Offline

It’s been nearly two years since I last wrote a post for this blog. The traffic it generates doesn’t seem to have changed at all. Go figure. I stopped writing when the goals I had in mind when I began were fulfilled. I wanted to clearly lay out what I believe are the essentials of Christian faith, in a way that cuts through the forest of ill-informed messages out in the world, and testify to my own experience that bears it out. All in all, I didn’t really have much else left to say. But that’s not really why I stopped. I stopped writing when my personal life became so painful that I lost my sense of things ever getting better.

I believe in the eternal hope we have in Christ. I’d like to think life won’t always hurt so deeply, but I can’t point to a promise God made about that. I think of Jesus telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus died in the street. It was irrelevant to his eternal destiny, but certainly painful for him in this world. I’ve experienced more than half of my life at this point. God has done some amazing things for me, but allowed some pretty awful stuff too. Gut punches. Things I don’t understand and don’t expect to understand. God doesn’t explain himself.

The best I’ve got right now is the will to bow to God’s sovereignty and endure the things I cannot change. I’m sure there’s a truckload of advice out there, but its not advice I need. Suffering is suffering. If you’ve got it, you live with it. You do what you can can about the things you can, but the rest is just fate. In my current position, I don’t have the inner strength to lead spiritual discussion.

If inspiration hits me, I’ll be back here writing about it. For now, I think its just a time for me to pause and listen for directions.  🙂

UPDATE: August 31, 2016 – Well, it’s three years later. My how time flies. Things are better than they were when I wrote this last post. I was deeply grieved by a situation my children were living in when they weren’t with me. God finally gave grace to relieve that. He also delivered me from severe financial troubles. There’s still some deep spiritual issues that I have to contend with. In time, maybe I’ll receive relieve from those too.

2012 Predictions

Well, another year has passed. Like 2010, none of my 2011 Predictions came to fruition. One of these days, I’ll get one right. 😉

Here are my predictions for 2012:

1. NASA’s next rover Curiosity will become self-aware before reaching Mars and discover it has a knack for puns and knock knock jokes, much to the chagrin of scientists.

2. The Apple TV will be released, however, all programming must meet Apple’s rigorous media guidelines and be delivered through their new Media Store.

3. The U.S. will hold a second election in December 2012 after no one is satisfied with the results of the November election.

4. The sun will finally shine in that place where it doesn’t.

5. Camel racing will be introduced at the 2012 summer olympic games in London.

6. Iran will figure out how to fully control the drone they captured, only to have it destroyed on take-off by the Stuxnet virus.

7. To go with pizza as a vegetable, the U.S. Congress will declare beer a serving of grains.

8. Ignoring complaints by Canadians, Canada will officially be named the 51st state.

9. Someone will invent a tape dispenser that only requires one hand to use.

10. Peter Jackson will begin post Hobbit work on King Kong 2.

I sure hope number 9 happens.

Happy New Year!

The Night That Changed The World

So here we are… the night before Christmas. In a few minutes, it’ll be after midnight here in California, Christmas day 2011.

People all over the world find joy in giving at Christmas. It’s a wonderful thing. In my family, we exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. That tradition started when I was maybe 12 or so. We enjoyed it so much, it transferred to my own family and kids. We’ve never done Santa. I don’t object to Santa, we just have a whole other tradition. I’ve asked my kids if they feel like we should have done Santa. Getting to open presents on Christmas Eve makes their answers an universal “No.” 🙂

There is really something special about the time after opening presents is done. It’s like we now focus on the night ahead leading towards Christmas morning, as if this was the actual night of Jesus birth before the dawn. It’s beautiful. We can picture the angels off in the distance appearing to the shepherds and singing, “Peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

It’s hard to imagine a world without Christmas. I’m glad I don’t have to. Some do. That’s not for me. Even a non-believing Jewish friend told me, “I’m a Christmas Jew.” He appreciates the meaning, even if he hasn’t come to believe God actually did come into the world that night so long ago.

Christmas is still breathtaking to me in its beauty, aside from the commercialism and such. Just a quiet night, lights, love, and hope. Nothing else like it. Though Easter is the greater victory, it comes with the Good Friday reminder before it. It makes me wish the gift in Jesus didn’t require his death for my sin. At Christmas, there’s no pain. It’s just the joyous celebration of God’s love. Emmanuel. God here, with us. That’s so comforting. Some day it will be other way. Us there, with God.

It’s Christmas

Sharing Christ Series

Sharing Christ

I wrote a serious of posts on Sharing Christ, created while leading a class based on the book Becoming A Contagious Christian (BACC) by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg. The class was very beneficial to myself and those attending. It’s a great book and I tried to write posts that helped apply the points raised.  The book is not required to follow. They stand on their own.

This is a complete listing of the series for those who are interested.

1. Costs and Benefits
2. Salt and Light
3. Get Real
4. Compassion
5. Give It Up
6. Get Personal
7. Step Out of the Box
8. Find Your Voice
9. Speak Up
10. Make It Clear
11. Overcoming Objections