Blog

Teacher Stabs self and child

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:10:00 GMT

In the last week or so, I have been asked by several individuals, in the church and out of the church what was the motivation of the teacher in Missouri City who stabbed his one week old, and then turned the knife on himself. I have been asked to explain the actions of this individual. As a Pastor, I am not sure that I can do so, without pointing to the falleness of humanity. We are a depraved people, falling short of the glory of God. I struggle immensely with what has happened to a defenseless child caught in the midst of a much larger problem. I don't plead ignorance to alleviate any need to explain the actions, but because I am dumbfounded by the actions.

We live in a world where defenseless children are abused daily. Ocassionally, we hear about it, but for every case we hear about there are many others which go unreported or are not picked up by the media. The scary thing is this happens daily. We must as Christians take a stand against the abuse children endure. Jesus said, Let the little children come unto me. Don't hinder them, and that unless we are like the chidlren we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Yet, in many of our actions we are harmful towards children, we get tired of their enthusiasm, curiosity, and desire to learn. We are put off by their unending enthusiasm. So, are we put off by the kingdom of God? Do we get tired of what is asked of us, because we somehow know what is right and wrong for ourselves, and for others? Our lives should exhibit the kingdom of God to the world. All I can say is that while the teacher was stabbing himself and his child, he was not exhibiting the kingdom. God's presence was in the midst of the situation and God was with that child as this happened. Rather, the father was showing us the falleness of humanity and how much we need the love and grace of God. There is a chasm between God's desire/plan for our lives and the way we live our lives. We have been given a bridge to fill the chasm, Jesus Christ, but we need to live as though we have taken the bridge.

While we may never fully understand this whole situation, while we may struggle with why an innocent child was involved in this situation, the fact remains God was with the child and the father. The father's actions were incomprehensible for many! But, the grace of God can redeem the father as well as the entire situation. My prayer goes out to this family who now has to pick up the pieces of an awful situation and try to make sense of it all. May we remember all involved in this situation and keep them in our prayers.

Should We Help Haiti???

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:01:00 GMT

I recently was involved in a conversation with some people, not from the church, but who know I am a minister and want me to know they are religious. In the midst of our time together, the topic of Haiti came up. I thought we would talk about the relief efforts and what we could do to help the people of Haiti recover. Boy, was I wrong. I encountered a tsunami of anger towards the people of Haiti, and towards anyone who thought we should help them. Let me remind you, these comments were coming from people who claim to go to church regularly and claim to be religious.

The comments ranged from underserving to the evil cannibals of Haiti. I was appalled and listened with my jaw sitting on my desk. The long list of problems and reasons we should not help just kept coming. They are undeserving, they will waste the help we offer, they eat each other, the implication was not that this happens occassionally, but rather that daily many people go missing because others are eating them. An accusation, I can find no basis for, nor have I found a source reporting this. The best I have done is find an article from Sept. of 1910 where a woman admitted to cannibalism. There has been a lot of conjecture that since the earthquake in Haiti there might be some cannibalism, but nothing to substatiate it. Other claims were that the Haitians were anti-christian, savages, undomesticated, uneducated, that they brought on their destitution themselves, and so they can pull themselves out. There was no reason to help, because they had no value or ability to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.

I asked if the individuals had ever received something they didn't deserve or earn, after some thought they agreed they had, but that was different. I asked if they earned their right to be born, their eternal life, the grace they have received, the forgiveness they received, etc. They were a little confused but with time agreed they didn't earn any of that. I encouraged them to remember the God we serve is a God who acts when we least deserve it, actually God always gives us what we don't deserve in choosing to see us as we are in God's Son, Jesus Chist, our Lord and Savior. Who are we to want things for nothing from God who freely and lavishly loves us. I asked if they ever wasted something they received they didn't deserve they agreed. We all have wasted something we have received. We have not been good stewards of what God has given us, we waste our talents, our time, the creation we have been entrusted with, and yet we see the wastefullness of others. Is that a splinter in their eye? Why can't we see the plank in our own?

If we were in the position of the Haitians, having experienced the level of destruction they have, we would like to have others who would come and help us. We wouldn't be too picky, we would be appreciative. We would want help from somewhere, and we know that our own government has not been stellar in the recovery from Katrina, Rita, and Ike, but we have been relying on the goodness of others, some like us, and others not to help put the pieces together and we don't complain. The churches have been the champions in actually getting the work done and rebuilding the homes and lives that were destroyed by these storms. So, why when our brothers and sisters in Christ in Haiti need help do we want to turn our backs and neglect them, and spread untruths. Why don't we want to pay it forward and share the love of Christ with the world. None of us are deserving of what we have received, but we serve a merciful and compassionate God who blesses us beyond our wildest dreams. God has blessed us, God is blessing us, and God will continue to bless us. We may not be rich, prosperous, and popular, but that doesn't mean we haven't been blessed.

Jesus, the individual we model our lives after, modeled for us, the reaching out across all sorts of barriers, he ate with outcasts, sinners (aren't we all?), those who were not considered to be human, and risked being ostracized, but didn't care, because he was doing the will of God. Doing what God would have us to do, is what we as Christians are called, compelled, and commissioned with doing in the world. Should we help Haiti? For Christ's sake--YES!!

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:08:00 GMT

Boy, did I learn something important today. As I was putting a couple of sermons on the website, I decided to look at the statistics of who has been visiting the website, and what parts of the site they were visiting. It turns out that quite a few people were checking out the blog part of the website, but I have been negligent in putting information here, so let me now commit to do a better job keeping up with the blogs. There will be a new post on this part of the site at least once a week. While based on my age I am supposed to media savvy, I have to say there are too many new fangled media outlets, and I am trying to keep abreast of them all. Keep reading, and I will keep posting.