HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter everyone. The tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! Below is something I obtained from John Piper.

Five Lines of Evidence That Jesus Rose From the Dead

The testimony of the apostle Paul. We have 13 letters from his pen. He was a contemporary of Jesus. He claimed to see the risen Christ. He spoke of others that he knew who saw him alive after his crucifixion, even 500 at once, many of whom were still alive when Paul was writing (1 Corinthians 15:5). This gives to Paul’s writings what is called “historical control,” which means that there is good reason to take seriously what he says because there were so many people around who could easily falsify his claims if they were not true.

The empty tomb in Jerusalem where Jesus had been buried. This is relevant because the claim that Jesus was raised from the dead spread in a city that was hostile to that claim and would have done anything it could to squelch it if they could. The one thing they could have done was to produce the dead body of Jesus, but they could not (Acts 5:30-33).

The courage of the disciples of Jesus and their willingness to lay down their lives to preach that Jesus was raised from the dead just weeks after they abandoned him out of fear and thought that they had been badly mistaken about his Messiahship (Luke 24:21). What had changed them from fearful to courageous so suddenly? And do men really risk their lives for what they know to be a fraud?

The diverse testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James, and the writer to the Hebrews. Here you need to get to know these men as witnesses, and see if they are credible. Give them a hearing and see if they do not win you over, and prove themselves to be more worthy of your confidence than the skeptics of our day.

The ring of truth in the biblical vision of the world. Does not this whole story of God and creation and sin and Christ and salvation help make more sense out of more things in this world from beginning to end than any other vision of reality?

Five lines of evidence. I hope that you will pursue them. Your eternal life hangs on what you conclude from these.

Mr. Deity

I questioned whether or not to put this on my blog. It can certainly be taken as...well...offensive, but it is funny. I am not sure of the intent of the creators, but it has certainly caused a serious dialogue on YouTube, as most religious things will do. Dialogue can be a good thing, if people are willing to listen, as well as talk.

Dave

baseball and caterpillars

Last night we decided to take the kids to a Diamond Jaxx ballgame. It was the first game at the park this season; an exibition between the Memphis Redbirds (AAA Cardinals) and our hometown Jaxx (AA Mariners). As soon as we walked into the stadium I saw a look of amazement in Zach's eyes. He was soaking it all in. He headed straight down the stairs toward the field and plopped himself in the front row by the Redbirds dugout. I was so happy to see my boy excited about baseball.

After sitting there a few minutes I was finally able to get him to walk to our fifth row seats behind the Jaxx dugout (good seats aren't hard to come by). Then about 3 pitches into the game, Zach decided he had enough baseball. So Angie took him to buy a Chicago Dog (Angie highly recommends) and a pretzel. I kept watch over Sam, who also wanted to do nothing but walk. I think he covered every square inch of the park before the night was over...along with the rest of the family.

When Angie got back with Zach, he sat still long enough to take a couple of bites of the pretzel. Zach wanted to go for a walk. He and I walked all over the park and out into the berm, while Angie continued to make the rounds with Sam. While out in the berm, Zach discovered the caterpillars, which he took much more interest in than the ballgame. We followed the line of them until we had gone as far inside the walls of the park as we could go. Finally I convinced Zach we should head back toward our seats.

We we returned, Sam was tired and Zach still didn't have much interest in the game. We decided to hang it up in the fifth inning and head home. Although we didn't see more than a few pitches, we all had a good time.

How to make a donut from Cheerios...

One day this past week Zach decided he wanted to make chocolate donuts for breakfast. He sat down at the table and asked Angie for a pot and an egg. She didn't mind, and we have lots of eggs thanks to WIC. So she handed Zach the first egg. Apparently Zach's recipie called for more so he asked for another egg, and another, and another. I think there were a total of five in the end. Four in the bowl and one in the floor.

The next thing on the ingredient list was Cheerios. Zach was convinced that the Cheerios would some how grow exponentially and become donuts. So he added them to the bowl along with milk, chocolate powder, and a saltine cracker-yum. After vigiorously stirring for a couple minutes Zach was ready to cook the mixture on the stove. Zach was still sure that he would be having chocolate donuts for breakfast.

I talked Zach into putting the "donut mixture" into the oven and go play. While Angie occupied him, I ran to Highland Park and bought two chocolate covered donuts (one for Zach and one for me). Then I pulled the TV chef switcharoo and replaced the "mixture" with two chocolate donuts.

We called Zach back into the kitchen, telling him the donuts were ready. We opened the oven and showed him the chocolate donuts he "cooked". We expected him to be very surprised that there were acutally real donuts. But instead he said, "I did it. I made the right recepie.". He didn't seemed surprised at all. Instead there was a smile and look of accomplishment. He believed all along that he was making real donuts, so why be surprised.

Dave

I'm Back!

Sorry to all my loyal blogger fans. The three of you have been very patient. I have not been very diligent in my blogging effots over the past couple of weeks. I promise to try and do much better in the coming days, God willing.

I have been sidetracked with my efforts to complete my final clinical rotation (done!), find a job (still not done, but working on it) and prepare for my boards (doing, but will never be done-until the boards come May 14th). It seems God has allowed me to be under a great deal of stress during this time. More than I can remember being under in a long, long time. And the fun isn't over yet.

I have been challenged to trust God more over these weeks than I have in quite a while. To be honest, I have been failing miserably. There have been times that I have made myself sick with worry, nearly to the point of throwing up. So you may be wondering, "Dave, what is going on that has got you so upset." Well, I will sum it up in this-a lack of trust in God to provide for my family. I have allowed my circumstances beyond my control to master my emotions. Unlike Paul, I have not learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am (or fear I may be).

I came across Philippians 4:4-20. It has been an encouragement today to trust in God who will supply my peace. I have even been challenged to thank God for these trials (still working on that, but getting there). I have also realized that it is not me who supplies the faith to trust God, but God Himself. All I need to do is ask.

Pray that I will trust God to meet our needs. Pray that He will indeed supply all our needs just as He promises. And pray that God will be glorified by these trials and produce in me the result He desires.

Dave

From the mouth of Zach...

Angie has done a great job keeping a calandar with all the kids milestones and funny things they have done. I thought you guys would enjoy a post of some of the things Zach has said and done in the last few months. That kid comes up with some winners, here are a few:

1. After hopping in the shower with me "I've got my bootie on and my clothes off."
2. I like milk. Milk is smart.
3. When watching Angie feed Sam "You're a good feeder momma"
4. After Angie dropped some paint. "I'm sorry for your mistake momma."
5. While trying to unzip his jacket "Cooperate, PLEASE!"
6. After falling in the pot "Don't flush me 'cause I'm too big."
7. When bringing in Christmas presents "Is it Jesus time?"
8. After throwing up "That vomit is crazy."
9. Mama why is my clothes all getting too little
10. After diarrhea "There is poop slobber on the potty seat."
11. After seeing Braden baptized "Will you pray to Jesus so you can ask Him to come in my tummy so I can be bathtized."
12. When asking him what Marcie's name was "EVIL"

What a funny kid. I'll keep you updated. There is always more.

Why is he mediocre?

In the past few blogs I mentioned some of the struggles Christians have which make us more like the "Mediocre Samaritan" than the "Good Samaritan". It is key that we understand what is holding us back from doing the things God commands. I thought we could try to look into the life of the Mediocre Samaratin to find out what could be holding him back. Likely we are struggling with the same things.

I think the Mediocre Samaritan, let's call him Sam for short, might be struggling with understanding what the command means or how to live it out (love your neighbor as yourself). Compassion ministry is not always easy to put into practice. Sam could easily be questioning how much of of his time and resources he should give?

I mean, how much free time and should we have? Should I ever take a beach vacation while others are without a place to live? Should I ever spend money on unnecessary things (pez dispensers, eating at Outback, unleavened bread, etc.) while other people are going hungry? Where do we draw the line? Is there a line to be drawn?

Fear can also play a part. Sam could be afraid that he is being taken advantage of by the guy lying on the road. I mean what if he got himself into this mess? Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't know how to comfort him. He isn't particularly good at that kind of thing. Maybe he was afraid that he could get hurt by the same group that left this guy for dead.

It can be scary to step out of our comfort zone. Most middle class white folk don't feel comfortable going into poor black communities to minister. We also have the thought people could be out to take advantage of us. We are skeptical, fearful that we won't do the right thing.

Selfishness prohibits most of us from compassion. Sam could easily have had somewhere else to be. Commitments he needed to keep. This guy would slow him down, then once he was better this guy would want to be his pal. That's all Sam needed. One more shmuck to keep up with who would likely need or want something else later down the road.

We are reluctant to give up our free time. Who wants to be helping the elderly lady with yard work when you could be playing disk golf (sorry Ronnie)? Why would I want to give money to the family at church trying to adopt when I need that money to buy new clothes? I don't want to invite that family over for dinner, they are "different" and it would be awkward.

Apathy. Maybe Sam just didn't want to think about it or think it was necessary. The problem is too big and besides he serves in the children's ministry. Compassion is not for him.

What other ways may be holding you back?

understanding compassion

In my last blog, I began the argument that compassion is not optional. Although, I doubt that many of you would have argued with me on that point, I think we fail to live it out to the extent which we are called. Christians don't have a stellar reputation for loving their neighbor.

You may say that you love your neighbor and likely you do to a degree. But I think we don't truly understand the meaning of compassion. If we did, we would see that we fall well short of the mark. There is much to learn if we want to overwhelm our communities with compassion like the early church.

So, it's not necessarily a lack of desire to follow the command of Jesus, but a lack of understanding the command. I hope to share with you what I am learning about the meaning of compassion. Check back.