Vantage Point

Let me tell ya something: I like Google Earth; I could spend hours on it! I love exploring the places I've always wanted to visit; swooping down from my perch atop some satellite orbiting beyond the stratosphere, I glide above the landscape viewing the topography as it slides by in an amazing, pseudo-three dimensional display; free to descend upon any place on the globe. I can leap from Antarctica to Alberta in a single bound; even faster than that comic book fella I might add! In many venues I can even touch down for a ground-level view and peer around in all directions! It's amazing; the things we can do while never actually pushing away from our desks. We peck at our keyboards, point & click and we're talking with folks 12 time-zones away; even seeing them with a face-to-face display!

When I was a boy - I don't know, maybe ten or eleven years old, I spent hours meticulously mapping my neighborhood. It was a one square-mile slice of suburban Detroit and by the time I was done I knew every running-foot of every street and sidewalk. I plotted parks, woods, streams, schools, my favorite climbing trees, the neighborhood bully's house; any landmark of interest to a boy that age. It was done to scale on a piece of graph paper. My bicycle had an odometer which I used to measure the distances as I pedaled along. Occasionally I'd stop to record the data in my notebook (back then, a notebook didn't have a battery, keyboard, & flash drive). That was some thirty five years ago and I can still vividly recall the details of that project. I don't need Google to "fly"around that neighborhood; Its image is indelibly etched in my mind!
Whether it be a pencil sketch of my childhood stomping-grounds or a digital trip to the Grand Canyon, it's merely an image; a rendering on a two-dimensional medium. We're viewing a re-creation of how someplace appeared at some moment in the past. Never the less, it's one of the ways we can know this terrestrial sphere we call home. Unless we leave our footprints somewhere using our five senses to experience our surroundings, we must settle for an image; a trip on Google Earth or perhaps a well-crafted paragraph or two.

So here I sit with scarcely more than two hours remaining in this the year of our Lord, 2008; realizing that all I can really perceive is what I can lay hold of in the present or remember from the past. Like yours, my mind is a file cabinet filled with selections from a life-time of experiences; pleasant ones as well as not so pleasant ones. Do you ever wish you could "Google Earth" your childhood; maybe do a fly-over of your first day of kindergarten? I wonder what we'd see. Would it match the memories we've tucked away in that old file cabinet sitting atop our shoulders? We're prone to mark only the more memorable things; me and my old neighborhood map for example. Yet, most of our days are lost in the fog of fading recollections. After all, there's only so much storage capacity in these craniums of ours; being dulled by many a generation begotten since the curse of Adam.
So what I'm getting at is this: Our perceptions are at best slightly fragmented. Perhaps they're skewed by inaccurate or incomplete recollections. Yet we who have such a myopic view of the past as well as our current state of affairs so arrogantly insist upon prognosticating about the year to come! I've always been rather dubious of such annual forecasts; especially those bold declarations commonly known as New Years resolutions. A man; perhaps me or you, flawed and totally depraved being born in sin, rises and solemnly announces his new creation; himself - only better than last year's model!
Do you have a deep and profound sense that something is amiss with your life? You are hearing the call of your Savior, Jesus Christ resounding in your heart! You can continue to plan your life as best you can; given your very limited vantage point, or you can trust in He who sees with perfect clarity every thought you've had, every word you've uttered, and every deed you've done. Furthermore, He sees the road before you; beyond the hills, through the valleys, and 'round the curves. No one can plan your course and heading as can He!
If you resolve to do anything, let it be this: That you will forsake the prevailing winds of contemporary wisdom; the dogmas of modern man and your natural bent toward building a monument unto yourself and make Jesus Christ Lord of your life. A favorite quote of mine was penned by the late Jim Elliott. Jim was one of five missionaries martyred in Ecuador 53 years ago next week; he wrote,

"He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose".

As I prepare to post this, my prayer is that you will have a prosperous 2009 and that your life will be filled with all that the Lord desires for you.
Please read James 4: 13-16

A Google-view of the old neighborhood as it appears today. A few new roads were built since I drew my map of this 1-mile x 1-mile area
but it hasn't changed all that much since then.
I grew up in a home near the center of this photo. In fact, you can
go there yourself
Boy, the current owners sure let the lawn go; it was like a piece of green carpet back when I was taking care of it!

A father's love

On a cloudless, moon-lit night back in August I strolled about our property; drinking in the sights, scents, and sounds of the evening. It had been a difficult day at work and my responsibilities at home left me feeling completely drained. By the time the kids were all tucked in for the night I felt as though I had nothing left in the tank. It's been my custom to find a quiet corner somewhere in my universe at least once a day to pray & meditate on God's word. Weather permitting; one of my favorite haunts is the stand of aspen trees in the back corner of our property. Two of those 60 foot tall specimens serve as anchoring points for a rope hammock. During the day, it's a shady retreat and at night when the moon is full it's easy to lay on my back, look up through the wooded canopy and imagine I'm a hundred miles from the nearest town. That night, my hammock beckoned me and I had to answer its call!
The old weathered ropes squeaked and groaned as I maneuvered myself into a comfortable position; settling in for some quiet reflection and prayer. Catching the light of the moon, the smooth bark of the upper trunks and limbs of the aspens took on a bluish hue; their leaves trembling in the summer breeze completed the striking scene as I looked skyward. My heart was heavy and my prayer was simple, "Heavenly Father, I don't understand; I need You!"
A few nights ago our house was quiet. Only I was yet awake; Melanie and the children had been in bed for hours. I was up late, working on the family budget and giving thought to some business decisions that needed to be made soon. Then the stillness was broken by a whimper. My youngest daughter, Jenna had awakened and was calling out to me from her darkened room. Immediately all other concerns were set aside as I strode up the stairs and opened her door. Jenna blinked her eyes as the light from the hallway fell across her face. Without delay, I gathered her up into my arms and held her close. "It's OK" I whispered in her ear as I wiped the tears from her eyes, "Daddy's here!" I rocked her gently 'til sleep once again overcame her little eyelids and I tucked her back into bed. Whatever terror had seized her dreams had been vanquished and all was well in her world again! While I stood over her, I remembered a moon-lit night a couple of months earlier.
It's funny isn't it; how God often speaks through the voice of a child? We get so tightly wound around the daily struggles and concerns which permeate our lives. In the heat of our battles, we forget that our Heavenly Father loves us more perfectly than we could ever love our own children!

Matthew 7: 9-11

Solid Ground

Have you ever heard an old-timer speak of the "good ol' days?" He'll go on for hours talking about the way it used to be; a time when he understood the rules. Having crossed the forty five year threshold a few months ago, I find myself thinking like those folks more and more. Hey, I'm half-way to NINETY; I'm slowly becoming an old geezer!
As children, we're not so conscious of time passing; the world seems to be crawling along at a snail's pace. I recall our family vacations growing up in Michigan; a five-hour journey up-north in that old '74 Chevy Suburban seemed like an eternity. While we're young, trying to make sense of our surroundings, it feels safe to assume that the world as we know it is consistent; unchanging; unmoving. I think we're wired to look for something stable; something solid under our feet (more about that later). We draw comfort from knowing how things work; from being able to predict the consequences of a given behavior. From day one we begin to search for the boundaries of our world and if our parents did their job properly, they helped us find them! As the years pass, our perspective begins to change; the world is not as stable as we once believed. We're surrounded by a culture that despises restraint; it loathes the boundaries which were put in place generations ago to keep order and provide for the common good. This generation has become like an unruly mob pressing against a barricade; unconcerned with the consequences of their behavior; willfully and gladly ignorant of such matters. The world is moving rapidly toward its appointed demise.
When I was a young man; in my teens and early twenties, I spent a lot of time with my Grandma; she never seemed to run out of projects for me to do around her house nor was she ever in want for a story to tell me from her childhood. Grandma had been widowed just a few months before my birth; I entered the world as her first grandchild at a time when she was still grieving the loss of her husband. However pleased she may have been to have her own handyman at her beckon call, what she valued most was the opportunity to share some treasured moments with her grandson. I'll always cherish those memories, especially all the midday lunch breaks we shared together in her dining nook. It was during those meals that Grandma would share her memories with me; painting a picture on the canvas of my mind. She gave me a glimpse of a very different world than the one I knew; the world she had grown up in. I remember one particular such occasion: Grandma spoke of her childhood; growing up on a farm in Saginaw with her two younger sisters. A daughter of German immigrants, she was raised in the Lutheran church and attended a Lutheran school where she sang hymns, recited creeds, and read scriptures; all in German. Their mode of transportation was a horse drawn carriage or sleigh. She vividly recalled the cold sleigh-rides to church on wintry Sunday mornings. On that day while she was telling me of such things, we were watching the television coverage of the very first space shuttle launch! To this day, I'm profoundly struck by the stark contrasts! I remember wondering what sort of world my own grand children may live in one day.
Grand children are still a few years off for me but I'm astounded by the differences between the culture of my youth and the one in which my children now reside. Please indulge me as I put forth a few contrasting examples:
When I was a youngster, an unbeliever was an atheist or agnostic. Today, an unbeliever is one who rejects man-made global warming. When I was a youngster, homosexuality was an abomination. Today, it's a virtue. When I was a youngster, a teacher having sexual relations with one of her students was unheard of. Today, it's becoming commonplace. When I was a youngster, we were sent out in the hall for shooting spit-balls. Today, we have Columbine High School and similar atrocities. When I was a youngster, the television networks aired movies and programming which honored the beliefs of Christians during Christmas and Easter; The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben Hur...Today, we're treated to a plethora of baseless garbage designed to rebut and undermine the faith of Christians; when a holiday approaches, you can count on the television networks to trod out such antagonistic bilge as The Davinci Code, Jesus - The complete story and other documentaries based on false writings such as the Gnostic gospels. When I was a youngster, newspapers and magazines devoted space to stories extolling the virtues of our faith. Today, we're treated to an endless stream of pseudo-science admonishing us about the carbon foot-print we're leaving by plugging in our Christmas lights! I could go on endlessly but then I'd start sounding like that old geezer again!
Today we live in a post-Christian culture; profoundly ignorant of sound doctrine and increasingly intolerant of our faith in Jesus.
Our nation was founded upon the rock of Biblical truth. Therefore, God has blessed us with great wealth and power and has done so in a relatively short segment on the time line of human civilization. Yet, the underpinnings of this country are weakening; the foundations are crumbling and the structures which rest upon them are cracking. In the forty five years I've been leaving my smudgy finger-prints on this world, the changes I've witnessed have been astounding. All the marvelous technological advancements not withstanding, we're declining as a people. A few years back, Judge Robert H. Bork put it rather succinctly in titling his book; Slouching Towards Gomorrah. Personally, I've never read that book but its title speaks volumes!
So why am I writing such things on Christmas Eve? Not to discourage; to throw a wet blanket on the holiday season. Rather, this is about hope. I mentioned earlier how a child is naturally in search for stability under his feet. Put another way, he's looking for something he can have faith in. Is your faith in the United States of America; its constitution; its economy; the virtues of its people? If so, your faith is not well placed. As wonderful as our nation is, it is not the salvation of the world. No institution of man, however well-crafted it may be, can save man from his own depravity. Eventually, everything constructed by man is doomed by the entropic forces of this fallen world. It will collapse under its own weight. If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to return to that child-like faith; well placed in the only unchanging, unmoving force there is; Jesus Christ. We're not commemorating the winter solstice; this isn't the festival of lights. Jesus' coming is what we're celebrating this season and it is His return we long for!
May you and your family have a memorable Christmas celebration; may your faith be strengthened in uncertain times; may you know the peace that passes all understanding throughout the coming year!
Please read Mark 10: 13-16

Our youngest child, Nathan is experiencing
his first Christmas this year.

Retrospection

We have about a foot of snow on the ground

after today's winter storm.

As 2008 dwindles down to its last few days I find myself in a reflective mood. Each year around this time, as the new year approaches I think back over the past twelve months: In what ways have I grown personally? What were my triumphs; my defeats? I try and recall the memorable events that occurred over the course of the year; to mark them; to somehow imprint them on my mind. I'm afraid much of what we experience is lost; our heads are like cluttered attics. We're preoccupied with the busyness of our daily lives and so, we miss many an opportunity to grow in our faith; in our love; in our relationships - vertically with God and horizontally with each other.
Put another way, what did I live for as the Earth made its most recent journey 'round the Sun? Did I live for my own sake; looking for experiences; for pleasures; for ways to gratify myself? Or rather, was I resolute in my expressed intention to live for the sake of the Kingdom of God? If not the latter, then how might I remember my failings and endeavor not to repeat them?
This year the Lord set a number of challenges before me. I'd like to report that I triumphed every time; that I leaped over each hurdle with inches to spare! However, I must confess that as I look back I see myself having stumbled on numerous occasions. I think it's of the utmost importance for us who are called by Christ's name to mark those places where we tripped; recall those personal failings. In honest introspection, endeavor to understand that apart from Jesus there dwells in us no good thing.
Our Father in Heaven will continue to bring us back to that point where we failed in order to assist us in gaining victory. It's all about living a fruitful life. As I said in my previous post, expect some pruning in your life to optimize your yield.
One who lives his life for his own sake is like the old apple tree that grows on the edge of the woods near our home. No one attends to it, prunes it, or cultivates the soil in which it grows. Each year it simply stretches as best it can, competing with the larger trees around it for whatever moisture and rays of sunlight it can gather unto itself. Each year it bears a little fruit; bitter fruit which withers on its branches and falls to the ground. Whatever isn't consumed by scavengers is absorbed by the soil and taken unto itself by its own roots.
Please read Proverbs 3: 11-12

Pruning season

(This is another excerpt from my personal journal. It was written this past Saturday.)

My pace has slowed considerably today as I paused to rest. I emerged from our bedroom a short while ago having closed myself therein for some quiet respite. The light of the day was yielding to the purple hues of dusk. As the evening was setting in I laid across on our bed watching the light fade outside the window; silhouetting the trees and hilly terrain of the countryside beyond our own land. I prayed silently as I observed the branches of the oak tree next to our home bending to and fro in the cold winds swirling outside. Stubbornly clinging to those limbs were the few remaining leaves which just weeks ago provided us with shade as we sat beneath them.

This is the view from our bedroom window.

At this moment in my life it feels as though the sun is setting and night is fast approaching; as if the warm months have given way to a season of cold days and abbreviated light. As the snow swirls about, mingled with the dead foliage of the season past, I remember that this must take place before the tender shoots of springtime can emerge. I mustn’t be like those stubborn oaks; clinging to their remaining brown, shriveled leaves as if they still served a purpose. Let go of last season’s fruits and prepare for the one yet to come.

Such a gloomy mood I’m in; finding it difficult to completely purge myself of it! I labor to remind myself that God prunes us; He cultivates us; He does what He does to optimize the fruit we will yield. In our season we will yield our fruit!

Please read John15: 1-5 and Gal.6:9

I gave my wife a piece of garbage...she absolutely loved it!

(This is an excerpt from my personal journal; originally written on November 10, 2008)
This past weekend I completed a small project in our home. I had been working to convert a small room upstairs into a cozy little nursery. Our eighth child, Nathan was born March 5 of this year. The little fella has been a co occupant of his parents' bedroom since he came home from the hospital. We were finally able to move Nathan into his own room yesterday! So once again, we can walk into our bedroom without having to consider whether or not we're disturbing a sleeping baby. Last night, after she had settled Nate into his crib, Melanie mentioned that she'd love to have a rocking chair in the nursery. Discussing this, we wondered how we might obtain such a piece right now; money's tight and Christmas is little more than a month away. I suggested the old rocker in our family room as a possible candidate. I glanced across the room at the tired old chair, then at my wife. OK, it wasn't such a good idea! Without any other brilliant epiphanies I assured her that something would turn up.
This morning as I traveled along the highway toward my office, something grabbed my attention. I spied a wooden rocking chair along the road - it had been set out with someone's trash. As I passed by I found my eyes assessing its form. The thought entered my mind that perhaps I'd just happened upon that "something" I had supposed would "turn up" to furnish the nursery. I dismissed the notion as I sped on by; after all, we'd just gotten our first dusting of snow last night and it was still quite blustery outside. I was comfortable riding in my warm truck, why interrupt that? My mind was focused on the work that awaited me at the end of my commute. Yet, the thought kept nagging me, "what if that discarded piece of junk is actually God's providence?" Well, about a half-mile further I gave in to that notion turned my warm truck around, forsaking for the moment the Monday morning pile on my desk.
A quick inspection of the chair revealed it to be of sturdy construction and in relatively good condition. Its only real flaw, and presumably the reason it was destined for a rubbish truck, was a missing arm. a cursory search of the adjacent garbage can failed to turn up the lost appendage. Once again, my eyes surveyed the chair; looking at the one arm it still possessed. I could see my breath as I quietly mouthed the words, "I can fix this!" I figured the remaining arm would serve as a template for me to fabricate a new one! Without any further hesitation, I placed the item into the bed of my truck and pressed on toward my destination.
As I and my cargo proceeded along the road, I felt a warmth come over me; a smile broke across my face. A word was echoing in my mind: Redemption. Oh how I love that word. As a sinner, redeemed by Christ's blood I love the whole concept of redemption; taking something discarded and worthless in the eyes of everyone else and transforming it into something cherished. Hundreds of people had made their way along that stretch of pavement this morning. If they saw anything there at all, they saw a useless piece of refuse; laid out beside the road-way, destined for a land-fill somewhere. It took a skillful eye; one with the vision to look beyond what it was and see what it would become to understand its value.
I'm just like that chair; Jesus found me broken, covered with snow and left by the side of the road; waiting to be carted away. He saw me whole when He laid the foundations of the world. He saw me fully restored long before he left the comfort of Heaven to redeem me with His own blood. I love redemption because I am redeemed!
I fixed that chair this evening; once again, it possesses two perfectly matching arms. Tomorrow it will take its place in our home, serving my wife as she cares for our little ones. Just a final thought on this: Had I simply gone out and purchased a similar chair at a furniture store, it would not have the same value attached to it as this restored one does. Why? The restored one has embodied in it my own effort, skill and passion. I wonder, does this perhaps mirror Christ's own passion for us; for those whom He's redeemed with His own blood? Luke chapter 15 may shed some light on this.

Here it is, fully restored