what's your MacGuffin?

So this morning I was checking out my ol' Twitterfeed and noticed an article by one of my favorite magazines Paste, and everyday they post a List of the Day - basically "best ofs" on various topics. On this particular day they listed the best MacGuffins in cinematic history. For those who don't know or are not planning on reading the article - a MacGuffin (a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock) is the element of the film around which all the characters are focused... As the list points out - the one ring in The Lord of the Rings trilogy for example. It is the driving force behind the plot, the reason the movie exists in the first place.

Well, it got me thinking about personal MacGuffins - please no jokes - as I tend to spiritualize things... Everyone has a reason for existing, everyone has something for which they are living. Everyone lives for one thing or another. The most successful people I know, or can think of are very conscious of that one thing, and so they intentionally center their lives around it... But the vast majority of people are living for an unconscious drive or an unrecognized desire. Their lives have no intentionality, and they can fool themselves into thinking their lives have no purpose - simply because they don't see it.

These people are living to run from the demons of their past or failures in the present- struggles from childhood, mistakes they have made as adults, feelings of inadequacy. And so they live - whether they know it or not - to exorcise those demons. They can't move forward because the MacGuffin of their lives has got them chained and they don't even know it.

Jesus said to "seek first the kingdom of God..." and really the entire Bible is about this move toward that kingdom... But in order for any of us to make that the real focus of our personal lives we have to really recognize what we are actually seeking first. What are we actually living for? What defines us? And then we have to be willing to give those things up and place our trust in the Creator of the world, and the Giver of our lives. That's easier said than done for sure. It takes a lot of work and personal responsibility and help from people who genuinely love you, but in the end it's the difference between living a life without focus and meaning and centering yourself on that which matters most.

what it means to relax...

So, as Jules and I have journeyed through this thing called pregnancy we have come to the time where Julie is having to sit back and "try" to relax. Now, this has been easier said than done, because she is an incredibly driven and active person. She loves to do projects around the house and clean and work in the yard. So for her to stay off her feet has been somewhat of a challenge. I, on the other hand, have no problem relaxing... in fact, I'm quite good at it. I'd go so far as to say, I am a genius at relaxing because no one needs to force me to lay down and take it easy. Some people may call that laziness... I call it having an unusual talent for resting...

Whether you find it easy to kick back or not, even the best relaxers can become overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, and worry. I can be awakened from an otherwise sound sleep with my mind racing with the thoughts of the approaching day. It's easy to be jolted back to reality from an all-out veg fest with the worry of tasks undone, or relationships that have faltered, or the uncertainty of major life events or decisions. So, how do we cope?

I remember as a kid going through major periods of anxiety. I mean, seriously worried about going to school or doing homework... and I would get a little panicky. Then one day a simple question entered my mind... "What's the worst thing that could happen?" I started to think about the reasonable consequences of a given situation and asked, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Now, that tactic works well for a child. I mean a child probably won't be thrown out on the street if he doesn't do well on a test. A child probably won't have his electricity shut off if he forgets to do an assignment... Sometimes the ramifications of adult decisions or mistakes are pretty serious.

But, yesterday our pastor referenced a Scripture that has really stuck with me and reminded me that the eternal consequences of life don't have to depend on my past mistakes or actions... they are entirely up to God.

Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

You know, our worlds may fall apart. But the Lord is a God of compassion and his love does endure and his peace can reign in the face of anything... if we but lean into him.

the comfort of organization...

Julie is now in her 32nd week of pregnancy and of all the things that we have prepared for one thing I didn't really see coming was nesting. Over the last 4 months or so, Jules has been organizing and reorganizing and prepping the house for our incoming little buddle of joy, and it has been an interesting sort of dance to witness and participate in. One area, she decided to get straight was my record collection, which over the past year has grown to 60 volumes. Her solution was to get two crate-like boxes and make alphabet tabs to help me keep them in their right place, and to be honest... I love it! It's such a great comfort to know exactly where everything from The Black Keys to The Rigtheous Brothers is located and to be able to put my hands on them easily.

This comfort reminded me of a passage in 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul is giving prescriptions for worship, and he says in verse 33 that "God is nota god of disorder but of peace..." and in verse 40 he tells us that everything should be done "decently and in order." Now, Paul uses something of God's very nature to make comments about worship, but I think we could take his line of thinking and apply it to all areas of our faith. Too often people try to exercise faith and develop with no real plan on how to do it. It's the willy-nilly approach to Christianity. But there's a problem with that... it doesn't work. I'm saying this from experience. If you really want to get good at anything, and that includes developing a deep and abiding faith, you need to get organized a develop some sort of plan. Why? Because when you falter, as we all do, you can go back to the plan and start again. There's comfort in organization... And God is not a god of disorder. (caveat - this is meant for those who understand they can't earn salvation, but want to grow in the salvation that God has graciously given through Christ Jesus.)

Helpful places to start your plan.

Bible reading and prayer - the two go hand-in-hand and serve to focus your day on serving the God who made you, regardless of your profession.

Community building - church attendance and groups is vital for accountability and encouragement and learning - because the Bible is not always so easy to understand

Service - make active Christian service a part of your routine. This helps keep a godly "don't think of yourself more highly than you ought..." perspective

copy cats...

It seems to me like there are a lot of shows out there that have tried to pony off the success of other shows of the same Ilk. You know the ones I'm talking about of course. American Idol begets America's Got Talent. Jon & Kate Plus Eight begets 18 (or 19) Kids and Counting. Even a show like Little People, Big World has seen a surge of others follow it that recount the lives of "little" people out in different parts of society. And you can come up with dozens of other shows that exist only because another show came before it and had some modicum of success. Some of the "copy cat" shows are better than the originals, others - not so much.

The whole thing kind of irritates me though... I mean, I don't understand the total lack of originality. And do the networks honestly think we, the audience, don't see the similarities? Maybe not... Maybe people can't see when they are being given a derivative and often inferior product as the real thing.

I think about how the Israelites reacted after they had been brought out of the land of Egypt and were waiting for Moses to come down from Sinai with the Law. They got impatient, they got bored, and so they called Aaron to make them a golden calf. And once he is done he says something very interesting..."These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"

Aaron is actually giving credit for the Israelites' freedom to this golden calf and the people buy it! Kinda unbelievable... They had seen the Lord bring them out of Egypt with a "mighty hand and outstretched arm" yet they set up this idol based on the success God had granted them. It's derivative and in this case counterfeit.

Lest we be too judgmental of the Israelites, we do the exact same thing today. We accept something as being of ultimate importance, as being the source of all happiness - though at it most it is really just a derivative of the real source of happiness and joy. God is the originator of all things and so anything good and pure and true comes from him, but too often we look to friends, family, jobs, gadgets (a personal weakness), hobbies, sports, and a thousand other things to replace God on the throne of our lives.

And just like the producers of those second-hand shows, we hope that the second things will be better than the original. Sometimes the shows are better than the originals, for us though creations can never fit the role of the Creator. The Originator is always better the the derivative.

previously on LOST...

Spoiler warning: if you haven't seen last night's finale yet you probably want to hold off on reading this...



So, last night's finale of Lost has left many with a sense of awe, being cheated, triumph, or defeat... I fall somewhere in between these emotions and thoughts, and ultimately as I tweeted last night... It's just a television show. But a friend of mine posted a blog earlier today that made the very true statement that human beings are hard-wired for story and so that makes Lost and its story so important... Also because of the nature of Lost's philosophical and religious overtones I felt a particular nudging to comment.

For 2:20 I was riveted and felt like Lost would end well... The survivors would be happy, people would have lived and died for a purpose, etc etc... I realized about an hour into the finale we wouldn't get any substantive answers about the origins of the island or Jacob's mom, or why some people were on the lists in the first season but not the "candidates"... I realized that and was still okay... Felt like that was why the show was so great, because we would always have questions.

But then they throw this self-made purgatory scenario into the mix to explain the mysterious flashes sideways... Those weren't flashes sideways but flashes to a place where all the characters got to work out their psychological daddy issues, got to do right what they had done wrong, feel exonerated, or whatever... It wasn't a purgatory where the characters do penance, but where they work things out until they are "ready to move on".

Sure there were syncretistic images of major religions, and that bothered me a bit... But what do I expect from a show that, while it has spent more time focusing on Christian themes than other faiths, has mixed philosophy and religion without exploring their actual compatibility? What really bothered me was that for a show that claimed to be far different than the Hollywood norm, which it has been, it ended with the same ol' humanistic relativism that has defined the philosophy of Tinsel Town for decades... It ended with a cliche. The supernatural forces on the island didn't matter in the end. True good and true evil didn't matter. It was all about how they treated each other, because the most important thing is that they were together in the end... I didn't need nor expect a gospel presentation nor was I looking for anything really Christian, but the redemption the characters sought and received turned out to be cheap and easy.

True redemption comes at a far greater price than merely working through our issues...

a picture is worth a thousand words...

For everyone that knows us or follows me on Facebook or Twitter you know that Jules and I are expecting our first child, and I really can't imagine that we could be more excited! We're almost in the home stretch of the pregnancy, and it is amazing how life changes so quickly. Suddenly your life is about researching the best brand of diapers or baby lotion. Constantly googling how the baby might be growing during this week of pregnancy or that week of pregnancy. Your life revolves around the monthly doctor's visits and prenatal vitamins... it is a total change from where Julie and I were a year ago.

And it really does feel like an adventure to us.

The biggest adventure in this process has been the trips to the ultrasound room at our doctor's office. When you go in there is this moment of anxiety and anticipation that is like a 6-year-old waiting for his first "big boy" bike the night before Christmas... on steroids. And it strikes you that you are going to meet your child for the first time. This little person, who you will be connected to in a way that no one else on the planet will share in exactly the same way, is right there in black and white and moving all around. You can see and hear his little heart beating, and then the tech begins to take you on what amounts to a tour of your baby - showing you the lungs, the chambers of the heart, the legs, arms, liver, and all his tiny parts. It's nothing short of mesmerizing! Jules and I joked that it is like the best reality television show ever... at least from our point of view.

And the thing is every time I look at the copies of the pictures that we have, all I can say is "Praise God!" I have a literally thousands of thoughts and emotions, but all that I can really articulate is those two simple yet powerful words. Somehow that's enough.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13-14

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. Romans 1:19-20

new hats, new responsibilities, new blessings...

What hats do you wear? I'm sure even as you think about that question there are probably a hundred different answers that you could give... for some you may think of your jobs or careers - you might wear the hat of an insurance adjuster, or a lawyer, or maybe a teacher, or administrator of some kind... you might work for a television company or church or elementary school or medical supply company or hospital. Maybe you think first of what you do for fun - you're wear the runner's hat, or the climber's, a weekend warrior-type, or an avid reader or a someone who crotchets things. Some of you might not think of your jobs or hobbies at all because... well, you could careless... You might think more about your families and you wear the hat of a husband or wife or brother or sister or mother or father... all of us wear the hats of sons or daughters.

More than likely though you are like me and think of all of those types of things all at once. You are a your own virtual milliner - always taking on new roles and responsibilities - both big and small, familial and professional...

This idea of roles and responsibilities and wearing new hats has become particularly significant to me over the last few months as I prepare to put on one of the most important hats of my life - the Daddy Hat. In about 4 months I will be a father, and yes... I'm aware of how heavy a hat that is... even as I type those words I am filled with an exuberance that I can actually taste, and in the same moment I'm nearly overcome with the need to protect and defend the child that has yet to see the light of day... There is an actual weight to that word "father."

It also has me exploring the whole concept of the Divine Fatherhood of God in a new way as well - in a way that is immediately applicable to how I will be as a dad. For God as our Father is a provider of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). He shows us his love in the middle of our deepest need as he reached down to us - offering salvation through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ for our sins (Romans 5:8). In fact, it is only through his eternal Son, and his sacrifice, that we can be called sons and daughters of God. We are adopted (Ephesians 1:4). You see as our Father, God adopted us at a great cost - sacrificially loving us... Sacrificial love - means giving up something very great in order that your love is demonstrated.

Love, real love is something that we struggle with all too often. We think of love more as a matter of getting rather than giving, and I have even seen too many fathers and mothers try to get things from their own kids calling it love. They try to gain a sense of meaning, or reliving their own youth. They use their children as sounding boards for their own failures and mistakes, or they take out the frustrations of their days on them. Their kind of parental "love" is more about what they get from their kids than what they give... but that is far from the biblical, divine paradigm.

Now, I'm not a parent, yet... but I think the hat of true fatherhood is worn by those men who would live out a God-like, sacrificial example for their children. It's a difficult but joyful kind of love that calls dads (and moms) to put themselves aside for the good of their sons and daughters. Looking to the needs of the child before their own. As I look to the example of my Heavenly Father, I pray I can wear the hat well, and ask him that when I fail he would cover me with his "Abba" grace that goes far beyond what I deserve.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

So, this was an odd weekend in Central Florida, for in many places it actually snowed! Of course, there were no drifts, only elf-sized snowmen, and try as people might there wasn't any real opportunity for sledding or skiing... It was gone faster than it had come, but still in Florida any snow is a significant amount of snow.

Snow is a funny thing. It's just tiny flakes of frozen water that are harmless when experienced individually, but when you get billions and trillions of those tiny flakes put together they can be at once mesmerizing and in the next moment wreak havoc on cities, states, and regions of a country. Those miniscule bits of water that are so innocuous on their own can combine into a storm, a blizzard that literally takes over the lives of everyone it touches. It really is quite amazing when you consider how small and fragile those little flakes are.

I think about the way the early church got started, and I am equally amazed. The Acts of the Apostles recounts the story of how truly ordinary individuals combined in the name of Jesus Christ and under the power of the Holy Spirit to do remarkable things. They faced down an empire, took on the standing religious (both Jewish and pagan) and cultural authorities in several cities, and crossed ethnic boundaries that defied all conventional wisdom... and in the middle of it all they established the single most powerful institution the world has ever known - all according to the plan of God and for His glory. They understood how delicate and perishing their lives were, but by faith they took every opportunity to stand up for the gospel. Acts 5:40-42

But what would those men and women's lives been like had they not followed the movement of God's Spirit, if they had not had the courage to stand for the name of Jesus, if they had not gotten caught up in the spiritual storm that surrounded them and followed even in the scary moments?

Too often, modern Christians are more interested in being left alone, maintaining the status quo, not rocking the western-American cultural boat, not joining in the spiritual storm with the generation of believes that have gone before us. We fear what might happen. We don't want to get too committed. We don't want to take a stand, because we fear no one will stand with us. We're too busy being worried about our children's little league schedules or school projects to take account of their souls. We are too worried about our bottom line to look at our eternal state. We are a people of convenience and non-committance. Our feelings get hurt and so we go elsewhere. We want a "fresh" take on our faith so we join another church.

So, what comes of our lives? The fragility of our own existence exposes the frailty of our faith rather than solidifying it... as it did with the early church. We refuse to join the Spirit for the long-haul and so we live, at best, pleasant but rather fruitless lives.

It's interesting that when the writer of Hebrews seeks to motivate his audience to lives of active faith he calls out the stories of ordinary men who lived extraordinary lives because they believed in the promises of God, and really lived by them. Hebrews 11 recounts those stories and then in Hebrews 12 we read -

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

He ends with Jesus. What would happen if we really took this passage to heart? What risks might we take for Christ? How committed to his church would we be? How reliant on His Spirit would we have to be? And would our lives really look the way they do now?

We all say, at least to some degree, that we want our lives to matter for something more, but few of us take the chance to actually do it. Only in Christ Jesus do our lives have any hope of eternal significance, but we must have the courage to take the step to truly live for Him.