Grace From the Fischtank

John Fischer is one of those guys I've been reading for many years. I discovered him several years ago inside the back cover of CCM Magazine. Since then I have become the proud owner of several of his books. He's a self-proclaimed radical from the 60's who never looks for the easy way out or the easy answers. The cool thing about John; I had a question last week so I e-mailed him. He responded within a couple of hours. The following is from today's e-mail that I subscribe to from John. Take a look at what he had to say about grace. It is a whole new perspective on a familiar passage of scripture.

Catch of the Day

The glorious inequity of grace
by John Fischer

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." - Jesus Christ (Luke 6:35)

If you want to get a little taste of what God is like, try loving your enemies, lending money to those you know won't pay you back, and then try being kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. What does this do to one's sense of justice and fairness? What could this possibly be about? Jesus can't be serious about this, can he?

Here's what I think. I think Jesus is getting us to think this way because he wants us to see something important about ourselves.

After all, what are we thinking here… that we are God's friends, that we always pay back what we borrow, and that we are most certainly grateful and holy, and that's why it's so hard for us to understand why God would ask us, the holy ones, to be kind to all these wicked and ungrateful folks? Gee, somehow we're going to have to find it in ourselves to love these awful people. But I suppose that if God can do it, we can too. It will be a stretch, but we will try… Is that what this is about?

Hardly. Here's what I think it means:

There is relatively little difference between the most ungrateful, wicked people I can think of and me, and I had better be deeply grateful that God is, in fact, "unfair" in this way, because otherwise there would be no hope for me. I know this is what Jesus is saying because the very next verse is: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful [to you]." And that is followed up with: "Do not judge and you will not be judged." See where He's going with this?

When you look at it this way, it changes the whole picture.

Love your enemies and be kind to those who, like you, have received the kindness of God when you didn't deserve it. And if you are ever tempted to think of God as being unfair, then go all the way and rejoice in the glorious inequity of grace that has made unlikely room for you and me, and in that same spirit of "unfairness," make room in your heart for others.

To subscribe go to www.fischtank.com.

 

Fat Glenn

Here is a video from Glenn Beck's TV show on Fox News. Here he does a great job of explaining how we have gotten into the financial mess that were in. I have to admit, I enjoyed Glenn a lot more before he started running around saying the sky is falling, but everything he says makes a lot of sense. I feel like that there is not much hope left for America. I don't think we'll recognize this country in 5 years. Good thing that as a Christian it really doesn't matter.

Shalom at Sol House

Last night my C-Group from Karis went over to the Sol House and had dinner with the teens that live there as part of our Shalom project. Sol House is a transitional living facility for homeless teens ages 16 to 21. It is operated by Rainbow House in Columbia. They are always looking for people to come over and spend time with the teens and to encourage them by teaching them life skills. We had a great time and we worked with them in cooking a great meal. We also worked with them after the meal in cleaning the kitchen, which the staff at Sol House appreciated. I feel like we connected well with the teens and we are looking forward to going back next month. I want to send a big shout out to Amy Larson for putting together a great meal plan and bringing all the stuff we needed for the meal. She did a great job with the planning and the prep. 

Beauty and the Beast

Me, Janice and Jamel went to the third annual Beauty and the Beast gymnastic & wrestling event at the Hearnes Center tonight at Mizzou. It was an interesting event as there were gymnastic events and wrestling matches going on at the same time. It was hard on deciding what to watch. Unfortunately, our wrestling team didn't do so well tonight.

Jamel had a great time and he was excited that he got to take a Mizzou wrestling poster home with him.

The most interesting thing that happened was a conversation Jamel and I had on our way to pick up Janice. Somehow the subject of Michael Phelps came up. He asked me why someone who was a world record holder and a great swimmer would smoke marijuana. I had the chance to talk to Jamel about how we all will be faced with choices. Sometimes the choices will be easy and some will be hard, and at some point we will all make the wrong choice. The important thing is to learn from those mistakes and to take responsibility for them. We talked about how Phelps didn't make excuses, he took responsibility, he didn't whine about consequences, he took his medicine. It has probably been a difficult couple of weeks for him, but he did the right thing. 

Jamel really seemed like he understood, and he even said it was like when he took responsibility for his dog chewing up his library book. I think he got it. He is a smart kid.

He told me on the drive home that he likes hanging out with me and he is glad I'm his Big Brother. Our relationship continues to grow and the conversations continue to get deeper. Not bad for only 2 months. 

Camp CUMCITO 2009 Begins

This Saturday Janice and I will be heading to Kansas City to meet with the planning team for Pre-teen week at Camp CUMCITO 2009.  I can't believe that it's time to start planning again for another year. Camp CUMCITO (City Union Mission's Camp in the Ozarks) is operated by City Union Mission in Kansas City. This will be the 4th year Janice and I will be involved together with camp. We have served at pre-teen camp each year except for 2007 when we served at junior camp. Here is a link to a video that was made during our week at Junior camp in 2007. Pre-teen camp is for boys and girls ages 11 and 12. I will be the male staff director for the second time this year. Janice may be working in a cabin this year but she is still not sure. Last summer my niece Katlin from Tulsa came and worked with us at camp and she will be coming back this summer. She wants to work in a cabin this year.

Camp CUMCITO is an opportunity for inner-city kids to get away from the environment they're used to and put them in a place where they can see that there is something different out there. The motto of camp is, "An Opportunity For A Changed Life." Of course, the only way life can truly be changed is through a relationship with Christ. So, we try to let them see Christ for a week. Most of these kids go right back to bad situations, so we try to offer them a glimpse of something they will remember.

Camp seems to be more exciting each year especially now that we are involved in some of the planning. It helps to build some anticipation for the week we will spend there. Take a look at the video and maybe you'll want to come serve with us this year. We can always use more help.

The Katy Trail...In February?

It reached 70 degrees today so Jamel and I hit the Katy Trail in Rocheport for a little hiking action. We visited the Rocheport train tunnel and we hiked to the top of the hill on top of the tunnel overlooking the Missouri River. Jamel is not a big "outdoor activity" kind of guy, so this was a new experience for him. It definitely wore him out. As soon as we left and got back on the road he promptly fell asleep. He said he enjoyed it and he wants to spend more time on the trail this summer. This Friday we will be going to the Beauty and the Beast Gymnastics/Wrestling event at Mizzou.

Integrity

With everything going on in Washington these days, namely all the folks who haven't paid their taxes either getting into, or almost getting into, cabinet positions, I have been thinking about the importance of Integrity. Today Janice sent me this quote she got from a daily email she receives:

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Then, this evening I saw this small article in the news from the New York Post:

FRESNO, Calif. -- Hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is now every librarian's hero, too.

When the US Airways pilot's plane ended up at the bottom of the Hudson River on Jan. 15, so did a book he had checked out from the library at California State University, Fresno, through his local library near Danville.

Sullenberger contacted library officials and asked for an extension and waiver of overdue fees because the book was in the airliner's cargo hold.

Fresno State library officials said they were struck by Sullenberger's sense of responsibility and did him one better: they're waiving all fees, even lost book fees, and placing a template in the replacement book dedicating it to him.

The book's subject? Professional ethics.

I'm not sure how to wrap my mind around this whole thing. It seems to me that Sullenberger should be the guy going after one of these cabinet positions. Not because he landed a plane in the Hudson. He was supposed to do that. He was trained to do that. But because he's reading a book on professional ethics. I think the above quote applies to him. He has the integrity, and probably the knowledge. Plus he is still trying to get more knowledge. Then he calls the library to say he won't be returning the book! I bet he would have paid any fees had they not waived them and he would have done it without complaint.

I'd like to see what these guys in Washington are reading.

My point is this: I think most of us are more like Sullenberger than these Washington clowns. We're just regular Joe's out there working hard trying to make an honest living. How does it even make sense that any of those guys in Washington can make decisions on our behalf? How do they know what we need or what's best for us? 

What can we do? Uncle Ted (Ted Nugent) said it best. I heard him interviewed a few weeks ago. He said we need to make our opinions known to our congressmen and senators as often as possible. Let them know we are not politicians, we're just regular people. Scream loudly and often and make them listen. Be nice, but always share your opinion. Get involved in your community and help make changes at the local level. Make a difference in your community. Volunteer. Serve. Help others. Be part of a community. Have a stake in something.

I feel like this whole posting is a bunch of rambling, but only we can make a difference. We can't give up. Our nation depends on it.

Imprimis

Several years ago I heard Paul Harvey on the radio talking about a newsletter that you could get a free subscription to. It was produced by Hillsdale College in Michigan and it was called Imprimis. I made the phone call and since then I have been enjoying the newsletter. It arrives monthly and it features a printed version of a recent speech that was given by various people at different venues around the world. The reason I mention this now is because I just read a great speech last night from the November 08 issue by Dinesh D'Souza. D'Souza is a great Christian thinker and the author of the recent book, What's So Great About Christianity. The book made some waves in the mainstream media when it came out a few months ago.

Anyway, in his speech in the November issue of Imprimis, he gives some great insight on America being founded on Christian principles. Hillsdale College archives Imprimis online, so click here if you want to read his speech.

If you like what you read, you may want to sign up for your free subscription to Imprimis.

Another Library Visit

Jamel and I made another trip to the library this evening.  When I picked him up he was a little upset that his dog had chewed up one of his library books. The cool thing was that he knew it was his responsibility to pay for it. He was afraid he would be in trouble because he didn't have any money to pay for it today. I told him when we got to the library he would have to tell them what happened and then he would have to work out how he was going to pay for it. Fortunately, the people at the library were very cool about the whole thing. Jamel explained what happened and he worked it out. I was very proud of him. When he told the man that he didn't have money tonight, he was told that he could go ahead and check out more books tonight and pay for the book next time he came in. On the way home we had a great conversation about being up front about things. He explained to me that he knew trying to hide it was not the right thing to do. He also said he learned a lesson about keeping his books away from his dog.

Looks like we're going to try and hook up again Saturday.

My Review of the Canadian Brass

Janice and I had the opportunity Friday evening to go see the Canadian Brass at Jesse Hall at Mizzou. I had never heard of them so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was a nice surprise. The concert started with the quintet walking down the aisle playing the old hymn, Just A Closer Walk With Thee. Then they played a wide variety of songs from J.S. Bach to a musical opera by Peter Schickele for their closing number. They also did some great jazz tunes as well as some Glenn Miller selections. I think my favorite song of the night was their encore selection. They played an arrangement of Handel's Messiah mixed with When the Saints Go Marching In. I know what you're thinking, "How could that ever work?" Well, it worked great! I also never thought I would hear a french horn sound "cool." But their french horn player could really blow. 

They also mix a lot of humor into their show. Chuck Daellenbach, their tuba player, had a great sense of humor. His introduction to each selection was almost as great as the music. They played one song where they said it was a custom for the instrumentalists to locate themselves in different places in the auditorium. Chuck took his tuba and found an empty seat in the middle of the hall. After making several people stand up so he could squeeze in, and then having the lady in front of him hold his music, he played the song flawlessly.

We also found out that their trombone player, Gene Watts, is a native of Sedalia and a graduate of Mizzou.  Recently he even received an honorary doctorate from Mizzou. So this concert was sort of a homecoming for him.

The group has been around since 1970 and Daellenbach and Watts are the two original members still part of the group. I had never heard of them before this concert, but I really enjoyed the show and would not mind having some of their music handy. So, if you ever get the chance to see them it would be well worth it.  Check out their website and listen to some of their selections.