Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. The move took a little more out of me than I planned. But now we're finally settling. There is an odd reverse in gender roles, since Mandy goes to work everyday, and I'm staying home, doing the dishes and the laundry, and usually the one to cook supper (and no, that does not mean we eat McDonald's every night!!).
Interestingly enough, with Father's Day coming up so close, it's made me think about the subject of manhood. Technically, when you look at the traditional gender roles, one could say that I should feel my masculinity threatened by the situation. I'm not out working a 40/week job trying to provide for the family. Granted, I still get a teacher paycheck through August, but still. I wake up between 8 and 9 everyday, run errands, do chores, and whatever else comes to mind. Meanwhile, my wife is at work all day most of the week, learning new procedures for her hospital and taking care of people so she can bring home a paycheck.
But you know, oddly enough, I don't feel threatened at all. I realize that this is where God has for us now. He wants Mandy to pursue her ministry in the medical field, and He wants me to pursue my education at Seminary. And, as I'm sure most of you have heard, Seminary is a job in and of itself. So, as long as I'm doing what God has called me to do, then no, I'm not ducking on any responsibility.
Now this isn't an excuse for idleness. If I spent the entire day watching ThunderCats reruns and playing Freedom Force or Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and my wife came home to dirty laundry, dishes, and a hungry husband expecting dinner to be cooked, then yes, my masculinity should feel threatened. Because then I would not be providing for my wife in the way that God wants me to.
The day will be coming when Mandy will stay home with the kids (not to worry, they are still a long way off), and I'll be the one out and about providing for my family. That season will come, but for now, in this season, my place is to learn, to support my wife through acts of service, and leave the financial security to her and God.
So, until God calls me to do otherwise, I'll be the "happy homemaker husband."
Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.
Keep Soaring,
B
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Is it cheesy....or is it truth?
My friend Sean recently purchased a copy of Freedom Force for me. Basically, its a video game detailing the adventures of heroes born from exposure to Energy X. Together they must stop an alien invasion from destroying Earth. The plot is very much like a post World-War II Captain America comic book. The heroes are completely good, the villains are completely evil, and there is no mistaking who is on what side.
Most people today see that kind of story and groan. Some of us start twitching from memories of Adam West and Burt Ward running around with bad theme music and sounds effect words flashing on the screen. Today we want our villains to be sympathetic and our heroes to be flawed. We enjoy seeing the story of a villain who could have been a good guy except for this one incident. Or a hero who could have been a bad guy except for this one good trait he has. That's why movies like Ocean's Eleven and The Fast and the Furious hit the screen big. That's why Stan Lee was able to make the success that he did. We want to be able to relate to the characters.
But sometimes I wonder if that isn't a commentary on how the world has turned out. Could it be the reason that we like a flawed hero is because it makes us feel better about ourselves? If the hero of an epic battle has a few vices, then aren't we allowed to have ours? And could it be that the sympathetic villain, if we can feel sorry for his circumstances, gives us hope in the thought that maybe our darker side isn't that bad after all? Do we enjoy graying the edges between black and white because it makes us comfortable in straddling the line when it comes to following Christ?
Don't get me wrong. We need to be understanding of each other in our struggles. A man struggling with homosexuality is not the scum of the earth; he is a man struggling with a particular sin, just like the "little white" liar and the "window shopping" adulterer. We all are struggling with things in our hearts that keep us from the perfection that we were meant to be. And it would be wrong of us to stand in judgment of our brothers and sisters in Christ when we ourselves have flaws to deal with. But that doesn't change the fact the sins we struggle with are sins.
To keep with the hero/villain motif, Frodo in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings felt the pull and temptation of the One ring, and he therefore pitied Gollum. He saw in himself the propensity to become what Gollum had, and because of that passed on several opportunites to kill him. But in the end, the murdering and stealing and lying that Gollum did to obtain the ring was still wrong, and his own sinfulness led to his death.
I've always been a big believer in "love the sinner and hate the sin." But I think sometimes in our efforts to love the sinner we forget that the sin is still evil. 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Christ is not a flawed hero, and Satan is not a sympathetic villain. Christ is complete and total perfection and holiness, and anything less than that is by definition evil. So while we are to love each other as much as we love ourselves, that does not mean to condone the evil that we do. We don't judge, but we do hold each other accountable. Sin is evil, evil enough it required Christ to die for us to be rid of it. Let us not cheapen His sacrifice by graying the edges of what is right and wrong.
So, the next time an old re-run of Batman comes on, instead of immediately flipping to the next station, I challenge you to take some time to watch it, and remember what it was like for good and evil to be clearly defined. Because that is how God views the world, and hence that is how we as His children should view it as well.
Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.
Keep Soaring,
B
Most people today see that kind of story and groan. Some of us start twitching from memories of Adam West and Burt Ward running around with bad theme music and sounds effect words flashing on the screen. Today we want our villains to be sympathetic and our heroes to be flawed. We enjoy seeing the story of a villain who could have been a good guy except for this one incident. Or a hero who could have been a bad guy except for this one good trait he has. That's why movies like Ocean's Eleven and The Fast and the Furious hit the screen big. That's why Stan Lee was able to make the success that he did. We want to be able to relate to the characters.
But sometimes I wonder if that isn't a commentary on how the world has turned out. Could it be the reason that we like a flawed hero is because it makes us feel better about ourselves? If the hero of an epic battle has a few vices, then aren't we allowed to have ours? And could it be that the sympathetic villain, if we can feel sorry for his circumstances, gives us hope in the thought that maybe our darker side isn't that bad after all? Do we enjoy graying the edges between black and white because it makes us comfortable in straddling the line when it comes to following Christ?
Don't get me wrong. We need to be understanding of each other in our struggles. A man struggling with homosexuality is not the scum of the earth; he is a man struggling with a particular sin, just like the "little white" liar and the "window shopping" adulterer. We all are struggling with things in our hearts that keep us from the perfection that we were meant to be. And it would be wrong of us to stand in judgment of our brothers and sisters in Christ when we ourselves have flaws to deal with. But that doesn't change the fact the sins we struggle with are sins.
To keep with the hero/villain motif, Frodo in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings felt the pull and temptation of the One ring, and he therefore pitied Gollum. He saw in himself the propensity to become what Gollum had, and because of that passed on several opportunites to kill him. But in the end, the murdering and stealing and lying that Gollum did to obtain the ring was still wrong, and his own sinfulness led to his death.
I've always been a big believer in "love the sinner and hate the sin." But I think sometimes in our efforts to love the sinner we forget that the sin is still evil. 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Christ is not a flawed hero, and Satan is not a sympathetic villain. Christ is complete and total perfection and holiness, and anything less than that is by definition evil. So while we are to love each other as much as we love ourselves, that does not mean to condone the evil that we do. We don't judge, but we do hold each other accountable. Sin is evil, evil enough it required Christ to die for us to be rid of it. Let us not cheapen His sacrifice by graying the edges of what is right and wrong.
So, the next time an old re-run of Batman comes on, instead of immediately flipping to the next station, I challenge you to take some time to watch it, and remember what it was like for good and evil to be clearly defined. Because that is how God views the world, and hence that is how we as His children should view it as well.
Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.
Keep Soaring,
B
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Real Danger....
We had a little excitement at my apartment last night....
We're getting ready to move to Fort Worth, TX, in a couple of weeks, and my mother-in-law came over last night to help us pack. She and Mandy took some garbage to the dumpster, and while they were down there they noticed a group of young men. The group seemed to be in the middle of an argument (Mrs. Debbie said she heard "mf" a few times). So they decided to hurriedly return. Mandy nonchalantly mentions as they walk back in the apartment, "I think there's going to be a fight." Not more than two seconds later, two gunshots are heard in the parking lot. I look out the window to see this group of young men scatter like scared mice. Several of them are jumping in cars and speeding out of the parking lot. I call 911 and tell the police what happened. They send a couple of officers to interview the complex, and thankfully, within a few hours, they make several arrests. (Thanks, Brit, for the info.)
I knew the severity of the situation--there was a gun shoot out in our parking lot, not 50 yards from where we lived. I understood that it was a big deal. But it didn't really affect me. I mean, after all, they weren't shooting at me or Mandy or Mrs. Debbie. We weren't even involved in whatever those men were arguing about. So why worry?
Then I got some more info this morning.
Apparently, one of those two gunshots I heard went through a bedroom window and, thanks be to God, passed OVER a sleeping child and lodged a bullet into the wall. It was the window to Apartment 44.
We live in Apartment 45.
Suddenly the entire situation came into focus. That weren't shooting at us specifically, but they were shooting in our direction. There were no injuries last night, so apparently the shooter had bad aim. But if his aim were to the left instead of the right, it would have entered my window, where I, or worse yet my wife, could have been standing. Suddenly I see the entire situation in a new light. God didn't just let us experiene the sound of a gunshot. He rescued us from that gunshot.
I think a great many of us view the sin in our lives much like I viewed the gunshot at first. Yes, sin is a bad thing, and we really don't need to give in to it. But all in all, it's not that big of a deal, and besides, we don't give in to it THAT much. We just need Jesus to help us out every now and then and we're fine.
Wrong. Romans says, "The wages of sin is DEATH..."--Romans 6:23, emphasis mine. Sin is not some minor error that needs to be corrected, or some small problem that needs a solution. To God, it is the very thing that seperates us from Him. It is the poison that destroyed our eternal peace in the garden. It is the driving force behind the wars and rage that we see on the news every day. It is the enemy steals children's innocence and creates fatherless homes. Sin is a force to be reckoned with, one that we cannot possibly overcome by ourselves.
So, when Jesus died on the cross, He did more than just give us a boost in the right direction. He put us in a place where we could attain something that on our own we could never even dream of attaining--righteousness. We were completely lost without His sacrifice, depraved and condmened to eternal punishment. But by grace through faith in Him, we can experience the eternal bliss of God's presence.
I know for a fact some great mind has already said this, so I will paraphrase and tip my hat to whomever he may be. Our perspective of how powerful Christ is is directly proportional to our perspective of the severity of our sin. If we think sin is really no big deal, then to us, Christ is really no big deal. But if we understand just how serious sin is, then we better understand just how much Jesus did for us on that cross.
Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.
Keep Soaring,
B
We're getting ready to move to Fort Worth, TX, in a couple of weeks, and my mother-in-law came over last night to help us pack. She and Mandy took some garbage to the dumpster, and while they were down there they noticed a group of young men. The group seemed to be in the middle of an argument (Mrs. Debbie said she heard "mf" a few times). So they decided to hurriedly return. Mandy nonchalantly mentions as they walk back in the apartment, "I think there's going to be a fight." Not more than two seconds later, two gunshots are heard in the parking lot. I look out the window to see this group of young men scatter like scared mice. Several of them are jumping in cars and speeding out of the parking lot. I call 911 and tell the police what happened. They send a couple of officers to interview the complex, and thankfully, within a few hours, they make several arrests. (Thanks, Brit, for the info.)
I knew the severity of the situation--there was a gun shoot out in our parking lot, not 50 yards from where we lived. I understood that it was a big deal. But it didn't really affect me. I mean, after all, they weren't shooting at me or Mandy or Mrs. Debbie. We weren't even involved in whatever those men were arguing about. So why worry?
Then I got some more info this morning.
Apparently, one of those two gunshots I heard went through a bedroom window and, thanks be to God, passed OVER a sleeping child and lodged a bullet into the wall. It was the window to Apartment 44.
We live in Apartment 45.
Suddenly the entire situation came into focus. That weren't shooting at us specifically, but they were shooting in our direction. There were no injuries last night, so apparently the shooter had bad aim. But if his aim were to the left instead of the right, it would have entered my window, where I, or worse yet my wife, could have been standing. Suddenly I see the entire situation in a new light. God didn't just let us experiene the sound of a gunshot. He rescued us from that gunshot.
I think a great many of us view the sin in our lives much like I viewed the gunshot at first. Yes, sin is a bad thing, and we really don't need to give in to it. But all in all, it's not that big of a deal, and besides, we don't give in to it THAT much. We just need Jesus to help us out every now and then and we're fine.
Wrong. Romans says, "The wages of sin is DEATH..."--Romans 6:23, emphasis mine. Sin is not some minor error that needs to be corrected, or some small problem that needs a solution. To God, it is the very thing that seperates us from Him. It is the poison that destroyed our eternal peace in the garden. It is the driving force behind the wars and rage that we see on the news every day. It is the enemy steals children's innocence and creates fatherless homes. Sin is a force to be reckoned with, one that we cannot possibly overcome by ourselves.
So, when Jesus died on the cross, He did more than just give us a boost in the right direction. He put us in a place where we could attain something that on our own we could never even dream of attaining--righteousness. We were completely lost without His sacrifice, depraved and condmened to eternal punishment. But by grace through faith in Him, we can experience the eternal bliss of God's presence.
I know for a fact some great mind has already said this, so I will paraphrase and tip my hat to whomever he may be. Our perspective of how powerful Christ is is directly proportional to our perspective of the severity of our sin. If we think sin is really no big deal, then to us, Christ is really no big deal. But if we understand just how serious sin is, then we better understand just how much Jesus did for us on that cross.
Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.
Keep Soaring,
B
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