MANIC DISCIPLE

Since we’re on the topic of marriage, here is a Scripture-soaked piece on divorce and remarriage.

http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/editors-choice/EC3W0703.pdf

Here is a letter I wrote to a couple celebrating a big anniversary….I was instructed to post for all.

Don’t pull a Jon & Kate………..

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Happy Anniversary!

As I contemplate how extraordinary it is in today’s world that one couple can stay married for — years, we must also step back and ponder how this has happened.   I believe it is very easy to blow apart a marriage – either one of you could walk away from your marriage today, next week or next year.  It would probably be painful, but not that hard to do.  As your experience in the restaurant this past weekend confirmed, some folks struggle to hold things together for 4 months, only to have the covenant relationship die on the vine.  What it seems to me, however, is that it isn’t so easy to keep a marriage together.  Now, before you high-five each other and tell each other what a good job you did making it all these years, you didn’t make it all these years because of who each one of you are individually or who you are as a couple – let’s face it, who you are and what you’ve done in life isn’t all that great through God’s eyes.  So now that we’ve established that you aren’t particularly cool, relatively speaking, we can only conclude that the enormity of God’s grace has held the two of you together.

YOU didn’t keep your marriage together, GOD DID.

Yes, celebrate what God has done in your lives as a couple, but also look forward and fight all the more for a God-saturated, truly joyous marriage.  Figure it out, work it out and just get it done!

Where to turn?  Here is a passage I’ve been chewing on this year:

Psalm 19:7-11

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward”

I love the picture presented here – God’s Word is GOOD.  Dig into it, relish it, read it like you never have before.  Think about this – these are the actual, no-kidding words of the God who calls Himself “I AM”.  It is mind boggling how precious these words are, yet we don’t read it, get stuck in a mechanical routine or whatever.  OK, so tackle God’s Word together and individually.

What else?  Here’s something else:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.”

Galatians 5:22

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

You got this stuff figured out yet?  Read each word and phrase.  Contemplate what it means and how you can live that out in your marriage.

Let’s put this one on the heap, one of my favorites:

Philippians 1:20

“…it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body…”

Are you honoring Christ in your marriage by what you say and do?  Are you magnifying Christ for your spouse by how you exemplify Him?

These passages give additional Biblical counsel for marriage –

Ephesians 5:22-33

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband”

1 Peter 3:1-7

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

There is some heavy lifting to be done, according to these passages.  Husbands are supposed to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  Likewise, wives are supposed to be submissive and subject to their husbands, just as the Church is submissive to Christ.  I think and believe the only way this actually works is through a God-saturated, Scripture studying, fall-flat-on-your-face-praying life.  There is no way you, the husband reading this, can be like Christ to his wife apart from killing off your self-righteousness and instead intensely focusing on the cross, seeking a changed heart and Christ magnifying righteousness – and your intense isn’t intense enough.  There is no way you, the wife reading this, can be submissive to her husband, and actually be OK with that, without being supremely focused on God, not in a cool Shack book kinda way, but God’s Word read and internalized, penetrating and cutting the heart, mind and soul, such that it results in a Christ-exalting perspective.  We are talking about a new man, a new woman, a new marriage, possibly radically different than what you are now.  Do you want that?

So what’s next?  Well, you can live the life you always have, whatever that is for the two of you.  Maybe that is a good thing.  Or you can get over yourselves enough to get serious about having a God-saturated marriage.  The proverbial ball has already bounced your way, it is clearly in your court and has been for some time.  Sometimes you take it and shoot to score, but other times you leave it be, whilst it gathers dust and loses air.  What will you do with it?

Truth in love

*signed*

Life is pretty good most of the time, despite the toxic sludge we sometimes have to wade through.  But sometimes I scratch my head and wonder what in the world is going on…..I reminded of a line from a Stowell sermon: “I didn’t think it would turn out like this.”

Obama thinks it is OK for Iran to have nuclear whatever, for peaceful purposes of course.  To steal an Obama word, Israel “reluctantly” concurs – yea, right.  I will cut O some slack, however, for making this foolish statement because I know he is terribly busy not running GM. 

I heard a statement on the radio where the shrew-looking Henry Waxman (D-CA) admits he doesn’t know what is in his Climate Change bill but instead relies on the scientists at the UN to figure out the details, ya know, those details that will destroy the American economy and way of life just so we can get warm fuzzies as we tackle the atrocity known as global warming.  Nice one, Henry.

An abortion “Doctor” was murdered recently at his church.  While it is easy to say he got what he deserved, as a pro-lifer I value all life, despicable or not.  Taking his life was no proper justice for all the babies he has killed, but rest assured he’ll has some “esplaining” to do before the judgement throne of GOD.  And I don’t think that is going to go well.  Additionally, I’m still wondering why a) why any church would allow a known late-term abortion doctor to be a member of their church and b) if a member why you’d allow him to serve in any capacity, as he was as an usher. ..”Hi, welcome to Whatever Lutheran Church, I’m Dr. BabyKiller, so glad you coud join us today to worship Jesus, I hope you enjoy the service……”

Let’s see, their is a vote soon to allow the local school board to raise taxes so the schools can function this coming fall.  They claim they’ll have to dissolve this summer if they can’t get more money.  And, oh by the way, they say us locals are paying far lower property taxes than the surrounding areas, just to make it seem like a no-brainer.  They also say that if they dissolve and the schools roll under the jurisdiction of another district, property taxes will go up anyway, so just vote yes.  I say, call their bluff and vote no.

And the wonderful state that I live in has some of the highest taxes in the country…and no, I don’t live in CA or NY.  And yes, the state government is working to jack them up higher because apparently now is a great time to stab taxpayers in the back.  Why we still vote for these clowns is beyond me.

Then there is me; I was working out and eating good for about a week….and then the weekend hit.  Then everyday this week I was just absolutely sluggish every morning when my alarm clock went off, so I wasn’t getting up to work out.  I haven’t really cared what foods I’ve been eating either.  Things aren’t boding well to lose 10 lbs or so before August.  Gotta get my head out of the sand right about now.  I’m looking for a house, certain that I can afford the rent with a bit of belt tightening, still need to get signed up for school in the fall and take the GMAT before then and prior to that study for the darn thing, figure out when and how we’re going to Disney with the kids, fold the 9,000 loads of laundry since there are 4,859 more loads to be washed, find a place for all the misc junk floating around our house and so on.  All the while, I need to be more like Christ, patient, kind, loving, not a lover of money, not lusting, being a light in this dark world.  And you want my Jesus….yes, yes, you do, life just works out better with Him.  But we can talk about that in greater depth.  Oh, and I need to do a term paper on relationships that I quasi-promised someone.  I want to do it, really, just haven’t gotten to it.  And I’m still waiting on some direction from someone about a project that I’m supposed to be heading up, however, I don’t  have the stuff I need to do the project and my email goes unanswered, even though I know it is received.

On a bright note, I have a Kindle.

I’m sorry, but this song is off the chain….

***WARNING:  THIS BAND IS WORSHIPPING JESUS, LIKE, OMG***

It has been a while since my last post.  I settle into old habits and routines, I guess, whatever those may be, and this obviously isn’t one of them.  But, a little birdie told me “partners” and told me to run with it.

At first, I was trying to, or wanted to, find some sort of spiritual connection.  Like, let’s bag the superficiality of this physical world and go deeper, was what I was thinking.  But I couldn’t.  There might be some connection, and I know I’ve heard talk of  “partnering in ministry”, but other than that, zippo.  I didn’t want to say Christians are partners with God, because to me that puts the two on equal footing, something that didn’t give me warm fuzzies.

At the same time, I couldn’t get the marriage partnership out of my head.  And it seemed to take a more predominant place in my thoughts as I contemplated certain media coverage.  The whole Miss USA flap was one thing, with Perez Hilton, the clown uber-blogger, who was a judge for the pageant, asking Miss CA something about gay marriage rights.  Well, she doesn’t believe in that, so that’s what she honestly said.  She didn’t win the pageant.  And Perez ignited a liberal media thrashing from hell, with everyone who’s hip and cool bashing Miss CA for her unenlightened thinking.  Example two, these tabloid rumors about Jon and Kate.  Yes, that Jon and Kate, the one’s that have made a gazillion dollars off of their successful reality show about their life with 8 kids.  There are several pictures and stories about Jon cavorting with women at clubs, resorts, and bars.  There are rumors of an affair with some grade school teacher.  There are other rumors that Kate is getting along a bit too well with their bodyguard.  Now, these rumors may be bunk, but too often perception is reality.  

In the first example, I am reminded how far we’ve fallen as a society.  Homosexuality, once overtly taboo, is now pretty normal.  Lots of us know gay people and may even consider some of them friends.  No doubt, many gay people are really nice people.  But homosexuality is inherently unnatural and wrong, which most of us know deep down inside.  Then to consider gay marriage or partnership arrangements as equal as traditional marriage is even more out of line.  We’ve gotten so relativistic to the point of it being tragic.  And for those that fall into the abyss of relativism, where morality is whatever pleases you, tragedy doesn’t begin to describe the end game.  Partners, in this sense, is…..not right.

On the second example, I am reminded of my marriage and how wonderful it is.  Sure, my wife and I don’t always like each other, but otherwise my wife is the bomb.  We aren’t in that place where we sucked too much into this world where we lose sight of each other.  Certainly, as well, there is divine glue holding us together, such that those lacking it struggle to make the relationship work.  It is troubling to hear about the slime that Jon and Kate seem to be rolling around in, considering how nifty they seemed on TV.  How and why that happens is mysterious to me.  

So, partners.  Two examples how not to be partners.  So how do you get a great partner and a life-long relationship with more joy than not?  I will say this, it takes more than you have.

My “apologies” to “those” who found the last entry a bit….boring.  Uninteresting.  Blah.  Who cares.  It was indeed a hasty attempt to get back at it, after quite a spell without a post.  It was not a particularly sexy story about some odd event or that one person or office life or whatever.  I suppose I’ve done those and will do that in the future.  What you get here, bottom line, is what I’m thinking.  How many times do you know what someone is thinking?  Not just generally, but those random, arcane thoughts that you’d never otherwise know?  You’ll get mine here. 

There are very factual blogs that are still boring and others quite fascinating.  There are others that recall daily events that are well-written.  “Interestedness” is in the eye of the reader.  I could give you my Google Reader list and I suspect many of you will find the blogs I read “uninteresting” and “boring”.  Since I am not pandering to any particular audience, I suspect some of what I say will be boring.  And to that I say……….whatever.

You know you’ve been away for a while when you struggle to remember the password to log-in to make a new posting.

So, after some time at Oxford in the UK (finishing up a doctoral thesis in English literature) and a week in Paris visiting friends, I am back.  Anyway…

As eluded to in a previous post or two, I knew keeping up with this would be a struggle, as I have a default mode I tend to revert to.  A “reversion to the mean”, statistically speaking.  Don’t ask me what I am reverting to or what my “mean” is, I’m still trying to figure that out for myself.  I guess I settle back into life at a more comfortable and care-free pace, without having to keep up with blogs, reading, studying, whatever.  On the other hand, I consider how much better off I’d be if I would in fact be a bit more aggressive and focused in my endeavors, especially in business.  Ah well.  I guess that is something I need wisdom in.

Related to that, I got a Moleskine journal, chopped up a Financial Times insert (the glossy and glamorous “How To Spend It”), and am making a “Get Serious” journal, to provide periodic reflection on how I’m doing in different areas in my life.  A bit of self-flogging, personal accountability and what not.  So perhaps I’ll figure out myself enough to know what I should, need and want to be doing with my time and life.  With a portion of godly wisdom, not to be neglected.

Favorite new song:  Kari Jobe “I’m Singing”

Books I’m readings:  I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Geisler and Turek;  Trading Options As A Professional by Bittman

Check ya later….

You know you haven’t logged in to blog in a while when you have to comb thru Gmail records to locate a password.  But hey folks, don’t say I didn’t warn you.  Sometimes, or sometimes in a lot of different things, I have episodes of ADD.  Sooo, a friendly nudge, in whatever endeavor I seem to be drifting away from, is always a good thing.  And no, I haven’t finished that fiction book I was reading a month or so ago.  Surprised?  I’m not, so don’t be.

The wife and I were at a friends house last night and watched the movie “Fireproof”….the “Christian” marriage movie with Kirk Cameron.  Overall, it was enjoyable.  A great message, funny at times, relevant, and something all married folks should be watching.  And get the Love Dare book that is the crux of the movie.  I picked up my copies at B&N a couple of weeks ago, although we haven’t cracked them open yet, which I guess is a good thing, knowing that we aren’t in some crisis whereby we need to immediately get to them.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been listening to part of a message series Pastor James did last year – “Always True: Five Great and Precious Promises of God” (accompanied by a 6th message he did in the fall, recapping those messages and offering 5 more promises….an awesome message!).  Oh, I just bought this while getting the link for the aforementioned message series.  If you haven’t seen Harvest worship live (in Rolling Meadows or Elgin IL), it….is…..off…..the….chain.  

I’ve made a tidy and small 28% return (on risk) while Apple stock tumbles. 

Last week, I watched a few minutes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Hey, I couldn’t help myself, it was arguably the best Star Trek television series.  I was going to watch the following episode, but it was Captain Picard stuck in San Fran in like the 1940’s, so not what I was looking for.  The Antiques Roadshow, however, has caught my attention a few times over the past couple of weeks.  

The wife and I went to the art museum on Valentine’s Day.  A good time fer sher.

What else?  I dunno.  We live in interesting times.  The Obama gov’t is spending more and more each day in the name of stimulus and salvation.  You want some salvation – get in the Word and on your knees.

Peace out for now, homies.

Why do I seem to enjoy spending a couple of hours late at night grocery shopping at the mammoth W store (no, not Wal-Mart) and then start to put the goods away less than an hour before midnight?  Another excursion last night.  But I’m glad it is done, though confined to the notion that, with my family size and its needs (gluten allergies), I am spending at or around 3 Benjamins.  

And why does life have to be so complicated?  Do we make it complicated?  I have things to do, things I need to do, bills to pay, bills to dispute, doctors to see, a job to do, two business ventures I need to do,  grad school to do, daily newspapers that pile up, books that I struggle to finish, 600 other books I want to read, church, church groups and events to attend, the kids to Awanas, cleaning, baking, cooking (well, not me), eating, sleeping, exercise that I should do, the oil in both of my vehicles that needs to be changed, blah, blah, blah.  Isn’t there a better way to go about this?  I am not an organized person, per se, but I’m wondering if being organized, proactive, prompt and just generally on top of things would make life less complicated.  I dunno.

Earlier today I picked up a new bread machine, a Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker from Williams Sonoma.  Rewind….my wife, her mom and brother all have gluten/wheat allergies (at least them and at least those allergies), so we have to “settle” for making bread (and other goodies) that they can eat.  “Settling” is fine as long as what you make looks and tastes good.  The baker in me has made gluten free chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake (chocolate chips within, of course), which have both turned out rather well, the cake especially.  Sooo, in my quest to make some gluten free bread, and considering her mom’s K-mart breadmaker died, I endeavored to get a decent machine with a gluten free cycle.  

Not long after getting home I opted to test out the baguette recipe, fully wheated and glutenized.  I love a good crispy crust, so that seemed like a winner.  Son #1 helped get the ingredients in the machine and he hit the start button.  Everything was looking great.  About an hour and a half later, the dough came out, ready for more rising.  I pre-heated the over, placed a pan of water on the bottom rack to facilitate the crispy crust, popped them in to bake and voila….two very nice looking loaves.  I wanted to take a picture, but couldn’t find my camera.  These looked, and tasted, good.  I WILL be doing that again – yum!  

If anyone wants a loaf, give me a shout-out!

Currently we are making an attempt at gluten free bread, although we were lacking the typical flour mixture we use, so this is a hodge podge of different flours.  I hope this one turns out alright….it started out looking like oatmeal.  We’ll see!