The way it used to be

On my run this morning I was thinking about the whole issue of suffering and death. What am I to think of the child who dies in a car accident, a man or woman of God who models the Christian walk who dies in a plane crash or some other "freak accident"? Do we blame Satan? Do we blame God? Do we just say, "It must have been God's will" Is it possible that God nor Satan is directly involved? ( responsible for the accident or tragedy itself)

Imagine how differently we would see things if sin only recently entered the human race. Let's imagine that the fall of man occurred only a year ago. Those of us older than a year would have known a time in which there was only life, no death. Until a year ago we would have never known about wars, famine, cancer, injury, birth defects, rape, abuse, shame, neglect....

Then a year ago EVERYTHING changes! Suddenly, all the things mentioned above and much more are part of our world...our new reality. Oh, how we would regret with bitter tears and a broken heart, the choice we made to disobey God! Surely, we would long for the way it used to be!

What then would our response be to death and suffering? Wouldn't we immediately be painfully aware of why there is pain and suffering in our world? Would we even consider asking, "If God is all loving and all powerful, then how could he allow this?" (A question that has tormented me in the past) No, we would know why the horrors in our world take place and we would long for redemption and restoration. We would long for forgiveness. We would long for a Savior....we would long for Jesus!

I know this doesn't answer many complex questions about God, Evil and the fall of man, but,I think God has set a part of me free this morning. Somehow, when I imagine the fall as a recent event, I think I can see our world with just a little more clarity.

Treasuring Him - DWYL Sermon Jam Video

Philippians 3:7-11 "...I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..."

Waking the Dead!

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

"There is a widespread belief among Christians today that the heart is desperately wicked-even after a person comes to Christ.

It is a crippling belief.

And it is untrue." John Eldredge - Waking the Dead

Oh, how this truth is setting me free!

7-24-02 - Rescued!

"Sleep, and dream of this Death angel's kiss

Brings final bliss Completely!

Empty they say, Death, won't you let me stay? Empty they say Death, hear me call your name? Oh, call your name!

Suicide, I've already died You're just the funeral I've been waiting for

Cyanide, living dead inside, Break this empty shell forevermore

Wait, wait patiently Your death-black wings Unfolding sleep Spreading on me

Empty they say Death, won't you let me stay? Empty they say Death, hear me call your name Oh, call your name!

Suicide, I've already died You're just the funeral I've been waiting for

Cyanide, living dead inside Break this empty shell forevermore"... Metallica

"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God" Psalm 40:2-3

July 24th 2002 is my sobriety date, a day that I will not forget til the day I die...Perhaps, I'll remember it even throughout eternity....I hope I do!

It was the day that my father in heaven rescued me from certain death...literally! Towards the end of my love affair/addiction with drugs and alcohol I became suicidally depressed. The lyrics from Metallica's song, "cyanide" explain exactly how I was living and thinking in the summer of 2002. "Sleep and dream of this Death angel's kiss, brings final bliss completely!" It's almost surreal when I remember that in those dark days, I actually believed that embracing death was the answer! I'll never forget feeling the cold chains of a merciless addiction crushing my very soul. I can still remember the utter hopelessness of blackest, darkest night surrounding me as I helplessly sunk ever deeper into the pit of hell! Out of control, fear, no...terror! Oh, sweet death, please come, embrace me...

I'll also never forget the merciful hand of God reaching down from heaven and bringing me "up out of the pit of destruction" Life has not, and will not ever be the same! Since then, I see God as my Deliverer, my Rescuer, my Healer, my Redeemer, my Saviour...my only Hope. He's my Hero, He saved me!

I took the above picture in 2001 after getting high. I think something in me was hoping that one day I would look at this picture with several years of sobriety and say, "Thank God he set me free!" Today is that day.

Waiting for Orphans to Arrive

April and I have completed all our foster parenting classes through DHS and are now simply waiting for "the call" from DHS asking us if we'll take a particular child or sibling group into our home.

It's kind of interesting that we don't call foster kids orphans....they're "foster kids"

Definition of orphan:

A) A child whose parents are dead.
B) A child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted.

"B" seems to describe foster kids perfectly. These kids have been deprived of parental care by parents who are checked out for one reason or another (often drugs/alcohol) and the kids suffer from neglect or worse....

Sometimes I wonder if we think that the biblical mandate to "look after orphans....in their distress" doesn't apply to foster kids. I think it does apply to them as much as the orphans in India or Africa or any other place in the world.

It's not that I take the view that "we need to take care of our own first" They're ALL God's children! In fact April and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from India. (More on that in future blogging) It's just that I think it's easy to think that the "real need" is overseas while we miss "real needs" right under our nose! If we take the view that foster kids in our communities...our neighborhoods are in fact modern day orphans, than doesn't James 1:27 take on more of a personal feel? "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Camping

Had a great time camping with Martin and Luke. We went to "Indian Henry" campground. With a little rock climbing and a fire, we had a great time. It was a reminder to me how important it is to get time alone with my kids, we had some great discussions.

Evian Roller Babies US

Something strange in that water!

Jim Gaffigan - Camping

I'm heading out camping with my sons. Martin thought this was really funny...Luke, not so much....

Disturb us, Lord

Sir Francis Drake (~1577)

"Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little,When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars. We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future In strength, courage, hope, and love".

How often do we sincerely cry out to God and ask him "disturb" us? This year God has really been showing me how much I value my comfort. He's also showing me that my comfort is something that doesn't matter to him! As Christ followers in America I think that can be a difficult thing to grasp...at least for some of us.

It's one thing to say that "God wants us to get out of our comfort zone" That can simply mean that from time to time we step out of our comfortable lifestyle for a moment and then retreat quickly back to safety and feel good about stretching our faith. Isn't it entirely different though, if we conclude that our comfort is simply irrelevant to God? That could mean that he could call us to a lifestyle that involves heartbreak, pain, and uncertainty. It could mean that our lives could get very messy as we reach out to desperate people with desperate needs. It could mean that ministries that we previously thought were only for "special" people with a "special calling" now may have our name on it.
Disturb us, Lord, out of our half dead, comfortable existance. Give us the grace to take hold of the life abundant that you offer to us.