Ten Books I’ve Enjoyed During the Past Year (or so)

As mentioned before, I truly love to read. While some books are merely interesting and read only one time, others become old friends – I have to visit with them every once in a while to catch up. Here are a few books I’ve enjoyed reading during the past year or so, including those I’ve read for the first time and others that have become life-long favorites since reading them years ago . . .

• Band of Brothers – Ambrose’s historical review of Easy Company, one of the paratroop units in the 101st Airborne involved in WWII, inspires the reader while honoring the service and sacrifice of those brave men who unselfishly fought against tyranny. If you enjoyed the mini-series, the book is a must-read. Richard Winters is the epitome of the true American hero.

• The Godfather – okay, many have never read the book, so you’ll have to trust me; it’s as good as the movie. A bit graphic for some, Puzo develops his characters more deeply than possible on film, exposing their values, flaws, and insights.

• Mere Christianity – chapter 7 gets me every time I read it. C.S. Lewis provides the best explanation (outside of scripture) of how pride truly is the source of all sin. One of my many annual reads.

• Crazy Love – God is using Francis Chan, an energetic young pastor from California, to convict me and many others regarding our walk with Christ. Don’t read this book unless you want to be inspired to turn up the heat, allow God to work in your life, and stop being lukewarm!

• Once an Eagle – one of the few fiction books on the list, Anton Myrer’s classic epic of an American Soldier is much more than a novel, but an essay on duty, honor, leadership, and sacrifice. His other books are great as well.

• Don’t Waste Your Life – Piper delivers the message that God provided us life for a purpose, and that purpose isn’t for our own indulgence – or as he puts it, “Christian Hedonism”. My favorite quote (from a book filled with truth, mind you) is “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Read this and re-think your idea of what life is all about.

• The Radical Reformission – Driscoll provides an excellent review of what the church should look like according to scripture, and how we have strayed over time, inserting preference and man-made tradition in the place of relevant methodology and conservative doctrine.

• End of the Spear – an inspiring story of love, redemption, forgiveness, tragedy, and most of all, God’s Amazing Grace.

• Vintage Jesus – Some may be put off by Driscoll’s raw comparison, but I found his reflections on Christ to be dead on target. I’ll definitely read this one again.

• What Every Christian Ought to Know – this overview of the basic tenets of biblically-sound, conservative Christianity written by Dr. Adrian Rogers is excellent for ALL Christians, new and old. Not only is it a great primer for those new to Christianity, it is a great those who may have been a church-attendee for years, but just developed a true relationship with Christ. A true legacy left by a man of great faith.
  
  

While this isn’t a comprehensive reading list from the past year, it gives you an idea of what has been on my bedside table. Upcoming titles include Why It’s Hard to Love Jesus by Joseph Sowell, The Religious Affections (the Works of Jonathan Edwards), The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, Death by Love: Letters from the Cross by Mark Driscoll, and Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Methods by Mark Driscoll.

Okay, so I’ve shared some of my favorite reads from the last year or so – now it’s your turn!

“It’s the Stuff You CAN’T See That Really Messes You Up . . .”

During the next few weeks, residents across the southeastern United States will subject to a terrible assault – an assault that will last for weeks, wreak havoc on their ability to function, and result in the need for massive clean-up efforts. Invading armies? Plagues of locusts? Terrorist attacks? While I don’t expect any of these to occur, I am positive an assault will take place. The culprit, you might ask?

Pollen . . .

If you’ve survived a spring in the deep south, you fully comprehend the concept of the annual pollen assault.

Within a few weeks, a thick, yellow coating of pine pollen will cover vehicles, porches, patio furniture, driveways, windowpanes, and any other item with a horizontal surface that remains outside for more than 12 minutes at a time. Those who’ve never had to cope with this yearly event might think “What’s the big deal? Just sweep it off, use your leaf blower, or hose it down!”

If only it were that simple.

Every year, we have to spend a full day or two scrubbing the outdoor furniture and patio with soapy water to get rid of the yellow crud. Fortunately, a few heavy spring rains usually wash it off of the driveway, and a couple of visits to the Palmetto Car Wash take care of the trucks. For a few weeks, however, this nastiness coats an entire region of the country with a thick, yellow dust that manages to resist brooms, blowers, and hoses.

Shortly after moving to South Carolina, I mentioned my amazement at the amount of pollen I was able to see, and how much worse it made my allergies. To my surprise, a friend in health care said “Oh, that yellow stuff is messy all right, but it doesn’t affect your allergies – it’s the pollen you CAN’T see that really messes you up!”

Oh, great – so now we’ve got the VISIBLE pollen that makes a huge mess, and the INVSIBLE pollen that makes everyone feel miserable. After fighting allergies for the past twenty years or so, I’ll take the yellow mess over the wheezing, sneezing, and sinus headaches caused by allergies.

During an unseasonable warm snap a few weeks ago, we actually had our first hint of yellow pollen dust, which caused me to think about this issue. Sure, it looks bad, is hard on air filters, and requires a lot of clean-up; thankfully, it can usually be addressed quickly. The pollen that causes allergies, however, cannot be simply be washed away – no, we have to address it on a daily basis through treatment, anti-histamines, or other allergy remedies. My choice is Claritin-D – if I miss a day or two, I am miserable for the rest of the week, and it takes a few days for its effectiveness to kick in.

While pondering pollen, it dawned on me that sin in our lives is quite similar. Like the yellow pollen that coats everything in sight, there is sin that is quite obvious - - drunkenness, idolatry, blasphemy, angry actions, sexual immorality, laziness, adultery . . . I could go on, but you probably get the picture. The obvious behaviors often come to mind when we think of sin. Certainly, these actions are sinful and hated by God, but these are the easy sins to recognize. Ask any Christian sitting in church on a Sunday morning, and they’ll agree (well, maybe not any church, but that’s another post). These are sins that can be addressed through a loving church community that holds its members accountable.

But what about the not-so-obvious sins -- the sins that aren’t as noticeable to others, and much like the invisible pollen, cause major problems in one’s life? Greed, jealousy, lust, self-centeredness, and harboring hate are a few that come to mind. These sins are more easily hidden, but toxic nonetheless. In fact, due to our ability to conceal these sins, I believe they pose a more serious threat to our spiritual health because others are less likely to hold us accountable for them. These are the private sins that dwell in our minds, tear at our hearts, and sear our souls . . . the sins we don’t want anyone to discover, but are the source of misery in our lives and have such a horrible impact on our ability to please God, preventing a life filled with blessing.

Just like the invisible pollen, these concealable sins must be treated in order for their negative impact on our lives to be reduced. Unlike the antihistamines we use to treat the symptoms resulting from the invisible pollen, however, the treatment for these sins actually removes them entirely through confession and repentance. Thank God for His Grace, Love, and Forgiveness.

So, as I gear up to clean the nasty yellow pollen with scrub brush in hand and Claritin-D flowing through my system, I’ll be considering what invisible sins linger deep in my heart . . . and give them over to Him.

Ten Reasons I Haven’t Blogged Lately . . .

Those who stop by Learning Life’s Lessons on a regular basis may have noticed an absence of new posts during the past few weeks. It certainly has been a busy season of life in our household, and I thought I’d share some recent happenings as well as a few reasons for my lack of writing as of late.

• A few weeks ago, we celebrated Homecoming week at my university, which consisted of nightly events and consumed an entire Saturday. It was great to catch up with former students from years ago, but seriously dug into personal time!

• Cornerstone Baptist held our third annual Father/Daughter Dance, which had an “All American Girl” theme. A wonderful time was had by all, and my precious date for the evening accompanied me to dinner at Red Bone Alley, followed by the dance at the church with a nightcap of Cold Stone Creamery with some friends.

• Since early January, I’ve been leading an on-line study of the book “What Every Christian Ought to Know” by the late Dr. Adrian Rogers (a comprehensive overview of the basics of biblical Christianity, I highly recommend this book to every Christian, both young and old). We have class every Tuesday evening, and Kris has a women’s study at the church every Monday evening. Fortunately, these don’t begin until after the kids wind down for the night. Both of us have gotten so much out of these studies, and benefit greatly from the fellowship involved.

• Somehow, I got wrangled into coordinating the logistics for the cheerleading competition for our university’s athletic conference basketball tournament. I only did it to help out a friend from another university who has coordinated it for the past several years . . . this is definitely a one-time deal, and will be done in the next week or so!

• Last week, I had to represent our university at a state-wide conference on Campus Safety, which took me out of town for a couple of days. Internet access was $10 a day at the hotel, so I skipped logging in and kept in contact with my blackberry.

• About two weeks ago, one of our students had a cardiac crisis and went into respiratory & cardiac arrest while walking to class. Amazingly, a young woman and one of our staff members performed CPR until EMS arrived. He was resuscitated three times and had the defibrillator administered at least twice. While in the ER with him, I truly didn’t think he would make it (and neither did the doctors or nurses). The student is from Europe, so I worked closely with his father to arrange for him to visit and be with his son. McLeod Regional Medical Center was amazing, and provided the father with accommodation in the Guest House while his son was in the hospital. Having never been to the U.S. before, I tried to assist the father in any way possible so he could support his son’s recovery, including travel to and from the airport, arranging for lodging after his son was discharged from the hospital, providing emotional support, helping with his basic needs, and trying to navigate through the U.S. medical bureaucracy. After a frantic two weeks, I’m so glad to say that the son is going back to class with a new pacemaker/defibrillator and the father has arrived home in Europe safely. Needless to say, this has taken quite a bit of time, which I was glad to give for this family in need. As she always is, my wife has been extremely supportive and understanding of all the time I spent away from our family with this situation.

• For the past couple of months, I’ve been participating in a bible study on The Gospel of John led by Pastor Tommy on Sunday afternoons while Kris and the kids are in AWANA. Going through this incredible text verse-by-verse has been great, especially with Tommy’s guidance in a small setting (there are only four of us).

• The state budget, which provided 40% of the university budget, has been in crisis, causing significant reductions in our operating budgets. Fortunately, we haven’t experienced lay-offs or furloughs, but I have been quite busy addressing these issues and making adjustments as needed. Several missed lunch periods really cut into my writing time!
  

• During the evenings, after all has settled down, I have just been exhausted. In the past, this has been a productive writing time for me, but not recently. It’s not that I’m fatigued like I was last Fall, during my bout with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever . . . but tired nonetheless.

• The main reason I haven’t written much lately is lack of inspiration. Honestly, when I began blogging almost two years ago, it was because I felt that God was calling me to write about the life experiences and the lessons He taught me, as well as to share some humorous (to me, at least) thoughts on life.
  
  

Fear not, Learning Life’s Lessons isn’t going away. Some thoughts are always percolating around in my mind; I just need to spend some time mulling them over and figuring out what He wants me to do with them. If you are still stopping by my little corner of the web, I do appreciate it. Hopefully, I’ll be a bit more productive during the coming month!

Slipping, Sliding & Skidding . . .

A few weeks ago, the first tracking snowfall in over nine years occurred in Florence, SC. Given the fact this truly is the ‘deep south’, the inch or so of white powder caused every school, office, and service to shut down . . . even though the roads were only slightly wet and the snow had virtually disappeared by mid-morning. Unbelievably, about a week later another cold front blew through the area, resulting in an unpredicted accumulation of 2 inches of snow. Because the second snowfall occurred at about 7:00 a.m. and was forecast to end with only a dusting left on the ground, all schools and businesses remained open.

Big mistake . . . at least this far south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Honestly, driving in a couple of inches of snow is no big deal. A few simple tactics, such as slowing your speed by about 50%, increasing your stopping distance by a factor of three, and doubling the distance in between your bumper and the vehicle in front of you will offset most challenges resulting from any adverse road conditions . . . you know, basic common sense.

Of course, common sense is often quite uncommon.

The ability to drive on snowy, icy roads is the one area that our northern neighbors surpass us . . . and for me, that’s hard to admit. While southern culture is known for being slow-paced and laid back, that stereotype doesn’t seem to apply when winter weather occurs. No, when it snows, southerners respond in one of two ways . . .

When it snows, southerners either close every shop, school, and office, effectively bringing life to a complete halt, OR they actually speed up a bit and go about their business as though nothing had occurred. As you might guess, the results of either are quite disastrous – one resulting in a societal standstill, and the other resulting in widespread accidents.

After managing to drive to work in the slippery conditions the other day without having someone run into me, I spent some time thinking about how our response to daily obstacles often parallels the manner in which southerners drive in the snow. Occasionally, life throws us a curve ball – something unexpected, often hindering our progress. When that occurs, we tend to respond how the typical southerner does when driving on snow-covered roads – we move forward as usual which results in sliding out of control to the side of the road, or we stop completely, afraid to move and paralyzed by our timidity.

I believe that God, in His sovereignty, uses these situations to provide us opportunities to display our faith in Him, to grow closer to Him, to slow down and pay attention to His will for our lives. As we scurry about through our post-modern, self-indulging culture, it is tempting to become overly independent and hurried, turning our focus to things of the earth and not that which brings glory to God. Sometimes, life’s “slippery roads” require that we slow down and travel carefully . . . but not completely stop.

So, the next time it snows, take care (and some time) getting to your destination . . . and the next time God calls you to slow down, pay attention, and allow Him to do His thing, whatever it may be . . .

Some Habits I’d Like to Break (but probably won’t) . . . and a Few That I’ll Keep

• Shaking my leg or tapping my foot – I don’t even realize I’m doing it, and it probably annoys other people. Could it be the caffeine?

• Eating Little Debbie Cakes . . . as I’ve stated before, my long-time affair with Little Debbie well precedes my marriage to Kris.

• Justifying my lack of exercise – I’m flabby & short-winded, and desperately need more exercise. Even though I have a master key to a fully equipped fitness center at no charge, I still don’t work out. Sad . . .

• Taking on projects that require more time or energy than I have. For some reason, I’ll decide to complete a home improvement project or assume a role in some community function that I fully realize I don’t really have time to do. I’ve gotten better about the community commitments, but it just bothers me to pay someone (usually big money) to do a job around the house I know I can do myself!

• Verbalizing apparent random statements . . . this one needs some explanation. Okay, my thoughts are often associational in nature, which means I’ll be discussing a subject, think about a similar topic, which leads to another thought on yet a different issue, causing me to consider a different (yet somewhat related) idea, from which a new opinion is formed that I share. The problem with this is that the three or four thoughts that occur between the two verbal statements are silent, so it appears to whoever may be listening to me that I just spout our random, unrelated ideas.

• Making smart-alec (and occasionally critical) remarks. I really have tried not to do this as much, but it is increasingly difficult given how many opportunities exist in today’s culture! I really need to focus more on encouragement . . .

• Slow down . . .in all areas of life. I need to eat more slowly, speak more slowly, rush less, and listen more – especially with my family. This is one habit I will change!
  

Lest you believe my life to be one filled with nothing but less-than-reputable habits, let me share a few that I’d like to see continue to increase . . .

• Enjoy time with my children . . . they can make me laugh, cry, or cringe within a matter of minutes. As challenging as parenthood can be at times, I cannot imagine life without our kids and I want to make the time we spend together special, even if it we’re just hanging out.

• Develop a deeper love for my wife. With every passing year, my love for Kris grows deeper, and I enjoy just being with her . . . and think she’s hotter than ever! She’s a habit I’ll never break . . . and that’s alright with me!

• Surrender more days to God . . . He’s done some amazing things in our life the last few years, and I’ve come to realize that when I surrender more of my life to Him, He reveals a greater amount of His will to me. Just when I think that I’ve just about “surrendered it all”, He points out another nook or cranny that I’ve been holding back. I’m thankful for the desire to seek Him that grows in my heart, and the realization that all good things come by His grace, and His grace alone.
  

Okay, so I’ve divulged some of my habits, both good and bad . . . now it’s your turn!

Ten Signs a Woman Decided to be Old . . . Whether She Knows It or Not

A few weeks ago, I shared Ten Indications a Man Has Officially Decided to be Old , so in the interest of equality and fairness, I decided to post similar indications that apply to women. Keep in mind, chronological age is not necessarily the important factor in these indications . . .

Over time, we all age. Some people, however, age at a faster pace than others. Gray hair, wrinkles, arthritis, and number of birthdays celebrated have nothing to do with “growing old”, however. Confused? Well, let me help. Here are a few indications that a woman has decided to be “old”:

• Her pantry contains ten or more of the same item, and she doesn’t realize it.

• More than fifty-percent of the horizontal surfaces in her house are covered with a doily, dishtowel, or other form of fabric covering.

• Her pajama drawer is stocked with floor-length flannel or terrycloth nightgowns, usually adorned with bunnies or flowers.

• She keeps at least two different types of artificial sweetener in her purse.

• Because she “misplaces” two pair per month on average, she resorts to buying her reading glasses at The Dollar Store.

• So she won’t have to buy her glasses at The Dollar Store, they hang around her neck on a chain.

• She considers the decorative chain on which her glasses hang as “jewelry”.

• Her weekly routine includes a standing appointment with a beautician to have her hair “set”, whether it needs it or not.

• Several items in the house are not available for use by members of the household, such as towels, dishes, soaps, sheets, or even clothing – she saves those for guests or “special occasions”.

• In an attempt to appear young and stylish, she goes to great lengths to appear younger than she actually is in regards to wearing trendy clothing, sun-tanning, makeup, activities, or cosmetic procedures. Ironically, these attempts usually fail and only call attention to her attempt to appear younger, which indicates she has decided to be old . . .
  
  

Ladies, if you want to conduct a quick reality check on whether or not you are officially “old” yet, assess your status with each of the above and rank yourself on the following scale:

1-3 “Yes” answers indicates you are starting down that path, but still have the hope of youth.

4-6 “Yes” answers mean that you have tipped the scale, and will be wearing sensible shoes with knee-hi stockings before you know it.

7 “Yes” answers or more confirms that you have given up any sense of trendiness and are destined to walk the mall at least three times per week looking at the same items but never making a purchase other than a nightgown at JC Penney, place bath towels in the back dash of your four-door sedan, wear nothing but polyester pants with coordinating blouses and carry a small suitcase that you call a purse stuffed with a medical kit, sewing kit, stationary set, candy jar, and a complete set of manicure tools.

My loving, beautiful and quite youthful wife, by the way, scored a zero . . .

None of us can avoid aging – that is an inevitable fact of life. However, we don’t have to accept as fact that we are no longer relevant. The list above is a fun way of evaluating whether or not you are “officially old”, which in this sense has little to do with age and more to do with attitude. On more serious note, however, many people choose to accept life as it comes, avoid any type of risk, and settle into a routine of comfort – basically a life of irrelevance. Regardless of my chronological age, I hope to increase the risks I take in life as time goes on, as long as those risks involve glorifying Him. To get a better sense of what I mean, be sure to check out “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson – it may cause some discomfort, but will not disappoint.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my glasses . . .

A Billion Dollars Here, A Billion Dollars There . . .

As I sit here with Super Bowl playing in the background, I wonder what happened to the national economic crisis. After all, how much trouble can the national economy be when you consider the following:

• The box office revenue for the U.S. Movie Industry was almost $10 billion in 2008.

• The revenue for the NFL was almost $6 billion last year, as was Major League Baseball . . . and those figures don’t include fans expenditure that are associated with games, such as travel, hotels, food, etc.

• Companies spend over $150 billion on advertising geared toward U.S. consumers.

• Last year, Americans spent $23 billion on hunting and $24 billion on golf.
  
  

These are just a few examples of how much we spend to entertain ourselves – I didn’t even touch on fishing, water-sports, racing, or other recreational/entertainment activities.

I enjoy a good game of basketball, and like movies as much as the next person, but it boggles my mind to think about how much we spend in our quest to entertain or amuse ourselves. Frustration and anger don’t set in until I consider that vertically challenged actors who overuse teeth whiteners and bully-pulpits often make $20 million per film, and that star athletes can easily make over $10 million per year for playing a game . . . then I move beyond bafflement straight into disbelief.

Given the nature of the new American economy, I wonder if these numbers will change in coming years. Just this evening, I read that the television advertising revenue for the Super Bowl set a new record of over $250 million, in spite of cutbacks by major corporations like GM. While we may reduce our expenditures for entertainment, sports, and leisure, I doubt we’ll see drastic changes in these numbers.

Perhaps I’m a bit jaded by the astronomical salaries, or it could be the images of indulgence associated with these industries. Regardless, I can’t help but feel these and other similar activities have been raised to such a level of cultural prominence that they have become outrageously expensive distractions from the truly important aspects of life.

. . . or maybe I just don’t get it.