But If Not…

In my opinion, those 3 words were probably the most remarkable words ever spoken by mere men. 

Let me provide some more information.  Daniel 3:17 says:

“If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine hand, O king. “

Then in the next verse, Rach, Shack, and Benny (for those VeggieTales fans) say the following:

“BUT IF NOT, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

So, why do I find those 3 words to be so powerful?  Perhaps it is because it showed their complete commitment to our God.  Their faith and devotion didn’t rest on God delivering them from death.  They believed He could deliver them, but didn’t know if it was His will to do so.  Regardless of the outcome, they were making it clear whose side they had chosen.

That is where I want to be.  I want to be so sold out to Christ that the outcome of any circumstance doesn’t matter.  My faith so solid that even death itself can’t shake it.

Kelly and I see ourselves currently facing our own “furnace.”  With the prognosis for Kelly’s dad, Donald, looking grim, we see the different directions we COULD possibly go.  Do we get angry?  Do we express thanksgiving?  Is our faith shaken such that we no longer see God as the loving and merciful God that He is?  It is easy to SAY the right answer, but we really find out who we really are when the flames are the hottest.  Unfortunately, I can’t say for certain how strong I am until I’ve gone through the trial.

One positive I see from any adversity is it makes you reflect on the times God has delivered and blessed you in the past.  I noted so many in such a short amount of time, I decided I needed to buy a journal and record them to pass down to my kids as a “heritage of faith” (this was my Mom’s idea).  If I can faithfully keep up w/ it, it will provide for encouragement during the down times.

A New Agenda

The dust in the Oval Office hadn’t even settled yet and already there is a stir being created from the man now holding the highest office in the land.  Pres. Obama has issued his agenda on the White House website…one of which is the expansion of the Hate Crimes Law.  Some will recall that there was some opposition to this law because of the impact it could have on the religious community.  Well, it appears that opposition has been voted out of office.    The following link is a memo from the Liberty Council outlining the dangers of such legislation and why America doesn’t need such legislation. (http://www.lc.org/media/9980/attachments/hatecrimes.pdf).  Be forewarned, it is a lengthy document.  It was written by lawyers, so I guess being wordy is kind of a prerequisite.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not for denying a person their basic human rights.  However, the fear I have is one that is discussed in great detail in the Liberty Council memo.  That fear is this law that is intended for good could very likely be used to quiet the preachers or cause them to water down their message regarding what the biblical definition of a family is and why homosexuality is wrong.  As it is written, if a person listening to a sermon about the wrongs of the homosexual lifestyle goes out and commits a crime against a person based upon their sexual orientation, the pastor could be charged with the crime as well if it can be proven that the action of one who committed the crime was a foreseeable result of the message.  If it can be proven that while the message was misunderstood the consequence was foreseeable (i.e. “We must stand strong as Christians against the homosexual agenda no matter the cost” could be easily tied to a crime committed by a confused and hateful person if he/she were present in a service to hear such a statement), the pastor could face a number of years in prison for promoting hate crimes.

Now, to end on a bit of a lighter note.  Included in Pres. Obama’s agenda is the expansion of the equal opportunity laws within the employment arena for gays, lesbians, bi-sexual, and CROSS DRESSING individuals.  My question (although not a serious one, I’ll admit) is how will any company establish a dress code if this passes?  What about the military?  Will guys be wearing the skirts of the females?  Boy, won’t that be a fierce military?!!?  “Stop or we’ll scratch your eyes out.”  Just something to consider.

Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Today, I had the opportunity to sit down by myself for lunch.  It was fairly nice.  First, I got to actually eat lunch.  Second, I was left alone.  Now, those who know me know that I’m not antisocial by any means.  However, there are times when I like to just sit and think.  Admittedly, I do not do this enough.

During the quiet moments when I’m reflecting on my life, my family always surfaces to the forefront.  Almost without exception, I begin a self assessment of sorts right off the bat.  My biggest questions are how am I doing as a father and how am I doing as a husband.  I suppose the one I think of most often between those two is how am I doing as a father.  The reason for that is because Carsyn and Olivia are still very young and extremely impressionable.  My actions today shape who they will become tomorrow. 

Children are so enjoyable.  As a parent, you see snapshots of your own life when you watch your children.  Some of what you see makes you smile, and some of what you see makes you cringe w/ embarassment.  As I contemplated my effect on my children, I wondered one big question.  If Carsyn and Olivia could articulate (based upon their observation of me) how a father is supposed to behave, what would they say?  As far as any kid is concerned, their own father is the standard to which all other fathers are measured against.  So, what would my kids say?  The questions I’m most curious about are: “How is a dad supposed to react when you do something bad?” “How often are dad’s supposed to show you he loves you (using my actions as the standard)?” “How important is giving supposed to be in your life (if they are trying to be like me)?” and “How much of a role does God play in making decisions in our family?”  These are questions I feel would define me not only as a father but as a person.  How horrible would I feel if the answer to the first question was “You are supposed to yell at that person” or the second was “when you do something good?”

What got me thinking about this today was my remembering the problems we were having with Carsyn last night as she did not want to listen to mommy or daddy.  I remembered how frustrated I got with her and then began thinking how much more frustrated God must get with me as I routinely do exactly the same thing.  That thought then prodded me to think about my reaction to Carsyn’s misbehavior.  Did I handle it the right way?  What did Carsyn see in and through me as a result of my behavior?  God is a God of love and mercy.  At the end of the discipline process, does Carsyn see me as a loving dad or does she see a disciplinarian who is unyielding in his standards?  I remember that the very first illustration of God my children should see is how I deal with them.  They should see a tiny view of how God deals with his children in the way I deal with them.  Do they?  I hope so.  I pray so.

Braggin on God

Every now and again, God seems to put us in difficult positions just so He can remind us who is in charge.  Recently, we’ve had troubles w/ our Passat.  The warranty covered the first major issue we had, but then just as soon as we picked it up from the shop we found another problem (such is the life of a car owner).  What was found was a flaw in the engine design made it more susceptible to sludge in the engine and drastically affected it performance (to the point of temporarily robbing the engine of oil..not good).  Basically, everything that oil came in contact w/ had to be replaced.  Not cheap.  We were hoping our warranty would cover that, but we found out today they would not.  Figures.  The guy also told us VW knew about this problem and had extended the warranty to cover such a situation as ours IF we provide documentation of ALL of our oil changes since we’ve owned it.  Wouldn’t be a problem if every oil change had been at a dealership, but that was not the case.  If we were unable to come up w/ proof of all of our oil changes, VW would not cover the cost of the repairs.  We were able to find all but one of our oil change records (via numerous phone calls), however even one missing record would void VWs responsibility.  Needless to say, I was a little frustrated and stressed.  I knew God would take care of us somehow, but I was fearful of the pain we would have to endure before God showed Himself all powerful and we saw we were better on the other side.  The man in the service dept said he would run our request past the service manager to see if they would okay our request for VW to cover the repairs.  At about 5pm tonight we received a call from VW stating the WOULD cover the costs.  Talk about a burden lifted off our shoulders.  We are talking about roughly $1500 we did not have right now to fix the car.  Just a reminder from God that He’s got our back even when the situation seems impossible.  After all, the VW dealership would have been justified to deny our request since we did not meet the terms of their warranty extension.  Why would they OK this?  I chalk it up to a God thing.

The Eyes Have It.

Last night while teaching the Awana council time for the Truth in Training group, I taught them about why it is important to filter both what you watch and hear.  Admittedly, I feel fairly certain I went a bit over their heads w/ some of what I said…perhaps because I was beginning to grow annoyed at some of my boys who where uncharacteristically misbehaving while I was speaking (and I am somewhat of a control freak when I’m speaking publicly). 

For those who missed it, I started off with an activity.  Each clubber was standing at the access to a church pew.  When taken as a collective, they formed a “wall and the pews in between my 2 “walls” was my “city.”  The object of the game was for me to get into the city (I was the bad guy) without the use of force.  The only way I could enter the city was if part of the wall stepped aside and thus invited me in.  The boys were fired up while the girls remained apprehensive about this game (I’m amazed at the difference between boys and girls at that age.  Girls are much more of a thinking person than boys during that stage of life).  Suddenly, the mood of the kids changed when I went to my jacket and broke out the candy.  This was to be my bribe to whomever would step aside and allow me to pass.  As predicted, many of the girls passed on the opportunity to take the candy and maintained their post.  The boys, on the other hand, were about to lose their mind at the chance to sell their post for 2 suckers.  Finally, I found a girl who would step aside and allow me to claim victory for the mere cost of 3 suckers and 2 packs of smarties.  Following this game, I told them of the Greek mythology of the fall of the city of Troy (the Mike’s abbreviated version).  The point of the activity and the story was tied back to scripture (finally) as I discussed how things in our everyday life can serve as infiltrators to our spiritual lives.  I also told them that in the same manner that I did not force my way through them or the various armies could not force their way through the walls of Troy, Satan cannot force his way into our lives.  He must be invited in (or at least no longer blocked out). 

So, I asked them how we can read our Bible and pray daily yet still lose various spiritual battles.  One answer is fairly simple.  We’ve opened the gates to our heart by what we immerse ourselves in.  How many times do we hear a song but not listen to it?  I know I’ve sat enjoying the tune of a song but not actually heard the words of the music until much later.  By that time, the words were already ingrained in my memory even if on a subconscious level.  Another gate opened.  The internet.  It’s a wonderful tool (that is how my wife and I found our church) or a dangerous weapon (more than 10% of ALL websites are pornographic in nature). 

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  When we allow a massive stream of information (both visual and audio) to enter our mind unfiltered we bring the Trojan horse into our city.  It is only a matter of time before the gate is opened and we become overwhelmed.

I hope the kids last night got something out of my lesson.  I know the teachers who were there already knew all that I was saying, so I hope it was not wasted on them (no offense meant).  I don’t pretend to believe that my 10-15 min w/ these kids once a week will change their life, but I hope it does slow them down every now and again and make them at least consider what they are doing.  Make them at least ask the question is what they are doing right.  If I can get that, I would consider my efforts a success.

Am I really this oblivious?

I had  the oportunity to discuss my faith w/ a few folks a couple weeks ago.  One of them is Catholic while the other I would have to say is an atheist.  All was going well until we got on salvation.  I expected the atheist to jest at my belief of how we are saved from an eternity in hell according to the Bible, but what I did not expect was what others also believe.

In an attempt to disprove my faith, the unbelieving atheist (kind of redundant, I know) brought up Ghandi.  He was saying there is no way he is in hell because of what a good man he was.  Oddly enough, other Catholics who  were listening in agreed.  I cited the passage For by GRACE are you save THROUGH FAITH.  It is a gift and not that of yourself lest any man should boast.  I find that to be very self explanatory.  It doesn’t matter how good you are, you are still lost w/ out Christ.  How is this concept so elusive to so many…including some of those in the Catholic faith (not singling them out, but that was the predominant faith that was there)?  I knew there were some who didn’t believe in salvation through Christ alone and felt all you had to do to get to heaven was be good, but I wasn’t prepared for “church goers” (even if they don’t share the exact same beliefs as me) to subscribe to this same idea. 

How can a person know of God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s endless love yet still believe our works get us to heaven?  Also, how could I have been so sheltered from the knowledge of how many there are who are in that category?  I guess when you grow up a preacher’s kid you see things through rose colored glasses.  You believe people are saved unless proven otherwise and not the other way around.  How have we, as the greatest country on earth built upon a foundation of God, have gotten to this place?