Thursday, November 1, 2007

What did Jesus do on Halloween

Last night, the middle school group at New Life Church went out from 6-7pm during beggars night and handed out Gospel of John booklets door to door along with a rice Krispie treat. Neat idea huh? Anyway we handed out maybe only 30, but that is 30 people with the Gospel in their hand that may not have before.

In my group, I had my wife and kids (Jack a pirate, Layla a princess and Ben a bear), 4 boys and another adult. We coached them on what to say (Hi, we're from New Life Church and we want to give you a treat, have a great night.) Simple enough. We did not take any candy from the homes, but my kids did. haha.

Anyway after we did that, we had a fire outside and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. Yummy. We had only about 1/4 of the normal amount of kids we normally do which was disappointing, but we all know how important candy is. :(

We then played a few games and talked about what God thinks of witchcraft and other things associated with Halloween. The students who were there interacted about ouji boards and horoscopes and mediums and how there is a distinct push on TV and in Magazines to market this kind of thing to young people and make it look very cool. We discussed the best thing about all this stuff and that is that God is immeasureably greater and stronger in all aspects of life than anything the enemy may throw at us.

Anyway, We got home that night and put the kids to bed and I layed down with my son Jack for a few minutes. His first question to me in bed was,
"Dad, what did Jesus do on Halloween?"
I said, "What do you mean?"
"Well," he said, "He died on Easter and was born on Christmas. What did he do on Halloween?"

That is a pretty insightful question from a 5 year old and it was a very, shall we say a little bit convicting question to me after I had spent a good part of the day studying the origins and symbolism of Halloween.

Anyway, I told him that honestly Halloween is about scary stuff and some bad stuff and there is nothing that has to do with God. He perked up with a very confused look on his face because he thought that a holiday celebrated something about God. We went through some other major holidays and what God had to do with them; Thanksgiving--God providing for us
4th of July--God giving us Freedom

I told him that even though it is a Holiday that has nothing to do with God, we were trying to spread God's love and His Word to others tonight by handing out the Bibles and giving treats instead of taking them. We also got to know some of the people surrounding the church and give them some exposure to Christian people.

It was a great conversation to have with him.

I don't want to get into the rights and wrongs of Halloween because the discussion could go on for hours, but I will say that I was reminded that even 5 year olds can understand why we do what we do and I have to be aware as a parent of all that I do. I do know that we are to let our light shine before men as Christians and maybe shutting off all the lights in our homes in order to avoid our neighbors that we probably should know better because we think they are celebrating the devil on a day that God has made for salvation might not be the best way to let our light shine. I have marinaded on the Halloween thing quite a bit and I don't think that total avoidance or total indulgence are the best routes to take. I don't have the perfect alternative at all, but we are set apart for God's glory and any way we can make God more famous on this day and any other day is the best choice. We each have to figure out the best way in our own context. Maybe it is handing out Bibles, having a pre-beggars night bbq for your block, handing out candy with tracts, carving a cross in the pumpkin instead of the scary face or any amount of other things. But please let's get away from the avoidance mentality and figure out how we can ACTIVELY glorify God and make Him famous not make our OWN homes famous for being the lights-out Christians on the block. But also, let's not do what everyone else does just because everyone else does. How can we do it better?

May we seek out knowledge and understanding and wisdom from God in all areas of our lives...even our celebrations.

On another note, in my studies I found a great verse relating to mediums and those that talk to the dead.
Ecclesiastes 9:5,6,10 talk about how the dead have no functions on the earth anymore and contribute nothing to our world in the grave. Look them up and read them and be ever more careful of those shows that have people that claim they can talk to the dead.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Discipline at the Plate

Today in the car I was listening to pretty much the only thing I listen to in my car and that is 1460 The Fan, sports talk radio. Anyway Bruce Hooley, one of the hosts, was talking about what sets the Red Sox apart from many of the teams in MLB. He said that it was their discipline at the plate that stood out to him. Basically, discipline at the plate refers to how often a batter swings at pitches inside and outside the strike zone (there are actually stats out there on this subject for each player...what a boring job). Anyway, the Red Sox, according to Hooley, have great discipline at the plate which means that they swing at fewer balls than strikes...are you trackin with me? Good. To explain it even further, it could be said that the Red Sox batters SEE the strike zone well and can tell if a pitch will be a strike or not before it crosses the plate.

Another example of this is the women's softball team that cleaned house in the Olympics a few years ago. I watched a TV special on them and one of their batting drills was to have balls pitched from a pitching machine at like 100mph. The trick was that each ball had a number 1-10 on each ball and each player had to call out the number on the ball before it crossed the plate. Each player could do it with almost perfect precision.

This got me thinking about the choices we make as people/parents/students/Christians/etc...

We have to decide if we are going to make wise choices or foolish ones and we have to be able to read the situation/temptation/idea/strategy/etc... that we encounter on a day to day basis. Discipline at the plate takes lots of practice and time and it induces within baseball players feelings of frustration/quitting/physical pain/joy when accomplished/even more joy when the practice plays out in a real game.

I Timothy 4:7-8 NASB
But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Our discipline or Self-control as some may call is an active part of us, in and of itself, that is up to us. God helps us, gives us power and gives us wisdom, but He cannot make us be disciplined people. It is up to us to gather the knowledge, rest on our faith and act on it in all discipline.

I love to workout at the gym. In fact if I had it my way, I would be there every day at 6am and stay for a few hours. But as this verse pounds away at me every time I go to the gym, I realize that it is doing me some good (I am healthier, stronger, creating more avenues for blood to go to and from my heart, I feel better about my appearance, I burn off some of the horrible food that I eat, I meet some people, it relieves stress etc...). But, it does not profit me in other and sometimes more important areas of my life like family time, wisdom, time alone with God, serving others, compassion, sometimes losing sleep to workout (not always a good thing) etc...

That verse does say that godliness, or the pursuit of being conformed to the image of Christ as Rom 8 tells us, is valuable for all things. That is a promise I must believe and be disciplined to act upon.

I could go on and on, but just read 1st and 2nd Timothy and you will get the point.

I could have probably called this post ETC... Sorry for using that so many times.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Reflection of God

Today was kind of an interesting day at my house.

But first,a few days ago, I put a for sale sign in the window of my awesome 1990 chevy lumina. I always wished that Exibit would rollup and take my car and Pimp My Ride. Never happened though. Anyway, my for sale sign was prompted by our neighbor across the street who no longer wanted that eyesore in front of her house. I did that at about 7pm. Well....8pm rolled around and we were putting the kids to bed and right before bed every night we pray as a family. That night, I told my son Jack to pray that our car would sell fast and would sell for the 500 dollars we wanted. He prayed. We were done praying when all of a sudden someone called on the phone. It was someone who wanted to purchase our car. I yelled to Jack that God was beginning to answer the prayer already. I went outside and the guy was waiting by the car. I told him of all the problems and what I had done to it. He drove it and I had to give him some pointers such as: at a stop sign, put it into nuetral and rev it up a bit. He brought it back and the next day took it to his mechanic. He called again and he wanted to buy it. It was not for 500 but 275 would suffice for me.

What an awesome thing for a 4 year old boy to see his God at work. I wonder how many opportunities I have missed to give my kids the opportunity to see Him work. God help me to take those opportunities.

Today I worked a half day at my office amidst a painter painting away in my office. I didn't get too much work done, but I had some good conversation and cleaned my office up a bit.

I went home at noon and the first thing I hear is my daughter crying. I go in to see what had happened and as it had turned out, she had made a minor discretion that required punishment. My wife was about administer the necessary means to restore order. Hmmmmm....a verse comes to mind about spoiling a child. Anyway, as any good dad should, I rescued my wife from having to do the punishing and told her to let me do it. Well I did not know that it had become a sort of battle of wills. My daughter would not assume the correct position to encounter the punishment and she very stealthily placed her hands in a defensive position behind her to block anything that may come into contact with her. Neither of her hands would budge, and she needed to move them and in a sense submit. She has some endurance I must say. this went on for a good 45 minutes. As the submission did not happen, the punishment became worse. My daughter is a very smart child and she has beautiful eyes that could melt and a sobbing cry that could talk anyone into anything.....but I am DAD, I will not budge....right? Well after a few administered encounters with the backside, she still would not willingly move her hands. No matter what we did. After that 45 minutes and some "encouragement" she decided what was best for was to move her hands. I stood my ground and did not give in and I knew that this would be a triumph of submission and a life lesson for her life to come. The entire time, I was not sure if what I was doing was the best way--as a lot of us parents feel a lot of the time--but I pressed on. But when it was over, something amazing happened. I stood her up and looked at her eye-to-little brown eye, holding each side of her little sweat and tear soaked head as it was mildly moved by a sob here and there and told her over and over again that I loved her as my eyes welled up and I began to sob at the thought of how much I loved her. We hugged and I kissed her many more times than she got spanked. Mr. Tough Guy Dad who was going to be the one to punish became a father who so dearly loved his child enough to punish her when she had done wrong and didn't want her to do it again.

Automatically my mind raced to Hebrews 12

"My son or daughter, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."[a]

I know we are not supposed to rewrite Scripture to make it say what we want, but could I just imagine it differently as a proverb of sorts for young people?...

"Son's and Daughters, don't think it is a little thing when your Dad disciplines you,
and do not be discouraged when He lets you know you have done wrong and
corrects you.
because your Dad disciplines you because he loves you,
and He does it because you are his child and He accepts you for who you are, but wants you to make better choices and to obey Him."

God loves us so much and considers us His children that he takes time out to punish us. When we see God's punishment as love, we might just have a better understanding of our own parents or even of your discipline of your own kids. We are to love as God loves. Will we do that perfectly? Nope, but as we look at God's Word and how he treats us, we can learn rich lessons of being a parent and through it God will show us His Glory.

My daughter may not remember this punishment in the future, but the rest of the day, she didn't shun me or run away from me, she desired my love and affection and care. I was the one that day whom she wanted to hug and squeeze and save her from the monster running around the house....well, that was just mom playing a funny game. But the punishment drew us closer together and not further apart. Maybe that has something to do with the faith of a child. Maybe God built in to us the knowledge that punishment done in Love should draw us closer. When we are young that may work. For I remember in my family it was called "making up" and usually it was the child who wanted to make up with the parent. Later on, because of our sinful nature and flesh, that response may not happen as my daughter gets older, but I will cherish it now as a reflection of God.

Monday, July 16, 2007

air conditioners and license plates

Last night I had a party at my house hosted for the high school students from New Life. It was a lot of fun and the first time that most of them had been to my house. I have to do that more often. Anyway, while they were there, some were outside playing the best game ever, cornhole, and some were in the livingroom playing the best game ever, twister, and some were in the dining room playing the best game ever, eating, and some were in the other livingroom playing the best game ever, wii.

While those who were playing wii and eating were in the same, somewhat large room addition on my house it was ever more apparent that there was no air conditioning in that room. When it was built, they put in baseboard heaters and no air conditioning vents. Kind of odd. Well as guys and girls played wii for almost 2 hours it began to get a little, shall we say, musty in the room. Wii had fans, but that was not sufficient.

Around 9pm when everyone had left and we put the kids in the tub for a quick cleaning of red Faygo pop lips and cheeto fingers, I decided that I was going to break down and go buy an air conditioner to put in the window in that room. I helped wash and dry the kiddos and off I went to Wally World to get the best deal on an air conditioner. I got one and I got back home around 10. I proceeded to read the directions....yes really, and put it all together to put in the window. My lovely wife told me that I should have 2 people, one on either side of it so it wouldn't fall. I pretty much had it all assembled and all but sealed into the window so I thought I would be fine. As I was putting it in, there are some funky little accordion looking things on either side of the unit that help insulate it from the elements and make it fit the window properly. One side got stuck so I had to lift the window in order to readjust it. Well I found out my wife was right and that only one, unfocussed finger cannot hold a 60-70 lb air conditioner.

Yep, it fell out of the window about 3 feet down to its fate in mulch and mud. My flesh told me to let out a few choice words, but I refrained. I went outside and picked it up and saw that it was bent up a bit and had some mud on it. "Still workable" I assumed so I put it back in the window with my wifes help of course. I got it in there perfectly and plugged it in and turned it on with the credit card sized remote and UREKA!! it worked.....well, kind of. It made a horrible sound like the fan was scraping some sort of animal and was causing it severe pain. Maybe it wasn't that bad, but to me I had just wasted $137 on something I broke. So what was my initial reaction. I was pretty angry with myself and said to Tammy, "What am I going to do, I can't lie about it and get a new one." But then that other part of me took over for a moment as it does with all of us and it said, "just take it back, that little fall should not have broken it. It's Wal Mart, they aren't going to miss a little cheap air conditioner."

So I boxed it up as neatly and perfectly as possible and put it in the car and went back at 11pm to Wally World. As I was riding in the car still wanting to get that moment back in the window before it fell, I was flipping stations on the radio and got to one of those kind of cheezy (don't get offended) Christian Easy Listening, Adult Contemporary stations and I kind of left it there--we all need our fix of Avalon every now and then--not really--but I left it there and the song was singing about how I have given Jesus my heart and how He is holy and stuff like that and I knew I had to go to WM and tell them I dropped it and ask for some grace. That sounds very spiritual but if I were to say it in layman's terms, I would have to say that God pretty much spanked the whole "it makes a funny sound, give me a new one" thought out of the water. So, not very spiritual, but that is what happened. So I was trying to figure out my story and how I would phrase it. I got there and put it in a cart--note I had lifted this thing maybe 10 times since buying it and by now it felt more like 200 lbs at 11pm. I wheeled it up to the door and a very nice lady with only a few teeth who worked at WM started yelling something to me when I was about 20 feet away from the door and I couln't understand a word of it. I got closer and she was telling me that returns closed at 10 and that I had to come back tomorrow. So I cart it back to the car, get some gas in the van and go home. I put it on the table and decided to tackle the problem on my own. I got a screwdriver and took the outer shell off and found that the fan was scraping a little plastic piece. I put the plastic piece where it belonged and put the shell on and put it back in the window--with Tammy's help. I plugged it in turned it on and guess what happened. IT WORKED :) NO SOUNDS:)

At around 12:30 we had cool air and I had a shower. I asked Tammy a question when all was said and done. I asked, "What would you have thought if I went and lied to WM about the AC?"
Her answer is between me and her. But I guess there is a life lesson in all of that. I don't think I am the only one to get too much change or forgot to put something on the checkout belt that was under the cart. The question is, what do I do with it?

I will get to license plates later. Not enough time now.