Luke’s baptism went off without a hitch. We sat in the balcony of their church auditorium, front and center. Perfect spot for photos and filming. Josh asked him a few key questions about his decision, and Luke answered firmly and decidedly. And when he came up out of the water, he was met with applause and a few cheers. Way to go, Luke. We are proud of you. And thank you to Kel for filling in for me at Seaside.
Josh’s
sermon was on Last Things. A few things I
gleaned:
Jesus
came to act out the future kingdom in the present.
People
got excited. Then they killed him, and a
sense of despair replaced the hope for the future that had been awakened. Then he rose from the dead, and they got excited
again. Then he left. But he left a charge to the church to carry
out his commission. The way that was fleshed
out? The church began to do the same
things Jesus had done:
Speak
truth.
Care
for one another.
For
us, God is present, so his kingdom is already here. But he’s not fully present. We still have hope for the return of Jesus to
complete our hope.
My
favorite thing he did was to point to the Christian flag at one side of the platform
and say, “We follow the principles of that kingdom while living in …” Here he
gestured toward the American flag at the opposite side of the platform … “that kingdom.” Perfect and powerful imagery.
After
the service we were hanging out in a conference room. Luke began sharing his personal goals for the
upcoming basketball season:
100
points total for the season
30
points for a high in a single game
20
points per game average
Pretty
ambitious for such a little guy. But the
thing is, left unchecked he could probably hit every one of them. Josh reminded him, though, that he did still
have to share with the other guys on the team.
After
a great lunch of tacos we headed back to Galveston. A little matter of a surgery this
morning. On the way back we chuckled
when we saw a truck and a car following each other on the freeway, all bedecked
with flags. We commented that it must be
a baby Trump parade. Little did we know
that when we got closer to Houston, we would see an actual Trump parade heading
the opposite direction. This one wasn’t as
long as the 28 miler we saw last week, but it did have a police escort.
We
got home last night by around 7:30. Now
we can concentrate on the surgery. Oh,
and getting used to the time change … again.
Romans
12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and
perfect will.”
Father,
thank you again for Luke’s decision and his big day. And could you check in on me later in the morning
over at the hospital? Thanks. Amen.
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