Proverbs

I am currently reading Proverbs for my personal study. I am reading it along with a friend and emailing thoughts back and forth for our study. I know that I was going to try and tackle one book for a few months, but that really didn't go anywhere. I either didn't read or just wasn't motivated to keep it up. Either way, I am much happier having some one to keep me accountable and to encourage and share my thoughts with. I think those are important things in a study, but I might revisit that before the end of this post.

Right now, I wanted to talk about what we have been reading. We are on chapter 9 of Proverbs today and read chapter 8 yesterday. I include them both here because they fit pretty well together. They discuss the idea of wisdom being readily available for the asking. The imagery of a woman calling us to come and partake of the teachings is very beautiful. I love toward the end of 8, where wisdom says that it was created before the world. That it was the first helper to God. I guess what I take from this is that it is an important attribute. That it is something that we need to help us make it through the trials of this world. If it was so important, that God created wisdom before He started creating the world, why should we assume that we can make it through life without pursuing it?

In chapter 9, there is a very challenging passage. Its in verses 7-9. I usually read in my Every Man's Bible, which is NLT and the reason why most of the links that I give to verses are in that translation. Well, they also give a bit of commentary on certain verses. These verses were chosen. It said that we should accept rebuke with the knowledge that it might be for our betterment. That we shouldn't be so dismissive when some one offers advice that might be helpful. How hard is it to accept that? We live in a society and often a mindset that we know whats best for ourselves. However, isn't that a key component to Christianity? We have recognized that we don't know whats best for ourselves. Instead, we know that God has a better way and let Him guide us in our lives. So, why is it so hard to accept that He might use some one else's words to guide us? I am probably just as bad as anyone else about this. I guess its that idea of control. We are so eager to give up control over our sins and let God give us the freedom from those, but we aren't so eager to give Him our daily lives. Over at Stuff Christians Like, they have a post dealing with that as well.

I have been noticing that not only will I think one thing when I read my bible or when I hear a message, that I see it echoed in other messages that I might hear or blogs that I might read. I think that God is making sure that I get the point, which I know that I need.

I don't think that I will get into the idea of buddy studying today. Maybe tomorrow. I think that I will just let that sit where it is right now. I will leave you with this, a monkey on a Segway. Its as entertaining as it sounds.

Reading

I love to read. I was at the men's bible study last night and was talking to a few people about what we are currently reading. One guy mentioned that one year he tried to tackle 52 books during that year. I am pretty sure that 52 is a pretty normal year for me. I just lose myself in stories sometimes. For the most part, I will read fiction, if I find something or some one that I like. But lately I have been reading more non-fiction stuff. And not just the "spiritual" books that I might mention on here. Like, I read almost all of a book talking about finding the real Ark of the Covenant (almost because while it was good, it was a lot to digest). Or, I will read about baseball, because even God loves baseball. Right now, I am taking on A Year Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs. Its interesting that an agnostic would try and follow all the rules of the bible. I think that when he wrote them all down he had like 72 pages. I haven't gotten very far, but there was a few points that I have already read that make me pause and think about my own personal experiences and even one thing that really challenges me.

Jacobs talks about praying and how it is rather difficult for him to do that. First, he doesn't believe in God and thus praying to God makes little sense. However, he feels that prayer is a major part of the whole bible thing and its commanded quite a few times in the OT. So, he starts by praying passages from the bible. I don't know about you, but I seldom do that. It makes me see how simple prayer can be, but also how relevant the bible still is to our lives. Jacobs prays a passage from Psalms 63:1 that says:

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.

And he sees the beauty of the metaphors and the powerful images that they invoke. Praying the Psalms is something that I have heard before, and when confronted with passages like this, we can definitely see how it can gives us just the right way to express ourselves.

Another thing that Jacobs talks about struggling with is lying. He talks about how he never realized how often he lies. He keeps a list with him of all the times that he lies during a day. How hard would that be to look at? And this goes along with the next thing that just really amazed me that Jacobs was doing it. He was very careful about the words that he uses. He said that he purposefully had started to slow down his speech to make sure that he wasn't breaking any of the rules (sinning). We often forget exactly how powerful our words can be. We speak and let what comes out come out. How beneficial would it be for us to purposefully choose what we say? Before we even say a word, we think about what is coming out of our mouth. Thats what we are supposed to do, right?

Thats where I am being challenged. Am I taking stock of the words that I use on a normal basis? I probably won't be speaking any slower and I don't think its possible to speak any softer, but its something to dwell in my mind as I live in this world.

I am sure that I will have other things that hit me before this book is over and I am sure that you will be tired of it as well. But thats all I have for now.

Desperate

I usually check out Northpoint's messages when they put them online. I say usually because unfortunately, I used to be sort of selective about which ones I would watch. Mainly, I only cared for the Andy Stanley ones. But, I took a look at some of the others and there is some really good stuff. Which brings me to thinking about this entry.

The current message series Illusion taught by Jeff Henderson is really good. And I don't just say that cause they give some really cool magic trick at the beginning of each video. I say that cause it has been making me think. As a Christian, when some one tells you that some sermon made them think, they have been contemplating their "walk". I am going to focus in on the second sermon by Jeff here, Self Delusion. He gives a look at how we look at ourselves. He uses Luke 7:39-47, and there it is if you want to look it up. But, I am not going to get into a lot of what he said. I just want to hit basically two sentences that made me pause and think.

They are: "The longer some one follows Jesus (potentially) the less desperate they become for Him", and "Are you as desperate for Jesus now as when you first accepted him?"

There is a sort of getting comfortable that comes with being a Christian. Its hard to remain as desperate as you once were. I think that as we get used to being in something or around something, our human nature it to get comfortable. We don't sing as loud as we used to, don't get moved the way that we used to, nor even devote the time to study that we used to.

A friend preached on Sunday at a local church and I went. He said that accepting Jesus is easy. It can change your life and its the easiest thing in the world. Following God is a discipline, requiring work and dedication. Fueling that desperate desire for Jesus, is the same thing. You have to remind yourself of what Jesus has brought you through. You have to take the time to recognize how God provides for everything that you need. It takes effort, but just like my friend was talking about, its worth it. To stand in awe of God and worship knowing that you are desperate for His love, His touch, His guidance. It sounds so confining, but nothing is freer.

So, thats where my mind is today. Hope that it gives you time to "think" about yourself or at least praise God a little more emphatically.

Back From the Weekend

Its another Monday and its time for me to get on here and maybe bring something to you. I haven't really done anything all that light-hearted on here here since I started it. Yeah, there are some lame attempts at jokes, but nothing that really brings the funny. Thus, I am going to tap into my amazing power and try and entertain you for a while.

Borrowing from something that I have found to be a useful method of entertainment, I am going to just basically give you links to extremely funny stuff online. It makes it so much easier for me to give enjoyment. Mainly because that takes all the pressure off of me and puts it solely in some one else's hands. And I am all about passing along the blame and taking all the credit. I am sorry if some of the ads on the other sites or words that they have on the side aren't exactly G, but I can't control that. Just warning ya.

The first thing that I want to share is something that touches me deeply. I still have a lot of love for 80s music and the videos were by far some of the best ever. Of course, everyone makes mention how music videos aren't as important anymore, but when they did them in the 80s, they did them right! So, I offer to you first Take On Me , literal version. Yes, that means that they just sing what is going on. It is worth the time to watch, though I might have to say that Head over Heels is better.

I don't know how much you guys used to watch Johnny Carson on the tonight show, but you might still be aware that Ed McMahon is up on some hard times. And now seems to be peddling for FreeCreditReport.com. Seeing Ed rap is not something that I ever thought I would see.

Ok, I shouldn't really laugh at this, but something about kids portraying some one as angry as Bill O'Reily makes me laugh. So, here is part one of lil O'Reily. And here is part two where he interviews Barney Frank. I think that fact that its wrong makes it funny. Oh and on a side note, I watched the actual interview that O'Reily did with Frank and it wasn't all that different. I might agree with O'Reily on a lot of his points, just don't like his method of handling people who disagree.

Finally, I want to share with you the awesomeness that was Palin on SNL this weekend. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I give it to you here. The first one is pretty good with her and Lorne Micheals talking, but the Weekend Update segement was amazing. It makes me smile and thats what I want to share with you.

That should give you a smile or two for the day and thats always good on a Monday.

Desire

I warned you that I had this in mind and now you get to read all the things that are swirling around in this brain of mine as I have been reading this book by John Eldridge. I have mentioned some of them and I might go into more detail later about them as well, but there are a couple really that are making me want to talk.

One of the more interesting things that I read was the idea of grief. How often do we set aside our feelings of hurt or aching in order to "get on with life". Instead of allowing God to step in and heal us where we are aching, we hold it in and it affects our lives from that moment forward. Eldridge talks about a time in his life when a very close friend died. He was out with his family on a vacation a couple months later and was walking alone in the woods. He just started crying about his friends death, but that wasn't all. It was the catalyst for his tears, but it also brought out all these other past pains that had been hidden by life.

My wife was telling me that this rings true for her as well. Early in our dating life, I knew that I had to be open and honest about my past. That no matter how she reacted, at least she would know everything and could decide then for herself if it was too much to get past, which was her right. Well, after I told her we prayed and talked a bit longer, but then she went home. I didn't know this until later, but she cried about what both of us had lost. She fought against the urge to just say to herself "that its ok", but instead allowed herself to grieve. She told me later that because she took the time to allow herself to feel that sorrow, she could let it go and not let it hinder our relationship. I am thankful that she took that time so that we could enjoy the freedom the we have now.

The other main point that I wanted to discuss is the idea of beauty. In the book, Eldridge talks about counseling a rape victim and how he was struggling to find some way in order to connect or something to tell her. During the session, he kept getting drawn toward the flowers on her shirt collar, something that normally would mean nothing to him. So, he said a few things and then sort of off-handily, mentioned the flowers. She seemed to change and talked about how since the incident, spending time in her garden around her flowers has been the one of the only places she found comfort. It was then that it hit him, that being surrounded by beauty was healing.

I started thinking of how this has been true in my life. When I was living with my parents, I used to step out on our back deck and just stare at the stars. On a clear night, they filled the night sky from as far as you could see. It was breathtaking. I would stand there thinking about how something so beautiful spoke volumes about how much God loves us. All of creation is an example of God's beauty. The best part is that we are only seeing the beauty of a fallen world, and that one day it will burst open and show us exactly what God had created it to be, just like we will be made in the way that God created us to be. But, back to the idea of beauty being healing, think of a wedding. I am heading to a wedding this weekend. Inevitably, one of the most common things that you will hear is about how beautiful the bride looked or something to that nature. The whole wedding is centered around her beauty. It is so important that we all stop doing anything else and pause to watch her beauty enter the room. Think of that for a moment. I can't remember a time when I went to a wedding and when the bride entered, there wasn't a smile on every one's face.

The bearers of beauty in this world are women, who were made as a reflection of the beauty that God has. That is part of their being made in God's image. Thus, the enemy attacks them in that area to make them ashamed or feel unworthy of the adoration and the word "beautiful". If the enemy takes away that aspect of her nature, he hurts the whole race. I am thankful for the ability to remind my wife of how utterly beautiful she is. In fact, I am mesmerized by it at times. I find comfort in her beauty, I find rest in her arms, that is what I am talking about in healing. Its why for the most part, children will run to their mother when seeking comfort. There is something healing about being near a woman.

I have no idea if any of that rings true with you or not, but I know that God has been talking to me about this stuff.

Faith and other thoughts

Last night was our little bible study. It was good. The discussion was actually pretty good. Its not easy to get a group of people to talk about God and what that message meant to them. Last night, though, a couple people spoke up and let it fly. Also, though, I think that the subject was something that was sort of enlightening. It was the second sermon by Andy Stanley in the "Faith, Hope, and Luck" series. In it, he questions what we think faith is and offers this definition:

"Faith is confidence that God is who He says He is and that He will do everything that He has promised to do."

Thats it. The main question that I posed and still rattle around in my brain is how does that change your preconceived ideas? Faith becomes something very simple when you think of it in this light. Its not a force or power that you can wield. Its hope taken one step further, with God's promise guaranteeing it. But this also means, that unless God has promised it, then we can't expect it. We can hope for it, we can pray for it, but its up to God to determine if it will happen. That almost sounds defeatist, but not when you realize that no matter what happens in our situations or in our life, He is still God. He can do anything, He might want to do what we ask, but He also might have another plan that we don't know about. But, our faith rests not on our understanding, but on God's ability to do what He says He will do.

I don't want to muddle that too much, but of course I have other things going on in my head. No, its not about Desire, but there might be a post where I devote some time to talking about that later this week. Instead, I am thinking about music. I love music. I enjoy singing it (in my car, away from others) and I enjoy just listening to it, which I am doing right now. It is such a wonderful thing to enjoy. I thought about this when on Sunday my wife was going to sing a special at my parents church. Well, we had just placed her CD in a case for Weezer. That isn't exactly the most "christian" case to have in church. But, they have some great music. I thought it was sort of funny, but then I thought about how many times we receive something from God in such unintended places. Maybe the artist or the writer or director or whatever didn't mean to reference God, but we see His work or His message displayed. I am thankful for those times and I am sure that pastors are as well, so they have something "cultural relavant" to share at church. I think that more than anything, that it just goes to show that all of creation speaks of God's work. I think that I will have that Desire post later this week and go into this more.

But, for today, thats all I got in me. Take luck!

Wednesday night goodness and a little off topic

We had our second meeting on Wednesday night dealing with freedom and what that can mean to us as Christians. It was another good session. Steven Johnson was talking about some very interesting things. Stuff that I hadn't really thought about but definitely hit home. One of the things that he said was that its the meaning that we give to events in our past that affect our beliefs. If you perceived that you were hurt by a situation, you were hurt. I know that I have struggled with this. I might look back at a hurt in the past and think that it shouldn't be that painful, but still have aches from it. Those are the areas that I need to ask for God to remove that pain. And thats the key, that we have to ask. It is a choice that we have to make about what we want God to do. God wants to help us, but he also loves us so much that he won't force Himself on us. The example of this that Johnson gives is John 5:1-14. It is the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda. The first thing that Jesus says to the man is "Do you want to get well?" That is the choice that we are given. We get so comfortable with our pain, that changing things, which would be required can be quite scary. Its not that we enjoy being hurt, but that we don't know anything else. I am continuing to look at those areas in my life that I know that I have pains. They aren't fun to visit, but I also know that God's freedom is better than coping with these pains.

One of the other things that Johnson was talking about is that there are 3 areas that are sources of burdens that we carry around. They are anger, disappointment, and grief. I know that there is some anger and grief in my past that I have to deal with, but I know that the disappointment that I keep in my life is far greater. I have many things that I have done in the past that I think that shouldn't have or that I feel like I have let some one down. These are the areas that I don't want to really get into, but I need to. Its not going to be fun, but it will be fruitful to be the man that I need to be.

I want to mention Desire again. One of the things that Eldridge talks about is that we are made for something . He even goes to the extent to say that whatever you get excited about (writing, singing, etc) is what you were made for. I don't know if I completely believe this, but I do know that your desire is where you heart is. My problem is that I don't have an occupation or a talent that gets me excited. Was I made for nothing? I know thats not true, but I wonder about this idea.

Ok, now to step off topic. If you don't want to read this, thats fine, but I am going to talk about politics. I love watching and following politics. I think thats important for people to do that so that they know what their government is doing. I was led to this article about looking at voting as a Christian and how we can base our votes. I think its worth a look as well.

That being said, I will now launch into my personal beliefs. You can ignore them if you want, but these are the things that I think. In that article, one of the things that you are asked to look at is the character of the candidates and thats what I think people should be looking at in regards to our presidential candidates. I might not agree fully with everything that McCain stands for. However, I don't think that anyone can claim that he is not a man of character. While this might end up with people doing searches and trying to put up their ideas in comments, I will say that I can't be sure of Obama's character. There are so many questions about his past. And it would seem that for the most part people don't care. Is it because no one cares about judgement and character anymore? I won't say that if you vote for Obama that you aren't a Christian, because I don't know your reasons. You know one of my reasons for choosing to vote for McCain, but I have others that won't really fit in this blog. I write about this because I think that part of our life as Christians is that we have to be people above reproach. In other words, people of great character. I just offer that, as a Christian, that your idea of who has greater character should be a consideration.

Alright, enough of that talk. I appreciate you letting me stray away for a few. I might not be back this week due to a short day for me tomorrow. I am heading to my parents and enjoying a couple days with the family and will be back on Monday.

PS If you came here due to a search and are about to blast me about Obama vs McCain, please don't. Its not necessary. You can think the way you want and I will think the way I want. At the end of the day, we are still Americans and politics are just politics.