NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Fifty years ago, Roger Woodward earned bragging rights as one of the few people to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls.
Not that he ever used them.
For sure, the 7-year-old miracle boy who tumbled over the brink after a boating accident is part of the colorful folklore of the Falls. His story is told in the same breath as the fame and fortune-seeking adventurers led by schoolteacher Annie Taylor's 1901 barrel ride with her cat.
Woodward and his family sought to resume normal life after he and his 17-year-old sister, Deanne Woodward, were rescued from the Niagara River after being tossed from family friend James Honeycutt's 12-foot aluminum boat on July 9, 1960.
"We were just two kids out with a family friend for a day on the water," Woodward says now. "It turned tragic. A man lost his life, and quite literally by the grace of God we were thankful that my sister and I were saved."
For 34 years, Woodward and his sister never talked about it, not even to each other. Their parents thought it best they move on. But Woodward remembers the immediate interest from the outside world was overwhelming, so much so that his father hooked the family's trailer to a truck and moved in the dead of night from Niagara Falls.
He marked the 50th anniversary by listening with his wife, Susan Woodward, to a rebroadcast of a radio special about the accident.
"To this day, every time I hear the story I can smell the water," he said.
For Woodward, the worst part was the brutal ride through suffocating whitewater where he was tossed from Honeycutt's boat after it struck something, became disabled and was pulled into the powerful rapids.
"This water looks like it's as big as a house with the waves and the rocks," he says. "One minute you're pulled underwater, you can't breathe, you wonder if you're ever going to breathe again. The next second you're thrown up into the air and you come down and you're glancing off of rocks as you're going through the rapids."
He says there was a peaceful moment, though — while he was going over the brink of the Falls.
"I was floating in a cloud," he says. "I had no sensation of up or down. I didn't have any sensation in my stomach like you might have on a roller coaster ... that moment when your stomach is in your throat."
He doesn't remember hitting bottom. He may have been protected from the rocks by what's known as a water cone, a formation that bursts from the surface after water and air drop with such force, Niagara Falls historian Paul Gromosiak said.
"It's like a hand reaching out," Gromosiak explained. "It had to be that — or a miracle."
"Miracle" was what the newspaper headlines declared over black-and-white photos of the blonde, blue-eyed boy clinging to a life ring before being pulled onto the Maid of the Mist tour boat, which was nearby when he bobbed to the surface at the churning base. He looks as though he's smiling — but he was in shock.
All these years later, it's difficult to say how that moment may have affected the life of the carpenter's son who loved the outdoors.
It was his first boat ride and could have been his last. Instead, Woodward developed a love of boating, became a certified diver, even joined the Navy during the Vietnam War. But you won't find him on the upper Niagara with a 7.5-horsepower motor like the one that powered Honeycutt's boat.
"I'm a person of common sense and very safety minded," he said.
Woodward is drawn to stories of survival on the high seas, accounts of circumnavigating the globe, with their underlying themes about persevering through the worst nature has to offer.
"I like the part of survival, the way they find a way to survive in dire circumstances," he said.
Woodward said he heard countless times that "God had his hand on you that day" or "God must have some important mission for you to accomplish in life." But it wasn't until 20 years later that the boy who had not regularly attended church was encouraged by a friend to go after finding himself troubled by nagging "why am I here?" questions.
"From that day forward I was able to answer that one huge question," he said, "and the answer to the question was this: God saved me that day, July 9, 1960, because he knew at age 27 that I would come to know him as my savior."
It led him to the ministry for two years, but he spent most of his working life in the corporate world, in the office products and telecommunications industries.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Pursue Holiness in Christ
We are, we are, we're caught in the in between
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep
And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
Nobody stumbles into godliness.
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. - 1 Timothy 4:6-8 (ESV)
The word train in verse 7 (and perhaps in verse 6 as well though I don't know for sure) is derived from the Greek word for "sweat". Serious effort is required.
Mark Driscoll posted this quote today on Facebook and Twitter: "Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy." - RC Sproul
We have bought into the lie that there are big sins and small sins...sins we should be ashamed of and sins that are acceptable...sins that can harm us and sins that we can live with. We do not whole-heartedly pursue holiness because we like our sin. It brings us pleasure, comfort and the perception of control. And we don't battle it like we should because we are spiritually lazy...having also believed the lie that the Christian life should be one of smooth sailing into eternity. Laziness also comes from not understanding the weight of our sin and/or the holiness of God.
5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming." - Colossians 3:5-6 (ESV)
We don't like to talk about the wrath of God because it isn't very warm and cuddly and certainly doesn't make us feel good. It also doesn't lend itself to full churches and offering plates on Sunday morning. But there can be no question regarding God's wrath toward sin. God has two ultimate responses to sin: The slaughter of his son, Jesus Christ; and the physical reality of hell. Spend even a little time thinking about the stark terror and tragedy of those two things and you can't help but gain a deeper understanding of how seriously we are to take every sin. It's not a battle to take lightly and certainly not one to put off until tomorrow. This is not to be looked at legalistically apart from grace but to be seen through God's Word as working out our salvation with fear and trembling through His strength and what He has already done for us.
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep
And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
Nobody stumbles into godliness.
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. - 1 Timothy 4:6-8 (ESV)
The word train in verse 7 (and perhaps in verse 6 as well though I don't know for sure) is derived from the Greek word for "sweat". Serious effort is required.
Mark Driscoll posted this quote today on Facebook and Twitter: "Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy." - RC Sproul
We have bought into the lie that there are big sins and small sins...sins we should be ashamed of and sins that are acceptable...sins that can harm us and sins that we can live with. We do not whole-heartedly pursue holiness because we like our sin. It brings us pleasure, comfort and the perception of control. And we don't battle it like we should because we are spiritually lazy...having also believed the lie that the Christian life should be one of smooth sailing into eternity. Laziness also comes from not understanding the weight of our sin and/or the holiness of God.
5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming." - Colossians 3:5-6 (ESV)
We don't like to talk about the wrath of God because it isn't very warm and cuddly and certainly doesn't make us feel good. It also doesn't lend itself to full churches and offering plates on Sunday morning. But there can be no question regarding God's wrath toward sin. God has two ultimate responses to sin: The slaughter of his son, Jesus Christ; and the physical reality of hell. Spend even a little time thinking about the stark terror and tragedy of those two things and you can't help but gain a deeper understanding of how seriously we are to take every sin. It's not a battle to take lightly and certainly not one to put off until tomorrow. This is not to be looked at legalistically apart from grace but to be seen through God's Word as working out our salvation with fear and trembling through His strength and what He has already done for us.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Grace-driven effort
"Grace is not opposed to effort. It's opposed to earning". - Dallas Willard
These are my notes from Matt Chandler's sermon on 6/6/10. I have heard the following quote used a lot lately and he unpacks it in this sermon so I thought it was worth writing down as much as I could.
"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." - D.A. Carson
Nobody accidentally becomes godly. So how do you pursue godliness without stepping outside what has freely been given to you and instead find yourself pursuing a Christian checklist of godly behavior? Christian living requires movement. It's not static. The following are 6 ways that godliness is properly pursued through grace-driven effort.
1) Grace-driven effort comes from a new heart. The idea of regeneration. Romans 1 - walking in darkness and God justifies us and gives us eyes and ears to see and hear. The legalist pursues God out of pride that comes from living up to a certain standard. The motivation is applause of men. The idea of godliness to a legalist usually involves killing one sin with another, i.e. killing lust with self righteousness. But no matter which wins...sin wins.
2) Grace-driven effort uses the weapons of grace...the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13), the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and the promises of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). Where you have earned the wrath of God, Christ has intervened. The Scriptures are the primary weapon against the residual effects of the old creature. The legalist uses the Law to try to conform to perfection but it has never worked for anyone. It's an arrogant thought to think you are the one who can pull it off.
3) Grace-driven effort attacks the roots and not just the branches. You can't separate your heart from your thoughts and actions. The latter is an indicator of the former. You get to the heart so the behavior may be changed.
4) Grace-driven effort fights for a reason that goes well beyond easing our conscience and finding temporal peace. It's not built on, "Oh, I feel bad about me." It says, "I have grieved the Holy Spirit and have sullied the image of the Creator of the universe." Our hearts break because God has been so good to us and we have mocked Him with our thoughts and actions. David says, "I have sinned against you alone." Conviction is a great indicator of a heart issue. Our motivation sbould not be, "I hate this about me." Paul says to be wary of worldly sorrow as it leads to death in the end. Godly sorrow leads to repentance.
5) Grace-driven effort comes from being dead to sin not just forsaking it. The believer will not serve sin because his nature is contrary to sin. You don't have to say "yes" to your sin. You are not bound to it any longer.
6) Grace-driven effort is rage-filled and violent toward residual sin inside of us. Our holiness wants to murder sin in our heart...mortifying the flesh. The legalist doesn't necessarily want to kill sin...they want to train it. So if they need some comfort it is there to run back to rather than running to God. Sin will eventually turn on you and kill you no matter how much you have tried to control it. We need to understand that when sin takes us out it isn't just about us...there is always collateral damage to others in our lives.
Colossians 3:11 - "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/some-proven-weapons-in-the-fight-for-holiness
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/06/14/gospel-driven-effort/
These are my notes from Matt Chandler's sermon on 6/6/10. I have heard the following quote used a lot lately and he unpacks it in this sermon so I thought it was worth writing down as much as I could.
"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." - D.A. Carson
Nobody accidentally becomes godly. So how do you pursue godliness without stepping outside what has freely been given to you and instead find yourself pursuing a Christian checklist of godly behavior? Christian living requires movement. It's not static. The following are 6 ways that godliness is properly pursued through grace-driven effort.
1) Grace-driven effort comes from a new heart. The idea of regeneration. Romans 1 - walking in darkness and God justifies us and gives us eyes and ears to see and hear. The legalist pursues God out of pride that comes from living up to a certain standard. The motivation is applause of men. The idea of godliness to a legalist usually involves killing one sin with another, i.e. killing lust with self righteousness. But no matter which wins...sin wins.
2) Grace-driven effort uses the weapons of grace...the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13), the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and the promises of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). Where you have earned the wrath of God, Christ has intervened. The Scriptures are the primary weapon against the residual effects of the old creature. The legalist uses the Law to try to conform to perfection but it has never worked for anyone. It's an arrogant thought to think you are the one who can pull it off.
3) Grace-driven effort attacks the roots and not just the branches. You can't separate your heart from your thoughts and actions. The latter is an indicator of the former. You get to the heart so the behavior may be changed.
4) Grace-driven effort fights for a reason that goes well beyond easing our conscience and finding temporal peace. It's not built on, "Oh, I feel bad about me." It says, "I have grieved the Holy Spirit and have sullied the image of the Creator of the universe." Our hearts break because God has been so good to us and we have mocked Him with our thoughts and actions. David says, "I have sinned against you alone." Conviction is a great indicator of a heart issue. Our motivation sbould not be, "I hate this about me." Paul says to be wary of worldly sorrow as it leads to death in the end. Godly sorrow leads to repentance.
5) Grace-driven effort comes from being dead to sin not just forsaking it. The believer will not serve sin because his nature is contrary to sin. You don't have to say "yes" to your sin. You are not bound to it any longer.
6) Grace-driven effort is rage-filled and violent toward residual sin inside of us. Our holiness wants to murder sin in our heart...mortifying the flesh. The legalist doesn't necessarily want to kill sin...they want to train it. So if they need some comfort it is there to run back to rather than running to God. Sin will eventually turn on you and kill you no matter how much you have tried to control it. We need to understand that when sin takes us out it isn't just about us...there is always collateral damage to others in our lives.
Colossians 3:11 - "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/some-proven-weapons-in-the-fight-for-holiness
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/06/14/gospel-driven-effort/
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Great Quote
"In an effort to get the work of the Lord done we often lose contact with the Lord of work." - AW Tozer
I think every church should have this quote displayed prominently somewhere. Oh how easily and subtly we lose focus on who it is we started working for in the first place.
Also a couple of good thoughts from tonight's Matt Chandler sermon. First, I went through a little mini-depression last week and when I shared that with a few people, I told them I thought it was because I got stuck looking to much at my temporal life and lost my perspective on spiritual matters and Christ. So along comes Colossians 3 tonight:
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Good timing...not a coincidence. It was confirmation that I was on the right path when coming up with a reason for my emotional state. Anyone looking at my temporal life from the outside would probably come to the conclusion that it isn't really going anywhere. I won't argue with that. It is often how I feel if I really get caught up in evaluating it. But spiritually...leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. This was reinforced by one of the guys in my care group on Thursday who said that he has noticed that I have become much more open in the last year. It's a good indication that I am caring less and less about displaying some type of "good image" to others and instead am much more interested in displaying just how weak and flawed I truly am because through that God can get the glory as he convicts, refines and purifies me. That's the growth that I care about. That is the way I want my life to be measured. It's what matters most.
The other piece of the sermon that resonated is something I have heard Chandler say before. I mentioned in an earlier blog that there were times that I was hesitant to immediately come to God for forgiveness after a sin because I felt like I was taking advantage of God's grace - choosing sin over Him one minute before and then coming right back to Him to ask for atonement. Like I am just wanting all of the good stuff God has to offer without any of the sacrifice and obedience.
Matt mentioned that a sign of spiritual maturity is immediately going to God when you have sinned...pressing into Him and pursuing Him even more. A sign of immaturity is pulling away from God when you have sinned so you can go clean yourself up, make yourself look better and then go back and present yourself to God. The latter alternative is a sign that you think you can justify yourself before God in some way, shape or form. On top of that, it will make dark times in your life even darker and more difficult as you become accustomed to only pursuing God when everything is going well.
I think every church should have this quote displayed prominently somewhere. Oh how easily and subtly we lose focus on who it is we started working for in the first place.
Also a couple of good thoughts from tonight's Matt Chandler sermon. First, I went through a little mini-depression last week and when I shared that with a few people, I told them I thought it was because I got stuck looking to much at my temporal life and lost my perspective on spiritual matters and Christ. So along comes Colossians 3 tonight:
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Good timing...not a coincidence. It was confirmation that I was on the right path when coming up with a reason for my emotional state. Anyone looking at my temporal life from the outside would probably come to the conclusion that it isn't really going anywhere. I won't argue with that. It is often how I feel if I really get caught up in evaluating it. But spiritually...leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. This was reinforced by one of the guys in my care group on Thursday who said that he has noticed that I have become much more open in the last year. It's a good indication that I am caring less and less about displaying some type of "good image" to others and instead am much more interested in displaying just how weak and flawed I truly am because through that God can get the glory as he convicts, refines and purifies me. That's the growth that I care about. That is the way I want my life to be measured. It's what matters most.
The other piece of the sermon that resonated is something I have heard Chandler say before. I mentioned in an earlier blog that there were times that I was hesitant to immediately come to God for forgiveness after a sin because I felt like I was taking advantage of God's grace - choosing sin over Him one minute before and then coming right back to Him to ask for atonement. Like I am just wanting all of the good stuff God has to offer without any of the sacrifice and obedience.
Matt mentioned that a sign of spiritual maturity is immediately going to God when you have sinned...pressing into Him and pursuing Him even more. A sign of immaturity is pulling away from God when you have sinned so you can go clean yourself up, make yourself look better and then go back and present yourself to God. The latter alternative is a sign that you think you can justify yourself before God in some way, shape or form. On top of that, it will make dark times in your life even darker and more difficult as you become accustomed to only pursuing God when everything is going well.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Why I Love Sports
Sports can bridge racial, ethnic and socioeconomic divides. Sports can uplift, challenge, encourage and inspire. Sports can bring the human spirit...which is so often obscured and weighed down by the stresses of this life...to the surface where it can be enjoyed and set free.
This was me on Wednesday morning in the office...
This brought a huge smile to my face...to see so many so happy in one common cause.
One day He will wipe every tear from our eyes...
This was me on Wednesday morning in the office...
This brought a huge smile to my face...to see so many so happy in one common cause.
One day He will wipe every tear from our eyes...
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