Micah 6:8

Don't Buy Things You Cannot Afford

Isn't This Special

I got a good laugh today when I read saw this blog post on Ochuk's blog. The pictures remind me of feminine hygiene commercials. The comments are even better the pictures. Why are so many woman sucked into this stuff? I know that it not just in the marketing world because I often find woman's websites to be just as gaggy.

The internet monk, Michael Spencer, has some good comments on the role that woman end up with in the evangelical world. He correctly points out that most evangelical discussion seems to be by men and for men. There seems to be little consideration for the fact that woman may be significant contributers as well and not afraid of tackling difficult topics. I’ve thought of using a gender neutral pseudonym when making blog posts on my favorite blogs so that I might be taken more seriously. I definitely have seen that there are different interests between men and woman but they are complimentary and necessary. There are serious woman and serious men just as there are flaky woman and there are flaky men. We might pick different serious topics to discuss or maybe we won’t. We also don’t all cry at the first sign of conflict. Some of us thrive on it. This is definitely something that should be mulled over more.

Merry Christmas

I put together this picture this evening because I was inspired when I saw an incredibly fat dog today. I honestly do not understand pets in light of how much poverty there is in the world. Dog spas make me want to scream. I've even seen dog dishes that purify their water continuously. Those would sure be appreciated by some people without clean water. I don't understand our culture's obsession with its animals. In my opinion, animals are tools. If they're not useful then they shouldn't get fed before people get fed. I'll make sure that I don't alarm anybody out there too much though and say that I do think that we need to treat animals humanely. I just think that people should always be fed before non-useful animals.

Thought Provoking Cartoon

I found this cartoon over on a blog called Light Seeker. Here is what he had to say about it. So true.

If this weren't so true, it might be funny.

How can people not see this brash enemy who kills thousands of children right under our noses? And we either turn our heads or fight for the right to continue this practice.

Thanksgiving

We're back in Vancouver for another 4 weeks before we head out again for the interior of BC. It's great to be home although I'll miss all the nature. I forgot how much I loved the diversity of people until we drove into town. The unending number of weird things that you can see people do is so entertaining. It's also a reminder of how different people really can be. I guess I should just try to enjoy the great things about anywhere that I have to be.

Canadian thanksgiving is fast approaching. Every year I can't help but be disappointed by the typical way of expressing our thanksgiving to God. Indulging in a big meal with all the trimmings just seems like a funny way to show our gratitude to God for his provisions. Why not fast, collect money for charity and then have a dinner of rice and beans? I suspect that that might help bring us more thankfulness for our material blessings. I think that we might try to arrange an untraditional thanksgiving dinner for anyone who would like to join us. It just depends on whether or not we can get our act together in time. :)

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matt 25: 34-40

Importing Western Culture with the Gospel

I was a Christian dinner and missions talk this last weekend. The main speaker was a missionary doctor in Africa for several years. During his talk he shared several stories and slides and video clips. I love listening to missionaries share about their experiences because I know that someday I will likely be in similar situations. I also love to hear about the gospel spreading to unbelievers. This talk was particularly interesting to me because my husband is planning to eventually become a missionary doctor. There were lots of inspiring stories and it leaves me just waiting to finally go.

There were some things about the presentation that left me frustrated though. The speaker at one point showed a video clip of their first group baptism in a small creek a few miles away from the village he was in. The whole village trekked over to the creek because they were curious to see what was going to happen. All the baptizees and observers were dressed in their traditional garb and but the man baptizing, presumably the pastor, was dressed in western dress pants and a dress shirt! There were also several slides that showed similarly ridiculous imports of western culture such as wooden pulpits, western church buildings and even an artificial Christmas tree! Most the people that they were serving would never have even seen a pine tree before.

Why do western missionaries feel obliged to introduce all sorts of non-biblical tradition into countries that they evangelize? I suppose that it's probably because they don't know any better or differently. I think that the western church needs to seriously contemplate everything that they do and purge themselves of the non-biblical extras. These extras are not only wasting our time, money and other resources but when other cultures learn to associate Christianity with the whole western package as it's often presented, we run the risk of misleading people to believe that Jesus and his message is an irrelevant western superstition. For the sake of the gospel and it's relevancy lets carefully examine what we deem as essential to godly living and throw out everything that slows us down.

Easter

Sorry folks that I haven't blogged much recently. We've been sick around here. When Joel's home I can almost never get enough time on the computer to write an entry. I do plan on keeping this up though.

I love Easter. When I was growing up Easter was nothing but a silly little egg hunt and a big dinner. I prefer Easter over Christmas by far because the secular version of Christmas has gross expressions of the religious aspect of it and Christians often succumb to consumerism and excess that represents the secular holiday. Easter is great because the secular holiday has almost no remaining elements of the religious holiday. When I became a Christian I was able to celebrate Easter without it having been tainted by years of celebrating a bastardized version.

That said I must say that I've come to really dislike the feasting part of Easter (and Christmas and Thanksgiving). I think that it is sadly ironic that the way that we remember the humility and sacrifice of Jesus is by being gluttonous. In a way we're saying that we have more then when we need and, damn it, we're going to enjoy it. This is all in the name of thankfulness to God.

I know that this sounds like a petty grievance, like I'm trying to find things to be annoyed about. I don't think that this is the case. I think that this is just another example of how we fail to acknowledge how fat and happy we are, how poor the rest of the world is and what a sacrificial lifestyle Jesus has really called us to. I think that if we really had a clear perspective on these holidays we would be fasting rather then feasting in order to remember the great things that God has done for us.

Gender

Recently I've been reading Dobson's book "Bring Up Boys". I'm not a huge fan of Dobson and there are a lot of things that I'm finding rather annoying about his opinion but I wanted something to feed my thoughts on masculinity and femininity. I feel rather confused about this issue. I can see that so much of what we deem as masculine or feminine is merely cultural but then when I think more deeply about it I'm not so sure. Are women really more emotional then men? In my marriage that is definitely the case but I think that that could be chalked up to different home environments. I certainly know plenty of emotional guys. I'm trying to come to a better understanding of what it means to be feminine and also how I should raise my kids. What aspects of femininity are appropriate to encourage in my daughter and what aspects are cultural hang ups that should be discouraged. The same goes for my son. I've got more to think about on this subject. What are your thoughts on femininity and masculinity?

To Become Like a Child

I was watching my kids play in the mud today and it made me think about how kids don't mind being dirty. Faith was smearing the mud on her legs and Paul was eating it. They were really quite a sight. We teach kids as they age that dirt is bad and it's better to avoid it. Why? Mainly because it's unattractive. I think that it's the same with sin. My kids show no pretense about their selfishness. When things don't go their way they whine, throw temper tantrums, scream, bite, hit, shove, etc. In a way, we teach children phoniness. We teach them to internalize their sin. When they feel hateful we teach them not to show it by their actions. I think this is somewhat unavoidable. You can't teach a one year old to love their sibling because Jesus loves them. My point, and I do have one, is that I think that the natural order leads to hypocrisy. I put on my good face when I'm in public. I would like to learn to be vulnerable, transparent, and willing to show people my dirt again like my children.

Titles

Our culture is funny. I've been trying to figure out what I should teach my children to call different adults. I really don't like all the formality in our culture. I don't like the mister, missus, doctor or pastor so and so stuff. I think that it is a little pretentious when people think that they deserve or insist on these special titles. In a way, these titles force people into different categories. If I'm doctor so and so and you're just missus so and so then I illicit more respect then you. In reality we're all on the same plane. God doesn't view you or I as somehow more valuable then someone else.

The question of what to have my children do still remains. I think what I'll do is have them ask the person how they would like to be addressed and will do that for them while they are young. I think that that would teach them to treat people with respect but let them know that no one is automatically in a special category just based on some position they are in life.