Photo a Day: January 4, 2013

Family

 

I got to spend some time with my nieces and nephew tonight at Best Western for Elle's 7th birthday party!

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Photo a Day: January 3, 2013

Pensive Puppy

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Photo a Day: January 2, 1013

Photo Challenge 2013

In the Barn

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January 1, 2013

This year, I'm taking a photo challenge! At least 1 photo per day for the year 2013. I must admit that I tried this last year and failed by February, so I'm giving it another go.

Stalker

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Why I Attend Church

I don't go to church for the music or rhythms
I don't go for the messages or even for the refreshment
No, I won't attend with a heart of consumerism or gain,
But for a love that defeats all understanding
Grace that surpasses all my debt
And hope that seeks more than just gratification
I attend to give back what I can never return
Because I owe it to my God to meet with Him
Regardless of
the music
the Pastor
the programs
the coffee
the chairs
the people
the decorations
the building
the service
I refuse to be picky with my meeting with God
Because if He were picky with meeting with me
I wouldn't have the hope of salvation.
"He gave His life for me;
I will live mine for Him"
without the standards of the "American Dream" Pin It

Ben Stein's Speech: Thoughts?

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS
Sunday Morning Commentary.


My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it
does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful
lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I
don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas
trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I
don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a
ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers
and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me
at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection
near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as
fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think
Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think
people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around,
period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an
explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I
don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that
we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship
God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old,
too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and
Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is
a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny,
it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane
Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?"
(regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and
insightful response.
She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are,
but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get
out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the
gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect
God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave
us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.
I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her
body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools,
and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible
says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor
as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we
might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We
said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why
they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to
kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it
out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say,
but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes'
through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start
sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school
and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many
on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or
what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us
than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it...
no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process,
don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards.
Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein Pin It

Losing it All

"I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We (are) settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."                                                                                                                                       - David Platt - from "Radical: Taking your faith back from the American dream"

 One of my inspirations lately has been the book, Radical by David Platt. The quote above, taken directly from chapter 1 of Platt's piece, is a blunt statement that may or may not cut truth into many American Christians today. I however, see so much truth to this statement, as I do all throughout Platt's work. So many churches and church-goers in today's society are worried about the comfort of their church-going experience. This, however is only one aspect to the above statement. What about our priorities? Are we catering to the comfort of ourselves here too? 

As Christians, we spend a lot of our time simply keeping other Christians, and ourselves, happy. There is a constant debate over pews vs. chairs, hymns vs. contemporary music - along with many other of the lesser cliche debates throughout churches today. Sadly, this removes the point of our mission. Does God really call us to make ourselves content?

Absolutely not.

Luke 14: 26 -27:  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.  And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

Whoa... This may be our first reaction to this passage. The American way would be to soften these words, and we do. "God didn't really mean that. He actually meant....(insert personal meaning here)." Or, "That was then, this is now." But think about our position as Christians. Really, really think about it. As a Christian, I'm supposed to believe the Bible is full of truth and heed it's very words. Our society fights this. 

When we really look at the words of Luke 14: 26-27, and sort out its meaning, you'll find it is more blunt than you would like. Does God really mean we are to hate our family? In the Greek language, the word "hate" or "miseo" means "to love less by comparison". This section is about priority. We see in Matthew 22: 36 that the Greatest Commandment is the "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul..." Then we read,  "Love your neighbor as yourself." God #1, each other second. God instructs us to love. Thus in Luke we are to put God as #1. 

Then we read in Luke 14: 27 that we have to carry our cross daily to follow Christ. Loyalty. We need to choose to lose ourselves on a daily basis to follow Christ. A cross is a way of death. If you are carrying your cross, you're on your way to death. You are done making life plans, having dreams, etc. Thus, Christ is saying here, we need to LOSE ourselves daily for Him. Surrender our dreams, our hopes, our plans to Him. Matthew 10:37 tells us that "whoever loses their lives for My sake will find it."

The question that remains now is: What will you do about this? As a Christian, are you willing to lose everything for a God Who is worth everything? Do you know what the cost of following Christ is? Really? Are you willing to give it all for Him on a daily basis? Have you come to Christ on HIS terms and not on your terms, or the terms of our society? Salvation is not a checklist. Jesus never said you need to volunteer in ministries to have salvation; or pray this prayer; or sign a card that you are a believer. No. It takes losing ourselves and carrying our crosses on a daily basis.

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