Technological Woes

Well, I heard from another company earlier this week.  They decided to go with another candidate because he had more of the supplimentary skills they were looking for (web development, networking, etc).  This is understandable, but very frustrating.

You see, when you work for a financial institution (like MetLife was), and you work in technology, you tend to be very far from the cutting edge.  Now, I know (and knew) that PowerBuilder (my forte) was dwindling in market share, but there was also a decent core of people using the product to keep a job base.  Now, however, the market for PowerBuilder programmers is open, but looking for something else (most often .NET).

So, for seven years I worked for MetLife on a product that was going out of style.  While there, no offers were made to upgrade our skills, we were just maintaining our applications with nothing new, especially nothing as “cutting edge” as .NET (please read the sarcasm in that).  So here I sit with skills that are a few years out of date watching others with more current skill sets get the jobs.

I will admit that it is difficult to not get bitter over this.  I mean after all, I honestly expected to be able to stay at MetLife until I retired.  I didn’t expect to need to find another job unless I wanted to.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  And so, the temptation to get bitter comes.  Bitter because I have to find a job.  Bitter because my skills weren’t kept current while I was at Met.  Bitter over the entire situation.

But I can’t let myself get bitter.  Bitterness is a cancer that will not only eat away at me mentally and spiritually, but physically as well.  It will be a root that sprouts discord and discontent through my life and the lives of my family.  Fortunately, despite what seems to be a bad “lot”, I have and know the cure.

God is the cure.  I know that sounds simplistic, but it is true.  Once we have a true and correct concept of who God is, there is no need for the bitterness that fights to come in.  You see, God is perfect and has a perfect plan for each and every one of us.  Because of that, I know that God is in control of these events (not MetLife).  And while I may not understand or be aware of it now, He has a perfect plan for the resolution of these issues.

Faith, that is what we are talking about.  Faith in God and His perfect plan to overcome any doubts or problems we have with our current situation.  It is a constant, daily battle to fight the bitterness, and one that we have to keep in our attention.  Faith is the key to the victory, but we must still be vigilant in fighting the battle.

CC

Caleb Ran Away

Last year in February, our family was involved in a bad car accident.  Our minivan was destroyed.  Caleb, my younger son (8 at the time), was the one injured the worst.  While everyone else just suffered scrapes and bruises, Caleb was not so fortunate.  He had taken his shoulder strap off to lay on the seat to sleep, and when the vehicles impacted, he hit is head against the seat in front of him.

When I asked if everyone was OK, Caleb didn’t respond.  About the time I turned around, Lydia (my oldest) began almost hysterically calling his name.  I jumped out of the van to check on him, and he had a huge lump on his forehead and he was not responding to our calls.  I tried to get him to respond for what seemed like forever, alternately calling to him and calling to God to spare him.

Finally, after several other people had stopped, and while one of them was on the phone with 911, Caleb whimpered.  After a trip by helicopter to the hospital, they did many tests and scans and declared him healthy, at least healthy enough to go home.  Caleb was suffering from Post Concussive Syndrome.  There was nothing the folks at the hospital could have done to prevent it or to change it.  I wish someone had told us to watch for it, but I’m not sure that would have even prepared us for what happened.

I wrote the following on the day of the event that I never expected to face.

Today is Thursday, March 15, 2007.  Today Caleb ran away from home.

 

I awoke with the first sounds of my alarm clock sometime around 6:51 am.  With a 9 minute snooze, I can snooze once and still be up at 7:00 am.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get up with the first snooze.  I must’ve hit is 4 or 5 times, because it was after 7:30 when I finally got up.  Following my traditional routine, I headed for my shower unaware that around this time my 9 year old son was making his exit from our house.

 

After showering and dressing, I headed to the living room to read my morning Bible reading.  Shannon, whom I had wakened while I dressed, was soon out and starting work on my lunch in the kitchen.  After putting the toast in for the sandwiches, she headed past me to wake the children.  Shortly, she asked the question that brought to a screeching halt the normalcy of the morning.

 

“Where’s Caleb?” she asked.

 

“Isn’t he in his bed?”  Looking to the futon.  “No”  Looking to the girls, just exiting from their room.  “Caleb!  CALEB!!!”

 

From his bedroom, “Paul, his window is opened!”

 

Up, I’m dashing to the front door.  Quickly turning the alarm off and out the door, I rush around the house looking for my lost boy.  Around the back of the house, I open the shed door.  One, two, three.  His bike is missing.  Where has my boy gone.

 

Back into the house, I gather my keys and pass along instructions.

 

To everyone:  “His bike is missing.”

 

To Christian:  “I need you to get dressed and go look for his bike in the yard and woods.”

 

To Shannon:  “Did you find him?  No, I need you to get dressed and look around here.  I’m going out to drive and look for him.  I have my cell phone.”

 

Into the van, I’m down the driveway trying to get the windows clear of dew so I can see.  Wipers flipping and side windows down, I’m slowly moving up the street looking on the side of the road and in the ditch where the kids play.  Nothing.  I keep moving, a bit faster now, more nervous.

 

To the end of our cul-de-sac, nothing.  Turning on to the short road out of the subdivision, nothing.  Out to the crossing street, left or right?  Right first, and just over the hill and down a couple hundred feet, and I just know this isn’t the right way.  I feel like I’m trying for something very futile.  Turning around I have a quick decision to make, do I try the other way, or head back home.  It is just a quick, short trip up the other direction to the main road, I’ll try that far.

 

Why, Caleb, why?  Of course, there is no answer.

 

Down the hill and back up, around the curve.  There’s a truck, and a man.  But…

 

Stopping at the stop sign, I finally see Caleb, on the shoulder, fallen down.  Rushing to him, I’m overjoyed to have found him, but still deeply concerned as to why.  Little did I understand at the time, the hand of God showing His mercy and grace.

 

Caleb’s pants were stuck in his bike chain.  He was past the bridge and continuing on the road when it got stuck, and he came back to the bridge to fix it before moving on.  That’s when the man saw him and stopped.  Caleb was in the middle of the road when the man stopped.

 

God was there.  If Caleb’s pants hadn’t been caught in the bike chain when they did, I may not have seen him.  I might not have gotten there in time.  If I hadn’t decided to try this direction to the end of the road, I might not have gotten there in time.  If I hadn’t decided to turn around from the other direction, I might not have gotten there in time.  If Shannon hadn’t decided to wake the kids up when she did, she wouldn’t have noticed he was missing as early, and I surely wouldn’t have found him in time.

 

The man who had stopped, had already called the police.  After loading the bike, backpack, and boy into the van, the police arrived.  I jumped out to see if he needed anything from me.  Everything was fine, the other man left, and the officer asked to speak with Caleb.  I made phone calls to allow the officer to ask questions to satisfy him.  Shortly, Caleb and I were on the way back home.  God has given grace and mercy to spare my son twice.

The evidence of Got that morning was so clear.  From the protection of Caleb to the His leading me in the right direction.  Even the smallest detail of Caleb’s pant leg getting caught in his bike chain.  The Saturday before, the kids were riding their bikes and I was adjusting my daughter’s chain.  My older son told Caleb to ask and I would fix “that” for him.  Turns out the “that” was the chain guard (that prevents your pant leg from getting caught in your chain).  Seems Caleb didn’t like it and wanted me to take it off.  So off it went.

Caleb is back to normal now, whatever normal is for a 9 year old boy.  He is caught up somewhere between Star Wars, Stargate and Stargate: Atlantis with a little Batman and Spiderman thrown in for fun.  He played his first baseball game of the season last night, and while they didn’t win, the team showed huge potential.  Caleb had a blast, and listening to him describe the game to his grandparents on the phone reminded me of why I coach and assist.  Despite the loss, it was very clear that my 9 year old miracle boy had the time of his life playing.  I’m just glad that God has allowed us the privelege of keeping Caleb here to show us all how to enjoy life to its fullest.

CC

 

Last year in February, our family was involved in a bad car accident.  Our minivan was destroyed.  Caleb, my younger son (8 at the time), was the one injured the worst.  While everyone else just suffered scrapes and bruises, Caleb was not so fortunate.  He had taken his shoulder strap off to lay on the seat to sleep, and when the vehicles impacted, he hit is head against the seat in front of him.

When I asked if everyone was OK, Caleb didn’t respond.  About the time I turned around, Lydia (my oldest)

Oprah Heresy

I had the opportunity to see part of the Oprah show recently.  I was waiting for the service being done on my car, and I was absolutely amazed at what I heard.  I know there will be many people who disagree with me for many reasons, after all, Oprah is much more popular that I am.

Oprah’s book club was reading a book called “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle (a new age guru heretic).  I will admit I haven’t read the book, and after what I heard, I may never read it.  There was a short discussion of what they called “Aha” moments.  This is nothing really new to any of us, we all have “Aha” moments when we gain a comprehension of something we have heard.  That something applies to our life and is no longer just something we’ve heard.  No problem so far.

Then the discussion turned to religion.  Oprah was discussing with someone Christ’s purpose on earth.  Margit, the audience member, says “All my life, I thought it was just for him to die on the cross for my sins. But I now recognize that Jesus actually taught me Christ consciousness.”  Oprah commented on how she had come to this “Aha” moment some years before.  This is heresy of the worst kind.

Repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, the truth is clearly presented that Christ did indeed come to earth and die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

“I am the Good Shepherd:  the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” - John 10 11

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:13

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. - I Timothy 1:15

It is difficult to align the comments of Oprah, her heretic guru, and her audience member with the clear and obvious teaching of Scripture.  The Bible is abundantly clear that Christ’s purpose in coming to earth was indeed to die on the cross to save us from our sins, not to reveal some mythical “Christ consciousness” to us.

In searching for the link above, it appears that the heresy from Oprah is nothing new.  I was somewhat surprised at the extent of this, but again, I’m generally working and not privy to what is going on with day time TV hosts.

Not sure who will read this, but before you reply, let me add one thought.  I don’t begrudge Oprah her freedom of choice to believe whatever she wants to believe.  What bothers me is the fact that her statements are directly opposed to the clear teaching of the Bible and are given under a guise of “true Christianity”.  The fact is that the definition of Chrisitanity and its doctrines and beliefs should come from the Scriptures, not from some new age guru.  I don’t have a problem with anything anyone wants to believe, but if it doesn’t line up with the clear teaching of Scripture, don’t call (or even imply) that it is Christianity.

CC

God’s Grace

Sunday, we were able to travel down to Atlanta, Georgia to visit my best friend from my teen years, Scott Kay. Scott and I had fallen out of touch as our lives led us through college and marriage, but recently we were able to get back in contact. We went to church with Scott and his family at the church Scott is now pastoring.

It was a great time of fellowship, and both of our families enjoyed themselves. My kids were all planning and plotting (as kids d0) to get our families back together. We spent the afternoon reminiscing and catching up, then we attended the evening Bible study. As a testimony to how much fun we had, we didn’t leave until 9:00pm (Bible study was over around 7:00pm and we had a 3 hour drive).

Sunday morning, Scott spoke on God’s grace. It was a wonderful message, and I’ve found myself thinking on it several times since Sunday (and isn’t that the purpose of a message). Scott spoke from the first few chapters of Romans. All too often we tend to point to Romans 1 as an indication of how evil the world is when in fact, this chapter refers to us as well. The discussion of how depraved man is culminates in Romans 3:10 and 17

10 - As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.

17 - And the way of peace have they not known:

Following this in the passage is a beautiful explanation of the grace of God, freely given to those who, in faith, place their trust in Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 5, the results of this, the justification of those who have believed, placing us at peace with God, despite our depraved origins. Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

As Scott pointed out, the natural (as in the “natural” man) response to this is to believe we can sin as we wish because our relationship with God is based on Christ’s work, not on our life. However, God in His infinite wisdom, through the Apostle Paul knew this would be the way our fallen minds work, so the beginning of chapter 6 deals with this very issue:

1 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2 - God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Having read and even memorized Romans chapter 6, Scott’s message brought a whole new light on a familiar passage. The lesson was two-fold for me. First, a reminder that it is Christ’s shed blood that gives me a position of righteousness before God, not anything I do or don’t do. Second, a reminder to be diligent to study the deeper fuller context of even familiar verses.

Thanks to Scott and his family for a very special day. It was really a blessing to our family and especially to me.

CC

Post-Modern Idolatry

Today in Sunday School, our teacher made a comment that I hadn’t considered before. He was talking about Romans 1:23 and the progression of men avoiding God.

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and gourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

The point he was making is that although we don’t always see idols in our modern culture, but the concept of idolatry is far from gone from even our modern culture. Any time we “re-invent” God into an image that is different from His character, as revealed in the Scripture, we have created an idol. This is one of the main problems in Christianity today. Consider the explanation of idols given in Psalms 135:15-17.

The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in theirs mouths.

This is the very picture of the god (little “g” on purpose) that many Christians want. They want a god that has given us his word (he has a mouth), but he doesn’t convict them or preach to them about sin (”they speak not”). He has eyes, because he watches over us and sends blessings, but he doesn’t see our sin. He has ears to listen to our begging for more stuff, but he doesn’t hear our speech that offends God. There is no life (breath) to the god they worship and he has very little in common with the God of the Scriptures.

The God of the Bible is a loving God, but He is also concerned with our sin. God hates sin, but we don’t want to hear that. We want a god of our own design, a god that we can form and shape into what we want. God is not play-dough that we can mold. God is a rock (Psalm 18:2); He is not formed by our desire of what He should be. Rather He IS whether we know His character or not. We should strive to learn His character and learn to know him better.

CC

Bible Doctrine

With the start of school, we’ve begun a new phase of our family Bible study. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are for general reading. Currently we are working our way through the “Law” books of the Old Testament. Thursday we review our current memory passage which is Psalm 1. Tuesday we started a study of Bible Doctrines.

Doctrine means teaching. In this case, teaching about Christianity and the Bible. Perhaps the most important reason to study doctrine is simply to know what you believe and why. It is also important to be able to combat error and falsehood. Even a simple study of core doctrines will provide a foundation of belief and a barrier against fallacy.

One important difference to note, especially in the realm of Bible Doctrines is the difference between doctrine and dogma. Doctrine is founded in truth, the truth of the scriptures. Dogma is founded in personal experience or personal preference. Often dogma is pressed upon others as doctrine, and the lack of a foundation of beliefs shackles these unfortunate people to these personal preferences of others.

Christianity includes seven core doctrines that are central to a foundation of belief. Indeed, whether you are a Christian, Atheist, or Agnostic what you believe about these seven categories will affect how you live you life. Despite the belief of many, your belief about core doctrines will affect how you live your life. The seven core categories are:

• Bible – Any study of what you believe must begin with a study of the foundation of those beliefs. Inspiration, inerrancy, canonicity, and preservation are all issues that must be addressed when discussing the Bible.

• God – God is the source of all truth as revealed through the Bible. The nature and characteristics of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all issues addressed by a doctrine of God.

• Creation – The study of the origins of this world, even this entire universe are in hot debate these days.What you believe about how we got here will affect not only your understanding of why we are here, but also how you live.

• Created Beings – While the majority of this doctrine includes a study of man and his nature and characteristics, it will also include a study of angels.

• Salvation – Perhaps the most important of all beliefs, the doctrine of salvation covers the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Necessarily, this study would include the sinful nature of mankind, as well as the experience of salvation.

• Church – The Bible says that Christ loved the church so much that He sacrificed Himself for it. Anything that is that important to our Saviour should also be important to us. We should study what God intended for the church and what our place in the church should be.

• End Times – The Bible says that Jesus Christ will return one day. After this, mankind will be judged, and the unsaved will enter into eternal punishment while the saved enter into a new kingdom established by God.

CC

The All-Important First Post

Wow, talk about stress. The first post of a blog. I know that not many people will read this when it is posted, I mean, after all, no one but my wife and kids even know I have a blog yet. No one is waiting anxiously for their computer to ping them that my blog has a new post. But still, if anyone comes to my blog in the future, if, by some miracle, they like it, they might come back to see how it all started. That puts a lot of pressure on a guy. It means I really have to make a great first post so as not to disappoint my future readers/fans/followers (sorry, not sure what to call you guys). So how to make a great first post…

Well, to be honest, I’ve been thinking about this for a bit already. Truth be told, I created the blog yesterday, but I’ve been thinking about what to do for my first post. I thought about talking about baseball (I really do love baseball). I thought about doing an introduction page, but there is the About page for that. I thought about my family, my work, so many thoughts. Then I realized that there was one thing more important than any of the others. If, indeed, some folks come back here in the future to see what the “first” post was, then I really want them to know what was the most important thing for me to talk about. While there are many important things in my life, the absolute most important is my relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t know, but everything must start with Christ. Without a personal relationship with Christ, life has little meaning. I know some people will disagree with that. The entire message of the Scriptures is about the Gospel. Simply put, the Gospel refers to the fact that we are sinners and Jesus Christ died to pay the price of those sins. Without that payment for sin, we can’t have a personal relationship with Christ, and man was created to have that relationship. I know that is a controversial statement, but it is what I believe.

Probably the biggest argument I’ve heard on the internet revolves around the lack of “Christianity” in people claiming to be Christians. I can’t answer to the acts or attitudes of others. I can say that the Bible’s teaching is consistent. John 13:35 is clear instructions to followers of Christ, “…have love one to another.” This is not far from the teaching all the way back to Exodus. Jesus summarized it in Matthew 23:37-39. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God…. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The problem here is that many “Christians” do not understand what this “love” is. Many consider it to be the mushy, anything goes love that ignores sin and wrong. Others consider it to be a “tough love” with a hardness an cruelty that blinds many to any love that may be hiding there. Neither is correct. God’s love is tender and compassionate, but doesn’t ignore sin. More than anything, it is sacrificial. Christ, the perfect example of God’s love, left Heaven and came to earth to pay the penalty for sins that He did not commit. He did this for us, because we couldn’t do it ourselves.

So much more could be said about this, but I’ve rambled on long enough. I could easily talk much longer about it, the love of God, as exemplified by Christ is something I try to use as a pattern for my own life. I’m not nearly as successful as I want to be, but I keep trying. I honestly believe that I am better for it.

CC