I love podcasts

How I spend time...
listening.
taking notes.
telling others about the great things I've listened and taken notes on.
repeat.

Current favorite podcasts...

• The Phil Vischer Podcast   (Christian discussion of current events and topics)
• I'll even admit to a "spiritual crush" on Skye.  
• Unbelievable  (90 min debate between various Christians and non-Christians)
• Vox (Mike Erre, Christian, various topics)
• Freakonomics  (Various topics from the view point of Economists - seriously interesting)

Podcasts/teachings you really should listen to:

Faith & Doubt 
VOX - Mike Erre
     Mike talks about what faith ISN'T and then moves on to what it is.

Necessity of Doubt, Faith & Doubt part 2
VOX - Mike Erre

     Part 2, Mike gets into more of what faith IS and more about doubt.

My life group is joining our church and reading through the Bible in a year.  We decided to make it a bible study and just talk about what we are learning each week.

No lie, Old Testament (OT) can be hard.  I had to admit that I didn't recognize God in some of the OT.  that opened the discussion up to someone else sharing the same issue and we were able to talk about it.  We ended with the idea that while we don't claim to understand all that we're reading, we do know who our God is and because of that we'll choose to trust Him in our lack of understanding.

That night was Tuesday which means New Phil Vischer Poscast download!  They discussed some of the exact questions we had and gave a different perspective on it.  Wonderful!  Such a lovely answer to our prayer just that evening.

Interpreting the OT and NRB

Phil Vischer Podcast - Phil Visher, Skye Jethani, Dr. John Walton

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you choose to listen to any of these.

gift giving

has anybody else noticed the trend towards gift cards and cash giving vs. an actual purchased something?

I certainly have.  I find myself looking for clever ways to wrap gift cards so that they feel more like opening something special.  I'm also not saying I'm going to change that.

I noticed it myself when talking (OK, emailing because who talks anymore) with family about Christmas and the kids "list" so that we might buy presents for the nieces and nephews.  Mind you, we always work to spend just the same amount and make everything fair.  None of this is bad.
Even the youngest kid, who's 11, wants gift cards.  I found myself missing purchasing an actual, thoughtfully purchased gift.  

Am I alone?  Does anybody else miss buying actual gifts?
I do and I don't.

I started buying gift cards when my daughter was in grade school and every weekend would find us at a birthday party for a school friend.  I personally didn't know these kids well enough to really pick something out and my daughter didn't always have a good idea on what to buy.  If we had something specific, we'd get that, but I was often stressing about it.  I would stop by my local Target (be sure to say that properly... Tar ghay.  Thank you.) and one of the ladies in the food court asked me if I was stressing out about another gift.  

Yes, yes I am!  I want it to be special.

Stop stressing about it.  Buy a gift card and be happy.

I thought about that.  Did I actually have 'permission' to buy a gift card for kids I didn't really know?  That's actually... wait... pretty cool.

So started by desire to then WRAP them special.  Because I couldn't just let it go at "giftcard...check.  card...check" and be done.

Ways I've wrapped gift cards:

• My favorite idea for a while (before every 2 year old had a smart phone) was with a disposable camera and a little $1 photo book for them to put the pictures from their party in + gift card.  
• I wrapped them in balloons.
• I wrapped one in a paper mache balloon/egg that didn't try completely but I was so set on the idea of this awesome wrapping idea that I still brought it to the party.  Lord I wish I had a picture of the sad floppy somewhat moist "egg" with a gift card in it.  I bet that family still laugh about the crazy lady and her son with the unknown floppy ball thing they put the gift card in. 
•  I tried to bury one in a home made dinosaur egg.  (note tried, though I have successfully hidden plastic dinosaurs in home made dino eggs that took FOR FREAKING EVER to dry.  That's the party where my mother in law took the pictures and somehow managed to get my VERY LARGE LEOPARD* CLAD BUTT IN EVERY PICTURE!  
• I wrapped them in helium balloons.
• I taped them to bricks and wrapped that.

But where was I?  Oh yes... gifts vs. gift cards

I wonder if part of it is just practicality.  What if I buy something and they don't like it?
What if I buy something and they don't like it and never return it.  Then I just wasted their money and they didn't get anything.  It's almost like a negative gift.

Am I the only person going through this?
Is this really only for a small segment of the people in my life and I should be OK with it because I am able to buy actual gifts for other people?

Hmmm.
.


*leopard clad because all the parties we had for our kids were dress up parties.  I think kids should dress up all the time.  On this particular occasion I was a kitty cat.  My butt was in the pics because I brought a hammer so the kids could "excavate" their own dinosaurs from the now permanently dried concrete home made dino eggs.  I was bending over to make sure each kid had fun pounding away and didn't hurt themselves doing it.


 

cough...sputter... surrender

My new favorite devotional is With God by Skye Jethani.

https://skyejethani.com/with-god-daily-devotional/

It's short, he links to scripture, even includes a prayer at the end (though with my current life I don't always have time to get down that far).

More importantly, it's deep.  He builds day to day on the same topic and I find that is really powerful in my life.  Do you ever notice how God speaks to you in multiple ways when He's trying to get your attention?
You hear a sermon at church. You hear the same message in a clip on the radio.  A similar issue comes up in the life of a friend (and now 'magically' you have scripture to pray over them because you've heard it a few times already).  A song comes on the radio and it speaks to that same message from God.  Hey girl, God is speaking to you!  Do you hear His voice?  I hear Him all the time.  I have a friend who like really hears Him.  She's so close to God He practically directs her day.  It's beautiful.  

My message of late is (cough, sputter) surrender.
Can I share that I hate that word?  It makes me afraid and fear is not something I suffer from.  I'm not a worrier, I don't ring my hands over issues generally.  I'm far too pragmatic for such behavior.  Yet, if you enter the word surrender into my life, suddenly I worry, "Oh no, what is God going to ask me for?"  "Do I have to give up everything and go work on a missionary field without access to a good manicurist and my daily cup of oh so carefully made coffee?"*  or worse, will He take me somewhere away from daily access to a computer?  Egaads what would I do? 

The answer to that is... I would, nay -- I will -- do what God calls me to do.
My fear of surrender involves several things.
1.  Giving up my belief that I'm in control.
2.  Giving up my belief that there is control to be had.
3.  Realizing God has the BEST plan for me.
4.  Realizing all my plans are for not without His blessing and guidance.

When I fear being homeless due to some catastrophic event... I hear the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear, I'll be with you should that happen.  Then I think, of the people we are most inspired by, who among them hasn't endured some kind of tragedy?  Who hasn't walked through a fire holding fiercely to Jesus as their endurance?

And I think... OK, surrender.
God's will for my life.
How courageous am I?




*Some could say I don't even drink coffee.  I drink Folgers instant in very specific measure with creamer and sugar.  I don't even let others make it for me.  But still, I love my coffee.

thoughts on the business of work

i so love reading.  One of the reasons I'm in love with the internet is the ability to find so many ideas and opinions.  What's especially exciting is finding sites where the writing and ideas are well thought out, intelligent and even witty.  That, my friend, is a gold mine.

The newest site to thus far fall under that category is medium.

My first post from this site was sent by a lovely friend.
I'm nice, so I'll share it below.  it does help if you have already been following the 'tiny house' world and even better if you've found yourself imagining living in one.  Perhaps a small commune of tiny houses (that's a particular favorite idea of mine with maybe a little club house to fulfill the larger gatherings we sometimes choose to be a part of.  And of course, a craft room because there ain't no way all my craft stuff will fit in a tiny house.)
Tiny House Humor here (note language involved)

So having worked in various sized companies in corporate America and smaller companies, and working for myself... I have perhaps a different view (or perhaps the same view as everyone else... it's not something I've had much opportunity to discuss yet).

I read the following article.

Grilling the Government about the On-Demand Economy

I have thought about the 'on demand' economy and now have a term for it.  Thank you.  I tend to lean towards the opportunity for people to work for themselves and yet totally see the importance of protecting people/employees/contractors on the lower rungs of the workforce.  Not everyone is in a position to protect themselves.

I appreciate the tension between contractors and employees and am frustrated by the lack of morality that allows people to pursue the almighty $$$ over being fair and taking appropriate care of your people (contractors or employees).  I thought the laws on the definition were reasonably clear.  I don't personally think Uber drivers are employees.  However, I can see a housekeeper, who has hours and a set schedule, who comes daily/weekly could be one.  We just need to do the right thing.

Perhaps the problem is that nobody asked ME! :)

I also learned a new word.  It is an attitude I'm sad to say I have seen run rampant at many companies.  

fungible
adjective
(of good contracted for without an individual specimen being specified) able to replace or be replaced by another identical item; mutually interchangeable.
"money is fungible--money that is raised for one purpose can easily be used for another"

People really aren't fungible.  There should be some of this, cross training, ability to switch roles and learn new things, but you can't swap out a 20 year veteran at a company for a 20 year old on his first job.  That experience and knowledge have value.

Upon further thought, our governments do this with earmarked funds all the time.  Remember when California voted to allow the lottery with the understanding that it would "fund education" and thus would be this boon to our state?  Well, the government just took money out of the education budget in other ways leaving education without this anticipated financial benefit.  Way to go California.  (note sarcasm if it isn't one of your languages)
 

does God want us to enjoy life?

I know many of us enjoy Joyce Meyer’s teaching.  I’m not suggesting you stop listening, but I recently signed up for one of her weekly teachings with a bible study attached and was going through it when I hit the stop button.  

I have to point out that when listening to ANYONE you really need to let the Holy Spirit be a filter of wisdom to what you are hearing.  We are encouraged in Acts 17:11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

To listen and then reason to see if what we are being taught is true.

If you aren’t already aware, there is a lot of concern over some of the things Joyce teaches.  I would be wary of any “name it and claim it”* or “prosperity”* teaching she shares.  *(hereinafter called Gimme Teachers J)

So, what I saw.. FAITH 101: New Life in Christ “Joyce University”God wants you to enjoy your life , and the only way you can do that is to discover and experience the abundant life Jesus gives.

JOHN 10:10 says: The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life , and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

The bible does NOT SAY God wants us to enjoy life.  Joyce added this and she added it to scripture without a disclaimer that she was doing so (a rule of thumb I use when listening to teachers)  I did a quick word study** on this to see what the original language was and enjoy is not in the list.

What concerns me is this is a false teaching by others Joyce is associated with. Why is this an issue you may ask? 

The idea that God is primarily concerned with our ENJOYMENT or WEALTH or HAPPINESS is just not true.  Look at the fruit of the spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control (I always get a tickle in my throat on the self-control…)

If this is what God seeks to build in our lives, if this is the product of our loving Him and showing others who He is in our lives… I don’t see enjoyment on the list.

Is enjoyment possible?  ABSOLUTELY… but it’s not a biblical directive, it’s a potential side effect of living for God.  My argument with such teaching (and I’m referring to the Gimme Teaching as a whole here, not just Joyce) is that they treat God like a genie or ATM who wants to give us all good things and we just have to ask.

Moms… do we want to give our kids all good things?  Yes.

Is this all we give our kids?  No.

Are some of the good things we give our kids not considered good by our kids?

As parents we must look ahead to the ramifications of behavior.  We are training our children to be good, decent, contributing members of society and yes, we want them to enjoy life and we want to bless them in any way we can… but that desire to bless them is tempered with not spoiling them by giving them everything they ask for.

God identifies himself as our Father and uses this language repeatedly in talking to us about who He is.

I don’t actually put Joyce in the same camp as the other “name it and claim it” or “prosperity” teachers.  She is more biblically correct than they are.  I also think that she speaks really strongly to people with anxiety and fear issues and teaches boldly about these.  That’s why I don’t just cross her off my list of teachers.  I still think we need to “be Bereans” and be wise, checking what we hear with God’s word.

p.s.

** sources for easy word study online  (images of examples below:

• Read NASB version of bible (I usually pull up paralell versions with NIV and NASB to ensure I understand what I’m reading.)
• (I also like AMP Amplified Bible which is the KJV with a commentary kind of built in to the verses.)
• www.biblegateway.com
• John 10:10 – paralell
• https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2010%3A10&version=NIV;NASB
  
•  Read the whole paragraph and if necessary the whole chapter.  Remember context is king.
  
• Look up Greek word in Strong's Concordance (and don’t you just love technology?!! You can do that online with a few clicks HERE!)
• 
• Life:
  
• abundantly
  

So it is obvious from this that God wants MORE for our lives and I truly believe that most of us live way below God’s plan for our lives, but I think we focus on temporal things and God focuses on spiritual things.

aspartame

It started about 6 years ago when I had to stop using Equal cold turkey due to some pretty serious side effects.  I was a heavy Equal user.  I thought it was the best thing ever created!  I have a major sweet tooth and it demanded to be fed.  I put lots of Equal in everything I drank and ate.  Why not... no calories. :)
I'm not one of those rabid anti-aspartame people because I don't like them... and I didn't listen to them.  After all, I was perfectly fine and I used more Equal than the average person.  If any of these scary side effects would occur, I was the #1 potential person to display such side effects and I was fine.  So leave me alone!  

Until one day I wasn't fine.
I started having ocular migraines.  I would lose vision in one eye or lose the ability to focus.  It really freaked me out, but then, I found out what it was and since I get migraines, the ocular wasn't so scary and bonus... little to no pain (for me anyway).  Way easier to deal with than a traditional migraine.

Then I started getting these sharp pains and really bad headaches; then these headaches were combined with vision loss.  I would get vision disturbances.  Then my vision started going.  Let me tell you... when you start having eye problems; everything comes to a screeching halt!

What was happening to me?!!!

I booked an appointment with a neurologist (but had to wait a week for my appointment).

My vision got worse,  I started losing my field of vision and it was freaking me out.  The headaches were bad.  I wasn't feeling well and I'm sure the stress didn't help.

So... I turned to my best friend Google.
typed in:  sudden onset headache with vision issue (or something like that) and every single entry had to do with aspartame.

I've since done that search and you get results all over the place.  

So I thought... what have I got to lose?  I stopped aspartame that day and within 3 days all my symptoms were gone!!

I've tested this "diagnosis" a few times myself and each time aspartame is added back in I get  the headache back within an hour.  That is enough for me.

So, I don't use aspartame anymore.
I switched to "real" sugar (you know the white processed stuff).

Amazingly... my desire for sweets DECREASED!  I just don't understand that!
Maybe it has something to do with eating something real or caloric and processing that vs. pretend sugar?  

So... I won't go around shouting from the rooftops that aspartame is the embodiment of evil.  But... if you are having headaches all the time, you might want to look at this as a cause and make some changes.  :)

parenting

We are going through a tough time with one of my kids right now.
Our 16 year old son is really pushing boundaries and wants to be taken care of, but wants everything his way at the same time.  Sound familiar to anyone?

 

women in the church

We have it all wrong because we don’t understand how Paul wrote and what God means.

Does Jesus condemn woman as filthy and seductive?  Does He say that our speech is not to be heard?

Does Jesus say that women are less than men?  Less morally capable?  Less intelligent?

Well, the Talmud (oral Jewish law, Pharisees were famous for it… adding to THE Law from God)

Nowhere in the OT does God say that women cannot speak in church.

Go ahead and check. J

Apparently the Talmud does say to silence women.  This sounds much more like a Muslim teaching to me and since they are all from the same line, it’s not a stretch that this teaching would be in both systems.

The Talmud clearly affirms the silence of females:
“A woman’s voice is prohibited because it is sexually provocative” (Talmud, Berachot 24a).
“Women are sexually seductive, mentally inferior, socially embarrassing, and spiritually separated from the law of Moses; therefore, let them be silent” (summary of Talmudic sayings).

“It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men” (Talmud, Tractate Kiddushin).
“The voice of a woman is filthy nakedness” (Talmud, Berachot Kiddushin).

Does this sound like the voice of Jesus?  Do you think this is the kind of thing He said to the woman at the well?  To the adulteress the crowd was trying to stone?  Does it even sound like Paul?  It really doesn’t.  It sounds like man’s heart.  Like his desire to control and rule over things.  Look around the world and where greed and corruption flourish man is in control without being accountable to God.  Without a relationship with the creator of the world who desires an ongoing and intimate relationship with us.  What I really see above is that man’s heart is evil and corruptible if they think that every time a woman opens her mouth it is sexually provocative.  Typically, in our culture it is men who have the stronger sex drive.  I think it interesting that they try to put their own sins upon the woman.

I don’t see the Bible teaching that spiritual gifts are based on what chromosomes you have.  They are not dependent upon the sex of the recipient.  Thus, woman can have the gifts of teaching and pastorship. 

You can read more at THIS BLOG.
(THISis really good too, though I warn my Catholic friends, you will not like what she has to say)

And my new mantra for when people talk about how wives are to submit to their husbands is to reply… and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, even to the point of laying down their life for them.  That’s the kind of man I will submit to!

everybody needs a Mom...including Miley

Granted, some more than others.
I have a code with some of my friends and our teen girls... "don't do crack" or "DDC" but we aren't talking about the drug kind.  We mean the fashion I wanna be a plummer when I grow up kind.  It's a nice way to say something in public to get the point across without causing too much embarrassment.

So, seeing the posts about Miley I will share what I heard on the radio (Dennis Miller thank you) on the subject.  He said that the closest we get to a Normal Rockwell image in this entertainment saturated world is this...
A family taking in a concert together and they are sharing the same experience.


Appropriate reactions to what they've seen bring a smile to my heart.

So, what else is out there worth reading about Miley The Sexual Adult?

Here is a particular favorite: 
http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2013/08/10-tips-for-proving-youre-grown-up-for.html

I'm sure there are more!  This girl just needs to and realize all this isn't what is necessary to get to where she's going.  There are much better paths.

My heart is sad for her.