Recently in Following Jesus Category

I found out a friend of mine lost his job this week. He was part of a huge lay off at Enterprise Rental Cars Corporate headquarters; they cut 200 jobs. I heard about the lay off on the local news before my friend told me about it.

I just got off the phone with another friend who was imagining with me what would happen if we got laid off. Of course, I don't really expect it to happen, but I can't help but imagine the possibilities. I think that I would probably go back to seminary as a full time student. I'd try to get a scholarship, look for a few more guitar students, and Sarah would have to get a part time job. Maybe after 4 years the economy will be bouncing back.

My friend who was laid off said that it was kind of a relief because his boss was kind of a jerk who had it in for him for a while. He's not sure where he will get a new job, but I was impressed by his faith in the midst of a hard spot.

What would you do if you got laid off?

We are reading a book called Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel. What I read this morning talked about how Christian parents can become obsessed with building a safe environment for their kids. Their logic is that children are vulnerable and weak (true), the world is a wicked and dangerous place (also true), Satan is always attacking us (also also true) and therefore, we have to protect our kids from all these dangers.

Kimmel presents the argument that this style of parenting creates either soft, sheltered children that go into the world completely unprepared to face real evil or it creates kids that hold up their parents faith against the reality of the world and they choose to reject it because it looks like one big Disney-style fantasy. Instead, he encourages parents to inspire their children to embrace the spiritual adventure of their faith. They learn to live in a dangerous world by putting their faith in the all-powerful God and not in gated communities, medical science, large savings accounts, or whatever other security blankets that have come from the American Dream myth instead of from scripture. This kind of faith is open to moving into the dangerous places of the world where the gospel is needed the most. The danger can be physical like the risk of disease, violence, or poverty that are associated with the "third" world. But, the dangers could also be intellectual like secular philosophy or spiritual like demonic powers or false religions that exist in the "developed" world. The truth is that our God is bigger and stronger than any of those dangers.

Did God the Father concern Himself with safety when he sent His Son into the world? Did Jesus promise a "safe" life for his followers?

Last night, Sarah and I got sucking into an amazing episode of NOVA on PBS about a type of mathematics called "fractal geometry". This is a type of math that creates an equation that then feeds back in on itself. When you graph the results you end up with an image that looks like something you'd see on the dorm wall of a pot-head.

A mathematician named Benoit Mandelbrot invented this branch of math. He was largely rejected by the larger mathematical community until he published a book called, The Fractal Geometry of Nature. To summarize, he basically revealed that natural forms like flowers, trees, coastlines, clouds, mountain ranges, blood vessels, etc. can be understood by very simple equations using fractal geometry. It also revealed that a lot of the amazing efficiency of nature is a result of these fractal patterns.

It's always funny to watch these programs where a scientist will say something like, "Isn't it amazing how evolution using natural selection developed the best possible system that is both simple and efficient?" I'm watching it with a sense of worship that our Creator designed His universe with such an obvious finger print that modern man has been ignoring for centuries just because it doesn't fit into his logic, which is limited and finite. On this show, they talked about Mandelbrot's discoveries as if they were here all along and yet they were invisible to mathematicians for centuries because it didn't fit into their controlled and predictable theories.

God is so cool.

Here's a cool video. We'll be broke at Christmas this year so you can still give us presents; we'll qualify as "needy."

Here's the website.

I feel so overwhelmed with life sometimes. It seems like I am busy all the time. I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing with all my time to feel this way. Is this a natural result of having kids? Time becomes divided up into pre- and post- bedtime. Could it be that I have an idolatry to productivity that drives me to work past what is appropriate? But is it inappropriate to try to do dishes every night so that there's not a stinky pile of dirty dishes in our kitchen all the time?

Be at rest, O my soul! I want to find rest, but in the life of parenting, there is not much time to rest. An hour between completing the dishes and my own bedtime. Lord, be my rock of refuge in the midst of this storm of life.

This morning we had a very refreshing and grace-filled staff meeting. We prayed, sang, and shared our burdens together in a way that brought us all before the cross in a very real way. Praise the Lord for His Spirit's presence among us. I needed it this morning (is there any morning when I don't need to be reminded of the cross?). This morning, I was filled with anxiety about my arthritis, our money (lack of...), my relationships, and my own faith. I needed to believe the gospel in this moment to return to a Spirit-led perspective of these things. I'll share a few things that hit me.

There's a line in "Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right" that says "His hands can turn my griefs away." I am more aware these days of references to hands because my hands are constantly on my mind. I was encouraged to look to the strength of God's hands and not my own. His hands are my hope and not my own hands.

Later, Mike Parker read this scripture:

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:1-2

I was filled with love for my Lord. He has been my strength. When I am weak; He is there to support me and give me strength. He is my rock of salvation and refuge. These days, I can choose to build my house on the sand (money, health, skills, worldly wisdom, etc.) but in faith, I must build my life upon the solid Rock. We're going to buy a house this month, and I ask that you all pray for us to "build our house" or out our faith not in the shifting sand, but in the Lord.

When the earth all around me is sinking sand

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
When I need a shelter
When I need a friend
I go to the rock.

In 2008, my wife and I have added a new child to the family (the Samster), began a recording project, attempted (and failed) to potty train our daughter, and now we've decide to buy a house. Not exactly good long term goal planning.

This house process is quite stressful. If you have never done it before, don't assume that it will be all fun because it is actually a lot of hard work and stress. Driving around looking at ugly, dilapidated homes. Rushing out to last minute meetings with the agent, the bank, the rehab adviser, the contractor, the inspector, the sewer inspector, or the other contractor. Meanwhile, our kids are not all of a sudden transformed into statues when we need them to be quiet and compliant. Joanna and Sam need just as much attention even though we're dragging them to a meeting where all we do is sign our name on a million documents.

On top of all that, there's the emotions of courting a home that might at any turn decide that it's too good for you or you might find out that it has major dysfunctions. Can I commit emotionally to a house without assurance that this relationship will last? Should I pursue this house even though it might end in an emotional let-down? I thought that I was through with courtship after getting married, but it feels just like I'm doing that mess all over again.

Over and over, it is testing my faith in the promises of God. God's promise is that He is my portion and my lot. His promise is that if I seek first the kingdom, then all that I need will be provided for. His promise is that in Christ, I have died to the world and it's fleshly desires, and I am a new creation. His promise is that through the gospel, I can rest in the confidence that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ (not even debt, crime, or foreclosure.) His promise is that He will fight my battles and so I shouldn't despair that I am not smart enough to catch every rip-off, not strong enough to protect my family from every enemy, and not wealthy enough to afford every comfort.

The house that Sarah and I are looking at is pretty amazing. There's no way we could have afforded it, but because it's a foreclosure property, it's within our budget. It's hard not to look at it and say, "this is too good to be true, and therefore, I will walk away from it because it's probably a trap of some kind." But, the promises of God bring me back to the fact that God loves to lavish blessings on his children. He wants to lead us beside still water and green pastures. I have a view of God's grace that says that I have to pay for every blessing with a trial. Why can't I just accept the bread from the hand of my heavenly Father without thinking that He's going to switch it at the last minute with a stone?

Please pray for me and and my family during these next few months. Closing day is October 25. After that there would be a few weeks of repair work and then we'd move in around mid to late November. Insanity!!!