Duke's walk with Jesus

The flamingos were out and close to us on our recent trip to the LA Zoo.

These pictures have not been cropped or edited.

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I have ideas come into my mind constantly and if I do not write them down, they leave just as quickly. I do not know if this is how everyone is? I assume that some people's minds work like this and others' do not. I think it is how God has made me, and I should try to develop it, but I find that the discipline necessary is often lacking. I could not be less time oriented and tend to procrstinate. This blog is an attempt, as I have previously noted, to develop discipline and to record what God puts in my mind. I was thinking about the most significant way that Jesus met me this week , but before recording that I wanted to note a few other thoughts in order to relieve my mind of the burden of trying to remember them.
* I think a great idea for a book, and one I would love to write, but which I assume has already been done, is a book about the beginning of different things. I find that more often than not these stories are fascinating. What was the origin of Silly Puddy? I have heard that Federal Express was someone's senior thesis and his professors told him it was a pipedream that would never work. Is that true? Toys, clothes, companies, cities,... So many fascinating stories are out there, I am sure.
* I have seend a few excellent movies this year that I would recommend on the grounds that they deal with faith in more or less sophisticated manner. I found them all worth watching and would recommend most of them.
-The Exorcism of Emily Rose- based on a true story. Sort of a horror film. Not for kids. Deals with a priest who is accused of murder when a girl died after an attempted exorcism he performed. The movie tells the story through the testimony in the trial. Some parts are very difficult to watch, but the filmmakers do a good job of keeping the audience in the dark as to whether she was really possessed or not. It is told from a Catholic perspective.
-The Spitfire Grill- This is about one girl paying a high price for redemption while working in a restaurant in a small community. Not for children.
-To End All Wars- Maybe the most powerful movie I have ever seen. Based on a true story. Set in a WWII Japanese prisoner of war camp. What happens when the prisoners attempt to literally live out the teachings of Jesus- love enemies, turn to the other cheek,... I was weeping. Not for children.
-Facing the Giants- Family movie. Theme of spiritual revival taking place around a Christian high school football team. This movie was made by a church in Georgia, but it is done professionally. Our family really enjoyed it and the gospel is powerfully presented.
-The Last Sin Eater- not for kids. From the Francine Rivers novel of the same name. Based on a real practice brought over by the Welsh and Scottish a couple of centuries ago. A community elects a "sin eater" who takes on the sins of people once they die. How does the truth of the original sin eater enter and transform this community.
-One Night with the King- the story of Esther. Not for kids. This was much better than I expected. They do a good job of filling in the blanks. Probably not true to history but good nonetheless.
-Luther- Well done biographical film of the great reformer.
-A Christmas Carol- The one starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. He is excellent. We watch this every year at Christmas, and I am moved to tears each time. Powerful reality. Not for kids.
* I was struck in reading the Old Testament book of Amos this week by comparing the judgments pronounced on pagan nations with those on Judah and Israel. Those who did not have the scriptures angered God and were to be judged but for different sins than the Israelites. I need to study this more deeply.
* I was also struck today while reading an article on partnership in EMQ to look at partnership as a journey in which the process and relationship is as important as the goal the partnership is trying to accomplish. It is not that I had not seen this before but rather that I saw it afresh today and was challenged as we head to Turkey to see potential partnerships more in this light. This goes against general western thinking as I understand it and have been taught but it speaks to my heart in a motivating and challenging way. I need to dig into this more deeply as well. This takes the questions from "What will we accomplish?"; "Are they ready?" and so forth to "What does God want to do in us (in our character) through our relationship together?" and "What does God want to teach me as we mutually submit in this situation?"
* I had my interview last Tuesday for the university. They told me they would let me know in a week. I have since found my mind constantly battling different directions of thought- mostly unhealthy- in regards to hearing from the admissions office. I have been taking thoughts captive, but what is it that is bothering me? What if I don't get accepted? What if I do? What will I say if I don't? What does it say about me? What did I do wrong? What does it say about me if I do? and so forth. All these thoughts going on in my head while life goes on around me and everyone else oblivious to this. And I'm oblivious to those same kinds of thoughts going on in everyone else's mind. So focusing on this keeps me from loving my neighbor as God calls me to. I am stuck in this inner battle and being self-focused in the process. But I can not just stop thinking it. I find that I need to stop and find the lies I am believing and deal with them and replace them with God's truth. This process may bring out deeper issues that require deeper healing. I need to do that. Once that is done I am free to love those around me. Of course I can not do this for everything in my head but I can recognize what is happening and learn to deal with it and learn how to focus outwards by God's grace even when it is happening. This is what I think God is calling me to do through shining His light on these processes.
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And now to the original intent of the blog- What was the most significant (or at least a significant) way in which Jesus met me this week?
I had a few ideas but one hit me today, and I will mention that. Laurie and I were arguing on the way to church. I made some bad decisions and when confronted did not respond very penitently, to say the least. We were having it out on the way to church. (I repented to the kids and Laurie on the way home from church.) So we get out of the car and put on our Sunday faces and go to the service. We are in the worship center singing songs, and I am still not right with God, and I am sort of mouthing the words and looking around to see who is there and most of the people around me seem to be mouthing the words as well, but then my eye catches one lady whose arms are outstretched, eyes closed, and a look of peace and joy on her face singing with all her heart. I was cut to the quick and stopped singing and repented. I was surprised how powerfully I was affected by that woman's actions. For me her worshipful posture was the loudest sermon at church today. How gracious and kind is Jesus to bring me to repentance so gently.

We went to the zoo last week, and I took a bunch of pictures. A few turned out decent. You never know when you go to the zoo what will happen. When we walked by these rams they started going at it and I caught a good sequence. I was about 50 yards away and used a 300 zoom lens. I took these three shots right in a row- probably 1 second total.

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I have finally finished writing comments on most of the books I have read in the last few months. I find this a helpful exercise.

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Audio:

This story follows Deadline and includes some of the same characters. However, instead of focusing on newspaper politics, this time Alcorn turns his attention to race relations. As always he paints a winsome picture of eternity as well. A mother and two children are killed in a drive-by shooting and Ollie (sp?) is on the case. With the help of the murdered woman's brother the case unfolds to find corrupt politicians in cahoots with local gangsters. Through it all God works to turn all things for good. Alcorn is not going to win the Nobel prize, but I do find his books encouraging and educational.

Go to the following link to find these on the Desiring God website (desiringgod.org). Actually, this is a great website to check out if you have not been. Dr. John Piper makes everything he has done available and it is all worth reading and listening to. I think he is one of the best preachers in the world today and will definitely go down in history as a great man of God passionate for Jesus.

The first link above is to the 2006 Pastor's Conference which was titled, "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World". There are 8 or 9 talks available and they are all worth hearing. The talk by Tim Keller is especially good, I think.

The second link above is for the NPR interview Dr. Piper did after the tsunami in 2003. Anyone who has wondered about earthquakes and tsunamis and other natural disasters and a sovereign God and questions that arise should listen to it. The interviewer had done a series of interviews with a Buddhist monk, a Hindu, a Jewish Rabbi, a Muslim, and then with Dr. Piper. His answers blow her away. The best part of it is listening to her respond to his answers. She is speechless; clearly she has never heard anything like what he says, and she is awed. She keeps saying, "That's amazing." You get the feeling she is ready to repent and come to Jesus. I have listened to it a few times.

If you like Dekker, this is another weird, creative, disturbing, Jesus-loving story. The setting is Paradise, CO, a small town in the Rockies. Nearby, hidden away sits a monastery with a hidden secret. What happens when evil enters Paradise disguised as good. Only one boy knows the truth, but what can he do? What will it take to end the madness? How does freewill fit in the equation? Can God really work good out of evil? What can bring redemption? Dekker brings it all together in a way that makes the gospel real again. Would I make the same choice the key character made? I hope I would.

This is a must read for everyone who wants to live in community. Bonhoeffer experienced deep suffering and solitude in his quest to stop the Nazis. Here he writes of Christian community, what makes it so special and what can ruin it. He clearly has experienced the joy and pain of living in community as well as the terrible loneliness of being without community. He recognizes what a gift it is, and reminds us who take so much for granted how petty our squabbles are and how love truly does overlook a multitude of sins. He is not preachy but challenging and convicting and definitely inspiring and winsome as are so many who have lived through the fires of discipleship and experienced God's grace in them.

This is a good parenting book. The idea is that kid's need to take responsibility for their lives. They learn that when parents set appropriate boundaries and stick to them. One key factor is coming up with appropriate consequences. The parent who spends lots of time nagging, yelling, losing control, and generally doing what their kids should be doing [not that I read this book for those reasons : )] will find this book helpful. An example they use would be something like having your child clean their room. You tell them what to do and make sure it is clear and then make sure the consequences of not doing it are clear and then stick to it. The average parent says, "clean your room." They say it a bunch of times. It does not get done. Finally the parent yells at the kids about how they don't do anything and are lazy and then cleans the room themselves. Instead of cleaning the room you can insert any number of things. Cloud and Townsend's boundaries prevent the parent from falling into that trap. If the child does not clean her room then she can't go play (or whatever it may be). She does not clean her room so the parent calmly and with empathy (very important) states that she suffers the consequences. The child gets upset and throws a tantrum and so forth, but the issue is the boundary, not the parent. The child is learning to deal with reality. This will transfer as the child matures. They list the 10 laws boundaries as they expound on this topic. I find that the idea works well when there are natural consequences, but is much more difficult when there are not. I also wish they would have better spelled how it relates to age. Often I found it unclear which age group they were speaking about in their examples. But overall I found it to be good material. The main issue I have with books like this is that if I could do what they say, I would not need the book. They give knowledge, but that does not always help. I feel like I need someone to come and live with me and walk me through what I should do as they see the opportunities arise.

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Print:

Medearis, who has lived in the Middle East for many years, has tried to put together a "Basics on Islam" book for those who want to learn about Islam and Muslims with the goal of sharing the love of Jesus with them. He gives information and then includes ways of responding or approaching Muslims with that knowledge. He shares God's love for Muslims and it comes out in the book. Unfortunately, the book published before being edited well. Although it does not contain any factual errors that I am aware of, it does have many grammatical and formatting mistakes making it more difficult to read then it should be. I also wished he had included more personal stories in the book as he has some amazing stories of his time traveling throughout the Middle East and sharing his life with the Muslim peoples he encountered.

There is a reason the classics are categorized as such. I originally started reading this 900+ page book from the desire to understand Central Asian peoples better by reading the same literature they have all read. My need to understand Central Asians has diminished, but I am glad I read AK nonetheless. It is a story of sin and redemption, hope and despair, love and lust, city and country, innocence and deception, sincerity and show, as well as societal pressures, reputation, class issues, and more. I especially appreciated Tolstoy's description of Levin and Kitty's conflict. When Levin argued with Kitty he felt like he was hurting himself. He describes the idea that the two have become one in a very poignant and powerful way.

This is a very simple book with short chapters covering topics such as Profit, Employment, Ownership, Productivity, Money, Commercial Transactions, Inequality of Possessions, Competition, and Borrowing & Lending, written from the perspective that, although these things can be used for evil, they are not, in fact, evil in themselves and can be used to glorify God. What he says seems obvious, but would be hotly contested in many circles. I found it very encouraging and helpful in terms of setting some basic foundational concepts in place as I consider going to business school and entering into a more overt world of business in a foreign country.

I enjoy books that try to describe how the world works, which is why I read this book. Being an economist, Levitt looks at the world from an "incentive perspective". He believes that everyone acts based on the incentives before them. If you can figure out the incentives you can predict behavior. Just listing his intriguing chapter titles should be enough to pique interest in those who care about these things:

1. What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common? This chapter is about cheating.

2. How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? This chapter is about the power of information.

3. Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms? This chapter shows how conventional wisdom is usually wrong.

4. Where Have All the Criminals Gone? Among other things he tries to make the case that the precipitous drop in the crime rate in the mid-1990's was due to abortion. He says that most of the young black men who would have been committing crimes were aborted. Note: He does not make the case that this was a good trade-off, but rather just tries to state what he thinks is true.

5. What Makes a Perfect Parent? In my opinion this title is a bit deceiving as I disagree with the categories he uses to define the perfect parent. He is constrained by factors that are measureable, but many of the keys to good parenting are not measureable. Nonetheless, what he says is thought provoking.

6. Perfect Parenting, Part II - In this chapter they look at children's names with special attention to the relationship between name, race, and class level.The book made me think about or rethink some of the assumptions I have about "how things work". I found it entertaining, challenging, and inspiring.

I read this with a friend. Rob Bell is founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Michigan, a church that grew to 10,000 in four years. God spoke to me in significant ways through some of Bell's thoughts. I found myself disagreeing with a good bit of what he says, but I do not think he is heretical, which I have heard some say. He has some amazing insight into the culture and geography or Jesus' time and place. He has done a tremendous amount of reading and it shows in the insights he gives. He clearly has a heart to reach the lost of his generation with the love of Jesus in a relational, non-"churchy" philosophy of ministry. My guess is that his writing will look different in 20 years when he has experienced more of the brokenness that comes with following Jesus. The main problem I had with the book is that he was critical of so much around him while it took him 100 pages to note that he has ever made a mistake.

A Palestinian Christian who experienced awful treatment at the hands of the Jews entering Israel after WWII is seeking to be a peacemaker between Palestinians and Jews. This is basically a biography of his life and how God called him to the life of a peacemaker. A major lesson was that if we do not forgive those who mistreat us, we will become like them. This is a good book for anyone who has not read anything positive about the Palestinians or who automatically thinks 'terrorist' when the word Palestinian is spoken.