My Friend and Afghanistan

Got a call from a good friend of mine (he was in my wedding, I was his best man, plus we've played hockey together); found out he's heading to Afghanistan in January with the Army (doctor).  Needless to say, the thoughts and prayers of my wife and I will be with him and his wife and children while he is gone, as they should be for any members of the military we know who are in harms way.  As I wrote about my Memorial Day address, I've always been a staunch supporter of the men and women who serve to protect and defend the unprecedented freedom that we enjoy in America each day.  When I went to my high school reunion last summer (15), it was amazing to calculate how many of the boys from my graduating class ended up serving in the military (it was something like 12 to 15 out of 30).  I think it says something very positive about small town values that so many see the military as a worthy pursuit.  God Bless you all, may the Lord of us all protect you, comfort you, and bring you back home safe to those you love.

Who's in Charge of this mess? I Samuel 9:1-2

What is it about man that we feel the need to have somebody in charge? It didn’t take the people of Israel long to decide that they wanted more than the prophets and judges that God had sent them; they wanted a king just like everybody else. Why a king? What’s the value of having someone visibly in charge, a representative of the people? For the people of Israel it was the hope that the repeated cycle of Judges could be ended with the dynastic line of a king. (The people sin, God brings judgment, the people cry out, God sends a deliverer, the people follow the judge till he dies, and then the people sin again; cycle repeats itself) Security and continuity was what the people were longing for. In the end, they chose Saul because he was tall and handsome (I Samuel 9:1-2). He was rather different from the judges whom God had chosen to lead his people.
We’ve haven’t changed much since their day. We still choose our leaders (both secular and religious) more on the outward appearance than we should, and we still crave the feeling of security that comes from believing that somebody is in charge. Sadly, we’re just as mistaken as the people of Israel were. Saul wasn’t in charge, God was and God is. Calling someone a king, or president, chairman or chancellor doesn’t change a thing. If you want to have peace of mind about your life, your community, or our nation, you need to start paying attention to someone what actually is capable of running things.

God ain't finished with me yet...Philippians 1:6

There are times when we doubt the direction our lives are going in. We lose momentum, get stuck in a rut, or can't seem to make any of our dreams or goals come true. It's at times like these that's it's comforting to know that God has a plan and a purpose for each of his children, and that this process WILL continue regardless of the "success" we're experiencing in life. As Paul wrote, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Make no mistake, taking fallen sinners, washing them in the blood of Christ, and transforming them into the image and likeness of Christ is a "good work"; there can be no higher. The value of this process (called Sanctification if you want the fancy word) is easy to see, but so is the difficulty. When we look at our own lives, at our faults and shortcomings, we certainly don't compare ourselves to Christ. Don't be discouraged, God has promised you that one day you will stand before him and he will see his Son when he looks at you.

What Values are Best

I was reading an article about our local community college when I read a quote that was a clear indication of what is wrong with higher education in America. I'm not going to say which school official said it, and it really isn't important which issue prompted the quote, the words speak for themselves: "I don't think it's the business of higher education to tell people which values are best and which values they should all live by. I'd be concerned...if specific values or morals would become part of our culture to promote." In other words; the last thing a college or university should be doing is promoting values. If all value systems are equal (presumably, if you won't take a stand one way or another), then even clearly amoral value systems deserve the right to be heard and considered. College campuses in America are rife with the idea that there are NO moral absolutes in our world (except the absolute that there are no absolutes; a bit of irony). Despicable acts like pedophilia and morally bankrupt systems like Neo-Nazism have all gained traction in the public arena because nobody in authority at public universities is willing to say, "This is clearly a moral evil". In the name of acceptance and diversity we've lost the ability to condemn evil and promote good. In the words of Edmund Burke, "The only thing that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
{note: for the record, I went to a Christian University, but my wife went to a public school and now works for a public college. I'm not saying Christians shouldn't attend public schools {I'm a public school teacher, as are my brother, sister, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law}, but Christian parents need to be aware of what's being taught (or not taught in this case) to their teens; moral relativism is NOT Christian}

How we change over time

One of the things that continues to fascinate me as I grow and mature (as opposed to getting older, which sounds less appealing) is how my ideas and beliefs go through a process of
growth and maturation as well. Some of the things that I thought as a young man I now
know were misguided or wrong. Some of the ideas that I felt so strongly about have been
replaced by concerns that I now know are more important.
One example of that is politics. As a teen, I was very concerned with politics and interested in the political process. Perhaps I'm only more cynical about politicians now, but I just don't seem able to get as excited about the latest political development; I've also noticed that after my ordination such concerns have really taken a backseat to ministry needs/concerns; I won't go as far as Cal Thomas (columnist who advocates the Church's withdrawal from politics following his experience with the Moral Majority), but I certainly have refrained from offering my political opinions at church (believe it or not people; I can hold my tongue), I certainly don't ever want the Gospel of Jesus Christ being confused with any political agenda (however well intentioned)

The area in my thinking that has undergone the most radical change is easily my understanding of how to define the Church (that is, the universal Church, all believers regardless of their particular church; for a complete breakdown, see the posting on my book which deals with this extensively). When I was in H.S. we worked our way through Galatians verse by verse in our student Bible study. I clearly remember my comments on Galatians 1:7 "If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned." With the fire and conviction of youth I told everyone that the Catholic Church was clearly preaching "another gospel" and was thus clearly condemned by the words of Paul. At the time, Mrs Sanford (the teacher who hosted our weekly meeting) asked me if I was sure about that, if maybe I wanted to tone it down a bit, but I was too sure of myself to listen.

A couple years later, at Cornerstone University, as I learned more about the history of the Church; about the variety within the Church; and especially about Paul's contention that the Church is like a body with many parts, I began to soften my stance to the point of admitting that the Catholic Church certainly contains many believing Christian in spite of the theology of the Church.

After College I worked for the Methodist Church and a Reformed Church as their youth pastor; more experience in the wideness of God's mercy. My understanding of the Church was in flux; I was considering the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in a new light. Then God decided to put me to the test. He brought a young woman into my life as a friend whom I would not consider dating because she was Catholic. So far so good, then I fell for her. Those of you who know the story know that we've been married since 6/30/01. It was this relationship that forced me to get back into the Bible; to LOOK at all of the N.T. and to really ask myself the tough questions about who the Church really is.

Many of my answers were found in the letter of I John. In it John describes his own definition of a Christian as someone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; someone who loves their brothers and sisters in Christ, and someone who obeys God's commands. Not a word about Baptism, Communion, church structure, etc. I eventually decided to use my own curiosity on this issue to write a book (yes, another shameless plug; please feel free to read it if you're interested in the topic) about Ecumenism and I John.

Over the years my ideas on a variety of topics have grown, changed, or matured in ways that I would not have anticipated from my the lofty perch I occupied as a teen. I guess that's the biggest lesson in all of this; don't walk around thinking you know everything because God has a way of waking people up and letting them see the light.