So yesterday the news broke that the Olympic committee had voted against Chicago and the United States hosting the 2016 Olympics. There was much disbelief, sadness, bitterness and frustration all around. After working so hard, waiting so long, and spending so much, all of our enormous efforts fell upon deaf ears and thankless hearts. Major celebrities and politicians went so far as to leave the country to meet with Olympic committee members, something that had rarely, if ever, happened before. Those meetings were held and some speeches were made, yet in the end Chicago was voted out in the very first round.
Regardless of what major issue our nation is facing, whether it be the economy or health care or war or even sports games, we must remember the truth. No matter which party controls the Senate and House, no matter how many conservative or liberal judges sit on the Supreme Court, no matter how many Republican or Democratic governors there are, we need to remember the truth. Whether we have an experienced, weathered, and respected commander-in-chief, or a no-name, former alcoholic, lying adulterer sitting in the Oval Office, we have to remember the truth. We say that the other political party has the answers, or that greedy corporations or tyrannical governments have it out for us, yet we must hold on to the truth:
What we must remember, what we must hold on to, what we must share is that our hopes will always be dashed when we place our hope in mankind, but we can see hope realized through our Almighty Father.
We must stop placing our hopes in political parties, a piece of legislation, or national political leaders. This does not mean that we must chant "all we need is Jesus," or stage a "Jesus for president" rally. The issues at stake are far larger than that, and more complicated than that. To simplify the matter that way is not beneficial, wise or necessary.
What we must remember, what we must hold on to, what we must share is the authority and supremacy of the Father, expressed in the saving grace of His Son on the Cross.
We see economies collapse and people starve; dictators lie and deceive and brag; criminals and pedophiles taunt and go free; wars started and finished; disasters destroy cities and kill thousands; and terrorists murder and destroy, yet in reply we always tend to pass blame onto someone or something else and call for more government control or try and get the other party elected next time.
What we must remember, what we must hold on to, what we must share is that this world can only offer depravity and hopelessnes, and how our fears can be calmed and hope satisfied by the Redeemer Messiah.
Through Him and only Him can our hopes be met.
We must remember that.
"My hope is built on nothing less,
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand."
-The Solid Rock
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." -Colossians 3:1 (ESV)
October 3, 2009
July 7, 2009
Those New Adventures: Shoe Booties and Hospital Cafeteria Food
So Josiah Levi Foster was born today, at 1:38pm, weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces, and measuring 19 1/2 inches, at Mercy Hospital in downtown Des Moines. Very exciting, very exhausting, very memorable day!
Tomorrow we will be starting the series of tests and check-ups to see if there is a problem with his kidneys, and whether or not surgery will be needed. Besides that, Kasey had to go through another c-section; neither of us wanted one in the first place as they seem to add a flavor of "NASCAR pit crew doing business as usual" to what should be a time of rejoicing and praise, welcoming new life into the world. But, with Kasey's first delivery experience being less than pleasurable, we went with the tried-and-true this time around. So far things are going great; Kasey is doing well and recovering, and baby Josiah is healthy and strong, eyes wide open and taking it all in.
It feels weird being at home with just me and Ben here, and Kasey and Josiah in the hospital. Hopefully, we will be able to come home Thursday night instead of Friday morning, so we might be able to start our new lives with two boys that much sooner!
Ice cream tastes great. Movies and television can be entertaining. A good book can invigorate and educate. Friends and family can support you and make you laugh. But when you hear your son cry out for the first time, and see him for the first time, and hold him for the first time, all else fades away and becomes sheer nonsense.
I wish I had more and better words to help describe the feeling; you're in this room filled with bright lights, expensive medical tools, nurses running all around holding stuff or getting ready to hold stuff, and doctors doing who-knows-what on the other side of the curtain separating you and your wife from all the "action." You're holding your wife's hand, wondering if you should try to convince her to let you take a picture of her in this emotional and traumatic state because everyone wants to remember this part. You can hear the doctors discussing the game plan on the other side of the curtain: "With a snip snip here, and a cut cut there..." "Don't touch that." "Where's the manual?" All of a sudden, the banter stops, the nurses stop running around, and you hear it: the first cry. Your heart stops, your eyes water up, you try and catch a glimpse of him as he comes forth into the world. Next thing you know, he's taken over to a table where he's poked and examined and cleaned for what seems like eternity, before being wrapped up and taken over to see Mommy. And the whole time this is going on, the doctors are high-fiving each other; you're trying to keep from getting steam-rolled by the delivery nurses while trying to wrestle them out of the way for the best camera angle; and you still haven't taken a breath or seen through clear eyes.
There, maybe those words will help.
But I doubt it.
"Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love."
-Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Tomorrow we will be starting the series of tests and check-ups to see if there is a problem with his kidneys, and whether or not surgery will be needed. Besides that, Kasey had to go through another c-section; neither of us wanted one in the first place as they seem to add a flavor of "NASCAR pit crew doing business as usual" to what should be a time of rejoicing and praise, welcoming new life into the world. But, with Kasey's first delivery experience being less than pleasurable, we went with the tried-and-true this time around. So far things are going great; Kasey is doing well and recovering, and baby Josiah is healthy and strong, eyes wide open and taking it all in.
It feels weird being at home with just me and Ben here, and Kasey and Josiah in the hospital. Hopefully, we will be able to come home Thursday night instead of Friday morning, so we might be able to start our new lives with two boys that much sooner!
Ice cream tastes great. Movies and television can be entertaining. A good book can invigorate and educate. Friends and family can support you and make you laugh. But when you hear your son cry out for the first time, and see him for the first time, and hold him for the first time, all else fades away and becomes sheer nonsense.
I wish I had more and better words to help describe the feeling; you're in this room filled with bright lights, expensive medical tools, nurses running all around holding stuff or getting ready to hold stuff, and doctors doing who-knows-what on the other side of the curtain separating you and your wife from all the "action." You're holding your wife's hand, wondering if you should try to convince her to let you take a picture of her in this emotional and traumatic state because everyone wants to remember this part. You can hear the doctors discussing the game plan on the other side of the curtain: "With a snip snip here, and a cut cut there..." "Don't touch that." "Where's the manual?" All of a sudden, the banter stops, the nurses stop running around, and you hear it: the first cry. Your heart stops, your eyes water up, you try and catch a glimpse of him as he comes forth into the world. Next thing you know, he's taken over to a table where he's poked and examined and cleaned for what seems like eternity, before being wrapped up and taken over to see Mommy. And the whole time this is going on, the doctors are high-fiving each other; you're trying to keep from getting steam-rolled by the delivery nurses while trying to wrestle them out of the way for the best camera angle; and you still haven't taken a breath or seen through clear eyes.
There, maybe those words will help.
But I doubt it.
"Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love."
-Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
June 14, 2009
Those Uncomfortable Questions: Breaking Silences and Comfort Zones
Nothing like getting up early on an overcast Saturday morning to get to as many garage sales as possible, before all the good books and Pottery Barn baskets are sold. Starbucks helps though. That, and finding one or two books that you hadn't expected to find, or that had been trying to find for years. Then you get to enjoy a quiet afternoon at home while your son naps and your wife is out shopping (of course) and you mow the lawn. Except that last part. Instead, you waste a full two hours eating lunch, watching Scrubs, and milling about on the computer (not writing a single thing). Oh, the simple things. I'm pretty sure the question "Baby, can you mow the lawn while I'm gone" will only ever make me think of other possible ways to waste two hours. That is, until your wife comes home finally, and you go outside to greet her, and the grass actually does seem pretty tall and you have nothing to show for the two hours she was gone besides a guilty conscience and a full stomach.
Then in Sunday school, on a somewhat-lazy, laid-back morning looking forward to spending time learning and growing and maturing, you're hit with not a few surprises. Namely, some questions, or rather an entire discussion, that wakes you up a lot better than the scratchy homemade coffee does (no time for Starbucks that morning). Instead of the Sunday class listening to and soaking up the teaching, someone who's relatively new asks some rarely-heard questions of the group leader that makes all sit up and catch their breath.
People tend to underestimate the power and potential of questions nowadays. The questions we ask can accomplish multiple things, besides as a means of getting the answers we want to the questions we ask. We can reveal what we really think and feel about a person or subject. We can also reveal how little we really know about them or it. We can suddenly show our true colors and true agenda, where before we just went with the flow, waiting for the right time to strike. With just the right tone, just the right choice of words, with just the right timing we can change the whole mood and meaning of, say, a Sunday school group meeting. With questions, we can challenge assumptions and beliefs, forcing the spotlight on a subject that doesn't get much every-day discussion and practically requires entire theological dissertations to explain and defend.
With questions having the power and potential they do, it is supremely important that we understand how we react to and view them, for there is such a thing as different kinds of questions. Peter writes in his first letter that we as believers must always be "ready to make a defense... for the hope that is in you (NASB)," which seems to be easier said than done, especially when those asking questions of us have a set agenda and know how to pinpoint and exploit weaknesses (like the lack of good coffee). Not that we can excuse ourselves by this, but we must at the same time acknowledge where and what our weaknesses are, in order to repair and replenish before the next question, which will most certainly come. We are to be prepared. But that doesn't mean we will only be questioned when we are ready; in fact, for some strange we only seem to get questions when we are at the least ready. Quite strange, in fact.
Yet just because some questions are asked of us with intentional malice or to support an agenda, does not mean that we should look down upon all questions and questioning. In fact, the Bereans in Acts were called "noble-minded" for their "searching (of) the Scriptures," and for comparing what was written with what was being preached to them. By definition, "searching... to see whether these things were so" would denote someone asking questions, asking for clarification on a difficult passage, or how this one teaching is influenced by another passage. Too often we look down on someone in the church who asks a lot of questions; we brush them off with something like a casual "just have more faith" comment. While there is a point where we are to have the "child-like faith" that Christ talks about, that does not remove the need for some of us to ask another question or two before we can get to that point.
The motives behind questions are the biggest thing to consider when responding. The questioner could just be trying to prove a point by proving you wrong, or could be trying their hardest to understand the bountiful grace of our Holy Father. To those that come at us with swords drawn, we must be prepared to stand tall and meet them head-on, in order to both defend and convince of the truth. With others we must do our best to answer questions, praying for wisdom along the way, while we both grow in our eternal hope together. We should not take the sword to the one who merely wants to understand, nor should we simply sit down and have a dialogue with those that seek to hinder, pervert, and destroy.
The absent are never without fault. Nor the present without excuse.
-Benjamin Franklin
Then in Sunday school, on a somewhat-lazy, laid-back morning looking forward to spending time learning and growing and maturing, you're hit with not a few surprises. Namely, some questions, or rather an entire discussion, that wakes you up a lot better than the scratchy homemade coffee does (no time for Starbucks that morning). Instead of the Sunday class listening to and soaking up the teaching, someone who's relatively new asks some rarely-heard questions of the group leader that makes all sit up and catch their breath.
People tend to underestimate the power and potential of questions nowadays. The questions we ask can accomplish multiple things, besides as a means of getting the answers we want to the questions we ask. We can reveal what we really think and feel about a person or subject. We can also reveal how little we really know about them or it. We can suddenly show our true colors and true agenda, where before we just went with the flow, waiting for the right time to strike. With just the right tone, just the right choice of words, with just the right timing we can change the whole mood and meaning of, say, a Sunday school group meeting. With questions, we can challenge assumptions and beliefs, forcing the spotlight on a subject that doesn't get much every-day discussion and practically requires entire theological dissertations to explain and defend.
With questions having the power and potential they do, it is supremely important that we understand how we react to and view them, for there is such a thing as different kinds of questions. Peter writes in his first letter that we as believers must always be "ready to make a defense... for the hope that is in you (NASB)," which seems to be easier said than done, especially when those asking questions of us have a set agenda and know how to pinpoint and exploit weaknesses (like the lack of good coffee). Not that we can excuse ourselves by this, but we must at the same time acknowledge where and what our weaknesses are, in order to repair and replenish before the next question, which will most certainly come. We are to be prepared. But that doesn't mean we will only be questioned when we are ready; in fact, for some strange we only seem to get questions when we are at the least ready. Quite strange, in fact.
Yet just because some questions are asked of us with intentional malice or to support an agenda, does not mean that we should look down upon all questions and questioning. In fact, the Bereans in Acts were called "noble-minded" for their "searching (of) the Scriptures," and for comparing what was written with what was being preached to them. By definition, "searching... to see whether these things were so" would denote someone asking questions, asking for clarification on a difficult passage, or how this one teaching is influenced by another passage. Too often we look down on someone in the church who asks a lot of questions; we brush them off with something like a casual "just have more faith" comment. While there is a point where we are to have the "child-like faith" that Christ talks about, that does not remove the need for some of us to ask another question or two before we can get to that point.
The motives behind questions are the biggest thing to consider when responding. The questioner could just be trying to prove a point by proving you wrong, or could be trying their hardest to understand the bountiful grace of our Holy Father. To those that come at us with swords drawn, we must be prepared to stand tall and meet them head-on, in order to both defend and convince of the truth. With others we must do our best to answer questions, praying for wisdom along the way, while we both grow in our eternal hope together. We should not take the sword to the one who merely wants to understand, nor should we simply sit down and have a dialogue with those that seek to hinder, pervert, and destroy.
The absent are never without fault. Nor the present without excuse.
-Benjamin Franklin
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