Dying town, living people

Last Saturday I rode through a dying town.  This old mill town, where I was born, was home to a booming textile company 50 years ago.  Probably dozens of my relatives worked there, including my dad.  Now a ride through town reveals architectural relics of the company that used to employ 10.000 people.  Someone has bought the real estate, and they are selling off the old lumber inside the mills.  Apparently after they salvage the guts of a building, they demolish it.  There are no cars parked there, no shift changes slowing traffic.

Downtown about half the storefronts are empty.  New car lots are now vacant lots.  Even the streets are virtually empty.  A few cars pass by, but there is probably never a rush hour. 

I also noticed something else about the town.  Everyone seems friendly.  In the hospital where I visited a relative, most people passing in the hallway gives a sincere greeting.  A one-legged man in a wheelchair caught the elevator with us.  After saying hello, he joked, "I was looking for someone to play double-dutch with me.  I can even jump on one leg!" 

Here's a man in a dying town, with only one leg, and he cheerfully cracks jokes about his disability.  For him life is good.  He has chosen to see it that way.

I wonder how many towns will become like this one.  The signs in the economy are not good.  The experts try to tell us that the recession is over.  The problem is that no one can tell it.  The media is full of less-than-cheerful news. 

The good news is that we don't have to let life become miserable just because the economy is bad.  As we learn to cope with the new realities, we can re-evaluate what really matters to us.  We can share the good news that God has something better for us than material prosperity.  Our souls can prosper, even in the worst of economic depressions.  Even if we only have one leg, we can jump rope!

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  I'm glad of that!

Vison of Hope

As we gathered for worship yesterday, we celebrated "Hope Sunday," a day to focus on helping children out of poverty.  With the help of World Vision, we learned about ways we can really help eliminate poverty.  We heard from several folks at Crossroads who already sponsor children, and it was a moving experience.  Helping these children has really brought us closer to Jesus.

At last count, we had 9 children around the world who had new sponsors!  (Please let us know if you signed up as a sponsor at home, so that we can see how many children have been blessed through Hope Sunday!)  It was especially encouraging to see our teenagers leading the way, being the first ones to "adopt" these children. 

I especially like World Vision's approach to helping the poor.  On their website, World Vision says,

"We seek to facilitate an engagement between the poor and the affluent that opens both to transformation. We respect the poor as active participants, not passive recipients, in this relationship...The need for transformation is common to all. Together we share a quest for justice, peace, reconciliation, and healing in a broken world."

Giving people food and shelter may help temporarily, but it can leave them waiting for the next delivery of aid.  When we work to transform their living environment, we see sustainable change.  This happens when we actually share the love of Jesus, through education, medical aid, clean water, economic opportunity and the gospel. 

As we share Christ's love holistically, he can change their hearts and truly transform their lives.

And, as World Vision says, we who give are also transformed.  We began to see that yesterday.

Ready for Graduation

Next year I will have the privilege *sob* of having my oldest child graduate from high school.  So graduation season this year is particularly poignant for me.  Students have spent virutally their whole lives growing and learning and preparing for the transition to the world of adults.  The world is full of promise and opportunity; temptation and risk. 

It is the parents' responsibility to raise children and prepare them to enter the world of adults.  The transition is much more than the moment of turning a tassel on a mortar board.  It begins years before as children gradually take on more and more responsibility.  It continues long after high school graduation as they seek counsel and advice about education, jobs, and relationships.

But the moment of high school graduation often marks a turning point.  It is a time after which children don't really live at home; they live in dorms, spend summers away at summer jobs, move into their own apartments.  For the parents, it is the time of transition to being empty-nesters.

Before I get too sappy and sentimental, I want to consider how we parents prepare children for that moment when the routines of life change dramatically.  We need to equip them with life skills.  We teach them how to get along with others, how to mow grass and set the table.  We teach them manners and the perspective of empathy.  We make sure they have the necessary formal education, whether in the classroom or at home.

And we have to instill in them the most important thing of all:  love for God.  Jesus said that loving God is the most important thing in life.  From loving God, all else in life flows.  If we love God, then he can equip us to love our neighbors.  If we love God and love our neighbors, Jesus says, then we really have a handle on life.

Remember too that Jesus specified the ways in which we are to love God:  with our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Loving God with our minds requires us to gain some understanding of this world.  If we don't have a firm understanding of this world as God's creation, then we can easily buy into the world's false philosophies.

So often Christian students enter their college studies with great confidence in their beliefs.  But then they face challenging questions in the classroom, from professors and other students.  These questions cut to the heart of their beliefs; they feel foolish for ever having believed in the God of the Bible.  In their minds there are only two reasonable ways to resolve this tension:  ignore the questions with blissful ignorance, or abandon the faith.

What so many Christians don't know is that there ARE answers to these questions.  The God of the Bible does make sense.  We don't have to choose between reason and faith.  The two are more than compatible.  In fact, they go hand in hand as we understand this world in which God has placed us.  I recommend Nancy Pearcey's book Total Truth for an engaging explanation of the Christian worldview.

But while we have children at home, we can enthusiastically teach them about God.  And we can encourage them to ask lots of questions about God, science, morality, the Bible, faith, history, economics and setting the table.  There are answers, even if we have to work to find them.

What's the Big Deal about Easter?

Why does everyone make such a big deal out of Easter?  I'm not talking about the new outfits, the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, Peeps or sales at Kohl's. 

For some reason, this holiday has endured as a major celebration.  It has not become nearly as commercialized as Christmas.  The historical events behind Easter are not nearly as cute as the Christmas story.

A man was falsely accused, condemned and executed, while his friends ran for cover.  Then, on the third day, this man came back to life.  It is a story full of drama and pathos; it is far from cute.  But why does the story need to be told over and over?  Why do we need to celebrate?

Easter is evidence that God has not forgotten us.  The world is full of hardship and evil, but God entered this messed-up world as Jesus Christ.  He took on the evil of the world, suffering ridicule and rejection, even to the point of death.

God the Son died at the hands of his evil creatures.  Death, one would think, would be the final word.  But it wasn't.  On the third day, this dead man came back to life.  He defeated death.

In his death and resurrection, Jesus won the battle against evil on behalf of all who believe in him.  He used the greatest imaginable evil against himself to bring the blessings of heaven to the ones who had him killed. 

If God loves us this much, that changes everything.  He wants our company.  He redeems our sinful hearts.  He gives us his own goodness. 

Because of Easter, we can now see life in light of the Resurrection!  It makes all the difference in the world

More important than competition

I was hoping to tell stories about my triathlon competition today, but alas, I cannot.  The wicked weather system caused our event to be canceled, or rather postponed until September.  I should not complain, because we were not badly hit by the storm here in Stokesdale.  We had plenty of high winds and rain, enough to blow over and break tents at the triathlon staging area.

But miles to the east of us, home were destroyed and lives lost.  The devastation is unbelievable.  At least 22 people were killed in NC with this storm system.  It may take weeks to clean up, and months to rebuild.

Just when we think that we have conquered the elements, we are reminded that the forces of nature are beyond our control.  We really live every day at the mercy of God. 

Lord, help those who suffered loss in this storm find your love in the midst of disaster.  Let us share your love in your power.

My First Triathlon

I have always wanted to run a triathlon.  Now it is here.  It's coming even sooner than I thought.  The event planners sent out a schedule change this morning.  Instead of starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow, it will start at 7.  They think that we will be done with the race before all the storms roll in.  I'm not so sure...

Obviously I have had to train.  Now this is what they call a "sprint" triathlon.  I don't expect to do a lot of sprinting, but I think I can cover the 750 meter swim, 14 mile bike ride, and 5k run.  I actually went for a swim a couple of weeks ago, trying out my wet suit.  Might squeeze in another swim today.

This is certainly out of my comfort zone physically.  God is constantly calling me outside of my comfort zone, in just about every aspect of life.  He wants to stretch me.  He knows that pushing my limits helps me to grow.  There is so much more that God can do with me when I will step up to a challenge.

Sometimes the challenges come to us without warning; then we just have to do our best.  Sometimes we sign up for challenges.  I need to sign up for more challenges.  And part of that challenge is following through.

Oh Brother

Reading about Jesus this morning, I noticed something I had never paid attention to before.  As he invited people to follow him, Jesus began by calling two brothers, Peter and Andrew.  They were fishermen and were busy with their trade.  After they accepted his invitation, Jesus went on and found two other brothers, James and John.  They were also fishermen, at work with their father.

According to Matthew, these were the first disciples Jesus called.  So, he began with choosing two sets of brothers.  This makes me wonder why he chose brothers.  He could have called Peter without calling Andrew.  He could have called John without James.  Certainly Jesus was not just looking for warm bodies to boost his numbers. 

He called people who already loved each other and cared about each other.  They had grown up together; they had the bonds of blood, common upbringing, and business partnership. 

Why did this matter so much to Jesus?  He could have chosen 12 unrelated and disconnected followers. 

The journey of faith is a journey of relationship.  We need companions as we travel down the path.  Jesus began with at least two sets of brothers.  He began with men who knew the value of living life together, even working together.  They knew they could not do it alone.  They knew they needed each other.

We need today to recapture some of that closeness in relationship.  I'm so grateful for the church as a fellowship of encouragement, where we can live life together, lean on each other, and cheer for one another!