Last night brought some news to our lives that we will be wrestling with in prayer for some days to come. It is well known that the world we inhabit is well worn with the brokenness of sickness, hardship, and pain. Yet again and again, as such things confront each of our lives we realize that something is very wrong with the world. As GK Chesterton put "This world is like a shipwreck, where we still see and sense the goods that survived the wreck" Our world is good, really good, but wrecked, really wrecked. As we think about how we sense the pieces which are at once good and glorious, yet falling apart I think of the goodness and grace of God and the promise of eternity. Does He care of our plight? Of our pain? Such is the question that each soul asks at the dark hour of midnight. Only in the incarnate Christ do we see a beautiful answer...The God who created all things good has entered the wreckage of this world - into our pain, distress and disease - to show us compassion and empathy. The dual nature of Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man - the only unique combination of divinity and humanity, wept in the flesh at the death of a friend. I believe the weeping Son of Man illustrates to us profoundly the utter certainty that the creator God of the Universe will again make all things good and new. Infinitely aware of the shipwreck at hand, he sees things as they will be - as they truly are. As finite creatures, we see now for a little while - a world of hardship, a world of pain...yet we must let the overarching background radiation of the goodness, grace and eternal decrees of God resonate as we face into our current struggles. Wait my bride, behold, a new day is coming...or as CS Lewis beautifully puts it "Aslan is on the move"

A heavy yet rejoicing heart today, He is on the move, yet there are hard days ahead. Come Lord Jesus.

I'm Out...

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Thinking about loyalty today. In the book of 2 Samuel there is a man by the name of Ittai the Gittite who shows a great deal of loyalty to King David. David has been alerted that his son Absalom is leading an rebellion and is fleeing the city of Jerusalem. While leaving, Ittai, a foreigner in the land of Israel, declares that he will go with David although he had just arrived the day before. His reasoning was this "As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be." Ittai and his people had found refuge with David and would not just turn and run because things were getting a little messy. He and his people left with David and later were influential in the military campaign to defeat Absalom.

I am thinking a lot these days of how loyalty should be expressed in our context today. By His grace I pray that I am loyal to my God, his church, and my family - but how far out should loyalty go. There is a proverbial saying that we can become loyal to a fault - the question is where that line lies. Someone with no loyalties most likely has no spine, and we know that loyalty can at times be a great virtue. So what do we mean to when one is loyal to a fault. I think what we mean is that sometimes loyalty can be a blinding factor to higher principles of the moral law. If our loyalty to a person, an organization, institution, party, tribe etc. begins to hinder our ability to see what is good, right and true, our loyalty is leading us towards the enemy's ground.

So it seems to me that the highest loyalty must find itself in God and his Word. This fountain of truth and goodness, the nature of God and the Word of God must be our eyes to see past even our loyalties...when God is honored, high loyalty between men is a high virtue, when the moral law of God is neglected, we can become loyal to a fault.

Story in 2 Sam 15-18

Bible Gateway : 2SAM 15;

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Be Thou My Vision - a beautiful Irish hymn that causes the soul to shudder. O for the vision and comtemplation of God to be so grand in my heart. I struggle with longing for such a hymn to be true of my soul, yet ever aware of how short I fall. That He would dwell in my heart by faith, that He would supersede all thoughts of success, the praise of men, earthly comforts and prestige. The true joy that shakes us to the soul is found in none of these things, only in the one who will always be our best thought. Be in tears, or in triumph, in victory or in pause - may his presence be our light.

Thinking about my prayer life this morning has me a bit malcontent. A few striking quote for those of us who are "working hard" in ministry:

When we depend on organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend on education, we get what education can do; when we depend on man, we get what man can do; but when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do -- A.C. Dixon

This perpetual hury of business and company ruins me in soul if not the body. More solitude and earlier hours! Isuspect I have been allotting habitually too little time to religious exercises, as private devotion and religious meditation, Scripture-reading, etc. Hence I am lean and cold and hard. I had better allot two hours or an hour and a half daily. I have been keeping too later hours, and hence have had but a hurried half-hour in the morining to myself. Surely the experience of all good men confirms the proposition that without a due measure of private devotions the soul will grow lean. But all may be done through prayer -- almighty prayer, I am ready to say--and why not? For that it is almight is only through the gracious ordination of the God of loving truth. On then, pray, pray, pray!-- William Wilberforce - Early 19th century English Politician

We need hearts that are captive to His Grace, enthralled by His Beauty, nourished by His Truth, overflowing with His Goodness, so that we might be a fragrance worthy of Christ in the World.

Praying that I might pray today in the midst of my distracted world
Out.

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Yesterday Blacksburg, VA witnessed almost a foot of snow. Kayla Joy had her first taste of snowcream (which I am convinced is made and eaten only by those with roots in the south, anyone know different, drop me a note) and was quite thrilled.

Danny White and I rose early to lift weights only to find the weightroom locked tight. A long walk in the snow never hurt anyone. I spent about 30 min shoveling snow around my court, trying to get folks ready to try and pull the cars out...good replacement for weight lifting...During my shoveling session I was thinking about a bumper sticker which I always felt had something missing - you know it Practice Random acts of Kindness and Senseless acts of Beauty It seems kindness and beauty have always been stand up guys for me, but sensless and random always seemed out of place. Would it not be better to practice targeted and purposeful acts of kindness in order to help someone? And is beauty ever senseless? Its seems to me that if something is truly beautiful, aethestically valuable, then it will probably be united with the good and the true. A friend of mine who has read much from a 20th century theologian (Hans von Balthasar of Basel) would probably agree that where you find the beautiful you will find there also something good and in someway true.

Anyway, enough of that. On to read what the Lord of Heaven and earth (the beautiful, good and true one - oops I did that again) has to say in 2 Samuel 18

Speaking to the Soccer team this morning as well, pray that goes well as we introduce the new guys to VTAIA

I'm out...

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This morning I wanted to reference an author I have been reading in the last week or two...GK Chesterton. Chesterton, a devout Catholic Journalist in England who stradled the 19th and 20th centuries. Chesterton was known for his wit, creativity, and keen understanding of the issues confronting his day. In many ways he saw coming what has happened in the west. The web site of The American Chesterton Society has a good subtitle that represents Chesterton well "Common Sense for the World's Uncommon Nonsense". Chesterton's writing is full of playful and wonderfully creative prose. He was also known to have a laugh that was utterly captivating. Chesterton understood the place that God rightly occupied in ones intellectual life...that without God, man's reason was unguided and would not lead anywhere at all. Why should one trust their reason to come up with things like "truth" or "beauty" or "goodness" if all of life was a morbid bumping of materials together. He saw that the understanding of our world would quickly disintegrate into all sorts of madness and all manner of obscurity once man rejected belief in God. In his book Orthodoxy he compares God to the Sun...you cannot look directly at it, yet without it one cannot look at anything. In prayerful submission that God might help us to see...by the light of his grace, with reason set aflame by the revealed knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Off to a track meet and tennis match with Kayla and my good ole AIA buddy Danny "D" White...

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USATODAY.com - Dean scream gaining cult-like status on Web For those of you who may follow political rantings, this one may just take the cake. Howard Dean, after his third place finish in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, let out a bizarre screech while pumping up supporters.

It sound so strange it is almost tribal. Indeed our society, largely having rejected categories such as truth, goodness and beauty (what were long known in the West as the transcendentals) may be heading back into tribal behavior. Unguided, unbridled expression is almost a virtue today, while thoughts towards true virtue and goodness are quickly evaporating. We may again see a return to all sorts of savagery in the future of Western Civilization - lest the Lord of truth, goodness, and beauty may yet powerfully visit us once more. Such is my prayer...that believers, wherever they find their geographical or cultural domicile, may live lives of love reflecting the grace and glory of God found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let our lights so shine in these strange and weary times.

Soli Deo Gloria...

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The Passion of the Christ coming soon to theaters. From all I have heard from friends and Christian leaders this could be a film that could shake many to their core, reliving the passion of Christ in 2004. I hope this has a great impact on the conversation of people around the world. --------

Heading up to James Madison University to address a student led AIA group this evening. Last night we had our VTAIA student leaders over and it was great to reconnect with them. This summer, from this group alone, we are sending out students to Alaska, Spain, Colorado, and one to work with inner city kids. We are excited that the Lord would raise up from our group, young people to reflect his glory in the earth.

Lots of opportunities are being placed before Kasey and I so we are praying that the Lord give us wisdom as to which ones we should NOT be involved with. Prayer needed...

Off to the library to study and prepare for tonight's message.
Out..

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Another semester starts today and we are preparing to engage again with the students. Tonight we have our servant leadership team meeting - should be fun to see everyone and see how the break went. The break has been good for our family, although not actually "restful" with the new little one. I did find some good time for reading which was a great encouragement

The Soul of the American University by George Marsden
An excellent history of the American University - from "Protestant Establishment, to Established Unbelief" - Traces the thought and beliefs of the founders and shapers of American Higher Education and how the ground work which was laid, inevitably led to a determined secularism. The protestant schools founded to train Christian leaders and ministers had such a desire to be "Non-sectarian" that it eventually led them to be "open" to any ideas as to exclude a distinctly Christian viewpoint in the academy - although not their intention, the trajectory of equated "learning" and the "Highest ideals of civilization" with Christianity, made it easy to remove Christianity and somehow hold onto it's essence. Today, Marsden recommends a distinct, faithful, and scholarly Christian viewpoint in an academy which values an equal voice to all. All should mean all, even the viewpoint of Christian academics.

Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton - A classic work by the late 19th, early 20th century British Journalist defending orthodox Christian beliefs. Includes a critique of "popular" thought of his day - harsh materialism and nascent existentialism. Very engaging and highly quotable stuff. A true soul refresher

Prophetic Untimeliness, Challenging the Idol of Relevance by OS Guiness - How does the church remain relevant yet faithful in each generation? Guiness suggests believers should be a "prophetically untimely" people. That we should maintain a distinct and faithful voice, grounded in the timeless Word of God, to which we can speak to our culture while not becoming absorbed by it. The book has a great critique of contemporary American evangelicals adapting to the culture so much that they loose their identity and take marching orders from the culture. A timely book for people who desire to be untimely:

His closing recommendations for believers to escape the captivity of culture (and yes, we do believe this is possible)

1 - Be aware of the Unfashionable - Realize that the unpopular views of the gospel are just those we need to keep in focus. While certain elements are neglected or unsavorary to our culture, we need to hold fast to the views of the gospel which might not be fashionable today. Here is where we can speak to the culture. "Nothing Sharpens us better for resistance thinking and guards us from slipping into lazy, cowardly thinking than wrestling with truths that are unpopular" Guiness calls this the "Challenge of the difficult" - The true prophet in the OT many times spoke against the current power structures, the false prophet would simply give a nod...
2 - Be refrehed by the fresh breaze of widom of History - Read old books, learn from redemptive and church history, gain perspective from tradition.
3 - Attention to the Eternal - "To be always relevant, you have to say things which are eternal" - Simone Weil God breaks into our silence in revelation - The Christian advantage is that God has spoken to us in his Word and through the incarnate Word. Excellent treatment of a view today that says "even our views of the Word are conditioned by culture" so we cannot escape - there simply is not outside perspective...Guiness handles this objection very well on page 109.

"To be sure, the danger is real. But this fear confused the church's view of the Word with the Word of God itself. God is always bigger than our misunderstandings of him. However distorted and inadequate our views may be, it only takes the real Word to speak to wake up the church and the world. The difference wll be clear. Either there really is a Word of God, in which case it is separate from us and our misunderstandings of it, or there isn't and we are shut up once more to the uncertainties of silence."

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Well, we begin to ramp up for our AIA Winter Retreat Feb 6-8. Schools from all over VA and NC will be rolling together in about 3 weeks. Much work to be done in preparation - may the Lord bless our conference and our speaker, Derwin Gray, of One Heart at A Time Ministries.

I'm out...

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This morning I am spending a few moments studying 2 Sam 15...where the son of the King is planning a conspiracy to make a power grab. Enjoying the use of modern tools Logos Libronix System - software that makes books much more portable - smile. Seriously, the amount of Biblical reference I can throw on my hard drive, search, study etc. is truly amazing... --------

After a few long days, I finally got to return to a love I have had since 7th grade. Tonight, I did the PA announcing at the Va Tech wrestling match. Although I'm starting to get too old to go at it any more, it sure is fun to be around the sport. Tonight we even pulled out a W.

Today, reminds me of why we are called to ministry - God's glory and his love for his people. I had a great time with our AIA staff at UVA - Chris Porter...such a good friend. I am blessed to serve with He and his family.

Quote for Today
"We live in a world that is soaked with secularity" Dallas Willard

Longing for transcendent glory...satisfied in Christ

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Having little girls brings back some of the simpler pleasures of childhood. Just this afternoon, someone had left out some peanut butter and vanilla wafers made into little sandwhiches...man, those are good.

Sleep is overated...we will all rest in a real rest someday, today there is work to be accomplished and glory to shine forth. Second, simple pleasure - sleeply, bloodshot eyes, with good reasons behind them. A baby girl, a great mission (Matt 28:18-20, Matt 25), and a marvelous King.

On to a conf call

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It is funny how much some days put before us...may His grace fill the soul with zeal for a long push in the office! Off to produce a video for our coming winter retreat - Mid Atlantic Retreat

Quote for today - He who marries the spirit of the age, soon becomes a widower - Dean Inge
Choose wisely...

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Computers with Kayla tonight...mainly watching a certain pixar animated fish Finding Nemo - The Official Web Site For now she is in computer observation school...once she learns logic we'll be on to boolean algebra and binary search trees - well, maybe, maybe not. We'll have no technological idolatry either - only a tool for higher purposes... --------

Well, I wondered if I would ever enter the blog universe after being a blog reader for soooo long...alas, that day has come. I guess my own musings will liter net space for some time to come. For those of you who are friends and supporters of Power of Change, please take this blog with a grain of thought. Most of it will probably be me thinking deep thoughts out loud in a very raw form. Hopefully it will also give insight into our day to day life and ministry with Athletes in Action at Virginia Tech and elsewhere...that said, I have 3 ladies (Kasey, Kayla, and baby Kylene Monaghan) I want to go get some fun play time with.

Blessings - I'm out

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