Pressed Down, Shaken Together and Running Over

I don’t pray much. My wife does. She’s what we call in the Christian community a “prayer warrior.” The times I do pray though are every morning for her and the kids safety on their way to work and school, that she has strength for the day, and that she shows love in her place of work. Lately though it’s been feeling more like part of the morning routine than honest prayer. I’m trying to do better though with prayer. I’m starting to think about praying instead of not thinking about praying. So that’s a start.

This morning though I felt an urge to pray as I was laying in bed with my daughter next to me kicking me in the fat. I didn’t know what to pray about. But it hit me as my wife and her friend were headed out the door to our church’s women’s conference. What am I going to do about breakfast? There’s not much food in the house because we haven’t done this week’s grocery shopping, and so I prayed for breakfast for me and my son that it would come easy.

I don’t cook much, if at all, that’s my wife’s specialty, but when I do cook I make great pancakes. That’s my one specialty that I can nail over and over and over. So I prayed about breakfast because I knew the facts of my situation. 1. There weren’t any eggs. 2. We were out of sugar. 3. I recently made cookies and I knew we had very little baking mix. 4. No butter. 5. Dishes were clean but I wasn’t sure if the pans were.

This was my situation. These were the facts. Nothing I could change. But God can do anything.

So I prayed.

When I got to the kitchen, the first thing I did was check the dishes. Clean pan, clean spatula, clean mixing bowl. I went to the fridge, no butter, but moving things around and lifting up last night’s pizza I found the eggs. Still with no butter I needed something to use so the pancakes won’t stick to the pan, that’s when I found the spray oil. Things are coming together. As I thought there was no sugar, turns out my wife recently purchased a new bag that I did not know about. And now for the last thing, the baking mix. I got out the little mix we had and said, “Lord, please, make it last.” I got out my measuring cup, which I only had a 1/2 cup measure and started scooping…

One scoop.

Two scoops.

Thr…ee scoops

It didn’t look like enough.

Four scoops. Out.

I had just enough to make it. Which says a lot about my personal relationship.

Just being honest. If once a week for roughly two and half hours I go to a building and talk to my wife and sing songs to her and learn about her but ignore her for the other 165.5 hours in the week, do I really know her? If I only told my readers, my friends, and my family that I loved my wife but never told my wife I loved her, do I really love her? If I only thought about what was good for me and not the others in this household, do I really seek her or the kids?

If that’s your relationship with Jesus, and once again it’s mine too then expect results like my pancakes, barely there. But if you, and I, live like Luke 6:38 then you can have so much more.

38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

Pushing On A Pull Door

We are tired. Worn. Exhausted.

Every day it seems as it’s another uphill battle that just can’t be won. We do all this work for the outbox and the inbox is piling up 3 times faster. It’s a struggle and I’m trying to see the light at the end but the darkness is thick.

“If I could just…”

“Maybe when I…”

“If I had…”

These tend to be the themes and hypotheticals I play over and over in my head as if it was a song I put on repeat. And not even a good song. Life becomes about pushing on a pull door. I’m trying to exit and it’s another stumbling block put in to play. But I’m reminded in Psalms 23.

The Lord is MY shepherd. I have everything that I need. He lets me rest in meadows and leads me along the peaceful streams. While I walk in the valleys I know that he is with me. And I love this quote I heard recently;

Grass doesn’t grow on the mountain tops. It grows in the valleys.

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans 12:12

Ducks Fly Together (Quack, Quack, Quack)

These past few days have been a frenzy of what Phil Robertson, of Duck Commander and the show Duck Dynasty, has stated in an article with GQ magazine. Seems to be a popular topic to talk about as you’re going to have 2 basic sides. One for Phil. One against Phil. The two debated quotes have been about sexuality and sin, and the other being about black/African American.

Let’s tackle the Jim Crow debate first because its easier.

Now apparently, Phil Robertson said that as a nation we should go back to using Jim Crow laws, or so I’ve read through every article on Google. Here’s your exact quote from GQ

I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field…. They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!… Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.

Now Phil could have very easily lived in an area back in those days where slavery wasn’t violent. We know from history that yes there were blacks that were slaves and worked and were treated well by their owners and we ALSO know from history that yes there were blacks that were slaves and worked and were treated poorly, killed, harassed by their masters and every one else in that area. I didn’t live there so I really don’t know. I and we can only take this quote at face value.

Now for the heavy stuff. The homosexuality comments.

Phil: It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.
…
“We’re Bible-thumpers who just happened to end up on television,” he tells me. “You put in your article that the Robertson family really believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and let’s get on with it, and everything will turn around.”

…

“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong,” he says. “Sin becomes fine.”

GQ: What, in your mind, is sinful?

Phil: “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right

It sucks that A&E has suspended Phil from the show. My wife and I love the show, we watch it when we can. A lot of people watch the show. A lot of people also comment that this was an invasion of the first amendment of Free Speech. It’s not (good try though). Phil wasn’t arrested for what he said. Phil said something that A&E didn’t agree with and he faced consequences. That would happen to anyone at their job that said something that their employer didn’t agree with. Words have power and that power can bring consequences. For that I’m with A&E. Phew! That’s out of the way. Now I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

First: If you don’t believe in the bible or don’t take it as factual my post is finished. Nothing else that you read after this you’ll agree with. If you want to continue reading, that is fine, but you’ll be reading biblical stand points for why I’m supporting Phil Robertson. Phil says that homosexuality is not logical. Sin isn’t logical. Why would someone want to lie instead of telling the truth? That’s not logical. A judge asks for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If the person is then lying, their testimony is thrown out. If a child lied to a parent, would the parent praise the child for lying? No, that parent would punish and correct the child so that it doesn’t lie. It would not be logical for a parent to say that it’s ok for their child to lie. James 2 tells us that for the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. I, a liar, am no better than a murderer, who is no better than someone that abuses alcohol, who is no better than a man that sleeps around, who is no better than a woman that lies, who is no better… get it?

WE’RE ALL GUILTY.

• Romans 1:18-32
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
• 1 Timothy 1:8-10
• Jude 7

These verses mention a lot of sins such as: those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people (1 Cor. 6:9-11). All of this is wrong. All of this goes against what God states in the bible and when you change the bible you’re creating a God and doing the impossible.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” (Rev 1:8)

This is what God says. This is biblical. If even one thing is not true about the bible then the WHOLE bible is not true. That’s why I support Phil Robertson, because he is a fellow brother in Christ and stands firm in his beliefs.

BUT…

Am I to judge? No. That’s God’s job. I am here to show love. The same love that Christ shows me because I am a sinner too. A lot of things don’t make sense or don’t seem clear. That’s ok. Pray. God knows it all.

You can read the interview with Phil Robertson and GQ here

*warning: interview contains strong language.*