MetroMonk

Don't Forget, Remember! 9/11 & the stories of our lives.  One of my favorite times the end of each and everyday is story time. "Daddy, books tonight?" "Of course" I reply. "How about 3 or 4 tonight?" my son usually asks back. "Nah, how about just two. Maybe an extra if you're lucky" I say. I don't know what it is, but he is always so lucky. There are so many stories; scary stories, sappy stories, superhero stories. There are stories about trucks, planes, animals, and even going potty for the first time. My children love stories. Often they imagine themselves in the stories and the story takes on a whole new life of its own. It's as if there is some automatic response that each kid does when hearing certain stories (at least with mine), they immerse themselves into it. Before my oldest was tolerant of sitting and having a book read to him, I would ask him what elements he would like me to plug into the story. He was alwa...

Psalm 66:1-5 reads (in my ESV) Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." I read this one morning and thought, "yeah, you're right. God is so great." It really lifted my spirits. Every day is different. How I feel in the morning is not necessarily the way I'll feel in the evening. If something is good early in the day, it might not be later. The point is that things change. The Lord does not change though. I, because of my ever-changing moods and mentalities, need to be reminded of God's goodness, his very worthy and deserving goodness. The danger is in forgetting. I'm thankful scripture reminded me, yet again, to lift my eyes and heart to the Lord God of heaven and earth. God has been good to ...

So I know there has been a lot going around about this topic since Glenn Beck's "Restore America's Honor" rally last Saturday upon the Lincoln Memorial, and I don't have any political stance to rant about from what took place or what was said, however I have a thought (or 2 or 3) about the phrase 'Restoring America's Honor." What does that mean? At what time was America honorable? Are we so less honorable than, say, 10 years ago? Would this rally have taken place if a republican were in office? Would America be a "more honorable" place if G. Beck or some other republican were in office? What honor or glory are we thinking about returning to? As this movement of "restoring" gets more and more tied up with Christians, more specifically, Uber-Conservative Righter than Right Republican Christian-ish Thinkers, I can't help but think they're talking about America getting back to the Bible. Is that really what the message is b...

Before the Israelites are about to enter into a new land, the Lord (via Moses), is retelling the Israelites their story/journey once again (I'm not sure how many times it is by now that this has happened), but the point is for these people to remember their story, remember their mission-objective, remember grace, remember the Lord's favor to them, just remember so they'll live the right way and not the wrong way by forgetting. * A Note : From Dt. 10:12-12:32, the Lord reminds them bluntly 10x to "be careful to (remember) do all the Lord has commanded. Dt. 11:18 says, "You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes... v.20 says, "You shall write them on the doorposts of house and on your gates. v.22, "For if you will be careful to do all this commandment.....Loving the Lord, walking in his ways and holding fast ...