Living by the Book

I'm currently reading a book by Howard Hendricks titled "Living by the Book".  In it he discusses how essential it is for us as Christians to be studying our Bibles.  The purpose of the Bible is to bring about spiritual growth in us.  Hendricks states it this way...

     The Bible was written not to satisfy your curiosity but to help you conform to Christ's image.  Not to make you a smarter sinner but to make you like the Savior.  Not to fill your head with a collection of biblical facts but to transform your life.

This needs to be our attitude.  So often I approach the word out of a sense of obligation or to become smarter, but my primary objective should be that of transformation.  I love Romans 12 when it talks about "being transformed by the renewing of our minds".  I must continually set his word before my eyes if I wish to be steadily transformed into his likeness.  Psalm 1:1-3 speaks of meditating on the word.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked 

or stand in the way of sinners 

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers. 

There is something powerful about meditating on God's word.  Not in the new age way that we have come to think of when we hear that word.  That has to do with emptying our minds.  God never commands us to empty our minds.  Instead he tells us to think on things that our pleasing to Him.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

I once heard someone say "You know what a man's made of when he is squeezed."  When I am squeezed I want Christ and his Word to exude from me not my sin and selfishness.  That can't happen if I am not continually putting his word in front of me.  May we endeavor to do that today and everyday.

Wrestling with Satan

I was reading the book of Jude this morning and I came across an interesting passage in verse 9 that I must have glossed over the previous times that I read this.
  

"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" (NASB)

Now I have no idea why they were arguing over the body of Moses, but the point of this verse seems to be that even Michael the chief of all the angels did not combat the devil in his own power, but said to him "The Lord rebuke you!"  

I have been going through some difficult times recently and have been wrestling with fear and condemnation.  It is so hard when you feel like you are pouring your heart and soul into something and it's just not working out the way that you would like.  Getting glimpses of progress only to see them quickly vanish.  All the while knowing the kind of hours and effort that I am putting forth only to hear "That's not good enough" and "What are you doing with your time?" 

As I read this passage I felt God saying, "I see your heart and your hard work and I will defend you."  It reminded me of the passage in Genesis 15:1 right before God makes His covenant with Abram.  He says to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward." What a glorious thought!  He is our shield, our very great reward.  May we never forget that.

New Mercies

As I look at my previous entry I realize that it has been nearly a year since I last posted.  My natural tendency is to say "forget it" and just scrap this thing.  Not this time.  I will persevere.  My problem is that I won't write unless I've got some amazing revelation and an hour to spend fleshing it out.  My goal in the new year is to weekly share what God is showing me.  He shows me things ALL THE TIME and in the hurry of life I move on from one thing to another forgetting the previous thing.  I will choose not to dwell on what I didn't do, but on what I will do from now on.

That's what I love about a new year.  A blank slate to work with, a fresh year in which to create.  Since we were created in God's image he has made us to be creators.  He has asked us to create moments, relationships, art, music, cookies, stories for our enjoyment and His glory.  I have set some goals for the new year of things that I want to create this year.


-Complete a triathlon
-Memorize the book of James
-Read 20 books
-Go out on a date with my wife once a month
-Do a date night in with my wife weekly
-Finish paying off my student loans


And my newest goal is to blog weekly.  God is constantly showing me things and the only way that I learn from those experiences is to remember and reflect on those things. 


     "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."  Psalm 1:1-2

Game Over

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."  1 Cor 13:11

Ok, perhaps the above verse is a little ironic considering that my last post was about Sgt. Slaughter and G.I. Joe, but bear with me.  That verse has resonated with me for some time now because I feel that our culture encourages men to remain in adolescence and to shirk responsibility.  One of the first things I did on my journey to peculiarity was to give up playing video games.  You're probably thinking "big deal, nerd" but for me it was a big deal(and don't call me a nerd, dork).  To help put it into perspective it's probably comparable to women giving up watching the Bachelor or rednecks ceasing to watch Nascar.

 

  Playing video games had become my default response for spending free time, dealing with stress and/or spending time with friends.  In my more honest moments though, I realized that I was neglecting meaningful things that I claimed I didn't have time for, I was no less stressed and I wasn't spending meaningful time with those friends that I was playing games with.

It's so easy to retreat into this fantasy land where you're the hero and you're capable of amazing feats.  What I failed to see for so long was that I wasn't the hero in my own story.  I was so busy earning "achievements" in these games that I wasn't achieving, or even aspiring to achieve, anything of significance in my own life.  As always, I feel the need to warn against legalism.  In no way am I saying that video games are wrong and that you need to jettison them or whatever your vice may be because they are not explicitly Christian.  I just know that God is calling me to set aside this particular thing for this particular season because he is wanting to do something more in and through me.

I began wondering, "Have I confined the amazing and miraculous only to movies or video games?"  In 2 Timothy 3:5, Paul talks about the last days and how people will have "a form of godliness but [deny] its power."  More importantly, have I been living such a mundane and safe life that I have no need for God to show up.  When you look at the great people in scripture, they were great because they took steps of faith where they needed God to show up or they were dead.  I want to begin taking risks so that I will increasingly recognize my need for God.  

Wrestlemania

No, today's post is not in homage to the now defunct World Wrestling Federation of the 1980's.  Although there was one WWF wrestler that I actually liked.  You guessed it...Sergeant Slaughter.

What?!  You don't know about Sgt. Slaughter?  The reason I like him is because he appeared in one of my favorite cartoons of all time--G.I. Joe.  What's more amusing is that the actual Sgt. Slaughter was kind of flabby and out of shape.  In the cartoon though, he was a bad man.  I'm pretty sure he trained Chuck Norris.  He was always busting bad guys' heads and zinging off clever one-liners.  Man, so cool.

Anyhow, I do have a serious post coming.  I just haven't finished "wrestling" with all of the stuff God is doing in me and wanted you to know I haven't contracted Mad Cow disease or disconjunctivitis or any other fictitious disease that would prevent me from blogging.  Now you know.  And Knowing is half the battle...G.I. Joe!!!  

Writing a better story

I realize that it has been a while since my last posting.  I also realize that no one is really reading this thing yet.  I'm hoping that it will be like Field of Dreams.  If I write it they will come.  Which is really funny because Kevin Costner actually bought a minor league baseball team and built a field in my hometown.  Unfortunately, the people aren't coming.  On a brighter note, my niece Autumn got to yell "play ball!" before the start of one of their home games.  Very cute, but I digress.

I turned 30 last Sunday and birthdays always cause me to be very introspective.  I don't get depressed, but I always think about ways that I can better my life in the coming year.  Lately I've been reading Donald Miller's book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years," which talks about writing a better story with your life.  It's really a fun read and a thought provoking one at that.  In the book, he is approached by some screenwriters who are wanting to take one of his books and make a movie out of it.  The only problem is that they feel that the character's story is boring and that people would walk out of the theater if they went to see it.  Ouch!  He poses that question to us.  If your life was made into a movie, would you walk out of the theater?  What are we doing with our life that would make anyone care how it turns out?  Is your movie about buying a Volvo (nothing against Volvos) and getting through your job until you can retire and do what you really want to do? 

Most of my favorite movies--Braveheart, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings--involve the hero risking their life for something they considered greater than themselves.  I've realized lately that the bulk of my life is about cultivating my comfort.  James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  How in the world do I consider the trials of my life pure joy?      

Peculiar People

Over the last couple of months I've been thinking about how I can become more peculiar.  My saying that has probably convinced most of you that I have arrived at my desired destination.  Stick with me though.  Peculiar is not a word that you hear often, but it's a great word that means to be uncommon, unusual or distinctive in nature or character from others.  That last one really resonated with me.  Distinctive in nature or character from others.  I don't want to be weird for the sake of being weird, but rather to live a life that looks different than the norm.  Dave Ramsey always says, "Normal is broke." and I think that applies to every aspect of life.  I don't want to be "normal" in any aspect of my life.  How do I get there?
 
Seven times in the King James version of the Bible God calls his people "a peculiar people".  1 Peter 2:9 says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." My goal is to become more and more peculiar as I learn what it means to follow Jesus.  If that's what God calls us, I want to become more and more like that.  The goal of this blog is to get others' insights and experiences about what becoming a peculiar people looks like.  I would greatly appreciate any insights you have on your journey towards peculiarity.

Steve