God's GIFt of Peace

I have always found Gifs quite entertaining. So today I am going to attempt to tell a much-loved Bible story with gifs. The story is when Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee and it is found in Luke 8:22-25. Enjoy!

^{22 "}One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side of the lake.' So they got into a boat and set out."
They followed him like:

 ²³ "As they sailed, he fell asleep" like:

"A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
²⁴ The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we’re going to drown!'" They were terrified like:
 

and:

"He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters;" like:

"the storm subsided, and all was calm. ²⁵'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"
  They were amazed like:

and:

Thanks gifbin.com for all the gifs

You see, God is the Master of all the storms of our life. Please notice that it was Jesus who asked the disciples to follow him onto the boat and they did so willingly. How many times, when we are following God, do storms come up? And during these storms we wonder if God has fallen asleep on us or forgotten about us. So our immediate reaction is to succumb to fear and doubt. But Jesus calls us to a different response. He calls us to faith. So trust in him. When the storms come up in your life, look to him, call to him, have hope in him. He is the God of all peace and he still calms storms today. So go face your storms in peace, joy and hope. And as you go, my prayer for you is this: "May the God of hope fill you with all peace and joy as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

The Draft: NIV Style

Well, to football fans everywhere, Happy Draft Day! The excitement of this day in the lives of football fans is rivaled only by the kickoff to Fantasy Football and the Superbowl. Today is the day we see talented college players' dreams come true as they hear their name called, grab a jersey and shake a hand. Maybe I'm weird in this, but my favorite part isn't seeing who will pick up the Luke Joeckels of the world. I like it when it gets down to the last players. The ones that get picked that most have never really heard of. Sure, the name sounds familiar but you don't necessarily know what school they're from or what they've done. I love to see the smiles on their faces. They weren't sure they'd get picked. They had hoped so, but they were always overshadowed by the future franchise players and they never got the big name.
This post is devoted to them: the lesser known people of college football. In their honor, I present the lesser known people of the Bible. Skim the pages. You may have heard their names, but you don't know when they were around or what they did. You may have skipped over them entirely. But what I find so beautiful about the Bible is that it is common people that make up the pages. Some who changed the world, and some who simply went to work each day, but did it for God. I love that they are represented. I love that their names live on because of how they lived for their earthly kings and their King of Kings. Here are my top four picks.

#1. Bezalel
Exodus 36:1 "So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” Bezalel. His name is in the Bible nine times, seven within seven chapters of Exodus and twice in 2 Chronicles. And what did he do? He helped to craft the Tent of Meeting and Ark of the Covenant. He helped to create the place where God would dwell among his people.
Earlier in Exodus 31 we see that God has "chosen Bezalel" and given him skills in essentially an ultra-sophisticated form of arts and crafts. So many times as a young child I was given the impression that I had to be a missionary or a pastor to serve God, but Bezalel proves that you can use any of the talents God gives you for his glory. It isn't about your job, it's about your attitude and your willingness to do whatever you do for God and His glory.

#2. Naaman's Wife's Maid
Yep, we don't even know her name. Check out 2 Kings 5 for the whole story, but I'll give you the summary. Naaman was a commander of the army of the King of Aram. He was pretty cool, but he had leprosy. Skin-eating diseases didn't go so well for commanders. So when this all happened, his wife offered the advice that her Israelite slave gave: go and see the prophet (Elisha) and be healed. Naaman went and after some debating and arguing with the instructions, did as Elisha said and was healed.
We don't know the girl's name. We do know she was a slave and a woman, both being reason enough for her to never be mentioned in ancient cultures. But here she is. She trusted in God and not only that, but spoke on His behalf. Because of her, Naaman was led to exclaim, "'Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel'" (2 Kings 5:15). Simple trust, simple words: both are enough to showcase the awesome power of God and lead others to him.

#3. Benaiah
2 Samuel 23:20 "Benaiah son of Jehoiada... performed great exploits. He struck down Moab's two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion." No big deal, he just jumped into a pit and killed a lion. Benaiah is mentioned sporadically throughout the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and 1 and 2 Kings. Through the glimpses we see that he was a great warrior who stayed loyal to David, even when David's son came against him to take his throne. After David's reign, Benaiah was loyal to Solomon and became the commander of his armies (2 Samuel 9:35).
I love his tenacity and I love his loyalty. He stood by those God had placed over him. Nothing I have read on him tells of his relationship with God, but if his loyalty to his earthly king is any indication of how he served his heavenly King, I'd argue he was a pretty faithful servant. It was embedded in his character, and for his loyalty he was rewarded.

#4. Mephibosheth
This one you may have heard of. He is a little more famous. But the story is so beautiful, I couldn't leave it out. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul. The son of David's best friend. First let's back up and give some background: before David went on the lam, he and Jonathan made a pact. David promised that he would never cut off his kindness from Jonathan's family (1 Samuel 20:14). You see, Jonathan knew David would someday be king instead of him. Back in the day if you were taking over the kingship, you needed to kill off all the family of the king before so you could rule in peace. But David makes a promise to show Jonathan's family kindness. And so enters Mephibosheth.
Trying to fulfill his promise, David asks if there is anyone left in Saul's (and Jonathan's) family to show kindness. He is answered,  "there is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet" (2 Samuel 9:3). Ouch. Don't you hurt for Mephibosheth? He is defined by his shortcomings. When people say his name, they tack on that he's disabled. But David doesn't care. He wants to see Phibo. And when Phibo gets there, he bows down and wonders why David would "notice a dead dog like [him]" (2 Samuel 9:8). So he has heard the whispers too. The whispers that say he isn't good enough. The whispers of how he isn't whole. The pitying glances and sorrowful nods.
But David, the King of Israel, refuses to see him for that. In Phibo, he sees a person. Maybe David sees the son of his friend. Maybe David sees his potential. Whatever David sees, he sees as worthy enough to eat at his, the King of the nation's, table for the rest of Phibo's life. Maybe you're lame. Or maybe people only see your past when they look at you. Maybe they assume you'll turn out like everyone else in your family. Know this truth: God knows you. He doesn't call you by your shortcomings, he calls you by your name. He calls your name and invites you to his table. So have a seat and dine with the King.

There you have it. Not the big shots of the Bible, but the ones who barely made it in. They have beautiful stories, and so do you. Live it out. No matter the simplicity of your life, "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:17). Do that, and you'll make an impact. Do that, and see all that God will do through your faithfulness.

What Beyoncé and Paul Have in Common

  I don't know if you've seen Pepsi's latest commercial (thank you YouTube) with Beyoncé doin' her thing, but I was a big fan of the tag line. If you're too lazy to watch the link, here's my quick summary. Beyoncé is practicing her moves in a studio and through the mirrors she sees herself dressed as she was in some of her past videos. The three main outfits are from Bootylicious (throw back from the Destiny's Child era), Crazy in Love and Single Ladies. She does some of the moves from those videos and then all of the Beyoncés dance together until the mirror explodes. Pretty great, huh? After a swig of Pepsi and a hero shot of Beyoncé, the camera zooms in on her face and we hear a voice over that says "Embrace your past, but live for now." Yikes! We as Christians could really take notes on that one!
  How often do Christians walk around trying to cover up their past deeds and issues? We like to paint this pretty picture about how happy and great we are. We give off this vibe of perfection that makes non-Christians either hate us or feel like they could never be good enough to join us. With this lifestyle and mindset, we turn Christianity into a nightclub where we become the bouncers and let people know they are certainly not cool enough to go inside. But reality shows us that we are all failures. Does that hurt? It hurt me for a while. 
  I used to live with, and if I'm being honest sometimes still fall back into, the mindset of, "Man, I've lived a good life." It's almost as if I think that Jesus is lucky to have me on his team. Go ahead and laugh, I know how absurd it is. And then I know others who are opposite. They try to ignore their past and shove it under the rug, ashamed of how they used to live. Both are dangerous lifestyles. And whichever relates to you, remember that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), but "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17).
  So no matter who you used to be, when you come to Christ you are made new. But please, please don't forget who you were. You have a story. You have something to share. Your past relates to someone's present. Look at Paul. He spent his early days attempting to remove the stench of Christianity from his Jewish world. He fought with all his heart, using the great basis and knowledge of Scriptures that he learned under one of the most influential teachers of his time, Gamaliel. He argued, he fought, he persecuted. And what I love most about Paul is that, when he became a Christian, he still spoke of his past.  In Galatians, Paul says, "For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers (1:13-14)." Your past may not have been pleasing to God, but let him use it. If you try to avoid it, you are missing out on the one thing that can make a bad past worthwhile. You are missing out on the chance to share it with someone and allow God to use it to open their eyes. So whether your past is steeped in internal sins, like those of pride and selfishness, or the external kind of sexual promiscuity and drugs, embrace it. Give it to God and let him make it beautiful. Listen to Beyoncé and Paul. They may not agree on dance moves or other areas of life, but I bet they would both tell you that you need to embrace your past and live for now.

Knee Deep

I suppose I should make my first real entry with the thought that brought this whole idea into action. I was driving through town on a warm summer day, windows down and Country on the radio, when the Zac Brown Band's single with Jimmy Buffett, "Knee Deep," was played. If you've never heard the song, it's quite catchy. The beat takes you to a beach while the words paint pictures of seagulls and ocean into your head. As the song plays out, Zac and Jimmy simply wish to wash their worries and troubles away on an island paradise.
As mush as I enjoy a summer beach song, it was the final words that stuck with me that day: "When you lose yourself, you find the key to paradise." The obvious intention is that forgetting your troubles, you find paradise, but in those words I see a profound truth in our relationship with God. In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus speaks to his disciples and says "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

  CS Lewis said it another way in Mere Christianity:    

"Give up yourself and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death        of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life...  Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in." 

In a quick paraphrase: When you lose yourself, you find the key to paradise. As Christians we are called to submit. Our plans, our hopes, our dreams, our likes and dislikes all need to be submitted to God. We need to align ourselves with him and his plans for our lives. 
This has always been one of my greatest struggles. I am a planner through and through. I think God chuckles at the irony of me being married to a man in the military, I know I do. My plans never work and are always changed at the last minute. Just last fall I was preparing to be stationed in Hawaii when Jason came home and told me we were moving to Louisiana instead. Then, with boxes packed the day before the movers were coming, I got a call from Jason telling me he was offered a slot in a class and he asked if we could stay another month. Yeah, my plans don't work out.
Yet, through these changes I have learned to trust God, rather than my own silly notions of the future. And when we do trust, God does not lead us astray. It isn't a sick game where he asks you to give up your hopes and dreams and replaces it with a miserable life. Instead, he gives you his plans for your life. And when you follow his plans, only then will you will be living the life you were made for. Don't get me wrong, you will certainly encounter times of misery, of struggle and pain, but with that will come the most powerful peace and reassurance.  Because in those times of frustration and confusion, you will know that by submitting to God, you are living out your destiny. In living for God rather than yourself, you will begin to be made new. And let me tell you, that newness will be complete in a paradise more incredible than you or Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band can imagine.

Where's Waldo?

   Take a trip to the Dentist, grab the book and be transported back to the joys of childhood. Picture it now: Where's Waldo? How many hours did I spend searching for good ol' Wally? Probably too many, and maybe you did too. But how enjoyable was the challenge that Where's Waldo? presented? You knew he was there, you simply had to find him. Amidst the chaos, confusion and sometimes overwhelming scenes, Waldo was always waiting to be found. On some pages, he caught your eye right away and the search was easy. Others, you spent lengthy periods of time to find him.
   The attempt of this blog is similar. These are my experiences of searching for Jesus in the secular, or nonreligious, world. We live in a world where Christians have closed themselves off to all that is secular. We fail to relate to the world because we box ourselves in our churches. By all means, go to church, but go into the world a well! We have lost our ability to search out Jesus in all things. That is the plan here. Don't get me wrong, I am a stumbling, bumbling Christian, often at war with the doubts and struggles of my own heart. But here I stand, and this is my search. 
   You see, I do not believe that the truth of God is limited to Christians. I think that God uses people, even when they do not know him, to have the ability to speak his truth. The idea of this blog is to take secular songs, every day items, random conversations, and more to reveal truths about God and Christianity. We live in a secular world, but it is not a world that God has abandoned. He reveals himself in mysterious ways through all sorts of mediums. I believe that if we truly begin to seek him in the secular, our faith and understanding will grow leaps and bounds. 
   As a teacher, it makes sense to me to relate new information with information that is already understood by Christians and non Christians alike. The technique is called scaffolding. Jesus did this often through parables using the everyday lives and workings of the Jewish people to explain the Kingdom of God, and it can still be done today. Hence the name The Modern Parable. Obviously my "parables" won't quite be up to par with Jesus. Let's be honest, he set the bar pretty high. But a parable is simply a story that uses allegories and analogies to prove or understand a spiritual truth or a piece of God's word. That said, look to the next post to see one of my modern parables. But even more so, look around your world and search for God. He is there through the chaos and confusion. You just have to look. And when you find him, it's more exciting and rewarding than finding Waldo. I promise.