the good donut

"The best donut is a free donut. The next best donut is the next free donut"

Saturday, December 30, 2006

My 2007 Christmas List

I know it is early but I wanted to give people (my wife) a chance to prepare (that's just me... always thinking of others). My 2007 Chirstmas list starts, and stops, here (link ).

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

President Gerald Ford (July 14, 1913- December 26, 2006)

"The other thing was, Ford was one of lifes winners. You know the joke that if Nixon had only mad the Whittier College football team, he would have never turned out that way. But Ford did make the football team. He was a high-school football hero, a college football hero. He got into Yale Law School when he really didn't think he would. And he married the woman he loved and stayed married to her his whole life. All this gave him an inner self-esteem, self-confidence. He didn't have to prove anything to anybody."

Ron Neessen, Ford White House press secretary.
Quoted from Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and their Planes. By, Kenneth T. Walsh

Video of the Week 12/27

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Quote of the Week 12/24


Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

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Friday, December 22, 2006

2006 Keener Family Christmas Letter

"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!" -Benjamin Franklin

I have, over the last few months, become quite the debater. It’s not quite Crossfire or the stuff of presidential campaigns but it is quite compelling. Usually it goes something like this:

“Put on your shoes.”

“No.”

“Put on your shoes!”

“I… don’t… want… to.”

“I didn’t ask what you wanted.

“WAAAAAAAA!”

What is truly special about the debate is that it works equally well with a number of topics from “Eat your breakfast” to “It’s time for bed”. The fact that I outweigh my opponent 10:1 seems to have little effect on her, still she holds to her position.

We have been parents for over five years now. To be quite honest, for the most part, God has blessed us with pretty well behaved children. The astounding thing is: of all the things I have tried to teach Kaara and Noah I have never tried to teach them to disobey. Yet, there are times when one or both decide that they will stand in opposition to Kris or myself. While neither of my children learned disobedience from me they did inherit it, just as I did.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— Romans 5:12 (NIV)

Just as my children disobey so do I, and as frustrating as a 5 or 2 year old disobedience is to me so is my disobedience to God. Knowing I am disobeying does little to prevent it:

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. Romans 7:17-20 (The Message)

The fact that I cannot defeat sin by sheer power of will, that I can never escape my own nature is exactly the point of Christmas.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:18-21 (NIV)

We celebrate Christmas, the coming of Christ, in order to celebrate His grace and the eternal life it provides.

This last year Noah prayed to have Jesus come live in his heart. Nothing, since his birth, has been more exciting for me. We eagerly anticipate watching him grow in his relationship with Christ. We pray for wisdom to help guide him. Both Kaara and Noah continue to grow in their faith we are eager to see what God has for them.

This year at Christmas we hope that you are experiencing the grace of God and that you are able to celebrate the eternal life His coming made possible.

Merry Christmas,

Kaara, Noah, Kris and Pat

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Video of the Week 12/20

Monday, December 18, 2006

Quote of the Week 12/18


"The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birthday of our Savior, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected."

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

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Traditions

Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as... as a fiddler on the roof! Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof)

There was a time when I would sooner cut of my thumbs and big toes with a plastic picnic knife before I committed the heresy of purchasing a fake Christmas tree. Then there was the unfortunate incident of 2004.

After stocking, killing and mounting a majestic specimen of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir) we trimmed it with thousands of multi-colored twinkling lights and a plethora of ornaments. It was… spectacular. After about a week something was amiss. Since Kris and I were married we had a tradition; she would pester me to water the tree and I would pretend to ignore her until she did it, to which I would respond, "Thanks, I was just going to do that". 2004: no pestering. It didn’t seem quite like the holidays. Being a generous fellow, a giver, I decided to check the water. Perhaps Kris had forgotten in the hustle of the season. It was full, to which I responded "Thanks, I was going to do that". Kris told me that she thought I had been doing it unprompted. At that moment all the needles started falling off. By Christmas we had a not so majestic specimen of dry stick wrapped with 100 feet of electrical wire and ornaments. It looked as if it might spontaneously combust at any moment. We finally got all the needles cleaned up the next Thanksgiving. I bought a fake tree.

An artificial tree has resulted in two things. First, the quality of lighting is much higher. Though I try, I can never quite make the tree look like anything more than a tree wrapped with extension cords. The artificial tree is pre-lit; each branch has its own lights. It has significantly increased my tree trimming joy quotient. Second, now that the try no longer drops needles I was able to purchase, for the children, a Lionel Polar Express train to put around its base. All this and it appears to be somewhat resilient to minor flooding in the basement.

Traditions usually fall into two categories; intentional and unintentional. The unintentional ones are like turkey on Thanksgiving. It’s just they way we’ve always done it nobody really knows why. Then there are the intentional ones.

After the Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years God had Joshua tell the Levites to go before the people with The Ark of the Covenant. As soon as the priests put there feet in the water of the Jordan River the water backed up and the whole nation was able to cross on dry ground. Then Joshua commanded a man from each tribe to take a large stone to the middle of the Jordan river where Joshua built a memorial to the LORD. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:5-7 (NIV)

Christmas is a wonderful time of fun, memories and traditions. As my children get older it is a challenge to istall traditions that are a memorial to The One who came, as a man, lived among us, died, rose on the third day, ascended and now sits next to the Father waiting for the appointed time to return for His people.

That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Romans 8:19-23 (The Message)

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Sunday, December 17, 2006

Noah's Pre-school Christmas Program


My kid is the best EEEEEver!

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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Video of the Week 12/13

A very special long distance dedication to my sister Mary.

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Thursday, December 07, 2006

December 7, 1941


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Video of the Week 12/7

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Explanations



I have debated with myself for some time whether or not to post news items like the previous post in this blog.

One day Kaara will be old enough to read what her dad has to say. I never want her to think that I am down on China or the Chinese people.

With that said; by ignoring news items like this I not only do the persecuted Church in China a disservice but also Kaara. She has to know what is going on in the part of the world where she was born.

In America we say Christians are being persecuted when “under God” is removed from the constitution or homosexual marriage is on the ballot. The reality is, we the Christian church of America know nothing of persecution. Xu Shuangfu, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun (amongst others) were martyred because they dared preach the Gospel outside of state approved church. I have never really risked my life for much of anything let alone the gospel yet fellow believers around the world do it on a daily basis.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20 (NIV)

My petition is that you be praying for the Church in China, that it would continue to grow. And also the Xu, Li and Wang families, that God would encourage them and continue to grow their faith.

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Monday, December 04, 2006

China executes 15 members of underground church


Breitbart.com

China has executed up to 15 members of an underground Protestant church sect for the alleged murders of people in another group, a religious rights body and a lawyer said.

The Texas-based China Aid Association said in a statement three leaders of the Three Grade Servant church had been put to death in northeast China's Heilongjiang province over the past week. (link)

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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Quote of the Week 12/3


"Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificied on the altar of conformity and popularity." Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

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