I Quit

This is my final blog post. I am quitting the personal blog thing. There are several reasons, but the 99.99 percent reason is that this blog has become my idol.

Balloon Dresses

I'm guessing they don't get to sit down.


The detail is exquisite.
Isn't that what you say about fancy dresses?

God's Word is a Jedi Light Saber

This post is courtesy of my friend, Brent Vawter and his son Austin.

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Like so many other boys, Austin is a huge Star Wars fan. Lego, action figures, posters, DVDs, books, he's got quite a collection.

And whats not to love? Its heart-pounding action: laser cannons, blaster rifles, light sabers, droids, space creatures, star ships, and of course the Jedi Knights.

If you're familiar with the stories then you know the symbolism and parallels between the Jedi way (the good guys) and the Christian life we're called to live. I've enjoyed watching the films and reading the books with Austin, often using the stories to illustrate some Biblical principle in our devotional time together. This morning was one such discussion.

So bud, I'm reading in Romans 12 and 13 this morning as Paul's giving some practical instruction on how we're supposed to act. Then in chapter 13 verse 12, something stood out to me that hasn't caught my eye before. Paul tells us to put on the armor of light.

I'm thinking, Armor of light? What, we're supposed to strap a bunch of flashlights to our body to protect ourselves? What does he mean? Light is a defensive weapon? It's armor?

Austin: Is that part of the armor of God, like the shield of faith?

Hey, thats good! You're in Ephesians 6. Put a bookmark there and well come back to that.

So about this light, what exactly is that to us? A bulb and electrical source? I don't think so.

One of my favorite songs comes from Psalm 119:105 - Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So Thy Word is this light!

Austin: And Thy Word is the Bible.

Exactly! Lets write this as an equation on our napkin here.
LIGHT = WORD
(Bible)

NOW lets go back to your Ephesians 6. When Paul tells us to put on the armor of God, he doesn't mention armor of light, but he does mention something about the Word. Lets see what that is.

Yes, Ephesians 6:17 says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

So Gods Word is a sword. Lets go back to our napkin.
LIGHT = WORD = SWORD
(Bible)

And we learned in math that if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C, right? So LIGHT = SWORD.

Dude, are you seeing this?! This is a light saber! Gods Word is a Jedi light saber!
LIGHT = SWORD
LIGHT SABER

Think about it. The Jedi use their light sabers to deflect blaster fire when they're under attack, so its a defensive weapon like Paul talks about in Romans 13. But they also use their light sabers to attack and cut through obstacles that are in their way, so its an offensive weapon like we see in Ephesians 6.

Now you'll love this. Back up a chapter to Ephesians 5:8 and we read that were called to be children of the light. God is calling us to be Jedi Knights! He's given us a light saber to protect and arm us, and He wants us to be His Jedi apprentices and study the ways of the Force!

Have you ever seen a laser go through a light saber and injure a Jedi? No! Have you seen an object too strong for a light saber to cut through? Of course not! The light saber is the ultimate weapon, but it will only help you if you're a Jedi tapping into the Force.

You know how Yoda was so powerful in the Force that he could merely point at someone and throw them across the room? Well Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 17 that if we fully understood the power of the Force, we could do more than throw someone across a room. We could throw mountains into the ocean!

This is so much better than Star Wars because its the real deal! God supplies the special effects. God's Force really is something we can feel around us, draw on when we're under attack, and use to accomplish our missions here on earth. How cool is that?!

You can imagine that this spawned a fun conversation which almost made us late for school. Our closing prayer was that we'd maintain firm grips on our light sabers and stay strongly connected to the Force today.

May the Force also be with you!

Compassion Scripture and Quotes Widget

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Valentine's Day Challenge

Valentine's Day is about love.
This blog is about love.
Sponsoring a child is an act of love.
David Kuo, author of J-Walking and one of the bloggers in Uganda, has "compassionately" challenged his readers to sponsor 50 children. Today!

Carlos Whittaker set a goal of 100 children sponsored through Compassion and Ragamuffin Soul.com. Thirty people have already replied that they have sponsored a child as a result of his trip.

I am blown away by the power of Christ and how he is using these bloggers.

Please sponsor a child and share the abundant love you have in your life.

Compassion Registers 1,000,000 Child

Meet Jeffry. He lives in Nicaragua, and he is Compassion's 1,000,000 registered child.

The difference between a registered child and a sponsored child is that registered children are waiting to be sponsored.

The registered children are the ones whose pictures you see on the web and in the child packets at concerts and other events, such as Compassion Sunday.

The registered children are the children who may wait several months to be chosen by a sponsor and who the Unsponsored Children's Fund assists until that sponsor comes along. The Unsponsored Children's Fund bridges the gap between registration and sponsorship.

Please help Compassion reach 1,000,000 sponsored children. Sponsor a child today.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, I met my sponsored child in Kenya.

One year ago today, life in Kenya was dramatically different.

How Many Toenails Are on a Dog's Paw?

If you're Bella, the answer is three. She ripped one out of her right front paw tonight, and she acts like nothing happened. Didn't we just dodge one bullet?

Are they called toenails or claws? Are they called feet or paws?

JESUS > poverty

Jesus is greater than poverty.

And greed
And hate
And war

Born Again Voters No Longer Favor Republican Candidates

"If the election were held today, and all of the remaining candidates from both parties were on the ballot, the frontrunners among born again voters would be Hillary Clinton (favored by 20% of born again likely voters), Barack Obama (18%) and Mike Huckabee (12%). No other candidate reached double figures. Thirty percent of the born again likely voters said they were still undecided as to who they would choose."

Born again voters supporting Hillary? Wow! But not so Wow! when you understand the difference between born again voters and evangelical voters.

"A subset of the born again population - evangelicals - has remained firmly committed to conservative ideals and, to a lesser extent, to the MRepublican Party . . . If the election were held today, only 45% of evangelicals say they would support the Republican nominee for president, and 11% would support the Democratic representative. Most significant is that a whopping 40% of evangelicals are undecided. This is extraordinary, given that 62% of evangelicals voted for the Republican candidate in 1992, 67% did so in 1996, along with 67% in 2000 and 85% in 2004."

Read the entire Barna report, including the definitions of born again and evangelicals.

My post, Slap Your Label Here, led to this post about How Do Christians Voters Feel About Abortion?, which is a sister to this post - the one you just read.

Let Africa Sink

In light of the the political violence in Kenya and Compassion's blog trip to Uganda, Liam Kinnon offers up some food for thought. It's about two weeks old, but it's not stale.

Should we let Africa sink? Is ignoring Africa the best thing the West can do?

I'm a Dim Star

Baby, I'm a Star. That's what I proclaimed when Mission Network News asked to interview me about Compassion's MySpace Impact Award. Unfortunately, I'm a dim star. Dim as in I speak like a dimwit.

I haven't heard what I sound like on the radio, but this print piece doesn't make me want to find out.

I'm consoling myself with the thought that in context what I said matched what I intended to say. The context being that space between my head and my mouth.

No Surgery for Old Dogs

She's not really old, but the title of the post wouldn't work unless I pretended she is.

I heard back from "the specialist." Bella's x-ray doesn't show any abnormality suggesting the need for surgery. However, the good news came with a caveat. "We can't be sure without a full consult."

Bella is doing fine. No limping. Lots of energy. A big happy face. She's still taking the anti-inflammatory though. Just for a few more days. I'll pursue the consult if any of the first three items change.

The Compassion Blog is Live

It doesn't have a name yet. Wanna help name it? If you don't, it may just get called Baby Blog.

The address is http://blog.compassion.com. Go there. NOW!