Thursday, December 18, 2008

Megan is awesome

We just got back from a few days in Lake Tahoe and enjoyed a much needed break, though now I think I need a relaxing vacation, the kind without a toddler :-)

The coolest thing about the trip for me was the one day Megan and I were able to go skiing. What was so great about this day was that my eyes were truly opened to how awesome Megan and I compliment each other as a unit; actually, I guess its simply how Megan makes me a better person.

We had been skiing once before a couple of years ago and we went for only one day and did the beginner lesson, never going on anything but the training hill and a couple of greens or "easies."

This past weekend in Tahoe, they only had a few runs open because they hadn't received much snow yet and all of them were blue or intermediate. Now, everyone I know who is a good skier has always told me to get the lesson each time I go, at least for a while until we get good. So on this trip, I assumed we just wouldn't do much skiing because we would only be able to go into the training area, which wasn't even a hill at all at this resort.

Megan had a different idea. I think her exacts words were, "We know how to ski, we'll be fine." Somehow she convinced me and I believed we could just go skiing on the blue runs even though I had no real idea what to do (I watched a YouTube video on the way up to the lift).

So we rented the equipment and had a blast! I was so thankful that Megan stretched me and kept me from taking the safe route. I never would have gone had Megan not been with me. For me, this was a great example of how God uses her strengths to help me through my weaknesses or fears of doing things I know nothing about!

Oh yeah, the best part was while we were riding up the gondola to get to the lift. We are bundled up, all of our equipment on, and Megan looks at me and says "What are we doing? I have no idea how to ski." I love that girl.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Christian Counter Culture: Two simple differences

I have been writing a research paper on the Beatitudes and came across this simple idea that is a great way to see where we are in our walk with God.

We live in a world that values pride over humility and aggression over mercy. Each time we are prideful and each time we are aggressive (especially when driving in traffic) we are living in the world culture instead of the Christian Counter Culture Jesus has called us to.

hmm...

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

it's okay if people think that

In Mark 12:14 the Pharisees told Jesus they knew he didn't care about any one's opinion and he was not swayed by ones appearances, because He teaches the truth of God alone.



A few years ago one of my friends was ask why I had to be so "weird" about Jesus. He said he knew other Christians who didn't act so radical.

This comment brought the full revelation to me that there is not much of a difference between most Americans who claim to be Christians and those who are Atheists or of any other religion. It's just some title they put on themselves if ask the question of what they believe, but it is not their life. Being a follower of Jesus is not just a religion, a faith, or any other movement. It is a way of life that encompasses every aspect of who we are as a person, what are thoughts are on every situation.

I only write this because for 20 plus years I believed I was a Christian and most of America would have agreed with me, yet I was more swayed by man and what the media said than by anything Jesus said or did.

When we fully give our heart to God, our closest family and friends may think we have gone of the deep end. But that is not a bad thing.

We must remember that we live in a country where claiming to be a Christian doesn't have as much to do with Christ as it does with our social status. The claim to be Christian deals more with what it means for us as a 21st Century American, than it does with being a devoted follower of Christ.

I think its safe to say, in the world we live in today, we can only hope people think that we are a little over excited about Jesus, otherwise we just blend into the group on the fence and will find ourselves like the lukewarm church in Revelation.