blushing_one's Xanga

I like my church.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:19:31 GMT

I gripe about the American church at large, meaning the group of people who call themselves Christians yet give Christ a bad name, but I've found a good collection of believers. I was reminded this past Sunday of one of the things I like best about my church - they want you to THINK. Don't reduce Scripture to promises that sound good if that's not really what it's saying (see "Prayer of Jabez" obsession. igh.). Explore the Bible to its depths but keep the bigger picture in mind so that you don't read nonsense into it. How many typical sermons do exactly that on a regular basis? Pick some two verse passage and exegete it so much that it's nearly eisegesis, boo! (heh, sorry, CIU inside joke) No, they're concerned that our minds are engaged and that we're training ourselves to hear the intended message rather than simply what we'd like to hear.

So this past Sunday, Jim dedicated over three minutes to making sure that our heads were in the right place before we delved into a familiar verse. I appreciated and respected that very much; I've transcribed those minutes here so you can see what I mean.

Sermon (minutes 1:40-5:21)
Passage - Philippians 4:8-9 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

This particular text can be co-opped. It can be yanked from its context and read in isolation. We’ve gotta be careful not to yank this sucker out of its context to read it in isolation. If we do that, it will quickly become a behavior checklist, won’t it? Some kind of an “If, then” thing. That “if we do this, then we will earn God’s presence, God’s favor.” Or perhaps you’ve used this or counseled people (I have, sadly) for this to be some kind of like a near “mind over matter” gimmicky guarantee. “Just think on these things!” The newest 8-step method: “Perfect Peace! Victorious Thought Life!” No, that’s not what it’s saying. That’s not what it’s about. Ripped out of context, read in isolation, you can twist it to that, but that’s not what it is about.

Or we can do something very valid and focus on a point in the text. It’s a point, but it’s a SUB-point. It’s not the MAIN point. Sub-points are throughout Scripture and they’re great! And they have somthin’ to say. However, if you’re like me, a sub-point, a good-point, a God-given point can end up becoming a distraction. Worse than that, an opportunity for disobedience as I so am fascinated and I so focus on the sub-point – that little nugget, my pet thing – that I miss the MAIN point and don’t obey what God wants me to do. I miss the forest because of the trees. And this main point (Oh! The sub-point is important! It’s inerrant. It’s infallible. It’s from God. IT’S NOT THE MAIN POINT.) The main point will change you forever. So will the sub-point! But the main point’s the… main point. Right?

This text… let’s go a sub-point real quick. This is an example. This text CAN be used in a discussion about cultural engagement. It can keep us out of a ditch that can be popular in missional environments: a purposeful but non-discerning, nor Gospel-centered, temptation-causing fascination with the culture. Be it common grace for the cover of Cosmo or the latest “My church is at Starbucks on Tuesday night!” culturally driven, hip, Christian fad. This text, though, can also serve as a guardrail to keep us out of the other ditch – this “separation from the world.” So: [you have] non-discerning engagement with the world; [or] complete separation Christian ghetto from the world. Uh, no. It’s great to be separated from worldliNESS… but it’s not great to not enjoy creation. It’s not great to not enjoy common grace in this culture. That was the mistake of the monastery; that is the mistake of today’s Christian ghetto.

But we digress! See how easy it is to do? Where’s your head right now? Buzzzzzzzzzzz! We could talk about this for DAYS! And it’s good! But it’s not the main point. Enjoy the sub-point! Learn. Grow. It’s the Bible! But don’t miss the main point. Cuz it’s the. Main. Point. Duh?

Please note: my sincere thanks go out to Jim and Matt for using THEIR brains on our behalf to help us use ours better when it comes to Scripture.

poppy

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:20:33 GMT

Do I drink soda? Yes. Yes I do. But it's good to remind myself why I don't want to do so very often. Here's what I got in an e-mail today from a chiropractic company....

What happens if you drink a 12oz can of Coke right now:

In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
>60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
>60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

motorboat

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:47:49 GMT

I experience few joys like the pleasure of sharing a home with a warm kitty who voluntarily invades my lap and, purring loudly, buries her face in my arm.

I like people.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:33:32 GMT

People are funny.

I say that a lot, but I think it might be more true than I realized. Not that people are funnier than I thought, necessarily, but that I like them in their funny differences more than I thought. My parents bought a copy of For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn, finished reading it, and loaned it to me this past weekend. The book has nine chapters. I've read six since I started yesterday... and that reading was tempered by feelings of "I SO need to be doing something else with my time!!"

The thing is... I like people. I like how they're different. I like understanding how certain situations come across entirely differently to different people. I get this weird "high" when someone's willing to take the time to explain how something I did came across in a way that was totally other than what I intended. I mean, it's kinda scary in the sense that I want to correct the problem so they understand I DIDN'T mean the message they heard, and QUICKLY, but I love it because it's another step to knowing how my brain works differently... and how to be a more effective communicator.

Some of my favorite (or at least guilty pleasure) books are Captivating and Wild at Heart by Eldridge, Love and Respect by Eggerichs, Look Me in the Eye by Robison, and now this book. With the exception Robison's book, the topic is one of men vs. women (his is in regard to the way the brain works for a person who has Asperger's), but hey, there are few things more different than the way men and women think. (I think!) I'm not a fast reader by any means, but I zip through these sorts of books. I eat them up like chocolate on an emotional day.

Our brains are such marvelous and complex and varied things. Just like the people that house them. I guess... I guess I feel like, if I can understand you better, I can love you better - whether you're family, friends, lovers, or strangers. And that's kinda important.

trials and trips

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:34:37 GMT

My favorite brother Josh is getting ready to ship out with the Marines to serve with the embassy in a TBD country. Since he'll no longer be needing his car, he sold it to my parents and they're letting me use it while my beloved Bruce is out of order... and possibly indefinitely.

Here's the catch. Josh's 2003 Cavalier is a stick shift.

I've only ever driven an automatic.

Dad's tried to teach me once or twice. Willy let me use his precious Riley to try to teach me. Josh even tried his hand once. But without a vehicle to practice on regularly, I never really felt like I "got it."

So dad rode with me as I drove the car down from Quantico to Norfolk, answering my many questions and easing my nerves, on Saturday. Monday I got in the car by myself for a seven hour drive. I probably stalled three dozen times.

The worst was when I was at a large, busy intersection, trying to turn left. Trying. One traffic light cycle left me stranded halfway through the intersection with oncoming traffic blaring. The light cycled three or four times before I finally managed to roll through on a recently turned red light. After that, I pulled, physically shaking with terror and so stressed that I couldn't cry, into a ghetto neighborhood (it was the nearest one) and practiced stopping and starting, quickly adding to my sum of stalls. I did notice that it seemed to work better when I left the clutch for longer just before it was fully out, and after a few successes I fearfully got back on the road.

And I made it home. I had to take a potty/food/gas break and the exit ramp ended on a hill which was terrifying, but I only stalled once or twice before getting out of the way and on my way.

Life is like that sometimes. Sometimes you can learn your lesson without a lot of grief... but sometimes you flat out have to go through some terrifying experiences in order to learn what you need to learn, or in order to convince you that you DON'T know what you're doing - that you need to slow down and study a little more before you REALLY get in trouble.

spelling, sushi, and sophie

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:26:12 GMT

Have I mentioned recently how much I adore this site? Not only is it incredibly helpful in a practical way, but it's usually littered with humor and quite enjoyable to read.

Another adoration of mine is Publix-bred sushi. Not to be confused with or replaced by Bi-Lo-bred sushi, with is simply disappointingly inferior.

-----------------------------------

I'm reading far too many books (LOL... woah, I literally just spelled it "boox." apparently the extra reading is NOT paying off on my spellign skillz...), especially after being inspired by the Socrates Cafe to start a couple of new ones last night. But one passage that I read yesterday in The Art of Loving struck me in a surprisingly forceful way. It had been talking about Eastern thinking as relates to one's love of God - that the emphasis is not so much on knowledge and therefore dogma (which breeds "endless arguments... and intolerance") but on the transformation of man. Then you have the Westerners - "the person who believed in God - even if he did not live God - felt himselft to be superior to the one who lived God, but did not 'believe' in Him."

I guess here I would find that fine line, that silver lining that I mentioned not too long ago when it comes to the value of secular philosophy. On the one hand, I do think that "man is without excuse" and that he is a fool who "says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" I would be careful to say that such a man is far from inferior (or that I am superior)... only that he is unsaved. But is not he also the fool, deceiving himself, who does not live according to his proclaimed belief in God? Who says that his knowledge will save him but has no action to show for it?

I would say this, and close - we can learn much from any who live lives exemplary of the way He would have us to live... even those who deny Him.

Where's your trust?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:07:14 GMT

Several weeks ago, we had a discussion in care group about where we put our trust when we're not trusting in God. Some said they trust in their job - if they lose their job, they become fearful because they had more faith in their income to protect them than God's power to do so. Some trust in their family - if those relationships go sour or if a loved one passes away, their world is rocked because they don't trust God's love them and for those people. Some trust in their car - if they can't get to work or church or to a date, they feel helpless and insecure because they don't trust God's promise to make everything work together for good.

I found myself in that final position today.

Bruce has been suffering from a dying transmission and I have plans to take him home this weekend one last time and bring Josh's car back for the next season of my driving career. No big deal, I thought. If it dies, it dies.

And then I tried to drive it today. What had been a reluctance to shift into gear had become obstinance and refusal to kick in as I made my way slowly to the highway. Understand too, I have a problem with anthropomorphizing things, so I was really quite shaken by the feeling that I was hurting my car, asking so much of his tired, failing engine.

And I was afraid.

Have I been emotional and hormonal lately? Yeah. Tired and sleepless? Yup. Disappointed over my job situation? Naturally. Spending a lot of energy trying to figure out my options and best plans of action? You bet. Spending a lot of time with people and not getting a lot of introverted time? Could be. Overwhelmed with school stuff? Mmhmm. I've got a lot going on for someone who's not even working regularly! Do I think that's a good excuse?

I don't.

If, then.

If I believe with my head (not just my heart) that God is what He says He is, then I've acknowledged that He is protecting me, He does love me, and I can trust that He's using my circumstances for the good of the big picture. If I really do believe that, then it should affect how I think about and relate to situations that strike me as unpleasant. I don't always get to see why my circumstances are actually good - many times, the "big picture" is too big for me to see yet... or not all of the puzzle pieces have yet been put in place. But if I believe that God is who and what He says He is (and I do... it's just a long road to practical application sometimes) then there's no reason to worry.

That's not to say that I condone "coasting" and assuming that everything will be dropped in my lap and that I don't need a plan B... I'll always say that we were given brains for the using. But I trust that God gives us what we need. Sometimes we need good things - cars that work, brilliant plans, friends who make gift bags containing necessities we can't afford.... Sometimes we actually need what we'd consider bad things, either to make us slow down and listen or to guide us toward or away from something or to teach us something we wouldn't have learned otherwise.

Sometimes what I need is car trouble that plops me down by a window at sunset where the vibrant colors of the sky transforming from day to night are delightfully distracting, making me grateful that I didn't end up anywhere else that evening.

(Of course, if Bruce doesn't make it to VA in one piece, then I will also be most grateful that I live in a cell phone age - it makes plans B, C, and D a whole lot easier. ^_^)

What is there to say that hasn't been said?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:05:15 GMT

I catch glimpses of the the dreams that once were, but find that still they are just glimpses; still only dreams. Nothing solid of which to grab a hold. I'm reminded of the yearning to embark on a mad dash toward things unknown, only moments before remembering that such a race is not for me.

And so I do not wait.

And I don't ask those questions. Met always with silence or frustration or a changing of the subject, I step again and again out of the beautiful communion that once was... merely to take you at your word - a word without defense. Your word, the lens through which all such words fall upon my heart.

Let me see again. I learned from you; now I would be free to learn from others as themselves and not as replicas.

But you won't speak. And I can't hear. And too soon the cycle began again - too soon to see the difference. I thought I could never endure another round yet here I am at another day's end with naught but a few more tears and memories.

You kept telling me all my words were wrong... now I've forgotten how to read.

And I fall again into the safety of silence.

in search of questions

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:03:03 GMT

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

I would hope so.

I want my ignorance to shock me, throw me down and knock the wind out of me.

Because if ignorance goes unnoticed, how will wisdom be attained? And if wisdom is never found, the life to live is a life in darkness, full of evil and confusion and arrogance.

There are so many questions to be asked, and so many of them are yet unknown to me.

The search is my worship.

Worship of a God who would be sought far outside the box.

Sometimes....

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:18:00 GMT

“No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.”

~Gone With the Wind