High class

My response to semi-fancy Italian dinner - meh. 

My response to gas station hot dogs and canned pop - happy dance!

I'm so high class. 

Don’t be a do-badder

Watched Robin and the 7 Hoods last night and it was a hoot! It’s a musical from 1964 about gangsters in Chicago in the 30s. The music is so-so, the plot is thin and the jokes are hit and miss, but those don’t matter. You are watching for the stars. Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Falk and Bing Crosby. So many things can be forgiven when you have this kind of cast!

The musical is known for introducing Sinatra’s hit, “My Kind of Town” but that’s not my favorite song in the film by far. A lot of the songs are weak, but there were a couple that stood out.

This is Bing Crosby’s character, Alan A. Dale, singing about the evils of doing wrong to the orphan boys. It’s not the strongest lyrics but it’s adorable and has a lot of heart.

This song, sung by the main cast, is probably one of the stronger songs in the film, both in lyrics and music and production. Maybe because it’s a song where people are supposed to be singing versus singing-as-plot-exposition that gives it the freedom to be different. With the short ‘testify’ bits to inject jokes, the upbeat music and over the top dancing, it’s easily my favorite.

The best part of watching a movie with these stars is when they sing together and I just sat through “ You’ve either got or you haven’t got style” with a big smile on my face. Seriously, it’s Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin singing and dancing together. The song itself isn’t all that great, but does it really matter?

A special nod to Peter Falk who played Guy Gisborne, who wasn’t in any of the songs that I liked from this film but was easily the funniest actor in the movie. I’m used to him as a dramatic actor so it was great to see him play Gisborne and all his gangster-ness for laughs. All in all, a fun little movie to watch on a day when you feel like watching a popcorn flick.

What I’ve Been Missing

This past Sunday, my friend visited my church. It was an odd visit, as my Sunday school teacher was on vacation so we had to crash a class I’d never attended, and my pastor has seemed kind of down for the past couple of weeks so the sermon was subdued and even our choir was singing different songs because of the holiday. Despite all the oddness, I loved having her visit.

Part of my enjoyment was because I love my church. I really, really do. Next month will mark  my one year anniversary of attending Judson Memorial for the first time. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people, getting involved (in little ways because I’m still a giant chicken shy), and growing closer to God. And I have definitely grown in the past year! I’ve learned so much from the sermons and lessons, from singing and praising with others and from praying for and with my new church friends.

That last bit is the other reason I enjoyed attending church with my friend. I miss praying with her! We used to live together which gave us the opportunity to pray together often, and after that we had bible studies and dinners and phone conversations where prayer was included. But it’s been a long time since we were in church together. Since we sat and prayed, not because one of us called the other on the phone and needed it, or because we were ready to start eating, but because we were just there to worship and praise God together. The opportunity to pray together is something that I’ve missed, and it’s something I’m so happy I got a chance to have this Sunday.

Outside the Circle – Blogging about The Circle Maker – Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Cloudy with a chance of Quail

• Summary
  • Faith is the willingness to look foolish
  • In order to experience a miracle you need to take a risk
  • If you put what you have into God’s hands, He will multiply
  • God provides in dramatic proportion
• Problems
  • Faith isn’t just about looking foolish or taking the big risk, it’s about following God even if it makes you look foolish, etc
  • God multiplying what you give to Him doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get riches here on earth
  • If you believe/circle you’ll get blessings, if you don’t believe, you won’t
  • The entire concept of multiplication anointing
• Solutions
  • God asks us to do the mundane as well as the outrageous, it’s important to obey no matter what He asks us to do
  • There are examples in the bible (Job, Jesus, Paul) and examples in the world to show that earthly measures of wealth aren’t God’s top priority. Matthew 6:19-21
  • Yes, it’s important to have faith but placing the power of blessings in human hands is giving us too much power - Romans 9:16
  • The entire story of multiplication anointing makes me uncomfortable. From the statement of “wasn’t even sure if it was in the bible but I did it anyway” to the highly formulaic way of answered prayer.

Tales from the land of insomnia

Martha Stewart wants to teach me how to roast things. I don't think I have the patience for that and Martha isn't one to coddle. She's also wearing what looks like a men's button up shirt that's 4 sizes too big. I don't really watch Martha enough to know if that's her style so I'm just going to assume that she's dating a sumo wrestler. 

Did you know that they still have psychic hotlines? I thought that sort of thing died out with Miss Cleo. Now the commercials are full of polished people talking about their skepticism while jogging and shopping for organic foods. Weird. It makes me nostalgic for Miss Cleo. 

No matter how old I am, I will always think of the Full House episode where Uncle Jesse tries to sell his hairspray shield on TV when I see infomercials. 

Sunday driving

"I've been possessed by the brain of your husband Hairy Larry the monster."

I will never not laugh at this

Outside The Circle – Blogging about The Circle Maker – Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 - Praying Through

• Summary:
  • Story of Elizabeth Dabney who ‘prayed through’ faithfully
  • Circle makers are history makers
  • Most of us don’t get what we want because we quit circling
  • Praying through is about consistency
  • Praying through is about intensity
  • We should praise God for disappointment because it draws us back to Him
  • Faith is about believing, even when it seems impossible
  • Praise through - praise God before the miracle happens
  • If God has put a promise in your heart, pray through and praise through
• Problems:
  • Dabney’s story illustrates a woman who “asked God” something, rather than demanded, who obeyed God’s direction and saw His promise fulfilled - not like Honi story
  • Dabney’s real life story doesn’t say anything about a ‘circle in the sand’ - she obey’s what God told her to do, didn’t just arbitrarily do her own thing
  • Circle makers = History makers and “It’s your prayers that change the eternal plotline” pg 34 - Seems pretty person-focused and prideful
  • Not getting what we want because we quit circling again puts the power and emphasis on us rather than God
  • Praying through won’t take no for an answer
  • “God had already given them the city. All they had to do was circle it.” - is he talking about “all they had to do was obey God’s commands” or is he speaking about the whole ‘circling’ concept
  • You need to stop asking because God has already answered
• Solutions:
  • The pride issues and it’s all about us and how awesome our circles are - “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14
  • Circle quitting causes us not to get things - Malachi 3:6 - God says he doesn’t change, he keeps his promises
  • Sometimes God says no - 2 Cor 7:8 - Paul’s thorn, Matt 26:42 - Jesus
  • Romans 8:28 - “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Outside The Circle – Blogging about The Circle Maker -Chapter 3

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Chapter 3 - The Jericho Miracle

• Summary:
  • Overview of the battle of Jericho
    • God told the army to circle the city
    • And he promised that if they obeyed, the wall would fall
    • “In keeping with God’s command” pg 23
    • God’s promises don’t have an expiration date
    • If you keep circling a promise, God will deliver it
  • Jesus forced the blind men to define exactly what they wanted from him
  • Write down a list of God glorifying life goals
  • Miracles won’t have happened if I hadn’t drawn a circle
  • If our prayers aren’t specific, God doesn’t get the glory like He should
  • Spell out success for yourself
  • You need to have a personal definition of success
• Problems:
  • Contradictory stories - very obvious that the Israelites were obeying God and that God was fulfilling a promise He had made to them before. Whereas none of that is shown in the story of Honi.
  • Pg 22 - “story doesn’t explicitly say” and “backdrop of this book” - again going outside what the bible says and using that as the foundation of the book
  • Miracles wouldn’t happen without us - Seems to place the power with us
  • God doesn’t answer vague prayers - I’m fine with specific prayers, but there are times when you don’t have specifics and God listens to you then as well
  • The whole success thing squicks me out, but I think that is simply because I’m not a dude? Or because I feel like there is less focus on “how do I serve God” and more focus on “how does serving God fit in with having me succeed.”
• Solutions:
  • Miracles and us - Phil 2:13 - “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” Acts 17:24-25 - “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
  • God doesn’t answer vague prayers - Exodus 2:24 - God heard the captives groaning, Romans 8:26 - “Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans”

Outside The Circle – Blogging about The Circle Maker - Chapter 2

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Chapter 2 - Circle Makers

• Summary:
  • Prayer circles are an important part of our prayer life
  • Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers
  • God is for you
  • God is not a genie in a bottle, drawing circles starts with discerning God’s will
  • Miracles are by-products of prayers that were prayed by you or for you
  • God won’t do it (certain expressions of His power) unless we pray for it
  • If you draw prayer circles, God will answer those prayers at some point

• Problems:
  • God is offended/insulted by little prayers, prayers that do not include the impossible or bold - I think that God wants us to commune with Him about everything in our lives, not just the ‘part the red sea’ prayers. I do think that He wants us to be honest in our prayer lives, but I don’t believe He gets offended by prayer. Phil 4:6 (Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything)
  • You are only one prayer away from a dream fulfilled, a promise kept, or a miracle performed - God works in His time and not our own
  • Prayers are prophecies - Prayers are our communication with God. It’s still His will and power that will work, and He’s not bound to whatever we pray
  • Genie in a bottle - How does that statement line up with the story of Honi? It doesn’t say that he was a prophet and talked to God, it doesn’t say that he spent time in prayer before drawing his circle to discern God’s will. It doesn’t say that God held the land in a drought and was ready to lift it at Honi’s urging. Where is the discernment here?
  • The concept that if you draw prayer circles then God will answer those prayers is misleading. God promises to answer prayer, circles are not mentioned.

• Solutions:
  • God’s offended by small prayers - Phil 4:6 - “Come to God about everything,” Ephesians 6:18 - “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”
  • Only one prayer away - Loads of verses about praying continually, praying for long periods of time, pray constantly for you - 1 Thes 5:17 “pray continually”
  • Prayers are prophecies - Isa 55:8 - “My thoughts are not your thoughts”
  • John 16:24 - Jesus tells them to ask for things in his name

Outside The Circle – Blogging about The Circle Maker - Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 - The Legend of The Circle Maker

• Summary:
  • tells of Honi, “sage” who drew a circle and prayed/demanded that God send rain and he wouldn’t leave until it was done.
  • Prayed more than once until God delivered the rain he wanted
  • Celebrated by people but also accused of dishonoring God
• Problems:
  • Character/story is not in the bible
  • Honi doesn’t seem to get leading from God before praying
  • Author states that Honi and Jesus’ miracles are on the same level despite the fact that Honi’s story was not included in the bible
  • No biblical reference to base our study on in the very beginning
• Solutions:
  • “stands forever as a testament to the power of a single prayer to change the course of history” pg 13 Find character/scripture/story in the bible that similarly illustrates this concept.
  • Joshua asking the sun to stand still - Joshua 10:1-15
    • Joshua was leading army and came to defense of Gibeon
    • God said to him “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand against you.” v8
    • Lord threw other army into confusion before attack v10
    • Lord threw hailstones at the other army v11
    • Joshua’s prayer was in line with what God had directed him to do

The Circle Maker

For our most recent bible study we’re going through The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. From his website:

According to Pastor Mark Batterson in his book, The Circle Maker, “Drawing prayer circles around our dreams isn’t just a mechanism whereby we accomplish great things for God. It’s a mechanism whereby God accomplishes great things in us.” Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing? It’s time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. What impossibly big dream is God calling you to draw a prayer circle around? Sharing inspiring stories from his own experiences as a circle maker, Mark Batterson will help you uncover your heart’s deepest desires and God-given dreams and unleash them through the kind of audacious prayer that God delights to answer.

I have to admit that I don’t have the best attitude about this book. Just reading the summary and the first chapter have already made me feel like I’m not going to like it all. Why? Well, the reason has little to do with this book and a lot to do with Sunday school. My current teacher is doing an overview of bible characters and stories and in addition to having us read from the bible, he’s also adding in information from lots of other sources like Josephus, the Talmud and Midrash, bits from Islamic tradition and there was a couple of weeks where we learned the beliefs of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. All well and good, except it means that I leave class most Sunday’s with a long list of stories that I’m not sure are biblical.

Part of the problem is that I’m not as well versed in my bible knowledge as I need to be, and I’m working on that. Another part of the problem is that this is a new church and I’m struggling to feel like I fit in and I don’t always feel comfortable asking questions…which, again, I’m working on. All that aside, there are times when I have a real problem when we take what the bible says and try to temper/augment that with other texts. When we say that this other story or other belief better explains than what is in the bible. Or instead of using the examples we’re given in the bible, we turn to something else that teaches us something different. Which, after reading the first chapter of The Circle Maker and it’s non-biblical tale of Honi, is something I’m worried about.

I don’t want to be close minded. I love learning and history and finding out new things and I believe that God is big enough to use all things to bring us closer to Him. But I also don’t want to follow along with something blindly without making an effort to hold it up to God’s word. So, in that vein, I’m going to be doing The Circle Maker study and blogging along, thinking about the problems I have with it and how the book does or does not line up with scripture.

Dear guy in road, instagraming anything is not worth getting run over. No love, me