Not So Famous…

Potential Spoilers Ahead Concerning Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and Maybe Even The Tooth Fairy…be forewarned.

I find it interesting that people, who on a regular basis don’t bother with the Lord Jesus Christ, suddenly shift into being radical Christians when it comes to the “reason for the season”. I don’t have a problem with it, necessarily.  It doesn’t actually affect me when people attempt to “put the Christ back in Christmas”.  In my mind, He never really left it, despite what many liberals seem to desire.  Ultimately, Christ will not be defeated by liberals.  That’s not why I wrote, though.

I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not Christians ought to celebrate Christmas, and more to the point what aspects of Christmas we should celebrate.  My mental meanderings have a point, in that I am wondering what we should emphasize and tell my son as he grows up. What do we want to teach him, and should cultural icons be an emphasis? I have to admit that among all the things I considered teaching my children, whether or not to emphasize or ignore Santa Claus never really entered my mind.

To begin, we all know that Jesus of Nazareth was most likely NOT born on December 25th, right? I’ve heard many theories as to why this date was chosen for Christmas, from pagan goddess worship, to a feast for Bacchus (the Roman god of wine and intoxication), to a sun-worship festival, etc.  Of course, December 25th is very near the Winter Solstice (which was today in the Northern Hemisphere, by the way), and the winter solstice certainly would have been a commonly celebrated festival time in pagan areas.  Whichever event you favor, it’s likely a more plausible reason for the choice of December 25th to remember the birth of Christ than the actual birth of Christ.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell people that it was extremely common in the early church for missionaries to appropriate pagan festivals in order to begin where the people celebrated to teach the Gospel.  Many early church fathers felt that the celebration of the Christ Mass on December 25th was adulterating the church, and should not be so. The question should be asked, however, does it matter what day Christ was actually born?

My short answer is “no”. The need for Christ to come is demonstrated by our sin, and His birth was certainly necessary.  Commemorating the incarnation of Christ with a celebration is certainly not out of line, and can be used to teach our children many things about Christ and our need for Him.  However, the coming of Christ is often celebrated more assiduously than the day commemorating His death and resurrection (today called Easter), which certainly seems to me to be a little backwards.  Christ was born, sure.  But it is not His coming that frees His people from the bondage of sin.  It is His active obedience and resurrection that saves His people from their sins.  But I digress…

What about the cultural decorations and trappings?  Santa Claus?  The Christmas Tree? Gifts? One can spiritualize it all, to be sure.  I see nothing wrong with putting up a pretty tree and decorating it with colorful ornaments and lights.  God is the Father of Lights, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him, we are told in the Scriptures.  Salvation is certainly a free gift to any who would trust in Christ, and while our gifts pale in comparison to what our Savior paid for what He freely gives His people, we can use the gifts we give to point to Christ.  The Gospel never fades…never loses its luster or relevance.  Mankind is always in need of salvation.  The Good News is…dare I say it…evergreen, is it not?  One can spiritualize anything, if one looks hard enough, as I said.

What about Santa Claus?  My thinking on this might change someday, but I think Santa Claus is one tradition that we will not be passing on to Iain. A harmless story, a fable, a pain-free deception…harming no one?  Well, it is a deception, for one.  I don’t really see a point.  Everyone eventually learns that Santa Claus is not real.  (I did warn against spoilers above.)  What is the point of deception?  Fun?  I’m all for fun, but I would like to teach my son gratitude and appreciation for the gifts he’s been given by family and friends.  I would like that appreciation and gratitude to be directed accurately.  The more I think about it, the whole folklore surrounding Santa Claus (he sees you when you’re sleeping…he knows when you’re awake…he knows if you’ve been bad or good) is ascribing qualities to something not God which only belong to God.  Essentially, we’re creating an idol, and venerating it for its omniscient and omnipresent powers.  Now…adults don’t believe in Santa, but what are we doing to our kids?  Are they more interested in getting to know Jesus, or more interested in their letter to Santa Claus?  Are they more interested in pleasing the God of their Creation or in being good so Santa doesn’t bring them a lump of coal?

Another teachable thought is the fact that Nicholas of Myra (known as Saint Nicholas) was a real Bishop in the Church, who apparently participated in the Nicene Council of the Church (and even more interestingly got into a scuffle with a fellow Bishop who wanted to deny the deity of Christ at said council), and who had a penchant for gift-giving.  Looking at the examples of godly men who have gone before is definitely a worthwhile pursuit, and to my thinking infinitely preferable to raising a godly man on a pedestal, giving him attributes which belong to God alone.

What about Iain ruining other kids’ fun?  Well, I plan to teach Iain that people enjoy believing in Santa Claus as a game, but that he’s to respect others and not attempt to spoil their fun. (At least, provide spoilers for them, as this author has done.)  ;)

I’m not really interested in arguing whether or not I believe a fairy tale as ephemeral as Santa, himself, in the person of Jesus Christ.  I’ve had that discussion time and time again.  If that’s your only purpose in commenting on this post, save it.  Go name-call somewhere else.  Accept that you just wasted however much time reading this post, and say “that’s X minutes of my life I’ll never get back.” If, however, you’re interested in discussing whether I’m overreacting as a parent or potentially damaging my son, that is an interesting discussion. I just can’t see how it’s not a lie, how it’s not disrespectful of Christ and His sacrifice, of God and His attributes, and of my son.  Harmless fun, I’m down for.  The enjoyments of the simple things the Lord has graciously gifted us, I’m a fan of. Teaching my son of the love and sacrifice of Christ, I am looking forward to. In the end, however, I just don’t see the loss of Santa Claus in our house as…well…a loss.

(Not that I feel I need this disclaimer, but I might as well throw it up there.  I am not looking down upon, criticizing, or otherwise frowning upon parents who do the whole Santa Claus thing.  Up until recently, I figured I’d do the same, and only recent, careful reflection and discussions with godly men has convinced me that my energies might be better spent elsewhere in raising MY child.  I capitalize “MY” there, because I am not attempting to convince everyone that they should do the same.  This post is something I’ve been wanting to write to provoke thought.  If you read it, and you decide that you plan to or will continue to do the whole Santa thing, I can say nothing about it.  So don’t be offended at this post, thinking that I’m commenting on anyone else’s job as a parent.  My parents did the whole Santa thing, and I am not the worse for it.  I have a different focus than they did, and that’s really all there is to it.)

So, my sensationalist title may have caught someone’s attention, but in a manner of speaking, it’s true.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail asking me to go to NBC’s website and vote on some poll regarding whether or not we should keep “In God We Trust” on our currency.  I didn’t even go to the site, to be honest, because I have no idea what the HECK NBC is supposed to do about our currency.  What’s more, online polls can be tricked, so the results are less-than-scientific.  Something else the e-mail said which kind of annoyed me was, “This is not for discussion.  If you agree, go vote, and if not, don’t.”

Well, what if I think your view is ridiculous?  You’re telling me that there’s nothing anyone can say that will dissuade you from your position? I guess that’s ok, but in my mind, things are ALWAYS up for discussion.  That’s what this blog is for.

First off, I’d like to ask you what is the point of having “In God We Trust” on our currency?  When did the entire nation begin trusting in God again?  One could make the argument that we never did, and I think it’s a valid point, but again I ask, what is the point?

Do you think that having that phrase on our currency is some sort of magical talisman without which we’ll lose the blessings of God regardless of whether the phrase really means anything?  I’ve been talking with a dear friend about whether or not believing in Christ is something that can be stated without being examined, and I say that it can not. Stating that someone trusts in Christ is NOT enough, because what is important is the Christ in which someone trusts.  The same is true about this phrase on our currency.  Because right now, one single fact is dominating this discussion in my mind:

It’s a lie.

Why have this phrase on our currency if it’s not representative of any form of reality.  I am reminded of the Presbyterian Church in the USA in the late 30’s and beyond, where their beliefs actually had little to nothing to do with their confessing document, the Westminster Confession of Faith.  What was the point of being a confessional church if they weren’t going to actually confess their confessing document, but instead took it to mean whatever they wanted it to mean?  It sort of made the Westminster Confession of Faith into something of a joke, much like “In God We Trust” is made into a joke today.

Here’s a suggestion, maybe we ought to spend some time making that statement into a reality on a personal level rather than getting incensed that there are people who see the statement for the lie it is and wanting to remove it, since it means nothing.  Let me add this:

I don’t think we should have that statement on our currency.  It’s tradition, fine.  I think it’s a lame tradition that makes a supremely important statement like that into a lie.  I can’t support a tradition that trivializes trusting in God, and I don’t think any self-respecting Christian should.

Aside from the marketing elements used to make this book look a good deal more ancient than it is, Foxe Voices of the Martyrs is a good introduction to the original Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.  However, this is not a review, but rather something I’ve been thinking of late.

When you read about the persecution of the early church, you realize something.  You realize that what we consider to be the struggles of the Christian faith in most places in the United States are but mere annoyances.  Being called a fanatic, struggling to remain obedient to the perfect standard demanded of us all, and witnessing to a “hostile” population are really minor things compared to what the early church went through.  Fans of Dawkins might spit at you, or call you a Believer in Fairy Tales with scorn and derision, but they’re not going to nail you to a cross, and if they did, would you demand to be nailed upside-down due to your unworthiness to be crucified as Christ? Most of us would likely weep our apologies and renounce anything they required of us so as to save our pitiful lives.

Let’s focus on obedience, though.  We struggle to be obedient to the simplest of things.  In my own life, I struggle to keep my mind pure, to spend time daily in prayer, to read the Bible daily, to attend church services consistently.  These early Church-age saints were obedient unto death. These saints obeyed the command to give up their lives for the cause.  While the skin was flayed from their bodies with whips, or while they were going to the crosses on which they were murdered, they THANKED God.  One of them thanked God for his own body that he might use it to glorify his Lord and Savior in this most honorable manner as he was being led to his death.  An 86 year old man, Polycarp, told his murderers that they had no need to nail him to the post as they were preparing to burn him to death.  He said “The same who gives me the grace to endure the fire will give me the grace to stay in it,” (a paraphrase).  They lashed him to the stake rather than nailing him there.

In that light, let us remember our own recent complaints.  Let’s look at what we considered to be difficult.  I’m not trying to make light of anything anyone has suffered, and I know it’s all quite relative.  But keeping a heavenly perspective is one way to make it through such minor trials.  I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night.  I am tired.  But I slept in my own bed, not in a jail cell awaiting my own execution.  I have a small cut on my finger, which makes typing somewhat more difficult, but I did not lose my extremeties for refusing to renounce my Lord and Savior.

Lord, help us to remember that those who came before us in the faith have had to endure the utmost of pain and suffering.  Help us to remember that You gave them the grace to endure such tortures, and that we worship the same God that they do.  Help us to remember that our ability to obey is even from You, and that we need to continue to partake in the means of grace that we may run the race set before us in a worthy fashion, and that we might do so in a manner that brings glory to Your name.  Please, Lord, give us the grace and strength to turn from gratifying our own lusts, and focus on praising you in all that we do. Amen.

Many of you know that my wife and I have been in the process of buying a house for the last couple of months.  In the way of a brief update, we’ve found the house we want to buy, and are currently in the last half of the escrow process for the home. Things appear to be going well.

However, in the process, I’ve been informed several times that if I held the title of the home in thus and such certain way, or if I filed this paperwork in this certain way, etc. that it would make things easier in the event that my wife and I divorce. When I inform those advising me, “no thank you.  That won’t happen.”  *I* am greeted with incredulity.  I’ve been told, “well, you never know”, and other such statements.

I’m sure this blog post will annoy some, but I’d like to state that I will not take it down.  If you have a problem, complain somewhere else.

No, people, I *DO* know.  Kim is the only woman for me, and there will be no divorce.  That’s how I’m going to live my life, and that’s how I’m going to plan.

“Yeah, but, what if…”

No, there are no “what if’s” when it comes to your marriage.  If there are what if’s, then you’d be better off not getting married.  If you’re not going to commit your entire being to the marriage, then you shouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t work out!

What’s more, I look around at the world, and I see more and more people who are more and more enamored with…themselves.  They are more interested in gratifying their own lusts than they are in creating a healthy marriage.  That isn’t my point, however.

My point is that creating contingencies assumes that divorce is always an option if things get rough.  In my case, divorce is NOT an option, and I’m not going to create situations that will make a divorce easier on us if we fail.  Divorces ought to be long and messy.  Divorces OUGHT to be painful.  A divorce, though the Lord is sovereign, is always hated by God.  (Read Malachi, if you don’t believe me.) The pain and difficulty of going through a divorce when contingencies are NOT in place act as deterrents to the divorce itself.  (As though the health and well-being of children weren’t enough.)

Now, I’m not talking about a woman staying in an abusive relationship.  I’m not talking about a man having to put up with his wife’s infidelities.  There are allowable instances for divorce, though working things out and returning to building a healthy marriage is always preferable.

In the case of abusive husbands, there is a case for abandonment.  The husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  That involves protecting her, being tender, etc.  If there is physical or emotional abuse, see the governing board of elders of your church.  They can walk you through the godly course of action in this situation.  They’ll likely recommend many meetings with the two of you, etc, but in no case do you have to stay in a marriage where you’re being abused.  HOWEVER…that doesn’t mean divorce should be painless.

Divorce ought to have the same feel to it as murder, to be honest. When you get married, the two have become one flesh.  It cannot be separated.  If your right half were to be separated from your left half, there would be pain, and there would be death involved.  That is what divorce is, to be honest.

But divorce no longer has that kind of stigma associated with it.  No one seems to care much about their attempts to destroy the God-ordained order of things.  The divorce rate among Christians is at least the same as with non-Christians, and I’ve even heard that it’s higher.  That is (or ought to be) unacceptable to the Church.

I know, I know, I’m not being politically-correct. I just don’t understand your particular situation.  No, I don’t.  But it doesn’t matter.  The Bible allows for 2 situations in which divorce is possible: Adultery, and abandonment.  In both of those cases, it would be better if you could work through it and come out stronger as a couple.  But not everyone can, I know.  However, in both of those cases, divorce ought to be a cause for bitter weeping.

On a personal level, I’m not creating contingencies for Kim and I.  We are not going to live in such a way that will make things easier for us if things “don’t work out”.

I just learned that a close friend of mine is in the hospital with respiratory problems apparently caused by a cold that he’s been fighting for awhile.  It’s gone down into his chest, and yesterday, he was taken to the ER.  He’s on oxygen, and they’re going to take a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia.

Please pray that the Lord would heal his illness and strengthen him.  Thanx.

dichotomy (n)
1. A cutting in two; a division.
2. Division into two; especially, the division of a class into two subclasses opposed to each other by contradiction.
3. Conditions perceived to be polar extremes or opposites.

Buying a house is quite the ordeal, let me tell you. From offers, to counter-offers, to addendums, to everything else involved, it’s an ordeal. And it’s clear the Lord has given us the capacity to make plans, but it’s a dichotomy of existence.

On the one hand, the Lord has given us brains.  We have the capacity, most of us, of rational thought. Something that has historically been a virtue is Christian Prudence.  The Lord has granted us the ability to judge between the better of two alternatives, and in cases where there is no direct command in Scripture from the Lord, we are to use that rational thought to judge the better course of action.  In other words, we are to make plans.  We’re to labor industriously to provide for ourselves and our families. This kind of thought is very practical, and historically, the Church has always taught this.

However, the dichotomy comes about when we consider the sovereignty of the Lord. You see, when we get in the mindset of planning, we want to make sure that everything goes according to our plans, and to the best of our abilities, we ought to do that.  At the end of the day, however, when all has been done that can be done, we need to be able to lift it up to the Lord and say “Lord, this is all in your hands.  Even my abilities are in Your hands.  It’s been in Your hands from the beginning of time, and it is in Your hands now.”  And leave it at that.  That is a dichotomy that is hard to live.

For the last month and a half or so, we’ve been looking for a house. At this phase, I don’t have a command from Scripture to tell me which house to buy.  Sure, I’ve got guidelines from various areas of Scripture about being a good steward of my finances, about my responsibility as the man of the house to ensure I can provide for and protect my family.  But I don’t have a verse that says, “Yea, when thou purchasest a house, buyest thou a house on 345 N. Second Ave.” And the whole “What Would Jesus Do” movement doesn’t offer anything in the way of real guidance. In these cases, Christian Prudence is the order of the day.  I know there are those who sit in prayer at the doorway of every house they’re considering and ask for the Spirit to move them to purchase the right house.  I don’t see any support for this in Scripture, and it reminds me of a joke:

A man was in his home, which sat on a small hill.  He loved his house, and when the storm came, stayed, and started to flood the town, he prayed that the Lord would save him. He had such a peace in his heart that the Lord would, indeed, save him that when a boat came by in one of the washes near his house and called for him to grab his essentials and get in, the man said, “the Lord will save me.” The boat continued on its way; the driver had others to help.

A couple hours later, the man was hanging out the window of the second floor of his home; the first being primarily under water, when another boat came by urging him to the same action as the first.  The man simply replied, “no, the Lord will save me.”  The boat left.

A couple hours after that, the man was on the roof of his house, clinging to the weather vane when a helicopter flew by, dropped him a rope, and waited for him to climb on. The man shouted out, sure in his faith, “NO!!!  The Lord will save me!!”

The man drowned, and his house was washed away.

When he got to heaven, he demanded of the Lord…

“Why did you not save me??  I had faith!  I had a surety in my heart that you WOULD save me!  I waited, and waited, and you didn’t!  WHY????”

The Lord, gently but firmly said, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”

I don’t believe it’s wise to expect some miraculous answer from God as to a course of action.  We ought to apply scriptural principles, and in an area where there is clear Biblical command, we ought to abide by these commands, but in all other areas, we ought to simply take what the Lord tells us about His will in Scripture and attempt to apply it as best we can.

Ultimately, however, we need to be willing and able to let it go, because it was never in our control to begin with. What we find through Scripture is that while we labor for our Daily Bread, the Lord is actually the one who provides it.  While we make plans and attempt to order our lives, the Father of Lights is the giver of every good and perfect thing.  We make plans, but the Lord is sovereign, and at the end of the day, we need to recognize that in every one of our actions.

As a more personal example, we’ve picked out a house, and we’re sort of in the middle of signing papers for it.  We’re on the verge of beginning the mortgage and escrow process, and there are some things that I have to wait on.  I’ve done everything in my power to help things go smoothly, and spent almost my entire lunch today going through legal papers, talking to some family, my realtor, and my lender. I’ve set everything in motion that CAN be set in motion. There are things up in the air, and it’s hard for me to let all that go.  I feel as though I should be DOING something, but there’s really nothing I can DO.

It is at times like these where I need to be reminded that the Lord is sovereign.  If someone makes a better offer on the house we’re trying to purchase, and the bank accepts it instead of ours, that’s the Lord’s clear voice.  That’s God revealing His will to us.  We make plans as best we can, but ultimately, the best-laid plans will fall out according to God Who works all things according to His immutable will.

And while this can make us feel helpless, it seems to me that we only feel that way when we lack a proper perspective on God. When we truly understand what the Lord has revealed about Himself in the pages of Scripture, His sovereignty ought to be a comfort to us.  When we screw things up, when we do the wrong thing, we cannot mess up His plans.  He’s not stumped by man.  He accomplishes His will.  Hallelujah!

And Amen!

I posted about a bunch of stuff on Friday, and some of it has had updates.

To begin with, I mentioned on here awhile back that I would be brewing a beer for my son, to be aged for 21 years.  The plan is that Iain would have a special beer to drink on his 21st birthday brewed for him before he was born. As I said in that original announcement and poll, certain styles of beer are suitable for aging for multiple decades.  A general rule of thumb is this: The higher the alcohol content, the greater suited the beer is to aging.  Now, this also assumes that one is not filtering the beer prior to bottling.  Yeast in suspension are part of what helps to age a beer, so unfiltered is the rule.  When homebrewing, unfiltered is the norm, so I’m not concerned about this.

Now, despite the egregious voter fraud that took place in my last poll, I have decided to allow the majority their say in what we will brew for Iain, and the winner is…..Russian Imperial Stout.  I’ve never brewed one of these, but they can be anywhere from 8%-15% abv, and should provide an interesting subject for a greatly aged brew.  The name of the beer?  IAIN-BRU.  (I’ll let you all figure it out.)  :)  Feel free to post any speculation as to why we’re calling it IAIN-BRU aside from the fact that our son’s name will be Iain.  lol.

Brew Day for IAIN-BRU will be November 8th!

In other news, we’re preparing to accept the counter-offer made by the seller of the house we’re trying to purchase, and I’ve gotta say, I’ve never signed my name so much in my LIFE!  I had to sign no less than 30 times just to make the offer, and the Seller of the home has now sent me an Addendum to the counter-offer, which is going to require me to initial approximately 16 times, and sign once.  Such a pain.

However, we’re very excited about the purchase of this house.  There’s a lot that has to be done on it, including putting in a security system, replacing a couple doors, and painting, but we’re definitely looking forward to all of it, the work included!

The Scotch Ale this weekend was amazing, as was the Irish Red, the Honey Porter (man, I wish I’d had this beer before now, as it really was tasty), the Black Lager, the Brown Ale and the Boston Lager!  (That Sam Adams Variety Pack was really quite spectacular!!!)  But yeah, that Scotch Ale was well worth waiting 2+ years for, and I can’t wait to try it again! I was afriad, with Sam Adams’ focus on the hop content of their beers, that they may have over-hopped this Scotch Ale, but I didn’t need to worry about it at all.  Those guys really make a great beer.  If you can find the Scotch Ale, (and I’ve only seen it in the Variety Pack), pick it up.  You’ll be quite pleased.

Finally, my friend went on a date with his wife, and he reports that it went well.  It went well, that is, until the very end where she stated that she wasn’t sure she was ready to put her all into reconciliation.  This does a couple things:

1. It acknowledges that every fiber of their beings is going to need to work on this.  It’s not just going to happen.  It’s going to be a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  I’m glad she realizes the serious up-front cost that will be required of both of them.

2. It really demoralized my friend.  He has been willing to work on this (though not willing to compromise Biblical Standards) from day 1.  The statements from her, however, have not been so gung-ho.  Finally, he was getting the message that she actually wanted to work on the marriage, and then at the end of the date, she says this.  It’s gotta be really rough on him.

He told her that he was willing to work on it, but that she needed to be sure she was willing to work on it as well.  He told her to figure it out by Friday; that the papers were ready, but she needed to decide whether she wanted to sign them.  He also gave this Friday as a “drop dead” date.  This might seem overly harsh, but you have to realize that the Session has already given their consent to the divorce.  It would have been EASIER to just go ahead and file the papers, regardless of her statement of willingness to work on the deal.  He didn’t do this, because he really wants to work it out.

However, she’s dragged this out for nearly 3 years.  She claims she doesn’t want a divorce, but refuses to return (until recently.)  She claims she’s a Christian, but ignores the Word of God when it’s been shown to her, claiming that there is some other interpretation to the Word of God, though she refuses to provide us with another interpretation of “God hates divorce”, etc. She claims that the Lord is ok with divorce if the two parties aren’t both “happy” regardless of what the Word of God says.  She has refused to cut of these close friendships with guys where she texts them and goes over to their home to spend time with them alone in the evenings, but claims that she doesn’t want a divorce.  It’s been a mess, and through it all, my friend has prayed for her, asked her to return, and preached the Gospel to her.  It’s been really hard on her, and she has brought this to the last hurrah.  NOT putting an end date on her deliberation would be an invitation to drag THIS out for another however many years, and if she’s serious about working on this, then she has an entire week to let him know.  If not, well, she’s made her choice then as well.

So it’s sort of a bummer, after all of us getting our hopes up, not to mention what my friend is going though.  Against his better judgement, he got his hopes up, and she dashed them again.  It’s really hard to counsel my friend to obey the Lord sometimes, but he’s done so.

So, please be in prayer for these situations (the house, and my friend.)  Regardless of the outcome of them both, we’ll praise the Lord for His provision and mercy. We know the Lord is sovereign, and that He works all things according to the counsel of His own immutable will.  We know that these situations will work out according to His will, so we ask for prayer, mostly for ourselves.  Prayer that we would accept whatever way the Lord works these things out.

To begin, I’d like to state that I realize my life isn’t totally crappy.  That being said, everyone’s problems are relative to their normal situation. Lately, aside from my wife being pregnant, it seems as though much of the news I’ve received has been of the “not so good” variety.  In the past week or so, however, some pretty incredible things have happened.

First off, news about the friend of mine that has been having some serious marital trouble over the last nearly 3 years. Ultimately, the Session of our church had given him permission to seek legal advice regarding whether or not he should divorce her.  I’m not going to get into the details, but my friend’s situation is one of only 2 reasons Christians are permitted to divorce, though it should be said that at all times, reconciliation is preferred over divorce, whether or not the Christian is allowed to divorce.  When my friend brought his wife a couple preliminary papers to sign (not divorce papers…just a statement of assets, etc. for the lawyer), she indicated that she wants to get together with him, go on some dates, and see if they can get to know each other again.

This is completely miraculous on a lot of different levels.  For one, this woman has shown no desire to compromise on several things that are definitely not becoming of a Christian woman, which she claims to be.  She’s never admitted that she needs to work on things, claiming that my friend is the sole source of problems.  She has said several things in the last week indicating that she wants to work on things, and knows that some things need to stop.

On another level, my friend’s heart has been hard for a long time towards this situation.  From a completely human perspective, I completely understand.  However, I was really worried that if she DID attempt to reconcile, that my friend would not be able to.  However, he’s excited about this, and it really has buoyed my spirits!  This is a total answer to prayer, and is exactly what the church discipline system was designed by God to accomplish: repentance and reconciliation. My friend’s wife admits that she does not know if this will work, but is willing to try, which is more than we ever expected.  It’s truly amazing when the Lord works this way.  He’s softened BOTH of their hearts, and it’s just amazing!

In other news, the sellers of the house we were looking at made a counter-offer, and we’re very inclined to accept it.  They raised the price from what we were asking, but kept all other terms the same, and we’ve verbally accepted the offer!!!  We are signing the papers to accept the offer formally on Monday, but this is VERY exciting!!! Our first home, and we’re looking forward to it!

Finally, Gabe picked up a variety pack of Samuel Adams’ beer, and 2 of the bottles in the pack are the elusive SCOTCH ALE!!!  We have seen pictures of this beer for a couple years now, but have been unsuccessful in locating one.  Now, Gabe has two.  We’re totally drinking it tomorrow, and I have high hopes for this beer, really!

In all, a lot of good news in a short amount of time.  My brother-in-law is getting married early next year, my sister is getting married later the same year, and a lot of things are going well!  Praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy in a time of distress!  :)

I’m not going to give any details, but suffice it to say that this friend is a very close friend, and that his problems have been going on for nearly 3 years.

Recently, his circumstances have changed, and he is now able to move to the next step.  Please pray that my friend’s attitude would remain as God would have it be.  Please pray that the other person involved in this situation would repent of her willful sin and return to obeying the Word of God.

And please pray that the Lord’s will be done in this situation.

Thank you.

This rant is NOT anti-military.  This rant is about the absurdity of assuming that an 18 year old is not mature enough to drink, but he’s mature enough to be given a machine gun and asked to die for his country, or even that he’s mature enough to decide who ought to run this country.

Keep this in mind.  I am not saying that 18 year olds are not mature enough to handle machine guns.  I’m asking for consistency in arguments by the anti-drinking Nazi’s.  Either raise the age for all other “adult” things to 21, or else lower the drinking age to 18.  Keeping the drinking age at 21 is getting more and more ridiculous as time goes on.

Kudos to the presidents of these colleges for asking that the debate be reopened; for bucking the tide of popular, theocracy-desiring opinion and asking that we discuss whether the 21 drinking age has had the effect that was intended.  If only they’d do the same for the “War on Drugs”.

Oh, and these anti-alcohol groups like MADD, SADD, BADD, and other *ADD groups, quit being ridiculous and calling for a “boycott” of those schools where the presidents have asked to reopen the discussion.  Assuming that these presidents are personally walking to dorms and handing out liquor is a little…retarded, don’t you think?  They’re going to uphold the law, if for no other reason than they could lose their position and considerable salary by not upholding the law.

They’re just asking that we discuss this, not stating their intention to abandon the law.

Let me ask you this: Has the “war on drugs” lessened the drug abuse in this country? Do speeding laws keep you from speeding when no one’s around? Does telling your child “no” mean that they’re never going to do it?

Making something illegal doesn’t lessen its occurrence.  It merely makes it more likely to happen behind closed doors. It makes the activity more enticing. It gives these young people the chance to “stick it to the man” in one more way.  If you had your way, I know, you’d create another Prohibition Era.  Well, do the research before you conclude that the Prohibition Era was the Golden Era of Morality. It accomplished the opposite of its intent.

Oh, and for those of you Christians who oppose drinking on religious grounds: Jesus drank. If Christ drank wine, and drinking wine is a sin, then you have removed His ability to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  If drinking is wrong, then Christ is a sinner, and His sacrifice on the Cross and subsequent resurrection was a LIE.  And if you start spouting off about Jesus’ non-alcoholic wine, I’m merely going to point you back to the Bible and ask for a shred of proof.  You won’t find it.  You’ll merely reason in a circular fashion and return.  Jesus drank.  The apostles drank. Paul encouraged Timothy to drink. The early church drank.  Calvin drank.  Martin Luther drank.  You’re holier with your lack of Biblical understanding than these men?  Get over yourselves.