Sara Lee Spirituality

I had to laugh. Did you know that Sara Lee makes "Heart Healthy" hotdog buns? I mean, what's the point? (OK, I found them in my pantry, so I bought them.)

 

You may laugh along, but isn't that the philosophy so many of us live (forget what we "say" we believe)? It goes something like this, "As long as I incorporate enough 'good' in my living, I'll be OK in the end; it doesn't really matter that what's inside (or in the "heart healthy" bun)."

Somehow we manage to make ourselves feel OK if the "tube steak" is tightly hidden in the healthy bread.

 

But, I must confess - it sure did taste good. :)

"Ooooooooh Fudge!"

I don't remember where we were last week when that line came up from "A Christmas Story." What a great movie, ranks up there with the other Christmas traditions like "It's A Wonderful Life."

I had another flash back to "A Christmas Story" yesterday while we were at the park. It reminded me of the kid who stuck his tongue to the flag pole. While eating lunch at a picnic table, a metal one with small holes all through it, my eight year old son got this grimacing look on his face, "My finger's stuck!" And it was - kind of like the Chinese handcuffs we use to pick up at the fair. Pulling only produced pain, too much to keep pulling. I just knew the fire department would have to cut the entire table up just to remove his jammed finger.

Fortunately, I had some chapstick. It provided enough slippage to remove the stuck digit. No fire department needed. It was worth the laugh though.

The Party Line

I know I listen to too much talk radio. It's like having someone else go to the gym for me. But that's another subject.

A couple of days ago I was listening to Rush. One caller, a soldier who spent time in Iraq as a medic, was telling Rush how he "converted" a fellow soldier from being a liberal (i.e., Democrat) to being a conservative (i.e., Right). Rush saluted the guy for "doing the Lord's work over there."

That doesn't really bother me; I expect that from Rush. What gets under my skin is the idea it communicates to those already antagonistic to the message of Jesus: Christian = Republican = political power.

But, are we, those who claim to follow Jesus, that much different from the Ditto Heads? For the most part, those who call themselves Republicans (or Democrats) identify themselves by the votes they cast.

Does my identity come from casting a vote for Jesus and then learning to talk the party line? Listening to the "right" radio stations? Does it mean being right and showing how the other guy is wrong?

And what is it that I belong to as a follower of Jesus? Is it all about majority rule? Am I beholden to an ideology? Is the church really and practically that much different from a political party? I sure hope so, but I'm thinking there's too much confusion between the two.

You Are Not Your Own

“Do you not know that … you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest)