Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a condition where your spine has an unnatural curve in it and results in a misalignment of nearly every other bone in your body. The curve can be either an "s-shaped" (a thoracic) or "c-shaped" (a lumbar) curve.

At Savannah's last well-child doctor visit in Minneapolis, the doctor discovered that she has scoliosis and is bad enough that she should be x-rayed. After checking the x-rays, she recommended that Savannah go to the Twin Cities Spine Center. We went there and they did some initial checking and said that with her current degree of curvature, given her rate of growth, she could have a very bad case of scoliosis by the time she is done growing.

Once we moved here to Louisville she started going to the Norton Spine Institute and working with a doctor who trained under her doctor in Minneapolis. If the scoliosis is advanced enough there are only 2 treatment options--bracing or surgery. Surgery is reserved for very bad cases. Savannah's curve is not bad enough to warrant surgery but is enough to require a brace. There are different kinds of braces made depending on the type of scoliosis you have. Savannah has both thoracic and lumbar and was custom fitted for a brace that she must wear 23 hours per day (except for when athletic activities are too difficult to perform with it--then she can remove it).

Below you can see Savannah sporting her new equipment. The point of the brace is to stop the curve from getting worse while she grows--so she has to wear this brace until her body stops growing. It is uncomfortable at times and can be hot to wear in this humidity, yet if she doesn't wear it, the results can be dramatic.

Sabrina has also been diagnosed with this condition and is being monitored to see if she will need a brace. While being monitored she is undergoing chiropractic care to help her remain flexible and potentially help improve the condition.

This has been a very interesting trial in our life. If you read my blog at all, it shouldn't come as a surprise to you, though, that I believe there are connections between the Gospel and Scoliosis. I hope to expound in those in the coming days. In the meantime, you can read more about scoliosis at these links:

• WebMD
• KidsHealth
• SpineKids

Scoliosis and the Gospel Pt. 1
Scoliosis and the Gospel Pt. 2
Scoliosis and the Gospel Pt. 3
Scoliosis and the Gospel Pt. 4
Scoliosis and the Gospel Pt. 5

My Electronic Pablum

I mentioned yesterday using an online service called Quantum Link by in the 80's. I was curious about what there was out there on the Internet about it and found the video below which an advertisement for it from 1986. What was amazing about this service was that it provided the basic services that the Internet browser brought to the public 2 or 3 years after the first browser was launched around 1993.

I used a Commodore 64 computer like the one pictured in this post and connected to the service using a 300 baud modem. (For those of you who aren't real tech aware--your old modem that you used to dial-up your Internet provider was likely a 56,000 baud modem!) Notice all the basic services that are described in this video. There's even a reference to a virtual world which is the same concept behind the current rage of SecondLife.

Enjoy the laughs!

Just When You Thought You'd Seen Everything...

I've been using the internet since 1989 (back before there were browsers there were connected communities--I used Quantum Link which later became AOL) and have been using the Internet proper since 1996 for work virtually every day. I've seen a lot of crazy and often amazing things on it. So it's very rare when I come across something new on the Internet that I don't say "oh yeah, I've seen that before." Tonight, Josh Harris posted a link to an amazing video that was one of those things I hadn't seen! I looked up the url at the end of the video and read about this guy named Matt Harding. Apparently, Dancing Matt has been around for a while! You can visit his site here. In the meantime, here is the amazing video:



From Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

The Debt of the Image-Bearer

Yesterday we visited a wonderful little church that Dr. Scott's wife, Zondra, recommended to us: Baxter Avenue Baptist Church. The people were genuinely friendly and very down-to-earth. The pastor, Ben Lairamore, is preaching through Mark and was on the passage where the People try to trap Jesus by asking Him whether you should pay taxes to Caesar or not. The well-known passage is a great example of the profound wisdom displayed by Wisdom Himself. Ben brought out a point that I either forgot about or never heard because it seeemed new to me yesterday...

In Mark 12:13-17, Jesus asks the Pharisees and the Herodians whose image was stamped on the coin. To the response of "Caesar" Jesus posits that whatever has the image stamped on it belongs to the owner of which the image reflects. He then says, "Give to God what belongs to God." This enthymeme is huge! It begs the question, "What belongs to God?" Following off of His logic, the answer would be: "Whatever has God's image stamped upon it." All things reflect, though dimly because of the curse, the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-4) but more explicitly, human beings reflect God's glory because they are all made in His image (Genesis 1:27). So what does that mean for us? It means that we are not our own. We belong to God as His creatures made by His command. We are in complete dependence upon Him and therefore, we cannot claim any rights of our own. We owe God everything for in Him we live and move and have our very being (Acts 17:28) and because all things were created for Him, by Him, and through Him (Colossians 1:16). And if God ordains all that comes to pass, then everything and everyone is under His command and who am I to question that!?

"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth." (Job 40:4)

---

Ben's whole message can be heard here.

The Gospel, Preaching, and Counseling

This is what I'm looking for in our search for a church, in my personal ministry to my wife and children, in my future ministry as a pastor, and in my life from my friends... you should too.

(By Thabiti Anyabwile)

via Pure Church by FellowElder on 6/16/08

From C. John Miller, Repentance and 21st Century Man (pp. 94-95, 97-98):

But today many hold back part of the truth through ignorance or state the truth abstractly and narrowly, or fail to give the gospel the cutting edge of specific application. This means that sinners are being robbed of the opportunity to repent by a message which is dulled by pride and self-dependence.

What is needed therefore is a humbling among the bearers of the gospel. At present complacency is the biggest single stumbling block to the ministry of the Spirit. The need of the hour is for bold, loving preaching by those who will not rest until the Lord establishes Jerusalem as a praise in the earth (Isa. 62:6-7).

Effective counseling is principally a carrying forward in private of specific applications of the preaching ministry in the church. The gospel message is announced boldly in a public context and given added effectiveness by a one-to-one follow-up in dealing with particular idols which Christ wants removed from each of our lives. Such confrontation in preaching and counseling involves a sensitivity to the heart cries of men. It combines tears and truth, as we bow together before the discipline of God's Word.

The warfare here is spiritual and calls for great courage on the part of God's ambassadors.

Courage!

Courage to ask if you are lulling men to sleep by a message that fosters self-congratulation rather than repentance to life.

Courage first to teach your own heart and then to teach others that there are only two ways to stand before God: either as a contrite publican or as a self-righteous Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14).

It will not be easy to tell those outside of Christ that their lives are built on presumption and pretense. And it will not be easy to tell confessing Christians that they, too, have taken for granted God's blessings upon their lives. ...

Pastor, how many officers in your church live only on the resources of a past Christian experience whose fires have long ago gone out?

How many separated saints have allowed the joints of the gospel armor to rust together through secret pride?

And what about the churches which have become gossip centers without anyone honestly facing up to the fact?

But, preacher, you have the answer.

Man is oppressed by the law of sin and death.

Man is oppressed by a guilty conscience and the prospect of divine judgment.

However, you have the gospel message which can change all of this. From it men learn of a bleeding sacrifice which does what the law of sin and death could never do. It brings expiation for sins and the washing of the conscience through a new dominion established by Jesus' resurrection.

In this message Christ, the risen Lord, is set forth in all His glory (2 Cor. 3:18). He can do what no mere human counseling can do. By turning to the Lord, i.e., by repenting, man can come into possession of this divine splendor revealed in Christ (2 Cor. 3:16-18).

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Communicating the Gospel to a Toddler

How do you communicate the Gospel to a toddler? How can your discipline of your child actually be "pleasant words"? John Younts at Shepherd Press does a fantastic job of answering this question. Read it for yourself and discuss with your spouse, friends, parents.

Love Is Self-Sacrificial

From Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges, p138:

The extent of God's love at Calvary is seen in both the infinite cost to Him of giving His one and only Son, and in the wretched and miserable condition of those He loved. God could not remove our sins without an infinite cost to both Himself and His Son. And because of their great love for us, both were willing--yes more than merely willing--to pay that great cost, the Father in giving His one and only Son, and the Son in laying down His life for us. One of the essential characteristics of love is the element of self-sacrifice, and this was demonstrated for us to its ultimate in God's love at Calvary.

Learn to Confess Your Sins

Though this article below by "Mark" from "Seminary Survival Guide" was written to seminary students, it applies to all of us. This element of being a disciple is so critical. So, so critical.

via Seminary Survival Guide.com by Mark on 6/16/08

Confession is a much neglected discipline in Protestant life, despite the clear biblical command to "confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed." (James 5:16) Speaking your depravity out loud to a listening brother or sister in Christ is one of the most powerful means of sanctification I've ever seen. I'm a big proponent of it, because nothing frees me from my sin faster than shining the cold light of my brother's gaze on it.

There's just one problem. I hate confessing my sins.

I mean I really hate it. Viscerally. It makes me squirm and writhe down to the very core of my soul to say out loud what I was thinking or what I was doing or what I was looking at. You'd think I was undergoing exorcism (which, in a way, is exactly what's happening). I'd almost rather do anything than confess my sins. I'd rather hide my sins and play the "Oh-I'm-fine" church game for all eternity.

So I'm still learning the discipline of confession. My counsel to seminary students is to join me.

Since most of our readers are from Christian traditions in which confession is not a formal practice, I offer a few thoughts on its implementation

Choosing a Confessor. You need a mature Christian friend of the same gender who knows you well enough and is mature enough to handle your depravity. They should love you and you should be reasonably comfortable with them. If you don't have any relationships of this quality, you can go to a pastor or counselor as an intermediate measure.

However, the absence of quality friendships in which confession of sins is possible is a big problem. You need friends like this. Be sure that the real problem isn't your unwillingness to be transparent.

Beware of confessing to new Christians or emotionally immature people. I've learned the hard way that not everyone can handle the responsibility of hearing about my depravity. This is especially true for people in ministry, because ordinary Christians sometimes put us on a pedestal. It's important that we find safe people.

Full Honesty. God desires "truth in the inner parts (Psalm 51:6) Even as we confess our sin, we're inclined to qualify, justify and minimize it, giving reasons why it's not as bad as it sounds, etc. Forget that. In confession, we embrace the glorious truth is that Christ is our justification and we need no other. True confession abandons all self-justification, looks our depravity full in its face and holds nothing back.

Don't Play Language Games. When you're confessing, do not qualify your sin by saying you're "struggling" with it. No you're not. You're sinning. Deliberately.

Abraham Piper is incisive:

We're not porn-addicts; we "struggle with lust."

We're not arrogant; we "struggle with pride."

With a simple cliché our sins become palatable.

C. J. Mahaney has great counsel, too:

A sincere confession of sin should be specific ("I was arrogant and angry when I made that statement; will you please forgive me for sinning against you in this way?") and brief (this shouldn't take long). When I find myself adding an explanation to my confession, I'm not asking forgiveness but instead appealing for understanding.

Confess Early

I have a close friend from college who's also in ministry. We call each other when we're facing or giving in to sexual temptation. It's always best when I call him at the first sign of trouble:

• It halts the downhill slide of my depravity
• The earlier I do it, the less I have to confess
• My confessing inspires him to come clean about his failures (and vice versa)

Confess Regularly

I'm not of the school of thought that we have to verbally name every sin we commit. I'm not even sure that's possible. There's no question, however, that we would benefit greatly from a regular pattern of confession of sin. Think of how much pride would be derailed if every week we named our sins out loud to a loving friend in Christ!

When hearing confessions:

Be gracious. Once a person has come to a point of admitting their sin, they usually don't need us piling on telling them how awful it is, unless they're being evasive. Our primary function is to minister the grace and forgiveness of Christ to them. "Watch yourselves, lest you too be tempted." (Galatians 6:1) Beware of any arrogance of superiority about your brother's failings.

Don't say it's all right when it's not. Say only things that are true: You have sinned, you are loved, you are forgiven. It's a chance to be priestly to each other.

Encourage preventative and restorative measures. This may mean memorizing scripture, praying in a certain way, confessing sin to an injured party, taking steps of restoration or repayment, the end of a relationship, a change in schedule, a filter on a computer, or even counseling or some kind of intervention.

Don't try to fix them. You are not the Holy Spirit. It's not your job to sanctify them, or to "make sure this never happens again."

Don't get over your head. Remember that you're a brother and not a professional counselor-don't try to solve problems that are too big for you. At my church, we refer people with serious issues to Christian counselors all the time. We still love, pray and support them,

Always pray together. Prayer brings the presence of God into the confession experience in a very cleansing and affirming way.

"A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

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Free At Last, Free At Last

The closing of our home in Maple Grove completed today at 3:30 CST! Praise the Lord together with us!

Obama or McCain May Help Spread the Gospel?

I've heard many Christians lament lately about the choice of candidates for this upcoming presidential election. They are sure that the country is about to change and for the worse. I refuse to make such prognostications, but one thing I am sure of is that God will use which ever man He puts into the Oval Office to accomplish His purposes. In fact, as John Newton puts it, God may use whichever individual to actually purify the Church and spread the Gospel!



From The Works of the Rev. John Newton ... By John Newton

Sudden Destruction Coming Soon

Psalm 33:10-11 The Lord foils all the plans oft he nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.

(Judges 16:23-31) God will have the last word. Samson in his death killed more than in his whole life. The Philistines were rejoicing in their victory, praising Dagon for his great power. They had no clue what was about to come upon them. The judgment they deserved for blaspheming a holy and righteous God came down upon them in sudden destruction. That was it. They were done and God had the last word.

So it will be when Christ comes back. People will be reveling in their sin, thinking that the LORD is out of the picture and then sudden destruction will come. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5 that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly and will bring "sudden destruction." There will be no escape.

But Paul encourages us to put on the Gospel now--both believers and unbelievers--so that we will be protected by Him who can save us by His blood. The NLT says that though the sudden destruction is coming soon, Christ died so we can live with Him forever:

For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us. He died for us so that we can live with Him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of His return. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 NLT)

I Am Your Hell--and You Are My Heaven

From Thomas Brooks' The Unsearchable Riches of Christ: A Cabinet of Jewels in The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks By Thomas Brooks, Alexander Balloch Grosart





HT: First Importance

The Space Between the Wall and My Van

The house we are renting here in Louisville has a huge 2 1/2 car garage with plenty of room to store all of our children's toys, strollers, and bikes at the end of the garage and yet be able to walk around the vehicles when parked in the garage. This is a huge contrast to the so-called 2-car garage we had in Minnesota. There, we had to park the van and the car next to each other with their side mirrors overlapping--about 6 inches between each vehicle all just to be able to get out of our vehicles. It was pretty tight. So the other day as I was getting out of the van, I realized how much you appreciate things like open space when you didn't have it before. Not only am I incredibly blessed to have two vehicles I own, I am blessed with an abundance of stuff to put into a garage.

But you know what thought hit me harder than all of that? Most people in the world outside of Disneyland-America live with all of their possessions... in a space that would fit between the wall and my van.

The Gospel for a Perfect Memory

What it would be like to have a near-perfect memory? Jill Price knows. Since around the age of 12, Jill has remembered almost every minute detail of her life:

From a 20/20 Interview, By Keturah Gray and Katie Escherich, May 9, 2008:

"I am in the moment, but I also have, like this split screen in my head. I always explain it to people like I'm walking around with a video camera on my shoulder. And every day is a videotape. So if you throw a date out at me, it's as if I pulled a videotape out, put in a VCR and just watched the day. As it happened. From my point of view. "I walk around with my life right next to me”
Price remembers what she was doing on those days, just as she relives every moment of her life, good and bad. It's not just the look of her first crush that she remembers, it's the painful sting of rejection. Price acknowledges that it can be paralyzing.
… Many people think that Price's gift may be a dream, but she says "it's good and bad" and can sometimes feel like being a prisoner of her own past.
… "She was not easy," Price's mother Roz said of her childhood. "And that's because everything that was going through her head she couldn't explain. There were things I would think to myself, 'Why doesn't she just get over that?' said her brother Mike. "And I realize now that … a year passing for something, for me, you know, I've forgotten it already. But, obviously she doesn't."
… Price's experience serves as a reminder that our lives and happiness may be shaped not only by what we remember, but by what we choose to forget.

Can you even begin to imagine what this would be like? There could definitely be some benefits! Think about the advantage you would have in playing Trivial Pursuit! Or, as she pointed out on an NPR interview, you would never ever forget where you put your keys, your purse, your glasses, etc. But as was pointed out in the interview, it would also be crippling.

Yesterday, your kids drove you up the wall and you let out words you wish you could take back. Today that scene would keep playing over and over. But if you were Jill, it wouldn’t stop there. Not only would you remember it vividly tomorrow, next month, next year, and the next decade, but you would also with superb clarity remember every time you had done something like that before and how the pain would just compound like an unrelenting charge-card bill.

This condition of Jill’s has only been discovered in the last couple of years, and the only thing they can do for her right now is analyze her. So far, they’ve only confirmed 5 other people with the same condition.[1] Is there any hope for this to stop? Probably not in this lifetime.

As a person who believes that our biggest problem in life is not what happens to us, but what is inside us—sin—Jill’s problem reminds me of how the Gospel is for both unbelievers and believers. How so? First, one of God’s purposes in the Cross was to redeem all things from the curse of sin (Colossians 1:19‑20). Because Christ paid the price due for sin (a righteous man with inherent infinite worth), He removed the barrier that occurred from Adam’s sin. Adam’s sin resulted in the curse affecting all of creation including our physical minds including Jill’s mind. But you may be thinking, “But Christ died on the cross 2000 years ago and it sure looks like nothing’s been redeemed yet in creation.” In our eyes, it’s hard for us to see clearly because our vision is so myopic, but from the moment Christ began his earthly ministry, God began redeeming back creation.[2] God sees His plan of redemption holistically knowing the end from the beginning. So, slowly, God is changing things—through the power of the Gospel, He is redeeming back everything. This redemption will be climaxed at His return when He will finish what He started, when He will judge all the wrongs, and fix all that has been broken. Until that time, things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be. So, the Gospel first applies to Jill, and all of us, in remembering that all that is messed up in creation will be redeemed back completely because of what Christ accomplished at the center of history on the Cross.

Secondly, the Gospel applies to life right now. While the God who made the Universe and everything in it has the power to miraculously fix her brain right now to stop remembering all of her past sin, I couldn’t promise her that it would stop just because she would place her faith in Christ alone. I don’t know Jill and whether she has placed her faith in Christ alone to save her, but let’s say for the sake of the story that she has only recently repented and believed in the Gospel. And for the sake of the story, let’s say that He didn’t heal her brain and she has to go on living with this pain of an unforgiving memory every day. What is she to do? How does the Gospel apply to her right now?

Sometimes even as people who have been forgiven of all of our sin, we tend to be more aware of our sin than of grace. I have a legalistic tendency when I’m overwhelmed by my present sin or past sins to make promises like reading the Bible more, praying more, be more involved, start fasting, but, as Jerry Bridges points out, “Our promises of future obedience, however sincere, do not resolve condemnation for past sin.” (The Gospel for Real Life, p43) This is one reason how the Gospel applies to me every day—one reason why I need to preach this truth to myself everyday: Romans 8:1 tells me that because of what Christ has done, there is now no condemnation. There is total forgiveness. When I am conscious of the sins in my life, I must remember that the solution to combating sin is not simply to introduce more spiritual disciplines (which are necessary for my spiritual sustenance), but to come to the Cross and once again confess to God my sin, despise it for what it is, and thank Him for the total forgiveness He accomplished on the cross.

But Jill and we need to understand even more practically what to do with memories of the past. Robert Jones points out how God wants to redeem your memories now, not remove them. He says that the Gospel helps us remember three things: God was in your past, your past does not control your future, and your memories result from your interpretation of your past. (Bad Memories: Getting Past Your Past, pp4-7) A great example of how this works out can be seen in how the Apostle Paul himself dealt with his memories of his past. He says in 1 Timothy 1:12-17:

¹²I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul starts off sounding like he was only formerly a great sinner and we would think that the next thing he would say (in light of all the great things in his life) is that he is now something much better. But what does he say? He says that he is still the foremost sinner—or literally, the most sinning sinner. He follows with that wonderful conjunction but. But I received mercy. Paul does not glory in his own accomplishments or wallow in his present failures, He glories in the fact that in light of what he is, he yet received mercy and forgiveness at the Cross. And this mercy seen in his life is an outward demonstration to others to draw them to receive the same forgiveness. Finally, this granting of mercy pulls us to worship the One because He alone can grant mercy and forgiveness!

Here’s an even more startling fact: Jill’s memories and your own memories of sin can be transformed to make them precious to you. What? How in the world? Jones says this: “… when the dandelions of your past spring up—unwelcome and uninvited—you must seize them as opportunities to remember the cross. ‘Yes, Lord, I sinned, and I am ashamed,’ you confess. ‘But Jesus paid for my sin. He absorbed the wrath that I deserved. I am now forgiven—fully forgiven—as far as the east is from the west. Please weed these memories from my mind. But until you do, I will praise you for your saving grace in Jesus my Lord.’” (Bad Memories: Getting Past Your Past, p19)

This is why and how we need the Gospel as believers. We are people who at times are overwhelmed with the reality of our frailty and failures. If you’re Jill, you may be overwhelmed all the time. But the power of Gospel is greater than all powers—it is the power of God Himself! (Romans 1:16) You need reminder of the total forgiveness on a daily basis and the only place for this is accomplished is in a cross-centered life.

[1]An excerpt from her book The Woman Who Can’t Forget can be read on this NPR webpage: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90596530
[2]This is why Jesus said things like He did in Matthew 12:28 when He said that when miracles occur around you, you should realize that the Kingdom of God is here. This the proverbial tension of the already and the not yet.

T4G Musings, Part 3

The San Francisco Chronicle reported today on a heralding from UCC president, John Thomas, to a congregation and the world, "Friends, we need a sacred conversation on race." They were led in a corporate prayer acknowledging to God, "You created us in divine likeness, diverse and beautiful, but too often, we have failed to see every race and every person as a reflection of your image." From the UCC's website, it appears that the goal in mind is to "have a conversation on race" that will lead to "develop processes that will lead to productive dialogue and action."


While I'm sure that you find this very interesting, you're probably wondering what in the world this has to do with the "Together for the Gospel" conference! Bear with me...

On the church's website, you'll find a document designed to spell out the presuppositions undergirding this new campaign on fighting racism. In "Principles and Assumptions Underlying a Conversation on Race", assumption #6 states,

People who understand that racism is rooted in a 400 year old system of economic exploitation, and that it was constructed, rationalized, and legitimized for economic gain, are less likely to see it as innate to humans and, therefore, inevitable. Racism was socially constructed, therefore, not given in “nature”. “nature”.[i]

Here is where I want to bring in the third conference session from T4G: Thabiti Anyabwile woke nearly everyone up at the conference by beginning his session saying that "We all have the wrong assumptions about race." He delivered on his premise. Everyone I've talked to about this session agreed that he brought us into a paradigm shift. The liberal UCC denomination on the surface appears to be starting to say the same thing that caused my mind to start changing: "Racism was socially constructed, therefore, not given in 'nature.'" Posited this way as "racism" I think many people could understand what they are saying. However, Thabiti took us much further than simple racism--he said the what we call "race" does not even exist! I'll say it again so that you don't skim over it: Race does not exist.

So if you're not mind-boggled yet, hang on! How can he say that what we call "race" does not exist? It comes down to unbiblical thinking. We have missed the boat entirely. How is this unbiblical? He argues that we are all genealogical descendants of Adam and as as sons of Adam, we are all made in the image of god (the imago dei). Check it out from Genesis:

• 1:26-28 says that we are made in God's likeness.
• 3:20 brings out the biological unity of all mankind.
• 5:1-3 shows that in the genealogy of Adam Seth is a man in "the image of Adam" and Adam is in "the image of God."
• 9:5-6 shows the value in mankind because we are still made in imago dei!
• 10:1, 32 demonstrate the continuity from Noah in all three of his children. Races have often been pointed towards specific sons of Noah, but here we see that they all are in the image of Noah who was in the image of his father and so on.

In the 17th and 18th centuries Genesis 10 was used to develop a theology of race attempting to answer where races come from, where the apparent biological discontinuity is coming from. However, Thabiti pointed out that Genesis 10 is about "ethnicities." The term race commonly argues that there are essential biological differences whereas ethnicities is a fluid construct that includes language, nationalities, citizenship, cultural patterns, and is not rooted in biology. Race is a myth.

Our continuity with each other and Adam is the emphasis of Scripture. Our basis for identity is in Adam and hence the imago dei.

Thabiti then challenged us with 6 reasons for abandoning race. Race ...

1. ... encourages abuse of people and Scripture
2. ... is a short step from race to racism (It's a matter of degree, not kind.)
3. ... prevents/hinders meaningful engagement with others
4. ... denies the authority/sufficiency of Scripture (i.e. You won't find race in Scripture)
5. ... leads to resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit
6. ... undermines the Gospel itself in the work of missions (if not all people are descended from Adam, then not all are in need of salvation)

So the next time you see someone who looks different than you, remember that person is a son or daughter of Adam and in need of grace as much as you are. Extend the mercy and grace you've received...

For those of us who really wanted to dig into this topic more, Thabiti recommended two books (which I plan to purchase and read eventually!) that can help us think carefully, biblically along these lines:

1. From Every People and Nation, by Hays and Carson
2. The Forging of Races, by Colin Kidd

[i] The reference to a "400 year old system" is likely to the arrival of African slaves in St. Augustine, Florida delivered by Spanish conquistador Pedro Menéndez in 1565.

My Greatest Enemy

My biggest enemy is not Satan. He gets way too much credit. My biggest enemy is not the world. It gets focused on way too much as well. My biggest enemy is in me. Inside Paul Fuller’s own inner man is his Public Enemy #1.

Why is this so? Think about it this way (from Kris Lundgaard's The Enemy Within):

Literature smolders with hatred: Shylock aches for his pound of flesh in The Merchant of Venice. Javert dogs Jean Valjean through sixteen hundred pages of Les Miserables. C. S. Lewis's arch-villain Weston degenerates from thug in Out of the Silent Planet to "un-man" in Perelandra, ripping open the backs of frogs with his thumbnail and leaving them to die. But none of these can sustain a pure hatred to match Captain Ahab's eternal malice in Moby Dick. Ahab chases the White Whale across the oceans of the world. He doesn't blink to forfeit his ship and every life it carries, if only he can heave his harpoon into that terrible eye.

Moby Dick is a picture of our savage battle: let the White Whale stand for God--but don't be quick to make Captain Ahab the flesh. Ahab is the whale's enemy, but Paul says the flesh is more than God's enemy: it is the enmity, the hostility the pure hatred itself. The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:7 NKJV)

If the whale is God and Ahab's hatred is the flesh, then who is Captain Ahab?

You were.

. . . .

If there were the least thing about God that the flesh could appreciate, the believer could have a constant shelter and retreat from sin and its hatred. If the flesh didn't mind God's wisdom, for example, the soul could meditate on the mystery of the gospel day and night without tiring, and find constant strength in God's plan to save him. But the flesh hates everything about God. Since it resists everything about God, it resists every way we try to taste him and know him and love him. And the more something enables us to find God and feast on him, the more violently the flesh fights against it.

In other words, the more you fight against sin by seeing and savoring God, the harder your flesh is going to fight against that since it hates everything about God. Lundgaard continues:

It takes its battle to every quarter of the soul: When the mind wants to know God, the flesh imposes ignorance, darkness, error, and trivial thoughts. The will can't move toward God without feeling the weight of stubbornness holding it back. And the affections, longing to long for God, are constantly fighting the infection of sensuality or the disease of indifference.

Captain Ahab was driven by his rage to chase the whale to the end. The flesh is just as driven, and will with its last breath spit at God. But there is in us a Warrior just as committed to the flesh's destruction. The Spirit wars against the flesh (Galatians 5:17). Filled with the Spirit, empowered by God's love of us and our love for him, we turn on the flesh with our Captain's own curse:

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering flesh; to the last I grapple with thee; from heaven's heart I stab at thee; for love's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

Don't underestimate the power of the flesh and its bent towards sin. If you do, it will destroy you. It will destroy you. Sin crouches at your door and wants to master you (Genesis 4:7). John Piper says it this way: “Nobody goes to hell because of Satan. The only reason we go to hell is sin. Much more important than fighting Satan is fighting sin.” Listen here about how critical this battle truly is.

Who Defines God's Goodness?

Jonah 3:10 - 4:1 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

From Depression: A Stubborn Darkness, Light for the Path by Edward T. Welch (Winston-Salem: Punch Press, 2004), pp. 170-71.

God is good. The character of God has infinite facets. “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, and truth.”[i] Of these and many other attributes, Scripture often emphasizes that God is great and good, powerful and loving. In Jonah’s book, these qualities are on display. The crux of the book is Jonah’s defense. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). The problem is that this knowledge didn’t make a difference. If anything, it made things worse, at least from Jonah’s perspective.

Odd, given Jonah’s confidence in God’s love, that he would avoid trusting him. Didn’t he believe that God was also merciful to Israel? But his experience matches our own. We might believe that God loves us, but we aren’t so sure he will give us what we want. We want to be loved, and we also want to dictate the way and by whom we are loved. Jonah believed that God was gracious and compassionate, but he wanted love served up as judgment and destruction against his enemies.

Confession is once again the way out. With Jonah and us, when our desires depart from God’s, they become idolatrous. We don’t want anything to get between us and our object of worship. Jonah didn’t want to submit to God; he wanted to be a god.

Confession is when we acknowledge the against-God root of our behaviors. It is the beginning of a process where we turn away from our self-focused desires and turn to the Holy God. When we turn, we realize that we had a very small view of his love. In Jonah’s case, he believed that God was good, but he didn’t really believe it. He believed that his own plans were better. His myopic vision of God’s love was such that he believed that if God was good to one nation, he couldn’t bless another. He didn’t understand that God could be good to both Nineveh and Jerusalem.

Perhaps you agree that God is good. You know what Christ has done, and you believe that the cross is evidence of God’s goodness. But his goodness doesn’t make a difference to you. It is irrelevant because good is defined on your terms rather than God’s. Like a child, the satisfaction of your plans, your wants, and your desires is the standard for God’s goodness. Jonah tells us that good must be defined by God’s terms, not our own. Otherwise, we are standing in judgment of God.

[i]Westminster Confession of Faith, Shorter Catechism, Question 4.

When Horsin' Around Gets Out of Hand

So here's the rest of the story about our little visit to Uncle Rick and Aunt Karen's farm... Sometime after breakfast on Saturday, Savannah and Sabrina went riding again. I was itching to get up there myself and take Elayna. Our turn came, I climbed up, and Rick tossed Elayna up there with me. The girls had been wearing their bicycle helmets for safety, and asked me if I was going to wear mine. I said, "No, we're just going to take a little walk and get down."

We started walking around the house, and the horse started trotting. Then he sped up a little bit. By this time Elayna is crying and not happy about bouncing on a saddle. I'm telling the horse, "whoa" and nothing's happening. After nearly careening into the pond, Rick managed to get Star to stop so we could get Elayna down. So far, the trotting was kind of fun, nothing too crazy.

So after Rick takes Elayna, he tells me, don't pull too hard on his reigns because his mouth is sensitive. Then I give him a little nudge with my heel and Star took off trotting right away. We came to the end of the fence and I thought I would turn him around and come back, but he had other plans. He heads the opposite direction around the fence and off towards the woods. By now he was galloping fairly fast and I'm sitting on this junior saddle hanging on for dear life. He plows on into the woods and runs through the bramble bushes and my face gets scratched up. We come out of the woods and start down a hill back towards the barn. I thought, "Good, we'll be done with this in a minute." Then he starts galloping even faster down the hill. It was all I could do to hang on. I honestly thought I was going to fly off and hit the ground and either die or become a quadriplegic. I think we were probably only going about 20 miles an hour, but for a non-experienced rider who still isn't able to get the horse to stop, it seemed like 60 mph!

We make it up to the barn and start heading towards the curve and my foot slips out of the left stirrup. By this time, I'm yelling at Star to stop. (Obviously not getting the message across to the horse!) As he rounded the bend, I totally lost my balance since my foot was not in the stirrup anymore, and fell off the left side of the horse. As I hit the ground, I rolled and heard snap-crackle-and-pop louder than any chiropractic adjustment I'd ever had. When I stopped, I could feel pain all over my body, yet I could feel it. I said out-loud, "God, you are so good to me!" It was the first time in my life I was thankful for feeling pain, even pain everywhere. I thought immediately about Christopher Reeve and Joni and how that could've been me.

Though I could feel everything, I was definitely not able to stand up right then. I was worried that I broke something. I was groaning pretty loud and heard Rick shout, "Are you okay, Paul?" I yelled back, "No! I need help!" Savannah and Sabrina heard all this and began to panic. Savannah ran into the house and told Audrea, "Daddy fell off a horse!" Of course, that threw Audrea into a state of panic herself.

By the time she and Rick made it out to where I was, I was able to sit up. Rick helped me stand up and hobble over to the golf cart. They took me to the house and I laid there for several hours on ice and experiencing occasional waves of shock (nausea, chills, cold sweat, and headache). As I would try to stand up to see if we could get going home, the pain was so sharp, I would get light-headed and feel like I was going to pass out. So I'd sit down again and rest. We decided we'd head home and seek medical advice. They wheeled me out on an office chair to the van and I was able to pull myself into it. I was really beginning to empathize with disabled individuals who can't walk!

On the way back to Louisville, we called a nurse line and they said an urgent care facility would be fine and an emergency room unnecessary. We found a clinic and then had to figure out what to do with the kids. We really only knew two families at the time and one of them had several children themselves. So we called Josh and Gretchen and asked if Gretchen could come watch the kids while Audrea took me in. She was so concerned and willing to help (THANK YOU, Gretchen!). Once we got the kids settled, we headed to the clinic and was able to get in quickly. The doctor took x-rays and didn't see any breaks. He wasn't really sure where the major pain was coming from. So he told me to stay off my feet for a week, start taking pain medicine, and in a week try to walk again. If the pain was still there, he said to go get an MRI. Once again, we praised the Lord for having a job that I could do while working from home and even in bed!

After about 3 days, I started trying to walk without crutches and found that I could slowly make my way around as long as I didn't move too fast. I waited for a week, and while I was still in pain all over, it wasn't unbearable (as long as I was high on ibuprofen!) Instead of going to a clinic, I knew that the best thing for me would be chiropractic due to the pain all over in my body. On the following Tuesday, I visited O'Neil Chiropractic and had more x-rays done and diagnostic tests. It was clear--I was a mess all over. Now, 2 weeks later after many adjustments and therapy, I'm doing much better.

Yet, there is still some pain in the left hip in the center area whenever I do anything strenuous. Dr. O'Neil had sent the x-rays off to a radiologist. After about 10 days, we got the results back and confirmed his suspicion behind the pain--I had actually broke a part of my pelvis! It's a minor break--a pelvic fracture, but a break nonetheless. (The original doctor looked too quickly at the x-rays.) Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about it other than waiting for it to heal. Technically the broken bone is in the lower portion of my ischium. I've included an x-ray of someone else's pelvis (I'm a little embarrassed to show my pelvis to the whole world ) . The red hairline is where the break is in the ischium bone.

If any of you have known me for a long time, you know that this accident is not a surprise considering my history! In fact, I told Audrea, "When I call my mom to tell her, I'll bet you $20 she'll laugh!" And she did.

I'll conclude this long story with a comic strip that Audrea's mom was kind enough to send me in a get-well card. It epitomizes me in this situation.

P.S. Audrea and I have been cracking up since this happened thinking about Uncle Rico telling Kip and Napoleon: "Grandma took a little spill at the sand dunes today. Broke her coccyx." Thankfully, I didn't break that!

Horsin' Around

It's catch up time on the family...

One of the wonderful benefits of living in Louisville is the proximity of family. Audrea's Uncle Rick and Aunt Karen live just over an hour away out in the middle of paradise (I'll show you on our next trip). Four weeks ago we were able to go spend some time with them, their daughter Lauren, and their horses.

Savannah brushing Star:
Savannah getting ready to ride:
Sabrina and Audrea:

More horsin' around to come...

A Bright Spot Is Gone

As many bad things as I have said in the past about Danville, there are many, many more good things that I should have been saying. On Thursday, Danville lost one of those bright spots that really "put it on the map."

Mary Coffman was brilliant and extremely talented and had the credentials to prove it. I remember having a conversation with one of my friends from high school once after we had gone off to college. In that conversation, he berated DACC as being a place for losers and full of unprofessional and sub-educated teachers. Besides being rather offended since I was one of those so-called losers, I was amazed he would say that in light of people like Mary Coffman. As you can read from the credentials in her obituary, she was no sluff. Fulbright scholars who earn their master's from the U of I and then study at Oxford, are not dull individuals!

Mary was "Mrs. Coffman" to me. I had her for both of my writing classes at DACC. Unlike most of the members of my class, I really enjoyed learning under her tutelage. But I will most remember Mary from my Introduction to Film class. Mary opened my eyes to the art of cinematography like I had never seen before. She was so passionate about teaching and life!

We'll be praying for you Mr. Coffman and Elizabeth that God would minister much grace to you through this very difficult time.

HT: Gretchen

House Update

We've nailed down the purchase agreement on our home! Our prayers were answered in two major ways:

• Repair Requests: The furnace passed inspection and is safe and working! The breaker box had open slots to fix the existing double tapping on two circuits. The work that they have asked us to perform is minor safety things and we have agreed to get those done.
• Finances to pay for the closing: God has blessed us with three major donors that have contributed to help us cover the short sale! The first two gave us large donations that will cover the majority of the costs. The third individual has promised to give us an interest-free loan to cover whatever remaining balance is due at the closing. We will likely have to take advantage of that loan offer, but we are praising God for that.

The scheduled closing date is June 13th. What an amazing God we serve who answers prayer and provides for our every need!

T4G Musings, Part 2

Ligon Duncan spoke during the first session on Systematic Theology and its relationship to pastoral ministry. Duncan reminded us that in our culture today doctrine, theology, and Systematic Theology are under duress. Much to the disagreement of post-moderns, Systematic Theology is important. Contra the Emergents, he argued that the Bible is not a story narrative. The story line of redemption has to be pieced together with Biblical and Systematic Theology.

Post-modernism's notions of meaningless language are detrimental to theology. The idea that language is not inherently understandable (that it is merely a social-linguistic byproduct, ala Richard Rorty and his Philosophy and Mirror of Nature) comes from medieval gnosticism and post-Kantian philosophy and is entirely abiblical. Rather, he points out, we see from Genesis 2 that language is inherently understandable. And because it is understandable, we can know its referents--we can know God Himself, because He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

Duncan did a brilliant job of showing that a personal Systematic Theology is unavoidable, even for a post-modern. Since a personal Systematic Theology is simply topical--what do you believe about something in particular, we all believe something even if it is to say that "I don't believe anything about that topic." If someone comes up to you and asks, "What do you believe about hell?" you won't tell them a story. You'll say simply what you believe to be true. This is what Systematic Theology does, and as Duncan points out, what Christ said on the road to Emmaus. When I had thought of this passage before, I honestly thought more along the lines of Biblical Theology (a storyline of redemption through the Bible pointing to Christ), but he observes that Christ told them all "the things" concerning Himself.

Finally, Lig' brought it down to what doctrine is important for. Romans 11:32-36--it's important for God's glory. John 15:12-16--it's important for our assurance. Ephesians 5:25--it's important for marriages (and note the ethical implication that is derived from the doctrine of atonement!). Philippians 3:1--it's important for your joy! Theology is for all of life, not just the classroom or the sanctuary.

Listen to the full sermon here.

Consider It Joy

In the middle of loss, whether it is your job, health, family, money, or even your life, it is often difficult to understand, let alone embrace, James' admonition to be joyful about these trials. I have been overwhelmed lately with all the loss I see happening to those close to me. Yet I've found God to be true in everything He says and by faith, I believe that He is good in all that he does because He is good Himself.

The following excerpt is from Paul David Tripp's book, Lost in the Middle, which deeply encouraged me last year as I walked through the pain of deep loss with some dear friends. Tripp says something very astounding that shook me up considerably:

We don’t tend to be very excited about being Christ-like and holy.
Instead, we get excited about being around people who love and affirm us. We get excited about children who grow up and do what is right. We get excited about making plans that actually come true. We get excited about physical health. We get excited about investments that have a good return. We get excited about having a safe, successful, stress-free, and predictable life. The problem with all of these things is not that they are wrong to desire. The problem is that we have settled for far too little. And we are surprised, shocked, and disappointed when God shakes them in order to refine us. You see, God has planned more and better things for us than we would want for ourselves. He is not content for us to be content with situational and relational ease. He will settle for nothing less than that we would become partakers of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

How do you assess a good day? Do you tend to celebrate the smooth-running, unobstructed days and curse the days when difficulty has been in your path? How small a trial is able to make you angry? How quick are you to question God and his goodness? How apt are you to lash out at others who seem to have gotten in the way of your plan? How much do you envy the apparent ease of others? How much is your joy and contentment directly tied to comfort and ease? Are you in an agenda-collision with your Lord? Do you live with a destination-mentality, cursing the heat of preparation when it comes your way?

You can read the full excerpt from the book here. (I highly recommend you purchasing this book and reading it for yourself.)

In addition, as I was thinking about this subject this morning, my CD player came to this song on Graham Kendrick's What Grace CD:

"Consider It Joy (When Trials Come)"
by Graham Kendrick

Though trials will come
Don’t fear, don’t run
Lift up your eyes
Hold fast, be strong
Have faith, keep on believing
Lift up your eyes
For God is at work in us
Moulding and shaping us
Out of his love for us
Making us more like Jesus

Consider it joy, pure joy
When troubles come
Many trials will make you strong
Consider it joy, pure joy
And stand your ground
Then at last you’ll wear a crown

Though trials will come
Won’t fear, won’t run
We’ll lift up our eyes
Hold fast, be strong
Have faith, keep on believing
We’ll lift up our eyes
For God is at work in us
Moulding and shaping us
Out of his love for us
Making us more like Jesus

Joy, pure joy
Consider it joy, pure joy
Joy, pure joy
Consider it joy, pure joy

Patiently trusting him
Ready for anything
’Til we’re complete in him
In everything more like Jesus

Consider it joy, pure joy
When troubles come
Many trials will make you strong
Consider it joy, pure joy
And stand your ground
Then at last you’ll wear a crown
Then at last you’ll wear a crown
Then at last you’ll wear a crown

Copyright © 2001 Make Way Music,
www.grahamkendrick.co.uk

Andrew and Grace Need You To Pray

This is from Andrew & Grace's blog. Please read and pray for wisdom to make the best decision evident to them.

I just don't know...

via Grace's Journal by Andrew Mark on 4/28/08

Our family is faced with the toughest decision yet. The docs at Mayo and my radiation oncologists think that my best chances of survival are to do another surgery and remove everything - remaining part of tongue, voice box, epiglotis, etc. That would mean that I would not be able to talk, eat, or smell, and I would breathe out of a hole in my neck. The radiation oncologists at Mayo and UMN think that this cancer is radiation resistant because it didn't die with last year's radiation so they don't think radiation will work this year.

It is believed that a massive surgery would increase my chances of cure, but not by very much. We had asked Dr. Yueh to do whatever it took during my surgery in March to remove the cancer, even if I could never eat or talk again but he opted not to cut it all out at that time because seeing the aggressiveness if my tumor and how it was scattered rather than in a single mass, it was unlikely that removing everything would get it all anyways. Dr. Moore at the Mayo Clinic thinks there might be a slightly better chance of survival if I was willing to do the surgery. The only thing is that Dr. Moore at Mayo wasn't the one who operated on me, so he didn't see how the tumor was behaving firsthand. On the other hand Dr. Yueh was able to see exactly how the tumor was behaving and made a decision in the operating room based on his extensive experience.

So I have 3 options:
1) A second course of radiation and chemotherapy
2) A third surgery plus a second course of radiation and chemo
3) Seek alternative therapies such a immunotherapy, nutrition, etc.

At this time there is not enough evidence that shows that a major surgery will greatly increase my chances of survival. If it was clear that I would survive, or perhaps have a decent chance at survival, then I would definately do it. Otherwise, I'm not so sure it is worth it because of is would greatly affect the quality of life that I have left. Besides, after having 2 surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, a third surgery could have life threatening complications.

Please pray for claritiy in this decision, and that God would heal me of this disease and allow me to be a husband to my wife and a father to my children for years to come.

I am going to start chemotherapy tomorrow anyways, and radiation starts next Monday. So I have until the end of this week to decide. I am trying to get an opinion from Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson, and asking more questions of Dr. Yueh and Dr. Moore this week. Pray that those meetings will bring clarity to the decision.

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Home Update

Just a quick update on the sale of our home... The inspection didn't happen until yesterday (Thursday). Our realtor called today and said that so far there were no major issues to worry about! Praise the Lord! Keep praying that this will go through smoothly both for us and the buyers, and that both agents would be able to make a decent profit on the sale in spite of the economy.

It's not fair!

Audrea and I have struggled recently over the seemingly unfairness of our house situation. We have never missed a payment on it. We put a downpayment on it (not 20%, but still not a 0% down). We have a nearly perfect credit score. Yet in the last year our house value dropped 17%--to a point where we now owe more on it than it's worth.

Many sellers today are taking one of two options: to "walk away" or to "sell short". (Selling short means working with the bank to only pay back part of the original loan value. In other words, if your mortgage was 150K and you asked the bank if they'll just take 135K.) The problem is, both options lack ethical integrity (unless in the latter you have simply asked for mercy from the lender).

We would never consider "walking away", but we have considered asking our lender for mercy to sell short. The problem is this: they're only doing this for those individuals who have been unable to make their payments. To Audrea and I, this seemed unfair. But if we think about it in light of this outstanding post from my friend Andrew, we simply must fall down on our knees in praise to God for His mercy in not giving us what we deserve.

Thank you, Andrew!

via Grace's Journal by Grace Mark on 4/21/08

ANDREW WRITES:

One of the hardest parts of the day is to sit with my family and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with them. An abundance of my favorite foods are strewn out across the table and my nostrils are filled with rich aromas of garlic, and breads, and pasta and sauces. I suddenly feel envious of others who get to taste and eat rather than having to inject medical formula directly into their stomach with a syringe. My mouth waters as I cherish vivid memories of being satisfied with a hearty meal after a long workout at the gym. Then I cringe in fear of not being able to experience that ever again. To be hungry for the rest of my life.

Can there be anything on God's good earth that is more satisfying than my wife's lentil soup or my mom's chinese cooking? Food is a wonderful thing and it used to bring me so much joy and satisfaction, but can I still have joy without it?

I struggle all day long to answer yes to that question. People often express their deep sympathy to me and say, "its just not fair that you would have to go through this. That really sucks". I often struggle in my mind thinking the same thing. The truth is that it isn't fair. My life just isn't fair.

Lets look at just a few of the facts of my unfair life.

1) Born 9/11/81 to loving parents, David and Joyce Mark.
2) My parents loved me.
3) My parents loved me so much that they never gave up on me despite my disrespect and rebellion. They always supported me.
4) I got to go to UCLA for college and experience so many things in life.
5) I became a Christian at the age of 20 and got to go to John Macarthur's church and learn so much about God through the bible.
6) I miraculously landed a job at Motorola, which I absolutely love. Going to work for me was exciting and fun.
7) I married the most amazing, beautiful, bright, caring person, aka Grace Uriarte.
8) We had AJ - the coolest kid on the block.
9) Then we got to have Gracie, sweet little Gracie.
10) Then I had cancer, but God restored me to complete health after that.
11) We got to move to Minnesota and we absolutely love it here.
12) I got cancer again and survived a very complicated surgery.

Its just not fair that I got to live richly for this long, while others die young. Its just not fair that God would sacrifice His only son so that I could be forgiven of my sins and receive life everlasting rather than perish in hell where there will be weeping and knashing of teeth forever.

Deut 8:3 says "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD."

When God rained manna down on the Israelites when they were starving they could only collect enough for the given day. God satisfied their hunger for a day, but He didn't provide for tomorrows hunger until tomorrow. Its true that cancer sucks because it could rob me of tomorrow. But it sure can't take away today. Joy is not found in tomorrow, it's found in today. Today I can find my nourishment in God who is my daily bread. God is making me hungry so that I might look to Him to satisfy me. Today I can rejoice because knowing God is so much more satisfying than the finest of foods.

Psalm 63:1 says, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water."

The true hunger of a human being is not for food, it is for God. And only God can satisfy the hungry soul.

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God Is Answering Your Prayers!

We have an accepted offer on our home in Maple Grove! Though the amount is far less than we started out a year ago, the completion of this sale would get this major burden off of our backs. The buyer appears to be very solid financially (putting 20% down), but the sale is contingent on the closing of their existing property on June 13th. In addition, full completion of the purchase offer is contingent on the inspection which may occur as early as tomorrow.

Please pray for the following specific requests:

• The inspection would not turn up any surprises that would cause the buyer to want to back out. (We've been extremely clear in our Seller's Disclosure about any flaws we could think of, so the only thing that could come up would be surprises to us.)
• The buyer would not come back with any improvement requests which would require us to shell out even more cash.
• For our sake and the buyer's, that the closing on the sale of the buyer's existing property would go through without a hitch.
• Finally, that we would continue to be able to be good examples of Christ-centered living to our realtor who has already had customers in the past try, very rudely, to convert him from his Judaism to Christianity.

Thank you for asking for God's providential care to continue in our lives.

Midwest Earthquake?!

UPDATE: The quake actually originated from the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone which is much closer to our hometown of Danville, Illinois.

At 5:36 this morning, Audrea and I heard a rumbling and experienced our bed shaking. My first thought was that the kids bunkbeds downstairs fell apart. I ran downstairs and checked on the kids and then on down to the basement and everything seemed normal. When I got into bed, Audrea wondered if we had just experienced an earthquake.

Well, we just looked at the news this morning, and we did, in fact, experience a 5.2 scale earthquake. According to the USGS, the earthquake centered around Mt. Carmel, Illinois. What a trip!!

Here in the Midwest, this is quite the rarity. I know the last time I experience one was in the late 1980's. I seem to remember after that there was quite a bit of scare about whether we would ever have a large scale earthquake since we are right over the New Madrid Seismic Zone. For some rather entertaining footage, check this out.

T4G Musings, Part 1

By the generous providence of God I was blessed to attend Together for the Gospel over the last 3 days! I had the opportunity to fellowship with great friends and be deeply encouraged in my faith.

I spent the majority of the time with my newest friend, David Ward, who leads worship at Redeemer Bible Church. (FYI, you should check out David's music and Worship Organizer.)

Wednesday for lunch I was blessed to spend time with the pastors of Eden Baptist Church in Savage--Dan Miller and Jon Pratt. Dr. Pratt taught me Greek exegesis at Central Seminary. Over lunch, I learned that Central will be taking on Dr. Pratt as their full-time professor of New Testament Studies. This will be filling a huge gap that had been left by Dr. Bob Milliman. It was such an encouraging time of theological conversation.

Wednesday evening I went out for supper with a dear friend I had met and grown close to in my early days of college in Danville, Illinois--Kirby Myers. Kirby is shepherding a growing church that God enabled him to plant in 2002 in the Indianapolis area. I was also able to spend some time with a very sharp guy that I had only known briefly while I worked at the Open Door Christian Bookstore when it was located in Danville--Scott Gunter. He is a missionary to India working with Pioneers.

Finally, Wednesday evening during the singing I recognized someone from the back of their head who I hadn't seen since last summer--Cory Rintala! We were able to worship together this morning during the first session and briefly catch up.

It is so fantastic to be able to know so many godly friends who are experiencing growing ministries and seeing God's glory be magnified!
Over the next few days I am going to post some of my thoughts on each of the sessions. In the meantime, I'll let you peruse over the stack of books I received for free as an attendee:

In the Hands of an Angry God

This is so important for you to watch.



(Thank you, Kim, for finding this video!)

Disgusting, but Funny

I'm sorry to gross anyone out, but this picture is too funny to not share. It's "Biter Biscuits" at their worst.

Biblical Theology According To Goldsworthy

Evangelical biblical theologian, Graeme Goldsworthy was just here on campus and delivered three lectures on Biblical Theology. For those who read my blog and are unaccustomed to the term "biblical theology", I find a helpful distinction between it and "systematic theology" to be that systematic theology is the organization of all the exegetical data from the Bible into logical categories whereas "biblical theology" is not so much about fitting data into a system, but adjusting our minds to the Bible as a whole storyline in itself with a goal in sight. Tom Schreiner provides a helpful discussion about the difference here.

Men like Schreiner and Goldsworthy are able to more eloquently than me provide helpful definitions of Biblical Theology like this one from Goldsworthy:

Biblical Theology is the study of how every text in the Bible relates to every other text in the Bible. It is the study of the matrix of divine revelation. At the heart of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God come in the flesh. The nature of the Gospel is such that it demands that it be the center of the biblical message. Biblical Theology is then, the study of how every text in the Bible relates to Jesus and His gospel. Thus we start with Christ so that we may end with Christ. Biblical Theology is Christological for its subject matter is the scriptures as God's testimony to Christ. It is therefore, from start to finish, a study of Christ.

You can listen or read all of his lectures from the SBTS website or simply click on them here:

"The Necessity and Viability of Biblical Theology" (MP3) (PDF)
"Biblical Theology in the Seminary and Bible College" (MP3) (PDF)
"Biblical Theology and Its Pastoral Application" (MP3) (PDF)

Incredible Healing

God has provided Andrew with some astonishing recovery! He is talking which is far more than the doctors had anticipated. He was expected to go through months of speech therapy! Read here about God making the unbelievable believable.