My Wife's Deep, Dark Secret

My wife has a deep, dark secret.

When I was a kid, if I did what she does now, I would've been smacked upside the head and taken to the preacher. (Who just so happened to be my dad.)

Once when I was a kid, I accidentally ripped a page out of a Bible. I thought I was going to hell. It was torture. So I don't know how she plans to get away with this.

I still love my wife, despite what she has been hiding.

What is it?

No, it has nothing to do with Ashley Madison.

She "Bible Journals."

Do you know what Bible Journaling is?

At the beginning of the summer, she asked if I had ever heard of Bible Journaling. (Which I hadn't, because I'm a dude.) Then she asked if I knew what a Journaling Bible was. She said they're so popular that they were selling out. Not only had I heard of them, but I had one. Back in my youth ministry days, I bought one to write notes in the margin. That way I looked professional and legit. The kids would think I had things memorized.

I didn't use it anymore, so I told her she could have it. Heck, I love a Proverbs 31 gal, so it had me a little excited thinking she was "Bible Journaling."

Little did I know that "Bible Journaling" is nothing more than drawing in a Bible.

Wouldn't your grandmother's Southern Baptist preacher be rolling over in his grave?

Like, she draws pictures and words and stuff. She even paints in it and every now and then, she places a sticker, a sequin, or glue in it. Is that even allowed? And what the heck is washi tape?

To make matters worse, she let my two little girls draw in her Bible along with her!

These women call it "Bible Journaling" and there is a growing community of women doing it. But there is no journaling at all. Journaling is writing. This is Bible Crafting or Bible Doodling...

Seriously, I love it that my wife Bible Journals. Would I ever do it? No, because I'm not artsy (and like I said, I'm a dude). But there are women (and I suppose some men) who are making connections to God's word like never before.

Here are seven things to love about Bible Journaling:

1) Quality Over Quantity. It's really easy to say this isn't studying the Bible. Only small portions of the Bible are read at a time. However, I've seen my wife spend hours on a verse. Mediating on it. Listening to worship music and spending time with God. Sure you might read three chapters a day, but do you retain it all by the end of the day? She can tell me days after.

2) A Free Flowing Pen. When I mark in my Bible, for the most part, I make straight lines under words. Every now and again I'll write a note in the margin. However, it's amazing to watch her pen move in all different motions over the page. It's like watching worship. It reminds me that God doesn't work in straight lines. He bends the rules and works outside of our expectations. Look at the next gorgeous sunset.

3) Created in a Creative God's Image. God is creative and we were created in His image. Shouldn't we be able to approach studying and reading His word in a creative way?

4) Child-Like Faith. Do you ever read the Bible out of "duty and responsibility" instead of approaching it out of joy? I know I do. My wife does it to spend time in the Word and with God, because she finds joy in Bible Journaling. Think of a child drawing a picture for her father.

5) A Narrowed View. Start drawing in a Bible and I bet you'll find that there isn't enough room. That reminds me of how little I actually know of the Bible.

6) Coloring Outside the Lines Sure, at times some words in the Bible are colored over. Some people say it is "desecrating" the Word. But it reminds me of a lyric out of Rend Collective's new song The Artist. It says that God makes "All things bright and beautiful, wild and colorful." Moses broke the Ten Commandments...so relax, it's not a big deal if a little Crayola gets on a word or two.

7) It's Personal. Out of the heart the pencil flows. Anyone who Bible Journals is connecting to the text. God's word never comes back void. I trust that. But I also know that at times I've read an entire chapter and stopped only to realize I was thinking about something I had to do that day. Bible Journaling doesn't seem to allow for that as much. Someone is taking a verse and drawing what it means or says to them. It becomes personal. Too often, we approach the Word one-dimensionally, but this is engaging actively with it.

Maybe Bible Journaling isn't your thing. It's not mine. But you have to give it to these ladies (and maybe a few dudes) for finding creative ways to connect with God.

What do you think of Bible Journaling? If you do it, would you show us a picture?

Summer Read: Stronger

Looking for a summer read?

Check out Clayton King's new book Stronger: How Hard Times Reveal God's Greatest Power.

Before the book was released, Clayton kept dropping tweets from the pages. So, I did something I never do and I pre-ordered a copy. My family was vacationing when I received an email from Amazon saying it came early. I could hardly wait to get my fingertips on it.

All I have to say is it didn't disappoint!

I have never sit down and read a book in an afternoon, but I did this one. I laughed, I cried, and multiple times I felt the Holy Spirit's presence engulfing me. It's a powerful book about how God uses our weakness, which Clayton reveals through the experience of losing his own father. Afterwards, I was so compelled that I walked next door to see my father-in-law and I called my own daddy.

This book is for everyone. That's right it's for you. No matter if you are currently going through hard times or not. God will speak to you wherever you are through Clayton's words.

What are you reading this summer?

Check this out!!!

Just wanted to share this with you. It is a screen shot from our computer...check out #30.

That's right #30 today for "Children Religious Books"!!!

Not only that but Amazon had Devar's Journal as one of the "Hot New Releases"!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who bought, shared, retweeted, favorited, liked, and even reviewed the book on Amazon. 

Shout out to Lida Norris for being my first buy and my first review! (You are one of the most encouraging people I know!) Also, to my mom for writing a review as well (and an unbiased one for sure).

If you haven't gotten the book, I would love it if you would. Especially, if you love reading, have kids, or are bored out of your mind because there's like a hundred inches of snow and its fifty below zero.

Favorited By Queen Elsa

My girls have grown up with me blogging. 

About 99.97% of the time they could care less. That is unless I write something about them.

However, they did become extremely proud of me this summer when Elsa (that's right the Queen Elsa from Frozen) favorited one of my tweets on Twitter. They thought I was somebody special. They were so thrilled that they just couldn't let it go! (Get it? Let It Go was the hit song from the movie. That's why it's funny. If you don't think that's funny, you conceal, don't feel too much. Man, I'm on a roll!)

Great Music: Brady Toops

Where to begin with this guy?

Every now and then, you need some new music to speak something inside of you or to refreshen and awaken your soul. Brady Toops has done that for me.

I watched him on a "Live at RELEVANT" music session. He came out with his album almost a year ago and somehow I missed it. It feels like the last year of my life has been wasted! The stupid devil was probably involved somehow (either that or the Russians).

Toops is so talented that it took me no less than an hour to decide on a song to share. Check him out on Youtube, Twitter, or his website. If you play or lead music, he has all of his chord charts on his website for free.

Tell me what you think.

Wasted Prayer

Are there times when our prayers are wasted?

What in the world are wasted prayers?

No, it isn't what a drunken college kid does when he has had one too many or what Garth sang about. (That would be Unanswered Prayers for any of you who didn't join the revolution.) 

Wasted prayer is prayer without obedience. It is prayer without action. It is when you put off doing what you know or feel that you are supposed to do. A position many of us find ourselves in all too often.

For example, you are praying that God will restore your marriage. Great prayer, but what are you doing to help restore your marriage?

Or you are praying that God would use you to change your community. However, when the children's pastor ask you to volunteer at church, she hears a "I'll pray about it." You think the task too small or the commitment too burdensome. 

Or maybe you are like me and you aren't totally sure what you should be doing, so you do nothing but pray about it.

Greg Darley recently released a book--Wasted Prayer. 

I know Darley, so I read it out of my respect for him. (After all, he was the first person I ever saw wear TOMS and thought he deserved that much.) God did something in me with Darley's message. I received a nudge to stop praying and start doing. I read the book over two weeks ago and still think about it every day. Personally, there are two different things I have been praying about for some time. Since reading the book, I have stopped praying and gotten to work. 

If you are frustrated with how your life is going or wrestling with your calling, you should read this book. Don't pray about it, just do it. (See what I did there?) It is less than 200 pages, so it's a quick read. You can buy the book here. 

Be a Moment Maker

Do you know someone who has the most fascinating stories?

The coolest things in the world happen to them. When they open their mouth about their last trip to Walmart, you know it’s about to get interesting. (Okay…bad example, because something unbelievable happens to everyone anytime they go to Walmart; the doors launch you into an alternate universe.)

You know the people I’m talking about though. The Cosmo Kramers of the world (to all those Seinfeld fans). But whenever they finish a story, you jealously think to yourself, “Nothing ever happens to me like that!”

Don’t you just hate those people? But then you remember that you’re a Christian and you aren’t supposed to hate people and now you feel guilty because you sinned.

What if I told you that you could be one of those of people?

Have You Ever Seen This?

Do you use the YouVersion Bible app on your phone or tablet? 

I do! (Partly because I like to have a cover, if I'm playing on my phone during church. Also, because it really is a great app.)

This message randomly pops up on all apps, but I really like how they word this one. It doesn't feel like you are rating the YouVersion Bible app, but the Bible itself. The people who came up with this strategy must be retired children's pastors, who know how to get a volunteer or make you feel like a jerk for saying no.

You have three choices:

1) You can be a good Christian and rate it. Seriously, who's going to give a bad review of the Bible? Like you know who breathed it, right? 

2) You can do it later, which the equivalent of saying, "I'll pray about it."

3) You can be a jerk and just say, "No, thanks".

I've pushed in #2 quite a few times.

What would you do?

Difference Maker

One of my favorite bands is NEEDTOBREATHE. (That's one word with a lot of awesomeness.)

At first I typed "Christian band," but these guys come out with great music that doesn't need a label. The kind that makes you roll the windows down when you're driving. Their new album was recently released. And I love it! (But ask me which album of theirs is my favorite and I'll probably answer, "Yes!") They are one of those groups like Mumford and Sons that keeps getting better.

It's Monday and no doubt you need to hear this. Let it be your spoonful of sugar. And may it remind you that you are a difference maker, because God has a plan for you.

If you want to make your day even better, buy the album on iTunes for $8.99. You can thank me later.

 

  Who have you been listening to lately?

A Chicken Confession

I have a confession to make.

There is a chance you'll never think of me the same.

But I have to get it off of my chest. I'm tired of living in the shadow of shame, regret, and embarrassment. I feel like a horrible Christian since we've been told to rally behind these people. But I can't live the way that other Christians want me to.

Once I tried to open up about my feelings with a group of Christian men at church and I was persecuted for my belief.  They acted like I was messing up theology about the Trinity or something.

Here it is:

Overwhelmed Book

Are you overwhelmed with life?

I didn't even know I was overwhelmed until I read Perry Noble's new book-Overwhelmed!

Sound a little like a spiritual hypercondriac? Maybe. Or maybe not. More on that in Reason #6.

Here are five, nay six, reasons this book should be in your hands:

1) Vulnerability: Perry Noble gets vulnerable (like talking about looking at porn vulnerable). Something you've shown me in the last three years of blogging is that you connect with the vulnerable. Pastors aren't supposed to be depressed. What with the love of Jesus and a direct phone line to God and all. Noble gets vulnerable opening up about his struggle with depression and anxiety. No one wants to talk about those things, but he does openly and honestly with you.

2) Practicality: Don't you hate it when someone declares a problem, but never propose any steps to solve it? Or worse yet, they make suggestions, but they are totally inadequate. This book has practical teachings that help you move forward. You won't be left asking, "What the heck do I do next?"

3) No Scriptural Beat Down: You won't get a scriptural beat down that leaves you feeling like crap. Noble uses scripture that will guide you. He doesn't say just memorize these promises in the Bible and your life will be peachy keen. He put several well-known biblical accounts in a context that you probably haven't heard before. If you're overwhelmed, you'll see that it doesn't make you a sinner, but that many biblical figures struggled with feeling exactly the same way.

4) Humility:  Christians love to trump each other with our horror stories. Don't believe me? Just listen intently at your church's next prayer request time. Before long, you'll witness the downward spiral of terrible circumstances that eventually ends in someone requesting prayer for their son's girlfriend's grandmother's cousin, twice removed, who just experienced something that had to have come straight out of a Hallmark tearjerker! If you have a good story, we have a better one. Have a bad story? We have a worse one. This isn't the spirit of this book. Noble isn't about self-promotion (or deprecation), but he lays it all out on the line, humbly, in order to help you connect to the text.

5) No "Sugar Coating": I'm not a prosperity gospel kind of guy. I hate it when preachers preach a weak message of no troubles and easy fixes. Life is messy. Noble doesn't promise that the chocolate is going to melt in your mouth. He knows it's going to melt on your hands. It's messy. If you are overwhelmed, there isn't a magic pill you can take to get yourself out of it. It'll take work. Reading this book is a step.

6) Relieving: There have certainly been seasons in my past that I have been incredibly overwhelmed and I never dealt with it well. This has had lingering effects in my life that I never realized that I was dealing with. Because of the work God is doing in me through this book, I'm starting to heal. Maybe you aren't overwhelmed, but you know someone who is. Buy this book for them. I'm buying a few to give away to people who are struggling, that's how much I believe God will use these words to help thousands who are searching for relief.

Overwhelmed doesn't go on sale until April 1st (that's no April fools). However, you can go ahead and pre-order a copy (the book title is linked so that you won't be "overwhelmed" looking for it).  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  Also, look for a chance to win a copy on Christian Gravy in the next few weeks.

Question:
Are you overwhelmed? What overwhelms you?

Dinosaurs and Humans Coexisted

One argument that Creationists and Evolutionists have is where the dinosaurs fit into history. 

However, here is some compelling evidence that settles it. 

(Sorry, Bill Nye, but Earl Sinclair sports the long tie.)

 

Do you remember this show?

Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham Debate

Did you catch the debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye on the YouTube?

I'm not sure if anyone's beliefs were changed, but it sure was entertaining.

This was my favorite moment. It was the debate behind the debate.

Did you watch the debate? What did you think about it?

Photographs

My wife got a 100 free pictures from Shutterfly recently. 

That's a lot of pictures. 

But that isn't anywhere close to what we need to get developed. (Between the two of us on our phones and on "iCloud", we are somewhere in the 3,000 to 4,000 range.)

That's ridiculous!

People take more pictures than ever because of the convenience of their phones, but they don't do anything with them. 

Correction: we post them on Twitter, Facebook, or on Instagram because we like to get share our lives (and selfies) and are junkies for "likes". But within two or three hours (48 hours tops) people are finished caring about your latest post and are on to more boring monotonous things.

It's almost as if the prophetic words of Def Leppard came true:

12 Things to Do During a Polar Vortex

It was cold when I woke up this morning. Stupid polar vortex!

I realize that if you live anywhere other than the Southeast or Southwest (or as I like to call it, the Sweet Tea and Baptist Church Line), then you have a more accurate definition and feel for "what cold is." As a great friend pointed out to all her Kentucky friends and family, her Iowa temperature this morning was -17° (and that is not windchill) is much colder than our 0°. Sure we could come and visit the cold, but we like our tea sweet and our churches baptist.

But cold is cold to anyone who isn't used to it.

Have you ever been to central Florida in December? You'll see people wearing sweaters and jackets in 60-70° weather. Satan wears a parka and beanie when he visits Miami in the summer.

Because cold is cold to anyone who isn't used to it.

However, all this cold has me wondering what is a Christian to do when it's this cold:

Running as a Resolution?

Have you ever thought about setting a New Year's resolution to run a marathon? Sounds like a lot of painful work and money! Who wants to be sore and sweaty in new running shoes? Instead, buy a sticker and work on being more honest in 2014. That is way more Christian anyways!

Happy New Year!

(Oh and if running more is your resolution, I'm sure you can do it!)

What are your goals for 2014?

What You Taught Me in 2013

What have you learned in 2013?

Hopefully, you've learned something. 

You might be one of "those" people who think a new year doesn't matter. You think that there is no difference between December 31st and January 1st. If that's your thinking, then you couldn't be more right. 

You might be one of "those" people who like to bookend the years. You love the promise of what a new year brings. A fresh start with new (or renewed) vision for your life is refreshing. It brings about intentional change.

I happen to fall within the second camp. 

Where do you fall?

I always take inventory the last few days of the year--looking at successes and failures for the year. 

This is a rather massive task. 

Life has categories that appear to be set up nice and neat, but that are messy and spill into one another. Providing an example of how this looks would be a waste of your time, since you know all about it.

When you look at life like this, you can pull apart things that you've learned in a year. Lessons learned in life bring wisdom.

Here's what you've taught me this year:

The Missing Link in Church Music

Why does your church's worship music sound like karaoke night at your local Mexican restaurant?

Not that all karaoke is bad and it goes great with a chimichanga. Did you know that karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese? The Japanese language is able to make anything sound awesome. (Like the word Wasbi!) Sorry, but I don't know what chimichanga means.

You might not realize your church's music is lacking until this very moment. I didn't until I went to a music store in Nashville looking for a Taylor Swift guitar strap. The Taylor Swift strap was M.I.A., but I found something better.

And then my heart was broken thinking of how many churches are missing out on experiencing true worship.

This is the missing link in your church's worship music:

The Argyle Sweater

Yesterday, I wore a purple argyle sweater to church with a nice plaid purple and white collared shirt.

I was enjoying a Subway Breakfast B.M.T. when all the sudden it happened. 

I was made fun of for my sweater. 

Relentlessly. 

By the worship band.

It stung a little. Actually, it stung a lot.

No man would take up for me. (The bass player asked where he could get one and claimed to be serious. He never delivered a punchline, so maybe he was.)

A couple of their wives tried to help, but that only made it worst.

One so-called "friend" pretended to like my sweater and asked if he could borrow it. I thought he was crushing on my sweater. I was flattered. 

For what occasion I asked? 

To an ugly Christmas sweater contest? Saboteur. The deception and betrayal cut me to the core.

I think not my friend. 

Kanye West wears argyle and if Kanye has proven himself to be anything it's fashionable…and a self-proclaimed genius…but mostly fashionable. 

I would like to warn my friends on making fun of other people's fashion. 

Sweet Baby Jesus or Freaky Baby Jesus?

You've heard of sweet baby Jesus, but what about freaky baby Jesus?

Is that wrong to say?

Nativity scenes are great places for Jesus to be like, "What the heck? That's insulting!" (Unless he's like a parent who knows their kid sucks at art, but loves it anyways because it's their kid's work.)

Like take this nativity scene found in the small town of Celebration, Florida.

Look at Joseph. He seems to be thinking, "That is the ugliest baby I've ever seen! Glad he's not mine."

And what's up with Jesus' golden locks of hair, big blue eyes, and Benjamin Button face? Why do nativity scenes often depict Jesus with eyes open and hands lifted to heaven as if singing Away in a Manger Casting Crowns' style?