Fallen Prey to Nicknames

You know I have always been one of those people that was never a big fan of nicknames, I mean everyone has them, the problem is that they are not your real name, they are some stupid name that has evolved due to some prominent story or happening ones life that results in a nickname, My great friend Carlos for example, his name (nickname) is Bumper, I mean that is how most people know him, I love that name, I only know one bumper. Here is a kid who bumped his head alot as a kid, so his loving parents Carlos and Martha or maybe it was Jay or Michelle decided to call him bumper. But what about those stupid names that we give our kids, Here is where I have fallen prey to the nicknames. We spent hours trying to come up with the perfect names for our kids, like names that are significant to us, and I have found that we call them not by their names any more but by ridiculous names, in fact there may even be a way we say the nick name by like raising our voice or talking in a baby voice, I am so guilty of this. Any way here is a break down of what I have been guilty of in regards to nicknames.

First of all My oldest daughter Molly has the nick name Rooter, Now this nickname was cute when she was 3 months old, (due to the fact that she always would "root" for food, those of you that understand know what I mean, she breast fed, so whenever you would touch her cheek she would swing her head around in that direction and well, root for a breast, ya know, boob, milk) anyway we still call her that and it is so funny. Hey Rooter! I mean what are we really saying when we call her that, "Hey are you looking for milk still"! You get the idea. A few others have been: Molly Mc Butter, Molls, Squirrel, Molly girl, etc

Maggie is our second oldest, her nick name is scooter, she used to scoot around on the floor, that name is not so bad but we most often call her "The Magster" like a title, Like "Hey how is the Magster today" as if she is some object of deity or something, Hey little Magster. Next it has morphed into "Magpie", so we are very guilty of nick names

Last but not least is Ezekiel, His name "Zeke" is based after my Grandpa "Clarence" who (get this) has the nick name Zeke, so my son's name is Ezekiel but we call him Zeke named after my Gramps who is Clarence. His nicknames are out of control because my daughters have given him an enormous amount of silly names. One day watching Cinderella, during the song that says, "Cinderelli Cinderelli night and day its Cinderelli" (THis is where the mice are singing etc.") My daughter starts to call Zeke "Monkatelli" MONK- A- Telli, I asked her what is that from, she answered, "the song on Cinderelli that goes, Cinderelli Cinderelli Monkatelli Cinderelli" So there you have it Monka telli was born, Now Monka telli has morphed in to just "MONK" and then "MONK MONK" and now "Tellamonkey" and finally "Monkey", last but not least and I hope this is the end of this but we have managed to morphe this name finally to just "Telly"

You may ask why all the nick names, but honestly it is probably not the nicknames themselves but rather how we pronounce the nicknames in stupid voices, High pitched baby voices that we would probably think are totally appropriate in the confines of our house, but I ask you, would you be caught dead singing that voice in public or around your peers? My wife will often say. "Matt sing the new song you made up for telly"! Are you kidding!!!

I never thought I would say this but I have fallen prey to the nicknames...

Naked

Sin is alive and well, and before I begin I am not one of these guys that is all about sin and salvation for just a future place in Heaven, as if I have purchaced, (through Christ) my ticket to Heaven and now I am just waiting around to get the "prize". I believe that we are to some extent able to experience a little taste of heaven right now, as we grow in our sanctification as we struggle and wrestle with this relationship. I do however, think we are not takinig sin seriously enough in our christian culture today. It is almost as if we have begun on this new post modern quest for an old school "works based salvation", I mean it is like we are trying to pull Justification out of the Gospel. It is like we have forgotten why we primarily need Jesus. Why do we primarily need a savior? Well our culture would tell us that we need "Jesus" so we can be more like Him, or so we can learn to love like Him, Or be like Him, I mean what would Jesus do right? Or we need him to show us that we need to be taking care of the world. Now do not get me wrong, All those things are good but let me ask you, when can we really experience those things? Well in our present state, at least according to the Bible, we cannot do anything like Jesus due to a little thing we posess that separates us from God the Father, this is called SIN. This sin saparates us from a realtionship with God, in fact the Bible is pretty clear that we are not doing ok in our present state, but are in fact dead in our sin. Not flopping around reaching out for good, Not doing ok, and needing Jesus to make us better, but rather dead, (ROmans), SO how can we think that we primarily need Jesus to begin to do things that can only take place after we have been made right, How can we love like Jesus when we are dead, how can we learn to love like him when we are dead. How can we begin to be like Him when we are at war with His Father? This new thinking is becomoing very popular but if you look at the heart of it, this thinking is nothing more than a new and improved works based way to "find favor" with God. Our works are superseding our need for our relationship to be made right with God. Our works dictate our "primary " standing with God. I am all for learing to love more like Jesus, but lets face it, we are not Jesus, and any possible way that we are capable of being like Jesus is through His spirit, not our works, but his fruit. And that can only come after we have been made right by having Christ's work ont the cross claimed in our lives as being a sinner. Recognizing our need for a savior is crucial to the difference between Justification by grace through faith ALONE, or Sanctification by works, without Justification.

We are becoming experts at moving out from under the work of the cross ad resurrection, as soon as we stop living out from under the cross and ressurection, something will take its place, that something is us, our works our love, our wells dug in africa, our words, etc. These things in context of the process of sanctification are fine, but they are dirty rags in and of themselves.

What is our primary need for Jesus? Do not be so quickly fooled into thinking it is other things. There are many secondary reasons for Jesus, do not get me wrong, but if we get Justification wrong we are nothing more than a religion- Religion- What I do for God......


Adam was afraid because he was naked...... Stripped of His self worth because he had fallen short of the glory of God, separated from God due to his sin, not because he did not love like Jesus or God, not naked because he was not loving others the right way, but because of his sin, his choice to try to go up on God's level and be fulfilled with himself rather than God. The created trying to be fulfilled by the created, not the creator...

God must have taken sin seriously enough, if it was just a matter of learning to love better or be a better person, he would have told Adam to do just that, but He does not, he takes it so seriously, He promises to fix what we cannot fix, to give His son to fix our mess, He holds back man's rightfull curse and gives it to His son, (Gal. 3). If God takes sin seriously we need to get back to that. Deal with our sin and move on but don't right it off... Don't make light of it. We need Jesus desparately to forgive us of our sin, so we can move on and love like Him, learn about Him, love others, etc...

It has been a while

It has been a while since I have written, gosh, a year? Maybe more, it just goes to show how big the internet is if it can manage to afford to keep this blog on line and not mind that it is basically useless. I have been teaching this year at Heritage Christian again, (this by the way is the only job I have kept for more than two years) so I am excited. Maybe brealing the norm is on the horizon.

My parents are coming this week, this is always a treat, Just hanging out with them and learning fromt hem and enjoying them as they enjoy my kids. My Son Zeke is probably the newest edition to the mayhem at my house and although i have 3 kids, a son is much different then the girls. He has been sick and unlike the girls he needs extra care, he is so helpless and dependent when he is sick, My wife says that that is a "boy thing", She notes that when I am sick, I am helpless too. Our daughters on the other hand are much more independent.

What I have been finding out though is justhow much I love this little guy. I mean he is the cutest boy in the world. But really I have noticed that I am understanding more and more about how much God not only loves me but how much he loves His son Jesus. I would easily die for my son in a second, but your son? I don't think so, So I would die for my son in a second, but think of this, would I let my son die for one of my daughters? i do not know, But I do know this, I would nnot let my son die for you, no offense to all 3 of you who read this, but let's face it he is my son.

God let His only son die for me, not even Himself or He for His son, but He let His son die for me.... And it is not even like I appreciated it. I maybe could begin to think about letting my son die possibly for someone who appreciated it, But in reagrds to a generation that is perverse and rejecting of what I am considering to allow happen to my only son, no way.

I also know that God allowed His son to die for me when I did not even love Him. As I look down at Zeke and see him and wonder about the man he will become, I bet God was thinking about that in the garden so long ago. "What shall we do lest they become like US and eat of the tree of life and live forever", God has this talk with himself and decides that day to fix what we broke, what man and woman broke. As for me if I was Elohim I would have to pass, I would possibly destroy them and start over, But God promises the man while he is cursing the snake that he will send a "Seed" through the woman to fix what had been broken. That day God made a promise to break that sweet perfect relationship with Himself and allow his son to be killed, But the Son went willingly. He went willingly. I understand so much better now how much God loves me and His son, and my son as well.