place of nathan.

My wife Emily and I like to eat ice cream. It’s a nice treat for us. Last year, we stopped by Zesto Ice Cream in Auburn, and enjoyed our ice cream cones. Zesto is our favorite place to ice cream because it’s so creamy and smooth.

After we finished that ice cream cone, we decided to eat another cone as a race–to see who could eat their cone quickest. But since I’m a cheapskate, I decided we should race to a McDonalds cone.
We got our McDonalds cones, both took a large lick/bite/gulp, and both went, ‘Gross!’

The McDonalds cone was so grainy.

I have had a McDonalds cone probably 10 times in my life. I’ve never minded the texture before, but on this particular day, I did. I hated the texture. The McDonalds cone was always okay with me previously, but now that I had a taste of what real ice cream could taste like, the McDonalds cone was no longer enjoyed as much.

This got me thinking–often our walk with God entered the same place. After we have had a particularly great God experience, we try to go back to what we used to do, and it just isn’t the same any more. Once we’ve experienced what could be, we have a hard time settling for less.

If I could find an ice cream shop serving ice cream better than Zesto, I would switch. So the question is, am I looking for a better ice cream shop, or am i happy where I am?

Am I happy where my walk with God is, or am i looking and searching for more?

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I just upgrade my blog to the newest version of WordPress, 2.2.1, released just a few hours ago. There were some security fixes, so i thought it was important to get it upgraded quickly.

That got me thinking: Do we ever need to ‘upgrade’ our walk with God? Will the things I did in my relationship with God when i was six get me by today? are the spiritual disciplines i practiced when i was ten sufficient and enough for me today and when i’m 70? Or are there logical next steps–upgrades, if you will–to my walk with God?

I think it is important to note at this point, the older things are important–note WordPress 2.2.1 didn’t change everything–it just tweaked things. It adds to the old, not replaces the old with new.

What have you found? Do you need an intermittent upgrade?

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Have you ever noticed some people like to communicate via E-mail (or Instant Messaging), and others don’t?

There are even some people who i E-mail to communicate with, and they always only call me back–never E-mail back.
There are other people who if you leave a voice mail to call you back, they will send you an E-mail instead.

That got me thinking–people like to communicate on their own terms. Which, made me wonder, do we communicate to God on our terms? And the bigger question–do we want God to only communicate back to us on our terms?

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Several years ago, I was at a town board meeting, where the board voted to raise rates some 70% over three years. One woman, who had well-water incoming, but town sewer, was not happy. Here is one thing she said:

My water is much more pure than the water you add things to make it pure.

I actually laughed out loud when she said that. They both used the same source, but one added things to reduce toxins. The other didn’t add anything. Which one was more pure?

(This line EDITed for clarity:)One’s perception of purity is relative.

I think often our walk with Christ is like that–Christians have a tendency to judge other Christians (who use the same source) against themselves.

What do you think about that statement?

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What does John 17:15 tell us about the church’s role in culture? Anything we can learn here?

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (ESV)

if you wonder who ‘they’ refers to, it is found in John 17:6, “The people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” (ESV, read whole context here)

Should the church be a separate sub-culture or not?

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So, the rumor is true–I am back running again.
Several years ago, I was putting in 70-80 miles running every week. Last week, I approached 15 miles. It hurts getting back in the swing of things. my feet hurt. My knees ache. my muscles want to stop. my lungs are tight.
About nine years ago I had a body fat percentage of less than 4%. Today, my body mass index is just barely still in the ‘normal’ category.

Since I started running again a few weeks ago, I have kept a close eye on my weight. The first couple days, no change. Then, I gained a pound. Soon after, I gained another pound.
What? I have been eating better than ever, drinking loads of water, and exercising, and I’m gaining? It was frustrating, and I must say, the thought crossed my mind to throw in the towel and quit running.

And then early last week, I lost one of the pounds I had put on. Then two days later, i lost the other, so I’m back where I started.

Then it hit me–I think this is a lot like our walk with God. Sometimes when we get out the habit of something we were once very good at (like, reading the Bible or talking with God), it’s very hard to get back into it. Sure, the idea of it sounds great, but in practice, it’s very hard to actually do. We may not see any results at first–we may even see ourselves going backwards…
Life Lesson #42: If we press on toward the mark, we can attain our goal, even though it might hurt in the short-run.

Have you ever noticed something similar in your own life? Maybe something in your own spiritual journey, or some physical habit you have?

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So i’ve really been working on getting in shape the past few weeks. It’s not as easy as i wish it was…i’ve lost about ten pounds in three weeks, and that’s a good thing, but it’s not the most simple thing, it’s hard, and it’s continual hard work.

Just today Perry Noble wrote a wonderful blog entry about abuse. Does food abuse constitute abuse, or is it only alcohol which can be abused? Check out Perry’s blog here, and be sure to let me know your thoughts on this.

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Yesterday i posted about learning from my mistakes. Today i wanted to take that a step further.

I see my walk with Christ as a lot of small, mid-course corrections. I know where i’m trying to get to (be perfect, never sin, exactly as Jesus himself is), but i’m far from attaining that goal. Try as i might, i still mess up. But every time i mess up, i hopefully learn from my mistake and can take steps to correct. If I am being convicted of driving 60 mph in a 40 mph zone, the correction is to go 40. Even 59 is better than 60. Once i can go 59, maybe i could go 58…
Small corrections. A large correction is to go 40. That’s okay too, but in some instances, that may be impractical, or a big step–so 59 is better than 60. (i also might add here that going 20 in a 40 is just bull-headed and you’re going to tick off a TON of people and probably have a lot of people wave to you with one finger. (and yes, that was a joke, so lighten up!))
Small, constant, consistent course corrections. The problem comes when i refuse to make any adjustment at all–when i refuse to get better and only want to do 60. That is a problem. I’ll never attain my goal if i refuse to make adjustments to get closer to the goal.

So, rhetorical question: what small steps are you taking toward being more Christ-like today?

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Shortly after the Madrid train bombings of March 2004, Bono and French music journalist Michka Assayas had a series of conversations. Here is a selected excerpt:

Assayas: I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that?
Bono: Yes, I think that’s normal. It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.
Assayas: I haven’t heard you talk about that.
Bono: I really believe we’ve moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace…You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics–in physical laws–every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
Assayas: I’d be interested to hear that.
Bono: That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s - - -. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.
Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.
Bono: But i love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled…It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.
Assayas: That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world’s great thinkers. But Son of God, isn’t that far-fetched?
Bono: No, it’s not far-fetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we’ve been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had “King of the Jews” on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that’s farfetched …
…
Bono: If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s - - - and everybody else’s. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that’s the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.

what are thoughts on Bono’s thoughts?

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In a recent interview with Relevant Magazine, Eugene Peterson was asked: “How big of an ego-kick was it to hear that Bono was quoting you on U2’s Elevation tour? He quoted your version of Psalm 116 to introduce the song “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

Eugene Peterson’s response:

I have to confess that when my students told me that this was happening, I had to ask, ‘Who’s Bono?’ They were astounded because this was the biggest thing that had happened to them. I have since come to realize that he is a person who uses his celebrity status in a committed, compassionate, socially Christian way. We don’t have many people like that. A lot of celebrities do benefits. That’s not what he’s doing. He has a broad strategy for AIDS and does his best to involve world leaders. He’s not afraid of the word Jesus.

Your thoughts?

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Recently, ABC News ran a story on speaking in tongues.

What was really interesting is that they did a CT scan, looking at brain activity while praying in tongues and compared the scan to a scan while praying in English or listening to gospel music.
They found that while praying in tongues, the person’s frontal lobe became very inactive, meaning whatever they were saying was not controlled by their thoughts. In an English prayer, the frontal lobe is very active, as ones level of concentration increases.

one of the scientists, Dr. Andrew Newberg concluded:
“When they are actually engaged in this whole very intense spiritual practice � their frontal lobes tend to go down in activity. � It is very consistent with the kind of experience they have, because they say that they’re not in charge. [They say] it’s the voice of God, it’s the spirit of God that is moving through them,”

one of the participants (who got the CT scan done), Gerry Stoltzfoos, said:
“I don’t think faith has anything to be afraid of from science. Science validates faith, so bring it on, whatever the facts are, bring it on.”

I thought this was an interesting little story. take a read.
There are some discussions about the story here.

what’s your take on this?

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