Stop Lying To Yourself

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My inability to be honest with myself almost always effects others more then I know. Before you get all excited, I am not a habitual lier. However, I am not always honest with myself. For instance, awhile back I attended a weekend retreat. Although there were some good points, it just wasn’t my thing and I had a lot going on at home that was distracting me. When it was all over and I was asked by others how it was, I said things like; ” well the music was dated, and it just didn’t seem organized.”. Instead of being honest and saying it just wasn’t for me or it was bad timing for me, I had to tear down others hard work.

Here’s another example: A few weeks ago at work we had a week long series of management meetings. Before the meetings even started several of us had bad attitudes about spending an entire week in meetings. We talked about what a waste of time it would be and how we didn’t need this or that. In reality, the problem was it was moving me out of my comfort zone. What was really happening is that I was afraid that I would have to participate in group events with people I didn’t know. Here’s the catch – because of my position and reputation, I have influence. When others heard this type of talk from me, they got very concerned and wanted to get the problems fixed. This caused the organizers of the event to spend a lot of time calming people down all because of what I said.

Has this ever happened at your church? Someone decides to leave the church and they tell everyone,that they don’t agree how the money is spent or with the sermons the pastor gives or even just that it isn’t what it used to be. This type of talk causes others to get very concerned and want to solve all the issues. So, they go to the church council and demand that things change immediately. But, if the people that were leaving were honest, they would say they were leaving because they were uncomfortable with change, or that they felt that the mission Jesus was calling them to was too difficult, or that they are embarrassed because of family issues, or they would just really rather sleep in on Sundays. Because they were not honest with themselves and others, they have created a lot of problems and heartache.

From now on, I will try to be more honest about my feelings and I will not tear down others because of my own issues. When I don’t like something or I am uncomfortable. I will take responsibility and not put the blame on others.

Give Up on the Best Yard Award

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Giving up on a weedless yard is at once liberating and disappointing. Disappointing in that I never really achieved the goal. But, liberating in no longer having to fight it. Why are we giving up? Mainly because we no longer want the chemicals that contaminate our water and not wanting to put our kids and animals at risk. Not to mention the cost and hard work of applying the chemicals every couple of months with lack luster results.

In our neighborhood we have both side of the coin. We have neighbors who hire high priced services who spray their yards every few months and we have others like us who just mow a lot. As I do my evening walks I am often jealous of the pristine green yards. I always wanted that for my yard and even as of this last spring, I applied a weed and feed for one last go. The result? More weeds then we have ever had. So, its over. No more fighting it. I am learning to live with and except the beauty of a natural lawn. In the end, I know my kids and the environment will be better off for it. A small sacrifice indeed.

Now if I could just get my neighbors to stop spaying!

 

You Will Be Lied To – Just Read It.

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Francis Chan on – you need to read the bible for yourself, because you will be lied to.

I just watched a video on YouTube of Francis Chan at Passion 2012. It was a very powerful lesson, as usual for him. However, what struck me most was his conviction for why we should read the Bible for ourselves. Basically he rightfully states that if we have not read and understood the Bible for ourselves, then how will we know if people are telling us the truth? People will lie to you, pastors will lie to you, well meaning people will lie to you.

2 Timothy 4:3

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

I wonder how often I am surrounding myself with people who tell me what I want to hear. I can see all around me various different theologies. Do I understand the Bible enough to know what is real, to know what God is trying to tell me? Do I just believe someone’s story of the Bible, or do I know the Bible.

This is my new goal, to know the Bible. I will listen to teachers, but I will do the hard work of devouring the Bible for myself.

Update:   Speaking or who to listen to – I am not in total agreement with Francis Chan’s Theology.   I think he is a great speaker and for the most part is an incredible teacher.   I just feel that some of his beliefs are not in line with what I believe.   I will still listen to him and others and read the Bible for myself and come to my own conclusions.  Besides, I am the one that will one day meet my creator and have to explain myself, not Francis or anyone else.

 

Don’t be Foolish!

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2 Timothy 2:23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

I came across this verse this morning and it occurred to me that if, as Christians, we really followed this, then church would be an extremely happy place. Alas, as the President of a local congregation, I can tell you it is not always happy. It seems at times that people even go looking for foolish arguments. So, from this point on I resolve to not have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments. I will attempt to be kind to everyone and do my best to set the example and show respect for those around me.

 

New Morning Routine

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Recently I started a new morning routine that has been very fruitful. I noticed that because of our family routine I always got up first, showered, dressed and then sat down to watch the morning news for about half an hour before fixing breakfast for myself and the kids. A while back I decided that instead of watching the news I would start doing a short planning session for the day. This went pretty well but I started getting pretty efficient at planning so I had some time left over to read a little out of the bible. I likeD this so much that I wanted more time, so I stopped hitting the snooze button and started getting up 15 minutes earlier.

 

Now after several weeks, here is what my routine has become:

Get up, shower and dress. On Monday mornings plan out the week for ten to fifteen minutes. After that I read a bit from the bible (right now it is random with no real reading plan). I then meditate for about 10 minutes on what I have read and end with prayer. The rest of the week, I skip the planning and start right in on the meditation and prayer. I then write out a verse or paragraph that caught my attention during the meditation. I also right a sentence or two about what that verse means to me.

In additioI, I take a few minutes journal about the day I had the day before. I try to keep the journaling to just bullet points so that I don’t have the pressure of thinking of what and how to say it. Here is a quick example of a journal entry:

  • Fitbit track 4800 steps – still have a long way to go to get to 10,000
  • Spent most of the day in planning meetings for the new building
  • Had A very nice dinner with a good friend, Stephanie and Simon.
  • Met with Paula in the morning to go over LCAT Presentation
  • Overall it was a good day, lots of meetings, but I carried a lot less stress. Meditating in the morning is really helping me through out the day.

Like I said, I have only been doing this for a few weeks, but I really like how it is working out for me. I not only enjoy it, but it is helping me grow in my faith and have a lot less stress during the day.

 

Thoughts on Evolution

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Why is everyone always so Definitive? (sarcasm implied) Evolution casts a pretty wide net. Some of that net includes proven facts and some of it is based on hypothesis. There is as much faith required in science as there is in relegion. Saying that all living things came from one molecule or even just saying that man was derived from ape is only one very small and over emphasized part of the evolution scientific exploration. The Christian stance commonly taken against evolution and other scientific endeavors is one of the main reasons that drives people from Christianity. History has proven that most, if not all stances the church has taken against science has been wrong.

Is it not possible that our God is great enough, mighty enough, and powerful enough to combine both science and religion. Can we as humans not be humble enough to not presume that we know exactly how and why God acted or continues to act today. Do we really believe that we know everything that is possible thru God just by reading one book.

My God not only believes in science, he created it and a species smart enough to undertake the process. My God is not limited by my knowledge and understanding of the world. My God created imagination, and thought, and free will. My God commands us all to be compassionate for our neighbors including the scientist, the teachers, the scholars and everyone else in the world who we may not agree with.

My conclusion is that scientist rarely present their findings as conclusive, but as a hypothesis. Why can we not compare notes and find a way to tie scientific evidence with Biblical knowledge. Schools should teach evolution as part of science and all the worlds religions should be presented in social studies. But in-depth Christian education should be taught at home.

 

The Pause Button

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As you probably noticed, it has been a while since my last real post on this blog.  Whether intentional or not, I hit the pause button.  Why?  Well, I got scared.  I had an experience with an acquaintance who read the blog and fired back at me, through others, about the tone and direction of my blog posts. It was clear to me that this person read the posts through the lens of his own world view and not mine. Well, duh.

I had come to a conclusion… I can’t control what people “read into” my blog. What is written in my blog is not all that there is to being me. This conclusion actually scared me because I don’t want people to just read the blog and not understand what goes on behind the scenes to make me say, and think, the things that are in the blog. This is an impossible task… so, there began the pause.

After a lot of soul searching I started thinking, isn’t this true with all sources of electronic and even written media? We don’t know the people behind these creations. We don’t know their history, we don’t know the realities of the cultures they grew up in, and we don’t really understand their daily and life struggles no matter what they may post in a blog.

I guess we may understand what they present to us in that particular moment. Then I thought, isn’t this a lot like the Bible and Jesus? If we just take the Bible and read it with our own world view, based on our experiences, and our culture, and our history, are we really getting the real message? If we read the Bible and don’t take into account, the history, culture, and world views at the time it was created or at the time Jesus lived,are we really trying to understand it or are we just reading it?

I have heard people say, “just keep it simple, read the red letters,  that’s all you reallyneed!”.

And now, the pause button is “Off”.

I completely disagree! We can read the Bible, and no matter what words are there,make it mean anything we want it to mean. Until we really study not only the Bible, but Jesus and his culture, his history and how he was raised, we may never understand what he is really saying.

From this point forward, I expect that when some people read my blog posts, they are just reading what I write and they may interpret what I am saying in whatever way they really feel the need to… maybe even taking things to the wrong conclusion from my intentions. But maybe for others, they may read what I say and just try to dig a little deeper… to really try and understand what my struggles are… what I am saying that they too may find to be a struggle. To these people I write this blog.

The pause is “Off”. I do hope that you will join me in this struggle to find our life between the trees… with an open heart, open mind, and willingness to die to yourself for the sake of understanding what God is really trying to help us understand.

 

 

Woe to You, Legislators! – Jim Wallis – Gods Politics Blog

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We all need to get educated on all the budget proposals and make sure that the final budget reflects our values as both Americans and Christians.

It is reported that Congressman Paul Ryan makes every member of his staff read philosopher Ayn Rand, the shameless promoter of the gospel of aggressive self-interest. This makes sense to me as I read Congressman Ryan’s new budget proposal. I wish he had his staff reading the Bible instead.

Read the entire article – > Woe to You, Legislators! – Jim Wallis – Gods Politics Blog.

Red Letter Christians » Lose Yourself

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This is from an article by Tony Compolo on the Red Letter Christians site.   This is just a short clip that hit home with me today.   The whole this is a very good read.

 

I am convinced that the self is not an essence waiting to be discovered through philosophical introspection. Quite the contrary! I believe that the self is an essence waiting to be created! We create who we are through the commitments we make. And without commitments we have no identity. That’s why Jesus said, “Whosoever seeks to find himself, will lose himself. But, whosoever is willing to lose himself, for my sake and the sake of my Kingdom, will find himself.”

via Red Letter Christians » Lose Yourself.