Oil Up, Dollar Down

This is not a fun time for the American Dollar or the the price of oil...Saw something today which indicated that oil is looking to rise to $170 a barrel! That's $27 more than it is now. The issue seems to be coming from the absolute worthlessness of the dollar. I wonder how long it is until the United States starts using the euro? It makes me think that the next President of the United States is going to have their hands full. Instead of worrying about national defense and security, perhaps we need to start paying attention to which candidate can help the economy the most. I wonder why the dollar is so terrible when compared to the euro or even the British pound? The Bush administration has seen an epic collapse in the economy of this country. Interest rates are sky-high, debt (both for the nation as a whole, and for its individuals) is mounting ever higher, and on top of that we are dumping billions of dollars into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which even if they were justified at the beginning are going no where fast. If any of these foreign countries we have borrowed billions from decided to make us pay up, we would be crushed. This is a shaky situation right now. Americans need to wise up, stop spending and demand that our government get their affairs in order. If not we are headed for an economic meltdown...

Intense

Came across this E-Ticket article on Len Bias. The story haunts me and leaves an awful feeling in my stomach. It scares me so much that my kids will make a poor choice/decision and I will lose them forever. I wish there was some way for us as people to fast forward in time and see how poor decisions would impact not only our lives but the lives of everyone around us. Would that help us? Would we change our decisions? I don't know. I just know that I want my kids to make the best decisions ever for their lives. I guess this is how God must feel. How hard must it be to be God? Having to watch while billions of people make poor decisions hurting their lives on earth. Even worse making decisions to purposely alienate God and even ultimately deciding on living eternity without God. The heartache God must face on a "daily" (as if time is relevant to God) basis. Ugh. This is just overwhelming to type. I just hope I do a good enough job as a dad. I love my kids too much for them to make bad decisions. Being a parent is so much harder than I could ever have imagined.

Dobson @ War

Saw another article from James Dobson via the associated press. Now let me say that there is a great deal that has been done by Dobson that I greatly respect. I think he is a man in love with God and desires other people to love God as well. However, I think the guy is as biased and opinionated as the next guy. My favorite quote from him in the article was, "I think he's [Barack Obama] deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology." You know what James? I actually agree with you on this one. However, I would not just point that finger at Barack Obama. I think James Dobson points out the fundamental problem with everyone when it comes to the Bible. Everyone had their own interpretation and opinion. Millions of people read the Bible and come up with a million different interpretations and ways of living out that Scripture in their lives. Guess what? Even the great James Dobson does it. The worldview of James Dobson is the one that has been formulated based upon his own reading of Scripture. Is it all wrong? No! Is it all right? No! One day Mr. Dobson is going to kick the bucket and discover that he wasn't always right and his interpretation of the Bible, politics, religion, and everything else was not on target. The same thing will happen to Barack Obama, John McCain, George W. Bush, and you and me. Everyone deliberately distorts Scripture. Why? Because we don't understand it completely and we tend to read, understand, and interpret things based upon our own biases and ways of understanding things. I do not think Obama or McCain has the right way of reading the Bible. But to be honest I don't think Dobson has is 100% right either. I think the important thing is to increase the number of people you can learn from and grow from. It might be hard to swallow James, but maybe just maybe there is a chance that Senator Obama and Senator McCain might actually have some stuff right and might be okay to lead this country. Speak your mind James but remember that the imperfection label fits us all.

"There is a great deal of misinformation on the net"

I came across what to mean is a funny article today while surfing the net. Wow, you mean the internet has false stuff on it? A real shocker there. The funniest part to me was the "penile dysfunction" joke the kid played on his dad by altering the wikipedia site information. How dumb have we become in this world if we really think that the internet is all based upon facts, especially on sites where the information is allowed to be changed by any idiot that knows how to type. If a kid fails a test because he studied off wikipedia that is what is needed to happen. Parents need to take a more active stance with their kids and force them to actually spend some quality time studying and reading actual historical data. Until then, everything you read must be taken with a grain of salt...

Responding to the Spirit

I have to admit that one of the areas I have always felt confused by in a life pursuit of Christ is the realm of "being led/prompted by the Spirit." I know it happens. I have experienced in my own life and seen it in the life of others. But its just a weird concept. How do you know? What happens if you miss it? How exactly do you describe it? In my own experience I have seen that being connected to God through prayer, Bible reading, quiet time, and the willingness to listen are all keys for His movement in my life. Yet it is still so crazy for me to see when things just happen and the only reasoning I can come up with are either coincidence OR God truly is moving, guiding, and directing.

Last night, Danielle and I had an argument. I have been really busy with work lately and she was out of town for a couple of weeks so its been a long time since we have had the opportunity to sit down and chat. I really feel like things escalated from that and we just lashed out from there. Anyway, the real interesting thing is that we went to bed just after 10 - both still frustrated and hurt. At 11:31 pm, I got a text from one of my friends Don Quinn. The text simply said, "Trying 2 sleep but cant, feel led to be praying for u. I love u - God's moving. Quinn" Wow. He had no idea how much those prayers were needed for my life. The funny thing is that I honestly did feel better when I woke up this morning. I felt bad for my role in the conflict last night. I honestly saw God moving and I know that things will get better. This is such a cool thing to me.

What if Quinn had ignored the promptings from the Spirit? What if he would have just forced himself to lay in bed and try to sleep? What if my name wasn't the one that "popped" into his head? What if... I still don't completely get the whole thing, but I am thankful that God works in that way.

My struggle

Make the Lord and His immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and His choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.

The basis of my personal worth is not my possessions, my talents, not esteem of others, reputation…not kudos of appreciation from my parents and kids, not applause, and everyone telling you how important you are to the place…I stand anchored now in God before whom I stand naked, this God who tells me, “You are my son, my beloved one.”

Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealved in Jesus Christ.

The above quotes are from Manning’s Abba’s Child. I continue to be struck by the book and its impact upon my thoughts right now. I struggle with this particular passage because it forces me to rethink my identity and value. I worry so much about what other people think about me. Words of affirmation are like drugs. They give me a high that carries me until I need my next fix. Recognition of my talents, contributions, and abilities is what I strive after. I give a message on a Sunday morning to my JH students and I immediately look for some sort of applause of what I just did. I thrive off of positive comments from my boss, her boss, and adult volunteers. I become so wrapped up in what others think that I allow my worth to be transferred over to what those around me are saying. Ask me how I feel about myself when I am not receiving affirmation and you will find a dejected, depressed, and wounded individual. Negative feedback and the possibility of someone possibly not liking me absolutely destroys me. I make my decisions in life on what will please others not because I want them to be happy, but because I want them to come back and give me kudos and love in response. The thought of being completely “naked” in front of people and not worrying about their comments (bad or good) absolutely terrifies me. I raise the banner of authenticity and yet hide in the shadows of the constructed self I have made. Honestly the thought of simply anchoring myself to God and His great love for me scares me. My first thought in doing that goes back to what will others think and say about me…their opinions, statements, and feedback mean way too much to me.

God what do I do? I am lost here. I know the path that I must travel on. I know the thing that must happen and become the most important thing in my life. But I am scared to venture down that road. Scared to take the road less traveled. Scared to anchor myself to the ONLY ONE who will never leave or forsake me. Scared to simply rest in the arms of my Savior and trust that it is only His love and opinion that matter in my life. God, it is only your opinion that matters. My identity is found in Your great love and pursuit of me. Help me to believe & trust that…