Glorious Mud

I had a conversation with a friend last night about the use of "the five love languages."  If you are not familiar with the love language model, it is actually a very helpful model of how to understand the way those we love give and receive love - and how that differs from us.  It comes from a book by Dr. Gary Chapman called The Five Love Languages and I highly recommend it if you haven't read it. I can vouch that the model helped me love my wife better.  I am a words of affirmation and touch guy.  So I value Lauren's praise and her touch.  Lauren on the other hand is a works of service person.  She shows love by doing small acts of kindness or helpfulness - and she feels loved when I reciprocate. The tension here is obvious. In our early days so of marriage, I would walk up to Lauren and say oh-so-smoothly, "Hey, baby, you look good in that outfit" while laying my hands on her in an affirming way.  I sure liked it when Lauren did that to me - so sure

This headline came across Twitter today from The Onion: Child Slavery Gives Area Activist Something To Do With Her Evenings It made me laugh and grimace at the same time.  I guess that is the point of The Onion's sarcastic pseudo-journalism.  It makes us laugh at ourselves and wince at the same time. So - let's put this on the table.  Some people (myself included) have at times used other people's suffering as a way to add meaning to our boring lives.  Activism can be a wonderful distraction from our meaningless and painfully boring lives.  Who hasn't felt the siren call - You can be important!  You can make a difference!  You can win friends and influence people! Of course it doesn't have to be child slavery - though that is obviously a hot topic these days.  It could be anything we think is important, something that can bring positive social change: abortion, christian education, urban renewal, urban education, renewable energy, AIDS or debt in third world c

Sodomy.  Now there is a great word.  Just saying it makes your mouth feel dirty. Most people only have a vague idea what the word means.  Its origin lies in the Bible - and it means "behaving like someone who is from the city of Sodom."  The city of Sodom is well-known because it was fried by God in a shower of fire and brimstone.  But that isn't why the word is still in our vocabulary today. In Genesis 19, there is an account of a group of men from Sodom who attempt to gang rape some angels who come to visit a guy named Lot, one of God's servants.  As a result, the word has come down to us referring to a number of different deviant sexual behaviors.  While this word has come to be used very little in the general public, it is still widely used by two groups: lawyers and religious fundamentalists.  The former use it to describe a collection of sexual crimes.  The latter use it to demean and offend homosexuals. The irony is that the same people that spit that w

As I mentioned in previous posts, I have been working my way slowly through the Old Testament book of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel's job as a prophet was to act as a wake up call to God's people.  They had become spiritually blind and deaf - unable to discern God's voice or his purposes - because they had cultivated a rebellious spirit against God (Ezekiel 12:2).  They replaced God with idols, but still claimed to follow God.  As a result, God was bringing a cleansing judgment on the nation that would act like a chlorine shock to a pool that has turned green - it would purge the slime and restore the good.  But, like any extreme measure of correction, it wasn't going to be pleasant. In chapter 13 and 14, Ezekiel is charged to publicly challenge the leaders in the nation who were deceiving the people and themselves.  He has harsh words for the elders who secretly worship idols and then publicly seek out the prophets to hear from God.  He has harsh words for the prophets who cater

So, I turned 41 today.  So here are 41 thoughts on this auspicious occasion (in no particular order). 1. I am a time traveler, but I can only go forward. 2. My children bring me more joy than anyone outside of my wife. 3. I wish I had gotten my masters in English instead of Education. 4. I love God.  I love the gospel.  I love his church.  I can't help it.  He loved me first. 5. The church is like a family.  Full of joy, promise, and dysfunction. 6. I miss California - especially the Pacific Ocean and the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 7. I am thankful for Emmaus Bible College, Tom Dean, the Plymouth Brethren, and the Journey. 8. The most revolutionary thing about The Journey isn't new or unique to The Journey: it is the gospel. 9. Jesus was my substitute in death so that I can be his brother in life. This one thing has made my life worth living. 10. I can be a jerk.  I can be selfish.  I can be anything that is bad because I am more broken and sinf

I posted this on one of my older blogs and it generated some new conversation lately, so I thought I would repost it here (with a little editing). The article isn't brand new, but the link is still active and so is the conversation. The USA Today ran an article about how our nation's youth see Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical. Here is an excerpt: "The vast majority of non-Christians — 91% — said Christianity had an anti-gay image, followed by 87% who said it was judgmental and 85% who said it was hypocritical. Such views were held by smaller percentages of the active churchgoers, but the faith still did not fare well: 80% agreed with the anti-gay label, 52% said Christianity is judgmental, and 47% declared it hypocritical. Kinnaman said one of the biggest surprises for researchers was the extent to which respondents — one in four non-Christians — said that modern-day Christianity was no longer like Jesus." The full article can be viewed