Words to remember

Barack Obama has been elected president. Many are happy about this. Some are not. Al Mohler in a blog post this morning had a good reminder for all of us.

Evangelical Christians face another challenge with the election of Sen. Obama, and a failure to rise to this challenge will bring disrepute upon the Gospel, as well as upon ourselves. There must be absolutely no denial of the legitimacy of President-Elect Obama's election and no failure to accord this new President the respect and honor due to anyone elected to that high office. Failure in this responsibility is disobedience to a clear biblical command.

Beyond this, we must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom. He and his family will face new challenges and the pressures of this office. May God protect them, give them joy in their family life, and hold them close together.

Reformation Day

Having been raised Lutheran, I can remember when my church had a Reformation Day celebration that included a fair in the church gym. One of the few things I remember well was that my friend and I got to man the booth selling indulgences. I have no recollection of who got to be Martin Luther but I do vaguely recall that they didn't actually get to nail the 95 Theses to the door of the church (which, mind you, doesn't work particularly well on metal and glass doors).

I don't know that as a Lutheran I grew in my faith much. I remember falling asleep during the sermons and cutting Sunday School and going across the street to the Wawa. I remember watching a movie biography of Martin Luther and thinking that he came off as somewhat of a dork. I remember the high school Sunday School class being given the choice of going through some workbook (whose content I don't remember) or actually studying the Bible and the overwhelming choice was the workbook.

My journey of faith over the next several years took me to Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical Free, non-denominational, Presbyterian, and probably some other churches that I can't remember. But when I look back on this past year, one of my favorite movies that I got from Netflix was Luther - the 2003 movie featuring Joseph Fiennes in the title role. One of the books that has challenged me to think more deeply about my faith was On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 1518. It makes me think that maybe those years growing up weren't as empty as I remember. After all, God causes all things to work together for the good of those that love Him and are called acccording to His purpose.

So, this Reformation Day, I am thankful that God is continually reforming me, conforming me to the image of His Son and that nailing some complaints on a church door all those years ago helped me to realize the importance of nailing my Savior to the cross.

Posted as part of Tim Challies' Third Annual Reformation Day Symposium.

The Author of my days

Last night, I had a dream and then I woke up. OK, that's not surprising in it's own right. In the dream, it was the beginning of our service at church, when I usually say "Good morning, church" and share a scripture or testimony often relating to the first song we're going to sing. In the dream, we had pretty good attendance with many a face that I did not recognize. I don't know that I recognized anyone at all, but that's beside the point that I am dragging my heels in getting to...

I was sharing about how God has a plan for us and how that plan is not haphazard, how all of our days are planned by God. Basically, I was riffing on Psalm 139.

But then, the alarm went off. Actually when I came to, I realized it wasn't my alarm. After a bit of concentrating and gradually waking up, I realized I was awaken by a cricket chirping outside. Since it wasn't too long until the alarm was supposed to go off, I turned it off and went to do my daily Bible reading. Wouldn't you know it? The first thing on my daily reading schedule today was Psalm 139.

A bowl of cereal

I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast today. You may not think of that as big deal, but for me it was. I've been on crutches for a week and at times am feeling frustrated, helpless, and useless.

But that's not what's amazing about my bowl of cereal. Having a bowl of cereal for breakfast seems so simple. But not quite so if you're on crutches. Before eating the cereal I had to:

1. Hobble from the kitchen to the dining room carrying a bowl


2. Hobble back to the kitchen


3. Carry the cereal to the dining room and fill the bowl


4. Carry the cereal back to the kitchen and put it away


5. Carry a spoon (and my medicine) to the dining room


6. Back to the kitchen


7. Carry milk to dining room and pour over cereal


8. Put milk back in refrigerator


9. Time to eat!

Simple task, but not really all that simple. The beauty of it all was not apparent to me until we began worship team rehearsal before church. The opening some was "Every Move I Make" by David Ruis

Every move I make I make in You
You make me move Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You
Every step I take I take in You
You are my way Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You

©1996 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing
Words and Music by David Ruis

Jesus was with me every step that I took just to have a bowl of cereal. Ain't God's Grace great?

My Right Foot

Yes, that's my right foot before your eyes there. Ain't it pretty? I am busy (ok not really busy) convalescing from spraining my ankle the other day. I was less than a month from my 43rd birthday before I had to make my very first visit to the emergency room.

So here's the short version, I was scrubbing mildew and such off the side of the house when I started to feel the ladder slipping. Because the side of the house is on a hill, it's hard to plant the ladder firmly. Anyway, as soon as I felt the ladder start to slip, I started to get down. Unfortunately, I did not get down fast enough. Next thing I know, I lying on the ground and my ankle is in the worst pain I personally have ever felt.

My wonderful wife very quickly takes charge and has the boys get dressed and sends them to a neighbors house so that they don't have to come along as she takes me to the emergency room. My ankle gets x-rayed as does my knee (which hurt too, but not nearly as much). Good news, nothing's broken. Bad news, I'm on crutches at least through tomorrow morning.

So what have I learned from all of this? Absolutely nothing! Ha, just kidding. I am actually quite thankful. Thankful for a wife who has taken care of me far better than I probably deserve. Thankful for two boys who have the start of a servant's heart and have occasionally been fighting over who gets to help Daddy. Thankful that worship singing still happened at our church even with me in the congregation rather than on stage. Thankful that it was my ankle instead of my arm, because hurting my arm might have prevented me from playing guitar for a long while. Thankful that God has set my feet upon a rock rather than a wobbly ladder on the the side of my house.

Ian getting ready to race

DSC_6070
Originally uploaded by donbecht

Here's a photo (taken by Don Becht) of Ian preparing to swim in a meet. Jennifer and Coach Trish are busy encouraging him as he gets ready.

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I was blogging. I just wanted to pop out a few
things that are on my mind... Sometime in the near future I need to spend
some time and work through some of the ideas that I have about Bible
studies for my two sons. I also have a bunch of songs that I need to get
back to finishing up my recordings of them. And then there's the boy's
swim meets...