Luke’s Notebook

Well, I have yet another announcement to make. I do believe that the ability to comment is finally back. I didn’t even realize that it wasn’t working until Jude pointed out that he was having problems posting, which led me to investigate the issue a little more. The problem? Apostrophes. Since the server problems over the past couple of days, we were moved to a new setup, with a new PHP configuration. Long story short, I needed to make a few changes in our different scripts to allow the apostrophes to be escaped. All seems to work now, thankfully.

In other news, yesterday we won our 7:30 game against the Stank Nuggets by a score of 11-3. I batted 4-4, Paul crushed a homer, Philip had a solid hit, and it was an all-around good game. All except for a boneheaded play I made in left field, where I was madly charging a hard-hit ball, and the softball simply rolled right under my glove. Oops.

Now… you should be able to comment. If you try to comment but you can’t, please e-mail me or something so I can get right on that. Much appreciated.

If anybody has tried to send me an e-mail yesterday or today, please resend it. We were having server problems, and it appears that the e-mail would have been lost in the mix.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Isaiah 53:5-6

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

For those who have given their life to God, there’s no greater reminder of our hope than celebrating Easter. Our sin put Jesus on the cross and into the tomb, because God knew that offering His blameless Son as a substitute was the only way we could have another chance. Two days later, though, the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and Jesus rose from the dead. Death has been conquered, and we now have hope of everlasting life.

Once again, John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Since I’m on the subject of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus, I’m wondering — who out there has seen Mel Gibson’s “The Passion Of The Christ”?

All I can say is I’m overwhelmed by God’s love for me and the forgiveness that is offered. Whenever I feel discouraged, upset, or just worried about something, I just need to fix my eyes on the cross again and realize that compared to that, cares of this world are nothing. The most important thing is to know that whatever life brings me while I’m here on earth, I have eternal life to look forward to.

Matthew 5:43-48

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This morning was one of those mornings that makes me thankful that more mornings aren’t like this morning. God is good.

Time to play some softball.

I’m realizing more and more that life isn’t fair. You might be groaning and thinking, “Here goes Luke, belly-aching about something.” Well, hold that thought for just a second, Friend, because I’m coming from a totally different direction.

When I think about my life — the family that I’m a part of, the friends that I have, my responsibilities, the country in which I live — I realize that I don’t deserve this. I ask myself, “What have I done to earn this?” The answer? Nothing at all.

I very much believe Psalm 112, where it says, “Blessed is he who fears the Lord, who finds delight in his commands.” Recently, I have been feeling more and more overwhelmed by God’s goodness, by all of the blessings. On the trip itself, I can think of so many different practical things that God helped us work out. I’m talking everything from finding exceptional rates on lodging, to providing us with opportunities to visit baseball stadiums, to ensuring that we didn’t get trapped in rush-hour traffic in New York City en route to picking John up from his deposition. That’s just a portion of the different ways our awesome God has provided, and that’s just in the last week.

So when I see all of these blessings, and then I look at my life — all of the times that I sin, offend God, disobey Him — things just simply don’t add up. It leaves me kind of perplexed until I’m reminded that I can never, ever earn anything from God.

See, I’m used to having things add up. For instance, if I pay $20 at the gas station, I expect to receive 20 bucks of gas. If I exercise and count my calories, I’ll lose weight. If I work on this deposition, I’ll get paid at this rate. Basically, there’s a direct correlation between what I give and what I get. I know if I do X and Y, I’ll get Z.

With God, I’m reminded that this isn’t how things work. So I wonder, “God, why is it that I have all of these blessings? What about all of my shortcomings?” Then it’s like I hear God reminding me, “You didn’t earn it. You couldn’t earn it.”

We can’t come up with a mathematical equation where if we read three chapters in the Bible every day and go to church once a week, then we know we will have earned these predetermined blessings from God. I don’t think it works that way. Over and over, I’m learning that God wants us. All of us. And I truly believe that once we have surrendered to Him and are honestly seeking Him, trying to obey Him, then the blessings do follow.

It doesn’t make sense that we would still experience this kind of mercy and love unless we can realize that God is just that merciful and loving. Though we fail, though we fall, though we disobey at times, I think for those who are wholly seeking to do God’s will, the blessings are inevitable. God really, really loves His children.

So… yeah, life isn’t fair. But would you really want it to be fair? I wouldn’t. Fair would mean getting what I deserve. And what I deserve is hell, condemnation. That’s what true justice would get me. So I just thank our awesome God that life isn’t fair, and that through Jesus I have forgiveness, new life, and hope.

Does anybody know anything about del.icio.us (www.del.icio.us)? Anybody ever use it?

Yesterday was Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium, their brand-new ballpark, and it was also the opening day for our men’s softball league. Paul and Jude went to St. Louis in order to cover the festivities at the stadium, and they stayed for the Brewers and Cardinals game. In the evening, we played our first softball game of 2006, and we won a close one by a score of 9-7. I batted 3-4 with two pretty ugly hits. But, hey, a hit is a hit, right? At any rate, it was a good note to start the season out on.

During the afternoon yesterday, John and I went to a deposition in St. Louis. It was a video depo, which is why I went, to handle all of the videography duties. On the way home from the deposition, we decided to stop for lunch at Hometown Buffet. We had never been to one of those restaurants before, and we had wanted to check it out. It was very good. I’d say it very much rivals Golden Corral, Ryan’s Steakhouse, and Fire Mountain.

It’s a beautiful day. Spring is definitely here!

We arrived back home early this evening. Tomorrow evening, the rest of the family should pull in, and late in the evening we’ll all head over to the park for our first softball game of the season.

I’m pretty beat, so I’m going to cut it here.

Paul, John, Jude, and I are on Interstate 64, and we recently entered back into Illinois. The rest of the family plans to leave early Monday morning, and we should reunite tomorrow evening.

This morning, we left the house in Elkton, Virginia, and we have driven a good 650 miles so far. We’re probably about 70 or 80 miles away from home. We’re getting very close!