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Grieving Job Recap

Following is a recap in excerpts of this week's devotions on the Grieving of Job:

      Christian clichés did not help me but got in the way of dealing with my pain.

      Sometimes our pain is so great that we wish that we were not present to experience it.

      The thing that kept Job from grieving was the idea that somehow God was judging him.

      Knowing that God has not protected you from past pain causes you to be gun-shy about future pain.

      I find that I am most healthy when I simply trust God in the midst of my unanswerable questions.

      I am able to walk in freedom when I let go of my need to have answers.

Stop by this week and walk with me here as I journey through the grieving of Job.

Jesus :: The Reality of all Myths and Legends

[The Christian] story is supreme; and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels, and of men
—and of elves. Legend and History have met and fused. -JR Tolkien

Greg Boyd has this great response to this Tolkien quote in his post titled "Jesus: True Myth and True History".

What Lewis and Tolkien are saying is that the Jesus story fulfills the intuitions and longings expressed in many myths and legends. The God revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the reality to which certain aspects of various myths and legends point. Jesus is the reality all authors of myths and legends, together with the rest of us, dream of. If we are honest with ourselves, and if we grasp the depth of the “good news” this story embodies, something quite like the Jesus story is what we hope to be true. Yet, most amazingly, this story gives us reason to believe it is historically true.

I find this to be a great response to the idea that the virgin birth, sinless life, miraculous ministry and resurrection of Jesus are merely mythical. Perhaps our desire to embrace a comic book hero from Krypton reveals a deep God authored longing for such a story to be true? Perhaps the existence of mythology substantiates the historical Christ?

Power is derived from the Consent of the Governed

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Stupid Quotes Quiz

This funny cartoon reminds me of what Forrest Gump's mama said: "Stupid is as stupid does." Here are a few other quotes on the subject.

    1) We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.

    2) Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.

    3) Sin is too stupid to see beyond itself.

You do not have to be smart to match the quotes with these authors:

    1) Benjamin Franklin; 2) John Wayne; 3) Alfred Lord Tennyson

Answers are posted in the comments section. Let me know how you did.
The only prize you get is knowing that you are not all that quote stupid. :)

War Horse | ★★★★★★★★★★

I am not sure that I was quite ready for this movie. It sat on my Netflix queue for a while and I was not really sure that I would like it. Boy was I wrong. The thumbprint of director Steven Spielberg was all over this movie. My wife and I both felt like the two and half hours of screen time went by so fast. The story, the scenery, the ensemble cast and that magnificent horse simply draws one into a bit of history. I loved the way that the movie contrasted the brutality of war with the noble ways that some treated this beautiful animal. There were scenes that broke my heart and others that so elevated my spirit. The movie seemed to use Joey, that wonderful horse, to weave a bit of a World War I tapestry telling of struggling farmers, brave soldiers, brutal leaders, a loving grandfather and the evolution of a boy turned infantryman.

I loved the movie and, on a scale of ten, give it ★★★★★★★★★★.

The Grieving of Job

Beginning tomorrow, after a year and a half of sharing daily devotions on the red letter words of Christ in the gospels, I will shift my focus for a bit to the words of Job in the book named for him. My heart in sharing will be developing an understanding of the grieving process and what we can learn from someone who is suffering in deep pain. I hope that you will consider joining me in these devotional bloggings at my faith blog, An Eye for Redemption.

The Artist | ★★★★

I take exception to the rave reviews about this yawner of a flick. I think that reviewers have been caught up in the "ground breaking" aspect of this film and have largely ignored the overall boring factor of silent movies. I thought that the black and white filming gave it a dull image and cast the tone for the movie.

There were parts of it that were entertaining and I think that I would have enjoyed it if it were a one hour made for television endeavor. That said, I think that the lead actor, Jean Dujardin, did a great job in such a limited venue. His facial expressions and dance steps made the movie barely bearable.

For these reasons, on a scale of ten, I give this movie ★★★★.

Does God Hear Slurred Prayers?

My blogging friend Heather shared a wonderful post today. Here is an excerpt from it:

"I’m a little embarrassed to admit that when I first got into recovery, it shocked me to see God so clearly at work in the lives of people who didn’t call him by the “right” name or necessarily identify themselves as Christians.

The longer I attended meetings among such folks, the more I saw that not only was God helping them to recover, in many cases, they depended on him in a more actual way than I ever had—like a crippled person leans on and trusts a cane.

I noticed something else, too. No matter what people called their “higher power,” it always sounded a lot like the Christian God of the Bible—good, loving, just, and forgiving."

I suggest that you read all of Heather's thoughts here - and maybe follow her blog in your reader.

How will the High Court Rule on Obamacare?

Back in March Danial Fisher of Forbes Magazine said that Obamacare Will Survive The Supreme Court. Here was his rationale back the:

Justice Kennedy wasn't convinced by arguments healthcare isn’t a market Congress can regulate.

Chief Justice Roberts wasn't convinced the Supreme Court has the institutional competency to unravel 2,700 pages of legislation, most of which even he hasn't read.

Kennedy and Roberts, as moderate conservatives, will have a hard time getting past the idea they are substituting their wisdom for that of elected representatives if they strike down the law.

I honestly have no clue what they wil announce tomorrow and I doubt that many of the pundits do either. What do you think the high court will do? Any clue? If you are reading after the announcement - were you surprised? Will it affect this years election?

How to Get the Best Cup

Lifehacker has a few good tips on How to Get the Best Cup from an Auto-Drip Coffee Maker. Here they are:

THE BEANS :: Coffee goes stale quickly and the process goes even faster when the beans are already ground, so stick with whole beans. If you're stuck with a grocery store brand be sure to look for a roasting date on the package so you can get something fresh-ish.

THE GRIND :: Coffee gets its flavor and aroma during a process called extraction when the hot water passes through the ground up beans. If this happens too quickly, the coffee will be weak; if it happens too slowly, it will be bitter. The speed of this is decided by how fine the grind of the coffee is.

THE FILTER :: For most auto drip coffee makers you want a fine or medium grind depending on the type of filter your coffee maker uses. Here's an estimation of how fine to grind it:

Flat Bottom Filters: Medium (close to the texture of sand).
Cone Shaped Filters: Medium/Fine (A little finer than granulated sugar).
Gold/Plastic Permanent Filters: Medium.

THE WATER :: Since a cup of coffee is mostly water, the quality of that water is important. If you live in an area where tap water isn't very good then use filtered water for your coffee. You might think the taste of coffee can overwhelm the taste of bad water, but it doesn't.

THE RATIO :: You need to play around and get your water to coffee ratio right. In general, you want about 1 or 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per six ounces of water. Your preferences may vary, so feel free to try different amounts. Once you get a good ratio, stick with it.

THE POT :: If you're in the market for a new coffee maker it's worth it to splurge on one that pours directly into a thermal carafe because they don't use the heating element that burns coffee.

THE CLEANING :: If you're making coffee every day it's important to clean and spray out the carafe daily because otherwise you're just getting a second taste of yesterday's brew. You should also clean out the whole system at least once a month, but if you're a daily drinker then once a week is recommended.

Always from the Noblest Motives

The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. -Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Each of us travels for motives exclusively his own. -Ella Maillart

The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted. -Mahatma Gandhi

People's behavior makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives. -Thomas Mann

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them. -La Rochefoucauld

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives. -Oscar Wilde

Our souls may lose their peace and even disturb other people's, if we are always criticizing trivial actions - which often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly through our ignorance of their motives. -Saint Teresa

But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication. -Abraham Maslow

The Cremation Question

In his current sermon series our pastor, Adam Hamilton, is dealing with death issues. Here is his take on cremation:

An increasing number of people are choosing cremation today. Does the Bible give any guidance as to whether this is acceptable to God? Are the remains of our earthly body somehow needed at the final resurrection so that cremation would keep us from experiencing the resurrection? Here are a few of my thoughts:

Our earthly bodies are not what is resurrected at the final judgment. We are given, Paul teaches, a new heavenly body.

Christian martyrs have been burned throughout the centuries, and Christians have died in house fires, through fire in war, and in tragedies like 911. No one doubts that God will raise them up with a resurrection body.

Cremation simply expedites the decomposition process and avoids more costly forms of burial.

King David cremated Saul and his good friend Jonathon after they were killed by the Philistines - I don't believe he would have done this with his friend had he believed this dishonored Jonathon or offended God.

Adam goes on to say that he himself plans to be cremated and have his ashes inurned at the church's memorial garden. Ann and I are also leaning towards cremation. How about you? Have you ever considered cremation?

Social Media Donuts

This image makes me feel sorry for Google Plus.

I do wonder why G+ has never really taken off in the Social Media world. I go there a few times a day and find the content to be a bit different than stuff on FB & Twitter.

If you feel sorry for Google, click on the G+ image on the right and add me to your circles. If you don't want to do that check me out (above) on Twitter or Facebook. :)

This blog is so Cliché

I added a new tag, CLICHË, to my blog yesterday when I wrote about God's timing being perfect. It got me to thinking about all of the ways that we speak in clichés. This site claims to be the largest collections of clichés. Here are a few of my favorites.

     "Already got one paw on the chicken coop"

     "Eat your own dog food"

     "Show them how the cow ate the cabbage"

Take a look at their list and let me know if there is one you like.

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