Archive for February, 2011
Get Real…
February 7th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » Christian Living, My Life / Family
I read a pretty good article today over at “The Christian Post” today, entitled, “Why Facebook (and Your Church) Might be Making You Sad”.
My reaction?
Get real.
No, seriously. Get real.
Perhaps I should explain.
Dr. Moore makes a great point in the article. Research has shown that we human beings have a self-destructive tendency to look at all the great things people share about their lives through social media, and assume our lives simply stink in comparison. You know it’s true. It’s called vanity and jealousy, and we probably didn’t need a fancy study to know those are facts of human behavior, right?
The problem is rampant in the church. Seriously… how many Christians do you know whose lives are ostensibly perfect? Who always have a smile on their face? Who always seem to be doing just great? Who always seem to have joy? Who always seem to be blessed, and never have problems they struggle with?
You know it’s a facade, right?
But those people are just a bunch of hypocrites, right?
Well, not really. The problem lies in what we are taught to believe about Jesus. Contemporary Christianity (at least the kind that’s appealing to a wide audience) tells us that if we just follow Jesus, life will be wonderful. It tells us we can have our best lives now. It tells us that we can have success if we just give enough to the church. It tells us that God is wholly and completely love, and that He’d NEVER let bad befall us. It tells us that every problem of ours just disappears when we love Jesus.
And we wonder why so many Christians try to hold up such false images of themselves, or why so many Christians secretly suffer because their lives don’t measure up?
This kind of “Christianity” (if you can even call it that) is SIMPLY NOT BIBLICAL.
Jesus taught some very hard things:
- That we must count the cost of being one of His disciples.
- That we must be ready to follow Him even if it means we will lose friends and family.
- That we must be willing to give up money, possessions, position, pride… anything that holds us back from Him.
- That we are to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us.
- That we WILL have trouble in this life because of our faith in Him.
- That we are to find joy in the inevitable suffering that comes as a result, knowing that the rewards of persevering in the faith are worth it in the end.
I could go on and on, but you get the point.
We Christians gotta get real.
If we have authentic faith and trust in Jesus, our lives are ANYTHING but perfect… anything but easy.
And presenting any image other than the truth is a lie that’s leading people astray… people that need to know the hope of Jesus Christ.
So get real. Let people into your life, and help them to see the truth… that following Jesus IS hard… that trusting Him for in every need is a difficult thing… that suffering because you hold firm to what He teaches is the norm, not the exception. And show them how He’s worth it.
Because THAT, my friends, is the reality of faith in Christ.
He is worth everything that we can give to Him in this life… every ounce of obedience we can muster… because the hope He offers for eternity is infinitely better than anything we can imagine here on earth.
Winter Fun…
February 5th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
One of the best things about being a parent is sharing some of the fun things I did when I was younger with my kids. And winter is chock full off opportunities… sledding, building things in the snow, snow ball fights… so many great things to do with the kids.
Jeffrey and I took full advantage of today for this kind of stuff. We’d been working on a snow fort (maybe we’ll finish that tomorrow), but the snow just wasn’t quite right for that today, so we shifted gears and made use of the ginormous pile of snow I’d scooped to one side of the drive, digging a pretty decent sized snow cave. Here’s the end result:
Memories were definitely made today.
Use the Force!
February 4th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » Just For Fun...
Saw this commercial the other day… very creative and entertaining, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.
No way on earth that I’d buy a Volkswagen, but you’ve gotta admit their commercials are good.
Happy Birthday, Jenna!
February 3rd, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
My little girl…
…isn’t quite so little anymore!
Happy birthday, sweetie.
Groundhog Day
February 2nd, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family
A few random thoughts on Groundhog Day:
- It’s my mom’s birthday… hope it’s been great, Mom, and that Dad did something nice for you!
- Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring because he didn’t see his shadow. I’m guessing either he’s blind or he simply froze to death crawling out of his snowdrift-covered hole.
- Who could forget the movie? Bill Murray played Phil Connors, the weatherman who was stuck in a time loop of some sort, repeating Groundhog Day over and over? Ever feel like that’s your life to some extent?
- I was back at work today after working from home for a couple days of winter weather. A couple observations… It’s MUCH quieter at work than at home (three rowdy kids make it rough). Somehow I’m more worn out from spending the day in the office than from working from the comfort of my home office. Then again, maybe I’m just tired after scooping a deeply drifted driveway so I could get to work.
- Snowpocalypse 2011 was a BIG disappointment. Sure, we had a decent snow, and the drifts are cool, but I was somehow expecting vehicles and homes to be buried by drifting snow based on the hype newspeople put out for several days before.
- Apparently it doesn’t matter how much thought you put into shoveling your drive… the city will still manage to plow it shut again when they come through.
Most Accurate Forecast Yet…
February 1st, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in » In the News..., Just For Fun...
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere, you know that the weather forecasters in our area have been going insane over the past few days about this “historic weather event” (i.e., lots of snow). Based on what I’ve heard, I think this is probably the most accurate forecast I’ve seen yet:
(Wish I could take credit for this, but a friend e-mailed it to me.)