God could have poured out judgment on mankind in the Garden, therefore the only reason there is any history is because God has purposed to send his Son into the world, to pour out judgment on him and thereby bring salvation. Jesus is the only reason there is human history, and therefore he is the goal of human history. Thus everything God says and does in history explains and prepares for the salvation of his Son.

~ Tim Keller

Ginger and I are, as of today, officially members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. We’ve been attending there since the Fall of last year, and we went through the new members’ class this spring.

The membership vows are:

1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?

We’re very thankful to have found a place to worship and serve.

My birthday is in September, and when I was a kid I disliked it. I would spend the whole summer wanting some item only to receive it days after I went back to school. Also, it’s no good trying to throw a party and invite kids you’ve just met.

Anyway, I can remember one summer when I was in the fourth or fifth grade. I really wanted a pitch-back net (similar to this, but probably from K-Mart so not nearly that expensive), and I dreaded the idea that I would miss out on a whole summer of using it if I didn’t get it until September.

So my parents moved my birthday to June 4 so that I could get my presents and have them all summer to play with.

Happy not quite my birthday to me.

As I’m the kind of person who watches the Super Bowl for the ads, it makes sense that I loved this. Slate’s Ad Report Card guy, Seth Stevenson, reviews the latest Clio award winning commercials.

Highlights

A Canadian cereal company revitalized a tired brand by rotating the squares 45 degrees to create New Diamond Shreddies. In the video below, note the rating scales. I particularly like the rainbow scale.

In a bit of classic German humor, the wind laments being misunderstood until his energy was put to good use.

A Thai ceiling board company uses reptiles to sell its product. Warning: saddest Gecko commercial ever.