Final Grandpa Update

I am still quite sad today while trying to trust in God's sovereignty and love, while trying to believe that "behind a frowning providence there hides a smiling face" (Bunyan).

I was comforted by a friend from seminary who wrote in an email that he grieved with me and that Joseph, who trusted in the sovereign goodness of God like few others (cf. Gen 50:21), cried six times during his ordeal. That's about how many times I've cried today as I've tried to journal about the past 10 days and the past 29 years with my grandpa, Herbert Hoover Cox.

There is no more need to give updates on my grandpa so this is the final one. He's doing far better now that he's in heaven, having become a Christian on December 1, 2006, and no longer in need of our prayers. Again, I can't thank all of you enough for your prayers and support. Every time I told him about you he'd close his eyes, smile, and say "Tell them I said 'Thank you'." It meant so much to him. Thank you.

The only thing left to say is that his memorial is at 2:30pm this coming Sunday, March 4th, at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar. Please pray for me as this is my first funeral, and for the many unbelievers who will be in attendance.

Grandpa Update

He died. He wanted me to thank you for all your love and prayers.

He's no longer sick and more alive now than he's ever been.

Grandpa Update

I haven't blogged much this week because I've been at the hospital most of the time. The pneumonia never got too bad because it was caught so early (thank God!). All his vitals are stable (except his body temperature is low, between 95 and 97) and his all-there mentally.

Aside from his general condition, which is weak, and his general mental state being pretty depressed I think he's doing well--much better than when he entered.

I just received word that he went for his longest walk of the past couple weeks, which tells me he's not giving up. I've heard that if you give cancer an inch, it will take a mile, if you let up on it for one second it will kill you.

Aside from his surgery on Dec. 1, the last time my grandpa was in the hospital was the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He's lived a very healthy life so all of this is really new and uncomfortable and discouraging to him. That's why aside from praying and reading the Bible with him every night I'm also trying to encourage him to keep the fight going.

Because he's doing so well and no longer needs the antibiotics for the pneumonia, it looks like he's being moved today to an assisted living facility where they're going to work on rehabilitating him to come home and to be able to withstand the chemo.

Please pray that his health stays good, that his strength increases considerably and that he sees good things happening so that he'll be encouraged. Many can see God's fingerprints on the whole situation. Not only has God helped him while in the hospital this week, but He's helped us learn what to do for him when he gets home.

I truly thank God for all He's done this week and look forward to what He's going to do in the future.

Grandpa Update

Today was the kind of day that reminded me of something I heard John Bunyan say by way of John Piper's biography about him (read or listen here, I think it's one of Piper's best): "Behind a frowning providence there hides a smiling face."

I hold my grandpa upright, helping him get into his wheelchair, when he passed out. My mom and I sat him in the chair so that we could wheel him to his bed, but he slumped down and was near falling off completely. I stopped my mom from pulling the chair any further, lifted him off the chair and set him on the floor while telling her to call 911.

When he went limp in my arms I thought he died. He was not responding to anything I was saying. Not even his eyes moved. When I got him on the floor, I was trying to assess whether or not he needed CPR while praying fervently. It was clear that he was breathing, but I could not find a pulse either on his neck (I was looking in the wrong spot) or his wrist.

Thankfully, I heard the ambulance coming so I knew they'd take over. After talking to my grandpa about all this later he told me he doesn't remember how he got on the floor or even that he was on the floor. He was not responding much at all so I'm not surprised. However, once the paramedics showed up he was talking to them, which was quite a relief.

The reason I quote Bunyan above is because when we got to the ER we learned after a few tests that he had what the doctor called "a touch of pneumonia," something we never would've noticed until it was farther along. If he had not passed out today we would not have known at all.

On top of that, the ER was packed all day and all night, that is, except for the time he got there. It was practically empty. I shudder to think what it would've been like if he would've passed out a couple hours later.

So, what started out as a tragedy ended up being a wonderful blessing in disguise as it seemed that God orchestrated the whole thing to keep my grandpa safe and alive. He is now at Hoag Hospital resting soundly, unaware of all the physical and respiratory torture, I mean therapy, that awaits him in a few hours.

I thank God for all the events today, and I thank all of you for all your prayers. He was supposed to start round 2 of chemotherapy tomorrow so please pray that he'll get better from the pneumonia, and that he'll get his strength up to start chemo soon. Also, please pray for his girlfriend's mental state (she's a Mormon who recently buried one brother from cancer, has had cancer herself, and just found out today that her oldest brother is very sick) as well as wisdom for my mom and her two brothers as they are making many of his medical decisions.

Any advice on anything is greatly appreciated. I'll keep this updated as I can. Thank you for everything.

Pastor Commits Suicide

Please read this tragic story of another pastor who was having a homosexual affair before he killed himself after finding out the local Pittsburgh TV news was going to out him.

What's the fascination with catching pastors being hypocrites? Does it make us feel better about our own hypocritical behavior? With everything else going on in the world is a local pastor's life of shame news worthy? I can understand letting the elders or presbytery know, but the KDKA-TV news?

His "lover" is someone looking for attention, not someone who truly cares about the guy's church or family and the same is true for the TV station. They're both sick.

Also, what is with unqualified pastors being pastors in the first place. Don't get me wrong, while I think suicide is self-centered and prideful, I feel sorry for a guy who'd rather kill himself than face his family, church and presbytery.

But think about it. You've just been outed as a hypocrite on local TV, drug your name, your family and your church through the mud, totally discrediting the ministry and giving people yet another reason to reject Christianity, and on top of that, you've willfully sinned against God so you kill yourself. After all that, is there no fear of God? Rather than face the temporal consequences he kills himself so he can face God after Romans 1, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and James 3:1 have meant nothing to him.

Thankfully, the Cross covers homosexual hypocrisy and the gospel brings forgiveness to the one suffering under the weight of that guilt. Jesus died so save sinners, even pastors who are proven hypocrites, from the guilt and penalty for their sins. I hope his family and the church are hearing a lot about the healing found in the gospel.

My Life Verse

Today was the day I read the most convicting passage in the Bible for me, which just so happens to double as the qualification standard any pastor-teacher-elder-overseer must have. If a man does not meet this, he may have the desire, but he's not qualified and has no business in pastoral ministry.

1 Timothy 3:2-7

"...an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil."

Because I try to read two chapters of the NT each day (along with 3 OT and 1 Psalm or 1 Proverb chapter), I also read what became my life verses a few years ago.

1 Timothy 4:12-16

"Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."

Idiot Chicago Bears Fan

Stories like this remind me that "fan" is short for "fanatic." It's about a man who bet his name that the Bears would win the Super Bowl...literally!

Since he lost the bet, he's already put through the legal papers to change his name to Peyton Manning. I'd have to agree with him. He is an idiot.

He is a great example of the proverb "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Prov 29:20).

NYC Cabby, Diamonds & the Image of God

Because I'm assuming (maybe unfairly) that the New York cab driver and the jeweler starring in this article are not Christians, I thought this was a wonderful story that highlights the image of God in all human beings and God's common grace to the jeweler who left 31 diamonds in his backseat.

Grandpa Update

My grandpa's strength is deteriorating. He's tired all day. His stamina has gone way down, and his legs get very shakey when he walks. He eats, but not as much as we'd like.

We think the weakness is due to low blood sugar so we've taken him off his blood sugar medicine, but it seems that once we figure one problem out another arises. I know he's getting frustrated.

Our times in the Bible and prayer each night are very sweet, and he wanted me to tell all of you praying for him how grateful he is that people who don't know him and have never met him are thinking and praying for him.

He tells me every night how much he looks forward to our time together before he goes to bed where we read a portion of Mark's gospel and pray.

So, while is body is getting worse, at least for now, his spirit is being strengthened by God's amazing grace. Thank you.

Renowned Atheist Turned Theist

A couple years ago many in the Christian world were shocked to learn that famed atheist and vociferous opponent of Christianity for some five decades, Anthony Flew, had become a theist.

Thanks to the Stand To Reason blog, I learned that Lee Strobel conducted this interview with him about what caused him to change his deeply held anti-religious view.

As I wrote in previous posts about steps toward salvation in evangelism, so when I first heard of this a couple years ago I thought this was a huge success even though being a theist does not save. The gospel message assumes a lot of things, one of them being the existence of God. Therefore, a person must first be a theist before becoming a Christian.

Every Christian who reads this post and/or watches this video should be moved to prayer for the very old Dr. Flew specifically and should be encouraged to continue witnessing to the most difficult rejectors of the gospel in our lives.

My Super Bowl Highlight

Thanks to the STR blog, I got in print my favorite part of the Super Bowl.

My only reason for watching the 4th quarter and the trophy ceremony this year was to hear what Tony Dungy or Lovie Smith would say after winning.

Mr. Dungy didn't disappoint at all when he said:

"I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this, but again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that."

Famine for God

If this is not a description of most churches in the West and most churches in Orange County where I live, than I don't know what is. I pray that God is gracious to us and relents of this particular judgment on us:

Amos 8:11-12

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land--not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it."

First, notice who's speaking and who's acting. This is a sovereign act of Adonai Yahweh, God our Lord, our Master.

Second, what does our Lord do? HE sends the famine. Notice, the effects of the famine are the same--hungering, thirsting, wandering, running to and fro for an unfulfilled desire. However, the object being sought after for consumption is not food or water, but it is the Word of God.

Today, it's en vogue in church to teach everything at church but God's Word. When that's an accurate general description of the church, I think this passage should arrest us and cause us to ask "Are things like this because of God's judgment?" Is this more than an educational issue? Is mass repentance in order?

Third, notice the result of what God does. Despite the passionate search, God's Word is not found.

I can't tell you have many conversations I've had in the last decade about this, especially in Orange County, California--people hopping from church to church to simply hear someone explain the Bible. I'm convinced there are thousands of Christians, right here, who don't want to hear about the latest cultural fads, the current trends in psychology, philosophy, social issues, business management, relationship therapy, etc.

They are asking one question. They care about one thing. What does God say? What does He say about Himself? What does God say about me? What does He say about salvation? What does God say about relationships? What does He say about good and evil and truth and integrity? They're just dying to hear God's Word, even poorly explained, at church.

God! God! God! It's all about Him. Christianity is NOT about me! Christians instinctually know this, and are longing for a place where they will hear God speak.

So, are you part of the solution, or part of the problem?

Cry Billy Cry

In an interview with his own website here, Bill Gates first says he's never seen the funny Mac ads, and then whines about them, demonstrating some knowledge for someone who's never seen them.

God, the Truly Satisfying

As Augustine expresses his struggles to submit his heart to God in his Confessions, he gives us a truly remarkable picture of God's drawing and wooing of the unbeliever that helps us share the message of the gospel with wisdom.

This is yet another insightful contribution that gives us a great lesson about the unbelieving heart. Here, in chapter VI, paragraph 16, he wrote,

"Woe to the audacious soul which hoped that by forsaking You it would find some better thing! It tossed and turned, upon back and side and belly—but the bed is hard, and You alone give it rest."

These words remind us of his famous opening line: "for You have made us for Yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in You (I.1)"

Thanks to Augustine's read of his own heart, it seems we can say that the unbeliever is hoping that he's coming out ahead by rejecting the gospel. In a cost-benefit analysis, the benefits of the gospel (God declaring you not guilty for your sin, God redeeming you from slavery to sin, God's wrath against you being satisfied, the establishing of a friendship with the King of the Universe, etc.) do not outweigh the benefits they're receiving from remaining in unbelief.

Like Augustine, they think they've found something better than God. Something else has come along and promised them the rest that only the gospel truly gives. Something else seems to satisfy them, fulfill them, speak peace and joy to them.

In the end, whatever the "better thing" is, it ultimately is a counterfeit gospel that gives a counterfeit rest as their life is ultimately being controlled by a counterfeit god who does not satisfy, does not fulfill, and does not give joy and peace. That only comes when a person is connected to the God they were created to be connected to, and that connection only comes from the gospel they've traded in.

You can trust that this dynamic is going on, and our job, with insight from God's Spirit, is to patiently take the time to identify this idol in their heart--whether it's intellectual, emotional, etc.--and seek to wisely pull down that stronghold with the mighty weapons of gospel truth (cf. 2 Cor 10:3-5) in a manner that is gentle, loving, kind, respectful and gracious (cf. Eph 4:15, Col 4:5-6, 2 Tim 2:24-25, 1 Pet 3:15).

Call to Prayer

Alister Begg just announced here that he has prostate cancer.

Please pray for wisdom in treatment options, a speedy recovery, and grace to grow from this experience.

Gen Next

While reading a recent Pew Research poll about Generation Next (those born between 1981 and 1988), I found this most interesting:

"One-in-five members of Generation Next say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the proportion of young people who said that in the late 1980s. And just 4% of Gen Nexters say people in their generation view becoming more spiritual as their most important goal in life."

I think this presents a major challenge to the future of the church. This demonstrates there's a trend, a massive cultural shift, away from religion taking place despite all the "success" we're enjoying with megachurches, international parachurch organizations, radio & TV shows, book deals and general media exposure for evangelicals.

Tragedy & Calvinism

Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, reflects on facing death as a Calvinist in this Time Magazine interview.

I find it important that one's theology "works" in the midst of our hardest times. I think Calvinism not only matches the Bible and makes sense (the top priorities when determining whether or not something is true), but it meets our needs in our darkest hours with the God it helps us understand and embrace.