The King of Love One Day Will Crush Them All...

Every stone that makes you stumble
and cuts you when you fall
Every serpent here that strikes your heel
to curse you when you crawl
The King of love one day will crush them all - Ben Shive from Rise Up

Redemption Flowing Through My Veins

I want to feel redemption flowing through my veins
I want to see with clear eyes, beyond lust and hate
I want the war to be over and know the good guys won
I want love to hold me and know I'm not alone. 


-Andy Osenga from Hold the Light

Hosanna - Crucify Him - O Sacred Head

Rebecca and I started attending Redeemer on a weekly basis at the beginning of this year. The richness of the liturgy has captured our hearts in worship. The Palm Sunday liturgy was amazing.

We started outside and processed into the building after listening to a reading of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Together, as a church, we cried out, "Hosanna" as we walked inside. We cried together for Jesus, our King, to save us. We waved palm leaves and cried out like the people who did the same thing as Jesus rode into the city on a donkey. Like them, we have agendas for the King.

After walking inside we continued our Hosannas. This time singing instead of speaking. 

As the service progressed we were lead in a reading of Luke 23. We followed and listened as Jesus was brought before the people by Pilate, only to have them cry out for the true murderer and insurrectionist (Barabbas) to be released instead of the true King of the world. Any hope of sitting in judgment against their cries for the ultimate injustice was crushed as the congregation participated in the reading twice. Once to yell, "Away with this man. Release to us Barabbas!" And again to yell, "Crucify him! Crucify him." 

We listened to the story as Jesus carried his cross, was nailed to the tree, and hung for hours between two actual criminals.

The sermon was a beautiful description of the grace of God stomping the head of injustice by satisfying his holy wrath in his Son on the cross. We confessed our sins, experienced and passed the peace of Christ to our friends, and entered into communion.

At the end of the service, we sang,

"What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? 
Oh, make me Thine forever! And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, outlive my love for Thee" 

Beginning with a cry of Hosanna. Lord. King. Save us. To acknowledge the betrayal and selfish agendas we all bring to that cry for salvation. To boldly claim we are forgiven and redeemed in the Son. To boldly approach His table and eat with His people. To rise in peace, enjoying fellowship with those who are also declared just knowing all the while that verdict was solely based in grace. To sing in worship after contemplating all of these things and confess our hearts are fainting and loving all the time. This is the glory of the gospel. We are sinners and saints. We yell for our King. We yell at our King. Our King has rescued us once and for all and he continues to rescue us every single day.

The King is beautiful. He sacred head was wounded so his people can live in the glorious sunshine of the Father's love.

Conversations with Joshua

We were all lying in bed this morning when we asked Joshua what was preschool teacher's favorite thing to say.

Joshua - "I don't know. Maybe silence."

Conversations with Andrew

We went to the doctor for an ultrasound today. Everything is going well. We picked April 22nd for the delivery, but later found out the hospital doesn't have a time that lines up with our doctor, so we're waiting to see the new day.

There was a guy in the office who was selling something. Not an official salesman, but one of those guys who just makes you feel like they're up to something. He walked over to us while we were waiting and brought his 20 month old son. He made a lot of jokes with Andrew and showed us how his son knew where his nose and mouth were. It was fascinating. Anyway, the guy tried to find out what we did for a living twice.

The first time he asked Andrew, "So, little guy. What do your mommy and daddy do for work?" Andrew answered, "Give me spankings." We got him ice cream for saving us from a multi-level marketing spiel.

The second time I pretended to be in a trance until the nurse called us back to the office. 

Thoughts?

"All your dissatisfactions with the Church seem to me to come from an incomplete understanding of sin. What you seem to demand is the Church put the kingdom of heaven on earth right now and here - that the Holy Ghost be translated at once into all flesh. The Holy Spirit rarely shows Himself on the surface of anything. To have the Church be what you want it to be would require the continuous miraculous meddling of God in human affairs, whereas it is to retain our dignity that God has chose to operate in another manner. We can't reject that without rejecting life. Christianity makes a difference, but it cannot kill the age." - Flannery O'Connor

William Gadsby

The soul that on Jesus relies,
He’ll never, no never deceive;
He freely and faithfully gives
More blessings than we can conceive;
Yea, down to old age He will keep,
Nor will He forsake us at last;
He knows and is known by His sheep;
They’re His, and He will hold them fast. - William Gadsby

The Power of the Gospel

“The gospel is not just a body of doctrinal content. It’s a power—it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. It’s not just about God’s power—it is God’s power.” -Tim Keller

Thoughts?

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor is it experienced by the children of men as a whole. Avoiding the danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure--or nothing! --Helen Keller

Conversations with the Boys

Joshua is sitting on the toilet. I walked by and sang, "Poopy, Poopy, Doo," to the tune of Scooby Dooby Doo. Joshua responded, "No. I'm Joshua. Remember, I'm your son."

Andrew was sitting in the backseat of the van today talking to himself, "No my toes don't want to go in the shoes. My toes want to go out."

And, we got to hear little heartbeat number three at the doctor's office. The new little guy looks healthy and maybe, if the 3D ultrasound is accurate, a little bit like Andrew.

The Falling and the Getting Up Again

"There is no life with no regret
  Only the falling and the getting up again." - Andy Osenga from What I Know Now

If You Don't Watch Lost, Feel Free to Skip This

Psalm 81:10

I am the LORD your God, 
who brought you up out of Egypt. 
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Just Do Something...

Trying to decide if it's God's will for you to marry somebody. Click this link to find out...

Landed

This has been a pretty monumental week in our lives. A week ago today I was offered an assistant pastor/youth pastor job at Church of the Redeemer. We took the job and can't wait to begin in August.

I'd been looking for a job for a little over a year. Last year I thought I was moving out of elementary education into high school education, but the deal fell through at the last minute. I've wondered why that happened, but a year later, God's plan is becoming much clearer.

Leaving education and getting into full time ministry is exciting. This is my tenth year teaching and coaching. The hundreds of friendships I've made over the past ten years is overwhelming. I'm incredibly grateful to have been allowed to be involved with so many wonderful people on a daily basis.

One of the highlights of this year has been walking my first couple through pre-marital counseling. The couple went to CPA and I've known the bride a little longer than I've known Rebecca. I was actually coaching her as a seventh grader when I was going through pre-marital counseling with Rebecca. As I was sitting standing in the ceremony I slipped the wedding program into the pocket of my sports coat (I don't wear jackets of very often) and pulled out the program from one of my former basketball player's funeral. He died last summer in a tragic accident involving a upper-story rail. Holding the wedding program for Kati and Chip and the funeral program for Jake brought back a lot of memories from the last ten years. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be involved in the highs and lows of these people's lives. I'm thankful for the tears of joy and even for the tears of pain. It is an honor to be allowed into celebration and mourning.

I'm excited about pastoring. August seems like a long time away. In the meantime, I've got twelve weeks left as a teacher. Last night was a great reminder of the grace God has poured into my life for the last ten years. I'm grateful to know I'm heading into my final stretch as a teacher. I'm looking forward to soaking up these final moments with the kids.

Thanks to many of you who have prayed for us and asked us about the job search. We're grateful for your friendships.

Conversations with Joshua (swiped from my mom)

Joshua: I like your ring, Grandma Shari.

Me: Thank you. Poppy John gave that ring to me when he asked me to marry him.

Joshua: Yeah. My daddy gave my mommy a ring when he asked her to marry him.

Me: Yes. And aren't you glad your mommy and daddy got married because then YOU were born!

Joshua: Well, first my mommy got a baby in her tummy and then they got married.

Me: No. They got married first.

Joshua: No. My mommy got a baby in her tummy FIRST.

At this point, Grandma Shari was laughing really hard.

(The wedding was in 2002 and Joshua arrived in 2005.)

You never know where a conversation is headed with this kid.

More Conversations with Joshua

We bought bunk beds for the boys about two weeks ago. Joshua's move from his old room to being a roommate with Andrew was uneventful for the first week. Then he had a bad dream on the top bunk and has decided he wants to sleep on the floor.

Last night, after a week on the floor, he decided to return to his bunk. I was in his room three times in the middle of the night trying to help him through his fear. The last conversation went like this...

Me (tired and grumpy - which if you know me was probably already made clear by the word me) - "Joshua, do you just want to sleep on the floor?"

Joshua - "Yes."

Me - "Give me your stuff."

Joshua tried to hand me his gigantic stuffed bear.

Me - "No. The bear only sleeps with you in your bed."

Joshua - "I'm getting mad."

Me - I want to go to bed. Get mad on the floor."

Joshua - "I'm trying to change my feelings."

Me - "Joshua, get down and change your feelings on the floor."

Joshua - "I'm going to hit myself."

Me - "If you hit yourself, you won't be able to play Wii Resorts for two days."

He climbed down, got into his floorbed, gave me a kiss, and told me he loved me. When he got up this morning he told Rebecca he isn't allowed to play Wii for two weeks.

Conversations with Joshua

He's sitting next to me singing, "It is best. It is best. It is best to be the princess."

He also informed me of this little bit of information this weekend. "Daddy, Andrew wants to marry a man."