Jon's Jots

Valentine's Day Clearance Sale!

JON — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:16:00 GMT

This year was a good year for Valentine's Day. Since it fell on a Saturday, workplace affairs didn't compete for the attention of the spouses who despise the day for its half-hearted gestures. With the entire weekend to celebrate, the excuses of forgetfulness and thoughtlessness were harder to come by.

Alright, perhaps I'm being a bit too dramatic. But love doesn't always smell like roses. Sometimes, it feels more like the thorns on the stem. While flowers may smell nice, they don't cover up the stench of neglect and abuse.

Valentine's Day is a threat to manhood. Case in point, consider the card I got from my wife. On the cover: "To my husband". Inside: "My stinky Valentine". It pictures a bear sitting on the toilet and pooping out little hearts that go all the way through the plumbing system. I'm a lovable pooping bear, hear me roar!!!!

Ok, so it really is only a threat to those who are INSECURE in their manhood. Newsflash: ALL men are insecure. We just hide it and suck it up with Brawny paper towels.

It's all good, I got her back. On the cover of the card I got her: "To my wife on Valentine's Day- Honey, I hope you know that all of your hard work has not gone unnoticed." Inside: "I've been watching you from the couch during commercials. Love You!"

Well, just in case you were thinking that I was a complete jerk, I did get her flowers - the kind she likes. No infidelity or half-hearted gestures were coming from me! V-day for me is a day where "keeping it real" applies. So, I jest about the stereotypes on one hand, but give her what she likes on the other.

It's a lot of pressure for a guy to handle. First off, the day is set up to tell you that what you do on a regular basis is not good enough. Then, it calls into question how you truly feel about your significant others or objects of affection. If you misread the situation, you can end up looking pretty foolish. Try too hard and you have something to hide. Don't try at all and she thinks you don't care.

It's best to play it safe. Ice cream always makes it better. Chocolate is too obvious because it is an aphrodisiac. Yes, most women love chocolate, but not the whole box of it. Actually, I know someone who detests chocolate and I'm related to her. The best Valentine's gifts are from the heart, like rubbing some stinky Valentine's feet, getting your chest waxed or losing the weight you gained over the holidays. I did one of those three for my girl.

It's funny that we both got very similar sarcastic cards for each other. Who writes up half that crap anyway? Most of the cards can't be for people who live real lives. Either that, or people are much more uninhibited than I am. It's like people adopt a Hallmark fantasy when they go card shopping. What do they do with all the leftover Valentine's Day cards anyway?

I had a few ideas that need to be dominating the ridiculous red, white and pink paper displays. Here are a few of them, recycled for you during this week of Valentine's clearances:

Card for any man to any woman (for any occasion, really):
Front: "I am a man of few words." Inside: BLANK. Some guys are bound to buy this and give it to the girl without writing a single thing in it. That way, it can be reused. Others may just sign their name. For those who work up the courage to actually write something, you should get major points for making it from the heart. It's a can't lose situation for the guy. You are hilarious if you just sign it, balsy if you don't write a freakin' thing and really thoughtful if you actually put some...well, thought into it.

Card from disgrunted man to disgrunted woman:
Front: "Here- I got you a card." Inside: "Will you shut up now?"
This card is sold with two free tickets to the Dr. Phil show.

Card from man to woman:
Front: "You may not be the hottest woman I know, but you get the job done." Inside: "Thanks for ..." (instruction insert: fill in at lease some of the things she does) This is the hottest version. There are others, like smartest, sweetest, thoughtful, and compassionate to name a few.

Card from husband to wife:
Front: "Look! I got you a Valentine's card! How thoughtful!" Inside: "Can I get some tonight?" Obviously, there can be several variations of this theme as well.

Card from wife to husband:
Front: "There are guys with more money, better looks and bigger...brains." Inside: "But I couldn't play with his insecurity the way I can with you."

Card from wife to husband (must have children):
Front: "Honey, I have a secret for you this Valentine's Day." Inside: "The kid might not be yours."
This card should be sold with a discount for a DNA test and two free tickets to the Maury Povich show.
For the guy, this card is also sold in the "I ain't yo baby's daddy" version. There are also blank inside versions for some other secrets that are begging to be revealed.

Hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day. It's love that makes the day special. Don't forget to tell the people you love how much they mean to you everyday. And remember that laughter is some pretty good medicine.

Taking a stand against the strings of life that strangle us

JON — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:44:00 GMT

"Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known."
-Philip Bliss, 1873

The second stanza of Dare to Be a Daniel begins, "Many mighty men are lost, daring not to stand." As I stand here at this point of my life, sometimes I feel a bit lost myself. The song challenges us to take a stand, but first the question must be asked. "What exactly should we stand for?"

The things in this life that weigh us down and trip us up take away our ability to stand for anything. How can we make a stand if we are bound to the things of this life anyway? What ends up dominating our behaviors and attitudes becomes the mundane trivial stuff that the world values.

The world has some great ideas though. It's much more enticing to think that we can be our own gods then submitting to the will of a God that we don't see and don't fully understand. Why do you think Adam and Eve ate the fruit? The serpent offered an alternative rule to God's authority and he's been roaming the earth ever since.

The serpent's rule however comes with a ton of strings attached. In fact, he ends up suffocating the life out of us. He robs us of our very souls. Without God's intervention, our rebellious hearts lead us to our own destruction.

Despite man's attempts to suppress the truth, the truth will ultimately win. But in the meantime, the serpent roams. So, we live with all these strings attached.

I had a dream the other night that I was with my family in a house I didn't recognize. We were all in different rooms and there was a rope tied around all of us. The rope connected us to each other and went around the house in a circle. Each of us was trying to get out of the house, but we couldn't undo the rope. The windows were open and people we knew were coming in and out, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It seemed as if nobody noticed the ropes or the fact that we were trying to escape them. In fact, the people treated us as if we were supposed to be tied together and stuck in that house. When I asked for help, the answers I got were along the lines of either "I can't help you" or "this is your life".

The Daniel in the Bible was not only a guy who stood for something, but he had the wisdom to interpret dreams that nobody else understood. He trusted God and God used him to do great things. God even revealed secret things to Daniel. Through Daniel, God showed His wisdom to be greater than man's. After all, it is pretty foolish to stand with lions in a den overnight.

Often, standing for God makes us look foolish. It requires standing firm. It requires standing alone. It takes the courage of Daniel. It's a daring adventure and one where we often find ourselves losing. After all, Daniel lived in exile.

The first thing that I think of when it comes to daring is dreaming. Life rarely every turns out as we dream, but we dare to dream anyway. While standing firm is an act of courage, pursuing something greater takes the courage to risk. We may see the pursuit of our dreams as taking on great risk, but greater risk is found in losing it all by neglecting God's calling for our lives. Daniel trusted God at the risk of losing His life and God preserved him in spite of some very hungry lions in need of some fresh meat.

No matter what the odds, we have to take a stand. We must hold our ground or we will be carried away by the strings that bind us. There's really only one way to cut the cord. There's only one friend who can help. The only friend who can intervene in our lives and set us free is Jesus.

As Jesus sets us free, we then have the freedom to pursue our dreams and seek God's calling for our lives. Pursuing God's call is one where we must be willing to risk our lives for Him, just as Daniel did. I will examine this topic further in the near future.

For now, we must put our hope in Christ alone to cast off the strings that entangle us. He's already claimed the victory for us with His death and resurrection. It is in Him that we stand.

When our ideals and affections fall short of reality

JON — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:22:00 GMT

"God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:8 (NIV)

Last week, World Team held a Day of Prayer in the Warrington office to pray for the mission. As an introduction to the day, the first section featured the concept of family. The concept was meant to inspire unity based on the idea that a family sticks together through thick and thin. No matter how tough the road, family is always with you.

This was a particularly tough idea for me to deal with considering the struggles going on with my heart. We put on the facade that we have it all together, but rarely we do. Some days, holding it together requires all the energy we have. Other days, we just go through the motions.

I've been blessed. Between my parents and my in-laws, we're talking 60 years of marriage between them, and counting. I'll be married seven years come May. I have two beautiful young daughters. Yet, my heart grows restless. I find myself wanting more.

I see happily married couples and I want what they have. You see them doing everything together, standing by each other and operating as a unit. This is especially true in missions, where spouses play a key role in assisting each other in ministry. This dynamic is missing with Melody and I.

Now that I'm in my 30's, I see past mistakes catching up to me. I'm supposed to be done school by now. I should be established and working as a CPA. We should own our home. Melody shouldn't have to work. Yet, none of those things are in place. So, we operate as single parents to get by. It's everyone for themselves in my household.

What happens when life falls short of the ideals we hold to? The ideal of the American dream is so prevalent in our culture, but buoyed by real life examples that we see around us. Yet, the more I talk to people, the more I realize that life is not what it seems. My perception is based on what I saw from my parents as a kid, but I didn't see the whole story.

The whole story is that we are not perfect and life isn't either. We are not designed to be the objects of affection which rightfully belongs to God. That includes the institution of marriage itself. Submission to God is needed in order to uphold the ideal and align our focus in the right place. It is through honoring Him that marriage endures.

When I think back through the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament, the tendency to compare to other people caused great restlessness leading to straying from God. They saw that other nations had kings and they wanted a king to rule them instead of submitting to God as King (Deuteronomy 17, I Samuel 8). That's just one instance - the golden calf is another (Exodus 32).

As much as I hold out to the ideals that formed the basis of my upbringing, the only ideal that truly holds up is that of Jesus as Lord over all. The more I see my shortcomings and fallen expectations, the more I realize that the voids in my life are a result of looking to my own selfish desires instead of my fullness in Christ. He needs to be the object of my affection and the center of all I hold to. This is especially true in my marriage and my family. As the head of the house, it is my responsibility to reflect Christ to my wife and kids as well.

Reflecting Christ is a noble task, but one for which I feel woefully inept. For one, He is God. He also spoke in parables. Plus, He submitted His will to the Father and took on undeserved pain to the point of dying on a cross for the sins of others. That He was willing to do this while possessing the power to stop it doesn't fully register. As far as our understanding is concerned, Christ's death was a powerless act of humility done out of love. The power came for us in conquering death and rising from the dead.

For all of the pain inflicted on us in this life, Jesus is the only human being ever to truly not deserve a lick of it. He is perfect in every way. No bride is going to come close to the model of what Christ is to His church. Even when the church fails, Christ is there to redeem His people to Himself. The family of God is not united by human means, but by His faithfulness.

Life is full of disappointments, but I find myself fighting the tendency to look in the wrong places to fill the void. Only Christ can fill the voids in our hearts. When ideals fall short and the objects of our affections fail us, we need to turn them over to Christ.

He needs to be the Lord over everything in our lives, the object of our affections and the ideal for which we live. Serving Christ and living for Him does not mean that life is perfect, but it does mean that it is complete. His whole ministry was based on the fact that we fall short and need a Savior. He came to fill the void in our hearts. We must look to Him, even with our fallen expectations and broken ideals.

Living it up, working it out and keeping it real

JON — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:06:00 GMT

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10:10 (NIV)

This entry is going to be a little raw. I'm struggling. I'm buzzed. I'm wishing life were different. But it is what it is...and I've had my full of it! I've even had my full of myself - in the most base sense of understanding my own flaws and limitations.

An angel sent me this verse tonight as a missing link to my thinking lately. Jesus gives me life, but He is to return as a thief in the night. What are we to do but live life to the fullest?

I've been challenged to come off my platitudes and piety prose down to raw emotions. We have ideals that we hold dear, but it is through life experience that we embrace the heart of the matter. Our hearts yearns for love. And no greater love exists than the willingness to lay down life for friends (John 15:13). That God was willing to do this while we were still defiant towards Him still baffles me.

Our free will is bent towards rebellion. I can only describe it as a feeling of control. I'm a guy, so the need to be in control is paramount to our very identities. We are the protectors of our families and the people we love. Yet, God is active in our lives in a way that gives us the strength and wisdom to to actually choose Him were we have no control over things. Go figure.

There are a few things I don't wish any different. I've been sustained by God's grace and I wish for each of you to experience it for yourself. He's been sooo good to me, especially when I've strayed from Him. He's blessed me with two daughters who are the world to me. They hold me in such high esteem and I'm going to have a hard time letting go when they venture out on their own.

I've already got the proverbial shotgun loaded for when they start dating. I'm practicing my intimidation techniques. A dad has to protect his family and hunt for food. Let the boyfriends be the bait!

Yet, there is truth to the phrase, "What doesn't destroy us, makes us stronger." The thief attempts to destroy us, but we fight back. If we win, we are stronger. If we lose, then the thief wins and we are powerless.

The power in living life to the fullest lies in knowing the source of all power and life itself. We are prone to look to ourselves for this source, yet it is not of ourselves. Platitudes and piety aside, we must look to something greater than ourselves. As cliché as that sounds, it is much harder than it looks. That is because beyond ourselves, it all appears fuzzy and black.

How does knowing the source of all life help one live to the fullest? It is through faith that we can boldly live with confidence to seize the day. Everyday is a leap of faith. The first step is belief - our greatest and most difficult work. The thief doesn't believe in anything outside themselves. In the end, they end up robbing themselves of the fullness of life that comes from faith.

While faith is normally contrasted with works in religion thanks to Catholics and Protestants, they work together to accomplish salvation. Faith is the act of believing in what we do not see, which then enables us to produce works as evidence of what we believe. We cannot do anything without faith. If we only have faith in ourselves, then we accomplish very little and our works show the evidence of self-serving idol worship.

Yet again, we ask ourselves questions about the meaning of life to get to the core of why we live and move and have our being. I learned from a young age that man's purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A #1). That all sounds dandy, but how do we do that? Here's a few suggestions:

1. Marvel at His creation. Enjoying time in nature gives me a connected feeling with the Creator. Whether camping, star gazing, hiking, fishing, swimming at the beach, or even skydiving for you real adventurous types - the Lord of all speaks to us through what He has made (yes, even gravity). I particularly feel a sense of God's presence when I'm near the ocean or on a mountain.

2. Thank Him for everything good He gives us. See every blessing as from God. Count it. Appreciate all that you have. Matthew 6:25-34 has a great message for seeing the things of this life as from God. Faith in seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness enables us to count our blessings.

3. Pray. There are things we must leave up to God. Unfortunately, I tend to go to this only as a last resort. It sounds so easy in Matthew 7:7-8, but too often we find ourselves with Matthew 7:9-10. You mean I just have to ask God and He'll give it to me? Well, it can't be that easy. So much in life is not what we bargain for. What's missing?

4. Have peace. Philippians 4:6-7 holds the answer to our anxieties. It is the peace of God which must guard our hearts. This peace surpasses all understanding and human wisdom, but comes through Christ. He penetrated the power of sin and death on the cross and rose again where He is preparing a place for us. Our peace comes in knowing our final resting place. Even when the storms are raging and the road ahead is black, there's light at the end of the tunnel. That's where we'll meet Jesus face to face. He is the one who gives life so that we may have it to the full.

Bearing and sharing our burdens

JON — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:26:00 GMT

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." -I Corinthians 10:13 ( ESV)

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ...for each one should carry his own load." -Galatians 6:2,5 (NIV)

We all have burdens we carry. Some are more obvious than others and the degrees to which we share our burdens vary as well. The toughest burdens to bear are the ones that are ingrained into the very fabric of our beings.

A great friend once told me that "sometimes the burden we carry is the very thing that suffocates the spark." Taking this out of context, I'm going to use "the spark" to refer to life in general. Our burdens snuff out our zeal for life when the burden becomes too great or too difficult for us to handle.

If you're anything like me, then no doubt you've heard the phrase "you are your own worst enemy". This is because in struggling with sin and separation from God, we attempt to manage our burdens on our own. In cruel irony, the burden gets turned back around on us as we attempt to process it. As it turns out, the greatest burden we face is with ourselves and our fragile identities.

Our identity crisis is described aptly by Paul when he said, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." (Romans 7:15, NKJV) In our struggles with these earthen vessels, we must fight the desires of the flesh and renew our desire for God. Our identity is in Christ, our Savior. He redeemed us from lives without spark.

The first burden to snuff out the spark went all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam and he ate. They blamed the serpent for this, but the burden was upon them and all mankind. The result was separation from God.

Separation anxiety is a big burden to bear. When we do not feel close to the ones we love or the God who created us, we feel like we are facing our burdens alone. Loneliness points a finger back at us and makes us feel like we've become the burden itself. Without anybody sharing our burdens, we feel like we are a burden to others.

No one needs to face the burden alone. As people called to live for Christ, we have the greatest example before us. He carried our burdens to the cross. His death and resurrection made it possible for us to carry one another's burden. We can support one another through prayer, fellowship and sharing the fruits of the Spirit. In this way, we fulfill the law of Christ.

While the community of believers provides support in our time of need, we are still responsible to carry our own load. This is because of the measure of faith God gives each one of us. In carrying our burdens, we are called to take them to the cross. Even when we are powerless to conquer our burdens, God is faithful to provide grace and mercy in our time of need.

Each challenge we face tests our faith and strengthens us for service to Him. The temptation is to see our burdens as battles we must face by ourselves. While we do have to deal with the burdens, we can also set them aside and ignite the spark of why we live and move and have our being. Cling to Christ, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

My GPS is broken

JON — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:58:00 GMT

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" -Luke 9:24-25 (ESV)

I've never had the need for a GPS before. There are a few reasons for this. I'm known for going nowhere. I also like to get lost. I take that phrase quite literally. Although the two seem to be contradictory, they go hand-in-hand for me. I go nowhere and get lost right where I am. That's called "daydreaming."

A lot of my dreams have come true over the past few years. My two daughters are my inspiration. I found the job I was looking for at World Team. I finally got out of the cramped two bedroom apartment into a four bedroom three story house. Yet, I feel a lot of the time that I've settled for mediocre. It's a fear of the unknown that prevents me from stepping out in faith a lot of the time.

As I was taking my girls to Awana's tonight, Naomi said out of the blue "the moon is God." After making Naomi repeat it just in case my ears were deceiving me, I wanted to know who told her that. In her child-like innocence, she proclaimed "my teacher told me." Turned out that her "teacher" was another fellow 6-year old classmate.

Of course, Lydia hears this and responds, "God is not the moon because he's not shaped like a circle!" Earlier in the day, she woke up shouting "Daddy buddy!" about 10 times just to turn on a light that she can reach. I was at work and when my wife came to the rescue. Lydia responded "Not you! You say I'm a big girl, but Daddy is my buddy." Yeah, I'm a sucker for being the center of her universe.

Naomi has her sights set on the sky. Lydia has her sights set on her dad. It is my responsibility to set their eyes on Jesus. However, my parental instincts kick in and anxiety hits. Knowing the struggles I've gone through and how ill-prepared I've been to face them, how am I going to protect my girls from the evil one?

The GPS we can get for our cars is really nice and all, but don't we really need a GPS for life? I've tried to fabricate one myself, but it keeps defecting. The error I keep getting is, "STOP. You are lost. Return to Manufacturer." Then it shuts off.

Does anybody know how to fix this problem? I set my sights on pursuing my goals, focusing on the family as Dr. Dobson wants me to do, and building relationships of the people that I love. Yet, my goals hit bumps in the road and I'm so far behind on where I planned to be at 30 years old. My family is precious to me, but I find myself operating like a single parent most of the time and trying to juggle way too much. I fear I'm missing out on much more. The relationships I'm building are bittersweet because my heart breaks when I discover just how broken and hurt people are - just like me.

There's got to be a way around that error message. I'm a guy, so naturally I hate reading instructions. Since I can't figure it out, I root around for the manual. It reads "Holy Bible" on the cover and it's massive. You expect me to read all that?

I did a quick internet search for "lost" on BlueLetterBible.org and came to Luke 9:24-25. It appears we need to find ourselves first. And just like my broken GPS, it drives me back to the Manufacturer.

Through all that we face in this journey called life, we cling to the Creator and Sustainer of all things. For we were lost when He saw fit to send us His Son to redeem us from all sin. No matter where we try to set our GPS, He drives us back to Him crying for grace and mercy. May we not take our eyes off Jesus and what He's done for us.

A Modern-Day Tale of Two Cities

JON — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:48:00 GMT

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same." - Romans 13:1-3 (NKJV)

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." And so the classic Charles Dickens novel begins. These words, when I'm applied to our times, seem to resemble the disparity of political views in America as well. From "all hail King Obama" and "bring us Barack", to "Osama, Obama, let's call the whole thing off", America is at a pivotal point in history.

As President Obama encouraged Americas to gird up their loins, roll up their sleeves and renew their hope in the American dream, the call to personal responsibility and embracing change is what will unite us. As Christians, we must be sober-minded and recognize the challenge God is calling us to. We must be discerning. We must be faithful. We must be compassionate. We must be merciful. We must be convicting. We must be diligent. We must be disciplined. We must exude the fruits of the Spirit and minister to those in need. But we must not be complacent, for that's what we've become as a group. Perhaps it is the comfort of our freedoms and affluence of our culture that coddles our minds and hearts, making us soft.

I embrace the challenge, knowing that God is still in control of all things. My prayer is that God works through Barack Obama to bring about a revival of our churches, our nation and yes - world peace. I'm feeling like a Christian beauty pageant or something.

Two big things jumped out to me during the inauguration. The first one was in the presidential oath itself when chief justice Reinquist messed it up. He left out "faithfully" where it says, "I will faithfully execute." Obama recited, "I will execute." Then he paused because he knew it wasn't right. My first thought, with my overly hyperactive critical thinking brain, was that it was an intentional warning to his critics that if they got out of line, "I will execute." I thought to myself, "wow, he's already issued his first executive order, putting those who might assassinate him on notice." Turns out it was a simple matter of constitutional integrity relating to the presidential vow. In his first full day in office, he had a do-over on the vow to make sure the integrity of his presidency is upheld.

The other things to jump out to me was the benediction of the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a United Methodist considered the dean of the civil rights movement. His benediction rhymed and made use of the various colors of people's skin. In the song, Jesus loves the little children of the world, the chorus sings "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight." Yet, Rev. Lowery rhymed right with white - which didn't go over well with a lot of people I talked to. Then there's the riddle of colors to help remember which snakes are venomous and which ones are not. "Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, venom lack." How fitting that the benediction would cause me to call a riddle of snakes? They say Washington D.C. is full of them.

Lost in Translation: Girding up your loins

JON — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:29:47 GMT

"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest [your] hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." -I Peter 1:13 (NKJV)

"So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. " -I Peter 1:13 (The Message)

I can't stand the Message. I'm sorry, but I find it heretical. Case in point, I was contemplating one of Scriptures best phrases to gird up the loins of my mind. I found it here in 1 Peter 1 and decided to go see how it translated in The Message. That one got stuck in the bottle and still floating out at sea.

Let me translate it into "Jon's Message." Ready? "Grow some balls, get your $#!& together, and be ready for Jesus." Oh...whoops. That one might cause me to forfeit the PG-13 rating!

Alright, I confess that might be a little over the top and way too generalized. But aren't you sick and tired of the "golly, gee, shucks" tone of Christianity, as demonstrated though the Message? It's supposed to be the Bible, but sanitized for those on a very bland diet. I call it Bible baby formula. Like the lukewarm church of Laodicea in Revelations 3, I just want to spit it out. Give me solid food!

I'm pretty sure "gird up your loins" doesn't really translate to "roll up your sleeves." Back in the day, men were not wearing loin cloths like wristbands. No, girding up loins is essentially clothing the little man. In athletics, it would be like putting on the jock strap. In baseball, it is getting your cup situated. So, therefore, my modern day translation would be to grow a pair and get it together.

So, what does that mean mentally? If girding up the loins is an act of protecting the privates, then mentally we must protect the privates of our mind. I'm talking about the deep down personal thoughts that we don't share with one another.

How do we guard our minds, then? That is the part I loosely translated "be ready for Jesus." This means we need to rest our hope in his grace towards us. By resting in Him, our hearts reflect His revelation to us. That is a present reality as well as a future promise for when Christ returns in full glory.

It's a daily battle. You don't put on the protection to go sit in a chair and read a book. In protecting your inner most being, you are preparing for battle. The devil lies in wait, so we must be ready. If not, how can we go on living? The greatest battle we face is living for Him.

It's no wonder that the modern evangelical church would struggle with this verse. I look around and see emasculated men all around me. We are taught to believe we are inadequate as one of the devil's ploys against us. Instead of living for Him, we are sold the same lies that led to Adam and Eve eating that forbidden fruit. It's the same sad story - you can be like God on one hand, but you're not measuring up on the other.

Romans 6:23 says that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Outside of him, we ARE inadequate. However, He doesn't leave us there. How amazing that He would love us before we love Him! Thankfully, He is patient with us and He IS our protection! Nothing can penetrate His loving care.

So, whenever you feel like you're getting kicked in the balls, remember that our Savior was nailed to the cross. Christ girded up His loins for us to protect us from the Father's just wrath for our sin. The feeling of getting hit in the family jewels passes away. What Christ did on the cross enabled our sins to pass away forever.

BONUS: How do you gird up your loins today? [Marantha Baptist Bible College]

I'm Pro-Getting Rid of Your Guilt

JON — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:30:00 GMT

"For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you." - Psalms 86:5 (ESV)

Sunday's sermon at Maple Glen Church was entitled, "God's Supremacy Over All Life." With the installation of Barack Obama as President this week and the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on the 22nd, the topic was mostly about abortion and the pro-life movement. The evangelical leaders of the movement are growing weary over their 30-plus years responding to the nation's greatest cause for guilt.

I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the topic and hopefully draw some encouragement and perspective. There's a lot to be discouraged about. 1.2 million babies are being aborted every year in America - which amounts to more per day than the carnage of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. However, there is still reason for hope.

Speaking of hope, I did not read Barack Obama's book - the Audacity of Hope. To me, it means "daring to dream." After reading a review on Amazon, that seems like the general gist of what Obama was trying to tap into during the presidential campaign over the past year.

Of course, my argument for hope is not just the character of fortitude in pursuit of the American dream, but that those who cry to God will be heard, forgiven and loved. In fact, my reaction to the whole pro-life vs. pro-choice battle in America is simply, "Where's the love?" If there was any one issue that showed just how broken we are as human beings, it is this.

Yet, the Lord still reigns supreme over all of life. When we usurp his authority and rebel against God, then we are defying our purpose to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Submitting to His authority means every area of life, including life itself.

If He has authority over all of life, is he not capable of handling our guilt as well? There's a lot of guilt associated with the abortion issue. Of course, guilt also lies on the pro-life side.

The guilt of the pro-life side is "what are we doing about the problem?" and "are we doing enough?" The sermon outlined how we can do more with the acronym, M.O.R.E. That stood for sustained Mercy, sustained moral Outrage, sustained Repentance and sustained Example.

I thought the R really missed the mark. It surely identified the need for repentance, but focused more on the feelings of guilt in our churches and condemning our culture. The culture drives the abortion industry through idolatry, immorality and greed. Meanwhile, people are hurting physically, emotionally and spiritually. Instead of taking care of our responsibilities, abortion teaches people to avoid responsibility. I believe responsibility holds the key to repentance. We have a responsibility to nurture the life God begins, care for the children God gives us and teach others about the God of all creation. Knowledge of God and his authority of all of life should drive us to repentance.

Despite their claims, the pro-choice side doesn't elevate guilt either. No matter how much we say we can control our own destiny and have our independence, it is a vain pursuit. The pro-choice side only makes the matter worse.

However, if we are fully pro-life, then wives shouldn't take birth control pills. We should be trying to have as many babies as possible. There should be baby farm ministries attached to every evangelical church where Christians who can't have their own children can adopt other Christian babies.

Really, I am not a big fan of picketing, protesting or otherwise exercising public demonstrations for the cause. After all, isn't God supreme over this issue as well? Is it wrong of me to ask God to fix the problem that He's allowed to happen? I think deep down inside, we don't really believe our efforts are helping much. Yet, the numbers are down from 1.6 million American babies aborted a year to 1.2 million a year, so God must be working on it.

The message Christians need to take to the abortion issue is to drive people to the gospel. This is where our feelings of guilt are nailed to the cross and His righteousness is placed upon us. Then, our natural response is to repent of our sins and submit to His authority for our lives. His love for us can cover over a multitude of sins.

Small Group Saga: Of Prodigal Sons and Black Sheep

JON — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:46:00 GMT

"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put [it] on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on [his] feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill [it], and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry." -Luke 15:20-24 (NKJV)

Friday night was small groups at my brother Brian's house and I was in a reserved mood. I brought my girls in their PJs, being that we were guaranteed to stay past their bed time. I decided to wear a track suit. Think Ben Stiller in The Royal Tenenbaums, only mine was black.

As I pull up to the door, Brian greets me with "hey, what's up Tenenbaum?" "Hey, what's up. I made it," I say. I never saw that movie, was it any good? Brian says no. Mmm...is he insulting me? No, he says he likes the outfit. I tell him I'm ready to run laps.

We settle in to our "comfort zones" as best we can and enjoy a tasty dinner. My sister-in-law Sarah B can really cook, so it's funny to me that when something tastes "ok" to us, it's not good to her. I didn't hear her apologize for the food this time, so my palette wasn't fooling me - it was really good!

As the evening wore on, the post-food discussion turned to "how has the small group gatherings met our expectations?" I was never part of a small group before, so I saw it as an opportunity to grow our relationships and get to know each other. So far, my expectations were being met.

One of the talking points of our group is the fact that we were going nameless. Our first idea was to change our name every other week based on who was hosting the next meeting, but that wasn't received all too well. We ended up settling on the Black Sheep.

The name works. We were going nameless, for one. But the other fact is that we all were once lost in the LBC. No, I'm not talking Snoop Dogg's acronym for the Long Beach and Compton areas in southern California. I'm talking about Life Before Christ. That was before small groups too, by the way. I'll develop the whole LBC concept in future blogs, but for now I want to expound on the BS. Not that BS...Black Sheep, remember?

First off, it was significant to me that we took our name and one identifying as an outsider while meeting at my brother's house. Brian and I have been competing for the black sheep label for a long time in our family. I became the prodigal son after high school. At first, things were great while at Grove City College, but I was kicked out after my freshman year for poor grades. Over the next year or so, I spiraled into a severe depression and it wasn't until I met my future wife that I started to get my act together.

God still had a lot of work to do in me before I was fully trusting and relying on him though. The depression made me weak against the devil's temptations. The foundation of my relationship with Melody was more about self-esteem and personal affection and less about Christ. The odd part about that is that Christ does supply all of our needs, including self-esteem and personal affection. However, we were living for ourselves instead of living for Christ.

Thankfully, He was working His purposes through us to draw us to Himself. Through stripping away all our barriers and forcing us to confess our sins, we repented of our sinful ways and sought the love and support of our family and friends. God used it to convict our hearts, realign our focus on Him as the center of our relationship, and also blessed us with the birth of our firstborn - Naomi Ann.

As I really think about it, I've got Brian beat on the black sheep label as well. Brian is a great guy. I don't know what he's done to deserve the outsider label in our family. We are very different people in a lot of ways. He's musical, mechanical, and skinny, while I'm into sports (used to be athletic too), intellectual and fat. He has a factory job working with his hands (not in a dirty kind of way, of course). I have an office job working with my brain. Not that I don't use my hands - I type on the computer - or he doesn't use his brain (he troubleshoots machines). No, I think Brian really got the black sheep label from our grandparents when they thought he was gay. All he really did was hit puberty and have a sense of humor about it.

Perhaps it is mostly a personality trait that gives Brian his black sheep persona. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. Brian's always been his own person and not one to go with the status quo. I respect him greatly for that. However, I respect him even more knowing that he places his acceptance in Christ. Not having to please everyone to get into heaven is a great relief because it's an impossible task to begin with.

I'm not sure if any of you remember this song, but there was a rap song in the early 90's by a group that called themselves "Black Sheep". The song is called "The Choice is Yours." The chorus incessantly repeats, "You can get with this; you can get with that." I'm not sure if it's really talking about drugs, two men fighting over one woman or it's talking about the gospel. I'm pretty sure it's not the last one, but I can apply it to the gospel knowing that the free will He gives us means it is our responsibility to choose wisely who we will follow. Here's the Black Sheep video (WARNING: don't click on it if you hate rap):

The more I thought about it, it suddenly came to me - we, as Christians, are considered as black sheep in this world. We are the outsiders. Christ warned His followers that just as the world did not receive Him, we shouldn't expect to be accepted either. However, our acceptance comes in knowing Him and the fact that He is preparing a place for us in heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. The Lord of Creation reigns over all.

As the core of the discussion went on, I think what we confirmed is the need to be more attentive to one another and to pray for each other. After doing the popcorn prayer thing, we started to the trickle out the door. With almost everybody gone, I went to the basement with Brian and Jon Morris came down for some good ol' fashioned video games. After messing around with some Atari-type action, we finally settled in with some Playstation car racing game. It was like being a kid again. We didn't leave until 12:30.

Thankfully, we did make it home safe and sound. I went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly. There was no need to count any sheep, but we can take comfort in the fact that God is watching us and knows us by name. That includes the members of the Black Sheep Small Group. We should get tattoos.

Welcome to Jon's Jots

JON — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:39:13 GMT

Hello, my friends. I'm glad you are here. I have many thoughts that normally are kept to myself. But now, for the low, low price of your two eyeballs, I've decided to start sharing them with you. In turn, you will get to know me better and I hope to return that favor to you. There are two ways I plan to do that - getting to know you better and hopefully, in the process, amusing you along the way.

I am amazed at how many wonderful people God put me in contact with and placed around me on this journey called life. I'm finally starting to learn how to appreciate others. Sorry, Mom...it's still a work in progress (hence, the STARTING to learn part...I just don't want you to be too soft, but I love you very much). Still, I feel a sense of peace and love for the people around me and for that, I am very grateful. So, to you reading this - thank you!

It is because of God's goodness that I can even share thoughts and make them vaguely coherent. Through humor and wit, I attempt to make sense of things as best I can. Sometimes, it's a bit out there. Other times, I think I'm on to something.

Through all the noise, I'm trying to quiet myself for the moments of instruction. This is where I attend to my primary responsibility - teaching my children about God and the meaning of life in a way that makes them happy to leave the house in the morning for school. It's about enjoying God forever with the fellowship of His people.

Ok, so I've named humor and wit as tools I use. I can also get sappy and sentimental. When I'm confused, I search for a sports analogy. I love games - they sharpen my mind. I tend to approach things in a logical manner. I've never been much of a relationship kind of guy, but turning 30 was a bit of a wake up call. I was isolating myself and needed to get out of my shell and out of my comfort zone. I sense the Spirit's work in me and I'm open to where he leads me. Of course, we can say that very easily, but following through on it is another matter.

Well, this should give you enough food for thought at the moment...but I promise that my posts will be much more focused than this vanilla pudding. Trust me - I have no radio in my car. That is my precious me, myself and I time where I can meditate and reflect on what God is teaching me. I look forward to having you along for the ride.

-JON