What happened on February 17?  For most, it’s just another day, nothing special.  For me, it is one of those most life impacting days.  February 17, 1984 is the day my mother died.  And February 17, 2002 is the day my father died. Yes, eighteen years to the day after my father was widowed, he joined the saints in heaven with her. Not that it means anything particularly, just an interesting reality. And yes, I’ve written about this before, but it’s one of those things that continues to impact my life.

Mom’s death impacted me most. Not because I loved her more than Dad, but because I was least prepared. I’d been through the loss of all four of my grandparents prior to that. I had been a pastor for almost eight years and done dozens of funerals, so I thought I faced death fairly well. Continue reading “Numbering Our Days” →

“5 years ago you fell off your bike and …busted your face,” so was the friendly text on Monday from my granddaughter, Delia. Indeed, she was right, at least partially.  She was commemorating five years since I fainted while riding my bike, probably due to dehydration, and ended up in the ER. Gratefully, “busted your face” wasn’t quite accurate, but it looked like it. I blogged about it the next day in a post called In Praise of the Helmet!

But the five years since my infamous bike wreck isn’t the main focus of this post.  That event was just three days after my wife, Linda, had a mastectomy on June 10, 2011. See In Sickness and in Health. She was recovering at home just three days after surgery when she received the call from law enforcement that her husband was in the hospital ER due to a bicycle accident. She couldn’t come to check on me and was left with no information for some time whether I was dead or alive. But I was fine, probably a mild concussion, but no lasting effect, and was released to go home. Continue reading “Five Years Plus an Eternity of Grace” →

Guest Post by Scott Hackett*

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

In the past month, we have experienced our share of death.  Not a cheery subject for the beginning of the year, I know, but keep reading.  First, a security guard at GIS died unexpectedly leaving a wife and children behind.  On the same day, a close Thai friend of ours lost her brother-in-law in the same way; he left a wife and seven children behind.  Within the same week our landlady stopped by and told us her husband had died.  A week later, Sarah’s grandmother passed away.  Finally, one of our pet rabbits died as well.

All death is tragic and no one wishes for it.  However, the Thai friend’s brother-in-law as well as Sarah’s grandmother were believers in Christ, and we rejoice that they now have comfort in heaven.  The rabbit, well, that’s a theological debate.  (There can be an argument that there will be animals in the new heaven and earth.)

The others are a different story.  The guard was Buddhist.  A Buddhist funeral is quite a heartbreaking experience.  After monks prayed over the coffin, the wife and children placed a banana on the coffin, cut it in half to symbolize their separation from the deceased, then ran to a motorbike that sped them away.  This quick departure was to assure that the spirit didn’t try to follow them.  Afterwards, the coffin was moved to the incinerator to be burned.  The fire began to go out, so people quickly doused the coffin with accelerant to keep the fire burning.  This was said to be a bad omen indicating the body was not ready for the next life and was trying to return; therefore, many were left in fear, including fellow guards who believed they saw his spirit.**   This demonstrates a small example of the confusion in this country.  The GIS community was able to reach out and share Christ’s love with the family, for which they were blessed and appreciative.

Our landlady is of a different faith.  We were able to cry with her and hug her as she told us her bad news.  We also delivered a small gift of candy and fruit with a note of encouragement wishing her comfort through Christ’s mercy and love.  She responded with appreciation, saying “God bless your family also.”

We rejoice with those who rejoice over the hope of new beginnings.  However, we mourn with those who mourn over uncertainties of the hereafter.  Living here includes daily reminders of this sorrow.  Please pray for this country, that the Thais will know the hope not merely in the new year, but in everlasting new beginnings in Christ.

***

*Scott and Sarah Hackett and three sons live in Chiang Mai, Thailand where they teach at GIS, Grace International School. Check out their pictorial blog, hackett5journey’s blog  Sarah is my niece.

**Buddhist funeral content taken from a coworkers’ blog post.

How should followers of Jesus respond to the Ebola crisis?

Are Ann Coulter and Donald Trump right that we should stay at home and leave Africa to its own problems because we have enough of our own right here?  Were Kent Brantley and Nancy Whitebol fools to place themselves in harm’s way to serve Ebola patients?  Does the fact that they were infected by Ebola themselves, prove they were fools?  Continue reading “Ebola, Risks and Opportunities” →

After my reading this morning from Daniel 12 and Psalm 119:48-72, and praying a prayer from The Valley of Vision, with no obvious connection to the previous, my mind latched on to the lyrics of a 200 year old hymn, Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart.

The line that surfaced was Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move. The seemingly random lyrics were imprinted from repeated exposure when I was a child, but suddenly took on fresh urgency. I had to look up this hymn and remember the other lyrics. It was all familiar except for the second stanza, an essential part of the whole.

I commend this hymn to you.  Pray it aloud (sing it if you know the tune) and ask God to graciously imprint the meaning on your heart.

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

Lyrics by George Cro­ly, Psalms and Hymns for Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: 1854).  Croly was born Au­gust 17, 1780 in Dub­lin, Ire­land and died No­vem­ber 24, 1860 in Hol­born, Eng­land. Cyber Hymnal   Note that he was 74 years old when he penned these words, acknowledging even at that age that his heart still needed to be weaned from a dependence on this world.

I slept in Thursday morning so my daily appointment on the back screened in porch was delayed until about 8:o’clock. The sun was well on its way in its daily journey across Indiana, the skies that day perfectly blue, not even a puff of cloud. By that time in the morning, the chatter of birds was mostly silenced.  I missed their usual accompaniment as I read Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 46, 47.

And then the concert began. Continue reading “Be still, and know that I am God” →

Two days ago, Delia and Matti, my twin granddaughters, had their tenth birthday.  In those ten years, they have experienced the agony and major inconvenience of about ten long bone fractures – femur, tibia and fibula; plus several small fractures in their feet, all due to a fragile bone condition called Osteo Genesis Imperfecta, Their lives have been filled with xrays and casts, a wheel chair, a walker, therapy…  But it had been more than two years since a fracture, so we’ve been relieved, but always concerned. We don’t want them to just play it safe and miss out on life, yet the the worry is always there.

So Delia joined an after school running club, Cross Country for younger kids, fourth and fifth graders, called Pup Running. The course is roughly 1 1/4 miles over a rolling hills grass course at Northview Church. Who says churches and public schools can’t be good partners for the good of the kids?

Then last Friday, Delia fell and broke the radius in her left arm. Continue reading “Running with Endurance” →