Memorial Day

I preached a sermon once about how every day should be our 'memorial day'... how we as Christians should daily remember the ultimate sacrifice which was given for our salvation. And while that particular sermon did 'lather up & preach' pretty good, I feel like I sort of diminished the deep meaning of the day.

Yeah, I know, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for all men. And yes, I know, God placed that protective instinct in mankind which makes young men and women from all nations and all cultures have the desire to give their own lives to save others.

But the fact that so many people through the ages have done just that touches me deeply. I consider myself a patriot; I fly the American flag on special days... I sing the words to the national anthem at sporting events... I get misty-eyed when I hear Lee Greenwood sing 'God Bless the USA'...

And I love watching historical war movies... from 'Braveheart' to 'the Patriot' to 'Midway' to 'We Were Soldiers' (are you sensing a Mel Gibson theme here?)... I enjoy Shelby Foote's Civil War novels and W.E.B. Griffin's historical novels about World War II; I especially enjoy the more contemporary stories from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan...

I think we all love a hero. A close friend of mine served in Iraq during Desert Storm. I look up to him. He is a modern day hero who left his family when his nation called, traveled thousands of miles to fight against an enemy who simply does not apply the same rules to war and life as we do... and, thank God, returned home safe... I can't express the feeling I have just being in the same room with him...

It is for him (and especially for his friends and fellow soldiers who did not return home) that I celebrate this day, Memorial Day.

Every time I think of those who sacrifice to save others, I am reminded of the letter Abraham Lincoln sent to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston during the civil war...

"Dear Madam-

I’ve been shown in the files of the war department of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine that would attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming; but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save…

I pray the Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost…

And the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom!


Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln"

Let me encourage you today to think of someone you know who has made a similar sacrifice; call them and thank them for their service.

I believe we honor God when we honor people who would give their lives to save others.

Blessings!

We are parents of a graduate

I'm not sure how I should feel about my oldest daughter graduating High School...

Emotions are varied... on one hand I am soooo proud of her for persevering through and finishing... although, as my wife has gone to great lengths to point out, High School graduation is a given... we expected her to graduate!

We are also very excited for her... because God has blessed her with some awesome opportunities which are just around the corner... in the coming weeks and months, she will join her family on her first foreign mission effort... she will work at Camp Tahkodah, one of her (and our) favorite places on earth! She will enroll and register as a freshman at York College in York, Nebraska, where she earned a scholarship to play basketball! so many new doors opening, so many new friendships to make...

We are a bit scared, too. I guess it is natural (though it feels kinda faithless to me) to feel trepidation about the unknown... during this next chapter, many life decisions will be made... I guess the only thing that keeps us from going completely insane is that we know God is at the controls! Still, we are a little scared. In the next few years, she will likely decide what she will do to earn a living... and where she will live... and, yes, who she will spend the rest of her life with.... arrgghh! A son-in-law!!!

And she will really learn and develop her own faith... we pray daily for God's hand in all her decisions...

We are selfishly sad, too. It has been a delight to watch her grow into the beautiful young lady she is today, and I look back and cherish every step and milestone along the way. Though we relish the opportunity to continue the journeys with her two younger sisters, it's just this simple: Our house will never be the same without her. The family dynamic is changing... I know it's a natural transition, and millions of parents have lived through it, but it is hard to imagine...

Graduation is a rite of passage. It is a milestone and a marker along the journey. So, most of all, we are very very happy for Caitlin Lane Martin. She was our first child, and we are happy for her...

We can't wait for God to unfold the next chapter in her life!

Headline: 'God uses American Idol'

OK, do you have any questions about the power of God?

Any doubts that our Sovereign God will work His will in His time using whatever method He chooses?

Last week, a fearless, unashamed Christian named Melinda Dolittle was voted off American Idol, setting the final contest between Blake and Jordin...

As is their custom, the American Idol producers fill up 2 hours on this finale night with performances by the 'top 12'...

Tonight, when it was her turn, Melinda Dolittle chose to bring to the stage two very famous Gospel Singers for whom she sang backup for the past several years... Cece and Bebe Winans!

Together, the three of them sang 'Hold up the Light', witnessing and testifying to literally tens of millions of music lovers 'LIVE' all across the globe!

If you have ever read 'Roaring Lambs, you now know exactly what Bob Briner was talking about...

God Bless you, Melinda...

and Praise God for His plan and His purpose!

Back to the Bible? Really??!??!

I was talking to a friend of mine today... between us we probably have about 50 years of ministry of various flavors in the churches of Christ. He has some letters after his name (I don't), and he has been in full time ministry for most of his adult life (and I have done it only on a personal or part-time or volunteer basis)...

Our discussion turned to the restoration movement... and we agreed that it is indeed an exciting time to be alive! Mostly because of the way God seems to be moving us toward unity. Many things are happening today which are long overdue... Christians are seeking common ground, letting go of some long-held traditions which have divided us.

The congregation where he worships is trying a revolutionary idea: they have decided that, for the summer, the 'ministry' which their 'church' does will come directly out of their small groups, and NOT be associated in any way with the building...

That's right, for this summer, they will no longer have organized Bible classes, cry rooms, or 'corporate' worship... they will meet in each others' homes, study God's word, hear testimony, sing, pray, and celebrate communion within the context of their 'home churches'...

Any giving, sharing, spending or benevolence 'programs' will be dealt with in these small group settings... they will 'do' visitation, brothers' keeper, etc. within the house church setting...

The effort is ingenious, I think. They are aspiring to be just Christians... they want to divorce themselves from the notion that 'church' or 'church work' or 'Christianity' is bound to the walls of their church building...

I told you it was revolutionary... you're probably thinking (like I did): "those people are crazy!"

Which is probably what they said about the early disciples of Jesus... you know, the ones described in our New Testament...

stop looking for justice... expect grace!

We live in a culture where everyone has rights. I am blessed to have been born an American... but the societal expectation that right is rewarded and wrong is punished clouds my view of grace.

I want people to get what they deserve. I even expect that I will get what I deserve... I find myself looking over my shoulder waiting and watching for consequences to catch up with me for the things I have done.

God set in motion millions of natural laws which do guarantee consequences; If I touch a hot stove, my hand will be burned, etc.

and because I believe God and His Spirit guide my life (when I let them and sometimes when I don't), I fall into the faithless habit of looking for the causal connection between my actions and the things that then befall me. I end up watching for His divine punishment for the things I do...

Where is the line drawn? God does prune those He loves... He does direct me away from harmful things... I have felt the shears! I have sensed His hand!

Maybe the causal connection I should be looking for instead is 'how does Christ's sacrifice cause me to act?' or 'What does His blood make me want to run from?'

His grace is so awesome I cannot begin to understand it. But I know this: I am very glad He gives me what I need and not what I deserve. Thank you, God, for your mercy and grace.

high school is over

For our 18 year old daughter, high school is over. Today was her last day to go to class at her alma mater... The emotions going through our household are varied and deep.

Her mom can't believe we have a high school graduate (actually, graduation is next Friday night), and I am having a hard time believing that we have, in our hallway, one 13-picture frame which is completed... two more have 4 and 9 pictures filled in respectively.

For her part, Caitlin's emotions are very mixed. We have a big summer ahead of us and the most exciting time of her life seems to be just ahead of her as she goes to college... she earned a basketball scholarship, and is very happy to be blessed with the opportunity to continue her basketball career...

But she is also kinda blue... all she has known is going to her school with her friends for the last dozen years. And now that's over... and the settling in of that realization is fixing a sort of melancholy over her.

I am trying to be present and enjoy the experience... and to encourage my girls to live in the moment and absorb it all...

But it's hard. Because as excited as I am about this next phase (for her and for us), I do not look forward to the day when we drop her off at college and drive away...

and that's probably what is gnawing at my wife and daughters... I understand perfectly!

blessings...

Just how important IS Unity?

I don't think I have given Unity its proper due. All my life, I was taught that being right was way more important than being unified.

When our fellowship DID choose to talk about unity, we agreed that christendom should all be unified... as long as everyone unified around OUR way of thinking. My friend Brian Cobb wrote an entire sermon on the subject entitled 'unity, not uniformity' (http://www.campuscrosswalk.org/2006-spring-17.html), in which he discusses our habit of confusing one with the other... and it describes my upbringing perfectly!

When Jesus talks about unity, He commands that we 'make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace'. Our 'efforts' over the past half century have been lame... most of our time has been spent throwing rocks instead of extending olive branches.

We pick fights with people who believe, like we do, that Jesus is God's son... that He was born of a virgin, lived on this earth and was crucified to cover our sins... that He rose from the tomb on the third day and now sits in Heaven with our Heavenly Father and intercedes for us...

and what do we fight about? ...dire and critically important stuff like hand clapping and instrumental music and church organization and other equally unimportant things... (all of which, incidentally, deal with issues we have created out of Biblical silence AND deal with the stuff we do during a 2-hour period each week called 'church').

Now while there are lots of people and groups and factions in the world who do not believe that Jesus is God's son, or that he was murdered and rose on the third day, there are plenty of people with whom we can agree and seek common ground.

I am convinced that Jesus' command for unity is NOT a command to AGREE! It is NOT a command to find everyone and every group whose hermeneutic looks like mine and unify with them. It is a command that we 'MAKE EVERY EFFORT' to seek unity through peace.

We have wasted an entire generation fighting with the very people Jesus commands us to 'keep the unity' with... May God have mercy on us...

And may we have the courage to seek that unity in spite of the grief we will undoubtedly face as a result of our journey.

What stands between you and Christ?

I feel so blessed to be living in the 21st century! My vocation is educational software, and I admit I am a closet nerd... the latest laptop or PDA always gets my attention (though I usually can't afford them), and I love all kinds of music, so I am always interested in the latest media technology (whether it's satellite radio, IPods or portable DVD players...)

I travel quite a bit (I actually love to fly - be it commercially or alone in a Cessna!), and I am the beneficiary of all the advancements in that area... online hotel and airline reservations, internet print-your-own boarding passes, 'no-waiting-at-the-rental-car-counter' rental cars and pay-at-the-pump fuel... I love it!

But it's no wonder that I (and millions of people like me) feel the need to 'decompress' occasionally... God did not make us to be THAT busy! He wired His children to have the ability to 'be still'... and I don't do that nearly enough.

Oh, it's not that I'm busy with bad things! I don't carouse or drink or gamble... I am either at work, at the church building or at home with my family (or with them at one of my daugthers' programs or ballgames)... so I'd say, on balance, I'm a pretty normal and boring person...

But I am busy! And sometimes all that busy-ness (yes, even 'church busy-ness') stands between me and the One who died for me.

Let me encourage us all to identify whatever it is which stands between us and our Savior and remove it!

Is it addiction? Is it a relationship? Is it a vice or a bad habit? Is it just normal, everyday 'busy-ness'?

Whatever IT is, place it in its proper persective... and let nothing stand between you and Jesus.

God Bless!

gracefully

So, I wonder why people don't always treat other people with patience and mercy and grace...

I wonder why I don't always treat other people with patience and mercy and grace...

When I am judgemental and unforgiving and harsh, I am as opposite from the spirit of Jesus as I can be. And if I aspire to walk in His spirit, I must completely and daily shrug off those ungodly traits of the world...

...but it's hard. Cynicism and suspicion creep in and I tend to believe the worst about those around me... yet I am surprised when I am treated that way!

Like all the character traits of Jesus which we are to imitate, this one is easy but not simple. It takes daily and disciplined practice... it means I must release control and be ready to be taken advantage of. It means I must, every day, on purpose, determine to see people as Jesus does.

And here's the kicker: I will never master it! It will likely be a struggle 'til I go Home.

And another thing: even when I learn to do it moderatley well, it does not guarantee that others will magically begin treating me with mercy and grace... they will probably continue to see the worst in me and pick out my flaws (which are very easy to see) and not give me the benefit of the doubt.

But that will never excuse me from continuing my quest to treat others like Jesus does. Remember the One who saved you.... He is the embodiment of mercy and grace, and His earthly story ended with Him suspended on a cross.

So let us always try our very best to see the best in others. Let us endeavor to be forgiving. Let us practice being merciful... let us treat others gracefully.

Like Jesus treats us.

Honor your Mom

On the day after Christmas in 1995, my dad called me. He was sobbing. Between his sobs, he told me that mom had a walnut-sized tumor on her brain, just above her left ear. They were leaving the doctor's office and going home to pack. He said he was taking her to Springfield, Missouri to have further tests run.

Ten months later (almost to the day), I was staring at a casket suspended over an empty hole in the ground listening to our preacher say some nice things about momma. The thought, even today, makes tears come to my eyes.

Mom cheated. She went home early. I do not begrudge her that, but I still miss her every day.

Tomorrow we celebrate Mothers Day. It is a happy day. Flowers and gifts and eating out with three of the best moms in the world... my wife and her sister and their mom. I cherish every minute I have with these mommas; between them they are raising or have raised 8 children in His nurture and His admonition.

As you celebrate this day, remember to show the moms in your life that you love them. I know you love your mom with an intensity which is indescribable. So tell her... and show her... every day !

Happy Mothers Day, momma. I miss you here, but I can't wait to see you there!

Blessings...

the stuff that really matters

About a week ago, 10 month old Tatum Fisher was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an extremely rare form of cancer described as a tumor between the eyeball and the brain. The rare disorder is usually fatal because it is so difficult to diagnose...

Last Wednesday morning, Tatum underwent treatment to remove the tumor while her mom and dad stood by anxiously; they prayed and cried and did all the other things that you do in the hospital waiting room.

Parents from every culture and every corner of the globe understand what it means to watch your child hurt. From their first skinned knee to stitches to broken bones to black eyes, there is no pain quite like your own child's. When that pain is the result of a serious illness, time simply stands still; the air gets heavier and food loses its taste as the stress presses down.

When you are dealing with your own sick child, nothing elses matters. You don't think about the mortgage or your appointments or the car repairs or this Friday's party. You are laser focused on one thing - your child.

With that as a backdrop, consider that Tatum Fisher is the daugther of Mr and Mrs Derek Fisher. Derek is the starting point guard for the Utah Jazz basketball team; the Jazz were in the middle of a playoff run when Tatum's mom and dad learned just how sick their not-yet-one-year-old baby was...

As a matter of fact, Utah was set to play a very important game Wednesday night against Golden State...

But Derek Fisher told his coach he would miss that game (and maybe the rest of the series) so he could be with his wife and daughter during the procedure, which was performed at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The procedure went well and the prognosis is good.

Derek Fisher and his family then boarded the team plane and flew from New York City to Salt Lake City to join his team. He got to the arena just after halftime, and went straight to the scorer's table and checked himself into the game.

Without stretching or warming up, Fisher checked in with 3 minutes gone in the third quarter and played his smothering brand of defense to shut down the Warriors' offense as his team rallied and eventually sent the game into overtime. During the extra period, Utah continued to lead until Golden State began to close the gap... with only a minute left, Derek Fisher coolly buried a pivotal 3-pointer to give his Jazz a 6 point lead. They eventually won by 10.

Eighteen years ago, our first daughter was born very sick. She spent her first 6 days fighting for her life under a vent-a-hood; Kelly and I were completely absorbed with her. We prayed and cried and watched and hoped... and God took care of her and she recovered perfectly. When it became clear that she would be OK, I remember that my feelings of relief and gratitude were surpassed only by an indescribable exhaustion. Kelly and I both crashed very hard... it took a couple weeks for us to recover from the unbelievable stress. Eventually, life returned to normal and I returned to my job... but it took a while to be able to focus on my work...

I say this only to contrast what Derek Fisher did: he left the hospital, flew half way across the country, suited up, checked in and went to work.... but his job requires him to perform at a very very high level! The fact that he was able to do that makes me know that God was with him.

The way Derek Fisher handled all this is no surprise to those who know him. He considers himself a Husband and Father first, and a basketball player second.

While most of us don't play professional sports to earn our living, it is easy to let our 'profession' define us... Mr Fisher's actions last Wednesday serve as an important reminder to remember what it is that should define us. We are all called to be dads and husbands first, then (fill in your profession here) second.

Last Wednseday, Derek Fisher reminded all us dads what it is that really matters.

confusion about what the church is

So here's the question:

Is being a member of a local church synonomous with membership in the Lord's body? That's what I was raised to believe... it was not taught explicitly, but by the time I was a young teenager, it was painfully clear that those who were NOT a member of the church I attended were not 'members of the church' Jesus died for... and that those folks were lost.

As a matter of fact, throughout my childhood and growing up years 'in the church', we all but developed a cottage industry of deciding who is and who is not 'in the body', setting ourselves up as judge and jury, spending inordinate chunks of time discussing what insures one's membership in that body.

When Luke records the events of Pentecost, he observes, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." So the question is 'what church was the Lord adding them to?' I believe even the casual student of the Bible will conclude that this refers to the 'church universal'... and that it does NOT allude to a local body of believers.

If it is true that the 'body of Christ' (which, according to scripture, Jesus will take back to Heaven with Him upon His return) is a collection of 'all the saints' from all the eras of time and all regions of the world, doesn't it follow that those 'saints' are members of His body... the saved... and that the members of the local church would be a 'subset' of the 'body of Christ' or church universal?

There are millions of wonderful reasons to be an active 'member' of your local church...but it is folly to believe that your salvation is assured because your name is on the church secretary's rolodex, or that you attend the 'right church' everytime its doors are open. Let us never forget that our salvation was once and for all purchased by Jesus Christ at the cross!

It is at least worth considering that the nice stained-glass edifice where you attend every Sunday morning has become confused with the Church which Jesus died to build...and we must never confuse THAT membership with membership in the Body of Christ. This is terribly important! Because the Church which Christ died to establish is THE BODY He will redeem on that last day...

So who are its members? Well, after Peter had convinced and convicted his audience, many of them asked "what should we do?"...note what Peter did NOT reply...He did not say:

• "join a church" or
• "attend synagogue every week" or
• "do good things, and you will be saved"... (incidentally, that's what the 'churched people' had been preaching for all their lives and, frankly, Jesus' teachings were based on this new 'grace' thing...)

Instead, here's how Peter replied (according to the Acts 2 text):

• "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.... and those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Ahaa! THAT'S the church which Christ died to establish! So, are you a member?

Luau to honor Riverside's graduating seniors

What a wonderful time everyone had at our Senior Appreciation Lunch after worship Sunday morning!

We are blessed to have 7 graduating seniors in our youth group at Riverside, and equally blessed to have people at Riverside willing to organize such a nice 'Luau' to honor them! Penny Black did an incredible job of planning and organizing the event, and the decorations were just terrific!

There were collages for each of the seven seniors: Brittney Cunningham, Justin Coleman, Kaleb Pitchford, JoEllen Miller, Caitlin Martin, Kary Black and Andrea Whitehead. It was really a treat to take a walk down memory lane with the slide show...

And it's hard to believe they are seniors!

May God Bless each of them as they prepare for the next step...

Let em' Fly! - that's how God made 'em!

Our oldest daughter leaves for college in a few months... we hoped she would attend Harding U (like her daddy), which is 2 hours from our house... but God opened other doors so wide and so obviously that even I couldn't miss them!

She was offered a very generous scholarship to play basketball for York College, which is 9 hours away! This is NOT what I had in my master plan... but we have a great peace about it because she is so excited (as are we) about this opportunity.

Reading Terry Rush's blog this morning gave me an even greater peace about the direction God is leading her... www.terryrush.blogspot.com

You see, without even knowing it, God has used my wife and I to (almost inadvertantly) instill some sense of adventure in her. We have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to several 'mission points' (both domestic and foreign) over the course of my daughter's life... and this summer our family will travel to Panama for another mission effort. (I say none of this to brag... just to make a point)

So, the light bulb is just starting to illuminate above my head! We always wondered why, when my daughter would go to summer camp, she preferred attending a session where she knew nobody... or why, when she had the opportunity to travel to the gulf coast and help those affected by Rita and Katrina, she jumped at the chance.... or why now, when making the biggest such decision of her young life, she is going to a part of the world where she has never been to attend college...

Yet I had never really made the connection between who she is and how she became who she is... until I read Terry's blog today.

...indeed God works His will in His way...

Since my daughter made the decision to attend York, many of our friends have expressed sentiments like "whew, that's a long way away", or "man, how will you guys survive"... one even said "I would never let my child go that far away to college... I bet she'll be home in a year!"

My wife and I were really upset by that last one... and I could not quite put my finger on why I was offended at that mindset...til I read Terry's blog...

and... voila!!! it's because "...kids were created for adventure..."

We certainly have made plenty of mistakes where rearing our children is concerned. But thank God for leading us to be open to adventure (at least a little bit)... because that has helped our daughter (at least to a degree) to crave adventure and opportunity.

Blessings!

Brad Delp tribute

I doubt many folks noticed a sad article which ran a couple months back... it reported the death of Bradley Delp on March 9, 2007. His body was found at his home Atkinson, New Hampshire by his fiancee.

The name may not mean much to you, but if you close your eyes and think of a few songs from the late 70s like 'more than a feeling', 'hitch a ride', 'rock and roll band' and 'Long Time', his name may mean something...

Brad Delp was the lead singer for Boston, a rock and roll band which enjoyed huge success in the late 70s and early 80s, and still tours today.

Boston's official website was taken down the next day and replaced with a few words on a black screen: "We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll"...

I know this: this guy had one of the purest voices I have ever heard. When I was a teenager, I knew every word of every song that Boston did. I dreamed of singing those soaring vocals and tried (poorly) to imitate those impossibly high harmonies, all of which were performed by Brad on the original recordings.

I believe God designs every human being with a 'God-sized' hole in his heart. And most of us spend our lives trying to fill in that hole with 'stuff' or with relationships or with things other than God... I never knew Mr. Delp personally, and I am not qualified to judge his heart... but I am saddened by his untimely death...

(...and it causes me to wonder if he ever tried to 'fill' the hole in his heart with God... I know it is presumptious of me to even have that thought...)

What makes this story especially tragic is that he ended his own life.... he brought two hibachi grills into his upstairs bathroom, shut the door, filled them with charcoal, lit them and then laid on the bathroom floor on his pillow and went to sleep. He left a note on the door warning whoever found him that there may still be dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the air... he also left a personal letter for his fiancee, one for each of his children and one for their mother, his ex-wife.

But the saddest note he left was the one he pinned to his own collar before he laid down for the last time...

it simply read: "Mr. Brad Delp. J'ai une âme solitaire. I am a lonely soul."

May God Bless the family and Friends of Brad Delp. June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007

I feel small

Today I feel small... I look around and see all that needs to be done for His cause, and I am overwhelmed. I sense I should be energetic and on fire, and I am neither. The need is so great and I am inept and unable...

There are people who need God, and I am failing miserably to show Him to them.

What am I to do?

I find myself trying to satisfy this angst with meaningless rote and fruitless ritual; I am trapped by some old belief that it is somehow within my power to 'insure' my own salvation or to 'guarantee' the savedness of those around me...

How can God use someone so morally bankrupt as me?

I am trying to believe that He used a dozen ordinary people to change the world.
I am trying to believe that it is not from ME, but it is from HIM that the power comes.
I am really trying hard to remember that it is in my weakness that HIS Glory shines.
I am trying to remember that it is my job to spread seed, and HIS to provide the results.

but it's hard.