Enriched Affections

Did you love Lincoln? Here's the next offering from Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis - "Obama"

What is certain? What will happen? Once upon a time we could answer these questions with wishful desires. I will grow up. I will get married and have a family of my own. My children will be happy and blessed...now those things aren't so certain. In different countries around the world hardly anything is certain. In places like Israel bombings happen everyday and no one is really sure what tomorrow will bring. Here in America we are getting a taste of just how elusive certainty is. What can we really believe in? What is sure? What will happen? One thing should be abundantly clear to all of us. This life is not guaranteed to last beyond our current breath. At any moment it can end. As James writes , " yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes ." None of us knows for sure what tomorrow will bring. We take steps to prevent death. We try to be safe. We exercise and eat right. But non...

Today's fun video is very instructional. Have you ever where Hot Dogs come from, or how they are made? Watch this little video to find out. Just to warn you, it isn't pretty...

Two potentially culture-altering cases are before the Supreme Court this week. Both relate to the controversial issue of homosexuality and the attempt to redefine marriage. There are a ton of articles out there giving a good Biblical defense for what scripture teaches about this issue, and others that seek to explain why this issue is even an issue today ( like this one ). There are arguments about tolerance, equality, love, progress, and many more that seek to persuade people to one side of the argument or the other. As a Christian, I believe our final authority is the Bible. That is where I stand on this issue. Whether you go to Romans 1 , Genesis 2 , or Ephesians 5 , the Bible teaches that marriage is man and woman coming together under God and anything else is unnatural. At the heart of this is what marriage is. I like to look at the word itself. We use "marriage" to describe all sorts of things. There is a basic understanding that marriage is the coming together of...

Another sacred holiday is quickly approaching. Easter is just a few weeks away, and with it brings the tension between celebrating the true meaning of the holiday and getting caught up in its commercialization. Much like Christmas, Easter has become less about the resurrection of Christ and more about Easter egg hunts, Cadbury Cream Eggs, jelly beans, and spending time with family and friends. It wasn't always this way. The Christian celebration used to be the main thing on Easter Sunday. So, how has this changed? We could lump Christmas in with this too. How have the two biggest celebrations on the church calendar become secular holidays? To answer that we can look to our history; to the very start of these holiday celebrations. The beginnings of Christmas give us the clearest answer. In the early church, it was celebrated on January 6, the same date that Epiphany is still celebrated. However, as the first and second centuries progressed, there was competition between this Ch...

Today marks the last day of Pope Benedict XVI's service as head of the Roman Catholic Church. As I travel through my seminary class on church history I have come to appreciate all the church of old has done. Much good has come from the Catholic church. While I don't agree with some of their doctrinal positions, I can't help but admire how much they have practically impacted our culture for the good of Christ's Kingdom. Whether it is in the form of universities, hospitals, or other charitable organizations, the heart for those in need is evident. Like most large religions, it wasn't always pretty. Most would look to the crusades as a giant blemish on the record of a church that is supposed to love others. I have my own thoughts on the crusades which I won't get into here. Suffice it to say there was great blame on both the Christian and Islamic side, and need for much forgiveness from both sides as well. One of the men who pushed Christians to head out and ...

How many screens do you have? How many times to you look at them each day? Is it a laptop? TV? Tablet? Smartphone? EReader? Lately I've been convicted about my attachment to all these devices. For some reason I feel I have to be connected at all times to the entire world or I might miss something. Whenever my phone or computer beeps it's like a Pavlovian response goes off in my brain. I subconsciously go to the inbox or check my facebook. I have to know why I was alerted. What happened!? Did someone just have a baby? Is my child sick? Did the Cubs win? Oh, one of my friends just posted a video of himself petting a dog. I'm glad I didn't miss that. My screens are like little windows into other worlds. I can see what's happening in real time all over the place. The problem is, these little windows distract me from what is going on right in front of me. Lately, it seems like these distractions are growing. Thankfully, there are some good things on these screens, li...

It is so easy to pass judgment on someone else, especially when they deserve it. Each of us loves to serve out justice on our fellow man. Lance Armstrong is one of those who many feel should be judged. After all, he cheated to win bike races and lied about it all these years, only to finally come clean. Is he really sorry, or just trying to gain sympathy? Ray Lewis is another name in the news recently. He is retiring from the NFL after this season and now has a chance to win a Super Bowl championship. However, many find it hard to root for him because of a murder trial he was involved with over a decade ago. He was never found guilty, but it was still pretty suspicious stuff. Is all his good work on and off the field just a cover-up for guilty feelings? What I find very interesting about both of the situations is that most people don't know either of the men involved, yet we are so quick to speak about them, even slander them publicly, without ever speaking directly to them. ...

Godliness + Windows 8 = Great Gain, right? Isn't that how the verse goes? It seems like I live that way sometimes. This week I've been evaluating my computer needs and the temptation to upgrade nearly took over my world. Upgrading is important, correct? At least, that's the message we get all the time from the media around us. Windows 7 is the past. Get with the future. Your iPhone 4 is ancient technology, slowing you down and keeping you from having a good life. Your LCD TV is too thick. Your car doesn't get good enough gas mileage. Your home would be much better if it had 3 full bathrooms instead of 2.5. The verse I quoted above is actually found in 1 Timothy 6:6 . It reads, "But godliness with contentment is great gain..." It is followed with the apostle Paul stating how the desire for wealth leads many to ruin and destruction and how he will be content with the simple things: food and clothing. It amazes me how quickly we replace the word "conten...

After my daughter's last day of preschool, she informed me that she was a little afraid heading into Christmas. When I asked her why, she responded by saying she was scared she would be on the naughty list and that Santa was watching her all the time to see if she was good. I was a little surprised to hear this. She went on to tell me that her teacher told her that Santa was real and would be keeping an eye on her. I'm not writing this to judge how you do the whole Santa thing in your home, but we have already told all our kids that Santa is just pretend, like Dora or the Backyardigans. Yes, he was a person a long time ago, but not like in the movies. They've taken this information in stride and we haven't had any real problems with it. But now I had a dilemma. I had the uncomfortable task of telling my child that her teacher was wrong, a thing I don't like to do. This brings up the larger issue of the true meaning of Christmas and how it is taught. It bothers...

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." - Jeremiah 31:15 quoted in Matthew 2:18 This is a troubling passage; troubling not because it is hard to understand, but troubling because of the story it's attached to. This passage finds its fulfillment in the slaughter of little baby boys, killed by a tyrant king who felt his rule was threatened. He was trying to kill Christ, who was recently born, but failed in that attempt as God provided a way of escape. We could just as easily speak these words today, after another tragic slaughter of young children. It didn't happen a long time ago or very far away. This was very near, in our own country. This morning, in a Connecticut elementary school, a son went into his mother's kindergarten class while she was teaching and killed everyone in the room, leaving 27 dead, 20 of them children. ( story here ) ...

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Are you excited? Did you even know it was happening? For most people, Hanukkah is just another holiday celebrated in December. It really doesn't have anything to do with Christmas, but because it is close to that day it usually gets lumped together with all the "Happy Holidays" holidays. Maybe you didn't know this, but I am ethnically Jewish and have a wonderful heritage from my mother of celebrating some of the Jewish holidays. Hanukkah is one of these. We don't do much, but we do light our menorah and tell the story to our kids so they'll remember part of their heritage as well. I could blog all about the amazing things done by the Maccabees and how they defeated the mighty Greek invaders and how God miraculously provided oil in the temple lamps after that battle for eight nights. However, I think I'll let these guys do it...

Nothing too profound today; just a quote I came across while reading for one of my classes. It comes from Charles Strohmer's book The Gospel and the New Spirituality . At this point, he is illustrating an irrational way of thinking. He quotes Andre Kole as he writes: "Fire engines are red because they have two firemen. Two firemen have four feet. Three feet from four feet leaves one foot. One foot is a ruler. Queen Mary was a ruler. Queen Mary ruled the seven seas. The seven seas have fish. Fish have fins. The Finns were conquered by the Russians. Russians are red. Fire engines are always rushin'. And that's why fire engines are red." Yes, some of the references are a little dated, but I think the point is clear.

As I've been reading through some of the books of prophecy in the Bible I have been struck with how similar our times are to those of ancient Israel. There is a common theme throughout these books of calling Israel to "Return to the Lord." Why have they walked away from God? Because they have grown complacent and forgetful in the midst of great prosperity and peace. There needs were all satisfied. Even their wants were satisfied. The generations that had fought for these blessings and had experienced the mighty deliverance of God were old or had passed on. Now, a new generation lived that expected this life of ease and prosperity to continue. They hadn't worked for these blessings and they certainly didn't see the need to keep working hard or to thank God for things they felt they deserved. Do you see yourself in that mirror? I sure do. It is easy to praise God when times are tough; when you don't know where the next paycheck is coming from, when your chil...

Lately I've been reading a lot about David. You know, the "David" and Goliath, King "David", City of "David", Son of "David"... that David; the one who was king in Israel about 3,000 years ago. You can read all about him in 1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2 . (By the way, did you know that the reason there is a first and second Samuel and not just "Samuel" is that there wasn't enough room on one scroll for the whole thing, so they split it into two books? Kind of like the Harry Potter 7 movies... just a fun fact) One part of his story in particular has caught my attention, especially in light of the recent events of the election. It has to do with the transition of the throne from David's predecessor, King Saul, to himself. This part of the story picks up in 1 Samuel 24 . You see, David had already been anointed the next king. Saul had failed the Lord in his duties in many ways. Therefore, God rejected him from being king and began...

Do you believe in election? This is a question that you might answer differently depending on the time of year. Tonight, on America's election night, we all believe in election. We vote and whoever the most people vote for wins. I wonder if you ever think about the word "election" and it's relationship to the idea of election in the Bible. When you ask people about Biblical election you might raise a few eyebrows. For some reason we are okay with us choosing people to rule over us, but when it comes to God choosing people we have a problem. "What about free will?!" "We want to choose ourselves!" One of the classic passages to think through would be Romans 9:10-16 where God elects Jacob over Esau. I'm not going to even attempt to explain this in a blog post, but I just want to reference it to show that it is something the Bible addresses. That particular passage is a tough one because it gives us a glimpse behind the scenes to how God works...

Moriah and I had the privilege of going on a date last evening. Being the parents of three little ones and living far from family, these are hard to come by. However, we were able to get out and we decided to see a highly recommended film from others, Argo. This film scored a 96% from Rotten Tomatoes and high praise from many of our friends, so we decided to take a risk on a movie neither of us really knew anything about and go see it. Plot: If you aren't familiar with the plot, which is probably most of you under the age of 40, it is based on a true story that took place during the Iran Hostage crisis in the early 1980's. While the nation at large was following the story of the many hostages inside the U.S. embassy in Iran, there were six who had escaped and were hiding out in the home of the Canadian ambassador to Iran. This movie retells the daring attempt made by the CIA and Canadian government to rescue these individuals by creating a fake movie, Argo, and pr...

"By the breath of God, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen." -Job 37:10-13 Do you ever wonder why crazy weather events happen? Do ever sit and stand amazed and the raw power of creation? Do you ask why such things take place? Job gives us a part of the answer in this passage. God is the one who causes these things to take place for whatever reason He decides. If you don't like that truth, then you have to deny God's Word, because it says it right there. God's control means God is powerful to act in whatever way He sees fit. This should fill the Christian with confidence, knowing God is actually able to answer prayer and work in and for His creation. An impotent God means a Go...

Some people really like math. I have to admit that I only went through High School geometry in my math career, but I've always been intrigued by the consistency of numbers. Anything multiplied by zero will always be zero. Anything added to one will be one more than it was. Nothing can change these mathematical facts. But why is that? Why are these equations always true? Are they true because we write them down? Does writing 2+2=4 make it so? Math is an amazing language, but, like any other written language, it simply represents something else. Writing down 2+2=4 simply reflects a truth that is already out there. Now it's just written down so we can remember it or communicate it to someone else. Writing it down doesn't make it true though. You would never tell someone, "2+2=4 because I saw it written in a book somewhere." The equation is true because it is. We see it reflected all over the place. If you have two pancakes, then two more, you'll have had four...

Wind-Up Wednesday : Just like an old-school watch, some of us need to be wound up and energized to face the rest of the week. While SNL may have a lost a little over the years, they were dead-on with this funny skit on the Undecided Voter. If you've already seen it, enjoy it again.