The Tsunami Video

Thanks to Rudy Carrasco and his Urban Onramps blog for posting a video of the Tsunami. Link. What an incredible video!

A Discomforting Look in the Mirror

Thanks to Reverend Mike's blog for the following link. Link. Mike helps put a personal face on what might have happened to Reggie White.

A Soldier's Comment on Rumsfeld's Visit To The Troops

Thanks to Donald Sensing for posting this on his One Hand Clapping blog. Link. Those of us who have spent a majority of our adult years in the military know you can't trust the media to deliver a true unbiased account of what is going on in Iraq.

A Most Unusual Present

Our most unusual present yesterday comes from my Sister-In-Law Wanda. She sent us a Roomba. A Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner that will clean a room without any help and dock itself in a charging station when it is done. We watched it work for a few hours yesterday and this morning and it is incredible. Thanks Wanda!

Merry Christmas

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find the baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:9-12 (NASB)

Praise God for His goodness!

Being Crucified With Christ

I have been cricified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

John Piper in The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons Why He Came to Die wrote about being crucified with Christ by writing that,

A Christ-inhabited, Christ-sustained, Christ-strenghtened me. That's what Christ died to bring about. That's what a Christian is. The other way it speaks of the new self is this: It lives by trusting Christ moment by moment. "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Piper 2004, 87)

What better time to experience the rebirth of our lives and the meaningfulness that knowing Christ brings to our lives than during the celebration of His birth.

Its a Wonderful Life in 30 Seconds With Bunnies

Thanks to Rob for the link to this website. What a great summary of Its a Wonderful Life.

Link.

I'm Back!

It was a long trip to Hawaii, but I am finally back home! Most people try to make me feel like I was priveleged to go to Hawaii for two weeks in December, but it was a 100% working trip. I stayed at the nicest hotel in Waikiki, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I had a nice rental car, the weather was perfect (80 degrees every day), and the food was incredible. But, contrast all that with my work schedule and connectivity with the world: the 2 weeks I was in Hawaii I left the hotel every morning at 5:00 and returned back at 8:00 in the evening. I worked every day and it was dark when I left for work and dark when I returned. The security classification of the exercise I was working at made it very difficult to use the phone, and the 400 people there had 6 unclassified computers with internet connections to share from. So my connection with the rest of the world was limited to my personal cell phone and whatever internet connection I could get at the hotel ($10 a day for web tv which didn't work well). Oh, well, time to suffer for the Lord!

The entire time I was in Hawaii I kept thinking that this is one of my images of hell. I am working in paradise whith no capability to enjoy it, and I am cut off from all my friends and family that are only a whisper away due to technology. The next time I go to Hawaii I hope I will be on vacation with my family.

Anyhow, with the little bit of time I spent online there I did get a change to read most of the blogs I hang out in, but didn't take the time to do any commenting on them or posting on mine. I thought it would take too much time away from others on a shared internet connection. Thanks for all the great posts, and I'm going to start commenting and posting again soon.

Sudarsun, A New Brother In The Lord

Last month I wrote about one of our friends from Nepal that had been attending our collegiate ministry at McKendree College in Illinois. He grew up Hindu and moved to the US to attend college this year. His name is Sudarsun. He had come regularly to our Bible studies and worship services and was trying to understand the commitment we have to Christ. We prayed for a month that Sudarsun would come to understand the faith we have in our Lord.

Then 2 weeks ago, while I was on a business trip, I received the news that Sudarsun had trusted his life to Christ. Praise God!!! Sudarsun did what many of us have never done. He trusted his life to Christ without growing up in a Judeo-Christian (or pseudo Judeo-Christian) society like ours. When we that have grown up here in the West make a decision to follow Christ we might be ridiculed by our friends and family, but most likely not suffer any real persecution for our decision. When Sudarsun made the commitment to Christ it required a shift in the foundations of all that has been taught to him. When you grow up a Hindu it starts a huge change in your life to now proclaim to be a follower of Christ. His friends and family in Nepal will probably have a harder time understanding his decision than any of us will.

Throughout this whole process Sudarsun has kept a remarkable online journal. I think each of us can learn so much from his writings. It is located here. Link. I get excited every time I read it. His approach to Christianity is so fresh and different from most of us who have grown up in the West. We grow up knowing all the facts about Christ that have been drilled into us from attending church and then have our Christian friends try to persuade through reason or emotion to turn our lives over to His Lordship. It only requires a very minimal level of faith to become a Christian in our world. Sudarsun's journey, though, has been just the opposite. He stepped out in faith and dedicated his life to the Lord before he knew all the facts and answers. His decision took a level of faith that most of us have never seen. With fewer and fewer people being exposed to "Christian" principles in our increasingly postmodern society I think Sudarsun's experience is one that will be repeated time and again among our friends. The old method of making a decision to follow Christ with your head and following it through with a decision to follow from your heart will give way to more people stepping out in faith to follow from their heart and then letting their head follow. I think this puts a huge new emphasis on the value of discipleship in the lives of new Christians.

Sudarsun was kind enough to let me link to his journal. Please keep him in your prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ephesians 3:14-21:

(14) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, (16) that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

(20) Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (21) to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Thank You Lord for the opportunity to know You and Your only Son Jesus Christ. And thank You that You know and give more abundantly beyond all that we could ever ask or think. We give You the glory Lord. Amen