"The List"

I have had a lot of requests for "the list" from yesterday's sermon.
Here ya go.

JESUS LOVES SINNERS.

Therefore, sinners you are welcome here at The Bridge:
So, here we go -- to the guys that want to be girls and the girls that want to be guys,
To the drunks and druggees, to the weirdos, the porn addicts, the prostitutes, the adulterers, to the sexually promiscuous racked with guilt, to the sexually promiscuous not racked with guilt, to the thieves, the liars, the angry dads, the hormonal moms, to those who make their kids idols, to those who view their kids as a curse, the gluttons, the obsessive fans of movies about werewolves or transvestites, to the men who are 28 and living in mom’s basement who don’t have a job but can smoke Madden NFL or Gears of War on the XBOX, to the idolatrous computer nerds, to the whackjobs, nutjobs, the losers, the freaks, the geeks, the rednecks who drink a case of Natural Light, spotlight, and kill deer, to Star Wars groupees, NASCAR groupees, chain smokers (cigs or weed), to women who get paid in $1 bills, to people who text and drive, to radical Democrats and Republicans, to Mormons and any other religious folks that wear strange underpants, to steroid-pumping body builders, to people who wear biking shorts, Speedos and/or thongs, to Yoga instructors, witch doctors, potheads, crackheads, methheads, meatheads, and deadheads, even to tree huggers and PETA members,


AND to religious people who are upset right now because these subjects were not on the the Waltons, Touched by an Angel, Little House on the Prairie, or in their Christian home school curriculum and don’t think that Jesus drank REAL WINE, I have good news for all of you.

YOU ARE ALL WELCOME AT THE BRIDGE!

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 5

Week #5. Mark 2:1-12. Can you believe it? Kids are back in school. Does that help your ability to get these two hour study sessions in or not? Doesn’t matter -- we have to find time to prioritize the King.

A deep foreboding disturbance has crept into Mark’s description for us. We find that as Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God that he disturbs both the irreligious and the religious. The dark clouds of venom from both sides are beginning to form.

1. Let’s start by noticing that some sections of the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, & Luke) have the same story recorded for us. Give a quick read to Matthew 9:1-8 & Luke 5:17-26 and note any differences you might see. Sometimes there is just confirmation of events, and sometimes there are marked differences. I find these slight variations to actually confirm the inerrancy of Scripture as they do not really contradict facts, but they show that these writers worked independently in putting together their eyewitness accounts. In other words, what we would expect to see from independent research and not some copycat scheme. God directed, but human organized and written.

2. Let’s stir some thought up here and talk about crowds. Coming out of Chapter 1, crowds are obviously a big deal. Mark mentions crowds 40 times before chapter 10. We need to notice though that as Jesus moves from SHOWING what the Kingdom is like (healing, feeding multitudes, etc) to TEACHING what IT is like, we start to see the difference between the visible church and the invisible church. You want to be a member of the invisible church which are the people that God has drawn to Himself, has regenerated, and they have responded with repentance, faith, and all out commitment to Jesus -- the true believers. We will start to see that as Jesus begins to teach on the cost of following him, the visible church (those that like the food and the healing, but not the sacrifice, don't love the Father, the King, the Gospel) will begin to fade away. He cannot drive the invisible church away because there no task too daunting for the true believer. To illustrate what I am talking about, give a quick read of John 6 in your group and talk out the difference in the two churches. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 in church as he feeds them with a kid’s sack lunch. Then, he begins to teach and the teaching about life with Him being one of suffering whittles the mega-church down to a cell family of 11 -- the 12 plus the phony who would betray him. The point is just because the crowds are clamoring about him does not mean that they are following and believing in him. My prayer is that most who pass in & out of the doors our church are being moved by the Holy Spirit into the invisible church. Please stop and pray the same for your cell.

3. Go ahead and talk about the four men. Do you have community with other Christians to this degree that they would do anything to get you in front of Jesus? This is a great reason to be a part of a healthy cell. A whole lot of this roof would have been baked mud. There is some serious effort to carry a long distance and to hoist onto a roof. I wonder if some members of the invisible church helped them at any point because most people were I am sure clamoring to see Jesus for themselves because he could improve their world - their story. These men are giving a little glimpse of what it means to be a part of the invisible church, where the mission of God and the well being of others supersedes our agendas. This removing of obstacles for people to be able to see the Gospel clearly is a strong indication of faith. Are you putting up obstacles (religious preferences, sin patterns or lack of holy living, no time for people) or are you removing obstacles for people to see Jesus?

4. I spent most of my time in the sermon discussing the difference between what the paralytic and his friends were probably primarily concerned about as they encounter Jesus, and what Jesus considered the priority. They wanted the man healed (and that is very natural and a neat thing), but Jesus knows that it is VASTLY more important that we be healed in our relationship with him by having our sins forgiven than it is to have a somewhat whole physical body. Discuss your thoughts as you listened to that.

5. The surprise forgiveness of sins shifts the story from the paralytic to the scribes. What began as a heart warming healing has become a tense battleground for spiritual authority. This accusation of blasphemy is no small item as by Jewish law, it would have carried the sentence of death. So, Jesus has caused a “great disturbance in the RELIGIOUS here.” These men believed that THEY carried the true word of God and they are blind to the fact that they are staring at the WORD (the Logos) Himself. Religion always creates men who believe they can save themselves by their self-righteousness. Discuss how the Gospel disturbs that as It shows that their in NO righteousness outside of the blood of Jesus. Grace alone, Jesus alone, the cross alone is what saves men and women from themselves.

6. The Gospel (Jesus) also insults the irreligious because they want to be their own Gods and do whatever they want. They hate authority and reject Christ because He is the ultimate authority. Discuss the ability of people to accept the authority and turn from sin outside of the work of the Holy Spirit. We will find out in chapter 3 that these folks want Jesus dead just as bad as the religious folks that he has insulted. The Gospel offends the religious and the irreligious.

7. I used the words astonishment and awe. Look at this definition of awe -- ‘mixture of wonder and dread: a feeling of amazement and respect mixed with fear that is often coupled with a feeling of personal insignificance or powerlessness.’ Think about and discuss your feeling with this definition when you think about the wonders that the Gospel have brought to both your soul, your mental health, your emotions, your relationships, etc. These people were completely awestruck by the magnitude of what they saw Jesus do. Do we worship like we are awestruck? Why or why not?

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 4

OK. Sorry this is late. Surgery took a toll on me, but let’s dig deep for a few minutes. Mark 1:35-45

It has always astonished me that Jesus prayed. Why did He have to pray? At the same time, He is the son of God and 100% God. A little clue may be found in us. When I am at my busiest is when I am doing Christian ministry. Some days are running from deep study for a sermon, to meeting with someone about the church plant in Arnold, to meeting with a couple whose marriage is jacked and needs help, to family worship with Kelley, Justin, and Taylor. None of that is sin (like Jesus spending his day preaching, healing, exorcising demons), and it is what I have been called to do - fun neat stuff. However, none of it is just deep time spent with the Father, loving and listening, and maybe whining and praising. Jesus had throughout all eternity past had full access to the Father and the Spirit without a lot of distractions, but now he had put on one of these human tents and was distracted, even by good things. By going to a desolate place and praying, He was getting back to his favorite thing to do - hanging out with the One who is worthy to hang out with. This is more than a battery recharge; this is heading to the deepest purpose of all -- loving God one on one. This is more than duty; this is the deepest calling that the son of God had and that the children of God have.

In the last five years, this has been a great strength of mine at times, and just plain non-existent at others. I am a decent church leader, husband, and father when my prayer life is deep and not superficial. I am downright awful while when there is no time in just deep conversational prayer with a Bible in my hands (not to study and learn, but to hear from God).

So, this begs some questions for you and me:

1. How are you doing at this? Is this only for Martin Luther, or Mark Driscoll, or Jesus (Mark 2:35)? Or, is it for every follower of Christ?

2. Jesus is being a worshiper. His prayer life is vastly more about submission to the Father than a “battery charge” or a “to do” list. Are you a worshiper in your prayer life?

3. Read Romans 12:1-2. How does God say to become a worshiper?

4. Notice Paul’s urgency. “In view of God’s mercy” (NIV) or “by the mercies of God”(ESV) means that you have been regenerated. Now, he is saying, since that is true, with urgency, on a daily basis, present your bodies (which includes your minds) completely to God for His bidding. Does that sound like your prayer life? What was Jesus praying about for all of this time that the disciples were looking for Him? Probably He was talking through the Scriptures with the Father and submitting His body as a living sacrifice for the mission of God for that day and upcoming days, eventually to a cross. What would that look like for you?

5. Do you pray more to talk to God about your world or to listen to God about His? The disciple of the Lord Jesus will migrate to the latter.
Let’s practice this with the Bible.
If you are in cell, get by yourself for a few minutes. Hopefully, it is beautiful outside. Go to a desolate place (like Jesus in Mark 2:35). Open to the book of Colossians, chapter 3, and begin reading, but don’t read for understanding or study or try and figure it out. Go very slow -- you have 20 minutes here (Jesus and Luther would do this for hours). Let the Bible read you. Let God speak into you and then pray your response. Pray your confession, your admiration for Jesus, your submission to His will, your supplication for others, whatever. Praying from God’s heart makes you a humble listener first and then a responder to God’s grace. This makes you a worshiper. This will allow your prayer life to be something that God wants to talk about (inside his will and about living in His Kingdom) instead of your agenda, about your world, and your mission. You will actually be surprised that you will eventually get to what is bothering you or a personal need, but you will pray it from God’s perspective instead of a selfish one. Once again, are you a worshiper on God’s mission or trying to pack Jesus around on your mission? In Mark 2, Jesus models for us that even when we are doing things on God’s mission, we must take to time to be a submitted worshiper of God - a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing.

6. The scene with the leper starting in Mark 1:40 is just gripping. Leprosy was a sentence. A sentence of death eventually, but before that of ostracized (read Leviticus 13:45-46) isolation. This outstretched TOUCH from Jesus in vs. 41 which leads to his COMPLETE healing in vs. 42 is one of the great illustrations of the Gospel in the Bible. Discuss us being “set outside the camp” after the fall (Genesis 3) as we are now unclean. Discuss how the Gospel addresses THIS uncleanliness.

7. Jesus “sternly charged” the man not to tell anyone in vs. 43. Seems interestingly light to us that this man was was so intensely disobedient since he was SO excited about Jesus and what he had done. Jesus was serious (if you study this in the Greek, very serious) about protecting the veil of his messianic identity with this command, but it just seems so fun that the man goes and shares anyway. However, his actions imposed a burden and forced Jesus into desolate places. Can you think of anything that we do that appears to be positive for the Kingdom, but actually it gives an impression opposite of the true Gospel? I was recently with someone that was gravely and possibly terminally ill. A well meaning person came into the room and began to tell the family that because Jesus was the almighty God that he knew that God wanted to and and WOULD heal their child. He prayed fervently and expectantly in the name of Jesus that God do this for this family because he loved this family so much and God wanted ‘good’ things for this family. This was a case of a person being really excited about Jesus, but not in tune with Scripture or God’s will. I loved their excitement over Jesus, but as they talked and prayed, the focus was on what people wanted instead of what God wanted. I believe that God CAN heal this person (he is still alive and I would love to see it); God can do anything He wants. However, just because this man and this family desperately want it AND believe in the right Jesus does not mean that it is in God’s will for this healing to happen. God’s glory is always the end goal. God’s mission is always what is essential. Discuss how the best way to pray for this man would be.

8. Jesus then commands the healed leper to observe the Mosaic law (Lev. 14) and go show himself to the priest which would have been quite a tedious task because there would have been a lot of travel and time to do so. Given his track record of obedience following the healing, do you think that he did as commanded and went to the priest? There are other stories of interesting reactions after healing. Read Luke 17:11-19 and discuss if you think there was healing without regeneration for the nine healed lepers who did not return and worship Jesus. Notice that all ten are being obedient to go see the priest when the one returns to worship. Think about correlations with some of your lives where maybe in your younger years, you had an encounter with God and maybe even did what you were told and got baptized, but then became radically disobedient afterward as someone who practiced unrepentant sin. Do you see any similarities?

Have fun.

2 Hours with Mark and Friends - #3a

Mark 1:21-34

1. One of the most striking things to me in this passage is that Jesus has become so well known for his authority over the natural and the supernatural that vs. 33 says this, “And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” Now, Capernaum was probably only a city of 50-100 people, but that is still astonishing that they were so enamored with the presence of Christ that there was not a person not attracted to the authority. Is it ludicrous to think that with enough prayer and surrender to the same Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we could not see a whole community basically crowding the doors of our churches because his power and authority had become so famous. Jesus himself said that we would do greater things than He did after he went away. Do we believe Him? We have seen evil spirits run out of people since we started The Bridge. We have seen people physically healed. We have seen marriages that were apparently not repairable get repaired. People are off drugs, not dependent on alcohol. The Gospel has made radical changes in many people’s lives. You may be one of them. Why has this not brought the entire city to our versions of Simon Peter’s door? Discuss the power of prayer and proclamation to this analogy.

2. PRAYER In Joshua 10, Joshua was given a task to perform to make the God of the Bible famous. As God was supplying him success in this endeavor, Joshua actually prayed that Jesus make the sun stand still in the sky so that he would have enough time in the day to complete his task. God responded in vs. 13, “The sun stopped in the midst of the heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” What is your “sun stand still” prayer that might bring all of our community come to the door to see the Jesus that does such miraculous things? I have prayed that all churches in St. Francois County (and now Jefferson County) be such conduits of the power and authority of Christ that the entire community crowds the doors to get a peak at such things. Is that ridiculous? Why or why not?

3. PROCLAMATION I believe the second issue is proclamation. If you re-read Mark 1:21-28, something tells me that it was only a matter of minutes before the entire city had heard of the authority of Jesus’ teaching and the exorcism that took over the usually boring church meeting at the synagogue. How did that happen? PROCLAMATION. Proclamation about Jesus. Some who had been regenerated proclaimed the Gospel on a personal level. Think about (if you are doing this in private) and/or discuss (if you are in cell) how if God has performed miracles in our midst that our entire community has not heard about them. God’s authority and grace is spectacular and when proclaimed (not as fanatics, but as awe-struck worshipers) should attract the entire city to our homes and churches. What prevents this?

4. Christians are commanded to practice hospitality. Ben noted that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law began to immediately serve upon being healed because she could. Our taking care of the needs of others in love is a NATURAL outcropping of the healing of grace. Think and discuss how you feel about your service to others. Is there any? If so, does it feel obligated, like you owe somebody something, or does it feel natural and in a flow of your life in Christ. You are a new creation.

5. Read 1 Corinthians 9:5. We keep coming back to this deal about ‘radical abandonment’ and ‘take care of your family.’ I find it interesting that apparently Simon Peter’s wife must have also have abandoned all her agenda and followed Christ with her husband. Discuss how a one flesh marriage must go this way.

6. We learned that the Greek word for authority here (Mark 1:22) means, “out of the original stuff,” or “out of the origin.” This has ramifications in many different directions. Remember that through His partner in the trinity, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus wrote all Scripture. He is the author and perfecter of our faith -- the beginning and the end. This is fun. The use of this Greek word for authority also shows up at the end of the Sermon on the Mount as the scribes declared it about Him there also. Matthew 7:28-29. To finish up your 2 hours of study here, take off on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7 (which must have been given in a very close time proximity to the events of Mark 1). Reflect on our teachings and look closely how Jesus redefines (from authority) the Kingdom of God.

That will be more than two hours, but I have some more thoughts on this in an upcoming 3b.

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 2

A bunch of you ACTUALLY did this last week, so I thought we would try it again. Don't assume this. Some of you should be writing study guides like this.

1. Vs. 1 identifies the Lord as Jesus Christ (the gospel of Jesus Christ), not just Jesus. Most of the time, the Bible calls Him Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, or the Lord Jesus. What is the deal? What is the significance of 'the Christ'? His last name? (kidding)

2. The people, as the Holy Spirit regenerates them, What is regeneration?

3. OK. Now, read Luke 3:1-10 again along with Mark 1:4-8 as the people are regenerated by the Holy Spirit as John preaches about the Kingdom of God and repentance. How significant is it that the people then ask in Luke 3:10, “What, then, shall we do?” Share stories with your cell members of remembering that moment when you saw your dirt and God’s holiness and knew that you must respond. What did you do?

4. Jesus answered their question in vs. 15 as he shows the response necessary for redemption, for salvation. “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Discuss this statement: 'Jesus not only proclaims the gospel (the good news), He is the Gospel.' Discuss what it really means to truly believe in Jesus (obviously much more than mental ascent).

5. The word repentance means ‘to change course, to turn around, to change direction. It would be like a 180 degree turn in our holiness (we walked in selfish sin, we now walk in Christ’s righteousness as a new creation). Most people think that repentance is just confessing sin when actually there are five stages to repentance. Deeply ponder and discuss in cell how deep you go in your life of DAILY repentance in these stages.
A. Conviction -- a role of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin (Read John 16:7-11).
B. Confession -- this is agreeing with God that we have sinned. (1 John 1:9)
C. Repentance -- empowered by the Holy Spirit, we turn from the sin -- STOP. (1 John 3:4-12)
D. Joy -- there is joy that comes from moving from darkness to light. We should celebrate.
F. Abundance -- we move from struggling so much with the sin into helping others through it.
Note: Repentance signifies something to turn from (sin); belief signifies something to turn to (Jesus).

6. I think that the average Christian that hangs around church sees himself as vastly different as the disciples who were called to Jesus’ original team in Mark 1:16-20. They were awesome (walked with Jesus, performed miracles, authored Scripture, etc), but the spirit of this call is the same to us. “Drop your agenda,” Jesus says, “and follow me.” How does this play out with you personally. What does “drop your nets” look like? What does following Jesus on His incredible mission to a dying world look like?

7. James and John leaving their father Zebedee (we know that the disciples had lots of contact with family later) in the boat should remind us of some tough Scripture that Jesus tossed out later (read Matt 10:37-39, Luke 14:26). I think looking at these Scriptures together give an idea of how Jesus views our priorities. Balance these with Ephesians 6:2 “honor your father and mother” and 1 Timothy 5:8 which is about a man’s responsibility to work and take care of his family.

8. Share some of the mission that you think the Holy Spirit may be pressing you toward as a disciple. A true disciple is always developing another disciple. Do you have someone that you are developing in the faith? Who is investing time in you?

9. Israel had a notion of God as king (Exod 15:18, 1 Sam 12:12, and Ps. 5:2). God is exalted above His creation. Jesus affirms that notion as he begins this Kingdom of God talk. He is King, and he is going to define His Kingdom. Run through the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-?) as a quick refresher to some of the concepts of how different his Kingdom is to what we ordinarily think.

10. The verbs in the Greek for repentance and belief are in the imperative, so they are not temporary, one-time events; they are continuous, a condition. Also, both things cannot be applied only to certain areas of life, but they lay claim to a total allegiance of believers. Belief assumes the act of repentance. Grace and faith are given by God, but these are definitely imperative verbs of response to regeneration.

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends

Items for study and reflection this week that surround Mark:

1. This John that prepares the way for Jesus is an interesting cat. Read the Malachi prophecy about him and discuss his significance (Malachi 4:5-6). Do a little research and see if you can figure out why Malachi might refer to John as Elijah.

2. Read the Matthew account of John (Matt. 3:1-12). We get some more detail here as John boldly confronts the religious leaders and preaches strong judgments on those who do not believe in the One. Discuss the fact that this writing was focused toward a Jewish audience.

3. Read the Luke account of John (Luke 1:1-45, 57-80, 3:1-22). Why is God so meticulous in his preparation of things?? This whole ministry of John fulfills prophesy of a new Exodus -- where God's people will once again be delivered from a wilderness to the river Jordan -- really cool. (cf. Isa. 11:11–15; 40:3–11; 42:16; 43:2, 5–7, 16–19; 48:20–49:11; 51:10)

4. What does God stir in you as you consider that Jesus held John in higher esteem than any other man, but John models the lessening of himself and the elevation of Jesus (vs. 4-8)? In the Matthew account, you might recall that he said to Jesus, “I should not be baptizing you; you should be baptizing me” (tlg, paraphrase, Matt. 3:14) as he continually points us to worship Jesus, not man.

5. Do you walk around feeling as though the heavens have been torn open and the Spirit has descended upon your life, your world? If so, journal what that looks like, or tell your cell what that looks like. Our regeneration is not as big of an event in history as the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11), but the whole trinity gets involved with our salvation also, so it is pretty special. God has a plan for salvation, and then a plan for the mission of His church. Discuss the plans you feel that God has for you right now. Does it change to realize that the same Spirit that descended upon Jesus has descended upon you? How?

6. Read the Luke account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). How significant is this event that Jesus, as a man, felt every temptation that we have ever felt, but did not sin? Discuss how much easier it is to sin when we are tired and hungry. Ever notice?

Bonus Time:

Read chapters 12-15 of Acts and look at how the early church leaders function. We see the author of Mark mentioned here as a part of the missionary journeys and a church fight. It is really significant to me that Paul reconciles with John Mark (Col. 4:10, 2 Tim. 4:11, Phil. vs. 24). It is also significant to me that these disciples were made because they were willing to hang around constantly with people who could pull them along in their faith toward their mission for God. John Mark hung around with Paul and Barnabas. We also know that he spent considerable time with Simon Peter and many others (see above Scriptures) to attain the information for the writing of His Gospel. Who is teaching you the ways of the faith, digging into Scripture, rebuking you when you do something silly, praying with you, and at the same time, who are you discipling?
As we can glean from this, the Bible teaches us how to “make disciples who make disciples.” This is the prophesied mission of the church -- prophesied AND commanded by none other than Jesus Himself. Are we as centered in our mission as John? He eliminated distractions and received blessings beyond measure. What distractions need to go, so that we could be counted as one worthy?

One last point. In a day where God’s love is defined as the prosperity that we will receive upon a relationship with Him in American terms (health, stuff, etc), do you find it interesting that the person (John, not the Apostle) that Jesus has esteemed higher than any other man goes to prison as soon as his mission is complete and gets his head cut off? God defines blessings and rewards and prosperity vastly different than we do. It is time to start getting some of that figured out.

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.