Chris's Musings

In finishing a recent book read (which I highly recommend - Not God Enough by JD Greear), I ran across a thought that I want share, as well as noodle on it's implications for my life.  It's a thought about the third commandment. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." - Exodus 20:7 Many of us have been taught that this command (the third) is basically the "do not cuss" or use God's name as a cuss word command.  While I do believe that application applies (although I think that is actually a more serious thing), it's not the totality of this command.   "The name" of the Lord, in the ancient Hebrew context, reflects God's character and how we associate ourselves to Him.  In the book I've been reading, the author points out that we as Christians can take the Lord's name in vain by the way that many of us live.  As an illustration...

Today, I was in Mark 5 through my reading through the gospels.  Something struck me today and I wanted to share with you, my small blog audience. What struck me was the desperation (my word) of the people that were approaching Jesus.  For example: The demoniac in Gerasene met him immediately when Jesus got out of the boat, and was so tortured by the demons possessing him that people could hear him crying out loud and he would cut himself constantly with stones.  This is not in the text, but I wonder if that man, tortured as he was, fought his oppressors with every ounce of energy that was still his to meet the one who could free him from that hoard.  The legion of demons, on the other hand, were desperate not to get tortured when faced with the Son of God.  As a result, a bunch of pigs went hog wild (literally) and barreled off a cliff into the sea.  (Mark 5:1-13) The people from the town, when they obviously saw their bacon sales falling, went out to...

Yesterday, I signed off of my social media accounts for the summer (I plan to be back on for football season, because... well, football trash talk is fun at lest for me).  I'm taking the time spent mindlessly going through my feed, engaging in the debate (more like gossip) of the day, and spending time letting my soul refresh with music, with more time reading the Bible and God-centered books, and investing in Amanda's and my friends' lives.  In this season, I also want to re-engage with my writing, so you'll see more activity here. This is Memorial Day.  I woke up a little late and started to cook some breakfast with a Third Day Spotify station in my headset.  I woke up with " Your Love oh Lord " in my head (still one of my favorite worship songs) and was really encouraged and stirred through listening to the songs this morning.   Then one song, one that I've heard on the radio but really hadn't stopped to listen to too much, popped on my stat...

This year, I have been reading (not perfectly) through the Gospels and posting some of my thoughts on my Facebook feed. Today's thought was fairly long, so I amended my post on Facebook for space and readability. Below is my complete thought. Enjoy Misplaced Expectations - a musing of Matthew 27 Something struck me as I was reading this morning about the scene in front of Pilate's palace. This crowd gathered to condemn Jesus was massive, likely everyone in Jerusalem at the time. They were whipped into so much of a mob-like frenzy that Pilate, a notorious despot warned by his freaked out wife to find a way out of condemning Jesus (Matt 27:19), eventually weenied out to delivering Jesus to being crucified because he saw "that a riot was starting" (Matt 27:24). These people were pissed so much so that the only thing Pilate saw that he could do to calm them down and restore order was to give in and have Jesus crucified. Matthew records that this was "a...

After a *gasp* several month siesta from posting anything to this blog, I have finally found an opportunity to get outside my house (one that is undergoing renovations), sit in an environment that is conducive to bringing out my creative side (a Starbucks), with a laptop that runs on it's battery and isn't demon-possessed (more to come). This weekend, I finally got tired of suffering with all of this bad technology and bought a new MacBook.  This less than 3 pound beauty has been like a breath of fresh air for me.  I bought my original MacBook in 2007 and instantly fell in love with it (I'd been a PC guy up till then).  The things I had to worry about with PC's (viruses, long load times, drivers, etc.) were non-issues with the Mac.  I do a lot of work with technology on the business side, but I'm not an "IT ticker guy."  I want my computer to work; I don't get under the hood.  Hence, since 2007 I've been a pretty loyal Mac guy. Eventually, all ...

Single on Valentines Day.  Is this you?  It's me. You know, when you are unattached (but not unloved... read what I wrote last year ), you really have a decision to make about your attitude and your posture today because, let's be honest, you know it's V-day.  You can either a.) be grateful for your friends, family, and the God that loves you so much and give that love out to others, b.) be bitter, or c.) be or do something that you'll very likely later regret.  In the cases of b. or c., there are some really (and I mean really) lame things that can be done when you are in categories "b" or "c."  In the interest of transparency, I am not innocent so I'm not only being funny and hoping to keep you from being lame, but I'm also speaking out of past "lameness" experience which I hope that you can avoid next year, if not this year :-).  Here's about 10... Posting a bitter rant about how much v-day sucks on your Facebook account....

Today is day 30 of my Whole30!  Yes, my friends, I have managed to survive this. Actually, I'm doing really great.  This program has really been a good catalyst for me re-engaging with healthy habits and developing some new ones.  I don't regret the "suffering" and if anyone would ask if I would ever do it again, I would resoundingly say "Yes!"  (I would recommend it for anyone as well... you learn a lot by taking the Whole30 challenge) The question that most people have asked me about "Day 31" (tomorrow) is "So, what are you looking forward to the most when you're done?"  Obviously, the expectation is that I'm going to go grab my favorite non-compliant food and enjoy it.  A coworker of mine told me that I should eat a cupcake, and I think she's going to bring one into the office tomorrow.  I think that if I went from "no added sugar whatsoever" to "frosting overload" I may go into diabetic shock, so I ...