Hey

Well, hopefully I have some new visitors from Facebook, since I deactivated my account there. If so... thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment, will ya? I hardly get those.

Here's basically the reason I am doing this, in part. I spend too much time on the computer talking to friends. It might be texting my best friend, or chatting with my friends in Paraguay, New Zealand, Singapore and Pennsylvania... who are an amazing support for me often. A lot of stuff has been making me think twice about the way I've been living my life- so this isn't a big block of text, here's a list:

• My physical health- I work on the computer now, and my major recreational activities are photography and guitar... both of which take a lot of work from my wrists... and I work with my fingers. All in all, I spend time on the computer at work, then I spend time on the computer at play, then I spend time on the computer flexing my creative muscles... in all, that means I'm spending well over 40 hours a week on the computer, and I need to get more done in less time. I'm also going to be making sure I exercise with some of the time I'm no longer on my computer.
  
• My personal life:
  1. My friends from far away- I have a friend in Paraguay whose parents put her on a "digital detox"... I remember my parents threatening those, and I always seemed to stay just on this side of that line. I need to spend more time in the real world with my friends.
  2. My parents- Like I said, my parents have threatened to put me on a digital detox, and now that I work on the computer, that's not happening. But... God has been convicting me- I have been very slyly rude and disrespectful of their wishes. I'm going to be apologizing to them for that shortly... part of that is in my gradual adoption of Facebook and Instant Messaging in the first place- neither of which do they fully approve.
  3. My really close friends- I've noticed that after 6 years of really helping me stay on track (she would rat on my for using Facebook or IM), a very dear friend of mine has started being more permissive of my deviance. Shannon, I've got to apologize for that straight out... thank you for calling my bluff so many times, I owe you big time.
• My music- no, this isn't the same thing as my health... I've been spending a ton of time on the computer, and so while I could theoretically find stuff to write about there, I don't... it's just the way I happen to work. I really need to be back in the real world, manning a pen and paper to get my feelings out.
• My best friend- she's so important and influential in this that she deserves her own spot. Michelle informed me today of something that struck me with enough conviction that I probably was basically useless to the conversation afterward. She had been praying, and has decided to set her heart aside as God's for a year, and consequently to not pursue a relationship with a guy for a year. Yes, I was suddenly dismayed, but it wasn't because my best friend (an amazing and beautiful young lady) was suddenly "unavailable"... it was how available she was to God... and how unavailable I have been. That was what it took for me to finally start calling stuff off- and if it takes more, I'll give more up.
• My siblings- my little brother came into my room one day, and wouldn't leave... which was rather aggravating, and although he employed a lot of false logic and rhetoric... there was one point on which he was right, and it wasn't exclusive to him. I don't spend that much time with my family... and, thinking about it... that is a strong sign that I won't be spending enough time with my future wife, and I won't spend the time I ought to with our future kids. It doesn't really matter which sibling you refer to- chances are I have brushed them off, and ignored them when I oughtn't have.
• My God- He's the ultimate reason for all this. All the other things aside, the biggest reason for me to decide this time is clutter, and to eliminate it... is that my relationship with God has been sliding from burner to burner on its way towards the back, and it's time for me to start pulling it back to the front and center. The biggest change with all this time that I'm freeing up: it will allow me to get to bed earlier and get up earlier... giving me margin on both sides of the day for prayer and study and immersing myself in God's Word.
  

So, all told, I suspect you'll be hearing less from me, but the less you hear will be a better overall deal. I also have to free up more time to take care of my dog, but... that's peanuts compared to the other stuff.

It's 10pm, I should be wrapping up by now, but today is the first day... I'll run late today, and start working towards time tomorrow.

Who do you say that you are?

Yesterday I picked up a book by Peter Haile, entitled "The Difference God Makes" (great book, small, packed, and just pretty awesome- you can get it off Amazon for $0.01, plus shipping... why there's not much demand, I have no idea)
Anyhow, I was reading the book, and Peter was talking about hypocrisy... and made what I think is a very important point:

"What is hypocrisy? It is pretending to be other than you are. [...] We usually think of hypocrisy in terms of a person pretending to be better than he or she is. But that is not the only kind of hypocrisy. The person who pretends to be worse than he or she is is just as much a hypocrite as the person who pretends to be better. The person who says he is dumb or ugly when he is not, is just as much a hypocrite as the person who exaggerates accomplishments. Likewise, the Christian who doesn't act like one is as much a hypocrite as the non-Christian who acts piously." (pp. 31-32)

In watching my dad's work as a pastor, and even looking at my own life, I find that hypocrisy is indeed a big problem in my life, and the life of many Christians... and that's what gave rise to my title- who do we say that we are? Too often we claim to be accepted by Christ, and yet live like we've been rejected by Him... or we mope about like we've committed the unforgivable sin- while as John Piper (I think) puts it "If you're worried about committing the unforgivable sin, you haven't yet!"

So, who do you say that you are? If you claim to have been adopted by God, remember: Soli Dei Gloria- to God alone be the glory... beware that you do not give His glory to another, and especially that you do not take from Him what is His... He doesn't take kindly to that.