Armadillos and Hot Coffee Lawsuits

There are basically three ways to learn something new. Sometimes you learn over time, without really noticing that you have learned anything. It’s sort of like watching a puppy grow – you don’t actually realize anything has changed until you see pictures from a few months ago and realize that this thing has gotten huge! Having grown up in church, much of my spiritual formation occurred in tiny easy-to-digest bites like this. I’d guess that most learning throughout our lives happens naturally this way. 

Did you know that every time an armadillo gives birth, they have identical quadruplets? Yep, it’s true. Look it up. Sometimes you learn something that you never knew you didn’t know. This, I think, is the easiest way to learn new information. It occupies a piece of your brain that was vacant and ready for a little truth nugget to take up residence. It’s like hearing a sermon, or a podcast, or having a conversation and thinking,“Wow, I never thought of that before.”

The third way we learn is the most difficult. It is when some new bit of information comes along that contradicts what we already thought we knew. Remember the lady that sued McDonalds when she spilled hot coffee on herself? What if I told you that it wasn’t an insane frivolous lawsuit but was a completely justified and correct course of action for her to take. Again, it’s true. Look it up. If you’ve never heard the whole story, your first thought is probably that I’m wrong and there is no way McDonalds should be responsible for a clumsy lady spilling coffee. 

When presented with new information that contradicts what we believe, even if that information is reliable, accurate and true, studies show that people will reject it, preferring to hold onto their previous (if now untenable) ideas. This happens when you hear a sermon, or a podcast, or have a conversation and think, “Nope.  That can’t be true. I mean it sounds true, and they backed it up with some good evidence, but…no way.”

These are the truths that we wrestle with, especially if one new truth affects several areas of our lives of belief systems. If x is true, what do I do about y and z? This thought alone can be daunting enough to make us reject the new truth for the sake of the familiar comfort of our old truth.

In the American Church, we have many traditions and long held ideas that are not based on Biblical doctrine or objective truth, but we hold onto them like they are bits of precious truth.  Jesus challenged the way that religious leaders did this and turned the whole thing upside-down.  I doubt that his revolutionary vision was to have his followers evolve (or devolve) back into the same thing.

It’s time to take inventory of what we know, and what we think we know. I picked up a lot of truths growing up in the church, and I’ve had to spend some time putting down some of them.  They were very easy to learn, and very difficult, even in light of new evidence, to let go of. But as followers of Jesus, we are called to pursue truth. And if anyone needs more interesting armadillo facts, or wants to discuss the hot coffee lawsuit, just let me know.

--Jeff Hyson

It Happened Overnight

It happened over night. Literally.

I slipped out my back door this morning to tend my garden. I love this early morning interlude. There’s a new-born freshness and promise to the awakening day. Dew magically glistens on the grass and leaves, and I sense a subtle hint of coolness stirring in the breeze—in spite of the sun’s best efforts. Immediately, my heart is drawn to the majestic and artful Creator of it all…a very good way to begin any day, don’t you think?

And then I saw it.

My war-ravaged, battle-weary flower garden…surrendered in defeat. Chewed, gnawed, battered, broken, and mutilated in less than 12 hours—a new world’s record.

Yay, slugs…

Could anything be more revolting, vile and disgusting? I feverishly yanked twenty-three of those bloated, slimy globs from their victory celebration inside my flowerpots and my flowerbeds. I crushed them mercilessly on my driveway stones. 

I really hate slugs.

Rustling in my garage, I found last year’s slug and snail poison pellets and generously scattered them angrily around the roots of all my pitiful survivors. Too little, too late.

I felt sick. I felt sad. And are you ready for a pretty wild twist? Sorry, this is the weird way my mind operates.

I thought of marriage. I’m feeling pretty sick and sad about marriages right now too. So many look (and probably feel) a little too much like my decimated garden. Chewed, gnawed, battered, broken, and mutilated. What in the world is going on?

Do you see the metaphor too?

Marriage is a garden. Two starry-eyed and hope-filled romantics promise to dutifully design its contours and character, prepare and till the soil, sow the seeds, and tend the plantings. Gardeners. Together they sacrifice and labor with the goal of creating something bountiful, flourishing and beautiful. Their love and naiveté fuel their passion to make this garden more magnificent than any garden before it. They really mean it.  

But a lovely garden takes hard work. Together. 

And neither figures it requires so much sweat and so many tears. 

Neither imagines that flowers can be so slow-growing. Neither realizes that flowers—fragile, vulnerable, and delicate—require such tender, constant, and informed care. Neither accounts for all of the watering, feeding, pruning, and weeding that a lovely and healthy garden needs. Nor do they anticipate the climate variables.

Effort. Protection. Expense. Time. Attention. Cooperation. Sacrifice. Every day. And it never ends. Haven’t you found this to be true?

Then there are weeds to contend with.

Among the most relentless and destructive weeds in the marriage garden are selfishness, immaturity, idolatry, poor communication, an unforgiving spirit, laziness, a controlling personality, and unrealistic expectations. The common strains of these weeds need to be immediately tugged out as soon as they are noticed. Nothing that has the potential to choke the plants or steal nutrients from the flower, hindering its growth to maturity, can be tolerated. Not even for a minute.

Yes, our stubborn flesh sows the seeds of these weeds. And they are watered and coddled by a very anti-Christian, hedonistic culture. Our desire to nurture and grow a beautiful garden of love is thwarted, disparaged, and attacked from without (the world) and within (our flesh). These weeds, if we are careful and diligent gardeners, are pretty obvious. Though work is required to get rid of them, there is a lot of information and help available out there.

But there is another not-so-obvious enemy to contend with. And no one gives much thought to him. 

The slug. He is the secret and sinister destroyer. He’s done dirty work in a garden before. 

Unseen, in the cover of darkness, he slips unnoticed into the flower pot, entwining his oily body around the stalks and winding his way into the roots, nipping and gnawing to feed his insatiable appetites. He is ruthless. He takes all that our flesh and the world throw at us and twists it and distorts it to confuse us, deceive us, and divide us. Mutilation.

And the unwitting gardeners, some focused on watering and weeding, some neglectful and lazy, are totally unaware that the wily slug is hiding in the shadows and soon will be wreaking havoc in the garden. 

Sometimes, even when we may be busy doing good things, right things, we still we are not seeing the growth and beauty in our marriages that we expect to see. We have gotten counseling, taken the marriage courses, attended the seminars, and read the books. We even have a monthly date night. We have nurtured the garden and it doesn’t flourish. So we become hurt or disillusioned. We want to give up the hope of that beautiful marriage we had once dreamed about. We blame each other for the failure. Could it be that there is something else going on?

Let the words of Ephesians 6:12 sink in.

                                                “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,                                                                                  but against the rulers, against the authorities, against                                                                                the powers of this dark world and against the                                                  spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

I think we often forget the slug. Satan.

He is the enemy…not our spouses.

He is out to kill our hope, steal our joy, and destroy our marriages. 

Sure, we all can be jerks to one another. There are times when a husband may get lazy about his leadership or a wife may not respect her man as she should. Maybe they both are overcommitted and neglectful of their “garden.” Weeds may be taking over. No matter. Though these issues need to be resolved, we all need to remember that the real bad guy is Satan. 

When we identify the enemy, when we recognize the unseen forces at work, we can pray that God would put a hedge of protection around our marriages. We can ask Him to dress us with spiritual armor, like the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation, so we can stand our ground against any attack that comes at us. We can fill our homes with songs and hymns of praise. I’m deeply persuaded that the worship of King Jesus drives the enemy away screaming in protest. I love to remind myself out loud that Satan is a defeated foe and the Victor is my Father. No one but the King is welcome in my home and in my marriage. I hold on to the truth that greater is He, my glorious Savior, Who is in me than he that is skulking about the world (and around LFA) seeking to devour and devastate. We must not let him! Be alert!

So to summarize, recognize that your marriage garden requires hard work and that it is worth every drop of sweat you expend. Marriage was God’s idea. Be loving, grateful, attentive and careful gardeners, patiently nurturing the growing beauty of your marriage. Pull the weeds as soon as you see them. Guard against your flesh and the influences of the world. 

And watch out for the slug. 

No more overnight, record-breaking victories for him. Are you with me?

--Eileen Hill

Check Your Thoughts At the Door

I say “at the door” but really our need to check the nature and influence of our thoughts is more significant than what we often think.

I am not talking about “I forgot that important paper or my keys inside” or “perhaps I went too far amusing myself and said a few things that I should have not.” Though these examples may be important, I am thinking more about those thoughts that, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “raise up against the knowledge of God” and prevent us from obeying Christ (2 For 10:5).

The battle we face every day is a battle around what drives our actions and priorities. Thoughts have a way of doing that. Once a thought grabs our attention it is pretty easy to then make it our own. Some thoughts, according to Paul, can prevent us from knowing God as He desires to be known. In other instances, thoughts can have a way of making us resist something that God has revealed to be truth or good. The end result is that we come under such influence rather than taking “captive” the thought under the obedience of Christ.

The other day a thought came to my mind. The thought basically said: “do what you can to be invisible to that person; you are too tired to take on one more potential demand!” While part of the thought was true—I was exhausted—fundamentally speaking the thought was against God’s commandment to love my neighbor. And the thought, if followed, could prevent me from knowing God in a place where I would need His presence and resources—so I could love well my neighbor. Powerful how a simple thought can affect the direction of my actions in a given moment.

What thoughts have you had recently that prevent you from knowing God and obeying Christ? Check them at the door. Do not embrace them too quickly! Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul teaches that as we are renewed in our minds we will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasant and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). I think this verse gives us a good strategy to filter our thoughts. But we need to recognize that the filter is formed and strengthened as we proactively seek the transformation of our minds. How are you doing this in your personal life?

Friends, as eager as we may be to carefully choose what goes into our mouths, let’s be careful to guard what comes in and rules over our minds!

May God give us grace to filter our thoughts so we can move toward knowing Him deeper and honor Christ through obedience. 

--Diego Cuartas

How Stuff Works: The Gift of Emotions

Have you ever googled something in order to learn about it? I have frequently, and this site comes up the says “HowStuffWorks.” I click on it, and it has some practical advice on the things I am curious about. So…it seems like the word on the street is that these emotions that we all have has some serious misunderstandings happening, which in turn, causes some issues, sometimes serious issues. Therefore, I thought I would reiterate a blog I wrote four years ago, with some added flare!

I strongly dislike generalized statements like, “All women love to shop” or “All guys love sports,” “everyone” wants this or “everyone” wants that. A recent one I’ve heard is “All teenage boys cuss when they are together with other teenage boys. That’s what teenagers do!” Or these little gems: “That’s a man thing because they’re stupid” or “That’s a woman thing because they’re so hormonal.” I just love when people boil down the complexities of individuals to such a small definition in order to understand how “everyone” functions. Wrong conclusions being made every time is usually the case!

Therefore, I will intentionally avoid a generalized statement here and simply say, “If you are anything like me, I have frequent times of feeling some kinda way! Sometimes it’s feeling frustration out of the blue, sometimes it’s feeling hunger for the Chinese Buffet, sometimes it’s feeling anger over violations or other times it’s just feeling UGH! At times my feelings are all over the place, hard to really understand what is going on. Sometimes the anger is an appropriate response to external circumstances that are wrong, and my internal response toward the violation or sin is anger, while other times my anger is strictly my own sinful heart not getting its own way. As Pastor Nate has taught, anger is a barometer of our heart that says something needs to be dealt with. That’s a blog for a whole different day!! Remember, feelings are a gift from God, but we must learn how to recognize them, process them appropriately and not avoid them. God has given them to us for a reason.  Feelings, oh they can be so powerful. I am very thankful God gave the human heart, mind and body the ability to feel. How dangerous would it be if we couldn’t feel? When we feel extreme heat, the normal bodily response is danger and we step away. When we feel sub zero temperatures, we normally respond by putting on more clothing to prevent frostbite. Hopefully I have made the point regarding the importance of our body feeling sensations and responding appropriately. Otherwise it could be very detrimental to us. For some who have lost the ability to feel, due to some diseases or traumatic accidents, they have to be very cautious and take proper measures to ensure they won’t be subject to danger. God created the human body with an awesome alert system to protect us from danger.

This brings to the next point, the beautiful gift of emotions that God has given us. They are designed to work in our favor, to be a part of our celebrations, our healing process, our warning signals from danger, our own brokenness and need for a Savior. We are so broken in this area, friends, and unfortunately many of us base our reality on “how we feel” and then label it as God’s leading or lack thereof because they can’t feel God. I have sat with young girls who “feel” like they love the new boyfriend three weeks into a relationship and has sex to show him, only to end up feeling shame and guilt. Others have felt like fitting in with the peer group and made some bad decisions that get them arrested. Others compromise their values very quickly and perform sexual acts to get needs met. In the church, people operate in their feelings to the extreme of disengaging in worship because they don’t feel like it, don’t like the worship song or don’t actively engage in the celebration time because they aren’t feeling anything.        

NEWS FLASH

WORSHIP ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!!

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE GOD WHO DESERVES YOUR PRAISE

AND CAN SAVE YOU FROM YOUR SELF FOCUS
 

This is a little ditty I had as a piano lesson back in the day as a child. I thought I was all that being able to play it...OVER AND OVER!! Check out the crazy lyrics!
 

Feelings

Feeling, Nothing more than feelings, Trying to forget my feelings of love

Teardrops, Rolling down on my face, Trying to forget my feelings of love

Feelings, For all my life I'll feel it, I’ll wish I've never met you, girl, You'll never come again

Feelings, Wo-o-o feelings, Wo-o-o feelings, Again in my heart,

Feelings, Feelings like I've lost you, and feelings like I've never have you, Again in my heart

Feelings, For all my life I'll feel it, I wish I've never met you, girl, You'll never come again

Feelings, Feelings like I've lost you , And feelings like I've never have you

The tried and true breakup song of the centuries! Obviously, this song is talking about someone “feelin’ some kinda way!” plus, they are full of contradictions. It’s clear they loved the person, or at least they thought they did. But in light of that, concerned that someone like them will never come along again, but on the flip side, they wish they never met them. Hmmm. Curious.

Wished they never met them, feelings like they lost them and never have them. But, they wish they never met them. “Why?” I ask. All because they do not want to feel hurt. All to avoid the grieving process and what it has to teach us. No one likes to hurt, and if they did, there’s an actual diagnosis for that in the DSM4. But hurting is a necessary part of life. The bible talks about ‘sharing in the sufferings of Christ’. A necessary component of our journey here on planet earth to walk through and experience the attributes of the Father in ways we may not when all is good. Pain pushes us into to arms of the healer or propels us to seeking life outside of Him. It’s our choice.

So who is this God with healing arms?  God is above, and I repeat, ABOVE, our circumstances. We must battle to remember that. I have watched my loved ones who walk closely with Jesus do just that. When there is a very serious crisis going on where the outcome is fragile, I watch them in silence and verbally battle. Every minute of the day, battle for truth of who God is amidst tragic circumstances.

• He is the God who created the entire universe in six days and rested on the seventh.
• He is the God who parted the Red Sea and killed the Egyptians who were chasing His children, the Israelites.
• He is the God who parted the Jordan River in order for His children to walk into the Promised Land.
• He is the God who sacrificed His only Son and raised Him from the dead in three days in order to save us.
• He is the God who HEALS.
• He is the God who PROVIDES.
• He is the God who REDEEMS.
• He is the God who COMFORTS.
• He is the God who is JUST.
• He is the God who CARES.
• He is the God who FORGIVES.
• He is God, He is my God, He is my Savior, He is my Abba.

    In spite of your feelings, I ask you friend, a question that Jesus asked His disciples...

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Feelings are a gift but must come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Through His Spirit, we can understand what we are feeling, why we are feeling that way and how to process appropriately so the feelings we experience lead us into a closer relationship to Him.

Blessings Friends

-- Lois Robinson