Happy Valentine's Day!

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. -John 3:16

My Pre-Valentine Valentine's

Most people mark February 14th with candy, flowers, and dinner out with their spouse or partner. Nothing wrong with that. But for our family it has always been preceded by the life celebrations of my Mom and our son, Casey the day before. February 13th is their special day, when God smiled. For Casey this is #23 (yikes, I'm getting old!) and for Mom, well you never ask a lady her age!

Both Casey and Mom have had a huge impact on my life. Besides the obvious in terms of their DNA/blood impact, they are fun to be around, engaging, challenging, know how to laugh, appreciate people, politics, culture, the arts, great books, and both are tenaciously loyal to their family, practice unconditional love and genuinely care about others and the world around them. They have made me a better son, husband and father. Trust me that's still a work in progress.

Today we celebrate their birth and thank God for smiling in their respective birth years on the 13th of February! Happy Birthday Casey and Mom. Much Love!

Grandpa MiIls' Step Stool

This little stool has been a vital part of our home for years. It has been repainted, recovered, and reinforced throughout the years. I think we've had it 24 of our soon to be 25 years of marriage. This weekend it began to sag in what appears to be beyond life-saving measures. Since my "Mr. Fix-It" skills are pretty much limited to painting and yard work I'm pretty sure it could be time to say goodbye to this old family friend. You say, "Monty, it's just a stool, let it go." I can't.

It's not about the stool, we've got a couple of nicer and sturdier stools. It's what the stool represents. You see a godly man who was everything you think a Grandfather should be built it from scratch. Teri's Grandpa Mills (affectionately known as Gramps) made this stool for us many, many years ago. Now there was a handy-man! He was a gentleman and a gentle man. I can close my eyes right now, smell his pipe and see him holding our son on his knee on the back porch of their home in northern Indiana. Both Grandpa and Grandma Mills have long sense gone to heaven. He went ahead of her to prepare the way. People of faith can look forward to heaven!

You can have our new LCD television. You could take my car, but don't you dare touch Gramp's step stool! There's a lot behind that old stool: Honest character; hard work; a man who survived the depression, raised two sons who served their country and went on to be godly husbands, fathers and men of profound faith; and someone who quietly contributed to society by helping others, serving through his church, voting, and genuinely caring about people. I miss that old gentleman, like I do my Papa.

The ailing stool points to something I don't want to lose. A simpler time when life was less complicated by technology, global warming, political and civil unrest, terrorism and complex lifestyles that seem to be flying at record speeds. That stool represents a back porch and a workshop where hands of love touched the lives around them. It speaks of unconditional love when some of us just made mistakes or exercised poor judgment. It reminds me of a time at Mom and Dad's old house on the lake when I saw that precious old man get as excited as his great-grandson (our son) who had just caught his first fish with his grandfather, my father-in-law and Gramps' oldest son.

I owe Gram and Gramps' so much. Because of them, my precious wife, God's gift came to be! I close my eyes and I can see both of our parents living out that same kind of love, character, honesty and faith before our children over these fast-flying years. I am indeed grateful and blessed because of them. I'm not going to get rid of that stool. I'll wait for my son, who has inherited Gramps and Dad Mills' "fix-it" DNA and trust that he can bring it back to life because one day it's going to be his.

So what are the step-stools in your life? Those little things that appear worthless to the world that remind you of a simpler time, people of their word, devotion to Christ and His church and unconditional love? Is it a picture, a frame, an old car, tools, a fishing rod, a sewing basket or chair? Don't get rid of it. It seems now more than ever we need to be reminded of these things so we may pass them on to future generations. Some of life's greatest treasures are as junk to the world.

Remember Union University in Your Prayers

Tuesday evening a band of fatal winter thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through several Southern states. Among the tornado victims was Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Union is Baptist college. Union's President, Dr. David Dockery was one of my seminary professor's when I attended Southern Seminary in Louisville. Dr. Dockery is one of the most humble, godly and authentic Christian leaders I know. He is also a gifted scholar. Close friends of ours have a son attending Union. He was on the lower level of a dorm underneath a mattress when it hit. He lost all his possessions and his car was totaled, but he escaped unharmed. Thank you Father for taking care of Drew! The devastation on the small West Tennessee campus was brutal. These pictures are from damage on the campus.

According to the AP: The university's main dormitory complex of 13 two-story apartment buildings was damaged beyond repair.
Some buildings collapsed, and others were missing walls and roofs. The complex parking lot was strewn with wrecked cars and small trucks, many flipped on their backs and other stacked in small piles here and there.
"I've never been through anything like that before — the noise. Your ears pop. It makes your skin kind of crawl. It's really creepy," said Andrew Norman, 20, who huddled with seven friends in the bathroom of a dorm room during the storm.
The college, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, has about 3,200 students, with 1,200 living on campus.

Amazingly no students were killed although the campus looks like a war zone. Again from the AP:
Danny Song bolted for cover as a tornado tore through the dormitory complex at Union University — then the ceiling came crashing down on top of a couch that was wedged against him. For the next hour and a half, he lay pinned in the rubble.
"I was in a fetal position," the 20-year-old junior recalled Wednesday. "I tried to lift up but I couldn't. I was thinking I would lose my legs. I couldn't feel them for a long time. I just felt really helpless."

Rescuers ultimately dug him out, along with 25 other Union students who were stuck behind jammed windows and the wreckage of walls, floors and furniture — damage wrought by the violent weather that swept across five states Tuesday.
The storm left more 50 people dead across the South. Remarkably, no one died here.
About 50 Union students were taken to a hospital, nine of them with injuries classified as serious, said Tim Ellsworth, the school's news director.

Though the small, private college was heavily damaged, school officials said students escaped life-threatening injury primarily because they quickly took shelter in dorm bathrooms and other interior spaces.

This isn't Union's first brush with twisters. Tornadoes damaged the campus in 2001 and 2002. A tornado struck downtown Jackson and killed 10 people in 2003. It's unclear whether or not students and professors will be able to resume classes and finish the semester. Imagine trying to come up with housing for this many students in a town of 60,000!

We need to pray for Union University and her leadership, faculty, students, parents and the 50 who were hospitalized with injuries. In addition, if you feel led please send a contribution to the school. As a private, Christian college, Union does not benefit from state support. The Board of Trustee has established a fund to receive recovery funds. Just mark your contribution "Tornado Relief" and make it payable to Union University. Send it to : Union University Disaster Relief Fund, 1050 Union University Drive, Jackson, TN 38305.

Ash Wednesday: Preparing for the Passion

Ash Wednesday (2/6) marks the beginning of the Lenten season. One of the oldest Christian holy observances. A time of fasting, sacrifice and reflection. It's a time to focus solely on our personal relationship with Jesus and to be reminded that without Him and His atoning sacrifice we are but dust! The lectionary Psalm reading for Ash Wednesday is from the 103rd. Read it, weep, reflect, confess, draw near with gratitude as we begin the journey heading toward the week of our Lord's Passion. May these 40 days bring all of us closer to Him and His will.

Psalm 103:8-14 (New American Standard Bible)

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows [b]our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Simple Lives?

I have a friend who doesn't own a cellphone. I've only met one other person who does not have one. No, my friend is not technologically or gadget illiterate. In fact, he often shows me more about the information highway on his Mac than I know. And while I'm no computer guru, I do alright in the tech world. I know, you're thinking he must be employed in a profession that doesn't need or promote the use of cell phones. Actually, he's an investment or wealth manager and I'm betting he's the only one in his profession that doesn't have one! It doesn't seem to have affected his business either. His clients are loyal and are quite comfortable referring his services to others. I've tried so many times to talk him into buying a cell phone. Not for chatting, or business, but in the case of an emergency while traveling. I've even suggested he just buy a pre-paid cell phone and put it in his glove box to use when the need arises. Nope, nothing doing, he won't budge.

Recently I made the decision to quit using my cell phone while driving without a hands-free headset or Bluetooth. I just got to thinking that boasting about multi-tasking while driving makes about as much sense as bragging about your ability to woof down 20 hot dogs in one of those ridiculous food eating contests. It's just not smart. Who among us hasn't come up on a car in the middle lane of the Interstate going below the speed limit, holding up traffic, with someone behind the wheel chatting on their cell phone and completely oblivious to traffic behind them? "I don't do that," I smugly think to myself with the arrogance of an uptight Pharisee. My smug bubble was punctured last night. A local television reporter was promoting his upcoming story about the dangers of texting while driving. And I was so comfortable when it was the sin of someone else. Ouch! Guilty!

What's so important that it can't wait until I arrive at my destination, or pull over to return a text message? Nothing! I'm not with NASA and on call for falling satellites. I'm not a heart surgeon, although I have slept in a Holdiay Inn Express before. There is nothing I receive from my text buddies that warrants an immediate response. Even the serious family and life issues I deal with as a pastor can wait until I'm not driving. So, as of today, no more texting while driving. It's flat out dangerous and it presumes an arrogance, or false confidence about my own driving skills, therefore, putting others at great risk!

So where's this leading? What has become of us to make us think we're so important we put others in danger? What's so important that it demands a "within the minute" response from us? Nothing! I'm all for technology but it has become so intrusive and even rude. Consider the person at the adjacent table in a restaurant who answers their cell with the obnoxious ring tone then proceeds to have a conversation while there his fellow dining companions put conversation on hold because of him. I don't know of one pastor or company meeting that hasn't been interrupted by a ringing cell phone at some point. And I've written before about the number of people talking on their cell phone's in public restrooms before so I won't go there. And I haven't even mentioned the amount of time we've added to the workday with email. Or the amount of work that is left for another day, or uncompleted because reading and responding to email ate up our time. And so much of our email is really unimportant.

Our tech savvy, need to be "in the know" world is crowding out any chance we have to introduce or maintain the discipline of simplicity. Years ago, Richard Swenson, M.D., wrote a best-seller entitled, "Margin" (it was updated and re-released in 2004 by NavPress) which challenged the "busy" American lifestyle. Swenson, a futurist was way ahead of his time in seeing the need for us to increase the "margin" in our lives. His point, margin is a good thing and most of us are so busy filling up the margins of our lives that we don't see it until we have completely filled the page with non-stop activity. Our obsession and compulsion with high-tech gadgety has only created an insatiable appetite for minds, mouths and fingers that never stop talking, typing and thinking. We can't turn it off! We won't turn it off! To do so would somehow suggest we are weak, out of touch and disconnected. God forbid that any of us would unplug!

We would do well to listen to the mystics and heed the calls of Richard Foster, Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa, Dallas Willard, Kierkegaard and others who stress the value of simplicity. Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian wrote of the significant connection in seeking the Kingdom of God between our doing and ceasing: Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do. Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing, becoming nothing before God, learn to keep silent; in this silence is the beginning, which is, first to seek God's Kingdom.

Not long ago I unintentionally left my cell phone at home for the entire day. I have to admit. At first I felt like you do when you forget your wallet, or purse. But throughout the day I began to have a great sense of peace almost as one who had been freed from chains. It was very liberating. I was able to focus on people and really give them my undivided attention. I enjoyed great moments of silence. Emptying my mind of busyness and non-stop buzzing, and filling it with meditations about God and absolute stillness. I thought I learned from that experience, but technology and the "go-go" lifestyle sucked me back in within a few weeks. Not anymore. I am going to fast from my cell phone and computer at least one day a week. Silence and simplicity, quite a paradox for 21st Century travelers. "Be still and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10

A Tragedy On Earth, A Song for Heaven

Life is precious and short! When you're a child or teen it seems as though it will never end, but for the rest of us it's flying at an incredible pace. And as it flies we can lose track of precious people on the journey. Throughout our life journey God graces us with relationships and very special people. Even though time, geography and our respective journey's take different roads these relationships and people can leave indelible marks on our lives.

Leslye Mason Robertson was one of those people. Leslye was killed last week near Frankfort, Kentucky where she lived. She was killed in a head-on collision with a semi-trailer. The driver has since been charged with DUI, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Leslye was only 41-years old. She leaves a husband and teenage daughter. Her funeral is today in Kentucky.

Many years ago we served with her and her parents, Bob and Judy during our first church staff position while in seminary. Her mother was on the search committee that took a chance on a young seminarian to lead their youth ministry. Leslye was always eager and willing to help with our youth ministry. She was a real trooper, someone you could count on as a leader. Her sense of humor, age and hands-on experience made her an ideal youth leader. During those years, people her age were either making the party scene, or trying to find a future mate. However, Leslye was more likely to be found helping on a youth retreat, mission trip, directing a children's musical, or serving the church in some capacity. We knew her before she married, but her passion for music and worship had only increased over the years. As I understand it, she was driving home from church choir practice when she was killed.

Her life mattered. She will be missed, especially by her husband, daughter, parents, family and community. The tragic circumstances surrounding her death were senseless. We mourn with those who mourn. We pray Paul's words of comfort in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 for the family and all who mourn Leslye's death. We must trust the Father and lean on the hope we have in Him declared by the prophet in a very dark time long ago (Lamentations 3:21-23). And we trust God's Word that describes His view of such tragic events to those who love and claim Him as Lord: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15)

If I know Leslye she is busy praising God and working with the children's choir in heaven. Rest sister in Christ, your earthly labors are over, rejoice in your rewards in the presence of the Father!