Humility

After my minor embarrassment of goofing up my own blog, I was reminded again of a couple of things: first, that I am an arrogant, prideful man (that simple mistake really bugged me) and second, that God wants me humble, not self-confident but confident in Him. This is a constant struggle for me, but I was also reminded of something I decided a few years ago. I decided that I would no longer pray for God to humble me.

Now, rather than praying for Jehovah to humble me, I ask that He teach me humility – it seems like a semantics issue, but there is a profound difference in the two. God is more than willing to teach us humility and show us where we need to learn to submit in our lives, but if we wait for Him to humble us, then we will receive humility at great cost. Nebuchadnezzar, in the Book of Daniel, waited for Jehovah to humble him, despite prophetic warnings from God; his humbling came through seven years of insanity, living in the fields and eating grass, before he bent knee and acknowledged Jehovah as the Most High God. In contrast, consider the men and women of the Bible who chose to learn humility:

Moses was the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3). Could he have done what he did had he not chosen to bow before the will and word of Jehovah and discard his own agenda? Not a chance!
David, in humility, constantly sought the guidance of Jehovah and His forgiveness – and is remembered as a man after God’s own heart.
Abigail humbled herself before Jehovah and before David, and her humility resulted in her own salvation and that of her entire household, save Nabal who was the one who had sinned.
Hezekiah and Josiah, both latter kings of Judah, humbled themselves before Jehovah. Because of their willingness to humble themselves and pray, confessing sin and seeking mercy, both they and Judah were spared (for a time) the coming judgment of God.
Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s humility before God lead to a revival among the remnant of Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego humbled themselves before God and were raised to high positions in exile under Nebuchadnezzar. There righteous behavior and humility played no small part in bringing Nebuchadnezzar to recognize the authority of Jehovah.
Isaiah humbled himself before the presence of Jehovah, declaring himself unclean – and he was cleansed!
The apostles humbled themselves before Jesus, leaving all they had and following Him, even to a life of pain, suffering, and death – receiving salvation.
Zaccheus humbled himself before Jesus, and was rewarded with a personal audience with the Messiah.
A woman came to Jesus at the home of Simon the leaper, humbling herself and anointing His feet, and her act was called good by Christ and her act of humility is remembered to this day (Matthew 26:13).
Christ himself, the Messiah, the Son of Man to whom has been given authority, laid that authority aside and humbled Himself to His Father’s will, taking shame upon shame, feeling an immense separation and distance from Jehovah as He bore the weight of our sins, dieing on the cross when He deserved so much more. Because Jesus humbled Himself, He has been placed above all things, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow (Philippians 2:6-11).

The one theme that is constant in each and every one of these lives is that they chose humility; they chose to learn and be humble before Jehovah and received magnificent gain for their initiative both for themselves and for those around them. I believe that when we simply ask God to humble us we tell Him that we are standing our ground, continuing in the life of sinful pride and selfishness that we have always lived in, and that we are waiting for Him to come and humble us.

Despite my resolution to seek to learn humility, God still steps in and humbles me in small and large things when I again become arrogant. But, it is good to be reminded in small ways - to be drawn back to God gently - rather than waiting for humility to come like it did for King Neb. (Have you ever eaten grass and hay? Not appetizing!)

Sorry for the long post, but I felt it worth sharing.

Tags: Humility, Christian Living, Christ, Pride, Arrogance

I am so smart, s-m-r-t

There is a clip from The Simpson's that I love to hear occasionally. Homer is going around, rather proud of himself, singing "I am so smart, I am so smart, s-m-r-t, I mean s-m-a-r-t". That is me, today. I am a reasonably intelligent man, and rather tech-savvy. So why did it take me three months of blogging to figure out that I was moderating comments and had no clue I was doing it!?!? I believe the only thing I can say is "arrgh!" and "doh!". I sit here writing with some difficulty, because there is egg on my face and the yolks are interfering with my vision of the computer screen.

From this day forward, moderation is officially turned off, and the couple of back comments have been approved and published (dating back two months to late June, arrgh!).

Tags: Simpsons, Homer Simpson, Blogging, Simple Mistake

Go read Erin-Lo today

I you want to read a series of touching stories in the journey of one couple to adopt a little girl, go to Erin-Lo's blog. Erin and Jeff are currently in Vietnam, where they just received their new daughter, Selah. They've had pictures of her for the last five or so months, but now they can actually hold her. It's amazing to follow the progression of her posts over the last week as they traveled from the U.S. to Vietnam and then to the village where Selah waited for them. Lots of people are very happy for them, right now.

If you can, take a minute to pray for them, though, as an potential problem with the INS in Vietnam has materialized and may delay their return home. They long to come home and introduce Selah to her two big brothers.

Tags: Adoption, Vietnam, Heart Warming, Prayer

Titillated to Boredom

Every day, as I commute between home and work (about 12 miles), I drive by three (count 'em, three) strip clubs. After you make the drive a few thousand times, you start to notice a few things, even about the places you try to avoid. For example, one of the clubs always posts on their sign what the lunch and dinner buffets are. Another one has taken to advertising their big screen TV’s as a great place to watch various sporting events.

It struck me today just how odd this is. I mean, I would have assumed that anyone entering one of these three places would be rather distracted by the club’s primary business, but it would seem not. Apparently, the titillating is now so mainstream, so commonplace, that it has become boring. This spoke volumes to me when I though about it. We, as a society, have so over-indulged our desires that we have become blasé to things that should affront us.

The point is this - I am going to start looking at my own life to see where apathy may be taking hold and convincing me that my sin is little more than a foible. What do you think: where have we as a society, and we as the church, become accustomed to our own actions and lost the will of God?

Tags: Apathy, Over Indulgence, Church Life, Christian Living

How can I compete with that?

I was reading over on Shlog today. Shaun Groves was giving a little confessional (in part) about his own youthfull hubris and the importance of "relevance" in today's church. I also read today's "Kudzu" comic strip and thought the two went together quite well.



Check out Shaun's post here. He promisses to finish his thoughts tomorrow.

Tags: Shlog, Kudzu, Relevance

What a weekend

I need a break. We had a very full weekend, but definitely a good one. It all started on Friday afternoon. We dropped off Tabitha with some friends and Erin and I, to celebrate our 10th anniversary, went downtown and had dinner at a fabulous restaurant (for those who live in Houston, check out Mia Bella Trattoria at Main and Preston, great food and our favorite restaurant). After dinner, we headed over to the Hobby center to see the touring production of The Lion King, which was fabulous. By the time we got out of the show, picked up Tabitha, and got home it was around 12:30. A late night for our family.

So, what do we do to recover from a late Friday night - on Saturday we get up early and drive up to College Station for a reunion of a bunch of college friends. We had 14 adults and, get this,

16 kids (and one couple doesn't have kids yet). Have you ever felt seriously outnumbered? That was Saturday. It was good to see everyone; most of these folks we only get to see once a year at this reunion. You try to keep the kid's names straight, thought; I'm not up to the task. After a full day of water play, hot dogs, smoked pork and brisket, and no dairy anywhere (one child has a severe dairy allergy) we were exhausted. Tabitha showed this by throwing a fit at bed time (part tired, part I'm hungry because I didn't eat my dinner). Oh, yeah, she also woke me up several times during the night to tell me to stop snoring! The picture above was taken Saturday afternoon in the Flag Room of the Memorial Student Center, where we used to hang out in between classes.

On Sunday, we all got up and went to the church we attended during college then went to one couples house for lunch. Erin, Tabitha, and I had to head back to Houston pretty quick, because Erin is working on a play that will perform over Labor Day weekend. It is being put on by BIRTH, an organization that seeks to better inform women about the birth process and choices they have. The play is a collection of interwoven monologues giving the perspective of seven women's birth stories. Erin is playing one of the of women, as well as assistant directing. So, we get home and Erin heads off for rehearsal.

Busy weekend, but it's over now. Time to relax with my "easy" work week. Maybe I'll get luck and slip into a delusional state where work gets done, but I get relaxed and rested. Maybe. Maybe not.

Tags: College Station, Aggie, Lion King, Snoring, Theater, Birth

Prayer focus

Please take a moment to notice the top prayer item I have on the left, for several friends in deep marital troubles. Erin and I have two couples close to us whose marriages are in dire straights. One couple, the husband has been living separately for a few weeks. The other couple, the husband moved out this week and signed a one-year lease on an apartment. Both are families dedicated to the Lord, but seemingly have forgotten the blessings God gave when He joined them to their spouses. I won't go into any detail except to ask you to pray that their hearts are softened to each other and that the distractions of this world which pull them apart are muted or removed. Both families have young children who are confused by what is going on, so please pray for the kids as well as the parents.

Too amusing to pass up

What happens when you have diet coke, mentos, a buddy, and way, way, way too much time on your hands? Apparently, you get this symphony.



Tags: Mentos, Diet Coke

The secret origin of euphrony

It finally happened. I knew this day was coming, when my past would catch up with me, but I dreaded it. Like a fish that flops out of the water and smacks you in the face, I was hit with the question: what does euphrony mean? It was Kat who asked, brave and foolish, and I gave her a part of the answer, brushing the surface of this shallow pond that is euphrony. But the time has come for the true, secret origin of the man you know as euphrony to be revealed.

Kat can now tell you the basics. From Greek, euphrony means literally "good mind" or "true mind" (i.e. well thought or fully thought). From literature, Euphrony is also the name of a William Faulkner character in Sartoris and Flags in the Dust (actually, the Faulkner character is a woman, but Euphrony is rather gender-neutral). As to why I use this name, it has little to do with either literature or Greek origins, and is another story. A story whose time has come.

Back in the old college days, a good buddy of mine (Scott over at TheForce.net) drew a comic strip for a weekly newsletter he and I and a few others put out for our college group (the Aggies for Christ). The main character was the aptly named Jim Shorts, along with girlfriend Ella Funt and sidekick Euphroni (note the spelling). Euphroni was a go-getter, always doing and never slowing even when going 90 down the wrong side of the freeway during rush hour traffic. Euphroni died an untimely death (as did the whole comic strip) when Scott lost time and interest; but from the ashes of this memory a calling stirred in me - the internet anonymity. I did not want all this information seeking scam artists (harder to filter out in the early days) knowing who I really was and I needed a secret identity to insulate me from the prying eyes of the world. Euphroni was calling to be reborn in the form of a pseudonym, but one obstacle remained: that -i had to go. To avoid complex legal proceedings in assuming this name from Scott's character, I made him my own with a -y.

And now you know the truth. Now you can say "I know the truth". Guard this secret, for it is the secret which keeps me safe. At least I didn't feel the pull of "bat boy".

Tags: Secret Origin, TheForce.Net, Euphrony, Aggies for Christ, Pseudonym, Noir, Cheese

Sara Groves Just Showed Up

Okay, here's a shameless plug for my favorite artist. Sara Groves has just released a documentary DVD. It's part music, part back-stage pass, part chronicle of her ministry efforts post-Katrina and in Rwanda. Looks like good stuff. Let's all check it out; shall we?

Tags: Sara Groves, Rwanda, Hurricane Katrina, Documentary