Team Hammer's Musings

This won't hurt a bit...

2013-03-05T08:48:00.002-05:00

March 2, 2013

Today was the dreaded day on our itinerary. It was the Chinese medical appointment for all adoptive families here. We probably should have taken advantage of this strategically located vending machine on our way into the doctor's office: we certainly could have used it!

Modern Medicine.

8 new families joined us today as they have just returned from picking up their children in other provinces. We have stayed in Guangzhou the entire trip because Charlotte's orphanage is in Guangdong province (where Guangzhou is)- the same province as the U.S. Consulate that all adoptive families have to visit before they can return home with their children. Charlotte spent the entire morning being poked a prodded and having her blood tested. Remember the Passport picture? That's the face we saw most of the first half of this day. Poor baby! I had to hand her over to some nurses at one point and they took her from me and closed the door to draw her blood. She was so terrified and I hated having to let her go after she's just learned to trust me, but I had no choice. She recovered quickly, though! I am so glad that is over! The only good thing that came out of the visit was finding out that neither Griffin nor Charlotte has an ear infection, despite their colds. That is such a relief- the plane ride home will be bad enough as it is!

Charlotte looking healthy and fabulous.

One of the other families we met here is adopting their 8^th and 9^th children (3 biological teens, and 5^th and 6^th adoptions)- two little boys who both have the special need of dwarfism. One of their daughters whom they adopted in 2008 is from Suixi, the same orphanage as Charlotte! They are the second family we know who has a child from Suixi, and the interesting thing is that both have been reading this blog and they both said it was like reading about their own child and reliving the same experiences they had- the crumb concern, sensory issues, sleep issues, etc. The lady today assured me that it was good we did not go to the orphanage. She said it was a really bad place (sad) and that we saved ourselves some heartache.

Thank you all for praying for better nights and naps for Charlotte. Today she barely fussed at naptime and she slept for two hours! Tonight again, she cried for a few short minutes then stopped and played in her crib and went to sleep. I didn't even have to sit by her bed tonight. I think she is learning that we are here to stay! She has had something in her hand since we got her on Monday. Usually it's some kind of snack cup or bottle or cracker. In our adoption training we were told that in order to help her feel secure, we should always make sure she knows that she will not go hungry- so if she wants to hold on to her snack, we should let her so she knows she will never be deprived or go to bed hungry again. She has fallen asleep with a cracker in her hand and with a snack cup of poufs, and tonight with her bottle with the rest of her milk she wouldn't finish when I fed it to her. We realize that parenting her is going to look a lot different than it does with our other children, so that is going to be a challenge.

So happy to know she can eat when she wants!

This next “adventure” deserves a separate post because it is just so incredibly nuts...but most of you have probably already seen the video. If not, read the details here, then click on the link to watch it:

http://vimeo.com/60993082

(for some reason the first section of the video comes out with the words flashing very quickly on the screen. Since it looks fine in WMV form on our computer here, we can't figure out how to fix it, but the lion's share of the video is clear and funny!)

Let me just preface this with a little information about the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, cut and pasted straight from Wikipedia:

Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower and also known as Guangzhou Tower is a 600 m-high (2,000 ft) multi-purpose Chinese observation tower. The tower briefly held the title of tallest tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, before being surpassed by the Tokyo Skytower in 2011. It is the tallest structure in China and the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The tower has the highest observation deck in the world, having a height of 488 m (1,601 ft) above ground level.

Aaaaaaah.

Oooooooooh.

Whoooooaaaaa!

Let me also remind you that I am very afraid of heights. So, I have no idea why I thought visiting this would be a good plan. But, it does look very cool in the pictures and when you're on the ground looking up at it, it's easy to feel brave. We bought our tickets to go up to the observation deck, but for just a little bit more you can ride a “bubble tram” at the top to get a better 360 view. By the time we rode the glass elevator that goes up the outside of the structure, I was already weak in the knees and told Joey I didn't want to go up from the 111^th floor of the observation deck 6 MORE floors to get on the bubble tram. In fact, I didn't even want to go stand right up against the window to “observe”. I really just wanted to take the stairs back down if they had any, and not even have to get back on that elevator. Joey talked me into it, since we'd already paid, and some talk of getting some Chinese ladies to go with him if I was too scared, so I relented. We rode the additional 6 floors up and were given a form to sign that we couldn't read since it was all in Chinese. I told Joey he probably just signed our lives away, but he was confident this was a good plan. We boarded the bubble tram and hopes were high and fears were being conquered.

Brave and smiley.

I actually was very calm and even enjoyed the beauty of seeing the entire city that high above it. I was happy standing in the middle of the tram since the floor was solid and the rest of the bubble around it was all glass. I told Joey it would have been neater to see it in the dark with everything all lit up, and how proud I was of myself for being so brave when I had really been afraid to get on this. I pointed out the rails along the side where some poor soul who works there has to actually walk on for maintenance, and how I would really freak out if I had to stand on those laddered open grates that you can see straight through to the ground 2,000 feet below.

Sure would be a bummer to be out there...

As we're enjoying the ride, about halfway through, two cars away from the highest point and furthest from the loading dock...a jerk and a dead stop. At first we just joked a little and laughed, waiting for it to re-start as the lights inside it kept coming on, then going out again. Surely they'd get it up and running in no time. We saw some Chinese official-looking armed guards come out to the entrance area, and then a man harness up and start coming around to each car, including ours, and give the “a-okay” sign- he spoke some broken English and told us we were “very safe inside!” About 20 minutes later, we notice a team of “adventure directors” (that's what their name tags said) all harness up, and then start making their way to the tram next to us, and that's right, start harnessing people up.

Adventure directors inbound.

No joke. Three Chinese men came to our tram with harnesses and Chinese guard coats for us to wear, because by this point, it is starting to get dark and at that altitude, it was very chilly and a windy day, as well. At this point I'm starting to freak out. Literally laughing and crying at the same time. I had just said to Joey there is no way in hell they are getting me to walk on that ledge out of here, but I had no choice. I had a toddler strapped to my chest and Joey had no carrier for Griffin, so he had to hold Griffin with one hand and carry him out. Once I got harnessed up, coat on and a 90 pound Chinese man to escort me out, I had to slowly climb down the path, gripping this poor man's neck for dear life, while Madonna's “Who's That Girl” is playing in the background. Oh, yeah, that girl was me.

Slightly less brave and smiley.

I gripped the railing so tight that my hands were literally black when I joined Joey and Gaige in the “staff only” room they took us to calm us all down (of course, Joey thought this was high times, being a parachute jumper and all). By the time I saw Joey, all he could say to me was “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?” I had no idea what I looked like, but with wiping away my tears with black hands I now had black ink stuff all over my eye and cheek. I was escorted to the restroom by another Chinese man who was the manager, and assured us that this never happens and we would get a full refund and that we would “never forget this experience”- that's for sure! He offered for us to come back during our stay here and go again. Seriously? You have got to be kidding me. We were literally escorted out of the tower, probably because they didn't want us warning any other patrons on our way out to steer clear of the bubble tram and run for their lives! The Victoria Peak bus ride was a cake walk compared to this!

This is the end result of China thrills - smiles and black eyes!

The land of the not quite right

2013-03-04T18:58:00.001-05:00

March 1, 2013

The day started off with a bang...literally. We awoke to a loud thump...Charlotte hitting the floor. We had left the side of the crib down so she didn't get scared by the bars and so far, she hadn't tried to sit up from a lying down position by herself, or stand from a sitting position- we can basically put her down somewhere and she doesn't move from it (like Griffin). Or so we thought. It was so startling and scary- Joey jumped out of bed calling for her in the dark since he couldn't find her and she was totally silent. My first thought of the day was “Oh, God, No! We killed her!” Not a good way to start the day. Once Joey could find her to pick her up (somehow she was not right near the crib), he held her and then handed her to me and ran into the bathroom, thinking he was going to be sick, it was so upsetting. The weirdest part is that she was so stunned, she didn't make a peep and for the first time she didn't wake up screaming and crying and cuddled with me in bed. Maybe we'll think twice about pulling the side of the crib up afterall...

Charlotte is stoked to go exploring and she's graduated from a front to a back-pack.

It seems like Charlotte takes two steps forward, then one step back. Today she wanted little to do with Joey. After the big excitement yesterday and progress he had with her, it was a huge letdown for him. She's acting exactly like she did the day before when she was afraid of him coming near me- just like yesterday never happened. It's going to take a lot of patience as she learns to love and trust us. I can tell she is getting much more comfortable with us, though, because her 'two-ness' is starting to come out more and more. She's throwing off her headband, taking off her shoes, pulling on her socks (they were always barefoot at the orphanage in every picture we saw of her there)- very picky about what touches her and feeling uncomfortable. When she's in a stressful situation (bedtime) she squirms and wiggles like she's itchy, but we've learned it's just what she does under stress. She's always very excited to put her shoes on because she's learned it means we are going somewhere, though she doesn't want to keep them on once we're out the door. She has the same “myself” attitude Claire has- I tried to help feed her (since she makes such a mess and then gets upset that she's messy) and she pushed me away. She wants to get down to walk herself, but then she gets scared and wants me to hold her again. She can't seem to make up her mind what she wants, but she does want to try to run the show! She less concerned today about being messy since she now knows I am going to clean up after her. Oh boy. Today we made her a cup of noodles in the room while Joey prepared her bottle (it feels more like she is an infant than a two year old in many respects). When she would take too big of a bite and gag I helped dig it out of her mouth, then every bite after that she would try to chew, then spit it out on the floor. I don't think she actually swallowed any of it. So much for her concern about the messy floor. She doesn't like the food falling on her bib, either- she just takes it out of the pouch and throws that on the floor, too. I think Flash has found his new best friend at meal time at our house. At least I'll have help cleaning it up.

Oh my gosh, balloons are sooooo exciting!!

We had hoped to do some sightseeing this morning since we had a free day not going to the orphanage, but due to both the babies still suffering from colds (especially Griffin) we decided to stay in our room and let Griffin nap. We didn't have Charlotte take one because it is such an awful process and then she would wake up Griffin with her crying. So, she was up today from 6AM until 8PM. She was pretty happy all day considering. At 1PM we went across the street to a Chinese 'Fast Food' place and ate lunch. It's so funny how people here don't seem to think anything about staring at you and pointing and talking about you, especially while you're eating. I think every worker in that place came out of the backroom and there were four of them- three ladies and a man behind the counter watching us eat and interacting with the baby. He's very popular here, did I mention that? Yesterday at lunch one of the chefs from the backroom actually was filming us and snapping our pictures as we ate. Many places here don't have high chairs, so I guess seeing Joey carry Griffin in the pouch and eat with him that way is just quite a sight they don't see everyday. I'm sure there is a meme circulating China with Joey's and Griffin's picture in it by now.

Just a random observation: the restaurants here play the quirkiest music. At the Italian place we walked in to American rap music, followed up by Eric Clapton's 'Layla', and then some classical Arabic music. At the McDonald's it was Mariah Carey's “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. So odd.

I need some Mariah Carey Christmas music. I know,
there's a McDonald's! They will be playing it!

At 1:30 we met with a local lady (Ann of Red Threads) to take us wholesale shopping for some souvineers for the kids and little gifts we can give Charlotte every year on her 'Gotcha Day' from China. As soon as Ann saw us she commented on how young we looked. Since you have to be over 30 to adopt from China, and China is more relaxed about the upper age requirement, there are couples as old as 60 adopting. I took a liking to Ann right off the bat. She gave us some insight into Chinese culture and ways of life here. She couldn't get over how Gaige looks more like my brother, she said, than my son. I told her I had him when I was 16 and she was astonished- she said that is illegal in China. You have to be over 22 to get married here as a woman, and 24 as a man, and children born out of wedlock is a disgrace to the family. Girls are forced to leave school if they are pregnant and are shunned. She about fell over when we told her we have 7 children. She said that is unheard of in China. In the city, only one child is permitted, and in the countryside, if your first child is a girl, you can try one more time for a boy, but that's it. If you have more than the limit, or if you adopt and then get pregnant, there are huge fines the government makes them pay that most people cannot afford. So, that explains the forced abortions and orphan crisis here- especially for girls and special needs little boys. Currently China's International adoption program is only for the special needs children- if you want a “healthy child” the wait is 4-6 years! Most of this we knew from our reading on China (especially Xinran's “Message From an Unknown Chinese Mother”), but it is more interesting and personal to hear it word of mouth on the street here from a local.

However, a man carrying a baby is still legal.

We took the subway to a very non-touristy area and went to the 'underground shops' she knew about to get us the best deals on some items we wanted to bring back with us. Our tour group will take us shopping, too, but only to the most expensive tourist stops. We've realized that nothing we have been to around our hotel- including food- is much cheaper than back home. For $35 US currency this lady takes you shopping and gets it done quickly and inexpensively. We were able to get traditional Chinese dresses for each of our girls for $3 each, Chinese fans for $1.50, tea set for the girls (our hotel sells them for over $100 and we got it for $8) silk scarves, pearls- things traditional to China for a fraction of the cost. We bought a Chinese Lego set at the toy store for Corin, but passed on this:

A nice gift for Grandma.

Griffin continued to be the main attraction on our outing, and having Ann with us to interpret what people are saying to and about us confirmed that people are indeed, very fond of him, and that he is indeed, cold and not properly bundled according to Chinese standards. It helps that he hams it up when people pay attention to him. In one of the stores, despite my uncomfortableness with it, a group of ladies passed him around and adored him. He even got a free gift at one store. A group of Chinese ladies were telling Ann, and she interpreted for us, that they couldn't believe how young and beautiful I looked “for having 7 children” (it's always followed by that, but hey, I'll take it!). I have decided I really do love China!

Griffin is quite popular in China.

Oh, and we found out why Charlotte is giving us blank stares when we try to use some Cantonese words with her. Ann and some of the ladies in the stores today were trying to talk to her, and when she didn't respond, they asked where her orphanage was. I told them Suixi, and they said it is a local dialect spoken there that even Cantonese speakers cannot understand. They told us how beautiful Charlotte is and how nice her ears are (apparently that's a feature that is prized here) and asked what her special need is. When I told them “developmental delay” they laughed and said, “I don't think so!” You can tell how smart she is just by spending a few minutes with her.

It was drizzling outside when we were finishing up, and it was neat to see Charlotte's reaction to the rain on her face. Remember the bubbles picture where she was squealing with delight? She had the same face when the rain splashed her. It's like she's been locked up in a prison her whole life and is just seeing the outside world for the first time. She is fascinated!

Rain just makes the shopping crowds easier.

When we were done shopping, we decided to stay and eat at the warehouse mall at a place Ann said was very good. She walked us there and told the waitresses we would need two high chairs. However, what she failed to do was order for us. We sat down to this:

We can totally read this.

The waitress came by and asked us something in Chinese, to which we replied in English that we wanted the beef noodles and fried rice (what Ann told us to order). She pretty much ran away with her hands over her face, really embarrassed and went to another waitress who shook her head like “no way, I'm not going over there to talk to them! You go!” and they bantered back and forth. We soon realized we were going to be ignored. We gave it about 10 minutes while we tried to decide what to do, and then the first gal came back with a picture menu, featuring this:

It's - it's smiling at me!

We were outta there, and the waitresses couldn't have been happier!!

We were really strangers in a foreign land in this part of the city- no one spoke English anywhere. Thankfully Ann had written the name of our hotel down for us in Chinese so we could get a cab back or we'd still be there. We were all hungry at this point and when our first dining attempt failed, we were thrilled to see the glowing golden arches on the horizon. I really was 'lovin' it' today. There's nothing that can make you feel at home faster in a strange place than that. Charlotte actually nibbled on her chicken nuggets this time, but most of the dining experience, surprisingly, she rubbed her sweet & sour sauce all over the table like finger paints. We'll work on manners later, for now I was just shocked that she would actually touch it and seemed happy to be playing with it! That's not what the textbooks predict for kids with sensory processing issues. I'm still trying to get her figured out.

America!!!

Getting a cab home was a challenge. It seemed like people were scared to have to deal with us- or maybe the cab drivers were just smart in not wanting to ride with two babies in the car, I don't know. But, several passed us up and it was about half an hour until we could get one that would take us. I was about to cry- in the rain with two babies nearing dark in Crazy Town and far from our hotel. It was rush hour, so it took us 45 minutes to drive the 6 miles back to our place (and only cost $5!). Joey sat in the front seat with Griffin and no car seats here. I was a bit nervous, so say the least. It's certainly not “safety first” like at home!

What? We're buckled up!

Adoption update Dec. 2012: part 5

2012-12-22T00:05:00.001-05:00

A week before Griffin's due date toward the end of June, our paperwork was officially accepted in Chinaand we were "logged in", ready to be matched with a child when the time was right. At this same time, our agency announced it's impending partnerships with 3 orphanages in China. We had to do a home study update upon Griffin's arrival and by the time he was 3 months old, our home study was updated and we were paper ready and waiting. Every step of this process has taken longer than we anticipated, so, when we got the e-mail that said the wait time for a girl under age 5 with minor special needs had increased to 3-6 months, we weren't surprised. We didn't expect to get matched for several months. so when we got the totally unexpected call that there was a match for us on October 26th, we were shocked! We gladly accepted the chance to review her file, and with a pounding heart full of anticipation, I went to open the e-mail that would reveal the sweet face of my daughter! Her "mild intelligence delay" and "muscle weakness" is thought to be due entirely to her circumstances. I know the Father's hand has guided every step of this process! It has been and continues to be a walk of faith, but what an exciting journey He has called us to.

How I had agonized over that list of special needs we'd accept- I'd revised it 4 times! Trying to decide what I thought I could and couldn't "handle" with Joey gone so much. But, the Lord knew all along. He had to make me willing to accept what I didn't think I could handle, but then gave me what He knew I could through Him. We thought we would adopt from MaoMing- an orphanage that is a rare find in

China-

it's "nice" as far as orphanages go- the children are well cared for. But instead, He's called us to stretch ourselves and embrace a child from the lowest of the welfare institutions. All of the children's heads are shaved and they are fed straight out of a pan in their cribs. We were told she has likely never been outside the four walls of her orphanage room. She does little but lie in her crib and stare at the sterile walls and ceiling- the back of her head flattened from remaining in the position for so long.

While this process has been long and at times exhausting as we navigated through piles of paperwork and thousands of dollars, we wouldn't trade the experience for anything. The Lord has used this adoption process to break me- to bring me to see things that are difficult about myself and about this fallen world we live in- one full of brokenness, and so in need of the love of Christ! I am so excited to be a small part of His plan to show His love for the lost, broken, unwanted and unloved. I am thankful that the Lord uses weak people like me to do unexpected things for Him so that He can display His glory. He's broken me out of a rut of comfortable complacency that is so easy to stay in because it's familiar. A part of me has grown disgusted with how much we have and how little so many others have. That is part of what made us choose the song we did to show our adoption journey to little Charlotte Mae.

Why China's "Waiting Children"? (Part 4)

2011-08-26T21:46:00.001-04:00

Matthew 25: 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

As we began the process of looking into agencies and programs, it didn't take long at all for God to close many doors- some countries we weren't eligible for, some required very lengthy stays in the country. China was actually one we first thought was closed to us because they have a "4 children in the home" limit. We kept looking. I found myself poring over adoptable children's pictures and I was always looking at the cute ones, I'll admit. The Lord pricked my heart and showed me that was not HIS heart. Jesus went to the least desirable by the world's standards. He came to those who were the outcasts, the ugly, the despised of the world. How far is my heart from where it needs to be! What is the one thing we pray for when we are pregnant? A healthy child (and I secretly hope they are cute!). In our culture, abortions occur all the time when a child is found to have even the slightest problem. These children are truly among the "least of these" that Jesus is talking about. In China, girls are not valued, much less a girl with a deformed limb or a cleft lip. These children are orphaned mainly due to the "one child" law. Parents aren't allowed to put their children up for adoption, so they are abandoned and found by orphanages.

Early in our marriage Joey very seriously said to me that he thought someday we might have a child with special needs. I was not surprised, and I don't know why. I just never thought it would happen by adoption. To ask for that sounds nuts! We found out after doing some research that China's "4 children max. in the home" does not apply for the "hard to place" special needs children. Thank God, He says that in His kingdom the last will be first, and the first will be last. His thinking is so different from ours!

We looked online and did phone interviews with four agencies. What set apart Lifeline agency for us was the MaoMing orphanage they are connected with near Hong Kong. It houses 60 orphans, all with medical special needs. If these children are not adopted by a family, they will typically spend the majority of their youth in institutionalized care and most will never have the opportunity to lead a normal life. I watched an interview of a woman describing the first time she went to an orphanage in China and saw her future daughter there. She described how dirty the special needs babies were- they were bathed last and were of a lower priority than the healthy children. Totally opposite of how Jesus said heaven will be. That gripped my heart! Looking at the pictures and videos of these waiting children, Joey said, "we need to go get Charlotte". Now, we aren't certain she is the child we will adopt, but at the very least, she was the motivation God used for us to choose that agency and the MaoMing orphanage.

http://lifelineadoption.org/adoption/international/china/maoming-kids/

Truly, this is not something I ever would have chosen on my own. If it were up to me, I would have continued to ignore the call and enjoy an easier life. I am just thankful for His amazing grace that I didn't have to get swallowed up by a whale to get me to do what He called us to. It is so freeing to finally submit to His will with a long overdue cry of, "yes, Lord, I will go. Send me." To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Why Internationally? (Part 3)

2011-08-26T21:44:00.000-04:00

"Matthew 28: 19-20" Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

There was never a question about domestic vs. International for us. We had no idea which country, agency, or any of the logistics, we just knew God was calling us to go completely out of our comfort zone and embark into the unknown world of international adoption- we had no choice but to trust and obey in faith. For our family, part of our "Great Commission" calling is to go into 'all the world' and bring a child into our family to love and share the love of Christ. This was one aspect of our hearts' desire to adopt Internationally. We also knew we were supposed to choose a country that was restricted or hostile to the gospel. While there are so many who need homes right here in America, at least these children are in a country with great opportunity and a chance to hear the truth of God's word. It is just not like that in approximately 54 other countries around the world. Here is a short link to read about China.

http://www.persecution.com/public/restrictednations.aspx?clickfrom=bWFpbl9tZW51

Why Adopt? (Part 2)

2011-08-05T23:23:00.002-04:00

James 1:27 "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

While not every family is called to adopt, as Christians, we are all expected to do something and not turn a blind eye to the plight of children around the world. I turned a blind eye for so long! For us, sending a check to a good cause to ease the suffering just wasn't enough, for "obedience is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). I'm sure it sounds crazy and we'll be asked a lot of questions about why in the world we would want to do this when we already have 5 children and obviously do not have trouble having kids "of our own". It is hard to understand and cannot be explained without giving God all the credit and pointing to Him. When I was an orphan without a heavenly Father because of my sin that separated me from Him, He came and sent His Son to take the punishment for my sin and forgave and adopted me to be His child. Adoption is a beautiful picture of the Father's love for HIS children- an earthly picture of a heavenly idea.

It's hard not to wonder how adopting one child in a sea of literally millions of orphans can actually make a difference. But, for that one child it will make a world of difference. I am only one child of God's in a sea of millions, and how very grateful I am that He counted me as important enough to die for. Christ would have come down to save just one sinner like me. He rescued me from the plight I was in, and now He wants me to be His hands and feet to help one of these precious little ones. Not that I am the rescuer, but that He is and I am a vessel He can use to bring others to Himself. What a privilege! What a calling!

It all comes down to this. Children are a blessing and there's always room in our hearts and our home for one more. There is a little child out there somewhere right now without hope in the world waiting for this Mommy to come get her and she has no idea how great her life is going to be someday. She will have a whole house full of people to love her- a family to call her own.

Do Something Radical (Part 1)

2011-08-03T20:00:00.007-04:00

I've learned to never say what I won't do. I told Joey before we got married that if he wanted someone who was going to homeschool his kids, that person was NOT me. It's funny how when we finally give in to doing what the Lord wants us to do, he can make it so that we want to do the thing he's called us to more than we ever thought possible. After all, it wouldn't be obedience if we were just doing what we wanted to do. It was that way with homeschooling, and it's become that way with this crazy adventure called international adoption. It wasn't that adopting hasn't always been in the back of my mind. It has been. But, way, way back. Before we got married, we discussed adoption as something we would do "someday", and I was totally comfortable with that. We looked into it while Joey was in Korea when we were engaged and he often visited a local orphanage. I'll have to admit, I was secretly very relieved when we found out adopting from Korea was not an option at that time. It came up a few other times in our marriage, but I always had a reason why it was just not a good time. Joey read "Adopted for Life" a couple years ago and I know he was hoping I would read it, but I didn't even want to hear about it, much less read the book and risk being convicted about it.

Upon Joey's return from Afghanistan, it became clear that my complacency in my Christian walk was no longer going to be an option. Joey and I each read three books that brought to life what we already knew to be true from the Bible. Those three books, which I highly recommend for every Christian to read were "Stop Dating the Church", "Crazy Love" and "Radical"- followed by me finally reading "Adopted for Life". What a much needed jolt to my spirit! God called me to so much more than my comfortable life here and now. I do not want to stand before Him someday ashamed that I lived for me and my own desires. I want to live for Him and His glory and share in His eternal and global perspective. "Crazy Love" had been given to me by a Christian friend over a year before I actually read it. Again, I really did not want to read this book, because I knew it would require something of me and I was already resisting the Lord's voice in my life to "come, follow me"..."sell everything you have and give it to the poor and come, follow me". I was like the rich young ruler walking away from Jesus sad because I had so much, and I didn't want to give it all up for him for far too long. I love the way God works, though. He doesn't let us stay this way when we are His.

We were selected to go to a family retreat at Sandy Cove in Northeast MD this summer free for military after a deployment. We almost didn't go because we thought we were going to be moving. I sent an e-mail to Sandy Cove to cancel our reservation or at least switch us to come a different weekend than "home school week" because it was going to conflict with our move. But, alas, our orders were changed and we weren't moving and somehow that e-mail never made it to Sandy Cove. Instead what I got from them was a confirmation e-mail for our reservation for homeschool week. So, we went. And, what was the speaker talking about all week long? Living a "Radical" life for Christ. Being willing to sell or give up everything to come and follow him. Wow. The same exact thing we had been reading about and that the Lord was constantly pricking my heart with- my resistance to doing what he wanted me to do. We heard so many testimonies that week of families who had adopted. They set out to be a blessing to others and in the end they were the ones blessed. The Lord worked on my heart there and asked me if I really believed all children were a blessing, or just my own (the ones I could have biologically)? One of the mornings Joey and I actually put into words what we were both knowing we were supposed to do. It was time for us to start the process to adopt. I was still scared, but I knew that saying no to God was not an option anymore.

As soon as I submitted to God and gave up the fight, He filled me with a desire and a passion and now I want to adopt. It truly is amazing how quickly this happened- it was almost instantaneous. I went from saying no way, I can't do that and I could have told you a million reasons why it was a crazy idea (and I can still do that in my weak moments of doubt and worry!) to having a heart realizing God's love for precious children around the world who need a family to love them. Yes, it is a crazy idea. It is Radical. But, everything God has called me to do so far in my life, He has equipped me for and walked me through every step of the way, and even given me the desires of my heart that I didn't know I had.

"Psalm 127: 3-5" Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord...Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"

Christian Carnival CLXXXI

2007-07-20T09:14:00.001-04:00

The most recent Christian Carnival, a collection of current posts on Christian thought, is posted at Mere Orthodoxy. Matthew cleverly put together a little poem for each post, and the one for my new Earth post is:

Water becomes wine,
Science says that’s fine,
But cannot register an opinion.
The earth begins from nothing,
Due to God’s speaking,
where science finds its limits.

Check it out!

New Earth Creation

2007-07-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

The year is 27AD. There is a celebration of a marriage in the town of Cana, in the Galilee region. One of the guests is a relatively unknown fellow who has attended with his mother, Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth.

During the festivities, a problem arises – the host of the wedding celebration has forgotten to have enough wine on hand for the party. Unless something happens fast, the host will be embarrassed and the party will be remembered as a failure. Discerning that her son can somehow do something about this, Mary tells her son that there is a problem. Jesus is not particularly receptive to her suggestion that he just ‘do something’. However, his mother ignores his reaction and instead tells the head servant to ‘do whatever he tells you to do’. The servants follow Jesus’ order, and where once water had been, wine now stood – the best wine at the wedding, to the amazement of many.

As we encounter the work of God in his miracles, in his actions taken and the results that follow that only he can do, we are faced with a question directly applicable to our creation dilemma: What scientific test could we perform that would tell us that the wine now in the jars was water only 60 seconds ago? What could we do to the wine to tell us of its sudden appearance, in apparent defiance of everything we know about how wine is created?

The answer is simple – nothing. There is no scientific test that would show that the wine was created instantly. There is no scientific test that would show that the woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years was healed instantly. There is no method we could use to show how Jesus made a blind man see instantly. In every case, God spoke, and it happened immediately, and not only could we not show that it was so after the fact, but we also cannot show that each was ever broken in the first place, or that it was the word of God that did the healing.

“Young Earth” creationism is the same. Some have claimed that God making a creation that seems older than it is would be an example of God being deceptive in some fashion. Laying aside the inherent (necessary) foolishness of the assumption of universality – that, for example, the amount of Carbon-14 in a living organism now is the same as it would have been 1 million years ago – there is no more deception in a creation we can’t prove its age than the same problem with the water and the wine.

In fact, I am far more likely to assume that our failure to “prove” a young earth creation from science is answered better by the Scriptures than by science. “For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to naught the things which are – that no man may glory in his presence.” (1 Cor 1:27-29)

Jeremy has said that to believe that the earth is young, in the face of scientific ‘evidence’ to the contrary, is completely irrational. While Jeremy is a theologian of the highest degree, I would differ slightly. I would say that it may be foolish, but that it is also an expression of humility that recognizes my limitations compared to the God who the heavens cannot contain, whose works defy all the wisdom of men. While both the old and new earth theories I’ve described fit a historical view of Scripture, I will stick with a new earth theory that affirms that “evening and morning was the first day”.

Old Earth Creation

2007-07-05T23:21:00.000-04:00

As mentioned previously, to believe in theistic evolution - that God used evolution to create man - requires a previous commitment to an age of the earth that is old enough to allow this evolution to occur. If the earth is this old, it is essentially impossible to believe that the creation account is a literal six-day event, because a six-day creation has man in existence only five days after the creation of the heavens.

Old-earth theory was essentially unknown until the advent of evolutionary theory. As evolution became culturally popular, theologians tried to find ways to make the reading of Genesis 1 fit evolutionary theory. One attempt was the "gap" theory, which proposed that there is a very long time gap between Genesis 1:1-2 and the rest of Genesis 1 - between the creation of the earth itself and the creation of life forms. There often is an expansion that explains that there was a completely formed heaven and earth, but something catastrophic, such as the fall of Satan from heaven, led to the destruction of the earth, leaving it without form and void. My Scofield reference Bible has this explanation.

Another effort is the literary framework method, explained by Jeremy in the link in the last post. This essentially says that the framework of the text is poetic, indicating a section that is not intended to be read literally, and thus its point is not intended to be historically accurate, but instead to demonstrate that there was a logical order to the pictures of creation given to Moses by God.

A third effort is age-day theory. This explanation posits that the Hebrew word transliterated "yom" that we translate to "day" does not always mean a 24-hour day, but can mean simply an unspecified period of time. As that is completely true, it has some exegetical value behind it that the other two do not. Yet what has been a struggle for me in accepting this theory is an exegetical reason in that passage that would lead us to beleive that the intent of the author was to read anything other than a 24-hour day for "yom".

However, recently I was presented with such a proximate exegetical reason...the seventh day. The Scriptures read that "So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Gen 2:3)"

What did He rest from? He rested from creating. So, if on the seventh day God rested from creating, when did he stop resting from creating? Has he begun creating again? I don't think so. If God's rest from creating the heavens and the earth ended on the seventh day, and he has not begun creating the heavens and the earth again, could it not be the seventh day still? And, if we are not aware of when this end of creation began, may it be that the "days" are very long periods of time to us?

What do you think?

Creation, Evolution, and Theology

2007-07-02T23:56:00.000-04:00

It's a grand sounding title, but the coverage will be limited. Two and a half years ago I wrote a series of posts about evolution, concluding here.

My position hasn't changed from what is stated - your stance on evolution does not have an impact upon your spiritual condition. What has changed is this - why you have your stance speaks volumes about your spiritual condition.

While Jeremy posted one of the better defenses of old-earth theory, a required component of theistic evolution I have seen here, based upon literary styles, I found it still pretty unconvincing. I don't deny the presence of poetic elements, I simply acknowledge (and I'm guessing Jeremy does, too) that they do not demand a rejection of a more literal interpretation of the days as days. (I do think the whole 'sevens' issue is of little value to the argument).

Yet, in recent months I have come across the two most compelling arguments for both old-earth and new-earth creationism. Stay tuned and decide for yourself!

Free Will III

2007-06-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

How can it be that we are free to do what we want, yet God remains in control?

There are several example of how this works – how a man can do the very thing God intends him to do, yet the same man is condemned for it.

First, it is easy to see that we are condemned for our sins. Malachi 3:5 is one of literally hundreds of instances of declaration of future judgment for people’s sins.

Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

How does this apply when the person is explicitly doing what God intends? In the previous posts Robert mentioned Joseph and his suffering prior to gaining high office in Egypt.

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. (Gen 45:4-8)

Here, in the quote Robert selected, we see that God is the author of Joseph’s life story. Robert mentioned that this excludes the culpability of the brothers, because, “it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Yet Joseph’s testimony about the situation doesn’t end in chapter 45.

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Gen 50:19-20)

What is seen in Joseph’s clarification is the crux of my position – that we do what we intend out of our desires. Here, Joseph’s brother’s, out of their own evil desires, wish to get rid of their brother and sell him into slavery. Yet, this very act, which they meant for evil, is exactly what God wills for good. The result of the divergent desires is the same – Joseph goes to Egypt – yet it is clear that their intentions and God’s intentions are far from each other. They have done exactly as they wanted to do, but the action that occurs is also exactly what God wanted them to do.

Another prime example is Assyria’s destruction of Israel as foretold by Isaiah. Note the clear proclamation of what will happen, who is making it happen, who is culpable and why they are culpable:

Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Is 10:5-6

But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;…When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. (Is 10:7, 12-13)

Assyria executes God’s righteous judgment upon Israel, but the King of Assyria will be punished for it. Why? Not because he fulfilled God’s will, but because the desires of his heart were evil. He is culpable for his evil desires, thoughts and words.

So, it can be easily seen that a man’s desires are different from God’s desires, yet the very acts taken will be God’s desires. How can this be? In a previous post, John mentioned that I painted all Arminians with the same brush (and I do), yet there is a small group of Arminians who have figured it out – Molinists.

God has complete and exhaustive divine foreknowledge. Let’s call that a given, to avoid a lengthy proof. He not only knows everything that has and will happen, but he also knows everything that can possibly happen (example: Matt 11:21-22), which is called middle knowledge. While we are responsible for our own desires, God knows how we will react in any given situation and can manipulate the environment, experience and just about anything else such that our desires lead to the choice he wants us to make. I believe (thought I don’t have a Scriptural specific detail, just inference) that God can even make us consider something in our minds before we make the decision.

Look at the confrontation between Moses (God) and Pharaoh. Initially, Pharaoh hard heart tended to be self-driven. However, after six plagues, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. How he does this we do not know, but it is not God directly creating the desire for Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not a repentant or graceful man, and his natural pride, arrogance and hubris was used against him. Perhaps God encouraged advisers to whisper about what the people would think if Pharaoh caved in, or perhaps God gave Pharaoh that kind of concern directly. God manipulated the environment, internal and external, to glorify His name.

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. (Rom 3:3-8)

There are none righteous, no, not one. Our condemnation is just, because God is just. We cannot claim we are not culpable because if we were not culpable, it would be unjust for us to be punished. We cannot appeal to “Who can resist his will?”, because we are responsible for our evil intents.

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”(Rom 9:14-26)

Free Will II

2007-05-31T22:32:00.000-04:00

Arminians and Hyper-Calvinists share a definition of free will I previously called libertarian freedom. This freedom, simply defined, would be: the freedom to do, in any given situation, any action or lack of action. That is, one can choose to do something or not to do that something in any situation. For example, if a person is asking me to tell them some information about troop locations, I can choose to tell them or not. No matter what the pressures, tortures, etc may be that are thrust upon me, I am free to tell or not to tell as I will. This is libertarian free will – a free will the Arminian claims we have, and a free will the hyper-Calvinist claims we do not have.

Yet I also would claim we do not have this “free will”, because I hold it does not exist and has never existed – not because it is intentionally not present in creation, but because it ignores something we all agree we have – inclination. This free will would demand not only that I can do anything in any situation, but that I might actually do anything. It holds that I, as I sit with a man next to me on the bus, could decide to pull out my .38 and shoot him dead on the spot. With this freedom to do anything, I am just as likely to do this as not, actually. For if I am free to do it, and not restricted, why wouldn’t I? “Libertarian Free Will” s actually what I will hereafter call “freedom of indifference”. Because it holds that we can do anything at any time, it is indifferent to the situation and inclination.

What is it that prevents me from putting a fist through my monitor right now? It is simple – I don’t want to. In fact, in almost every situation in life, I am neither going to want to shoot a man on the bus next to me, nor put my fist through my computer. And thus, I will not. So, this freedom cannot be – I must not be free to do this act, because I don’t want to.

You who read are free, right now, to dump a glass of water on your keyboard as you read. But you won’t, right? So how can you be free to do it, if you won’t? You see, your inclination in the situation drives your decision completely. Thus you are not free to do anything, but you are certainly free to do what you want to do, which while it may vary from ceasing to read this post to continuing, will not include pouring water on the keyboard. Of course, you may decide to “prove me wrong” and pour water on your keyboard, but at that point, hasn’t your inclination changed? Isn’t what you most want to do to prove me wrong?

You have discovered the freedom I claim we have – not freedom of indifference, a random, who-knows-what-I-might-do-next freedom, but a freedom of inclination. You are free to do exactly what you most want to do. Here’s another example: You are strongly opposed to stealing. In most situations, you will not steal. Yet your mother is kidnapped by some criminals who tell you that you must participate in a robbery or she will die, so you do. In both cases, you do exactly what you most want to do – in the first you refuse to steal, in the second your inclination to preserve your mother’s life is greater than your inclination against stealing, and you most want her to live, so you steal.

This is compatibilist freedom, a freedom that recognizes that you do in every instance exactly what you most want to do. Right now I have no chance of willfully chopping off my hand – none. Thus, I am actually not free to chop it off! Yet a freedom of indifference would demand that I am as likely to chop off my hand as not.

The Arminian is committed to freedom of indifference, and because of his desire that it exist, he denies that God wills us to commit any act. Freedom of indifference is something the hyper-Calvinist thinks free will is, and (rightfully) denies it exists. He recognizes that God is sovereign, and thus we cannot have as likely a chance of doing something as not doing it. Thus, he concludes, that we are not free at all. The consequences of this are completely logical. If I am not free, whatever I do must be what I am supposed to do, and I am not responsible for my actions. If God is sovereign in his election, I don’t need to obey Christ’s commands to go and tell – and in fact, when I don’t, it is because God wills I don’t, and thus I am not accountable.

It is completely logical – yet it misses something. The hyper-Calvinist does not want to obey. He does not want to evangelize. So in both cases, he is not merely doing what God wills – he is doing what he himself wills – and we can certainly agree that my will and desires are not conformed to be exactly what God’s are!

Think about it – Jesus condemns us not for committing adultery, but for lusting in our hearts. We are condemned for our inclinations that lead to our actions, not our actions. We are condemned for our unbelief, not our failure to say the right words. We are condemned for our failure to love God and our neighbor, not because we didn’t do something for God or our neighbor. Of course, when we commit those sins of action and inaction, we commit them because they are exactly what we most want to do.

It may sound odd, but I believe it makes perfect sense. Furthermore, I hold that it is entirely Scriptural. With the next post I will demonstrate its Scriptural basis – so I ask commenters to try to hold back on demanding that until then.

Free Will

2007-05-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

“God wants you to love him, and you can’t be forced to love someone, so you are free to choose to love God or not.”

If you’ve been around people who claim to be Christians and discussed the relationship between God and man, you’ve heard that idea. There is truth and falsehood in that proposition. I would agree that it is true that God wants all to come to Him and is willing that none should perish. I would also agree that you can’t “force” someone to love you. I would even agree that we are, technically, free to choose to love God or not. Yet, despite my concurrence with each of those propositions, I would hold that you, while being free, are completely unable to love God without His action, and once He has taken action, there is no possibility of you doing anything but loving Him.

By agreeing that we are free to choose to love God are not, I side with Arminians, who essentially believe that our salvation is of our own choice, not God’s action. Yet, by holding that we cannot love God unless he supernaturally and specifically moves us in His direction as individuals, I side with the hyper-Calvinists. How can this be? In a nutshell, I stand against both the hyper-Calvinists and the Arminians in their shared definition of freedom.

I described Arminianism here, so I won’t do so in detail again. Simply put, if you believe that you can, of your own volition with or without a prompting by God – a prompting which can be refused – choose salvation in Christ, you are an Arminian in general. Hyper-Calvinism, which many confuse with historical Calvinism, needs more explanation.

Since I also defined historical Calvinism (also known as historical Christianity!) here, I’ll point out what the fundamental differences are between it and hyper-Calvinism. Hyper Calvinism agrees with Calvinism in the sovereignty of God and the five Solas of the reformation. The two areas it differs most significantly are:

1) Its stand against evangelism and missions. As a hyper-Calvinist once told Andrew Fuller, “If God is going to save the heathen, he can do it without any help from you or me!” Hyper-Calvinists not only do not believe in focused evangelism in general, but if they are intellectually honest (which many are) they do not even believe in evangelization of their loved ones. Committed to the Scriptural picture of God as the author and finisher of our faith, the hyper-Calvinist trusts God to do the work He will do, and considers himself completely abdicated of responsibility to go and disciple.

2) The logical progression of this idea results in an abdication of personal responsibility, followed by an almost inexorable slide to antinomianism (a rejection of any moral law). It isn’t that the hyper-Calvinist is not a moral person with ethical stands, but because they rightly believe in the sovereignty of God in all things, they also believe that whatever they do is scripted by God and therefore they need not feel any responsibility to obey God’s precepts if for some reason they conflict with something else important in their lives. After all, if God is in control, if He would have wanted me to obey his command in this instance, I would have done it. After all, who can resist His will?

These stands may seem bizarre, but in many ways, they are completely intellectually honest – because of the hyper-Calvinist’s belief in libertarian freedom. The Arminian and the hyper-Calvinist bold hold to the definition of free will as libertarian freedom: the Arminian contends we possess it, and the hyper-Calvinist contends we do not. The historical Calvinist instead defines free will as compatibilist free will, or freedom of inclination. In the next post I will define both of these ideas and describe why they lead to the results they do. In the third and last post I will demonstrate the support for compatibilist freedom as well as propose a mechanism for God’s sovereignty in it.

Next Things

2007-05-16T23:54:00.000-04:00

When you take a course in Systematic Theology, and you come to the subjects that involve heaven, hell, the second coming and the final judgment, it is summarized as “Last Things”. This obviously isn’t about that – it’s just a quick preview of the plan for what’s coming next here at Team Hammer.

I’ve been on vacation and completing final exams for this semester, hence my lack of posting and comments, but while some of my time previously allocated toward school will be used for sermon preparation as I preach through Isaiah this summer, I will have some more time to blog.

The next series will address the freedom of the will. Based upon the writings of Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Bruce Ware, and others, it will be simultaneously a case against hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism – because they share the concept of freedom of the will that I believe is erroneous.

Following that will be a two or three post series presenting what I think are the most compelling cases for and against theistic evolution. I have done some reading for both sides recently, and find both cases worthy of serious consideration.

Third will be a short series on the Trinity. Recognizing that it is truly a concept beyond our understanding, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t understand it to the limits that we have. I think it is the doctrine that most separates Christianity from every other religion, more even than other unique aspects of Christianity.

Finally (at least as finally as this plan goes) will be what I think will be the most thorough series yet, one that surpasses my series on Biblical Inerrancy in scope, research and level of detail. The subject is one worthy of such a work – the atonement. I hope that UK John will be constructing his at the same time, to provide a contrast for our dozen readers!

The Hell Jesus Really Meant III: The Epistles and Revelation

2007-04-28T08:09:00.000-04:00

After looking at the Old Testament conception of Sheol, and examining the depth and detail to which Jesus explained the environment, purpose, and residents of hell, we finish with a brief survey of the remainder of the New Testament.

The fact is, while many cling to a “Hell That Jesus Never Meant”, Jesus’ words in the gospels reference hell more than the rest of the New Testament. If anything, Jesus himself emphasized hell more than his disciples. Yet what the NT does say of hell is in line with Jesus’ own words as recorded by the Evangelists.

James, when writing about the dangers that an unbridled tongue brings, uses hell to describe the results of an unrighteous tongue, and couples that Hell with the fire it has and brings. Peter writes that the unrighteous angels are cast into hell, and that the ungodly will be there as well. He also points out that hell is a place of darkness, just as Jesus described. Think of that – fire, but no light!

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds the hearers that rejection of the grace of God in Christ Jesus and a faithless turning to a deeds-based salvation can only result in “but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” and that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Paul and John give us more detail on hell, and while Paul reminds us in Romans 2 that the ungodly will suffer the “wrath and fury” of God, perhaps the best overall summary of hell is given in Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica. Speaking of the last day, he writes:

“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints”^{^[1]}

Yet, appropriately, the Apocalypse of John, revelation, a book focused upon the last days, gives the greatest amount of text to hell – God’s wrath, eternal torment, and the ultimate defeatof death along with them - some of the examples are:

“And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” ^{^[2]}

“And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.^{^[3]}”

“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

^{^[4]}

We might be tempted, considering that Revelation is apocalyptic literature, to dismiss the descriptions of hell given. Yet, what should be striking is that the descriptions match exactly what Jesus said while on Earth. To put the finishing nail in the argument, Jesus himself in revelation says,

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” ^{^[5]}

The Hell Jesus Really Meant – it’s real, it’s bad, and we deserve to go there. Thankfully, we don’t have to. Praise be to God!

^{^[1]} The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. 2 Th 1:7-10

^{^[2]} The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 14:9-11

^jch. 20:10, 14, 15; [Dan. 7:11]

^{^[3]} The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 19:20

^{^[4]} The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 20:10-15

^{^[5]} The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 21:8

The Hell Jesus Really Meant II: The Gospels

2007-04-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

In Part 1, we examined the Old Testament concept of hell, or more properly, Sheol. We could verifiably conclude that Sheol explicitly was a place of the dead, that it was bad, and that the wicked went there. The OT also left open the possibility that everyone goes to Sheol, and although there are places that strongly allude to the righteous being saved from Sheol, it certainly does not clearly speak of a heavenly reward for the righteous and eternal judgment for the unrighteous.

Enter Jesus, the Son of God. What did Jesus teach about hell? One of the first things we may notice about Jesus’ description of hell is that there is a difference in the way the OT speaks of hell and the way He does. The Greek word most often used by Jesus to describe hell is gehenna. Gehenna is well described by Wikipedia here. Gehenna has a different aspect to it than hades, one of fiery torment. The scriptures do occasionally use hades as the word for hell, but even in a number of those cases Jesus mentions that Hades is, in fact, fiery, (Luke 16:19-31, ) removing the distinction.

Jesus does not leave us in limbo as to where the wicked will go. He also dos not leave us in limbo wondering who those are who go there – sinners. Sinners include those who lust , who lie, who says, “You fool!”, who do not believe the gospel, who murder the prophets, who claim they follow Jesus but actually do not, who mistreat others. Whoever has failed in one area of the law has failed in all, Jesus says, and thus is guilty and condemned to this place called hell. What should be startling is that the wicked are not only the robbers, rapists and murderers. They are us.

Jesus clearly also describes hell as fiery not just by using gehenna, but by actually calling hell a place of eternal fire in Matthew 5:22, Matthew 18:7-9, Mark 9:42-29, Luke 16:19-31, Matthew 25:41-46, Matthew 7:19-20, Matthew 13:27-30, 36-41, John 15:6.

Some wish to quibble, that hell is described as eternal but that the punishment is not. It is certainly true that the torments of hell are described more often than the state of the sinner thrown in. A few passages tell us otherwise. “Their worm never dies, their fire is never quenched” from Mark 9 speaks of it – it is not “the worm never dies” but “their worm never dies”. Why is it “their” worm if its only function is to eat quickly before the person dies (again)? More explicitly, Jesus calls hell a place of “eternal punishment” in Matthew 25:41-46, and in Mt 13:36-43 Jesus tells us that hell, a fiery furnace, will be “a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth”. If hell is a place, an eternal place of eternal fire, how can it be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth if its ‘residents’ are expunged quickly? An eternal place can only have an adjective that is eternal!

Hell was not created for men. It is a place of fire made for the devil and his angels. Yet, our sin, according to Jesus, condemns us to it, as a just punishment from a holy God. This is The Hell That Jesus Really Meant. Yet, the Word of God is the words of Jesus from beginning to end. In the next, final, post, we will see what the remainder of the New Testament says about hell.

Ressurection Day Smiles

2007-04-16T09:01:00.000-04:00

Eggs + Dye + Funny Face Stickers =

.

Yay, Jesus!

(I can't post them full size - you'll have to click on them to see them well)

The Hell Jesus Really Meant I: The Old Testament

2007-04-05T12:44:00.000-04:00

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Luke 12:4-7

There are fifty-four occurrences of the word “hell” in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Old Testament, the word is exclusively the Hebrew “Sheol”, which is what you will see in many modern translations. The New Testament words for hell are the Greek words “gehenna” (primarily), “hades” and “tartarus” (only once in 1^st Peter).

What is this hell that Jesus speaks of? The first thing we have to do is determine when Jesus is speaking and isolate those, right? Well, yes and no. If we want to know what he meant by hell, we have to look at how he used it – but because Jesus was God incarnate, the very words of Scripture are His words, and thus every use of it in the Bible is the hell that Jesus meant. Attempts to separate Jesus’ words from other words in the Bible deny his divinity and/or the inspiration of Scripture, neither of which we are willing to do here at Team Hammer headquarters.

Yet, for those who think that somehow we should differentiate, I don’t think the answer changes. Jesus Christ was not only God, he was a Jewish man in 1^st century Palestine. The OT use of the word “Sheol” was the way that the Jewish people would think of hell. Culturally, there would certainly have been some influence of Roman and Greek thought in the intertestamental period, so gehenna and hades have meanings of their own that are relevant as well, but we have to start with Sheol.

The concept of Sheol is introduced in Deuteronomy 32, which is the song that God teaches Moses to teach to Israel. The song does not reflect liberal theology.

“The Lord saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.”

God continues with an explanation of the kinds of things his wrath brings – not only fire, but sorrow, wounds, pestilence, hunger, plague, disaster, venom and the teeth of wild beasts. We need to keep in mind that this song is, in fact, poetry. The intent of all of these descriptors is not to say that specifically all of these things will come to pass, but that bad things will happen when people do not serve the one true God. What can we discern about hell from this song? Hell is a bad place where bad things are happening. It is true that this fire is metaphorical, and thus from Deuteronomy we cannot say that there is any fire in hell. What we know for sure is that it is, in fact, bad.

In 2^ndSamuel 22, David sings a song to the Lord rejoicing in his deliverance. Sheol here is paired with death and destruction. Not only is Sheol bad, but it is as bad as we can imagine. What is worse than death to our minds? What is worse that destruction? Job mentions Sheol twice, and pairs it with its ruler in Job 26 – the same ruler, Abaddon, of Revelation 9, who is described there as the ruler of the bottomless pit. In fact, pit is one of the translations of the word “Sheol” in the KJV. Thus we see that Sheol is associated with death, yet also a place that is inescapable – a bottomless pit.

The Psalms make our picture of Sheol more clear. It is a place for souls, and more specifically, the souls of the wicked (Ps 9:17, 55:15). It is a place that the righteous one will not be in. The Proverbs make it clear the Sheol is not a place of everyone by definition, for it is sin that leads to Sheol. Isaiah and Ezekiel reinforce these further ideas – a place of the wicked dead, whose iniquities still lie upon them. Apparently, the dead in Sheol yet live in some fashion, for they can be seen by the most high God. The OT stands united in its description of Sheol as a place of the wicked dead which is, simply, bad.

Does this change in the NT? Are we released from a view of a hell that is bad, that is a realm of the wicked? Is that “The Hell That Jesus Never Meant?” Or in the Incarnation, as he does in many other things, does Jesus explain to us more about hell than we ever knew before, just as he tells us more about God, man, sin and salvation than we knew before Him?

Tune in next time to see…

Wee Me

2007-03-29T15:12:00.000-04:00

Yup. That's a wee me. You can't hold a lightsaber and have a stack of books, nor a Guinness and a sword, so I had to choose - but it's kind of fun. Try it! Hat Tip to Anna.

Go

2007-03-27T13:37:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was able to spend some quality time with my oldest son when we attended the Newsboys concert together. He was actually more excited to see Kutless and Stellar Kart. It was quite a hit on the budget, but as toddlers, school and work dominate so much of my time, it was a worthy investment to spend some time with him. We also brought one of his buddies with us.

Stellar Kart opened, and they were fun, with a lot of energy. Kutless was as well, although their main musical genre is not the songs we typically hear on our local radio stations – they tend to hard rock, which suited the boys fine. Between the Kutless and Newsboys sets, Paul Coleman (formerly of the Paul Coleman Trio, now the lead guitarist for the Newsboys), came out and made a presentation about a missions group they were partnering with called Global Tribe. The layout of the venue and the sets resulted inmost of the view of the video being obscured, so the pitch was essentially verbal. Paul isn’t a gifted public speaker, so you bought what he said or you didn’t – no emotional draw aside from the details. He said that He believed that 100 people would commit to the Global Tribe her in our area, but when he asked for people to raise their hands to take a form, my son said, “Dad, there’s only like five people raising their hand.” I was one of them.

This is unusual for me. I have been supporting children in Sri Lanka since 1996, and consider my box checked when it comes to charitable giving outside the local church. Every Christian concert I have attended has a connection to a missions organization of some kind, and I have never felt compelled to respond. Why now, when my income is at its lowest, and my non-discretionary budget at its highest percentage ever? Some might say that it was because Mrs. Hammer wasn’t there to stop me, but I attribute it to a “Spirit Thing”, to quote the ‘Boys themselves.

So, we went back to join the Global Tribe, and the lady at the desk asked me how many were with me. I told her two boys, and she handed me three backstage passes to meet the Newsboys after the concert! Nifty!

The Newsboys portion of the show as awesome – sure, I enjoyed the music, but during the rendition of “I Am Free”, Peter (the lead singer) began quoting a lengthy section of Isaiah 40 (which I knew from a recent 45 day meditation upon that chapter). How often does that happen in a Christian concert? It flowed well with the song, and was quite a blessing. He spoke for a while as well, which is not uncommon in such a setting. Other Christian concerts I have attended also include the artist speaking at length about Jesus and God – that God loves you, can help you, is there for you, etc. However, this was the first concert I heard the words “lake of fire” used. (Revelation 20:15, John 15:6) Smokin’ – in more ways than one!

When I met the band, I thanked them for the blessing I received through them, and I thanked Peter for preaching the whole gospel. My son had them sign his Newsboys drum sticks he bought. Checkout the Global Tribe, waging war on spiritual and physical poverty, when you get a chance – as well as the Voice of the Martyrs to see what the price of true faith is on the edge of the fires of the gospel.

(Curiously, I thought I always had VOM linked here. I have no idea how it got missed.)

A Burden Carried

2007-03-18T23:22:00.000-04:00

A letter written and not sent.

A language read but not understood.

A stroke observed and not overcome.

A miscarriage with complications but without a baby.

A passage exposited and not taught.

A gospel preached and not accepted.

A man wounded and not willing to heal.

A woman in fear but willing to trust.

A mission of hope but not peace.

A word heard and yet not quite believed.

These are the things that have dominated my mind and my time the past 45 days or so. It hasn't been quite as dramatic as it sounds, but it has been dramatic enough. Perhaps I will be able to tell of some of it - but if I am to write, it is not of trials, but truth. Sometimes, though, the two dwell in the same place.

" Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;

and I will keep it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

and observe it with my whole heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,

and not to selfish gain!

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and give me life in your ways.

Confirm to your servant your promise,

that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread,

for your rules are good.

Behold, I long for your precepts;

in your righteousness give me life!"

Ps 119:33-40

Church Membership: Humility

2007-02-01T12:20:00.000-05:00

"When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship. "

Did you laugh to yourself when you read that? Did it seem ridiculous? Probably so, as it would to nearly all of us. We think of the broken people in churches - broken through their own pettiness, sinfulness and power-mongering, and we know it can't happen. We think of the fellowships broken through the pursuit of various agendas or dogmatic grappling over worship styles or Bible versions or the use of the tables in the fellowship hall, and we know it can't happen. We think of the different Christian communities we have been in and see all that has been wrong with them and we know it can't happen.

Yet there is a single, solitary thread that imbues all of those things we think of: we are not among those we consider messed up. The church problems we encounter are always the fault of someone else! We never could have been apart of that! Those people...

Consider what the book of Romans has to say:

Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations… Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand... For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way… Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Romans 14:1-19 (excerpts) (KJV)

Why do you consider yourself better than your brethren? Because, at the end of the day, it is our pride that keeps us from the fellowship. "Not those people, with their blue hair, their hang-ups over the buildings, their failure to evangelise, their failure to aid the needy. Not those people." How dare we? How dare we reject the gospel and place our righteousness above our brother's?

This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from pastors and zealous members about their congregations. A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men. When a person becomes alienated from a Christian community in which he has been placed and begins to raise complaints about it, he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God; if this be the case, let him thank God for leading him into this predicament. But if not, let him nevertheless guard against ever becoming an accuser of the congregation before God. Let him rather accuse himself for his unbelief. Let him pray God for an understanding of his own failure and his particular sin, and pray he may not wrong his brethren. Let him, in the consciousness of his own guilt, make intercession for his brethren. Let him do what he is committed to do, and thank God.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:1-21 (KJV)

When we separate ourselves from our brethren, we explciity are stating that we are better than they - whatever the reason might be. The is no part of the body meant to be separate from the body, and there is no spiritual gift given that is meant to operate exclusively outside the body.

I finish with a short though from Max Lucado. I'll be the first to say that I don't buy Max Lucado's books - I find them essentially written for people who do not think like me, or are in a place in their lives that I am not (at least not today). However, his words are often profound. I first read this one about three years ago,and I'll never forget it. I know, for certain, that it will speak to some of you as well. (I apologize for the font issues. I can't seem to fix them.)

Lord, who may enter your Temple?

Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?

Those who obey God in everything

and always do what is right,

PS 15:1-2.

Have you ever noticed how many people want to be right with God?

Rich people,
Religious people,
Nature people,
City people.

All kinds of people want to be right.

Some people get educated:
They learn all the funny little Greek symbols,
They learn all about theology,
They learn all about manuscripts, papyri, Dead Sea Scrolls
And so on and on…

They are righteous, they say…and they huddle together and sneer at those who are not.

Some people get mission-minded:
They learn new languages,
They teach untaught people
They take pictures of converts and speak at conferences.

They are righteous, they say…and they all huddle together and sneer at those who are not.

Some people get vocational:
They get a job,
They pay their own way,
They rub elbows with the “real world”
They are drops of leaven in a swelling society.

They are righteous, they say…and they all huddle together and sneer at those who are not.

You know, I think that sometimes God looks down at this dusty footstool and sees

The righteous theological huddle,
The righteous missionary huddle
The righteous vocational huddle
…and I think he sighs.

Church Membership: Shattered Dreams

2007-01-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

Have you even been in a perfect church? I don’t mean perfect as in completely ideal, I mean perfect as in, “As good as I can expect human beings to be.” Those who say, “Yes” are clearly in it now, and I would guarantee that they’ve been there less than five years, or they spent less than five years in that perfect church.

Whenever we show up at a new assembly, we have an idea in our minds of what the perfect church looks like. I, myself, thought I had found the perfect church, even acknowledging the standard laziness and selfishness of human beings and the impact that has. Yet, a year in, I found that my dream church was shattered.

For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 1 Cor 3:3-4 (KJV)

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and a community the better for both.

God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions as visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself…When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes first and accuser of the brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 1 Cor 11:17-19 (KJV)

So what do we do when faced with such a condition? If it is true that every fellowship must face times such as these, what is our response? Again, we return to the Scriptures.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Gal 6:1-3 (KJV)

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. Luke 6:40-42

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Heb 2:10-13 (KJV)

Can we not see the value that we must place on our brethren? We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what He does give us daily. And is not what has been given us enough: brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of his grace?...is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom , too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can live by our own words or deeds, but only by that one Word or Deed which really binds us together – the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-11 (KJV)

The reaction of the Christian to a brother in sin is not to complain about it, abandon the fellowship or even to correct them, but first, to remove the beam in their own eye. I must ask – where is my sin? When have I done sin like this and been unrepentant? When have I done sin totally unlike this and been unrepentant? What about my heart, my relationship with the risen Christ? May God have mercy on us for our judgmental attitudes and failure to recognize that the presence of a brother who sins is grace – grace in that it reminds me that I am a fallen human as well, sinful, in desperate need of His grace and forgiveness. This doesn’t remove our calling to correct – but it is a prerequisite to correcting. What about your heart?

Smiles

2007-01-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

My middle son, Corin, is a happy guy. After days of theological wrestling, administrative challenges and minitering to the poor in spirit, seeing this happy face makes the day brighter. His smile is obviously far superior to mine.

And yes, my facial hair is naturally that color. I never knew it until I got out of the Army.

The pic on the top was our Christmas picture this year. I was impressed with how impossible it was to get our three kids looking at the camera, smiling naturally, and on the right spot. There were many cases of looking away, hand in the mouth, hitting the dog, running to Mommy and crying. We went with the cheesy smile shot.

To my friends who manage to do great pictures of multiple kids in their homes, I have this to say - You have a gift we do not. Of course, we have some pretty amazing gifts too, as the above pictures demonstrate!