Lions and tigers and butts, oh my!

Check out my latest post at ChristianDads.com.

Lions and tigers and butts, Oh my!

where did the good samaritan’s go?

I think this lady is a selfish idiot.

“If you’re going to go to Everest … I think you have to accept responsibility that you may end up doing something that’s not very ethically nice. You have to realize that you’re in a different world.”
Lydia Bradey, the first woman to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen

Unfortunately she’s not the only one. Take a second to read this terrible story, “As others pass, climber dies alone on Mount Everest“.

Oprah the cult leader

I stole this title and excerpt from Mark Driscoll’s blog because I think it is pretty insightful. The title of his post is “Is Oprah a Cult Leader?“

Oprah seems to be a contradiction perfectly suited for a confused world of pluralism. She is a billionaire who speaks passionately about the pain and suffering in the world from the comforts of her sheltered life. She is among the most beloved icons of mothers yet she has never had any children. Many viewers tune in to learn how to improve their marriages yet she has never been married. And, she speaks of spiritual matters often and has an entire segment of her show titled “spirit,” which makes you wonder which spirit she’s referring to.

I think this is accurate. Many people know more about what Oprah has to say on life’s issues than what Jesus taught regarding those same things.

Why do you think this is? Why would we rather be Oprah disciples than Jesus disciples?

andy stanley vs. jim collins

The latest Leadership Journal magazine surprised me. Guess who said which of the following two quotes. One is NorthPoint Church Pastor Andy Stanley and one is business guru Jim Collins.

Quote #1
“There’s nothing distinctly spiritual [about leadership]. I think a big problem in the church has been the dichotomy between spirituality and leadership….I grew up in a culture where everything was overly spiritualized,” ____ said. “I don’t want to be a cynic, but raking out all the spiritual versus non-spiritual, I think, is healthy.”

Quote #2
“One of the things that really resonated with church leaders was the Level 5 Leadership finding,” ________ told us, “that leaders who took companies from good to great are characterized by personal humility and by a fierce determination to a cause that is larger than themselves….I was delighted how the Level 5 concept took hold, and yet the deeper I got into it, the more I realized that Level 5 leadership looks different in a non-business setting.”

Who did you guess? Andy Stanley is the first quote and Jim Collins the second. Interesting perspectives. For more read Eric Reed’s article “Is Ministry Leadership Different?“

beginning the process of restoration

Stephanie and I have just started to attend a Bible study on Tuesday nights that is designed to bring restoration into a person’s life. What does that mean? It means this. When a person becomes a Christian and enters into a life in the Kingdom of God their eternal direction is transformed. We shift from hell bound sinners to heaven bound saints.

However, just becoming a Christ follower doesn’t always undo the years of life circumstance and experience that have shaped and formed us into the people we are. So, the goal of restoration, is to look at my life and see what types of faulty beliefs and attitudes I have built my life on. I want to walk with Jesus Christ in fullness and freedom and so I am striving to build my life on the truth of His word to me.

Here is something that hit me tonight:
“You are not free to help other people in their pain when you are focused on your own.”

If my foundation with God is bad, how can I help others? Usually I will just end up using them to make myself look good or feel better. That is why it is so important that restoration takes place in my own life.

is today’s Acts 2 the same as yesterday’s?

I’ve been wondering about this for awhile. There has been a lot of talk in the last 10 years about today’s church developing a sense of community like the church described in Acts 2:42-47. There is emphasis put on the sharing of materials, common meals and authentic small group relationships.

So how come meeting daily for apostolic teaching (I am guessing non-seeker, non-topical explanation of the OT), sharing communion more than one Sunday a month, and the regular occurrence of signs and wonders (miracles and healings) is not talked about with quite as loud a voice?

Seeing people get healed is not quite culturally relevant (or maybe it is…people and towns flocked to Jesus to be healed didn’t they?) but it would certainly create quite a buzz. Taking a couple months to teach through the Book of Numbers might not be as marketable as a three week series called: ‘Lost- Finding God’s Will’ but I am guessing that if Jesus taught the OT maybe we could find some applicable stuff in there too.

Do I sound bitter? I’m not. Really. Just thinking aloud and feeling kind of sarcastic. Peace out.

staying alive

Life is grand, though my blogging has been bland
Of the two remaining Idols, Katharine McPhee is the winner for me

something you didn’t know about me

So, there have been a bunch of house projects piling up and today I decided to do something about them. The problem is that I stink at building projects. What always happens is that I run into all kinds of issues and frustrations. Nothing ever seems to go smoothly – unless I have someone help me.

This ‘make-over’ inaptitude you probably knew of. Here is what you didn’t know. Whenever I’m working around the house and my projects are going poorly, I get frustrated, and when I get frustrated I get super hot. This means I start losing layers of clothes like Santa Claus in Mexico. Before too long I’m usually down to a white t-shirt and boxers.

Today I started fixing the blinds in Jacob’s room. Then I was trying to fix a closet door in the same room. It didn’t go well and so off came the clothes. Then I moved to the kitchen to take out the lower heating element in the oven. After that I started changing burnt out light bulbs in the hallway and finally in the garage.

The amazing thing is that I was not at all embarrassed when my neighbors walked in and I was standing on a ladder in my t-shirt, boxers and dress socks. I just had to be careful because I didn’t have a button.

answering some email pt. 2

Here is another question that I was emailed:
Here is a question I have been pondering all of my life. I know what the Father and the Son is/are, but what the heck is the Holy Ghost?? I have never been able to figure that out and have always been baffled by that.

This is another great question. The mystery of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (the Trinity) is hard to understand and requires much faith. Here is my attempt to answer that question.

My response:
In traditional Orthodox Christian understanding God exists as one, but has three distinct parts. These three parts are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit/Ghost. All three parts of God has distinct roles and activity in Scripture, and yet all three are one.

How this is possible is part of the mystery of God. It might help to think of an egg, which has a yolk, a shell, and ‘the white part.’ This is only an analogy though.

In the Bible the Holy Spirit/Ghost is spoken of as the part of God that lives inside a Christian person. Often times the Holy Spirit gives guidance to people, convicts them of sin, encourages and comforts people in pain and sadness, brings people into a relationship with God, and infuses people with strength/hope/faith and love.

In the New Testament book of John, chapter 15:26-16:15, Jesus teaches about the Spirit/Ghost. I look at the Holy Spirit as that part of God that lives insides me, guiding me, convicting me, strengthening me, and teaching me more about God.

answering some email pt. 1

A while ago a friend emailed and asked me a good question: People talk about being obedient to God and listening to him. I’m never quite sure what this means. How do I hear God speaking to me?

Have you ever wondered this? I know I have.

Here is my short answer response:
How do I know that God is speaking to me? There are many ways that this can occur, though none of them are necessarily easy to decipher. Hopefully I can help you out a little though.

1. One way God speak to people is through the Bible. The Bible claims that it is written by God through the minds and pens of humans. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is God-breathed – which literally means ‘from the mouth of God.’ What this means is that if the Bible tells us to do something (i.e. – not fornicate, take care of the poor, worship God alone, pray, speak kindly of others) we can assume that God would say they same thing audibly to us if he would choose to do so.

2. Another way God speaks is through his Holy Spirit. In John 16 Jesus tells us that God will send a counselor to be with us. Traditional Orthodox Christianity believes that the Spirit of God speaks into the hearts and minds of people who follow Jesus. Often times, those feelings of compassion or conviction or conscience, are actually the Spirit of God working and speaking inside you. The more you follow those leadings, the easier it becomes to ‘hear’ God. One note – the Holy Spirit will never lead you to do something that contradicts the words of God in the Bible. So, for example, if you feel like taking revenge on someone or gossiping, that is not God speaking to you.

3. A third way God speaks to people is through other people, often times other followers of Jesus. There have been many times when I have heard a sermon or sung a song and felt like God was speaking words right to me through the mouth of the pastor. Also, this is why it is so important for people to be in authentic relationships with Christ followers. God may choose to reveal some truth to another person, who then shares it with you. In my life I listen for God in the advice and counsel of others who are journeying through life with me.

Ok, so it wasn’t that short of a reply, but I hope that these three keys will help you out.