A special thank you goes to Jim and Ruth Larson who were so kind to open their home to us following the dedication for a time of celebration with special friends and family.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Baby Grace's Dedication in Pictures
A special thank you goes to Jim and Ruth Larson who were so kind to open their home to us following the dedication for a time of celebration with special friends and family.
Reflection on Grace's Dedication
On Sunday Morning February 12 we had baby Grace dedicated to the Lord. In reality the dedication is more for Jenn and me as parents to commit publicly before God to raise Grace in a godly Christian environment, to set an example of a faithful follower of Christ and to teach her about Jesus Christ.
The act of dedication does not give her any special inroad to becoming a Christian. However, there is much value in our consistently showing her God's love and teaching her God's word, the Bible. She is a demonstration of God's undeserved favor to us and by placing her in a Christian home God has bestowed upon her grace as well.
I have observed over the years in Christian homes, particularly pastor's homes, that how the parents live influences greatly whether or not a child will later walk with the Lord. As a friend to many pastor's kids (PK's) I have seen all kinds of different outcomes among the kids. While I attended a Christian college I began asking myself what made such a big difference. I came to some tentative conclusions that I think have been born out since then.
Over the years I have watched closely every pastor's family I know. My conclusion is very straightforward. The kids who grew up watching their parents consistently live out their faith were attracted to the message of Christianity. If their parents live the same way at home as at church, if they showed the same values and had the same passion for God privately as in public, the kids generally did well. If the parents were inconsistent (read hypocrites) then the kids usually became jaded and cynical towards the Christian faith.
This held true for pastors' families as well as those families in the congregation. I was youth pastor in the same place for six years and have followed up with some of the families for the last five years since then and I have seen this hold true. If the kids started to go off track morally or spiritually my first area to begin questioning is what was going on at home. Inevitably I would find that there was some serious problems at home. It almost was a given. Sometimes the inconsistency was so glaring it was amazing to me that the parents themselves didn't see it.
Are there exceptions to this? Of course. There are times when parents do everything they can and their kids still make bad choices. Yet I think this is the extreme exception. However, I think that parents are quick to look outside the home for the answers to their kids issues because they are afraid to look at themselves and see that maybe some of the problem begin there. It could be that the parents are too rigid and won't let the kids be kids. It could be that the parents have no guidelines and the kids have no direction. Often it is the parents have one set of "stated" rules and another set that they live by. Nothing makes even me more cynical than that.
Of course the real issue having seen this for so much of my life is to not repeat it in my own family. That is the number one goal in my life right now. Will I be perfect? Yeah, right try again. I am not that diluded. But hopefully Grace will grow up seeing that her dad is trying to be the best man of God that I can be by God's grace. Fortunately that has been my experience in what I have observed in other families.
Parents don't have to be perfect. They won't be perfect. Yet the families that show consistent love and stability, have parents who love each other, set down reasonable and consistent guidelines, and try to live out what they believe generally have stable families and raise children who believe.
I don't write this as an inditement on anyone else. I write it as a challenge to myself to live up to what God has called me to be. Where and when I fall short I plead for God's grace to make up for my shortcomings. May I always strive to live up to what I believe.
Soli Deo Gloria!
The act of dedication does not give her any special inroad to becoming a Christian. However, there is much value in our consistently showing her God's love and teaching her God's word, the Bible. She is a demonstration of God's undeserved favor to us and by placing her in a Christian home God has bestowed upon her grace as well.
I have observed over the years in Christian homes, particularly pastor's homes, that how the parents live influences greatly whether or not a child will later walk with the Lord. As a friend to many pastor's kids (PK's) I have seen all kinds of different outcomes among the kids. While I attended a Christian college I began asking myself what made such a big difference. I came to some tentative conclusions that I think have been born out since then.
Over the years I have watched closely every pastor's family I know. My conclusion is very straightforward. The kids who grew up watching their parents consistently live out their faith were attracted to the message of Christianity. If their parents live the same way at home as at church, if they showed the same values and had the same passion for God privately as in public, the kids generally did well. If the parents were inconsistent (read hypocrites) then the kids usually became jaded and cynical towards the Christian faith.
This held true for pastors' families as well as those families in the congregation. I was youth pastor in the same place for six years and have followed up with some of the families for the last five years since then and I have seen this hold true. If the kids started to go off track morally or spiritually my first area to begin questioning is what was going on at home. Inevitably I would find that there was some serious problems at home. It almost was a given. Sometimes the inconsistency was so glaring it was amazing to me that the parents themselves didn't see it.
Are there exceptions to this? Of course. There are times when parents do everything they can and their kids still make bad choices. Yet I think this is the extreme exception. However, I think that parents are quick to look outside the home for the answers to their kids issues because they are afraid to look at themselves and see that maybe some of the problem begin there. It could be that the parents are too rigid and won't let the kids be kids. It could be that the parents have no guidelines and the kids have no direction. Often it is the parents have one set of "stated" rules and another set that they live by. Nothing makes even me more cynical than that.
Of course the real issue having seen this for so much of my life is to not repeat it in my own family. That is the number one goal in my life right now. Will I be perfect? Yeah, right try again. I am not that diluded. But hopefully Grace will grow up seeing that her dad is trying to be the best man of God that I can be by God's grace. Fortunately that has been my experience in what I have observed in other families.
Parents don't have to be perfect. They won't be perfect. Yet the families that show consistent love and stability, have parents who love each other, set down reasonable and consistent guidelines, and try to live out what they believe generally have stable families and raise children who believe.
I don't write this as an inditement on anyone else. I write it as a challenge to myself to live up to what God has called me to be. Where and when I fall short I plead for God's grace to make up for my shortcomings. May I always strive to live up to what I believe.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
A Day at SeaWorld, San Diego
We got there just in time for the Shamu show at SeaWorld. Pretty amazing what they can teach to a five ton animal! 
This is just a great picture! We were about to going into the Arctic Adventure when I snapped this shot. Grace had a great day here. Too bad I can't put up the video with the polar bears. Her face was classic.
This is in the "ice cave" in the polar bear section of the park. It was funny because there is background noise we didn't know about and Jenn went in and heard this polar bear roar and came running back out which made me laugh.
This was an amazing picture for me. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and saw a future presidential hopeful in my midst. I couldn't believe that the Senator from New York would be here, oh wait a minute, that's not her...never mind.
This is one of those shots where you get a little extra in the background. That's me swimming behind Jenn and Grace!
I think this killer whale is named Winfrey, Orca Winfrey. Okay, bad joke. I won't quit my day job.
And you though I had a big mouth!
This is just a great picture! We were about to going into the Arctic Adventure when I snapped this shot. Grace had a great day here. Too bad I can't put up the video with the polar bears. Her face was classic.
This is in the "ice cave" in the polar bear section of the park. It was funny because there is background noise we didn't know about and Jenn went in and heard this polar bear roar and came running back out which made me laugh.
This was an amazing picture for me. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and saw a future presidential hopeful in my midst. I couldn't believe that the Senator from New York would be here, oh wait a minute, that's not her...never mind.
This is one of those shots where you get a little extra in the background. That's me swimming behind Jenn and Grace!
I think this killer whale is named Winfrey, Orca Winfrey. Okay, bad joke. I won't quit my day job.
And you though I had a big mouth!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
What is a "hate crime"?
There is an interesting dilemma that has developed over this story and it has to do with the nature of "hate crimes." What investigators and prosecutors are wrestling with is the question of does this constitute a "hate crime"? The reason they are unsure are twofold, first the churches that have been burnt down are predominantly white churches. Had these been African-American churches and the arsonist was white then it would clearly fall under the rubric of a "hate crime." the second issue is the fact that it is a church rather than a synagogue or mosque. Can it be a "hate crime" because Christianity is a dominant religion?
Please hear me out, my point is not that this should be considered a "hate crime," because I don't believe it should. In fact, this situation reveals the logical absurdity of the concept of "hate crime" in the first place. Our justice system is set up to punish people based on their behavior. Do I suspect that the person or persons starting this fire have hate in there heart? Duh! It surely isn't motivated by love. However, is there action worse because they have hate in there heart than if they did it out of calloused indifference? Should the punishment be greater because they did it out of "hate"?
There is a grave danger here when we start legislating based on people's feelings rather than intent. This is different from determining if a crime was premeditated or on the spur of the moment. If a person plans to murder someone else and tries to do so in a way to cover up his tracks there is clearly more intent involved than if it is a spontaneous argument that gets out of hand and someone unintentionally gets killed.
Here is where we delve into moral quicksand. Lets say the person who is being killed is a minority or a homosexual, is the crime inherently worse than if the person was white? The dead guy is still dead regardless of his race or sexual preference. The murderer is still guilty of first degree premeditated murder regardless of WHY he killed the other guy. Is the life more valuable because the guy was a minority or gay? Should we punish the guy even more because of it? Can we really make a distinction that this was a "hate crime" as opposed to regular old murder? If a white guy kills a white guy isn't it pretty obvious there was "hate" there or at least really bad feelings?
Do you see my point, if it is wrong it is wrong regardless of the victim's background. If the arsonist is torching churches because they are churches or he is just doesn't like tall, pointy roofs on buildings he should be punished for his actions. Only time will reveal if these crimes are "hate" motivated but I have a hunch that they are not motivated by love.
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