Worn out

Today has been a busy day. Kylie woke up at the delightful hour of 5:30am, and never went back to sleep. Emily went to exercise. When she returned we began preparing for a b-day celebration at our house.

I had a battle for the ages with a "lawn tent." I am not sure what to call it, but when I was putting it up, I had all kinds of cool names to describe it. We spent the afternoon eating, celebrating and playing games in our yard. It was fun, but exhausting.

Then we took another trip to the urban areas of Louisville. We drove around for about an hour-and-a-half. We had some leftovers with Liz and Walker and then began to wind down some.

All in all it has been a good Saturday. Got to spend time with God's people and share a couple meals together.

Tomorrow will prove to be another busy day, with assembly then a July 4th celebration - I know it will be July 1st, but you have to do what you have to do.

Ghandi

Tonight I watched Ghandi's non-violent resistance campaign that he led to free India from the British Empire and their oppression. To say that it was inspiring would be an understatement. The climax of the movie was when men marched toward the British army who wouldn't allow them to pass (for whatever reason) and beat them back with their weapons. The Indians refused to lose heart and refused to use violence.

That moment - it was reported - India truly gained their independence. That is not the moment that the English decided to leave India, but it WAS the moment that they were rendered powerless. Ghandi had succeeded in stripping the "principalities and powers" of all their power. They were exposed for what they truly were - EVIL.

In all our dealings with the world, we must never use the weapons of the world. Whether that be a machine gun, nuclear weapon or whether it is simply refusing to lie and cheat to get ahead. When we fight the world with the weapons the world uses - no matter what "good" may come out of it, we lose.

Ghandi taught this - But so did Christ!

Kind of disappointing to me

Guess I have some work to do.

Good preachin'

Bob Russell (founder of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville) spoke in our Wednesday night class at Okolona. I have heard him speak a few times before tonight, and overall he didn't dissappoint. He has a gift, like all good speakers, of making scripture come alive. We were in 2 Kings and he spent the evening talking about the faith of Elisha.

I had read the story many times in the past, but he illuminated different aspects of the story I had never thought about. It is no wonder they are one of the biggest churches in the country.

Good preaching goes a long way. The story we believe to be true is the most amazing story ever told, but sometimes it isn't preached as such. The bible has a richness to it, and yet we find ways to 'dumb it down.'

Tonight was encouraging and I think all who attended were blessed.

How can I resist

MAN: I'd like to buy some dog food.
CHECKOUT LADY: Do you have a dog?
MAN: Yes.
CHECKOUT LADY: Where is he?
MAN: He's at home.
CHECKOUT LADY: I'm sorry, I can't sell this dog food to you unless I see the dog. Store policy.
The next day, the man returns.
MAN: I'd like to buy some cat food.
CHECKOUT LADY: Do you have a cat?
MAN: Yes.
CHECKOUT LADY: Well... where is he?
MAN: He's at home!
CHECKOUT LADY: Sorry, I can't sell this cat food to you unless I see your cat.
The next day the man returns.
CHECKOUT LADY: What's in the sack?
MAN: Put your hand inside.
CHECKOUT LADY: Hmmm... It's warm and moist! What is it?
MAN: I would like to buy some toilet paper.

Come on, if you aren't laughing after that one, you need to check your heartbeat!

More Women's role stuff......

“When society was patriarchal, as it was in the New Testament context and as it has been everywhere in the world except in modern society in our day, the church avoided scandal by going along with it — fundamentally evil as patriarchy was and is. Now, however, that modern society is at least officially egalitarian, the scandal is that the church is not going along with society, not rejoicing in the unprecedented freedom to let women and men serve according to gift and call without arbitrary gender line. This scandal impedes both the evangelism of others and the edification — the retention and development of faith — of those already converted.”

Mike Cope has been posting about the above for the past couple of days - and it really has me thinking. If you have the time, please click on the link and read the posts in their entirety. He is laying out some pretty compelling arguments. I almost don't want to read what he is writing, because then I will be forced to think about it, and what if I believe it. Then what? Are our churches currently oppressing women? Is this a serious problem, or just in my head? What is my responsibility to do with this knowledge? Is this one of these - weaker brother things? And don't even get me thinking of the implications to my daughter....aaargh!

I always find it interesting that we are talking about "roles" in church anyway. I am pretty sure Christ has broken down all roles and we are equal in Him - male/female, slave/free and Jew/Greek. Anyway, the posts are worth the read. I am thinking about picking BACK up the book "Slaves, Women and Homosexuals" for another read. I never quite made it all the way through it the first time.

This made me laugh

An English guy was very ill and his son went to visit him in the hospital. Suddenly, the father began to breathe heavily and grabbed the pen and pad by the bed. With his last ounce of strength he wrote a note, dropped it, and died.
The son was so overcome with grief that he didn't remember slipping the note into his pocket. At the funeral, he reached into the pocket of his coat and immediately felt the note. He excitedly read it thinking it might be something he could recite during the service. It said:
YOU WANKER -- GET OFF MY OXYGEN PIPE!!!

Something about the word WANKER that makes me smile!

If it were this easy

Apparently God is speaking directly to Kylie. I didn't know this until tonight when I asked her "Is it fun to be obedient to mommy and daddy?" with which she replied "Yes, because when I listen to mommy and daddy it makes God happy." And "God told me to go in my room and play, he did, that is what he told me."

I guess if that is what God is telling her then it is "fun to be obedient."

Important Questions

Okolona Men's Retreat
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer

These are important questions for many reasons.
How would you answer them?

Transformed

New blog = a new day! George has fixed my computer - turns out it was not my computer as much as a user error. Who would have thunk it?
I am converting my blog over to google, so hence the change. I am trying to add some consistency to my life.
I have also deleted all my old posts, so that way there won't be any evidence when my opinions have changed.