Back to Running

During the past few weeks, the desire to run has been growing in my heart. I love running, but it's been several months since I last did it. And generally speaking, the hardest time for me to run is during the time it takes to get acclimated to it, which for me is about two weeks. But today, I finally decided to do it, and before I could change my mind, I told Rachel that I was going to go for a run after work.

I have two primary motivators driving me to run. One is I know how much I love and need it. The other is that I am getting quite flabby. When I tell my nine-month-pregnant-wife I'm getting fat, she just rolls her eyes and says, "Dear, you have no room to talk." But I'm tired of looking down and seeing my belly stick out. I'm tired of subconsciously sucking in my stomach whenever I'm standing up or moving around And I'm tired of just generally being a couch potato. Sure, I get out and go for walks or hikes, but those are infrequent and obviously aren't enough to use up all the Calories I've consumed over the past several months.

When I left work today, I was excited about going for a run, but by the time I got home, I was in more of a 'meh' attitude about it. Rachel told me all about her day, and I almost succumbed to the couch which was loudly calling my name. But I changed into some shorts and running shoes, put the leash on Sonny, and headed out.

I won't lie, I was a bit disappointed with how I did. I ran three miles in 33 minutes and 15 seconds. This is the same route which I had down to about 22 minutes last year. I had to walk quite a ways today too. I know this was my first time out, but I quickly realized just how badly out of shape I am. It's going to be a long journey back to where I was.

BUT.....I've made that first step. I now know where I'm at. I can see how far I need to go. And I've tasted the joy I experience running. The next couple of weeks are going to be more misery than joy, but I remember what it's like to lose myself in the run: to live in the rhythm of my breathing, to run and not grow weary, to go several miles and wish for more. That remembrance will help drive me to push through the initial pain. I know what's coming.....

I'll keep you posted on my progress. :D

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

Crazy Dangerous is a book about a young man trying to do the right thing. The only problem is that he doesn't know what the right thing to do is. Should he protect someone even though he will get a fierce beating for it? Does he listen to the ravings of a girl who's hallucinating about demons, death, and destruction? Should he abide by his father's advice and just let the doctors and police handle things? Should he steal a car to save hundreds of lives? This book, while fraught with moral dilemmas, delivers a compelling and fast-paced read.

I found this book to be very interesting for a number of reasons. First, the writing style is somewhat peculiar. It's written primarily from the perspective of Sam Hopkins as he tries to figure life out, especially when life is dishing out so many curve balls. Every several chapters, the writing shifts to the perspective of a young girl, Jennifer Sales, who is hearing the whispers of demons, seeing strange demonic visions, and is convinced that the only person she can trust is Sam. Another reason I found this book interesting is that it tries to find the balance between mental illness and spiritual warfare. Is Jennifer a prophet having visions of the spiritual battlefield, or is she just a young girl struggling with schizophrenia? A third reason is that this book places the main character into many moral dilemmas, from standing up for someone to breaking the law for the greater good. I was left asking myself the question, "Does the end justify the means?" The author seems to think that it does.

All in all, I would recommend this book. Because it seems to be written to teenagers, I believe the content and questions raised in the story should be followed up by discussion to help work through the various issues and situations the main characters find themselves in. There is a discussion guide at the end of the book which would help facilitate this.

I received a copy of this book from the publishing company and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Fix by Force by Jason Warne

Fix by Force is a story of a young man, Spencer Shane, who has a decidedly rough life. His mom is a drug addict, his dad died drunk in a car accident that took the life of a friend's mother, and that childhood friend blames Spencer for it. Everyone at school picks on him, the teachers don't care, and he doesn't have any friends anymore. His only other relative, his uncle, became distant when Spencer's dad, his brother, died. All Spencer wants to do is graduate High School and leave that small town forever, and the only way he can do that is to find a way to lay low his Senior year and not be noticed. That plan doesn't work however, and he finds himself in a 'school for the expelled,' where he turns to steroids as a way to 'fix' himself. But he comes to learn that drugs don't fix problems; they only create more problems. Through a series of events and new friendships, he finally comes to a realization that no one's life is perfect and his doesn't really need 'fixing.'

Jason Warne does a great job of building up sympathy for the main character, Spencer Shane, and it truly does seem that the world is against him. The book could have easily been one of Spencer's journals, as it is written in the first person narrative. Seeing the world through Spencer's eyes really opened mine to the pain and hurt I know is going on in the town where I live. One of the things that Spencer learned toward the end of the book is that pain distorts how we perceive reality. That lesson, among others, will stick with me for a long time. Just because we think we know something about our circumstances doesn't mean that it's entirely true.

All in all, I'd recommend this book. It's a gritty story, but in my opinion, that only adds to the validity of what is being represented.

I received a copy of this book from the publishing company and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Constantly Craving by Marilyn Meberg

It seems that in America these days there is an insatiable desire for more: more things, more friends, more experiences, etc. Have you ever stopped to wonder, "Why can't I just be content with what I have? Why do I want so much more?" The book Constantly Craving by Marilyn Meberg offers some good insight into the answers to that question. She tackles some of the deeper areas of longing we experience: love, marriage, purpose, and the meaning of life.

She does point out though, "In this book I have not written about the most commonly discussed and socially apparent craving issues like alcohol. drugs, pornography, or gambling." Instead she focuses on the cravings of the heart from which these other cravings stem from.

As I picked this book up, I was hoping for a psychological examination of our cravings, especially since I saw that she was a professional counselor. Instead I got some psychological examination and a lot of spiritual examination instead. Don't get me wrong, I think she was spot on with her evaluations, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. In her book she points out that the true longings we experience are really for God and not for more out of life. Only through an encounter with God can we truly find contentment and joy. Our cravings will ultimately be satisfied as we spend eternity with Him.

All in all I thought it was a very good, easy read and would recommend it to anyone who finds themselves dissatisfied or frustrated with life.

I received a copy of this book from the publishing company and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Black eyes

Last Saturday I went to my first softball practice of the season. Everyone took their places and we started with some batting practice. I ran out to left field while one of the other guys grabbed a bat and took his place at home plate. A few hits later he hit a fly ball my direction. I saw it rise into the air and figured I was pretty close to where I needed to be, but the ball then disappeared into the sun. I waited for a couple seconds for the ball to come out of the sun. Then I had the thought that I should probably either duck, move, or put my mitt up. Before I had a chance to do any of those, I saw the ball.....for a split second before it smashed into my face.

I remember dropping to the ground and immediately rolling over onto my knees wondering if my sunglasses were shattered (I know it's stupid, but that's what I thought!). I knelt there feeling nothing but the excruciating pain in my face. Slowly my different senses started coming back to me. First came my hearing - I heard my team mates rushing up and asking if I was alright, I heard my response back to them, "My GOSH that HURTS!" Then came my sense of touch - I felt the grass under my hands, the blood dripping down my face, the tears streaming from my eyes. Then I realized that my eyes were clenched shut. Slowly my thoughts worked through the pain and I forced my eyes open. Strangely, once my eyes were open the pain diminished considerably. I was able to then lean my head back and apply pressure on my bleeding nose. That didn't hurt very much, so I figured it wasn't broken (praise the Lord!)

After getting to my feet, I walked to the side of the field and waited for the blood to stop. No one had any towels, ice, pain killers or anything, so I cleaned myself up as best as I could using my sunglasses as a mirror and my saliva as a cleaning agent. About 10 minutes later the bleeding had stopped, and I was feeling pretty good. I headed back onto the field, and since the other positions were all taken, I ended up back in left field. Wouldn't you know it, there immediately came another pop fly my direction. I watched it get lost in the sun, and waited a second for it to come out. As soon as I realized it was going to stay in the sun, I took off running for the fence muttering, "I'm not doing THAT again!"

The rest of practice was largely uneventful after that. I caught other fly balls, batted relatively well, and played first base. When Rachel picked me up, it was a few minutes before she noticed the dried blood on my nose. Frantically, she asked what had happened, and after I explained, she retorted, "Where was your mitt?!?"

Over the next couple of days, the black eyes started appearing. I have a bruise between my eyebrows, but it sure looks a whole lot worse than that!

I am very grateful that God protected me from further injury. An inch higher likely would have resulted in a concussion, an inch to the left or right probably would have caused eye damage, and if I had been hit an inch lower, my nose would have been broken. God is good!

Rights

I was pondering about the issue of whether or not I deserve any good thing from God. As a Believer, have I obtained certain rights which I did not have prior to salvation? Is eternal life a 'right' of the Believer? I'm going to throw out the thoughts I've been having and leave it open to discussion. So please comment below with what your thoughts are.

Prior to salvation I was outside of God's family. Once I believed in Christ, I was adopted into His family and am a co-heir with Him. If I am a part of his family, shouldn't I deserve or have rights to the benefits of being in his family? My two younger brothers were adopted, and while they didn't deserve to be adopted, once they were, they deserved to be treated like members of the family. They deserved the same rights as anyone else in the family. It was their entitlement to ask Dad for things and to be able to live with the rest of us.

I hear a lot of Believers talking about various aspects of Christianity that they don't deserve, like being able to converse with Jesus easily, to ask Him for blessings, and to spend eternity with him, etc. While that may have been true at one point in their lives, it isn't any more. As a member of God's family, I do deserve eternal life. I do deserve the blessings God gives in this life. I don't deserve it because of anything I've done, but I deserve it because of my identity in Christ.

Maybe I'm getting hung up on words (the English language lacks much), but does what I'm attempting to communicate make sense? Do you agree? Disagree?

'Elemental' Gospel: Time

Time

I have often wondered at what point did God create Time. The Bible doesn't explicitly say when it happend, but there is that phrase, "in the beginning," and after God created light, he called the light 'day' and the darkness, 'night.' "And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."

Time is a very funky thing. It's a relative constant. The hours and seconds tick by on a constant basis, but our perception of that passage is relative. Also, our entire measurement of time is based on earth's position relative to the Sun. If we were on Mars, what we would consider to be a second, minute, hour, or day would be a different length of time than what it is now. The concept of Time is quite hard to study too. How can you study something that is constantly in motion? What exactly is time anyway?

In addition to not being able to study it very well and having a relatively poor understanding of it, mankind has never quite subdued Time. We have seminars, books, self-help guides, planners, calendars, watches, etc but always seem to fall short of subduing it. The Science Fiction genre tells stories of mastering Time - being able to travel light-years in a second and visit distant places, being able to travel through Time itself and visit the past or future. But the reality is we all run out of Time. We have a certain amount of Time 'allotted' to us, and at some point, we all die.

How Jesus related to Time really has my brain in a knot.

        Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
        At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
        Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
        “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
        "Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

That last statement of Jesus is an astounding claim. Jesus basically said he was currently in existence before Abraham was born. Jesus existed in two different times.....at the same time! Chew on that for a while!

But his first statement there is quite astounding too. Whoever obeys my word will never see death. Jesus offers everlasting life with him to those who believe in him. We no longer have to fear for that time when we run out of Time.

Jesus truly has conquered Time. He exists with us now, and at the same time he exists at mankind's creation. And he has already paid the price for the everlasting life he offers us!

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Mankind has done some incredible things. They have to some degree or another subdued Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. But mankind has not subdued Time let alone understood. But there is a man, Jesus Christ, who has not only subdued those five elements, he has conquered them!

'Elemental' Gospel: Air

 Air

Mankind has long dreamt of subduing air by flying. Greek mythology tells tales of men who tied feathers onto their bodies and were able to fly. But of the four common elements, mankind has subdued the air most recently. It has only been within the past 400 years that dreams of flight have met reality.

Floating in hot air balloons were the first step toward flight. Leonardo Da Vinci made drawings of flying contraptions, but never actually tested them. But it really wasn't until the Wright brothers flew their airplane that major strides were made. Now flight is an everyday occurrence. The wonder of flight has largely been lost. People are still trying to see how far they can go by space-jumping, sky-diving, having airplane races, etc. The militaries of the world are especially testing the limits of flight. What we know of their capabilities boggles the mind.

Of the four elements, Air causes us the most grief. For it is from air storms come. Just this past week the area around Dallas, Texas, was ravaged by tornadoes. Thunderstorms knock out power. Hail damages cars and roofs. Hurricanes destroy entire coastlines. We attempt to harness the power of air through windfarms, but we are scratching at the surface of the vast amounts of energy contained there.

When Jesus was on the earth, he faced many storms. But when He spoke, the wind obeyed his voice and became calm. Not only did he have control over the winds, but he was also able to fly unaided. When the Bible says that Jesus ascended into heaven, it means that his feet literally left the ground! He can fly!

Mankind may have subdued air to some degree, but Jesus Christ has conquered air!

'Elemental' Gospel: Earth

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

Earth

Shortly after God created the dry ground (aka earth) he created vegetation. A few days later he placed mankind in the Garden of Eden to take care of it. Farming and subduing the earth has been mankind's primary vocation since the beginning of time. In fact, because of Adam's sin, God cursed the ground and made cultivating it hard work. We have made farming much easier now with modern technology, but it still is no easy task.

As I think about how easy it is to traverse the continents due to good roads, trains, and automobiles, I have to conclude that we truly have subdued the earth. We still suffer from earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural disasters, but overall, we rule the earth.

It is interesting to note that in many legends and myths, earth is often symbolic of death. In Greek mythology, one needed to descend into the earth to visit Hades. When we die, our bodies are very often placed in the earth. God made mankind from the dust of the earth, and when we die, we return to the dust of the earth.

When I think of Jesus interacting with earth I think of His death and resurrection. When He died, the book of Matthew states that the "earth shook and the rocks split." His death literally rocked the world. It is interesting to note that Jesus was also buried. He was placed in the bowels of the earth having breathed his last breath. One could even say that the earth swallowed him up. But Jesus conquered earth and burst forth from his grave alive!

While mankind may have subdued the surface of the earth, Jesus has truly conquered earth completely!

'Elemental' Gospel: Water

Water

Of the common elements, I think Water gets taken for granted the most, especially in developed countries. About 70% of the planet is covered by it, and about 70% of our bodies are composed of it. One can survive without food for a couple of months, but can only survive for about a week without water. Water is what keeps our muscles, ligaments, and organs operating. While we are in a sense slaves to water, mankind was also commanded to subdue it.

The first Biblical record of someone showing some mastery over water is in the account of Noah. He was an inventor in his day and a boat....not just any boat, but he build the vessel which would save life on planet earth as we know it. Mankind had become so corrupted that God expressed sorrow that He even created mankind. So he decided to wipe out humanity with the exception of a man and his family. Noah was righteous in the sight of God, so God instructed Noah to build an ark through which He was able to start over.

When I think of water in general now, I think of sustenance and recreation. I need water to survive, and I appreciate the beauty of water as well. Streams, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, oceans, fountains, water-parks, water-fights all bring me joy, and remind me how we have subdued water. Mankind has made boats, submarines, hydroplants, dams, water-parks, and enormous fountains. Mankind uses water to mold huge pieces of metal, cool nuclear generators, and move tons of materials around the globe.

But mankind still has to fight water. Storms still cause boats to sink. People still drown or are afraid of water. Countries are still devastated by floods. We flee our homes when we hear of a hurricane or of flash floods. There's a YouTube video of a four-lane road being swept away by a raging river in a matter of minutes. While we may have subdued water for the most part, we certainly have not conquered it.

Jesus Christ however demonstrated His mastery over water a number of times in the few short years he spent on this earth. He transmogrified water into wine. He walked on water. While His disciples feared for their lives due to a storm, he slept soundly, and upon waking, He calmed that raging sea with just three words, "Peace, be still." Jesus not only conquered Water, He refers to Himself as the Living Water bringing life to everyone who believes.