Jeremy, I want to thank you personally from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to participate in this ride.  The training that you do helps build strong, healthy muscles and aids you in maintaining your endurance throughout this ride.  I am sure that during the course of your training you have felt a burning-type or fatigue-type pain in the muscles of your legs?  Welcome to a very small part of the MS world.  That is a very similar pain that many MS patients suffer with daily, including myself.  Another symptom of MS that you can probably relate to is very similar to having a really bad sunburn.  Unfortunately with this disease it strikes without warning.  MS knows no boundries…it can attack at the snap of a finger or one can wake up in the morning finding themselves paralyzed in any one limb or their entire body, or wake up blind, etc.

I don’t know if Kim told you or not, but I’ve been having a pretty bad flare-up of my MS for the last 2 1/2 months.  My last flare-up was 4 years ago, so I am doing well as far as flare-ups are concerned.  I had an MRI done last week and I am so happy to tell you both that it showed no disease progression!!  In fact, my MRI looks just like the one taken over 15 years ago which is when I was actually diagnosed!!  I had to pull myself out of work the last week and a half in order to let my body calm down and focus on just me… I just went back to work yesterday.  I am so very thankful to God that he has protected me all these years. Unlike many people with MS, I am one of the fortunate ones that can still walk…it is a struggle right now, but none-the-less I’m still walking.

Ok, so let me jump down (yeah right..lol!) off my pedestal and just say to you….RIDE, JEREMY, RIDE!  RIDE FOR THE CURE THAT WILL END THE DEVASATING EFFECTS OF MS!!!  You are one of my heros…God Bless You!!

If you would like to help in the fight against MS, please consider making a donation to my ride!

The suffering I’ll endure on my bike in September pales in comparison to what the average person with MS endures.  However, my hope is that I will be able to help in a small way by raising money to help research for a cure.  Would you consider supporting me as I ride?  I still need to raise around $300, but just $20 would go a very long way to help fight this devastating disease.

If you would like to participate in finding a cure for MS, click here to make a tax-deductible donation!

With this goal in mind, and with my new passion in mountain biking already making a dent in my weight gain, I went out and purchased a road bike this spring.  Mountain biking is a blast, but for a consistent fitness schedule, it’s much easier to ride from your house several days a week instead of driving a half hour to 45 minutes to hit the trails.

They tell me that the real joy of road biking comes from participating in a group ride, but I’ve been reticent to join one.  I have a ton of great excuses!  I’m still pretty heavy, so I look like even more of a dork in lycra, I’m not that fast yet, so I’m confident I’ll get left behind or “dropped.” And Kim is due any day now with Molly, so I’m afraid I’ll be 25 miles from home with a flat tire when I get “the call.”

Today I finally manned up and rode over to join a ride that leaves from my local bike shop.  This one is intended to be a little slower and leaves at 10 in the morning, which is almost a reasonable time to be awake on a Saturday.  I pulled up to the shop at 9:45 to see about 15 skinny guys in bike shorts with their incredibly expensive bikes leaning against the wall.  I knew I was out of place, so I checked twitter about 30 times and texted a few people in an effort to avoid eye contact.

The shop officially opened a few minutes before 10, so I went in to buy a new pair of gloves (because I needed them).  While there the tech I usually talk to warned me that the guy who usually led the group ride wasn’t there, and the guy who was leading it today may have clinical mental problems.  Great.  He turned to point out the window to the person who he was talking about, just as the group was pulling out of the parking lot!  Adam quickly tore the tag off the gloves and gave them to me.  He said “pay me when you get back!” and off I went.

I clipped into my pedals and started flying down the hill to catch up.  On the way I saw a woman on a bike pulling out of her driveway, cursing that they left like a rocket.  We pooled our efforts and tried to chase down the group with me in front setting a “strong” pace.  When they came into view, she said, “There they are!” and pulled around me and shot like a rocket to catch up.  I kept spinning at my “strong” pace.

We got to an intersection that she pulled through.  I quickly pulled through as well, dodging a few cars, and continued my effort to catch the group.  I knew a few short cuts on the route, so I thought I would take one and try to head them off.  It worked…sort of.   I pulled up to the route just in time to jump in line with the group, but then the traffic prohibited me from joining them and I was even farther back.  I tried it again, and it forced me even farther back the second time.  The short cuts left me farther behind (there’s a sermon illustration there, expect that one some day soon).

I settled into a fast rhythm and figured I would see them on the very long straight away around the bend ahead.  When I came around it I saw one rider about a half mile ahead.  He was a heavy-set guy like me and I recognized him from the parking lot at the shop (he was the only other guy there self-conscious smart enough to wear shorts over his bike shorts).  I settled into that time trial position I saw the guys in the Tour de France do with my forearms resting on my handlebars.  After about a minute I realized that said position must be much easier without a gut, so I sat back up a bit.  I was making good time on the other guy.  As I approached, this was the internal dialogue:

“I’m almost there!”

“Shoot, he’s not wearing a bike helmet”

“Shoot, it’s a backwards baseball cap”

“Shoot, he’s riding a 1991 Raleigh mountain bike”

“Shoot.”

He wasn’t in the group at all, just some guy out for a nice Saturday morning spin.  I buzzed by him and kept up my effort. I knew that the halfway point was also a rest stop in a park.  If I didn’t catch them there, then I could at least see them coming back home on this out-and-back route.

I got to the park-no one there on a bike.  I rested for a few minutes, turned around, and pedaled back home into the headwind (which at the Shore is always there, no matter which direction you’re going).  I kept my pace up but felt defeated.  A little while later I cruised back into the bike shop to pay for my gloves.  Adam saw me and said, “What did you do? Leave them in your dust?”  The group still wasn’t back.  I looked at my watch.  When I tried this 25-mile route with strong winds the first time on my mountain bike I rode it in about 2 ½ hours.  My first time on the road bike was in about 2 hours.  Today? An hour-and-a-half.

So I pedaled home.  My first group ride was a pseudo success, considering I never rode with the group.  Maybe I’ll give it another try next week.

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I’ve been re-reading Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller and keep mulling over his observation that humans are drawn to story because it reflects life so accurately: Setting, Conflict, Climax and Resolution.

Considering this, I think one of the difficulties for us living when we do is that the climax to the whole story, Jesus’ time on earth, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, have all happened in the past.  The reality is that our whole existence takes place during the resolution of the story. The tension is that we still exist along with conflict.

We are used to the resolution of the story to be considerably shorter than the rise to action.  Usually in a book or movie, we reach the climax and then the ending is near (except for the third Lord of the Rings, that thing never wanted to end).  We want a quick resolution, but God hasn’t given that to us.

How do we live during the resolution to the story? When we know the climax happened long before our character was introduced?  How do we live through the rest of it until we reach conclusion?

This week marks the most important time of the year for those of us who follow Jesus. However, when we try to explain why its such an exciting time, it often sounds either dry, mystical or like some tall tale.  So here’s my attempt at a common starting point.

Take a minute or two to read the section from the Bible that I’ve included in this post.  It’s in a plain English version, without the thee-s and thou-s.  Hopefully this will be a resource for us to continue to talk about why Christians believe what we believe.  The text below is from The Message version, in the section written by Matthew, one of Jesus’ followers.  It starts in the middle of the week before His death, and concludes after His resurrection.  Once you’ve finished it, lets talk!

Matthew 26-28

¹⁷On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?”

^18-19He said, “Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.’” The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to the letter, and prepared the Passover meal.

^20-21After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators.”

²²They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it, Master?”

^23-24Jesus answered, “The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!”

²⁵Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?”

Jesus said, “Don’t play games with me, Judas.”

The Bread and the Cup

^26-29During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:

Take, eat.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:

Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
“I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”

³⁰They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.

Gethsemane

^31-32Then Jesus told them, “Before the night’s over, you’re going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says,

I’ll strike the shepherd;
helter-skelter the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”

³³Peter broke in, “Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won’t.”

³⁴“Don’t be so sure,” Jesus said. “This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times.”

³⁵Peter protested, “Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.

^36-38Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”

³⁹Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”

^40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

⁴²He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, “My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.”

^43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.

^45-46When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s get going! My betrayer is here.”

With Swords and Clubs

^47-49The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him.” He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, “How are you, Rabbi?” and kissed him.

^50-51Jesus said, “Friend, why this charade?”

Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant, cut off his ear.

^52-54Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don’t you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?”

^55-56Then Jesus addressed the mob: “What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You’ve done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings.”

Then all the disciples cut and ran.

False Charges

^57-58The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest’s courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out.

^59-60The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable.

^60-61Finally two men came forward with this: “He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.’”

⁶²The Chief Priest stood up and said, “What do you have to say to the accusation?”

⁶³Jesus kept silent.

Then the Chief Priest said, “I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴Jesus was curt: “You yourself said it. And that’s not all. Soon you’ll see it for yourself:

The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”

^65-66At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, “He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?”

They all said, “Death! That seals his death sentence.”

^67-68Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: “Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?”

Denial in the Courtyard

⁶⁹All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

⁷¹As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁷²Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”

⁷³Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”

^74-75Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”

Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Matthew 27

Thirty Silver Coins

^1-2 In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.

^3-4Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, “I’ve sinned. I’ve betrayed an innocent man.”

They said, “What do we care? That’s your problem!”

⁵Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.

^6-10The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn’t know what to do with them. “It wouldn’t be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple.” They decided to get rid of it by buying the “Potter’s Field” and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That’s how the field got called “Murder Meadow,” a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah’s words became history:

They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter’s field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.

Pilate

¹¹Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”

Jesus said, “If you say so.”

^12-14But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.

^15-18It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, “Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?” He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While court was still in session, Pilate’s wife sent him a message: “Don’t get mixed up in judging this noble man. I’ve just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him.”

²⁰Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.

²¹The governor asked, “Which of the two do you want me to pardon?”

They said, “Barabbas!”

²²“Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?”

They all shouted, “Nail him to a cross!”

²³He objected, “But for what crime?”

But they yelled all the louder, “Nail him to a cross!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”

²⁵The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”

²⁶Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.

The Crucifixion

^27-31The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.

^32-34Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.

^35-40After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

^41-44The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.

^45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

^47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”

⁵⁰But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.

^51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

⁵⁴The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

^55-56There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.

The Tomb

^57-61Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.

^62-64After sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate. They said, “Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ We’ve got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There’s a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, ‘He’s risen from the dead.’ Then we’ll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first.”

^65-66Pilate told them, “You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you can.” So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and posting guards.

Matthew 28

Risen from the Dead

^1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.

^5-6The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.

⁷“Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.”

^8-10The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.”

^11-15Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, “His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping.” They assured them, “If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don’t get blamed.” The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around.

^16-17Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

^18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

About two weeks ago, this challenge occurred again.  My wife Kim is now almost 13 weeks pregnant.  When we visited the doctor for our first ultrasound at 11 weeks, we had that terrifying moment where the tech pauses and says, “I’ll need to go talk to the doctor for a moment, can you wait here?”  I feel like that question is never followed by good news, and I was certainly right this time.  The doctor came in, muttered to himself as he looked at our baby on the monitor, then turned and told us what he thought he saw.

At the base of the arrow is a cloudy area. This is what the doctor was concerned about.

Normally a baby’s organs develop faster than their the body has room for, so God made it so the organs develop outside the body at first, then go through the umbilical cord into the belly at about week 10.  By the time 11 weeks roll around, they should already be through, and the hernia they pass through should already have healed.  When the doctor looked at our baby, he saw what looked like organs still developing on the outside of its belly (see the arrow in the picture, it’s the cloudy part next to the tube-y looking thing).  The term for this issue is Gastroschisis.  It’s a birth defect in which an infant’s intestines stick out of the body through a defect on one side of the umbilical chord.  It’s not a life-threatening defect.  It is usually taken care of by giving birth through C-section and immediate surgery.  We would have to wait a few months to take our baby home.

In order to confirm their suspicions, we needed to schedule an appointment with a perinatologist (specialized doctor who takes care of problems that arise before birth).  Between the two appointments we prayed constantly and we enlisted the help of several family members and friends and asked them to pray too.  This was the moment when I was challenged.

How do I pray for our baby?

My theology says that God can heal.  It says He’s actually an expert at it, and does it all the time.  My practice says that God doesn’t heal very often these days, and its better to pray that He bring good doctors, that we can accept the difficulty of disease and defect, and learn to care for it.

I decided to let my orthodoxy win out over my orthopraxy this time.  I prayed that God would heal our baby.  I prayed, knowing that He can easily heal and fighting the creeping doubt that He wouldn’t do it this time.

Yesterday morning we met with the specialist.  We got to see our baby again on the ultrasound.  You’ll notice the distinct lack of organs sticking out of its belly at the arrow.  The doctor did too.  His comment was, “I don’t know what they saw on the first ultrasound, but your baby looks perfectly fine to me.  When people don’t look at these ultrasounds all day, every day like we do, they tend to misread them I guess.”

Notice the arrow-no sign of organs developing outside the body!

Problem was, Kim’s OB does look at ultrasounds all day, every day.  They have all of the equipment, and they have a dedicated tech that does this for their living.

Whether our baby healed with time, or the OB misread the ultrasound, or God truly and miraculously healed him/her, I learned a valuable lesson this week.  Its not easy to trust that God truly will answer prayer in the same way we hope He will, and we often set up escape clauses so that our faith in Him isn’t shaken.  My caution for myself, and for you if this is a place where you struggle, is this: trust means placing ourselves in situations where the result can be embarrassing, soul-crushing, and painful if the one we’re placing our trust in fails.  However, if we always create escape routes in an effort to limit damage, we may never experience the overwhelming moment where God does exactly what we hoped at exactly the right time.

The Everlasting Man

They took the body down from the cross and one of the few rich men among the first Christians obtained permission to bury it in a rock tomb in his garden; the Romans setting a military guard lest there should be some riot and attempt to recover the body.  There was once more a natural symbolism in these natural proceedings; it was well that the tomb should be sealed with all the secrecy of ancient eastern sepulture and guarded by the authority of the Caesars.  For in that second cavern the whole of that great and glorious humanity which we call antiquity was gathered up and covered over; and in that place it was buried.  It was the end of a very great thing called human history; the history that was merely human.  The mythologies and the philosophies were buried there, the gods and the heroes and the sages.  In the great Roman phrase, they had lived.  But as they could only live, so they could only die and they were dead.

On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away.  In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night.  What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.

I love the poetry of this passage.  There’s something special about reading the thoughts of Godly people who lived long before we did.  It ties us into the historical nature of our faith.  Which of the “old books” authors have influenced your thinking?

Last night I had the chance to see the midnight premiere of the Cohen Brothers’ True Grit.  Being a pastor and this being one of the two busiest weeks of my year, that was really the only chance I had to go see it.

I like westerns in general and I’ve always enjoyed John Wayne movies.  From Stagecoach, to The Quiet Man to The Shootist, I feel like I spent most of my boyhood Saturday mornings listening to the slow drawl of The Duke.  That being said, I never thought his Oscar-winning role as Rooster in True Grit fit him.  He was always the man in white—it was odd to see him in grey.

In this updated version, Jeff Bridges replaces Wayne.  Whether you’re a Bridges fan or not, he is ideal for this role and gives a stunning performance.  It seems as though Charles Portis wrote the book with him in mind all along.  Even with that, his role seems secondary to that of the lead actress, Hailee Steinfeld.  She is downright brilliant and, in my opinion, makes the movie great.  The reality is, however, that the entire cast is perfect.  Even Barry Pepper (I will always remember him as the sniper in Saving Private Ryan) is flawless in his small role.

The movie itself feels far grander than any western I remember.  Hollywood began shooting westerns on location back in the 30’s with the hope of demonstrating its vastness, but it never seemed as wild and beautiful as it does in this movie.  The cinematography is beyond gorgeous.  This movie feels as though it’s the Western that John Ford always wanted to make.

In general, I love the Cohen Brothers’ work and this movie is no exception.  Some of their movies, despite the exceptional writing, are gory and vulgar (i.e. No Country for Old Men, Fargo and The Big Lebowski) and I half expected that to be the case for this one.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn’t the case for True Grit.  It certainly earned it’s rating, but was nowhere near what I anticipated.

In all, it’s fun, beautifully shot, moving and often laugh out loud funny.  It’s everything I could hope for in a Christmas-release Hollywood blockbuster.