Animals.

My wife grew up on a large farm and I think its so interesting!  In fact her Grandad's farm has been in the family for over 150 years!  We were there for thanksgiving and I wanted to know more about the farm so I asked my mother in law and her sister to tell me some stories about the farm from their childhood.  All I know the farm by is soy beans and seed corn, but when they began telling stories their memories were filled with animals.

I was enthralled with their memories.  They looked out over the small pasture outside and began naming their favorite horses, they talked about the Saint Bernard breeding business they had, and pointed out the area where the dairy cows were milked.  Their faces lit up as they talked about their father's soft spot for puppies and how he traded puppies for ponies.  They were reminiscing and it was fun, I could almost see their countenance change with each animal they recalled.

It got me thinking about animals and their place in creation, and their place in humans lives.  I think that the original design of creation was for man and animals to be so in tune and so a part of each others lives.  I'm not getting all hyper emotional or spiritual about it but I think God intended for a beautiful relationship
between the two.  Its obvious when you look at a zoo for example.  People want so badly to interact and see animals they pay good money to go look at them, there is a fascination with animals.  We even have an entire television channel devoted to Animals.  Or another example is little boys are fascinated with frogs, or how puppies absolutely brighten up a room.  Animals are used for therapy, and there is scientific proof that owning a pet helps fight depression, loneliness and even heart disease.

Animals are intended to bring joy.  I think thats why when I asked about the farm the most joyful stories my mother in law had were that of the memories of animals.  Animals enhance our lives, fascinate our senses, and give an overwhelming picture of God's unfiltered imagination.

Cheers

Social Justice...

I watched a video about two guys that started a company where they empower women and kids in Guatemala and Sudan by giving them jobs crocheting apparel for their trendy small apparel company.  They made $2.3million in revenue this year and directly effected the lives of over 200 families to lift them out of poverty. 

When asked by the interviewer: "What do you say when people say global poverty is just too big of a problem, you really cant solve that can you?"

They responded: "Well then do we do nothing?"

That answer has been ringing in my heart and hitting on a place of deep agony within in me.  I struggle with the idea of injustice.  From a young age I got into fist fights with kids on the playground when they would pick on someone.  In high school I would befriend the kid deemed "not cool" by the "in crowd."  In college I would verbally stick up for someone I didn't know in a bar if they were being treated poorly, and periodically those too would end up in fist fights.  I have always had this knee jerk reaction to fight for those who are being treated poorly.

I have not always done it in a Godly way and most often times I probably reacted out of pride.  But I know that deep down this distain for injustice comes from the Fathers heart.  It is becoming very popular to take up a cause and social justice is almost as hipster cool as skinny jeans now a days.  Admittedly I don't do much in way of social justice and am not really fighting for some big cause.  Sure I support a Compassion child monthly,  and give money generously to those in my community that have needs, I even work for a non-profit humanitarian relief organization.  But I think I have believed the lie that the reporter asked these men. 

"Isn't the problem just too big to solve?  So then why try?"

Yuck how convicting. The truth is I dream of adopting children one day, I even cruise the Illinois adoption website reading kids bios now and then (in a non creepy way).  I am brought to tears almost every time, because I think to myself "wow that kid sounds precious, I would totally adopt him/her and bring them into my family and give them a loving home!" only to slink back and think "yeah but that wont even make a dent in the orphan problem."  I agree with the "Well then do nothing" argument that is obviously straight from the devil. 

So moving forward I want to recalibrate my heart and actions to follow that which God has called me to.  God is so compassionate, that's why He repeatedly commanded the Israelites to care for the widows, orphans and foreigners.  In fact He even commanded them to leave the outer rows of their vineyards and crop fields unpicked, so that the less fortunate among them would have plenty to eat. Deuteronomy 24:20.  He also says in James 1:27 that 'Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress.'

Sure the problem is too big for me to solve, but not for God.  <-- Even that saying has somehow lost its power and is chalked up as a Christian cliché.  Lets think big, by acting small.  I think today I will take one small step towards eradicating an injustice and watch God take a giant leap on behalf of the ones He loves.  I think that's it, He wants to eradicate ALL injustice, He has just chosen to do it through us.  Small steps BIG God. 

-Cheers

Divorce rates, Political Conservativsm, Bible Belt and how they cooralate....

I read an article about a study done by Brown University on which cities and states have the highest divorce rates.  Because I have been raised to believe that the left wing liberal agenda of the democrats run against the sanctity of marriage and are proponents of gay marriage I was ready to see a map of blue states leading the charge in the rise of divorce rates. 

I was wrong.  And so I did a bunch of research and pulled together some interesting maps that might be a little un-nerving to the Evangelical Conservative Right Wingers.

Lets start with this.

Okay so if you note the scale at the bottom 'divorce rate per 1000 people', lighter means less, darker color means more.  I was astonished when California, New York and Michigan who are considered some of the most liberal states politically/socially had the lowest average.  There map seems to be a large dark area through the mid south and deep south of the country.  I started to wonder, wait isn't that the so called "Bible Belt"?  Then found this (below).... the red denotes the "Bible Belt". 

 

 

Interesting.

 

So that got me thinking about Evangelical Conservatives and how they hold "sanctity of marriage" as one of their political foundations they stand on when voting.  So I cross referenced these two maps with the map of Red and Blue states in the 2012 election. 

 

Hmmmmm.  Oh boy I was again hit with this conundrum.  It seams that the very people "voting" for candidates based on their definition of marriage and stand for "conservative" values don't seem to be living out those values in their own marriages.  In fact many of the blue states are actually lower in divorce rate than that of the red states!  As statistics can lie sometimes, I figured I would then cross reference this political map and bible belt map with a map showing the Religious Affiliation across the US.  This is where it gets extremely messy and if the Evangelical Conservatives are honest with themselves it gets somewhat hypocritical. 

So according to this map the states that we are seeing the highest average of divorces is definitely through the bible belt, but also where Evangelical churches are the predominant religious affiliation. 

Listen I consider myself a political conservative and an Evangelical so this research makes me sad.  I am also a visual learner so this puts it in context that I can easily see.  My conclusion is this, that social/political/religious conservatives don't seem to be holding their own marriages to the biblical standard they are holding others to, or saying they want our country to hold to.



 

Brennan Manning said it best when he said.
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle."

As Christians lets make our actions (marriages) speak louder than our blind support of political candidates.  Lets renew our commitment to OUR marriages and families, then the world will want we have.  Jesus. 

Blessings.

Full Article
Huffington Post Article

What a Catholic Saint taught this Evangelical....

I read a great book last month.  It is still utterly flipping me inside out.  I have always held a pretty harsh judgment on Catholics and their almost worship of Saints and Mary etc.  My disdain for Catholicism born mostly out of blatant ignorance on my behalf.  I was brought up drinking the juice of evangelical conservatism and taught that Catholics did not have the depth of relationship with Jesus that we did. 

Yuck.  Seriously though I thought that, and never really studied the Catholic faith or history.  Like I said ignorance.  Well when I picked up the book "Chasing Francis" by Talbot (Book), I was smacked in the face with the brilliance of one of the most beloved Saints of all time St. Francis of Assisi.  Whoa!!

In the course of one week reading this book my entire opinion of Catholicism and high church was radically rewired.   St. Francis had an amazing ministry of evangelism and discipleship, walked in the power of the Holy Spirit and gave up worldly wealth to proclaim the Gospel!  I was utterly stunned when reading about this mans enormous ministry, and that because of my prejudice towards the Catholic church I had never even really heard of him.  While reading this book I felt like I had been deprived of this amazing expression of God our Father that is the Franciscan movement. 

Like I said I am still working through some of the deep things that God is doing in my heart, but I can say that after this book I am more curious about the Catholic church and its amazing ministry in this world.  I repented upon the finishing of the book for judging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  I have already read a second book on St. Francis and his teachings and will be diving into learning what I can about other Saints in the Catholic faith. 


Here are a couple of my takeaways from Francis's ministry.

1)  He was led by the Holy Spirit in a mystical way. 

2)  He lived a life of simplicity and generosity!!!!!

3)  He was dedicated to seeing the poor and needy provided for.

4)  He was in touch with nature and art in a way that screamed the splendor of our Creator.

5)  He was in touch with his emotions, he would cry and laugh openly as the Spirit led.  Awesome!

6). He was a soldier turned pascifist who was known for settling people's quarrels and always preached unity.

I challenge you to cross the Catholic - Protestant lines and learn from someone from the other side of the isle.  I cant wait to party with some of these old school Catholic Saints in Heaven.  The Catholics are such a neat expression of God the Father!  Cheers. 

Focused on our Game Plan

I love sports so I watch a lot of them.  I also enjoy seeing athletes and coaches handle the media and their questions.  Some do it better than others.  There is one question and then response that is very typical and has been ringing in my head lately.

Reporter: "Your opponent is riding a 5 match winning streak and have a really tough defense are you worried about how that will effect you going into this match?...." 

To which any professional athlete or coach will answer.

Coach: "You know they are a tough opponent but we believe if we focus on our game plan and execute we should win, we aren't worried about what they can do we are focused on our plan...."

The reporter is trying to hype the degree of difficulty in the teams upcoming match up, pointing out how good the other team is and all the things they have going for them.  Yet the player or coach being interviewed is confident that they have spent hours putting together a game plan and trust their coaching staff to design the plan and the players to execute it.  If the team follows this plan they should win. 

In the current political and moral climate of America I worry that too often my fellow Christian's are too focused on what the other team has done and not really focusing on our game plan, let alone setting out to execute it.  Because if we truly believe 1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Then we would be more focused on what our plan is to walk out that victory, instead of constantly hyper focused on what the enemy is doing.

I hear too many harsh words being spoken about political figures and hatred being spewed against political parties.  Too much focus on how the devil is infiltrating our school systems and the government is stealing our rights etc.  Sometimes I hear downright vile and hurtful things being said about people because they like the color red and not blue. Lets remember Philippians 4:8 "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."

Maybe we could learn from the culture of sports here.

Lets not be worried about what the devil plans, lets be focused on our game plan given to us by our Father in Heaven who oh by the way, has already won this match.

Blessings.

Excellence Junky

Excellence.

I am an excellence junky.  Weird.  But seriously I am drawn to excellence in that I enjoy seeing it and watching it and experiencing it.  Growing up I loved watching Michael Jordan, not because I was Bulls fan but because I was drawn to watching the excellence at which MJ played the game of basketball. (MJ highlights)  I am not a super big fan of pop music but I find myself enraptured by the excellence at which Justin Timberlake makes and performs music. (boom)  I am not necessarily an artsy fartsy person but I can walk through an art gallery totally embracing the excellence at which the artists create their fine work.  On the other end of the spectrum I can walk through IKEA for 4 hours admiring the thought and excellence that goes into the design of furniture.  I am an excellence junky.

I find myself admiring craftsmanship and excellence in architecture.  I love walking through our neighborhood and looking at all of the different styles of homes.  I marvel at the landscaping (example) and lines of a 2 story garage, I love architecture for its desire to be excellent.  I enjoy looking through cars, because there is an element of design and excellence that the manufacturer puts forth in its product (some much more than others of course!).  I am not an Apple fan boy by any means, but I am drawn to their products because of the excellence and simplicity.  I can be swept up in a day dream walking into someone's home simply by the colors they choose.  The pairing of colors and patterns (interior decorating) is an art and when done with excellence it is a beauty to behold, and has the ability to shift the atmosphere of a space.  I don't even understand some sports nor have I played them ever in my life, but every four years the Olympics roles around and I find myself watching bobsled, curling (baller) and figure skating!  Why?  Because of EXCELLENCE!

There are times I will find myself admiring a quilt that was made by hand, simply because of the hours put into bringing all the pieces together to make one large piece of excellence.  I can be sent into a harmonious state of elation with the spoonful of a well crafted ice cream.  I can just as easily be impressed with a craft beer, new wine, or the bite of a stellar burger.  I somehow recognize the excellence in them all.  I am not cultured enough to understand opera, but when I saw a clip of Pavarotti when I was in high school I couldn't look away.(Seen here)  I played it at least ten times in a row and marveled at the excellence and passion he displayed.  I can watch someone play an instrument for hours, the music may not even be that good but I enjoy seeing someone strumming a guitar or sliding a bow across the strings of a violin with excellence.  I listen to sermon after sermon and one podcast after the other, I will search out pastors and speakers that are amazing at speaking in front of people.  I enjoy hearing people who are excellent at preaching, not because I want to be a preacher, but because I love seeing and hearing their delivery and honed skills of public speaking. (1 of My Faves) 

I could look at pictures of nature all day long.  I enjoy photography, I enjoy seeing an excellent image of God's creation.  I can get sucked into a photo of mountains and a sunset as if I'm standing there taking the photo myself. (Mmmmm)  I will watch the Ellen DeGeneres show because quite frankly she is excellent at what she does (seriously).  I can be equally impressed with my waiter at the local diner because of the great detail and care at which he takes my order and waits on my table.  I have sat and watched someone split wood for an hour simply because they knew exactly where to hit each log to get the perfect split each time.  Excellence.  Ahhhhh, Excellence.

I am an excellence junky, and probably because I believe that the desire in humans for excellence is a direct representation of who God is.  He created us in His image, and although we can not reach perfection like Him, creation is striving to reflect His EXCELLENCE in EVERYTHING! 

So I will continue to look for excellence, because God's beauty is everywhere and should be recognized and acknowledged in all its forms.  I'm gonna go stair at my newborn son now, because babies are God's purest form of excellence.  Blessings.