10% (or two and half bags of sugar)

I just went to my latest weight watcher's meeting. I got a cute little gold key-chain because I have officially lost 10% of my body weight. For me that translates into 23.4lbs. I am now currently the lightest I have been since high school. my goal is to lose at least another 40 pound by the end of the year. If I reach that weight, it will be the skinniets I have been since Jr. High school.

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How Far Would You Go For Love

A New England Pastor has taken in an convicted child killer that has recently been released from prison after serving more than 30 years in prison. People have threatened to burn his house down. The neighbors have set up a tent across the street to monitor the convict's movements, and the cops have an hourly drive-by of the residence.

Is this what Jesus called us to do? Is this over the top. Is this showing love to somebody who doesn't deserve it? follow the think, read the article, and watch the video. Please leave a comment. I am curious as to what you think!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7102901

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Wild At Heart Chapter 2

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In Chapter 2, Eldredge makes that case that God is "wild at heart". He believes that most men have a warped idea of who Jesus is and was. People get their attitude of Jesus based on how their father was, the kind of pictures we always see of Jesus, and what the church tells us that Jesus was like. Eldredge says that most people end with the vision of Jesus being "Mister Rogers with a beard". We are told to be nice, be swell, and be like Mother Theresa. He makes the statement that he would rather be told to be like William Wallace from Braveheart.

I would argue that both characters where strong in their own right. William Wallace was strong in his stance against the English. Mother Theresa was strong in her determination to rescue the poor in Calcutta. I truly don't picture Mother Theresa very mild. But I guess I see Eldredge's point. I just would have chose somebody besides Mother Theresa to compare side by side with William Wallace.

Eldredge goes on to state that God has a battle to fight, and adventure to have, and a beauty to win. I think the premise is quite clear that God definitely has a battle to fight (or better said battle that has been fought), and a beauty to win (his bride the church). I am a little tepid to accept the adventure part though.

Mr. Eldredge says that since God created the world and since most of the world is dangerous and wild, then it obviously means that God prefers "adventure, danger, risk, and the element of surprise". I would argue that the world could have been much more tame and not as wild before the fall. Perhaps some of the traits we see around us-danger, risk, etc are products of the fall.

In the garden we have a world that is perfect. We have a world based on God's commands, God's love, and one on one communion with God. Was there death in the Garden before the fall? Was there a need for carnivores to be carnivores? Was there a need for danger until the serpent entered? I really don't have definite answers for that but it seems that if Eldredge's premise is a perhaps a bit skued on this point.

Now having said all this, I do believe that we have white washed the power and judgement of God. He is a lot more wild than we give him credit for. I agree that we associate Jesus with someone of the character of Mister Rogers. But he was much more. He was not timid. He was not mild all the time. God was not "nice" in the OT. God says he is a jealous God. He is righteous. He can be angry. Eldredge uses a quote from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The beaver is talking to the children. The children ask the Beaver if Aslan is safe. Mr. Beaver's response is...

"Safe? Who said anything about being safe? Of course he isn't safe. but he's good."

And that is how it is with our Lord. If we think he is safe, we are sorely mistaken. But he is good.

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A Word to My LDS Friends

Yesterday, I posted a blog regarding the controversy between the HBO show "Big Love" and some members of the LDS church. Since then, I received some comments concerning why I felt the need to post such a message to my blog.

As most of you know, I am not of the LDS religion, but I live in a community that has a higher per capita percentage of Mormons than Salt Lake City. I have lived here the majority of my life. As such, I cannot help but to be fascinated and intrigued on any news I hear concerning the church. This news bit was seen on ABC's Good Morning America yesterday and I found it quite interesting that first, ABC felt the need to report on it, and second that some members of the LDS church were so upset. Now, since I am not LDS I cannot fully appreciate the significance of the Endowment Ceremony (or most temple ceremonies for that matter). But I do find it interesting that it has to be secretive.

Just as most of you know that I am not a Mormon, you also know that I am a born-again Christian (worse yet, I have theology and pastoral training). This means that we have very big theological differences. BUT, I consider my friendship with each and every one of you more important than any differences we may have. I believe Jesus has given us a higher calling to love each other. He never called us to argue doctrinal differences, but he admonished us over and over again to love each other. I am a work in progress full of faults and problems. I ask each of you to give me the grace I need to work out my salvation and become more and more like my Lord every day.

On a side note, I would love to have conversations with you in private via email if you would like. This blog, facebook, or any other public forum is not the place to have this conversation.

If you have any comments or opinions on this or any other posts on my blog or facebook, please let me know! I would love to hear what you think.

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Latter Day Saints Mad at HBO

It seems that members of the LDS church are mad at HBO's depiction of their Endowment ceremony on TV. The Endowment ceremony is one of the most sacred (and secret) temple practices that the Mormon's have. Here is the link to the news bit on Good Morning America this morning.

http://abcnews.go.com/gma

click on the link and scrool down through the videos. It will be close to the end.

Also here is HBO's apology to the LDS church.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7059130&page=1

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Pharisees Be Warned! We Can Now Dance on the Sabbath!

The Idaho Falls chief of police wants to repeal a ban on dancing on the Sabbath in places that serve alcohol. The ban has been in place for 84 years. It doesn't really matter though, because bars that are not attached to restaurants are still closed on Sundays because of another ban of selling hard liquor on the Sabbath. The chief also stated that no one has been charged for dancing on Sundays in many years. Whew! That's good to know.

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These guys are pretty funny. It is kind of a Saturday Night Live thing. But from more of a conservative viewpoint.

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Wild at Heart Review: Chapter 1

Again I am by no means a writer. But I will do my best to critique this book and whether or not I think it is worth reading. Since I am taking my time to devour each chapter, I shall try to review the book one chapter at a time.

Chapter 1 Wild at Heart

Eldredge begins his book by saying that "Eve was created within the lush beauty of Eden's garden. Adam, if you'll remember, was created outside the garden, in the wilderness." This statement in and of itself is true. But the premise that Eldredge is trying to draw from it is a bit obtuse. He makes the claim that because Adam was created in the "wilderness" his heart longs to get back there. This has a complete disregard of the fact that the garden was created for Adam, not Eve. Who knows how many years, centuries, or even mellenia, Adam and Eve lived there happily. If Adam was wanting back out into the "wilderness" why didn't he try harder before the fall. Why was it a significant punishment to be cast out of the garden? To say that Adam did not want to be in the garden because he longed for the adventure is to say that Adam did not want or even desire to be with God (which is what the garden was).

Eldredge's thesis for this book is that every man has three desires...A battle to win, an adventure to have, and a beauty to rescue. I have to say that these sound intriguing to me and I am excited to see what he is talking about. Mr. Eldredge does have some good points. He makes the case that the modern church has been so influenced by feminism, that we have emasculated our men. How can the church expect to live up to it's full potential if we are so confused about gender roles? We are confusing what it means to have Christ like traits with what it means to be a woman.

Some of the negative reviews I read about this book complained that it was sexist. One in particular was quite negative and complained about Eldredge wanting the medieval chivalry back. I would argue that maybe we need a little chivalry in this day and age. We need men who are not afraid (or lazy) to open the door for a woman (or anyone for that matter). We need men who know their place in the family structure and are willing to impart what it means to be a man to their sons. We need men who are not afraid to treat their daughters differently than they do their sons.

I am not sure how far Eldredge will take this issue. Will he promote men going up into the wilderness and practicing the "primal scream"? Does he promote working on cars, going to monster truck rallies and banging heads in a football game? He has already laid the premise that we as men want adventure. I concur. But what kind of adventure is he talking about and at what expense?

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Wild At Heart

I purchased a copy of the book Wild at Heart last night at my local Barnes & Noble.  The book has been around for many years and has fans and detractors.  Both are seething in their approach to the book.

I have no idea what I will think of the book once I am finished.  I do plan on approaching it with and open mind.  I also plan on looking up every passage of scripture quoted in the book to make sure it was not taken out of context.  I live in an area where major religions have done that same error to promote their beliefs. I am a skeptic about everything I read, and this will be no exception.

On the other hand, I do need to find out what my identity as a man is supposed to be.  My physical role models have been few and far between.  Since there was no man in my life as a child, I have no preconceived notions of what it means to be a man (neither negative or positive).  So I do pray that God will show me the role that he has for me in my marriage and with my relationship with my children. 

I will keep a running journal on my blog on each chapter to let you know what I think of the book and any personal thoughts the book may be prompting me to consider.

Blessings

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