A couple weeks ago The Mrs. and I both had busy days. It was a Saturday, and we were both running here and there, doing errands, taking the kids places, grocery shopping, going to church, and so on and so forth. By the time we were both home, we had both parked our cars outside the garage, assuming that there would be more errands to run later in the day. As it turned out, neither of us ended up going anywhere for the rest of the day, and neither of us remembered that our cars were parked outside. We almost always park our cars in the garage, and very seldom leave them outside overnight. We figure we have a garage so we might as well use it.
The following morning, which was a Sunday, I sped off to church at about 7:30 AM. The Mrs. came later with the young'ns. As I met her at church, she said she was "having issues." What were the issues? It turns out that, sometime during the previous night, someone had jimmied her car door open and went through some stuff. They ended up taking a purse-like bag that was on the seat (which, oddly enough, was filled with her Children's Church materials). But other than that, nothing else appeared to be missing. We counted our blessings and went on with the day, contacting the police that afternoon just to let them know of the break-in.
At lunch that afternoon, The Mrs. asked me to purchase some 1X8 boards for a craft project she had for her kids at school. She asked me to cut the boards into one foot sections, which I said was no problem. After lunch, I went to the lumber yard, secured the wood, and took it home. A quick change of clothes after arriving at home found me out in the garage with the wood set up on my sawhorses. I went to the shelf that held my circular saw, but noticed something strange: it wasn't there. Neither was my jig saw. Neither was the case for my cordless drill. I spun around and looked throughout the rest of the garage. Huh. My table-top bandsaw was also missing from its perch. A quick perusal of the rest of the garage revealed that there was other stuff missing too - a lot of stuff. In addition to the missing power tools, two of my toolboxes were gone, one containing miscellaneous hand tools, the other containing all of my socket wrenches and sockets, which are probably my most commonly used tools. Needless to say, the thieves walked away with quite a haul. Over $500.00 in tools.
After doing all the necessary work with police, and finding out that my homeowner's insurance deductible was more than $1500.00, the words of Matthew Henry came to mind: "Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took what I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."
I've used this quote before in some of my sermons. Now I got to live it out.
As I pondered Henry's words, I began to realize how much of a non-event this robbery was to me. I really didn't care. It's not that I enjoyed being robbed, but more that I realize that the stuff that was taken from me is...well, just stuff. I don't judge the value of my existence by the stuff that I have.
This morning my mom brought up the burglary to me again in conversation. It wasn't until she mentioned it that I realized I hadn't even thought of the event pretty much since it happened. I also realized that I'm not really bitter about being robbed, nor do I necessarily miss the stuff that was taken.
It should be noted that this would not have always been my typical reaction. In the past I most likely would have responded in anger and resentment, wishing to exact vengeance upon those who would dare to steal from me. This time, I'm just kind of like..."Meh." What's happening to me? I suppose one option is that I'm just becoming increasingly cold and calloused as I get older. The other option, and what I think is actually happening, is that I'm growing in holiness. God is increasingly growing in me a desire for eternal things, and as a result, I value and desire temporal things less and less. This is the process of sanctification.
I'm glad I got to have this experience. In a very real sense, the burglary was a blessing.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thus & Such, Vol. 11
Wow. It's been a week since my last post. I need to get back on the horse! To make up for the recent absence, here's a longer edition of "Thus & Such."
1. While I greatly appreciate the works and ideas of Charles Spurgeon, as has been noted on this blog several times in the past, I have sometimes felt that he takes significant liberties in the ways he reads and applies scriptures. Many of his sermons (which are quite long) are based on a single verse, or even a portion of a verse. How does he glean all of that insight from just a few words? Is he ignoring the context of the verse? It doesn't seem to me that he can be exegeting and applying the text rightly in such a narrow view. Here's an interesting article that talks about this trend. Apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed this.
2. Several months ago, a Facebook friend and I engaged in a conversation on abortion. He sent me an article to read and then respond to - one that he thought would stimey me. At the time, I responded to the article by saying that dependency didn't determine whether a being is human or not. After all, someone dependent upon medical equipment or medicine is no less a person because of that dependency, and neither is a baby in the womb who is totally and completely dependent on the mother. While this is true, I like Scott Klusendorf's response to the argument better. The argument for abortion espoused by the author of the article is "The Violinist" argument, which is probably the best argument for abortion out there. Take a look at the (long) "Violinist" article, and then Klusendorf's response.
3. Looking for a good Advent devotional? Here's one for you to check out.
4. When we read the Bible, we are reading a translation. This presents all kinds of interpretive issues, and the translation we read matters. In Bible translations, there are two general categories: formal equivalence, and dynamic equivalence. A formal translation is more literal (like the NASB or ESV), and a dynamic translation is less word for word and makes more of an attempt to communicate concepts and ideas. It has been my experience that those in academia are moving more toward dynamic equivalent translations, for reasons that I don't understand. In this article, Bill Mounce makes a brief argument for using what he calls a "natural language" translation, which to me, sounds a lot like a dynamic equivalent translation. As much as I respect and appreciate Bill Mounce, I can't agree with him on this. In fact, I don't see how what he says has any effect on the translation of scripture.
5. Despite early cooling from La Nina, 2012 is on track to become one of the top 10 hottest years on record..." Hmm. That's an interesting sentence, especially considering that the "record" is only about 130 years old. Sound like a lot? Not when compared to the supposed age of the earth, allegedly more than 4 billion years old. That means we have observable, scientific data for .0000000325% of the earth's history. Do we really think this is enough data to come to scientific conclusions about global warming? Apparently the United Nations does. I don't.
6. Here's an interesting back and forth between a supposed poetic interviewer and the Apostle Paul. I'm not a big fan of poetry, but this is pretty cool.
7. What's wrong with the church? Here's a good example. It turns out that people only come to church to hear "inspiring" sermons, and if the pastor doesn't deliver, the people will leave. In my opinion, don't let the door hit you on the way out. This article is chock full of thoughts and ideas that clearly reveals what is wrong with the church in America, primarily that the people in the churches aren't actually Christians, and would therefore rather have their ears tickled than be convicted by biblical truth.
1. While I greatly appreciate the works and ideas of Charles Spurgeon, as has been noted on this blog several times in the past, I have sometimes felt that he takes significant liberties in the ways he reads and applies scriptures. Many of his sermons (which are quite long) are based on a single verse, or even a portion of a verse. How does he glean all of that insight from just a few words? Is he ignoring the context of the verse? It doesn't seem to me that he can be exegeting and applying the text rightly in such a narrow view. Here's an interesting article that talks about this trend. Apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed this.
2. Several months ago, a Facebook friend and I engaged in a conversation on abortion. He sent me an article to read and then respond to - one that he thought would stimey me. At the time, I responded to the article by saying that dependency didn't determine whether a being is human or not. After all, someone dependent upon medical equipment or medicine is no less a person because of that dependency, and neither is a baby in the womb who is totally and completely dependent on the mother. While this is true, I like Scott Klusendorf's response to the argument better. The argument for abortion espoused by the author of the article is "The Violinist" argument, which is probably the best argument for abortion out there. Take a look at the (long) "Violinist" article, and then Klusendorf's response.
3. Looking for a good Advent devotional? Here's one for you to check out.
4. When we read the Bible, we are reading a translation. This presents all kinds of interpretive issues, and the translation we read matters. In Bible translations, there are two general categories: formal equivalence, and dynamic equivalence. A formal translation is more literal (like the NASB or ESV), and a dynamic translation is less word for word and makes more of an attempt to communicate concepts and ideas. It has been my experience that those in academia are moving more toward dynamic equivalent translations, for reasons that I don't understand. In this article, Bill Mounce makes a brief argument for using what he calls a "natural language" translation, which to me, sounds a lot like a dynamic equivalent translation. As much as I respect and appreciate Bill Mounce, I can't agree with him on this. In fact, I don't see how what he says has any effect on the translation of scripture.
5. Despite early cooling from La Nina, 2012 is on track to become one of the top 10 hottest years on record..." Hmm. That's an interesting sentence, especially considering that the "record" is only about 130 years old. Sound like a lot? Not when compared to the supposed age of the earth, allegedly more than 4 billion years old. That means we have observable, scientific data for .0000000325% of the earth's history. Do we really think this is enough data to come to scientific conclusions about global warming? Apparently the United Nations does. I don't.
6. Here's an interesting back and forth between a supposed poetic interviewer and the Apostle Paul. I'm not a big fan of poetry, but this is pretty cool.
7. What's wrong with the church? Here's a good example. It turns out that people only come to church to hear "inspiring" sermons, and if the pastor doesn't deliver, the people will leave. In my opinion, don't let the door hit you on the way out. This article is chock full of thoughts and ideas that clearly reveals what is wrong with the church in America, primarily that the people in the churches aren't actually Christians, and would therefore rather have their ears tickled than be convicted by biblical truth.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Ride Along
About six weeks ago I officially became a chaplain for the West St. Paul and Mendota Heights police departments. Pastor Wick suggested I join him and five other local ministers as a police chaplain, and I gladly obliged.
Police chaplains in these jurisdictions basically do whatever they can to help the officers, with their primary duty being death notifications and counseling people who have experienced the loss of a loved one. In other words, if there's a fatal car accident, or if the police are called to a scene where a death has occurred, they will call the chaplain on duty and he or she will come to the scene to help out in any way they can. Usually this just means being present for the people involved, thereby freeing up the officers to get back to their jobs. From what I hear, there are three or four "call-outs" every quarter or so. I have yet to be called.
A secondary duty of the chaplains is to get to know and support the West St. Paul and Mendota Heights police officers. One of the best ways to do this is to go on ride alongs, or in other words, hang out with an officer while he's on duty in his squad car. I got a chance to do this yesterday. It was my first such ride along, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and enjoyed my time with Officer Todd Rosse.
Truth be told, I was a little nervous leading up to the ride along. I had never been in a police car before, plus I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What would I do if we got into a "situation?" I guess it would be a trial by fire kind of experience. It turns out my trepidation was uncalled for, as Officer Rosse basically just drove me around his jurisdiction and told me about himself, and what it's like to be a cop.
There were a few times where my heart started beating a bit faster, though. One time we were driving through a pretty crowded parking lot, and there was a unseemly character staring down the squad car pretty intensely. "Looks like that guy is eyeballing me," Officer Rosse said. He quickly ran the plate of the car, and the computer came back saying it belonged to a female whose license was suspended. But because it was a man in the vehicle, and no female was present, we didn't make a stop. Plus, I guess simple knowledge of a suspended license isn't enough to stop someone. There needs to be some kind of infraction.
Another time we were driving down a road and the dash-mounted radar gun pegged the oncoming vehicle as being 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Officer Rosse quickly made a U-turn and floored it. But we were too late. By the time we reached the top of the next hill, the car was gone, presumably having turned to the right or the left before it was back in our field of vision. Needless to say, I had some adrenaline pumping!
The only other item of interest from the ride along came toward the end of the night, as we observed what appeared to be some teenagers sneaking around a building. We went around the block and pulled up slowly to try and see them. Turns out they were sneaking up on some friends with water guns. No harm done.
All in all, it was a great experience, and I look forward to my next ride along, and to whatever ways I can serve these great people in our police departments.
Police chaplains in these jurisdictions basically do whatever they can to help the officers, with their primary duty being death notifications and counseling people who have experienced the loss of a loved one. In other words, if there's a fatal car accident, or if the police are called to a scene where a death has occurred, they will call the chaplain on duty and he or she will come to the scene to help out in any way they can. Usually this just means being present for the people involved, thereby freeing up the officers to get back to their jobs. From what I hear, there are three or four "call-outs" every quarter or so. I have yet to be called.
A secondary duty of the chaplains is to get to know and support the West St. Paul and Mendota Heights police officers. One of the best ways to do this is to go on ride alongs, or in other words, hang out with an officer while he's on duty in his squad car. I got a chance to do this yesterday. It was my first such ride along, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and enjoyed my time with Officer Todd Rosse.
Truth be told, I was a little nervous leading up to the ride along. I had never been in a police car before, plus I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What would I do if we got into a "situation?" I guess it would be a trial by fire kind of experience. It turns out my trepidation was uncalled for, as Officer Rosse basically just drove me around his jurisdiction and told me about himself, and what it's like to be a cop.
There were a few times where my heart started beating a bit faster, though. One time we were driving through a pretty crowded parking lot, and there was a unseemly character staring down the squad car pretty intensely. "Looks like that guy is eyeballing me," Officer Rosse said. He quickly ran the plate of the car, and the computer came back saying it belonged to a female whose license was suspended. But because it was a man in the vehicle, and no female was present, we didn't make a stop. Plus, I guess simple knowledge of a suspended license isn't enough to stop someone. There needs to be some kind of infraction.
Another time we were driving down a road and the dash-mounted radar gun pegged the oncoming vehicle as being 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Officer Rosse quickly made a U-turn and floored it. But we were too late. By the time we reached the top of the next hill, the car was gone, presumably having turned to the right or the left before it was back in our field of vision. Needless to say, I had some adrenaline pumping!
The only other item of interest from the ride along came toward the end of the night, as we observed what appeared to be some teenagers sneaking around a building. We went around the block and pulled up slowly to try and see them. Turns out they were sneaking up on some friends with water guns. No harm done.
All in all, it was a great experience, and I look forward to my next ride along, and to whatever ways I can serve these great people in our police departments.
Thus & Such, Vol. 10
1. "Something very important and very weird is happening to the book rightnow: it's shedding its papery corpus and transmigrating into a bodiless digital form, right before our eyes. We're witnessing the bibliographical equivalent of the rapture." How has the way we read books changed over the years? We don't read from scrolls anymore, we read books. But instead of books, now we're reading tablets and computer screens. I attended a lecture once by a professor who had studied the different ways we read the Bible, both from ancient and modern times. He said that this generation is the first in history to regularly read the words of scripture along with advertising at the same time. Don't think it affects you? Think again.
2. Staying on a book theme for this installment, here are four reasons why men don't read books.
3. "Great educational programs combine academic study with real-world application." This is oneof the lines that introduces an article on conducting auditions for church worship team members. I've always said that one of the least important things about playing with a worship team is knowing how to play an instrument. There is so much that is vitally more important.
4. What's the dirtiest place in your house? Don't blame the toilet seat. Think kitchen. Read here and be grossed out.
2. Staying on a book theme for this installment, here are four reasons why men don't read books.
3. "Great educational programs combine academic study with real-world application." This is oneof the lines that introduces an article on conducting auditions for church worship team members. I've always said that one of the least important things about playing with a worship team is knowing how to play an instrument. There is so much that is vitally more important.
4. What's the dirtiest place in your house? Don't blame the toilet seat. Think kitchen. Read here and be grossed out.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Thus & Such, Vol. 9
1. "Such thinking misunderstands evil....The 'evil' in our nation is not he result of dirty politics. The 'evil' that we are pushing back against isn't found on the other side of the aisle. It is found in our hearts." Here's an interesting article that explains why we should think twice before using fear mongering as a means of communicating a message.
2. "Farewell, and God be with you till we meet again on Resurrection Morning, beseeching God that our family circle will be unbroken." What a legacy! Here is a letter that a dying man wrote before he died, which was discovered by his children years later. May I live to write a letter such as this to my own children.
3. "...this is the beginning of the end for the anti-marriage equality movement. They long ago began to lose in the courts and state legislatures. now they have begun losing at the pools. This battle may go on for years, but there is no longer any doubt about the outcome." Same sex "marriage" is a forgone conclusion in our country. The question is not "if," but rather "when." Read this article to learn more.
4. "How do you discern - of the hundreds of things you could do today that would bless people - what to do? You stay with the Lord every morning; you go deep with him in his word; you pray like crazy for guidance; and then you do your best." There's always more to do. How do you know what to say yes to and what to say no to? John Piper talks about that in this video. Although his comments are directed toward pastors, they are definitely applicable to all walks of life.
2. "Farewell, and God be with you till we meet again on Resurrection Morning, beseeching God that our family circle will be unbroken." What a legacy! Here is a letter that a dying man wrote before he died, which was discovered by his children years later. May I live to write a letter such as this to my own children.
3. "...this is the beginning of the end for the anti-marriage equality movement. They long ago began to lose in the courts and state legislatures. now they have begun losing at the pools. This battle may go on for years, but there is no longer any doubt about the outcome." Same sex "marriage" is a forgone conclusion in our country. The question is not "if," but rather "when." Read this article to learn more.
4. "How do you discern - of the hundreds of things you could do today that would bless people - what to do? You stay with the Lord every morning; you go deep with him in his word; you pray like crazy for guidance; and then you do your best." There's always more to do. How do you know what to say yes to and what to say no to? John Piper talks about that in this video. Although his comments are directed toward pastors, they are definitely applicable to all walks of life.
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