A Man of Grace

I have to admit that I wanted to blog about Scooter Libby and especially about te vice president's reaction to his conviction but good news prevailed.


Yesterday's L.A. Times had a front page article on David Scholer, professor of New Testament at Fuller Seminary. Dr. Scholer is dying with cancer but has learned to live the verse from Thessalonians - "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances." And his life exudes grace to all who come in contact with him.

I have met him in passing, read some of his writing, and heard him speak a number of times. He is an American Baptist and his theology and style exemplify the best of what I understand of the Baptist tradition. Good stuff... his scholarship, but more important than that to me has been his faith and the way he lives his life. May I learn that lesson.

Amazing Grace

I finally saw the film Amazing Grace this past weekend. We took some members of the youth group to see it. While the film wasn't as good as I hoped, there were a few pieces that really struck me. William Wilburforce worked for
years and failed again and again and again at abolishing the slave trade. Yet, he stuck with it.
It seems to me that were he engaged in this activism today, we would label him a failure and move on to the next rising star. We asked the kids whether they would hang in there and keep battling for a cause after failing it for so many years. They gave a great answer - "it depends on the cause." So the question comes back to me... what causes are important enough that I'm willing to be a failure again and again but must not abandon no matter what?