deep.wide.light

Steve Jobs and King Solomon

2011-10-06T13:23:00.009-05:00

Here is an article of the 20 most memorable quotes from Steve Jobs, the recently deceased co-founder of the Apple empire.

Unless you live under a rock, you have been impacted by Steve's innovations in the worlds of the personal computer (Apple Macintosh), music (iTunes and iPod), the phone (iPhone), and personal technology (iPad).

Upon announcement of his death, Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere lit up as folks remembered his life and accomplishments. People respond to famous deaths in various ways, which I find very intriguing. Our own personalities are the focus of our comments, rather than the sentiments of the deceased. Concerning Steve, I read everything from commentary on the horrors of capitalism to the value of adoption. (I even shared my own opinions on the value of life, noting that his adoption may not have occurred in lieu of the more "popular" abortion options had he been born a few decades later than he was. What would the world have been like with no Steve Jobs?)

But two of Steve's quotes have really stuck with me. He has inspired me, even in death. Here's one from his Stanford University commencement speech in 2005:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external circumstances, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Here is an excellent example of agreeing with someone's vision of reality while disagreeing with their conclusions. Death shaves away all the excess. Our culture will laden you with the unnecessary, but the certainty of death puts all of those things in proper perspective. Hear the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 5:15:

As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

The question for you and me is this: Do we make decisions as if we were going to die today? If we do not, why don't we? Does it really matter if all we did today was clock in and earn a paycheck? The wisdom of Solomon in Ecclesiastes is echoed in Steve's comments. Solomon comments on many things that are useless, a "chasing after the wind." Solomon reaches a different conclusion from Steve. Steve Jobs says to a group of young college graduates to follow their hearts. Solomon says to us to "fear God and keep his commandments." I personally tend to take Solomon's advice over Steve's.

Steve reminds us of this:

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me.

I agree. The riches of this world are utterly useless to us as human beings. I too want to go to bed knowing I did a God-thing that was something wonderful. God knows what His plan for us is - and it is epic. "For I know the plans I have for you... to give you a future and a hope." The Christian has hope. This is no small thing. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tells us that death is nothing to fear. It tells us where our hope is:

And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don't want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence-we have the Master's word on it-that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they'll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He'll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise-they'll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we'll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

I want to serve Christ and go to bed at night saying I have done something wonderful. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for reminding me of that.

A college football player gets it right

2011-08-26T13:36:00.004-05:00

I had never before heard of Kirk Cousins, the quarterback for Michigan State, but I am glad I have now heard of him. He gets it precisely right. "To whom much is given, much is required."

He delivers a speech at this link:
http://bit.ly/qZpbPS

It is worth every moment of your time. I am encouraged to hear young men like him be the leaders God enabled them to be!

Church attendance is easy... and hard

2011-04-29T08:52:00.005-05:00

God blew me away recently (in several ways, but I will only bore you with one today). After our church's recent excellent Easter worship, I ran across a news article with some disturbing and yet not surprising statistics. Apparently, 9 out of 10 American homes have a Bible in them. However, only 16 percent of American churchgoers read the Bible daily and 25 percent of churchgoers don't read the Bible at all.

The mental picture of the dusty Bible on the shelves of most American homes is not surprising in the least to me. It is, however, a grave concern of mine. It is most especially disconcerting when I notice that elsewhere on planet Earth, believers are using their Bible to stand up for their right to worship. Hundreds of believers were arrested in China on Easter Sunday (this link is working as of 04/29/2011)during a government crackdown on an unregistered church. The pastor's response is straight from God's Word. Read this for yourself, and be amazed. While we in the Bible belt attend church most frequently when we feel the pressure to do so from society or our spouse or our kid, we more often than not feel like staying home. Perhaps now that a tornado has demolished my community's park, some families will feel the freedom to worship for a Sunday or two at the altar of the Lord instead of at the baseball diamond.

Please don't misunderstand me. God does not hate baseball, and neither do I. And the tornado that struck here on April 27 was a tragedy, not a good thing. But I have seen with my own eyes in Burkina Faso, Africa, believers who walk for miles every week to worship with their brothers and sisters. When I see American apathy about church attendance (which is not the equivalent of worship), I see two perspectives that are way too drastically different. One perspective desires to worship because it is needed and commanded. The other desires to attend church because it is enjoyable and/or convenient and/or socially required.

Even in the midst of this discrepancy, there is hope for the American church. On Good Friday, 50,000 people gathered via simulcast to hear Bible teaching for six hours straight. We believers are hungry for the Word, so why don't we feed ourselves? Possibly because it is easier to let someone else feed us.

May we, brothers and sisters, pray to "hunger and thirst for righteousness" and find ourselves feasting on everything that comes from the mouth of God through His Word. Pick up that Bible, dust it off, and read it. Turn off the TV and read it. But be careful, it may change you!

Easter is Easy... and Hard

2011-04-20T09:18:00.004-05:00

Read Matthew chapter 16, starting in verse 13 and going through the rest of the chapter. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.

No really. Read it real quick. Take your time. I'll be here when you get done.

You back yet? You took a little while! But that's okay.

Jesus is trying to explain to his precious followers that he is going to have to march into Jerusalem and get murdered. Peter is not okay with this, and Jesus has some strong words to say to him. "There is a plan of God Himself at work here, and you had better not get in the way, Peter." And then he tells Peter, "You, too, will have to throw yourself away and pick up your electric chair and come on if you want to follow me."

Whoa. Those are such strong words. Christians quote this verse of denying self and picking up a cross frequently without thinking about what it means.

See, saying "deny yourself" is easy. But ignoring what you want is hard. Saying "pick up your cross" is easy. Suffering torture for Jesus is hard. Saying "follow Jesus" is easy. But doing everything in your life not for others nor for yourself but for Jesus is hard.

Going to church doesn't cost us much, although some complain about the sermon being too long or missing something on TV to be there or not enjoying it. That's not really suffering for Jesus, is it? Church attendance is not "picking up your cross."

During the Easter season, spend some time thinking about what Jesus sacrificed for us. And then consider sacrificing some of your things and money and vacation time and activities away from yourself. Give them instead to God and His big plan.

Deny yourself. Suffer torture. Follow Him. As crazy as that sounds, if you try it, I'm pretty certain you won't regret it! How could I know that? Because Jesus said "Whoever throws away their life for me finds a better one that I want to give them." If you don't believe me, re-read Matthew 16:25 for yourself. And think about doing it. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Geraldine Tucker

2011-04-03T22:13:00.005-05:00

The following is a tribute to one of the greatest women I have ever known - my mamaw, Geraldine Tucker.

She went home to be with the Lord on Sunday evening, April 3, 2011. She was 83 years old. But that is not why she was great.

The world will not do much more than blink with her passing. The world will stop spinning for some of us for a time, but planet earth will continue moving around us at lightning speeds, and eventually we will go back to our lives with only memories left. She gave us wonderful memories. But those are not why she was great.

She married Papaw in 1943, and a day or two later, he left with his Army unit for training, and for eventual deployment for Normandy. By the time he had returned, she had purchased for them a house and 50 acres. They built a life together, and raised a large family. They worked so very hard, but her hard work is not why she was great.

She fulfilled God's purpose for her here on Earth. He tasked her with creating and raising a family in the Lord, along with Papaw, who was a pastor, and she did just that. That is why she was great. How do I know this was her task? Because I see what God has done through her. I knew how proud she was of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And I know that one of the things that she was most proud of was how God has worked in the lives of so many of her family. There are three of us kids and grandkids who have been called by God to serve Him with our entire lives. There are at least six or more kids and grandkids who serve God with all that they are as deacons and faithful servants. And there are so many others - family and not - who love Jesus, almost directly because of Mamaw's influence. She was great because she left a legacy.

That inspires me. I also long to leave a legacy. How could I do that? What trick is there for that? Mamaw's life offers an example or two.

Prayer.
How else do we fall in love with our Maker? How else do we lean on His help? Who else controls all things? Prayer is more discussed than done. Lord, teach me to step off the bullet train of life and pray. To "be still, and know that [you are] God." Mamaw did this better than anyone I know. I, too, will learn from you, Mamaw, as I pray for those of us who will continue on down here without your prayers.

Humility.
How important am I really? How much newspaper or internet space will be dedicated to a simple woman who lived a simple life in rural Mississippi? Does it matter if it is not as much space for Mamaw as I think it should be? Doesn't her influence on me and countless others mean that she made a huge difference, no matter whether anyone hears about it or not? Mamaw understood better than so many others that she was nothing special, but that Jesus was!

Unshakeable faith.
Mamaw and Papaw never had much money. But that didn't matter. They moved around a lot as Papaw would preach at various churches in central Mississippi. (I was honored to be able to open the Word from the same pulpit he had preached from years earlier, from notes that were written with his hand.) What mattered most in the times of change or times of need? Jesus. What did Mamaw need more than any other thing in her life? Jesus. What consumed her devotion more than even her precious family? Jesus. In good times and bad, who did she depend upon completely? Jesus. What message did she insist I pass on to the entire family last Christmas? To be right with Jesus. Are we seeing a pattern here?

So I leave you with a humble, prayerful woman of faith's simple message to you, no matter if you knew her or not. It is found in 2 Corinthians 5:20. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

She would want you to know that about her. That she was God's ambassador to you. So come back to God. The parable of the prodigal son teaches that Jesus is just waiting to welcome you back home with open arms. Come back. Leave your selfishness and come back home.

She is at home now. And her home was not the house that she has been physically unable to live in recently anyway. She belonged to the kingdom of God, as a child of the King. And she wants you to come to join her there one day. Come back to God. Come back home.

Thank you, Mamaw. I love you.

Lent for a Baptist?

2011-03-10T13:18:00.008-06:00

Before you read anything, watch the embedded youtube video of "The Skinny on Fasting." Hilarious stuff!

I hear so many of my Baptist brothers express confusion when I talk about giving something up for Lent. "Why? You're not Catholic!" But here's the skinny -- I believe that we Baptists aren't fasting enough. And isn't forty days of fasting biblical? Jesus fasted for forty days immediately following his baptism, and I think the Lenten tradition of giving up something in order to give more of me to my Jesus is such a fantastic idea.

But what should I give up? I am not going to tell you what I decided to quit doing. I don't want you to do the same thing I did. I want you to consider this idea for yourself, and find that thing standing between you and God and remove it, not merely for forty days but also perhaps for good!

But it is not merely enough to quit doing something for a period of time. That is not fasting. Fasting is the denial of something in order to spend more time with or be more focused on the object of our affection -- Jesus.

You may discover what I have already have: that you never know how strong a hold something has on your mind/heart/soul until you get rid of it. What about you? Will you consider releasing something from the time you read this until we celebrate our Savior at Easter?

Think Orange... for FREE

2011-02-08T11:00:00.005-06:00

http://ht.ly/3RwiA

The above link is a blog from a friend/fellow youth guy on his excitement about Think Orange for his ministry. Two observations.

First, you could be a part of the Think Orange live webcast on Tuesday, February 15. The times are as follows for us in Central Standard Time:

12:00pm - Session 1

1:15pm - Session 2

2:45pm - Session 3

4:00pm - Done!

I will definitely be watching this at FBC Philly if anyone (church leader / youth worker / involved parent) wants to join me!

Second, we (the Student Ministry Team) at First Baptist have read Think Orange and are praying and talking through what that looks like in our context here. But I think that small towns and small churches (which make up approximately 75% of the Southern Baptist Convention) already do family-friendly ministry better than larger churches in some ways. Our events involve smaller numbers of people, so we combine several age groups for several things. Parents in small towns and small churches already have an informal network in place as they help each other with parenting. (Ask any teen how hard it is to get away with something here. Mom finds out about it before the student even gets HOME!) The major puzzle piece that seems to be missing here right now (and this is what we seek to remedy) is that parents always are looking for help as to what kinds of things they can do to guide their children and teenagers spiritually. Some need prodding from Deuteronomy 6 to realize that the spiritual growth of their student is not a church leader's job, but theirs. And some churches need prodding to see parents not as incapable of spiritual leadership but as spiritual partners.

This is what Think Orange is all about.

The home is a heart. It is red. It is where children and adolescents are nurtured.

The church is a lightbulb. It is yellow. It is the body of Christ, where God molds His children of all ages into faithful followers.

But to create disciples of Christ from the next generations, we don't need just yellow. We don't need only red. We need to THINK ORANGE!

We are praying that God guides us in the details of how to follow Him as we, too, seek to be orange.

I know you are but what am I?

2011-01-18T12:53:00.003-06:00

There is an excellent article at http://ow.ly/3FKZu by Jay Higham on how NOT to look at what other youth groups are doing. Take a second to read that article and come right back.

Are you back? Great!

I think most of us in youth ministry have some sense that we don't need to compare ourselves to each other. I think the problem in my own soul is that I subconsciously am doing it much more than I admit. I have to catch myself doing it in order to stop doing it. There are a few things that help me in concrete ways to bloom where I am planted rather than admire grass that appears to be greener.

1. My God-moments

I remember those late night one-on-one conversations with students that other youth guys have NOT had with our students. The other youth guy at Supah Kewl Church of Awesomeness doesn't know that the kid I had lunch with the other day wants to be in a job profession that his dad thinks is ridiculous. And he also hasn't listened to the sweetest lady in the world talk to him about her husband who recently passed away and confess that it has not really sunk in yet.

2. My God-given personality

I did a quick talk for a school club recently, and had a blast. It went great (as far as I know), and the Youth Pastor of the Year didn't do that. The students I share life with know me and will continue to get to know me, and if they think I'm cool, then who cares if anyone else does?

3. My God-given task

God brings us very specifically to the things that He has put before us. He did not bring someone else to our own version of Queen Esther's "such a time as this." Everything God has done in my life has brought me to this moment, and I need to dig my heels in, and point myself and the others God has put with me to the King and all of His glory! His face should be the one I worry about. I ignore the faces of other folks enough to picture the only Face that truly matters. Because no one else will have the authority to say what the Righteous Judge will tell me on Judgment Day. And it will not make a difference whether my brothers and sisters in Christ smile upon my efforts to serve Jesus. If He smiles at me, then nothing else matters!

One Thing

2011-01-13T15:14:00.003-06:00

I was in Genesis 2 this morning, and was struck with a new thought. (Actually, I was struck with three thoughts, but I'll only mention one here.) In Genesis 2:17, God says to Adam, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Now, I don't know about you, but I have always been VERY curious what in the world was so different about this one tree. And why is knowing right from wrong a bad thing for Adam, and later Eve?

And it struck me this morning -- there should only be ONE thing that consumes our life. Adam and Eve walked with God in Eden and talked to Him face to face. The only things on their mind and heart were the tasks God had given, the things God had made, their spouse that God had provided, and conversations with God Himself. There was no wrong. There was only God.

But knowing right from wrong introduced a second option. Satan, as a serpent, told Eve that it would make her like God. But he had to twist the truth to say such a thing, because this new thing called "evil" would give mankind forevermore a choice.

As a result, we Christians find ourselves today trying to focus on God alone. We are trying to put away our selfish desires, we are trying to pray to Him more, we are trying to please Him, even though we have never talked to Him face to face. And we find it so very difficult to do everything as if we were doing it for Him.

Why? Because there is a new way -- our way. Before, there was only God. Now we need His help to get over ourselves in order to go His way. Things were much simpler when there was only one way. At least there is comfort in our future! One day there will only be ONE who matters, and it will not be any of us! Just as in glorious Eden, in the new heaven and new earth we will spend all our worship and time on the ONE who is the one way!

Raw

2010-09-30T12:37:00.007-05:00

I am getting old. I turned 30 this year, and proceeded to injure myself several times. I sprained an ankle playing basketball with teenagers, and a month later broke a bone in my hand playing tag with kids. I find it ironic that I get injuries doing my job only after I turn 30!

Well, the cast had to stay on for six weeks. It got in the way, but I made it work and pressed on. Then I finally got it taken off, and whoa! The skin underneath that cast had totally changed. I had to scrub dead skin off my hand, which was interesting. But I noticed something else.

After the dead skin was gone, I noticed that the sensations were very different between my left hand with its new pink-tinged skin and my normal right hand. Cold felt colder; hot felt hotter; my unshaved chin felt rougher. It was a bit odd for all things to feel "more." For example, when I hold my phone with the new skin, I can tell more about its texture and temperature than with the "normal" hand. It is all very fascinating.

But there is a principle in this. We accept the way things are, and build our lives around them - just as I did with the cast. And the longer that thing is present, the stranger it feels when it is gone. But things are so much "more" once that problem/issue/argument/sin/circumstance is gone. And although it feels almost raw, life is "more" as a result.

And I like it that way. What do you need to scrape off your life today?

lost in translation

2009-12-08T11:30:00.005-06:00

It amazed me in Africa that the language barrier was not as thick a wall as I imagined. So much can be said with a smile and a greeting. So much more than I at first thought.

But there are some things that don't come through clearly. We were in the American embassy's recreation center in Ouagadougou when I saw a sign for a "Flag Big" and "Flag Small." I was excited, seeing as how I was looking for a Burkina Faso flag to buy. I told Alfred (Alain's brother and the manager of the facility) that I was excited and wanted to buy two big flags. He was happy to oblige, and sat us all down in the lounge in front of the TV and turned on the sports channel while he went to the back for the flags. Here's what he came back with.

We laughed really hard, and I think Alfred was a little embarrassed when he took them back to the icebox, but I will never forget the day I asked for a flag and got a beer instead.

A bit of advice: when in Burkina, ask for a "drapeau" not a "Flag."

thoughts from a "pasteur de jeune"

2009-11-25T19:37:00.004-06:00

God is good. On the plane ride to Africa, during the overnight flight I was sitting next to a man from India and an American who grew up in Togo, west Africa. We had many discussions, but the most helpful thing was "when you go to Africa, don't give them a fish... teach them how to fish." What are the chances that the two who needed to advise me were the two who sat next to me?

God is good. Our culture shock is minimal, because Alain and Kara translate everything, get us the things we need, and know the church and local pastors.

God is good. Even though many pre-trip plans were made, most of those plans were changed. And the motto of every good mission trip is "be flexible." And we are.

God is good. We have internet to update those who are praying for us back home and talk to our loved ones.

God is good. And even though we feel overwhelmed when we see the great need of those around us, we praise the God who loves all and rescues those who call on him.

God is good. He brought everybody to this place that He wanted to bring. And all He wants to accomplish, He will. And we get to be a small part of that.

God is good.

Click here for more Facebook pictures.

it is darkest just before dawn

2009-11-22T21:00:00.003-06:00

There have been many roadblocks for several individuals on this Africa mission trip.

Each one had varying difficulties financially.

One couldn't at first take the required yellow fever vaccination because of allergies.

One had gallbladder surgery.

One got an infection just days before we were to leave.

One had a serious infection on his foot that needed to be healed before he left.

Two had problems with the tickets at the airport, and got bumped to the next flight.

It has been my experience that if the evil one is attacking you, then he is afraid of what God will do through you.

This only makes me more excited about the next few days. I believe that God will do something big. And I'm honored to play a small part in it.

prayer needs for the trip

2009-11-20T13:44:00.003-06:00

basic prayer needs: 

for God to open hearts of the unbelievers
 for God to encourage the believers there 
for energy and strength and health for the team 
for others back home to pray fervently
 for safe travel  

specific needs:  

Thurs 11-26 (Thanksgiving)  

Women's Conference (morning) 
for women to see their value in the eyes of God  

Children's Conference (afternoon) 
for children to be loved and to believe that Jesus loves them

  Youth Conference (afternoon)
 for young people (ages 15-30) to see that they need to stand strong against temptation and that they need to be salt and light to the world around them  

Fri 11-27  

Pastors Conference (all day) 
for pastors to be encouraged in their ministry and for them to learn more about how to serve God and be the church to the world

  Children's Conference (afternoon) 
for children to be loved and to believe that Jesus loves them

  Sat 11-28  

Pastors Conference (morning) 
for pastors to be encouraged in their ministry and for them to learn more about how to serve God and be the church to the world  

Ministry (afternoon)
 for the team to have whatever is necessary to provide help to whatever needs they encounter (recent flood damage, basic food needs, etc); also for them to be bold in sharing the good news of Jesus' love for them  

Sun 11-29  

Church service
 for believers to worship freely together, for God to move mightily in all our hearts, and for unbelievers to turn over their lives to God  

Mon 11-30  

Visit village of Louda (where Kara served) 
for believers there to be encouraged not to give up on the Jesus who loves them

  Tues 12-1  

Evangelism in city 
for boldness in proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and for hearts of those who hear to let God in

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

2009-11-20T12:49:00.006-06:00

Africa. I have wanted to experience it for quite some time now, and I'm not sure why. I think God has been preparing me for "such a time as this". I do know that He has clearly spoken to me and Marion from the beginning about the fact that He wants us there. And He has provided every step of the way.

First Baptist is taking a trip to Burkina Faso in west Africa. The trip will be during the week of Thanksgiving, and we are excited about what God will do in us and through us.

But we need your help. If you read these words, then I am asking you to pray. Prayer is what can make or break everything Christians do. I am convinced that churches who don't plan to pray will plan to fail. Prayer can bring drought and bring rain and can change anything.

Sometimes it even seems as if God is waiting to see how badly we desire Him as measured by our prayers. Why would so much depend on prayer? Blaise Pascal says God does it because He gives us the "dignity of causality." He wants us to be involved. How great is His mercy!

For the next two weeks, I will use this blog and a Facebook group to keep the needs of this trip before folks who want to pray for us. Hopefully there will pictures and maybe even a guest blogger or two. But don't misunderstand. Your part in this endeavor might mean the difference between an expensive fun church trip or a mighty movement of God among His people.

Daniel 2:20-22
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.

summer camp and vomit

2009-07-16T15:11:00.003-05:00

"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."

If you have worked with teenagers for very long at all, then you know all about the post-camp spiritual high. In my context, there is a Neshoba County Fair in late July, and it is always a week or two after youth camp. I have conversations with students every year who feel close to God at camp, but fall into partying and drinking and sin of all kinds at the Fair. One church in our community (at the students' request), is planning a youth trip during the Fair this year to avoid its pitfalls. I think that is admirable (didn't Joseph run from the temptation of Potiphar's wife?).

So how do we deal with the world, when dealing with the world means being tempted by sin? There are a few things to remember.

Sin is fun, but not for long.
Being drunk leads to hangovers. Sex often leads to disease, loneliness, or unexpected pregnancy. Smoking is murder on the lungs. Drugs are both addictive and deadly. So why does anyone sin? Because it's fun. It's not the smartest long-term move, but it is still fun. See Hebrews 11:25.

For the Christian, sin brings a feeling of guilt.
It's the Holy Spirit's way of helping us to see right from wrong. See Isaiah 30:21. It also helps to remember the oh-man-I-should-not-have-done-that feeling of frustration BEFORE we choose to do wrong.

We need to be "in" the world but not "of" the world.
We live here, of course. But we don't have to be like everyone else! See Hebrews 11:13-14. This world is not really our home; heaven is. And we should be spreading God's love (which leads a person away from sin) all around while we're here while not letting ourselves be dragged into sin. See Jude 1:23.

It's not okay, but it can all be made okay.
Hebrews teaches that blood must be shed for sin to be forgiven because it is such a violation of God's holiness. But God is so very eager to forgive us. He's just waiting with open arms to tell us that everything is going to be okay. See Colossians 2:13-14 and 2 Peter 3:9 .

Remember, God loves you and so do I. Have fun, but take Jesus along with you!

Love them like Jesus

2009-05-26T11:45:00.002-05:00

It is not often in youth ministry that you see any kind of fruit. The students you love on are in the stage of life that is between childhood and adulthood. They are growing, whether they like it or not, in many ways. And sometimes you can't tell if their parents taught them something or if they learned it in youth group. You can see if that mature decision was because they are growing up or because they saw you do it.

But there are rare moments when a kid tells you that your love actually made a difference. I'm sentimental by nature. I keep almost every single encouraging card ever mailed to me. I save text messages that make my day. I save emails that warm my heart. (And I read them on bad days.)

The other day, a student told me that my unconditional listening and understanding was me being exactly like the Jesus I was claiming to follow. I was deeply honored (but I didn't cry! I swear!)

Later, I worried that I hadn't said enough. After all, my Jesus loves me, but loves me too much to let me stay the same. Maybe I should have said something more to challenge this student. We were agreeing to disagree on some things, and I was much more interested in listening than talking. Also, he taught me several things, too.

My point is that I wonder if he was right. Was I being like Jesus by being loving and accepting? Or would Jesus have been more challenging?

I cannot know for sure. I just hope I continue to point in the right direction -- the direction of Jesus. I don't think it's helpful to judge. See Matthew 7:1. But I do think love is both accepting and challenging. See Ephesians 4:15.

Like I told this student, I will always believe there is a truth out there. I think it's imperative that I be accepting of everyone no matter where they are in their own understanding of the world. But I pray that I help others go further rather than remain the same. And I hope I point in the direction of Jesus!

numbers

2009-05-22T14:56:00.004-05:00

How many baptisms did your church have last year? How much does that number matter? How can we examine ourselves when results are people and not numbers?

Click here for an excellent article by youth culture watchdog Walt Mueller on youth ministry and how we are gauging our success.

I've thought for years that far too many "get dunked" to get their "fire insurance" salvation. Nobody wants to go to hell, but not many want to actually serve God, either. As I said in this post in 2005, my brand of evangelism is more concerned with lasting change.

And that means that Mueller's words must be heeded. Conversion brings discipleship, but without discipleship there was not conversion.

prayer and fasting

2009-05-22T10:39:00.002-05:00

So I did a study on prayer and fasting for our students. I thought I'd share it further. Here's the sheet we passed out.

Prayer and Fasting: A Guide

There are a few guiding biblical passages that are important as you fast and pray.

2 Samuel 12:22-23 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

2 Chronicles 20:3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.

Esther 4:16 Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for the three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king.

Matthew 6: 16-18 [Jesus said,] “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 9:15 But some day the groom [Jesus] will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. [Jesus was assuming we would start fasting after he went back to heaven!]

Do’s and Don’ts

Do… fast from food and pray when you would normally eat.

Don’t… use fasting to lose weight.

Do… drink water or juice while you fast.

Don’t… get dehydrated!

Do… talk to your parents about what you’re doing.

Don’t… brag about fasting to seem spiritual to others.

Do… start small and begin to fast from only one meal at first; then begin to fast for more meals at a time.

Don’t… try a forty-day fast unless you’ve been fasting regularly for awhile.

Do… fast.

Don’t… neglect this important part of your Christian life.

where have i come from?

2009-03-31T11:42:00.003-05:00

So we went on vacation suddenly and unexpectedly during Spring Break. We visited the town I was born in - Yukon, Oklahoma. I know, I know, I'm an Okie. I moved to Mississippi when I was six or seven, and I remember very little about my birthplace. The few memories I have are vague.

My connection to this town has always been that I really wanted to see it and relive those childhood memories. I'm a bit sentimental like that. I've visited the sites of houses I used to live in here in Mississippi, and enjoyed reminiscing. I even have an empty bottle of root beer that I drank on the morning I turned sixteen, as I watched the sun rise over the Pearl River. When my parents asked if we wanted to go to Oklahoma, I jumped at the chance to see my birthplace.

It was fascinating to have fuzzy things in the back of my brain become real in front of me. The fuzzy memory becomes sharply real. The house in which I lived, the elementary school where I went to kindergarten and first grade, the ditch in which I played, the field on which I played soccer.

The surprising result of this trip was after I returned home. Now, I have no reason to go back. The only two things that give me reason to go back are the wonderful Gooch family that we stayed with, and the Oklahoma Sooners!

sex

2009-03-05T15:26:00.003-06:00

facebook status. such a small thing. yet so very interesting.

i was receiving so many comments on my facebook status that i thought i'd jot a blog about it. at our church, we did a true love waits study with our students for four wednesday nights in a row.

let me quote myself on the parent letter i sent out.

We live in a sex-saturated culture. It's in advertising, on TV, the subject of movies, in the lyrics of music, and all over the internet. The world says if you love someone or if you feel like it, just do it. God says something different. He says that sex is what makes marriage a special relationship, and that sex belongs only there. But with the world pulling so strongly in the wrong direction, how do we resist the temptation?

i believe very strongly that our students need the positive message of what God created sexuality to be. of course, the responsibility for this topic is borne first and foremost with the parents or guardians. the problem is that the average parent feels very uncomfortable with this topic. as a matter of fact, the feeling is more properly not discomfort but terror! it became a habit of mine early on to discuss this topic with students at least annually. this supplements the teachings of parents, which is what youth ministry should do at all times. as a matter of fact, one parent once asked me when the next true love waits study was coming, because she didn't want to talk to her son!

however, when i mentioned doing this study on facebook, one youth minister friend texted me and said he knew two different youth guys fired for doing such an event. and i also know folks who have taken much heat for discussing this sensitive topic with students. one of the things i have noticed, though, is that most of those problems lie with communication, not with the topic itself.

step 1: run it by the pastor and staff (check)
step 2: run it by the student ministry team (check)
step 3: divide into age-appropriate and gender-appropriate groups (check)
step 4: led by trustworthy adults (check)
step 5: offer an alternative Bible study led by an adult for all those who choose not to participate (check)
step 6: send a parent letter to every youth parent who's ever stepped foot in your church (check)
step 7: require permission slips be signed by parents before allowing students to participate (check)
step 8: have a parent meeting to allow for discussion and questions and concerns (check)

and every single student and even some visiting students participated! parents were overwhelmingly supportive, and the students were very grateful that we talked about these issues. went off without a hitch! (so far!)

the facebook discussions involved various positions about parental responsibility and church involvement and the importance of such a thing. some comments were funny, too (thanks, angela, louis, and stephanie!) i am glad that this topic sparks conversation. it's an important issue.

too important to leave to satan.

needy

2009-02-26T10:39:00.003-06:00

One of the interesting things about Facebook is that it connects me to folks I haven't thought about in years. In recent months, I've connected with several old friends. As we play catch up, we find out each other's stories since we've seen each other last, and more often than not there is a sad story they tell.

One such story was a marriage, children, job changes, divorce, and drugs. My response was one of empathy. As I reflect on the circumstances of others, I see myself. We are all needy. And not marginally so. I'm so screwed up, and I feel so unworthy to serve my loving God.

A difference between those in the church and those without seems to be honesty. Can I talk about my struggles with those at church? What would happen if I did? Thankfully, there seems to be a movement in American Christianity towards a more honest kind of community of believers. Blogs and other technologies seem to be ways we put ourselves out there more publicly. Thank you, Lord, for the chance to be honest with myself and others. Thank you for accepting me as I am.

I hope God keeps me working with real people like those at FBC Philly. Not church people. Real people.

Christmas cheer

2008-12-29T17:14:00.004-06:00

My friend Micky Breedlove and our beloved Neshoba Baptist Association were featured in the Meridian news recently for spreading Christmas cheer. You can read the article and view the video clip here. This is what showing Christ's love is all about.

a scribe is born

2008-12-08T18:57:00.002-06:00

Today I was put into history quite by accident. I received an email from a friend who had told me that Zondervan Publishing Co. was going to be on the campus of Mississippi College today. They are doing a special program called Bible Across America, and making pit stops all over the nation. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New International Version, they are compiling an edition that is completely handwritten. I wrote 1 Kings 21:18, and I felt this strange sense of something bigger. There was a time, hundreds of years ago, when all copies of God's Word were handwritten. There was no other way of reproducing them. Scribes were honored for the opportunity to be a part of it.

In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire. The Jews were exiled. About 70 years later, the Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. According to the Bible, Ezra recovered a copy of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and read it aloud to the whole nation.

From then on, the Jewish scribes solidified the following process for creating copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Old Testament.

1. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.
2. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.
4. They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing.
5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word "Jehovah," every time they wrote it.
6. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.
7. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document.
8. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc).
9. As no document containing God's Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried, in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These were usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a Jewish cemetery.
From Wikipedia.

Zondervan saw it as an opportunity to let the everyday man be a part of a new Bible promotion. But I felt something much more. I've taught many times that we are unworthy of God, but in that moment I truly felt that way. That God was speaking in my feeble hand. Even as I breathed heavy from the experience, I saw others around me light-hearted and unnoticing.

But perhaps I read too much into it. It's only a Bible, right?

The Prosperity Gospel

2008-12-07T22:58:00.003-06:00

For all those who believe that God wants you to be rich, have I got a video for you!

Surprises

2008-10-12T15:13:00.005-05:00

So I was doing research for our youth's Hunger Project last weekend, and I had stumbled upon a web video that reminded me how lucky I am.

You can view it at its original source here, but I like the Youtube version and its background music better. We all need active reminders of the world outside our little bubble. I'd love to hear your reaction.

sacrifice

2008-10-12T14:52:00.004-05:00

So this farmer's kid calls in to a Christian radio station and talks about dying for a purpose. This kid really gets it. The gospel is simple. Here it is in a nutshell.

Death isn't easy, but God deemed us worthy to die for. "Greater love has no one than this - that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 (ESV)

God loves us that much.

Group Worship

2008-07-19T00:22:00.005-05:00

Until I get this mobile blogging thing done right, my mobile blog is being uploaded elsewhere. For a review of Mississippi Baptist Youth Night 2008, click here.

Bumble bee tuna 2.0

2008-06-25T10:06:00.003-05:00

bumble bee tuna

2008-06-25T09:58:00.003-05:00

from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
it's Bumblebee Tuna

sorrow

2008-06-25T08:41:00.004-05:00

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, from June 25, (emphasis mine):

You cannot find yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot find yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience.

In John 12:27-28, Jesus said, "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

We make a really big deal about troubles and sorrows. I know why -- they are troublesome and sad! But when we feel that way, we are in no position to question God's wisdom. During those times, our judgment is clouded with anger and/or pain. Clear head or not, though, why God should allow pain and suffering is a major mental hurdle for both believers and non-believers alike (it's also known as the theodicy or the problem of evil in the world of philosophy and theology).

If I were to oversimplify things, the answer to that dilemma would be as follows: in tough times, you can find out what you're made of.

There are many analogies that speak to this point:
Those who own fruit trees beat the base of the trunk when they are still saplings until some of the bark comes off. Why? Because the tree responds by growing taller and straighter than it otherwise would have.

How do you get impurities out of iron? You burn them out at very, very high temperatures.

And the last bit of wisdom about this topic comes from a homeless man who had lost everything. He told the evangelist who was talking with him these words about God: "The teacher doesn't talk to the student during the test."

Hmmm. God, may we listen to your guidance before and after our tests. And may we pass those tests according to your standards. Thank you for loving us enough to test us and push us to be better. Amen.

We will do what we will do, won't we?

2008-01-29T12:53:00.006-06:00

Today's Handbook For Solving Bible Difficulties, pp. 107-108
David E. O'Brien

I can't help thinking of a scene in the seventh book of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The Last Battle pictures Narnia wracked by the evil of the Beast and his prophet, a donkey dressed in lion skins, and a chattering ape.

After what seemed to be the defeat of Narnia at the hands of the armies of the false god, King Tirian was thrust into the door of a stable that ushered him and his party into an Edenic world. It was a place where the fruit was so sweet that "all the nicest things in the world would taste like medicines after that."

In that wonderful world, they found a band of dwards who had shouted the time-honored cry of sinners everywhere: "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!"

Thrust through the same door, into the same Eden, these sinful creatures sat huddled together, cursing the darkness and filth of the stable they believed they were in.

Lucy, one of the queens of Narnia, was moved by the sadness of their plight. She tried to convince them they were sitting in a beautiful grove of trees, but they insisted, in the pride of their ignorance, that they were all shut up in a stable. They accused her of trying to trick them.

She moved to show them the truth of what she could see and they could not. She stooped and picked some wild violets. "Listen, Dwarf," she said. "Even if your eyes are wrong, perhaps your nose is all right: can you smell that?"" She leaned across and held the fresh, damp flowers to Diggle's ugly nose. But she had to jump back quickly in order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist.

"None of that!" he shouted. "How dare you! What do you mean by shoving a lot of filthy stable litter in my face? There was a thistle in it, too."

In spite of Lucy's good intentions and best effort, the dwarfs clung to their belief that they'd been battered and imprisoned and were sitting in darkness and filth awaiting their doom.

When Aslan came back from the land of his Father, the Emperor-Over-the-Sea, Lucy went to him. Grieved that the dwarfs would not see, she asked him to do something for them.

Aslan growled close to the dwarfs, but they cautioned one another not to believe in the sound because it was a hoax. He set a feast before them.

The ate and drank, but they could only taste things found in a satble. For them Aslan's feast was hay, an old turnip, raw cabbage leaves, and "dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at!"

Their feast ended in a brawl, as each fought the other to get what little he had. When it was all over, they who had been in the presence of the Lion and could have had everything were left with nothing more than their boastful cry, "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs."

"You see," said Aslan, "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afriad of being taken in that they can not be taken out."

So this pretty much sums up our ability to think what we will no matter what we might be told differently. You ever notice this happening in politics? Folks pick a candidate and become die-hard fans. And especially in the church. We believe a certain way, and BAM!, there's no turning back. Most of the time we don't realize we've begun to think that way, either.

The big question is: What do we hold on to and what are we willing to let go of? Are we willing to be wrong? What about the big stuff? Shouldn't we hold on to that and never let it go? These questions are difficult to answer, that's for sure.

Just pay attention to the next time you hear something and think, "They're crazy. They're way wrong. I know it's not like that!" Are you being a dwarf?

What was God thinking?

2008-01-29T11:07:00.001-06:00

So a good friend of mine asked me a great question the other day. He said, "I noticed that there are seeming inconsistencies with who was present at the tomb for the resurrection. I don't necessarily have a problem with the differences. What I don't understand is this: when God was transmitting His holy word to us (that is, inspiring the authors and guiding its being copied and its being canonized), why would he include such things knowing they would cause us struggles? Why would God do that?"

Here's the discrepancies he's referencing.
Matt 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24, and John 20:1-4.

I think his question is a very, very good one. It goes past the basic questions straight to the heart of the issue: What was God thinking?

We must tread lightly here. Anytime we try to plumb the depths of the mind of God, we're doomed to an incorrect conclusion. 1 Cor 2:11 says, "[N]o one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." But that doesn't make the journey fruitless. It's a question worth asking.

Let me paint a scenario. Let's say some guy is sipping coffee at the watercooler at work, and his co-worker walks up to get himself a glass of water. The first man says hey, but his co-worker doesn't even look up at him. He merely nods absentmindedly, gets his water, and walks away. If you were to ask ten observers what they thought happened, you would get several variations. If you asked what the co-worker was thinking when he ignored the first man, you'd get as many unique answers as the number of observers you asked. Why? Because whether or not the co-worker was a jerk or absentminded or having a bad day is interpreted based on the personality and perspectives of the observers themselves. In a more basic scenario, if four folks witness a traffic accident on the four corners of an intersection, they will not give the same report to the police officer interviewing them.

What does that mean? The human hands that penned the four gospels had different motives for their story, different sources of information, and different methods of storytelling. Differences are no surprise. Let me quote a fellow minister and put it this way. If the stories were identical, they would be suspect! Being the same would suggest tampering and changes!

But on to the original question. God is smarter than all of us. Should it bother us that there is no miracle that makes the differences disappear? But wouldn't that deprive us of the miracle we may not be seeing? The Good Book took nearly 1,000 years to be written over multiple continents with multiple authors in multiple languages. And we don't even have one of the original manuscripts! Not one! The "originals" that we have were hand-copies, probably made from other hand-copies. And yet textual critics who deal with these old manuscripts find so very little variations. Even liberal (as in the-Bible-is-not-inspired-by-God kind of liberal) textual critics proclaim them reliable enough for a reasonable person. It astonishes me that even today more copies are made of the Holy Bible (in many, many different languages) than any other book on the planet. God has revealed and is revealing Himself to us all in His word.

"To us all." There are over 6 billion people on the planet by some estimations, and that's only today. Man has been around for thousands of years. The Old Testament has been God's Word since at least 100 B.C. or so. Mathematically speaking, there could have been billions upon billions of people who have found God revealed in the Word.

We are all as unique as snowflakes. I count it a miracle that one book is flexible enough to show the same God to all. He has been controlling what He said and what others were hearing and has shown Himself to lots and lots and lots of people! In my mind, there is enough information to find God, and yet only enough information about God to show the tip of the iceberg.

But let's be honest here. If this weren't a stumbling block, there would be another one. Jesus was called a stone that was rejected but became the cornerstone. It was also said that He was a stumbling block, and the Word is no different. Knowledge is not the path to God. Even with much knowledge, you arrive at a canyon that requires a leap of faith.

What am I saying in all of this? There are minor variances in the Bible, but none of them are major doctrines of the faith. And the story of the formation of the Bible we have today is a miraculous story. I'm not sure what God was thinking, but I at least know He's said what He wanted to say to billions of people throughout history. And most of them heard from Him from the Bible. Without a satisfactory answer to this question (which happens often when trying to understand the mind of God), I fall back on faith, not doubt. Ultimately, this unsolved mystery is only a small one.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV, emphasis mine)

spiritual, carnal, intellectual

2008-01-16T16:03:00.006-06:00

So I found an amazing quote the other day. Here it is in its entirety. I highlighted the phrases that caught my attention.

The intellectual and physical parts are in and of themselves sinless, and
natural to us; but the man who has been shaped by the intellectual, or even worse, by the carnal, is not sinless. He is guilty of granting supremacy within himself to something that was not meant for supremacy, and that is supposed to be in a subordinate position. It turns out that although the intellectual is natural, for a man to be intellectual is unnatural; in the same way carnality is natural, but for a man to be carnal is unnatural. The error here is in the exclusive predominance of that which is supposed to be subordinate.

When the spiritual reigns supreme in someone, then although this is his exclusive character and attitude, he does not err. This is because, in the first place, spirituality is the norm of human life, and so as a result, being spiritual, he is a real person, whereas the intellectual or carnal man is not a real person.

Secondly, no matter how spiritual someone is, he cannot help but give the intellectual and carnal their rightful place; he maintains just a little of them, in subordination to the spirit. Let intellectuality be not too broad within him (in scientific knowledge, arts and other subjects), and let carnality be firmly restrained. The connoisseur, the shrewd man - and even more so the carnal man - is not a real person, no matter how appealing he seems outwardly. He is foolish. Hence the simple man who fears God is superior to the man who is diverse and elegant, but who does not have among his goals and yearnings the pleasing of God....

From this you see that acccording to natural purpose, man must live in the spirit, subordinate everything to the spirit, be penetrated by the spirit in all that is of the soul, and even more so in all that is physical - and beyond these, in the outward things too, that is, family and social life. This is the norm!

-- Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894), Russian Orthodox monk and saint

To me, the point seems to be emphasis. What consumes our focus? If we could record each thought, and categorize them, what would we find is our focus? Do we squeeze God in, or does the relationship we have with Him define or alter the other things we do? Do we look at Him sometimes during the day, or do we have a pair of "Jesus glasses" that we never take off, that we use to interact with the world around us?

worries

2008-01-16T11:02:00.002-06:00

so, our little three month old was sick with bronchitis and her blood tests showed a high platelet count. after a few days, she was better, but the platelet count was even higher. an elevated platelet count can mean things as harmless as iron deficiency and things as serious as leukemia. you know what's fascinating? the mind's ability to jump to conclusions. i had horrible scenarios running through my mind long before i knew enough to worry.

never underestimate the ability of the human mind to jump to conclusions!!

temptation

2007-12-30T02:51:00.002-06:00

i have successfully slain the dragon of temptation this weekend. it felt really, really good. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)

let me share with you something from my journal. i'm not sure it's a poem, per se, but i wrote it nonetheless. a friend of mine was struggling with an addiction at the time, and he inspired me to write this. he never read it. he never got the chance to. however, i think it applies to every person's experiences with temptation.

my life motto is "Here we go." the reason for that phrase's personal significance to me is found in part in this writing.

Trapped

Here I am, surrounded by pain.

I want out, but to where do I turn?

To the left, a future impossible.

To the right, my past mistakes.

A hand reaches down to lift me out,

But as I am raised, something grabs my ankles.

I am forced to turn and fight,

but I have fought too long.

This is my last shot,

One last chance to break free.

As the dragon which is me rears its head,

I square my shoulders and raise my sword.

We shall soon see if they were right,

The nay-sayers who claim that some things never change.

How many times in our wide world

Does an entire life come down to one moment?

And all the paths of our life meet at a single crossroads?

Do or die.

Hit or miss.

Sink or swim.

Here we go.

Christmastime

2007-12-29T04:35:00.001-06:00

Christmas is a special season. Several things happen every year without fail. First, I absolutely love the laughing and smiling that happens at my and Marion's families. Second, I get frustrated at my lack of self-control at the dinner table the days following Christmas (long after the turkey is gone). I always consider a post-holiday fast for its combination spiritual and physical benefits! Third, I always get Scrooge-ish about gifts. What I mean is that I don't think Christmas is about presents. But I manage to couple that anti-materialistic fervor with joy when I unwrap my own gifts. How hypocritical! "We should have spent this money on a worthy cause... ooh, look the CD from my Amazon.com wish list!"

I really enjoy family, though. There is a great deal of laughter there. We are very loud. It is everything you'd imagine a Christmas family thing should be. It is wonderful to take a break from work and think about nothing but Cajun-seasoned fried turkey, dressing with giblet gravy, and pumpkin pie!

want

2007-12-08T01:11:00.001-06:00

have you ever noticed how you react to disappointment? what happens in your head? in my own, there is the loud voice of frustration.

i wait all day for something, only to see that it doesn't come. life sends something else instead. it doesn't matter what it is, because my selfish reaction is always the same. i whine like my two year old. but do you know why?

it starts with a sense of entitlement. whatever i want is something i think i deserve. hmm... that sounds like selfishness to me. i know where that path leads. been there too many times.

Lord, help me learn patience, and remove from me my belief that I deserve whatever I want.

And do it now! Because I want you to!
(chuckle)

confession

2007-12-03T05:37:00.001-06:00

it's been awhile since i blogged.

have you ever had one of those conversations at church where you have to drop your voice to a whisper, because the subject material is too personal?

if confession is good for the soul, then why is the church the one place where we can't seem to confess? or if we do, we do it in a whisper and only to someone we really, really trust.

hmm...

shouldn't the church be the one place that we can be honest with each other? but we've got our Christian reputation to consider. why? what is a Christian? a sinner who happens to be forgiven, a screw-up that realizes that God can forgive anything. that's all a Christian is. but i can't confess anything to you, unless it's some "minor" sin. how sad that the church became that way.

speaking of confession, i read an article written by someone who spoke at chapel services on college campuses and reported a hunger for revival taking place. she mentioned that at the end of the service, she would have confession.

not an invitation, not salvation, not rededication, not discombobulation.

she meant a time where someone could come down to the front and confess to God or to her. in Baptist circles, she was describing an invitation time. but she called it confession.

at long last, i have a term i love for what i used to call "invitation."
confession.

Romans 10:9-10
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. "

1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

dedication

2007-04-24T23:24:00.001-05:00

We are in revival this week. As I often do, I listen closely to the beginning of the sermon, but by the end, I am hearing only closely enough to take a few notes. Usually, God and I have these talks. He beat me over the head with a verse the evangelist shared with us.

Luke 14:26 (NLT) “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple."

The part that is most disturbing is the last phrase. "You cannot be my disciple." I often feel dedicated to God and His purposes, but I also often feel more dedicated to my family.

How much of friends are God and I really? How often do we talk? How close are we? How does our closeness compare with my closeness to my wife?

Umm...
Ooops.
This isn't good. I have decided to hunt down an accountability partner specifically for Bible-readin' time and prayer time. May God have mercy on me, a sinner, as I seek to change the level of ministry by reconnecting with the power source.

lessons from my dog, part 2

2006-12-14T01:21:00.001-06:00

I need to be less like my dog.

I envy her life. What does she do? She eats, sleeps, plays, runs, barks, urinates/defacates, and wags her tail. That's it. I look at her and think, "She's got it made. I wish I had life that easy."

But let's think about that for a second. What drives her? Nothing. Her desires are all she has. Instinct, and nothing more. Her body tells her what to do.

Isn't that precisely the perspective that God so vigorously decries? The appetites of the flesh, the love of the world -- these are the things we are to let go if we desire to follow Christ! Why do we idolize the lives of our pets? Our will, self-control, and capacity for rational thought set us apart.

We are much more than the sum of our appetites. But we certainly don't do a good job of acting that way. All we seem to be saying as a society is that we should do whatever we feel like.

To me, that seems the quickest way to... well... nothing at all.

And I don't know about you, but I want my life to mean something.

lessons from my dog

2006-12-14T01:14:00.001-06:00

I need to learn from my dog. She can't stand to be anywhere but with her masters. But it's much more than keeping within eyesight. She has to be right in the middle of it all. She's most content in my lap. It doesn't matter whether or not I've just scolded her either. She is beyond loyal. Her example inspires me concerning my attitide toward God. Do I only want to sit in His lap when He is petting me? Or do I love Him after He scolds me?

Who would've thought I needed to be more like my dog?

the fight

2006-12-14T00:29:00.001-06:00

So my wife says something very sweet and loving to me.
And then, sixty seconds later, she is infuriated with me about something else.

So we fight. But of course, she was right. And I was wrong. In her anger, she said something that cut to the bone.

But what she said about me was true. And I could not reply. It hurt, but the truth often does.

So, tomorrow morning, I will apologize again. And I will thank her for giving me a pill that was hard to swallow. Because I will have swallowed it, and I needed to. I will tell her I love her.

And she will say that she loves me, too -- faults and all.

After all, that's what marriage is. I will remember this fight very clearly, as raw as it is in my mind, when I perform a marriage ceremony this weekend. And I will love my wife more deeply. I will remember the vows I myself took as I watch a couple declare their love, for better or for worse.

And, at the request of the groom-to-be, I will declare to the witnesses there the promise of Habbakuk the prophet of God as seen at the end of the book by his name --

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places."
(Habakkuk 3:17-19 ESV)

And I will remember the words of Job: "We take the good days from God--why not also the bad days?" (Job 2:10, the Message)

God is here, even in times of anger or sadness. Perhaps He is more here then than in times of blessing and joy. And He has reminded me of how much I love my wife -- enough to ask her to stand by me, faults and all.

loving God

2006-12-14T00:24:00.001-06:00

how do you love someone as ethereal as smoke?
someone as far from you as the stars?
someone bigger and grander than all the oceans?
someone who knows you more intimately than your own spouse?

the short answer is that you don't.
at least, not adequately.

but you notice Him loving you every moment, in every thing, and you love Him back, as best you can.

soli deo gloria
(to God alone be the glory)

paradox

2006-08-17T17:08:00.002-05:00

Don't you just love God's paradoxes?

Our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)
Faith without works is dead. (James 2:17)

Grace is free, (it is offered to all)
but not cheap. (you must give up your life)

For a branch to bear fruit,
it must be pruned (cut). (John 15:2)

Give God a tithe,
and you will have plenty. (Malachi 3:8)

God loves you (John 3:16)
no matter how much you hurt him. (Matthew 23:37)

less means more

2006-08-17T17:01:00.001-05:00

How is it that when I give God my time, I seem to have more to give him? The same is true with money. Give to him first. Then there is more. Whoa.

I know it doesn't make sense, but it has happened to me on a consistent basis. To the skeptic I say, "You may argue with scripture, but it's hard to argue with real events in a real world."
It's happened to me. Money has come seemingly from nowhere, and time has seemed to crawl by while many things get checked off my to-do list.

I don't understand it, but I love it.

journaling

2006-06-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

Bruce Wilkinson
Secrets of The Vine
p. 69
"I believe that men in particular need a tool like journaling to bring a sense of reality to their relationship with our invisible God."
"To abide, we must act."

Males are creatures of action. We do not enjoy casual conversation as much as women.
Give us something to do. Accordingly, the male's relationship with God is best when based upon action. We are commanded to abide in Christ according to John 15, the passage whose exposition makes up the theme of this book. But that abiding is most effective for males when we act -- when we write.

Therefore, you could say that men need diaries more than women... um... uh... I mean... um... journals... I mean journals. Yeah. Journals. Bound in manly leather. With a manly black or brown. Nothing pink here. No cute locks or feather pens, either. Nope.

my, how times have changed...

2006-06-26T23:55:00.001-05:00

Ever uttered the words, "How did we ever live without..."? I have said that phrase, usually adding some techie device I suddenly can't live without, on way too many occasions.

Saved is a new TV series on TNT. A character said, "How did we ever live without experts?" He was referring to a shrink, but I think the premise rings true with many other things. "Doctor" and "surgeon" are nearly terms of the past now. We now have oncologists, psychiatrists, opthamologists, gynecologists, neurologists, gastrointestinal specialists, and many others. And this is only the field of medicine.

There are specializations in auto mechanics. You have to decide whether you need a tire shop, a body shop, a detailer, a transmission mechanic, etc. And let's not get into the fields of theology, home maintenance, lawn care, weather, computer technology -- you need only look as far as your local newspaper to find the many sections that our lives are divided into.

But back to the question. What was life like before experts? I have a very limited answer. I wasn't there. I do know that I am thankful that a specialist is more knowledgeable. This would be especially comforting were I in the hospital.

But I think life is more holistic than that. Let's take the analogy further. Let's say I'm in the hospital with a serious illness. The specialist's expertise can perhaps save me, but there are many, many factors at work. My eating habits, my psychological history, my dependence on caffeine, genetic influence (have you seen those commercials about the medicine for your cholesterol and your genes?), allergies, the fact that I was dropped on my head when I was a baby -- all of that matters. My faith even matters. My mental and spiritual states affect my health and recovery.

You say, "Get to the point, Aaron." Okay, okay. I think perhaps that specialization crowds out overall knowledge in the fight for elbow room within my feeble brain. In other words, I am kind of saying that brilliance in one area crowds out general common sense. I think in years gone by, people generally speaking knew a little about a lot. But with every passing year, perhaps ever-increasing numbers know a lot about a little. That is a scary proposition.

Until I remember that the salt-of-the-earth, common folk still are clinging to their limited knowledge. Their common sense. May I never be "too big for my britches" in the realm of knowledge. May I never trade in common sense (also known as truth) for high-falootin' book learnin'.

No, mom, this doesn't mean I'm going to stop the grad program I'm in. Perhaps all will not be lost in my quest for the ever-elusive Master's degree.

STOP

2006-06-02T09:19:00.001-05:00

The father looks over at his daughter, who is hard at work. He asks her what she is doing, while already knowing the answer. She says, "I'm doing something for you, Dad." She grins. He smiles back, but with a twinge of sadness in the creases of his smiling eyes. He gently places his hands on top of hers, stilling her movements with a firmness that belied his quiet ways.

She always wondered how he could do that. How can anyone be as gentle as a snowflake and as unyielding as a mountain of stone? He was both a fuzzy, cuddly teddy bear and a fierce, powerful, towering grizzly simultaneously. In his presence, she felt both tenderly loved and fearfully small. He held her hands and turned her to face him. He asked quietly, "Did I ask you to do that?"

She looked at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

He smiled and said, "Did you decide to do that , or did I ask you to do that?"

Now, she was thoroughly confused. "I'm not sure."

Holding her hand, he led her to a nearby bench and sat down with her. He said, "Promise me something."

She loved him dearly, and said without hesitation, "Anything."

"Promise me that you will not work for me."

She was surprised. "But who else would I work for?"

He laughed, and the anxiety she was feeling vanished. He said, "What I mean is this: don't work for me, work with me.

"I am working all around you. In your life, in the lives of people you see every day, in millions of people you don't even know. Stay close, and listen carefully. I'll put you in the right place at the right time -- if you'll let me. Don't get distracted by a project you want to do for me. It's wasted work. I've got plenty for you to do already."

What he said made a lot of sense. Then she thought of her project she was working on. "But..." she began. Before she could argue, he put his finger on her lips.

"No," he said. "Don't use your common sense to argue with me. Never forget how much I value child-like belief. Just say yes. Nothing else is required."

Her objections were stilled. She loved him so much. He knew this, and he also knew that she could never out-love him. They would make quite a team, she knew. She said, "I'm ready."
He grinned from ear to ear and said, "Good. Here we go."

truth is everywhere

2006-04-26T14:10:00.001-05:00

i know the Emergent movement has many Christians up in arms, but i wonder if there isn't something to learn from them.

i have not read Rob Bell's stuff, but in a recent podcast, he was interviewed as saying, "All truth is God's truth." i like the sound of that. it makes sense, and it explains some things.

if love is so revered -- as seen in movies, theatre, literature, television, or in all story-telling -- then it is because love's power to change and benefit was set up by God. so there are things to affirm in the "secular" world. i use the word "secular" hesitantly, because this world is God's, no matter whether i believe it or not. therefore, truthfully, there are things from God all around us, even in things tainted by sin.

i think Christians would do well to treat the world around us with the respect due anything God has given us. it's like N.T. Wright said at a 2005 debate at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. "The world is God's creation, not to be treated as our ashtray." he was elaborating the point that God's acting to purify his world involve not merely humans, but all of his creation (nature in general). we are guilty of forgetting our first God-given task (Genesis 1:28).

(NIV) God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

(NLT) God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals."

(the Message) God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

(so the tree-huggers are right, after all. who knew?)

so what's the point? i have things to learn, from those who look/smell/talk/act like me, from those who believe as i do on most things, even from the vilest of sinners, because i am no better myself. do i really listen even to those who hate all that i believe in/stand for?

beauty product for men

2006-03-27T00:03:00.001-06:00

ATTENTION ALL MEN: Do people call you Fatty? Baldy? Ugly? Shortie? Stupid? Loser? Are you over 40, or even 70? Worst of all, have the women lost interest in you? Do not despair. Now there is a new "Male Beauty Product" on the market that will change all of that.

Sometimes, email forwards are great.

(The following is an edit that allows me to post my picture's URL for this blog. It has nothing to do with the actual blog itself.)

got the t-shirt

2006-03-20T19:31:00.001-06:00

i love debates. and not because they involve arguments. those are not debates in the truest sense. debates involve as little emotionally charged discussion as possible. check out my good friend's post here.

Madison's Agenda: Reformed Reformed: My Reformation

also check out this really cool t-shirt to go along with it. not that it will help at all with the debate. it will only help you say, "calvinism vs. arminianism? been there, done that, got the t-shirt!"

::RandomShirts.com::

aversion to nature

2006-03-20T19:04:00.001-06:00

ever notice our aversion to nature? i was under the carport watching it pour down rain today. i noticed that we build things to withstand nature. they hold off rain, wind, and sun. we carry umbrellas and wear sunscreen.

we could learn a lot from a tree. it stands there, embracing the pummeling rain. it reaches up to meet it. it doesn't cower away from it.

how would our architecture or other things we make be different if they didn't "protect" us from the elements?

hmmm...

family vs. work

2006-03-17T09:18:00.001-06:00

i'm really not a guy who rants all the time. i'm actually a very light-hearted kind of guy. but something bothers me, and i'm going to get it off my chest.

if i see one more TV show or movie that shows a character feeling guilty about not spending time with their kids/spouse only to receive a phone call bringing them back to the office, i'm gonna yell.

not that it would do any good.

they always have these bleeding-heart stories of a working man or a woman who is in serious internal conflict over missing their kid's game or not picking them up from school, but their cell phone goes off, and they say, "Daddy's got to go to work now."

come on! you don't have to go back to work. i don't care if you're spiderman! take a night off to spend with your spouse and kids! take a vacation. let the world spiral towards destruction for one evening. it'll still be full of crime tomorrow.

i have seen way too many pastors and/or ministers spend no time with their families. you know what they say about preachers' kids. they're the worst. well, i wonder why? they have to compete for their parents' attention! no child should have to do that.

here's my solution. quit talking about spending time with your family. say no to your job for one measly minute; it'll be there tomorrow. we (ministers) always talk about how our families are supposed to be number two on the priority list, right behind our personal relationship to God. well, talk is cheap. spell love to your family by the letters T-I-M-E.

there i said it. now it's off my chest, and i can go back to being happy again.

and kiss my baby on the forehead.

change vs. ritual

2006-03-01T00:15:00.001-06:00

so, i have a bone to pick. are those always-emotional, shock-your-sock-off, make-you-quiver-in-your-boots type of dramas -- the ones that depict teenage kids dying and going to hell -- good for conversions? let me ask it this way. if so many people walk the aisle after those things, why do i feel as if they are going about it the wrong way? and why are they often not at church in a month's time?

i don't believe that Jesus is simply fire insurance. for one thing, if you walked an aisle just to keep from getting into hell, then you selfishly asked God to give you something that you weren't willing to give anything up for. what did it cost you? if it cost you nothing, then there was no transaction (and salvation is a transaction -- but more on that later).

these are the same concepts seen in the cost of discipleship by bonhoeffer. the transaction for following God is simple: you owe a debt you cannot pay, and if you'll give the driver's seat of your life over to the One who can be trusted to drive it better than you can, then He'll take care of that debt and the rest of your life.

but when we "scare the hell" out of someone, they go through a ritual (i.e., walking an aisle and repeating a prayer after someone) that they believe will magically rescue them from eternal fire. there is something about that that rings untrue.

maybe it's just me.

Optimistic Prophecy

2006-02-24T14:15:00.001-06:00

Check this out. I've highlighted some verses of what I like to call “optimistic prophecy.” Many times, God’s prophets did not have good news, because God was angry about sin in much the same way as a parent is flustrated (that is not a misprint, it's a combo of flustered and frustrated) with their kid b/c they've told them and told them, but the kid just doesn't listen. But when those same bullhorns of God (that is, prophets) announced good news, it was good news indeed! In an effort to remind ourselves of what wrongs exist in this world, we remember the call of the prophets of what life will be like when that sin is gone. We see a beautiful picture when we imagine a better life – one without the aftereffects of sin. The neat thing about this is that it is said positively. If I can say that I love peace, then aren't I also saying the converse -- that I hate war?

After God judges sin and sets things aright, it will look like this:
Isaiah 11:6 - 9 (NKJV, emphasis mine) “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

(Imagine a life with no fear. For students, no fear of bullies, no fear of rejection, no fear of being hurt. For adults, no fear of any bodily harm, no fear for your family’s safety. That sounds like a life that everybody would long for. How exactly does knowledge of the Lord translate into this lack of fear?)

Isaiah 2:4 (NKJV, emphasis mine) “He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

(No war. World peace. I can hear the sighs of relief from the beauty pageant contestants now... .)

Isaiah 60:18 - 20 (NKJV, emphasis mine) “Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.

(Sweet! The Son will be the sun. That was pun-ny, huh? You thought that was funny, huh? Get it? "The Son will be the sun." It's a play on words. Get it? It's hilarious, right? You're laughing, right? Well, I thought it was cool.)

Isaiah 65:17 - 19 (NKJV, emphasis mine) “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

(No more tears. That'll put Kleenex out of business!)

Joel 3:18 (NKJV, emphasis mine) And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Acacias.

(Wine and milk in the mountains and hills sounds a little weird, but I get it. Abundance. Sounds like the American dream to me.)

That's the funny thing about Christianity. We say some of the same things that sane, loving people say, but we are labeled as lunatics for believing in something bigger than ourselves. But that is talked about in the Bible, too. The world is hostile to God. I just can't wait for that day when that will no longer be so!

How to love others with math.

2006-02-18T23:55:00.002-06:00

If I may, I am going to share with you some of my comments from an online seminary class discussion. I have edited the comments in order to make the names of others anonymous, and have adjusted things to fit them into the context of a blog. But the main concepts of my post from that discussion are the same.

-----------

In my ADD, my mind often goes to seemingly unrelated topics. But I must comment on Dr. D's words, "The inherent problem of religion in its developed, institutional form is its tendency to bind people to substitutes (rituals, laws, systems, programs) for God rather than to God."

Let us not forget the second commandment. Exodus 20:4-6 (ESV) says, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Certainly, God does not require my validation of his level of intelligence, but isn't He a genius? He knows that we always manage to turn the symbol into the object of worship -- that we can never seem to quite look past the symbols to He who should be the object of worship. This goes for the calf statue made of gold in the Old Testament and the cross hanging around our necks today. (Perhaps a discussion of the symbol of the cross will come up later. That would be interesting.) I am presuming a bit here, but I suspect there are many persons in the academic realm who worship the Bible as a book more than the God who authored it. I believe this issue (the symbol vs. the object the symbol points to) is connected in some small way to the other discussion of agape and the Theologica Germanica. I believe that religious rituals, the symbol of the cross, the concept of unconditional love, and especially the Bible all point to something else -- namely, God. (By way of background, there had been another discussion about whether or not sinful humans are even capable of loving unconditionally.)

Speaking of the impossibility of human unconditional love, I think of it mathematically. If the number 1 and the number 0 are on a line ( 1-------------------0 ), then I am at 1, and 0 represents God. God expects me to be perfect, and I have seen a real-life example of it in Jesus. (And He knows that I will not be perfect, which makes it slightly more complex, but that is for another discussion). Let's imagine that as I become more Christlike, I am divided in half. With every step I take towards God, I continue to divide in half. Mathematically, dividing myself in half means that I will be moving towards 0 for infinity, while never actually reaching it.

Now, without carrying the analogy too far, it also means that some people are very close to 1, and some are way down the line at 0.000006104 (sorry, I am just nerdy enough to actually pull out a calculator for a theological discussion). And those at 0.000006104 look and act a lot like those at 0.000003052 (because let's face it, we can't tell the difference between those last two on any line, right?!)

So, to pull all of this back from the abstract into reality, if a girl in a church youth group's brother is killed, I believe that the youth pastor would be right in telling the group that there is an obligation to forgive the man that had done it (this happened to an acquaintance of mine). While these words may be theologically true, it may not be realistically possible for 13-17 year olds in the midst of grief and shock to comprehend forgiveness, much less accomplish it. But remember that biblical truth only points to God's will. It makes no apologies for how difficult God's will actually is. But if even one of those students forgives or merely tries to forgive, and if he moves from 1 to 0.5, then God is pleased. Because I believe that while God expects perfection, He is pleased if we are at least moving in the right direction.

differences

2005-12-30T03:59:00.001-06:00

i always enjoy conversations with my brother-in-law. they always challenge me. you see, he and his wife have opinions very, very different from my own. their approach to christianity leaves most conservative believers with the opinion that are not saved at all.

so why am i right? or am i? my answer to that question would have been different at the differing stages of my life. there was a time when the answer was, "because my pastor said so." however, that answer holds very little water for the mature believer.

at the risk of oversimplification, let me give an answer for my life right now. if i am right, then it would be verified somehow, right? i live my faith out in the real world with fear and trembling. my beliefs demand that God be very much at work in the life of a regular joe like me. and thus far, he certainly has been! there have been examples upon examples of instances of "coincidences" that are strangely enough occuring when they need to be. it's as if my beliefs are some scientific theory, and i then see results of this theory being found true in my own world.

here's the hard thing. if i were to explain any one of these instances to you, you might be credulous at best that God were the force behind them. the words that would be given to me most frequently would be "coincidence" or "fate" or "luck." perhaps i am too simple-minded, but those terms are not adequate. i cannot impress upon you the strength of emotion, the brilliant flashes of understanding, or the unbelievable timing of certain things. (God seems to be most amazing with his sense of timing!)

i know, i know, i have heard all the philosophical arguments. my belief has provided a construct for receiving these circumstances, and immediately puts them into my pre-conceived categories involving God. i have examined those criticisms, and have examined theology (the study of God), and have seen the truth. there is something bigger than my opinion going on here.

God is real, and he does things -- unexplainable things -- in my life and the lives of others. ask me sometime about some of those experiences. i will tell you some stories, and it is possible that you will call me crazy, but then again, i have been called much worse.

but i feel my ADD kicking in, so i'll leave this discussion for now in an effort to stem the tide of some other rabbit-chase.

blessings.

Death

2005-12-30T03:35:00.001-06:00

So it's pretty late, and I'll try to keep this short. But I couldn't get it out of my head. Don't worry, Mom, I don't have to work tomorrow. I'll sleep in. Maybe.

I attended a funeral today of a seventy-something Hispanic man. His son, an active godly deacon in our church, spoke of family, heaven, and strength from Jesus Christ. It was a long and touching service. I live in and love this tiny backwoods town of ours. Things are simpler here. People actually talk to one another. They don't send emails to friends to read each other's blogs. They actually use their mouths and hands. There's something right about that.

But I digress. (It's the ADD.) It occurred to me to ask myself a question. If there were no heaven, would I serve God anyway? Many Christians consider heaven the goal. I prefer to think of it as a reward. A bonus payable on death, if you will. Why do we serve God with our hands out, as if expecting payment in return? Accordingly, what if we didn't get "paid" with heaven? Would we still work for God? His gift of Jesus is plenty reason to serve him our whole lives.

This changes my evangelism. I am less interested in where people think they will go after they die. I am more interested in telling them how and why God loves them, and what they can do about that. If the Holy Spirit uses that to convince them to put God in the driver seat of their life, then God will have won a faithful follower. He will not have won what I refer to as someone wanting fire insurance. (God isn't simply our ticket out of hell.) The church is far too full of those. (But those people sure do boost our annual baptism totals, don't they? But I'll save that frustration for another post.)

On a practical level, that evangelism is more likely to produce less quantity, but more quality (hopefully). But the results do not concern me. I am only asked to share. Not save. That's his job.

The first blog.

2005-12-22T08:05:00.001-06:00

deep: I want to scratch beneath the surface of my experiences and find understanding lying there.

wide: Anything that happens in life is applicable to this search.

light: What is life without light-hearted humor? No life at all!

I desire to use this blog as just a bit more than a publishing of my own opinions. If I can't help someone else, then what is the point of having opinions? Surely blogging isn't merely, "I am ______ (insert name here) -- hear me roar!!"

Hopefully, someone will be helped, changed, challenged, or in some small way affected. Otherwise, I am only going off at the mouth, and nobody's interested in that.

But, my daughter is calling for me, so alas, my time here is done. For now. But in the words of the Governator, I'll be back.