by | April 9, 2015 · 10:40 pm

A Perfect “Fool” Storm

I want to keep this simple, so no fancy fonts, no pictures, and no links. All I want to do is offer my personal opinion on the recent shooting of a black man by a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Please, take this for what it’s worth from a preacher who’s just calling it as he sees it.

First, to shoot an unarmed man in the back is cowardly. More than that, it’s murder. After thinking about this for a while, I can’t come up with any logical reason for why police Officer Michael Thomas Slager unloaded round after round into the back of an unarmed, slow-moving, easily-caught 55 year-old. There is absolutely no excuse.

Secondly, what would cause a man to get out of a car and run from police? He didn’t want a ticket? He didn’t want to pay child support? He thought that by running he wouldn’t have to go to jail when he was eventually caught? He thought running would make him look innocent? I mean, seriously?

So, what we have here is a simple case of two fools coming together and exhibiting how foolish the two can be when BOTH act like idiots – a perfect “fool” storm.

If you think it’s justifiable to shoot a man in the back when he is running away from you, you are a fool. If you think it’s smart to get out of your car and run from armed policemen, like you think you can get away, you are a fool. I make no apology for saying so.

So, may justice be served, and may the family of Walter Scott find peace. But, for the love of God, I just pray that the race-baiters won’t get a foothold in North Charleston, because this wasn’t as much about race as it was about two men making foolish decisions which ended in tragedy.

The best way to heal this situation is to admit the truth, reach out in love, and seek to learn and apply godly wisdom. Otherwise, more foolish actions will lead to more perfect storms, more shipwrecked lives, and more pain.

Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. – Proverbs 9:6

Leave a comment

Filed under current events, General Observations

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | April 9, 2015 · 6:00 am

Bonhoeffer, In His Own Words

Seventy years ago in the early morning hours of April 8, 1945, a man of God, a theologian, a hero, was hung by the Nazis. His name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Now that the new Nazis of the world are spreading their anti-Christian, anti-Semitic hate around the world, doing everything from forcing people to bake cakes to beheading them on a beach, I could think of no better way to honor a young pastor who gave his life in the fight for freedom and truth than to share some of his own words. Then again, maybe we could honor him by being more like him.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV

 

RNS-DIETRICH-BONHOEFFER

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

“Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.”

“Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy’s hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enmity political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love. In such love there is not inner discord between the private person and official capacity. In both we are disciples of Christ, or we are not Christians at all.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.” ―  Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

“The fearful danger of the present time is that above the cry for authority, we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority, and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here, is infringing eternal laws, and taking upon himself superhuman authority, which will eventually crush him.”

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” ―Letters and Papers from Prison

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

 

(Quotes credit: GoodReads.com)

Leave a comment

Filed under current events, Faith, Life/Death, Theology

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | April 7, 2015 · 3:17 pm

I Didn’t Bake a Cake

“I Didn’t Bake a Cake”

I didn’t bake a cake.

Of course, it’s not like they didn’t take

All the other pastries I created,

Like the ones they bought when the couple dated.

I just didn’t bake a cake.

 

I didn’t bake a cake.

But if I was a thug and tried to make

A getaway, and then got shot,

I’d be a hero, alive or not.

But I just declined to bake a cake.

 

Because I didn’t bake a cake,

The death threats are more than we can take.

We’re losing everything; we hide in fear.

The reason for the terror made perfectly clear:

I didn’t bake a cake.

 

You’d thought I was an abuser!

You’d thought I was a buyer and user

Of drugs…or women and children.

But I wasn’t. Now I’m facing prison,

All because I didn’t bake a cake.

 

– Anthony Baker

 

4 Comments

Filed under America, Culture Wars, Defending Traditional Marriage, Defining Marriage, Faith, Struggles and Trials

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | April 5, 2015 · 6:00 am

He Lives!

We celebrate many holidays in this world, but one stands out among the rest: Easter.

Now, I know that some of the more legalistic among us will label all the celebrations “moot” because of certain “pagan” links, like that to Ishtar and fertility rites. The unbelievers will laugh off this day with arrogant disdain. But for the majority of Christians around the world, this day is a day to rejoice in the Son of God’s victory over the grave.

We are prone to celebrate many things, like who won a game, that new promotion, or a birthday. We throw parties when political candidates squeak out a win, or when that big contract gets signed. Some will even fire thousands of AK-47 rounds into the air while shouting “Allah Akbar!” at the top of their lungs. But nothing is more worth celebrating than Jesus keeping His word and rising from the dead to secure eternal life for those who trust in Him.

Today, as I stand before a congregation, I will attempt, in the power of the Spirit, to stir the imagination, to take us back in time, to recreate a fraction of the excitement that must have been felt when those who were convinced of defeat were shocked by the greatest come-from-below victory of all time.

Today, before all those present, whether in flesh or spirit, I will celebrate victory over sin, death, and hell. The Enemy has been defeated, his tools are obsolete, for Jesus died and rose again.

He Lives!

Click on the link to listen to my favorite Resurrection Day song, “Gone!” (sung by Teddy Huffam).

Leave a comment

Filed under Easter, Faith, God, Preaching, salvation, worship

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | April 1, 2015 · 4:30 am

Happy Atheist’s Day!

Steve Martin wrote a bluegrass song (well, he sang it on stage with the Steep Canyon Rangers, at least) about atheists not having any songs. It was funny. I even saw him sing it live a few years ago.

On the other hand, Christians have several holidays we celebrate. There is Easter (just around the corner), Christmas, St. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Lent, Boxing Day, All Saint’s Day, Good Friday, and a few others.

What do atheists have? April Fool’s Day!

But wait! Don’t atheists celebrate other days as well? Sure they do! Besides celebrating Christmas and Easter in their own godless ways, atheists are said to observe at least ten (10) other holidays when they’re not trying to ban crosses from roadsides, or mangers from public lawns.

  1. Earth Day – This is the day when atheists can pretend to have a god, name it Maya, and celebrate its existence as they try to preserve it.
  2. Solstice – When the planets all line up, or when the days and nights get long, atheists can celebrate the complexity of an intergalactic machine that made itself.
  3. Arbor Day – When even the loneliest atheist needs love, they can hug a tree.
  4. Mothers and Fathers Day – Hey, even atheist have parents. They didn’t come from monkeys, you know.
  5. July 4th – The perfect holiday for the American atheist who is happy his ignorant, bigoted, racist, religious Forefathers (along with a couple of intellectual agnostics) decided to start a new country founded on free speech and the freedom of religion. It gives him something he can fight against, which is practically everything they stood for.
  6. World Health Day – Cause even atheists hate getting the flu and AIDS.
  7. International Talk Like a Pirate Day – Arrrg! Who doesn’t enjoy talking like a mythical version of a murderous criminal of the sea, right?
  8. El Día de los Muertos – This is a Latin holiday, the Day of the Dead. Atheists love to reminisce about those who have gone on before, keeping their memory alive…because that’s all they’ll ever have.
  9. International Coming Out Day – Because closets are for clothes, old video tapes of NOVA, and apprehensions.
  10. Richard Dawkins’ Birthday – It’s sorta like Christmas, but without the virgin birth, nasty mangers, hope, and angels. There’s plenty of worshiping, however.

But seriously, no holiday is more fitting for the atheist than April Fool’s Day. After all, isn’t it the fool who says in his heart there is “no God” (Psalm 53:1)?

So, HAPPY ATHEIST DAY!…within reason, of course. 😉

3 Comments

Filed under Humor, World View

Tagged as , , , ,

by | March 31, 2015 · 11:18 pm

Comparing Testimonies?

Lunchtime Chatter

It was only after I had downed my turkey chili, and Haley (my daughter) had almost finished her brownie, that the conversation started with a fellow Panera Bread patron. She was a godly-looking lady sitting all alone in a quiet booth across from us, Bible to one side of her table, eating some soup.  I asked, “So, how many people do you think come in here for Bible studies?”

“A lot,” she answered with a smile. For the next few minutes we talked church stuff, especially who her pastor was.

Now, I am not going to name any names, but her pastor is a local dynamo of a leader. This guy is a great speaker, is in great shape, has a powerful voice, has seen fantastic growth in an already large congregation, and has his book for sale at Lifeway (well la-ti-dah). What’s more, once a year, due to overwhelming demand, he shares his testimony to overflowing crowds which are stunned to hear of God’s working in this man’s life (he was a former drug lord, or something).

“Really? That’s cool,” I said. “That’s awesome.” Then, with a matter-of-fact tone that probably sounded something like, “Yeah? You think I’m impressed?” I told her, “My testimony is pretty boring…I was just the most self-righteous son-of-a-gun you’d ever meet, that’s all.”

“Ahhh, really?” she replied.

“Yeah, nothing that special…pretty ordinary.” Then, after she showed me her pastor’s book, the one that her whole dadburn multi-thousand-member church uses for discipleship studies, I made sure she heard that I had also written a couple of books – one of which was 350,000 words long – and both are for sale at Barnes and Noble (insert adolescent-like tongue flapping sound).

It made her raise her eyebrows, so I was happy. Childish, I know.

Who’s Is Better?

Here’s the thing…why is it that we are so prone to jealousy? Here’s another thing…why is it that one testimony of God’s grace will draw a crowd, but others are thought of as run-of-the-mill and boring?

Here’s another ‘nuther thing…I can’t be you, and you can’t be me, and God knows what He’s doing….and every testimony of God’s saving grace cost Jesus the same amount of blood; it took the same cross to save this preacher’s kid as it did that big drug dealer who now pastors thousands.

No “testimony” is better than another. Sure, to our ears it may sound more dramatic to hear how God delivered a person from a life of gross sin and debauchery, but the real miracle is not about us – it’s about Him. The simple truth is that it takes just as much of a miracle to save a person who doesn’t think he’s ever done anything wrong as it does to save a man who knows he deserves hell.

Were you saved from sin? So was I. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Galatians 6:14).

Testimony of Grace

Some of us have some great stories to tell, but all of us have a unique story to tell. Even though some pieces of the puzzle may seem bigger, no puzzle is complete without the smallest piece in place.

Don’t compare yourself to others who draw crowds with their stories; you are not them – you are YOU. You are you for a reason only God knows, and even though you may not be the one getting all the attention, you still play a critical part in God’s plan.

God created you for the sole purpose of bringing praise and glory to the name of Jesus Christ through your own, uniquely miraculous testimony. No one else can live your story; no one else can have your testimony.

The only one we need to compare ourselves to is Jesus. When we do that, it’s a miracle any of us are where we are today; we’re all a testimony of God’s grace.

2 Comments

Filed under Christian Living, Depression, Do not judge, Life Lessons, ministry

Tagged as , , ,

by | March 26, 2015 · 10:38 am

“Pleeeease, Daddy!”

As I watched, my heart broke, my eyes flooded with tears, and I nearly had to leave the theater – that’s how I felt when I watched a particular scene in the movie Do You Believe?.

lacey Do You Belive Movie still

Credit: Still from “Do You Believe?” Movie

Alex PenaVega (of Spy Kids fame) played the role of a young woman named Lacey. Early in the movie she is shown sitting on a couch, on her cell phone, begging her father to either come to visit her, or let her spend some time with him (as I type this my eyes are beginning to water).

Totally desperate for his attention and affection, through barely contained sobbing, she cries out to her daddy, “pleeeease!”

Now I’m crying. Seriously. Read on and you’ll understand why.

Not long ago, Katie (my middle daughter) called me up in the middle of the night…then called again…and again… She was at college and really, really ill.

Long story short, she wanted me to come get her…in the early hours of dark morning…before I had to get up and drive a school bus! It was an hour there, an hour back, not to mention loading her stuff, and I needed to be on a bus at 6:20 a.m.! But what was I supposed to do? She was my daughter, and through tears she asked, “Pleeease, daddy, I want to come home!”

I made record time to Bryan College.

Yesterday was a long day, from getting up early after going to bed late, to church last night. Then, at around 9:30 p.m. my little girl, Haley, asked, “Daddy, would you watch a movie with me?”

I looked down at my watch…my eyes were already heavy…I thought to myself, “It’s not going to be long before she’s grown and gone like the others.”…What’s another long day, right?

“Sure,” I replied. “What do you want to watch?”

The reason the scene in the movie got to me was that there are so many little girls out there…girls of all ages…each one willing to give anything for a little time with Daddy. And where are the dads? What is more important to them than a little girl on the other end of the line, soaking her cell phone with tears, crying “Pleeese, Daddy! Pleeeease!“?

More tears.

I like the way the New Living Translation renders Jesus’ words regarding fathers and their children…

“You fathers–if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” – Luke 11:11-13

My heart broke as I watched Alex PenaVega’s character weep for her daddy. It broke because the scene she was acting out was all too real – there’s a lot of hurting people out there who may never find comfort in a father’s arms.

Oh, would to God that men would be men and be the heroes their little girls need! Heaven only knows how many precious lives would be spared abuse, broken marriages, and life-long addictions if only daddies would be daddies!

How wonderful it is to know that we as believers have a Father in heaven, our Abba Father, who loves us more than any earthly father ever could! But does that excuse us dads from being our little girls’ knights in shining armor? Absolutely not!

A daddy’s role is to strive to be like our heavenly Father: one who is compassionate; one who listens; one who is patient; one who is strong as an oak tree, uncompromising, yet still available for make-believe tea or midnight retrievals from the dormitory.

Men…dads…be there for your daughter; God’s collecting her tears.

9 Comments

Filed under Movie review, Parenting, Relationships and Family

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | March 24, 2015 · 2:00 pm

The Eye Doctor

Gadget Inspector

Several years ago, I went to a new eye doctor at a place called Southeast Eye Specialists. The waiting and office areas were aesthetically impressive, and the exam rooms were full of shiny gadgets, some of which I had never seen before. Therefore, I was so excited to be left alone in an exam room while I waited for the doctor to see me…alone…with all those shiny things!

Eye equipmentWith no one around to monitor me, I did what any child in an adult male body would do…I started playing with the equipment.  But while flipping levers and turning dials, a deep, philosophical thought crossed my mind (which would imply that I was not thinking when I was playing with things I couldn’t afford to break):

“With all the different prescriptions for glasses, and all the different lenses one could look through, how could anyone say for sure that what we see when we look at things is exactly the way it really is?  Just look at all of those dials!” 

It’s All Relative?

Some would say my thought, or ones like it, is the reason for believing that everything is “relative.”  People say, “There’s no such thing as right and wrong,” or, “Perception is reality.” They argue that what we think we see may not be what is actually there.

But I would argue the following: What is actually there is there, whether we see it for what it is, or not.

eye chartJust like the chart on the wall with the jumbled letters that start large, then get smaller as they go down, we can call a particular letter an “e,” an “a,” or a “c,” but it is still an “e” if on the chart it IS an “e.”

The only way we can know for sure if we are seeing things correctly is to go to a Doctor of Optometry and let him evaluate our sight.

  • He is qualified to turn the knobs and do the tests.
  • He knows what letters are really on the wall.
  • He knows the truth.

Only a fool would go into optometrist’s exam room and argue with him over the “rightness” or “wrongness” of his letter chart!

Reality, Despite Perception

I wonder if God was thinking about people who argue over the eye chart when He wrote the following verse:

For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. – Acts 28:27 NIV

lensesAll of us are born with faulty eyes, which, indeed, makes it difficult to determine right from wrong, but God knows exactly what is on the wall. His Word is the corrective lens through which we can better see what is really real.

Without corrected vision, perception is not reality; it’s a lie.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Bible Study, General Observations, wisdom

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | March 23, 2015 · 11:08 am

How Do You Treat Something Priceless?

Do you think of other people as valuable?

How valuable? Would you consider them priceless?

Just imagine, what if you could say you held in your hand a small item, a one-of-a-kind, totally unique, and personally made by God Himself? How would you treat it?

Would you hold it carefully, caress it, watch over it?

Would you toss it in the trash, make fun of it, or abuse it?

Are we not unique? Are we not “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God? Are we not valuable beyond compare? Did God not offer His own Son as a ransom for our souls?

For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. – 1 Peter 1:18-19 CSB

Then why do we treat each other the way we do?

We should treat each other as priceless because we are!

4 Comments

Filed under Abortion, abuse, Culture Wars, General Observations, ministry, World View

Tagged as , , ,

by | March 21, 2015 · 10:20 am

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Choir Girl

Last night I had the rare chance to go hear my own daughter sing at Bryan College. It was wonderful! I wish all of you could have been there, especially to hear “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Powerful!

Katie at the doorNow, since Katie has gone to college, she has been busy, busy, busy…even touring with the Bryan College Chorale. On the rare occasion I have had to hear her display the music education she is receiving, all I’ve had to record it with was my iPhone. Last night all I got was a picture with her as she was handing out…what do they call those things?…bulletins? Menus? Billings? Keepsakes?

That has made me sad.

But WAIT!…

Earlier this month Katie and her personal choir (at least that’s the way this daddy sees it) performed at the Northside Presbyterian Church PC(USA). — on a side note, I’m not big on the denomination right now — Fortunately for me, since this was on a Sunday morning and I had other obligations, they did a wonderful job at recording the whole thing!

But before you watch it, let me tell you why I am sharing this (besides being proud of Katie and her backup singers). One of the greatest hymns ever written was penned by Isaac Watts, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Listening to it last night brought me to tears.

The Wondrous Cross

How often do we do that? Survey the cross? How often do we just pause for more than a few moments and measure out the height, depth, length, and breadth of the place where “sorrow and love flow mingled down”? If we did, we would think less of ourselves and more of Him.

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NKJV

So, I hope you enjoy the video of Katie’s choir (incidentally, she is standing all the way to the far right). But after you listen to Isaac Watt’s famous hymn (beginning at the 32:48 mark), ask yourself the question the old man in the movie Do You Believe? asks the preacher: “What are you going to do about it?”

If you will see the cross for what it is, it will make a difference in your life.

(UPDATE: Katie just watched this and said, “We were not ready for that concert. We got our practice time in on the road.” This was their first concert.)

Oh, and “Jesus Paid it All” is awesome, too!

Leave a comment

Filed under God, Love of God, music, Parenting, Relationships and Family, worship

Tagged as , , , , ,