Addicted To Love

 

One of my good friends has a son who has struggled with alcohol addiction most of his adult life.   I imagine almost all of us have friends or family that are struggling with addiction now or have struggled with it in the past.  It is a horrible life-robbing disease.   And it robs not only the addict's life, but it robs the lives of those closest to him or her.  In my friend's case, his struggle between strength and grace is palpable.   He wants to love his son - and he does love his son.  But what is the best way to show love?  Strength, acceptance, grace, withdrawal?  Showing grace can lead to enablement.  Showing strength can lead to broken relationships.  There is no easy answer, but God sent his son to the earth to help us - to set an example for how to be.   We can study and meditate on Him, and He will help us.   

My words and thoughts seem hollow as I write them.  I came across this TedTalk delivered by a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.  I praise God that He put a person in her life to help her, and I praise God that He gave her the strength to help others.  I love that she closes her talk with a message of hope for each one of us.

Fear what?

Last night in our ConnectGroup, we discussed the emotions of Jesus.   There are references in the Bible to Jesus feeling the emotions of happiness, sadness, anger and compassion.   The author of the book we are reading, Knowing Christ, did not mention the emotion of fear.   So while we could think of no direct mention of Jesus being fearful, we have to suspect that Jesus, being fully human, experienced fear.  But Jesus told us to "fear not", so is fear a sin?  We believe the emotion of fear is not a sin, but our response to it can be.  It is right for us to fear an approaching train as our car is stalled on the railroad track.   We should do something.   But our response to fear can often be sin.  If we don't do the hard things we know we should do out of fear, that is a sin.  The Bible also tells us to fear God, but for a believer, fearing God means to have a healthy reverence for his power and strength.   We can't fully surrender to Him without that.  That reverence for Him should push us towards Him when we are feeling fearful.

Pain Relief

 

We love getting together with our ConnectGroup from church on Wednesday nights.  We make time to have a meal together, discuss the book we are reading, and pray.  Several of our members are struggling with the health and wellbeing of family members, so the prayer time has been that much more important the last few weeks.  We know that when things aren't going just right, it can push us closer to God.  This song by Laura Story is one of my favorite songs that puts those ideas to music.  I hope you will take time to listen.

Spirit Sighting

The Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith.  The Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Three - but one.  It is something I will not fully understand while on this earth, but I want to try.  It's easier for me to think of the three as separate.  The Father is the Creator.  The Son is Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is the part of God inside each one of us believers.  But last night in our ConnectGroup, we talked about how the Holy Spirit has a bigger role to play than that.  The Holy Spirit came upon the virgin, Mary, to create Jesus in her womb.  The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove at his baptism by John.  The Holy Spirit anointed Jesus as King, Teacher, and Miracle Worker.   The Holy Spirit comforted Jesus as he was tempted by Satan.  The Holy Spirit sustained Jesus after his bodily death on the cross and was the power that resurrected Him from the grave.  So while I have always thought of the Holy Spirit as the person of God that is within me, the Holy Spirit was also in and around Jesus giving Him all He needed to claim the title, Prince of Peace.  As important, since the Holy Spirit dwelled within Jesus, Jesus was able to fully reflect how it should look for the Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us.  While I may not fully understand on this earth, I know God is pleased when we try.

Another Lion King

 

I don't read very much.  I don't read enough.  I want to read more.   But I have posted in the past about my love for C.S. Lewis and his writings.   If I am reading a book by another author, and happen to scan ahead on the page and see those two defining initials, "C.S.", in the text, my attention level is immediately raised.  I know the author has the same affinity that I have for Lewis, and I wonder if what is ahead is something that I have read before or something that might be brand new to me.  Either way, I know it will be good.  The first book I read by C.S. Lewis was "Mere Christianity".  I fell in love with the way he made complex ideas understandable.  I also fell in love with his humor and his humility.  But C.S. Lewis was not just a theologian.  He was also an artist with a vibrant imagination.  His ability to reflect truth through fantasy was a gift like none I have ever seen before.  The most popular of his fantasy writings was "The Chronicles of Narnia" and specifically "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe".  I was excited to see today that a new film about Lewis is being released on November 3rd, "The Most Reluctant Convert".   I look forward to seeing it.  If you are interested in a quick look at C.S. Lewis's life, this article is a good review.

DIY - with a little help

 

For 20 years, I had a career in Information Technology starting at IBM.   As I think back on that time, I feel like going to work mattered about one day out of five.  It wasn't always one day a week.  Sometimes, I would be working on a project that would keep me busy for a few weeks, but other times, I felt like there was nothing worthwhile to work on.  When I changed careers to real estate 18 years ago, that all changed.  Everything I do now is because I think it is worthwhile.  It's not always easy or fun, but it is something I choose to do because it is important to me.  I wish the same for all of you.  I hope you have work that is meaningful and brings gratification.  I found this story about Brooke Riley who started Re-fabbed.com.  She was in a corporate job that was beating her down.  She had to stop for health reasons.  She started a DIY blog that now has over 800,000 followers on facebook.  Her reliance on her Creator helped her through the transition, and she is faithful to give Him the credit.  Cheers to Brooke and her success.

Pause Button?

In the Fall of 2019, I was browsing upcoming concerts and saw that Lauren Daigle was coming to Atlanta in April of  2020.  I purchased tickets for me and Caroline.   That same month, Lauren was performing one of her newest songs in Wichita, Kansas for the first time ever. Fast forward several months to March of 2020, and we were disappointed that the April concert was being postponed until Fall of 2020, and then again to Spring of 2021 and then again to Fall of 2021.   Caroline and I attended the concert last Thursday night.  It was beautiful.  The highlight of the concert was a "new" song that Lauren first performed in 2019, but didn't release until 2021 - Hold On To Me.   In some ways, it's like the pause button was hit for a year and a half.  In other ways, it's like we have been changed uniquely and permanently.  Listen to Hold On To Me here and hear the rest of the back story here.