BLOGGER TEMPLATES - TWITTER BACKGROUNDS »

Sunday, April 29, 2007

In Remembrance.....

One Day Blog Silence



On Monday I will be observing a day of blog silence in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. I hope it is a day to remember all victims. The other vicitims that I will be remembering are the 30,000 children that died the same day. And the 30,000 that died the day before, and the 30,000 that died the day after and every day since. That's right, we lose 30,000 children a day under the age of 5, mostly to easily preventable things like diahrrea.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Childlike Faith

I'm reading Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli. It's about discovering, or re-discovering, childlike faith. And I think about my own kids, now 21 and 17, and I wonder when they lost their childlike faith - becasuse I think most of us have lost it. And I wonder who took it from them. I think it was me. I bet I told them to "grow up" or "quit playing around" or "act your age" hundreds of times. By the way, if you have to "act" something then it's not really you, is it? I wonder if there is a specific moment in each of my kids lives when they can remember me taking the playful child right out of them.

In his book Yaconelli tells of a time, I think he was about 6 years old, when he and a friend were playing in his room. They were trying to be quiet so as not to disturb his dad. Then before he knew it they were jumping on his bed ( which made a thunderous noise on the first floor of his house ). Then they figured out by accident that, by timing the jumps just right, they could launch each other higher. They thought they might be able to touch the ceiling. This ceiling touching became their destiny.

Suddenly his bedroom door opened and the huge shadow of his father fell across the room. His voice could be heard two houses down: "GET IN BED NOW!" He says he and his friend must have looked like frozen Gumbies, waiting for the bouncing to stop. Neigher of them said a word and got in bed. His father shut the door and they went to sleep. Yaconelli states that "as I look back over the forty-six years since that night, I am struck with an odd awareness. I never bounced on my bed again".

And then he speculates on what might have happened if Jesus opened that door instead of his father. There's no way to know of course but I like his thinking. He thinks Jesus might have looked at them for a moment, laughed, and then said "Move over, guys, I'll show you bouncing!"

Friday, April 27, 2007

redox chemistry and little girls

My daughter Sara is 21. She's a full time nursing student and part time waitress. I love being her dad and I will always think of her as my "little" girl, even though she is a young woman becoming. The other night I woke up about 2:30 in the morning and she was still up studying for a chemistry test. She always does well but she felt like she needed the extra study time. She did well. Really well. She got a perfect score. The test was on redox chemistry and that test is posted on our refrigerator. Just like when she was little. Did I mention she is 21?

How can it seem that I get up one night to get her a glass of water when she's in first grade and all the sudden she is older than I was when I got married? I wonder if she misses being a little girl. So tonight I think I'll do something else I did when she was young. I think I'll tuck her into bed.......if I can stay awake until she gets home. Did I mention she is 21?

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Wild Abandon

This post is taken entirely from a book called Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli.

"Last year Bill Harley, singer, songwriter and storyteller, told a marvelous story on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. It is the story of a young girl who ended up breaking the rules, rejecting the expectations of all around her, because she loved with abandon. Here is her story:

"Last year my son played T-ball....Needless to say, I was delighted when Dylan wanted to play....Now on the other team there was a girl I will call Tracy. Tracy came each week. I know, since my son's team always played her team. She was not very good. She had coke-bottle glasses and hearing aids on each ear. She ran in a loping, carefree way, with one leg pulling after the other, one arm windmilling wildly in the air.

Everyone in the bleachers cheered for her, regardless of what team their progeny played for. In all the games I saw, she never hit the ball, not even close. It sat there on the tee waiting to be hit and it never was. Sometimes, after ten or eleven swings, Tracy hit the tee (in T-ball the ball sits on a plastic tee, waiting for the batter to hit the ball, which happens once every three batters). The ball would fall off the tee and sit on the ground six inches from home plate. "Run! Run!" yelled Tracy's coach, and Tracy would lope off to first, clutching the bat in both arms, smiling. Someone usually woke up and ran her down with the ball before she reached first.

Everyone applauded.

The last game of the season, Tracy came up, and through some fluke, or simply in a nod toward the law of averages, she creamed the ball. She smoked it right up the middle, through the legs of 17 players. Kids dodged as it went by or looked absentmindedly at it as it rolled unstopped, seemingly gaining in speed, hopping over second base, heading into center field. And once it reached there, there was no one to stop it. Have I told you there are no outfielders in T-ball? There are for three minutes in the beginning of every inning, but then they move into the infield to be closer to the action, or, at least, to their friends.

Tracy hit the ball and stood at home, delighted. "Run!" yelled her coach. "Run!" All the parents, all of us, we stood and screamed, "Run, Tracy, run, run!" Tracy turned and smiled at us, and then, happy to please, galumphed off to first. The first base coach waved his arms 'round and 'round when Tracy stopped at first. "Keep going Tracy, keep going! Go!" Happy to please she headed to second. By the time she was halfway to second, seven members of the opposition had reached the ball and were passing it among themselves. It's a rule in T-ball-everyone on the defending team has to touch every ball.

The ball began to make its long and circuitous route toward home plate, passing from one side of the field to the other. Tracy headed to third. Adults fell out of the bleachers. "Go, Tracy, go!" Tracy reached third and stopped, but the parents were very close to her now and she got the message. Her coach stood at home plate calling her as the ball passed over the first baseman's head and landed in the fielding teams empty dugout. "Come on, Tracy. Come on, baby! Get a home run!"

Tracy started for home, and then it happened. During the pandemonium, no one had noticed the twelve-year-old geriatric mutt that had lazily settled itself down in front of the bleachers five feet from the third-base line. The tongue hung out, mouth pulled back in an unmistakable canine smile, and Tracy stopped, right there. Halfway home, thirty feet from a legitimate home run.
She looked at the dog. Her coach called, "Come on, Tracy. Come on home!" He went to his knees behind the plate, pleading. The crowd cheered, "Go, Tracy, go. Go, Tracy, go!" She looked at the adults, at her own parents shrieking and catching it all on video. She looked at the dog. The dog wagged its tail. She looked at her coach. She looked at home. She looked at the dog. Everything went to slow motion. She went for the dog! It was a moment of complete, stunned silence. And then, perhaps, not as loud, but deeper, longer, more heartfelt, we all applauded as Tracy fell to her knees to hug the dog. Two road diverged on a third-base line. Tracy went for the dog."

Two roads diverged in this little girl's life. One is the road of rules and expectations, the other is the road of love. The roads of our lives are much the same. Will we go for the safe, predictable road of rules and expectations? Or will we go for the ONE we love, Jesus, who bids us come with wild abandon?"

Monday, April 23, 2007

Money changes.............nothing

While in Ecuador last month I had the privilige of meeting Fernando Puga. Fernando is the Country Director of Ecuador for Compassion International and former Minister of the Interior. In Ecuador, Compassion partners with 200 churches to serve 43,000 sponsored children. There are 100 students in the Leadership Development Program. He told us that money can help to change circumstances but by itself changes nothing. It's not the resources that brings change; it's the spirit behind the resources. He said that these kids live in poverty but poverty is not in their heart.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes of late. It's by Wes Stafford in his book Too Small To Ignore: "While changed circumstances sometimes change people, changed people always change circumstances".

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Scandalous Grace

You probably know the story of David and Bathsheba. How David saw her taking a bath one night (funny - BATHsheba - what's in a name?) and decided he wanted her. And how she gets pregnant and then David sends her husband, Uriah, to the front lines of battle so he gets killed. Well have you ever heard of David's "Mighty Men"? They are the most important 37 men in his life. They are all listed by name and they serve in his administration and military. Now check out the last name on the list in IISamuel 23. It's Uriah! I've read this many times before but never noticed it. David murders one of his top 37 guys and quite possibly a friend to cover up his adultery.

That sure is a lot of wrongdoing from one bad decision. So how can it be that the Bible calls David a man "after God's own heart"? Well maybe that's just one example of how wide and deep God's capacity to forgive is (Read Psalm 51 - written by David after he was confronted by a friend with what he did). If you or I think anything we've done wrong is just too big for God all we have to do is read His word. After all, with his dying breath Jesus offered salvation to a thief who had zero opportunity for spiritual growth. And to a lot of people in the church that's down right scandalous.

Friday, April 20, 2007

I am adopted.......

Bob and Gail, whom I attend church with, are in the Ukraine adopting a girl named Natasha. I am tracking their progress (www.bobngail.blogspot.com) and praying for them. If you go to their blog you can see a photo of Gail hugging Natasha and it looks close and deep and I can almost sense how tight it is. Maybe it's like the hug we get to experience with God when we see him face to face. And I can't imgine the wonder Natasha must feel knowing that someone came for her. Oops - yes I can. Jesus..............

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Up SiDe DoWn

More thoughts from "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day": author Mark Batterson notes that "God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ. God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go. But here's the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time."

And this stuff all sounds cool to read and dream about but I did something recently that made it all real. I negotiated unpaid time off from my job to lead trips for ChildReach Ministries without knowing how the finances would work out. And believe me it was quite a bit with a house payment and a truck payment and one college student with another soon to follow. Well after this little deal a couple of things happened that actually raised my income! All within one week...............so I think this Kingdom of God thing really is couter-intuitive...................( give money back to God and you won't have enough room for God's blessing according to Malachi 3:10 )...........................and upside down................ ( the first will be last according to Jesus ).

So is there a risk God is asking you to take? What is the one small act of courage that will change your destiny? I think the higher the odds, the longer the shot, the darker it gets means the closer the miracle is. But how many of us really need a miracle? Have you ever been in a position where God has to show up if a thing is going to work out? No problem = no miracle.

And here is the scariest thing to me. It's from the book of Revelation. Chapter 21 describes a new heaven and new earth. And the new Jerusalem comes and God's living with us and we live with God. And then there's this list of people who aren't allowed in. And most of them are described with some sort of sin they did. Sins they committed ( a sin of comission). But look at the first one listed. It looks to me like a person that didn't do something they were supposed to do ( a sin of omission ). And so as I like to point out when reading about this stuff: "The cowards die first!"

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Lost in the moment

I just read my friend Jason's blog from 3/21 titled "live like you were dying" (jasonsuzi.blogspot.com). It's about lessons his dad is teaching him. His dad is fighting bone cancer.

And this made me think of this new song out by Big&Rich called "Lost in this moment". I love that title. Have you ever been? Maybe on your wedding day (or night), or at the birth of your child? A moment when time and tomorrow were gone from your mind and you were completely engaged in NOW? Maybe that perfect sunset with colors you've never seen again since. Or perhaps a lazy summer afternoon with a good book and an ice cold cerveza ( it's spanish - you can look it up - or not).

Well maybe I'll get better at this with age. I am starting to appreciate and learn how to actually be wherever I am. And try not to think about the next thing I have to go and do. But I'm still not good at it. I always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

I recently spent a week on a mission trip to Peru with my whole family. And during that week I was able to experience being "lost in the moment". A moment when I saw my wife and daughter and son loving orphans with all they had. A moment when that cutie in the picture, Alison, smiled and was happy despite her past. A moment when I knew I was right where God wanted me. Doing what He made me to do.

Missionary Jim Elliot once said "Wherever you are, be all there." So the next time I go to the grocery store with my wife or talk to a customer on the phone or have coffee with a friend I want to be all there in that moment.

Times up. Gotta go...........................

Friday, April 13, 2007

In a pit with a lion on a snowy day...........

no - I'm not talking about the winter weather holding on here in Ohio. It's the title of a book by Mark Batterson. It's all about taking risks for God and how our greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities to do just that. It's about how one small step of obedience will have a dynamic impact on our lives and the Kingom of God. The author states: "I'm convinced that the only thing between you and your destiny is one small act of courage."

So what does this mean for you? I tend to wait for 100% certainty in things like this but that takes risk and faith out of the whole deal. And where's the glory in that? Check out this quote from Brennan Manning: "Craving clarity we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God."

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Beautiful Noise

Sitting in my room reading and I can hear (and feel) the thumping of music from my son's room and the rapid tapping of the keyboard from my daughter's room and I am trying to concentrate on what I'm reading!

And then the thought hits me how all too soon they will move out or go away to college...........and I realize how beautiful this noise is.

So if your kids are making a bunch of noise then stop...........and thank God for the interruption.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Proud Papa x 2




Andrew with dirt from Hannah's Home and Brandon from Hogar de Ninos. It pretty much rocks when your son says he wants to earn enough money to pay his way back to Peru in July to spend time with orphans.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Proud Papa



What could make a father more proud than to see his daughter serving God and children on the margins of society? At the top is my daughter Sara with Luz Mery from Hogar de Ninos orphange in Chilca, Peru. The other photo is the Compassion International child that Sara sponsors. That's right a full time college student and part time waitress is willing to commit resources to Rosita from Ventanas, Ecuador. Thanks for your love for these kids Sara. You have made me one proud papa.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Resurrected Life

Check out this quote from author Bruce Main. It's from his book titled "Spotting The Sacred" : "The liberating power of the resurrected Jesus was not simply for the purpose of providing a way for humans to spend eternity with God. The liberating, redeeming power of the resurrected life is so that our often small, careful, cautious, boundary-abiding, barrier-honoring, crusty fear-filled hearts can be freed to love with excess, lavishness and vulnerability."

Now to me that really is good news. Jesus paid the high price he did not only so we can spend eternity with him, but also to be who he made us to be. Are you a singer? Then sing! Are you an artist? Then create! Are you a leader? Then lead! Are you a musician? Then make music! Are you a mother? Then be the best one you can! The Christian life is meant to be an adventure - not sin management till we die. So here's my educated well thought response to that: WOO HOO!

Friday, April 6, 2007

Good Friday

If a man was nailed to a cross and died from asphyxiation why do we call it good? It certainly is good for me because Jesus payed the price that is required of me - death. But was it good for him? I don't think there was some divine intervention taking place that took away his pain. I think he really suffered. Why else would Jesus say "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I think he felt every ounce of pain inflicted on him. And I don't think I crucified him and I don't think the Jews or the Romans or you did either. Even the nails that held his body on the wood were powerless. It was love for us and radical obedience that keep him on that pole. He heard and was obedient to his Father - "obedient to death on a cross " as Paul states in his letter to the Phillipians. So........... how do you thank someone for that? How about considering what he did if you do not yet believe in him? And if you do believe how about moving your life from believer to follower? And if you consider yourself a follower/disciple how about being willing to follow with the same radical obedience. What is Jesus asking of you this GOOD Friday?

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The Way of the Child

At Hogar de Ninos orphanage in Chila, Peru one day Alison called me her pappa and called my wife her momma. So when we were leaving I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did. I was thinking about what I would say to her if she asked me to take her with me. I'm sure I would have said that I can't and I expect that she would have asked me why. And I think there is no answer that would make any sense to her. Sure there are reasons like "adoption is not easy" and "it's expensive" and "I'm not sure my wife and I want that responsibility" and "I don't know Alison's story so maybe her parents are still in the picture" and "it would be hard for her to fit into our society". And maybe that's why Jesus said we must be like children to enter the Kingdom of God. To rationalize and weigh the pros and cons of a thing is not the way of the child. Children are either in or out; on or off; hot or cold - never lukewarm. Children are really good at living in each moment. They don't plan or worry about tomorrow. They "do today" really well. Alison gave me a card when I left that thanked me for the love I gave her. Well right back at you girl. You gave way more than I did. Thanks for the memory.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Gifts

Over the past 2 weeks I got to experience and watch Compassion sponsors that just couldn't wait to give good gifts to their children. And isin't that just like God.