Reflections on death and dying 11 years after my last post...

 I've had a dream for a very long time of writing a book, I started over the winter last year and got an outline completed and have a chapter and a half completely written.  It is a book on death and dying and the working title is "If I Should Wake Before I Die".  At this point, I'd just like to finish the book before I die.  That may or may not happen at this point!

sleeping angel

sleeping angel, a photo by jwlohr on Flickr.

Untitled, a photo by jwlohr on Flickr.

Installment one on "Gun Control"

Part 1:   Toward an Ethic that Honors Life:

I just finished some fairly in-depth research into what information is out there on the internet regarding a Christian position on gun control.  Frankly, I can’t find anything that I think is 100% faithful to scripture.  Allow me to make a few disclaimers before I continue with another keystroke:

1)     I am a gun owner and plan to continue to own guns.

2)     I am unapologetically conservative and reformed in matters of theology and doctrine.

3)     I CERTAINLY do not equate “Conservative” with “Republican” and do not think for a moment that ANY party has a sole claim to truth.

4)     I believe that Jesus Christ transcends political affiliation.  The claims of both major parties (and most of the other parties) in the United States that they somehow represent the Christian world view are completely flawed!

Those disclaimers being stated, let me continue with my thinking on this matter.

Certainly the loss of human life at any time is tragic.  It concerns me that there are Christians in all of our churches who seem to place a higher priority on matters of politics than they do on matters of allegiance to Christ.  It disturbs me when believers in Jesus Christ take a stance on matters of constitutional law and make it appear that there is only one acceptable “Christian” response to the issue.  Allow me to clarify what I am speaking of here for a moment.

I believe that this is actually a matter of our society’s understanding of, and appreciation of human life.  With a fair amount of consistency, the Christians I know of who support “Gun Rights” are also pro-life with regard to abortion.  When the definition of pro-life is extended to the issue of capital punishment the waters get a little murkier and when potential gun control legislation is brought into the discussion, the waters look like the Illinois river following a torrential downpour.

From my perspective, it seems that there are several issues at play here.  Paramount among these issues is how we view human life.  Certainly, I cannot find any Christian who would publicly state that life is not a gift of God.  So our starting point is there.  Life is a gift of God.  At least we have some common ground.  Now the question comes: When does human life begin and end?  I happen to believe that life begins the moment of conception and ceases the moment our final heartbeat occurs regardless of the cause of death.

Whenever we bring political discussions in church, we tend to confuse whose law is supreme.  I believe that Scripture as represented in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments is the divinely inspired word of God and is sufficient for all matters of faith and practice.  Scripture was God-breathed and written by the hands of men who were led directly by the Holy Spirit in this exercise.  I further believe that the Constitution of the United States, while a wonderful document, was not God-breathed.  The Constitution is Good, even great, even amazing, even worthy of putting our life in the line for to some degree, but it was still crated by fallen men and has been amended and ratified by similarly fallen men and women across the past two centuries.

I remember well the words that my grandfather used when first teaching me to shoot at the age of seven or eight.  As if it were only yesterday, I can hear grandpa say: “Son, you can’t point this thing at anything that you don’t want to be dead when you pull it down”.  And so goes my thinking on the issue.  I am a hunter and when I raise my gun to shoot, I fully intend for the animal I am aiming at to be dead when the end of my barrel drops.  I don’t have a problem with this at all.  The problem for me arises when it comes to human life. 

As I stated earlier, I believe that human life ceases when we draw our final breath.  With bare-bones simplicity the problem arises when we allow ANYONE other than God to determine when another human being should draw their final breath.  I am strongly opposed to abortion and I am just as strongly opposed to capital punishment since I believe both of these practices take God completely out of the equation.  If we kill the unborn, who have no voice, we prevent them from realizing their fullest potential as image bearers of the God who created them.  And, here is where many of my fellow conservatives would differ with me: If we kill those whom we feel have committed crimes to heinous for redemption, we remove God from the equation and put ourselves in HIS place.  We as a society, in that moment, have determined that “this one is beyond the reach of redemption”.  Something, I am certainly glad that God did not do in my case!

A Plan for 2013

I haven’t blogged in ages as I have come to rely mostly on facebook as my place to document reflections and musings.  However, I am going to try to do more blogging during 2013 simply as an exercise in journaling.

I am increasingly excited about the evangelistic efforts we are going to undertake at Bethel during 2013.  The church, in the larger sense, has fallen basically flat in terms of evangelism and it is time to change that.  If we are not at least as excited about sharing our faith in Jesus Christ as we are about telling folks about the latest sales at the store or the last great movie we saw or concert we attended, then we are falling FAR short of the call that Christ has placed on our lives.  While sales and concerts and movies may enrich our lives for a time, Jesus Christ enriches our lives eternally and that is of paramount importance as we seek to carry out our mission as disciples of Jesus who himself came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

I have been reading the latest material and blog posts from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, especially with regard to the “My Hope with Billy Graham” project.  I am increasingly convinced that this simple yet effective formula is the very answer to the questions I have been asking for my entire ministry relative to doing effective evangelism.  It is so incredibly simple, yet has proven to be extremely effective throughout the world.  As the project comes to the United States during 2013, I am excited to have been trained already to lead this effort in my own church and to share it with other churches as well. 

I am dreaming today about what it might look like if the 100 or so active members of the Bethel Baptist Church truly began to live their lives and make their decisions based upon asking themselves the question: “What can I do to maximize my impact for the kingdom of God in THIS very moment?”  I think the resulting impact on our local community and on the larger area would be noteworthy if we could begin to truly live that way.  In fact, I cannot hold the people of my church to that standard unless I am willing to commit to that standard myself, so beginning TODAY, I make that commitment to Christ, to my family, to my church and to my world! 

Exciting things are on the horizon for our church.  I believe that the addition to our building will take place smoothly beginning in May of 2013 and lives will be impacted as we use that facility to minister to those outside of the church as well as those inside the church.  I believe that more people will commit to reaching out to their unsaved friends, neighbors and family members and the kingdom will expand.  I believe that our corner of the world will be a better place at the end of the next 12 months than it is today as a result of what God will do in our church in the coming days.

Laus Deo! (May God be Praised)!

Some random Christmas reflections:

Now that all of the Christmas services at church are over, the presents have been opened, the kids have had their day of fun and the post-Christmas realities are setting in, I am in a more reflective mood than I have frankly had time for up until now.

My reflections are these:

First, I am a VERY blessed man! I have a relationship with the creator and sustainer of the universe who chose to humble himself and become a man. Born into the brokenness of this world to show me how to live and how to give of himself for the sake of others who would neither fully appreciate, or respond appropriately to that sacrifice. I am also blessed by the fact that I have a wonderful wife, Jenny, by my side in life and in ministry who shares so much of herself for my sake and for the sake of three of the most amazing children who have ever lived. They, too, add so much to my life that I cannot begin to express my love for them. I am often overwhelmed by the treasure that God has shared with me in these three little lives that are entrusted to our care. My life is all about God, Jenny and these three precious souls Joey, Ian and Will. That is enough to fill my heart to overflowing.

Add to those blessings the fact that I am privileged to serve alongside some of the most amazing Christ followers I have ever known in the Bethel Baptist Church. Additionally, the past year has brought another team of amazing coworkers into my life through Blessing Hospice. I appreciate being allowed to serve on a team that shows such love and compassion shining some light into what might otherwise be a VERY dark and lonely hour for the patients and families that we serve. Yes, my life is very rich!

I have been given a heritage of faith that I will treasure until I draw my dying breath, and beyond. I am so thankful that like Timothy, in scripture, I had a mother who had great faith in Jesus Christ and her mother before her who not only sent me to church, but TOOK me there to learn the truths of Christ’s great love for me. A virtual host of dear saints of God took me under their wings at various times and in various settings to keep me on the path of faith that has led me to this point in my life. I miss those relationships as not a day goes by that I do not think of my mom and so many other people who have preceded me into the presence of Christ.

Our house is dark and silent as I write these words. The only lights on are the lights of the Christmas tree and the glow of my computer screen. I always get more philosophical in times like this. Yeah, one of the primary thoughts on my mind right now in addition to my recognition of how blessed I am is that I also really miss my mom right now. Christmas was truly special to her and she always became a bit more childlike this time of year, this is a trait she passed on to me and I am passing on to my own children. Mom is celebrating her 7th Christmas in the presence of Jesus this year. I cannot imagine the joy she is feeling as a result of that. But, I also think of what I have not been able to share with her in those 7 years. Joey was 11 months old when mom died and Ian and Will were not even on the horizon yet. I have worked hard to make sure my kids know about my mom and her name is not avoided in my conversations with them. My children are very blessed to have Jenny’s parents living nearby this year and they are a significant part of their lives. (and I am blessed by the best in-laws any man could ever ask for as well). Even so, I always think of my mom and shed tears over what has been lost in my life this time of year. But, one day, we will get to celebrate the birth of Jesus together in his very presence and that celebration will be unending!

So, for now, I sit and I ponder these things, I ask lots of questions to which there are no real answers, I revel in my blessedness, I recognize just how very broken this world is and I yearn for that day when Christ returns to set all things right. In the meantime, I recognize that which I seek to communicate to all who will listen. What we have now, is only a dim reflection of that which is to come. 2000 years ago, in a little country town, in the darkest hour of the night,

“… people living in darkness [saw] a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light [had] dawned.” (Matthew 4:16 NIV)

One day again, we will see the light dawn in a new and more powerful way in our world. Until then, I reflect, I reminisce, and I yearn for that day when Christ will come again into this world! I (as we all are) am a product of my past, and my present and I hunger for that future!

Merry Christmas, My Friends!

On Becoming Family

I have been thinking about this matter for a long time as a pastor who is involved a great deal on boards and committees in the larger American Baptist family as well as some ecumenical work. I realize, most certainly, that people will not always get along and there will be differences of opinion. That is the nature of the fallen world in which we live. However, I do believe that the culture of mistrust that permeates so much of our society has contributed a great deal to the ineffectiveness of the church in reaching the lost for Christ today.

Perhaps we have lost something in the past 2000 years that we would do well to recapture. The book of Acts (the story of the early church) we constantly see words like “together”, “In one accord”, “all things in common”, “fellowship” etc. And as a result of this the early church experienced explosive growth. Nowhere in the gospels do I read about particular worship styles, concerns over what is “in my best interest” or anyone being interested in strong-arming fellow believers to do things that they felt were out of sync with the will of God as revealed through the Holy Spirit. Looking at some of the groups I have been involved with in the past as well as currently, I see things coming into play that I would have to say are counter-spiritual and frankly do more harm to the cause of Christ than anything outside of the church. I have heard individual believers doing and saying things that clearly communicate “I don’t care if you are a follower of Christ, I will not trust you, therefore I will jeopardize ministry to protect my self-interests”. Or some seem to be saying “I really don’t care about you personally, I really want to just look out for number one. If that means wasted energy for you or that the Gospel is hindered by my actions, then so be it”. Do people really say those things? Yes, most certainly, by their actions, they do and the result is that we give justification to those outside the family of God to persist in their cynicism thinking that the church is no different than the world around us and in some ways is even worse, because we can’t even get along with those in our own household.

So, what is the answer? Well, I will be the first to admit that I don’t have all of the answers, but I do believe that it starts when we return to the values that were paramount to the success of the early church. When we give equal credibility to the ideas and dream of others as we do to our own, we honor the Holy Spirit and bring a smile to God’s face. Those first century followers of Christ trusted one another with their very lives, their fortunes and everything that they held dear. When we follow suit, the purposes of Christ are raised to higher levels of success. I believe when we put everything that we have and everything that we are on the line for Christ, we will find the unity that is woefully lacking in our world and we will see successes that have been previously unimagined. We need to adopt the attitude that says: “I may not even know you, but because we both bear the name of Christ, I will trust you and work with you for the sake of those outside of our family to graft them into the vine”.

Is this risky? Yes! Is this uncomfortable? Absolutely! Can we be hurt by those who abuse the family relationship? Yes, sadly, it happens all too often. But, until we can put aside pettiness and quarreling aside, we will probably continue to stagnate and as a result, those for whom we exist, will continue to drift and many will die without knowing Jesus. That fact alone, my friends makes all of these things risks that are, for me, well worth taking!

All of this being said, I want to say this: In my current church at Bethel, I have come to know a group of people who do not always agree with one another on every single issue. However, at the end of the day, the fact that we are family keeps us moving on together, side by side. As this is happening at Bethel, I believe it can happen anywhere, anywhere that people are willing to take the risk and “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV)