An Empty Lake

By now you've probably seen the incredible amateur video of the 92-year old Lake Delhi dam giving way to flood waters on Saturday in eastern Iowa. Imagine waking up in one of the 900 vacation homes on the lake and discovering there's no lake! All 9-miles of the lake washed downstream flooding more homes and businesses in its path. The lake drained faster than an AIG executive taking federal bailout funds. One day you are grilling out near your dock overlooking a serene lake and the next day your looking at a giant mud bowl.

The water is gone. Much like the proverbial genie out of the bottle you can't put it back. It's lost downstream. Residents are looking to FEMA, their governor and other forms of possible relief and aid. The loss is devastating for homeowners and the businesses that rely on the presence of a full lake during the busiest season. But what next? How do you recover from such a significant loss? How do you pick up the pieces? Where do you start?

Every day people wake up to washed out lives. An event, accident, tragedy, decision, or problem causes life-giving water to drain the lake of life. Sometimes it's due to events beyond our control, but many times it's the result of our decisions, or life choices. Regardless of the cause we are empty.

It takes time to refill, renew and replenish. The Lake Delhi community will begin the process of self-examination. They will question what happened and why. They will study, reflect, and develop a plan of attack to rebuild the dam and restore the lake. Or they could make the decision to leave it and not rebuild the dam. They will seek outside counsel and input from experts and engineers. Either way, it won't happen without a lot of discussion, study, consideration and planning.

When we have life-draining experiences it's tempting to react, or host a never-ending pity party. Wise are those who pause to critically reflect on what happened. They can begin to pray and consider possible solutions as they seek outside counsel from people who have the experience, background and expertise to help them. They will learn from the experience and they will rebuild.

Nope, we can't go back to the way it was, but we can begin again and emerge even stronger as a result of reflection, prayer, counsel, hard work and intentional thinking. We can let life-draining moments cripple us, or they can serve as launchpads for the future. Wisdom, character, grit, humility and gratitude are the byproducts of learning from life-draining moments. Hope emerges when the lake runs dry.

20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lamentations 3:20-24, ESV)

An Unnoticed But Serious Supreme Court Ruling

In late June the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling that will have a far-reaching, future impact on various religious clubs in academic settings. In a 5-4 majority the high court ruled that a Christian student group must accept gays and non-Christians as members if it wants to be officially recognized by a public university.

The case involved the University of California’s Hastings College of Law and the campus chapter of the Christian Legal Society. The law school has a non-discrimination policy that requires registered student organizations to accept any student as a member or potential leader. The Christian Legal Society forbids non-Christians and gays from leadership positions. The organization argued that if it followed the school’s policy, a student who doesn’t profess Christ, or believe in the Bible could lead its Christian Bible studies. It should be noted that registered student groups receive a small amount of funding from the school, which is funded by public tax dollars. Hint: the group should refuse any funds connected to taxpayers!

In her story on the ruling, reporter Adelle Banks notes that Justice Samuel Alito’s “harshly worded” dissent questioned the majority opinion, “saying it upholds a principle of no freedom of expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country’s institutions of higher learning." Banks continues, “He said the decision, which he hoped would be an ‘aberration,’ would be a ‘serious setback for freedom of expression this country: There are religious groups that cannot in good conscience agree in their bylaws that they will admit persons who do not share their faith, and for these groups, the consequence of an accept-all-comers policy is marginalization.'"

Nathan Diament, Public Policy Director for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America said the ruling is deeply troubling to those who value religious freedom: Today the Supreme Court’s majority has given state universities a green light and a roadmap to condition a religious group’s right on the state’s preferred beliefs.

Play this thing out and conceivably we could see churches and other non-profit organizations (civic and service clubs) being challenged on their membership policies and practices. Don’t believe me? Who would’ve ever thought a Christian organization on a university campus would be ordered by the highest court in the land to allow people who totally disagree with its purpose, nature and membership policies to join its membership?

Using the majority ruling’s logic, it would appear that it would be okay to approve a Supreme Court justice nominee who does not believe in the U.S. Constitution because shared beliefs in the ideals of an organization are not necessary for membership. Perhaps we’ve already, uh never mind better not go there! It would appear that tolerance should trump the purpose, nature, or beliefs of any organization. There are lots of organizations that discriminate in our country by the very nature of their organizational design, charters, bylaws, or statements of practice and belief. For example, what if a man wanted to join the Junior League, or the National Organization of Women in his city? How about a conservative Republican wanting to join the local Democratic Party? What if a person of Hispanic descent and member of Congress wanted to join the Congressional Black Caucus? You get the idea. This is not only absurd it is extreme. Think about it.

I have no respect for, or interest in the extreme ideals and beliefs proposed by the neo-Nazi movement. However, according to the First Amendment they have the right to assemble and meet. Why would I want to be part of something whose ideology I strongly oppose? I don’t need to join their ranks to prove a point. Nor do I need to challenge their beliefs in a court of law if they are not disobeying the law. I simply choose to be part of legal organizations, movements, and enterprises whose beliefs and values I can support and share. If I didn’t know better I would say there is a national agenda of conformity and mandated acceptance underway. Tolerance is one thing, but mandated universal acceptance of a particular belief for the sake of promoting one group at the exclusion of another is a dangerous slope!

Pray for You - Jaron and The Long Road to Love :: Official Video

I don't think this is what Luke had in mind when he recorded Jesus' command that we bless those who curse and pray for those who abuse us in Luke 6:28. Enjoy this funny new song on praying for others by the group, Jaron and the Long Road to Love.

Donald Miller on Toy Story 3

Author, story-teller and cultural observer Donald Miller recently wrote a three-part entry on the new movie, "Toy Story 3" for his blog. I really enjoyed the second part. Click the link below to read the 2nd part, or two read all three.

Toy Story 3: What We Can Learn From a Great Story Pt. 2 of 3

Happy 4th of July!

I've been fortunate enough to travel overseas a few times. I've left America's borders to study abroad, vacation and serve on mission teams. I know it's not possible, but every American needs to go overseas and experience a foreign culture to appreciate the freedoms we enjoy in America.

While I enjoy traveling and exploring other cultures one thing remains constant. Every time I return to America, I am humbled and overwhelmed. Despite her flaws, America is still an amazing country. I really do love my homeland. I am in awe of how God has blessed this great nation, but with great blessing comes great responsibility and we must always remember God's blessing and express our gratitude by continuing to bless other nations.

There's not a week that goes by that I don't see a veteran's license plate (Purple Heart, DAV, etc.), or run into a veteran wearing their ship's hat, or sporting a tat of their unit, etc. Every time I am reminded that the freedoms we enjoy have come at a great price. So many men and women have given their lives to preserve the freedoms we enjoy as a nation. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

As we celebrate July 4th and the vision of our founding fathers may God bless America so that we may bring Him glory and be a blessing to our world.