Good Friday: The Greatest Good From the Greatest Bad

Today is Good Friday. Why do we call the day Jesus was executed good? Why not Bloody Friday or Dark Friday? There are probably many reasons but one is that we recognize the ultimate good that came from such a dark and cruel day. Similarly it is important that we see the ultimate good that comes from our own trials and sufferings. Romans 8:28-29 are oft used verses to help people in times of trouble or suffering. 

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Many might ask, “How can you say that God is using this evil in my life for good?” “How can God be doing good to me through the loss of my leg, or the loss of my ability to work?”  This initially seems like a very good and almost “unbeatable” argument but we must consider a couple things. First of all, we must take God at His Word and trust that He is right we are wrong when our thougts conflict with His own. Secondly, we must see that our undestanding of good and God’s are not always in agreement. For one, our views of good might be diametrically opposed; there is no way the loss of a limb can be good for someone. Or we might acknowlegde some good that comes from a trial but not agree with the priority of what God determines to be the greater good. For instance, we might see that the loss of a limb has taught one humility, dependence upon others or some other valuable lesson but we still disagree with God that these lessons are better for that person than the continued use of his limb. 

When we look at others around us we see exampls of this as well. How could it be good for that man to get cancer and be unalbe to work and provide for his family? Wouldn’t it have been better for him to go on working in full health able to spend time and energy contributing to his family, and his society? Or perhaps you have had a friend who died at a young age, as I have. Perhaps that person demonstrated great pontential and was in the midst of tremendous growth, pursuing honorable goals. My dear friend was taken from this life while attending Bible college in order to head out into world missions. Would’t the world have been better served if she had lived on?

To answer these questions look to Christ. There is no argiing that anyone else on the earth did more good and could have continued to do more good. But Scripture is clear that it was better for us that He die (John 16:7). The ending of Christ’s life on this earth was better than allowing it to continue. 

This is one reason why Good Friday is so Good. It was the darkest day in human history in many ways but it was also one of it’s brightest. Jesus’ death wrought much more good than His continued earthly life could have. Similarly, God has tremendous good to work through your trials and sufferings. Look for the good God is working in all things this Good Friday.

Facing the Holocaust in Our Cities

In 2007, my wife and I visited Washington D.C. and while we were there we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Many images imbed themselves into your mind as you walk through a place like that but the one thing that often comes to mind is the walls. At various points in the museum there are higher than usual walls separating the “display” from those visiting the museum. The walls are solid and designed to be too tall for children to see over. Why are they there? Behind these walls are videos of horrible atrocities committed by Nazi scientists and others working in the notorious concentration and death camps of WWII. They are meant to shield the innocent from the “disturbing” images that were recorded. We have built a different kind of wall in our society. Not walls designed to protect the innocent but walls that keep us comfortable in our supposed ignorance of the true nature of the holocaust that is going on all around us in the United States of America.

Over the past few weeks, an organization known as The Center for Medical Progress has been releasing videos on the internet of undercover footage recording doctors and leadership of Planned Parenthood. The filmmakers posed as potential buyers for fetal tissue samples “collected” from abortions carried out in Planned Parenthood clinics. The initial videos were disturbing because of the cavalier nature in which these employees of Planned Parenthood discussed the strategic crushing of human babies to preserve specific organs that are more valuable to medical researchers. The disturb factor has increased as more videos come out which actually show some of the “tissue samples”. As I watched, I was horrified to see “doctors” flicking little eyeballs around petri dishes and describing how the brain was blasted out of the skull in the tray by water as they washed the sample for examination. Little arms and legs are clearly visible amidst the “more valuable” parts of the body. The doctor in the video describes the “sample” as “war torn” and towards the end of the video exclaims, “we have another boy.”

I don’t want to apologize if that description “disturbed” you. It should disturb you, horrify you, make you want to cry, scream, shout, and do whatever you can to stop these murders from happening.

The parallels between The Holocaust and the holocaust which has extended over four decades in our nation are numerous. The one parallel that haunts me the most this week is complicity. General Eisenhower marched German citizens through Nazi death camps after the camps were “liberated” in order to make them face the reality they had turned a blind eye to or even profited from. The Center for Medical Progress has torn down the walls and marched us through the clinics of mutilation and death that occupy buildings in our town centers down the street from restaurants where we dine and blocks from the movie theater where we sit for hours to be entertained. If we do nothing we are even more complicit than those Germans who stood by and did nothing as their neighbors were tortured, starved, experimented on, mutilated and executed. We are more complicit in our inaction because we do not face the threat of imprisonment, torture or death for our efforts to thwart abortion.

In reality, the abortion issue is not more of a problem today than it was before, The Center for Medical Progress didn’t expose a new horror-it drew back the curtain and exposed a reality that has been taking place for years in our country. They have also made it impossible for us to plead innocence through ignorance.

What can we do? Awareness is important but it is just one aspect of the solution. The Center for Medical Progress has done us a huge favor by highlighting the problem and accelerating the conversation. Here are some more things we can all consider as we seek to solve this problem:

• Keep the discussion going--don’t be silent
• Talk about it with your family and friends
• Write a blog about it
• Share articles and updates on the issue in person and via social media platforms
• Engage people who promote the pro-abortion agenda
• Encourage your church to speak to the issue and celebrate “Right to Life Sunday”

• Stay informed
• Follow organizations that are on the front line of the issue
• Stay up to date on legislation that is before state and federal legislatures

• Seek to enact legislation that will inhibit the abortion industry
• Contact your legislative representatives and ask them to:
• support pro-life legislation
• oppose pro-abortion legislation
• defund Planned Parenthood
• Write proposals for legislation that would promote life
• Support your local crisis pregnancy center
• Donate financially
• Participate in fundraisers
• Raise awareness of the center
• Volunteer time

• Support organizations that seek to undermine the abortion industry

• Prayerfully consider adopting an unwanted baby

• Prayerfully consider “adopting” a young woman who has an unwanted pregnancy and feels like she has no option but to abort her baby.

• Pray
• For the lives of the unborn in our nation
• For the demise of organizations promoting the abortion agenda
• For the repentance and salvation of those involved in the pro abortion movement
• For the hearts of those women who are considering aborting their babies
• For courage and success of those opposing abortion and promoting life

• Proclaim the Gospel
• Tell people about the hope and redemption available through Jesus Christ
• Live lives that demonstrate the change of the Gospel that takes place in the lives of Jesus’ followers

We cannot remain silent or still. We must speak and live in ways that clearly articulate and demonstrate a care for life. Certainly we must stand up to defend the unborn babies who cannot defend themselves but we must also demonstrate love to the mothers of these babies as well as those who promote and practice abortion.

Resources:

Videos from The Center for Medical Progress

http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/cmp/investigative-footage/

This page lists a whole host of literature and other resources to help you discuss and think through the abortion issue.

http://speakfortheunborn.com/resources/

The weekly podcast for the month of August 2015 from The Association for Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) is dedicated to the abortion issue.

http://www.biblicalcounseling.com/truth-in-love

Contact information for U.S. Senate

http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

Contact information for U.S. House of Representatives

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

“The Briefing” a daily podcast from Dr. Albert Mohler (President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). Dr. Mohler stays up to date on issues of significance in our world and offers insights from a Christian worldview.

http://www.albertmohler.com/category/the-briefing/

“How can I respect other people’s beliefs if I disagree with them?”

This is a great question and one that we are faced with more and more as our society grows in its diversity. Part of answering the question will actually come from rephrasing it. Instead of posing the question, “How do I respect other people’s beliefs?” it helps to frame it like this, “How do I respect a person who holds to different beliefs than me?” You see, respect is something that is demonstrated through actions and attitudes. We don’t demonstrate actions and attitudes towards a person’s beliefs instead we show respect to the person. The best guide for demonstrating respect for another person is what we often call the Golden Rule. Jesus declared very simple rule in Luke 6:31, “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”  When it comes to something two people disagree upon you might phrase it this way, “Disagree in an agreeable way.” 

For example, let’s say I have a neighbor who is Muslim. As an evangelical Christian, I strongly disagree with the religious beliefs of my neighbor. How do I respect him and his beliefs? Our culture would tell me to simply leave him alone, let him believe what he wants to believe and don’t try to convert him. The problem is my faith teaches that if I leave this man to his beliefs he will suffer a horrendous fate for all eternity. Is it really respectful (or loving) for me to leave him to that demise? Of course not. So how should I proceed?

Let’s apply Jesus’ instruction from Luke 6:31. My neighbor is also devout to his faith and has determined that it is necessary for him to try and convert me to Islam. How would I want him to go about it? You may answer, “Not at all! I want him to leave me alone!” Since we have already ruled out that option what other options are averrable to us. I wouldn’t want him subversively sticking propaganda in my mail box, shouting hateful messages at me, or trying to convert my children against my wishes. However, I would be open to him inviting me into his home, asking me questions about my faith and engaging in a dialogue about our different faiths and how they differ from one another. I would also be open to him praying for me to change my beliefs in mutual agreement that I might do the same for him. When we discussed I would not appreciate it if he became upset and yelled at me, slandered me or my God, or told me what I believed. In other words, I would want my neighbor to be open, honest, kind, and loving to me in his behavior.

Applying what Jesus said, therefore, I should act this way toward my neighbor who believes differently than I do. I pray this answers your question. Please feel free to respond with follow up or clarifying questions.

God be with you.

What Do You Want on Your Tombstone?

Galatians 1:24 is the epitaph that I want engraved in my headstone.  “And they were glorifying God because of me.” 

Galatians 1:24 comes in a section of the book where Paul is giving some personal history about the time following his conversion.  He recounts, briefly, how he had come to saving faith amidst his vehement persecution of the church and how God radically transformed his life.  There was a time where he was unknown by sight but well known by reputation in the churches of Judea and they were amazed and glorified God because of the amazing change that had occurred in this man.

Now I am in no way trying to compare myself with the Apostle Paul but the prayer of my life is that, in the end, it could truly be said that others glorified God because of my life.  Some might think this is a prideful desire, and it certainly could be I pray against my own pride daily, but the reality is that every Christian should have this desire as well.  It isn’t about self-promotion at all it is about God promotion. This desire could easily turn into selfish pride if we think we must have a greater impact than others.  If we desire the largest church to pastor, the widest audience with our speaking or writing, the most converts “to our name,” or the greatest influence in any arena so that people would remember ME then we have missed the point.

We should pray Romans 12:1-2 over our lives.  We need to be living sacrifices.  People who gladly lay down our lives on the altar and die to self so that we can bring worship and praise to God.  All of us have an ingrained desire that our life would count.  That it would truly matter or make a difference or simply mean something.  This desire is good and a gift from God because He created us to have purpose.  We must continually ask ourselves, “What am I living for?”

When your life on this earth is over someone is going to look back at the way you lived and try to sum it all up into a few paragraphs to be read allowed or printed in a newspaper.  When they do, what will they say?  What will they say your life was lived for?  Someone else is going to be given the task of boiling your life down even farther than that to a simple sentence engraved in stone.  What will that line be?  What do you want on your tombstone?

I Want My Kids to Fail

There are two young boys living in my home that I love dearly.  They are my sons.  One is barely a few months old and the other is four years older.  My wife and I are in the midst of weighing educational options for our eldest so I was thrilled to see one of my favorite podcasts post an interview entitled “How Do Smart Kids Get That Way?”  It is an interview by Dr. Albert Mohler with Amanda Ripley whose recent book discusses various influences on how well kids succeed in education.  There are many great insights from the discussion but one of the things I took away from the podcast is that I want my boys to fail. 

            The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way is a look at the educational systems of some of the top performing countries in the world based on the test known as PISA (Program for International Student Assessment).  This is the test that people reference when they compare how well the United States is performing academically in comparison to other countries.  It tests 15 year old students from 65 nations around the globe in a variety of disciplines.  The test was last administered in 2012 and showed the United States coming in 20^th in reading, 23^rd in science and 30^th in mathematics.  The math score is a down trend from the 2009 test when the U.S. was ranked 24^th in mathematics. 

            Ripley followed a few foreign exchange students who went to some of the countries who perform at the top end of the PISA test as well as Poland who not only ranks in near the top but is one country who has made dramatic moves upward in their performance on the test.  There are many things to learn from the results of the test as well as from Ripley’s book but one thing she noted was the importance of children being allowed to fail in academics and in life as a major influence on their overall success.

            She and Dr. Mohler highlight our tendency in the United States to try to protect our children from failure.  While this initially sounds like a good thing it is actually a handicap to our children.  There are many ideas about why we do this to our children.  Our culture is heavily influenced by the idea that our kids need to have high self esteem and if we allow them to experience failure then their self esteem would be damaged.  Other parents fear that a failure at any stage in their child’s life could have long term effects that would be impossible to overcome later on.  But what ends up happening is children are never allowed to fail and then learn from and through their failures.  Eventually, they are faced with failure but it is when they are out of high school, perhaps on their own trying to get a job or get into college. 

            This is analogous to a parent whose child is one day going to be a tight rope walker.  The parent wants to raise their children to succeed at tight rope walking but they think their child’s confidence must be high in regard to their ability to walk tight ropes.  They assume that any falls from the tight rope might hurt the child, scare them away from tight ropes or damage their confidence to the point that the child doesn’t want to walk tight ropes.  So what they do is allow the child to bounce and play on the safety net.  They tell them how great they are and how wonderfully they will walk tight ropes one day.  The parents might even demonstrate tight rope walking for their children but they never allow them to walk the ropes themselves.  Until one day comes when they are forced to walk the tight rope and then they send them up their and remove the safety net from beneath them.  Some kids may make it but is it really shocking when many do not.  And now that they are on their own with no safety net the negative effects of their fall are far greater than if they had fallen from a low rope or into a safety net.

            My family and my home are a safety net for my boys.  Sure I want to bounce around and play with them on the net but they are going to be much better served if I let them fall into the net.  Then they can pick themselves up, think about what made them slip, get up there and try again.

            The deeper reality behind this is the fact that we all live in a “Genesis 3” world.  A world that is in existence after mankind’s fall into sin.  In other words, a world that is negatively impacted in everyway by sin.  This is evident in all of our lives.  We all sin.  We all make mistakes.  We all have tainted memories, and imperfect skills.  We will all fail.  Trying to deny this reality does not serve anyone.  Trying to keep our kids from failing will not allow them to learn to handle one of the clearest inevitabilities we face. 

            In Matthew 13, Jesus teaches using various parables.  One of those is the parable of the Sewer.  When Jesus explains the different kinds of seeds that have been sown He talks about three kinds that are unfruitful.  They are the kinds of seeds who do not know how to respond well to various trials that come into life like evil, affliction, suffering, persecution, worry, and deceitful riches.   People who are not firmly rooted in God through Jesus Christ and His Word are prone to be lead away by these trials.  This passage refers to a person’s salvation at the core and clearly that incorporates much more than a parent’s role in the life of their child but it does include our role as parents.  How are we preparing and equipping our children to face the trials and temptations of life.  The book of Proverbs is a father’s instruction to his children about how to know God and then how that deep saving knowledge of God is fleshed out in this world.  Included in that knowledge is how to handle failure both potential and real. 

            My desire for my boys is that they ultimately succeed in every area of life.   Part of the road leading towards their success is going to be marked by failures.  My prayer is that some of these failures occur while they are still at home so our family can learn from them and grow through them.  That way, when they are older and on their own, they will be prepared to face the trials, temptations and failures in a way that grows them and enables them to experience and demonstrate grace. 

Disappointing Week: A letter to a bummed out youth group.

Dear Cornerstone Youth,

This week did not turn out like most of us expected it to.  In case you haven’t heard, the trip to Gleanings for the Hungry was canceled this week.  While this is certainly a great disappointment for those planning to attend it is also a great opportunity.  That’s right, I said (wrote actually) opportunity.

It is an opportunity for you to grow in trusting God’s sovereign control over all things.  Nothing in this life happens by accident.  God is in control of it all and has a plan and purpose behind it.  This week, not going to Gleanings was God’s better plan for you than going to Gleanings.  So think about that and pray about it whenever you start to think, “Oh man, I am so bummed I am not at Gleanings right now,” and ask God to help you see His greater purpose for you this week.

It is also an opportunity for you to serve right where you live.  It is great to get away from home for a while, spend some special time set aside to love and serve others and to grow closer to your brothers and sisters in Christ.  But trips like Gleanings can also have the unwanted side effect of convincing us that we have to go away to be used by God.  To that end, our leadership team is trying to organize some service projects for this week that we can all get behind.  So be on the look out for information from Mr. Widstrand or Mrs. Pedone for some of those opportunities.  But don’t wait for them to arrange something.  Get out there and find some ways to serve.  Maybe you can do some extra chores around the house, pull weeds for a neighbor, help serve dinner at ECHO (El Camino Homeless Organization), offer some free childcare to a busy mom, help Mrs. Kramer (the church secretary) with some office work, whatever. Get out there and use your time to the fullest.

I appreciate each and every one of you and I greatly value your heart to serve others.  Keep up the good work.

I will be contacting Gleanings about the possibility of rescheduling our trip and looking for some other opportunities we may have to get away this summer.  Keep praying for God’s wisdom in these decisions and for the Gleanings team as they recover from this trial.

Why am I starting a blog?

In this information saturated world, why am I starting a blog?  Good question.  There are two primary reasons for me launching out on this new endeavor: 1. I am not a great writer and 2. Albert Mohler told me to.

The first reason may seem counter intuitive.  If I am not a great writer why should I write?  I answer, "Because I want to grow as a writer."  I am one of those people who tend to shy away from things I am not particularly good at.  It is much more comforting to tackle something I am confident in and tend to excel at.  However, if I desire to grow and become a better person, I must be willing to challenge myself in ways that will stretch my limits and abilities.

I lead the youth ministry at the church where I serve and recently challenged the youth not to waste their summer break.  I pushed them to come up with a plan to take on difficult and challenging activities  to better themselves.  It is a short term lesson that I hope will have long term implications.  In order to lead by example I am taking up blogging.  My plan is to post at least one post a week.  This will force me to set aside time and focused energy to improve on something in my life in order to make myself a better person and hopefully a greater servant for my King Jesus.

Albert Mohler told me to is the second reason I am throwing my two cents into the blogosphere.  Now I did not have the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Mohler myself and have a heart to heart chat where he advised me to begin blogging (in my dreams!).  He did, however, direct those who desire to lead well to write.  His book, Conviction to Lead, is an excellent resource for anyone in any position of leadership.  Along with many other great pieces of advice, Dr. Mohler encourages leaders to be lead with compassion and conviction through writing.

Whether or not anyone will read this blog is yet to be known, but my prayer is that through this blog I will become a better leader and a better writer so that I can lead others well through the written word.

So if anyone does read this, my challenge to you is twofold; lead well by writing well and don't waste your time but use it to try new and challenging things.