hi

I'd really appreciate your prayers.

Wednesday, my wife took our youngest son to the Dr. for a regular checkup. Everything was fine. Yesterday, she took him back in because he'd spent the last day hacking and just seeming really 'sick'.

He's in the hospital now with brochialitis or pneumonia (they're still deciding which). Last night was a long night there and they want to keep him at least until tomorrow.

I hate being sick, but I hate having sick kids even more.

Thanks for your help.
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Update
Siah came home Sunday and is doing quite a bit better. He has to take these breathing treatments for a while and antibiotics, but he's getting back to normal. (Well I guess normal is relative, but he's getting back to being himself again!) Just glad he's back home and doing better.

America's Jesus???

USA Today had an interesting opinion piece titled, What has happend to America's Jesus?.

While I share the writer's dislike of the embarrassing way some claim to speak for Jesus in our country and the ridiculously un-Jesus-like things they do, I think he didn't go back far enough. He's compared today's misconceptions about Jesus to another generation's misconceptions about Jesus, but possibly ignored the actual Jesus altogether. The one who is the Way, Truth, and Life. The one who threw people out of the Temple and healed broken people whom no one else would touch. The one who refused to eat for a 40 day fast and who fed thousands with one kids' meal.

But the article got me thinking...

Who speaks for Jesus today?
Does 'conservative American' really equal 'a voice for Jesus'?
Is more conservative the same as more Christian?
Is Satan using a few hot button issues to distract conservative Christians from the real Jesus or will the battle for Christ truly be won or lost in these issues?
Is one political slant more or less Christian than another?
What are we doing to find out what Jesus really has to say?

What do you think?

Play

Mike Yaconelli wrote this book about the adventure of childlike faith a few years ago. I just picked it back up and was rereading a little. I found myself in the middle of his chapter about Daring Playfulness. It was a good reminder.

"Play is an expression of God's presence in the world; one clear sign of God's absence in society is the absence of playfulness and laughter. Play is not an escape; it is the way to release the life-smothering grip of busyness, stress, and anxiety."

I had planned a worship time with the students tonight where we'd talk about the fact that God wants our hearts, not just our butts in the church chairs a couple times a week. Some music, a video, discussion groups... Instead, we're gonna play!

Don't forget to play with God...

Putting up Markers

When I was in Jr. High - I realized the church wasn't just a bunch of adults singing songs and hearing speeches. I realized that God wanted to speak to me. I realized that He wanted something for and from my life (though I couldn't have dreamed that it would be what He's done with my life so far). I realized He wasn't just a past-tense Creator, but that He was active in the world around me and wanted to be active within me. It was in the context of a place that was really a people called the Church at Bryant.

It was a critical time for me of important spiritual discovery. I met Truth. People like my friend Scott and the youth minister Kyron (though we called him KC then) introduced me to Him. Actually my parents and others had been trying to do that for years, I just didn't pay much attention until then. I love being able to do that now for someone else.

College at Nebraska Christian College was another spiritual watershed in my life. It wasn't just that I was being equipped for ministry and digging deeper into God's Word than ever before. I was being shaped and held in the hand of God. I was learning to be His. I love helping other people learn that.

My first ministry (with the Auburn Christian Church) was another place/people that has marked my life for the good. For the first time, I could see my life (inasmuch as it is Christ's) really making a difference in someone else's. I saw Him becoming real to students as they looked at me. It was a humbling and rewarding time.

This weekend I took some WestWay Jr Highers to GORF at NCC, another important place that's really a people. It's amazing to see God working and to think of the circle of ministry that's happening in my life. I took Jr High kids (from WestWay) to my college home (NCC), where they were hosted by some of my former students (from Auburn) who are growing up and being used by God in some really exciting ways. The juxtaposition of present results and future potential and past efforts painted a great picture for me this weekend. A picture of God at work.

Some of you already know this part, but just to add a bit of God's irony to the picture...
About 10 years ago, the building where the Church at Bryant met was locked up by those people for the final time. But this isn't another 'church gets old and dies' story. The church where I spent Jr. High bought a lumber yard, remodeled, and began meeting on West 27th St. Since they weren't 'at Bryant' anymore, they changed their name to WestWay Christian Church.