Christmas decorating

While Caro rolled out of bed early for a Black Friday trip to Wal-Mart (where she claims she bought nothing), the kids and I snoozed our lives away until mid-morning. In fact, Caro had apparently come back and left for work at the Gift Shaker to face hordes of eager shoppers from the other side of the counter before I’d ever lifted my eyelids.

I do recall her asking me if I wanted to go to Wal-Mart this a.m. at 4:30-ish. However, it is so foggy that I cannot even remember whether I gave her an intelligible response. 

As soon as I’d downed a few cups of coffee and the kids had enjoyed a couple of hours of being kids, we began excavating the attic of Christmas stuff. I figured that we could have the bulk of Christmas supplies, lights, etc. down and set up when Caro got home as a surprise for her.

Sam and Adelyn were remarkably helpful the whole time the attic was involved. They never slowed down helping cart stuff up and down the rickety pull-down stairs. I think that perhaps they were hoping for a magical wardrobe to be concealed somewhere over our heads that might be their entrance to another world and an escape from this one.

As soon as the attic stuff was done, their enthusiasm cooled. Sam did get the tree assembled and helped me with the lit wreaths across the front of the house. Adelyn began sorting through/playing with Christmas ornaments. And it was then that Caro came home. Where did the time go?

We spent the rest of the afternoon decorating. I kept trying to throw away old Christmas ornaments, creating my own filter for what made a worthy, keepable ornament. Here were some of the criteria:

• A worthy ornament can’t be a non-Christmas-y trinket that simply has a string coming out the top to hang on the tree. Because of this definition, I attempted to throw away several clowns, miniature blue and brown buildings (Caro claimed they were “churches”), a dozen crosses (yes, I know they’re spiritually significant… but how many do we need of those?), and some wooden things.
• A worthy Christmas ornament can’t have glitter on it. Just to let you know, this criteria was totally vetoed by Caro, but I hate having to try to vaccum up glitter from cheap ornaments.
• A worthy Christmas ornament can’t weigh more than 3 pounds. Serious. We have some things that you could enter into the Strongest Man Competition. You need to use 2-3 branches and some rope to keep these babies on the tree. The eyebolt screwed into the wall with the steel cable holding up the tree is pretty distracting.
• A worthy Christmas ornament simply cannot have Hello Kitty on it.
• On the other hand, any ornament that has Donald Duck on it is worthy. In fact, the kids and I played a game called “Most Blessed One” in which we kept score of which kid was able to hang up the most Donald Duck ornaments. And they’re all very Christmas-y, so they don’t violate the first criterion.
• A worthy ornament can’t be a piece of construction paper that it appears one of our kids drew on unconsciously in their sleep and is labelled “Preschool” on the back of it. As a caveat, I assured Caro we can keep it in the ornament box, in case forensics proves that one of our kids made it, but it does not belong on the tree.
• An ornament that was worthy last year may not be worthy this year, based on whether the tree “theme” is different from last year. We had gallons of plastic icicles and dozens of prune-shaped glittery (see the second criterion) balls that may have been worthy because they fit the tree theme in years past. However, I was able to toss them this year because I convinced Caro that no 21st century Christmas tree would allow anything of the sort to adorn its branches. 
• An ornament, no matter how worthy, is not allowed to hang from the tree-topper angel’s wings. This was instituted by Caro a few years ago, and apparently still remains firmly in effect in spite of protestations that the Mystery Van from Scooby Doo would blend very well with this year’s theme if it was allowed to hang from the angel’s wings.
• While not exactly an ornament, Caro has decreed that all sorts of branches, berry-looking things, and dead weeds may be entwined around O Christmas Tree and be considered worthy. The overall effect with lights on is nice, but I still fight the urge to pull out the weedeater.
• If it’s an ornament that doubles as a picture frame that even came in a Hallmark box that says “Baby’s Second Chrismtas” – but has no picture of a two year-old baby (preferably ours) in it – it is not a worthy Christmas ornament.

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Interview with the Pakistani Spectator

In probably one of the most unusual interviews I’ve ever done, I recently responded to a series of questions for a news/blog site in Pakistan. I have no idea how they discovered my blog, but they sent me a very nice email requesting an interview. After I agreed, they sent a list of insightful and thought-provoking questions that I was to respond to.

You can see the interview here. Many thanks to The Pakistani Spectator!

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Giving thanks

I hope you’re all ready to enjoy this time of reflection and Thanksgiving this week. I know it’s a deeply special and significant time. I want to encourage you all to allow it to be one in which you spend time in praise for all that Christ is doing in our lives. For some, this season is hard because of the losses of family members, and for others this season will be hard because of relationships with family and friends not being where they need to be.

Our prayer is that we will demonstrate fully the Spirit of God during this week and that we will be overflowing with gratitude and thanksgiving. There’s a popular worship song out now that goes:

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

I especially like the last refrain. God is still good, and He has the right to “give and take away.” It’s in hard moments of discipleship and learning to follow Him that we can make the mental decision like the songwriter (Matt Redman) in which “my heart will choose to say, ‘Lord, blessed be your name.’”

I hope earnestly this holiday season that you will choose to praise Him. In the midst of a year that’s been very trying for our family, friends, church and our country, let us choose to praise God.

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Grace Point Church

I haven’t made an entry in this series in some time now, and after stumbling on Grace Point’s website a few days ago, I was prompted to give them a quick shout out for their site.

First of all, I like that GP’s site is not too 2.0. These days, Flash sites with bells and whistles almost bore me. I’ll probably oooh and aaaah over one tomorrow, but I like the first impression of this site. While it first struck me as too busy, and all the rollover graphics were a little distracting, I immediately realized, “Hey, there’s a lot of stuff here to look at.”

Clicking on Virtual Church takes you to a site within a site that has the sidebar shown to the right. It offers all kinds of connections for those who may just want to check out Grace Point from a distance for a while. This is where you find the podcast, prayer requests, Facebook group, etc.

So much of GP’s site requires you to take that initial step of interest. From the main page (on the day I visited), I saw a Mother’s Day Out program, an upcoming concert with Natalie Grant, a missions endeavor and a baby dedication scheduled. Clearly, there’s a lot of fellowship and activity going on.

The only caveat to the site was the font and text style of many of the links. While many of the graphics were clearly Photoshopped and animated, the list of links on the front page that begins “I’m New” and continues through “FAQ” was just a little 1.0 for me. I noticed this same graphic disconnect on the sidebar on the Virtual Church page. 

I think the text of the links across the top of the page just don’t match the feel that the site intends to communicate. 

I was intrigued by the Need It/Got It page. It’s essentially a classified section for use by the church and its members and guests. Great idea!

I was impressed, however with the Global Missions link page. Seeing where this church is currently impacting and serving was a great encouragement.

Overall, it’s a very useful site that communicates and invites. One suggestion would be that the pastor needs to update his blog. It was over a month behind when I stopped by. For the time and effort this church has put into its site, he may be missing a great opportunity to connect with those who, like me, just stop by.

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Today’s stop: surgeon consultation

Just wanted to post a quick update on our health journey with Carolyn. Thank you all for emailing, asking and praying. 

She had an appointment today at 12:30 in which the surgeon reviewed her PET scan and medical history. After doing an ultrasound on two of the areas in which he was able to see the lumps, he and Carolyn’s oncologist are recommending an outpatient surgery. We scheduled it for December 8.

On a side note, his ultrasound machine was smaller than a standard laptop… I was dying to snap a picture of it but just couldn’t bring myself to do so. (I can take a picture of a cat funeral but not a sonogram machine… Go figure.)

Basically, he will remove the lump in the breast and do a biopsy of it first. If it proves to be Hodgkin’s or some sort of lymphoma, he will not remove anything else. If it’s not, then he’ll proceed to one of the other nodes and remove one of them and do a biopsy of it.

The reasoning is that since all this is happening at one time, that it’s most likely related and not separate cases of breast cancer and Hodgkin’s. We were very pleased with his professionalism, candor and sensitivity.

We’re trying to schedule things around Adelyn’s performance in the Arkansas Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker the weekend of the 6th. 

Again, thanks for your prayers and thoughts!

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“But others were tortured…”

Hebrews 11.35 is a rather abrupt transition from a sublime chapter in scripture that some call the “Faith Hall of Fame.” After detailing the feats of faith accomplished by God through the lives of Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson (who I normally don’t associate with faith), and others, one is confronted with these words:

“But others were tortured…” (NLT)

Nice.

Just in case you were beginning to be inspired to tackle hell with a water pistol, God’s Word reminds us that faith is independent of circumstances. Faith is external to danger or fortune. Faith is unaffected by success or failure. Faith is.

That’s why the Hebrews writer began this section with the famous, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (ESV) The Message Bible puts it like this:

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.

The New Living Translation may be my favorite:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

The only problem with this translation is that I generally don’t hope for… torture. I am generally a stickler about good things happening to me. In my mind’s eye, I imagine everything working out in the end (after all, there’s Romans 8.28, right?). I see nasty situations tied up with a nice bow. I envision, “Aaaah. It-all-makes-sense-now” moments.

Most of the time, this mindset is completely shallow and inadequate to confront the realities of life. In fact, a self-promoting interpretation of Romans 8.28 perhaps leads people to confidence in ultimate fiction rather than an Understanding Father.

What is it that we hope for? That’s the real question.

• Healthy children.
• Job promotions.
• Central heat and air (especially during Arkansas summers!)
• Patience from everyone
• Punctuality from everyone
• To be treated by others as we treat them like we want to be treated
• Happy homes

These hopes bounce around in our minds as entitlements more often than not. For some reason, we have believed that if we believe right information about God that all of the above will be given to us. There’s even a whole strain of “Christianity” that seeks to convince us that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy and own 2.5 homes and 4 cars.

Tell that to the Hebrews 11.35-38 folks. They would be sorely disappointed. You read here about another group of faith-filled believers. In fact, they were so filled with faith that “they refused to accept release.” When offered a chance to renounce their trust in God – for them a firm foundation that made life worth living- they opted for death (which would actually bring faith to fruition and hope to reality).

Hebrews 11.39-40 comments, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

Essentially, their rotten experiences and horrible sufferings were examples for future followers of God. How would you like to know that what you’re experiencing is all for someone else? The way you choose to respond could enable someone else to stand firm.

Much of contemporary American Christianity struggles with Hebrews 11.35… “But others were tortured…” For me, it’s a surreal comfort to know that God’s Word does not shrink from depicting and predicting extreme hardship and agonizing cruelty. It addresses it head on. Yet it also offers a way through and out. It’s the way of faith.

Faith may bring you through the Red Sea… (v29) or it may get you sawn in two (v37). But our faith is not in “getting out of this mess.” Our faith is rooted in a Person. We trust in Him… not in some abstract deliverance.

In my family’s current faith journey, we are reminding ourselves once again that while life sometimes is not pleasant, our hope is not “in everything working out.” Rather, our hope and confidence is placed completely in Christ. He alone does not change. We (and you) can trust His character and rely upon His love. When things do not turn out as we would wish and hope, it may all be to remind us that the object of our hopes and dreams have been misplaced. Our current sufferings only sharpen our hearts to enjoy future fellowship.

Romans 8.18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

And if you’re one of those who is currently having Red Sea Day… pause and pray for Christ followers around the world – the persecuted church – and others who are having another kind of faith experience.

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Blog redesign itch

Update (11/22): I’m coming to try this new theme for a while. It’s called Crybook and is a take-off on the old Facebook look.

I’ve got the blog redesign itch again. I’ve been playing around with various new looks over the past few days and haven’t come to any conclusion yet. So I’m tossing this entry out, hoping for some feedback. 

• What features do you currently enjoy about this blog as it’s currently designed? (i.e., Recent Comments, Lifestream, Recent Posts, Book List, etc.)
• What have you seen elsewhere that you think would make a nice addition?
• If I went with “simple,” what are the indispensable elements you would want to see?
• Other suggestions…

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Operation Christmas Child 08

The following is from Michael Kelley’s blog. He gave me permission to post it in its entirety. I was wanting to do an OCC post since this is “collection week,” but his entry was so good, I thought, why duplicate? Thanks, Michael! -

Last night, our family went to Target to fill our Operation Christmas Child shoebox. This is a great organization with a great mission:

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.

It’s simple – make Christmas better for a child by filling a shoebox full of gifts. But here are a few things you might not know about OCC:

- Did you know that there is a national leadership team in each country that receives boxes? Boxes only go to countries that have a National Leadership Team. This team is made up national volunteer Christians
that have a heart to see their country come to know Christ. They help raise funds to help pay for the transportations of shoe boxes into their country. They make the decisions about where distributions
happen and are responsible for creating opportunities for distributions to all kids by creating a strategic plan (meaning that kiddos get one box- not multiple boxes that they show up year to year
just to get the stuff- the goal is to provide the gospel)

- Every child is given the opportunity to participate in a 10 week discipleship program and plugged into a local church

- Shoe boxes have allowed Samaritans Purse to create roots in communities. OCC opens the doors to focus on relief and community development. Other SP programs include children’s heart project, instillations of water filtration systems/ feeding programs, HIV programs, and Medical Mission programs.

- A shoe box = gospel opportunity. For every box that is distributed a copy of “The Greatest Gift of All” is distributed in the language that the child speaks. So last year 7.6 million copies of the gospel was spread throughout the world. Think about how influential that is. One child gets a box- he/she goes home to his 4 siblings and his mom and dad.

- There are 11 sending countries. The US of A is not the only country giving- Other sending countries include Austria, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, UK and New Zealand.

This is national collection week. Click here to find out where to drop off your shoebox.

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Review: A God-Entranced Vision of All Things

A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards

 

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Biopsy results…

Carolyn got a call from the doctor’s office this afternoon to give us the results of the biopsy from Friday. He said, “I’ve got bad news…” Of course, no one wants to hear that after a biopsy.

Then he related that there had been a mistake made and the biopsy had been put in the “wrong pink solution” and so we will have to try again. He was very apologetic – appropriately so, and we are certainly accepting of his apology.

He said that we have two options… One is to do another needle biopsy. We’re not in favor of that simply because we are not confident in needle biopsy results (we’ve had negative positives before). The second option involves taking one of the lymph nodes for a whole biopsy when they do the lumpectomy of the spot that is in her breast. 

We are choosing the second option at this point since that will be conclusive. It will involve general anesthesia, so they’ll have to put her under. 

We’ll have to schedule that and then let you know from there. Just wanted to shoot everyone an update. The waiting game continues…

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths will shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40.28-31)

It has been a great wait so far, if I can say that. We have definitely experienced God’s peace and provision over the weekend. We’ve been able to spend time with great friends, including our church family, and our church renewal gatherings have fallen at a wonderful time.

We’d appreciate your continued prayers…

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Renewal Gathering at Journey

What I’ll be doing the next 2-3 evenings…

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You still worried about election results?

The Most Important Issues In the 2008 Election

Thanks to Kelly Rogers for posting this on her Facebook page.

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You’re invited

Thanks to AJ for the design!

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Health update and uncertainty

This Monday Carolyn went in for her checkup. About twice a year, she gets a CT scan because she’s a three-time cancer survivor. By God’s grace, she has been delivered from Hodgkin’s Disease three different times during our relationship – once while we were engaged and twice since we’ve been married.

Monday was a PET scan which is a better indicator of possible cancerous activity than a CT scan.

Tuesday she got the call. Three spots.

We are heading to Little Rock Friday (today for most of you) for a biopsy of two of those spots. I sent the following email out to our church family and friends yesterday:

Caro went in for her regular checkup this past Monday and got a PET scan. That’s a lot more accurate than a CT scan. She received a call from the oncologist yesterday at noon with results.

Basically, they’ve found three small spots – two appear to cancerous lymph nodes. There is also a suspicious spot in one of her breasts.

We go Friday for needle biopsies of the two lymph nodes. We won’t know until after those results what exactly we’re facing. It’s good news that we found them at this point, since all three areas are very small, but according to the test, they are most likely cancerous.

It’s been four years since her last go-round with Hodgkin’s Disease-lymphoma, and wildly enough, if this turns out to be cancer again, it will be her fourth go-round with cancer.

Obviously, we would appreciate your prayers. The Lord has already been faithful to supply grace and strength in the past 24 hours, and we are both deeply grateful. What with a crazy election night and this news, it’s radical to consider how much life can change in such a short time.

I began sharing “our story” last year in August. As I recall, I stopped before I shared about our second experience with cancer. Now that we may be on the brink of a fourth experience, all I can really say is that God has been faithful. He has demonstrated astonishing kindness and over-abundant grace in our lives. We have no reason to doubt that He will do so the same now and in the days to come. He does not change.

As we take timid steps forward into an uncertain future, we ask for your prayers. We want to be found faithful. Yet, I wrote in my journal the other day that we will most likely have:

 

1. #1 – Bad days: Days in which our mood and focus is not what it should be. Most likely this will be because our circumstances loom larger in our vision than our embrace of God’s truth.
2. #2 – Good days: Days where we may appear irrationally hopeful or even joyous because our awareness of Christ is heightened and our faith soars freely.

 

I am earnestly hoping that #2 days exceed #1 days. 

The strange thing (or not so strange) is that the weeks and days leading up to this experience have been filled with renewed urgency for leading God’s people into greater intimacy with Christ. We have been seeing remarkable life transformations in people in our church, and our passion for presenting Christ to our community and becoming a people of global mission has exceeded our resources. In other words, we have sensed a calling to do what would only be possible for God, and we are determined to step forward into the unknown as a church on mission.

So we ask that you intercede on our behalf during this time – that our circumstances and occasional sorrow would not eclipse the magnificent hope that Christ has laid out before us as we seek to lead His people. Ask the Lord for resources for our church and encouragement for our members during this time as they seek to be obedient to the various calls God has placed upon them.

So many folks in our church are longing to say “Yes!” to God’s call but have been confronted with brutal realities of their emotional, financial or health inadequacies. Pray for us all. For as we press on and press through trying times, I’m confident that the comfort that we currently experience from Christ will be used in manifold ways in the future to comfort others in similar struggles…

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1.3-5)

We’ll be heading out at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow on a journey of medical uncertainty. Pack your bags and join us if you will in prayer and fellowship. Whatever we discover along the way will hopefully be used as a light for your own path. While we’re not sure of tomorrow, we are assured of our future. 

Why are you downcast, O my soul? 
       Why so disturbed within me? 
       Put your hope in God, 
       for I will yet praise him, 
       my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42.11)

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Change in America = Change in the Church

One thing that no one can deny any longer. It isn’t 1950 any longer. America is not like 95% of our churches. At the massive Obama celebration party in Chicago last night, it was a multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic, and multi-cultural blend of Americans.

For most of our churches, they find themselves on November 5 wondering how they grew to such irrelevance. They find themselves out-of-touch with the larger population, most wishing for a return to yesteryear. In pockets of America, there remains an ambivalence about true integration in worship.

The church of Jesus Christ can not be HIS church and not reach out to all ethnic groups, socioeconomic levels, and cultures. It has been content, for the most part, in preserving the comfort of its existing members. It has done this primarily by only reaching out to those that would help undergird its existing values and allow its current leaders to remain in control.

Just as the leadership of our nation was jerked radically away from one group on November 4, the church needs a radical jerk away from its love affair with complacency and selfishness. 

The heart of the Father is for all peoples, everywhere, to know and love His Son Jesus Christ. Our churches need to seek humility, forgiveness and begin the journey of joy by actively reaching out to all with the gospel of Christ. It’s not Jesus that people in our country have rejected. It’s the church’s narrow proprietorship of Him.

Other’s Voices: Mark DeYmaz

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Praying for our new President

Ed Stetzer wrote an entry yesterday that I thought shared the appropriate spirit and tone for all of us who call upon Christ as Messiah and Redeemer – whether Red State or Blue State – in this significant political redirection for the U.S.

He quotes a letter from a Methodist pastor posted at Ben Witherington’s site:

There is always – always! – a “contrarian” bent to the Christian political angle. After all, in the Roman empire the complaint filed against Christians was “they are turning the world upside down” (Acts 17). In a world that does not love the Lord Jesus, we will expect to find ourselves at odds with business as usual; we shun a judgmental spirit, but we do not refrain from making judgments. “The Church is not simply a ‘voluntary association’ that may be of some use to the wider public, but rather is the community constituted by practices by which all other politics are to be judged” (Stanley Hauerwas).Abraham Lincoln told the truth about “sides” who boast of God: “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; each invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could not be answered… The Almighty has His own purposes.” Knowing this, we treat each other charitably, and look to God for something better: “With malice toward none; with charity for all… to bind up the nation’s wounds – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

 

Stetzer goes on to say:

We’re about to choose a new leader for ourselves, and, regardless of who wins, some American Christians will be frustrated and disheartened. This is a difficult election for many Christians, but it should not– it cannot– eclipse our mission. And while politics and presidents can connect to the outworking of our faith, God uses the preaching of the gospel in word and deed to bring redemption to the broken, forgiveness to the sinful, hope to the lost and the real “change we need.” It is not an elected official who will transform the country, but the grace of God at work in his church– that is what changes lives, transforms cultures and turns cities upside down.

November 4th will come and go, but our mission remains the same, and our hope remains secure. That’s change we can believe in.

I wholeheartedly agree. After all, it’s not just wise and gracious, but as believers in Christ, we are citizens of another kingdom, with a higher loyalty. We must be able to minister to all peoples, and political polemic after an election cycle must be shelved in order to pray, encourage, and seek the good of the land we live in. This election may be about America getting what we truly deserve rather than what we want – whichever way we all voted.

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2.1-4)

Also, the people of Israel were told to pray for a culture that was not their own when they were living in captivity in Babylon. This is rather strange, all things considered. Rather than urging them to pray for “deliverance,” they were instructed to pray for the prosperity and success of the culture in which they lived in captivity. This may be a more appropriate perspective for all those who bemoan the results of any election, present or past…

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29.7)

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• Feeling sick, Mike?

I am saying no to Obama on Tuesday

I think Shane Vanderhart has an excellent post describing his reasons for voting for McCain. I encourage you to read it. Most of his reasons mirror my own.

You can also review my Tumblog for some recent links and items of interest.

I don’t see this as just another election. While I initially supported George W. Bush vehemently in the previous two elections, these past two years have seemed to indicate a wandering administration. I’ve been particularly frustrated with the confusion and insanity of the No Child Left Behind Act. While it initially was a positive effort, it seems like it has left many schools, states, and districts in a state of fear of reprisal rather than instilling a positive momentum for educational reform. Struggling kids are still left behind, but now smart kids are being overlooked in an effort to pull along the struggling ones. We’ve effectively dumbed-down our educational system.

I’m not thrilled about fighting in Iraq either. However, I’d rather be fighting there than here. Make no mistake. Radical Muslims HATE America. They will not lay down their arms against us. Bush was right to take the fight to their region. Yet, I remain ambivalent over the Iraq issue. I don’t blame him for it. I don’t think it should be a political football.

The economy… well, yes it stinks. But I hardly feel like that’s Bush’s fault either. The best minds on both sides of each political spectrum have punted on true fiscal accountability for so long that neither wants to claim responsibility. The burden has been passed off on the tax payer through a bailout that still no one can tell you whether it has worked or not. Both McCain and Obama have proposed budgets that will increase our national deficit. Neither wants to face the hard, cold facts that the next administration must necessarily tighten the government’s belt and work to reduce spending, cut programs, and bring our nation to a fiscal viability.

It crystalizes for me in the morality and faith commitment of each candidate. Obama is unashamedly one of the most liberal interpreters of when life begins. He’s downright frightening in this regard. If you have children or love them, it should concern you that this candidate has a complete disregard for the life of a baby and has refused to consider the implications of his stand. 

While I could run down a list of more reasons, the most disconcerting reasons to NOT vote for Obama involve the ambiguity on exactly who the man is. He is one of the most vague, slippery un-characters that I’ve seen in many years. Who is he really? For all the media attention and hype, we have yet to really understand what he stands for and what he really thinks apart from the liberal machinery of the Democratic Party.

• I have not forgotten Jeremiah Wright.
• I have not forgotten Bill Ayers.
• I have not forgotten the grotesque support for partial birth abortion.
• I have not forgotten his difficulty in expressing his Christian commitment, particularly in confessing the name of Jesus Christ.
• I have not forgotten his outrageous refusal to seek campaign finance reform after initially hinging his campaign on it.

This one candidate has outspent every other single candidate in history. McCain has kept his promise to not raise more than what was allowed, but Obama bypassed his early commitment to campaign finance reform. 

Obama, the first major candidate since 1972 to use only private money in the general election, termed his decision “difficult” and blamed it on a public financing system that he says is “broken.”

Critics say his record $639 million fundraising total so far — compared with McCain’s $360 million — could very well be the end of a public financing system that has prevailed for the past 34 years.

“It’s a mess,” said John Samples, a campaign finance scholar for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C, speaking of the public financing system. “It’s certainly not serving any of the purposes it was supposedly set up to do.” [Source.]

$639 million. Of course, I’m not thrilled about $360 million either. Does Obama honestly think he represents the little people of America? If he has spent so freely with other people’s money to get elected, what makes us think he will curb that when he is elected?

In addition, I am ardently opposed to the massive government growth – in welfare, insurance and other intrusive programs  - that the Democratic Party has demonstrated. I am not in favor of government being my Savior. It seems that a bigger centralized government is the only strategy the left wing of that Party (who is now entrenched in leadership) know. Hello socialism.

I’ve already heard a few stories of ardent Democrats across the nation who have vocally supported him for fear of retaliation – either political or social – who simply have not been able to actually vote for him.

No one sees who you vote for in the booth. I would urge all voters who have sincere doubts not to take a gamble on this election of great significance. Let’s not roll the dice on issues like partial-birth abortion, redistributive wealth, shady alliances and friendships with America-haters, and vague personal histories.

In addition, though he claims to be a Christian, there are literally dozens of YouTube videos of Islamic leaders voicing their support for Obama and claiming that he is Muslim – either faithful or an apostate. His redistributive philosophies are certainly socialistic. (Yet we already become socialistic in many of our government handout programs). 

As far as Obama’s primary competition – John McCain, I really haven’t been inspired by him. However, at least I know what I’m getting from him. I know he loves America and its people. I know that he has served us faithfully for many, many years. I know that he has suffered for freedom. I know that he has put his administration in touch with average Americans by selecting Sarah Palin as his VP candidate. I like his stand on the issues.

I also like what Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said recently as he introduced John McCain in Ohio:

John McCain served longer in a POW camp than his opponent has in the United States Senate. Ladies and gentlemen, I only play an action hero in my movies, but John McCain is a real action hero.

Some other rambling thoughts: I really resent Obamaniacs insinuating that the reason “red states” are red is because of racism. If you have done any reading whatsoever of conservative and liberal blogs and sites, you’ll notice a definite tone difference. Obama supporters often are quite vicious to anyone who does not support him. I will concede that there are idiots out there that support McCain. However, on the average, red states are being painted “white” with remarks like “looks like it’s the Civil War that is determining this election more than anything else.”

I appreciated this well-written conclusion to a recent article:

Barack Obama’s mixed race background may be the only [italics mine] thing he ever had in his favor. Americans want nothing more than to see minorities succeed, but such a desire can never outweigh their need to elect a responsible commander-in-chief — a leader sympathetic to our cause who will defend our country from its enemies without qualm or apology. Such a man is not Barack Obama and no amount of media distortion can ever change this fact.

Other recommendations:

• There is also an excellent article here about the issue of race and racism in this election.
• Hot Air offers The Comprehensive Argument against Barack Obama; it’s an in-depth, well-considered piece that doesn’t smack of fear-mongering.

As you prepare to vote Tuesday, I urge you… if you’re undecided or in doubt… vote for John McCain. Vote for certainty, experience, character, and life. Barack Obama, if he is the real deal, will not go away. And maybe after a few more years of public service and promise fulfillment, he will be more prepared to lead – maybe. He has a lot he needs to clear up. 

I’d be curious to know who you’re voting for and why. In this election, it may be who you’re voting against.

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Another week, another rummage

The past two days have been a swirl of activity around the Noble household – well, actually all week. We’re exhausted.

Carolyn has taken dance and gymnastic pictures every day this week as well as working her new daily job at the Gift Shaker (which she loves). I was out Monday-Tuesday at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and spent Wednesday playing catchup before our small group that evening. (The Jameses came, and we had a great prayer time and started studying 2 Timothy).

Thursday started early with JILT (Journey Intensive Leader Training), and then Caro and I went to Adelyn’s Honor Assembly. I ate lunch with Jeremy and Becca and then spent the afternoon doing some design stuff and church work. 

On Friday, I took the kids to school and headed out into the woods with Tim Chase to help him get his deer stand finished. He has graciously been taking Sam out to hunt (since I have no hunting genes or jeans). Had lunch with TJ and Caro at Pizza Hut and then began getting stuff together for the second Rummage Sale this month at Journey. Our great friends from Arkadelphia, Mitch and Meg Bettis came in for the weekend, and we had dinner over at Trey and Kathy Berry’s house.

During the evening, Mitch and I called our old secretary from AdVantage Advertising. She’s really quite young… same age as us. Of course, Mitch pointed out that she was also a former girlfriend of mine and then suggested we start calling former girlfriends. I thought that our phones wouldn’t have that much battery life in them. Paige and Brian have recently moved to the Atlanta area, and it turns out are faithful Notes from the Trail lurkers, so now they’ve been outed.

My mom had given me a Batman cape and mask, and the plan originally was to take the kids trick-or-treating on the Batmoped, but that didn’t happen. Caro and Paula Atwell took all the kids (and it was a herd) to get their annual allotment of dentist promotional materials. 

Today started early with the Rummage Sale. Thank goodness the Jameses, AJ Huffman, Stephanie Fearer and others were on hand to help. There was a steady trickle of customers, but we still have a ton of junk. We’ll be passing it all on to some lucky new owners in the next few days, but we were able to raise a few hundred dollars between last week and this week for the ministry fund. After cleaning things up and getting the church straightened for tomorrow, we headed to lunch.

I was able to snatch about a two hour nap this afternoon before heading out to Clayton and Mandy Moss’ house for the 3rd annual Journy Fall Festibration. It was a LOT of fun, with a zip line, Ewok Village, food, football and smores fire. I left early this evening to come home and wait for Sam to make it back from his hunt. (Today was Youth Hunt Day). Tim had taken him out. Carolyn and Adelyn are in Little Rock for the Nutcracker practice, in which Adelyn has a part for the second year in a row. They’ll be back late tonight.

That’s the way the week went… more or less.

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I’m responsible…

A friend who apparently likes Obama as a candidate sent me the following video. It is pretty funny… except for the last plug for Obama.
While it’s funny, it’s rather disturbing that it’s on the CNNBC website as a paid political ad by the MoveOn PAC. And that CNN anchors are featured in the video… Of course, it’s been no secret that the MSM has been desperate to elect their choice of candidate from the get-go.

HT: The Return of the Partisan Press

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