Hammer on Anvil '

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11).

When is the last time you felt like an alien in your sphere of influence? Have you ever felt out of place in a gathering where people were discussing, for example, a movie that you chose not to see because of questionable content?

I remember very vividly a time when my place of employment had a fire drill. I was standing outside with some other women (all believers) as we waited for the "all clear" to go back inside.

When the conversation turned to Coach handbags, the youngest in our group boasted about having SIX of them. I was tempted to ask her if she had any idea how many orphans she could sponsor with the money she spent, but I held my tongue. When she said her fiancee probably wouldn't want her to spend money like that once they got married, some other women in the group proceeded to tell her that if her husband could have HIS "toys," she was entitled to hers. I about threw up, and excused myself from the group -- which I realize now was not the correct thing to do. I was wrong to not confront my sisters. It wasn't so much the greed, but the fact that these older, supposedly more mature women were basically instructing the younger woman -- before she was even married -- in the clever art of deceiving her husband so that she can buy whatever she wants.


A couple of years ago I complimented a young woman in our church after seeing her honeymoon pictures online. Though many of the photos were taken on the beach, she was dressed modestly in lovely sundresses or skirts. I made it a point to compliment her because many Christian women have embraced the world's standards with regard to their clothing. String bikinis seem as popular at Christian swim parties as they are at public beaches. We have forgotten that God exhorts us to be modest and not draw attention to ourselves -- let alone cause men to lust after our nearly naked bodies.

I think we forget sometimes Paul's admonition to the Romans: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think" (Romans 12:2, NLT). 

It is not a bane or a curse  to be different. On the contrary, we are called to be different. If our lives look no different than the rest of humanity, how can we hope to reach the lost for Christ?

Texas drivers are crazy.  I’m not exaggerating; it’s a fact.  I have been to 42 states and the drivers in Texas are, without a doubt, the worst.  When I first moved to Texas a year ago, I thought that turn signals were the only problem.  I honestly don’t think they know what the turn signals’ purpose is, because they change lanes like children on a playground, with virtually no warning as to which way they’ll go next.

 

But then I learned that turn signals were only the beginning.  Texas drivers battle in traffic as if it is an Olympic sport and a single car length may be all that separates them from the Gold.  There will be a line of cars in the passing lane steadily moving along, and then one car will jet over to the right lane, slam on the accelerator until he is riding the bumper of the next car in front of him, and then bully his way back into the passing lane (without signaling).  I’ve even see people get frustrated because they weren’t able to bully their way back to the passing lane, so they took to the shoulder instead.

 

It.  Is.  Frustrating.

 

I’ve found myself getting pulled into this culture in a way I don’t like.  Don’t worry, I still use signals and I’m not driving on the shoulder.  But I’ve started to take some perverse pleasure in foiling the plans of the impatient idiots.  I’ll see one of them in the mirror doing about 90 in the right lane, so I’ll close the gap with the car in front of me.  With nowhere else to go, their only choices are to wait and merge in behind me or be an even bigger tool than they’ve already been and drive on the shoulder.  And if one of these speed demons does merge behind me, I’ll sometimes purposefully linger a bit when passing the next car.

 

Alright, alright!  Stop judging me!  I know this is wrong and I’m confessing!

 

It hit me the other day that I’m trying to fight fire with fire.  If people who are angry meet other people who are angry, it just adds fuel to their frustration.  (Insert Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”)  If everyone in Texas starting acting the way I have, the driving culture would only get worse.  To change this negative culture, it is going to take an even larger culture of patient people who are unwilling to be sucked into the madness.

 

The Christian faith is like traffic in that way.  We’re being swept along in this current of cars called the American culture and it is changing us.  We have our driver’s manual (the Bible) and we know how we ought to drive, but the overwhelming culture surrounds us and the manual is just a little book tucked away in the glove box.  The flow adjusts and we feel we have no choice but to adjust right along with it.  But maybe, just maybe, if we calm down, remember what the manual says and act on it, a few of the cars around us might see that our way is a better way to drive.

 

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23

 

Lastly, please enjoy this video.  The perverse pleasure side of me thinks this SUV is a hero.

Sorry for missing my post last week.  I spent the day at the K with my kids enjoying a mediocre baseball team play an even less glorius game.  As a hilight, I was able to witness one of the parachuters get taken by the wind and land in the first row of seats.  (He walked away and was fine, so it's okay to enjoy it.)  Anyway, on to the post.

Introducing the newest acronym you will find annoying, you will love to hate... YOLO.  Surely you have heard it or seen it behind some hashtag.  That's right as if "TGIF", "LOL", "IDK", or "I'm just sayin'" aren't enough....... we have YOLO. 
So as a public service announcement, I will explain.  The rapper Drake has a song with the following lyrics:  "You only live once, that's the motto (expletive) YOLO".  It means You Only Live Once.  It is the new Carpe Diem of sorts for some of the older readers. 

What I have observed is that the phrase has given some sort of credence to risky behavior or as an excuse to play mean pranks.  For example a quick search of twitter renders the following:
  - "switching seats while the car is going 100+ #yolo"
  - "risking my chance of going to jail for 60 days #yolo"
  - "driving around in a police car and arresting people #yolo"

YOLO is reality.  We only live once.  We have to make the most of it.  Jesus said that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy... but He came to give us life, life to the full - abundant life! 

You Only Live Once - it should not be an excuse to live reclessly, but should be motivation to live life in the power of the resurrection.