We will rise...

Several years ago I received a note from a good friend..."my dad's cancer is progressing. His time here is probably down to days..."  When I read those words I was transported back to the last time I was with his dad.  I was saddened by this news, concerned for the grief this final act of life would introduce to my friend and his family...and not.

My friend's father did lose his life; but not once was he in danger of losing his hope: the certain promise that he, as a believer in Jesus Christ, would finally be transported into the presence of His Lord and Savior, there to enjoy life as HE designed it to be.

Life is hard, then we die.   We will all lose our lives, but we need not lose our hope.

Praise God for the hope we have in Christ, and the healing death brings for those who have embraced Christ through effective saving faith.  For these death is not something to be feared; it is a gracious provision that carries us back into a "face to face" real-time relationship with God. Without death, we become eternal beings, like Lucifer and the legion of angels which were cast out of heaven because of their rebellion...eternally separated from God, without hope of redemption.

Death became the modality that God uses to foil Satan's attempt to co-opt God's crowning creative act, the human race.  So then, death is the definitive "check-mate" and demonstrates God's mastery; always steps ahead of evil and the chaos of sin. Genesis 3 describes the event that initiated the rebellion of Adam and Eve to sin and it's necessary result, death; it's also here that we learn that death is part of God's bigger plan for hope and the redemption of human-kind.

The rest, is history, 1 John 4.9,10...

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son 

into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

We know that love is a four letter word, spelled H-O-P-E; more importantly, we know that death simply marks the first day of the rest of our lives, 2 Corinthians 4.16-18...

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet 

inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary 

troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We will rise, thanks be to God.  It's a GRACE day.

bN tGit

When I Grow up...

"When I Grow Up (to be a man)"  Link to song

This is of course one of the "sounds of summer" delivered to us by, who else, The Beach Boys. It's a favorite. When the DJ's at KRLA or KHJ in Southern California spun this selection I'd turn the radio up (even louder) in my 1960 Ford Falcon--and be transported into thoughts of...the future; "how will my life play out?

Today, when I select this tune on my iPod, or hear it on my Pandora "Beach Boys Radio" selection, I'm transported into thoughts of...the past; we all grew up.  I settled down early, married my High School sweetheart 42 years ago and WILL "love her for the rest of my life." While it's true that life is rarely fair, it's always good.

I've grown up.  Now that I'm growing older, I think about legacy.  What will I leave behind that will distinguish my place in the passage of time?  What will my grandkids carry through their lives that has my fingerprints on it?  Have the lives of people been enriched because they spent a season in close proximity with me?  Have I been an agent of positive change?

I'm grateful I'm not done. 

I'm grateful I'm not alone. 

I'm grateful He's not finished: 

"Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling and 

will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.²⁵

All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and 

in the present, and beyond all time! Amen."  Jude 24, 25

bN tGit

The hurt...

Lunched with friends on Sunday.

Our conversation turned to events of this past week. Robin Williams decision to end his life came up. My friend expressed her dismay over the way many in the most conservative wing of our faith tradition have chosen to excoriate Robin, because of suicide.

Robin had an extraordinary gift--not his comedic gift--but the one which allowed him to tap into what being human is, what it feels like, what it looks like, then being able to create a "connect-the-dots" visual--using words, diction and TONE.  When we heard him speak we realized "that's it!" that's me! He moved us and made it possible to breath again, he delivered relief and hope because he understood us.

Being that intuitive and dialed in--takes a toll of a person's soul. In the end, Robin could not find his "Robin." Don't be harsh because Robin was too vulnerable; because he couldn't believe his way to a faith based answer.  Simply learn the last lesson he leaves us--no man is an island. 

That said, we all hurt; there is a healer.  His name is Jesus.

"Jesus come and break my fear, wake my heart and take my tears

Find your glory even here, when the hurt and the healer collide."  Mercy Me

Follow this link below to a beautfiul expression of our frailty and God's provision..."The Hurt and The Healer" by Mercy Me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxqfDs-64I0

"It's Friday, but Sunday's comin.'"

bN tGit

TGIT!

Make a hard life easier today--opportunities abound. A kind word, a smile; a simple generous gift. See it, do it. Thank God it's...today.  TGIT!

bN

Exceptional...

American exceptionalism: our multiple failures, our human weakness, TRUMPED by redemptive generosity across the land and around the world.

bN 

Dear Mr. President...

"WE the PEOPLE in order to form a more perfect union...do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Preamble to the Constitution

"...to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and whenever any Form of Government becomes destrutive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government."

Declaration of Independence

"...Citizens of the United States do not exist to support and serve the government. Quite the contrary; our Constitution makes it very plain that the government is a creation, and servant, of the People. They pay for it, and they maintain it. If need be, Mr. Obama, they also have the right to dismantle it and start over."

Michael Nellet "A Basic Economic Lesson for Mr. Obama" 

Dear Mr. President...

I know you get it; what's troubling is your presumption that because you believe America needs to be fundamentally transformed--that, your opinion, gives you the right to exercise the power of the Presidency in ways that violate the trust given to you in 2008. You don't own the Presidency, the People lend our Presidents power and expect they will use but not abuse it.

You recently described a classic American experience, people helping each other up the ladder--part of what makes our culture exceptional. Then it became clear as you continued, that you don't get it at all. In your vision of our country, "behind every successful entrepreneur there stands a successful government (Rich Lowry)."  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is, Mr. President, that behind our government--the oldest most successful democracy on earth--stand exceptional citizens, who believe in a big idea birthed in the crucible of revolution, which make it great. It's this "citizen DNA" that makes democracy work. "We the people" build those bridges, dams and roads, that "infrastructure;" our engineers vision and design them and our labor force contructs them; our hard earned tax dollars pay for them. Government has a role, but make no mistake: the People preceded the Government and it is this Nation's People that make her great, government possible and dreams come true.

Mr. President, the People did not anoint you to Federalize mentors, teamwork and pro bono benevolence. That's not a function of government, never has been, never will be; it's part of the character of our People and has marked every generation for 238 years. The genesis of this kind of generosity is the goodness of our People and our willingness to help each other; our passion for helping others improve their lot in life, realize a dream, move across socio-ecomic barriers and beat the odds. That's just what we do; we give back and we give generously without concern for what "our fair share" might be. That's why America is the most generous Nation on the planet; this is a place where in spite of evil, goodness does eventually prevail.

Please, Mr. President, reconsider your campaign to reinvent America in the image of collectivism. That sets the bar far too low and will surely relegate us to the backwaters of the 21st Century. The world will be a far less humane place if that becomes our destiny.

Mr. President, like many politicians, you often conclude your prepared remarks with a simple yet profound blessing; "God bless America." I pray that you will be energized by the possibilities contained in that simple phrase; that you will lift your eyes from the horizon, to the heavens and be gifted with a fresh vision much bigger than "a fair share." A vision rooted in grace, driven by faith and powered by obedience.

Mr. President, may God bless you.

Respectfully,
Ben Baier

Tiltl!#%!

Time.
Activity.
Stress.
Dis-stress.

Our fear of loosing an edge is ravaging relationships, melting down families,  creating monster expectations, ruining our health and creating distance between us and God.

Why don't we say no?  The fact is we really do live in a "less is more" world.  We can't have it all.  More importantly, we don't NEED it all.

White-space is what makes good Art so fetching, great landscape design so dramatic and relationships work.  It gives us permission to breath, to be creative, to recharge and recreate.  

Who "moved the cheese" and convinced Americans that the contemplative life is empty and worth-less?  We did.  

Stop.
Breath.
Listen.
Smile.

bN

Weary...

Weary.  So very weary of the "if you criticize this President you must be a hater" narrative.  It's time people stop crying wolf--it's hurting the President, it's hurting relationships across racial and political lines, and it's hurting the Nation.

We can't control the racist vanguard...what they say or think; we don't need to.  We can force them to the margins of culture and make them irrelevant by refusing them a place "at our tables."

That said, the "loyal opposition" plays an enormously important role in shaping the Nation and the future--regardless of weather that opposition is conservative or progressive.  Any attempt to silence that voice is tyranny, and a threat to us all.

bN

Amazing grace...

My choices will shape my character. 

Good character will empower me to be the kind of person God uses to make hard lives easier.  

Making hard ives easier is a legacy that will transform my world, one needy--and often underserving, person at a time.  

This is the miraculous power of amazing grace.

Letter to my younger self...

Today, I write to my younger-self, FOR my grands--Braden, Kellen and Gabriella and Grayson.

"I know you will all make choices about the way you live your lives, how you will invest your energy and what kind of legacy you will eventually leave behind. I'm writing because I love you all and don't want to leave these words unsaid.

It's taken me a few years to figure this much out.  Were I able to send a note to my younger-self, this is what I'd say... 

Know, Trust and Serve God.
Follow Christ.
Be kind.
Think noble thoughts.
Read and ponder history.
Be inclusive.
Love people.
Never mistake tolerance for love.
Be generous.
Teach yourself to say "I do not know."
Think God's thoughts after Him.
Be patient.
Stand up to be heard, sit down to be appreciated.
Cultivate quirky, life is more fun in the quirky lane.
Be a leader, willing to follow.
Invest in your family, you don't get do-overs.
Work hard to make other people successful.
Be humble.
Make mistakes. Learn from them, then celebrate them.
Wake up every day with a hunger to grow.
Be accountable.
Trust that loss isn't the end of life.
Believe that death isn't the end of eternity.  It's a portal, not a wall.
Be grateful.
Learn that God meets us in the stillness.
Embrace the things you fear. You may never master them, but then again, you might.

Your choices will shape your character. Good character will empower you to be the kind of people God uses to make hard lives easier.  Making hard ives easier is a legacy that will transform your world, one needy--and often underserving, person at a time.  This is the miraculous power of grace.

I love you all more than life...gPA

bN tGit