Elections

Democrats made massive gains in Tuesday's elections, regaining control of the House and possibly of the Senate. I am a Republican. At least that is the way I have voted in every election I have voted in since I was elgible to vote. But I am not overly dismayed by Tuesday's elections.

The Republican party has not really lived up to it's contract with Christian America. Is the country really any different today than it was at the close of the Clinton administration? Republican moral failures, mishandling of the war in Iraq, and failure to make any significant gains on moral issues have left me wondering if there isn't a middle ground.

Maybe Democrats' gains in this election will cause a new dialogue to take place in America in which we can truly value life, both by securing the lives of the unborn and protecting the sanctity of marriage while at the same time encouraging mother's with unwanted pregnancies, supporting adoption programs, getting teens out of the cycle of poverty and poor education, and showing unconditional love to those wrestling with issues of their sexuality. In short, I renounce my claim to being a Republican. Neither am I a Democrat or an independent. I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I want to see His truth and His love balanced and lived out in the social and political sphere. I will make a difference where I can and elect men and women whom I believe will try to make the world a better place, not who have a certain political label.

Cowboys' QB Controversy

It appears that the Dallas Cowboys now have a full-fledged quarterback controversy on their hands. Today, at his noon press conference, head coach Bill Parcells announced that Tony Romo would be the Cowboys' starting quarterback Sunday against Carolina. Parcells had benched Bledsoe in favor of Romo during the Cowboys' loss at home to the Giants in Monday night's game. Prior to Monday night's game Romo had only thrown two passes in an NFL regular season game.

So, the question is, has Parcells made the right decision? Is Romo the guy to be the Cowboys quarterback? The answer: WHO CARES! It's not that I don't care about the Cowboys. I do. I am not a diehard Cowboys fan, but as a resident of North Texas, I watch the games with interest and would be happy for the Cowboys to put in another Super Bowl appearance.

It's just that I don't give a rat's rear about this quarterback controversy. I have never understood all the hubub over the Cowboys this season. At the beginning of the season, so many of the football minds had the Cowboys as their pick for the Superbowl. I just couldn't see the Cowboys as anything more than a .500 or a little better team at best.

I never thought Drew Bledsoe would be able to lead the Cowboys to a Superbowl, much less win one. Drew Bledsoe is not a Superbowl caliber quarterback. He has demonstrated that for fourteen seasons in the NFL. But does anyone honestly believe that Tony Romo, an undrafted quarterback from Eastern Illionois who nobody has ever heard of, is a Superbowl caliber quarterback? Maybe Romo is somewhat better than Bledsoe. I doubt it, but I honestly don't know. But better than Bledsoe still doesn't win a Superbowl.

And isn't that really the point? You see, I think this whole quarterback controversy is an exercise in missing the point. Cowboys' fans, we don't need to be screaming for Romo or Bledsoe. We need to be screaming for a quarterback. A real quarterback. Somebody with a reputation and a decent pedigree from college, somebody with some real potential to develop into a great NFL quarterback. Jerry, go buy, beg, steal, borrow, trade for one, whatever you have to do. And while you're at it, get him a decent offensive line to block for him.

My point is, has it been so long since the great Troy that we have forgotten what a real quarterback ought to look like? Don't give me this Tony Romo crap.

And while I'm at it, the Bill Parcells experiment has failed. Parcells came here wanting a Superbowl within the next couple of years to prove his expertise as a coach. The problem, the Cowboys weren't a Superbowl team waiting for a coach. The Cowboys needed some major pieces in place to get them to where they needed to be. There is no doubt that the Cowboys are a better team now than they were before Parcells got here. But they are still a lot of pieces away from being a Superbowl team, the quarterback position being a key piece. And isn't another title what we are really all looking for?

So who cares whether it's Bledsoe or Romo? The Cowboys' season is over. It's time to start building a Cowboys team that we can really take pride in again.

What Is Truth?

It's been a while since I've had a chance to do any blogging. My son is playing football for the first time this year, my oldest daughter is cheering, and my middle daughter is taking dance. It seems like we are running all the time now.

I've been thinking lately about the modernism/postmodernism divide and how it impacts how we share the incredible, life-changing message of Jesus Christ, relate to people, and approach life as a whole. It seems to me that in the life of the church modernism has been concerned with the search for the right answers, whereas postmodernism is more concerned with the search for the right questions.

One of the things that I have been meditating on over the last several weeks is the idea that God is in the questions. The modernist approach to apologetics and the Christian life was to carefully formulate an answer to all the questions that skeptics and even believers ask. The postmodern approach and the approach of the emerging church is to live out the questions, to enter into the questions in conversation with other people.

To me, it boils down to the reality that God doesn't always want us to encounter Him in the answers to our questions, but in the questions themselves. Life isn’t simple. It’s complex and hard to figure out, and there aren’t always easy answers to the problems and struggles and stresses of life. Life doesn’t always work out the way you’d planned. Life leaves us with doubts and confusion and questions.

God is so infinite and so complex and so amazing that we will never have Him all figured out. And the questions point us to that reality. The aspects of life and theology and the Bible and faith that we cannot quite grasp illustrate the fact that we will never fully comprehend the wonder of all that God is.

Much of the discussion between modernism and postmodernism comes down to the question of truth. Modernism concerns itself with the search for absolute truth while postmodernism involves some questioning of the methods, goals, and presuppositions of modernism in that quest for truth. Both approaches to truth stem from a Western mindset and understanding of truth that goes all the way back to Aristotle.

Is there a way out of the struggle between these two different understandings about truth? I think it is found in a Hebrew understanding of truth rather than a Greek understanding. Check out John 18:37-38: “Jesus answered, ‘For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.”

Pilate represents the Greek way of thinking about truth. For the Greek, truth was a philosophical concept. It related to what could be known through reason and thinking. It related to facts, and it was static and unchanging. So, when Pilate asks, “What is truth?” He wants to know, “What can be known through reason and thinking? What are the facts? What is the answer?” As Westerners, we are the inheritors of Greek thought, and so, that is the same definition of truth that most of us operate according to. Even the postmodern questioning of truth stems from a Greek way of thinking.

But Jesus was not a Greek. He was a Hebrew, and Hebrews had a vastly different understanding of truth from the Greeks. For Hebrews, truth is not static. It’s not fixed in time. It’s not like what’s true now is always true. For the Hebrew, truth is developing, unfolding. Truth is something that grows and develops over the course of time and history. For the Hebrew, truth is not something you arrive at through thinking; it is something you learn through experience in life. Truth is something you come to know as you see it demonstrated in life. And so, for the Hebrew, truth is not something you know in your head. Truth is something you know in your gut, because you’ve seen the value of it as you have experienced the struggles and heartaches and pressures of life.

In the Old Testament, God is called the God of truth, and in that context, truth means reliability, dependableness, faithfulness, the ability to perform what is required. And so, God’s truth is demonstrated in the experiences of life. So, for the Hebrew, truth is found at the intersection of life’s experiences and the wisdom and character of God. Now, according to that definition of truth, truth does not exclude questions. No, questions, struggles, doubts are the essence of what it means to discover truth. The person who questions God is the person who stands at the intersection of life and God’s wisdom seeking to understand truth. Questions are an essential part of a growing faith.

So, may we all come to this understanding of truth. Rather than a modernist or postmodernist approach to truth, rather than a Western, Greek approach to truth, let us have a biblical approach to truth. Let us come to find truth at the intersection of the character of God as revealed in His Word and the experiences of our lives.

What My Papaw Taught Me about Love

My grandfather, Olan Icenhower, passed away Monday, August 28th at my parents' home in Arkansas. This picture is one we took two months ago with my newborn, Abby. It is a picture I will cherish forever.

My grandmother asked me to speak at my grandfather's funeral, and the following is the complete text of that message:

Some of you knew O. D. Icenhower as “Mr. Icenhower.” Some of you knew him as “Olan.” Most of you knew him as “Nubbin” or “Nub.” And a few of you knew him as “Daddy.” But I, along with about 47 other people here, knew him as Papaw. And I want to spend a few minutes telling you about my Papaw. I’m not here to talk about his death. I’m here to talk about his life, to celebrate his life. You see, the most valuable lessons in life I learned from my Papaw. When I’m preaching, I don’t know how many of my stories start with “My Papaw said … ” or “My Papaw did …” or "My Papaw used to ..." But of all the lessons he taught me, the greatest lesson in all of life, I learned from my Papaw on a daily basis in his words and in his actions and in everything he did. And that was how to love.

Jesus said in John 13:35, By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. You know, Jesus could have said a lot of things. He could have said, "By this will all men know that you are my disciples, by your doctrine and your beliefs. By this will all men know you are my disciples, by what church you go to. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, by the programs you have going or the ministries you are involved in." But Jesus didn't say any of those things. He said, "By this, by your love for one another." The distinguishing mark of a follower of Jesus Christ is love. And that is what my Papaw showed to so many people and taught me so well.

There’s four things my Papaw taught me about love. First, he taught me how to love other people. Papaw loved people. Papaw loved being around people. Your presence here today is an indication of how much Papaw loved people and how many friends he had. Papaw loved to talk. Many of you have probably had Papaw sit and talk your ear off. Papaw loved to be in a crowd of people. The other night at Momma and Daddy’s house, there was a big crowd of people there talking and eating and loving each other, and my Uncle Gary said, “There's only one thing missing. Daddy would have loved to be here right now.”

Papaw loved people. When I was a kid, I remember getting in Papaw’s old truck, and we’d start up the road there in Mt. Carmel, and it would take Papaw forever to get anywhere, maybe a little bit because he drove slow as all get out, but more than that because he had to stop and visit with so many people. Papaw never met a stranger. People all over Howard county, people all over the state of Arkansas know my Papaw. My momma told me yesterday morning that she and Mamaw took Papaw to the mall with them one time. How they ever got him in the mall, I don’t know. But they took him to the mall and found him a bench to sit at out in the mall while they went shopping. When they got back, there was Papaw just talking up a storm with somebody, and he said, “Momma, I want you to meet my friend, so and so.”

Papaw was a friend. He was a friend to everybody. It didn’t matter who you were, how important you were, how rich you were or poor you were, what color you were. He was a friend. When I was a kid, you knew when there was a stranger at the door because they knocked on the door. Nobody ever knocked on the door at Papaw’s house. The door was always open. When you sat down to eat supper at Papaw’s, there was almost always a visitor sitting at the table. Many preachers sat down at Papaw’s supper table after a meeting up at the church to sit down and talk with him about hunting or fishing or gardening or the Bible. Maybe that's where I first began to sense God's calling in my own life, sitting and listening to one of those conversations. If you came to my Papaw’s house, you usually hadn’t been there for very long before you felt like you were part of his family. How many times has Papaw stayed around visiting with people after church and he got ready to go, and his final words were “Y’all come home with me”? And he meant it. They weren't just words. He really wanted you to come home with him and sit down and eat with him and talk with him.

Papaw loved people, and Papaw showed people love. Papaw never has had a lot in this world, never has been a rich man, but he still liked to help people out as best he could. I remember seeing a lot of people come to Papaw’s garden to get food that he had given to them, helping out somebody who was having a tough time.

Papaw taught me how to love other people. The second thing Papaw taught me was he taught me how to love my kids. Papaw loved his kids and grandkids. Let me tell you, it was a special thing to be his child or grandchild. I have never doubted that Papaw loved me more than I could imagine. You always knew that you were loved.

When you would see Papaw, even as a thirty-year-old man, Papaw’s first words were, “Come here and give Papaw a sugar.” And then, he’d give you a great big hug and a scratchy-faced kiss.

Papaw knew how to show love to kids. When I was a kid, he always carried a package of Juicy-Fruit or Big Red in his pocket or a package of M&Ms to give to his grandkids. He gave us rides on his mule, Target.

One of my favorite things that he did, I am passing on to my kids. Sometimes I tell one of my kids, “Come here and give me some lovein’.” So they climb up in my lap, and I lay them down and say, “Let me pick your guitar.” So I pick up their arm and tickle them under the arm until we are both just laughing with tears in our eyes. That’s something my Papaw did with me, and I pass it on to my children.

Papaw loved his kids and grandkids. He prayed for us. He hugged us. He encouraged us. He was proud of us. He loved us. It didn’t matter what you did. It didn’t matter how long you’d been away. It didn’t matter whether you’d made some mistakes. Papaw always made you know that He loved you unconditionally.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Papaw was sometimes tough on you. The boys, especially, can attest to the fact that if you did something Papaw didn’t approve of, he wasn’t afraid to offer correction, often administered to the seat of the pants. If you weren’t living the way Papaw thought you ought to, he wasn’t afraid to provide some wise direction.

Papaw also knew how to work you. Whether it was working in the garden or hauling hay or picking blackberries or hauling firewood or getting up early in the morning to feed the animals and gather eggs, whatever, a day with Papaw was usually going to include some hard work. When my cousin, Justin, was just a little boy, he came to spend a week with Mamaw and Papaw one summer. And Papaw got Justin to working in the garden, picking peas or beans. Justin hadn’t been there but a couple of days when he called home and said, “I’m ready to come home. I don’t like picking beans.”

But Papaw somehow knew how to make a day of working worthwhile. Papaw knew where all the best swimming holes were. One memory that sticks out for me is one day we had been working in the garden all morning, and it was hot. And Papaw took us swimming. The swimming hole had big tall banks on either side and a rope swing that you could swing over into the water. So, all us boys stripped down and were having a big time swimming. Well, all of a sudden, we hear a holler, and here comes this seventy year old man, naked as a jaybird, diving off that bank into the water. We laughed and laughed. Even at seventy years old, Papaw was a kid at heart. Papaw loved his kids and grandkids, and he loved spending time with them.

Now, let me let you in on a secret: I was Papaw's favorite. Now, all these other grandkids are getting mad at me, because they thought they were Papaw's favorite. Somehow Papaw had a unique way of loving each of us. Every one of us felt like we were Papaw’s favorite. And the truth is, we were. We were all his favorite. There’s a picture of Papaw that I had to find at Momma's house. Papaw is in his old green pickup, sitting behind the steering wheel, grinning from ear to ear. The picture was taken lookin in the passenger side window. So, Papaw is in the center, and around the edge of the picture are the five little faces of five of us grandkids, sticking out the window. That picture really says it all. I don’t remember where we were going or what we were doing, but it didn’t matter. We were going with Papaw, and going anywhere with Papaw was a good time. Maybe that’s why today is so tough. Because Papaw’s gone, and for right now, we can’t go with him.

Papaw loved his kids. The third thing I learned from Papaw was how to love my wife. As Papaw would say, he loved “that thing there.” I remember Papaw telling me about the first time he saw Mamaw. Papaw was driving down the road and saw a girl with coal-black hair playing out in the yard, and he said to himself that was the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life and that he was going to marry her someday. And he did.

Mamaw was the love of Papaw’s life, his best friend, his lifelong companion. This year they were married 64 years. There aren't a lot of people who make it 64 years in marriage. So, what’s the secret to 64 years of marriage? Did they never fight? Did they always get along perfectly. No, they had their share of disagreements. Those of us who were their kids and grandkids can attest to that. Mamaw told me the other day that if somebody were to tell her in 64 years of marriage that they never had a disagreement or a cross word with each other, she wouldn’t believe them. Mamaw said the secret was they always had enough love for each other to work through whatever problems they had with each other. When LaRissa and I were getting married, Papaw told us, “Whatever you do, don’t go to bed mad at each other. You may not have it all worked out, but don’t go to bed mad at each other.” We’ve put that into practice in our marriage. Some nights we haven't gone to bed until 2 o'clock in the morning, but we've haven't gone to bed mad at each other, and we’ve been married now for 13 years.

A year and a half ago, Mamaw was in the hospital and had some pretty major surgery, and we didn’t know if Mamaw was going to make it. Papaw was a nervous wreck in the waiting room. He just had to go see Mamaw as much as they would let him in to see her. One of the times he came out of her room, and he had this great big grin on his face, and he said, “I got me some sugars.” Several months ago, we were visiting Momma and Daddy and Mamaw and Papaw, and we were getting ready to go. Everybody was already out of the house, and I was in a back room. Papaw was sitting in the kitchen, and I heard Mamaw come into the kitchen where he was. She told him, “Daddy, you’ll never know how much I love you.” Papaw said, “I love you, too. More than I could ever say.” Papaw loved Mamaw.

Now, there’s a lot of other things I could tell you about that Papaw loved. Papaw loved life. He loved hunting. He loved gardening. He loved dogs. He loved his mule, Target. I remember watching Papaw and Target plowing for hours in the garden together, sweat would be pouring off of both of them. And as they would go past Mamaw, Target would start breathing harder, and Mamaw would say, "Nubbin, you stop and let that mule rest!" And they would stop to rest while Papaw drank a cup of coffee. Papaw loved coffee. Hot coffee, cold coffee, strong coffee, weak coffee, it didn't matter. I used to be amazed at how Papaw could drive over a hundred miles of busted glass with a cup of coffee without ever spilling a drop.

But of all the things Papaw loved, the most important thing Papaw taught me was Papaw taught me to love Jesus. When Papaw was 33 years old, he asked Jesus to save him, and he did. And Papaw never got over it. Whenever Papaw would pray and thank Jesus for saving him, his voice would crack, and tears would well up in his eyes. He was just in love with Jesus.

Papaw couldn’t read very much, so every evening he and Mamaw would sit together and Mamaw would read the Bible to him. Many times, Mamaw would read something to him that meant something special or that he didn't quite understand, and he would say, "Read that again, Momma." Mamaw has read the Bible to Papaw for hours and hours. For someone who couldn’t read, Papaw knew more about the Bible than most people.

Papaw loved to talk about Jesus with people. He loved to have preachers come into his home so he could talk to them about the Bible and about his faith. You didn’t have to talk to Papaw very long to find out how important his relationship with the Lord was to him.

Papaw gave a lot of thought to his faith. After I became a preacher, Papaw would always have some question for me that he had been thinking about. Usually it was something deeper than I had thought about or than I had an easy answer for. One time Papaw told me, “Shawn, there’s a lot in that book that I don’t understand. But I just try to live out the parts that I do understand.” You know, as a pastor, that is the most I could hope for from any person, "There's a lot that I don't understand. I just try to live out the parts that I do understand."

I guess Papaw’s favorite song was “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Anytime we had a singing at church, Papaw would always request that song. And when Papaw would sing that song, he would turn his eyes toward heaven and sing at the top of his lungs and with all his heart, as tears rolled down his face.

Papaw loved Jesus. Early Monday morning, Papaw closed his eyes and went to sleep in this life. And I believe that the instant Papaw closed his eyes in this life, he opened them in heaven, and the first thing he saw was the face of Jesus as He welcomed Papaw home. And if Papaw could talk to you today, he would say what he has said to so many of you so many times, “Y’all come home with me.” Papaw would want you to spend eternity in heaven with him and with Jesus. Revelation 22:17, the very last chapter of the Bible says, The Spirit and the bride say, “[Y'all] Come!” And let him who hears say, “[Y'all] Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Papaw would say to you, “Y’all come!”

Would you bow your heads with me? Now, I know in a crowd this size, there are some of you who have wandered away from home, you've wandered away from a relationship with Jesus Christ, and you're not as close to God as you once were. Maybe some of you have never come home. You've never come to know Jesus Christ as the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life. Well, I want you to leave here today without any doubt about what will happen to you when you die. So, I want to invite you, just from your heart to God's heart to pray this prayer with me, "Dear Jesus, I want to come home. My sins have taken me far away from you. So, as much as I know how, I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I believe you died on the cross to pay the price for my sins. From now on, I want you to be the leader of my life. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen."

If you would like to leave a message for the family, you can view the online obituary and sign the guest book by going to www.nashvillefh.com and clicking on "obituaries."

Recommended Reading

I've just finished reading Lee Strobel's The Case for a Creator. It is an excellent, entry-level look at the intelligent design movement. Basically, the theory of intelligent design says that certain features of the universe, the earth, and life itself are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection.

Strobel is a former atheist and was once chief legal affairs editor for the Chicago Tribune. That backgrounds forms the basis for Strobel's approach to the subject matter. Each chapter is a journalist's interview of a leading expert in a particular field within the intelligent design movement.

I would recommend this book to Christians seeking to gain greater understanding into the scientific arguments for creation. However, I would not recommend using it as a tool to give to your unbelieving friends. Use it to inform your own understanding so that you can interact with your friends about the subject.

Theology and a Coffee Cup

My family and I drove down to Allen, TX, this weekend to do some back to school shopping. Since I was way groggy in the head and needed some sort of drugs to make me ready for a day of shopping in the Texas heat, we stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a couple of coffees.

Starbucks has a new promotion called "The Way I See It" designed to get people talking about life, issues, and things that matter to them. Each cup now has printed on it a thought, opinion, or expression provided by a notable figure to be used as a discussion starter. (Why doesn't the church come up with ideas like this?!)

On my wife's cup was "The Way I See It #116":

Mountains preserve the heritage of the past, enhance the beauty of the present and inspire actions for the future. Near a sacred peak, everything reveals its most essential meaning.

-- Constanza Ceruti, High-altitude archeologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Ceruti points to a truth that every hiker knows in at least some since, that the mountains provide unique opportunities to connect with the divine. When we are in the presence of something infinitely greater than ourselves, majestically larger, we are humbled and reminded of who we are and our relationship to the universe as a whole. And it is there that everything reveals its most essential meaning. I would add that it is not the mountains that cause us to be reflective and see the essential nature of ourselves and our world, but it is the fact that the mountain causes us to come face to face with who we are in the world.

For years, mountaintops have been regarded as sacred places, places where man can meet with God. The Psalmist writes, "I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1-2).

So, I encourage you to get to a mountain and meet with God. Find everything else in life stripped away and find the beauty of meeting face to face with God.

Are these kids cool or what?

This is from our vacation to Hot Springs, AR. What did we do on vacation? Went swimming and ate ice cream every day. You can't ask for a better vacation than that!

The Surreal Life

I'm extremely tired as I write this. Sunday evening I went to be with my family. My mother is caring for my grandfather as he is dying with a number of problems stemming from eighty years of smoking. We placed him in the hospital on Monday, and it looks like he may be there for the duration of his life. It was a difficult visit, but a really good one as I had a chance to tell him how much he meant to me and what I had learned from his life.

As I was there helping my mother care for him, I was struck by the surrealness of life. I bathed him, changed his diaper, wiped his nose, and got up numerous times during the night to care for him. Back at home, I have an infant for whom I do the exact same things on a daily basis.

King Solomon, one of Israel's kings and one of the wisest men who ever lived, once said, "There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. There is a time to be born and a time to die." I am thankful that our lives are not accidental. We go through seasons in our lives, but in every season of our lives, God is preparing us for the life of eternity.

Dear Abby,

My fourth precious gift from God, Abigail Faith, was born May 12, 2006. I may be prejudiced, but she is one of the four most beautiful women in the world.

Superman Returns!

One cool spring evening in 1979, my mom, my dad, my brother and I loaded up into my dad's little blue Ford pick-up and went to the Howard Auto Theater, the drive-in movie theater outside of Nashville, AR.

There was a long line of cars backed up the highway waiting to get in, and we waited for what seemed like an eternity for our turn. We finally got in, and my dad got a spot about four rows back, a good view of the screen and close to the bathrooms and concession stand. He backed the truck into the spot, and once we got our hot dogs and popcorn, we all got in the back of the truck, wrapped up in quilts, and waited for the movie to start.

I still remember like it was yesterday that big S-shield flying across the screen followed by the name "Superman" and the first strains of John Williams' magnificent score. For the next two hours, I was as excited as a six-year-old boy can be. Superman was officially one of my heroes.

Well, last night I relived the moment as LaRissa and I took our four kids to see Superman Returns. I had pretty high expectations and was not disappointed. The kids had the same reaction I did as a kid. They thought it was one of the best movies they had ever seen. It was awesome for me to live out the experience with them ("The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son.")

Much has already been said about how Superman is a Christ-figure in the current Superman installment as well as in Richard Donner's Superman: The Motion Picture and Superman II (I highly recommend Stephen Skelton's The Gospel According to the World's Greatest Superhero), so I won't give a detailed analysis. However, there is one moment in the film that is especially worthwhile in this regard. Superman has left earth to try to find the remains of his home planet, Krypton, and has returned to earth after a five year absence. The world has moved on without him, and Lois Lane has written an editorial entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Lois tells Superman, "The world doesn't need a savior." Superman responds, "You said the world doesn't need a savior. But I hear people crying out for one every day." Isn't that really what being a Christian in the world is all about? Responding to a world that is crying out for a savior everyday.

I, for one, am so glad Superman has returned!

Welcome to Walk the Trail!

Hey! I'm glad you came to check out my blog. "Walk the Trail" is an expression of who I am, the things and people that are important to me, and my thoughts on life, love, the world, philosophy, my wife and kids and whatever else comes to mind.

One of my greatest hobbies is hiking. I love the pace and simplicity of hiking. I love getting close to God's creation, smelling the damp, earthy smell of the woods, listening to birds singing, cooling my feet in a mountain stream, eating blackberries, seeing trees and flowers and mountains and sunsets. I love seeing deer in a field and ducks on a pond and a lizard on a rock. I love getting away from the highways to the roads less traveled to see things that most people never get to see. I love taking my kids with me, and challenging them to do things they think are impossible like climbing rocks and jumping streams and going one mile farther. I love stopping to eat a granola bar and drink some water and thinking, "This is the best food I have ever had!" I even love the aching back and blistered feet. So, walk the trail is some about hiking and other adventures in the great outdoors.

But it is more than that. It is really about how all of life is about walking the trail. So much of what is valuable in hiking is also what is valuable in life.

You see, in hiking, the goal is really the journey itself. It's not so much about getting to the end, making it back to your car and logging so many miles in so much time. The important thing is finding joy in the journey. When I am walking the trail, I am always excited about what I am going to discover around the next corner, what is over the next hill, what new view of the landscape will I see as I come to the next crest.

Some people think that the Christian faith is solely focused on heaven, and some people certainly give you that idea. You know, becoming a Christian is all about making sure you are going to heaven when you die, and living the Christian life is really about longing to get to heaven. But that is not it at all. Jesus wants to impact the way we live life here and now.

As Rob Bell so beautifully puts it in his book Velvet Elvis, "Jesus' desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth." It's not just about getting from earth to heaven, but about bringing heaven to earth in our daily lives. The joy is in the journey. It's in making an impact in the lives of other people. It's in trying to transform the world and make it a better place. It's in seeing God in every step in life, every bend in the trail, every person you encounter. It's not just about getting to the end of the road. It's about enjoying wherever the road may take you.

Hiking is also about following a trail that is laid out before you, keeping your eyes open for the blazes that mark the course, and responding to the unexpected turns, dips, and challenges you find on the trail. That is what the life of following Jesus Christ is like. He is the pioneer (Heb. 12:1), the trailblazer who has gone before us and marked out the trail for us to follow. That trail will often lead us to new and unexpected places. To effectively follow Jesus, you have to follow the course he has laid out for you, and be ready to respond to the new challenges on the course. I firmly believe that this is what the church must continually do as we move into new territory, new cultures, and new horizons. We go wherever the trail takes us, changing, responding, adapting, yet always following. There are some things that are fixed along the way, like the good news of hope and forgiveness and peace and meaning found in Jesus Christ. But there is also much that must change as we face new parts of the trail.

Finally, one of the most important lessons about life I learned from hiking. I love hiking so much because I get to see some incredibly beautiful things that many people don't get to see because they never leave the safety of the road. So here's the lesson: Some of the most beautiful places on earth, most people never see because the road is too difficult.

It's true in hiking, and it's true in life. The most beautiful places in life, in your marriage, in your family, in your relationships with other people, in living out your purpose in life, making a difference in the world, being a hero to the people that matter to you, the most beautiful places in life, most people never see because the road to get there is too tough.

You will never experience the most beautiful places in your life if you take the easy route. The most beautiful things in your life will come when you hang on when you were about to give up. The most beautiful times in your marriage will come when you stay when you wanted to walk away. The most beautiful times in your relationships with other people will come when you walk through heartache and tough times together. The most beautiful places in your personal life will come after you were ready to give up. The mountain tops are only reached by struggling through the valleys.

Walk the trail is about all of that. It's about my journey walking the trail that God has set before me. I invite you to come along with me for the journey.

The Road goes ever on and on/Down from the door where it began./Now far ahead the Road has gone,/And I must follow, if I can,/Pursuing it with weary feet,/Until it joins some larger way,/Where many paths and errands meet./And whither then? I cannot say.