Just A Beggar

I Can't Tolerate Your Tolerance!

2010-01-04T14:11:00.008-06:00

I believe it was Yakov Smirnov, the Russian comedian who used to use the phrase, “Whadda Country!” when talking about the United States. He used it in his act to refer to things we do here that are sometimes excessive and not available in his country. I take it that Yakov’s career has slowed as I haven’t heard his name in a number of years, but his catch phrase still resonates. We live in a great country that allows us many freedoms. The freedom we enjoy allows us to not only think freely but to speak freely. We are a melting pot of many different races and cultures that carry with them many different beliefs. This conglomerate of peoples and cultures, religions, etc., relies on tolerance to succeed. Tolerance is a good thing. But what I see today is tolerance gone bad. What I seem to get as a definition of tolerance in our country lately is that “Everyone’s OK” or we are all right in our beliefs and judgments. Just because you don’t believe what I believe, That’s OK, we are both right. To this I say, “Huh!”. This makes no sense to me. How can people with opposing opinions both be right? This is not tolerance, it is absurdity. 4 + 4 = 8. It cannot equal 9 no matter what you believe. I believe this idea has found its roots in our society’s idea that there are no moral boundaries except those we wish to impose on ourselves. This is another idea that makes no logical sense to me as it can only bring about anarchy when truly embraced.

If this country is to succeed, we need to tolerate each other. Not by saying we are all right, but be able to live together when the other person is wrong. Did that come out right? I assure you that it did. You see, as mentioned above, if you have two opposing views, they can’t possibly both be right. Let’s look at me for example. I am a Christian. Yeah, that’s right, I’m playing the religion card. It seems to get the most people riled up. Anyway, back to my point. I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The Bible makes the case that you can only find salvation through Jesus Christ. I have a good friend who disagrees with me on that. Sadly, I am right and he is wrong. Unless, of course, you ask him. He will tell you that he is right and I am wrong. I love my friend. I mean love. If our friendship were to end, I would hurt. If some tragedy were to take him from this earth, I would mourn him as much as any family member. My friend and I are, as the saying goes, “Two peas in a pod”. We have many things in common. We share a twisted sense of humor, love music and many more things that make it easy for us to be around each other and enjoy the time. We agree on many things but we disagree on the subject of morality. We talk about the subject occasionally because we know each other’s views and we each want our belief to prevail so we try to make our case. So far, I have not swayed him, and he has not swayed me. We butt heads on this issue, but you know what? When we have each made our cases and realized that convincing the other at this time is futile, we can go from there and get a pizza or move on to the next topic. I believe that what makes our friendship strong is that we can sharply disagree on one thing, but move on to celebrate the things we have in common. I believe that this is the meaning of tolerance. My friend and I know our differences, there are no surprises. But we also know what we have in common, and that is more important to us than the difference. In fact, we both respect each other for being able to set aside our differences and to have a great friendship.

Why are we so afraid to use the word “wrong” lately? Are we so afraid of offending someone, that instead of saying that we disagree, we will try to appease them by telling them that they are right when there is no possible way that we can believe that. Or is it that we are afraid to have to defend our position, especially if it is an unpopular one. And so by saying that everyone is right, we avoid confrontation.
We live in a great country of freedom. Shouldn’t we be free to disagree on a point or two and still be able to say, “Let’s go get a pizza”? We need to acknowledge our differences, set them aside, and celebrate the things we have in common.
Another friend, Josh Cleveland, wrote a song based on an event in the book of Joshua in the Bible. Yeah, I’m going there again. The story is about an altar that was built between tribes separated by the river Jordan. The tribes that built the altar were first accused of wanting to separate themselves from the other tribes. The builders of the altar went on to explain that the purpose of the altar was to be a “witness between them” for all generations to see what the tribes had in common. Josh’s song is called “A Witness Between Us” and it is quite possible I have plagiarized this whole idea from his song. If so, sorry.

As I wrap this blurb up, it is my hope that I have not offended anyone in any way. But really, if you disagree with me, I’m still right. Now let’s go get a pizza.

Cry Freedom

2009-06-14T02:30:00.002-05:00

As I was lying in bed tonight unable to sleep, I thought about an incident that happened to me a couple of years ago. I was on my way home from the store and as I drove up to an intersection I noticed a young man (younger than me) sitting on the corner. He had long dreadlocked hair, a full beard and very “hippieish” clothing. He was holding a cardboard sign stating that he was traveling and hungry. When I got to where he was, I rolled down my window and told him to meet me at the Culver’s restaurant across the street and I would buy him a meal. I pulled into the parking lot and he arrived momentarily. I introduced myself and he reciprocated and then we proceeded into the restaurant. As we talked, he told me about the lifestyle he led and how he has traveled across the country many times. I don’t remember where he was on his way from, although Alaska seems to come to mind. I do remember that he was on his way to Florida to stay with some friends down there. I think the impending winter had a lot to do with that. The funny thing is, he wasn’t even positive that his friends would still be there since he had had no contact with them since the prior year when he had stayed with them. It really didn’t seem to concern him though. He seemed very passionate about this lifestyle of having no ties to society, no responsibilities, come and go with the wind. Completely and utterly free. As he spoke, I found myself starting to envy his lifestyle when it dawned on me; this lifestyle was not free at all! If it were not for me, a person tied to society with responsibilities, he would be hungry today. It didn’t take me long to go from envy to concluding that this guy was a moron! It blew me away that he could not see (or chose not to see) the contradiction in his way of life. His freedom was completely dependent upon a lifestyle he was trying to avoid. We soon parted company and I wished him all the best and told him I hoped everything worked out for him. He assured me it would, and in my superiority, I thought to myself, “I’m sure it will too, as long as there is another member of society like me around the corner to foot the bill”. I went home feeling pretty smug and told my wife about the whole incident.

So here I am tonight, thinking about this 2 year old memory when it hits me. It took two years, but I should have seen it coming. It happens every time I climb up on my high horse. I soon find myself laying face down on the ground. You see, I too live a life of freedom at the cost of another individual. The Bible says in 1Co 1:8 He (Jesus) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you are reading this and you know me, then you know that Pat and blameless are two words rarely used in a sentence together. The Bible also tells us, The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8-12)
I sit here today with freed from my transgressions and able to stand blameless before God. Not because of anything I have done, but because of what Jesus did. I live a life of freedom because Jesus chose to leave Heaven and bind himself physically to this earth so He could unbind me from it. This event has caused me to look at the following verse much differently.
And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.(Mat 5:40-42)
I believe Jesus wants us to have confidence and joy in our own freedom. I also believe he wants us to do whatever it takes to free our brothers and sisters. So as I look at my feet and once again see the shoes of one I have judged, wherever you are tonight my wandering friend, I hope you are well fed and free.

The 2 Greatest Lies A Christian Ever Told

2008-07-08T21:47:00.001-05:00

As I watch the media coverage lately on “spiritual leaders”, I find myself very disappointed at what is being touted as “main stream Christianity”. There is a reason why you don’t see the % of people who claim to believe in the God of the Bible rally support for these people. The simple fact, I believe, is that they are a minority in Christianity. The sad fact is that they receive so much media attention that those who are uninformed on Christianity believe that this is what Christianity breeds. I am here to tell you that nothing could be farther from the truth. I would like to take this opportunity to address the two greatest lies a Christian ever told. They are simple: If you follow God’s commands like I do, at the end of your life you will be rewarded with eternity in Heaven. If you don’t follow God’s commands like you are doing, at the end of your life you will find yourself punished with eternity in Hell. I grew up believing this. I’ve seen the message on bumper stickers, billboards, t-shirts, signs outside abortion clinics and heard it out of the mouths of Christians to non-believers. My personal opinion is that the Christian who spreads this message is a Christian who has not read their Bible or is only concerned with serving their own ego. Now, if you’re a Christian and reading this, I may have your feathers a little ruffled. Stick with me though and I think you will find some points to agree with. Nowhere in the Bible will you find God claiming that we have to be good to get into heaven. Andy Stanely makes a great point about the idea that God is good and only allows good people to go to heaven in his book, “If Nobody’s Perfect, Than How Good Is Good Enough?” He states, “If there is a level of performance that will get us into heaven and God neglects to tell us exactly what it is, can we with good conscience call him good? If so then “good” takes on a completely different meaning. Good no longer means fair and just. It means…well…we don’t really know what it means do we? The Bible claims that “Nobody is perfect ” (Romans 3:23), so the question remains how close to perfection do we need to be to escape our punishment in Hell? Nowhere in the Bible will you find any indication on how much “good” it takes to offset our “bad” so that we are able to earn our place in Heaven. In fact, in Romans it says that we all “fall short of the glory of God.” So, tailing on Andy Stanley’s point, the good people go to Heaven god is a very cruel god to not give us any insight into what percentage of good we need to be to avoid punishment in Hell for not being good enough. The good people go theory makes no sense. The truth that the Bible claims, is that it is God’s will that “none should be lost” (John 6:39). In his efforts to get this point across, Jesus uses many analogies of God being like a good shepherd who leads and protects his sheep (us). Jesus even makes the point in that the shepherd (God) will leave the flock to find the one lost sheep that has gone astray. Read the story of the prodigal son and the parable of the lost coin”:
Luke 15:1-32 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. "Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

It becomes evident in these parables that God does not wish to punish us to hell, but that it is even against God’s will that we should go. In the story of the prodigal son, the father (God) not only welcomes the son (us) home, but it says that the father saw the son “while he was still a long way off” emitting this vision of the father daily watching, waiting and hoping for his lost son to come home. I really connect with the way Gregory Boyd portrays this in his book “Letters to a Skeptic” coming from a family with a history of alcoholism and my own struggles with drugs and alcohol. He explains hell like this:
“The alcoholic who loves his bottle above his wife, kids and home has what he wants when they finally “leave him alone”. But don’t the rest of us, who are not sick, see this as hell? Indicative of how low this man has sunk is the fact that he thinks he is happier with his bottle than without it and anything else. So he chooses to drink. But in truth he is miserable. The drunk gets what he wants, but is in hell with his “privilege”. He is tormented, but it is a torment of his own choosing. “
In the same way, people choose not to be with God, and God being a God of choice gives them what they want. If a person makes the conscious choice to live this life without God, God will honor that choice by letting the person also spend eternity without them. It is not God’s choice that they be without Him, it is theirs. And a life without God is what the Bible describes as hell. The Bible has Jesus describing himself this way in John 8:12, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. In contrast, a life without God is a place of darkness and no hope and often described by Jesus as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Again, it is important to remember that it is not God’s will that anyone should go to hell, but he will not stand in your way should you choose to deny him. See the problem God has is that God is all that is perfect, no sin is found in him (1 Peter 2:22). God hates sin and in his nature, cannot dwell with sin. All of us in our decisions have chosen sin and thus have separated us from the ability to dwell with God. This would not be a problem if God chose to be a far off God who just wanted to stand back in amusement and watch his creation try to survive. But instead God is a God of love who from the beginning of time has desired to dwell with his creation. In the beginning God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve until their sin separated them from the one who created them. Ever since that day, God has been planning a way to get back into our hearts. The problem remained in that while sin dwelled in us, God could not, so the solution for God, was to rid us of our sin and let that sin fall upon his son Jesus. All that God has ever desired is an intimate relationship with us. Through all his teachings, Jesus made that abundantly clear. God desired that man and woman should come together in marriage and that the two should become one. Much of the teachings of Jesus revolved around marriage and the idea that he was the groom and we were his bride, two becoming one. Jesus promised with his death, that upon our choosing, we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, God dwelling in us. God desires an intimate and eternal relationship with each and every one of us, no matter what we have done or where we have been. All that is required to achieve that relationship is to accept that we have sinned and lay that sin upon Jesus. Simple as that, not by our good works. The story of the two criminals who were condemned to die on crosses along side Jesus is the perfect example.

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed….One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:39-43)

They are both described equally in the Bible as criminals. We don’t know the specific crimes that brought them to this judgment of death, and it doesn’t really matter the same way the degree of my sin compared to yours doesn’t matter. They both hung along side the only one who could save them. They would both be dead before sundown. One would end up in Heaven, one would not. The only difference between the two is that one asked to be with God and the other chose not to. There was no time to make up for past bad deeds, no opportunities to redeem themselves. Neither one was better than the other; it came down to a simple choice. The same applies today. As Christians, we are no better than those who choose not to believe. God chose the murderer on death row with the same offer he used to choose me. Mercy and grace. I have chosen God and accepted his mercy and grace, does that make me any better than someone who chooses not to? Absolutely not! So many times I see “Christians” saying or doing things that try to show a difference between themselves and their fellow man. This idea that because I choose God and you do not, I am different from you. Again, the idea that I have done something in my life that solicits a love from God that is greater than the love he has for someone who “sins more than me” is absurd. In fact, from what I see in the life of Jesus, if God were to focus his attention on one person over another, He would focus on the one who didn’t believe and the Christian would take a back seat. Take another look at the Prodigal Son. Wasn’t it the faithful brother who had to step aside as the father threw a party for the son that returns after having squandered his money and shamed himself and his family? Or what about the prostitute who falls at Jesus’ feet and washes his feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. Look at the attention and love he shows her as the “teacher of the law” stands by in judgment.

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." (Luke 7:36-47)

It’s somewhat funny (and sad at the same time) how we would like to think that if Jesus were to come to earth today, that his first stop would be to come to our church and tell us what a great job we are doing. Again, based on the actions of Jesus that we see in the Bible, I doubt that we would see him at all. I’m sure we would find him spending his time with those “other people” as we stand by like the Pharisee’s and ask, “Doesn’t he know what kind of people these are?” As Christians, we find ourselves holding so tightly to our doctrine that we will divide our churches, families and friends over the smallest details forgetting that it is only by God’s hand that we are saved and not our own. God has given us everything freely, why do we find it so hard to share His grace with others. I would charge Christians to embrace their fellow man as God has. Showing them all the love and dignity that our father in Heaven shows them, they are of greater worth than gold (1 Peter 1:17), and we are just as tarnished as they are.

There is a Season....

2006-11-19T13:58:00.000-06:00

As I was driving the other day, I took some time to look at the trees with little or no leaves left on them and the grass turning brown and thought about the changing season. I wondered what the point of it was. Why do we have this cycle of seasons? As I thought about it I also thought about the cycle of a single day. As the sun goes down here in Wisconsin, it is rising on the other side of the world and when the day comes to an end there it will start new here. I just found it amazing that in this world God created, there is always a new day. As dark as the night will get, a new day will begin at dawn. It is the same with the seasons. Things may be looking barren now, but we know that in the spring there will be a new season where things will get warmer and buds will pop from the trees, flowers will blossom and new life from an old plant will begin. In thinking of all of this, I also thought about the story of the sacrifice of Jesus and realized that it is the same story. 1 John 1:15 tells us that "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." Jesus is our new day. And in Ephisians 2:1 we are told that "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins..." and then in 2:4-5 "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." Jesus is also our new season. How important is it to God that we hear the story of what His Son has done for us? Obviously so important that he used the world we live in to tell us that story every day of our lives. Every day you wake up, you wake up to the story of Jesus. No matter what happened yesterday, a new day is available today. No matter how barren your life has been, there is a new season available. Light in the darkness, life out of death. Take a minute and step outside and watch God speak to you, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." Luke 9:35

Just A Couple Of Mowers

2006-11-14T09:37:00.000-06:00

Today my son and I mowed the back field at our church for probably the last time of this season. As we mowed, I remembered back to when I first started cutting the grass at Oakhaven Church some years ago. I started out cutting the front yard and I remember never being able to cut it without my son insisting on coming with me. He would sit on my lap while I cut and loved the part when we would go down the hills. The older (and bigger) my son got, the more difficult it was to have him sit on my lap while I mowed, but he rufused to let me go alone. All the while I mowed, I would dream of the day that he would be able to cut the grass along side of me. A couple of years ago, I talked with the person who organized the mowing crew and we determined that my son was finally ready to handle a mower of his own. That year, I switched to cutting the back field around the trees on one mower with my son cutting the field on the other. The funny thing is that most times I have to continually bug my son to get him to cut the grass at home, but if I mention cutting the grass at church, he's in the van before I am. My son likes to call it "Pa time". Just me and my boy. We turn the radio off in the van and talk all the way to church. When we get there we fire up our mowers and get to work. We aren't able to talk for the next hour and a half but we give each other a nod or wave as we pass each other, just a couple of men and their machines. We are only able to talk to each other for about a half an hour in that two hours, but my son considers it all quality time, and so do I. As I rode my tractor today and watched him drive his, I pondered all these things. I used to dream of having my son cut the grass along side of me. Now I watch him and dream of him cutting the same field along side of his own son. I wonder if he dreams of it too. At the end of the day, there is so much more than just a couple of mowers parked in that little building in front of the church.

The Confidence of a squirrel

2006-10-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today I was sitting out in the woods watching a squirrel run around. The squirrel ran up a leafless tree and climbed about sixty feet in the air and jumped from the branch he was on to another branch about two and a half feet away. This wasn’t a “stop and think about it take my time kind of jump.” This was an immediate “I’m here and need to be there" kind of jump.
I began to wonder how it would be if that were me on that branch needing to make that same two and a half foot jump. I wondered how many times would I look down first and worry about the possibility of not being able to make the jump. And how many times would I think, “Well if I go back down to this branch and climb over to this branch and then back up maybe I can get there more easily and safely.” However, the down side to that is that whatever I needed or whatever needed me on the other branch may be gone by the time I get there.

Finally I just came to the conclusion that, man, I wish I had the confidence of a squirrel.

Leaving Las Vegas

2006-10-12T21:12:00.000-05:00

About this time last year I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas. I always wanted to go to Las Vegas. I'm not much into gambling, I just always wanted to see those lights. I always wondered if it was actually like what you see on TV. It's a pretty amazing place. The hotels are incredible and the lights are just like you see on TV. I went to Vegas expecting to see some things that I wouldn't agree with like the "Sin City" t-shirts or the other popular Vegas motto, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". I found things like this irritating but was able to write it off as just a gimmick. There were some things I found in Vegas that I didn't expect though. While I was in the Treasure Island gift shop looking for something piratey for my son, I saw a man walk out of the casino, sit down on a small garbage can and put his head in his hands. I watched another guy lose
300 dollars at a blackjack table and then get up and go to the ATM and come back and lose 300 more. I heard another person brag to his friends that he had maxed out his credit card. One of the most disturbing things I saw was found on every street corner of the strip. Each corner had about 3-4 individuals handing out baseball type cards to everyone that passed by. On these cards were pictures of nude women advertising "adult entertainment". Most people ignored the offer for these cards and most that took them just looked at them and threw them on the ground leaving the streets literally littered with pornography. There was one thing though that I saw in Vegas that was by far the most disturbing image and changed my opinion of Las Vegas forever. It happened while walking through Caesar’s Palace. This is an incredible hotel/casino, it's almost its own indoor city. But the thing that hit me like a brick was when I passed the restaurant in the hotel and noticed the name. It was called "Nero's". At that moment I imagined Jesus standing next to me and me pointing to the sign and saying, "That's funny right." It made me feel sick to my stomach. For those that don't know, Nero was the Roman emperor responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Christians during his reign. Many were killed by animals in front of crowds of spectators in the arena, while others were tied to posts, covered with flammable material, and used as human street lamps for Nero's gardens. It was at that moment, seeing that sign, that it all came together for me. All the “little” things I had seen all compounded and I felt like the whole city was mocking me and the God I believe in. Las Vegas wasn’t what I expected or at least not what I wanted it to be. Maybe I was naïve in thinking it could be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that no self respecting Christian should ever be caught dead in Las Vegas. I think that is up to each individual to decide on their own, but for me, going to Las Vegas was an experience but leaving Las Vegas to come home was the best trip I’ve ever taken.

Time

2006-10-09T21:25:00.000-05:00

This is a poem I heard many years ago that has recently come back to my mind. I don't know who wrote it or what the title is or even if this is a complete version but I decided to write down what I remembered of it.

**************************************

I have only just a minute

Only 60 seconds in it

Didn't chose it

Can't refuse it

I must give account if I abuse it

Yes, it's only just a minute

but eternity is in it.

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We are faced with choices every day. Some big, some small, but they all define our character, our beliefs, our God and our future. Take a minute and think about it.

The Power Of A Good Name

2006-08-06T21:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was talking with a couple of friends about the "old days" and my friend Max told us a story that his grandfather often told him when he was a young boy. The story took place when Max's grandfather was a young boy himself and in a time where there were no cars and most people walked everywhere. Max said his grandfather's family lived about five miles from town and his grandfather told the story like this: One day his father told him to stop at the hardware store after school and pick up a part for his plow. After school, he walked to the hardware store and realized that his father had not given him any money. As he stepped in the store, he immediately saw a large sign that read: ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIT. As he was reading the sign, the man behind the counter asked, "Can I help you son?" Max's grandfather (sorry. I can't recall his name) told the man his story about the needed part and that his dad forgot to give him money. He knew he would not have time to walk the five miles home and five miles back before the store closed. The man behind the counter asked him what his name was. He said, "____ Banaszynski. Then the man asked,"What's your father's name?". He told him, "John Banaszynski". To which the man behind the counter replied, "That name is good here" and he gave him the part and told him he could pay for it the next day. He took the part home and told his father what happened and his father gave him the money for the part so he could pay for it right away the next day.
This Tuesday I have a job interview with the company my oldest brother works for. It's a job that I am not qualified for on paper but my brother feels I am fully capable of doing. My brother is one of the most hardworking and quality conscious people I know. Obviously the company he works for feels the same way because it is only by his name that I am given this opportunity. I know that without his name, my application would have gone straight to the garbage can. If after my interview I don't get the job, I'm O.K. with that. I just feel honored that my brother would have the confidence in me to put up his good name.
All of this just makes me consider my own name and it's worth. Would my name give my son some "credit" with another person? Or would my name be enough to get someone an opportunity that they would not be able to get on their own? Or is my reputation such that my name carries little or no weight at all. As I lay in bed tonight, this is something I will ponder. And when I wake up tomorrow, a good name is something I will strive for.

An Inspiration To Me

2006-06-29T15:44:00.000-05:00

A month or so ago a friends son, Matt, informed our church that he would like to go on a mission trip to Pau Pau New Guinea to help and learn about translating the Bible into foreign languages as this was something he feels God is leading him to do after college. He gave a presentation and wrote a detailed letter about this mission asking us to help support him prayerfully and financially on his venture. The next week, a special collection was taken up for him and his mission, funds were placed in a wooden box in the back of the church that is used for occasions such as this. After service that day, my 9 year old daughter Emily was asking me questions about where Matt was going and what exactly he was going to be doing and why he wanted to do it. I explained as best I could and we went on with the rest of our day. The following Sunday at church, my daughter brought with her all the spending money she had, which amounted to 2 dollars and some change and put it in that wooden box for Matt. She told me about it later and I wasn't sure what to do because the collection was over and Matt had gone back to college. I didn't want to tell her that and make her feel like she was too late when she was trying to do such a good thing, so I decided to just let the money stay in the box for now. A couple weeks passed and Matt came back on a Wednesday before leaving on his mission trip to give us more detail about what he would be doing and ask us once again to pray for him. After he spoke to us, I took him to the wooden box and told him that a little girl had added to the collection and that it wasn't much but it was all she had. I knew that 2 dollars wasn't going to take him far physically, but my hope was that it would carry him emotionally and spiritually, to know that someone would give all to help him. It did touch him, and he asked me if I knew who it was. I told him it was my daughter, and he said he would have to thank her personally. I told him I didn't think that was necessary, I just wanted to make sure he didn't leave without knowing how much people believed in what he was doing, even 9 year old girls. He told me that I must be very proud of her, and I am. As I thought about that later in the evening, I began to wonder about what he meant when he said I must be proud of her and what I was proud of. I guess when he said that I took it to mean I should be proud that she would give all she had to help, and again, I am. But when I really think about it, what makes me most proud and fills my heart with joy is that she was inspired. The fact that she was moved and her heart was touched, that's what makes me want to say amen. I worry that my children don't understand who God is or the great joy in having a relationship with him. Growing up "Christian" is not easy. Although I don't really know because I didn't grow up christian. But I know how hard it is to be christian as an adult,and I know how hard growing up is. Sometimes I am even thankful I did not have to face the two together. I am afraid for my kids. I worry about the teasing they will endure for their faith and if their faith will be strong enough for them to endure the teasing. Maybe I don't give them enough credit for their strength. But when I see times like this, when they are inspired as my daughter was, it gives me joy and confidence that they know God and they will persevere. Thanks Matt for inspiring my daughter to inspire me.

We Serve An Awesome God

2006-05-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

We serve an awesome God, we serve a God that does not need us. God doesn’t need you and He doesn’t need me. God was God before He created Adam and Eve and if He were to wipe out this world today, He would still be God. But we serve a God who loves us and desires us. Our existence is not in any way critical to His existence but for some reason God finds it critical for us not only to continue exist here but also with Him in eternity. Although He does not need us, He desires us, and He desires us in such a way that He would even sacrifice His only son Jesus Christ to have us with Him. When I think of the sacrifice of Jesus, I immediately think of the cross and Him giving Himself for my sins so that I can stand blameless before the Father. And although I believe that this is the pinnacle of His sacrifice, His sacrifice really started some 30 years earlier when He stepped down from His throne with the Father and into the skin of a man to come and live among us. Jesus chose to live among us, to show us in the physical the Father’s love and what His will was. Before Jesus suffered death for us, He suffered life for us and before Jesus conquered death, He conquered this life. Following is an excerpt from the book “Reliving the Passion” by Walter Wangerin Jr. that helped me to see this. It starts by reading Mark 15:16-20. The words in red are the recorded words of our Lord while he lived on this earth.

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. (Mark 15:16-20)

Now the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the Praetorium).
You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil.
And they call together the whole battalion, some six hundred soldiers, auxiliary troops recruited from the non-Jewish peoples of Palestine. “Recreation!”, they cry. “A little R-and-R!”
If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Jesus has already been scourged with the flagellum. His back is bleeding. When they pull a purple robe across his shoulders, the blood soaks through. They weave a crown from the thorny branches from a nearby shrub. They stick this to his head, brow and scalp.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
The soldiers began to salute him in a raucous mockery of high office, hooting, “Hail, you King of the Jews!”
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? And if you salute your friends alone, what more are you doing than others? Even sinners do the same.
And they strike his head with a staff, pitiful sign for a scepter.
Judge not, and you will not be condemned.
And they turn and spit on Him.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
And when they grew weary of the game, they strip him of the purple robe (a mantle belonging to some nameless Roman soldier) and put his own clothes back on Him.
Blessed are you when men hate you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you…
And so those who led him into the palace now lead him out again to crucify him.

We serve an awesome God. Jesus asks us to serve one another only after He lowered himself and washed the feet of 12 men. Jesus asks us to take up our cross and follow Him only because He was willing to take up His and pursue us. We serve an awesome God because He served us first.

A Mother's Love

2006-05-09T06:32:00.000-05:00

The cry of the newborn baby woke her in the night. “Not again”, she said, as the task of motherhood took it’s toll. She stumbled across the dark room and lifted her son from his crib. The touch of his mother’s hand brought comfort as she sat in her chair for another late night feeding. She sighed as she thought of the work that waited for her in the morning, but as she looked down at the sparkle in her baby’s eyes, the sleep in her own began to disappear. Oh what wonders waited for him she thought. The joys of life to experience, for him and for her. She felt a tear well in her eye as she thought about the first time he would call her Mama and chuckled as she pictured him clumsily taking his first step. It wouldn’t be long until he would be standing in the window waiting for father to come home and bounce him on his knee. Then will come school she thought, feeling proud. Yes, he would be smart, she felt sure of that. She would be there to help him in any way. She thought about how his features would change as he grew. He will always be beautiful to me, she thought. She thought about how tall and proud he would stand as he left for his first day of work. Maybe he would work for his father and maybe not. Whatever he chose, he will have been brought up to take pride in it and to do his best. And then one day he will leave. It will be sad but she will be strong, knowing that she has prepared him for life. He will be a man. He will be a good man, always doing his best to help others. He will be loved by all and she will be proud to say, “This is my son.”
Suddenly, the sounds of an angry crowd woke her from her thoughts. Looking to her lap, she saw that her baby was asleep. A tear fell as she reached down and gently took hold of his bleeding, nail scarred hand. She pulled him in close and kissed her baby goodnight.

Happy Mother's Day

Twilight

2006-05-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

Dream, dream, dream a dream till twilight comes

Remember it well Dear One and then go and tell,

tell all, tell of the dream you remember so well

The dream you dreamed before twilight came

and encourage them Dear One to dream a dream

before twilight comes

Written by my 9 year old daughter, Emily, for her 3rd grade teacher. I wish I could write this well.

RSVP-My Communion Prayer

2006-04-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

You invited me to sit at your table. You wanted to share a meal with me but I think you wanted to share so much more. You said you would be betrayed, but it wouldn't just be Judas at the table who would betray you. I have sold you for much less than thirty pieces of silver. You said you would be left behind out of fear and shame. I thought I was stronger but nobody ran faster than me from the garden. And when I looked across that courtyard and my eyes met yours, deep in my disgrace I knew just how weak I was. What I don't understand is that you already knew all this but you still invited me to your table. Why? After all I've done and have not done, why at the foot of the cross where you hung dying, why did I hear you whisper my name? You are everything that is good, I am not and yet you call me brother. So here I sit at your table, I have tasted your bread and I have filled myself on your cup. I hunger and thirst no longer. Thank you for inviting me to your table, I look forward to feasting with you again.

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

2006-04-20T17:51:00.000-05:00

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
"What are you arguing with them about?", he asked. A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.
"O' unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boys father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
"If you can?", said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boys father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
(Mark 9:14-27)

It's a story of a father and his son. Neither are named, but I know the father, he lives in my skin.

There are two things I love about this story, both bring encouragement and hope.

One is that God hears my prayers even when my faith is shaky and my doubts are firm. He always stands ready to lift me up, even when I have thrown myself to the ground. The second is that God listens and acts on the prayers I offer on behalf of those who cannot or choose not to voice them on their own.

So to sum it up, I don't have to know God in fullness for Him to hear my prayers and act in my life and those I'm concerned about don't have to know Him at all for Him to be willing to impact their life. So bring your doubts, bring your fears and bring your friends who are confined to a mat. Bring them all before the Lord our God who is faithful to all in need.

The Barn Box

2006-04-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

I had an experience yesterday, one that I have had many times before. My family is currently going through what I will just call a stressful situation. On my way home yesterday, I had a vision that always seems to pop into my mind when I'm dealing with something emotional. It's me sitting in the middle of my church. I'm not talking about during a Sunday morning service, but an empty church with me sitting by myself, not saying anything, not doing anything, just sitting in silence. Something about this vision brings me such comfort, a feeling that if I were there right at that moment, I would feel nothing but peace. Now, I know that being at the church building doesn't bring me any closer to God than I am when sitting in my car or at my house or anywhere for that matter. I know that God's fullness is with me everywhere and that the church is just a building where the real church meets. Gary, our minister often refers to our building as "just a box". I think that fits. It's a box of memories. That same box of old photos we all have in a closet somewhere that we pull out, ruffle through, pick one out and say, "Remember when...".

You see, that's the way our church is. It's not the "Sunday morning put your time in" kind of place. Life happens there. You can find a piece of history in every corner. I walk in the kitchen downstairs and remember my first visit to Oakhaven with my brother after working with him at the University. That same kitchen has been renamed "Jimmy's Junction", after a great man whom God took home a few years back. We talk about the great ribs he used to make for our annual corn roast, but he's remembered for so much more than that. Then we have "Truit tower", the silo that has been renovated into a prayer room and named after one of the founders of the church. It's probably my favorite place in the building to just sit and meditate.

If you put your ear to the wall in the auditorium, you can still hear the distant echoes of past songs sung in praise to our Father. If you reach down and touch the carpet, you can still feel the tears that have been shed in times of prayer.

I have known God all my life, but this box is where I let Him wrap his arms around me. My wife and I were baptized in that box, we were married there and our children were baptized there as well as my mother and father-in-law. I have had the privilege of praying for others there and have been humbled by others who have prayed for me.

Oakhaven Church is a pretty unique building, but the concept of what takes place inside isn't. I think it's what God desires in each of us as His church. As I picture myself sitting there alone in the church, I guess that why it gives such peace is because I have seen so much of God's handy work there. I've heard the stories of lives changed, seen the joy of answered prayers, felt the comfort of friends in times of need. It reassures me that we have a God who is bigger than us but loves us and chooses to walk with us and work through us to help each other.

I pray that you have a church like my church and if you ever find yourself in Oshkosh Wisconsin on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday evening, stop in, I'd love to meet you.

Dedicated to Gary Cleveland. My brother in Christ. Once again, I thank you for allowing God to use you as He has.

Based On A True Story Inspired By Actual Events

2006-03-27T20:12:00.000-06:00

My family and I went to see the movie "Eight Below" this weekend. It was a great movie and I highly recommend it. The opening of the movie had a line that just got me thinking. "Inspired by a true story". It made me think about how many times I've seen that before a movie or something similar such as, "Based on a true story" or "Based on actual events". I find it somewhat ironic that we have these true events that need a little embellishing to make them entertaining. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Who knows, I may not have enjoyed "Eight Below" as much if they told the story exactly as it actually played out. But what is it about truth that it sometimes just isn't enough? Are we surrounded by so much stimuli that truth just comes across as too boring? Maybe I see truth as too "possible" and that just doesn't grab me. I don't know what it is. I've also been reading a series of fictional books that have really sucked me in and I find myself having the same problem there. Everyday, I can't wait to get some quiet time to read. When the time finally comes, I reach into the basket beside my chair and grab my fictional book....sitting right next to my Bible.

Change

2006-03-21T16:55:00.000-06:00

O.K., here's the scenario. In the restroom where I work, there is a paper towel dispenser on the wall just to the left of the sink. About three weeks ago, the dispenser was removed, for what reason, I don't know. They didn't feel the need to inform me. But anyway, imagine my surprise the first time I washed my hands, I turned to the left as usual to dry them and "Bam", no paper towels. I stood there confused, not knowing what to do. This is not the way things are supposed to be. I wash my hands and the paper towels are supposed to be right there! After I calmed down a bit, I took action. I looked around and found that the roll of towels had been placed on a shelf on the back wall of the restroom. I dried my hands and wondered, what could have happened to the dispenser? "Well", I thought, "hopefully they will get this fixed soon. This is very inconvenient." I mean, the roll is now like 5 feet from the sink! That makes no sense!

As days went by with no new paper towel holder, one thing amazed me. I knew the holder wasn't there. I would even walk in and see the empty spot on the wall. But each time when I finished washing my hands, I would immediately turn to my left and reach for a towel. I don't know what irritated me more, that there were no towels where they were supposed to be or that I continued to reach for towels that I knew weren't there. Habits can be hard to break. Change is tough!

I decided then that this was just silly. I mean, here I am getting distressed over something so small as paper towels being moved. There are much bigger issues to worry about. So I decided that I would not let these petty things get to me. From that day forward, I was going to be a changed man, no more complaining. When change comes my way, I'm just gonna embrace it and roll! Mister easy going, take life as it comes. Yeah, that's me.

Well, yesterday they installed the new paper towel dispenser in the restroom. So now things are back to normal, except the lever on this new dispenser is alot harder to pull than the old one was............

As we journey through life, I think it's important to take some time every once in a while to laugh at yourself.

In His Image

2006-03-04T15:03:00.000-06:00

I just read an article about a study showing that babies are altruistic ( I have to admit, I didn't know what the word meant until I read the article). It was pretty interesting so I have copied some of the high points:

Oops, the scientist dropped his clothespin. Not to worry — a wobbly toddler raced to help, eagerly handing it back. The simple experiment shows the capacity for altruism emerges as early as 18 months of age.

Toddlers' endearing desire to help out actually signals fairly sophisticated brain development, and is a trait of interest to anthropologists trying to tease out the evolutionary roots of altruism and cooperation.

Psychology researcher Felix Warneken performed a series of ordinary tasks in front of toddlers, such as hanging towels with clothespins or stacking books. Sometimes he "struggled" with the tasks; sometimes he deliberately messed up.

Over and over, whether Warneken dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of 24 toddlers offered help within seconds — but only if he appeared to need it. Video shows how one overall-clad baby glanced between Warneken's face and the dropped clothespin before quickly crawling over, grabbing the object, pushing up to his feet and eagerly handing back the pin.

Warneken never asked for the help and didn't even say "thank you," so as not to taint the research by training youngsters to expect praise if they helped. After all, altruism means helping with no expectation of anything in return.
And — this is key — the toddlers didn't bother to offer help when he deliberately pulled a book off the stack or threw a pin to the floor, Warneken, of Germany's Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, reports Thursday in the journal Science.

This really shouldn't surprise me. After all, we are "Created in His Image" (Genesis 1:26).

And Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them. And He said: "I tell you the truth, Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4)

Thank you Father

2006-02-27T20:32:00.000-06:00

I have a bad job. Well, the work I do is not that bad but the company I work for often leaves me drained and depressed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to be coddled at work, but it would be nice to be appreciated and treated with some amount of dignity from time to time. You'll just have to take my word for it that it isn't the greatest place to work, but being an uneducated man, my choices these days are few. As a Christian, it is a struggle for me as to how to deal with this situation. I find it so easy when mistreated to retaliate with poor work ethic. When pushed, you push back. After all, they are no better then I am, and I won't let them treat me like a dog. I'll show them. Not very Christ like is it? Now you see my dilemma. It also never accomplished anything, the more I push, the more they push, the more I push and so it goes. I came to the conclusion some time ago that God had put me in this situation to teach me humility. T he lesson I needed to learn was to always try to do the right thing in the face of adversity. To do my best at my job no matter how I was being treated. I needed to go home at night and be able to believe that no matter what the working conditions were at the plant, it wasn't my fault because I did what I was told and I did it to the best of my abilities. I believed that when I learned this lesson, that God would take me out of this situation and open up another opportunity in a more positive environment. One where I would be more free to do His work and life would be good. I have since learned the lesson of humility. Some days are still hard, some days I slip. But overall, I feel pretty good about who I am at work. God has given me some peace at work because I am also more aware of whose I am. I don't work hard for my company, I work hard for my God, because it's the right thing to do. It's what He would have me do. But a couple of weeks ago something new dawned on me. As I was thinking of all the things I would rather be doing with my life and all the work I would rather be doing for God,it hit me. Through all the complaining to God about how much I disliked my work situation, all the waiting for God to move me along to greener pastures and wondering about what I needed to do to get there...there was one thing I had never done. I had never once thanked God for my job. I never once thanked for the ability to provide my family with daily bread. I never thanked Him for the job that pays for our warm house, the cars we drive, the clothes on our backs. I'm sorry Father. I see now that you weren't just teaching me humility, you were teaching me to be grateful. Forgive me father, forgive me for being so ungrateful. Thank you for providing for myself and my family. I'm sorry I missed it for so long.

How and Why?

2006-02-12T16:34:00.002-06:00

We live in an amazing time. I have seen and understand things that my parents would never have dreamed of. I can even program a VCR (for you younger readers, VCR’s are what we had to play movies with before DVD players). Take genetics, I don’t know all the ins and outs of genetics, but I have somewhat of an idea how genetics work. I understand how it is possible that my daughter can have my eyes and my nose (sorry baby), and how we are made up of DNA and how it is passed from generation to generation. Again, I don’t know all the ins and outs, but I understand how it works. There’s no magic in it anymore, or is there? You see, that’s what happens to me when I take something that is a mystery and come to understand how it works. It starts out as something magical and unbelievable, but then when I find out how it works, the magic is gone and I puff myself up a little bit and marvel at my intellectual prowess. But is the magic really in HOW something works or is it more in WHY something works? My daughter and my son have some of my physical and emotional features. How that works is really cool, but WHY that works, that’s magical. That we have a God that wants part of my father and mother to live on in me and part of me to live on in my son and daughter, that’s awesome. We have a God of details. When my children’s children ask what I looked like, my daughter will be able to say, “Well, he had brown eyes like mine, and a nose like mine and hair like Uncle Patrick’s.” So, who cares how it all works. Why it all works, that’s what I really want to know. It’s because God loves us, and He loves to show us in the details. Let’s take a 2000 year step back and apply this to the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. Again, I don’t know all the ins and outs, but I understand how it works. I am a sinner, God and sin cannot dwell together. The bible says that the wages of sin is death.(Romans 6:23) There is a price we pay for our sinfulness, we have separated ourselves from God with no way of our own to get back. God chose to not live without us and found another to pay our debt of sin, His son. Jesus took our sin upon himself so we could be blameless before our Father. That’s how it works in a nutshell. But the mystery and the magic are in the WHY. Why would He do that for me? When I have freely chosen to become what he despises, He would choose to do this for me. And that is exactly what He did, He did it for me. God didn’t send Jesus to die for us. He sent Jesus to die for YOU. He didn’t say, “Well, individually they aren’t really worth it, but collectively maybe.” Jesus tells us how the shepherd will leave the flock to search for the one lost sheep (Luke 15:4) and that He is the good shepherd that lays his life down for His sheep.(John 10:11) The sacrifice of Jesus was personal to you and to me, God loves us that much. Why, not because of what I’ve done, that’s for sure. I don’t know why. The question was asked by David long before Jesus was even born, “what is man that you are mindful of him”.(Psalm 8:4) Today I ask the question, tomorrow my children will. God loves us is the only answer. In the end, the how is humbling but the why is amazing.

Life's Not Fair!

2005-12-18T20:24:00.000-06:00

As the father of two children, there are three words that are commonly heard around our house; "That's not fair". When one child gets something, the other must be equally compensated or prepare yourself for a barrage of accusations about him or her always getting more then they do. We cut cake with a measuring tape at our house. It's not just limited to physical things either. If we have a busy day and they don't get enough "play time", well, that's not fair either.

Before I continue to go on about my kids, let me stop and say that it is not just limited to them. I too believe that life is not fair. I work a job where we are basically treated as numbers, not people. It's not fair that some of the "numbers" get treated better than others based not on their job performance but their ability to "kiss up" to the boss. It's not fair that I work hard all day and the people in the offices selling my hard work make more money than I do. I could keep whining, and whining is all it is, but that isn't the point I want to make.

From the beginning of time, has life ever been fair? Is it fair that God, our creator, would offer us a garden to fulfill all of our needs but we would choose a Gomorrah? Is it fair that God would deliver His people from slavery in Egypt, give them an unlimited supply of food and the promise of a new homeland and yet they would give their allegiance to a golden calf? Is it fair that it would get so out of hand that God Himself would leave His throne in Heaven and come to earth to live among us to show his love and desire for us and we would kill Him for it? Last, is it fair that a sinless Jesus would hang on the cross with my sin and your sin on his shoulders? That He would become all the things we had done and all the things that He despises, so we could stand before the Father blameless on the day of judgment. Is that fair? No, life has never been fair. I thank God for that. If life were fair, I would have no hope at all. In all my trivial whining about what I don't get, I've been given more than I could ever deserve. Thank you Jesus for enduring Hell so I don't have to.

What's In A Name?

2005-12-07T15:13:00.000-06:00

Growing up, I always had trouble with my last name. My father was in the army and we moved around alot and no matter where we lived, Crowe was not a common name. My most memorable episode of taunting occurred when I was in fifth grade. We were living in Fort Knox Kentucky and I was attending Stevens Elementary School. There was a boy in my class who was particularly fond of teasing me about my name. I was constantly bombarded with "caws" whenever I was around him. The windows in our classroom overlooked the playground which was sometimes a scavenging ground for crows when recess was not in session. When these opportunities presented themselves this boy would often say, "Hey Pat, your family is outside waiting for you." Or something along those lines. Now you have got to realize that this boy happened to be the biggest kid in our class and I was among the smallest. My options in ending this torment were few, but relief would come. I came home from school, irritated from a day of teasing and decided to talk to my mom about what was going on. I told her about this boy in my class and about his constant teasing about my last name and how frustrated I was because no matter what I said or did, he would not let up. She listened to my plight with the understanding of a mother and when I was done, she asked me the simple question, "Well, what is this boy's name?" To which I replied, "Erskin Dew." She smiled at me and said, "You're concerned about a boy named"Erskin Dew" making fun of your name?" As soon as she said it, I realized how silly it really was. From that day on, Erskin's teasing never really had any affect on me. I don't know if he stopped or if I quit listening, but my mother put things in perspective for me that day and I have continued to carry that lesson with me. Crowe is a fine name, and so is Erskin Dew. Deep down, we're all the same, no matter what differences we try to point out to one another. So, what's in a name? Maybe just the difference between a speck and a plank (Matthew 7:1-6).