Blessing - Check out this video

Since December I've been enjoying and have really been moved by some music videos. The DVD is called Sau Guna by the band Aradhna. Aradhna has had a big impact on my life. Through them I've learned about the Yeshu Bhajan - songs of devotion for the devotee of Jesus. These are the songs we sing in our monthly Satsang gatherings. Even though these songs are in Hindi, a language I don't speak but my vocabulary has grown through this music, these songs have become some of my favorite songs of devotion and songs that I so often turn to for worship.

But now Aradhna has come out with a new CD (Which was officially released this week - Namaste Sate) and they have also released a DVD of 6 of their songs from that CD.

The DVD is exceptional! Each song tells a story. The videos, directed by Ben Stamper (http://www.cinesandwonders.com/, are visually spectacular. The views of India, the songs with a message, all lead to a wonderful worship experience.

I should write more about this someday but I wanted to mention this today because Aradhna has put one of their videos from the DVD on YouTube. It's one of my favorite videos partly because it is based on a section of the Sermon on the Mount. The song is mostly in Hindi but it's easy to follow. There is a segment on it where The Lord's Prayer is song in English along with the Hindi part - I am so moved at this point. If you are in my house when I listen to this song you will also see my kids singing along with it. It really is powerful! It's a great message and should change the way we behave each time we see it.

Check out the youtube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2UI25sayXk

Check out Aradhna at: http://aradhnamusic.com/

On their website you can also find out how to order their CD or DVD.

Most importantly, listen to the song, watch the images, and make a difference today!

God Bless,

Kevin

Two Types of Readers

I once heard there are two types of readers in the world.

There are serious people who read. These are people who read books and then they gather together to talk about the books they have read. They seem to have great insights and criticisms of all the latest “best” authors. They know about and have read the great writers of the past and seem to always be able to pull out their names and insert them into any conversation. They are well read and it shows.

But the Serious Reader is the little boy who was sent to bed at 8 PM. He is upstairs in his bedroom with the covers pulled over his head. He has his flashlight out and is reading Robinson Crusoe because he just can’t put it down. It’s just too good.

When it comes to Bible reading many people approach it like serious people who read. They seem to know a lot about where things are in the Bible, what the latest is in Biblical interpretation, who the best authors about the Bible are, and so on. I once worked with a guy named Rocky. His knowledge of the Bible was amazing. His knowledge of the writings of the “Christian Fathers” was beyond anything I could achieve. But he didn’t know Jesus. He just knew writings. He was a Serious Person who reads.

We need a lot more Serious Readers of the Bible. People who read just to experience the stories. People who get caught up in the stories of Jesus. People who get out their flashlights and get under the covers and read their Bibles because they just can’t stop.

Digging for Bible Gold

One of my favorite illustrations about studying the Bible came from Barbara Boyd, a legend in InterVarsity circles:

“Imagine you are out for a walk in the mountains. As you walk along you look down and there on the ground is a gold nugget. This would be very exciting and profitable. You would probably pick it up, run home and tell all your friends about it and maybe even cash it in. It would be a very good day indeed.

But now imagine that instead of running off you got out your shovel and began to dig down deeper in the soil. Eventually, due to your hard labor, you found the “mother lode” of gold. THAT would be a much greater thing and an even better day.”

It’s the same for Bible study. Sometimes it’s great to get that “nugget” from the Bible. Those are great days. But when we take the effort to dig down deep we can find the “mother lode” of truth – and that truly is a greater thing! (Luke 6:47-48)

A New Year’s Resolution Worth Keeping

As I opened my newspaper this morning I saw there was an “Aldi’s” ad in it. I love Aldi’s ads – you never know what amazing special buys they might have. But when I looked at it I realized I should have known what would be there: it was all exercise equipment and low fat meals. It’s that time of the year again – when we all make new year’s resolutions and one of the most popular is to eat better and exercise. There are many great deals on exercise equipment out there.

Now I don’t want to put these resolutions down – many of us, especially me, need to make these resolutions and do our best to keep them. But when I see these sales I think that there is a resolutions that I think if far more important, a resolution with eternal benefits. A resolution that chooses the better thing – the thing that can’t be taken away (Luke 10:38-42). This is the resolution to sit at the feet of Jesus. A resolution to spend more time knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and following Jesus. For those of us who seek spiritual matters I think there can be no better thing than to be devoted to Jesus and being devoted to knowing Him more. And devotion takes time and effort, and so many of us struggle in this area. So here are three resolutions to make that many of us need to make:

1. Pray more.

I saw a skit about prayer many years ago. The skit compared praying to breathing. It was funny with segments about people who take a long time to breath, breath in groups and so on. But the ending was powerful for me: If we quit breathing, we die. I believe when we quit praying be begin to die spiritually. Prayer needs to be our spiritual breath. Prayer isn’t about just asking God for things. It is communing with God. Prayer can, and should, include worship, thanksgiving, petition, and even silence. Faithful prayer can change a day. (see Philippians 4:6-7).

One of the problems of trying to pray more is so often we are inspired by a person’s testimony about how they prayed in some amazing way, and then we try to be like them and fail and get discouraged. My story is that when I was a young Christian I heard a Martin Luther quote that goes something like “I have so much to do today I must get up three hours early to pray for the day.” (I’ve heard many variations of this quote since then so I’m not so sure what is the correct quote). I heard this at church when I was in college not long before finals, so I decided to apply the quote and I began rising 3 hours early to pray. At first it went well but then I began finding it a burden. Not that it was a burden to pray, but it was a burden to rise at 2:30 AM every morning. That’s when I realized that it’s not how much I pray, rather it is important that I pray. As often as I can.

So what to do? Take steps you can handle and take time to grow! I once read a booklet titled “7 minutes with God.” If you rarely pray or you only pray before tests and meals, then maybe 7 minutes of prayer in the morning would be a great place to start. My personal experience is the more I pray, the more I want to pray. 7 minutes will soon seem to short of a time. Then it’s time to find more time to pray. Maybe add evening prayers to your morning prayer routine, or find a prayer partner to pray with, or join a weekly prayer meeting, or take 5 minutes out of a lunch break to slip away and pray, or – what are your ideas?

The point is can you imagine the impact in this world if we all made the resolution to pray more. The Bible is full of verses about prayer (Some of my favorites are Matthew 7:7-11; James 1:5; 1 John 5:14-15) and is full of examples of prayerful people (Nehemiah, Daniel, Jesus, and Acts 4 always come to my mind).

2. Read the Bible more.

“and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17.

This is one of the first Bible verses I memorized. It really says it all:

• The Bible makes us wise for salvation.
• The Bible is breathed by God.
• It is useful for teaching.
• It is useful for rebuking. (rebuking me!)
• It is useful for correcting.
• It is useful for training in righteousness.

The Bible is these things SO THAT God’s people (literally the Man of God) may be thoroughly equipped for EVERY good work.

Need we say anything else? If you want to be thoroughly equipped then read the Bible more!

Yet for so many of us the Bible is only an accessory in our hands for when we go to church. We have the words of life and yet we don’t have the time to read them. It’s like walking around with a See’s California Brittle candy in our hand while wishing we had some chocolate to eat. It doesn’t make sense. (For those not from the West coast – See’s candy is the best chocolate and the California brittle is my personally favorite.)

So, another great resolution is to read our Bibles more often. There are so many books to read that will help us know how to read the Bible, but my favorite way is to just start reading and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us (and then seek friends to help us answer our questions.)
Here’s a simple system:

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and help you understand
2. Pick a whole book of the Bible and commit to read all the way through it over the next few months. If you are new to reading the Bible pick a narrative book, like any of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
3. Read what feels like one story or section. Don’t worry about the chapters, just read what feels right.
4. Answer these questions: Who is there? What is happening? Where is it happening? When is it happening? Writing it down helps.
5. Now ask “What do I learn about Jesus? What do I learn about God? Is there a command I should follow? Is there a promise here for me?”
6. What are you going to do about what you have learned? Write down what difference this lesson will make in your life. Make sure you include an “Action Step” so you can take action on what you are learning.
7. Write down any questions you might have. Ask your friends these questions or post it on facebook and see what answers you get (make sure you check with your most experience friends on what you are learning). Later in life you might want to buy some good books to help you do research – like a Bible dictionary (you can also search the web – there are some decent free Bible dictionaries out there.)
8. Again, you don’t need to feel you must spend a lot of time on this. Enjoy it and let that set the time for it. Maybe start with another 7 minutes. Maybe you’ll have to read the same passage many days in a row to understand it all. I think that is actually a fun read to really dig into the Bible. What are some deeper truths.

One final comment – small groups with friends, official or unofficial, are a great way to dig into the meaning of the Bible – don’t deprive yourself the opportunity to study the Bible with your friends!

3. Serve more. (Matthew 25)

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:40

Jesus says what we do for others we do for Him! We see Jesus when we help others. Who are the people around you that need your help? Who are the people in your community that would benefit from some time you can give? It can be time. It can be money. But if you have the time and ability to read a blog, you probably have the time and resources to serve others.

How can you help the homeless?

How can you help schools? (did you know they need people to read to kids?)

How about helping the elderly in nursing homes?

There is so much we can do – and in doing it we serve Jesus and grow closer to Him!
If you don’t know what to do, check out the Cobblestone Project: http://www.cobblestoneproject.org/Home.aspx

Those are just three ideas. There are so more. I pray you will enjoy all your New Year’s resolutions and that we all will know Jesus better. (see Eph. 1:17)

Good Eats on Hwy 40

My family and I just finished a Christmas trip from Arkansas to the Central Coast of California, to the bay area, and then back to Arkansas. It was a great visit to California to see both Cynthia’s Family and my family – I think it’s been a long time since we got to see all our relatives in one Christmas season (except my Nephew Tyler, who works for the GOP in a covert operation with the “other government agency” somewhere overseas). At least that is what his brother told me. But I want to talk about Hwy 40.

Hwy 40 is a straight line from Arkansas to California, or at least is seems that way. You get to go through the desert of Oklahoma (at least it looks like a desert), the desert of Texas, the high deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, and end with the desert of California (ending in Barstow, where my Aunt and cousins live). This may sound boring but I actually like much of the trip – esp. New Mexico.

The other significant thing about this trip is you drive through very few big cities. It’s mostly small town after small town (Hwy 40 sort of bypasses Route 66 so there is lots of connection between the two. One year the kids and I drove from California to Arkansas following much of Route 66 looking for locations and things from the movie “Cars”, which is about Route 66. We actually found the town Radiator Springs was modeled after (we received a tip on where this was), we found “Mater” in Arizona, and the Gas station in Shamrock Texas.)

One of the challenges of a long road trip is finding places to eat. There is fast food all along the route but we try to avoid that on long trips. Our favorite “system” is to eat a nice sit down lunch after about 3 hours of driving, then get back on the road and drive until dark and eat something quick near our hotel, preferable in our hotel room so we can kick back. You would think good food might be scarce in all these deserts but actually there are three places we have found that have become favorites that we actually look forward to!

First there is Del’s in Tucumcari New Mexico. Del’s is actually one of my favorite restaurants in the world! I discovered Del’s many years ago on a solo trip to California. I arrived in town after a long day of driving and checked into my hotel. I asked the clerk who had the best food in Tucumcari and she said locals argue between Del’s and some other place. Del’s was right next door so I went there. It was one of the most memorable meals in my life! I was so tired when I went in, I was rejuvenated when I left! I had a carne asada steak, cooked perfectly, and various toppings including some great hot peppers. I then asked if they had desserts and she said they had one piece of Chocolate pie left over. I got it and was in heaven. My family has stopped at Del’s every trip since, and they haven’t had any Chocolate pie left over on any subsequent visits, but they make a great Lemon Meringue too! Even my brother stopped there a trip out to visit us and he agreed it was good. Del’s makes a great stop.

Our second favorite spot is also in New Mexico – Grant’s New Mexico. It’s called Surf Shack Pizza. Grants is a great stopping point for us because it gives a short day’s drive the next day to the Grand Canyon, where we often stop for a day or two for a break. The first time we discovered Surf Shack was after a long day. We arrived at the hotel and crashed. We saw ad in our hotel room for Surf Shack pizza and we thought we’re too tired to go find food so let’s try it. It was such a treat. They make a fine pizza and we’ve eaten there many times since. However, they let us down this year! We were driving home and we were in a hurry. WE actually had hoped to drive further that day but icy conditions was slowing us down. When we decided to go ahead and stop at Grants we were excited because that meant Surf Shack on New Year’s eve! We checked into our room and called right away, only to find out they were closed. What pizza place closes on New Year’s Eve? How can we party in Grants without Surf Shack pizza. Despondent my wife and I went back out into the icy roads (it was minus 7 outside) and drove around looking for something other than fast food. We ended up eating at someplace with golden arches, what a letdown! (however I did order some sort of flatbread meal that was actually decent. I don’t know if that’s just for New Mexico or if it’s everywhere but it was better than eating some grey meat inside a bun). So it’s been over two years since we ate at Surf Shack so I don’t remember WHY I like the pizza, I just remember I do. Hopefully on a future trip we’ll eat there again and remember why it’s so good.

Our last place was the surprise of this year’s trip – and Surf Shack being closed probably led to this discovery. My wife doesn’t love pizza, but as we approached Shamrock Texas, our stop on the way home after Grants, my wife turned to me and said “I want pizza tonight since we didn’t get any last night.” As a pizza lover this is one of the best things my wife can say to me! That’s when we discovered Cicero's Green Frog Pizza in Shamrock Texas. Wow. They actually have Calzone also so my daughter and I ordered Calzones, my son had a pizza, and my wife for some reason got spaghetti and salad, after saying she wanted pizza. The calzones were great. The dough had character and the sauce had just a little spice to it. Everyone else enjoyed their food too.

So now we have a great beginning to our almost annual trip: 6 hours to Shamrock Texas and eat at Green Frog Pizza. Next day leave Shamrock at 9 AM and arrive at Del’s in Tucumcari New Mexico for lunch. Drive the rest of the day and stay in Grant’s and have Surf Shack deliver pizza (My son and I will enjoy pizza two nights in a row, but not so sure my wife will, I might have to figure a way to make this work). Someday I need to find a great New Mexico cuisine location other than pizza, and we need to find something great in Arizona, probably in Flagstaff or in Kingman, but at least we have good eats at the beginning of our trip (and on the end of the return trip).

(By the way, we didn’t eat there but my Aunt in Barstow says that the California Mexican Chain “Del Taco” started in Barstow California and that the Barstow locations taste different because they don’t actually belong to the chain of Del Tacos. We didn’t eat there but we hope to in the future and find out why Barstow Del Tacos are the best.)