Simple.

God's love is simple.  The Word became flesh.

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us..."  Romans 5.6,8

Christmas is joyous because God's love never fails.  He rescued humankind.  WE are the reason for the season.  Thanks be to God!


To all our friends, family and those who stumble into this blog posting, Merry Xristos and best wishes for a prosperous New Year.  

bN tGit

Goof Proof.

The Incarnation of Christ serves as a glorious reminder that God’s willingness to clean things up is infinitely bigger than our ability to mess things up.

"God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.²¹So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Romans 5.20-23 NLT

Right standing.  Eternal life.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Emanuel.   Let it be.  

bN tGit

Metrics Matter.

This from the closing "reveal" scene in The Delivery Man... 

"I'm a meat truck driver.  I'm an incompetent meat truck driver."  To which his father replies "You ARE an incompetent delivery man.  It takes you four times longer to deliver the meat than any other driver.  But, every where you go, they love you."

So how do you measure success?  Metrics matter.



bN tGit

Bill of Rights: A good call.

During the battle to ratify the US Constitution, many Americans worried that the founding document failed to list specific rights to be protected against government's tendency to abuse power. Thomas Jefferson gave voice to their concerns in a letter to James Madison: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth...and what no just government should refuse."  

Reluctant at first, Federalists agreed to add amendments protecting personal liberties. Madison along with several others, crafted a set of 10 Amendments, a "Bill of Rights," which were ratified December 15, 1781--114 years ago, today.  These of course, constitute the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution.

These are historic days. Regardless of what the future holds, the strength of our Nation is demonstrated by the civility of our process.  I pray the extremists on both sides of the isle, and their Citizen Groups, will take a breath and stop talking.

I am proud to be a citizen. God bless America.  

Merry Xristos.  

bN tGit

Truth is.

Truth is to living what physics is to life.

We can't "see, smell or hear" the laws of physics, but without them, nothing works; that which we do see, smell and hear is the result of these laws being applied with purpose or spontaneously.

In the same way truth is the rail living rides on. Ethics, the rule of law, cultural norms, relationships, parenting, good government, freedom--to name but a few aspects of living--all work based on a set of core values, derived from the common grace of God, who wired humankind with an intrinsic sense of what truth is and an understanding of what's "right."

Truth, like physics, does not function in a deterministic way. I can ingore Newton's Law of Gravity and embrace a belief that I can float, then step of top of a tall building. Newton's Law does not override my choice. But my choice to embrace and believe I can float will not prevent a very bad outcome.

One can choose to believe that truth is relative, subject to change, given to multiple definitions or simply an outdated cultural moray. People, and cultures, can choose to ignore the truth, or worse, be deceived and believe a lie--at great peril. The result/reality of these choices is sobering. Living spirals out of control. Chaos trumps the rule of law, justice becomes a myth, bondage becomes the norm and brokeness the face of a nation.

Life does not work without physics.  Living does not work without truth. 

"...And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8.32

bN tGit

Run hard. Finish well.

Several years ago I decided it was time to fix my shoulder--torn rotator cuff, labrum and a large calcium deposit on my bursa.  I'd postponed the inevitable surgery for 42 years. Two months after the repair I began my rehab process.  I am intrigued by how fast our joints "freeze up" and muscles atrophe when we don't use them. As I strained to lift my arm above my shoulder, I could only move it half that distance; no matter how hard I tried--I could not "will" it up. Getting my "shoulder back" took discipline and hard work.

Life is like that too. When we live careless, reckless, aimless lives, we miss the best life has to offer. People are filled with potential; we are "wired" for growth, relationships, productivity and yes, achievement. Realizing these possibilities brings shape to life, purpose for living; talent and apptitude must be transformed into ability by disciplined effort. "Willing" it won't make it happen. Success and failure are two sides of the same coin and people tend to get what they expect. Our expectations tend to dictate our effort; dicipline tends to dictate our success. Successful people do the things unsuccessful people aren't willing to do; the door to success isn't hard to see, but it demands much of those who choose to pass through it.
But, what about "life" after death?  People of faith believe that we've been created with eternity in our hearts. The Scriptures tell us that...

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us."  Rom 5.6,8 NLT

We embrace this gracious provision by trusting Christ as our Lord and Savior. But this kind of effective faith doesn't just kick back and "let it happen." Saving faith points us to "a long obedience in the same direction." Life becomes the canvas where we see worked out, what God has worked in.  Embracing Christ opens a door to a whole new perception of who and Whose we are.

Spiritual strength and godly character are the by-products of disciplined effort and purposeful living. The apostle Paul understood this...

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Cor 9.24-27 NLT

Good outcomes don't just happen.  Life and eternity demand our very best and our very best, once we have embraced Christ and His work through effective faith, is always more than enough.


bN tGit

My Cyber Paper-trail.

Someone asked me recently "why do you blog? Nobody reads it, what's the  point?"  It's not the reading that's the magic. It's the writing. 

For now...back in 2000 I took an extended leave of absence from teaching, from writing and I missed it.  I felt myself begin to shrivel up inside until one day in February 2010, sitting at home, nursing Laura back to health after a surgical procedure, I decided to explore "a blog." 

 I discovered it's great therapy, keeps me engaged, demands rigorous thought and teaches me a great deal as I work through the process.  It's the creative process that keeps me on the edge.  It's like cardio for my brain and makes me a stronger thinker.  It's the creative process that God uses to move me closer to the person He has created, called and gifted me to be as I run toward the prize waiting at the end of my life.

For later...I'm leaving a cyber "paper-trail" that my friends, family...especially my kids and grandkids...can log onto and "hear" me, remember me; who I was, what my passions in life were, how I thought and what I valued--glimpse a snapshot of my enthusiasm for my opinions, my love for God, my compassion for people, my desire to make a difference.   I'm hoping they will glean wisdom about what's important, and why.   I pray my words about substantive issues, my poems about the way I see life,  my anguish over loss, errors, regrets--my hope and certitude about my future in Christ, will make a difference in their lives someday and play a role in making the hard places in life, easier...can you spell l-e-g-a-c-y?

Grateful to live in an era that has empowered me "go on the record" and leave something of what makes me, unique, behind.  Father in heaven, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be pleasing in Your sight--my God and my Redeemer.  Through Christ, let it be.

bN tGit

Science AND Art.

The election of 1800 required 32 elector ballots before Jefferson prevailed to become the nation's 3rd President.  Talk about controversy.

In his first inaugural address, March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson made this remark.

"All will bear in mind the sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful, must be reasonable.  That the minority posses their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.  Let us then, fellow citizens, unite in one heart and one mind."  

There is Political Science, then there is the Art of Power.  Today we have leaders, in both parties, who are not schooled in exercising the art of power.  Then there are the citizen groups, the "red meat freaks," on both the left and right who can't/won't tolerate the Art of Power.  The result is what we see in DC today.

In less than a year we will go to our polling-places to elect the 45th President of the United States (along with a new Congress)--and of course the primaries begin next month. So much hangs in the balance.  I hope that we will be blessed with leaders, on both sides of the isle, committed to making the American "idea" (NOT the Dream) a reality again.

May God bless America's leaders in 2016 with "art" (statesmanship) to empower our process to work justly, compassionately and humbly and...with integrity to act in the best interest of the people, rather than their parties or own self-interest. 

May He also deliver us from ALL those bad actors in Citizen groups, without regard for their orientation,  seeking to force the country on a path that suits only their vision of what America was, is and must become.

Let freedom ring. 

 bN tGit

Saying Good-bye.

I have loved dogs since I was very young boy and a little poodle mix followed by brother home.  We named him "Yogi" (the dog not my brother)  and he filled our home with love for just about 11 years.  One evening we found him lifeless, out in the yard.  We speculated he'd had a stroke.  I was crushed.  

I've reprised that loss four more times--Alphie age 8, Max age 13,  Barely age 14 and Kate age 15.  Each time they pass into my memory--I'm crushed, again.  Yet once I move through my grief, I can't resist the compulsion to find our next dog companion and start the cycle again.  My lovely Lab Lily sits with her chin wresting on the top of my feet as I type these words.  Chance, our dashing Dachshund, is rattling (his tags drag on the laminate floors) round the kitchen.

So somewhere down the line I have a least two more gut-wrenching "letting-go" passages to make.  I have a friend who just today put her lovely dog, Karma, down.  Karma was loosing her battle with cancer and it was time for my friend to let her best K9 friend go.  Why do we do it?  My friend posted a quote this evening on her Face Book feed.  It explains why pet owners put ourselves in the way of certain heartbreak.

"There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings or walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."

Suzanne Clothier

That's it!  Look at that, "...our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."  My life has been better because of my love for my dogs, and most especially, FROM  my dogs.   

So, tonight I celebrate a lovely dog named Karma, her big empathic eyes and lovely brindle coat are a magnificent memory now.  She "got" my friend, she loved my friend; she trusted my friend.  A wonderful tribute to the connection they shared for 8 years.  Yes, dogs make life better...and parting? Parting is surely sweet-sorrow.

Grief, Remembered. Reminded.

December 7, 1941. 

   2400 dead. 1200 wounded.
   18 US Ships and 300 planes destoryed or damaged.

"A date that will live in infamy"   President Roosevelt

"I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in him a terrible resolve."  Admiral Yamamoto

Both men were right; the world was rescued from an "Axis of evil," but not before millions lost their lives and the planet was gashed by nuclear weapons. 

America, an idea that produces passion to sacrifice.
Freedom isn't free.

bN tGit