Photo Op

I had my picture on the front page of several national newspapers!  

It all started when a quick trip to the mall turned into a photo op with the President and First Lady.   I didn't even know they were supposed to be around here.   An art show was being staged in the middle of the mall and the Secret Service grabbed me by the arm and told me I was going to be in a photo with the President.    Not me!  I didn't want to be in this picture.  No way!  And the First Lady was rather annoyed about me being there as well.  But no one had a choice.   So rather reluctantly, I stood there and played the part - all of us posing for the camera as if it were a candid shot of us all looking and pointing at the hideous artwork hanging on the wall in the mall corridor.   When it was all over my face was plastered all over the internet news sites and on the front of several national newspapers.  I was getting phone calls from everyone ranging from 'congratulations' to 'threats'.   "Why does this have to happen to me", I thought.  

Then I was suddenly jolted out of my sleep by the welcomed alarm clock.   What a dream!  Or should I say, nightmare...

Looking Forward

Today is the first day of December.  It marks the beginning of my annual month-long reflection on the year that has been.   It also is the time where I look to the coming year by setting a few goals.  I am not one to make New Year's Resolutions, but I don't like to stumble aimlessly into another year either.    I thought a little about what I'd like to accomplish spiritually.  They are subject to change of course, but these are the items that I hope to focus on in 2010...  these will probably show up in some form on this blog from time to time:

1).  An intensive book study of Proverbs.   Continue on with the Charles Bridges commentary.
2).  Memorize the first four chapters of Proverbs.
3).  Create a commentary on various themes from Proverbs.
4).  Study the religion of Islam so I can better understand the challenges that we face as a nation and as Christians.  Having had contact with Muslims in the past leave me with no doubt that I will encounter them again.  It would be nice to be able to know where they're coming from, using that as a springboard for sharing the soul-saving truth with them.
5).  Study a hero of the faith.  Possibly John Calvin or George Whitefield.

Taking Care of Business

Finding time to write on the blog has become increasingly difficult these days. On top of my work schedule, kids baseball practices, Bible study and home maintenance, I have become involved in a very time-consuming endeavor. I am in the midst of developing an official website for my photography business that I do on the side. It all began a few years ago when people asked me to take pictures at their weddings. And now with several weddings per year and a few senior pictures scheduled and some other fun events, it appears that I might actually be able to make some extra money doing something that I absolutely love doing. And so in the progression of things, the timing seemed right to create a website that showcases my work. I hope to unveil the site sometime in mid-May. I hope to continue writing here, but it will be limited... once or twice a week as time permits.

Mark

On Establishing Friendships

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will have dinner with my college roommate. Along with my family and his family, we will sit together and share stories of years ago. It's been over ten years since we've seen each other, so we have alot of catching up to do. I am reminded the importance of establishing and maintaining friendships as I see the years so quickly slip into the past. I dug through my journal and found this entry from a few years ago on 'Establishing Friendships':

A couple of things immediately come to mind, whether we are establishing new friendships or cultivating old ones:
1). As Christians, our friendships are built on the solid foundation of Christ, and when we get together to 'fellowship' with others, that time is spent around our common ground, i.e. our relationship/friendship with Him. Talking of God's work in our lives, sharing scriptures, etc.
2). Because of who we belong to, we have confidence to be ourselves, but yet always striving to improve our character and be the right kind of friend - which may require genuine changes of the heart in certain areas. One who is not overbearing or judgmental, willing to forgive and overlook perceived faults, but yet also willing to confront sin if necessary, speaking the truth in love.
3). Friendship is all about giving. What can I put into the relationship, rather than what gain will I receive. The strongest friendships have 2 people that try to out-do the other person in kindness, giving, etc. The weak friendships are the ones where one or both people are nothing but a drain on the other person. They literally suck them dry of all emotion.
4). I must cultivate my friendship with my most precious friend, the One who saved my sorry soul. Certainly we were created to be in relationships with others (it is not good for man to be alone!), but even if all other relationships fall away, I rest in the fact that I could go the rest of my life without one solitary earthly friend and all would be well - because of my friend and brother Christ.

A Real Three-Ring Circus

I took my family to a three-circus today. Not the one in Washington DC - a REAL circus. This one had REAL clowns, not like those fake ones who make our laws and spend our money. And this circus we went to was very entertaining. Quite the stark contrast to the other circus that has a tendency to provoke people to anger and frustration. The juggling act we saw was spectacular. This juggler made the US Treasury Secretary look like an amateur... We even saw a bear - a REAL BEAR riding a motorcycle. He had better driving skills than some of our senators. We saw alot of elephants at the circus today, but no donkeys. I guess all the donkeys must be busy running the country.

We had a great time. What made it even greater was that we had the tickets given to us, free of charge. Hmmm. Maybe those other circus guys running the country do have the right idea. Having fun on someone else's dime is... well, kinda fun. I am part Irish, so I'd like our newest ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, to stimulate my own economy and send me some Steeler tickets. I'm starting to like the handouts...

Building the Faith of a Child

A few days ago I bought my youngest son a new bike. He had well outgrown the other one over the winter and with the weather getting nicer it was time to 'spring' for a new one. Today the back wheel was locking up and we had to take the bike back and make an exchange. Only problem was that we walked out empty handed. They didn't have a bike to replace the damaged one.

So we left with the cash in our pockets and my son was almost in tears now that he was bike-less. That's a tough spot to be in: six-and-a-half years old and no bike. I felt terrible. I was sad for him. I promised that we'd find one sooner or later. We went into another nearby store and they didn't have what we were looking for, so we left... even more dejected than before.

We jumped into the van to make the long sad ride home. I told my son that God cared about him and his bike situation and that if He saw fit, He'd provide him with a new one... and if not, we'll just try to be content and keep looking at another time. Just then I careened into the entryway of another local store on the way home and said 'buddy, lets try this place'. He didn't have much of a look of confidence but he agreed we should look.

We walked to the back of the store and their were hundreds of bikes. And there it stood, all shiny and gold. I think I saw a glow around it. He mounted the brand spankin' new bike with a wide grin and said, 'Hey Dad, I'd like to take this one home!' He literally pedaled the bike from the back of the store to the cash register, and may have had enough adrenaline to ride it the whole way home. He was one happy kid. On the ride home, he told me that he just knew God was going to find him a bike that he liked. "Do you think God was trying to teach you something about having faith?", I asked. "I think so, Dad".

I love that God would use a broken bike and then finding a new bike to teach a little boy (and his dad) about faith.

On Sabbatical...

To say I am a little frustrated would be a gross understatement. Even with a firewall on my computer, I tend to get viruses from time to time. During the past week, I have been trying to eradicate whatever virus, spyware or trojan horse is plaguing me this time. It frustrates me that someone else has all that spare time to write malicious software and I have to spend hours on end trying to fix it on my computer. I don't have time for it obviously. So for now, no online banking, no online ordering (which is nice at Christmas time), and I probably won't be putting any blog entries out here until I can either get it fixed or get a new computer. So... stay tuned... I'll be back. Keep checking.

The Good Ole Days

Why is it that we live in such a socially progressive culture? Every generation wants to be on the cutting edge, engaging in the newest social experimentation. We push the envelope and then wonder how we got here. We're most of the way down the slippery slope of modern philosophy and then hope our kids turn out different or better than we did. The only problem is that we're hypocrites. How else would you explain our fascination with the 'good ole days'? We are infatuated with antiques. Our automakers produce Mustangs, Challengers and Chargers that look like a muscle car out of the 60's. Clothing styles from 20 or 30 years ago always come back into style. We laugh at every rerun episode of 'I Love Lucy' and 'Happy Days'. Why? Because those were the 'happy days', weren't they? Back then, things were simpler, easier, more innocent. Back then, people weren't involved in the things they are today. Back then, social influences were more wholesome. Back then, there wasn't all this psychological engineering and social manipulation mumbo jumbo. Our biggest economic crisis was whether we had 35 cents to buy a pack of baseball cards. Yeah, those were the good ole days.

These will be the good ole days someday. If our progressive culture keeps progressing like it is, yes... we will long for the days we live in now. Isn't that a sad state of affairs?

The Big Gamble

I, like every other American, have been watching what is happening with the economy. Will the government perform an act of socialism and bail out Wall Street? Or will capitalism and free markets correct the problem on its own? We live in interesting times. For some people, these are uncertain times.

I have two things to say about the stock market and the state of the economy:

1). For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

2). And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Toothless

My oldest son lost one of his front teeth yesterday... you know, the whole growing up thing. So the 'tooth fairy' coughed up a crisp Abraham Lincoln to put under his pillow last night. Inflation, I guess. But I think it was well worth $5.00. He took good care of that tooth.

Well, today he runs out to the car after school with this big toothless grin... "hey Dad, look!"... He had apparently taken a short break from arithmetic and pulled the other front tooth out.

That tooth fairy is going to be suffering some serious economic problems if this continues.

Isn't there a rule somewhere that says the tooth fairy doesn't stop by two nights in a row?

Dance Class

Today our little girl has her first ballet and tap dance class at the local dance studio. It's exciting for us because it is what we consider to be another milestone - another footstep - in her development as a productive member of society.

Being productive has its roots in the principles taught in a class like this, which agree with what we would find in the scriptures. She will be taught many things such as discipline, commitment, graciousness, selflessness, teamwork, patience, submission to authority, obedience, respect for others, organization and kindness.

While the goal of the instructors is to teach children how to tap and do ballet cultivating these kinds of characteristics in a 'dancing' environment, they are unwitting participants in a greater goal of mom and dad: to reinforce those same principles that we find in God's word, so that she will be a productive member of the Christian community.

Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts today from a mind going in a thousand directions:

We spent a great family Labor Day weekend together at Hershey Park and also celebrating my sister’s fortieth birthday party. Still recovering.

School is back in session. The Fall quarter of Sunday School begins this week. That means homework and Sunday School lesson preparation take the priority over blogging. I’ll be preparing lessons on 1 Timothy, so I hope to share some of that here as time permits.

I think Sarah Palin adds much to the McCain ticket. God sets up leaders and God brings them down. It will be interesting to see who He sets up in November.

The more I know, the more I know I don’t know. Know what I mean? Growing in holiness is a painful process because it exposes all my weak points.

To meet a mandatory requirement, I was drug and alcohol tested today at work. It’s a sad state of affairs that this needs to be done at all. I understand the reasons, but what ever happened to the days where people went to work and actually worked… sober. Maybe those days never existed and I am naïve. (I passed the test, by the way).

Piper’s website gave me something to think about: Abortion is about God. The argument is always about the right of women to choose versus the right to life, and God is always left out of the equation. Abortion is interrupting the creative act of God in forming a human being after His own image. It is quite the dangerous slap in the face of God. When are we going to be slapped back in judgment??? It’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

God’s mercies are new every morning. I can’t wait until tomorrow morning to see what kind of mercies I’ll get to experience then.

Great is Thy Faithfulness,
Mark

The Beginning of a New Era

Yesterday marked the end of an era. Today marked the beginning of a new one. Yesterday was the last day of my youngest son's five-and-a-half year vacation. Today was his first day of his seventeen-year formal education.

He was so excited to be entering kindergarten, riding the bus to school with his second-grade brother and third-grade cousin. It is the start of an exciting time, not only for him, but for mom and dad. We have seen for two years now, the benefit of a solid Christian education in the life of our oldest son. There is no substitute for the staff who genuinely care for my children and their eternal destiny. Many other schools around here, public and private, may offer more in the way of technology, languages or sports... but do they offer more of Christ? The blessing of being able to send our children to such a high quality school far outweighs what the other schools have to offer.

We give praise to our great Provider for allowing us to confidently send our kids to a place that agrees with us doctrinally and that understands what we are trying to accomplish in the lives of those whom He has given us charge over.

Forever grateful,
Mark

Meet Mocha

Today my son Jesse became the proud owner of a new pet. Her name is Mocha, and she is a Chestnut Mini-Lop, who happened to win Best of Show in her breed at the local farm show last week.

We were on the receiving end of the generosity of a local business who placed the winning bid for this prize rabbit.

Since we found out the bunny was going to be ours, I spent four evenings building a bunny hutch for Mocha, hammering together two-by-fours and chicken wire. The hutch is well equipped with a small living room with a round entrance; a play area including a ramp to the loft area; an eating area; and of course a stylish purple litter box where she will do... well... you know...

The dog wasn't real happy to find out he just gained a new sister. And no doubt the feelings are mutual for sister. Mocha is a little jumpy in her new environs (I guess I've been a little out of whack too when I've moved to a new home). But she will soon learn that she's in good hands - Jesse will make a great bunny owner.

This Old House - Followup

High atop a bucket truck someone was running the controls of the wheels under this 400 ton brick house. Other house movers surrounded the building, manning their respective wheel, cranking hydraulic lifts when necessary over bumps and curbs.

It looks kinda strange to see a house in the middle of the street. Houses aren't supposed to be wandering down the street. But in a few hours, this old house made it to its destination. The house will sit on some makeshift supports until the permanent foundation is built underneath.

From the persepective of an untrained eye, the move appeared to be successful today. Time will tell if the move damaged the integrity of the structure. Only the owners will know about the damage inside - cracks, leaks, etc. And once the foundation is built and supporting the building, that 400 tons of brick, mortar, wood, metal and slate will be fully reliant upon a firm and steady foundation.

How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord,
Has been laid for your faith in His excellent Word.

From the Rising of the Sun...

I love clouds, I love the sky. I love sunsets and sunrises. I have tons of photographs of that kind of stuff, none of which really do any justice to the experience of witnessing it first hand.

I camped out this past Friday night in the back yard with my boys. At 5:30am I woke up to this sunrise. I ran inside and grabbed my camera to add to my collection of clouds and sunrises. Every bump on the ground that jabbed me in the back all night, every mosquito bite, every loud cricket - was worth it to get a glimpse of God's handiwork at dawn.

The Psalmist must have enjoyed camping out. He wrote these verses: From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised (113:3) and the heavens are declaring the glory of the Lord (19:1).

Amen!

God's Sense of Humor

No one can tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

Yesterday I was reading in the gospel of John and came across an interesting verse that jumped off the page. Right after Jesus had just finished feeding a gazillion people, and performed the amazing feat of walking on the water, the people were curious and approached him asking him how he got to the other side of the sea, seeing as he wasn't with the original band of people that took the boat, and there was no other boat on the shore in which he could have been in. So in response to there inquisitiveness, he tells them in John 6:26-27 that they were only after him because they got something good to eat and were hoping for more goodies:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

My wife and I entered into a diaglogue about what this verse could mean. We came to the conclusion that, yes it's necessary to work in order to eat - that should be obvious- but that there are other things (namely doing the will of the Father) that take much more important precedence than eating. Our single passion should not be where we are going out to eat this weekend or what is for lunch today or what kind of dessert we are enjoying tonight - but rather what it is that we are doing for the 'kingdom'.

So what do I find so funny about that? God always reinforces biblical truth to us by using object lessons. Right after our discussion we went shopping to get (are you ready for this?).... some food!! A short, easy trip this time - just to get a few odds and ends. When we got home, we realized we had somehow left half of our food we had just paid for at the grocery store.

This Old House - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

There's a big old stately-looking brick house in our city. It looked rather odd though this morning as I drove past. There were alot of people standing around gawking at it. It's been vacant for years. At first glance, it looks good on the outside though. A closer look reveals that it has no foundation and it is in deplorable condition.

Apparently, the house has some history. The Troutman's built and owned the house (the builders and owners of the Troutman department stores that were once popular in Western Pennsylvania. Years of deterioration led to eventual plans to demolish the structure that would make room for a parking lot for the adjacent business. Someone who thought the place had potential bought the house for a dollar, but the real cost is in moving it a block away to its new 'home'. The costs of moving and renovating are likely going to be exceedingly more than the house will be worth when all is said and done.

Someday, this house will be resting on a firm foundation and will be restored to its intended splendor. It will be a beautiful building, bustling with activity. Someone saw that this house was worth saving, and spared no expense to accomplish it.

Turning Seven

Well, today I did it. I bought my son the Red Ryder BB gun he's been coveting for the last year or so. We took a road trip to Cabela's in West Virginia to buy something we could have bought 6 miles away. But that's ok, because we have made it a tradition to 'go somewhere' for each of the kids for their birthday.

Tomorrow, our oldest son turns seven. Every kid who has ever shot a gun in the past 50 years probably first squeezed the trigger of a Red Ryder BB gun. Today was my son's turn. He loved every minute of it... and so did I! Happy Birthday Jack! And don't put your eye out...

God Bless You?

I hope my office mates aren't reading this blog today. Some of them sneeze louder than the freight train that blows past my office several times a day. The natural reaction of any polite person usually is to respond by saying, "God Bless You!!".

Without even thinking, we invoke God's name. Without even thinking, we pronounce a blessing on someone. The third commandment (Exodus 20:7) makes a prohibition on using the Lord's name in vain, and in our politeness I wonder if we're using God's name in a flippant and unworthy way when we use it so casually as a sneeze response. "God Bless You!", we shout back over the cubical wall. "God Bless You!", we call out... I wonder if we ought to be reserving God's name for a more hallowed situation, such as when we bow our knees in prayer, or worshiping Him in spiritual songs and hymns. I wonder if we ought to be saying "Excuse you" or "pardon you" rather than offending God by the mis-use of His sacred name.

And even if we really are attempting to use His name properly when we say "God Bless You" after a good hearty sneeze, is it really proper to command God to bless someone who might be rejecting Him and His Son? Maybe that person is currently under God's judgment, and calling on a blessing would be the exact opposite that God wants at the time. Not trying to be mean here or parse words... just calling for a re-evaluation of how we use God's name...

Mark