Thursday, May 29, 2008

Your promise for today

What a God! His road
stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it. - 2 Samuel 22:31 (The Message)

Not much commentary on the verse today, I just felt like I needed to post it. I read this last night and was so encouraged by this idea. Everyone who runs toward him makes it! Everyone!

Start running....

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

King David's Magic 8 Ball

So, since we're reading through the bible in a year, both my wife an I are in 2 Samuel. This weekend, we were discussing the use and purpose of the ephod. The ephod, at face value, was a piece of clothing, but not a complete outfit in itself. It is usally described in the bible as being worn, and is often mentioned as being linen. However, in the story linked above, and later in others, King David is seen consulting the ephod like it's some kind of Magic 8-Ball. I almost expect the conversation to go like this:

David: Should I attack the Philistines
Ephod: All signs point to yes
David: (Leaves to attack the Philistines)

David: Should I kill King Saul?
Ephod: Ask again later
David: (Cuts section from Saul's robe)

Does anyone have any insight into the ephod? How about the Urim and Thummim, which appeared to be a part of the breastplate, and which Saul used to help discern God's will?

Just one of the mysteries I may have to wait for heaven to learn....

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A father's unconditional love

Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, "Peace!" Then he bowed deeply before the king, his face to the ground. "Blessed be your God; he has handed over the men who rebelled against my master the king."

The king asked, "But is the young man Absalom all right?"

Ahimaaz said, "I saw a huge ruckus just as Joab was sending me off, but I don't know what it was about."

The king said, "Step aside and stand over there." So he stepped aside.

Then the Cushite arrived and said, "Good news, my master and king! God has given victory today over all those who rebelled against you!"

"But," said the king, "is the young man Absalom all right?"

And the Cushite replied, "Would that all of the enemies of my master the king and all who maliciously rose against you end up like that young man."

The king was stunned. Heartbroken, he went up to the room over the gate and wept. As he wept he cried out,

O my son Absalom, my dear, dear son Absalom!
Why not me rather than you, my death and not yours,
O Absalom, my dear, dear son! - 2 Samuel 18:28-33 (The Message)

It's natural for a father (King David) to mourn the death of his son. But, maybe the world didn't expect the kind of love David had for his son, Absalom. To understand the depth of his devotion, you first must understand what Absalom had done to David leading up to this point. In order to take power from his father, he first stirred up a rebellion in Israel. Then, taking some poor advice, he slept with his father's concubines. Finally, to add injury to insult, Absalom raised up an army in an attempt to kill his father. So, I think I would understand if David were a little teed off at his son at this point.

Obviously, Joab felt the same way, which is why he took the opportunity to kill Absalom against the king's wishes. So, you know his response catches Joab and the others off guard. While David wept and mourned over the loss of his son, most of us think he would have had every right to celebrate.

Well, as I've mentioned before, David was a man after God's own heart. It's no wonder he viewed his children in much the same way God views His own children. With love that is not at all dependent on how we act or what we think or how we feel about Him.

If you're a father, how are you doing at demonstrating unconditional love for your kids? Do they know you love them? All the time? Even when they're screaming and crying? Even when they don't do their homework? Even when you're telling them to pick up their toys for the millionth time? Even when you're ignoring them? Even when you're at work? Even when they've screwed up so bad you don't think you can forgive them? I'm not always so good. But, I can learn from David.

Peace.

62 Days Until...

...Big Stuf Camp! So, here's your chance to tell me. What do you want to get out of Big Stuf? What are your fears about going? What are you looking forward to the most? Comment on this post and let me know. It will help us design the best Big Stuf experience!

Steve

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Cinderella

My girls and I love Stephen Curtis Chapman's new song "Cinderella." I don't know how any dad of a daughter can listen to the song and not get teary-eyed over the prospect of losing your little girl far before you're ready.



So it was with a heavy heart I read about Chapman's youngest daughter being killed in a car accident yesterday. My prayers go out to the Chapman family. I'm so sorry for their loss. I know they are consoled by the thought that their baby Maria is now dancing with the Prince of Peace.

These times with our kids go by so fast. Don't let another day go by without telling them you love them.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

On Miracles...

Open my eyes so I can see
what You show me of your miracle-wonders. - Psalm 119:18 (The Message)

"Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She's sleepin' like a rock
My name on her wrist
Wearin' tiny pink socks
She's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes
My brand new baby girl
She's a miracle
I saw God today"- George Strait

There are people who will tell you that miracles don't happen any more. Even some theologians will say that the act of performing miracles was reserved for the time and place while the Bible was being written and that God chooses now to use people to carry out his purpose, rather than performing miracles.

My personal view is that I see miracles all the time. When I see a couple that's stayed together through lots of hard times and marriages crumbling all around, I see a miracle. When I see people healed who had a 50, 30, 20, 10% or less chance of surviving and today they're cancer-free, that's a miracle. And, yes, the birth of a brand new baby is nothing short of a miracle. Think about all that has to happen for a baby to be born. First, a man and woman have to find each other, among all the billions of people that are alive. Then they have to get together and, ahem, procreate at just the right time under just the right conditions, and somehow one of his frisky little swimmers has to not only find his way upstream into the right tube, but then have enough energy left to find and penetrate that single, solitary egg. Next, cells have to divide and divide and divide until they start to look like something, and the mother has to feed and nourish herself along with the baby, and not do anything too strenuous for nine+ months and the baby has to survive all sorts of viruses, bacteria, and other ickies to which it may be exposed. Then, finally, when the time is right (but not before), it starts to push it's way out and the mother gets to the hospital even though the dad is a total wreck and forgets her bag and the doctors and nurses know just what to do even when the cord is wrapped around its neck and the right foot comes out first. Whew! It's a miracle any of us are here, right?

I think the real reason so many of us don't believe in miracles is because we've become so accustomed to seeing things in a practical, scientific light that we can find an explanation for just about any supernatural thing that happens. If someone is cured, that medicine must really work (even if it didn't work for the last person who took it). If we run into someone at just the right time- right when they needed a friend- and we can encourage them, it's a coincidence. Coincidence gets way too much credit in our modern society.

Don't get me wrong. I know a lot of people who say "everything happens for a reason" and I'm not one of them. I don't think everything happens for a reason. I think sometimes your son grounds out because he just didn't swing the bat very well. Sometimes your daughter fails a test because she didn't study. It doesn't have to be God trying to teach you a lesson. But, I do believe that God is telling a story with our lives, and each story has a theme that runs througout. And, God will use events in our lives to carry out this theme. Sometimes, we get so far out of the story, that it takes a miracle to get us back where we belong.

Sometimes we get way too sick, and God still has other chapters to write, so he needs to write us back in. So, he sends just the right doctor with just the right training at just the right time so we can live to fight another day. Or sometimes, we take our identity as sinners too far, and we start to wreck a marriage or a family or a career that God needs to tell our story. And God will use a miracle to heal that situation.

My prayer is like that of the Psalmist. God, open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

You don't really want THAT, do you?

Give him a short life,
and give his job to somebody else.
Make orphans of his children,
dress his wife in widow's weeds;
Turn his children into begging street urchins,
evicted from their homes- homeless.
May the bank foreclose and wipe him out,
no one willing to give his orphans a break.
Chop down his family tree
so that nobody even remembers his name.
But erect a memorial to the sin of his father,
and make sure his mother's name is there, too-
Their sins recorded forever before God,
but they themselves sunk in oblivion. - Psalm 109:8-15 (The Message)

This is the prayer of David about his enemy. He can't be serious, can he. Can anyone really hate anyone that much. Wait a minute... don't answer that.

Turn his children into begging street urchins? Chop down his family tree? Make sure his sins are recorded forever before God? I certainly wouldn't want this... would you? And from David- "A man after God's own heart" Should we really wish this on anyone? Would David have wanted his sin forever memorialized? Remember the Bathsheba Incident? Uh, hello, Kettle? This is the pot. You're black.

When I read this, I think about the thief on the cross, poking fun at Jesus because he allows himself to be crucified. "Ummm, I don't see you getting down either."

My business law professor in college said most people say they want justice, when what they really want is mercy. In David's eyes, the price for what his enemy had done should be high. Probably higher than it really should have been. But, we're all like that, aren't we? The hurts we lay on people matter very little, and the hurts we endure matter a whole lot. The people who wrong us must be punished, but those we wrong need to suck it up. We claim to just want justice for what others do to us, but we really want God to have mercy on us and punish that rascal!

Jesus said we are to do to others as we would have them do to us. I think this means not wishing harm on those who wish us harm. I certainly could be better at loving my neighbor.

Peace.

Preparing for God knows what

"Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go. And God help you!" - 1 Samuel 17:32-37

One of the things I love about the story of David was how he waited on the Lord. In this case, up against Goliath, David seemed to have no trouble looking back at all the seemingly mundane things that happened in his life and knowing that they had prepared him for this very moment.
I mean, before this ever happened, we know that God had annointed David to be the next king of Israel. It woul have been easy for him to excuse himself from his shepherding duties in order to push forward toward being king. Instead, David was faithful with the little tasks he needed to do (tending sheep, killing lions and bears), and that faithfulness prepared him for the major task of killing Goliath and saving the nation of Israel. We know, of course, that this task made David famous among all of Israel (and even today), and was a defining moment in his becoming king.
There is a great parallel here to the story of Joseph, I think. In Joseph's case, he had a dream early in his life that he would rule over his brothers and his father. But, rather than push that dream, he was faithful in the little things God gave him to do. When sold into slavery, Joseph became the very best slave he knew how to be, and he was promoted to run the household. When put in prison, he was a model prisoner, and ended up being appointed to be in charge of the other inmates. All of this led to Joseph's life being preserved so that he is eventually made second in command in Egypt and is able to save the nation of Israel.
My tendancy, and maybe yours, is not to wait. My tendancy is to see what I want and run headlong into it, forgetting what little things I might need to do. Why bother doing well at my job, if God has something bigger for me down the road? Why should I help pick up toys? Why bring my wife flowers, since God has already shown me how much she loves me?
Jesus said he who is faithful with little things will be faithful with much. I need to do a much better job of waiting on God and being faithful in the little things.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

How fast are you?

So, I recently took a typing test. Not bad, I can type 64 words per minute. Much faster than when I took typing in high school. The point is, though, I can only remember about 10 of the words I had to type for that test. My speed is one thing, but my retention leaves something to be desired.

The same is true for my reading of the Bible. Anyone who follows this blog may have noticed that I haven't had many posts the last two weeks. I have been keeping up (mostly) with my reading, but the strain of reading five pages per day of the Bible has made me more focused on finishing the task and less attentive to what God would have me learn in the text. I am in the middle of 1 Samuel now, and I know that the Israelites are at war with the Philistines, and I know that Saul is king, and that Johnathan is showing his worth (even though he'll never be king), but I am not getting what I should get out of the text. I probably need to take the time, turn off the TV, pray, then read. If you're stuck, I recommend you do the same. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Having no king

In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.- Judges 21:25

It's easy to read the book of Judges and wonder what God is up to. People killing each other left and right, committing sexual sin, doing basically whatever they want. So this verse that ends the book of Judges, and in fact is a constant refrain throughout the book, seems to explain that fact. With no king to direct them, they did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Obviously, it's no different today. True, we have a president and a congress and a judicial system and governors, mayors, senators, city councilors, police officers, and other officials that tell us what we can and can't do. But American government really just represents the minimum standard for how we should act. In fact, the whole premise of the constitution is limited government over our actions- as it should be. But this doesn't mean we should do whatever seems right in our own eyes.

Primum non nocere is one of the first concepts students are taught at medical school. It translates in English as "first, do no harm." This is great instruction for our future doctors, but it is certainly not all-inclusive. They go on in medical school to learn how to actually do good.

In the same way, we can't make a difference in the world by just following the law- just doing no harm. We must decide to do good. Having no king, though, we often decide to do what seems right in our own eyes. It is only by having a set of standards- a measuring stick, a "moral code" as it were- that we can know what is good and what is not.

Having no king in your life is a lonely place to be. Now that I have a King, I am pushed to do the things that are right in His eyes. It's not enough to "first, do no harm." If only all the people had a King...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Proud of my sis...

Just wanted to let everyone know how proud I am of my sister, Stephanie. She was profiled in the Indianapolis Star yesterday. She has lost over 50 lbs. now and quit smoking over 3 months ago. She's awesome!

Monday, May 5, 2008

My Mini Experience



So, this weekend at the Mini-marathon had mixed results. I was happy that my 1:50:47 set an all time PR (surpassing the 1:51:14 I ran when I was 25), I was disappointed that I still couldn't break the 1:50 barrier. I was on pace through 10 miles, but had to walk about 4-5 minutes in the last 3 miles, and that really hurt my time.

In times like those, I need to remember Isaiah 40:31. Well, there's always next year...

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The Good Softball-ian

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.- Luke 10:33-34

We all know the story of The Good Samaritan. But have you heard the latest from the ranks of NCAA Softball?

Last week, Central Washington was playing Western Oregon for a chance to reach the NCAA Division II Softball tournament. Neither team had reached the tournament before, so this game had a lot riding on it.

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky came to bat in a scoreless game, with two of her teammates on base. Tucholsky had never hit a home run. Not in college, not in high school. I think I read somewhere, not even in practice. But that's exactly what she did. She hit the ball perfectly and it sailed up and over the fence. If you'd never hit a home run before, you would likely want to watch it to make sure it went out of the park, which is what Sara did. She was so caught up in the excitement that she failed to touch first base. On her way to second, she realized she had missed the bag. As she stopped to turn around, she apparently tore her ACL and lied in a crumpled heap on the ground, writhing from the pain.

What could she do? In order to be officially scored as a home run, she needed to touch all the bases. But, she couldn't even get up. Her coach or teammates couldn't touch her, or she would be ruled out. The only option was to touch first, substitute another runner for her, and have the hit ruled as a single. That's just what the coach was about to do, when she heard a voice say, "Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?" That voice was from Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman (herself an offensive powerhouse). Well, there's nothing in the rules preventing the opposition from helping a base runner, so Holtman and CWU shortstop Liz Wallace picked up Tucholsky and carried her around the bases, letting her left (uninjured) leg down to touch each base. The crowd erupted in a standing ovation (all 300 or so spectators) in what has to be one of the greatest shows of sportsmanship in a long time.

"It was the right thing to do," Holtman told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Thursday. "She'd hit it over the fence. She deserved the home run."

It's amazing what happens when we start viewing people as people, and not as opponents or foreigners or others who are different from us. Holtman could have easily stood by and done nothing. But, then Tucholsky would still have never hit a home run, and the world wouldn't have known that there are still good samaritans out there willing to love others and help others and do the right thing.

Peace