After being up all night listening to my pandora station, and having drafted a very nasty blog post (and having the restraint not to publish it), I've finally come back to understanding that my worth is in Christ. God made me who I am and gave me the things that are special about me for a reason.
I am who I am. I am who I have always been. I am also unrecognizable from myself 10 years ago. If, 10 years ago, I were asked to give a description of myself, it may have gone something like this (not holding back):
Fun, cheery, goofy, artsy, spontaneous, caring, cuddly, generous, giggly, smiles easily, lazy, night-owl, crazy, happy, and last but definitely not least, a Christian.
Today I would have to scratch at least half of those, and add in some toned-down, and sadder descriptions. :/
What the heck? Granted, when I was 18, I still needed a lot of growing up, but why did grown-up have to translate into totally-different-acting-person? I can add temperate to the list, which is good, and I have more wisdom and perspective now. I'm a mother and a wife. I think the problem is that I have tried too hard to adapt... or to accommodate Tim, and I've almost ceased being who I was when he met me. Not sure how he feels about that, but I sure do miss me.
It was great to hear David Crowder's How He Loves Us come up on my station. I love the visual of being tossed around like a tree in a hurricane. It gives me this mental picture of a tree standing all alone, being blown back and forth and all around, and everything else around it is obscured. I love it.
Perspective really changes things. Seeing who I am in God helps me see past what anyone else thinks... including myself. How wonderful it is to be accepted for me. That's what we crave so much from those around us. We want acceptance. We want to be valued, to be special to someone. At least that is what I want. I don't want to hear that I'm good at something or talented, or anything of that sort. I want to hear that I'm special. That I'm irreplaceable. I just heard Third Day's I Got You.
"...What kind of day do you wanna bring to me?
Rain or shine, that will be just fine
'cause i got everything i need
I got everything, i got everything.
I got you, and you're putting it all together
And it doesnt get any better as far as i can tell
And i got you, right now and ever after
And it doesn't even really matter that i got nothing else
'cause i got you ..."
And thank God that I have Him. I'm special to Him if to no one else in the whole world. It's things like this that make me want to fall on my face and praise God, and thank Him for loving me, and for being all I need. Doesn't matter if I'm funny or stuffy, artsy or boring, I'm just me and he loves me as his child.
I still miss some things about the younger me, and I think I will try to get some of that back. Not sure how successful I will be, but I'm gonna try.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Shack RETRACTION
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that in The Shack, Jesus is called a liar. This was a mistake on my part. I misread the line which actually said he had been lied TO, not that he had lied. This misconception had a lot to do with my violent reaction to this book.
After realizing my mistake, I felt it necessary to re-visit my previous review. I stand by my previous criticism of the writer's skill (someone hand him a thesaurus, please), and the over-use of church-isms, and my distaste for making Papa into a jolly, fat woman who uses a lot of improper English; however, I can overlook these things as a matter more of preference than anything else.
I know that in the book, it is explained that Papa being as "she" is, is to get beyond Mack's stereotypical idea of what God the Father looks like. I still don't like it, but I get what he was after. I just don't like calling the Father "she".
Anyway, I just wanted to put this out here. As my friend, Miriam pointed out, the scene with Sophia is an interesting take on what it means to judge. There are some good elements in the book, just not sold on it yet.
After realizing my mistake, I felt it necessary to re-visit my previous review. I stand by my previous criticism of the writer's skill (someone hand him a thesaurus, please), and the over-use of church-isms, and my distaste for making Papa into a jolly, fat woman who uses a lot of improper English; however, I can overlook these things as a matter more of preference than anything else.
I know that in the book, it is explained that Papa being as "she" is, is to get beyond Mack's stereotypical idea of what God the Father looks like. I still don't like it, but I get what he was after. I just don't like calling the Father "she".
Anyway, I just wanted to put this out here. As my friend, Miriam pointed out, the scene with Sophia is an interesting take on what it means to judge. There are some good elements in the book, just not sold on it yet.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
We are Platypus, The Shack and Pandora
So I found this awesome shirt:
It's awesome, you know it. I want to order it, but they run small and I like a more relaxed fit in my shirts, so I will have to wait til I lose a little weight, I think. Makes an awesome reward to myself, though, dontcha think?
In other news, I am almost done reading The Shack, by William P. Young. I have about 50 or 60 pages left, I think, and I just want to make my recommendation right now, feeling completely safe in trusting that the final pages will have no redeeming qualities powerful enough to change my mind. If you believe in the God of the Bible, this book isn't for you. God has revealed himself to us through His holy Word, and through creation. Let this overly-liberated fairy tale be overlooked if you're looking for a clearer picture of our Lord. Aside from the mediocre-at-best writing, I believe this book is a dangerous portrayal of who God is and how he interacts with his creation. Sure, there are elements of truth in the story, but have you ever heard the analogy of a glass of pure water with a drop of poison in it? That tiny drop make the whole glass deadly, and no matter how pure the rest of the water was, don't drink it.
I know a lot of people love this book. It doesn't surprise me. It seems like a book that Oprah might like, (with all it's compromising spiritualism and gushy lovey, feel-good, jolly god-ness) and lots of people love Oprah. If I'm mistaken, please accept my apology, Oprah.
I'm sure there are many reviews out there that address all of the conflicts with the Word of God, so I will not go any deeper. Pages 183 and 184 were enough for me to close the book and debate ever opening it again. To call Jesus a liar (see retraction post to follow) and to imply that being a Christian is a bad thing, and that Jesus is somehow present in all world religions... that was the final straw.
I was uncomfortable with Papa being a big black woman with poor grammar who just cooks and eats all day, with Sophia - supposedly Papa's wisdom personified (???) , and Jesus being a big dopey guy who seems to have nothing to do but skip rocks on a lake, but that was the nail in the coffin. This book will do nothing but water down the truth about God, heaven, judgment, and hell, and watered-down truth is no longer truth.
Discernment is a gift that God has given us. Use it. Ugh. This book really makes me mad. I half want to finish it so I can finish my review, and I half want to throw it away and not subject my mind to what is written on the final pages. Things can be hard to forget. I'm still thinking about it.
My pastor uses a term, "high-truth". I think I fall into that category. I just don't have much tolerance for lies, and this is compounded when we're talking about God and the Bible. I know that people need the truth. Satan is the father of lies, and I want no part of that. Lies keep people complacent, believing that they are ok, that God is jolly and all forgiveness and their version of love. That there is no penalty for sin, that hell is just for murderers and rapists. God hates sin. He doesn't wink at sin. What we do matters. We need a savior!
Anyway, I'm off my soap box for now. For now. ;)
What else? Oh yeah! Pandora! Pandora is pretty awesome. You pick some artists and they pick similar music for you, and you can tell them if you like each song or not to help tailor their other choices for you. LOVE IT! I think it's brilliant! I put in a couple artists and the ones they picked for me were perfect, and 90% of them were other artists that I listen to! Amazing! So if you would like to see what I'm listening to, check out my Pandora station.
On second thought, it's kinda creepy that they are that good at predicting what I like. And kind of neat that people are so universal. We all feel like freaks sometimes, but apparently we're alike enough for our musical tastes to be figured out by a computer. Hm, that's something I'll probably give some more thought to. Interesting.
Oh, and going back a week, our beautiful couch would not fit through the door to our apartment. lol... so after 2 days of looking elsewhere for another couch (we thought we had already eliminated all other couches at Slumberland), we ended up back at Slumberland, and ordered another, smaller couch plus a big ottoman. Tim thought the ottoman was stupid, but I want to have the extra room to lounge around, since the couch is smaller -- plus it was half-off, so we got it. I think he'll like it once he uses it. Even if he doesn't, that just means I won't have to share it :)
Alrighty, enough of the blog for now. Time to get off my bootay and get a workout in so I can get my platypus shirt! *Spish Spish Spish* :) That's that sound a platypus makes. <3
It's awesome, you know it. I want to order it, but they run small and I like a more relaxed fit in my shirts, so I will have to wait til I lose a little weight, I think. Makes an awesome reward to myself, though, dontcha think?
In other news, I am almost done reading The Shack, by William P. Young. I have about 50 or 60 pages left, I think, and I just want to make my recommendation right now, feeling completely safe in trusting that the final pages will have no redeeming qualities powerful enough to change my mind. If you believe in the God of the Bible, this book isn't for you. God has revealed himself to us through His holy Word, and through creation. Let this overly-liberated fairy tale be overlooked if you're looking for a clearer picture of our Lord. Aside from the mediocre-at-best writing, I believe this book is a dangerous portrayal of who God is and how he interacts with his creation. Sure, there are elements of truth in the story, but have you ever heard the analogy of a glass of pure water with a drop of poison in it? That tiny drop make the whole glass deadly, and no matter how pure the rest of the water was, don't drink it.
I know a lot of people love this book. It doesn't surprise me. It seems like a book that Oprah might like, (with all it's compromising spiritualism and gushy lovey, feel-good, jolly god-ness) and lots of people love Oprah. If I'm mistaken, please accept my apology, Oprah.
I'm sure there are many reviews out there that address all of the conflicts with the Word of God, so I will not go any deeper. Pages 183 and 184 were enough for me to close the book and debate ever opening it again. To call Jesus a liar (see retraction post to follow) and to imply that being a Christian is a bad thing, and that Jesus is somehow present in all world religions... that was the final straw.
I was uncomfortable with Papa being a big black woman with poor grammar who just cooks and eats all day, with Sophia - supposedly Papa's wisdom personified (???) , and Jesus being a big dopey guy who seems to have nothing to do but skip rocks on a lake, but that was the nail in the coffin. This book will do nothing but water down the truth about God, heaven, judgment, and hell, and watered-down truth is no longer truth.
Discernment is a gift that God has given us. Use it. Ugh. This book really makes me mad. I half want to finish it so I can finish my review, and I half want to throw it away and not subject my mind to what is written on the final pages. Things can be hard to forget. I'm still thinking about it.
My pastor uses a term, "high-truth". I think I fall into that category. I just don't have much tolerance for lies, and this is compounded when we're talking about God and the Bible. I know that people need the truth. Satan is the father of lies, and I want no part of that. Lies keep people complacent, believing that they are ok, that God is jolly and all forgiveness and their version of love. That there is no penalty for sin, that hell is just for murderers and rapists. God hates sin. He doesn't wink at sin. What we do matters. We need a savior!
Anyway, I'm off my soap box for now. For now. ;)
What else? Oh yeah! Pandora! Pandora is pretty awesome. You pick some artists and they pick similar music for you, and you can tell them if you like each song or not to help tailor their other choices for you. LOVE IT! I think it's brilliant! I put in a couple artists and the ones they picked for me were perfect, and 90% of them were other artists that I listen to! Amazing! So if you would like to see what I'm listening to, check out my Pandora station.
On second thought, it's kinda creepy that they are that good at predicting what I like. And kind of neat that people are so universal. We all feel like freaks sometimes, but apparently we're alike enough for our musical tastes to be figured out by a computer. Hm, that's something I'll probably give some more thought to. Interesting.
Oh, and going back a week, our beautiful couch would not fit through the door to our apartment. lol... so after 2 days of looking elsewhere for another couch (we thought we had already eliminated all other couches at Slumberland), we ended up back at Slumberland, and ordered another, smaller couch plus a big ottoman. Tim thought the ottoman was stupid, but I want to have the extra room to lounge around, since the couch is smaller -- plus it was half-off, so we got it. I think he'll like it once he uses it. Even if he doesn't, that just means I won't have to share it :)
Alrighty, enough of the blog for now. Time to get off my bootay and get a workout in so I can get my platypus shirt! *Spish Spish Spish* :) That's that sound a platypus makes. <3
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