Paradise in the Fall

 My family and I recently got back from a trip to Hawaii for a family reunion on the Lind side.  I had never thought about going to Hawaii.  I had joked that I thought you had to win the prize puzzle on Wheel of Fortune to get there.  

The trip was incredible.  I was able to see majestic yet lush mountains, come within feet of enormous green sea turtles on Poipu Beach, see waterfalls out of a dream, soak in the beauty of Waimea Canyon, snorkel and see colorful fish up close that seemed to come from the imagination of a girl with a 64 count box of crayons.

The trip also included time with family to reconnect and enjoy one another.  We had time to eat, talk and hear stories of the last Hawaiian reunion 30 years prior.

Hawaii is called paradise by many and it almost is, but it isn't.

Our five year-old Gideon complained of nauseousness while leaving the canyon, but he didn't throw up.  Later that night on our way to get dinner he puked in the Jeep we rented.  We all drove back to our place and he and I stayed there while the rest got some dinner.  I thought he might be car sick.  He wasn't.  He threw up over and over the rest of that night until after midnight.  He and I shared a master room with a bathroom and he was in the bathroom every fifteen minutes or so until a little after the witching hour.

The next, and thankfully last, one to get the stomach bug was our two year-old Faith.

As I rubbed Gideon's back that night in the bathroom while he leaned over the toilet I was reminded that even our "paradise" in tainted by sin.

Don't get me wrong, Hawaii is amazing. I had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have gone there with my family.  Yet even in "paradise" sin corrupts.  Gideon and Faith puke, the sun burns (believe my red belly, it does), and time in paradise expires and a plane awaits to take you home and you come back exhausted.

I loved our once-in-a-lifetime trip.  I am deeply thankful for those that helped make it possible.  I will always treasure the memories and photos I have.  And I am glad for the truth that landed on me that the paradise awaiting me is far better than even Hawaii.

"And He said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" -Jesus to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43

"Then I saw and new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:1-4

If you every get the chance to visit Hawaii, I say go.  More importantly, you have a chance to know you'll be in the ultimate paradise of the New Heaven and New Earth, place your trust in Jesus and get the assurance of paradise today.

Why Does God Make Beautiful Things?

 My daughter Anna is creative.  She wants to be an illustrator when she grows up and she may very well do it.  Our oldest son is a good drawer if you he copies or replicates something.  He's much, much better than I am, but Anna is truly creative.  She makes things that weren't there before.  Her brother loves following directions and making LEGOs; Anna would rather get a pile of bricks and make what is in her head.

Many times a week she will present us with a drawing, a craft or something she has created.  She loves when we appreciate what she's made.  She likes when we ask how she made it.  She really enjoys when we enjoy her creation.

Why does God make beautiful things?

I recently got back from the Hawaiian island called Kauai.  I had never dreamed that I would go to Hawaii and I was taken aback by the beauty there.  The clear Pacific water teeming with brilliantly colored fish, the massive sea turtles on the beach that swim gracefully through the water like gliding rocks, the lush and majestic Waimea Canyon with its awe inspiring waterfall views.  It was all so lovely and wonderful.

On Father's Day we went through Waimea Canyon State Park.  As we drove I wondered to myself if I had an adequate theology of beautiful things.  Do my kids?  Do my kids even think about God at all while looking at this slice of creation described by many as a paradise?

Why does God make beautiful things?

I can think of three reasons: His own joy, our joy and His glory.

1) For His Own Joy

Do you ever think about God enjoying His own beautiful creations?  When God made the world it says, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31a)

God created and then looked and beheld that it was good.  He then rested.  One has to suppose that one of the things the Triune God did in that rest was enjoy the beauty of His own creation.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit must have made what they wanted because they enjoyed it.  Sin has tainted everything, but there's still beauty lodged into the masterpieces in need of restoration.  Like my daughter, God enjoys the making and the having made beautiful things.

2) For Our Joy

When my daughter thrusts the drawing toward my hand she does so because she want me to see and enjoy.  God could have made a drab Soviet Russian prison looking world for us to live in, but He didn't.  God made a beautiful world full of beautiful things.  He made fish and birds of thousands of colorful varieties.  God isn't some utilitarian designer; God has flare.  

When you are looking at a sunrise, a waterfall, a fish, a distant star or anything lovely, do you consider that God, in part, made that for you to see?  As we drove through the canyon I told Anna that before the foundations of the earth God knew we would drive through the canyon today and that's one of the reasons He made it so beautiful.  

To borrow a phrase that Tim Chester uses in his fantastic book Enjoying God, we live in a Fathered world.  My Heavenly Father loves me so much that He made beautiful things for me to enjoy.  If my earthly daughter loves to make me beautiful things, how much more does my perfect, Heavenly Father.

3) For His Glory

Beautiful things bring praise to their creator.  Anna beams a big smile when we praise her art.  It pleases the Creator to praise Him for His creation. Mindful enjoyment of good and beautiful things is worship.  On Father's Day I missed going to corporate worship and I don't like doing that, but I was filled with praise thinking about how good and creative my Heavenly Father is.

Many of you will go on a vacation this summer.  Will your travels to beautiful places cause you to experience the joy the Creator wants to give you?  Will you give your Heavenly Father the praise He deserves for the wonders He has let you experience?  Will your heart feel like it's bursting in wonder?  Will you break out in singing "How Great Thou Art" or "This is My Father's World"?  Will you shape a theology of beautiful things that allows you to turn a summer road trip into a fun-filled pilgrimage of sorts?

Why does God make beautiful things?  For His own joy, for our joy and for His own glory.  Enjoy and give Him the glory as you behold.  Let the created bring your mind to the Creator today.

M.P.B.A.

 Primary elections were on Tuesday.  I voted and a few of those I voted for won and a few didn't.  It is an honor, privilege and blessing as well as a responsibility to vote.

That said, primary elections are a bit exhausting to me.  Elections in general are mentally arduous.  Did you know that every, single presidential election I have ever voted in has been the most important in our nation's history?  At least that's what I was told.

Campaigns, and perhaps primary elections in particular, are exhausting because of what we're told is at stake and what we're promised will happen if our candidate wins or loses.  Both political parties cosplay as a savior.  Both parties paint the other as a demon.  Golden ages are promised and dark ages are warned against.  And both parties see governmental activity as success.

First, what I'm not saying.  I'm not saying elections don't have consequences.  I'm not saying voting doesn't matter.  I'm not saying that legitimately good things can and have happened because an election went one way versus the other.  I'm not saying there is not actual evil things that must be opposed and real good that should be supported.  I'm not saying the two major parties in my country are morally equal and effective.  I'm not saying that governmental activity is never success.

Here's what I am saying: I want to Make Politics Boring Again.

I'm fatigued of thinking about my government and my leaders so regularly.  I host a morning show and we try to talk about what people are talking about.  I'm tired of politics being in the forefront so frequently.  Those older than me and my age can attest that the frequency we discuss politics is much higher today than not that long ago in the recent past.  We have politicians that are experts in staying on the tip of people's tongues and none are better at this than our current president.  

I'm not saying that we should practice ignoring important issues.  As one of my social studies Mr. Semler used to say, "apathy is the yeast of injustice".  Apathy isn't what I'm asking for.  Peace and quiet is.

The Apostle Paul said it this way:

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

The prayer of a Christian isn't for government to be a savior.  The prayer of a Christian isn't even necessarily for a Christian government.  The prayer of a Christian is for freedom to live in peace and quiet that allows for us to share the Gospel so that people can hear and be saved.

Not every generation of Christians gets this.  Some are needed to storm the beaches of Normandy.  Some, like Bonhoeffer, would no doubt have preferred a quiet, peaceful life of service to God and neighbor than the life of opposition to evil.  Many today plead for this and get the life of chaos from a dysfunctional government or the fear of living in a country whose overbearing leadership actively seeks to snuff out the feet that are fitted with the Gospel of Peace.

As for me, I am happy to live in my nation.  I want the absolute best for my country and I will seek her prosperity by my actions in the voting booth.  That said, I will pray for the government that will allow all people to live a peaceful and quiet life.  I will pray for and vote for leaders that will hopeful leave the Church free to live in a godly and dignified manner.

Christians, we must beware of giving politics and politicians the mental space that God alone deserves.  Christians, we must, frankly, give evangelism and quiet, pious living much more of our attention.

I'm tired of hyperbolic politics.  I'm tired of heaven on earth being promised in ads and hell on earth being warned of by pundits.  Good governments are a lot like a good umpire: The less I think of them the better job they're doing.  I pray that we as a nation, as we celebrate our 250th birthday, would have a heart of gratitude for our many blessings and that our leaders would seek to be forgettable as they helped protect the peaceful and quiet existence for as many as possible.

May God help Make Politics Boring Again today.

How Would You Answer This Question?

 The Late Show on CBS had its last episode on Thursday night.  The show had been started in 1993 when David Letterman didn't get the Tonight Show gig after hosting Late Night on NBC for years.  Letterman took his show to CBS and hosted it until eleven years ago when Stephen Colbert became the second and last host of the program.  The program was cancelled and there are a few, possibly concurrent, things that brought about the end of the show.  I don't have any care to write about that here.

However, a popular segment on Colbert's iteration of the program was the Colbert Questionnaire.  This bit came about after Stephen enjoyed the answer he received from Keanu Reaves when he asked him, "What happens when you die?" Colbert decided he should ask more people this question and so he designed the questionnaire around it.  

On the penultimate episode of the show Stephen took his own questionnaire answering questions from a variety of celebrities.  Many of the answers were insightful and cute, but his answer of "What happens when you die?" caught my attention.

Stephen is reportedly, as reported by himself, friends and priests, a devout Catholic.  Because of that fact his answer surprised me.  Take a listen to it below:

It caught my attention because it is neither Catholic nor any kind of orthodox Christian.  The answer given would fit very well in the New Age, Gnostic or "spiritual but not religious" camps.

To be fair to Stephen, I have not heard a single answer to the Colbert Questionnaire that would fit an orthodox Christian view.  That, in part, was why I was interested to hear him answer.  I thought, even if he included purgatory (a belief held only by Catholics), that it would be refreshing to hear a Christian answer.

Let me assure you this: My point in writing this is not that I was disappointed that Colbert didn't give a better answer.

I write this to remind Christians that to be a Christian is to believe Christian beliefs.  There is more to being a Christian than just ascribing to set of beliefs, but to be Christian is to believe as a Christian.  To find a basic understanding of Christian beliefs we can look to the creeds.

The Nicene Creed states "I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come."

The Apostles Creed states "I believe in... the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."

The Athanasian Creed says "At his coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their deeds."

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this in Question 37 "Q: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, still being united to Christ, do rest in their graves til the resurrection."

The New City Catechism says this in Question 28 "Q: What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith? A: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.

And to add a Biblical citation to the creeds as to what happens when specifically the Christian dies "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

My point in reacting to what Stephen Colbert said is not to attack Stephen.  My point is to remind Christians that a MAJOR part of being a Christian is believing the Christian faith that has been handed down to us for 2,000 years.  You aren't a Christian because your parents were.  You aren't a Christian because you go to church.  One of the fundamental parts of being a Christian is actually believing what Christ teaches us through the Bible.

I encourage you to look at the creeds again if you don't regularly recite them in service, and if you do recite them regularly, I would have you really engage your mind with what you are saying.  I ask you to read your Bible and believe it.  I recommend you work through a catechism with yourself and with your family.  I remind you that to be a Christian is to believe what Christians believe.  So, take the time to re-school and remind yourself today.

 

An Address to Greenview's Graduates

 On Friday I was given the honor to speak at the Greenview graduation ceremony.  I want to share my address to the graduates here:

Thank you, Mr. Little for inviting me to speak today. Thank you to superintendent David Hill, principal John Hubbard, Mr. Little, Mrs. Williams, Ms. Hanson, the family and friends, and most of all you graduates: Connor, Kendra, Jackson, AJ, Halle, John, Allie, Malachi, Jaiden, Carly and the family of Danny for letting me have the time to speak to you today.

I'm not a Greenview grad and I'm not a Waverly-Shell Rock graduate, but I'm very glad to be here today at Greenview's commencement.

I've lived in Waverly since 2005 and like many people in town I didn't know much about Greenview not that long ago.  It was through the experiences of a couple of young men that I got to get a better grasp of what Greenview is and what makes it such a special and important institution.

First young man is our foster-son Jamari.

Due to issues outside of his control Jamari was behind schedule with his schooling.  He knew if he stayed on the traditional school path at Waverly-Shell Rock graduation was going to be a long way in the future.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to wait that long to begin his adult life.  Thankfully Principal Weber set up a meeting with us and Jamari and told us about Greenview.  I watched his eyes brighten as he realized he had a path to graduation that wasn't going to take until he was twenty.  Then he and I met with Mr. Little who helped him see how he could attack each subject and go as fast as he could.  Mr. Weber and Mr. Little gave Jamari a vision of how to achieve his goal and he chased it down and graduated far faster that I thought he could.

I was so proud being in this room and watching him graduate.  My wife and I were so pumped to throw him a graduation party to celebrate what he'd done.

The second young man is Danny Kruger.

I enjoyed talking with his mom Jessica and hearing how Greenview had reinvigorated him.  The different style of education had allowed him to set goals and go get them.  He was on track to graduate before he was tragically taken from us and I am so proud to be here to see his family accept his honorary degree today.

So again, I feel honored and privileged to be with you today.  I'm humbled to have been given a chance to address the graduates in this room that chased down one of their goals and got it.

What can I say to you here today?  What do I have to offer you?

Who has had a great impact on you?

Close your eyes and picture them.  Seriously, everyone do this now.  Close your eyes and picture them and silently say thank you to them.  If they're here today go and hug them later when you get the chance.

I'll give you a few seconds to do this.

Maybe it was, but I'm going to guess that the person you pictured wasn't a celebrity, an athlete, a singer, a billionaire, an influencer, a politician or anyone well known outside of this community.

At these types of ceremonies we get told to go and change the world.  To go and become somebody.

I want to issue a call to extraordinary ordinariness.

The older I get the more I see the world is most beautified and enhanced by the extraordinary ordinary people around us.  I find each year that trustworthiness, faithfulness, honesty, kindness, and a strong work ethic are much more wonderful than IQ, vertical leap, online reach and net worth.

In 2015 columnist David Brooks said, "It occurred to me that there are two sets of virtues, the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues.  The resume virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace.  The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral... whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful.  Were you capable of deep love?

We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the resume ones, but our culture and educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light."

At Greenview you've sharpened your resume virtues, you've studied and developed skills that will help you have career success in whatever it is you want to do to earn a living.  But there is so much more to life than earning a living.

I charge you graduates to develop your eulogy virtues.  I encourage you to think about how you would want people to talk about you at your funeral and then strive to live that way today.  Remember, you write your own eulogy with your actions each day.

I charge you to be the kind of men and women that people will close their eyes and think about when asked who has had an impact on them. I implore you to be the extraordinary ordinary people with that inner light that make our world a better place to live in.  I task you with being the best friends, parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, siblings, grandparents and citizens.

I charge you with this because I know the world desperately needs it and that you can do it.  You've all had a vision of a goal and you've all chased it down, as evidenced by your presence here today.  I know you can do it because you are a Greenview graduate.

Favorite Lines from Lament for a Son

 My friend Dan lent me a book entitled Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff.  The book was written as Wolterstorff, a philosophy professor, responded to the tragic death of his 25 year old son who had fallen while climbing.  

Perhaps the subject of lamenting the death of a son is fresh, but this book is the best book on the suffering caused by death that I can recall reading.  I am a fan of C.S. Lewis, but I believe this tops A Grief Observed.

Let me share a few lines from the brief 111 page book.

"He was a gift to us for twenty-five years. When the gift was finally snatched away, I realized how great it was. Then I could not tell him." p. 13

"We say, 'I know how you are feeling.' But we don't." p. 25

"We are to hold the past in remembrance and not let it slide away. For in history we find God." p. 28

"A friend said, 'Remember, he's in good hands.' I was deeply moved. But that reality does not put Eric back in my hands now. That's my grief. For that grief, what consolation can there be other than having him back?" p. 31

On how to know what to say to one grieving... "Your words don't have to be wise. The heart that speaks is heard more than the words spoken... What I need to hear from you is that you recognize how painful it is... To comfort me, you have to come close. Come sit beside me on my mourning bench." p. 34

"...no one thinks death is more awful that it is. It's those who think it's not so bad that need correcting." p. 35

"Back and forth, lament and faith, faith and lament, each fastened to the other. A bruised faith, a longing faith, a faith emptied of nearness." p. 71

"Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it." p. 81

"Authentic life is to image God ever more closely by becoming like Jesus Christ, the express image of the Father... Do we also mirror God in suffering?" p. 83

"Blessed are those who mourn... Who then are the mourners? The mourners are those who have caught a glimpse of God's new day, who ache with all their being for that day's coming, and who break out into tears when confronted with its absence... The mourners are aching visionaries." p. 85-87

"Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much. Suffering is for the loving... In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer." p. 89

"'Put your hand into my wounds,' said the risen Jesus to Thomas, 'and you will know who I am.' The wounds of Christ are His identity. They tell us who He is. He did not lose them." p. 92

"In my living my son's dying will not be the last word. But as I rise up, I bear the wounds of his death. My rising does not remove them. They mark me. If you want to know who I am, put your hand in." p. 93

I commend this book to all those who have suffered loss today.

When the Book Stack Was Perfect

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 

On the evening of Groundhog Day I went to a conference in St. Paul, Minnesota with a bunch of guys from church.  It is a wonderful conference and I would recommend it.  At the conference is a fantastic room full of books, and mostly discounted books.  I knew I was going to buy a couple but not how on earth was I going to pick.  There were so many good ones.  I got a book for the whole family, a book for my oldest and finally a book for myself.  

Little did I know how much I was going to need and want that exact book.

When I got back from the conference I took the books I bought and some that were gifts of the conference and set them in a stack.  I still had another book to get to before I would start any of these, but I put them in a stack to read next.

I finished the book I was reading prior and then a young man who I love was tragically killed in an accident.  With glassy, tear-soaked eyes I decided to grab my next book and I couldn't have asked for a better book for that moment.

All Things for Good (formally A Divine Cordial) by Thomas Watson was the book on the top of the stack.

Things are often called a godsend.  This book, which is entirely based on Romans 8:28, was God sent.  I encourage you to read it. While originally published in 1633, it is very approachable and Watson is a master of great sentences.  Let me share some of my many favorite lines from the book and maybe you'll decide to add it to your book stack today.

"This expression 'work together' refers to medicine. Several poisonous ingredients put together, being tempered by the skill of the apothecary, make a sovereign medicine, and work together for the good of the patient." p. 5

"Do not mistake me; I do not say that of their own nature the worst things are good, for they are a fruit of the curse; but though they are naturally evil, yet the wise, overruling hand of God disposing and sanctifying them, they are morally good." p. 21

"It is dangerous to judge others, but it is good to judge ourselves... When a man has judged himself, Satan is put out of office... he is able to retort and say, 'It is true, Satan, I am guilty of these sins, but I have judged myself already for them; and having condemned myself in the lower court of conscience, God will acquit me in the upper court of Heaven." p. 48

"If God does not give you that which you like, He will give you that which you need. A physician does not so much study to please the taste of the patient, as to cure his disease." p. 52

"What a blessed condition is a true believer! When he dies, he goes to God; and while he lives, everything shall do him good." p. 56

"No man did ever come off a loser by his acquaintance with God." p. 57

"The more we enjoy of Him, the more we are ravished with delight." p. 94

"God would have us part with nothing for Him, but that which will damn us if we keep it. He has no design upon us, but to make us happy." p. 118