Tuesday, January 30, 2007

retreat reminder!


Spaces are filling up for our College Winter Retreat on Feb 9-11! Nevertheless, I'm throwing out one last chance to register for the early rate. If you can get your registration in before this Thursday (Feb 1) at 2:oopm, you can still get in for $75 (or $95 if Snowboarding). After that, it will be an additional $20.

Details once again:
  • Who: Grace College-Aged Community
  • What: College Winter Retreat 2007--Studying Discipleship in Luke and having fun in the snow!
  • Where: Shaver Lake
  • When: Feb 9-11 Meet in front of the church @ 4:30 a.m. (Snowboard group) / 4:30p.m. (retreat only group) on Friday February 9.
  • Why: Go Deep with God and each other
How to sign up--drop off a check at the church office Mon-Thur, or sign up on Sunday Morning during College Group. Questions? email: steve@graceslo.org

Thursday, January 25, 2007

urbana


A number of our college students from Grace went to Urbana over the winter break to explore missions and God's calling on their lives. I've been hearing moving reports of what happened in their lives as a result. One of them, Matt Esswein, sent me this article published in the Wall Street Journal saying, "It was cool for me to here as a business major that one of the nation's top business publications would include an article on the conference. "

Check it out: Meeting in St. Louis

He shared that this conference has been making him think more about doing business for a while and seeing what doors God opened up there. Since we're talking about vocation in college these days I wonder...

Any ways God has been working on your lives specifically with regards to vocation?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

good question george




Check out this column by George F. Will in the most recent issue of Newsweek. A very insightful example of the way Roe v. Wade, genetic disorders, and eugenics come together to discriminate against the very lives of a certain classification of human beings.

Golly, What Did Jon Do?

As a side note, even as I am writing this David (another person offensive to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) is pulling himself to a stand and taking 6-7 independant steps toward Lisa. Check out the pictures!

Friday, January 19, 2007

choosing david

Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday. I always used to think that good Christians should take a pro-life stance and that we should defend the rights of the unborn when it came to abortion and the like. Two influences have since come into my life that have greatly challenged my views on this issue.

In the past few years I have become of devotee of the Mars Hill Audio Journal (a bimonthly audio magazine of contemporary culture and Christian conviction). Ken Myers has, over the years, interviewed many guests who have raised my awareness that abortion is only the beginning of the crisis facing our culture when it comes to the value of life. He has interviewed the likes of Richard John Neuhas, Nigel Cameron (a regular guest), Carlos Gomez, Michael Uhlman, C. Ben Mitchell, Joel James Shuman and others about issues like stem cell research, the relation of God's nature and purposes to our approach to sickness and medicine, the vocation of medicine, the meaning of human life, issues of suicide and euthanasia and many related topics. The take-away that continually resonates in my mind and heart is that the church by and large is behind the times on the variegated issues that surround sanctity of life. In an age of assisted suicide, genetic counseling, eugenics, fertility specialists, a lack of moral moorings, the Church needs to be educated and needs to stand up and fulfill its prophetic role in our culture.

Besides being stirred intellectually regarding these issues, we have faced them personally and deeply in raising a child with special needs. Our oldest son, David, was born with Cornelia deLange Syndrome resulting in small stature, global developmental delay and physical abnormalities. The conventional wisdom in the medical community today seems to be that testing should be performed during pregnancy to investigate the health of the "fetus" (I had a professor at Fresno State who once commented that pregnant soccer moms never have tee shirts that read "Fetus" with an arrow to their tummys!). While it might seem these good people in white lab coats want the best for your "fetus," unfortunately they are more often than not investigating whether they need to counsel termination of a pregnancy gone wrong. "In light of modern medicine, it is ridiculous that anyone should be born today with genetic disorders" is a sentiment I come across often, whether from the likes of Peter Singer or from doctors interviewed in Newsweek and on such programs as 60 Minutes. They don't mean that modern medicine can heal. David and his classmates at Chris Jesperson, in many such people's opinions, should never have been born. They're "quality of life" lacks too much and the financial outlay to our society costs too much. Yet, as I have watched my son over the past 41/2 years, it is offensive that anyone would dare to rob him of his opportunity at life. This kid is full of joy, determination and love. He brings joy to those who get to know him and has challenged many people (including me!) in the way they see others. Beyond that, the Lord, the Creator of life itself, speaks directly to this issue in Psalm 139:

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

The God of the Bible revealed in Jesus of Nazareth invented life. He is the giver of life. He sovereignly superintends every dimension of our lives.

There are a ton of great resources out there to learn more about the issues facing our culture on the issue of Sanctity of life. I want to recommend just a couple. After David was born someone gave Lisa a copy of Choosing Naia which she found extremely helpful. It is a book about a couple, Greg and Tierney Fairchild, a happily married, interracial professional couple who went for the usual prenatal screenings and came away with some very bad news: the fetus carried a major heart defect that could signal Down syndrome. The Fairchild's are not believers to my knowledge and begin as a couple who are not particularly pro-life. This is the story of their journey coming face to face with these issues in their daughter Naia.

I would also recommend Bioethics: A Primer For Christians by Gilbert Meilaender. As one review on Amazon puts it, Meilaender comes to the point early: "I have tried to say what we Christians ought to say in order to be faithful to the truth that has claimed us in Jesus." Recommended on Mars Hill, I plan to read this book this year to continue my own education on this issue.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

college winter retreat


Don't miss out on this year's Winter Retreat. February 9-11 Grace College ministry is heading up to Shaver Lake for a weekend of snow, fun and going deeper with God and each other. Last year was our first Winter Retreat and we had a blast. This year it'll be bigger and better than before--including the addition of an optional day of snowboarding @ Sierra Summit! Our spaces are limited and about a third of them are already gone, so sign up this Sunday Morning.

Retreat Info:
  • Option 1: $75 (retreat only)
  • Option 2: $95 (retreat with snowboarding; rentals not included)
  • Register by Sunday, Jan 29 in College Group
  • When do we leave? Meet in front of the church @ 4:30 a.m. (Snowboard group) / 4:30p.m. (retreat only group) on Friday February 9.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

3 years old!


Matthias turned 3 this weekend and we had a fun train party down in Oceano at the Rock & Roll Cafe. This picture captures one of Matty's new expressions that I totally love these days. I think it captures his place in life...just beginning to grasp the significance and excitement of special occasions like Christmas and birthdays!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

fighter verses


I've been wanting to be more intentional about spending time in the Word as a family for a while. A couple years back I met with some guys in our church for breakfast once a week and we memorized a set of verses put out by Desiring God called "Fight Verses." It's great becasue you can get them right off the web sight for free, or you can purchase their resources.

I've been wanting to try it in earnest for so long that I finally bit the bullet and purchased the ESV (my favorite translation for literal/readable combo) set for our family. Lisa and I started memorizing together a couple weeks ago with a verse from the Old Testament that says it all,

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God
who keeps covenant and steadfast love
with those who love him and keep his commandments,
to a thousand generations.

Deut. 7.9

I share this, not because I am so great at memorizing, but because I struggle to keep this as a my part of my life. Maybe you do too. We're enjoying the time together and we're talking about Scripture together each evening after dinner. If yo're lookoing for something to help you, I highly recommend Fighter Verses (you can get kids packs and little prizes for your kids too).

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

contradiction?


I admit I don't know a lot about a lot. However, I just poured "fat free half & half" into my coffee. Isn't that called skim milk?? If only Tim Wheeler were a blog guy, he could log in and clear up the confusion for me...

the a.i.d.s. crisis

I mentioned the Hedlt's and their blog a couple posts back as examples of living the Gospel in the world. One issue they are informed about si the crisis of AIDS, especially in Africa. Iam very challenged by them in this area and regret my ignorance in this area. Today in the mailI received some literature on a new book being put out by Intervarsity Press on this very issue. I think for many of us in the Church this is one of our Ninevehs--an area of sin we would rather not touch. Perhaps it's time to see the Gospel is bigger than the AIDS crisis...

From the notice I received...

The Campaign for Life

Deborah Dortzbach and W. Meredith Long (both executives with World Relief) take you to the ground floor of the campaign against AIDS, moving from the devastating global perspective to the hope emerging from the grass roots. You can help the church change the course of hte AIDS Crisis.

How We Can Help

  1. Stop debating whether Christians should repsond to HIV and AIDS. "We must instead repent of our slow response."
  2. Decide how to resond. "The scope of possible invovement is just as broad as the scope of the AIDS disaster."
  3. Know with whom to respond. "The fight agaist AIDS brings together many unlikely organizations...sincere in watign to protect and save lives."
  4. Ask yourself daily: What attitude am I repsoning with? How vulnerable am I willing to become?
Perhaps the Lord would call on some in our midst to read this book and expand our understanding of this issue?

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

simply christian

"Simply Christian" goes beyond C.S. Lewis's great classic Mere Christianity. N.T. Wright is simply crucial; his writing can transform one's life. This will become a classic."
-Anne Rice, author of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

That's quite a claim for a person to make. In some ways it it strikes me as the Christian version of claiming the hot new band is the next Beatles (Can you believe someone actually claimed that Terrence Trent D'Arby was the next Beatles? If you're asking Who?? my point is made). Nevertheless, as an accomplished author herself and as one whose life was transformed in part by Wright's writing in her journey to faith, I think we can give Rice credit for more than another blurb on the back of a book.

I recently finished reading and enjoying Simply Christian for myself. As a C.S. Lewis fan, I think I fairly say that only a scholar of Wright's stature and broad appeal could even dare to, let alone pull off, the task of writing the Mere Christianity for today's postmodern context. In my opinion, Wright accomplishes his goal. I will say from the start that I don't agree with everything Wright says, while I can only say I'm in process over other issues he raises. (Although, as much as I love Lewis, I don't agree with him on everything either.)

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book as an intriguing introduction to Christianity that leads us into the story of Christianity--the story of Israel and especially of Jesus--through the echoes we hear in life of a voice who tells us there's something more than what we experience. When we examine the world around us and our longings for justice, relationship, spirituality and beauty, we are acknowledging that all is not right with the world. Wright argues this is not because the Christian worldview is false, but rather because it is true! Our world groans because God's good creation has been marred by humanity's rebellion against our creator and needs to be "put to rights." This is where the echoes meet the story and voice of Jesus, come to bring redemption and new creation--to individuals and the world.

Not everyone will resonate with this book, but I think especially those of you in college and into your early 30's will find this book a helpful aid in your own faith and in your conversations with unbelievers.

cal poly grad living the gospel


I saw this article about Andrea Newell on the Tribune website today. I don't know Andrea's denominational ties, etc., but SHe struck me as another example of someone living the Kingdom. Congratulations on your wedding Andrea and Vincent!

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

family time



Over the holiday we got some great time together as a family. We even got out with a photographer to get some family photos (a goal for about 18 months!).