New Car and Some Deeper Thoughts...

I got a new car today. It has been lots of fun watching God continue in His unceasing faithfulness to me with regards to transportation. As I mentioned in a previous post, my car was totally destroyed in an accident a couple weeks ago. On the night of the accident I was very close to where I was going, so I got a ride there. When it was time for me to go home that evening, my friend's mom offered me their extra car for a short period of time. It was great driving home that night. A few days later, I found out that I added a rental car to my insurance policy and completely forgot about it. So I was able to get a nice rental car that my insurance policy paid for. I was able to return my friend's car and not worry that it was an inconvenience to them.

A few days later my insurance company called with the very generous settlement for the total loss on my fully covered vehicle. I learned then, that the rental car would no longer be covered by my insurance once the policy was cancelled. I had two more days to keep the rental car. A very close friend of mine was leaving town for two weeks and offered his car while he was out of town.

My accident was on July 13. Today is July 27. I did not go a single day without transportation. This is the sort of thing that God does to provide for me. I have to stay "on my toes," depending on Him, but He provides for me the things I need each day.

"Give us this day our daily Bread."

Some may say that practical necessities are not very spiritual. I say they are. I don't really see a point in separating the practical from the spiritual. I think they are much more closely connected than we realize. God does want us to be able to take care of our practical needs.


The Weekend

Went very well. I went to Confession as planned. It was so good. It is becoming one of my favorite parts of the week. When I hear the priest tell me that I am absolved and forgiven for my sins, it is much more freeing than when I repented privately to God for very non-specific sins as a non-Catholic.

Mass was very interesting. My priest began a three-week series on the Catholic teaching on birth control. Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical called Humanae Vitae, in which he laid out plainly, the Church teaching on birth control. It was very controversial (still is). Many Catholics do not follow the teaching. It is very interesting to me that up until 1930 all Christian churches taught that birth control was a sin. In 1930 a church changed its position on birth control (why? how?) . Shortly after, nearly all mainline Protestant churches gave in, and changed their teaching on this issue. When Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical, Humanae Vitae, he warned that if this teaching is ignored, we would see abortion on demand as well as an alarmingly high rate of divorce. The divorce rate amongst Catholic couples who do not use birth control is very low.

While I recognize that these facts do not necessarily validate the Catholic teaching on this issue, I do find them very interesting, nonetheless. Prior to the ascension of Jesus, he promised to send "the Spirit of truth" to the Church. Prior to becoming a Catholic I had the mind that the particular church one went to was not that important as long as you attended a church that was in agreement with the "basics" of Christianity. I took a position of moral relativity, while at the same time, believing that it is absurd to take a moral stance that was morally relative. It was sort of like saying "I'll have Coke, you can have Pepsi." But what about the many issues that are not an "I'll choose Coke, you choose Pepsi" issue, such as homosexuality, abortion, birth control, divorce, salvation doctrine, etc. ?

Salvation doctrines vary from church to church. One church may teach "once saved, always saved." Other churches may disagree with that doctrine. That is definitely not an "I'll choose Coke, you choose Pepsi" issue. It is either true that once one is saved, s/he cannot ever lose salvation, or it is false. As much as Protestants object to the idea that the Pope has teaching authority, each Protestant Pastor is its church's Pope. That Pastor decides for the church what is true and what is false. Sometimes Church councils do this but the point remains the same. We have over 49,000 different Christian denominations with varying doctrinal statements about salvation. If one is a moral relativist, then one can be comfortable with this. I am not comfortable with this, given the fact that Jesus promised "the Spirit of Truth." I'm not accusing my Christian brothers and sisters of not being Christian, but I am saying that there are a lot of Christians who are not living in the fullness of truth, because (unless you are a relativist) every position on salvation doctrine cannot be true since many of these doctrines contradict one another.

Again, this may not convince you that the Catholic position on birth control is true, but it would be difficult to convince you unless you agreed with me that Jesus sent the Spirit of Truth to the Church so that we would know what is true and what is false. Either you accept the teaching authority of the Church that Jesus founded or you don't. If you don't accept it, then its cafeteria Christianity - picking and choosing what you are most comfortable with - and moral relativism. While it is sometimes frightening to trust that the Pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals, it is, to me, more frightening to trust in churches which are changing long-standing moral teachings all the time (ordination of homosexual clergy, abortion, euthanasia, birth control, etc.). God cares about what we do. Being a Christian does not give one license to do as one pleases. Sometimes the things we want are not good for us for various reasons. Out of love for us, God must show us the truth.

To all of my non-Catholic readers: My intention is not to offend anyone, but I do realize that some of my positions may offend some of you. On the one hand, I care about you as an individual, and do not wish to cause you any distress, but on the other hand, Jesus offends many people, and so do I. I guess I'm just trying to say that even though I may offend some of you, I'm not writing these things to be obnoxious and offensive for the sake of being a jerk. I am just sharing what is on my mind. To all my Protestant friends: You are my brothers and sisters in Christ even if we do not agree on issues. I was a Protestant for 34 of my 35 years of life. I value my Protestant tradition and love all that I learned in my churches.

God bless you all.

Scattered thoughts...

My dog has a small cut on her ear that is infected. The antibiotic ointment the vet gave isn't really working and I don't have enough money to take her back to the vet anytime soon.

Had lunch with a friend today at Qdoba. He is hilarious. Great guy. His mom makes this amazing mint tea and she sent a gallon of it with him to give me. Great stuff! He is saving up to spend half the year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, doing missionary work. Look out Belfast!

Played a bit of counterstrike today. In counter strike, you have a "game name." Mine is El Gato. I had a great time playing with Rage, Liquid, Lycan, and Bill Murray today. We laugh and joke around a lot while we play. If you read this and are a 1.6 counterstrike player, feel free to leave a comment and I'll give you our server ip. We need more regulars on our server.

I need to get in shape. I am turning into a slob. I did an upper body workout today and died because of the tendinitis in my elbows and because of my lack of fitness. Too bad! Gotta get in shape!

The Pistons hired Flip Saunders to replace Larry Brown. I have mixed thoughts about this. On the one hand, I trust Joe Dumars (Pistons General Manager). He has made all the right decisions thus far. On the other hand, I don't really think Flip Saunders, being a "players coach" is what the Pistons need. He is not known for coaching great defense. Other than Phil Jackson, I can't really think of any "players coaches" who coached their team to the Championship. I'll give him a chance. I hope the Piston players do, too.

Whether or not Larry Brown is as slimey as the press makes him out to be, I wish the Pistons owner would have some class and not bad-mouth him to the press.

I am looking forward to going to Confession tomorrow. When I found out that Pope John Paul II went to confession once a week, I decided that I would go once a week too. I am a brand new Catholic, so Confession is new to me. What a gift! I never really examined my conscience on a regular basis as a Protestant. I've noticed there is so much more grace to resist temptations and to be more Christ-like because of Confession. Every week I go to Church on Saturday afternoon, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal my sins, review my week, and the Holy Spirit never fails to bring to mind ways in which I have offended God. I never really cared to know before. I don't get beat up with guilt that one may expect. I experience real sorrow for my sins and joyful hope because Jesus never fails me. I love going to Confession.

My mom is an amazing woman. I don't know how she stays as positive as she does, considering her health issues. I really want to make her feel special on her birthday on Sunday but I don't know what to do, given that she is sick and can't do much. I'll pray that God will inspire some great ideas.

I want to see some really good movies but they don't make very many really good movies. Most movies today are all visually and technologically very impressive, but because all the money is going into special effects, the actual writing is generally horrible. It saddens me that one of the best written movies I've ever seen - Pulp Fiction - is morally bankrupt. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie but I'd pay twice as much to see movies with the same quality of writing, but with admirable characters who choose to do the right thing, even at a tremendous cost to their careers, relationships, and lives. If anyone has any suggestions for uplifting, inspiring, thought-provoking (positive, wholesome thoughts please) movies, please suggest!

I thoroughly enjoyed Batman Begins, and I was very surprised that I liked it. The previous Batman movies were crap! I'd even say that Batman Begins is one of my top 20 favorite movies.
I can't really give it a review since I saw it only once, and awhile ago, but it was great.

I recently saw The Incredibles. That was a very fun movie. Laughed so much. Good story, great characters, good writing.

Enough said.... good night!

I Want to Fall In Love

I want to love Jesus more than I currently do. I want to give him everything I have, and all that I am. I do not want to love in merely a sentimental way. I want to love sincerely and truly, even when I am feeling tired, lazy, and far from sentimental. I want to be faithful to God even when it is painful and uncomfortable. I want to fall in love with the One who fell in love with me when I was conceived. I want to fall in love with the One who has the power to love perfectly even when I fail to love.

"Get this if you don't get anything else: The spiritual life begins with accepting God's wholehearted love for our wounded, broken, surly, frightened, sorry selves. There is no other starting point." -Brennan Manning

I'm trying to wrap my mind and heart around God's wholehearted love for my wounded, broken, surly, frightened, sorry self.

Please pray with me:

Lord Jesus, sustain all Christians in our daily journey of faith. Give us the grace to accept your wholehearted love for us . Remember that we are slow to believe, and strengthen our faith. Teach your paths to all those who seek the road to life.

Amen

Excellent Day

Played disc golf with a couple of my former students. They are awesome guys. I laugh a lot when I hang out with them, especially when I watch them play disc golf. They love God and inspire me to love God too. I've watched these guys grow up since they were kinda young. I've seen them grow in their love for God and it has been a joy to see.

It was an awesome day. Sunny, not very humid (its been like a sauna lately), incredible day. I haven't played disc golf in awhile so I was a bit rusty but I still finished par.

Came home and made arrangements with my car insurance company to get the settlement check from my car accident. Looks like I'll have a fair down payment toward another car.

In the evening I went to a picnic with the Juniors (and their families) that I meet with each week in a Christian support group that we call "men's group." The picnic was great. The families are wonderfully supportive. It rained very hard so we had to move inside. We had a great meeting. We laugh a lot. Humor is a wonderful gift.


"Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, that cannot be shaken, that stands forever (Psalm 125:1)."

Cars break, people let us down, we don't get the job we wanted, we don't make the team, we don't impress people we really wanted to impress, we don't make enough money, we don't have enough time to get everything completed, we don't know how to love well, we miscommunicate important ideas to others, our health fails us, relationships are sometimes difficult, loved ones die or leave us, wars and rumors of wars frighten us, the economy worries us, and sometimes nothing seems to work as planned.

I remember when I took a job with an unexpected pay cut. That first year I occasionally found my cubboards and fridge empty. There were times when I literally had no food in the house. I took the job because I believed God wanted me to take it. Why would God want me to take a job that would not allow me to take care of my basic necessities? God used that year to do amazing things in my life. He put me in a place where I was free to be myself and to grow. I may not have had any money, but I was very rich nonetheless. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone that I was not making enough money to pay for necessities such as food. One morning, I woke up, got ready for work, opened the door and three bags of groceries were left on my doorstep. The bags were not filled with cheap no-name brand, "poor people's food." The bag had quality steaks, ice cream, and other good stuff. It even had a cool Sports Illustrated magazine in it.

A few years later my car broke down and needed to be replaced. I had no money. God provided a car anyways. Not long after, it broke down. Within six months, I went through 4 vehicles. At first it was frustrating to stress over the loss of the first two vehicles. When God provided the third vehicle I started to have fun with it. God gives us this day, our daily bread. In other words, our Heavenly Father provides for His children.

God has provided in many different ways over the years. I am learning to trust Him. And I am shaken less and less each time something goes wrong. My confidence in God is growing.

Please consider praying with me:

God is our shield and defender. Let us put our trust in Him, as we pray:

O God, those who put their trust in you cannot be shaken: strengthen in faith those who are afraid. Open the eyes of faith to see your presence. Guard the hearts of the young and the uncertain. Drive the false gods from the temples of our hearts. Let those who have died live on in your peace. May the Lord guard our going and coming both now and forever. Amen.

Morning Prayer

"Strong is God's love for us; he is faithful for ever; come, let us give thanks and praise! (Ps. 117:2)"

The book of Isaiah tells us that "Though the mountains leave thir place and the hills be shaken, My love shall never leave you...says the LORD, who has mercy on you." God's love for us remains no matter what is going on in our lives. Everything can be falling apart, like mountains falling to the ground, but God's love is steadfast. When bad things or difficicult circumstances happen does it mean that God's love is missing? I see God's love in all things, even the difficult things in life.

Please consider praying the following with me:

Grant us the grace to put our trust in your fidelity rather than on our own short-sightedness. Teach us to hear and to live the words we pray when we are gathered for worship. Make us walk in the ways of truth and beauty today. Remember your people, O Lord.

I thank God for the amazing life You have given me. Thanks for your unfailing, steadfast, perfect love.

God bless!

Camp

Camp was a blast. I am the camp director for a week-long, echumenical, charismatic, Christian boys camp for Middle School aged boys. I remember vividly my first year, as a 7th grader, in 1982. I had an amazing time at camp. My three years of camp as a camper changed my life. I've been to camp every year (except one) since 1982.

This year we had 104 boys and a huge number of amazing staff. The theme for the week was taken from Romans 8 (one of the parts of the Bible). "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himselfe testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..." Romans 8:15-17

This passage is very rich and meaningful in many ways. We talked about the Prodigal Son, which is a story Jesus told to a crowd of people. You can read about it in Luke 15. It is a story of forgiveness and mercy, and the joy of seeing someone who was lost come home and be found in good standing. Sin is a big deal. It is not some insignificant thing. In fact, it is such a big deal that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Accepting this great gift from God means that our sins are forgiven. Our adversary, the devil, accuses us and makes us feel ashamed and guilty when we sin. Often, we try to do as Adam and Eve did when they first sinned; they tried to hide from God. When we find ourselves in sin we often stay away from prayer or church until we "get our act together." The problem is that we, like the prodigal son, have nothing but pig crap to stand in. We are powerless to overcome sin and weaknesses on our own. And, just like the prodigal son, we need our Father to clothe us in the best robes, to put a ring on our finger, and to have the best life we can have. The act of putting on the best robes, the gold ring, and having the best calf killed for the party for his son, who was dead but is now alive, who was lost, but is now found, is the act of mercy. This is a very accurate description of how our Father sees us when we turn to him and repent. Rather than yell at us or punish us, he sees us for who we really are - his lost son who came home. We aren't the scum of the earth. We aren't terrible people. We are heirs to all that our Father has, and co-heirs with Christ. The robe is status and comfort to the lost son. It reminds him that he is still his father's son. It reminds him that he is still an heir. The ring is the authority as a son. The authority is restored. The accuser, the devil, has nothing to say to the Father's heir because the son has real authority and real acceptance by the Father. Neat stuff!

We also talked about the fact that our only hope is in God. As children of God, we can boldly ask our Father for what we need to live out our lives the way He calls us to live them out. We also have the responsibility to share the love of the Father with others because, as it says in Romans, all of creation groans and waits for the revelation of God's sons. God wants to set all of creation free from slavery through us. That is amazing power that He has given to us. It is real power, and we need not fear anything, because it comes from God, the Father.

Many kids were touched by God, freed to experience the Father's love, freed from shame, guilt, condemnation, and performance spirituality (a type of unhealthy external perfectionism that is twisted into performing for others, rather than accepting God's love for who we are and being real with Him and others about our flaws and weaknesses as we cry out to God our Father for help in dealing with our internal struggles). Lots of kids just fell in love with God at camp and had a great time in prayer and in worship. Many received spiritual gifts from God to heal the sick, care for the poor, preach the Gospel to the lost, and to pray powerfully for people.

We played a sweet game of Conquest ( a complex game that combines team-building activities, capture the flag, and tag). It really looked like campers and staff were having fun. It was a very hot week, but we really didn't have much difficulty with heat exhaustion.

I was very impressed with the talks this year. Last year I was frustrated that several of the guys spoke for over an hour! This year, they were short, interesting, and powerful. Many of the kids commented to me that they enjoyed the talks and found them very helpful.

The food was better this year. For several years, the quality and quantity of the food was getting worse and worse. This year I had very few complaints about the food.

The Gong Show was great. There were many hilarious skits. Much laughter! I even got in on the Gong Show and let an 80 pound kid beat me up in a boxing match in which I did not hit him back. I had several clipboards broken over my head. I dented a steel music stand with my head.

I had a great time watching the Junior Counselors embrace their roles and step up as leaders and counselors. I was very impressed.

God only knows if we will have camp next year. I hope we have camp again next year. Hundreds of kids have come to camp over the years and have met God, fallen in love with God, and have had their lives changed forever. I have a heavy heart about this. I don't want to belittle parents and be overly critical; I realize that I am not a parent and have no clue how hard it is to be a parent. I just wish parents would take more seriously their duty to evangelize their children, see them as precious gifts (even teenagers), and enjoy them more. It breaks my heart to hear of parents yelling and raging at their children for things like forgetting to turn lights off in the house, getting a B instead of an A, and for expressing how they really feel about life. As a teacher I sometimes get calls from parents who are outraged with their kids for getting an A- instead of an A. I really wish such parents would step back for a moment and see how amazing their kids really are, and just play with their kids. How many fathers rough-house and throw a ball around with their kids? I know there are plenty who do these things with their kids, but there are so many who don't have a clue how to enjoy their kids. I have been doing youth work for 18 years and I NEVER encountered a bad kid. Every single one of them have been precious, amazing, and enjoyable kids. How many parents pull their kids aside to let them know they are awesome?

This is one of the reasons why I don't want to see camp end. It is a chance for God to let these boys know that even though they may not be the best students. or the best athletes, or the best behaved, even though they are sometimes forgetful and egocentric, God not only loves them, but enjoys them just as they are. This isn't to say that parents should let their children be mediocre. I just think it is better to build a kid up rather than tear him down.

First Post

I don't really know what to say for the first post. I suppose it doesn't have to be anything special. I couldn't sleep last night. I was up until about 6 in the morning. Part of it was that I had heart burn. Part of it was that I couldn't stop thinking about life and how easy it is to make the least of it.

I'm looking forward to playing disc golf in the morning with a few of my former students. It should be fun.

I really wish there were good summer sports to watch on TV. I'm missing football and basketball. Baseball is fun to play but I really don't get into watching it.

I got in a car accident last week. Traffic stopped ahead of me, so I stopped too, but the woman behind me did not stop, and drove her car, without even slowing down, straight into the back of my car. This pushed my car into the car in front of me. It was the most violent impact I have ever felt. It was actually frighteningly violent and quite painful. My neck hurts pretty badly. My car was not fully paid for, so the insurance will mostly go to the bank. I really hope I can afford a new car. God always provides what I need so I am trying not to get anxious about this.

Camp was great again this year. I think I'll post a separate post about camp, just so I can have it on record.



"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)."

I can tell dozens of true stories about God being ever-present in my life as a refuge and as my strength. I can also tell many stories about me failing to recognize God as ever-present in my life. When we take our eyes, our hearts, our minds, off of God and focus on the sin, temptations, and events in our lives, its very easy to forget that God is with us. Sometimes we even get off track by focusing on seemingly good things, like trying to live holy lives. We can concentrate so hard on trying to make ourselves better by ridding our lives of certain sins or weaknesses. Pretty soon we are far from God, and trying to improve ourselves on our own, apart from the One who has the power to change us.

But if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, we won't miss Him. We can see Him in the midst of our weaknesses, our sufferings, our struggles, our greatest victories, our joyous moments in life, and everywhere we go, and in everyone we know. Knowing He is there for us, knowing that He loves us so much, we can run into his open arms to find refuge and strength. I pray that in my weaknesses, I will run into His arms. I pray that in my victories I will remain in His arms. Thanks be to God!