This is our fight too

Mel Gibson has too many beers, gets pulled over, and spouts vile anti-Jewish remarks. World reaction focuses on his nut-job father, and people start whispering that maybe he should never be allowed to work again.

Israel targets buildings and villages where Hezbollah has moved launchers or has launched missiles into Northern Israel, and the people die (sometimes they're civilians, sometimes they're terrorists hiding amongst civilians). World reaction is that Israel is using a disproportionate amount of force.

Hezbollah launches rockets into Israel. These rockets are not targeting military installations or Israel's warfighting capability. These are terror weapons aimed at killing civilians. In other words, the civilians are the targets. World reaction is mostly ho-hum, been there, done that.

One CNN commentator came to the startling revelation that Hezbollah was very anti-Semitic. Really, what was your first clue? But the real anti-Semitic headline was Mel Gibson and his drunken diatribe.

Have civilian targets ever been ruthlessly targeted before? The German blitz of London, the attack on the World Trade Center--ring any bells?

What was the American response to the Septemner 11th attacks? We invaded Afghanistan and handed the Taliban their heads. We went after Saddam's Iraq and pulverized his army.

Israel is doing no less. She is reaping the abysmal land-for-peace formula pushed by successive American Presidents. Land for peace does not work, because Fatah, Hamas, Hezbollah is not interested in land or peace. They have one goal--extermination.

Hmmm, so who should we worry about? Mel Gibson or the people trying to finish Hitler's work?

Count the Cost

Baby dedications are special events in the life of a family and a church. As parents we promise to raise our child as best we can to serve and love Jesus Christ and the Lord God Jehovah, but do any of us really know what that means?

We have three children, two grand children (come next February), and a wedding before year's end. So the family is growing and life shows no signs of slowing down.

I want to focus on our youngest child--Amy. She has been active all her life. She did short mission work at a trailer park not far from here. She spent a week working on a vacation bible school for kids who rarely if ever saw the inside of a church.

Then she went on short term missions overseas. She ventured to Poland to work at an English language camp. She will tell you she did not expect anything radical to happen, but it did.

You see it comes down to that dedication thing--where we parents stand up before God and promise to teach our kids about the Bible and salvation and walking the talk. Are you prepared for where it might lead?

Amy went on three or four Polish mission trips. I've lost count, because my son was doing the same thing. Only Amy decided she wanted to do more than week every summer. We found a Polish Language tutor--a wonderful woman named Elizabeth, and over a two year period, Amy learned the basics.

So where is Amy today? In Poland. She's spending a year in language school. Already she managed to hook up with some missionaries and actually did some translation work for a Norway team. If you haven't guessed, Amy intends to become a full time missionary.

So while some folks around here worry about their teenager heading off for college either in state or out, my concerns are bit broader.

Am I concerned? Yes. But you know, Amy did not get here by herself. It seems God is opening the doors and mapping her life. WIll I be flying to Poland and beyond?

You betcha, but here again God is good. We live in a marvelous age where we can talk on the phone, send email and video mail, and cross seven timezones in half a day.

Just a word of caution, count the cost when you dedicate your child, because God will take you at your word. Do I have an regrets? Nope. Do I miss her? Yep. Do I worry? Sometimes. But mostly I'm glad she can pursue the journey God has layed on her heart.