Filed under: Uncategorized
I get really, really frustrated with Christians – of which I’m one. We’re a group of slackers. We are all hypocrites. All of us have our theology wrong – we’re all heretics. No one has the corner on perfect knowledge. Everything I believe about God is flawed in some way. Why? Because I’m human and can’t begin to understand God. One thing I do know – one thing that the Bible says all the way through. One thing that the Hebrews said over and over. One thing that earliest Christians adopted as their mantra. There is one God. He’s the Creator and in control. Jesus was fully God and fully man. There is hope for us because of Jesus. Christians are just dirty humans who have begun to get cleaned up. Some of us even enjoy the mud and that’s where it gets murky.
Last Saturday a handful of us did something very simple. We set up a grill outside the YMCA gym where our church meets where kids and parents were coming and going for basketball games all day long. We grilled hot dogs and gave away water bottles for a couple of hours. We’re no heroes – trust me. Actually the interaction with those nice folks was good for us. We commented how just being with new people, other people, any people is good for us. It reminds of all the folks that God loves. We weren’t in control of anyone who came to get a hot dog or water bottle and neither were we in control of what they wanted – one, 2 hot dogs, no water, 2 waters, etc…but that’s life isn’t it?
When Jesus told people to “repent” he was telling them to change the way they thought. The world’s normal way of thinking is to put yourself first. It sounds selfish when you say it but most of us think this way. We want what we want when we want it. We’re good people but we can only fit so much other stuff into our day or into our brain because we’ve crammed our schedules and budgets full of other stuff. We give God our leftover time (when work and our fun is done), our leftover money (when bills and our “needs” are paid for), and our leftover energy. Most of us are just too busy, tired, and broke to do anything for anyone else. But Jesus tells us to completely repent. Repenting is saying much more than “I’m sorry” or “I’ll change.” He’s asking us to completely – COMPLETELY – change the way we think and organize our lives. This takes a lifetime by the way but starts now with one step.
Filed under: rhythm
My wife was sick and my daughter was disappointed (she was supposed to go over to some friends’ house but it didn’t work out) so we did some arts and crafts while I watched football. She wanted to make a dragon which was very cool. It’s never a bad time for crafts and football with your kid. 
Filed under: focus
I think one thing God is showing me lately is to work hard toward the 2 or 3 things He’s really calling me to but then take all of my own agendas off the table. That is really hard. For one thing I now have to really assess what’s my own agenda (selfish motives, being bull-headed) and what’s His. I think the longer I walk with Christ, the simpler that becomes.
Filed under: rhythm
Eating is something we do everyday for the most part and take for granted. Lately I’ve had some type of stomach bug that’s just lingered. Nothing too drastic but it’s dragged out for a week now which is simply annoying. Eating anything beyond a BRAT (bananas, rice, apples, toast) diet churns my stomach and only eating that makes me lethargic after a while. So basically I don’t feel all that bad but just enough to not really want to do anything. My rhythm is way off and I hate it. Pray for me if you read this during the 2nd week of January, 08.
Kent
I usually don’t do the whole resolution thing because our lives should always be in a constant state of looking back and looking ahead – adjustment on the fly and sitting down to write down goals and such. But at the close of the year when the holidays hit (why do we say hit…do they smack us in the face? sorta), everyone usually does some sort of stock taking. 07 was a tough year for my family and many of my friends. A few of us lost some family and friends due to accidents or Iraq. Almost everyone I knew struggled financially. Several marriages were tested. And so on. On the flip side, almost everyone I speak to is excited about 08 – not just out of some blind hope that “it’s a new year with new possibilities” but b/c there does seem to be a genuine sense of hope ahead. I think many of us are stronger b/c of the junk of 07 – our faith, marriages, and personal resolve. I don’t do the whole “knock on wood” thing b/c it’s superstitious but I will pray. I hope everyone has a great 08.
