I was listening the “Big John and Cisco Show” this morning on 560 AM WIND in Chicago. John Howell was talking to callers about the immigration bill that Congress passed and has accomplished nothing with. They started the fence and stopped, among many other things. The official estimate of illegal immigrants in the US is 12 Million. Some guess up to 40 Million. John quoted a scholar that said that Ted Kennedy and the Democrats(not all of them) pushed so hard for this bill because they new it would fail. They pressured Bush to pass it knowing it would fail. What does this do? Well, it shows the Democrats as the ones who wanted “proper” reform and Bush who said ok. Then it shows Bush as the one who failed and backed down. SO what? Well, what this does is help to win the Latino vote for the ‘08 election. I Wonder what the point was of this scheme, since the Republicans don’t stand a chance anyway after the Iraq war. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think this man is write in his suspicion? If so, is it even important to the election anymore?
Ok, I won’t post the picture of my vomit for all to see. I, as expected last night, was home all day today lying in bed. I had an agonizing night of stomach pain and dreading the eminant vomit that would ensue. I contracted the flu several days ago while staying home holding my 3-year-old over the bucket as she threw up for hours on end. Now, it was my turn. Fortunately, I guess you could say, I only threw up once. The unfortunate part is that when you do it multiple times, your stomach seems to heal sooner. Well, here it is 14 hours after the discharge, and I am still in a huge amount of pain. So, that was my day. But wait, there’s more.
I remember one of the first small group meetings my wife and I ever attended as a married couple. She was pregnant with Kaitlyn at the time. The question, among an arsenal of many more questions, was posed to us, “What is your greatest fear?” I easily answered that losing Beth was my biggest fear. I went further, though, to explain. Losing her to death would in the long run be less of a fear than to lose her to something I had done. Knowing she was still out there and not having access to her would devistate me. We’ve had our arguments as all couples do. Some in font of the kids. We try to avoid this at all costs, but sometimes our sinful selves don’t care. I remember Kaitlyn asking what was wrong one time, and having to come up with a clever answer. But as I answered, I remember thinking of what it would be like to see her, Landon, and Beth seperated form me, and seeing their lives without me. Today, I saw their lives without me(in a sense).
I was laid up in bed all day, when normally I would’ve been at work. As the kids got up, and, not knowing I was home, continued to scream at each other while Beth tried to keep the peace, I wanted to come out and settle them down to help Beth, but I was pretty much not up to that. Then, Beth(who is 8 1/2 months pregnant) wouldn’t even let me hug her for fear of getting sick. See, we’re very cautious right now. If she gets sick to her stomach, she could very well end up in the hospital leaving me to miss work to watch the kids. So you see her reasoning. Trying not to get anyone sick I lay in bed with the door closed, listening to their day go by. Many times I wanted to come out and set the kids straight, or just help. It is now 4:30 pm. Beth has the kids at the parks for a swim and a workout with some friends of hers. I have had a 2-minute conversation with each of my kids and my wife all day. Kaitlyn’s was actually me listening to her day. Landon’s was just laying in bed with him while Beth got Kaitlyn out of bed from her nap. Beth’s was her asking how many times I had thrown up, and me asking what bed covers she wanted me to wash. I haven’t in 4 1/2 years felt so alone in my own house. To hear my family’s life going on and not being able to be involved was so hard. That may explain the spiltting headache I have as well.
What is your greatest fear, and how close have you come to it? Also, please keep Beth in prayer as the delivery of J.S. draws nearer.
I had a good conversation with an old friend today. On the way to the Dick Tracy Days parade, in Woodstock, IL, we were talking about church and mission. He posed the question to me, “Which is more important: perfecting your doctrine or being involved in the lives of those around us?” I quickly answered that they go hand in hand. I said that in order to fully have either to be effective you have to have both. He agreed somewhat and said, “I will never darken the door of another church, as long as I live, that won’t hit the streets.” As we talked I explained myself and finished my answer. I think aside from having a correct understanding of my own salvation, my biggest calling is to do works. The greatest commandment is to love God with every part of your being. The second greatest is to love others as yourself. To be frank, if you come to me and try to tell me everything I’m doing is wrong and that I need to repent, I’m going to filter these words through my perspective of the person that you are. On the flip side, if I see you serving me for no reason but to serve and love, I will start to wonder what it is that drives you to do such.
The danger is my first answer to the question. I can have all the correct theology I want and not serve. I can know my Bible in and out(which is what I’m striving to learn) and never set foot in culture. How does a monk fulfill his calling to tell others about Christ? If he is locked up in a compound 95% of his life, who is he reaching?
Now look at the other side of it. If I am devoting everything I am to being in the culture and serving all I see, I’m doing what Christ has commanded me to do. However, what am I leading them to? We have a church in our town that has every religion I can think of each practicing its own beliefs and ceremonies under their roof. So where a monk is not doing an effective job of reaching out with his beliefs, the other danger is reaching out and sharing false beliefs.
So, I’m curious. How would you answer the question? What is the biggest part of our mission as the church: our doctrine or being in the culture serving others?
For those of you who are tire of waiting for the fizz to catch up with you when you’re pouring a can of pop into a glass, I’ve figured it out all on my own. When you open the can, instead of tilting it only 90 degrees, tilt it over the glass so it is completely upside down. Some how this eliminates the annoying fizz build up so many of us hate.
This is from the Desiring God blog. All books at DesiringGod.org are $5 next week. John Piper is an excellent author and totally worth $5 to try him out. Some books I recommend from him:
Desiring God
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ
Don’t Waste Your Life
What Jesus Demands From the World
When the Darkness Will Not Lift, and many others.
Many of his books are available for free to read online, but purchasing them really helps support Desiring God Ministry. So, don’t just go away from my site and check another blog right away. Check this out and buy atleast one book. Remember the sale is June 27, 28.
Our kids were pretty rowdy tonight, and they were doing some crazy stuff. Landon would climb on the stationary bike, jump off, cry and hold his back, then do it over and over again. Kaitlyn asked me if I could see my nose, and I said, “Yes, see look.” I crossed my eyes and said, “Now look at your nose.” The result was unexpected. It gave Beth and I a good laugh. She can see her nose.
I had a good conversation with an old friend today. On the way to the Dick Tracy Days parade, in Woodstock, IL, we were talking about church and mission. He posed the question to me, “Which is more important: perfecting your doctrine or being involved in the lives of those around us?” I quickly answered that they go hand in hand. I said that in order to fully have either to be effective you have to have both. He agreed somewhat and said, “I will never darken the door of another church, as long as I live, that won’t hit the streets.” As we talked I explained myself and finished my answer. I think aside from having a correct understanding of my own salvation, my biggest calling is to do works. The greatest commandment is to love God with every part of your being. The second greatest is to love others as yourself. To be frank, if you come to me and try to tell me everything I’m doing is wrong and that I need to repent, I’m going to filter these words through my perspective of the person that you are. On the flip side, if I see you serving me for no reason but to serve and love, I will start to wonder what it is that drives you to do such. 
