Just bought and watched Soul Surfer. I watched it in the theatres and loved it. The special features on the DVD made it a good buy.
After watching it, I am in awe at the way God works. Bethany Hamilton is, by all accounts, a brave, strong, Christian young woman. When that shark took her arm, though, she was a thirteen year old girl! She was 13!! She was also nearing the top of a sport that is known for its bikini-clad babes and adrenaline junkie men. The surfing world she lived in was far removed from the praise-filled halls of most Christian churches. Spiritually, it was a fairly dark world...and God was about to light it up!!
Bethany faced a test from God that was tough. God could have very well stopped that shark; He could have done a million things to keep it from biting her arm off. But He didn't. And in short order He was able to reveal a small sliver of His plan. Bethany would be assaulted by nearly every media agency in the world...and she gently brought the name of Jesus to every one of them. That little girl became a light in the dark world she surfed in. And, thus far, seems to have remained centered on the Lord. I pray she remains so!
In Bible College I took a course on the book of Matthew and noted over and over again the power and wonder of Jesus' ministry. I recently studied through Acts and saw the same awesomeness in Paul's ministry. A reoccurring question of mine is: Where is that awesomeness now? And the answer I believe to be the right one is this: There are very few Bethany Hamilton's out there. Let me explain...
Should the aforementioned awesomeness descend on me I would most likely not have the humility, pureness of heart, or love for Jesus to give Him all the glory. I would be seduced and tempted to keep some of the glory for myself.
This is why it was so inspiring to watch a young 13-year old surfer girl from Hawaii overcome tragedy and go on MTV and proclaim her love for Jesus. Wow. I love seeing how God worked in her life.
Create in me a clean heart, O Lord. And renew a right spirit within me.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Change
Thought I would redecorate a little bit. Hope you like the new layout, different colors, and pretty picture. I think I do. I know I like the picture. Just staring at it makes me feel better. It brings back all those great feelings I have had on similiar beaches. Just think, Heaven should be just like that...a constant wash of good!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Beans
This came across my path this week:
Get a bag of red beans and a bag of white beans. Pinto and lima work great. Split them up between you and someone who you are trying to love better (husband and wives, brothers and sisters, friends, coworkers). Each of you will get a pile of red and white beans.
Every time you say something encouraging, complimentary, and positive to the other person they get to give you a white bean. Every time you criticize, speak negatively, or utter any discouraging word then you get a red bean. You could even do this with another couple and make a competition out of it! You will be training yourself to be "nice"...and you might learn something about yourself. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)
Jesus set the example in this matter. He never spoke anything that could be examined in the light and found to be worthy of a red bean. "But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent." (Luke 20:26)
The game is afoot!
Get a bag of red beans and a bag of white beans. Pinto and lima work great. Split them up between you and someone who you are trying to love better (husband and wives, brothers and sisters, friends, coworkers). Each of you will get a pile of red and white beans.
Every time you say something encouraging, complimentary, and positive to the other person they get to give you a white bean. Every time you criticize, speak negatively, or utter any discouraging word then you get a red bean. You could even do this with another couple and make a competition out of it! You will be training yourself to be "nice"...and you might learn something about yourself. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)
Jesus set the example in this matter. He never spoke anything that could be examined in the light and found to be worthy of a red bean. "But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent." (Luke 20:26)
The game is afoot!
Salvation
Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
There is a pretty simple theology of salvation in this verse that was made stunningly clear to me this week. I have always felt overburdened by the enormity of "salvation". A friend of mine who went to Bible college spent a whole semester and read numerous dissertations concerning this core aspect of Christianity. And you would think that all professing Christians would be united in their understanding of God's salvation. But I digress...back to my moment of clarity this past week.
The above verse seems to define salvation as a 3-part process: "...by grace...through faith...unto good works..." It occurred to me that Christians adhere to one part, or a combination of parts, or place emphasis on one part over another.
Salvation starts with grace. We don't deserve it; we in fact deserve quite the opposite. This show of love from our God must remain at the forefront of our thoughts. We have to believe it. Guilt, rationality, logic, and culture will rail against our faith in God's grace. The end result of our faith in His love is a life lived doing His will. This is expressed through the good works we are so blessed to have the opportunity to do.
We don't start with works and try to earn our way to God. We don't carry on with faith devoid of action. We don't ever forget God's grace.
"...by grace...through faith...unto good works..."
There is a pretty simple theology of salvation in this verse that was made stunningly clear to me this week. I have always felt overburdened by the enormity of "salvation". A friend of mine who went to Bible college spent a whole semester and read numerous dissertations concerning this core aspect of Christianity. And you would think that all professing Christians would be united in their understanding of God's salvation. But I digress...back to my moment of clarity this past week.
The above verse seems to define salvation as a 3-part process: "...by grace...through faith...unto good works..." It occurred to me that Christians adhere to one part, or a combination of parts, or place emphasis on one part over another.
Salvation starts with grace. We don't deserve it; we in fact deserve quite the opposite. This show of love from our God must remain at the forefront of our thoughts. We have to believe it. Guilt, rationality, logic, and culture will rail against our faith in God's grace. The end result of our faith in His love is a life lived doing His will. This is expressed through the good works we are so blessed to have the opportunity to do.
We don't start with works and try to earn our way to God. We don't carry on with faith devoid of action. We don't ever forget God's grace.
"...by grace...through faith...unto good works..."
Monday, August 1, 2011
Judges 18
Such a sad, sad story. The tribe of Dan is about to inherit their portion of the land given them by God. Like a child on his birthday, they are about to open God's special present to them. But from the very first they go astray; and never return to the Lord. They remain steeped in their sin until the Captivity!! They take the present from God, slap Him in the face, turn their backs on Him, and then go and adopt their own idea of God.
I, like King David in Psalm 69:18, cry out to the Lord: "Draw near to my soul, redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies." I sure don't want to be like Dan! Yet it is amazing how easy I can.
Revelation 7 includes a specific listing of how the special 144,000 will be divided up amongst the tribes of Israel. Two tribes are omitted from this list; Dan is one (Ephraim the other). I wonder if their longstanding rebellion against God is the cause for this omission...hmmm.
I, like King David in Psalm 69:18, cry out to the Lord: "Draw near to my soul, redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies." I sure don't want to be like Dan! Yet it is amazing how easy I can.
Revelation 7 includes a specific listing of how the special 144,000 will be divided up amongst the tribes of Israel. Two tribes are omitted from this list; Dan is one (Ephraim the other). I wonder if their longstanding rebellion against God is the cause for this omission...hmmm.
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