Barbaric faith

This from the book The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus:

"...a life in God is one of risk and mystery.

And maybe even a little insanity. There's no way to escape that barbarians can appear out of their minds. No reasonable person would ever fully follow God everywhere He calls. God is simply unreasonable.

No matter how we try to spin the story, the Bible is filled with tribes of irrational people. When Noah built the ark, he did not live in a flood zone. When Elijah called down fire form heaven, he had never tried it before. Go ahead. Give it a shot. See if it works for you. I didn't think so. David should have left the giant alone. Hosea never should have married a prostitute. What was Moses thinking when he pointed his staff at the Red Sea--that it would move because he commanded it? And that's just to mention the more popular and highly admired followers of God.

Those people did not live normal lives. Their actions were ludicrous and irrational if you take God out of the formula. Given proper counseling, they would have known better than to do what they did. The vitality of their life in God moved them beyond the practicality of simply being reasonable. Their lives didn't make sense, their actions defied sensibility, because God drove them out of their senses. Anyone who risks listening to God and following His voice knows that to everyone who is deaf to His voice, your actions will seem as if you've gone crazy.

I used to serve on the board of Intercultural Studies at Biola University mostly because a friend of mine asked me if I would. But after a while I wondered why I said yes. I almost never went. I hate meetings. I would much rather be outdoors than in a boardroom. usually I asked, "Do you want me in the morning, afternoon, or evening?" I couldn't get myself to commit to the whole day.

One afternoon I happened to be there when the counseling department enthusiastically presented a plan for serving missionary personnel around the world. They were going to provide access to counseling and mental health to all those working overseas. Even while I was listening, I knew I should remain silent. I kept telling myself to keep my mouth shut: Don't say anything; don't cause any problems; don't embarrass yourself. But I just couldn't help myself.

Before I knew it I was blurting out, "Don't do it. Please don't do it."

They all looked at me with the strangest expressions of confusion.

Well, it was too late for me to hide in obscurity, so I knew I needed to explain. I went on, "Don't go around the world and make our missionaries mentally healthy. You'll ruin everything. You'll totally mess up the cause. I mean you have, let's say, a husband and wife from Kentucky and they have four kids and they believe God has called them to an obscure city in Central Asia. Suddenly they find themselves in the middle of two million people who don't speak a word of English, and they don't speak a word of Mandarin or Cantonese or any form of tribal dialect. And each morning they wake up excited and confident that somehow they're going to bring that entire city to faith in Jesus Christ. You go and make them normal, and they'll be on a plane back home the next day."

The board member making the presentation graciously responded, "Erwin clearly has a different view of professional counseling than we do."

These people have got to be crazy to do what they're doing and insane to believe that it's possible, don't they? They are not insane, but they are crazy. one day they just got up and took the barbarian way out of civilization.

If you are a follower of Christ and you have allowed yourself to be domesticated, you have lost the power of who you are and who God intends you to be. You were not created to be normal. God's desire for you is not compliance and conformity. You have been baptized by Spirit and fire. Asleep within you is a barbarian, a savage to all who love the prim and proper. You must go to the primal place and enter the presence of the Most High God, for there you will be changed by His presence. Let Him unleash the untamed faith within you.'"

Jobs

Kyle said that if he gets to choose jobs in heaven, he'd like to make flowers. I'd like to take a class in making sunsets if possible.

Make sure you double click on the photos to see the detail.

A Wise Person

I did a little research and found out that gloves have been around possible since Homer's time. It didn't mention the creator of gloves, but he or she was a very wise person.

Today I went running again. Awe, it is so nice when you wake up and barely move while realizing that your legs are sore. At least I can pretty easily get around today. In the summer I was pretty immobile for a couple of days after my first run. As I said, it was easier today to run. Plus with a brilliant realization that the Bahers run with gloves I tried the idea out. I did run farther and walk less of the same distance I did yesterday. I was smart enough to not start out at such a quick pace. My chest didn't burn until the very end when I pushed myself to run to a light post, because I was determined to make it there. I knew I'd better run faster, because otherwise I was going to end up walking.

One of the great things about running is that you don't do it to impress anyone. Well, at least I don't. I'm sure people could walk faster than some of what I call running. But that doesn't bother me. I know that even if I ran for two months, Kyle would probably still run faster than me even if he hadn't run for months. Oh, oh, and the best part is that you can change from your pjs to running clothes and have a way messy hairdo and people wouldn't think less of you as a runner. Or at least that's they way I feel about runners. They're allowed awful hairdos simply because they're running. Who runs and expects nice hair at the end???

Another bonus, it has been overcast. I don't mind running when I'm not being blinded by the sun or overheated because it's hot out.

Running

There is something special about running. Especially the first run after having not run in far too long. This run in particular burns and hurts to the point that you can't think of any good reason why you came out to run in the first place. My eyes blurred and I couldn't think about anything other than how my throat and chest seemed to be on fire while my hands are like icicles. But I know that in a few days the running will become smooth again and worth it. Because after a few days you can run farther and with longer strides. I'm sure someone walking could have ran faster than my last part of running, but I smiled to myself as I ran because there I was running and although it hurt, it felt great at the same time.

SOAP

S: “And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions-them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.” Daniel 6:24

O: The men who were trying to destroy Daniel were jealous of Daniel’s excellence and power. These men were satraps, political leaders over regions of Darius’s kingdom. Daniel was one of the three governors over the satraps. Daniel was doing so well that King Darius was considering setting Daniel in charge over his whole kingdom.

The satraps and governors let pride and envy run their lives. They sought to find fault with Daniel, but they did not find any according to the law of the Medes and Persians. Instead they presented to King Darius that a decree that boosted his own ego. They suggested that for 30 days everyone could only petition to King Darius, otherwise whoever petitioned to another god or man would be thrown into the lions den.

You have to hand it to Daniel for being faithful. He knew the decree but decided to continue to pray three times a day kneeling with open windows toward Jerusalem. Daniel didn’t try to justify changing his conviction of how and when to pray. He didn’t even choose to close his windows.

The jealous men caught Daniel praying and reporting it to King Darius. The King was mad at himself for making the decree. But he knew that the laws of the Medes and Persians could not change. The King had Daniel thrown into the lion’s den and said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Daniel 6:16

The King them fasted, wouldn’t be entertained, and couldn’t sleep. Early in the morning King Darius returned to the lion’s den and found Daniel alive because an angel shut the mouth of the lions.

Then came the verse I found interesting, verse 24. Not only were the jealous men thrown into the lion’s den, but so were their wives and children.

A: The sin of one affects many.

People all the time justify their sin. They say it will only affect them. Plus, they won't get caught. And if they do get caught, God will forgive them. Here is a deadly example of jealously, pride, and envy not just destroy those who possessed these feelings, but also those they loved.

Family

Grandpa and grandma Eggleston have gone to Hawaii for Christmas. Tasha and I are driving my mom and Perry to the airport where they'll be flying to far away places. We'll get to see Nick as he is back from San Jose for the holiday. On the way back from the airport we're going to be able to spend the night at my dad's. He said that he is praying for snow so the grandkids can play in it. It'll be good getting to wrestle with my nephews. Then we'll come the rest of the way to spend Christmas with the Freckleton clan. Oma is in Indonesia but grandpa Jack is still state side and will be joining us in Bakersfield.

Boy, they grow up fast

Cleo and Issac are awakened when I lift the water dish to check on them. The dish sits on a bump so to make it level I put a stone under one side. It is their little den to hide and sleep in.


Sir Issac finally gets moving and didn't stop for 20 minutes as he explored the tank. He likes the rock river bed. The narled wood behind him is some drift wood I retrieved while snorkling in Jamacia. There's another piece on the hill to the right.

Dilbert who?

I never understood the Dilbert comic growing up. That all changed when I started working in an office. Sometimes I wonder if Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator, has cameras hidden in our office to gather material for his strips.

Example:
Our office assistant sent an email out that read “Dale and Sam brought back a box of goodies from a client. The box is in the kitchen. Please help yourself.”

I sent Dale and Sam an email saying, “Thanks guys. That'll give me more pounds for the holidays. Now my New Year’s resolution will be even a bigger flop than last year’s.”

Dale replied, “Helper and Giver sounds better than Pusher and Enabler.”