Luck or Providence

It was the summer of 1990 and Iraq had just invaded Kuwait, although we didn't know it at the time. We had been camping in the mountains of Colorado for the past week with our Youth Group from church. Real camping--no radios, no TV, no newspaper. Just tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, our Bibles and beauty of the Colorado mountains just outside of Leadville (elevation 10,152 feet).

We were on our way home and as we neared Hays, KS, we suddenly lost power steering. It didn't take us long to discover we had thrown a belt on the van we were driving. Our caravan consisted of five 15-passenger vans at capacity and we were about five miles from town. We split the kids up into the remaining four vans and headed into Hayes in hopes of finding a replacement belt.

We pulled off I-70 at the first exit and found a convenience store that just happened to be right across the street from a service station. Sadly however, the station was closed. Now, at this time, there wasn't much in Hays. It's been years since I've been through there, so that may have changed, but at this particular time, our choices were limited...at the moment looking non-existent. We figured we might as well get something to drink, grab a local phonebook and start looking for garages that might have a replacement fan belt.

As we entered the store, I glanced at the headlines of the paper on the rack next to the cashier. "Bill! Iraq invaded Kuwait," I shouted to one of the other Youth sponsors. The cashier look at me with a puzzled look and said, "Where have you guys been? On a mountain somewhere? They did that yesterday!" "Matter of fact," I answered, "We have. In fact, we're on our way home and we've shredded the belt on our van. Any chance you know who owns the garage across the street?" "Yeah," the cashier replied flatly, "but Ron closed around 4:00; he closes early on Friday afternoons. Won't be back 'til tomorrow morning." Not what we wanted to hear...and then it happened.

As we stood there trying to decide our next move, a vehicle pulled up into "Ron's" garage, and a man we assumed to be Ron, walked over to the huge sign at the edge of the property and began to change the gasoline prices. We ran across the street...hoping...praying. Seems Ron figured with all that fighting in the oil countries, he stood to make a little profit, he told us. "What can I do for ya?" he finally asked. "We need a belt like this for our van that's sitting on I-70," someone stated holding out what was left of our shredded fan belt. "'Fraid I'm not going to be able to help ya," Ron said. "That's a Dodge belt and we don't carry that size. Everybody 'round here drives Fords."

"Could you at least look?" we asked, actually more begged. "Won't do any good," he said, "but I'll look." As we walked into the garage, we noticed the parameter of the building was lined with belts of all sizes and shapes. Ron explained: "Ya see, you need a "such-and-such" size belt and we just don't stock those. It's kind of an odd size." Looking up at one area of the wall, he continued, "If I did have one, it would be...right..." There was a long pause, then Ron nearly whispered: "There." Our eyes followed Ron's and hanging there all by itself on the wall was a belt. Our belt. "Well I'll be danged!" Ron exclaimed. "I've never stocked that size or style belt! How in the heck did that get there?!" "It was probably my part-time help," he said as he grabbed a long stick to retrieve the belt. "I had him do the ordering last week, and he must have ordered the wrong one."

"No," someone said. "He ordered the right one."

We paid Ron, left him scratching his head about the belt and counting his gasoline profits. We all piled into the vans, made the trip back out to our stranded van and a short time later, we were heading back home...with our new belt that Ron normally doesn't stock. We know Who was really doing the ordering the previous week...and He works full-time.

Who Does God Save?

We studied the conversion of the Apostle Paul (Saul) last week. Of all people, he is possibly the most unlikely candidate for salvation. Yet, God in His infinite wisdom/sovereignty, took the very man that gave approval to--possibly even orchestrated--Stephen's execution (Acts 7) and converted him into one of the most influential individuals Christianity has ever known. The man who was set on wiping out the movement referred to as "The Way," ended up authoring 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament.

So what does that say about the kinds of people God saves? He saves:

• people who hate Him and changes them into people that love Him by taking their "heart of stone" and giving them a "heart of flesh."
• blasphemers and turns them into people who boldly speak the "name that is above all names."
• violent aggressors and molds them into peacemakers.
• ignorant people and gives them wisdom/discernment.
• people that are merciless and shows them mercy.
• unbelievers and transforms them into believers.
• enemies of God and makes them His friends.
• those who are condemned and redeems them.
• the unworthy and justifies them in Christ.
• fornicators, idolators, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, extortioners...(1 Cor 6:11)
• people like me and you!

Random Thoughts / (Friday) Saturday Photo

God's Sovereignty
Frank Turk from TeamPyro made the following comment (no.46) regarding "the Sovereignty of God:"

One of the real comforts of the Christian faith is that things happen to us on purpose and not because God’s not minding the store. I don’t have to know all the parts of the Rube Goldberg machine to have confidence in the things I don’t see or perhaps could never understand: all I need is the fact that God’s decree is still the principle upon which all things exist, and He is in fact doing good to me.

Actually, the post and comments are pretty good. What was intreresting--from what I read--was the congenial banter (for the most part) between the different camps.

I have a friend who is an Elder in a Restoration Movement Christian Church; I attend --for lack of a better label-- a reformed SBC. He and I disagree on this issue. Dale would most likely see God's sovereignty as "God could control everything, but decides only to influence...God’s sovereignty is self-limited. God could control things, but to preserve human freedom, he will not intervene in the affairs of men to the degree that the human will is decisively bent in one direction or another."¹ (Dale may actually lean some to the left of this statement.)

I would say that "God’s will plays a providential role in causing all things. In other words, all that happens happens because God did in some sense will it, but secondary causes are usually the instrumental cause behind the action. In the case of your socks, you chose them because you decided to, but it was also part of God’s will. God allows evil as it is part of his imperfect will to bring about a perfect end, but he is not the instrumental cause of evil."¹

Although we don't see eye-to-eye on this subject, we enjoy discussing it, questioning each other on the "finer points," and attempting to shoot holes in each other's theology. We are friends, brothers in Christ. We both put our hope in the atoning sacrifice of Christ's death on the cross, the power of His resurrection and the future, physical return of Jesus Christ to this earth to gather His saints. We are both Christians...we just disagree as to how we got to this point. Not a deal breaker as far as friendships go.

Marketing
I'm writing this post as I sit in McDonalds. It's Saturday morning and everyone at my house sleeps in. I can't stay in bed much past 6:30 AM, so, this morning, I got up, packed my laptop and camera and went out for "breakfast" (I use the term loosely when talking about McD's. REAL breakfast involves eggs, grits, and biscuits-n-gravy. I don't get that kind of breakfast very often, but when I do...it's GOOOOOOOD!)

Anyway, I'm sitting at McD's watching all the people come and go and I'm looking at their logo (on my coffee cup). Pretty simple. Not really that impressive...but it accomplishes exactly what they intended. It identifies them. You know a McD's when you see it--even half a mile away. In fact, you don't even have to be able to read to know it's McD's. Take any three-year-old in America, probably most of the world, and drive down the street and they'll pick out the McD's 10 times out of 10!

A logo is a powerful thing. It tells people who you are. It identifies your company. In less than a second, people associate you with --for example-- "they have food. Coffee. Cold drinks. Hamburgers and french fries. Salads (for the health conscious crowd) and sundaes (for the dessert conscious crowd). Take a look at the following logos. You should be able to identify everyone and know immediately what they sell. Don't tell me marketing/advertising doesn't work.

(L to R) (In case you need help): Nike, Target Stores, Radio Shack, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Shell Oil, Pepsi, Citgo, and Audi

Friday (Saturday) Photo

¹ For the sake of "full disclosure," the quoted definitions were taken from this blog post.

Thank You for This Day

"Thank you for this day." That's how I begin my morning prayer--every day. Some days, I'm in my truck; some days I'm at my desk or at the kitchen table, but I always begin the same way. I need to remind myself each and every day that I am totally depending on God for everything...EVERYTHING in my life.

God graciously allowed me to get a night's rest and then wake up to begin another day. A new day...unspoiled by work's frustrations, cutting words, angry thoughts, and failed expectations. A new day to revel in the crispness of morning air; a new day to wake up EARLY and enjoy the quiet; a new day to stop and ponder: "What does THIS day hold?"

Another day to live my life, trusting in God to keep me safe, to help me speak kindly to my family and co-workers, to be the very best husband, dad, and employee I can be. Another day filled with opportunities to tell others about His goodness. Another day to be encouraged by words like:

...but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. (Psalm 32:10-11)

Another day to know that even when I fall, He is there to pick me up, to strengthen and encourage me. Another day to bask in His forgiveness, to know that He knows my heart...and still loves me. And at the end of the day, to be able to go home to my family, seeing them all safe.

Thank You for my wife, our sons, our jobs, our friends, our church, the food on our table, our warm beds...and rest.

Thank You for this day.

A Different Way

We began a study of the Gospel of Matthew in our Sunday School class yesterday, starting with the story of Jesus' birth, which was kinda weird since it's not "Christmas time." But, I think not being caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season actually allowed us to step back and see some things we might have missed.

We went through the genealogy, noting that three of the four women mentioned (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth) were Gentiles; Bathseba, who is not mentioned by name in some translations, may have been an Israelite (cf. 1 Chr 3:5). We also noted some interesting things such as:

• Matthew's genealogy is ascending from Abraham to Jesus.
• Luke's genealog is descending from Jesus to Adam.
• Matthew's genealogy traces Jesus' "legal" heritage, i.e. His legal right to the throne of David via Joseph's lineage.
• Lukes's genealogy traces Jesus' "royal" heritage, i.e. the bloodline through David via Mary's lineage. (The "Eli" mentioned is believed to be Mary's father.)
• Beyond Zerubbabel to Joseph, we know nothing of the descendants listed.

We spent some time looking at the Magi. These guys (and we don't know that there were only three of them) show up, looking for "He who has been born King of the Jews...for we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." (Matt 2:2) Just a little side note here: the idea of three "wise men" or Magi comes from the three gifts--gold, frankincense and myrrh that are given to Jesus. According to Wikipedia, the bones of the "three"--named Melchior, Balthazar and Casper--are said to be in the Shrine of the Three Wise Men in Cologne, Germany. Personally, I'm not buying it, but I digress.

A couple of things in Matthew's Gospel stood out to me:

The purpose of their visit was "to worship." The Magi can be traced back to the time of Daniel when he was made ruler over the wise men of Babylon (Daniel 2:48). It's not a stretch to believe Daniel would have spoken to them about the coming Messiah, maybe even pointed them to this prophecy: "...A star shall come forth from Jacob, And a scepter shall rise from Israel..." (Numbers 24:17). This could explain their comment of seeing "His star."

So here it is, some 500+ years later, and these men are looking for sign of a new king that they know very little about. They DO know that something significant is connected with the "star" they have seen in Israel and because they believe this to be the king Daniel spoke of so long ago, they have come to see for themselves...and to worship.

They met Jesus and were changed.Matthew tells us that the Magi fell down and worship Jesus. When they got ready to leave, God spoke to them and warned them about Herod's evil intentions, so they "left for their own country by another way.

I think there's a little more there. I think they not only took a different route, but they returned home DIFFERENT--a "different way." They had encountered the Christ, and they would never be the same. Isn't that the right response? Notice how the priests and scribes responded when Herod asked, "Do you know what these guys are talking about?" They KNEW the prophecies concerning the Messiah. They knew exactly where the Messiah would be born (just a couple of miles down the road!!) and yet they didn't even bother to check things out.

I would have LOVED to have been in the Magi's caravan as they made their way home. They had traveled so far. They had arrived not knowing for sure what they would find--and they ended up meeting the Son of God, the Promised Messiah...and they were going home "different."

God is Sovereign, I've Been Tagged

God is Sovereign
The National Founders Conference was at our church (Bethel Baptist- Owasso) this past week. Timmy Brister "live-blogged" the event; the Pyromaniacs were also there "dead-blogging." You can read their perspectives on the NFC here and here.

On Thursday evening, we were informed that wildfires in Florida were threatening the home of Founders' Director, Tom Ascol. In fact, the fire was about a block away from his house. Bill Ascol, Tom's brother and pastor of Bethel, led us in prayer as we asked God to intervene and spare the Ascol's and their neighbor's homes. Brother Ascol appealed to God's sovereignty in the situation; he appealed to God to exercise His power over heaven and earth, acknowledging God's ability to calm storms, wind, etc...and even a wildfire hundreds of miles from our meeting.

Tom reported later that evening in a post to Timmy Brister's blog:

...we received a phone call near the end of the evening session tonight informing us that a brief deluge fell to "knock down" the fire and bring it under control. The following was posted at 9PM Eastern time on a local TV station’s website:

From Connie Barron, City of Cape Coral: "About 10 minutes of heavy rain helped knock down the fire. We will be sending engines home and keeping brush trucks on scene for a few more hours as needed. Burnt Store Road will reopen at 9pm. Residents are being allowed back in their homes."

I live just off of Burnt Store Road. Some church members have told us they have never seen it rain that hard. According to my calculations, that rain began to fall about 45 minutes after your post went up and shortly after the conference prayed.

We are very grateful to the Lord for His mercy in this.

Our God is AWESOME!

I've Been Tagged"Baxter" at Let My Meditation be Pleasing to Him honoured me with a Blogger Reflection Award. Baxter and I met when we began exchanging comments on each other's blog over the past months. The purpose of the "award" is two-fold:

1. Baxter has selected mine as a blog that has "been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted [her] in some way, and [has] been a Godly example to [her]."
2. I am to select five bloggers who have done the same/similar for me, write a paragraph about them, and notify them of my bestowing of the Blogger Reflection Award.

I am humbled by Baxter's accolades. I'm not so sure what part of my blog has been an encouragement...and I'm afraid that I have not always been a Godly example, but I appreciate her kind words. I don't have that many readers/commentors on my blog. That's OK. This is more of a place for me to vent and just put some thoughts and some of my amateur photos "on paper." Many thanks to those of you that stop by from time to time--especially Baxter. I enjoy reading your comments and your blog as well. I like the fact that the NASB is your favorite book! In addition to Baxter, I bestow the Bloger Reflection Award on the following blogs:

1) Joe Thorn is a pastor in the Chicago area. He's younger than me, sees some things differently than I do, but he obviously loves God, his family and his church. I appreciate his honesty and his passion. Plus, he's gotten me interested in photography. I'm still learning. I had the privilege of meeting Joe this week at the National Founders Conference.

2)Happening Cheatwoods is a blog about "a regular family with one purpose: To love Jesus and share him with the world!!" I stumbled on this blog when Jessica commented on a post I'd written about Christians and tattoos. We had an interesting conversation. She has too very cute little boys and a very talented husband. They are a great family to "watch" grow in their love for God and family.

3) Like "Baxter", I read Joel's Thoughts. I'm not sure how I found his blog, but I go there farily regular to read about his wife's battle with cancer. She was recently diagnosed with stage 2 malignant breast cancer. She began chemo back in April, I believe. They would appreciate your prayers. Joel also has a Flickr photo blog that I recently discovered.

4) Slice of Laodicea is a blog I visit most every day. Ingrid Schlueter writes this blog about current trends in the church today, i.e. "seeker-sensitive", "emergent", etc. Some pretty sad stuff sometimes. I am encouraged that there are still people that will stand up for truth found in the Word of God.

5) Founders Blog by Tom Ascol. Tom is the Executive Director of Founders Ministries. I have been encouraged by Tom's gracious spirit and passion to see true, Biblical reformation within Southern Baptist Churches.

A few "honorable mentions":

• FIDE-O Bret Capranica, Jason E. Robertson, Scott Hill, and Gene Cook, Jr. contribute to this blog. Lots of good links on their blogroll. Plenty of interesting/thought-provoking posts.
• Calvinist Gadfly Although no longer being updated, a great place for resources related to Reformed theology.
• Pyromaniacs is a daily stop for the wisdom and wit of Phil Johnson, Dan Phillips, and Frank Turk. Great graphics, too!

It's Saturday

Catching up on the News
I've been a slackard this week--blogwise and picture-taking-wise (is that a real term?), that is. Busy week at work. Catching up on a few things:

• Andrew Speaker - idiot TB carrier. STILL a self-centered jerk.
• Paris Hilton - big, cry-baby. Who cares?!
• "Amnesty bill" - died on the Senate floor. Rest in peace!
• Mary Winkler - Tennessee preacher's wife who killed her husband apparently has only about a week to serve of her sentence.¹ There's a story that we'll probably never hear.

Obadiah
On a more serious note, we've began a study last week in our Sunday School class that will take us through most of the "Minor Prophets" during the next three months. Last week, we covered the book of Joel--yep, whole book in one lesson. This week we're looking at Obadiah. I'll be honest, I've never really given much time to the Minor Prophets, so this study will be a learning experience for me as well as the class I teach.

A couple of things that I was not aware of or hadn't really connected.

• The Edomites were direct descendents of Esau, twin brother of Jacob (son of Isaac).
• The name "Edom" refers to the time when Esau asked Jacob for some of the "red stew" he had prepared. (See Genesis 25:29-30)
• The descendents of Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom) were perpetual enemies. The Edomites fought with Israel/Judah during the reigns of David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram.
• Around 5 BC, they were forced from an area just below the Dead Sea to an area of southern Palestine where they became known as "Idumeans."
• Herod the Great was an Idumean.
• The Edomites were wiped out in 70 AD, fighting along side the Zealots, when Rome destroyed Jerusalem

The book of Obadiah is God's pronounced judgment on Edom—denouncing their crimes against Judah and foretelling their total destruction. It is also a detailed description of God's sovereignty in exacting judgment. In His time, God avenged Judah and punished the Edomites for their "crimes of war" against God's chosen people. If you want more details of God's judgment...read the book. Fascinating 21 verses.

Obadiah is a solemn reminder to us, that God, in His sovereignty, rules over ALL nations, never forgetting those who are His...and punishing those who dare come against them.

---

¹ Mary Winkler was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. She was sentenced to three years in prison, but will be eligible for probation after serving 210 days and gets credit for the 143 days she has already spent in jail. The judge in the case said that up to 60 days of the remaining 67 days could be served in a facility whre she could receive mental health treatment. (Source: AP)

I Get Email

I get quite a bit of email--not because I'm popular or an important person. Most of it is "junk":

• People trying to get me to buy something (because I previously purchased something from them)
• People wanting to advise me on my stock market investments (like I have a lot of those)
• Offers for discount drugs that may or may not "enhance" my life
• Offers of REALLY cheap/low interest mortgages or loans for incredibly large sums (my house payment is less than $550 a month--I don't think I need their help in that area)
• Offers of LOTS of money just to "use" my American bank account for a transfer of funds from [ fill in foreign country name here ].

You get the idea. I also send a lot of email. I email my mom, sometimes several times each week (I also call her)-- she lives out of state. I send an email "prayer list" to our Sunday School class, prayer requests that were made that week in class. I email a high school friend almost weekly--we exchange funny stuff we find on the internet, etc.

One of the emails I really don't like though, is the "prayer chain/receive a blessing" email. You know the ones. There's a real tear-jerker of a story and then at the end it says something like: "Forward this to 10 people/everyone in your contacts and you'll be blessed." OR "Are you ashamed to forward this email? Jesus said if you are ashamed of me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before the Father."

Now really. Does anyone actually believe that by forwarding an email they will get their wish/prayer answered? Why would the forwarding of an email be the basis for God answering a prayer? And if I don't forward the email, does that really hender God from intervening in the situation and answering the prayer anyway?

I don't think God operates that way, nor is He "bound" by whether we send emails to each other. Just my "soapbox" for the moment.

But just in case...please forward this post to 10 people.

It's the Weekend

SURPRISE! Barack Obama is running for President. I'd say something about it if I cared.

Men's Prayer Breakfast?
An event billed as "Porn and Pancakes" is being hosted by a church in rural upstate New York.

The breakfast discussion on the pornography industry in America is planned next month at the Living Word Assembly of God Church in the town of Ontario, in rural Wayne County about ten miles east of Rochester.

A billboard advertisement near the church shows the words "Porn and Pancakes" written in syrup on a stack of flapjacks. Where do churches come up wiht this stuff. Check out the rest of the story here.
(Thanks to Kim Riddlebarger for the link)

Work Stuff
For the past two months, I've spent pretty much every Saturday, and most weeknights, studying for a certification test I'm taking next week (work related). I think I'm ready; I'll be glad when it's all over.

Church Stuff
We're studying the book of Esther in Sunday School. Tomorrow, we're looking at chapters 3 - 4 where Haman begins his plot to kill all of the Jews. Mordecai appeals to Esther to go before the king in order to save the Jews. When she hesitates, Mordecai tells her:

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)

Mordecai is a great man of faith; whether he or Esther or whoever intervenes, he is confident that God will ultimately deliver the Israelites. But his last comment really emphasizes his understanding of God's sovereignty: Maybe you're the Queen because God put your here--BECAUSE He always knew that Haman would pull this stunt. Not an exact quote, but the thought is there.

It's a good...no, great, lesson for me. I'm where I am-- at the moment I'm there-- because God ordained it. There's not a single situation that takes God by surprise and there's not a single situation that God hasn't already worked out "the end."

I sleep a lot better at night holding on to that truth.

God and the Super Bowl

The big story this week is the Super Bowl. I won't watch it--haven't watched a Super Bowl since the Cowboys fired Tom Landry. I'm not anti-football, just not interested.

Apparently, a lot of people will be watching, including lots of churches. I've noticed churches (around town and on the internet) cancelling their evening services and putting on Super Bowl parties. One church was going to show the game on their big screen, until the NFL lawyers heard about their plan and said, "no you're not."

I didn't realize it, but God is interested in the Super Bowl. According to the Feb 1, Oklahoma Baptist Messenger:

Head coaches Tony Dungy of Indianapolis and close friend and fellow Christian Lovie Smith of Chicago gave credit to God following their respective teams' victories in the conference championships Jan 21.

"The Lord set this up in a way that no one would believe it," Dungy said following the Colt's win over New England. "The Lord tested us a lot this year, but He set this up to get all the glory."

If I pray for my favorite team to win the Super Bowl, and they LOSE, does that mean that God didn't answered my prayer? Did God like the other team better?

And speaking of God answering prayers, is it wrong for me to pray for a good parking spot at Wal-Mart?

The Free Will Song

MUSICAL WARNING: The "audio" quality of this video is not very good. You make the judgment as to why.

I saw this on the Fide-O blog today. How can a God be so awesome and powerful to be able to create and govern everything, "molding the mountains...holding the mighty waters in His hands", but He has no authority over Man?

According to the theology of the song, God doesn't force anyone -- "I give you freedom, is it 'yes' or 'no'?" -- which means that there are people that are born, live and die, NEVER being destined for heaven. THEIR choice, but God knew before He created them that they would not "choose Him"...and He allowed them to be born anyway. How is that different from the Doctrine of Election which the folks at Pensacola Christian College (and others) decry as "unfair" or "unloving?" The end result is the same, isn't it?