Scott Freeman

It has been a crazy week. I am currently convalescing after a “minor surgical procedure.” I can’t run for a week, our home laptop is on the blink and I can’t do anything around the house for a couple of days.
I’m bored stiff.
I did finally finish Halo 2, though.
I was brave enough to keep the kids today instead of sending them to day care. Is there anything Cassie doesn’t want to pick up?
Is there anything out of her reach?
Is there anything that her and her sister can’t fight over?
And why do they ask me if I want hot mild or fire sauce at the drive-thru if they aren’t going to put it in the bag?

Link: My Song of the Week.

1. Since You’ve Been Gone – Cheryl Wheeler

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to
understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers.
We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very
well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act
accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget
everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God,
you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein
lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian
scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend
itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be
good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it
is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even
dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

- Soren Kierkegaard

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Chloe, tomorrow you turn 4. As I sit here tonight among all the presents we have for you I can’t help but think about the tremendous gift that you have been to me.

I wish I could freeze this moment and keep you my little 3 year old forever.

I wish that I could lengthen every smile, amplify every hug and extend every “Daddy, I love you” until I was certain that I would never forget the joy of being your daddy or the preciousness of this time in your life that we have together.

I can’t help but think tonight of all the things I want to share with you. All of the things that I want to teach you.

About the love of Jesus. The importance of faith. The blessing of family.

As I think of these life lessons I realize that YOU have already taught ME so much.

• You have taught me to be a better husband because I never want you to feel the pain of a broken home. I never want you to question the sanctity of marriage and the importance of a Christ-centered relationship.
• You have taught me to be a better man because I never want you to have to search for the qualities you need in a father in someone else. I never want you to have to settle in relationships just to feel accepted.
• You have taught me to be a stronger Christian for I know that your perceptions of Jesus will be primarily formed through your perceptions of me. I know that your burgeoning faith will have much to do with whether or not daddy lives what he preaches.
• You have taught me to be more patient as I watch you learn.
• You have taught me to be more sensitive. Although I am prone to shrug off any perceived slight or injustice no pain is more acute or real as when you are hurting.
• You have taught me to laugh with your love of life and light-up-the-room smile.
• You have taught me to love with the love of Christ. I would lay down my life for you without the slightest hesitation.

Yes, I do have so much to teach you but it pales in comparison with what you have already been able to get through this hard head of mine.

I am so blessed to be your daddy. To see your love, laughter and spirit. To witness firsthand your love, care and compassion for others.

To stand by your side as you experience the joys, triumphs, disappointments and heartbreaks of life.

I get to learn how to be a daddy because you are the first.

Thankfully I have a great teacher.

Thank you for being my little girl.

Thank you for teaching me so much.

I love you,

daddy

We are so blessed by our church family. A shower was recently given to us in preparation for our upcoming newborn. As this is our third child most of the things that were needed were already in place.
We are up to our necks in clothes. We are full up on receiving blankets and burp cloths.
So the fine people at this church threw a diaper and money tree shower at us.
The response was so much more than we ever could have anticipated.
The generosity of this church is both astonishing and humbling.
We are truly blessed to be a part of such a congregation.

Josh Harris has a new book entitled Stop Dating the Church!: Fall in Love With the Family of God. The central idea is that too many people carry on an endless flirtation with the church that never progresses toward true commitment.
Too often people enact a junior-high level relationship with God’s people that asks nothing more than a couple of hours obligation on the weekends.
It is the religious equivalent of a couple’s skate.
Do you like me? Circle one: Yes No Only on Sunday Mornings

But the hard truth is that Christ calls us to commit to His people. Christ cherishes the Church (Eph. 5:29) and so should we.
Sunday only attendance is not enough.
Periodic check-ins to let others know that we are okay is insufficient.
Flirtation is not indicative of faith.
Visiting around is not the habits of the victorious.
Jumping from church to church is not conducive to spiritual stability.

No, the true power of the church comes through community. Through being involved in one anothers’ lives.
Think of the benefits that one can receive by being an active and vital member of a church community:

• People who will pray with and for you.
• Support when life comes crashing in.
• Fellowship with people who understand your heart.
• Comfort in times of loss.
• Laughter in times of rejoicing.
• Forgiveness in times of failure.
• Connection to community
• Assistance in times of great need.
• And on and on.

You cannot experience these benefits if you are at a different congregation each week.
You cannot reap these blessings if you get mad at little things and leave the fellowship of other sinners saved by God’s grace.
You cannot replicate the eternal bonds forged within the church through Soccer practice, work or sailing.
No, to receive the benefits of church membership you have to be there.
But there is more. Too often we look at the benefits of church membership contained in the list above and stop there.
There is much more. There is what we can give only in the context of commitment:

• We can pray with and for others.
• We can support others when life comes crashing in.
• We can fellowship with people because we understand their heart.
• We can comfort others in times of loss.
• We can laugh with others in times of rejoicing.
• We can forgive others in times of failure.
• We can offer others a connection to community
• We can lend assistance in times of great need.
• And on and on.

We are blessed by our church family. It is a blessing that we can find nowhere else.
It is where the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ is experienced and shared regularly.
It is where the Holy Spirit of God resonates and permeates the collective heart of God’s children.
It is where God Himself finds His blessings and satisfaction.
Commit to the church.
The blessings are out of this world.

Today, my precious daughter turns 2. Cassie, before you were born I questioned how much I could love you. I was afraid that all the love that I could muster was spent on your older sister. But it was not long before you wrapped yourself around my heart. That is where you have been from the moment I saw you and where you will always remain.
I thank God every day that He brought you to me. With you, life is never boring and I never question the presence of love in this world.
I thank God that you have always been a daddy’s girl. From those first few months when I was the only one who could put you to sleep to the present when you give me that precious smile and laugh that you share with no one else I am shaken to the core to know how much YOU love ME.
I thank God that you have your own mind. Your streaks of stubbornness and obstinacy, although difficult at times, gives me comfort that you will not be a blind follower in life.
I thank God that you love to laugh. Whenever I get bogged down with the seriousness of my calling, you lighten the load.
I thank God that you have such a sharing spirit. Your willingness to give love and laughter to others is truly Christlike. May you foster that for the rest of your life.

In just a few short weeks you will no longer be the baby. We will welcome your baby sister into the world and you will become the dreaded middle child.
The new baby will consume most of our attention where once it was given solely to you and your sister.
But if there is any child that can thrive as a middle child, it is you.
Your voice will not be diminished. You will see to that.
You will not be overlooked. You would never allow it.
In many ways it is fitting that you are the middle child. That is where you thrive.
For you have taken residence in the middle of my heart.
You have a permanent spot in the middle of my soul.
You resonate in the middle of all my thoughts.
You are in the center of all that I am and do.
Come to think of it, that is a better description: you are not the middle child.
You are the center child.
Thank you for you.
Thank you for the love you bring every day.
Thank you for being my girl.
May God always shine His Light over you.
I love you,
daddy

“It breaks your heart. It
is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when
everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling
the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come,
it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.” —-Bart Giamatti

This past Sunday was opening day. Traditionally one of the most anticipated times of the season for me.
College Basketball is done.
The NBA has yet to begin their 6 month long playoffs.
It is another 5 months till football.
But baseball has begun. America’s pastime is in full swing.

This year, however, I just don’t care.
And that makes me sad.

The cloud of steriods has dampened my enthusiasm for the game. The knowledge that the home run records that have fallen in recent years were done illicitly have served to distance me from the excitement that I typically experience when the first pitch is thrown out.
I didn’t even sign up for fantasy baseball this year.

Cheaters have stolen something from the sport.
From my love for the game.
I don’t know when, if ever, I will get it back.

Spring is sad this year.

Yesterday a got a frantic call from my wife.
After a 20 minute absence from the kitchen she returned to find a swarm of bugs had invaded our home.
Hundreds of little winged insects were congregating in the kitchen!
As you know Tracy is 42 months pregnant.
The last thing she needs to deal with now is an infestation.
But there they were.
Dilemma:–what are they?
Hope against hope is that they are flying ants.
But alas, it is not to be.
These, my dear friends, are termites. (Click picture above to get the idea.)
The Terminix guy verified that.
The tree right outside of our kitchen window is teeming with the little buggers.
We now encounter a rather exorbitant expense to eradicate them from the establishment (sorry, couldn’t resist the alliteration.)
These little pests are causing a world of hurt.
Fortunately, we caught it early.

How like sin those little termites are.
By themselves, they can seem small and inconsequential. Nothing that can’t be turned out with a little resolve and gumption.
But sin is no recluse.
It breeds more sin. It festers and grows.
Any sin left untreated can easily become a swarm.
And the damage it reaps upon the foundation (read: soul) is profound.
The cost is immense.
Some of us might be harboring what we think are isolated termites of temptation.
Small nuisances that we are convinced with take care of themselves.
Little seen annoyances that we can sweep under the rug:

• Maybe it is anger that is bubbling under the surface searching for someone to unleash upon.
• Maybe it is fear that fails to light upon the Source of all hope.
• Maybe it is lust that is invading the mind and seeking some temporary satisfaction.
• Maybe it is the buying of a couple of frivolous items that is now turning to full-blown materialism.
• Maybe it is the office flirtation that is heading toward infidelity.
• Maybe it is the seemingly innocent questions about another that is headed toward gossip.
• Maybe it is the decision to miss a Sunday or two that has now become a complete falling away from active attendance.

You see, sin is like those little termites.
Individually, they seem small.
But sin doesn’t travel alone.
It does not exist in a vacuum.
It brings other sin with it.
Other pests that compound the problems.
Before you know it you are ankle deep in transgression.
Even worse, your entire foundation can crumble and collapse.

There are two methods of treatment for our termite problem. One tries to put up a barrier to keep them from getting in. It repels what is already in the structure and then tries to prevent them from being able to return.
The other destroys the colony.

Which one sounds better to you? Yeah. Me too. Destroying the source sounds a whole lot smarter than just putting up a fence. I think of Jesus in Luke 11 telling us that the unclean spirit driven out of us will just bring back seven even more evil if we are not careful.

Likewise, we must destroy the source of sin in our lives. It involves ruthless elimination.
Putting to death the colony of sin that seeks to pervade our heart and devour righteousness.
Gouging eyes and amputating arms, so to speak.
No half-measures will be effective.
No cost-cutting techniques will do the job.
It is the total death to sin that we must seek out (Romans 6).
What’s bugging you?
Time to eradicate those pests.

What we need today is not anger but anguish, the
kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke
the two tablets of the law and then climbed the
mountain to intercede for his people, or that
Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and
then wept over the city. The difference between
anger and anguish is a broken heart. It’s easy to
get angry, especially at somebody else’s sins; but
it’s not easy to look at sin, our own included,
and weep over it.

Warren W. Wiersbe