Two Thoughts

We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking. -Richard Rohr

Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate. -Søren Kierkegaard

Soccer Saturday

My life for the next nine Saturdays.

David getting ready to do his favorite thing.

Authentic

That's always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they're pretty. It's like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste. –John Green, Paper Towns

I sit in my car most days for about ten minutes around 3:00 and then do it again at 3:45. During the early session I observe 11 year olds to 14 year olds. During the late session I observe 5 year olds to 10 year olds. I can tell who is popular. I can tell who isn’t popular. The kids have figured this out too.

Popularity is generally seen as a virtue. We like to be liked. Nothing wrong with being liked. 

Jesus was well-liked. People climbed trees to see him. They reached out just so they could touch his clothes. Thousands of people would come and hear him speak. He knew what it was like to be popular.

But not everybody liked him and at the end virtually nobody liked him. The religious leaders challenged him. The government leaders were threatened by him. The masses eventually turned on him. The disciples deserted him.

Jesus knew something was more important than popularity: authenticity. He said it himself: And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? –Luke 9:25

You get the feeling Jesus knows popularity comes and goes, but authenticity is here to stay. Instead of letting self-worth be determined by others who may or may not think we are funny, attractive, caring, whatever—the authentic person knows value and worth comes from God.

Authenticity is better than popularity. It depends on nobody but you and God.

• Authentic people seek and become who God wants them to be rather than become who others want them to become.
• Authentic people don’t let negative things take up too much space in their lives.
• Authentic people do the right thing and not the easy thing.
• Authentic people value humility and don’t strive to appear more than they really are.
• Authentic people are grateful and not envious.

If popularity naturally comes from authenticity, then popularity is a good thing. If a quest for popularity causes a loss in authenticity, then popularity is a bad thing.

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. –Cyril Connolly

Be your authentic self and share yourself with the world. God created only one you.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

Happy Birthday Amber

Happy birthday Amber!

Dinner was at Brushi. The chef / owner is a good friend and concocted this for her.

Thoughts on Envy and Jealousy

Envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably, but there is a slight different. 

Envy is wanting something possessed or enjoyed by another. Envy involves two parties. We envy when somebody else owns or utilized something we want. For example: Sarah envies Michelle's large house.

Jealousy is the threat of losing someone or something we already possess to a third person. Jealousy necessitates three parties. For example: Jennifer is jealous of Rick's friends because Rick is spending more time with them than he is with her.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. -Proverbs 14:30

Love is not jealous. -1 Corinthians 13:4

It is a slow death to let oneself be trampled to death by geese, and to let oneself be worn to death by envy is also a slow way of dying. -Søren Kierkegaard

• It is impossible to simultaneously envy and love someone.
• Envy and jealousy make gratitude and thankfulness very difficult.
• Tearing another down does not build you up.
• Jealousy is like taking a toxic medicine and expecting the other to die.

Envy and jealousy are destructive and self-destructive behaviors that distance us from God, others, and our true self.

Easter Experience: Desserted, Denied, and Betrayed

Yesterday's message on friendship.

Φίλοι

Φίλοι. As far as Greek words go—it is as beautiful and powerful as they come. It’s only used twenty-nine times in the Bible and Luke is responsible for eighteen of them. Luke is a physician by trade. And the doctor knows the healing power of φίλοι. Jesus only uses the word a few times but when he does there is nothing quite like it. The word is simply translated as friend. 

Facebook says I have 1,849 friends. But I don’t. I do know all of them. I like all of them. I was their high school classmate. I ran with them a few times. I used to be their youth minister. Their kid plays on my soccer team. But I don’t have 1,849 friends. The word friend is used so liberally that it has lost its beauty and power. We confuse being an acquaintance with being a friend. But, at the end of the day, friendship can’t be confused with anything.

Friendship happens when two people can look at each other and say something like: “I’m getting more out of this relationship than I am putting into it.” A friend says to a friend: “I like myself better when I am with you.” Friends meet with a clean slate every time they get together and they meet as equals—things like age, political affiliation, wealth, success, stumbles, religion, and education don’t matter. The only thing that matters is each other. Friends know each other’s past and are fine with each other’s imperfections. Simply put, a friend can’t imagine their life without the other person. You can see why it’s not possible to have 1,849 friends.

Jesus only said a few things about friendship and after he said a few things he didn’t need to say anything else. 

Vulnerability

Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. –John 15:15 

Jesus left nothing unspoken to his friends. He shared his thoughts and feelings and encouraged others to do the same. Friends tell each other everything. They know burdens are lighter when shared and joys are greater when celebrated together. 

Trust

You are my friends if you do what I command. –John 15:14

Trust was involved when the disciples followed Jesus. They had faith Jesus loved them. They believed Jesus knew what was best for them. They trusted Jesus. Friends trust each other. Trust makes vulnerability and relational intimacy possible. The gift of trusting another and being trusted by another makes life possible.

Life-Giving

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. –John 15:13

Jesus is saying that friendship isn’t free nor is it cheap. But those who are blessed with a true friend or two know that friendship is worth every minute, every penny, every tear, and every drop of energy they have ever invested and then some.

The best is yet to come…

Craig