Now and Then - Actions Speak Louder than Words

Now: Three years ago we brought Ryan home from the hospital following his birth, Jacob who was three at the time, did not want to have much to do with this new sibling, but he told us, “he loved his new little brother”. Ryan was only a couple of days old, I laid him on his back on a blanket in the living room and Jacob was playing with a die-cast metal space shuttle, flying it around the living room. I was half paying attention to him as he was walking around the living room, flying his metal toy, saying, “running out of gas...running out of gas...running out of gas”

At the exact moment he flew it over his newborn brother… “Out of gas" and the shuttle free falls and tags Ryan on the forehead. Ryan screams as a red mark grows on his forehead.
“Jacob”, I say in surprised displeasure and Jacob answers, “but dad, it ran out of gas”.
Actions speak louder than words: Jacob’s words of, “I love my brother” rang hollow as he inflicted pain with his action.

Then: The Israelites at Mt. Sinai promise with their words to do everything the Lord has commanded – they enter into a covenant relationship and then with their actions they begin breaking commandments. One commentator likened the golden calf incident to committing adultery on your honeymoon. You take the marriage vow in front of many, promising to be faithful until death and then on your honeymoon your spouse finds you in another’s bed. Your spouse hears and discovers. Actions speak louder than words. This is what Israel did to God; this is what we do to God.

This gives us a feeling for the depth of God’s justice (sin was atoned on the cross) and the depth of his grace (salvation was given on the cross).

An Old Testamant Resource full of Riches

In studying and teaching Exodus this year a resource that continually provides deep and insightful truth is Bruce Waltke's An Old Testament Theology.

My brother Sam and brother-in-law Chad, turned me on to him, for they sat under his teaching at Regent College.

A little taste from Mr. Waltke regarding God's gift to us from the Old Covenant:

At Mount Sinai Moses mediates God's word that seals God's covenant relationship with Israel and defines Israel as a nation set apart from the other nations. Israel's ratification of it empowers them to construct an earthly replica of heaven itself for the worship of their God. No other nation is defined by its holiness or by its obedience to a moral law. The United States repealed its only constitutional moral law, "Thou shalt not drink."

Veteran's Day Excursion

The Crummett boys spent Veteran's Day in San Francisco. First stop was the newly remodeled ($500 million worth) California Academy of Sciences. Jacob's favorite was the Philippine Coral Reef; Ryan's was the turtles.

Second stop was Rodeo Beach: Ryan flew his first kite, found a dead sea gull that he carried over to show me, Jake and I threw a football around and we all played chicken with the waves for hours.

Dr. John Piper is Real and so is God.

A Christmas gift from Dad and Mom addicted me to this author. From books, over the years, I got to know this man, but in September I met him face to face, shook his hand and told him thanks – John Piper is real.

A gift from God in the form of a burning bush addicted Moses to God. From personal conversations and interaction over the years Moses got to know God, but on Mt. Sinai he met him personally. God passed before him and showed himself to Moses – God is real.

We will not all have the privilege of meeting our favorite author; we all will meet God some day - face to face. It will be the climax of our lives or it will be the deepest disaster?

The Pumpkin Patch

Expelled DVD is Available

My degree names me as a scientist, and my job classifies me as one. I have been looking forward to watching Ben Stein's DVD "Expelled". I found some time and watched it with Susan. It focuses on the scientific educational system and its view toward intelligent design. If you are interested in this, or want to know what your children will be up against in higher education, give this DVD a couple hours of your time.

I gave one example in an earlier post. The following are a couple more examples from my own, so be it very limited, experience with the scientific elite:

1) One morning in Historical Geology class, as I was focusing on keeping my eyes open more than the content of what was being taught, the teacher called me by name and asked how I could just explain everything we observe using no science, but answer everything with "divine intervention". I assured the class this man knew nothing of what I believed. I looked at the professor and told him, "just because you try and shove something down my throat does not mean I have to swallow it. Do you desire for your students to think or just swallow?" He did not answer.

2) Another professor, on a field trip, asked me in front of the class about my belief in God. I asked if she believed in right and wrong. She answered, "no". I asked her if she condoned Hitler's action. She answered, something like, "we now know a reduction in the gene pool is not healthy for the overall species". I made sure I understood her answer and repeated back to her, "the only thing Hitler did wrong was reducing some genes that may have been passed on to the future species?" She answered "yes".

Just two examples, and overall I was not a very good apologist - nor a very good student. My concern was for my fellow students; a few did come to me with questions about life and God. Sadly, they literally came to me under the cover of darkness and I could feel the fear, for if their professors or other Darwin-bumper-stickered classmates found out, there would have been a price to pay. I pray for two fellow classmates in particular; I had some good conversations with them about who Jesus the Christ was and is. I pray their souls have evolved since then and their eyes have been opened to their creator.

Road Kill Kitty Cake

Of the five Crummett kids, Sam has the highest education; he is also the only one of us who could win the prize at his work’s Halloween Potluck for the “spookiest dish”.

A True Coach

I was on the couch or in bed all day yesterday with a cold - for the first time this year I was able to watch some college football. I watched Georgia beat LSU. After I saw the following video, I am happy Georgia won. As long as Mark Richt remains the head coach, and they are not playing a PAC 10 team, I will root for Georgia.

The Shack

Everytime I peruse the book isle at Costco I am tempted to buy it, for it must be quality writing with its current residence at the top of the New York Time Bestseller List. Obviously I am interested in the subject. I have no trouble buying things I should not at Costco, but I have refrained on this one.

My hesitation from the start: with a subtle twist, the essence of God is changed via the powerful literary form of a narrative.

God has chosen, through the Bible, to teach us about himself through story - the narrative. Why? It taps into our emotions and connects our heart with our head. God does not teach us theology by only stating principles for us to learn. For example, he brings us into the scene to watch, feel and understand what happens when an eighty year-old man named Moses approaches Pharaoh, the most powerful King on earth, and ridiculously requests to let a couple million of his slave laborers go. When we leave the scene we not only know God is sovereign, we feel it.

God does not tell just tell us to believe he is our redeemer, he wants us to feel it through the beautiful love story of Ruth and Boaz.

God does not just tell us to love our wives, he wants us to feel it through the sensual intimacy of the Song of Solomon.

God does not just tell us he loves us, he wants us to feel it as it is described four times in the New Testament narrative of the Crucifixion.

The Shack is wanting you to feel some principles about God that are false.

If you care to read more, Gerald Hiestand has a good review here.

I will most likely end up reading it, but remembering to guard my heart as I do. If you have read it, am I off base?

A Wedding Ceremony

Communion, baptism and the wedding ceremony; why is it that some ceremonies elicit emotion from us no matter how many times we take part or witness it? All have been instituted by God and they point to something greater (our souls knows this). The wedding ceremony may be the greatest:

• it points to the past, for we witness God create a new oneness before our eyes as two become one - we think of creation


• we celebrate the present, for the closest communion between two individuals has taken place and it is based on a vow - our relationship with God is based on his promises to us.


• it points to the future, for we are the bride of Christ and some day we will come together with our redeemer

Thank you David and Amber Austin for giving us strength from the past, joy in the present and great hope for the future.

Humpty Dumpty

Pre-wedding activities for David and Amber's wedding - run the kids at the park. The Oregon and California Crummett cousins had fun at Bidwell Park in Chico.

Smoke Detector

This may have been the Crummett's smoke detector when we lived in "the cabin" decades ago:

The Power of Words and the Wonder of God

Susan and I fly home tomorrow morning from Minneapolis. We are grateful God worked it out and allowed us to attend John Piper's conference titled "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God".

I plan to make additional posts in the future as I meditate on the six speakers we heard; it may take six months to soak in the six messages.

All of the messages (print, audio and video) are here.

ESV Study Bible

I made the switch from the NASB to the ESV around three years ago and have never looked back, for it is a very well done word for word translation. A study Bible has been in the works for a while and I placed my order last spring. The delivery date is approaching:

The figures and notes look great and the essays contained in the back appear to be worth the price of the Bible. Two of the authors, J.I. Packer and John Hannah both have a small connection with my family, for Sam (brother) had a one-on-one semester study with Packer at Regent and I was blessed to sit under Hannah for a week of teaching at BSF Headquarters. I enjoyed sharing a dinner together with Dr. John Hannah one evening - a very gracious, humble, down-to-earth man who has been touched by the grace of God (he is also quirky, but brilliant).

Poetic Justice - Now and Then

Jacob and Ryan were instructed to get ready for bed. Jacob, as stealthy as a six year old can be, throws some objects into the doorway of his bedroom. Mom questions - no answer. Mom investigates - a couple of die cast miniature airplanes have been thrown on the carpet. Mom questions again, "so you will step on them", is the answer given in a bratty voice.

I assume this is an attempt at humor from a six-year-old. It is a good thing Dad did not hear, for there would have been a quick readjustment of his sense of humor. Mom, with motherly intuition, waits for him to finish brushing his teeth. He has a disagreement with his brother, forgets about the trap he has lain, walks down the hall in bare feet and steps on a plane with full force. Jacob immediately cries out in pain and the volume of his cries double when he observes his mom unsuccessfully attempting to suppress her laughter.

Poetic Justice.

The Pharaoh of Egypt has a plan to break the divine strength that has multiplied the Israelites from 70 to two million. He instructs the midwives to abort on the "birth stool" the innocent sons of the Hebrews. His plan fails. He commands his nation to throw the new born boys into the Nile - death by drowning. His plan is thwarted, for God has a greater plan.

God is not mocked: Within a generation, a cry arises from Egypt that would turn your spine cold as the Egyptians discover their own eldest sons have all been killed by God.

The final separation from Egypt occurs when a Pharaoh, surrounded by the might of his army, has the life leave his body after the water from the Red Sea fills his lungs; death by drowning.

Poetic Justice.

Stop and Listen.

A story from the Washington Post:

Joshua Bell emerged from the Metro and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript—a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money and began to play.
For the next 45 minutes, in the D.C. Metro on January 12, 2007, Bell played Mozart and Schubert as over 1,000 people streamed by, most hardly taking notice. If they had paid attention, they might have recognized the young man for the world-renowned violinist he is. They also might have noted the violin he played—a rare Stradivarius worth over $3 million. It was all part of a project arranged by The Washington Post—"an experiment in context, perception, and priorities—as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste. In a banal setting, at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?" Just three days earlier, Joshua Bell sold out Boston Symphony Hall, with ordinary seats going for $100. In the subway, Bell garnered about $32 from the 27 people who stopped long enough to give a donation.

How often we do this with God; if only we would stop and listen, for beauty would transform our soul.

A Conversation

As I was watching the Democratic Convention last evening, Jake asked me if I was going to vote for Obama. "No", I replied. "Why", Jake asked.

I ended up having to explain abortion to a six-year old. He had trouble comprehending how a doctor could kill a baby that was inside the tummy of its own mommy. "Why would a doctor do that?" He had greater trouble comprehending that it was the mommy and daddy's idea to do this. I found out abortion is a great way of explaining evil: people can rationalize what is obviously an horrific act (especially in the eyes of a child - someone a little closer to being in his own mom's womb) by becoming so self-centered that their own desires are more important than the life of a little one.

John Piper gives some of his thoughts:

A prayer by Miller

Donald Miller, a member of my brother and sister's church in Portland, author of Blue Like Jazz, will be giving the closing prayer at tonight's Democratic National Convention.

I will traveling for work and may have to tune in.

Update: Here it is...

Steven Curtis Chapman and Family

I can not imagine losing a child; I can imagine the loss would be compounded if your son was at the wheel of the SUV that ran over your daughter. There is a god who is even bigger than this tragedy. The Chapman family gives testimony:

An Upcoming Trip

I have an airline voucher soon to expire and combined with some frequent flyer miles, Susan and I will be traveling to Minneapolis in late September to attend Piper's Desiring God Conference titled The Power of Words and the Wonder of God. One of the six speakers, Mark Driscoll, will be speaking on using controversial words (Driscoll has some experience on this subject):

Patrick's Point 2008

Some photos:

J.I. Packer and Mark Driscol

Packer sits down with Driscol: http://theresurgence.com/node/1080

The Fourth of July

A video clip (Papa's firecracker dance) and a couple of photos from the Crummett family in Eugene:

Nate:

Jacob:

The cousins, minus two, July 4, 2008:

Last year the cousins, minus two, July 4, 2007:

Don't be a Me Monster

Giants @ A's

Susan is in Philadelphia for her grandmother's funeral; she has been gone for three days, with one more to go - we are ready for her return. The boys, keeping themselves busy, made it down to the Bay Area for some interleague action. Ryan discovered nachos (he ate more than Jake and I combined). Jake was disappointed things did not go his way, for the Giant's lost and his favorite players, Omar Vizquel and Tim Lincecum were not playing, but that is baseball.....and also like life: things do not always go our way.

Mt. Shasta 2008

The Crummett "boys", for the the first time together, climbed Mount Shasta. You can find the locations referenced below here.

From the trail head (7,880 ft.):

From our camp at Lake Helen (10,400 ft.):

Rob climbing along "the heart" (12,000 ft.):

Coffee break at Red Banks (12,400 ft.); thanks to Sam for packing up a thermos:
Sam possing at Thumb Rock (12,923 ft.):

From here the weather deteriorated into blizzard conditions and thus I did not pull the camera out much as we made our way to the summit. We estimated the winds were gusting at least 70 mph near the summit, for we were occasionally on all fours - holding on with with our crampons and ice axes.

The summit (14,162 ft.):

Sam finding a little break from the wind and snow:

From the small percentage of God's creation that I have witnessed, Mt. Shasta is one of my favorites. From this trip, the mountain displayed a little of God's character: beautiful, very large, not easy to get to know, powerful, respect requiring, joy giving, discipline demanding and sometimes painful. I am a small man with a big God.

Ryan at the Sacramento Rivercats

Ryan and his idea of how to enjoy a baseball game:

Mount McLoughlin

My brother Rob and I climbed Mt. McLoughlin (located between Klamath Falls and Medford Oregon) a couple weeks ago. There was so much snow that we had to park and hike an extra mile from the trail head. The weather did not give us much of a view, for it rained/snowed/hailed on us most of the trip. A couple photos from the summit:





Hopefully we, along with an additional brother (Sam), will be on the summit of Shasta this weekend.

Photos from an Iowa City Church

Here are some photos from inside an Iowa City church: DEO GLORIA

The rains came down and the floods went up....in Iowa

Currently I am in Williamsburg Iowa to visit the Wriglesworth's: the Iowa River, taking it's path through the University of Iowa in Iowa City, is predicted to crest this weekend above historic levels (Hannah is pointing out the expected high water mark below) . Fortunately, Chad's office is on the fifth floor in the English building and we helped Chad remove some of his books that may be damaged from the humidity.

Fundamentalists

Though I would not refer to myself as a fundamentalist, I was raised for the most part, under a fundamentalists banner (like John Piper) and there are aspects of it that are great.

John Piper gives 20 reasons he does not take potshots at fundamentalists:

1. They are humble and respectful and courteous and even funny (the ones I've met).
2. They believe in truth.
3. They believe that truth really matters.
4. They believe that the Bible is true, all of it.
5. They know that the Bible calls for some kind of separation from the world.
6. They have backbone and are not prone to compromise principle.
7. They put obedience to Jesus above the approval of man (even though they fall short, like others).
8. They believe in hell and are loving enough to warn people about it.
9. They believe in heaven and sing about how good it will be to go there.
10. Their "social action" is helping the person next door.
11. They tend to raise law-abiding, chaste children, in spite of the fact that Barna says evangelical kids in general don't have any better track record than non-Christians.
12. They resist trendiness.
13. They don't think too much is gained by sounding hip.
14. They may not be hip, but they don't go so far as to drive buggies or insist on typewriters.
15. They still sing hymns.
16. They are not breathless about being accepted in the scholarly guild.
17. They give some contemporary plausibility to New Testament claim that the church is the "pillar and bulwark of the truth."
18. They are good for the rest of evangelicals because of all this.
19. My dad was one.
20. Everybody to my left thinks I am one. And there are a lot of people to my left.

The House that Dad Built

Traveled to Alturas for a meeting with USFS and passed through McArthur.





The Crummetts should recognize the house that was a home for portion of our childhood. Not much has changed. The house seemed smaller and I did not remember the grand view we had of both Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen from the front windows.

Brian Reagan

This guy is hilarious (Jake and Ryan even think so).

For the past two months Susan and I have been reading the The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago, to the boys. I recommend it - it not only covers the major stories from Genesis to Revelation, but it interweaves in some great theology. The artwork is interesting enough (and a little quirky) to keep Ryan interested and engaged.

To give you a taste, the second page reads:

"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done."

Spotted this video on Jollyblogger. It is a video of football coach John Gagliardiof of St. Johns University in Collegeville, MN. We played St. Johns every year when I played football for Pillsbury. I believe they beat us each year; my freshmen year we only lost two, maybe three, games. For decades, under this coach, St. Johns has had a very successful program.

This man understands grace. He does not create a performance based environment with manipulation like so many coaches do (player messes up - coach yells, intimidate with a dominate presence, or run everything by rules). From the interview, you can tell this coach cares more about his player's hearts than anything. Get to the heart and then you can build the knowledge and performance is a by product.

I pray this for my family.

Why Study The Bible

A lesson from the apostle Peter and my son Ryan:

From Peter:
It is a cold night in Gethsemane. The Jewish leadership, taking Jesus to be an opponent they would not want to take on physically, show up with a contingent of Jewish and Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. They were frightened of the power of this man. In comes Peter, leading with his swinging sword, Malchus barely avoids getting his head lopped off as he ducks to avoid the sword, but his ear gets clipped. What was Peter thinking? I think he still had the words of Jesus’ prediction that he would deny him – Peter loved Jesus, he loved Jesus more than the world. Peter loved him more than his own life as this was suicide to attack a group of men protected by Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers could do one thing well - kill. Peter probably felt his critical moment of testing had arrived, and with great bravery, courage and boldness he was showing, with his sword, there was going to be no denying his Rabbi. He did not anticipate that his real test would not be from soldiers, but from a lowly servant girl.
Jesus, in complete control of the situation, miraculously stops the violence, saves his disciples’ lives by his healing touch; in what would take a surgeon, eight hours – the creator of all life reattaches the ear of Malchus. Jesus is in control of this situation – Peter did not realize this. Peter did not realize the sovereignty of Jesus and has his thinking corrected as Jesus informs him he could call 72,000 angles.
Peter’s heart was in the right place – he will do anything for his Lord, but his understanding was deficient. Peter needed to come to a head knowledge that Jesus was in control.
When the heart and mind are separated there will be problems.

From Ryan:
Like Peter, my son Ryan has a great heart; Ryan, also like Peter, lacks knowledge. After church not too long ago, before he turned three, I looked over and Ryan was in the middle of a freshly planted flower bed picking flowers. I excused myself mid-conversation and removed my son from the flower bed. He had three flowers in his hand and multiples of three are left crushed in the bed. As I pulled him from the flowers and questioned him with not the nicest of tone (although I am at church with people watching so I am on my best behavior), Ryan answered with words and with eyes that gave away his heart – “they are for mommy”. His heart was perfect, but his understanding was deficient. God wants our hearts, and like Peter we must give our hearts to him, but our understanding, our knowledge of Jesus must be there also or we can do some very foolish things. Knowledge increases our faith. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17

Expelled

Ben Stein’s movie, Expelled opened this weekend and I am interested in watching it. From what I hear it exposes the scientific elite stomping down any ideas that threaten evolution.

I recall sitting in the back row of Historical Geology class at my University and the professor yelling at me with a barrage of very foul curse words after I asked a simple question of why the fossil record, with warehouses upon warehouses full, does not reflect evolution, but reflects what we see today - distinct species.

Defeating evolution will not open up the flood gates for people to become Christians. The majority of people who have lived never encountered this theory, for the theory of evolution is new on the historical scene. A rebellious and prideful heart will not be convinced of God through the defeat of a scientific theory; they will be convinced by the grip of the gospel.

As a scientist and a Christian (not a Christian Scientist) I hate evolution, for it is bad science and it steals glory from God.

Our next SUV

A co-worker, currently working in Afghanistan, just sent me some photos…with the price of gas this may be our next family car:

Behold the Lamb

Today, April 19, is passover. Time echos to us through this holiday from an evening in Egypt: a lamb was sacrificed and eaten by each Jewish family as they prepared to leave slavery for a promised land. Blood from this lamb was applied to the entrance of each house; God passed over and did not kill the firstborn son (his wrath). The holiday has been celebrated ever since.

This year in Jerusalem, some Jewish priests sacrificed a lamb in the same manner. You can watch the video here.

Be warned - the footage is graphic, but not as graphic as every Jewish family witnessed and participated in every year. Passover pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus was crucified on passover.

"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
I Corinthians 5:7

Birthday, basball and airplanes

Ryan received a pool for his third birthday. Jacob is 0.3 seconds away from a push.

Jake is a couple of weeks into little league. He has fun, but takes his role very seriously.

A couple weeks ago our windows were shaking, for the California Capital Airshow came to Mather. Jake and I had a great view from the peak of our roof as the Blue Angeles were making their rounds.