Offline and out of circulation...

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.

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

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...

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...

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

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

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