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December 23, 2004
Christmas at 10 below
So much can be learned about living your life as a fully devoted follower of Christ right at home with your family. For these are the people that are hardest to serve. Following up my last couple of post it has been my prayer that I would live out this happy season with humility, grace and patience. I remember seeing a tv commercial about Kris Kringle's brother Kevin Kringle and how he could never get the Christmas thing down as well as his brother. Now of course he just goes to Best Buy and they fix him up. But it made me think about Jesus' brother and the inferiority complex that he must have had. Wow talk about never measuring up in your parents eyes. But then of course there was some benefits. Jesus would always stand by you and protect you from bullies. He would give up the best helping of dessert so that you could have it. I am sure that he would nuture you along and give you any help that you needed. I guess I would take him as an older brother any day. Makes me want to be that kind of brother, son and husband (for the first time) this Christmas and every after.
Posted by paul at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2004
Married in Heaven
Here is a brief theological topic to get your brain pumping late on a Monday afternoon.
Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll go through and cite specific verses on this one just to keep you guessing.
Jesus said that no one is going to be married in Heaven. He is preparing a place for us. He is building a house for us; a more permanent dwelling place then the tent that we now reside in. Also (or in more definition of) we will be getting new bodies. Originally we were made in the image of God and we will return to perfection physically and emotionally.
In considering these things here are my extrapolations: Our bodies to be in the image of God as well and therefore will look a lot like our present bodies only more permanent. We won’t be affected by disease, pain or death but we will have arms, legs mouths and so forth. Psychologically we will be made complete. We won’t need emotional fulfillment from others because we will get it from God. He is our bridegroom.
I guess I’m wondering where Jesus gets the “not married” thing. We are “married” to Christ. But does that exclude us from being married to another? I guess you couldn’t say “till death do us part” and that once you were married that was your mate for eternity but hey why not?
Posted by paul at 07:38 PM | Comments (3)
December 18, 2004
The cards are in
Well, my cribbage team might have come on a little strong during its first showing. After practicing for months in seclusion we swept the evening leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that we had played before. We might have even talked a little trash letting others in on the fact that we’d been rehearsing. Of course now that I think about it the cribbage that we play runs a little differently then the cribbage played tonight.
You see, Christie and I play a couple of times a week against each other. It’s a great two-person game that takes maybe fifteen or twenty minutes tops so it fits nicely between our other scheduled obligations. There is a big difference between two-handed and six-handed cribbage. I won’t bore you with details but lets just say that “pegging” can turn a mediocre or poor hand into a decent one real quick if you play heads up.
So, yes, tonight Christie and I debuted as a team and I was excited to see how our new skills matched the rest of the field. Now at this point we must take into account that I was playing after Nick who was playing his first game ever and Christie was playing after Wagner who as most of you know was busy with any thing other then the game as usual. Therefore this gave us a distinct “pegging” advantage. In truth however this did not lead to the overwhelming “pegging” but must be considered. To sum up we won both games but only the second game was by a significant margin and also with the “triple-run-pegging” rule rescinded.
This all serves to belay the possibility that groups will refuse to engage us in friendly competition in the future.
Drat, should’ve laid low.
Posted by paul at 12:37 AM | Comments (3)
December 15, 2004
Disappointment
God is completely unfair.
God never really speaks.
God just doesn't show himself.
I'm yearning for a God who will deal with me openly and with a plain justice that I can work with. I desire a God that comes right out and talks to me and gets my attention. I crave a God who shows up for a fight and displays his extraordinary power by crushing those that oppose him.
Why is God not.
Posted by paul at 08:57 AM | Comments (4)
December 09, 2004
More verses I would like removed from the Bible
Matthew 23
10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
If there is any human desire in me a big one is the desire to be cool and to be liked. I don’t necessarily need to be really hip or associate with all the popular kids. Just give me a group that I can strut my stuff with. Now, don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting to belong. But I have a problem wanting to be fly, smooth, happenin’, you know have that fresh attitude and pizzazz. To walk into a room and have people react with a “yeah, he’s cool.” Ok, so I have this vision of what is “cool” in my head and I try to dress, act and talk in this manner. Whether that means being sarcastic, loud, indie, gelled, intelligent, refined, cultured, funny or even off the cuff I want to be “it”.
The problem lies in when I reconcile this attitude and that of the verse mentioned above. I am not talking about the false humility that I have when someone pays me a compliment and I brush it off and say “aw, praise God that he gave me this talent, ya know, he’s really the one that made me this totally awesome” or “actually I’m an idiot and a terrible person, feel pity for me and tell me that I actually was good”.
Being the servant of all entails humbling yourself and like the verse I posted yesterday serving without recognition. It really messes with my groove when I’m putting out the vibe and suddenly there is an opportunity to go in back and clean up some two-year-old’s puke. To be the servant of all means the servant of everyone else on the planet, it means giving your life for them.
“Well, God didn’t put me here on this earth just to serve YOU!” I think as I look at a spoiled brat whining about wanting to indulge in entertaining themselves instead of helping out.
Well, um, yes… …cough… he did.
Posted by paul at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2004
Verses I would like removed from the Bible
Luke 17
7"When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn't just sit down and eat. 8He must first prepare his master's meal and serve him his supper before eating his own. 9And the servant is not even thanked, because he is merely doing what he is supposed to do. 10In the same way, when you obey me you should say, `We are not worthy of praise. We are servants who have simply done our duty.' "
This passage just stinks. It goes completely against our human desires to be recognized for the things that we do. It cuts right into the quick of our pride and stings like all get out. But the most unfortunate part of this verse is that it is a Christ like attitude that we need to follow.
Posted by paul at 02:06 PM | Comments (4)
December 06, 2004
BBM #1
The popularity of this blog has surged and waned depending on the creativity and consistency of my posts and the attention span of my audience. There have been times that I have been proud of this blog and what it has accomplished but most of the time I have been left wanting. Wanting more comments, wanting more diverse opinions, wanting less “yes men” and wanting wider recognition. But I must face the fact that this blog is not my life (or anyone else’s for that matter) and my audience is my audience and nothing more. (BTW I love you all. Don’t take this as a “don’t come back” or “I don’t care”)
Anyways, last night was a bright and shining moment for this blog and all of it readers and I want to hail it as a Blog Banner Moment (BBM). (Who knows there may be more BBM’s in the future or this could be the only one.)
Last night during a Rock All Leader’s meeting this blog was mentioned and used as inspiration for a controversial statement.
Dan raised his voice and quoted this entry in order to suggest that we streamline the way that we do things (or something like that). Well, ok so he quoted Pat S. that I quoted in my entry and he said that he heard it from Pat at GCLI (a regional church leaders gathering). It is a little bit of a let down that he quoted my quotation of Pat and not necessarily me but anyway that’s a huge step in the right direction. (Don’t worry I made sure that everyone knew that he was mistaken in citing GCLI and not this blog.)
So, again, thank you all for your support in this effort (and thanks for bearing through another blog with close to a record number of parenthetical statements).
Posted by paul at 01:44 PM | Comments (8)
December 03, 2004
Gave Everything
Blue spruce needles spin and twist in hands gnarled with arthritis as clouded watery brown eyes stare off at the horizon. The porch is dimly lit by the setting sun and the brilliant orange and purple sky. David’s once strong hands pull at the needles and then draw them close to his wizened face. Sucking in a large breath he sampled their scent and smiled knowingly. “That’s another thing that never gunna changes” he continued peacefully leaning heavily on the rail his tattered bible tucked under his arm.
David took a small sip from his nearby cup, his breath came slow and shallow as he gestured towards the sunset: “Have I done it?” he questioned taking a gentle step back inquisitively. He fingered his wedding ring anxiously. “Can’t I git you something… maybe someone else?” Spittle formed in the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“No. Thanks though. You’ve helped. Just enough.” Came the response.
David’s eyes widened suddenly focused in the gathering darkness letting the fragrant needles fall unheeded to the porch floor. “I guess that’s it them” he said with a contented sigh as the sun’s orb flashed it’s last ray over the tangled landscape.
As David gathered his cup and prepared to head into the house he stood a little taller and then stopped suddenly and spun around his old work boots squeaking out their complaints.
“Ya know on second thought, you better take this too, jus to make sure you got it awl.” He said smiling broadly. He walked gingerly to the edge of the rail and leaning hard on his left arm he swung the cup out into the air. His arm was shook with age as it always did. But this time… was it excitement?
The simple cup was strung out in mid-air by his wiry arm for an eternity. “I’ll get to see her then?” he whispered.
“Of course” was the response.
“Alright then, I’m ready” David said as he tipped the cup and poured every last drop onto the ground.
Posted by paul at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2004
Do you believe in the God of the Bible – American Christianity 2
It is really easy to become a Christian here in America. You basically say that you are and then you are considered one. (At least in most circles)
In other cultures if you “convert” you are alienated, persecuted and perhaps even killed for your faith. If you decided to become a Christian here, even in our church, you might start coming to a few more meetings but really nothing changes.
Where is our motivation for transformation?
Posted by paul at 08:56 PM | Comments (4)