, beloved of the Father. 

Positionally, then, sanctification need never be repeated and can never be repeated. We have been declared righteous by God by his legal act of justification through Christ. This sanctification does not depend on our maturity, our knowledge, or our practice of righteousness. It is the divine work by which God sets us apart to himself.

Please remember that whenever you come to a verse like 1 Thess. 4:3, which refers to the experiential side of sanctification. Here Paul is exhorting the child of God who has already been sanctified to let his experience conform to his position based on the Holy Spirit's empowerment (see v. 8 -- "God who gives us his Holy Spirit"). It's just a matter of allowing him enough elbow room to do the job. 

Back Day

Today was back day. 

Worked mostly on pull ups. The secret is not to sway back and forth at all, to stay in total control of your movements. Slow, strict, and methodical is the name of the game. Just put the work in day after day, year after year, and you will eventually see results. 

Much respect to all of you who exercised today. 

How a Trumpet Got Me to Basel

This Bach Stradivarius trumpet got me to Basel. 

I started playing trumpet in the 5th grade at Kainalu Elementary School. From 7th to 8th grade I played trumpet at Kailua Intermediate School. Then from 9th grade to 12th grade I played trumpet at Kailua High School. 

This was (and is) the band building. 

I spent countless hours here practicing and rehearsing for our concerts. 

I also played in the marching band. The current marching band was practicing the day I happened to visit last week. They sounded awesome. 

Note: I did NOT play high school football. Real men at KHS played football. Playing in the band was a surefire way to get your man-card taken away.  But I knew that music would get me much farther in life than sports so I didn't care. Finally, in 1978, 2 years after Becky and I got married, we went to Germany for 3 months, where I played trumpet on a brass octet called Eurocorps. During that stint in Europe I was able to visit all of the universities I thought I might want to attend for my doctorate, including the one in Basel, Switzerland. Had I not played the trumpet, I doubt that I would would have had that opportunity. 

Take a few minutes and think about the ways in which God has shown you the way forward through something as inconsequential as a trumpet. He has not left you to blunder your way through life in darkness like some sadistic father. Rather, "Every detail of our lives in love for God is worked into something good" (Rom. 8:28, The Message). That is to say, he guides you in your Christian walk. 

Rest assured. He has a plan for your life. 

Listen to This Great Organ Piece

My son the organist sent me a link to this fabulous organ piece. It was recorded in the one and only Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. If you haven't been there yet it's an absolute must-see the next time you're in France. 

This is one of the most amazing organ pieces played by one of the world's greatest organists. There are no words that can describe the organ. It defies comparison to any other instrument on earth. 

Be Still and Know (Psalm 46:10)

Here's a verse I thought a lot about during my visit to Hawaii. It's Psalm 46:10. 

The main verb in it is raphah. As you can see, raphah has any number of possible translations. 

The Living Bible translates it "Stand Silent!" Moffat says, "Give in! Admit that I am God." And Eugene Peterson writes, "Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God." 

I run my life at such a pace that I often fail at stopping. On this trip, the Lord told me, "Stop it, Dave! Stand still. Be quiet. Quit talking. Turn off the phone. Disengage from blogging. Reconnect with Me." This disengagement began the moment I saw Kailua Beach from my plane window a week ago Wednesday. 

The verb translated "Be still" is an emphatic imperative in the Hebrew with a causative stem. You're engaged in the decision to stop. No one else can stop your striving for you. The basic idea seems to be to let hang down, and so to be slackened, especially the hands. The word suggests becoming relaxed, slackened, leaving matters to God. It's describing a time when you quietly wait upon God without fear or diffidence and know him to be God. 

Why do I mention this? Because some of you haven't "stopped" in years. I remember being contacted by a church in Illinois several years ago. The deacons had called to ask me if their pastor could come to the farm for a week to put body and soul back together again. "He hasn't had a vacation since he came and he's on the verge of total burnout. Can he come?" I told him we'd be glad to host him for however long he wanted to stay, free of charge (as is our policy with everyone who retreats on our farm). When the deacons told the pastor he was going to the Blacks' farm for a week, he said, "I can't do that! There's way too much work to be done here for me to be gone a whole week." They said, "You're going, or you're fired." Long story short, the man spent a week of seclusion on the farm, and he returned home completely revived in body and spirit. 

Jesus often did the same when he retreated with his disciples to a hiding place where they could release their heavy loads of anxiety, strengthen their slender threads of patience, and most of all remember their heavenly Father. And now this same Jesus invites us to take breathers, to rest up, to gather perspective, to "be still" and meditate on God. That's actually how I spent most of my time on Oahu.

There was more rest than activity. 

Well did Spurgeon say that a mouse might worry if there be enough corn in the granaries or a fish fret about enough water in the sea before a Christian be bothered over the sufficiency of God's grace. "Be still and know." What was provided to the Psalmist is made available to any and all saints today. 

We will honor God and do our age a favor by indulging in a break fitly timed. 

This Evening's Race

This evening's race was held in the great city of Durham, NC. 

The race started at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, where they filmed the movie "Bull Durham." 

The city has really changed in the last few years. For the better, I think. I actually like how Durham feels. It's not overly developed (yet) or overly expensive to enjoy a good restaurant. It's family-oriented and full of good, hard-working people. There's plenty of jobs and educational opportunities. Many of the jobs there pay well, and the cost of living is not excessive. It's multicultural and diverse, with people from all different parts of the world living there. It's like a smaller downtown Greensboro but with less traffic and people. It's also becoming almost as fit-conscious as its neighbors Raleigh and Chapel Hill. That's all for the good. 

I wouldn't say that today's course was an easy one. It was very hilly, but that's Durham for you. 

I really had to work hard today to achieve my goals, which were (1) enjoy myself (check), (2) run the entire course without walking (check), and (3) stay within a reasonable heart rate (check). But again, it wasn't easy. Here's a BEFORE picture. 

And an AFTER picture. 

Do you like this photo? If I didn't make so much money farming (jk), I'd be a professional photographer (with my iPhone of course). 

Because of the hills I couldn't quite meet my pace goal, but I was pleased with my overall ranking. 

A race like this can bring meaning to a cause (in this case, Habitat for Humanity of Durham). I ran it to honor an incredible girl, my daughter Karen, who got me into the sport of running by inviting me to run a 5K with her 8 years ago. Thank you, sweetheart! This evening reminded me of the power of being around people who see life as an opportunity for change, risk, growth, and progress. If you want to be motivated, hang around motivating people. Don't settle for less. 

Next race? The Ashland Half Marathon on Saturday, Aug. 26., Lord willing. Anyone else racing this month?