BEGG-ING TO DIFFER

I am feeling sorry for Alistair Begg.

If you're not familiar with him, he's best known for pastoring a large Reformed church in Cleveland and hosting the Truth for Life radio show.

At least that was the sum of Begg's reputation before this past week when some comments he made several months ago suddenly went viral for all the wrong reasons.

Now Begg is being canceled by fellow Christians because he advised a woman to preserve her relationship with her grandson by going to his wedding where the spouse-to-be was a trans individual. 

Begg had asked the woman, "Does your grandson understand your belief in Jesus?" The answer was yes.

He had then asked, "Does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can’t countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life?" Again, yes.

Once those two facts were established, Begg suggested she should go to the wedding, though he acknowledged there was a "fine line" involved. 

To be clear, Begg has never strayed from his contention that marriage is meant to be between one man and one woman nor his contention that the practice of homosexuality is sinful. 

This whole "controversy" is only about Begg suggesting it might be preferable for this particular grandmother to go to the wedding instead of driving a wedge between her and her grandson by reinforcing the impression of Christians as judgmental. 

American Family Radio immediately pulled Begg's program from their 180 stations after calling his office and finding he refused to "repent". 

One commentator I heard on YouTube questioned Begg's salvation and declared him "a danger to the pulpit". Doug Wilson, James White, and Allie Beth Stuckey all expressed shock, disapproval, and great disappointment with Begg.

Not surprisingly in situations like this, I have heard more than one commentator express strident criticism of Begg while having no familiarity with the details of the controversy. 

The next test of this ugly Christian cancel culture will be whether or not John MacArthur disinvites Begg from an upcoming conference. So far MacArthur is saying the invitation stands. 

As much as I want to enjoy watching a group of prominent Calvinists eat one of their own, this is incredibly sad to watch.

Why can't we discuss different approaches to a very sticky question - and do it with humility and openness to hear different points of view instead of immediately crying "Heretic!" and working to excommunicate an otherwise faithful brother?

POKING THE SNAKE

I grew up in Indiana but had no idea - until I worked a college summer at a church camp in Brown County - that Indiana has rattlesnakes.

A rather large rattler had been spotted in the woods of the campground several times throughout the summer. I saw it with my own eyes once - it was at least 8 or 9 feet long. There were rumors that it traveled sometimes with its mate.

One day after lunch most of our grade school campers had darted back to the cabins to prepare for afternoon activities and the counselors were being a bit slow to follow.

Interrupting our conversation, a couple of campers popped back into the dining hall to announce the rattler had been spotted again, this time along the path leading back to the cabins. 

The other counselors and I were somewhat disinterested at this point - the snake tended to be seen only from a distance and would quickly disappear, choosing to avoid humans rather than attack them.

But at the second half of the announcement we all jumped out of our seats: "And Joey is poking it with a stick to see if he can get it to rattle!"

We reached that kid seconds later after sprinting full speed out of the building and up the path.

Fortunately for him, God spared Joey from learning the hard way the purpose of a rattlesnake's rattle. Even when provoked, the snake had chosen not to engage and had instead slithered away. 

I am looking at Numbers 21:4-9 in preparation for this coming Sunday's sermon. In isolation, it seems God is being pretty harsh. The Israelites complain about Moses, God, and being sick of eating manna and in response, God sends venomous snakes into the camp.

But this round of complaints from the people was one poke too far and God put an end to it with snakes. Fortunately, the people choose to repent and God orders Moses to lift a bronze snake on a staff in the center of camp. All who merely glance up at this snake are instantly healed and spared the consequences of snake bite.

It's a fascinating scene and even more so when Jesus appropriates it as a picture of mankind suffering the consequences of sin and Himself as the snake on the staff, lifted up to be the solution to humanity's problem. (John 3:14 -15)

DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE

A little storm has blown up in the obscure corner of YouTube where Calvinists and non-Calvinists debate each other on a regular basis. 

One of my favorite non-Calvinists, Warren McGrew (AKA "Idolkiller"), ignited the storm by making a comparison between Calvinists and Old Testament Molech worshippers which caused great offense among the Calvinists.

His comment was turned into a "short" and it garnered a lot of attention. 

The central topic was the question of what happens to infants when they die.

Consistent Calvinists have to say that just like adults, some infants are elect and some infants are reprobates. The elect get heaven and the reprobate get hell.

It's one of many Calvinist doctrines which sounds a little better in the abstract than in the concrete.

The fascinating part of the whole controversy is that as the Calvinists have taken offense at McGrew's comparison, they are left having to defend the indefensible: the belief that God sends some infants to hell simply because they are not of "the chosen". 

This is a dark upshot of Calvinist systematic theology that most Calvinists would prefer to leave unaddressed. 

McGrew's most recent recap of the controversy can be found HERE.

ASBURY ALUM

Before moving on to the new week, I wanted to give a shout out to my Alma Mater, Asbury Theological Seminary.

Last November Asbury sent an email and I perused it to see what was new on campus. A blurb about "renewal retreats" for alumni caught my eye. 

This was around the same time that Tim, Jamie, and I were talking about how long it had been since we were all together in one place. (2018!) 

So gathering back on campus just seemed ideal. We planned our retreat for January and the alumni office was on top of it, offering meetings with professors, pastoral counseling, and even a massage.

Going in, none of us was clear on the cost of the whole thing - staying at the hotel on campus from Tuesday night through Friday morning would be the biggest chunk - I was telling Melissa that I hoped they wouldn't charge us more than $75 a night.

Imagine my surprise at check-in this past Tuesday to find the stay in the hotel was free to all of us. Plus, the school threw in all three breakfasts and all three lunches to boot. Even the massage was paid for by the school!

Each of us had our own room with a large bed, fridge, TV (which I turned on once for 5 minutes), desk, and sitting area. 

On Wednesday morning, they asked us to come by the alumni office - for the purpose of gifting us with t-shirts, mugs, and hats among other items. 

I'm telling you, we were treated like royalty. And every person we met on campus - including the current president - thought it was amazing that the three of us had stayed in contact all these years and had the desire to spend substantial time together on campus. 

It reminded me how much I loved my time at Asbury in the late 90s and how much I owe that place. 

The school's graciousness throughout our time there made me proud to be an alum. 

I have decided: I plan to give Asbury a very nice gift in return once I make my first million. 😉

My spacious room:

My name on the wall of the administration building:

Breakfast at the Asbury hotel:

The sitting area in Jamie's room:

We had the run of Estes Chapel for a while one morning:

Modeling my new Asbury beanie:

(Covers the gray hair nicely)

God still moves in this place!

25 YEARS ON

Friday morning I found myself in a chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky sitting in the back row between two of the best friends I could ask for.

Tim now lives in Illinois and Jamie in Georgia but we first met over 25 years ago when all three of us were students at Asbury Theological Seminary, just across the street.

Here we are now as old guys. I'm on the left, Tim is in the middle, and Jamie is on the right. (And John Wesley insisted on being in the picture, too.)

I found myself tearing up during worship and outright crying as the campus pastor was praying. 

They were tears of gratitude.

Here we were 25 years after sharing classes and working together in youth ministry, and our old friend and classmate Greg is up front as the campus pastor praying and Tim's daughter Ruby is playing the mandolin in the praise band.

Who could have guessed? 

The whole time Tim and I were roommates at Asbury, he kept dipping his toes in the dating pool and nothing ever worked out. He was confused. I would ask him, "What are you going to do about it?" And he would reply, "I just need to pray about it and figure it out."

If he hadn't eventually succeeded in praying about it and figuring it out, Ruby wouldn't be up there sharing her gifts as a student at the university.

It wasn't just the way that God had answered Tim's prayers over the years that got me choked up.

While we were students at the seminary, a small revival had broken out at the university - similar to the one that got nationwide attention there about a year ago.

I had gone down to check it out - in the very same sanctuary where I sat Friday morning - and the Lord had met me there in a powerful way.

That night began a journey where God put right some things in my life that had been completely out of order - things which had destroyed my self-esteem and my self-respect so much that I had given up hope of ever finding a woman to share life with.

In fact, I turned 30 while I was a student at Asbury Seminary and a platonic friend, Sarah, had surprised me with a mock wedding in a shelter house on the edge of campus. (I could see the exact spot from my window this past week.)

We had joked earlier that if we were both still single when I hit 30, we would just go ahead and marry each other. Sarah had come out to the shelter house that evening in a borrowed wedding dress!

And now look at my life 25 years later.

I could not have even imagined having a wife I love as much as I love Melissa. I could not have imagined the adventures we've had together in raising a family and serving the Lord. I could not have imagined having four talented and beautiful children like Caleb, Hannah, Samuel, and Sarah.

God has a plan. And God is good. 

All the time.

And even as I sat there Friday morning, I had an overwhelming sense that the best is yet to be. 

Who knows what God has in store for the next 25 years!

P.S. I do not mean to leave Jamie out of the discussion of what God has done in our lives over the past 25 years since we were classmates. For His own reasons, God has given Jamie the grace to walk in singleness. The family dynamics for Tim and me are only the most outwardly visible markers of God's work in our lives, but for all three of us, the Lord has shown Himself faithful these past years in giving us lives of fulfilling Kingdom ministry. And for all three of us, the best is yet to be!

WHERE FEAR LIVES

Over the last few days, I met with two old seminary friends to catch up, plan, and pray. We were back on the campus of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky where we all met over 25 years ago.

It was an incredible three days and I plan to reflect on it here soon.

But for now I am back home in Indiana and thinking about how frequently our conversations referenced fears of various types ... 

Fear of unknown futures, fear of failure, fear of misspending time.

As I was driving home, this thought struck home with force: Fear lives only in our imaginations. 

Moving forward, I want to be on heightened guard against nursing fears of all types, big and small - they are nothing but destructive. 

Faith and fear cannot occupy the imagination at the same time. The presence of one will necessarily squeeze out the other.

"We suffer more in imagination than in reality." - Seneca

DR. JOHN LENNOX

If you’re not already familiar with Dr. John Lennox, you will not regret looking him up.

Lennox is a world-renowned mathematician and bioethicist. As a professor at Oxford, he has written books and given speeches on everything from Christian apologetics to the future of Artificial Intelligence and has debated the most renowned atheists.

He knows his stuff! 

Plus, he’s an 80 year old Irishman, so you will find him a delight to listen to! 

And, any time you do, you will learn something profound. 

Here is a small sampling of John Lennox’s speeches and interviews on YouTube:

• The Relationship between Faith and Science (And Science’s Limitations)
• Man, God, and Artificial Intelligence (And what the future might hold)
• An Exploration of the Life and Faith of Abraham in the Old Testament (And what it means to our faith today)

Fair warning! - None of John Lennox’s videos are short and you WILL be drawn in!

If you check out Dr. Lennox’s work, I would love to hear what you think.

DOUBLE-MINDED

James 1:5-8 is another famous passage where reading "imagination" for "mind" might bring insight:

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

In the past, verse 6 has caused me no small amount of anxiety. How can one control whether he is doubting or not? 

I always thought of doubt as something that just sprang from inside a person - uninvited and ungovernable. 

But James says one who vacillates between belief and doubt is double-MINDED. 

Maybe I don't have any control over the appearance of a doubt in my mind, but I most certainly can exercise control over allowing it to feed my imagination. 

In the time between my prayer for wisdom and its fulfillment, which direction do I encourage my own imagination to lean? 

It will be either towards confidence in God's goodness or doubt in His power or presence. 

My spirit's anticipation of the future plays out in my imagination, forming my "reality" as I wait. 

James says if I allow doubt equal time in my imagination, I am destroying my ability to receive God's answer. 

RENEWAL

As I have been pondering the role of imagination in life and faith - coming to the conclusion that we live primarily in our imagination and only secondarily in reality - it occurred to me that one of my favorite verses might speak to the issue.

In Romans 12:2 Paul writes, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."

It seems fairly obvious to me that "renewing your mind" does not mean "learn more stuff". 

How does our understanding of this text deepen if we read it as "be transformed by the renewing of your imagination"?

*****

By the way, speaking of renewal - I am currently in Wilmore, Kentucky for a long overdue retreat with my two best friends from seminary days. Tim and Jamie and I will be together for the next two and a half days. 

We are off to a good start - Asbury has been incredibly hospitable in giving us time and space for catching up on all the most important aspects of life. Perhaps I will have some photos to share tomorrow. 

VALENTINES DAY, 1980

Here's what I mean when I say we live in our imaginations:

It was Valentines Day, 1980. I was in Mr. Benson's 6th grade class.

And so was Amber. 

She was sweet and pretty and had straight blond hair reaching half way down her back.

Unfortunately, she was about as shy and quiet as I was. 

My crush on her was top secret. 

The exchange of Valentines made me super nervous and just a little hopeful. Each student had decorated a shoebox and cut a slit in the top. There was a party at the end of the day and we each got to drop our little platonic store-bought slips of paper into our classmates' boxes.

At my first opportunity, I opened my box and began to sort through the notes, looking for the only one that mattered.

When I finally came across it, my heart leapt. There was nothing special about it. But it had her name on it. And my name - written by her own hand.

I set it carefully aside and, with much less interest, continued through the remaining Valentines until I came across a true curiosity: A second Valentine from Amber.

Again, "To Steve. From Amber."

My first thought was: "She's sending me a sign! She likes me twice as much as she likes anyone else in the class!"

That euphoria lasted maybe 30 seconds. 

It was promptly replaced by its opposite: "She gave me two by mistake. She doesn't even know my name enough to have noticed she had already written it once before! She doesn't know I exist!"

My point is this: To this day, I do not know the reality of why I received two Valentines from Amber or whether or not it meant a thing. 

But I was crushed - my imagination devised its own reality. And it crushed me. 

For better or for worse, we humans live in our imaginations. 

IMAGINATION

You and I tend to believe that we have a pretty good grip on reality.

Reality is for grown-ups. Imagination is for children.

But even as adults, we don't actually live in reality.

We live in our imaginations. 

I think we don't notice it because our imaginations have grown blander, flatter, and - too often - more cynical.

Our imaginations fill in all the missing information of the present moment:

• Her motivation for saying what she said.
• His reasoning behind doing what he did.
• And all the horrors which the future might hold!

We "know" it all - but we seldom recognize how much of what we "know" is merely our imagination.

This matters when it comes to faith. How many of the things we "know" about God's character, His motivation, and His probable future actions are the product of our imaginations?

A lot.

The question becomes how closely our imaginations resemble what Scripture reveals of God and His ways. 

24 HOURS

24 hours ago, my alarm went off: 3:00 AM.

4:10 AM - Call time for Sarah and the rest of the show choir at the high school.

4:40 AM - Three busses roll out toward Anderson High School, 90 minutes away. I am driving the equipment truck. Melissa is by my side.

8:30 AM - Sarah's first performance. They did great.

3:30 PM - Sarah's second performance.

From here on out, it is a blur. I try several times to find a quiet, comfortable place to nap. The floor of a classroom is only intermittently quiet and not comfortable at all.

6:00 PM - It is confirmed that both of Sarah's groups have made it into finals. It will be a late night. 

7:30 PM and 10:00 PM - Sarah performs again.

Midnight - Winners are announced. Both of Sarah's groups win First Runner Up. The students are pretty happy with the outcome. 

1:00 AM - I think - We are ready to drive back home.

3:00 AM - Melissa, Sarah, and I walk back into our house. The dogs are jubilant.

3:05 AM - I write this for the blog because ... habit. (I must write something!)

Tomorrow, I will add some photos. But too bleary eyed to do it now. Praying tomorrow's preaching doesn't suffer too greatly! Service starts in about 7 hours!

RAIN AND SNOW

Isaiah 55:10-11 offers a fascinating metaphor comparing God's word to rain and snow:

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The rain comes down from heaven and waters the ground which then enables it to bloom and makes it productive.

Likewise then, God's word comes down from heaven and "waters" human hearts and minds, right? And makes them "bud and flourish"? 

It seems to me that the straightforward reading of these two verses is problematic for Calvinists on several fronts:

First, the doctrine of "Total Depravity" says there is nothing good in humanity which could possibly sprout into anything productive for God's Kingdom.

Second, the same doctrine teaches that humans are unable to discern or receive any Truth from God until they are born again. It is impossible for God's word to make an impact on the general population because reprobates are blind to it. 

Finally, in the Calvinist systematic it is only "Irresistible Grace" and the Holy Spirit which brings transformation.

I am guessing a Calvinist would simply claim these two verses as true but limited to the Elect. 

Not applicable to any of the non-elect. 

And that is one of the many shortcomings of Calvinism - God's work happens only among a minority of humanity. He has a very narrow scope of influence. (Except for determining absolutely everything that happens to everybody everywhere!) 

TEMPTATIONS

This week I've been looking into the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert in preparation for this coming Sunday's sermon.

It's another Bible story that is so familiar it's possible to overlook how profound it all is.

This time as I have been rereading it, I have been struck by the three categories Satan's temptations fall into.

The first temptation is to turn stones into bread. When we think of temptation and sin, things that appeal to our bodily appetites are often the first to come to mind. Drinking, smoking, overeating, etc.

The second temptation (at least in Luke's account) has to do with Satan's appeal to the ego: Satan offered Jesus a shortcut to authority over all the world. 

It seems to me that the ego has a bigger appetite than the body, but sins of ego are less visible. Covetousness, gossip, lying, pride, tearing others down, etc.

The final temptation has to do with testing God's love. Maybe this one can be seen as an umbrella over the other two. 

In essence it is this mindset: Given the fact that God loves me and is willing to forgive me, how much can I get away with and still have the Lord's protection over my life? 

Jesus says: don't do that. 

God's protection is there for when you trip over an unforeseen rock in your path, not when you purposefully throw yourself off the roof of a building. 

 

DECLUTTER

January is a perfect time for some decluttering - closets, offices, and garages. (Well, once it gets a little warmer!)

I speak from experience - I decluttered my home office a few weeks ago and it has been a much more pleasant place to spend time ever since. 

Your friends at "The Minimalist" put together a list of 15 stats about Americans and our possessions and they are eye-opening. 

(At least as far as you can trust stats on the internet. They certainly sound plausible.)

For instance:

"Americans make one impulse purchase every two days, spending up to $5400 annually ($324,000 over their lifetime)."

3 or 4 impulse buys a week? That's called a single trip to Target.

You can read the whole list HERE if you want. It can be a bit convicting, especially this soon after the holidays. 

BIBLE IN A YEAR

I am not a huge fan of promoting "Read through the Bible in a Year" type challenges. 

While it is an awesome thing to read the entire Bible, to frame it as a New Year's resolution or a challenge poses some risks, both for those who fail and those who succeed.

It's risky for those who fail: 

Because it calls for a significant investment of time and energy on a daily basis, the vast majority who take up the challenge drop it long before the year is over, leaving them feeling quite defeated spiritually.

It's also risky for those who succeed:

Those who succeed in sticking to the challenge will get a great overview (which is worth something) but their reading becomes all about quantity over quality. If you're reading 3 or 4 chapters in one sitting, what is the likelihood that any particular verse is going to lodge in your heart or mind?

Some of my best times of Scripture study have been focused on a single verse - really letting it sink in and turning it over in my mind the rest of the day. 

In my opinion, for those who are wanting to become more consistent in their Bible reading, a better challenge than "Whole Bible in One Year" would be a commitment to reading Scripture for at least 2 minutes a day, copying the words in your own handwriting as you go. 

A 2-minute habit is much easier to pick up and maintain than something that is going to require 30 to 45 minutes a day. Copying the text onto another paper will force your brain to focus. You won't cover vast swaths of Biblical territory, but what you do read will have a better chance of becoming lifechanging. 

THE FOG

Imagine a thick fog 20 feet deep over a square acre of ground. 

If you condensed all the water in that fog into a liquid, how many one-gallon jugs would you need to contain it all?

Not more than one, and only a third of it! 

The reason you want to develop your own understanding of important doctrinal beliefs - and revise those beliefs as you mature in faith - is not so you can get a perfect score on God's doctrine test.

None of us can ever get a perfect score on such a test. One or two warped ideas concerning doctrines of the Christian faith may not be all that harmful in themselves.

Certainly not to our salvation.

The problem comes when that warped doctrine is atomized, obscuring your clear view of every other truth claim otherwise available to you in Scripture. 

The fog of false doctrine can leave even the most solid truth ghostlike to your eyes - dim, unrecognizable, or completely hidden. 

And that's going to slow down your progress in the faith.

COMING BAPTISMS

It was a great morning at Sardinia Baptist Church. I was preaching on Matthew 3 where the story of John baptizing Jesus is recounted. 

It seems to me that when it comes to baptism, we need to find middle ground between those who say baptism is an absolute necessity for salvation, with no unbaptized soul allowed into heaven (like the Mormons) and those who consider baptism to be entirely optional (like a lot of folks who grow up in the church). 

As I was working through the passage this week, it seemed to me that baptism is more than a ritual or ceremony. It is an experience.

It's an experience to which we are invited and commanded.

And since I have never consciously had the experience of baptism - being sprinkled as an infant - I think it's valid for me to consider myself unbaptized.

And so I do.

And now that I do, I plan to change that.

At the end of the service, I invited any others who desired to be baptized to join me up front - and a father and his son came forward!

This is going to be good...

REFLECTING ON MY BAPTISM

I will be preaching on the baptism of Jesus this Sunday and it's caused a lot of self reflection.

I have been looking for a word that describes how I feel regarding my own baptism as an infant. 

Resentment feels too strong, but it is appropriate in a sense - I do wish my parents had allowed me to choose my own baptism when I was ready. 

Discontentment might be a better choice. 

Disquiet or vexation could work as well. (Yes, I am using an online thesaurus to help me figure this out.)

Misgiving?

Annoyance?

A little bit of all of those?

Yes.

And it's not just because I have switched theological teams. It's true I grew up Methodist and now pastor an American Baptist Church, but these feelings have long been with me.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for new parents bringing their babies before the church, asking for prayer support, and pledging to bring the little one up in the faith. 

But let's call it "infant dedication", not baptism.

Because dripping some water on an infant's head seems to reduce baptism to a ritual. 

And if it's nothing more than a ritual, why is baptism stressed so often throughout the New Testament?

GOD ABHORS WHAT?

Saw a Facebook post from a friend today - a snippet of an old R. C. Sproul video.

In it, Sproul says this of the common expression "God hates the sin but loves the sinner": 

"That's nonsense!"

In fact, Sproul goes on to explain, far from loving sinners, God actually "abhors" every unrepentant sinner. 

God abhors people! 

Need proof? Sproul doesn't point to any particular Scripture verse, but he offers this logic: if God didn't abhor unrepentant sinners, why would he throw them into hell for eternity?

If you hold to hell as eternal conscious torment, God's hatred for His creatures - at least a significant portion of them - makes logical sense as a conclusion. 

Sproul was a mega-Calvinist and his reputation continues to be high among the Reformed.

But it sure is hard to square God's hatred of so many of the souls He created with Scripture's contention that "God is love"!

BOLC GRADUATION

A quick midweek trip down to Georgia for me to witness Caleb's graduation from BOLC - the Basic Officer Leadership Course. This marks the end of his introduction to real military life here at Fort Moore. 

What's next? 

Well, it all depends. 

Eventually he will be stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. But he's hoping to do Ranger School here in Georgia before that. Those plans are in doubt now because of a badly sprained ankle over Christmas break. 

So ... only God knows. 

(Fortunately, we trust Him.) 

Sadly, Melissa couldn't get away from commitments to Sarah's show choir this week (not to mention a classroom of 1st graders), so I am traveling alone. On the bright side, it has given me some great father/son time.

I flew into Atlanta yesterday evening. Caleb drove nearly 2 hours to get me and we stopped for some Chik-fil-A on the way back to his apartment. A rather uneventful trip.

The graduation ceremony was scheduled for 9:00 am this morning, but Caleb had to be there early, of course. We gave his friend Alex a ride. 

Alex is a sort of military exchange student and heads back to his home country of Greece tomorrow. 

The graduation was held at The Maneuver Center on base. Some interesting statues out front.

When the big moment arrived, Caleb gritted his teeth and walked across stage, hiding his limp. (And then limped all the more the rest of the day!)

He's made some good friends here.

Later in the afternoon, Caleb showed me the Army's tank collection. This building houses armored equipment from the early 1900s to present, originating everywhere from Israel to Nazi Germany. Fascinating!

Some of these things weigh up to an impressive 95 tons.

Caleb has been training on the latest version of this tank, an Abram. He has his driver's license now. 😉

It was a truly great day. I'm proud of this guy. He's worked hard.

So glad I could be here. Heading back to Indiana in the morning. 

PSA REVISITED

I spent my allotted blogging time this evening answering a question on Facebook, so I figured I would paste my comment here as tonight's post.

I was asked by an acquaintance on Facebook, "What don't you like about Penal Substitutionary Atonement?"

(For the uninitiated, PSA is the idea that God punished Jesus on the cross for our sins, pouring out His righteous wrath on the Son which we sinners rightly deserved. It is one of several theories about how the Atonement works, but I think it should be eliminated from our theology.)

Here was my response:

Well, first, I don't see PSA taught explicitly in Scripture - unless I'm missing some key passage. [Proponents of PSA always go for Isaiah 53, but you have to make a lot of assumptions to find the doctrine there.]

On the other side, there are Scriptures which are hard to square with PSA - like Ezekiel 18, especially verse 20.

[20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.]

And then, on a philosophical level, PSA divides the Trinity. Even in your comments above you spoke of "God punishing His Son". Is Jesus not God? On some level, isn't PSA just God inflicting punishment on Himself? Not trying to be disrespectful, but that's the definition of masochism.

I hear "God the Father needs to exercise justice because it is an essential part of His nature." Is justice NOT an essential part of the Son's nature? Are they not of the same nature?

And finally, the idea that God pours out his wrath on Jesus in order to be able to forgive humans makes a mess of the concept of forgiveness.

If I say, "You owe me $1,000. Pay up." And you say, "I don't have it. Please forgive me." EITHER I forgive you and I am out $1,000. OR I get my $1,000 forcefully from an innocent 3rd party and I'm just happy to get my money back. But if I get my money from an innocent 3rd party, it would be ridiculous for me to then come back to you and say, "Your debt is forgiven." That's not "forgiveness" at that point.

MOVIES AND REFRAMES

I don't remember the last time I added a movie to my personal Top Ten list, but I was ready to bump an old favorite to make room for Everything Everywhere All At Once after watching it for the first time a week ago.

(Please note that if you are offended by the use of certain words and references to crude sexual practices, this is not a movie I can recommend to you. It's a shame - those things are involved in 1% of the run time and none are necessary to the story.)

The movie has a lot going for it otherwise as it deftly blends sci-fi, action, comedy, and drama. It's a compelling and imaginative story filled with emotion. The casting, directing, and acting are all top-notch.

What gripped me most, though, was the means of the resolution to the main character's central problem. Evelyn, a Chinese American owner of a failing laundromat finds her dissatisfaction with life turned into contentment and peace through nothing more than a new outlook. 

Upon some reflection, I realized Everything Everywhere All At Once shares an important quality with several of my other favorite movies:

• A Christmas Carol - A miserly man comes to see the joy in caring for others.
• Big Fish - A resentful son discovers the truth contained in his father's fantastical stories.
• Local Hero - A self-absorbed oil man comes to value friendship over wealth.
• It's a Wonderful Life - A frustrated man learns the impact of the sacrifices he has made. 

In all of these movies, the protagonists' problems are solved by a change of heart - resulting from a fundamental reframing of their view of reality. 

This is reframing as a solution to life's major problems! These movies say solutions are readily available, if only we could see them! 

This is true to life. 

And it is at the heart of the Christian faith. 

TYPICAL

This past week I put my finger on a personal mindset I seem to have held since a young age - one which has served me well: "I don't want to be a typical anything."

This was as close as my fragile self-esteem could get me to "I'm going to be #1!" 😉

My goal is to beat the average. I aim for the top 5%, I suppose.

In practice, it means on some deep level, I refuse to settle for being...

• A typical man
• A typical husband
• A typical father
• A typical teacher
• A typical preacher
• A typical Christian

Did you notice anything as you were reading the word "typical" throughout that list?

What does it say about human nature - and our approach to life - that the word "typical" has overwhelmingly negative connotations?!

It makes me sad to say, but it doesn't really take much effort to be atypical in this world. 

SHARPENING IRON

As I am trying to get a solid start on 2024, one unfinished project is on my hit list and it relates to this blog and my daily writing habit. 

Over 20 months ago, I set up my own website, gave it a name, and paid for it. My intent was to migrate all the posts from here at blogspot to my own domain.

I was motivated by two thoughts:

1) I had read that blogspot was not the safest place to keep my material. In essence, it was possible - though not probable - that someday everything I ever wrote here could disappear. 

That would definitely bum me out. But my greater motivation for starting my own website was the fact that ...

2) It's not easy for visitors to leave comments on blogspot. 

I know I would get even more value out of writing here if it were easier to gather feedback. 

I want to know what others think. Especially if I have some blindspot in my own belief system.  

I mentioned today from the pulpit the usefulness of considering my collection of various Christian beliefs to be a "rough draft" which is still under revision. Couldn't we better serve each other as "iron sharpening iron" if we had a platform where we could bring our current thoughts and insights into dialogue with other thoughtful believers?

So what has prevented my move to the new website? 

It's good old inertia complicated by a lack of technical know-how. Blogspot's advantage is that it is incredibly user-friendly on the backside. The new website might be just as easy, but it's unfamiliar.

The funny thing is, I know I could start the transition tomorrow if I would just be willing to start it as a rough draft ...

I will keep you posted. Perhaps this could soon become more of a 2-way conversation. 

ANNUAL REVIEW

I came across a "Personal Annual Review" template from Sahil Bloom as 2023 was drawing to a close. 

I have made plenty of useful resolutions in past Januaries, but this year I was looking for a new angle.

So I thought Bloom's Annual Review might be a useful exercise. I was confident enough in this belief that, even before I had applied it to my own life, I recommended it a few days ago through the weekly email newsletter that I publish for Mission Resource.

Now that I have started working through it myself? 

I wish I could pass it to everyone I know.

In his Annual Review, Bloom walks you through 7 key questions:

1. What did I change my mind on this year?
2. What created energy this year?
3. What drained energy this year?
4. Who were the boat anchors in my life? (People who held you back. This is the only question I couldn't relate to.)
5. What did I not do because of fear?
6. What were my greatest hits and worst misses this year?
7. What did I learn this year?

The longer I have sat with these questions in front of me, the more insight I have gained. As Bloom quotes from John Dewey: "We do not learn from experience ... we learn from reflecting on experience."

It's not too late for some reflecting on 2023! It will make a solid foundation for further growth in 2024. 

Bloom's work is aesthetically and functionally well-formatted. You can download your own copy at sahilbloom.com/annual-review for the price of your email address. (Bloom publishes a regular email newsletter that is worth checking out too.) 

FATHERS

For this week's message, I am looking at the story of Jesus' extra days at the temple in Jerusalem at age 12.

I am focused on the explanation He gives his earthly parents when they return to Jerusalem in a panic. Mary scolds Him a bit - in true motherly fashion - "Why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." 

Jesus picks up on the word "father" and uses it to reference Someone quite different from Joseph: "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Interestingly, this is the first recorded instance of Jesus calling God His "Father" and the last mention of His human father, Joseph. 

Since last summer, on a daily basis, I have been intentionally following Jesus' lead in addressing God as He taught us: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." 

I stop and linger over that word, Father. I suppose most of us could spend a lifetime meditating on God's fatherly love for us and never exhaust all that He intends for us to understand.

But in reading the story of Jesus at the temple, I am struck that I have only ever seen one side of "Father": God's warmth toward us ...

But it also expresses our obligation to Him as His sons and daughters. 

Because in the end, a father is someone who loves me and asks me to do things.

As a son, I love my father and I do the things he asks me to do.

When I pray to "my Father in heaven", it should call to mind not only His love for me but also my obligation to do what He asks of me. 

ALL SYSTEMS GO

I once read about a study that showed anyone keeping a messy, disorganized workspace added an extra 3 hours to his work week. 

Who knows how a study could measure such a thing, but it certainly sounds plausible. The rationale is that such an environment wastes the workers time in unnecessary distraction as well as constant searching for something amid the various piles.

Knowing one of my major goals for 2024 is to write a dissertation, I figured a good cleaning of my home office was step #1. 

After all, without a system in place, a goal is just wishful thinking. 

So not only was I dusting and decluttering over the past two days, I was also devising new systems to replace old, inefficient ones. 

These systems aren't visible in the photos, but they are there, under the surface. 

By the end of January, I will know what's working and what needs tweaking. 

It feels like foundational progress and a good start to the new year. 

REFLECTION

I've done plenty of New Year's resolutions in the past, but this year I am stepping into new territory and doing some year end review first.

Although I have never done it intentionally, the value of reflecting on the year that has just passed now strikes me as being quite obvious.

I like Sahil Bloom's ideas for a "Personal Annual Review". It includes the following 7 questions:

1. What did I change my mind on this year?
2. What created energy this year?
3. What drained energy this year?
4. Who were the boat anchors in my life? (These are people who "hold you back from your potential".)
5. What did I not do because of fear?
6. What were my greatest hits and worst misses this year?
7. What did I learn this year?

It feels like some time spent meditating on these questions would provide an excellent foundation for developing goals and dreams for 2024. 

Would you agree?

If you are interested in a little more background and a nicely formatted document in which to do your own reflecting on 2023, you can download Bloom's template at sahilbloom.com/annual-review.

GETTING STUFF DONE

Just over two days into the new year and I am already learning new lessons.

Like how useful steroids can be.

My latest sinus infection chose Christmas Day for its arrival. The next day I felt remarkably better. But then the third day I woke up at 1:00 am to drive Sarah to the Fort Wayne Airport, two and a half hours away. 

I was glad to do it, but I know it played a role in giving this infection a major second wind. By Sunday morning, it had travelled into my vocal cords, leaving me to croak my way through the sermon. 

My Sunday afternoon nap - usually a trusted friend - betrayed me. When I woke, I couldn't speak at all.

Today, I decided that I had resisted seeing a doctor long enough.

At 3:38 pm, I walked out of the clinic with an antibiotic for my sinuses and a steroid for my voice.

The doctor had said, "This late in the day you might want to wait to start the steroid tomorrow or else you won't be able to sleep tonight." 

Wanting my voice back sooner rather than later, I took the first day's dosage of the little white pills as soon as I got home. (As a guy, I know that following a doctor's advice is optional - like braking when a traffic light turns yellow.)

This evening, with newfound energy, I decided to rearrange my home office. I had been thinking it would make an excellent new year project since I had become aware of the setup not being optimal for my current workflow. 

Now it's nearly 1:00 am, and my office looks like this:

Yes, it's a little bit cluttered, but tomorrow I will finish organizing things and decluttering. The work side of the room is somewhat better already:

Anyway, all this to say that I might have to look into taking steroids on a regular basis. 😉

OLD SCARS AND NEW STARTS

Some odds and ends to start the New Year. Today's themes included new starts and Haiti.

Today marks the completion of 3 years of daily blogging. It has been useful to me in so many ways. If only I could find a way to monetize it and get paid for doing what is now essentially a daily habit, that would be great. 😉 But seriously, I know for a fact it will pay of in some significant way in 2024 when I will be doing a ton of writing because 2024 will be ...

The year of the dissertation. I will need to make my dissertation a top priority this year if it is going to get finished - and it WILL get finished. I have come too far to not get to the point where I can force people to call me "Dr. Gross"!

Today I wasn't thinking about the dissertation, though, since January 1st is ...

Haiti's Independence Day. Our friends, the Michels, invited me and others over for pumpkin soup, the traditional dish for this special day. (Storly Michel is Haitian and he and his wife Kate were instrumental in introducing our family to Haiti in 2010.) It was wonderful. (Though I have had a sinus infection that has travelled south to my vocal cords, so it was hard to communicate.)

Even though I wasn't feeling topnotch, I resisted taking a nap after I got home because for some reason this year - instead of focusing on a bunch of New Year's resolutions - I was determined to find at least one significant unfinished project to complete before 2024 ramps up.

I have plenty to choose from, so I found one of the oldest. 

Years ago, for the arrival of each of our 4 kids, I decided to make a cross out of stained glass to have in the hospital room during the births. (One of my cooler ideas, I must say.) 

Amazingly, I actually followed through with each of the kids, and so Melissa and I have 4 similar, yet unique, crosses in our possession which will someday be passed down to the kids. 

They are nothing fancy, but they obviously hold a ton of sentimental value.

Well, we took those crosses to Haiti with us when we moved there in 2013 and not too long after we got settled, Caleb's got broken. (A story for another day.)

To fix stained glass is not quick or easy, even if you have the proper equipment. Which I did not in Haiti.

So I kept the broken cross and brought it back to the States and it has been taking up counter space in my home office for the past three years...

Making me feel guilty. 

I had tried a couple of times to simply super glue it, but glue was just not doing the job. The cross folded forward each time. 

So today seemed like the perfect time to put this little project to rest once and for all and so I dug out my soldering iron, flux, and copper tape and I DID IT RIGHT.

It felt good.

And the fact that the cross now has some scars from its time in Haiti seems symbolically appropriate: 

Nobody who lives in Haiti can ever escape being broken in significant ways. 

Caleb, I can now die in peace, knowing I won't be passing your cross to you in several pieces. 😏