Mike's Musings

"The Faith Community"

2011-08-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello people,
     I received a letter a few days ago from EMO, the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. I still haven't figured out how I ended up on their mailing list unless they just send their stuff to every church in the phone book. They write to me periodically, trying to get me to attend a meeting or march in some parade or give money to some cause. And don't get me wrong, most of them are probably nice, polite, well-intentioned people and I'm sure they do some good things. However, I'm not about to get involved with a group that brings together every possible stripe of liberal protestants, Roman Catholics, and openly homosexual churches into one big ecumenical stew pot. Then to give more flavor they spice up the mix by adding in what they call "Interfaith Partners" including Jews, Muslims, Unitarian-Universalists, New-Agers, Zen Buddhists and a bunch of others.
   However, what I'm reacting to today is their constant reference to ministers as "those of us in the faith community." I hate that phrase! It means absolutely nothing. What is the "faith community" for crying out loud?
   Think about it. Isn't everyone in the "faith community"? We all exercise faith, every day, many times a day. We are all big into faith! When I get in my car and turn the key I have faith that it will start and get me where I need to go. When I sit down in my desk chair I have faith that it will hold me up without crashing to the floor. When I eat my wife's cooking I have faith that she hasn't spiked my food with antifreeze. The truth is we all have lots of faith--in something or other.
   Moreover, being part of the "faith community" isn't a question of the quality of our faith. Some people are more religiously devout than others. They will cheerfully walk over broken glass to win the favor of their "god" and sincerely believe that it will make a difference. Some have the faith to believe that their "higher power" will hear them if they fast, meditate, self-mutilate, and do penance. They've got sincere faith to spare!
     However, if you place your faith in something that is unworthy, it matters not how much faith you have, or how sincere your faith might be, you will still lose. For example, if I go to the horse races and put my whole August paycheck on EggSalad to win I am exercising faith. That puts me in the "faith community." I may believe with all my heart that EggSalad is the best horse out there--my faith is strong and sincere. However, I don't have all the facts. Maybe EggSalad ate some bad oats yesterday and was up all night. Maybe he's just having an off day. Now when he comes in 7th instead of 1st who am I going to blame? Was there a problem with the quantity of my faith? NO! I had gobs of faith. Was there a problem with the quality of my faith? Again, NO! I truly believed that EggSalad would win it. The problem was with the OBJECT of my faith. I just bet on the wrong horse.
     To get back to EMO and the "faith community" thing... There are nice people running around all over the place calling themselves "Christians" who by their teaching and practices deny the very One they claim to know, love, and serve. Think about it-- I can claim to be a mallard duck. However, if I don't have a big orange beak, shiny colorful feathers, webbed-feet and a girlfriend who lays eggs then I'm probably not a real mallard. Likewise, if I claim to know Jesus, to be a Jesus-follower, and yet I have none of the personal character traits of Jesus, I don't do Jesus things, I don't like to hang out with Jesus people, and I don't produce any Jesus type fruit and good works, then I'm probably fooling myself.

Betting on Jesus,

Mike

Little Trees With Big Plans

2011-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello my crazy friends,

On Monday of this week I stayed home and worked in the yard--mowing, weeding, edging, that whole bit. In the front yard, right in front of our main picture window looking out onto Thiessen Ave. is a small weeping-willow tree of some sort. The trunk is about 7-8 inches in diameter and it stands about 6 feet tall. It's a cute little tree and the little sparrows love to sit in its branches and torment our two cats. However, every year I have to prune the darn thing back because it has visions of grandeur. It wants to be a giant tree. However, I want it to stay small and low to the ground so that it doesn't block our view out that window. I want the tree to look like an umbrella with the branches going out and down. The little tree, on the other hand, wants to grow up and outward, reaching for the sky and taking over the whole front yard. It's not content to be what I want it to be.

Moreover, the little tree is sneaky. It sends out these skinny branches from the top reaching upward. Sometimes I don't notice for a while. But eventually I realize that the little guy is at it again, trying to make like a giant oak or a noble sequoia. On Monday, once again, I whacked the little guy back down to size and told him to knock it off. I don't want him to grow into a mighty tree. I like him the way he is and I'm the one in charge, not him.

That one-sided conversation started me thinking. I'm a lot like that little tree. I have my plans. I have a vision of what my life should be like. I want to be bigger, more noticed, more well-known. I want to pastor a bigger church. I want to have a more influential ministry. I want to preach to bigger crowds and make a bigger impact in my community. But every once in a while God has to say, "Settle down, Mike. I didn't make you for that. I made you for this. I like you this size. I want you to be a healthy, beautiful tree where I have planted you. It's not about your size. It's about My plans for you."

Sometimes I chaff under that. I look out and see some bigger trees around me and I want to be like them. When I compare myself to others I feel like a failure because I'm not bigger.

But that's the problem, isn't it? We have no business comparing ourselves to others. That is an inappropriate and inaccurate standard of measure. There is only one Person we need to please, and that is our Lord and Master, Jesus. His plan is perfect and it is beautifully form-fit and unique for each of us.

If we can just learn to rest in God's love and be content with His approval our stress level will go down significantly. The little tree in our front yard is stubborn though, and I'll probably have to have "the talk" with him again next year because he tends to forget what I tell him. And probably, the Lord will have to remind me of these things again, too, because I also have a short memory.

Trying to be content to be a little tree,
Mike

Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or a Texan?

2011-08-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hello you crazy people,

I haven't written anything here for a long time. My inspiration and creativity have been running low, and so has my spare time, but I plan to resume writing once in a while. I have several articles going, in various stages of completion and will post them soon. In the meanwhile, I offer you the following story that my daughter-in-law, Sharon, sent me. This little charmer poses the question, "Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or a Texan?" I hope you find it as amusing as I did.

Here is a little test that will help you decide. The answer can be found in your response to the following scenario:

You are walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Kimber 1911 .45 ACP, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do? Think carefully.
________________________________________

The Democrat’s Answer:

“Well, really that’s not enough information to answer the question! Does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Does the pistol have an appropriate safety built into it? Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children? Is it possible he’d be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me? Should I call 9-1-1? Why is this street so deserted? We need to raise taxes, have a “paint-and-weed day” and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior. This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.”

________________________________________

The Republican’s Answer:

BANG!

________________________________________

The Texan’s Answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Click...... (Followed by sounds of reloading)
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Click.

Daughter says: “Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silvertips we bought, or just the regular hollow-points?”

Son: “Dad, can I shoot the next one?”

Wife: “Listen to me now, Buford, you ain’t taking that to the taxidermist! You hear?”

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about. You've just gotta love those down-home fellers. They know how to take care of business.
Mike

Proofreading: A Dying Art

2011-08-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, my slightly deranged friends,

Check out these riveting headlines, taken from the pages of some of the world’s most prestigious newspapers, along with a reader’s logical comments. Somebody sent these to my wife. I thought they were funny. Maybe you will too.

MAN KILLS SELF BEFORE SHOOTING WIFE AND DAUGHTER

(OK, I give up. How did he do that?)

SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN JET CRASH, EXPERT SAYS

(No, really? Ya think?)

POLICE BEGIN CAMPAIGN TO RUN DOWN JAYWALKERS

(Now that's taking things a bit far!)

PANDA MATING FAILS; VETERINARIAN TAKES OVER

(What a guy!)

MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH

(Those no-good-for-nothin' lazy so-and-so's!)

JUVENILE COURT TO TRY SHOOTING DEFENDANT

(Let’s see if that works any better than a fair trial!)

WAR DIMS HOPE FOR PEACE

(I can see where it might have that effect!)

IF STRIKE ISN'T SETTLED QUICKLY IT MAY LAST A WHILE

(Ya think?!)

COLD WAVE LINKED TO TEMPERATURES

(Who would have thought!)

ENFIELD COUPLE SLAIN; POLICE SUSPECT HOMICIDE

(They may be on to something!)

RED TAPE HOLDS UP NEW BRIDGES

(You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?)

MAN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING FACES BATTERY CHARGE

(He probably IS the battery charge!)

NEW STUDY OF OBESITY LOOKS FOR LARGER TEST GROUP

(Weren't the other guys fat enough?!)

ASTRONAUT TAKES BLAME FOR GAS IN SPACECRAFT

(That's what he gets for eating those beans!)

KIDS MAKE NUTRITIOUS SNACKS

(Do they taste like chicken?)

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS CUT IN HALF

(The Chainsaw Massacre all over again!)

HOSPITALS ARE SUED BY 7 FOOT DOCTORS

(Boy, are they tall!)

And the winner is...

TYPHOON RIPS THROUGH CEMETERY; HUNDREDS DEAD

(Did I read that right?)

Beijos e abraços, (In Portuguese = kisses and hugs)
Mike

Ray Stevens Lives! - "We The People"

2010-03-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hello crazy friends, near and far,

I have been a big Ray Stevens fan for a long time. He had me the minute I laid ears on that great classic song, "Ahab, the Arab, the sheik of the burnin' sands..." I remember years ago when we lived in Brazil and used to travel long distances by car. We would play Ray Stevens tapes to keep our kids occupied. As a result, to this day they can repeat every word and sing every tune of every one of those crazy songs. I think it may have warped their minds but you'll have to check with them and decide for yourself.

I recently came across this song by Ray and it made me laugh out loud. Moreover, it pretty much sums up my feelings about the recent health-care bill debacle. But regardless of your political leanings, this will make you chuckle. Guaranteed.

Signing off for now,
Mike

Out of the Silence

2010-02-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

Hello, my crazy friends and relatives,

You probably thought that I'd given up blogging all together. No, but I've been busy and haven't had anything profound to say. However, my sense of guilt has once again driven me back to the keyboard so here I am. I must confess to you that I still don't have much to say but why should I let that hold me back? Right? It sure never stops the politicians, so why should it stop me?

I'm like a pressure cooker. Stuff happens and I sit around thinking about it. The pressure builds and the mental juices start flowing and eventually I feel ready to comment. Sometimes what escapes turns out just to be gas or hot air. Other times it's something witty or helpful. The latter is what I'm always hoping for, of course.

So in the meantime, while the pressure is building and I'm thinking of something of witty to say, I'm including an old video clip of Flip Wilson, one of my favorite funny men. I hope you like it.

I'll write again soon. I have some things in draft form that I'll share with you as soon as I get them polished just a little bit more. Thanks for checking in here once in a while and I especially thank those of you who occasionally comment on something I've put up. That encourages me to do better and to keep it up.

Mike

Equal Time for the Ladies

2010-01-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

Hail, all ye who read this rag,

I'm back, like a bad rash. I wrote an article back in December entitled "So where do you draw the line?" Check it out. Since then, however, several people have remarked that it was unfair to the women, leaving them out of the discussion entirely. They said that my article was written totally from a man's viewpoint. Duh! OK. So what's your point? I'm a man. That's the only viewpoint I have from which to write. Besides, I was speaking specifically to the problem of what to call old men. Everyone already knows what to call old ladies--"Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Whatever you say, ma'am."

OK, so here I take up the challenge to list some of the terms used to classify elderly persons of the feminine persuasion. At first I had hoped to get some definitions for the terms and also to be able to put them in some sort of prioritized listing but that didn't work out. There doesn't seem to be any order to the list. I want you all to know, however, that I take up this topic at some personal risk to life and limb. I happen to live with a little ol' lady that can still knock me out with one punch, so I have to be careful. If she reads this she'll beat me like a rented mule. The woman has no sense of humor whatsoever. Just jokin', honey!

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, names to describe old women... I've compiled a partial list of names that come easily to mind. Consider the following:

old hag
biddy
battle-ax
crone
fishwife
ol' gray mare
fussbudget
witch
fusspot
old bat
dowager
matron
old bird
old bag
coffin dodger
blue haired granny

As I look over this list I can't help but notice that most of these names have nothing to do with the age of the woman in question but rather more to do with her character, temperament, and personality.

By the way, a friend of my wife sent us an email with the following list of "13 Things PMS Stands For." I'm just passin' it on.

Pass My Shotgun
Psychotic Mood Shift
Perpetual Munching Spree
Puffy Mid-Section
People Make me Sick
Provide Me Sweets
Pardon My Sobbing
Pimples May Surface
Pass My Sweatpants
Pissy Mood Syndrome
Plainly Men Suck
Pack My Stuff
Potential Murder Suspect

When I tried to point out that #5 has 4 words instead of 3 like the others, without saying anything my wife just pointed to #13. That's when I decided it would be better to just leave it alone, if you get my drift.

Walking softly but laughin' like crazy,
Mike

My Second Claim to Fame

2010-01-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hello all you little crazy people,

Years ago my wife and I were active in a teaching/preaching/musical missionary ministry that took us to lots of interesting places. Our two little sons, Jonathan and Christopher, went almost everywhere with us. People would pinch their pudgy pink cheeks and say, "How cute. So you are Pastor Mike's little boy!" In other words, they were defined by who they were related to, by being my sons.

Skip forward a bunch of years. Now I go to a party or some event and people pinch my cute pudgy cheeks and say, "So you are Chris' dad," or "You are Jon's dad." The shoe is on the other foot. Now I am defined by being somebody's Old Man.

Since Chris became a pro-fighter I get that a lot. He is my biggest claim to fame anymore. I am Chris "The Professor" Wilson's dad.

Recently I was reminded again that I have a second claim to fame. My personal physician is a famous dude who was recently on "FOX and FRIENDS" on Fox News and has a hot new single entitled "Freedom, Family, and Faith" playing on the country stations.

His name is Rick Jackson (Ricky Lee Jackson) and he has been my doctor for umpteen years. He's a committed Christian and a political conservative, not to mention his being a good musician. He also happens to be the father of three pretty famous kids: his two sons, Jonathan and Richard are both well-known Hollywood actors; his daughter, Candice, is a published author.

If you want to read more about Rick and what he stands for check out his website at http://www.freedomfamilyandfaith.com

Living on secondhand fame,
Mike

And you thought I was crazy...

2009-12-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends,

Well, it's happened. I've finally run across someone more nuts than moi. I've done a few stupid things in my time but I make a concerted effort not to risk my life for cheap thrills. (With the exception of that skydiving thing a while back.) I came across this video of a car stunt that caught my attention. I hope you enjoy it.

That's it. No spiritual lessons. No moral to the story. It is what it is. Tchau for today. I have to go take down a Christmas tree.

Loopy, but at least not doing loop-da-loops,
Mike

Anthropogenic Global Warming? Oh really?

2009-12-18T11:43:00.001-08:00

Bom dia my twisted friends,

My taste in funny people is very eclectic. I like a lot of the old-time comedians like Danny Kaye, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, and George Gobel. And people like Flip Wilson, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett never fail to make me laugh. The Bible says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Comedy, if well used, is both a powerful communication tool and a source of much joy and laughter.

Most of you are familiar with Dennis Miller. He had his own show on HBO for quite a while, and now he appears regularly on Bill O'Reilly's show on FOX. For me he falls into the same category as two other modern comedians that I like a lot; namely, Tim Allen and Robin Williams. All three are comedic geniuses. However, all three of them cheapen their craft by using filthy language and sexual humor in their standup shows. I refuse to watch them in those settings. However, if you put them into a show or a venue where they have to keep it clean all three have the ability to split your sides.

Anyway, I digress... what I started out to say is that I found a clip of Dennis Miller that you just have to see. He is discussing Global Warming and man's part in it. In light of the recent Copenhagen Conference I thought it appropriate to stick my oar in the water on this subject. Al Gore and his ilk believe religiously in anthropogenic global warming. Put simply that means that the world is heating up and it is all man's fault. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia and caretaker of all truth that is truly true defines anthropogenic in this way: "Anthropogenic effects, processes or materials are those that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in biophysical environments without human influence."

In this clip from FOX's "Half-Hour News Show" Dennis Miller takes on this premise and shows it for what it really is--utter stupidity. Enjoy!

I know that some of you more politically correct yet painfully naive people might be disillusioned now that you know where I stand on so-called Global Warming. Sorry about that, but I calls 'em like I sees 'em, and I believe that 99.9% of the politically motivated global warming hysteria is total nonsense with little to no legitimate science to back it up. Earth's climatological changes can be tied directly to the sun's activities. Man's puny input is statistically insignificant.

Give yourself a thrill and do a Google search of "global cooling predictions" and just see what pops up. Poke around for a while and you'll be surprised how much reputable science there is on the other side of the debate. Meanwhile, our elected leaders run around trying to fix something that ain't broken and are willing to bankrupt the country to do it. That's what I call insanity!

Laughing all the way, (to keep from crying)
Mike

So Where Do You Draw the Line?

2009-12-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hello my equally demented amigos.

Recently one of my friends celebrated a birthday. On that occasion he remarked, "Yep. I've now crossed over from being just an old codger to officially being an old coot."

His remark started me thinking. Just where are the lines that determine what we should call people? Specifically, how do you know if a guy is a codger, a coot, a geezer, or just an ol' fart? Where are the lines of demarcation? At what age do you move from one to the other? These kind of questions keep me up at night.

At the front end of human existence it is somewhat easier to sort out. We are born and for the first little while we are referred to as "the baby" or "the infant," as in "Shut up and quit playing those bongo drums or you're going to wake up THE BABY!" That's the first stage. Babies just lay there doing nothing, looking like ugly little pink prunes for the first few weeks. Eventually they become "cuddlers." That's when they start to have some personality of their own and like to cuddle on your lap and play with your nose or rip off your glasses. The other name for them at this stage is "rug rats," as in, "Hey lady, your RUG RAT is chewing on my pants cuff again."

The next stage is "toddler." That comes when the little booger figures out how to pull himself up by holding on to something then lets go and "toddles" across the floor, much to the joy and amazement of his parents, grandparents, family friends, etc. The "toddler" stage lasts until the little guy really gets it up and moving. At that point he becomes just a "little kid." This stage lasts for quite a while, several years. In fact, it goes up until the "kid" hits 13. At that point he crosses the line into what will define him for the next 7 years--he's a "teenager." But there's no problem there. You at least know what to call him, and you have a good explanation for the insanity that he starts to exhibit. You say to your wife, "Well, what do you expect, Mildred? He's just a gol-darn TEENAGER and he acts just like your brother, Rudy, used to."

After 19 comes 20. You're no longer a "teenager" but you're also not yet an "adult." It's a weird age. You can be drafted into a war and sent off to die in a country whose name you can't pronounce but you can't go to the tavern to drown your sorrows. It's like the Twilight Zone for a year there. But then you turn 21 and are officially a full-blown, no-holds-barred "adult," and you stay that way for many years. Now I must stop for just a minute to take up term that has never been closely defined. One will occasionally hear the title "young buck" used to refer to guys anywhere between 19 and about 28 but the lines are fuzzy on both ends of the thing. I personally think that more research needs to be done to nail this thing down so that we don't use the term incorrectly.

"Adulthood" goes on interminably--through your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, and your 50s. Everything is the same, year after endless year. Oh sure, in your late 50s you start to lose hair on your head and gain it in your ears, eyebrows, and nostrils but other than that things stay pretty much the same. But then you hit 60. POW! That's when it hits you--"I'm getting really old."

I recently came across a website that I found somewhat helpful and I pass it on to you. Check out http://geezerguff.com for a good read and lots of helpful information and big laughs. One helpful contribution is their subdivision of adulthood into three categories: "Whippers" (as in "whippersnappers") - ages 13-30, "Greenies" - ages 31-49, and "Edgers" - ages 50-59. They also offer a carefully reasoned argument about where the lines should be drawn between the aforementioned divisions of advanced old age; namely, coot, geezer, and codger. However, I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that the authors of that blogsite completely overlook the other obvious categories of fogy, fossil, old fart, old goat, senile old fool, and vegetable. Obviously, more research needs to be done.

Oh, I almost forgot. The old guys that wrote that article define "geezer" as 60-75 years, "codger" as 76-99, and "coot" as 100 on up. I don't know how they arrived at these conclusions but you can decide for yourself.

Me? I'm tired and am going to go lay down and take my morning nap and dream about the good ol' days back when I was a YOUNG BUCK.

Committed to the science of elderly studies,
Mike

Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays, or Merry Christmas

2009-12-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful readers, few though you may be,

Once again it is that season of the year when people fight over how we should greet one another. There are those traditionalists who staunchly believe that the only appropriate December greeting is "Merry Christmas." Others, of a more politically correct persuasion prefer to go with "Happy Holidays," a safer option in case the person being greeted turns out to be a Jew, a liberal African American, a Buddhist, a Muslim, or some other breed of cats.

While I personally like to hear "Merry Christmas" I don't think it is worth arguing over. If someone in a store wishes me "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" I am going to accept their kind sentiments and respond, "...and to you as well. Thank you," rather than hurl back a harsh "...and a very Merry Christmas to you too!" as some Christians feel obligated to do in order to set people straight. I think that is downright rude.

I've observed that there is a tremendous amount of ignorance on the part of Christians about the celebration of Christ's birth. For one thing, most of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus on December 25th, not because that is when the actual event occurred but because it is the date that was mandated by the Roman Catholic Church centuries ago. The date that is commemorated by the Orthodox Churches is January 7th, which is equally off base. In reality, the date the western world uses for the Advent Celebration was chosen to overwrite and sanitize a pagan Roman holiday called Saturnalia, which commemorated the winter solstice and the birth of the sun god.

Many Bible scholars believe that Jesus was born toward the end of September before the weather turned cold. They base this on the time of John the Baptist's birth, six months before Jesus was born. Others believe that Jesus' birth actually occurred in the Spring of the year, probably in late March or early April, during the lambing season when the shepherds were staying out all night with their flocks in order to help the ewes in their lambing. The climate of Israel is similar to the climates of say, Los Angeles, CA or Dallas, TX. December and January are the coldest months in Israel and in the mountainous region of Bethlehem the winter temperatures range from 30–50° degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, it gets cold there in the winter. One thing is for sure, no shepherd in his right mind would sleep on the ground out in a field in the month of December. All that to say... I don't know exactly when Jesus was born but let's be honest with ourselves and admit that our celebration of the Lord's birth in December is off schedule to say the least. But that is only half of the problem.

The word "Christmas" is a compound word derived from "Christ-Mass." Again, that harks back to Roman Catholic roots. The word Christmas comes from “Cristes Maesse”, an Old English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.” Now that is starting to creep me out! As a dyed-in-the-wool Protestant/Baptist anything with the word "mass" attached to it is suspect from the get-go. "Mass" is strictly a Catholic word and is not part of my theology. On page 537 of The Catholic Encyclopedia we read, “In the Christian law, the supreme sacrifice is that of the Mass… The supreme act of worship consists essentially in an offering of a worthy victim to God, the offering made by a proper person, as a priest, the destruction of the victim.” Notice the word, “victim” used twice in this passage. The Latin word for victim is “hostia” from which the word “host” is derived. The Mass, by definition, is a sacrifice involving a victim. That makes “Christ-Mass” a death sacrifice. That's messed up! December 25th is supposed to be a celebration of His birth, not a commemoration of His death.

Then when you stick the word "Merry" to "Christ-Mass" it gets even weirder. My Webster's New World Dictionary--Second College Edition defines "merry" as: "(1) full of fun and laughter; lively and cheerful; gay; mirthful. (2) conducive to fun and laughter; festive." It seems inappropriate to tie the word "merry" to a commemoration of Christ's death, which is what "Christ-Mass" is. Does that make sense?

So what are our other options? "Happy Holidays" might be a better bet. The modern word "holiday" is a compound word derived from the Middle English word "holidei" meaning "holy day." Now I can get on board with that! The celebration of the Advent of Messiah is a Holy Day in my opinion, not because it falls on December 25th or because it is tied to some Catholic Mass, but because it is the recognition that about 2,000 years ago God broke into our time and space world and clothed Himself with human flesh and lived among us for 30+ years to show us how much He really loves us. In theology we call that event "The Incarnation." The word "advent" simply means coming, or arrival.

God showed up dressed in a baby suit. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a little backwater town in a backwater country, born to a peasant couple with no place to even spend the night. Yet a few years later He went to the cross and became my Savior, and that is worthy of a big celebration! You can call it "Christmas," "Holy Day," "Advent," or "Happy Birthday, Jesus, Day" and I'll still celebrate it because it is Good News, no matter how you look at it. That's what I think.

Happy to be greeted at all, no matter what words you use :)
Mike

Something New Has Been Added

2009-11-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hello crazy friends and twisted relatives,

I recently started a new blog that you might want to check out. Several people have asked me recently if there is any way to post my Sunday messages on this blog. I tried to figure out a way, but came to the conclusion that it would be simpler to start a new blog specifically for posting my sermons. So.... that is what I did. It is called "Mike's Messages." Catchy title, don't you think?

Anyway, feel free to check it out at... http://sellwoodmessages.blogspot.com My plan is to update it every Monday morning with my sermon from Sunday. That way, if you have to miss a service and want to know what the sermon was about it will be there for you. I am an expository preacher. That means I preach through whole books of the Bible and go verse by verse through the text. I'm not a topical preacher. Because of that if you miss a Sunday you miss part of the story. Up until Thanksgiving I have been teaching through the Gospel of Mark. We will resume that series after the first of the new year.

I will plan to use this blog for the same kind of random insanity that you have come to expect from me. Anyway, I love you all.

Your crazypants friend,
Mike

Adoration of the Living God Most High

2009-11-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hello all you crazy music lovers,

I sift through a lot of songs looking for keepers. Christian songwriters are a dime-a-dozen these days and a lot of the stuff they put out doesn't impress me much, especially for use in a church service. Many of the songs are ME-oriented rather than GOD-oriented. Some of the songs sound like silly camp ditties. Others are too darned complicated for congregational singing. Still other songs are pitched so high or so low or have a range so vast that they can only be sung by trained professionals in tight pants with Italian last names.

However, once in a while I come across a song that gets past my defenses and under my skin. I found this song not long ago and it is my current favorite. Our worship team is learning it so that we can teach it to the congregation. You may already know it but the video makes it especially meaningful. I hope you like it, too. The lyrics were written by Rick Founds, who also wrote "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." The music was a combined effort by Rhesa Siregar, Paul Gentry, and Elton Smith. This recording was done by the group, Azimuth (www.azimuthmusic.com).

Enjoy!

Worshiping along with you,

Mike

Politically incorrect and loving it...

2009-11-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hello to all you God-loving, pistol-packin' crazy people,

My wacky sister-in-law from Wyoming, Deirdre, sent me this picture and I just have to share it with you. I don't know where it came from so I can't give credit where credit is due but it is priceless, and funny. Moreover, it expresses my own radical sentiments beautifully.

Unfortunately, I can't make the picture big enough for you to read the sign clearly, but what it says is...

My Next Door Neighbor wants to BAN all GUNS!
Their house is NOT ARMED!
Out of RESPECT for their opinions I promise NOT to use MY GUNS to PROTECT THEM.

Still preachin', prayin', laughin', and packin',
Mike

A humble witness worthy of honor

2009-11-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hello my equally twisted friends,

I came across this story and decided to pass it on. Pakistan is one of the most difficult places in the world to be openly Christian. Many of our brothers and sisters have died there in recent years for no other reason than that they loved and served the Lord Jesus Christ in a country that is predominately Muslim and hostile to the Gospel. This CNN video is about one humble Christian janitor who gave up his life to protect people who do not love our Christ and who do not understand our faith. Watch the video and then I'll have a comment or two on the other side.

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). The man in this story gave up his life to protect the lives of many young women who would have surely gone out into a Christless, hopeless eternity if it were not for him. He was a Christian hero--pure and simple.

Mike

Extreme Sheepherding

2009-11-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

Hello my demented pals,

In my 60 years I've seen a lot of weird stuff but every once in a while I come across something that leaves me scratching my head. This video is one of those things. It begs the question, "WHY?" There have to be easier ways to make art but maybe on those long, cold nights in the hills of Wales the shepherds can't find much to keep themselves occupied and entertained. Sooooo.... they came up with this. Enjoy.

And I thought I was crazy,
Mike

The Masks We Wear

2009-10-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all you little crazy people,

It’s that time of year again, the pagan festival that gives most of us Christians “the willies.” Tonight is Halloween night, when all the little ghosts, ghouls, and goblins come out of their caves once again to shake us down for candy and treats, having no idea of the evil, demonic roots of this festival, nor the significance of much that goes on in the name of “just good, clean fun.”

But we already know that the devil has long had our communities staked out for his kingdom and will do everything he can to keep them in hellish darkness. That is why it is so important that we pray against him and his schemes. But I want to bring up something that the devil counts on to give him traction and to weaken the people of God and to hinder the effects of our prayer life.

I can still remember back when I was a kid, my friends and I would dress up for Halloween and wear masks to go out Trick-or-Treating. But very often, before the night was over we would find ourselves doing malicious, destructive things that we normally would not have done, because the masks gave us a false sense of courage and a feeling of anonymity. The masks veiled our identities and emboldened us to do those wicked things.

Many of the children who come to our door tonight will be wearing masks. However, many of us grownups wear masks everyday, and that is far more disturbing.

Sometimes, adults wear masks because we want to appear more perfect than we really are. But the reality of it is, all of us are so very imperfect. Yet we persist in wearing masks to hide who we really are from others because we fear their disapproval, believing that we have to present ourselves in a certain way in order to fit in and be accepted. We are afraid of letting people see the real “us,” so depending on the occasion or circumstance we slip on a mask to fit the need of the moment. At work we may throw on a mask of authority and power in order to seem like we’re in control of our environment. At home we may put on a mask of “everything is okay,” out of fear that our spouse might stop loving us if they find out we have real problems. Some people wear their super-religious masks to conceal the guilt and shame of their secret sins. Sometimes we wear our happy-face mask to conceal our fear, anger, hurt, worry, and even depression.

Even at church many people put on a mask of self-righteousness and pride to try and convince others that they really have their stuff together, when they don’t at all. This is especially sad because church is the place where all our masks should come off and we should be genuine before God and before God’s people. God’s house is the place where we should be able to bring the ugly sinful things in our life and lay them before our Heavenly Father. We should not be concerned about what others think but only about what God knows. Yet on and on we go, shuffling our masks on and off from situation to situation. So why do we wear these stupid masks anyway? In a nutshell, we wear masks to conceal things about us that we don’t want others to know, because we are afraid of what they will think, say, or do when they find out about us.

But there are some observations I would make about masks:
1. Masks are always uncomfortable because they rub and chafe, and they force us to stay on our toes and constantly be on our guard of what we say and do.
2. It is extremely lonely behind a mask. Masks force us to keep our distance from others. They prevent us from opening up and having meaningful relationships with one another.
3. Other people are not really fooled by our masks anyway. The only person fooled is the one wearing the mask, but most people can spot a phony pretty quickly.
4. God’s doesn’t even look at our dumb mask. His eyes pierce straight into our heart.

So how do we remove our masks and become the people God wants us to be? The apostle Paul gives us some clues in Colossians 3:12-17. Read these verses with masks in mind and I think you'll be able to connect up the dots for yourself.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

One other text comes to my mind. Genesis chapter 3 tells about The Fall, which has had tremendous repercussions on all of God’s creation, including us. “Then the eyes of both of them [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings” (Genesis 3:7). When they disobeyed God and sinned Adam and Eve fell from their state of innocence. They experienced for the first time guilt and separation from God. They realized that they were naked and so they tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. But God can see through fig leaves! It is always a waste of time and energy to try and hide from Him.

Do you see the spiritual lesson here? Lots of people put on “fig leaves” to hide themselves from God’s scrutiny. Maybe the fig leaves of good works, religious devotion, piety, or sincerity. But God can see through our fig leaves! He sees our sin. He sees our spiritual nakedness. You can’t fool Him!

In the same way, many of us Christians wear masks. We pretend to be something that we are not. We have our “Sunday mask.” We have our “model-parent mask.” We have our “happy Christian mask,” etc. etc. We try to hide our true character from each other, and even more amazing, we think we can hide our true character from God!

But masks are like fig leaves, and God can see through fig leaves! And He can see through our masks just as easily. We need to quit trying to hide from God and let Him change our character so we don’t have to wear masks and fig leaves anymore.

The word “integrity” means being the same on the outside as you are on the inside. It is about being the same person when you are at home all alone in the dark, as you are when people are watching you. We need to become men and women of integrity. All of us come to God broken. That’s a fact! Maybe it’s alcoholism, pornography, adultery, drug addiction, selfishness, gossip, a nasty temper, greed, or envy. What is it that hides behind your mask? It doesn’t matter. In Christ there is genuine and complete cleansing and forgiveness. Moreover, God forgets what we were and only sees us as we are now in Christ Jesus. The masks can come down now. We don’t have to pretend with Him. He knows everything, and He loves us anyway. How cool is that?

Let take off our stupid masks since they don't work anyway, and let’s make sure that we don’t slip them back on. And remember, God loves parties, but His are always “come-as-you-are parties,” not “masquerade balls.”

Just thinking out loud again,

Mike

Gettin' Old Ain't For Sissies!

2009-10-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all my crazy young friends and relatives,

"Gettin' old ain't for sissies!" I saw that on a bumper sticker on the back of a Cadillac flying down the road at about 75 mph and thought to myself, how true it is. When I was a kid 60-years-old seemed as far away as Mars. I can remember back when I was in the fourth grade, my sister, Janis, seemed very old and grownup to me. She was 16 and a junior in high school at the time. She seemed so worldly-wise and mature. Isn't it funny how our perspective changes.

I recently went around the bend, turning 60 on October 14. My much older friends, like John Wold and Ken Flurry, tell me not to sweat it. They say that 60 is the new 40. However, my body never received that memo. My body thinks that 60 sucks big time. Let me give you an example.

On my birthday, Ramel kicked me out of bed at the unnatural hour of 7 AM, kidnapped me and forced me to drive her out to Sherwood where we ate a hearty breakfast at Rose's. She had an omelet, I had chicken-fried steak. Then, she forced me to drive her to McMinnville to spend 5 hours at the Aeronautics and Space Museum where Howard Hughs' "Spruce Goose" is hangered. Seriously, that place is awesome! I could live there. I especially loved all the WWII aircraft on display. They have a B-17 "Flying Fortress" in cherry, airworthy condition. Ramel paid the extra $4 and insisted that I take the guided tour through the B-17. I fought her on it but lost. Anyway, as I was standing there awaiting my turn I was chewing a piece of Big Red gum. All of a sudden, one of my back teeth fell out, or at least the crown and half the tooth came out and I chomped it up with the gum. Yuck! My point is, my body knew that it was my 60th birthday and so some internal mechanism sent out a message saying, "He's old now, let his teeth start falling out."

That may not be exactly what happened but that is how it felt at the time. I don't like getting old. I'm not doing it gracefully. I plan to kick and scream and pitch a fit about it.

P.S. I wrote this entry in this big bold script because some of you are getting a little long in the tooth too. I thought it might be easier to read for some of my really old friends.

Your crazy ol' pal,
Mike

MMA Theology

2009-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello you friendly fruitcake fight fans,

I need to start by explaining my long absence from writing on this blog. I've been busy. That's it. That's all the explanation you are going to get. Take it or leave it.

Anyway, Chris had his last fight way back on Sept. 16th and he came out on the short end of the deal. He lost in the third round when he got caught by a guillotine choke. He fought well and bravely, yet he was bested by his opponent, Mike Pyle. It won't be Chris' last fight. He will win some more battles in the future, but will probably lose a few, too. It goes with the territory, as they say.

It is always disappointing to lose a battle, whether it is in martial arts, on the field of war in Afghanistan, or in our daily lives. Losing never feels good. It is always a challenge to our character. Anyone can win. Winning comes easy to most people. We like to win because it makes us feel like "winners." But we hate to lose because it makes us feel like "losers."

Yet life is about more than winning and losing. Sometimes we need to lose to win. For example, insistence on putting our point across, getting our way, and proving that we are right may injure a relationship beyond repair. Sometimes the right and prudent thing to do is shut up and stop insisting that we are right and just back down, lower our battle flag, and become a peacemaker. That takes more guts, grit, and character than just forging ahead, determined to win at all costs.

If we would learn and apply this lesson there would be less wars, less marital breakups, and more peace among men in general. At least that's what I think.

Back at the keyboard,
Mike

Chris Wilson's Big Upcoming Battle

2009-09-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all you wild-eyed crazy fight fans,

Many of you know that my second son, Chris, is a professional UFC fighter. He and his sweet Brazilian wife, Luciana, along with their two kids, Lucas and Gabriela, live in Rio de Janeiro. Chris is a welterweight (170 lb.) mixed martial artist. His specialty is Muay Thai, otherwise known as Thai Kick-boxing, but he is a good all-around fighter. Some of you have asked me about when his next fight will be so I thought I'd give you a heads up. He will be fighting on Wednesday, September 16th in Oklahoma City in UFC Fight Night 19. It will be televised on Spike TV. You can check your local cable/satellite listings for exact show-times.

I can't guarantee that Chris' fight will be televised, however. His welterweight matchup against Mike Pyle is listed as the sixth fight on the 11 bout fight card so it may not end up on TV, depending on what happens in the fights that come before his. When he used to fight for Sportfight and then later on Portland's IFL team, the Wolf Pack, we always tried to attend his events. But then when he was contracted by Bodog and now with the UFC most of his fights are in far away places. Sometimes we have to watch him on pay-per-view TV, which is a really weird sensation, seeing your kid on worldwide TV.

If you would like keep up with Chris' career you should check out his website at... www.chriswilsonmma.com. You can see the fight card for his upcoming Sept. 16th bout at... http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=EventDetail.fightCard&eid=2272. Another good source of information about his career can be found on his page at Sherdog's site at... http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Chris-Wilson-9281. They will give you all of his stats since the beginning of his career. It also has a link to the photos section that has a bunch of good photographs of many of his fights.

Some people have asked me what I think about Chris' choice of a career. I used to worry about him a lot, out of fear that he would get hurt in training or in one of his fights. I don't worry about that very much anymore. I'm proud of his drive and his dedication to his craft. He is a sportsman and a fine athlete. He fights clean and always shows honor and friendship toward his opponents. He does not talk a lot of smack about his opponents like some of the guys in mma. He is not a violent person outside the ring. He is not a sadist and does not enjoy hurting people per se. While working for Team Quest, among other things, he coached the children's classes. They loved him and admired him. More importantly, Chris is a good husband and a great dad to his kids. Fighters like Chris are no different than other serious athletes. He enjoys pushing himself to his limits and measuring his strength and abilities against other people.

The New Testament has many references to athletics and even to sports like boxing. The apostle Paul was very familiar with the athletic games of his day, and in his writing he often likens the Christian life to running a race or to competing in a fight. I believe that Paul would have jumped at the chance to see one of Chris' fights. I'm proud of him like I am of all three of my kids.

Looking forward to Chris' victory on 9/16,

Mike

I Jumped... Finally!

2009-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hello my twisted friends,

I promised that I would report back after my big skydive adventure. After two aborted attempts because of bad weather my friend, Dave Hopkins, and I finally made the jump last Wednesday, Aug. 26th at approximately 3:00 PM. IT WAS AMAZING!

I've got to tell you, that was the best $189.00 I've ever spent in my life. What a rush! Call me crazy if you want. I've already owned up to that anyway. But don't knock it until you've tried it.

All suited up and waiting our turn.

Dave and I waiting for the plane.

Heading out to the field to get on the jump plane.

Our ride awaits us. No turning back now!

That's me!

Survivors from 13,000 feet!

I would recommend skydiving to anyone. The scenery was beautiful both on the way up and the way down. This was something I've wanted to do for many years. Now I can't wait to do it again. I can see how it could become addictive. The sensation is more of soaring than of falling. I'm now jealous of the birds.

The leaping lunatic,

Mike

Oh, the Government Can...

2009-09-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hello crazy people wherever you are,

If you are wasting your time reading this then you obviously don't have a life. You should get out more, read a book, take a walk, or do some work for a change. Anyway, like many of you, I get bummed out and angry every time I stop to think about what our government in Washington D.C. has been up to lately. They are spending money that does not belong to them--my money, to be exact. They are giving that money to people who should not receive it. They are taking authority that was never given to them. They are using power that is not theirs to wield. That ticks me off!

It's not that I'm just against Democrats. The fact is, I don't have any use for the Republicans either. Both parties have compromised truth and morals for so long that they are out of touch with the Christian values that made this country great. I'm a loud Independent who would love to have a Door #3 to choose from. I'm sick of only having two options, both of which are lousy. Wouldn't it be nice to have somebody with brains, courage, common sense, and godly character to vote for? Where is Abraham Lincoln when you really need him? I've concluded that those guys in Washington on both sides of the aisle have all been bit by the same stinkin' bug. I'm sick and tired of them taking my money at gunpoint on April 15th and then telling me about all the wonderful things they are going to do for other people with my generous "contribution."

I found a video about this very subject that made me laugh. Sometimes laughing is all that we can do. I hope you enjoy it.

If it weren't for my faith in God and my absolute confidence in His wisdom and sovereignty, I would have despaired long before now. I fully believe that the recent presidential election went according to His plan. But that doesn't mean that I have to like it, or the high level decisions that have transpired subsequently that have brought our country to the brink of disaster. And it doesn't mean that I have to go quietly into the sunset like a dumb sheep.

With my limited understanding of all things political, it seems to me that our federal government has hijacked our personal freedoms in many areas over the past few years. I don't like the current administration and I find very little that they are doing that I can agree with. However, this is not the first time that God has allowed bad leaders to take over the reins of power; nor will it be the last time. I also believe in the truth of the old adage that says, "A nation gets the leaders that it deserves." We, the people, elected these bums. We, the people, put them where they are. We, the people, have put up with them and made excuses for them. Now we, the people, have to smarten-up and cowboy-up and throw the bums out and replace them with people who don't see politics as a career path, and who will actually abide by the Constitution for a change. What a concept!

Smiling all the way to the poorhouse,
Mike

Does Doctine Really Matter that Much?

2009-08-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Boa tarde (means "Good afternoon" in Portuguese),

I have had a number of people tell me that the thing that turns them off about conservative evangelical Christians like me is that we seem so darned sure of ourselves. They say that when it comes to religion or moral/ethical issues we insist that our way is the only way. They point out that we claim to have a corner on truth and believe that Jesus and the Bible are the only way to Heaven. They don't like the fact that we are so stuck on the Scriptures and that we emphasize doctrine. For many people today, "doctrine" is the new 4-letter word. They say that they would be much more comfortable with a softer, more inclusive brand of Christianity that leaves room for people to believe whatever they choose as long as they consider themselves Christ-followers and seek the fellowship of the church. After all, who are we to judge others? We are all on a spiritual journey and we shouldn't be so rigid, thinking that we have cornered the market on truth.

This sort of thinking accounts for the fact that there are touchy-feely churches popping up everywhere and many Bible preaching churches are experiencing decreased numbers of attendees. Frankly, it's frustrating, though I understand the dynamics.

The following is a video from CrossTV Ministries (www.crosstv.com) produced by Mark Kielar that does a good job of putting this issue in perspective. Watch it and then I will make a couple of comments on the other side.

While I recognize that some Christians are downright nasty in the way they express their faith, that still does not justify us jettisoning the Scriptures as our rule of faith and practice. Doctrine is important. It always has been. The Christian faith rests not upon men's collective religious experiences or ideas about what is or is not true. Our faith rests squarely on the revealed Word of God, the Scriptures, that have been passed down to us.

The apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6 speaks of the things that go together to make up the glue that binds Christians together: we are of one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Father. Did you notice that it said "one faith"? Paul was not talking about the Baptist faith or the Presbyterian faith. He was not talking about petty differences between denominations or different styles of music used in the worship service. He was referring to the fact that the Christian faith is grounded on God's revealed truth. In the Word He has told us what to believe, and it is our choice to believe it or not, but our belief or lack of it does not change or diminish the truth and relevancy of what God has revealed.

Jude urges all Christians to "contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Doctrine is important. What we believe is crucial. One's religious sincerity and good intentions are meaningless if what he believes in turns out to be a lie.

There is a familiar old hymn entitled "My Faith Has Found A Resting Place" that says it best. The lyrics were penned by Eliza E. Hewitt in 1891.

Verses:

My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed;

I trust the Everliving One, His wounds for me shall plead.

Enough for me that Jesus saves, this ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him, He'll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word, the living Word of God;

Salvation by my Savior's Name, salvation through His blood.

My Great Physician heals the sick, the lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed, for me His life He gave.

Refrain:

I need no other argument, I need no other plea;

It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

Standing for the faith whether it's popular or not,

Mike

The Plug Got Pulled

2009-08-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello again so soon,

Yes, the jump was canceled because of clouds and iffy weather over the jump zone in Molalla. Rats!! We have rescheduled for Thursday of next week, August 13th at 1:00 PM. Like they say, "If at first you don't succeed..."

Disappointed but looking forward to Thursday,
Mike

Tomorrow Is the Big Day

2009-08-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, my crazy friends, Friday is almost here. Only one more day before the Big Leap into fresh air. Tomorrow at 1:00 PM my equally deranged friend, Dave, and I are going to pay money to jump out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,000 feet and hopefully to glide gently to earth suspended by a beautiful, colorful nylon canopy. I haven't been nervous about the jump up until today but people keep asking me, "Aren't you nervous?" So now they are starting to creep me out. No matter, we are plunging ahead. After it's over I'll write and tell you what it was like. Wish me luck

Skydiver Mike

10 Days Left

2009-07-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

Yes, the days are clicking by very quickly. Since my last entry 5 days have already passed. There are only 10 left to go before my "big leap" into space. Thank you, by the way, for all the phone calls, emails, cards, and letters of support begging me not to jump. Of course I'm being sarcastic... Actually, not a one of you hairy cretins has written, called, or sent up so much as a smoke signal to say anything about it--not even my family members. From that I assume that either you don't care that I am risking life and limb for a cheap thrill, or that you are actually hoping that my chute won't open. I'm not sure which it is.

Anyway, I'm just keeping you informed. If anything happens to me, don't forget to feed my dog once in a while.

Counting the days,
Mike

Countdown to August 7th

2009-07-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

Bom dia meus amigos doidos,

In Portuguese that means, "Good morning my wacky friends." I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. Many of you have suspected it for a long time but now it's official--I have indeed lost my marbles. Actually, it's not my fault. It's the crazy people I hang around with. They are to blame.

I have a friend, Dr. David Hopkins, a Presbyterian guy who is a missionary with a "first peoples" focused ministry called C.H.I.E.F. That stands for "Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship" (http://www.chief.org). I only mention that he is a Presbyterian to let you know that had I been spending time with Baptists this whole thing probably wouldn't have happened. Many years ago my mother warned me about Presbyterians.

But I digress. We meet together every Wednesday noon in a pastors prayer group. We've been doing this for about 13 years so we've logged a lot of time together. One day Dave happened to mention that he had jumped out of an airplane a few years ago. When he turned 60 he and his fruitcake brother-in-law went out to an airstrip, paid money to get into an airplane, and then bailed out at 13,000 feet.

When I showed some interest in his story he got a funny look in his eye and asked me, "Would you ever be interested in doing that?" Being all macho and proud I said, "I'd love to!" never dreaming that this Presbyterian lunatic was actually serious. Anyway, this past Wednesday Dave asked me, "How about August 7th?" Surrounded by my other moonbat pastor friends what could I say but, "Bring it on!"

Long story short... On August 7th David "The Flying Presbyterian" Hopkins and I are going to pay money to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, risking life and limb for a cheap thrill. There you have it, my confession. By my calculations that gives me 15 days to get my house in order, though some of you have seen my house and know that it is going to take longer than that. Anyway, I thought you should know.

It's nice to have friends at a time like this. Our ground-hugging cowardly pastor friends say they plan to be at the Molalla airport that day with shovels and a large black plastic tarp to gather the pieces. Apparently their only concern is how they will by able to sort out the remains to get the right victim in the right box for burial. How encouraging!

When I broke the news to Ramel, my wife, I expected there would be more wailing and gnashing of teeth. She's got me a little concerned. She spent all day yesterday on the phone talking with insurance companies. What's that all about?

15 days and counting,
Mike

You're getting a tattoo on your what?

2009-07-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hello again, my wing nut friends,

I've been traveling to and fro, not stopping long enough to write. But I've repented and come in for a landing, at least for now.

Those of you who occasionally read this blog (both of you) know that I am an impulsive writer, a reactionary, if you will. I see things, I think about them for a while, and then I bust out with comments, usually that no one wants to hear. Really smart writers, on the other hand, are more pro-active. They start with an idea or a thought that has finally bubbled and burbled and worked itself up to the surface of their psyche. Then they write about it.

Like I said, I write about stuff that I see around me. And one of those things that I see is women of all ages getting tattoos, apparently on every part of their anatomy. What is this all about? Who came up with the idea that women need giant sailor tattoos to make them look better?

Now I'm not against women trying to look their best. I'm not against jewelry or makeup. I don't care if women want to color their hair or get their nails and toes painted. In fact, almost any barn looks better with a coat of paint on it! You see, I'm not completely closed minded. However, I don't understand why tattoos are on the rise among women.

Moreover, I have come up with a theory that I am calling "Mike's Law." Here it is: The likelihood that a woman will have a tattoo is in direct proportion to the degree of her ugliness and to her net weight. I have seen more fat, homely women with tattoos than I can count. Does she really think that a big honking tattoo on her meaty calf is going to make her more attractive?

My wife and I drove up to the North Fork Reservoir the other day and sat for a while and watched the boats. A family of four pulled their boat in and started to prepare to leave after a few pleasant hours on the water. The wife and mother of the family was wearing a bra-type top revealing her very ample middle. Her entire waist area was tattooed. What we could see was a band of tattooing about six inches high all around her middle, giving the impression that there was even more under the waist band of her tight-fitting shorts. Seeing her reminded me of Herman Melville's savage cannibal character, Queequeg, in his book, Moby Dick. Ramel diplomatically said, "Maybe she got the tattoo before she put on all that weight." Perhaps. But what the woman has now is an ugly tattooed spare tire around her middle. It ain't pretty!

I even see high school aged girls with tattoos. It makes me want to slap their mothers and fathers for being felony-stupid and apparently unable to pronounce the simple English phrase, "Over my dead body." When I see tattoos on guys I just figure they are idiots. Bubba and his buddies probably got wasted one night and dared each other to get a tattoo. That's just the kind of stupidity I expect from guys. Sorry, fellows but I know whereof I speak. But when girls and women come out sporting tattoos I think they look cheap, as well as stupid--a double whammy.

Now it's disclaimer time. This is my blog and I'm telling you my opinion. You don't have to like it. You don't have to agree with me. But I can't help but think that 99.9% of women who get tattoos when they are young will regret it when they get old. When she gets to be 75-year-old great-grandmother and her little grand-kids ask, "Grandma, what is that weird gray blob on your ankle?" she will rue the day that she got that infernal tattoo. A friend of Ramel's summed it up beautifully. A number of years ago she had a little dog tattooed on her breast. But time marches on and gravity is relentless. She told Ramel that now her little dog looks more like a giraffe!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the behavior of people in the world, because pagans do what pagans do, but I am very saddened when I see professing Christians following the same self-destructive fads. A few months ago a youngish woman I know asked me if I could get her a copy of The Lord's Prayer in Greek. She also asked for a copy of the 23rd Psalm in Hebrew. I went down to my office and got my Hebrew OT and my Greek NT and made copies for her of the appropriate pages. I just thought maybe she wanted to frame them or something. She got very excited when I handed her the copies, but then she broke the news to me that she was planning to have one or the other of them tattooed on her back, because she thought it would be "a great testimony." I about passed out! I certainly did not want to be complicit in that train wreck! After I was able to start breathing again I asked her why she thought that would be a good idea. She said that people would probably be curious and would ask her about it, and then she would be able to witness to them. While I praised her for her enthusiasm and desire to share her faith, I tried to point out some obvious loopholes in her misguided plan.

For one thing, I asked her if she had looked into the Scriptures for guidance about this. She said that she had not and didn't even know that the Bible mentions tattoos. I took her to Leviticus 19:28 which plainly says, "Never cut your bodies in mourning for the dead or mark your skin with tattoos, for I am the LORD." Her face went pale when she read this because she already has several other tattoos. She said, "I didn't know that was in there." But indeed, it is.

The heathen used both scarification and tattooing. However, the Lord told His people, Israel, that they were not to participate in those heathen practices. They were to be different and were to treat their bodies as holy unto the Lord. Some of you will undoubtedly jump at the chance to point out that this is an Old Testament passage directed by God to the Jews. It is not specifically about Gentiles and is not written to Christians.

First of all, if you start down that hermeneutical road you'll end up cherry picking the things you like in the OT and rejecting out of hand the things that you find objectionable. The apostle Paul tells us in II Timothy 3:16 that "All Scripture [including the OT] is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." The fact is that this principle in question is laid down in the Old Testament and then developed much more fully in the New Testament. The NT teaches us that our bodies are the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Spirit of God. Therefore, we are not to defile our bodies with sinful practices because our bodies belong to Him. Paul explains in I Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Seems pretty clear to me.

In my opinion, for any Christian, male or female, to get a tattoo it is like painting graffiti all over the walls of a great cathedral. It is a sacrilege. Our bodies don't belong to us anymore. We don't have a right to do permanent damage to them, no matter how cute we might think it looks. It's the same as vandals tagging another person's house. It's just wrong. That's what I think.

Crazy, but not stupid enough to get a tattoo,
Mike

How did they do that?

2009-06-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all you loonies,

I have been fascinated by the Prius car ads on TV. Do you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that use about a gazillion people in colorful costumes to form roads, trees, flowers, and mountains? Every time it comes on TV Ramel and I puzzle over how they do that. Curious minds want to know. So, like my hero, Sherlock Holmes, I went looking for answers.

And what better place to start than the Internet, the source of all that is true and authentic. I found a YouTube video that explains it all. Take a minute to watch it and then I'll have a couple of observations on the other side.

What fascinates me about this is the way it tricks your eyes. Watching the ad you would conclude that it took a cast of thousands, which is not true. They actually only used a crew of 200 extras, then multiplied them electronically using computers so that the finished product looks like 1 million people. To me that is truly amazing.

Are there any spiritual lessons here? I think so. The effect of Christians in the world is greater than their actual numbers. In the same way that Jesus borrowed a little boy's lunch of 5 barley cakes and 2 dried fishes and multiplied them to feed a multitude of 5,000 men plus all their women and children (see John 6:1-14), in the same way God multiplies us, and whatever we put in His hands and He makes it more, bigger, and better.

The Bible says that Christ's followers are light and salt in this world. Salt never stays where it is put. It always spreads out and permeates whatever medium in which it finds itself. And light does the same thing. A little bit of light can go a very long way. Soldiers on the battlefield learn this very quickly. Lighting a cigarette can give your position away to an enemy who is still miles away because that little bit of light spreads out and goes far.

I pastor a very small church, and one that unfortunately has been getting smaller due to a number of factors, some of which I understand and some that I am still trying to figure out. But I digress... My point is that with God's help and empowerment the effectiveness of a group of Christians in a local community can go way beyond their actual numbers. That is important to know and remember at those times when we begin to become discouraged, thinking that we are not having much effect and are failing miserably. Salt is seldom aware of how far its influence spreads, and light never knows how far it can be seen. Our job is just to keep on being faithful to what the Master has called us to do. We'll leave the multiplication to Him.

There is an old hymn that hardly anybody sings anymore. It was composed by Kittie L. Suffield back in 1924 and it's entitled, "Little Is Much When God Is In It." The Gaither Vocal Band has a good rendition of it and I want you to listen to it and pay attention to the words. It is a good reminder that our "little" can become "much" in His hands. A "few" can look like "many" when He is running the production.

One small crazy piece of God's big project,
Miguelito

In the Doghouse?

2009-06-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hello my wacky friends,

Most of us husbands find it intimidating and perplexing to try and buy good gifts for our wives. In my opinion, any man who says he finds it easy is either lying, or is some kind of weird mutant metro-sexual weenie who should not be taken seriously anyway. At no time will the Mars/Venus thing rear its ugly head more frighteningly than at Christmas, Valentine's Day, her birthday, and your anniversary. These four are the yearly mine fields that every man must pass through, hopefully without getting his legs blown off and bleeding to death.

Let's take a look at a brief case study. What man has not considered getting his little lady a new dishwasher for their anniversary? His reasoning goes this way... "Our old one is broken, we need a new one, and this one is on sale. It will save her a lot of work, for which she will be very grateful. It is in her favorite color. It is expensive, so I know she'll appreciate it. On top of everything, the store guy says they will deliver it on our big day with a big red bow on it. What could possibly go wrong?"

My naive friend, RUN, do not walk, to the nearest exit! Get out of the appliance section. You are about to make the worst mistake of your life. For the Big Four special occasions mentioned above, appliances are never, I repeat, NEVER, the right gift for the little woman. If you go forward with this plan it will put you in the DOGHOUSE, eating quiche and drinking chai tea for every meal! And you will be there for a very long time. Women have long memories, like elephants and the IRS.

The following husband training video will explain what I am trying to tell you. You young fellows especially, pay close attention.

As an old salty-dog husband who has made his share of near-fatal mistakes in the gift-buying area, I feel more than qualified to tell you young bucks a thing or two. Jewelry is the thing. It is always a sure winner. Chocolates and flowers should accompany the jewelry. Do not buy appliances. Do not buy power tools. Stay away from kitchen utensils or gardening implements of any kind. Besides being a greased slide straight to the doghouse, these things can easily be turned into weapons in the hands of an angry wife. Do not run the risk!

I hope this little instructional session has been helpful. Now go out and sin no more.

Crazy, but still running free,
Mike

Country Kids

2009-05-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello wingnuts,

I was just sitting here reflecting on the good ol' days back when I was a kid growing up in the country. I had a wonderful childhood, with freedom to run and play, and with no fears about perverts or molesters. My friends and I spent hours swinging on ropes from the rafters in old barns. We used to hang around the old grain elevator and play hide and seek among the old box cars. I had a horse, a gentle Morgan mare named Trixie, and we rode together all over the hills overlooking Imbler and Summerville. I also had a paper route, starting when I was 7 years old. I delivered the LaGrande Evening Observer to people all over the Imbler area, riding my little red 20" bicycle. When I got hired for that job I was the youngest paper boy in Oregon and have an old yellowed newspaper clipping to prove it.

Later we moved to Dallas, OR where we had a big ranch style house out on the Dallas/Rickreall Hwy. I went to Orchard View School when I was in the 5th Grade. It was a two-room country school house. The first and second graders were in one room and the 3rd-5th graders were in the other. We played baseball or dodge-ball during recess. Again, I had a horse and a dog and freedom to wander and it was wonderful. My friends and I used to swim in Rickreall Creek and go out shooting our .22's and doing a bunch of other crazy stuff that my children have been prevented from doing because of growing up in cities.

Looking back I know that I was very fortunate. I got to do all the things that people today are paranoid about. I got my first gun from my Uncle Ray when I was seven. It was a single-shot .22 rifle that he had cut down for my Aunt Lois to shoot but she never got interested in it so he gave it to me. I always carried a knife, and a big sharp one. In fact, every kid I knew carried a knife, even some of the girls. It was normal, and no one ever thought of using it to hurt another person. Most homes back then had gun cabinets and they were always unlocked. Farmers also usually had a rifle in a rack in their pickup. They would park on the street in LaGrande and not even roll up the window. No one would think of stealing it.

Lots of people never locked their houses back then, unless they left for vacation and were planning to be gone for a week. Our house was never locked during the day. I didn't have a house key until I was a junior in high school and we were living in Salem. Up until then I had never needed one. Looking back I see that I was growing up in a different world than the ones my children and grandchildren know. It makes me melancholy to realize that they will never have those experiences.

A friend sent me the following and I thought it was funny. It kind of goes along with what I have just been saying. Enjoy...

The Tennessee Farm Kid
(Writing a letter home from San Diego MARINE CORPS Recruit Training)

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 AM. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, or fire to lay. Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there’s warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It’s no wonder these city boys can’t walk much.

We go on “route marches,” which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and Colonels just ride around and frown. They don’t bother you none.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don’t know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don’t move, and it ain’t shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don’t even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call “hand-to-hand combat training.” You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain’t like fighting with that old bull at home. I’m about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake... I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I’m only 5’6” and 130 pounds and he’s 6’8” and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,

Alice

Oh, yea... did I happen to mention that the girls were pretty tough back then too? You just gotta love those farm girls.

Old and crazy, and remembering those good days,
Mike

Rube Goldberg lives on

2009-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Ho, crazy people,

The name, Rube Goldberg, may or may not mean anything to you. Reuben Goldberg (1883-1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor who received a 1948 Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning. However, he is probably best known for his series of very popular cartoons depicting "Rube Goldberg contraptions," complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect and complicated ways. I grew up hearing my Dad use the expression that such-n-such "looked like a Rube Goldberg deal." Anything that was sort of patched together and makeshift but could get the job done was classified as a Rube Goldberg contraption.

The real Rube Goldberg is dead and his cartoons are long forgotten but his name and his creative genius live on. In fact, there is an annual Rube Goldberg contest and convention where people from all over the world compete to make the most outrageous machines to do the simplest things. The following video was produced by Honda. I love it! I think Rube Goldberg would have loved it too.

I find that I am sometimes like Rube Goldberg. I am guilty of making things difficult that should be simple. Notice that I didn't say, "easy." Some things are simple and uncomplicated, yet difficult. For example, being a Christian is simple, but not easy. But all too often we make it harder by making it complicated. Does that make any sense?

Let me give you an example of what I'm trying to say. Christians often turn Christianity into a list of rules, of do's and don'ts, much like the ancient Pharisees did with God's Law. We build fences and we create our own religious rules to live by. But what does God require of us? Micah 6:8 says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." That is not easy, but it is pretty simple. Or how about Deuteronomy 10:12-13? "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" Jehovah God through the prophet Isaiah sums it up this way in Isaiah 1:16-17, "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." One more passage to make my point. James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

There are a lot of Rube Goldberg Christians running around. They make complicated what God intended to be simple. Again, notice that I didn't say, "easy." Being a follower of Jesus has never been easy but let's not complicate it any more than it needs to be.

Still crazy and not improving,
Miguelito

Offline and out of circulation...

2009-05-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hello crazy friends,

I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog entry. I have no good excuse except that I've been busy and also running on my reserve tank. I've discovered that blogging is not easy. To continually come up with new insights or to find interesting tidbits is hard and time consuming. I apologize to those of you who occasionally check in at this blog to see what I've been up to. Aunt Fern, I'll try to do better.

I did find something that I think is amazing and I want to share it with you. This is a video by a group called The VOCA People. They are an amazing acappella singing group. I think you will agree.

Our son, Christopher, is staying with us for a few days. He flew up from Rio for a UFC fight that was supposed to happen on Saturday, May 23rd. However, his fight got canceled due to a snarl-up with his medical record. It wasn't Chris' fault and the UFC went ahead and paid his fight fee and will reschedule him for the next possible UFC event, perhaps as early as the end of June. At any rate, it was disappointing for all of us. He was cocked, loaded, and ready to go. Oh well.

Please remember to pray for him and his family. They were recent victims of a home invasion robbery in Rio that was very traumatic. We just thank God that He spared them and that all four of them came out of it alive. You can read Chris' account of the robbery on his website at http://www.chriswilsonmma.com. It's one of the first blog entries, entitled "It was scary."

Until next time,
Mike

A.W.O.L.

2009-03-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

Dear crazy friends (and insane relatives),

I'm back, like a bad rash. I'm embarrassed to see how long it's been since I posted anything on here. My Aunt Fern told me the other day to get crackin' and write something because she's tired of checking my blog and finding no updates. So-oooooo, here I go.

But breaking back into the blogging routine is not something to be taken lightly, something you do all at once. You have to kind of ease into it, slowly. So I'm just going to post something to make you smile. At least, something to make you men smile. You ladies might not think this is funny at all. I've observed that women have a weird sense of humor. So at the risk of being considered politically incorrect I give you...

From: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
Subject: WOMAN—A Chemical Analysis

Element: Woman
Symbol: WO2
Discoverer: Adam (last name unknown)
Atomic Mass: Accepted as 118 lbs. but known to vary from 100 to 550 lbs.
Occurrence: Copious quantities in all urban areas but also found in rural regions

Physical Properties:
1. Surface sometimes plain but usually covered with a painted film
2. Boils at nothing, freezes without reason
3. Melts if given special treatment
4. Bitter if incorrectly used
5. Found in various states ranging from virgin metal to common ore
6. Yields to pressure applied to correct points

Chemical Properties:
1. Has a great affinity for gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones
2. Absorbs great quantities of expensive substances
3. May explode spontaneously without prior warning for no known reason
4. Insoluble in liquids, but activity greatly increased by saturation in alcohol
5. Most powerful money-reducing agent known to man

Common Uses:
1. Highly ornamental, especially in sports cars and sailboats
2. Can be a great aid to relaxation

Tests:
1. Pure specimen turns rosy pink when discovered in the natural state
2. Turns green when placed beside a better specimen

Hazards:
1. Highly dangerous except in experienced hands
2. Illegal to possess more than one

Planning to write again soon,
Mike

An Uneasy Peace

2009-01-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

Something I read recently started the wheels spinning in my head and I need to talk it out, so bear with me. The article was pointing out that the local church should be "big enough," meaning open enough, to accept and embrace "Christians" of all different lifestyles and beliefs as long as they are saved. It put forth that the only really important thing is to believe in Jesus as your personal Savior. It said that we should "not allow doctrine to divide us." I've been pondering that thesis.

On the one hand I believe that there is only one requirement for salvation and that is our trust in, and absolute submission to, the person of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. To enter into God's family is uncomplicated--"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). However, after that things can start to get a little bit sticky in the local church.

If a Christian holds his doctrinal beliefs very loosely then he can feel at home in any congregation. For example, if we determine that whether or not we baptize infants is merely a matter of taste and preference then it's all good. No problems, mate. And if we conclude that it's of no great theological importance whether or not a Christian can lose his/her salvation, then we will feel equally at home in a Nazarene church or a Presbyterian church. Some would say, "Let's just major on the majors and choose to disagree agreeably." Sounds good, right?

It sounds good until somebody like me comes along and thinks that it is important whether or not the Church has supplanted and replaced Israel as God's chosen people. It sounds good until somebody like me points out that there is not one single case of infant baptism in scripture or in the first few centuries of the church. Or how about a boatload of other issues? Here are a few more that come to mind:

Did revelation cease with the completion of the canon or is it continuing?
Is the Bible to be interpreted literally or merely figuratively?
Does the mode of baptism have any importance or is it a multiple choice issue, one way being as good as the others?
Does the Bible allow for both genders to serve in the church equally and in the same ways or is there such a thing as biblical polity and practice?
Do we get all of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation or is there a second dose to be received later on?
Does God really give Christians a personal prayer language?
Is speaking in an unknown tongue a sign of the Spirit's presence in a believer's life?
Is the Lord's Table a memorial or a sacrament?

One of the things I've observed since returning from Brazil in 1991 is the number of American churches that are changing their names to be more generic, more politically correct, more user-friendly, less denominational, etc. Check it out for yourself in the DEX church pages. What used to be called "Such-'n-such Baptist Church" is now "LifePointe Happy Fellowship." What does that name mean, for crying out loud? Or "Here-'n-there Assembly of God" is now "Friendship Community Founded on the Rock." "ThisTown Methodist" is now "Red Sea LifeGate" or something equally nebulous. I see these weird names all over the city and wonder, "Who in the heck are they, and what do they teach?"

In my humble opinion there is something to be said for a church being honest and courageous enough to fly its flag and let people know who they are and what they stand for. I may not agree with them on every point but I can respect them for taking a stand based on their honest interpretation of scripture. If I'm new in town and looking for a church to attend or join I don't want to have to waste my time going to a local church meeting only to find out that they hold to and support women preachers, baptizing infants, the National Gay Christian Alliance [made up name], or Arminian theology. They may have a gifted orator for a preacher, a beautiful building, a killer worship team, a missions ministry going in every direction, and the best nursery in town but those things don't matter much to me. I'm a doctrine guy.

I have worked across denominational lines for years in evangelistic efforts and I actually enjoy it. I can fellowship with people who hold very different theological views from mine, at least in certain settings. However, in the local church where we work to educate believers in what the Bible teaches it eventually gets to the point where lines have to be drawn and issues clarified according to our understanding of the scriptures. As a preacher and teacher of God's Word I cannot say that the issues I have brought up here as examples are of little importance.

For example, when the question arises in the congregation concerning the ordination of women to the pastorate I am not going to remain silent and just go with the flow, no matter how many other churches think it is OK. When an adult Sunday School teacher suddenly decides to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation I'm not going to merely smile at him and say, "Well, that's your opinion." For me, doctrine is very important, even though some of you might think that I'm obsessing over things that aren't all that crucial.

There are local congregations of good Christian folks who love Jesus and are going to Heaven who wouldn't be comfortable for very long with me in their church, because I wouldn't be able to go along with a bunch of the stuff they believe and teach, and wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut about it. I would be miserable and would make other people miserable, sooner or later.

Until we all get to Heaven and can sort all this stuff out in Remedial Theology 101 Class taught by King Jesus I think that we are stuck with having different flavors of Christianity reflected in the various different denominational groups. Denominations are not of the devil, per se. They are the natural outcome of humans grouping themselves around their particular understanding of important truths. Even though we attend different churches we can still love one another, respect one another, work with one another, and fellowship with one another.

That works for me. How about you? Feel free to comment.

Still pondering,

Mike

Christmas Sliding Sideways...

2009-01-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

I haven't written for a while because our lives have been in a bit of a turmoil for the past couple of weeks. Some of you know that my wife's mother has been ill for quite a while and has been living in an elder care facility in Pinedale, Wyoming. We took a whirlwind trip back there in October when we got word that she might not make it through the next 24 hours. But the Lord was not ready yet at that time for her to move into her heavenly mansion. However, early on Christmas Eve morning we got a phone call from Ramel's sister, Deirdre, saying that their mom had gone home to be with Jesus.

As you can imagine that was a tough thing to hear, even though we were somewhat prepared for it. Does anyone ever get fully prepared to lose his mother or father? I don't think so. I know that I was not ready to lose my folks. However, God's ways are higher than our ways and we know that He does not make mistakes. We grieve, but not as those who have no hope. We know that Beulah is with the Lord and that makes all the difference in the world.

We had Mom's memorial service this past Saturday afternoon, Jan. 3rd, and we celebrated her life and remembered together all that she meant to us. But we also honored the One she loved above all others, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we committed her to His gentle care and keeping. On Sunday morning, out in a little pioneer cemetery on the flats above Maupin, Oregon we committed her tired, worn out body to its final resting place until the Lord's return. But we are confident that she is not in that grave. She is with the Lord, and we will see her again, along with all our other loved ones who have gone on to Heaven ahead of us. That is a great comfort.

Resting in God's promises,
Mike

Beulah Mildred (Richmond) Springstead

Finally Home

Born on November 20th, 1922.

Went to be with Jesus on December 24th, 2008.

My How Time Flies...

2008-12-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hi so soon,

By golly, I'm making good on yesterday's promise to write more often on my blog. I'm turning over a new leaf, as they say. Actually I know what that expression means and it has nothing to do with the leaves that fall off of the darned maple trees in my backyard. It refers to leaves of paper, which we more commonly call "pages." To "turn over a new leaf" means to make a fresh start, to turn the page of your book or of your diary to begin writing on a fresh surface. That's what I'm doing.

I recently came across something that I found very interesting yet ominously disturbing at the same time. We all know that the world is changing around us very quickly. We sense that technology is moving faster than we are. We buy a new gadget and before we manage to work our way through the owner's manual the darned thing is already a dinosaur on the market. Or perhaps you invested the time/energy/brains to take a course to learn a new software program for work. But now, after a short time, the software has been deemed obsolete and has already been replaced. Now the boss wants you to take another class to learn the new program.

Watch this video and then I'll have some comments about it on the other side.

What does all of this mean? First of all it means that our world is changing faster than we are. By that I'm saying that humans per se have not changed at all since the beginning. Our bodies still work the same way, with the same strengths and limitations. Oh we have gotten a little bigger/taller because of nutrition, but that is offset by the fact that we have also gotten fatter and are more likely to die of diabetes and/or heart disease than our forefathers. Our brains are about the same size as Adam's though we store much more trivial information in ours than he did in his. We aren't smarter, it's just that we know different stuff.

Human nature hasn't changed either. Humankind is still plagued by the sins of greed, anger, covetousness, idolatry, sexual perversion, etc. etc. There may be more of us today on this planet but we still ain't worth much, if you get my drift.

From a ministry standpoint we are still dealing with the same issues. People still need Jesus. They still need a Savior. With all our fast-paced living and all our accumulation of useless factoids, people are still afraid of death, still haunted by their past, still screwed-up by lousy families and broken relationships.

After I watched this video I wanted to scream, "Stop the world! I want to get off!" But we can't do that. The world will keep spinning. Intimidating new technologies will continue to show up. Wars will increase and nations will rise up against one another. Millions of new babies will be born to parents who have no clue how to raise them in this crazy world. We will continue to be bombarded with messages to "BUY! BUY! BUY!"

And... God's promises will still be valid, Jesus will still be seeking lost sheep who need saving, the Bible will still be true, churches will still be needed to "rescue the perishing and care for the dying" as the old hymn puts it, and those who know Christ will still be eternally saved.

It seems to me there are two possible responses...
*(1) We can become overwhelmed with the mind-blowing changes going on around us and slip into despair and isolationism, simply holding the fort until Jesus comes back. Or...
*(2) We can recognize that we are living in exciting times with unique challenges yet with all the power of Heaven at our disposal to carry out our God-ordained mission of preaching the Gospel and making disciples while there is still yet time.

The Bible makes it clear that in the last days there will be an escalation of learning and knowledge, yet without insight or godly wisdom. Sin will increase rather than decrease. Men will become more violent rather than less. The world will get worse, not better. Check out Paul's words to Timothy about the end of days (I Timothy 4:1-5; II Timothy 3:1-9).

I don't know what the future holds but I know that God, His Word, His Kingdom, His love, His promises always trump anything the world comes up with. Man, with all of his technology will never outgrow his need for God. I call that job security :).

Yours truly,
Mike

Shame, Embarrassment, and Deepest Apologies

2008-12-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow crazies,

I'm embarrassed when I see how long it's been since my last posting. I apologize to both of you who occasionally read this rag. My Aunt Fern tells me that she reads it sometimes, and a guy named Jeff B. has checked it out a few times. Other than them I can't figure out who the other 1,860+ hits to the site might be. Probably people who clicked accidentally while looking for something else. Oh well. Writing is mainly therapeutic anyway.

To be perfectly honest I don't have any burning issues driving me back here to write again, that is except for feelings of guilt for having started a blog and then pooping out on it. Why do I find it so hard to maintain consistency? I'm certainly not the first one to have asked that question. It seems like most of us humans are great starters but not so good at following through.

Permit me to offer some examples. All full of vim and vinegar we start diets, intent upon losing those ugly pounds. For the first two days or so things go smoothly, but then we start to lose our resolve. We look in the mirror and tell ourselves that it's not that big of a deal. First it's a bowl of ice cream, then a big meal out with friends, then a complete leap off the wagon.

We make a New Year's resolution to have personal devotions every day. We do all right for about a week, then we miss a couple of days. Now we are out of sync with our One Year Bible reading plan. To get back on course would mean reading all those extra chapters that we missed, which would take more time than we have right now. So... we set it aside thinking we'll catch up later.

Or how about this one? Our doctor says that we need exercise so we decide to start walking for a half hour every day. That works out for the first few days but then some bad weather rolls in and we rationalize that we wouldn't want to pick up a nasty cold or sore throat so we beg off from the daily stroll.

Does any of this sound familiar? We humans are great starters but our sticktoitiveness is often in short supply. I think this problem manifests itself in some other ways too. Marriages fail because people find it easier to jump into a new relationship than to take the time and trouble to fix the old one. People choose to leave their flawed church rather than invest in making it into the ideal church they've always dreamed of being a part of. It's about commitment.

Being aware of the problem puts us on the path toward a solution. I'm back to walking regularly again, and I plan to be more regular at posting to my blog. I will try to offer things worth reading, or things that will brighten your day.

Finally back in the blogger saddle,

Mike

P.S. If you read this leave a comment to let me know. My goal is to provide a dialogue place where we can share thoughts and ideas. Besides that I am pathetically dependent upon your feedback to keep me going.

A Father's Tears

2008-10-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hello my fellow crazy travelers,

Steven Curtis Chapman has long been one of my favorite Christian singer/songwriters. He is gifted both with lyrics and with musical composition. He has had a consistent testimony over his 20+ years of ministry and his music has been a blessing to me and millions of other people.

A few weeks ago I was driving back home to Portland from a 3-day men's conference. I was on the road between Lebanon and Albany listening to a Christian FM radio station when Chapman's song, "Cinderella," came on the air. I had heard the song several times before but suddenly I heard it in a new way. For some reason it made me think of my own daughter, Simoni, who is now almost 22-years-old, married with children of her own. I thought back to all the times I was too busy for her, too busy to play with her, too busy to listen to her, too busy to give her the attention she needed and deserved. I thought of how many times I was overly stern with her, hurting her with my words and actions. I started to tear up so bad that I had to pull the car over to the shoulder of the road and park until I could get my emotions back under control. Isn't it amazing how a song has the power to touch us that deeply. The song hit me sideways and I realized that I have not always been there for my "Cinderella" when she really needed me.

Then, as I got the car headed down the road again, I suddenly thought of the song in the context of the tragic story of his little girl's recent death and I got all misty again. Maria Sue, 5-years-old, was one of the Chapmans' three little adopted Chinese daughters. On Wednesday, May 21st of this year one of their older sons was moving the family SUV in the driveway and accidently backed over his little sister and killed her.

I cannot begin to imagine the pain that the whole Chapman family has had to endure--for their young son who was driving the car, for the other children in the family, for Steven and his wife, Mary Beth. The following is a video tribute that they did in remembrance of little Maria Sue, using the song, "Cinderella." Watch the video. I'll have a few more things to say on the other side.

I have three children, all grown up and married with kids of their own. A few days ago we took our second son, Chris, and his family to the airport. They are moving to Miami, FL. Earlier that morning as Chris and I were coming back from shuttling his car out to a friend's house in Gresham we had a while in the car together to talk, just father and son. Our conversation turned to the subject of raising children. Chris has two, Lucas (5) and Gabriela (8 months). He expressed his desire to be a good dad and his frustration about sometimes screwing it up. He asked me some questions to which I did not have very good answers because I'm still a novice in the dad business. It was an interesting moment as we shared our common desire to be good dads, to raise our children to know right from wrong and to be emotionally balanced. We have our children for so little time. Before we know it they are all grown up and gone. In Steven Curtis Chapman's case he only had his little daughter for 5 years and then she was gone in seconds.

I didn't mean for this blog entry to be a downer but sometimes it's important to stop and remember that this life is very short and we don't always get second chances or do-overs. With some things we just have to get it right the first time.

A proud but crazy father,
Migueleto

Lessons Learned While Dining With the Troops

2008-09-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow moonbats,

My wife's brother, Cliff, is a retired Army guy. He now works for the State of Oregon helping vets find jobs when they get out of the service. A while back he stopped by our house and picked up some stuff to take back home for his daughter. As we were loading up his trunk he handed me an MRE pack. For all you civilian types, these are the ready-to-eat meals that our young soldiers eat in the field when they are out on missions away from their bases. They are what many of our young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan experience every day. I promptly stuck it away in a closet and forgot about it.

However, recently my wife, Ramel, was gone for three days to a pastors' wives retreat so I was baching it at home (that's short for "bacheloring," by the way, and has nothing to do with Johann Sebastian Bach). The first night I ate some old dried out fried chicken that I found in the refrigerator. I had a can of chili the second night. But on the third night, while poking around in the pantry looking for some grub, I came across that MRE. I decided to check it out.

It turned out to be kind of a weird experience for me. As I slit open the heavy green plastic packet with my tactical knife I began to remove the items one by one. It gave me a strange sensation. All of a sudden I felt like I was looking at the scene through the eyes of a hungry young soldier. All of the individual packets inside were Army green. There was one that said, "Crackers." To go along with those there was a generous tube of creamy peanut butter. There was another packet that claimed to be, "Western Beans." To be honest the first thing that came to my mind when I read that was the campfire scene from the movie, "Blazing Saddles," but let's not go there. They turned out to be very tasty. The entrée packet claimed to be, "Steak With Mushroom Gravy." That sounded promising indeed.

In among the other things was a special plastic bag with a chemical heating agent in it. The instructions said to insert the entrée packet and then pour a couple of ounces of water down the side. Then you are supposed to fold down the flap and insert the whole thing into the little paper box provided. The instructions suggested propping the packet up against a rock while waiting for the food to heat, but I made do by laying it on the bread board. What happened was quite amazing. It started heating immediately and got very hot. Within 10 minutes the food was ready to eat. While I was waiting I mixed 8-ounces of cold water with the beverage packet that said, "Grape Drink." The instructions advised me to use only purified water from my canteen but I took a chance and used tap water.

The whole meal was surprisingly good, and my stomach was full when I finished. There were even two medium sized Tootsie Rolls for dessert. I sat there alone, thinking about the brave young men and women who might have been eating the very same MRE off in some forgotten corner of Afghanistan. It gave me a strange feeling.

But there was something else, too, though I'm not sure I can do an adequate job of explaining it. I began to think about how I looked forward with excited anticipation as I opened up each one of those silly little food packets, unsure what I would find in them. I was amazed at the little chemical "stove." I enjoyed every bite of the steak and finished off every drop of the gravy.

I got to thinking how I go through so much of my life, day after day, without noticing or appreciating little things or looking forward to new experiences. I've become sort of jaded; nothing much surprises me anymore. Life has few adventures left for me. But that is not really true, is it? That is a messed up perspective. Life, every day, should be an adventure. Certainly, with God in the picture you never know what is going to happen. He has a funny way of upsetting your apple cart. I think He has to do that sometimes just to wake us up to smell the roses.

I want to live life every day the way my little granddaughter, Natalie, does. She sits and watches everything, with big brown eyes that grow even bigger when she sees something new. She smiles all the time and laughs a lot. I want to be more like her, because I think that when we lose the wonder of life, the joy of living, we become poorer in spirit, indeed.

The Bible says that real life is to truly know Christ, "...whom to know is life eternal." We were created by God to enjoy this life and to look forward to the next.

Dear Lord, please help me to see every day as an adventure, a blank page. Help me not to grow old in my mind and in my attitudes, but to always be like little Natalie, looking at the world around me in wide-eyed wonder, always excited about what's in the next package. And help me to always remember that the best is yet to come.

Hoping for a great dessert in Heaven,
Mike

Revival-on-demand

2008-09-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hello my crazy friends,

I remember back many years ago when my kids were little and we used to travel a lot by car we would listen to Ray Stevens tapes to help the miles pass more quickly for our boys. You remember Ray Stevens, don't you? He was one who sang "Ahab, the Arab," "Guitarzan," "The Blue Cyclone," and of course, who could forget "The Streak," just to name a few. Before long Jonathan and Chris had every single one of his songs memorized. I think they still remember most of them to this day, even after so many years.

But one of my favorite Ray Stevens songs was called "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival." I happened to find a video version of it recently on YouTube and thought I'd share it with you in case you've never heard it. Ray Stevens sings the song and acts out the part. I hope you enjoy it. I'll have a few more things to say after you've watched it.

I wish it were that easy to get a revival started. If I thought it would help I'd be out trying to trap squirrels. Unfortunately, revivals are not so easy to kick start.

I meet every Wednesday from noon to 1:30 with a small group of pastors to pray. We've been doing this for about 12 years now. We pray for our country, our city, our leaders, our churches, and for one another. However, from the beginning one of our major prayer requests has been that God would once again send revival to Portland, Oregon where we continue to serve Him. If revival were something that we could just schedule or work up and make happen, we would certainly have had one before now. But it just ain't that easy. You see, revival is a God thing.

Not long ago I saw a church sign in Vancouver, WA announcing, "Revival Meeting Here Tonight!" Oh, I wish it were that easy. Unfortunately, revival is a Heaven-sent event and cannot be scheduled by pastors or evangelists, no matter how pious and dedicated they might be. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up hope. I believe that prayer moves the heart and hand of God. I believe that while II Chronicles 7:14 was written to God's people, Israel, the principle holds true for His Church today as well. In that verse the LORD says, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I've been a Christian for a very long time and have been in pastoral ministry for 36 years, but I have never experienced a genuine revival where God rends the heavens and pours our His Spirit upon the hearts of men. I've read of such things. I have even talked with people who have experienced it on a small scale but I have never seen it with my own eyes. Yet I continue to pray in faith and ask God to do it here in our midst, in our city, in our church.

The city of Portland experienced a revival back in 1905. It was dubbed, "The Portland Outpouring." Revival historian, J. Edwin Orr, tells the story that in Portland for most of that year starting in March, 240 major downtown businesses closed their doors from 11 AM to 2 PM each day to enable their customers and employees to attend prayer meetings. In fact, the store owners voluntarily signed an agreement so that no one would cheat and stay open. Thousands of people came to know Christ that year. Churches grew as God filled them with spiritually hungry new believers. Dead churches received new life. Sleeping Christians were awakened, surprised by God doing a new thing in this city.

If God did it once, He can do it again. I'm praying that He will, because we need it now more than ever.

Crazy to see it with my own eyes,

Mike

Sad news about a fallen brother

2008-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

My heart is heavy as I write this. I subscribe to a weekly email newsletter called, "Church Leaders Intelligence Report." It helps keep me up to date on current trends and often has short, stimulating articles that make me stop and think, which is good exercise for my tired old brain. Today I got the latest installment and it had a brief news item that literally brought me to tears. Here it is...

Christians Shocked, Saddened Over Boltz's Homosexuality

There is shock and sadness in the Christian community over word that famed Christian vocalist, Ray Boltz, has publicly announced he's living a homosexual lifestyle. In an interview with the Washington Blade about the announcement, Boltz said, "If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I'm going to live…I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself." Boltz, a father of four who was married for 33 years before officially divorcing his wife this year, is well-known for his widely acclaimed songs "Thank You" and "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb." (OneNewsNow 9/15/08)

Ray Boltz has long been one of my favorite Christian singer/songwriters. His music has often touched my heart and pointed me to the Savior. His song, "The Anchor Holds," is one of my favorites. To know that he has fallen prey to the lying schemes of the devil and has now "come out" as a homosexual breaks my heart. Once again, a high profile Christian bites the dust and succumbs to the enemy.

I shouldn't be surprised. The devil is very astute and knows exactly how to take advantage of any areas of hidden sin and shame that we harbor in our hearts and minds. Any hidden sin in our life provides a playground for the powers of hell and a foothold to eventually bring our life and ministry crashing down. Our protection is not found in silence or hiding, but in dealing openly and honestly with sin. If we try to cover our sin, to keep it hidden, it just festers and stinks and eventually erupts where everyone can see it. Secret sin is like mold in your basement. As long as you provide a dark, dank, lightless, airless environment the mold will grow unchecked. You can try all kinds of methods to defeat it but nothing will work until you throw open the windows and let the sunlight and fresh air flood into the basement. You see, mold doesn't grow well in sunlight and fresh air.

Apparently Ray Boltz has been hiding his sin and brokenness for a very long time. He "came out" to his wife and children on Dec. 26, 2004 but this situation has not been publicly known until just recently. He stopped recording and touring but most people just thought he was burned out and needed rest and some downtime. Few knew what he was struggling with. That is because he chose to keep a lid on it, nurturing it in secret, letting it grow unchecked in the basement of his life. Had he dealt with it sooner, sharing this burden with someone, allowing some other Christian men into his life to help keep him accountable, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. If he had thrown open the windows and doors and allowed God's healing light into those dark corners of his life, perhaps this train wreck could have been averted before it destroyed his marriage, his family, his ministry, and a whole lifetime of built-up trust.

If you want to get more information and hear it from Ray himself, read the Washington Blade article at...http://www.washingtonblade.com/2008/9-12/arts/feature/13258.cfm. I found one quote especially telling:

Boltz declines to go into specifics about the first time he was with a man, but says he has been dating and lives “a normal gay life” now. “If you were to hold up the rule book and go, ‘Here are all the rules Christians must live by,’ did I follow every one of those rules all that time? Not at all, you know, because I kind of rejected a lot of things, but I've grown some even since then. I guess I felt that the church, that they had it wrong about how I felt with being gay all these years, so maybe they had it wrong about a lot of other things.” (The underline is mine for emphasis.)

Ray is doing what so many other's have done. Coming to the point where his burden of sin and guilt and pain were too heavy to carry, instead of dealing with it in a biblical way, he has simply adjusted his theology to take away the guilt. He has come up with his own definition of what is and isn't sin. But in this process he has apparently jettisoned other key pieces of his theology too. He is now involved with the Metropolitan Community Churches, an openly gay so-called "Christian" denomination.

I share this story not as gossip or as a way of making myself look holier than Ray Boltz, but as a reminder and warning to all of us. God's Word says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." Sin cannot be hidden forever. It is described in the Bible as being like yeast. It grows. It breaks out of its bonds. It slowly but inevitably works its way to the surface of our life like a weed that comes up through the cracks in the sidewalk. Frankly, that scares me clear to the bottom of my feet. Sin is a powerful deceiver. If we choose to walk afar off from the Lord and His Word and the saving power and influence of His Spirit, it is only a matter of time until we too will fall flat. And great will be the fall.

Profoundly saddened but warned,
Mike

If I've said it once I've said it...

2008-09-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow wingnuts,

It has been said that parenting is not for the faint of heart. I can say a hearty "AMEN!" to that. But it is also a wonderful adventure and well worth the effort. The big payoff, of course, is grandchildren. They are really cool, and I ought to know, I have a boatload of them and they are all great kids.

Here is a YouTube video I came across a while back that made me laugh out loud. The singer's name is Anita Renfroe and she is a well known Women of Faith singer/comedienne. Anita calls this piece, "Momsense." Here she has boiled down into less than three minutes all the things the average mom says to her kids in a normal 24-hour period and has set them to the tune of the William Tell Overture. Enjoy.

In all fairness Anita wrote a second song that she calls, "Dadsense." I thought that was very sporting of her. Moreover, I'm sure that after you watch this second video you dads will agree with me that she has done a fair job of summing up what many of us dads say to our kids in the average day. This is funny but sad at the same time. I just got back from a great men's conference where we were challenged from God's Word to become better husbands and dads by putting our wives and children on a higher priority level, by loving them more than we love ourselves and our own interests, and by getting more deeply involved in their daily lives. After you watch this second video you will see more readily why this is important. Too many of us have been using the "too busy" excuse for way too long. That's not "dadsense." It's Godsense.

Crazy about being a dad and a grandfather,
Mike

Time in a bottle...

2008-09-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hi crazy friends,

Well, Labor Day has come and gone and school will soon be back in session. Where has the summer gone? I recall the days of my childhood when summers seemed to pass very slowly. But I've learned that time is very elastic, or at least our perception of it is certainly flexible. For someone flat on his/her back in a hospital bed time passes very slowly. However, while on a cruise up the Southwest Coast of Alaska time passes very quickly. Of course, time itself didn't change, only our perception of it.

In II Peter 3:8 we read that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. That just means that God is outside the box, outside the framework of time and space. He lives in the realm of the eternal where time is nonexistent or at least inconsequential. He sees as completed what we see as process. He knows the end when we are barely able to grasp the beginning. When I try to mentally lay hold of this concept I feel like David in Psalm 139:6 who says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it."

Many years ago one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Jim Croce, wrote a song called "Time In a Bottle." In it he talks about the frustration that all humans feel about time. The words go...
If I could save time in a bottle the first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away just to spend them with you.
If I could make days last forever, if words could make wishes come true,
I'd save every day like a treasure, and then, again, I would spend them with you.
But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them.
I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with.

The moment you were conceived in your mother's womb you became an eternal living being, destined to live forever someplace. God's plan and desire is that we spend eternity with Him in the place He has prepared for those who love Him. It is called Heaven. But those people who reject His gracious offer of salvation are no less eternal beings. They too will spend eternity somewhere, in a place the Bible calls Hell. It was not created for man, it was not designed for humans, but many will go there and will remain for all eternity. The thought is sobering.

Another songwriter, Pete Seeger, back in the 1950s wrote a song he called "Turn, Turn, Turn." It later became a hit when it was recorded by The Byrds in October of 1965. Check out their classic version on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNopQq5lWqQ. But you may or may not know that Seeger lifted the lyrics for his song straight out of the OT book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Those verses tell us that for everything and every event under heaven there is a divinely appointed time--for birth and for death, for weeping and for laughing, for mourning and for dancing, for war and for peace, just to name a few. But immediately following that passage just down in verse 11 we read, "He [God] has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart..." I really like how the verse reads in the New Living Translation: "God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

"God has planted eternity in the human heart." That is a thought worth contemplating. But what does it mean? I believe that every human has a notion of eternity hardwired into his head, into his heart. Those people who insist that they don't believe in God or an afterlife tend to backpedal on that stupid theology when they approach death. There is an old adage that says, "There are no atheists in foxholes." I think that's true.

I have reached the ripe old age of 58 years and I'm becoming more and more aware of how fleeting this life really is, and yet how much time is still out in front of us. This earthly life, with its 70+ years is but a preview of coming eternal attractions. We who know Christ and have come into a life-saving, life-changing relationship with the Living God will continue to know and experience fulness of life forever. I blows my mind!

Still loving crazy people,
Mike

Lost in Space

2008-08-21T12:15:00.001-07:00

Hi crazy people,

I've been away but I'm back, like a bad rash. My son and I went to Brazil for a month and we finally decided to come back home. Actually we've been home for almost two weeks already but I still haven't gotten back in my mind yet. Part of me got left behind in Brazil and it hasn't arrived back here yet. I wander a round like a lost soul and can't quite seem to get my act together.

While we were gone we didn't see a lot of coverage about the upcoming presidential election. However, since returning I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of airtime dedicated to this subject. I watched the Civil Forum at Saddleback Church the other night and found it helpful in clarifying who we are really dealing with. But I am still bewildered and amazed that people in general and Christians in particular would find it difficult to choose between the two candidates

I'm a one trick pony and I tend to see things in black and white. When one candidate says he is pro-choice and will do everything he can to allow women and girls to continue to kill their preborn babies, and the other one says he will do everything possible to protect the lives of the unborn and to undo Roe V Wade, the choice seems clear to me. When one has consistently voted to limit private ownership of firearms and the other has always voted to protect this 2nd Amendment right, it seems clear cut to me. When one has been called the “most liberal” liberal in the room by Ted Kennedy, for crying out loud, and the other has voted at least part of the time as a conservative, I know which one I'm voting for.

However, I think it is also important to maintain a healthy sense of humor during the election. With that in mind I give you this cheerful little video that says it all. You will quickly perceive that it is a parody of Bob Dylan’s 1960s political anthem, "The Times They Are A-Changin."

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Back in the saddle again, but still crazy,

Mike

Greetings from Brazil...

2008-07-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Boa tarde seus loucos, (Good afternoon crazy people)

Here I am, back in Brazil, seeing the sights, enjoying the friendships, and eating as much Brazilian ice cream as I can get my hands on. As I write this I'm sitting on a bus on my way from the city of Campinas to São Jose' do Rio Preto in the central part of the state of São Paulo in south Brazil. My son, Jonathan, and I arrived in Brazil on July 8th and we'll be here for a month. It has been a great trip so far and we are looking forward to a couple more weeks of seeing old friends and visiting the places where we used to live and minister.

Last night we got together with the guys who used to be a part of our musical evangelism team, Renascença. We ate pizza, told old stories, laughed 'til our sides ached and played music until our fingers were sore. All four of them are married with children. All four are active in their local churches serving the Lord. They haven't changed a bit except for their level of maturity and a few gray hairs. They are the same delightful, funny guys that I loved 20 years ago. The years of geographical separation and time have changed nothing between us. We picked up right where we had left off. It was a great evening!

I don't claim to know anything about Heaven, because I've never been there. And I certainly don't claim to be an expert on the subject of friendship, because it has taken me a lifetime to begin to learn how to be and how to make friends. Looking back over the years I have to admit that I have spent most of my life being afraid to let people get close to me for fear that they would reject me if they came to know who I really am on the inside. I share that piece of personal trivia not to have anybody feel sorry for me but just to say this... I'm finally learning how precious it is to have real friends, good friends, the kind that know you from top to bottom and love you anyway, warts and all.

One of the many wonderful things about Heaven that I look forward to is the chance to spend quality uninterrupted time with old friends and also to make new friends. The fear, the pride, the ego, the insecurity will all be gone. The things that limit our ability to be a good friend and to make new friends will all be pulled out of us. We will have an eternity to do what Paulinho, Wanderley, Luiz, Ezequias and I did last night. But the neat part of that is that we won't have to say our sad goodbyes and part ways ever again. Instead of saying goodbye we'll just be able to hug and say to one another, "Ate' amanhã," which means, "until tomorrow." There will be no separation, no goodbyes, no sad partings. I look forward to that because I'm really getting tired of having to to say goodbye to people that I love.

I'll write again when I get a chance but it's a little iffy these days. I can't always get my hands on a computer and we've been pretty busy.

Louco for Jesus,
Mike

There are still some heroes

2008-07-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hi all you fellow loonies,

Have you noticed that a lot of people are fascinated by the idea of Super Heroes? Many of the comic book stories are built around these kinds of characters--Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Buck Rogers, the Lone Ranger, etc. Recently several Super Hero movies have become boxoffice hits in the theaters. I think there is something in all of us that makes us want to find heroes we can look up to.

Perhaps you have heard about "Team Hoyt," a father/son team of athletes made up of Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick (44) was born with cerebral palsy. However, his father loves him so much and wants to give Rick every oportunity to experience life to the fullest that he participates in all kinds of extreme sports so that Rick will experience the thrill of competing. But let's let them tell their own story. Take the time to watch this first video to get the background.

This second video shows Dick and Rick Hoyt in an Iron Man Race with a great musical accompanyment background of "My Redeemer Lives." I cry every time I watch it for two reasons: 1. It reminds me how much I miss my own dad who is now with the Lord, and 2. It reminds me that I still have a Father who would do anything for me. I think that Dick Hoyt exemplifies what it means to be a loving father and he gives me a little glimpse of what my Heavenly Father is like.

Take a moment to give thanks to God for His great love for His children. We have an awesome Father.

Crazy about my Dad,
Mike

The Revenge of the Pastors' Wives

2008-06-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hello crazy people,

I know you must be as crazy as I am, otherwise you wouldn't be wasting your time reading this blog. Anyway, I appreciate the fact that a few people in the world have as warped a sense of humor as I.

I grew up as a PK (preacher's kid) and have been a preacher myself for, let's see, 32 years or so. I know for a fact that some preachers resort to using their wives and kids for sermon illustrations. Honestly, I don't think I have done it myself much but I have heard some guys share things that would make their wives want to crawl our a side door and never set foot in the church again.

Three pastors' wives from the Florida Hospital Seventh-day Adventist church in Orlando decided they were tired of having their latest household fiasco show up in sermon illustrations, so these women made a parody video to get their point across, revamping Carrie Underwood's popular "Before He Cheats" with their rendition of "Before He Speaks." Check it out. It made me laugh out loud.

Crazy and loving it,
Mike

It is my honor to present to you... Jesus Christ!

2008-06-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

What is the impression that we Christians are giving to the world about who Jesus is and what it means to be one of His disciples? Apparently, that impression is often negative. So what are we doing wrong? There is a movie that was released recently entitled, "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers." The movie has been running here in Portland for the past few days and has been causing quite a stir, just as it has been doing all across the country. Check out the movie's website at http://lordsaveusthemovie.com/ and click on the place where it says, "See Free Preview." It will bring up the player and a fascinating 10 min. overview of the movie. You'll want to undock the viewer and maximize it for full effect. It is definitely worth watching.

Anyway, the film raises some very important points. We who are theological and moral conservatives often emphasize being right (in every sense) to the neglect of getting heard. We go at evangelism like a man clubbing fish in a barrel. Our attention is so transfixed on making our point that we completely lose the audience we are hoping to win over.

This is not a new problem but with the higher profile of the debate over the role of Christians and churches in government and society it is not something we can afford to ignore. If we seriously want to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ we have to find better ways of interfacing with their world. On the other hand, we cannot do this at the expense of the truth. To water down the Gospel is to destroy it.

Here at Sellwood Baptist I'm currently doing a preaching series on Paul's Thessalonian letters. In I Thessalonians 2:7 Paul says, “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.” He's talking about the attitude with which he and his colleagues introduced the Gospel to the people in the city of Thessaloniki (read about this in Acts 17). Paul reminds the folks that when his team arrived in Thessaloniki they were gentle, the way a nursing mother gently cares for her infant. You know what he means. I've watched my daughter, Simoni, nurse little Natalie; and our daughter-in-law, Luciana, when she nurses little Gabriela. Both of them do it with gentleness and love. Paul and his colleagues did not cram the Gospel down people’s throats. They did not beat them down with theological arguments. They did not resort to high-sounding words, grand oratory, or condemning speeches. They simply shared about who Jesus was and what He had done in their lives.

In my message last Sunday I pointed out that there are two ways to get a horse to drink water: (1) you can stick a rubber hose down his throat and pour water into his stomach through a funnel; or (2) you can feed him salt. It could be argued that both methods work. However, the first method really hacks off the horse. He'll be mad at you for a very long time and will probably never let you get close to him for a second dose.

The second method has a very different effect. Horses love salt. They eat it up and want more. So if you want him to drink give him salt, lots of salt. Before you know it he will be tearing the place up looking for water. Paul and his buddies offered the folks of Thessaloniki their salty testimonies, and shared their salty lives, and preached the salty Gospel, and presented a salty Savior. Then they simply pointed people to the One who is the Fount of Living Water. It works every time! Evangelism has been described as… “Taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results up to God.” That is what Paul and his co-laborers did—with gentleness, respect, and love.

For quite a while we have been trying to get people to drink of the Living Water by the hose/funnel method. It's time we went back to the Jesus way of being salt and light.

I came across this video clip of Steve Harvey ending one of his comedy performances. He is one of the original Kings of Comedy and is a very funny man, though in the past has been somewhat lewd in his standup routines, like so many other comics. For that reason I'm not endorsing him in any way because I don't know what is in his heart, but still I can't help but admire his courage to do this in public. Watch how he uses salt to point people to the Savior. And watch the reaction of the audience. I'd give anything to see this kind of enthusiasm for Christ and the Good News at church on Sunday morning.

Crazy for more salt in the diet,
Mike

Beijing Or Bust!

2008-06-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Crazy Friends,

China is getting ready for the upcoming Olympic Games. People from all over the world will soon converge on the People's Republic to witness the planet's greatest sports extravaganza. In fact, you may be one of those hundreds of thousands of sports fans who will travel half way around the world to watch athletes jump, run, bounce balls, leap over barriers, etc. However, before you buy your tickets you might want to take a look at this video clip. Apparently, train travel is a bit of a challenge in China. You might want to consider travel by bicycle or rickshaw instead of train. Just a thought.

Watching this clip reminds me of riding crowded rush-hour buses and subway trains in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil where I used to serve as a missionary. It is an amazing experience to find yourself jammed into a vehicle with 200 people that was designed to hold 45. It gives a whole new meaning to the word "fellowship."

The challenge of Brazilian city buses is that you have to enter the bus from the back, go through a turnstile where you pay your fare, then work your way from the back of the bus to the very front where you exit the bus. The press of people is such that you literally slither your body against the bodies of all the other people to make your way to the exit door before the driver passes your bus stop. You have to time things just right... make your way forward but not too far forward, or else you may get pushed out, and then pull the bell rope with enough lead time for the driver to stop the bus where you want to get off. If your timing is off you can easily end up several stops beyond where you wanted to get off and will have to walk back.

Of course, this is how much of the world travels. In this country we have grown used to having a lot of space around us at all times. We each travel in a little bubble of space, never allowing people to get within our comfort zone. Most of the world does not have this luxury. They live jam packed together. They travel on overcrowded buses and subways. They drive bumper to bumper. They shop in overcrowded markets and stores, waiting in long crowded lines to pay.

The press of the crowd makes me crazy. I can stand it for a while but am always glad when the bus stops and I can get out. But I am reminded that Jesus had this kind of experience on many occasions. One time is recorded in Mark 2 when the press of the crowd was so great that four men took the roof of the building apart and dropped their friend in with ropes so that Jesus would heal him. And their plan worked. Even with human flesh pressing in on Him from every side, Jesus turned His attention to see and heal that one man who needed His help so desperately. In the midst of the crowd He focused His compassion and healing power on a man with faith to believe that Jesus could cure him.

Mark 5 records another time and another crowd. Jesus was being pressed and jostled from every side but a sick lady made her way through that mass of humanity to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. Instantly she was healed of her affliction. In that moment, Jesus stopped, turned and confronted the woman. In the midst of the multitude Jesus could perceive the one person who had faith to believe in Him. And out of all those people, she was apparently the only one in the crowd who got healed that day.

I confess that I don't like crowds. And I also don't like anyone to push me from behind to cram me into a bus or into the subway door. However, at those times I find myself remembering that Jesus loves every one of these people individually and wants all of them to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. There will be a lot of people in Heaven, but I don't think it will ever seem crowded. There is room for all who want to be there.

From one crazy to another,
Mike

Oh goody, it's Sunday. Let's all go down to the Gothic Cathedral!

2008-05-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow crazies,

I subscribe to a weekly email newsletter called the "Church Leaders Intelligence Report." It is a little tool that helps keep me up on trends in both the Christian and secular worlds and I recommend it highly. Today's edition included the following:

Church Buildings:
Unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral over contemporary church buildings, finds a LifeWay Research study. Those aged 25 to 34 gave an average of 58.9 of their 100 preference points to the more Gothic church exterior, while those over age 70 gave that option only 32.9 points. 22% said the design of the church would strongly impact their enjoyment of a visit, and 32% indicated it would have some impact. More than a third said it would have no impact. (Christian Post 4/7/08)

After I read this I found myself growing increasingly frustrated. This says that of the people who never darken the door of any church, if they were for some odd reason to decide they wanted to attend a church service (like when pigs start flying), they would look for a building that looks like something from a Dracula movie.

What, for crying out loud, does the facade of the building have to do with what is on the inside? Most of the medieval style church buildings I know of around here are either Catholic, Episcopal, or mainline Presbyterian, most of which are shooting blanks and have little or nothing to offer a seeker after truth. The only Baptist church here in Portland, OR in that style is Hinson Church. The rest of us are just plumb out of luck, I guess.

In the light of these new findings maybe I should start pressuring our building committee to begin plans to put up a false stone exterior on our existing building. We could install some arched doors and windows with a bunch of stained glass. Then the people who never come here to church would be really happy with our new look as they drive by. We could even have some gargoyles made and put them up on each corner of the roof. Then the people who never come through our doors would be thrilled with our new Gothic style. Oh, and don't forget the flying buttresses... they will be a nice touch to make the neighborhood look better. People who never come here would then be proud to stand in front of our church to have their pictures taken.

Of course, it won't make any real difference because all this is theoretical. If they were to decide to visit a church (which they won't) they would certainly never choose to visit one that looks like ours. It resembles a blimp hanger way more than a medieval cathedral. It is built of brick, but we don't have a vaulted ceiling, crypts, nave, niches, narthex, flying buttresses, pointed arches, or most of the other things that people look for in a church, if they were ever to need one, which evidently they don't.

This kind of stuff makes me nuts!

Crazy as a loon,
Migueleto

Long on questions, short on answers...

2008-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

I just got back from making a hospital visit to a wonderful Christian lady who recently celebrated her 90th birthday. I have known and loved Lucille for many years and it made me sad to see her lying there in that hospital bed. I teased her and we talked about old times and we discussed our families. Then I read several passages of Scripture and prayed with her while holding her hand. Before I left she asked me: "Michael, why is the Lord making me live so long? Is He punishing me? I just want to go home." She said, "People keep telling me that I need to eat but I have no appetite and no interest in food. They make me drink liquids with nasty tasting stuff in it because they say it will be good for me. I've lived for 90 years. Now I'm tired and just want to go home to Heaven."

I must confess that I had a hard time finding fault with her logic. All I could come up with is the fact that the Lord is both the Giver of life and also the One who determines when we have finished our course down here. It is not for us to shorten our life either actively (by suicide) or passively (i.e. by giving up mentally and emotionally, refusing to eat and drink, etc.). Our job is to keep on keeping on until the Lord calls us home in His own good time. Even though we don't always understand why He does what He does, we can rest assured that He knows what He is doing and His timing is perfect.

On the other hand, I can understand Lucille's frustration. When I was young life was exciting and I felt like I had everything to live for. Heaven seemed very far off and not the least bit interesting. Now that I'm a little older I'm beginning to see through different eyes, different values. Lucille knows more people in Heaven than she does down here. Her husband is there, and both of her parents. Most of her closest friends are already with the Lord. She lives in one room in an adult foster home where she seldom sees people she knows. She's lonely and she hurts all over. What does she have to live for here? Not much. I wasn't about to say that to her, but I can sure understand why she feels the way she does.

God has wired us up to cling tenaciously to life. He put into us the will to live. However, there finally comes a time when the sand shifts and Heaven seems very near and very desirable. I think that is His doing as well, to get us prepared for the "big move."

The greatest reality is not physical life on planet earth. The greatest reality is eternal life with God. He has made us eternal beings and has placed eternity in our hearts. Compared to the eons of time in eternity, the seventy or so years we spend here getting ready for Heaven is no more that a blip on the screen. James 4:14 describes our life this way: "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." Psalm 144:4 says, "Man is like a mere breath; his days are like a passing shadow." Breath, vapor, smoke, mist... all things that cannot be grabbed, cannot be held onto. So why do we get so exercised over the idea of death?

We had a dear lady in our church who lived to be 106. Alice died shortly before her 107th birthday. I used to go visit her and she would always ask me the same question Lucille asked today: "Why is the Lord making me live so long?" Except for some arthritis Alice was in great shape. But she was perplexed and somewhat put out that the Lord wouldn't let her go home. She felt that she was past her pull date but God wouldn't take her off the shelf, even though she thought she was of no further use to anyone.

It finally comes down to trust. When we can't understand or explain why God does what He does we have a choice. We can shake our fists at Him and get angry, or we can draw near to Him and trust that He has a plan, even though He hasn't shown it to us yet. Trusting Him is not always easy, but it is definitely the way to go.

Still crazy,
Mike

Gabriela chegou! (arrived)

2008-05-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

The Bible says, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD" (Psalm 127:3). I certainly felt that way about the arrival of my own three children, but I would respectfully like to emend that verse to say, "Behold, grandchildren are a gift of the LORD, too."

Every one of them is a miracle. To look at their perfectly formed little fingers and toes and to watch them start to develop into a little person... It is beyond me how anyone could doubt the existence of God. He has left His fingerprints all over these little ones. Each one is made in the image and likeness of God and reflects His glory and splendor. In Psalm 8 Israel's King David stands out on the porch of his palace under the night sky reflecting on the mysteries of God's Person and plans for man. He says, "O LORD, ourLord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth, who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens. From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength because of Thine adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, and dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth!" I say AMEN to that!

On April 21st at 7:56 AM our eighth grandchild came into this world. Her name is Gabriela Affini Wilson, born to our son, Chris, and his lovely Brazilian wife, Luciana. "Gabi" is their second child, making 4-year-old Lucas, the Big Brother.

Luciana, came through with flying colors and she and Chris are as proud as can be of their new little Brasileira.

Of course, Ramel and I are a little bit excited too. Luciana's mom, Marcia, is here visiting from Brazil to help take care of Lu and the baby. She is a dear person and we have come to love her and their whole family.

I must close for now and get busy, but I just wanted to brag a little bit about Gabi. She's a keeper, for sure.

May today be a wonderful day of blessings for you as you walk with the Savior.

Crazy about grandkids,

Mike

Life is but a vapor...

2008-04-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hello my crazy friends,

I've not written for a while, and for that you have my apologies. If you follow this blog, even occasionally, I'm sure you've gotten tired of logging on and seeing that Mike still hasn't gotten around to sit down for even a few quiet moments to reflect and write. I'll try to do better.

Many of you know that I am a police chaplain and that I often get called into messy situations. A few days ago I had one of those. I was riding with an officer on afternoon shift when we got a call about a traffic fatality. Arriving on the scene we discovered that the deceased was a young woman who had suffered a motorcycle accident on the freeway and died almost instantly. I can't go into details but that scene has bothered me for days. It was a beautiful sunny day in Portland--no rain, dry pavement, the smell of blossoms in the air--and suddenly, with no warning, life stopped for that young woman. In that moment she was rocketed into eternity with no time for any kind of prayer or preparation.

My role at the scene was mainly to deal with her boyfriend, who was understandably traumatized by the accident. They had been traveling together but riding two different motorcycles. He witnessed the whole thing in his rear view mirror. She started to wobble, lost control, and crashed into a cement retaining wall, which broke her neck. That kind of traffic accident is handled by the police as though it were a crime scene even though no one else is involved, requiring the bureau criminalists to take pictures, do exact measurements, map the whole area, pick up anything that might be evidence, and keep a crime scene log of any officers or investigators who cross the yellow tape. As you can imagine, all of that detailed analysis takes time, which means that for several hours the victim was lying there by the side of the road covered by a yellow tarp with only her hands and boots visible.

However, after the medical examiner finally arrived we barricaded the area with police vehicles to block the view of passing motorists while he made his on-scene examination. When he finished, I along with a couple of officers helped the ME put her into a body bag and onto a gurney, which we then loaded into his van. While the ME examined her the officers and I stood there watching, and it just confirmed again for me that death is an enemy, any way you stack it. For her life to be snuffed out so quickly, and on such a day--it was hard for all of us to accept.

For some reason her face has stuck in my mind, and since that afternoon I have been thinking a lot about life, and about how quickly and violently it can end. James 4:14 says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." How true that is. Life comes with no guarantee, no warranty card. None of us knows how long we have to live, and every breath, every beat of our heart is a God-given gift.

Most of us live as though we were bullet-proof, as though nothing could happen to us. Oh sure, bad stuff happens to other people but it can't touch us. Nothing could be further from the truth. Life is a mist, a vapor, like Oregon fog. The more you try to grab onto it the more it slips through your fingers. The more you attempt to put your fingers around it, the more illusive it becomes.

So where am I going with this rambling narrative? Nowhere except to say that all of us need to keep short accounts--with God and with our loved ones. If death should overtake me the way it did that young woman a few days ago I don't want have any "I love yous" left unspoken. If God should call me home I don't want to arrive on Heaven's shore with a red face because of hidden sins in my life that I had been planning to take care of with God but never got a chance. I want to leave here with no regrets and arrive there clean. Does that make sense?

The older I get and the longer I do police chaplaincy the easier it becomes for me to tell people I love them. I don't want to miss a single opportunity because I just might not get another one. And I think I'm doing better at staying in touch with the Lord too. Heaven doesn't seem far away to me anymore, like it did when I was a kid. Since my folks died and went to be with Jesus, Heaven seems very near.

I don't know if that young woman knew the Lord. I sure hope so.

Still crazy,
Mike

Eternity In My Heart

2008-04-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends,

This week I said goodbye to my parents, yet again. As many of you know, my mom went to be with the Lord on August 1, 2005 and my dad joined her on May 26, 2006. In their Living Trust I was named their successor trustee and given the responsibility of finalizing their affairs after their deaths. I had known for years that I would one day be faced with this task but I did not know that it would affect my emotions as deeply as it has.

After Dad died, my sister, Janis, and I began the painful job of going through the folks' house in Vancouver and making the thousands of decisions about how to dispose of their belongings. That took us months and cost us many tears. Then, after the house was finally empty, we began the long project of remodeling and preparing the house for sale. Again, that took months and countless hours of labor. And all during that time I could feel the folks' presence in that house because of all the happy hours we spent with them there.

So on Wednesday after signing the final papers for the sale of the house I drove over there for the last time to pick up a lamp that I had left there, and to do a final walk-through to make sure that everything was in order for the new owners. However, I was not prepared for the emotional impact that last visit to their house would make on me. As I walked through the house, room by room, I could see my mom and dad there. I could visualize their furniture and see my mom's beautiful things sitting all around. Even though the rooms were empty, in my mind's eye I could see Dad's desk and his books lining the shelves. I could hear their voices. In the dining room I could see the big table where we shared many meals together and spent hours afterward playing "Chicken-foot" or "Ten-thousand." I could see Mom's chair where she spent hours reading or studying God's Word and praying.

There is an old Gospel song that says, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore." I find that as I get older and have to keep saying goodbye to people I love, my ties to this world and present life become more tenuous. Though I do not consider myself to be "old," yet when I do the math I start to realize that I know more people in Heaven than I do down here. When I was younger I had absolutely no interest in Heaven. Oh sure, I wanted to go there eventually and knew that Christ was preparing a place for me there, but I didn't give much thought to it. Now I find myself thinking about it a lot, wondering what it will be like, and looking forward not only to seeing the Lord but also to seeing some people that I miss a great deal.

There is a verse that has intrigued me for a long time. It is found in Ecclesiastes 3:11 and it says, "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." That phrase, "He has set eternity in the hearts of men," is the part that especially fascinates me. What does it mean? To me it says that God has given me, as His child, an eternal perspective and a divinely given homesickness for Heaven. As a new creation in Christ I now have a personal relationship with the eternal Creator God of the universe. I am an eternal being who will spend eternity with Him. The better I get to know Him, the more my mind focuses on eternal things rather than temporal things. The older I get the more I become aware that all that separates this life from eternity is a thin veil, one breath, one heartbeat. In fact, eternity is very near to us, no matter how old we are. We are never more than a heartbeat away from eternity. For those of us who know the Lord Jesus, that thought should be a great comfort. For those who do not know Him and have not made provision for where they will spend eternity, that thought must be frightening indeed. I hope all of you have eternity set in your hearts too, like I do.

Crazy for Heaven,
Mike

Sit, Walk, Stand

2008-04-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hello my crazy friends,

I have not written for quite a while because I have been a bit under the weather, as the old saying goes. Somehow I managed to hurt my back two weeks ago, resulting in a badly ruptured disk between the L4 and L5 vertebrae. It has been an unpleasant ride, let me tell you. For a few days the pain was so intense that I could not sit, walk, stand, or even lie down without experiencing white-knuckle, teary-eyed, bad-words kind of pain. However, praise the Lord, since Monday I have been feeling much better. I'm finally off the brain-fog inducing pain meds and am able to function almost normally, thanks to those wonderful modern pharmaceuticals and answered prayer. After a week at home recouperating I came back to work on Monday to be greeted with an enormous pile of junk mail and my inbox jammed full of emails. It is amazing how quickly that stuff piles up.

I'm not telling you this to elicit sympathy; rather, just letting you know where I've been and why I've neglected the blog. Heaven knows, I'm not the only one around with back pain. I have discovered that it is a very common ailment, and many people have it much worse than I. However, being laid up like this has given me extra time to think and wrestle with the questions we all have when we are in pain; namely, "Why me, Lord? Don't You know that I have too many things on my plate to accomplish for You to sit around home waiting for my back to heal up?"

Obviously, patience is not one of the virtues I possess. I hate feeling useless. I hate waiting. I hate going to the doctor. I hate using my father's cane just to walk across the room. I hate not being able to drive because I am doped up on pain killers. Do you get my point? I don't know how to suffer gracefully. Please pray for me to mature in this area of my Christian life and to not be so performance-driven abd goal-oriented that I fail to see the greater fruit that God wants to produce in me through this little taste of suffering.

When I was thinking about my not being able to sit, walk, or stand because of the pain in my back and hip, I was reminded of a little book by Watchman Nee entitled, Sit, Walk, Stand a study of the Epistle to the Ephesians. In it he looks at these three little words and how Paul uses them in his letter to the Ephesian church.

SIT (Our position in Christ)--We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
("But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:4-7)

WALK (Our life in the world)-- We are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling ("I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." Eph. 4:1)

We are to walk in LOVE: "Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Eph. 5:1
We are to walk in LIGHT: "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light." Eph. 5:8
We are to walk in WISDOM: "Therefore, be careful how you walk--not as unwise men but as wise." Eph. 5:15

STAND (Our attitude to the enemy)-- We are to take our stand against the enemy (Eph. 6:11)
("Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." Eph. 6:10-11)

That's what it's all about. We have to keep remembering that from God's perspective we are already seated with Christ in Heaven. That knowledge gives us confidence to walk in faith and obedience until He comes back to take us home, and gives us the courage we need to take our stand daily against the nefarious schemes of the devil and the flesh.

Still crazy,
Mike

The Jewel in the Middle

2008-03-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

One of my favorite places to visit is Washington D.C. It is an amazing place. History is all around you. Everywhere you look there are interesting things to see. All of the federal buildings have free tours—the White House, the Pentagon, the FBI Building, the Capitol, etc. Then of course there are the various memorials—the Jefferson, the Lincoln, the WWII, the Vietnam Memorial—all of which are educational and very impressive. But best of all, the Smithsonian Institution complex is there, and all of their museums have free admission. A person could easily spend two weeks in Washington and still not even begin to take in all there is to see and enjoy. I’ve been there three times and hope to go back again someday.

One of my favorite exhibits is located in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It’s their mineralogy and gem collection. They have an incredible collection of stones and minerals, many displayed under “black light” to show their fascinating phosphorescent qualities. But they also have a breathtaking exhibit of jewelry, some of the world’s most famous and beautiful pieces, including the 44.5 carat “Hope Blue Diamond”. They are all displayed in high-security cases, behind shatterproof glass. And there are guards and cameras all around. But they let you get right up close to examine the jewelry.

One thing I have learned—it’s not about the setting but about the stone in the middle. The gold or silver setting is there to draw the eye to the masterpiece in the middle. It is there to enhance the central gem and make it more noticeable. In each case the setting is gorgeous, but it is the jewel in the middle that takes the breath away.

In the same way, the Christian message has a central focus, a precious core, a jewel in the middle. That jewel is the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the heart of the Gospel. It is the keystone of the arch of our faith. It is the central pillar that supports the whole weight of Christian theology. Without the resurrection we would have no hope of Heaven, no Christianity, and certainly no reason to celebrate on Easter. For this reason, critics, atheists, scoffers, and the devil himself have long understood the importance of the resurrection and have done everything possible to attack it, but to no avail. The resurrection of Jesus is an historic fact, witnessed by hundreds of people and described in writing by many. So certain of the veracity of the resurrection were the early Christians that thousands of them chose death rather than recant their faith in the Risen Christ.

The life and teachings of Jesus are amazing. His sinless life of kindness and selfless serving provide us with a beautiful example of how we should live with one another. His teachings inspire us and thrill our souls. The miracles He performed served as signposts to prove that He was exactly who He claimed to be—the Son of God who came to take away the sin of the world. But without the resurrection, all His claims and promises would fall to the ground. He stated repeatedly, and in clear terms, that after being crucified He would rise from the grave on the third day. The disciples heard Him say that. The Jewish religious leaders heard Him say that. The multitudes heard Him say that. If he had failed to rise from the grave, everything else He said could be discounted. It was all on the line on that Easter Sunday morning.

When you stop to think about it, to foretell His own death would not have been that hard, because everyone knew that the Jewish authorities wanted to kill Him. To guess that going to Jerusalem could likely get Him killed didn’t require the services of a fortuneteller. Jesus knew exactly which buttons to push to get Himself killed. However, to predict the exact method of His death and all of the details surrounding it would be statistically impossible. Yet He got every detail 100% correct. It all played out exactly as He said it would.

The physical resurrection of Jesus from the tomb is what makes Christianity unique among all the world’s religions. No other religion makes the unashamed claim that it’s leader rose from the grave—that he was dead, and is now alive again.

Just like with the dunk-tank at the fair, scoffers fling fast-ball potshots at the resurrection of Jesus, hoping to sink the whole body of Christian theology and silence the messengers as well as the message. But praise God, Jesus rose from the tomb on the third day, just as He said. He rose victorious over sin, death, and the grave. The resurrection did happen! Jesus is alive! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Celebrating His Resurrection,
Mike

Back On The Air

2008-03-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

I haven't written for a while because I have been living in the Stone Age. Well... that may be an exaggeration. Let's say I went back in time and have been living in the 1960's. As a result of our office remodel project here at the church we had to rewire the whole system--phones, Internet, network, etc.--the whole shebang. That put us out of touch with the outside world for quite a while. Of course, I still had my cell phone, my only link with civilization for those days. But it was a good reminder of how much we have come to depend on all of these stupid gizmos.

All of that to say that I'm back. My IT friend, Art Bowers, got us all up and running again yesterday. Hurrah! The office project is not completed but at least we now back on the air, as they say in radio.

I have my plate full today, trying to finish things up for our Resurrection Celebration Service tomorrow morning, so I don't have time to write much. But I do want to wish you a blessed Easter. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and theology. It is the doctrine upon which every other doctrine hangs. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we have no hope. If He had merely died and stayed in the ground there would be no Christianity. And the apostle Paul says that we would be of all men the most to be pitied because we have believed in a lie. However, Christ is raised, the tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive! Praise God, Jesus did exactly what He said He would do--on the third day He rose victorious over death and the grave. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

In one of the emails that had piled up in my inbox file I just found something that impressed me and moved me to tears. We have just passed the 5-year milepost in our war in Iraq, and we still have many of our courageous young men and women over there trying to give that country a chance at freedom. My crazy friend, Princess Carolyn, sent me this link to a video made by a soldier in Iraq. It is definitely worth watching, and maybe even passing on to some friend, to remind them not to forget to pray for the thousands who have not yet come home. I wish you a blessed and joy-filled Resurrection Sunday. JESUS IS ALIVE!
http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm

Crazy about Easter,
Mike

Wisdom beyond his years

2008-03-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Psalm 8:2 says, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies" (KJV). This verse has given rise to the expression, "Out of the mouths of babes..." The following audio clip is very interesting. Some of you may have already heard it, but it is worth a second listen. Logan, the boy speaking in the clip, is a 13 year-old farm kid who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian radio station 89.3FM, KSBJ, which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Logan phoned in to the radio station one night to talk to Pastor Mike on his call-in show. The boy was distraught because he'd had to euthanize a calf that he really cared for. From that painful experience he drew some conclusions about life and about God that reveal wisdom beyond his years.

I found it amazing that this little guy could have such insight into the nature of God. In Matthew 18:2-3 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

I hope I never get too "smart," too "wise," or too "spiritual" to learn from children.

Crazy about kids,
Mike

And now for something different...

2008-03-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Do you remember the Monty Python show? Or perhaps a better question would be, "Will you admit to ever having watched Monty Python?" Anyway, on that show you would often hear them say, "...And now for something different." The whole show was pretty different, come to think of it. It was certainly an acquired taste.

All that to say that today I am including something different. Here are two clips that made me laugh. The first audio clip is genuine; the second obviously isn't. One is blond for sure; I have my suspicions about the other. And don't send me nasty emails about being meanspirited toward blonds. It's a joke, for crying out loud!

Actual 911 Call... http://www.divshare.com/download/4002156-ef4

BlondStar Emergency Call

Crazy as a loon, but a happy loon
Mike

Christianity LITE

2008-03-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

For the past few Sundays I've been preaching a series on the life of Samuel, one of my all-time favorite heroes from the Bible. The last time he made a personal appearance is recorded in I Samuel 28 when God allowed him to be brought back from Paradise to pronounce imminent judgment on King Saul for his rebellion and disobedience.

But that got me to thinking. What if the apostle Paul could come back from Heaven for just a few days to walk around and check out our 2008 world? What would he say about the state of Christendom, especially in this country? I think that he would be totally blown away by the number of people who claim to be Christians yet bear no resemblance to Christ. I think he would marvel at the insipid shallowness of the preaching in many so-called Christian churches. I think he would be very offended by all the people wearing crosses around their necks and from their earlobes while they go out and live like the devil. I think he would be confused and troubled by the Christianity Lite that we have come to accept and expect.

Coke Lite. It looks the same, smells the same, weighs the same, but lacks authenticity--nasty stuff. Bud Lite. It has the same color, it's called beer, but it is defined exactly by what it lacks--calories. Christianity Lite. It has the trapping of Christianity, some of the teachings, but it is not the real thing. Rather, it is a cheap knockoff, a counterfeit, a carefully devised substitute.

Paul, in I Timothy 4 warns us: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth."

Then in II Timothy 3 Paul elaborates even more on what it will be like in the last days: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these."

"Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." That is Christianity Lite, and we are swimming in it. It is Christianity without the cross, original sin, Satan, blood, hell, eternal damnation, guilt, etc. - you know, all the stuff that makes people feel queasy. It is a kinder, gentler, more user-friendly brand of Christianity that offends almost no one. EXCEPT OF COURSE FOR JESUS, AND ANYBODY WHO HAS EVER READ HIS BIBLE!

You can't take the cross out of Christianity and expect to have anything left. The cross is central in the story of redemption because sin is central in human history. We are all sinners by nature and by choice and are all racing headlong toward Hell's Canyon, and I'm not talking about the one out east of here. Sin carries consequences and God knew that the cross was necessary if any of us was ever to have a chance to avoid the inevitable destruction we were all headed toward.

But the cross is not pretty—it is an instrument of death. Half the Hollywood actors and starlets along with millions of other people wear it as jewelry as though it were an amulet, a good luck charm. But think about it... why don't we wear little miniature golden gallows, or electric chairs, or gas chambers? The cross was never meant to be a decoration, especially for lukewarm Lite Christians.

I love the following words by A. W. Tozer. He says it so beautifully.

The cross is the symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of the human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said goodbye to his friends. He was not coming back. He was not going out to have his life redirected. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing. It slew all of the man completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck swift and hard and when it had finished its work the man was no more. That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of man is false to the Bible and cruel to the soul of the hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world. It intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our life up on to a higher plane. We leave it at a cross. The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die. That is the beginning of the Gospel (A.W. Tozer).

Most of us in this country have been marinating in Christianity Lite for so long that we aren't really sure what the real thing would look like. I'm talking about the kind of Christianity that rocked the 1st Century, that changed whole cities by the power of the Gospel, that raised people off their sick beds, that caused prostitutes and IRS agents to fall to their knees in repentance before God, that made the demons cringe when Spirit-filled Christians walked by. I'm really sick of Christianity Lite--in me, in you, in our churches, in all of us. I hope I live long enough to see this city rocked by the real thing.

Tired of the fake, crazy for the real thing,
Mike

Win, Lose, or Draw

2008-03-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hello fight fans,

Many of you know that our second son, Chris "The Professor" Wilson is a professional mixed martial arts fighter. (For more information about him check out the link on this page to his website.)

This past Saturday night, March 1st, he fought arguably the toughest opponent of his career up until now. He went up against Jon Fitch, a highly publicized welterweight fighter (170 lbs.), in UFC 82, "Pride of a Champion." The fight was on pay-per-view and was broadcast all around the world. Chris fought very well and the fight went the distance, which meant that the winner had to be determined by the judges. Contrary to our opinion of how it should have turned out, the judges awarded the fight to Jon Fitch.

That night we had a house full of friends and relatives all glued to the wide-screen TV set, eating Papa Murphy's Pizza and shouting like crazed lunatics. I bit the bullet and ordered the pay-per-view feed in High Definition for $54.95. Now you know I'm crazy! We felt every blow landed, all the way from Columbus, Ohio.

As you can imagine, we were hoping that Chris would win the bout. It would have been great for his career and a fun upset because he was clearly considered the underdog. Chris took the fight at short notice because the UFC promoters were having trouble finding anyone else who had the nerve to meet Fitch in the ring. Chris' name is not yet well-known to fans east of the Rockies, but we knew that this fight would change all that, win, lose, or draw. We knew that no matter how the fight turned out his name would suddenly be known by millions of people around the world because of the wide television coverage of this competition. And that is exactly what happened.

Chris flew back home to Portland on Sunday afternoon. I called him up about 6PM, and he was feeling discouraged about the outcome of the fight. He really wanted to win it and was disappointed with his own performance. Like many of us, he struggles with perfectionist tendencies and is often his own worst critic. I tried to encourage and let him know that he had done a great job, and that we were all very proud of his performance, his courage, and his sportsmanship. I think it helped a little.

Today as I was thinking about Chris and my other two kids, Jonathan and Simoni, I got to thinking about the fact that in my mind all three of them are champions, win, lose, or draw. My love and appreciation for them is not based on whether or not they achieve "success" according to the world's measuring stick. Their value to me is not based on image or performance, but upon relationship. They are my kids and I love them dearly--win, lose, or draw.

That's how God feels about His kids too. He loves us unconditionally. He wants us to win in life's battles and He has given us the tools we need to do that, but His love toward us is not affected by how many bouts we win or lose.

Every child of God has played the prodigal at one time or another and has brought tears to the Father's eyes. I certainly have. Moreover, I occasionally brought tears to the eyes of my parents. Yet their love for me never wavered. My three children have all caused me some anxious moments and gray hairs, but when I look at them my dad smile starts deep down inside me and makes its way clear up to my face, because in my book they are winners--win, lose, or draw. They are my kids and I love them.

God's love is like that too. He is not an angry Father, always looking at His children's imperfections, filth, and failures. Instead, He sees us as clean and perfect and complete in Christ. He smiles when He looks at His kids. I hope that thought brightens your day, lifts your chin, and quickens your step.

Crazy, still crazy
Mike

Seeing Is Believing?

2008-02-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

I've been away from blogging for a couple of weeks or so but now I'm back, rested and rearing to go. This past Sunday, right after the morning service, Ramel and I drove down to the Oregon coast. We went to Lincoln City by way of Salem, then slowly made our way south down Highway 101 until we found a little motel with a vacancy sign. We rented a place right on the beach, overlooking the ocean. Our room had a fireplace and a big window where we could sit and watch the sun go down. It was very beautiful and very restful. I woke up in the middle of the night with a bright light shining in my eyes. It was the moon casting its light over the water, making every wave look as though it were decorated with a million jewels. I got up and sat by the window for a long time, marveling at the beauty of God's creation.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be blind. I lost one of my five senses, the sense of smell, back in 1982 in a freak accident, so I know what it's like not to be able to smell or taste. However, that's nothing compared to a person losing his sight or hearing. To live in a world of darkness or a world of silence--either one would be vastly worse than my affliction.

We depend on sight for so much. There is an old saying that goes, "Seeing is believing." It means that we verify reality by what we can observe with our eyes. We believe something because it is right there in front of us in plain sight. But our eyes can be deceived. Any police officer can tell you that eye witnesses are often totally mistaken in identifying suspects. And everyone has seen optical illusions that trick the brain into thinking it is seeing something when it isn't. On this page among the "Cool Pix Just For Fun" there is an optical illusion that fascinates me. The five colorful overlapping circles give the impression that they are slowly spinning. But they aren't. Click on the image and it will open up in another window and you'll see what I mean.

Or how about the picture below. It has to be true. Cameras don't lie, do they?

Our minds tell us that what we see is impossible. But there it is. The head of a donkey, the body of a tiger, and the tail of an alligator. It must be true however, because seeing is believing, right?

One of the most well known stories of the New Testament is the one found in John chapter 20 about "Doubting Thomas." After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples gathered together in the upper room. But Thomas was not there on that occasion. When told of the Lord's visit he said that he would not believe it unless he saw the Lord with his own two eyes. For him, seeing was believing. Shortly after that Jesus appeared again to His disciples, but that time Thomas was present. Upon seeing the Lord Thomas knelt before Jesus and made that beautiful declaration of faith, "My Lord, and my God."

But even more remarkable are Jesus' words to Thomas in verse 29. He said, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The eyes of faith--these are the eyes of the soul that come open when we believe on the Lord Jesus, that wonderful moment when believing becomes seeing. In II Corinthians 3 the apostle Paul is writing about the spiritual blindness of his people, the Jews. In verse 14 he writes, "But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." A few verses later he writes, "And if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." This is what we call "spirtual blindness."

Peter speaks of this phenomenon of "believing is seeing" in I Peter 1:6-8, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

There are many things that exist, that are real, that I cannot see with my physical eyes--love, joy, peace, friendship, honesty--these are not visible to the naked eye, yet they are real nonetheless. I have never seen Jesus with my physical eyes, yet I know He is real, and I can see Him with the eyes of faith. Believing is seeing. One day we will stand before Him and will see Him face to face, but that will only be the icing on the cake.

Still crazy... about ocean sunsets,
Mike

Dead Horse Theology

2008-02-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Hi fellow earthlings,

Most of the e-zines, newsletters, or e-mail updates out there aren't worth much, and I usually just glance at them and quickly throw them away or delete them. But there are a couple of things I get that I read from cover to cover, as the saying goes. One of them is Randy Alcorn's "Eternal Perspectives Quarterly Newsletter." It is always excellent, and well worth the time it takes to read it. You can sign up for it here... http://www.epm.org/contact.php Or if you choose, you can read it online by going to Randy's website. Personally, I like to get it in hard copy. And by the way, check out his blog. It is excellent!

Another thing I read all the way through is called the "Church Leaders Intelligence Report." It is a weekly email newsletter and always has interesting and insightful information. It is produced through Sermon Central and is compiled and edited by Gary D. Foster. If you are interested go here to sign up... http://www.sermoncentral.com/clir_subscribe_capture_email.asp

The lastest Intelligence Report had this brief article entitled, "Dead Horses."

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians says when you discover you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in modern business and ministry, because of the heavy investment factors, other strategies are often tried with dead horses, including: buying a stronger whip; changing riders; threatening the horse with termination; appointing a committee to study the horse; arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses; reclassifying the dead horse as “living-impaired”; hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse; harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed; donating the dead horse to a recognized charity and deducting its full original cost; doing a time management study to see if lighter riders would improve productivity; declaring a dead horse has lower overhead and therefore performs better; and promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
(from The KELLYGRAM 12/02)

Does any of this sound familiar? I roared with laughter because it is so true. We try everything possible to breathe new life back into the nostrils of our dead horses. We are so reluctant to stop programs in the church that used to work, that used to be successful, that used to draw people. We forget that progarams are not eternal; only God and His Word can rightfully hold that claim. Methods do not last forever; they have a very short shelf-life like fresh-picked Oregon strawberries.

We keep forgetting that we live in a constantly and quickly changing world where technology reinvents itself every year, where communication tools and techniques are quickly replaced, and where the rules and values of society are always in flux. So why do we get so stuck on trying to do church and communicate the Gospel in the same-old same-old ways, even after having ample proof that the methods and/or programs are no longer working? The horse has died, but we refuse to dismount.

Lord, give us eyes to recognize a dead horse when we see one, and give us courage to get off and look for a different horse if ours has passed away. Help us to hold fast only to the things that never change, never fail, never die, and never fade. Help up hold the other stuff with an open hand so that we can easily drop it when it dies and starts to stink. Help us to remember that church isn't where we go or what we do, but who we are. May Your life flow through us to others. May we be channels of Your grace and blessing. And don't let us plug up the plumbing with dead horses.

Crazy, but not crazy enough to ride a dead horse,
Mike

Keith Green is still with us

2008-02-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

All of us can look back through the pages of our life and see that there were many people who contributed in different ways to help shape us into the man or woman that we have become. But certain ones always stand out in our memories. My parents, of course, had a tremendous influence on me, but also a handful of favorite teachers, a few special friends, and some godly professors in seminary who helped to mold my character.

But there was also a young man that influenced me more than I knew at the time. Keith Green was a Christian musician who cut a wide swath. I think that during his short seven years of ministry, before his tragic death in a plane crash on Wednesday, July 28, 1982 when he was only 28 years old, he may have influenced more young people than any other Christian artist of that era. His songs were powerful and probing and passionate. His intense love for Christ and his frustration with the lukewarm cultural Christianity of America touched the lives of millions.

I'll never forget the sadness that filled my heart when I heard of his death. We had just come back home from Brazil on our first furlough and were living in SE Portland. Keith was scheduled for a concert here in Portland at the Rose Garden that following Saturday, the 31st. As you can imagine, Portland was hardhit with the news of his death. The Second Chapter of Acts and Barry McGuire came in his place, but there were a lot of tears in that arena that night. That concert ended with hundreds of young people dedicating their lives to serve Christ, and was just the first of a whole string of memorial concerts across the country resulting in thousands saved and many going into full-time ministry.

I still love to listen to Keith's music and those old songs still move me. YouTube is loaded with junk but it also has some great stuff. Here is a video of him singing on the 700 Club his song, "I Can't Wait to Get to Heaven." It will make you lonely for Heaven too.

If you would like to learn more about Keith Green's life and hear more of his music check out YouTube. Just type his name into the search box. One of the things you'll discover is a seven part documentary about his life and ministry called "The Keith Green Story." Here is a link to the first part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6hOyx8LF4I

I just hope that when it comes time for the Lord to call me home I will leave even a fraction of the positive legacy that Keith left. His light burned brightly with a pure flame that lit up the path so that many others could find their way to the Father's house.

Still crazy about Keith Green,
Mike

My kid can beat up your kid

2008-02-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

Where did I go wrong? How could I have failed so miserably as a father as to have a son who grew up to beat up people for a living? But that’s what happened. My second son, Christopher, is a professional Mixed Martial-Arts fighter (MMA). He’s known as “the Professor,” apparently for two reasons: (1) he has an annoying habit of correcting his friends’ grammar all the time; and (2) if you get in the ring with him be prepared because he is going to take you to school, if you get my drift. He can hurt you in a hundred different ways. (Check him out at… http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=9281)

In traffic I often see bumper stickers that say things like, “My son is an honor student at Elkdrool Elementary School.” I’ve thought of getting a bumper sticker made for my car that says, “My kid can beat up your kid any day of the week.” So far I’ve been able to resist the temptation.

Chris has a big fight coming up soon. On March 1st in Columbus, Ohio he will be going up against Jon Fitch in the next Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC 82). It will be on pay-per-view TV and televised all over the world. This is a great career-building opportunity for Chris, win or lose. If he wins, it will improve his already great record (13-3-0). But even if he loses, he will have lost against a highly-rated and worthy opponent. Either way, this fight will give him greater name recognition and higher visibility in the sport. He is already well known among fighters, but is not as well known by fans east of the Rockies as he is by folks out west. This fight will change that.

To be honest, this is not the career I would have chosen for my son, had I been in a position to choose. However, he loves it and is very good at it. He has the reflexes, speed, power, and agility of a tiger. Ramel and I go to as many of his fights as we can to cheer him on. A bunch of people from our church have even gotten interested in the sport because of him, and whenever he fights in Portland we usually have a Baptist cheering section. I know… it’s kind of weird. And all the Brazilians around here know Chris and Luciana so there are always a bunch of our Brazilian friends in the arena cheering him on too. We have lots of fun screaming in Portuguese.

So what does this have to do with anything? Last Sunday at our church we had a baby dedication. Five couples stood in the front of the church with their little children in their arms, having come to offer them in dedication to the Lord with the desire that they might grow up to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ all the days of their lives. I spoke to them of Hannah who offered up her son, Samuel, to the Lord, and of how she did everything possible to see that he would grow up to be a man of God.

As I looked at those five precious little ones on Sunday, including my granddaughter, Savannah Rose, I couldn’t help but wonder what they will turn out to be and how God will use them in the years ahead. I wondered if we might have a future president or ambassador, or perhaps a teacher or a police officer. One might even hear the call of God to become a pastor or a great missionary. And one might even turn out to be a professional fighter, like one of my kids. At this point only God knows.

Anne Ortlund, wife of well known radio preacher, Ray Ortlund, wrote a book years ago entitled, Children Are Wet Cement. Not only is it a good book, but I love that title, because it is so true. Kids are very impressionable. Children absorb whatever is around them, good or bad. Their tender little minds and hearts are fragile and soft, and can be easily shaped in one direction or another. They can also be easily wounded and scarred. This is why the Bible charges us: “Train up a child according to the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

As parents, our biggest job in life is to raise up children and grandchildren to know, love, and serve God, all the days of their life. There is no greater work, not greater purpose, no greater joy. This is “JOB 1.”

So now you may be thinking, “What does this have to do with all that stuff at the beginning about Christopher and his fighting career?” Let me connect up the dots for you… I’m proud of Chris as a fighter, and I love to go to his matches, but his career isn’t nearly as important to me as his character. That goes for all three of my kids, and all of their kids. I’m much more concerned that they become committed followers of Christ who know, love, and serve Him. Whatever they choose to do or be in life is fine with me. I’m just concerned with what they are and have on the inside, where it really counts.

Crazy about my kids,
Mike

Answers to Life's Persistent Questions

2008-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

I'm a Garrison Keillor fan, and every chance I get I enjoy listening to the live Prairie Home Companion show on the radio. In our Portland market it comes on every Saturday from 3-5 PM.

One of Keillor's regular skits is about a private detective named Guy Noir. The script always starts with... "A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but on the twelfth floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions — Guy Noir, Private Eye." But I can tell you that Noir is not the only one with persistent questions. I can relate to that challenge, too.

There is an old German saying that goes, "Ein Narr kann mehr fragen als sieben Weise sagen," which means, "One fool can ask more questions than seven wise men can answer." In Wilson English that means that any idiot can ask dang fool questions without working up a sweat. For example, check these out:

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
If nobody buys a ticket to a movie do they still show it anyway?
If someone owns a piece of land, do they own it all the way to the center of the earth?
If humans evolved from apes, why are they still here?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
Why do we say that an alarm clock is going off when really it's coming on?
Why is it that if someone yells, "Duck!" they are helping you, but if they yell, "Chicken!" they are insulting you?
If the FBI breaks your door down do they have to pay for it?
Why do we say we're head over heels when we're happy? Isn't that the way we normally are?
If the Wicked Witch of the West melts in water... how did she ever bathe?
Why do sleeping pills have warning labels that state : 'Caution: May Cause Drowsiness'?
If there's a wheelchair-bound comedian, is their act still called "stand-up"?
Do deaf people who use sign language see little hands in their head when they think about what somebody said, or do they hear the words in their head?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why do they call someone "late" if they died early?
Why are red buttons always the most important?
How is chess considered a sport?
Why is it when you're sleeping it's called "drool," but when you're awake its called "spit"?
Why are tennis balls always fuzzy?

See what I mean? I've got a million persistent questions. But these are nothing compared to some others that really plague my mind. For example,

How is it that we persist in calling ourselves, "a Christian nation" when we have murdered over 45 million babies since January 22, 1973.

How did it happen that this "Christian nation" came to be the biggest producer and distributor of pornography on the planet?

Why is it wrong to shoot an abortion doctor but it's OK for him to murder hundreds of innocent babies in his clinic?

Why is it that we are left to choose the lesser of the evils in every blessed election, and can't seem to come up with even one candidate who has the guts to speak the truth about the direction this country is going and point out that our biggest problems are moral and spiritual, not economic and social?

How is it that so many "Christians" vote for people and party platforms that are totally at odds with the clear teachings of the Word of God and yet go to sleep at night with clear consciences?

These are the kind of persistent questions for which I seek answers. Unfortunately, I think I already know a lot of the answers, and it scares me to death. If God doesn't bring judgment against this nation He will need to offer His sincere apologies to Sodom and Gomorrah for what He did to them, because they weren't half as rotten as we are here in the good old U.S. of A.

**************************************************************

Speaking of answers to questions... I promised you the answers to that word puzzle I put up yesterday, so here they are. Did you figure them all out?

A. 26 = L of the A [26 Letters of the Alphabet]
B. 9 (Oops, make that 8!) = P in the S S [8 Planets in the Solar System]
C. 1001 = A N [1,001 Arabian Nights]
D. 54 = C in a D (with the J) [54 Cards in a Deck (with the Joker)]
E. 1 = W on a U [1 Wheel on a Unicycle]
F. 11 = P on a F T [11 Players on a Football Team]
G. 2 = T and a P in a P T [2 Turtledoves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree]
H. 200 = D in M when you P G [200 Dollars in Monopoly when you Pass Go]
I. 3 = B M (s h t r) [3 Blind Mice (see how they run)]
J. 57 = H V [57 Heinz Varieties]
K. 64 = S on a C [64 Squares on a Chessboard]
L. 40 = D and N of the G F [40 Days and Nights of the Great Flood]
M. 4 = Q in a G [4 Quarts in a Gallon]
N. 13 = S on the A F [13 Stripes on the American Flag]
O. 12 = S of the Z [12 Signs of the Zodiac]
P. 32 = D at which W F [32 Degrees at which Water Freezes]
Q. 7 = W of the A W [7 Wonders of the Ancient World]
R. 18 = H on a G C [18 Holes on a Golf Course]
S. 90 = D in a R A [90 Degrees in a Right Angle]
T. 29 = D in F in a L Y [29 Days in February in a Leap Year]
U. 5 = D in a Z C [5 Digits in a Zip Code]
V. 1000 = W that a P is W [1,000 Words that a Picture is Worth]
W. 76 = T in the B P [76 Trombones in the Big Parade]
X. 1000000 = M I W for O O Y S [1,000,000 Miles I’d Walk for One Of Your Smiles]
Y. 4 = H of the A [4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse]
Z. 13 = D in a B D [13 Donuts in a Baker’s Dozen]

Still crazy after all these years,
Mike

Alphabetical Brain Busters

2008-01-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow flakazoids,

I enjoy word puzzles of all kinds, especially crossword puzzles. But here are some fun little challenges to brighten your day. Complete the missing words to make the statements true. The first one is done for you. I'll post the answers tomorrow, just in case you get stuck.

A. 26 = L of the A (= 26 Letters of the Alphabet)
B. 9 (Oops, make that 8!) = P in the S S
C. 1001 = A N
D. 54 = C in a D (with the J)
E. 1 = W on a U
F. 11 = P on a F T
G. 2 = T and a P in a P T
H. 200 = D in M when you P G
I. 3 = B M (s h t r)
J. 57 = H V
K. 64 = S on a C
L. 40 = D and N of the G F
M. 4 = Q in a G
N. 13 = S on the A F
O. 12 = S of the Z
P. 32 = D at which W F
Q. 7 = W of the A W
R. 18 = H on a G C
S. 90 = D in a R A
T. 29 = D in F in a L Y
U. 5 = D in a Z C
V. 1000 = W that a P is W
W. 76 = T in the B P
X. 1000000 = M I W for O O Y S
Y. 4 = H of the A
Z. 13 = D in a B D

How did you do? I know this isn't real spiritual but I thought you'd like it anyway. If you missed a few, it's OK. You're still a good person. Relax, Monk!

Crazy, but not stupid
Mike

No Friend of Mine

2008-01-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

Death sucks, big time! I'm really getting tired of saying goodbye to people I love and admire. That old TV program, "Touched By an Angel," always portrayed the angel of death as a handsome nice guy smartly dressed in a white suit. He was just an angel, like all the other angels, but had apparently drawn the short straw and gotten the dirty job. He would show up at just the right time and gently lead people away to Heaven. Their passing was almost always calm, quiet, and peaceful.

How I wish it were always so. Death is no friend of mine. Death is not pretty. It's usually not peaceful either. Death is an enemy that will one day be conquered and sent to the pit, right along with the Antichrist, the False Prophet, the Devil, and all the demons, not to mention those people who have rejected God's gracious offer of salvation through His Son, Yeshua, the Christ. At the end of the Book of Revelation, in 20:14 we read, "And death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire [i.e. Hell]." A few verses later in 21:4 it says, "And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." The Scriptures tell us that the last enemy to be conquered by Christ will be death itself. I look forward to that day.

This week we have been hit with two more deaths. On Sunday morning, just as Sunday School was starting I got a phone call from one of the Portland Police Bureau sergeants where I serve as a chaplain informing me that one of our finest officers, a 17-year veteran of the bureau, had been killed on his way to work. His pickup started acting up on the I-5 freeway and he pulled over onto the shoulder to pop the hood and see what was happening. A moment later he was struck by a semi and killed instantly. He left a wife and several kids, all of them devastated. The whole police department is in shock over this. He was one of the most beloved and admired officers we have. Even the bad guys liked him. Like I said, I hate death!

Then yesterday morning, just as I was getting ready to leave the house to come to work, I got a phone call from a dear wife saying that her husband had died a little while earlier. Flor and Tateyana are from Uzbekistan. Flor accepted Christ 14 years ago while still working as a translator for the Soviet KGB. The story of their leaving Uzbekistan and coming to America is filled with miracles for which they give God all the credit. However, Flor was diagnosed not long ago with an inoperable liver tumor. Physically he has been getting steadily weaker, but his positive attitude and his childlike faith in the Lord have been amazing. He died at 3:05 AM yesterday. Oh, did I happen to mention that I hate death?

Death makes me angry. It was not part of God's plan. It should not even exist but it does. It was not created or invented like other things. It sprang forth spontaneously as the natural consequence of sin and disobedience and rebellion. It is the antithesis of life, just as darkness is the absence of light. Darkness cannot overpower light. When light is dimmed or extinguished the darkness always rushes in to fill the void, but while the light is strong, the darkness must hide. As long as the lights are on in the room, darkness is forced to wait outside. As long as the sun is visible in the sky, night has to slink and skulk around the fringes of the earth until the sun goes to sleep. Only then does the night find the courage to appear.

I think death works the same way. Death is not stronger than life. In and of itself death is weak. Life trumps death every time. But when the light of life goes out, death rushes in like a flood. In the twinkling of an eye the soul separates itself from the body and those who belong to the Lord go immediately to be with Him. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, " the Word says. Only then does death take over the shell that's been left.

But that bit of philosophy mixed with theology is little comfort when we have to hold the hand of someone we love as they slip from our grasp into eternity like I did with my Mom and Dad not long ago. I know where they are and I know that I will see them again. But I still hate the death that took them. Christ ripped the stinger out of the beast so that it can't really hurt us anymore, but I still hate the look, the smell, the feel of death, and believe me, I've seen it plenty of times. There is nothing pretty about death. It is ugly and mean and I resent it, in all it's forms, all it's disguises. On that day when death is finally swallowed up in victory and cast into Hell, my voice will be one of many millions raised to praise the One who holds the power and is worthy to receive all honor, glory, and adoration.

Crazy to see the day when death goes down in flames,
Mike

A Couple of Funny Pix

2008-01-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hi there fellow pilgrims,

One of the consequences of being slightly crazy is that I seem to attract loons and moonbat friends. It so happens that some of them are even relatives of mine. This week I received two pictures that made me laugh and I thought I'd share them with you. The first one may seem mean spirited if you happen to be a Hillary fan, but I thought it was funny anyway.

Reportedly a KFC in New York City.

These are the newest style of shoes for Oregon and Washington residents.

Some have asked if I've cut that glass shelf yet. The answer is no, but I'm getting closer to the big moment. The glass is standing propped up in our kitchen and I did a practice run the other night and cut a piece of glass to repair a picture frame, so it won't be long now. I'm just nervous because to make the shelf I have to cut a bigger piece and I don't want to screw it up. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tchau, until later

Mike

A Good Book Is A Joy Forever

2008-01-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow crazies,

I love books--books of all kinds, all sizes. I especially love old books--the way they feel, the way they smell. OK, you who know me well know that I lied about that last part. I have no sense of smell anymore. I got electrocuted back in 1981 and it burned out my olfactory nerve so that now I can't smell or taste anything. But I used to love the smell of old books, and that's the truth.

Those who know me well also know that I'm eclectic in my reading tastes. I can spend hours in a used book store, going where my curiosity leads me. I recently came across a quotation that I liked from an odd source, because it's one that sums up both my book-reading and book-lending experience. The quote is from an old American magazine called Punchinello (Vol. 1, Number 2, April 9, 1870). Punchinello was the American spinoff of Punch magazine, a British weekly of humor and satire. Punchinello was published in New York City from April-December of 1870. All 39 issues can be found online at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.journals/punc.html.

“Books are the best of friends. They are honest. They say what they feel, and feel what they say. Like other blessings, too, they often take to wings and fly; and it proves to be a fly that never returns. A good book is a joy forever. The only sad thing about it is, that it keeps lent all the time--not so much piously as profanely. Am I my brother's keeper? No. But my brother is quite too often a keeper of mine--of mine own choice authors. The best of friends are, of course--like the best of steaks--rather rare. Like honest men they count only one in ten thousand--an extremely small per cent in a commercial point of view. Books--what should we do without them? What may we not do with them, if it were not for the season of Lent?”

Looking around, one might conclude that books are going the way of the dinosaurs--becoming extinct, replaced by a more powerful rival. But I don't think that is going to happen. Audio books, online books, movies, IPods--none of these can hold a candle to the feel of a good book in your hand.

And speaking of good books... My friend, Herschel McGraw gave me a book for Christmas--What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza, the same bestselling author who wrote What's So Great About America and many other books. D'Souza is a former White House domestic policy analyst who now teaches at Stanford.

This is an amazingly well written book and one that is hard to put down. In it the author takes on the Darwinists, the secularists, the humanists, the atheists, and any other -ists who happen to show up at the party. He masterfully shoots down the notion that religion is on the decline and that atheism is on the rise, pointing out that famous atheists like Daniel Dennett, E.O. Wilson, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins have merely become more vocal out of growing frustration at seeing that Darwinism and the other -isms previously mentioned hold no answers for any thinking person willing to look at the evidence he lays on the table.

This book is a beautifully written apologetic for biblical Christianity, one that can confidently be put into the hands of thinking Christians wherever they might be in the spectrum, or non-believing "seekers" willing to be stretched and challenged by the evidence. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, a classic of Christian apologetics.

By the way, that word "apologetics" doesn't have anything to do with apologizing for being a Christian (though in my opinion there are a lot of so-called Christians who need to apologize to God and to the watching world for their lack of commitment to Christ, their selfish life-styles, and their cowardly faith, but that's another story altogether). The word apologetics comes to us from the Greek word apologia, which literally means "to speak off." It is used of a verbal defense, speaking off the charges, explaining one's involvement or position. It is the word we find in I Peter 3:15, "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense (i.e. an apologia) to every one who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

We live in an age when, as it was stated years ago by Dr. Vance Havner, that wise old Southern Baptist preacher, "There are very few Christians in America shaken by their faith, but many who are shaky about it." I couldn't agree more. If you want to read something that will add some chest hairs to your faith and make you proud to be a Christian in 2008, check out D'Souza.

Crazy about good books,
Mike

Breaking On the Line

2008-01-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hi again my friends,

I've had a honey-do project on my back burner for quite a while. We have a china hutch that used to belong to my folks. It is one of those big monster jobs that comes in two parts. The bottom chest has drawers down the middle and a cabinet with doors on each side. The top half has glass doors and three long glass shelves. When we moved it from Vancouver to our house in Milwaukie we managed to break one of the glass shelves in it. I had thought they were glued in but found out differently.

Anyway, Ramel has been after me to get that shelf fixed so that she can store some more of her pretty things in there. In my typical Mike fashion I've managed to put the job off for months. However, I recently decided to tackle the challenge. I contacted several local glass places and asked what they would charge to make me a shelf, but apparently all glass guys are crooks, so I decided to do it myself. In my wanderings I found an old piece of glass just the right thickness and big enough to make a shelf, and so I have been reading up on how to cut glass. My plan is to do it myself, just as soon as I get my courage worked up to a fever pitch.

Which brings me to my point... I've learned a bunch of stuff about glass cutting that I didn't know before. (It's amazing what you can learn on the Internet!) For example, glass has no internal crystaline structure, unlike most other inorganic substances. It is an amorphous solid, whatever that means. For that reason, many scientists even argue that it's not really a solid at all, but a very stiff liquid. (I'll leave you to ponder that for a minute.) Anyway, this means that glass has no cleavage planes (like gemstones, for instance). So glass isn't really "cut" in the normal sense of the word, but is actually subjected to a controlled break. Since glass is equally strong in any direction, you normally don't have to worry about direction of grain like woodworkers do. Within certain limits, wherever you score the glass is where it will break, at least in theory.

If you take a regular piece of window pane between your hands and try to break it in half, what happens? The glass actually bends through a very small arc - about 1 degree. That's when the tensile strength of the surface of the glass is exceeded, and SNAP! You're left with two pieces of irregular shaped glass in your hands. However, by carefully "scoring" (scratching) the surface of the glass with a glass scoring tool, you can control exactly where that lapse in tensile strength will occur. Again, that's the theory. After scoring the glass where you want it to break the last step is called "running the score." That is where you hold the pane of glass in your two hands and break it at the score line. Wah-lah! two lovely pieces of glass cut on the line.

But this is where the plot thickens. Several glass-cutting websites I found warned me that when using old or used glass to clean the surface thouroughly and also to examine it with care before trying to make the cut. They pointed out that tiny scratches on the glass, nearly invisible, can act as unforeseen score lines and can cause the glass to break in odd places, destroying the project and leaving you with shattered glass everywhere. My worst nightmare!

That's what started me thinking. Our lives are kind of like glass. Most of us are aware of where the big fault lines are in our lives. We can see those big score lines. We know our weaknesses. We know where we are most vulnerable, as least we think we do. However, we can have little scratches, little imperfections that we justify or choose to ignore because we think they are insignificant, yet when the pressure or temptation comes that may be where we snap instead of where we thought it might happen. Does that make any sense? It does to me.

The apostle Paul warns in I Corinthians 10:12, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." And this verse is in the context of falling prey to temptation. In fact, it is followed immediately by this familiar verse: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." I think that Paul here is reminding us that we can be blindsided by temptation.

On a pane of glass, every impurity and every scratch act as score lines, weak points, where under pressure the glass can break. So it is with our lives--every bit of impurity and every scratch in our character serve as weak points for the devil to use to try and get us to shatter into a million pieces. Let's be careful not to give him any dirt or score lines, visible or invisible, to use against us.

Crazy and just a little bit cracked,

Mike

A Job Finally Finished?

2008-01-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

As my short list of regular readers has no doubt noticed, I've been out of blogging circulation for an embarrassingly long time--since Dec. 27th. When I get overwhelmed mentally and emotionally I have no reserve brainpower to invest outside of the bare minimum things that I already have to do on a regular basis. Thus, I have been procrastinating in getting back into the groove of writing on this blog. Please forgive me, but that's the gospel truth of the matter.

Many of you knew my parents, Doyle and Helen Wilson, and know that they have both gone to be with the Lord. My mother died on August 1, 2005, and my dad died on May 26, 2006. On the one hand, quite a bit of time has passed since their deaths. An accusing voice in my head sometimes says, "You should be getting over it by now." That may be true, but the circumstances surrounding their deaths have made grieving and healing slow and difficult.

Moreover, after Dad died I was left with a large project with many different tasks. Those of you who have ever served as executor or trustee of an estate know exactly what I'm talking about. As the trustee for my parents' living trust the responsibility has fallen to me to resolve all of their affairs, including their bills, accounts, investments, properties, vehicles, and the remodel and sale of their house in Vancouver. For those of you who are financially savvy, naturally handy, and who have lots of extra time on your hands this might not sound like a daunting task. However, for a putz like me it's been a rough ride.

The hairiest part of the job has been getting their house remodeled and ready for sale. Besides dropping a pile of money on the project I've spent more hours, days, weeks, and months on the job than I care to confess to. At the beginning I found it hard to even go into the house. I felt like an interloper and I saw my parents everywhere I looked. But after getting over that hump I just found the job to be bigger than I ever dreamed it would be. I now have a new appreciation for home remodelers and people in the construction trades who actually know what they are doing. Even though I farmed out the biggest jobs there was enough left over for me to do that I am incredibly glad to see the project draw to a close.

Finally, this week I finished my part of the job. The house is remodeled inside and out and looks beautiful. It should make someone very happy. The house is now on the market and is in the hands of a very capable realtor who I'm hoping will be able to sell it for us in the near future.

I anticipate that with this job finally finished my stress level will soon be going down and my general attitude will be going up. At least my family hopes so. What's strange though is that I've been living under this stress load for so long I can't quite believe that it is finally over. Of course, there is still much to do before we can close the estate, but the rest is mostly paperwork.

Why am I telling you all this? I have no idea. I'm just writing out loud. I guess the point is that you don't always know what you are capable of until you are called on to do something that is beyond your normal abilities. We don't grow unless we are stretched. Muscles don't build mass and strength unless they are forced into it. Most of us, me included, are naturally lazy. We look for the easy way, the fast way, the painless way to get things done. But sometimes we find ourselves confronted with having to just gut it out, to press on through the pain, stress, fear, etc. and get the job done.

I think I've grown up a little bit by having to do this job. I didn't much like the learning process, but it was probably good for me in some ways. But isn't that how it often works? Most of our personal and spiritual growth occurs during the difficult or unpleasant patches on life's road. All of the big spiritual lessons I've learned along the way have come by getting knots on my head. I'm just glad that God is patient with me and that He doesn't grade on the curve.

I'll try to get back on track and write more often. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Still crazy,
Mike

How the world sees "Evangelicals"

2007-12-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

Hello amigos,

I've been out of circulation for a while, what with Christmas services, tryptophan-induced naps, and overdosing on eggnog. But I'm back now, and rearing to go. By the way, what does that mean anyway--"rearing to go"? I think it must be some kind of equestrian reference, but I'm not sure.

In my recent reading I have come across several articles that show evangelical Christians in a very negative light. This to me is a serious issue, and it gets me hopping mad. Of course, I do not really expect the world to like us. Jesus warned His disciples that the world would, in fact, hate them. That has proven true down through the centuries.

However, I'm an eternal optimist and I keep holding out hope that we will at least win their begrudging admiration. I keep wanting to believe that non-Christian people will see some consistency between our walk and our talk and start to connect up the dots to see that evangelical Christians have something worth investigating.

The problem is that there are lots of very visible bad examples on so-called "Christian television," and those wing-nuts and moon-bats end up giving every Christian a black eye. The world has a hard time sorting out the wheat from the chaff when the chaff have their own TV shows on TBN, and they call themselves, "evangelical Christians." Makes me never want to use that word again to describe myself.

This is a comedy clip that you may or may not laugh at. It's funny, because it is so ridiculous. But it is sad, too, because these people have millions of brain-dead believers who keep them on the air by sending in their nickels and dimes. I think it's time to starve them out and get them off the air. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Still crazy, but not crazy enough to send any of these crooks any money.
Mike

It's A Girl!

2007-12-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

Today our son, Chris, sent me a text message that simply read, "It's a girl!" He and Luciana had just left the clinic where they found out the gender of their baby. They were both very excited. Lu is due to deliver the little bundle of joy on April 27th. This is happy news for our whole family, because we are weighted heavily on the male side right now. Making it even better, our daughter, Simoni, is also carrying a little girl, and she is due to be born on February 12th. What fun! Two little girls showing up within two and a half months of each other. Josh and Simoni are thinking of calling their little girl Michaela Renée, but haven't decided for sure. Chris and Luciana don't have a name picked out yet, but I'm sure they will be combing through the name books to find a good one.

But what's in a name anyway? In many ancient cultures and in some cultures still today the name given to a child is very important. It represents the hopes and dreams of the parents for that child, and serves as a picture of what they hope the child will become. In western culture, however, we have largely lost this concept. People in this country especially, choose names more for the pleasing sound or the rarity of the name, wanting their kid to have a moniker that is distinctive. Failing that, they play around with the spelling of the name, coming up with something so oddball that it will complicate the poor kid's life all the way to the grave.

But I think we need to be more careful about the names we give to our children. I think we need to give them names that they can grow into--names with real meaning.

When I was born my mother named me Michael. It comes from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) which means, "who is like God?". This is the name of one of only three angels actually mentioned in the Bible, and the only one specifically identified as an archangel. (The other two angels named are, of course, Gabriel and Lucifer, who we usually call Satan.) In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Michael is portrayed as the leader of Heaven's armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers. Nine Byzantine emperors and a czar of Russia bore his name.

My mother and I both almost died while she was carrying me in her womb. In spite of the fever, when I was born without brain damage or birth defects it seemed to her to be a fitting name. While I was growing up she often reminded me that I was a gift from God, and that she had offered me back to God to serve Him all the days of my life. That has always stuck with me, though I have often failed to live up to that high standard.

There is a verse in the Bible that has always intrigued me. It is found in Revelation 2:17, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." This verse has puzzled commentators for centuries. But I believe that what the apostle John was saying is that when we get to Heaven and stand before the Lord, He is going to call us by a new name, a name that reflects who we truly are in His sight.

Many people hate their given names and are forced to go through life with handles they would have never chosen for themselves: Irving, Herbert, Agnes, Tiffany, Percival, SummerDawn, Edith, Archibald, Burgandy, Billy Bob, etc. But when Bubba finally kneels down before King Jesus, the Savior is going to press into his hand a beautiful white stone on which is engraved a name, a new name, a beautiful and powerful name, a name that tells how Jesus sees him on the inside. That name will have meaning. It will bring joy, not embarrassment. It will be the name Jesus will use every time he meets Bubba on the streets of Heaven. He will lean over and whisper in Bubba's ear, "My son, you are ________, and you are Mine." Bubba's face will light up every time it happens. At least, that's what I think the verse means.

One thing is for sure--the Lord knows the names of all those who belong to Him. He has our names memorized. And the Bible says that our names are inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life. At the end, when the angels check the long lists of names they may have trouble pronouncing some of them. They may stumble over Giuseppa, Franstziska, Bhaskara, Themistocles, and Ruairidh. That's OK. Jesus is going to give each of us a new name anyway.

Crazy...especially about little baby girls,
Mike

An American Kid

2007-12-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all,

This video is by the Christian group, Go Fish. They sing a lot of acappella music and also do a lot of kids' concerts, but this is a wild, toe-tapping, flag-waving song that I really liked. I hope you like it too. Turn your speakers up real loud and get ready to boogie to the music! For you who do not have high speed internet service, I know it bugs you to have me put up a video because it takes so long to load. Believe me, I understand. I have dial-up service at home. But what you do... start the thing downloading, go in and fix yourself a nice strong cup of Earl Gray tea, watch TV for a while, and then come back and watch this video. It's worth the wait.

Crazy about you, America, the flag, and kids
Mike

"They Sow the Wind, and Reap the Whirlwind"

2007-12-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

Many people who use the quotation in the title of this posting do not know that it comes right out of the Old Testament book of Hosea, chapter 8 verse 7. It basically means that the evil we sow in this life will come back on our heads and result in a harvest of evil. The apostle Paul says the same thing in Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." This is a divine principle, an eternal truth not bound by time, place, or circumstance. Moreover, I believe it applies to nations as well as to individuals.

I subscribe to an Internet newsletter called the Church Leaders Intelligence Report. It often has interesting and usful pieces of information. Here is a brief article about China that I found enlightening:

China has too many men. Today, roughly 120 boys are born in China for
every 100 girls, perhaps the worst gender imbalance in modern human history.
Within 15 years, the country may have 30 million men who cannot find
wives. Households have preferred male children because men are viewed as
better able to support rural families, and boys inherit the land.
Infanticide has often resulted. China's one-child policy motivates couples
to abort until they have a boy. This will turn China, by 2030, into a
grayer society than the U.S. Single young men are far more likely to commit
violence than their married peers. Even young criminals often give up
crime when they marry and settle down. Today China is experiencing rising
crime waves. Cities with the most unbalanced sex ratios have some of the
highest crime rates. China's State Population and Family Commission admits
“the increasing difficulties men face in finding wives may lead to social
instability.” (Taken from the Church Leaders Intelligence Report,
compiled and edited by Gary D. Foster. Original article from LA Times, 10/21/07.)

It seems to me that this article provides us a perfect illustration of the principle found in Hosea 8:7 and Galatians 6:7. China is reaping the whirlwind. They have been murdering baby girls for years. With their one-child policy and their forced abortions they have slaughtered millions upon millions of their most innocent and most helpless citizens. But they are not the only ones. India is in the same boat. According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India' s population as a result of their systematic gender discrimination. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males. In India however, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the wide-spead practice of female infanticide. They simply murder their baby girls. By avoiding a girl, a family will avoid paying a large dowry upon her marriage. According to UNICEF, the problem is getting worse as scientific methods of detecting the sex of a baby and of performing abortions are improving.

But in this country, the good ol' US of A, have we not done the same thing? Since the Roe V. Wade decision came down to us from the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973 we have been murdering babies (boys and girls) by the millions. In fact, while the number of abortions nationwide is reported to be on the decline, the total figure of abortions since the landmark 1973 ruling continues to climb and is expected to reach 50 million by 2008. Did you hear me? 5o MILLION! There are many countries in the world that do not have 50 million citizens. Let's think of a few:

Myanmar 48,798,000
South Africa 48,577,000
South Korea 48,512,000
Ukraine 46,205,000
Spain 45,116,894
Colombia 44,057,232
Tanzania 40,454,000
Argentina 39,531,000
Sudan 38,560,000
Poland 38,125,479
Kenya 37,538,000
Algeria 33,858,000
Canada 33,087,000
Morocco 31,224,000
Uganda 30,884,000
Iraq 28,993,000
Nepal 28,196,000
Peru 27,903,000
Venezuela 27,657,000

It hurts me to say it but this nation, in my never to be humble opinion, is as guilty before God as the worst genocidal regimes in history. Hitler murdered six and a half million. Stalin murdered 39 million. Pol Pot slaughtered about 2 million Cambodians. But we have murdered nearly 50 million BABIES, for crying out loud. If God does not judge this nation for our sins then He will have to apologize to a few other countries that He utterly destroyed for their wickedness.

Maybe I sound like a fanatic to you. I admit it! I am a fanatic about this. I may not be able to do much to stop the slaughter, but I refuse to be quiet about it.

Crazy with righteous anger over the killing of the babies,
Mike

The Real Meaning of Christmas

2007-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a video clip that I think you'll like. At this time of year it is easy to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas. This Christmas song, "It's About the Cross" is by the band, Go Fish (www.gofishguys.com), and is set to images from The Passion of the Christ, the Jesus Film, the Gospel of John, The Nativity Story, It's a Wonderful Life, The Chronicles of Narnia, and other productions.

Let's remind one another throughout this Christmas season that it's all about the cross.

Loving Jesus and you,
Mike

Jogging With Jesus

2007-12-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

I've been very busy but brain-dead, so haven't taken the time to write. Sorry about that.

However, this morning I was reading in Isaiah 40:29-31, "He [God] gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

So what the heck am I doing wrong? I haven't been doing a lot of "mounting up" lately. I get winded just from walking. And I'm pooped from running! If life is a race I feel like I'm always at the back of the pack looking at everyone else's south side. I'm breathing heavily, my chest feels tight, my legs are like rubber, and yet I'm running as fast as I can.

So what's wrong? Looking back over this passage I think I may have found the answer. It's in verse 31: "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength." That must be it! But what does it mean to "wait for the Lord"? I hate waiting...for anybody, even God. I want what I want right now!

I suspect however that there is a deeper meaning here. I have a hunch that the psalmist was trying to say the same thing when he wrote Psalm 46. Let me dip in there for a minute: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear... The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold... Come, behold the works of the Lord... Cease striving [KJV= "be still"] and know that I am God." I think that sometimes I forget that life is not a sprint but a distance race. It is not about burning out for the Lord, or beating anyone else to the finish line, but about finishing strong, right alongside my Team Captain, Jesus.

"Wait for the Lord." Maybe this life race isn't about how fast I run, but how well. Maybe I'm tired because I'm running faster than the pace car that Jesus is driving. Maybe I need to slow down and smell the flowers more. Maybe I need to worry more about being a godly man and less about accomplishing more stuff in 24-hours. Hmm...could it be?

The apostle Paul talked about his race in his last letter, II Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course [race], I have kept the faith." He finished strong, too. But he wasn't a sprinter. He just kept at it, jogging along with Jesus day after day. He tried to stay in step with the Spirit, not running ahead or lagging behind.

"Cease striving and know that I am God." I've discovered that I'm a striver, always striving to be the best, the fastest, the most efficient, the biggest producer. My daughter, Simoni, tells me almost every day, "Dad, don't work so hard. Relax. Go take a walk." I think she may be on to something.

Lord, please help me to stop striving. Help me to learn to wait on You. Keep reminding me that life isn't about filling my days with activity, busy work, but about seeking to know You, whom to know is life eternal. Help me to stop substituting busyness for meaningful, lasting things. In the end it's all about knowing You, and enjoying You forever. Help me to keep jogging along at a steady pace, fast enough to make progress, but slow enough that You and I can still talk along the way.

Crazy, but still moving forward
Mike

I Smell a Rat

2007-12-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hello my faithful friends,

I kid you not, we have a rat problem at our church. I've known it now for a few days. Two Sundays ago early in the morning when I was opening up the buildings I heard something scurrying around in the ceiling of the annex room. It sounded way bigger than a mouse but I didn't know what it was. Then this past Sunday I went in there and flipped on the lights and there was the hairy monster sitting there staring at me. He's a honkin big wharf rat with a body about 10 inches long and a tail about the same length. I quickly went looking for something to clobber him with, and when I came back he was still there, waiting for me, daring me to do anything. I took a swipe at him but missed, and he took off running and hid under a couch.

We've had traps out for him all this week but so far he has managed to steer clear of them. But I know the furry little bugger is still in there because he is leaving his "calling cards" all over the place. In one sense I feel sorry for him. It's cold and wet outside and here we have this cozy place out of the weather, with food for the taking. It's a great gig for a rat. But he is not welcome. We don't want him here, and are determined to get rid of him one way or the other. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, if you catch my drift; the choice is up to him.

Now for the spiritual part. In the Bible we are told to go and learn from the ant. And Jesus constantly told stories using ordinary things to teach eternal lessons. This morning I was thinking about that darned rat and realized that he is kind of a picture of sin in my life.

He showed up without being noticed at first. I don't know how he got in. There must be a gap somewhere, a hole where he gained access. That's how sin works too. We have gaps, unguarded places in our lives, where sin can get in and gain a foothold. We have to be careful, always vigilant, mindful that sin can get in through what seems like a very small opening.

He's dirty. Rats urinate constantly. They leave stinky little scent trails wherever they go. And they leave their little poop footballs all over the place. Sin is dirty too. The Bible speaks of sin in such terms as, "impurity, unrighteousness, iniquity, wickedness, and filthiness." Sin is ugly and nasty from where God sits. I think I need to begin taking it more seriously too.

Rats destroy whatever they get close to. This rat chewed and scratched his way into a closet where we keep foodstuffs. Everything will have to be washed and a lot of stuff will have to be thrown away. Sin is destructive too. It eats away at us from the inside, in the quiet and in the dark. It gnaws and chews and destroys whatever it gets close to. I think one of the reasons why God hates sin so much is that He knows how destructive it is in the lives of His children. Because He loves us so much, He hates anything that injures us in any way.

Rats are embarrassing too. I was reluctant at first to tell anyone about the problem. Last Sunday morning all through the adult Sunday School class I kept staring at the couch behind John Wold, the teacher. What neither he or his class knew was that the rat was under that couch, sitting there looking out at us with his little beady eyes. I'm just thankful he didn't scurry out and scare the bejeebers out of the little old ladies. But sin is also an embarrassment, or it should be. Unfortunately, many times Christians seem content to do nothing about sin in their lives, and even try to justify its presence, even though it always destroys stuff and leaves stink trails and poop balls.

The Bible says in Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." Sin is a disgrace, it is an embarrassment, it is shameful. We need to see it that way so that we begin to develop an intolerance toward its presence in our lives. I'm embarrassed that we have a rat problem at our church. I don't want anybody to know about it. And I'm committed to root the nasty critter out of there, dead or alive. We need to have this same intolerant attitude toward sin in our lives.

Well, that's enough preaching.

Here's a little something that I thought was cute. I'm so glad that I was born into an English speaking family because I don't think I have enough brains to learn this stupid language the way immigrants do. Check this out.

The Wild and Wacky English Language

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox became oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are really square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea, not is it a pig.

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up while it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

Why is it that writers write, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham?

Some more reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English:
The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was a good time to present the present.
At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
I did not object to the object.
They were too close to the door to close it.
After seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Crazy about killin' rats,
Mike

A Good Prayer

2007-12-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hello on this rainy Tuesday,

A good friend sent me this prayer. It touched my heart. I hope it touches yours.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me remember that the "jerk" who cut me off in traffic last night may have been a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Jesus, help me to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man this morning at Seven-Eleven who couldn't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind me, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that I can only imagine in my worst nightmares.

Father, help me to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking my shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they get to go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind me each day that, of all the gifts You've given me, the greatest gift is Your love. Help me remember that it is not enough just to share that love with those I hold dear. Open my heart to share Your love, not just with those who are close to me, but to all with whom I come in contact. Let me be slow to judge and quick to forgive, showing patience, empathy, and love.

For Jesus' sake, Amen.

This time of year is especially challenging for us to keep our perspective. The streets are packed. The malls are overcrowded. The stores are loud. The lines are long. It's like a huge commercial feeding frenzy. But in the middle of all of this craziness is the truth...That God loved us so much that He sent His Son to Bethlehem, to be born of the virgin, to become flesh and dwell among us so that we could see up close and personal the glory, and the mercy, and the love of God. That is the miracle of Christmas--God with us, Emmanuel.

Still loving you,
Mike

"I'm Gonna Use That Some Day"

2007-12-03T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hello,

It's Monday morning. The weekend is over. Now it's back to work, back to the office. I came in this morning with the intention of going through and sorting out a bunch of stuff that has piled up on my desk and a few other places. I read somewhere that you should always sort through your mail from a standing position. As you look at each piece of mail you are to determine right there and then what to do with it. If you know darn well that it's junk mail you should immediately throw it in the recycling can. If it is important and needs attention, do it immediately, before sitting back down at your desk. This is a way to force yourself to deal with things as they come up--bang, pow, it's over.

Sounds good, but I am a ponderer. Having just a touch of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) I agonize over ever stupid piece of mail. In the end, in frustration, I lay the mail back down in a pile telling myself that I'll look at it again later when I'm in a better frame of mind to make a decision about it. That's what's known as "mental gymnastics." And it's not just mail that piles up, either. It's all kinds of stuff--sermons I've preached that need to be filed, great articles that I can't bear to throw away, Leadership Journal magazines that I plan to read, newspaper clippings that people hand me, copies of music that need to go back in the file cabinet, etc. It's nuts!

That's not all. I have a couple of shelves full of notebooks from conferences or seminars I've attended. Some of them are overflowing with wonderful, inspiring, soul-stirring material, powerful stuff, that I'm sure I'll use some day. On top of that I have a couple of large file cabinets--one with three deep drawers, the other with two--both full of wonderful information that I seldom or never look at, but that I tell myself I'll need some day. Can you relate to any of this?

And books...don't even get me started on books. I have books that I will never read, never use. But I love books, and can't bear the thought of getting rid of them. I already had a very large theological library. Then, after my dad died, I inherited his books too. I gave a bunch of books away then, but it nearly killed me, and I kept way more of his books than I should have. They are currently sitting in boxes in the room next to my office because I don't have enough shelf space to put them out. But even if I did, I probably wouldn't use most of them either. They would just sit there gathering dust like most of the books and other junk that already owns me.

Where am I going with this sad confession? I am coming to realize that most of us humans spend most of our lives either looking back at the past or trying to second guess what's coming in the future. We aren't so good at living in the present, enjoying the moment, making the most of who and what we have right now. For example, my filing fetish is about not wanting to lose something that I worked so hard on in the past ( my sermons, articles I've written, meeting minutes, planning sheets, etc.). Something in me makes me want to preserve that junk, though I know in my heart of hearts that most of it just ain't that good. On the other hand, I also file stuff I might possibly need in the future (illustrations, great stories, funny emails people send me, etc.). The sane part of my brain, however, tells me that I almost never dip into that stuff anyway, and that now with the Internet I can get more information than I can use with one click of a mouse, any time, from any place on the planet.

I want to learn to live more in the here and now, the only piece of time that I own, that I have any control over. The past is gone. I have some snapshots and some memories, but I can't change anything. The past is a done deal. Likewise, the future is yet unwritten, a blank scroll. I have some hopes, some dreams, some desires. But the future is in God's hands. Every beat of my heart, every breath I take in is a gift from Him, and He has already determined my timeline. It doesn't make any sense to worry about tomorrow.

But I have right now, today. Today I can tell people that I love them. Today I can encourage someone, and tell him how much he or she means to me. Today I can share with someone about God's love. Today I can do one of the tasks I have been putting off. Today I can spend some time talking with God and getting reacquainted with Him. Today I can write a letter to a far off friend telling them what their friendship has meant to me over the years. Today I can take a walk and enjoy God's handiwork.

It's been nice visiting with you. If you will excuse me though, I have some things that I want to do today. I think I'll start by tackling that pile of mail. I may throw out some of those old seminar notebooks too. And I'm going to fill up a couple of boxes with books to give away to someone who might use them.

Crazy, but cheerful
Mike

J. Vernon's Legacy

2007-11-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends,

I have my clock radio set on KPDQ, 93.9 FM, a Christian radio station here in Portland. As I'm waking up and getting around every morning I especially like to listen to Jim Dobson's "Focus On the Family" and "Through the Bible" with J. Vernon McGee.

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting J. Vernon...several times actually. My parents knew him, and he used to visit them at the Christian Servicemen's Center in Hawaii when they ministered there. He was a gracious and charming man, very humble, with a funny sense of humor. He has always been one of my heroes.

This morning as I was listening to his voice coming out of my radio I found myself thinking about the legacy he left behind when he died and went to be with the Lord. Even long after his death, his love for God and his commitment to God's Word are still bringing people to faith in Jesus around the world. For decades he poured out his life in service for God. He not only proclaimed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he lived out his faith, both at home and in public. He left a wonderful legacy for his family and for all those of us who loved him.

But then I began thinking, "What kind of legacy am I leaving behind? What will I be remembered for after I'm gone? What have I done that has really made a difference?" This may sound to you at first like morbid thinking, but I don't think it is. I heard Howard Hendricks give a message 3 or 4 years ago entitled, "Finishing Strong." He pointed out that many men, including pastors, drop the ball in the last years of their lives. They go off the rails after money, or women, or pleasure. He challanged all of us at that men's retreat to consider how we were living and what sort of legacy we were leaving, especially to our wives, our children, and our grandchildren. I've thought a lot about that question.

After I'm gone, I want my legacy to be one that blesses my children and makes them smile every time they think about me. I want them to remember my love for God, for my wife, and for them. I want them to remember that I hugged them often, told them I loved them, believed in them, and supported them no matter what. I want my grandchildren to remember that I played with them on the floor, gave them their first fishing pole, and took them fishing. I want my wife to remember that I loved and honored her exclusively, above every other woman on the planet. I want her to remember that I was always faithful to her and never strayed into the arms of another woman, either physically or virtually. I want the people I led to Christ and/or pastored over the years to never have to be ashamed they knew me. I want my teaching and preaching to wear flesh, in the form of people who grew in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ through the things they learned from me.

These are the kinds of things I want to be remembered for. But here's the kicker... to leave that kind of legacy, I have to lead that kind of life, every day, all day, with no days off. I want to finish strong. I don't know how many years I have left to do the job right, but I want to make every day count.

I think that was what the apostle Paul was thinking too when he wrote these words in I Corinthians 9:24-27. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." He was thinking about the legacy he would leave behind.

Old J. Vernon finished strong. He left a great legacy. I hope to follow his example.

Crazy, but still moving forward
Mike

A Video Worth Watching

2007-11-28T10:33:00.001-08:00

If you've never seen Andy McKee play the guitar you've missed something. Check out this video of his song, "Drifting."

Crazy for guitars,
Mike

Some Rules For The New Cat

2007-11-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

Hi again,

We just got a new cat on Saturday from the Vancouver animal shelter. He is orange and white with a distinctive marking on his side, so we named him Patch. He is three months old. Ramel and I are both cat people and have had several neat pets. They are good company. Boots and Angel were wonderful but they have both passed on to their reward. After Angel died we got a little black and white female named Sassy. She is 7 mo. old and tries to live up to her name. Now with this new guy we have double the trouble, so I think it's time to establish some house rules. Below are the guidelines that I've come up with.

A Letter to My Cats

Dear Sassy and Patch,

When I tell you to move, it means to go someplace else, not just to switch positions with each other, so there are still two of you in the way.

The dishes on the floor by the refrigerator are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The hallway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack, for crying out loud. Beating me to the back bedroom is not the object. Tripping me doesn’t help either, because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a queen-sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Cats are supposed to curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm. Neither is it necessary to curl yourself up around my neck and breathe your fishy breath into my face all night.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, and try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years--feline attendance is not mandatory.

The proper order is kiss me first, and then go smell the other cat’s rear end. I cannot stress this enough!

And to pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don’t.

2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (By the way, that’s why they call it “fur-niture.”)

3. I like my pets a lot better than most people. To you, they are just animals. To me, they are more like adopted children who are short, hairy, walk on all fours, and don’t speak clearly.

4. Cats are actually better than kids...they eat less, don’t ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don’t hang out with drug-using friends, don’t smoke or drink, don’t worry about having to buy the latest fashions, don’t wear your clothes, and don’t need a gazillion dollars for college. And if they get pregnant, you can sell their children. It’s a win/win deal.

Crazy for cats,
Mike

Comments Welcome

2007-11-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

If anything you read on one of these posts resonates with you, either positively or negatively, please hit the little comment button at the bottom of the article and tell me what you think. You don't have to be a member of Google or Blogger, and you don't have to agree with me. My skin isn't that thin. But I look forward to hearing from you. It's the only way I'll ever know whether or not I'm scratching where you itch, if you get my drift. Feel free to agree, disagree, harangue, bloviate, comment, or make constructive suggestions.

Crazy about you, and waiting to hear from you,
Mike

Books You Love to Hate

2007-11-26T13:00:00.001-08:00

A while back, while waiting for my son-in-law, Josh, to come out of his doctor's appointment I went across the street to a Goodwill store and bought a used book. The title caught my eye - The Way Church Ought To Be. It was written by a guy down in Albany, Oregon by the name of Robert Lund. A take-off on Luther's 95 Theses idea, it is Lund's top 95 pet peeves about everything that he thinks is wrong with the "institutional church." The book is actually quite well written, and has been interesting to read, but it frustrates me to no end. After I read it for a while I end up walking around the house talking to myself in a loud voice, scaring Ramel and the cats, and generally ranting like a loon. That is because the author makes big sweeping statements based on what I believe to be some incorrect presuppositions, and he goes too far in his criticisms. Personally, I think we need to be very careful in how we find and express fault with Jesus' Bride.

My purpose here is not to critique Lund's book or analyze his arguments. However, I find that I share some of his frustrations with the modern church, especially here in America, though most if not all the problems exist other places as well. In 2,000 years of history the Church of Jesus Christ has come a long way from its humble beginnings. It has evolved into something that the first Christians would find hard to recognize. The Early Church portrayed in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles is a far cry from the institutional church we have come to know and accept as normal. Of course, we know that over time humans naturally form customs, traditions, and habits . That's not a bad thing in itself. However, some of our ways of doing things in the modern church are actually antithetical to the pattern layed down in God's Word, and are thus detrimental to fulfilling our mission.

I think that if the apostles were to come back and sit in on our Sunday services and observe our business meetings and small group gatherings for a few days they would be very perplexed indeed. For example, the New Testament describes a Christianity where every believer is a priest, a minister of God. The division between clergy and laity is totally foreign to the scriptures. Moreover, the form of worship that we have adopted, where an elite few perform before a passive audience of onlookers is nowhere to be found in the New Testament. Without a doubt our overemphasis on music would throw them for a loop. They would undoubtedly be amazed and disheartened at how much importance we place on church buildings and property. The role of a "senior pastor"/CEO/buck-stops-here decision-maker would leave them scratching their heads. And the idea of "mega-churches"-- I don't think they would buy that one at all, ever.

The good thing that has come to me while reading this nutty book is a clearer mental picture of what I think the Lord had in mind when He said, "I will build My Church." Even before buying this book at Goodwill I was feeling very uncomfortable with the modern paradigm we see repeated nearly everywhere.

For most people the Sunday morning service is the most important gathering of the church. It is the high point, the BIG DEAL. The small groups that meet during the week in homes for Bible study and prayer are seen as mere feeders to the large Sunday gathering. However, from my study of Acts and the Epistles I think we have gotten the thing turned around backwards. I think that the house meetings are supposed to be the BIG DEAL. I believe that we need to form what are essentially "house churches," each led by godly, mature, servant leaders (what the Bible calls elders/overseers). These small "churches" should worship together, study the Word together, pray for one another, hold one another accountable, serve together in meaningful Kingdom-building ministries, eat together, play together, etc. These house churches should be the primary entry point for unbelievers to be impacted with the Gospel. These small groups should be the places where new believers are nurtured, and loved, and assimilated into the larger Body of Christ.

Then, on Sunday all these "house churches" come together to celebrate, to worship, to sing their brains out, to share what God has been doing throughout the week. It should be a joy-filled room with every person anxious to share what God has been doing in his/her life. There may or may not be a sermon. Most of the teaching would go on in the small groups. Sunday would be for sharing, and testifying, and praising God.

Think about it! Wouldn't that be a cool church to be a part of? I don't have all the details worked out yet in my mind, but I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. Right now at Sellwood we only have three small groups up and running, and none of them is functioning yet as a "house church." I'm hoping we can move them in this direction. Moreover, only about half of our people are plugged into a weekly small group. That means that half of our folks are not really "in" the church. They are basically spectators, on the outside looking in, missing out on the most precious part of being a Christian; namely, the connectedness of being a beloved, useful, participating member of the local church family.

I wonder sometimes what Jesus thinks when He looks down from Heaven to observe what we are up to. I'm so glad that He is patient and long-suffering with us. But He must say to Himself, "I explained it to them, I gave them the Book, I gave them My Spirit, I sent them the Apostles to lay the foundations... and they still can't seem to get it right." But we will continue to press on.

Crazy like a fox,
Mike

Thinking on Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T08:52:00.001-08:00

Hello again,

It’s about 7:45 AM on Thanksgiving Day. When I hear myself say that it sounds funny to me. Next week we are going to have Joy Day and the week after that we will have Kindness Day, and we are planning for Long-suffering Day sometime in February. Hmm… might not be a bad idea.

Of course, I’m being facetious. I know the history behind Thanksgiving and love the traditional celebration with all the trimmings. Our tribe is gathering today across the river at Jonathan and Sharon’s house in Vancouver, and we are going to have a wonderful time. But I was just thinking… for us Christians, shouldn’t every day be thanksgiving day? Gratefulness to God should permeate every day. But we get so busy with our frenetic lifestyles we forget to stop and express our thanks, both to God and to other people.

I’m as guilty as the next guy. I stumble through life like poor Martha in Luke 10, “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made… worried and upset about many things.” I’m embarrassed to admit it but that’s me, most of the time. Then all of a sudden something happens that reminds me of how much I have to be thankful for; thankful to God for all His grace and bounty and blessings, including the wonderful people in my life.

I am getting so tired of saying goodbye to friends. Yesterday we buried a dear man of God who lost his battle with cancer. Pastor David Yoon was only 47 years old. He left behind a sweet wife, Esther, and two fine sons, both still in their teens. But as I sat in that service I gave thanks to God for David’s life and for his example of dedication and love for God. He will be sorely missed.

But I am also grateful today that death is not the end. The God I serve is greater than death. In Isaiah 25:8 my Bible reminds me that the day is coming when “He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces.” This promise is repeated at the end of the Book, in Revelation 21:4, “And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain: the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

Today, on this Thanksgiving Day, my friend David is seeing Jesus face to face. He is walking among angels, strolling through Heaven in wide-eyed wonder, seeing with his almond-shaped Korean eyes all that God has prepared for those who love Him. David was a man who was always quick to say, “tank you.” That’s not a misprint. Like most Koreans, he couldn’t pronounce our “th” sound. I can imagine him walking around Heaven, bowing and shaking hands with people and saying, “Tank you, tank you so much.” David, being Korean, didn’t know much about Pilgrims and turkey dinners with cranberry sauce, but for him this really is Thanksgiving Day, probably Thanksgiving Week, maybe even Thanksgiving Year.

I think I’m a little jealous of him right now. Oh well, one day soon we too will get to see what he is seeing and be reunited with our loved ones, nevermore to be separated.

In the meantime, we must stiffen our spine, breathe through our nose, and soldier on. There is turkey to be eaten, pie to be devoured, naps to be taken, and football to be watched. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you dear people. I love you, and am truly grateful to God, and to you, for the many ways that you have enriched my life.

Thankful, but still crazy,
Mike

I'm back...

2007-11-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

I've been putting out the proverbial brush fires and fighting alligators for the last couple of days so I haven't taken the time to write. Besides, my brain tank was empty. It has had a slow leak for years anyway, and if I don't watch it closely it leaves me stranded by the side of the road, if you get my drift. Unfortunately, they don't make my kind of replacement parts anymore so I just have to live with the problem.

I am pleased to see how many of you have logged in to read this blog. That is encouraging. I will try to make it a worthwhile read.

Speaking of that, here is a great video for those of you who have a high-speed Internet connection. Hill Song Church is a huge church in Sydney, Australia. You may have seen some of their services on TV. It is the church where Darlene Zschech is one of the worship leaders. She is the one who wrote the worship song, "Shout to the Lord."

Hillsong Conference 2007 Opening
Uploaded by ajchz

I've got to run. I have a funeral to attend. Pastor David Yoon went to be with Jesus and we are going to say goodbye to him for a little while. We grieve, but not as those who have no hope. Our hope is in the Lord.

I love you all,
Mike

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

This is the time of year when we find ourselves sitting down to some impressive feasts. For example, this Thursday our whole family will be gathering at Jonathan and Sharon's house in Vancouver. The house will be crowded but we will have a great time. We will have turkey with all the trimmings, plus loads of desserts and other delightful goodies. It will be a table fit for a king.

There are basically two attitudes we can adopt toward these feast days: (1) we can fret and sweat about pounds and calories, and worry ourselves sick about cholesterol and the toxic effects of tryptophan and candied yams, or (2) we can relax and enjoy the day guilt-free, with all it brings, and take our little nap in the afternoon during the football game while the womenfolk clean up the kitchen. OK ladies, back off! I was just kidding about that last part.

This second attitude is beautifully illustrated in the following, which was sent to me by a friend who was thinking only of my welfare this Thanksgiving. One of the problems with me being a crazy person is that most of my friends are wingnuts too. Princess Carolyn, the one who sent this to me, definitely fits into this category.

Any More Questions?

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a
good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you
100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO! … Cocoa beans ... another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! Round is a shape!
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets, and remember, life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Coca Cola in one hand - hamburger in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming – “WOO HOO! What a Ride!”
Still crazy, but not as crazy as Carolyn
Mike