#87 The Son Becomes the Father

I was born in 1991. That same year, Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Pretty early on my dad bought a SNES and began playing Super Mario World. As I got older, I found this game fascinating, and, as little kids do, I wanted to join my dad in whatever he was doing. So Dad handed me the spare controller and let me push the buttons and bounce around. Then I really loved the SNES. Before long I was old enough to actually play, and I still enjoyed it. Even as I got older and the SNES grew more and more outdated, I continued playing and having fun. So I kept the SNES with me as I moved to college and then to seminary and then to Iowa. One day a couple months ago I hooked up the old SNES in the basement. Lanie sat and watched me play for a bit, but she didn't seem to care too much. Then last week she decided that the basement was the most fun place in our house. Day after day we went down to explore, and before long she found the SNES. So I turned it on and handed Lanie the spare controller. Suddenly she loved it. The past few days she's been asking me to play with her, so I let us play for about 10 minutes. (She normally loses interest by about then anyway.) Things have come full circle. If Lanie keeps enjoying herself and the old SNES hangs on, maybe we'll get to the point where we can really play together. Then we'll really have fun.

Grace and peace,
BMH

P.S. Look at how cute Lanie is!

#86 Power

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…" (Acts 1:8)

I've felt drawn to this verse from Acts for several years. Last Sunday it was at the heart of my preaching on Jesus' ascension. When Jesus returns to heaven, He sends His people His Spirit so that He may continue His work of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God through us. There are no maybes in Acts 1:8. Christians will receive power, and Christians will be Jesus' witnesses. There's no room for questions; there are no other options. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the Risen Lord, the Exalted King, promises to equip His people with His own power to enable us to carry out the great task of spreading the good news to the whole world. The same Spirit who empowered Jesus' ministry will now empower Jesus' people. Nothing is too difficult for God, and so there's nothing to fear.

I understand all of that. I really think I believe it. I can proclaim it as I did here, and I try to find to comfort in it. But, if I'm being really honest, I fail to live out those beliefs again and again. I fear a lot. And that fear keeps me from witnessing as I should. Even though I know that conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit always goes both before and with me, somehow I continue to convince myself that witnessing is all up to me. And if it really were all up to me, then I'm too weak and stupid and unworthy to do it properly. So again and again I fail to be what Jesus really wants me to be. I have the power of God inside of me, and yet I think I can't do something God gives me to do. Satan has been defeated and will be destroyed, and yet again and again I let the devil silence me and win, even though Satan is no match for the Spirit living in me. That's messed up. And I know I'm not the only Christian who struggles miserably in this way, especially in the U.S.

I know that I won't ever be perfect in this life, but I can be much, much better. I desperately want to be better. I don't know what God will do through me, but I'm sure that He can do immeasurably more than I can imagine. So I'm putting it here for anyone to read: I'm committing myself to praying that the Holy Spirit's power will annihilate my fears and to working to witness more and more with both my words and my actions. If you feel the need to pray for me, pray for that above all else. And when I pray for others, I'll try to pray the same thing.

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

Grace and peace,
BMH

#85 By the Slice

My little sister, Molly, graduated from my alma mater, Trinity Christian College, on Saturday. Congrats, Molls! While Tess and I were in the area, we made our usual stop at Nonna's Pizza in Crestwood. Nonna's claims to sell the world's largest pizza slice. (It's definitely huge, but I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical of that claim.) Now Nonna's is by no means the finest pizza on earth, but the pizza is big and doughy and hot, and I've always enjoyed it. Plus, Nonna's is open 24/7. When I was in college, a normal slice with drink and tax was $5. Nonna's was a college student's dream: lots of relatively cheap food available at any time. I devoured many, many slices of Nonna's over the course of my college career.

So whenever I'm in or driving through Chicagoland I make an effort to stop at Nonna's. My mom always rolls her eyes at me, and even Tess thinks I'm a little bit crazy, but I love Nonna's. As much as I do enjoy the pizza, it's more about the memories. One of the first nights my cross country teammates and I were at Trinity, we went to Nonna's. That was the first of many trips with my teammates and friends. We even convinced our coach to stop there after a meet one time. But that wasn't all. Tess and I would often split late-night slices. There always seemed to be Trin folks around on Thursday nights after Outcry (our praise and worship night). I made a lot of good memories over slices of Nonna's. Being around Trinity will always be a different now that I've graduated (and Nonna's itself has changed some), but when I stop at Nonna's I don't just get a slice of pizza, I also get a slice of my college life. And that's always worth it, even if the price is now $6.

Grace and peace,
BMH