[Video] Why Christmas is Horrible

 The following is a video from Mark Brown that I watched last night.  Brown states this about the video.

"For some people, Christmas is a time of loneliness, financial hardship and depression. If this is you, watch this video, if it isn't, share this video."

I'll add that everyone should watch this video because you never know when tragedy will strike and it's good to have these promises in mind when it does.

[SAHD] What I Learned From My Baby

Courtesy science-essentials.org

The title gives you a clue as to why I haven't posted in a while.

Not long ago in a place not far from where I live, my baby daughter was born.  As events sometimes go, I am now a stay-at-home dad (and no, I have not seen "Mr. Mom").  This prompted me to start a new element of this blog  (hence the acronym in the title).  I toyed with the idea of starting a new blog for the parenting stuff, but figured to stick with this one (although that may change in the future).

I had heard it said that parents learn as much from their children as their children learn from them.  A thought I did not fully understand until I had one of my own.  Here are a few of the lessons I have learned so far.

Realize Your Helplessness

In the Bible, God refers to Himself as our Father.  This name is not so much a means of depicting His gender, but more as a means of clarifying roles.  God takes care of us, and we get taken care of by Him. The main lesson I learned in this area is our utter helplessness without God.  My daughter is completely helpless, she cannot clothe herself, bathe herself, or feed herself.  She even occasionally has difficulty passing gas.  Such is the state of humanity without God's care.  We often deceive ourselves with delusions of self-sufficiency. We would have a much better life if we would let go of this delusion and let God be in control of our lives

Correct Communication is Crucial

Like many infants, my daughter has a very limited vocabulary, which makes understanding what she wants/needs quite challenging.  When she starts crying I often find myself playing a somewhat stressful guessing game.  If only she could tell me right away her need then everyone would be happier.  However, this is not possible given her limited skill set.  In the same way, we have to be understanding of other people if they don't communicate exactly the way we would like them to communicate.  Many people (both male and female) simply lack proper communication skills.  We need to be patient and do our best to understand what they are attempting to tell us.

Don't be Counterproductive

This one goes right along with the previous item because many times since I do not know what my daughter wants, she does not get fed exactly on her preferred time table.  Many times when this happens she will often gain such momentum with her crying that even though the food is there for the taking, she would rather cry than take it, which, of course, makes her more hungry which makes her more angry.  Too often I have to get her to calm down so that she can eat the food she so desperately wants.  How many times do we get so involved in our complaining that we waste valuable time and energy that could have been used to actually accomplish our goals?

So that's it for now.  I'm sure there will be more lessons in the future, so stay tuned.  In the mean time, what lessons have you learned from your (or other people's) children?

Losing Your Balance

Photo credit:  Melinda Sue Gordon/Sony Pictures

An interview with actor Brad Pitt highlighted an ongoing problem in Christianity.

Recently as I drove to meet my wife for lunch, I heard a familiar voice on the radio.  After listening for a few minutes I remembered that the voice belonged to the American actor Brad Pitt.

In the interview, being conducted by NPR's Terry Gross, Mr. Pitt recalled how Christianity made an impact on his early life, but also how he ultimately went away from it.  He said that there were "many other reasons" for his departure, but one of them that he chose to highlight caught my attention because it resonated with some of my experience with Christianity, and maybe it will resonate with you as well.  The reason can be explained in one word, exclusiveness.

The Balancing Act

Many balancing acts exist in Christianity, a key one being the balance between exclusiveness (being separate) and inclusiveness (being inviting).  The Bible speaks many times of the need for a distinction between believers and nonbelievers.  We read in the Old Testament section of the Bible where God and His prophets repeatedly tell the nation of Israel how and why it needs to be separate from the surrounding nations and their false systems of worship.

We also see the separation in the New Testament in many of the teachings of Jesus especially in the parables recorded in Matthew 25 (foolish vs. wise virgins, resourceful vs. lazy servants, sheep vs. goats). The apostle Paul spoke of separating from those who did not believe the truth; especially from those who had a superficial theology (as we will look at later in this post).  So the Bible states that a time and place exists for exclusivity, but what happens when this exclusiveness becomes unbalanced?

Why Don't They Get To Go To Heaven Then?

You have people asking questions like that one.  This question came from a young Brad Pitt as he struggled with Christianity.  The full quotation goes as follows.

"I was very curious about the world even at a young age, and I don't know at what point I became aware that other cultures believed in different religions, and my question was, 'Well, why don't they get to go to heaven then?' And the answer was always, 'Well, everyone gets a chance — meaning at the word of God as it was described to me then. And that didn't sit well with me then."

Many people have asked that question or at least have had a sense of uneasiness about the subject.  That group included me, at least until I discovered this passage in the book of Romans.

"For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life."  Romans 2-13-16 (NLT)

In this passage, the apostle Paul highlighted this concept as a way of contrasting the behavior of apparent outsiders (the Gentiles) with the proclaimed insiders (the Jews).  Key thoughts being that the Gentiles did not have to hear the law to fulfill its requirements, and that God will judge people by how they live, not by what they have heard.  So if such relatively plain texts exist then why do we still have the exclusive/inclusive argument, are we neglecting the root of the problem?

The Root of the Problem

Behind an imbalanced view of the exclusive/inclusive concept, a much deeper one exists; an incomplete picture of God.  Why do people have an incomplete picture?  They get it from His professed followers.  Followers of an inviting God often use religion as a barrier between God and those who want to come to Him.  They like things the way they are, and don't want any "sinners" to interfere with life as usual.  The very same problem that the Roman believers had centuries ago continues today with similar results, people hungering for something more are left feeling empty and isolated.  So how do we solve such a problem?

Solving the Problem

To paraphrase a popular saying, we need to be the change that we want to see in the world.  If we want a more balanced Christianity, we must ourselves be more balanced.  If we want Christianity to be more inviting, we need to be more inviting.  If we want people to have a complete picture of God, then we need to have one ourselves.  All this only comes from having a deeper relationship with God.

What incomplete picture of God did you once have or continue to have?  Share in the comments section.

Constant, Immediate Need

Psalm 70  Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me. May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" turn back because of their shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be exalted!" Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

We need to recognize our constant, immediate of God.

I put the entire psalm this time because it's short, and because the verses I wanted to focus on were the first and the last ones. There are times when I recognize my need for God simply in a general sense (simply a mental acknowledgement), and there are times when I recognize my need for God in a specific and immediate sense.  Those immediate times are usually times when I find myself in trouble of my own devising, and need to be rescued. I'm thinking that if I were to realize more often that this immediate need was also a constant need (that is, I am in constant need of rescue), I could avoid many of the problems in which I find myself.

Life has enough problems of its own. I don't need to add to them by forgetting that I constantly need God to rescue me.