The author of Red Moon Rising came to talk to our church. He has been a part of 24-hour prayer rooms across the globe. If you like to hear great stuff, here’s the audio of the message.

Everything was great, especially how he has learned so much from his kid about his relationship with God. (He lead into it by talking about how leaving the house, with all of the mechanisms like a car seat, is now a military operation. He also talked about the dangers of cradling a diaperless newborn, trying to emulate a poster, while you yourself are shirtless.)

God as father loves us not out of obligation and because he needs to fit into theology. Why pray to that guy, if he didn’t like you? We are his kids. Kids throw up on their fathers, yell at them, wake them up at odd hours, and then complain about being hungry. Many nice father shirts are ruined the first 6 months after a birth.

And yet we still love our kids.

Imagine if anyone else in the world, even a close friend from way back, doing the stuff to you that a kid does. You might think twice about dialing that phone. Yet we keep coming back to our kids out of love. It reminded me of something that I had written two years ago (I couldn’t find the e-mail, I had to go into the archives on my desktop to find my Microsoft FrontPage file. The site truly has come a long way.)

Here’s the original article/e-mail:

Diaper as a Spiritual Metaphor

This is for the dads. Ladies, it gets graphic. Tune out now.

[Oldest]‘s sick so I stayed home from church this morning. Yet, God’s still teaching me (though I’d rather get it at church).

I’m learning more about what it is to be a father from the Father, and what it means to be His adopted kid.

[Oldest] had a blow-out this morning.

I did not notice it for a while.

On the outside, things looked alright. But, there was a strange aroma (she’s really not feeling well). This got me thinking about 2 Corinthians 2:15:

“¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

It’s like this blow-out is my sin. On the outside, it may seem okay, but when you get close to me, imagine what aroma I’m giving off if it’s not Christ’s aroma.

Now, why would I change [Oldest]‘s diaper? Yes, partly to get a more pleasant aroma. But if I wanted to get away from the smell, I could have just as easily left [Oldest] on the back porch. God is holy. Why clean us of sin? Partly because it stinks to his holy character, perhaps. But thankfully he doesn’t leave us on the back porch, especially when it’s so hot out.

I want to be a good father. Even though I’m not the one who dirtied the diaper, I will still change it.

It’s not like [Oldest]‘s able to change her own diaper. (That would be nice, though. I would not complain.)

God is a good Father. He didn’t make the mess, but he knows that it’s something that we cannot clean up on our own. Thankfully we don’t have to sit around in the diaper.

This morning I have seen how disgusting my own sin is. I have also seen how patient God is.

So, next time you see me, ask me about the blow-outs in my life.

Semi-related posts:

1. Super Bowl Reflection
2. Star Trek vs. Star Wars
3. My Friend Wally Ruth
4. Fear and Trembling
5. The Nativity Story