My Christmas Sermon - Standing Before the Manger

Below is the sermon I preached at the Christmas Chapel at King's Christian this past Friday.  Hope you find something that connects you to what God has done, with what we celebrate this season.

Standing Before the Manger

Rev. Jack P Savidge

There are few more dramatic scenes in all of scripture than this: in the midst of man’s deep darkness of night, the visible glory of God surrounds and envelops simple men.  To the outcasts, the messenger of God proclaims a great mystery, a mystery that changes everything, a mystery that will be the crux of all human history:

            A Savior, The Christ, God Himself

            A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Could there be two more diametrically opposed realities, the holy God of power and might and glory, maker of the universe, and a helpless baby, cold and needy?  Could a greater paradox be found in all of history?

To understand the excitement of the angels, the truth that causes them to break into joyous song we must begin to pull back the curtain of paradox and see that God is doing.

The angel proclaims two great truths. God has come. But it is more than that.  It is God as Messiah, as Christ, as Savior.  God has come with intentionality.  Something new has happened.  God has looked at the darkness of man’s sinfulness and come as savior.  The break that Adam made from God which we daily reaffirm will be once and for all repaired.  Paul reminds us our abject sinfulness in Romans.  All have sinned and cannot come to God.  We fall short at every effort.  It is into this despair that God breaks into humanity to bring us to Him, to do what we cannot and only He can.

The second announcement must have seemed so strange.  God in a manger, a baby, weak and helpless.  A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.  Clothes necessary to keep it warm.  A reminder that the baby lives under the threat of death.  A body just like mine, weak and vulnerable.  A body that one day will take its final breath.  The Church Father, Athanasius, wrote “for this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word who is above all, might become in dying, a sufficient exchange for all.”

God, the Messiah, takes on human flesh, a body like mine. Because immortal God cannot die.  He must take what is mine and become mortal.  A baby born to die.

In the loneliness of the manger we see that God has come to all.  Martin Niemoller, the German pastor imprisoned by Hitler, preached a Christmas Eve sermon to seven fellow prisoners from his cell at Dachau Concentration Camp.  He reminded his little congregation that “God, the eternally wealthy and all mighty God, enters into the most extreme poverty imaginable.  No man is so weak and helpless that God does not come to him in Jesus Christ, right in the midst of his human need and no man is so forsaken and homeless in this world that God does not seek him.”

What an amazing truth.  God has broken into our lives and seeks us out.  Light has come to darkness.  To you I say…A baby is born in Bethlehem. Your Savior, God Himself, to die for you.  This is the reality that causes demons to tremble and angels to sing.  “Glory to God in the Highest. Peace has come to mankind.  Peace has come to you.”

So what do we do with God in a manger.  The simple shepherds show us what to do.  They went to see the baby, their Savior.  In faith they stood before a helpless child that had already begun to die, had already begun to set them free.

Today, this Christmas, you stand before that same manger.  What do you see?  God asks you to believe that this is God Himself, your Savior.  If you walk away from the manger, filled with joy and wonder and the God you have seen and believed, do what the shepherds did; they did not keep it to themselves.  Their lives now changed they now took that message to others.

My challenge to you is to take on the mind of Christ.  Our call to Christ-likeness is to begin to do what he has done, to incarnate the Word of God in this world, into your world.  Take the light of the gospel, this good news, to others.  Do not be afraid.  Christ has already gone before you, into the darkness of this world, vulnerable, yet victorious in that vulnerability. Show the world what this baby has done, what God has done.

I’d like to leave you with a Christmas prayer offered by my hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, to his students in 1939.

            Let us pray.

            Lord, God of all peace and all love,

            You have come to us, so that we should come to you,

            You became human, so that we would become godly,

            In grace, you took on our flesh and blood, so that we might partake of you,

            Through you most holy birth, may we be born anew in peace and love, and

            Turn us poor sinners into children of your mercy,

            Lord Jesus Christ, come and stay with us.

            Amen.

Preached at The King’s Christian School

Christmas Chapel, December 18, 2015

John Mark McMillan's "Death in His Grave" Acoustic

I can't begin to tell you how awesome this song is.

From Relevant Magazine studio live session.

When will US fans start supporting youth teams like this!!

Every time I hear that American fans are fanatical is want to show them this video. It is from a little Polish soccer team and the fans that came our to support their U12(!!!!) team in a Futsal tournament. Those kids must have felt like stars. Enjoy.

Death In His Grave

I am loving this song. Can't wait for the show at World Cafe Live here in Philadelphia on April 15. Enjoy.

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

"The real value of an object is that which one who knows its worth will give for it. He who made the soul, knew its worth, and gave His life for it."

I think its an absolutely amazing quote and speaks to our inherent worth, created in the image of God. This explains so much scripture for me. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world"

Sunday Shuffle Review #3: "Sing A Song For You" by The Luxury Liners

I am very excited about this week's review. I am new to The Luxury Liners and this is just a great song. The Luxury Liners are a Nashville-based indie band comprising David Dewese on guitar and vocals, Scott Carpenter on drums and David Wistermann on bass. They've released three albums and an EP since 2000. I discovered this band through a free solo album that David Dewese posted on Noisetrade.com which you can find here. Dewese is also in The Foxymorons, another pretty cool band. They are all part of a burgeoning indie movement of Christian artists that are trying to make very interesting music. Think Sufjan Stevens or Danielson Family. The Luxury Liner's website is here, their MySpace is here and their Facebook page is here.

"Sing a Song For You" comes from The Luxury Liners' 2006 album Nonetheless. It starts with a slow, low pulsing dirge with distorted vocals like through a tiny radio speaker. It sets the sad mood of the song despite the pulsing, jangling guitars that come in 40 seconds into the song. Musically, this song brings to mind early R.E.M. with a little more swirling distortion and actual decipherable vocals.

Lyrically, "Sing A Song For You" is a letter to a former love. It acknowledges the pain of a love that seems to be one-sided and still remains so.

Like many of The Luxury Liners music, there is lyrical depth alongside the melodic indie pop of the music. Its sometimes easy to lose the meaning of the words as you get wrapped up in the enjoyment of the music. This too me is just plain good music.

Below is my transcription of the lyrics. If I messed them up maybe someone can let me know so I can fix them.

There is nothing wrong with me
There is nothing right.
You were not the only one afraid.
Time can take a toll on your soul
And shake your world.
Now I'm all alone, but that's ok.

Words are not the enemy and silence is our friend.
Open up your eyes and you might see.
Trust can only hurt if you turn out to believe
Let go of that fear to be free.

All I can do is sing a song for you
You were never there for me and
I was always there for you.
All I can do is dream a dream of you
I was never up for you
You'll always know I'm still in love with you

Cast aside our history and turn another page
Start from the beginning again.
Once you hit the bottom, well there's nowhere left to turn
Set your sights on all that remains.

Your heart, it can't be found.
Who knows where you belong.

All I can do is sing a song for you
You were never there for me and
I was always there for you.
All I can do is dream a dream of you
I was never up for you
You'll always know I'm still in love with you.

Sunday Shuffle Review #2: Inbetween Days by The Cure

This weeks Shuffle Review landed on a song that's just plain fun and depressing in the way that only The Cure can do. "Inbetween Days" was the first single and opening track from The Cure's 1985 album Head on the the Door. This was the first Cure album I bought, discovering them in my British Alternative awakening when I went to college. The Cure, led by Robert Smith, were "the" band for black-clad suburban "rebels" too sophisticated for punks filthiness and aggression. We there was were depressed as only teenagers who wanted to be hopelessly introspective yet still have fun could be. Cure fans were emo before emo.

"Inbetween Days" was a perfect song for that attitude. It is infectiously upbeat. It takes off fast and stays like that for 2:58 until the very last note. Alternating single note synthesizer and electric guitar layer melodically on top of constantly driving acoustic guitar and percussion. This song moves and never lets up.

Lyrically the song cannot be more different. It begins with a painful expression of aging and loss

Yesterday I got so old
I felt like I could die
Yesterday I got so old
It made me want to cry

Just walk away
Your choice is made
Go on go on
And disappear
Go on go on
Away from here

From this pushing away, Smith realizes his mistakes. He needs her but has pushed her away

And I know I was wrong
When I said it was true
That it couldn't be me and be her
Inbetween without you
Without you

Verse two shifts to a please to return that goes unanswered

Yesterday I got so scared

I shivered like a child
Yesterday away from you
It froze me deep inside
Come back come back
Don't walk away
Come back come back
Come back today
Come back come back
Why can't you see
Come back come back
Come back to me

It is a sad song that you just have to dance to. It is a perfect example of the genius of Robert Smith and why The Cure captured such a fanatical following. Enjoy!! Just don't think about getting old and losing your one true love.

Sunday Shuffle Review #1: Faces by We Shot The Moon

Well away we go. Now most of you probably have never heard of this band, especially here on the East Coast. I found this through my Emusic.com account. We Shot The Moon is a San Diego based indie band. "Faces"' is the fourth track from 2007's LP Fear and Love.

"Faces" has a decidedly RelientK/Blink 182 feel to it. It starts with a slow piano, string and vocal part that quickly accelerates and drops into the full band. The song keeps are really appealing groove, driven by the piano, accentuated by overdriven power chords. Musically, it is wonderful power/pop, with a great groove.

Lyrically, the song is only average. It speaks to the desire to make something special of your life.

"And if you slow down

could it ever be this fun?

in a small town
with no where else to run

give it time, figure it out

get in line, and narrow it down

you'd go farther then you ever thought you could"

While there is nothing wrong with this, frankly, its just plain bland, nothing special. In all, the lyrics are pretty forgettable

I encourage you to give this band a listen. There are free downloads of their upcoming album at http://www.weshotthemoon.com/. Check out their Myspace here for more details. Also, check out this interview from HopeCore magazine.

I'm Back

Well I let this blog slip. I got lazy. No other good excuse. So now I'm back with a new resolve and some new features coming. The first is a regular post starting today called Sunday Shuffle Review. I'm going to but the iPod on shuffle and review whatever song comes up first. Should be interesting. I have some pretty random stuff on there. Let me know what you think.

making progress

we are well under way!! we hit the road at 5:30 and just crossed the New York border. continue to pray for us. We will be posting some pictures and further updates later. God bless!

Driving to Tornoto

I will be driving to Toronto tomorrow (Thursday) for the site visit for the mission trip Robin and I are leading this Easter. I will be mobile blogging over at the Mission Trip blog here (http://tkcstoronto09.blogspot.com/). Check out any posts over there. Unfortunately, blogger only lets you choose one blog to mobile blog to at once so I am choosing the Toronto blog for this weekend. I will be driving up Thursday and driving back Saturday.

Hanging out at Borders

Robin and I are doing our usual Sunday night chill out while the boys are at church. I just read about the new U2 album coming out which I am pretty excited about. then I realized that tomorrow is a day off from school and I smiled. It is little stuff like that that makes life interesting.

Penn Jillette talks about an encounter with a Christian

Penn Jillette is best known as the talking half of the very funny comedy duo Penn and Teller. He is also a fierce atheist. Here he tell the story of an encounter with a Christian that illustrates the importance for Christians of loving those that disagree with us and even mock us. Oh, and wow, does the camera angle amplify the "eww" factor of the hair style!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

That Mitchell and Webb Look

I found these clips from That Mitchell and Webb Look, a British sketch show. This show is freaking hilarious. Is there anything greater than a British sketch show (besides Jesus, my wife and my kids of course). Enjoy this one. I love the slam on the "we" of sports fans. "We won last night." "We should trade so-and-so." Its one of my pet peeves. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN1WN0YMWZU

Creation Festival 2009

It looks like we are headed to this year's Creation Festival. I volunteered to work at it, which should be pretty exciting. We have a friend running the Fringe Stage so I am hoping to get assigned there. And, we might be getting an RV for the week so no more sleeping on the ground. Let the kids do that, I've earned a mattress and other comforts. Anyone planning on going, let me know. We can make our site a gathering for TKCS.

Video promotion is here.  Couldn't get it to embed.  Maybe someone could help.
http://www.videorocket.com/creation09/1766872

NBC doesn't want you to see this

NBC has refused to sell the time during the Super Bowl for this commercial.  It is phenomenal.

New Year's Resolutions, sort of

Ok, who am I kidding.  These aren't quite resolutions, that's way too much pressure to actually, I don't know, follow up on them.  Think of these as New Year's Best Attempts.  So here's my list:

1. Spend way, way more time with Robin and the boys.
2. Be there. I know what that means, that's all that matters.
3. Post more than last year.  I've been way too slow in posting here to the blog.
4. Exercise.  Last year I dropped almost all the weight I was trying to.  Now it's time to actually get in shape.
   
5. Keep up with lesson plans and grading.  Man, I get lazy sometimes.
   
6. Play guitar regularly with a group of other musicians.  Frankly, I typed "Join a band." But it looked real sad coming from a 41,  almost 42, year old.
   
7. Pray for preaching opportunities.  I miss it.
8. Write a detailed study of 1 John.  I've been reading this little book and want to swim in it.
9. Read a book at least every two weeks.
10. Get to the darkroom a few times.  I have a bunch of negatives to print out

Comments anyone?

View from the Pew, Part 1

Here I am introducing a, hopefully, recurring feature. Every once in a while I get distracted during the sermon and start flipping through my Bible and see where I end up. Sometimes I'll let scripture take me on a little journey through some connected verses. Here I'll talk about some of these passages. Please comments as you'd like.

The first is from Isaiah 63:9. It says:

In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.

I was floored by the very first line. The God of the universe sees the distress of His people and shares in their distress. Is there no greater love than this. The writers of the New Testament used the work agape to describe this kind of love. This us the love that cares more for the pain and distress of others.  I can't help but think of a friend of mine going through a very difficult time.  I have felt their pain so many times and realized that I was starting to understand agape when I began to ask God to let me bear this pain instead of them.  This is what God was telling the nation of Israel through the prophet.  God is feeling my hurts and pains, my stress and insecurities.  In my most difficult times, I am never, never alone.  God is not only there with me, but He takes my pain on Himself.

A friend tells me of a dream they had.  In the darkness of a tunnel they could go no farther.  Just at the moment of giving up hope, God appears and carries my friend to safety.  I was reminded of that story when I came to this last line. "He lifted them up and carried them..."  When I cannot go one step farther, God carries me, maybe like a baby, maybe like a soldier carrying a wounded comrade, a Shepherd carrying a wounded lamb.  My God, My Saviour.  What love, what mercy, what grace.  That God would care for a messed up, rebellious sinner such as I.  I am humbled and bowed before such a God as this.

Hoping you Calvinists have a sense of humor

This was posted on the internetmonk blog. It's a really great site and well worth a visit. This song is a little funny piece and is not meant to mock Calvinists. If you are offended just consider that it might be God's sovereign will that this was posted. Enjoy.

Sophomore's Rule (this time)

The sophomore's ruled the Christmas skits this year. (It hurt, I was involved in both the Senior and Junior skits)  Well done. Here is the link to their video. Funniest I've seen at King's. Enjoy.

TKCS dance! from Zacsirav0 on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas

Ah, the first day of vacation!! Over two whole weeks this year. I am looking forward to a much calmer run up to Christmas Day instead of only the one day we usually get. So we should have plenty of time to get everything done, unless I spend the time watching Fox Soccer Channel or the Arrested Development box sets. I think this may be the year I actually miss the students a bit. See you all in 2009. Its going to be great to spend a bunch of lazy time with Robin and the boys after so many weeks of burning candles at both ends. So Merry Xmas everyone.

Toronto Missions Blog

Hey.  Thought I'd point you over to the blog for the Toronto Missions Team.  Robin and I will be leading a team of seven terrific high school students from King's to minister with CSM in Canada during Easter break next spring.  Check in and see what's going on.

JYO or JOY

This year I have been thinking quite a bit about the nature of love. It is well known that the Bible uses three Greek words for love: eros, phileo and agape. I think these first two are somewhat natural, they seem hardwired into our human nature.  To love physically, to be stimulated and adore the person in a way described by eros or to feel the concern and caring for another human being on the basis of a shared creation in God's image, as in phileo, are not easy to be sure, because they do require us to think outside of our selfish natures.  But there is something super-human about agape.  Agape is that the self-sacrificing love for someone without any benefit to yourself.  It is the direct opposite of selfishness because it gives up any claim for the self.  It does not care about the nature of the one who is loved.

So where does this kind of love come from?  It certainly cannot come from within us.  Our depraved sin natures are incapable of this kind of love.  I was intrigued by the command in the Matthew's gospel.  Jesus tells us to "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39)  I realized something remarkable that I hadn't noticed before, which is the implication in those last two words.  If we are to love others, we must first love ourselves.  We usually think of this as the epitome of self-centeredness. But here Jesus tells us that in order to love others, we must find an equal measure of love for ourselves. Now I spent the better part of high school and college hating myself.  To the point when someone said I should just be myself, a said "Why? I fu#*ing hate myself."  So where does this love come from?  How can we move from self-centeredness or self-loathing to and agape love of self?

It certainly comes from nowhere within ourselves.  But look what John tells us in his first letter. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (I John 3:16)  It is only when we can understand that God loves us, the real us, the messed up, selfish, sinning, rebellious us.  He loves us when we ignore Him, when we turn away from Him in disgust and when we spit in His face.  He loves us even when we have no idea why to love ourselves and loves us without expecting anything in return.  In all of this we are faced with one inescapable fact: We are worth the love of God. My goodness, the all-powerful, creator and sustainer of the universe God sees me and says "I love you!"  There is something about me that is worthy of God's love and that is something I find almost unbelievable.

It is this that becomes the basis for our love of others.  If God can love even me, then God can love anyone.  I can love anyone because God sees something worthy in them, too.  I know that because He found something worthy in me. 

When we consider the meaning of love, we need to change around that common acronym of  JOY.  We have typically explained it as Jesus-Others-You.  But this is not the way the Bible describes love.  Love begins with God's agape love for me, which leads to my love for myself, which leads to my love for others.  It is only when we pervert love to what it provides me instead of what I do for others, that this sequence, Jesus-You-Others, becomes unbiblical.  I have found true love in God's love for me.  In this I am able to find meaning and worth in myself.  It is only then that I can truly love others.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all a happy Thanksgiving. It's times like these that I reflect back on the year and thank God for all I have and all the things God has blessed me with.

To Write Love On Her Arms

Last Monday, I traveled over to a coffeehouse in Newtown Square in Pennsylvania (btw, I hate driving in the Philadelphia suburbs and I hate coffeehouses, a twofer) to attend an event by To Write Love On Her Arms.  TWLOHA is an awareness and support organization for people dealing with depression, suicide and self-injury.  I was a very moving experience. I got there about twenty minutes early and the place was already filled.  They ended up holding two events simultaneously.  For those of us outside, Josh Moore and Zach Williams sang, standing on flimsy chairs while we all shivered in the cold.  Inside, they held a talk about the organization and the work they do.  Halfway through they switched.  At the end, we all went in for the question and answer session.  I was tremendously moved by the number of hurting people there and thinking about the hundreds and thousands from our area that weren't.  Many of these (mostly) teens had been through so much and were searching anywhere for hope in their lives.  I could describe more but watch this video about that night and pray for all those that are suffering.  They are all around you.  And God loves each and every one.

Oh and I know most of you read this blog through my Facebook Notes.  Please go to the actual blog by going here: http://www.jacksavidge.blogspot.com. You can watch the linked videos there.

Helpless

OK, so I have been a teacher at The King's Christian School, my alma mater, for going on six years now, three years teaching 5th grade, one year teaching both 5th grade and high school and now in my 2nd year teaching only high school.  For a variety of reasons, mostly that I had not felt I was making any impact on the students at all, during last school year I had resolved to not come back for this year.  I had done the research and had even filled out the application for Denver Seminary.  But for some reason, it just didn't feel right. 

So I asked God to let me make a difference.  I needed to be broken and realize that I really did care about my students, not just as young scholars, but to truly care about them.  What I did not anticipate was how unbelievably painful and hard this would be.  I have had to be open to hearing some things that are just hard to listen to, to open myself honestly about the stupidity of my past and to just listen.  What was most difficult was just not having many answers for these young men and women.  Now, here is what is so frustrating. I am a fixer.  Give me a problem and I'll give you a solution, maybe even one that works. But most times I am impotent to help at all.  And this week I realized something important, something transformative, something downright humbling.

I am helpless.  Helpless.  And in this I realized that God was waiting for me to realize this.  Helpless to fix each and every problem.  Helpless to say the right thing.  Helpless.  I realize now that in doing all I could to solve these problems I was pushing God away and inserting myself.  It was conceit and idolatry.  God wants me to embrace my helplessness so that his grace could come through.

So here I am, helpless.  I have resolved to meet God right here, where my helplessness meets His grace.  I think this is where He wants me.  I am scared, petrified, anxious.  But I am excited to see God's power at work.  

Please God, work through the messed up creature that is me and bring healing to these hurting kids.  I am helpless before You and pray that You meet me here.  I stand aside and ask that You take control.

The Worst Christian Video Ever

This has to be the very worst video ever.  And they wanted us to listen to this instead of Van Halen. And then Slipknot plays Sonseed and Sonseed plays Slipknot

"If you had it all to do over again...?"

I was recently talking with someone and shared a fair amount of my personal history.  He asked me this question, "If you had it all to do over again and knowing what you know now, would you do it all differently this time?"  Now let me preface this my saying that I have made some incredibly stupid and self-destructive choices in my life.  Like the prodigal son, who lived a life of "riotous living", I have put myself into some pretty low places.  But the story of my life does not end there.  By the unmerited love of God, I experienced His grace and forgiveness.  Now, in a certain respect, I would quickly answer my friend's question with a loud "YES!"  Of course I'd do it all differently.  To not go through the pain and loneliness that some of my choices led to, I'd love to have a second opportunity. But would I be able to love others the way I am able to without the journey I've made?  I don't know.  All I can say is thank you God for bringing me to this place in this time.  Thank you for the people I am able to touch and those that touch me with your boundless love.  Thank you for my pain for it has allowed me to know true love.

May God Bless You With Discomfort

I was amazed at the profound truth of this simple poem and wanted to share it.

 

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

 

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

 

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

 

AMEN AMEN & AMEN!!

from Simply Missional by chrismarlow

The Return of the Prodigal Son

I have just finished reading The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen. This book is based on Nouwen's interaction with Rembrandt's painting of the same name, pactured here to the left. The painting is a depiction of the parable found in the Gospel According to Luke and tells the story of a son who rebels and returns, an older brother wracked by resentment and a father who pursues embraces his son in forgiveness and joy and unconditional love.

I was struck by the description of Nouwen's own journey as he meditates how he has seen himself as both sons and is learning to be more like the father. And I began to see myself also in the two sons, especially the younger. The love shown by the father as he embraces his son is something I have experienced at the darkest time, much as in the painting the father embraces his son, who is shown wearing rags, at his lowest. It is the tender love of the father, reassuring, comforting restoring.

What was particularly moving for me was the realization that we must move from being the son to the father. As Nouwen says, that sonship is preparation for taking on the role of the father. As we represent God to the world, we, I, must become like the father in the parable, grieving for and with the lost, unconditionally loving, pursuing and embracing, restoring the broken and then celebrating with joy the lost who is now found. Can I? I pray I can.

Reflections on David, Hypocrisy and Grace

I have been immersing myself this week in the Psalms. I am amazed not only with the diversity and beauty of the art, the theology and passion, the cry from the heart and the adoration of God, praise and plea. The psalms are something to be experienced.

As I read through them, I paid special attention to the many psalms of David. I realize how important it is to remember the stories of David's life as you experience his psalms. They are the backdrop, filling in the holes as David pours out his heart. Is there any more conflicted, complex figure in all of scripture as David. Peasant, king, musician, poet, warrior, polygamist, adulterer, murderer, Man after God's own heart.

Sometimes, knowing what I know about, my first reaction to David's psalms is "What!!! You have got to be kidding me!!! DAVID wrote this??? Where does he get off on writing this?" Its seems to be some of the most hypocritical statements found in scripture. Now remember David's story: Multiple marriages, adultery, fathering a child out of wedlock, trying to deceive the woman's husband and then having him killed, disobedience to God, rebellious children. David was certainly not perfect!

But he writes things like this:
"The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God.
All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight." Psalm 18:20-24

There are many other passages like this in the Psalms. I wonder how David can stand like this as righteous. Because that is the same question we need to ask about ourselves. We may not be adulterers or murderers, but we all stand condemned because of our sin. By what right to we claim the salvation of God. The answer is simple: we have no right.

I then remember a tiny verse tucked into the middle of Psalm 103. In verse 10 David tells us "he (God) does not treat us as our sins deserve..." In this simple statement we find the Gospel. It is God and God only that deals with our sins, the sins that deserve punishment. Yet God removes our sin from us (verse 12). What is left but His righteousness. This is Grace at its simplest. God gives us the gift of righteousness when all re really deserve is the just punishment for our sins.

Oh, what a humbling, joyous little verse. The many things I have done that separate me from God, yet He has brought me too Him. By what right do I stand before God and say "I am clean" as David does? It is only because God has made me so. Oh wonderful Grace!! Of wonderful Love!!

I can't spell

So, ok. I know it, and I'm ok with it. Should you feel the need to berate me for my errors, go ahead, I can take it. At least make it clever so I can get a laugh out of it.

Learning to Trust God in the Darkest of TImes

I have been struggling with the issue of pain and suffering and where is God in it all. How do we as Christians trust God when God doesn't seem to be there. Probably the most famous instance of suffering in the Bible is the story of Job. Job underwent tremendous suffering of no fault of his own. Godly and upright, if anyone should not have suffered it was Job. Yet suffer he did. As we read through the book we see Job trying to make sense of it all. He finally ask God a simple question, Why? God's response is swift, terrifying, humbling and not at all what Job wanted. In a four chapter monologue, God basically tells Job that it is not his place to know for I am God and you are not. I always found this hard to take. I realize that God not requires from us our complete trust, to rely in no way on ourselves.

The second person is Joseph. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, begins to excel with his owner and is unjustly accused by his master's wife. he finds himself in prison for fourteen years. In all that time, we never get any indication that God reveals to Joseph His purpose in Joseph's life or a reason for Joseph's suffering. It is not until many years later, when Joseph's brothers, whom he had saved from starvation, now fear that Joseph will finally take his revenge, that we find that Joseph has received his answer from God. He tells them, "What you meant for evil, God used for good."

Here we learn what it means to trust God. We must release our situation to an all-powerful God, the creator of the universe. We may not, and often do not, see God at work. We often lose faith but God never fails. When we see only evil, God is working the evil for good. This is the hardest aspect of our faith, to endure suffering without seeing the end.

For those in the midst of trials, take heart. God is with you. The God of creation is the God who cares for you. Trust Him, for He will never fail. Trust Him in your darkest time. God can do all things. He can heal all wounds and broken hearts, bring families together make His love known to you. Trust the God who loves unconditionally. It will be ok.

Life outside the door

My wife was slightly annoyed this summer to find that something was building a nest in the hanging planter one foot outside our front door. The plants she had meticulously planted and nurtured all spring had been matted down and replaced by a small igloo shaped nest. Yet we have been fascinated to see these two little Carolina wrens together build up, strengthen and fortify their nest. For the last few days the male has been continually bringing small bugs and worms to the nest, feeding the female and flying off, only to return with another in a few minutes. It has been a wonderful lesson in teamwork and caring for each other. I fill you all in when we have screaming little wrens in a few days.

Thoughts on the Book of Judges

My reading through the Bible recently took me to the book of Judges. What a wold ride that is. It has to be the most diverse, odd, inspiring, vulgar collections of stories. Its hard to tell who are the heroes and who aren't. Samson, the great man of God visiting a prostitute. A levite sends his concubine out to be gang raped. The execution of a whole community, man, women and child. The list goes on. Its hard to get a grip on what the whole point is. I think the key may be somewhere in the repeated phrase "and each man did what was right in his own mind." Here we see the results of man's desire for autonomy and rejection of any kind of collective, communal, revealed truth, ethics or morality. The situations in this book are the direct result of the sin of wanting freedom from God. How relevant is that to our own postmodern times!

Still more on the Prodigal Son

Have really been turning this one over in my head this month. I was thinking about the time between the Prodigal Son's decision to return home and that moment of embrace from the father. He sets off hoping only for survival, to stay alive and the most basic level. That whole way home, he expected nothing because he deserved nothing. The extent of his faith was very small. How surprised, then, to see his father running out to him, embracing him and honoring him. I think sometimes our faith is too small, we know that we deserve nothing from God and hope only for something small. Yet grace knows no limits. Oh the unreachable depths of God's grace. He gives us so much more than we can ever hope or imagine.

Vacation

Ah, three days away from everything. It was good to get away, just the wife and me. We celebrated 15 years of marriage. I definitively married up!! Love you , Robin.

US v. Barbados, Part 2

Forgot to comment on the return leg in the US soccer team's World Cup Qualifying. Having won the first leg 8-0, last Sunday's game was a forgone conclusion. But, good God, this was the best they could do? Come on. A totally unconvincing and incredibly boring 1-0 win. What a waste of my two hours. Thanks for that.

More thoughts on the prodigal son

A little while ago I posted first thoughts on the prodigal son. I was thinking today about the though process of the son that brought him from where he was at rock bottom to the act of moving towards home. On one level, the easiest thing to do is stay at the bottom, no effort is needed. Inevitably though it leads to destruction. Life only comes through the hard struggle to move off the bottom. The son only had hope that there was something better.

Shift to the Father. Remember that the son had essentially told his father that he wishes he was dead so he could gain his inheritance. Yet here was the Father, always waiting for that moment that his son would return. Lost in the story is this detail, the Father runs to his son. To do that he must hitch up his robe, the ultimate act of humiliation for a man of wealth. He removes his clothes and puts them on his son. He takes the tattered rags of his son and gives him something clean and magnificent.

How do you respond to this? There you see the grace of God. The father had done everything he had to do out of obligation in distributing the inheritance. Everything after that was grace, his son did not deserve any of it, yet the Father freely gives. And this God does for us. Gives us more than we expect or hope for, cleans us and restores us. We never once stopped being His sons and daughters. In all of the rebellion and rejection, God kept looking down that road, waiting for his son to return so that he could make all things new once again.

A glowing recommendation of God in the Dock

I am a little more through my first book I've set for my summer reading, C.S. Lewis' God in the Dock. This is a collection of essays on a number of theological topics. I can't say enough about this book. Lewis writes in such a unique way about these subjects, probably borne from his being a layman and not a theologian. The chapter on Miracles is one of the best I've read. Lewis brings a whole different way of looking around issues that will make you shake your head and wish you had thought of it that way.

Visual Bookshelf

I'll take a moment to comment on one of my favorite applications on Facebook. I added about 300 books that I've read in the past 8 or 9 years to Visual Bookshelf. I finally wrote reviews for all the books marked already read. I can finally get back to actually doing things around the house. Check out some of the books I've reviewed, there's a bunch of great ones in there.

Facebook Notes

I love that the blog posts can automatically post to the Notes feature on the Facebook Notes. Unfortunately, the feature doesn't work in reverse. I wish your posts and comments in Notes were cross-posted to the blog and comments on posts were cross-posted as well. Except for the helpful comments of my "friends" of course.

Reflections on the Prodigal Son

I did a bad job of explaining to a friend why this parable resonates deeply with me. For reference it is found in Luke 15. Read it over but note the context in which this story come up. I'll take that up later. The story is well know. The youngest son asks his father for his share of his father's estate. He wastes his money in wild living in another country and ends up feeding pigs and starving. He decides to head home and see if his father will take him back as a hired servant.

Right away we learn the heart of the son. In order to get his inheritance he essentially tells his father that he wishes his father was dead. he wanted hos father to have no part, no influence, no practical affect on his life at all. he wanted to be free to do what he wanted with complete freedom. Now he never denies that his father still lives, he's just irrelevant to the son.

Man, is that ever how I spent a good part of my early adult life. I knew God existed and even knew I was a child of God but that was pretty much the end of it. I took the opportunity to live a life free from God. Like in the parable, I ended up hitting rock bottom realizing the emptiness of my situation.

But maybe, just maybe, there is something better back home. Maybe there is something better. It was just a little bit of hope.

I'll stop there so this post isn't too long. Comment if you want to.

US v. Barbados

Well its a big jump from playing #1 Argentina one week to playing #121 Barbados the next. But it is World Cup Qualifying so it is important. How do you evaluate an 8-0 scoreline? You got to figure it was not a real evaluation of the talent on the US squad. It does set up the return match for next week as basically a foregone conclusion. And it was good for Brad Guzan to get a "competitive match" on his account for his next UK work permit application. Maybe he gets the nod again next week.

The Last Day

Well, drove out of the lot this afternoon with two kids and 97 (or so, Deb, what's up!!!) exams to finish grading and obviously got to thinking. I usually cannot wait to get out of school for the summer. I know teachers are supposed to live for it, but frankly, right now I'm just plain tired. However, I realize that some of these kids will not be back this year and any impact I could have on them is now passed. It got me to think about what I accomplished this year. Did I do enough? Did I show them Jesus or turn them away? Did I blow my one shot? Did I teach them anything of real value? Did my conversations encourage them or discourage them? I don't know how to answer these questions. Here is what I wish my students learned more than anything:

Did you know how much you are loved? That God loved you so much, that he values you so much that to have a relationship with you he suffered through the sacrifice of His Son. That Jesus cares so much that the pain of torture and death was worth less than the possibility that you would came back to him. Do you know how special you are? When friends hurt you, or piss you off, when you feel alone and abandoned, this you can know. God loves you. And so do I. God will do anything for you. And so will I. That God is passionate about you.

OK now. Let's put this to rest: I suck at spelling and grammar. I don't proofread well because I'm too lazy to do it. If that's my biggest flaw (truth be told, it isn't) I'm doing all right.

The Penultimate Day

Well, we stand here on the next to last day of the school year an thought I'd take a few minutes to comment on my fifth year as a teacher.

1. This was my first year as a full time High School teacher which has been very different. It was the first time I felt I actually got involved in the lives of my students (as much as a teacher can). Maybe that's the difference between being in the elementary school, or splitting my time between elementary and high school like last year, or maybe I just had a different attitude. I don't know what it was but I enjoyed the year immensely. I can actually say I loved all my students, even the ones that drove me crazy. I've said before that you must see teaching at Christian School like being in ministry, because the pay is crap if its just a teaching job.

2. I as so glad I'm not teaching science next year. With all apologies to my students, I didn't enjoy it much at all. That wasn't there fault, they were great and a whole lot of fun. I didn't feel qualified to teach them and I felt I let them down.

3. Our principal resigned after only a year. Gregg was a great leader for the teachers and he really cared about the students. In my mind its a big loss to the school. He was a great role model for me. And crap, I might have to start doing lesson plans again.

4. I get a little frustrated looking back on the year, because I see too many students that are like I was when I was a student at King's. Apathetic, especially spiritually, defensive. Standing where I do now, I forget that they are teenagers and I know that the way I was then does not define me forever, thank God. God does amazing things, i know that from experience.

5. I am so encouraged by the desire to know, serve and worship God. Comparing them to me at that age is humbling. The number of students willing to serve on mission trips, to complain about not enough chapel, etc. is amazing to me.

6. So next year there's a good chance I actually have a classroom. Frankly, wandering around from classroom to classroom really sucked.

Well that's a lot. I might add a part 2 later. God bless.

BTW, I ran it through spell check, so if there's any errors, get over it. I'm tired and have other stuff to do, so get over it!!!!

The Youth Are Revolting

I have now heard from many of my students that the spelling errors in my first post are something to be ashamed of. To any and all that were shocked to find that someone they only know as the brilliant scholar they interact with everyday has a flaw, I am truly sorry. Let it be known that my dyslexia does make spelling a challenge, but if they are okay with mocking my disability, I guess I can only pray for them. May God have mercy on your cold, dark souls. By the way, my blog is designed to foster theological discussion. Anyone want to comment on anything beside by demonstrable inability to spell? Anyone?

US v. Argentina

Just got done watching the US take on world #1 Argentina and had a few comments. The US played their best game in a long time, keeping with Argentina and taking it to them more than a few times. Tim Howard is far and away the US #1 keeper and played his butt off tonight. Freddie Adu shows again why he should be starting. Eddie Johnson showed why he shouldn't. Landon Donovan again showed how you can have amazing talent and not really make anyone around you better. All in all a very entertaining game.

A Trinity of Conscienceness

I have been thinking alot about how we are counscience of the world around us and came to an odd kind of Trinity of ideas that I want to flesh out more. At our most basic, our body's senses detect the world around us: sounds, smells, texture, images, etc. Our minds then interpret thoses stimuli: for example, that sound was a dog barking or a car horn or a human voice. Our soul then gives those stimuli meaning: that baby crying means it is tired or that person slumped over is sad.

I don't know it this is something significant or even interesting, just something I've been thinking about.

OK, so its been a while

Sorry for the long delay in a new post. School and other parts of real life have been very, very busy. It seems I went right from the South Africa missions trip to setting up the trips for next year to Senior trip to getting ready for finals. Throw in teaching every day and I am so ready for summer. Look for some substantive post starting today.