Our 11 year-old son Julian has been away at a summer camp down in NC for a whole month. He’ll be back at the end of this week. This is the longest he’s ever been away from home. His mother and I miss him but he seems to be having a great time so that’s good. He’s been writing letters a couple times a week. He has my decidedly bad handwriting scrawl and instead of writing “Dear Mom and Dad” he addresses us in the letter as “Parents” but it’s cute to see him describe his experiences. He’s having a blast amen to that.
At first I was worried about him going down there: whether he’d make new friends, whether mean kids would pick on him, whether he’d get homesick, whether he’d be safe, whether he’d make good decisions and not buckle under peer pressure. He’s an only child and perhaps because of this we’ve noticed he’s had difficulty in the past interacting with kids his own age. Kids acting silly like, well, kids sometimes frustrates him into having little meltdowns. But he’s got to be able to grow in those difficult situations. We can’t and shouldn’t interfere by trying to shield or protect him from every little thing that comes along.
We’re not done raising him he’s still just a boy. But this time apart is just a glimpse of when the day comes where our role as parents will naturally diminish and he’ll want to be his own man, left to find his own way in life according to his judgment and decisions he makes. So we try to raise him as best we can to respect himself and others and get along, to love and fear the Lord and make decisions reflecting as much. The rest we leave to God.
What occurred to me is that this journey is similar to our experience as Christians. As Christian parents or in a given ministry leadership role such as Sunday school teachers or oikos leaders, God has placed certain people in our care to shepherd them through their faith journey. To be a small part of someone coming to Faith for the first time is a beautiful thing. But there are many forces of this world that seek to undermine, discourage and distract them from their faith journey. We worry and fret over their well-being and want them to experience nothing but God’s love. But as we are all children of God and the whole world is under the control of the evil one we realize we cannot protect them from every dimension of spiritual battle. We are used by God to do His good work but at the end of the day we accept that their lives are in God’s hands.
There is a second part of the title verse of this column. When Jesus sent out his disciples in Matthew 10 as “sheep among wolves” to preach the good news he also cautioned them to be as “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” I get the innocent part as being pure and Christ-like, but to be shrewd suggests there is a level of wisdom and discernment born over time and experience. His disciples were wise to the world but no longer of it. Perhaps the trials and tribulation one endures seeking Christ are part and parcel of the cross we bear daily. Amen to that.

From Pastor Mark’s Heart
August 9, 2015

I went to the zoo this past week with my family. Nobody told me it was going to be the hottest day of the year. And nobody told me that they

decided to build the zoo on a hill. That was a really smart idea. Also, why is food at the zoo so expensive? Are these burgers made out of real

pandas?
Although I have a lot of complaints (which is kind of my thing – ask my wife Mina), it was worth it because my kids had such a good time.  We

were there for 5 hours and neither wanted to leave.  After a few temper tantrums, threats of abandoning them in the lion’s cage, and good old

fashioned physical dragging through the parking lot, we finally managed to corral our kids into the car, where they promptly passed out for the

entire ride home, only to wake up full of rage and energy as soon as we opened the garage door.  Being a parent is fun.
But despite all the fun we had as a family, going to the zoo is always kind of depressing for me.  Seeing these animals caged behind walls, subject

to the stares, jeers, and pounding on the glass (that would be my son’s favorite way to try to engage the animals) was really a sad sight to see. 

Many of the animals we saw had their backs turned or were hidden strategically, almost as if they knew that people were trying to stare at them

and they didn’t want to engage them.  Especially during meal times, which I guess makes sense – nobody likes someone staring at their face while

they’re chewing; it’s extremely uncomfortable.
And that’s why I don’t like going to the zoo.  Regardless of whether or not the animals were born in captivity or the wild, they have an innate

sense that they do not belong in a cage.  And it’s sad to see animals who should be roaming their own territories in total freedom locked up to

serve as entertainment for ogling sweaty strangers.  It’s almost as if they know their lives are limited – when you make eye contact with them, you

can almost tell how oppressed they feel.
In reality, people are in the same position as these zoo animals.  We live most of our lives caged within the confines of this world, living our lives

within the boundaries of what the world tells us we can or cannot do, how we should live, what’s expected of us, what’s appropriate, etc.  And we

believe that we are resigned to certain fates, certain destinies, and we cannot change them.  But as Christians, there is so much more for us.  Jesus

came to give us “life and life abundantly,” to set us free from the world we live in to allow us to step out in absolute freedom, joy, and grace into

a new life that is so much greater than the one we had.  But for many of us Christians, even after we have been saved, we still live our lives the

same way we did before we met Christ.  We don’t realize that there is so much more for us, not only in the next world to come, but in this very

world today.  And that is a tragedy.
If the zoo animals could, they would all escape and return to their lives in the wild the first chance they get.  Jesus has come to give us such an

opportunity to be set free from our mundane, worldly lives and wildly pursue a greater life with him in reckless abandonment.  Will we choose

what is greater?  Or will we stay in our own cages?

 
From Pastor David’s Heart
August 2, 2015