I am no longer here. You can find me at www.pilgriminprogress.com
See you there.
I'm playing with wordpress over here. Let me know what you think. So far I really like it.
Oilers and Hurricanes battling it out for the Stanley Cup! 
North Carolina vs. Canada!
This is going to be fun - if only they actually played the games on the major networks here!
We've all heard the discouraging statistics that the divorce rate in the evangelical church is the same as the world - 50%. In the midst of doing some research for the counseling center I came across this post by the Jollyblogger. Very interesting.
Update:
Just found another great article by Chuck Colson on the connection between marriage and faith. He writes, "It’s becoming increasingly clear that strong families depend on churches, and churches depend on strong families." Further on he writes, "regular church attendance still correlates with marital faithfulness and happiness."
I just read a post called, "Misconception: Renting is for Suckers" and I thought it brought up some good points. My brother and his wife just bought a home and we're looking at moving into another rental closer to the church and work. This whole topic has been on my mind. Personally, I've felt that renting is best for us at this point in life but there is always that desire to buy and own a home - the American dream.
The article says you should buy a home when the combined expenses, interest, taxes, and insurance equals your rent.
You can read the post here. I'd love to hear any thoughts and wisdom!
I just finished watching this powerful program on Primetime about the foster care system, "A Call to Action: Saving Our Children."
Please check out the website and watch the video clips. Very powerful.
Here's some stats:
"According to the latest statistics, just over 800,000 children pass through the system every year, with more than 500,000 taken into foster care. For them, the average stay is 31 months. One-third stay in the system for more than three years and 17 percent remain in foster care for five years or more. Foster children have on average three different placements. There are currently more than 100,000 foster children across the country available for adoption."
Here is the link to the Van Ryn blog - the parents of Laura Van Ryn whom they thought was in a coma and just found out yesterday actually died in the accident. They are planning the memorial service for their daughter this Sunday.
Pray for them and worship the sovereign God they are desperately worshipping and clinging too!
Two young girls in a deadly car accident were mistakenly identified for each other and one family thought their daughter was dead while the other family has been taking care of who they thought was their badly injured daughter in coma for the past month.
Read about it here.
Here's a quick update on a the past month or so:
* Shawnda and I had a wonderful weekend away for our 3rd Annual Anniversary in 
Myrtle Beach, SC. We stayed at our friends family beach house which was across the street from the beach - perfect! This was the first time we had been away from the kids for more than a day. It was wondeful and Dee & Stacey were so sweet to watch the kids.
* Finished Systematic Theology III and Church History II at RTS Charlotte! I'm getting so close to the end. This was a great semester, some of the highlights for me were digging into the mysteries of the deity and huminty of Christ, getting to know Luther and Calvin better, and writing my History paper on Spurgeon.
* Went to Together for the Gospel with the pastors from our church and got to see so many good friends (Matthew Molesky, Tom Steller, David Livingston, Kevin Cawley, Ken Boer, Kent Capps, Sean Cordell, Brian Lund, Chris Lent). Blessed to join the brothers new and old at the TBI reunion and hang with Piper for a bit (thanks to Dave Mathis and Molesky for getting me there - and the chance to ride with Piper squished next to me there and back!). So many highlights: Piper and Mahaney's messages were the most hard-hitting for me. Hanging with the pastors from my church and the Sovereign Grace guys was an immense blessing! Biggest thing I came home with: Hit me that though I'm not in pastoral ministry in the local church I am in my home!
* We finished our first round of date-night coop with our new friends from church the Oddy's and Seaver's. This has been a huge blessing as we rotate each week watching the kids and going on a date. A number of other couples in the church have been doing it for years and when we heard about it both Shawnda and I thought it was brilliant!
* Finished the current season of 24 up and can't wait for next year and to catch up this summer by watching Season 2, and 3, and 4...well, maybe just one season!
* Samuel and Keziah are growing up!!! I'm so proud of them!
Or is it annoying when people where their bluetooth headsets into Starbucks and WalMart while their shopping and ordering coffee. I've noticed this for awhile now and it was made even more pronounced when the bad guys on this season of 24 were always shown wearing them (on and off the phone). Personally, I vowed that I would never own one - that is until I got one from work. And I admit I love it - it's comfortable, unlike the painful earbud headphones I've wasted money on before, and I feel much safer driving with it. That said, I promise I won't wear it unless I'm talking on the phone!
Spurgeon from the other morning (May 23):
"Unbelief insinuates— “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust."
Just found out my middle brother Tyler and his wife Leah are pregnant!! They're due in January. That makes all three of the Kovacs' families expecting! What a blessing it will be to have cousins the same age.
Tonight is also the finale of 24. I got addicted this season. Can't wait to see what happens tonight.
I just finished the book the other night and I have to admit it was hard to put down. I have to wonder how intentional Dan Brown was in writing this book that so clearly seeks to pull the carpet out from beneath Christianity (the authority of Scripture and the deity of Christ to name two!)
This morning our church gave everyone in attendance a fee copy of Josh McDowell's book 'A Quest for Answers: The DaVinci Code.' I've found a few helpful websites as well that dive into the real facts. And just today I came across this compilation of audio from different churches on the subject. Thought I'd pass that on.
I have posted this quote before but I just finished Church History II at RTS and came across it again. This is from Luther's commentary on Galatians; he is answering the question, How do we comfort an afflicted sinner?
“We comfort the afflicted sinner in this manner: Brother, you can never be perfect in this life, but you can be holy. He will say: "How can I be holy when I feel my sins?" I answer: You feel sin? That is a good sign. To realize that one is ill is a step, and a very necessary step, toward recovery. "But how will I get rid of my sin?" he will ask. I answer: See the heavenly Physician, Christ, who heals the broken-hearted. Do not consult that Quackdoctor, Reason. Believe in Christ and your sins will be pardoned. His righteousness will become your righteousness, and your sins will become His sins.” ~ from Commentary on Galatians 3:1-9
Shawnda and I have been faced with the temptation to put our hope and trust in the odds that our baby will not have down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, or any other complication. We saw the specialist yesterday and from his standpoint the odds at this point are good. But, God is so kind to remind us that there are no certainties in this life. Even with odds there is still a chance - why else would people waste their money on the lottery where they have a 1 in a 3 million chance! We will not trust in odds, they are not sovereign - God is! Pray that we will rest in Him and this truth.
We are having a girl! On Monday we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out the kids will be having a little sister. There were some concerns so we are going in again tommorrow to a specialist. Please pray for her health and for our hearts in the midst of this, especially Shawnda's.
"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb." Psa. 139:13
It's been a wild couple of weeks. Some of you may know some of what's been happening if you read Shawnda's blog. God has been so kind to us. Thank you for all your prayers and love.
Last week I had the privilege of tagging along with our pastors to the Together for the Gospel conference. What a blessing.
Well, we'll see about that. Two reasons for moving are: (1) I never felt totally comfortable having my name as my url. I ended up going with it because I thought it would be easier for people to remember. I thought I set up www.pilgriminprogress.blogspot.com (without the lame hyphens) but aparantly I didn't and they won't let me have it for some reason (hence the hyphens). The second reason (2) is to be sensitive to our children. Through my old address Shawnda and I realized it was easy to do a search on their names and find our last name; and that would make it really simple to find our number and address. We want them to be able to choose when they want to connect with the woman who gave birth to them, and the first contact to not be her calling when they're in their teens and one of them picks up the phone unexpectedly.
Long description to say welcome to the new site to the few of you that stop by.
On another note, God's been working on revealing my sin to me lately and because of that I've been dealing with my heart more intensely than I feel I ever have. I look forward to putting some thoughts and feelings down here and have you join me in this pilgrim's journey. If anything please pray for God's continued grace and mercy! He is so good.