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I never get tired of a discussion about Redemption! It’s such an incredible concept. When you think that we are so small, and God is so big. We are so tainted, and God is forgiving. We are so lost, and broken, and undeserving, yet God came to us . . . He thinks we are worth dying for. You are worth dying for. I am worth dying for. That blows my mind. I can’t really comprehend that type of sacrifice, where someone so unfathomably Perfect lays down His life for someone so . . . broken.

The significant loves the insignificant. The Triune loves the Trivial. The Relevant loves the irrelevant. The Creator loves the created. And that’s really what it’s about isn’t it. We find our worth in what our Creator thinks of us. He alone has the say so as to what our worth is. He alone can give us value. Nothing and no one else can. As hard as we try, as far as we search. . . we can never find our worth anywhere else. And so we discuss and discourse and try to wrap our minds around this incredible reality of Redemption, caught up in these three simple, almost childish words . . . “Jesus Loves YOU”.

Reality place a huge part in our redemption. It is based on Truth, and Truth sets us free. But unfortunately we know that reality is a rare thing to find today. Our enemy throws everything he can at us to get us fixated on ourselves, our accomplishments, our hurt, our triumphs, our tragedies. And so focused on our selfish desires, the sacred sometimes becomes laughable. We can hear Truth, and laugh in its face, which is exactly what our enemy wants . . .

Everywhere we look we see the headlined version of reality, based by what one tries to sell to the other. Reality shows are the craze, the fad, but recently it’s been admitted that they too are staged. We hear, from all directions, the call to this diet, to that car. He will make your life complete. I can’t live without her. Romance is where it’s at. Wealth is the answer. Hollywood has “the life”. This style is in. That celeb is out. There’s something for everyone and NOTHING SATISFIES!

Do you ever get tired of it? I looked up the term “rat race” the other day. The term “Rat Race” is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape while running around a maze or in a wheel. In an analogy of modern times and cities, many rats in a single maze run around making a lot of noise bumping into each other, but ultimately achieve nothing (meaningful) either collectively or individually (Wikipedia).

Do you ever get sick of this life, this pace we are living it? The pain, the suffering, the searching, the loneliness. Nothing satisfies. And no one sees this more than a person in ministry. A minister’s job is to show the real against the facade of life.

But we’ve replaced the REAL for the Rationalistic. The Real for the Ruse. The Real for the Rudimentary. Our moral code has been replaced by an mtv culture that even demands we believe that there is no REAL! Really, there is no real . . . and we start to lose our logic. We start to embrace the facade.

We’re all caught up in it! Don’t think you’re not. To some extent we all are. The effect is overwhelming.

We live in a fast food society. We want what we want, and we want it now. We have replaced the formula of Desire + Hard Work = Success with a formula that reads Desire = Success. We have created a ladder of Success with one rung and then wonder why we feel so empty and disillusioned. We want what we want, with an immediate order of self-worth. The more we indulge ourselves though, the sooner we become like the writer of Ecclesiastes. We realize that NOTHING SATISFIES in this world.

And it starts to affect us spiritually.

Our churches are now filled with people who have no idea what Redemption is. Many of us go to church for years, without the slightest clue about our real spiritual state. We are inundated by the facade. We are overwhelmed by popular culture that points to everything but the REAL. Some of us come across the Law, and are convicted. Some of us try to go to church. To live right. And we wonder why we constantly fail. We have taken the mirror (the Law's true purpose) off the wall and are trying to clean ourselves with it. In Reality, Redemption is brought about by the Forgiveness that’s been offered, and our realization and the resulting repentance we must have. We must live the life of the Changed Mind, which is the true meaning of Repentance.

But we pass by the Cross with glazed eyes. We don’t see the Law of Life and Liberty that Christ’s death has given us. So we dive deeper. We forget the teachings of our fathers. We turn a deaf ear to the call of God in our lives. We go farther until we find ourselves in danger of depravity.

Because Truth is not benign. Truth is not a neat idea that works for some and not for others. No, Truth stands regardless whether we "buy into it" or not. Truth stands though the world recoils in hatred. Truth stands and will never be affected by whim.

We can do nothing to it, but Truth will always do something to us. There must be a reaction to it. We must respond, and either accept it in humility, or reject it in disbelief and pride.

The Apostle Paul says this in Romans 1:25 – “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator . . . For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions (desires), for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of a woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."

"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which were not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding . . . “.

Sound familiar?

Seen this on television lately?

It’s relentless. And for a reason.

Our enemy is scared to death . . .

See, we are born with a desire for abundance. God built that into our holistic makeup, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have offered it. He came to give us Life and Life more abundant!

That means Christ is standing in front of us saying, "I am here to give you more than what you have. I am THE REAL! I am here to show you what life has only pretended to be!"

And our enemy is scared to death.

He’s scared that the glimmer of Grace will catch our eye.

That for one second we will stop and turn our focus on the Cross.

That for one hour on a Sunday morning we will hear about a God who was and is and always will be REAL!

That for one moment we will hear the song of the redeemed. That for 5 minutes during a lunch break someone will tell us there’s more to this life.

That one person will break rank and demand that a church practice what it preaches.

That love will be shown to the undeserving.

That prayer will creep its way back into schools.

That righteous action will speak louder than hollow words.

That people will start praying for miracles.

That minds will be changed in repentance.

That hearts will be healed.

That chains will be broken.

That strongholds will be shattered.

That marriages will be restored.

That the divorce rate will go down.

That husbands would love their wives.

That wives would become Godly women.

That teenagers would say “NO” to the damaging pressure, and demand more from their peers.

That forgiveness would come out of pain.

That our eyes would be opened.

That we would see Jesus.

That the meek would inherit the earth.

That the oppressed would find relief.

That we would see the love of God for what it is.

That the facade will crack.

THAT THE TRUTH WOULD BE REVEALED!!!

THERE IS A REAL!

And our enemy spends every moment in this chaos he’s created, desperately trying to believe his own lies, throwing everything he has at Creation to convince us likewise.

There is a Real. Satan knows it. Scripture says that even the demons believe . . .

There is a Real, and it’s based on Truth.

The Psalmist said, “The sum (the entirety, the total make-up) of thy Word is Truth” (Psalms 119:160)

John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . full of grace and truth”

In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the father but by me.”

In John 8:31 and 32 Jesus says, “if you continue in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”.

The Truth, the REAL is found in Jesus. No other place can we find our redemption.

No other place can we find our worth.

Our value and our Life is found in His death.

And when he says he is the only way, he’s not being arrogant. He’s being incredibly helpful! Let me explain . . .

Many years ago, in my teen dinosaur years, I went with my dad and brother on a caving tour. We were traveling through a certain area of the country, and we heard of a cave tour that went three miles down into this massive cavern. So we thought we would be cool and “live the dream”.

We arrived at the cave. I can still remember the time, oddly enough. It was 3 p.m. when the tour started. We walked and walked and walked until we were sooo far down. The walls were incredible with the colors and reflections of the tour guides' light.

When we reached our destination, we were in a large cavern. To the right and left were passages going off into the darkness. Our tour guide then made us close our eyes, line up single file and turn each other around several times, starting with the first person being turned around by the person behind him. It ended with the tour guide turning the last person around. He then told us to open our eyes.

Total darkness.

Some of the girls in our group screamed half heartedly. My dad grabbed each of us boys and told us to stay with him. Several guys in the group ventured a weak “hello”.

Total silence from our tour guide.

And just at the scary moment when panic enters the back of your neck and makes your hair stand up, the tour guide laughed and turned on his light. He then cheerily informed us that if we were cave diving like some kids did many years ago, and our torch went out, we would be entirely lost in the passages of that cavern. There would be no way we would ever find our way out. We would die alone and probably try to eat each other.

Then he turned off his light again . . . but just for a second. :)

I’ll never forget that feeling . . . when the light came on. The feeling of relief was indescribable.

It's an epiphany of Trust.

When he told us to follow him back up the right passage to the light of day, no one ever thought to question his word. No one told him "no thanks, we'll find our own way". We followed, knowing that he had the light. He was the way out.

And certainly no one accused him of being arrogant.

This is Jesus. Standing before us. Saying I am the way. I am the Truth. I am the Life. I am REALITY.

He’s not being arrogant. He is just stating Truth. He IS Truth! And those that are desperate enough, those that feel His spirit on them, those whose eyes are opened to the light . . . follow. Trusting. Believing. Acting on the Truth He gives through Himself. Through the Word.

We’ve all seen plenty of counterfeits. Here is the Truth on counterfeiting . . . You can’t have a counterfeit without a real!

Any person who has counterfeited currency knows that you ultimately have to start with the real thing. A counterfeit is just a copy of the real. It’s meant to deceive.

This is our enemy.

Are you living in reality? Are you holding the real, or are you wondering in the dark?

Some of us are believers. Some of us are non-believers. Some of us are skeptics.

Some of us are hypocrites.

Today is your day.

Some of you are believers who are questioning everything right now. Life has been cruel. The facade has beaten you down for the last time, and you are standing at a decision point, at a crossroads. Throw in the towel, and create your own facade of “I’ve got everything under control” or are you going to admit you have issues with your issues. That you are NOT alright. That you need to re-evaluate. Do NOT let your questions and issues with almighty God build walls between your heart and His love. Instead, let those issues and questions and anger and hurt build bridges to His throne. He will embrace you, and love you, and walk with you, just like he did when he lived among us. If you’ve fallen, then JOIN THE CROWD! You have an advocate through Jesus Christ our REDEEMER. He will be a friend closer than a brother . . .

Some of you are non-believers. You don’t believe there’s a God, or if there is He certainly is not concerned about your life. Don’t believe the lie. Don’t fall for the facade! Question everything, and walk the path of belief. He loves you enough to show you Himself. Through people. Through His word. Through talking with Him. Talk to Him. He's not afraid of your questions. He has the answers if you are willing to listen. Make the choice to find Him. Otherwise you will continue your journey in the dark . . .

Some of you are skeptics. Agnostics. Waiting for proof. Now is your chance! Step out today and see what He can do! Prove Him wrong, and good luck trying. Step out and make the declaration. He welcomes your disbelief because HE HAS THE ANSWERS!
God is bigger . . . bigger than our failures. Bigger than our fortunes. Bigger than the strength or the weakness we live in. No matter the walls that you’ve built to resist Him. No matter the choices you’ve made. There is a God! And He cares for you. No matter what . . . !

Some of you are hypocrites. You enjoy the power that comes with being in Church leadership. Being on the “inside”. But you know, deep inside, when you look in the mirror each night that you don’t live the redeemed life. You are not part of the REAL. The love of God is not in you, and your fruit is rotten. You are in the most precarious place of all. You run the danger of incurring the wrath of God more than the rest, because you pretend to be what He IS.

Just like our enemy.

And that is a very dangerous place to be in. You know the truth and reject it.

You're taking your chances in the dark . . .

I John 1:4 - 2:8 says,

"These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete."

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected."

"By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

"Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard."

"On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. "

Jesus loves YOU.

© Copyright Derek Hickman 2009

I have the unique privilege of being raised in the conservative holiness movement, but my story could have been different. I wrote an editorial for the August 2009 issue of the Standard about the conversion of my great-grandparents, Lewis & Barbara King as well as the tragic ending of one of my neighbors. You can read it here.

You can download the entire August issue here or view the archives of the Standard here.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Management is challenging workers to accomplish what they could if they would.

Management must weed out the “I won’t” from the “I think I cans!

Leadership is casting a short shadow in the right direction, not too far ahead nor to close to those led.

True success is more about we than me!

Know where you are going before you allow yourself to be led!

The following questions were taken from a 'place mat' at a McDonald's:

"Why don't we say onety-one for the number 11?"
"Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes?"
"If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?"

Reading On the Incarnation has been a wonderful way for me to dip my toes into the writings of the Patristics. There's great inspirational and intellectual value in reading these saints of old. I hope to do more. I did find parts of this book a bit tedious (Athanasius tends to plow the same ground over and over) but overall it was a great read.

If you're not familiar with On the Incarnation it's written in the form of a letter from Athansius to a Macarius, described as a "true lover of Christ." Reading between the lines it seems like Macarius was a youngish convert to Christianity, perhaps converted under the teaching of the bishop. Essentially it's a treatise on apologetics, as Athanasius gives the younger man ammunition with which to defend the orthodox teaching concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Though the Incarnation is the main focus Athanasius begins with the doctrines of creation and fall, moving on to the problem of sin and how a just and holy God could redeem/recreate his fallen creation.

One of the most stirring sections of the book is when Athanasius points to the example of Christian martyrs, abundant in those days, as evidence for Christ's victory over death at the cross.

A very strong proof of this destruction of death and its conquest by the cross is supplied by a present fact, namely this. All the disciples of Christ despise death; they take the offensive against it and, instead of fearing it, by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ trample on it as something dead.

. . . men who, before they believe in Christ, think death horrible and are afraid of it, once they are converted despise it so completely that they go eagerly to meet it, and themselves become witnesses of the Saviour's resurrection from it. Even children hasten thus to die, and not men only, but women train themselves by bodily discipline to meet it. . . . Death has become like a tyrant who has been completely conquered by the legitimate monarch; bound hand and foot as he now is, the passers-by jeer at him, hitting him and abusing him, no longer afraid of his cruelty and rage, because of the king who conquered him. So has death been conquered and branded for what it is by the Saviour on the cross. It is bound hand and foot, all who are in Christ trample it as they pass and as witnesses to Him deride it, scoffing and saying, "O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?"

Quotes from pp. 57-8 of this edition

I can't believe it. I mean, it all happened so fast! One minute, "Here Magnus, meet your new baby brother!" and the next, "Guess what Magnus? Henrik is having his very first birthday!!" Time sure flies with a fun little chap like Henrik. He is the life of the party around here, always joking, always content. The day after he turned one, he really started pulling up on everything, and even scooted faster than ever before. Guess he thought he'd better hurry up now that he's a big boy! And speaking of that... he weighs 29lbs and is 31.5" tall. We moved him into Magnus' bedroom about a month ago and they have become better friends than ever, being silly together making sound effects during nap-time and "talking". We did hit our first snag the other day when we heard them in there laughing... but it went more like this. Cough, gag, laugh. Repeat. Upon further investigation we discovered that they were having a gagging contest. Magnus had 4 fingers in his throat, and Henrik's thumb was doing the trick for him, even to the point of making him spit up on his clothes. It took some sternness NOT to laugh, and to make them quit! I have a feeling this is only the beginning of some very interesting adventures in boyhood. But hey, I WAS the one that prayed to have little boys! And boy, am I ever glad I did! =)

The more helping, the hand, the less biting it must endure.

To become more accepting you must accept more!

A smidgen of possibilities dispels despair.

Plant hope and you will harvest happily.

Good and evil cannot exist in a single thought.

The ways of destroying the church are many and colorful. Raw factionalism will do it. Rank heresy will do it. Taking your eyes off the cross and letting other, more peripheral matters dominate the agenda will do it-admittedly more slowly than frank heresy, but just as effectively over the long haul. Building the church with superficial ‘conversions’ and wonderful programs that rarely bring people into a deepening knowledge of the living God will do it. Entertaining people to death but never fostering the beauty of holiness or the centrality of self-crucifying love will build an assembling of religious people, but it will destroy the church of the living God. Gossip, prayerlessness, bitterness, sustained biblical illiteracy, self-promotion, materialism-all of these things, and many more, can destroy a church. And to do so is dangerous: ‘If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple (1 Cor. 3:17).” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

from the book, The Cross and Christian Ministry by D.A. Carson

Filed under: Quotes, Thoughts

Lost in all the conservative anti-Obama hysteria is the deep disillusionment felt by many progressives about his administration so far. Liberal columnist Paul Krugman wonders:

Why does the Obama administration keep looking for love in all the wrong places? Why does it go out of its way to alienate its friends, while wooing people who will never waver in their hatred?

After citing examples of Obama's ill-advised (according to Krugman) efforts at compromise and lamenting the fact that the president hasn't been the "transformational figure some envisioned" Krugman continues:

What explains Mr. Obama’s consistent snubbing of those who made him what he is? Does he fear that his enemies would use any support for progressive people or ideas as an excuse to denounce him as a left-wing extremist? Well, as you may have noticed, they don’t need such excuses: He’s been portrayed as a socialist because he enacted Mitt Romney’s health-care plan, as a virulent foe of business because he’s been known to mention that corporations sometimes behave badly.

The point is that Mr. Obama’s attempts to avoid confrontation have been counterproductive. His opponents remain filled with a passionate intensity, while his supporters, having received no respect, lack all conviction. And in a midterm election, where turnout is crucial, the “enthusiasm gap” between Republicans and Democrats could spell catastrophe for the Obama agenda.

I rather suspect it's a good thing that the president has done his best to govern as a slightly left-of-center conciliator, though Krugman is probably right that it won't stand his party in good stead at the polls come November. We may well end up with the GOP back in control of either the House and/or Senate.

This reminds me of something I wrote after the '09 off-year elections, which is that idealogically America is still fundamentally a moderately right-of-center country. Despite the polarization and extreme rhetoric (on both sides) of the last two years, I believe that's still the case. It's part of the genius of the Founders that they set up a system of government that encourages stability and compromise. Idealogues who stray too far from the center are bound to be frustrated with it, but for better or worse the center holds.

Surprise is doing better than others expect of you.

It is better to surprise others than to disappoint them.

Be thankful you could do what you did, and plan on doing better the next time.

It is whatever you have overcome that has made you successful.

Time management is the ultimate beginning of work.

This morning I was reading Jeremiah 46 - the oracle of ancient superpower Egypt's defeat at the hands of the rival Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 17 there's a mocking reference to Pharaoh Neco: "Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 'Noisy one who lets the hour go by.'" (ESV) In modern vernacular, God is declaring that Pharoah is "all talk and no action." In the next verse this impotent name is juxtaposed with the all powerful name of Yahweh "the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts."

This got me thinking about the power of names, and the power to give names. The Old Testament is full of examples. Names meant more back then than they do now. The people of God praised Yahweh and they praised his name. The Psalmist cries "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" The very name of God is precious because it's intrinsic to his being. His name reveals his character. God's name is eternal, but that of his enemies will be erased. "You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever." (Psalm 9:5)

As parents we can appreciate the power of giving a name. My wife and I are tossing around boy and girl names for child #2. He or she will have no say in the matter. Jesus asserted his authority in this realm by renaming Simon, and by naming the demons and silencing them when they named him. Yeshua was a common name in first-century Palestine, like Joe or Bob. But once Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead and ascended to the Father he was given a name "above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." (Eph. 1:21)

Those who confess that name as Lord have their names written down in the "book of life of the Lamb who was slain" (Rev. 13:8) and they have the promise of a new name themselves. "To the one who conquers . . . I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'" (Rev. 2:17)

That's the name I want.

Filed under: Kalena

The only good in evil is good riddance!

Being a blessing is doing as much as you can with as little as you have.

An active shovel can move a mountain.

There are no small blessings!

At least be a target worth hitting.

I love the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The one son wastes his inheritance, messes up his life and finds himself feeding pigs. Worse yet, he is even joining the pigs for dinner. Finally he has had enough and decides to head back home, to ask his father to be a servant. Because even his father’s servants were living better than he was. The story concludes with the son walking down the dusty lane and sees his father running towards him, welcoming him back to the family.

Ministry isn’t always full of glamourous stories. There are times when the life seems to be sucked out you. Recently I was startled to find out that one of my friends had fallen back to his old lifestyle. Individuals searched the city until he was found. As I was sitting beside him, he cried out, “pastor, do you think God will take me back?” It was a joy to walk beside him that night as I shared the story of the prodigal son and how God would gladly welcome him back home. We wept together and prayed together.

I can never thank God enough for taking me back.

Filed under: Gospel Center, Leadership

put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption. - Psalm 130:7

I believe that redemption is still possible.  At the Gospel Center , everything we do, we do with the ultimate of goal of redemption. By offering hope and love, we believe that is able to help us share the redemption story of Jesus Christ.

Here are two examples.

We have been doing Angel Food Ministries for almost two years now. Not only does it help our community tangibly, we are able to share the love of Jesus Christ through that ministry. We now have several individuals who are coming to the Gospel Center because we offered them hope and love and now we are able to share the story of redemption. We have joined them in the journey of life.

up7street is the same story. We offer hope to teens, give them a safe environment to hang out at, show them unconditional love and share the redemption of Jesus.

I am passionate about offering hope, love and redemption and I am thrilled that the people of the Gospel Center are too!

Filed under: Gospel Center, Leadership

Before you have all you want, someone around you, will not have all they need.

If you succeed at earning and fail at giving you have missed the meaning of money.

Never feed the lazy the multiply too quickly!

Help the helpless not the listless.

Train the worker not the idler.

Bret Stephens writes in today's Wall Street Journal on the intensifying debate over when and if the U.S. should get out of Afghanistan. The voices urging immediate withdrawal have gotten louder since the release of thousands of classified documents by something called WikiLeaks. The docs don't paint a pretty picture of U.S. involvement, but why is that a surprise? Unleashing the dogs of war is always fraught with peril and unintended consequences. Even the good guys don't escape the taint of moral compromise.

However, Stephens uses the example of Southeast Asia to argue that there are times when the only thing worse than a messy war is "peace"...

The Cambodian genocide is especially worth recalling today not only for what it was, but for the public debates in the West that immediately preceded it. "The greatest gift our country can give to the Cambodian people is peace, not guns," said then-congressman, now senator, Chris Dodd, by way of making the case against the Ford administration's bid to extend military assistance to the pro-American government of Lon Nol.

In the New York Times, Sydney Schanberg reported from Cambodia that "it is difficult to imagine how [Cambodian] lives could be anything but better with the Americans gone." Mr. Schanberg added that "it would be tendentious to forecast [genocide] as a national policy under a Communist government once the war is over."

A year later, Mr. Schanberg was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, though not for tendentiousness.

All in all, America's withdrawal from Southeast Asia resulted in the killing of an estimated 165,000 South Vietnamese in so-called re-education camps; the mass exodus of one million boat people, a quarter of whom died at sea; the mass murder, estimated at 100,000, of Laos's Hmong people; and the killing of somewhere between one million and two million Cambodians.

The possibility that something like that could happen in Afghanistan once the American soldiers leave should at least give us pause. Stephens concludes: "It is a peculiar fact of modern liberalism that its best principles have most often been betrayed by self-described liberals." What was that about being doomed to repeat history?

continuation from yesterday …

In addition to offering hope to our community, another value that we believe strongly in is to offer the love of Jesus Christ to everyone. I realize that this seems to to be a given, but it is extremely important. In fact offering hope and love go hand-in-hand.

Here are a few examples of how individuals from the Gospel Center offered love to those around them just in these past 24 hours.

• Being with a family as their fourteen-year-old child was taken to a juvenile facility in handcuffs and shackles.

• Offering comfort to a family from Haiti that has received daily news of close friends who are now dead.

• Walking with a friend who has had to pick up the pieces of their life and start over.

• Being a source of love to a frustrated single mom.

• Helping to feed and clothe those who lost so much in the fire yesterday.

Some ways were small, others were time consuming, but in the end, everyone of these examples were offered love tangibly.

Filed under: Gospel Center, Leadership

Never sell what is pricless for what will will become useless.

If you cannot count your blessings you know little about math and less about blessings.

You can cement your principles without becoming a hard head.

When it gets too difficult, while in the middle of something, pray!

Learn to enjoy this life; you will never be here again!

Here by the river we gather together,
to lift one another, to carry this cross.
Love has a way of turning disaster,
of binding the broken, of healing our hearts.

Its an anthem . . . calling us to sing . . .

Overcome.

There's hope for tomorrow.
A comfort in sorrow, rise up and believe.
As one . . . we stand here together
with heroes among us, the whole world can see
there is healing. Healing!

Overcome.

So here in this moment we lift up our faces.
We hold out our hands to a neighbor in need.
Tragedy stings but redemption is sweeter.
The song of the fearless brings fear to its knees.

Can you hear us? Hear us calling out . . . yeah!

Overcome.

There's hope for tomorrow.
A comfort in sorrow, rise up and believe.
As one . . . we stand here together
with heroes among us, the whole world can see
there is healing. Healing!

Overcome.

© Copyright Derek Hickman 2010

Three of the core values that we believe in strongly at the Gospel Center are to offer everyone around us hope, love and redemption.

“Joe” got out of our local prison a few months ago. While he was in jail, his wife filed for divorce, had a restraining order put out against him, drained his financial accounts, and generally ruined his life. While he was in jail, I had the opportunity to introduce him to the hope of the world, Jesus Christ.  All of his problems still aren’t solved and his life still seems to be in chaos. But he has seen the hope that Jesus offers.

Not all of our ministry is glamourous as you can imagine. We have seen lives ruined. There are people that we have worked closely with that have died of an overdose, or were killed. We have seen children that were sent off to foster care because both daddy and mommy were in prison. But with each and every individual that we come across, we offer them the hope of Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can transform their lives

We offer hope to children. Every week we have an active kidz club where children of all ages hear the stories of Jesus. Arlene and her team of helpers do an incredible job of teaching our children.

We offer hope to teens. Lance Shuey and Jeremy Morford work with our teens each Sunday morning. We also offer hope to our teens through up7street. Every second and fourth monday evening we meet with our teens for an incredible time of teaching and fun.

We offer hope through Discover Recovery. We offer good Christ-centered, Bible-based counseling in their areas of need.

We offer our community hope through helping them with their grocery budget by offering them Angel Food Ministries. This is a growing ministry of the Gospel Center that helps practically. Jim Sherman and our great team of volunteers do an incredible job with this ministry.

But most of all, we offer hope through Jesus Christ. We are able to impact peoples lives through our Sunday morning worship services. Three of us also go into the Lebanon Jail two times a month. I am privileged to preach about Jesus and the hope that He offers to all.

As the Gospel Center continues to grow, we plan on basing all of our ministry upon the foundation of hope, love and redemption.

Filed under: Gospel Center, Leadership

Hello to all my friends. I know, I know, this is the “lazy mans” way of writing letters but I’m too tired to hand write it so here it is. I thought it was time to say hello and update everyone on all the news from our end of the good ol’ USA!!

We do have some hot weather going on down here in FL but then I think it’s hot everywhere these days. We just had a little storm pass by us and thank God it didn’t cause any damage to us. We sure would have liked to had more rain with it but God knows what we need. I’m sure that the southern part of FL and the Caribbean Islands got plenty of rain. One thing about these storms, even if they are below us or above us, we tend to get some great breezes. That makes our evenings fantastic for bike rides and walks.

Summer has been slow here. My work has slowed down considerably and so I have been able to spend a lot of time with my girls. We have been to the beach several times but we haven’t really gone anywhere. It’s nice to just relax and spend time at home for a change. The girls get so hot when they are outside and Katie isn’t out long til she’s right back inside. She is like her mother. We are homebodies and like to be indoors.

Tricia has started piano lessons. She has had 4 now and I’m really impressed at how well she is doing. She hollers she doesn’t want to do it but I have been encouraging her all the way. She can do it and I’m sure she will one day thank me for making her focus and learn to play. She is also doing very well singing and has decided that she wants to do some voice lessons. This thrills me so much. I thank God daily for the opportunities that He is sending our way. I keep telling her how honored God is to see her using her talents for Him.

Katie is growing and getting more “smarty pants” everyday. She will be 4 in December and we are still contemplating putting her in PreK. I’m not wanting to rush her but yet she really wants to go. I guess we will see how mature she is when that time comes. I think it’s the phenomenon of going and not the work that is involved.JJ Katie recently was dog bit on the left side of her face. We were so scared because her eye was scratched. The dog didn’t clamp down on her face; he kind of snapped and raked his teeth down her face. She was swollen and bruised and two places were bleeding. We took her to the ER and they checked her eye good and cleaned the cuts. She is pretty well healed up now and doesn’t look like she will have any scarring. We just thank God for His hand of protection on her. It could have been much worse.

Tom is doing good. He joined a gym in town and is really interested in working out and getting into shape. Since switching jobs he is not nearly as active as he used to be and I think it’s catching up with him. He’s getting a little pudgy around the middle…lol!! He thinks the world is falling apart. I told him I love him pudgy but he won’t hear it.

I’m not sure how I am. I’m wishing I had more work and yet dreading when Fall gets here and I actually do get more work. We have taken on the cleaning job with the school to pay tuition. It will be about 25 hours a week. We wanted to do it because when Katie starts it will be a big chunk of money to send them both. Since this is why we came we have to work hard to make it happen. Tom is going to help in the evenings and I think with all of us we can get it done in half the time. It’s not hard work we just can’t get in there until after school is out.

We still live at 9085 SE Morning Street, Hobe Sound, FL 33455 if you want to drop us a letter or post card. The girls love to get mail. Every once in a while I send them a letter. They get so excited when they see their name on the envelope.

Buddy is still with us. Hair and all!! He is so adorable. The girls love him so much. Katie is not a bit scared of him after her dog bite scare. She still hangs all over Buddy and lays on him. He is so gentle with the girls and they love him a lot. We have taught them that teasing him is bad and they get into trouble if they start to. He is a good dog and really is protective when he is in the yard. It’s so funny how he just runs to everyone like a lumbering elephant and gives them kisses. Everyone backs up a few feet when he comes towards them…lol!! I guess they think because he’s big and black that he’s mean. It’s quite the opposite.

Well, I guess I will close this letter by saying that we still serve a wonderful Savior who has answered so many prayers and worked so many miracles in our lives in just the past few weeks. One of these days I’ll write and list all the prayers He as answered for us. I’m so thankful that I have Him to turn to and I know that He hears and answers prayer!!!

Take care and write to us soon. We love you all!!! God bless and keep you!!!

Love, Tom, Gale, Tricia, Katie and Buddy!!!!

Happiness is about whittling down your complaints and smiling more.

Retirement is when you learn spend time instead of money.

Life is exceedingly wonderful when you chose to live it.

Retirement is where you take only to give.

Broke and happy is better than broken and unhappy.

I finally was allowed the privilege to post something on this blog that I bequeathed to my family. I recently wrote the following for a class that I just took. It's not perfect, and like all writing, needs some revision, but .... here it is. It is was it is! ~ Daryl

"I am from"
I am from the pre-historic dark ages with no i-pods, i-pads, i-phones, or 'I'-gadgets.

I am from rotary telephones but no internet, gas stoves but no microwaves.

I am from Tinker Toys, Tyco racetracks, Big Wheels, and Geronimo Indian toys.

I am from an ill-advised time of living within your means, paying your bills, and not anticipating a bail out.

I am from twisted parents who said, "This hurts me more than it does you," disciplining me in love never anger.

I am from parents who brain-washed me into thinking honesty, integrity, self-control, kindness, and respecting others are important character traits to live by.

I am from a mother who was quiet, yet strong, until she began talking with siblings; then she was like New York City at rush hour.

I am from a mis-guided father who instructed me that Pepsi was the one and only soda and drinking Coke was a sin.

I am from parents who believed missing church was breaking the 11th commandment, like bees to honey, so to were we with church.

I am from a family whose motto is: loving, caring, helping, praying, and worshiping.

Daryl
7/10

It seems that just about everyone involved in the Shirley Sherrod affair have covered themselves with shame, whether they realize it or not. Certainly the fearmongering right-wing media (that includes you Fox News) that twisted two minutes of a 45-minute speech out of context to create the appearance of a government conspiracy against white people. Who the heck is Andrew Breitbart anyway? I hadn't heard of this joker until quite recently, but apparently he makes Matt Drudge look like a paragon of responsible journalism. There's also the spineless Obama administration officials who hastily fired Sherrod without investigating the facts. Amy Davidson reports that Sherrod was called on her cell phone and told to pull her car over by the side of the road and resign, now.

Peggy Noonan has a sterling column in today's Wall Street Journal on the real Shirley Sherrod, what she really said, and what me might learn from the latest tawdry episode in the story of race in America. Here's the part that resonated with me the most because it's where I'm at right now.

Indignant, she set herself to save the Spooners' farm. "That's when it was revealed to me that it's about poor versus those who have," not white versus black. "It opened my eyes." She worked the phones, reached out to those who could help, talked to more lawyers, called officials.

And she saved that farm.

"Working with him," said Ms. Sherrod, "made me see . . . that it's really about those who have versus those who don't." It's helping the frightened and powerless. "And they could be black, they could be white, they could be Hispanic."

She said that 45 years ago she couldn't say what she will say tonight: "I've come a long way. I knew that I couldn't live with hate, you know. As my mother has said to so many, 'If we had tried to live with hate in my heart, we probably be dead now.'" She said it was "sad" that the room was not "full of whites and blacks." She quoted Toni Morrison: We have to get to a point where "race exists but it doesn't matter."

There is beauty in the speech, and bravery too. It was brave because her subject wasn't the nation's failures and your failures but her failures. The beauty is that it deals with the great subject of our lives: how to be better, how to make the world better. It's not a perfect speech—she's tendentious in her support for health care and takes cheap shots at Republicans. And it's not the poor versus the rich, it's the powerful helping the powerless. But it's good.

Contra Noonan I don't mind someone being "tendentious" in support of health care (whatever that means), and some times it is poor versus the rich. Moreover, the powers that be have not been above using race as a tool to divide people who should be making common cause, a point Sherrod makes in the speech. Despite those nits I'm glad to see someone on the right saying what needs to be said. Thank you, Peggy Noonan! Read the whole column, and then take her advice and listen to the full presentation that caused all the ruckus (which I've done). It's an amazing story.


UPDATED: In all fairness to FNC I should mention that Bill O'Reilly has apologized for "not doing my homework." Thanks to one of my readers for pointing that out.

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Today I started reading Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America. Not the most pithy title in the world, but this is a book that's been on my "to read" list for a while. It's going to be a good read and I'll probably be blogging about it more. Hart introduces his subject by setting out some of the anomalies that make Machen such a fascinating and worthwhile figure to study, and that set him apart from the other fundamentalists whose cause he led in the fundamentalist/modernist controversies of the 1920s and 30s.

For instance -- Machen was an articulate defender of the historical reliability of the New Testament while not afraid to use the methods of modern biblical scholarship. He opposed the secularization of life in America yet didn't oppose the teaching of evolution. He was an advocate for private Christian schools, but he didn't join his fellow fundamentalists in pushing for Bible reading and prayer in the public schools. He also didn't share their liking for Prohibition.

In some respects, Hart argues, Machen shared much in common with ardent secularists of the 1920s such as Walter Lippmann and H.L. Mencken. Both Machen and the secularists shared a deep antipathy to the vapid Protestant liberalism that had begun to characterize the mainline churches, and I might add, continues to reach higher and higher heights of vapidity in those same churches today. Mencken and Lippmann were impressed by the intellectual rigor and cogency of Machen's Christianity and Liberalism, published in 1923. Hart writes about their reactions to that great book:

There he [Machen] argued that by denying the supernatural character of Christianity liberal Protestants had actually created an entirely new religion. It was precisely this argument that Lippmann praised in A Preface to Morals for its "acumen," "saliency," and "wit." For Lippmann, Machen had provided a "cool and stringent" defense of traditional Protestantism, "the best popular argument" produced by either fundamentalists or liberals in a decade of religious turmoil. Mencken was no less impressed. To readers of the American Mercury he introduced the person he would later dub "Doctor Fundamentalis" as "a man of great learning and dignity—a former student at European universities, the author of various valuable books, . . . and a member of several societies of savants." (p. 3)

What's surprising is that Mencken wasn't here being sarcastic or ironic. Though Mencken made a career of mocking proponents of traditional religion, in Machen he saw a formidable advocate of orthodox Christianity. Mencken judged Machen's arguments "completely impregnable."

"If he is wrong," Mencken wrote, "then the science of logic is a hollow vanity, signifying nothing." (p. 4)

We can only hope that the Sage of Baltimore put his trust in the crucified and risen Savior who that other son of Baltimore so faithfully and articulately defended.

Retirement means, “Hi Honey I am home for the rest of my life!”

Grandkids are one of the the joys of retirement.

Retirement means more time to learn what enjoyment encompasses.

Retirement means that you get to decide when morning is!

One of the biggest flaws in retirement is it tends to comes too late.

A few weeks ago on our camping trip, we had an impromptu baptism service with some of our teens. We baptized them in a cold mountain-fed stream.

Earlier that weekend we had talked about moments that we feel closest to God – this was one of those moments for me.

Filed under: Gospel Center, Thoughts

Retirement is opportunity without the weight of a paycheck.

There is little difference between a couch potato and a casket potato.

Doing good deeds is much better than thinking to do good deeds.

Retirement gives you to chance to do good often.

Do more, live more, love more, isn’t retirement great!

When I was five or six years old, I talked my parents into the idea of taking paper to church to draw on.  I had seen other children draw and it looked like so much fun.  I spent quite a bit of time cutting scrap paper to size and making a tablet out of it by stapling the pages together.  What I didn't know at the time, but I soon learned, was that the creativity ended there.  I took my new tablet to church and drew something that looked like this.



I wasn't very impressed with my skills and after drawing several pieces of white bread I gave up and didn't do any drawing for years.  I didn't have much imagination when it came to building things either.  I could take legos and build a square building with doors and windows but other children could build airplanes and trucks and all kinds of cool things

And then God blessed me with two children who have wonderful imaginations.  I got to thinking about their imaginations this week and went searching for examples of their creativity.

For several years, pirates were a major part of their play.

     

Knights have also been very important.  I made Jeremy's chain mail from a sparkly piece of material and they made their castle.  

I suppose most boys go through a cowboy phase.  I don't have a picture of their first attempt at being cowboys, but they tied stuffed animals onto a plastic shovel and rake and used them for stick horses.

I'm not sure what Justin was imagining when I snapped this picture, but it had to be good.  He had the haircut for just a few hours and got a lot of mileage out of it.

           

This week, their imagination was at work again.  Jeremy asked if I could make buckskins.  We found some buckskin-colored fabric and after several hours of sewing, they're ready to be either Indians or trappers depending on the accessories they grab.  

I still can't draw much that looks like what I intended it to be and I still tend to build square houses with legos, but I sure have fun watching the boys use their imagination as they play.

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Tomorrows morning, before 6am, several of our volunteers will be unloading the truck at the Lebanon Middle School. A little while later, more volunteers will show up and tables were moved, chairs rearranged, forms filled out and computers hooked up to the network. Sometime after that, people of the community will arrive to pick up the food that they had pre-purchased.

So far, over 1,500 families have benefited from Angel Food. It is an incredible program that feeds a family of four for a week, or a single individual for almost a month.

Month-after-month, our volunteers are thrilled to be able to help our community by showing hope and love through tangible means.

We have the best volunteers around!

Filed under: Gospel Center

Matt Fowler, the character played by Tom Wilkinson, is playing cards with his war buddies for the first time since burying his son. Character actor W. Clapham Murray, in a magnificent performance that moves me every time I watch it, captures the moment with some lines from the Longfellow poem "My Lost Youth".



In the Bedroom (2001, dir. Todd Field)

Retire to do more than waiting to die.

Time becomes the wealth of retirement.

Then definition of retirement should be opportunity.

Retirement is where you can right the wrongs you saw while working.

Retirement without a purpose is cruel and unusual punishment.

The Guilt-Ridden Pseudo-Book Review

This post is a bit different for me. I'd like to review and recommend a book to you, dear readers, for your consideration. I recently read Reflecting Beauty by Mrs. Valorie Quesenberry. OK, so I read it, liked it, loaned it out, finally got it back, lost it in my laundry room ;o), was asked to review it, searched diligently for it, found it and promptly loaned it out again. Mrs. V.Q. had kindly asked me to review it on my blog if I got a chance (MONTHS ago, I must admit), and I had agreed.

I believe a book review should be written with the treasured tome close at hand, well-worn with Post-its sticking out all over marking noteworthy passages. Hence the guilt. So here's what I think you should know about Reflecting Beauty:

1. Its message is crucial to Christian women. So many of us were raised to think of the pursuit/desire for beauty as semi-evil. It was all or nothing. Raise your daughter in beauty pageants from the age of 18 months, spend your budget on makeup, get a nose job or eschew all thoughts of beauty completely. As if frumpy-ness is related to godliness. V.Q. says that the desire for beauty is God-given, powerful, and should be recognized as such.

2. The book is balanced, Biblical, easy-to-read, thoughtful and broken into wonderful little segments to lead a young ladies' class through the topic. It would also be great for an individual exploration into a study of God's word and one's own beliefs.

3. The biggest reason for this pseudo-review is perhaps its best review: I CAN'T STOP LOANING IT OUT!!! I handed it to one girl, who teared up immediately and said, "This subject is painful for me. Every guy's who has told me I'm beautiful was lying." (As in, that wasn't enough to hold them in the relationship...) We desperately need to get God's view on our worth from His perspective in this biggie area. Thanks, Valorie, for such a great resource. I guess I need an extra no-loaner copy for my own bookshelf! :o)

Life is never dull at the Gospel Center. For those of you who don’t know, Arlene and I currently live above the Gospel Center. We have kids, teens and adults from our community at our house almost everyday. Sometimes they are there for counseling, other times just to hang out. Often when nobody else is around, the conversations turn more serious. Recently we had a few teens over, and the moment happened. Turns out these two teens are probably fighting a serious spiritual war. One that is potentially so serious they shouldn’t have to face alone. And they won’t, now that we know.

Some of their final words were words that Arlene and I hear so often. “We feel so safe here.”

That is why the Gospel Center desperately needs a place where people can hang out. Whether it is to get counseling, have fun, grow in community together or whatever. They need a safe place.

Filed under: Gospel Center, Leadership, Life