Going to California.

So we leave today to the states for a couple of weeks. Maybe we'll buy a credit union or two while we're there. Either that or go to legoland. It's a toss up. I will be eating some genuine, authentic mexican food. You can count on that one.

My latest painting.

Confessions

One of those nights. Put my kid to bed and saw that innocent look on his face. Saw the naive way he was trying to read words too big to pronunciate. Saw his big smile of love like I'm the greatest guy in the world and his hero. Saw him for every bit the 5 year old boy that he is. Little, impressionable, vulnerable, sweet...

And my stomach just collapses. It was such a rough day. He got scolded by someone at church. The guy grabbed him by his wrist and snapped at him. Right in front of me. 

I must have hauled him out of the room ten times to "take care" of father and son business. I'm not the parent that sits there and let's his kid fool around with a dumb, absent grin on his face. trust me on that one. I'm the hardest one of them all. 

Another guy quasi-snapped at him when my kid kept interupting our conversation. Then someone called him "trouble" later on. 

Another guy carried on this bad joke with him WAAAAAAY to long about how he had heard from others "what a bad kid" he is. 

My son had to face consequences for his disobedience all day long. He also had to face a dad who was over-compensating and embarrassed with him when he was acting out. Probably because he was set up for failure in the first place. At the church, (where he used to have free reign of the place day in and day out when I worked there), with a meeting going on, with no one to pay attention to him... He's a high energy and strong willed kid to begin with.

Set up to fail, and he did. So did I. 

Now I look in on him now when he's sleeping. So perfect and calm. So little. So 5 years old. I want to cry. I want to "confront" the guy that scolded him. I never want to step into another church building if it means I'm setting him up to fail. I want everyone that judges my kid to dare say it to my face. I want him only to interact with the few that "get" him. That love him unconditionally, that have never ending patients with him and like spending time with him.

I know that's a fantasy world too. I just want it to start with me. Let me be all of those things, so when he does have to deal with that nonsense he can always see Christ and His Daddy in heaven through me. 

And I failed today. Big time. There he is, still looking at me like a hero. Crushing my soul.

Influence part 2

A couple of months ago, I was at a para-church meeting when the speaker, a good friend and somewhat a mentor and inspiration to me quoted an obscure verse from Psalms that had to do with Free-will/Armenian theology and took a little rabbit trail into his free-will point of view.

I remember thinking, "Wow, I didn't know he was a free-will guy? Oh wait, he was raised in the Pentecostal church so that makes sense..."  *

That has lead me to think a few things:

A) How much do I believe, because it was the first thing I was taught... 

B) Am I invested in certain theology/thoughts about God for sentimental reasons more than a mature biblical revelation from God?

or put another way:

      B.1)How much do I support/defend/advocate for certain doctrines/teachings because of I have an emotional attachment to defend the integrity/reliability/spiritual orthodoxy of friends, loved ones, mentors...

C) How does this affect my interpretation of scripture? Do I allow scripture to interpret me or do I read it in a way to confirm my biases?

      C.1) Often I have caught myself reading the bible saying "Aha! See this did happen here in scripture, and that proves my point that God moves that way, teaches this or that, is like this or that, and not like so and so teaches.

Any thoughts?

* I shouldn't assume that my friend was simply indoctrinated into his view points because he was raised in certain church or that he didn't come to conclusions after personal study and seeking God. It just made me think is all.

Posted by - Jason

Influence part 1

I've been listening to a really wonderful, candid interview with a prominent Christian pastor/writer. The person asked him who his influences were and he mentioned his father who was an traveling evangelist and his mother. One of the things he remembered was his parents principally reading the bible. Kind of a generic statement I guess, but then I thought:

"What will my son remember me doing (or how I spent my downtime)?"

a. Sitting behind a lap-top.
b. Sprawled out on the couch for hours watching meaningless TV.
c. Always clutching a sports magazine.
d. Always reading some book *
e. In God's word.

I really want to make it the latter.

* There is nothing wrong with any of these morally neutral activities. My point is how I want my son to remember what I spent my time doing.

Posted by: Jason

The drummer.

So some things that I am thinking about.

- 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

- This guy that showed up half-way through worship practice on Sunday who I have never seen before. He pulled out some drumsticks and asked if he could play. I was kind of taken aback and said maybe he could practice with us. Then I asked if he was a Christian. This question surprised him. He said he was. Then my back-up singer friend said his aftershave was too strong and that she was allergic to it. He said he'd go wash up and come back. He did, but it still bugged her so she apologized and told him. He seemed pretty put off by it and got in his car and left. Weird.

- Stay and pray or confront. I have been struggling for a bit. I have a few strong theological convictions that are being put to the test. There are a couple of people I really care about who are, in my opinion, off base on some stuff. I have been preaching the whole "Believe the best, pray the rest" thing for awhile. I really do want to find my greatest satisfaction in laying these concerns and issues at the feet of Christ and being content with that. I hate it when I do the alternative and I find myself murmuring/gossiping about them to my wife or other friends. I need to figure out what to do. I think the prayer thing can turn into a cop-out for never dealing with issues, never approaching a brother (or sister) to discuss differences, or perceived weaknesses or unbiblical theology. I pray for grace in this matter.

- Accountability and brotherhood. I think this may be the most under-rated aspect in Christianity. There is something unleashed in authentic, biblical relationship. Something in the power of confession, encouraging prayer. I think this is most appropriate when it is someone you worship alongside on a regular basis. I am desiring this, but have not made the appropriate connections with other guys in my church who are like minded, and are in a similar stage of life as me. Not that that is the be all - end all. Just kind of important. I don't think we were met to navigate this life alone.

- (warning, next segment is highly volatile and very immature in my thinking process) I also think the prosperity doctrine, mindset is a lot more than "health and wealth". I think it extends into our thinking on what we think God owes us in terms of  how he should be interacting with us. That there is some spiritual law of repricocity that God will fill our fantasies, and owes us a certain level of personal relationship. Maybe I shouldn't be projecting what God is revealing to me on everyone else though. It seems a majority of what I see  people prophesy or encourage each other in, is for abundance, prosperity, renewal, revival, big happenings and happy times. I don't know about this, it doesn't necessarily fit the major theme of scripture... again, just some thinking

- My wife is working like a mad women. She has been taking tons of double shifts at the hospital. She's doing another tonight, and then this weekend is working doubles on both Saturday and Sunday. We are leaving on Tuesday to California for 11 days so the thinking is, we can all rest then. Hopefully we make it to then. It's nuts, they just opened a new hospital that is like 30% larger but have the same staffing ratio. For instance, my wife works in maternity, and they went from have 12 beds to 30. And it seems the same amount of staff. There are currently 4 un-filled shifts that the regular staff are covering. My wife had worked the last two years waiting and dreaming about getting a shift like that and now they can't give them away. 

- Just blogging. Put the boy to bed, Went to his parent-teacher open house thingy tonight. It's a trip watching him interact with others. He's an independent soul. Doesn't really need others to entertain him. Kind of floats from one area to the next. Other kids are buddied up with others, but not the boy. He doesn't seem lonely though. His teacher seems to enjoy him. She gave me a glance of relief to know, that I know he's a busy, impulsive kid. He's a reader though. She said he is the class reader and she can't pull him away from books. She is kind of amazed at how well he does. So am I. He been reading everything since he was in kindergarten. Out of the blue he looked up from the table and asked what "caffeine" was after he read it on a can of pop. Pronounced it perfectly. He's a good kid. I hope I don't continue to provide bump in the road for him with my rookie dad mistakes...

- We had our TV turned back on last night after it being off for the summer. I am sad it is back on. Still full of crap. Really that isn't even an exaggeration. Crap. In the banal, profane, literal sense. Only this crap isn't redeemable in that it can be turned into fertilizer. We decided we would watch the first episode of "Heroes" and I got up in the middle and went to bed. Not good. But people like TV, and they are probably thinking I'm judging them. Sorry. Not trying to. 

- The last thing, and maybe this could be a post all in it's own... THE ABSOLUTELY WORST THING ABOUT THE US ELECTIONS IS HAVING TO HEAR PEOPLE LIKE LINDAY LOHAN SHARE THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS. as if anyone out there thinks, "Thank goodness I know where Lindsay and her girlfriend stand on the issues, now I can make an informed vote!"

Well, I've brain-dumped enough for today. That is all. Thanks for glancing at this long post and saying... "No thanks!"

Bible tool

So ya'all are much more educated than I in the bible.

I came across this open source bible reference tool and it seems pretty cool. I recognize some of the commentators on it but not all. 

Any shady heretic characters in the bunch? I would like to know so I don't learn something evil and burn.  I don't want to be learning from any liberal germans or anything.

Check it out here.

Posted by: Jason

Feed a kid!

This is kind of fun. I have donated 440 grains of rice, or 4 bowls with my vast knowledge of the English vocabulary. But I have to get back to work...

Posted by: Jason

A few things.

Here is a link to a blog following the happening in India

Orissaburning.blogspot.com

Pass it on!

Also, I found this clean, theme for the blog and like it. Just one thing I noticed is that it doesn't say who posted the blog. So I think for the sake of anyone reading it that doesn't know us, just write in the title or in the post somewhere who posted it.

Also, had a lazy weekend. More on that in another post. But for now, check out the Orissa site and inform your other brethren and sistren to do the same.

Posted by: Jason

More...

"The mob then hit him with crowbars and sticks. The beatings came like heavy rain."

There is a blog dedicated to stories from the persecution in Orissa, India.

Spread the news. 

The news world is ignoring this story. 

Mourn, weep and wail.

Something has gone off inside me. I am absolutely inspired to break down the appathetic attitude I may have had about what is happening in Orissa, India. 

I read Andrew's post a week ago, and it didn't even really register to me. I'm ashamed of myself. I used to force myself to read the weekly Voice of the Martyrs e-mail report. Then I started to skip over it. I'm ashamed of myself. 

Who do I think I am anyway?

Then yeaterday, Francis made mention of it in the sermon I was listening to on the way to work. There was an urgent video message from a pastor in India who has planted 1000's of churches for the persecuted believers in Orissa, India. Then another post update popped up from Tall Skinny Kiwi about Orissa, and a video.... Then I watched the video and it has destroyed me. I don't know what to do. 

I'm tired. I'm tired of being a lover of myself. I'm tired that the only thing that effects me is when my standard of livinig is challenged. While others are fighting for lives, I'm concerned about my standard of life. I'm ashamed of myself. 

So what to do? Pray and fast, and rally others to do the same. Then let God start to open the doors. I started a facebook group last night for prayer for the believers in India. I've asked everyone I know to join. Hopefully, illumination will come to some like it did to me. 

Thank you Lord for illuminating our hearts again and again when we don't deserve it. By your grace. 

What to do now. What will we do? What will you do? 

If it was someone we knew hiding in the forrest to escape mutilation and genocide we would move heaven and earth to rescue them.

Let's take a second out of our lives to pray and consider. And listen.

Please, Please, Please watch this video.

Latitudes and Platitudes

A busy week around the Hughlett household. Well for my wife anyway. She has been working tons of extra shifts, including a couple of insane doubles at the hospital. On top of that she is working a few evenings this week, has her class tomorrow and is decorating (she always goes large) for a ladies banquet at church. We miss her, but are looking forward to our vacation to California coming up in two weeks.

Two weeks! That is crazy. We already went once this year and now we're doing a second trip. That is not usually how we do things, jet-setting back and forth to So. Cal. But earlier this year I was in dire need of connecting with my kin folk and this time my little sister is getting married and we got some killer deals on tickets. So we're heading out soon. (the cool thing is the last time we went to Seaworld, the day pass they sell is good for a whole year, so when we go back we can use them again to get in for no cost)(and Seaworld is literally a block from my Mom's place in SD so that is good too.)

Other than that, I should mention for anyone that cares, and also to remind myself when I read these blogs again in the future that I heard back from the organization we were surveyed by last month, and we passed with flying colors. This is kind of a big deal in my micro world so that is a blessing. It took a lot of work, and having to jump over a few hurdles, but in the end it worked out good. I'm glad I could bless my boss with a good result. She deserves it. 

Well, it's late. I should head off to bed. It's been awhile since I blogged one of these "random-life" catch-up posts. It's good to capture these little moments. I'm glad the rest of the "team" allows such latitude. ;) I need to spend some time in my book. I'm reading Jerry Bridges "Pursuit of Holiness" and it is rocking my world. I am taking notes, so it is taking forever to get through but I don't mind. It's like eating a great meal that you never want to end. Very transformational. I look forward to reading it when I get the chance. So, I'm going to take the chance now. 

Also, one last thing. I picked up a CD last night (from iTunes) by a guy named Jonathan David Helser. Good stuff. I was blessed listening to it today at work. It was strangely comforting as I tried to digest the news out of India. More on that later. 

We interupt this broadcast

Thousands of Christians are becoming witnesses, "martyrs" right now in northern India. Homes, churches and believers are being burned to death. 

Now, let's get back to life as normal. 

Let me go find a funny internet video making fun of silly Christians or something.

The Emerging church.

It's funny a few years back... 2003 I believe, Dave and I flew down to attend the National Pastors Conference, that was occurring congruently with the second "Emergent" conference. Dave had gone to the first the year before and was excited enough to buy every Brian Mclaren book he could get his hands on. It was an interesting time. They had drum circles, DJ led worship, Peter Nevland was there and blew everyone away. We heard Dallas Willard, Tony Campolo, and a bunch of others. There was a panel with Robert Webber and Jack Caputo arguing about whether or not to call God "mother" or "father"...

My how things have changed. Dave's new favorite book is probably, "Why we're not emergent" and his favorite conference is "together for the gospel"...

Me, I'm a flaming liberal, emerging neo-orthodox whose favorite tape series is "highlights from the Jesus Seminar vol.1-15".

Just kidding.

But one of the good things that came the conference (besides prayer labrynths!) was connecting with the ministry of Dan Kimball. I think he is a guy that really gets it.
I've followed his blog for years now and have been impressed with his heart and ministry non-stop.

The guy actually wrote the book "the emerging church". He's been through all the issues, de-construction, burn out, trouble with church leadership, blah blah blah... and has kept his head on straight. You would think that a guy who helped coin the term "emerging church" would have some stock in trying to defend it. But it looks like he's actually disconnecting from it.

Largely from the amount of baggage and confusion it brings and some of the doctrines and teachings that he describes being totally opposed to that it is now associated with.

Wow. Good for you Dan. 

Here is a quote I pulled out of the article. Well-worth a read:

"I am not wedded to any term and I don't think most people are. I, like most others, am wedded to the gospel  and to Jesus' command of making new disciples - not a term to describe it. So I will be not using terms, as I want to get back to why I entered this whole discussion originally (evangelism)"

I have officially had my fill of this @#$%&...

I don't think I am alone in saying this stuff is ridiculous.

Sound off if you are fed up with this crap too.

Knock-Down Argument Against Dancing in Church

Thanks to: JT

An old video of my pal Steve on bass...

Just kidding but a classic the burning up the net lately...

What if...

So Condeleeza Rice is in Libya meeting with Moammar Gadafi, and I read this quote in the article,

 "Whether or not Gadhafi is sporting his trademark dark sunglasses and is flanked by his usual corps of female bodyguards, his meeting with Rice, whom he once called "Leeza, my darling black African woman," will be one to remember."

So now run with me in your imagination on this one. 

What if...

They hooked up. Condi was overwhelmed with Moammar's charm, she fell madly in love with him and decided to never come home. You have to get into a "Classic Hollywood Cinema" headspace for this, maybe a little Disney, a little late night Cinemax, but wouldn't that be like the biggest story ever? Would they get a celebrity name like "Moam-eeza" or something? Paparazi shots of them eating icecream together in an oil field somewhere... Condi jealous of one of the female body guards, dumps him, and ends up with John Mayer and they have twins...?

If only life took more bizarre turns like this I wouldn't have to use my imagination all the time.

Does your cup "runneth over"?

"If we give the impression that the main effect of Christianity is to make us miserable, then it is not surprising that ninety per cent of the people are outside the Christian church. 'Miserable Christians,' they say, 'look at them!' And they add that they have life, they have joy, they have fullness. Shame on us Christian people! But it is not merely a question of saying shame on us. What a terrible responsibility is ours if we are so misrepresenting this 'glorious gospel of the blessed God' (1 Timothy 1:11). We are meant to be witnesses to all people that we are filled to overflowing. We are meant to show the truth of the psalmist's words: 'My cup runneth over!' (Psalm 23:5)."

I can think of no greater way I have continually shipwrecked my walk but when I've built facades to try and "represent" how great it is to be a believer. However, I know that the above quote by the good Dr. MLJ is true. In what is truly a paradox wrapped in a puzzle, hidden in a mystery, I will spend my life trying to mortify my flesh, while at the same time living and demonstrating the Joy of the Lord.

Second short post of the week.

This post from Brant Hansen is hilarious and so true.

Chrome

Wow. Wow. wow. I love the new web browser from google. Google Chrome.

Grade 1

One of the funny little different idiom's between Canada and the U.S. that you notice. Here is it's grade 1, grade 2, where in the states your starting the 1rst grade or the second grade.

Noah started grade 1. He's not in class number__, he's in division 8... ??? Whatever. The other weird thing, which I think might be chocked up to organization is that he won't know what class he's in till probably Thursday afternoon. They spend this week registering new kids and other stuff and in the mean time he's in a temp class with kids that probably won't end up being his class mates. Weird.

It's amazing to watch him grow up though. My little guy.