Monday, June 27

The Palms

“And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” [Romans 5:3-5 HCSB]

From where I sit, I can hear the waves crashing against the shoreline….the ebb and flow of the sea speaking to my sailor’s heart, beckoning me back upon her surface. I can see, even in the darkness of the night their foamy tops piling upon the cooling sands of the beach. I am thankful for the ability to sit out here on the balcony of the condo that Trinity has rented (a series of them for the whole group) for the week. We arrived without much fanfare around 4 o’clock and were introduced to our berthing quarters and ‘bunkies’ for the week. Four of the teen age guys are in my condo apartment and they already share an easy rapport with each other. Me, I’m the unknown in their equation.

But then, I am for the whole group. We all just met each other yesterday at 8:00 am in the morning and then spent the next 24 hours or so travelling in a bus through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama to get to the coast. We lost a tire on the trailer to blow out in Kentucky and then the trailer to a broken tongue in the upper part of Alabama. I have driven over a thousand miles and have spent twenty-two hours in the driver’s seat of the Bluebird.

We have experienced a lot already to get here and even some difficulties after we arrived.

With the way traffic is in this place and the necessity to get the group five miles down the road to the Wharf Arena, I’ve decided to hang with the group during their ‘camp’ experience. I can already feel God challenging me in this place.

The interesting thing the Pastor said tonight during the first session was……… “Christ is better than………..”

It was an very good sermon, though I do have to wonder at some of the things he’s eluded to and how I (along with the others) will react to it.

Even as I wonder the intelligence of coming on this trip with a bunch of strangers, I can see the answer to that question about Christ and how the verse fits into the overall uncomfortableness of the week just begun. I can marvel at the way, once again, that Christ ties in everything that seems to be challenging me lately and how He brings the assurance of the path He has prepared for me to take, if I would be willing.

They are a great bunch of teenagers, I can tell that by their leaders and how they handle the rigors of the trip.

Even in this place, far from the comforts of my life I can be devoted to Christ in such a manner that my service to these Trinity students and their leaders is reflective of that character and that hope that does not disappoint. Not for my sake nor even for theirs but because that is what Christ would have me do….live the Gospel and use words if necessary.

And to look with eager eyes to what He has laid ahead of my footsteps with delightful anticipation, for this week and the weeks ahead!

Tuesday, June 14

Does her banner yet wave...........................

Today, in addition to the ‘birthday’ of the United States Army (of which I served as a MP (Combat) 95B), it is the United States of America’s celebration of the adoption of its flag.

On June 14th, 1777, Congress adopted by resolution the design credited to Betsy Ross, though there is some uncertainty who designed the first flag; "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." In 1916, President Wilson issued a proclamation declaring June 14th officially Flag Day. It is not a recognized federal holiday.

Today, throughout the social media on the internet, Flag Day notifications abounded with the one simple question being asked…..

”What does the flag mean to you?”

What does the flag mean to me?

It stands as a symbol of a sacred trust; from the earliest of those colonists who ventured forth upon the sea to find a country where they could worship as God-fearing, Christian followers to those who are embattled today under the guise of ‘tolerance for all.’ It is a symbol of a multitude of personalities and desires that have been woven by the stitches of patriots and dedicated free men and women who wanted not a dictatorship or a monarchy but a land where the brightest and noblest of the country stood in positions of power and authority over all for the common good of all but who were bound tighter than the strongest chains to the phrase “of the People, for the People, by the People.”

It is a piece of cloth or nylon, true, that is burned in foreign lands and even sometimes its own but it never disappears, never fails to rise above the tempest of the storm that may engulf its people as a beacon of an idea formed so long ago.

It is young; a flag that was developed when there were only thirteen colonies and has grown to fifty states. It has been torn apart once in its history when the citizens themselves pitted themselves against each other because of a way of life that needed to be abolished.

It stands as a rally cry over the sorrows of Pearl Harbor and of Europe, has seen action in the Halls of Montezuma all the way to the shores of Tripoli, and has come to the aid of many older nations in their times of need borne on the shoulders of sailors, merchant marines, airmen, marines and soldiers. It has fallen in the jungles of Vietnam and stands in a land divided by a DMZ in Korea. It has seen its young trample on its stripes in protest and endured the sorrow of misuse and abuse throughout its young life. It has gone to Kuwait and Iraq, seen war in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

It is the last symbol of a nation I served when I leave this earth that will adorn my coffin.

We saw American flags flying from windows, antennas and flag poles freshly impaled into the lawns across this land after 9-11 and saw even more rallying to the ‘flag’ by joining the Armed Forces to ‘give some back.’ I didn’t see very many flags flying today…..neither from the window mounts of vehicles flying down the highways and byways to work, home, family and ‘things.’

We see the flag-draped coffins of our service members who have given the ultimate sacrifice, whom we just paid homage to on Memorial Day, coming from the transports that bring them home to their native or adoptive land. We see citizen-lined streets ‘escorting’ our fallen heroes to their final resting place in hearses carrying those coffins with the crisp, clean flag adorning their souls.

But that isn’t what the flag is supposed to mean; a simple nod to those who have sacrificed on its nations behalf or to nationally mourn a terrorist attack on our home soil.

It is a symbol of a land that dared dream of a Republic of government, where freemen and women would lead their peers into a bright and promising future. It was built on the foundations of Christian beliefs, even as it refuses to allow that to be forced as a requirement for its benefits. It is recognized as a nation that will defend itself and the downtrodden at great sacrifice to itself because of those freedoms and a nation who will answer the call when it must. It is fifty-two stars, thirteen stripes and bleeds red, white and blue.

I am the Flag
by Ruth Apperson Rous

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.
My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people, for the people."

I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.


It is a symbol of what we, as American citizens have forgotten….the sacred trust of all the generations before who have walked, lived, died and bled for this land called America that has been handed down generation to generation for preservation and prosperity of the freedoms that were once guaranteed by its Constitution and enforced with patriotism by its elected statesmen and women. A nation who wasn’t formed by God but because of His mercies and who’s Constitution bore the hope of generations.

Unfortunately, as you look back on this day and remark about the absence of the flags that would have once flown from neighborhoods far and wide across its land, it is becoming a too vivid symbol of what we Americans are, no more- no less. A nation of forgotten ideals and dusty traditions destroyed by those who have forgotten the sacred trust we were forever to be vigilant with; the title of freedom and the principle of liberty that has been corrupted by those who would be dictators and despots by our elections and our sleeping at the helm of accountability.

The flag, that once stood for the American Dream, and still flies above the land that once bore such extreme hopes now lies limp in the heavy skies of intolerance and liberalized despots who ignore the laws and control the citizenry. Who allow those who are not of native birth sell its heritage bit by bit and piece by piece to the highest bidder in the pack of wolves that have always hounded its shores. Whose politicians have become the elite; controlled by no laws and governed by no accountability and who enslave a people who are fearful of defending the nation that “Old Glory” once flew so proudly over.

It flies tonight over the land “of the free and the home of the brave” though the land lies in eternal shadow and the brave have quietly shut their doors against the raging storms where freedom is no longer what it was because of the weariness of the patriots who once guarded its health.

And though it is dark throughout the land of the American people and the wind howls through the barren landscape as if to cry out “Where have all the brave ones gone?”, there is a beacon of hope still fluttering in the lamps of generations that have come and gone disturbed by the whispers of patriots yet unborn in the history of this land.

And it may be soiled and sullied, frayed at the edges and bear the marks of a war silently fought. But as Frances Keys Scott once put down into words on a page……..

“Does that banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

It does if we chose to make it so.

So when you see “Old Glory” flying somewhere in the course of your day, stop and reflect on the freedoms that you still enjoy, the process by which you can ensure those freedoms continue for your children and the men and women who serve under its gentle breeze to give you that right to do so.

Regain the sacred trust once a heartbeat of the citizens of this nation.

And recapture that “indomitable spirit of determination” it stands for.

The American Flag.

What does it mean to you?

Monday, June 13

Standing Stones

“After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, "Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, and command them, 'Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.'" So Joshua summoned the 12 men selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, and said to them, "Go across to the ark of the LORD your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?' you should tell them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the LORD's covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan's waters were cut off.' Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites." The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. The stones are there to this day.” [Joshua 4:1-9 HCSB]

At my Berean Bible Church brethren’s small group we ‘happened’ to be in the area for this weekend watched a VHS tape about the ‘standing stones of Tel Gezer’ And it was this verse, this ‘faith lesson’ that hit me the most. I could feel God’s nod as He saw my heart open to what He would have me learn not just from this video, but how the whole weekend was a progression towards this ‘faith moment.’

A blessing from a brother in Christ didn’t come in the mail as expected so I went to see this man of God whom I had never met before but have connected (like many others) in the larger ‘electronic’ community. The hour I spent with this brother listening to the understanding of his gifting from God and have him pour into my life with the observations of what he had watched in my walk with Christ over the internet was a blessing above the blessing. I walked away from that meeting feeling truly blessed. Since I was in the area, I felt led to go over to my dear Berean family and visit with them for a while at the E.A.C.H. block party they were having. I was blessed by some friends to go and get my son (my daughter didn’t want to come) from his mom’s and bring him back to the event so he could have some fun. When I arrived back, a dear brother in Christ whom I had a powerful friendship in the church community where I was saved was there. We hadn’t seen each other in eight years. But it was like yesterday.

The day ‘over’, or so I thought, I dropped my son back at his mother’s for the rest of the weekend and headed over to a sister-in-Christ to help her with the PowerPoint presentation for a ministry idea she had to present to her seminary class. It was a blessing to sit down and see this idea fleshed out since her idea was a special needs ministry. Though we didn’t get the presentation done that night, we got a majority of it completed. A brother in Christ from Berean called, apparently my son had forgotten his hat at the event and we stragetized how to get it back on his absent-minded head. It worked out that my brother was having a small group at his home, a few miles from where I pick up the kids from their mom.

Sunday morning had me waking up to see my Mosaic A2 community for worship and instruction along with a Potluck afterwards. Good food and fellowship again were the theme of my day. I returned to my sister-in-Christ’s home to finish up the PowerPoint and head out to gather my children and visit with some dear friends in Christ over some bible study.

It is here that I realized God’s lesson for this weekend. Standing Stones.

Standing stones, translated from the Hebrew word “massebah” means ‘to set up.’ This was something that the Israelites did when God performed supernatural acts on their behalf. They were to be a reminder of the event that took place and to serve as a ‘talking point’ for those who came upon them to ask about what event had transpired there. Several of these ‘standing stones’ were erected in the nation’s history (to name a few), like the ones at Bethel by Jacob to commemorate the reaffirmation of the covenant between he and God (Genesis 28:18-21, 25:14-15), by Moses at the foot of Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:2-4), to remind the nation of the renewal of the covenant at Shechem (Joshua 24:27) and the commemoration mentioned in the verses above (Joshua 4:1-9) where the nation crossed the Jordan river into the Promise Land.

We no longer have to erect silent and mysterious stones to highlight the effect of God moving in our lives and it is Peter, the foundation of the Church, that calls us to be something more than stones weathering silently on the landscape of our spiritual walk home. In 1 Peter 2:5, he uses this imagery to call believers ‘living stones’. In today’s world more so than not, we need to boast of our God and His mighty mercies. We need to show as much excitement for the things that mature us and grow us and draw us closer to God as we do the latest techie gadget or car improvement or even the promotion at work.

As we walk in this faith journey towards home, much like the Israelites did into the Promised Land, we need to erect standing stones along the path…..a formation of stones that our friends, family and unsaved pedestrians that walk in our lives have no choice but to give into their curiosity and ask…..”What does this stand for?”

And then, either as simply as giving your “Two-Word Story” or speaking of the mighty blessings that God has given, you can bring the Gospel to life with a testimony of your God’s love and blessing.

This weekend is a standing stone for me. February 14th, 2004 is another, when God’s knock on the door was answered and I saw a man with pierced hands and feet weeping with joy at my answer. Another was October 20th, 2004 when I heard Him say, “This you will do for Me and My glory” at Hybel’s church in Chicago. There was my son’s acceptance of his salvation, Easter 2005 and the events of Feb-Mar 2010 and 2011 in the Bowery Street Mission in New York City.

These are standing stones to moments where God did supernatural things in my life, transforming and maturing me for the purpose He has set aside for me……. They aren't by any measure the only memorials that I have in my life and my testimony that show God's favor, mercy, love and grace. And I doubt as I walk this journey towards home that they will be the last or the greatest momuments of living testimony that I'll have to give.

His blessings and mercies are new every day.

What are yours?

Wednesday, June 8

Tomorrow.....

“You don't even know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."” [James 4:14-15 HCSB]

It is quiet, Casey and Sara are asleep and I’ve watched another of those Lifetime shows where adversity is overcome with a dramatic flourish and once again, the hero (or in this case, heroine) is triumphant in the victory. I look around at what I have, the house that is far from clean and cringing at the thought of Casey’s bedroom and Sara’s as well as my own. I think about the water problem and the washer/dryer issues….the lack of the basics that most families have. I wonder where the strength of overcoming, where the triumph over this adversity is set to dawn.

I wonder where the hero is in this story……in my children’s stories

I can remember that day, back in February of 2004 when that persistent knocking upon the door of my barricaded room finally was ‘annoying’ enough for me to open it and ‘confront’ whomever was on the other side. No drama, no epic music greeted my eyes when I opened that door. Just a simple man in bloody clothes, punctured head, pierced hands and feet.

The door never would close again.

With fading memory, I can remember the course of emotion and awe that flowed through me that afternoon session at Willow Creek Community Church’s “Acts 2” conference. It was the first “Christian” conference I had ever been too. Gene Appel, a veteran pastor of ministry, was casting vision for WCCC as its new lead pastor…..and I got lost. In the visions of impossible dreams and daring challenges. Sometime that I thought was from God, a conversation we carried through the woodlands of the campus for several hours. A life simply destroyed that merely hoped for the grace to stumble to the finish challenged to become a champion sprinter.

That life would never be simple again.

In the movie Gladiator, Proximo the Gladiator ‘business man’ said “Ultimately, we’re all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered…….as men.” Many people view the Christian walk as a journey through sunlit hills and sloping valleys with fruit practically dripping from the trees and water so sweet bubbling in the gentle streams as to delight anyone’s sweet tooth.

Manhood is often viewed as a quiet, gentle and almost feminine spirit that moves throughout the land as if a ghost, never touching or impacting women, children or others in this mighty and vast world. Manhood was power built to bless, to move into chaos and challenge its very nature so as to bring order and structure to an insane world. They are only half of the equation that when brought together brings us into a complete image bearer reflection of a Creator God. But it is a struggle and a battle to get there and remain there and to move on from there….this world doesn’t want us to be remembered as who’s we were but what the corruption of sin started us out to be from birth. We cannot chose many things in this life, with principalities and powers against the chosen of God there will be conflict and sorrows that we were never meant to experience, but because of sin’s embrace we have come to know too well. All we can do is decide on how we will “meet that end”. And know that God will get us there.

I chose to meet that end as a godly man, at least die trying to be.

We cannot know the future; the epic failures of those who have tried the breath of human existence should tell us that. Yet we try desperately to make flimsy structures again the blowing winds and huddle around those things that bring us a semblance of comfort and fleeing joy. We don’t dare dream larger than ourselves for the cost may be too high for too long for us to want to pay. And yet……..

We have the promises and the direction of a God who created the planet we live on and the very air we breathe. Who gave us the capability of dreaming of heroic deeds and epic battles? A God who could simply name and claim us once we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But He doesn’t, because we are ‘destined to do greater things than these.’ The E.A.C.H. campaign has wrapped up and the headlines have moved on to the more ‘blasé’ things of this world. And yet, we remain. We can fade back into the world we were called from, retreating once more behind those solid doors of our sanctuaries and steeples. We can call this just another battle in the war of the forces arrayed against God and us. Or we can look at life differently so that we can (as Dave Ramsey would say) live differently.

A life lived in response not to “What should I do?” but one resounding “As the Lord wills…..”

That is where the hero is, one who dreams impossible dreams in this complex world and dares to declare all surrendered to God because of what he knows masculinity to be........

A life obediently using its power to bless.