Lessons from 4,000 Miles

It is good to be home from a long vacation with Kelley, Justin, Taylor, & Randy & Connie (Kel’s brother and his wife) -- about 4000 miles of American beauty covered from Lake Tahoe, to the Tetons, to Yellowstone, to the Black Hills..

Saw many things, but had two serious lessons taught:
First, I got my patriotism stoked.
I probably need to clarify some things I said in a recent sermon. I think Christians are TOO cause oriented and spend TOO much time declaring what they are against instead of what they are for, and so I declared that disciples of the Lord Jesus are not called primarily into causes. What Christians are called into is the Great Commission which is to ‘make disciples who make disciples world-wide.” I was specific though that causes are not wrong though.
Let me be specific. I love my country -- I don’t love it more than Jesus -- but I would have been proud to defend the US from evil if called to do so at any point in my life. I remembered this at the 9 pm ceremony at Mt. Rushmore a few nights ago as they lit the faces of men who sacrificed greatly for causes. I had tears storming off of my face as they had all servicemen on the stage for the classy flag ceremony as I wished I could have pushed my father down there for that moment. The tears were partially from missing him, but also being reminded of how much I appreciate the sacrifice of many for the freedoms of my life. My dad got shot at by the Nazis for over 30 missions in the back of a B-17 as evil tried to storm the world, and I will NEVER forget that (Justin better not forget or let his grandchildren forget). I believe that true Christians who are called into a cause like that should use the opportunity to ‘make disciples who make disciples world-wide’ AS they do what is right. They simply shift mission fields as the cause does not override their commissioned purpose in this world.
We should vote as Christians, but we should not think that voting Christians into office is going to fix the world. Only Jesus, and His Gospel, is going to fix the world. Let's proclaim HIM!
We should support the American Cancer Society, but we should not think that humans are going to eradicate the curse even if He blesses us with a cure. Only Jesus, only His Gospel, is going to bring a day with no more tears and no more suffering. Let's proclaim HIM!

Second, I got reminded what a baby I can be. I was in a great, worshipful state of mind for the entire trip until the last day (I hope the others would agree with that), but we decided to wipe out the last 17 hours of the trip on that final day. So, had that gone smoothly, everything would have been fine. Sound familiar? Long story short, some 70 miles of I-29 is under the Missouri River, and what was going to be 17 hours and a 1:00 am arrival at home, became 20 hours and 4 am. Instead of having some compassion for the thousands of people affected by the flooding or realizing the detour was going to allow me to show the group my birthplace (Cameron, MO), I huffed and puffed like a baby because this inconvenience had affected the kingdom of me. Sin abounds when we are tired -- we need to stay rested. I finally did relax and enjoy a beautiful sunset, a Cardinals win, and a few more hours with my folks (even got a little nap in). But, for a minute, sin abounded. Glory to God who takes away the sin that so enslaves us.