the tindog coffeehouse

Sunday is the premiere of The Bible on the History Channel, and it looks amazing. Described as a “10-hour docudrama”, the miniseries from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey recreates the biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation in stunning high definition. Which sounds awesome. But here’s my question: What if it’s not historically accurate?

From the previews, it looks pretty accurate. I mean, Jesus doesn’t have blue eyes, so that’s a plus. But it’s the little things, like the Magi visiting Jesus in the manger when he was a baby (which didn’t actually happen until he was 2-3 years old) or Moses’ lack of a speech impediment. Do those things matter?

Or am I just being picky?

Continue reading…

“We worry because we distrust God.”

– Jeff Wakefield, Hillside Community Church

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I know I need to lose weight, eat better, and exercise more. Nothing new about that. And if I’m being honest, there’s probably a million other personal defects I need to change about myself. But the whole idea of making a special resolution just because it’s Janurary 1st is flawed from the outset. The idea that “I need to do this” or “I need to change that.” The emphasis is on us, what we can fix on our own if we just set the right goals and have enough willpower to achieve them. But if we really had that power, don’t you think we would’ve used it by now?

As I look ahead to 2013, I have to admit I’m more than a little scared. There are the challenges that will come with Christy heading into her second semester of nursing school. And then there are the financial challenges that will be especially difficult for the first few months of the year. And then an enormous set of challenges at work, with my workload increasing by around 50% this year and several business trips scattered in, straining things at home even more.

I’d like to say I’ve got it all figured out, that I can handle everything ahead of us all on my own. But I don’t and I can’t. I’m gonna need a lot of help from God.

Continue reading…

I had already planned on taking Monday the 22nd off. I had a bunch of vacation days I needed to use by the end of the year, and Monday seemed as good a day as any to use one. I could take the girls to school and pick them up, get a few things done around the house, and maybe even have a couple of hours to crash and watch a movie. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

A few days before that, we started having issues with our U-verse TV service. The problems were intermittent, but they were annoying enough that they had to be fixed. Fine, I thought. I’ll call AT&T and get someone out that morning since I’m already at home. At least I would still have a little downtime in the afternoon. And then the air conditioner went out.

I had already lost my morning to AT&T. Now went the rest of my day.

Continue reading…

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

– Matthew 11:28-30

It’s been a tough week. As I mentioned previously, not only did my kids start school last week, so did my wife, beginning her arduous journey through nursing school. With three different people in three different schools, we’ve had to make a lot of adjustments to stay on top of everything. Chaos, it seems, is the new normal.

With so many demands of our time and energy, it’s all just seems so overwhelming, not just physically but emotionally as well. All four of us are exhausted, and it’s only been one week. Surely, it has to get easier.

Right?

Continue reading…

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

– The Declaration of Independence

I know it’s not July 4th yet, but since I’ll be on vacation next week (holla!), I thought I’d go ahead and post this now. ‘Cause that’s how I roll. Or something.

July 4th, of course, commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, our official notice to the king of England that the American colonies were breaking free of the monarchy and becoming our own country. It’s our Independence Day, a celebration of freedom, liberty, and the ideals that have made America the greatest nation on earth. But as patriotic as I am, there’s one phrase from the Declaration of Independence that I don’t entirely agree with: “the pursuit of Happiness.”

Do we, as Americans, have a right to be happy? I suppose we do, in the sense that we have a right to live our lives to the best of our ability and do our best to provide for our families. But to suggest that God somehow guarantees us happiness isn’t exactly biblical. The truth is, the Bible never promises us we’ll be happy, not in this life anyway. And in fact, in some cases it’s just the opposite.

Continue reading…

At the very end of the New Testament gospel of Luke in the 24th chapter is a story of two men, a story that on the surface seems out of place with the rest of the book and one that I’ve read numerous times without really thinking about it. It’s the story of a man named Cleopas and his companion (whose name Luke doesn’t mention) on the way back home to the town of Emmaus just outside of Jerusalem. They are (or were) followers of Jesus of Nazareth, disciples, though they’ve never been mentioned before and aren’t mentioned after their story. Although Jesus’s tomb has just been found empty by several of the women in the group, Cleopas and his friend simply cannot believe that he could be alive after having been crucified and buried three days earlier. And now on this road home, everything they thought they believed seems to be crumbling before them.

Continue reading…