1 John 5:3 and others

I'd like to end 2012 with what we work on all year long, Bible verses! The boys and girl did a great job memorizing and improve every year.

Here's Emery with 1 John 5:3.

Matt got it too. He has really improved this year and is memorizing much better.

Andrew keeps up the good work too. He's got 2 - Proverbs 18:24 and Psalm 119:63. We've been working on choosing friends wisely and Andrew has been doing a good job applying these verses too.

Night cap

It's been a little bit chilly here in the high desert at night. It feels pretty warm during the day, but at night, it can get to single digits. Our new house is actually very well insulated so we don't feel too cold, but Emery wanted to wear a night cap none-the-less.

She's a ton of fun. She also got some money to spend at Claire's for Christmas. She decided to get some fake glasses!

Am I crazy? I think she looks good in those. I'm not telling her that though. She's been wearing them non-stop.

#23 - A Personal Odyssey

I was in my local public library one day and stumbled upon the memoirs of Thomas Sowell - A Personal Odyssey.

If you haven't read anything by Thomas Sowell yet, you really should. He's an amazing communicator.

This quote pretty much encapsulates what he's all about. He explains in plan language what works in society and what simply sounds good but doesn't work. In fact, most of what sounds good, actually hurts people. A Personal Odyssey is a book that describes Sowell's very interesting life, personality and experiences. It's amazing to me that genius is always readily evident from a young age. But it never truly materializes without lots of struggle, hard work and dedication.

#22 - Dangerous Calling

I'm a big fan of Paul Tripp. If you have not read any of his books, you really should. I think every Christian should read Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. If you are a parent of teens or pre-teens, you should read Age of Opportunity. If you want to improve your communication skills, War of Words is great too. And if you are a pastor or elder, you really should read his latest book, Dangerous Calling.

I wish I had read this book 10 years ago. I think it would have really helped me through the hard knocks of my journey in pastoral ministry a lot. But I think God wanted me to struggle through a lot of these issues on my own. However, I'm glad that this book is available to me now as though I have identified many of these issues addressed in the book previously, I have by no means mastered them.

Tripp calls this book a "diagnostic book," that is, it is meant for pastors to examine their hearts and to help them transform through the power of the gospel. He begins the first section of the book by describing the unhealthy pastoral culture often found in many churches. Most pastors are very isolated. They do not interact with the people in the church as just another sinner saved by grace. Unfortunately, pastors feel the pressure to put on a front of super spiritual maturity and most churches want that same ideal from their pastor as well.

He peels back the layers of the heart where pastors find their identity in ministry not in Christ alone. We puff ourselves up with theological arrogance or pride in ministry skills. We develop self-righteous complaints of others or even anger. These are all dangers "unique to or intensified" in pastoral ministry.

Then Tripp spends the next section focusing on the first solution - regaining our awe of the greatness of God or what I like to call being God-centered. If we have the right view of God and His sovereign majesty in our lives and ministry, we can't help but be dependent on Him through the gospel daily which is the last section of the book. Tripp exposes the many manifestations and dangers of self-righteous pride.

Here are some gems:

• Ministry had become my identity...I thought of myself as a pastor. That's it, bottom line..."Pastor" defined me. It was me in a way that proved to be more dangerous than I would have thought.
• Tender, heartfelt worship is hard for a person who thinks of himself as having arrived. No one celebrates the presence and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ more than the person who has embraced his desperate and daily need of it. But ministry had redefined me. In ways I now find embarassing, it told me that I was not like everyone else, that I existed in a unique category. And if I was not like everyone else, then I didn't need what everyone else needs. Now, if you had sat down and told me all this specifically, I would have told you it was all a bunch of baloney; but it was how I acted and related.
• When I daily admit how needy I am, daily meditate on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and daily feed on the restorative wisdom of his Word, I am propelled to share with others the grace that I am daily receving at the hands of my Savior.
• It is my worship that enables me to lead others to worship. It is my sense of need that leads me to tenderly pastor those in need of grace. It is my joy in my identity in Christ that leads me to want to help others lives in the middle of what it means to be "in Christ." In fact, one of the things that makes a sermon compelling is that the preacher is worshiping his way through his own sermon. Having a ministry that is fueled by personal devotion has its roots in humble, heart-deep confession.
•  Once you have closed your eyes to the evidence and quit listening to the voices of others, you are left to the blindness and self-righteousness of your yet sinful heart. This makes it very hard for you to conclude that you are the problem. No, what you will conclude is that ministry or things in your ministry is the problem.
• Bad things happen when maturity is more defined by knowing than it is by being. Danger is afloat when you come to love the ideas more than the God whom they represent and the people they are meant to free.
• Only deep gratitude for a suffering Savior can make a man willing to suffer in ministry. It is only a heart that is satisfied in Christ that can be spiritually content in the hardships of ministry.
• It's only when your identity is firmly rooted in Christ that you are free from seeking to get your identity out of your ministry.
• You can be assured that like God's leaders of old, he will face crucial personal- and ministry-choice points. In those significant moments, what will win the day and determine what he will do will be his heart because, like everyone else, it is inescapably true that whatever rules his heart will direct his life and his ministry.
• When you forget the gospel, you begin to seek from the situations, locations, and relationships of ministry what you have already been given in Christ. You begin to look to ministry for identity, security, hope, well-being, meaning, and purpose. These are things you will only ever find vertically. They are already yours in Christ.
• When you live out of the grace of the gospel, you quite fearing failure, you quit avoiding being known, and you quit hiding your struggles and your sin. The gospel declares that there is nothing that could ever be uncovered about you and me that hasn't already been covered by the grace of Jesus.
• It is your admission of weakness that protects your ministry from becoming all about human reputation and kingdom building. And it is your weakness that protects you from the dangers of self-righteousness and self-reliance. It is your delusions of perceived strength and maturity, which you actually lack, that have the potential to derail and ultimately destroy your ministry. This is because when you think you are strong, you think you can live independently of the grace of Jesus and the ministry of others, although you may not know that his is what you're doing.

This is an excellent book for pastors. It really does a great job of exposing so many of the dangers and deception in the heart of a pastor. It feels like Tripp is doing spiritual heart surgery. I am constantly struggling with seeing my identity as a pastor above my identity as a child of God so I definitely appreciated the insight and solutions offered.

This is also an excellent book for elders. Not only will it help them to understand the issues and struggles that staff pastors deal with, but a lot of these heart issues apply to them as well. The solutions to dealing with these challenges are found both in the individual and in community. Having others that create a leadership culture that fosters transparency and gospel driven encouragement is vital for pastors and elders.

Merry Christmas!

This year was a simple Lee family Christmas. We did have some church family over last night but no extended family this year. Though Cancun was here in spirit for sure! The hats are a tribute to Uncle Samta. We definitely de-emphasize the gifts now that the boys and girl are older and try to really emphasize worshiping Christ. But we still love to give out gifts and use them to point to the glorious eternal gifts that wait for us in heaven.

We have been enjoying Christmas break as a family. Matt and Emz have been working on their Connect 4 skills amidst all their animal friends.

Andrew has been devouring books on our new to us kindle reader. I think he's read about 10 books in 2 weeks.

Matt has been enjoying all his new toys this morning.

I love these really casual Christmas memories of just being together as a family. God is good, always.

Christmas Program

Oi! What a week and then some. The boys and girl and us parents too have all been struggling with health. Andrew hit 104.5 and was out of school for a week. Emery and Matt both missed several days of school as well. I think this is one of the worst spells of sickness we've had in several years. But everyone got better just in time for their elementary Christmas program.

Emery and Matt sang in the choir while Andrew got the opportunity to be one of 4 main acting roles. He played a very difficult and challenging role for him - a boy named Josh.

Matt just got his voice back the day of the play and could barely sing. Emery had recovered a bit earlier and sang with gusto! Andrew did a fabulous job with the acting. I was very proud of him. Well, I didn't actually see him live because I was so sick, I couldn't make it! But he looked great in the video that I saw of him! Sandy said he did a great job acting. I tried to upload some video but alas, it's not working for some reason. I guess you'll just have to believe me.

Sad

The boys and girl (as well as their parents) have been sick for some time. Andrew got sick last Wed and spiked up to a 104.5 fever. He's still hurting. And Matt just got hit pretty bad today with a 103.5 fever. Emery is doing pretty well though she's got a bit of a cough.

Doesn't Matt look so sad and pitiful! Poor guy.

Gymnastics

Mary Lou Retton look out! Well, for all of you younger folk, I guess it would Gabby Douglas! Hardly. But Emery has started gymnastics. Guess who LOVES it?!

It's a Little Gym just down the street where she works on the balance beam, floor exercises and the uneven bars. She can't wait until gymnastic days!

After watching the boys play sports for years, she finally gets a turn to do something she wants!

Peacemaker Conference

Sandy and I went to the Peacemaker Conference almost 3 months ago! This post has been a long time coming. I've been meaning to post my thoughts about this conference but alas, good intentions. We had never been to any event sponsored by Peacemaker Ministries but have read The Peacemaker by Ken Sande and loved it. Really, if you have not read that book, YOU MUST! The book and the whole ministry is geared toward helping Christians resolve conflict biblically.

I was a little hesitant about the conference as I had never been and didn't really know anyone who had. Although it was a wee bit outside of my very conservative (and small) theological circles, I must say that it was a very positive experience. I took away 3 things from the conference:

1. Many people there really seemed to genuinely love Jesus and the fact that He bore their sin. They seemed so grateful and thankful and happy about it. I loved it. I try to cultivate that in my own heart and love to be around people who seem to have such a genuine personal response to the gospel of Christ.

2. Keeping God's love for me at the forefront of my thoughts and identity, really puts everything else in perspective. I just don't think enough about this infinite, unconditional, supernatural, glorious love for a sinner like me. We sang a David Crowder song during one of the praise sessions. I knew the song already but had never studied the words before. They really hit home. No matter what is going on in my life, how can I lose sight of such awesome love?

And He is jealous from me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions
Eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

And oh, how He loves us, oh Oh, how He loves us, how He loves us all

And He is jealous from me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions
Eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Oh, how He loves, yeah, He loves us Oh, how He loves us, oh, how He loves usO h, how He loves

And we are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

Oh, how He loves us, oh Oh, how He loves us, how He loves
3. My identity in Christ needs to grow more. Every year, I feel like I make a lot of progress in this area - truly seeing myself as in Christ / united with Christ as my primary identity. That being in Christ is more important than anything else that happens to me in my life. But even though I know this and keep trying to apply it to my heart every day and every year, it seems like I still surprise myself with how poorly I am doing with it.

In the challenges of life and pastoral ministry, I still want to feel discouraged or melancholy about challenges, trials and unrealized plans. I still keep putting my hopes and dreams, my identity, my happiness in what I can accomplish for God or what God is doing through me, emphasis me. First and foremost, I am a redeemed sinner, a forgiven child of God. I just happened to be a husband, father and pastor right now. It doesn't seem that hard a concept to apply yet I do have such a strong willed heart to fight against the relentless overpowering waves of God's ocean of grace.

If you ever get a chance to go to a Peacemaker Conference, I'd recommend it. The workshops especially were very good.

Indoor campfire

Now that it's just about winter and nice and chilly outside at night (although it's still so warm during the days here!), I was going to build a little fire for some smores. Unfortunately, I've come down with another cold and am feeling yucky. It probably doesn't help that I slept so poorly last night and fell asleep at 5am, ugh.

So we decided to move the campfire indoors. The boys and girl didn't mind. I love how we can just have so much fun doing whatever as a family. Of course, doing whatever with chocolate never hurts. We've set aside Friday nights as our family fun nights doing different things for fun together.

And did I mention that we got a fake tree? It's so nice! The whole family is loving it and looking forward to celebrating Christ's birth all month long.

#21 - Serving God on the Christian School Board

Since coming to Alameda Bible Church, I was automatically put on the school board of our Christian school - Victory Christian School. I did not go to private Christian school though Sandy did for HS. Andrew went to Christian school in KS for 2 years, and I was on the corporate board there for a year.

So I don't have a ton of Christian school experience but the principal gave me this book. I wanted to learn more so I recently finished reading Serving God on the Christian School Board by Roy Lowrie Jr.

Dr. Lowrie had some really good points. Since most of you aren't serving God on a school board, I won't give you the summary of the book but just some bullet points of things that were insightful more for my future use than yours! :)

• Over a period of years, the board's performance in long range planning becomes evident. This is a strong influence on the school because it touches every area of development, such as the master site plan, the projection of enrollment, the projection of facilities, the projection of needed faculty, and the projection of finances. An ineffectual board will not perform well in this area, and the school will suffer because of the lack of foresight.
• The board should define its major responsibilities in writing and revise this statement periodically as warranted. The definition of board responsibilities should be studied regularly by the board president to keep his leadership in step with the responsibilities. The definition should be  reviewed by the entire board to keep their work in focus.
• The board is responsible for establishing the major policies by which the school is governed...Every board member and the principal should have an up-to-date board policy manual.
• The principal is the chief school administrator, but he works under the school board. It is a serious problem for a school administrator to have disrespect for the board, or fail to follow its mandates or directives to him. Similarly, it is a serious mistake for a board to abdicate its responsibility for final authority.
• Sub-committees which function properly expedite the board's work and keep the board from a serious problem in efficiency: operating as a committee of the whole.
• Salaries are very important to Christian school personnel and must be treated carefully and fairly by the board...It takes steady pressure over a period of years to build up salaries and fringe benefits to reasonable levels.
• Part of the administrative growth process for the principle is an annual evaluation of his performance.
• No child should have to take an academic penalty in order to get a Christian education.
• Each meeting of the board, whether regular or special, should begin with the reading of appropriate Scripture followed by prayer. Fellowship among board members is nurtured when each board member takes a turn leading devotions, instead of one or two members leading every time.

Dr. Lowrie had lots of good ideas. His experience really showed through. However, I did and do still have one question in mind - what is the theological basis for the Christian school? Maybe that gets addressed in another of his books. But he simply assumes that a Christian school should exist and doesn't give any biblical basis to truly guide it's existence and role, especially in light of the Bible's clear commands for fathers to teach and train their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Regardless, this was a very useful book for Christian schools like ours.

#20 - Rescuing Ambition

Are you an ambitious person? I never thought of myself as particularly ambitious. I have no desire to write books, get a PhD, preach at conferences or other churches, etc. But as I look at all the effort and energy I spend on my personal disciplines, my family and my church ministry, I realized that I do have quite a few ambitions.

In Dave Harvey's book, Rescuing Ambition, he explains that we all have ambition, whether we realize it or not. We all have desires or dreams or wants or hopes. The question is, do you know what drives you and do you know how strong that drive is? "Recognizing the impulse isn't a big deal. The trick is getting a handle on how deep it runs and how much it determines what we do. This impulse is so big, it can determine how we respond to Jesus himself."

The key is not to suppress our ambitions or to crush our desires though. What we need to do is to focus our ambition or glory seeking on the only one who can truly fulfill our ambitions. "God doesn't oppose glory-seeking; he commends it. And what's more astounding, he rewards it with eternal life. But there's a condition. We must seek a certain type of glory. We're to hunger, crave, earnestly desire - to be ambitious for - the glory that comes from God." [italics his]

Harvey then unpacks how we exchange godly ambition for selfish ambition. Greatness for smallness. Our fears, our joys, our failures, our successes, our contentment and our complaints all are reflection of the glory that we are truly seeking in our hearts whether we realize it or not. But the key to godly ambition is not so much what we do for God but who we become while we seek to do things for God. Here are some gems:

• He doesn't need us to get things done, but he delights to use us, so he must shape us for his service.
• God defines productivity differently. For God, productivity is wrapped up in transformation, in who we're becoming, not in what we're accomplishing
• A good ambition becomes a selfish ambition when it's our only ambition. In the Bible that's called idolatry.
• When our inner world isn't open to scrutiny, our outer world eventually collapses. If you ever find yourself insisting your motives are unpolluted - Maybe what I said wasn't right, but my motives were pure - get out of the shadows and back to your Bible.
• "Ambitions for self may be quite modest...Ambitions for God, however, if they are to be worthy, can never be modest. There is something inherently inappropriate about cherishing small ambitions for God." John Stott
• Since Paul's ambitions were not selfish, he could live with them unfulfilled. Sure, he had dreams and desires - but they were God-focused, not Paul-focused. If they remained unsatisfied, that was God's business. So Paul was able to aspire for more while resting peacefully in what God provided. He hungered for more but was happy with less. Deferred dreams didn't eat away at him. Paul could be at peace in the present without abandoning hopes for the future.
• "If we have not what we desire, we have more than we deserve." Thomas Watson
• In the shadow of failure we find humbling grace. We learn that we're limited. We discover that God is more interested in who we're becoming than in what we're achieving. We find our definition not in our failures or successes but in Christ.
• Today many groups unite around a common interest, sprinkle in some Scripture, and view it as their church...I think that happens a lot today for some believers. Rather than fostering a Christianity lived out in the church, some Christians unintentionally replace the church and encourage detachment. That's not biblical Christianity.
• "There's a great gulf between the Christianity that wrestles with whether to worship at the cost of imprisonment and death, and the Christianity that wrestles with whether the kids should play soccer on Sunday mornings." John Piper

Harvey concludes the books with something I have never given much thought - succession. I have never been the senior pastor before and have never had the opportunity to even consider succession. But I came to realize that if I want to provide for a God-glorifying and smooth succession to the next generation, I need to work on that now.

"My generation started this church, laid its foundations, established its culture, and developed its vision. And we have the potential to turn all that into a monument to the past. The test of a good church is its ability to retain its core biblical values as it passes from one generation to the next. The test of good church leadership is to entrust what we love to younger men - and let them lead it...We're at the moment of decision on that right now. We all feel it. Do we look back and hold onto what had so much meaning for us in the heady days of our youth? Or do we prepare for the future and turn the thing over to leaders who see it with clearer vision than we possess?" One of the pastors at Harvey's church.

After 19 years as Senior Pastor, Harvey turned his role over to a man 20 year his junior. C.J. Mahaney did a similar thing for Josh Harris. I have always thought that you are in your best ministry years in your 50's. You have the experience and perspective of 20+ years of ministry. Would I be willing to disciple and groom someone to take over my role in 20 years when I am in my prime ministry years? The last thing I want is to build my life to be a monument to the past.

I recommend this book. It had lots of good thoughts and probed into my heart in uncomfortably profitable ways. Harvey's style is light and fairly humorous which is not my personal favorite, but he uses it in a way that takes the edge of his more serious moments.

Merry Christmas!

We haven't always been to regular on this family tradition, but we have tried to decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year we made it.

But before we got after it, Andrew made me my birthday breakfast. We didn't have time on the day of my birthday for breakfast so he cooked it today. It tasted great! I can't believe Andrew is cooking for me now!

Then we started with our first ever artificial Christmas tree. We have bought real trees for 15 years, but this year we decided to go for a 9 foot faker!

It was a lot neater and cleaner than the true trees. I liked that.

And a lot taller and easier! I'm a convert already.

Everyone enjoyed the decorating and listening to Christmas music.

Well, we did have one casualty. King Herod must have gotten to one of the wise men when we weren't looking.

And after a busy morning, ta dah!

Here's the dusk view. Praise God for His glorious gift of Jesus Christ our Savior!

Happy birthday to me

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday with the family. It was a pretty low key affair, but it was great.

Sandy cooked me a fabulous meal - grilled rib eye, mashed potatoes and caesar salad. I had 2 little Indian children.

Then Emery recited "Indian Children" by Annette Wynne. My favorite line was: "And at night, bears prowling around!"

We were so full from dinner that we had to wait until bed time before we ate dessert. Yummy!
I almost forgot to mention - I had a special birthday treat. God allowed me to share the Gospel with my barber on my birthday! He even passed on his contact info and asked for more information about getting a Bible. What a way to top off a great day!

#19 - The Meaning of Marriage

I'm about to hit my 15 year wedding anniversary. I am by no means an expert on marriage, but I've read several books on marriage and being a husband. I've gone through a few classes on marriage in church. And not to too my own horn, but I do have quite a bit of expertise in a couple of areas of marraige - how NOT to commmunicate and how to have a very selfish perspective of marriage! :)

I like to read at least one book on marriage every year because I want to have a great marriage, and I want to keep improving as a husband. I want to love my wife more and more, and better and better every year. She's worth it!

This year, I read Tim Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage. If you are a post-baby boomer generation, probably under 40 and are married or want to be, this is the best single book on marriage you can read. I love John Piper's This Momentary Marriage and I think that's the best book that discusses the roles of husband and wife. But Keller's is perfectly titled The Meaning of Marriage as he nails the biblical meaning of marriage in the postmodern cultural context of today.

I have never read a book that so ably understands the idols, temptations and cultural influences of my generation and yet provides such a clear and compelling biblical solution for it. He perfectly unpacks the lie of the search for a soul mate and applies the Gospel remedy for it. He exposes the idolatrous selfishness inherent in the fear of commitment and renovates the soul with courage that is complete only in Christ. Keller is masterful.

Here are some gems, there were so many!:

• A marriage based not on self-denial but self-fulfillment will require a low- or no-maintenance partner who meets your needs while making almost no claims on you. Simply put – today people are asking far too much in the marriage partner.
• Disenchantment, ‘the end of the honeymoon,’ is common and has been for centuries. It is normal, even inescapable. But the depth of disillusionment people experience in our time is something new, as is the speed with which marriage collapses. In our day, something has intensified this natural experience and turned it toxic. It is the illusion that if we find our one true soul mate, everything wrong with us will be healed; but that makes the lover into God, and no human being can live up to that.
• Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me. But ironically, this newer view of marriage actually puts a crushing burden of expectation on marriage and on spouses in a way that more traditional understandings never did. And it leaves us desperately trapped between both unrealistic longings for and terrible fears about marriage.
• The Christian principle that needs to be at work is Spirit generated selflessness – not thinking less of yourself or more of yourself but thinking of yourself less. It means taking your mind off yourself and realizing that in Christ your needs are going to be met and are, in fact, being met so that you don’t look at your spouse as your savior.
• When you first fall in love, you think you love the person, but you don’t really. You can’t know who the person is right away. That takes years. You actually love your idea of the person – and that is always, at first, one-dimensional and somewhat mistaken…romantic flings are so intoxicating largely because the person is actually in love with a fantasy rather than a real human being. 
• Parents out of ‘love,’ can spoil their children. Spouses, out of ‘love,’ can enable destructive behavior in each other. The reason this happens is that we are above all afraid of the displeasure of the beloved. We are afraid that he or she will be angry and say harsh things, and we cannot bear that. This only affirms that we don’t really love the person and his or her best interest. We love the affection and esteem we are getting from that person.
• When over the years someone has seen you at your worst, and knows you with all your strengths and flaws, yet commits him- or herself to you wholly, it is a consummate experience. To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
• He loved us, not because we were lovely to him, but to make us lovely. That is why I am going to love my spouse.
• Your marriage will slowly die if your spouse senses that he or she is not the first priority in your life [best friend]…If your spouse does not feel that you are putting him or her first, then by definition, you aren’t. And when that happens, your marriage is dying.
• If you don’t see your mate’s deep flaws and weaknesses and dependencies, you’re not even in the game. But if you don’t get excited about the person your spouse has already grown into and will become, you aren’t tapping into the power of spiritual friendship. The goal is to see something absolutely ravishing that God is making of the beloved. You see even now flashes of glory. You want to help your spouse become the person God wants him or her to be.
• It will help a great deal to say, ‘I hate it when he does that, but that is not truly him. That is not permanent.’ It will help even more to work together to agree on what is the dross [sinful habits and character] and what is the gold [righteous habits and character] in each other so you can say, ‘This is the real you, this is the real me, this is what God wants us to be, and this is what has got to go. And we’ve got to work together against it.’
• Your marriage will go either into a truth-without-love mode, with constant fighting , or a shallow love-without-truth mode, in which both partners simply avoid the underlying problems.
• The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace.
• Romance, sex, laughter, and plain fun are the by-products of this process of sanctification, refinement, glorification. Those things are important, but they can’t keep the marriage going through years and years of ordinary life. What keeps the marriage going is your commitment to your spouse’s holiness. You’re committed to his or her beauty. You’re committed to his greatness and perfection. You’re committed to her honesty and passion for the things of God. That’s your job as a spouse. Any lesser goal than that, any smaller purpose, and you’re just playing at being married. 
• The gospel can fill our hearts with God’s love so that you can handle it when your spouse fails to love you as he or she should. That frees us to see our spouse’s sins and flaws to the bottom – and speak of them – and yet still love and accept our spouse fully. And when, by the power of the gospel, our spouse experiences that same kind of truthful yet committed love, it enables our spouses to show us that same kind of transforming love when the time comes for it.

My only difference of opinion is regarding the chapter on the roles of husband and wife and how they are applied in a marriage. Keller (and his wife who wrote the chapter) espouses biblical headship and submission but is purposely vague and somewhat open as to how that can be applied. I agree with him in principle but would approach the application differently. However, that is a topic that is best suited for the local church and with individuals who have personal relationships with one another. So it is a minor quibble. If you haven't read the book yet, I highly recommend it!

1 Year in ABQ!

By the grace of God, I have just passed my 1 year anniversary as the senior pastor / preaching pastor / only pastor! at Alameda Bible Church. I have been trying to gather my thoughts on this significant (to me) yet very insignificant (to God and probably most people) achievement.

I try not to make a big deal of this pastoral role as somehow more difficult or demanding than any other pastoral / elder role or that I'm somehow more special than other Christians because I know that biblically I am not. I am just a sinner saved by grace like every other Christian. But at the same time, I do acknowledge that there are unique challenges and demands that come with this role.

I think when Sandy and I go on our Lee family retreat later this year and get time away to truly think about the year without the daily distractions of life, I'll have more coherent thoughts. But amidst the business of everyday demands and responsibilities, I thought it would be good to put my thoughts down in writing at this juncture.

First off, the positives of being the senior pastor:
1. I am surprised at how spiritually enriching and fun it is to study and preach every week

I say that because I was not born a preacher. I don't have any interest in being up front and being the center of attention unlike most senior pastors I know. I had also heard and seen firsthand from friends that the demands of preaching every week can get burdensome. It seems odd to say this in some respects, but studying the Word of God all week along with pressure of wrestling with a new text every Sunday and coming up with a clear, engaging, powerful and even winsom sermon that both convicts and encourages everyone to turn from sin and live for Christ with renewed vigor can be difficult for mortal men to bear. Add to that, every Sunday everyone in the church can judge your performance and let you know exactly what they think, and it can often add up to a difficult job description.

Yet for some reason, at this point at least, I am not too concerned about the pressures and am just loving, studying the Scriptures for what it does for me. It makes me think greater thoughts about God, about His Word and about my salvation. My studies have led to deep conviction of sinful attitudes especially and renewed love for the Gospel in my life. I feel so blessed to study and preach the Word. I recognize that I am not the most gifted preacher / speaker and maybe this helps alleviate the stress in my life as the expectations are lower. But I am just happy to worship God through my preaching. Hopefully everyone else is benefiting too! :)

2. In a lot of respects, it hasn't been that different from other pastoral positions and ministry

This has been a joy because I love ministry. I'm not sure what I expected, but when it comes down to it, you have to study God's Word, preach, teach, pray, love your brothers and sisters in Christ, share the Gospel, make ministry plans and carry them out. The ins and outs are fairly similar to when I was a children's pastor, youth pastor, singles ministry leader, pastoral intern, college pastor and equipping pastor. I do a lot more preaching and teaching in my current role so the proportions are different, but I do pretty much the same things, and I love to do these things.

But despite the positives, there have been a couple of challenges that did surprise me.

1. Being the senior pastor amplifies everything

I don't feel more pressure or responsibility being the senior pastor, but I do feel like it amplifies everything in my life. I struggled with how to describe this effect, but the best word I could come up with is amplification. Because I stand up in front of the church and preach twice every Sunday, everything about me is amplified, specifically my negatives. If I struggle with sin in my life, it feels amplified. If I make mistakes with people during the week, it is amplified. If I am physically tired or emotionally drained, it is amplified when I stand up front to preach the Word.

I don't think the positives in my life are amplified or if they are, they are amplified to a lesser degree. But maybe I'm wrong on that. Regardless, having your spiritual state amplified in front of everyone every week can be taxing. It has caused me to depend more and more on the Gospel for my righteousness, but I must admit, this is a big personal challenge.

2. It has been a lot more demanding on all my family

I think this one has more to do with going from a somewhat larger church to a smaller church. For my kids, they have had to make several sacrifices which has been hard to bear as a father. They are older than the last time we moved so they miss their friends and their old life in KS. We had some dear brothers and sisters in Christ that we left and still miss.

My wife has also had to make sacrifices in her new role as well. We are still figuring it all out so it's a moving target at this stage. But I do appreciate her willingness to be my helper and best friend through the challenges of trying to figure out a new life once again.

It's definitely been a good year. God has manifested His sovereign goodness in big and small ways. I am thankful for His continual sustaining power in my life. God is good, always.

Bible tiger dad

Have you heard of the tiger mom? Well, I'm the Bible tiger dad. I relentless drill my kids on Bible verses! Even though they memorized verses for speech meet and memorize verses for school every week, we still memorize verses that I like to tailor to what they need for their individual spiritual needs.

Emery did 1 Corinthians 10:24.

As did Matt. They are both working on building a better relationship with each other and Andrew. He's already memorized that one.

And Andrew has been working on choosing good friends - Proverbs 13:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:33.

Lest you think we never have fun, here's some spontaneous dance party going on! 2 of the 3 like to dance. Matt not so much. Thanks Frank for the fun mix.

Las Golondrinas

Emery and Matt recently took a field trip with their class to one of those living history museums - Las Golondrinas.

They went back in time and did all sorts of things that people used to do.

Didn't everyone stick their heads in holes for pictures?

It seems like sticking your head in a hole was a theme that day.

I think the kids enjoyed their day though not every part of it from the looks of Matt! I guess he was sad that he couldn't stick his head through a hole for this part.

Halloween

I guess we've started to hit the tweens or whatever it's called these days. Andrew didn't want to go trick or treating for the first time. He chilled out at home. He was looking forward to giving out candy though we only had a few kids (and 1 adult) stop by.

But Emery and Matt were very excited to get some candy. Our little princess and our star wars commander were ready to go. I didn't realize Matt had grown so much this year. The costume fit him fine last Halloween, but he was showing off quite a bit of calf this year.

This year, they hit the jackpot.

We like to pick up a costume right after Halloween. Can't beat 50% off. So Matt is going to be Wolverine next year.

Even Wolverine has to practice piano everyday.

#18 - American Military History

American military history is fascinating to me. I'm not sure why. I think victory appeals to something inherently true and right in God's character and His sovereignty over the world. After all, Jesus will return in victory over the anti-Christ and Satan.

Revelation 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵ From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

And Christ is victorious over sin and death today.
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; ⁵⁷ but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think I've always loved the discipline, camraderie and professionalism of America's military too. Loyalty, valor and courage expressed in the willingness to sacrifice even one's own life for others exemplify the heart of God in the love of Christ.

I recently read American Military History. It is a brief survey of our nation's military. I learned quite a bit of interesting information especially about colonial militias and the Civil War which I know virtually nothing about.

It's not exactly the most exciting read though for military history buffs, I think you will enjoy it.

3 Goal Game, AGAIN!

I'm not sure how he's doing it. But Matt continues to do well in soccer. He had another 3 goals today! The little guy earned all 3 too with some good moves and good shots.

We just barely got this goal on film so don't blink, he scores right away.

Here's some good effort on defense.

It was chilly this morning. I made sure to bundle up.

Speech meet

Last week, our kids participated in what's called Speech meet. They each gave presentations to judges. Everyone had to recite a poem or Bible verses.

Andrew chose to do Psalm 119:1-12.

Matt did Psalm 23.

And Emery did Ephesians 6:1-3. I'm not exactly sure, but I think they were rated on a scale of Superior - being the highest, Excellent - second level and Good - third level. If they made the Superior or Excellent categories, they would go on to district speech meet at another Christian school here in ABQ. Matt got Superior and both Andrew and Emz got Excellent. Though they were quite nervous, the boys and girl did GREAT!

Today was district, and their roles were reversed. Andrew and Emz got Superior while Matt got Excellent. They each got a blue Superior ribbon, a red Excellent ribbon and a purple/pink qualified for district ribbon. They were tickled pink to have 3 ribbons. And they got to eat at McDonalds. They were loving life in their new bean bag chairs too!

Emzy's Tooth #2

In just about 1 week, Emery lost 2 teeth.

My baby girl is growing up! Say it isn't so!

This video is so funny in how fast Emery goes from laughing and happy to "ow" then back to laughing and happy and back to "ow." Thankfully it all ended happy. That's the most important part.

#16 - The Art of War

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who lived several hundred centuries before Christ. His life is somewhat legendary and not much is truly known or verified about him. But he supposedly wrote a book, The Art of War, that sets down military strategy that is still followed by military leaders today.

I had heard about this book for years and finally tracked down a copy to read this year. It was a really short but good read. Here are a few quotes:

• Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
• A leader leads by example, not by force.
• When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteoousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.
• If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

The last one is my favorite. It is so true, especially in the realm of spiritual war. Know your enemy - the sinful flesh, especially. Know how deceitful your heart is, how depraved your mind can be and how cunning your fleshly desires are. Know your proclivity to certain sins. Know your strongest temptations and your heart idols, even the most insignificant one because no idol is insignificant.

Know yourself. Know your true identity in Christ. Know your adoption, your regeneration, your redemption, your justification, your sanctification and your glorification in Christ. Know the precious and magnificent promises that are yours now in Christ.

If you do, you will be transformed and victorious in the battles of life. Unfortunately, too many Christians know neither themselves nor the enemy within and thus succumb to many a temptation. Sun Tzu's military strategy very clearly points to a greater spiritual reality.

Duke City Half Marathon

Today was the day. After training for months, I ran 13.1 miles in the official time of 1:58:57. I just barely beat my goal of 2 hours.

I finished 365th out of 1066 who finished the race. I think there were some 1500 or so that actually ran. In the 35 to 39 year-old age bracket for men, I came in 26 out of 66. All in all, it was a good day.

I really appreciated the support I got from the family. Sandy was a great sponsor, and the kids were supportive too. Running is not my favorite thing, but I do it to "discipline my body" as Paul said in 1 Cor 9:27 so that I may have better spiritual self-control and so that I can have better health.

Balloon Fiesta and the Ulrichs!

This year, I got to experience my first balloon fiesta with our good friends from CA, Frank & Eliza and our good friends from ABQ, the Freys. It was amazing!

I've never seen hot air balloons up close. Nor have I seen hundreds taking off either.

It started bright and early at about 6am or so with only a dozen or so. I guess they go up to test the weather conditions and wind levels at various heights in the sky. When the sky is dark, the gas burners light up the night sky.

After they were up, I guess conditions were good because as dawn came, balloons started going up.

And before you knew it, balloons were up left and right. It was hard to keep up with them.

It was amazing to see them fill the sky and practically be on top of you at the same time.

And at the same time, there were all sorts of crazy and funny shaped balloons too, like the Chesire Cat.

The creamland cow.

Hunny bees that smooched.

And my personal favorite - Darth Vader.

I even got video of the dark lord rising. He looked especially evil.

It was a great time to share with great friends. What? You didn't know Boba Fett was a great friend?