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

Read more about this here -

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

In my ears

Been listening to Marina & The Diamonds lately. I’ve loved “I Am Not A Robot” since I heard it and have been listening to it faithfully for months. This week I heard “Rootless” and I love the lyrics and sound. “Dragging my roots through the snow / No home sweet and no sweet home” I think I’m a bit melancholy lately and this song fits that mood perfectly.

Oooh, I also just heard “Wolf Mother” by The Mynabirds. Lovely!

Other things I’ve been listening to: (which includes a couple of youtube vids)

Adele’s theme for Skyfall – soooooo good

Train – Drive By and 50 Ways to Say Goodbye

Wilco – I’ll Fight (which I just learned is written from the perspective of a Civil War soldier who was paid to fight as a substitute for a wealthy man. Sad but a good song.)

Also…pretty much every Christmas song ever. I’ve been listening to my own collection of seasonal music which is INSANE plus the all-Christmas station on the radio. I love it!

Grocery shopping is frustrating tonight. No turkeys, long lines and I have the urge to eat the head of a chocolate reindeer. CHOMP!

It takes so little to please me

Frozen and grumpy on the side of a dark road next to a broken vehicle...but my day is made brighter when the tow truck driver calls me 'darlin'.

Christmas cats 2.0

That last picture amuses me so much. Hunter is giving me the “one more picture interrupting my nap and I’m going to poop in your bed” look.

The difference between my cats

Cubby posing calmly for a Christmas photo. So pretty.

Hunter being a total spaz. As always. 

Yeah, that’s just a few of a series of photos where Hunter decided that eating the tree was more fun than getting her picture taken.

Commensurate with my values

So my reddit secret santa match this year was hard. He gave me a list of his interests and I stalked through his comments, but there were lots of things that were out of my depth (car speak is like greek to me) and what I did understand...I didn't like.

He's a big poster in r/trees which is the subreddit for marijuana on the site. Not only do I not support people doing illegal drugs, I'm not a supporter of people using marijuana for medicinal purposes. I've watched as people medicate with the drug and I don't believe that it helps any more than regular pain medication. Plus there are all hosts of issues with safety, regulation and not to mention the increased hassle for police who have to deal with the added frustration in states where it's legal.

In trying to shop for my match, I was struggling with what to buy and how to do so in a way that means he still gets a cool gift and I feel like I've not compromised my values. It wasn't easy. Even his shipping instructions (draw Jesus on a unicorn) felt like it would be pushing what I felt was appropriate and I almost just gave up. But then I realized that a) I made a commitment and to go back on that was lame and b) just because I didn't care for some of his choices doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve a present.

So I found some fun gifts, a little bit random and not as specific as the last few matches I've done...but still good. (also, chocolate...because who doesn't like chocolate?!) I hope that he enjoys his gifts and the awesome sombrero-clad Jesús on a narwhal that I drew on his box. I know that I'm a lot happier about shipping his gift out today when I know that it's something that I feel good about giving.

First Impression is Best Impression!

So there is a guy at church who doesn't talk to me. I find that unacceptable. I mean, I'm awesome and fun and quite a conversationalist, if I do say so myself. (and I do...because one thing I'm bad at is humility...) But for some reason, this guy is not really interested in being my friend.

Finally today I managed to exchange a few words with the dude...unfortunately it was due to the fact that I beaned myself in the head on a metal bar while standing in a closet. Oh clumsiness, my old friend, always around to make me look awesome in social situations.

On the plus side, I finally got to have a conversation with this guy. Well, it had to do with him checking to make sure I hadn't given myself a concussion...but I'll take it!

Why is everyone in this restaurant kissing? Did i accidentally enter a brothel. I hate when that happens!

Tales from Tim Horton

I’m in Canada? I’m not really, but apparently Google keeps wanting me to change to google.ca. I can’t decide if that’s because the HQ for Tim Hortons (and their wifi) is in Canada or if Google just thinks they are hilarious… I mean, I have made about 50 ‘eh’ jokes already, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility athat Google and I share the same lame sense of humor.

I am drinking the most bitterest of coffees. Because cheap is key this morning and a small black coffee is the cheapest thing possible. How do people drink this and stay happy? Does everyone who drinks this just stay grumpy? I’m just imagining a bunch of truckers ordering black coffees and then standing around grunting and complaining about how the sun is too sunny and things aren’t as good as they used to be back in the day. It’s possible that my ‘truckers’ turned into imaginary 80 year old men halfway through that situation.

These two middle aged ladies came in and something about them struck me as familiar. They didn’t look like anyone I knew, I didn’t recognize their clothes and when they said each other names they didn’t sound familiar. Then when they got up to their coats shifted and I saw the badges on their belts. I think I was finding them familiar to Cagney and Lacey.

I judge people based on their books and which right wing pundit has written them.

When it’s too warm for the snowflakes to stay on the ground, it makes me sad. It also makes me feel like I should go out and catch them with my tongue. Am I saving them from a lonely death or am I killing them quicker? Either way, I’m a hero! (right?)

It’s hilarious how I can tell that the people discussing religion are Catholic. Or maybe it’s sad, I’m not sure.

Guy just indicated he wanted a huge amount of oatmeal. Like a bathtub sized amount. That is an impressive amount of oatmeal. (disclaimer: pretty sure he was being facetious) Things he could do with that much oatmeal:

• Treat massive case of winter poison ivy.
• Facial masks for him and all his friends.
• Sculpt a life sized version of himself. Then eat it.
• Slow, squishy, maple scented suicide attempt
• Paste (imagining kindergarten macaroni and oatmeal paintings)
• Pothole filler! (would only last in frozen winter months. Not squirrel proof)
• Dumped in water to soak up oil spills. Possibly creates even bigger mess.
• Oooh, the best one! He’s an evil scientist who has figured out how to create life and he’s going to create a morphing, moving, massive oatmeal monster. It’s slow and lumbering and leaves a trail of sugar as it lumbers towards you and your inevitable death. *shudder*

The Early Bird

Waking up before your alarm (and actually feeling rested) is the best feeling. It’s like this extra time is a gift! A boon which should not be squandered by simply lying in bed and going back to sleep.

Instead I squandered (heehhe, that’s a fun word to say!) it by watching videos about math-y cooking and defuzzing a sweatshirt.

Super productive!

Oh subconscious, why you gotta do this to me?

My dream this morning involved a Xander from Buffy lookalike, my childhood church, bigotry, confrontation and Christmas carols. It was like my brain took all the leftovers of a weeks worth of thinking and then made it into the worst meal ever. 

Worst part about dreams like this is the bleed over, the emotions that I was experiencing in my dreams always linger during the day. Most of the times I struggle with being a bit jumpy and paranoid after a nightmare; and on the rare occasion I get to bounce around with excitement and giddiness from a good dream. Today I'm just itching for a fight. I woke up just as I was starting to fight with the pastors wife over someone being close minded and rude and I feel like all that anger is just right under the surface.

Oh brain, it's like you don't even like me sometimes.

Unplanned Stir Fry

If I had been thinking ahead, I could have arranged chicken, or steak. I could have picked up pre-made rice at China East or Jade Garden. But there was no planning ahead for me! So I'm left making do with what I have in the kitchen.

Half a bag of rice left over from thanksgiving, a package of veggies that are only mostly freezer-burned, several onions (because you can add onions to ANYTHING!), a few cheesy brats and a bottle of BBQ sauce.

It's...well, let's be honest here, it's edible and that's the most important thing.