A few days ago, my son and daughter (pictured above) asked to make an American Flag. Why? I'm still not sure, but it caused me to ask myself, what am I going to teach my children about America and the American flag? What does it mean? What does it mean to be an American? To be honest it's gotten pretty confusing lately. All of the major events since the turn of the century (wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, social change, economic trouble, racial strife, etc.) have left my head spinning.
I grew up in the 80's when being a Christian meant being a patriotic republican in many circles. The pendulum has really swung the other way as far as that goes and left me struggling with what do I teach my kids about being a Christian and an American. Long story short, here's where I've landed for now. Many people have done infinitely better research and writing on this subject than I could ever could, but I believe that whatever else America might be, the most important thing that makes America America is this line from the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,..." Coming out of the monarchies of Europe (England in particular), this one concept had to be the most revolutionary thing about the American Revolution - all men, not just the rich, not just the powerful, not just the royal, not just the [fill in the blank], are created equal. Every life has intrinsic value that no one can take away or diminish because every person has been made in the image of God. And governments exist to protect and provide benefit for the people it rules over. That's quite different from the centuries (millennia really) of empires and kingdoms built on the work, sweat, and blood of everyday people who existed to benefit those who ruled over them. Now we all know it has taken a long time for this great, revolutionary idea to be applied to all Americans. In 1963, almost 200 years later, Dr. Martin Luther King rightfully reminded us that the promise of the Declaration of Independence had not yet been applied to all Americans, especially African Americans, in his "I have a dream" speech. He reminded us that it was time, way past time, to apply that great revolutionary truth to all the citizens of this country. Whatever else America is, this is what America can and should be - it should be a place where everyone has value, dignity, and worth, not because the government grants it, but because we are all made by God. It's why we fought WW II. It's why we believed communism was wrong. It's why we are a generous country. It's an idea that's worth dying for and I believe its why thousands upon thousands have made the supreme sacrifice for this nation. There are many problems in our country, of course, but I believe most of them can be solved by coming back to this one great truth that our founders fathers wrote that day back in 1776.
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I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately - here's why...
- My wife and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this past November (love you Honey!). - I did a wedding and marriage counseling for a young couple this past September - I recently attended a funeral for a woman who was married to her husband 67 years! I've learned a lot from helping a couple just starting out and from a couple who've gone farther than most ever will. And being somewhere in between - I am praying that God will give me strength and wisdom to make it for the long haul. Marriage is about so many things - companionship, love, romance, sex, joy, life, family, kids, etc. but for those who believe that God created marriage, there's more, much more. Here's what I shared with that younger couple this past summer. Marriage does 3 big things: 1) It reveals the plan of God Exodus 6:7 says "I will take you as my own people and I will be your God." That phrase or something like it is repeated many times including Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation - it sounds familiar doesn't it? It sounds like marriage vows. Paul says in Ephesians 5 that the relationship between a husband and a wife represents the relationship between Christ and the church. In other words, the joining of a man and woman together in marriage is reveals something God has been working toward for all of human history - rescuing and uniting with a people who will be his very own. 2) It accomplishes the purpose of God Someone has said that while God loves us just as we are, He loves us too much to leave us that way. Romans 8:29 tells us that God's eternal purpose is to help his people become like His Son Jesus. Nothing reveals our shortcomings and our need for growth like marriage. Two people doing life day in and day out brings out the best in us and the worst in us. Nothing will force you to come face to face with selfishness, brokenness, pride, envy, etc. like marriage. On the flip side, nothing gives you the daily opportunity to become selfless, humble, giving, etc. like marriage. Marriage is a powerful tool God uses to transform us into His image. 3) It paints a picture of God Genesis 1:26-27 says that God created us in His image, male and female in His image - as author John Eldredge points out, there's something about the image of God revealed in maleness and femaleness. And so, when a man and woman come together in marriage, a more complete picture of the image of God is revealed. A man and woman loving, forgiving, and serving each other show us what God is like in a powerful way. Bottom Line: our marriages matter to God and our marriages have significance far beyond what we can understand - much more is at stake in the success of our marriages than we realize. I hope that will help motivate you and me to invest more in the one God has given us to live with and love. The shootings in Charleston, South Carolina a couple weeks ago were horrible beyond belief. Absolutely heartbreaking. How do we respond to so much evil here at home let alone what is happening around the world? So many responses to the Charleston shooting are unfortunately external responses that I don't think will change much about how people feel toward each other - in fact, it seems like things are just getting worse. What I need, and what we all need, is our hearts changed from the inside out!
The change we are all trying to achieve cannot just be legislated - a hard lesson that Christians have had to learn the past 30 years. The human heart can only be changed from the inside out! Schools can provide education, doctors can provide medication, government can provide legislation, but only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ can provide transformation of the human heart. Nothing can replace God's forgiveness, presence, and power in our lives. Want evidence? Look at the families of the Charleston shooting victims. In the midst of extreme pain and loss they offered forgiveness to the one who committed such evil. They demonstrated for all to see how God transforms the human heart (and I applaud them). So let's keep sharing the Gospel and ask God to change people's hearts and lives. unstated premise: all people, gay and straight, look for love in all of the wrong places
(unstated because I hope to sneak past what CS Lewis called “the watchful dragons” – to share truth with immediately raising defenses that would dismiss what is said) I was once part of an event where we needed to order 600 pizzas to feed all of the people who were coming – we called a local pizza place and they told us there was no way they could fill that order themselves. It was simply too big . Other pizza places had to be called to help fill the order. Love is a lot like pizza. I have a theory which is the premise for this article – the human desire to be loved far exceeds the human capacity to give love. Why would I say such a thing? If you think about it, most of the pain and heartache we experience in life does not come from people we don’t know. The deepest hurts come from those whom we thought loved us, who should love have us, and even those who truly do love us. And yet no matter how many times we get disappointed, we continue to look for love in other human beings. Is that wrong? No I don’t think so, but when we place our insatiable hunger to be loved on another human being with that insatiable hunger, we are bound to be disappointed. And so a junior high boy gets his heart broken by a girl who does not like him in return. The girl in senior high goes from one bad boy to the next. The guy in college tries to prove himself to his father to hear one word of loving approval. The woman in her late twenties sleeps with multiple partners in search of the right man. The married man finds himself looking elsewhere to find the love he should have with his wife. The parent lives vicariously through their child and the child lives with resentment toward the parent. The married woman goes to reads romance novels to get a taste of the love denied her. In a million different ways, we all hunger for, look for, strive for, fight for, and hope for love – but there seem to be very few of who are not disappointed to some degree. And I think this is why the discussion on marriage in this country has gotten rather heated lately – we all just want to be loved! What’s wrong with that for crying out loud? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it – but I do believe we will all continue to experience heartbreak and disappointment so long as we try to find infinite love from finite sources. And this is where I believe that the Bible offers hope to every human being. It tells us that there is a source of Love that is unlimited. There is a Person in the universe, the One who made the universe, who is overflowing with love – there is an eternal, infinite, and perfect source of love at the heart of the universe! And the Bible offers even better news – God loves you and me for who we are, what we are, right where we are. Unconditional love and acceptance is exactly what we all look for all of our lives! It’s what we are dying to experience. He loves us with all of our flaws, our brokenness, our stubbornness, our self-destructive decisions, and even our outright rebelliousness. He loves us so much that He sent His son to this planet to seek us out and to die for us so that we can experience His love and grace and mercy. But God’s love has a curious effect – while God loves us for who we are, He loves us enough to transform us into the people He originally created us to be. God has a destiny in mind for each of us, a person He originally designed us to be. The big question is, do we want to experience God’s love enough that we’ll allow Him to make us the strong, beautiful, brave, amazing, loving, kind, good, caring, courageous person that He wants us to be (He makes us like Himself, letting His perfect qualities grow inside of us)? The thought of God changing me can be terrifying especially if I’m committed to maintaining an identity I’ve worked hard to create for myself. But to experience ultimate love is to be changed by that Love. If God made me, if God loves me, if God came to this planet to sacrifice His own life and blood for me, I have good reasons to trust that his transforming work in me will be a very good thing. One other effect of experiencing God’s love – when my insatiable hunger for love is filled by infinite love, suddenly my capacity to love others exponentially increases. I no longer need to insist that others love me, meet my needs, and fulfill my desires. I can focus on let the love of God overflow from my heart into the lives of others. So where are you looking for love? How is that working for you? What you really want in the depths of your heart is out there. It just might not be where you thought it was. |
WHO I AM
I'm a follower of Jesus, husband to my lovely wife Judy, father of Evangelina, Micah, Josiah, and Jeremiah, missionary to the northeast United States and advocate for all things youth ministry. WHAT I DO
I am the northeast regional coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries. I've worked for the last 24 years as the co-executive director of Teens For Christ, a ministry that equips teenagers to share their faith in their schools. I also served on staff at Cherry Tree Alliance Church for 15 years as youth pastor and family life pastor. My Websites
Youth Ministry Consultations Youth Ministry Networking 9 Month Mission Trip Speaking at camps, retreats, youth groups, etc. Archives
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