Life: Tough

Reverend Fred Winters sounds like a class-act guy. Winters graduated with his Bachelors from Southwestern Baptist Seminary, his masters from Wheaton College, and his Ph.D from Southern Baptist Seminary. He has pastored his church for over 20 years and also taught at Midwestern Baptist Seminary. Perhaps his greatest milestones in life are his wife and children. To be sure, his church and family loved him.

Earlier today life was very routine, I would imagine, for Reverend Fred Winters and his family. No more. As quick as a gun trigger can be pulled everything changed. Reverend Winters took a shot in the chest leaving his family with a shot in their hearts. Church members and law officers are dumb-founded as to why such hostile actions occured. Nonetheless, for a community, church body, and family life took on a whole new meaning today. Here's a link to the story: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7033937&page=1

It breaks my heart.

Why does God allow such devastating events to happen in our lives? Why does it always seem that just when we get a grip on things life gets slippery? What goes through the minds of men and women who justify committing such unthinkable crimes against others?

Questions always tend to outnumber answers. There are aspects to this life that don't make sense - things we wish we could change. But no matter. We serve an incredibly sovereign, just, good, and loving Father who always knows what is absolutely best for us. Always.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

It is impossible for me to make sense of this incident. I simply can't fathom taking another person's life. There is no way I could approach a family who has experienced an event of this magnitude and to tell them that they just need to "find the good in this" or that "everything will be just fine." But as my pastor says, "Jesus is about more than just the good stuff - the miracles, the blessings, and the eternity in heaven - He's also about the Cross." And as tough as the Cross is, we must find a way to embrace our own in service to our King. Life is tough and I'm not denying that, but I believe with all my heart that even in the painfully difficult moments God is good.

Is it right to have certain rights?

About a week ago my wife and I watched as Hollywood dispersed some of its most coveted awards - Oscars. The film that dominated the night was without doubt "Slumdog Millionaire". I've yet to see the movie. I've yet to see any of the movies, actually, that received nominations. But I did listen to quite an interesting acceptance speech given by the actor who starred in the hit movie "Milk". Sean Penn, who won best actor for playing Harvey Milk, gave me a lot to think about with his well constructed words. To people who previously voted against homosexual marriage Penn said "Sit and reflect...antcipate great shame." He further stated, "We've got to have equal rights for everyone." Watch his speech here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dnM8v9aaR0

I am in no way suggesting that people like Sean Penn should carry much weight in our decisions as responsible Christians. But, do people need to be given the ability to decide for themselves whether or not they can marry anyone they choose? Are we denying people their freedom of choice by not allowing them to be homosexually married? Or are we right in determining that because our Bible's condemn homosexual behavior that our government should, too?

It is not illegal for people to sleep around with others before they are married. Our laws do not forbid idol worship, greed, dishonoring the Sabbath, or even disobeying parents. So when do we need to draw the line? I guess I am trying to imagine how Christ feels about the whole issue as it pertains to whether or not this should be an actual law. I feel as though He offers us the ability to make choices in life. Joshua decided in the Old Testament that he and his house would serve the Lord. Judas decided that 30 pieces of silver was a worthy price for betraying his Rabbi. And for centuries humans have been making decisions that affect their lives, our world, and their eternity.

But hear this: I am in full support of God's sovereignty and in support of our freewill - I believe they coexist in delicate balance. If God hadn't chosen me I would never have been able to accept Him. God's ways are much higher than our ways, so for me to say that I completely understand this mystery would be a lie.

That being said, let's go back to Penn's words: "We've got to have equal rights for everyone". Do you think that people need to have this RIGHT? Or should it remain the right of the majority to determine what rights all people should have? The more I think about this the more confused I get.

What do you think?

Discipline

I had a very interesting coversation over lunch today concerning the topic of discipline in the church setting. I have a suspicion that the church (the term "church" here is being used very broadly to reference all protestant churches in our society) has lost its touch with the need for church discipline. What I mean is that our churches are slap full of members who are not fulfilling their mandates as believers. This could manifest itself in habitual absence from the local assembly, immoral behavior, failure to tithe adequately, or other circumstances. My opinion is that members who demonstrate their unwillingness to fulfill their mandates are wrongly treated by the church leadership. The leadership of the church is responsible for addressing such issues in a biblical manner. When questionable behavior is swept under the rug by the leadership members are sent a very strong message about their lifestyle - live however you please and you will not face any consequences. This message is then passed on to those outside the body of believers. Translation: The Christian church is nothing more than a group of people who call themselves righteous, but live life very much the same way as unChristian people.

Maybe I am taking this too far. Maybe I'm not taking it far enough. What if the reason that so many "Christian" men and women have such difficulty living holy lives is because deep down they know that they will not have to answer to Christian leaders. Paul took this problem very seriously during the era of the early church. He explained very explicity an outlined procedure for how to deal with members with questionable behavior. If the church practiced this procedure more what would the demographics of the typical church look like? Would they be any different? Probably.

I propose that one reason our churches lack the zeal to pursue disciplinary actions when they are deemed necessary is because they realize that the person receiving the discipline will withdraw their membership. And this creates a mountain of problems: the disciplined person maligns the local church, takes his tithe, takes his family, and joins another local body.

On the flip side, however, taking disciplinary action could prove very fruitful. One could hypothesize that members who are taken seriously by their church leaders will also take their church, and hopefully their personal faith, more seriously. Not only so, but also the unchurched population may view the church with more respect.

Or maybe I'm just naive.

The Winds Will Blow

There are moments, days, weeks, or possibly even longer periods of time when life has a tendency to get tough. One person has said, "In life we can't determine the direction of the wind - we can only adjust our sails." How true! Life can be marked and measured with the trials and hardships a person encounters. Some have suggested that actually it is the rough times that need to be embraced, not spurned. Case in point: The Holy Spirit led Christ into the wilderness. He purposely led Him into a time of difficulty and testing. After 960 hours (40 days and nights) of intense focus He wasn't merely relieved of His wilderness experience. Instead, the tough got tougher as He was severely blindsided (if God can be such) and battled by the nemesis. And through all of the trials, hardships, tests, and battles God the Father was glorified. Jesus adjusted His sails, so to speak, to ensure that His ship stayed the course. We must do the same. The course is narrow and frought with its share of wild - but what good what a life be if it were only filled with smooth sailings? As another man has said, "Smooth seas don't make skilled sailors." The winds will blow - how will you respond?

Taken, Human Trafficking, and Christ

Last night Claire and I got together with some friends to see the movie Taken. It was a fairly intense movie with plenty of action, which I am a sucker for. But the movie also had a couple of themes that have been turning over in my mind for a while. For starters, the plot has a lot to do with illegal human trafficking. I am becoming more and more aware of this horrendous practice and every time I am exposed to it I can't stop thinking about it. In college I watched a documentary that dealt with illegal sex trafficking of young mothers and their daughters in Middle Eastern Countries. Stories from the rescued are very similar. The mothers and daughters are kidnapped during the day when the husband/father is working. He arrives home to see his family gone - usually never knowing what has happened. Some children, on the other hand, are purposely granted to "employers" who convince the parents that their children will be working honest jobs for decent wages. This, however, turns out to be a lie and the children then enter the underground sex market. It's heartbreaking to mentally trade places with victims like these. The movie deals slightly with these types of issues which is great because it continues to raise awareness about an issue that is growing on a global scale. The other, more positive, theme that I latched on to is the idea of a father pursuing his child at all cost. Liam Neeson portrays the father of the kidnapped victim and, without using too much detail for fear of spoiling a good film, demonstrates certain Christ-like qualities. The concept of a father going to such lengths doing whatever he deems necessary to free his child mirrors rather vividly the model of our Heavenly Father. It was a great reminder for me and I hope that you will see the same Love given the opportunity. The movie struck a nerve in me and I am now interested in learning more about the ruthless act that has become known as human trafficking. Without doubt this a problem that needs to be taken more seriously and more proactively. Dilemmas like these must not be swept under the rug. Instead, the people who truly possess hope should rally together in hopes of putting an ending to such an evil trade. You can learn more here: http://www.humantrafficking.org/ .

Summit: Open House

Well, last night our youth group hosted our first Summit: Open House. The reason for this event was to give the "young at heart" a taste of our weekly program. It allowed us to minister to the adults in a pretty fun and creative way. The concept of purposely putting these groups of people together was very intimidating to me, especially given the topic of our discussion. Our students definitely proved themselves to be huge contributers. They brought a certain spice that only they can. The topic of the discussion was basically the idea of youth and mature teaming up to achieve one common goal: Becoming disciples, creating disciples, and glorifying Christ.

The crisis is that we are faced with young boys and girls who are crying out to be taught how to be become Godly men and women. We, as the Church, have dropped the ball and so allowed our youngsters to walk through life with little to no guidance. Thus we have, in John and Stasi Eldredge's words, a world full of un-intiated men and women. These folks are left to figure out life on their own. Mom and Dad have exited the highway many miles ago. Others have determined that they needn't overstep their boundaries. Hey, "The school system can handle it," or "Why not let our government step in," we reason. Unfortunately this mindset may prove to be a major downfall for our youth. Instead we must take a more proactive approach. We must engage.

Joe White, who has been regarded as knowing more about teenagers than anyone in North America, has much to say on this topic. First and foremost, we must realize the power of parents. The roles of the mother and father must be taken with much seriousness and responsibility. They are on the front lines, so to speak, in the battle for creating disciples of youth. When they embrace their God-ordained responsibility families become stronger and youth develop more maturely.

But the local church also has a responsibility. And perhaps this role isn't necessarily as clear as it needs to be. The local church should be pooling its resources to provide families with the knowledge and the ability to develop disciples in the home. When the "church family" takes priority over the family at home then our vision of what's truly important becomes skewed. Rather than parent's realizing their responsibility to develop disciples in the home they forfeit that job to the local church's youth program. This only becomes the job of the church when, sadly enough, children are orphaned and have no other parental figures to show them the way. No, I don't believe the local church was designed to raise kids properly. The local church is far more than that (perhaps a topic for another discussion). By equipping families properly the local church offers a service that will indeed help fulfill its mandates, thus glorifying Christ and making disciples.

Hear my heart on this: I am not attacking family or church. I am only delivering my perspective on a possible cause to the given crisis coupled with a possilbe (and I think highly probable) solution. Whatever it takes, though, my prayer is to see people becoming disciples, creating disciples, and glorifying Christ.

GREAT EXAMPLE OF ACTION

Well, I'm supposed to be studying hard for my Greek class, but I am too interested in this website I just learned about that is on a mission to change the world. The company designs and makes shirts which are sold to raise money. The money then goes to create clean water for people who are without one of life's most essential needs. The coolest thing about this website and company is that is was founded by a guy who is still in high school! That blows me away! He is certainly a dude who is seeing things properly and actively working to make things better. I am definitely impressed. I can't wait to get my shirt and help an amazing cause. Well done Mr. Miller. Check the link on the side to find out more!