HuffPost: 5 Things To Say and 5 Things NOT To Say

In the wake of this tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, Huffington Post posted an article describing 5 things to say to children, and 5 things NOT to say.  Here is a summary of the article.

5 Things NOT To Say:

1. "God just needed another angel."

Not a good idea.  Little children may think that someone dying means they become an angel.  So, when grandma dies, she becomes an angel.  This is NOT true.  Matthew 22:30 says, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."  Angels are not super humans.  Angels are messengers from God.  Although the specific time frame was never specified in the Bible about when angels were created, we DO know that God created them.  Colossians  1:16-17 says,  “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  No, grandma is not an angel.  

2. "Thank goodness you have other children," or, "You're young. You can have more kids."

This is simply a horrific thing to say to a grieving parent.  It's like saying, "Don't worry.  Kids can be easily replaced."

3. He/she was just on loan to you from God.

Apparently, God uses his power to create some happiness for you, and then decided to take your happiness away simply because he can.

4. God doesn't give you more than you can handle.

Really?  Why does God allow your neighbor's wife to leave him right after losing his children in a house fire, all the while after losing his job?

5. We may not understand it, but this was God's will.

How do you know God's will?

5 Things We Should Say

1. I don't believe God wanted this or willed it.

No, God doesn't want us to suffer.  God has feelings too.  He gets upset.

2. It's okay to be angry, and I'm a safe person for you express that anger to if you need it.

Be the friend that they can talk to about whatever needs to be talked about.   In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote in her book, On Death and Dying, that there are 5 stages of grief.  

1.) Denial:  I feel fine.

2.) Anger:   Why me!?  It's not fair!

3.) Bargaining:  I'll do this to have a few more years to say goodbye.  

4.) Depression:  Why even bother going on?  Just end it now.

5.) Acceptance:  It's ok.  I can't fight this, so I might as well prepare for it.

3.  It's not okay.

It's really not okay to lose 30 people in a school shooting.  Any sane person can deduce that.

4.  I don't know why it happened.

This is just being honest.  If you're looking to me for answers, YOU'VE DEFINITELY COME TO THE WRONG PLACE. 

5. I can't imagine what you are going through, but I am here to support you in whatever way feels best.

Just be a friend.

Please pray for those affected by not only this tragedy, but those affected by the tragedies of similar proportions in the past.

For What Reason Do You Worship or Pray To God?

I've been interning at a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee for the past month and half.  While down here, I've been attending St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, just northeast of Nashville.

An interesting question came up in adult Sunday school last week.

"Do you worship and pray to God because you want him to give you something, or do you worship and pray to God because of who he is?"

Wow....that was like a punch to my face.  I never really thought about that.  Do I worship/pray to God because I want something, or do I worship/pray to God because he's God?

First of all, what do I want in general?

-A nice job
-A nice family
-A nice house
-A nice car
-To be healthy
-To be happy
-To be...
-To be...
-To be...

I can go on and on for days.

What if we don't get what we want?

"I want some of grandma's cookies, so I'll write her a letter. "
"No cookies, grandma?  I'm never going to talk to you ever again."

Only God knows what I've prayed for, and never received.

Here's a great story about what I'm talking about.

“Prayer is not about coming to the Lord to ask Him to give us anything we want. It’s about connecting with God on a personal level –and in the way He commands us to.”

He commands us.....hmmm....where have I heard that before?

Not again.  Are you going back to that freakishly-long Lord's Prayer post/paper/essay again?  Yes, I am.  God commands us to pray like this.

"Dear God above, please let me do YOUR will -- not my will.  Help me to do it here on earth.  Show me some spare time where I can read the Bible and pray to you more often.  Please forgive my sins, and the sins of others.  Don't let me fall back into sin, either.  Keep me away from Satan's power, and help me be closer to you, because you have the power to do all of this.  Amen."

During today's Sunday school class, we were talking about Ecclesiastes, and how negative it appears.  I  was struck while reading this last night.....

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 

I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under Heaven.  What a heavy burden God has laid on men!  I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless (Hevel= vanity, emptiness, false gods, shit), a chasing after the wind.....Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but i learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.  For with much wisdom comes sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

....but I want knowledge!  I pray to be smarter!  Chicks dig smart guys!  After reading this passage, I was reminded of the movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.   In this movie, Indie (Harrison Ford) and several others are captured by a group who want a crystal skull that Indie and his son, Henry "Mutt Williams" Walton (Shia LaBeouf), have.  Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchette), the antagonist, is determined to put the last Crystal Skull on the last incomplete crystal skeleton, because she believes a legend that the person who returns the skull will gain all the knowledge of the universe because she wants to utilize its power to better the Soviet Union's military.  Indie and his gang lets her put the skull back.  When she does this, her eyes catch on fire, and she disintegrates into dust because her brain can't comprehend what all is going on.  She overloads.

Why do we want to knowledge?  Why do we want to become like God?  Honestly, I don't think I want to know everything there is to know about everything.  I don't think I can take that kind of stress.  Look what happened to Bruce Noland (Jim Carrey) in Bruce Almighty.  He thought he could do a better job at being God (Morgan Freeman) than God did.  When God offered Bruce the job, he took it.  Bruce just couldn't deal with all the prayers being asked at once.  Bruce couldn't deal with people asking for petty things like, "Let me win the lottery," or, "Let me lose weight on the Krispy Kream diet."  I don't think I can deal with that kind of frivolousness.  

Can you?

"Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Can you get me a cookie?  Are we there yet?  Can we eat something?  Are we there yet?  Can I go potty?  I really need to potty!!!  She's pointing at me!  She's staring at me!  Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?!!!"

I guess this is all just a "ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ITS ALL ABOUT ME" kind of thing....the world revolves around ME.  I've seen a teenage girl in a t-shirt that says, "The World Revolves Around Me."  I can't help but think how sorry she's going to be when she moves out of mommy and daddy's house and can't get a job because she's too much into herself, and that the boss really isn't going to give one crap about her.  I'm sure God gets pretty frustrated with me and everyone else who constantly whine about "me, my, mine," prayers.

I don't think it's a bad thing to ask for green lights between the house and work, but just be aware of what you're praying for, and leave these things for last.  Ask God for what is most important:  That you have a good, solid relationship with him.  After being forgiven, you might get all green lights, but you're stuck behind Old Lady Jones who is 90 years old and can't see over the steering wheel and dashboard in her ginormous 1984 Buick.

Maybe there's a reason Old Lady Jones is holding you back from work.  Maybe while on your way to work, you get a call from your boss that you don't have to come in today for one reason or another.  If you were at work when that happened, how much more frustrated would you be than if you were halfway there?  ("I drove 30 miles for this?")  You can just zip a U-turn and head right back home, take your pants off, and flop back into bed!


Thank you, God, for being patient with me.  Thank you for putting your own son to death to save us from our sins.  Thank you for being you.


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If I don't see you again for a while,  have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year!!!

Is Jesus Real?

Interesting Q/A from The Lutheran Hour broadcast on Sunday mornings on 650AM WSM.

For the past few weeks they've been answering questions about Christmas.  Today's question was in regards to the actual date of Christ's birth.  Wasn't December 25th a pagan festival?

-Jesus' real life, real death, and real resurrection are important for our lives.  However, I don't think it really matters what date it was on, as long as it was completed.

-Early Christians didn't have a specific date to celebrate the birth of Christ (there was no Twitter back then).

@TheRealGod4857*: Yay!! Son just #born! He will somday #save u.


Here is what really interested me.  Just because Dec. 25 is borrowed from a pagan festival, this proves Christianity is another human-created religion trying to get power.

There are over 24,000 pieces of documents of eye witness accounts and facts.  

There are only 49 ancient documents about Aristotle.

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*Not a real Twitter account.