Hammer on Anvil '

Two Friday nights ago my family and I were leaving the high school football game. It was passed the point in the day when I function well around people....8pm.

As we walked through the parking lot I saw I had a shadow. Then I saw I had another...and another. As I mentioned before, it was late and my brain wasn't functioning so I wondered how that happened. Then I realized there were several light sources, all helping me to cast a shadow.

I've been thinking about that for these two weeks and thinking about shadows. Our stories are full of shadows. Peter Pan loses his shadow (or in the case of the show Once Upon a Time, sends it to do his bidding). In Doctor Who, the Vashta Nerada lurk in the shadows and you know they have targeted you when you have more than one shadow. Now that Halloween is right around the corner, shadows and dark places are held in high regard. People like to hide in the shadows to jump out and scare others.

The Bible contrasts God to a shadow. In James 1:17 we read, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shadow." You see, shadows change. As the sun moves across the sky, shadows shrink and grow. They can distort. We can make shadow puppets on the wall by changing the way we cast a shadow.

God is not like that. He is the same as He has always been and He will not change. The same God who sent Jesus to take each of our places, still loves us. The same God who sent the Holy Spirit to guide us is still that same God.

He still looks after us. He still loves us. He still wants us to follow Him. Nothing has changed. That's a very reassuring thought in a world where nothing is constant. God is, and we can rely on Him.

The other thought I've been throwing around in my head is we are to be like God. So we should not be shadows. God has called us to live a life following after Him. This is true life, when we leave the darkness and come into the light.

My shadow isn't me. It can sometimes look like me, but it's not me. I need to make sure that I'm living the life God has called me to live, and that I'm not living a shadow of the life He desires. Real is always better than a shadow.

God has called us each to live an awesome life for Him. He has a plan for all of us and we can accomplish a lot. Why would we cast away the real, the awesome, or the light, for nothing but an imitation.

Live the life God has called you to live. It's awesome and you don't want to pass up the opportunity.

While growing up I was fairly sheltered.

I remember a time after graduation when I asked my dad to go out one Saturday night. He said I could go and I no longer needed to ask. I just needed to tell him where I would be going. Then I asked when I needed to be back and he looked at me and said, "Brandon, you have graduated now. We have church in the morning, so use good judgement." I'm pretty sure my mouth was wide open and I was screaming in my head, "NO! You tell me when I have to be back!"

This sheltering spilled over into many areas of my life, including my knowledge of what happened at other churches. I grew up in an independent Christian church and just thought that everyone "did church" the way we did.

This is why I was so confused one Wednesday night after church when we went to Wal-Mart and I saw a bunch of people walking around with dirt on their foreheads. I wanted to go wipe it off or let them know. I mean, when my face is messy, I like for people to tell me!

They were of course just coming from an Ash Wednesday service to kick off lent (some people kick off lent on Fat Tuesday with beads, and other things that I just don't feel comfortable putting here).

I always found Lent a point of fun in school. It was interesting to go around and ask my Catholic friends what they gave up for Lent and then watch their expressions as I told them I wasn't observing it.

But the longer I have thought about it the more I like the idea. Lent is a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) to give up something and spend more time in prayer and devotion to God. That's not a bad idea at all. In fact, too often in our culture we consume too much. A period of fasting (whether from certain foods or something else) would do us good.

Too often Lent isn't taken seriously or it becomes a point of stress. "Oh man, I ate pork again!" or "Blast I watched 31 minutes of TV and I was only going to watch 30 a day!" If ya mess up, then brush it off, and get back on the horse.

So I'm just going to say I like Lent and I think it's great to observe even if you aren't Catholic. How can a large group of people fasting from things to focus more time on God and His work be a bad thing for America. Don't do it because all your friends are doing it. Don't do it because "I'll be a bad Christian if I don't." Do it because you want to genuinely grow closer to God.

Do it because you want to spend the next 46 days (including Sundays) seeking out God's will and carrying it out.

Participate in Lent because you believe God is calling you to something amazing and you want to see what He desires for your life.

In conclusion: No I'm not Catholic. I will not be having a Ash Wednesday service. I will be participating in Lent this year because I think it will be good for my connection with God and I am always a fan of seeing that grow.

It is amazing how much people resist change. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of change. I need plenty of time to prepare.

My wife understands this about me. If she is planning on rearranging our furniture, she always makes sure to tell me. She learned that if she didn't it would take me about a week to get used to the new arrangement. I mean sure it looks good...but it's different!

This morning I saw that Monopoly is taking away the iron piece and replacing it with a cat. Reading through the comments on the post I saw all kinds or resistance (not that it will do any good). "Why can't they just leave things alone?" was a question many people were asking.

Even thought we don't really like change, it happens around us all the time. Family changes, we move, or others move, laws change, even our tastes change. It is just something that happens in life.

This is why I love God so much. Check these out:

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." - James 1:17

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever" Hebrews 13:8

How wonderful! Even when everything else changes, our God does not. He stays the same! He is consistent!

For this reason He is called things like our rock, our fortress. He doesn't move. The precepts He has put in place are the same now as they were when the Church first began.

We can trust Him to keep His word because He always has! He loves us and always will!

What a great reassurance that even when our world feels like it is slipping away, our God stays the same.

We all set goals. It may not be at the beginning of a new year, but we do set them. Some of our goals are not super ambition (I'm going to sit in the office all day and not fall asleep...until 3pm). Other times our goals may be life changing (By this time next year I will be living as a missionary in Morocco)  No matter what the goal is, we don't meet them without some effort on our part. Here are a few tools to help us meet the goals we set.

Keep the "Why" in Mind. Why do you want to meet a certain goal? I am way more likely to actually get up in the morning and go for a run in this ridiculous cold, dark world if I remember that I'm not just doing it for me. I was to continue looking good for my wife. I want to be in a shape my kids won't be ashamed of. My body is a temple. If I remember those things I'm going to find it easier to get up than if I just think "Blah 6am is here again, I guess I better go out for a run to punish myself." Write the "why" down somewhere you will see it often to keep reminding yourself.

Tell Someone Your Goal. Preferably someone who will keep you in check. Don't just tell the girl at the checkout counter and think you have made progress. Share your goal with a friend who will check up on you and challenge you to keep pushing on, even when you don't feel like it or times get rough.

Set "mini-goals." What steps are you going to need to take along the way. How will you know if you are making progress? Find "mile markers" along the way to encourage yourself to keep it up. If you want to lose 60 lbs this year, when do you want to have 30 lost by? 10? 2?

Write Out Roadblocks. What obstacles do you see getting in the way of your meeting your goal and how will you overcome it? Thinking about these things ahead of time will better prepare you for when they happen.

All of these can apply to our spiritual lives as well. I hope one of your goals this year is to be closer to God by December 31, 2013 than you were a few days ago. How are you going to make sure that happens? God has given us brains to use. So use it to run the race. Use it to fight the fight. Drawing close to God doesn't "just happen" it takes effort on our part and the Enemy does not want it to happen.

As we start 2013, really pray about and set some goals for your walk with God. They will be some of the most rewarding goals you will meet.

What goals have you set for this year? What other "tools" do you have to help you meet those goals?

As I write this, President Obama has been projected to win the election. Not all the states are in, and it's just a projection, but it is certainly looking like he is going to be serving another 4 years.

I found out this information by checking a couple websites, but really the only site I needed to turn to was Facebook. Already, after only about 30 minutes of this news, my news feed has blown up with election statuses. 

These statuses are anything from "YES!!! WE DID IT! HE WON!" to "I'm so incredibly disgusted. Our nation will never survive." It is a little funny to me because some of these statuses are by 8th grade students who never show interest in our political process until the states start changing colors on their TVs. 

Now, I went to the polls today and voted. I colored in the little bubbles and slipped my paper into the neat little box. I had in mind who I would have liked to see in office (not just for President). But I am not freaking out one way or another (some I voted for have been elected and others have not). Some people may tell me that is because I'm ignorant and uninformed. Some will say I just don't care enough. 

I think it is because I have a God who is bigger than our political process. My God has not ceased to be in control just because one person has been put into office and another has not. Check this out:

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1)

Paul wrote this verse during a time when Christians were being persecuted by the government. Caesar wanted himself to be the only "god" people worshiped. He was a terrible person, who committed terrible evils. All you have to do is look at history. People being dipped in tar, crucified and lit on fire to light the streets; the Colosseum, and blaming Christians for the burning of Rome were all things the government did.

Yet Paul still says to be in subjection and that there is nobody in power, except who have been established by God. For me, that is encouraging. It may seem random, or contrary to God's will that a person is in power, but that is not what Scripture tells us.

There is a reason certain people have been elected today. Take heart in knowing that God is still in control.

 I'm not going to tell you what to do politically now that the election is over. What I am going to tell you to do is pray, and I don't mean that stupid "pray that his days may be few" prayer. What happens if you are so busy praying that his days are few and then someone else even worse takes his place? Or what happens if her days are few because she is killed without ever knowing our Savior? Please use wisdom.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

 Pray for our leaders, that God's will be done. Pray that if they do not know the Savior, that they respond to the salvation God offers.

I'm not worried. My God is so much bigger and has proven He is still in control. We may not understand the outcomes of this election, but I guarantee that this didn't catch God by surprise.

Keep living out your faith. Keep spreading the gospel.

And pray with wisdom.