Why we need Jesus...

"Reason and morality cannot show us a good and gracious God.  For that, we need the incarnation...The God revealed in Christ does what reason and morality cannot to...Many people today act like someone has created a peace treaty between reason and faith, after reason won the war...Special revelation, especially the incarnation, is precisely where the Christian faith breaks down the wall our culture has erected between faith and reason...The gospel creates not speculative pundits, spiritual gurus, or moralists but witnesses."

Excerpted from "The God Who Came Down" 

by Michael Horton

What a difference a day makes...

Each year, on December 28, I pause to reflect on my story.

Life moves past us at such a brisk pace that it's easy to forget what life was like 44 years ago; what life could have been like, had God not intervened that night in 1968.  It was the last Saturday night of the year; I had a plan for my evening, and it certainly did not include an up close conversation with God.  But, He had a different plan...and, as it turns out, it changed my life forever.

But the path to that evening in 1968 started many years before...when my Grandmother, who lived with us at the time, would gather me up and carry me off to Church and Sunday School--I still have my first Bible, the one mom gave me to take to church with Grandma.  I didn't know, until I was a young adult, that my grandmother faithfully prayed for me each day--that "BJ would experience the power of Christ in his life and embrace Jesus as his Lord and Savior."  She eventually moved back to her roots in Fort Scott Kansas.  But I continued to get myself to church until about the 8th grade.

I don't recall why I decided to "drop out" but I'm sure it just didn't feel very "cool" to attend church and sunday shcool any longer--and since I went by myself, it was my decision to make.  Fast forward to the fall of my Jr. year in High School.  One evening I landed at a "Campus Life" meeting at the home of a classmate (Jim Rehnberg)...it was the kickoff for the school year and as advertised, it was a "Burger Bash"--all you could eat--and a huge crowd of students.  But I got more that evening than a big meal.  The Campus Life leader, Mark Zier, gave a short talk at the end and he asked the crowd..."If you died tonight, do you know where you're going?"  I didn't; it bothered me, then I moved on.

On the evening of December 28, 1968 I was set to attend an "Afterxms" party with some buddies (Jerry McClain was driving).  Our "wires got crossed" (coincidence?) and they never showed up; stuck, I recalled something was happening at the Rec-center with Campus Life that night--they called it a "Campus Life Rally."  There was a girl I had some interest in (Colleen Rehnberg) and I knew she would probably be there (I was right);  I managed to catch Mark (Zier) before he'd left his house.  He was delighted when I called, and he swung by and picked me up.  An evening of activities, music and then a guy, Roger Cross, got up and challenged me again about my life and death.  This time I was ready and wanted to get this question resolved; Mark talked with me and then invited me to pray a short, simple prayer, and the rest...is history.

Three weeks later I went to the Ventura "Rally" because Mark asked me to share about my recent conversion experience with that half of the county we lived in. Mark mentioned a girl he thought I'd really like, a cute sophomore at Buena HS named Laura--he wanted to introduce us; he was right.  In that span of three weeks I'd had two introductions that literally changed the direction and the outcome of my life: I'd trusted Christ and met my future wife--we married 3 years, 48 weeks and 6 days later.

My home was a rather complicated place.  Lot's of love and pain.  I was carrying some emotional baggage by that time and was making some bad choices.  Christ changed all that in an instant.  The baggage was there--if fact it didn't get fully "unpacked" for years.  But His presence in my life set me in a "best direction" that just never wavered.  Laura's family became a surrogate family for me as our relationship grew; they, especially her dad (my dad died suddenly in 1970), filled a great need in my life.

In the 80's there was a popular gospel song written by Bill Gaither that describes my story, I get choked up every time I sing it; the chorus declares..."Something beautiful, something good; all my confusion He understood, all I had to offer him was brokenness and strife, but He made something, beautiful, out of my life."

December, 28, 1968.  What a difference a day makes.

2013: a "Big Ben" year...

Four big milestones in 2013. 

• Celebrate 40 years married to Laura January 5.  
• Watch the Irish make it 12 National titles on January 7.  
• Mark entrance into my 6th decade on March 14, my 60th birthday.
• Blessed to have had 45 yeas "in Christ" December 28.

It's been a good life.

#59...

Christmas #59 is in the books.  

Some random thoughts...

• Had a great celebration...but with some missing parts; family in CA, NJ, NC, CO...wish we could all be together.
• Erin hosted again on XmsEve...Laura on XmsDay. (I am keeping Christ in Christmas..."X" is the ancient symbol for Christ. Greek letter Chi "X" is the first letter of Greek "Xristos" or Christ...nuf' said.) They did such a wonderful job making us all feel at home and feeding us very well.
• One member of the family was just recovering from the flu, so glad she felt just well enough to join us...so much appreciate the effort it took.
• Grand sons are growing up too fast.
• Movie selection this year "Trouble with a Curve Ball."

But this year there was an undercurrent of sadness and concern; it was buried inside us, but it was there.  Why wouldn't it be?  Grief over the senseless murders of people in Oregon and Connecticut, an ambush/murder of two first responders in New York state, bitter division that still plagues our government, a population unwilling to celebrate our diversity and unable settle on what constitutes our "core values," uncertainty about the economy and a health-care system, a school system sabotaged by politicians which is exhausting the people charged with the task of education (4 in my family), 10+ years of war, a future for our children, grandchildren...our Nation.

These are disquieting times.  The conclusion to President Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inagural address seems so appropriate to these days we're living in...

"...With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

Lincoln saved the Nation once.  Perhaps his wisdom might point the way again.

God's love never fails...

We are the reason for the season...

"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..."

Christmas is joyous because God's love never fails.

Shalom L'Chaim, in Christ.

Blog, blah, blah...

Someone asked me recently "why do you blog?  Nobody reads it, what's the point?" 

It's not the "reading" that's the magic. 

For now...it's the writing; great therapy, keeps me engaged, demands rigorous thought and teaches me a great deal as I work through the process.

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. I pray it just might make a difference in their lives someday...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.  I can't live forever, but the words I leave behind, they can.

A city, set on a hill...

December 1, 1862 Abraham Linclon reminded the nation: America is "the last best hope of the earth."    Though often reviled around the world, at times with good reason, I believe that President Lincoln's premise has been demonstrated repeatedly over the past 150 years.  

May God contine to bless America; may He empower us to be people of character and good will; with generous hearts, brilliant minds and dynamic vision...for making tHis world a better place.

A city set on a hill, cannot be hidden.

Goof proof...

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

TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN

Final solution...

It's a FB day.  Checking in from time to time, with special attention to what friends are posting in the wake of Oregon and Connecticut.  Some talk about "arming teachers."  Makes me wonder, what are you thinking?

Arming teachers and asking them to act in yet one more enormous role is NOT the answer.  This knee-jerk reaction (arming teachers) is part of the larger problem facing us this morning.  Too many people have bagged on their responsibilities for creating a "user-friendly" culture--this would of course be true of SOME teachers; BUT it's a big tent filled with parents, extended family members, the Church, politicians, the entertainment icons and their handlers, the culture of our Colleges and Universities and corporate profits--seems a good start on a long list.

In the name of freedom we have acted in ways that have produced unintended consequences.  We have come to believe that because we have the protection under law to do something, produce something, say something--we can.  The irony is that liberty in that context is license--and license leads, too often, to lawlessness.  One of the most important lessons I learned at home was this; just because I CAN do something, doesn't not mean I SHOULD do it. 

If we as a culture, can get back to this simple lesson and apply it with consistency to the way we LIVE our lives, run our companies, invest our money, lead our homes, churches, communities and our nation, THEN I believe we will have taken a FIRST-STEP toward restoring sanity to our decision making process and rebuilding the ramparts that protect our culture from evil and devolution toward certain destruction.

But mark this, the final solution is a spiritual one.  The Older Testament prophet Micah lived in a truly evil world.  The theme of his prophetic letter stresses the integral relationship between true spirituality and righteous conduct.  Toward the end of his letter he turns to an axiomatic concern: Micah 6.6 "...with what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?"   In today's vernacular it might sound something like this..."What kind of life will reflect and infuse truth in a world whose reality is based solely on pragmatism and driven by relativism?"  He reveals that answer to us in chapter 6, verse 8... 

"He has showed you O man, what is good.  To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."   Micah 6.8

Friends, it's not a fiscal cliff we see looming on the horizon.

Lost and found...

Loss. I've had my share over the years.

Two weeks after I graduated from High School, my father died, I was 17. In 1984, just after my 31st birthday, my mother died . I was 38 when I learned I had diabetes. I began a "rest of my life" battle with skin cancer in 1996, at age 43. Disappointment...oh my, where do I start. Failure--several crushing instances. Unrealized dreams, of course.

My story isn't unique. It's called, "being human." Loss is just a part of the "living experience." Life is hard, and, can be very harsh. Loss, though we all face it, is not simply a one size fits all process. For some, loss means never experiencing "what could have been." For others it's remembering "what was." For all of us it's losing people we love, to death. Life's "Harsh passages" include broken relationships, disease, tragic accidents, children "lost" in adolescence and never able to move on to productive adult lives, addiction, betrayal, unfaithful spouses and/or friends...have I described your "loss-story" yet?

Recently, an extended family member, and friend, facing a number of very difficult circumstances posted a comment about loss, she concluded, "Easy to be philiosophical...easy to be grateful too." As I paused to reflect on her words, I was struck by this profound insight.

"Easy to be grateful too..."  Really?  We can't, generally, control loss. Bad things happen to good (and bad) people. We can, however, control our attitude and our response to loss. We can ask "why me?" or we can declare "why NOT me!" That's the "philosophical" part.

The "grateful" part comes when, our pain notwithstanding, we aren't swallowed by bitterness; through the darkness of the moment, we still see the sunshine we've experienced over the years--as well as the expectation that the sun will shine again. Loss frames our perspective. It reminds us of the providence of God and the blessings we enjoy and have enjoyed through the ebb and flow of life. It's ironic, loss and gratitude are two sides of the same coin. Tennyson understood this when he penned "It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

The sentiment that struck me as so profound was "easy." It just never occurred to my friend to not be grateful. The emotional and spiritual place that she "lives" made gratitude a logical extension, not of her pain, but of His promise. The Psalmist (42.5) said it this way..

"Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God."

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope. It's an intersection of life where one can step back and see life not just for what it isn't, but for what it is; it's at that place, in that moment, we see the goodness of God, and it's easy to be grateful.

Lost and found. A fitting description.