I Dare You

There is something almost irresistible about a dare. Deep down, each of us stands ready to rise to the challenge. We want and sometimes even need to show that we are more than ready, that we do indeed have what it takes to pass the test.

Last weekend my wife and I had an evening planned together. A friend of ours was scheduled to exhibit a number of his paintings in an uptown gallery as part of an art crawl. I enjoyed meeting several artists and hearing about their work and learning how their life is different than mine. To be honest I felt a little out of place looking at artwork that cost as much as my truck, but Sunnie was enjoying herself and she was laughing a lot. The lights meant to illuminate the works of art highlighted a sparkle in her eyes that every diamond in the world must envy. We enjoyed being together.

Afterwards we went to see the movie Fireproof (www.fireproofthemovie.com/). I had not heard much about it, but we had planned an evening together and that's what she wanted to do. So we bought our tickets and a bag of M&Ms & found our seats. After 3 hours and 14 minutes of introductions and previews, the movie started.

Without re-telling the story (you should see it yourself) let me say we are invited into the lives of a successful young firefighter and his wife. He's very good at his work, but not very good in this relationship. His father "dares" him to make it work.

I would recommend the movie Fireproof to every adult I know - but let me tell you this: Don't expect to be entertained. Yes I laughed. Yes I cried (yes, I got misty-eyed too, but at one point near the end actually had tears on my face, which is not a common occurrence for me. And I was thinking, they BETTER NOT end this movie right now when I'm sitting here with tears on my face. But they proved themselves trustworthy and allowed me a few minutes to get it together before the lights came up). Parts of the movie are very entertaining, but it's not entertainment. This is something more. This is something better.

Don't make up your mind during the first five minutes - I started out hoping this wasn't a dud. But during the course of the movie I came to care about the characters and what happened to them. At times, it hurt to watch. Not because of what was happening on screen, but because I knew that hundreds and thousands of people who will be watching this movie had experienced some form of it in their own living rooms.

My wife and I have been married 18 years. Our relationship is strong and healthy and we are very thankful to be together. The most common year for divorces is the seventh year. After seven years, a couple has worked through some problems that many others were divorced over. So my wife and I have worked through some problems. It is painful at the time and it is painful to remember. (I remember one late night discussion, I impulsively told her: "You know what your problem is? You married a man! That's your problem!" Fortunately we both started laughing and that was the end of that.)

In my thinking, this movie represents the highest and best that movie-making can be: it builds you up. It offers hope. It creates the desire to aspire. Most importantly, it points the way to permanent solutions to all the challenges we face. The Bible says that love builds up, it makes stonger. So much of what passes for entertainment does nothing of the sort.

So go see it. I dare you.

22 Thoughts for the Day

1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Today I am reading and thinking upon and praying through Psalm 34. For this selection from the New King James Version I am grateful to my favorite online Bible site http://www.biblegateway.com/ ,where you can freely view and search multiple versions of the entire Bible.

Thank you Lord for your good promises to your people. Our hearts are steady when we trust in You.

Where does she stand on the Issues?

This week we have seen history. The country has been electrified with Sarah Palin. If I was writing this last week an introduction would have been necessary. But if you haven't heard the name Sarah Palin this week, where have you been? You must have been out of the country - no wait, that wouldn't work. Maybe the remotest parts of Alaska.

I decided a while back that I would vote for John McCain, but Wednesday night was the first night I felt enthusiastic about it. His VP selection is a gamble but I think a smart one. He may not win the election but he has a better chance with this dark horse candidate than with any of the usual suspects.

On a side note, I am so thankful to live in a country where I can state my opinion publicly without fear of arrest or reprimand if he loses, that I live in a country where his name is not the only name on the ballot or opposition supporters might torch my home for disagreeing with them. And I am thankful to live in a country that has chosen Barak Obama as a candidate for President. I disagree strongly with him on a number of issues but his life story is amazing and is an American story and is the reason people all over the world still look to America, because stories like this give HOPE. I will not vote for him, but it is because I disagree with him on the issues. His race is not a factor in my decision and doesn't seem to be for most which makes me think we might be making some progress.

Anyway, last night I was amazed at how Sarah Palin's person was summarized for public consumption. I don't remember the exact quote but it went something like "She's a hard-charging corruption-fighting snowmobile-riding moose-hunting conservative mother of five." Wow! That Todd must be a REAL man. No wonder they call him the First Dude.

I read somewhere that John McCain had met her once before announcing her as his Veep, so it wasn't her high-powered personality that won him over. It had to be her stand on the issues, and how he felt she could add something to his bid for the White House.

Where does she stand on the issues? I'm sure we'll find out more, but on paper she looks like a great conservative candidate. Where does Barak Obama stand on the issues? I'm sure we'll find out more but on paper he looks like a great liberal candidate.

This morning I woke up thinking about the issues. I wondered what it would sound like if my own life and beliefs were so analyzed and summarized, sliced & diced and bandied about like a baseball player's stats.

I got to thinking about how my Heavenly Father had picked me. I can tell you this, it wasn't because I can add something to His ticket. And it wasn't because I was right on all the issues. I have issues that you don't even know about. I probably have issues that I don't even know about, but at the right time the Holy Spirit will bring them up because He loves me and it is His determined purpose that I be conformed to the image of Jesus. He knows all about me, and where I stand on the issues, and what my own issues are and where I stand on them, where I'm right and where I'm conservative and where I'm liberal.

Thankfully He doesn't pick on the basis of that. He picks as He does because it pleases Him to do so. He doesn't owe us an explanation but has given one anyway. He owes us nothing but has given us everything in the person of His son Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful to live in this country. But my citizenship is not here. I am a citizen of Heaven. If you don't like that, that's because you're not from there. I will participate respectfully in the governing process while I'm here, but my heart longs for home and it will be glad when I get there. In the meantime, I've got to take a stand on the issues. Lord, let me be right on the issues that matter to You.

Take it to the bank

Emma is my daughter. She is seven and she makes my heart sing. She has a wonderful, very happy smile. She doesn't give it up easily but when she decides to turn it on she can light up every face in the room. Her brown curly hair regularly attracts attention, all her life strangers have walked up to her to comment on it. (I remember once telling a mom in Walmart that no, we did not get her a perm, she's only 2!) She can be shy in public but at home she loves to take center stage - singing, dancing, and trying to create as much hoopla and laughter as possible.

She's a great reader and loves attending the Branch Christian Academy. One day this spring I picked Emma up from school to have some daddy/daughter time together. I had to stop by the bank and as often happens Emma attracted the attention of the ladies who worked there. She was kind of shy but seemed to take it in stride.

Emma had her school uniform on, so one of the ladies working in the lobby asked her about school. Emma told her she was working on her memory lesson. "Can you say it to me?" she asked?

Emma nodded shyly and began. Children can be so open, their trust and vulnerability can break down the walls around our grown up hearts. Quietly and steadily Emma repeated "For God so loved the world, He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

For just a second it was very quiet. It was a holy moment, right there in the bank lobby. It was like someone had turned on a light, and suddenly everyone realized how dark it had been.

"That was really good honey" the misty-eyed bank lady told her. Then she gave her a yellow sucker, and we walked up to the teller. That holy moment was gone, but not forgotten.

I've prayed for that lady we saw at the bank that day. I'm not in that branch much anymore and I haven't seen her since then, but I have prayed for her when I remembered that day. I don't know what she decided to do with the Message, but I know she heard the truth.

This message about Jesus is wonderful news. And you can take it to the bank.

The End of Faith

My faith is coming to an end.

OK, I admit it right up front. The title is designed to grab some attention, at least in the circles I run in. I'm not rehashing that REM line about losing my religion. I'm thinking about something a guy named Peter said a while back. You remember Peter, the brash bold guy who followed Jesus? One minute loudly proclaiming that he would follow Jesus to the death, the next denying he even knew Him.

If anyone ever looked like he was losing his religion, it was Peter. One of the most vocal followers of the radical Son of Man, Peter was in the spotlight during a famous and very public fall from grace. It was crunch time, and Peter just seemed to throw it all away. Then Jesus is publicly crucified. Peter's faith seemed dead and the One his faith was in was dead too.

Game over. Finis. The End.

But faith, like love and hope, has a life all it's own. True faith, the Bible kind of faith, is not of our own creation or invention. This isn't something we cook up on our own. The Bible teaches that God has provided for us His very own faith, not based on circumstances but that calls things that be not as though they were.

Peter walked through some painful moments, and perhaps he thought he had lost it all. But then something unusual happened. Jesus rose from the grave (I'm not making this stuff up - there were hundreds of eyewitnesses to all this, several of them wrote a book about it.) Peter thought he had come to the end of his faith, but then Jesus showed up and made some mighty promises to Him. Our faith is like a seed, and the Words of Jesus are the life inside the seed. They've found seeds that were thousands of years old, and when they planted them, they grew! ( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/12/MNGJND7G5T1.DTL)Nobody knows how a seed has life in it, but it does. God's promises are like the life inside the seed of faith.

So Jesus restored Peter. And a humbler and bolder Peter now went forth. Peter came to realize that faith doesn't quit, and it doesn't die easily. That the only real end to faith is not a death, but a goal.

In I Peter 1:9, Peter declares that we are receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Faith doesn't stop or end or quit. When I get to Heaven, my faith will be fulfilled. But in this life the only end of my faith is the salvation of my soul. Other translations say it like this: the goal of your faith, the outcome of your faith, "the reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls."

Sometimes it looks dark. Some things we walk through are painful at the time. As followers of Jesus, we don't quit. Our faith is not as fragile as it first seemed. There is an end to our faith, but it is not something lost, it is something gained: The Message translation says it like this: "Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation."

My Only Best One Forever

It's a special day for me, a special day for the most important person in my life. I have told her many times, through the years, that my highest dream in life is to be a good husband to her. I have seen much of her, been married to her for half her life, and I am still learning her and I am more impressed than ever. She is a beauty and a mystery and everything that God had in mind when He put Adam to sleep. I am totally captivated.

She has a grace that she is not even aware of. She holds herself well, one would think there must be royalty in her blood. I think perhaps it is a deep awareness that she is a daughter of a King. There is a fierceness about her - about her love, about her commitments, when she decides yes there is no no. She has a gift for friendship, she knows when to weep and when to rejoice, she has a sense of timing that is uncanny. She has a gift for motherhood, loving and steering and setting boundaries and giving praise and correction in such a healthy way. Our home is peaceful and orderly and full of shouts of laughter and joy, and it is all because of her. There is healing in her hands, and life in her words, and heaven in her kiss. She is a beautiful woman in every sense of the word.

I love who she is deciding to become - full of grace and strength, exploring her own strengths and desires, setting her course by the Bright and Morning Star and sailing fearlessly forward. She is practical, and she is dreaming dreams. Casting off cares and unholy restraints, fully and freshly putting herself into the Hands of her Creator, launching forth full of faith and adventure. She is not afraid and is stronger than she suspects.

Before we were married I had a dream from Heaven, the Lord showed me a treasure map. The ocean was filled with sunken treasures, riches beyond imagination, just waiting to be brought to the surface. The man that held this map would be a very rich man indeed. I awoke and understood that the Lord was teaching me about my bride-to-be, that my job was to discover the treasure in her and bring it out. If you knew her, you would say I must have been a smashing success. Yes indeed, to date, but there is more. There is so much more. Let me be the friend that helps her become, let my love be the fire that warms her heart and lights her way, let me be the partner that brings all her hidden treasures to light.

PS

As I read over my last entry the other day, one very significant fact jumped out at me. Or rather, did NOT jump out at me because it wasn't there.

The thread of thought was about how different types of governments handle the distribution of resources. How I began thinking about this I don't know.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the Kingdom of God Jesus taught and the various governments of men is not the way these governments distribute resources but rather who is deemed to be the owner of the resources in the first place. After all, the owner truly has the final word on how resources are used.

According to earthly governments, man is the owner. In capitalism, it is the individual. In Communism, it is the state (all the people). In dictatorial governments, it is a single individual or a small group of individuals.

According to the Bible, God is the owner. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine."

Truly there is no way to have a system that makes everyone happy. According to the Bible, the Lord does as He pleases. Thankfully, the owner is benevolent.