God, astrophysics and the Universe in general.

Tick, tick, tick...

2009-04-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

My heart doesn't beat any more. Ever since my friend and surgeon Dennis replaced my aortic valve with a carbon-fiber mechanical valve, my heart doesn't go 'lub dub' like yours does. No, he didn't turn me into the undead. Now that I think of it...he may have, however, have turned me into a time bomb (I gotta remember to talk to him about that). Why do I say that? Well, instead of beating, my heart now ticks! Just like a wristwatch! It's pretty cool - if the room is quiet enough, you can actually hear my heart ticking like a loud watch. At night when we lay in bed, Camille and I can hear it clearly. Tick, tick, tick. The hilarious thing is that it gets louder when I open my mouth! If I open my mouth and hold it up to your ear, you will hear my heart. Weird, huh? And pretty stinkin' amazing.

The tick is obviously from the new man-made valve doing its job. Out of all the intricate, amazing, specialized parts in my body, my new aortic valve will be the last one to wear out. It's like a Timex - it just keeps on ticking! One day my heart is gonna stop...but it won't be because of that valve. As long as my heart is beating, it will do its job. Day in and day out - until the day I stand before God. Tick, tick, tick. That valve is now officially the most dependable part of my body. I will always hear it working, if I listen. Talk about peace of mind!

As my mind struggles to make sense of the experience that has been the last couple of years of my life...feeling healthy but worrying about health, dreading the inevitable surgery, praying for miracles, uncertainty, fear, faith...I am just starting to grasp what an incredible gift my Creator has given me. Tick, tick, tick...I now have a constant reminder of His love and concern for me. From now on, whenever doubts creep in or the 'fear of man' looms like a shadow in my thoughts, I will hear that tick and know that He is still in control. He has always taken care of me, always seen me all of the way through the hard times and into the joy that awaits on the other side. It's as if He arranged for my mechanical heart valve as a sort of marker - an unavoidable, indisputable sign that He saved my life and that I can keep trusting Him with everything else no matter what.

That sort of begs questions about just what is gonna take place in my future to where I would need such a tangible sign of His love and protection. I guess I could be a little scared thinking about that stuff. But that would defeat the purpose of the tick, tick, tick. I'm convinced that the sign was put there as a reassurance, a reminder that He is at the wheel and that He is a very good driver. And that is good news indeed!

I have a lot of anxiety about this next year. Because I'm a commercial pilot, I am bound by FAA rules. Those rules say that I am 'grounded' after heart surgery and cannot re-apply for my medical certificate until six months after the surgery. Then it is a few month process of tests, medical exam boards and physicals before I will be cleared to fly again. In short, I will be out of work for the rest of the year, maybe more. That's a little scary. Like you, I have a mortgage to worry about and bills to pay. That's not to mention medical co-payments for a major surgery. It's easy to become overwhelmed and feel a bit hopeless. But...tick, tick, tick. Whenever the room quiets, I can hear my heart ticking - and that quiets my anxiety. My Creator didn't bring me this far to leave me to drown in the trivial stuff like money and careers. My heart reminds me of this several times a day.

So, I am looking forward to this next year as one of opportunity. There are several things that Camille and I have always dreamed of trying. I now have the time to try them. I feel God gently pushing us into a new area of our lives. Where we will end up, only He knows. But I am excited! The ticking in my heart tells me that He will be with us every step of the way. If I have learned anything in life so far, it is that while the trip is often bumpy, if we keep letting Him drive, our destination is always worth the journey. So, I'll be happily along for the ride - making sure to quiet my thoughts enough to always hear that tick, tick, tick.

I'm back with a new heart!

2009-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Whew! Well, most of you who follow my blog know the reason why I have been gone for a while. Hopefully, I'm back now. I've just been through the first part of an experience that should provide the material for a whole book, let alone a few blogs. Why do I say 'the first part'? Only because I believe that although the hardest part is over, the real changes and lessons and experience are yet to come in the following months. What the heck am I talking about?

Where to start? How about a quick review. About 3 or 4 years ago, on a routine flight physical to renew my FAA medical certificate, the doctor noticed that I had a heart murmur. Further testing revealed that I had been born with what is called a 'bi-cuspid' aortic valve in my heart. Two of the three flaps in my aortic valve were fused together, leaving me with a two-flapped, leaky valve. Over time, my condition would worsen and, without going into all of the details, eventually the valve would need to be replaced. Well, that time came.

As many of my friends know, none of this came as a surprise to my Creator. Years before I even knew that I had a problem with my heart, He arranged for me to meet and become close friends with a surgeon whose team is the leading surgical team in the U.S. at putting in a new kind of carbon-fiber heart valve known as the On-X valve. They are paving the way on an exciting FDA study that will hopefully result in On-X recipients like myself not having to take the hard-core anti-coagulant drug Coumadin. My surgeon's name is Dr. Dennis Nichols and he is without a doubt my hero.

Let me give you a glimpse into just how perfectly our Creator cares for us. Until very recently, there hasn't been a lot of options for someone who needed a new heart valve. Usually, the valve would be replaced with a valve from a pig or sheep or human cadaver. Being organic and foreign to the recipient's body, these valves would break down rather rapidly and eventually have to be replaced. Ten or twelve years was a long life span for a replacement valve. I'm 38...just think about what I would have to look forward to in the future. The other option as technology has improved has been a mechanical heart valve. These are more durable but blood platelets tend to stick to the surfaces of the metal valve and clotting is a big problem. Hence the heavy drugs such as Coumadin - they thin your blood so that it won't clot as easily. They also leave you susceptible to easy bruising, hemorrhaging and bleeding.

God was taking all of this into consideration before I was even aware of any problems. You see, the On-X valve is made from carbon-fiber. Blood platelets can't stick to it! By the way - it's indestructible! A thousand years after I am dead and buried, someone may dig up my bones and there, sitting right where my heart was, will be my On-X valve - good as new. Do you see where I am going here? It blows me away when I think of how perfect God's plan to fix my heart was. I was just minding my own business, unaware of any heart defects, and through some pretty miraculous circumstances a man named Dennis walked into my life and became my good friend. The exact circumstances are fuel for another blog, but for now I will say that God brought Dennis into my life as He was using some other surgeons to perform a pretty miraculous brain surgery on my sister-in-law, Jamie. Dennis came to be with the family and comfort us on that very hard day and a special, very real friendship was born between he and I.

I didn't know what an On-X valve was, much less that I needed one. Nor did I care, at the time. Dennis didn't know that he would one day saw open my sternum, stop my heart and replace a faulty valve. He just knew that he had met a kindred spirit. Both being Army vets, we share a lot of the same experiences and can understand each other in ways that someone who has never seen combat would never grasp. More than that though, we share a heart for other people, a love for our God and a little insight into what is really important in this life. I often laugh when I picture how our Creator must have been smiling on the day Dennis and I met, knowing what was coming and seeing the wheels of His perfect plan being set into motion. The enemy of our souls thought for sure that I would be out of his hair with an early demise due to a bad heart. My Creator not only had an answer for that old snake, but He was 'hooking me up' with the best possible solution and the best possible person to make it happen. And he was giving both of us a new friend at the same time!

Dennis cried the day that I sat in his office and he listened to my heart murmur for the first time. He hugged me and cried. He told me that he was going to have to give me a new valve. I asked him if he was gonna be OK with doing this surgery. He told me that he couldn't be more honored to do it. It was just that he had never had to face the reality of doing what he was going to have to do to someone he loved. If there were any doubts that I was in the right hands, they were erased as I watched my friend agonize for me and empathize with me. All throughout the long process from that day until now, Dennis has been the rock that I can lean on when things seem overwhelming. He's the busiest person I know, yet he always has time for my calls and always knows just what to say. Whenever I have started to worry, I have thought about the Divine circumstances that brought Dennis and I together and have always pictured that day in Dennis' office. Instantly, my worries have been erased.

Dennis tells me that we had a very meaningful conversation and cried together in the operating room just before my surgery two weeks ago. I don't remember much - the anesthesiologist had already given me a healthy dose of 'happy juice' to calm my nerves. I do remember that when I came to in the ICU, the first faces I saw were my beautiful wife Camille and my beloved friend, Dennis. I remember a sense of relief and of knowing that everything had finally come full-circle. The chapter that God had started years ago when He orchestrated our friendship had come to a conclusion - a new chapter waiting to be written.

I could write volumes about my friend Dennis. Being one of the most well-versed, busiest cardiothoacic surgeons in the country, he still finds time (and space in his heart) to adopt children orphaned by their unwed mothers, in addition to the children that he and his wife already had. He is currently awaiting the clearance of some government red tape to be able to fly to Africa and adopt his seventh and eighth children. He runs marathons and works out voraciously. All of this is sandwiched between a couple of major open-heart surgeries a day, in addition to being on-call for trauma victims. He is the most loving, caring, genuinely nice person I have ever met. There are several rumors circling him that suggest that he's not a human at all, but an angel. I'm tempted to believe them.

I've said it before on this blog, and I'll undoubtedly say it many more times: our Creator can be trusted. Our finite minds rarely see what is best for us. But His mind sees the whole picture - past, present and future. We don't always get the answer that we thought we should have when we ask Him for stuff...but we always get the correct answer. If we can learn just to trust Him to care for us, then our lives can be filled with Dennises. He had the answers to all of your questions and problems and tough situations figured out before you were even born. Just letting go and trusting Him with our lives is the real challenge. But let me tell you from personal experience, it is a challenge worth taking. Open-heart surgery wasn't the first challenge I've faced, and it surely won't be the last. But looking back on all of my trials, I can see His hand guiding my every step and see how His solution was exponentially better than any solution that I could have brought to the table. If you are in the middle of one of those tough situations, try letting go and asking Him to do whatever He thinks is best. I promise you, it may take a while for you to realize it, but you won't be disappointed!

Go Kepler!

2009-02-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful image, huh? Our home. Earth. I get the goosebumps every time that I see a picture of Earth from space. From this viewpoint, you can't see any borders, no state lines, not one road sign. You can't see any garbage or pollution and would probably never know that we are doing our best to ruin the balance that our Creator designed into our ecosystem. Everything looks so peaceful. There are no signs of tanks, warships, guns. No rioters or picket lines or protesters. You can't see anyone begging for food, any child rummaging through a garbage dump for a meal, any mothers dying of AIDS. There are no whites or blacks or Hispanics or Americans or Chinese or French or Russians. You only see a pristine blue ball, suspended in space, strikingly beautiful; upon whose shores lie the hopes and dreams of an entire race of intelligent, eternal beings.

I didn't intend to start out this post so...heavy...but trust me, there is a method to my madness. Look at the picture again. All you see is astonishing beauty. No blemishes, no scars, no stains. That, my friends, is how God sees you...if you know His Son. He looks at you from his throne above and sees His Son in all of His beauty. Clean, unblemished...perfect. He can't see that you lost your temper with your kids this morning. He doesn't notice the fact that you cheated a little on your history test. Or flipped someone the bird on the freeway. Or stole from the cash register. Or lied to your boss. Or cheated on your husband. You get the point. Just like we are doing with our planet, we humans tend to make a mess out of our lives. We cheat, lie, steal, murder. We are selfish and arrogant and prideful. Put a microscope to our lives and the picture is gonna be ugly. But not to God. Because of Jesus, He looks at our dirty lives and sees...look at the picture again.

Wow. Pretty cool, huh? Seriously, that is not how I intended to start this post. I just can't look at a picture of our beautiful home without being moved. There's nothing quite like planet Earth, is there? Well...actually there probably is. Billions of 'em, in fact.

What are you talking about, Jeremy? Check it out - in just days now, NASA is going to be launching one of its most exciting missions yet. They will be putting the new Kepler telescope into orbit and Kepler will be the first satellite telescope with the capability to find Earth size and smaller planets outside of our solar system. According to Dr. Alan Boss, there could be billions of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone! He says that a large proportion of the stars in the Universe probably have an Earth-like planet orbiting them and that with a few dozen solar-type stars within about 30 light-years of the sun, there is a good chance that we will find several more 'Earths' just in our own general 'neighborhood'.

I've talked a bit in this blog about our Creator's creativity. One look out into the Universe around us and you are overwhelmed by His artistry. I have always maintained that a Creator who is this creative surely did not make our Earth and then just stop. That would be like me paddling out into the surf, catching just one of the best waves of my life, and saying, "Well, that's enough. I caught my wave, time to go in." Not...gonna...happen. Earth was probably not even close to the first planet He created, and it was certainly not the last! He's been around forever. He's had eternity to come up with new ideas and an entire Universe for a canvas. It boggles the mind to think about what is out there.

The Bible talks about how someday there will be a 'new heavens and new earth'. I think that our grasp on science and astronomy at this point definitely backs this up. It seems as if 'new heavens' and 'new earths' are being created all of the time! I hate to be repetitive with my blogging, but once again we are smacked-upside the head with scientific evidence that the Bible's claims are true. Like I said, thinking about what is 'out there' makes me feel very small. No one knows for sure what God has waiting for us when we leave these mortal bodies, but His Word tells us that we couldn't even begin to comprehend what's next. Am I the only one who's excited? Billions of Earths...just in our galaxy. With billions of galaxies in this huge Universe, that a lot of 'new earths' existing in 'new heavens'. You think that you're gonna sit around on a cloud and play a harp in Heaven? Forget about it! We have an eternal soul. And it's a good thing - it's gonna take all of eternity to experience the grandeur of what our Creator has put out there.

Folks, it's OK to take the Bible literally. Science is telling us that every day. We try to make it so hard. We try to separate the 'spiritual' and the 'literal', when in reality they are one and the same. At every turn, science points us toward God and vice-versa. Sure, believing in an eternal Creator takes a certain leap of faith. But for anyone who is smart enough to pick up a book or do a little research, not believing in Him takes a LOT more faith. I for one am looking forward to seeing images from the new Kepler telescope. Looking at new Earths will only reinforce what I have believed all along. I hope the images are real clear - I wanna scope out some new surf breaks for later on in Eternity!

Mary

2009-02-15T20:10:00.001-08:00

For today's blog, I decided to do something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'm posting a short story. Posting a short story is not the thing that I've been wanting to do for a long time, but writing this particular story is. This post will be a little longer than usual, but the subject matter is very, very close to my heart and I think you will find that it was worth your time. Besides the story of Jesus dying for my sins, this story is my absolute all-time favorite story and I've been wanting to put it into my own words for some time now. I identify more closely with the main character in this story than with any other person in any literary tale, true or fiction. I think you will too. So, here's my version of a pretty famous story. I hope it speaks to you as much as it does to me.

Mary sat alone at the foot of her bed; bedroom door locked, and stared at the alabaster jar on the dresser in front of her. On the other side of the door, the house was filled with the sounds and smells of holiday meal preparations and good friends enjoying a day off. It was Mary’s favorite holiday and normally she would have been in the middle of the cheerful scene, helping her sister cook and trying to keep the men from sneaking bits of the meal before all was finished. But today was a bit different. Today, Mary was melancholy. Today was bittersweet. Was she the only one who noticed?

Out in the living room, the person she loved more than anyone in the world was enjoying the warmth of the food and friendship. Usually, it was Mary who was right next to him, trying to coax another story from him or just enjoying the peace that came from his presence. Now, lost in thought, she just stared at that jar, as if trying to decide the fate of the world.

So much had happened since she met him. He had literally saved her life. Mary had never had a real father. Her brother had done the best that he could after their father had died when Mary was just a child. He was an angel, but he could never replace her father. It was all her mother could do to raise Mary and her brother and sister on her own without the support and income of her husband. It wasn’t her fault that Mary had made the mistakes that she had. At a young age, Mary had discovered that men desired her company. She had been an ‘early bloomer’ and her looks had been the talk of the town. Truth be told, she didn’t exactly dislike the attention.

Mary was seventeen when her mother died. Now it was just she and her siblings, and times were hard. Mary quickly found that men were willing to pay to be with her. At first, she told herself that it was necessity. She certainly was no harlot. If the family was having a tough month, what harm would come from giving a gentleman an enjoyable evening in return for being able to eat for the rest of the month? As long as it was never a regular occurrence and providing her brother never found out about it, it was just the way things would have to be for now. Someday it would be different.

Someday it was different, indeed. Sometimes you make a decision that spirals your life out of control before you even know what is happening. Mary could never pinpoint the exact time when even she had to admit that she was indeed a harlot. Even when her brother had found out about her extra income, she still had maintained that she was only trying to help the family. Ashamed and embarrassed, her siblings had never disowned her, but it had been clear that as long as she chose to sell herself, she was not welcome in their house. Mary had no other means of making a living at that point, so in the end she was all alone…ironic since by lieu of her profession there were few nights when she was without another’s company.

It was only a matter of time before the inevitable would happen. In Mary’s culture, adultery was taken very seriously. It was an offense punishable by death. As long as Mary’s clients could remain discreet, she was never in any real danger. But just one careless word to a jealous wife or crossed co-worker could spell ruin for her. It wasn’t exactly a small town, but people talked. One day, someone talked a bit too much.

The local authorities had literally pulled Mary out of her ‘lover’s’ bed…with him in it. There was no denying her guilt. They had taken her straight to the temple courts to face the religious leaders who would decide her fate. She had a pretty good idea what that fate would be. The sun was hot, the air heavy and Mary felt very exposed, wearing only the sheet that she had managed to pull off of the bed as they dragged her out of the house. Later, she would remember thinking how tragic it was that she would die naked and shamed.

As the authorities rough-handedly turned her over to the religious leaders, she sensed something that she had not felt in a very long time. She felt love; real, true love. Looking up, she laid eyes on him for the first time. In his eyes she knew that she was looking into the very source of true love itself. She only had a second to bask in that wonderful presence before the blow that knocked her to the ground struck the side of her cheek. With stars swimming through her vision, she was thrown onto the dirt in the middle of a circle of her accusers.

“Teacher,” she heard one of them say, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Our law tells us to stone such a woman to death! What do you say, teacher?”

Here it was. The end. Mary’s life would be crushed out in a painful hail rocks, bruising limbs and tearing flesh. She closed her eyes and waited for the first blow to come.

As the seconds ticked by, Mary became more and more aware of the silence. She heard no one bending down and grabbing the large stones that had been brought in to make an example of her. No one was shouting orders or even saying a prayer for her soul. All she heard was a soft scratching sound. Finally, no longer being able to stand the tension, she opened her eyes and looked up.

She saw that everyone’s eyes were on him. The teacher. It was as if they were waiting for his permission to proceed. Instead of answering them, he had bent down and was writing in the dirt with his finger! How strange. Now even Mary was genuinely perplexed.

Again, the leaders asked him what he would do with this adulterous woman. Now he stood up and returned their gaze. Again, the love in those eyes seemed to wash over Mary and for a moment she forgot that the fate of her life was being decided in front of her. Looking intently back at the religious leaders and lawyers gathered in front of him, finally the teacher spoke.

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” was all he said. He then quietly stooped down and began again to write in the dirt with his finger.

This was unheard-of! Mary wondered if the leaders would throw the teacher into the middle of the courtyard with her and stone the both of them together! Instead, as Mary looked around in confusion, a wonderful thing started to happen. Some of the older leaders started to hang their heads. Was that shame that she noticed in their expressions? As the younger men looked around for a cue from their elders, the older ones started to walk away, saying nothing! As the reality of the teacher’s lesson started to sink in, eventually even the younger, more eager leaders dropped the rocks that were already in their hands and began to walk off. Finally, Mary was left all alone with the teacher and a few of his followers.

The teacher stood up and walked over to Mary. He kneeled down and with gentle hands helped her to her feet. Wiping away a tear from her eye, he asked her, “Woman, where did everyone go? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” whispered Mary.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” declared the teacher. “Go now, and leave your life of sin.”

From that day on, Mary had indeed left her former life behind and became a follower of the teacher, the man who had saved her life and had shown her love when she had done nothing to deserve it. There was something about this teacher. It was as if everything good and right in the Universe started with him. His love and compassion for not only Mary, but for everyone with whom he came into contact was more genuine and real than the hair on Mary’s head. She had never met anyone like him. There simply wasn’t anyone like him. She knew that she could never express her gratitude or love for him with words.

And so she now sat, staring at an alabaster jar on her dresser. A special jar. Inside that jar was the only expensive material possession that Mary had ever owned. It was the culmination of years of hope and prayers from her mother. The jar contained perfume. Not just any perfume. This potion was precious, brought in caravans from the Orient and one of the most expensive luxuries of Mary’s time. The perfume in that alabaster jar cost the equivalent of an average year’s wages. Mary’s mother had managed to scrape enough savings aside in the seventeen years that she had been with Mary to buy enough perfume to fill the jar…for a special reason. That jar was Mary’s wedding dowry.

The teacher had saved her life and had taught her that God wasn’t concerned about her past. It was her future that God cared about and now that she was His child, that future would be bright. The alabaster jar represented all of her hopes and dreams of finding a husband and having a family. But how could any of that even be possible without the gift of new life that the teacher had given her? She had tried so hard in the past few years to express her gratitude to him, but words never seemed to do her thoughts justice.

Lately, the teacher had been telling his followers some disturbing things. Everyone knew that the religious leaders didn’t like him very much, but what he had been telling her was starting to scare her. The teacher said that he would be going to the capital city soon, and that the rulers there were going to kill him. How he knew this, she couldn’t guess, but he had never been wrong about this sort of thing yet. The things she had seen him do for others…you would have to be stupid or asleep not to take what he said seriously. The thing was; the teacher had also told them that he would come back to life three days after they killed him. Mary wasn’t sure if he had been speaking figuratively or literally, but there was a sense of urgency to his words.

Staring at the jar, Mary knew what she had to do. She had to show the teacher with her actions what she knew her words could never express. Besides, if he really was going to die, he would understand the dual symbolism of what she was about to do.

Mary stood up and took the alabaster jar from the top of the dresser. She walked to the door, took a breath, and opened it. She knew that her sister would be in the kitchen and decided to go straight to the living room where the teacher was sitting in case Martha would try to talk her out of this. As she walked into the room, the teacher looked up and his eyes met hers. In that one glance, Mary knew that the teacher understood what she was about to do.

Slowly, Mary threaded her way through her friends in the living room. For the most part, no one noticed what she was carrying. With her heart pounding in her chest she came to stand before where the teacher was sitting. He looked at her and Mary knew right then that she had made the correct decision. The love and understanding in his eyes washed away all of her doubt. Carefully, she took the lid off of the jar.

By now, most of her other friends in the house had noticed Mary and what she was carrying. Little by little, conversations stopped and attentions began to focus on her. She didn’t care. She was content in the knowledge that she would finally be able to express her true thanks to her beloved teacher.

He just looked at her, smiled and nodded. As the sweet aroma of the perfume began to overpower the hearty smell coming from the kitchen, Mary began to pour the perfume on the teacher’s head. The cleansing potion trickled down his brow, and tears began to flow from Mary’s eyes. Overcome with emotions of love and thankfulness, Mary’s knees grew weak and she found herself kneeling at the teacher’s feet. Pouring out the rest of the bottle’s precious contents on the teacher’s road-weary feet, Mary then bathed those feet with her tears, now flowing in torrents.

The room was silent except for the sounds of Mary’s sobs of “Thank you” and of the gentle kisses that she was placing on the teacher’s feet.

God had given Mary a beautiful head of hair. Mary now used that hair to wipe the tears from the teacher’s feet and dry the perfume. So lost in her devotion and thanks to her beloved teacher, Mary sat on her knees with her head on his feet as time seemed to come to a stop. Eventually, she was aware of a gentle hand on her cheek. Looking up for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, her eyes again met his. The look in those eyes told her that he had understood everything that her words were never able to convey. She knew that her dowry had just been used for something vastly more important than her wedding. In that instant, she knew that her teacher would indeed die for her and that he would live again, even if she didn’t know how. She knew that in some way, she had just become a part of the most important event that would ever take place.

Later, some would accuse Mary of being frivolous and try to reprimand the teacher for letting her ‘waste’ such a valuable treasure in such a way. The teacher shrugged their criticism off with a few simple words. He told them that Mary was preparing him for his burial, even if she didn’t know it. He told those who said that at least the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor that it is indeed important to look after the poor, but that he himself would not always be with them, as would the poor. Mary had made the correct choice, and they would all understand that soon enough. Moreover, he made it clear that Mary’s act of devotion had touched him so deeply that wherever the teacher’s story is told throughout the rest of history, what Mary did for him will also be told, in memory of her.

This is why I am writing down these words. The teacher is Jesus. Mary’s story is real. We can all identify with her. All of us were filthy, lost sinners deserving of the death penalty. Just as He did with Mary, Jesus chose not to convict us for our sins. Instead, he took the punishment for us. He died, and just like he promised – he rose from the dead three days later, having paid for all of our mistakes in full. If that doesn’t make you want to kneel at his feet and bathe them in your tears, you probably need to check for a pulse. Thank you, Mary Magdalene, for giving us an example of the proper response to Christ’s love. And thank you most of all, Jesus, for taking my burdens for me and paying a price that I could never pay. I can’t wait to thank you in person.

Note: This story was taken from passages from the Bible in John chapter 8, Mark chapter 14 and Matthew chapter 26. There is some arguement as to whether or not the Mary from Bethany and Mary Magdalene were indeed the same person. Most likely they were, but even if Mary the former prostitute and the Mary at the party were two different people, the point of the story remains the same. Mary, whether they were one and the same or two different Marys, had been forgiven of her sins by Jesus and loved him more deeply than words could ever express. She chose to express her love in a way that cost her a lot. She is one of my biggest heros.

My Bionic Heart

2009-02-10T21:03:00.001-08:00

Wow. Life gets busy. I swear that I'm trying to make this blog a priority, but it seems that life just keeps getting in the way. This time it was pretty serious, though. A lot of you who read this blog are probably already aware that I have a pretty major event looming over my head. Well, it now has a date. April 14th. The day that I get cracked open like a dungeness crab.

For those of you who are wondering what the heck I am talking about, don't worry, I haven't been captured by cannibals and I'm not harboring an alien in my chest. I was, however, born with a defect in the aortic valve in my heart. Your heart valves have three 'flaps', my aortic valve only has two. It opens and closes sort of like a fish's mouth. In the process, it leaks a lot of blood and causes a pretty major heart murmur. Although I am in excellent shape and am suffering absolutely no ill effects from my condition (yet), the left ventricle in my heart is having to work harder to pump out that excess blood, causing it to grow bigger. Right now it is right 'on the edge' of how big the doctors want it to get. If it grows any more, my heart could become sick.

So, on April 14th, I will undergo open-heart surgery to replace my aortic valve. I am part of a really cool FDA trial where they will be putting in a new carbon-fiber valve to replace my defective one. My surgeon is one of my very close friends (he was my buddy before I even knew that I had a heart problem) and he and his partners are the most experienced docs in the world at installing this new technology. Word on the street is that the carbon-fiber valve will increase my horsepower by about 200 and drop my time in the quarter-mile by almost a whole second. I'm hoping for a 0-60 time that rivals a Ferrari 430, although I'd settle for the Audi S6 time.

All humor aside, I am about to have about the most invasive surgery imaginable and I honestly can't help but be a little freaked out. For those of you who are still wondering...yes they do have to saw open my ribcage, take out my heart and replace the valve. Unfortunately, there is no way to 'scope' this one. Looks like I'll be out of the water for a bit. Sure, I'm a little nervous. But more than anything, I'm actually excited. Those of you who know me know the truly miraculous circumstances that brought my doctor, Dennis Nichols and myself together as friends. God's hand was undeniably present in forming our friendship and His healing for my heart started years ago when we met. In my case, my doctor's hands are literally God's hands. Because of this, I know that I will be just fine. Sure, I worry about the pain and the recovery and the loss of almost a year's wages (I am a commercial pilot and because of FAA regulations, I will be out of work for a LONG time). But I know that God is in control and will help me through all of that stuff as well. I am excited to see just what God is going to do in myself and Camille's lives in this next year.

My brother, Chad also writes a blog. His latest post forced me to think about some real truths in life and in the process once again validated the faith that I have in God, even when things are hard and God seems distant. He mentioned that he is more in love with his family and with God than ever before, but that he is also going through the hardest time of his life right now. Many who don't believe in God would point to this as evidence that God is not there or that He cannot be trusted. However, having walked closely with God for most of my life, I know that the opposite is true.

First off, God never promised us that this life would be easy. It is a very bumpy road at best, but He has promised that He will be there for us through every rut and washout. He won't necessarily flatten the road for us, but he will always help us navigate through the rough parts, if we ask Him to. Second, it truly is in the hard times when we have to rely on His strength that we learn our best lessons, grow closer to Him, and become better human beings in general. Let me illustrate.

Several years ago, I went through the hardest time of my life. To make a long story short, I lost my baby daughter, my former wife dove deeper into depression and alcoholism and my marriage eventually ended in divorce. At the end, I was literally crushed. I had lost everything. Even my house. I had a beat-up pickup truck, a computer and a couple of surfboards...that's about it. Sure, I had prayed and prayed for God to heal my marriage and 'fix' my situation. But God had other plans. Although I sort of knew all along on the inside that I was about to lose it all, I also felt God's presence and knew that He was going to be there to walk me through it. And walk with me He did! I remember being right in the middle of the 'hard stuff' and waking up in the morning and being happy. Truly happy. For no reason whatsoever. Sometimes I wanted to laugh, even though there was no reason to. I was just happy and content.

Not long after that, as I continued to soak up the healing that only His presence can bring, I was introduced to the woman of my dreams, my beautiful wife Camille. Within a couple if years, God had brought me from the pit of despair to the top of the world. There are so many more details in this story that I don't have time to share right here that would blow your mind, but for now just know that I truly believe that God allowed me to walk through an unimaginably tragic and hard situation for some very specific reasons. One reason was so that I could experience His presence in a way that I never would have had I not needed to lean on Him so much. One big reason, I believe, was so that he could bring Camille and I together. He also spared my wonderful daughter, Hannah a lifetime's worth of hurt. But there's one more reason why I know that we can continue to trust God even when our world seems to be falling apart.

I believe that something happens in the 'unseen' spiritual realm when we let God bring victory in our lives through hard situations. God saw the 'big picture' in my circumstance and He knew that I would be happier in the end if He answered my prayers in a way that was a bit different than the way I wanted Him to at the time. He also, I believe, knew that I would trust Him and because of that He allowed me to experience the kind of hardship that I did so that I could have victory over that particular situation...victory that could be used later on in life.

Let me explain. Today I am at total peace with my life, happier than I have ever been and totally in love with my best friend and partner, Camille. I experienced His healing and His victory over my broken heart. I have a friend, however, who is right in the middle of what I experienced several years ago. The details of his situation are a bit different than mine, of course, but the broken heart and the loss and hurt are exactly the same. Like I did, he is also trying to hold his marriage together with a partner who is unwilling to keep trying. Because of what I experienced, I am truly able to tell him that I know how he feels...and I am valid. I also believe that because I let God have victory in my situation, my prayers for my friend's situation carry a power that they would not have before. Even the enemy of our souls knows that he was defeated in my life when it comes to broken marriage and heartbreak. The weapons that I bring to this fight are infinitely more powerful than the weapons I would have had available to me had I not allowed God to triumph over my former situation. I can pray with confidence for others in this area and know that my prayers pack a real punch!

My friend Travis has a similar story. His mother-in-law died of cancer. Throughout the process, Travis refused to 'give in' to the cancer and chose to believe that it was God's will to heal her - even until the day of her death. While it was indescribably painful for him to watch as God chose to take her to be with Him, today Travis is seeing the results of his faith and his prayers against cancer. He prays with a lot of cancer patients. And they almost always get healed. No kidding. Travis' faith and refusal to let cancer 'win' in his life has given him a special victory over cancer in the unseen realm. Travis prays, God listens. And heals. All because God let him walk through a huge rut in his road caused by cancer.

Can I still trust God even though I am facing another really hard situation? I think that it is pretty obvious that I can. Sure, I am praying and trusting that God will just fix my faulty valve before the surgery even happens. But whatever the outcome, I know from experience that this will be one more arena in life where Jeremy's prayers will pack an extra punch. Who knows? Maybe someday I will pray for someones heart and it will be healed on the spot...not due to my faith or holiness (Just ask Camille how 'holy' I am!), but due to what God has allowed me to go through and defeat.

Life is hard. Faith in God is not a 'fix-all' that will keep life from being hard. Faith in God is the glue that holds life together when it gets hard. I can tell you from experience that life is infinitely better after walking through the 'hard stuff' and being able to look back and see how God was there for you all along. It brings a vitality and a power to life that can't be obtained any other way. If you're hurting, keep trusting Him. If you haven't made that leap of faith to trust Him, I promise you that it is worth it. The argument that a good God shouldn't let bad things happen is a cop-out. It is that good God who helps us make sense of a sinful, screwed-up world. A sinful world that is our fault, not His. Because He is good and trustworthy, He helps us through hardships that are a result of our fallen state and then gives us a power to live life to its fullest afterward. Trust me, you can trust Him.

Surfing Lessons #6

2009-02-04T12:44:00.001-08:00

OK, so it's time to get off of my butt and start blogging again. This blog thing is sort of like going to the gym...if you take a break, it's hard to get motivated to start again! Also, being the surf addict that I am, it's hard to get anything done when the surf is good. And good it was today!

For fear of my life (literally), I'm not going to give out too much information about the point break where we surf, other than to say that it is world-class. It rivals almost any wave anywhere, and there are some world-class surfers that call our town home because of it. To keep the crowds down, there are also some world-class psychos who police the lineup and the parking lot to make sure that no one who they don't know will even attempt to surf their wave. Localism is an issue the world over in surfing, but here it is taken to a whole new level. It took me a few years of verbal abuse (luckily I am a pretty big dude with a very easy-going personality, so the abuse never turned physical, as it has for some) to reach the point where I am accepted out there. Persistence pays off! Everyone knows that Camille is my wife, so she's accepted too!

Some would ask why we even bother to become 'accepted' at such a hard-core surf break when there are several other breaks in the area, some even at the same parking lot, where good surf can be found. The truth is that we do surf a lot of those other spots often as well. I guess the answer is really quite simple. If your imaginary rich uncle drove a brand new Ferrari down your driveway, tossed you the keys and the title and told you that the insurance was paid up indefinitely, I suppose you could continue to drive your 1989 Ford Fiesta. But why? You own a freekin' Ferrari! I guess you could get a bowl of oatmeal instead of the eggs benedict at the all-you-can-eat brunch buffet, but again - why? Our point break is world-class. When it is 'working', just one wave out there is better than ten waves anywhere else. It is truly worth all of the 'dues' that come with being able to enjoy it. Every time I surf the point, I come away ultra stoked.

There's another reason why I never gave up in my quest to be able to surf our point break 'un-hassled'. There have been days in the past when I literally wanted to kill some of the locals who dish up the smack out there. More often than not, my hostility has been brought on by what they are doing to someone else, not myself. Somewhere along the way, though (I can't really point to exactly where) REALITY smacked me upside the head. As messed-up, drugged-up, mean, nasty, heartless and sometimes just plain evil as some of those guys are...they are children of God. That makes them my brothers. As that reality started to grow within me, I found my hostility towards them melting away, replaced by a God-given love and burden for them. Not surprisingly, it wasn't long after this that I started making friends with some of the most 'hard-core' of them.

Today, I am on friendly terms with all of the 'heavies' and can honestly say that I love them with the love of Christ. If for no other reason than that, it has been worth the hassling and abuse that it cost me to be able to surf in peace out at the point. The stories of some of these dude's lives would bring a tear to even the most jaded among us. We're talking abuse, broken families, serious drug use and addiction, suicides, overdoses, spiritual oppression, criminal activity and just plain loneliness and hopelessness. Some surfers around here would say that they get what they deserve. Well, as God started to show me how much He loves these broken people, I became thankful that He doesn't give me what I deserve. Instead of hating them, I started praying for them. Let me tell you, if you haven't tried it - it's pretty darn hard to dislike someone for whom you are praying!

One day last summer, one of them intentionally overdosed on heroin and killed himself. He left a note and a very hurting family. His older brother is one of the best surfers in the area and one of the 'heavies' out at the point. He also lived on my street. Over the course of the year I had become pretty friendly with him. The day of his brother's memorial service, he came over to my house and did something that I would never expect from such a 'tough guy'. With tears in his eyes, he told me that he was going to be gone for a while, told me that I was a great guy and gave me a big hug. That may not seem like much, but in an environment where the smallest sign of weakness will be pounced-upon, his words and actions spoke volumes. And right then I knew that my prayers were starting to 'get through' and that God may just have placed me here for 'such a time as this'.

Yes, I love to surf our point. But more and more, I am learning to love some of the more 'unsavory characters' who surf our point. Often times, the stoke that I get from the waves out there lasts for days. However, the stoke that I have gotten from experiences like the one with my hurting neighbor never goes away. To be able to be God's arms or hands or voice to someone who is needing to feel His love gives you a better feeling than any wave can. I truly believe that God has plans for some of the surfers in our town and that He has allowed me to become friends with some of them to help accomplish His purposes.

I guess that if there is a reason for my sharing all of this with you, it would be to encourage you to pray for those who 'persecute' you. It is so much easier to get mad at them and hate them. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty glad that Jesus didn't get mad at the people who persecuted Him. He showed us the ultimate example of God's love. Instead of hating them, he died for them. I'm fairly sure that I'm not going to be dying for anyone any time soon, but I'm not Jesus. He died so we don't have to. What I can do is try to show His love to as many others as possible in hopes that they too will meet Him. I hope that you too can experience the stoke that comes from pointing a fellow child of God toward Him, no matter how much you may just want to kick their butt!

Oh, did I mention I like to write?

2009-01-31T16:44:00.001-08:00

Hey all! Some of you know that I have been working on a couple of novels. Purely fiction. Mostly for my own amusement. I have decided to start a new blog and post the first chapter from my book Theristes on that blog. It's sort of an attempt to get some feedback from my friends and motivate me to finish the novel! I won't give anything away here, and I am only posting the first chapter for now. The next couple of chapters go in depth into explaining just who my main character is, but I think you'll figure it out by just the first chapter. It's meant to be exciting and a bit scary. I'd love to get your opinions, so feel free to read it and tell me what you think!

Here's the link to my other blog - 'Theristes'.

http://theristesthenovel.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Snow-plows and God's Great Love

2009-01-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back. The holidays were as busy for me as I am sure that they were for you. Add a nice little snowboarding vacation to the mix and it means that Jeremy has neglected his blog for a couple of weeks. Well, hopefully that all ends now!

I am always amazed by how much God loves Camille and I. This life was never going to be a 'bed of roses', but having Him in it sure makes things go a lot more smoothly! He is continually giving us things that we don't deserve. Here's an example. The best friend that I ever had during my days in the Army was Jason Moore. I got out of the Army two weeks before September 11th, 2001 (another example of God's undeserved grace in my life). In the seven-and-a-half years since that fateful day, Jason has spent most of his time in Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, away from his beautiful family. A lot has happened in both of our lives since 2001, but we have managed to stay in touch and our friendship is still very strong. He will always be like a brother to me and his beautiful wife Christina and his three awesome boys will always be family.

Christina's best friend Jacy has an uncle who owns a beautiful house right on the slopes in Telluride, Colorado. If you don't know anything about Telluride, let me just tell you that it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Its high altitude, vast terrain and sparse crowds make it one of the best places to snowboard and ski in North America. Its remote location and limited accessibility make it a playground for the rich and famous. We could never, in our wildest dreams, afford to stay in a house like Jacy's uncle's in Telluride. But remember God's undeserved grace? Well, Jacy's uncle knows how badly she and her husband Tony have been wanting to go on a snowboard vacation with Jason and Christina. He told her that when Jason came back from Iraq for the last time and had some time off, that they could have the house (which rents for $15,000 a week) for a week, free of charge! It's a huge house. When Jason and Christina found out that they had the place for a week in January, they called me to see if Camille and I would come stay with them! For Camille and I, that's pretty much the stuff dreams are made of! God's grace...

To make a long story short, it was the best snowboarding trip of our lives! Awesome slopes and great friends equal good times! You would think that God had outdone Himself for us on this one, but in the middle of all these blessings, He decided to say 'I love you' yet again. Many of those closest to me know that I have struggled with nightmares and anxious dreams of rejection for years. The rejection dreams started shortly after my first marriage ended because of alcohol abuse and unfaithfulness...possibly an over-share, but sometimes the truth, as they say, hurts. I personally believe that the enemy of my soul is angry that God helped me to find my true soul-mate in Camille and that I am indescribably happy now. He tries to haunt my unconscious life with dreams that Camille will hurt me the way my former wife did. A while back, this 'dream torture' sort of came to a head when I discussed my dreams with my brother (who also has a history of terrible nightmares) and he told me that the only way he had found to end his nightmares was to have his wife Jamie pray that he would have a peaceful sleep each night when they went to bed. Now, Camille prays the same thing for me every night and the bad dreams have stopped!

Well, in the middle of one of the best weeks of our lives, God decided to show us again how much He loves us and how perfectly 'right for each other' we are. I awoke one morning with a start. For some reason, the company that maintains the roads in Telluride and Mountain Village decided to get an early start with the snow-plow that morning. As the plow came down our driveway, I went from sound asleep to 'Why is someone running their fingers down the chalkboard?' - instantly! While the rude awakening was annoying, it was also a relief. Camille had prayed, as usual, before we fell asleep that my dreams would be peaceful. Yet for just a few seconds before I was so rudely awoken, I had been starting to have one of those 'anxiety dreams' again. I was a bit puzzled and disappointed that God had 'struck out' on that one. Still feeling the rush of negative emotions attached to a bad dream, I looked over at Camille, who had also been jarred from her sleep by the giant noisemaker. But unlike me, Camille was laughing! Still stinging from the feelings of rejection and disappointment brought on by the short dream, I wondered how a snow-plow could possibly be so funny, especially before the sun was even up!

Camille looked at me with a smile on her face and announced, "I just had the funniest dream! I dreamt that you cloned yourself...there were two of you running around!" She looked me right in the eye, gave me a big hug and said, "But the funny thing is...I liked it! I love being with you, and having two of you, I got to be with you all of the time...even when you were at work!"

Whoah. In one instant every negative emotion and insecurity I was feeling was washed away by the knowledge that my wife is the most wonderful and trustworthy person on the planet! And that she loves me as much as I love her! I knew right then that not only am I the most fortunate man alive, but that God was trying to tell me something. You can call our simultaneous dreams a coincidence if you want. You can say that the snow-plow stirring us from our sleep at exactly that instant was random, if that's how you feel. But I know better. I know the God whom I serve. I know that His love for us is deeper than we could ever imagine. I knew right then that Camille's prayer the night before had been heard. For reasons that will probably always be His own, God had chosen to go a step further in answering those prayers that night. He wanted to say 'I love you' with an exclamation mark. I think that He wanted to address my feelings of rejection right at the roots. To show me in a way that words never could just how unfounded those feelings, conscious or not, are when it comes to Camille. Once and for all, He showed me how wrong my enemy is when he tries to make me feel insecure.

My friends, this is how much our Creator loves us. He loves us enough to 'scheme' ways to show us His love even when we are sleeping! There is not one instant in our lives when His great love is not reaching out to us. I am as guilty as you are of forgetting much of the time that He is right there beside us, wanting to help us and be a part of our lives, no matter how mundane they may be. I can't even wrap my mind around that - the Creator of the entire Universe loves Jeremy so much that he orchestrates elaborate dreams for he and his wife just to drive home the point that they are perfectly safe in each other's love. He's so eager to love us that He couldn't even wait until the alarm clock went off!

Man, I love Him back.

The Little Ones

2009-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Family. I realize that not everyone is stoked about their family, so if you are having a tough time with yours, you'll have to excuse me for a second. I really love mine. I realize how fortunate I am to be able to say that...how so many others wish that they felt the same way. I don't take it for granted.

As I write this, my beautiful little niece Maci is drawing me a picture and explaining to me that 'alphabet letters' are on there, but you just can't see 'em. Her cousins Zach and Levi are knocking on the sliding-glass door, covered in mud, needing help shedding their soaking-wet clothes so they won't turn the kitchen into a water feature when they come inside. This post will probably take all day to write - but I couldn't care less! The place is chaos, but these little mini-nuclear reactors are my family, and being with them is the happiest place on earth.

My side of the family decided that there wasn't enough insanity in the month of December, so we had to extend it into January for a 'belated' Christmas celebration. This is about the forty-seventh holiday-related event that we've attended this season...but thankfully this one is taking place at someone else's house! My brother actually has the perfect house for it. Room for everyone and enough space to test out the new bicycles, tricycles, wagons, etc. that were found under the tree this Christmas. At least once an hour someone is falling off a wagon or hitting a wall head-first, adding to the general state of emergency. Little Gwen, my sister's youngest is usually directing the traffic and Max, my brother's youngest is blowing them all off for Baby Einstein.

Having no kids myself, you would think that all of this would wear me out...but the truth is that I am probably the biggest kid of them all. I soak in the chaos and do my best to add to it! Not only do I relish having two or three of my favorite little people on the planet climbing on me at once, but I truly find a sick pleasure in getting them fired up and handing them back to my siblings. Unfortunately, the effect is sort of nullified by the fact that my brother and sister are as crazy as everyone else around here and find the whole maelstrom of miniature humanity as humorous as I do.

We live in interesting times, to say the least. Our nation...our world...seems to converging on a crossroads and the uncertainty of what is next is weighing heavily in the air everywhere you go. I've noticed the pressure getting to a lot of my friends. Tempers are flaring up quicker and frustrations are being expressed more openly. As I sit here surrounded by the little lives that will be affected by the decisions made by our generation, I am reminded of just how critical it is that we remain clear-headed...of just how much they need us right now. Whether we realize it or not, we are shaping the world of their future. There is a lot of doom-saying going on right now, some of it worth a second though and some of it just plain idiotic. But we owe it to these little ones to press in and try to make sense of a crazy world. We need to try our hardest to set them up for success.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I truly believe in our Creator. That means that I truly believe that nothing is impossible when He is involved. I believe that He is not finished with our country or our world quite yet...as some are implying. I believe that to Him, the left and the right, the liberal and the conservative, the red and the blue...all of it...to Him it's all just jargon. He cares about people. He doesn't love you any more or less if you believe in Him or if you don't. He really doesn't give a rip about our politics, our opinions, our social experiments. He created the cosmos and then transformed Himself into a helpless baby human, lived a life amongst us and died for us, all for one reason. He loves us. Every single one of us. He loves my niece Maci as much as He loves the inmate on death row as much as he loves the monk in the Buddhist monastery in Tibet as much as He loves me. And that kind of love is not ready to throw in the towel.

The interesting thing about our Creator is that while He has infinite power and could sweep in an 'fix' everything in an instant, He doesn't. He chooses to use us...people. We are His hands, His feet, His voice. He is not going to 'change the world' unless we are willing to get on board and help with the dirty work. If you are feeling a bit lazy and thinking of letting someone else pull your weight in all of this, just look around you. Look at your family. Even if you are from a broken, hurting family, there is bound to be at least one little one who is innocent of being involved in any of the hurts life has dealt to you. At least one Zach or Levi or Maci or Gwenneth or Max who is counting on you to leave them with a future that is bright. I truly believe that we can address the problems of our generation. I also believe that we cannot do it without the help of our Creator. So, this is a message of hope and a message of warning. All is not lost...for the sake of our little ones, all cannot be lost. But if we think for a second that we can 'make everything better' without the help of the One who put it all here in the first place, we are fools. Fortunately, He loves our children even more than we do and wants to help. All we have to do is ask. And then act.

P.S. - I will probably come back often to this theme. I realize that I have eluded to issues in general and have only scratched the surface of what I see happening in our world and of possible solutions to some of the problems. I purposely do not want to get political in my blogging. So, from time to time, as my heart leads me, I will probably just address social issues in general and how they relate to what our Creator wants to do in our lives.

I'm Still Here...I Swear!

2009-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Whew! The holidays can get busy! Unfortunately, so does my job around this time. The weather is crazy and commerce never stops - so consequently, Jeremy never sleeps! At least this is how it has seemed lately.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone actually reads this stuff in the first place...but if you do, I assure you that I will get back to my old blogging self shortly! Right now, I have to help Camille get ready for yet another party at our house. This one is for all of the employees at her work who will be out of work for a couple of months while they shut the hotel down for a big remodel project.

I hope your Christmas and New Years were great and I pray that 2009 will bring great stuff! I'm really looking forward to writing some new posts, so stay tuned. In the meantime, take a look at a few pictures that really are worth more than a thousand words when it comes to explaining why I truly believe that everything we see didn't 'just happen'. God Bless!

P.S. - These images are copyrighted. If you have any questions, ask me!

Grand Design

2009-01-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I'd thought I'd start out 2009 with a little nod to our Creator. First of all, look at the picture to the right. Amazing, huh? Our Universe is indescribably beautiful. This particular image is of a galaxy named M81. It is 12 million light years away from earth and is 22,000 light years wide. On a clear night, it is visible with binoculars if you look toward the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). It is one if the brightest galaxies that can be seen from the earth. M81 is a spiral galaxy not unlike our Milky Way. One interesting factoid about M81 is that it is officially known as a 'Grand Design' spiral galaxy. There is a lot of nerd talk that goes into explaining what makes a galaxy a Grand Design galaxy, but essentially, it has to do with the remarkably symmetrical spiral pattern. The interesting thing, to me, is the fact that scientists chose the name Grand Design to describe these spectacular galaxies. One look at this natural wonder and there is no doubt that it did not come into being by accident. I've talked about this before, but a growing number of scientists on the forefront of astronomy and astrophysics are now openly professing their conviction that our universe was created...by a Creator. The raw science simply points to this fact. Hence, the name Grand Design. Grand indeed! And most definitely designed.

I was reading something quite interesting this morning. First of all, let me say that I'm not really sure how life existed before the invention of the iPhone. I can now roll over in bed in that half-asleep stupor, wipe the gunk from my eyes, grab my iPhone and viola - all of cyberspace is at my fingertips! I can check the surf report and get a live weather update for the beach by my house without ever even completely waking up. If there's no surf, I can check to see what my flight schedule for the night will be, roll over and go back to sleep! Yeah...just what I needed...more inspiration to sleep late. Maybe I need to go back and re-read my post about my neighbor The Lumberjack...

Anyway, today is incredibly stormy, the surf is Death (with a capital 'D'), and the gym is closed for New Year's. So when I rolled over and grabbed my portable link to the civilized world, there was really no good reason not to just lay there, relax and nerd out. Besides, Camille was still asleep and she's just too cute to wake up when she's all cuddled-up next to me. So, I opened a news reader app on the iPhone and checked some of the blogs I follow. One of my favorites is the Universe Today website's RSS feed. This morning, there was an interesting article about how scientists are changing their opinion about just where in the universe our solar system sits. Although to the layman it may sound medieval, there are some pretty sound reasons why until recently they honestly thought we might be at or near the center of the Universe. Because of some new information regarding 'dark matter' and a bunch of stuff that you probably don't care much about, astronomers are becoming convinced that our position in the Universe at large is actually not all that special. We seem to be in an rather ordinary 'corner' of the cosmos.

As is the case with a lot of blogs, the real interesting stuff on the Universe Today's blog is often found in the comments section. Get a bunch of science nerds together and throw in a subject that even the people at the cutting edge of astrophysics haven't really figured out yet, and the daggers start flying! The discussion sort of gravitated toward the expansion of the Universe and the Big Bang. As everyone tried to out-nerd each other with their witty displays of astronomy knowledge, someone made a statement for which no one else had an argument against. Several readers were arguing that there could be no 'center' of the Universe because it is always expanding and that at the time of the Big Bang, all matter, time...everything...was in exactly the same spot, just infinitesimally small. Then another reader made a comment that gave me the goose bumps. He reminded the other readers that the Big Bang was truly a Creation event in every sense. All arguments about where matter and time were at the time of the Big Bang are pointless. Matter and time didn't exist before the Big Bang...the Creation event. The Universe was created in an instant out of nothing.

Wait a minute. Did I just read that on a scientific blog? The Universe was created out of nothing? In an instant? And not one brilliant Darwinist astronomy geek is willing to argue that point? Man, where have I read that same thing about Creation before? I know I've heard that somewhere...

Genesis 1:1-3, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

Oh yeah...that's where I've read that before! God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. He simply spoke and bang (or maybe I should say 'Big Bang') - the Universe came into existence. All of the doctorates and laureates and Nobel prizes in the world will still bring us back to this simple truth. Our Creator made all that we see. It issued forth from Himself. There was nothing...then suddenly there was everything.

And so, as we turn our gaze to the beautiful Grand Design Spiral Galaxy M81, I can't help but think of another blog I read recently. This time, the topic of the discussion was not how, but why. Why does all of this big, breathtaking Universe exist? The author of that blog concluded that God is the ultimate Artist working with the ultimate medium on the vastest canvas. Looking at the photos that the Hubble telescope and others are sending us, he argued that our Creator is using the cosmos to express His unfathomable creativity on a grand scale. The Universe is the product of the ultimate creative mind. The mind of God. He made it because He could. He just wants to express Himself. Thankfully for us, His heart is as big as His mind. His love equals His creativity. And so, while we fear His size and His power, we can trust in His mercy...His grace...His love.

And someday, I'll get to see M81 as He sees it. I'll get to experience what awesome treasures may be waiting to be discovered on the billions of worlds inside that Grand Design galaxy. So will you, if you know Him. A new year has arrived. Let's start it by acknowledging the One who created time in the first place. Happy New Year and God Bless you all, my friends!

God is Bigger Than 2009

2008-12-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

Well, another year down the tubes. Hopefully it was a good one for you and yours. Unfortunately, the reality is that 2008 was a pretty tough year for more people than not. The economic woes of the Western world seem to be trickling across the globe, and few of us have been left untouched. Add to that the insane rise in cancer and other health-related problems that my loved ones...and probably yours, too...have faced lately, and chances are that 2008 was a year that you are glad to put in the rear-view mirror.

You know what, though? That gives me hope. The New Year is always about looking forward and new beginnings. I know that several of those closest to me are banking on the fact that at least things can't get any worse! Each new year brings its own set of challenges and blessings. Some years, the blessings outweigh the challenges. There is a very real chance that 2009 will be one of those years.

Here's something to think about. No matter what 2009 brings, we have an opportunity to grow closer to our Creator through our circumstances. If the end state of our experiences during any year is that we have had a chance to let Him prove Himself in our lives and we have felt His arms supporting us, then in the end it was a good year. By that reasoning, I'm sure that many of my loved-ones would say that 2008 was actually a good year. My brother Chad, for example, was hit harder by the economic crisis than anyone I know. For a while, he became disillusioned and angry. But, as I knew he would, he eventually threw the whole mess into God's lap, crawled into His arms and let Him take the burden. Since then, Chad has been able to experience God's heart of Love on a whole new level. He even writes a blog about it. It's called 'Love' (if you haven't read it, you need to - there's a link to it under my blog list on this page). Chad, despite his circumstances, is in probably the best place that he's ever been. And he is truly happy. All because of stinkin' 2008.

It's funny how God often uses life's hardships and setbacks to bring us closer to Him and prove to us all over again that He is Lord of everything. Did you know that Chinese Christians actually pray that Christians in America will be persecuted? Not because misery loves company, but because they rejoice in their persecution because it keeps them so close to their God. Whoah!

2009 is setting up to possibly be a tough one for Camille and I. The hotel that employs Camille is being renovated in January and February, so right off the bat she will be out of work for at least the first two months of the new year. I am headed back up to Tacoma to see my heart surgeon in January and get a verdict on a date for open-heart surgery to replace a faulty heart valve. Since I am a commercial pilot, that will put me out of work for six months, according to FAA regulations. Not to mention having to be cracked open like a dungeness crab. We are trusting God for a miracle in this area, but also trusting Him to provide in any way the He sees fit.

While it's all a little scary, I have a peace that I cannot explain. In a twisted way, I am actually looking forward to seeing how God uses our circumstances in 2009 to bring us closer to His purposes for our lives. I've been through the fire before, let me tell you! And I know first-hand that God can be trusted. With everything. That means everything. He isn't burdened by our linear view of time. Time means nothing to Someone who created the cosmos...Someone with no beginning and no end. He already knows the thoughts that I am going to be putting into cyberspace on December 31 of 2009. He knows how all of my circumstances are going to play out and He has a plan for making me better and happier and closer to Him through those circumstances. Whether that be miraculous healing or a surgeon's knife - He knows what is best for me. He's more responsible at handling my life than I could ever be. Realizing that is the most freeing experience possible!

There's a story in the Bible (2 Chronicles chapter 32) about how the Assyrians were coming to attack the Judah (one of the two Israelite kingdoms), to lay siege to Jerusalem. They had an unimaginably vast army and were possibly the cruelest dudes to ever walk the face of the earth. Basically, you didn't want to get into it with these guys! When Hezekiah, the king of the Judah, learned of the impending attack, he made the usual military preparations, but then went a step further. Knowing the impossibility of their situation and the fear that gripped the hearts of his people, he called them together in the square inside the city gate. He said to them, "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." (2 Ch. 32:7-8). The people were encouraged. And check this out - after letting the king of the Assyrians shoot his mouth off for a bit about how great he was and how Israel's God couldn't help them, God sent an angel into the Assyrian camp and killed all of the mighty warriors and captains and pretty much anyone of consequence in the Assyrian army. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, promptly returned to his homeland in shame, where he was soon-after killed by his own kids as he worshipped in the temple of the false god who couldn't deliver Jerusalem to him.

Judah had been faced with an overwhelmingly impossible situation. There was no way that they, on their own, would have survived. What Hezekiah knew was that no problem is to big for the Creator. The nation of Judah effectively crawled into God's arms that day and trusted Him to take care of the things that were out of their control. And He came through. Big time! He's done the same for me in the past. Probably for you as well. 2009 might hold some impossible situations...for us. The thought that gives me hope going into it is that nothing is impossible for my Creator. Not only can He deal with the 'impossible', but He can make our lives better than they were before through it all. So I say, Happy New Year! Bring on 2009 and let God prove Himself in our lives once again!

By the way, I'd like to thank my pastor, Jason Biel of Coastline Christian Fellowship, for inspiring many of these thoughts today. He preached a message about that passage of Scripture in 2 Chronicles last Sunday and hit a home run. If you'd like to hear it, you can find the podcast on iTunes - our church posts podcasts of the Sunday and Thursday services. I don't think they've added this last Sunday's message yet, but they will soon. All of his messages are worth checking out. He will probably never know how much of an inspiration and encouragement he has been to Camille and I. Thanks Jason! See you out in the water soon!

Free Willy...

2008-12-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. - Genesis 1:9-10

OK, it's obvious by now that I am a die-hard surfer. You pretty much have to be obsessed to surf in the snow. (By the way, I'd like to thank my Norwegian surfer buddies for enlightening me to the fact that you should always show up to the beach in cold weather with a thermos of scalding-hot water. Pour it in your booties and heat 'em up before you put them on and, viola - toasty warm feet for at least an hour!) Some people wonder how we surf in cold water and cold weather with big sharks and heavy waves. Well, if you've ever caught even one wave, you know why we do it. It's a feeling that is indescribable.

Unlike any other activity that I've ever experienced, surfing is literally an act of nature. The process of catching a moving wave, standing up and letting it's energy propel you along, all the while flirting with the very real possibility of being crushed by the source of your momentum is...well, I can't do it justice with words. You literally feel like you are a part of nature itself. You can feel the heartbeat of something so much bigger than you and it is at the same time both humbling and electrifying.

Surfers often talk about feeling 'one with the ocean'. It's true. As you are picked up by a wave and ride its hydrodynamic energy, you do feel like you are a part of the ocean...of the planet itself. That wave may have travelled for thousands of miles before it came to where you were sitting and reached water shallow enough to cause it to curl and break. It probably saw thousands of other living creatures before it gave you the privilege of joining it on the final seconds of its long journey. It may have had its course altered by powerful storms and may have experienced several different climates. It probably witnessed acts, both natural and human, of cruelty and kindness. The stories it could tell you...for surfers, the stories it does tell you. Every surfer has trouble putting into words the things that waves share with them. But each wave brings this richness of being...of life...and the only way to hear its story is to hop on and listen. The experience makes you feel very, very...small. And blessed.

This is probably the reason that surfing so often is compared to a religion. It actually does flirt with being one. What surfers feel as that wave scoops them up, whether they know it or not, is the Spirit of our Creator. Some of us, like myself, know our Creator personally, and have the means and knowledge with which to process the rush of feelings and emotions with which surfing showers us. Each session becomes a worship experience as our obsession turns our eyes and hearts towards God - the Creator of the oceans and Supplier of waves. Others, lacking a personal relationship with the Creator but feeling the same emotions, turn their attention toward the creation and the ocean itself becomes the object of their worship. The point is, surfing forces us to acknowledge something way bigger than ourselves and the only natural, logical response is one of reverence and worship.

So, every cell of my body lives for the next wave that I will be able to ride. To commune with Creation in such a personal way is to catch a glimpse into God's heart. I feel His thoughts as I am able to enjoy His Creation. Hence, the 'Surfing Lessons' blog entries. Surfing opens my mind and my heart to receive what His voice would whisper to me. And I am learning some great stuff. I know that surfers walk a fine line between worshipping the Creator and the created. But I also know that as long as I use surfing as a channel for getting closer to my Creator...keep my eyes on Him, if you will...that He will continue to use surfing to put His thoughts into my head and my heart.

Why am I saying all of this? Well, I have and will continue to shy away from being too preachy in my blog writing. The thoughts that I cast into cyberspace are just that...my thoughts from my slightly deranged head and a heart that has been broken by Life and mended by my God. As I gather more and more experience on this journey with Christ, I am hopefully getting better at tapping into His thoughts and His heart. Sometimes He slaps you right upside the head with a lesson or truth, and sometimes a truth builds slowly inside of you for years, quietly working its way from an abstract thought into a basic tenet of your Faith. I have decided that from time to time on my blog, I will bring attention to one of those slow, quiet truths that has now been stoked to a fire inside of me. I'm gonna warn you - it's not a very popular topic with much of mainline Christianity in our country.

I'm just gonna say it - I cannot be a Christian without being an environmentalist. If you read the Bible and see just how much God delights in His Creation...all of His Creation...you are stared right in the face with the fact that if you're gonna follow Him, you have to help care for His Creation. As you saw at the top of this post, you can't even get through the first chapter of the first book of the Bible without God telling you how much He loves his Creation. And humans weren't even on the scene yet at the point to which these particular verses are referring! The Bible makes as many references to our little blue planet as it does to heaven and love combined. When I read Scripture, I am continually struck by the immensity of God's love for His Creation. He is literally a proud Papa. If I am going to call myself a Christian...someone who is striving to be like Christ...then I had better take my job as a steward of this earth pretty seriously!

Like I said, this is something that has been growing in me for years. It started back when I was in college and for the first time realized that I was an active user...a consumer...of nature. All of my favorite activities hinged upon getting out there and enjoying the natural world. I was an avid skier, snowboarder, hiker, cyclist, camper and yes, a surfer. I have always been the happiest when I am experiencing Creation to the fullest. I noticed that I was beginning to hurt inside when I saw someone littering or watched a news clip of whales being slaughtered. At that point I started to become disillusioned...or maybe more just disappointed...with the Church's stance on environmental issues. The Bible that I read told me to care for nature. It read almost like a love story from God to His Creation...and not just when it came to humans. I started wondering why so many of my Christian friends made fun of people trying to save animals or stop rainforest clearcutting. I wondered if they were reading the same Bible that I was.

Years have passed and, as I grow closer to my Creator, that ache inside of me has become something that is harder and harder to ignore. I'll admit, surfing has played a large role in all of this. But I know that God is doing this on purpose. He really, really, really loves this planet that we call home along with all of its inhabitants. I'll be the first to accept that one human life is worth more than all of the trees in the Amazon or all of the fur seals in the arctic. But that still doesn't give us a free pass to ignore those trees or those seals. I wish more churches would make it a goal to save unborn babies and whales at the same time (babies first, obviously).

My wife Camille put it so perfectly. She mentioned that so often, in Christian circles, the topic of the environment comes up and people say things like, "Why don't we just leave it to the 'dirty hippies'? They're doing a pretty good job sticking up for the environment." Sad but so true. My question is this: How great would it be if 'dirty hippies' sat around talking about environmental problems and the consensus was that the Christians should be in charge of that stuff because they are doing a great job with it? Not a statement anyone is likely to hear soon! I say that to our discredit.

I have really wrestled with this post. This weighs so heavily on my heart, but I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. I am, first and foremost, about saving people's hearts and souls. I know that this topic will ruffle some feathers. At the end of the day, I have decided that if any of these words ruffle your feathers, your feathers needed ruffling. I welcome comments. I know that I am not the only Christian who cries real tears for our planet and our fellow inhabitants. I know that it is possible to achieve a balance as Christians and as a Church at large when it comes to helping humans and helping the rest of the planet. So for now, I will continue to support causes like The Surfrider Foundation and Sea Shepherd. I will also continue to support missionaries, the poor and my church. Camille and I plan to physically go and be missionaries in the flesh at times...both to people and to our planet, as the Lord leads us.

I hope you are catching my true intent here. I will probably, from time to time, use this blog to call attention to environmental issues. I promise to try my hardest not to get 'preachy'. This is definitely a subject on which I welcome the interaction of the readers. God uses our friends and fellow Christians to help keep us in check. I promise that I won't climb to the top of an evergreen and go on a hunger strike anytime soon...but I if did you would have my permission to throw rocks at me until I came down. You get the picture. For now, please consider, if you haven't, just how deeply God loves all of His creation. His Word says that not one sparrow falls to the ground that He doesn't know about. That makes me an environmentalist.

The Miracle of Christmas

2008-12-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

First of all - Merry Christmas! May God bless you and yours at this special time when we remember the day that He humbled Himself and came into our world as a helpless baby with a destiny to be our Savior.

As I was writing my blog last night, I was overcome with the sheer magnitude of the significance of Christmas. That first Christmas must have really been something when viewed on a galactic stage. The Bible says that "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:22). Also, "the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." and "creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:19&21). Literally, the Universe itself held its breath in expectation and awe on that precious night. Its Creator, the Maker of the stars and heavens, was beginning His most incredible work yet. He was transforming Himself into one of His own creations so that He could live among them and die for them in order to set the Universal scales back into balance. Once and for all, He was about to blot out the stain that sin and imperfection had brought to His perfect Creation. My heart jumps and my mind swirls as I think of the immensity of the impact that this night would have on the entire Universe.

And so, as I talked about yesterday, His mighty army of angels heralded his coming. Shepherds dropped what they were doing in the wilderness and came to see and worship this marvel who was God in the flesh. Learned scholars from from far-away lands journeyed for months to bring gifts to the King whom the very stars in the heavens had proclaimed to them was now living on our little planet. All of Creation...the Universe itself...was watching with excitement to see the revealing of its Creator's final masterpiece. Even the stars were literally standing still. Am I the only one with the goosebumps?

It would make a great science-fiction story - but the cool thing is that it's not fiction. The real Creator of our real Universe literally came to our planet as a baby to live and die for us. The actual stars in our very real skies turned their attention to a little planet in between the spiral arms of a galaxy that would one day be known as the Milky Way, pausing in their courses to announce His coming to anyone who would look. The laws of physics were stretched beyond our understanding as magnificent, powerful, other-worldly beings from another realm of existence poured into our skies, heralding the coming of the Creator of all things. With all of its tricks and technology, Hollywood could never come close to portraying the immensity of what was happening on a galactic scale.

For me, the heaviest part about all of this is that, although He was about to do something that would change the entire Universe, the one thing that was on Jesus' mind that night was you. And me. The Bible is clear about the fact that we can't even begin to imagine what awaits us in Eternity. We're talking about Life on a Universal scale - when it comes to both time and space. What Jesus did while He was here on earth literally impacted all of Creation. I truly believe that if we die on this planet with Him in our life, then we will get to experience all of what we know is out there and more...forever. Jesus knew the impact that His sacrifice on this little planet would have on Eternity and the Universe. But my brain almost wants to shut down as the realization sinks in that what He did, he did for me. Personally. He knew my name - before He even came here. Two thousand years before I was even conceived. As big as He is, as much as He loves all of His Creation...He loves me so much that he came to a little backward planet, took off His kingly robes and crown and jewelry, humbled himself and took my punishment for my sins. No wonder the Universe was holding its breath.

If thinking about this doesn't move you to worship Him...well, maybe you should ask Him to give you a heart for Christmas. Seriously, friends, the Universe is a BIG place. The fact that God even remembers where our solar system is is a miracle unto itself. He literally holds the Universe in balance, and yet He put everything on 'pause' to do what He did for you...thinking of you the entire time...my brain can't even begin to grasp that. This Christmas, if you have never had a personal talk with Him and thanked Him for loving you, do it! He is always listening. All you have to do is talk to Him. He'll hear it. If you already have a personal relationship with Him, thank Him again! All of Eternity won't be enough time to properly thank Him for what He has done for us.

Merry Christmas to all! May God bless each one of you as we head into a new year.

P.S. - I've said it before, but if this stuff is new or confusing to you and you'd like to talk some more about it, I'm always on facebook or you can email me at youngquistjr@hotmail.com

Love's Fanfare

2008-12-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Christmas Eve. That wonderful day of the year when TBS starts it's 24-hour straight running of 'A Christmas Story' (now in High-Def), when you can find 'A Christmas Carol' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' on at least 37 different channels and when the local fire department is on high alert as they try to keep churches from burning down due to open flames at the candle-light services. I love this day. It's usually a haze of food coma, pine scent and wrapping paper. Here at the beach, we often get some surf as well. It's wintertime, so you have a pretty good chance of scoring some waves if you can brave the freezing rain and gale force winds. Today was more freezing rain and less good waves...but hey, it's Christmas Eve! Nothing instills optimism more than good ole' Christmas Spirit!

So when my friends Curt and Hailey called and said that it didn't look great, but we HAD to surf on Christmas Eve, I pulled on my wetsuit, jumped in my car and headed to the beach. They were right...it didn't look good! Camille has to work tonight (bummer), but she probably wouldn't have wanted to paddle out in freezing rain anyway. Curt and Hailey were the only ones in the water when I pulled up to the beach, and since I was already in my wetsuit I decided that I couldn't let them suffer alone on Christmas Eve. I don't know if it was the Spirit of Christmas just giving me a good attitude or if it really was better than it looked, but I actually had a good session. I caught a bunch of waves and got home in time to cuddle with my beautiful wife on the couch for a bit before she had to go to work. Like I said, I love this day.

Tonight, I went to Christmas Eve service with Camille's family. You know - the one where they try to burn the church down by giving open flames and hot, liquid wax to five-year-olds. Fortunately, the services of the fire department were never needed. I'm pretty sure that Jesus appreciated the unusually loud, off-key, mis-timed caroles being sung by the nice gentleman behind me more than I did, but like I said, it's Christmas Eve and he was in the spirit so it's all good.

Part of the service included a very nice two person tag-team reading of the Christmas story out of Matthew, Luke and John. I'm not being facetious here, it really was cool. And they did a nice job. The problem with me is that my overactive, somewhat twisted and bizarre brain never stops. As they were reading about the shepherds out in the field being serenaded by angels telling of Christ's birth, I got this mental image of these poor dudes just minding their own business and trying to keep warm suddenly having the living crap scared out of them by some glowing aliens with bullhorns and trumpets. Sometimes I wonder if they really ran into town to find Jesus in the manger, or if they were just trying to escape a Bible version of War of the Worlds. Seriously, what would you do if you were driving along on a dark night and an angel suddenly hovered over your car, all glowing and stuff, and started talking to you in a booming voice? Like my dad says, first you'd say it, then you'd do it! You'd probably also drive right off the side of the road!

OK, before you brand me a heretic, let me remind you how hard it is to turn down the 'dork' setting in my brain. The Christmas story is my second favorite story of all time, and while I could probably do an entire 'Saturday Night Live' version of it, I truly am moved to reverent worship each time I read or hear it. (In case you are wondering, my favorite story is the one where the baby in that Christmas manger is all grown-up and willingly allows himself to be brutalized and hung on a Roman cross to die for my sins. Thank you so much, Jesus...my words will never be enough...)

After I forced myself to quit visualizing screaming shepherds running in a frenzy toward town while shooting rocks into the air behind them with their slings, a thought struck me. Angels...from the presence of God Himself...appeared 'en masse' on our little planet to announce the arrival of His Son. The Bible calls them 'Heavenly Hosts'. We're talking about beings of unimaginable power who probably have the entire Universe as their stomping grounds. That awesome night, the laws of physics as we know them were stretched to the breaking point as the armies of Heaven poured into our dimension to pay homage to their great General. Terrifying? Yes. But their purpose was not to scare some lonely shepherds.

You see, they knew that their Lord was about to strike the final blow in a battle with the enemy that had raged from time immemorial. That helpless baby lying in an animal feed trough because there wasn't enough room for his pregnant mother in any of the motels in town was the Creator of the Universe. He was their Captain. And He was here to take back His Creation from the clutches of His enemy. The 'Heavenly Host' was fired up! They were announcing the commencement of the battle that would defeat sin and bring about the end of Death once and for all.

I'm sure that God had His reasons for allowing those shepherds to witness the frightening power of His army. But I kinda think that the host of angels would have appeared in force even if no one was around to see. Their enemy saw it. And you can bet that he was shaking in his boots. The great Army of Heaven was now in his territory, but even worse for him - so was their Lord. This isn't science-fiction, people. The Bible talks a lot about warfare in the spiritual realm, and you can bet that this night kicked-off a battle that would shake the foundations of time and space. I envy those shepherds for catching just a glimpse of that epic display of God's power.

The incredible thing about the battle that ensued is this...God simply used love to accomplish what no amount of force or power could have.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Jesus lived a life of humility, self-sacrifice, kindness and love. Love drove His compassion for others. Love is what compelled Him to heal the sick and mend broken hearts even when He was tired or not feeling too well. Love is what drove Him to the Cross. Love brought Him here, and ultimately love killed Him. Medical experts say that the Biblical description of Jesus' death proves that He died not of the many wounds He suffered, but that He died of a broken heart. He literally loved us to death. Yeah. Stop and think about that for a second. He was so in love with you that His heart broke for you and He died.

The greatest part of it all is that love didn't leave him dead. He had to die so that he could meet death face-to-face and defeat it. But his Father loved Him too much to allow death to keep Him. The Bible says that God raised Him up from the dead and that He sits today on the right hand of the Father, having triumphed over death. Through Love, He defeated death and paid the penalty for your sin and mine. Because of His great love, we now have free access to God. With love, He won the ultimate battle - the battle for our hearts, our souls...our Eternity.

It all started on a quiet night in the Israeli countryside two thousand years ago. Love invaded our planet and the armies of the Almighty God threw down a challenge to the enemy of our souls. Love was announced with fanfare that night, but its true power was shown in the humble life of a Jewish carpenter. He loved you to death and paid your entry fee into Eternity with His Father. Surely this Christmas we can all find a small way to love Him back.

Ben Stein is Smarter Than Me

2008-12-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this. I posted this as a note to my facebook wall, so if you are one of my facebook friends, you've probably already read it. It was just too good to not pass on. This Christmas season, let's remember the Source of our life, sustenance, happiness and peace. Let's keep Him in our lives!

Every once in a while, someone just nails it. They put your exact thoughts into words better than you ever could. This is a statement that actor and producer Ben Stein made last Christmas. It definitely bears repeating this Christmas. I'm a fairly good conversationalist, but Ben Stein proves here that he's a LOT smarter than me. My heart breaks for my country, and this is part of the reason. I am not trying to 'push my agenda' on anyone. I am just a very happy person and I know quite well from where my happiness comes. If you are not as happy as you think you should be and this letter gives you pause to think, let me know. I would love to introduce you to the Source of my happiness.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.

I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it.. no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Thanks Ben! I couldn't have said it better myself!

Making the Tough Call

2008-12-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am officially the bad guy. But before I get into that, I must say that the snow 'shore is purdee'! I know that I have been talking a lot about the snow, but we just don't get this much of it on the Oregon Coast...ever. The talking heads on the news are saying that we're in for a bunch more tomorrow. It may actually be a white Christmas in Seaside!

I almost went surfing in the snow today. Camille was having none of it, but I went and checked the surf anyway. I'm jonesin' for some surf, man! It didn't look that great when I looked at it, so I ran some errands and we went to the gym. On the way to the gym, our friend Hailey called and said that it was looking better and she wanted us to come out with her. I have to work tonight and by that time, it was too late for a surf session. Wild 'My Little Ponies' with fairies on their backs carrying ice cream cones and back-stage passes to the No Doubt reunion tour couldn't have convinced Camille to paddle out for a third year in a row in a snowstorm. But I'm not quite as smart as she is. So I was spared a mild case of hypothermia only because I have to work tonight.

So here I am at work and I am officially the 'Bad Guy'. A total jerk. At least that's what my customers think tonight. I had to make a hard decision and it made a lot of people mad. And probably saved a couple of lives. Or serious damage to the helicopter. It always amazes me just how much people hate to be told "No". No one cares about safety until it is too late, it seems. Oh sure, we love to give safety some awesome lip service, but in reality, we'll take the convenience of 'gettin' lucky' or 'getting away with that one' any day over being inconvenienced by making the safe call.

Did I mention that the snow is beautiful? It's also deadly. Or it can be in a helicopter with no anti-ice capability. The layer of soft Christmas-y whiteness that carpets the area is truly breathtaking. But it can also be life-taking when trying to land a multi-engine helicopter. All of that fluffy loveliness gets whipped into a cloud of white as the helicopter nears the ground and can cause the pilot to lose all visual cues in a whirlwind of colorlessness and...well, and crash. Flying in falling snow presents a whole new dilemma. Windshields and rotor blades can ice up, causing the helicopter to lose lift (and...well, and crash). Worse yet, the engine inlets can freeze up, causing the engines to fail and the helicopter to fall out of the sky (and...well, and crash).

For us though, the snow causes problems before we even get into the air. As I am sure is the case in your town, the tax money we pay here doesn't always make it to where it is really needed. The Port of Astoria, in it's infinite wisdom (Can you feel the sarcasm seeping from your computer screen?), has decided that the only airport on the north Oregon Coast with instrument landings and commercial-capable runways and services has no need of snow removal. This means that the flightline outside of our hangar is under a solid sheet of ice covered with several inches of snow as we speak. For a lot of reasons, you can't leave a multi-million dollar helicopter out in the snow. That would make about as much sense as letting your sixteen-year-old drag race with your brand new Ferarri Enzo...in the mud...while lighting sticks of dynamite...I'll stop there. So, we have to keep the aircraft in the hangar when we aren't flying. Which means (stick with me here, I know I'm moving kinda fast) that we have to pull the aircraft out of the hangar before we go fly.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Huh? What's the big deal? Pull the helicopter out, go fly. Pretty simple." It would be if it weren't for the wonderful Christmas present that the Port of Astoria left us by not plowing the snow off of the flightline. The towing setup for the Agusta 109 helicopter was designed by the 3 Stooges to begin with. Add ice and snow to the equation and you may as well just take a sledgehammer to the helicopter while it is still inside the hangar - something is gonna get broken and you'll save yourself from having to go out in the cold.

Now, considering how much our little 'toy' is worth, my boss has made it very clear to me that he will always support my decisions but that priority number one is to not damage the helicopter. OK, in case he's reading this, I'll add that he does agree that not getting anyone hurt or killed trumps not damaging the helicopter. But, that helicopter is our paycheck. If we break it, the company loses money, which can eventually lead to all of us losing money, or our jobs. If we break it because we were doing something stupid, we can skip straight to the part about us losing our jobs. Trying to tow that big, multi-million dollar piece of machinery out of the hangar onto a sheet of ice where the tow-bar can jack-knife, break and take out the nose or landing gear of the helicopter would be in the 'stupid' category. Oh, and did I mention the fact that there are a bunch of other planes outside our hangar that the helicopter could slide into and break as well? Basically, if my crew and I bust up the aircraft in the simple act of towing it out of the hangar, we had better just get in our cars and start driving...until we get to Peru.

Whew! That's a mighty long way to say that I have decided that we won't be flying in the snow or the icy conditions tonight. It all makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately, not flying means that my customers will have to board ships tonight using their Pilot Boat. Several of them are extremely fond of flying to work rather than taking the boat. We only have two ships to work tonight, but unfortunately for us, the two marine pilots who will be bringing them in are of the flyin' kind. And they're not real happy to hear me tell them 'no'. I've already had one ear-full and I'm expecting another in about an hour.

My job is mostly about customer service. Over the years, I've developed a good rapport with my customers by being a safe, capable pilot and having a can-do attitude. That still doesn't change the fact that they are paying a lot of money for the use of a helicopter and they just don't like to be told what they can and can't do. I can't say that I blame them. But my number one job is to keep everyone and everything safe. Which means that sometimes, like tonight, I have to make a hard decision that I know no one will like. Sometimes I have to choose safety over popularity. It isn't fun, but that why I am paid to be a Captain here. Ultimately, the decisions a the Captain of an aircraft must make are much harder than the actual flying.

You know, that kinda extends to the rest of my life. And yours too. Making the correct decision...standing up for what is right...is often times the hard route. It is usually so much easier to compromise. Whether it be choosing to not risk lives and damage an aircraft or choosing to bite the bullet and be the first one to apologize to reconcile a broken friendship, doing what needs to be done is often a tough call. How much easier is it to get that extra few minutes of sleep in the morning than to force yourself out of bed and spend a few minutes with God? Ouch! That one hurt me! Chances are, right now you are thinking of a situation in your own life where you need to make that tough decision. Sometimes, doing the right thing can even threaten relationships or careers. But in the long run, the benefits of making those tough decisions will outweigh the momentary discomfort they may cause. I didn't kill anyone tonight. The helicopter is still in one piece and will be ready for service when the ice melts. Eventually, my customers will be grateful for that. Lord, please help me to swallow hard and choose do 'do the right thing' in every area of my life!

The Lumberjack

2008-12-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

My neighbor is a lumberjack. Or at least he thinks he is. Actually, he's a schoolteacher. However, his one, all-consuming pastime away from the classroom seems to be cutting firewood on his property in the woods behind my house. Granted, there's enough fallen timber back there from the big storm last year to build the Great Wall of Seaside. But really, who wakes up, sees that it is dumping snow and immediately thinks, "Hey, it's snowing! I better get out there in the sub-freezing weather and cut me up some firewood!"? It's not as if he hasn't been spending 40 hours a week cutting wood since last spring! He must have an underground lair somewhere with acres of wood stacked and ready to provide heat for his family after the nuclear apocalypse. He's really a nice guy, but I'm afraid that he may need an intervention.

It gets a little uncomfortable at times because the windows in our living room look out towards his little logging operation. Sometimes I feel a twinge of guilt as I switch on our gas fireplace, put in a DVD and curl up with Camille to lounge on the couch as he is hitching logs to the come-along behind his truck or splitting wood like he is in one of those lumberjack contests. Or maybe it's just annoyance at the fact that I have to turn the volume on the surround-sound up loud enough to hear the movie over the chainsaw. I tell myself that he probably has a gas fireplace in his house too. This is just how he unwinds. I surf, he wrestles logs in the freezing mud. To each his own, man.

When he's not actually engaged in dissecting trees, he is usually walking around the perimeters of his property with his dog, surveying his little kingdom like Caesar inspecting his troops. Sometimes I try to picture what is going on in his head. He seems to be quite satisfied with himself. But I can't help but wonder if his Napoleon-esque gait isn't hiding the fact that he is secretly terrified of the day when there will be no more fallen trees to cut and stack. I must admit that I admire his industrious-ness. Maybe next Christmas I will have a truck full of timber secretly unload more logs by the dead of night onto his property just to give him a reason to go on for another year. Like I said, I really do like the guy. God bless him.

As I awoke to the sound of the chainsaw this morning, I thought of the Proverb about the industrious ant. Proverbs 6:6-11 says - "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, [And] gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man."

Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the fact that I was still in bed and he was laboring away...I just couldn't help but think that as funny as his incessant wood-cutting is, he has been paying attention to that ant. His family will definitely not go cold this winter! Whether he knows it or not, he is heeding Biblical advice and will be reaping the fruits of his obedience to God's principles. Having talked to him quite a bit (usually while he's re-filling his chain-saw with gas), I'm pretty sure he gets it.

It's funny that I've never really been too annoyed about being awakened to the sound of that saw. Camille and I both work nights, so naturally we sleep in a little later that our neighbors. But deep down inside, I have always respected his work ethic. I know that his job of teaching Jr. High kids is enough to wear anyone out. But he never fails to put in hours of hard labor before or after school. Seriously - I think the Energizer Bunny may have met his match! We joke about him a lot, but for me, it's never without a little respect. There have been days when I really don't want to mow the lawn or scrub the kitchen floor. But then I hear that chainsaw and it motivates me out of my laziness.

I've mentioned before that I'm a pretty decent procrastinator. Actually, I'm probably closer to the Semi-Pro level. Having 'The Lumberjack' next-door to us has actually helped me become more of a novice procrastinator. I like that. It's funny how God always seems to place us right where we need to be. I'm not saying that my life was a downward spiral of chronic slothfulness before we lived next to 'The Lumberjack'. I am just giving God the head-nod for giving me a tangible reminder to act more like the ant.

I'm not sure how all of this speaks to you personally. Maybe it is a call to get motivated. Maybe it will remind you that God has you right where He wants you to be right now. Maybe this will cause you to stop and listen to what He may be trying to teach you through 'The Lumberjack' in your life. Maybe it's just a reminder to love your neighbor, no matter how loud his chainsaw is. All I know is that in a funny way, I am grateful to have 'The Lumberjack' for a neighbor.

A Sacred Uniform

2008-12-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like there is more snow on the way for the north Oregon Coast. If you read yesterday's post, you know that I now have new all-weather tires on my SUV, so I say, "Bring it on, baby!" I really do love the snow.

Today I spread wild birdseed all over the snow-covered back porch at my house. I'm pretty sure the snow caught all of those little guys off guard. In places more accustomed to snow, it's not as common to see finches, blue jays and robins in the middle of December. I think these birds were banking on the Seaside area being a good place to chill for the winter (no pun intended). I can just see them debating whether to keep flying south to California or to rest their wings and take their chances in Oregon. Evidently the lazy ones won the argument. There's a lot of birds hanging around my house. So, I figure the least I can do is to help keep them from starving while there is snow on the ground. Maybe I'm enabling their laziness, maybe I've made the responsible ones who wanted to continue south look like party-poopers...whatever. They're really cute and I like having them around. So, I'll probably have to buy more birdseed.

If I were to be totally honest, I would have to admit that having my own little flock of feathered beggars serenade me every morning is not exactly the only reason that I am feeding them. There's another reason, and deep down inside I know that this reason is probably even more compelling than my soft spot for birdie charity. You see, having a couple of dozen birds right in front of our kitchen sliding-glass window absolutely drives my cat insane. There it is. I get a sick pleasure from torturing my cat in this manner. Believe me, the feeling's mutual. I have scars to prove it. It really is funny, though. I think he almost knocked himself out slamming into the window about a half dozen times today. Then there's the part where he runs into the living room and up onto one of those window-ledges, as if by approaching from a different angle he will somehow magically transport himself through the glass out onto the patio. Inevitably, he ends up back at the sliding-glass door, realizing a split second too late that it is still solid glass.

The funniest part is that the birds totally have him figured-out. At first, they would all scatter when he would spring at the glass door. After a while, a couple of the bigger blue jays would just take a cautious step back, but keep eating. Now even the little finches will take a seed, walk right up the the glass and taunt him as they munch on their meal. The cat is the only one who hasn't figured out that he's not getting through the glass door. I think I may have to get him a therapist.

None of this has anything to do with the point of my blog today. I just thought I'd give you a glimpse into my somewhat bizarre world. Actually, the part about having new tires is relevant. Let's go back to the Les Schwab tire center from yesterday. I think I eluded to to fact that Les Schwab employees are basically the nicest people on the planet. I know...they get profit-sharing incentives and it is in their best interests to treat people like royalty. Whatever the case, their congeniality always seems genuine and they always put me in a good mood. Heck, every time I even drive past a Les Schwab I'm tempted to stop and go inside even if I don't need any automotive services whatsoever. They are just so...nice. I think they may actually be elves on loan from Santa, but that's a topic for another blog.

So anyway, I'm sitting in the waiting room at Les Schwab while they are finishing up balancing my new tires. I think I mentioned yesterday how busy they were. Still, not a person in the store was upset about the wait. Those Les Schwab elves had put everyone in a good mood! In walks this guy in a full U.S. Army BDU uniform. He must have just gotten off duty at Camp Rilea. I was reading a book and not paying much attention as he started talking to the head elf behind the counter (actually, it was the store manager and his name is Sam - super guy). After a while, I noticed that the soldier's voice was getting a bit louder and that Sam, still giving him an award-winning smile, was trying to explain something technical to him. I looked up from my book just long enough to deduce that the soldier had an all-wheel-drive Suzuki and wanted to have Sam install just two studded snow tires. Evidently he couldn't afford all four. Sam was trying to explain that not only is that not allowed by Les Schwab company policy (not to mention legal liability), but that installing only two traction tires on an all-wheel-drive vehicle would wreck the transmission and just be plain dangerous. It for the customer's protection. Maybe they could find four tires the soldier could afford.

At this point it looked as if the soldier was beginning to grasp the concept, and I went back to my book. Suddenly, about a minute later, a mini-explosion took place. OK, not one with a fireball and shrapnel and stuff (although that would have been cool). In a booming voice that would have impressed a full-grown African elephant, the soldier screamed some expletives that I won't repeat here at...well, at everyone...stomped to the front door, tried his darnedest to break the door by slamming it open against the wall, and stormed away. Everyone in the place looked up at poor Sam, who to his credit, was still smiling like a game-show host. "I guess he didn't like my answer!" was all Sam had to say. The rest of us were shocked that anyone could show that kind of contempt to one of Santa's elves. And right before Christmas! Lump of coal, dude...

As I sat there and listened to people try to break the tension with jokes and support for Sam, a very sobering thought occured to me. So sobering, in fact, that I almost got up and followed that soldier outside to talk to him. I was also a soldier. For almost a decade of my life. I don't know what they are teaching soldiers in basic training today, but in my time, a uniform was a sacred thing. When you were in uniform, you were representing your country. You were a walking reminder to civilians that there is someone out there watching their backs. You were an ambassador of something much bigger than yourself. Thousands have died wearing that uniform, sacrificed so that their countrymen and women could be free. You did not ever disgrace that uniform...not ever. That soldier's actions had just disgraced his uniform as well as himself. And it made me hurt inside.

As I pondered the utter sadness of that little outburst, another thought, just as sobering, began to form. I am a Christian. A soldier, if you will, of Christ. I wear a uniform that I can never take off. Once people know that I am a Christian, I am forever in uniform in their eyes. And they are watching me. And they watch you too, if you are in Christ's army. Some watch because they see how happy this uniform makes me and they are curious to know how to get their own. Some watch for different reasons, possibly waiting to catch a glimpse of me disgracing my uniform. Some would love to see this soldier of Christ embarrass my commander-in-chief. Whatever the case, the fact remains that this uniform of mine represents the Answer that everyone is searching for. If it is sobering knowing that my military uniform represented my fellow Americans, then it is downright crippling to realize that my Christian uniform represents my Creator and the Key to His Kingdom. When I go out into the world, how do I 'represent'? Am I pointing the way to Christ and acting like I fit this uniform, or am I disgracing it? Hopefully more of the former and less of the latter. How about you? People are watching. Let's make our uniforms bring glory to Him.

Tire Tread Truth

2008-12-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well, winter has officially arrived. It's not often that we get snow here at the beach, but there's a couple of inches on the ground now and it looks like there's a lot more on the way. Personally, I love the snow. It makes everything so clean looking. It's as if nature decided to give the world a fresh coat of paint. Apparently, nature is broke and could only afford one shade of white paint...but whatever, it certainly spices things up!

Especially the driving part. People out here really ought to be a lot better at driving in the snow than they are. True, we don't get a lot of snow right on the beach. But we do get it a couple of times a year. And the only road to Portland (which is civilization for people on the North Coast) goes straight over the Coast Mountain Range were there is always snow in the winter. You'd think everyone would be prepared. As it is, I think I was actually able to hear the circus music start playing as the snowfall began. Now, it's not as bad as the videos you see from places like Texas during an ice storm or anything, but come on, people! If you have to drive slower than my 2-year-old niece pushes her dolly's stroller, then maybe you should just call a cab. Trust me, the cabbie knows the way to the dollar store. And if you have just watched three cars in a row slide sideways through the intersection up ahead, that might be your clue take another route instead of adding to the avante-guarde automobile sculpture on the other side of the stoplight.

It is pretty, though. Pretty and cold. I drove to one of our favorite surf spots today and there were a few of my die-hard surf buddies out in the water. The waves were really small, but clean and longboardable. I think people were just out in the water for the sheer novelty of surfing in the snow. Camille and I have experienced that novelty twice now and promised each other that we would pass on a third opportunity this year! It's not so bad in the water - but the air temperature just about kills you. Especially when you're wet. The Rip Curl company just came out with a wetsuit that has a little battery pack and heat coils running throughout the suit that heat up like an electric blanket. It works great, but I'm of the mind that if I have to pay almost a thousand dollars for a wetsuit and risk electric shock just to go in the water...well, at that point it's time to pony up the bucks for a lift ticket and go snowboarding!

I was watching the weather reports last week saying that the snow was coming and I was thinking that it is time to get in and get new tires for my SUV. Well, as I often do, I procrastinated. I have 4-wheel-drive, right? The tires will be OK for a few more thousand miles. Well, as we were driving (on the icy highway) back from having breakfast at Camille's parents' house this morning, the little light came on on my dash telling me that one of my tires was under-inflated. We turned into our driveway and I got out and looked at my tires. Sure enough, the right front one was starting to deflate. Fortunately, we have a Les Schwab tire store right here in town. I jumped back in the car and had Camille follow me in her car over to Les Schwab. Guess I was gonna get those new tires after all!

Have I mentioned that there is lots of snow on the ground? And that the roads are icy? Wanna take a guess as to what is the worst possible time to patronize your local tire store? Yeah, when it's snowing. I think the whole town of Seaside was inside of Les Schwab. From the number of cars in the parking lot, I wondered if Hannah Montana was inside signing autographs. Wait, this is Seaside Oregon...make that: I wondered if they were giving out free cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Whatever the case, I knew I was in for wait. Procrastination...

I gotta hand it to the employees of Les Schwab. I was helped in a very timely manner. The guy behind the counter didn't even reach for his tire iron to beat the guy in front of me who asked if someone could install the windshield wipers he just purchased! Six thousand people in line needing new tires and one dude wants them to install wiper blades...God bless Les Schwab employees. To make a long story short, they were sold out of the tires I want but had them at their store about twenty minutes north of here. Since my tire is now flat, I am currently waiting for my father-in-law to come in his truck and help me pick up the tires and bring them back to Seaside to get them installed. Once again, I am failing to see how my procrastination helped me in any way.

What's the point of all of this? Well, we often like to complain about how 'when it rains it pours' or 'bad things come in bunches'...that sort of thing. As Christians, we often somehow lay the responsibility on God for making us 'go through the fire' or for 'strengthening our faith'. But here's something to think about. Maybe God just sometimes lets us live with the results of our own irresponsibility. Take the extremely trivial example of new tires for my SUV. I've known for a while that my tires were going to need replacement soon. I probably shouldn't have waited until it snowed to deal with the problem. I have no one to blame but myself for the fact that I am without a vehicle today. It's not Les Schwab's fault that their wait time is six hours right now. I know this is just a silly anecdote, but I can't blame God for not bailing me out or for trying to 'teach me something' through my flat tire. I was just irresponsible. And it made a really easy, fixable situation a lot worse than it had to be.

How many truly important things in our lives are at risk of becoming a lot more complicated than they need to be? Is there something that you know that God is asking you to deal with that you have been putting on the back-burner? If my little experience with truck tires is any indication, it might be a good idea to deal with it now rather than try to survive the aftermath of irresponsibility or procrastination. It won't be God's fault when everything comes crashing down around you. In fact, He will probably be as bummed as you will be. Yeah, He's a good God and He'll be there to help you in spite of yourself. But wouldn't it be a lot less painful if you just let Him help you deal with it now? After all, He's probably the one who prompted you in the first place and obeying His voice is never a bad idea! Just a thought from someone stuck at home waiting for new tires!

Stormy Weather

2008-12-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's stormy tonight. Really stormy. We get some crazy severe weather here on the north Oregon Coast in the wintertime. We often laugh when we see the national news and they are making a big fuss about 'high winds' in New York or the Southeast or 'heavy rain' Texas or the Midwest. We have gale force winds, hurricane weather and marine storms almost weekly here that dwarfs the 'severe weather' that makes headlines elsewhere. I guess the talking heads don't care about the little ole' Oregon Coast!

A couple of years ago, I bought a portable generator because power outages are a way of life here in the winter. It's saved our bacon a couple of times. We keep a fresh supply of candles, flashlights and batteries handy at all times. I even have battery backups on our TV, entertainment center and computer...heaven forbid we miss an episode of 'The Office' or (I cringe at the very thought of this one) go more than an hour without updating our facebook status! Now, we have iPhones, so as long as there is a cell network (which actually went down during the big storm last December), we will always have our umbilical cords firmly attached to cyberspace..."Honey, the power's out...come check out this YouTube video!"

The funny thing about storms is that, while they are truly frightening displays of nature's power that make you pretty nervous while they are flexing their muscles - no matter how bad they are they always blow themselves out and pass. Camille and I were actually fortunate enough to be gone at a friend's wedding in the Caribbean during the monster storm that hit here last December. I remember driving back home from the Portland airport and the closer we got to the coast, the more it looked like the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. Hundreds of thousands of trees were uprooted everywhere. Homes were destroyed. Cars were trashed. They cleared the street to our house just a couple of days before we got back. Before that, you couldn't drive within blocks of our house. Our neighbor's house had been flattened by a huge evergreen. Her truck had been smashed by another. One of the three gigantic evergreens in our back yard had fallen and missed another neighbor's house by inches. We had to cut the other two down before the next storm pushed them over onto our house. But even with all the devastation wrought by the storm, as we drove home the sky was blue, the winds calm and the seas serene. The storm was over, and except for the destruction in it's wake, it was hard to believe that there had ever been a storm.

Another funny (or not so funny) thing about storms is that while they never last forever, and good weather wins out eventually - there's always another one just around the corner. I've spent countless hours trying to find my garbage can or get the neighbor's birdbath off of the roof after a storm...the sun is out and the wind is calm and it seems as if nature will never be angry with the Oregon Coast again. The whole time I am almost in a state of disbelief that the weather will ever do this do us again. "That was a freak of nature," you think, "I'm glad that's not gonna happen again!" But it always does.

Some of my favorite people are currently experiencing the hardest times of their lives. They are in the middle of gale force storms. Not the kind of storms that knock over trees or sink ships. Their storms are things like cancer, unemployment, economic hardship, relationship woes...problems that you would gladly trade for a good old-fashioned hurricane. These are responsible, hard-working, God-fearing people I'm talking about. What did they ever do to deserve the twisters that are uprooting their lives? Well, one of the cold, hard facts of this life is that storms, both the Weather Channel kind and the 'I don't want to get out of bed today because life sucks' kind, are an inevitable, unavoidable part of living in this imperfect world. My neighbor didn't do anything to deserve that tree through her living room, and my uncle didn't do anything to deserve cancer.

I don't want to go into the whys and reasons that good people have to experience bad things. That's for a whole different conversation. I just want to point out something that I know a little about from personal experience. The storms of life can seem, at times, insurmountable. I've been there, where you want to stand up and yell for the wind and the waves just to take you...you're finished - there's no way out of this one. And you know what? You're right. There is no way out...for you. I know someone, however, who can literally command the storm to be still. Check out Mark 4:36-41 in the Bible. I talk a lot about the Creator and his awesome power. Well, that passage is a small example of just that. The cool thing, though (and I am speaking from very personal experience here), is that He has the same power to calm the storms in our lives. Like I said, why we have to walk through them in the first place is a topic for another discussion. The important point here is that we will go through them, and our Creator wants to hold our hand all the way through and help clean up the mess afterward. And His power over the storms of our lives is awesome.

And just like natural storms, there will always be another personal storm. A famous preacher once said that you are either going through a storm, coming out of one, or getting ready for the next one. That's life in an imperfect world, folks! Sounds hopeless, huh? Well, without the One who can guide us safely through the storms, it is. Personally, I'm not sweating the next storm. I've been through so many and seen His mighty power at work in my life while the winds and rain tried to blow me away...and guess what? I'm still standing. Not because I'm 'tough' or 'a fighter'. Because He took the brunt of the storm for me. He's done it for my friends and loved ones too. Are you going through a 'storm' right now? Is one on the horizon? Now would be a good time to hand the wheel of your ship over to the only Mariner who can see you safely through the gales. Me? By myself, I run the stupid ship up onto the rocks every time. Trust me, He's a way better sailor than you are. He wants to get you safely to calm waters. He knows the way. Just let Him steer.

God's Fireworks

2008-12-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night there's gonna be fireworks. On a cosmic scale. God's putting on the display, so you pretty much know it's gonna rock. No, I'm not trying to say that a little voice told me that the End is coming. The heavens are not going to implode. You don't have to run to Costco and stock up on supplies for the apocalypse. Well, that is unless you live on the Oregon Coast where we live and you are preparing for the gale force storm that's supposed to hit us this weekend. But that's another story. This fireworks show has been happening for over a hundred years and, to scientists' complete befuddlement, seems to be getting better every year. I'm talking about the Geminid Meteor Shower, an annual cosmological event that has astronomers completely stumped.

From about 2 AM on Sunday the 14th until dawn, provided the sky is clear where you live, you will be able to look up and see about one 'shooting star' every 30 seconds, courtesy of a celestial object that has scientists scrambling for explanations. Now, I've seen a lot of shooting stars in my time. When I was in the Army serving as a helicopter pilot, one of my jobs was to train other pilots in the use of Night Vision Goggles. With the goggles, we could see stars that scientists didn't even know existed until the invention of the radio telescope. I was fortunate enough to witness dozens of shooting stars that I probably never would have even seen with my naked eye. And every single time, they made my heart jump. Just like the beautiful plume of an expensive firework that makes everyone go "OOOOhhhh, AAAhhhhh!", or like the drop at the very top of the roller-coaster hill that takes your breath away, seeing a meteoroid (or 'shooting star') streak across the sky at blinding speed always leaves you with a sense of awe.

The cool thing about the Geminid meteor shower is that scientists are seriously confused about its source. You see, most meteor showers have been documented for hundreds of years. And they are almost always a product of cometary debris. But when astronomers began looking for the comet that gave birth to the Geminid shower, they didn't find one! In 1983, some NASA scientists found an object that matched the orbit of the Geminid meteor stream, but it wasn't a comet - it was an asteroid. Now, instead of boring you with a bunch of nerd talk to explain why this is so unique, I'll just tell you to trust me that there are a lot of good scientific reasons why scientists didn't think a meteor shower could be created by an asteroid. Heck, you probably don't even care what the difference is between a comet and an asteroid! To make a long story short, the more scientists study the phenomenon that is the Geminid meteor shower, the more questions they come up with and the more confused they are. The physics behind what makes a shooting star are really quite complex. Geminid doesn't fit into any model or blueprint that we understand. It is, and may always be, a mystery.

What we are left with is a breathtaking display of natural beauty in the night sky. Because of the wide path of the Geminid stream, people all over the world will get to enjoy the fireworks show. While this is cool on a lot of levels, the part that appeals to me the most is the mystery of it all. Just about the time we think that we have a certain chapter of physical science pretty well figured out, BAM! Along comes something that completely stumps us. We're not sure how the meteoroids were created. We're not certain about their source. They are more dense and just different than normal shooting stars. They don't seem to serve any special purpose except to light up the night sky and inspire a sense of wonder. And therein, my friends, lies an amazing truth.

The Universe is full of surprises. We like to be able to put things into a tidy compartment where we can examine them and learn all of their secrets. The Universe will always resist our efforts. It is not something that wrapped-up into a neat equation and explained. The more we learn about it, the more questions we raise. All of our discoveries, all of our study, all of our unanswered questions are pointing to one awesome Truth. The Universe was created. There is an underlying purpose to everything we can see, hear, feel and study. While we understand some of the reasons behind some of what we see around us, the entire purpose is known only to the Creator. Maybe someday He'll share these secrets with us (and I think He will), but until then, we have to trust that He knows what He is doing.

The Geminid meteor shower can't really be explained. But I love that! It's one of the things that makes me trust in my Creator even more. We always want to know the purpose for everything. Well, maybe there is no purpose to this phenomenon. Maybe our Creator simply put the Geminid meteor shower in the heavens so that we would look up and see it's beauty and think of Him. He probably loves the fact that we can't explain it. It is an annual reminder that He is God and we aren't. To me, it's like His signature written across the sky. It's as if he was saying, "Look what I made - just because I can!".

Friends, the great thing is that the God who is powerful enough to move heavenly objects and light up our entire sky is more than capable of meeting our personal needs. And He wants to! He formed the Universe, but he cares about each individual human. His strength can literally move the heavens, but he delights rather in touching our lives and filling us with His joy. He keeps all of creation in perfect balance, surely you and I can trust him with our hearts.

Thanks again to universetoday.com and Tammy Plotner for the informative article that inspired this blog.

Surfing Lessons - #5

2008-12-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

Camille and I scored some really fun waves on our longboards today. We actually didn't intend to go longboarding...but things don't always go the way you plan. Let me back up a bit. There are a plethora of surfboard designs out there, but at the most basic level you can pretty much put just about any surfboard into one of two categories: shortboard or longboard. Many would argue that the 'fish' is a category all of it's own, but a fish is really just a shortboard that is wider and fatter and can catch waves that are usually only accessable to a longboarder. Within the two categories, there are literally thousands of shapes and designs that give each style of surfboard different characteristics for different wave types, style of surfing, body-build of the surfer, etc. But at the most basic level, you have the shortboard and the longboard.

Shortboards are the more 'high-performance'-oriented boards that allow the surfer to turn very fast and make lots of cutbacks. Usually, you need to either have a little power behind the wave or be in just the right takeoff spot to catch a wave on a shortboard. Longboards, on the other hand, are just that - long. And wide. They excel in catching waves. Even if the wave faces are not very steep or the swell is weak, a surfer can paddle a longboard so fast that just about any rideable wave is catchable on a longboard. They don't turn nearly as well as shortboards, but what they lack in agility, they more than make up for in speed and glide. The style in which a wave is ridden is distinctly different depending on which type of board you are riding.

As with most things, there are 'purists' on both sides of the 'surfboard aisle'. Some will only surf shortboards and sit farther inside on days with small swell and curse the longboarders who can sit far outside and catch all of the waves. Some surfers are 'old school' and only surf on longboards. They often times poke fun at the shortboarders doing all those turns and popping airs and can't understand how anyone can catch a wave on a board that short.

Then there are people like Camille and I. I firmly believe that you should always use the best tool for the job. Yeah, I prefer to be on a shortboard in bigger, more powerful waves. But sometimes when the surf is smaller or there isn't a lot of 'push' to the swell, you just need a longboard to get into the waves. And usually on those type of days, the speed and glide you get from a longboard is more fun than anything you would be able to do on a shortboard anyway. You don't get stoked from surfing if you can't catch waves in the first place! So, our 'quiver' includes a couple of longboards.

Whew! Now, where was I? Oh, yeah...things don't always go as planned. The waves today were sort of 'in between'. Super clean with nice shape, but not that big. It was hard to tell which boards we should ride. In the end, Camille decided to take one of my shortboards that is really great at catching waves, and I decided to ride her longboard. Since Camille weighs about as much as one of my thighs, my shortboard is an easy-paddling wave-catcher for her and her longboard is like a long, fun-shape shortboard for me. We decided that we could switch back and forth out in the water and just go with it and have fun. Well, as we were walking out on the rocks to jump into the water, Camille slipped on a wet, slimy boulder and smashed the tail of my board on the rocks.

When I heard her yell and heard that stomach-churning sound of fiberglass cracking on the rocks, honestly my first thought was that I hope she's OK. My next thought was, "Ugh! That's my favorite surfboard!" I looked up to where she was now sitting on her butt and asked if she was alright. She said yes, but as she looked at the tail of my board, her look told me that we had at least one casualty. Now, being that I put my elbow through the rail of my other favorite surfboard the other day on an epic wipout, the reality started to set in that it is full-on winter surf and I am now down to my big-wave shortboard and my longboard as my only boards that aren't on injured-reserve.

As that thought sunk in, so did frustration. I was glad that Camille didn't hurt herself, but bummed that my board 'took one for the team'. Except for a couple of words that I won't repeat here, I didn't say much. I just walked up to Camille, handed her her longboard and told her that I would have to run the injured soldier back to the car and get my longboard. Now, no marriage is perfect, but truthfully, Camille and I almost never argue. When one of us walks away without saying anything, that's pretty much an argument. If you know Camille, you will agree that, simply put, she is just the most easy-to-get-along-with person in the world. We never argue because we never have anything to argue about! I'm not trying to get brownie points here - she's really that sweet!

Well, I ran to the car, grabbed my longboard and ran back down toward the rocks to get into the water. As I was heading back to the ocean, I noticed that Camille was just then getting into the water. In the time it took me to swap boards, she should have already been out in the lineup catching waves. I realized that much of the time I had been rushing to get my longboard, she had been sitting right where I had left her on the rocks. It donned on me that my shortness with her had made her think that I was mad at her. She was probably moving slowly due in part to the fact that her feelings were hurt.

As that thought sunk in, I began to get a mental picture of my sweet wife, fallen on her butt on the rocks, worrying that she had dinged my surfboard, feeling embarrassed and frustrated. Maybe I was feeling a little guilty for being short with her...whatever the case, that picture in mind of her fallen down really affected me. I wished I had been more gentle with her. I wanted to pick her up and tell her that I don't care about a stupid surfboard as long as she's OK. Once again, I was reminded of how much I love her and want to protect and care for her. I know it sounds trivial, just a slip on the rocks (although you probably haven't seen these rocks - your could break your neck on those things!), but I love her so much that seeing anything bad happen to her makes me hurt.

I jumped in the water and paddled out to where she was sitting in the lineup. I came up beside her and splashed her with some water. Instantly, my suspicions were confirmed. She gave me the stinkeye and growled, "It was an accident - I didn't do it on purpose!" I just smiled back and told her that I knew it and that I was sorry if I let her think that I was mad, because I never was. I told her that the worst part of the whole thing wasn't the dinged surfboard, it was the fact that I had inadvertently hurt her feelings.

What's the point of all of this? Well, it took a few good waves for me to stop being mad at myself for being an idiot, insensitive male. Once I got over myself, I started to think about how much God loves us. If just seeing my wife bite it on the rocks hurt me that much, just imagine how much God hurts for us as we do all of the stupid things that we do to hurt ourselves. As much as I love Camille, God's love is infinitely more than that for you, for me, for all of us. And we are always falling down. We fail, we make bad decisions, we sin, we have a knack for just 'mucking it up'. All of it ends up hurting us. And others. God has to watch us fall down over and over all of the time. And it hurts Him every time. I think He gave me a little glimpse of His love for us today. He let my heart feel just a small bit of what He feels for me or for you when our imperfect lives cause us to hurt.

Isn't it good to know that we have a God who is that in love with us? The Bible says that he knows exactly how many hairs are on our head! He loves us enough to know that! It is so comforting to realise that when I hurt, He hurts with me. He probably hurts more than I do. Who wouldn't want to serve a God like that? If you are hurting, tell Him about it. He already knows anyway because He already feels the pain. And He wants to pick you up, dust you off and heal your wounds. That's the kind of God He is. That's why He is my God.

Surfing Lessons - #4

2008-12-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Camille and I drove all over creation trying to find some decent waves today. It was just one of those days where the swell was junky and wind-chopped and not much was happening at any of the various spots in our area. We sorta knew that we were gonna strike out, but we both have the day off and we weren't in any hurry to do anything else. It may seem crazy to drive back and forth and look at the same ocean from different places all morning just on the off chance that there will be waves to surf somewhere. But for a surfer, that is all a part of the experience. You get a warm feeling inside just thinking about the possibility of waves. There's always that bit of optimism that just around the corner, the swell will be hitting the beach just right and the winds will be just so. Surfing makes the rest of your life so much better, that it's worth striking out once in a while in hopes of catching a few waves.

As I write this, I am preparing to go to the gym. That tells you how much surf we got today...zip! But part of me is satisfied deep down that at least I know that I am not missing any surf. I tried, and I'm glad that I did. That bit of optimism that tomorrow will be better is keeping me from being bummed about today's lack of waves. That's how it is for a surfer. We are at the mercy of nature to provide our stoke. Talk to any surfer, and they will tell you that that is one of the things that makes surfing so special to them. It's never a given...nothing is guaranteed. When you score an awesome session, it is that much better because you know that you were in the right place at the right time and that tomorrow you may not be as fortunate. It gives every session value. It makes every good session spectacular.

As we were driving back from getting skunked, we ended up behind a car with a bunch of very angry bumper stickers. There's liberal, and then there's "I hate everyone who's not a liberal". Whoever was driving this car was obviously the latter. Now, it's not the point of my blog to get political, so that is not where I'm going with this. Because I was checking the surf, I was already in a 'contemplative' mood. As I contemplated some of the bumper stickers on the car ahead of me, I began to feel a sadness for the obviously unhappy, angry person behind the wheel. It donned on me that my feelings about how much better surfing makes our lives are just a shadow, a mere glimpse of how much better knowing God makes our lives. I'm definitely not trying to pass any kind of judgement here, but I think you would agree with me if you read some of the stickers on that car that the person ahead of me probably doesn't know God. At least not in any personal way. I couldn't help but think that if they did, they surely wouldn't be so angry and their life would probably be a lot better.

It got me thinking about the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a Jewish sect of religious scholars and politicians and the rivals of the Pharisees (the Rabbinical Jews of today). They were founded in the second century B.C. and were one of the main political players in Palestine in Jesus' time. The interesting thing about the Sadducees was that they believed in Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament (and your God, if you are a Christian) and served Him just as fervently and in every way as any other Jew would, with one exception. The Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife. No Heaven, no Hell. When you died, it was just lights out. Hope you had a good time. Weird, huh? Why follow God at all if you just blink out of existence when you die? There's no consequences for any of your actions! While that is weird, the Sadducees had a good reason to follow God despite not having hope of a resurrection. You see, they knew that knowing and following God makes your life here on earth so much better, that it is worth doing even if there isn't life after death. They reasoned that God wants to help us live life to the fullest and most fulfilling. For them, you only got one shot at this Life thing, so you would be stupid not to follow God and have the happiest life there is to have.

Now, as a Christian, I know that Jesus was very clear that the Sadducees were wrong about the no afterlife thing. Check out Matthew 22:23-32 to hear exactly what He had to say. If you don't have a Bible, let me know. I'll give you one.

Anyway - the Sadducees were mistaken about a very important truth, but they hit the bullzeye when it came to another. Without God, this life is tough. Period. Heck, life's tough enough if you know Him! But if you do, life sure is a lot better! Those who know me know that I've been through a tremendous amount of hardship in my life. Jesus never promised us that just because we believe in Him, everything would always be peaches and cream. But He did promise us this - that no matter how hard things get, He will always be there to help us through. He promised us that He never sleeps, never stops watching over us, will never leave or forsake us, will give us the strength to bear any burden life lays upon us. I've been there, where life is hard, and I can vouch for the fact that He wasn't lying. What I'm trying to say is this - life is so much better when you know God.

Surfing gives me just a taste of the joy that knowing God gives me. My heart breaks for people like the driver in the car ahead of me today who just don't realize that they don't have to be angry. Or sad. Or lonely. Or heartbroken. Or scared. Or anxious. The list goes on... I know that for some, I am 'preaching to the choir'. But some of you may not know Jesus the way I do. Some of you may not have had the chance to experience how much better life is when you know God. The Sadducees had a glimpse of what it was to know Him, and they followed Him even though their belief system should have made it pointless to do so. I know that there is an afterlife and that this life is only a warm-up for an Eternity to come. All the more reason to know God! I wish that I could have pulled the person in the car in front of me aside and shared with them how they could be truly happy. I couldn't. But I can share it with you. If you don't know Him, please consider the fact that this surf addict would gladly forfeit waves forever just to be with Him. That's how awesome it is to know Him.

If you have questions or just want to talk, my email is in my profile or you can reach me on facebook - Jeremy Youngquist, Seaside, OR.

Officer Friendly

2008-12-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

I like to drive fast. Not crazy fast...I just don't see the need to spend any more time in my car than is absolutely necessary. I'm not a big fan of road signs or traffic laws, either. If you can't figure out that you should stop before trying to turn left across the highway into oncoming traffic without a sign to tell you to do so, then your state's DMV probably needs to be audited for giving you a license in the first place. Look, I'm not trying to be rebellious or anti-authoritarian. I just have a sort of natural disdain for somebody trying to force me to employ the common sense that I am already using.

OK, I'm dramatising it a bit. For the record, I do follow traffic laws; most of the time I even do so quite happily. I realize that due to the astounding lack of common sense that seems to run rampant in our society, without those laws, limits and signs it would probably be mayhem out there on the roads. I do, however, believe that common sense should always trump a sign or limit.

For instance...strictly hypothetically speaking...take the stop sign at the end of the road that leads to the airport where I work. The road ends onto another rural road with not a lot of traffic. You have to make a couple of more turns before you are out on the highway in the main part of town where you will actually see other cars. When I am leaving work, I have to make a right-hand turn at this stop sign. Rarely do you see another car on the road that I turn on to. In the middle of the night, make that never. So, 'common sense' would tell you that if you are the only car within a mile of that stop sign in the middle of the night with no one but the elk around, you save gas and actually help the environment by not coming to a complete stop. Right? I mean, hypothetically speaking, of course.

I know you're on board with me here. The problem is...Officer Friendly wasn't. OK, so this isn't exactly 'hypothetical'. Truth be told, that stop sign and I have a long-standing rivalry. It glares at me every time I leave work with that cynical smirk that says, "We both know that there is really no reason for my presence here, but you still have to do what I say. Jerk.". And I routinely look back into its haughty face and yell, "Watch me!" as I step on the accelerator and zip around the corner. 99 times out of 100 there is absolutely no one around to witness our little power struggle. 99 times out of 100 I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have defeated my rival. In sports franchise terms, that's a dynasty, baby! I'm more dominating than Kelly Slater or Michael Jordan or Michael Shumacher or Tiger Woods!

The problem is that other 1 time out of 100. Officer Friendly isn't privy to the angst that exists between myself and the stop sign. He doesn't see how the stop sign baits me, how it begs me to show it who is boss. He can't possibly know that the stop sign was asking for what I just did to it. So, when I pass him going WAY faster than I would be if I had actually stopped at the stop sign, he naturally assumes that I am the guilty party and promptly flips around and pulls me over.

Now, I gotta give Officer Friendly some credit here. Right off the bat, it is clear that while he may not condone my actions, he at least sympathizes with my plight. I don't know, maybe that stop sign has a reputation for being arrogant. Maybe Officer Friendly has his own private war with his own traffic sign. Whatever...when he comes to my window with his 15 gazillion candle-power flashlight aimed in my eyes, I realize from the tone of his voice (I couldn't actually see anything for about another 20 minutes after the flashlight burned a hole in my retinas) that he is a reluctant, secret supporter of my crusade to overthrow the stop sign.

After the standard introduction, you know the one (heck, maybe you don't...maybe you are putting my good-citizenship to shame by never getting pulled-over), he told me with a grin (I could vaguely make out the change in facial expression through the scar tissue on my eyeballs) that the next time I decide not to stop at that sign, just to make sure that there are no cops around beforehand. He took a look at my driver's license, told me to have a safe night and sent me on my way. How I made it home with no sense of vision whatsoever is another story.

As I drove home squinting and trying to see the fog line on the side of the road, part of me was embarrassed and part of me was trying to think of how I could apply this little lesson to my life. Other than the obvious issues I have with inanimate objects and the lesson about what bright light does to your night vision, I think that there are a few gems to be taken away from this experience. I'm gonna pick one for now and go with it.

How many times are we presented with a choice that no one except for ourselves will ever see? How many times do we think, "It doesn't really matter what I do here, because no one else will ever know one way or the other"? Even with the 'small stuff', how many times do we have an opportunity to do the right thing or to 'blow it' and we choose to let our guard down? Just like Jeremy and that stop sign...chances are, no one will ever know. That's great, except for one thing. God is the ultimate Officer Friendly. Our odds stink when it comes to eluding Him. He's sitting by that stop sign 100 times out of 100. He's gonna see us every time. And you know what? It's not so much the act of running the stop sign that He cares about. He doesn't like 'Mr. Big Shot, I'm Cool, You Have To Stop For Me' stop sign either. What He's really watching for is to see if we make the choice to honor Him when no one's looking. It's not really you and the stop sign. It's you and God. I know it's a silly analogy, but isn't it just like our Father to use silly things to drive home spiritual Truth? He's always speaking to us. Even in the silly, the mundane or the downright weird. We just have to be willing to listen. He wants to know that we love him so much that we will honor him even when no one else will ever know.

Matthew 6:6 says, "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who [is] in the secret [place]; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

I know Jesus said this in the context of not being proud and doing things to look cool in front of others. But it proves that God cares more about what goes on inside of us, in our secret lives, than He does about the things that everyone sees. He wants us to put him first all of the time. He wants to know that we will even let the stupid stop sign win if it shows commitment to Him.

Ummm...Sorry, Mr. Darwin

2008-12-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

Many of those who know me will vouch for the fact that I am an admitted science nerd. I am especially fascinated by astrophysics, astronomy and physics in general. Basically, the stuff that makes up the Universe and that makes the Universe tick intrigues me. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.". I have always felt that studying the makeup of the Universe increases my faith in my Creator. The raw science behind why the way everything is the way that is overwhelmingly supports the fact that all of 'this' didn't just happen by chance...in fact couldn't have happened by chance.

I've been noticing something sort of funny lately. Well, it would be funny if it weren't so sad. There is a tremendous amount of hostility and anger being spewed forth by an increasingly smaller fringe of 'intellectuals' who still insist on clinging to the archaic and flawed theory of evolution. The bumper-sticker slogans are getting nastier and the 'expert panelists' are getting weirder. I saw a sticker on someones car yesterday as I was heading out to surf. You know, one of those chrome ones like the 'Jesus Fish' is made out of? It actually had a 'Darwin Fish' (complete with little legs) mounting the rear of a 'Jesus Fish', making it look like like they were in the act of procreation! I'm no icthyologist (yeah, I had to look it up, too - it means someone who studies fish), but I'm pretty sure that fish actually lay eggs and the male fertilizes them in a manner that in no way resembles two dogs in heat. Not only was that offensive and mean-spirited, but it was 'evolutionarily inaccurate'. (I think I may have just invented a word there.)

OK, just to be clear - I do understand the joke they were trying to make. But it really got me thinking about what kind of a person would be so angry at everything that they would put such a weird statement on the back of their car. The more I thought the more sorry I felt for them and for everyone who has to make the gigantic leap of faith that it takes to believe in evolution contrary to all of the evidence. You see scientists everywhere...not just scientists, but leaders, giants in their respective fields...are publicly coming to the overwhelming conclusion that not only Life in the Universe, but the Universe itself simply could not exist without someone way bigger and smarter than us 'fine tuning' the physics according to a precise plan to make things turn out the way that they have. Evolution is being exposed as a fraud, and the poor souls who staked their careers on it and based their morals and belief systems around it don't quite know what to do.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. There are many constants in the laws of physics. One is the ratio of electrons to protons. (Trust me, I won't get too geeky.) This ratio is just one of many absolute constants in physics. Scientists agree that if this ratio were off even one part in ten the the 37th power, the Universe would either not exist at all, not have any matter, or not be suitable for life in any form. Let me give you an idea of just how finely tuned that number is. I am quoting Dr. Hugh Ross directly here:

"One part in ten to the 37th power is such an incredibly sensitive balance that it is hard to visualize. The following analogy might help: Cover the entire North American continent in dimes all the way up to the moon, a height of about 239,000 miles (In comparison, the money to pay for the U.S. federal government debt would cover one square mile less than two feet deep with dimes.). Next, pile dimes from here to the moon on a billion other continents the same size as North America. Paint one dime red and mix it into the billions of piles of dimes. Blindfold a friend and ask him to pick out one dime. The odds that he will pick the red dime are one in ten to the 37th power."

Whoah. And we're only talking about one single constant: the ratio of electrons to protons in the Universe. There are many more constants that are way more finely tuned than this, each of which are just as important to ensuring that the Universe is the way that it is. Mess up any one of them even by one part in ten to the 37th (or more) power, and Wham! We don't exist. Nothing does. Scientists, we're talking the kind that put 'Darwin Fish' on the back of their cars, are analyzing all of this new data that our nifty modern technology is providing us with and are overwhelmingly coming to a single conclusion. The Universe was created. By Someone. Someone really smart. And big. And powerful. Someone with a purpose. Someone who really knows His physics. Someone who is, for lack of a better word, creative.

But don't just take my word for it. Here's what just a few major players are saying:

Alan Sandage (winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy): "I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing."

Vera Kistiakowsky (MIT physicist): "The exquisite order displayed by our scientific understanding of the physical world calls for the divine."

Arno Penzias (Nobel prize in physics): "Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say 'supernatural') plan."

George Greenstein (astronomer): "As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency - or, rather, Agency - must be involved."

Barry Parker (cosmologist): "Who created these laws? There is no question but that a God will always be needed."

Folks, the list goes on. I could bore you for hours with famous quotes from famous scientists. It seems that the intellectual elite is beginning to grasp what I see every time I catch a wave or look into the eyes of my beautiful wife (especially that!): All of this...this big, beautiful, chaotic, colorful, mysterious, awe-inspiring Universe that we inhabit...all of it was created. By God. For a reason.

And do you know what is the most mind-blowing reality of all? It's that this all-powerful, all-creative, uber-smart God loves (insert your name here) so much, that He sent His only Son - think about that for a second - he sat and watched His only child be tortured and crucified...on a cross...so that you could have peace with Him and get to spend Eternity in His presence exploring the wonders of this incredible Universe He's created! He made all of this, and He loves you that much. He even loves the guy with the bumper-sticker of the 'Darwin Fish' violating the 'Jesus Fish' that much. Pretty mind blowing. So I guess we can cut the angry evolutionists a little slack. Their belief system is crumbling before their eyes. If the God in whom they don't believe loves them anyway, I better love them as well.

Note: Credit for the quotes and facts in this blog goes to Rich Deem and godandscience.org. Check out the site if you haven't already. Great stuff!

Surfing Lessons - #3

2008-12-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

Camille and I caught some fun waves today. Well, Camille caught most of the waves. I snapped my leash on my third wave after I dove through the face of a huge left that was about to close out and crush me. I felt a little 'pop' as I went through the back of the wave and knew that I would be swimming for my surfboard! I managed to get my board before the next set came through and paddled back out to the lineup to tell Camille that I would have to catch a wave in and go to the car and get another leash. I caught one in and paddled for the beach.

As I was walking to the car, I noticed that the waves were getting better and was stoked to head back out. I was about ten feet from the car when it donned on me - I forgot to put out the spare key! I haven't mentioned how cold it was today. Now I was standing in a soaking wet wetsuit, the air temp was in the 40's, and I was locked out of the car. To make matters worse, the only person in the entire world whose phone number I have memorized is my wife Camille's. She was out catching waves in the surf in front of me. I knew that if I hadn't gotten us out of this predicament by the time she got out of the water, I was gonna be in trouble!

To make a long story short, it took me over an hour to get to a buddie's house, bum a ride (in my wetsuit) back to my house, grab my spare keys and get back to the beach. By the time we arrived at my SUV, Camille was out of the water and starting to get very cold! (Thank God for the warm shower at the beach bathrooms!) So, Camille had a real surf session - Jeremy completely dorked out!

What lesson could I possibly glean from this (other than the fact that it's a good thing that I don't use drugs - I'd be really stupid)? Well, check it out. I want to make it clear here that what I am about to share, I haven't asked the other person for permission to do so yet. I will keep this completely anonymous and try to respect their privacy. I'm pretty sure they will be OK with this.

Yesterday I received a message from a friend whom I hadn't spoken to in many years. To say that they are going through a tough time right now is the understatement of the year. Like I said, I'm not going to share any details save that it was clear that God was behind the fact that they contacted me in the first place. I have had the opportunity in the past couple of days now to encourage them and bless them and show them God's love in a way that has blessed Camille and I just as much as it has them. Today, as my surf session was crumbling before my eyes, all I could think about was how stoked I was to be able to be used by God to help someone who is hurting. Normally, I would have been pretty ticked. At myself. At my broken leash. At my stupid car keys that were locked safely inside my car. At the waves that looked fun on which I would not be surfing. You get the picture. But today...today I could actually feel the smile on my face starting from deep inside my soul. It was as if I had this nuclear reactor of joy going on inside of me and no amount of 'bummers' could kill my stoke.

It got me thinking about just how much lower on the 'important scale' self-indulgent things like...well like my favorite pass-time...are than loving each other. I missed some waves today. Ten years from now, will I care? Not a chance. Ten years from now, will I still have a friend who knows that they can lean on me when times are hard? Absolutely! Would I miss more good waves to let someone else know that they are loved? Every single time. There is stoke and then there is STOKE. The kind of stoke that comes from being Christ's arms of love for someone else simply cannot be duplicated. No wave in the world can compare to the joy that is found in sharing God's love.

I will always be a surf bum. But I have a feeling that as I grow in Christ, I will start to love surfing more for what it is teaching me about God, astrophysics and the Universe in General than for the simple act of riding waves. There's a reason that Love is the key ingredient in what Jesus calls the two greatest commandments. Love God. Love your neighbor. Everything else hinges on these. I am stoked right now. And not because of surfing, for once. Because of Love.

Good ole' Grandpa Speer

2008-12-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

As I was thinking about yesterday's post, still feeling the same sense of urgency but wanting to lighten things up a bit, my thoughts, and ultimately my smiles, fell on one of my heroes. Man, this guy was...well, at one point in my life, besides my parents, he was just about everything to me. What a man. I can't even think about him without laughing - his zest for life was so contagious that it still motivates me 23 1/2 years after his death. He was the most excited, busy, passionate, hectic, compassionate, whirlwind of a man that anyone who knew him had ever seen. Sometimes it made your head spin (in a good way) just to be around him. The only thing he loved more than his family and friends was his God. He had a burden for those who didn't know Jesus that ran deeper than anyone I've ever seen, heard of, or even read about. His name was Donald Speer and he was my grandpa.

Don Speer loved to ski. That's pretty much the understatement of the century. He felt the same way about skiing that I do about surfing. He was a hardcore addict. I really think he believed that next to Salvation and family, skiing was the greatest gift that God ever blessed us with. And he wanted to make everyone a skier! As each new grandchild was added to his ever-growing family, he would take an old pair of skis, cut the tails off of them so that they were only about a foot-and-a-half long, mount tiny little bindings on them and then wait for the new baby to learn to walk so that he could strap those puppies on their feet and get them out on the slopes! I'm not kidding - I think most of the kids in my extended family learned to ski before they could even carry on an intelligent conversation!

Whether or not we actually wanted to ski didn't really make a difference to Grandpa Speer. Skiing was just one of those facts of life, like food or sleep, of which the human body simply could not be deprived. Luckily for him, we all turned into ski bums! But it wasn't just us. Grandpa actually sold skis in his free time and it was his mission to turn everyone around him into a skier and then sell them a pair of skis! And what a salesman he was. He had never heard of the term 'soft sell'. Only communists, satanists and criminals didn't want to ski, according to Don Speer. If you didn't want to be a skier, you were basically creating a rift in the time-space continuum and the Universe would disown you. I don't think I ever witnessed him not making a sale!

The great thing was that the passion that he had for skiing extended to every other facet of his life. He loved like no one I've ever known. Just as every single day on the slopes was "The best it's ever been!" (one of his trademark sayings), so was each one of his grandchildren his 'favorite', and each one of his friends his 'closest'. He had a heart so big that it literally had room for everyone to be #1. None of us ever doubted that we were his favorite. We knew that all of the rest of us were his favorite as well, and because of the miracle that was Don Speer, we were all OK with that. He worked hard, he played hard and he loved hardest of all.

Why did my Grandpa Speer come to mind as my thoughts drifted toward yesterday's post? Well, Don Speer understood something better anyone I've ever seen. He knew that time is short. The passion that he had for his family was equally directed onto those who didn't know Jesus personally. He was a major proponent of the 'hard sale', remember? That wasn't just when it came to selling skis. You see, he had something burning inside of him that never let him rest. He felt genuine anguish all of the time for those who wouldn't be coming to Heaven with him.

Check it out - of the countless days and years of my young life that I spent on the slopes with Grandpa, I very rarely got a chance to ride up the chairlift with him. You see, each time we would get to the bottom of a run, he would 'conveniently' end up the odd-man-out and have to go into the 'singles' line and ride up the chair with a stranger. "You guys ride together!" He would say, "I'll just go single." Man, it makes me smile just thinking of this. Those people who ended up with Don Speer on the chairlift never had a clue what they had in store for them! You see - Don had made it a goal to tell everyone he met about Jesus. He was truly a 'fisher of men'. He purposely rode single on the chairlift so that he could cast his net and bring more people into the Kingdom of God. And he was a very good fisherman. At the top of the chairlift, people would either be skiing off as fast as they could to get away from him, or be sitting in a heap of tears confessing their need for Jesus. He didn't care if he looked like a fool. He didn't mind offending people. He truly understood that if they didn't have Jesus, they were going to Hell, and that thought literally burned a hole through his psyche. It consumed every minute of his waking life. The chairlift was only the beginning. If you met him at the coffee shop, the gas station, the movie theater - it didn't matter where - you were going to hear about Jesus. Period.

Even at his funeral, many people came to know Jesus Christ. It was sort of an exclamation mark on a life that burned through this world like a shooting star. I pray every day that God will give me some of Grandpa Speer's passion. He didn't care if he had just met you - you were a child of God and if you didn't know that, you needed to. I am 38 years old and I have still to witness such passion. Friends, time is short. Donald Speer knew that, and it changed the way he lived his life. Ultimately, he died because of his passion for others. He wouldn't have had it any other way. I can only hope that one day you and I can say the same thing.

Time is short...

2008-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving weekend is over and we all have a chance to catch our breath (and loosen our belts!). Why is it that the general consensus is that we all get a free pass on the sin of gluttony for the Holidays? My pastor said something at church yesterday that really applies here. He said that he cringes when he hears people say that they know what they are doing or are about to do is wrong, but they are willing to live with the consequences. You see, the consequences are always MUCH more than we bargain for. We think we're pretty smart and we've done the math and have come to an intelligent conclusion that we can live with the consequences. 1+1=2 right? Yeah, try and tell THAT to my stomach as I lay awake sweating garlic and unable to sleep because of that pizza I just HAD to have at 11:30 PM after a huge dinner AND dessert. (This is all theoretical, of course.)

In all seriousness, I truly wish that a bit of gluttony here and there was the only sin for whose consequences I've paid throughout the years. Pastor Jason is correct. We never do a very good job of estimating the consequences. Looking back, the bit of fun we may have had by taking the 'wrong road' is always overwhelmingly swallowed by regret and hardship brought about by consequences that we didn't even see coming. Sometimes it's just enough to make you mad at yourself and swear that you'll never do that again (as my friend Sean so eloquently stated on facebook recently, 'Sean is wondering what he did to Patron that makes her treat him this way...'), and sometimes the consequences are life-changing.

Where am I going with all of this? Well, I like to keep this blog somewhat light-hearted. Not too preachy, you know? I want you to actually want to read it! But sometimes you have something that weighs so heavily on you that just have to get a little serious. This is one of those times. If you read my blog, you know that I am a Christian. That means, simply, I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that He created me, He loves me, He died to save me from sin and I will one day meet Him face-to-face and spend eternity with Him. If you don't know Jesus like I do, I welcome your questions and comments. There's no one I'd rather talk about. What does that have to do with consequences and sin and all that? Well, here goes. I promise that tomorrow I'll get back to lighter fare, but this just has to be said.

I've been doing a lot of reading and soul-searching lately. It seems that God has allowed really hard things to be put into my life and the lives of many of those I love lately. The funny thing is, that without exception those same people, while at first having a bit of trouble coming to terms with what is going on, have all realised that God is using their circumstances to get their attention and bring them closer to Him. And the neat thing is that a common theme is starting to surface. Quite simply, Jesus is trying to tell us that HE IS COMING BACK SOON. He is getting His troops ready for a final push and He is willing to do anything to get our eyes focused on Him.

I could go on for an hour listing people who I love who are going through some of the hardest things in their life right now and who have turned their eyes back to the Source of their strength. God is getting us ready and focused to do some unspeakably awesome things for His Kingdom. In my case, it took a faulty heart valve and the possibility of imminent open-heart-surgery to jerk me back to attention. Believe me, my eyes are now on Him! I am still believing for a miracle, but I am SO thankful for my tough situation that has brought me back to the place where I need to be with my Creator.

So, what about sin and consequences? We all have friends and loved ones (maybe even yourself) who don't know Jesus. Some of the reading that I have been doing lately has really woken me up the the fact that the consequence of sin is death. Make that Death. With a capital 'D'. Maybe you are like me and have sort of put Hell on the backburner in your mind. It's a place of torment for Satan and his fallen angels, right? Hell for humans will just be separation from God, right? Wrong. Hell will most certainly be a place of torment for the Devil one day. But it is also a physical reality for every human who dies without making Jesus their Savior. It is a place that God never intended humans to end up. It's reality is too horrible to even imagine. But God's Word is very clear that God cannot abide the presence of sin, and unless we have our sins washed clean through accepting Jesus' free gift of forgiveness, we will have to spend eternity in Hell being punished right alongside sin and Satan.

Come on, Jeremy, lighten up already, right? Friends, this is just too urgent, too important to hold back. You see, I truly believe that Jesus is telling us that His return is coming very soon. That means that we don't have a lot of time left to help keep our friends and loved ones from suffering eternal consequences for sin. I know that some of you probably want to click on eBay or Amazon on your favorites list right now and forget about that nutty dude who just turned an interesting blog into a downer. Before you do, ask yourself if you are willing to take the gamble that I am just a whacko and that Hell is just a story to scare people into church and that if it does exist, 'good' people won't possibly be there. Are you willing to bet on the fact that Christ hasn't come back for the last two thousand years so He'll probably wait a couple hundred more? Are you so sure that tomorrow won't be your last day on Earth?

For those of you who know Jesus, are you willing to bet that you have plenty of time to kill before you need to get really serious with your family about the importance of knowing Christ? Are you willing to risk them spending eternity in everlasting torment? Sin sucks, as do the consequences. But thankfully, there is a way out. John 3:16 says that God loved the World so much that he sent his only Son Jesus to die for us (for our sins) so that whoever believes in Him will never perish but have everlasting Life. We get a free pass! I have mine. Do you have yours? Do your friends and family memebers have theirs? Time is short. Very short. God is doing amazing things around the world right now that haven't been seen since the time Jesus physically walked this Earth. He is getting us ready for His return. I long for that day and I want to bring as many others with me as I can! We'll have all the time in the world to relax when we get to Heaven. For now, we don't have a second to spare.

Practice...

2008-11-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that I was preaching to myself on yesterday's post. I've known for about a week that I need to make amends with one of my friends. I saw him out in the water a couple of days ago, and we both just sort of ignored each other. I knew then that I should paddle over to him and say 'hi' and work things out. It just didn't seem like the 'right time'...

When I got out of the water today, he was standing in the parking lot with a bunch of my other friends just checking out the crowded surf. Right away I knew that now was my chance to 'practice what I preach'. I said hi to a couple of the guys and Pat (the friend in question) was standing with his back to me. I went up to him, put my hand on his shoulder, smiled and said 'Pat, are you still mad at me?', sort of jokingly. He looked at me and smiled and told me he was never really mad at me. We talked a bit and within about 30 seconds, things were back to normal between us.

It's funny how easy that was but how much weight fell off my shoulders from just this simple act of taking the initiative to do the right thing right now. Like I said yesterday - let's keep short accounts!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and blessings on you and your families.

Surfing Lessons - #2

2008-11-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

The surf was great today. Well, it was huge and a little scary, but I'm weird and huge and scary is sorta to my liking. Anyway, I'm totally surfed-out right now from catching some of the biggest waves of the winter so far. But yesterday...

Yesterday was one of those days where it looked like everything was lined-up to give us super fun surf. Camille and I got up, did our morning breakfast thing, and drove to the beach to check it. The last few days before had been going off (one of them made it into this blog), and we were stoked for the possibility of another great session. We got to the beach and the tide was still really high. The swell was there, the wind was offshore, but there was just too much water and the waves were mushy and barely breaking. No problem, we decided to just go home and get some chores done and come back in a few hours when the tide would be lower.

Camille had to work in the evening, so later on, I drove back to the beach to check it and tell her if she should come for a quick session before work or just chill. I got there and things were looking better. There were several people out in the water and it looked like they were getting some good waves. Not perfect, certainly not as good as the past few days, but definitely do-able. I called Camille and told her that I would probably paddle-out and where I would be. She decided that she really didn't have enough time before work and told me to have fun.

Now began a ritual that many surfers know well. I call it the 'Let's just check it for a couple more minutes' syndrome. It happens when things aren't perfect, but there are some waves to catch. Where I live, there are about four surf spots visible from the parking lot, so part of this ritual often includes hem-hawing about where the best place to paddle-out would be. Well, my 'couple more minutes' quickly turned into about 45 minutes, during which time I watched several surfers get several decent waves. Not epic, but fun nonetheless. I finally made up my mind to put on my wetsuit and head out.

Wouldn't you know it. As soon as I got out of my SUV, opened the back door and reached for my wetsuit, the weather turned. On the Oregon Coast, we like to say that if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes. Too true. Suddenly, the rain was coming down in sheets and the wind picked up and switched direction about 140-degrees so that it was blowing directly west, right onshore. Hard. That destroys the surf. If I had just paddled out when I drove up and saw a few decent waves, I could have gotten at least an hour of surf in before the weather ruined it.

As I drove home, dry and bummed, a thought occurred to me. How many times in my life have I waited for the 'perfect setup' do to something that I knew I should just do now? Whether that 'something' is something hard or easy, something uncomfortable or comforting, something I'm glad to do or something I know I'll do begrudgingly - it makes no difference. How many good opportunities have passed me by because I was waiting for the 'perfect moment'? Was I being a little too picky yesterday as a surfer? Yes. Am I bummed that my finicky attitude cost me a surf session? You bet! What other, infinitely more important things may I have missed simply because I told myself that later would be better?

How about you? Is there someone you need to say 'I love you' to? Someone with whom you need to make amends? Is there a burden on your heart for something and you have been telling yourself that you will get to it tomorrow? All I missed out on yesterday was about an hour or so of surfing. But how many really important things in life have slipped through my fingers because I didn't think that the 'time was right' for them? I don't want to miss any more surf sessions. I don't want to neglect any more friendships. I don't want to keep others upset with me. I don't want anyone else to wonder if they are loved or cared about. I don't want to keep God waiting to do more great stuff in my life.

The 'perfect time' is now, friends. Clear the slate. If you die tomorrow, will you leave anyone 'hanging'? I'll start - I love you. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. If you are reading this, then I promise you that there is at least one person in this world who loves you. Me. If you think that I may be the only one who loves you, please leave a comment and I will personally get in touch with you and introduce you to a whole bunch of people who love you as well. Life is short. Like my father says - let's keep short accounts.

New heavens and earth?

2008-11-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

Like many of you I'm sure, I've always been a little unnerved when the Bible starts talking about a 'New Heaven' and 'New Earth'. It seems to me that our Creator went to quite a bit of trouble to make this beautiful planet on which we reside as wonderful as it is. Why would He want to trash it someday? And that 'New Heaven' bit - will grandpa and grandma have to pack up their stuff and move to a different 'heaven' after just settling in to the current one? Seems a little redundant!

Ok, before you start labelling me a heretic, I realize that the Bible is speaking partly of the spiritual and partly of the physical when it refers to our future. But still, what will all of this look like? I am particularly nervous about the 'and there was no more sea' part. How am I gonna surf with no sea? How could that possibly be heaven?

Well, as I've said before, I truly believe that our Creator set the Universe in order according to hard and fast laws, both physical and spiritual. Sometimes we 'churchgoers' tend to forget that the laws of physics are just as binding on our Universe as spiritual laws. We like to label anything that God does as 'spiritual' or 'other-worldly' or 'supernatural'. I ask this question: Why would the Creator orchestrate all of Creation according to the laws of physics, only to throw out all of those laws to accomodate our finite theology?

Stay with me. How many cartoons have you seen where people in heaven are floating around on clouds with wings and harps? Where in the Bible do we get THIS picture? The Bible is actually quite clear heaven is a physical place where we will dwell in physical bodies (see 1 COR 15:35-58). Look up in the night sky. How many stars do you see? How many planets do you think orbit those stars? Why would all of that be out there if God's plan for us was to turn us into ethereal spirits who spend our days playing Handel's 'Messiah' on our harps?

So here's the deal. I read something really cool today. Astronomers at the Carnegie Institute have noticed something pretty amazing in the dusty disk surrounding HR 4796A, an eight-million year-old star in the constellation Centaurus. They used the Hubble telescope's Near-Infrared Multi-Object Spectrometer to analyze the light that is coming from this disk. They found that it is red, and not just for any old reason. You see, after careful analysis, they determined that the red hue is due to large organic carbon molecules called tholins. The analysis ruled out other causes of the red light, such as iron oxide. Why is this important? Because scientists are pretty sure that organic molecules were instrumental in kick-starting life as we know it on little ole' planet Earth.

You see, this disk of dust surrounding a star in the Centaurus constellation is in the process of forming planets. Eventually there will be real planets orbiting this distant sun, just like our solar system. The presence of organic molecules at this time of planetary formation means that these building-blocks of Life could be scattered on any planets that will orbit this star, paving the way for Life later on.

Real physics, folks! Planetary formation in action. Cool if you're a science geek, right? Actually, you don't have to wear a pocket-protecter to find the intrigue here. Let's go back to the 'new heaven and new earth' bit. We know that our Creator set the Universe to abide by certain laws. What is cool here is that we get to see a living example of the laws of physics working hand-in-hand with spiritual laws. God's word is telling us that we will one day inhabit a new earth. Scientists are telling us that they are witnessing potential new earths being created as we speak! Is the hair starting to stand up on the back of your arms yet? Physical science is once again backing up the spiritual truths contained in God's Word. Excuse me, but this is exciting stuff - and I'm a surf-bum, not an astrophysicist or a theologian!

I don't have to be anxious about what the 'new earth' will be like. It seems that God is already busy preparing for that. And just think of the size of the Universe. Someone who is so big with so much creative energy that He could have made all of that is surely not constrained by Man's image of what a new earth will look like. There may be 100 billion new earths, for all we know. It boggles the mind to think of what may be out there, awaiting our discovery. I truly believe that Heaven is a physical place, and the more I think about it, the more I am coming to feel that Heaven is physical places. The spiritual reality about heaven is that God Himself will be there with us physically. We will be able to see Him face-to-face! The what and the where are only details compared to that!

So, in light of all of this, this surf-bum isn't too worried that he may have to shelve his surfboards in heaven. You see, I've learned that if we trust our Creator, he gives us the desires of our hearts. He's probably the One who put those desires there in the first place! So, MY new earth will be mostly ocean, with a few small continents and islands centered around the equatorial zone basking in the warmth of the local sun. The water will be warm and constant storms hundreds of miles offshore will provide swell that will collide perfectly with beautiful reefs, beaches and headlands to make tasty waves every day. Or, God could put a special place in my heart for shuffleboard. Whatever the case, heaven will be real and it's gonna rock!

P.S. - You can read more about planet formation and the Universe in general on the Universe Today website. Thanks to Nicholos Wethington for the article that inspired this blog!

Surfing Lessons - #1

2008-11-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

I got dropped-in on today. Big time. The surf was pumping. It was sunny and the wind was offshore - perfect. The waves were well overhead and super clean. Pretty much what you picture as a surfer when you close your eyes and think of fall. And it seems that all of the greater Portland metropolitan area was as stoked to be in the water as were Camille and I.

What does 'got dropped in on' mean, you're thinking? Well, it's a surfing term for when one person is already up and catching or riding a wave and another person paddles into the wave rignt in front of them. Although usually not intentional, it is quite a breach in etiquette and can be very dangerous. Not 'dropping in' on another surfer is part of Surfing 101. Probably more fights have been started over 'dropping in' than over anything else in the water. A surfer coming full speed at someone who is just dropping into a wave has the potential to severly injure both the other surfer and him/herself. Furthermore, even if a collision does not ensue, boards and leashes can get tangled and both surfers can become an entwined mass of humanity being tossed around in the whitewater like ragdolls. Surfboards can get broken and egos bruised (not to mention the potential for drowning). Looking before you paddle into a wave is just a hard and fast surfing rule.

So there I was, on a particularly tasty left-hander. I was just setting up for a killer backside snap off the lip when a Portlander paddled in right in front of me without looking. Now, dropping in on someone is bad enough, but dropping in on a local when you are a non-local basically violates several key laws that keep the time-space continuum in balance. It's sort of like Larry the Cable Guy singing the National Anthem in a bikini - there's just certain things that the Universe will not tolerate. But a funny thing happened next...

As I saw that this dude was about to snake me I instantly thought, of all things, about...my blog!

Did I mention that it was a beautiful day and that the waves were great? Maybe it was the whole scene of surfing bliss, maybe it was something in my pre-surf coffee...or maybe (this is what I am hoping), maybe I am actually starting to learn something from this abstract process of airing out my brain to the world. Seriously, I watched this guy drop in right in front of me and my first thought was, "If I get mad right now, I will be a total hypocrite and have to delete my entire blog entry from yesterday." So, instead of yelling and letting him know that I was about to perform a docking procedure with his backside, I just stalled a little and settled into the pocket of the wave.

Two things happened right away. First, the wave started to mush out a little and it just so happened that where I was standing, right in the pocket in front of the whitewater, became the only real place that you could be and still continue on down the line for the rest of the wave. Second, the he looked back and realized, for the first time, that he had just dropped-in on me. With a look of surprise on his face, he gave his board a couple of pumps, got some speed and kicked-out over the back side of the wave and out of my way. I stayed in the pocket and got two or three more good turns out of the wave. All-in-all, a pretty good wave!

As I kicked out of the wave, before I even started to paddle back out, I could see him waving at me and gesturing that he was sorry. I guess he has surfed with me several times and he knows that I am a local surfer out here. As I paddled closer to him, he was all apologies. He was probably expecting to get cussed at or told to go back to Portland. But you see, what he didn't realize was that, not only do I generally not make a habit out of cussing at people, but that what was really on my mind at that moment was the subject of yesterday's blog entry: love. Love doesn't hold other people's mistakes against them. Love isn't upset that someone may have ruined it's wave. Love knows that there will always be more waves. Love has learned that in light of Eternity, missing one wave (that I didn't even miss - remember?) is a small price to pay for making someone else's day.

I think he was pretty surprised when I paddled up to him and with a big smile, said simply, "No worries, bro. It's way too nice of a day to get amped-up about much of anything, wouldn't you say?"

I could almost physically feel the relief sweep over him! He looked back at me with a big smile and said, "Dude, I think I did the same exact thing to you the last time I was out here. Sorry, man!"

I told him that it was all good and we chatted for a bit about the great weather and fun waves. I paddled off after that to catch another wave and both of us had our level of stoke go through the roof.

What does all of this have to do with God, astrophysics and the Universe in general? Well, as I mentioned in my profile, God seems to be using my favorite passtime to teach me lessons about the Universe. I've stated before that I firmly believe that our Creator has set the Universe in order according to both physical and spiritual laws. Today's lesson is a continuation of what seems to be becoming a common theme in the Universe Creator's lesson plan for myself and some of those who are closest to me. Just as there are undisputible physical laws such as Newton's Third Law of Motion, there are also spiritual laws that hold the Universe in equal sway. The greatest of all of these laws, my friends, is Love. I think that what I am beginning to learn is that love is the glue that God uses to hold this entire dynamic, living, chaotic, expanding, endless, beautiful Universe together. All of the other laws, both physical and spiritual, stand at attention and salute to their great General - Love.

1 Corinthians chapter 13 tells us that without love, nothing else we do matters. It says that everthing else will fade away, but love will endure forever. It compares love to some of the other great laws of the Universe, such as faith and hope, but says the love is the greatest. You see, without love, there is no 'rest of the Universe'. Love is what holds it all together. Without love, it all comes apart and can't possibly make any sense. Our Creator used love to weave the Universe together. Love is the first great Universal Law.

And I learned this, in part, by having someone accidentally drop-in on me on a sunny day in Seaside, Oregon.

Just so you know where I'm coming from...

2008-11-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Someone very close to me (you may be reading his blog, too) likes to say something that is both simple and profound: Love is the key.

Sounds simple, and it is. It is also very complex. The complexity lies in the fact that this simple statement can and should be an integral part of every facet of our lives. Since these are my own thoughts that I'm sharing, let me show you a little of what I mean.

I love God.
I love my wife.
I love my family and friends.
I love my country.
I love this messed-up human race.
I love unborn humans.
I love this beautiful place we call home - planet Earth.
I love the environment.
I love animals.
I love nature.
I love those who don't agree with my point of view.
I love those who have no intention of loving me back.
I love those who would persecute me for loving them.
I love the Peace that my Creator has put in my heart (in fact, it is that Peace that allows me to love a lot of these other things).
I love you.

That is just a tiny snapshot of how I am trying to let Love invade every crevice of my life. Do I love all of these things the same way? Of course not! Do I have to try REAL hard to love some of them? You bet! I am just beginning to realize just how much your quality of life is changed when you start to view the world through the eyes of love. The Word of God has a LOT to say about love, but for me it can be simplified into three little words: God is love. I want to know God as closely and fully as is humanly possible. If I want to know Him, I have to know love. Trust me, I am at the beginning of a long journey where learning about love is concerned. The more I understand, the more I know my Creator, the happier I am.

I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. Sometimes I can come off as being a bit abrasive. Let me assure you, I am humbled that you would take the time to read my thoughts and participate in what I hope to be a learning journey that takes us all closer to knowing our Creator and what his plans are for us. If I occasionally get on the soapbox or ruffle your feathers a little, please come back to this starting point and realize that I love you. Even if I act like a jerk sometimes.

Love is the key.

Hello out there...

2008-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

My name is Jeremy and I have a lot of stuff swimming through my head. Not that any of it is of interest to any of my sane friends, mind you. But, in the event that you are as nutty as I, my ramblings my at least be of value to you as comic relief. Anyway, I have decided to enter the world of web blogging more as a way to organize my thoughts than anything else. Please feel free to help.

Just for the record, I belive in just a few things and my belief in them is unshakable:
1. There is a Creator.
2. He IS Love.
3. He set the Universe into motion using laws both physical and Divine and those laws make perfect sense if we look at them with His mind.
4. He loves us, saves us and wants to give us His mind to be able to understand our place in His Universe.
5. Our job is to love Him back and love each other. Simple as that.
6. Once again - God is Love.

These beliefs of mine are either the most simple, freeing truths in the Universe, or they are utter foolishness. The purpose of this blog will be to explore these beliefs in detail and in doing so better understand our Creator and our place in the Universe. One thing is for sure - it won't be boring!

Jeremy