Birthday 1: December 9, 2009

The Party

Last Saturday evening we celebrated Rolland's first birthday! More than a dozen of Rollie's friends and family gathered in our little apartment, with Grandma and Grandpa Noble joining us live via Skype. (Welcome to the future!) Rollie got a play tent with a matching tunnel, several new bath toys, and cowboy-style snow boots.


Erika made a delicious birthday buffet including, but not limited to, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, turkey-cranberry dip, squash canapes, and both a Smore cake and pumpkin-streusel cupcakes...


...which Rolland greatly enjoyed.

It was fun.


After the guests left (of course), Rolland had a lot of fun playing in his new tent/tunnel.


*The next day he took his first steps (see Erika's facebook page for the video), just to make sure he can claim that before his first birthday.*

The Day

Today (Dec. 9) Rolland is marking the day of his birth with his first ever fever. He's been incredible sleepy and cuddly...kind of like he was last year at this time. At least it should be easy to have an even better birthday next year. :-) (Notice he's playing with the "emergency" toy--he only gets Mommy's cell phone when she's desperate...or when her baby is pitifully adorable.)

Are We Pitiful?

What would someone like Richard Dawkins (who has thoroughly convinced himself there is neither God nor life after death) look at my life and say? "What a waste! What a pitiful life! That guy could be use a lot rougher language, if only he believed me."

Philosophical questions about God, life, and death have real implication on how we life and how we evaluate the lives of others. 1 Corinthians 15 addreses some of the arguments about life after death, which was a divisive issue during Paul's ministry, and even during Jesus's ministry. I have been challenged by an inference from verse 19.

1 Corinthians 15: 17-19 "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

I think that Paul and the apostles might have been pitied by some of the people they met. People who did not believe in a life beyond this one must have looked at the hardships faced by followers of The Way and shaken their heads.

What about us? Are people seeing my life (our lives) and asking, "why is he doing that?" Passages like Romans 12:2 compare the standards and the wisdom of the World to the standards and wisdom of the Kingdom. Even the briefest of glances at these passages reveal that God's Kingdom -- and those who would be in His Kingdom -- stands in striking contrast to the culture of the day. What does that look like the life of the believer today? They use "clean" language while worldly people have a potty mouth?

What I infer from 1 Corinthians 15:19 is that Paul's life looked like a ridiculous waste to those who did not believe. They pitied him. And Paul admits that if Jesus Christ is not risen from the dead, they should pity him -- he would even pity himself. How are we different from the World? Are we making "pitiable" choices, or we "nice" people who are trying to live "clean." Clean-livin' is sometimes respected by non-believers.

I am not planning on telling more dirty joke or integrating more four-letter words into my daily conversations, and I don't suggest you do either. What I am suggesting is that Kingdom Living is about much, much more than just those surface issues. I would challenge you to consider the life of Paul (or anyone else that really believed Jesus was waiting to welcome him into the Kingdom with open arms) and imagine how he would live today. What is keeping you from living a life like that?

1 Corinthians 15: 59 "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Pictures!

Dave's Devos

I have been re-reading "We Would See Jesus" by Hession this past week. I thought I would post an idea (a full quote is too long) from this short book, which was published in 1958.

The devil wants to condemn us and bring us into bondage. His accusations have two effects on believers. One is to cause us to defend ourselves. This self-justification actually drives us away from the grace that God gives to those who humbly ask. The other effect is to cause us to begin striving. By self-effort we attempt to make-up for our sins or try to change and improve ourselves. This also separates us from grace. As we attempt to climb up we are actually climbing away from Him.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, convicts us of sin and bring us to the Cross. There we find Jesus, the door to forgiveness, peace, and growth. Unlike the guilt of satan, the conviction of the Holy Spirit causes us to admit our sins before the cross and to draw closer to Christ. Also, it leads us to cease striving and to rest in the light burden and easy yoke of our Lord.

I hope you find this encouraging as I did. The life of faith is not simply believing something, it is believing in Jesus Christ and resting the full weight of ourselves, our lives, and our problems in His hands. May we seek Him and find Him (Jer. 29:13) , and then abide (John 15:5) in Him and rest (Matt. 11:28) in Him.

Another Post

Well, we are trying to keep up with our blog and we are trying to keep making progress toward Croatia. So, I suppose I'll keep up the blog with a post about progress. :-)

We had a wonderful time Ohio last weekend at a missions conference. We were encouraged by the people at the church, and we were happy to have the chance to share with them about our ministry plans.

Also, we are holding 2 prayer meetings each month.

And, we are working on sharing information and keeping people update with our latest news. If you want to know more, get in touch.