I mentioned in my sermon last week how much my wife and I love 48 Hours Mystery shows. The only problem with them is the fact that you really never know for sure (except one time when the dude admitted brutally killing his love rival for a slap-on-the-wrist-five-year-plea-deal) if the people are guilty.

Well, Amy and I DVR’d a Dateline special on Mary Winkler, the minister’s wife who somehow shot her husband in the back. But this time, there was no doubt of her guilt. The only question was what degree of murder or manslaughter was it.

She claimed that she didn’t remember doing it. Convenient memory. She didn’t know why she was aiming a loaded shotgun at her husband, even though she remembers getting literally kicked out of bed moments earlier.

I guess if you forget that you killed someone, even if you confess to the murder, and have the shotgun in your ‘get-away’ mini-van, you have the chance of serving just over a year in prison.
Not the finest performance by a jury. Fortunately we can actually trust our Judge.

Something strange happened in Washington DC. recently. Well something strange always happens in DC, but this time, it had nothing to do with politics. It had everything to do with hospitality.

A man walked into a house holding a 14 year old girl at gun point and shouting for money. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for everyone else, the family was just finishing dinner. So the family did what any good hospitable family would do: they asked him to sit down and have a glass of wine.

Amazed by the taste of this wine, and perhaps even more by the grace of its offer, he calmly admitted he was at the wrong house. Afterwards, he asked for a group hug and then left.

I don’t suppose that we’ll be thrown into this situation, but it does show you how hospitality, even if its only having a glass of wine with neighbors (which my wife and I try to do on a monthly basis with our neighbors), really breaks down barriers. It either figuratively, or literally in this case, makes people put away their weapons and defenses. In time, you’ll listen to what they have to say, and they’ll be open to hear what you have to say. However it usually doesn’t work as quickly as this unusual case. Nevertheless, the long term impact may be much greater.

Click here for a link to the story, in case you want to read it, or if you don’t believe me.

Today I paid a decent bit of money, and the only thing that came out of it, was the assurance that I would have to pay a lot more money later. I waited at my house today from 1-4 pm (because the plumbing service always operates with exact science) so that a lad could come and fix my sink (I guess that’s a sexist assumption-but I’ve never seen a female plumber). He charged me $75 to fix something that really should have been under warranty.

But anyhow, I agreed to pay the 75 dollars to stop the leak under the bathroom sink. So he grabbed the 15 dollar part and proceeded to ‘plumb away’ with it. After two of those 15 dollar parts, the leak was still as active as the humidity these days. He deemed the sink useless. So I was stuck paying 75 dollars so that he could tell me my sink was useless, and not fix it. After he made a phone call on my behalf, he dropped the fee to 45 dollars. Still, I hate paying for someone to not fix something.

I think sin is much like paying for our product (our life) to be fixed, but finding out in the end that our payment only leaves us more frustrated. Because not only did nothing get fixed, we feel more in debt than before; the payment only leaves us more aware that the problem is not something we can fix, or can afford to fix. But this is where the gospel becomes sweet: we’re not more in debt tomorrow even though it feels like it. Our debt has been canceled and new sink purchased. The ‘glory’ in confessed sin and need is that the gospel tastes that much sweeter: like bottled water as opposed to tap water.

As some of our young folk were singing the offertory “I am not skilled understand” a few weeks ago, I was really pierced by the unique cost of Christianity. In no other religion does a deity sacrifice himself to save a people. I’m not sure any deity even does anything that makes him/her uncomfortable or inconveniences him/her a slight bit to save a people.

Every other religion requires sacrifice from the people, where as Christianity requires first a sacrifice from God: Himself. God the Son gives Himself up and God the Father turns His back on God the Son’s cries. Wow. The height of sacrifice, pain, and inconvenience.

I think it pays to marvel over the fact that God had to actually do something, something HUGE, to save us. Pretty cool, eh? That’s good news any day of the week, I think.

Last night my college bible study was not well attended like the week before. So the few of us decided on a movie that could at least generate some thought (and wouldn’t last too long). Some of us wanted to see The Fountain, but I didn’t push that since one dude had already seen it twice.

Instead we picked another existential movie called Garden State. The movie is rated R, and deservedly so with more than a few “f” words and one scene to skip, but it does give some helpful critique into the soul of much of our world.

On a positive note, the movie critiqued a quick to medicate, pain numbing, notion of keeping everything happy at the expense of ‘keeping it real.’ The relationship between father and son, was NEVER good, and the main character challenged his father on what it really meant when he said, “All I ever wanted was for us to be happy again.” Without confession on how each had sinned against the other, and how messed up life had become, they couldn’t move forward.

On a sadder note, though not necessarily negative, it gives me a greater picture into the mind of my neighbors (not literal because most of mine are older!). What I took from the movie was: be real and honest, embrace the uncertainty of not knowing God or the future, explore who you are because you are all that’s certain.

Last Tuesday, on the way home from eating with a friend, I purchased a kayak. I really wasn’t buying it on a whim. I had been wanting to do this for a while, investigated a few, and then decided to make the purchase.

I finally took it out for its maiden voyage on Monday. I’m glad I didn’t crack a bottle of champagne (as is customary on large vessels) or even the champagne of beers (Miller High life) on the hull because it would have made it harder to return. Yep return. The ride was awful, it hurt my back, and I almost tipped it over several times while re-positioning myself. But The Sports Authority came through in the clutch.

I learned a few things here.

1.) Always keep receipts (either by putting them in your wallet or leaving them in a bag in your car).
2.) Sometimes its better to be REALLY patient and read several reviews on expensive products before committing to purchase them
3.) If you neglect #2, then make sure you buy from The Sports Authority, which boasts (or perhaps its just me boasting about them) the world’s most liberal return policy.

“I am incapable of being an extraordinary service to God without God. That’s what He likes to do. He’ll take an ordinary person and allow the them to do the miraculous.”

It has been a rather encouraging ‘sports week’ for me. I don’t mean that any of the teams I pull for actually won a game or two (the D-Rays haven’t won 2 games in their last 14). What I’m referring to is that I’ve been encouraged or challenged in my faith recently through the sports media.

This morning on ESPN, they ran a special on Andrea Jaeger. She was a tennis phenom (at one point ranked #2 in the world) from age 13-19 before being injured and unable to play any longer on the circuit. She later started a ranch for terminally ill children, and has involved people like David Robinson, Andre Agassi, Kevin Costner, and yes, even personal friend Cindi Crawford.

In fact Cindi Crawford even commented on her faith, explaining that “…she didn’t choose to become a nun: she was called.” Fairly recently, Jaeger felt called to become an Anglican Dominican nun.

Jaeger’s quote that is posted above testifies to a sovereign God at work in her own life. When people make leaps of faith, it is out of a faith that is first given by God. Now saying that God hasn’t given you faith is not an excuse to not step out in faith; however, when you do, you can be assured that it is His work. And when you see a quote like this, you are observing God given faith and humility.

To read more about Andrea Jaeger, particularly from another secular perspective (PEOPLE, although ESPN’s segment on her life was very God honoring), click here.

Today I was listening to the Ron and Ian Show while driving home from meeting someone. The station (620 AM) that encouraged me to check out the internet babe’s on their website actually brought something of substance just minutes later. Good substance.

One caller complained of how bad Red Sox fans are: making fun of Devil Ray’s hair do’s and making it hard for their broadcast people to do interviews (apparently even the little one’s shoot birds). He said that when the Red Sox come into town, they better watch it.

There are two things questionable about this proposition. First of all, when the Red Sox play the D-Ray’s at Tropicana Field, the stadium houses at least 3 times more Red Sox fans. This creates all kinds of ‘match-up’ problems for retaliating D-Ray’s fans. D-Ray’s fans are not like the 300 (or whatever number they had) Spartans at Thermopoli.

But surprisingly Ian Beckles responded in a very biblical manner, questioning the 2nd problem with this statement, and neglecting to point fingers at other fans. If you claim other team’s fans are so evil and bad, and you threaten to do back to them what they do to you (more or less), then you’re no different. Ian said, when they yell stuff, “Just look the other way.”

Simple truth, hard to apply, but very Christlike: “When he reviled, he did not revile in return”
-I Peter 2:23. Sometimes non Christians can really challenge us. I wouldn’t have condoned responding maliciously to Red Sox fans, but I surely would have joined in some Red Sox fan bashing before responding the way Ian did.

It’s amazing how often God protects us from stuff we don’t even realize. For instance, watching fireworks on July 4th. We gathered, as has been Henderson family tradition (although I admittedly have been gone the last 4 July 4ths) at my grandmother’s condo on St. Pete Beach. The city of St. Pete Beach usually puts on a kickin’ show. Apparently this year, they had some new folks in charge of the pyrotechnics who kicked a little too much.

We watched the dramatic conclusion of the fireworks display outside by the pool, not more than 75 feet away from where they were shooting them off. And then came a boom much louder than any other boom we’d heard or expected. Something blew up.

But the show must go on. So with people running from the boardwalk into the pool area, some more fireworks went off, and then another BOOM. That, as far as I remember was the end. The ever so explosive end.

The newspaper recorded 12 injuries, with the hotel next door loosing many windows in the explosion. I recorded one more injury, lucky # 13: my sister-in-law took a huge splinter to the thigh, with some burns as well. The splinter has been removed by my Pop’s, but the burns are a different story.

We were all very fortunate nothing hit our faces or eyes-since, unlike the 80’s song, I don’t wear my sunglasses at night (or protective goggles either). And my wife noticed on the way home that a ton of things can always go wrong, at virtually any point in time. But it is not until something goes wrong that we thank God for His protection (or blame Him). Perhaps we should thank God more often when things go ‘right.’

If you want to read about the explosion to end all explosions, the Chernobyl of St. Pete Beach check out the St Pete times coverage of the story by clicking here.

Amy and I watched the first two episodes of “Age of Love.” In case you haven’t heard of it, Mark Philopousis (probably incorrectly spelled, but a pro tennis star pictured here nevertheless) is the Bachelor and he has to choose a potential dating partner (that’s usually as far as these relationships go) from a pool of women in their 20’s and 40’s. He has to eliminate one in each age group each week. Well, we’ve stopped watching the show, because it is, frankly, kind of sad-among other things ( many other things). But after we finished watching our DVD last night, I did catch the tail end of the show (so I guess I haven’t quit yet).

One of the women, aged 42, had clearly said there was a ‘feeling’ going on within her, and she resolved to not accept his invitation to stay. Well as she approached Mark, this 42 year old really caved. He explained how great of a time they have together, and she expressed her reservations. But he still wanted her to stay, and so she stayed.

Who knows what was going on within the heart of this 42 year old? I’ve learned better than to assume I can completely figure women out (and this is a good thing-this is not a knock: it means you’re not shallow!). But as soon as another man expressed interest in her, she totally changed her mind-despite being firmly resolute in her decision to leave.

I don’t question her character or decision making, any more than any of the others who’ve subjected themselves to the experiment of whether Mark will include age as a deciding factor in love. But this example I witnessed on TV probably goes on within the hearts of so many people looking for love: they just settle. They feel valued and cherished, and are made to feel important-so they settle. And its sad to me, much sadder than “Age of Love.”

I think that if women felt a little more valued, cherished, important (all proved true by the price it cost Jesus to make us Christians), perhaps they would settle less often, and look for more in a mate. But the same is true for all aspects of life regardless of sex-if we would realize how much we cost, we might settle far less in other areas as well.