Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior in just a couple of days, I thought I would share a few videos with you that put the Christmas season in the right perspective. Will you be "worshipping" the "temple" of activities, presents, Santa, and busyness this Christmas, or will you worship Christ and the real reason for his birth--God becoming a man to live a sinless life, die on the cross for our sins, rise again three days later, and then ascend to heaven to sit at the right hand of God? 

Enjoy the videos and think seriously about who you worship and serve this Christmas--yourself or Christ?

The Real Christmas Story with John MacArthur



Bad News: Santa Claus is Coming to Town by John Piper



It's About the Cross by GoFish

Zach—fearfully and wonderfully made

This post is from my beautiful bride's own blog found here.

We are both wanting to share something going on with Zach, our 7-year-old somersaulting, dancing, constantly laughing gift from God, and Christy has really captured the essence of both of our hearts. Here is her post:

It has been awhile since my last blog. The last few weeks have been difficult. Our son, Zach, had an MRI of his brain done to rule out a brain tumor that might have been causing problems with his eyes. While we were thrilled there was no brain tumor, what they found, or didn’t find, sent us to our knees. We learned that Zach never developed an important connective pathway in the brain called the corpus callosum. It is a thick structure composed of over 200 million nerve fibers and is responsible for the communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Since it never developed while he was in my womb, it is literally absent. That means Zach has a rare condition called agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC). We have learned a great deal about this condition in the past few weeks and you can click here or here to learn more. God created our brains with an amazing ability to compensate, so there is an extremely broad spectrum of manifestations for this particular condition. Some children born with this are severely mentally retarded, while others have no problems at all. However, many kids with ACC have difficulties with social development and that is our primary concern with Zach. Though he has no academic or motor developmental delays, he does show some immaturity socially compared to his peers. He seems to have a lack of self awareness and difficulty understanding the perceptions of others; knowing this diagnosis helps to explain much of that.

One of the most concerning things for us is that the social challenges may become more problematic as he gets older. When I first learned of the abnormality, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of running to the word of God as I should have, I ran to the internet. I read things like “they fall behind their peers in social and mental functioning as they approach adolescence”, and “they have challenges with peer interactions and relationships that increase with age and complexity of the social situations”, and “becomes more evident with age.” …..and I sobbed and sobbed. All I could think about was all the things Zach might miss out on. All the “what ifs” were endlessly reeling in my mind. What if he doesn't have any friends? What if he never gets married? What if he experiences the emotional pain of not fitting in? What if he can never truly come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? For those first few days, every time I looked at Zach, I cried over the loss of the normalcy I had hoped for his future. I remember swallowing back tears as I read bedtime stories to my children with a lump in my throat. I would stifle the tears until the kids were all tucked in bed and then have one of those guttural cries in the arms of my husband.

Since then, God has spoken to my heart and changed my perspective in an amazing way. The Lord has faithfully used the healing balm of His word and the koinonia of the body of Christ to speak truth over me. I realize this affliction is nothing compared to what others have to bear, but for me it has been another valley in which the lovingkindness of the Lord has been magnified. He has shown me so much through this trial and I must speak of His faithfulness.


You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Psalm 30:11-12

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; To all generations I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. Psalm 89:1-2

I am blessed to be married to a godly man. As he dries my tears, Dave faithfully reminds me that this life is but a vapor, and that we are blessed to have this new struggle to endure - that it will draw us closer to one another and closer to the Lord. He reminds me to have an eternal perspective, not a worldly one. If we view this circumstance through the lens of a follower of Christ, we have reason to rejoice.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:3-4

I would be lying if I said I no longer slip into the sin of worry and unbelief, but the Lord has literally turned my tears into laughter and my fear into trust. Now, instead of looking at Zach and thinking “what if ”, I more often think “what a miracle, thank you Lord.” Instead of snapping at Zach in anger and impatience when he misbehaves, I more often stop and calmly respond to him. Though it has helped me to be a better mommy and to love Zach in a way I might not have otherwise, the greater lesson has been faith growing as it has caused me to consider what it is I put my hope in. Where is it that my treasure truly lies and what do I hold most precious? I have imagined the worst case scenarios with Zach, but it has caused me to remember that my hope is not in health or even happiness. My hope is in Christ alone, who is far more concerned about my holiness than my happiness. It is not because Zach has hope for a normal life that God is good. Even he faces a life time of social challenges, God is still good and His grace is still sufficient. How many believers are faced with the struggle of a severely disabled child or even the death of a child? Is God not still gracious and faithful then? Though the grace of God is demonstrated in this world, the greater grace is demonstrated in the sacrifice of His only Son, whom He sent to die in my place, paying the ransom due for my sin, so that I might have eternal life and know Him.

But God demonstrates His own love in that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
Romans 5:8

Yes, our little Zach is a walking miracle. Things could have been much worse. They could have found a brain tumor, he could have been severely mentally disabled, but the worst thing would have been going through this trial without knowing Christ. The mother of an infant daughter battling cancer put it much better than I ever could:

“The worst thing possible, however, would be if we didn't have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be no point or purpose for this trial. There would be no growth or peace or protection. God is good. He makes no mistakes and He only does things that will help us grow in our walk with Him. We are continually singing His praises as He works in us.”
For those of you wondering if we told Zach, we did. We used as few details as possible, but told him that God made his brain a little different and very special. To which he replied,

"Okay... is the French toast ready yet?"

What is your worldview?

What is truth to you? From where do you derive what is right and wrong in your own life and in this world? Is truth relative based on the situation or what a person thinks/feels, or are there absolute truths in this world? Is your worldview based on what makes you comfortable and happy or is it based on unchanging absolutes?

During my lifetime, I have seen a lot of changes in the world around me. Some of those changes have been helpful to society: advancements in healthcare, technological inventions make it easier to communicate and reach the world, and new industries provide much needed jobs to people, just to name a few.

Other changes have more to do with people's attitudes and preferences: the entertainment industry continues to push the envelope with sex and violence, children are given much more freedom much earlier in life than in the past, and some states allow gay couples to marry while other states have bans against it, just to name a few. Isn't it interesting that our country is very divided on these issues? A person’s worldview will be the main factor in determining where he stands on these issues.

In the last few years, I’ve noticed that many people cling to a worldview that suggests truth is relative—each person can determine what truth is and everyone’s “truth” must be accepted. In other words, my truth can be completely different from your truth and we are both right. How can two completely different viewpoints both be true? When I ask people why they believe what they do on a certain topic, the answer is usually some form of, “That is just what I believe and am comfortable with.” When I press them further by asking if there is a reliable source or foundation on which they can stand on any given issue, they typically can’t point to anything other than their own heart and mind and they also know of other people who agree with their position on the issue.

Jesus Christ was faced with the issue of truth. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is questioned by Pontius Pilate: “Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’” (18:37-38a)

Jesus answered this question four chapters earlier when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me” (14:6).

The Bible clearly teaches absolute truths that we must accept. An example of an absolute truth is that 2+2=4. If someone tried to give any answer other than 4, everyone else would agree that he is wrong. Here are some absolute truths from the Bible:

1. There is only one true God
a. “I am the Lord and there is no other. Besides me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known me. That men may know, from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5-6).

2. The God of the Bible created everything (the world, people, animals, etc)
a. “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3).

3. Every human has sinned
a. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

4. Sin is breaking God’s moral Law (10 Commandments)
a. “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7).

5. God’s moral Law is written on everyone’s heart and the conscience already condemns us
a. “in that they show the work of the Law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (Romans 2:15).

6. Every human deserves hell for his/her sin because he/she has sinned against a holy and just God
a. “Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death” (Romans 6:21).
b. “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts’” (Isaiah 6:5).

7. God doesn’t desire for anyone to go to hell
a. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

8. God sent His Son to take the punishment of our sins on Himself
a. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
b. “But God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
c. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

9. God demands that everyone should repent and put his faith in Christ
a. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

10. It is only through repentance of sin and faith in Christ that we can be saved from God’s wrath.
a. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

11. There is no other way to eternal life in Heaven outside of Jesus Christ
a. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me” (John14:6).

If truth is relative (as many believe), then the truth claims that our country and world live by will constantly change based on certain factors like who is in a leadership position making decisions and which viewpoint is the best funded and/or most vocal, etc. Each time new leaders are elected (from the local to the federal level), new "truth claims" are put into place under his/her leadership. Citizens are then asked to accept these new truth claims as what is best for the city/state/country and research is provided explaining why certain changes need to be made. These changes are made until the next new guy/gal is elected and the process repeats itself. "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).

The Bible has never changed its viewpoint or position. It is constant in its message and teaching and is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Unfortunately, our society does not recognize the Bible as an authoritative source. As one of the family devotionals we use put it, “Without God’s Word we would have to guess about how to live wisely and how to know right from wrong—and each person’s guess would be different from every other person’s!” (Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade, p. 14).

My worldview is based on the Bible. I believe the Bible “because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, who report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophesies. These authors claim their writings are divine rather than human in origin” (From Voddie Baucham’s sermon "Why I choose to believe the Bible").

"For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased'--and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:16-21).

What is your worldview? What is the foundation of your worldview?

Be careful that you don't fall

The end of another school year is almost here and that brings a guarantee of a few things:
1. Teachers are more excited about summer than the students.
2. My students at the high school know that #1 is true, so they try to get me to stop assigning homework and projects by getting me to talk about things I am passionate about.
3. The heavy workload I have at this time of year to get papers graded and projects assessed is never surprising, but I have a tendency to fall into a trap of letting it completely stress me out.

The last two weeks have been very stressful for me and I have not handled it well. Prior to this stressful time, things were going great. I was consistently reading the Word daily, spending quality time with Christy and the kids, making time to read and listen to challenging Biblical teachings, and then it happened. I got complacent at work and at home. I began to get a bit too comfortable and confident that I had things under control, and I began to do it under my own power instead of recognizing my need for strength to come from the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:12 says “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” I didn’t recognize what was happening until it was too late. I was then so far behind at school with grading that I didn’t know where to begin. I brought this stress home with me and I became an ineffective spiritual leader for my family. I became irritable, distant, and felt completely powerless and depressed. I was going through the motions in my daily quiet time with God and with my family. I was investing my time and energy into being stressed out instead of turning immediately to God and His Word to comfort and guide me.
My sins of pride and self-sufficiency had caused me to fall and I didn’t even see it coming. This was a good reminder for me that I must always be watchful for the enemy who wants to distract or trip me and that I need to be more prayerful about my pride and selfishness.
I praise God for HIs Spirit who convicts me of my sin and chastens me back to the narrow path that Christ mentions in Matthew 7:13-14. He is so good yet I so easily give in to my sinful nature of doing things my own way. I am so undeserving of His love, but He disciplines me “because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12).

A dad's thoughts on his daughter's birthday

Olivia turns 4 tomorrow and we had her party for the extended family on Saturday. It’s Christy’s tradition to spread out as many birthday parties over as many days as possible to stretch out your birthday as long as you can!
Tonight as I put Olivia to bed for the 10th time in 20 minutes (she’s a bit excited about her big day tomorrow and her “kid” party), I snuggled in bed with her and thought about the day she was born.
Her birth was an amazing event in many ways:
1. Olivia brought the level of estrogen back into close proximity to the level of testosterone in our home and she can scream with a pitch, tone, and volume that can be heard in outer space.

2. When Olivia was only minutes old, I remember thinking something I never thought about when the boys were born: “Some day there will be a boy who will come to my house to take her on a date. I will be ready for that day!” When the boys were born, I think I grunted and thumped my chest in approval.
3. The most important difference between her birth and her brothers’ was where I was in my relationship with God. I became a born-again believer in Jesus Christ in October 2003 when Christy was only a couple of months pregnant with Olivia.
I claimed to be a Christian on his way to heaven when the boys were born, but I was actually dead in my sins and on my way to hell. I had not repented of my sins and put my faith completely in Jesus Christ and what He did on the tree for my sins. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). What a new perspective I had at her birth. To hear my complete testimony, click HERE.
As I have grown in my relationship with Christ these last 4 years, my role as a dad has changed from teaching my kids to have worldly morality to teaching them about their need for a Savior in their own lives. Worldly morality and good deeds will never save them from their sins—only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can do that when they repent and trust Him.
While that might seem like a lot to expect a 4 year old to understand, my role is
clear: “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from
it” (Psalm 22:6).

A nature hike on a 38-degree night

The boys and I spent Friday night at Camp Hantesa near Boone, Iowa, for a father/youth overnight event that included games, camp songs, sleeping in a cabin (heated, thankfully!), and a nature hike in the pitch black of the night.
One of my favorite parts of the event was the campfire dinner. We wrapped meat, vegetables and potatoes in some tin foil and threw it into the fire to cook (fire+meat= yum!), The boys enjoyed the games, getting to stay up late, and the freedom to get as filthy dirty as they wanted as we explored the beautiful creation of our Creator in this rural part of Iowa. As one might expect on a typical April night in Iowa, we were thankful to have brought our winter gear along for the adventure.
As we headed out for the nature hike around 9:00 that night, the temperature had dropped below 40 degrees and the fierce wind didn’t encourage us to want to go out very far or for very long. The recent rain storms hindered our movement as our guide had to take us around the flooded paths that she normally uses.
The boys were excited about getting to hold the flashlight to help us see where we should and shouldn’t step. I was reminded of Psalm 119:105 as we ventured into the cold, wet darkness of the timber: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” I instructed the boys how to hold the flashlight just ahead of where we were walking for the best illumination of where we needed to step.
The same is true of how we use the Bible. In order for it to give me clear direction in my life, I need to be reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on it regularly. I realized that night that I probably spent more time instructing them on how to use a flashlight correctly than I have on instructing them about the importance of filling their minds with the truth of God’s Word and to show them how to read it. As their dad, there is nothing more important that I could ever teach them than to learn to read the Bible and to do what it says. The world they are growing up in is in a constant fluctuation of what is popular, right, moral, and acceptable by society. I want them to learn about the unchanging truth of God’s Word and how it will transform their very lives.
I thought I was just going to get wet and cold that night. God used it as a teachable moment in my life as a dad. The first two people I need to train to be disciples of Jesus Christ sleep in bunk beds in my own house.

Through the eyes of my child

AJ, my oldest (he will be 10 in June), has been having nightmares off and on over the last couple of weeks. He is so shaken up by them that he doesn’t even want to talk about it. Each night at bedtime, either Christy or I will lie down with him to pray for God to keep the bad dreams away as we try to model for AJ the best way to handle his situation: prayer.
Tonight AJ wouldn’t even go to bed because he was so worried that he was going to have a nightmare. It was very frustrating for us as parents because he wouldn’t even tell us what he was scared of. We tried rocking with him, letting him look at books, and listen to music, but he was completely inconsolable. As my wife and I held him, I prayed for God to put angels at every corner of his bed and in the windows of our house to keep away bad thoughts and dreams.
As my prayer ended, AJ had calmed down and with his face buried in Christy’s shoulder, he finally revealed his fear: he had been thinking about Jesus’ crucifixion and they had just talked about it again in Sunday school this morning. AJ has always had a deep, heartfelt sensitivity to the suffering Jesus endured as He bore our sins on the tree.
How many people in this world either reject the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice or give only an intellectual acknowledgment of the wrath that God poured out on His only Son for the redemption of humanity?
Worse yet, how many Christians have become complacent with the fact that they were bought for an incredible price and even forget that the punishment we deserve for breaking God’s commandments was paid in full when God slaughtered his only Son on that tree?
“Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11).
My 9-year-old son has a special insight into the price that Christ paid that most Christians (myself included) wish we had. AJ weeps over the pain Christ suffered in a way that I probably never have. I have a lot to learn through the eyes of my child.

I really blew it as a dad this weekend

I’ve been wanting to make a video for the website about why you can trust the Bible--the top 6 reasons the Bible is true (from Mark Cahill’s One Hearbeat Away--a must read for everyone) and I wanted the kids to “star” in it by holding up numbers while dancing and running around. I also wanted them to give the top 6 list on camera in those cute, little kid voices that come so naturally for them. Well, in the midst of a short time frame to work with on Saturday and my eagerness to get the video done, I ended up treating my three kids like a work crew instead of letting them be kids and have fun with the production. AJ, my 9 year old, was really having a good time dancing and singing while I was trying to direct, produce, and film at the same time and he tripped and bit his lip. Instead of being a loving dad who should have made sure he was alright, I let my frustration show by quickly picking up all the filming equipment while voicing my displeasure with the kids’ lack of being able to follow simple directions.
My loving wife, who saw my selfishness, was quick to point out, “You are making this (pointing at the videocamera) more important than them.” I was no more than up the basement stairs when the Holy Spirit grabbed ahold of me and shook me to my senses. What was I thinking? The Word clearly teaches “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). I had just modeled for my three kids what not to do in that kind of situation.
Within 5 minutes, I was apologizing to AJ and asking for his forgiveness while explaining to him that I let my selfish desires get in the way of what was more important: glorifying God by having a fun time as a family making a video.
That night while praying with the boys at bedtime, I confessed my sin to God so the boys could hear me show respect to my Father in Heaven and thank Him for dying on the cross for my selfishness. It is only because of my repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ that I can even go to God’s throne in such a way.