lions and snow and jesus. oh my.

So I started the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day today and finished chapter one. I consider myself a reader and have never had this feeling before.

In one chapter I had to look up two words in the dictionary. Here are the points to remember:

• God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. But the right place often seems like the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions–look for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, and take risks to reach for God’s best.
• When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.
• Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities.

That’s just ONE CHAPTER.

Quite a bit for one lunch break, huh.

Anyone else chasing lions?

Sex God

“Exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality” — Rob Bell

Well you’ve probably figured out by now that when I saw this book in the store I just had to have it. I’m like, “Hmmm. I’d like to be a sex god. Perhaps I will purchase this book.” So I did, and boy was it a good decision. Although I was tricked, because this book had almost nothing to do with how to become a sex god. It had everything to do with my messed up views of sex (views that you probably share) and the right way to look at sex. The way God looks at it.

This book is still really messing with my head, so I’m not going to try and lay it all out for you at this particular moment. Also, I’m not sure that I’m agreeing with everything in it…some of it is really confusing. I need to go back and read it again slowly with no chips in my hands.

The big idea of the book: this is always about that.

Woah, what? Yeah I know. It’s a lot to wrap your head around. Mr. Bell takes the idea that “this is always about that” and strains several other ideas through that filter. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

From Chapter Two “Sexy on the Inside”
“These moments move us because they have sexual dimension. They help us become reconnected. They go against our fallen nature, which is to be cut off.
“This is why music is so powerful. Have you ever noticed that when you ask people why a particular song or concert moved them so much, they often resort to ambiguous explanations?…. You get words like emotion and passion and energy and relationship and connection. Music is powerful because it is sexual. It connects us….The experience of a great concert-with everybody singing together, waving their hands in the air, and a feeling of oneness permeating the room- has a significant sexual dimension to it.”

The main idea here was that sexuality is about connections, not the physical act.

Chapter 3 “Angels and Animals”
“Some of the most comforting words in the universe are “me too.” That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.”

Chapter 6 “Worth Dying For”
“Do you ever find yourself questioning: Where does the buck stop?
” No. It’s not even on the radar. Over time you’ve built up reserves of trust and love, and power and control become irrelevant. The healthier and more whole a marriage relationship is, the less you ask thse kinds of questions. When people are truly living in what’s called “mutual submission,” you lose track of who’s in charge.
“In a marriage, you’re talking about power and control only when something central to the whole relationship has fallen apart.”
–
“What if that woman, the one with the husband who constantly disappoints her, what if she treated him as if he already were the man she wishes he was? What if she agapes him exactly as he is, today , with all of his flaws? If you are him, which is more motivating: being reminded of all of your failures and shortcomings, or being loved as if you’re a great man?… Our understanding of how God sees us will shape everything about how we live. What we do comes out of who we believe we are.“

I hope that if you read this blog you will get this book. It would be a good read for anyone: single, married, divorced, dating, old, young, male, or female. It has profoundly affected the way I think about every single person I come into contact with.