The thing about lent (Why i practice lent)

Yesterday morning i thought it would it be a good idea to give up snacks for lent... last night my thoughts were: Lent is stupid. i want a snack!

And tonight again as i sit here wanting a swiss cake roll, i think again.
I mean why practice lent?
I don't have to.
.. And it's hard.
... And it doesn't seem to be working for the purpose i'm doing it anyway
So maybe i should just quit.

Back in the day, i would laugh at my friends for having to practice lent. But, a few years ago I decided I would practice the discipline. Until this year, i didn't really know when it ended, since i thought it was 40 days, but i guess Sunday's don't count? that still doesn't make sense to me... and i may not do it every year... but i still think the discipline could  be very healthy.

Now, i know there are some out there who say we shouldn't practice lent. That it is a bad thing.
i suppose for some, it could be bad.
i doubt there are many or any who believe practicing lent will save them. However, there may be many who think practicing lent will make God love them more  or give them higher standing with God.
In those cases, lent is not a good practice.
Or perhaps there are some who believe they should suffer, that as follower of Christ, we shouldn't enjoy things in this world. And that would be wrong too.
Or that we must do it to be a good christian.

The Bible warns against asceticism and even gives warnings about traditions (Colossians 2). Practicing these things isn't just a bad idea, it disqualifies you as you rely on yourself rather than the work of Christ.

I say I don't have to practice lent because Christ has paid for everything.  Since my identity is in Christ,  I am completely accepted and forgiven. I have the righteousness of Christ.
The Gospel frees me from restrictions, from guilt, from shame.
The work of Christ is complete. i don't have to give something up for God to love me or to be right with God. i am already.

So if i don't have to do it- i am under no obligation to do it- why do it?
Because i want to.

What? you want to deny yourself something you enjoy? you want to do something that is difficult?

Let's get this straight. i am not doing something that is difficult for difficulty's sake. That is asceticism. i am not trying to make my life more difficult. In fact, i am trying to do something good for my life. i am trying to create a pathway to make my walk with God less complicated.

Now some may say you shouldn't just give up sweets, you are supposed to give up your whole life to God.
Yes! of course. I first must give over my entire life, my entire heart to God. But that is not what this is about.

The thing is, just saying give up your entire life to God is very easy to say, and it some ways it means nothing at all. And so we need to practice this. We need to give over every area of our life to God. It is His.
We do that not by words only, but in practice & discipline.

Practicing Lent is practicing a discipline - a discipline of desire.
See it's not about giving up something, but gaining something.
i want to see Jesus more clearly, i want to be more focused on Him.
i want to experience Him more.
And i experience Him more as i turn to Him more and depend on Him more.


We don't like fasting because we think only of what we give up, when instead we should focus on what we gain.
Fasting is a good practice because it allows us to feast on God.
And when i fast from something, it reveals how much i depend on things besides God.

Right now i am struggling because i like to eat sweets when i am stressed. (After all, stressed backwards is desserts). But instead of eating a swiss cake roll, i have to turn to Jesus. Instead of eating away my sorrow, i give my sorrow to God and allow Him to turn it into joy.
Not only that, i have become used to eating. i want to develop holy habits of turning to God. i want to become used to looking to God.
And i look to it to give me a boost of energy, instead of relying on God to carry me thru.
It is crazy to think how dependent i have become on food. It is amazing how much i run to it for comfort. It is amazing how much i rely on it.

Giving something up, reveals my tendency to run to idols. (i thought perhaps we should give up showering, so we would understand how much we reek of sin- but if we practice rightly we should see it anyway).

And giving something up, allows me to run to God instead.
instead of reading facebook status over and over- i'll read the Word
instead of wasting time on tv, i can invest in savoring time with Jesus.
instead of living on bread and dessert, i live on the word that proceeds from the mouth of God.


But then there is that. Practicing lent is supposed to turn me toward Jesus, but all i can think about is the thing i am giving up. All i can think about is pop or chocolate or what i am missing out on.
So if it isn't working i should just give up.
But this is why we do it for forty days. It may not happen at first, or maybe at first it does and later days it doesn't. The point is the discipline, disciplines my heart. It serves to reveal the sinful tendency of my heart and provide a platform for change

i recommend fasting. Maybe it's not during lent, maybe it's not for 40 days. But consider a fast, consider a food fast - that you may grow your hunger for God (And read the book "Hunger for God" by John Piper while you're at it).

Lent isn't magical. Lent isn't obligation.
But the next 6 weeks or so, we can join with others in fasting to feast on God, to enjoy Him, to know Him more. It has only been one day and i already see God working in my heart.

The Adventures of a typical boring family

It's been about a year since i really updated this thing... though i did try to restart my xanga once inbetween and have had many dreams of blogging again... i think it'd be good for me... but i guess life has been busy and i've been wasting time...

i used to blog a lot, about all the exciting things going on... and i think perhaps we have settled into the mundane, into our thirties or into family life...

However, i'd like to give an update- maybe not the last year, but recently...
May flew by, hard to believe it is June. Back in March, i was looking forward to May being a nice relaxing time to get a lot of things done... not really, Still, i feel like a lot happened...

This last week we potty-trained Halle.
  We used the 3-day potty-training method, suggested by a friend.
 i liked it, in that it used a lot of positive reinforcement & encouragement. And it was empowering, building ownership. We weren't to force her to use the toilet or even ask her if she needed to go(though sometimes we slipped), but just reminded her to tell us if she needed to go.
We completely ditched the diapers and put her in underwear.
Kinda crazy.

By the middle of day 2, while Halle was napping, we were trying to think what we would do when it didn't work... but soon after she woke up   - it started to click!
She's not perfect, but she's pretty close. She sometimes isn't quick enough, but she knows what she is supposed to do
... pretty soon, she will find it physically impossible to not poo in her pants.

Josiah meantime is attempting more steps and blabbering more things that sound like words.

In a month, our lives should be radically different.

Josiah celebrated his one-year birthday last month. We had a party here in Munice, then again in LA. He seemed to like the chocolate cake, though he went to bed soon after his party started in LA, and didn't even get cake. He wasn't too upset about that, but i was. i saved him a piece of cake, and just about everyday wanted to give him his piece, but he never got it...

We spent 2 weeks in LA, celebrating 3 moms on mother's day... To summarize our time: We took the 15 to the 210 to the 605 to the 5 to the 1 to the 10 to the 101...
And we ate In N Out, Mexican, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Cuban, Japanese and fresh food.

We had a good time seeing people, but it was nice to get back, the 3 hour time difference was killer jet-lag, which is crazy when you consider all the travel we used to do.

So, yes, thirties are kinda boring... but still exciting for me. We already went to LA, have a trip coming up to Colorado, next up: Traverse City, Mi.

More updates to come... hopefully

mook on breakfast (The thing about breakfast)

Dad is so great, he gives us chocolate cake…

 (see this if you don't understand)

I don’t understand breakfast rules.

You can eat waffles, pancakes, muffins, poptarts, cereal, breakfast bars… but cake? Cookies? You’re the worst person in the world.

Jim Gaffigan does this well

The other day I saw cake sitting out, but I knew if I ate a piece, I’d never hear the end of it from my wife… if I waited 3 hours and ate it with lunch, I’d probably be ok….

Still, I love breakfast – it is the best meal of the day!

(Note: I didn’t see most important, though that may also be true).

It is the best, because it is the best tasting. I really should eat breakfast more often.

Some of my favorite all-time meals are breakfast

1.     waffles

2.     doughnuts

3.     bacon

4.     choc-chip pancakes

5.     sweet rolls

6.     biscuits & gravy

7.     cinnamon rolls (Cinnabonn)

8.     cinnamon bread

9.     pancakes & maple syrup

10. pancakes and strawberry syrup

11. bacon cheese egg biscuit

12. scrambled eggs with cheese & bacon

Jim Gaffigan also tells the wonders of bacon quite well.

I love eating breakfast at all times of day. There is nothing more wonderful than eating a waffle in the evening… and I love going to dennys at 3am- it is special!

The question now becomes

How can I eat breakfast to the glory of God?

1.     Do I treasure the breakfast food more or God, the giver of the food more?

2.     Can I give Him thanks, and thank Him genuinely when I eat?

3.     Perhaps I can relish eat bite, and thus remind myself how God is more sweet than this.
Psalm 34:8 Taste and See that the Lord is good.

4.     Maybe I just need to recite verses about food
Your love is better than choice food
Man does not live on bread alone

While God is more important than food, I think He wants us to enjoy food.

Jesus did after all feed the 5,000. And not because He had to, or because it was expected of Him. He wanted to. He wanted to provide a feast.

And in Revelation when it talks of Heaven, it talks of it as being the feast of the bridegroom.

Yes, I can eat breakfast to the glory of God

Yes, Dad is great! Let's sing praises to Him!

11 things for 2011

i'm not big on resolutions.... but i do think setting goals is a good idea... and i like making lists... so...


11 things for 2011

1. 11 goals

1.     Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Hosea … and perhaps the whole Bible

2.     Study Colossians, I Timothy, Exodus and Mark

3.     Get down to 159 lbs and stay in the 145-160 range (Reduce pant size to 32 waist (maybe 31))

4.     Memorize 100 verses

5.     Pray for 100 different countries… maybe 300

6.     Memorize the 4 Laws, names of the books of the Bible & our SPP in another language

7.     Run a 5K, maybe 10 K or half-marathon

8.     Learn how to cook something amazing

9.     Write/Collect at least 30 devos from Deuteronomy or Write 100 devos

10. meet with a mentor/pastor

11.  Go a week without looking at facebook, twitter or espn

2. 11 books to finish reading (as in i've already started)

1.     Shepherding a child’s heart (1)

2.     His Needs, Her Needs (2)

3.     The ME you want to be (3)

4.     Safely Home (16)

5.     The Good News we almost forgot (5)

6.     66 love letters (6)

7.     Redeeming Love (15)

8.     Trusting God

9.   Sp depression
10.  Outliers

11. An Ordinary Pastor (12)

 

3. 11 more books to read later

1.     Doctrine (7)

2.     Sex & the Supremacy of Christ (11)

3.    Leaders who Last (14)

4.     For the Fame of God’s Name (4)

5.     Marriage builder (17)

6.     Sacred Parenting (10)

7.     A God-entranced Vision for All things (13)

8.     The hole in our Gospel or Irresistible Revolution (8)
9.     Coming Back Stronger (9)

10.   Multi-Cultural Teams

11. Scandalous

( overall in parantheses)

4. 11 guys to invest time with

1.     Corey

2.     Brack

3.     Kevin

4.     Dario

5.     B

6.     Sean

7.     Ken

8.     Marc

9.     Jason

10. Mark

11. Ben

5. 11 things to do with Soo

1.     read parenting book

2.     read marriage/relationship book

3.     read Bible together/devotional

4.     pray together every day

5.     Go on a date every week

6.     Visit some place new together

7.     Pray for nations together at least once/week

8.     Go on a couple of double dates

9.     Cook together for other people

10. Take her shopping

11. Baby-sit

6. 11 things to do daily

1.     morning prayer of submission

2.     journal

3.     read Bible

4.     stretch

5.     pray for some ministry/nation/friend

6.     something fun or read or pray w/ soo

7.     interact with someone besides Soo

8.     some sort of ministry(except on Sabbath)

9.     memorize a verse

10. give thanks and/or sing praise song

11. read and/or write

7. 11 long-term goals/bucket list

1.     Write a book

2.     Write/Collect 365 devotionals

3.     Outline or write summary for every book of the Bible

4.     Go to Israel

5.     Go to Rome

6.     Go to Egypt

7.     Go to the Grand Canyon

8.     Go to Yosemite Nat Park

9.     Start a trend – or maybe get a retweet

10. Run a half-marathon… maybe marathon

11. See a toilet go the opposite direction (S. Hemisphere)

8. 11 things I’m looking forward to in 2011

1.     Our 1 year wedding anniversary

2.     Halle’s 1^st birthday

3.     Enjoying a Sabbatical: reading a bunch and writing a bunch

4.     Seeing our puppy again

5.     Showing my parents East Asia

6.     Taking a trip to Texas?

7.     Taking Soo shopping/doing something that just amazes her

8.     Halle sleeping thru the night Actually, I sleep thru the night

9.     Halle’s crawling…walking

10. Purdue winning the NCAA championship

11. Speaking at campuses

   

9. 11 things to do before heading back to E Asia

1.     spend time with my friends who live 1-2 hours away

2.     call my friends who live in the same time zone or close to it

3.     call my friends in Asia at least once

4.     go to a book store and read for chunks at a time

5.     buy stuff to take back

6.     eat skyline chilli, potbellys, TGiFridays,

7.     contact all supporters on phone or in person

8.     sit down with a Pastor/mentor

9.     share the Gospel

10. go to Purdue – a men’s basketball game & eat @xXx

11. get wings at BW3’s & watch some football

10. 11 movies I want to see

1.     HP7

2.     127 hours

3.     Dawn Treader

4.     The Fighter

5.     The Tourist

6.     Thor (May)

7.     Captain America (July)

8.     Terminator : Salvation (Dvd)

9.     Mummy 3 (Dvd)

10. Amelia (Dvd)

11. Shutter Island (DVD)

11. 11 things to eat before I leave America

1.     skyline chilli

2.     potbellys

3.     Greek food: Greek Salad

4.     Peruvian

5.     Baker’s Square

6.     Bleu cheese burgers

7.     Buffalo Wild Wings – while watching a game

8.     Gino’s East pizza

9.     TGiFridays

10. Souplantation

11. In N Out

my lists of food

i made Soo this dish last night.

but with only 3 weeks left, we still have a lot of food to eat.
See we bring all this stuff from America, and buy a lot from the import store and we save it... but now we're leaving for 8 months. Do we eat the local food we won't get for a while, or eat the food we alredy spent money on and often crave?

Here's what we still have to eat
1. Pepperoni pizza x3
2. Chicken parmesan
3. Tacos x2
4. Stuffed chicken
5. Cincinnati chilli
6. Chicken chilli
7. Lasagna
8. Buffalo chicken
9. Pulled pork
10. plenty of salad dressing
11. a lot of marinades

Plus one of the western restaurants just introduced a mexican wrap- which is just like a burrito: salsa, sour cream... and LOTS of meat! Yes, this is a big deal when you live in the middle of nowhere Asia!

Meanwhile, still craving American food. Where should we eat first?

things we want
1. Mediteranean food
2. jamba juice
3. Weber Grrill
4. In N Out & Father's Office
5. CPK... or any pizza delivered
6. fast food like McDonalds
7. sit down in a panera
8. Peruvian Food
9. KFC double down and biscuits
10. Angelo's deep fried french toast
11. Chipotle... mexican food
12. ice cream

Is it strange when we think of going to America we think of food all sorts of other countries?
3 weeks...