A lawyer once asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Isn't that a question that we ourselves ask often? Are we too often lovers of law rather than grace? Here is the story from Luke 10 (ESV):

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

I think it is too easy for us Christians to say "there ought to be a law" or "let's pass an amendment to the Constitution", when we need to remember the story of the Good Samaritan more.  After all, Jesus said "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these...you have done it unto me".

Suppose a person walks into a doctor's office with a hurting leg.  The pain is extreme!  The doctor takes a look at it, and says, "You'll be fine.  Just take two extra-strength Tylenol every four hours and let me know in a week if it is still hurting."  After a week, the pain is excruciating!  The patient returns, and the doctor, without even looking at the leg, says, "Here's a prescription for Tylenol III, you know, the good stuff!  This will take care of you."  After a few days, the patient is in total agony and, being dissatisfied with the doctor's diagnosis, sees another doctor.  This doctor, in total disbelief at his colleague's diagnosis (or lack thereof) says to the patient, "You have a broken leg!  Infection has set in!  If you had waited any longer, your leg would have gangrene and we would have to amputate!"  This doctor puts the leg in a cast, makes the proper prescriptions, and gives the patient instructions on how to take care of the leg.

If you were a friend or family member of this person, what would you say about the first doctor?  Would you say he is a water-fowl doctor, you know, "Quack, quack"?  What was wrong with his treatment of the patient?  My wife, a nurse, would tell you that he treated the symptom, not the cause of the pain.

Are we who are pro-life like the first doctor?  Is calling for overturning Roe v Wade just treating a symptom?  What are the real issues behind the popularity of the abortion option?

From my vantage point, the real issues are the prevalent attitude in our culture that it's ok to have sex with any consenting person that you want to.  Of course, the visible issue is unwanted pregnancies, but the attitude that sex is something you do for fun, or you do with someone you have dated once or twice that you think you love, or you do someone who is married to someone else - this attitude is what leads to action, which leads to women getting pregnant and not wanting the babies.  It's the centuries-old maxim that attitude produces ideas, which produce action, in this case, sexual intercourse outside of the marriage bond.

Ok, ok.  I hear some of you saying "There he goes!  Sex outside of marriage!  This guy is beating a dead horse, sounding the alarm of all the outdated victorian ideas of prune-faced people of old."  Maybe so, but the question remains:  Why are so many women willing to teminate their pregnancies, to "get rid" of the innocent baby living and growing inside them?

I say that making abortion illegal is simply treating the symptom, wanting something that would make us pro-life folks feel like we had actually done some good for our country.  Wouldn't it be better to treat the cause and not the symptom?  Wouldn't it be better to talk to our young people about the reality of having sex and the responsibility of raising a child?  Shouldn't we talk to people about sex being a beautiful thing, not just a play-toy?  And how about all of the emotions wrapped up with it?  Shouldn't we talk to the young men we know about what kind of shameless weasels they would be if they slept with a girl just to have some fun, and then dump her when she gets pregnant?  And what about the lasting emotional pain and guilt that women suffer after having an abortion?  And lastly, how about the teenage girl who gets pregnant, who is getting a lot of pressure from her family and friends, and doesn't know what to do?

I say that being a friend is better than being an accuser, that putting your arm around that young girl that got pregnant and saying, "We love you and will be with you through your pregnancy" is better than heaping more guilt on her, that putting your arm around the young man who got her pregnant and say "We are here for you too.  Let's work with this", is much better that wanting to pin a scarlet letter on each of them.  As a follower of Jesus, I say, let's show them the love and compassion that Jesus would show.  After all, isn't that how Jesus changed the world?

An original poem that fits with Veterans Day:

Home to Stay

In a town not far from you
The sky was bright, bright blue.
Folks were dressed in blue and gray
And strained to see what was coming their way.
Then a taxi came into view.
Was it him?  Could it be true?
As the young soldier stepped out, they began to say,
“The weary soldier is home to stay”.

In another town not far away,
The sky was not blue, but gray.
Folks dressed in black, not gray nor blue,
As a hearse, not a taxi, came into view.
The rifles fired into the air
And the flag-draped coffin standing there,
Both in concert seemed to say,
“The weary soldier is home to stay”.

Philosophy and Life

Philosophical principles in real life:
1) Husband: "Will you stop worrying? Worrying does no good."
Wife: "Yes it does. 90% of the things I worry about never happen!"
(Correlation does not mean cause-and-effect)

2) Psychiatrist: "Do you believe you are dead?"
Patient: "yes"
Psych.: "Do dead men bleed?"
Patient: "no"
[Psychiatrist takes a pocket knife and cuts the patients finger, which starts bleeding]
Psych.: "What does that tell you?"
Patient: "Well, whadda you know? Dead men DO bleed!"
(Assinine Assumptions Produce Confused Conclusions)

The Calculator in Your Head

I like calculators a lot.  I like TI's:  I have a TI-82 graphics, and a couple of solar-powered TI-30XIIS.  My favorites however are HP's with RPN (Reverse Prefix Notation); I have a few old ones that stopped working because I can't find any replacement batteries.  Computer software?  I enjoy using Microsoft Excel and Corel QuattroPro.  What can I say?  I am a CCG: Certifiable Computer Geek.  I am just a number-crunching kind of guy!  However, as much as I like calculators and computers, I have a calculator in my head.  You do too!

You didn't know that?  Most people don't seem to.  Now, before you give up on me and go to Youtube to see what new inane video has been posted recently, or go off to play yet another round of Angry Birds, give my thoughts a read.  Do I mean that at birth the doctor implanted chips in your head?  No.  I mean that you have a marvelous organ in your head, a brain that is more powerful than any calculator or computer that has ever been invented.  Yes, you have a supercomputer between your ears that makes IBM's Wilson look like a play toy.

Doctors tell us that human beings only use a small fraction of their brain power.  I have heard that Albert Einstein only used about 10% of his brain capacity.  I fear that I, as well as most of the rest of us, use far less than that!!

My dad told me about this when I was young.  He demonstrated his point when I was in eighth grade and was enamored with my first slide-rule (ok, so I am a hopeless geek).  He and I had a contest multiplying numbers:  me with my slide-rule, and dad with his mental capacity (which I am sure was a lot more than mine).  He beat me every time.  The reason for this, he told me, was because he had the multiplication tables up to 12's chiseled into his brain in elementary school.

Memorization?  How arcane!  How old school!  Everyone knows that memorization isn't the answer, that new math is the key!  Are you serious?  If memorization is so bad, how come our grandparents know more history, poetry than we do, and can do arithmetic better?  Got CRN disease (Can't Remember Nothin')?  Uh huh.  Sing to me your favorite song from your teenage years.  Can you remember the theme song from Gilligan's Island?  Happy Days?  How about the Barney Song?  How about last year's lineup of the Royals or the Chiefs (or whatever your favorite team is)?  And of course, how about your ABC's?  I thought so.  You can memorize whatever you want to memorize.  My kids have almost the entire scripts of their favorite movies memorized.

You want to make the most of your brainpower?  Memorization is the key.  In my next post, we will explore this further.

Christmas 2010

Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace,

and good will to all people! We join the angels who

sang joyous praises to God as we give thanks for the

blessings of friends and family this past year.

We have enjoyed making our new house in Hays a home, decorating and

remodeling. We are active in our church, Celebration Community, where we

fellowship in a loving small group. We enjoy attending sporting events, concerts, going to the movies, and watching West Wing DVD’s. In March, we moved Rob’s mother, Roberta, from Hesston to Good Samaritan here in Hays so that we can better care for her. The highlight of our year was in May when Karen received her Doctor of Ministry degree from Phillips Theological Seminary. Many family and friends were present to celebrate that Karen had finished her research in the area of pastoral care for the chronically ill.

Our children are maturing into young adults with lives of their own and we are proud parents. We were thrilled with the news that Joel became engaged to Tricia Blackburn. Karen will officiate at their wedding May 28, 2011 in Lawrence. Bethany is a secretary at the Free Methodist Church in Lawrence where she also works in the children’s ministries. Liesel enjoys her work at a day care in Juneau, Alaska and participating in mission trips to the Bahamas. Elizabeth became the third generation of Harvesters to go to Central Christian College in McPherson when she transferred there this fall as a junior. She is a business major and has

a special guy in her life, Dave. Sondra recently moved to Hays and is living in our basement apartment until she finds employment and a place of her own. She is excited about being closer to family, especially the Ault side. Jason still works in Wichita State athletics and enjoys rooting for his Denver Broncos and NY Yankees as well as spending time with his girlfriend, Jennifer. Susie graduated from cosmetology school in May. She has set up shop in Ulysses and works two nights a week at the local hospital where she is a CNA.

During this Advent and Christmas season, we celebrate Emmanuel, God with us. We are thankful for God’s presence with us through the love of family and friends during the joys and challenges of the past year. We pray that God’s grace and peace will continue to be with us all in the coming year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Rob and Karen Harvester

In closing, we would like to share a poem that Rob wrote a few Christmases ago.

Heaven Touched Earth

A dream, A hope,

A long awaited prophecy.

Israel wanted a Messiah.

Who would he be?

To break the Roman yoke,

A mighty Prince, A King!

But the Messiah they wanted

Was not what they’d need.

Almighty God, Emmanuel,

Everlasting Prince of Peace,

Born in David’s city

He wouldn’t break a bruised reed.

A manger, some hay,

A carpenter’s wife, a birth,

Angels sang to shepherds

As Heaven touched earth.

After Easter Stuff

Karen and I had a good, but busy, Easter week. The Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter sunrise services, not to mention the Easter services, were good reminders of Jesus' sacrifice and the promise of new life in Him. However, after lunch on Easter, we just lounged around and visited with Sondra and Glen, who came to visit.

Last Thursday, we went with Jason to the 2009 WSU Men's Basketball banquet. Garret Stutz sat at our table. We had a good time.

Jason and I are participating in the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus, which had it's first concert of 2009 yesterday in Lindsborg. 300 men singing gospel and church songs is amazing. I am reminded of the Promise Keepers' choir shirts that had the caption "Real Men Sing Real Loud". Amen to that! For those who are interested, the next concert will be Sunday, April 26, at Memorial Hall at Bethel College, North Newton, KS. Another option if you can't make it is the 2009 KMMC CD, which will come out later this year for $15.

And wait! there's more! If you call within the next 30 minutes, ...

Update on Joel: For the past couple of months, Joel has been in the desert in Nevada doing research about desert turtles. This is only temporary, however, and Joel will return to Lawrence in a few weeks. I am looking forward to hear the stories he will have to tell. Here is a link to the outfit he is working with: Great Basin Institute

Here are some links to some poignant songs rom a couple of old Jesus Freaks:

Don Francisco:
"He's Alive" and "Jehoshaphat".
"Steeple Song"

Keith Green:
There is a Redeemer
Asleep in the light
Your Love Broke Through

FYI, Keith Green was killed in a plane crash in July, 1982. LoRee and I saw him in concert two months before his death.

The Job Hunt: I am still looking! Some good news: I will be teaching two algebra courses for Hutchinson CC this summer, and perhaps other courses, on a part-time basis, this fall. However, full-time employment has been so-far elusive. Anybody want to hire a computer geek?

Later!
Rob/Bob/Pops