What have I been doing!?!?!? And Almost Married

My friends, egagement is almost over. Finally. freaking Finally. Engagement has been fun, but every good thing comes to an end. Praise the Lord. However, we've done TONS of cool things this summer as an engaged couple. Here is a sprinkling of what we've been up to this summer:

-watched the tv show "Scrubs." Pretty hilarious

-read a book all about the history of the church as well as about Christianity in China

-met ALL of Alison's great friends and family all over michigan.

In fact, we are currently sitting at a coffee shop with some friends from college. "You are typing your blog while 'talking' to them?'" you might be asking. Why yes, yes I am. In fact, my best man, Ryan Lang is currently sitting next to me doing the exact same thing. Do I feel bad? A little bit.

Other things we've done:

-visited Alison's grandmothers cherry/pear/apple/plum/peach farm. We got this huge crate of cherries that we finished. Let me tell you - cherries directly from the tree are FLIPPING AMAZING.

-celebrated American Independence day on July 4th at a freaking packed boardwalk area. (see previous blog about my thoughts on celebrating American Independence)

-met my friend Katie half way between Alison's house and Chicago.

-started planning a wedding about 2 1/2 weeks before the wedding was actually to start. No problems (though mostly due to all the great people who've helped us out - like Alison's sister-in-law, her mother, my mother)

-met with a financial adviser who told us how we should spend our money.

-sitting with my best man - Ryan Lang - at a coffee shop, who is helping me ignore Alison's friends. Sorry to the two of you if you ever read this. I really am not as rude as I currently look.

-visited all of the churches that Alison has gone to

-went to Cedar Point theme park with Alison's brother's bachelor party. Fortunately, didn't get sick.

-played cards with my parents (in which my dad and I gloriously defeated my mom and alison)

-played scrabble with alison (in which I won)

I'm sure there's a myriad of other things, but I can't remember that now, and I feel like I should return to the conversation that I've never really been a part of.

For now, I'm just semi-enjoying my last few days of engagement.

Being married will be way better.

Why American Christians should not celebrate American Independence Day

I do not hate America. In fact, I am quite fond of America. Those of you who know I live overseas might think I have been brainwashed into anti-Americanism. But I really haven’t.

I am currently visiting my family in Houston and have thoroughly enjoyed orderly lines, sane traffic and insane gas prices. I have enjoyed understanding what everyone around me is saying, and the familiarity that comes from being home.

So why might I say that Christians should not celebrate Independence Day? Here are some reasons.

1) Scripture References

Paul says in Romans 13:1-2

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.

In reference to the American Revolution, are there any exceptions that we can pull? It seems not. The reasons for the American Revolution are two-fold (summarized):

A) Taxation without representation

B) Excessive use of force by the authorities governing the colonies (in some cases)

While the first gives the best environment for checks and balances of power, there is no scriptural directive saying that governments must use this organization to manage their territories. Thus, we cannot say that the government of England was overstepping any biblical commands.

The second, of course, amounts to unjust action on the part of the rulers, and oversteps biblical mandate. However, this does not give justification to armed rebellion, at least in terms of scripture, for Paul states that God has established this authority. God will hold them accountable.

Of course, one must wonder about verse three. Paul says that Rulers hold no terror for those who do no wrong. We obviously know this not to be true in all cases. Many Christians were persecuted even in his time.

One might wonder if the verse is talking to a specific group of people and is about a specific government. This might have been true if only the first half of the first sentence had been writing. However, the rest of the sentence makes it universal.

2) Case Study: The Hebrews and Pharaoh

If there is anywhere in scripture where a group of people had a right to rebel, it would have been the Hebrews, enslaved by the Egyptians, forced to build monuments to men and false gods. They were mistreated in the most grotesque ways. Its quite possible that many thought of rebelling, and a few may have attempted to lead insurrections. Yet, God never calls for the people to rise up in rebellion. Rather, he sends Moses and Aaron.

Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh in order to deliver messages from God – “Let my people go.” When Pharaoh doesn’t agree, God doesn’t say “aight, we tried once – let’s do this the old fashioned way.” No, Moses approaches Pharaoh ten times before Pharaoh finally agrees. THEN Moses gets to lead the Israelites out.

Note this – God changed Pharaoh’s heart, either softening or hardening it. If God was choosing when exactly to have the Israelites leave Egypt, if God is dictating the course of events, why did he choose to have Pharaoh’s approval be a part of his plan? It seems he wanted the Israelites to leave on the admission of God

There seems to be a theme throughout scripture of submission to authorities, whether or not those authorities are just or not.

-David was never told to rebel against Saul, though Saul was an unjust leader and pursued David mercilessly.

-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all refused to submit to Authority when it contradicted God’s directives, but never rebelled. Rather, they engaged in passive resistance – akin to the actions of Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela (in his later years).

-Jesus never advocated rebellion against the roman authorities. Rather, he advocated that Jews pay taxes. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

-Stephen argued his case for Christ to the Jewish authorities, but he never once fought back.

-When Peter attempts to fight the roman authorities who come to arrest Jesus, Jesus stops him and tells him not to fight back.

An Epic Journey

"I can't give you a ticket."

These were the words that greeted us from the man at the airports check-in counter.

Both Alison and I were confused.

"Why not?" we asked.

"Well, the tickets you have were for yesterday," he replied.

I couldn't even believe it. We showed the man our initial itinerary that had the original dates for the current night. He looked at it, but said that it didn't matter. The actual tickets were for the day before.

Someone had changed our ticket - AND DIDN'T TELL US! We worked hard to get the ticket changed back that night and to get on a plane to Houston, but to no avail.

We went back home that night dejected and disappointed. My mom couldn't believe what had happened.

The next day, Alison and I went to the travel agency that had booked our tickets and explained their problem. Most were sympathetic, but there were some problems, and they weren't sure if they could get it switched without having to buy new tickets.

Fortunately, after about four hours, we got new tickets for that night (or really - for early the next morning).

By 1 o'clock on Sunday (or 9pm Bahrain time) Alison arrived in Houston to the joy of my mother and father - who both proceeded to smother Alison and completely forget about me. But that's a story for another time.

The point is - it was a rough ride, but we finally made it. And its nice to be home.