Celebrate and Reflect

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As 2015 loses the label of a “new year” after 365 days, we come to 2016 with much anticipation as to what is next. Will the Carolina Panthers win the Superbowl? Will Carolina beat State? (Ok I just had to take a jab at that) On a more serious note, Will there be war? Will there be peace? What about tragedy and triumph? Where will you or I be spiritually a year from now? Who will have changed for the better because of what you or I chose to do or not do?

One of the greatest things we can do at the beginning of a new year is to celebrate and reflect. We can celebrate all the good and wonderful things that were accomplished in the previous year. Reflect on the trials, struggles and hurt that could make us stronger or weaken our resolve, depending on our response.

More importantly, we can celebrate the fact that our purpose, rooted in eternity and affirmed by the fact that we are all a part of God’s creation, can move us to humbly thank God for his gift to the world, himself, in the flesh, in the person and divine nature of Jesus Christ. Despite our sinfulness, Christ paved the way for all who would repent of their sin and believe in his name to become a new creation. Jesus gives us the ultimate reboot, the ultimate restart in life.

So as we reflect, we thank God for a good year, no matter the struggle or the pain. God has seen us through it. That’s the point. He’ll continue to do so. That’s our hope, grounded in the unshakeable faith in a God who desires that we see our lives as becoming more obedient to get rid of the selfish desires that face us constantly, and die to self, take up our cross and follow Jesus. As John 3:30 states, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” Happy New Year!

The Challenge of Being In The World and Not of It

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The recent shootings on the campuses of Seattle Pacific University and Reynolds High School are indeed a tragedy and a reminder to us all that life is precious and also temporary on this earth. We hug our children a little tighter, thank God for their safety and presence with us, and continue about our lives.

As I heard the news reports come in bit by bit, the media began a typical play by play of tragedies that we are becoming all too familiar with. Finding out incoming new details quicker than the next guy can become a pursuit with an easy search on social media. But at the heart of the tragedy are lost lives, broken hearts and communities reeling with grief and questions that often go unanswered or are given answers unsuitable to the ones asking. The armchair philosophers chime in quickly (and oftentimes should) on the ills of such things as gun violence, lack of safety in the schools, or the nature of broken families impacted by divorce, mental illness, lack of a moral compass, or any number of fill in the blank crises that many students shoulder daily.

If you want to go down the gun violence path, blaming the guns isn’t going to help. You can find research that points to an increase in gun ownership and a decrease in gun violence if you like. But that’s not the point of this post. My point is simply this: The world we live in is the world that Jesus called us to be in, as his followers. We are to not shrink back and go hide in a hole until Jesus comes back. Tragedies will happen. Our students and people in general need the light of Christ in their lives. We are the light of the world, a city on a hill.

I love the public school system because in large measure it’s where the greatest mission field of students is. You can make the argument for homeschooling and private schooling and I’ll sit down with you and agree with you whole-heartedly over a cup of coffee. I’ve chosen to send my child (who is a believer) to public school because I believe that I should practice what I preach, and teach him the same. I volunteer at the public school; I visit the lunches at public school. I go to students’ events and games. I’ve volunteered at the private school and visited lunches there also, simply to be amongst the students God has placed in our community. My wife and I have even attempted homeschooling with our son, going to the homeschool convention, with an armload of curriculum to boot. It’s the call of Jesus on my life to be in the world and not of it that beckons me to be among those who need Jesus, no matter where that takes me.

When tragedy happens, don’t make the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bath water. There are a lot of teachers and administrators and students in the public school system that needs the church to be salt and light with them.

Pray for the victims and families of these senseless tragedies. Pray for the perpetrators too. Thank a teacher, principal, or parent. Encourage them in their role in the public sector. Follow Jesus’ command to be in and not of in John 17:14-19 or as someone put it better, not of, but sent into.

 

A Sweet 16 Years of Marriage to a Beautiful Lady

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On July 12, 1997, I married my best friend. That day still brings back so many wonderful memories. I remember looking at my bride, all dressed in white and beautiful, ready to walk down the aisle with her father. The moments we exchanged vows seemed like a blur, even if I stumbled over the words we wrote for each other. I remember the limo driver, who’s lack of knowledge of where to take us struck fear in the hearts of a newlywed couple. I remember the hotel employee, whom somehow was convinced by my sister and cousin to use a master key to open our hotel door (!) and give us a special delivery on our honeymoon night, while we were occupying the room. I remember the honeymoon to the Bahamas, where the ride to the zoo on an empty bus made us wonder what we were doing! The photo here was from the zoo. My bride is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I’m so grateful for 16 years of marriage to my best friend. Things haven’t been perfect, and there has been much grace and forgiveness through it all that we’ve given to one another. I look forward to many more wonderful years together my love. Happy anniversary!

A Time For New Beginnings

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Took this photo on Easter Sunday. I love Easter for all of the meaning surrounding it. The resurrection of Christ, the celebration of the church for this moment and new life available to any who trust in Christ, the beautiful weather where I live, and the tradition of dressing up for Easter. It’s small compared to the other larger encompassing ideas surrounding the Resurrection, but it provides a nice photo op and a reminder that new life is possible in Christ. A new start is available to the one far from God. A renewed commitment leading to a changed lifestyle and pressing more towards the goal of heaven in Christ Jesus. Change is easy on the outside, but the greater change occurs within, when Christ resurrects that which is dead and brings to life. One day the believer will be clothed in immortality as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.'”