Canaan Land

I have been privileged to be able to continue teaching the Sunday School class at church on Sunday mornings. We are currently in a series called From Bethlehem to Moab in which we have been considering the probable route that Elimelech and his family traveled on when they fled the famine. Though we cannot be certain that this is the actual route, nonetheless we can learn lessons from the places that are on that route; lessons applicable to us today.

We have progressed through many different cities and have at last come to the Jordan River. As Elimelech and his family cross the Jordan, it is important for us to note what they are leaving. The Jordan River was the border of the Promised Land. Though Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Mannaseh received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, yet it was on the west side of the Jordan where Israel was to received her inheritance.

So what does Canaan represent? Though many hymns, poems, allegories and commentaries refer to Jordan as a type of death and Canaan as a type of heaven, as we have studied, we have found that this is but a poor analogy. For instance, consider that in Canaan we find day and night, the light of the sun and the light of the moon. We find sorrow, pain, death, violence, battles, enemies and sin. We find deception and greed. We find men doing what was right in their own eyes.

As we read the description of heaven and the new Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, we find that there is no night there. We find the Lord wiping every tear away. We see that death is banished. We find no one that does wickedness within her gates. We find no enemy, no battles, no more war. So is Canaan really a type of heaven? In loose analogy yes, but I believe that Canaan more accurately represents the life of the Christian here on the earth. I believe it represents the life that Christ desires and wills for us to live.

During our first lesson on Jordan and Canaan, we looked at it in type, as we have mentioned above. The second lesson is found in Hebrews 3 & 4 where the author, at the direction of the Holy Spirit, describes the land of Canaan as "God's Rest". Last week we looked at how that not only was Canaan a place of rest for God's people, but it was also known as the "Promised Land". We examined some of God's promises both for the children of Israel as they entered Canaan, and also the promises that God has made to us, His people, for our daily Christian lives.

I believe tomorrow we will either be looking at the characteristics of Canaan (ie: a good land, fruitful, flowing with milk and honey, fertile, etc) and/or the fact that Canaan was to be possessed by the children of Israel. It wasn't simply appropriated, it had to be possessed.

Well, that's the latest on the Bible study side of things. Have a great weekend.

Welcome Paul and Sara

Just wanted to extend a welcome to my friends Paul and Sara Vandenboss. They (well Sara) have recently started their own blog. Paul is in the Marines and is just finishing up his officer candidate school in Quantico, VA. Paul and Sara are members at Grace Baptist and we (and a few others) are often found at Chili's or another restaurant on a Sunday evening after church.

Paul and Sara

And the Hacks Go Higher

Well today was the day of new consecutive records. First I hit 67. The second try I got up to 91. Finally I hit my all time personal high, 117.

(btw...this is a picture of my hack...the first picture was one I found on the web)

Crazy Face Picture

Last night I joined the Schallenbergers at Adam Park, just a block from my apartment. I brought along my hacky sack and ended up playing for a while with a guy that stopped by. Robin had grabbed their camera, and, as Joey wanted a funny face picture, I decided to oblige...

Portrait

Guitar Hunting with Matt

One of the highlights of the last couple of weeks was a weekend visit by my good friend Matt Cooke. He arrived the Friday before Father's Day and stayed until the following Monday. He was able to fly into Salt Lake via Southwest Airlines and arrive several hours earlier than he had planned.

We grabbed a bite to eat in Layton and then headed north towards Logan. We stopped by the house, dropped off his stuff and then went on a walk up by the college. It was good to catch up on some of the happenings back in Ketchikan.

The next morning we hit the road around 8am bound for the Provo and Orem area. We spent the day in guitar hunting, which is a very nice way to spend a Saturday. By the time we got back up to Logan, we had covered about 270 miles.

A line of Taylors

The Guitar Czar, a nice little shop in eastern Salt Lake

Is that the guitar shop?

Waiting to see what fine instruments were inside

A very nice sounding Martin

So many nice guitars, so little money...

Hmmm...

Maybe not so much...

Nice, but not the right one...

Matt shows the Baden he had purchased just minutes before

On Father's Day, Matt and I went to church and then headed over to the Schallenbergers' for dinner and spent the rest of the afternoon there until the evening service. That went well and several of us headed over to a local restaurant afterwards.

Monday morning we went to the men's prayer meeting and then hit the road for Idaho Falls, ID. This was the closest spot that Horizon Air flies out of. Matt hadn't found the right guitar yet, but there was one guitar shop in Idaho Falls that we thought we'd take a look at before heading to the airport.

We arrived in Idaho Falls just before 10am and found the guitar shop just as they were opening the doors. After walking in, Matt saw the Badens, played a couple for about three minutes, and knew that he had found his guitar. Within 15 min he had purchased the guitar and we were on our way to the airport.

All in all quite a time. Thanks Matt!

New Personal Record

65 consecutive kicks with the hacky sack

Exercise

Aside from working out on my Weider Platinum, I have once again taken up footbag, more commonly known as "hacky sack". I had actually started doing this before I injured my knee, but after my rough landing, I had to wait for a while until the knee came down to normal proportions. Thankfully the knee is much better and I can embark once again on kicking that little crocheted bag around with my feet.

Today I set a new "record" for myself, 51 consecutive hits in a combination of knees and feet. I think there is only one other time I got a higher number than that, and it was down in Baja Mexico while at an orphanage during one of our church's youth mission trips. Anyway, it is a lot of fun and is a good work out as well. (Hey, go cardio!)

Schallenberger Open House

On June 7th, the day after Kaitie's graduation, the Schallenbergers had an open house for friends, family and neighbors. Over all there were around 50 folks that stopped by.

Kathy, Robin and Barbara in deep conversation around the food.

Veronica takes a moment to smile for the camera.

Meanwhile, Scott manned the grill, turning out burgers, dogs and bratts like they were going out of style.

Kaitie's cake came appropriately adorned with graduation-themed decorations.

There was a small table set up in the front entrance for cards and gifts.

More deep conversation being undertaken around the table.

After lunch, several of us went hiking up in the hills behind the Schallenberger place. Here Chelsea and Joey are seen walking along a service road overlooking the valley. (For those who are interested, the photo was taken looking east).

Yes, the photographer got his own picture taken. Leonardo was kind enough to snap this picture of Carlos and myself. Carlos and Leonardo are from the Dominican Republic or the "DR" as they call it.

We had a great view of the Schallenbergers' place from our vantage point on the service road. Theirs is the house in the foreground with the visitors' vehicles parked in the adjacent cul-de-sac.

The hills were quite green due to some late spring rains.

Carlos, Leonardo, Chelsea and Kaitie pose for a picture.

Joey smiles for the camera as well.

After we hiked back down, we spent a little more time snacking, Kaitie opened her cards and gifts, and we all hung out until late in the evening. A good time was had by all.

Firefox 3

I have been using Firefox (among other browsers) for some time now, and have really gotten to like this browser. Since version three was released a couple of days ago, I decided to download it and try it.

My first impressions are favorable. I don't normally use all of the bookmarking functions and such, so my viewpoint is limited to interface layout, speed, and stability. So far version 3 scores high on all of these.

I like it!

Kaitie's Graduation

On June 6th we had a combined graduation at church. This last year was the first year for our church school, and each of the kids received awards and recognition for completing their first year.

As the Schallenberger's homeschooled their four eldest children, they also received awards of for their achievements during this last school year. This was also Kaitie's last year of highschool, so it was graduation night for her.

Kaitie's friend Chelsea came in and was able to spend several days. Here are three pics after the awards and ceremony were completed.

The Schallenbergers

Kaitie and Chelsea

Annie Trott (the teacher at our church school), Kaitie, and Pastor Stonehouse

Chad and Ariana's Wedding

My friends' daughter Ariana, was getting married on the 31st of May, and they asked if I would take pictures of the ceremony and reception. Though I've never taken wedding pictures before, I agreed. Here are a few of the pictures from the wedding. In shooting these pictures, I realized the shortcomings of my camera and have developed a greater appreciation for those who shoot weddings on an ongoing basis.

Master's Men Album