In one day...

My son Peter and I will be leaving 3 tomorrow morning to drive from Knoxville TN to Latrobe PA to St. Vincents' College to watch the Steelers training camp...then drive back tomorrow night. Eight hours on the road, each way.

You gotta do what's right. And this, my friends, is what's right.

It is good...

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
-Psalm 43:5

It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.
-Psalm 119:71

I've been having a lot more times of reflection, and some clear observations have become prominent to me:

1. Despite many people's initial response to it, it's okay to be sad sometimes.

2. For a good one-on-one time with God, few things beat a solitary walk.

3. For an ADHD person like myself, it''s often good to disengage all gears and let the Lord speak in a small voice. No distractions and no agenda cluttering my mind.

4. When I really concentrate on the magnificence of God and what He has done for mankind, I come away stunned. Really.

5. The story of Jesus and His ministry will never cease to amaze me.

6. Total reliance upon God is a very hard thing, because I am stupid and selfish.

7. The never-ending answer to helping alleviate depression and anxiety, for me, is an all-out concentrated reading of the Bible. Nothing, but nothing can top it for giving me peace. That's the honest truth.

A Chance to Review

In this quietness of solitude, I'm struggling to see what God has placed in my path for reflection, and a particular parcel sits right in the middle of the road...

Jill and I love the grad kids who head into their careers and college education... and we love the small in-home ministry we have right now of linking with the Christian young people who step out into the post-high school years.

And this is what is burning in the middle of the path right now...

1. USA Today reports from a LifeWay research project that 70% of Christian teens walk away from their faith after they leave home.

2. Cross Examined ministry states the dropout rate as high as 75%

3. Answers in Genesis states the percentage as 75% of Christian teens

4. The book Family Driven Faith puts the figure as high as 88% of the Christian teens who leave home for college will not go back to their faith again.

This tears at me.

I am meeting with a group of parents this Thursday night to address this issue. Lord, in the midst of all others things being stripped away, are you leading in this direction?

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

I need the chance, like Elijah and Job, to sit and feel the pain. It may not be understandable to those outside of my daily walk, but that's how these things slam us sometimes. Unexplainable. Indescribable.

I don't need finger-wagging or raised eyebrows. I want someone to listen - simply listen. Can Christianity get back to that? Can I find a friend who will sit alongside me and allow me to weep? Can I find pure kindness?

After all, we can make a clear case for a split lip or a gashed finger. We can easily show you a punctured hand or even a broken bone. But a wounded spirit? A mourning soul? We don't have enough words in the dictionary to give the proper definition.

I've lost my energy. I find it hard to talk. About anything.

Don't assume a teacher pose. Don't look for a quick fix. And please don't analyze. Or tell me to stop grieving.

I need this time. I need this solitude.

Depression

LUK 18:1 - "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."





Not give up.

"give up" - EKKAKEW (Greek) - to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted

spiritless...feeling hollow, tired... like you ran a ten-mile race - finishing dead last - and nobody was at the finish line to meet you... wearied out...beyond bone-tired, it's a chest-heaving loneliness and hopelessness that you can't explain...

How many times have we felt that way?

We have plans for our life and honestly try to pursue the course that we think is right and God-honoring, only to have our maps shredded and our dreams smashed?





Not give up.





How many times have we walked through the valley of shadows, hurting mostly because we lack a nearby comforter here among the people we know. We long for a chance to talk and share our wounded feelings, but we face finger-wagging and lecture talks.





Not give up.





It's at times like this that we reach up and grasp tightly to Jesus and His promises found in the Bible and wait.





That's the hardest part, waiting. And letting the hurt go by.

Commission

"Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting."

- Francis Schaeffer

1Timothy 1:15

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost {of all.}

This is a statement that is (in the Greek) apodochē - "acceptable, available for admittance" -something you can grab open-handed and clutch, and pull to yourself and hold closely. So what is it that we hold tighter than our most precious possession?

The fact that Jesus is more than an example or a Sunday School picture. The trutht that He is above a Speaker, Teacher, or Rabbi. He is the Anointed One, the One Who Saves, the Almighty come in the flesh.

I remember the Christmas present that I had hoped and longed for, as a child. I lay awake at nights, hoping that I would open up the treasure on that Yule morning. What if my parents forgot that I wanted it? Would my Christmas morning be ruined? I remember actually being scared that it wouldn't come. But finally the day arrived. And, in an imitation of Ralphie opening up the last box that gave him the Red Ryder BB gun, I opened up my gift and there it was! I held it close, hardly believing it was mine, really mine.

And with the same awe and wonder, I can hold Jesus the Christ close to me and realize He is mine, really mine. If He was only a Teacher, that would be great. if He was just a great leader, I would enjoy that, too. But so much more! He forgives my sins and He listens to me. He leads me and loves me. And best of all...

...He is mine. And I am His.

Sunday morning thoughts

( This is a picture of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains at sunrise - a sight which always fills us with awe. )

It's still early enough that the household is still asleep, and I take the quietness of the hour to reflect upon my reading from Romans this morning and fully appreciate what Jesus has done for me and my family as well.



There is so much for which I can be thankful. My children are in good health, but also in a walk with Jesus, learning and growing step by step. Nicholas will be heading back to Camp Red Cloud within the month, continuing the fine ministry outreach to families across the country. Peter has returned from the mission trip in Chicago, where he told me he is internalizing what he has experienced. Jill is in better health, and both she and I seek not only to grow closer together but also to see the new ministry the lord will lay before us. Little Julianne, of course, is a joy to the household, and loves Jesus vocally and enthusiastically.





But I also see the battle within me, and as I read Romans 6:


Rom 6:11
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Rom 6:12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
Rom 6:13
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin {as} instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members {as} instruments of righteousness to God.
Rom 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The first thought that may strike us is that the battle is with sexual sin or a sensual nature leading into lasciviousness. However, this warning leads to other dangers. Anger, for one.
As I have stated, my anger is a danger to me. It is almsot like being an alcoholic. I will never be able to say I have won a true victory overmy anger - only that, by God's grace, I am able to see it kept under control.
I can recall the time as a student at the university when a fellow student was getting antsy and kept kicking my bed, trying to get me to wake up from much-needed rest in order to go to the dining hall. He got more and more mouthy and challenging. Those who were in the hall remember what I did - I was so livid I shot out of that bed, literally picked him up, kicked open an adjacent door and threw him bodily into another room. I don't give this account to brag - in fact I am ashamed of it - but to note how my anger used to throw me into a rage.

Now, decades later, it is no longer physical in that sense, but it is an Achille's heel that I must constantly take before Jesus. The other day I was accosted with very callous words by a fellow employee, and I had to seclude myself in my office in order to siummer down, knowing any return words would be hurtful. Thank the Lord a fellow Christian stopped by and sat with me.
I have no desire to let my mind or my mouth become a tool of the Enemy. These will not become a hoplon - (Greek - an instrument) against Christ. The word "instrument" can be defined as a weapon. I will not let any part of me be truned over to the Enemy, against my Lord. Therefore, I go before Jesus and ask him to have control of my arsenal. Let Him have the registry of all of my weapons and ammunition.

You Must Read This

For those of you who remember Viet Nam and the famous photo here, I am connecting you to an incredible link, that is, amazingly, found on NPR, not exactly a pro-Christian network. You will understand what I mean when you read this essay. Please do not miss this story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91964687

Photo credit: AP, Nick Ut