cairns

It was beautiful to see all of the loved ones who came, some from far away; the excellent weather on top of the little hill at Garrison Chapel Cemetery; and to share in the hope and challenge of a life lived in service to God.

I thought I would include a link to my marked copy of what we shared for some who could not be there.

Moms funeral

Thanks to everyone who attended, who prayed, and who loved our parents.

peace

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My eighteen year old just left.  As far as I can tell she may be quitting school too.  Her reasons make no sense.  I am undone…..nothing left to say……no place to go…….no desire to talk……..EVSC was allowed to destroy my life’s work…….so there is my family, no wait that’s a joke too………You give all you have, and they just berate you for having nothing left……Some very powerful force has been attacking me and my family for the past two years and it is beyond my comprehension (and anything those nearby who claim to understand such things understand either!)……It would be very easy for my wife and I to just give up, on everything…we need prayers for those who are sitting in the abyss crying out like Christ on the cross, “Why have you forsaken me?”

12+ hours later:  Her proclamations of God telling her to defy us and go her own way keep reminding me of how often the “voice of God” tells exactly what we already wanted to hear.  Not what the Bible records.  I find a lot more responses there of, “You must be kidding, God!”  But, we all do it.  I am guilty.  I know pastors and “super” Christians who do it constantly.

What really hurts is combining it with, “I really love you and don’t want to hurt you.”  In John 14 and 15 Jesus very clearly states repeatedly that loving Him is not a matter of some emotional response, but of obedience.  To say you love somebody and refuse to heed their authority, counsel, dreams, or thoughts — a very broad definition of disobedience ( to completely disregard the view and counsel of the one who loves you) I know — is not what Jesus called love.

And, it all brings me back to grace.  If it hurts this bad to be rejected and betrayed as an earthly father, what must it be for a Father who is Creator and Sustainer, who doesn’t just have good intentions but actually knows and offers only the best?  What must it be like to have it multiplied by the population of the planet?  How easily we sing Amazing Grace.  I only begin to understand how amazing is grace that ignores our betrayal, ignorance, intentional blindness to Truth, willful demands for independence from the very source of Life.

To be constantly and repeatedly (not just in a magic once for all blame it on the garden fall, but everyday and time after time) rejected by us in our ignorant confidence that we know it all, and then to pursue us so hard it kills Him??  Grace!  It is a word of power and mystery far beyond our easy use of the word.  I need some, to be able to keep giving it.  I need to see the next rock, the next positive step in this chaos.

peace

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Yesterday’s sermon was on forgiveness in the family, again using the patriarchs of Genesis as text.  To be fair, he is not holding them up as exemplars.  To the contrary, he scanned through the entire book pointing out how messed up, dysfunctional, and “wacko” they really were.  peace

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How great a wrong is it for man to silence anything created to praise Creator God?

Psalm 148:1 Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.

2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.

4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

6 He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

10 wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

11 kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,

12 young men and maidens, old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

14 He has raised up for his people a horn,  the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the LORD.

Isn’t it time to expand our narrow vies of God’s family, including our obligation to love them as created brothers and sisters?

peace

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She left again this morning, one of the most traveled short term missionaries form our area.   A young wife too shy to speak in Sunday School class has become a woman leading an all woman team on her fourth trip to that magic continent.

By the time Thanksgiving break ends here they will put together photo books for our long term missionaries to share their story back home, prepare and host Thanksgiving dinner for 40-50 people, host a luncheon for women Young Life Workers, get the missionary out of town for a few days of safari and sisterhood, decorate a church for the wedding of two friends in Arusha, visit Zanzibar…beyond that one can only guess.

And life will be different for a few workers — a few workers dedicated to reaching every teen, everywhere, for eternity.  And they will come home different.  I can hardly wait to see what the next page holds!

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