Walking with Jesus

Reflection on Olivia's Blog {1/9/2012}

2012-01-09T19:07:00.000-06:00

Annointing.

Gift of God.

Unearned, undeserved, unsought.

Some sing with words; some with images...

All reflect God, whose trumpet voice still rings out the endless echo:

"Let there be..."

A Story Worth Watching

2012-01-02T10:31:00.000-06:00

Having invited you to consider watching this movie I want to prepare you for it. This is not the best movie ever made. The whole Amish world is too clean, the choreography is too staged, and the main characters are completely fictional. This isn't a movie for learning about Amish life or even the history of the 2006 events are the center of the book this movie is loosly based upon. (A book, by the way, whose authors intentionally avoided being involved with the film.)

However, it is a story worth watching. In fact, its oversimplification of the events and various reactions may be part of the reason I recomend it to you. So often we get caught up in the details and struggles around tragedy that we fail to see the larger picture: good versus evil, spiritual versus material, and right versus wrong. We refuse to commit to self-sacrifice. We think of ourselves as the only victoms, rather than seeing our 'enemies' as *atan's victims also. We forgive by half-measures (or not at all) and then make excuses for ourselves. As a result, we hurt ourselves and others.

So, while Amish Grace is probably not going to win any awards, I'd still suggest watching it. Don't look for history or fabulous movie-making. Set all that aside and look for yourself. This is a simple story, well-enough made, which asks us to consider our own ability to forgive, and to reconsider the things for which we have already been forgiven.

This Is Our Country Too!

2011-12-30T17:55:00.000-06:00

We are politically conservative, Bible-believing Christians.

We are a reflection of the hopes and aspirations of our Founding Fathers.

We pay our bills and buy our groceries without foodstamps (when we can).

We believe in the Constitution, in prayer, and in a strong defensive military.

We like small government and the right to speak our minds freely and defend our homes.

We believe murders should be executed because God says so.

We believe in saving the baby humans and outlawing abortion on demand.

We don't believe in a Welfare State.

We don't trust career politicians from any party.

We don't want the federal government to make us all equal or control education (indoctrination).

We don't believe in taxpayer-funded sin.

We don't believe minority views should control all of us.

We don't want a President who appeals to liberals and 'moderates'.

We are the majority.

This is our country too.

How to live in a PG world.

2011-12-29T20:22:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I had a conversation with a member of my family and God gave me a phrase that I've been reflecting on since Christmas: We need to try to live in a PG world.

I'm not going to suggest that this is easy to do (the world is absolutely not PG rated). But, it is at least attemptable. If you are a Christian, I want to challenge you to consider the influences you allow to shape your heart and your soul. If you are not a follower of Jesus, I want you to consider that maybe the compromise you see so many "Christians" have with the world isn't what God intends for us. We aren't reflecting the reality we claim to believe, and it is largely because we want to be entertained by worldly things.

So, Christians... I am providing an action list. It isn't in any particular order, and I really don't need to tell you how these things affect our hearts. However, if you feel something on this list is too extreme (is that possible in a faith where a perfect God dies for sinful people?), I will address each individually if you want more detail. Simply leave a comment and I will blog back. If you'd like to be anonymous simple ask me not to post your comment and I will honor that request.

This action list is both protective and proactive. It is only a sampling.

> Cancel your cable or satellite.

> Don't watch movies with content that tempts you to sin in your mind.

> Don't listen to secular music stations.

> Vote with your mind rather than with your emotions.

> Dress modestly.

> Cancel your newspaper subscription for at least a year.

> Never read tabloids or horoscopes.

> Don't open fortune cookies.

> Only read books and journals that honor God.

> If the news is on at the gym or on your radio, listen prayerfully, and remember most news stations (by their own admittance) are more concerned with ratings than with truth.

> If an offensive song or television show is playing in a public place, ask for it to be changed.

> Be offended by sin, and speak out against it

> Throw away books like Harry Potter or Harlequins.

> Don't go to bars.

> Always stand for righteousness. (See Olivia's new blog post.)

> Don't become addicted to anything, including things like sports, fishing, food, shopping, popularity, extreme behaviors, etc...

> Mention that you are a Christian and ask your waiter/waitress how you can pray for them when you get your food. (Tip well!)

> Read your Bible DAILY!

> Don't swear.

> Keep the ten commandments.

> Never have sex with anyone you aren't married to.

> Confess your sin and ask others to forgive you when you wrong them.

> Don't surf the Internet when you are bored. (Only use it on purpose and for a purpose.)

> Treat Halloween like it is a Trick.

> Don't allow money to become a idol.

> Never become casual in your Christianity. (Comfortable Christianity is about us rather than God, which is pride.)

> Don't read billboards, and avoid the ones that are sinful. (Just because it is there, doesn't mean you have to read it.)

> Remember that you are saved by Grace; you didn't earn it.

> Don't be politically correct.

> Never celebrate sin.

> Never pretend that a lost person is going to Heaven. Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Humanists may all be very sincere, but there is only one Truth. (Jesus says He is the only Way, Truth, and Life, and that Nobody gets to the Father except through Him.)

> Attend a Bible-teaching, Spirit-led, missional church (but don't JUST attend).

> Think of ways to create your own action list for living in a PG world.

Today

2011-12-20T20:28:00.000-06:00

Life is lived moment by moment, by moment; Don't miss yours.

Yesterday and Tomorrow are about potential: one lacking and the other unending, but it is Today that matters. Today is as close to eternity as we will ever be as long as we live. Today is when we interact with life. Today is where God speaks to us. And, while all of our days are Today from God's eternal perspective, only the moment we have right now meets Eternity from ours.

What are we doing? What are we thinking about? Why are we where we are, when we are, today?

Hebrews (chapter 3 and 4) talks about Today, as an opportunity, a moment to decide. Will we hear God's voice, no matter what other noise is going on? Will we enter His rest, no matter how easy it would be to harden our hearts? Will we know God's ways, even when our hearts want to stray? Will we "exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (3:13)?

Who will we look toward? Will we notice Eternity? What will we do with our life today?

We put up our Christmas lights...

2011-12-17T10:58:00.000-06:00

...Of course, these are a lot more impressive than ours!

Walk by His Voice

2011-11-30T17:42:00.000-06:00

Light ran ahead of me as I walked through the door.
Why was it behind me and not a guide before?
I turned around, repentant, and rewalked the road,
Thinking I was now doing as I had been told.

But, now I was light-blind, I could not see my step,
And stumbling I stopped still, halted; stumbling I wept.
I waited, and waited, until His voice I heard
Like a whisper, a breathe, hardly even a word:
"Walk. Follow with your ears, not your eyes," He began.
So I followed His voice, not my sight, and I ran.

Sometimes light, before me, guided me on my way.
Sometimes light, from behind, pushed back darkness with day.
He was a lover, a refuge drawing me in.
Sometimes He was warrior, and I served as His friend.

Light behind, we both fought; Light before, we had rest.
His voice, not my sight, was the true guide to His best.

You are Children of Your Father

2011-11-28T18:02:00.000-06:00

{{Notes from 11-20-2001}}

Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. There he witnessed to who he was. Some opposed him openly; others believed in him. But, were they really his disciples?

John 8:31-38: (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with[a] your father.”

This passage can be difficult for us, but this morning we will try to get at the heart of it. It is about the difference between having the right information and having a right relationship with God through Christ. It is about the difference between intellectual belief and spiritual discipleship.

Whatever people may claim about themselves, there are really only two types of individuals in the world: Sinners and Saints. Of course, they may be other things as well. They may be teachers, nurses, dog-walkers, drug addicts, lawyers, or gas station attendants. They may be mothers, fathers, children, or adults. But, whatever else they are, everyone is either a Sinner or a Saint.

Now, there is only one difference between a Sinner and a Saint, only one thing that sets them apart from each other: a relationship with Jesus. Sinners and Saints are not different because one is sinful and the other is not. Both are guilty of falling short of the glory of God. Both are born separated from God. Both mess up on a regular basis.

No, they are only different because of their paternity. “Who’s your Daddy?” is more than just a logo on a t-shirt. Who your father is determines who you become.

Jesus says, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples.” And, Jesus’ teaching is “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” This teaching implies two things:

1) We need to know the truth (which we cannot know until God gives us faith to believe), and

2) We need to be set free. (which only God can do)

Jesus clarifies this for us in v. 34, where he teaches: because we sin, we are slaves to sin. We need freedom. We need a new identity. We need a new start. We need to be born again. We need a new Father. We need to be adopted.

“A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.” The offer is not just to become a convert, but rather to become a son or a daughter instead of a slave; to belong to God permanently as his child, not just be part of a particular group here on earth.

Jesus never asked us to make converts. He isn’t interested in people who agree that truth is truth or can recite a creed. Jesus said to make disciples.

Jesus wants followers who live their lives according to how Jesus lived his. He wants believers who live out their belief. He knows that how we live says more about what we believe than what we say. [I confess this is a difficult thought for me sometimes, because I don’t always do it.]

All of us here may believe the right things about Jesus, we have all the right information. But, only those who are really Jesus’ disciples can truly call God, “Father.” The rest of us are only fooling ourselves. Rest assured; we aren’t fooling God. He knows who His children really are.

Cain and Abel both knew who God was, and both offered sacrifices to Him, but they were not both obedient worshipers. Jesus’ real disciples want to be obedient.

Judas walked with Jesus for three years, but he wasn’t eternally saved and turned from following the Lord for a pouch of silver. He turned aside. Jesus’ real disciples have the heart to follow no matter what.

Saul and David were both kings of Israel, but after Saul was rejected as king because his fear made him unfaithful, he looked upon David when he went in faith and courage to slay the giant, Goliath, and asked, “Whose son is this?” Jesus’ real disciples are children of God.

So, Jesus teaches us to obey his teaching: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (We need to know the truth. We need to be set free.)

These Israelites, whom the Bible says believe in Jesus, become defensive and prideful. [Defensive. Prideful. Have we ever done that? When someone challenges us with something we lack, or something we need to change? Do we ever puff up, as if to say, “How dare you? Now, I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not as bad as all that!”? Are you kidding?? I did it yesterday! I did it the day before that!]

These “who believed in him” respond,

“We are descendants of Abraham,” (Who does he think he is talking to? We aren’t a bunch of nobodies! We are the people of God. How dare he suggest that we don’t know the truth! We’re special! Abraham is our father! We’ve been chosen! We’re better than those other people!)

“We have never been anybody’s slaves.” (Pride. Defensiveness. They keep us from seeing the truth. They even kept these believers from remembering their own history. We don’t need to be saved! We’ve never been slaves to anyone!)

Oh, but they had, hadn’t they? They had been slaves. Do you remember? They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years! But, in their pride and defensiveness, they “forgot” about that. They forgot their own story.

[I wonder if we ever forget things about ourselves. Do we ever forget our own story? Do we ever forget the muck and the mire? Do we ever forget where we would be without God? Addicted, conflicted, over-prescripted? Lost and hopeless, apart from God, slaves to sin bound for Hell. The property of Egypt. Do we ever forget that “there but for the grace of God…”? I wonder: Does our pride ever blind us to truth?]

In fact, this conversation takes places during the Feast of Tabernacles, doesn’t it? (John 7:2) Do you know what the purpose of this Feast was? Perhaps not, but that’s ok. I’m going to tell you. I, myself, had to look it up to remember.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a week-long gathering of all Israel, where they leave their houses and live in tents (booths). They cook over open fires, and basically live homeless. And, they do it every year in order to remember precisely what these people seem to have forgotten.

They do it so they will not forget that they had been slaves in Egypt. They do it so they will remember that God saved them. They do it so they can remind themselves and their children that the only thing that made them different from all those other Sinners is God’s adoption.

v. 39-41a:

They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.”

This is the second time in our passage that Jesus has mentioned their father in response to their claim that they are children of Abraham, implying that if they knew the truth they would understand what he was saying. If they knew they needed to be saved, they would understand that he is talking about salvation, the freedom of adoption as God’s children.

Jesus isn’t talking about Abraham. If Abraham truly was their father in the sense Jesus is talking about, they would believe, as Abraham believed.

So, they answer, v. 41a-42:

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

They become even more defensive. Jesus is trying to speak truth to them, but they cannot hear it because of their pride. They don’t just get offended and then try to listen. They choose to stay offended. They believe that Jesus is who he says he is, but they won’t listen to him!

[Uh-oh! Have we ever done that? Hold on! Would we ever say we believe, yet refuse to obey? I don’t mean to interfere with your life or anything, but some of this stuff might actually apply to us! If we aren’t careful, we might actually have to make some changes about ourselves. Get that guard back up! We may be in danger of allowing the Word of God to influence who we are. Watch out, right?

But wait! Answer the question: Would we ever say we believe in Jesus, yet refuse to listen to Jesus? I know I have. I have! I have claimed to believe in Jesus and then gone off and done whatever it was I wanted to do. Sometimes, I can even make it sound spiritual; I can even make it look holy.

Perhaps you want to say you’ve never done that? You’d like to say you have never turned a deaf ear to the Lord. You’d like to say you always listen. Well, so would I. But, don’t do it. I won’t believe you. No, we’ve done it more than we want to admit, haven’t we? Maybe we’re still doing it?! We say we believe, yet refuse to obey.]

These believers claim to be children of “God himself,…” In fact, they say they are “his true children.” But, they won’t listen to Jesus. So, Jesus speaks plainly…

v. 43-47:

Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
Wow! Jesus really lets them have it. Remember, these are people whom the Bible says “believed in him.” These are church members (!), but they are not really Jesus’ disciples. They will not obey his teaching. They will not admit what Jesus requires all of his disciples to admit: We need to know the truth; We need to be set free.

Jesus says, “You are the children of your father, the Devil.” But, he isn’t saying that to be mean. He isn’t angry. He is saying it because it is true. He said it already when he stated, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” He supports his claim with the fact that they reject the truth of his teaching.

Remember, there are only two types of people in the world: Sinners and Saints, and it is only being God’s child through Jesus that makes us different.

The issue for them, and the issue for us, is not whether or not we know the Gospel; it is whether or not we are willing to obey the Gospel. Will we really be Jesus’ disciples? Will we listen to the truth, and let the truth set us free?

We need to know the truth: We all start as Sinners. We are all slaves to sin. We all have the Devil for our father and do the things that he does. We lie. We fill our hearts with pride. We murder in our minds. We are in bondage.

We need to be set free: God is offering us salvation, adoption as his child forever. If we want that freedom, if we want God to really be “our Father, who art in heaven,” then we must confess our slavery. We must know the truth that we are in bondage without Jesus, because without that truth we cannot be set free.

Listen, if we cannot confess our bondage, we can never really confess being saved from it. If there is no “bad news” then the “good news” is meaningless. And, the bad news is that we were all slaves to sin. The good news is that Jesus saves us from that slavery. We cannot embrace the good news and forget the bad news that makes the good news so good.

Now, we can defend ourselves if we want to. We can say, “Our father is Abraham,” or “God himself is the only Father we have,” We can say, “We have never been anybody’s slave.” But, if we claim to be better than anyone else because of something we bring to the table, then we are liars. If we claim to be without sin, then we cannot be saved from that sin. Only Jesus makes a Saint out of a Sinner.

We read Romans 8 earlier in our service, and the language of adoption in that passage proves that none of us start out as children of God.

Romans 3:9-12: “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’”

James 1:17: “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father…”

Every Saint was once a Sinner, and without Jesus we still would be. Sometimes it seems like parts of us still are! We are a work in progress, but thanks be to God, we are in progress! A Saint is just a forgiven Sinner, an image of what God can do with nothing. Any good we Saints have is from God, and His Fatherhood defines who we are, if we are really his disciples. God’s adoption makes all the difference.

You see, I am not going to tell you whether you are a disciple today or not. For almost all of you, I don’t know. We often talk about God as our Father as if everyone we talk to is an obedient follower of Jesus, a real, adopted child of God.

Maybe we do this because we are hopeful. Maybe we do this because we know that God wants everybody to be saved, though not everybody is actually saved. Or, maybe we do it because we don’t want the responsibility of speaking truth into someone else’s life.

So, the truth is that some of us aren’t really disciples of Jesus.

Maybe we know the right things. Maybe we can sing the songs or pray in public. Perhaps we can even say “Lord, Lord, did we not do wonderful things in your name.” Maybe we even believe (Even the demons believe…), but we aren’t really disciples because we won’t listen to Jesus. We do “not belong to the family permanently.” We are only visitors in the community of faith and slaves to sin. And, in the end, Matthew 7 tells us that Jesus will say, “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.”

I like that. It gives me hope. If those who practice lawlessness are cast out, then those of us who practice obedience, those of us who try to listen (even imperfectly and with mistakes), those of us who want to embrace our adoption as God’s children and let it change who we are... Well, we’re going to be ok. God believes in us. God has plans for us. God calls us His child.

All right! So, if this message is talking to you this morning, if it is messing with your stuff as much as it is messing with mine, then you have a choice to make. You can be offended, or you can know the truth and be set free.

I don’t know if you realize it or not, but you aren’t here (reading this) on accident. You are called to be here this morning. Some of us are here because we are disciples of Jesus who want to be better disciples of Jesus. Some of us are here because God is inviting us to become His children. I don’t know which you are.

If you aren’t really a disciple of Jesus, if you haven’t been trying to follow him and obey his teaching, then God is offering you a new legacy. He is offering you freedom. He is offering you himself.

If you want to get offended by that because you don’t want to admit that you are a Sinner, then I can’t do anything more for you than I have done. That’s your choice. It’s the wrong choice, and it breaks God’s heart, but it’s your choice.

But… But, it isn’t the only choice. Jesus also tells us, “If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.” Do you want to be really free today? Not just free to do what you want to do, but free to be who God created you to be, who he died for you to become... Start really following Jesus. Obey the teaching of Jesus. Love Jesus. Listen to Jesus. Become a real disciple. Be changed, born again. Get adopted by God.

Confess that the truth you know is not just in your mind, but in your heart and life. Become a real disciple of Jesus. Pray, and move from having the right information to having a right relationship with God through Jesus.

Every one of us in this room can be a real disciple of Jesus, but head-knowledge won’t make it happen. We need a transformation, a change in who we are based on a change in who our father is. We need an adoption. We need to go from slave to son, from damned to daughter, from lost to found, from Sinner to Saint.

And, what if you are already a real disciple of Jesus? What if you have been trying to listen to Jesus? Maybe you haven’t done a good job of it lately. Maybe you feel unworthy of the name, “Disciple.” Maybe you’ve been doing just fine. I don’t know. What I do know is that this morning, we disciples are here to remember.

Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, the time when the Jews gathered to remember all the junk in their story. They remembered their bondage. They remembered the deliverance. They remembered their rebellion in the wilderness and their entrance into the Promised Land.

Perhaps, today is your Feast of Tabernacles; your time to remember. We must remember why we live in these fleshly tents and booths. We must never forget that we were in bondage, God’s enemies, lost children of the devil, and that God alone chose us and set us free.

We must continue obey the teaching of Jesus. We must continue to know the truth. And, the truth will continue to set us free, to bring us to new heights of understanding and from glory to glory.

We must remember, so that we will continue to listen. I’ve been a Christian for 27 years, 8 months, and a couple of days. If I died today, I’d still go to Hell if it weren’t for Jesus. I need God’s adoption as much now as I ever have.

I need to remember that. As I try to live my life as a child of my heavenly father, I need to remember that I was a slave to sin and God set me free. I was God’s enemy and He chose me to be His child. I need to remember that only Jesus can turn a Sinner into a Saint.

Hapy Birthday, Olivia!

2011-11-26T17:27:00.001-06:00

This was Olivia's birthday, but we were driving, and the road between Abilene and Albuquerque is a little short on internet reception. So, even though it is dated to her birthday, it was actually late. Sorry.

I love you, Olivia!
You're my favorite.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!(whew!!!!!!!!!!!(almost there)!!!!!!!!(just a little more)!!!!!!!

Olivia

2011-11-13T14:00:00.002-06:00

1,900 days later!

I am so blessed!

Thanks

2011-11-11T09:12:00.000-06:00

I don't know when the last time I said this to you was, or even if I ever have: Thank you for reading my blog.

Sometimes it feels like I've just got to speak out about something, or like I want to share something I am excited about, or perhaps even make someones day just a little bit better. Having this blog, and you as a reader, gives me a way to do that.

So, thanks for listening to me as I seek the Lord Jesus, fight against Halloween, share a sermon, or simply ramble. I hope it blesses you as much to know how much I appreciate your checking in, and I hope something I say blesses you as well.

God hears. God sees. God delivers.

2011-10-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

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Genesis 16:1-15

¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. ³ Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.”
⁶ So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
⁹ The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the Angel of the LORD said to her:

“ Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
¹² He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
¹³ Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi;^[a] observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The story probably doesn't need any commentary, but why should that stop me? God is the hero of this story. Not Abram. Not Sarai. Not Hagar. God. He is the one who hears, who sees this woman's affliction. He is the one who does something about it, who delivers her from this hardship.

Yet, even as He lets her know she is not alone, God tells her to go back. Return, He says. Now Hagar seems a little more heroic herself after her encounter with God, because she does return. She returns to the mistress who hates her, and the master who dismisses her even as she bears his child. She returns to be a better servant (one who hopefully does not despise her mistress as she had previously). And, she is able to return because she knows she is not alone.

God is with her. He hears. He sees. And, if trouble comes from her obedience, she knows that He will deliver her.

There is no Christian Alternative to Halloween

2011-10-27T08:20:00.001-05:00

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It isn't those who don't know any better who frustrate me. It isn't the non-believers; they just make me sad. It isn't even believers who don't know any better; they just need to hear the truth. It's those who do know better and still refuse to abstain. It's those who know Halloween is wrong and still participate.

They create alternatives. Why? If you really think Haloween is ok, why do you need to create an alternative option? What is the purpose of a Fall Festival, or a Trunk-or-Treat at church? (We don't have Spring Festivals, do we?) It is to provide an alternative for something we know is wrong. But, that is still participation. We want the pleassure without the guilt. Is it really so much to ask that we simply opt out? Of course, I'd love it if we all really took a stand for God and shared the truth about Halloween, but at the very least we could do nothing.

But, we make up excuses for our self-gratification, a self-gratification on the level of sexual immorality. It is spiritual adultery. God says, "But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:16-17) We know Halloween is wrong. We know its origins, the reality of the satanic worship that still occurs on this night, the confussion it causes our children (dressing up as a witch is bad, but somehow dressing up as Moses on the same night to celebrate the same holy-day is fine??). We know, and we testify to our knowledge with our alternatives. Yet, we boast that it's ok for us. We know the better thing would be to abstain, but we don't want to. We glorify our freedom rather than God, and it ruins us.

1 Corinthians 5:6 says, "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" Do we understand what this means? It means that only a little corruption ruins the whole. Leaven is never a good thing in the Bible. It is a symbol of corruption, of unfitness for the Kingdom, of cancerous ruin. It is a symbol of the "imperfection" that makes us fall short of God's glory and destines us to Hell. It doesn't take 100% evil to ruin us, just a taste, because it works its way through the whole and ruins all. When I share the gospel sometimes I share it this way:

If you were thirsty and I gave you a glass of clean water to drink, you would be thankful. You would drink it and be refreshed. Now, what is I put just a drop or two of cyanide in the water? Not a whole lot, just a little. You wouldn't even taste it, or know it was ther. Would you drink it? No! Why? You are thirsty aren't you? Well, yes. Then why not drink it? Because it would kill you. It would destroy who you are. The same is true for God. He is a loving Father, who thirst for us as we thirst for cool, clean water when we've just crossed a desert. He longs for us, and wants to have us with him, in His presence. But that's the problem. You see, God is also HOLY. He is pure, clean, and perfect. We are not. We are imperfect, flawed, un-holy. If we enter God's presence and spend eternity with Him in our current state then it destroys who He is. The sin in us, our leaven, our cynide would ruin the purity of God. So, while God longs for us, we are like poison to who He is because of our imperfection. We are eternally separated. That's why we need Jesus...

You know how the conversation goes from there. By the way, teh Gospel isn't really GOOD NEWS, unless you know you are in trouble first. Always help others see their need (in love) so they can truly understand the greatness of what Jesus does for us on the cross.

The point here, is that it only takes a little evil to ruin the good. Halloween is more than just a little evil. Next Monday night people in our own country, perhaps in our own city, will kill something and offer it as a sacrifice to satan! Why would we want that leaven in our lives? It may seem innocent to dress up and hand out candy to kids (until you know the truth). But it isn't. That's why the whole debate frustrates me. I honestly don't understand why a follower of Jesus would have anything to do with this day.

Don't hear me wrong, I know all the suppossed reasons, and I think they are all poison.

Evangelism? If you're so concerned about that, go do it right now.

Outreach? Go reach out! Don't wait until October 31st.

Community? If that's your heart throw a block party this summer, or invite your neighbors over for dinner tonight.

Sharing a gift of friendship or love? Do it today, or next month, or in April. Teaching the reality of spiritual warfare to our children? You're kidding, right!? By participating in the most evil day of the year???

Because Jesus loves people, even those who think Halloween is ok? Yeah, but Jesus also says they "are condemned already" (John 3:18) and so flawed that their only hope was to be "born again" (3:7). His solution was to pay the penalty for their sin, to lay down his life, not to join in that sin with them. (By the way, he called people who knew good and did evil hypocrites [actors].) Don't we realize that Jesus' ability to save us came from his refusal to participate in sinful behaviors?

So, forget about all the excuses. The real reason we create alternatives for Halloween is simple: We are more concerned about what we want than what God wants. We want to sin without feeling guilty for it. We want to gratufy ourselves more than we want to please God.

& YES, I find that very frustrating.
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Does Jesus Celebrate Halloween?

2011-10-17T13:34:00.000-05:00

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I think this is a good quesiton for us to ask ourselves, and one most Christians have never considered: Does Jesus celebrate Halloween? Does he see it as just a fun thing to do? Or, does he have reject it because of it's false religious roots? Notice, this is not just a theorhetical exercise! According to the Bible and the Christian Faith, Jesus is alive today, and he has a real opinion about Halloween. The question is not "would he?" but "does he?".

The reality of Halloween's origins are not hard to find. But, most of us simply do not bother. Why is this? Are we really convinced that it is an innocent celebration, or do we simply want to do things our way without feeling guilty if Halloween isn't something God would have us participate in. Even The History Channel recognizes that Halloween is a "blended" holiday, a compromise between the Catholic church and the pagan, Celtic world. Why won't so many Jesus followers see at least that much?

Drs. John Ankerberg and John Weldon ask a probing question in two articles: "Can Halloween Be an Entirely Innocent Practice?" Part One asks, "If it is impossible to participate in Halloween innocently because of the very nature of Halloween day and its implications, how can we logically think we aren’t at least in some sense part of what it represents?" Part Two continues with consideration of whether or not "we can see Satan deliberately mocking God by having children, and especially Christian children, actively participating in the symbolic activities on the very day which he, Satan, is most honored."

So, if Jesus has thoughts on Halloween, what are they? Well, you will have to decide that for yourself. But, don't decide based on what you want his answer to be. Decide based on Jesus' own words. Decide based on Scripture. In our family, we believe Jesus takes Halloween very seriously, and I believe Jesus does as well.

Jesus teaches us in Mark 9:42 (also Matthew 18:6):

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."

Jesus also says in John 3:19-21:

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

I say it every year, and I will say it again:

If you are a Christian, there is no good reason to have anything to do with Halloween.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you must ask yourself:

Does Jesus celebrate Halloween?

Courageous: The Movie

2011-10-16T17:27:00.000-05:00

See this film. Skip the previews.

This movie was one of the best I have seen, from beginning to end.

If we lived our lives like this movie challenges us to our world would be a much better place.

I cannot give it high enough marks.

In fact, the only thing I didn't like about it was the previews.

We had to talk to the theater manager about them, because they were so inappropriate.

What (in the world) is going on?

2011-10-15T19:44:00.001-05:00

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We are being played.

Read the headlines. Follow the news. Trail the "violence." Sex on the street, protestors in muppet costumes, people being paid $20+/hour to carry a picket sign... It's all a joke, an intentional re-staging of the 60's. The only thing missing (so far) are the assasinations.

Why? Why the set up? Because the forces in power want to stay in power. They want us so scared that we are afraid to stand, afraid to vote for the best candidate (who btw is not a governor), afraid to actually think that the Tea Party folks may have a point; they may actually be right.

Blame the Democrats. Blame the Rhino Republicans. Blame the Administration. Blame the Inside-the-Beltway Politicians. Blame CNN. Blame the Masons or MTV. Blame Hollywood, the Main Stream Media, the Illuminati, Radical Islam, or Dan Brown.

OR...

Or, stop blaming and start praying. Stop following the crowd and start seeking the Lord. Does the world seem like it is going crazy? Are you afraid to look at billboards, buy a newspaper, or even read your email because you aren't sure what your eyes will see, how offesnsive or discusting or just plain untrue it will be? Do things seem like they are falling apart?

They are. But, they are supposed to. The world is winding down, literally.

Read Matthew 24. Don't read the Left Behind Series, Paul Crouch from TBN, or even Billy Graham for your understanding of the Last Days. Don't even start with Revelation or Paul's writings. Start with Jesus. Start with prayer and with Matthew 24. Ask the Author to show you where we are in the story, and what to expect.

Read it like you don't already think you know what is going to happen. Read it like you have never heard of The Great Tribulation, the Anti-Christ, or the 4 Horsemen of the Appocalypse. Read it like you are a Disciple of Jesus, sitting at his feet, or walking by his side as he shares from his heart all that he knows about the things that are to come. Take notes. Outline it yourself. Put it in your own words, (not the labels you learned in Sunday School).

THEN read Revelation 6, Daniel 12, or 1 Thessalonians 5 with your Matthew 24 outline beside you. Let Jesus show you how things fit together. Olivia and I did this recently together and it was such a blessing. I'd love to help you do this as well, but it's not about me. This is as much about you and Jesus as it is about answering your questions about the times we live in.

I believe we should spend more time hearing what God says about the days we live in than we do listening to talk radio, reading the headlines online, or watching Christian World News. We can do those things. I like Christian World News once in a while, and I sometimes still listen to a little talk radio. But, they can only report the news; God is in charge of all that happens. And, God is the One with a plan. Listen to Him directly.

So, don't be played! Don't let the world panic you. Keep praying.

Don't just let other people tell you what is going to happen (not even me). Read it prayerfully for yourself.

And, don't assume things are going to get better. Just assume that with God's help, we can be ready to be better responders to the things that are going to be.
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Why so many religions? What about Halloween?

2011-10-10T09:33:00.000-05:00

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Ephesians 6:11-13:

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Ok, let's get this straight. I believe in the inspiration of the Bible and this has certain necessary consequences. One of these consequences is belief in a certain story of history: God created the world (including humanity) as described. God destroyed the world in a global flood. God saved one family through that flood, Noah's. All of us, all over the world, come from Noah.

So, if we all come from the same family, why are there so many religions?

Well, obviously everyone on the boat knew who God was. Genesis 7:16 says "Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him." They all had the same experience with the same God, the same revelation of truth. But, other forces were also at work, and they began almost immediately to try to destroy humanity's relationship with God by turning people away from the truth.

People aren't as dumb as we sometimes assume they are. And the ancients didn't turn from the true God to false religions on a whim. They were lured away, won over, convinced that there were other powers in the world. Why? Because there are other powers in the world!

Only God is truly God. But, there are other spiritual forces at work, and some of them are pretty powerful. The enemy is called the prince of this world, because that is what he is. He has authority. His forces are strong. He is a raging lion seeking whom he might destroy. He is a liar and the father of lies.

So, this is the scenario in my mind. Noah and his children get off the boat and begin to be fruitful and multiply. Now there are generations of people who don't have that same personal experience of the living God. Yet, they also are created with a void that only God can fill. Some of them try to fill it with possession, some with influence or power, and some go on a spiritual journey (whether they physically go anywhere or not doesn't matter). They open themselves up to new things instead of listening to the stories of Great-Grandfather Noah. They doubt: "Did God really flood the earth? What really happened?" And, the enemy, the liar is right there to lead them astray just as he did in the garden.

Soon, people notice other forces at work. Something happens each time the red planet (Mars) orbits near the earth (perhaps an earthquake, or some cattle die) and a little voice says, "You'd better do something to make that spirit happy." Ba'al worship is born. Folk stories soon become institutionalized, and habits and conventions become "the right way" to do something. Someone displays power and authority beyond others, and demands that they be worshiped as well, or else.

There are so many steps to the process, little ones, each leading further away from the truth. Each stage of life, season, and political force acquires its own little god, and each new god demands attention. Soon, the true God gets lumped in with the rest. The one true God is reduced to one among many, just Jupiter, Anu, or Tiamut. In at least one case ("Allah") a little false Arab moon god actually takes the true God's place!

So, did this just happen by itself? Or, was there some evil force at work behind the scenes?

These false religions may have a kernel of truth left in them (God is loving, God is powerful, etc.), because they came from corrupting the truth. But, that truth cannot be freed from the lie. Buddhism can not save. Baha'i is a dead end. Druidism goes nowhere. The truth has been hidden, covered in lies and corrupted. It has been replaced. There is only a dangerous little kernel of partial truth left, just enough to make the lie convincing to those who do not know the whole truth.

Government employees who combat counterfeiters show us something of this reality. An untrained eye may not notice that the hundred dollar bill they were just handed has the wrong President in the watermark, is a slightly off color, or lacks the security stripe. But a trained eye knows the true from the false. How? By learning what is true. The potential falsehoods are endless. You couldn't learn them all even if you tried. To recognize the false you must know the true.

It is the same for us. We lost sight of the true God, and falshood stepped in, one lie at a time, to confuse and deceive the world. It's a clever plan. It's brilliant actually. It has worked so well that even those of us who know the true nature of God and the truth of His Son Jesus struggle with the claims of some of these false religions. But, we must focus on knowing the truth, or we too and the generations after us may be deceived.

The tricky things is that there are religious ideas and practices that we don't even recognize as being religious. Evolution is a religious thought, contrary to the Bible. Humanism is also a religious idea. Even nationalism can become religious. (Who says God is always on the side of the USA?)

SO, it's October. If Christianity is true, what do we say about Halloween?

First, we must recognize that Halloween is a religious event. It was established as a compromise between a government controlled church and the pagan world. It has been a night of demonic worship since before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It doesn't matter is you think it is bad or not. It matters what God says. Even if you only hand out candy, you are participating in an unholy communion.

1 Corinthians 10:19-21:

"What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons."

Sacrifice? Yes. This religion involved child sacrifices by sealing infants in wicker baskets and burning them in bonfires.

Leviticus 18:21:

"And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD."

Second, we must realize that we are called to be a holy people, in the world, but not of the world. We are called to be different. Why should we as Christians let our decisions about Halloween be controlled by the opinions of the lost world? Why should we conform to them? In fact, we shouldn't.

Romans 12:2:

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Third, participation in Halloween is NOT good evangelism. "Look, we are just like you," is not a compelling reason for someone to come to Jesus. "Look, we like to have fun," is weak when it compromises the truth that makes Christians different, the truth of being led by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of the world. We are called to show other's how different we are, how much we desire to be like Jesus, not how much we desire to be like the world.

1 Timothy 4:7:

"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;"

NOW, I am not suggesting burning down all the haunted houses, just don't visit them. Perhaps even encourage other's not to visit them as well, and tell them why. In fact, what you don't do will be your most powerful message.

Don't compromise!

Dont' hand out candy (even with tracts in it). You will confuse the lost about the nature of Christianity.

Don't go to a Trunk-or-Treat, a Harvest Festival, or some other compromise event. (I wouldn't even be a member of a church that hosted one of these things!) This is spiritual compromise.

Don't dress your kids up in costumes! (Halloween is NOT the time for dress up!) You are sending you child the message that Christianity is less important than participation with the world. There are things a loving parent wants their children to miss out on.

Don't do business with companies that promote Halloween. (This is a difficult, but revealing exercise to try to do.)

DO PRAY.
DO TALK TO YOUR FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND FELLOW BELIEVERS.
DO TAKE A STAND.
DO PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD.
DO EXPECT RESISTANCE, EVEN FROM THE BODY OF CHRIST.

THEN,

Remember: this all got started. People stopped learning the truth, and the lies came in a filled the gaps.

Remember: there are spiritual forces at work, depending on your compromise and your silence to deceive your children, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers...

Remember: our battle is not "against flesh and blood". The people who dress there kids up, hand out candy, and even host the the fall church festivals are not our enemies; they are deceived by our enemy.

Remember, Halloween is the practice of a false religion, a religion in direct conflict with the truth of Christianity.
There are other powers at work in the world.

Joshua 24:15"

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

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Jesus Has a Plan

2011-10-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

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Mark 3:22-27:

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

Jesus was casting out demons. Do we truly realize how important it was that he did this? Or, do we simply look past it as something we believe because it is in the Bible, yet has no real application to our life today? Worse yet, do we write it off as a fiction, something that didn't really happen, just an expression of limited scientific understanding?

I just saw it's importance myself a couple of days ago. The scribes accuse Jesus of casting out demons with demonic power. Jesus answers that this would be ridiculous. Why would satan destroy his own kingdom? Yet, demons are being cast out, and they must be cast out! Why?

Jesus is invading, breaking in, entering the strong man's house. The earth is enemy territory for the Prince of Glory. And, before Jesus can save us [the goods, the rightful property of the strong man] he must first defeat the strong man, satan, the master of this house. Unless satan is bound, unless the demonic is cast out, we cannot be stolen from the strong man and rescued to God.

Jesus has a plan:

Step One: Defeat satan.

Step Two: Steal those who once belonged to him.

Without Step One, Jesus says, Step Two is impossible.

Time for a trim...

2011-10-01T08:40:00.000-05:00

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As we speak, Olivia is outside. It's a little cool, but Gracey really needed some groom. So, my sweet wife bundled up both her and Gracey and there they are, working it out. I cannot imagine our life without this little fury blessing. I certainly cannot imagine my life without her "Mama."

I was recently asked...

2011-09-25T20:44:00.000-05:00

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What has been the most challenging and/or rewarding event in your ministry?

I spent two years in Africa as a church planter and evangelist in the midst of my Master's work. I lived in a concrete house with a tin roof in the middle of a Maasai village. I learned to weld so I could install solar panels and have limited electricity during my second year there. I was alone most of the time, surrounded by people who didn't speak English, and when the drought ended if I had a shower it was cold. During that time I had occasion to eat rice with feces in it, drink after a man who spit a logy into my tea to cool it off, and bury a little boy beside whose doctor decided to take him off his IV because the doctor wanted to go home early and whose father didn’t want his body. Fully two-thirds of the days I spent in Africa were terribly hard. Yet, they were the most challenging and most rewarding days of ministry I have experienced to date and I wouldn’t trade a single one for any other experience I have had related to service in the Kingdom.

Share with us an example of how you have dealt with a personal weakness in your pastoral ministry.

In college I directed a drama ministry through the Baptist Student Ministries. I had enjoyed being a player in the troupe and the Assistant Director, so I thought I would take naturally to leading the ministry. I had some good ideas, and believed in what we were doing. What I didn’t have was any appreciation for the fact that I was working with volunteers. I demanded a lot from the team at first, more than was fair. After all, these were college students with classes, part-time jobs, and friends. They weren’t professional actors. They just wanted to share Jesus with people and maybe have fun while they did it. The rigor and exactness I demanded from them was unfair, and it quickly doused their excitement for the ministry as a group. Fortunately, my cousin was in the group and loved me enough to help me see what was happening. Thus, I gathered them together, confessed my poor understanding, and listened to what each of them wanted from the ministry. I then washed their feet and we worshiped together. The rest of the year was a joy for all of us.

What vision has the Lord given you that cannot be accomplished in your current position?

I am called to pastor, teach, and encourage others in their personal ministries as we follow Jesus together. I want to walk with a congregation in the discipleship of Christ. I want to lead, celebrate, worship, mourn, and do life as a body. I want to be part of a church that hungers for God, and wants to share His love with others in the families, at work, and around the world. I want to establish deep relationships with missionaries and native believers in other parts of the world, particularly Israel. Currently, I am not in a paid ministry position. Except for my two years in Tanzania, I have never been in full time ministry. I am preaching on rotation at an inner city ministry, filling in for other pastors in our rural churches, and volunteering at our home church. I have the education, but God has been teaching me to wait. I trust His wisdom, and believe the vision He has given me will be fulfilled in His time. My task now is to wait upon the Lord until He provides the place for that vision to be accomplished.
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Nathan calls Robertson to Repent

2011-09-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

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Olivia and I have a few blogs we follow. One of them is by a man named Nathan. You can read more about his story, including the struggles his family has faced and the wonderful way God has provided for them and given them the grace they needed to trust in the Lord at Confessions of a CF Husband. But, today I want you to read his recent blog posting for a particular reason. I want you to read it because he is taking a stand (in his own small way) against the kind of teaching that "tickles the ears" of our worst impulses as fallen human beings. Then, I want to encourage you to join Nathan somehow, perhaps through your encouragement, perhaps in prayer, or perhaps by contacting Pat Robertson at CBN to let him know how disappointed you are at this public abandonment of marital commitment and the eternal holiness God desires for us in preference for the shallow and temporary happiness of man. Then, I want to encourage you to say a prayer for the man mentioned in the video clip on Nathan's page. Pray that he too will repent and will remain faithful to the wife he vowed to love, honor, and cherish his wife "in sickness" and in health. Right now, she needs him more than ever, even (perhaps especially) when she doesn't know it. In Love, pray for God to be glorified and the truth proclaimed in this whole situation.
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& The True God of America is...

2011-09-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

9-11

8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob,

And it has fallen on Israel.

9 All the people will know—

Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—

Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

10 “The bricks have fallen down,

But we will rebuild with hewn stones;

The sycamores are cut down,

But we will replace them with cedars.”

11 Therefore the LORD shall set up

The adversaries of Rezin against him,

And spur his enemies on,

12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;

And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.

For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,

Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

14 Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel,

Palm branch and bulrush in one day.

15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;

The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.

16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err,

And those who are led by them are destroyed.

17 Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men,

Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;

For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,

And every mouth speaks folly.

For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

18 For wickedness burns as the fire;

It shall devour the briers and thorns,

And kindle in the thickets of the forest;

They shall mount up like rising smoke.

19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts

The land is burned up,

And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;

No man shall spare his brother.

20 And he shall snatch on the right hand

And be hungry;

He shall devour on the left hand

And not be satisfied;

Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;

Together they shall be against Judah.

For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:8-21

This word was originally sent against Samaria, a nation with a biblical heritage; a nation that was to be later identified by pagan influences. It follows the "Unto us a child is born" passage which identifies Jesus as God Himself by calling Him "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Ultimately, only He is the ruler of the nations.
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Ten years ago today, on a Tuesday, I was in Africa. I listened via satellite radio as the twin towers fell, and as the world watched America struggle between fear and courage. 3497 people died that day in the attacks, and others followed in the days and weeks to come. Some (not all) were heroic. All were victims. I remember how surprised everyone seemed. I was not. Somehow, God gave me grace to understand. I didn't like it, but I was not surprised. We were being told something about ourselves.

Yet, we still have not learned the real lesson of that attack. However strong we are, we are vulnerable. However noble we think we are, we still give others reason to despise us. Our pride is at least as much as source of weakness as it is of strength. And, it is not our success that they hate. It is not our freedom. It is not our biblically founded heritage. They may envy these things, but they do not hate us for them. The sad truth is that most of what militant Islam hates about America deserves to be hated. We should hate it ourselves. We should hate it in love rather than violence, but we should hate it nevertheless.

Even after 9-11, our culture continues to mock the Lord, the true King of Heaven and Earth. We continue to kill millions of our own children each year. We continue to murder, kidnap, and rob each other. We continue to worship sports teams and movie stars more than we worship Jesus. We continue to allow and promote pornography and vice across our country. We celebrate pre-marital and extra-extramarital sex (fornication and adultery), homosexuality, having children out of wedlock, entitlement, drinking and the club scene, and the ungodly Hollywood/Rock Star culture. We continue in our personal pride and deprecation of others. We continue in ungodliness.

You see, what they hate is something deeper than our money or our leisure. I don't think they even know what they hate, but I believe they really hate our Blessing. And, they hate our blessing because we act like we deserve it rather than understand that it is our Blessing (something given to us as a gift by a gracious God) and not Our blessing (something we intrinsically deserve and are owed.) The blessing of a people is a gift, something that can be rejected, abandoned, renounced. America is no exception.

America has been blessed, yet we mock the God who blesses us. We have been blessed, yet we are not the blessing we should be to others. We are blessed, yet we (especially under our current leadership) have turned our back on the descendants of Jacob. We are blessed, yet we remove prayer from the public arena, remove Christianity from the history we teach our children, define ourselves by consumption rather than by giving, and de-santify (trivialize) the image of God in humanity at every turn.

So, 9-11 should not have been a surprise. We deserved it. Not that those 3497 specifically deserved it more than the rest of us, but we as a nation deserved what happened that day. In fact, we needed it. We needed a wake up call. We needed to turn back to God. And, for a moment, it seemed that we would. I was so hopeful that we might actually turn back to our heritage in the Lord. (Perhaps I am still hopeful.)

But then sadly, like the Samarians, the majority of us continued to reject God. We looked at the rubble and thought to ourselves "we will rebuild with hewn stones;... we will replace them with cedars." Instead of humility and submission to God, we have responded in pride and arrogance of heart. Do we then expect God to turn away His anger and reward our rebellion? Do we expect Him to withdraw His hand?

But, this passage is about Jacob and Israel, not America, isn't it? Romans 11:21 says, "For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either." Should we expect easier treatment when we disregard the God who blesses us than Israel? What is the United States of America that it should think itself better than God's specifically, biblically chosen inheritance?

2 Peter 2:4-5 also says "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;" Does our country reflect sin or righteousness?

We need to recognize that God allowed this to happen to us for our good: not so that we might be stronger in our own strength, but that we might recognize and remember our need for Him. We should not respond to 9-11 by becoming proud as the leaders of this people want us to do. It is wickedness which burns as the fire and in the end, we are the ones who will get burned. The people shall be as fuel for the fire. If we witnessed 9-11 and do not desire God's lordship in our lives and in our country now more than we did before, then we have missed the whole point. Even 10 years later, 9-11 should bring us to our knees, rather than to our feet.

They are building a monument. Perhaps it would have been better to leave the rubble alone. Perhaps then, we would remember with the proper attitude. Perhaps then we would heed the warning, humble ourselves, and continue to turn to the Lord, instead of continuing in the rejection of our Blessing.

So, here's where we insert the drum roll. The answer to the question is up to us.

& The True God of America is...

God Himself

America Itself

(Our Money; Our Pride; Our Leisure; Our Immorality)

1 Peter 5:6-9a: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him."
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Biblical Living: Go to Hell or Not; It's up to You

2011-09-08T08:56:00.001-05:00

I dreamt I was standing on an empty stage. There were no props. No scenery. No frame of reference. Just me.

Very often in life when our faith is confronted we also have no frame of reference. All we bring with us is our internal compass. We have no props or scenery, no other actors on the stage, just the bare background of life itself. When life happens, when we are confronted, what will we say?

I think people should be able to do what they want to do. That may surprise you, because you know that I am a follower of Jesus, but I think people should be free to make whatever choices they want to make. However, where I differ from the world is in this: I believe there should be consequences for those choices, and I believe our Creator has the privilege of determining those consequences.

What would the world be like if we actually allowed God to be in charge (as He will be someday). What would it look like if the holiness code of the Bible was code for real life. What if kidnapping, rape, adultery, and blasphemy were viewed on the same level as murder, as capital offenses. What would our world look like. If someone wants to do those things, fine. But, there should be consequences.

Does it sound radical? Shouldn't real faith be radical? Is non-radical faith really any good at all. Sure it makes good people; it makes them beautiful in some sense. But, beautiful people go to hell every day. Even church attenders die and go to hell if that's all they are. Why? Because God see us without props. The nature of what we believe demands a radical response. If we really understand what God has done, it changes everything. If it doesn't change everything (or at least produce a desire to change everything) then we haven't properly understood what God really did for us through Jesus' death and resurrection.

We must submit, be broken and used. We are to be broken down before we are any good for a purpose. This is not a contradiction; it is a necessity. A perfect tea cup is all wrong when what is needed is a water pitcher. Better to be a cracked water pitcher than a perfect tea cup when that is what God's wants. The question of life: Who will you be? should rather be Whose will you be?

I heard growing up "Play hard or go home." If that helps you grasp the idea, then great. The call of the godly life is radical faith, life altering reality; it is to believe radically. But, sometimes we need help to get back in that frame of mind. The world and life numb us to the intensity of what is really going on. We loose sight of the battle.

Remember! Remember where you have come from, what you have been saved from within your own self. Remember the muck and the mire, the sin, the selfishness, the murderous thoughts and adulteries of your heart. Realize how dark the darkness really was. Now remember where you are going, the price that was paid for you so that you could have life instead of death, hope instead of fear. Remember that life is a war for the souls of men and women, your family, friends, and neighbors. Its isn't casual. It isn't something you do on Sunday mornings to make yourself feel better.

Live for real. Believe for real. Pray for real. Make holy choices for real each day. It matters.

1 week down...

2011-08-20T12:14:00.000-05:00

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First, thank you for your prayers as Olivia and I travelled to California for my first week of school and as Olivia travelled back by herself after the weekend. (Brave Girl!) The week went well, and I think I'm getting back into the swing of graduate studies. These studies are, of course, beyond anything I have ever done, but I am excited about them.

Now, I need a different kind of prayer. I want to learn. I want to soak up the material, engage it, and be able to speak cogently (isn't that a fun word?) as I engage the theological community in defense of the truth of the Word of God and the reality of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I want to engage the Bible and these studies thoughtfully as I follow the Lord down this path, but I don't want to loose the ability to communicate effectively with 'regular' people.

I want to be a good student, a good academic; but I also need to be a good husband and leader for our family, and effective minister (more on that in the future), and someday a good father. I want to know more about God's Word, but I want to know God more deeply even more than this. His mysteries are beautiful and beyond our abilities to comprehend. I want to grow in my life's worship (SPIRIT and TRUTH).

I pray also for you: that you may grow in your worship of God, that you may know Jesus more deeply, and that you might walk closely on the road He has placed you on as you walk with Him. God bless.

Before Heaven Comes Down

2011-08-11T08:01:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I had a dream. I was observing a church-based radio broadcast and call-in show with a guest speaker (not me). A young man named Chris was fielding phone calls on the air with questions about persecution and the end times, and how they relate (over against how many have been taught to think they relate). If you are a believer, I am sure you can sometimes feel the clock ticking as I can. He had an emotional moment in one call and suddenly handed the headset and mic to me. Praying even as I took it, I preached without notes from Matthew 24, Daniel, and Revelation for about 15 minutes. One phrase the Lord gave me as I preached summed it up as far as End Time Persecution:

Before heaven comes down to earth, earth will be more like hell than it has ever been before.

That isn't an overstatement, but it isn't meant to panic anyone either. It is just what it is going to be like. The world is dividing light and dark. Some of us (in spite of our own evil hearts) have been chosen by God and have answered the call to switch to the Lord's side. We are, but for the grace of God, are just like the others: objects of wrath. Now, we have been made secure in the Love of God, and no matter what happens Christ has overcome the world. As for those stuck on the other side? There will be a day when it is too late for them. But, that day is not today. Today, they can be saved. Will you warn them? Will you tell them of God's coming judgment and of His love? You won't be doing them any favors as far as worldly persecution, but you will make an eternal difference. Heaven is coming; are your friends, family, co-workers... are they ready.

Back to School; Forward to Adventure!

2011-08-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

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I am beginning a new chapter in life in two weeks: I am going back to school. Ok, so I guess I've already begun. (There is a lot of reading and writing to do before I get there.)

I am starting at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in the Master of Theology program, an advanced degree with a 90-hour-Masters as its pre-requisite! The goal is to matriculate to the PhD program next year, so I am taking a couple of doctoral level classes and trying to remember my Hebrew. I will be travelling to California for classes each month until I find a job on the West Coast. Olivia and I are excited (and nervous) about the change, but we need to make it. She will be going with me this trip, because we have an interview with a church on the Sunday before classes start. Once I do find employment, we will be finishing our home improvements here, selling our house, and hauling ourselves across the West.

So, why would we do this, you ask? Well, because we believe God has spoken to us, and we want to follow. It makes sense to us for other reasons as well. The area is better for Olivia's health. There is no job future for us here. It has more trees. Gracey has never been there, and it has lots of new smells for her. It's a new start. There's lots of culture (Lotus Puffs, yum!). It gives us an excuse to throw old stuff away. It isn't as hot as Texas. There are more trees there. We'll be able to walk on the ocean. Inspired by Grace will do great there. It has mountains. Again, trees. And, THERE ARE TONS OF PEOPLE THERE WHO DON'T KNOW JESUS!

Keep those prayers coming.
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What Are We Really Looking For? Matthew 6:31-33

2011-07-03T09:30:00.001-05:00

OT Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8

NT Reading: Philippians 4:6-7

“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things." (Matthew 6:31-33, The Pew Bibles at City Light are GNT.)
The word ‘so’ in our version is the same as the word ‘therefore’ in other translations, as in “Hmmm... What is this word THERE FOR?” To find out, we will look at the larger context of the passage.

These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount which begins in chapter 5, “Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them,” and ends at Matthew 7:28-29, “When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. He wasn’t like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.”

The Sermon has several elements: the blessings, the heart of the law, relationships with other people, religious activity, dependence upon God, and the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. In this section Jesus is teaching his disciples how to trust God for what really matters. Of course, it might be helpful to know what that is, and what it isn’t.

How do we know what really matters? How do we know when what we are concerned for is something we need to worry about rather than just something we want to worry about? How do we know when we are worried for the wrong things?

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” This means that we may think something is a need, but it really isn’t. We are really looking for something we want, and our heart is fooling us. So, if we can’t just trust our heart about whether or not something is a real need, how do we know if we should worry, or concern ourselves about it?

Jesus says the answer is to focus our concern on the Kingdom of God and trust God to provide what we need in our own little kingdoms of life.

But, “Why?” Why does it matter if we worry about things we shouldn’t be worried about?

Let’s make a distinction at this point. There is a contrast in this passage between the anxious life and the life spent in pursuit of the Kingdom of God. There are two kinds of worry.

One kind of worry is negative, and it is referred to as anxiety. Anxiety is inappropriate worry, and according to Proverb 12:25, this kind of worry weighs us down, it is a heavy burden that brings us low.

The other kind of worry is called concern. It is a reasonable and responsible, even necessary, diligence and attention to something. It is the word used in the NIV to describe God’s looking with compassion upon the Hebrews in their bondage in Egypt in Exodus chapter 3 and wanting to help them:

God says to Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians...” (v.7)

When Jesus says, “Do not start worrying” he is referring to anxiety, not to concern. When he talks about food, drink, and clothes, he isn’t just talking about the basic necessities of life. In the larger context of this passage, Jesus is primarily talking about the kind of living we want to do, about what we are looking for to meet our deepest desires.

Beginning in v.16, Jesus discusses food (and fasting) in light of how we use it to impress others, and how we try to impress people with the humility or the grandeur of our appearance.

Now, I know that no one is this room has ever spent money they couldn’t afford to spend in order to impress someone they really wanted to impress. I know that no one here has ever done something like go to church or give an offering in order to look more spiritual than they really are. And, I am sure that none of us would ever complain about having something simple and healthy for dinner because we really want to stuff ourselves with something big, greasy, steaming hot, delicious smelling, covered with extra sauce, and an extra side of I-am-really-going-to-regret-this-in-the-morning!

I know we aren’t ever like that, are we? But, those people are out there! I know they are. I’ve seen them! In fact, one of them lives in my bathroom mirror!

We don’t need to be anxious about our food or about impressing others. We need to trust the Lord, and be thankful.

Our NT reading said, “Don’t worry (do not be anxious) about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart, and God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.”

Now, trusting God and being thankful may not get us everything we think we want out of life. But, when we trust Him, God will give us everything we really need. So, what are we really looking for? Are we looking for what we want, or are we looking for what we really need?

In v.19, Jesus notes how we strive to be rich in this life, rather than focusing on storing up treasures in heaven, “where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.” Jesus isn’t saying money is evil; he is agreeing with the rest of Scripture, “For your heart will always be where your riches are.”

Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” Don’t we believe that God wants to show us how to be satisfied with the life He provides for us? Or, do we have to take care of it ourselves?

1 Timothy 6:10 reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have (even) wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Could it be that Jesus is challenging us to trust God for what really matters in order to spare us a life of grief? Or, do we believe that God is really untrustworthy, a bully who wants to keep us from having a good time?

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep yourselves free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” After all, isn’t God enough for us? If we have Him, we should be satisfied. Even Job, who lost everything and suffered physically and emotionally without any real cause, when he saw that God was with him, was ashamed that he had complained.

God wants us to have true riches: eternal relationships with others who also walk with God, the satisfaction of living a life that pleases God, a life free from self-inflicted and rebellious grief, a life that is content rather than always striving and anxious. Most of all, he wants us to have himself: God, the only ultimately satisfying reality.

Beginning in v.22, Jesus mentions how our attention wanders from what is good to what is evil, and how having our attention focused on the wrong things can corrupt everything we are. This happens so easily!

We don’t intend it to happen. As followers of Jesus, we don’t set out to turn from our blessings to the things we want but do not have.

At first, we simply want to make sure we have food on the table. But, we lose our focus all too easily. Before we know it we start worrying about what other people think of the food on our table, and that leads us away from blessing and into sin, anxiety, and loss of fellowship with God. We start focusing on what is evil, and it corrupts us completely.

Instead of, “Do we have food?” we start asking other questions: “Is the food we have good enough? Is it fancy enough? Is it different enough from what we ate last night? What would the neighbors think if they saw such a sad little meal on our table? Would they look down upon us? Would they pity us? Well, now that I think about it, perhaps they’re right: this food isn’t good enough! Why should I be thankful for this? What I could really use is a big, fat, juicy steak! I deserve a steak! Why doesn’t God just let us have steak once in a while? Is that too much to ask? I mean, the guy across the street doesn’t even know Jesus (not that I’m going to tell him or anything) and I’ll bet they have steak anytime they want it. It’s just not fair! If God really loved me, I’d be eating steak right now! And then maybe some dessert...”

It happens fast, doesn’t it? We lose our focus so quickly. Perhaps Jesus really does know what he is talking about here? It’s hard to keep my eyes on my blessings for long before they start to wander. It’s like they drift into auto-pilot, looking for something better, something I want more.

And it isn’t just food. At first, we simply want shelter and clothing, and pretty soon we’re obsessed about how nice our shelter and clothing are compared to the fellow down the street. At first, we simply want to stop being thirsty, and suddenly nothing can satisfy our thirst for more. At first, we think our spouse is the most amazing person ever. Or, we really like that new-to-me car we just bought. Or, we enjoy thumbing through the pages of that new Bible. Or, we enjoy the responsibility of having that new job.

But, in such a very short while our eyes become darkened by the desires of the world. We don’t just want food, we want to feast. We don’t just want drink, we want to be quenched. We don’t just want clothing, we want splendor. Our desires for life are no longer merely the recognition of our needs. We want it all, we want it now, and we want more than the other guy. This causes our anxiety.

So, Jesus tells us: “Be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.”

You see, the problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. The problem isn’t that we want something; it’s that we want the wrong things. It isn’t even that we want too much; but rather that what we want is less than God wants for us.

Our preacher uses this illustration a lot, and I think it fits here. C. S. Lewis was a man who set out to prove the Bible false and ended up getting saved and dedicating his whole life and career as an author and as an English professor in England to serving God. You may have heard his name, because he is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia.

In a sermon titled, The Pursuit of Happiness, Lewis said, "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

“We are far too easily pleased.” So, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about earthly things, but to concern ourselves with the Kingdom of God. We should do this because we so easily worry about ourselves with the wrong motives, because these earthly needs are temporary rather than eternal, because our worry so easily turns our eyes from our needs to our wants, and because concern with God’s Kingdom allows us to display our trust in God to take care of us. And also because what God wants for us is better, bigger, and more real than anything we could think to want for ourselves.

Ephesians 4:20 describes God as “him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God wants more for us than we could ever want for ourselves, and he is asking us to trust him to provide it.

In v.24, Jesus gives us a warning. All of this sounds pretty good, but we have to make a choice. We must serve God by concerning ourselves with His Kingdom, or we must continue to serve ourselves, by continuing in our anxiety for our earthly needs. We cannot do both.

“You cannot be a slave (bond-servant) of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both.”

Jesus tells us the desperate situation we are in when we try to serve the God of the Bible, and Mammon, the false demon-god of earthly possessions. We cannot serve both. We will serve only one, and our fallen nature will lead us to end up serving our possessions rather than the true God. Only by listening to Jesus can we make the right choice.

Please hear me: The problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. We will worry about something, but we must daily choose what we will worry about. Moment by moment, we must decide between the anxiety of the world or concerning ourselves with the Kingdom of God and trusting him to take care of us.

God should be the focus of our desire, our concern. Above everything else, we should want to dine on His presence, to drink in His Holy Spirit, and to wear the glory of reflecting His Majesty.

The NKJV translates v.33 as, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Seeking first the Kingdom of God is how we trust him. It is not a ‘ho-hum’, ‘dumpty-dum’ sort of activity. Seeking first God’s Kingdom is a passionate hunting, a daily adventure, a prayerful struggle against darkness, and a search done with all the energy we would normally spend on worrying about ourselves.

As followers of Jesus, this is our purpose. And, a person fulfilling their purpose is of great worth. It is not the externals that give us value; it is God. We are created in His image, and it is our connection to Him that offers us true glory. Knowing Him, walking with Him, that is our purpose.

Do you think the devil wants you to fulfill your purpose? Do you think he wants you to have right motives, freedom from grief and anxiety, and a healthy relationship with the Lord? Do you think he really cares about your food, your drink, or your clothes? Well, who do you think it is trying to get you to focus all of your anxiety on yourself instead of being concerned about God’s Kingdom, and trusting God to take care of you? It isn’t God.

God wants to bless you. God wants you to be free from anxiety. God wants to walk closely with you and teach you what really matters, so that you can have the life you were created to have. He calls himself “Father” because he loves us.

Yet, so often we spend our energy, our worry, chasing after earthly wants and confusing it with meeting our real needs. We are worried about the wrong stuff. But God says, “Trust me. Seek me. Find me. And I will take care of all of that other stuff as well.”

“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things."

Building a Church in Tanzania

2011-06-02T15:12:00.001-05:00

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We nailed down the last nail and crawled down off of the roof about 30 seconds after the sunset Friday night. The tin was creaking beneath us and we had to go slowly, because it was very thin and would give way if we weren’t careful. We had just a moment to examine the new church building by torchlight before we prayed.

The building itself is about 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. There are no walls, just two rows of six 8-foot metal poles planted in the ground supporting nine rafters. The rafters are two-by-threes and the roof above them is corrugated tin. Perhaps during the next year or two another group of volunteer will come help finish the malls after the Maasai have started them.

We don’t want to just give the church buildings away to the Maasai people. We want them to be proud of them, to take care of them and to have a sense of ownership concerning them. We want the building to belong to the church, not the mission. Missionaries won’t be here forever, but if we do our job right the Christians will be.

We held hands and prayed. White and black. Maasai, American, Swahili. Women and men. We joined together as children of the King and prayed for the congregation that would call this humble structure home.

This article was originally published in the Commission, April 2001, while I was serving as a Journeyman Missionary over 10 years ago.
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Going to Church

2011-05-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

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I went to church this morning, but it wasn't easy. Olivia is not feeling well, but I really felt like I needed to go to worship. So, I decided to stay close to home in case Olivia needed me. I had my phone on vibrate. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I started early, prayed, and drove. How hard can it be to find a place to worship in a town that used to hold the world record for most churches per person in a city?

If only I'd known!

I drove down the block to the church on the corner. It's a small congregation i a big building, located near the University where we take Gracey for walks. They feel called to college students. It even has free meals for college students who attend on Sunday mornings. They don't have a pastor, but show sermons from a church network via recording. What it didn't have was any indication of what time there services were held, so I kept driving. I wondered if other's do the same.

I came to another church, and while I don't agree with some of the particulars of the denomination, I figured I'd give it a try. Besides, the professionally made sign said the service was starting in 10 minutes, so I had time in the car to read my Bible (from Joshua) and pray a little more about whether this was the right place for me this morning. So, I went inside. Guess what? The service was actually over, and they were making the closing announcements. Something about recent college graduates being given a loaf of bread. Apparently this congregation had changed to their 'summer schedule' of only one service, but hadn't posted it anywhere.

Ok, let's try again!

I drove back past the house and headed toward a small church Olivia and I had visited once about two years ago at the Lord's leading. It had no worship time posted anywhere, but did advertise it's narrow denominational affiliation. Hmm... let's try somewhere else.

Church number four was bi-lingual, and I am not.

Church five was very small, with only a couple of cars in the lot, and a long wait until the service was to start.

The sixth church I passed didn't speak English at all, and the seventh had no time posted, though I could have asked the stiffly starched, suit and tie, self-appointed guard posted scowlingly at the door if I'd really wanted to know. Church number 8 also had no time posted, which I though particularly odd because its is an inner-city mission church, supposedly existing to reach the lost and unchurched homeless and nearly homeless in our community. How exactly do you do that without telling people when you're holding services?

By now I was taking notes. Was God trying to say something?

Church number 9: no English

Church Ten! Red brick and asphalt. I think they had a time posted, but it was too small to see from the road, even as I waited at the red light. and I happen to remember that church having a reputation in the Christian community for being cultish.

I drove into to downtown. I had now circled our home in every direction. I just wanted a place to worship! I even had a check for our tithe. Why were all these churches making it so hard to join them?

The 11th church I came to had what I was looking for: English and a Service Time. But, the denomination is one I know to be a little lax in its adherence to the Scripture, so I decided to try church number 12, which was right across the street. All I needed was a parking spot.

I grew up in church number twelve. It didn't have any service times posted, though the denomination and the Pastor's name was easy enough to see. He's a nice guy, and I've liked his messages when I've heard them. I even felt like I knew what time the service started because Olivia and I sometimes do ministry in one of their outreaches. I decided to go for it.

When I eventually found a parking spot, I noticed a 13th church, which I know has the most inspiring sanctuary of any in this downtown church neighborhood. It had no service times posted either, by the way.

So, I finally made it to church. I was wrong about the time, but it didn't matter. I wasn't very late. This was a special Sunday for this church: Graduation Sunday. 21 recent high school grads (of the 26 in the youth group) were marched one by one across the stage for ten minutes, each with a special verse they'd chosen shared, along with their plans for the future. Then, a worship style, in a poorly "blended" format of contemporary words, muted drums, acoustic guitar, and organ. But, I joined in heartily enough. Most of the older congregants weren't familiar enough with the song to sing it comfortable, and even the choir seemed uncertain. But, everyone seemed to be doing ok with it.

There was no message! Ok, I understand it's a special Sunday, and you can't do this at night because your Children's Choir has the "Under God's Sea in 3D" thing going tonight. But, no Preaching at all? Surely, even a moment of pastoral reflection on the structured Scripture reading would be nice. I saw my old Preaching Professor sitting on the other side of the room. I wonder what he was thinking as he studied his program. "Brothers, the people didn't come to hear what you think; They came to hear a Word from the Lord."

But, ok, it's a special Sunday. Visitors like me would just have to come back another time for preaching.

Instead, we got 3 testimonies. The first by a very funny young man who talked about this church (congregation and building) being a place of fun and opportunity. The second by a young girl I recognized by name and her mother's face reflected in her own as the daughter of my Old Testament Theology and Hebrew Professor. She shared about her mission work experiences growing up in this body of believers. [That's pretty cool! But, why is that our youth do almost all of the mission work?] The third student was an emotional girl who talked about being blessed by her friends and her youth group, which were basically the same thing. She said, "Everyone has a purpose here."

Ok, so maybe there was a message; just no preaching.

The Pastor stood and gave an invitaion based on the question: "What's your testimony?" My own questions still rang through my mind as I reflected on my experience that morning:

"If being part of the body can be such a blessing, why do we make ourselves so inaccesable? Why do we make outsiders feel like intruders? It's great to have a place we feel at home, and investing in our youth is fabulous. But, why wouldn't you have service times posted, so people who don't know Jesus or have a church home in your community can at least know when to show up to check you out? Why do we hold so tightly to what we have been so freely given? (Matt. 10:8) Are we afraid it will be corrupted? Tarnished? Soiled?"

Now, I'm not a real big 'seeker friendly' sort of guy in the sense that churches who identify themselves as 'seeker friendly' often portray. That is, 'lazy believer friendly'. I think we need depth in our services and in our teaching. I think we need relationships, not just co-attenders. However, I also think we need to be more inviting to those outside our fellowship. We should at least let people know they are welcome. [Evanagelism is a different message.] I think we should tell those who pass by our doors that they are open. "Come and see." And, it would be helpful as well to tell them WHEN those doors are open.

So, what's your tesimony?
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Time Also Forgets

2011-05-11T09:37:00.000-05:00

"Time heals all things," they say, but that isn't all it does. Time also makes us forget.

Time is like a huge rope floating in a vast ocean. It floats completely below the surface, but far from the bottom (if there is one). The water is God, saturating, supporting, surrounding. He holds and infuses it all from beginning to end. Our lives, however, run like fibers along the strands of the rope Time, twisting and turning, moving around each other, sometimes strong, sometimes frayed, sometimes broken.

As we move along our strand of the rope Time, we go through comfortable and hard times. We don't see the hard times coming, and we're quick to forget the hard times we cause others after they are gone. We may feel guilty for a while. We may feel like we should connect with them again and appologize, or at least confess to the whole or to the water the injury we have done to another on their journey. But, after a while that portion of our strand falls further behind as we journey and we feel less intensely the need for reconciliation. It was, after all, so long ago. We begin to act as though our crime had not been so serious, or as if it hadn't been as bad as it had seemed after all.

"Time heals all things," they say, but that isn't all it does. Time also makes us forget.

God however, is not as we are. God is not limited to the rope. He soaks through it, fills the spaces between its cords, upholds it, and engages it. But, God is not limited by it. Nor does God experience the rope Time moment by moent only. Rather, it is all and always moment by moment to Him. Every point along its surface is NOW to God. So, God does not forget. God sees it all. He knows it all as NOW.

The result for us, is that sometimes God reminds us of old things in order for us to do something about them. He reminds us of what we have forgotten. Sometimes these memories are good, but often they are unresolved injuries. It may have been years, but that moment when you stole is still NOW to God. Perhaps you were only a teenager, but that moment of fornication is still NOW to God. The time you hurt your friend, or lied, or swore an oath, or broke your promise, or hit that man, or snubbed that woman, or shirked on that responsibility... all of those moments are still NOW to God. They are as real as your church attendance, your tithes, and your moments of doing right. They are as real as whatever you are doing right NOW. Time, for the Lord, is irrelevant.

Yet, for believers, God sees those NOWs through a filter. It isn't the filter of Time, but rather it is the filter of the blood of Jesus. He is like the colonial boy who stood watching the British Army through the ancient glass window of his father's shop as they marched through the captured city. Though the soldiers wore red coats, the nature of the red colored imperfection of the window washed out all the red from his sight, making it a brilliant white instead. To him, the coats were white and the soldiers looked like fighting angels rather than enemies. So too does the blood of Jesus wash away our guilt in the eyes of God. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

But, there is still some purpose when God shows us our sins that we have forgotten over the course of time. Though we are no longer condemned, we were guilty, and to avoid arrogance, we need to remember it. I not saying we should celebrate it, or repeat it, or even talk to anyone about it (you decide). Perhaps it still needs to be confessed to God? Perhaps it is just a reminder that the Grace we needed then is still needed now. I'm simply saying, we should remember the muck and mire we were saved from so that we do not forget that God is the one who supports it all, fills it all, and redeems it all. Time does not remove us from our need for God's grace.

Sometimes I see this happen. A man who was once a gambler now judges those who gamble. A former philanderer now looks down on those who engage in his old sin. An ex-smoker sneers at the clerk who tries to sell him a pack of cigarettes. A woman who happens not to be speeding today gets angry at others who don't know how to "drive responsibly". How quickly we forget to remain humble. How quickly we forget that God sees all our lives as NOW and loves us despite them. How quickly we turn from Grace to Arrogance.

We are sinners just like they are. Our particulars may be different, surely they are, but our NOW guiilt is the same. If it weren't for Jesus, I'd still be condemed for the sins of my childhood, much more the sins of the years which followed. Except for Jesus, I'm just like the people I could so easily belittle. And, if the only real difference is Jesus, I have no room in it for pride. Rather, I have a perfect opportunity for praise and humility.

And so, as I move along my fiber of the rope, I am sometimes reminded of the past (and even given glimpses of the future), so that I can understand how God sees it all NOW, and offer Him the humble praise of one whose red coat (whose very flesh) has been washed as white as snow by the blood of Jesus.

You Never Let Me Go

2011-05-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

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Last night I dreamt there was a talent show or something in my old High School Auditorium. My friend Tim was up as a crowd slowly filled the room, and I along with some other guys we used to work with at Beltway were moving all over the stage picking up wires and cleaning up after Tim as he moved from instrument to instrument, others joining in as according to his changes. We were having fun with it, being silly. I was sitting on the floor behind the drums (not playing them) and I had just decided to pick up a mic and sing something when Tim (now on guitar) began singing this upbeat worship song. I think it originally had a bridge, but I don't remember it, because it took me a moment to realize that this song was completely new. I just sat there listening, all thoughts of performing vanquished from my mind, as worship broke forth.

As I wrote down these words this morning and sang this "new song unto the Lord" I realized that they were about Olivia, about me, about loosing Josiah, and about God's unending faithfulness. For the first time in six weeks I really felt hope. For the first time in months, I had a truly new song to offer Jesus.

Unfortunately, I chose the living room to write it down and figure out the notes, and I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was being. I woke my poor Olivia up after she spent the whole night unable to sleep. (Sorry, My Love.) It never even occurred to me to leave the house!

Anyway, these are the words(c):

You take my breath away

when you draw me near

You are my Destiny

what shall I fear, my Lord

And when you answer me

with a strength so dear

I never want to let you go

I wanna stand up, throw my arms around you

Bow down; I’m on holy ground with you

You never let me go

I wanna run hard ‘cause I’m running to you

Trust you, no matter what they say you do

You never let me go

Splendor and Majesty

Holy is your Name

And when you touch my life

I’ll never be the same, my Lord

My only reason now

is to bring you fame

I never want to let you go

So when the trouble comes

as you said it would

Or when the blessing falls

like you said it could, my Lord

No matter what you’ll

turn it for my good

I never want to let you go

I Believe

2011-04-27T07:46:00.000-05:00

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Belief is more about what you do than what you say. It is less about what you see in life, adn more about how you respond to what you see. Your actions give the best portrait of what you really value. When you look at the activity of your life, what does it tell you that you believe?

I believe in the God of the Bible, the 66 inspired books contained in the Old and New Testaments. These Scriptures are the heart and foundation of God’s special revelation to the world, and are trustworthy and true. I believe God has revealed himself in the Bible primarily as Creator/Father, Savior/Son, and Counselor/Holy Spirit. I believe we were created in the image of God, that we have all fallen short of his design for our lives, and that God loves us in spite of our rebellion. The greatest evidence of his love for us is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, which is the only means of salvation given to humanity. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a life free from sin, died for my sins, rose from the dead, intercedes at the right hand of the Father, and will return in glory to rule and reign on the earth. I believe he was and is fully God and fully man.

I also believe in the church, the believing fruit of the nations which has been grafted into God’s ancient promise to Abraham through Jesus. I believe in the church universal, being comprised of all the faithful across all ages, everyone who trusts in the salvation of God offered in Jesus and acknowledges him as Lord. I also believe in the church local, the congregation of believers at a specific time and place in history, called together for discipleship, communion, worship, exhortation, and equipping, that each member of the congregation might be empowered to fulfill his or her ministry in the body of Christ and in the wider world. I believe God appoints various offices of service to the church, ordinances to make it holy, and gifts for every believer according to his purposes.

I believe the Lord Jesus calls each of his followers to be a minister of his Gospel. There are no spectators in real Christianity. In our family, this means we participate in the life of our own congregation beyond Sunday morning worship, in particular areas. We also participate in ministry to others outside of our home congregation: I preach on rotation with City Light Inner City Ministries of First Baptist Church and as a supply preacher for smaller churches in our area. Olivia ministers with Gracey in the hospital near our home and leads in our family effort to minister to Foster Children. We both participate in outreach and missions efforts whenever we can afford to. We want to be a testimony of God’s grace and love to others and an example of biblical marriage. We do not do this perfectly. In Christ, I do not believe God requires perfection, only the will to obey all that our Lord and Savior commands. I also believe in working hard, trying to provide for my family, reading my Bible, Praying, and learning to love my wife as she needs to be loved. In it all, I believe God’s grace is still sufficient for us.

What do you believe?
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The Hiding Place

2011-04-21T08:22:00.000-05:00

At some point in the past I've read this book before. So, why did it all seem so new to me this time? Olivia and I (and Gracey) finished listening to the audio version of this title from Christian Audio last night. We listened to most of it on our drive to and from Albuquerque, but weren't quite done. It is perhaps the best Christian testimony I have heard resulting from the Holocaust. (If you live in Iran: Yes, the Holocaust was real.) If you've never read it, or even if it has a prominent place on your shelf, the days we find ourselves in are exactly the sort of days when we need to be reminded of: 1) the destructive power of the socialist/humanistic (Obama) world view, 2) the even greater power of the Gospel, 3) the call God has placed on all of His children to live a countercultural life, and 4) the reality of Jesus as Mighty Fortress, our Hiding Place.

When You Don't Have What It Takes

2011-04-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

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I read John Eldridge's book Wild at Heart years ago, but the ideas have been fresh in my mind since last night. I've been wrestling. The question of a man's life, Eldridge says, is "Do I have what it takes?" He says every man's deepest fear is "to be exposed, to be found out, to be discovered as an impostor, and not really a man."

If my experience is any measure, then John is right.

Upon the recommendation of some friends, Olivia and I watched Cinderella Man last night. It is the story of a depression era boxer and his comeback after a career-ending series of injuries. It is based upon a true story. Of course, as a boxing movie it is violent. I am sure I was supposed to come away from the experience encouraged, excited, and confident. I didn't. When the movie ended I went and sat outside, overcome with my own sense of inadequacy.

"I don't have what it takes." The thought is sickening. It literally depresses me. It churns in my stomach like I've been fasting for a week. Worse yet, as the closest person to me in life, as the one most concerned with my well-being, as the one who wants to believe in me as much as I want to believe in myself, I believe Olivia knows it as well. I could maybe live with my failure if no one else knew about it. I could fake it. But, Olivia knows. How it must hurt and disappoint her. She has seen me at my worst far too often. She has been burned by the flames of my misplaced passions. She has been the focus of my anger, even when I wasn't angry at her. She has seen it all.

I am broken. I am bent. I am proud. I am angry. I am jealous. I am full of self-pity. I am wrong. There is something deeply and intensely un-right (imperfect) about me. I am not the man I should be. I am unworthy of respect, honor, love, or anything else my heart needs. How can I still complain when I don't receive them? I have been exposed. I sought my own glory, and it was rust. My wages are death. Now what?

Masculinity is from God. He is my Father. He is my only hope for finding, "what it takes." My earthly father could not do it. He tried, but he is just like me, broken, bent, wrong, imperfect... The word imperfect sounds so inoculate, innocent even, but it's at the heart of the problem. It isn't that "we have sinned and become absolutely depraved," but rather that we "have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Our crime is imperfection, predicated by our desire to attain to our own glory rather than reflect the glory God intends for us. Yes, we are rebels. Yes, we are proud, vain, shallow, selfish, unfaithful, hateful, angry, hurtful, and covetous. But, it starts with imperfection. Perhaps not all of us are murderers, per say, or dishonorable toward our parents, even in our hearts. That is possible, I suppose. But, we are imperfect. That imperfection may bear different fruit in different lives, but the seed is the same. We all seek the wrong glory.

"I don't have what it takes." Bottom line. I know God does, and I pray He will be merciful to me. All I can do is pray, depend upon Him, hope in Him, and wait. After all, when you don't have what it takes, what else can you do?
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Home Again

2011-04-18T11:59:00.000-05:00

These past several days, we were afforded the opportunity to get out of town and spend some time with some friends in another part of the country. It was a special treat, a chance to rest and be loved on, and a wonderful glimpse into their lives. These friends truly love us more than I ever realized. God has given us a special place in their hearts, and we hid there for over a week. I am extremely thankful.

Their love and graciousness toward us was a daily reminder that God has not turned his face away from us. Our suffering has been real (and still is), but we have not suffered without His presence. I am convinced that our Lord weeps with us each time we weep, that He holds us each time we need to be held, and that He never tires of our weakness or requires us to "just move on". He forgives our humanity. He understands our frailty. He loves our son,... Josiah.

Josiah. "God Heals". Josiah, our fifth (at least) little God-worshipper. Josiah, who was prophesied for us, who was created by God in Olivia's womb, who was born only a month ago today, who I held in my hands, and whose burial God gave me strength to officiate. Josiah, whose beautiful little face I can still see. Josiah, who brings the sad smile of interrupted fatherhood to my lips. Josiah, who sits in the presence of Jesus and praises Him. Josiah, who waits for us in heaven. I am extremely thankful.

We are home again. Someday we will truly be home again.

Defiance

2011-04-03T14:17:00.000-05:00

Passover is coming up soon, I still see my son's face every time I close my eyes, and I feel like fighting something. I won't trouble you with trying to figure out why we celebrate the holidays we do instead of the holidays in the Bible, or what ancient Israel was like, or even why it is important for Israel to exist today as a sign of God's faithfulness. What I will do is recommend Defiance, a hard movie based of hard realities. As I said, I'm not going to try to explain ancient Israel in this post, but if you'd like a glimmer of understanding regarding the modern State of Israel, then this movie might be helpful. Caution: This in not a family friendly film. But, it does tell a powerful story.

Heaven is for Real

2011-04-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

It's been two weeks since Josiah was born. Someone suggested that while we no longer feel Josiah in our arms, we will always feel him in our hearts. I like this idea. It's sweet, and the image is good. But, it isn't what I feel. What I feel is the hot-cold sting of acid forming a hole in my chest where my son's face should be. That sounds rather dramatic, but that's what I feel.

However, what I know is much better than what I feel. What I know is that Josiah is with Jesus, along with his (at least) 4 brothers and sisters. What I know is that he is worshiping at the feet of the Father. What I know is that he knows who I am, and waits for me as only a loving son can. What I know is that God is good, and somehow, he is going to use this satanic attack on our family to reveal his love to us and advance his Kingdom. What I know is that satan hates us, because we believe in God. What I know is that I will continue to believe what I know over what I feel.

Some of these things I know from the Bible. Some I know from specific revelation given to trusted godly friends and family over the past two weeks. Some I know because God has revealled it to Olivia and to me directly. Most of it comes from more than one source.

My aunt Vicki is a woman who loves Jesus. She came to Josiah's funeral along with more than 5 dozen other people who love us. God led her to bring us a book, Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo, a small town pastor from Nebraska. Olivia and I both read the book and were encouraged by it. So, on this, Josiah's 2 week birthday, I wanted to recommend it to you. If you are a Believer, I hope it will encourage you in what you already know. If you are not a Believer, I pray it will cause you to ask the hard questions about your life, your death, and the meaning of both.

One Week Gone

2011-03-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

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The days keep rolling by. They just don't stop, do they? Josiah isn't coming back. I keep expecting to see him. I keep wanting to pray over him inside his mommy's belly. I half-forget when I'm asleep. I still see his face, his nose, his lips, his ribs, the soles of his feet, his hands... But, it's fading. I can't remember exactly what his back looked like, or the tops of his feet. I remember his fingernails, but not his toenails. I've begun the slow process of losing him.

My pain reminds me I'm alive. Olivia's pain reminds me I am a husband, as well as a father. We're taking care of each other as best we can. God is holding us, but with our faces buried in his chest we can"t really see him. Our family and friends are helping so much. We have food in the fridge. Josiah's flowers are arranged on the piano, where he would have climbed and played. (Olivia watered them last night when she couldn't sleep.) Sympathy cards surround them. My Bible and the signed guestbook haven't moved from the piano bench since we got home from the funeral.

We want to get out of town soon. We need time somewhere else. Some dear friends invited us to visit them. Family also had opened their homes. As soon as Olivia is able, the plan is to get out of town for a while and seek God for what is next. We want to stay away as long as we can. But, it may be weeks still before we can leave.

All our days feel the same. All of them take us further away from him. They haven't started bringing us closer to him yet. I don't know when that feeling happens. Right now, the future isn't that distant hope. Right now, the future is Thanksgiving and Christmas with someone missing. The future is something that hurts to think about, because we can still feel him in our hands. I can still feel the fabric of his casket under my fingers.

One week... gone. It's still "too much." We love Josiah. We thank God for our son. And, we miss him.

Life keeps going. We keep breathing.

One week... gone.
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Please Remember Josiah

2011-03-23T09:28:00.000-05:00

Josiah's Memorial Service

2011-03-22T14:08:00.000-05:00

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Josiah Keith Brigham was born into the arms of Jesus on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 2:08pm. We will never forget him.

It has been suggested that all you really have in life is a dash between two dates; how you fill in the dash is up to you. But, what do you say when there is no dash? What do you make of a life with only one date to mark it?

In Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to His prophet during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

The Psalmist declares that God’s knowledge of man is perfect from the skillful forming of his inmost parts while he is still in his mother’s womb and that God’s thoughts for each of us outnumber the sands. In this context, he proclaims, “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Josiah Keith Brigham was fearfully and wonderfully made, and I am proud to have him for my son. My biggest fear is that you will not be able to understand how much Olivia and I love him. He is a link with heaven for us, and even in death the enemy is defeated by his life. Satan still doesn’t win. God is still good, and He still loves us.

Life in Jesus is war, and I believe our adversary feared Josiah and the call upon his life. His name means “God Heals”, and nothing can keep that from happening. God will heal this wound in our hearts, and though it leaves a scar, that scar will be impenetrable to the slings and arrows of the enemy. We know in our spirit, and our heart will remember, that wherever God heals a wound he also seals it (it becomes holy), and death for God always brings about greater life in Jesus. Josiah will always be our son, and he is a reminder forever in our hearts of the goodness of God, who conquers death.

Last November, our church hosted a Healing Conference. Olivia attended more than I did because I had work. The first night she was there, God spoke to her and told us she was pregnant. We had not been trying to get pregnant and had no particular reason to believe we were, but we felt like God had really spoken. That night, Olivia took a pregnancy test, and we were indeed pregnant. It was a wonderful surprise, matched only our surprise many weeks later that we were having a boy.

We were fortunate enough to see Josiah every two weeks for most of our pregnancy, and he has quickly become an important member of our family. He will always be part of our family. He had a strong heart. He could open and close his hands. He could kick. (Just two weeks ago, I felt him give four strong kicks in a row.) He loved to have his arms up by his ears. He liked to cross his legs. He could swallow. He was always moving. He loved worship music. He knew about many of you, because we did our best to tell him about all of the family and friends he was going to meet when he was born. He knew our voices, and responded to each of us.

When we were in the hospital, I kept praying for a miracle. I wanted Josiah to live again. I cried out to God, “Be who only you can be! Do what only you can do! Help as only you can!” I believed. I didn’t know I could believe that way. I didn’t know such faith was in me. I never knew such strength in the midst of weakness, because even as God was saying “No” to my prayer for Josiah, He was being who only He is.

My confidence in Him is somehow stronger, even if that doesn’t make sense. Somehow, I trust Him more than ever.

When Olivia delivered Josiah last Friday, we got to spend several hours with him and we have lots of pictures of these precious moments… not that I need them yet. The image of his face is still burned into my eyes.

Josiah looks a lot like me. He doesn’t have a beard, of course, but I didn’t always have a beard either. He has my brow, Olivia’s eyes, my lips, and the famous Brigham smirk. He has Olivia’s chin, her family’s nose, and my family’s ears. His little muscles, especially his calves and biceps, were amazingly developed. He has long legs and arms, and was bound to be tall. His hands and feet are perfect. He already has fingernails, fine little hairs on his head, and blue eyes. We even felt the little buds in his mouth where his teeth would eventually form.

Translucent skin, miniature veins, functioning organs, tiny muscles, his own fingerprints… he is an amazing little person. I wish you all could see him as I see him in my memory. But, there is more to each of us than a body. Because he was created in the image of God, Josiah has a spirit and a soul. Those parts of him have not died. He is literally in the arms of Jesus, he is with the very person of joy, and his body will be raised again on the last day.

You will never know how much we love Josiah. Even if I believed I could tell you, I don’t think I would. It is too precious to me, and it would only break your heart. Olivia and I already know Josiah and we are so glad to have the chance to introduce him to you today. It means so much to us that you are here to help us mourn the shortness of his life. I am convinced you would have loved him, too.

Thank you for your flowers. Thank you for your cards. Thank you for your messages, texts, food, and gifts. Each one is a precious gift to us, a symbol of your love and compassion. We appreciate each and every token. But, in our hearts we don’t want any of these things. We want our son, and he is gone. So, we need you to help us grieve. We need you to help us cry. We need you to help us remember. We need you to help us wait until we see him again.

I am not the first man to bury his baby boy. I will not be the last. Long ago, a man named David fasted and wept before the LORD seven days in hope that God might be gracious to him and allow his son to live. When the child died, David washed and anointed himself, and went into the LORD’s house to worship. He proclaimed his confidence in God to his servants by saying, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

I am claiming that sort of confidence for us, but it isn’t easy and I need examples like this from God’s Word. I need to know that I am not alone in my suffering. I am sure most believers who stand where Olivia and I stand now think about Job. Yet, that ancient sage said in the midst of his trials, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” Throughout our pregnancy, we have covered our home in Scripture. One is from the end of Job’s story, where he declares back to God the truth, “I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.”

I don’t know what God’s purpose is in allowing the death of our son. The doctors all say it shouldn’t have happened, that the danger was past. There was no warning, no red flag. He was fine when we saw him on Monday. His heart was beating Wednesday morning. And then, he was gone. We will never know why. We will never understand. But, we will never stop missing him.

Every child and believing person we have lost is like Josiah, whether he has a dash between his dates or not. He is a bridge to heaven, a reminder that this life is only a breath, a moment when we determine whose side we are on. It is an opportunity to choose Jesus and be restored to God through Him.

Satan steals, kills, and destroys, so we will despair and deny God. God answers by joining us in our pain and mourning, wrapping his arms around us, weeping with us (as he did when Lazarus died), and giving us abundant life which can be found only in himself. Death, the enemy’s fiercest weapon, pales in the face of such glory. Death, after all, is only part of life, and it is not even the most important part. The most important thing is not how long you lived, but what was meant by your life; not what you did, but who you were.

Josiah is our son, and we love him. As Olivia said, “We held Josiah in our arms for a little while, but we will hold him in our heart forever.” For the moment, He is with Jesus, and we will see him again. For the moment, we are left to live and fight to answer the call God has placed on our lives: to bring God glory in the midst and in the memory of such a tragically fallen world.

Across the room from Josiah when he was born my Bible lay open on a table. I had been praying in the Psalms that morning. Sometime in the past I had highlighted a verse on that open page. Psalm 71:14: “But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”

Josiah Keith, we love you. We miss you. We are so proud of you. You shall not return to us, but we shall come to you.
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Josiah Keith Brigham

2011-03-20T13:25:00.001-05:00

Josiah Keith Brigham

Josiah Keith Brigham, beloved son of Bryan Keith Brigham and Olivia Marta Brigham, was born and went to be with Jesus on March 18, 2011 at 2:08 PM. He is loved and missed greatly by grandparents Richard and Ellen Brigham, Gary and Diana Fambro, and Tamas and Klara Lility; uncles and aunts Kevin Brigham, David Brigham, and Robert and Cynthia Horacek; cousins Ilona, Isabella, and Korbin; great-grandmother Dorothea Goodwin; best-buddy Gracey; and many other family members and friends. Graveside service will be held Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 2:08 PM at Elmwood Memorial Park in Abilene.

Warming Up

2011-03-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

Today I stretched a little when I woke up. You know, I touched my toes, pulled on my legs, twisted my body... I warmed up for the day. This is becoming more and more of a necessity as I mature. I used to be able to throw back flips without even thinking about it. Now, I don't even think about it.

I'm doing a lot of warming up these days. I'm warming up for our son: painting his room, buying his clothes, searching for addresses for people we haven't seen in a while. I'm warming up for school, in case that still happens: studying Hebrew and Greek once in a while. I'm warming up for ministry: working with some guys who need the Lord, remembering my heart for specific needs, and trying to be a better husband. And, I guess I'm also warming up for Eternity: reading my Bible, keeping my heart focused on Him, praying, working with my hands. Jesus is coming back, and this life is just seed time. The harvest is near, and the reward is everlasting.

Warming up for eternity... This also is becoming more and more a necessity as I mature.

Olivia's Phototshoot: 20+ weeks

2011-03-07T10:53:00.007-06:00

My wife is a photographer, as you may know, who specializes in pregnancy photos. So, you might imagine my hesitation at considering taking some pregnancy photos for her. However, Olivia is also a wonderfully loving woman and a great subject. We had a lot of fun taking these, and I hope they show you a bit of our joy in being pregnant.

Me vs It

2011-03-05T03:08:00.000-06:00

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It’s 2 AM. Last night I had a dream. It was a mystery dream, a crime being solved and a perpetrator caught. Some civilized animals were attempting in their humorously inadequate ways to catch a mysterious thief. They would devise some elaborate scheme, see it falling to ruin, and then the scene would freeze, and back up to 10 or 15 minutes earlier in the story, with the possibility of changing the events and the unsuccessful outcome. It was an amusing dream, and I watched as it moved progressively backwards from after midnight to early evening to the preceding dusk. I saw a mouse and a spider perched on a bookshelf/nook, ready to catch the thief, but he came at them from behind, from through a crack in the wall behind their perch. The scene froze and backed up. I saw a possum dropping an elaborate net onto the roof of a car, where it left a mark, showing that the trap would work. Yet, the culprit came at the bait another way and the possum fumbled with the branch and dropped it wrong anyway. A large lizard, who tried to investigate, almost caught the culprit, who turned out to be much more than he could handle.

Then, I saw the thief itself, a mixed up creature at first, as shadowy things often are in dreams. It clarified before my eyes, it seemed, and I saw that it was feline, perhaps a leopard or a large cheetah, but with a sort of disguise on it, a piece of which it shed so I could see it more clearly. It looked at me (the observer) directly in the eye, with a terrible intelligence, and the dream no longer froze or backed up. I knew that no lucidity on my part could make it do so. The thief had stolen over the dream.

In a moment, almost before I knew she was there, I saw Gracey (our small cheweenie dog) run up and sit down right next to the beast. She looked at me with her doggy smile. She but did not seem to see the beast, but the beast certainly saw her. I yelled for Gracey to flee; I tried to warn her that she had put herself in danger, but the cat was too fast. In a flash, it had Gracey in her mouth, tail first, and then (when it seemed too late) Gracey knew her danger. I heard her yelp, and then, being so small, she slipped even further down the feline throat as she struggled. This caused the beast to hesitate for a spilt-second.

I stopped observing! The evil creature had called me into the story with its eye-contact, its mocking challenge before the vicious attack on Gracey, and I slid on that connection into the scene. I crossed the distance in half the time it should have taken, and before the beast could bite down even once more on my dog I had my hands in its mouth. I stood over it, my hands inside its jaws, my palms against the razor-sharp teeth. I grabbed those jaws, and in a single motion, broke them open. The lower jaw of the beast snapped in my right hand. I knew the teeth had pieced my hands deeply, even in my dream, I knew. But my heart raced, and I paid no attention to the razors in my palms than I did to the slashing claws as the creature fought against me with all four paws, indeed with every muscle in his body. I pulled my right hand from the clinging lower jaw and grabbed Gracey on the scruff of her neck, pulling her out of the throat of the monster with my bloody hand.

I was then in two places at once. On one side, I fought the beast, gouging out its eyes, breaking its neck, and swinging it three times into a tree. At the same time, however, I attended to Gracey, wounded and scared, she was all my focus on that side; the beast had been discarded and forgotten by that side. Gracey was saved and that was enough. I held her in my bloody hands, and she was more alive and more like a human person in that moment than ever before. I felt her healing, growing, becoming more like she might have been if our sin had not subjected all of creation in the Fall.

A passage of a Scripture came to my mind, even as the creature died, Gracey lived, and I woke. Even as I woke and reached over to check on Gracey as she lay in the bed between Olivia and myself, it echoed in my conscious thought, and I believe even as it came to me that it changed into a thought from God: “I have killed both the lion and the bear.” I hesitate to quote more, because that is all I can be sure I heard in that moment. The context is, of course, David’s conversation with King Saul before taking on Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Then, I remembered the words of Jesus: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.” (John 10:10-12)

Then I felt the meaning of the dream: It was love. It was love for Gracey that drew me across time and space to break the jaws of the beast and rescue her. It was love that woke me to check on her as she lay safe in the bed beside me. It was David’s love for his sheep that led him to grab the lion and the bear by the head and save the ram, ewe, or lamb from its jaws. It could have been nothing less than love, for nothing less could have given him the strength to do it or the will to see it through. And, finally, it was love for me (his lost sheep) that led Jesus to pierce his hands and tear open the jaws of death for my sake. It was love for me that drew him across time and space (or into them) in order to save me. It was love.

My heart breaks with joy to understand even the smallest glimpse of what it means for Jesus to be The Good Shepherd. My dream was a gift, a terrible gift. It was a glimpse into the very heart of God, and I didn’t even realize it until it was over. It was reassurance of His love for me, and of His love in me. I pray my heart will never forget it, though I wouldn’t dream it again for all the world. “I have killed both the lion and the bear.” And, He has done so for me.
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Doing Joy? Doing Peace?

2011-03-02T13:11:00.000-06:00

"...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control..."

I am an action-oriented guy. So, why haven't I realized that each of these words are not just descriptions of things you possess? They are things you DO!

I guess I've always seen the list (whether you see the fruit of the Spirit as 9 different items, or as LOVE: followed by 8 specific characteristics of LOVE) as things given to describing followers of Jesus. Today, however, I saw more.

I have patience, rather, having patience is something I do. The same can be said for each of the final six: to doing patience, we add doing kindness, doing good, doing faithful, doing gentle, doing self-control. Even doing love seems possible if you think of specific acts. But, can we do joy or do peace?

If I can show God's character (albeit in a glass dimly), by doing the other fruit, what of these two? What of Joy? What of Peace? I suppose then, in order to be consistent, that these things must somehow be of the same sort as the other 6 or 7. Therefore, it seems needful for me to learn how to do them, even when all of life conspires against the possibility (as it so often does). And this (by God's grace) is exactly what I shall endeavor to do.

I Am One Who Waits - Poetic Testimony

2011-03-01T09:44:00.001-06:00

This was one of our videos last Sunday at Beltway.

In our study on healing, it adresses the question:

"What about when God doesn't heal?"

Fur Ball, Version 2011

2011-02-25T17:00:00.002-06:00

Each year we attend the Fur Ball, a dinner to raise funds for Rescue the Animals. People dress up according to a theme, bring their dogs (also dressed up), eat BBQ (I'd rather it were something else), and treat their pooch pals at the Gourmet Doggie Buffet. Olivia has a post about it on her blog. It's fun to see the people and their pets. However, I forgot them all for a moment. I had a moment of tunnel vision when I looked at Olivia once that night, and I wanted to share it with you. She was sitting in her chair, when the whole world faded (in my mind) and this is what I saw.....

Ahoy! It's Olivia the Pirate!!

Mistress of the Seas! Scourge of the Deep!

Terror of the Briney Blue!

Beware, lest she cut out yer gizzard!!

What NOT to Wear

2011-02-20T21:11:00.000-06:00

So, today we went to church, and that's why I'm writing this blog.

We're members of a large congregation, and we want people to feel welcome. We don't care who they are, where they are from, or what brought them. We don't care what they did last night, or whether or not they even remember. HOWEVER, I {at least} DO CARE about what they wear.

Now, don't hear me wrong. Keep reading. I don't care if they have holey jeans, torn shirts, and dirty shoes, or a suit and tie. I don't care if the colors clash, if they forgot their socks, or if they they wear biker slicks. It doesn't bother me if they wear primary colors, pastels, or all black. If they want to dress for golf, fishing, or hunting, that's fine. If they're dressed for work, that's great! And, I don't think Jesus cares if they have a popular logo or a clever saying emblazoned across their chest.

However, I DO CARE if their clothes interfere with worship.

Perhaps Jesus would feel the same. After all, he literally drove people out of the Temple in Jerusalem with a whip (Luke 19, Mark 11, Matthew 21)! And why? Was it just because they were dishonest or taking advantage of people? I don't think so. I think it was a bigger problem than that, especially since no one seemed to recognize it. You see, the Temple was the only place where people could come to meet God, and the Court of the Gentiles (where the marketplace developed) was the closest non-Jews could get to the presence of YHWH. So, the people Jesus drove out were actually keeping others from YHWH because of their selfish actions. They were in the way. They were a distraction to worship.

I understand that many people who attend church, especially a large church, do so for social reasons. It's a great place to meet people. It's safe. It's the sort of place you want people to know you attend, because that's the sort of person you want to be know as. If this wasn't the case than our congregation wouldn't have grown by almost 2000 people since we started attending there.

Yet, however large or small a congregation of believers, our purpose in gathering together is to worship and to encourage each other, not to find a spouse, and certainly not to be stumbling blocks to each other. Our gathering should feel holy, not like a night club. And, our dress should reflect this.

I saw a man I know today sitting on the front row, and I'm glad he was. He's shared with me his struggles over the years, and he needs a safe place for his eyes when in worship. If he'd been further back, he would have been distracted. I was so proud to see him there, but it also made me upset. Why can't every seat in this place be safe for him?

I'll get to the point: CHRISTIAN LADIES, PLEASE DRESS MORE MODESTLY! This particularly applies to some of our college-age girls whose skirts look more like belts. For the love of God and the people who want to worship Him, wear a dress you can bend over in (if you had to, which you don't)! Don't be a distraction to people who want to worship YHWH. Ten or twenty years and 2.5 kids later, when you're married, when your husband and your son are standing beside you trying to praise the Lord, how will you feel when a 20-something co-ed sits on the row in front of you with her rear-end hanging out of the bottom of her skirt or her chest hanging out of her top? Do you really believe you're going to be OK with this? Do you think it won't distract you, or your husband, or your children, or your friend who you know needs church to be a safe place?

If you can't at least love your brothers and sisters in the Lord more than this; if it's more important to get the wrong attention than no attention at all from that guy down the row; if you still get your fashion tips from secular media; if you just haven't ever thought about what clothes communicate...perhaps you need to re-evaluate why you're going to church in the first place? I don't know.

Hopefully, you've just never thought about it before. You don't feel attractive or loved, and you're crying out for affection. Hopefully, you just don't realize that God (and your future husband) will be more impressed with your heart than your body. If your motivation is relational, remember that in fishing, bait makes all the difference. And, you can't catch Alaskan Salmon when your hook is baited for Carp (a bottom feeder). You won't attract the right attention if your dressed to attract the wrong kind.

Now this message is for my sisters in Christ, not for all women, because I expect worldly people to behave in a worldly way and saved people to act saved. I understand when a prostitute comes to church dressed like, well, like she does for work. I'm just glad she's there! I don't understand when someone who claims to already be a follower of Jesus dresses the same way (however nice the print or expensive the brand). You are worth so much more than that in God's eyes. Please don't diminish yourself in the eyes of others. If you know Jesus, you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, please dress accordingly. Be cleansed, a place where people encounter God, not a "house of iniquity."

Romans 13:13-14 says, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (NKJV)

Food, Inc. (not for the faint of . . . stomach)

2011-02-19T09:38:00.000-06:00

This movie was not fun to watch, but it was very insightful. I recommend it if you have a strong stomach, but even then there are some scenes you may not be able to get out of your mind. For that reason, I don't think it's a movie for everyone. As a husband and now father who wants to protect and provide for my family, I want to know about how the food industry has conspired to undermine these basic desires. I'm glad I watched it, but I don't want Olivia to see it. It's raw and informative. It will upset you. It may inspire you to start a garden! Hopefully, it will change the way you shop and the way you eat, and that, in turn, may eventually change the system. I pray that it does.

Jesus may have declared all food clean (Mark 7:19), but that doesn't make it all good for you. Neither does it excuse the commercial, political, and ethical abuses in our current food system.

Adopted for Life

2011-02-18T09:10:00.001-06:00

I just finished this book on audio, and I found it really encouraging. It provides not only a practical encouragement for adoption, but a theological basis for adoption as a ministry of Christian families and an example of the Gospel of Christ. I recommend this book for any Christian, whether they personally feel called to adoption or just know someone who is adopted or called to adopt.

Romans 8:14-16: "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children." (NIV)

Forgive; Don't Forget

2011-02-13T15:12:00.001-06:00

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Yesterday I got a text message from someone I didn't want to hear from. A man I used to work with invited me out to Starbucks to talk. Now, this man caused a lot of grief in my life, especially at the end of my time working with him. He continually treated others as inferior and often belittled them in front of other employees. He even treated other managers and some of our customers in this way. On his best days he was rude, on his worst days... well... Finally, as a manager, I confronted him about his behavior and the confrontation cost me my job. It was not a good day.

So, I've been working through that over the past two months. Some days have been like trying to take a deep breath when someone just punched you in the gut. Others have been like facing your friends after getting turned down by the girl (or guy, ladies) you spent two years working up the courage to ask out. I've felt like I did my Junior year in high school when the soccer coach promised us interested football players two weeks to tryout for the soccer team and then sent us home on the third day with no warning. It's reminded me of my Senior year when I was benched because my coach believed "White boys got no business running the ball!" I've wrestled with the rejection, resentment, relief, fear, unfairness, depression, and confusion. I was tempted to feel sorry for myself, like Joseph in prison, but thankfully I already knew his story and it has helped me with my own. Joseph kept playing the victim. Well, I'm not going to do that! I decided early on to believe that God is working in all of this, and I've tried to maintain that mindset. Now, I believe I have some evidence to bolster that faith choice.

God had his hand in that situation and removed me from a very unhealthy work environment in an amazing act of grace. I didn't have to quit and I didn't do anything wrong. It's been great to be home with Olivia during this precious time in our family, I've gotten to know our son even before he arrives, the Lord has provided for us financially (even after we were denied unemployment), and life is so much less stressful not working with that guy. What he intended for evil, God intended for good, for me and for my family. I'm truly thankful. Sure, I'm trying like crazy to find another job, but I know God has it all in control, because he has from the start.

The thing that really gets me about the whole situation is that this guy won't leave me alone. I ignored him at first, but I texted back and declined the last invitation (No, but thank you.). He hasn't written back yet. Perhaps he feels like its his Christian duty to pester me until I sit down with him and give him the chance to feel good about himself over the whole thing. Maybe he just feels exposed and wants to look good to others. I don't know what his motivation, but I have no reason to believe it is sincere. He has never come close to apologizing for anything that I know of, and his attitude throughout our years of knowing each other has never been anything short of arrogant. He's just better than everyone else, you see? It's pitiful, really, and I feel sorry for him. I'm really fortunate to be less like him than I used to be. {Praise you, Jesus! Don't stop working on me now, I've still got a long way to go!}

"Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,... humility,... forgiveness..." These are the words that keep coming to my mind as I think about it. "Pray for your enemies." "Love those who mistreat you." Who knows, if he writes again next month, perhaps I'll go. The soreness of it all has lessened and I think I could be in the same room with him if I had to. I've forgiven him, I just don't like him. I don't believe he is a sincere person. I know he isn't nice. And, I'm not interested in hearing what he has to say. But, on the off chance that he might actually be sorry for his behavior, I guess I need to hear him out, for his sake. Who knows, he might really be a believer like he constantly reminds others he claims to be? You see, he's a "super-Christian". [I know what these guys are like because I've been one myself on occasion.] He's got a lot of truth in his head, but it doesn't show in his actions. Or, maybe he's finally gotten saved! I hope so.

Now, I'm not perfect. I didn't handle everything well about what happened. Yes, he's a jerk, but he's also human and created in God's image. Honestly, I hope I don't hear from the guy again. It'd just be nicer for me if he went away. But, if he doesn't go away, I'll let him know he's forgiven. Maybe he needs that. For myself, I just don't care anymore. In fact, except for his two texts (each month like I'm on his planner) I'm not even interested in the whole thing anymore. I'm ready for what is next. I'm excited about our future. I want to see what God has for us, because if there is one thing I've learned through this it is that God really does know what he is doing, and it doesn't matter what anyone else tries to do in my life, God is faithful and true. So, for all our sakes, for his, for mine, for my family's, and for those I may be used to minister to in the future... I've forgiven, but I can't forget. I need to remember, because when I remember what happened, I also remember how faithful God is in my life, just as he was to Joseph.

One Night With The King

2011-02-12T12:06:00.000-06:00

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This time of year people focus on Valantine's Day. I'm not that interested in the history of this holiday (really, Holy-Day?), but I am up for a good excuse to spend some time with Olivia, show her how special she is, and convince her that I love her so much that I'll even go along with the crowd this one day of the year. Truthfully, if those other guys knew how amazing my bride is, they'd kick down the door and steal her away while I was out running an errand. {Don't worry, Sweet Girl, I'd save you!} I thank God for Olivia, and I really am so very blessed by her.

This year, we're going easy on activities, with our pregnancy, but I still hope Monday will be special. If we decide to watch a movie, I've already decided what I'm going to recommend. It's One Night with the King, and it's one of our favorites. It's the story of Esther, and how God had a plan for her life which was greater than she could ever have imagined. [Sort of like Olivia!] If you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It's well done, dramatic, and even knowing how the story turns out, it's a film that I think you'll enjoy. Check it out!

What did Jack read?

2011-02-07T16:57:00.000-06:00

The Princess and the Goblin

by George MacDonald

Have you ever wondered what you favorite author has on his bookshelf? Have you ever thought about what he or she might be reading in their spare time? Have you ever considered whether their reading appitite was similar to your, and whether you would like what they like at all?

One of my favorite authors (if not the favorite) of the 20th century is C.S. Lewis (Jack to his friends). I love reading his work: Mere Christianity, Til We Have Faces, The Great Divorce, and of course, The Chronicles of Narnia. In fact, I did my thesis on The Chronicles, examining how each book proports a specifically image of Jesus and then showing how that image was shadowed in each of the other books. It was in doing research for that paper that I first considered the issue of what Lewis (or 'Jack' to take a little liberality) liked to read.

One of Jack's favorite authors was George MacDonald, who wrote various stories including one called The Princess and the Goblin, originally published in 1871. It's the story of a Princess named Irene, who must learn courage and faith as she endeavors with a miner-boy named Curdie to save the kingdom from vengeful Goblins. It's fun to read and clever, though the sentences can be long and complicated (rather like reading the Apostle Paul in Greek). Olivia and I are reading it together at night, and I highly recommend it.

Fireproof

2011-02-04T09:04:00.000-06:00

There are so many good things about this movie, which I believe contains Kirk Cameron's best performance as a actor. I definitely recommend it for any Christian adult, but especially if you are married. It's funny, dramatic, evangelistic, and sweet. The actors did a good job, but it's the character behind the movie that originally drew our attention. I'd recently seen Mr. Cameron working with The Way of the Master, an evangelistic ministry used by the witnessing ministry of our home church. It provides a simple approach to sharing the gospel "cold turkey". So, I knew he was not just some sort of casual Christian. However, when I heard that he would only do the kissing scene (there is one) if his real life bride, actress Chelsea Noble, filled in for Erin Bethea, who plays Catherine Holt, wife of Mr. Cameron's character Caleb. She did, but you won't notice. That was the selling point. You have to respect someone who takes his faith that seriously. I was surprised by how good the film turned out to be, and Olivia and I now own a copy of it. I particularly related to Caleb, as he struggles to define himself, control his anger, and learn to be a true husband to his wife through acts of love. There is actually a website devoted to helping marriages as a result of this movie. You may identify with other issues in Fireproof, but however it connects to you, I believe you'll be glad you checked it out.

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

2011-02-01T20:28:00.000-06:00

I like stories. I like to tell stories, read stories, watch stories, and hear stories. In this regard, I'm like most people, I suppose. Story is one of the first and deepest ways we identify ourselves. If you want to know about motivation, character, or personality, what you're really looking for is not just information: i.e. Greed, Good, and Friendly. What you're really looking for is context, the ability to evaluate someone or something in light of the people and things they are associated with. You want more information. You want to know the whole story.

Our self-understanding and basis for comparative relationship begin the same way. Even the Bible began in this way, as a collection of stories about God's interactions with humanity. Story is at the core of what it means to be human. Today, most of our stories come to us through media (books, TV, and movies) rather than around a campfire or sitting with our elders hearing about the good (or bad) old days. I have no use for TV, so my stories most often come through books and movies. [I did hear a few from my dad when he came to visit last week, but I'm speaking in bulk.]

It occurred to me this morning that although I like movies and books, I don't ever post about them. So, I thought I'd try something new. I don't know how far I'll get on it, but I want to recommend a few movies and books to you as a reward for your taking the time to check my blog once in a while. Of course, you can always check My Library on the left as well.

The first movie I recommend is The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry. We watched it the other day, and enjoyed it a lot. It's the story of a man in 1970 who invests some time and energy into the young boys of his neighborhood with some impressive results. It's also a coming of age movie, and might remind you of some key moments in your own story. I won't spoil it by telling you which ones. You can find a review of the movie at Christian-movie.com. If you're in Abilene, we checked this film out from the library. So, you can give it a try for nothing more than the cost of gas to go pick it up. Enjoy!

We are having . . .

2011-01-31T20:17:00.002-06:00

A SON !

(Visit Olivia's blog for details!)

Who was he and where did he go?

2011-01-29T11:51:00.001-06:00

There's an interesting character in the story of Joshua that some of you may never have noticed before. He is called "Commander of the Army of the LORD" and he appears in Joshua 5:13, as promised in Deuteronomy 31:3-6. He reminds me of Merlin in the King Arthur series by Stephen R. Lawhead, which I read as a teenager. He's not just the kind, yet fussy old tutor made famous my Disney, he's a warrior, passionate and brave, helping establish the kingdom with his sword as well as his counsel.

Now, the best thing about the person described in Joshua's story is that we can know who he was, and it may surprise us. What are the clues? First, his title: Who has a right to be called the commander, or Captain (NASB), of God's army? Second, he allows himself to be worshiped: Who alone is worthy of worship? (Certainly not an angel) Third, he commands Joshua to remove his sandals and declares the place holy ground: Where have we heard that before? So, a person (with a body) claims to be in charge of the army of heaven, accepts worship from the leader of God's chosen people (one who heard God talking to Moses [Exodus 33:11]), and reenacts the theophany of the Burning Bush (claiming to be God)... The Commander of the Army of the Lord is none other than Jesus!

Now, this isn't the only time Jesus appears in the Old Testament text, but it is unique because it begins a prolonged interaction between people and the pre-incarnate Christ, where it seems he may actually be fighting on Israel's side as they drive out the kingdoms under God's judgment in Canaan, extending all the way to Judges 13. However, the moment that struck me as I was reading was his declaration that he wasn't going to continue fighting for Israel in the same way. It is recorded in Judges 2 and happens in a place called Bokim.

1 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’” 4 When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

Now, this angel (or messenger) seems to be Jesus: he physically moves, receives sacrifices, and is called "the LORD" in 2:20-23. After this, Jesus sends the people Judges to lead them in his place. In fact, he makes encore appearances in the call of Gideon and of Samson, but after that he no longer leads the way he did with Joshua. He allows Israel to face the consequences of her sin. In effect, he says, "Ok, you want some space from me? Here you go: Space."

Sometimes, I wish God hadn't removed himself in this way. I wish I could still see him standing over the battlefield with his his sword drawn. However, I know that He is wiser than I am. I'm sure the early disciples of Jesus felt the same way when he said, "You are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:6-7)

In the end, he is still fighting for us: he is still Jesus; he is still here.

God's Word Is Always Dependable!

2011-01-06T11:37:00.002-06:00

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Sometimes (like anyone else) I have questions about what I read in the Bible. This morning, I'm in Exodus, reading about the plagues of God through Moses. I love the story as it is in Scripture. I believe it as it is in Scripture. Most of the time we get parts of it wrong when we retell it. For example, in The Prince of Egypt Moses never ages, and in The Ten Commandments Joshua meets Moses in the wilderness rather than Aaron. [I still recommend both movies by the way. Others, like Joseph, King of Dreams, vary so far from the text that they aren't worth the time to watch.] I also read a book once trying to disprove the plagues as a natural event, but I obviously wasn't convinced.

Today I noticed something about the "livestock" involved in the plagues. When exactly did they all die? Since I was sitting here at the computer, and since I didn't have time to puzzle it through, I Googled it. This can be a very dangerous experiment, so do it carefully. There is some weird stuff out there. But, when I located a site called Apologetics Press, I thought it would be worth reading. It was, and I'm including the text of an article by Eric Lyons [with permission] for you. Enjoy! And, remember, God's Word always proves to be faithful!

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This item is available on the Apologetics Press Web site at: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3526

AP Content :: Alleged Discrepancies

Cattle Contradiction?

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

The fifth plague that God brought upon Egypt was the death of their livestock by means of a pestilence. After informing Pharaoh of God’s decision to destroy Egypt’s animals if he refused to let Israel leave the country, “the next day...all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died” (Exodus 9:6, emp. added). Some question the reliability of this statement in light of later comments about Egypt’s remaining livestock. Prior to the seventh plague, Moses warned Egypt to “send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die” (Exodus 9:19). Furthermore, the final plague that God sent upon Egypt was the death of the firstborn—of man and livestock (Exodus 12:29). According to skeptic Steve Wells, “[T]here shouldn’t have been any cattle since God already killed them with a ‘grievous murrain’” (2007). Additionally, in light of the fact that horses also were mentioned as dying by disease (Exodus 9:3), critic Dennis McKinsey has asked, “How...could the Pharaohs [sic] army have pursued the Israelites on horses and horse-drawn chariots” following the tenth plague (1998, 181:4; cf. Exodus 14:7)? Are such biblical statements contradictory?

First, one must recognize that the term “all” frequently is used in Scripture (as well as in modern times) to mean “the greater part of” or “all of a particular category,” and not necessarily “all” in the absolute sense. Earlier in the book of Exodus, Moses recorded that “all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink” following the first plague (Exodus 7:24, emp. added). No sensible, fair-minded person believes that Moses meant that every single Egyptian, including infant, disabled, elderly, etc. was digging for water. Moses was using “all” in a relative sense. When Scripture says that “Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel” (2 Samuel 16:22, emp. added), the inspired writer did not mean that every single Israelite on Earth witnessed the event, but that Absalom’s actions were public in nature and apparent for anyone to see. When Luke wrote that “all the tax collectors and the sinners” drew near to Jesus (15:1, emp. added), he did not intend to communicate to his readers that every single tax collector and sinner in the world (or even in one area) gathered around Jesus. Rather, a great many of the tax collectors and sinners went to see Jesus.

A similar figurative use of “all” often is used in modern times. Consider the basketball broadcaster who comments on a player shooting two free throws with .5 seconds remaining in a tied game. “All eyes are on him,” the announcer says. Literally, most people in the arena would be watching the player, but not all, and certainly not everyone in the world. One might say that “all the world knows what happened in America on September 11, 2001,” and yet he means that most all the world is aware of the events, i.e., the event is common knowledge. In Exodus 9:6, Moses simply used a figure of speech, known as synecdoche, common in both ancient and modern times.

Second, a careful examination of Exodus nine reveals that God actually clarified which of the Egyptian livestock would perish. God instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh: “If you refuse to let them [Israel] go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats” (vss. 2-3, NIV). Thus, not only is “all” frequently used in a relative sense, but in the very passage that supposedly is unreliable, God limited the livestock to those “which are in the field” (NASB). Undoubtedly, many horses, oxen, etc. would have been in stalls and escaped death, including Pharaoh’s war horses (cf. Exodus 14:6-7).

Third, following the fifth plague and prior to subsequent plagues, Pharaoh could have begun replenishing Egypt’s livestock by purchasing or confiscating animals from surrounding peoples, including the Israelites. The burden of proof is upon skeptics to show that such could not have happened.

Considering how detailed Moses was in recording God’s judgment upon Egypt, it is extremely frustrating to read the careless, condescending criticisms of modern-day skeptics. The same writer who carefully documented (1) that “the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink” following the first plague (Exodus 7:4), (2) how

“[t]hick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh” during the fourth plague (8:24), and (3) that “wheat and the spelt were not struck” when God rained hail from heaven, because “they are late crops” (9:32), supposedly forgot about every single cow, horse, etc. that died during the fifth plague? Although good evidence exists that exonerates Moses and dismisses assertions of discrepancy, even on the surface one should be taken aback by the skeptic’s overconfident, unsubstantiated criticisms.

REFERENCES

McKinsey, Dennis (1998), “Does the Bible Contradict Itself? (Part 1),” Biblical Errancy, 181:3-4, January.

Wells, Steve (2007), Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, [On-line], URL: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/12.html#29.

A New Beginning: John 8:2-11

2011-01-02T19:57:00.000-06:00

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OT Reading: Leviticus 20:10 (New Century Version)
10 "'If a man has sexual relations with his neighbor's wife, both the man and the woman are guilty of adultery and must be put to death.’”

NT Reading: Romans 6:21-23 (New Century Version)

21 You did evil things, and now you are ashamed of them. Those things only bring death.22 But now you are free from sin and have become slaves of God. This brings you a life that is only for God, and this gives you life forever. 23 The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Introduction:

In the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, God says, “3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.” [Exodus 6:3-7a (NKJV)]

In the story of Saul, David is chosen to replace the first king of Israel when Samuel declares, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.” [1 Samuel 15:28 (NKJV)]

In the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah “…the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. 22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” [Ezra 6:21-22 (NKJV)]

In the story of the Kings and the Wise Men, Joseph returns from Egypt to Judea with his family, but not to the same town they left from. “…And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” [Matthew 2:22b-23 (NKJV)]

The Bible is filled with stories of New Beginnings.

Text: John 8:2-11 (NKJV) [Please read the text before continuing.]

Now, let’s not misunderstand the story. By this act of grace, Jesus is not condoning sexual relations outside of marriage. The specific sin here is adultery, which the Bible defines as sex between two people where one or more of the partners is married to someone other than the person they are having sex with. Leviticus 20:10 makes it clear that persons found guilty of adultery “should be stoned” just as the Pharisees say in our passage. In fact, Jesus himself specifically condemns adultery as sin 10 other times in the Gospels.

The woman is guilty. She was caught in the act. There is no question about it. She deserves to die for her sin. Jesus himself calls her behavior “sin” in verse 11 when he says, “…go and sin no more.”

What Jesus does here, is not change the law or pretend her crime never happened, or say, “Well, never mind, sin isn’t that big a deal anyway.” In fact, his actions actually show us that sin is a bigger problem than most of us realize. Jesus does not change the woman’s guilt, he finds a way to show grace in spite of her guilt.

Now, some people make the case that Jesus lets this woman off the hook because the man is not there. They say it’s a set-up. The woman was lured into adultery, perhaps even by one of her condemners, in order to trap Jesus. But, there is no support for this hypothesis in the text, and we don’t need to explain away her lover’s absence. It isn’t hard to imagine a scenario where he escapes while she gets caught. Perhaps he dives through a window when they bust down the door? Or, perhaps he has already been put to death, and the woman temporarily saved in order to trap Jesus?

There is no doubt that the Pharisees are making use of the situation to try to trap Jesus, the text tells us so in verses 5 & 6a: “5 'Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.” If Jesus contradicts the law, then he will be guilty of a serious sin against God. If he supports her execution, the Pharisees believe he will lose favor with the people. They don’t understand that Jesus was never trying to win a popularity contest as they were.

Jesus could have told them, “You’re right; go ahead.” And, he would have been perfectly justified to do so. However, Jesus wants more than just justice… he wants to show us something about God’s grace. He stops. He waits. Perhaps he prays for the Father’s wisdom to answer wisely.

They keep asking. They think they’ve won. They’re already celebrating in their hearts, which is exactly where Jesus wants them… in their hearts.

You see, they didn’t understand God’s attitude about sin, and we often don’t either. God doesn’t look upon the sinner with anger, judgment, and hatred. He isn’t glad when we get what’s coming to us. He doesn’t rejoice when we get our due. No! God mourns.

God hates sin because of what it does to us poor sinners. He hates sin, not sinners. He hates how sin hurts us. He hates that it separates us from Him. He hates that we get trapped in it. And, He hates when we hate each other instead of our sin. He hates what sin does to our hearts.

So, Jesus stops writing in the sand. Jesus stands. He looks them in the eye, and he says, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” [v.7 (NASB)] He catches them in the very act of their own sinfulness, and he points it out to them.

Jesus always does this when he confronts sin. He never minimizes the offense. Rather, he points out how much more serious sin is than we normally realize: 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment... 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart… 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” [Matthew 5:21-22a; 27-28; 33-37 (NKJV)]

Perhaps Jesus was writing out their sins in the sand as some have suggested. Perhaps he was praying. Or, perhaps he was just giving them time (it never takes long, does it?) to expose their own sinful hearts?

Then, he confronts them with it. It’s as if Jesus is telling us, whether we’re standing in the crowd, laying at his feet beaten and tattered, or polishing our stones in judgment, “Yes, she is guilty! But, how dare you rejoice in her guilt! Her sin is not a show to entertain you. It isn’t something to allow you to feel good about yourself. It’s a deep wound in her soul. It has cut her away from a loving God. Her sin (and yours as well now that you can see it) isn’t something to be celebrated. It breaks the very heart of God. And, if you really were any better than this poor woman, it would break yours as well. So, stone her if you’re so concerned about righteousness! But, stone yourselves as well!”

So, they set down their stones and they walked away. What else could they do? And, they needed to leave, because Jesus needs to be alone with the woman. He has something for her, a free gift, a present of God’s grace, a new beginning.

Text: John 8:10b-11 (NKJV) “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Deuteronomy 17:6-7 (NKJV) says, “6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.”

So, because there are no longer any accusers, Jesus can show the woman grace. He can offer her a new beginning. “… go and sin no more.” [John 8:12b (NKJV)]

Jesus doesn’t just send the woman away, he sends her away forgiven. He sends her away free. He sends her away with the opportunity of being different than she was before. He sends her away with the chance at a better life. He sends her away with a testimony and with the memory of God’s unmerited favor.

Conclusion:

Perhaps Jesus has done the same thing for you? I know He has done it for me.

I was guilty, and I knew it. I was trapped, and I hated it. I was a sinner. My life was an offense to the holiness of God. I deserved to die for my sin. My fate seemed sealed.

And then, Jesus reached down and drew in my dirt. He held back judgment with his patience. He stood between me and my accusers. He rescued me from the angry mob of hurting people of which I had so often been a part.

He took my stones, the ones polished for me, the ones I deserved. He used them to nail himself to the cross. He died in my place. He bore my sin. He became my sin.

And now? Now I am free! I am forgiven. I have a story like Israel, like Moses, like Ezra, like Joseph… I have a testimony and the memory of God’s undeserved grace in my life. I was given the opportunity of being different than I was before. I was sent away in love. I was sent away changed. I have been given a new beginning!

Have you made a new beginning? Have you accepted the grace Jesus offers for your life? Have you laid down your stones, gotten alone with the Savior, and accepted His free gift?

If you have, then my prayer is for your faith to be renewed today. Remember what He has done for you. Remember that the story of the woman caught in adultery was your story as well, whatever your sin was. Remember that you are living with a new beginning. You have a new life, a new destiny, a new purpose and meaning for who you are!

If you have not… if you have never realized before today that your sin has mastery over your life, that you are guilty, and that your only hope is for the only One truly fit to judge you to offer you grace instead. If you have never looked to Jesus for your salvation, and now your heart has been exposed and you find yourself lain out at His feet beaten and tattered. If you need a new beginning today, then I want to invite you to contact me, or a local Christian pastor, or a believing friend whose heart you trust. Don’t leave this post today the same way you arrived. Don’t leave here today without making a new beginning.

Kings & Wise Men: The Day After Christmas

2010-12-26T17:02:00.000-06:00

† Introduction:

The journey to Bethlehem is over for Mary and Joseph. The angels have announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds. The virgin has born a son. King David’s heir has been named. Prophecy has been fulfilled. Salvation has come. Immanuel (God with us), Jesus is born. Now what?

After the manger is emptied, after the shepherds have returned to their flocks, after Joseph and Mary find a home to live in and settle down to the day to day activities of married life with a newborn. . . What happens now? What happens the day after Christmas?

On this day after Christmas, 2010, let us explore Matthew, chapter 2. It is the story of first years after Jesus’ birth. It is a story of the perfection of God’s timing, the power of His protection, and the treachery of His enemies. It is a story full of worship, danger, and adventure. It is a story of Kings and of Wise Men.

=Read Matthew 2=

† First, The Wise Men: Who were these Magi?

According to verse 16, it’s been as long as 2 years since Jesus’ actual birthday. And these people, whoever they are, have seen his star and have come from the East to worship the one who has been born King of the Jews.

By the way, one of the most compelling resources you can find on the events surrounding Jesus’ birth is called The Star of Bethlehem, a video and a website compiled by a Christian man named Rick Larson.

Larson’s material points out some things we may miss about these Wise Men. For example, they know from the star that Jesus is a child, that he is the king, and that he is Jewish. Also, he points out that there is no good reason to believe there were 3 of them.

There are other things we can know about them as well. They are not kings. The term magi or magus is never used in the ancient world to describe royalty. Even in western church history and art, the Wise Men are never portrayed wearing crowns until almost 1000 years after the birth of Jesus.

The Persian term transliterated Magi is the equivalent of the Hebrew Chakkim used in the book of Daniel, when Daniel is made chief over all the King’s Wise Men. It is possible, since most of the Jews exported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar never returned to Israel, and since they have come to worship a Jewish king, that these Magi are Jews and from the same school of Magi as Daniel.

Now, these observations are informative, but the key thing to remember about the Wise Men is not found in these particulars, but in their seeking the Savior. As you may have seen on a bumper sticker or a T-shirt: Wise Men still seek him.

Whatever their profession, their education, or their ethnic origin, the thing that makes these men wise is not that they saw the star, but that they understood and obeyed God’s call to follow it. They followed it to Israel. They followed it to Jerusalem. They followed it to Bethlehem. They followed it to the very doorstep of Joseph and Mary.

There they found the child (the Greek means Toddler) and worshiped him. They offered him gold (kingship & wisdom), frankincense (purity & priesthood), a myrrh (healing & death).

Their following, their seeking is what set them apart from everyone else. Jesus was not a surprise. The Hebrews Scriptures clearly pointed to His coming. The chief priests and the scribes knew where the Christ was to be born. Yet, they would not risk Herod’s wrath to seek him themselves. They were afraid to seek, afraid to follow.

Their fear is understandable. In fact, we too may have been afraid. For, there are not merely Wise Men in this story; there are Kings. And the first king is Herod.

† So, King Herod: Who is this butcher?

Now, if you didn’t already know the story . . . Or, if you didn’t know Herod’s reputation as a ruthless and paranoid ruler . . . If you didn’t know that he ordered the execution of two wives and numerous sons and relatives whom he felt were at various times during his reign plotting against him . . . If you hadn’t just read verses 16-18 . . . If you didn’t know Herod, as the Wise Men apparently did not, then he might fool you at first.

He is the King of Judea. He refurbished and expanded the Temple of Yahweh. He gave tax breaks to the Jews he favored on multiple occasions. He seems to want to know more about the star and the mission of the Wise Men to worship the Christ-child. He points the way to Bethlehem. He even says he wants to come and worship the Messiah once he is located.

But, we do know. We know that Herod is a murderer. We know that he was in constant fear of being displaced from his throne. We know he is false to the true meaning of kingship. We know the lengths he goes to in this passage to end the threat to his reign.

Herod is the King, but he is no Wise Man. He wears the crown, but he is neither good nor just. Herod is more like a monster than a man. Herod is not someone you look up to, name your son after, or consider a role model.

It’s interesting that after causing such a big stir, so little is made of Herod’s death. The text simply says: “But when Herod was dead.” In actuality, Herod’s death was rather dramatic. The Jewish historian Josephus states that a loathsome disease descended upon the ruler. He describes the horrible process of Herod’s literally rotting from within.

However, God obviously saw no need to include these details. It doesn’t matter how Herod died. We should not rejoice that Jesus’ first persecutor suffered so much. It is unbecoming a follower of Jesus. For without Christ, we are no better than he. Matthew 5:21-22;27-28.

Without Jesus, we stand here dead and guilty already, however we end our lives. Even if we are called kings and queens in the earth if we are not also Wise Men, if we are clinging to our own strength or reputation instead of seeking Jesus and worshiping him as our King, our Priest, and our Savior, then our doom is no better than Herod’s.

No, King Herod is no role model, but unless we are wise, then neither are we.

† There is another King in this story, one we can look up to. He’s easy to miss. Millions still miss him every day. He is merely a young child, innocent, seemingly defenseless; yet full of God’s presence. There is King Jesus:

We don’t talk about “King Jesus” very often, do we? We focus on His divinity. We look to Him for eternal salvation and for forgiveness for our sins. We remember His sinless life, His death, and His resurrection. We talk about Him as Lord of all Creation. And, we should, because that is all part of who He is.

But, in this story . . . here in our text, Jesus is King. That is why the Magi sought Him. That is why Herod wanted to kill Him. That is why Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt with Him. And, when He returns, it is what He will return to be. Jesus is a King. Jesus is the King of all Kings.

The story of Christmas is the story of God reclaiming His reign over the earth. It is the story of God fulfilling His promise to David. It is about the incarnation of God Kingdom in the earthly person of Jesus. It is the story of the birth of a child born (as it says in The Nativity Story) “for the lowest of men to the highest of kings.”

Yet, Christmas is not just about when, or where, or how Jesus was born. Christmas is also about who and why.

The who is Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. He is the chosen Messiah, the representative ruler of God’s Kingdom. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace.

Who else set aside the glory of heaven to become one of us? Who else has ever lived a sinless life? Who else has ever died to pay the price for our sins? Who else will return to rule the earth? Who else is truly worthy to be called King?

Yet, even more amazing to me than the who of Christmas is the why of Christmas. The why of Christmas is us! Jesus wasn’t just born to be the King of Israel. He was born to be our King as well; the King of You and the King of Me.

Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

There are more passages of course, but my job is to point you to the Way, not remove your need to seek and follow God yourselves.

Jesus wants to be our King, and to use us to advance the Kingdom of God. He is calling us to make a choice. Will we be Wise Men? Will we seek and follow? Will we bring our gifts and bow before the one true King?

† In Closing:

After the manger is emptied, after the shepherds have returned to their boxes, after Joseph and Mary find a home in the storage shed to wait until next year, after we settle down to the day to day activities of our own lives. . . What happens now? What happens the day after Christmas?

This morning, the day after Christmas, will we leave Bethlehem by the same road we come to it on? Or, will we heed the voice of God and “leave for [our] own country another way”? Will we simply return to our lives? Or, will we return to our lives wiser? Will we return to our lives changed? Will we return to our lives having seen the King, our High Priest and our Savior, and having worshipped at his humble throne?

Merry Christmas, 2010

2010-12-25T15:05:00.001-06:00

A Blood Moon

2010-12-23T11:48:00.000-06:00

Lunar Eclipse, Winter Solstice 2010

Death: Who's in charge here anyway?

2010-12-05T20:20:00.001-06:00

When death comes knocking, we often assume we have to answer. We don't. Sure, "it is appointed once to die". Even God has died. (I hope they include Aslan's line in the movie if they ever make The Silver Chair) We all die (excepting the believers on earth when Christ returns). But, since Jesus has defeated death, and because he's simply God to begin with, we are not at the mercy of death. We don't always have to answer when death knocks because God is bigger than death; he sometimes even undoes it! In any case, death is not the most important part of living. It is merely a transition, especially for Christians.

We are all created as everlasting beings. We are not 'eternal' as such, because we had a beginning, but we participate in eternity because we never have an end. When we die, we simply move out onto the greater stage of being. This life is a choosing ground, an embryonic state, a seed stage for our 'everafter'. It is critically important, but it is merely the womb God created us in. Here, we all decide between eternal life and eternal non-life. And, that choice is all about Jesus.

It's simple: God made us. We are designed to reflect His image, His glory. We fall short of what He made us for. We each fail by nature and by choice. Thus, we are flawed, imperfect, deformed, depraved, sinful. It doesn't really matter how bad we are, we aren't perfect, and God is. It may be graphic, but it's kind of like handing someone a glass of water and saying it's only got a little urine in it. Would you drink it? Would you pollute yourself that way? Because, until sin is dealt with, that's what we're asking God to do, and He can't, because then He wouldn't be holy (pure). So, God came as Jesus, purified us by His blood, and returned to the Father. Problem solved, right? Yes, but God doesn't force anyone to accept His purification. So, we must choose.

Our choice determines our destiny after we die. Do we enter into eternity with God, or without God. These are the only two choices. The devout Buddhist, who believes he will be reincarnated, will not. The Muslim, who dies as a martyr, dies in vain without Jesus. The humanist, who believes there is nothing after death, will be sorely wrong. The church-goer, who never really places his faith in Jesus will have no advantage over these. Only those who believe, trust, and follow Jesus (because they all go together) will enter into eternity with God.

But, here's the fun part. God is bigger than death. He determines when it is allowed to take us. He decides whether an illness or injury ends life or not. He is in control, even of death. Jesus' resurrection proves it. And, we have access to God through Jesus. So, Hannah prays to God and death is cast out of her womb. So, Hezekiah prays, and God changes His mind and lets him live for 15 more years. So, Daniel is cast into the lions den and his friends into the fiery furnace, yet they all live to tell about it. So, Jesus walks by a funeral procession and changes it into a family reunion. So, Lazarus lies dead in the grave over three days and then walks out in his grave clothes. So, Paul prays for a dead boy and he lives again.

Even today, God continues to display His control over death. I've heard the stories. I've talked to the eye witnesses. I believe I've even seen it happen.

One last thought: I heard an urban legend this week. I don't know if it's true or not, and it probably doesn't matter. A soldier was caught deserting, and was sentenced to die by firing squad. It was a small unit and most of his executioners were people who knew him. They were angry that he deserted, but none of them wanted to shoot a man they'd fought beside. So, several were chosen at random, and lined up with their rifles. The deserter was led before them, blindfolded, and the command was given: "Ready!... Aim!... Fire!" All the rifles fired and the man fell to the ground. They checked, and he was truly dead. No pulse, no breath. They buried him outside the camp and his body rotted into the soil. Just what you'd expect, right? Well, it was obviously what he'd expected too. For, when they examined his body after the shooting they discovered that while he was dead, not one bullet had hit him. Everyone of his executioners had missed. He died because he expected to die. He died because death knocked and he answered.

God is bigger than death. So, when death comes knocking, don't assume you have to open the door. Pray to God, and let Him decide. Just be sure you know where you're going to spend eternity in case God decides it's time to let the ole' boy in!

watch this video

2010-11-27T17:17:00.000-06:00

One of the guys from work was recently delivered by Jesus from years of alcoholism after watching this video. The climax of the story is very powerful.

What are you thankful for?

2010-11-25T10:49:00.000-06:00

I have a new cell phone, one I actually like. There are some apps I don't need (Ok, a lot of them), but I like the phone itself. It's easy to use, has a touch screen, includes a keypad, and can still have an alarm while on silent (my last couldn't). Additionally, it's a cool green color.

But, my favorite part of my phone in the photo Olivia loaded onto my start screen for me one night when I wasn't looking. It constantly reminds me of all the things I have to be thankful for. Today, this is especially important. I have my health (inspite of recent sickness), good friends, a family that loves me, a roof over my head, a job I'm good at, a really cool dog (even if she's little), hope for the future, my salvation in Jesus, and Olivia. I hope you have things you are thankful (to God) for as well.

Happy Thanksgiving (to God) Day!

And, here's the picture Olivia loaded onto my phone. I think it's really cool. (No stealing it, please!)

Study, Revisited

2010-11-10T10:52:00.001-06:00

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I'm taking the GRE today. I took it several years ago, but it's been so long that I don't remember my scores and they wouldn't count for the programs I'm applying to anyway. I think I'll do well. I just need to relax and do the test, not worry about what happens after that. The further I go on the journey of pursuing a doctoral degree the narrower our path becomes, for lots of reasons, and I have decided to believe that God is directing each step of the journey.

It seems following God's call is often like that. It's like being in a desert and hearing a voice in the distant mountains. You journey toward the voice, but you must enter the hills before you really know which mountain He is calling from. So, you start climbing hills in the general direction of the call. Sometimes you move forward, sometimes sideways, sometimes you back up and travel through a valley to get to a third point beyond the rises on either side. It's a pathless journey at first, full of the marks others have left behind and void of any indication of whether those marks apply to you as well.

As you travel, a road begins to form. The way is steeper, but the air is also clearer. The rises on either side are more intimidating, but the view is better: greener and more full of life. It takes longer to cover less distance, but you spend less time on side trails and dead ends. Your trepidation is no less, but the path under your feet is gradually more certain. You are in the mountains, and as the voice echoes off the valley walls you pray that it's coming from above you and not from across the valley. So, you trust the path until it brings you to a place where the voice is more certain. You are on the path, and hopefully it is the right one.

At some point the voice rings out clearly again. It may come from further up the path, from a side road, or unfortunately from another mountain. Wherever it comes from, you move toward it. It may be further up the path, across to the next mountain top (but with more confidence and speed), or off the path into the uncharted territory. Eventually the path will fade, slowly or suddenly, and you'll be guided only by the voice again, His call. You'll follow the voice until it takes you to the next starting place. At the top of the mountain you'll step out onto the sky itself, a new wilderness, a different kind of adventure, one that would have seemed impossible before.

In this way, we follow God's voice from calling to calling as He leads us ever upward and onward, higher and deeper. Through following, we become stronger, more secure, more certain of the voice. We start to become . . . more. More of who God is calling us to be. More of ourself. More like Him.

I've followed the voice before. I've studied before. I've taken tests before. I've even taken this particular test before! Yet, I don't feel as if I'm going backwards. I'm not just retracing my steps. I'm on a different mountain now. I have a more certain calling. My life is more than it was, and I am more as well. I am Bryan 2010: follower of Christ, husband, father, friend, disciple, student, and teacher. I am on a journey to who I will be tomorrow and forever. I have followed God's voice, and He is making me more like Himself.
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T R U E

2010-10-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." ~ Philippians 4:8

I want to focus on true things: walks with Olivia and Gracey, our hopes to move soon and return to school, the dream of teaching, the memory of our last moments with close friends, the thrill of new discoveries, the knowledge that I am not alone in my convictions, the fact that I have a job and a house, a glimpse of my beautiful nieces via webcam, a solid church family, a deepening walk with the Lord.

I want to focus on the true things, but the world is so loud and so desperate to shout out the true with the false, the bad, the compromised, the fallen, the sensational, and the evil. I had to press back in today. I had to focus on the Lord, push out the noise of life and remember what was really true, what really mattered. I pressed in and He was right there waiting, whispering, reminding.

Even now, I remember more and more true things: I have been blessed. I am healthy. I have a family that loves me. I have had wonderful opportunities. I've wandered the streets of London with a Scottish truck driver who borrowed 20 pounds from me to by a drink and never came out of the bar, visited a Turkish Bath (in Turkey!), played with orphans in Mexico, seen Broadway musicals, and walked among a tribal people for 2 years to share Jesus with them. I've been to Israel 4 different times!

And still, the true things keep coming: I am married to a living miracle. I have children waiting for me in heaven with my Savior. I have been forgiven (a lot!). I have been adopted. I've been chosen. I have a calling. The God of the Universe has a plan for my life. Jesus loves me.

I praise God for reminding me of these true things today. Now that I'm focused on them, it's amazing that I haven't been blown away by them more often than I have. I haven't meditated on them. Sometimes I hardly even remember some of them. I've lost focus too often. The world doesn't want me to see, to hear, to meditate on what is true.

The Prince of this world knows there is a reason God calls us to focus on what is true, it gives us victory over him. He knows our encouragement re-presents and re-creates his defeat on the cross and in eternity. So, he shouts, whispers, distracts, confuses, and lies. As a result, sometimes it is hard to meditate on the truth. When that happens, remember that Jesus said, "I am the way, the life, and the TRUTH." When everything else is blurry, meditate on Jesus.

noble

just

pure

lovely

of good report

virtuous

praiseworthy

—meditate on these things.

true

Halloween Is Coming. Are You Ready?

2010-10-10T16:44:00.004-05:00

There are some evils we choose, and there are some that sneak into our life because we get lazy, compromise, grow up with them, feel compelled by culture, or don't see life from God's point of view. 'Obviously' we should avoid the... well, 'obvious' ones such as adultery, gluttony, pride, living a homosexual lifestyle, and throwing a tire-iron at the lady who cut you off in traffic this morning. These are a no brainer. I'm not saying they are easy choices for everyone all the time (that car-lady lives in my town too!), just obvious ones. But, not all evils are obvious.
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I've been asked to preach on October 31st. I'm praying about what to bring, and God has been bringing the idea of evil (guilt), mercy, and reformation. For those who don't know, this date is not only Halloween, but Reformation Day, the anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, calling for the Catholic Church to reform its evil practices. I've been reminded of the story where the ten lepers cry out to the Lord, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." First, the turn to him as Master, a recognition of the fact that he wasn't their Master before. Then, they plead for Mercy. Finally, they walk away changed.
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When I was growing up, we celebrated Halloween, and no one in my family thought anything about it. Then, I learned its origins and was horrified by what I found out. Last year, I wrote about a dream I had related to Halloween. I encourage you to read A Message From A Dream. This year, I want to challenge you to not only find out about the origins of this satanic holiday (holy-day), but to do something about it. Pray about what this might be, and ask the Lord Jesus to protect you from compromise.
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Don't let evil sneak into your life, or into the lives of those entrusted to you, without a fight. Choose Jesus as your Master, ask for forgiveness, and live a changed life.
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Welcome Whit!

2010-10-09T18:29:00.002-05:00

My cousin Julie and her husband Clayton officially welcomed a new son into their family on Sunday September 26th in the wee (strange word) hours of the morning. They have named their baby boy Whitman (Whit) Clayton Leverett. He was 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long at birth. (I don't know why we include this information, but we do, so I did.) I talked to Julie today and they are adjusting to their new life together very well. God has been good to their family and we have a new second cousin! Welcome home, Whit!

Whit defenitely looks like Clayton, but I can also see some of Julie. I can't wait to meet him in person.

A Grand Adventure: Supplimental

2010-09-30T14:52:00.001-05:00

Olivia made a great photo album. Check it out.

Olivia's Photo Gallery on Kodak

A Grand Vacation: The Last Photos

2010-09-29T05:35:00.001-05:00

Enjoy! We did!

(I had to stop at some point.)

A Grand Vacation: More Photos Again

2010-09-28T04:33:00.002-05:00

More, More, More!

A Grand Vacation: Even More Photos

2010-09-27T03:40:00.003-05:00

Still More Photos

A Grand Vacation; More Photos

2010-09-26T02:27:00.002-05:00

More Photos From Our Recent Vacation

A Grand Vacation; Assorted Photos

2010-09-25T02:27:00.000-05:00

Some Of My Favorite Photos From Our Vacation

A Grand Vacation; Part Two

2010-09-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

Day Five: A Long Drive to Utah

Day Six: Zion National Park / Springdale

Day Seven: Antelope Slot Canyon

A Grand Vacation; Part One

2010-09-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

Day One: Painted Desert / Petrified Forest

Day Two: Flagstaff / Slide Rock

Day Three: The Grand Canyon!

Day Four: The Grand Hike!!!

Day Four: Worship

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-09-01T23:40:00.001-05:00

2010-08-22T20:11:00.002-05:00

Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord, God, Almighty (Lord of Hosts)
Who Was, Who Is, Who Is To Come

Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh
Adonai, Elohim, Tz'va'ot
Asher hayah, V'hoveh, V'yavo
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Jazmine and Nevaeh

2010-08-17T09:26:00.003-05:00

Our new family

We have two new children in our care now. They are full of life and adventure. "Spunk" is what my grandfather would have called it. We'll probably only have them a little while, but we feel so blessed to be able to minister to their little lives in love and in the name of Jesus. Please pray with us that Jazmine and Nevaeh will grow to know the Lord.

Life with Olivia: Never Boring!

2010-08-12T14:05:00.004-05:00

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I love my wife. Whether we're watching Little House on the Prairie, cooking spaghetti at midnight after I get home from work, bandaging wounds, sending presents to our nieces, visiting the hospital, changing a bad tire on the car, dealing with the effects on medicinal changes, going out on a date, talking in bed until 3 AM, having an impromtu photoshoot as we drive across the Texas prairie, or simply staying at home and watching a movie from RedBox... life with Olivia is never boring.

Next month, we're going on our first vacation to celebrate four years of marriage. We're headed to the Grand Canyon, and to celebrate we went out to eat a late breakfast today. We had some very vummy pancakes. In fact, my wonderful wife loved them so much that I believe she set a new record today for the number of pancakes eaten by a 5'2", skinny, young woman: 10! That's right! My petite bride ate 10 pancakes (and one bite of sausage). See, never boring!

Here are some shots of our recent life together...

wow!

yee-haw!

I can do it!

Stuffed Olivia!

While I was waiting, I waited.

2010-07-20T12:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up before Olivia and I visited a friend's blog that I'd recently gotten the address for. He was one of my groomsmen and though we've kept up by phone since they moved it was nice to see some photos. While I was there, I checked out his links to other blogs. I found new marriages, new babies, first steps, lots of photographers, and a few missionaries: happiness, love, joy, adventure! I don't know how to describe how this collection of lives made me feel. I was happy for all of them, but today I had a hard time connecting.

I didn't see anyone like us. I didn't see people who've had a horrible couple of days with chronic illness, people who've been waiting (with painful losses) to start there family for over 3 years, people who work 50 hours a week and then dream about it every night, people with neighbors who turn up the base on their car stereos every time they pass your house because they know you don't like it, people with fantastically dysfunctional families, people who've been trying to finish a remodeling project for 2 years, people with more broken dreams than accomplished ones, or people whose prayers so often seem to go unheard. (I did see one girl who'd scalded her hand, but I get hot oil burns twice a week, so that doesn't count.)

So, rather than just not write, which is what I normally do, I'm going to whine. (Don't worry, my blog isn't always going to be a complaint.) Today, I'm having a rough morning. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of waiting for our adoption. I'm tired of waiting for free time to finish projects, for the chance to live somewhere that isn't dangerous for Olivia's Lupus, and for a house that isn't in the ghetto. I'm tired of waiting for this time to be over and for life to be more like a blog post than it really is. I know other people have stuff, but I'm tired of waiting for our stuff not to be the thing that takes up all our time and energy.

I'm tired of waiting... but, it's been a rough couple of days and I'll get over it.

Today started with Lupus

2010-07-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

Today we're at the hospital and my sweet bride isn't feeling well. It's inconvenient, but at least we're here together. Olivia's been really brave these past 5 hours, but she's ready to go home. The hardest part, she says, is that Gracey isn't here with us. She's at home on the bed feeling sad and alone. This is part of life fighting a chronic illness, and it isn't the funnest part.

We woke up this morning and were just getting ready for church. Olivia started taking a shower and suddenly felt like she was going to pass out. She was really hurting all over so, after we got her to bed and talked it over, we decided we needed to get to the ER. Olivia had a busy day yesterday and the doctor says she is suffering from heat exhaustion. Now, she's on IV's and her pain has gone down, but her blood pressure has gone up.

Now, I don't want anybody to panic. This isn't an abnormally critical situation. The fact is this is just part of what lupus does. It attacks you when you aren't ready, sends you to bed or to the hospital in exhaustion, pain, and nausea, and takes days to recover from. It's pure treachery in physical form, your body in treason against itself. This is life with lupus, and Olivia's been dealing with it for almost 7 years.

For me, it can be inconvenient (so are taxes and filling up the car with gas), but for my sweet Olivia, it's horrible. I don't think those of us without lupus, even loved ones, can even imagine what it feels like to be living with what she deals with every day. I'm bothered by people's lack of compassion and understanding. I think the judge who said she 'didn't look sick' and didn't deserve Social Security help should be fired. I don't like seeing her suffer and hate her own body sometimes. I hurt with my lack of any true ability to help. Yet, all of my emotions (I know) are nothing to the flood she constantly feels (doubt, fear, hate, exhaustion, betrayal, hope, faith, love, anger...).

So, if you'd like to encourage Olivia, I know she would appreciate it. But, don't forget that what we're going through today is only her regular life intensified. Please remember that each time you see her happy, energized, creating, taking Gracey out for a walk, or even just playing, it is a gift she never takes for granted. I hope you won't take it for granted either. Such times are more often the exception than you realize. Often they are hard fought for, and for every trip to the ER she's made (with all of it's bad memories), there have been dozens of times when she's toughed it out at home.

One thing I've learned from Olivia's fight with lupus has been not to take so much for granted, because she doesn't. I hope you won't either. Enjoying life is a privilege that some people don't get to experience as often as you do. Enjoying life is a gift. God is the giver. And, more often than we deserve, we are the blessed.

Real Life and What Doesn't Matter

2010-07-01T10:21:00.001-05:00

My site tracker tells me that many of you have continued to check in even though I haven't written for a while. Thank you. It's because of the encouragement that brings me I'm writing today.

I have a new job. I've been there 3 months now, and I'm starting to settle in. The kids I now work with are a lot different than the ones I led before. "Rough" would be a good term, but so would "hurting", "angry", "funny" and a dozen others. It's a wonderful opportunity...if I can get into it.

I like where we're at in a lot of ways: our adoption is progressing, our bills are getting paid, Olivia and I are getting to hang out, IBG is doing well, we're now able to attend church regularly, I've even been playing my guitar a little. I quit playing two years ago today, when we lost our daughter, Rachel Elizabeth. Today is her 2nd Angel Day.

Healing is a long, slow process when the wound is so deep that you hardly dare to explore it. And, we have lots of wounds: Natalie, Malachi, Rachel, Jireh, our failed adoption...Sometimes it seems like we have more sobering anniversaries than any two people should be allowed to have. Add to that the constant reminder of sickness, 50 hour work weeks, some uncool family dynamics, and a list of incomplete projects around the house and the word "Peace" feels impossibly inapplicable to my life.

Yet, "Peace" is exactly what I'm fighting for. So, I seek the Prince of Peace. I ask Him to speak. I listen for Him to answer. I cut out as much of the junk as I can, and there is a lot of junk out there, a lot that simply doesn't matter and only serves to distract us from reality. So, I watch almost no TV, I read only good books, I don't follow pop-culture icons, obsess about being entertained, wait in lines for the latest i-phone, or listen to the latest Godless music,... and I don't miss any of it. People Magazine's Top Twenty Most Beautiful People could all crash in an airplane on their way to a 'Celebrate Me 2010' event and I'd neither know nor care. Life is too real for these foolish pursuits.

People will say that these things are harmless, but I don't believe them. I don't even think they would believe themselves if they were honest. How does a teenage girl fell when she looks at the cover of a tabloid magazine and compares herself to some 'superstar sex godess'? How does it improve a young man's life to argue about which baseball player deserves the highest pay? How does it help our country when our vote is determined more by star quality than character and qualifications? What god is served by our self-indulgence and partying? It's not just that it's all so meaningless, but that it's also so harmful. None of it brings true satisfaction or peace.

So, my challenge to you today is to do real things, to seek the true God, to embrace real joys, and to pursue actual peace. Decide what matters. Do that.