Category Archives: faith

January 1, 2021 · 7:48 am

RESOLUTION 2021

HOW CLEAR IS YOUR CRYSTAL BALL?

It’s not uncommon to hear people designate 2020 as the worst year in their life. I tend to feel that way myself. Realistically, when I look back over my 73 years, I recognize that there were other miserable times I wouldn’t want to revisit … times of family strife and loss, career disappointments, financial duress, etc. However, with that said, I am happy to see 2020 come to an end.

Of course, our so readily welcoming 2020’s departure presumes that 2021 will be a better year. But how certain is that? To gain a better perspective on that, I think it could be helpful to consider how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and to assess how clear our crystal ball was.

2020 – LOOKING FORWARD

Team Oaxaca

At this time a year ago, we were pretty optimistic about what the year ahead held for us. Here are some of the highlights of our expectations:

  • Ruth had just received her Sentri/Global Entry Pass and since we had applied together in May of 2019, I expected I’d be getting mine soon. If you don’t know, this pass is very important to people like us who cross the U.S. border frequently. Without out it crossing can take hours … I think our worst has been 5 1/4 hours. With it, crossing usually takes less than 15 minutes.
  • We had made an offer on a condo in the resort community where we had been leasing a villa and we expected that, once the purchase of the condo was complete and our remodeling had progressed sufficiently, we would get into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home
  • Likewise, we expected that we would regularly be visiting friends and family in the U.S., including a few special trips, e.g.:
    • A July getaway for Ruth’s birthday
    • A late September/early October getaway for Gary’s birthday/our anniversary
    • A Thanksgiving getaway
    • A Christmas/New Year’s getaway
  • We were excited about our plans to join in a nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca.
  • And we were even more excited about our plans to join in Calvary Chapel Rosarito‘s semi-annual trip to Israel in November,
  • We planned to enroll in a two-week Spanish emersion course in Ensenada.
  • During MLB’s initial Spring Training, I secured four tickets for a mid-July Angels/Dodgers Freeway Series game at Anaheim Stadium. I planned to go with a CCR Intern, our Pastor and his Dad.
  • We expected that activities we enjoyed so much through our church (Calvary Chapel Rosarito – CCR) would continue and even expand. These included:
    • Helping with various church service needs as Missionaries on Staff.
    • Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
    • Helping with a Mercy Ministry in Tijuana.
    • Leading CCR’s Seniors Group, Legends.
    • Joining in a biweekly Life Group.
    • Joining in a weekly Men’s Bible Study.
    • Leading a weekly Women’s Bible study.
    • Serving in the Connections Ministry during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
    • Serving in the Prayer Corners during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
    • Enjoying the Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services.

2020 – LOOKING BACK

Car Church Greeter – Gary Wiram

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. With 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we now know how it turned out. And we understand what circumstances led to the reality of the year and its significant difference from our expectations going in. Here is an overview of those differences for us:

  • Although Ruth got her Sentri/Global Pass at the very beginning of the year, my application remained Pending Review until May. Of course, by the time it was Conditionally Approved, the interview required to complete the process were significantly delayed. I, finally, had my interview on December 23rd and I should be getting my pass within the next couple of weeks.
  • We did complete the purchase of our condo but 2020-related delays meant that we didn’t take possession until July. And, we did manage for remodeling to progress sufficiently but getting into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home remains in the future.
  • Visiting friends and family in the U.S. was pretty limited but we did get in a couple of special trips.
    • In July, we got away for eight days in Indio to celebrate Ruth’s birthday, sharing an AirBnB with Daughter Jill, her guy Chris and Grandsons Jake and Riley.
    • In late October we got away for a week to celebrate our anniversary with a visit to the Grand Canyon and surrounding area.
  • We chose to cancel our travel plans for Thanksgiving and we limited our Christmas getaway to a three day stay with friends in Huntington Beach.
  • We were able to join in the nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca. It was the second week in February, prior to 2020’s craziness really kicking in.
  • Both the Israel trip and our enrollment in the Spanish emersion course in Ensenada were canceled.
  • Most significantly, activities we enjoyed so much through CCR were radically different. The ones we were able to maintain included:
    • Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
    • Though we tried to restart CCR’s Seniors Group (Legends) when some things started to reopen, we put it on hold until some time in early 2021.
    • The weekly Men’s Bible Study was successful in restarting when some things started to reopen.
    • The weekly Women’s Bible Study converted to meeting online.
    • Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services was done online only at first. Then, that was supplemented with Car Church. Presently, we’re having in-person services but health-safety measures limit Fellowship along with ancillary programs and activities.

THE UNFORSEEN

Today’s Good News Devotional – Ruth Wiram

So far, somewhat presumptuously, we haven’t addressed the elephant in the room – i.e. What in the world caused the reality of 2020 to turn out so very different from what we expected?! The obvious answer is COVID-19 but that is really an oversimplification. No doubt that was the overriding issue but, at least for U.S. citizens, COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters, particularly politics and religion, to further impact society.

But, as my old high school football coach taught us, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And that resulted in some unplanned positive results. This included:

  • We were able to share our condo with a key contributor to the remodeling. He is a deportee and he was able to have his family come down from the U.S. to stay with him in the condo.
  • And, we have been able to make our home available to friends from Huntington Beach to use as their base as they lead a major construction project for the Calvary Chapel Church Plant in Otay Mesa.
  • Although the Mercy Ministry in Tijuana was on hold, we found that we were able to help those who are closer to us who couldn’t get out for groceries, etc.
  • As part of our effort to keep Legends connected, we formed Messenger and email groups who receive a Legends Daily Blessing … Daily Scripture with a related Worship song.
  • Helping with new service roles necessitated by Online Church and Car Church.
  • Contributing to a new program of five-minute daily YouTube devotionals called Today’s Good News.
  • Reconnecting with numerous friends and family via social media.

2021’s GAME PLAN

So, having considered how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and having assessed the clarity of that crystal ball, how should that impact our expectations for 2021? Now that vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed, I’d like to believe that it won’t be long until things return to “normal”. But, I recognize that may not be realistic. In fact, I’ve recognized that, for those born during and after this year, they may never know a time when people freely join in crowds attending various events. With that in mind, I’ve determined my resolution for 2021 to be optimistic in my hope for things to return to “normal” while anticipating the likelihood of a “new normal”.

So, what does that mean? To begin with, for me, that means striving to be more intentional about plans for the things that are most important to me. If you look at the Gary Wiram – Editor page on this blog, you’ll clearly see that my life’s priorities are: Faith, Family and Community. Here’s how I see this year’s intentionality applying in each of those categories:

  • FAITH – Considering 2020’s expectations for this category, the primary goals were:
    • Supporting CCR in ministering to its flock and sharing the Gospel with the community.
    • Supporting CCR’s Church Plants.
    • Continuing to build ourselves up in the faith.

Intentionality with the goals of our faith seem pretty straightforward here. That is, look for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on but expect that we may may need to continue to do them virtually and in some cases, to find new ways to do them virtually.

  • FAMILY and FRIENDS– Our primary goals here have been to share our time, our love and our blessings with our loved ones.

Intentionality with these goals seems straightforward too, with one key difference. While looking for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on and expecting that we may need to do them virtually, bear in mind how COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters and be proactive in not allowing that to happen.

  • COMMUNITY – Our key goals here have been to become more and more a part of the community and in doing so, positively impact the community.

This may be the category where intentionality may be the most difficult. But, while it may not be as straightforward, it will be important to continue to look for alternative ways to accomplish what “normally” could be accomplished hands-on. The one thing that is a bit more straightforward, however, is working to remove a roadblock to our becoming more and more a part of the community … removing our language barrier would be huge. So, while our plans for enrolling in a Spanish emersion course in Ensenada may not return as a realistic opportunity, we need to embrace other ways to become conversant in Spanish.

2021 – THE CLEAR VIEW

Proverbs 16:9 tells us “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” And, Isaiah 46:9(b)-10 tells us, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.”

During 2020, I realized, perhaps more so than any other time in my life, the importance of daily looking to God for His guidance. I’m determined to hold even more firmly to that wisdom, going into 2021. I recommend that to you all.

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April 9, 2020 · 8:35 am

Beauty for Ashes (III) …

… in the Wake of COVID-19

……. Education Elevated

In this Beauty for Ashes series, I’ve been offering views on how we might leverage the current quarantine of our old “normal” to renew the health of several critical elements of our society. So far, I’ve addressed the importance of restoring the stability of our society’s foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship. And, I’ve taken up the urgency for us to restore the health of our families, as the strength of our social fabric, resting on that firm foundation. The aim of this edition is our education system, the mechanism that serves as the transmission, delivering that strength to the major functional elements of our society.

If it’s not broken …

Marshall Elementary School Math Teacher, Carrie Newton

Far too often, our teachers are blamed for the decline of the education system in the U.S. Typical claims along these lines are that the current crop of teachers aren’t as capable as the teachers we had “back in the day” and that they are overpaid and under worked. Although my career was in business, I spent most of the last decade of my working life in public schools. My experience with teachers during that time was pretty much opposite of these typical claims. Certainly there are exceptions but no more so than you would have found “back in the day.”

A great example of this is Carrie Newton, Math Teacher at Marshall Elementary School in Vancouver, WA. For close to five years, I worked in a classroom next door to Carrie’s. During that time, I wrote an article about her entitled “Train up a child in the way he should go …” If reading that article doesn’t convince you that Carrie exemplifies the superior quality of our education system’s teachers, check out the Math Queen movie above. This is from the YouTube channel that she created in order to continue her students’ math education during her school’s current COVID-19 related shutdown. If you’re concerned about the quality and dedication of teachers in our present education system, one of the best things you can do is to recognize and encourage teachers like Carrie Newton.

If it doesn’t serve its community …

I retired from working in a public school, at the end of the 2018 calendar year. So, I no longer have a direct view of what those who are in charge of running our public schools are doing during their current downtime. From my limited view, it appears that they are facilitating online learning. They’re making sure that every student has online access by distributing iPads or Chromebooks, etc. And, they’re equipping their teachers with the resources they need to deliver their curriculum online. Additionally, it appears that they are working hard to assure that student-families who were relying on meals provided by the schools continue to get the help they need along those lines.

Of course, it’s great that the above-mentioned steps are being taken. But, this downtime offers an opportunity to make sorely needed changes that are much more far reaching. Chief among these is the need for our schools to meet the needs of their community. Generally speaking, the U.S. education system is one-size-fits-all. And, mostly, it reflects the inbred views of national/state/local/district boards of education, determining the heavily politically orientated curriculum to be delivered. The result is that, by and large, employers find the pool of their prospective employees to be ill equipped to meet their performance requirements.

So, if that’s the case, what is a better approach? My recommendation is, if a top-down one-size-fits-all approach is failing, consider a bottom-up custom-fit alternative. Here’s what that means:

Many school districts are structured so that a high school serves a specific geographic area in a community. That high school has several middle schools that feed it and those middle schools each have several elementary schools that feed them. My thought is to set up each of these geographic school entities as a private company. Instead of being part of a school district that makes the decisions for the administration they place in each of their member schools, each of these would be independent, with their administration being composed of representatives from that geographic area’s employers, student-families and educators. Furthermore, funding for each of these entities would come from within that geographic area. Of course, this would take some time to wean off of the current methods of funding. But, it would be an incentive for communities to strive for being assured of getting what they pay for. According to a 2018 article entitled Report: Public School Bloat, Depressing Teacher Pay, Wasted $805 Billion Since 1992, it looks like there’s plenty of money that could be made available for us to work with.

Growth in Education Staffing

It’s a silver-lining, no ifs …

In the Firm Foundation edition of Beauty for Ashes, I noted how the lack of faith-based upbringing negatively impacts our schools. This, as a result of students showing up with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Presently, our public schools attempt to address the results of these lacking qualities under the heading of Student Discipline.

My observation from my decade of working in public schools is that this is one of the greatest contributors to the declined status of our current education system. Essentially, what our schools are attempting to do with this is to do the job that families are failing to do in the upbringing of their children. Sadly, the approach our schools are taking with this is failing too and as a result of having to wastefully expend their resources on this, they’re failing at what we’re counting on them to do in the first place … to educate our kids.

One step to resolving this dilemma is for families to return to their Firm Foundation, as outlined in the preceding edition of this series – i.e. to return to being dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. But, for our schools to eliminate the challenges they currently face as a result of this dedication being greatly lacking in today’s families, they can’t simply assume that their student-families will adhere to this needed caring dedication. They must insist on it.

In order to do this, our schools must first define expectations for student-behaviors. These behaviors must be defined to maximize the efficiency of the resources that the school invests in their students’ education. Likewise they must minimize any distractions from their students’ education. Then, a requirement of student enrollment should be that their families sign off on their agreement to the school’s mandatory expectations for student behaviors. Non-compliance would result in the removal of the student from the school and for the families to take over full responsibility for that students education.

Although having our schools insist on student-families taking responsibility for their students’ behaviors at school is an appropriate step for resolving the dilemma that our schools currently face with Student Discipline, it is an idealistic notion. It begs the question, “What is a better way to manage the behaviors of the current crop of students being sent to our schools by today’s families? Most often, this question results in endless debates pitting today’s methods for Student Discipline against the related practices from “back in the day.” Since I was a public school student “back in the day”, early on in my days as a public school employee, I fell into the trap of this debate. Here’s how:

The school district where I worked did use an approach to Student Discipline that ultimately concluded with expulsions but they were never absolute. An expelled student would, simply be sent to another school for a time. This included being sent to special schools set up, specifically, for students who will not/can not behave appropriately. The steps leading up to expulsion included suspension, various forms of detention, being sent to a “buddy room” and various forms of in-class discipline, including the use of a “resolution room.” Actually, “resolution rooms” or “quiet rooms” have a legitimate function in classrooms for kids with special needs. Mostly, they are meant as a place to put a student to keep them from harming themselves and/or others. When I first heard the term “resolution room”, I thought it was just another step in dealing with Student Discipline that had no real consequences. My reaction was, “We, also, had resolution rooms back when I was in school. Ours looked like a hallway and it looked like the Principal was out there with a paddle. I only visited there once. That’s all it took for me to get the message.”

With that, you may assume that I’m recommending a return to corporal punishment. That was effective and it is Biblical but I don’t think it would be realistic for me to expect today’s society to accept it. However, it is true that the approach to Student Discipline by today’s schools is failing and it needs to be replaced by something that is effective.

COVID-19 Home Schooling

Ironically, I believe that the COVID-19 crisis has handed us a great solution. None of our students are in classrooms right now. That includes the students who will not/can not behave appropriately … the very students whose behaviors waste the resources that schools invest in their students’ education and whose behaviors greatly distract from other students’ education, as well as their own. Right now, any education being provided through our public schools is being delivered online.

There is no way to fully know what our world’s “new normal” will look like when the COVID-19 crisis settles down. Perhaps online learning through our public schools will remain as a much more significant factor than it did before the crisis. Maybe public schools will return, as much as possible, to the in-classroom learning we’ve been accustomed to. Regardless, I see online learning as an effective way for our public schools to replace today’s general approach to Student Discipline. It can take the place of a “buddy room” or detentions or suspensions or expulsions, including permanent expulsions when necessary. In any case, it would greatly diminish the burden of this very detrimental issue from our schools and move that responsibility to where it belongs … on to the student-families and the students themselves.

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April 3, 2020 · 7:27 am

Beauty for Ashes (II)…

… in the Wake of COVID-19

… A Firm Foundation Renewed

The goal of this Beauty for Ashes series is to take a look beyond the COVID-19 crisis to consider how it can serve as a vehicle to make positive changes in our society. In the time immediately preceding this, the world’s current crisis, there were several social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those changes.

The first article in this series focused on Families. In that writing, I pointed out that our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. With this edition of Beauty for Ashes, I am targeting the importance of restoring the stability of that firm foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship.

The Call to Return to Our Firm Foundation

Legendary Broadcaster Vin Scully offers hope amid COVID-19 crisis

Legendary baseball broadcaster Vin Scully provided a healthy perspective on this in a recent TV interview. With this, he offered an optimistic view, despite the coronavirus pandemic. “Now that I have some leisure time and we’re all locked in at home, I read an article and it was talking about what happened to Americans in World War II,” said Scully, a devout Roman Catholic. “It was such a terrible time. Three-quarters of Americans belonged to a house of worship. Today … half of Americans are involved in a house of worship, prior to this pandemic,” he added. “So there’s your answer … Although they might not be able to go to a house of worship, probably more Americans will be praying since World War II. More people will be coming back to the faith,” Scully went on. “And now that this terrible thing is upon us, people might very well get back to the center. And it’s a better world. We’ll see … “

The Universal Value of a Firm Foundation

Some may dismiss Scully’s views and optimism as melancholy, with distorted memories of how things were “back in the day.” What they fail to recognize is that everything good in the world has faith in God as its foundation. The bad in the world, that I and many others have viewed as increasing at an ever accelerating pace, does not share that foundation.

Our families, as pointed out by the first article in this series, are an obvious example of this. Traditionally, faith-based families have consisted of a man and woman, married for life, who were dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. Moving away from that faith-based foundation has led to countless social ills for our families and individual family members. One of the most significant factors here is that the children of these fractured families no longer have appropriate role models for parenting.

The lack of faith-based upbringing, of course, permeates all of society and impacts it in a negative way. As an example, we have students showing up in our schools today with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Of course, these negative factors just get passed along into the workplace and to every other area of their lives, as our children reach adulthood.

Although many who lack faith in God may fail to recognize it, the root of all the world’s moral standards are faith-based. Specifically, they closely conform to the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The first four of the Ten Commandments pertain to man’s relationship with God. So, generally, non-believers have little problem ignoring those. However, the remainder of the Ten Commandments regard man’s relationship with his fellow-man. These are:

  • Honor your father and your mother.
  • You shall not murder.
  • You shall not commit adultery.
  • You shall not steal.
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  • You shall not covet.

Sadly, these once certain aspects of our society’s foundation have become more and more of a slippery slope.

The Call to Restore Our Firm Foundation

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a briefing about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, at a White House coronavirus briefing, encouraged people to pray during the COVID-19 crisis. He pointed out that prayer was needed after religion has disappeared in public schools. He went on to say, “God has been taken out of our schools and lives, our nation has turned its back on God. I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the Word. Read the Bible and spend time with your families.” Not surprisingly, a largely non-believing press corp has heaped ridicule on Lindell for expressing these views.

First, let me speak to those, whether believers or unbelievers, who doubt Lindell’s implied consequences of his saying “our nation has turned its back on God.” To that I say, consider what God has to say on this topic in Isaiah 59. With that said, my hope is that the conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will make it clear that, if anyone is deserving of ridicule in this, it’s the non-believing press corp, not Mike Lindell. And, with that, it is my prayer that the world will respond to the wisdom of his advice.

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March 28, 2020 · 7:52 am

Beauty for Ashes …

… in the Wake of COVID-19

……. for Our Families

From Normal to a Better New Normal

Today, our world is a long way from what just a short time ago we thought of as “normal”. And, when the COVID-19 pandemic is more under control, we shouldn’t expect our world to return to that “normal”.

Right now, we may tend to focus on what we’ve lost from the old “normal”, as well as what we anticipate losing in the new “normal”. But, it’s not all loss now and it doesn’t have to be after the current crisis has passed. A good example is that in the middle of this crisis, “miraculously”, we suddenly found it possible to get our homeless off our streets.

In his video, entitled Silver Lining of Coronavirus Pandemic, Radio Talk Show Host Dennis Prager points out that life has never been meant to be pain-free. He contends that toughening us up to this fact of life is a silver lining to the COVID-19 related crisis. My goal in this reawakening of Here I Raise My Ebenezer is to take a look beyond this to ways this crisis can serve as a vehicle to make and/or maintain positive changes in our society.

In the time immediately preceding the world’s current crisis, there were many social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those needed changes, as well as plans for maintaining positive changes that have been forced by the current crisis.

During this time, I intend to use Here I Raise My Ebenezer to address several of these issues. With this writing, I’m focusing on a crucial social element that is near and dear to my heart … our Families.

Our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. The quarantine of our old “normal” offers us a unique opportunity to renew the health of this critical element in our society.

Strengthening Healthy Families

For better or worse; the closing of businesses, schools, entertainment venues, etc., along with social distancing and limiting the size of gatherings, is forcing us all to spend more time with those with whom we live …. in most cases, that means our families. In the best-case scenarios, this means we get to spend more time investing in those we love and our relationships with them. In my opinion, an overarching facet of this should be to develop new habits in doing this so that we won’t easily or willingly give them up when the pressures of returning to whatever our new “normal” is begins to encroach on this rediscovered treasure.

Strengthening Troubled Families

Of course, there are many families with challenges in place that would dampen the interest of some to invest any time in other family members. My prayer is that individuals who fit this description will take the same approach with this that I recommend for everyone for helping the world get through this time of crisis … be determined to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, by doing something good for others.

This can only be successful, though, if both parties humble themselves and adopt the same attitude. Even then, the two parties may not be able to find all the needed answers for their troubled relationship on their own. More good news! Although many churches are streaming church services online, many of their “normal” activities have been postponed. That means there are some great counseling resources available and they don’t have to be delivered face-to-face. So, whether it’s a troubled marriage or a troubled parent/child relationship or a troubled relationship between siblings or … , there is ample time available and resources are readily available for helping to bring the needed healing. The key remaining necessary element is your willingness to invest in making beauty a reality where ashes are imminent.

Healing Broken Families

In an article entitled Land Where the Fathers Hide, I addressed a level of “troubled relationships” that goes well beyond those mentioned immediately above. For the most part, this focused on the issues resulting from one or both parents being missing in the lives of their children. The causes for this include parents who vanish simply out of selfish irresponsibility. Divorce contributes to this as well, in some cases involving the bitterness of one parent estranging the other from their children. And there are circumstances resulting from bad choices made by one or both parents resulting in imprisonment, drug addiction, etc.

As obviously challenging as these situations are, I firmly believe they can be transformed. Here too, success depends on all parties involved humbling themselves and adopting an attitude of being determined to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

In order to provide encouragement to those who have relationships that fall into this last category, I want to recount for you a real-life story that I witnessed taking place just since the COVID-19 related crisis began. This involves a couple who married when they were very young, when she got pregnant. Their marriage only lasted a few years after their baby was born. They caused each other a lot of pain in ending their marriage and since then, they haven’t had much of a relationship and most of the relationship they have had has been counterproductive. Though they now have grown grandchildren, in all that time they seemed unwilling or disinterested in finding forgiveness for each other. However, in recent years, they became aware that they had both returned to living according to their Christian faith. So, when the current crisis hit, it heightened their concern that their child and their grandchildren don’t appear to be leading their lives as faithful Christians. As a result, they reached out to each other and agreed to jointly communicate to their child and their grandchildren with a message about the paramount importance of faith at a time like this. It’s too early to assess the results of their reaching out to their offspring but it’s clear that this effort did result in one major accomplishment … their forgiveness of each other.

Real Hope for Our Families

Although I find this real-life story to be encouraging, I realize that it doesn’t map to every case involving divorce. And, cases involving abandonment, imprisonment, drug addiction, etc., can certainly be more complex. But, at the very least, this story should serve as encouragement that, as hopeless as some family circumstances may seem, hope can be found. Moreover, if we do take advantage of our current circumstances to strengthen our healthy and even our troubled families, our number of broken families in need of healing will be significantly reduced and overall, the health of our families, as a great strength of our social fabric, will be renewed.

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August 16, 2014 · 10:31 am

Keeping Our Eyes Above The Waves

AN EXCEPTIONAL LEADER

Over the past few days, as we’ve watched Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ronald S. Johnson step in to take over security operations in the midst of this past week’s civil unrest in Ferguson, MO, it’s become obvious that he is a truly exceptional person. The immediate good news in this, as reported in a related Washington Post article, is that Johnson’s first day on the job resulted in “Hugs, kisses and a night of peace (replacing) tear gas and unrest.” The more long-term and more challenging part of this is that Captain Johnson is, in fact, exceptional. If all of our nation’s leaders would emulate Johnson’s conduct, thus making him the rule rather than the exception, our country could be vastly improved.

AN EXEMPLARY LEADER

A great way to begin learning how to go about this emulation would be by looking at statements Captain Johnson made in Friday’s (August 14, 2014) press conference and most importantly, by looking at his responses to the questions he received. The comments that I found to be most meaningful in this regard are outlined as follows: Continue reading →

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July 3, 2014 · 6:57 am

Repairing America’s Social Fabric

Securing The Legacy Of The Greatest Generation – Part Two

Rockwell Diversity

YESTERDAY’S SUPERIOR VALUES

In Part One of this series, I pointed out a number of values that were commonly held in the heyday of the Greatest Generation, values that are significantly different from (and I think vastly superior to) our related values today. My purpose in doing that was to explore how America would benefit through reacquiring those once-common values and applying them to our present-day challenges. With that in mind, in this article, I want to more specifically try to answer the question, “What are the problems facing us today that can be addressed in this way?” Once I’ve examined the “What?” question here, in future articles I intend to take up the question of “How?”.

TODAY’S DAUNTING CHALLENGES

As I’ve considered this “What?” question, it has seemed to me that applying once-common values of the Greatest Generation might offer solutions to a broad range of present-day challenges. However, to illustrate my views on this, I’m going to focus on a single concern. It’s one that’s deeply troubling and in fact, this disturbing matter is the one that got my thinking started on this topic in the first place. It’s School Shootings. Continue reading →

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April 8, 2014 · 2:10 pm

Easter, The Ultimate Answer To, “What Would Jesus Do?”

Golgotha

With this year’s Resurrection Sunday celebration approaching, I’ve been reflecting on a really good related discussion I had with a friend, around this time of year, about five years ago. What was then a new relationship seemed to be one where we quickly recognized that we liked each other regardless of our differing views on some pretty important topics. I say “really good discussion” because it was an open exchange with both of us genuinely interested in hearing the other’s points of view and wanting to learn from that. Candidly, I have to give my friend more credit than I can take myself, in that regard. Although this “really good discussion” mostly involved the two forbidden topics typically warned against for peaceful relationships … Politics and Religion … as I strongly suspected, this was just our first “really good discussion” of many to come.

One of the results of that conversation was for me to be reminded that, while I was clear in my understanding of my positions on the issues we discussed, I wanted to be able to clearly express my views to others. The question that was raised that confronted me with this most significantly was the question, “Do you believe there’s only one way to Heaven?” Although I think my response to this was adequate, it seemed to me that I should be prepared to offer more than an answer that’s just OK to such an important question. In fact, in 1 Peter 3:15, the Bible compels Christians to do this, saying, “[be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you”.

Expressing the “reason of the hope that is in (me)” is what I wanted to be better prepared to do but, before I delve into that, I should give you my initial answer to that question. My answer is:

I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I, also, believe that every person can have salvation through accepting Christ’s sacrifice for their sin. And, I believe that salvation, through accepting Christ’s sacrifice, is the one and only path to Heaven.

Since my friend didn’t state his position on this question, I won’t presume to give you his answer. I will say his question was accompanied with several related questions and comments that I took into account as I considered how to best express the “reason of the hope that is in (me)”. One related question was, “Do you think Mother Teresa went to Heaven?” and one related comment was, “I make it a daily habit, when considering certain choices, to ask myself, ‘What would Jesus do?'” I’m paraphrasing rather than quoting here but, to me, this combination of questions and comments had certain implications. One was that while my friend had some high regard for Jesus, he didn’t necessarily accept Him as being the only way to Heaven. Another was that “good works”/”being a good person” should get you to Heaven.

So, in order to respond to this and more adequately express the “reason of the hope that is in (me)”, the two questions to answer are:

  1. Who is Jesus
  2. Can “good works” alone be a path to Heaven?

Continue reading →

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March 20, 2014 · 5:20 pm

Going To Heaven Alone

iron

REBUKED BY FRIENDS

When I express strong views on a sensitive topic, I’m not surprised when I get pushback from those who see matters differently. But, when I’m rebuffed by those who I think are friends, accepting me and my beliefs, it’s sort of shocking. I had that happen recently and it led me to do some introspection that I’d like to share.

The specifics of this recent occurrence involved a meeting I attended with a small group of people who I’ve worked very closely with for several years. Without inappropriately sharing intimate details of that meeting, let me just say that there was mention of another person who we’ve known through our work, who seemed to be going through a difficult time and that they were attending a Bible study being conducted by someone else we’ve known through our work. Hearing that was a pleasant surprise to me so I responded by saying something like, “I just hope (that person) is truly paying attention at the Bible study.” With that, I sensed a reaction that I later described as a unanimous rolling of the eyes by the other participants.

UNDERSTANDING THE REBUKE

Since my comment came just from my truly caring about the person we had been discussing, that added to my bewilderment over being chided as I was. So, the following day, I approached one of the other attendees to discuss this. In addition to getting affirmation of my sensing that unanimous rolling of the eyes, I was reminded that there are some settings where discussion of topics like religion and politics is just not welcome. And, beyond that, I was told that I was just more spiritual than the other attendees.

In reflecting on that one-on-one follow-up conversation, I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t really anything in it that I didn’t already know. And, in reflecting on my follow-up self-conversation, I remained sure of my caring intent with the comment that led to my rebuke. To me, though, the disapproval I had received from my friends clearly indicated the need for me to examine how I share my Christian faith in order that it’s received as intended. So, I determined to do just that.

FOCUS ON A SIN

In the course of making this examination, I thought of a point that I’d heard Pastor Brian Brodersen, of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, make in a teaching from 1 Corinthians. As a side note, I ended up going through 11 of Pastor Brian’s teachings to find what I was looking for. At first, that seemed like a nuisance but it turned out that I was richly blessed through a fresh look at much more of God’s Word than I’d had in mind. Anyway, I did find what I was looking for in Pastor Brian’s lesson, entitled “Tending to Our Own Issues”, based on the following Scripture:

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” – 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

The point that I had been thinking of was made by Pastor Brian in addressing the part of this Scripture that says, “I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” Pastor Brian’s comments here were: “ … notice, first of all, that the issues of sin go beyond sexual immorality … notice the other sins included there … we have a tendency to isolate a specific sin and focus in on that sin to the exclusion of other sins … that’s part of the problem we have right now, in the current cultural situation, in regard to homosexuality. I think that we, the church in general, have over emphasized this one sin. If you think about it, as we share the gospel with people, generally, we don’t begin by talking about specific sins. But, with homosexuality it seems we focus in on that particular thing. That’s the wrong way to understand it. I was thinking the other day about the idea that so many gay people have in their mind … I’ve heard them say this, ’You think I’m going to Hell because I’m gay.’ The reality is, they’re not going to Hell because they’re gay. They’re going to Hell because they’re lost. They’re going to Hell because they’re a sinner. They’re going to Hell for the same reason an adulterer is and the same reason a swindler is and for the same reason a slanderer is … because they haven’t turned to Christ to have their sins forgiven.” Continue reading →

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February 9, 2014 · 10:02 am

Why God? – The Right Place To End!

Empty Tomb

WHERE TO BEGIN

In my first “Why God?!” article (Why God? – The Right Place To Start!), I noted that this question typically, comes with crying out over hearing of some horrendously evil act in the world or a natural disaster or a friend’s life-threatening illness or a family member’s untimely death or some other form of suffering. I went on to offer encouragement that looking to The Creator is the right place to start in seeking answers to such questions and that He gives us the reassurance of His loving intentions.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

– Jeremiah 29:11

THE PATH TO TAKE

With the second article in this series (Why God? – The Right   Way To Go), I admitted that my honest answer to “Why God?!” questions about evil and suffering in the world is, “I do not know.” However, I pointed out that all the related answers we really need can be found in God’s Word. And, I indicated that in looking for these answers it’s important to start with the understanding that “… from the beginning it was not so.”

Tragically, it was the choice man made with the ability God gave us to love and specifically, the free will He gave us to decide whether to love or not to love that led to evil and suffering coming into His creation. With that understood, I drew attention to the fact that, though it was beyond us to recover from what is commonly known as “the fall of man”, even in His condemnation of that first choice of man, He revealed that He had prepared a path to redemption. Detailing that path and where it leads is what I have in mind with this, the last in my series of “Why God?!” articles. Continue reading →

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January 21, 2014 · 4:14 pm

An Era of Faux Outrage

From: Nathan Martin

What does it say about our culture that we thrive on faux outrage?

What does it say about our culture that we actually seem to enjoy being offended?

What does it say about our lack of humanity that we openly look for things that spite us?

I touched a little on this in my post on conviction…but it just seems that for all the good that social media has wrought, it has become a breeding ground for pure. unadulterated. hate. Not just dislike (ironic for a site that only has like buttons). Hate.

But not just any kind of hate.

Faux hate. Faux outrage.

And this faux outrage happens everywhere and in every corner.

Here are a couple examples:

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