Design of Marriage

I have been a romantic all my life, and have celebrated the joy and beauty of many weddings of friends and relatives. LOVE is an all-important part of life, and I am especially touched when I see it displayed in those who have been married for a long time. I recently had the opportunity to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of two very special people, and words are inadequate to describe the admiration I have for them. So, I am not against marriage. I am not against love. And, I voted for Proposition 22 in 2000 to formally define marriage in California between a man and a woman. I also support Proposition 8, the "California Marriage Protection Act" I can already hear the angry protests and loud objections. I also saw the commercial that kept running on TV, where they asked what if you weren't able to marry the one you love? My response would be that the fundamental reason was not addressed. Marriage is defined by the Creator of man and woman, and the Designer of life to be between a man and a women. When we try to redefine it, it is no longer "marriage." What if the commercial depicted a man trying to marry his dog? What if the commercial depicted an elderly person trying to marry a toddler? What if the commercial depicted a man trying to marry four women? In the same way that none of these fit the design for marriage, neither do same sex marriages. In God's design for marriage and family, a man and a woman marry and they bear children. There is a design for roles, responsibilities, authority, love, respect, and interaction. While there are situations that don't meet the ideal design, such as couples unable to have children, or members of the family who rebel against the design for roles, responsibilities, love, etc; those should be considered the exceptions, and should not negate the design. It is a fact of life that everything works best when it is functioning according to how it was designed. When we try to change the function or the design, it becomes something different. Just this weekend, I received as a gift, a houseplant that was potted in a cup. While the cup was originally designed for drinking liquids such as tea or coffee; by using it to hold the plant, it became a planter instead. I can no longer really call it a cup; nor is it used for drinking anymore. In the same way, when we redefine marriage to anything other than that between a man and a woman, we can no longer really call it "marriage" and it no longer truly fulfills it's original design and function.

More Olympics

The Women's All-Around gymnastics competition last night again illustrated why the Olympics keeps me glued to my television set, cheering and tearing up at the same time. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson from the U.S. won the gold and silver medals. They were the favorites going into the competition; and despite the immense pressure, we could see their mental strength as they both gave strong routines in every rotation. They fulfilled what they set out to do; and from the moment they finished to the moment they stood on the medals podium, we could see the flood of emotions release, after years of sacrifice, hard-work, and pressure. What can we do but stand and applaud, and offer them their well-deserved admiration and respect. And of course, we can't talk about the Olympics without mentioning Michael Phelps. The man who has the possibility of winning 8 gold medals in these Olympics has more than met all expectations so far. He has not only won the gold medal in 6 of his 6 completed races so far; he has done each and every one of them in world record time. Every time he does it, I ask myself, "How does he do it?" How does a person, under all that expectation and pressure, so overwhelmingly succeed? With his grueling schedule of race after race, he just goes out and does what he sets out to do. And above all that, these showed great sportsmanship and are very likeable people. That is why we are proud to call them our champions. As in the story of David and Goliath, Goliath was referred to as a "champion". He was the one who represented his nation and fought for them. By agreeing to fight Goliath, David became Israel's champion. In a similar way, these Olympic athletes become our champions, as they represent their respective countries in the various sports. Overall, I recognize that why I admire these Olympians and why I am drawn to watch them and cheer for them, is because I see them exhibiting characteristics such as discipline and hard-work. They were not arrogant, even after winning. They would even speak graciously about those they competed against. These are actually the characteristics of our heavenly Father, who has created each one of us in His own image. Scripture expounds the virtues of discipline, humility, grace, and love; and it teaches us to avoid characteristics such as arrogance and laziness. So, really, we just cannot help but be drawn towards being who we were created to be, a reflection of God our Creator.

Good-byes

I was never good at saying "Good-bye." How do you put into words everything that you have shared, all that person means to you, and how much you will miss him or her. Even when you know the reasons why they are leaving, it is not the same as having them close by. No matter how "easy" it is to stay in touch with modern technology, you can't hug over the phone, you can't wipe away a tear over a text messaging, and you can't lean on a shoulder over email. When they leave, they take a part of you with them. And you wonder when the next person you find to "hang out" with will go also. And what about those you know you will never see again here on earth? Those good-byes are even harder. I guess eventually everyone leaves, in one way or another. "Good-bye" is part of life. So, the best "good-bye" is to remember what the original meaning of the word means: "God be with you." That's where we can gain peace in saying "good-bye". We place them into the hands of God....

The Olympics

What is it about the Olympics that keeps me glued to my television, staying up late despite having to get up early for work the next day? Why do I jump up and down and cheer when no one else is around to hear me as I watch it in my living room by myself? After the amazingly exciting and unexpected Gold medal win by the US Men's 4x100m free relay swim team yesterday, Jason Lezak is quoted as saying, "People always step up and do things out of the ordinary at the Olympics." That's one of the reasons why I love watching the Olympics. I'm hoping it will challenge and motivate me to do something out of the ordinary, to inspire me to dream and to hope. When the characteristics of hard work, sacrifice, and discipline are displayed in excellence, I cannot help but stand up and applaud. This is also an opportunity to cheer for the athletes of our respective countries and to share in their deeply emotional moments. The Olympics illustrate that the harder we work for something, the more meaningful the result.

The Love of God

We're about to start a new study in the Book of Hosea. Most people think that the Love of God is mainly seen in the New Testament; but, this Old Testament book actually reveals so many aspects of God's Love as clearly as any other book in the Bible. The more powerful and poignant illustrations are those of His Redeeming and Salvation Love. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" -- Hosea 13:14a We see the pain in the heart of God, as His love is rejected and forgotten by His people; yet, He remains faithful, despite their unfaithfulness. He longs to heal and forgive them; and He is persistent in pursuing them. His love endures for all time. One of the reasons why people tend not to see the Love of God in the Old Testament, is because they see the wrath of God displayed. However, it is clear that God's justice and discipline are actually demonstrations of His Love. "The LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:12)

Experiencing the Holy Land

Going to Israel, and seeing how the Jewish people have endured as a nation despite the challenges and difficulties they have faced throughout history, we cannot help but see that, as Romans 11 states, “God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew.” “There is a remnant chosen by grace” and “they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” Some of the places where the scenes of the Bible “came to life” were: * Being in Joppa and seeing a rooftop patio area that might have been similar to the one Peter was in, when heaven opened and a sheet was lowered with animals that were no longer to be considered unclean (Acts 10:9-16) * Experiencing excitement at entering the Holy Land, which may be similar in part to how the Israelites felt when first entering the Promised Land * Being in Herod’s Theater in Caesarea, the very place where Paul may have testified before Felix and Herod (Acts 23-24) * Being on Mt Carmel where Elijah had victory over the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18), overlooking the prophesized site of Armegeddon (Har Megiddo) in sobering reverence of God’s power that will be unleashed on that day * Hearing Pastor Chuck preach on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) while on the Mt of Beatitudes * Being baptized in the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17) * Being in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus walked on water (John 6:45-52) * Being at Gideon’s Spring (Judges 7) * Worshipping on the southern steps leading to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem * Seeing the Upper Room and the Garden of Gehsemane * Walking the Via Dolorosa and the Palm Sunday Road * Hearing that the text of the Valley of Dry Bones passage (Ezekiel 37) was found at Masada * Being at En Gedi where David hid from Saul and may have written Psalm 57 * Praying at the Wailing Wall; and walking through the Western Wall tunnel, particularly at the section closest to the Holy of Holies in the original temple * Having communion at the Garden Tomb We saw so many more sites; and on top of that, got to hear great teaching and devotionals, listen to the amazing piano duet Nielson & Young, spend time in worship and singing, and meet so many amazing people in the family of God. What a blessing it was to be able to experience so much there. It’s the difference between being able to meet someone in person versus just reading or hearing about him/her or just seeing a picture. The half (HA CHET-ZI) has not been told….

Evolution vs Intelligent Design

I was recently asked about my thoughts on Evolution vs Creationism..... In the past, the big debate was between Evolution vs Creationism. However, in more recent years, it would be more common to talk about Evolution vs Intelligent Design. The difference between Intelligent Design (ID) and Creationism is that ID can be treated as a science, and that while the evidence points to a Designer, ID does not identify who the Designer is, in order to focus only on the evidence, observations, and facts. Creationism, on the other hand, starts with the Genesis account and, of course, identifies God as the Creator; which does include faith. So, by its focus on just the evidence and its adherence to the scientific process, Intelligent Design should be able to used for teaching in schools, as an alternative along with Evolution. While micro-evolution (evolution within a species) can be observed in nature, and would be accepted, even by Christians; the issue is with macro-evolution (evolution across species). Data and evidence, such as fossil records do NOT support macro-evolution. So, in science, when the data and evidence do not support a theory, we generally need to go back to the theory and revise it to match the evidence. However, with evolution, the academic world has elevated it to the point where it has become a philosophy or belief system, so they dogmatically hold onto Darwinian Evolution and refuse to consider any alternatives, such as Intelligent Design. The complexities we see in life systems actually show that the probability of everything happening by chance or random changes due to evolution are impossible, but, on the other hand, support the ID view. For Christians, the ID view is additionally consistent with what we know to be true, when we do recognize that the Designer is God. When I see the beauty and the order in nature, it makes sense to me that it is a reflection of the Designer. Knowing that He lovingly created the universe to make it possible to have life on Earth adds meaning and purpose; whereas the Evolutionary view that everything happened by chance and random process implies an impersonal world that has no basis for morality or ethics.