Our church’s Easter outreach made the local papers in Longmont and Boulder.
Article in the Longmont Times-Call.
Photos in the Boulder Daily Camera.
Tag: Longmont
Easter Egg Hunt Recap
In some places the saying goes: “April showers bring May flowers.”
I’m pretty sure in Colorado the saying should be: “February sunshine brings March blizzards.”
March is the snowiest month of the year in Colorado, and this past Wednesday we had a big storm.
Reports varied between 17 inches and 25 inches of snow accumulation. The roadsides looked like car graveyards and large parts of the Front Range were without power for extended periods.
One of the issues for us was that every year our church hosts a big Easter event in Roosevelt Park in downtown Longmont, adjacent to the building we meet in, the St Vrain Memorial Building.
This year, with that much snow on the ground and more snow in the forecast for Friday (last) night, we knew we wouldn’t be able to have the event in the park.
Thankfully we were able to move the event indoors to the Memorial Building.
It’s a big building, and I’ve always said you could easily fit 1000 people in there. Well, today we put that to the test…
Whereas in past years we’ve had up to 1200 people at this event in the park, we figured that with the snow and the move indoors we would see maybe 500 people attend. We were wrong. We know from raffle tickets that we had over 1000 people in attendance.
The event went well, especially considering the limitations on space. We had a great team of volunteers to serve our community and hopefully next year we can be back outside. Each year is a learning experience, and we look forward to an event better event next year.
One of the highlights of the event each year is the puppet show, which is one of several ways in which we share the true message and meaning of Easter with those who attend.
Tomorrow is Easter Service at White Fields! He is risen indeed!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4)
Approaching Easter
Yesterday we had a blizzard hit the Front Range. Some places got as much as 25″ of wet, heavy snow. I was in Boulder yesterday and there were broken tree limbs littering Broadway.
I don’t mind this snow actually, I am only praying about what it means for our big Easter Outreach this Saturday in Roosevelt Park…
As we approach Easter, here are 2 things I wanted to share: a quote and a link to an article.
Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of springtime.
– Martin Luther
Steve Brown on 6 Proofs of Christ’s Resurrection
Why Studying Church History is Important
Something we’ve started recently at White Fields is a series of classes we’re calling: School of Ministry and Discipleship.
The idea is that have started offering a series of 5-week Christian education classes on various topics in a classroom setting. I like to think of it as Bible college for people who don’t have time to go to Bible college.
We ran a test of this last spring, learned a few things, and are ready to start again with our first 3 classes: Christianity 101 and Church History: Parts 1 & 2.
Interestingly, the Gospel Coalition just put out an article this week titled: The Role of History in Reclaiming the Christian Mind.
Here’s an excerpt:
“One of the besetting sins of evangelicalism is a mostly ahistorical approach to theology and praxis. As evangelicals, we appeal to the supreme authority of Scripture, and rightly so. But we don’t read our Bibles in a vacuum.”
Understanding God’s working in and through the church over the past 2000 years, as well as how Christianity developed in doctrine and practice is important for us as Christians today. For me, studying Christian History was one of the most enriching and enlightening parts of going to seminary, and I hope to share some of that with other people.
If you live near Longmont and would be interested in attending these free classes, they will be held on Sundays at noon starting April 3.
For more information or to sign up, click HERE.
Dynel Lane, the Media and a Contradiction of Terms
Almost a year ago, a tragedy happened here in Longmont: a pregnant woman responded to a Craigslist ad for free baby clothes, only to be attacked and to have her baby cut from her womb and abducted.
The baby did not survive, and the assailant, Dynel Lane is currently on trial this week in the Boulder District Court, however she is not being charged with murder, but with suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and child abuse knowingly and recklessly resulting in death and unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Colorado law does not count the death of an unborn child as murder, only if the child lived outside of the womb for some time. The issue in this case is that it’s not possible to prove how long the child lived outside of the womb – so Colorado’s wording of the law will not allow a murder charge in this case, even though wrongful death is obvious.
Dynel Lane has pleaded not guilty to these charges and has come back saying that it was Michelle Wilkins who attacked and tried to stab her, and that she was only trying to defend herself, and the reason she cut the baby out of Michelle’s womb was because she thought Michelle was dead and was trying to save the baby. This however, gives no explanation for why Dynel Lane told medical personal at Longmont United Hospital that the baby was hers, until they realized that she hadn’t given birth and the baby couldn’t be hers.
You can read Dynel Lane’s testimony here.
Today closing arguments are being presented by both sides.
This case presents a conundrum, not only for the wording of the law, but for the media in telling the story. As one friend pointed out: The Denver Post reported that Dynel Lane “…cut out Wilkins’ fetus before taking the baby to Longmont United Hospital…”
The Denver Post reported today that Dynel Lane “…cut out Wilkins’ fetus before taking the baby to Longmont United Hospital…”
— Shelby Lawson (@Laramiest) February 20, 2016
Did you catch that? She cut out a “fetus” and then took the “baby” to Longmont United Hospital.
It’s a very careful choosing of words which reflects a fundamental belief: that unborn children are not actually children.
The word they’ve coined to help create this false dichotomy – which this case so painfully exposes – is “fetus.” What’s ironic, is that this is based on a failure to grasp the fact that the word fetus is simply Latin for “young person.”
Fetus is Latin for “young person”
Did you catch that? Young PERSON. Not “young mass of tissue, akin more to cancer than to a human being.”
This case presents a conundrum for lawmakers and the media, because it shows that a fetus and a baby are not two separate things. Everyone knows that what this woman did was wrong, because she killed a baby… But if we stick with strictly considering the unborn unhuman, then why is this crime so heinous?
Is a baby only a baby if its mother wants it? Clearly the answer is no.
I will be interested to see what happens in this case. Hoping for justice for Dynel Lane’s crime and mercy for her soul.
Coming Soon…
Mrs. Longmont Pastor is well into her final trimester with our latest addition to the Cady family. We're expecting a little girl in mid-late December. You can pray for us; the birth of our last child was difficult (I wrote more about that here), but so far everything is going well with this one.
Our friend Page did a photo session with us last week. Here's one of the shots we took at McIntosh Lake in Longmont.
Page does great work. If you're ever looking for a photographer in the Boulder, CO area, check her out here at http://www.boulderlifestylephotography.com/
Making the News
The past 2 Sundays White Fields Church and yours truly have been mentioned in the local newspapers in Boulder and Longmont.
Last Sunday I was honored to be featured in the Times-Call's annual 100 People of the St. Vrain Valley, in which I got to share about mission work in Hungary as well as what I enjoy about being a local pastor here in Longmont. You can find that article online here.
This past Sunday, White Fields' annual Easter Outreach in Roosevelt Park was reported on by both the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Times-Call. Check that article out here.
Sometimes you can't be sure how what you say to reporters will actually get reported, but I was very pleased with how the Camera and Times-Call reported what I said.
Easter Weekend in Longmont
This weekend, White Fields church will again be hosting the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Roosevelt Park on Saturday, April 4th at 10:00.
It’s hard at this point to only call this an Easter Egg Hunt, it’s almost like an Easter Family Festival, because of all the activities available to families. If you live in the area, do come and check it out; we’ve ramped it up this year!
Also, we invite you to join us on Sunday morning at 10:00 in the St Vrain Memorial Building for our Easter Celebration!
For more information, click here.
Thoughts on Representative Klingenschmitt’s Comments about the Judgement of God and the Assault in Longmont
Last week Colorado State Representative Gordon Klingenschmitt from Colorado Springs stated on his YouTube channel that the Bible says that the Longmont woman who was assaulted and had her baby cut from her stomach was the wrath of God coming against America because we have failed to protect unborn children. To make this point, he quoted from Hosea 13:16.
Since then, both conservatives and liberals have distanced themselves from Klingenschmitt and he has been removed from at least one comittee that he was a member of.
I went and checked out the statement he made, because I know how sometimes things can be misconstrued when relayed by media – I was curious if that was the case here.
Here are my thoughts:
- The one way that Klingenschmitt might have been misrepresented was that he was not saying that God was judging this woman individually, who was the victim of the assault – rather he said that God is judging our soceity in general, and what happened to this woman was part of that judgment.
- He quoted from Hosea 13:16, a verse about how both Israel and Samaria would face God’s judgment (in the form of war) as a result of their rebellion against God. The prophet describes what will happen when war comes: no one will be spared; children will die, and even pregnant women will be killed with the sword (cut open).
This is, first of all, not even talking about the kind of assault that took place in Longmont. Secondly, the important detail in understanding what is being said by the prophet is that judgment will come in the form of war, and in war, these are the kinds of atrocities that happen.
In other words, it isn’t God saying that He’s going to judge them by sending people to kill their children and cut open their pregnant women, it’s God saying that he will allow a time of hardship by removing His hand of protection and allowing a foreign nation (the Assyrians in this case) to overrun them. Historically, this is exactly what happened. However, in the context of the Book of Hosea, it is important to note that this is said as a warning of the judgment that will come if the people continue in their wickedness and rebellion, and is followed in the next chapter by the urging of Hosea about the blessings and restoration that repentance would bring to the nation instead.
In other words: “You have a choice to make. It’s not too late! You can choose to continue rebelling against God, in which case God will not protect you from the impending onslaught of the Assyrians (and just to remind you, here are the kinds of terrible atrocities that happen in war…), or you can repent and turn back to the Lord and he will restore you and heal your nation.”
Conclusion: Klingenschmitt is clearly taking this verse out of context. - The difficult question this brings up is: when do we consider something to be God’s judgment, and when do we not? In the Bible, it seems that many times things happened that were indeed the judgment of God, which, if they were to happen in our day, we might not see them as such.
For example, in the Old Testament, in Korah’s rebellion, people got swallowed up by the Earth as God’s judgment upon them. Nowadays, if someone gets sucked up in a sinkhole, calling it the judgment of God is not exactly politically correct. In the Old Testament, wars and attacks from foreign nations were often related to God’s judgment. Do we still consider that to be the case? Or how about Ananias and Saphira – they lied to make themselves look good, and God struck them dead. We don’t often think in our day about heart attacks as being God’s judgment on a person. I’m sure that not all heart attacks are God’s judgment on people – but it would seem that sometimes they might be.
It is incredibly difficult to discern or to say with any amount of certainty which things are God’s judgment and which are not, apart from divine revelation.
My conclusion is that this man is not evil or heartless, but perhaps a bit misguided and could use some lessons in exegesis, because he is very dogmatic about some things which he doesn’t have proper basis to be so dogmatic about. Furthermore, having a platform like the one he does as a State Congressman, he should be much more careful about what he says.
Much more importantly, my heart goes out to the victim of this terrible crime. We pray for her physical and emotional healing. We pray that she will be able to have more children after this. I have been so impressed by her graciousness in her public statements, and we do pray that she would sense the love of God and presence of God and the hope of the Gospel.
Running on Water
I have recently started running regularly along the St Vrain River from Roger’s Grove to Golden Ponds. The other day my running partner and I discovered this row of rocks that allows you to cross over the middle of one of the lakes.
Longmont, thanks for being awesome.
Here are the pictures we took of it today. The first one was taken by my Samsung Galaxy and the other was taken by my friend’s iPhone. Not trying to be a hater – just sayin’… 🙂
Theology for the People 