Lessons from Charlottesville

When 9/11 happened, I wished more peaceable Muslims had stated clearly that the actions were evil. Seems obvious enough to me that white separatists are evil. If my stance on this is news to anyone, they really don't know me. But it needs to be said. White supremacy, indeed! Such people reject the idea that every human bears the divine image. They pretend they are better than others. God is moving His plan toward a grand crescendo of praise when people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will gather to praise the Lamb who was slain for all people. Those who insist themselves to be even somewhat good--never mind "supreme"--by virtue of their pigmentation (or anything else) will not be a part of that celebration. Is there guilt enough to go around? Are there planks in the eyes of those who only care to see the unrighteousness of others? Hating haters is problematic for those who adhere to grace. The BLM website will demonstrate they are no friend to biblical truth. Lawlessness and violence in the name of self-righteousness will not produce lasting fruit worth having. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. Claiming moral superiority is sheer folly, turning me into my own brand of "holier than thou" counter protestor.

LEW

The unlikeliest of friends, we met along a property line I was never allowed to cross. Eventually our talks occurred through an eight-foot chain link fence topped with swirls of concertina wire. He was born in the shadow of Monteagle,    TN; I’m a city boy. He was former military; I never made it past Tenderfoot in Boy Scouts. He sported a big, bushy beard; I struggle to do respectable sideburns. Lew shared photos of his show dogs, spoke of his service in Vietnam, kept me up to date on his progress rebuilding an old pickup truck. Sometimes, we spoke of eternal things. We were often interrupted when I headed off to talk with people approaching the abortion clinic where he worked security. In the earlier days, he was married to the clinic director. Even after their divorce, he continued to protect the place from crazy prolifers. Like me.

These sidewalk conversations spanned 25 years. Our ministry was committed to the proposition that the workers at the abortion clinic were not the enemy. Everybody bears the divine image; everyone needs Jesus. And deserves respect.

Eventually, the clinic was taken over by others. Lew was fired. He stopped one day in that pickup and joked he might come over to our side of the fence and help out. Sounded good to me! The clinic closed after a time, and that sad old house at Bellevue and Monroe was demolished. And then my phone rang. It was Lew. I had given him my card years earlier and suggested he call if he ever wanted to talk.

To this day, he’s the only person ever to vape in my office. More expletives flew through the room during his visits than you will hear on Nixon’s Watergate tapes. But we talked about life. About important things. He welcomed my offers to pray for and with him. Lew showed up for church once on Easter. And more than a few times for our community cookouts. Yesterday, I received a call from his ex-wife Jo Ann. He was failing quickly, succumbing to a fast-moving pancreatic cancer. She was providing him care. William Green and I visited Lew yesterday afternoon. William spoke of his own journey to faith in Christ and made sure Lew understood the need for trusting Jesus as Savior. This morning, Jo Ann called to tell me he had passed away in his sleep.  I am confident we will see each other again.

A Bundle of Answered Prayers

Sometimes God allows us to see very direct and wonderful answers to prayer. Sometimes we get to hold them. Two decades of a whole range of prayers—for a nine-year-old kid to come to Christ, to grow in faith, to choose the right college, to make great friends there, to marry the very best of the bunch, to be a loving husband, to survive cancer, to be a godly dad (I could go on, but you get the idea)—came to Memphis this weekend. What an honor to dedicate little Rebekah Joy yesterday morning! Thankful for Seth and Ashley…and Rebekah.