Great Decisions

I just finished Kirk Cameron's autobiography, "Still Growing." It is a very good read and I believe that Kirk is a Christian whole-heartedly. I wanted to share some excerpts from his book, which I think, sum up the question everyone wants to know:

[Kirk says,] "When I was on The O'Reilly Factor, Bill asked, "Has your conversion hurt your career in Hollywood?"

"I answered, "The truth is, I have a beautiful wife. I've been married 15 years. I've got six kids. I've got an exciting career. I'm passionate about a show I love. And I'm talking to Bill O'Reilly in front of 4 million people, not because I was caught with a gun in my hand but because of my faith. So I think it was a great decision."" (page 201, Still Growing)

"...I've been dropped by UTA, AMG, and William Morris agencies. I've made all the wrong decisions, yet 20 years later, I still show up in a positive light on high-profile shows. I'm working on season four of my TV series. And to top it off, my name's written in heaven.

"Life is good. The high cost of following Jesus on the narrow road may look totally backward to some, but the infinite value and adventure has been thrilling beyond my wildest dreams." (page 202, Still Growing)

I see Kirk Cameron in a different light. Yes, he will always be that loveable, Mike Seaver, but now, he has become ever so personal. His struggle to let go of his own dreams and desires for God's will and plan are no different from my own. He prays. He reads his Bible. He is genuinely concerned about where people will spend eternity. Kirk has given back tremendously to those in need and for children who are sick. He wasn't one of those actors that "went the way of Hollywood." Instead, he chose to rise above Hollywood and God has blessed his life because of his decision to be faithful to his Savior.

Atheist

Kirk Cameron a self-professed atheist (not anymore)? I was shocked? Should I be?

Atheist is a hard word for me. Almost harder than someone actually saying, “I don’t believe in God,” which is the exact definition of the word. I have a hard time with people who call themselves atheists. Not in an argumentative way, but I really want to ask them, “Ok, what do you believe in? Obviously, you know that death is inevitable. Where and how do you see yourself once you cross the line from life to death? Is that just the end and that’s it?"

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was a fan of Kirk Cameron's back in the 80's. He was so cute!! I'll never forget "the pose" in one of the first episodes where it showed Kirk's backside with a ball cap hanging out of his pocket! I think it was the "Springsteen" episode. Anyway, as a young teenager growing up in the 80's, you just didn't think about whether or not your favorite actor or actress was a Christian (If my parents had found out that he was an atheist, they would have made me take down all my posters and pictures of him). You just drooled over the pages of BOP & Teen Beat magazines and traded the centerfolds and glossies with your friends. But now, I am reading Kirk's autobiography and in it, he says that he didn't grow up in a Christian home. His dad was of the opinion that his children should decide for themselves how they wanted to view God and religion. Kirk says that his mom went to church growing up but after she and his dad married, they never went. The family spent their Sundays at the beach with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Listen to what he says in his book, "Still Growing:" "...my earliest religion choice: to be a full-fledged atheist. I was convinced that God didn't exist, and my dad was fine with that conclusion." Now, this statement comes from a family that obviously set high standards for their children. The Cameron family was very tight-knit family. Kirk wasn't a party-er; the worst thing he ever did was get his ear pierced without "asking permission from his mom." So, how could a lovable, very moral family, allow their children to believe that there is no God? Growing up in a Christian home and accepting God's free gift of salvation at a very young age makes it hard for me to understand that there are people in this world who -today- still say that there is no God. It reminds me of another '80's rock band, Poison, who came out with the song, "Give Me Something to Believe In." Don't atheists believe in something?!? Where is their hope? Where is their yearning for something better? Do they not question their purpose for being put on this earth?

Oh, Father, please give them something to believe in. Open their eyes that they may see You for who You really are.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." --John 3:16.

Kirk Cameron

Okay. I admit it. I use to be in love with Kirk Cameron. What can I say? What girl wasn't? Tuesday nights at 7:30 was a must-see TV night in every young girls' world. Everyone was in love with Mike Seaver! (If I could find that picture Carrie took of me when we were freshman and I was hugging my poster of Kirk in my pep squad uniform, I promise I would scan it and post it here). Imagine my surprise today when I was in Lifeway Christian Bookstore and saw that Kirk has written a book about his life. I love autobiographies and even though I haven't kept up with him (I do know he was in the "Left Behind" movie), I decided to buy it. I love stories about what God has done and is doing in people's lives and those are just stories that you don't hear too much coming out of Hollywood these days. So, check out the book and I'll let you know what I think, too.

Clinging to the Toilet

On the way to Memphis last weekend, I read an article in the May issue of "Woman's Day" magazine by Traci Schrader. On May 4, 2007, Greensburg, Kansas, where Traci and her two sons lived, was leveled by a giant tornado that was estimated to be two miles wide. She says, "The wind made a terrible racket. I yelled, "Get down!" and hunched over Paden with Lee between us, all of us hugging the toilet bowl, with that [futon] mattress over us. In the next instant, I could feel the mattress lifting, then it was gone and the walls were lifting. The tank was lifted off the toilet. I was screaming, "Lord! Protect my children!" The boys were screaming and praying." Later in the article, Traci says, "Our house was totally gone. We're not talking fallen-down walls and rubble. There was no house, nothing left!...Except for the base of the toilet, my house was gone."

But the best part is this: Traci went on to talk about the things that she and her family found in the rubble...pieces of her chili pepper collection, one of the boys' baby blankets, and a piece of a wooden cow that her grandfather had whittled for her. She says, "The one piece of furniture we found was my dresser. It was totally empty, except the top drawer still had my Bible inside." Now, is that not God?

That article brought tears to my eyes and I remembered the Bible verse that said that God's word will not return void. God's word was not destroyed during that tornado! I wonder how long Traci's Bible had been in that drawer? A few days? A month? Five years? The fact is, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if Traci hurridly stuck the Bible in the drawer two seconds before the tornado struck because God's word endures. It endures the storms of life. It endures the heart break of starting over and of going forward. It is the very foundation that we are to build our lives on and just as Jesus' parable says, "And when the storms [of life] came, his house was not destroyed because he built his house on a firm foundation."

Wayne and I have had to replace both the toilets in our house since we've lived in our current home. Now, I'm no plumber, but I've half-way watched Wayne as he has put these toilets in. If my memory serves, the base of the toilet is just "sealed" on the the hole at the floor with this putty-looking gel stuff. No cement. No super glue. Knowing what I "think" I know about toilets, how is it that the very back of the toilet was blown away and the actual toilet itself was not totally gone, also? How could a rubbery looking seal hold a mother and her two sons close during a terrible storm? I believe that when we cling to the one thing that we know and trust we can weather the storm. Even if we have to cling to the toilet bowl.

No Boundaries

My friend came in my office this morning to talk. I told her that I thought about her yesterday during Bill’s sermon. She said, “Really?” and wanted to know what his sermon was on. I told her that he was starting a new series about the gap between our hurts and God eventually healing those hurts. I also told her that I could see how this series would apply to some of the things that I had experienced in my own life in the past. I invited her to come to church with me; told her that she could sit with me and Wayne and that most of the girls in our Bible Study group went to the first service, too. She said that she might come.

I am so careful not to push. I am so worried that if I keep hounding her about Bible Study and church that I might scare her away. But I continue to pray. I pray daily for wisdom and discernment because deep down, the LRH that I know, would never have the words. It is all in God’s divine plan. I truly believe that every word I have spoken to my friend have been God given.

My friend told me that her book and workbook have come in. She said she is working in it. I encouraged her to keep going. One thing she said to me last week was that her counselor told her that she “has no boundaries” or that she needed to “set some boundaries.” That encouraged me because with that comment, I knew she was getting the kind of advice she needs. And it kinda hit the nail on the head as to how I would sum up my friend’s life.

But aren’t boundaries learned? Aren’t boundaries processed conscientiously? Doesn't everybody have some sort of sense about what is right and what is wrong? I think most of the time, for some reason or other, there can be just a simple disregard for them….the “me” concept that says, “I’m just gonna do what I want to do” with no qualms about what is right or wrong. I get that way, too. Sometimes it's because I'm discouraged and I just want to say, "What's the use?" Sometimes it's pride or selfishness. But I think all of us, at one point or the other in our lives, makes that conscientious choice to do their own thing. But as Christians, you can't do your own thing without suffering the consequences or feeling bad, guilty, whatever you want to call it. You simply can't do it. That's part of knowing when you've overstepped your boundary. That's what it's like to live in the flesh and not walk in the Spirit.

Searching

I haven't really talked to my friend this week. I don't like to question her about her permiscuous(sp?) lifestyle, because I feel like that gives her the wrong idea...like I'm more interested in what she's done than whether she is beginning to turn the corner. It's simply better if she just moves forward. But this afternoon, she came in my office and sat a while and talked. She told me that her counselor suggested she read a book and complete a workbook. I think she said the name of it was "Searching for Significance." It sounds like a good start to me. Today for the first time, she begin to "make sense." She knows what she needs to do to turn her life around. If she will just follow through. Anyway, I had forwarded my friend an email that one of my Bible study friends had sent me this morning about answering a prayer for a fellow group member. She asked me if I had my Bible study group a few nights ago...and referenced the email that I had forwarded her. I told her that I did and the reason I didn't think to say anymore to her about it was because I thought if she really wanted to go she would say something to me. My friend said, "Well, I forgot about it, but I probably should have went." I was shocked that she said that. I didn't think she had really shown an interest when I invited her last week.

The fact is, my friend is searching for something. And I know that she's been looking in all the wrong places to find it. Yes, she's made bad choices, but like anyone with a sound mind, she knows the difference between right and wrong. But sometimes I wonder if she's just sorry that she got caught. How long would she have kept this charade going? I guess the good point is that she's trying to do something about it. I think she really wants to turn her life around. And somehow, someway, I feel like I am a part of that. I feel like I am suppose to help her turn this corner. I continue to remember to "love the sinner, hate the sin."

My friend told me that she was going to church on Sunday. She said she was going to church with her parents; said it was a small church. I told her about our church having Easter services at the colesium, but she didn't sound interested. She did make the comment, "I usually go on holidays." I don't know many people who say that. All my friends go to church. But I think she is the exact person who Bill reminds us from time to time that are looking....searching for something....and I know that I may be the only glimpse of Jesus that she'll see. I just pray that even through my mistakes and weaknesses, she will see Him in me and eventually want the same thing for her life, too.

P.S. I forgot to mention the most important thing! I told my friend - when we were talking about my Bible study group - that my group asked about her when we were talking about prayer requests. She said, "They did?" I said, "Yes, they wanted to know how you were doing." I think she was really surprised about that. But it made me feel good that my friends cared enough to ask and my friend was interested enough to ask about my group. Is it God, or what concerning how all this is coming together?

Called By Name

I think it's a pretty special thing that Jesus chose to reveal himself to women first after his ressurection. Out of all the people in the world - His 12 disciples included - He chose women. Most importantly, Mary Magdalene. He could have chose Peter or even John. They had been singled out from amooung the 12 to witness countless other miracles and yet Jesus still chose a woman.

Tonight, I read my Bible Study group out of John chapter 20. It's the story of Jesus revealing himself to Mary. She went to the tomb early that morning, before daylight, to carry spices for the burial of her Savior. When she get there, the stone has been rolled away and there are two angels. They ask her why she is crying. She simply want to know what they have done with her Savior. She turns and sees a man that she thinks is the gardener. He asks her why she is weeping. She begs him that if he knows what happened to Jesus to tell her. Jesus simply says, "Mary."

My mom could get my attention real quick when she said my name a certain way when I was growing up. If she said, "Laura Renee", I knew I was in trouble. If she said it through clintched teeth, I knew I was REALLY in for it! But yet, all Jesus said was "Mary." Simple. Peaceful. Comforting. In that one name, Christ said it all. He said, "I know you weep for me, but there is no need for your tears. I am here. I am alive. Now, be my messenger and go tell others."

My point tonight was that when we earnestly and sincerely go looking for Christ, he will be found. He will call us, acknowledge us, and love us. He will call us by name. For He knows everything about us.