Halloween & Book Review

Michael as a Ninja
Halloween 2007
5 years old

Tonight I am planning to go with my sister and Michael as he goes trick or treating. He is going to be Batman the Dark Knight, but I don't have a picture of that yet. I included this cute ninja Mike picture from last year instead. :-)



Finished reading Standing With Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State written by American Jew, David Brog. He discusses Christian Zionism's roots, love, devotion and good works for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. I can say that I understand the Christian Zionist's mindset and reasons since they are based on the Bible. I still have a huge problem with how the Palestinians have been treated. I have longer notes about this book in my Gmail storage under the "Israel" label. I may write more about this here later.

Chase the Lion -- chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5 -- Guaranteed Uncertainty

The chapter began with a quote from Oswald Chamber. Really think about this:

"To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation."

The author suggests, "you have to do something counterintuitive if you want to reach your God-given potential and fulfill your God-given destiny. Sometimes you have to run away from security and chase uncertainty." (e.g. Abraham, Noah, Jonathan) (pg. 81)



"Lion chasers challenge the status quo. . . . [They] are often considered crazy, but they are able to do these things because they aren't afraid of uncertainty. They don't need to know what is coming next because they know that God knows. They don't need explanations for every disappointment because they know God has a plan. Lion chasers refuse to settle down because they want to experience every divine twist and turn that God has in store for them." (pg. 82)

"Stop spending all your energy making plans for God, and start seeking God." (pg. 100) -- think of Pentecost where the people prayed and waited on God


"So if life is infinitely uncertain and God is infinitely complex, then all we can do is accept our finitude and embrace uncertainty. . . . Faith doesn't reduce uncertainty. Faith embraces uncertainty. . . . Complications are often a byproduct of blessing." -- Marriage, children, wealth, success - all these complicate life. (pg. 85)

The author reflects, "The longer I live, the more I think that spiritual maturity is less about figuring out the future and more about moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Spirit of God. . . . I just don't think spiritual maturity results in higher degrees of predictability." (pg. 86)

Mark suggests we are control freaks who "want a complete itinerary with everything mapped out. . . .But faith involves a loss of control [and] the loss of certainty." (pg. 87)

"Following Christ reduces spiritual uncertainty, but it doesn't reduce circumstantial uncertainty." (pg. 100)

"Our confidence is contingent upon the character of God. . . . Some of your experiences won't make sense this side of eternity, but lion chasers know that God is connecting the dots in ways they can't comprehend. Lion chasers are humble enough to let God call the shots and brave enough to follow where He leads." (pg. 98-99)



Chapter 6 -- Playing It Safe Is Risky

"Good is often the enemy of great. . . . Faith is renouncing lesser goods for something greater. And it always involves a calculated risk. I'm convinced that the only thing between you and your destiny is one small act of courage." (pg. 106)

About stepping out in faith, the author says we most always second-guess ourselves. Did Jesus really tell me to do this? We "stop focusing on Jesus and start focusing on the wind and the waves." (pg. 112)

"Most of us want absolute certainty before we step out in faith. We love 100-percent money-back guarantees. But the problem with that is this: It takes faith out of the equation. There is no such thing as risk-free faith. And you can't experience success without risking failure." (pg. 114)


Lots of food for thought!

Happy Birthday!

Today my dad is 61 ... wow!

Just wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to my Papa! :-)

I got tagged . . . Random things about me

A friend tagged me on Facebook today. Here are the instructions and what I wrote. I figured I'd post it here as well. Doing this made me think back to some of my favorite memories. Yes, my life is oh-so-exciting, eh?


Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, its because I want to know more about you :-)



1. I am the oldest of four children. The next oldest is my brother who is just 16 months younger than I. The "baby" is almost 13 years younger and in between Daniel and David is a sister, Stephanie, who is almost 7 years younger than I am. Daniel and I used to play like we were brothers growing up. When Steph came along, she joined our "brotherhood" for short time. Then Daniel and I grew out of it, and I was a sister again.

2. For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed talking to people who are not from my area. Whether they were merely Yankees or genuine foreigners, I have always enjoyed talking about cultural/regional differences and languages/accents. It's just one of my thrills in life, I reckon. When we went to New York City a few years ago, I wanted to know from which Asian country this particular group of tourists came. We were on a ferry at the time. Unfortunately, they were not the look-around-and-make- eye-contact variety although I tried and tried to get someone to look my way so I could begin a conversation. FINALLY a short man looked up and saw me so I smiled and asked "where are y'all from?" China! Ahhhh, he then practiced his English on me and asked how he was doing with it. So cute.


3. One of my favorite memories from my teen years is being a page in Raleigh. Although I was scared about going, my dad insisted that I go and I ended up loving it! In fact, the next few years, I went to Raleigh as much as I could each summer. I even lived with Representative Peggy Wilson for a couple of weeks and went with her to a reception then Governor Jim Martin held at the governor's mansion for the GOP members. (Rep. Wilson didn't have time to drop me off at her apartment so she said to come along as Gov. Martin wouldn't mind.)

4. I was a page the week of July 4th. In celebration, they wanted a few pages to each read one of the Bill of Rights in front of the NC House of Representatives. I read one of them and afterwards Rep. Bill Hurley (D-Cumberland County) came up to me and said his mom was a Fuqua. After checking the family tree once I got home, I found out we had the same ggg-grandfather.

5. Somewhere I have a picture of me from my sophomore year of high school when I went with a couple of my teachers and some juniors to the Republican National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. We had a great time and met the Republic of Georgia's President (?) who was meeting with Representative Howard Coble at that time. I have an official Washington picture of our group and those foreigners as well. (I like foreigners.)

6. The most common spelling of my name is with a "z," but since mine is really short for Susanna, mine is spelled with an "s." Although my name is often misspelled because of this, what I like about the "s" spelling is that my name begins how Jesus ends. And I have "usa" in there as well. Two "things" that I love: Jesus and the USA.

7. In high school, I played basketball and had many lovely nicknames because my basketball coach loved nicknaming me. *ahem* He also taught me how to drive and when he saw my dad coming out of the school building upon our return to the school, Mr. B got out of the car and kissed the ground and said "thank you, God!" trying to make my dad think I was a terrible driver. (You just had to know Mr. B.)

8. I usually buy 10 to 20 lbs of carrots every 10 days or so. This week I got a little crazy and bought 28 lbs. People who see my cart full of carrots often ask if I have a horse. No, just a juicer that loves carrots.

9. While at ACC one of my teachers, Division Chairman Byron Robinson, once asked me to see him in his office. He gave me a Gideon New Testament and asked if I ever thought about becoming a pastor.

10. On my first posture performance in freshman speech (high school), I made an E minus. My dad's reaction was, "An E minus? I've never even heard of an E minus." Thankfully I improved a lot and made an A on my Robert E. Lee speech later that year.(Actually it may have been an A- because I went over and had points subtracted for that.)

11. When I went to the WILDS with my high school, each morning we had to tidy our room before we all met for flag raising. The girls in my room woke up late (because we stayed up past lights out talking and laughing and eating) so we were scrambling to get ready. I personally emptied the trash can three times in an effort to clean the room, but still our room was messy and the five of us were punished by picking grass off the steps. I still remember we passed the time by singing "I've been working on the railroad" and other tunes.

12. With few exceptions, I hate talking on the telephone. I much prefer face-to-face talks with my friends or keeping in touch by e-mailing or instant messaging or posting on blogs and group forums.


13. I've always been interested in names. Years ago this interest lead me to Babycenter.com where I ended up meeting a great group of ladies who have remained dear friends. Never knew I could grow to love people I never met before until then.


14. I love my dear nephew Michael. I often go to McDonald's with him where we hang out sometimes for hours. We have made many friends there over the last couple of years. It's great to go there and know the workers' names. By the way, most of them call me "Susie." (I think they got that from Michael.)


15. About two years ago I prayed for God to help me see people with compassion and love. Since then He brought people into my life that others may find undesirable, but I have learned to care for them deeply. I am very thankful for what God has taught me through them.


16. At a time when I was a bit disenchanted with some things about Christianity, God used devout Muslims to make His Son more precious to me.

Muslims, Christians, Jesus -- Book Review

Muslims, Christians, Jesus by Carl Medearis is one of the best books I read this year because it speaks to my growing love and compassion for Muslims that I feel God has given me since meeting my Syrian friends last year. I found this at the same bookstore near where I found another of the best books I read this year, The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross which I wrote about a few months ago. Both authors have a tender, loving attitude towards Muslims and they do not demonize the lot of them as many in the West have done. In fact, they demonize none of them.

In the forward of this book, Floyd McClung wrote that "The problem with the war on terrorism is that it can put us on the defensive. God is looking for people who will go out on a grace offensive, people who forgive and reach out in love." (pg. 10) This is my desire. Perhaps if I had been directly affected by 9/11 -- had a loved one killed -- I'd feel differently, but right now I do not. Instead of lumping all Muslims into the category of terrorists, I want to reach out to them with grace and love. Why not seek to understand their perspective instead of seeking to take our anger and revenge out on them for the sins of others? Are we any better than the 9/11 terrorists if we kill innocent people in our quest to keep terrorists off our soil? Some would justify that that is the price of war. True, but is it right? Does it make us morally superior?

Anyway...this is supposed to be a book review not a political statement. :-)


Carl Medearis tells us that he is "only a follower of Jesus who loves Muslims" and then says his book was written to "give you some information to help you befriend a Muslim and practical tips on how to live a life that's truly Good News to a Muslim." (pg. 18) Sounds like a winner to me!

There is way more good stuff in this book that I can possibly share. I highlighted a lot and then that still left a great deal that could have been highlighted. But then the whole book would have been pink! Pages that I noted:

Page 16 when Carl realized "I love these people," and that it was not his love that kept him serving in the Middle East, but God's love for them.

Page 33 -- "The most important thing we can do as followers of Jesus is to do just that. Follow him. Jesus himself is the Good News. . . . Jesus had compassion for people, and he valued the same quality in his disciples, even above personal sacrifice."

Carl reminds us often in his book -- point people to Jesus. Everything else is secondary.


Page 130 -- "For the spiritual person there can be no apathy." and "By choosing an attitude of love and compassion towards people we don't understand, and toward an intimidatingly unknown religion, we not only see fear and suspicion diminish, we begin to build bridges. Bridges that lead to Jesus, the Prince of Peace."

Page 131-- from Mother Teresa -- "I never think in terms of a crowd, but of individual persons. ... I believe in the personal touch of one to one."

Carl tells us to build true friendships, point people to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit do His job.

Page 145 -- "I have discovered that when I fear God, there is no room in my heart to be afraid of men. When I fear God, I don't care about a loss of reputation or a fear of the future. I am secure. This allows me to be non-defensive, gentle, and above all, Christ-focused."

Page 145 -- "I pray that you too can find Jesus in the eyes and heart of your Muslim friend; that you can see him as a child searching for his father; and that you can take him by the hand and walk the journey of life and faith together -- one step at a time."

Page 178 -- I loved the story about Carl's "unfair advantage."

This book was great. Carl just encourages us to find common ground with our Muslim friends, not to debate the differences, but simply point them to Jesus' teachings. Carl gives great illustrations, good advice and interesting information made easy to understand.

I greatly enjoyed this book!

Chase the Lion -- chapter 4

I'm back to reading this lion book after taking a few days off to read something else while Andrew finished this one. He enjoyed it greatly!

Chapter 4 -- The Art of Reframing

Some thoughts . . .

"Opportunities often look like insurmountable obstacles. . . . to take advantage of these opportunities, we have to learn to see problems in a new way -- God's way. Then our biggest problems may just start looking like our greatest opportunities." (pg. 61)

The author suggests we need to "rethink prayer" by reminding us that often our prayers are aimed at problem reduction. (Yeah!) He writes, "Many of our prayers are misguided. We pray for comfort instead of character. We pray for an easy way out instead of the strength to make it through. We pray for no pain, when the results would be no gain. We pray that God will keep us out of pits and away from lions. But if God answered our prayer, it would rob us of our greatest opportunities. . . .Maybe we should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances." (pg. 64)

Is the problem our circumstances or our perspective of them? God sees the big picture clearly while we see as one "looking through a peephole. So why do we assume that what we pray for is always what's best for us? If we could see what God sees, we would pray very different prayers." (pg. 65)

When we focus on our problems, we tend to get down and frustrated. At those times the author suggested we "zoom out" through worship. "Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what is right with God. Reframing problems is about shifting focus. You stop focusing on what's wrong with your circumstances. And you start focusing on what's right with God." (pg. 67) Of course a great Biblical example is Paul and Silas who were praising God after being beaten and thrown into jail for preaching about Jesus.

"One of the purest forms of worship is praising God even when you don't feel like it, because it proves that your worship isn't circumstantial."

Yikes!

Every day we are free to choose our attitudes! "Basically [there] are two types of people in the world: complainers and worshipers. And there isn't much circumstantial difference between the two. Complainers will always find something to complain about. Worshipers will always find something to praise God about." (pg. 69)

I want to be in the worshiping group!

I loved this thought: "The circumstances you complain about become chains that imprison you. And worship is the way out. Worship reframes our problems and refocuses our lives. It helps us get through the bad days by reminding us of how good God is. And when you are worshipful, your eyes are more open to notice the miracles that are happening all around you all the time. One way or the other, your focus determines your reality. The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life." (pg. 70)

The author concluded this chapter reminding us that adversity is often a blessing in disguise and how the people God often uses the most have been through a lot of hard times. God uses our pain in order that we can help others. And when we go through adversity, we can come out stronger in the end.

Not that I want a lot of adversity, but I do want to be used by God. Hmmm. Like we have a choice about how much adversity comes at us in life! I want to see things through God's perspective and worship Him instead of grumbling about my problems. The world needs fewer complainers so I might as well begin with me!

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Daring Chloe -- book review

I took a break from reading nonfiction books and just read a "fun" book that my mom got at the library. It's very chick lit and good for quick, light reading. I did find the title to fit in with the current theme of my life. It's Daring Chloe by Laura Jensen Walker. That whole "chase the lion" thing with facing your fear goes along with "daring" a bit, don't you think?

This book tells about Chloe and the Paperback Book Club's adventures. It was cute, and there was even something from page 102 that spoke to me despite most of the book being "fluff" compared to the other books I've read this year. (No offense. I actually LOVE these kinds of books and is mostly all I read for YEARS!) Here is what caught my attention: Chloe was thinking of a painting she'd seen and how it touched her . . .

"How incredible that something done over a hundred years ago could still touch people today. Will I ever do anything that will touch people a hundred years from now?"

I really have no lofty thoughts that I will leave behind something so memorable as a painting or sculpture or even a cross-stitched piece, but this thought of Chloe's DID make me wonder if I were storing up earthly treasure or heavenly treasure.

My preacher often asks us this question:

One hundred years from now, where will you be?

And I want to add this:

Where will your loved ones be? Where will your neighbors be? Where will the world's other inhabitants be?

It's not like our new cars, fashionable clothes and pretty houses are going to mean much to us at that point. But people's souls? Ahhh, that will matter. They last for eternity.

So anyway...that's my short review on that book! Now I'm back to reading the non-fluffy books even though God spoke to me even among the fluff. :-)