A while back, while watching Ezra and eating some grape nuts & yogurt, I glanced at the cover of a Parents magazine. The story was called “The New Face of Fatherhood” and the gist was that it was now cool for a dad to be seen in public with their kid. They cited examples of celebrities - Brad Pitt, Spike Lee, Will Smith, Matt Damon - that were not afraid being seen doing activities with their children would diminish their masculinity. The story went on to talk about how we have changed from the Fifties when child-rearing was entirely the domain of the mother and how progressive we are as a society.

I nearly wept.

I was not overwhelmed by the writing of the story, nor am I particularly concerned with the relationship between Spike Lee and his child. What touched my heart was that God spoke Malachi 4:5,6 to me as I read that article:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

God will send an anointing to the earth before Jesus returns. This “Elijah anointing” will be on certain people who will help prepare the way for the return of Jesus. One of the things that will happen is that the hearts of the fathers will be turned to their children, and vice versa. How do I know we are in the last days? Because even Parents magazine recognizes that fathers’ hearts are being turned towards their children!

Many people have told me that “every generation though Jesus would return in their lifetime” and that I should just concentrate on my responsibilities here and now and let those things work themselves out. Well, I refuse to let the editors of Parents be the only ones that recognize the signs of the times. My friends, we must be vigilant, continually watching and praying. The more we desire His return, the more we will watch for Him, and the more of these signs we will observe.

Even so, come quickly Lord!

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We were trying to take a family photo, and this was the best shot of the night. This should give you an indication of the success of the other pictures.

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We are all familiar with the self-apellation Jesus used, Alpha & Omega, Beginning & the End. For many years I thought that just meant He was infinite. Of course, that in itself is magnificent. Recently I heard a teaching tying this in with Author & Finisher of our Faith; that Jesus would begin a work in us and would finish it. This was an interesting truth, and I’ve been mulling it over for the last year or so.

When the Spirit begins a work in us, He will finish it. There is no question, because He has declared Himself to be the Finisher. He does not lie, nor does He fail. That should give us encouragement. No matter how bad things get, we can rest in the knowledge that He will complete the work He started.

I have used this concept to help me focus on finishing my bachelor’s degree. I have been discouraged often, wondering if I would ever finish. But this knowledge, that He will finish His work in me, has kept me going. I have stood on this.

Today I graduated from Old Dominion University with a BS in Computer Science, minoring in Computer Engineering. I was thankful that God finished this part of His work in me. I understood that He had begun the work, and He completed it.

However, the Spirit enlightened the eyes of my understanding, when He spoke this to me:

The end of a thing is better than the beginning.

Ecc 7:8

Imagine a master carpenter like Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop… I love that show). He wants to make a beautiful side chair. So he draws up plans, gets the supplies, measures, cuts, glues, nails, sands and finishes the piece. He begins the work and finishes the work. Now I can do the exact same thing. I could make plans, buy wood, measure, cut, clue, nail, sand and finish. I could spend the exact same amount of time doing all that work, and I guarantee you I would not have anything even close to what Norm can produce. The point is not the work. We don’t grade on effort. We grade on the finished product. The reason Norm does the work is to take raw material and turn it into a beautiful work of art. If the end (the side chair) wasn’t better than the beginning (2×4s in Lowe’s), it would just be a guy in his garage avoiding housework.

I missed this point entirely. I thought God was going to give me the grace to finish. I had no idea he would restore the years that the canker worm stole. I had no idea He would produce beauty, when I had come with ashes. I did not realize He would take my burlap and turn it into cashmere. Read that verse from Ecclesiastes again. The end is better than the beginning. The promise is not just that there will be an end. The promise is that the end will be better than the beginning.

Not all my grades are in, but I believe I finished this semester with a 4.0. I got the highest grade in my class on a national Computer Science exit exam, scoring in the 99th percentile nationwide. Because of this, the CS department gave me a $150 gift certificate to the bookstore, where I was able to get a nice ODU hoodie that was out of my price range normally (along with a bunch of other swag). Tony Snow was the commencement speaker, and gave an excellent speech talking frankly about God and country. My son saw me graduate. I was interviewed by the Virginian-Pilot, and I was able to share a bit about my faith, and what I shared in this post. When the reporter asked if I was proud, I was able to tell her the second part of Ecc 7:8, “The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

I say all this not to brag, but to give glory to God. He is the one who worked in me, both to will and to do His good pleasure. If we talked about what I was able to accomplish on my own, I could show you strings of Withdraw-Fails and dropped classes. Despite my best efforts, the Spirit completed His work. Well, He completed a work. I’m excited to see what He’ll build next.

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My wife tagged me. When Raegan plays a game, you play the game.

The rules are explained thusly:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog…
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself…
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs…
4. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Done.
2. 1. I love filling out forms. Those pdf’s that are fillable forms give me excited shivers down my spine.
   2. I like watching people fill out forms (as long as they have neat handwriting).
   3. Even though I’m over 250 lbs and 6′3″ tall, I can walk silently through our house. Our house is 50 yrs old, w/ creaky wood floors. Seriously, I’ve got mad ninja skills. Raegan keeps threatening to put a bell around my neck.
   4. I have very low tolerance for incompetence.
   5. I’ve had over 12 jobs in 8 years, two for less than a month each. I’m starting a new job next week. (no, I’ve never been fired or laid off. yes, I get bored easily. no, i’m not counting websites and stuff on the side.)
   6. I love to read books about efficiency, like Getting Things Done and time management stuff. However, I have over 3300 messages in my inbox.
   7. I believe we’re at the end of the age.
3. 1. Kate
   2. James
   3. Nate
   4. Rachel
   5. Jon
   6. Randy Bohlender
   7. Shawn Blanc
4. comments have been placed.

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I’m looking for good music out there. My favorite genre is worship (I’m really digging Justin Rizzo, Chris Tomlin, and Misty Edwards right now), but I am fairly eclectic in my music selection (Josh Groban to Creed to David Crowder Band). Please let me know if there are any albums you recommend. Bonus points if it’s available on MP3Sparks!

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