New Life'n

Not religious, but

Email from a listener-- there's been several like this:

We all love the show Survivor and I've often listened to Leslie state how she would like to be on that show.  Now that her dream has come true she has touched many lives already, including my family's.  By that I mean we were having the discussion last Sat about her statement "I'm not religious but I'm a believer of Jesus Christ."  Now I don't know if that is exactly what was stated but it was the first part of the statement that precipitated the conversation with my family.

...I tried, unsuccessfully to explain to my sister that you could be a Christian and not be religious.  She wouldn't bite. My niece however, was sitting right there with me trying to back me up with her limited knowledge...I'm very excited that she is interested and that maybe a seed that has been planted might be in the early stages of sprouting...would you be able to give me your thoughts on being a Christian and not being religious?

OK, my thoughts:  Well, I could say I was religious but that wouldn't necessarily tell you anything.  One definition of religious is, 'conscientiously faithful.'  So I used to be religious about rock and roll.  And beer.  Or I could be religious in the sense that I was Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist or Protestant or Catholic -- but those are all different religions, so you still wouldn't know what I meant.

Almost all those religions have to do with what I have to do to qualify to get to God, to go to heaven.

Christianity is different.  It's about what God did for me.  I ran my own life and could NOT qualify for heaven.  I deserved to be punished for running my own life.  Running my own life is not right, and running my own life is not good for me.  I think it's kind of like God owns my life, and it's a big crime if I steal it from him to use it for myself.   

But God loves me and doesn't want to punish me, so Jesus, a person and God, took my punishment for me.  When I believed that -- accepted that -- personally, for me, from him, then I was set free.  Rescued.  Plus, I get this personal relationship with him.

Religion didn't rescue me.  Being religious didn't rescue me.  A person, Jesus, rescued me. 

So, since it's possible to be religious and interested in God -- and yet still run your own life, without ever being rescued by Jesus -- some people want to make sure you know what they mean, and they say, "I'm not religious, but I do have a personal relationship with Jesus."

Thanks for asking!

Randoms 21

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had communion on the moon.  His handwritten notes were never read on TV (NASA was afraid of lawsuits).  Someone just paid $180,000 for the notes.

What young people think about Christianity -- not much

Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a "good impression" of Christianity,...A decade ago, the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society...

Common negative perceptions among non-Christians is that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87 percent), hypocritical (85 percent), old-fashioned (78 percent), and too involved in politics (75 percent).

12 books to help you learn about Christianity -- and here's a slightly bigger list.

Foods that make kids smarter -- not a Pop Tart to be found...

And another reason God invented hands...

Smellin' beeaaauutiful hot dogs

Things our daughter heard her kids say in the past week:

In the car, on the way to preschool, each twin has a doll. Their conversation, word for word:

Ava Grace: My mommy's home but my daddy's not...he died.

Stella: Oh. Maybe God can bring him back

AG: But you can't see him cuz He's all around.

S: I see Him under my bed.

AG: How 'bout you be God.

S: Ok. Hi. I'm God.

AG: Hey, how 'bout you be Mary.

S: Ok. I'm Mary. (singing) Mary had a little lamb, little lamb...

And a few more...

Ava Grace says in an a loud whine, "Mommy, I really want to get in my mouth..."

Ava Grace says to my mom in the midst of crying while pointing to the air beside her, "Look! There's other Gracie. See her? She's right there." (should I be worried?)

Walking past a restaurant, Stella sweetly declares, "I smell a beeaaauutiful hot dog."

And one more quote, not from my kids, but from a mom at a birthday party last weekend:

kid at party: Mommy, can I have another piece of cake?

Mom: No honey, I want you to have something healthy first. Here's a chicken nugget.

Not a whole lotta love

There are all kinds of conversations taking place about Leslie walking out of the temple on Survivor last week.  She's shut down her daughter Sephanie's "My Mom's a Survivor" blog because the meanness in some of the comments were getting to the kids.  However, you can still read and participate in the 'discussions' that people around the country are having...

HERE is the CBS message board dedicated to Leslie.

For the official CBS Survivor discussion boards go HERE

Within all those, there's Why all the hatred toward Leslie?

And Standing up for Jesus

And religious stand, and what is worship...(and lots more)

Remember, some of these places might be very un-family friendly at times -- perhaps your thoughtful, graceful participation will be an influence...

What would you have done?

What are YOU a survivor of?

OK, let's share.  You know you're a survivor of something.  It may involve serious things like a bad wreck, or the Big C, or divorce, or your spiritual journey.  Or maybe everyday things like 10th grade, mom's broccoli casserole, or...that moment up on the cliff with Chief Wabahoohoo (yikes!).

We've set up the What are YOU a survivor of? group on YouTube so we can share survivor story vidoes with each other and the world.  Just make a little video -- use your digital camera, or a video camera if you've got one, or even your phone.  Show, or tell your story in a minute or two.  It can be simple or fancy, serious or silly -- whatever you want. 

To sign up with YouTube, go HERE -- you can learn there how to upload your video.

To view the What are YOU a survivor of? videos, go HERE (it just started) -- you can also join the group there.

Here's an example...your story will be much better than this, easy...

I'M A SURVIVOR OF MY GRANDKIDS

Randoms 20

New recipe Brenda's dying to try -- Santa Fe Wraps.  She saw Paula Dean make them.  Brenda's always making new things she hasn't made before -- I think it's like a hobby for her.  She has stacks of cookbooks.  I get the benefit.

Three ideas for story Bibles for kids

How to pack clothes so they don't need ironing -- you bundle them all around some central core object (I suggest one of the giant-sized boxes of Oreo cookies...that'll ensure you unpack as soon as you get there). 

If you're asking, how can I believe the Bible is true? you might read THIS

If you're asking, how can I grow as a Christian? you might check out A Small List of Good Books.

Leslie makes a new big friend on Survivor

You got to make the morning last

Emily again.  We're the parents...and by the way, yes, we did go mad...

HURRY UP AND BE PATIENT

When my parents first got their dog, Delly, I thought they had gone mad. My mom doesn't like dogs, at least that's what I thought. But they were living in Austin and we were all on the east coast and they were lonely. So they got a dog. I remember when she was a puppy and they would take her out to do her business, they would say the phrase "Hurry up, delly...hurry up!" real fast and sing-songy...they said it was her trigger to go ahead and pee or...whatever.

Sometimes I hear myself telling my girls to hurry up...but then I can't figure out why. There are those days when we are late to preschool or an appointment and I simply don't have time to wait for them to buckle their own car seat belt. But a lot of the time, we are going to the park or Target or someplace where time isn't a factor. Still, I hear those words come from my mouth...."Come on girls...hurry up. Put your shoes on, hurry up. Let's go to the car. Close the door. Come on! Hurry up!"  Why do I do that?

I read something in the booklet that their Sunday school teacher sends home each week -- it said instead of telling your child to hurry up, give yourself a chance to slow down!  Let your child set the pace.

Oh. I'd never thought of that.

A chance to slow down. Now there's a novel idea.

Want to slow down traffic in your neighborhood?

This probably won't work (guess what did).  And did you know Hot Wheels makes a radar gun for kids? 

This guy tried his own neighborhood speed trap.