The Psalms: Psalm 15 - Who I wish I was vs. Who I actually am!

When I read Psalm 15 the other day my heart just sank. Maybe that should not have been my response, but it was. I just thought, "God...I am so far from this. How am I ever going to be who I know you want me to be?"

Well, with that super depressing though out of the way, I began to just meditate on this passage and soak it in.

The Psalm begins with a question. It is asked in two different ways but they both seem to be asking, "God, who is going to be close to you? Who will live their life close to you?"

The answer is the rest of the Psalm except for the last line. So, what is the answer?

1. He who walks blamelessly and upright - so, do what is right and be the kind of person who can't be blamed for doing things that are wrong.

2. Speaks truth in his heart...the truth is so deeply rooted in you that it is the only thing that will come out of you. Truth is what you speak at all times.

3. Does not slander (a false accusation that damage's someone's reputation) with their tongue. I would like to think that I don't intentionally damage people's reputations.

4. Does no evil to his neighbor. Well, I don't really know my neighbors. While that isn't a fail for this passage, it sure is for others...

5. Does not take up a reproach (blame, discredit, or disgrace) against a friend.

6. In whose eyes a vile person is despised. Here I want to say, do you laugh at those comedians. Do you watch the shows or movies where you either can't recommend it to fellow Christians, or you have to say, "It had some inappropriate things, but it was mostly really good."? I've done that. I do that. Now, that isn't what this line is saying. I know that. I just thought of this when I read it and wanted to challenge you with it. This line is specifically talking about vile people, which is someone who is utterly or completely bad or evil. Now, this word despise also give the idea of feeling that the vile person is worthless. So, I remind you, dear reader, that we live in the age of grace. That means that the most vile of person deserves to hear the Gospel message. Yes, that means ISIS. That means child molesters and people who have shot up schools. It does not mean their crimes go unpunished, it does not mean I don't support the death penalty. It DOES mean that God's love is offered universally and we are not put in a position to judge. I could say more, but then this one paragraph will be its own post, so I'll move on.

7. Who honors those who fear the Lord. Oh man. Do you ever find yourself thinking less than honorable thoughts about someone who is serving God to the best of their ability? Who truly fears God and wants to obey Him? Let's be honest, those folks can seem annoying at times...and yet...I wonder if that isn't because deep down we know that we should be doing what they are doing. That we should be seeking God with our whole hearts...but we are only seeking with about a 10% strength sometimes! So, honor those who fear the Lord. To that I would add....FEAR THE LORD!!! ..just a thought. :o)

8. Who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Oh man. Do we keep our word no matter what that means?? I think we would make fewer promises and commit ourselves less extremely if we knew that we would NEVER back down from our word. There was a time when a person's word was who they were...but that is not today. So, Christian, do you stand by your word? Do you say things to your kids and neighbors and then not follow through. Worse: do you make promises and commitments to God and then not follow them up? God is a God of promises who takes covenants seriously!!

9. Does not put out his money at interest. I'll let a pastor or Biblical scholar correct me, but I believe the point here is that you allow your money to be used by those who need it without charging them interest. Allow God to provide for your needs and not burden the needy or destitute.

10. Does not take a bride against the innocent. I hope this isn't something being done today...but I know better than to assume. May God open our eyes if we are doing ANYTHING against the innocent, much less if we take money to do (or not do) something that is against them! (Yes, I'm thinking about the seedy and terrible sides to international adoption right now and my heart cries out for those children!!!)

Wow. That was so much more than I meant for it to be. It was also encouraging to write this because while it is still true that I am NOT this person....I was also reminded both of who I once was and who God has made me to be....oh, and I was encourage by the fact that God isn't done with me and I look forward to seeing what God does in my life to bring me closer to living near Him!! May that be the thought God gave to you today too!!

To God be the glory!!!

My pastor...my hero...my friend

This last Sunday, my pastor announced that he was going to resign from our church next year...and I wasn't sure how to handle that news. So, background:

I grew up in more or less Baptist churches. I don't remember any of the pastors of the churches we attended until we moved to Colorado when I was 8. The first pastor left after a year or so and then ext one that came was my pastor all growing up. In fact, my parents are still at that church and with that pastor.

I left for college when I was 19 and I think I've only been inside the church itself 5-10 times since I left. -- just to clarify, I had a good pastor growing up. I simply wasn't one who wanted help or went to him for it. I was young and dumb, end of story. Anyway, I had the same pastor there for the last 9 years I lived there.

I went to college at the age of 19. Since it was a Bible college and a Baptist college, it was required that we would attend one of the local Baptist churches. Long story short - I visited my current church once and never visited another church.

The place felt....like home. It wasn't terribly small, but the people could still make you feel like family. it turns out, that the pastor was himself pretty new to the church himself. He had come in late 2001 (or early 2002) and I was there in the fall of 2002.

And the next 13.5 years have brought us together time and time again. He counseled Pam and I before we got married...and again afterward when we were struggling as a new married couple. He baptized me in 2002...and again in 2010. When I came to him in 2008 and told him that I didn't think that I believed the Bible was true and that I didn't really feel like I could talk to anyone about it, he took the time to meet with me regularly for several months and counsel me. (He did more listening than talking...but we both did a good deal of both!) Then, two years later, when I told him that I was certain that I had never accepted Christ as my savior until 2008, he didn't question me. He supported me...and he baptized me again. (Baptism for Baptists is a sign of our salvation and not something done as a child. It shows our figurative death, burial and resurrection with Christ.) When my family has not been feeling well, he has often told me to stay home and to put my family first. 

One thing that has most affected me, though, is his honesty about his humanity. He is human just like the rest of us. However, he doesn't allow that to keep him down. He usually admits his weaknesses and he leans on God for strength. He doesn't pretend to be what he isn't and he doesn't act like everything is fine when it isn't. 

I said usually....the last few years have been hard and most of us who are near him know that. And so, a chapter closes so that a new one can start. I have not had to face this in my adult years. Being the one staying behind while a pastor leaves. Then also dealing with interim pastors, candidating pastors, and all of the time inbetween now and calling a new pastor.

I am sad. I have found him to be a man that I can look up to for who I want to be (in many areas). Someone I can turn to when things are hard and I need someone to listen and advise me. He has been there for me through most of the major crises of my young adult life and I would not be who I am today without him and his ministry.

But, I also know what he would say if I ended this post here! He would not be happy. See, another thing he has taught me is how important it is to turn the focus to Christ. He is someone I can look up to, because I see him looking up too as he looks to Christ. His example has many times pointed me back to Scripture and back to Christ. It is not about him, as a pastor, but him as a tool of God's and what God has done through him. 

Thank you Pastor Michaelsen. Thank you for all you have done and for all you have taught us. We will miss you dearly, but we pray that God blesses you and your family as you all go forward and that you continue to be His tool in the years to come! 

To God be the glory!!

I am in my 30's, I play video games, and that's OK ... -ish

In the last year I have heard at least 1 sermon and had several conversations where a person has casually pointed out that men who are in their 30s and still playing video games haven't grown. They say it in a way that allows the hearers to infer that these men can't be good fathers or husbands because they can't grow up or be responsible.

This has never felt quite right to me, no more than any other "blanket" statement does. Yet, because I was part of their demographic, I kind of just assumed I was being defensive and that was why it didn't feel right.

It was after the sermon that I finally said something to my wife and we had a dialogue about it. Part of this blog comes from that conversation.

However, the other part was just something I was reminded of yesterday as I talked through some things with my wife. So, here we go.

This is an unfair assessment. Now, the same people who assume that guys who play video games in their 30s can't grow up will think the same thing about guys who still read comics. OK, what about the guy who watches football every Sunday afternoon and Monday night. What about the guy who is spending his evening looking up the highlights of the baseball games he missed? (I am picking on sports because I have rarely heard this mentioned, but I've heard video games mentioned by sports fans fairly often.)

All of these are OK pastimes...but yet none of them are! What do I mean? Well, simple. Can you disengage from what you are doing at the drop of a hat? If your child suddenly hurts themselves, can you stop what you are doing and not engage them angrily because you are missing something you want to do and they are the direct cause of you missing that? Can you consciously consider whether or not your wife needs you to spend an hour of your evening helping her around the house (or, heaven forbid, just talking) instead of doing your pastime? Or do you assume that certain times, without exception, will always be times that you get to do XYZ?

Problem with men in their 30s who play video games and can't grow up isn't the video games. It's that they are men in their 30s who can't grow up. These two things don't have to be synonymous. Are they sometimes synonymous? Absolutely. The frustration to me is that our culture more readily accepts the sports junkie who also doesn't grow up and therefore it is OK to be that kind of 30 year old who hasn't grown up...who doesn't engage with his children when needed...who can't see when he needs to skip a game to help or be with his wife because the game is what matters right now.

If you are anything like me then you have to be doubly aware. I tend toward addiction and I tend toward being frustrated when I get frustrated when I am interrupted and I've been focusing. Guess what? That means that if I am reading a really good book, I will probably be a really bad Dad because I'm going to be frustrated when Maya K interrupts me. Is the problem the book? No. the problem is me. So, I limit my reading when the girls are awake and, when I'm at my best, I don't play any video games when they are awake. It's that simple.

I understand the stigma. The stigma that 30+ men aren't growing up. However, if you attach that stigma to men who still play video games you are actually missing the point and not helping them grow up. Guilt-ing someone to get them stop playing video games doesn't magically make them grow up because the video games aren't the problem. It's the not growing up that's the problem.

So, men! Whatever your pastime is, you can still grow up, be the man, husband, and father you are meant to be. The wedding vows where you said you'd be there for her. The heart throb when you held your child for the first time and knew that you'd kill the first guy who wanted to date her....oh....sorry...that's just me. I meant, the love you felt for your child the first time you held them and sure knowledge that you would do anything for them! Those commitments cannot be sidelined for any pastime.


To God be the glory!

The Psalms: Psalm 14 - taking God for granted

Psalm 14 is an interesting Psalm. There are a couple more popular verses.

Like, verse 1 which is, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

Another is verse 3 which rings in the New Testament. This is, "They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one."

However, the verse that stood out to me this time was verse 4. The last part of the verse is, "...all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?"

Now, I'm not researching context and I'm not looking up the Hebrew. So, this is just a thought I had when I read this. Specifically, "as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord" and I thought...what's wrong with that? I mean, is it wrong to not call on God when we eat bread?

...actually. Yeah. Specifically for Christians who are held accountable for what we know. So, we know that God loves us, we know that He sent His Son to die for us, and we know that He takes care of us (Matt 6:25-34). So, knowing these things, when we eat "our daily bread" (that is to say, when our basic needs are met) we still should be calling on the Lord. In thanks. In worship. In praise.

I mean, why not? Depending on your habits, you might thank God for the food before most meals. You might even pray with your kids before bed at night. But, do you consciously thank God for the clothes you have to wear and shoes to put on each day? Do you thank him that you woke up warm and dry because you were in a building that kept you from the elements? I mean, why do we take those things for granted? there are people in our area who don't sleep inside every night. Do know where tomorrow's meal might come from. Who aren't sure what they'll wear if what they are wearing gets ruined.

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas, take a minute when you read this and just thank God for the simple things that we take for granted....but we really shouldn't!!

To God be the glory!!

Hurting verses healing: we fight an uphill battle

I was listening to a book today and something came up. To put it in the most general terms would be something along the lines of, "Hurting is easy. It's healing that is hard."

...and I haven't been able to get that thought out of my mind today. So, let's examine.

Knives. It is really easy to cut someone. A stranger. Ourselves. A friend. A child by accident. Yet, to use a knife to heal and help requires skill, wisdom, and precision. Surgeons use knives to remove infection, to save the body when a limb has died, and to correct other types of internal brokenness. Few can heal with a knife, but almost anyone can hurt with one.

How about words? Even the Bible talks about the dual power of the tongue. Specifically, Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."

We know this is true though. How many times have you lashed out at someone verbally and caused tremendous damage? How many times has it happened to you? The person doing it doesn't even have to realize what they've done. Their intentions may have been good, but it was the wrong time, the wrong word, or just done in a careless way. And the help they meant to give (or the joke to tell) becomes a hurt.

Parents. How many times have we used our words to hurt our children instead of helping and healing them? ...and trust me. While children are resilient, their psyche is still being affected. I may use my words to try to heal 100 times, but if I use the same mouth to hurt even once, that is what sticks in my child's mind the next time we are having an argument.

Spouses. Same thing. How easy is it to use our words to hurt our spouses?? How much harder to make up and correct things? It's easier to ignore the pain and hope it just goes away than it is to actively use our words to heal the wounds.

There are others areas this applies to as well, but these were the two on my mind. If you can think of others, or even ones that this "easier to hurt than to heal" principle does not apply to, comment below or on Facebook. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

May we all find ourselves actively seeking to heal and not to hurt in what we do, think, and say!


To God be the glory!

Refugees in America?? - we've done this before....

I realize that this is a popular news item right now. I don't always touch on hot topics of the day, but I'm reminded of my favorite quote about history.

"Those who forget history are condemned to relive it. Those who do remember are condemned to watch everyone else relive it."

I realize that I live in Iowa and I am nowhere near the Mexican-American border. Many of you who read this will not be near that border either. We don't live in Texas, new Mexico, Arizona, or California. We aren't use to the idea that terrorists have free access to our state....because those states are a buffer between us and that reality.

So, "yes," aiding and bringing Syrian refugees into our country has the potential to bring terrorists into our country. Reality: so does our southern border!

Added note: I have been touched by the show of solidarity for France this weekend. I remember being grateful for the same shows of solidarity that America received after 09/11. I just can't help but wonder, why support France but not Syrian refugees??

I don't think it's racial, by the way. That's the easy answer, but I don't think it's the issue. There are some cultural divides that definitely play a role, but here is the real truth as I see it. We want to be able to help by proxy, but we don't want to go out into the street and have to see the people we are helping. It is very different to change a picture or post a thought as compared to having to see (or even know of) people from another world living near you...or even within your area of the country.

So, what do we do? Do we close our borders and refuse to let people in who need the help? Wait? What's that sound?? That's right, it's the sound of history ringing in our ears. This is the history that I am choosing not to forget but that I'm afraid our society has forgotten and I may be condemned to watch them repeat it.

1930's. It was a dangerous and tumultuous time. Adolf Hitler has gained power. He has already hit religion by the imprisonment or exile of over 1,000 church leaders and influential laymen. But now he focuses on the Jewish question. He hasn't been forcing them into ghettos yet, but yet he is persecuting them. Jews are being run out of business and run out of their homes. So, where do these refugees go? Do they flee to other European countries? Wait. What about America? This is a land of opportunity and surely they would protect and support the persecuted Jews of Germany.

Well, the reality was different. Most European countries all but closed their doors and America wasn't much better. I haven't fact checked this so take it on my memory, but I believe it was our secretary of state at the time who was an anti-Semite and who pushed to have as many visas of Jews denied as possible. Why? Well, they were a burden on our society? What if spies came in amongst them? We don't know their culture and they are just different.

The reasons, I am sure, were more than that and probably many were deeper and seemed good at the time. Yet, the result was the same: Jews that would have fled Germany were denied the ability to while there was time and instead found themselves in concentration camps later in the war.

Human beings in need. That's who the majority of these refugees are. They are human beings in need. For how much I see posts on Facebook about helping people, why are we so scared to help the ones that might come to us? Maybe there is a terrorist in midst. Maybe 20. I mean, it only took 17 (or 19??) to pull off the attacks on 9/11, right? That's true. But what kind of world do we live in and what kind of Christians are we when we shut people out for fear of the unknown??



To God be the glory.

Lessons from music

Ok, I know that I'm weird. One way I'm weird is that I LOVE listening to music sung in other languages. I love deciding if I like the sound of the music and the sound of the persons voice regardless of what they are saying. Do they sound on-key? Does the music flow? Do they flow together? It's just easier to hear some of that when you don't even understand the words.

I've listened to Mandarin and Taiwanese and really enjoy them.

A friend is helping me work on German once a month right now so I have been listening to German music. My teacher pointed me to Christian music in German months ago and I've listened to tons.

Once I'm done deciding if I like the sound of the music and the person singing, I start getting curious about the words. In truth, I don't do too much. To try to translate songs into another language is an absolute pain. You don't have the nuance and culture that goes into the words. You can't just literally translate. even the websites I've found have often been really rough. So I don't normally do much more than the title itself.

Today I was listening to a song and I wanted to know what it was saying. The phrase was "Du bist mein Ziel." All that really matters is that the first three words mean "you are my..." and the last word, if I understand correctly is roughly "aim" - as in, goal or target.

And I found myself challenged by one simple line in a song that I really liked and I don't understand 99% of it.

When we are heading on vacation we spend weeks prepping. We start get things in order. Who will take care of the pets? Who will get the mail? how are we traveling (plane, car, etc.)? Who is going (take the kids or don't)? ---- So many details and we focus on them.

Moving is even more extreme. We are going from living in one place to living in another. So we have a goal and a target for where to end up. We then focus a LOT of our time on getting things in order to make that happen.

Yet. I call myself a Christian. My goal is to be like Christ. The ultimate goal of my life is to glorify God. I want to love others as Jesus loves me. I want to care for orphans and widows. I want to share the amazing good news of Christ and what He has done for me. So, if those are my goals and aims in this life...what am I doing about it? Does my life reflect that these are my goals? Goals aren't things that you ignore and hope to get to eventually. They are things you strive for and make sacrifice to achieve.

If God and His glory is my ultimate aim then what am I doing today to move towards that goal?


To God be the glory!!

Respect and responsibility: who is teaching your children?

The last couple days I've posted on respect for authority and respect for life.

Today I want to wrap this little mini-series up by talking about respect (in general) and responsibility.

Respect and courtesy. Where in the world did this go?? If you look at my post on respect for authority, I linked to an article about a man who was pulled over while carrying a concealed weapon. He was respectful from the first moment and his exchange with the police was a positive one.

Why do we have to be aggressive and offensive in our posture and language? Why do we have to assume that people are out to get us and not just be neutral toward strangers? Even a neutral attitude is better than an aggressive one.

Admittedly, I know more people who are generally respectful to each other than I know ones who are not. I see and hear stories from friends and co-workers that spur this line of my post. It's a younger generation: a generation that does not feel the need to be respectful toward anyone yet expects respect be shown to them and is belligerent when someone dares to not show them the respect they "deserve." I remember feeling and acting this way when I was younger too and thank God I was rarely (if ever) in the situations that could have turned that attitude into real-world problems (police shootings, fights at school, fights on the street, etc.)

When you see someone driving really slow do you try to consider what their day may have been like? Do you consider what life has thrown their way? Or do you just get angry because, whatever else, they are ruining your moment in time - and heaven forbid that any of your moments be ruined! *sarcasm*

Here's the irony. When we tell our kids that "respect has to be earned" (which is true) do we ever tell them how to earn it? Do we ever lay out for them what is needed to earn respect from others or do we just tell them that they have to earn it and then leave them guessing about how to do that? My argument is that to earn respect one must first be respectful. Showing respect will not always cause the other person to respect you in turn, but 99% of the time it at least not escalate the situation. Most of the time it will earn you respect; especially as you show the people around you that you live a lifestyle of respecting others.

Responsibility. When did we (as a society and individually) stop taking responsibility for our own actions? This goes back to my post on authority too. Do you blame the officer for pulling you over or do you admit that you were speeding and wrong? Do you assume that if someone honks at you that they are angry and wrong or do you first check to see if you've done something wrong?

All of the police shootings lately. Here is one issue I have. Most people who are taking sides want to demand responsibility for the person they disagree with and then expect none from the person they are supporting. What? You are going to just excuse everything away from one side and demand full responsibility from the other?? Do you understand that every time we do that we are enabling these kids to maintain a lifestyle of non-responsibility!! Not only that, but all the kids watching these situations are learning the same lesson.

That isn't real life people. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but I rarely find life to be one-sided like that. When my wife gets angry with me: guess what - I've been doing things that were not communicating well or (never me) even antagonistic. I'm not innocent. Even silence when I should be talking is my responsibility. Same with my daughters, my extended family, and my friends. Even if, on the outside, they look 100% responsible, I am confident that most of the time I hold responsibility in some way. Maybe I could have diffused the situation with a little respect. Maybe I could have kept my cool at a certain moment and allowed things to resolve faster. Maybe my example of anger to my daughter has been teaching her bad habits so I have responsibility in that.

My point is not that I spend my whole life questioning my actions or excusing other people's actions. When my daughter acts in anger, she is help accountable and we deal with it. However, when I act in anger the same is true. (I have stood in time out, holding my 8 year old, because while she was not appropriate, I had done things to antagonize as well and I held myself accountable.) What is DOES mean, is that when I am in a moment of tension or a moment of restitution, I will never just assume that I have no responsibility in the matter. I might not have any...but I'm going to think carefully through the event(s) to ensure that I don't or to find where I do so that I can keep myself accountable. It's clear to me that if society agrees with my cause or my argument they WON'T keep me accountable so it becomes my responsibility to do it.

When we don't make our children apologize when they are wrong just because the other child was more wrong...when we don't make our children apologize for what they have done: we enable them and their behavior.

"The answer to one extreme is almost never to opposite extreme." - Balance is the reality of our lives. We are not living in bubbles where only one person is responsible for conflict and, therefore, conflict resolution (again, sometimes - but rarely). We all must take part. So let's stop enabling our young people to feel that they need not take any responsibility and let's not enable ourselves to do that either.


To God be the glory.

Respect for life: who is teaching your children?

Yesterday I blogged about respect for authority. It was interesting because I mentioned the post to a couple of co-workers and it stemmed some conversations that were really good...but really sad. Simply reinforcing the truth of the lack of respect that is so prevalent in our society right now.

Today I want to talk about life though. Respect for authority is one thing, but surely we don't have a lack of respect for life. Right??

Your first obvious thought is the argument of abortion. What I find sad is that while many people are finally getting on board that these babies are alive they are still saying, "but it doesn't change my decision about abortion." OK, so, you agree that this is life, but you don't agree that this life should have the option of living if the mother chooses not to let it?? ...I know this is a hard conversation for many that I know and I respect that. However, we NEED to consider what message we send about respecting life when we either encourage abortion or when we don't say anything about it!

The next two may not be what you expected and may not resonate with you very much. You may be annoyed that I'm wasting my time with this...just bare with me though.

First, this zombie movement. Let's be honest, it can seem funny, and it intrigues people...but what in the world are we teaching a young generation?? What is said is, "They used to be human, but now they aren't so I can use a shotgun to shoot them or a chain saw to hack them apart and it's OK...because they are no longer human." Sorry people, but as an amateur historian, that screams at me of the plight of Jews in Germany during the Third Reich. Why? Because the dehumanization of anyone is the first step to genocide. If you look at Rwanda and other recent genocide movements; they all start with a dehumanization of a group of people. Why? Because if you tell yourself they are not human, then you can do anything to them and feel no remorse. OK. First, I'm not accusing the zombie movement of turning us into little Nazis. Not at all. What I am saying, is, are you sure these are the thoughts and ideas that you want your children learning subliminally? Me? Considering everything I'm going to have to deal with in the teen years and beyond with my oldest, I'd rather she didn't have any concept of dehumanizing other than the atrocities I've mentioned. I want her to learn about dehumanization from a negative view and from history, not from the entertainment industry and what gives her a thrill!

Along these same lines are first-person shooter games. For those who don't know, this is you playing a game where you just see the gun or your arms and the gun as you "walk" around the game doing things. It isn't always killing people (Sometimes aliens instead and sometimes you problem solve), but that's usually the main idea. Then you ask, "Nate! Is it really wrong. I'm just simulating a battlefield and I'd be killing that enemy anyway." True. Let me ask you this then. Would you send your child to war? Would you even let them watch war while it happened?? Would you want them to watch you killing people on a battlefield? (There is a reason men and women are trained for this and not just every John Doe can do it! There is also a reason why men and women who have seen atrocities have need of psychological help after they come home. I'm not saying first-person shooters portray all of this - in fact I know men in the military who love these games. I'm just saying think about your children and decide if they should be doing what these men and women are doing.)

Why do I worry about these last two things? Remember, I don't hate video games. I still play them at times myself. However, there is a general desensitization to the value of life that is happening. Grant it, I played guns as a kid and we "shot" each other and no one got hurt. I am happy to admit that these kinds of things don't have to create a lack of respect for life. However, as the "age at which men stop playing video games" seems to be increasing exponentially, we start to see that desensitization stay around instead of falling off. Instead of young adults setting a false world of violence behind and begin to see the people around them and the needs around them, we have a continued trend of violence and disrespect for life and others. We see a continued trend of "violence is the answer to our problems." We also have a higher level of realism thanks to amazing graphics and visual affects so the visual line between fantasy and reality has really been destroyed.

Reality and fiction are a much finer line for the young. I have an 8 year old who we still have to remind her when things we see are fake and not real life. Why? Because she assumes that if it looks real, then it should be real.    ....is this true for everyone's child? I'm sure not. However, if you think your kids understand, I would challenge you to make sure. To talk to them and confirm that they know what things are real and what things are fake.

I'm not saying to ban these games or that you, as parents, ought to stop playing them (or stop allowing your kids play them). I am saying that if you have never talked to your kids about it or have never even thought about it, then you owe it to your kids AND to our future society to do it. To make sure they understand how to respect life.

OK. I know that was very much my own feelings on these things. You may agree with the need for respect of life, but not agree with my application of it. If so, post me an example you see that is an area where we need to work to increase the younger generation's (and our own) respect for life.

Later today (or tomorrow) I'm going to blog about respect (in general) and responsibility. So stay tuned one more time.


To God be the glory!!

Respect for authority: who is teaching your children?

Yesterday I became aware of a news article that was going crazy on Facebook. I've linked it here. It is the story of an African-American who was pulled over by Tucson police while he was carrying a concealed weapon. His point was this by showing respect to the officers, he was shown respect as well and there was never any threat to anyone's safety.

Remember that SC, Caucasian police officer that just got fired for violently handling an African-American teen in the classroom? Remember all the people who were so upset because a 15 second video showed this ape-like officer assaulting an innocent teenage girl? (Yes, my sarcasm is there.) There are now articles and other-angled videos that show that she struck the officer, that this was the third authority figure she had ignored and disrespected, and that most likely the force of his "throw" came from her fighting him as he tried to get her out of the chair. I'm not saying anything else. I was not there. I do however despise those who (including me at first) are judging authority figures based solely on social media. Videos don't show everything folks! *end of rant*

This got me thinking. Who is teaching our kids about respect? I don't me, "You better respect me young man (or young lady) because I'm your father." No, no, no. Those are words and not what I'm talking about. If we haven't figured out the emptiness or words without actions - then we have another problem altogether. Suffice it to say, if your words aren't reflected out in your life and actions, then your words mean nothing. If they ARE reflected out in your life and actions, then they are a great support to those actions, but nothing more.

When you are talking in front of your children about the President of the United States. Is it something like this: "That man is President because he was voted in. No, I don't agree with him on nearly anything he does. However, since I still believe in his office, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure no one like him takes that office again. Until his term is over, though, I will respect him because he is the president"? Or is it more like: "That idiot. I can't believe he passed that law. What an Islamic, America-hating, Socialist fool of a President we have"? (Side note: I don't care in the least what you think about any of those descriptive nouns. That is not the argument here.)

How about when you get pulled over by an officer. Is it "man. I shouldn't have been speeding. This is my fault and my responsibility" or is it "that stupid cop. Why in the world is he pulling me over. He must be a terrible cop. He should be catching murderers or something. He must have something better to do than to pull me over for going over the speed limit"?

Teachers in the classroom. When you kid has problems at school, do you assume it is the teachers fault or your child's?? (Hint: you shouldn't assume either. You should figure out what's going on and then help resolve all the while holding your child and their teacher both accountable for their actions.)

How about your boss/bosses at work? You don't have to like them, you don't even have to agree with them, but do you show your children (and them) that you respect them because they are in authority over you?

By the way, if you've read any of these paragraphs and you've scoffed on the inside, then I believe you have proved my point. If you think respect for this person or that person (who is in authority over you) is ridiculous or not worth it, then I guarantee you that your children know that already and have seen it. They already know that respect for authority is not all-inclusive and that there are times when you can disagree and by disagreeing you can disrespect! You have already added the seed of disrespect that could turn to violence if the wrong people start influencing your kids.

This battle is SO much harder for families where both parents are working or for a single parent working multiple jobs. Why? Well, the families that has a parent staying home with their kids has a role-model in their lives a lot more often. The families who have both parents working see their kids for less than half of their waking hours. Teachers, day-care providers, etc. are the ones putting the most influence into your kids. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes it isn't. Either way it makes your job harder because you have less time to live the example your kids need to see lived out in you. It isn't impossible, it just means you have to be intentional about living 100% of your life remembering that you are an example to your children. The single parent has it even worse. Two jobs and there is no one-parent-drops-off-and-the-other-picks-up option. He/She is the only parent so if he/she is working, then someone else is teaching his/her children about life by living it in front of them. (This is not an indictment. I respect the single parents who give their lives to their children so that they can provide for them. They are heroes! They teach us much including a hard work ethic and the value of family. ...so thank you to all the single parents who have NOT given up on their children!!)

Before we start to question the youth of America and their violence toward authority, why don't we first look inward and start asking ourselves if we are showing them respect for authority...always. Then, if you think you have a handle on that, how about respect for life? That'll be my next post so stay tuned. It may not cover what you think it will.


To God be the glory!

...before you determine the will of God...or after...as the case may be! :o)

I love the way God works and the conversations that He brings into our lives to keep us thinking, growing, and stretching. My last blog post (here) was on determining the will of God. I shared some wisdom from George Müller that I had found to be sound advise and also very encouraging.

4 days ago, I shared this post on Facebook: "When talking about determining the Lord's will, George Müller said, 'I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.'"

This morning I was asked by someone who had read my blog post, "What about after you know the Lord's will?" The idea being that doing the Lord's will can often be very hard even once we know what it is.

Wow. What a great flow of thoughts and ideas coming at me.

I have two thoughts. First, for those who have already learned the Lord's will about a thing and who are struggling to do it...I think you actually have a harder job. Now you have this thing in your face that you know God wants you to do and you are terrified to do it. Now you have this fear because you are not 100% sold on doing it. Well, the only answer is that you have to come to a place where you will do it 100% or you need to just walk away. Doing a think half-heartedly is no way to do it at all. If you are not completely sold on following God's direction and leading you have the propensity to start well and either quit or, worse, starting doing things your way instead of God's way.

To those who have not yet learned what God's will is about a thing...rather than worry about the "not knowing" this is a great time to spend in the "what will I do" phase.

In other words: You have been praying to God and praying for Him to make things known to you, have you been confirming in your heart and to God that you are devoted to doing God's will...no matter what it is?

Example: you are young (or not so young) and you want to know what career God has for you. You want to pursue XYZ with a heart to serve and love on people as Christ has loved on you. Well, are you willing to move half-way around the world if God asks you to? OR, are you willing to stay in your home town and never leave if God asks you to? Are you willing to do it single? Married? With children or without? With your own biological children or with a more diverse family? Are you willing to be in full-time ministry? Are you willing to NOT be in full-time ministry? Are you willing to work with children? Or to work with adults?

And for everything you can think of that you ARE willing to do, you need to consider if you are willing to do something that is completely different? Willing to work in the inner-city? Willing to work in a rich neighborhood with prep-school students? Willing to work with the homeless? Willing to work with those who never have a want unsatisfied?

Why Nate? Why do I need to be so drastic? Does God hate me and want me to be miserable??

I'm glad you asked! :o) The answer is a resounding NO! In fact, God DOES love you. In fact, He loves you so much that He will not make you settle for your best. Not when He can have you do what He wants and what is His best for you.

Clarification: God's best will not be sunshine and roses. There are a million reasons to believe this with the principle reason being THE BIBLE! A life devoted to God is not about how happy YOU can be. it is about how much glory can be given to God because of your life. (Galatians 1:20).

Clarification: If God's strength is perfected in our weakness, then God can best use us while being glorified when we are not in our best element. Maybe we are uncomfortable with the people we have to work with. Maybe we work with people we love, but we have to do something we aren't good at. If everything about our life/ministry are things that we are good at and comfortable with, then where is the glory for God?

This was more rant than I expected. To wrap-up, what is SO important for people seeking to know God's will is for them to take that time of waiting to make sure they are, in their hearts and minds, prepared to do God's will no matter what it is. It may be EXACTLY what you've been wanting and God may truly bless you. ...but it also might not be and your heart of willingness will help to ensure that you are giving glory to God in your strengths as well as in your weaknesses. It helps keep the focus on God and not on ourselves.

To God be the glory.

Determining the will of God: step-by-step

I have been really interested in the life of George Müller recently. For those who don't know, George Müller was a German who made his way to England. Once in England he say hundreds and thousands of orphaned children either living on the street, in poor houses, or in prison. In his 60 (?) years of ministering to them, he set up five buildings and saw over 10,000 children come through his doors. In that time he never asked any human for anything. He trusted his needs to God and God always provided. He also didn't take any salary after a few years and, again, God provided for his family as well. He was a man of prayer who saw great things happen and who is a testimony to us in an era where self-determination makes prayer seem obsolete.

The following is something I ran into here and since it was written in the 1800s I have also tried to put some parts of it into a modern vernacular. So, this is not an exact quote, but it is the essence of what he said. if you want to see the original, click on the link above.



To start, I get my heart into a state where it has no will of its own in regard to the matter at hand. nine-tenths of the trouble with people is generally this: nine-tenths of our difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually only a small step to knowing what His will is.

Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusion also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

Next I take into account providential circumstances (Nate: In other words, do not ignore the things that happen and people who come into your life. Recognize that God works often by allowing or even causing thing and people to affect us in ways that are intentional.) These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with his Word and Spirit.

I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright (Nate: correctly, clearly, not confusingly, etc.)

Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is still at peace, and continues that way after two or three more petitions to God, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving more important issues, I have found this method always effective.



I hope this can be an encouragement to you. I know that for me I often miss one of these steps. I want to know God's will about XYZ for my family, but I don't want to study God's Word in relation to that issue. Or, I don't want to pray about it....or I don't want to reflect and instead want to make a quick decision. All of these things (in my opinion) mean that I am relying on myself and not God. So, then it is my will and not God's will.

To God be the glory!

The Psalms: Psalm 13 - Did you forget me again?

I like Psalm 13 because it rings of Psalm 10.

Why does that encourage me? Because even the Psalmist, in this case David, comes back to the struggle of feeling like God is absent in his struggles. He knows God isn't, but he still feels like God is not there or not listening.

What an encouragement to me that I'm not alone when I have doubts and when I struggle with that feeling of "am I fighting this fight alone."

However, both Psalms come back to the truth about our God by the end. While Psalm 10 has more of a justice feel to it, this Psalm is simply a reminder of what God has done for the Psalmist.

David notes that he has trusted in God's steadfast love, that his heart rejoices in God's salvation, and that he sings to the Lord because God has dealt bountifully with him.

I know, for me at least, when I am struggling with something in life and I feel alone or that God is not directly working in the situation, I am also not reflecting on what God has done in the past.

"Wait. Nate. We all know we shouldn't live in the past. We should not allow past success to be what we focus on. That's not healthy and tends to make us lazy in the present!!"

Correct. I'm not talking about our past success though. I'm talking about how God has "dealt bountifully" with us in the past. In other words, I can say see what God has done and remind myself that He has my best interests in mind. I can remember that if my current circumstances don't feel like "the best" that God has a greater purpose. If God dealt so wonderfully with me in the past, then He has a reason for the present and it is not to spite me. I also know that God is unchanging. Because He is unchanging and I have evidence that He has cared for me and paid attention to my life in the past, I have no reason to think He would suddenly stop caring about me! God cares for his adopted children.

God is a God outside of time and space. He is not limited to "here" and "now" like we are. Which means that he understands SO much more than we do. Maybe what I'm going through right now isn't even about me! What if it is about me being able to comfort someone else and its really about how God will use them? Or, maybe my current life struggle is about someone 2 generations from now who will learn about it and God will use them? God's grand designs are about God....not about us!

...and yet. I think of Matthew 7:9-11 where Jesus points out that earthly fathers don't want to (in general) torment their children. They want to give good gifts. So, how much more does our heavenly father want to give us good things??

Life IS hard. Life WILL BE hard. The Bible actually promises that life will be hard more than it promises anything else. So we know things will get rough. However, most of us have also seen the goodness and bounty of God's loving hand in our lives. So, when we start a prayer with, "How long Oh Lord? Will you forget me forever?" may we have the wisdom and grace to end it with "I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me."

To God be the glory!!

The power of positive thinking

I've been thinking about this quite a bit this weekend. I watched a movie, I had a phone conversation, and I've just been thinking.

As Christians, do we have an obligation to be positive people? Do exercise the power of positive thinking? Or should be we realists who are talking about brimstone, fire, and eternal damnation?

I won't get into all of that, but I think that the balanced answer is to remember that all of realistic things can have a positive note.

Example: God is a God who judges, is just, and is loving. AMEN!! So, that means He'll judge me for my sin, right? What's so positive about that? EVERYTHING!!! Sorry....   What's great about a just God is that while He cares about our sin, we have an opportunity to accept the redemptive work of Christ in our lives and that same justice that seems so harsh will now work in our favor. God's justice sees the death of Christ as full payment for my sins and notes that the debt for sin is paid in full. So, it can seem depressing at first, but there is a HUGE, positive side to it as well.

The world seems to be falling apart, as does our modern American culture. What's so positive about that?? As a Christian, I know that this world is not my home and I'm just passing through!! How great is that?

But, people die. People who are family, who are such close friends that they are a second family, and people who I don't know well, but it still affects my life! Yes, that is true. However, that should motivate you to share the love of Jesus with the people you know because, this world is then not their home either!

OK, the power of positive thinking. I've at times scoffed at this. I've thought that this was for people who just want to accept everything and everyone as OK and who don't have a backbone. Not true!

Philippians 4:4-8 tells us to always rejoice; not to be anxious about things; and to think about things that are true, just, lovely, honorable, pure, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise!

If there is a different recipe for positive thinking and positive attitudes, I don't know what it is. Which suggests to me, looking at this verse as well as my previous thoughts: Christians ought to be the most positive people in the world today. We have hope for the future, a God who listens to us today, and hope and love to share with others. Why in the world can we be so depressed and down?? Why are Christians saying, "Oh man. it's Monday again which means it'll be a terrible day!"  Why?? Why are the children of the living God forced to have a bad day 14% of the time??

I know this life isn't going to be sunshine and roses for us. I know we will have heart ache and, per the Bible, if we are doing things right the world is going to hate and despise us. Why, however, would this life be our focus? Why would this life be what drives us and drives our positive or negative thinking?

Rant over!

God loves us. God wants us to share that love. If you struggle with this, then go to God in prayer. We ought to be so positive that the world looks at us and says, "What in the world makes them so positive?"

To God be the glory!

Should Christians be police officers at heart?

Let's get this first part out of the way so we are all on the same page.

There are bad cops. There are unethical, immoral, power hungry, abusive police officers.

There are bad religious leaders. There are unethical, immoral, power hungry, abusive religious leaders.

There are bad accountants. There are bad doctors. There are bad teachers.

If you just focus on the bad ones and assume that is the whole industry, then our entire society falls down around our ears. So, if you are going to assume that most teachers, pastors/bishops/priests, doctors, etc. are good and there are just some bad apples out there. Then why would we not assume the same for police officers??

So, the blog post is based on the assumption that most police officers are good people doing an important job and that the majority are not the bad apples.


Look at the news in recent days.

News story: An officer was shot and died from the wound during a confrontation at a mall.

News story: An officer was working conducting a traffic stop and was shot and killed.

News story: An officer was pursuing three suspects on foot. When other officers arrived on the scene he had been fatally shot.

With all of this news, do you have news of police officers quitting their jobs in mass?? I haven't heard of that. Maybe it's happening and I'm not hearing, but I don't think so. They continue to serve the same communities even after these things are done to them. They go and do what their job requires them to do.

One more for our purposes though: News story: Here is a video of 6 officers responding to a call that a man was threatening to shoot his wife and landlord. When they showed up the man shot at them twice hitting one office (uninjured thankfully). The man then came downstairs with the gun. The officers, who knew he was willing to shoot at them, still tried to talk him down. Tried to get him to put the gun down. Why? Who knows. Maybe didn't want to deal with megative charges on their record. Maybe they were self-serving and didn't want the guilty conscience of shooting someone. Maybe they don't like taking life because they see so much of it lost anyway. We don't know motives, but these men knew what a threat the man was and they still tried to talk and get him to put his gun down.

Police violence is on the rise. Wait. No. Violence against police is on the rise!! What? The men and women who give there lives (often literally as well as often giving up their lives with their spouses and children to work odd and long hours) are being attacked? They are trying to help our society function with as little violence as possible. They are the first defense against those would would betray our trust and hurt our children, yet they are the ones being targeted? Would it be any wonder if some of them seemed trigger happy in recent months? Wouldn't you?? The hate can come from anywhere at any time and from anyone.

So, what in the world does this have to do with Christians Nate?? I'm glad you asked :o)

Matthew 10:16-25 and John 15:18-21 have a similar message: The world WILL hate you. They will betray you and despise you. Why? Because they despise Jesus and in despising Him, then will despise his servants.

To clarify, remember those bad apples? I'm not talking about the all smiles and all love Jesus that bad religious leaders propose. God IS love. Absolutely. He is, however, also just (as well as many other things). So, we can't take the love and ignore the justice. So, the Jesus of the Bible is the one we are talking about here.

Luke 6:27-36 is a great passage too. It's the "love your enemies" passage that also says that loving people who love you is easy and everyone does that. Loving those who don't love you, however, is hard. Like, serving a community of people who might betray and shoot you because of your job! (Be that police officer or disciple of Jesus Christ.)

Matthew 5:43-44 is another "love your enemies" passage.In fact, a command to pray for those who persecute you.

Last one. "Faith is not belief without evidence. It is obedience without fear of consequences. It is trusting in God."

Doing your job no matter what happens. No matter who hates you. Loving the haters and praying for those who persecute. Continuing to do that job even if your friends are shot down before your eyes. Loving the unlovely.

Yes. I just described a police officer AND a Christian as the Bible describes them. Working on this, I am aware that all analogies break down somewhere. We could talk about motivations and other things...but all I really want to say is this, I have more respect for police officer NOW (especially seeing their faithfulness in harder times) and, as a Christian, I have a lot of room to grow to truly be doing my job as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory!!

What did Moses do to make God angry?

I was (and still am) reading through Exodus the other day and I came to the passage about the burning bush. Now, MANY of us know the story, but I want to give you a run down because there is something here I didn't even know what there.

God gets angry!! ...well, it says that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. I'm sorry...but I would NOT want to be in his position!!

So, how do we learn from Moses and avoid his mistake??


Exodus 3:1-4:17 is the whole passage. I'll give a quick summary and then we'll look at the specific portion I'm talking about.

Moses is herding sheep. He was in fact watching after his father-in-laws flock. He saw a bush that was burning, but not consumed. Being male, seeing fire, but not seeing the destruction of what was on file, he was naturally distraught and went to see what was going wrong. (My interpretation of his motivations!)

God tells Moses to take off his sandals because he's on holy ground. God tells Moses who He is (the God of Abraham, etc.) and God tell Moses that He has seen the affliction of his people and that He was going to deliver them.

We now have a string of questions/complaints from Moses that God patiently answers.

Q1: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? (3:11)
A1: I will be with you. (3:12)

Q2: If I go to the people of Israel and say to them that the God of the fathers has sent me and they say, "What is his name?" what do I say? (3:14)
A2: Say that , "I Am" has sent you. (3:14)
A2 part 2: God then goes on to reassure Moses of some other things that will come up and gives him the exact words that he should use. (3:15-22)

Complaint 1: They won't listen and they will say that I didn't really see you. (4:1)
A3: God gives Moses three miracles that he will be able to do to prove that God spoke to him. Turn his staff into a snake, make his hand leprous (and turn it back to normal), and pour water over dry ground and it turns to blood. (4:2-9)

Complaint 2: I don't speak well!! (4:10)
A4: This is worth seeing all of it verbatim. "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (4:11-12)

God basically said, "Dude! I made your mouth and the only people who can speak can do so because I have them them that way. So don't worry about it. Since I've said you will do it, I will make sure it can happen. Trust me and obey me!"

In all this time we've seen a very patience God. In fact, God has multiple times gone above and beyond Moses' questions and complaints. The kicker is what is next though.

Exodus 4:13, "But he said, 'Oh my Lord, please send someone else.'" which is followed immediately with, "Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses..."

Do you see it? It wasn't when Moses asked logistical questions. God wasn't angry when Moses pointed out: his unworthiness, his apprehension about explaining the name of God, how the children of Israel would question him, or even when he doubted his own abilities. It was after God had proclaimed all that he would do for Moses, and when God capped it off with a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement. After all of that, when Moses still wanted out, then God was angry.

It is not doubts, fears, and questions that make God angry. It is when we fully understand the power of God and who God is and then we want to walk away anyway. Whether this is doubting God, fearing people, or feeling inadequate: none of those things should be the case once God has given us a "I have made you and I will make this happen" statement!!!!!

Boy, wouldn't it be nice to have a burning bush experience???  Wait? What did you say? Well, yeah I can read about it, but that was Moses' experience....well, yeah. But that was David's experience. True, that was cool too, but that was Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel's experiences. Abraham, Noah, Ruth, Esther, Joshua, Paul, Peter, John, Polycarp, etc., etc.,

That's right. Those are other people with other experiences. But they are in the Bible, in our documented church history, and in your life to provide examples of the power of God. Christians: we know the power of God. We have heard testimony of it and many of us have seen it in our lives and in the lives of others. Who, then, are we to say, "Oh my Lord, please send someone else!"


To God be the glory!

The Psalms: Psalm 12 - the faithful people are all gone!! **how depressing**

It is kind of funny. Only because this is never actually true. Psalm 12 begins with a cry to God that ends with "...the faithful have vanished from among the children of man."

This reminds me of the time when Elijah said, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord" in I Kings 18:22. Now, I will admit that I don't know the chronology well enough her to know if he was indeed the only prophet of God that was still around or not, but I have always thought that this gave the impression of being the only one who worshiped God. We know that isn't true from the following verses though.

Either way, whatever Elijah's intention with his statement, the psalmist has indeed cried and said that all the faithful people are gone and that, "Everyone utters lies to his neighbor."

What a sad statement. Even if this is poetic exaggeration, it is still a sad statement.

Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like the people who are the most faithful and the greatest prayer warriors are people we have to read about because they just aren't around anymore?? Or we have to visit them in nursing homes because that is where most of their generation is?

When did faithfulness and powerful prayer lives get relegated to the old and "super mature"? When did we decide that we didn't have to do that because "someone else is going to"?

...or am I like the psalmist? Do I cry out "why aren't we faithful enough" and that is just poetic license? Are there so many faithful men and women that it would blow my mind away, but I just don't know about it??

So, talk to me. I am particularly interested in the 25-40 year range, but anyone is welcome to chime in. Do you find yourself being faithful toward God when pressure comes? Do you find that you have a prayer life that is consistent? Or that only comes during meal times and when you need something or life is getting really hard? (feel free to actually comment or to take this as reflective, rhetorical.)

I don't want you to air your dirty laundry, but I want us to be honest with ourselves. Is God a priority (which will make faithfulness a priority) or do we put "God" and "religion" on a back burner when other things are more important?

Last thought. Psalm 12:5-7 give us a glimpse of a God who sees and is not ignoring. A God who WILL protect those who are faithful from a faithless generation if that is what we are living in today! Amen *let it be so*

To God be the glory!

The worst nightmare of my life!

Do you remember having nightmares as a kid? I had two recurring ones. One where I was running, fell in a hole, and the hole was full of ants. The other involved being in a really big building, like a church or something, and one giant queen ant talking to me and trying to hunt me down.

Yeah, I know. Creepy. You think that was bad. You have no idea.

I woke up this morning from a dream/nightmare. I had killed two close friends of mine. I had seen the child of one of them mourn for their father while not being able to tell anyone what I had done. I had considered telling my wife, but I couldn't because I didn't know why I had done it. So, without an answer I felt that I had to maintain the illusion of innocence.

This was so bad, in fact, that I woke up just after 5, went to the restroom, came back to bed, and hadn't been able to convince myself that it hadn't actually happened. I had to sleep again, wake up, and clear my head more before I could even know that it had been a dream.

The sense of guilt, shame, remorse, and confusion was palpable. I don't remember a time in my adult life that I have had a dream that was this potent and hard to handle.

*if you are reading this and you are a psychologist, please keep your opinions to yourself. I'm sure this suggests a really wacky psyche...but we already knew that.*  :0)

OK. So, that is creepy...but why share it? I have three reasons.

1. Ephesians 6:12 - "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood..." Thanks to the Enlightenment and the culture of modern America, you get looked at funny to say that you think there is spiritual warfare. OK, then look at me funny! I have spent the last 2 weeks or so really working to focus in on my relationship with God and with my family in a way that I don't think I ever have. The number of things that have gone wrong or been off during this time has not just been a few. So, I remind myself of Eph. 6:12 but I don't stop there. I remind myself even more of Eph 6:13-18. Verse 12 isn't meant to scare us. It is simple a reality check and verses 13 and following are meant to remind and encourage us of the tools that we have to fight back. Praise God!

2. As I finally got out of the fuzziness of my mind and was awakened to reality, I began to reflect. I am grateful for the life that God has given me. There are many things that I regret and many things that I would change if I could...and yet I am the sum whole of all of the experiences of my life. Both good and bad. Ones that God intended for me and ones that I did that he didn't intend for me. They make me who I am. (This is not license to sin. It is a reality check and no more.) So, I reminded myself that even if the dream had been real (which it felt completely real) Christ still would have died on the cross. So, my reminder was that A) when Christ died, ALL of my sins were future sins and B) there is no sin that is greater than the cross of Jesus Christ! Praise God!

3. This event also caused me to remember that I need to run to Christ so much more than I do. When I woke up the last time I was praying within minutes. Praying that this dream wouldn't ruin my day or control my day. I've had a few dreams in the last few years that were hard to emotionally snap out of and makes for a hard *read "terrible* day for my family. I didn't want that. The lesson, though, was simply that in the big things and in the little things I ought to be running to prayer, running to the Bible, and remembering that since God is outside of time, he knew I'd have this dream before I had it and he caused (or allowed) it. So, how am I going to pursue him more because of it instead of letting it create a wedge between us or between me and the people around me!

To God be the glory!

The Psalms: Psalm 11 - OH! There You are!

I loved the flow of this. Yesterday I posted on Psalm 10 and the question of "Where are you God?" Well, today's chapter, Psalm 11, answers that question.

The answer to "Where are you God?" is "The Lord is in his holy temple."

....wait. What? So, God is in some vague temple somewhere? Well, then it's no wonder that it feels like he doesn't care sometimes.

No, no, no. Let's get a better perspective. The Psalmist is not trying to say that God is SO far away in his holy temple.

Rather, think about it from the context of the last half of verse 4. The idea is to give a huge scope. God is in his holy temple...and from there he can see the wicked things that are happening. Verse shows this too as he tests the righteous and hates the wicked and those who love violence.

Verse 7 is a great reminder. God is righteous and he loves righteous deeds.

Let this be yet another reminder. No matter what is going on around us, God is not blind. He is not on vacation. He is not distracted. He has a plan and we aren't going to understand all of it in this life.


To God be the glory!

The Psalms: Psalm 10 - Where are you God??

In our S. S. class we've been talking about some of the minor prophets. We have spent the last couple weeks talking about Habakkuk. He also asks God, "Where are you?"

One thing we've been pointing out is that it is NOT sin to question God and our circumstances. It is wrong to blame God as though He does not know what is best for us because then we make ourselves to be God. However, to not understand and voice that to our heavenly Father only makes sense. Think about it. He already knows your questions. It's just you trying to hide the truth from Him. So, honesty with our God!

Psalm 10 is doing a very similar thing. Here we start in verse 1 with the question of "where are you?" Then verses 2-11 explain why the author has this question. He describes the actions and attitudes of the ungodly and how they are doing evil.

Verses 12-18 are back to talking to God. There are requests of God (lift up your hand) but also promises claimed. Such as, "you have been the helper of the fatherless," "The Lord is king forever," and "...you will incline your ear."

Praise God for truth. The world is an ugly place. Sin has caused the whole creation to fall. Not to mention the depravity of man. So there is a lot that happens that could cause a person wonder where God is. Abortion, the violation of religious freedom in the name of "don't be a bigot."

Bigotry: "having or revealing an obstinate belief in the superiority of one's own opinions and a prejudiced intolerance of the opinions of others."

...which would be fine if it wasn't in the Bible.

So, we are marked as bigots and we see evil all around us. So, where is God?

I am extremely encouraged in these moments to remember that God's ways are not our ways and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Example, I have been alive since 1983. Those who have been alive since the 50s and 60s have a different perspective on life. They view current events differently than I do. Now, imagine if someone born in 1900 was around today to give THEIR perspective. How would they view the taking of the Crimea having lived through both WWI and WWII??

Now, take a God who is outside of time. Who was at the beginning and the end at the same "time" and who also knows everything. He knows the end of time (if there is one) and He knows everything that will happen between now and then. He understands the ripple effects of our lives. A disaster in my life may be something that ripples out and doesn't show effects for 4-5 generations. A life without disaster could have similar effects.

Sometimes we see and understand. Pam and I have not been able to have biological children but I look at Maya K and Layla and I don't wonder. God had a plan that I did not understand until later. Yet, we don't always understand in this life. Sometimes things just seem like disaster, seem unfair, and seem cruel. I can't explain the Holocaust, the rampant use of abortion in this country, etc. Yet, I trust that God has a plan that I don't understand.

Trust is not apathy. If anything, it is the opposite. I trust God has a plan and yet I see evil. Therefore, as a Christian, I have a responsibility to act in a way that is in line with God's plans as revealed to us. So, do I have a responsibility to vote for those who will work to end the murder of babies? Yes I do.

Imagine this. How short would the book of Daniel be if Daniel had not disobeyed a law that demanded that he disobey his God???

Your neighbors, company, and nation did not die for your sins. Christ did that. We have a higher allegiance. This does not give us license to abuse our neighbors, company, or nation. I am still a very patriotic person, but my patriotism is limited to a point when my nation demands that I disobey a clear law of God.


To God be the glory!!

The Psalms: Psalm 9 - How do I love You? Let me recount the ways!

Psalm 9 is a really good chapter. Click on the link to go read. I'm only going to touch on the first 2 verses because there is so much there and then I'll move on to the next Psalm next time. Don't miss out on the rest! :o)

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;"

With my whole heart! Not part of my heart. Not giving thanks while thinking about the other things that dominate your heart (hobbies, spouses, children, other loved ones, your career, etc.) but with your WHOLE heart.

With this, I want to mention that twice in the gospels we are challenged to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls (and I think one has body...not sure right now). So, your mind as well as your heart. So, not giving thanks to God while thinking about the game that is on, or the chores that need doing, or the errands you need to run, or the social upheaval on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/etc. Giving your whole mind and heart to God and then giving thanks to him.

Let's be honest, some people can do that while driving...maybe. I won't judge your heart and mind, but I can't focus 100% of my mind on my God when I'm driving. There are crazy people out there driving! So, it requires some quiet time. "But Nate, since I can give God all of my attention to pray and talk to him while doing other things like driving, and I don't have the time to spend with him alone, what is the problem?" The problem? The problem is that while you were still a sinner God demonstrated his love for you and Christ died for you....and you can only talk to him in a distracted context  without being able to really focus on what you are doing? Your heart is being pulled or your mind is being pulled. Shame on us. Shame on me. I don't do this enough at all!

"I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

Oh man. I love doing this and I don't do it enough. So, from a selfish angle, I could recount blessing after blessing that God provided through both of our adoption processes. That would take a VERY long time though. As a historian, I can look at the history of the church as see how God has blessed and preserved his Word so that million of people could know who God is and not have to wonder. On an even greater scale, look at our world. There are so many broken things about it. The world is affected by sin and YET! Look at some of the sunrise/sunset pictures on Facebook/Instagram lately. It's gorgeous. Look at the Hubble telescope pictures sometimes .It's amazing what is out there. The

"I will be glad and exult in you;"

Gladness and exulting in God. Really? When I lock my keys in the car at work? When I am on my way home and 4 police cars are blocking my road so I get home 20+ minutes later than normal? When my oldest is completely "off" due to going to be late and seeing our youngest daughter's birth mom at an unscheduled (but perfectly OK) time??? I am to be glad and exult in God?? YES! Yes I am. It's funny because ALL of those things happened today and it almost feels like God knew I was going to come home to type this to remind me to be exulting him instead of feeling cranky at the world! :o) Thankfully I'd already been working on this, but God really hammered it now!

"I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."

Do I praise the name of God? God Most High! There is no one who has ever been His equal or who will ever be His equal. How can I not praise Him?? Simple: I'm lazy and I'm ungrateful!! That's not who I want to be though, so I will take a minute to praise His name now and continue to work that into part of my life. The other part is that I don't know Him enough to praise His name. That IS something I can actively work on. It's called "getting to know my Heavenly Father" and it's something we should all do as close to daily as possible.

But not because we have to. Because we want to. Because we love Him (because He first loved us) and that makes us want to know Him. With the added benefit that the more we know Him, the more we will love Him. Then it just becomes a great cycle!

To God be the glory!!

Weep and mourn with others

Romans 12:15 is smack in the middle of a set of verses (vs. 9-21) that is talking about Christians and what marks them as different. "Living a Christian life looks like" and then it gives a bunch of things. It touches on positive relationships, negative ones, people you don't know, and your own responses to all kinds of situations.

So, what about verse 15? Well, verse 15 says to, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." (ESV)

Something about this struck me today.

I don't know about you but I find it easy to bring myself down, emotionally, for other people. If someone is hurting, no matter how happy and joyful (about whatever) I am, I can usually come down to their emotional level and be with them in that sadness. Take the moment seriously and try to be a shoulder if needed.

BUT, the same verse also commands me, when I'm emotionally down and feeling low, to make the effort to be joyful with people who are showing joy. To rejoice...when you are hurting, according to this verse, is a sign of a true Christian.

Now, I get to brag. See, I have often struggled with emotional control and especially on the down side of that. However, I do know someone who has really exemplified this.

My wife! That's right, my wife. Most of you reading this know that we have adopted twice and do not have any biological children. I will be honest and say that most of the people we know have been tactful and not asked us too many personal questions about those decisions and the ones who have have mostly been very tactful about it. Which we have both appreciated. Let's just say that in the last 11 years, I can't remember how many babies have been born into the families of our friends. People who are young and excited for their first baby to be born, people who are excited for their 3rd or 4th, and people who aren't really excited about "the next one."

Now, we love those people (well....MOST of them... :o)  ) but that's beside the point. Those wonderful experiences for them have been hard, in their own way, for us. Admittedly, this does not affect me the way it affects my wife, obviously, and I can safely say it does not affect me as much. I know the tears that have been shed from both of us and hers far outnumber mine.

Yet. When she sees those babies and mothers...what happens is...she rejoices. Wait! No. She REJOICES!!! ...with those who are rejoices. She doesn't put on a show or fake it in front of them. She legitimately rejoices with and loves on the people around her.

When I showed this to Pam, she said, "Honey, I'm happy because it's a happy time!" Exactly. It's not like the pain is so strong that she is pushing it aside just to be happy with those she cares about. No, "Self" isn't getting in the way of ministering (rejoicing OR weeping) with those around!

So, the challenge from Romans 12:15? Don't let you get in the way of others. The love of Christ is not glorified when "I" is the focus, but rather when "you all" is the focus!

To God be the glory!!

...and how shall they hear???

I watched this video this morning (from Asia Harvest) and I wanted to share it. So, first thing, click on the link and watch the 4 minute video. Please!!


Now, this video made me think of Romans 10:14-17. This is the passage talks about who will call on God if they have not believed, who will believe if they have not heard, and who will hear without someone preaching. Then the last verse reiterates that "faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ."

I find it so hard to remember sometimes how blessed we are to have an English translation of the Bible. I mean, to read the Bible in my own language. I didn't have to learn Greek and Hebrew to read the original texts. (Are the TONS of benefits if I do? Absolutely! However, the advantages to getting the overall gospel message in my own language can NOT be underestimated.)

So, two challenges!

1. Do you use that Bible of yours as close to daily as you can? Do you have a desire to use the treasure that you have? If you were into Art and you had a Van Gogh in your house, you'd look at it every day until you had the details memorized. Many other examples fit too, but the point is that if something is precious to us we usually spend time with that thing. (Sometimes we box it up, thinking it is too precious to risk injury to it....but then no one gets to enjoy it!)

2. Do you or does your church support any translation work? Translation is VERY time consuming and it demands a lot from the person doing it. Not only the education they had to get to be there, but also the wisdom needed to know how best to interpret Scripture to then translate it into the target language. If you can't personally become a translator, then (I think) you owe it to the people of the world to help support the work of translation!

To God be the glory!!

Job: What kind of man was he?

I read Job 1 tonight and two things stuck out to me that hadn't before.

The first was the last of the four character traits given to us. Blameless, upright, fears the Lord, and....

"Turned away from the evil" is the ESV. The NIV has "Shunned evil." Either way, this is not a passive action. This not someone who just casually ignores certain words that people use or something like that. No, this is a man who actively chose to direct himself away from evil. We know from later on that he "made a covenant" with his eyes. He was actively doing the things needed to be who is ought to be before God.

The second this I noticed was in verse 20. Satan has already gone before God and God has allowed him to many things to Job because God does not believe that Job will curse God when God allows his things to be taken away. So the preceding verses are a chronicle of men coming and telling Job that something of value has been destroyed and that "he and he alone" survived to tell him about it. However, it is not until verse 20 that he reacts. Now, admittedly, this was happening very quickly. However, it wasn't the sheep that got him tearing his clothes, shaving his head, and worshiping God. No, it was the death of his children. Maybe I'm a dad and I'm reading into it, but "stuff" wasn't nearly as important to him as his children were.

What a great example. Someone who actively turned away from evil and who cherished his children more than his many riches! May we all live like that.


To God be the glory.

The Psalms: Psalm 8 - part 2

The flip side to last time is that the rest of the chapter goes on talk about how God has elevated man(kind) above his creations.

things God did to/for mankind:

...made a little lower than the angels (depending on your version).

...crowned him with glory and honor.

...gave him dominion over the works of God's hands.

...then the chapter goes on to list some specifics that God has placed under mankind.


My thought when I read this is "how amazing that God chose mankind for this instead of....say....gorillas or Elephants" and then "wow...man has not really been a good steward of this gift throughout history" and, lastly, "am I being a good steward today?"

Yeah, I know. crazy thoughts, but if you've read many of blogs then you aren't surprised. I keep going back to "global warming" and hunting, etc., etc. Those hot topics that tend to polarize people. Me personally? I think there needs to be balance. I believe the Bible is truth and shows us that we are indeed over these created things, but "with great power comes great responsibility" and we have a responsibility not to abuse God's creations!

It's funny. When Pam and I were dating and we would discuss some issue about our beliefs or dating or whatever, Pam would often come back to "balance" as her key word. :o) It has definitely grown on me over the years!!!

To God be the glory!!

The Psalms: Psalm 8 - Who am I? That you would be mindful of me?

I just want to put two verses from this chapter below...

Verse 1: "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens."

Verse 3: "When I look at heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"


How humbling a reminder this is. God set Himself above the heavens (and rightfully so). Then we are reminded of space and all that is out there that God made and set in place. If you haven't recently, go out to Hubble Telescope website and look at some of the images of the universe around us (like this one)! It's amazing!!

...yet God is mindful of man and mankind. Why would He do that? The humbling answer is that He loves us. In fact, Matthew 6:25-34 talks about this. We usually use this passage as a reminder that we don't need to worry about things....because that's what the passage is talking about! :o)

However, another fantastic application is the reality that we don't need to worry because God loves us and will take care of our needs! Wow!


To God be the glory!

Is a father who leaves different than a father who doesn't engage?

Ok. Just to put some parameters on this, I'm not going to touch on the differences. Why? Because we can see those...and honestly, I haven't experienced both of these to really be an expert on differences.

Similarities, however, is another conversation...and so is our responsibility as husbands and fathers!

So, a little context. There is a song in the movie "Treasure Planet" (which, by the way, is a good....weird, but good movie) called "I'm Still Here."

Quick context: dad left when the boy was young and he's going through a very rebellious stage. He isn't grounded and doesn't have a male role model to help him figure life out. There's more, obviously, that's the quick version.

There are a couple of lines in the song I'm going to pull out.

"How can you learn what's never shown?"

"...and I want to tell you who I am. Can you help me be a man?"

The chorus gives us another glimpse when it says talks about wanting to feel like I belong.

Alright, I have no experience with a father who walked out on his family. I didn't grow up with one and I have never been one. So I'm very short on that. I have good friends who have dealt with that, but it somehow ends up a taboo conversation and I never talk to them about it. So, I don't have much to say about this. Those of you who do, feel free to comment and tell me if the similarities are the same or not.

What I'm seeing is that a father who is physically present, but not engaging (When I use "engage" going forward, it is assumed that I mean engagement that is meaningful and positive) has similar negative effects on children that a non-present dad would have.

How can you learn what's never shown? Can you help me be a man? Guys!!! Are you raising your kids with life skills? Are you teaching your boys what it means to be a man? Yes, that can and is done by example. I don't have sons myself, but I show my daughters what to expect in a man every day as I interact with their mother. I teach them what is and is not OK behavior as I model it to them. Great. But that isn't everything is it? No.

Where is the time of connection. The time to do daddy-daughter dates? To play sports with my son in the yard? To read to my daughter? To spend time with them so that when life happens I am ready both in time and space and in my relationships to engage with life.

When my daughter asks me about death. When she talks about playing with boys. When my daughter has to learn the hard way that there are bad people in this world. When she finds out that not everyone is a good person with her best interests in mind. When it's time to talk about boys who don't love her, but will say that they do. When a son thinks he "loves" a girl but doesn't actually know what that word means. When a son or daughter is losing respect for his or her mother. The mother who is a single mother and the mother who has a disengaged husband are dealing with similar issues.

Now, knowing about the grass being greener on the other side, I want to be careful here. However, I think that it is easier to underestimate the damage done by a present but disengaged father because we don't as quickly see the problem. I mean, these dads can be pastors and deacons. They can be on the school board. They can be the sole provider (monetarily) for their family which clearly means they are engaged at home, right? (WRONG!)

So, dads, you do your family a grave injustice when you are present but you don't engage with them. When you don't sit on the floor and let your 1 year old play around you and smile with you. To know that you are there whether you are needed in that moment or not. When you don't play with your children and show them that you love them. When you don't build the relationships that they are going to need to help them through the hard, confusing years of adolescence. Your family, our families, deserve more than your physical presence.

The movie has a happy ending. The boy ends up mentored to someone who, not meaning to, ends up having the boy's best interests at heart. But our kids may not be that lucky. However, here is the real point. THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE!! Let's be the men, fathers, and husbands that God has called us to be and there for our children in all the moments of life. Be there when we don't feel like it and when we don't feel needed or wanted because then when we DO feel like it and we ARE needed and wanted, the groundwork is already laid for that to happen.

To God be the glory.