Watch D.O.G.S

I spent the entire day at my son’s school as a WatchDOG yesterday. (D.O.G.S., by the way, is “Dads of Great Students”).

Watch D.O.G.S. is an initiative of the National Center for Fathering that gets dads (and step-dads, grandparents, uncles, and other father figures) involved in their kids’ schools. You can find a link for Watch D.O.G.S. here.

I was greatly impressed with the program. And, honestly, I loved my time at the school. After a brief orientation video, WatchDOGS are put to work. At various times throughout the day, like most WatchDOGS, I did all of the following:
- Assisted students arriving at and leaving school by car or bus.
- Patrolled hallways and school grounds.
- Visited several (assigned) classrooms and helped teachers.
- Hung out with kids at recess.
- Ate lunch with my son’s class.

Here are some of my more memorable moments of the day…..

I tutored four 4th grade girls on subtraction problems. I saw the light bulb come on for one girl as she finally “got it” and then I watched as she was able to help another girl get it, too.

I played multiplication bingo (quizmo) with a classroom of 3rd graders. I sat at a desk by four other students and was able to help each of them learn how to use their multiplication charts to find answers. I kept whispering to my group of students that I was going to win one of the games. 2 of the students in my group won, but I never did. They giggled at me. The classroom yelled “bye” and waved at me as I left.

I assisted a class of kindergarteners working on their paintings in art class. Before they got started, the teacher instructed them to walk by me like a robot – with their arms stretched out – so I could put a smock on them. One little boy looked up at me as he walked by. He didn’t say a world, but he was clearly humming the Star Wars / Darth Vader theme music as he walked by. That made me chuckle all day.

Dozens of students shook my hand, gave me a high-five, smiled, and/or said “Hi WatchDOG!!!” in the hallways as we would walk by each other. (As a WatchDOG you wear a WatchDOG t-shirt so everyone knows who you are.)

One little boy ran into a bigger boy at recess and hurt his chin. He wasn’t injured, but the pain was bad enough he was having a tough time not crying in front of the other boys. I walked over and kneeled down to check him out. Since the tears were starting to well up, I kinda hid his head at my side while I told the other boys he was fine and they should go play somewhere. He composed himself, gave me a big “THANKS!” and then ran back off to play again.

5 or 6 girls used my legs as “base” while they played tag. I nearly fell on all of them. Twice.

One little girl grabbed my hand at recess and said, “I wish you were my daddy.” I was a little startled, so I asked her why. She hung her head a little and said, “because my dad never comes my school.” I wanted to pick her up in my arms to give her a great big hug and tell her that her daddy probably can’t get away from work to visit the school but that he loves her very much anyway. I refrained because that just didn’t seem appropriate. And it may or may not have been true. It drove home to me just how much kids want their dads to be involved in their lives.

One kindergarten boy was wound up during my time with him. You would have thought he had straight sugar for lunch and then chased it down with a couple of Mountain Dews. He nearly made me want to call in sick for my next WatchDOG day (in May). Seriously, he was bouncing off the walls. If he wasn’t talking, he was making weird noises with his mouth. If he wasn’t doing karate chops in the air, he was practicing for his career as a contortionist. He could not be still or quiet. And when I told him to settle down or “shhh,” he just looked at me in bewilderment like I was some Martian speaking gibberish. He frustrated me to no end. When I got home, I told my wife about him. Since she has volunteered at the school, she knew who I was talking about. She described how one day he said to her rather matter of factly, “I hate my dad. He’s a drunk.” That was like a punch to the gut for me. I have a whole new perspective on this boy, and I feel badly that I wasn’t more patient with him.

As a whole… it was an incredibly rewarding experience. The administration appreciated another pair of eyes and ears around the building. The teachers appreciated another pair of hands in the classrooms. The students appreciated the extra attention from someone’s dad. My son was proud to have me around.

And I’m hooked.

Home for the Holidays

We all want to be home for the holidays, don’t we?

I know, I know… some of our families are a little weird. (Don’t even get me started on mine.) And I know a few folks actually have pretty lousy families and they may not want to hang out with them now or any other time of the year. But there seems to be a universal desire to be around those we love during Christmas. Spending time with close friends and loved family members just seems right as we celebrate Jesus’ birth. We want to be home for the holidays.

The only problem is that we don’t remember where home is.

In the middle of the book of Hebrews is the “Hall of Faith.” It is a memorial to some of the great men and women of God. And here is a description of them from chapter 11, verses 13-16.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

How often we forget... The place where we were born is not our home. The place we live now is not really our home. The place where our parents live is not really our home, either.

Heaven is home.

And when we celebrate Jesus’ birth and the gift of salvation, we are celebrating the fact that we now have a new home.

Listen, I’m not trying to be a Grinch. Christmas should be fun. We should fully enjoy time with friends and family. But while we are feeling all the warm fuzzies of being home for the holidays, let that fuel our anticipation of our real home someday.

My Christmas Odometer

Our pastor at Conway’s First Baptist reminded us yesterday that there have been approximately 732,555 days since the first Christmas. Well, at least that’s what you get when you multiply 2007 by 365.

732,555

Nothing has been the same since that first Christmas. We even started our calendar over based on that event. I started to visualize a large odometer in my head – clicking off the days since Jesus was born.

732,556

My life is in that odometer. What will I do with each day that clicks off? My life is flying by…. and there are many days that come and go with very little meaningful occurring in them. I get up. I go to work. I come home. I play with and scold my boys. I go to bed.

732,557

I’ve got to do a better job of making each of those clicks meaningful. Somehow, I started to believe that when Jesus said he came to give us a full and abundant life (John 10:10), I just figured that meant that at the end of our life we would somehow look back and say, “yep, as a whole, that was abundant.” But perhaps the truer meaning is that each day is to be full and abundant. Jesus came on that first Christmas day and every day since is to be meaningful and abundant.

732,558

It is a shame when Christmas gifts are wasted. We’ve probably all done that before – and some of us may do it again this Christmas. But it would be tragic if we were to waste the gift we got on Christmas 732,555 days ago. That gift wasn’t just for us to have life on the other side of heaven. It was for life in the here and now, too.

732,559

Lord, forgive me for wasting the days that you intend to be rich and abundant. Help me make the most of each click.

732,560

732,561

732,562

Swamped at CBC

I don't know who this lady is, but I feel like she looks. I'm in up to my neck, grading final exams and papers. I've got a couple of blog posts steeping in my head, but I may not be able to post them until sometime next week.

Until then, more grading...........

Zip It

Senseless.

And kinda funny. My students may not get the references to Charlie or Harpo. But that’s OK.

I’m not sayin. You know….. I’m just sayin.

Money and Spiritual Health

I once had a college professor tell my class that he could tell more about the theology and spiritual health of a church by attending one of its business meetings than by attending a Sunday school class or worship service. He would say, in effect, “If you want to know if a church is healthy or not – find out how it spends money.”

I wonder if he would say the same thing about individuals. That is, if we want to know something about the psychological and spiritual health of a person, should we examine his checkbook or credit card statements?

This has been an interesting thought to me recently, as our Sunday school class has begun a four part series of lessons structured around a book by Randy Alcorn. The focus is on “storing up treasures in heaven.” That will possibly cover a lot of ground, but at least one issue has been how we think about our money and personal possessions – our “treasures on earth.”

Is our spiritual health related to how we think about money and possessions?

In Luke 3:1-15, we read a story of John the Baptist (the forerunner to Jesus’ ministry). At one point, he says to the people around him, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” My paraphrase – “Live a life outwardly that is an accurate reflection of what is happening inwardly.” JTB (as I like to call him) is then asked a very important question in response to this command: “What should we do?” Three different groups of people ask him this same question. Each group gets an answer related to their money and possessions.

Each group hears, “Produce fruit that reflects your repentance.”
Each group responds, “OK. Please tell us what that means. What do we do?”
Each group is told, “Handle your money and possessions well.”

More specifically, the respective groups are told to (1) be generous in sharing their money and possessions, (2) be honest in earning money and gaining possessions, and (3) be content with their money and possessions.

It seems that there is in fact a profound connection between our spiritual health and our money/possessions.

I’m looking forward to the next three lessons.

More on Huckabee and Copeland

From yesterday’s post: “For now, I would love to hear your thoughts on Huckabee and Copeland.” And the silence was deafening. But will that keep me from posting on the same subject again? Nope.

Back in September, Mike Huckabee was lacking the public support from many prominent evangelical Christians. Here’s an excerpt from a September 16, 2007 interview with Huckabee addressing this very issue. (The full article can be read here.)

Q: Why do you think religious conservatives haven't rallied around you stronger than they have, given that you share so much of what they believe?
A: I think that in some ways the Christian conservative movement has maybe gotten off the track. I think that some of them, frankly, are more intoxicated with power than principle, and I know that's a pretty outrageous if not rather bold statement to make, but I think it's the truth. Some have become so acquainted now with power and have been so close to it that they forget that the purpose for which they got involved in politics was not to be close to power; it was to speak the truth to power. It was to hold those in power, to hold their feet to the fire over issues they said got them involved and motivated. Now I hear some of the so-called Christian leaders say, "Well, we love Huckabee. He really agrees with us, and he's one of us in terms of views. But, you know, we're looking for somebody that we're confident is going to win." Well, two things. First, a lot of these people if they would get behind me I'd be winning right now, and I think I will ultimately without them. But secondly, if they really are principled, it's not about who might win, it's about who stands with us. And, frankly, it's a little disturbing, if not frightening, that some have forgotten the essence of what Jesus taught, and that is if you gain the whole world but lose your soul what does it profit you? And, frankly, some who would say, "Well, the presidency is so important." You know, well, so what? The presidency is not as important as are your values and as are your deep principles from the heart. And I worry about people who have come to this sort of "it's about winning." No. It's about standing for your convictions. And if it's not about that, then I'm afraid that many people got involved for all the wrong reasons.

That’s GREAT stuff.

But I’ve still got a problem. There are two possibilities here – at least as I see it. Possibility #1 – Huckabee knows Copeland is a theological lunatic and has decided to affiliate with him anyway. In this case, he seems to be violating the very principle he blasts Christian leaders for violating – It should be about principle, not power and winning. In this case, Huckabee would be demonstrating hypocrisy. Possibility #2 – Huckabee doesn’t know or believe Copeland is a theological lunatic. In this case, Huckabee would be demonstrating ignorance. And I’m uneasy about a presidential candidate carrying such a recent track record of either hypocrisy or ignorance.

Now for 2 disclaimers:
(1) The situation regarding conservative religious leaders supporting Huckabee has changed a bit. A good number have signed on for his Faith and Family Values Coalition (you can read a news release here).
(2) I am now running the risk of appearing to dogpile on Huckabee. This will be my last post on him – for now, anyway. I really do like him. And I’m glad he has taken the Republican lead in Iowa. While he has some weakness and has made some mistakes, I would consider him to be a good presidential candidate. Perhaps this is really just a case of picking on people I like. Professors are known for doing that.

Huckabee and Copeland: Guilt by Association?

I posted earlier that I was profoundly disappointed when Mike Huckabee decided to publicly associate with Kenneth Copeland as a part of his presidential campaign. And I’ve taken some heat for it – mostly from my own family and friends, but also from others on a couple of different blogs I read. Their basic argument to me goes something like this:

Huckabee isn’t just trying to get Southern Baptist support – he’s trying to get support from a wide audience. And Copeland has a wide audience, many of whom will appreciate Huckabee’s conservatism. Besides, we shouldn’t foster a “guilt by association” kind of thinking. Just because Huckabee is on Copeland’s show doesn’t mean he believes everything Copeland says.

Let me respond like this:

(1) Before readers assume I am throwing Huckabee under the bus, let me clearly state that I like him. He is a good man and a good politician. I am disappointed in his association with Copeland, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t make a great President. (Or vice-President – that was for you, Craig.) And whatever mistake Huckabee has or is making here, I recognize I am capable of far worse mistakes. I hope I’m not trying to pick at a speck without acknowledging my own planks.

(2) I think the term “guilt by association” is too vague – at least in this situation. There is more going on here than just Huckabee doing some spots on Copeland’s show. He isn’t just hanging out, having a cup of coffee with Copeland. Rather, he seems to be affiliating and/or aligning himself with Copleand. Huckabee is on record as calling Copeland a "dear friend" and receiving spiritual advice from him. He seems to admire and appreciate Copeland. This would be something more than mere “association.” Huckabee appears to have decided to be a bedfellow with Copeland rather than a critic of his theology. I question the wisdom of that decision and wonder in what other situations he may execute poor judgment.

(3) I think the principle of “guilt by association” needs examining, too. Clearly, there are some people with whom we can and should be friends - even when they do not believe exactly as we do. But befriending someone for the sake of a relationship and publicly affiliating with someone for the sake of gaining votes are two different matters. I have some friends who are not Christians and I would hope that others wouldn’t judge my theology or beliefs based on my friendship with them. But I am not publicly using those friendships for the sake of political gain, as it appears Huckabee is doing.

(4) Finally, I think the recipient of “guilt by association” needs examining. It would be one thing to associate with Mother Theresa (despite some of her shaky theology) because you share a heart for helping the down and outcast. It would be quite another to associate with Adolf Hitler because you share a passion for your country. To say we should never fault someone for the company they keep is to neglect the reality that some people are never worth associating with. In this situation, there are those that see Copeland more like Mother Theresa – a good person with some quirky theology. I’m not calling Copeland another Hitler, but his theology is more than just different or quirky. It is downright dangerous and I don’t know if the words heretic or charlatan are too strong to apply to him.

Maybe I’ll post sometime soon why I consider Copleand so dangerous. But this post has already grown too long. For now, I would love to hear your thoughts on Huckabee and Copeland.