Answers, or Questions, in Genesis

There is a group out called Answers In Genesis that seeks to help Christians develop a Biblical worldview by helping people to find answers in Genesis through showing how the Bible is true in all that it says regarding science and that God created the world and universe in 6 literal days.  I love the spirit behind getting people to look into the Bible to find answers, but I want to propose something a little different.  Instead of providing answers for our children and even for ourselves, could we not instead provide questions so that they themselves could seek to answer them.  Actually let me take it one step further.  I believe that I do not have the answers to God, and yet I have many questions, and so maybe we come up with questions without worrying if we can answer them or not. 

Analogy time:  If you decided to walk the Appalachian Trail and did so with a know it all, and this person always knew the right gear to use and always knew which trees should be in bloom and which animals like coke zero and which ones didn’t, and of course they always always knew where you were, would it not take the joy in discovery away, and indeed the joy of wonder.  Things that fascinate me do so often because of how much I do not know about them.  So I want to look out on the AT and not hear someone tell me the scientific reason why the leaves on the trees change color, but I want to hear someone say, “Wow!”

So it is with God.  I believe that God is not a question to find the answer to, or an arithmetic problem to solve, but a mystery to be explored – without having the trip planned out.  There is so much about God that is so unlike we humans.  The Bible, being God-breathed as it is, often resists our pinning it down and getting all our questions answered, rather it calls us to ask more questions without knowing all the answers, without solving every exegetical problem or theological dispute.  But as we follow Jesus Christ we know that He is the only Answer we need, and that there is much of Him we do not yet know, and so we press on to take hold of Him, yearning for that day when we will be completely held by Him. 

Jesus, the toddler survivor

Christmas is different this year in America because of the children who will not be able to open their gifts.  Gifts are such fun to give and receive, but everything changes when a horrid tragedy like what happened in Connecticut happened.  One of the most horrible parts of this story is that this is not the first time something like this happened.  Many Christmases ago in Bethlehem a little boy received gifts that his whole family wondered at (Matthew 2:9-12) and those who gave the gifts were overjoyed.  And yet everything changed when an evil man named Herod was hunting the little boy to kill him (Matthew 2:13).  Jesus survived this hunt and fled to Egypt (Matthew 2:14-15), but there were many of his playmates and age mates who did not survive the evil man’s rage (Matthew 2:16-18).  Jesus grew up with the horrible start of surviving a man killing his friends when he was less than two years old.  He grew up in a similar way that the children who survived the shooting in Connecticut will.  Jesus was the toddler survivor.  Jesus started his life in the midst of grief, and he came to be known as the “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53).  Both Jesus and the kids in Connecticut had and will have questions that few can answer:  “Why did this happen?”  “Where was God?”  “Why did God let this happen?” and many other such questions.   But God sent his son not only for more questions to be asked, but to provide an answer, and that answer was not an answer with words, but and answer with a person, the person of Jesus Christ, who was God and who was man, and who died and rose from the dead and so defeated death and offers an invitation to us.  He asks us not to bring our gifts only to his feet, as the wise men did, but also to bring our grief, our hatred, our death, because Jesus can take our grief and turn it into joy, and he can take our hatred and turn it into love, and he can take our death and turn it into life, because he himself is joy, and love, and life.  Jesus Christ invites us to himself.

the myth of a Christian nation

America is not a Christian nation. . . .

not because the President supports abortion
not because the almost President is a Mormon which is a cult
not because of Roe v. Wade
not because the founders fathers were Freemasons which is a cult
not because Andrew Jackson killed as many Native Americans as he could
not because this country was built on enslaving the continent of Africa
not because this country was built on raping and pillaging Native Americans
not because they allow gay marriage
not because the ten commandments are not in city hall
not because there is no prayer in school
not because we have lots of guns, big ones, to kill everyone else
not because of MTV
not because of marijuana
not because of meth, bath salts, crack, and pills
not because of broken families and prisons

but because Jesus did not come to institute a "nationalistic" government
but because Jesus did not come to be king, president, or governor
but because Jesus did not come so that Harry Truman could blow up Hiroshima and Nagasaki
but because Jesus did not come for religious freedom in the sense of democracy
but because Jesus did not come for people to have a free market economy
but because Jesus did not come to be elevated on a throne
but because Jesus came to be crucified and to die
but because Jesus did not call his followers to overthrow Rome
but because Jesus called his followers to be something more than Rome,
and more than Spain, and more than England, and more than the United States,
and yes, even more than Israel
but because Jesus called his followers to follow him by taking up our own crosses and dying
but because there is no such thing as a "Christian" nation, because the very idea of
"nation" is that we are concerned about it, concerned about something besides joyfully following Jesus Christ into the face of death so that His face we see.

you may want to keep your idea of your Christian nation
I want to keep HIS idea of the Christian Church
let's follow His to our deaths

My Mission Statement

to receive the all-consuming embrace of the FATHER
to lead others to His open arms through the SON
to encourage a family hug through the HOLY SPIRIT

The seven habits of people who admit they are uneffective

I am reading S. Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and I am feeling that his view in the book is that the answer is in us, like Mariah Carey's song, Hero.  I myself feel that the sooner I realize that I am uneffective the better.  Although many parts of the book I love, here are my:
Seven Habits of People who Admit they are Uneffective
1.  Let The Almighty God be ProActive
2.  End with the Beginning in mind.
3.  Put last things first.
4.  Think God wins.
5.  Seek first to understand God.
6.  Syn-God.
7.  I haven't read that far yet.

Dancing with your wife to spotify

Tonight I danced with my wife to the Jeff Healey band singing, "Girl you're looking fine tonight. . ." and then to Bryan Adams singing, "Look into my eyes, you will see. . . " and it was a great idea.  Many of you have already figured out that Spotify is pretty cool, but for those skeptics like me:

stop looking up songs in youtube.

look up the whole album in Spotify and you can listen all you want and you do not have to let it load. 

Dancing with my wife is a great idea.  Go dance with your wife.
Or if you are a woman and you have a husband go dance with your husband.
If you are not married dance with Jesus until he brings you someone.

Forsaking all others

. . . forsaking all others. . . you may have said this at your wedding, or if you get married, you may say this on your wedding day.  The offer of cheap intimacy exists in billboards, magazines, movies, thoughts, and people willing to offer it.  Cheap intimacy costs me nothing - I do not have to pay for it, I do not have to forsake anything.  True marriage intimacy costs this . . . forsaking all others - only having intimacy with my spouse.

Many who say . . . forsaking all others. . . will choose to not forsake them, but to walk away from the one they vowed to stay with.  What will make you walk away from the one you swore to God you would not leave?

All who say . . . forsaking all others. . . .must face the choice to forsake others, whether that be an idea or a real person, and to hold on only to that one, in reality and in the eyes, and in the mind, and in the heart.


FORSAKING ALL OTHERS

help me God to forsake all others and to cling to my wife only. . .

Proverbs 31 - an English Acrostic

A bride of valor, who can find her? And far higher than a beachfront mansion is her price,

By giving his heart to her, her husband says, “I trust you.” He will not be deprived of booty.

Creating good for him she makes no evil all the days of her life,

Doing the laundry and linens, she works with the pleasure of her hands,

Engine locomotives like her bring the groceries in from far away,

From her bed she gets up to make breakfast, and all look to her for food,

Google-ing real estate she buys some and plants a garden with her hands,

Her belt buckle says, “Strength,” and she makes her arms strong,

Identifying that her gain is good, the lights stay on as she works through the night,

Juggling needle and thread she makes clothes new,

Keeping open her hand to the poor she reaches out to those in need,

Letting no fear inside her house with the snow, all are clothed in red,

Making bedspreads for herself she is dressed to win the smooth contest,

Noticed is her husband when he walks down the block and sits

On the front porch with the grandpas and grandmas,

Printing T-shirts that she sells,

“Queen of Purses” – they all buy from her,

Robed with strength and splendor,

She laughs about tomorrow,

Teaching from her mouth wisdom and from her tongue covenant loyalty,

Under her watch is her house, and she does not eat the food called “Lazy,”

Valid blessing from her children and her husband praises her saying,

Women of valor are many, but you soar above all of them,

X chromosomes lead astray and beauty withers away,

Yet a bride who fears Yahweh, she will be praised,

Zucchini bread and her mocha cheesecake give to her, and let her deeds bring her praise on the porch.

Trusting Your Spouse

Finances have been a bit of an issue in our marriage, especially as my wife and I have differing attitudes toward money and spending at times.  The Holy Spirit recently showed me where I am holding my wife back in that I was not trusting her completely.  I did not completely trust her in our finances, whether I was trying to make her feel guilty for spending too much money or stashing a little cash away that she did not know about.  I would have always said that I trusted my wife, but do I trust her with everything - completely?  Do you trust your spouse completely, in the area of finances, your sex life - do you trust your spouse to satisfy your sexual desires, or do you have a secret stash you can count on?  Do you trust your spouse?  If not, where is it that you are holding back?  Talk to Jesus Christ, and talk to your spouse.  Unity comes with complete trust.
"The heart of her husband trusts in her" (Proverbs 31:11).
If I do not trust her completely I am holding her back from being a Proverbs 31 woman, from being who she was created to be.

Total Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Jesus speaks of baptism when he speaks of his death and resurrection (Luke 12:50).  In this light we can see in baptism the core idea of death and resurrection.  Taken down into the water to die and brought back up raised.  Death and resurrection is the total baptism that Jesus was baptized with.  Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, therefore, the total baptism is when we raise not only to a new life here, but to the total new life forever with God.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is a total baptism in which we cling to our new life not only here and now, but also cling to the hope that Christ will raise us from the dead into eternity with him.

Spirit Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

John the Baptist said the Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8), and the Spirit of God rested on Jesus at his own baptism (Matthew 3:16).  Acts 2 describes the disciples of Jesus being baptized with the Holy Spirit as Jesus spoke of earlier (Acts 1:5).  We read about the miraculous effects of this baptism such as speaking in other languages, prophecying, seeing visions, etc.  The Holy Spirit is also spoken of as a gift, and so Holy Spirit baptism can be seen as receiving a gift, a very precious gift, God’s own Spirit, which is what makes possible the new life.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is baptism of the Holy Spirit, which makes the cleansing, the new humanity, the repentance (changing of the mind), the new people, and the whole baptism possible.  It is not water that washes us, but God’s own Holy Spirit.

Israel Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Moses and the Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea as they walked through on dry land (1 Corinthians 10:2).  The Israelites were called to be God’s own people, and to belong exclusively to Him.  As Christians we have been baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13), and therefore are a part of a new people.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is also the calling out of a new people, and not only the people of Israel but from all nations.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is not primarily about the individual but about the new community, or new people, which has been baptized into Christ.  

Repentance Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4).  The Greek word repentance means “change of mind, turning” and repentance is often linked in the Bible with a turning to God (Acts 20:21; 26:20).  To think of someone repenting think of someone changing their mind about something and going in the opposite direction.  The Baptism of Repentance means that we are walking a different path and living a different life.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism must raise me to walking a different path than the one I walked before.   C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is not me getting back on my feet, but it is me getting new feet that walk in a different direction.

Humanity Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Noah (Genesis 6-8) and the flood spoken of as baptism (1 Peter 3:21).  All humanity dies except those of Noah’s family in the ark.  Humanity was “washed” in the sense that the old humanity died and the new humanity in Noah’s family raised through the ark.  Noah and his family were saved in this baptism because they were the new life. 

Christ is the new Noah and the new ark.  All who are found in Him, as it was those in the ark, are the ones who are saved.  Those not found in Christ are dead.  The old humanity, us before Christ, is dead.  The new humanity, us in Christ, are raised in him.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism must raise us to be a new humanity in Christ. 

Cleansing Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Naaman (2 Kings 5) – baptism in water as cleansing, not only as cleansing dirt and germs but cleansing diseases.

Christ does not baptize his hands (Luke 11:38) nor do his disciples (Mark 7:1-5), and Christ points to the need to cleanse the inner life and not only the outside. Baptism is not just getting the skin wet, but is a symbol of the inner cleansing that is only possible because of Christ.  C.H.R.I.S.T. Baptism must cleanse the inner life, and not just the outer life.

C.H.R.I.S.T. Baptism

During the next seven posts we will be exploring Christian Baptism, under the acronym C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism.  This first day we will introduce the idea of C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism and in the posts to follow will explore each letter in the acronym.

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Baptism has been an important part of the Christian family before the Christian family existed, and yet baptism is not an easy concept to understand.  First of all, baptism is not an everyday word.  This often leads to a confusion of meaning, or a plethora of meanings.  Second, baptism is not explained in detail in the Bible, so theologians and parents and children are left to sort out the evidence.  Third, different denominations of Churches feel strongly about different ways of baptizing.  Some baptize infants while others baptize adults only.  Some baptize by immersion while others baptize by sprinkling.  Some baptize in Jesus’ name while others baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Some say baptism of the Holy Spirit comes with tongues and others say it doesn’t.  Baptism is often a jumbled idea in a child’s mind.  What is baptism?

First of all, baptism comes from a Greek word, as many English words come from Greek words.  When I was learning Greek I learned that it meant dipping or immersing, and often had the idea of washing behind it.  So if I were to translate Baptism into an English word that we use in everyday language I would translate it into “washing.”  No doubt, many would disagree with me because there are many opinions, especially in regards to baptism.  But I will use the idea of washing to describe baptism nonetheless.

Jesus Resume

Many of you out there are tweaking or tweeting your resume, but I think we may want to write out a resume for Jesus to show us how badly we need him.  I have included the resume I wrote for Jesus.  I take the blame for all errors and give Jesus Christ the credit for all the truth.

Jesus of Nazareth, DDD	Objective
	The Doctor of Doctors in Divinity (quite a bit different than the degrees you all get since I have always had it, and no one can take it from me)  to give you all my very self which you must have if you want life – because I am life.  I offer you all a father-child relationship with my own Father.  We want to give you the Holy Spirit so that your life can be what it was meant to be.  Being in God’s family means loving the others in his family also and especially. Excel in what you need, which is someone who will pour out enough love you’re your life to wash away all the bad stuff.  I am also good at miracles, like healing the blind and raising the dead and multiplying food  thousands of times over.  But all that is really just to point out that I am who I am, which is the Son of God come to give you all life.  Backed by solid credentials (DDD) from my Father and equal strengths in creating things by speaking them, killing death and erasing wrongs with my blood.
	Work Experience
	Messiah BC/ADish - Eternity              Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontios Pilate, crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell, and the third day I rose from the dead.  I asended into heaven and sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From there will I judge the living and the dead.  I made it possible for all who believe in me, who truly trust me, to have eternal life with my Father and I forever and ever.
	Eternal Son of God Before time - Eternity           Everywhere and then some Eternally begotten Son of God, through me all things were created.  If it exists I created it.  I not only created all things, but all things hold together in me.  I have a unified relationship with my Father – I and my Father are one.
	Education
	I am not a recipient of education besides what I receive from my Father, but I have educated many people both in my role as Eternal Son of God and as Messiah.  The main subject matters would be theology, philosophy, biology, accounting, and other areas that you all have not figured out yet.
	My Father’s College                Heaven Doctor of Doctors in Divinity
	Skills
	What I can Save you all from	Skill Level
	Sin	You all’s only option
	Death	You all’s only option
	Yourselves	You all’s only option
	Satan, Demons, Stongholds	You all’s only option
	All Spiritual Evil Forces	You all’s only option

Why the Resume?       To help you all realize that you need not only the skills that I have, but that you need me, and to help you all realize that I am the only one for the job of saving your life.

Playing Football with Jesus Christ

A five year old boy walks by a football field where three eighth graders are playing football.  They are football players.  One of them says, “Hey boy, come play football with us!”  The boy says, “Okay, but we need to make fair teams because you are football players and I am not, and you are also much older than me.”  They say, “Okay, the three of us against you.”  The boy says no and starts to walk away, but just then a man gets out of his car and says that he would love to play and that he and the five year old would take on the three eighth graders.  The boy says to the man, “Unless you are one of the best football players who has ever lived, and can practically beat them by yourself, we are not going to win, and I do not want to get beat up.”  The man said, “My name is LaDainian Tomlinson, and all you have to do is let me hold you and I will score touchdown after touchdown.  Do you trust me to hold you?  Or do you want to trust yourself and get tackled to the ground."

We are in a war that is much bigger than we are.  We have the same choice the boy in the fictional story had.  Will we trust that we are safe in the arms of Jesus Christ and let him win the battle for us, or will we trust ourselves and get tackled over and over again?  Prayer is similar to getting into the arms of Jesus.  Speaking the Word is similar to letting him run for the touchdown.  Just because I am in his arms doesn’t mean I become him, any more than the little boy playing with LaDainian Tomlinson can rush through the three teenagers.  This is the problem with Mormon theology – we do not become gods just because he brings us to his level, for then why would we need God anymore?  So we would think, and then we would get tackled.  Also, just because Jesus Christ is on our team does not mean that he is not the Greatest of all.  That is the problem with Jehovah’s Witness theology.  If Jesus is not God and does not have all power, how can he hold me without me getting tackled?

Climb into the arms of Jesus Christ and let him run for touchdown after touchdown.

C.S. Lewis on Sexual Morality

Mere Christianity has been the most influential book in my life besides the Bible, and there is one quote that I seem to always turn to toward the end of the chapter on sexual morality.  Here is the quote,

“We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity- like perfect charity- will not be attained by any merely human efforts.  You must ask for God’s help.  Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given.  Never mind.  After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again.  For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still.  It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God.  We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven.  The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.”

Saying sorry another time

I have committed the same sins more than once.  This is not my goal or intent, but I often continue to fall prey to the same weaknesses.  My family knows my weakness better than anyone, as it is often them that I sin against  I feel many times that I am screwing my kids up.  I scream at them when I said that I would not scream again.  God is slow to anger and I ask him to make me slow to anger, but sometimes I get angry so quick.  So what do I do?  I say sorry another time.  If it happens the next day, I say sorry again.  I also notice that when I do not have time with God, my anger is more out of control, so I make sure I have time with God.  I ask for help.    I say sorry even if it humiliating to keep saying sorry.  It helps me point my child more to the Savior we both need so desperately.

I was wrong.  I am sorry.  Will you forgive me?

These words have been a help to my parenting almost as much as "I LOVE YOU."

Keith Green

I first heard Keith Green when someone at the college I went to sang “Rushing Wind” in chapel.  It was not long before I started listening to my neighbor’s Keith Green CDs, and “Asleep in the Light” hit me.  Keith Green is not Christian Music mush.  Keith Green had a deep passion for Jesus Christ.  He lived following Jesus, and he died in a tragic plane crash in which two of his children also died.  Melody Green, Keith’s wife, has a website called Last Days Ministries in which you can order music and other stuff.  My favorite Keith Green song is “When I hear the praises start,” a song Keith said the Lord gave to him, as if the Lord were singing it to him.  “My son, my son, why are you striving, you can’t add one thing to what’s been done for you, cause I did it all when I was dying, rest in your faith my peace will come to you, for when I hear the praises start, my son, I want to rain upon you, blessings that will fill your heart, oh I see no stain upon you, because you are my child and you know me, to me you’re only holy, nothing that you’ve done remains, only what you do in me.”

Family Freeze Tag

We go to Burris park, which is a wooden park, and play family freeze tag.  This is a good way to get good exercise for the whole family.  I have a fun time climbing up the wooden structures, trying to find paths that others can not take.  My youngest son loves to climb up and down the tire ladder over and over again.  And then sometimes the people who are "it" will pop out of nowhere and you have an all-out sprint on your hands.  Sliding down slides fast and getting up steps or ladders fast is a serious skill in this game, and when you have tagged someone so that they are frozen, you have to make sure that you are not "puppy guarding" them.  Puppy guarding is when you stand right by them for more than 5 seconds.  Maybe you have a park in your town.  Go and play family freeze tag.  It has been a fun family game for us.  Your heart will be pumping.

Popcorn

One thing that has been great about being married to my wife is eating popcorn.  I ate popcorn growing up, but now popcorn is a big staple in our house.  We do not buy microwave popcorn, but bags of popcorn kernels.  She has a sufuria she got while we were in Kenya and she puts a little oil in it, and once it is hot pours the popcorn in - maybe a cup (I am not good at cooking but very good at eating)?  Then keep your ears tuned to when the popcorn starts to slow down, and take it off the heat, add some salt, and pop - popcorn.  She also has started taking the kernels, putting them in a bag, and putting it in the microwave.  For you health nuts out there, this is a way to get popcorn without the oil, but the oil makes it taste much better.
One thing I have perfected about popcorn is how to eat it fast.  I take a huge handful and shove it into my mouth and then once it is in my mouth take another huge handful and, after the other is halfway down my throat, shove that handful into my mouth.  Mmmmmmm.

Country Music

When I was in High School on some kind of school trip country music started playing on the radio.  A girl said, "You know why I don't like country music - because anybody can sing it."  I said, "Hmm, that's funny - that's the very reason I like it."
Country Music - not the new stuff so much, tells stories.  The best country music tells stories.  "This Cowboy's Hat" by Chris LeDeaux, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones, "Cowboy Bill" and "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks, "Remember When" by Alan Jackson, "Roll On" by Alabama, "Alcohol" by Brad Paisley, "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry, "A Love without End Amen" by George Strait, "Our Song" by Taylor Swift, "Six Days on the Road" and "All These Years" by Sawyer Brown,  and "Independence Day" by Martina McBride.  So many others, but if you youtube or pandora these, you will see what I mean.

Fun Dip

Have you ever tried fun dip?  Here are ten reasons to try it:
10.  "Fun" - such a great first name.  Hi, my name is Fun.  Isn't that great?
9.  "Dip" - amazing last name.  We are the Dips.  Wonderful!
8.  It is all sugar.  You may think this is funny, but you better stock up on sugar stuff with all the talk of banning sugar and no carb diets.  If you want sugar, fun dip is for you.
7.  The powdery sugar is often good to pour into your mouth.  Mmmmm.
6.  Easy to open - just rip it.
5.  The powdery sugar mixed with the hard stick sugar is a perfect combination, especially when mixed with your saliva.
4.  Lick-A-Stick.  You thought the good names were over.  Amazing name.
3.  The Lick a stick is your spoon - how cool.
2.  The Lick a stick you sometimes bite off chunks of with the powder - amazing.
1.  Eating the Lick-A-Stick after licking it - one of the best food sensations there is.

Swords

When our oldest son was young he would use sticks as swords, and as he began watching Star Wars he began collecting light sabers.  So that now we as a family have a collection of various types of swords, foam swords, light up swords, mini swords, and big swords.  Sword fighting in our family comes with kids ending up crying.  But the kids would cry a lot more if the swords were real.  So we fight with swords in our family.  Sometimes we fight the pretend bad guys or the dragon.  Sometimes I am the dragon and I get slain.  Other times we fight each other.   We also play with toy guns sometimes and that can be fun too.  Some parents say it is bad for kids to play with swords and guns.  I seem to think that even if the kids do not have toy guns and swords, the stick will become one.   

Child Sponsorship

When my wife and I were newly married we sponsored a child through Compassion International.  He was about 6 years old I think, and we would write to him and he would write to us, and our small monthly funds to him helped him to go through the Compassion International program, which included education.  We got a letter from our sponsored child recently, who is now 19, that he has completed all of his courses.  Let me tell you from my perspective the value of our relationship with him.  We got to see him grow in the Lord through his letters.  I wish my handwriting was as good as his was, but he writes on and on about his relationship with Jesus.  I don’t think that child sponsorship is the answer to all of missions, but I do think that it helps connect the busy Americans like ourselves to the poor throughout the world.  If you do not sponsor a child, you should consider it.  Compassion International is one of many Christian child sponsorship programs. 

http://www.compassion.com/

Memorizing Scripture

Growing up I never really memorized Scripture, but one day at a Summer Camp I was a counselor at a fellow counselor asked if I would memorize John 17 with him.  I was up for the challenge and started trying to memorize it.  I wrote the two verses I was doing that day on a card, and on my run I would try to say it over and over again.  It was not easy, but it was not impossible either, and began to shape how I thought.  John 17 is a great chapter in the Bible.  I know people who have memorized the sermon on the mount, and whole books of the Bible.  Memorizing Scripture is very possible, but it can also become void of meaning.  One time when I was reciting a portion of Scripture to someone who was checking me I was reciting it quickly and without emotion, and she said, “Don’t just say words, put emotions and feelings into it – don’t you know what you are saying?”  That helped me realize that Scripture is not to be memorized for a contest, but for an inner life change, for me.  It has been amazing to see our kids memorize Scripture.  What else can be put into the mind that is a better investment?  I personally think it is good to not just memorize verses, but passages and chapters and books.

Kid History videos on youtube

My family has gotten hooked on these funny videos called Kid History.  They like #6 the best.  It seems that the video is based on the words of the kids but the adults lip sync to the videos.  Wow, it is funny.  You might not think it is as funny as we think it is.  “I know it is green, but what else is about it?”  The videos are clean and kid friendly so far as we can tell, so they provide fun for the whole family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0NLQJfAYU&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0NLQJfAYU&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0NLQJfAYU&feature=player_detailpage

Biking on paved biking trails

We are blessed to live in a town with an amazing trail called the Cardinal Greenway that runs through it.  It is an old railroad track that has been turned into a paved biking trail.  You can bike from Gaston to Richmond which is about 60 miles.  We also have the White River trail, but it is much shorter, although it goes along the beautiful White River.  Muncie is not the only town with paved biking trails.  As a family, find out where the nearest biking trail is to your house.  This is a great way to get some family nature/exercise time, and together time.  The trails would not have to be paved, especially  if you have bikes with bigger wheels.  Biking is a fun activity to be enjoyed by families.  One fun thing for me has always been short races on bikes, which I have oftentimes lost, of sprinting up that last hill or being the first one to the ice cream stand.

Praying over the rooms of your house

When we moved into our current house we began to do some basic remodeling such as pulling up the carpet that pets had peed on, knocking down walls and ceilings, and pulling up layers of vinyl tile on floors.  We felt like archaeologists digging through layers upon layers of lives.  So many different people had lived in our house, and our suspicion was that much of the activity that went on in our house was contrary to what Jesus Christ would want.  So we prayed over each room of our house, asking Jesus Christ to fill that room with himself, and for that room to be dedicated to him.  We took over that room for Jesus Christ.  When the US flag was stuck into the moon they claimed ownership of the moon even though the moon does not in any way belong to the US.  But that house does belong to Jesus Christ, and we were aligning with him that it was his.  Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world, and all who live in it.”  We have done that in the rooms of our house, and also been a part of reclaiming what was rightfully God’s in other people’s houses or other buildings.  Don’t forget the closets, the basement, the attic, and other out of the way rooms – even the garage and the front porch.  I personally do not think this is a bad idea to do more than once. 

Bowling with plastic cups

My brother and I used to set up ten plastic cups as pins at the end of the hallway and then bowl with a ball.  It was quite fun.  If you don't have plastic cups you can usually pick them up at a sporting event after everyone else leaves the game and their cups are on the ground.  One time I got 100+ cups that way.  That game may have been one of Harry Carey's last games.

Looking Up OT Quotes

When Jesus quotes an OT passage, or for that matter, when any New Testament writer quotes an Old Testament passage, I think it is a good practice to actually go to that passage and read it, reading the whole chapter or the whole book.  Much can be learned from doing this.
1.  We can learn what passages the NT writers keep referring to.
2.  We learn how NT writers and Jesus interpret the OT.
3.  We learn about the context of the passage to which is being quoted.
4.  We see how often OT passages are quoted, let alone alluded to.
5.  We learn where the OT books are in the Bible.
6.  What do you learn?

Beta Fish

I think that we have had three beta fish as a family.  The first one lasted quite a while and was quite fun.  Then after some time we had to move and for various reasons it could not go with us.  Then after a lapse of years we got another which was extremely short lived, we thought, because we got it at Wal-Mart.  But the third one we go from Pet Smart lasted no longer so now we have unused Beta food.  I have not tried it yet.  The Beta fish as an idea I am not sure about.  The care is somewhat minimal, as are the benefits, but ours seem to die.  We are probably doing something wrong with the water, but what I am not sure.  So if you go out and get a beta fish, may God bless it with a long life in years.

The Alphabet Prayer

This idea is one I must have got a long time ago when I was in high school or younger.  This is a group prayer of thanks to God.  The first person starts with the letter A and thanks God for something that starts with the letter A, like “artichokes” and why they want to thank God for artichokes, and then the next person takes B, and the next person C, and you keep going around in the circle this way so that each person gets quite a few letters to thank God with.  For instance in my family of six, if I started with A, then B,C,D,E,F would be taken by the others and I would thank God for something that starts with the letter G, like God.  Here are three things I like about this prayer.

1.        It is focused only on thanksgiving.

2.       The form is easily understood by beginners or old-timers.

3.       It helps kids learn the alphabet.

4.       It boosts creativity (so it’s four things I like).

You may be skeptical at this point, so I will help you by giving you an example from myself and how I am thankful to God for the birds he made, for even though I think it is best in groups, it can be done individually.

A – Anhinga                        N - Nuthatch

B – Bobolink                       O -Osprey

C – Cardinal                        P - Phoebe

D – Dove                             Q - Quail

E – Eagle                            R – Red-winged Blackbird

F – Flamingo                       S – Starling (I like them)

G – Goldfinch                      T – Tennessee Warbler

H – Hummingbird                U – Upland Sandpiper

I – Indigo Bunting                V - Vireo

J – Junco                           W - Waxwing

K – Kingfisher                     X – Xema sabini (Sabine’s Gull)

L – Loon                            Y – Yellow Warbler

M – Mockingbird                 Z – Zone-tailed Hawk

The Avengers and Spiritual Warfare

I took my oldest son to see the Avengers with Captain America, Ironman, the Hulk, etc., and thought it was an okay movie.  But the more I thought about the fighting, which it is a fighting movie, the more I thought about how the Avengers may say some interesting things about Spiritual Warfare.  So I have three thoughts on what the Avengers may say about Spiritual Warfare, and here they are.

1.        Your most treasured possession could be the entry point for the enemy.  In the movie this tesserect thing, I probably spelled it wrong, provided renewable energy and it was set to help the energy crisis, and it was also being used to create weapons, of defense of course.  What I rely on, love, trust, cherish – those will be the things that Satan would use to draw me away from God.  Things that may even be good he will use to twist and pervert and draw me away from the Maker of all good things.

2.       A united front is the best strategy.  In the movie the superheroes were fighting each other until they finally rallied together against the enemy.  The enemy’s strategy was to divide them.  As the Body of Christ, as we stand together in unity we find we are the strongest.  As the body of Christ is divided, Satan wins.  Oftentimes the battle simply consists of maintaining a united front. “Stand” (Paul in Ephesians). 

3.       Those fighting the war are often blamed.  At the end of the movie people want the Avengers to pay for all the bad that happened in the movie, even though the Avengers averted much more disaster.  When we enter into spiritual warfare there are some outside and inside the Body of Christ who would place blame on those entering into Spiritual Warfare.  “What are you doing ministering to child molesters?!?!”  “Why is everything a spiritual attack to you?  Let boys be boys!  That never hurt anything.”  “This is your fault that all of this stuff came to the surface!  It would have been better if it would have stayed buried and hidden.” 

The Name Game

Cut up paper into small-ish sizes about 2 inches by 3 inches.  Give each person ten pieces of paper and a pen and have them write one name on each paper.  Everyone in the group has to have a chance at knowing the person on the paper.  You don't want to make them too easy though.  Then collect all the names, folded once, in a bowl.  Divide the group into two teams and one person from Team A tries to get their team to guess without saying the name.  Go back and forth between Team A and Team B until the bowl is empty.  The team that guessed the most names wins.  You can't think of any names?  I will share some of my favorites with you.

Jomo Kenyatta
Steve Prefontaine
Suzie Derkins
Walter Payton
Dwight Gooden
Cameron MacIntosh
Victor Hugo
Bill Russell
Denise Huxtable
Ruby Bridges
Catniss Everdeen
Vigo Mortensen

Indian Statues

In the city I live in there are statues of Indians.  The state I live in is Indiana, meaning place of the Indians.  Of course, if you read your history book, even the highly euro-centric slant most history books are could not avoid that calling them Indians was thinking they were in India.  They, Chris and the lot of the white folk, were off by the Pacific Ocean and half of Asia, so in essence they were off by half the world.  Geographically speaking they would have been closer to call them Brits.
So the Native Americans used to live where I live.  I have walked around this town and all you see of Indians is statues.  It makes me think of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when the Witch turns all the Narnians into stone.  That seems to be what the culture I am a part of, White culture, has done.  We have turned all the Native Americans into stone.
Our Christian Nation with Christian forefathers killed, raped, hung, starved, chased, and genocided the Native American tribes.

When will Aslan come and blow the statues and turn them back into Native Americans?

This is not Narnia.  The Native Americans are few, and we, as the Church, must ask - what to do?

I am a white person.  My culture killed and genocided as many Native Americans as they could.  They stole, killed, and destroyed, just like the Devil.  My people did horrible things, even in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For any Native Americans who may be reading this:
"I am so sorry for what we have done to you and your ancestors.  We were wrong and what we did was evil.  I ask humbly if you will forgive us.  We know that these terrible wrongs we did cannot be repaid because we can never bring back the years, the tribes, the families, the people.  We lay ourselves at your feet and weep."

Picking up hitchhikers

Is it a good idea to pick up hitchhikers or not?  I usually side with not picking up hitchhikers because first of all it is illegal, and second who knows what situation you could find yourself in. All that said, I want to share with you how impactful picking up hitchhikers can be.

It was in the years following the Great Depression and a widow with four children told the youngest, a boy, that he would have to make it on his own.  He was 12 I think.  That boy felt rejected and decided to go to California.  Why?  Beats me.  I am not sure if he even knows.  He got picked up by a truck driver, and the boy told the truck driver he was going to California.  The truck driver asked the boy about his family and learned that he had an older sister in Ohio.  So the truck driver drove the boy to Ohio instead of California.  The boy went to his sister's and his sister took him in.  

Later the boy thought about that truck driver, and thought that he was his guardian angel.

If that man had not picked up my grandfather and taken him to his sister, much would be different in my world.

My grandfather tells that story a lot these days, and he realizes that God can work amazing things though people who pick up hitchhikers.

Mind you, the hitchhiker was 12.

On the other side of the coin, I would say it is often a very bad idea to pick up hitchhikers, especially of the opposite sex if you are alone, or anyone if you are alone.  

What are your thoughts on picking up hitchhikers?

Talking to the God you don't believe in

This was my mom's idea when she went to Ball State University.  She would go by a brooke where she lived and talk to the God she did not believe in.  She would say, "God, I don't believe in you.  But if you really are God, reveal yourself to me.  And if you are God that should not be hard for you."
She later met another college girl who revealed Jesus Christ to her, and so God answered her prayer.

I am so thankful that
1.  my mom was willing to pray to God even though she did not believe in Him.
2.  there was a Ball State student that reflected Jesus Christ in her life.

Both of those things had a big effect on my life (understatement).

Eating your Garden

This is not my idea.  We do not have green thumbs in our family, nor do we have much space, at all, for a garden.  On the other hand some of our neighbors who we are in community with have been going gung-ho on making gardens.  We do not live in the country, but in an urban area with little yard space.  Instead of a small lawn, our friends are opting for small gardens.  This is by no means a new idea, but as old as the good earth itself.  It seems the first family in the Bible had a garden.  Whether you grow tomatoes, garlic, onions, mint, sweet corn, pumpkins, strawberries, or coffee, maybe you should think about growing a garden.  I remember visiting a family in Nairobi who had extremely little space, little more than the space of a child's sandbox, but the still grew sukuma wiki.

Calvin and Hobbes

I know, I know, the comics in the newspaper these days are not very good except sometimes Dilbert, and sometimes Family Circus.  Well, there used to be a much better comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes.  You can still buy the books.
If you know Calvin and Hobbes this will make you want to read some.
If you don't know Calvin and Hobbes, it will be like a young Cleveland Browns fan being introduced to clips of Jim Brown, the greatest running back of all time.

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/

Hand-me-down Magazines

My dad has had an idea to hand down the magazines he reads to his kids.  Obviously there is a wide range of type and quality of magazines, and many not worth handing down, and more than it is worth handing down a curse.  I don't know what magazines you get or would like.  Astronomy magazine, Thriving Family, ESPN, US News and World Report, Time, National Geographic, Christianity Today, Road Bike Review, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Bibliotheca Sacra, Interpretation, or Smithsonian.  Maybe you should hand your magazines down to someone else who would read them.  Maybe you should ask someone if they would hand their magazines down to you.

Speed Scrabble

This is a game that is also learning.  Speed scrabble does not require a board, and you could even make your own pieces out of cardboard.  If you want to play in a language other than English, and you are willing to make your own pieces, the possibilities are limitless.  I think I may go and make myself Hebrew pieces to play Hebrew Speed Scrabble.
How do you play Speed Scrabble?
Everyone gets 7 pieces.
"GO."
When someone makes words with all of their 7 pieces in front of them they say,
"GO." and everyone takes one more piece, to make 8 pieces.

When someone makes words with all of their 8 pieces in front of them they say,
"GO." and everyone takes one more piece, and that makes 9 pieces.
You go on playing that way until you run out of pieces and the person to make something of all the letters says,
"DONE."
Then you count up all your letters how many times they are used and subtract the letters you did not use.
That's how we play it.
Have fun.

Learning Hebrew

It all starts with the alphabet, or actually the aleph bet.  Why learn Hebrew?  So you can understand God's word better, and thus know God better.  Can we know God without knowing Hebrew?  Of course.  Can we know Hebrew and not know God?  Of course.  But will knowing Hebrew hurt?  I don't think so.

Hebrew is from right to left, not left to right, and it was around before English, so if you say it is backwards, keep in mind that is only in reference to our understanding, not in terms of the history of Language.

The letters that have more than one type show the form at the beginning and middle of the word, and the second type is the final form, the way the letter is at the end of the word.  Sin and Shin (the second to last letter) are distinguished by a dot at the top.  You can learn that eventually.

Kids can learn the aleph bet the same way as the alphabet, but saying it over and over again.

Chess

How long has chess been around?  I don't know.  My brother learned chess at the summer camp we went to in Pennsylvania and taught me.  My kids know now.  I just beat my son by getting him down to his king.  In high school a student teacher taught me how to beat someone in three moves.  Chess is funny though, because I really know almost nothing about it.
Do you know how to play chess?
The King can move one space in any direction and is the whole goal of the game for the other pieces to make sure your king does not die but that the other person's king does die.  What strategy will you have?  Will you have a strategy?
The Queen is similar to the king except that even though the whole game does not revolve around her, all the work is done by her while the king sits around.
The knight is different in that it moves one over and two up or down, or vice versa, thus making an interesting way to move.
http://www.chess.com/

Why wait until marriage?

Let's say a couple has had sex already and they are not married yet - why should that couple continue to wait until marriage?  Why not just get on with it and live together since they have already crossed that line?

I assume that at least a few Christian couples are asking these sorts of questions.  First, if all you are looking for is justification to continue having sex before you get married, you do not have to look here.  It seems so easy, doesn't it, to justify something when we want it real bad.  Sorry, my purpose here is not to give you justification, but endurance.

Steve Prefontaine would run, not to see who was fastest, but to see who had the most guts, who could punish himself in an exhausting pace, and then at the end punish himself even more.  No one is going to win a 5K race with me, says Steve, after running an easy two miles.  He went on, if I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself.

I think this has a lot to say to engaged couples.  It is really not primarily about being a virgin on your wedding day, although that is great.  It is about the endurance of the upcoming marriage.  Endurance is a tone that is set up early.  If a boyfriend cannot go without sex for one week, what will he do when the girlfriend is pregnant and has given birth, or when he has to go on a trip?  Couples that decide, whatever the current circumstances, to stop all sexual intimacy, and wait until their wedding day, are moving a step toward endurance.

A Christian man who is married to a beautiful Christian woman will not end his sexual temptations when he gets married.  That is when they go to a new level.  The endurance put to waiting before the marriage will go a long way to the endurance needed during the marriage.

Waiting is something God likes us to do.  We may not like it, but for some reason he does.
Maybe he wants us to grow in endurance.

The Apostle's Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Getting Married

One of my best friends got married 11 years ago.  I had the honor of being his best man.  Almost 13 years ago I married my wife and it rained on our outdoor wedding, so we had the reception in a basement.  Almost 14 years ago my brother got married and there was a fire at the altar, and try as hard as they could, the groomsmen could not beat the fire out with their tux jackets.  Luckily the ushers found fire extinguishers.  Many things happen at a wedding, and you can spend a lot of money on a wedding.  Let me share with you some of my thoughts on a wedding that are most important.
1.  the groom deciding that he will commit himself no matter what to this bride.
2.  the bride deciding that she will commit herself no matter what to this groom.
3.  inviting some family and friends to see this beauty, not the beauty of flowers and dresses and cakes, but of the first 2 things I listed, and those people get to watch as this wedding, this marriage, grows into something they start to think of as holy, not because the bride and the groom are something, but that the God who makes people one has shown himself in this marriage.

Intex Easy Set Pool

We bought a small pool at Rural King for my son's birthday.  You probably would have set it up better and leveled the ground better, and thought it out better.  But on a hot summer day, a pool filled with water enough to go underwater is a very fun thing.  The jury is still out since it is new to us.  But the Intex Easy Set Pool has been fun for us so far, and it is a very cheap alterative to 1.  buying a real pool for $5000.  2.  buying a home on the beach for $500,000.
12 foot by 3 foot for $90 at Rural King.  We got it on sale.

Neighborhood kids knock on your door more often when you have a pool.  Just be prepared for that.

Urban Light Community Church

We go to a great church.  Why is it so great?  Because we have a vision for people being reconciled to God and each other.  As Jesus Christ invites people to follow him, they must follow him together.  Our pastor recently got back from a sabbatical.  It is an honor to be with him in ministry because he is willing to see ministry as a team, and he is a humble leader.  We seek to be a place where reconciliation happens, where Jesus' prayer for us in John 17 is realized, "that they would be one, just as You are in Me and I am in You."

http://www.urbanlightmuncie.com/#!
Here is a part of our story:

Urban Light was started by a few adults and a bunch of kids who lived in the same neighorhood together.  In the beginning, we didnt really reflect the diversity of our community real well.  But we were moving toward the vision God had given us to reconcile people to God and to each other and to raise up leaders from within the community.  God was faithful and did what he said he would do  he raised up an unlikely group of people from all kinds of different backgrounds with all kinds of different issues to lead his church.

In the early days, we had just a small group of adults who met for Bible study and worship.  We bought some rough houses in the neighborhood, fixed them up, and lived in them.  We were starting small businesses such as window washing and house cleaning with the hope of hiring people who needed a second chance or who had been overlooked by the system.  We planted a community garden and infiltrated our neighborhoods with flowering fruit trees.  We had backyard Kids Bible Clubs and BBQs.  But stuff couldnt stay small for long.  The 10-15 people who breathed a bunch of Kerosene fumes in the drafty garage on Madison St. (the historic line of segregation in Muncie) grew into a group of worshippers who met together in some cabins in our nearby inner-city park.

Our gospel choir was formed, our childrens ministry grew, new people either moved in to our community or joined the church from the community.  People came out of drug addictions and prostitution.  Demons were cast out of people.  We did some serious community organizing and kicked off a huge annual block party that is more like a street fair with inflatable games, hip-hop, BBQ, B-ball tourneys, rock climbing wall, and more.  As residents, a bunch of us tracked through the county building and convinced the alcoholic beverage commission to revoke the liquor license of our local strip club, which was a haven for prostitution, drug dealing, and violence.  Afterward, we purchased the property and tore the rat-trap down.  We formed a partnership with another local urban church: Deliverance Temple, which has been ministering on the south side for years.  Together, we run two addiction-recovery and prisoner re-entry houses, the Conley House for men and the Urban Lighthouse for women.  Our ministries are a model of what it looks like when people come together across race and neighborhood barriers to love people with the love of Jesus.