Thursday, February 26, 2015
Lessons Learned From My Toddler
My daughter has been having trouble lately with obedience. Now, she's only two, so I don't expect things to be perfectly unicorn-rainbow happy 100% of the time. But still, shouldn't she know, by now, that we're going to brush her teeth at night, whether she wants us to or not? We've only been doing it for 18 months.
Shouldn't she know, by now, that she can't stay in her pajamas all day?
Shouldn't she know, by now, that we're going to give her a bath?
Shouldn't she know, by now, that telling us "no" is more likely to get her disciplined, rather than a reprieve from whatever it is she's protesting?
Shouldn't she know, by now, that obeying us is better for her, because we have her best interests at heart?
The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that God probably gives us toddlers so that we'll better understand what it's like for Him to deal with us. After all, shouldn't I know, by now, that spending time in prayer is vital to my walk with God?
Shouldn't I know, by now, that I can't watch certain television shows without stumbling?
Shouldn't I know, by now, that I can't afford for my time in the Word to be superficial?
Shouldn't I know, by now, that telling God "no" is more likely to produce unpleasant consequences, than a reprieve from whatever it is I'm protesting?
Shouldn't I know, by now, that obeying is better for me, because He has my best interests at heart?
So, yes, my daughter is having some trouble with obedience, but, then again, aren't we all?
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Pre-Order Giants!
Giants: Legends and Lore of Goliaths is available for pre-order at Amazon! This is an exciting book with flaps, pop-up elements, and beautiful illustrations by Bill Looney. I'm excited about this project, and can't wait for you all to read it!
Of course, you can also win a FREE copy just by following this blog on Google+!
Of course, you can also win a FREE copy just by following this blog on Google+!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Radical Change
There needs to be a radical change in the Church today. For many of us, "salvation" has been more about a prayer we repeated one emotion-filled night, than about a real relationship with a living - and loving - God. And, frankly, our understanding of love might be the issue.
I grew up in a church that taught, basically, that we were saved by Grace, but loved by works. I was taught that God saved us, but He can't use us unless we clean up the mess that is our lives. Sounds reasonable, but that's not how God works in the Bible.
Adam and Eve, after sinning for the first time, hid from God. This is a point we often overlook, because in order for them to hide from Him, it means He had to be present right there, where they were, even as they were naked and ashamed of their disobedience. We have this view of God sort of shunning us when we sin, but in Genesis 3, God pursues sinners.
Moses murdered someone, ran and hid, and tried to bury his past in a life of obscurity. And when God did speak to him? He stammered his way through every excuse in the book. But God still pursued.
Abraham pimped out his wife (twice!) and slept with another woman, even after God promised to make him into a great nation through Sarah. And yet God still pursued Abraham, keeping His promise, and, as Paul tells us in Romans, crediting Abraham's faith as righteousness.
And God takes us, even with the mess and sin of our lives, and pursues us to the point of death on a cross. Yes, we must grow in faith, and yes, we must grow in obedience. But like all growing things, this takes time, nurturing, and care. It does not happen overnight, and we should not expect it to do so.
So do we see why it is absurd to believe that God loves good little boys and girls? There are no good little boys and girls - we're all sinners. Do you see how absurd it is to believe that God helps those who help themselves? If we could help ourselves, we wouldn't need Him.
God isn't looking for us to be perfect. Rather, He is looking for us to believe the remarkable truth that He loves us even though we don't deserve it, and that this should build in us an unshakable trust in His grace. We should believe that His grace is sufficient to carry us when we do sin, but that it is also sufficient to keep us from sinning.
I love John's letter in 1 John. He spends the first chapter talking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and he lays out, more or less, a picture of sinless perfection. But then he follows it up with this incredible statement: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:1-2, NIV). In light of this, I firmly believe that something needs to change within our churches, and, frankly, something needs to change within ourselves.
The artist TobyMac, who wrote the song, "What if I Stumble?" once said in a concert, "I should have said, 'What When I Stumble?'" I love that, because it is an open and honest declaration that we need grace, not once, not every now and then, but every. Single. Day. To go through the Christian life thinking that our sins are small, or non-existent, and that we only need forgiveness for the really big things of our past (but never our present or future), or to believe that if we really loved Jesus our lives would be a picture of sinless righteousness pointing to our superiority over the other common "sinners" makes us no better than the Pharisees against whom Jesus so often spoke.
Something within the Church needs to change. Instead of pretending we have our lives together - instead of offering up a false sense of humility by claiming to be "sinners in need of grace," but secretly believing we aren't really that bad - we need to be open and honest with our struggles so that the Body of Christ can help us and encourage us to keep on the path of Light, as John puts it These masks we wear, these illusions of control we think we have, all breed inauthenticity and hypocrisy. But the kind of honesty I am talking about - the admission that God loves us even though we don't deserve it - that kind of honesty both helps us to live the life John unfolds in 1 John 1, as well as gives us the opportunity to encourage and help others walk the same path. And when an entire church is doing this, when the Church is doing this, it will do one thing and one thing only: point to the grace of Jesus.
This, my dear friends, is called "Making Disciples," and is the purpose of the Church.
So, in the spirit of honesty and integrity, and in the spirit of helping all of us make disciples, here are three of my struggles, in no particular order:
1) Lust - Yes, I am married. Yes, I love my wife. No, I have no desire to cheat on her or leave her, or destroy my marriage. And, yes, I understand that, according to Jesus, lust is a form of adultery, and that, if left unchecked, it will destroy my marriage. But the fact is that I have struggled with this for a very,very long time, and it is still here. But there has been change. Jesus has really done quite a job of making over my heart on this one, because ten years ago, I didn't see my attitude towards attractive women as particularly wrong. Five years ago, I knew it was wrong, but I had no desire to change. Now, I am disgusted whenever my eyes wander and my heart slips up. I am fed up with myself when this sin rears up in my life in various forms. And I am taking steps - not to get rid of it, because only Jesus can do that - but to protect myself and my family from its influence in my life, and through that process, Jesus is getting rid of it.
2) Rage - This is one that has been bubbling under the surface for most of my life, and has only recently been revealed to me. Now, I don't mean that I have this murderous tendency, or that I start swinging my fists at the slightest provocation. No, my rage is more quiet and more subtle. I seethe against those whom I deem "stupid and rude." Mind you, I don't have so much anger towards stupid people, because I understand that we all have different strengths. Some people truly don't have the capacity for deep and thorough thinking (compared to many, I don't have that capacity). Nor am I so upset when people are rude, because often times rudeness is indicative of a bigger problem in life.
I heard a woman lash out irrationally at someone once, and she immediately turned around and apologized. She then explained that her father had died that morning. You never know where people are in their lives, and sometimes they're not rude to be rude, they're just reacting to difficulties. But here's where I am often in the wrong: I figure that if you're stupid, you have no right to be rude. And so when someone is both stupid and rude, my anger tends to flare up.
Big time.
I don't scream or yell, I don't demean or insult, I just begin to believe - in my heart - that I am a more valuable person than they are, and I resent their waste of both my time and life. In essence, I murder them (see Matthew 5:21-22).
But these aren't the only people. Bad drivers infuriate me, I'm impatient with oblivious people, and anyone who supports Government Welfare makes me livid. In short, I will easily overlook my own flaws once I come into contact with people who have what I consider to be greater flaws. And boy, do I detest those people.
But just like lust, this has no place in my life. God has given me the enormous - and enormously undeserved - privilege of being His. This privilege was not cheap, as it cost Him His life, but the one thing I have to keep reminding myself is that He also gave His life for them, too. This leaves me without excuse. I am not better than anyone else, I am not holier than anyone else, and God declares them - or wants to declare them - as His, too. By being angry at others in this way, I am, in essence, saying that they are undeserving of God's love, and it's my duty to withhold that. In other words, I'm playing God. When it comes right down to it, this kind of anger is just foolish.
3)Greed - This one's weird, because I have a great desire to be generous. In fact, my wife and I give quite a bit to people in need, and we give as much and as often as we can to our church, so that it can be dispersed to others, too. But the catch is that I only give if it doesn't hurt. This is not, in fact, true generosity, and if you're not being generous, then, by necessity, you're being greedy. Therefore, I am greedy.
I love the story that we read of the early church in the book of Acts. It both inspires and convicts me, because this was a group of people who, literally, gave everything they had to help each other out for the sake of the Gospel. We read in Acts 2:45 that they "[sold] their possessions and goods, [and] gave to anyone as he had need," and we read in 4:32 that "no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." The result of this was that God "added to their number daily those who were being saved" (2:47).
Wow.
I don't come close to this kind of uninhibited lifestyle. I'm afraid that if I don't contribute to my IRA, I won't survive when I'm eighty. This thinking is absurd, because I have no guarantee to live fifty more years. I have no guarantee to live fifty more minutes. It's all God's, anyway, so doesn't it make sense to use it the way He told us to use it? Jesus told one man who was motivated by greed to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.
So not what I want to do.
But obedience takes sacrifice, and sacrifice comes with faith in God's goodness, a goodness demonstrated by His own loving sacrifice.
So those are three of my struggles. Now, I don't want to come across as complacent, for I am far from it, and I am working hard at becoming less of me and more of Him. I am taking steps to protect myself and my family from my lusts, I am learning to give past the point of hurting, and I am reminding myself, constantly, that the Grace of God is completely and totally undeserved by me, too. Yet there is still Grace.
And that, I think, is the secret to overcoming sin in our lives: realizing that we can't overcome them, and that we must always - hourly - trust in the Grace of God. Jesus died specifically for these sins. Have you thought of that? Every time you cast a sidelong glance at someone, every time you go to that website, every time your heart and eyes wander, Jesus is on the cross, taking the penalty for that sin. Turn your eyes and your heart back to Him. I love Paul's honesty in 2 Corinthians 12, when he confesses that he has some sin that is really irking him. He writes, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).
And that's my point here. God has not taken these struggles away, but He is helping me learn how to guard myself, and He is providing ways out, demonstrating that His grace and mercy truly are sufficient So cling to His Grace, and be honest enough to admit that you need it. Be grateful you have it. It is an awesome and incredible thing, to be loved by a God Who has every right not to love us. It is and awesome and incredible thing to have our sins counted against Him, and His righteousness credited to us. Cling to - and share - Grace.
I grew up in a church that taught, basically, that we were saved by Grace, but loved by works. I was taught that God saved us, but He can't use us unless we clean up the mess that is our lives. Sounds reasonable, but that's not how God works in the Bible.
Adam and Eve, after sinning for the first time, hid from God. This is a point we often overlook, because in order for them to hide from Him, it means He had to be present right there, where they were, even as they were naked and ashamed of their disobedience. We have this view of God sort of shunning us when we sin, but in Genesis 3, God pursues sinners.
Moses murdered someone, ran and hid, and tried to bury his past in a life of obscurity. And when God did speak to him? He stammered his way through every excuse in the book. But God still pursued.
Abraham pimped out his wife (twice!) and slept with another woman, even after God promised to make him into a great nation through Sarah. And yet God still pursued Abraham, keeping His promise, and, as Paul tells us in Romans, crediting Abraham's faith as righteousness.
And God takes us, even with the mess and sin of our lives, and pursues us to the point of death on a cross. Yes, we must grow in faith, and yes, we must grow in obedience. But like all growing things, this takes time, nurturing, and care. It does not happen overnight, and we should not expect it to do so.
So do we see why it is absurd to believe that God loves good little boys and girls? There are no good little boys and girls - we're all sinners. Do you see how absurd it is to believe that God helps those who help themselves? If we could help ourselves, we wouldn't need Him.
God isn't looking for us to be perfect. Rather, He is looking for us to believe the remarkable truth that He loves us even though we don't deserve it, and that this should build in us an unshakable trust in His grace. We should believe that His grace is sufficient to carry us when we do sin, but that it is also sufficient to keep us from sinning.
I love John's letter in 1 John. He spends the first chapter talking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and he lays out, more or less, a picture of sinless perfection. But then he follows it up with this incredible statement: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:1-2, NIV). In light of this, I firmly believe that something needs to change within our churches, and, frankly, something needs to change within ourselves.
The artist TobyMac, who wrote the song, "What if I Stumble?" once said in a concert, "I should have said, 'What When I Stumble?'" I love that, because it is an open and honest declaration that we need grace, not once, not every now and then, but every. Single. Day. To go through the Christian life thinking that our sins are small, or non-existent, and that we only need forgiveness for the really big things of our past (but never our present or future), or to believe that if we really loved Jesus our lives would be a picture of sinless righteousness pointing to our superiority over the other common "sinners" makes us no better than the Pharisees against whom Jesus so often spoke.
Something within the Church needs to change. Instead of pretending we have our lives together - instead of offering up a false sense of humility by claiming to be "sinners in need of grace," but secretly believing we aren't really that bad - we need to be open and honest with our struggles so that the Body of Christ can help us and encourage us to keep on the path of Light, as John puts it These masks we wear, these illusions of control we think we have, all breed inauthenticity and hypocrisy. But the kind of honesty I am talking about - the admission that God loves us even though we don't deserve it - that kind of honesty both helps us to live the life John unfolds in 1 John 1, as well as gives us the opportunity to encourage and help others walk the same path. And when an entire church is doing this, when the Church is doing this, it will do one thing and one thing only: point to the grace of Jesus.
This, my dear friends, is called "Making Disciples," and is the purpose of the Church.
So, in the spirit of honesty and integrity, and in the spirit of helping all of us make disciples, here are three of my struggles, in no particular order:
1) Lust - Yes, I am married. Yes, I love my wife. No, I have no desire to cheat on her or leave her, or destroy my marriage. And, yes, I understand that, according to Jesus, lust is a form of adultery, and that, if left unchecked, it will destroy my marriage. But the fact is that I have struggled with this for a very,very long time, and it is still here. But there has been change. Jesus has really done quite a job of making over my heart on this one, because ten years ago, I didn't see my attitude towards attractive women as particularly wrong. Five years ago, I knew it was wrong, but I had no desire to change. Now, I am disgusted whenever my eyes wander and my heart slips up. I am fed up with myself when this sin rears up in my life in various forms. And I am taking steps - not to get rid of it, because only Jesus can do that - but to protect myself and my family from its influence in my life, and through that process, Jesus is getting rid of it.
2) Rage - This is one that has been bubbling under the surface for most of my life, and has only recently been revealed to me. Now, I don't mean that I have this murderous tendency, or that I start swinging my fists at the slightest provocation. No, my rage is more quiet and more subtle. I seethe against those whom I deem "stupid and rude." Mind you, I don't have so much anger towards stupid people, because I understand that we all have different strengths. Some people truly don't have the capacity for deep and thorough thinking (compared to many, I don't have that capacity). Nor am I so upset when people are rude, because often times rudeness is indicative of a bigger problem in life.
I heard a woman lash out irrationally at someone once, and she immediately turned around and apologized. She then explained that her father had died that morning. You never know where people are in their lives, and sometimes they're not rude to be rude, they're just reacting to difficulties. But here's where I am often in the wrong: I figure that if you're stupid, you have no right to be rude. And so when someone is both stupid and rude, my anger tends to flare up.
Big time.
I don't scream or yell, I don't demean or insult, I just begin to believe - in my heart - that I am a more valuable person than they are, and I resent their waste of both my time and life. In essence, I murder them (see Matthew 5:21-22).
But these aren't the only people. Bad drivers infuriate me, I'm impatient with oblivious people, and anyone who supports Government Welfare makes me livid. In short, I will easily overlook my own flaws once I come into contact with people who have what I consider to be greater flaws. And boy, do I detest those people.
But just like lust, this has no place in my life. God has given me the enormous - and enormously undeserved - privilege of being His. This privilege was not cheap, as it cost Him His life, but the one thing I have to keep reminding myself is that He also gave His life for them, too. This leaves me without excuse. I am not better than anyone else, I am not holier than anyone else, and God declares them - or wants to declare them - as His, too. By being angry at others in this way, I am, in essence, saying that they are undeserving of God's love, and it's my duty to withhold that. In other words, I'm playing God. When it comes right down to it, this kind of anger is just foolish.
3)Greed - This one's weird, because I have a great desire to be generous. In fact, my wife and I give quite a bit to people in need, and we give as much and as often as we can to our church, so that it can be dispersed to others, too. But the catch is that I only give if it doesn't hurt. This is not, in fact, true generosity, and if you're not being generous, then, by necessity, you're being greedy. Therefore, I am greedy.
I love the story that we read of the early church in the book of Acts. It both inspires and convicts me, because this was a group of people who, literally, gave everything they had to help each other out for the sake of the Gospel. We read in Acts 2:45 that they "[sold] their possessions and goods, [and] gave to anyone as he had need," and we read in 4:32 that "no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." The result of this was that God "added to their number daily those who were being saved" (2:47).
Wow.
I don't come close to this kind of uninhibited lifestyle. I'm afraid that if I don't contribute to my IRA, I won't survive when I'm eighty. This thinking is absurd, because I have no guarantee to live fifty more years. I have no guarantee to live fifty more minutes. It's all God's, anyway, so doesn't it make sense to use it the way He told us to use it? Jesus told one man who was motivated by greed to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.
So not what I want to do.
But obedience takes sacrifice, and sacrifice comes with faith in God's goodness, a goodness demonstrated by His own loving sacrifice.
So those are three of my struggles. Now, I don't want to come across as complacent, for I am far from it, and I am working hard at becoming less of me and more of Him. I am taking steps to protect myself and my family from my lusts, I am learning to give past the point of hurting, and I am reminding myself, constantly, that the Grace of God is completely and totally undeserved by me, too. Yet there is still Grace.
And that, I think, is the secret to overcoming sin in our lives: realizing that we can't overcome them, and that we must always - hourly - trust in the Grace of God. Jesus died specifically for these sins. Have you thought of that? Every time you cast a sidelong glance at someone, every time you go to that website, every time your heart and eyes wander, Jesus is on the cross, taking the penalty for that sin. Turn your eyes and your heart back to Him. I love Paul's honesty in 2 Corinthians 12, when he confesses that he has some sin that is really irking him. He writes, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).
And that's my point here. God has not taken these struggles away, but He is helping me learn how to guard myself, and He is providing ways out, demonstrating that His grace and mercy truly are sufficient So cling to His Grace, and be honest enough to admit that you need it. Be grateful you have it. It is an awesome and incredible thing, to be loved by a God Who has every right not to love us. It is and awesome and incredible thing to have our sins counted against Him, and His righteousness credited to us. Cling to - and share - Grace.
Giants: Legends and Lore of Goliaths
If you haven't already seen it, the mock-up of Giants arrived on Tuesday, and the book goes to print in just one week! I'm so excited, and I can't wait for you all to read it!
Oh, and don't forget, if you follow this blog on Google+, you have a decent chance of winning a FREE copy!
Oh, and don't forget, if you follow this blog on Google+, you have a decent chance of winning a FREE copy!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Greek Dressing
The inimitable Julia Childs once said that she couldn't understand why anyone would ever buy salad dressing, because it's so easy to make. While I actually do buy salad dressing, this one's easy to make (it's also cheap and, if I may be so bold, quite tasty). Let me know how it comes out!
1/2 c olive oil 1 t dried oregano
1 T water 1/2 t salt
1 T fresh lemon juice 1/4 t pepper
1 finely minced garlic clove 1/4 t dried mint
1 t feta cheese
1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2) Whisk until thoroughly blended.
3) Store, covered, in refrigerator up to three days.
1/2 c olive oil 1 t dried oregano
1 T water 1/2 t salt
1 T fresh lemon juice 1/4 t pepper
1 finely minced garlic clove 1/4 t dried mint
1 t feta cheese
1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2) Whisk until thoroughly blended.
3) Store, covered, in refrigerator up to three days.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Kbo Iwo
This myth was the most popular myth on the previous site! It's not completely clear why, but I have a few guesses, which I'll share after the story. In the meantime, enjoy!
Kbo Iwo
One year, there was a severe drought, and the harvest was much smaller. The people of Bali could no longer feed the giant, as they could barely provide enough food for themselves.
Kbo Iwo
Once there was a giant named Kbo Iwo who was as tall as the mountains. He and the townspeople got along well, as he would help them build their large temples, dig their irrigation ditches, build monuments, roads, bridges, and other useful things. At Kbo Iwo’s request, the people would give him as much of their crops as they could, as payment for his assistance.
Unfortunately, Kbo Iwo naturally had a large appetite, and what the townspeople gave him was never quite enough. In his hunger, he would grow furious, demolishing all of their buildings and bridges. When he had destroyed a goodly number of their projects – because he had worked up such an appetite – he ate the people until he was full. Once his hunger was satiated, however, he would apologize and help them rebuild all of the monuments, buildings, and other things that he had destroyed.
One year, there was a severe drought, and the harvest was much smaller. The people of Bali could no longer feed the giant, as they could barely provide enough food for themselves.
Kbo Iwo was not happy.
The angry giant strode throughout the country, devouring every person in his path. He smashed down buildings, pulling the people who were hiding in them into his great mouth, where he ground them with his sharp teeth.
The people of Bali had finally had enough, and those who escaped began to come up with ways to kill Kbo Iwo. Their plan was to double-cross him, pretending to be his friend, but then killing him in his sleep. This is how they did it:
The people apologized to Kbo Iwo for their inability to grow more vegetables, saying the fault was all their own. What they needed was a well from which they could draw fresh water whenever there was a drought. They asked the giant if he would help them, and since their attitude pleased him, he agreed.
So Kbo Iwo dug and dug, piling the dirt up next to the well. Soon, the dirt pile was the size of a mountain, and the well was the size of a lake. Yet he continued to dig at their request, until he was so tired and hungry that he had to take a break. Because the well was difficult to climb out of, he asked the people to throw food down to him, which they gladly did.
Kbo Iwo ate, and his full stomach, along with the hard work, made him drowsy, and soon he was in a deep sleep. When the townspeople heard his snoring, they poured lime down into the well, which hardened and set so that he was unable to escape. When the rains finally came, the deep pit filled with water, and overtime became a lake. It is known as Lake Batur to this day.
Part of why this story is so popular - at least in my opinion - is because it rings true to our ears. Consider the elements of the story: a real lake, real villages, real people, real lime, real crops, real seasons . . . the only element anyone would ever question is the giant.
Which begs the question, why? Why is it so hard to believe that giants once existed? Is it because we have no reason, or is it because we simply refuse to believe? I'll talk more about giants in the coming months, but for now, suffice it to say, most of us dismiss stories such as this one simply because we choose to dismiss them, and I'm not certain that is fair. Maybe, instead of immediately dismissing stories, we should consider and investigate the possibility of truth.
Just some food for thought.
Part of why this story is so popular - at least in my opinion - is because it rings true to our ears. Consider the elements of the story: a real lake, real villages, real people, real lime, real crops, real seasons . . . the only element anyone would ever question is the giant.
Which begs the question, why? Why is it so hard to believe that giants once existed? Is it because we have no reason, or is it because we simply refuse to believe? I'll talk more about giants in the coming months, but for now, suffice it to say, most of us dismiss stories such as this one simply because we choose to dismiss them, and I'm not certain that is fair. Maybe, instead of immediately dismissing stories, we should consider and investigate the possibility of truth.
Just some food for thought.
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