I am tired but happy, which is not as good as rested and happy; but far better than tired and unhappy.

How are you?

We Have Concrete Travel Dates

Tim and I will be leaving for China on December 13th and returning home on December 28!

Please be in prayer for our safety during this time!

Cultural Constraints

At various times in my life, I have been presented with global statistic information for the purpose of demonstrating how materially fortunate I am as a middle-class, well-educated American citizen. I am referring to things like... "if you make $20K or more/year, you are more wealthy than 75% of humanity," or "if you have a college degree, you are better educated than 85% of the human population." I am sure you have all been exposed to data like that, and I hope you have some sense of our fortunate status in the world.

Blessings and curses are quite often two sides of the same coin. Obviously, it behooves us to rejoice in our blessed state and be ever thankful to God, the Provider of all. On the other hand, we must also carefully consider how such blessings might produce a negative result.

We are all familiar with the concept of a "spoiled" child. The typical scenario involves a child who is given "too" much. The end result being a weakened work ethic, a lack of natural gratitude, and an over-functioning sense of entitlement. These are not qualities that we wish to acknowledge in ourselves.

Where in the world would one expect to find spoiled Christians? Would it not be in the places where a very disproportionate amount of the world's resources are found? Is there any reason why we, as American Christians, should not look long and hard at ourselves, looking for signs of spiritual corruption?

Jesus stated that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. If we look at humanity from a global perspective, can we avoid the conclusion that Jesus has us in view? I don't think we can. It would be false to think Jesus has only millionaires or billionaires in view.

In the well-known Parable of the Sower, Jesus speak of seed that grows quickly, but is eventually choked out by weeds/thorns. There is no way, if I am honest, for me to avoid seeing myself in this analogy.

We are talking about constraints to the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. These are some initial thoughts that come to mind as I try to understand the disparity between the experience of early Christian (as recorded in Acts) and my present-day experience.

What do you think?

New Blog Discovered

If you look to the right of the screen, you'll notice I've added a new blog link. It's called "Women's Bible Study". Tammy recently commented on Sunshine's blog and so I clicked on her name to read more about her and found that she has started this website for women of the Churches of Christ. How exciting!

So, click on the link and help her get this thing going. I believe this will be a wonderful ministry to women everywhere. May God work through that website and Tammy's effort entirely for His glory!

Background Picture

Is there some way to move the background picture to the far right or left? That way the sun won't be right behind the words. I have already tried changing the color of the words but nothing really works except black and red. With black, the hill gets in the way and with red, well, it looks pretty intense. So, I'm thinking we could just shift the picture some. Please?

Jennifer

Prayer Request

Tim and I have a very dear friend who is going through some pretty scary stuff right now. This friend has asked us if we would pray for them and their family and if we would ask our church family to pray as well.

This family is going to remain anonymous as far as I'm concerned because God knows every single detail and that's all that matters. All we need to do is just ask God to move in this family's life and thank Him for answering our prayers.

Don't we know that God is already working in this family's life......even before we ask? Still, God wants to hear from us and He wants us to be involved in loving one another.

So, please ask!

Jennifer

In search of a good question???

Questions are very, very important. Questions are (somewhat) like flashlights. Questions, like flashlights, help illuminate. Also, like flashlights, questions can only shed light on that at which it is pointed.

An indelible impression was made upon me as a student of biblical interpretation under James Walters. We, students, were frequently asking our teacher questions. Rather than answer, he would probe the nature of the question itself. This was very frustrating at the time. I distinctively remember him saying, "The quality of the answers you receive from the Bible is directly tied to the quality of the questions you ask it." Though I did not fully understand him, I knew a very important point was made and I have never let it escape me.

I bit later in life, I am studying counseling techniques. Again the issue of question quality is paramount. I quickly realized that a large part of what separates good/bad/mediocre counselors is the ability to ask quality questions. Questions , for a good counselor, are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Under the surface lies the integration of theories and techniques. The asking of questions themselves is an art form.

By this point in my life, I am realizing that there is far more to questions than I had previously realized.

One simple point I remember from those days is the idea of assumptions the underlie questions. A big deal was being made at the time about moving away from questions that assume dysfunction and moving toward questions that assume health. Rather than assume something is broke and in need of fixing, lets assume that things can work right if given adequate opportunity. This leads to questions of constraints.

What is it that is constraining healthy functioning? Marriage is naturally good and mutually satisfying. If your marriage is not, it is not because you are dysfunctional, it is because something is constraining the good and normal marital processes.

This is a serious oversimplification, but I hope you can see the point.

Back to the indwelling Holy Spirit in Acts...

What constrains the Holy Spirit's dwelling with me? What constrains God's will in the family of believers known as the Sunshine Church of Christ?

What are your thoughts?

A horse in front of the cart

In Sun. eve. class a week ago, time expired as I was noting how the earliest Christians were behaving in radical, counter-cultural manners. One particular behavior, Luke emphasizes in Acts, is the selling of possessions in order to give to others in need. Luke notes that no one had need within this fledgling fellowship.

At that point, I was running toward a familiar dead-end. What application can we make today? We surely cannot expect each other to make enormous financial contributions to the congregation. How would we manage such funds? Won't be enabling folks to become dependent on church assistance? This sort of thinking violates all our sensibilities about financial management. ETC.

Finally, by the grace of God, I realized that my approach to teaching this material is wrong-headed. I am guilty of getting the proverbial cart in front of the horse. Luke is not recording behaviors that he expects us to imitate. Rather, he is bearing witness to a phenomenal event.

God's Spirit has been poured out on people! This Holy Spirit has captivated these people in wondrous ways, leading to all sorts of radical, counter-intuitive behavior. It is the Spirit we, the readers, should be focused upon, not necessarily the behavior.

This realization leads to subtle, but powerful shifts in how I think about my Christian walk. I spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing my behavior. I am constantly seeking to minimize my spiritual weaknesses, maximize my spiritual strengths, basically stated--clean up my act.

I am focused on the cart, when I should be focused on the horse. If the horse is doing its thing- the cart will fall in line. Metaphysically speaking, if I am filled with the Holy Spirit, the rest will fall in place.

So at this point, I have exchanged a question for a better question.

The original question was something like this: How can I act/think more like the 1st Century Christians?

The better question is: How can I be (all the more) filled with God's Holy Spirit?

What are your thoughts?

Honoring My Favorite Marine

For the past couple of days, I've been listening to my dad talk about being a Marine and being in the war in Vietnam. My dad is very descriptive when he's telling a story and he and I share a good imagination.

Daddy was telling Tim and I about one particular situation where he (as squadron leader) was trying to get his men to take cover because the explosions were getting too close to them. He said they all just stood there with their mouths open when he yelled for them to do this. He then had to pick something up and act like he was going to hit them in order to get them to move to safety. Daddy said before long, everyone was hiding somewhere and then he realized he needed to find someplace for himself to go. In a panic, he began to look around for anywhere he could fit. He said one guy hollered "Hey, Taylor! There's room in here!". Daddy said there were 3 men in that fox hole and he had to get down in there the best he could on top of the men. He said he was still sticking out some but it was better than nothing. Things were exploding all around them and every one of them missed him. He said that was just one of the many, many times that he survived. He has said many times that the only reason he is still alive is because "I had a praying mommy back home". Daddy said that the whole time he was in Vietnam, he felt like he was in a big protective bubble. He says he remembers running through this area where things were being blown up all around him and people where being shot next to him and he wondered why he was being spared.

When dad was talking about trying to get into that fox hole and there being barely enough room for him, my imagination got the best of me. I was transported to that day and time and there I was in a tearful panic trying to shove my daddy into that hole so he wouldn't be blown up.

It angers me to hear stories of what happened when these guys came home from the war. There was no thanks or respect given to them. This happened before I was born, but I'm alive and well now and I want to say THANK YOU TO YOU ALL! YOU MATTER TO ME!

My dad risked his own life because your life mattered to him! If you're not thankful for that, then maybe you should spend some time out in the trenches trying to stay alive.

My dad is a brave man and I love and respect him for what he stands for and what he fought for. God spared my dad in the war because He has great plans for him and the people's lives he would touch later in life. God knew my dad would come to Him in the future and so God waited. He waited until the time was right to call my dad to Him. Now, my dad fights in a different kind of war. This is a war on his soul. My dad is a fighter and my dad knows how to win.

See you in heaven, daddy!

Patrick Mead Post...

http://patrickmead.net/tentpegs/?p=262

Jennifer

"You Say One Thing But You Do Another"

by Mikel French

Have you ever heard the saying, “Actions speak louder than words?” My dad was that kind of man, he wasn’t much for saying, “I love you” with spoken words. He believed that if you could not tell by his actions, then his words would not make a hill of beans of difference.

There are people like my dad and then there are people who will tell you that they love you but their actions sure say something totally different.

It is an amazing thing when our actions and words come into agreement. People watch what we do and listen to what we say everyday. They watch to see if we say one thing and do another. What are we showing them?

Most people who let their “ACTIONS” speak louder than words…usually do not want to be outgoing enough to say what they feel OR…they know that if they do say, “I love you,” or say something kind, then there will be strings attached and they will be expected to prove it in someway, thus causing them to be reluctant.

Most people who let their “WORDS” speak louder than actions…usually do not want to be accountable for their actions. That is most people end up doing one or the other and never do both.

Jesus, our ultimate example spoke with “ACTIONS” and “WORDS”.

Are our “ACTIONS” reflecting what are our “WORDS” are saying?

We say we are Christians with our words but are we really portraying the love and forgiveness of Christ? Just remember we are being watched and we may be the only Jesus some people will ever see!

Some more fun

Please excuse me!

I certainly do not intend to turn this blog into a feeder for Experimental Theology. However, I want to direct attention again to Dr. Beck's psychological/sociological descriptions of our religious thought processes.

In this post, he elaborates on the concept set forth in the previous post. You can read the entire post here -> On Why Hell Makes So Many Christians Happy

A sample:

Why is this? Why does hell make so many Christians happy?

I think part of an answer comes from the analysis offered in my last post. Specifically, given the existential anxiety caused by death and exacerbated by the prospect of hellfire, many Christians reach for tangible markers that allow them to verify that they are, indeed, saved. As I wrote in the last post, this is often accomplished by drawing clear ecclesial lines in the sand. We crave a clear circle that encloses the Saved, the Church. Outside of that circle are the Lost, the Damned.

This circle is existentially comforting. But its comfort hinges on its concreteness and clarity. If the line becomes fuzzy or indistinct then it no longer serves its existential purpose: Concrete reassurance of salvation. Thus, the boundary markers of faith, and their razor sharp clarity, become more important (and more prone to provoke an argument) than the essentials of faith. Churches fight over trivialities because those trivialities mark boundaries. And in the face of death it isn’t the core of faith that reassures us. Rather, what is critically important is the boundary and where I stand in relation to it. If everything outside the circle is bound for hellfire what matters most is not where the center of the circle is but where the edge is. The edge, the boundary, is what I need clarified. Thus, churches fight over edges, leaving the center, the core of the gospel, overlooked and unattended. For those who fear death, the core just isn’t as important. It, in a very real way, just doesn’t provide the needed reassurance.

And if all this is so, if the clarity of the boundary is what is so reassuring, then it stands to reason that we need, for existential soothing, a group of people to be clearly on the other side of the line. A clearly defined saved group by necessity creates a clearly defined damned group. And the more clearly defined the better. In short, many Christians need a clearly defined damned group to reap existential solace.

Blogging fun

Some things are flat-out, fun to read and think about. Taking something you have thought about multiple times and, suddenly, thinking about it from a totally new perspective is fun.

Here is a great example -> Ante-mortum salvific self-verification

Don't fuss over the title and first couple of paragraphs, read through and it will make sense.

A sample and synopsis:

The issue of a cappella worship continues to be a hot button issue in the Churches of Christ. More progressive Churches of Christ are increasingly seeing the issue as a non-issue while more conservative churches consider this to be an issue of Ultimate importance, that to worship with an instrument will incur God's wrath and send you to hell.

Now, as a psychologist I'm not going to weigh in on this debate. I'll let the preachers of the Church of Christ work this one out. Rather, what I'd like to do, as a case study, is to analyze the psychological dynamics at work in this debate.

Click the link above to read, let me know if you had a good time.

Zoe

By tonight, you will all FINALLY get to see the face of Zoe! How exciting is that? We will be receiving Zoe's picture in an email today and the referral papers and such, will come in the mail tomorrow. You may be interested in reading about yesterday's rollercoaster events considering we were suppose to get a referral phone call then instead of today. Check out Zoe's blog for the latest info.

Before I post the picture and information on Zoe's blog, the picture will be making its rounds from grandparent to grandparent. I have no idea how long this will take and so that's why I'm figuring I won't get to post the picture until this evening.

BUT.....check in throughout the afternoon, just in case the picture showing trips go quickly and I'm able to post it. I am definately keeping your great anticipation in mind throughout the day and I will do my best to post the picture on her website as soon as I possibly can. Immediate family comes first. You know that.

I love you all and we are so grateful for everything you've done to help us since way back in 2004. In all reality, the journey has just begun!

Beautiful Story

I don't know the author of this, but I had to share it with you all!

Jennifer


I envy Kevin. My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed..." I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room.

Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem dissatisfied.

He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculates loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights. And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.

He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion. In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions.

It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care. Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.

And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.

Kevin won't be surprised at all!

Shout Outs

Hey, everyone!

I wanted to give you all a heads up about some blogs. As I've said recently, Jamie is blogging again and you should check out what he's got going on over there.

Now, I'm happy to announce that Tim is back to blogging and I see that Aaron M. is now blogging. As you will see, I have added Tim and Aaron's blog links here on the side for you all to check out and participate in.

Have a great time, everyone and I hope through each of these men's blogs, you gain more insight and fellowship throughout the week while we're all apart.

New Movie.....bad

Several Christian organizations have encouraged me through email not to see this movie when it comes out. I wanted to post a link about it from "snopes" so you would believe that it's true.

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

Jennifer