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Gaining ground (well... maybe losing?)

I have now been on this new diet, which really isn’t a diet, for almost one month. Thirty days, to be exact. And in 30 days, I have lost...

Well, I’ll let the app speak for me. Straight from My Fitness Pal:

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Okay... I know I still have a long way to go. But I’m inspired. I’ll get there.

Sustaining grace

W

hat is “sustaining grace”? This is the question Pastor John Piper posed to his congregation as they celebrated the anniversary of the founding of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The sermon that followed this question is inspiring and motivating, and the poem that served as the introduction has become one of my favorite poems.

Psalms 37:4-5

Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.

Life can be terribly difficult at times. Sometimes we travel through incredibly deep and turbulent waters and the undertow threatens to pull us beneath the surface of the water as we desperately try to reach the shore. During these times we Christians have a loving and faithful God to hold onto. Only he is able to provide the grace to sustain us through these difficult times.

What is sustaining grace?

Not grace to bar what is not bliss
Nor flight from all distress—but this:

The grace that orders our trouble and pain
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

Pastor John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist Church

This is something I often forget—sometimes until after the troubled waters have passed and I look back to see the signs along the way that God was sustaining me the whole way. Perhaps next time I hit those troubled waters I will remember to trust God along the way. He is always faithful.

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

The Gods of the Copybook Heading

Rudyard Kipling

AS I PASS through my incarnations
  in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations
    to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers
  I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings,
    I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us.
  They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us,
  as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift,
  Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas
  while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed.
  They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne
  like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress,
  and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield,
  or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on
  they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton;
  they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses;
  they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshiped the Gods of the Market
  Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming,
  They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons,
  that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us
  and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:
  ”Stick to the Devil you know.”

On the first Feminian Sandstones
  we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour
  and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children
  and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:
  ”The Wages of Sin is Death.”

In the Carboniferous Epoch
  we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter
  to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money,
  there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:
  ”If you don’t work you die.”

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled,
  and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled
  and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters,
  and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings
  limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future,
  it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain
  since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit
  and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger
  goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished,
  and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing
  and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us,
  as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
  with terror and slaughter return!

Happy Friday from the Piano Guys

I love these guys; they’re so creative!

“Words mean things”

When Rush Limbaugh began his radio career he regularly said, “words mean things.” That seems kind of obvious, but a lot of times people overlook or simply miss the meanings of the words people say.

Without providing any commentary, this cartoon accurately quotes two presidents. What do these quotes say about each of these men? And what do each of these say about the state of our nation under those men’s leadership?

Please be prepared to vote for a stronger America this November.

Pacelbel would have been proud

Absolutely amazing!

Time to lose weight

I

went to the doctor yesterday and heard the typical doctor speech for a 50-year-old: “You need to lose weight!” Well... perhaps it wasn’t completely typical because I need to lose a lot more weight than most men... of any age.

I have struggled with my weight all my life and over the years my excessive weight has contributed to a variety of health problems. But now I’m 50 years old and need to get control of this before it takes complete control of me.

Everyone says accountability is vital for weight maintenance, so I have put in place a few things to help with that. I began by downloading the FitnessPal app for my iPhone (also available for Android, Blackberry, iPad, and Windows phones). It’s a pretty cool app that had tens of thousands of 5-star ratings—and it’s free. FitnessPal also has a web site, so I can now track my caloric intake and my caloric output online and through my mobile phone. And FitnessPal has a huge database of foods to make tracking your caloric intake easier. You can even put in your own recipes and then add them to the database if you’d like to do so or keep them private if you prefer.

It can also be tied into a really cool digital pedometer called the FitBit. This tiny pedometer tracks how many steps you’ve taken, how many stairs you’ve climbed or descended, how many miles you’ve walked or run, how many calories you’ve burned, how many calories you burn while sitting or sleeping, and even how many times you get up at night and the exact times when you did it. All of this transmits the FitnessPal web site and mobile app via either wifi or a docking station that comes with the FitBit pedometer.

All of that is awesome, but still does not provide accountability. The accountability comes in with the Reports feature at FitnessPal. All of this tracked information is put into a printable report, which can also be emailed (perhaps to your family doctor), and it generates the cool little widget you see on the left side of this blog post. This widget is going to remain in my bar to the right, close to the top of the page, so my blog readers will be able to keep track of my weight. There’s the accountability.

I have a lot of weight to lose. I’d better get up and walk around. Sitting at this laptop isn’t helping at all.

Got beef?

Lodge Cast Iron Combo Cooker

Our family loves good steak, so we grill out often—at least once a week during the spring, summer, and fall. But when the temperature rises above 100° Farenheit we have to figure out other options. Today was one of those days.

Our initial plan was to pull out my wok and cook some Chinese stir-fry. But when we went to the grocery store yesterday to get the ingredients, I was swayed by a book we found at the store, The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook: A treasury of timeless, delicious recipes [Amazon.com]. I began flipping through the pages of this unique cookbook and soon decided to buy it. The recipes look fantastic.

About 20 years ago, Kim and I purchased two cast iron skillets from Cracker Barrel—one with very low sides and the other about 3.5" deep. Our two skillets closely resemble the ones pictured at the top of this post and are, in fact, made by Lodge Cast Iron. We have used the low-sided skillet regularly since we purchased it, but have not used the deeper skillet very often. It’s large and it’s heavy and it just hasn’t been one of our regular pieces of cookware... until now.

I love cooking with cast iron cookware and have used the skillet for burgers, hash-brown potatoes, fried tomatoes, sausage, and many other foods that benefit from the even temperature across the cooking surface and from the ability of cast iron to retain heat. And I used the low-sided skillet because at 14" in width, the low sides of the skillet reduce the weight by quite a bit. The 14" high-sided skillet is incredibly heavy.

So... we chose a recipe, collected the short list of ingredients and after church today I made the best steak I have ever had. The recipe is in the box below. If you have a cast iron skillet (like the one with the high sides pictured at the top-right of this post). You need to try this recipe. It is truly amazing and will leave your taste buds in an elevated state of nirvana.

Seared Pepper Steak with Bourbon-Shallot Sauce

2 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste 1/4 cup cracked black peppercorns 4 10-oz. beef top loin steaks, about 1" thick 2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp chopped shallots 1/2-cup bourbon 1/2-cup beef stock 1/4-cup heavy cream 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Rub the salt and cracked peppercorns on both sides of the steaks.
2. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the steaks 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare or to desired degree of doneness. Transfer the steaks to a plate and loosely cover with foil.
3. Add the shallots to the skillet and sauté 30 seconds.
4. Remove the skillet from the heat and turn off the burner. Add the bourbon (there will be a lot of steam all at once). Carefully light the liquid in the skillet with a long match. Allow the flames to burn off on their own.
5. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the stock, bring it to a simmer, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer 3 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until totally incorporated into the sauce. Stir in the parsley. Taste and add additional salt to taste, if desired.
7. Place a steak on each of 4 plates, top with the sauce, and serve.

Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook, Oxmoor House, p. 126

Steve Vai - Gravity Storm

N

o one can make a guitar scream, wail, and sing like Steve Vai. Today it’s intensely hot outside (currently 101°F, but the forecast is calling for 106° before the afternoon ends) and hot weather calls for hot music. So here’s Steve Vai’s “Gravity Storm” from his upcoming album “The Story of Light.”

I love this guy’s music!