Have you ever lost someone near to you(a spouse, child, parent, friend)?    I’m not trying to pry emotions out. But what if you could have them back for one day knowing that they would be gone again after that day?  Who would it be, and what would you do?  I’m not looking for the “I wouldn’t want them to have to come back to this evil world” answer.  Really, what would you do if they were back in your life for one day?  Even if you have been fortunate enough to never have experienced this loss, imagine.  Imagine you had lost someone  close, and what it would be like to have them back for a day.

       I was thinking about this on the way home today, and it killed my pride.  I started to think what I would do if I knew I could have Baby3 for one day here on Earth.  I don’t think I would let her out of my site or even my reach.  I would sit and hold her as long as she would let me.  I would simply touch her to know she was there.  I wouldn’t worry about certain tasks at hand.  I think time would disappear for that one day.  I would call in sick to work.  I would pray with her and over her.  I would laugh and play as I do with Landon and Kaitlyn.  I would know that tomorrow was coming and dread it. 

     If I could have her for one day, I would do everything I could to show her how much I would miss her if/when she would leave me.  I started thinking about this and realized I have three loved ones here who could be gone tomorrow without warning.  I could prepare for tomorrow with Baby3.  I don’t know when goodbye will come with my wife or kids.  How much more important is that time with them in light of this thought? 

        In case you’re reading this and wondering who Baby3 is.  She is our daughter that we experienced for a little over a week before God took back to be with him.  We never met her face to face, but we will someday.  That’s who I would want back more than anyone else for a day.

A while ago I posted about my goals for this year.  The main part of the post was what books I wanted to read through.  I’ve kind of mixed them together in my reading.  The two from the list that I’m trying to read right now are “Desiring God” by John Piper and “Know the Truth” by Bruce Milne. 

        Desiring Godis a difficult read at times.  I’m not used to a lot of the terms Piper uses.  All in all, however, it is an awesome book.  The point of the book is finding your ultimate joy in Christ.  Doing this brings glory to Him.   God’s whole aim in everything he does is to glorify himself.  It’s such an awesome way of looking at things.  If I can focus on how God may bring glory to himself, I can see things through new lenses and understand so much more.  I’m just getting through chapters 1 & 2right now.  I know it seems like nothing, but I started with the introduction, and his chapters are long.  Also I’m findg it hard to find time for it.  But already this book is changing my life.

        The other book, “Know the Truth,” is also a difficult read.  It’s really helping me to see God as the final authority of truth.  He lists different “authorities” that people use to find answers, some of which are based on scripture.  They all break down eventually, though, if the  Bible is not the final word.  The one that I have struggled with the most, and I know others do too, is emotion-based theology.  We feel something or rationalize something in our mind.  We use this to reach a conclusion, and then we might go to the Bible to back it up.  The danger is that you can leave things out or take things out of context enough to basically back up any view you hold.  The best thing to do is to be in the Word consistently, which I struggle so much with, and let it reveal truth to you.  This will, in turn, shape your emotions and rationalities. 

      I’m also reading a third book right now that isn’t on my list of  “goal books.”  It’s called “The Radical Reformission” by Mark Driscoll.  Driscoll runs a church of around 6k people in Seattle, WA. He is definitely a pioneer in evangelism, at least at first glance he is.  Once you dive deeper into the path he takes and the methods he uses, you realize he is not the pioneer, but he’s following(to the best of his ability) the example of THE Pioneer, Jesus Christ.  He talks about how we are on mission every day.  Here is a list of a few reasons I just cannot put this book down:

1. Driscoll genuinely has a passion for seeing Christians going into the world on mission.

2. He is brutally open and honest about his own life and struggles.

3. If you want it given to you straight, he is the man for the job.  He writes his words how he would say them in casual conversation.

4. He knows what it takes to be a missionary to his culture.

       This book is a must-have for anyone stuck in a rut of not being able to impact the world around them.  This book will never hit my shelf.  When I am done with it it’s going right to a friend of mine.  Hopefully, when he’s done with it, it will go to one his.  It can’t be stored to collect dust.

Well, I was going to post the picture of our 3rd/4th baby so you could see so clearly what i was, but the good pictures went to the doctor. We were left with some lousy pictures. Anyway, it was VERY clear that it is a boy. It was just sticking out there for all the fluid to see. Anyway, we have a first name worked out, but the middle name is taking awhile. Don’t ask because I won’t tell you. But, anyway, we’re excited. Kaitlyn got to see the whole thing, and she old Beth’s mom that it’s a boy. According to Kaitlyn, “It have a boy peepee.” 

This is Landon, my son, climbing the slide ladder pretty much by himself. He’s a very brave little boy. Getting up is the hard part. Getting down, now that’s a different story.

Beth and I rented the movie, “Stranger Than Fiction” over the weekend. I was bummed as I started to get further into the movie, as I thought it was a comedy. It turned out to be nothing of the sort. A man starts hearing a voice narrating his life which turns out to be an author trying to write a book. When she says an action of his would lead to his death, he worries. I’ve been talking with my pastor recently about predestination and how God has complete control. My “Personal” post asked if we believe that God is so personal to orchestrate events in my life to bring me to a more personal realization of himself. I’ve been able to understand this better lately and realized that God is so personal that he orchestrates more than I can imagine to seek me out to bring me salvation that he has called me to before the world was even formed. It’s so awesome to think of. This movie was so much more real to me after grasping this concept. How much more greater of a response should we have knowing that before God formed the earth he chose, called and justified me to be his child? WOW

Since I have received so many comments on this post at my other site, I have set up a page at this site with all the comments so that the discussion can continue, and it will all fit somewhat on one page.  Click on the “Harold Crick” page to view the comments.

“Father, hear my prayer. I need the perfect words, words that he will hear and know they’re straight from you. I don’t know what to say. I only know it hurts to see my only friend slowly fade away. So maybe this time I’ll speak the words of life with your fire in my eyes. But, that old familiar fear is tearing at my words. What am I so afraid of? So, here I go again talking about the rain and mulling over things that won’t live past today. And, as I dace around the truth, time is not his friend. This might be my last chance to tell him that you love him. So, here I go again.” How many times to we try to share Christ with someone and not care if God is involved? My “Do You Care?” post talked about why don’t we tell people. But, why don’t we rely on God when we do tell people? I know I am nothing, but it is Christ in me who speaks if I trust him and petition him to give me the words and tools to minister to someone. But, when he does, I can’t back out. I must stay and follow through with what he has sent me to do for this person.

There’s a site targeting our youth to get them to renounce Christ. They make a video and upload it on youtube. At some point they have literally say they renounce the Holy Spirit. Then there’s the site that responds to it. It is Christians uploading videos professing their faith. This whole thing scares me because most of the kids don’t understand the full concept of what they are doing. This is all based on Matthew 12:31 -”Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” If you are a true christian, do you think you can actually commit this sin? If you have been made new and truly have a faith in Christ and have made him the Lord of your life, can you truly do this? The same question applies to what we see as the final authority of all things. A true christian knows that God is the final authority whether we sin or not. We always know it is wrong, yet we may not yield to it. We also know that God’s authority will always prevail. So can you really do it?

Comments On This Post From My Old Site:

Beth: It is interesting that you mentioned that commentary in the second post. Dan has Rick’s Bible, so we were both wondering if the verb that is associated with the verse is something that is ongoing or something that just occurs once. I was thinking that it had to be an ongoing blasphemy, as that’s what would make sense!Good conversation ;&gt

March 6, 2007 10:27 PM

There’s this one song that I can’t stand to listen to. It’s called “Alyssa Lies.” A young girl comes home and tells her dad about her new friend, Alyssa. She just doesn’t understand why Alyssa lies to everyone, but she’s always trying to cover up her bruises. She prays for God to bless Alyssa because she needs Him so bad. In the last verse, the girl’s dad has to try to explain to his daughter why Alyssa isn’t going to be at school that day. He tells her that Alyssa is in a better place, but she doesn’t lie anymore. As the song progresses I always just fill with disgust thinking of how I would feel if I found out a child in my life was being abused. We’ve been entrusted with such a high responsibility of raising our children. When I throw my son above my head, I could choose to just not hold out my hand. But, that small decision could change his life forever if not end it. He would probably be hurt physically. But, more than that, his trust has been marred. He will be cautious and reluctant whenever trust is required of him. He’ll have fears that may not have been there otherwise. He will not have an accurate picture of the loving arms of his Heavenly Father. The choices we make on how to treat our kids multiply more than we think at the time. How many times have you smacked your kids or spanked them out of anger. It’s easy to do. After all, it’s a right to spank, right? No it isn’t a right. It’s a commandment to be used properly and at the right time. God has us use it as a tool of discipline and love. I’ve spanked my kids before as a reaction. I feel like crap afterwards. I’ll take Kaitlyn in the other room, and apologize to her. Doing it out of anger creates fear of authority. Authority is not something to achieve or flaunt. It is a gift and responsibility given to us that is easily lost in its true sense. Chip Ingram said in a seminar on parenting that if he is angry at his kids for disobeying he will tell them that they are going to get one, but not until he is calmed down. Our children are so precious and fragile in every part of their being. One move by us changes everything about what they value in themselves and/or worse, what they search for in a mate. We should act accordingly.
The part that makes the song so hard to listen to for me is the end. When he starts saying that Alyssa doesn’t lie anymore and that she has no more bruises, I get all emotional. I hate it because I only hear the song when I’m at work. It reminds me every time of the child Beth and I have growing up in Heaven. It just stirs everything in me. She doesn’t have to worry about those fears, because they aren’t possible there. Take time to realize what a gift you have if you have kids. But don’t forget how big of a responsibility it is. Just as with our money and possessions, we are stewards of our children. We should treat them accordingly.

Comments On This Post From My Old Site:

I remember watching “Man vs. Wild” on the Discovery Channel a few weeks ago. He goes into a new place every week to show how to survive and get out to civilization. He goes in with no supplies, only a knife. In this episode, He was in Hawaii on a huge volcano. When he crossed the lava fields he was being so careful not fall through or he would be incinerated by the molten lava just feet beneath him. At one point, he had to test every step. If it was unsafe his boot would catch fire instantly. Catching a trend yet? This is about us. In the book of Acts, it talks about how the church was started and what they were doing for each other. The were completely devoted to helping each other in every way possible, be it growing in Christ or just having food to eat. The outside world looked at this and, the Bible says, were in awe. You see, the church is the lava. God has changed our lives eternally, and we should erupt in joy, thankfulness, praise, and love. We should be so devoted to God and each other that anyone trying to pass by without being fazed, will not be able to avoid the heat. The sad thing is you could cross a lava field and not even sense the heat or danger. The same is true in the church today. The lost could even come in the door and not sense anything different than if they walked into McDonald’s, just a bunch of people trying to get in and get out with what they want and not getting bothered by others. This has to change. The top needs to blow off the volcano of the church, and the living lava needs to flow to where anyone in our path in engulfed in the heat and awe of God’s love.

I read a quote recently. It said, “Do not simply follow the path, but go where there is no path and leave a trail.” I thought it was awesome. Now, I know there is a path that others have left for us that lived long ago, but I see it as the path of everyone else. Just following the flow isn’t enough. We need to have faith and boldness to blaze a trail to reach people in ways no one else is. But, we need to do it intentionally and leave a trail so that others can see it and understand. God has given me a taste of this lately, and it is growing. I feel a drive to just step up and go.

-Press On