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It was a traumatic day in the life of my brother and me.  We were moving—to Texas.  For true Razorback fans it was like going from the Promised Land to Egypt.  To add to the trauma, on the day that we packed the Ryder moving van, my brother and I witnessed our dad run over, destroy, and obliterate, the one thing that we prized above all things as sports-loving kids—our basketball goal.  At the time, it seemed as though the events of that day would be a sign of things to come.  But now, some 30 years later, they were simply a metaphor for what it means to fully abandon your life for the sake of following Christ with a magnificent obsession.

Laying down a promising career as an accountant, and leaving behind all that this world says is important, left an indelible mark on the lives of many people, especially my brother and me, as he surrendered to the call of God on his life to full-time Christian ministry.  Such surrender, though, is the true essence of godliness.  Not only does it reflect the beauty of Christ and His transforming power in the life of a believer, it also leaves footprints on the journey for those who follow behind, leading to a true understanding of who God is.  It is for this reason that I pay tribute to my dad, and not because he is perfect—he isn’t; but because he is one of the godliest men I know.

Throughout my life, he has shown love by investing in me, disciplining me (not my favorite, just for the record), mentoring me, and in all things showing me Jesus Christ.  The godly life that I strive to exemplify each day in my life is because I desire to be more like Jesus, and because it continues to be modeled in the life of a godly man who just happens to be my dad.  I am humbled to be so blessed.  So, in this relatively small way, it is my desire to praise and honor him.

In some sense it is easy to understand what John, who was greatly impacted by the Messiah, must have meant when he wrote in his gospel that there were more things, many more things, he could have written about Jesus; and if they were all recorded, the world would not have room for all the books written.
Because I have been greatly impacted by my dad, there are many more things that could be said about him.  But if it is even possible to sum up in a simple statement this tribute, it could be this:  the shadow of my father’s godliness has been cast largely behind him, and my brother, myself, and our families are blessed to walk in his shade.

I love you dad.  Happy Father’s Day.

Some of life’s greatest lessons are learned in moments of affliction.  Those times are not easy to accept, nor are they easy to experience, but affliction happens; and how you navigate through them can be life-transforming or life-destroying.

One of the greatest kings who has ever ruled, David, wrote about his own experiences and what he learned from them.  He said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word . . .It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”  Psalm 119:67, 71 I wonder if David, who was a shepherd before he was a king, was thinking back to his days in the sheep fields.  There would be times, I’m certain, when a sheep would wander off from the flock and be in need of rescue.  Who knows, maybe David dealt with several rogue sheep over the course of his shepherding career.  It’s certainly not uncommon.

In his book “In His Hand,” Roy Gustafson tells the true story of his encounter with a shepherd in Israel whom he saw carrying a sheep that had a splint and bandage on its leg.  The guide that was leading the tour group told Roy that the shepherd himself had broken the sheep’s leg because that particular sheep had the habit of wandering off and leading other sheep astray as well.  The purpose, it was told, behind the shepherd breaking the leg of the sheep was to teach the sheep not to wander off.  I guess it could have been worse . . .”Honey, we’re eating rebel sheep tonight.”

“Before I was afflicted, I went astray . . .” Before God afflicted me, I wandered.  There were things I pursued, places I went, people I hung out with, dreams I chased, plans I made, all of which led me in a different direction away from God’s presence and purposes.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12 Straying only leads to destruction.  And then God does something hurtfully loving . . .he breaks your leg.  That’s loving?  It reminds me of that line in “Evan Almighty,” when Steve Carell says, “God, do me a favor.  Love me less.”  But the truth is, He can’t love you less.  So, He breaks your leg.  Then He splints it; bandages it; and does something amazingly beautiful and gracious . . . He carries you.  And this is what I’ve learned:  it’s in His carrying us during our affliction that we learn the love of the Shepherd (Jesus), and that His ways are always the right ways that lead to life, peace, purpose, joy and security.  “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Psalm 119:71

Maybe your leg is broken right now, and you are feeling the affliction.  Are you letting Christ carry you, and are you learning His ways?  Or are you trying to make your own way on a broken leg only to find yourself at the edge of the proverbial cliff that leads to destruction?  Afflictions happen, but how you respond during those moments will be the difference between learning His ways that lead to life, or limping off on your own trying to nurse a wound that will never heal.

First let me say “thanks” to all of you who have commented on the “Domino Effect” video.  For those who have not seen what I am talking about, you can check it out at www.inglewoodbaptist.com and click on the “media” tab.  Over the next several weeks, more videos with study guides will be available for purchase through Pay-Pal at shawnbarnard.com.  The purpose of the videos is for you to be able to use them as a resource that will serve as a discussion starter for a small or large  group Bible study.

It is my desire to provide you with top quality videos that clearly communicate the life changing truth of Christ and the principles we find in His Word, as well as leave you challenged to seek out how to apply the truth.

If you have any questions, please email me at shawn.barnard@mac.com

For His fame and renown,

Shawn

Not long ago I shared with you about my oldest son, Kevin.  But tonight I want to tell you about Kameron, or Kam-Dog as I call him.  He wasn’t too fond of that nickname at first for some reason.  Personally I think it has an edge to it . . .attitude . . .the kind of nickname that causes kids younger than you to wish they had a cool nickname too.  Plus it sounded a lot better than Kam-Cat.  Kam-aroni.  Kam-dude.  Kam-a-lam-a-rama.  I’ve got nothing.

Kameron is, perhaps, one of the funniest and quick-witted people I know.  He loves to laugh, and to make people laugh.  And he loves to check things out, and I don’t mean library books.  Let me explain . . .

My cousin was getting married.  You can imagine the setting; it wasn’t much different than most weddings.  It was at a large church, it was decorated nicely, and everyone was excited about this big day.  Prior to the wedding, Jennifer, the kids and I were hanging out with our family in the foyer.  I’m not certain of the exact time of the wedding, but I do know that about 10 minutes from this sacred ceremony, the fire alarm goes off.  As you can imagine, panic ensued.  The crowd in the foyer began to disperse, looking for a fire.  My natural reaction was to make sure that my family was all together, and it was then that I noticed Kameron slowly backing away from the wall which just happened to be the location of the fire alarm.  (Note to those who build buildings with fire alarms:  put it above the reach of little kids)  Yep, he did it.  Pulled the alarm handle down.  The temptation was too great, and his curiosity was just too strong.  So . . . what was going through my mind was how I was going to explain this to my cousin, and the rest of the crowd that was there.  At the same time I was fearing the worst:  that the church had a sprinkler system in the worship center.  Thoughts of candles being doused and decorations being ruined were running through my mind.  It wasn’t long . . . like minutes . . .until the fire department showed up, and I greeted them.  “Hey, how’s it going?  Um, my son, the one over there with his hands cuffed and hanging upside down, he pulled the alarm down.  There’s no fire, everything is fine.”  They didn’t accept my explanation.  As protocol dictates, they were obligated to check out the whole facility.  Great.  There wasn’t a pew large enough for me to hide under.  And then it hit me when my uncle (the father of the bride) said, “That’s little Shawn.”  Needless to say, memories were made that day . . . just ask my cousin.

Tomorrow, Kameron goes to camp for the first time.  Part of me is excited about this new adventure in his journey; and then there is part of me realizes that it is just one more step towards him growing up and the inevitable “little letting-gos.”   I have no doubt that God is shaping Kameron, and even now using him in ways that are making an eternal difference.  He certainly has made a difference in my life.

I could tell you more funny stories about Kam, but they are too many to mention here.  He is mischeiveous, curious, quick-witted, intelligent, animated, articulate, outgoing, and loves Jesus Christ with all his heart.  He has blessed my life in ways that are hard to express in words, but without a doubt he has made me a better man, and I pray a better father.

After what seemed like a week of traveling, and feeling as though we should’ve been in Canada, we finally made it to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  All in all, it wasn’t a bad trip, but it was eventful.  Within two hours, while in Colorado, we experienced sunshine and hot temperatures; rain; hail; tornadoes; and snow.  I had to check the map twice to make sure we were in Colorado and not Oz.  It was amazing.

We decided to stop for lunch in Denver and ended up at the Texas Roadhouse in Aurora.  The food was good, our waitress was from Massachusetts, and the weather, unbeknownst to us, was changing outside.  It had just starting raining as we left the restaurant, and the wind had picked up.

After getting in the van, and continuing our trek through Denver, the rain started coming down in drops the size of water balloons it seemed.  And then, it hailed.  I’m not talking pea-size hail . . . golf ball sized hail.  It literally sounded like the hail was going to come through the roof of the van.  The hail was coming down so much that we, along with ever car in front of us on I-225, stopped for cover under an overpass.  It looked like a parking lot on the freeway.  No one was observing the lanes; I thought I was in Zambia again.

I saw a break in the clouds toward the direction we were traveling, and after weaving my way through the logjam on the freeway, drove as quickly (and almost legally) as I could away from the storm.  Kristen, who was sitting directly behind me yelled, “Oh my gosh, there’s a tornado!”  And sure enough, in the area where we had just eaten lunch, we could see a well-defined tornado coming down out of the clouds and moving quickly towards the ground.  We found out later on the news that there had been 5 tornadoes, one of which had hit in the area where we had eaten lunch.   So . . . that was the hail and tornado part of the trip.

Same day, just about an hour or so later, it snowed on us as we made our way over Berthoud Pass (elevation about 9,000 ft.).  We stopped and took photos along the way of a raging creek of runoff snow coming down from the mountains, and took in the scenery.  How anyone can believe there is no God is beyond belief to me.

More to come as we vacation.