I feel like I got hit with a truck. I think it's because I have to go back to work tomorrow. Nothing like looming deadlines and competing priorities to make a man want to get up in the morning. Although I really want to write tonight - the family is asleep and I have about two hours before I usually crash - I don't have it in me to be either witty or thoughtful. (You may be thinking, "That's never stopped him before...") However, I did want to post a few random thoughts (random in connectedness, not significance).

• Thanks for the great thoughts on my post on sovereignty. There are comments in there that deserve posts of their own - a very deep thank you to those helping me think through it. No question this is something that I've been pondering for a while, ever since a good friend took the plunge into Calvinism. My most recent ministry experience was in part with someone who makes Calvin look like Benny Hinn. At least part of why I now wrestle with this issue is because of what it does to one's theology of leadership / ecclesiology, which I personally think can be really ugly. More on this at a future date as yet to be determined.
• What is it about the body of Christ that we can't have a decent discussion without questioning someone's participation in the body? As a few of us Biblical students were commenting after attending a recent ETS session (John Franke was presenting - great paper on biblical authority), "Why does unity have to equal unanimity?" It's pathetic when we can't disagree constructively. (As an aside, I'm done visiting a certain site with "no" prominently featured in the name. If you know what I'm talking about, you know why I say that. If not, I'm not gracing them with a link, and you're probably better off, simply because of the quality of the "discussion".)
• Must read post of the week: the_blacke on a wild olive shoot. Phenomenal piece about the Kingdom and God's work within history. Go read. I'll wait.
• I picked up McLaren's new book, The Last Word and the Word After That. I am really, really enjoying it thus far. I'll post a full review when I'm done. It's not as far out as I thought it might be.
• Last, but certainly not least, my wife and I are expecting our third child, due in December. If the baby is anything like his or her brothers, things are going to get interesting around here...