Finger of God

As we talked about in class last night, there was a lot going on in Exodus 2. Moses was born and hidden by his parents to protect him from the king’s order to kill all Hebrew male babies. When they could no longer hide the baby, they placed him in a waterproof basket and floating him down the river with his sister as guardian. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter who took pity on him (“her heart went out to him” in The Message) and she decided to keep him. His sister volunteered to find the child a Hebrew nurse, and so Moses was taken home to be raised by his own mother. When the child was older, he went to live at Pharaoh’s court as a prince of Egypt.

But Exodus 2 is only getting warmed up at this point. Moses grows up and comes to identify with his Hebrew people rather than the Egyptians. This comes to a climax when he killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was mistreating a Hebrew slave. But while he identifies with the Hebrews, they don’t identity with him. This murder forces him to get out of Egypt one step ahead of the possee. He runs to Midian where he rescues a fair damsel at a well, becomes a shepherd, marries the fair damsel and settles down to raise his family and his sheep for the next 40 years.

OK, this is 80 years in the life of one of the most important men of history compacted into less than one chapter in the Bible. And that chapter isn’t quite over. There is this statement made at the end of Exodus 2—

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. (2:23-25)

That is the first mention of God in the story of Moses. Up to this point, Moses’ life has been about human plans (a baby in a basket) and human activity (killing of the Egyptian). God has not been mentioned, but he has been there in the background, quietly writing the the story. Coincidence after coincidence moves the story of Moses along, but coincidence is not really coincidence. God is as present in the first part of Moses' story as he will be later in the burning bush. The God who quietly watches over the baby in the basket is just as sovereign over Moses' story as the God who huffs and puff and blows back the Red Sea.

You and I may at time long for a burning bush. We may even want God to smite a few people with plagues. We want God to act in such obvious ways that all around us respond with the Egyptian magicians, “This is the finger of God” (Ex 8:18). God may still do those things today; He certainly doesn’t need our approval to work miracles. But for the most part the finger of God in our lives is much more quiet and subtle. We are like the baby in the basket, trusting God to work in the circumstances and coincidences of life in powerful and surprising ways. But like the baby in the basket, our story is nonetheless being written by the all-powerful finger of God.

Church Security Expert

Last December, I reflected in my little blog on the church shooting in Colorado where two sisters were shot to death before the gunman was killed by a church security officer. I predicted that the event would be used as “propaganda” by both anti-gun and pro-gun pundits, and that turned out to be the case. I ended the blog by saying, “Personally, I just don’t think that what we need in our world are MORE people with guns. I think what we need are more people who have GOD.”

As it turns out, I have become something of an expert on church security. I know that because last week Jennifer Latson of the Daily Press called to interview me for an article she was writing on church security. She had read my blog article and called because I was an expert on church security. I think (hope) she was being funny, but the article was in the paper yesterday, and sure enough I was quoted.

The article is about a local guy who gives training seminars to church on security issues. Some of the larger churches employ retired and active police officers as (often armed) security guards during church services. I think that most churches are pretty naïve when it comes to security, and the larger a church is the more likely it is to be the target of some kind of incident. I don’t think it is unreasonable at all for large venue churches to have people in charge of security. It was an armed security guard and former cop who stopped the killing rampage in Colorado before it got to be a rampage.

My part in the article was in the “on the other hand” section. I was quoted as saying, "I don't have guns in my house, and I don't want them in my house of worship… Somehow it seems counterintuitive to what churches are about." For the life of me, I don’t remember using the word “counterintuitive.” Maybe I was showing off my vocabulary for the press? Maybe the reporter inserted "counterintuitive" to make me seem more intelligent? I don't know. But I do believe that people packing heat in church is counterintuitive to the church as "the peaceable kingdom." David writes, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in our Glock G17 9mm automatic.” Or something like that.

Lynn's response when I told her about the article was, “If you are going to have armed guards in every public setting where there is a possibility of some kind of attack, then we would be back to the old west where everyone wore a gun.” She's right. Of course, the first thing Wyatt Erp and his ilk did when they cleaned up towns like Tombstone was to outlaw guns in town limits. When all is said in done, there is no real security in this crazy world of ours. Yes, we need to do what we can to be as safe as we can—lock our doors, wear seat belts, stay away from alcohol, don't make gestures to guys who cut you off in traffic, etc. But ultimately we have to live out by faith David’s real sentiment from Psalm 20, “…but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Stream Franklin

Lynn and I were at the Pepperdine Lectures in 1992 when a friend told us we needed to go to the late night devo service at Smother’s Theater. Between jet lag and listening to sermons (very good sermons) all day, we were tired and were planning on skipping the late night session altogether. But we went… and it was literally life-changing. This “contemporary worship experience” (which takes a lot longer to say than “devo”) was led by Ken Young and Hallal. I had never heard of the Hallal praise team… or of a praise team period. They began leading worship and I began to go through all the reasons why “this just wasn’t right.” Mainly what wasn't right was that it was so different from what I was used to doing. But by the end of the night my heart was softened and then broken. I would come to see worship totally different. I did a lot of study on worship and I read a lot of books on worship, but that night with Hallal really did change what I felt about worship.

Lynn and I just got home from Nashville after attending (along with Betty and Randy Tanner) “Stream Franklin,” a worship weekend led by Ken and Hallal and hosted by the Fourth Avenue church in Franklin. Mike Cope was the speaker, and he did a great job pointing us to the joy of the Lord and the responsibility that this joy brings us. Bruce Marciano, the actor who played Jesus in the Matthew video, was the special guest and he did a great job enthusiastically pointing us to the person of Jesus Christ. There were a lot of things going on during the weekend, but to be in a packed building lifting our voices in praise to God surrounded by many others who had also traveled long distances to be there—it was a precious time.

There were several highlights of the weekend, and I’m sure that I’ll write about several. Every time I go to one of these, there is usually one new song that captures my heart and that I can’t wait for us to learn here at Denbigh. This time the new song wasn’t really new, but a powerful cappella adaptation of Aaron’s Shust’s hit “My Savior, My God.” I don’t know why some songs impact people so much more than others, but this one grabbed my heart. You can listen to Aaron’s Shust’s version on You Tube. I understand that soon you will be able to preview and download Hallal mp3’s from their site at Hallal Music; right now you can order the CD there. Or just come to church in a week or two and we’ll be doing that song in church. Keri?

Give Yourself Some Space

The question came up last night in class, “Why does Joseph torture his brothers a bit when they come before him in Egypt?” OK, they deserved it and more; they had sold Joseph into slavery and tricked his father into believing he was dead. But I had suggested that (unlike the other Patriarchs and most Bible characters) we have no story of Joseph’s flaws. If that is true, why does he seem to enjoy tormenting his brothers when the worm turns? He accuses them of being spies. He keeps Simeon in prison (ensuring their return with Benjamin). He accuses them of stealing his special cup. He is going to eventually forgive them (for selling him into slavery), so why trifle with them and let them suffer?

• Is he PUNISHING them? He certainly has the power as second in command of Egypt to do just that. And that is what the brothers assume before they even know he is Joseph. Rueben says, “Now we must give an accounting for his blood” (Gen 42:22). If Joseph really is being vindictive here, he really isn’t very good at it. He keeps breaking down into tears in the middle of his plot! (See Gen 42:22, 43:30, 45:2, 45:14-15).
  
• Is he TESTING them? That is Joseph’s explanation to the brothers, “And this is how you will be tested…” (Gen 42:15). Perhaps Joseph is using this process to see what kind of men his brothers have become. After all, they weren’t such good men they last time he saw them as the slave traders were carrying him away. Maybe he wants to see, while he is undercover, what kind of people his brothers have grown into over the years.

I suspect that neither of these options is completely it. I think that Joseph is here simply flying by the seat of his pants. He doesn’t know how one is supposed to respond to this circumstance, and he is simply buying himself some time so he can figure it out! One commentary suggests that Joseph expected that his brothers would eventually show up to get food and he was waiting to spring this elaborate trap on them. I think that gives Joseph way too much credit for advance planning... and way too little credit for brotherly love.

Joseph isn’t being cold and calculated in his response here. He doesn’t know exactly what to do. He is torn between love and justice, and that is why he’s emotional and keeps breaking out in tears. Joseph’s scheme is simply to give himself enough time and space so that love can win out in the end! And that is exactly what happens.

Maybe we need to remember this story they next time we must respond to a spouse who is treating us unjustly or a boss who is being a jerk or a friend who has been insensitive. We can’t always say the right thing at the right moment. In fact, sometimes when we say anything at all in the middle of a stressful situation, it is guaranteed that it will be the wrong thing! Sometimes the very best thing that we can do is act graciously while we give ourselves enough space for grace to win out

The Big Game

The big sports news is that Giants and Partiots are going to the Super Bowl. The big family news is that Tressa (Lord willing and Expedia cooperating) is going to the Super Bowl. Tank Daniels (here celebrating the winning field goal in OT at Green Bay Sunday) becomes not only the first Harding grad to play in the NFL but now the first to make it to the Big Dance. And while it may seem like the only reason the Giants are there is so the Patriots will have someone to beat on their way to a perfect season, I think the Giants just might pull it off. Who would have thought a month ago that the talking heads at EPSN would have been debating whether or not Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady right now?

It appears that the real reason there is a two week break between the championship games and the Super Bowl is so that the teams playing in Green Bay have time to thaw out completely. In case it comes up in conversation, Tressa confirms that 4 below zero and 25 below wind chill does indeed seem pretty chilly. She called me from the game just to confirm that it was really, really cold in Green Bay.

For the record, I’m not a bit jealous that Tressa was there when the Patriots beast the Giants to complete the first perfect 16-0 regular season. I’m not jealous that she was there at Lambeau to see the Giants upset the Packers in OT for the NFC Championship. And I’m not jealous one bit that she will be there in Phoenix at the Super Bowl itself. Sure, my biggest NFL moment was winning a signed football from Joe Gibbs at a prayer breakfast. But I’m not jealous! But come on, wouldn’t you think that at some point my darling little girl would reflect on all that her dear old Dad means to her and has done for her and say, “Here, Dad, take my ticket and go.” But noooooooooo! Well, I’d better get a T-shirt out this deal somewhere!

Picking Nits on Picking Grain

I once attended a debate in which the subject was what churches can and can’t do with the money that has been collected in church treasury. One of the disputants argued that the only Biblical use of church money was mission work and helping needy church members and using church money for any other purpose violated the NT pattern. So writing a check from the church to feed a hungry orphan who wasn't a member was sinful. Sure, it would be proper for individual Christians to feed that orphan out of their own pocket, but not for the church. When pressed, he admitted that it was OK for the church to buy fertilizer to feed the church lawn because it is "evangelistic" to have a pretty church yard. But it is wrong to feed hungry orphans out of the church treasury.

It is too easy for us to come up with a interpretive "religious" system and then filter everything we through that system. That is essentially what the Pharisees do in Matthew 12 (today's NT reading) when they see Jesus’ disciples “harvesting” grain on the Sabbath, a clear violation of the Law... or their system of intepretation of the Law.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-2)

Jesus points to flaws in their understanding and in their system. What God wants and expects from us is not the perfection application of a religious system. What he wants is relationship, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7). The Pharisees were not consistent in their application of their system; that is why Jesus points to David and the showbread. Ultimately, Jesus is Lord of Sabbath. Faithfulness depends on our relationship to and reliance upon him. Jesus had just said that the real point of our response to God was hidden from the wise and learned (and their religious systems) revealed to little children (Matthew 11:25). The real point of religion is a relationship to Jesus Himself. Look at Matthew 11:27—

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Jesus says that the religious system that says, “A handful of grain picked on the Sabbath violates the command of God” has somehow missed the whole point of God. And the system that says, “We can’t feed hungry orphans out of the treasury” has missed something about what God has revealed about Himself in scripture. I can think of few things God would more like “His money” spent on than feeding the hungry!

But none of that is the real point. The real point is this-- I wonder what blind spots there are in my religious system that keeps me from seeing God clearly. Somehow, it is much more comforting to apply this stuff to the Pharisees than it is to look into my own life!

The Fearsome God of Isaac

In today’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 30-31), Jacob is beating a fast retreat from his father-in-law Laban. The more Jacob prospered, the more Laban resented him and the more uncomfortable it became for Jacob in Paddam Aram. He was told by God in a dream to return to Canaan, and so Jacob left. Laban was sorry to see him go— most because Jacob took with him Laban’s daughters, his grandchildren, a large portion of his wealth (that Jacob had earned) and Laban’s household gods. Actually, Rachel stole the idols without Jacob’s knowledge, but I’m sure that was only because she saw on Martha Stewart that you could make them into great bookends or something.

At any rate, Laban tracked down Jacob and his entourage, and there was something of a confrontation. As Jacob defended himself to his father-in-law, he made a statement that is just a bit jolting. In contrast to the household idols that Rachel literally sat upon, Jacob refers to God like this--

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” (Genesis 31:42)

Jacob refers to God as “The fear of Isaac,” and he uses that same name later in the chapter— “So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac” (Genesis 31:53). There are many names for God in the Bible that emphasize different parts of His character. He is El Shaddai (“God Almighty”), El Elyon (“The Most High God”), Yahweh Yireh (“The Lord will provide”), Yahweh Elohim Israel, (“Lord God of Israel) and a host of others (actually Yahweh Sabbaoth means “Lord of Hosts”).

For Jacob, God is “The Fear of Isaac” or the “fearsome God of Isaac” (NLT). Does Jacob use this name because he wants to throw the fear of God into Laban? Perhaps, but in doing so, Jacob reminds us that God is “greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him” (Psalm 89:7, ESV). Solomon says, “i” (Prov 1:7). Many today see God as something of a Cosmic Grandfather” who just wants us to be happy and has little or no real expectations of us. The Bible makes it clear that God is to be feared as well as loved. He has not been domesticated or made safe. He is still “the fearsome God of Isaac.”

Cowboys Fans Might Want to Skip This One

My Moday post-for-the-day is really the one below. If football seems too trivial a buject to post about, just skip down there.

But I just couldn't let the day go completely without referring to the playoffs. All Cowboy fans can now jump in with their best Jim Mora impression, "Playoffs? Playoffs? Don't talk about the playoffs!" OK, the fact is that my Colts lost makes me sad. But the fact that the Giants beat the Cowboys more than makes up for it. There will be a Manning in the Championship Game next week, so it's not all bad!

The Giants win was especially exciting because we watched it with Courtney, Jaxon and Gracie Daniels. Courtney is Tressa's best friend, and her husband Tank plays for the Giants (the only Harding alum in the NFL). We screamed so loud when the Giants intercepted the last pass that we scared Gracie and she screamed for awhile too! (The fact that Courtney was jumping around like a madwoman with Gracie in her arms probably didn't help). Courtney is taking Tressa with her Sunday to the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" in Green Bay to watch the Giants play the Packers. I would say "cool" but they are predicting sub-zero temps, so "cold" may be more appropriate.

Now, for all you Cowboys fans out there... I'm trying really, really hard not to enjoy the Dallas implosion. It really looked too much like Indy's implosion earlier in the day to enjoy it too much. But then, all my life my two favorite teams have been the Colts and whoever is playing Dallas! I've got to enjoy this just a little, OK? So excuse me while I put a Jessica Simpson CD on!

At any rate, good luck to the Giants and Tank Daniels. Anyone have suggestions for Tressa on how she can keep from freezing Sunday night at Lambeau!

Driving a Hard Bargain

With which Bible character do you feel the most affinity? Abraham? John the Baptist? Paul? Mary? Moses? Elijah? The chances are pretty good that we admire these guys and gals and appreciate their faith and faithfulness. The chances are also pretty good that these aren’t not the Bible characters that we feel the most like. These guys and gals had a faith that at times seems superhuman. Sure, they give us a glimpse of their humanity as they stumble at times, but for the most point they are giants of faith and faithfulness.

Maybe we feel more in common with Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9). Mephibosheth basicaly was just lame. He sat at the table of the king and enjoyed the king’s blessings, but he never really accomplished that much other than to just be lame. Maybe we can relate to a Bible character like that much better than Moses or Elijah or Abraham.

Or maybe our hero should be Jacob. I’m not talking about Jacob the patriarch who wrestled with God and whose name was changed to Israel. No, I’m talking about the young Jacob who stole his brother’s birthright and tricked his blind father out of the firstborn’s blessing. No, we aren't as cunningly conniving or Machiavellian as Jacob, but maybe were are a lot like him in yesterday’s daily Bible reading from Genesis 28:20-22,

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this tone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Jacob has this vision of the throne of God and a ladder to heaven. He decided that this place, which he later names Bethel (“house of God”), was holy and he makes a vow to God. But notice the vow. If God will (1) is with him, (2) watches over his journey, (3) gives him food and clothes, (4) and allows him to return safely home, THEN (1) Jacob will allow God to be His God and (2) He will set up a stone and (3) he will tithe to God. If God will give Jacob everything he wants, then Jacob with serve and give God a tenth.

Can we relate to Jacob there— if God will only give me everything I want, then He can be my God! Fortunately, Jacob grew up in his faith. And so must we. I wonder at times how immature our faith must appear to our Father. And how selfish.

The God Who Sees

I know everyone is still up to date with their “read through the Bible” commitment. Sure, just like we are all rocking-and-rolling along on our new 1200 calorie-a-day, low-fat, pass-the-rice-cake New Year’s Diet! I don’t know about you, but my daily Bible reading is always easier when I first start out-- Genesis is familiar and fairly easy to read. It is not always easy to understand; who were the sons of God who married the daughters of men and got all that trouble going before the flood? As many times as I’ve read this material, it is always amazing to find something new. Well, it’s not new—it’s been there all along. But sometimes you see things you never saw before.

Take Genesis 16:13-15. I’m sure this little paragraph has always been right there in my Bible, but I’ve evidently never paid attention. It’s part of the Abraham story where Sarah’s scheme to have a child through her servant Hagar crashes and burns because of her jealousy and maybe a little arrogance from Hagar. Sarah mistreats her, and Hagar runs away into the desert. But an angel comes to her and tells her to return home, have her son and trust God to give her many descendants. Here’s the part that I had missed--

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. (Genesis 16:13-15)

Hagar had come to God in a whole new way… and by a whole new name. God became for her “The God Who Sees Me.” Because of her desert experience, God had become more real to Hagar. She named her son Ishmael, which means “God hears.” Because of God’s protection over her during a time of struggle and rejection, God became for Hagar the God who sees and hears.

Is that not what happens in our lives during our times of struggle? If we open ourselves to the presence of God, he can become more real (more present?) to us and we can be brought closer to him. God was working in Hagar’s life in ways that she could never have known. And He is working in our lives as well. Like Hagar, we need to open ourselves to the God who hears and sees.

Around the Clolck

We have been having an interesting time here lately with spam. We have no server side spam protection, so we recently bought a internet security program (one that shall remain nameless) to block spam (as well as adware, viruses, etc). Well, this particular internet security program not only doesn’t block spam all that well, but it crashes every other day or so… sometimes just crashing itself and sometimes crashing the computer. I guess the computer is completely safe when it is locked up; maybe that is a “feature” rather than a “bug.” Not only does this program not block spam, it really does seem like we get MORE spam since the program was installed. Is it possible for spam blocker software to attract these things?

At any rate, I had 100 spam messages waiting for me in my inbox this morning! This one caught my eye for some reason—

Try to think of a better coreer option for you! Why wait?! We now thrilled to bring you this special offer to get your degree on-line! Millions of people all over the world took advantage of getting bachelor’s, PH’s, and Master’s through the net. And what’s more you now don’t have to wait years to advance your coreer. Ladder you correr! Call us around the clolck. You can proudly grasp your diploma within days!

So I can advance my "coreer around the clolck!" OK, If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am not unacquainted with typos myself. (One of the legacies of the email generation is that proper spelling and grammar are now optional.) But if I am going to “advance my coreer around the clolck,” I want people educating me to know how to spell.

The idea that an education can be had “within days” is preposterous. Any diploma that you can “grasp” after ordering over the internet is not worth the paper it is printed on. “Anything worth having is worth working for” is more than just a cliché. The point of education is not the diploma you receive at the end but the process through which you go to receive it.

That also applies to spirituality. We don’t become spiritual people by going to church once a week or so. The Christian “walk” (Paul’s expression for our life in Christ in Ephesians) is a process in which we live our lives with God. As important as regular worship is, that is only one part of the experience of living for God. Daily prayer, scripture reading, service, worship, meditation—those are the characteristic of the spiritual life. You can’t order spirituality once a week any more than education is a piece of paper order over the internet. You have to live it "around the clolck."

Thy Word

Last night in our devotional, I mentioned some interesting (as in depressing) facts about most Christians and the Bible. Overwhelmingly, people who identify themselves as Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. Underwhelmingly, most of us who identify ourselves as Christians don’t read the Bible for themselves. A Barna study in 1999 found that only 35% of self-identified “Born-Again Christians” read the Bible during the week. This is not read the Bible as in “daily Bible readers.” That is read the Bible as in “read the Bible during the week at all." A Gallop Poll several years ago found that 64% of those who identify themselves as Christians can’t name any of the four Gospels and 12% of them said that they believe that Noah’s wife was Joan of Arc! You think there may be a connection between nor reading the Bible and not knowing basic facts about the Bible?

I had a teacher in grad school that like to say (often) that “Christianity is the religion of Biblical authority.” Everything that we know about God beyond what Paul calls His “invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature” (Rom 1:20) is revealed through the Bible. The Bible tells us about Jesus, the cross, salvation, heaven, hell, the church, God’s moral order and everything else we know about God’s presence in the world comes through the Bible. Yes, God's Spirit lives within us to empower us and groan with us in our prayers... but we wouldn’t even know that if it were not for the Bible.

God’s word lights our path and leads in obedience-- David says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws” (Psalm 119:105-106). Knowing scripture gives us power to resist Satan’s temptation— “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Paul told Timothy that the inspired word of God in scripture was useful in our spiritual life to prepare and equip us to do every good work. This Bible we are privileged to possess “is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16, NLT).

So the reason we don’t read it for ourselves is… what? Are we too busy to carve out 15 minutes or so a day for God’s word? Could it be that the more stuff we have going on in our lives, the more we need the Bible? Let’s all do better this year reading the Bible for ourselves.

Happy New Year

I spent my usual January 1 afternoon watching bowl games… and what a horrible waste of time that was this year! First, Arkansas got blasted by Missouri. Hey, Arkansas loosing a bowl game isn't exactly news, but making a game of it would have been nice. Second, all of the games except for one were blow-outs and not very interesting. No one seemed to think that Hawaii and Illinois had a chance against Georgia and USC... and it turned out that they were right. Third, in the one game of the day that wasn’t a blow-out (Florida-Michigan)… the wrong team (Michigan) won! I have always hated Michigan; I don't know why (maybe the funny helmets).

New Year's day Bowl games were better back in the good-old days (before the BCS messed everything up). All the important games were on January 1, and there were always several games on at the same time. Oh well, at least I’m not bleary-eyed from watching 7 games all in one day! Actually, I kinda miss that.

Our annual church New Year’s Eve party was a rousing success. Thanks to Betty Tanner for organizing this time to ring in the New Year. The weather cooperated and we were able to have our year end devotional outside around the bonfire (I appreciate Mark White pitching in to help Randy lead songs at the campfire).

The kids had a blast with the games, especially the one with all the thrift store outfits—that kept them screaming and squealing (very loudly) for a long time. If they could have that much fund with a bunch of old clothes, then maybe Mom and Dad wasted money buying all those toys for Christmas?

I have included some pictures from the party just to give an idea of how things went. I’ll post some more on the church web site when I get a chance. The holidays were great… and it also great to get them over and back to the old routine.