The 117th U.S. Open

Yesterday and today I attended the 117th U.S. Open, one of four of the ‘major tournaments’ on the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, in Erin Hills, WI.  It was a blast!  This was the first time in the history of the U.S. Open that it was held in Wisconsin.  

Erin Hills opened in 2006 and is approximately 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee in Erin, WI, population 4,525.  Yes, that’s right a little over 4,500 people reside in Erin.  The week of the tournament crowds were estimated at 25,000+ a day.  

Here are a couple of photos from a memorable two days on the course.  Due to recovery from recent knee and ankle replacement surgery, I rode the course in style on an electric scooter.  What a blessing.  The United States Golf Association (USGA) did a top shelf job to execute all aspects of a fantastic tournament from parking, concessions, staff, and allowing the fans to see the best golfers in the world in action.

I was rooting for my man, Jordan Spieth, but Brooks Koepeka, shot the low score to win the tournament and take home The U.S. Open Trophy.  Here are a couple pics that capture Erin Hills and U.S. Open in action.

The Frey Life

In last month’s Moody alumni e-newsletter I was introduced to Peter and Mary Frey.  Mary and her sister, Emily, were born with cystic fibrosis.  Her sister recently had a lung transplant and is doing well.

For the last two years, every day, Mary and Peter with their service dog, Oliver, chronicle the joys, trials, food/juice they prepare, visits Dollar Tree, hospital stays, and people in their day in a 12-20 minute vlog (video log) that is uploaded to their YouTube channel, The Frey Life. 

They're transparent about life, its challenges, and how their relationship with Jesus Christ impacts all they do.  God has given them a unique opportunity to reach many with the life changing hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Their energy, joy, and perseverance in the Lord gives them the ability to pick up their video camera, edit the footage they shoot, and post it every day amidst hospital stays, daily CF treatments, physical therapy, visits from friends and family, and more. 

Over 95,000 people, and growing, subscribe to their daily vlog.  Take a look at one of their videos.  Your faith will be richly encouraged, as mine has, to keep running the Christian race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3).  As the Lord uses them to display His work in their lives for His glory (John 9:1-5).  They remind us, “Don’t forget to laugh every day.” And, end each video with, “As always, we’ll see you tomorrow, good night!”  

Greater Than Gold

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  1 Peter 1:6-7

The 2016 Summer Olympics recently concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  It was exciting to watch the best athletes from around the world compete on the grandest stage in sports in pursuit of winning an Olympic gold medal.  

Gold is the most frequently mentioned metal in the Scriptures. It is referenced over 330x in the Old Testament and 25x in the New Testament.   Gold, a precious metal, was used extensively by Solomon when he built the temple (1 Kings 6:20-35), when Aaron fashioned an idol, a golden calf for Israel, to replace God (Exodus 32:4), and when the wise men visited baby Jesus they brought him gifts including gold (Matthew 1:21).

Peter instructs and encourages believers facing persecution about the purpose for the trials they face.  They come for our good to test the genuineness of our faith.  The Christian life is not easy.  It’s hard.  We should expect to face trials and suffering.  “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29). 

Gold is refined by intense heat and fire to remove impurities.  Similarly, God uses trials in our lives to refine our character, chip away at selfishness, pride, and make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ, by depending on the Father, rather than ourselves, for everything.  Here, Peter notes something very awesome: your faith is of greater worth than gold, which perishes when refined by fire.   

You see, our faith in Jesus Christ will be molded and tried through the trials we go through in life. The culmination of our faith in Christ leads to praising Jesus, glorying Jesus, and honoring Jesus when He returns. He alone is worthy of our worship.  This three-fold praise only occurs here in 1 Peter, and nowhere else in the New Testament. 

Your faith in Christ, which is a gift from God, is eternal and more valuable than even gold.  So we “…rejoice that we (you) participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that we (you) may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).  With this spirit and focus we press on through trials asking God for His ever sufficient help to get us through each one (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) and fix our eyes on Jesus, the chief Sufferer (Hebrews 12:2-3).  Why?  Because your faith is greater than gold!   

Post Surgery

My ankle revision surgery went better than expected according to my surgeon.  How well it would go was a big question as I rolled into the operating room last Thursday.  After five hours of surgery, with the old hardware (prosthetic) taken out, and new hardware (prosthetic) put in, the results look good.  I'm grateful to the Lord for superintending the surgery and for so many people who prayed for me, my surgeon, and medical staff.  The Lord answered prayers -- praise the Lord!

Here are a couple post-op pictures that capture what my surgeon did.   War wounds heal well over time. In 12 months, you not be able to easily see these incisions.  Plus, the wool growing back on my leg will help cover-up the incision too.

New ankle prosthetic, "Air Lair 2.0."  It looks like there is air between the top and bottom of the prosthetic, but it's actually high density polyethylene.  Due to bone loss, my surgeon had to use cement underneath the prosthetic to give it a larger foundation and hopefully greater longevity.  I hope and pray this new prosthetic will last 10 years or more. 

Jesus, Thank You

Jesus, Thank You

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend

The agonies of Calvary

You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son

Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me

In church we sang, Jesus, Thank You, a song we've sung many times, but today it hit me in a new way and brought tears to my eyes.  With less than two weeks to ankle replacement revision surgery, I am no longer taking anti-inflammatory medication.  My pain and discomfort are high.  It's easy to look inward, and not upward (to the Lord), and outward (to others) when you're suffering.  The second sentence, "the agonies of Calvary,” reminded me of the incredible suffering Jesus endured before He was nailed to the cross, and when He was on the cross for your and my sins.  His pain was incomparable to the pain and suffering you and I will ever face.  

I started to think about “agony", its meaning, and where we find it in God's Word?  Interesting, it's only found once. Luke 22:44, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (ESV).  We see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane  in agony pleading, wrestling, and ultimately submitting to his father’s will. “Agony”  defined here is an intense inward struggle of the soul.  Jesus, holy and without sin, would be made sin for us. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (1 Corinthians 5:21). 

This intense agonizing struggle, Jesus went through while he prayed in the garden to his father, resulted in Jesus sweating “great drops of blood” — for you, for me — even before being nailed to the cross.  In Gethsemane Jesus submitted to his father’s will. Jesus said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).  Jesus willingly submitted to God’s wrath, judgment, and condemnation that we rightly deserve as punishment for our sins. 

Even more amazing, Jesus joyfully went to the cross. He knew that on the other side of dying a horrific death — reserved for the worst criminals of his day — and separation from his father, he would spend eternal life with him.  The writer of Hebrews reminds us and encourages us to have Jesus’ attitude in fighting sin, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:2-4).

Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross, demonstrating your immeasurable love so that those who turn from their sins, confess them, and believe in you for eternal life will be saved.

Waiting on God: An Answer to Prayer

This week, after 18 months of waiting and praying, I received word from my ankle orthopedic surgeon that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) finally approved a new ankle prosthetic I need.  This is a great answer to prayer!  My surgeon, Dr. Steven Haddad, is one of seven surgeons on the design team of the prosthetic developed specifically for patients like me who need revised ankle surgery because the previous prosthetic has worn out.

Eighteen months of waiting has been a rollercoaster season of anticipation and disappointment.  Proverbs 13:12 captures this thought, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."  In life, we all have hopes and expectations of people, circumstances, and life. Often, they don't go the way we want them to.  I wish the prosthetic I need and surgery could have taken place over a year ago, but it hasn't.  God had a different plan.

The Lord wanted to teach me, again, what it means to wait on Him and depend on Him.  For me, waiting on the Lord is one of the hardest disciplines of the Christian faith.  It's a battle to wait. It's a battle between my flesh and walking in the Spirit.  I want it now or I want to make it happen, but God says, "wait."

The word "wait" is used a lot in the Bible, 76x in the Old Testament and 11x in the New Testament (ESV).  Waiting on God isn't passive, but an active pursuit of Him. What it means to wait on the Lord in detail, I will explore in another post. Hear the words of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah that fuel my faith and I pray will fuel yours too.  "But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (Isa 40:31).  

2015 Year End