Whiny Kids Are a Beautiful Vacation

Yesterday, I began my vacation … and I did it at McDonalds with whiny kids! Well, despite the failure of the “Happy Meal” to live up to its name … “I’m lovin‘ it.”

Family has been circum-navigating my heart every since I left for my trip. While I know that most of you out there are perfect … you humor me by reading my blog to gather some faint idea of what imperfection feels like. Often times my past relational boo-boos and blunders are thrust into my heart.

“How could I have even thought such a thing … much less have said it!?” “Man, what a idiot!” You remember the feel of finger nails scratching across the chalkboard? Yeah … then you understand my gut wrenching during these lovely trips down Memory Lane.

Then … and thankfully “then” comes … then I remember that I actually have children … which several years ago I never believed would grace my life … my less a wonderful darling of a wife.

At one time I entertained the fantasy of meeting who was to become my beautiful bride in high school or even college. Not any more! I would have ruined my chances from the first hello.

But look at us now … not perfect … but continuing to build a very beautiful friendship. What a mightifully wonderful God I serve! You see Salvation is not simply a one moment of conversion. It certainly includes that, but Salvation is so much more. Salvation following that one moment of conversion includes taking that idiot I was and molding and shaping me into the husband and father I am today … not that I’ve “arrived” or obtained mathematical perfection in husbandry or fatherhood. But I’m not where I was … and I’m also not where I’m going to be next month or even next year!

Salvation is not clean … its down right kids-gettin‘-the-ketchup-in-the-hair messy. The Holy Spirit is so marvelous. So … yeah … I’ll take a vacation with less than sit-up-and-shut-up-style kids any day. After all the presence of my kids is the tangible evidence that I’m on vacation from the power of the sin that so easily beset me … and I don’t plan on returning from that vacation! Yes … I can easily return to my former self and former mistakes … but the good news of the Gospel is that I don’t have to! A major part of the Gospel is the opportunity of being transformed from depravity into the righteousness of God. In a Ronald-McDonald-hair fashion … that is wild!

The Sacrifice of Motherhood

Happy Mother’s Day!

In celebrating those precious people God has elected to raise civilization, it often good to recognize motherly giants as examples to follow. For example Susanna Annesley Wesley was a woman of deep faith, praying that God would use her to spark a movement of God in the churches throughout the English world (Mother’s of Influence–Inspiring Stories of Women Who Made a Difference in Their Children and Their World, 2005). Little did she know that she would indeed profoundly influence English Christianity and indeed global Christianity through two of her sons, John and Charles Wesley. They were only 2 of her 19 children … actually only 9 survived until adulthood. At any rate, she spent an hour praying for her children each day … and an additional hour per day with one of her children. Wow.

But what about our moms who don’t feel they measure up to this spiritually giant status? What about our moms who upon looking back realized they royally screwed up their children? What about our moms who have tried their best and yet their children have become children of the devil?

And what about our moms who feel put-down and spat upon from the ultra-feminist culture for devoting time to their family instead of their careers?

I think we find in the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume a healing example for us to follow. Let’s look at Mark 14: 3-9.

And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? for this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (ESV).

Now we don’t know is this woman was a mom or not, but we can find in her a balm of healing. Notice that she comes in and anoints Jesus … in the midst of protests.”Why was the ointment wasted like that?”I think our wonderful “femi-nazi” society looks upon moms who give up opportunities for full-blown, self-pursuit, career as rather wasteful. Let’s don’t even mention those moms who choose to raise their families full-time!!! “What a waste!” “She could have really made something of herself!”

I also think that many moms look at their current motherhood status and/or perhaps look back on their past motherhood exploits and cry out in despair, “What a waste!” “I could have done better!” “I am such a failure now … what a waste!”Now this sermon isn’t to justify evil … as some mom’s have much need for repentance. Yet, many moms are naturally idealistic and feel they don’t measure up to some artificial ideal … often imposed by other people.

In the same vein as Jesus, I want to emphasize, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her?”

The present-day dollar amount might well be nearly $25,000 for the perfume she poured out on Jesus.

“Let her alone. Why do you trouble her?”

I want moms to understand that the sacrifices they have made for their families is like this perfume poured out over the body of Jesus.For our moms who have been less than perfect, please allow Jesus to pour out the perfume of his Holy Spirit over you and feel his forgiveness running down your tear-stained face.

This is not at all to alleviate of our dear moms their responsibility for confession of sin and pursuit of repentance.

Yet, as an engine without oil will only lock-up and remain that way, our moms need to feel the forgiveness that Jesus offers, so they can do what comes naturally to them … properly love their families. Jesus offers that forgiveness and transformation today. Will you reach out and take his outstretched, nail-scarred hand?

Happy Mother’s Day

“Yes, We Can,” Does Not Necessarily Mean “Yes, We Will”

In watching Senator Barack Obama give what could have been his general election victory speech, I was struck by just how appealing he was … and all of this after coming out from under the “prophetic” mantle of Rev. Wright to invoke the blessing of God on America, dodging lightening from the potential thunderstorm of the Weather Underground association, marching the rural God-Country-Guns crowd from Pennsylvania to the verbal firing squad, etc. In a word, the electricity emanating from Obama felt real. For a moment … a brief moment … but a moment nonetheless … Obama felt like the messiah for our times.

Problem.

What does Obama mean when he is proud of American values that are supposedly neither Liberal nor Conservative … but are in fact laced with pinkish red socialism? Is it the government’s responsibility to secure health care for all people … despite whether they want to work or not? Is it the government’s responsibility to ensure that all children can financially afford to go to college … when some of those “all” refuse to do the work in middle and high school that is necessary to help them succeed once they are there? Is it the government’s responsibility to pick the winners and losers in the game of life-economics?

In Obama’s vision for America, equal opportunity for all seems to mean equal results demanded from all.

Problem.

Obama says that he does not expect the government to solve all of our problems … yet, the Fathers’ intent was that government would solve very few problems of the citizenry. Government was intended to only make the playing field safe and civil so that the citizenry could solve their own problems by their own hard work and moral integrity.

Solution.

This is where the Fathers’ envisioned the place of religion in our society … as an instructor for personal and social morality … and … to provide welfare for the poor and the needy. Big Brother is not and cannot successfully be the instructor of morals nor the largess provider for the populous.

Caution.

This has been tried has been tried before. Remember “The Great Society.” Yeah … it has helped to spawn the systematic dismantling of the family. Yeah … it has helped to spawn the vast entitlement mentality embraced by so many in my own generation and in the one to come.

Question.

How does Obama value hard work and self-reliance while valuing pinkish-red socialism that has spawned weakened families and pandemic entitlement mentalities?

Vote.

Yes, vote for whoever you want. But please understand that government makes a very poor god.

Praying Works in Unusual Way

Today is the National Day of Prayer, and I had the priviledge of meeting with area church leaders (both clergy and non-clergy) to partake of this unifying event. As I watched the various people play their roles, I noticed my 2-year old climbing in and out of her seat. I noticed her tapping me on the arm and whisper, “Look,” with her gorgeous smile.

I also noticed that we were all worshipping in an inter-racial service, and my baby girl was oblivious as to how big of a deal that really is. The piece delegated to me was to pray over the local, state, and federal governing officials, which is one of the areas most dear to my heart.

I recall two specific points I made to the crowd before praying, while holding my daughter:

• We live in a land which is governed by a system that is “by the people, for the people, and of the people.” That is us who were in that room tonight. As much as we may or may not like our elected officials, we cannot forget that we are the primary ones responsible for bettering our country … not simply those dearly beloved bozos in office.
• Since the brunt of the burdern falls on our shoulders and as good Christians we will fulfill our responsibilities … and not simply put them off onto others … to move forward we must lock arms together … regardless of what we look, taste, feel, or smell like … if we are to move forward indeed.

I am proudly conservative socially and politically. I proudly love our country and believe that she is my Christian responsibility … at least part of my Christian responsibility. We must move past grouping ourselves according to what we look like. We must group ourselves according to theology and philosophy. These are lessons I hope that my daughter will be able to take for granted if she so chooses to … not that she should … but that contemporary American Christianity will be so different from years ago that she could.