Life Here and There

I figured on a Monday, you might be able to use a good smile. I couldn’t help but smile through this entire clip and ask myself… why didn’t I think of this?

By the way, this was discovered via Mashable’s 10 Most Romantic Social Media Finds.

So yesterday my daughter had a field trip to one of our city parks. I had planned on meeting her there to do all that fun “Daddy stuff” Dads do, like push their kid in a swing or push them down a slide (gently, of course). Instead, I was presented with an interesting problem…

Ella had buried her shoe! That’s right, just for the fun of it, she had buried both of them in the sand in two different places. An hour and a half before I showed up, teachers and kids were searching in vain for the lost shoe.

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Saturday, I flew a kite! It was a beautiful breezy day and my daughter had just gotten a cheap (99 cent), flimsy kite, so we headed over to the front yard of the church. On the way I thought, “This is never going to work, but at least we’ll have a nice walk on a pretty day.” Much to my surprise, the kite flew easily. In fact, it soared to at least fifty feet – pretty impressive for a five-year-old and a Dad with no kite-flying experience. (more…)

I love VBS week! I love to watch kids having fun. I love to see the people of God in action, doing their thing to accomplish ministry to families. More than anything, I love seeing little ones embrace the story of Jesus as their own. It’s awesome! This year’s VBS has been a blessing to my heart for quite a few reasons.

One is that we’ve started out with about twenty more kids involved than last year. Two is our Associate Pastor, Cory McCaig has done an absolutely awesome job of leading it and teaching the kids. Three, our Associate Pastor has led, not me! Angie and I, for a decade, have always spent our wedding anniversaries at Vacation Bible School, but this year, we get to run away for a night and celebrate our tenth (more on this in the next post).

I’ll have to report later on the results, but through two nights, I’m fired up about attending Avalanche Ranch!

Well, we’ve been the parents of but one child for almost five years now. I remember Bill Cosby saying something about us not being allowed to use the title “parent” until there were at least two. This morning, we had three. Me, Angie, Ella, Jayden, and little Quinton all headed down to the Hotel breakfast area… so the adventure began. It was a packed house and we found one little tall table in the corner. We made about six trips for food, napkins, drinks, forks, and then some more napkins.

Then on to the pool where we promptly got in and started having fun… until I felt my wallet which was still in the pocket of my trunks. After handling the wallet, along with a boy who splashed a bit too much and a girl who can’t stand splashing, I noticed some very scary looking elements floating around in the pool. Yes, you guessed it, somebody else’s kid (thankfully) had decided he or she just couldn’t hold it any longer. So we made our exit and notified the front desk of the potential health hazard floating around. My shirt was soaked because my four-year-old had used it like a towel and left it laying in a puddle of water… we’re still working on the whole “be considerate of others” thing.

After blow-drying my wallet’s various contents and getting settled back down in the Hotel room, I sat down to the computer to write this blog and reflected on what great champions all of you multi-kid parents really are. On a serious note, please pray for us. Angie had an ectopic pregnancy last fall, which was one of the hardest things we’ve gone through. But it’s really just part of a larger struggle to expand our family. Knowing that others within our church family are struggling with the same issue, some of whom don’t have children yet, makes us rely on the Lord that much more to invade our varied situations and bless with more little munchkins.

For a few hours we tasted having three or more kids, and how sweet it really was!!

This past Sunday, I began preaching a revival meeting for Beacon Baptist Church in Gravette, Arkansas. It’s been a real privilege and honor to do so, especially considering that the church’s Pastor has been such a great leader within our association. Bro. Dan Fagala has remained at the same church for over thirty-five years and has served in a multitude of denominational capacities. On Monday, he and I went out on Beaver Lake in his boat to fish for crappies, to no avail. We (I mean he) caught four keepers. I managed to snag one little perch which finned me fairly well before I could throw him back.On Sunday, the most spectacular thing happened. When we arrived home from the revival service Sunday afternoon and opened our garage door, our Chevy Impala had mysteriously turned sideways!

Can you feel the love?… It took me about ten minutes to remove the car from the garage, but I wonder how long it took the prankster to park it to begin with. There are three major lessons I see in this situation…

1. Thank God for fun friends. Quite honestly, this was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

2. Life gets a little sideways sometimes for unexplainable reasons. We find ourselves in situations where we are perplexed. Thankfully because of the assurance we have in Christ, we know everything really will work out in the end “for them that love God and are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

3. Never leave your keys with a crazed graphic artist who is about to be ordained as a Deacon… Okay, that’s not much of a lesson, but thank God for security systems anyway!

I must confess, as a Baptist, it took me a rather long time to come to understand the healing nature of God. We Baptists, as Adrian Rogers put it, “believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus.” I still believe this is best. But I also freely admit that in our reaction to the extremism of “healing evangelists” like Binny Hinn and other obvious hucksters and false prophets, that we have a tendency to write off all supposed healings as a mere charade.

Scripture, however, clearly teaches that the Great Physician, through His miraculous touch, heals the bodies of many people. Such was the case for the entire camp of Israelites in the wilderness when they reached the bitter waters of Marah. I’m inclined to believe that these poisonous waters made many of the people quite ill. So God steps into the picture, sweetens the waters, and heals the people. So He reveals to them another title for Himself – Jehovah who heals you.

Fast-forward about fifteen hundred years to Matthew, chapter fifteen. A Gentile woman comes to Jesus and His disciples, begging for a demon to be cast out of her daughter. I am especially moved by her form of worship. First, the text declares that she “cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is demon-possessed.’” Amazingly, “He answered her not a word.” She chases God and He delights in the pursuit. She was apparently persistent for the disciples asked Jesus to dismiss her, saying, “for she cries out after us.”

Jesus continues to stonewall her by explaining that He was sent with Israel as His first priority, so why should He perform miracles for a Gentile woman? His remaining just beyond her reach is really an attempt to lead her on in her pursuit of the Almighty, and of course it works. “Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’”

Instead of responding to her cry, Jesus argues that He really shouldn’t be casting such great miracles before the dogs of the Gentiles. She wisely continues her pursuit, presenting a responding argument that as a dog, she’ll gladly take the crumbs that fall to her. What a great lesson she teaches us. Our worship must always have a heartfelt ring of “Whatever, whenever, however God, just bless me!” to it. So He gives in and heals her, thrilled at her great and faith-filled pursuit. Oh, for such demanding hunger that argues with God for His blessings!

In the next paragraph, Matthew records for us that multitudes came to Him and were healed, “so the multitude marveled when they say the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.”

Jesus is the Great Physician, the mighty Healer of the children of men. I find it sad how we overlook the miraculous nature of God. We like to bring Him down to our level. “Well, you know I just think that in modern times, He heals through modern medicine…” Yes, He invented all of it and yes, He uses it, but let us never forget to look for the miraculous and to ask, to beg, to plead for His blessing.

I had a conversation a couple of years ago with a good friend who used to sit under my preaching every week, but who had moved to another town, gotten married, and attended a church of a different denomination. He related to me the story of a funeral that he attended. As he watched the mourners pass the casket to pay their last respects, his heart cried out within him, “Why did nobody ask God even once to heal her?”

Our answer, as good traditional Baptists, might be, “Well, it was just her time, it just wasn’t God’s will to heal her.” Though my friend and I may not agree on all things, I support his question. Why do we no think to ask, to beg, to plead with a worshipful heart to the Almighty Healer to perform miracles. I don’t believe He will always heal, for people do get sick and die, but shouldn’t we at least ask Him?

The theological argument that has arisen from this issue relates to the atonement, and whether or not physical healing for all of God’s people was purchased at the cross or not. I think it’s a moot point either way. The cross proves He heals in the ultimate way, spiritually and eternally. Healing didn’t necessarily have to be purchased, in the sense of a financial transaction, by His atoning death. He was already able to heal, but His atoning death was the ultimate picture of the great work of an Almighty Physician to heal the diseases of the spirit, the soul, and the body.

I think we have naturalized God and have forgotten that He’s a God of tremendous power, who is overwhelmed with compassion, and who desires to give unspeakable peace and joy to His children. He is just as alive and well today as He was in the days of Moses and Jesus. As the old song puts it, “He is able to deliver thee!” So ask, pray, beg, be an intercessor, anoint with oil, believe that He will work miracles, but ultimately trust His decisions no matter what.

Today, Jesus got an ovation, and it was awesome! There is something about applause during a sermon that makes me extremely uncomfortable in my own skin, yet today it was highly appropriate. The verse was Revelation 1:7, a strange text for Christmas Eve, though very appropriate when the context is compared to the night before the first Christmas.

John relates the truth of the second coming of Christ to a lost world. Billions of Christ-rejectors will “wail because of him” on the day when “every eye shall see him.” Then John closes the verse with the words “Even so, Amen!” Jesus is coming. Everyone will see Him. Most will wail. Let it be so!

I can’t help but believe that we are on the eve of the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, I believe a heightened expectancy of His return should mark the committed Christian life. I would further describe this expectancy as anticipation, the kind you felt on Christmas eve just before going to sleep for a long winter’s night.

On the other hand, I realize the terror that will wash over the world when He comes. Imagine the turmoil of a world which lost millions of Christians unexplainably, especially considering that millions wearing the Christian label were also left behind and a few not found in church on Sunday vanished away.

Imagine a world that has experienced seven years of the harsh wrath of God toward sin. Economic upheaval, worldwide famine and disease, political tyranny will have dominated the news. Then… the sovereign God sends His Warrior-King to fully and finally disseminate His justice. The whole earth will issue forth a funeral lament. Why in the world would John say “Amen!” to this kind of an event?

Believers in Christ get to say “so be it” to the return of Christ because all of the injustices committed against us from the persecution of the Caesars to the Sudan will be avenged at last. Righteousness will rule. Our redemption, which currently “draweth nigh” will be full. And more than all of these, our Lord will be glorified when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”

We are on the eve of His coming, as was the world in 4 b.c. Do you want to applaud? Repent? Believe? Say Amen? It all depends on where you stand with the God of the universe. He’s coming tomorrow, why not invite Him into your life today? Receive Him and say, “Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus!”

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” -Micah 7:8

When I was rather young, I went sledding down Bowling Green’s “Hospital Hill” one snowy day with my brother and my Dad. I was so excited about taking my first run on my own, but something went terribly wrong. there was a snowdrift covering a stump and I hit it head on. The sled went down, I went up (and what goes up must come down) and I hit the ground and lay flat on my back. My wind was gone, I felt I couldn’t breathe, and I was panicking. In moments my brother and my Dad were there to check on me. But the instant they saw that I would survive, their concern turned to jubilation. They laughed! They laughed hard! And I must admit, it was probably funny.

Others often take our calamity lightly. Our pain and our suffering, to us, is always immense. We see the world from a darkened valley while the masses look on from the cliffs and mountain peaks. Our enemies especially take advantage of every opportunity to rejoice in our tragedies. But for the Christian there is a great promise – our calamities are but for a moment. Micah, the contemporary of Isaiah, knew what would befall Israel in a matter of decades. He knew of their coming captivity and the suffering they would endure under slavery to Babylon.

The nations around Israel could rejoice at her defeat, but Micah, speaking under inspiration of God gave warning to the nations. Rejoice not! We have not been destroyed, we shall rise! Darkness is inevitable, it will consume half of every day. Falling is part of life. But Micah reminds us that for all of the failures of the children of God, there will be a rising in the end. For the darkness we endure here, there is the light of God’s presence and the revelation of His promises. The future is bright, our hope endures. As children of the King, we shall rise and reign! Take courage, be hopeful, the end is not yet!

The blog has been put on hold for a couple of weeks now, primarily because of all that my wife and I have been experiencing in our personal lives. Here’s a recounting of it…

On Monday evening, October 30, Angie left her ladies’ Connection Cafe meeting feeling well, but by the time we drove from the church to our house (just a couple of minutes) she was in terrible pain. We decided to go to the emergency room. Our beloved friends, Cory and Lachelle McCaig, came to sit from about 10:00 pm until 4:30 Tuesday morning while Angie was subjected to numerous tests, which found essentially nothing wrong.

On Tuesday morning, October 31, we went for a follow-up visit at her physician’s office and he became concerned about some possible internal bleeding. He decided to admit her to St. Mary’s hospital where he would perform a laproscopic procedure simply to explore any potential problems. He, like the emergency room physician, sought to rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. One he began the procedure, he discovered the worst scenario, an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, which can be deadly.

The short, one-hour procedure turned into a two and one half hour operation with a large incision. I was so moved as I waited in the surgery waiting room as about two dozen members of our church surrounded me, waiting to hear that Angie had come through the surgery okay. We were delighted to hear that she would be just fine. The physician explained that she had sustained heavy internal bleeding and that her risk of possible death had been higher than he had anticipated.

Angie’s Dad brought her Mom down from St. Louis to help take care of her for a few days but her stay was interrupted by yet another family emergency. On Thursday, Angie’s grandmother suffered a heart attack and was in intensive care in Washington, Missouri. The family had hoped that she was improving, but in the middle of Thursday night, a call came alerting us that she had taken a turn for the worse. Angie’s Mom borrowed my car and drove through the night to be at her mother’s side. Ella Briggs (our daughter’s namesake) went home to heaven on Friday, November 3.

Later that afternoon, Angie and I loaded up our van and began the trip to St. Clair to attend the funeral, but wisdom along with some forceful but loving input from our family, prompted us to turn back and stay at home. Angie was recovering a little each day, but it may be a total of six weeks recovery time before she is completely healthy again. We’ve taken a much needed one night sabbatical to a nearby vacation spot and have attempted to settle back into a routine, with Angie returning to work on this past Monday, November 13.

The Sunday before all of this began, my text included Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.” That Monday night, Angie testified at Connection Cafe that she had (at least we thought at the time) a miscarriage, but that God was faithfully teaching us to trust Him. It isn’t merely a cliche that “everything happens for a reason.” When you’re a believer, nothing is left to chance anymore. You realize that God has a sovereign plan that allows His children to endure some very difficult crises in life in order that we might enjoy “the fellowship of (Christ’s) sufferings.”

Since we learn how to be disciples through the tough stuff, what have I learned from all of this?

First, I’ve learned the importance of God’s timing. Had Angie not been persisent with her physician in his office, he would have sent her home where she may have bled to death. We’ve heard numerous testimonies from others who experienced the same trauma and were in grave danger. God rescued Angie just in time. On a similar note, I’ve learned the mysterious nature of God’s timing. Why would Angie’s grandmother pass away just after Angie’s surgery when her mother would have to make a midnight dash for Missouri and when Angie could not attend the funeral? All I can conlcude us that God is ultimately wise.

Second, I’ve learned the value of a loving church family, a fellowship of believers. I was surrounded in a waiting room by numerous friends and members of our spiritual family. Once home, people provided meals as well as company with their visits. We’ve experienced an outpouring of love and compassion for which we will be forever grateful. I’ve often heard others say, “I don’t see how people make it through things without a church family.” That statement was exemplified in our tragedy.

Third, I’ve learned what a beautiful and courageous woman I married! I sat in the surgery waiting room virtually helpless. I could do nothing to ensure her safety except to pray. I could do nothing to help her recover except play nurse and fetch water. Yet I watched as Angie handled the situation like a champ. Note that champions have weak moments, moments of curiosity about the activity of God and moments of emotional break-down. Tears rarely come from cowards. I’ve learned a new respect for her. While it was our baby that died so prematurely in a pregancy complication, it was her body that experienced such drastic trauma. I wish I could be half as strong as her!

More than anything, we’ve learned “in all things (to) give thanks unto God, for this is the will of God for (us) in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) At our former church, we used to have a responsive chant: “God is good… all the time… and all the time… God is good.” God really is good. We don’t always get what we expect or want, but God never ceases to be holy or loving. God has been glorified in our lives in so many ways in the last few weeks, all we can do is humbly give Him praise, cry our tears, and go on in faith that God will always be good!