Settlers of Catan

When my wife and I were going to be missionaries in Kenya in 2002 we went to a missionary training place called MTI in Colorado.  At MTI we learned a new game called Settlers of Catan.  All I remember about that first game was something about ten points and that it was over before I knew it.  It seemed okay, but I never knew how great a game it would be in my life.  Die Siedler von Catan was brought into this good earth as I was graduating high school by a German named Klaus Teuber.  When you think of smart German people maybe you think of all the smart theologians like Otto Eissfelt, Gerhard von Rad, Martin Luther, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer or musicians such as Bach, or the obvious Albert Einstein.  But Klaus Teuber deserves a second look.  Here are some unwritten Catan rules that you will not find in the rule book.
1.  Double sevens - don't count the seven until you roll it twice.
2.  Announce other people's points, and overstate them, but never mention your points.
3.  Don't get mad and throw pieces all over the place - you will get mad.
4.  Don't trade with Danny - this is not a rule that I endorse at all, but it has been stated.
5.  Try to get a variety of numbers on your first placements - 4,5,6,8,9,10.
6.  Eat popcorn while playing.
7.  Don't let Danny eat all the popcorn - again, this rule is terrible, but it has been said many times.
8.  The winner is the one who makes the best deals - that is the secret.
9.  We built this city, we built this city on ore and wheat - should be sung when building a city.

10.  Don't let Danny sing the Amish Grandma song - again, horrible rule, who is making these up?

Letting Jesus be your handyman

I really do not like handyman work, like fixing a leaky faucet or putting up drywall.  Because I am a homeowner, sometimes I am backed against a wall to do this.  Sometimes I go into a project thinking I can do it.  Sometimes I go into a project thinking I can't.  But for me, I almost always have a mental breakdown in the middle of my handyman project.  Why? - you ask.  Because I want the project to be done, to finish it.  This is almost always hindered by something seemingly small, like a certain kind of fitting that I don't have or a certain kind of screwdriver that would fit this certain project.
It all goes downhill for me when I go to the hardware store, or should I say it goes downhill when I get back from the hardware store for the third time and the thingy that I bought still doesn't work.
So here is my idea that I think Jesus is giving me, not that I have figured this out yet.
"Hey Danny, why don't you let me be your handyman?"
"Because you save people's souls, marriages, and spiritual lives, but you don't really fix people's sinks - only Lowes does that."
"Really Danny, you think I can't fix a sink, you think that is too hard for me."
"I really do not want to let go of this yet, Jesus."
"I know."

So my idea is to let Jesus be my handyman.  I have still not really figured this out at all.  Maybe you have.  I just know that when I am the handyman I get really mad.

Defining "Family"

There is a lot of talk in politico-religious news bulimia feasts about the definition of the family.  Almost all of the time I hear this from Christians.  Almost all of the time it is to show that homosexuality is not a viable option for Christian families, only one husband and one wife is.  Any time there is any sort of heated argument it seems that we push our idea as the idea of the Bible, instead of letting the Bible speak its own idea.  So I wanted first to offer some ways to define the Christian family, and then to share what I believe is THE definition of the Christian family, and also share why this is important this very hour and day.  The first instance of a Biblical family is Adam and Eve, one man and one woman, and this family is referred to by Jesus in Scripture (Matthew 19:4-5; Mark 10:6-8; ).  Another family is the polygamous family, with one husband having more than one wife.  Examples of this are Lamech, Adah, and Zillah; Abraham, Sarah and Hagar;  Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah; David and his many wives, and Solomon and his 700+300.  There are many variations of the polygamous relationship, such as being a wife, a sister, a concubine, or a slave turned wife.  Many combinations are possible and many combinations are described.  There is also an interesting example of polyandry with Maacah the daughter of Abishalom bearing the Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and also bearing Rehoboam’s son Asa.  This incestual family is the one Jesus comes from.   There are many other examples of families that are not one man and one woman, such as Lot and his daughters, Hosea and Gomer and Gomer’s other men, Daniel and no wife, the Samaritan woman and her five husbands + current man, Jesus and no wife, and the list goes ever on.  So does the Bible push the idea of one man and one woman?  In a way you could say it does, but to push this idea of one man and one woman I think could make us miss THE definition of the Christian family.     

“(Jesus), your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you” (Mark 3:32).  They were referring Jesus to his family, even though the family they were referring him was one woman and no husband (There was no mention of Joseph – maybe he died, maybe not).  I wonder how many would object that Joseph could not have left Mary because Joseph was a righteous man and people back then just didn’t do that.  Honestly, I would not be shocked if Joseph left Mary.  Jesus needed to come save us all, even his dad, even his mom. 

Jesus responds with a question, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”  Jesus then goes on toward a new definition of “family.”  Family is summed up in the first two words of the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father. . .”  THE definition of the Christian family is nothing less than those who are the children of the living God.  Our relation to the family of God is actually more defining than how we relate to our own family.  For instance, what if all of my family died, my wife, kids, brother, father, etc.  Would I have no family?  Not according to Jesus.  Jesus rewrites the definition of Family.  A Christian family is those who are God’s children.  The widow has a family if she is a follower of Jesus.  A Christian is by definition in a family, even if he or she is single and his or her parents are gone.

Here is the Christian family idea:  make sure your kids know what family they belong to, that they have a Father who is in heaven.  My son knows he has two fathers.  When you ask my kids if so and so is a member of our family, they think on two levels, because if someone is a believer in Jesus Christ, they are a part of our family.  Maybe you are reading this and you have no “biological” or “nuclear” family.  Jesus invites us all to be a part of his family, his Father’s house.  Which family takes precedence?  I hope the answer is obvious.  This does not mean the pastor spends every hour at Church and neglects his or her spouse and kids.  What it does mean is that the name Smith will soon be forgotten and not used again, but that the name of Jesus will go ever on, and only through his blood are our family members made.  

Children's Museums

Children's Museums can be wonderful places for kids to learn, and they are found in many parts of the world.  In many of the cities we have lived in since we have been a family there have been children's museums.  It so happens that one of the best children's museums is within an hour drive for us, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  
The Indianapolis Children’s Museum is one of the greatest resources for any family, but especially for Christian families.  Why?  The Pharaoh’s tomb in the basement is a great introduction into the time and place of the events of the Bible.  So much can be learned from archaeology that can help us understand the Bible better.  Also, kids learn in many different ways.  Some kids learn by sitting at a desk and listening to a teacher.  Some kids learn by doing.  This is for those kids.  There is also a Egyptian exibit which will also help kids understand other cultures into which the gospel will go when they go.  It is also a great place to see how you and your kids deal with the issue of dinosaurs and evolution and a literal or figurative six days of creation.  Whatever your belief, it will force the question early on so that you and your children can learn.  You and your kids must also interact with lots of people, because the museum is exteremely popular.  So there is a lot of learning.  Learning by doing.  Learning by seeing.  Learning by thinking up ideas.  And last but certainly not least, social learning. 


To find out more about the Children's Museum of Indianapolis click the link below.
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/




To find out if there is a Children's Museum in your part of the world, click the link below.http://www.childrensmuseums.org/index.php/component/acmmuseumsearch/searchform.html

The A.C.T.S. Prayer

Here is an idea you may have already heard.  This is a way to pray in four stages.  First come to God in Adoration - adoring him.  Second, come to God in Confession, confessing your sins to him, especially hidden ones.  Third, come to him in Thanksgiving, thanking him for who he is, for the blessings in your life.  Fourth, come to him in Supplication, asking him for help in various situations, praying for people you know are in need of help.  One great thing about this form of prayer is that it helps us realize that prayer is not just about asking God for things, like he is a vending machine, or that going to prayer is like going to Wal-Mart, "I am going to prayer, do you want anything?"
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Tough Love

In my job as a counselor at a Christian Men’s Recovery Program I talk to a lot of families who want their son, nephew, grandson, brother to be free from their addiction while sometimes said individual does not want to be free.  Oftentimes there is a struggle in these families between wanting to help the man and not wanting to enable the man (I say man because I am involved in men’s recovery, but this is also an issue with women).  Sometimes the man has stolen things, wrote bad checks, “borrowed” things for a long time without asking, helped themselves to prescription pills of family members, gotten into legal trouble, etc. etc.  Many times the best thing to do is to not give the man any money or let them live with you.  Why?  Because you are giving them the rope they need to hang themselves.  Also, because while you love them and are putting up with them at 19 years old, it will be a different story at 49 years old.  You may be dead, or you may have finally gotten fed up with them, and now the desire to help them in any way is gone.  So what do we do for them, you ask?  You can talk to them about entering a recovery program, but you cannot force them.  You must sit back and let them choose their own path.  Tell them that you will love them no matter what they do, but that you will not help them commit suicide, that you will not help them destroy themselves.  You have to let them fall down, you have to let them hit rock bottom.  Hitting rock bottom may be the only way for them to realize there is a problem.  As you do this you can pray for them every day, three times a day, seven times a day, begging the Holy Spirit to speak truth into him.  Helping them does not help them.  Helping them is killing them.  Pray that they realize they need more help than you can give – they need God’s help.  If you think that you can help them, you may have a “rescue complex” thinking that you can save the day.  Now is the time for you to realize that only Jesus Christ can save the day.

Journals for Children

My wife and I had an idea of getting a journal for our kids before they were even born.  It was just a spiral bound notebook, but we wrote in that journal our prayers for him or her before we knew if it was a him or a her.  We also had other people in our family and friends write in it.  As the child was born we wrote the birth information and continued to communicate in the journal what we could not seem to communicate with the baby.  As our baby grew into a toddler we wrote down things that were happening, like our son who learned igiKuria as he was learning English, and our daughter who was on 11 air plane flights in the first year of her life, and our son who everyone thought should be a model for Gerber, and our son who was miraculously healed of glaucoma at Riley Hospital.  Even now, we continue to wrote things even as they get older.  We write messages we want them to hear and read.  Oftentimes we forget about the journals for a while, but always go to it and eventually put something of what is happening in their lives.  We are in a sense recording their childhood, and in another sense recording our parenthood. 

Why do I think this is a good idea?  Not because what you write will be remembered like the Gettysburg Address or I have a Dream.  Not because it will be published as a book.  Not because every word you say will even be true.  It is a good idea because our children need to hear from us – not just sarcasm, not just yelling, not just frustration.  They need to hear love.  One day we will die.  Our children will have a record that they may keep guard of even more than their social security number, a record that their parents love them.

Paintings for a little girl

A little girl in our church is having open heart surgery today and a while ago my daughter had the idea of drawing pictures and making paintings.  She made a bunch of different pictures and put prices on them of 50cents or $1 or 25cents depending on the size and quality of the picture.  She started by selling them to her aunt, uncle and grandparents the pictures.  She was selling them to save up money for the little girl in our church who is having open heart surgery today.  Someone might say to her, "Who is going to buy pictures from a little girl to save money for this little girl who is having open heart surgery?  That won't work."  You could tell that to my daughter to her face and she would be unfazed.  This is why we call her Danny junior.  She took the pictures to church and I think she tried to sell some.  She also says to her mom, "Aren't you so proud of me mommy, can you believe that an eight year old can raise money for a little girl.  Aren't you so proud of me that you could cry?"
The Painting you see pictured in this post is called "I don't know what to call it."

Tell Them Why.

Tell your kids why they are special.  When I studied Hebrew verbs in Seminary I learned about the Piel stem of a word is usually used to intensify the verb, and one possibility that comes up is to declare something about something, like for the verb to be holy, the Piel stem can be to declare that something is holy.  Also for the verb to be righteous, the Piel stem of the verb can be to declare that someone is righteous.  The priest that walks in and finds no yucky stuff in the house or the body, declares it clean.  As I thought about this I thought about my own children and what I speak into their lives as their father.  I have heard many people say that their father or mother said something that they carried with them all their life.  Oftentimes this is something horrid, like “You are stupid.” 

So here is my idea.  I take my son or my daughter and I say something like this: “My son/daughter, I want to talk to you about something very important.  What I am about to tell you I want you to remember it for the rest of your life.  I want to share with you one of the reasons that you are special and wonderful and great.  There are many reasons why you are special and fantastic and terrific, but right now I want to share with you just one reason.  Are you ready to hear that reason?  (Yes.)  You are special; you are amazing; you are phenomenal. . . because I say you are.”  This is one way I speak value into my child’s life.

Location. Location. Location.

My Grandpa always told me that the three most important things to consider when buying a house are 1. Location. 2. Location. 3. Location.  I think he is right, but people have different opinions of what location is important.  Do I want to make sure that the location. . . is not in the “bad” part of town?  . . .is in a “good” school system?  . . . will increase in value because it is a prime location spot?  Do I want to live. . . on a hill or mountain?  . . . near family, or away from family. . .where there are lots of things “to do”?   . . . in the middle of nowhere?  . . .with a big yard?  . . . by the ocean, or on a lake?  Oftentimes it seems that we choose the location of our homes solely based on our selfishness.  Could it be that there is Biblical Support for a theology of Location, or does location have nothing to do with Jesus Christ? 

“And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent in our neighborhood.”  Jesus thought location important too.  He left the best part of the universe, the best school system, the most prime real estate to live in a dark valley away from his Father.  He alone could offer the complaint with sincerity, “There is nothing to do here.”  He came to the bad part of the universe for us and was killed, and yet it seems that our main objective at times is to not move to the bad part of the world and be killed. 

You may think that I am tooting my own horn, since I live in the bad part of town, and lived in Africa.  But have I really risked anything at all?  What about Burma?  North Korea?  Afghanistan?  Somalia?  Who is going there?  You may say, “Oh, you can’t gothere!  They won’t let you!  They would kill you!”   If The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, can’t I go somewhere for the sake of the gospel, even if it means finding a way, and dying.  Jesus found a way to come and die, and yet we are always avoiding any risk of death.

Will my kids say, “Yeah, Dad always wanted to protect us, he made sure nothing happened to us. . . but he never really had anything he was willing to risk his life for, and he taught us to be safe, and to never risk our life for anything.  He taught us to walk away from the cross.”  I do not want my kids to say that. 

Maybe this post offends you.  Maybe it will be my kids who teach me this idea of Location when they go to Burma, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia to pour out their lives for the gospel.  What a waste. . . . if they do not pour out their lives for the gospel, even unto death.

Rating Churches

Many people try to find a Church that they like, similar to if I have a choice between Mountain Dew and Pepsi I am going to choose Mountain Dew because I like it more.  So what about a Church makes it one you like?  Many say the Worship (usually meaning music), or Preaching, or Children’s ministry, or Traditional Service or Contemporary Service.  What kind of doctrine is it?  Do they speak in tongues or not?  Do they have a meal afterwards?   What questions do you ask? 

Right now I am a part of a church that I really like.  And the thing I like most about it would not be answered by any of those questions.  Here is a question to ask about the Church you are going to, or thinking about going to. 

What is the Mission?  What is the Vision?

When I was in a church in Nairobi God spoke to me and told me that my life mission was to unite the Body of Christ.  About 5 years later I became a part of a Church that had the same mission I had.  Reconciling people to God.  Reconciling people to each other.  Joining Jesus Christ in the reconciliation of all things.

Why be a part of a church?  I am a part of a church that has a mission that is also my mission.  Our church exists for a specific reason, and our mission is not something was made up just to put on a web page.  It fuels our direction and our ministry.

So here is the idea:  Find out what your Church’s mission statement is.  Does it have one?  Why does your church exist?  Any goals?  Do those line up with Jesus Christ’s vision and goals?  What about yours?

Another idea:  think of a mission statement for yourself.

www.urbanlightmuncie.com

Long Distance Dating

Here is an idea for people who are dating.  My mom and my dad were dating in the early 70s.  They lived in Indiana.  Then my mom went to teach in Florida.  They dated long distance by writing letters.  Would the relationship last until my mom got back?  My wife and I were dating in the late 90s.  I went to Kenya for four months.  We wrote letters to each other and called a few times (the phones in Kenya were not incredibly reliable at the time).  There was even this thing called email that we did every now and then (There was no Skype then).  Would the relationship last for that four months?  Those relationships proved their worth, and that is one of the advantages to long distance dating.  Can your relationship survive the long distance?  “Oceans apart day after day, and I slowly go insane, I hear your voice on the line, but it doesn’t stop the pain, if I see you next to never, how can we say forever, wherever you go, whatever you do I will be right here waiting for you, whatever it takes or if my heart breaks I will be right here waiting for you. . .”  Here are some advantages to long distance dating: 

1.       It is very hard to cross lines sexually that Christ demands that you not cross if you are not with each other.

2.       You find out if there is anything to the relationship besides the physical element.

3.       You can write letters to each other that you may keep for decades and you will show to your kids.

4.       You will have time to think about the relationship.

5.       The relationship goes through a test, and that test will either kill the relationship or prove it and make it stronger.

But how do we long distance date?  Here are a few ideas for long distance dating, if this is something you are thinking of doing.

1.       Go on a semester abroad – many schools have the option of going to another country for schooling at a low cost.

2.       Hike the Appalachian Trail.

3.       Go on a long bicycle trip, such as coast to coast.

4.       Go on a short term missions trip.

5.       Do an internship somewhere else in the world.

How do we survive long distance dating?

1.       Write letters to each other.

2.       Spend lots of time praying.

3.       Set a time to pray for each other every day (my wife and I would pray for each other every day at the same time – noon in Indiana and 8pm in Kenya).

4.       Read books on marriage.

5.       Evaluate the relationship – Who am I?  Who is (s)he?  Is (s)he someone I want to spend the rest of my life with?

The 5 Year Plan

My grandpa always talked about his 5 year plan.  Most, if not all, of the time this had to do with getting the dock out of the lake and getting the boat hoist out of the lake.  He not only had a plan for how to do it, but he had a plan for the next 5 years how it was going to get done.  His talk of the 5 year plan must have rubbed off on me because I have developed a 5 year plan for January 2012- January 2017.  What really made me think about this was that my kids, who now span ages 4-10, would then span 9-15, and somehow it clicked for me that these next 5 years are crucial to my relationship with my kids.  So what kind of habits and traditions and goals to I want to put in place so that my kids and I can have a good relationship.  One of my goals in the plan was to have regular Sunday morning dates with each kid on a rotating basis.  Although my five year plan has a lot to do with my kids, there are other aspects of my plan as well.  On the financial side, one part of the plan is to pay off all of my school loans.  Part of my plan for my work as a mission counselor is to develop a discipleship relationship that multiplies and then multiplies.  I have many other parts of my 5 year plan.  How will it go?  How is it going?  Some parts of it are better than others.  But having a five year plan makes me think about what things I want to happen in the future and then boil those things down to see what steps over those five years need to be made in order for those things to happen.  So maybe a 5 year plan is for you.  What would you write as a part of your 5 year plan?

Acronyms (Isaiah 53)

I love acronyms.  They help me remember things and I need all the help I can get.  Oftentimes I will use acronyms in a sermon and this last Good Friday was no exception.  I made an acronym of Isaiah 53 to use as a part of my message.  So here is the acronym.

Isaiah 53:1            What is God’s Message?  What is God’s Strength?

Isaiah 53:2            John Doe looks

Isaiah 53:3            Eyes with tears

Isaiah 53:4            Sack with sorrows

Isaiah 53:5            Under the whip

Isaiah 53:6            Suitcase with sins

Isaiah 53:7            Closed mouth

Isaiah 53:8            Hanging dead

Isaiah 53:9            RIP the grave

Isaiah 53:10           In My Plan

Isaiah 53:11           Satisfied Righteousness

Isaiah 53:12           To pay for our sins

So what acronym will you make of a Scripture?  Maybe it will help you and others remember the Scripture better.

Isaiah 53

1Who has believed our message?

To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? 

² My servant grew up in the LORD's presence            John Doe looks

like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,

nothing to attract us to him. 

³ He was despised and rejected-- a man of sorrows,   Eyes with tears

acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.           

He was despised, and we did not care. 

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.                Sack with sorrows

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins! 

⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed.                       Under the whip

⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God's paths to follow our own.

Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.                  Suitcase with sins

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,

yet he never said a word.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,

he did not open his mouth.                                               Closed mouth

⁸ Unjustly condemned, he was led away.

No one cared that he died without descendants,

that his life was cut short in midstream.                          Hanging dead

But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 

⁹ He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.

But he was buried like a criminal;

he was put in a rich man's grave.                                      RIP the grave

¹⁰ But it was the LORD's good plan

to crush him and cause him grief.                                      In My Plan

Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,

he will have many descendants.

He will enjoy a long life,

and the LORD's good plan will prosper in his hands. 

¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,

he will be satisfied.

And because of his experience,

my righteous servant will make it possible

for many to be counted righteous,                                    Satisfied Righteousness

for he will bear all their sins. 

¹² I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,

because he exposed himself to death.

He was counted among the rebels.

He bore the sins of many                                                   To pay for our sins

and interceded for rebels.

Dr. Suess Mafia

When I went to Daystar University I learned a few games, one called SNAPS, which I will maybe write about later, and one called Mafia, which I will write about now.  If you have not played the original Mafia, here is how it goes.  There is a “Narrator” who passes out cards or slips of paper to signify who is who.  You know who you are but you do not know who anyone else is.  The character possibilities are as follows: 

Mafia (more than one)

Citizen (more than one)

Sherriff (only one)

Nurse (only one)

After passing out the cards, the Narrator then collects them and then says, “Everybody go to sleep,” and everyone closes their eyes.  “Mafia wake up” and all the Mafia characters open their eyes, thus allowing them to see who all the Mafia are.  “Mafia kill someone” and then the Mafia point to someone (they must agree) and the Narrator remembers who was killed.  “Mafia go to sleep” and the Mafia close their eyes.  “Sherriff wake up” and the Sherriff opens her/his eyes.  “Sherriff, accuse someone.”  At this point the Sherriff points to someone, and if that person is a Mafia, the Narrator shakes her/his head yes, and if that person is not Mafia, the Narrator shakes her/his head no (So the Sherriff knows whether one person is guilty or innocent).  “Sherriff go to sleep” and the Sherriff closes her/his eyes.  “Nurse wake up,” and the Nurse opens his/her eyes.  “Heal someone,” and the Nurse points to someone to heal, and if that person was the person that “night” that the Mafia killed, it will only be an attempted murder.  The Nurse can also heal himself/herself.  “Nurse go to sleep,” and the Nurse closes his/her eyes.  “Everyone wake up” and everyone opens their eyes (notice the normal citizens do not wake up until now).  “There was a murder last night.  John Doe was killed.”  Or if the Nurse healed the person who was killed, “There was an attempted murder last night.”  The narrator does not say who the attempted murder was on.

Then the game begins with accusing someone and firsting and seconding them to make them stand trial.  The citizens, sherriff and nurse included was to kill the Mafia during the day.  But if the Mafia are good at lying, it can be hard to figure out who is telling the truth, and who is Mafia.

That is the normal, boring-ish way to play the game.  I made up a new way, called Dr. Suess Mafia, in which there are other characters, like Darth Vader Mafia, who can choose whether or not to turn to the good side toward the end of the game.  Also, brown noser, has to say something nice about the person the Narrator picks.  Sleepy Mafia does not always wake up, and the Smurf gets to do all kinds of things.  There is also Die-Hard who has to be killed more than once, etc, etc.  Really there is no limit to how many characters you can be.  Cat in the Hat is a character who can go both ways, being Mafia and Citizen.  I made up some cards for Dr. Suess Mafia and gave a few sets out, but very few, like two or so.  But you can make up your own Dr. Suess Mafia.  The trouble with Mafia is that it is based on lying and being able to tell if someone else is lying, which sometimes can be no fun, sometimes can be fun, and sometimes be too much fun.   

Quarterly Goals

When I was in college I started having quarterly goals for myself.  It was around this time that I was reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, and so it may have come from that book.  I write out goals for myself on January 1 for January February and March, and also again on April 1 for April May and June, and you get it, again on July 1 and October 1.  So sometimes I have written 7+ goals and by the end of that three months forgotten them all.  Other times I have decided to only write one goal – and sometimes I remember it and do it.  What kind of goals do I write?  I write goals based on who I am.  So usually at least one of my goals will have something to do with my personal time with God in the morning.  This is because over the years I have seen how important this time with God in the morning is for me.  Sometimes it is “Read the whole Bible in a year” divided up into four quarters.  Sometimes it is “Read the book of Haggai for a month, Zechariah the next month, and Malachi the next month.”  Sometimes I have a list of people I want to pray for every day while other times I have a form of prayer that I want to pray and other times a set amount of time to listen to God. 

Not all my goals have to do with my personal time with God, as one goal I made last year was to run a marathon in under three hours.  I ran it in 3:12, and though I did not meet my goal I am still glad I made the goal hard.  I learn most maybe by failing to achieve my goals.  I have also had goals that become habits.  My goals of reading one book a month has been generally one I continue to keep.

The great thing about goals comes when you evaluate them.  Did I actually accomplish this goal?  Sort of.  Okay, what do you mean by sort of Danny?  When goals are evaluated, so much can be learned.  So what goals do you have?

Pizza Cutter

Did you know that a pizza cutter has many uses?  If you have a pizza cutter you may not be using it in all the ways you can.  Let me share with you my top ten list of the best uses for a pizza cutter.

10.  Point A to Point B – it is a wheel if you are desperate.  If you have two pizza cutters that is even better.

9.  Cutting a sandwich.

8.  Cutting French Toast for breakfast.

7.  Edge mowing.

6.  Cutting drywall.

5.  Implementing a new form of massage, called Cutco Massage.

4.  Cutting your kids prime rib (then you realize it is a dream), and wake up.

3.  Cutting pancakes for breakfast.

2. Re-cutting the pizza place’s pizza because they did not cut it all the way through, because they were trying to remember if they washed their hands or not.

1.  Cutting a lot of Tostino’s Pizzas for family movie and pizza night.

So what are your ideas for a pizza cutter?  Share your ideas with all of us.

Cloth Diapers

My wife and I have four children, and all of them are now out of diapers.  We used a lot of cloth diapers, even though we also used disposable diapers at night and on trips.  Here are my top ten reasons for using cloth diapers:

10.  You learn the importance of washing your hands.

9.  When it leaks all over everything, you have an opportunity to develop patience.

8.  When it leaks all over everything, you have an excuse to leave wherever you are.

7.  When it leaks all over everything, you have an excuse to stay where you are.

6.  You will learn the benefits of a hose.

5.  “Up the back” sometimes happens with disposables, but washing it out always happens with cloth.

4.  Pinning the cloth diaper will also transfer to jobs such as duct taping a Tasmanian Devil or flossing a spitting cobra.

3.  You will save money in your pocket – you will spend time over your toilet.

2.  You will be able to say you recycle (definitely if you use them for biogas fuel).

1.  You will be able to tell your kids, “When I was a parent, we used cloth diapers!”

Killing the Secret Life

When I was in high school I did something that I knew that Jesus did not want me to do, and I felt very guilty about it.  The Holy Spirit was very clear that I needed to talk to my brother or to the man who was discipling me, but I kept putting it off.  As I look back, I am so glad the turn of events happened as they did, for I truly feel that the Lord was teaching me how to kill the secret life.  I finally told my brother and it felt so good to confess it to someone.  Then I got to college and realized that there is more to this secret life thing than meets the eye.  Early on in my marriage I realized that marriage does not take away the struggles of lust and sexual desire.  So I started having people that I could talk to about those issues, and pray with them.  When I moved to Kenya, this was my greatest concern, and God opened a relationship with a fellow missionary that I could talk to and pray with.  Then each time we moved I would get involved in a group where we could share what was going on and pray for each other.  Today I meet with some of the guys from my church and we pray together for each other.  I believe that this is one of the ways of killing the secret life.

It is when fellowship (true fellowship) with other believers is cut off that the secret life has room to grow and develop.  I have heard many times of pastors who have had some kind of huge moral failure.  Sometimes it is theft, sometimes it is pornography, sometimes it is an affair, sometimes it is something else.  Often those pastors did not have someone who they were sharing with on a regular basis.  I know that death by sexual immorality is but a half step away, and so I must put every guard I can to make sure I do not step off the cliff.  One way for me has been to have other brothers that I regularly talk to about my most intimate life – the thoughts that go on in my head.  If you have no one like this in your life, I encourage you to   1.  Pray that God would lead a person who can keep you accountable to you.  2.  Be the type of person who can also keep someone else accountable. 

This is also a ministry of grace.  Those men throughout my life who I have confessed things to and told about my struggles – they know me intimately, and yet they continue to love me and point me to the only One who can give us the self-control we need.  Falling on our face is sometimes the only way God can lead us to talking to him.   Those men in my life have been extremely important.  “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

Singing Prayers

I was first introduced to singing prayers when I went to a summer camp called Summer’s Best Two Weeks.  We sang a breakfast prayer:  “Father we thank Thee for the-e night, and for the blesse-ed mor-orning light, for rest and food and lo-oving care, and all that makes the day so fair.”  We also sang a prayer at dinner:  “God bless America.”  I used to go to restaurants in the area and sing God Bless America loudly.  Then I was introduced by my in-laws to singing the doxology for a prayer:  “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all ye creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.”   Then in Kenya I was introduced to a singing prayer based off of 2 Corinthians 13:14:  “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father, and the fellowship, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us forevermore and evermore and evermore Amen.”  We usually sing this prayer before meals.  There is also a prayer the kids have learned to sing:  “Lord we thank you, Lord we thank you,  for this food, for this food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings.  Amen, Amen.”  What are the advantages of singing prayers before meals?  Often meal prayers can be hurried:  “Good bread, good meat, good Lord, let’s eat.”  Not that that is always bad, but to add a singing prayer in a sense is to add some liturgy to our life.  Rote memory prayers are not the only ones we pray, but they can be good, especially if they root us in Christ.  That is why I like “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . “  better than “God bless America. . . “  Jesus is my home, not America.  So what singing prayers do you know?  List them here for others to re-use and adapt for Christian families throughout the world. 

Mustard and Spinach

Sexual Purity today is rare, and probably always has been rare.  When I was dating my wife and we were engaged to be married, we faced great temptation.  There may be as many opinions on what sexual purity is as there are people.  Some people say that holding hands before marriage is crossing a line that should not be crossed, or kissing maybe.  After that begins the slippery slope of sexual activity, and with it rationalizations.  So much so that two Christian teens think they are being pure by only having oral sex and not vaginal sex.  It makes those who don’t kiss until the wedding date seem smarter.  So my fiancée and I developed a punishment for ourselves if we crossed lines which we said we would not cross.  If we crossed a line, I had to eat mustard and she had to eat spinach.  We both hated those things.  Some of you are saying that punishing yourselves is a horrible idea.  You may be right, but seeing the mustard and spinach in the car day after day reminded us of our lines.  And when you are engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world, you are at your wits end to find ideas to control yourself.  It is difficult to live up to God's standards of purity, but just because we don't is no reason to throw in the towel.   It helps us to seek out Christ, who is the only one who can live up to God’s standard.  And the more able the Christian teenage couple is to strive toward sexual purity, the more likely that teenage couple will be able to stay true to a lifetime commitment to one person and one person only.   

Naming your Children

I would call this “Baby Names” but they don’t stay as babies.  Those babies grow up.  My wife and I loved to name children so much we had four children, but could have named a dozen more.  We had a bit of a theme when naming our children.  Their first name was the name of a Character in the Old Testament.  Their middle name was from a family member.  Their last name was all the same – Smith.  There are many names from the Old Testament that we liked but did not use, like Jael “most blessed of women,” and Eve “mother of the living,” and Enoch “the one who walked with God,”  and Solomon “the wise one,” and Melchizedek “King of Peace” – okay okay I am the only one who liked Melchizedek.  We also could have named them from Lord of the Rings characters like Elesar, Eowyn, Arwen, Samwise, etc, etc.  Or we could go really bizarre and name them East African bird names like Carmine, Turaco, Crowned, Ibis, and Hornbill.  Catch me on another day and I am naming them Hebrew words like Emeth, Chesed, Ahava, Tov, or Greek words like Dikiosune, Aletheia, Kalae, Kolos.  Our theme for Old Testament names also extended that starting from the oldest child we went backwards in Old Testament history.  For those of you who know my kids names, we went from the beginning of the exile back to the beginning of the kings back to the beginning of the Exodus back to the re-beginning.  This helps since having four kids it is easy to forget which kid is which.  So what should you name your baby?  Don’t forget to think about initials.  J.F.K. is okay initials but Albert Sampson should not be a Smith name.