Willing

Wade these deep waters.

"Jesus has always many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. 

"Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the Cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him. But if Jesus hides Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall either into complaints or into deep dejection. 

"Those, on the contrary, who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if He should never give them consolation, yet they would continue to praise Him and wish always to give Him thanks.

"What power there is in pure love for Jesus -- love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!

"Do not those who always seek consolation deserve to be called mercenaries? Do not those who always think of their own profit and gain prove that they love themselves rather than Christ? Where can a man be found who desires to serve God for nothing? 

"Rarely indeed is a man so spiritual as to strip himself of all things. And who shall find a man so truly poor in spirit as to be free from every creature? His value is like that of things brought from the most distant lands."

Thomas à Kempis

Quote of the Day: God's goodness in suffering

"If people want to get into discussion with me about the sovereignty of God, I will tell them front and center that God doesn't like spinal cord injuries. he takes no pleasure in multiple sclerosis or children born with spina bifida. John Piper talks about how God looks at suffering through two lenses. He looks at the isolated incident through a narrow lens and loathes it. His heart loathes it when you go through a divorce. His heart aches when you give birth to that child with multiple disabilities. He hates the isolated lens of suffering. But he delights in the wide-angle lens. He sees the mosaic. He sees how it all fits together into this incredible pattern for not only our good, but the good of all those around us, and for his glory. I'm grateful that God is sovereign. His fingers hold back a deluge of evil in this world. I'm grateful that He only allows to slip through his sovereign fingers that which He's convinced will help our souls and fit us better for eternity."

~ 63-year old Joni Eareckson Tada

who has lived with quadriplegia for 45 years

from a diving accident when she was 17.

From an interview in World Magazine

God's word tells us to give him thanks in all circumstances, and in fact, the very act of giving thanks is God's will for me as a follower of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This implies an absolute trust in my God and King. Now, if God is not sovereign over all things, isn't it foolish to give him thanks in all my circumstances? It would be like thanking my wife for the grass or for elephants. Neither had anything to do with those things. But I thank my wife for her awesome Oatmeal Scotchie cookies because it was by her hand that they came. For God to tell us to give thanks in all circumstances implies that no thing comes to us apart from his divine goodness--as hard or as easy as those circumstances might be. If he is not sovereign over all, he has no business asking us to give him thanks.

Will I trust him today?

Bigots in Beantown

What has happened is this: the sitting mayor of Boston essentially said "We don't serve your kind here" to a company that has prided itself on serving anyone but at the same time being unwavering about living out the biblical principles upon which the company is founded. Chicago's boss, Rahm Emmanuel echoed the sentiment's of Boston's mayor.


At Chick-fil-A, such a position is not a contradiction. They will serve any and hire any, but they will not give a thumbs up to things that run contrary to what the Bible says.


And that's what people don't get about Christianity and Christ. How can those apart from Christ act like Christ? They can't. This is why it is foolish for a Christian to get his knickers in a knot because someone uses profanity around them or because he hears that two co-workers spent the night wrestling beneath the sheets. It is the nature of the lost to live lost.


At the same time, such an understanding doesn't nullify--in fact it highlights--that those apart from Christ stand in rebellion to their Creator. I cannot condone your lifestyle. I will not say it's a question of equal choices anymore than killing twelve in a theater is the same as killing twelve on the battle field.


Chick-fil-A is convinced that a one man and one woman relationship for life is God's design, that it is the healthy building block for a healthy society. You differ in that position? I would say, bummer, but at the same time, it doesn't change the fact that you are welcome at their establishment, will be treated courteously at their establishment, and might actually find the quality of their food quite good for fast food.


True freedom on The Freedom Trail would have opened welcoming arms to Chick-fil-A and would have stated, "We vehemently disagree with the fundamentals of your company, but let's let the free market have its way." Homosexuals should recognize that saying you live in sin and being bigoted are two different things. One cares about you and loves you enough to tell you your conduct is harmful like saying "smoking three packs a day will kill you." The other will have nothing to do with you, will not hire you, will not work with you, and will not serve you because of what you do. 


Which promotes greater freedom, not permitting you to build your business because of what you believe or hiring and serving you regardless of what you believe while at the same time encouraging you to choose another way?


Christ had no problem associating with the sinners because it was the sick who needed the physician. At the same time, the Son of God with a calm command and authority said, "Go and sin no more." Loving the sinner. Hating the sin.


And so I will go to the best mechanic and doctor I can find with no thought to ideology.


I will eat at restaurants that serve good food and treat me with respect and dignity (even if they were to discover I was a Bible-believing Fundie).


But when I worship, it's a different story, but even there, in a free country founded upon those really wacky Christian principles, I have a free choice about where, what, and who I will worship.  At least for now.


Keep your ears to the ground. Listen to the response of Chick-fil-A and its supporters, listen to what's coming out of Beantown, Second City, and Hollywood, and ask yourself, "Who's the bigot?"

Just another day: Of twisters and quakes

Tornadoes raked across the United States again leaving 39 dead. Meanwhile the earth rumbles in San Francisco (4.0), Argentina (6.0) and the South Pacific (6.6). It seems like there's a lot more people dying and suffering due to natural disaster in recent years than when I was a kid. Some would argue that we have more information at our fingertips, but back then (yes, well after the telegraph), the news media got things out from around the world in minutes. To me, it seems like the world's amped up.  It's getting the attention of others, too (here).

Few people can witness such catastrophe, either first hand or through the media, and not contemplate God's hand in such events (except for Tom Hanks' character in Castaway).

Some scoff at such as Neandrethal musings. A small percentage of humanity has attained to such a level of hubris that they have removed God from any and all equations. "We're smarter than that now," they declare from their mile-high Darwinian throne as they glower down their noses. The rest of us rightly wonder.

If you declare yourself a Christian, nominal or otherwise, or a theist, it wouldn't hurt to know what the Bible has to say.

Job seemed to have a grasp of God's role in wind and rain:

 “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (28:23-28)

The songwriters of old had the same idea:

"Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
"He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
    who makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings forth the wind from his storehouses." (Psalm 135:6-7)

Jesus credited God the Father as the sender of rain and other celestial happenings:

"For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

That leaves the question "Why?" sitting on my soul like a wildebeest. So why did 39 die by tornadoes this weekend? I don't know. These things I do know:

1. I can't indict God of wrong-doing. We lack that little quality of omniscience to hold court against the Almighty. David declared, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works" (145:17). I have a very limited perspective of things compared to an omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and holy-in-all-his-ways God.

2.  The world is broken just like man. When man rebelled against God (Genesis 3, in case you missed it), even the earth was cursed. Now, that very place that was to be a haven to mankind has become as friendly as the grizzly bear. Sure it looks cute and cuddly and all that, but! Even the creation groans under the weight of man's rebellion and sin (Romans 8:19-21).

3. Disaster shouldn't make me shake my fist at God but examine the darkness of my own heart. I've mentioned this passage before in this blog (here and here) but it bears repeating. In Luke 13, folks wondered about some atrocities that were making the news around Galilee. Jesus didn't condemn those who died of some greater sin, but he did challenge those who were aware of the events of their own mortality.

"Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3, 5)

On another occasion, Jesus used a natural event in fallen world, a man born blind, to show the glory of God while others were wondering whose sin caused such events (John 9:1-3).

Here's the deal. It's not going to get better. The One who rose from the dead and was taken into heaven will one day return to this earth in the same manner he was taken up (Acts 1:9-11). You'd think the very resurrection of Jesus Christ would seal the deal in the mind of most folks, but in our jaded, CGI-laden, bust-augmented society we have let our thinking become clouded like the minds of Jill, Eustace, Puddleglum and Rilian in C. S. Lewis' The Silver Chair. Before Jesus returns, he has promised that things will get darker and that even the earth will begin to reel as it anticipates his return (Matthew 24:7-8, 29).

And, yes, there will be scoffers.  No surprise. Peter, Jesus' friend, foresaw that very attitude.

I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ...But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

The time is far nearer now than when Peter first put pen to papyrus. We grieve the loss of loved ones. We comfort those who remain. We help those who suffer out of the abundance that God has provided each one of us. We do not know why disaster has befallen these people.  Certain things we do know and we are responsible for them. And we trust the One who has created us, loved us, and redeemed us at the cost of taking on flesh and giving his life for ours.

At the very least, it should cause us to examine where we stand before a holy and righteous (and good) God.
--------------------------

Note: If you would like to research the problem of evil, suffering and the goodness of God from a biblical perspective, I highly recommend Randy Alcorn's thorough work on the topic entitled If God is Good. He uses the Bible and not his own opinions to come to his conclusions. It's available for $14.99 last I looked through his web-site, cheaper than through Amazon.

Perspective

Can you find the rescue workers?

Whining alert! 

My back hurts.  Not my lower back but the upper, just below my neck.  It's nagged me and plagued me for a couple of years now.  Do you feel my pain?

I know of folks dealing with vehicle problems.  Cars getting old.  Water pumps, belts and batteries blowing at the most inopportune times.  And a friend today shared that their dishwasher leaked all over their kitchen.

I have friends who have lost or are facing job loss and who have to rattle the bushes once again.

My own troubles seemed pretty big as I fiddled in my little Dilbert cubicle.  Then I saw these images and grieved the shallowness of my heart.  It doesn't erase the reality of my problems but it certainly puts them in a different light.

WARNING:  The first image on the British news site is of an arm protruding from the rubble (arm only).  It is the only image of one who has lost their life.

What to read, what to read...

Flying is a perishable skill.  That's why the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, Snowbirds, and the like practice, practice, practice.  It looks glamorous, but it is gruelling, exhausting, demanding, meticulous, exhilarating work.  I don't speak first hand, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

So I sit and stare at my keyboard.  It looks as though all the letters have remained in the same place.  That's encouraging.  Plunking out a blog entry a couple of times each week does not compare to the demand of flying fighter aircraft inches from one's wingman at g-loads that would put most folks right to sleep.  No, but it is my hope to not put you to sleep either.

So why did I stop writing?  I didn't.  One day simply heaped upon the next for an extended period of time.  I guess it's the same reason we missed Christmas cards last year.  One morning it was September, the next it was February.  Guess it's a little late to send the cards.  Well, here July blinked into November.  Truly, I hope that November doesn't blink into May.

Many thanks to those of you who lurk across these pages and wondered about the silence of the previous months.  When I began these musings three years ago this January, my intent was to look at the world around me through the lens of God's word, the only lens that would provide clarity to the situations of life.  I did not mean for there to be such a distance between ponderings.  Thanks to those who spurred me back to the keyboard.

In the event that these pages stagnate again--no promises--let me recommend a book to you.  I'd never read anything by Randy Alcorn, he's written both fiction and non, but his title, "If God is Good:  Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil," deserved a look.  With the drivel written in the past about why bad things happen to good people, I hungered for a book with a rock-solid biblical foundation that addressed the topics of the title.

I was not disappointed.  Clearing 500 pages, it's a daunting book, but it needed to be so.  Alcorn doesn't shy away from hard questions.  He doesn't sweep them behind the bushes.  Nor does he seek answers from sources that shift like San Andreas' fault.  No, he plumbs and scours the depths of God's word to find sure answers to the essential questions of our existence.

This is not a book that merely wades into dark swamps never to return.  On the contrary, in examining these places, Alcorn had to examine the character and nature of God.  Few books I have read in my life so exalt God outside the Bible as this one does, and it does so by highlighting God's revelation about himself in the Bible.

I mentioned the size of the book.  Yep, it's a big'n.  That said, those 500-pages are broken down into 45 chapters comprising 11 sections.  Each chapter is further broken down in five to ten bite-sized sections.  The way he has broken this book down makes it a very manageable read; don't let its size deter you.

On top of all of this, it's not a pie-in-the-sky, unapplied book.  The book is replete with stories of those who have been through and are currently within the crucible of suffering and tragedy.  Through it all, the faithfulness and the sovereignty and the goodness of God shine like stars in a moonless sky.

If you have nothing to read, let me steer you toward this book for many reasons (by the way, I do not know Mr. Alcorn, nor do any proceeds come back to me).  If you have plenty to read, let me encourage you to move this into the top three of your pile.  It is that good.

And stop back by here.  I hope to not be a stranger to my own blog.  I might even get my Christmas cards out this year.

Pressed hard

An interesting time, wouldn't you say?

Israel and Iran are staring at each other like Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago.  Who's going to try and throw the first punch?

Jobs once plentiful in our country are evaporating faster than a spilled cup of water on a Phoenix sidewalk.

Taxes on the increase.  More and more promised by the government.  Less and less being received.

Moral fabric tattered all about us.  Wear and tear here.  Full-blown holes there.

Last week, a friend compared our times quite well to a period in Elijah's life.  No, not Mr. Wood of Frodo Baggins fame.  The Tishbite of prophet fame.  You can read about the fellow in the book of 1 Kings in your Bible from the seventeenth chapter to the end of that book and a bit into 2 Kings.  A couple of the lessons my friend shared.

1.  Tough times aren't uncommon.  And often, you might have no control over being in the midst of such a challenging moment.  Do we respond with bitterness?  Or do we trust a sovereign God and dwell in the peace he has promised and appropriated for us?

2.  God provides.  Amidst the famine, food ran scarce.  No, food ran out.  One woman was getting ready to eat her last meal with her son after which time they would starve to death.  God provided.  Elijah fled for his life from a psychopathic queen and her infantile king.  One hundred miles.  In the wilderness.  And God provided food and water through a most peculiar avian method.  It's a theme that runs through God's word.  He cares for his people.

3.  God doesn't always provide on our time schedule.  I'd love a fat bank account.  Right now.  I'd like to know that I'll be able to go to the fridge and grab some OJ every day between now and my home going.  Perhaps I may find myself ready to bake my last loaf of bread with our last cup of flour.  Will I still trust him if he should choose to squeeze me from my comfort zone?

One other point, and it moves us from the individual to the national.

4.  God judges nations.  Israel's famine did not come about because their carbon footprint exceeded that of the Egyptians.  Nor did it occur because of El Nino in the eastern Mediterranean.  I don't think sheep methane had anything to do with it either.  God sent Elijah to Ahab to declare the three year famine.  Why?  Ahab and Jezebel had unleashed a godlessness upon the land that has echoed through the centuries.  It was punitive.

If we continue to reject God as a people, we can anticipate more troubles, trials, and times of testing within our nation.  That goes without saying.  But will we learn from Elijah and trust in the Lord?  Ah, there's the rub.

So where was God?

Pat Robertson really needs to keep his mouth shut.

Just about every people group has that individual that makes you wince anytime you see their lips part.  The Democratic Party's got Keith Olbermann and James Carville.  Republicans have Ann Coulter and the caustic Michael Savage. If you could get past the bombast of these folks, they might actually have ideas worth listening to, but your average Joe doesn't want to put on a chemical warfare ensemble to try and figure out their rhetoric.

Protestant Christianity's got Pat. He's a Southern Baptist by denomination, but I know few Southern Baptists that rally behind his rantings. Every time disaster strikes the planet, Pat pounds his pulpit and pronounces that God has unleashed judgment upon that point of geographic suffering. Most recently, according to Reverend Robertson, Haiti seems to have fallen into the Lord's crosshairs.

(The Presidential Palace in Haiti)

Before I dismiss Pat as fast as I have the other Three Reverend Stooges (Jackson, Sharpton and Wright), a couple of notes about Haiti. While most of the populace espouses Catholicism, they entwine that already iconic religion with the tendrils of voodoo and African mysticism. The God of the Bible loathes such syncretistic blends (2 Kings 17:29-41).  So is there merit behind Robertson's railing?  Is there biblical evidence to indicate God has unleashed his fury upon the tiny Caribbean island?  Or has Pat been hitting the Geritol too hard?

Well, if you believe in no God, then these things just happen.  It was neither good nor bad, just part of life that's red in tooth and claw.  Not much comfort there.

If you believe in the deist God, then he was spectating just as he is spectating now.  Is he like me watching the Vikings?  Again, not a lot of comfort.

If you believe in the "loving God" who has no place for hell, judgment, condemnation, etc., then why would he let such things happen?  That's always a toughy.

Then there is the God of the Bible, Testaments Old and New.

There was a time when that God provided prophets to identify pending disasters as the Lord’s judgment upon the sin and rebellion of his creation. The day of the prophets is arguably long past, so let’s go with GPS precision to God’s own words as he provided the color commentary to such events in the life of mankind (I’ve mentioned this before when disaster has waylaid the planet, but prattlers like Pat make it necessary to resod the same acreage).

As we do throughout the year, the people of Jesus’day endured horrifying news. During one such season, Pilate, the Roman governor who had Jesus crucified, mixed the blood of some of Jesus’ countrymen with his pagan sacrifices. Nice guy. Also in the news was a skyscraper (by their standards) that collapsed and killed eighteen folks. As those around him pondered the news of the day, Jesus pointed back, “Do you think that these folks who perished were worse sinners than all others because they suffered such things?"  (Luke 13:2)

A couple interesting points.  First, he didn't deny the sin of those who died.  It's inherent within all men.  It is our nature.  As such, a just and holy God would have been perfectly in the right to smudge out all of humanity.  God happens to love his creation and man in particular (created in his image and all that).  John 3:16 clarions that love for man, a love that would satisfy the justice and make restoration between God and his children.

Second, God recognizes that such events cause suffering.  In a world marred by man's sin, in a world under the curse of man's sin, even the earth groans under the weight of such sin.  Sometimes it bites back.  But within Jesus' statement is the satisfaction of justice.  The wrath of God upon the rebellion of mankind was satisfied upon his Son as he hung on the cross.  The wrath of God will again be poured out on a humanity that has rejected that gift on the earth.  Finally, those who reject that gift will receive their hearts desire in the afterlife, eternal separtion from God on the day of final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).

Third, Jesus never gives God's reason for allowing such things to take place on the earth today.  He forces the surmisers' eyes off of those who died and upon the inky darkness of their own hearts.  "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3, 5).  Whoa.  There's that sin thing again. 

So what the Lord was saying was that when such devastation strikes so very close to home, perhaps we should use such an event to take inventory of our own hearts before God.  It was Jesus first sermon as he started his ministry.  "Repent."  For those of us not crushed by the cement of a cities collapse, we can take stock of our lives before God.  And he has provide the means for our cleansing, our healing, and our restoration to him.  No point in contemplating the why's and wherefore's the darkness that devastated Haiti.

Perhaps Pat Robertson--and the rest of us--should be taking stock of the darkness a little closer to home, and reaching out a hand to those in desperate need tonight.

-------------------------------

(Apart from prompting existential pondering, such disasters give humanity the opportunity to reflect the greatest attributes of God, those of charity, compassion, and sacrifice.  While you and I may not be able to go, there is much that we can do to help...with no reward.  Two possibilities:

• Pray.  God hears.  God cares.  God works and God moves.  And God is there even now just as he was there before, during and in the aftermath of the upheaval.
• Contact a relief organization you trust to get the aid to the agony to make monetary donations or donations of food, water, or other provisions.

Heroes

How's your holiday season? Lights up yet? Tree? Shopping done? Have you lost Christ somewhere in the midst of the extraneous already?

Pilots, when they are flying on their instruments in the clouds, have something called an attitude indicator that indicates the planes orientation to the earth. It tells the pilot climb or dive and bank. High performance aircraft, upon the completion of dogfighting or acrobatics, had to ensure their attitude indicator was properly oriented to the "wings-level," because the instrument would tumble and indicate erroneous attitude. To "right" the attitude indicator, the pilot would reset it or "recage it."

Would you like to "recage" your holiday "attitude indicator"? Read Ollie North's encounter with a real hero here. All of the superficial will melt away.

Yes, God is good!

Just another day: Gustav

Photo from Intellicast.com

• Gustav: Coming around the clubhouse turn and entering the homestretch is Gustav, the next in a series of devastating hurricanes to cross the Gulf of Mexico and smash into New Orleans. And like a thoroughbred hungry for the finish line, it appears that Gustav is only going to get stronger and more fierce the closer to land it gets.
• Hanna: If Gustav wasn't enough, Hanna sits 1000 miles due east making the duo look like a demonic barbell. At least there is no tornadic activity forecast for the plains today.
• Hurricane Vladimir: Georgia and Russia are still in the news. Rather than recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, the Kremlin has decided to absorb them into Mother Russia. Out of the goodness of their heart. Georgia has cut ties with the bear. What's left of it.
• Iran/Israel: They both start with "I" but that's where their similarities end. News stories note that Israel has determined not to let Iran go nuclear. No matter the cost. Iran's response? No surprise, really. "We'll kick of WWIII." Kumbaya.
• Rock and Roll: FoxNews is reporting another 6.1 earthquake in China where the 7.2 brought devastation earlier this year. I went to the US Geological Service's web-site and found that China has had two other earthquakes on top of the one today that topped 6.0. Almost seems like the earth is trying to tell us something. Anybody speak seismonese?
• Bananas: I read this week where former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards' fee for speaking has been raised to $65,000 per engagement. Am I missing something? Wasn't he just exposed as an adulterous fraud and liar? Astonishing to think how close he came to the White House.
• Kickoff: The NFL season starts this next week. My blogging may tail off a bit for the next six months... Go Vikings!!
  

A game of inches

Michael Phelps, left, touching the wall. Milorad Cavic, right, still reaching.
(Photo by Sports Illustrated)

"Never, never, never give up!"

Winston Churchill during the Battle of Britain

If you ever thought, "There's just no way..."

If you ever felt, "It's not worth the effort..."

If the muscles in your body cried, "We're going to explode..."

If your brain has concrete argumentation for why you will not win...

Remember Michael Phelps' final lunge during the 100 meter Butterfly during the 2008 Olympics. Or remember the body length lead that Jason Lezak overcame to during the 4x100 meter Freestyle Relay.

It's worth gold!

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

Laying up short, part 2

When you think of Olympic Superpowers, you'll not likely consider Austria or Switzerland. If your mind turns to skiing the two alpine nations will vault to the top of your list. And these two nations are to skiing what the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are to baseball: they are the bitterest of rivals.

During the winter of 1976, the eyes of the world turned to Innsbruck, Austria. The Cold War was at its most frigid. Vietnam was behind us and Afghanistan was ahead of the Soviets. This was before Jimmy Carter and after Richard Nixon. The specter of Munich lay four years past in sportsman's memories. Bragging rights were at stake, and all nations were present.

I can only remember one thing from Innsbruck, 1976, but it remains chiseled in my mind with indelible detail.

Bernhard Russi of Switzerland had mastered the Alpine downhill for years. He owned the Olympic gold medal in the event from 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. Russi's time at Innsbruck locked him in for another gold medal.

At the top of the mountain stood Franz Klammer, an Austrian, bedecked in taxi cab yellow skiing tights, red boots and red helmet. The hometown hero. But there he stood facing the insurmountable time set by the Switzerlander and a mountain with no sympathy for his heritage.

When downhill skiers race, they'll top 90 mph as they careen down the slopes, their only protection a helmet that might prevent the crushing of the skull but will do little to deter the smashing of their brain inside said skull. No pads elsewhere; too much drag. Achieving championship speed, earning world-class victory requires speeds that dance the athlete on the edge of disaster. Many a skier has retired himself from the sport when the mountain scoffed at such ludicrous speeds.

And there stood Klammer. Three...two...one...

From the moment the Austrian cleared the starting gate, it was clear to this then thirteen-year old Minnesotan, Klammer didn't consider what the mountain thought. Most skiers slow before the tightest turns, hoping to keep their bodies from becoming one with the towering pines. Not so the brightly spandexed Klammer. He cared not a lick about completing the run. He skied to win.

The only drag he created occurred in digging his skis into the snow, just enough to get himself turned some other direction. When skiers would go over a hill, they try to tuck themselves, providing as small a target as possible for demon air to slow them down. When the skier's velocity gets away from him, the tuck deteriorates as he does everything in his power to maintain his balance. A Klammer released himself, velocity was no problem. Control was his issue and very few tucks were seen as he hurtled over ridges and around tight corners.

It was breathtaking.

The commentators didn't think he could keep up enough speed to get close to the Swiss giant coming out of his aerodynamic crouch. Klammer couldn't hear the commentators.

Had the young Austrian concerned himself with his life's peril, broken femur bones, or sloshed gray matter, he'd either have slowed to avoid such disaster or he'd have kept his speed and wrapped himself around an aspen. He did neither and the cameras pivoted trying to keep the speeding lemon drop framed for the network.

Over one of the final hills flew Klammer contorting himself like some twisted X to keep his weight over at least one ski and then somehow, back into his tuck for the race to the wire.

Thirty three one hundredths of a second, the bat of an eyelash, and Franz Klammer wrenched the gold from Russi. Had he throttled back or taken any turn or any hill with certain conservatism, he would not have clipped that whisper of time to dethrone the Swiss giant.

What if I crash? So? My body will heal. I'll never have such an opportunity again. The time is now. Tomorrow may never come.

I have only one life. God has set me atop the mountain and He has given me one run. Only one. Do I play it safe or do I fly like Klammer?

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

May my eyes rivet themselves upon Christ alone. It's long past time to point the ski tips down the slope and press on for the Gold.
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An aside: As we near the Olympics, I recommend a trip down memory lane with the movie "Miracle." Disney did a superb job recreating the magic of the 1980 story of David and Goliath. The first time I heard Kurt Russell master the Minnesota "Iron Range" accent, I laughed my head off. Besides, you just gotta love a movie about hockey! "AGAIN!"

Klammer photo by Steve Sutton

Welcome home, Tony Snow

A good friend and I have been in discussion lately about how we conduct ourselves when in disagreement with other folks. Her point of emphasis has been that even in times of disagreement, no matter how wrong we perceive our opponent to be, we treat them with the dignity and respect due them as a person created in the image of God.

I have not seen anybody better exemplify such conduct in the political realm than Tony Snow, one time Fox Newsman, radio host and most recently White House press secretary. The thing that drove him to treat every person with such respect and honor was that he knew he was a sinner saved by grace. As God lavished His grace upon him, Tony could do no less toward others.

"God put us on earth to help each other," Snow told David Gregory in an interview. Speaking of his battle with cancer, he later said, " "When you die, you graduate." Read his testimony in Christianity Today here.

Today, Tony Snow graduated into the Lord's kingdom at age 53. Cancer consumed him in his last few years, but he never lost his poised and even demeanor.

Cancer is no longer an issue as he savors the face-to-face presence of his Savior and hears those longed-for words, well done!

Who speaks for God?

I received this question here recently, but it's not the first time I've heard it. Most often, the question comes from non-Christians trying to back down Christians from their moral certainty. The Christian ends up associated with Falwell or Robertson* because these two men used the pulpits God gave them to expose moral bankruptcy where it touched the church and the community. The weapon? God's word.

To counter another man who has unsheathed God's word to an increasingly godless culture, some pastors have started a website titled "Dobson doesn't speak for us." Charming. If you'd like to go there, Google it.

Here's the rub: if Dr. Dobson does speak for God regarding particular issues, then these pastors defiantly stand opposed to God. Let's buy Enron. Let's vote for McGovern or Dole. Let's play for the Kansas City Royals. But don't get on the team opposed to God.

So who does speak for God?

I do.

The audacity! The arrogance! Typical pig-headed, closed-minded, soda-straw-visioned Christian. Yep, that's me.

But understand, this is my identity and for any who are reading this and know Jesus Christ as Savior, this is your identity, too.

• We are called ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). The purpose of an abmassador? To represent his Leader in word and deed.
• When on trial, God will speak through the believer (Mark 13:11).
• We are to proclaim the praises of what He did in and through us (1 Peter 2:9).
• The Gospel will bring conviction (Matthew 24:14).
• We are to witness what we see and what we know (John 15:27, Acts 1:8).
• Our presence (the presence of the Holy Spirit within us) becomes the stench of death to the unsaved (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

Do I always speak for God? Well, no. When I act upon my own and contrary to His word, I become an unfaithful servant and an ambassador worthy of recall (thankfully He doesn't do that; He certainly does reassign, though).

When do I speak for God? When I proclaim His word truly. As Christians, we must know God's word for the time has come when many do not endure sound doctrine, and they heap up for themselves teachers to tickle their ears; they turn from truth and turn toward fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4). The Christian must know the truth so he is not deceived.

Peter declared, "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). They are here. They are among us.

How do we know when the Christian is speaking for God? Like the Bereans in Acts 17 we compare the speaker's words with God's words. If we find consistency, winner! If not, as is the case with Senator Obama's voting record, we must expose the biblical inconsistency.

This will make you no friends. Good luck finding any with a liberal slant willing to discuss the issues from a biblical perspective. The platforms are untenable. This ought not dissuade us from applying God's word to the issues of the world and to pray that blindness will cease.

So now and with boldness the Christian must speak the truth of God's word in and to a people that is perishing.

Christians, speak on! And expect the spears to fly.

*I have found little to disagree with regarding the doctrine and teaching of Jerry Falwell. While I appreciate his outspokenness on moral issues, Pat Robertson tends to be far less careful with his biblical scholarship.

The heart of loneliness

Since Peter Jackson brought Tolkien's masterpiece to the big screen, we've been watching the movies once each year since they came out on DVD. For purists, yes, we've read the books, too.

The other night we concluded The Two Towers, since the old man can't sit for three and a half hours after the girls go to bed. Jackson's liberties in making the film are no place better invested than in the lines given to Bernard Hill, Theoden, King of Rohan.

Before the attack on Helm's Deep, Theoden receives his armor from his #2, Gamling, in one of the most superbly restrained scenes in Hollywood history. Rohan has retreated to this mountain keep, but the king knows full well that his 300 men cannot face the 10,000 demons that bear down upon his fortress. The following dialogue ensues, Theoden stalk still as Gamling dons his masters armor:

Theoden : "Who am I, Gamling ?"

Gamling : "You are our king, sire."

Theoden : "And do you trust your king ?"

Gamling : "Your men, my lord, will follow you to whatever end."

"Who am I, Gamling?" the king utters just above a whisper. They were words never meant to escape his lips, but the weight of the mountain pressed upon his soul and exuded the words through his teeth. The utter depth of loneliness experienced by those in leadership exploded from the king who stared without expression and without hope through the walls of Helm's Deep.

"Do you trust your king?" What leader wouldn't love to have a looking-glass into the hearts of his people? He gets no such comfort. His friends are few for he cannot play favorites, and as such, those few are outside and not intimate with his leadership struggles.

So the leader battles on, wrestling his own doubts, battling his own unseen army orcs, while his troops muster to go wherever he might lead them.

What leaders do you know? Your boss. Your president. Your pastor. What of the husbands and fathers? How about the single mom? You will be part of a rare encounter if, like Gamling, you get a glimpse into the heart and soul of Theoden King. Rare, indeed.

These folks carry responsibility most of us will never know. Whether or not we get that glimpse, God tells us plainly in numerous places to pray for those in authority over us. Make note in your Bible of your political leaders. Make note of your civic leaders. Make note of your spiritual leaders. Make note of your family's leaders. And pray for them.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

1 Timothy 2:1-2

Laying up short

Most of you know that Tiger Woods added another trophy to his already clogged mantelpiece, this one was his fourteenth major golf tournament second only to Jack Nicklaus' 18. And Tiger's only 32 years old.

For those of you who knew about his win, you'll likely finish this blog. For those of you who think Tiger Woods is a section of the San Diego Zoo, please hang with me.

During this tournament that lasted five full rounds plus one hole of sudden death (tourneys are four rounds), Tiger Woods walked the longest course in US Open history with a torn ACL (way bad knee injury). Despite surgery earlier this year, every time he he muscled his driver, he didn't much care where the ball went because he was doubled up in pain as lightning shot behind his patella.

And still he played. He played some of the most amazing golf in the history of the game.

Now, he's done for the season. More surgery. No promises for the future.

Here's the question: When you're coming off of knee surgery and the knee obviously isn't fixed, why don't you quit and try and save the knee? No doubt each torque-maximized swing further damaged that knee. We would call that "playing it safe." The golfer, rather than going for the green and risking a bunker, the water, or out of bounds, lays the ball up short.

Here's the answer: Playing it safe, laying up short, rarely wins the golf tournament. Much less 39 total and 14 majors...at 32.

Here's the deal: We, like Tiger, have no promise for tomorrow. Why would we not pour our heart and soul into that which stokes our furnace, that for which God has given us great passion and great love? So what if it blows our knee not just for tomorrow but for ever? Tiger has no promise that his knee will ever again get him in contention for a tournament much less a major.

We don't know when God's going to call us home. Until that time, grip it and rip it!

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

(Associated Press photograph)

Exercising trust

"I know God can heal me but it's really hard to have faith that He will when I know that He might not."

The life struggle of my hospitalized son. His life is not in danger, but his body, for the moment, has stopped behaving like it's supposed to. And so after three days in bed (a pittance by the measures many have endured), the natural frustrations bubble to the surface. He's not sick enough for drastic measures. He's not well enough to go home.

Between IV's and NG-tubes, x-rays and ill-sleep, his soul bubbles with theological anxiety. "Do I ask for healing or do I rest content in His will?" Wow.

• Godliness with contentment is great gain... And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. - 1 Timothy 6:6, 8
  
• I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content - Philippians 4:11
• Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5

On the flip side of that, it seems that most of the healings in the Gospels took place upon those who besought it. Jairus for his daughter, the centurion for his servant, Mary & Martha for Lazarus, blind Bartimaeus, and the ten lepers to scratch just the surface. Now if it were only these, we might simply dismiss them as discontents, folks unwilling to abide the cards that God had dealt, but Christ Himself while on the earth and God Himself in the word pleads with us to ask.

• Give us this day... - Matthew 6:11
• Ask! - Matthew 7:7-12, John 16:19-26, Ephesians 3:20, James 1:5-6, 4:3
  
• Cast your anxiety upon him because he cares for you - 1 Peter 5:7
• Make your requests known unto God - Philippians 4:6-7

And so abide these together. God calls us to trust Him completely. He is God; we are not. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and much that He does is beyond knowing (Job, Deuteronomy 29:29).

At the same time, He calls us to ask, to ask the One who is the Provider. The world is broken. Blindness is not normal. Deafness is not normal. Paralysis is not normal. Cancer is not normal. Name the malady...it...is...not...NORMAL! Our loving God calls to those who will hear His voice to come to Him out of the abnormality. He loves us. One day, He (only He) will restore all things. And only He has the power to restore things in the middle of the fallenness. Even though He might not, we know that amidst the fallenness, His good, glorious, and gracious work continues to the completion of all things.

So we ask knowing that He can heal and knowing that He might not. And we trust Almighty God for whatever outcome He deems best.