I am writing this blog while high. There, that should get your attention. It’s not what you think. I’m currently 25,000 feet in the air, on a plane, headed to Nashville without my family. A few things worth mentioning. First, I’ve come to the realization that my first flight EVER should probably have come on a plane that I can stand up in. I didn’t realize that they made planes this size that didn’t go around in circles at the amusement park. Second, the sense of adventure is completely gone once you’ve experienced the joy of a night home with your family. If this was six or seven years ago, I’d be excited about having a few days away from New York, living it up on an all expenses paid trip to a city that I’ve been to and really en joy. Instead, this trip reminds me of our honeymoon (which was partly in Nashville) and how I miss being here with my wife, how I’ve missed three drop offs at school, several games of Candy Land Castle, a bathtime or two and all the rest of the things that I’d rather be doing than bouncing through turbulence in the modern day version of the Spirit of St.

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I was recently listening to radio (and a secular program, to boot), and came across a story for the first time about five religious men who were persecuted for professing the name of Jesus.  Where, you may ask, did this take place?  Not in any third world dictatorship, nor under a communist regime, but in fact in the state of Virginia.  Six chaplains working for the state police were fired by Governor Tim Kaine for speaking the words “in Jesus name” to close a prayer.  From the ChristianNewswire site, “Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is defending why his administration forced the sudden resignation of five Virginia State Police Chaplains because they prayed publicly "in Jesus' name." Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty single-handedly created then enforced a strict "non-sectarian" prayer policy at all public gatherings, censoring and excluding Christian prayers, then accepted the resignation of five chaplains who refused to deny Jesus or violate their conscience by watering down their prayers.

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Turning on the news the last several days brings nothing but gloom and doom.  For the first time in about 80 years, nobody seems to have any answers to keep the American dream afloat.  Indecision, pessimism and catastrophe seem to be the themes of the day.  The scariest part is that nobody seems to know what’s next.  What does it all mean?  How did we get here?  The reality of it all is that over the last several weeks, America has seen its god die.  And it has died a painful, violent and ugly death.  For years, we’ve lived in the reality that our proverbial pockets were endlessly deep.  Few things were consistent, except that we lived on the constant high of “you want it, you got it”.  Now, we’re questioning what’s left.  Much like in the days of Elijah, we shouted for the god of the American dream, and our calls have come back unanswered.  We’ve called out, and there’s no response.  So, what’s left?  Do we keep calling, with the hopes and desires that American politicians will come to the rescue?  If our hope is placed here, our demise is certain.  Do we wait for the rules and laws of capitalism to take over?  What happens if we’re too far gone?  Shouldn’t we see this as the end of the era of the America we knew?  Maybe we should, and maybe we should be thankful to God for the opportunity that this new era presents.

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I’ve been missing in action lately. It’s all for good reason, though. Last Thursday was a true milestone in our family’s life as we closed on our first house. This has meant that paperwork, phone calls, deliveries and now painting have consumed my every spare moment. The truth about this house we just made our own is that it represents much more for us than the “American dream.” This is actually all about the faithfulness of God. Over five years ago now, we made a deliberate decision to drop everything and follow His path for our lives, and we did so straight into financial ruin. My wife and I were two people who were never so sure that we had been called to detour our path from financial security and into a path of inner city missions. We were so absolutely confident that we would be provided for. God made the promise, so we ran hard after His calling.

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An interesting article was forwarded to me recently by Stan Jantz regarding the newly built SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) radio telescope funded to the tune of $30 million by Microsoft. The head researcher, Rick Forster, is working on this project in collaboration with UC Berkeley, which in case you don’t know, is one of the leading research institutions in the world. Why the huge investment of time, money and resources? Because, according to Forster, "It's nuts to think we're alone. It's just a matter of looking in the right direction, at the right time, at the right frequency, with the right algorithm.” Just to recap, a leading scientist receives $30 million, notoriety and accolades for having a hunch. Important to note that at this point, no substantial evidence whatsoever has been found to indicate that there’s life out there in the great beyond, and nothing suggests that anyone out there is trying to dial in on planet earth.

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Paying A Price

 

I’ve been thinking about the cost of obedience, and how following your calling in life sometimes means giving up a little bit of yourself, your hopes and your dreams. I’ve been studying the word “perfect” and its Biblical relevance, and I believe that the more I read and understand, the more I realize that perfection comes in those moments that we die to our own desires to give into the plans and calling that God has for our life. I think that perhaps I can only draw on a very personal example to illustrate my point.

 

I know a woman, beautiful inside and out, who was successful in everything she set her heart and mind to. She grew up in an environment of chaos, yet somehow figured out how to succeed at life and all that she took on.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and write, namely because everything in life has been so uncontrollably busy. Finally, I’ve got a moment between things on my to do list to reflect on something I’ve been thinking about. Two words: intelligent design. Not the kind that talks about where everything comes from, but rather, the kind that gives me a glimpse at the God I serve. To explain what I mean, I’m going to offer a little background on what’s been keeping me busy. We’re getting set to complete the purchase of our first home. That’s a big deal, but at face value, no bigger a deal than any of the millions of first homes purchased in every city and state in America. Maybe with a little more insight into the story, you’ll see why I’ve been pondering the Intelligent Designer and His perfect plans.

I was doing some research for my pastor as part of a sermon illustration. In searching for discussion on the forces of instability within an atom, I began to realize something that I have never fully appreciated. There are a tremendous amount of forces at work seeking to rip apart the universe and all that is within it. Take, for example, the atom in all its simplistic glory. The atom, built like a cell, is made up of positive charges in the nucleus, surrounded by negatively charged electrons in holding containers known as orbitals which surround it. Of course, we all know the cliché that opposites attract, and this is never more true than in the case of oppositely charged forces. The atom should be inherently unstable, with the positive and negative charges constantly pulling one another to create a destructive collapse of the atomic structure.

Sometimes the need to simplify science for the purposes of teaching, illustration and basic understanding is the worst thing we can do. I am a huge proponent of simplifying, putting things into everyday terms, making them easy to understand. Society demands this, with people desiring to learn things in sound bites, rather than taking the opportunity to delve in at full force. The science community suffers from being too “intellectual” in many realms, and most people tune us out when we start to talk technical and begin to look at the complexity of biological, chemical and physical systems that surround us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about starting simple. I love to teach General Chemistry classes to freshmen for this purpose. However, there’s a difference between starting simple and staying simple. I believe that a need to stay simple has done a great disservice to science, and I’ll go as far as to say that it does a great job at hiding the beauty and complexity of God’s created world.

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So, intelligent design is either science or its not, it’s either substantive or meaningless, and either you follow the argument and believe it or you don’t. The feedback from the “Hot Topics” session has been incredibly encouraging, with many people, both faculty and students, expressing that regardless of their viewpoint, they thoroughly enjoyed hearing both sides of the argument. For me, that is extremely rewarding and gratifying, because quite simply, I believe that anyone making a decision (and not necessarily in my favor) should do so with all the facts, with sufficient observation and research, and not just because it says so on page 1013 of some textbook.

 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to share and reflect on my experiences as a Christian and God’s hand of provision and faithfulness.