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Downton fans everywhere experienced a sad Sunday night recently when Matthew Crawley, a fictional character firmly established in our affections, died an untimely death just minutes after holding his newborn son. Aside from his endearing honesty and noble character, one of the main reasons we all loved Matthew so much was his ability to soften and win the heart of the beautiful but fickle Mary Crawley.
The last episode, which gave little to no warning of the coming doom, highlighted a certain dynamic in their relationship that makes his death all the more tragic. Matthew made Mary a better person by loving her, marrying her, and often reminding her who she was in his eyes, and how her current behavior did not fit that description. He believed in the best version of her.
Mary, by her own admission, was given to cynicism, criticism, and sometimes even coldness in her relationships. She often quarreled bitterly with her sister Edith. In the last tragic episode, Matthew is declaring his love for and belief in Mary, and she says to him:
I hope I’m allowed to be your Mary Crawley for all of eternity and not Edith’s version, or not anyone else’s for that matter.
In marriage, friendship, or other close relationships, we have the power not only to seethe best version of our loved one, but also in doing so, to help that person bea better version of themselves. Jesus gave new names to certain individuals who were close to him. Not just new names, but new names heavy with significance and story.
Do we remind our spouse or our closest friends who they are to us? Do we help them see the best version of themselves and in doing so, give them the boost they need to live up to their potential? What if someone did that for us?
Matthew’s parting gift to Mary, besides a precious baby boy, may well be a clearer vision of the best version of herself.
Growing up in the church, I remember hearing things like, “go to work for Jesus!” I never really understood what that meant, but like most us, I jotted it down in my notebook and nodded my head, agreeing with the statement.
But what does it really mean? Can you bring glory to God today stocking shelves, mowing yards, or trying to earn your commission? If you are like me, maybe you are thinking, “how can someone glorify God at work or go to work for Jesus unless they work in a church?” Well, I believe that there are at least seven ways (there are probably more) you can glorify God at work, every day.
1. Be dependable. This is twofold. First, depend on God. Depend on Him to give you a job, provide for you, and to show you purpose for your life. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Second, be someone who your co-workers and employers can depend on.
2. Be aware of your relationships and the way you communicate with others. There are several scriptures you can point to here. We are to respect and submit to those who God has put over us. (Romans 13:1-7) How do you communicate to your boss? Respectfully or rudely? And how do you communicate with your co-workers? Do you use language that sets you apart as a Christian? In addition, how are you perceived? To be blunt, are you a flirt or inappropriate? Don’t be!
3. Be honest and have integrity. The 8th commandment says “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) This includes more than just money or property. Don’t take advantage of a break or steal time. Don’t use company resources for personal gain. Just be fair and do the right thing.
4. Be a loving person. This could be included with number 2, but I want to emphasize love. Christ shows His love in many ways: His patience, mercy, grace, service…and this could go on. Are you demonstrating a Christ-like love to those around you? Ideas to help you do this: Help your co-workers, always be willing to come in early and go the extra mile, be understanding when someone makes a mistake and care about the needs of others.
5. Have a purpose. Why do you work? Is it just to earn money to blow on the weekends? Do you realize that while you are at work you are earning the money that you will put in the offering plate, that will go on to do things like support missions, feed the hungry, and plant churches through the Cooperative Program? What an honor to be a part of what God is doing just by cleaning tables or flipping burgers.
6. Be thankful! The job you have is what God is using to give you food on your table, a roof over your head, and ever go see a movie on the weekends or buy new clothes. Give thanks for what the Lord has given you!
The most important thing you can do is:
7. Be missional! Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around you! God has put you in your position for a reason!
I’m not trying to get political, but did you see the response to the State of the Union address? That guy really came out swinging!
Things are crazy in DC, we just found out the US Post Office is coming out with a line of clothing. It’s fashion for people who are always on the slow.
I can’t wait for other government offices to come out with their own clothing designs. Next year the Hollywood red carpet question will change from “Who are you wearing? to “Hey, that’s my stuff!”
Speaking of the government, Washington is launching an investigation into that cruise ship disaster. So glad nobody was hurt, but it looks like Congress wants to see what they can do. If anyone knows about sinking ships, it’s the folks in DC.
You really can sue a ham sandwich?
Two New Jersey men are suing Subway sandwich shops saying their famous footling subs are not actually 12 inches long. I’m not sure if these guys are trying to be Heroes, or just they just have an ax in the Grinder.
They may be disappointed when they learn that Burger King & Dairy Queen are not of noble birth and that Chuck E. Cheese doesn’t really have middle name.
Many readers have heard of Lee Strobel’s popular apologetics book The Case for Christ, but not everyone is familiar with its predecessor, The Case for a Creator. In this book, Strobel travels across the United States interviewing some of the country’s most esteemed professors from a wide range of prestigious universities, both Christian and public. By collecting the proofs from experts across the board, Strobel pieces together the scientific proof that today’s most widely accepted theories on the Earth’s origin cannot work in tandem without a divine creator.
Strobel was not always interested in apologetics. He received a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master in Law Studies from Yale University. Strobel then pursued a successful career at the Chicago Tribune where he worked as an investigative reporter. Strobel, a firm atheist at the time, began an investigative study on the scientific and historical proof of Christianity after a debate with his wife, a devout Christian. Strobel’s investigation led to his conversion of faith and several books, four of which have received the ECPA Christian Book Award.
One of the things I value most in Strobel’s writing is straightforward approach. Many of the experts Strobel interviews explain their work in field-specific jargon, and Strobel does not water down these theories. I find this to be the most honorable quality of the book as it lends credibility of his interviews and allows me to dive into the research for myself without being told the conclusion in elementary terms. The Case for a Creator also presents an appreciated diversity of interviews. Strobel speaks with Christian, atheist, and agnostic professors in capturing an objective collection of scientific proofs that do not blatantly align with a particular agenda. As a college student, I am all too aware of the hidden bias professors often have and find Strobel’s source diversity a refreshing point of credibility.
While I respect Strobel for not dumbing down the theories he presents, I think his case could be stronger if he expanded more on the implications of the scientific data he collects. If you are not a molecular biologist, astrophysicist, or theoretical physicist, many of the professor’s explanations will go over your head. Strobel does an excellent job of presenting expert theories and highlighting conclusions but fails to link the two in a way that general audiences will understand.
Although Strobel’s book is at times difficult to digest, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in dabbling with apologetics. I would especially suggest this novel to college students, as it relies on a collegiate-styled research method that will be familiar. His sources are credible and objective, which lend to his airtight argument for a creator. While the book may require outside research on the part of the reader to better understand some of the more complex theories he mentions, it is well worth the time in providing a solid foundation for Christianity’s Case for a Creator.
What if Castaway met We Bought a Zoo, which met New Age religion, which met National Geographic of animals, which all then met the movie Joe Versus the Volcano? That essentially what you have in the new movie, Life of Pi.
Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel (published in 2001), which was part of Oprah’s recommended book, the movie is gaining popular and critical acclaim.
To its credit, Life of Pi is a story that immediately takes you in. At risk of spoiling the plot, we meet a young Indian boy (“Pi”) whose family owns a zoo. Due to bad circumstances, they must move to North American and en route their boat sinks.
The rest of the movie we sees Pi’s struggle to survive, which includes some stunning cinematic images of animals and nature. There is a plot twist at the end too that would make M. Night Shyamalan proud.
Be that as it may, the movie is just plain gross in places. Its PG rating is too low (should have been PG-13), and the way it treats religion is plain dangerous.
The storyline essentially tries to put Jesus Christ on a shelf with millions of other gods, sadly not a rare phenomenon in the Eastern, New Age world. As other movie reviewers have pointed out, the movie is syncretism on the silver screen. Jesus, however, is not A way to God, He is THE way (John 14).
Young adults and especially children would have too much difficulty not being riveted by the storyline and movie, so the movie is subversive. In spite of some good qualities, Life of Pi is not a movie I can safely recommend.
I saw an awesome movie this weekend with my kids. It’s called “Wreck it Ralph.” It’s about a video game character labeled a “bad” guy (I could instantly relate). He’s stuck in a world where every day is the same old thing. Game after game, Ralph is asked to break out the windows of an apartment building, just so the “good” guy, Felix Jr, can come around behind him and fix everything with one tap from his magical hammer. In this clip below, which I find hysterical because of how similar it is to most meetings I attend, Ralph is really struggling to accept the label that so many of his “bad” brothers have reluctantly come to live with…. watch it now.
As you can see, good ole Ralph is in a little bit of quandary. As much as he tries to convince his brethren, he can’t seem to break away from the label he’s been given. Secondly, the underlying desire to be something that he is not is pushing him to make some inevitably bad decisions.
I won’t spoil the movie for you, but I will say that near the end of the film Ralph realizes the power behind embracing who he really is….. The freedom that Ralph finds by accepting his differences, allows him to break the chains of the label that held him back for so long.
There are two key lessons to take away from this movie. They can be perceived to be contradictory, but there not. They work together well to provide a friction that sparks motivation, bolsters self-esteem and will surely provide purpose to your life. Here they are.
Number 1 – There is freedom and power in accepting who you are!
Number 2 – The labels that others may give you are not the labels God has given you.
I relate to Ralph in this movie in a big way. I was labeled for years and had no clue how to drop it. I struggled to overcome these labels on my own, constantly trying to be everything I thought the world wanted me to be, all the while ignoring the specific God given gifts I possess. The further I ran away from my true self, the heavier the labels felt and the darker my life got.
It wasn’t until I began to see myself the way God saw me that the labels began to drop. These labels like loser, weak, liar, cheater, thief and junkie… hurt. They hurt me bad. But God never saw me as any of those things.
The label you may be living under today may not be like mine. Maybe for you it’s divorced or depressed, fat or a failure, annoying or a bully, nerdy or gothic. I don’t know what label some fool has slapped on you, but I’m here to tell you that label is a liar. You are NOT what others say you are… What you are is what God says you are.
When you cling to that, you can begin to find the freedom that comes along with it. The freedom of accepting yourself for exactly who God created you to be….A winner, an overcomer, chosen, loved, cherished, forgiven, special, perfect and complete. God makes no mistakes; He makes no junk!. He doesn’t label you as anything other than HIS. So when you get to feeling like ole Ralph did and life seems to be ganging up on you, labeling you and trying to box you in. Check out some of these verses. Break loose of those labels and find freedom!
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
It’s extremely difficult to be a girl, especially a teenage girl. So many people try to tell them who they are. What they’re worth. Where they fit in. And in all that, they are trying to discern God’s purpose for their life and if that’s even worth following.
It’s difficult. Especially when there is girl drama, mean-girl issues, a mom who they feel doesn’t understand them – and that’s just girls! Boys can add a whole new level of insecurities and drama into their life. No wonder it’s hard for them to listen to God’s voice and His alone. There are so many other voices out there trying to get their attention.
And then there are the mothers of these teenage girls . . .
God is a relational God, and He wants mothers and daughters to be united, communicating, and on the same page.
In The Same Page, my co-author Shauna Pilgreen and I have written a fanciful tale for mothers and daughters. The purpose is to provide a tool to restore relationships, open up doors of communication, and for women of all ages to realize they are seen by the King, El-Roi. The Same Page is a flipbook where the same story is told from two different points of view. You can open the book and read the daughter’s perspective or flip it over and read the same story from the mom’s point of view. They literally and figuratively finally arrive on the same page. There are also journal questions for moms and daughters to answer separately and hopefully discuss their answers together.
Sometimes we need a reason to sit down with our daughter or mom and ask questions we have always wanted to know about one another. The Same Page can help you do just that and help you begin to live your happily ever after.
Here we are in the month of love and if you have not already bought flowers or chocolates for your Valentine… you should quit reading now and go buy some! Otherwise, read on.
During the month of February there is a lot of emphasis on love. This Valentine’s Day might be a good time to think about the love we should have for those around us who have not come to know Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, not just our sweethearts back home. Most of us have friends or family members who need Jesus and the Gospel and there is nothing more loving than sharing the truth with them.
I am sure most of us have read the story of the paralytic man that Jesus healed. This may seem like an odd story to relate to Valentine’s Day, but it is a perfect example of love.
And when [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And He was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”Mark 2:1-5 (ESV) Imagine going to your pastor’s house to hear him preach and seeing four guys drag a paralyzed man up onto the roof. They begin to pull shingles off and remove boards until they put a big hole in the roof of your pastor’s house. I know I would probably think these guys were nuts. Think about the comments these men would have heard as they tried to help their friend. You know people must have laughed at them. It’s not like you can nonchalantly drag a paralyzed guy onto the roof while a big crowd of people are standing there watching. I’m sure it was a sight to see.
But these men knew one thing; their friend was crippled and Jesus could heal him. Unlike most of us, these men were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend before Christ Jesus. Jesus recognized that these men had faith and He blessed them for that. Is this the same kind of love we have for those people in our lives that are lost?
Take some time this month to do the most loving this you can possibly do, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost.
Picture this: broken-down car, it’s 31 degrees outside, no heat, no idea what’s wrong, all of the lights on the dashboard on, and just to top it off it’s snowing. In the world of a single gal I did the only thing possible….I called my dad.
He’s trying to talk a rapidly getting anxious girl into figuring out where a fan belt is under the hood. I didn’t even know my car had a fan belt. I’m thumbing through the owner’s manual thinking that it certainly has to tell me options of what’s wrong. All of a sudden there is that gentle reminder to trust God.
Trust is one of the hardest lessons for me to learn. I’m constantly having to ask for forgiveness because this independent female was bound and determined to do it herself. Then as soon as I fail God gives me the reminder that my failure could have been avoided if I had allowed the situation to happen on His timing and in His way.
How many times every day does God have to remind you to trust with a gentle, or not so gentle, reminder?
Anyone who’s read me for long knows about my year long study of grace. That was a necessary journey for me, and one that has forever changed the landscape of my soul. You cannot draw near to the exquisite grace of God and come away unscathed.
However, for some time now, I’ve been drifting just a bit, struggling with desire and motivation. Praying for direction and guidance and grace for my weaknesses, yearning to see sanctification at work. I do believe now there was a hole in my holiness.
I purchased this book for Tim for Christmas. I thought my motives were pure in getting him a gift, but it possible that I was intrigued by it myself, because it wasn’t far into January before I picked it up and began reading.
From chapter one, Mind the Gap, to chapter ten, That All May See Your Progress, the author, Kevin DeYoung, seemed to be preaching directly to me. In me, there was a gap, it needed to be minded, and I felt that gap gloriously bridged through the reading of this book.
We can carry around connection confusion in our minds without being fully aware of it until some of those vital intersections meet. So it was with me. After immersing myself in a (very necessary) study of grace, I had some lingering confusion over these issues:
the place of Law now in our lives as Christians
how to practically pursue holiness with an understanding of grace
what it looks like for grace to be at work in me
striving, effort, and hard work in the Christian life
separating holiness from legalism, pursuing the one and rejecting the other
DeYoung answers all of these questions and others that I didn’t even know I had until I read. I believe this book contains a vital message that fuels believers with conviction for the holy lives God is calling them to lead. I needed that. I didn’t know how much until I started reading.
I have to restrain myself from over-quoting this book, but I’ll just end with one helpful quote about the use of Law in our lives now that we are blood-bought believers.
If you are interested in purchasing this book (and I recommend it highly!), simply click on the quote above to find it available at Amazon in print or kindle/nook.
