remembering friday, living sunday

On Easter Sunday we visited a large church out west. They had contemporary Christian worship but besides the I-love-you-Jesus songs, all the songs referred to the Cross. None referred to the Resurrection or to its victory. The sermon was excellent. It was an excellent Good Friday sermon. They had scenes from The Passion of Christ interspersed on a large screen behind the pastor that made one really appreciate the Cross.

Except for a passing reference to the Resurrection as a foreshadowing of the future resurrection of the dead, there was nothing to indicate that it was Easter.

During worship I thought to myself that these people are so focused on the Cross that they don’t appreciate the Resurrection. I doubt there was any coordination between the worship leader and the pastor, but I thought the same thing about the pastor during the sermon. Now, I don’t think I fully appreciate the significance of the Resurrection myself, but I sensed something was really missing in this service.

The church is Baptist in theology and by association. Like many modern NT churches they are so focused on the sacrifice that they neglect the victory. But in the early church, the Resurrection was the focus of preaching. The Resurrection was emphasized in writings. After all, there is a reason we have church on Sunday mornings and not on Fridays.

Many American evangelicals are so focused on salvation and the price paid on the cross that they forget half the Gospel. Jesus died but he is not dead. Concentrating on the death is no way to find the life.

It is good to remember Good Friday, but the most important day for Christians to live is Easter.

I knew that I had to do something to bring Easter into remembrance. I had to remind myself that HE IS RISEN! That because Jesus is risen, He is with me and will never forsake me. Because HE IS RISEN, He sits at the right hand of God and I am seated with Him in heavenly places. Because HE IS RISEN, I have been given the strength to even be able to stand before an all powerful Creator to worship him. It is the power of God that raised Jesus up the dead that gives me new life. He is alive. The Cross is empty. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive!

If I didn’t remember those things then I would miss Easter. Easter is too important to miss.

It worked. God met me and I felt the presence of God in that meeting. I felt the joy of the Lord during the sermon despite the large screen behind the pastor with the image of a bloody, suffering Jesus. At the end of the sermon I could stand and worship God with pleasure and gratitude. There were only a few of us who could do that in a congregation of several hundred.

I left that church elated.

The rest of the congregation left church as if they were leaving a funeral. There were a few smiles of greeting, but you’d see the same thing after a funeral. I heard no one say “He is risen!” I was surprised by how much I wanted to say it. In fact, I was bursting to say it. However such a comment seemed so inappropriate in that place. I felt elated but I also felt very isolated. They just didn’t get Easter.

After church someone didn’t want me to have a cup of coffee, maintaining that I had had enough caffeine. While I had a can of Cherry Coke a few hours earlier, that does have enough stuff to really impact me. I couldn’t understand why the fuss over coffee. Later my quick-as-thunder mind realized that a little bit of caffeine, whose very minor effect had long since worn off, explained why I was happy and this person was not.

It was easier for some to believe in the power of Coca-Cola than in the power of God that raised Jesus from the grave.

Some not only don't get Easter, they don't know that they don't get Easter.


Be blessed for He is Risen.
RB

gazelle intensity

Dave Ramsey talks about having gazelle intensity to get out of debt. Check out this video:



Intensity isn't enough. You need a plan.

christians, crunchies, cowboys

I haven't posted in four weeks. I was sick, then I had to catch up on work, then left two weeks ago to spend spring break in Colorado Springs, and did not get back until Monday night. I'm still catching up on work. I know, excuses, excuses, excuses.

Some of our activities have been discussed already by her. We got to spend Holy Week with our LT and his wonderful wife in their lovely home. Our little Hoya also was with us from Tuesday on. However we did find ourselves missing our other two sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

We stopped by the office of a certain publicist for a publisher of Christian books and walked away with a two-foot high stack of new books. (Less than an inch of which was selected by yours truly.)

We visited trendy restaurants, the Denver Art Museum, Focus on the Family, an art pottery kiln, World Prayer Center; attended a Seder on Good Friday and church on Palm Sunday and Easter (more on that another time); got the inside story on Iraq and generally just hung out.

The weather was all over the place. Snow (four inches alone on Easter morning) and sunny warm days -- sometimes all within a few hours.

The Springs is a lovely but interesting (i.e., strange) place with the major people groups being Christians, crunchies, cowboys, or some combination thereof.

Cheyenne Mountain, Pike's Peak, and the Front Range of the Rockies provided not too shabby a view from our LT's deck.

Be blessed!
RB

first time since 1880

Pro-Life Democrat Darrell Aubertine won yesterday's special election for the 48th NYS Senate District. This is the first time a Democrat has held this seat since 1880.

Pro-Choice Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava was snubbed by party leadership, the old boy network wanted Pro-Choice Barclay. She would have won easily. Albany Republicans are not the sharpest.

money. power, garbage, dirty, babies, and stupidity makes this election special

Despite the heading above, this post has only one topic: tomorrow's special election in NYS Senate District 48 between Bill Barclay (R) and Darrel Aubertine (D). Each candidate is expected spend over $1 million. Why all the money in some backwater upstate district? Well, the Republican majority in the state senate is getting smaller. With a Democrat win in the 48th, coupled with a some other districts at risk this year, the Democrats could win control of the state senate.

People complain about the undue influence of money in campaigning. However the campaign contributions are not the problem, they are just the symptom. The problem is with the power of government; the problem is with the government controlling or impacting so much money that the stakes in controlling government is so big.

Get rid of excessive government power and the influence of campaign money will go away. Don't limit government power and there is nothing that will get rid of the influence of campaign money. It is like if you want to get rid of rats, first get rid of the garbage. In this case, get rid of the problem that is attracting the money.

This is also the dirtiest campaign anyone has seen in NNY. Personal attacks, many with distortions or misleading "facts" is more to be expected downstate in NYC than NNY. I think Aubertine is worse but Barclay's hands are not clean.

In a reversal of stereotypes, the Republican candidate is 100% pro-choice and the Democrat is 100% pro-life. At least that is the way the NYS chapter of NOW sees it.

This election also highlights the general stupidity of Republican leadership. Two members of the Assembly wanted to run for this senate seat. Dede Scozzafava was snubbed by party leadership in order to pick Bill Barclay, son of a former state senator leader. Scozzafava would have been a slam dunk. Thus, the old boy network has turned a race in an overwhelmingly Republican district into a nail biter.

Politically speaking, you really can't much dumber than that.

This same Republican leadership has inadvertently given a candidate with a strong record of supporting the sanctity of life, of defending the defenseless unborn, of protecting life, a good chance of winning.

Be blessed.
RB

Note: She researched the pro-life records of the candidates and passed them on to me.

xmas '07 & january '08 photos

Another batch of photos uploaded:

Xmas 2007 (Webshots Page #1)

January 2008 (Webshots Page #2)

Be blessed!
RB

november & december photo update

I finally got around to uploading family photos:

November 2007

December 2007

Be blessed!
RB

tax time conspiracy

Thursday afternoon I left work a little early. I had done all that I could do there so I thought I go home to finish doing my income taxes. I don’t mind doing taxes. Our situation is not complicated and so there is nothing fancy about our returns. Just follow the directions, not too stressful, but with the occasional intellectual challenge to make it somewhat interesting.

This year was different. Everyone around annoyed me. It was too much to be merely coincidental. First, a certain mother of my children walked around humming and singing just loud enough so that I would hear but not loud enough so that I could complain. You know the game. What she should have been doing is sitting quietly in the next room prepared to jump up instantly when I would inevitably yell out with a question or loudly wonder where a form or piece of information was. Was she helpful? Was she willing to engage in meaningful communication so essential to a successful marriage? NO!

After I let her know I was on to her humming game she went upstairs to wash clothes and clean the bathroom. Of course, it is all too easy for us to see how this obviously exposed her true heart and attitude. She’d rather seek her own pleasure than be a helpmate to ME.

That is annoying.

Did know that there are now THREE ways to get a tax break for tuition expenses? One of them is new and you can only use one of the three. To find out which is best, you have to do ALL the calculations for your taxes three times. Now that is annoying. Why three? There is not much difference between them. Politicians want to say they are concerned about helping “hard-working middle-class” families with the rising cost of higher education. So they have to come up with another option so they can say they did something. They can’t come out and say we already did something. Instead they add another complication that doesn’t really help so they can get credit for “doing something.”

That is doubly annoying.

I was still doing the taxes when one of three sons came home from work in a very good mood. He was all chatty and happy, asking me how I was doing, how was my day, and all that. As if that wasn't annoying enough, his mom came downstairs and they talked happily together in the next room. Of course they were loud enough for me to hear. Here I was working hard, trying to save the family some money, and they are in cahoots to annoy ME. With his old job he was always tired, miserable, and uncommunicative. Could it be that the real reason he changed jobs was that he was thinking ahead to such a moment when he could really annoy me? Hard to prove but I am starting to put two and two together.

That is really annoying.

Being the man of God that I am, I decided to try to break the cycle and take ownership for my part in all this. We are all called to be peacemakers and I decided to step up, to take the initiative. I needed to humbly apologize for for what I did, no matter how small.

So I went up to the love of my life, hugged her and tenderly, lovingly said, “I didn’t speak to you very nicely earlier. I’m sorry you annoyed me.”

Her response? She just laughed at me! Here I had come clean about what I had done even though it was very minor compared to what she had done. I made myself vulnerable, I did the right thing, only to be laughed at. I had been so incredibly gracious, but this hard-hearted woman was unwilling to admit her far, far greater sin. I was the one to say I was sorry when she should have been begging for my forgiveness.

Now that is annoying!

Yes it was all quite annoying but thank God I’m not a sinner like others.

Be blessed,
RB

caucasian studies

A former student and current friend, non-white of foreign origin, who works in NYC sent me this link:

Stuff White People Like

I read all 71 posts and I found it laugh-out-loud great. It shows what can happen if you send your kids to college in Boston, NYC, or Washington. They are at risk for becoming excessively White.

Be blessed!
RB

paying for self-discipline

Would you pay yourself $200 to lose weight? How about $500 to stop smoking or $300 to read your Bible through in a year? Now you can. According to last week's edition of THE ECONOMIST, there is an online site developed by a couple of economists to help you do this.

StickK.com enables you to make a "commitment contract" to achieve a goal, say losing 20 pounds, and then enforces the contract. For example, you can pay them $200 which will be returned to you if and only if you lose the weight. If you don't lose the weight then you lose the bet and the money goes to someone you designate. (Maybe a charity or a political campaign you don't like?) To prevent cheating, you also need to assign an independent referee to verify that you have accomplished your goal.

Would you lose the weight or give up $200? Resolutions and good intentions are fine, but show yourself the money.

Be blessed.
RB

P.S. I love stickK.com's slogan: Put a contract out on yourself!