Funday!

Winter 2013 - Part 2

A few of these pictures are from the Gateway Arch in St Louis.  When I was growing up, my family travelled to Denver, Colorado often.  It was a two day car trip.  One of the things I remember about all those trips is my dad pointing out the Arch.  Every time, he would say "You know, you can go up inside that thing and look out the very top."  

So thirty years later, I took my kids inside that thing and we looked out the very top.  It was worth the wait.

Bible Tuesday - Revelation Part 6

“Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I’m well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle.
Revelation 2:5

God always has an easy answer.  To the Ephesians who had lost their 'first love', He says "Turn back!"  (I love that there is an exclamation mark.  Who knew punctuation could be so inspiring?)  This simple advice is the same basic message God has been giving His people since forever.  "Turn back!"  I think the simplicity is why we so often screw it up.  We want it to be harder.  We are so scared of grace that we cannot accept it.  Not to step on any toes here but I think this is an area of Catholicism that is appealing to most people.  Confess to a priest.  Do the 'penance' they require and then be done with it.  But look ya'll.  You can say Hail Marys until your face falls off and you still won't be right with God.  Just accept the fact that you screwed up again and stop.  Then try again and hopefully leave out the screwing up part.  Repeat for the rest of your stinkin' life. 

“You do have this to your credit: You hate the Nicolaitan business. I hate it, too.
Revelation 2:6

What the what?!?!?  I normally like to let scripture speak for itself but this deal required a bit of research.  I was actually surprised that even Google could not give me a really definitive answer.  (There were 22, 150 results though which,from what I can gather, are just a bunch of bloggers pretending they know.)  The best I can deduce is that the Nicolaitians were a group guilty of idolatry and fornication.  There is not a lot of agreement about this.  But the other theories I read were wildly divergent and quite frankly, a little bit goofy.  Feel free to research this on your own but consider yourself warned.  75% of what is written out there is pure drivel.  Apply your most jaundiced eye to anyone who claims that their interpretation is the only 'true' answer.  For  my purpose here, I am not so much interested in what the Nicolaitians did but in how Jesus reacts to it.

Do you think Jesus is just a 'big picture' kinda God?  Have you deceived yourself into believing that he doesn't concern himself with your 'business'? 

Do you have some business going on at your church?  Your workplace?  Your home?  Of course you do.  We all do.  Jesus knows all about it and, even better (or worse depending), is that He knows how you feel about it.  You know, your real reaction to things.  Not that fake smile that we plaster on so nobody gets their feelings hurt.

Don't miss the important part here.  Jesus hates the 'business'.  He doesn't hate the Nicolaitians.

Glutton - Part 27

Can we talk about regaining for a bit?  I haven't lost enough weight yet to regain any.  It's just something I need to address.

I can't watch "The Biggest Loser" anymore.  I used to love that show.  It shamed and inspired me.  An odd combination to be sure but I loved it.  After a few seasons though, I started to feel as if it perpetuated every myth people believe about the obese.  Because the show basically proved that if you just got your fat butt off the couch and exercised for three hours a day and ate Jennie O lean turkey meat, you too could lose 127 pounds in just 12 weeks.  Right?  And clearly those fatties really needed a trainer to yell at them until they cried.  You gotta break 'em to build 'em.  Amirite?  And even though they talked incessantly about good nutrition, that never stopped them from having a challenge to see how many doughnuts the contestants would eat for a certain reward.  And then (my favorite part)  the trainers get to berate whichever poor soul actually did eat the doughnuts.  "How could you?"  they would shriek.  Just once, I wanted one of the contestants to shake that doughnut in someone's face and shout "How could YOU!?!?" 

As the seasons began to pass, something happened.  One by one, past contestants started to regain the weight.  Now this, in itself, is no big surprise.  A huge percentage of people who lose lots of weight do regain it.  You can't actually blame that on the tv show.

Then the 2006 winner, Erik Chopin, went public with his own weight gain.  The winner.  The guy who saw all the medical evidence about how his weight was killing him.  The guy who bounded up to the big scale in his official Biggest Loser tank top and compression shorts while confetti rained down on him and his wife cried happy tears in the audience.  That guy gained it all back.  He owned a deli in the town where he lived.  How often,as he was regaining, do you think people came in and just stared? Whispered behind his back?  Made concerned phone calls to his wife or mom?  Flat out asked him in front of God and everybody?  How much shame do you think Erik endured every day?  And then, when the show called to do a 'Where are they now?" feature, he did something crazy.  He answered the dang phone!  That's the bravest thing I have ever heard.  If that had been me, I would have moved to another country and changed my name to Wutang Margarita Smith. 

You know why Erik ansered the phone?  Beacuse he was desperate.  And desperation almost always trumps shame. 

I don't blame the tv show for Erik's weight problems.  (Ok, I blame them a little bit.)  Mostly I blame a weight loss mindset that never addresses addiction.  And by that I do not mean "Well you are addicted to food so I guess you will be obese permanently and die young."  What I long for is that someone would get real and say "You are always going to struggle with food.  Every day of your life is going to be a balance between freedom and dependence.  And twelve weeks on a ranch is just the tip of this gluttony iceberg."

In case you think I am unfairly singling out this one show, next week we will talk about Ruby. 

Funday!

Winter 2013 - Part One

Ok...here's the story.  I have a new phone and only the slightest inkling as to how to get the pictures off of it and to my comnputer.  Therefore the next few slideshows you see will be full of pictures that have no chronological connection to each other.  They all contain pictures of the same children taken in the past 4 months.  Just go with me on this one.  Also, in case you were interested, this is why I don't scrapbook. 

Bible Tuesday - Revelation Part 5

Write this to Ephesus, to the Angel of the church. The One with Seven Stars in his right-fist grip, striding through the golden seven-lights’ circle, speaks:
“I see what you’ve done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can’t stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out.
Revelation 2:1-3

Jesus gives his first message to the church at Ephesus. You know what I love about this verse?  "I see what you've done."  For all you Christians out there working yourself to a nub every day and three times on Sunday...Jesus sees what you do.  But this next part is gonna get all up in your business. 

 "I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders."  I feel like I am expected to 'stomach evil' about 28 times a day.  Frankly, it gets on my nerves.  This is not about loving the sinner and hating the sin.  This is not about self righteous tolerance.  It's pretty simple really.  What is your reaction to evil?  Do you shrug your shoulders and say 'times have changed' or 'kids these days'.  Do you rant about it to anyone who will listen?  Do you ignore it?   (This is my personal response lately.  I am in a season that will probably last forever where I am trying to focus on MY sin so I am ignoring your sin...or trying to.) And hear me on this.  I am not suggesting that we all get signs made and head out to join Westboro Baptist Church.  But Jesus is speaking here.  And He is commending the church for not stomaching evil.  But do we even know what evil is anymore?  Could we define it?

“But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? A Lucifer fall!
Revelation 2:4-5

Have you ever known a brand new Christian who came to Christ as an adult?  They are just precious.  (I was one ...so I know.)  There is this period right after salvation where everything makes complete sense (mostly because you don't know anything.)  The Bible is just one sweet revelation after another.  And Jesus is so real in your life that the Holy Spirit just oozes out of you.  You don't really question anything.  You don't try to figure out whether Greek verb conjugation changes the meaning of a certain scripture.  You don't worry about the gnostic gospels.  You hardly ever think about Mary Magdalene.  (Non-Christians are obsessed with this particular Mary.  It's super goofy.)  And you look up to people who have Christian seniority and you want to emulate them.  They memorize scripture...chapter and verse... and quote it all the dang time.  They pray for ONE HOUR every day.  They never roll their eyes during a sermon.  11 years after my salvation I know a lot of scripture but I can never remember what book it came out of.  (I generally know if Jesus said something but I never know which gospel.  And if it isn't Jesus, I generally just default to Paul.  9 out of 10 times this works.)  I tried desperately to pray for an hour but I kept falling alseep.  Do you remember how cute it was to watch one of your kids fall asleep at the dinner table?  I just assume Jesus feels that way about me so I quit trying so hard.  And after all these years, I still roll my eyes during a sermon if the need arises.  My pastor is just a man.  He knows it.  I know it. 

I don't think there is anything wrong with examining and questioning your faith.  But this first love that Jesus is talking about?  I think that is just stone cold belief.  I just believe that Jesus is who he says he is.  I just believe what he says about me.  It's not about stagnating in your Christian life or not maturing.  But if your faith is not rooted in belief,  you won't grow.

Book Review - Quick Takes

More Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell.  I love these books but I gotta take a break.  I am at maximum saturation with Sherlock.  I will probably read the next one when Elementary goes on hiatus for the summer.  Have you watched Elementary?  You seriously should.

 

 

Don't over think this one.  It's the nineteenth installment in the series.  NINETEENTH.  I try to think of every one of these books as an episode of a television show.  Not much changes for the characters.  The story doesn't advance all that much.  But it is entertaining as heck and that's ok.

 



Book Review - The Shoemaker's Wife

Did you know that Adrianna Trigiani used to write for the Cosby Show?  True story.

Don't let that influence your decision to read her novels though.  They are nothing like sitcoms.  Everything she writes is just...yummy.

The librarian warned me that this one 'was a bit slow.'  And she was right.  But I happen to like slow.
It's a story about two brothers.  It's about Italy.  It's about America.

Just the descriptions of the Italian mountains are enough to make you feel like you had a vacation.

Book Review - I regret this

Ok, remember how I was going to read one non-fiction book per month in 2013?

Well, it's March and I have finished one.  That's pretty good as far as my resolutions go.  But here's the problem.  My intention was to read biographies of great men and women.

Here's what I ended up reading.

 

 

Before I read this book, I hated Cody Brown.  I know it's not a very Christian thing to admit.  But Jesus is no fan of lying either so I'm not sure which way to go on this deal.

 

I didn't hate Cody because his religious views are different than mine.  I didn't hate him because he is a polygamist.  I just think he's kind of a slime ball.  For example, the wives constantly talk about financial problems and he drives a two seater convertible.  What kind of butthead father of 20 drives around in a brand new car while his wife is crying over the checkbook.  That is inexcusable behavior in any husband.  And Cody is always pretending that he has it rough.  At one point in the book he says. "Think about how hard you work on your one marriage.  I do that times 4."  Dude...cry me a river and go drown yourself in it.  If you wanted us to have sympathy for you, perhaps you should not have let cameras document your life.  You understand how TV works, right? 

 

But as much as I abhor Cody...I love his wives.  (Some I love more than others.)

 

The best part of reading this book is that it proved me right in almost everything that I yell at the TV while watching their reality show.  These sister wives are not too different from any women that you know.  They are annoyed with each other and their husband quite a bit.  Which is enjoyable to me.  They are smart, decent, strong women.  And they are as jealous, as petty and as passive aggressive as Leah and Rachel were in the Book of Genesis.  Plural marriage wasn't a good idea then.  It ain't a good idea now



Book Review - The Racketeer

John Grisham makes me happy.  I just love him and I do not care how you feel about it.

That being said...I felt his last few books were getting a bit thin.  I thought Grisham was falling into the trap of most uber-successful authors and perhaps was going to start phoning it in.

But this book.  You gotta be kidding me.  It is as good or better than any of Grisham's early work.  It is so well planned that I never knew what was coming next.

The story is about a lawyer (surprise!) who is in federal prison.  He's innocent...no really. 

So in his copious amounts of spare time (apparently prison is quite boring), he hatches a scheme to get out.  It's not a jailbreak.  It's totally legal.  And you are going to enjoy it.

Bible Tuesday - Revelation Part 4

See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death’s doors, they open and lock Hell’s gates.
Revelation 1:18

John is seeing Jesus for the first time in many years.  And John hasn't exactly had an easy time of it, has he?  But watch how this reunion goes down.  They don't embrace.  They don't relax and talk about old times.  John doesn't even get an update about all his friends in heaven or an 'atta boy' for all his perserverance.  But I think he gets something even better. In this verse, Jesus confims who he is...once again.  He tells his servant John "Don't worry.  I am in control."  Because, honestly, don't you think John may have been a tiny bit concerned?  I don't mean to imply that John doubted Jesus.  Only that he may have wondered if he had misunderstood.  Jesus makes it very clear to John that he has not.  I think that very often we want that fuzzy kinda love from Jesus but what we get is the same thing John got...the truth.  There will be plenty of time for John and Jesus to reminisce and fellowship.  But right now, there is work to do.  And Jesus is there to give John his orders.


Now write down everything you see: things that are, things about to be. The Seven Stars you saw in my right hand and the seven-branched gold menorah—do you want to know what’s behind them? The Seven Stars are the Angels of the seven churches; the menorah’s seven branches are the seven churches.”
Revelation 1:18-20

Jesus' first concern in this revelation is the church.  It's important here to stop and clarify.  Jesus LOVES the church.  Jesus DIED for the church.  He has not now nor will he ever give up on the church.

But maybe you have?  Maybe you are so sick of the church that you wanna beome a Wiccan or something.  I understand and I hardly blame you.  We haven't done a real good job have we?  And I am real sorry about that.  But, in our defense, the church is doing good all over the world and you probably never hear anything about it.  One Baptist housewife mobilizing a town to collect, sort and send shoes overseas is not going to be the lead story on any news hour.  And that kind of thing happens all day every day.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well.   It is working in the hearts and lives of so many people.  If you looked, it would be had to NOT find an example of that work every day.

But hating the church is so much easier.  Maybe I shouldn't say 'hate'.  But certainly disdain, pity, anger and ridicule would be appropriate terms.

Jesus has some stuff to say to the churches.  He's not letting the church off the hook.  But he's not giving up on them either.

Glutton - Part 26

The apostles then rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.
So they got in the boat and went off to a remote place by themselves. Someone saw them going and the word got around. From the surrounding towns people went out on foot, running, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke—like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them.
 When his disciples thought this had gone on long enough—it was now quite late in the day—they interrupted: “We are a long way out in the country, and it’s very late. Pronounce a benediction and send these folks off so they can get some supper.”

Jesus said, “You do it. Fix supper for them.”
Mark 6:30-37


I love this passage in The Message translation.  Here is the disciples' response.

They replied, “Are you serious? You want us to go spend a fortune on food for their supper?”
Mark 6:37

By the way, if you haven't read The Message translation, you are seriously missing out.  The language is not nearly as poetic or beautiful as other versions but you get great verses like this one and it so much easier to comprehend.  (On a side note, I could care less what version of the Bible you read.  But if you get mad when any other translation is mentioned or declare that your particular favorite is the ONLY authoritative text, then you have yourself a little idolatry problem that you might want to pray about.)

I find this passage so interesting in relation to gluttony.  You see, Jesus faced hunger before and His response was much different.
 
Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”
 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”
Matthew 4:1-4

So what changed?  When Jesus is faced with a hungry horde, why does he demand his disciples feed them?  Why doesn't he just say, "I know you are hungry.  Get over it.  Man does not live by bread alone." 

I don't have an answer here.  It's just something that intrigues me.

Jesus got them all to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred—they looked like a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on the green grass! He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples in turn gave it to the people. He did the same with the fish. They all ate their fill.
Mark 6 : 39-44

I'm not sure this scenario could be repeated in the modern church.  Jesus miraculously produced enough food to feed a ton of people.  They ate their fill.  (Do we even know what that means anymore?)  And, as far as I can see, nobody complained.  That's the real miracle if you ask me.  Not one person asked "How was this fish prepared?"  No one demanded honey cinnamon butter for their bread.  And nobody claimed to be gluten intolerant.

Are you ready for the biggest miracle in this deal?

The disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers.
Mark 6:44

Ya'll...they had leftovers.   Remember that we are not talking about a group of people who ate well on a regular basis.  I would confidently say that none of these people were used to eating anything that they didn't have to work hard to catch, kill, prepare or earn.  And yet Jesus presents them with a free all-you-can-eat buffet. And instead of gorging themselves and stuffing their pockets full of bread for later or demanding a to-go box, these people just ate their fill and left the rest.