MERRY CHRISTMAS: Jesus For Kids From 1 to 92 (And Beyond!)

Last night we had the honor of presenting the Christmas story to the kids of Calvary Fellowship.  It was a really fun time!  As we took the time to walk through the nativity story a few new things jumped out at us. Our daughter Reagan insisted that she must play the part of Elizabeth. Now, we weren't really going to get into the whole Mary visits Elizabeth portion of the story, but since Reagan insisted that she had perfected her impersonation of a pregnant elderly woman, we felt that we had to find some way to incorporate it into the lesson.

So we talked about John the Baptist leaping in his mother's womb when Mary and the unborn Christ came to visit.  We talked about how awesome that was because the unborn John is the youngest person featured in the Bible to recognize Christ as the Messiah worth leaping over.  It was a pretty cool presentation and Reagan giggled as the baby doll hidden under her coat jumped around.

As we continued the story of the nativity, we noticed that it is a study in contrasts meant to demonstrate God's love for all humanity.  The story of Christmas is that Jesus came to earth for all of us.  And so in the context of the story, you have the unborn John the Baptist leaping for joy at the arrival of  Messiah and then at the other end of the story you have the aged Anna the Prophetess and Simeon celebrating the arrival of Messiah at the temple.  Simeon famously had asked God not to let him die until he saw the arrival of Messiah.  Anna had been widowed early on and spent the bulk of her life single and devoted to teaching the Word of God as a prophetess.  In the words of the famous Christmas song, Jesus is demonstrating to us that He's truly come for kids from 1 to 92.  (Editor's note:  I need to extend that age because my grandmother is now 97 and I don't want her to feel left out!)

As we continued to present the story of the nativity we talked about the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Emmanuel (special thanks to Amy Grant for burning those titles in my mind in the 1980s with her Christmas classic!) who decided that even though He was the most important baby to ever be born on planet earth, He would be born in a stinky manger among animals in Bethlehem--the tiny little town known as the "house of bread."  

We talked about the shepherds (as played by Phineas and Ferb with a stuffed alligator & Perry the platypus as their sheep) and how in the eyes of the world, these guys weren't important.  They weren't super rich.  They weren't super powerful.  Most people wouldn't really think twice about these guys.  They probably smelled bad. (Ew, gross!)  They were better friends with the animals than they were with most of the people in their community.  And yet on that very first Christmas, God sent angels to invite them to herald the arrival of the Messiah in that stinky manger in Bethlehem.

Phineas and Ferb were very impressed indeed.

And yet in a study of contrasts this English teacher truly enjoys, we find another element at the manger with the entrance of the apparently super-wealthy wise men (sometimes referred to as kings) who give Jesus all sorts of fancy super expensive gifts. In our version the wise men were represented by Optimus Prime, Yoda and Mario (Luigi was not available as he was competing in a race on the Luigi circuit against Dry Bones and Koopa Troopa.)

 In the course of a few short verses God comes to earth to dwell among folks ranging from the unborn to the super elderly (which admittedly sounds like a new kind of super hero, but in this case just means really really old--even older than my elderly 35 years) and the poor insignificant social outcasts of the shepherds (not to impugn the reputation of Phineas and Ferb) to the super important and "lifestyles of the rich and famous" types the wise men represented.

This quiet little birth in the dirty barn full of animals represented such a paradigm shift in eternity that the entire world was rocked.  We sing of it being a "Silent Night" and in many ways it was, but this truly was the birth heard round the world.

As that young Mary gave birth to Jesus in the midst of animal filth, death's grip on humanity was shattered,  The angel-filled sky lit up as God came to dwell among man.  Eternity split open time itself and a Savior stepped in to contend for our very souls.  Life entered death and won.  Love entered into hatred and division and brought peace, joy and reconciliation.

Those shepherds witnessed the beginning of death's end, the beginning of Satan's demise.  The Bread of Life came to feed us.  The Good Shepherd came to tend His flock.  The Wise King of Kings came to dwell among the common folk to lead us to Him.

Everything about His birth testified to the awesome power and reality-changing truth represented in that moment. The Bread of Life was born into the town known as the "house of bread." The shepherds and visiting kings testified to His identity as the Good Shepherd and the King of Kings and source of all wisdom.  The humble circumstances of His birth testified to His servanthood.  The star testified to His deity.  The wide array of ages, social classes and financial means represented at his manger-side testified to the universal nature of His mission.  That not one should perish but that all should have eternal life--all who will, like the shepherds, drop everything to run to Jesus.  Those who will, like the wise men, no longer trust in their own wealth or achievements but seek Jesus for their identity.

And even though the hatred of Herod and power-hungry narcissism of Caesar Augustus testified to the haughtiness of man and worldly power, the glory of that Christmas night in the manger demonstrated that even the most powerful forces of the world could not stop Jesus from accomplishing His purposes and His Will.  A maniacal king couldn't stop a simple baby being born to two insignificant folks in a barn full of animals.

May we, like Phineas, Ferb, Perry, Optimus Prime, Yoda, and Mario find the powerful truth of our salvation, joy and hope in that eternity-changing, life-saving, paradigm-shifting collision of heaven and earth found in that little manger in Bethlehem.  May we find our salvation, hope and identity in Christ alone.  And may we never lose that sense of awestruck wonder that the lowly shepherds and the lofty wise men shared that first Christmas season.  And may all of us from the baby Johnny boys to the geezer-tastic Annas and Simeons find that Messiah and know Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Noah's David-like Bravery

Noah is always ready to jump into action...

David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." 33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."  1 Samuel 17:32-37


We always teach our kids to make the wise choice, to trust God no matter what and to treat others the way they want to be treated.  It's always a blessing to see them live that out.

Noah is now 10 and he's beginning to form into the man that he will eventually become.  He's always been a kid with tremendous compassion for others (except occasionally for his siblings.)  He's also always been a kid with a tremendous understanding of the power of faith.  He doesn't typically hesitate or surrender easily.

Our latest overnight trip was just an example of the type of man Noah will be: A biblical action hero.

While on an overnight stay at Willow Valley in Lancaster, PA, Noah demonstrated a true heroism along the lines of David.

David, as every church person knows, was a young boy who was willing to confront the scary ugly Philistine giant Goliath.  Goliath was slandering the people of Israel and their God.  Instead of confronting him head-on, however, the Israelite king and his army stood in the shadow of this frightening giant shaking in terror.

Then little David stumbled in from the fields and immediately got to work.  Without regard for the fear and trembling that the Israelites were clinging to, David instead chose to cling to God.  He volunteered to go against Goliath--despite the overwhelming odds that were against him.  David was a boy of action.  He was used to fighting off ferocious beasts (when most of us run kicking and screaming from things like spiders and stink bugs) in defense of his flock.  Here, he was willing to risk all in defense of his God.

David's motivation was from putting God and others before himself.  His fearlessness was not delusion either.  As he put it, "All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."  (1 Samuel 17:47)

It was a truth universally understood by everyone.  God fights for us.  We need to just have the wee bit of courage to stand with Him.

In that same way, Noah went into action with not a care toward his own safety.  In the deep end of the indoor water park located at Willow Valley, a young boy had gone down the gigantic blue slide into the water.  It was clear that he was unable to swim and he began to sink below the surface of the water.  Noah swam right over to him and held him above water.  He was struggling as this portion of the pool was above his head too and the child wasn't much younger than him.  He didn't give in.  He didn't hesitate.  He just saw another child in need and leapt into duty.

Shortly thereafter the life guard and the father of the child both jumped into the pool to take over for Noah, but it was clear that Noah had been the one to save the little guy.

As his parent, part of me is scared about Noah's apparent lack of concern for his own safety.  That just comes with the territory of being a Daddy.  A much bigger portion of me is so proud of Noah's selflessness and bravery in the face of danger.

Seeing that David-like bravery shine through Noah that day gives me a glimpse of the type of honorable man he is growing up to be.  And that gives me a whole lot to be thankful for.

Update on Reagan's Guatemala Girls!

Reagan & friends pose with Guatemala Girls Posters at her party

We've been waiting for a little more definitive numbers before updating you on the status of Reagan's Guatemala Girls challenge!

As you remember, Reagan decided to go without presents at her 6th birthday party so that the Guatemala Girls that she loves so much could have some money to attend school at Proximos Pasos.

Our original goal was $600.  That would allow one girl to attend school for an entire year with a little left over!  As the party got closer and an article appeared in the Gloucester County Times, we decided to up the goal.  To send 2 girls to school for a year it would cost $912.00.  So that became our official new goal.

If you look at the page for donations, today the total raised stands at $900.00.  The "goal" is now listed at $1000.  This is because in order to keep getting donations, you have to have a higher goal or donors will be unable to contribute.

There are, however, a few folks who donated via personal checks.  And they take a little while to get processed.  As a result the actual total raised is currently about $1040.00!!!!

This money will allow 2 girls to attend school at Proximos Pasos for an entire year.  It will also allow a little extra toward birthday and Christmas gifts.

Reagan couldn't be more thrilled.  She was so excited that she vowed to do this again next year!

We hope that our little Reagan has inspired you to think about ways that you can help the less fortunate around the world.  If a little 6 year old in New Jersey can raise over $1000 for girls living in Guatemala, then surely there is something that you could do.

It is also a great way to encourage kids to get involved in missions.  Maybe a birthday party or Christmas gifts might be a good way to teach your kids about selflessness and the importance to donating to missions work around the world.

In talking with Reagan about the impact she has made, we talked about how Reagan might not meet these two girls.  Maybe.  It's possible that the Hughes family will take another Guatemala mission trip to the school and that Reagan could play with her friends.  It's also possible that she might not meet them in person.  She will, however, likely meet them one day in heaven.  And those girls might just be in heaven because a little 6 year old decided that she didn't need birthday presents.

That just might be the biggest birthday gift of all.

We will be posting further updates as well as another video blog of Reagan's thoughts about the generous donations that others made to her "Guatemala Girls."

Thank you so much for helping Reagan bless the girls of Proximos Pasos in Guatemala!

Reagan's "Guatemala Girls" Challenge

Our little Reagan just turned 6.

And the 6 year old princess of the Hughes household decided that she didn't need any more toys.

That sounds shocking, I know.  And it is a rare statement in the Hughes household.  One of our kids' favorite past times is just walking the toy aisles at the local Target and ogling the plethora of shiny new toys.  Reagan is actually usually overheard saying something to the effect of "Can I get that for my birthday?"

Even when her birthday is a year away.

So, when Reagan claimed on her own, without any prompting from anyone, that she didn't need toys for her birthday, we had to get to the bottom of what she meant.

Reagan continued, "Well, I mean, maybe we could give presents to the Guatemala girls instead.  They need it more."

The "Guatemala Girls" that Reagan refers are girls that Reagan met in person during her visit to Guatemala in the summer of 2009.  Her Aunt Lauren (a contributor to this site) is a missionary with Mission Impact in Guatemala and the Hughes family went to visit in 2009.  Mission Impact supports two schools.  One school is a girls-only school called Proximos Pasos in the village of Santa Maria de Jesus.  A village which happens to exist on the base of a volcano.

Santa Maria is a poor village where girls really have little to no opportunity to attend education.  The public school in the area is only for boys.  There is not really the space for girls.  Proximos Pasos offers these girls a formal education AND a chance to learn about Jesus on a daily basis.

The work that this school does to invest in the lives of these girls and show them love is amazing.  The beacon for Christ that they have been to the community is inspiring.

Reagan heard her aunt share the story that many of the girls never have birthday parties at home.  Many of them don't even know when their actual birthday is.  The school tries to celebrate each girl's birthday with a small gift and a little celebration.  For many of these girls, these are the very first birthday gifts they have ever been given.

So, Reagan has decided that her upcoming 6th birthday party will be all about the "Guatemala Girls" that she loves so much.  Instead of bringing her gifts, she is asking friends, family and people with a heart for missions to instead make a financial donation to Mission Impact to help these girls attend school.  Since she's turning 6 years old, our goal for the party is to raise $600 to help offset the tuition costs for her "Guatemala Girls."

Will you join us?

You can stop by and visit the Reagan's Party page to donate.  Every little bit helps.  Additionally, feel free to share this blog and the donation page via Facebook, Twitter and email to any other folks that you think would be interested in donating toward Reagan's goal.

Finally, you can pray for the girls and the staff of Proximos Pasos that they would continue to be a light for Christ to their village.

Thank you for your support in this cause and God bless Reagan's precious "Guatemala Girls!"

Fourth of July Parade, Narnia & The Greatest Type of Love

So, we were able to take our kids to the 4th of July parade in Pitman this year.  Pitman is a local town that has that small town feel, complete with a main street and center of town like the good old days.  In years past we participated in the parade with the church that we were attending at the time.  That church always has a huge float and scores of people to represent the church in the community.  Their parade outreach is led by a very godly older couple who have been faithful through the years to make sure that the church has a good representation in the parade.

I will save you the full play by play of our worst experience marching in the parade.  Let's just say that it was hotter than Iraq in Pitman and we thought we'd be super smart and park our car somewhere near the route on a side street and then meet up with the church.  And let's just pretend for a moment, however hard it may be, that we are both terrible with directions (a reason why we will never win the Amazing Race) and that we got lost walking up and down side street after side street in search of the oasis of our air-conditioned car.  Low on water, cranky with heat and sweating like pigs, we both prepared to die.  The end was near.

But since I'm typing this to you, you can assume that we eventually found our van (which was probably right nearby the entire time) and made it back to air-conditioned civilization.

Back to the parade.

It struck me that many of the floats and organizations participating in this parade were local churches.  And that made me smile.  So did the frozen vanilla latte that I picked up at Casa de Coffee, a local coffee shop right around the corner.  Good stuff folks,  good stuff!

We joined Pitman-dwelling friends of ours on the curb.  They view July 4th kind of like most people view Christmas.  It's a huge deal.  So it was fun to share in their enthusiasm for the day.

It was a hot day, but our kids seemed to be enjoying themselves.  One moment that repeated itself over and over again was our two sons leaping to their feet every time a military veteran went by via a car, a float or just walking in a group.

The first time military vets went by we told them to stand up to show respect.  Our boys did one better:  they both saluted the veterans.  This became a ritual.  Every time a veteran went by my 10 year old and my 4 year old would stand proudly to their feet and salute!  Several of the old GI Joes saluted back to our little guys.

It was a moving moment for my wife and I.  Our boys were showing RESPECT to people who have earned it.  They understood in that moment what it meant to be American.  They understood in that moment what it meant to thank someone for sacrificing so much for us.  They understood in that moment what it meant to be rescued from evil by someone else's powerful sacrifice.  Biblically speaking, they understood Jesus' definition of love.

Jesus tells us in John 15:18 that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  This is right after He commands us to love one another.  And before He will do this very thing by laying down His perfect sinless life on behalf of a fallen world.

To the boys that day in Pitman, the patriotism-soaked holiday commemorating our nation's birth helped to illuminate the true nature of honor and sacrificial love.  And it reminded them that sometimes we need someone bigger, stronger and more powerful to save us.

Later this week when we were reading our portion of C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we came to the chapter where the ever-annoying Eustace has been made into a dragon because of his greed and wickedness.  As a dragon, Eustace learns the folly of his ways and repents.  Then comes the moment when he attempts to shed his dragon skin.  Hard as he may try he cannot remove it permanently.  It keeps growing back.  Finally, Aslan (the lion who represents Christ in the world of Narnia) helps him out:

"Then the lion said--but I don't know if it spoke--'You will have to let me undress you.'  I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now.  So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.  The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.  And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.  The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off...Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off--just as I'd done it myself the other 3 times, only they hadn't hurt--and there it was, lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been.  And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been..."

The 4th of July and the brave sacrifices made by our founding fathers and the generations of liberty's defenders serve as a reminder that we are in a world at war.  My little boys can't defend themselves against Nazis, Commies, or terrorists.  They need the protection of brave men and women willing to demonstrate the Biblical definition of the greatest type of love--self-sacrifice.  The little boy Eustace was also powerless to turn himself back into a boy without the powerful lion Aslan to help him.

And we are also incapable of shedding the sin into which we were born without the self-sacrifice and love of Jesus.  And that's something worth saluting!

Halle, our Word-Wielding Bug Whacker!

Bugs, beware!

She’s more formidable than Raid...

Halle is coming atcha’s with her BIBLE!

All I gotta say – I’m glad I bought her Bible in the hard cover edition! Here’s how it all went down yesterday morning…

On the way to church, a bug decided to buzz past Halle’s head and dance around on her window setting off quite a van disturbance! Jared, our almost 10 year old, has sensory issues with noise and bugs, so this insect escapade should have set him off into a panic, but instead he got mad at Halle, our 6 year old fearless bug-squisher, because she had the audacity to use her BIBLE to whack the bug to smithereens.

While Brad & our oldest teen son were already at church, here’s a rundown of how my ride to church went with our other 5 kids…

WHACK!

“It’s over there, now!”

“AHHH!” WHACK! “I got it! Uh, nope, I didn’t!”

Hysterical laughter…

“This is not funny!”

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Halle, don’t use the Bible!”

“How’s she doing, Chrissy?”

“AHHHH!”

“Where did it go?”

“It’s in the crack! IN the crack!”

“What in the world…”

“She got it, oh, there it is again…”

Giggles and then a WHACK!

“It’s gone now!”

“No it’s not, it’s on your Bible, Halle!”

A chorus of “ewwws” while Halle keeps giggling!

“Halle, here’s a tissue.”

“That’s disgusting!

Halle keeps giggling as she swipes the guts away!

“You should NOT use the Bible, Halle, for killing bugs.”

…More giggling, from both little girls…

“Did you hear me, Halle Mira?”

“Shew! Glad that’s over.”

I so wish that all was caught on video!

Ironically, after the guts were gone, I was stunned as I remembered that Jared, on the autism spectrum, IGNORED his intense fear of bugs to chastise Halle for using the Bible as a weapon! Fascinating! He set aside his self-preservation needs for the care of the BIBLE! How super cool!

After we all caught our breaths, I told Jared that it was okay Halle used her Bible in her Bug Battle – I explained to the kids that the Bible is called our SWORD, so she wasn’t too far off in using it against an enemy – even if it was a lightning bug, or so we believe!

Here’s the thing, though… how many of us REALLY use our Swords? Do we wield the Words of our Lord to do spiritual battle as much as we should? I know I don’t. We get caught up with the Word being bound in leather and on paper… when it’s supposed to be IN us – His power living in us!

How often do we swat away gnat-issues with our own personal ideas or logic? Do we think they’re not big enough to use the Word? Oh, and what about our bigger issues – do we bug-bomb our homes with His Word and our lives with prayer when the Enemy attacks with crisis, illness, rejection? Nothing makes the spiritual "bugs" flee faster than a house filled with praise!

As the kids’ worship chorus states: Our God is so BIG! So strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God can not do – for YOU! Use the Word to overcome your fear!

We must use the Word everyday, in every circumstance, relating our daily lives straight back to His Words, not our own! We should make His power-words a part of our everyday family vocabulary: grace, love, gentleness, prayer, mercy, unity, care, etc. Kids who learn these powerful Truths at younger ages will use the Scripture to do battles throughout their lives in a more fluid nature. It’ll become natural for them to behave as SUPER-natural FEAR Killers!

Heh, heh...

Halle said a few moments later, "I like killing bugs!"

Uh, oh! I definitely need to redirect her to killing spiritual bugs, instead! I'm totally okay with her whacking away bossiness (pride), laziness, and disobedience, though!

So…. Got “bugs”? Annoyed or freaked out about 'em? Use the Word!

Although I dunno about the whole killing-God’s-scared-glow-in-the-dark-creatures thing is a topic I should take on next with my crew….

One Battle/Bible-lesson at a time, right?

Joyfully,

Renee Balassaitis

Ephesians 6:17

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

This picture is a dramatization. No bugs were squished in the making of this picture.

Kids At The Beach: Germpos & Jesus

Germpos.

They are apparently a small undetectable worm that climbs in you and makes you dirty.

So says 4 year old Jackson.  After leaving the beach the other day, he insisted on a shower the very moment that we got home to eradicate these nefarious "Germpos."

Some might say it was sand.

I tend to believe my little sir that there are indeed a villainous race of tiny worms called Germpos and that their sole purpose is to make us dirty.

Well, I guess you could call that humanity's self-chosen affliction...sinfulness.

Jackson informed us that only he could see the Germpos.  Upon further investigation it was revealed that adults couldn't see them.

Just like the dastardly Germpos, sin is often unseen by other people.  Proverbs 5:21:  "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord.  And He watches all his paths."

Just like only the eyes of Jackson can see the Germpos, only the eyes of the Lord can see all of our sins.  Thankfully, He is a forgiving God, who corrects us as a father would correct his child and who is not willing that one of us should perish.

Thankfully, He also washes us cleaner than the quick shower that Jackson got upon returning from the trip to the shore.

Got Germpos?  Maybe you need a little Jesus cleanser.

My kids just continually challenge my faith in big and, um, silly, ways.  It always astounds me that the silly things that they say and do that make me smile also challenge my heart to be a better Dad, husband and Christ-follower.

What kind of silly things have your kids said/done that have led to a spiritual lesson for you?  We want to hear from you!  Consider this an open thread and post a comment below!

10 Year Old Noah: Storyteller & Bible Teacher

Noah basks in the sunshine as he harvests for Christ!

Recently, my wife and I took the kids to Lancaster, PA to see the Sight and Sound production of Joseph.  It  was an incredible presentation that the kids really enjoyed.  In preparation for that trip, we asked our 10 year old son Noah to review the story of Joseph for his siblings via a good 252 Basics-style dramatic storytelling.

And he delivered.

First of all, you should know that Noah is quite the ham.  I have no idea where he got that from as his mother and I are incredibly shy people who never seek the limelight.  (In case the Sarcasm Font is malfunctioning that last statement was a joke!)

Noah read over the story in his Bible and began prepping with his mom as to what to say, how to act each part out and what props to use.
When the time came, the family all gathered together in the living room and Noah took the stage...

He donned a multi-colored bathrobe to indicate Joseph's coat of many colors and he spoke about the dreams that Joseph had that indicated his brothers would bow down to him one day.  He even allowed his mom to beat him up.  (She helped him illustrate Joseph's beating at the hands of his brothers!)

He prepared note cards with key points to cover.

He even used a can of Spaghetti-Os and a banana to indicate the years of plenty and the food that they would need to stockpile to prepare for the 7 lean famine cows that were coming down the calendar.

He was funny, engaging and thoroughly prepared.

And through the silly faces and acting he engaged his sister and brother in the story of Joseph and the incredible testimony to clinging to God's faithfulness even when life circumstances don't really seem like a Disney vacation.

I was so incredibly proud of Noah.  From a presentation standpoint, he had everything that a good communicator should have:  he was funny, engaging, coherent, confident and thoroughly knowledgeable on his topic.  From a Christian standpoint, he was theologically sound and passionate.

It was his passion that communicated God's Word the most powerfully.  We have really tried as parents to instill a passion for serving the Lord and sharing His love with others.  Noah's passion during this time of teaching was an answer to prayer!

In many ways, Noah reminds me of Caleb and Joshua from the Old Testament.  When their contemporaries saw giants and a reason to fear, these two just oozed the confidence and passion of one who walks with God.  It is that passion and whole-hearted devotion to serving/trusting the Lord that allows Joshua and Caleb to enter into the Promised Land.

Hear Caleb tell it in Joshua 14:6-12:

"You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' 10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

Caleb had a passionate heart for God and that passion allowed him to claim the inheritance that His God had for him.  It also allowed him to boldly proclaim that promise.

And he was rewarded in Joshua 14:13-14: "13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly."

Noah's devotion is awesome.  It is something that we will continue to build, protect and cover in prayer.  It gives me a hopeful view of his future where he will be able to lay claim to the inheritance that God has for him.

I'm so lucky to be his Dad!

A Very Berry Teaching by My Little Reagan

Princess Reagan seeks & finds some nice strawberries!

Today we braved the 90 degree heat to go pick strawberries.  This is something that we have never all done as a family.  Reagan and I went on our own into an uncharted section of berry world while the rest of the family stayed pretty close to the front.  Reagan and I were looking to find the best berries that we could find.

Unfortunately, Miss Reagan tripped and fell at one point sending her berry selection careening into the poop-laden dirt.  After recovering from her stumble, Reagan continued the search for new fresh berries.

As we were walking along, Reagan, ever mindful of what God might be teaching her in her everyday life, decided to tell me what God had to say about the strawberry picking.

She told me that Satan was trying to trick us into picking the gross squishy berries but that God wanted us to look and find the real nice fresh ones.  She told me that we're not listening to Satan.  We're not picking his gross squishy berries.  We're picking the good fresh red ones that God is telling us to pick.

I chuckled and thought about what a funny little story this was.

Then I began to think about the meat to Reagan's berry ramblings.  Little Reagan seemed to stumble upon quite a truth.

We talk all the time about making the wise choice and trusting God no matter what in our kid's church program.  And apparently it's sinking in!

Reagan understood that the more easy to find gross squishy berries are being put in our path to entice us by Satan.  Picking these berries is the easy thing to do.  They are right out there in the open and they require no real effort.  Most of them aren't even attached to the plant anymore and you certainly don't have to look for them.

She also understood that to find the good ones, we had to do a little more effort.  We had to search just a little bit harder.  And God's desire was for us to search for the fresh berries.  His desire was for us to have the very best, even if it might take us a bit more time and cost a bit more effort.

Little Reagan has more understanding than a lot of folks who go to Bible College.  Consider just this smattering of biblical references on the importance of seeking the Lord and His Will/Counsel for our lives:

1 Chronicles 16:11
"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

2 Chronicles 7:14 
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Deuteronomy 4:29  
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Matthew 6:33
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Our seeking for His kingdom should be FIRST.  Our seeking should be with "all of our heart and with all of our soul" and it requires humility and repentance.  Seeking isn't easy, but it's so central to living the life that God has for us.  It is impossible to please God without first knowing Him intimately.  It is impossible to know Him intimately if we accept the squishy berries and don't earnestly seek the fresh vine-ripened fruit that only God provides.

What a nice lesson from a 5 year old little girl and a day in the berry patch!

Chicken Monster Theology

Imagine this face crashing into you and vomiting...

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation."  Psalm 68:19

Our family has had issues with birds recently.  We have a random bird of prey that likes to circle our house in the afternoons.  The kids have named him Aerial Ace (or "cutie" if you ask Reagan as apparently birds who swoop down to kill unsuspecting cuddly animals are cutie-pies.)

Ace is kind of a mascot for our house.  However, about a week ago as I was driving to work, a ginormous hideous monster of a bird almost killed me.

Picture the scene:

An unsuspecting high school teacher is driving during the early morning hours when nobody in their right mind would be.  As I pass by an empty field, a bird the size of California comes flying out into the road and on a collision course with my truck.  In fact, if this beastly bird of terror collided with my truck, he was going to slam into the driver side window.  The window was up, but with his size and speed, methinks his nasty face would have burst through the glass and slammed right into me.

I have no idea what kind of bird this thing was.  I looked up in a fanciful birds of prey children's book that we have and to my best guess it was a vulture.  Have you seen these things? They are the ugliest things this side of Satan.  In fact, when I picture what the prince of darkness looks like without his temptation-laced stage make-up on, I picture vultures.

Apparently, had this nefarious bird hit my truck and thrust his homicidal beak in my face, I would have been in quite the predicament.  According to the kids' guide to predatory birds, vultures tend to throw up in your face when you "scare" them.  All manner of decomposing roadkill would have spilled out upon me as I sat in my workday finest and basked in the horror of a vulture attack.

It would have been the single worst bird terrorist attack since Fabio.

Thankfully, and inexplicably, the vulture somehow pulled up at the last minute and missed my truck.

That takes me to a family dinner from earlier in the week.

We had a rotisserie chicken dinner, as we were running late as usual.

We never serve chicken on bones.  It's nasty and caveman-like.

However, on this particular evening my wife decided to put the chicken legs on Reagan and Jackson's plates.  Reagan followed in her grandmother's footsteps and devoured hers within seconds.

Jackson, however, stared at the unsavory chicken leg and refused to consume it.  When prompted, the ever eloquent Jackson added to his famous lexicon by declaring that he wasn't going to eat that "chicken monster."

Chicken monster.  Yum.

Of course, as soon as "chicken monster" was given to his carnivorous sister, Jackson was sad that he couldn't eat it.  Re-christened as "mutton" by older brother Noah, the "chicken monster" leg suddenly became irresistible to Jackson.

Where's all this talk of scary predatory birds and chicken monsters going?

Well, the enemy flies around like a predatory chicken monster.  And he is hellbent on destroying you.  And one of the things he's most effective in using against you is fear.

Reading Psalm 68 earlier today, I was reminded that not only is the Lord our salvation, but He carries our burden daily.  Daily.

I was also struck by reading the account of the transfiguration.  Chilling atop the mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah must have been awesome.  When Peter, James and John heard the voice of God, they bowed their heads to the ground in fear.

And yet:

"And lifting up their eyes they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone."  Matthew 17:8

Jesus touched them.  Fear left them.  Their eyes beheld Him.  Only Him.

Additionally, 1 Chronicles 11:9 says of David that he "became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him."

His success and victory was not due to his own personal coolness, but rather that "the Lord of hosts was with him."

Life serves us chicken monsters and sends careening vultures toward our truck.  And our response to that is the gateway through which our faith bloodstream flows.  When we are afraid of chicken monsters, we can turn away choice blessings (and succulent meat?) when we should be chowing down.  When the crippling fear of a vulture smacking into your face and vomiting roadkill on you hits, you lose focus.  Fear minus focus equals failure.  It means a picking up of your daily burdens that are meant to be carried by your much stronger Savior.  And that weight holds you back from what God has for you.

And yet, just like Peter walking on the water, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, and push away the fear, God will daily lift our burdens.  Philippians 4:19 reminds us that "My God will meet all you needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Those riches are where?  In Jesus.  Alone.

As I read to my kids today out of the Jesus Calling for Kids Devotional, God is telling us:

God wants to save you from careening birds of prey and open your eyes to choice meat, riches and blessing.  He wants to become greater and greater because He is with you.  In order to do that, you are going to have to lift up your head, block out the chicken monsters and predatory birds and see Christ alone.  And if you do, you'll see Psalm 68, 1 Chronicles 11 and Matthew 17 made manifest in your life!

Embrace chicken monster theology and grow your faith!

Samson 90210: Why Do We Admire This Dude?

So, I recently re-read the book of Judges.  And it was really judgmental of me, I know, but I've decided that I'm not a big fan of Samson.  He's kind of like the Old Testament Charlie Sheen.  I can imagine him in full-on wide-eyed crazy, shouting "Winning" as he canoodles with the latest "goddess" of the week.

And yet somehow this Charlie Sheen doppleganger is one of the great judges of Israel.  Judge Judy he is not.

First of all, it should be noted that Judges is a book full of weirdos.  It reads almost like a cutting edge satire that God has written to poke fun at how ill-equipped we are to govern ourselves.

There are exceptions.  I dig the Deborah story.  She was awesome.  I also like how the big bad military leader Barak (Obama?) won't go to battle without Deborah in a keen observation of the power of God's anointed!  It's also real nice and Old Testamenty in its judgment and wrath when the bad guy takes a nap and has a tent peg driven into his temple by...a woman!

I also enjoy Deborah being the leader because she helps give my daughter someone to look up to.

I do also like Judge Ehud smiting the fat king in Judges 2:

"16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man... 20 Ehud then approached him [the king] while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead."


I've taken the liberty of bolding the portions that entertain me the most.  So, Ehud made a blade that was a foot and a half long that totally disappeared into the fat of the Biggest Loser contestant Moabite king.  I love how he just kills him and then slips away, leaving a humongous dead dude rotting on his throne.  I further love how the king's attendants think he's relieving himself and don't go in for a long time, beyond "the point of embarrassment."

I mean, this is epic.  This is an Old Testament smiting done right.  Not quite on the same level as Elisha having bears maul mockers of his baldness, but right up there with the best.

Then there is the famously indecisive Gideon who needs about a thousand reminders of God's power.  He did play a mean horn that Gideon, but decisiveness seemed to elude him.  Ain't that just like us?  And by "just like us" I don't mean awesome bugle playing or the age old debate of dry vs. saturated fleeces and the mysterious workings of morning dew.  I'm more thinking of the many times that God speaks, confirms and re-confirms to us something from His Word that we keep refusing to fully believe.  (Side note: Aren't you shocked that an English teacher just used "ain't"?)

There is also father of the year Jephthah who recklessly makes a vow to God that he'll kill whatever he sees next and then mournfully goes on to sacrifice his virgin daughter to fulfill that vow.  Yikes.  Consider that a lesson on being careful with how you speak and how you sport with the lives of your little ones.  Your careless priorities, vows and words can cause the death of your children.  

The book ends with the story about an "unnamed Levite" who is so offended at the animalistic wicked men who raped and tortured his concubine that he cut her up in pieces and sent a bloody piece of her to all of the areas of Israel.  Again with the Old Testament justice.  Again a disturbing picture of the debased and immoral condition of mankind and a kinda weird way to show it.  No wonder "unnamed Levite" asked them to withhold his name from the story, as he kinda sounds like a serial killer himself.

There is also a gaggle of other "he judged Israel for such and such a year and then he died" judges mentioned as well, but no judge is more famous than Samson.

Explain why it is we look up to him?

Samson's parents dedicate him to being a Nazirite, meaning he never cuts his hair and he devotes his life to serving the Lord (among other things.)  And yet, his life is a dismal failure in so many ways.

I get that Samson is pretty impressive in the areas of killing people with a donkey jawbone, eating honey out of the carcass of a lion that he recently killed, and tying fox tails together and having them run around with a torch in between them to burn the town down.  I also understand that he pretty awesomely pushed down the pillars and made a building collapse on himself and the Phillistines.  I'm just thinking that his heart wasn't that often focused on the things of God, particularly for a "judge" of Israel who is supposed to be serving the Lord and all.  His story is more of an example of what no to do in your walk with the Lord.

God uses Samson's Phillistine wife as a motivation to get him into smiting season with 30 or so of those whily Phillistines.  (Will they ever learn?)  His first wife betrays him to her peeps in a pretty obvious way.  And even after that, Samson attempts to "go into her room"and is horrified to find out that pooky-bear has been given away to one of his pals.  I think we can guess what he wanted to do in her room and it wasn't Scrabble.  Then in Gaza, Samson "saw a prostitute" and "went in to spend the night with her."  (Judges 16:1)  He gets away from that situation only to fall in love with deceitful Delilah.

There is no mention of marriage, and yet again Samson seems to be sleeping with the salty lass.

In between their loving embraces, somehow old Samson doesn't seem to catch on that all she ever wants to talk about is how to get rid of his strength.

He also doesn't seem to figure out that every single time he tells her some whopper about how to get rid of his power, miraculously the local Phillistines come charging in with just that type of weaponry.

Seven fresh thongs?  Check.  Tied with new ropes?  Check.  Weaving seven braids of his head into the fabric on the loom and tightening it with a pin?  Check.

He even eventually tells her the truth and his head is shaved and his power is gone.  Dude even has his eyes gouged out.

Samson's actions make our most embarrassing televangelist sex scandals look tame in comparison.  His life was one of self-destruction and lust.  I'm sure some people love them some Samson, but I'm not a big fan.  I'm just not sure why he is someone worth looking up to.

Samson's story is more of a cautionary tale of what not to do.  The next time you are tempted to do something exciting like eat honey out of a dead lion carcass, don't.  It's just not worth it.

A little less of Samson, and a little more of Deborah might be in order for our leaders.   Maintaining your walk with the Lord and making wise choices is really about the condition of your heart.  If you don't guard it, it will be taken by force by the usurping power of sin.  That is a lesson Samson never really seemed to understand.

What are your thoughts on the muscled judge?

UPDATE:  My wife informs me that she was always taught the Samson story as a cautionary tale of what not to do.  Kudos on that.  I grew up with him being taught as one of the heroes of the faith for all of his feats of strength.  Apparently not everyone taught him as such!

What's That Stench??!?

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."  2 Corinthians 2: 14-15

"Something stinks.  And it's not the litter box."

This line of Pharasaical judgment was uttered by a talking cat in one of those litter commercials.  Apparently, this haughty feline did not like one of his house-mates, who was a fun-loving sweet cat.  Just prior to this statement, the fun-loving housemate had been giddy with excitement that he was alone.  You see, the stench of the waste of multiple cats was no longer wafting gloriously throughout the house.  He wondered at his good fortune that the other 2 mean cats had finally vacated his residence.

Before he could get too comfortable, however, one of those cats revealed himself and offered his judgment of the little guy in the above quoted tidbit.

The poor cat's hopes and dreams were dashed even as his nostrils were delighted by the sweet-smelling aroma of his house thanks to the fancy kitty litter.

If you have cats, you know that they can stink up the place like nothing else.  It often smells like something died in your house when one of those furry friends does their business.  If you are lucky enough to have guests over during the time of detonation, you can expect a good bit of drama and perhaps the ending of some friendships.  Noses will be held with accompanying statements of shock and horror.  Sour grinch faces will be all the rage.  Some unpinched and defenseless noses will be shoved underneath the neck of tee-shirts.  Violent threats will be uttered against your kitty compatriots.  Dry heaving will ensue in many cases.  In extreme cases, actual vomiting may occur.

Not exactly the party of the decade.

Isn't this a delightful read?

So when 2 Corinthians starts using the sense of smell in relation to our role in this world, we should use cat poop as our guide.

God always leads us in triumph in Christ.  ALWAYS.  That word is key.  So often, we find ourselves dwelling in self-pity.  And yet Scripture is clear that God ALWAYS leads us in TRIUMPH in CHRIST.

This is not a call to your BEST LIFE NOW.  This is not a promise to the perfect life of ease.  Paul would be the last person to preach that.  Unless of course,  he found imprisonment, shipwrecks, torture, and beating to the point of death his best life now.

Leading us in triumph doesn't always mean a life of ease, but it does mean a life of purpose.

Recently, Pastor Joe Focht from Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, has been preaching about the story of Naomi and Ruth.  In their misery, they never let go.  And as God poured out "bundles of purpose" that Ruth could glean, it wasn't always clear that their life would be perfect.  And yet due to Ruth's faithfulness and devotion to the Lord, her kinsman redeemer Boaz became her Prince Charming.  And then they had a son named Obed who later had a son named Jesse.  And Jesse had a boy who slew a giant and became King David.  And later on, the Messiah was born in a manger in Bethlehem.  And all of this came about through their family line.  God led her in triumph.

And her faith testifies about Christ still today.

Our testimony and faith in Christ as we are ALWAYS led in TRIUMPH is a "sweet aroma" and "fragrance" of Christ among those being saved and those perishing.

With our lives, we can make a pretty nasty funk equivalent of a cat box or we can entice people with the sweet aroma of God's grace in Christ.

And you can't fake it.  In Toy Story 3, Lotso smelled like strawberries, but he was a rotten apple.  He wasn't genuine.  He attempted to cover up his dastardly deeds with a sweet strawberry smell.

Covering up our stink with perfume and candles never works.   If you've ever tried that with your cat box, you know that the oppressive cat poop stench doesn't go away.  Your room now just smells like flowers, baked pumpkin pie and cat poop.

Selfishly, we often think our faith and testimony are ours alone.  This Scripture tells us that is not so.  Our faith and testimony has a certain odor to it.  It can and will have an impact on the faith-nostrils of both our fellow Christians and those yet to choose Christ.  Through our lives, we can either make Christ smell like a rancid cat box or the most alluring sumptuous feast imaginable.

And people's lives are hanging in the balance as they sniff the air for some clue of God.

What will your smell be?  What smell will you impart to those around you?  What smell will you impart to your children?  Your spouse?  Your family?  Your neighbors?  That jerk that cut you off in traffic?

Let's pray that our faith would smell sweet and that our faith would be a light to those around us and not faith-darkening shades that impede the revelation of Christ to our hurting world.

My Boy Jackson: "I not broke down. God Made Me."

Jackson's famous pout...

Mad props to the Orange folks who are working on the First Look Curriculum!  It's making a difference in the lives of little ones like my son Jackson!

The First Look curriculum seeks to impart 3 basic truths to the wee tots entrusted to us:

God Made Me

God Loves Me

Jesus Wants To Be My Friend Forever

And my 4 year old son just demonstrated that it's catching on!

Jackson's sayings are famous around my house.  He has enthusiastically declared after watching a vintage Veggie Tales DVD that "God is bigger than the foogie man."  Multiple attempts to correct him were met with adamant denials of the existence of any such "boogie man."  The "foogie" man is his real name and slime comes out of his ears.  He was wearing his "fweatshirt" at the time of these denials.

He's also been known to ask if we are going to take a "hair cut" to get home sooner (presumably "short cut") and asked the nice lady waitress at Friendly's to put "hot vudge" on his ice cream.

This past weekend, he was playing with key chains and declared an all-consuming love of "cheese canes" which admittedly don't sound like such a bad idea to me.

And my personal favorite is his perennial answer to the question "What do you think Jackson?" which is, of course, "Yes, I do think!"   Except on bad days, when it is a sullen "No, I don't think!"

His latest addition to the Jackson Lexicon was actually a God moment from the lips of a four year old poet.  This past week, I was being my usual silly self and mangling a show-stopping song from his older sister Reagan's kindergarten "train play" in which she plays a haughty purple tiger who rebuffed cries of "please stop and help us" with a curt, "help you, I should say not!"

The song I was mangling actually goes as follows:

Please stop and help us

Please stop and help us

Please stop and help us

Our engine's broken down

My version, of course, replaced "Our engine's broken down" with "Our Jackson's broken down."

Admittedly not the most ego-boosting statement to make to your son, but a fanciful line of whimsy nonetheless.  Jackson, however, was not amused.

His angry face and pouty lips took shape as he declared, "I not broke down!  God made me!"

Now grammatical errors aside, it was a statement that made me smile.

My 4 year old knows that God made him, and as a result, that he's not a mistake, broken down, or worthless.   At his incredibly young age, thanks to the Deuteronomy 6 partnership between his parents and his church leaders, young Jackson has embraced a teaching that is so absolutely life-altering that many folks wrestle all of their lives to fathom it, much less live it.  Jackson the theologian was applying the key biblical truth from Psalm 139 to himself and  declaring (in typical Jackson-ese):

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."   Psalm 139:13-14 

That is the kind of true life change that folks working with the Orange curriculum can expect.

Teaching with an end in mind works.  Working with parents to reach this next generation to plug them into the purposes of God is an amazing blessing and privilege.  When kids like Jackson can take hold of the big boulders of faith, it's much easier for him to build his household of faith on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.

And it's certainly more than enough to fight off the evils of the foogie man!

The Faith Lesson Where I Exploded the Microwave & Burned The Kitchen!

If only my starchy little friend turned out like this...

"Jesus answered, 'It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "  Matthew 4:4

Anyone who has ever ventured into the uncertain waters of dieting knows this verse well.  We often cite it as we gorge ourselves at the local smorgasbord, guffawing as we devour heaping "Tower of Babel" sized portions of edible goodness.

"Well, you know what the Good Book says!  We can't live on bread alone, that's why I'm piling this plate full of pie!"

Sure this teaching from Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3:

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

And sure, that was talking about a spiritual hunger that God sought to teach the Israelites about while using the physical act of random divinely-baked bread falling from the heavens to illustrate it.  It's just such easily picked low-hanging fruit in the world of Christian humor!

So, you should understand that I'm not a patient dieter.  Each diet that I go on must produce immediate earth-shattering results or I will cut and run to the nearest fast food place and gorge myself like Egypt's famine is about to hit.  This story is about one of those crazed diet plans.

I decided to go on some weirdo GM diet where you eat only baked potatoes and veggies for a few days, only to switch to bananas and milk one day, and meat and tomatoes another.  It's a bizarre act of dietary Jiu-Jitsu designed to confuse your stomach into thinning out.

Does it work?  I have no idea.  I didn't get much beyond the first day.

It all began with a baked potato.

It was early morning.  I was getting ready for work.  I'm not a morning person and yet my current job requires me to get up when it is still dark on most mornings.  So getting ready in the morning is often a comedy of errors.

My meal that fateful day was supposed to be a baked potato with a little bit of butter.  As I have never made a baked potato in the microwave myself, I asked my wife how long to cook the little guy.

She told me 20 minutes.

Some of you just fell out of your chair.  And yet it seemed so correct to me.

Of course, she was thinking about the amount of time she cooks enough baked potatoes for a family of 5.  She was also thinking as a rational being who would remain in the kitchen checking the little starchy delights every 5 minutes.

Not knowing any better, I decided that I could put the potato in the microwave and then return upstairs to resume getting ready for work.  So, I put my single potato into the microwave for 20 minutes (GASP!) and then bounded up the stairs to finish preparing for my day.

I can only imagine the pain and suffering that poor potato would know in the moments that followed.  Apparently a single potato is no match for the awesome incendiary power of a modern microwave.  

White fluffy starchiness was replaced by cinder and ash as smoke and flames burst from my little multi-eyed vegetable friend.  The fire threatened to consume much more than the potato if left unstopped.

Meanwhile, I was upstairs ironing clothes and doing my best impersonation of the slow and steady turtoise.

Thankfully, my father-in-law lived in the in-law suite right off the kitchen and was able to intervene.  Unfortunately, however, he ripped open the flame-filled microwave and threw water into it.  The tsunami of ice cold refreshment sent the scalding charcoal of a potato corpse careening toward the kitchen floor where it created a crater of burn marks right in the center of the linoleum floor.
Other water and hot refuse hit the gas stove below.  Flames reached up above the microwave and licked the walls, creating such soot not seen this side of Santa's suit.

As my father-in-law breathed a sigh of relief, a burst of flames emerged from the once dormant stove.  Apparently some hot goodness had fallen into the way of the gas line.  More rushing water ensued.

Blissfully unaware of the devastation created by my new diet in the kitchen below, I skipped jubilantly down the stairs and wondered at the massive plumes of smoke in the house.

"Boy, I must be tired.  My eyes still can't focus.  It looks like there's smoke in here!"

When I turned the corner into the kitchen to behold Dante's inferno, I was shocked.

Needless to say, after I had created such carnage, I decided to abandon the new diet.  In fact, after taking the day off to deal with the insurance company, we opted to hit McDonald's for lunch and abandon dietary restrictions for the foreseeable future (probably chanting that man cannot live on bread alone as we did!)

What does this story teach us besides disqualifying me as a contestant on the "Next Food Network Star?"

Well, like the Israelites, I often look for the quick fix.  In the diet world, faster isn't always better.  I try to take shortcuts.  Unfortunately, like the Israelites, I sometimes can do it with my faith as well.  Sometimes, I forget the manna that God miraculously provided and exchange a miracle for covetousness.  Sometimes, I forget to go to the instruction manual for life each day and read God's Word on what I should do and how I should behave because I have things to do. 

God doesn't desire us to take short-cuts.  Sometimes, we need to be patient and wait.  Sometimes our lack of patience will result in flaming balls of potato refuse.  

Sometimes, we need to stop looking at God for what He can do for us and start looking to get to know Him more and see what we can do for Him.  It's not how quickly we run our race of life, it's how well.  

Like the baked potato that met its demise that early morning, too many people allow death to reign in their daily lives because they are not connected to God in a personal and powerful way.  God desires balance for our lives and that can only be accomplished by placing Him in the very center where He belongs!  And yet, so many of us treat him like a Genie that will rain quail and manna down when we clap our hands.

His desire is that we would earnestly seek Him with all our heart and soul.  Even those of us who don't fall prey to the gimme syndrome, find ourselves looking elsewhere for what God wants in our lives.  Too often we rely on the wisdom of others instead of God's Word on the subject.  And then they tell us to cook a potato for 20 minutes in the microwave.

We will only truly live the life that God has for us when we make Jesus central to our lives.  Just as Moses reminded the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6 to impress their faith upon their hearts and incorporate it into their children by making it permeate every aspect of their lives, God desires the same for us today.

As Deuteronomy continues, Moses warns his people once again about the centrality of God to their future well-being in Deuteronomy 8:11-14:

"Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 

He then concludes in Deuteronomy 8:19-20 that:

"If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God."

Moses isn't trying to scare his people here.  Okay, maybe he is.  He's trying to remind the people that he has sacrificed for, intervened for with both God and man, and given his life to serving to stay focused.  His admonition to the Israelites has been proven time and time again in the history of man.  Churches, kingdoms and individuals have burned the baked potatoes of their lives by refusing to seek God first and instead relying on quick fixes, the urgency of now and bad advice.

I don't know about you, but I have seen what a microwave can do to a potato in just 20 minutes.  I don't want to see what the wrath of God can do!  I'll gleefully take an extra helping of quail with some manna on the side and personally convey my compliments to the chef on a daily basis!