Facets of Life

Coming in out of the Wind

2010-03-09T19:29:00.001-08:00

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back, in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas. When He said, 'Be perfect,' He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder - in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (1952)

Slow Fade

2008-06-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I bought Casting Crowns album, "The Door and the Altar." Their song, "Slow Fade" impressed on me how easy it is to make soft decisions in daily living that add up over the days and months.

Slow Fade

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Expelled

2007-12-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

Even though America still operates on the belief that everyone has the freedom to believe and speak as they wish, some want to silence the professionals who question Darwinian science.

Ben Stein exposes this double-standard in the scientific community in his new documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" set to release in theaters in February 2008.

Click the title to hear my brief podcast about this documentary: (Running time: 2:31)

View a 7:41 minute video synopsis

Not Just One of Us

2007-12-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Joan Osborne's "One of Us" topped the charts in 1995-1996; the lyrics provoked a response from listeners from all kinds of religious backgrounds. Click here for my response: http://www.box.net/shared/pyo2yzzpu9

What's your response? I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Please click on this title or the link to hear an audio file. It's my first one, so I hope it works! :) Depending on your connection, it might take just a minute to download.

http://www.box.net/shared/f18ut92dub

You are an iceberg

2007-11-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

Did you know that only 1/8 of an iceberg shows above the ocean's surface? That's all you can see, but obviously, that means 7/8 remains hidden in the ocean water below.*

Have you ever considered how people are like icebergs? All you can see is their behavior, and most of the time that's not much compared to the whole person. An individual has a body, a spirit, a mind, and a soul. While we often say, "You could see the wheels turning in his mind," or "the eyes are the windows of the soul," we cannot really see what really makes a person who they are.

Just as the wind, sun, and water shapes an iceberg, the elements of an individual's worldview shapes their spirit, mind, and soul. Behavior is only the evidence of a worldview, just as the body is the evidence for the inner workings of the mind and spirit.

Going from all we can see (behavior) to the rest of the iceberg, we see that a person's values reveal his or her worldview, and that the worldview is built upon what each person considers intrinsic or foundational to all other beliefs, "The Given."

"The Given" elements would be something considered universal: gravity, existence or non-existence of God.

What you believe about "the Given" then determines your worldview. Theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics, and history make up your perspective of life. Put another way, a worldview is your set of beliefs or system of thought.

Your beliefs then define your values: respect for life, truth, happiness, loyalty to others. Consequently, you will act based on those beliefs.

"As a man thinketh, so is he."**

*http://www.antarctica.uab.edu/blog/204/
**Proverbs 23:7

The Face of Evil

2007-11-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

Have you lost someone that meant more to you than anyone else in the world? Or perhaps you had the perfect job, a lovely family, hope and boundless optimism. You all thought it would last forever; heaven on earth.

Then you received the phone call that the third Tuesday of August. Your son, the captain of the football team collapsed on the field, and died. Perhaps your stock broker called you in July and told you that all your investments had been lost-everything gone.

Why was this happening to you? You tried to live according to the golden rule. You gave to charities. You never sold clients shady deals or or tried to cheat anyone. You went to all your kids' programs and often bought your wife flowers "just because."

How could a "good" God, assuming there is a God, how could he let these bad things happen to a good person like you? Where is God when everything is falling apart around you?

But wait a minute--how do you know that these things are "bad?" To assume these tragedies, and they are, are "bad," is to assume an infinite good. How is it that humans long for "good things" to happen to our families and all the people we know and love?

The truth is that God is good. He created the entire universe with a divine plan: to have relationship with each person He ever would create. He created the world and saw what He made and "It was very good." (Genesis 1 and 2) God created man to care for the earth He made. He created man with the freedom to choose God, and with that freedom mankind chose: to disobey God and suffer the consequences of that action: sin. A free choice, however leaves the possibility of a wrong choice.*

So why didn't God just make us incapable of choosing evil? Wouldn't that have saved the world the effects of a thousand wars and million famines?

Yes, He could have-God is all-powerful, but He wanted more than puppets for companions. Man chose disobedience and evil entered. Yet, keep these things in mind: If God is all-good, He can and will defeat evil. Evil still exists, and God has promised to restore the earth and defeat evil.**

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears....Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."***

*"Who Made God? and Answers to 100 Tough Questions of Faith." Zacharias, Ravi and Norman Geisler. Zondervan, 2003.
**"Who Made God? and Answers to 100 Tough Questions of Faith." Zacharias, Ravi and Norman Geisler. Zondervan, 2003.
***Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 13: 9, 12

The Big Picture

2007-11-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

"All I know is that the knife went in. If he hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been killed. It's just my luck I'm here on this charge."

"If the church had better locks, I wouldn't have broken in."

"It wasn't really me when I stole the car."

Theodore Dalrymple treats countless patients in Britain's prisons and explores what is at the heart of these broken lives in his book "Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass." Dalrymple states, "They describe themselves as the marionettes of happenstance," yet he contends that all actions must be evaluated in light of the worldview behind their actions or how their ideas effect their behavior.

Every individual has a worldview, set of beliefs that determine his or her actions. Those ideas have consequences--for good and ill.

So what is a worldview?
• It's the belief system that directs our decisions and actions.
• A worldview answers four basic questions:
-Where did I come from?
-Who am I?
-What is wrong with the world?
-How can those problems be fixed?

In other words, a worldview answers:
1. how the universe was created
2. attempts to explain problems
3. seeks a solution to what's wrong

How do you see the world? A victim of fate, the captain of your destiny, or part of a grand design?

A Matter of Perspective

2007-10-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

What does it take to really communicate Jesus Christ to the world around me? What do people see flowing from my life? Hopelessness, selfishness, despondency or do they see joy, hope, kindness, and love?

Belief in God and Jesus Christ is not a formula to success, although God guides those who acknowlege Him (Prov. 3:5-6). We are born in sin, which is anything that keeps us from being holy or perfect before a Sovereign God. (Romans 3:23-24) Yet, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as the atonement for my sin, the sins of the entire world. (John 3:16-17) His Spirit calls each of us, called me, to Himself to have a relationship with Him, and as I dwell in Him, and allow His Spirit to work in my heart, I change. 2 Cor. 5:17-6:2 reads,

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled is to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. ANd He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's amassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him (Jesus Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For He says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

You might be reading this thinking, "I'm a good person; who needs God?" What do you mean by "good?" Compared to some people, I am a "good" person, too. But do you know something? I still sin: I do not always tell the whole truth, I struggle with honoring my parents and others from time to time, I do not always follow through like I say I will, and all these things are sin. No one is good or sinless except God. No matter how "good" I think my actions or how pure my motives or intentions are, they fall short of the glory of God.

But God has not left the us desolate. In Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins if we confess them and acknowledge our need for His atonement. "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes....That if you confess with yout mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.'" Romans 10:4, 9, 10

I do not know who will read this, but no matter where you live or your past experiences, I hope that you might hear hope.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you..." Eph. 1:18

Today

2007-06-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Did you have a nice day today? I hope you did. God bless!

Hello

2007-03-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Thought I would try this out for a while.