Pirates Sighted

 

Every summer, Caroline and I and another couple host Pirate Camp for our grandkids at Lake Hartwell.  The campers need to be 4 years old, so this year we had 10.  On the first day, Captain Hook steals our treasure chest.  That starts three days of fun where the kids are navigating the lake on a pirate ship trying to find the treasure.  This year, we actually spotted Captain Hook from a distance on the last day before finding the treasure.  There is quite a bit of work preparing for and executing the camp, but the quality time with the kids is invaluable.  I count it as one of the most important things I do every year.  I hope you can find quality time with the people that are most important to you.

Making Room

I was introduced to Niclole Serrano this morning - not personally - just in the media.  I was interested in her story.  She is from New York, has served as a worship leader and moved to Nashville to explore her music career.  She is currently attending Spero Dei church in Nashville and recorded a couple of her music videos there.  She tried out for The Voice, but didn't get selected to be on the show.  I listened to Make Room for the first time this morning.   I'm not sure what was wrong with those judges.  I can't find much wrong with her voice, and the message is spot on.  I want to find ways to make more room for Him.

M.I.A.

Those of you who know me well are probably aware that I am not a huge fan of rap music.  So when I saw an article about M.I.A., I fully assumed that it was about a service person that was missing in action.  I quickly learned that M.I.A. is also the stage name for Maya Arulpragasam.  Maya was raised in Sri Lanka but moved with her mother to London when she was 11.  While attending art school in London, her cousin was reported to be missing in action in Sri Lanka, and she felt guilty that he was fighting for something important while she was enjoying an easy life with her friends.   After Maya began performing music publicly, she later elected to use the stage name M.I.A. in honor of her cousin.  The "A" also stood for Acton, which is the area of London that she lived in.  In 2017, Maya saw a vision of Jesus that changed her life, turning it upside down.  She saw Him and wanted Him at the center of her life.  She recently revealed this in a podcast and recognized that it could have a huge impact on her acceptance by her fans, many of which were not Christians and some of which don't like Christians at all.  I thought it was interesting in the interview when she said, "Christianity just seems so basic."  Some might see that as a slight, but I see it as her recognition that Christianity is the foundation, or basis, for our purpose on this Earth.  Praise God for a celebrity that has the conviction to get people who might not know Jesus, talking about Jesus.  For an excerpt from the interview, click here.

Where's the humor in that?

 

For those of us that have trouble memorizing scripture, we can take comfort in finding the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus Wept".  Even I can remember that one.   There is certainly much of the Bible that deals with the solemn, serious nature of Jesus, punctuated by his death on the cross.  But it raises the question, did Jesus laugh?  I don't believe there are any direct references to Jesus laughing in the Bible, but there were definitely times when Jesus experienced joy. He found joy in performing miracles, including bringing people from death to life.  And he also found great joy in bringing people to know God through himself.  While it is hard to know how cultural norms might influence humor over the centuries, some might say that "having a plank in your eye" or "a camel walking through the eye of a needle" are humorous in some contexts.  If the rest of us experience joy, then Jesus, being fully God and fully human, surely experienced joy, and also probably laughed.   I believe most of the people who know me well would put me more on the serious side of the serious-fun scale, and that is something I would like to change.   Knowing God should bring me immense joy and that great joy should frequently bring great laughter.  To get us started, how about having some fun poking fun at ourselves?  I love this one.

The Good Doctor

At a young age, John watched his dad carefully as he practiced medicine in a small town in Texas.  John frequently heard stories of how his dad had taken special care with a patient causing the patient to reach out to him personally after the treatment to thank him for his care.   John went to school to study sports medicine and joined a practice in California.  He was married and raised two children.  He modeled his parenting and his work after his father.  On Sunday he was attending a reception at church for one of the pastors that had just returned from a mission trip.   In the midst of the celebration, a lone gunman entered the reception hall with the intent of killing as many people as he could.  John rushed the gunman and tackled him, allowing other parishioners to restrain the shooter until authorities arrived.  John was shot multiple times and died shortly thereafter.  Praise God for a man that was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others.  Click here to see a short professional video introducing John Cheng.

The Same God

 

It's uncanny how fast our world is changing.  When I see memories pop up on social media, I am constantly amazed.  12 years ago, I had no grandchildren, and now I have 7.  If we go back 20 years, we didn't even have social media to send us memories. And go back 40 years, and we didn't have a cell phone to check memories or even to make a call.  Outside my lifetime, we could spend years analyzing all of the changes to our world over the previous centuries.  But in the midst of pervasive change, it is almost inconceivable that our God has not changed.  Our God is the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, the God of David.  He is Creator.  He is Judge.  He is Healer.  He is Savior.  I found this song by Elevation Worship that does a great job of putting these ideas to music.  Take a few minutes to praise the unchanging God of the ages.

Mom's The Word

This weekend we get to celebrate moms.  Sometimes, it's a little difficult finding a way to honor all the mom's in our family that need to be honored.  First of all, the moms are the ones that make everything happen the other 364 days of the year, so trying to get a guy, or a group of guys, to plan and execute a meal is nearly impossible.  Secondly, we have three generations of moms in our family, and we also have the moms in our inlaw's families, so just finding a time that works for everyone is hard, too.   I am thrilled that this year all are invited to my daughter's home in Smyrna to celebrate.  The guys will do our best to keep it simple and try not to burn the house down as we are cooking.  Most importantly, we want the mom's to know how much they mean to us.   For a little extra mom-inspiration, I found this short video.  It was put together by the Mormons.  I don't agree with everything they believe, but I can't find fault with this one.  I hope you have a chance to honor one or more mom's in your life this weekend.