A house on the sand

Two weekends ago I had a conversation with a new friend who told me that her parents had owned a place on the cape. They went on to explain that the beach where the house was located had been receding for quite some time and ultimately threatened the house such that they were not allowed to keep it...it literally started falling into the ocean.

How can that not remind you of the story in the bible about building your house upon the sand?

But beyond that, I thought...they did actually start with a solid foundation...but it was their proximity to danger that ultimately cost them the home. Maybe they didn't continue to fortify the house and the various barriers that may have helped slow the erosion process...maybe they assumed that someone else would ultimately solve the problem for them...I am not sure, but I can tell you that I don't want my house being swept away.

There is no doubt that the world that we live in acts much like the ocean did on that beach. It attacked it day and night...relentlessly for years. You wouldn't notice the change that occur ed on any given day, but the change over time was the loss of many feet of beach! The world similarly bombards us day and night with messages that will strip away at the foundation that we have with God. If we persist on that edge and do not constantly reinforce our foundation then, over time, the world will win and we will likely fall.

Recent surveys claim that 80% of children who grow up in the church will leave the church and not come back by the time they reach college. These children started out with a solid foundation. Their parents took them to church and were telling them about the Word...and yet 80% of them will fall into the ocean. I wish it were not the case, but raising a child in today's world is akin to building the house, on the beach during high tide. The moment you put a brick down it is hit with its first wave. It is a testimony to God and parents that anyone is successful at building that house at all. But it also tells us that we truly do need to shelter our children as they are being built up so that they will not be overwhelmed by the waves crashing them before they have ammple defenses prepared.

So, remember this week that when you pull out your Bible, or memorize a verse, or spend time with your children that you are doing more than just that activity...you are further building up and strengthening that foundation against the constant beating that this world is giving it. Only with consistent, tireless and proper reinforcement will our houses truly be able to withstand these forces and not fall into the ocean.

One Month to Live - a current read

If you only had a month to live would you make radical changes to your life...or are you already living that life and there would be few adjustments? It is an interesting question and Kristen and I are reading the book together and answering the questions that each day poses to us for the next month.

Like most things, I am certain I will get some knowledge out of the book and more anecdotes and insights that hopefully make me a little bit wiser as I get older...but...how much action will I take is always the question...

It usually isn't a question of wanting it...it is a question of doing it...making the sacrifices to make it happen.

If I only had 30 days left to live, what would I be doing?

What would you be doing?

Kristen Birthday - 3

Kristen's main gift this year was tickets for me and her to the Celtic Woman concert in Boston on Friday night. Kristen has loved this group of singers, their music and has watched them on PBS for the last couple years saying...someday....I want to go. Well, I made that happen for this year. We got a babysitter, got dressed up and enjoyed a night at the event center.

I know that Kristen enjoyed the event very much and I enjoyed the evening out with her :)

Kristen Birthday - 2

Just wanted to add a few little notes about the rest of the day.
- I took the day off and spent it with my wife...that was great
- She got to take a nap :)
- We went to dinner to the Olive Garden, which she loves
- We ate WAY TOO MUCH
- They sang to her :)
- The boys sang several times
- The desserts were awesome

- This is a good looking group of people:

Kristen Birthday 1

This was the boys giving mom her card...watch for the dancing...:)

7 down, 29 to go

The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving by Randy Alcorn

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Did you realize that you are a money manager? I didn't...and most don't. All money is God's and he has simply entrusted us with managing it in his stead. Can you explain why you keep the % you keep?

Randy goes into 6 principles that can help guide us to remember how to look at the wealth we do accumulate and how to focus on what God calls us to do with it when it comes to us.

From discussing how our heart follows where we put our money to recognizing that a shift to an eternal perspective and how laying up treasures in heaven works, there are plenty of good bits in this book to make you think about how you are currently handling your finances and maybe what you need to move towards.

I, for one, think that the giving covenant at the back is an excellent resource and reminder and that perhaps we should all carry business cards next to our cash and cards that reminds us that we are making ALL transactions as employees of God...not on our own.


View all my reviews.

Some Great Questions...

From the book I just finished, "I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"
1. Do I often find myself in dangerous places? - Jesus led his followers into dangerous places.
2. Are sinful people drawn to me, or are they put off by my so-called righteousness?
3. Are people's lives changed by knowing me? - When people were in contact with Jesus and his followers...their lives were drastically changed.
4. Do I have sinful habits that I can't seem to shake?
5. Do I read the Bible and pray because I can't wait to spend time with God or because it's what I'm supposed to do?
6. Am I living my life in a Christian bubble?
7. Do I serve because I get to, or because I have to?

These are some awesome questions to keep in mind...how would you answer them?

6 down, 30 to go

I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Replacing Souvenir Religion with Authentic Spiritual Passion by Vince Antonucci

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Funny and poignant. I loved this book.

How often do we feel that we are missing out on something or that life is not turning out as we expected...especially when we became a Christian and became all excited about our faith?

Vince has a great perspective on this in terms of wearing our t-shirt and I would impress upon anyone to read this book as I think you could get something out of it.

The anecdotes are funny and Vince has a relational writing style that makes it easy to read.

I have no doubt that this book will stay on my shelf and be read again, but as with several other of my favorite books...the culmination of the writing is NOT in the knowledge gained...though that is certainly important...but does the book prompt me to action...to want to make a change in the way I do things or in my life. The implementation is always going to be up to me...but the books that at least spark that desire are always among my favorites and certainly worth the time to read.

Many ideas were sparked or refreshed for me in the reading of this over the last couple days and I fully appreciate the goal of the book to "replace souvenir religion with authentic spiritual passion".

May we each find the way to make that true for each of us.


View all my reviews.

Great weekend

A fun Saturday with the extended family and a great Sunday as we enjoyed church, the park because we finally had some nice weather, and time with friends. It truly was something close to a Sabbath on Sunday like what we are called to do...there was no rushing and being crazy (yes we were late for church....but oh well) and we were able to enjoy spending time with one another, and others. No worrying about work or school, what to wear or what we want/need to buy. Just appreciation for the good weather and the time to be together.
I am gonna shoot for more weekends like that :)

Ephraim Hills 90210

As promised, here is the video I ended up making for my class...

"Homework project for a Bethel class at church. This is a partially fictional, partially accurate retelling of Judges Chapter 4 and 5. I got the family to participate as the actors. The sound is a bit off, and of course, I borrowed some material from the History Channel, 90210, etc...you might notice a change in production quality at those points :) With our bad acting, it is almost like the real 90210 :)
Credit to 90210, History Channel and the Bible for source material used in this video. "

Working on a video

The class I take on Wednesday nights can keep me busy, if I do the work and keep up...That being said, I decided to add a little twist to it this week. We were required to do some homework on the various judges from the book of Judges in the Bible. We drew randomly, and I, of course, managed to grab Deborah...the only female judge! So, the homework assignment included an oral report that was to answer a number of questions...most people in the past have done props and costumes...since we are supposed to be that judge. Well, I am NOT going to be Deborah...so, I got my entire family involved and created a video instead that would answer the questions, tell a story, hopefully entertain and most importantly...let my wife play the role of Deborah :)

It is due on Wednesday, so stay tuned for the post in the next couple of days.

PS due to the size of it, I think I will have to post it to YouTube and then embed it...but I have to figure that out first :)

5 down, 31 to go

Adam by Ted Dekker

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I am a fan of Ted Dekker. He always has a surprise in store for his readers. He obviously did a ton of research for this book and it shows in some of the detailed explanations and action sequences that he presents. He gives the reader interesting peeks into the motivation of his characters without giving away too much and was certainly inventive in coming up with the way to utilize the near death experience of Daniel, the main character. I think that the portion of the book kind of went against the rest of the book and especially the serial killer's personality and "M.O.", but it did add an intriguing element to the book.



Overall, for people who enjoy crime type books, murder mystery stories, I think this is worth the read and I always enjoy when a christian writer can help bridge the gap between the real world and the spiritual realm in a way that is plausible and believable. You may feel that this is a stretch, but I think that it was well done and appluad getting those of us to think about it and see evil for what it is and where it exists...


View all my reviews.