Good day.

Good day.

Laura and I worked outside at our office building all day.  Cleaned, stained and opened the fountain, transplanted a really big Hydrangea and three Hostas...cleaned up the beds and put down our the rubber snakes (keep birds away); scrubbed the oxidation (looks like salt) off the brick finishes on the building (only happens on the North side of the building).  Packed up and drove over for a drive-by of our daughters home (in escrow) and found an open door, NICE place--so pleased for them.  Locked it up tight and grabbed a burger and salad.  Then, collapsed back at home.

Yes, it's been a good day.

Rejoice!

"My redeemer is faithful and true.  Everything He has said He will do.  Every morning his mercies are new.  My redeemer is faithful, and true."

Steven Curtis Chapman

Wait.

Wait.  Be still and wait.

In time, we will see clearly; till then, those who wait will rise up on wings of eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint.

Waiting...what a glorious calling.

Yet I will Hope...

Long day; long week.
It's late, I'm reflective.
59 years; dreams of a young man, gone.

I've been vulnerable; 

Believed in, invested in; loved people. 

My heart has been broken; yes, crushed.

Made mistakes; operated in false pride, paid the price.

Yet, I will hope. 

My Redeemer is true.

His mercy, new every morning.

His faithfulness, restores my soul. 

His strength, perfect in my weakness. 

His steadfast love, walks with me in valley of death.

Long day; long week.

It's late; I'm reflective.

Through Christ, I can do what's needed.

That's enough.

Yet, I will hope.

the Mulligan...

We don't get many "do overs" in life, but thank God, every 24 hours we get a chance to start over.

2 Camps...BIG problem.

The confessing church has aligned itself into two camps.  This division has created a wall that impacts Christ's church in a profoundly negative way.  The challenge Believers face is to embrace both the social justice and eschatological mandates of the Gospel; it isn't either/or, it's both/and.

The irony is that the same end, passion for people who have become as Jesus described “sheep without a shepherd”, drives both “camps;” yet we (all of us) "preach" a different gospel when we fail to apply the whole counsel of God to our praxis.  It has stripped the church of its relevance on one hand, and spiritual power on the other--leaving only a shell for those "asking, seeking, and knocking" to behold.

The good news is that God isn't marginalized by our failure to embrace the whole Gospel. His love continues to find a way. If only we who have confessed Christ and embraced effective faith could come together, face the harsh reality that WE are the problem, and seek God's face, healing would come; that's the promise of 2 Chronicles 7.14...

"...If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 

May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Generations...

Each Sunday, almost without exception, our Kids--Erin, Joseph, Matthew and Miranda along with of course our grandsons Braden and Kellen, gather with Laura and me for lunch.

In days-gone-by we might have gathered at the house with a "Sunday Dinner" menu.  But that's all changed--not better, not worse--just different.  So we gather at places named Culver's, Panera, La Esperanza, Wendy's, Arby's...where the meal isn't the focus; rather, we focus on each other.

The table-talk is substantive, stimulating, challenging and intelligent.  It's the fruit of all those meals, taken together, evening after evening--lovingly prepared by Laura--when our kids were at home and life was making up its mind...and we talked to each other about school, politics, history, culture and anything else they had on their minds; we offered what wisdom we could, and periodically, prayed together.

We don't agree on everything and that's part of what makes it so stimulating.  Our Kids have grown up well; they're confident, articulate and courageous...and each Sunday I leave the place feeling loved and affirmed. They are doing their part as a new generation of people shaping the world they've inherited; making us proud.

It's been another good day.  

Vexed. NOT beaten...

This past week I made my first sojourn to New York City.  Impressive.  Lot's of very tall buildings.  Human kind is certainly, resourceful.

Over the years I've always attempted to find "dynamic equivalents" in the culture around me to help people understand a deeper principle from the Scriptures. The Tower of course was the ultimate expression of hubris; our effort to shake a collective fist at God and say "See, you aren't so transcendent after all."  Foolish pride led to an inflated opinion of who we were; God breathed, language changed and chaos ensued. We discovered we were no match for the transcendent God.

Fast forward to modern culture: God, in his grace, has allowed humankind to apply intellect and ingenuity, these also graciously granted by God, to "discover" thousands of things that insulate us from the ill-effects of the fall: drugs, asphalt, steel, plastic, roads, air conditioning, engines, automation--the list is endless. We in turn, tainted by sin and swelled with pride, believing ourselves to be wise "shake our fists" at God and say, "You see, the Scriptures are myth; there was a big-bang and then there was mankind and look at how we have evolved...we have the power to give and take life. We don't need myths to prop us up anymore. We are God."

In reality, everything we touch we corrupt. Look at what we call our "system of Justice." We condition the air at the same time we poison it with hydro-carbons. We pollute the planet, poison our bodies, can't beat cancer or aids and when/if we do, something else always emerges. Regardless of how effective we are at blunting the effect of sin on life and the planet, sin always trumps our best efforts...and God allows it, to point us to our need for a Savior and His gracious provision for our redemption.

The farther evolved civilization becomes the further it devolves into moral and spiritual chaos--abortion, failed economies, addiction, violence, corrupt governments, greed, broken relationships, idolotry, shaminism, social injustice. Think about it, in 1965 LBJ gave us the Great Society. These unfunded mandates have done nothing to enlighten culture and end poverty--but they have driven us to edge of bankruptcy and destroyed families while perpetrating genocide on the poorest of the poor. The smarter we get, the dumber we are. We can run from God, but we can't hide.

So then, civilization as we have fashioned it, has become humankind's most recent Tower of Babel; the work of "our hands" which demonstrates our independence, our ability to "get it done without God."  We set out to be like God, and in a final irony, we create the very modality that could be the end of life as we know it. We can destroy it, but we can't fix it..."and all the kings men, couldn't put humpty-dumpty together again." 

The lie that deceived Eve, and broke Adam continues to vex us. But we aren't beaten, there is hope..."When we were utterly helpless...God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5.6a,8

Hallelujah...what a savior.

Good timing...

God is seldom early, and never late.   
Don't lose hope.
God is able.

The NOT post-racial presidency...

So much for "the first post-racial President in our history;" sounded hopeful...sort of like "hope and change" and "change we can believe in."  This Presidency certainly will not be described as post-racial by any perspective of history.  Not because it couldn't have been.

You see, the "we think it's cool" crowd doomed that possibility almost from that night in Chicago, when a sea of well-wishers gathered to celebrate this President's election.  That certainly was a moment in history.  But it didn't produce a post-racial result.  You see, from that "moment" almost anyone who dared question this President's intelligence, fitness for office, ability to lead or wisdom in approaching the challenges facing the nation--has been tarred as a racist puppet of the Aryan Nation.

As I reflect back, all the (white) Presidents during my lifetime have been the subject of a national pastime geared toward laughing at their quirks, questioning their intelligence, reviling their politics and counting the days till the next election cycle.  In this modern era, virtually nothing has been out of bounds.  (Now, let me state for the record, I don't believe what we subject our Presidents to is good for the nation; that said, it's become the norm, not the exception.  It's mean, but it's not racist.)

So, when this President stepped up to become the focus of the electorates ire, it's decried as racism.  That is non-sense.  Are there racists in America?  Certainly.  Is some the what we hear about this President racist?  Certainly; just like some of what we heard about George Bush was hate speech.

This is America.  We need to be able to speak our minds, thoughtful or otherwise, because that's a treasured right here.  It's part of what makes us, us.  My concern as we move into the the next Presidential election cycle, is that we'll forget who we are and what makes this nation great.  I pray for a civil discourse.  But I also expect it to be a spirited and opinionated discourse--as it should be.  "Ideas" do that to people.  People must feel safe stating what they think about this President and believe to be the best course for the nation...regardless of their agenda.  

We make judgments about the ideas placed before us by politicians and the people that support them.  This election cycle should be no different than those that came before it...but some would seek to prevent this process from playing out that way.

It's here that we see a tragic irony.  The very people who anointed this administration as "post-racial" are the ones who continually play the race card to intimidate citizens; attempting to prevent them from engaging in a critical examination of the record this administration has produced.  That is their end-game.   If one cannot win on the facts, then win any way one can. 

I am concerned that the election to determine the next President will be characterized by class warfare, race-baiting, vitriol and a "take no prisoners" commitment to win at any cost.  Now is the time to brace for just such an election.  Prepare now to be driven to a decision by the facts and your conviction about what you believe is the best course for our nation going forward.  How can one do that?

1. Critically consider your values and then ask, which set of ideas best represent those values. 
2. Become thoroughly familiar with who the candidates really are...not who they, or their handlers, simply say they are.
3. Go deeper than the talking points.  Think through policy and how it effects the nation going forward.
4. Engage big ideas.  Read, study, pray and reflect on the politics of the 21st century, then measure the ideas of those asking for your vote against your own understanding and perspective, born from that "due diligence."
5. Refuse to be an ideologue.
6. Measure twice and cut once.
7. Seek guidance from God; Seek His agenda.  Be willing to embrace it.
8. Exercise your right, privilege and responsibility to vote.

We missed an opportunity to get it right under the leadership of this administration, one has to wonder, what could have been?  The good news is, while we don't always get it right the first time, Americans keep working at it until we do.  No, this isn't the first post-racial Presidency, but it's taken us one step closer to that vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...Sweet dream(s).