Grace

I can’t help but feel overwhelmingly blessed lately. There are so many things in my life that bring such joy, and I know that all of these things are graces given by the Father. In no way do I deserve the life and blessings that I have been given. I have an amazing wife who is one of the most loving and genuine people I know. I have a beautiful daughter who makes me laugh and fills my heart with joy. I have a church that reminds me daily of God’s love and challenges me to be a better man. I have the privilege of serving Christ’s body as my occupation and vocation. I have been forgiven and am loved by God. I have been blessed so much, and sometimes I’m not even sure why. This is grace.

Another Fine Piece of Journalism

What makes a man a man? What makes a woman a woman? Maybe I’m just a rural simpleton, but I’ve always assumed that being a man or a woman had at least something to do with the kind of reproductive organs you have. I know I’m naïve, and forgive my being blunt, but I always assumed that the fact that I have a penis qualified me as being a man, maybe not a manly man, but a man nonetheless. Apparently I was wrong….at least according to the major news organizations in our country.

Have you seen the story of the person in the above picture? Barbara Walters had “him” on her top ten list of fascinating people of 2008. Several months ago ABC News reported the headline, “Pregnant Man Weeks Away from Giving Birth.” CNN reported just over a week ago, “The pregnant man who gave birth to a daughter earlier this year says he is expecting a second child.” These aren't tabloids. They’re supposed to be reputable news organizations. The pregnant man has been on Oprah and Larry King, and the buzz and absurdity goes on and on.

Can I just say something to help clear things up for anyone who’s confused? Here’s my headline….this just in…“The Pregnant Man Has No Penis.” That’s right. This is not a story of a modern biological miracle. The pregnant man in fact has a vagina, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes…yep, the whole female reproductive system which according to my very basic understanding of gender make him not really a him but a her. There is no real earth shattering story here. It’s a simple case of a woman who feels that she is a man, so she has taken hormone treatments, had some cosmetic surgeries performed, and has begun to act as if she were a man. But, she still has all the raw materials of being a woman.

This story is only a story because the news media has been sensationalizing it and manipulating ignorant people by reporting vague details about the person’s true gender. Most reports, like the ones above, refer to the person only as a man. A few reports say that he was actually “born as a woman,” but even this comment leads one to infer that she had an actual sex change operation. The story just isn’t a real story.

Now, if someday they figure out how to truly impregnate a real man, that will be a story worth reporting. I for one, look forward to that day, because then we men can finally dispel the myth that childbirth is so painful. I mean, come on, how bad can it be?

Just kidding, ladies.

Merry Christivus

So, Jill and I were decorating for Christmas yesterday…I know, I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet; but what can I say, we love Christmas and we’re going to be out of town for Thanksgiving anyway….and as I was putting up our fake Christmas tree, I discovered this perfect blending of the symbols of Christmas and Festivus. It’s part Christmas tree, part Festivus pole. You can put your presents under it Christmas morning, and then air your grievances next to it in the evening. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, you need to watch more Seinfeld.

The First Supper

Last meals can be pretty important. I think it must be one of the highlights of the whole death-row experience. Jesus had a pretty important last supper with his disciples, but I've never given much thought on first meals. Well, here's Jovi's first experience eating solid foods (if you can call them solid). Anyway, she's doing a pretty good job with it. You can tell that she enjoys it by the death grip she gets on that spoon.

Parable on Tax Cuts

Most of the time when Jesus taught, he used parables. Why? I think it was because we can all relate to stories and see truth that we might not otherwise grasp. Somebody sent me this modern parable yesterday regarding our current tax system. It illustrates the absurdity in what so many people argue about taxes and economics. Hope you enjoy:

A brilliant explanation of our tax system, the impact of a tax cut, and the public reaction -

Every day 10 men go out for a beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would look something like this:
The first 4 men (the poorest) would pay nothing
The fifth would pay $1
The sixth would pay $3
The seventh would pay $7
The eighth would pay $12
The ninth would pay $18
The tenth (richest) would pay $59

So that is what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. "Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would pay their "fair share?"

They realized that $20 divided by 6 was $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so - The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
The sixth man now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings)
The seventh man now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings)
The eighth man now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)
The ninth man now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings)
The tenth man now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings)

Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got $1 out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10." "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man, "I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I." "That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get back $10 when I only got $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth man and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man did not show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beer without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money among all of them for even half of the bill!

And that my children is how our tax code works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most dollar benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas or in Mexico where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Everyone's Biased...Except Me and CNN

If you've read my previous post from a few days back, you'll already know that I'm not overly excited about any candidate this year. But, I am still following all the news as close as the next guy. I may be a pessimist, but I'm at least a well informed pessimist. I'm typically on the conservative side of political issues, and one thing that drives me nuts is the blatant bias shown by most of the media. The above was the picture for the headline story on cnn.com which read, "Wall Street ends one of its scariest months." Now, let me just make a few obvious observations. 1.This is the headline on a day in which the Dow Jones closed up over 144 points. 2.The election is just over three days away, and does anybody notice what button this dude happens to be wearing? I wonder if the people at CNN noticed and picked this picture for a reason.

This is an ongoing pattern for CNN. They use so much subtle manipulation in what they do that I can't imagine anyone being bamboozled by it, but of course they claim to be the "unbiased" media. I don't care if they are liberal....please just admit it and stop pretending to not have an agenda. Everybody has an agenda, just tell us clearly what we already know.

Just over a week ago, I laughed out loud when I read three different headlines for the day's main story. The first said "Gas Prices Drop 30 Cents." The second said "Largest Single Day Drop in the Price of Gas in History." CNN's headline said "Gas Prices Drop; Still Higher than Last Year." No agenda there....totally unbiased.

A Brisk Fall Walk

I'm getting excited for the time that Jovi can actually do more than crying, eating, sleeping, pooping, laughing, and the latest...rolling over (but only onto her belly, then she's stuck and begins to crying again). I try to do stuff with her all the time, but she never really seems to be to interested. So, I took her for a walk yesterday, and I think you can tell by the expression on her face that she was pretty excited about it. It's gotten much colder here the past week or two so we bundled up and hiked around for about 1.5 miles. She did pretty well. She didn't cry at all. She didn't do much of anything....just chilled with her daddy. One day I hope she enjoys it.

Victory in Defeat

I have a good friend in Minnesota who is a big sports fan and loves the Minnesota Vikings, but as a Vikings fan it hasn’t always been easy. A few years ago, the Vikings had the best record in the NFC and were highly favored over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. The winner would have to go on to face the Denver Broncos the previous year’s Super Bowl champs. My friend told me that he secretly wanted the Falcons to beat the Vikings, because he figured the Vikings were going to break his heart again if they made the Super Bowl, and he didn’t want them to become the first team in the NFL to lose 5 Super Bowls. Now, that my friends is true pessimism and cynicism. When he told me this, I laughed. How could any true fan secretly hope that their team loses the big game? Well…now I might understand.

My beloved Buckeyes have played in the past two National Title games and has lost them both. The media has been brutal on the Buckeyes. I’ve heard them referred to as the Buffalo Bills of college football, despite the fact that they won the National Title game back in 2002. Over the past 2 years they only lost 3 games, they just happen to be really big games. Anyway, Saturday, the Buckeyes lost a close game to Penn State, assuring that they have no chance of playing in this year’s title game. I cheered for them throughout the whole game, but at the end, I had to breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘at least we won’t lose three straight national titles.’ So, Tom, if you’re out there, I feel your pain, buddy.

War, what is it good for?…Destroying evil regimes and establishing human rights.

I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated and cynical as I follow politics this year. With the election only days away, I keep asking, are there any good options? I’m not so sure. I watch the debates and find myself screaming at the television, “Please, tell me what you really believe and stop clouding everything with your jargon! Let’s get rid of all the red herrings, straw men, and shallow appeals to emotion, and give me your clearly defined system of beliefs and plans for action.” Yeah, like that’s actually going to happen. I feel as if America is drifting into the abyss, and the political options we have aren’t really going to change anything other than the rate at which we travel to the abyss.

With that said, I’ve also been wondering if democracy is really as great as everybody in our country seems to think that it is. I know that doesn’t sound very P.C. or even very American, but hear me out. I’m not anti-democracy (or a democratic republic in our case). It does seem to be the best form of government in our modern political world. Freedom is intrinsically good, but without all the other virtues, the inherent value of freedom is quickly diminished. If the hearts of people become selfish, hateful, greedy, and evil, then it doesn’t really matter whether they are ruled by monarch, a dictator, or a freely elected corrupt government. Evil people within a democracy will produce evil and corrupt forms of government. We tend to think of Adolf Hitler as a classical case of dictator, but he rose to power in a Germany that held free elections. Just because a society has fair and free elections doesn’t guarantee that the people are going to make the right kinds of decisions. I suppose democracies are better than autocratic forms of government because if democracies become evil and corrupt, the people have nobody to blame but themselves.

I think a discussion on democracy is particularly relevant when we think about the war in Iraq and any other wars in which we end up occupying a country for a long period of time. I’m certainly not one of these “anti-war” people. I have no problem with our country defending ourselves and our national interests. But, I do have one question. I have heard over and over again that our goal is to establish democracies all around the world. The popular myth seems to be that if we simply establish fair and free elections all over the world, the world will become a utopia of freedom. Not only does this goal seem impossible to truly accomplish, it seems to me that even if it were accomplished, it would not bring about the results that we desire. For example, if we were able to overthrow a dictator in a country where the majority of people have a worldview based on radical Islam…simply giving them fair and free elections wouldn’t really do much good. If the vast majority of people in a society believe it is virtues to murder infidels in suicide bombings, to enslave minority groups, and to oppress women, then a democracy will produce no better results than a dictator.

What needs to happen for our military to be successful is not simply the establishment of a democracy, but the conquering of destructive worldviews and the enforcement of inalienable human rights. Freedom is great, but freedom without virtue is hollow. Evil dictators need to be defeated, but they must be replaced by governments that have a better worldview than the dictator they are replacing.

Pipsqueak Update

Jovi had her 4 month checkup today. She weighed in at a whopping 11.05 pounds, which places her in the skinniest 5% of babies. Jill attributes this to her skinny Borland legs. Just before getting weighed, she spit up a bunch…kind of like my high school wrestling friends who spit in a bottle all day trying to shave a few more ounces.
She also got her series of immunization shots, so she’s a sad little girl today. If it’s anything like the last time, she’ll be pretty sad all day…I’m glad I’m busy working.

Seasons of Life

I am a Midwesterner, raised in Ohio, spent three years in Minnesota, and now reside in Michigan. I never realized how much of a Midwesterner I was until I spent six months in Brazil. Up until that point the Midwest weather, lifestyle, and change of seasons were all I ever knew, and when I lived in Brazil I missed that reality. I remember how depressing it was being in a tropical climate in October. Sure, the beaches were breathtaking and the sunshine was beautiful, but I’ll take a crisp breeze and some falling leaves any day of the week. I love the fall.

I was thinking about seasons and how much they affect my spirit, and I realized that my natural cycle of life doesn’t have four seasons. It only has two: football season and movie season. Jill and I were talking the other day, and we couldn’t remember the last time we watched a movie, and we love to watch movies. I figured out that the reason we hadn’t was because it’s football season…no time for movies. But, as fall turns to winter, as the college bowl season winds down and the NFL playoffs come to an end, my season will change from ESPN to Netflix, from Beanie Wells and Ben Roethlisberger to Russell Crowe and Steven Spielberg.

The Amazing Jovi

I don’t really want to be that dad. You know who I’m talking about…the guy that thinks that everything his kid does is exciting and thinks that his kid is infinitely better than every other kid in the world. The guy that goes on and on about his kid and will never shut up about her.

With that said, I think I have the most gifted daughter in the world. Watch her…she’ amazing. She was thinking, “I want to play with that darn parrot, but I can’t reach it.” So, what’s she do? She grabs it with her feet, and pulls it to her hands. Unbelievable!!! I bet no other 4 month old could've figured that out.

More Jovi Videos for Family

Rookie Mistake

So far I’ve done two weddings since being in Eagle and will be doing a third soon. I’ve really enjoyed this aspect of ministry. I didn’t know any of the couples before they came to me and asked me to do their weddings, but I require that each of them go through at least six pre-marital counseling sessions before the wedding, and I’ve gotten to know all of them through the counseling time. Even though most people my age don’t go to church, they still want to get married in a church for whatever reason. So, I see weddings as a great opportunity to witness to and influence young couples who are beginning their lives together and I sense that God has used the times of couseling to help them spiritually and to help them prepare for marriage.
With that said, I made a big-time rookie mistake as a pastor. I set my wedding calendar long before I checked my football calendar. I have a wedding on October 18th at 3pm. We live about 15 miles from East Lansing, the home of the Michigan State Spartans. My beloved Ohio State Buckeyes will visit East Lansing an average of once every three years, and guess what….they’re here October 18th at 3:30pm and I have tickets to the game!!! I’m still trying to convince the couple that they really don’t want to get married….but, it hasn’t worked. Would it be wrong if I conducted a two minute ceremony in my Buckeye's jersey to try to make the game?

Jesus is My Friend

My brother has been sending me links to some seriously cheesy Christian music. I don't know if you'll be inspired, but you'll certainly be entertained:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUU6jTqB6k

Finding a Home in Simplicity

I’ve pretty much resolved in my heart that this world is not my home. As C.S. Lewis describes in his chapter entitled “Hope” in Mere Christianity, I used to be very much like the “foolish man” chasing one thing after another, thinking that the next thing would bring me true happiness. I realize that what my heart was longing for was something deeper than what can be found in this imperfect world. I was created for another world, and my heart will only be fully satisfied after the resurrection in the world to come.

With that said, I am finding joy more and more in the simple things of life like reading early in the morning with a cup of coffee or spending an evening with Jill and Jovi. I’ve also found a couple of other simple pleasures in the last month that are filling some of the gaps that I’ve had since moving to Michigan. First, a few of weeks ago I found a group of guys to play basketball with. I played ball for the first time in over a year last week, and it was a surprising blessing to my soul. They play Saturday mornings at 7am, which is a great reason to get out of bed in the morning. Second, I recently made a friend with a local guy about my age who happens to be Christian. In the midst of our conversations I discovered that he is a thinking Christian who has a passion for apologetics and likes to read and engage in the same kinds of conversations that I have a passion for.

This world is not my home, but I’m finding joy in the quiet moments of life, in time with my family, in exercise, and in friendship. I’m truly blessed.

A Message From Jovi

This is my first attempt at putting a video on this blog, but I figured all our family in MN would want to see Jovi in action. Let me know if you have a hard time viewing it or not.

Grace in the Midst of Conflict

Ministry certainly has its share of situations that can become frustrating. Being in the public eye and being a leader of an organization has opened me up to criticism and conflict, neither of which is enjoyable. I’m finding that when I am faced with criticism or conflict, I can quickly become combative....rather than stopping, praying, and doing my best to show grace to those who are critical or bitter, I often quickly strike back. I argue with them, try to convince them that they are wrong, but most of the time I’m not very successful.

God is beginning to show me another way. I recently read an account of Mother Teresa in a book about her ministry entitled “Faith and Compassion.” The author recounts a situation in which Mother Teresa is faced with an angry crowd of lepers whom her sisters have been trying to serve:

“The crowd that surrounded Mother Teresa at Seemapuri on a hot summer afternoon in 1993 was angry and resentful. They were full of complaints, which they hurled at her in rapid succession. Was Mother Teresa aware how bad the dal (souped lentils, a staple ingredient of the diet) tasted? She would never be able to eat it herself, said one. But she had just had it for lunch, and it was fine, she replied. Don’t eat it again he retorted, or you’ll fall ill. We are not allowed to smoke in the dormitories, objected another. “Try not to smoke at all,” said Mother with a smile, “or, if you must, step onto the verandah.” Look at my hand, said a third, it’s been bleeding and the Sisters have not done anything about it. “We’ll show it the doctor in a little while,” replied Mother, and the man lapsed into a somewhat satisfied silence. Look at my shoes, remonstrated another, the rehabilitation unit had made them so badly that they hurt. “We’ll get them to fit you into another pair,” she said. It continued in this vein for 20 minutes or so, until everyone seemed to have had their say. To each she replied calmly and gently. Finally, silence descended. As she prepared to move away, they rose and, one by one, came to touch her feet. She restrained as many as she could, for she doesn’t encourage this practice….it is, however, a battle she invariably loses, for in India this is a custom that signifies respect for an elder, and is a daily, commonplace occurrence. As they turned away, Mother Teresa said to me, “Each of them has suffered so much pain and humiliation. Once in a while their bitterness overcomes them. Sometimes the Sisters have a very difficult time calming them. Yet when we ask our young Sisters who would like to go and work with the lepers, every hand is up.”

What a gracious spirit! Mother was not unreasonable in the way she responded, but her capacity to reason was not what won over her critics. It was her patience, gentleness, and goodness that turned the situation around from an environment of conflict and criticism to one of grace and gratitude.

Cutest Kid in the World

Perhaps I'm a little biased, but I happen to think Jovi is the cutest little girl in the entire world....but I suppose most daddy's feel the same way.

I wanted to show ya'll my new favorite picture. Our sister-in-law Jenny is a photographer and took some awesome pics for us when we were up in MN at the beginning of August. She did a great job, and this one is my favorite. Excellent work Jenny!

Thoughts on Shots

Friday was a very, very sad day. We took Jovi in to get her first vaccination shots. The nurses came in the room and had me lay Jovi on the table. One of the nurses held her legs. The other two nurses took out their needles prepared to give her 2 shots at the same time in both of her legs. I had to hold her arms. She looked up at me as the nurses finished their prep work. I told her, “Hey Jovi, look at that mean nurse over there.” I didn’t want her watching me as she was inflicted with pain.

She got a total of three shots, and it went pretty fast. But despite being fast, it was a painful experience, not only for Jovi but for Jill and me as well. She started crying hysterically. I picked her up immediately, and she looked at me as if to say, “Why did you let them do that to me?”

Let me just say that I am the stereotypical guy. I haven’t cried in years. It’s not that I think crying would make me less masculine. I would love to cry if I could, but I was beginning to think that my tear ducts had simply dried up years ago. For whatever reason, I just don’t cry….that is…until I saw Jovi with her sad eyes looking up to me from the midst of her pain. I didn’t fall down to my knees and weep, but my eyes were certainly moist. Seeing her in pain and having no capacity to explain it or make it go away was enough to bring my tearless streak to an end.

As I looked at Jovi through moist eyes, I thought about God’s love for us. It may sound a bit clichéd, but I thought about how God allows us to go through pain sometimes because he knows it is what is best for us. As much as I hated to see Jovi in pain, I’m rational enough to realize that I would rather her go through this brief pain than to develop Polio later in her life. I have a bigger perspective than she does about what is best for her, but that doesn’t diminish the ache that I feel when she suffers.

Well, five days and counting on my new tearless streak….

All Smiles

Reentering the 21st Century

WE HAVE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!! Praise the Lord! So, hopefully I’ll be able to post again more regularly. This post was able to go up in seconds compared to the usual 10-30 minutes to upload anything with dialup. Ahhhh, this must be what it felt like to go from having a latrine to indoor pluming.

Sleepy

Here's a few more of our recent pictures of Jovi

Smiley

Jovhawk

My Girls

New Pic

Our Daughter

Well, as you can see, our baby girl has arrived! She arrived Monday morning at 5:31, weighed 6lbs. 9 ounces, and measured 20 inches long. Her name is Jovi Grace, and she and Jill are doing well. We are truly blessed.

Mom and Baby

Our Family

Pic 6-4-08

It's a Girl!

We had our ultra-sound on Monday, and it's a girl. Here's a really cool picture of our baby.

Movies 2007

Here’s a list of the most memorable films I saw in 2007. Not all of these films were released in 2007, but I just happen to have seen them sometime during the past year. These aren’t necessarily all of the “best” movies I saw last year, just the ones that had the biggest impact on me.

1. Once – This is a low-budget Irish musical with a very simple story. When I say “musical” don’t think “Guys and Dolls.” It’s about a folk singer and a girl he meets and they sing songs together. The actors actually wrote and performed all of the songs; it’s actually the most realistic musical I’ve ever seen. Let me just say that this movie is great! It’s beautiful, simple, and very moving.

2. God Grew Tired of Us – See previous post

3. The Pursuit of Happyness – I’m sure most of you have heard about this one. I thought it was a great movie about suffering, purgation, and the love of a father.

4. Amazing Grace – This probably wouldn’t be on my “best” movie list, but I have to give it props for being a “Christian” film that was really well done. I think if Christian film studios made more films like this one, they would have a lot bigger impact in the end. (I’m not sure that Amazing Grace was produced by a “Christian” studio, but I know it was promoted by a number of Christian organizations).

Our Big News

Well, the big story of our New Year is that Jill is pregnant again. We’ve known for just over three months but wanted to wait to break the news until Jill was into her second trimester. We’re pretty excited but still somewhat hesitant to get too excited because of the miscarriage Jill had last winter. Anyway, the New Year is picking up where last year left off, with big changes for us. A new state, a new church, new jobs, and now a new member of the family. We’re excited, nervous, and praying a lot these days.