Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

When I first moved to the United States, this was a holiday I didn't get (we don't have it in Canada, well, kinda). I think it's great, but I have two questions:

1. Do you know what it means? Do you know what this day is for? When I started asking the Americans I knew what this holiday was all about, very few could tell me. Don't you think you should know what you're celebrating?

2. How are you celebrating? Are you simply taking the day off work and grilling? That's fine and all, but isn't the point of the holiday to honor the families of those who have lost their lives protecting our freedom and liberties, even our lives? how does a meal with family and friends celebrate that?

I don't know, it seem funny to me how we just love holidays but we don't really care for the meaning behind them (what if we told everyone who is not a Christian to go to work on Christmas? I mean, I work on Kwanzaa). More things just to get you thinking...

T

Promotion Lock-In

This weekend was our Promotion Lock-In, a chance for us to all meet and talk, get to know wach other since we have new freshmen coming in next year.

Thanks to all who helped make this a fun weekend, and for all of you who showed up, we hope to see you back!

T

What Would It Look Like?

There are occasions where I read something in the Bible and wonder what it would look like to see that today. For this one, it's a prayer, and I wonder what the church would look like if we all prayed this prayer consistently.

Acts 4:29b-30 ~ "Lord, help us, your servants, to speak your word without fear. Show us your power to heal. Give proofs and make miracles happen by the power of Jesus, your holy servant.” (NCV)

This is what the apostles prayed right after starting the new church in Jerusalem. What if our church prayed that prayer? What if we expected God to back up what we say He would do? What kind of difference would that make in how we talk about Him?

Just something to ponder, maybe even pray...

T

Sense Of Loss For People We Don't Know

Okay, that title sounds way better than the post will be, but this is something Lorie and I were talking about the other day. TV.

Whether we like it or not, we form one-sided relationships with people on TV in the shows we watch. And it was funny because we were realizing how invested we've become now that some of those people are leaving. In the last week we've lost Jack Bauer (24), the people on Lost, the Canadiens are out of the playoffs and last night we said good-bye to Simon Cowell (I don't watch a lot of American Idol, but Lorie likes it and the only way she can get me to stay is emphasizing him, we get along).

It's just funny how these things/people we never really knew can be such a big part of our lives. Now I'm going to have to do other things like go outside... or read books...

T

First "Love"

We haven't done anything theological on here for a while, so I thought I would give it a shot.

I once heard a speaker talk about the importance of when a word first appears in the Bible. His example was the story of Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac where the word "worship" first appears.

So today I thought I would look up the word "love" since it is one of the most used words in the Bible. Ready for this? (I wasn't). It happens in the same story!

Genesis 22:1-2 ~ Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” (NLT)

The first example of the word love in the Bible comes from a Father's love for his son, a son he would have to sacrifice. Much like our heavenly Father had to sacrifice His Son. Many times this story is referred to as an example of the Jesus story, and here, I think it shows a lot about God's character and His love for His Son, and how hard it must have been to allow His Son to be sacrificed for us.

Wow, I didn't expect that one...

T

Does That Describe Us?

Last night Lorie and I watched the finale of "Lost" (I liked it, Lorie's on the fence), but I read this today about the show which is a something to think about.

Ultimately, 'Lost' was a show for the anxious, uncertain, post-Sept. 11 nation we have become. We've had to accept ambiguity as a fact of life, and we seek answers and closure, though none may be forthcoming. We're leery and skeptical about science but riddled with doubt about faith. To the extent that 'Lost' was about the journey and not the destination, about the drive to solve riddles rather than the solutions themselves, it was the show that best explained us to ourselves. (tvsquad.com)

Do you think that's true about us? We are anxious, we are uncertain, we are worried about things beyond our control, we don't like ambiguity but rather answers and closure, skeptical about science and doubtful of faith? Just something to ponder... (no answers from me either!)

T

No Way

Okay, so if you read this you know how I like odd numbers and spending habits of Americans, it just makes me laugh and think about what is really important to us. Well, here's a new one.

Pets. Now, I have a pet. He's a bunny. I like him. But as much as I love him I also understand he's a rabbit. Yet here in America, a new study has found that we (just the United States) spent $47.7 billion on pets last year.

47 billion?! That's enough to end world hunger twice! With change! Just one country.

(If you want the study, it's at http://www.gadling.com/2010/05/19/pet-travel/?icid=main|hp-desktop|dl6|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gadling.com%2F2010%2F05%2F19%2Fpet-travel%2F).

Just something to think about...

T

Invasive Species

Wednesday at Downpour (Bible Study) we were talking about how people can be an influence, for good or for bad, on those around them. And in the discussion we started to get into how this works in nature.

Well, I happened across this (http://www.invasivespecies.gov/). Check it out if you have the time, it's a list of species that were taken out of their natural elements and now are causing havoc in their new home (even here in Indiana we have a few, they are listed on the site).

Enjoy, something to think about...

T

Actions Based Upon Consequences

Sorry it's late in the day, just the way my day has been today...

I was thinking today about one day on my trip to Africa. We had gotten up really, really early in the morning because we were basically on Safari, we were looking at animals in the Hwange Game Park. The "park hours" on the sign were 6am to 6pm (or basically, sunrise to sunset). In talking about our trip, we had to plan where we would stay when not in the park and one of our group asked, "What happens if you don't make it back in by 6?"

"You make it back by 6."

"But, what if you don't make it back in by 6?"

"No, you don't understand, you make it back in by 6."

And it went back and forth like that a few more times. Basically we were asking what the consequences were for being late, what would the punishment be. And their attitude was a little different. You don't worry about the consequences, you worry about the rules.

It seems to me in America we don't really care what's right or wrong so much as we care about what being wrong will cost us. If we can pay it or live with the consequences, then it's not really "wrong". What if we actually lived the way we were supposed to without worrying what would happen either way, right or wrong, we simply followed the rules simply because we were asked to and understood they were in everyone's best interests? What would happen?

And by the way, the best we could figure, the consequence for not making back in to the rest stops in the national park was the door was locked, you did not get in. That may not seem so bad, until you hear a lion roar in the night... Maybe their rules had some reason behind them...

T

Get Your Hands In There

For the last year we have been discussing serving (or our word for it, equipping) at Drink Deep on Sunday nights. I read something today that kind of fits with that:

Hearing something five hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. ~ Chinese Proverb

It's true. You can describe something until you're blue in the face but when it is seen it is better understood.

I think God's love is a lot like that. Church people love to talk about God's love, but people aren't listening. Not because they don't want to or the message is bad, but nothing beats being shown "I love you". We need to let peopel see that God loves them, it's a lot less work than telling them five hundred times.

We're talking about this Sunday night, come on out and be a part!

T

Sleeping? Really?

Sorry, I meant to blog about this last night, but I fell asleep... which is fitting...

Okay, so I like sports. I have no problem watching, playing, cheering for sports. I think they are a little overpaid, but that's just be. Then I saw this.

Ken Griffey Jr., a professional baseball player for the Seattle Mariners fell asleep the other day during the game. And I don't mean he was on the bench and was a little bored. They looked for him to pinch-hit, had to search for him, and found him asleep in the clubhouse.

Now come one! I feel a little sorry for the guy, but you get paid millions of dollars to hit a ball. You should be able to at least watch the game of the team that employs you, let alone hit when they want you to. What kind of message does that send to young players, what kind of work ethic does that teach?

Sorry Griffey, I think you're a nice guy and I'm sorry you're so sleep deprived, but if you're sick, stay home. If you are paid to be at work, you should be awake like the rest of us :)

T

Mommy

Sorry, I won't be at the computer this weekend, my mommy's coming to visit! That means I'll probably be at Target. See you there!

Motion And Action

It's a quote from Hemingway I read Tuesday (yesterday was Fish Fry day, I was inundated with fried fish and chicken, sorry I wasn't blogging). But here's the quote:

"Never mistake motion for action." ~ Ernest Hemingway

I wonder how many times in our lives we have gone through this. I'm doing something, so it must be right. I'm not sure if I'm driving the right way, but I'll keep going. We have no other ideas, so this must be the right one. As someone who has done the wrong thing too many times, driven the wrong way but kept going and gone with the only idea I had only to discover not going with it was way better, let's do our best not to jsut go> Let's go where we should be going.

Just a thought...

T

What Else Could There Be?

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, I was going to and got sidetracked. No really, I heard yesterday that Americans spend 11 billion dollars a year just on air conditioning (it works out to be 5% of all our energy costs). Crazy right?

But today I was reading my Bible and I've been spending time in the Gospels a lot lately (not a bad thing). And there's one verse that I always wish wasn't quite there or explained more. At the end of John 20 it says, "Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his followers that are not written in this book." (John 20:30, NCV) and then in the next chapter, "There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written." (John 21:25, NCV)

It just makes me wonder, what else did Jesus do? We think it's pretty amazing that He raised three people from the dead, but those are only the ones we know about. Did He really raise 400 people from the dead? We know He did the loaves and the fish thing twice, did Jesus really do it all the time when people were hungry?

And it makes me think how much easier it must have been to believe Jesus was God, and how many were that much thicker in the head to not see it. Just seeing what we have written should convince everyone, but more? What else did Jesus do?

It's on my list of when I see God questions...

T

Professional Organizer

The other night I came in the living room and Lorie was watching a show I'd never seen, Hoarders. It's about people who have so much stuff they can't move in their own house, barely even live.

To this lady's credit she got professional help and started to make progress. But I was thinking while watching it, the help this person got was from a "Professional Organizer", someone who has a full-time job of organizing people's things because they can't or won't do it themselves.

And I started to think, is that how lazy and affluent we are? There is nowhere else in the world you would ever hear of someone being able to make a living of organizing other people's stuff. Not even cleaning, just organizing. We have so much stuff we need help to figure out what shelf to put it on.

I don't know, it just struck me as weird. At Bible Study this week we talked about looking at things (like church) from an outsiders point of view, and I guess I was still in that mindset. What would an outsider of America think watching this...

T

"Action Is Character"

It's a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald. For some reason I felt like posting it since it's something we've been talking about at Bible Study lately. It's not about what you believe in your head and your heart, it's about what you do. If you really believe something your actions should mirror that belief.

Smart guy that Fitzgerald. He should write more stuff...

T

Playing Jeopardy

For some reason lately, it seems like I have listened to or talked with a lot of people playing jeopardy with how they think. I'll explain.

Jeopardy is a great game, but the premise is you know the answer and now you're looking for the question. And lately I've been listening to people who know the answer and are looking for the question.

Like last night, I watched that new History Channel show on Aliens. Smart, interesting, etc. But if you watch the interviews, the people are all the same. The answer is aliens, now we just have to find the proof/question. There's an ancient relic of a guy with a hood around his head and a backpack. According to these people, that's not it, the guy is wearing a space suit. That's the "only answer" (they said that phrase a few times).

Of course it's the only answer, it's the only answer you're using for all you do. But to be truly objective, you need to look at the question and see all the different possible answers.

The problem is people are doing this in their lives too. This job is the answer, that person is the answer, this thing is the answer, this action is the answer and the problem becomes that they no longer look for other solutions but try to fit that one thing into any question that comes along.

Many times there's not one answer. Sometimes there's only one, but it's not the one you have. I know a writer who when he has a problem he forces himself to come up with 15 solutions, mainly because he's learned if number 2 sounds good, he'll go with it and stop the process, but if he keeps going past number 2, no matter how good it sounds, he might find number 13 will work better.

Smart guy, and a smart way to live. At least, that's my answer...

T

Empty Churches

I was reading a little by Dan Kimball last night (he's a big emerging church guy) and he said something that I had never thought about but was so obvious I feel dumb for missing it.

All the time we talk about change at our church. We're even possibly in the midst of a big change. And all the time people want to keep things the way they are. Inevitably though, if things don't change, that means no new people and an empty church.

"But that will never happen to us" we say. "We still have people in churches and there are new churches and mega churches and all sorts of things." That's true. For now. What Dan pointed out that made me shake Lorie and tell her this is good stuff was this. To think a little longer down the road.

His example was European churches. Those big, wonderful, ornate, amazing buildings. A few hundred years ago those were thriving groups of Jesus-followers who gave to their church and community in such ways they built those big beautiful buildings. And now, they sit empty Sundays. During the week they are full, only because they now are nothing more than tourist attractions.

That phrase "those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it" keeps going through my mind. I hope we in America are not so arrogant to think it can never happen to us. Those who live like it will never happen to them, it usually ends up happening.

T

Reason For Recession?

Sorry, but I read this on the weekend and it made my head hurt. In 2004, the reported losses for gambling in America was $78 billion.

78 billion dollars!? Is that not insane to anyone else? And that's just reported, that doesn't include friendly wagers here and there. Think about it, that's an average of $260 per person, and that's just if everyone gambled (and reported it). So for people like me who don't gamble...

Sorry, that number's just staggering. We could end world poverty 4 times with that much money.

T

Thomas' Bad Rap

There's a piece of my heart that goes out to the apostle Thomas. He's forever named "Doubting Thomas" because he said he wouldn't believe Jesus rose again until he saw it for himself.

Yet, this same guy, he was one of the first ones to follow Jesus wherever He went. There's a famous story people know, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. However, what a lot of people don't realize is Lazarus lived in an area where the religious people did not like Jesus and wanted to kill Him. So when Lazarus died and Jesus wanted to go visit, all the disciples said no. They wanted nothing to do with that, they were scared for their lives. All except one.

Thomas was the only one who said "Let's go. If Jesus dies we die with Him."

That doesn't sound like a very doubtful attitude to me. That sounds like someone with a lot of confidence in Jesus and who He says He is. Maybe more of us need to be that "doubtful" in our lives. We'd probably see Jesus do a lot more if we were willing to follow Him when no one else will...