Where were you?

9/11 has become the new Kennedy assassination event.

I can remember people saying, "Where were you when Kennedy was assassinated?" and then a long story would ensue. It always bothered me that I couldn't remember where I was - I assumed I was at home with my mom, doing something that a young toddler would do.

Then I found out it happened 18 months before I was born - go figure.

Now the question has become, where were you when you heard about the attack?

I was milling around my ladies Bible study room, getting ready for the study to begin. It was 9:15 a.m. on that Tuesday morning and the women were just starting to trickle in. There were two new ladies attending the church at that time, Carla and Lucy. I didn't really know them well. They came bustling in the room and pulled me aside.

"We just heard on the radio that two planes flew into some buildings in New York City. We thought you should know."

I'll never forget the look in their eyes.

What? Two planes? The room was filling with women and there was a bit of a buzz, plus a lot of confusion - were there two planes or did a plane hit two buildings? As I quieted the women down to start the study, we decided to pray for the families of the people on the planes and for the people in the buildings.

Ten minutes later our building manager knocked on the door. The Pentagon was also hit. I think that's when it hit me. I don't know why it took me so long but hearing that Washington was a target made my heart sink into my stomach. We stopped the study and prayed for President Bush and our leaders. We prayed for the families again and we prayed for ourselves. It was a very strange feeling.

We did finish the study that morning. I can remember calling Dave on the way home. He had gone and picked up our son at the local high school. They assured him in the office that Calvin was safe, but Dave said to them, "He needs to watch the coverage of this. This is a turning point in the history of our nation."

The rest of the day we all sat glued to the television. Do you remember when the towers fell? Do you remember the smoke and debris filling the streets? Do you remember the people running for their lives? How about the brave fire fighters who risked and lost their lives that day? What about all the amateur camera footage? The people holding pictures of their loved ones as volunteers sifted through the rubble?

What a time for our nation.

So, please comment for me. Tell me where you were when you heard about the attack. Keep it short, but this is a good exercise in remembering.

One final note - the verse that stayed in my mind during those initial days was from II Timothy 1:7 - "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline." I told my ladies at study, "We are believers in Jesus Christ. We have nothing to fear. The world needs to see a different reaction from us that what they are seeing around them."

It was a powerful time for a testimony, don't you think?

Go Ahead - Be Fanatical

Last night Dave and I watched a pretty stupid movie. We thought it would be funny, but it was hardly mediocre. I won't even share the name because it was that bad. However, I do want to share a few things that I learned.

"Christian" has become a negative word in today's society.

As a matter of fact, "Christian" is normally prefaced with the word "fanatical".

One of the characters in the movie last night was a Christian. She littered her speech with hallelujah and praise God, was a staunch creationist, vehemently and angrily defended her beliefs, never cursed, swore or "fornicated", and spoke with a somewhat King James type vocabulary.

Until she was convinced that God didn't exist.

Then suddenly everything she had lived for was thrown out the window. Apparently it is satisfying to make fun of Christians and then show them converting to atheism, which apparently means to desire to "fornicate" and swear at will.

This character was really just a side note, but it was definitely meant to be comical. At one point in the movie the comment was made about her fanatical and angry Christian preacher/father, "Why is it they never learn?"

So here comes the moment of honesty - a lot of the things that this character said when she was still a Christian are things that I have said or that I have heard readily said in the church. The writers may have exaggerated the character, but they were accurate in their usage of our terminology and beliefs.

Here's what I learned:

• We are not responsible for what people do with our message
• We can't let movies and Hollywood portrayals of us place a bushel over our light
• If we're labelled "fanatical" we're probably doing what we're called to do
• If we're not considered fanatical, we may be being too quiet with our faith
• Eternity is a long time for us to not speak about Jesus Christ
• Fornicating and swearing really isn't as glamorous as Hollywood wants it to be
• We have been given the Great Commission - we are responsible for the message, God is responsible for salvation
• The world's opinion of us is changing for the worse, which will only make our job harder - that's okay because if God is for us, who can be against us?

So, I guess even rotten movies can be educational. Remember, "if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you..." John 15:18. Their angst is towards God, towards His precious Son and the Holy Spirit. We're in good company...

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord..." Psalm 150:6

Momma Wisen Talk

This is my youngest, Christopher. We dropped him off at college this past weekend to begin his sophomore year. Yes, he is older than this picture, but there's a part of me that always thinks of him like this - big smile, button nose, innocent eyes.

The truth is...Christopher is under attack. All of our children are. It's hard to understand the great benefits that the internet brings to everyday life without addressing the great pitfalls, as well. As a biblical counselor, I have had a front row seat to lives that have been destroyed by pornography, and when I look at my own children, my mother's protective instinct comes roaring out.

So on our quiet little drive to college (he's only about 45 minutes from home), with his father following in a pick-up truck behind (with the couches that every college apartment needs), we had a Momma Wisen talk.

I am famous for these talks. The church high schoolers and college kids can attest to the fact that Momma Wisen talks typically don't avoid the awkward, but are very straightforward and blunt. They are coated with love, but sometimes they can be uncomfortable. But IMHO, life is too short to beat around the bush, so because I love the body of Christ, I sometimes need to have a Momma Wisen talk with someone.

Don't worry - I get the Papa Wisen talk here and there, so I am not without sin or accountability myself. I just have this tendency to mother the world and last Saturday, my son got a small dose of mothering. I mean, if I can't talk with him, who can I talk to?

Here was the gist of the talk:

Three truths about pornography use and college kids:

1. If you don't look at pornography, you are in the minority
2. You are not your roommates Holy Spirit, so you don't have to convict them of their sin, but you don't have to participate either - just walk away
3. Don't let anyone use your computer

Three reasons to keep your eyes pure:

1. For the love of your Savior - He knows what is best for you and warns all over scripture of the dangers of sexual impurity
2. For the love of your future wife - pornography has an effect on marriage, even years before that marriage ever occurs. Don't believe me? Then you are fooling yourself...
3. For the sake of future spiritual leadership and your personal well-being - it is amazing that choices we make as a youth can affect our lives years down the road. I tried to explain to him that the bondage of pornography will disqualify him for church leadership, it will be a millstone around his neck in the form of guilt and it is so addictive it makes heroine look like child's play

Christopher took it very well - we had a great talk, actually. He's growing up, and doesn't roll his eyes and try to change the subject anymore. He's choosing purity and is very aware of the dangers and the consequences. And I love that he's willing to talk about grown up issues - I'm very proud of him!

The Big Point: Parents - don't send your children to college with out having "the talk." Don't let them get back into the high school routine without that "talk" either. And you should probably have "the talk" to your middle schooler, as well. Don't take anything for granted and don't sugar coat the consequences of sin.

Our children are under attack and we have to engage in this battle on a regular basis.

Still Wildly in Love...

...just in case you were wondering...

And yes, those are Chicago White Sox jerseys...

:)

Oh, and they might look like they are sitting, but they are actually lying on their backs with their feet up the back of the couch...my daughter, Alex, took this - clever, huh?