Abundant Redemption

The Frustrating Joy of Picture Day

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:31:00 +0000

What each day feels like at our house in only two and a half minutes.

St. Patrick's Day in Hendersonville - More Redemption

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:24:00 +0000

Last week my boss/pastor (I guess you could call him my bastor) walked into my office to tell me my ordination date had officially been set for March 17th. Then he asked me to guess where it was going to be held. I knew we couldn't have the ordination at Redeemer because there was already a wedding scheduled for that day, so I guessed the church building where I worked before starting at Redeemer. He smiled and said, "Hendersonville."

Let me explain why that detail is ridiculously redemptive. If you've spent anytime on this blog, you've heard some of the details of my life. I grew up in Southern California as a member of a pseudo-Christian religious cult. When I was fifteen, my parents, along with about 300-350 other members of the cult, moved from California to Tennessee because the leader of the cult told us to move. (If you're interested in more of the story, you can check out my mom's book by clicking this link) Anyway, the city we moved to when I was fifteen was Hendersonville.

A few months ago I got to spend some time with my Bishop and his Canon. As we ate lunch together I shared some of my story and the Canon suggested that if I ever plant a church I should call it St. Patrick's. The reason being St. Patrick was a slave in Ireland and after he obtained his freedom, he returned to Ireland to share the gospel with the people there.

When I heard my ordination would take place on St. Patrick's Day, I had to smile at the sweet, and I believe, heavenly irony of the whole situation. When I found out it was going to be in Hendersonville, the smile turned to laughter.

When I moved to Hendersonville in 1993, I was a slave. I had no idea who Jesus was or what he had done for me. Since then, God has freed me and called me to be a minister of his grace and love. He's taking me back to the city I lived in as a slave to send me out to proclaim his freedom.

The whole situation reminds me again of how beautiful stories are when God's redemptive thread is seen running through them. There are countless other small and seemingly insignificant details that lead to March 17th and Hendersonville. Details I couldn't have pulled together even if I'd tried. And the story it seems God has pulled together leaves me standing in awe of his intricate and intimate care.

Littered With Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:50:00 +0000

My neighborhood is littered with holiday decorations. There’s something for each and every taste. Do you like penguins? How about two of them (father and son) riding on a sled? Look no further than my front yard. Leg lamps? The first house you see as you pull into our circle proudly displays his lamp each holiday season. There are also the usual suspects - Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty - all of whom have been living in my neighborhood since the weekend after Thanksgiving. I typically take a walk a few nights a week and December nights are definitely the brightest nights of the year. I like the lights and the air-filled decorations, but they don’t usually remind me of Jesus and his birth.

For some reason I moved my walk to the morning instead of the evening today. It was bright, but not because of the decorations. Our penguins were resting. Santa and Rudolph were reduced to a red and brown blob. The leg lamp was dimmed. But what I saw, two unintentional decorations, lying in our street, moved me to worship and a deeper appreciation of the love of God given to us in the gift of his Son.

The two decorations were lying about twenty feet from each other. Both probably thrown from a car window. Probably not from the same car window, but I guess it’s possible.

The first was a fully filled dirty diaper lying open in the gutter. It was disgusting. And the thought hit my mind. God wore diapers. He came, willingly came, and partook in behaviors and actions that are mundane, and routine, and simply gross. Yet it wasn’t the dirtiness of a diaper that we needed deliverance from. It was the darkness of our hearts. I’ve got to admit my reactions to my own son’s diapers is stronger at times than my hatred of my own sin. As humble as the Son of God is to have become a vulnerable baby, it pales in comparison to him becoming sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. And so, seeing a diaper lying in the road reminded me of Christmas.

The second decoration was a pregnancy test lying face down in the gutter. We’ve seen our share of those tests over the past few years. After taking one, we held onto it and looked at our results more than a few times. Never once did it occur to us to throw it out of a car window. I imagine, and could certainly be wrong, but I imagine someone who throws one out onto the street isn’t particularly wanting to be pregnant. And as I saw the test lying there, I was reminded of an unwanted pregnancy that led to the redemption of the world. It made me grateful for Mary and Joseph and for the rest of the cast of characters in the great Christmas story. Mostly it amazed me at the beautiful plan of God to have the Savior be born to the Virgin Mary. To be fully God and fully man and reconnect the glory of God with the brokenness of man.

There’s a lot of flair flaring around right now. Sledding penguins and all. Most of it leaves me wanting more. Yet, seeing two ordinary things lying in a gutter reminded me of the glory of Christmas - the promise that God has come and nothing will ever be ordinary again.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:21:00 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'd like to know what the exchange rate is on a picture mixed with a concise quote.

I read this quote while preparing for my Christmas sermon. As soon as I did, my mind rushed to a picture my mom took of Andrew last night.

"When Jesus is asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, he reaches into the crowd and pulls out a child with a cheek full of bubblegum and eyes full of whatever a child's eyes are full of and says unless you become like that, don't even bother to ask." Frederick Buechner

Advent with Andrew - Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:03:00 +0000

So, Andrew's insistence on not participating in Advent has carried over to another day. Repeatedly, he has told us he isn't doing Advent this year. If you read part one in the Advent with Andrew series, you know he contemplated giving up playing with bubbles for Advent (something he does maybe once a year).

So tonight, as we were driving home, I brought up the idea to Andrew that he could give up something other than Xbox instead of not 'doing' Advent.

He emphatically replied, "I'm not giving up my bubbles!"

He has settled on not playing with his blue light saber. We'll see how that goes.

"I Don't Play Advent" - Advent with Andrew Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:40:00 +0000

We introduced the idea of fasting to Andrew and Joshua Saturday night. We told them what we were fasting from and talked about learning how to give up something we love for a short season in order to make room in our hearts for our King. Joshua replied quickly that he was going to give up Xbox. Andrew did as well, but it only took about thirty seconds for him to switch to a fast from playing with bubbles. I think that is brilliant and hilarious.

The brilliance is he picked something he really does enjoy - if only about once a year. And the hilarity is probably pretty self-explanatory.

We're on day two of the fast (Actually day one since we don't fast on Sundays. The day Christ rose from the grave is for celebration, not fasting), and Andrew has been pretty funny. Evidently, he's forgotten about the bubbles and is struggling through the thought of only playing Xbox three times in the next four weeks.

A few of his more memorable moments so far. It is pretty funny to note that we haven't brought up the fast even once. This is all going on inside his four-year-old head.

This morning - "Daddy, I don't play Advent. I play Xbox."

This afternoon -

Him - "Daddy, I really don't like the idea of Advent. I want to play Xbox."
Me - "Andrew, sometimes we don't get what we want. We have to say no to something we want. This will make you stronger and more able to be okay when you don't get something you want."

Him - "I don't like that."

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

The People of Saturn - Conversations with the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:57:00 +0000

It is becoming more obvious each day that Joshua is becoming our scientist while Andrew is full of poetic, yet unscientific, passion. While listening to them discuss the planets, I overheard this...

Joshua (with a touch of scientific condescension) - "Andrew, I'm talking about rings, but not Saturn's rings."

Andrew (full of misguided passion) - "You're wrong, Joshua. The people of Saturn DO have rings."

Maybe he'll be our songwriter.

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart - Coldplay from The Scientist

Andrew's Mystery Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:50:00 +0000

A few weeks ago Andrew informed us he was saving his blue M&M's until God comes back.

Today, while reaching for the Cheerios on the top shelf I heard Andrew ask why I was so tall. I answered,"Because I'm the tallest giant."

He replied,"No, daddy! Jesus is the tallest giant.

Just to be safe, we're denying his request for white Nikes.

Conversations with the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:00 +0000

While Andrew and Joshua were playing on the Chik-fil-a playground they met some girls and evidently began playing make-believe.

Rebecca overheard them telling the little girls, "You can be anybody you want to be, but we are NOT going to be your husband!"

It reminded me of myself before I met Rebecca.

After the Last Tear Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:03:00 +0000

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales - Andrew Peterson & Andy Osenga

After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last "this marriage is over"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last tear falls
There is love

Sigh No More -

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:36:00 +0000

It would be foolish to try to capture everything I'm feeling tonight. I got a call around 4:00 today letting me know my dad had died. Waves of emotions hit and change faster than I can sit in any of them. The most frequent feeling is confidence in knowing my dad is resting tonight. Confidence in knowing he's loved. He had a hard time believing he was loved. That's over.

I'm grateful tonight to know his pain and suffering are done. He knows a peace that passes my understanding but will someday be my reality.

Today I taught a Sunday School lesson about a shepherd going after a lost sheep and a woman turning her house over to find a lost coin. Tonight in heaven there is a party. A lost sheep has come home and will never wander again. Angels are rejoicing.

I am sad he is gone. I'm glad he is whole and happy. He is living tonight in the beauty of being the man he was made to be.

Serve God love me and mend
This is not the end
Lived unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry

Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
And you know me

And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Ten Years - Many Roads

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:40:00 +0000

This August marked Rebecca and my ninth wedding anniversary. This month also marks ten years of us knowing each other. Last night Joshua and I went to the CPA football game, and as I walked around the campus I got to point out the spot where we met and remember how it all started.

It actually began twelve years ago in the Fall of 1999 (if I'm right about an answered prayer). I was beginning my senior year of college. Honestly, all four years were pretty full of loneliness and depression, but my senior year was definitely the worst. I was on the tail end of escaping the trappings of a cult, but I was still caught in the nets. Socially and spiritually, I had never felt farther away from the group, but I was still entangled in ways I couldn't even understand at the time. I didn't know what I would be doing once I graduated. I was lost.

I was on my way to babysit for a family in Brentwood. I was the second choice for the job, but the first choice was unable to work that night, so they asked me. I only remember it was Fall because I remember watching a playoff baseball game after the kids had gone to bed. I also remember being exceptionally early to the house that night. Being early at that point of my life was pretty easy, mostly due to the loneliness. Anyway, I had about thirty minutes to kill, so I stopped in a parking lot of a school that I had heard of, but really knew nothing about - CPA. I stopped in the parking lot and prayed. I prayed about the loneliness and future. I prayed for hope and direction.

Not much seemed to change that senior year. I walked in May, but had to take a few classes the next summer to actually earn the degree. That summer was pretty empty of a lot of good memories. I remember a trip to LA and Spanish classes. I also remember a phone call from my friend Kori. She was asked to coach volleyball at CPA. She had a lot of playing experience, but not much coaching experience. I didn't know anything about volleyball, but had done some coaching. She asked me to be her assistant. I was going to be teaching part-time PE, so having quite a bit of free time, I accepted. Coaching volleyball turned into coaching basketball. Coaching basketball turned into coaching softball and a part-time job the next Fall teaching ... wait for it ... Life Wellness. They say God works in mysterious ways. I'm not exactly known for my wellness of life choices.

Anyway, the classroom I was given for the Life Wellness class was to be shared with a history teacher who had a friend she wanted me to meet. So, ten years ago this month (I think it was August 17th, but with the addition of Pax, I'm not quite convinced of anything I think I remember) I met a woman named Rebecca in a small classroom at CPA.

Last night, as Joshua and I were leaving the football game we walked by the room where I met his mommy and drove past the parking lot where I believe God led me to pray to show me the meticulous and grace-filled plan he had planned for my life.

It's been a full ten years. It has been full of grace and redemption. I'm thankful this morning to see God working in my life. I'm thankful he does it in ways that teach me more about his patience and his faithfulness.

As always, all of this reminds me of a song. Enjoy...

Anybody Else See It?

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:25:00 +0000

If the picture doesn't convince you, listen to this. Andrew woke up a little under the weather yesterday. He laid on the couch for over an hour and kind of just stared into space. I heard him gag. I told him to run to the bathroom. He didn't, but he did tell me he thought he might throw up. I told him to run to the bathroom - only with a little more authority in my voice. He didn't, but told me he was pretty sure he was going to throw up. I yelled, "Andrew, run to the bathroom." He didn't, but instead threw up on himself and the couch. I said, "Andrew, GO TO THE BATHROOM." He calmly replied, "But, I think I'm done."

Maybe he thought there was a tiger in the bathroom.

A Glimpse Into My World

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:53:00 +0000

This morning I had a dream. I was at a Spider Man themed amusement park. My family and I had just exited a Spider Man ride. While we were on our way to get Spider Man slushies from the Spider Man snack bar we passed a Spider Man character who was waving to the children.

Then I was startled as I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned to see who it was and this is who I found...

Socks and all!

An Unlikely Link - John Stott and Magic Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:21:00 +0000

It seems I'm learning more and more of the world's news through Twitter. Sometimes it's good news. Sometimes it's bad. Today it was both.

About an hour ago I opened Twitter and read that John Stott had died. It brought back a feeling I don't remember feeling in twenty years. It was 1991, my eighth grade year, and as I got into the car after school I heard Magic Johnson telling the world he had AIDS. It rocked me. To me Magic wasn't just a celebrity or an athlete. He had become a part of me. It's kind of hard to write that, but it's true. I watched and emulated Magic Johnson so much that the way I played basketball was like him. I was a pass first - shoot second player who cared more about helping out a teammate than I did making shots. And it was all because my favorite player played that way. I wore my socks like him, played his video game (even though it couldn't compare to the Jordan vs Bird game), and tried to smile when I talked about basketball. Watching him and studying his game impacted me beyond just being a fan. Watching him face a terminal illness, even as a young teenager, rocked me.

John Stott impacted me in a similar way. I'm not sure what kind of basketball player he was, but his love for Jesus and devotion to the beauty and truth of the gospel have become part of me.

About eight years ago as I was leaving a cult my friend Stuart Latimer introduced me to Stott. I had been raised to believe dozens, if not hundreds of heresies. I was a new convert in desperate need of some good teaching. I was listening to five to ten sermons a week and being inspired and anchored in the good news of Jesus, but I still needed some foundational theology to repair all of the brokenness of the things I had previously believed. John Stott was the key. I remember lying in bed reading his commentaries on Romans, Galatians, Pauls letters to Timothy, and John's epistles. As I wrestled with my past in a heretical branch of Pentecostalism, Stott's commentary on Acts and his book Baptism and Fullness buoyed me in the waves of figuring out what I believed about the Holy Spirit. As I wrestled with the person and deity of Christ, Stott's The Incomparable Christ gently held my hand and glorified Jesus. I was a subscriber to his daily devotionals and cut my teeth on his messages daily. In the same way that studying Magic Johnson made me love unselfish basketball, John Stott's preaching and writing made me love Jesus-centered theology.

So today I'm saddened as I think of the church's loss. I'm saddened as I think about a person I admire and feel is part of me being taken from us. But, being convinced of the faith that Stott so humbly shared, today I am happy for him and share just a little of the joy he knows and is experiencing.

I'm grateful for the life of John Stott. I'm thankful for the impact he made on a young man he never met and I look forward to the day when we worship the King together.

Conversations with the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Sun, 29 May 2011 02:18:00 +0000

Andrew - "Dad, I'm going to obey so I can play Wii tomorrow."

Me - "Andrew, why don't you obey because of love and respect. Love and respect are more important."

Joshua, interrupting - "And justice."

Good Friday - Johnny Cash

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:47:00 +0000

Roman Crucifixion Quotes

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:56:00 +0000

"Fashion me with a palsied hand,
weak of foot and cripple.
Build upon me a crook-backed hump,
Shake my teeth until they rattle.
All is well if my life remains.
Save, oh, save it, I pray you,
Though I sit on the piercing cross." - Seneca

"How grievous a thing it is to be disgraced by a public court; how grievous to suffer a fine, how grievous to suffer banishment; and yet in the midst of any such disaster we retain some degree of liberty. Even if we are threatened with death, we may die free men. But the executioner, the veiling of the head and the very word 'cross' should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes and his ears. For it is not only the actual occurrence of these things or the endurance of them, but liability to them, the expectation, indeed the very mention of them, that is unworthy of a Roman citizen and a free man." - Cicero

Holy Week at Church of the Redeemer

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:26:00 +0000

The GAP and Worship

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 02:55:00 +0000

... as a case of secular liturgy, what vision of the kingdom is implicit in the mall's liturgies? What story is embedded in its practices? What does it envision as the good life? What is the shape of the mall's worship? What kind of people does it want us to become? What does the mall want us to love?

First, let's keep in mind that the mall is sort of an intensification of a wider web of practices and rituals associated with consumer capitalism. In that respect, one might say that marketing is the mall's evangelism; television commercials, billboards, internet pop-ps, and magazine advertisements are the mall's outreach. The rituals and practices of the mall and the market are tactile and visceral - they capture our imaginations through the senses of sight and sound, touch and taste, even smell. The hip, happy people that populate television commercials are the moving icons of the consumer gospel, illustrations of what the good life looks like: carefree and independent, clean and sexy, perky and perfect. We see the embodiments of this ideal again and again in the icon-like mannequins in the windows of the mall. The mall, you might say, mimics that oft-repeated evangelical axiom that says, "We may be the only Bible that people ever read": that is, the mall communicates its story not through tracts and didactic lectures but through visual embodiments of the happy life, 3-D icons that we come to revere as ideals worthy of our imaginary more than our intellect - because they seep into our imagination - they are slowly and often surreptitiously absorbed into our kardia, into our very nerve center of how we orient ourselves to the world. In this sense, they function as very effective liturgies and pedagogies; they are making us into a certain kind of people without us even realizing it." - James K.A. Smith from Desiring the Kingdom

Growing in Lent

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:53:00 +0000

A month ago I attended a conference in North Carolina for the AMIA. During one of the breakout sessions, I heard a man named David Taylor say this, "If the church doesn't tell people what time it is, the world will." He then went on to explain how the calendar is shaping (often subtly and subconsciously) how we think about certain themes. For example, Valentine's Day is shaping the way we think of and define love. The 4th of July is shaping our idea of country. Mother's Day is forming the way we view family. He listed eleven holidays and explained how each was influencing our culture. Taylor's solution, or counter-attack, to the problem was the idea of using the church calendar to help us better understand biblical themes in our lives.

Incorporating the church calendar into my life is a new idea for me. Last year was the first time I observed Lent. This past Advent was the first time I understood Advent and Lent had anything in common. Like so many things I didn't understand, I assumed it was superstitious and had little, if any benefit for me. I was wrong. Sadly wrong. It's amazing how quickly you can go from wanting to discredit something to looking forward to celebrating it.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We will have ashes put on our foreheads as we are reminded of our finitude, our brokenness, and our desperation. Doing this will kick off forty days of sacrifice and commitment. I learned last year that fasting isn't the only way to observe Lent. It's also recommended to take something on.
Last year I fasted from red meat and read four Psalms a day. This year, I want to give up something that I actually think about everyday (beef is more of an every other day kind of thing). Each time I think about the thing I am giving up (still haven't decided what that is) I will remember my need for Christ and his sacrificial love for me. Each time I do whatever I decide to pick up (I think I'm going to try to memorize Colossians (1 chapter every 10 days), I'll remember Christ's commitment to his people. It is a powerful, and really rather simple way, for God to work his grace into my life daily.

Here's the best thing about Lent. It ends. Yes, it's a time of darkness and sacrifice. Yes, it's a time to remember we came from and will return to dust. Yes, it's a time to repent and fast. But, it is also a time of anticipation. It's a time to remember life will not always be as it is now. Lent ends with Easter, the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.The broken things will mend. The dark things will disappear in the light. Death will end in resurrection life. It is a reminder that our suffering is only temporal and is actually making eternity more glorious.

If Lent is a foreign concept to you, I encourage you to look into it. God has used it to powerfully reshape my appreciation for his sacrifice and power. I'm looking forward the next forty days with hopeful expectation. I hope you'll join me.

The Father's Rest

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:16:00 +0000

"Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption... If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all."- J.I. Packer

The Father's Rest - My sermon from 12/26 about the Heavenly Father's law, love, and rest.

Conversations With the Boys - Christmas Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:59:00 +0000

So, last year Rebecca and I talked about what we'd do concerning Santa Claus. Would we tell the boys the truth, or let them believe in Santa until somebody else told them? As a kid, I never believed. I don't remember much about it. I've been told that I just didn't buy it. It didn't make sense, so as a little boy I simply said I didn't believe. Every time one of my friends found out their parents blamed me. I never told anyone.

Rebecca and I decided to go ahead and tell the boys the whole Santa thing is a game. We said we were going to play it and the boys shouldn't tell anyone about the game because a lot of people really believed. With one exception during a four hour flight delay this July, our boys didn't ruin anyone else's game.

Our decision, at least my portion of the decision, wasn't based on worrying about the "mom and dad lied to us about Santa, maybe Jesus isn't real" conversation. Odds are they're going to catch us lying about something at some point. I wanted to tell them the truth about Santa because I hate moralism. The idea of a guy coming into our house once a year won't do much damage. The idea of being good just to get stuff is what I wanted to keep out of their heads.

We put a lot of thought into it, but as with much of parenting, in the end it didn't really matter.

They don't believe us. I'm not sure that's the best way to say it. It's not that they think we're lying as much as they think we're wrong. According to the boys, Santa is real and they'd "really like to meet him."

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Advent Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Elkanah, Penninah, and Hannah could have had their own reality show. Penninah and Hannah were sister-wives before sister-wives were cool. Penninah had children. Hannah didn't. Elkanah loved Hannah more than he loved Penninah and wasn't afraid to show it ... publicly. At dinner, for example, Elkanah would give Hannah a double portion of food while Penninah watched with jealousy. In order to bring Hannah down a few pegs, Penninah would harass Hannah with the cultural reality that no matter how much Elkanah loved her, she was a nobody because she didn't have children of her own.

At one particular meal, during a trip to the tabernacle to worship, Hannah reached her breaking point. After having enough of Penninah's cruelty, Hannah dramatically stood up and left the table. She rushed to the tabernacle to pray, where the priest of the time, Eli, saw her weeping. The words she prayed were filled with bitter emotion and tearful cries. Eli did what any sensitive pastor would do and accused her of stumbling into worship in a drunken stupor.

Thankfully, the words Eli couldn't comprehend were heard and understood by God. Hannah's prayer was a break-through for her as she began to seek a child, not for herself, but for God's glory. Hannah promised God she would give her son to God, left in peace, returned to dinner, and ate her double portion.

After nursing her son Samuel (named for the God who hears), Hannah took him back to Eli where he would grow up and learn how to be a priest to God's people. In what had to be a bittersweet moment (saying goodbye to the son she had longed for), Hannah said this ...

“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
   in the LORD my hornis lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
   for I delight in your deliverance.
² “There is no one holy like the LORD;
   there is no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God.
³ “Do not keep talking so proudly
   or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
   and by him deeds are weighed.
⁴ “The bows of the warriors are broken,
   but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
⁵ Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
   but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
   but she who has had many sons pines away.
⁶ “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
   he brings down to the grave and raises up.
⁷ The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
   he humbles and he exalts.
⁸ He raises the poor from the dust
   and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
   and has them inherit a throne of honor.
   “For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
   on them he has set the world.
⁹ He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
   but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
   “It is not by strength that one prevails;
¹⁰ those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
   the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
   “He will give strength to his king
   and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

There weren't a lot of outward things for Hannah to be excited about. She was leaving her son with the priest who mistook real, heartfelt prayer for a drunken tantrum. She was saying goodbye to her son who she loved and would only see once a year. He was going to be a priest and a prophet, not exactly the least stressful jobs in the world. Yet, in the midst of situations that seemed dark, Hannah knew God's plan for salvation was continuing on the earth and she could see it in her son.

As inspiring as Hannah's story is, she points to another mother. And as great a prophet as Samuel was, he points to another Son.

After Mary, the engaged teenager, found out she was carrying the Son of God in her womb she hurried out of town to see her cousin Elizabeth. Like Hannah, Mary's circumstances didn't seem all that hopeful. She was an unwed, pregnant teenager whose story few believed. But she knew God was not only continuing His salvation story, but bringing it to its highest point in the baby in her womb.

She sang ...

"“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
   of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
   holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
   from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
   he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
   but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
   but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
   remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
   just as he promised our ancestors.”

The Advent Season is a time where we can sing with Hannah and Mary. There is a just God who is bringing his perfect peace to earth. The humble will be lifted up. The empty will be filled. All is not right, but it is being made right in Jesus. There is hope today because God became a baby, grew up into a man, faithfully obeyed the Father, and gladly gives away his righteousness to those who ask for healing. Our circumstances may be bleak today, but the hope of God's salvation is strong.

Back Where I Began

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Bryant) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:26:00 +0000

The past few days have been far from my best. I've been, to say the least, kind of down. And in the struggle, I've not wanted to spend much time with God. Prayer and time in the Bible have been the last things I've wanted to do.

The past couple months have been full of a lot of brokenness. We've been to four funerals and have had friends and family in the hospital with some serious illnesses. It has begun to take its toll on me emotionally. Last night, in the middle of this brokenness, I decided to watch the movie, The Road. It's a post-apocalyptic story about a father and son trying to survive humanity at its worst. Not exactly the feel good hit of the summer.

I've felt my heart pulling away from thinking while all of this has been going on. I'm struggling with knowing God is intimately involved in all of these details, yet at times seems so far away. I have felt the feelings David felt in Psalm 139 often. God knows all and sees all. I need a break.

I was walking out of Publix today and a guitar riff went through my head. No lyrics. Literally just eight notes that repeat quickly. I couldn't even remember the last time I had listened to the song. I didn't remember what it was called, but I grabbed my ipod and tried to figure it out. I knew it was a Caedmon's Call song and thought I remembered the line - 'where I began'. I played the song and couldn't hold back the emotions of God's gentle reminder. The lyric that stood out most tonight was 'Try as I may, I can't get away from you'.

I'm thankful tonight for God's powerful salvation. I'm thankful for a God who is not dependent on my faithfulness for his mercy to be poured into my life. I've been running and trying to get away from the glorious and awesome reality of who He is. I run. I resist. He pursues. He saves ... again and again.

This is the only clip I could find of the song. Not the greatest video, but worth hearing the song.