Friendships

Friendship is a tricky thing. There is no question that we need close, spiritual friends, but how do you handle that level of vulnerability? It is risky business letting someone get to know you. And it is a high honor to truly get to know another individual. But with the stakes so high, you don't want to get it wrong. Exposing a soul for what it is and revealing painful wounds is not easy; it's not safe.

Spiritual community MUST foster a sense of safety. We MUST develop these intimate friendships. It is crucial to both our emotional and spiritual well-being. But once you're exposed, there's no going back. There's no undoing what has already been done.

I have been privileged to have a few of these such relationships and I am challenged to deepen and strengthen them. But I am haunted by both sides of the coin. On the one hand, I have some ugly and painful sores that I am scared to reveal. Even if they've been revealed before, I'm ashamed to discuss them again. I may have been well cared for the first time, but what about the second? What about the time after that and the time after that? When do I cash in my last chip? When will my friend walk away?

On the other side of the coin, how do I protect the soul that has entrusted itself to me as a friend. How do I care for my friends? It is this last point that causes me great pain. You see, I tend not to be a good friend at times. I often forget to call or write and thereby neglect the affirmation of our friendship. When we do finally connect, I often don't ask the right questions and settle for far less than a meaningful conversation. I often forget that to care for a soul takes time, energy, commitment and an extra touch of grace.

However, I do one thing right with friendships that I do not regret. I tell it like it is. Shelley and I are known for speaking our minds and offering advice (wanted or not) to our friends. We take seriously the truth that "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." (Proverbs 27:6) We do a friend absolutely no good by "multiplying kisses." Sometimes a friend needs to hear that they are making a poor choice, and sometimes I need to hear the same from my friends as well.

The problem is: that's only half the package. The Bible also says: "A friend loves at all times." (Proverbs 17:17) I believe that I do love my friends at all times. However, the reality is that I don't always show it. It seems that speaking my mind comes a lot more naturally to me than picking up the phone and making contact. It is very true that "A person doesn't care how much you know until they know how much you care." And when the stakes are this high, you have to demonstrate a lot of care.

The Word Made Flesh

Every now and then one calls in to question the things he has been taught, sometimes deliberately or reactively. But every now and then, as is the case here, these questions are seemingly raised by pure accident.

Today’s question: The Holiness of the Bible.

Traditional Evangelicals have revered the Bible as God’s Holy Word. A statement held so firmly that many Bibles even print it on the cover: Holy Bible. My question is what makes it Holy? Is it innately Holy? Is the Bible the Word (Logos) made paper? Should we revere the Bible as we do God?

My opinion: Not exactly.

My central postulate is this: Nothing is Holy but God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are alone Holy. However, God has chosen to reveal Himself in many ways, and whenever He does so, the objects/people/places in question become Holy. They are Holy simply because of the Holy God they reveal.

There was nothing special about the ground around the burning bush, but God told Moses to remove his sandals. The place where he was standing was Holy ground because it was where God chose to reveal Himself.

The tabernacle was Holy because it was the meeting place of God. Each step closer to the center (where God most fully revealed himself) became incrementally more Holy and Sacred.

The Bible is itself Holy simply because it reveals a Holy God.

Some will say that many other Christian works throughout the centuries have also revealed God to us. Works by such individuals as Calvin, Luther, Lewis, Augustine, Edwards, Piper, etc have all revealed God to us. Are they then equal to Scripture?

No. Jesus, Himself, held the Scriptures to be the Word of God. He did not equate them with other works and nor should we. The Bible is the unique work of God penned as the only infallible account of the revelation of God. God’s divine hand orchestrated the writing of these 66 books to be the only perfect expression of God’s revelation to man.

Many other works have been written that enable us to clearly see our God; however, none but the Bible is inerrant.

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Thank you to Josh and Greg who both helped spark my thinking in this area. Though these may not be your thoughts or conclusions, you helped jumpstart this train of thought.

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Secondary Conclusion: If the basic postulate is true: “Something is Holy inasmuch as it is the revelation of God” then the same is true for us. God has removed our sin and made us Holy. Which means we now exist to broadcast the nature of God both as a body and as individuals. We are only Holy inasmuch as we are the revelation of God.

Advent Reflections

So this Advent season was the best yet for our family. We were in our home state of Oregon and so did not have to travel for Christmas. And there were no emergencies like totaling a car during Thanksgiving and having to buy a new one right away. No that was last year's adventure. This year, we actually got to enjoy Christmas. And so I thought I would share a few of the highlights from the season:

 Logan’s Christmas Program – So this year was our first opportunity to be a proud parent in the crowd as we watched our son and his class put on a short Christmas program. It was so cute and we were so proud. Granted he didn’t sing or do any of the motions, but he sure looked cute up there with his classmates. 
 Zoo Lights – Every year the local Zoo puts on a light display. Our life group decided to get together and walk the Zoo together. That was awesome. It was such a blessing to share the evening with good friends.
 Advent Wreath – Shelley and I have always wanted to do an advent wreath, and this year we finally did it. What a great way to celebrate the season. The kids loved doing the Bible readings and of course the lighting of the candle. They couldn’t wait for Sunday to come so we could light them again.
 Nightly Advent readings with the kids – Every night before bed, we would read a few more verses of the Christmas story – and of course review what we had read up to that point. By the end of it, we were blessed to hear Logan tell us the entire Christmas story in his own words. Very cute. I’m sure Matea could have recited it too, but there is the issue of vocabulary…
 Giving gifts to our neighbors – Shelley really wanted to give gifts to the 5 other apartments in our section of the complex. This was a great success. The neighbors were pleasantly surprised by the gifts and were very glad to receive them. Logan and Matea did a great job helping us hand them out. We’re hoping this sparks conversation since we all tend to nod and walk past.
 Christmas Eve Service – As always, we were very blessed to be a part of Village Baptist Church. They put on an amazing Christmas Eve service which included among other things a traditional Korean Fan Dance that is used to celebrate the coming of a king. Very cool.
 Christmas Morning – 2 kids, 1 camera, 1 camcorder, and LOTS of presents. Need I say more?
 Christ Candle/Family Devotion – The SINGLE BEST THING we have done all year. At the end of a very exhausting Christmas Day, we sat down as a family next to the Christmas tree and had a little devotional. We lit all 4 candles of the advent wreath and also lit a special Christ Candle. We bought a large white column candle that we can reuse year after year and set it on a special stand. We sang hymns, read the Christmas story from a kids book, read a Bible verse, and talked about our favorite parts of the Christmas season. It was wonderful. I can’t wait to do it again next year. That is going to quickly become my favorite family tradition.

And now to turn our attention to the New Year when, as a coworker of mine always says, everything is possible again. Happy New Year everyone!

Stumped

So the question went like this…

3 yr. old son: “Dada, is today tomorrow?”

How in the world are you supposed to answer that?!?

Attempt #1: Well tomorrow is the word that we use to describe the day after today. So that means that today is always today and tomorrow is always tomorrow.

Attempt #2: Yesterday we said that today is tomorrow. Today we say that tomorrow is tomorrow, but when you wake up in the morning tomorrow will be today and today will be yesterday.

Attempt #3: Today is the word for the day that we are on right now. Tomorrow is the word we use for the day after today and yesterday is the word we use for the day before today. So no matter what day it is you always have a yesterday a today and a tomorrow, but the day you’re on is always today.

Attempt #4: I know we told you that you had school tomorrow, but that was yesterday. Now you have school today and tomorrow you will do something else. Yesterday’s tomorrow turned into today so now you have school today.

Attempt #5: Tomorrow never comes.

I defy you to come up with a more difficult question to answer intelligently to a 3-yr old.

Season's Greetings

Upon returning home from a quick trip to the grocery store, I noticed the paper bag I was carrying said Season’s Greetings. That got me thinking: What exactly are Season’s Greetings?

There is no question that our culture has adopted phrases such as Season’s Greetings or Happy Holidays as a way to sidestep the term Christmas. But what if we were to take these phrases at face value? If I as a Christian were to offer someone “Season’s Greetings” or wish them a happy holiday, what would I in fact be saying?

Well at the risk of oversimplifying – a holiday is literally a Holy Day. A fitting term for Advent. After all this is the celebration of the birth of our Savior. A Holy Day indeed. So what would Jesus say is the true greeting for the season?

In Luke 2:14b the angels declare “…on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

For those walking through life in fear that people may learn about their past – Peace the Savior is here. For those struggling with addiction to drugs/alcohol/pornography/etc. and can’t seem to break free – Peace the Savior is here. For those whose wounds are too deep to measure, whose families are broken, whose dreams have been lost – Peace the Savior is here. For those in search of love and belonging – Peace the Savior is here. Hope has come.

He came to the weak, the outcasts, the sinners, the sick, the dying, even the possessed. He brings peace large enough for any hurt. He brings hope great enough for any situation. He came to bring Salvation.

So from me to you, a very warm Seasons Greeting. May His peace and hope shine on you and through you in these Holy Days.

Advent

The season is nearly here and I'm more excited than I have ever been. It's not that Christmas is almost here - Advent is almost here. An entire season dedicated to an awareness of God's gift to His people. He came in the flesh and dwelt among us. The fullness of God was wrapped in the form of man and actually cared to spend time with us, teach us, heal us, forgive us, and reclaim us. I want to be amazed by that. I want my family to be amazed by that. And I want the entire season to be a celebration of that.

So how do we do it? That's where you come in. I want your input. I do talk to a relative few of the many people who read this blog, so I especially want to hear from you if we don't get a chance to connect by any other means. What ideas do you all have about making the entire season of Advent something real to me and my family? Have your families done anything espeically meaningful? Do you know of other families/church groups/care groups that have good ideas?

The following website is one of a few great resources that I've picked up so far (www.adventconspiracy.org) , but I want more. I espeically want activities/lessons/gift ideas that will help teach my kids about Advent.

So keep the cards and letters coming and help me and my family celebrate Advent for all it's worth.

Halloween Fun

So Logan asked to be a "Bubby Wabbit" for Halloween, and lo and behold Shelley's mom had a costume that she had made for Shelley over 25 years ago. So he got to wear that. Matea's costume was a $10 Party Depot special. But they are both quite cute. Enjoy!