Enemies of the Heart

This book took me way longer to read than I would have liked. I got it for free from http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/. We were in the middle of a big move so I was not able to read much. However when I was able to read, it was very hard for me to put this book down!! "Enemies of the Heart" dives right into the heart. Stanley discusses 4 "heart diseases" that will ruin a person if not dealt with in the proper way. These diseases are guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. He tackles each disease one by one. He discusses how they start and how they grow to something very sinful when left unchecked in our lives. Then after each chapter where he writes about the disease, he then discusses how to battle and defeat each one. It was an amazing book to read! I really began to see some things in myself that I need to take care of. That was his point. We spend so much time just making sure we do the right thing, we never really stop to make sure our hearts are alright. After reading this book I have a much better idea of what is in my heart.

At the end of the book Andy Stanley writes about lust. I was very curious as to why he did not call this one of the major heart problems, but after reading that chapter I agree with his point. It was something I had never thought about and you will just have to read his book to find out.

"In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" Book Review

The title of this book immediately caught my attention. Thinking about fighting a lion is one thing but adding the image of doing it on a snowy day became very manly and adventurous. Then I found out the title came from a real account! Mark Batterson takes the account of Benaiah from 2 Samuel 23:20-21 and embarks on creating the same kind of passion and adventure into the life of the reader.

Batterson is convinced that our lives have a purpose, but that purpose is not one of comfort or normality. He believes that we all have lions to face in our own lives and instead of running from them (even though that is perfectly logical) we need to take them head on, chasing them down and rising victorious. In this book Batterson takes the different aspects of taking on a lion (fear, beating the odds, how foolish it looks, victory being uncertain, etc.) and writes about how these are true in our lives.

We all have obstacles to overcome. These obstacles are sometimes scary and tower above us. However, it is in overcoming these trials that we become the followers of Christ that God desires us to be. We become "lion chasers" who begin changing the world for Christ. Instead of running, instead of "conforming to the world" we are transformed into something we could never imagine.

Rest

I have trouble managing my time. Ever since I can remember I have struggled finding the right balance of time to spend in all of the items I try to take on. This struggle has become even harder since about September of last year. As I have mentioned before we have a new addition to our family and he was born in the middle of September. If you have never had a child, you cannot understand the way this little person wraps up so much of your time. Everyone kept saying things like "your life is going to change," "Things will never be the same," "You can say goodbye to life as you know it." I knew what they were saying was true but there was no way in the world I could have understood the completeness of what they were saying. This little man really does change life (and I don't want anyone believing that I think it's terrible because I love him like nothing else and I have only known him for 7 months!!).

A second change came into my life at the beginning of November. The church I work for was not able to keep me on full time, so my salary was cut and I had to find a second job. I now work 40 hours at a daycare and spend about 4 hours on the weekend doing ministry. Now that may not seem like much but that does not count all the hours during the week (and on the weekend) that I spend preparing for the ministry I do and to further my knowledge in this field. I spend a lot of time working, and lately I have found that I am almost always tired! I have been trying to find out why it is that I am so tired and finally it hit me (actually it "hit me" because my wife pointed it out).

I do not have a full day off. I work every day of the week. I cannot make plans for a full day with my family because there is not a full day I have during the week that I can take off. This is a bit concerning to me and I am currently trying to figure out a cure.

It is a necessity that we take a day off. As humans we cannot go full blast all of the time, our bodies cannot handle it. This was made very clear to me today. I took the day off work (at the daycare) so that this afternoon I could go see my youngest brother sing at State Contest (he did amazing by the way). I have not felt more relaxed in a very long time. Today was wonderful. I woke up, spent a couple hours with my son, then got to spend time with my wife and son as she and I sat and talked. We drove to Columbia, had some down time, spent time with family, heard him sing, drove back, had a couple stops along the way, I mowed for an hour, watched 30 mins of TV, spent more time with my son, and now I'm blogging about rest as my wife does a Jillian Micheals workout video.

Too often I have read about "Sabbaths" and not applied it to my own life because I am just more super than that. If I do not apply it to my life, my family will suffer and I do not want to see that happen. There are a few Sabbaths I want to see in my own life, and would encourage the reader to take as well. First is the daily Sabbath. Find time everyday (maybe just 30 minutes to an hour) to spend time relaxing and doing something enjoyable (reading a book, spending time with family, NOT watching TV). Second is a weekly Sabbath. It is important to take one day every week out of your normal schedule and do something you enjoy. Take the day and spend it with your family, go fishing, go to the mall, just find something that relaxes you and will rejuvenate you for the next week. Third is a couple day Sabbath. I would say this is required every 6 months. This gives an opportunity to reflect on the passed 6 months and look forward to the next. It will require turning off the cell phone and pulling yourself away from "it all." The last Sabbath I would say is pretty necessary is a yearly Sabbath. You take a week off. Go on vacation, visit friends, just shake off the weight of the regular work week.

God demonstrated the importance of a Sabbath and it is down right sinful to claim we don't need one and to never take time off. We are doing nobody a favor by not taking time away every once in a while. I would challenge the reader to start implementing these Sabbaths. Start with the daily and weekly and then work your way up from there. Do not let things come in between you and your time of rest, schedule it in, make it a priority. You and the people around you will be glad you did.

This weekend has left me feeling very tired and a bit overwhelmed. My wife and I opened our house to a couple guests. I really love to host. I love having people over to talk and share with each other, eating meals together, and if they need it providing a place to sleep. There is just something about that time that brings people closer together, it is a gift from God. However, this weekend the particular people we were housing were a little different.

You see, my mother in law spent the weekend with us (and her mother but she was very quiet most of the time). I really enjoy having her around, but honestly sometimes it is just a bit much. Her and my wife are both very strong independent women and when they get together they often butt heads. My mother in law has her ideas on mothering and that leaves my wife feeling like she is not doing the right things even though she really knows she is, just stuff like that. She is very strongly opinionated and if something is said that she doesn't agree with she will let you know. That can actually be a wonderful thing, to stand strong for what you believe, but sometimes it is a bit draining.

So after 3 days of hosting, I went to work this morning feeling very tired and a bit overwhelmed. I felt as though my head was spinning round and round and I could not get a firm grasp on anything to stop the spinning. Lucky for me I get to spend an hour and a half Monday through Wednesday in the baby room at work during nap time. This often provides a wonderful time for me to sit back and just think (or fall asleep but I try not to do that).

Today I decided to write down every thought that came to mind. I just wanted to get the thoughts out, jot them down. Even if they were not in an organized pattern on paper at least they could be out of my head for a while and I would get some time to relax. Here is a sample of what I wrote:

"footsteps, cards, send out graduation party invites, cards to youth, they need valuable adult relationships, reach out and pray for Time, missionaries make a lot of sacrifices, hard living with no friends, feel so alone, texting does not help, Call every other night of the week? Once every other week? glasses clear vision, blind but now I see, blind man and Jesus, Easter is named after a goddess, Jesus is alive..."

Some of the thoughts made sense together and some had vast jumps between, but you know what? It really worked at clearing my head. I spent 30 minutes jotting down my thoughts like this.

If you are having trouble thinking or can't seem to wade through the waves of your thoughts I would highly suggest doing this. It may seem weird at first but after a few words things just begin to fall onto the paper. Even when you slow down a time or two do not stop, there may be more and it may be very important that you jot these thoughts down. You will be able to relax your mind for a while and maybe get a grasp on what is important again.

"Happy Easter"

Working in a secular daycare, I hear lots of conversations or comments that I wouldn't really hear working full time for the Church. That just happens, it really shouldn't come as any kind of surprise. They discuss the things they did Friday and Saturday nights, how they felt the following morning, what they drank, and plans for the future to do the same kinds of things. It happens all over, and it really does pull at my heartstrings, and lifting them up in prayer is a regular habit of mine.

But this post is about one specific comment that really made me think. I just barely heard it through all the excitement that was going on with children. A father had come to pick up one of his children and was getting ready to walk out the door when another guy I worked with called out after them "Have a Happy Easter!"

Now your thinking "Really Brandon? After bringing up the discusses of drunk weekends the 'Have a Happy Easter' comment got to you?" Now hear me out. This young man is not a Christian. He actually despises the thought of himself going to church. He grew up in a Catholic Church and not rebells against the things taught there. There are other things about him that I do not need to go into but let's leave it at the fact that He does not know Jesus. Yet he wished someone a "Happy Easter."

People talk about how our world has secularized Christmas. I would like to make the observation that it is not Christmas that has been the most secularized but rather Easter. You see Christmas still has a Christian meaning behind it. The reason people want us to wish each other "happy holidays" is because the word "Christmas" still has Christ tied to it. When most people think of Christmas, the story of Christ's birth comes to mind. However with Easter, I hardly see this "problem." I have never heard that we cannot wish others a "happy Easter." Instead of just tying it in with other holidays we have made it completely secularized. People don't think of the resurrection, nobody is offended by the saying. Why is that? Because Easter is about the Easter Bunny and getting candy and having a good time with family in friends. We have completely stripped Easter of the cross!

What a heartbreaking thing to do! God sent His Son into this world. Jesus lived the life God laid out for Him. He loved people, those who followed Him and even those who didn't. He came to restore the broken relationship between God and man. He loved us so much that He allowed Himself to be beaten and put to death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). There really is no greater love than what our Savior showed us by dying on that cross (John 15:13)! Three days later He rose from the dead! He is alive!! What a wonderful story! The story of God's love for us, the story of the beginning of the reconciliation to God, and we have replaced it with a giant, egg hiding rabbit. What a tragedy.

This Easter let us truly take time to reflect on what our Savior has done! Let us read the story of the cross and the resurrection accounts. Before jumping into finding or painting eggs, let us take time out and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for what our Savior has done. Remember what Jesus has done and His great love for you and share it with those around you!!

Planning my Funeral?

Recently I have been thinking about my funeral. I know what you are thinking… “Brandon you are 23 years old, have a wonderful family, you are in good health, and have a long life ahead of you. Why on earth would you waste your time or burden yourself with such a daunting subject?” Honestly before a couple weeks ago I had not given it much thought, but there have been a few things that have jump-started this thinking.

First, I read Michael Hyatt’s book “Creating Your Personal Story.” This book was spectacular. Hyatt discusses how important and helpful having a plan for your life can be. He discusses how it helps with purposeful living. The way he starts though, is telling the reader how in order to know how you are going to get somewhere you must first know where it is you want to end up. So he sets this up by having the reader imagine their funeral and what people will say about them at that occasion.

The second thing that has happened is my great-uncle has been hospitalized with pneumonia. He was put into an induced coma to reduce the stress on his body. Then a few days later he had a heart-attack. While he is still alive (THANK GOD!) it helped jump-start this funeral thinking.

I’m at a point in my career where I have been considering a change (This may be dangerous posting online since I have only discussed this with a few people). I feel God’s call and pull in my life, but so far it has been difficult figuring out where that pull is coming from or to what it is leading. My head begins to spin when I think about the possibilities of where God may be leading me next.

There are so many things that I have talked about becoming. I want to go to Australia, I want to read more, I want to write more (maybe even a book), I want to be a great husband and father, to be used by God to reach out to hurting teens. Who is it that I want to become? Who do I want at my funeral and what do I want them to be saying about me? I spent several hours thinking about these things. I was really surprised by the subjects and people that popped into my mind. When I started thinking about what I wanted them to say the words just started flowing onto the page.

Now I know that just because I have this “life plan,” which I am not even close to completing, doesn’t mean that I will have all the answers but I believe that this accompanied with prayer, continual Bible reading, and a faithful life, I will have a pretty good road map and be able to make a more informed decision, on anything God may be doing in my life. I would serious encourage the reading of this book and then creating your own personal life plan! Hyatt even gives worksheets and resources to help in the process! May we all continue to seek God’s Kingdom above all else and find what it is He desires for our lives!

"Do Unto Others"

Today I was sitting and watching the first 45 minutes of "The Last 10 Yards" (because after coming home from watching 27 3-4 year olds all day I need just a little time to veg out). While three of the characters are getting something to eat they begin to briefly discuss their "religion." Jimmy Tudeski looks at Nicholas Oseransky and says "Do unto others before you're turned into a pillar of salt" Oz relplies "A pillar of salt?" Then Jimmy retorts "Ya! Moses said that. Read your Bible Oz!" I laughed and then went on to do some things around the house. A little later that conversation played back in my head and I began to think of how sad it is to think people really do have that little knowledge of the Word of God. I know, I know it was all meant to be funny, but it's not so funny when it happens in real life.

Jay Leno used to do (and maybe still does but I have not seen his show in forever) a segment "Jay Leno goes Jaywalking." He would walk the streets of New York and ask random people general questions about life. In at least two of these Leno asks questions concerning the Bible. It is crazy how many people out there do not have a general idea of what the Bible says or teaches. And it is not just the "unchurched" population that doesn't know.

I attended Central Christian College of the Bible from 2006-2011 (i graduate in May!!). It has been a wonderful experience and I have really learned above and beyond what I ever expected. I was very surprised to find though, in the first few New and Old Testament classes we took that we had to memorize the books of the Bible in order. This was something I had learned in Sunday School in the 6th grade. Now this is not meant to be a rant on how superior I was, rather it was surprising to me that people who had grown up in the Church could not do this task.

How do we expect the world to come and find the truth revealed in Scripture if we do not know it ourselves? It is impossible to lead a person to a place we have not gone. How safe and confident would you feel if you were going sky diving, spelunking, walking down the Grand Canyon, or going on any kind of guided tour and the tour guide started out by saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for accompanying me today. I'm sure we are going to have a lot of fun. I have never actually done this before, and I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am sure I can get us through this." If your answer is anything but "um, no thank you," there is something seriously wrong.

We must begin to get into the Word of God ourselves on a daily basis so that we can lead people to Jesus. We must be experiencing the love of Christ, the active work of the Holy Spirit or nobody is going to come follow our lead, or if they do, we will be leading them in the wrong direction and the Bible is very clear about how important a teaching position is. Let's start each and everyday (or end it but I prefer to start I believe it sets the tone of my day) in God's word. Let's memorize it, "hide God's word in my heart," and let it change us. See the Holy Spirit really does work through the Scripture and reveals things to us and changes us. It's when we begin to allow God to work in our lives, when we begin to really know Scripture that we are going to be able to teach it to others, and then lead them to this wonderful salvation that we are commanded to tell the world about! Let us from this day forth continue to be changed by God so that we can "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."