Would You Be A Disiple?

I’ve often wondered if I would’ve been a disciple if I lived in the time of Christ. Have you ever thought the same. If Peter could do it so could I. Right? Peter was a total mess, and Matthew was a crooked IRS agent. 

When I really think about it I’m not sure I could do it. I’ve got bills to pay, and a family to provide for. Jesus was a homeless, crazy, nut job bum, faith healer. I could see it now. 

Hey honey. Let’s sell everything and live out of the minivan so we can follow God across the country. There’s no salary, but Jesus offers free healthcare. We’ll live on love and handouts. If we ever get sick Jesus can just heal us. If either of us came home to ask the other to hop on that bus…. Yeah! Make sure you collect enough begging to pay child support. 

Other than the obvious ludicrous mindset one would have to have it sounds awesome. So awesome that 12 people on the planet Signed up. 

I can’t say that I would’ve been the 13th disiple. I sound more like the rich young ruler. I’ve been thinking and praying though. I want the courage to be ready when I hear the call “follow me “. God is probably going to ask you live in a van down by the river, but it’s quite possible it will be much more than you bargained for. 

The Mediocrity/Justification Principle

There is a cosmological theory know as the mediocrity principle. It basically states that the earth is insignificant. It’s in an insignificant place in the galaxy. It’s in an insignificant place in the universe, and we’re insignificant along with it. If fact, we’re random. Quite lucky even to exist at all.

It turns out this principle permeates through life as well as science. It even seeps into the church by the way of apathy towards sin. I’m not making any judgements here. Thinking about this brings thoughts of my own sin to the surface of my mind. We can sometimes treat sin like stages of grief. We get angry, make deals, but ultimately concluded that’s just the way we are. However, unlike real grief, acceptance is not what we should strive for. The bible gives us examples of the Jews going back and forth from obeying God to turning their backs on Him.  To the point that a fifth stage is needed. The justification stage/principle.

The justification principle states we now have a right to sin. Some might say they have a civil right to… Maybe it’s a natural right. I don’t have to harp on topics like abortion or sexual orientation. There is a much broader list we often forget.

• Addictions- We mistreat our bodies in such a severity we cause ourselves diseases. Then we use that disease as justification for our behavior.
• Selfishness- We mistreat others and justify our behavior because we’ve been mistreated.
• Hatred-
• Pride-
• Fear-

You get the point. Laziness. My brain hurts.

We can’t allow the principle of mediocrity to find it’s way into of lives. Scripture says. God knew who were before time began. God doesn’t do mediocre. Paul pleads with some who have strayed to repent, and give up giving in to sin. (Sorry, layered  that one on a little thick) You aren’t random. You have a unique purpose.  Good purpose. God give passion is within you to reach out, grab it, and never let go.

I pray you do just that. Reach out. Train. Learn. Pursue. “Never give up. Never Surrender.”

 

I’m Not A Trump Fan… But…

Be aware spell check was unavailable at the time of this posting. Sorrie 

Look… I’m not coming out as a Trump supporter, but his candidacy has revealed many problems with our current political system. It seems we daily learn new and inventive ways our leaders have devised to keep the people out of the political process. 

I believe the current electoral process for our general election is the best we can come up with. If we didn’t have it, three or four states could dictate what happens to the rest of the country. As a former east coaster I’ve had many people ask what is there to do in kansas? Why can’t you use public transportation like we do? What is cow tipping? And so forth. Well, we do the same things in Kansas as you do in New York. As for the rest… That’s for another post.

After the layers of minutiae are stripped away we find a complex set of rules set up by political parties to allow them, and not necessarily the people to choose the candidates. We then apparently have politicians who have no chance of winning making deals to stop the front runner from winning as well. Now enters Donald Trump. 

With the other two candidates practically eliminated they choose two try and stop the other Donald Trump from winning as well. I don’t like it. I don’t care if it’s been done before.  Usurping the will of the people is not the way to resolve it. It sounds like a case of two sore losers trying to make a last ditch effort to win something that isn’t theirs.

You might disagree. You might feel as if the party is saving the people from their own stupidity. You might be right. However, what happens when your “candidate ” comes along and your party does the same to you? Ask all the Bernie Sanders supporters how they feel about super delegates. 

WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING “SONIC”

This is possibly my first of many “What in the world were you thinking” posts. This one is for Sonic good fast food, original items, but what in the world were you thinking giving my two children poker chips as coupons? Hey @sonic. Not the best original idea you’ve had. Still love you. Just sayin. What in the world were you thinking?

My Spoiler Alert Review of Batman VS Superman

Disappointing! Disappointing is actually an understatement. I apologize first to all the people who put hard work into making this movie. I also apologize to all the DC Universe fans who have to watch this movie so the next ones will make sense. Lastly, I apologize to Jesse Eisenberg who will take the biggest brunt of the criticism for his role as Lex Luthor. 

I’m sorry Jesse but you can’t be Lex Luthor. Your version of Lex was a mix between a high functioning crazy cat lady and Gollum from The Lord of the Rings series. 

Ben Afleck scores a 6.5 in my book.

Henry Cavill 6.3

Gal Gadot 8.0

The dream sequences -3.5 

Jeremy Irons 7.6 Could have been higher with better directing.

Zack Snyder gets a solid 1.0. I hope it was just because of interface from the studio.

Christian Hijackers

Unless you attend a church were they still bust out a hymnal and an organ every Sunday you’ve heard at least one of the Uncreated One songs. It appears that all the good titles have been claimed already, and we’re recycling all of the best ones from the past. Who knows, maybe one of David’s lost tracks has the same name. It’s a little too much for me that we do it at the same time. Hey church… Let’s be a little creative. One family asks another at Sunday lunch, “Which First Baptist, or Community Church do you attend. I’m not saying you have to go crazy. First Jesus Christ Superstar Community Church, or The Intergalactic Curch of the Trinity might be a little much. I just think a little creativity never hurts. Now ther is a place for hijacking.

Since its inception Christians have been hijacking and “Christianizing” various things. Songs, holidays, pagan festivals, and puny gods. I think it’s a great idea. Paul did it. Solomon told us there’s nothing new under the sun. Why try and recreate the wheel. So go for it. Take something the world has called its own and claim it for Christ. Do it today.

The Hardest Part

The hardest part of writing is writing. Sounds odd. You have all these ideas, but for me they come in tidbits. Like a chorus to a song with any verses. You start in one direction and end up going a completely different direction. At least I’ve learned to be flexible with titling my posts. I’m pretty sure I’ve hit the nail on the head with this one.

Actually, this post has to be the fastest one I’ve ever written. Maybe because… I don’t really know why. I might just st have to sit down with a therapist and let him ask me to tell him more about that. 

Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned about writing over the years. 

1. Don’t try to be perfect. Perfection can be an enemy of getting the job done at all.
2. Don’t think to much. Start with an idea and let it roll. If you end up on a rabbit trail maybe you should be writing about the trail instead.
3. The road less traveled is not actually about taking the road less traveled. (Threw an extra one in for your troubles.)

Write well my friends.

Out Of Context

We live in a world of sound bites (many edited for dramatic effect), partial quotes (with great pictures), bible promises (without the principle), and so on.

I recently read a C. S. Lewis quote on Facebook that just didn’t sit right with me. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, has a distinct style of writing. When I read the quote it sounded like him but something was missing. Turns out a lot was missing. About 90% of the quote.

This is what was quoted.

  

This is what what he actually said.

“It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers will bring us to Him. When it becomes really necessary (i.e. for our spiritual life, not for controversy or curiosity) to know whether a particular passage is rightly translated or is Myth (but of course Myth specially chosen by God from among countless Myths to carry a spiritual truth) or history, we shall no doubt be guided to the right answer. But we must not use the Bible (our ancestors too often did) as a sort of Encyclopedia out of which texts (isolated from their context and read without attention to the whole nature and purport of the books in which they occur) can be taken for use as weapons.”

I’m not trying to argue the validity of his argument. Just stating that you can’t believe everything you read, everything that’s quoted, everything that’s preached, every sound byte, or second hand story. I know this makes sense. We all believe it. We just fall victim time to time when we hear a great sounding little snippet that touches our heart.

My point. Simple. Check it out. The entire quote actually makes a lot more biblical sense. 

I don’t usually write posts like the so I hope it helps you in some way.

I’m Back

I’m back and posting. After a long hiatus (I did have to look that one up) it’s time again to share my thoughts. When I first started writing a friend who has published several books and won several awards told me something like this. Write for you. Don’t worry if anyone reads it. So that’s what I did. The intention is to continue that path this time as well.

It’s said everyone needs a hobby. This is mine. A way to express my feelings, solve the world’s problems, and make my brain hurt a little. Even this short post is making it hurt a lot after taking so long of a break.

If you’re reading I hope you enjoy. If no one is reading I’m still enjoying myself.

 

 

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Common Core: The Good, The Bad, and The Reality

Many of the reasons I dislike Common Core from a teacher point of view. I’m surprised the Common Core police haven’t arrested her. Too bad Common Core doesn’t make common sense.

mrsmomblog

Last year, I wrote the post “How Common Core is Slowly Changing My Child.”  It struck a nerve with parents and teachers across the country as we all were adjusting to the new Common Core State Standards. I wrote it on a night where everything went wrong and homework was a nightmare for my then third grade son. That day had also been particularly difficult at work as I had begun to teach the first common core module unit to my ninth graders. After the kids went to bed, I wrote. By morning, the response was overwhelming. Two weeks later, I still had parents commenting on the change they had seen in their children due to school.

A year later, almost to the date, the post is making its way onto people’s newsfeed again and I’m getting the same comments from concerned parents and teachers.  It’s been a…

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