A Few Updates

UPDATES...
Since my last post there have been a LOT of changes in my family's life that have not made it to the blog. I feel it is in order to update those things before any further posts. My next will be "Christianity & Ecology", which I have been thinking through since Summer 2007.

EVE

On September 14, 2007 Eve Sophia Norton was born! She weighed in at just over 8 pounds. Eve is small in stature, but huge in heart! Today she is 9 months old and is learning to crawl, sit up on her own, and (finally) eat solid foods. Eve has an infectious smile that usually forces her eyes shut and exposes her two little bottom teeth. Ella loves Eve, and the two girls have fun playing together. In fact, Ella can get Eve to laugh harder than anyone else in the family!

Eve's name means "To live and to breathe (Eve) wisdom (Sophia)". 

When she was born, we wrote a lullaby for Eve based on her name and Micah 6:8... 

Young Eve Sophia, my child, 

This is our prayer for your life, 

To live and to breath the wisdom of God.

May you act justly and love mercy

And walk humbly with God

May you know Jesus,

And love Jesus,

And live the Gospel of God....

Young Eve Sophia, my child,

This is our prayer as you grow,

To give God your heart and others your life.

JOB

My last post was made possible, in part, by the fact that I did not have a job and had a good bit of time on my hands. Three days after Eve was born, I started a new job at a law firm doing a variety of things including research, writing, video production, and creating presentations.  I work in uptown Charlotte in the building we affectionately call "The Crown Jewel" (of the Queen City). 

I have the privilege of working with some great people and enjoying what I do!

HOUSE

When Eve was born and my job started, we were living at my parents' house. Two months after starting work, we closed on our new house and moved in December 1, 2007! Our first house! We love our little house, known to us as "the shoebox" and to the girls as "Ella's house". We are blessed people! 

ON THE WAY...

Something I have grown to care about a lot and will write about in my next post is conservationism and ecology from a biblical perspective. In my experience, the environment and issues like climate change do not get the attention they deserve in Christian circles. This is fueled by American politics, where for some time environmental issues seem to have been disregarded by many Christians, and especially conservatives, as another in a long list of liberal, democratic agendas. Rather than making this a Republican or Democratic issue, I believe the issue is a biblical one that the church should be engaging. More to follow....

sweetness & light

INTRODUCTIONS

Welcome to my new blog, "Sweetness & Light"!

To kick things off here, the title sweetness & light refers to a Bill Mallonee tune of the same name that I have always loved. Sweetness & light seems like something in the past worth celebrating, as well as something worth heading toward. That said, another reason I call this sweetness & light is because much of life is not and this blog gives me the opportunity to share and enjoy the parts of life that are: marriage, kids, family, friendship, God, and my 1989 Honda sports coupe. I believe in sweetness & light ... even when I don't see it, even when I'm not experiencing it. So there is always something to celebrate, and something worth heading toward.

Most of you reading this probably know me. For those who don't know me, I'm 28 years old, graduated from UNC in 2001, married my wife Holly in 2002, and am now the proud father of two girls (one is still inside of Holly until September). Since college I have been a banker, a high school teacher, a student again, a videographer, a guitar teacher, and finally a Bible teacher at Emmaus School of Biblical Studies (ESBS), which I co-founded. I am currently in transition, entering the workforce in Charlotte, NC. Holly and her business partner recently started their own baby product business, Brella Baby, which sells custom-designed baby books and stationary. It's very cool stuff...check out the link.

POINTS OF INTEREST

With my background in Bible and teaching, I am interested in Biblical studies, Christian thought, worldviews and culture, and particularly the ways in which the Western church thinks about the Bible and truth, and their application into everyday life... family, politics, work, relationships, church, the environment, consumerism, etc.

Several years ago I began reading Francis Schaeffer, and for the first time understood the value and impact of worldview. We all have one, whether or not we are conscious of it, and this worldview dictates much of how we live, make choices, and experience life, relationships, and God. Soon after discovering Schaeffer, I began studying the Bible in SBS and realized how much my worldview, and many of my beliefs, were not shaped by the Bible. Rather, they were shaped by the culture I grew up in, much of which was "Christian" culture. What I learned in the process is that our lives, our beliefs, our worldviews, need to be evaluated, challenged, thought through. Inevitably, we either do, or will, hold wrong beliefs, even when these beliefs are the concensus in our religious and social circles.

Take for example the Jewish religious leaders of the New Testamant Gospels... the Pharisees and the like... the guys many Christians of today love to disdain, whose titles we often use as bywords, and even insults. Perhaps you have even called someone a Pharisee, or been called one yourself... it is a bad word to most evangelicals, and I have been guilty of using it myself. Here's the problem with that, though: the Pharisees and other religious leaders were seriously devoted to what they thought was true Jewish religion, all with their own distinct emphases. These leaders truly thought they were being faithful to God, to Torah, to Temple, and even to the hope of the coming Messiah! Give credit where credit is due!

Isn't it easy to demonize a group of individuals who didn't know what we now know, who were misguided in their devotion, while forgetting that their intentions may have actually been good? As much as anything, the Pharisees and other religious leaders suffered not from being ill-intentioned people, but from a wrong understanding of Scripture, and from a myopic worldview that did not extend past the borders of their own Promised Land. Now who does that remind you of? It reminds me of... me.

So, in my opinion, it is a lack of biblical critique of our lives, culture and beliefs that has made the American church irrelevant in many ways to modern America, not to mention the West and the rest of the world. Not entirely, of course... that would be a gross overstatement. But the church is not what it could and should be, and the big white elephant that I see in the room is a truly biblical worldview coupled with the means to live it out. And so, because of that... I am interested in learning, thinking, and growing as a person... knowing and walking with the God of the Bible... having a life that attracts people to God... seeing the Church know God's word, embrace truth, embody the Gospel, and make substantial impact on our communities by loving God and loving people....

This is the stuff I like to think about, read about, and discuss. To me, this is sweetness and light! So, I hope you'll join in!

COME BACK

Thanks for reading - I would love your comments, feedback, suggestions.

For more on these and other topics, as well as personal/family updates, check back soon! (I hope to post every week or two.)