A Post About My Mom

What is the greatest gift you have ever been given?

This question came into my mind a couple weeks ago. For the Christian, the most glorious gift is indeed salvation. We were dead in sin and Christ has made us alive in God through his life, death and resurrection. But what is the greatest gift you have been given by another person after this?

The answer that keeps coming into my mind is the gift of reading. And the person who gave me this gift is my mom. Early on in my life I can remember her crying at the end of Charlotte’s Web as she read it to us. Not wanting to admit it though, she told her two boys that she had “something in her eye.” I can remember morning after morning her reading to us stories from the magazine Voice of the Martyr. She wanted us to know of the suffering that other Christians were going through around the world.

She had all of her children read on their own at least 30 minutes a day. She created a culture in our home of reading that has paid dividends in my life immensely. I am thankful for a mom that turned off the television, computer and video games and made us open up a good book.

Reading has not been an end in itself for me. It has changed who I am. The Bible has breathed life into my soul. John Piper’s books have helped me become a Christian Hedonist. C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia have carried me off to a far away, magical land. The biography of Bonhoeffer has inspired me to be a man of courage and the Word.

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said that you will be the same person you are ten years from now except for the books you read and people you meet. I think he was right and I have my mom to thank.

A Post About My Dad

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

This post is about my Dad. Throughout life every person needs examples of qualities to emulate. When I look at my Dad I want to approach life with the same attitude he has. I was on the receiving end of many conversations from my Dad. I remember him saying that I should guard choosing to have a bad attitude in the midst of hard circumstances. He didn’t only talk it. He lived it. I saw time and time again a man who would respond with a good attitude when everyone else in our family had chosen to be miserable.  He taught me that having a good attitude was a choice that I made.

My Dad continues to live out this example. This past week he and my mom organized and paid for a ski trip for our family. The first day out thick fog and snow blanketed the mountain. My Dad and I were making our third run of the day when he lost control and did a face plant into the snow. He also jacked up his shoulder, causing a third degree separation in it (the worst kind you can have). After making a trip to the hospital he found out that he would need a specialist to look at it and would most likely need surgery.

I don’t think anyone was looking more forward to this ski trip than he was. It was going to be two days of skiing with his kids; spending time together. His reaction was one of obvious disappointment, yet he did not allow it to ruin the trip. One of the first things he said was that the injury would allow him to spend more time with his wife. He played with his grandson and granddaughter and watched us ski. The disappointment was sharp and real and my Dad could have easily sulked on the couch in front of a television. He chose not t0.

My Dad has a quote from Chuck Swindoll in his office that captures the essence of who my he is. This is what I want to be like and I thank God for a flesh and bone example of it in my father.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.” 

 

It Doesn’t Matter

From Radical by David Platt:

The reality is that it doesn’t matter how many resources the church has. The church I lead could have all the man-made resources that one could imagine, but apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, such a church will do nothing of significance for the glory of God.

In fact, I believe the opposite is true. The church I lead could have the least gifted people, the least talented people, the fewest leaders, and the least money, and this church under the power of the Holy Spirit could still shake the nations for his glory. The reality is the church I lead can accomplish more during the next month in the power of God’s Spirit than we can in the next hundred years apart from his provision. His power is so superior to ours. Why doe we not desperately seek it?

A Good Cop

Last March I had noticed one of my partners had called into work sick two days in a row. I called him up to see how he was doing and got news that I was not expecting- he had a cyst in his brain and was needing brain surgery within the next few days. The surgery went well, the cyst was removed, yet following the surgery he experienced some seizures. Through a series of events that followed he reached the difficult decision that taking a medical retirement was the best route for him and his family.

During my first three years as a cop I worked with him as my partner in the northern city of our county. We had a great working relationship and had fun responding to all the types of calls that cops deal with. I remember responding with him to a suspicious vehicle parked in the middle of a dirt road late at night. The driver was intoxicated and fled from us on foot through a corn field. I saw Chad chase down our suspect and bear hug him as they fell to the ground. We were all smiles afterwards.

Not all cops are cut from the same cloth. Chad was proactive, hard working and had an ability to remember names that I envy. I trusted him to have my back as we went through doors and knew he would be right there if anything went sideways. I will miss him a lot but am thankful for the memories we had and for the privilege of the time I had to work the streets with him. This post is dedicated to a great cop that I will miss. Our friendship though will continue.

A Firm Covenant

“Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.” Nehemiah 9:38

I am too young to know if this has changed in our culture, but people today are scared of commitment. This is clearly reflected in the average age of when a man and woman first get married. Fifty years ago it was in the early twenties and today it is pushing thirty. Men would rather sit in front of video games than raise children. I have also seen it within Christendom too; those who are jittery about signing a commitment and becoming members of a church. There are even Christians who don’t see the point in regularly attending a church.

There is a weight  of New Testament scripture that would sink any rickety argument as to why a Christian should not actively participate in a church body. Now, try and convince the same person that they should sign a document affirming certain beliefs, and you may as well try and talk him or her into having a root canal without Novocain.

Such was not the case with Israel in Nehemiah 9.  The “because” in verse 38 refers to the previous 37 verses in which they recount the faithfulness of God despite their repeated sins. God was quick to forgive them and showed lavish grace and mercy. With renewed vigor to follow after God the leaders were willing to sign their names and make a covenant. It was a symbol of their pledge to remain faithful to God and follow after him.

A Christian should be committed to the local church, striving for its health and advancement. If Christ said that he would build his church, should we not value it just as highly as he did?

You Are Beautiful, My Darling

“How beautiful you are , my darling. How very beautiful!”  (Song of Solomon 1:15)

“You have captured my heart, my bride.” (4:9)

“Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” (2:14)

“How beautiful you are and how pleasant, my love, with such delights.” (7:6)

I am severely in love with you, Johanna.  Faithfully Yours, KW

An Affirmation of Remembrance

“We will not neglect the house of our God.” Nehemiah 10:39

This is an affirmation of remembrance. The men who made this commitment were real men. Men who had seen the collapse of their country because of sin. Men who had neglected their first duties and had forgotten their first love- God. Because of this neglect enemies came in, destroyed their cities and carried them off to foreign countries. These men had seen the horrific and destructive affects of their sin.

This affirmation was a commitment to begin following God again. To put him first and place him as the most important thing in their life. A real man is one who leads his family on mission to follow after Jesus. Jesus said that where your treasure is your heart will be also. A good barometer of ones’s heart is to ask what awakens its passions. Is it sports, cash, pornography, electronics or houses? A biblical (i.e., real) man does not neglect the welfare of his church.

I love simple, bold statements from men in the Bible about their heart declarations. Joshua did it when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Let us do the same.

Field Training (Part II)

In a previous post I talked about how a cop is made and began listing 5 categories in which a probationer is graded on each night during field training. This post continues with the last 5 categories.

6. Patrol Tactics- This area of law enforcement is one in which cops are too deficient in. I am grateful to have been trained in an agency that put a premium on teaching new cops sound, tactical skills. I can think of two cops that have taught me skills which may have saved my life, but I will never have known it. Patrol tactics is about not giving a person the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. It is about having cognitive, multi-tasking abilities that enable you to watch a driver on a traffic stop, listen to radio traffic in the background, ask questions of the driver, process the information the driver is giving, look at items inside the vehicle and watch the two people that just stepped outside of their house check out your traffic stop. This is such an enormous and critical area of copping. It needs to be done well.

7. Criminal Statutes and Ordinances, Procedural Criminal Law, and Courtroom Protocols- Law enforcement is similar to a chess game. The chess player who has a thorough understanding of the rules and can see many steps ahead of the game will ultimately be the winner. The better a cop knows the rules the better he can play the game. Many times it feels like a game as we work within the boundaries of judges who make case law. The rules are constantly changing.  Cops need to be aware of the elements of a crime that are written into state statute and obtain the evidence of those elements during case building, interviews and crime scene processing.

8. Information Processing and Report Writing- A lion’s share of law enforcement is taking information people give and putting it through the filter of truth. Two people will give their versions of what happened on a call and somewhere in between will lie the truth. Our job is to dig deep through specific questioning to find out what that truth is. Often times these interviews become like branches on an ever expanding tree. A simple assault may result in needing to get statements from 5 different people. Reports need to be detailed, accurate and devoid of the cops opinions. They need to obtain the elements of the crime for which the suspect is charged and paint an accurate picture of observations that were made by the cop.

9. Problem Solving and Decision Making- Being a cop means being a lawyer, psychologist and referee with a gun and a badge. People call 911 with messed up conflicts and are looking to the cop to provide a solution. Often times that solution may require multiple options or thinking outside the box. Some of these decisions must be made in seconds and others are made over the course of hours and days.

10. Traffic Enforcement and Crash Scene Management- This is where the law-abiding citizen has the most contact with law enforcement. Traffic stops require several of the above mentioned skills. Good cops will be able to legally expand the scope of a stop from a speeding ticket to a felony level arrest. Traffic stops take drunk drivers off the road, take felons with warrants to jail and solve open criminal cases. I stopped a suspicious vehicle one night that resulted in a burglary being solved in a jurisdiction 20 miles from me. Again, this skill is developed through training and experience. Crash Scene Management involves directing traffic, providing medical care to injured people, obtaining driver’s licenses and insurance information, taking pictures of the scene, getting witness statements, making landing zones for air ambulances and being a calm and controlled voice in the midst of chaos.

 These ten areas hopefully give the reader a more insightful look into the world of law enforcement. Whenever you may see a cop on a traffic stop, sitting at a gas station drinking coffee or driving by you at 100 miles per hour; there are many more things going on than meets the eye.

Source Code

DWI calls are some of the most complicated, time-sucking reports cops will handle. There is more paperwork for arresting someone on a misdemeanor DWI then arresting someone for felony strangulation or even murder. Defense lawyers know they can’t beat their client’s charges based on the merits of the case. They have resorted to technical, shenanigan moves. Below is a rare ruling from a judge that grasped the reality of this all and did not allow the world of rulings, lawyers and insanity to affect on him. His summary is punctuated with moments of killer humor if the reader is willing to wade through the legal history.

For the reader fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the issue, a Reader’s Digest summary of the underlying situation is in order.

In Minnesota it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of over .08. A violation has both civil and criminal consequences.

With the appropriate legal predicates (which are not an issue here) the police can test the BAC by blood, urine or the driver’s breath. In the overwhelming percentage of cases the breath test is used (including the case at bar). This is accomplished by taking the driver to a local police station and having the driver give a breath sample in a machine known as an Intoxilyzer. This machine is operated by a computer program known as a “source code.” The machine’s accuracy can be authoritatively tested by use of a known alcohol sample. The use of the machine is authorized by state law and State designates. The model to be used and contracts for or otherwise specifies the machine’s operating characteristics.

In recent months and years, in both implied consent and criminal matters, drivers have moved pretrial for disclosure by the State of the above-mentioned source code.

The State has responded in  two ways. Firstly, that the source code is irrelevant because the accuracy of the machine can be proven (or disproven if in fact the source code is out of kilter) by a test of the machine by a known alcohol sample.

Secondly, that the State does not possess the source code and cannot obtain it. The manufacturer claims it is proprietary information and will not disclose it to the State (or anyone else).

These issues by fits and starts lurched their way to our Supreme Court and this motion comes about as the result of that Court’s most recent pronouncement cited above.

Firstly, the Court decided that if a party files an elaborate and expensive enough supporting affidavit (which all litigants now have submitted), need for the source code has been shown. One supposes this will be quibbled with in some law review articles but as a matter of fact, it doesn’t matter. This is because the States position is that if it had the source code it would disclose if faster than a speeding bullet. The State does not care if the drivers have the source code. In fact, it is the State and, of course, those people killed by drunk drivers that are the victims in this judicial squeeze play.

In fact, the State has claimed it is entitled to the source code under its agreements with the manufacturer in a case commenced by it in U.S. District Court. That leisurely proceeding has become more exciting by the embellishment of a judicially permitted intervenor who is not a party to the contract or agreement between the State and the manufacturer. There could of course be a surprise settlement (rumor has it that the intervenor torpedoed a recent attempt at one), but absent that we can be assured that with appeals, remands, new trials, and further appeals the case will be completed within lives in being plus twenty-one years.

Our Supreme Court has in effect held that the source code is in the possession, custody or control of the State. This author realizes that sounds odd, but the reader should keep in mind that when our Supreme Court speaks ex cathedra on matters of law from its courtroom in St. Paul it is, as far as the lower courts are concerned, miraculously preserved from error. It is a good thing, too, becaue the miracle of findings that the State has control of the source code makes accepting any miracle in the Bible a slam dunk.

It appears the Supreme Court reached its conclusion because the paperwork seemd to the Court (without input from the manufacturer who claims otherwise) that the State is entitled to the source code. Well, the State must think so, too, or it would not sue for the source code in Federal Court. But a freshman logic course would teach us that being entitled to something is different than having it. Just ask Hillary Clinton.

The Court’s decision puts the trial court in the position of Galileo, who in the 1600′s was deemed by the Holy Inquisition a heretic because he argued the Earth goes around the Sun, when every God-fearing person could look up in the sky and watch the Sun go around the Earth once a day.

The trial court now must sacrifice truth as a burnt offering on the altar of stare decisis and go down the rabbit hole with Alice and from the PRecints of Wonderland tell the world that the State has the source code when it really doesn’t. It of course may in the future, but it doesn’t now, and it is now that drunk drivers will keep their license and kill people. These decedents are unable to intervene here of in Federal Court.

Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for life (this author could see that coming) but to prevent the unpleasantness of the medieval equivalent of waterboarding, Galileo publicly renounced his heresy and stated that the Sun revolved around the Earth. But as he left the room he whispered to his guard, “The Earth still revolves around the Sun.”

In the accompanying order, this author renounces his heresy and follows the Supreme Court’s findings to the letter. But to the people of Minnesota and every family that has had a loved one killed by a drunk driver, he whispers, “The State does not now have possession, custody or control of the source code.”

Community by Brad House

Brad House lays out a picture of what biblical small groups should look like. Small groups, community groups, sheperd groups (or whatever the title may be) have become increasing popular within churches. What does the Bible have to say about how they should be done? The first half of the book unpacks this from what scripture has to tell us and the second half is a practical fleshing out of what that entails. The overarching philosophy for the existence of small groups is that they should be a joyful proclamation of God’s glory for what he has done through Jesus Christ (37). He says, “The motivation that will sustain such a community is not the expectation to glorify God; it is the glory of God itself (37).” 

I Peter 2:9-12 is a clear picture of what a healthy, God-glorifying community group should be. Peter says we are in a war and that it must be engaged as a community of believers. “In boxing you fight alone; in war, you fight as a nation. Sanctification is not an individual fight; it is one we fight as a community (41).” We fight best when Jesus is lifted up and underneath that our needs become met. It is not to be inverted. Christians should be meeting together because they have tasted the goodness and forgiveness of God and have been given grace to lift him up. Acts 2:42-47 is another picture of a body of believers living life together and growing in discipleship.

God is glorified within a group of believers when disciples are being made and the Gospel is penetrating the heart. We should want to see disciples making disciples by teaching the Word and fulfilling the Great Commission (62). There should be a holy restlessness to change a city or neighborhood where a discipleship group exists, so that others will come meet Jesus.

House lays out his belief that churches should be “missional” and defines this word as “to participate in the mission of God as a response to the gospel through proclamation and practice (67).” The church needs to take ownership of this by experiencing who God is and what he has done for them. They need to taste the transforming work of Jesus; this will inspire and transform lives. A churches ownership can be examined by asking questions like  how many people are serving in the needs that exist? How many people give to the church? How many are involved in living out their faith with other believers (73)?

Within any community there are barriers and bridges to people meeting Jesus. Barriers are practices, cultures or perceptions which keep people from experiencing the undiluted gospel. Bridges are those opportunities and conversations that Christians use to bring that undiluted gospel to people (128).

For this to happen Christians need to be intentional about living within their neighborhoods. We will have to push ourselves outside of comfort zones and meet people on the streets by engaging them. Our culture today wants to see the authenticity of a belief before there is acceptance of it. They want to test drive it first. This means we have to allow people to see how our discipleship groups function before the gospel changes them (132). House dives further into the concept of social spaces and categorizes them by participation, service, hospitality and fellowship. Fellowship is the most intimate setting out of the four and it is the setting that we traditionally do on a weekly basis: meeting in someones home to do Bible study and prayer. He draws out the existence of these four spaces in Acts 2:42-47.

Inviting someone into the fellowship setting immediately will be difficult for many. That is why Christians within a discipleship group need to be meeting and engaging people in the spaces of participation, service and hospitality. They need to be involved in the activities of their city and meeting other people. For example, Christians can show hospitality by throwing a party, having a pick-up football game on Saturday morning or doing any other regular event where you could invite someone to attend (139). We are called as Christians to seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:4-7). We can do this by being involved in service projects in our neighborhoods, towns and cities.

House argues that discipleship groups should not be seen as an event but as a people. “An event-based community is one that predominantly sees the event once a week as their community group. It defines a community as a time and place. Opportunity-based community is the idea that we are always a community group whether we are together or apart (149).”  The common argument that House hears is that it would take too much time to restructure a group in this way. A shift needs to happen in the rhythm of how life is done so that this becomes the new normal. We need to evaluate where our time is spent and put an increased emphasis on relationship building (151). House gives a story on page 153 that is absolutely convicting in this area.

Unfortunately there are not many Christians living out this view of community. Apathy, indifference and the fear of man are the enemies. “Our fight is against sin that wages war against our flesh, and we fight for the lives of the lost who are being devoured in the world. We have been given the weapons of righteousness that we would join in the battle for the glory of God. Yet so few of us are fighting (200).” We need to develop holy discontent with the status quo for this to change.

Pastors, elders, small group leaders and the whole church need to thirst for what God’s picture of community is. We find this in Acts 2, I Peter 2, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3. This is only possible through dependence on Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is a helpful, overwhelming book. It is helpful because it is loaded with biblical content on how to take a Discipleship Group into true community. It is overwhelming for the same reason.