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TGIF

When I said, “Oh, today’s Friday”, my son reminded me that in the summer every day is Friday, or Saturday. That is so true. The days just sort of melt into each other. Thankfully this summer is going by slowly. It’s still a month before we go back to school.

There have been some interesting thoughts floating around the blogosphere lately:

Todd Hiestand wonders where to start.

The Thinklings are encouraging.

Element in Nashville is doing something really cool.

Tall Skinny Kiwi has some advice for anyone visiting Europe.

Brother Maynard has a list of 100 books.

John Armstrong weighs in on the pluralism debate.

Bob Hyatt has a good post on touch.

Molly has stripped things down to the bare bones.

We went to downtown Rock Hill tonight to watch a movie on an outdoor screen. Tonight’s film was To Kill a Mockingbird. Great movie.

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Jesus and “Us”

There’s a guy in our town who puts religious messages on a sign from time to time. The current sign reads, “The last two letters in Jesus is us”.

I’m not quite sure how to think about it. I’m don’t know what message he is trying to get across. My first reaction was, “Typical American evangelical Christianity. It’s all about me.” After further consideration I thought that there is a sense in which the message of the sign is true. Jesus did die for individuals and individuals follow him.

On the other hand, there is a sense in which following Jesus is about so much more than the individual. I firmly believe that we are Christ’s disciples in community and that we need each other. I’m much more generous in my thinking about what form that community can take than I used to be, but I still believe we are called to be on this journey with others.

So, I’m kind of muddled in my thinking about this. What do you think?

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TGIF

I didn’t see any hummingbirds fighting over the feeder today. Could it be that they have learned to live together in harmony? Probably not. This has been a busy week and I’m a bit behind in my reading, so the list of interesting stuff may be a little short.

The Watchman is playing some sweet music.

Christian Reformed Mafia has some interesting information.

imonk deals with Scripture translations.

Scot McKnight disappoints a lot of politicians.

John Armstrong doubts the media.

Jeff McQ tells us what he really thinks.

Anthony Smith reflects on Cornerstone. Part 1 and Part 2.

Have a great weekend.

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Hummingbirds II

A while back, I wrote about the hummingbirds that come to our feeder. A couple of days ago, I was sitting on the back porch and a hummingbird came to the feeder. It was interesting to watch because it spent all the time looking around to see if another bird was going to come chase it away. The poor thing never did get any nectar because it was afraid of the other hummingbird.

I got to thinking how often we are like that hummingbird. We are afraid to really follow Jesus because we are afraid of being attacked, by non-Christians and by Christians. Those of us who grew up in more conservative circles know what it’s like to always worry about doing something that will “harm your testimony” or “offend another Christian”. When I first began to realize that many of the things I was taught when I was younger were more in line with the culture that grew around the American Church in the past century than with what the Bible teaches, I still had times of looking over my shoulder in fear of what people might think or say.

That is not a Christ-honoring way of thinking. Jesus has set us free from the expectations and opinions of others. He has called us to follow him, not any system or philosophy concocted by human beings. A quick glance at the history of Christ followers shows the diversity in the ways we are called to follow. Beyond what we find in the New Testament, Jesus did not give us an exhaustive list of how to live our lives. Yes, there are certain principles that inform our lives, the most important being love God and love others. But there is a lot of life that is not as cut and dried as some would like to think.

Galations 5:1 Paul tells us that it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Galations 5:13 does tell us that we are not use our freedom as an excuse to sin, but much of the time that verse is misused as a weapon to get people to do what a particular group or person wants them to do.
We are free. Free to follow Christ in the way that he calls us, without worrying about what other people think. What can they do? Take our things? It all belongs to God anyway. Will they refuse fellowship? We have fellowship with the Father. Will they try to damage our reputation? What reputation? We’re all broken people in need of God’s grace and none of us is better than another. Will they take away our position? That frees us up to pursue another avenue of service. The worst they can do is kill us. If they do that, then we are with Christ. If we realize that all we are is because of God’s grace and that Jesus loves us no matter what, we can then be free to live our lives as the Holy Spirit leads us and become more like Jesus according to his schedule, not ours or any body else’s.

Don’t be like the hummingbird. Spend time drinking the nectar of God’s amazing grace instead of looking around to see who might attack you.

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TGIF

After two weeks off, TGIF is back (no applause, just throw money). It’s July 4, and it was fittingly hot here in the sunny South. Question: Do they have July 4 in England? Answer: Yes, but they don’t celebrate it.

I had a lot of blog reading to catch up on after we returned from our trip. I’m not going to even try to link to all of the good ones. These are just a few of the highlights. If you want to read more, just check out “Sites to See” at the bottom of the page. If you have a great blog post and I don’t include it, feel free to leave a link in the comments. 🙂

Barb is talking missional.

Camille puts down some good thoughts.

Molleth is a conscientious objector in the Culture War.

The Wittenburg Door has a good article about Mark Driscoll.

Jake Belder has a good reminder for us this Independence Day.

The Gospel Driven Blog has some consolation for us.

Pam writes about the loneliness of church.

Michael Spencer has a great post on economic discipleship.

Jeff McQ wants to know your favorite lines from “The Princess Bride.”

Here’s a great idea for getting to know your neighbors.

Jonathan Brink tells a story about a guy going into a bar.

Dan Kimball writes about organs and music.

Enjoy the holiday weekend! Tomorrow Jan and I celebrate 28 years of wedded bliss. (I think she deserves a medal for putting up with me this long.

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Family Trip: Epilogue

Looking back on our cruise, there were a couple of things that struck me. The first was the unbelievable privilege of being a father. I hadn’t really thought about it at the time, but I scheduled the trip for the week after Father’s Day. So, as it turned out, I had a whole week of Father’s Day. It was really nice being able to spend a week with my wife and adult children. The relationship is different than it was when they were growing up. Now, it’s more of a friend to friend thing, not quite peers, but not quite parent/child either. God has blessed Jan and me with two great kids and it was fun to spend a week traveling together. It may well have been the last trip as a family for a long time. Jennie is moving to Los Angeles on Monday, and Josh will be studying overseas next summer and will probably move elsewhere in the country after he graduates.

The other thing that I thought about was the incredible diversity of God’s creation. I like to people watch, and there was ample opportunity to enjoy that on the trip. There was an amazing variety of individual persons, all made in the image of the Creator. Seeing them gave me a greater appreciation of the fact that we really are not all that different. Each of us is a creation of the Sovereign God and we each are in need of God’s grace. None of us has any reason to think we are any better than anyone else.

We also saw a wide array of plants and animals that showed God’s creativity and love of beauty. One of the ways I relate to the Father is through nature, so I thoroughly enjoyed being out in Creation.

Not only was the trip a nice getaway, but it also drew me closer to my Father. Imagine that.

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Family Trip: Part IV

After the day in Cozumel, we set sail on Thursday for Miami. We spent a good bit of the day at an on board art auction. We didn’t buy anything because it was all too expensive for our budget. There were etchings from Picasso, Rembrandt, and Dali, as well as a lot of other art. Jennie did win a painting that’s probably worth a couple hundred dollars, so the time wasn’t totally wasted. We spent the late afternoon lying in the sun.

We did some final shopping, hung out some more, and then had our last dinner on board. The next morning we left the ship and drove north to America’s oldest city, St. Augustine. I had heard that you could drive on the beach at Daytona, so we detoured a bit to see if we could. As it turns out you can drive on the beach!
When we arrived in St. Augustine, we went out to dinner and then just chilled for the rest of the day. On Saturday we went into the city. We went to the Spanish fort and spent the day touring old St. Augustine.
After an exhausting day, we went back to the motel to rest up for the next day. We woke up and went visit the fabled Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon really did find something that, he thought at least, was a fountain of eternal youth. We also saw the location of the first Spanish Mission in North America.Ponce de Leon’s cross that he put down signifying Spain’s claim to Florida.

The Fountain of Youth. Originally it was a spring. The bricks and such were added much later.

Cross at the site of the first Spanish mission in North America.

We left St. Augustine Sunday afternoon and made the long drive back to Rock Hill. Our little adventure came to an end.

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Family Trip: Part III

Wednesday morning, we pulled up the dock in Cozumel, Mexico. We were scheduled to go on a trip on a combination glass bottom boat/submarine where you sit four feet below the surface and watch the fish, coral, etc. Unfortunately a thunderstorm came up and most of the shore excursions were cancelled. I found out about a public beach where we could swim, snorkel, kayak, and just have fun in the sun. So after the storm passed, we spent a few hours at Paradise Beach (I thought about having a cheeseburger, but decide to pass).

We then took a taxi into the downtown area, where we had lunch and did some shopping. You can get some really good deals on such items as silver jewelry and Cuban cigars. We did discover though that you can also get ripped off if you’re not careful.
We got back on the ship around 9:30, and said Adios to Mexico.

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Family Trip: Part II

After our first night aboard, we landed in the Conch Republic, Key West. We caught a shuttle to the other side of the island, where we spent the next couple of hours kayaking in and out of groves of salt water mangrove trees. From time to time the guides would stop and show us such things as sponges, sea cucumbers, jellyfish. We saw a nurse shark and paddled down narrow creeks and through thick tunnels form by mangrove branches.

After kayaking, we ate lunch at Hemingway’s old hangout, Sloppy Joe’s.

After lunch we walked up and down Duvall Street, going in and out of the different shops and just enjoying the beautiful day.

We went back on board about 1:30 and bade a fond farewell to Key West. That night we dressed up for the Captain’s Dinner. The food was fantastic, as it was the entire voyage.

Next stop: Cozumel.

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Family Trip Part I

Saturday, we traveled to Charleston, SC and spent the night with my sister and her family. On Sunday, Father’s Day, we drove to Miami. That is a long drive! We went through one of the famous Florida thunderstorms. It lasted for about an hour. We got into Miami about 7:30 and checked into our room at the Essex House Hotel in South Beach. After getting settled in we went to dinner at the Hofbrau House. It’s on a pedestrian mall that is a great place to people watch. There’s a lot of interesting folks walking around South Beach. After a night’s sleep, we drove to the port, where we boarded the cruise ship. We left at 4:00 and headed for our first port of call, Key West.EEssex House front porch

Essex HouseShip in MiamiFirst night sunset on board