Book recommendations

Looking back at the stats for my blogs this month, the highest viewed blog was "two movie recommendations" (1/7/11).  A lot of you have read that one.  So in light of this, I wanted to underscore some book recommendations that I've implied that I recommend by quoting from them, but I've not officially endorsed them.  This is not an exhaustive list by any means, rather it's just a few books that I particularly enjoy...

The first would be "The Way I was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life" by Chris Tomlin.  This is the closest book that we have to Chris' autobiography.  There's a lot of great material in this book (as you've seen, I've quoted from it twice this month).

Secondly, there's a great book called "The Servant Principle" by Rick Ferguson.  This book highlights how important it is to live a life of serving others.  This is a hard book to find, as it's out of print, but your best bet would probably be to check and see if it is available at amazon.com.

Finally, I would recommend C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity."  This is an older book, but it is excellent.  I actually once took an elective class on C.S. Lewis at CCU and I wrote a paper on this book, so I could go on and on with my praise of it.  I highly recommend this one.

Happy reading!  I'll talk to you all again next month.
 
Kevin Bauer
(Philippians 4:8)

Don't harbor bitterness; choose forgiveness

C.S. Lewis in his classic book “Mere Christianity” writes, “Everyone thinks forgiveness is such a lovely concept, until they have something to forgive.”  A person may go around proclaiming how great an idea it is forgive, but what will happen when this person is suddenly and unexpectedly hurt by someone?  That’s when the rubber meets the road.

The Bible says, “Bear with each other and forgive each other if any of you has a grievance against someone” (Colossians 3:13).  Jesus said in Luke 17:4 if someone “sins against you seven times in a day and yet returns to you seven times and repents, forgive him.”  It is clear from the Bible that God wants us to forgive everyone and anyone who wrongs us.

Someone once said that when we harbor unforgiveness it’s like holding onto a load of baggage that God never intended that we carry.  Mark Twain once remarked, “Anger is an acid that does more harm to the vessel it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”  Of course, everyone gets angry occasionally, but what Twain is saying here is that if you hold on to that anger long after the offense, it will easily turn to bitterness, and holding on to that will have negative psychological results.

I know some of you have been hurt incredibly deeply.  You could tell me stories that would blow my mind, I have no doubt.  I’m truly sorry that this happened to you.  But I’m telling you, based on my own personal experience, that the only way that you will ever be free from that pain is to genuinely extend forgiveness to the person or persons that hurt you.

Kevin Bauer

Choices have inevitable consequences

Recently, I had an interesting conversation with someone who reads this blog about my installment on Superman (part 2).  His comments seemed to indicate that I wasn’t very clear when it came to the topic of inevitable consequences for the choices that we make.  While I did mention it very briefly in that post, let me address it in more detail, just in case others were also confused on this point.

This reader remarked that just because we are forgiven does not mean that God will magically remove the consequences of our sin.  Let me clearly state this for the record: I am in full agreement with him on this.  I definitely concur that our choices have inevitable consequences attached to them.

 

Dr. Adrian Rogers once said, “You are free to choose, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your choice.”  The late preacher, Rick Ferguson once used the analogy of having a rock in your shoe for a long time.  When God grants forgiveness, the ‘rock’ of sin is gone, but the consequence of having that rock in for so long is a bruised foot!  It will not just magically go away.

For me, the takeaway for this is to think twice before I do something because I know that every choice has consequences.  Perhaps the bottom line is what Charles Stanley has repeatedly said: “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.”

Kevin Bauer

(Galatians 6:7)

Let's talk about Superman (part 2)

I want to use the character of Superman again today to help dash a false perception that some people have of God.  There are some that picture God as a deity ready to punish mankind with lightning bolts whenever they do something wrong.  For instance, they think, “I have cancer because I had that lustful thought” (or whatever examples you can come up with).  The thinking here is that if one does something wrong, God is eager to zap the person with lightning bolts of misfortune.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this caricature.  Superman, in my opinion, is the closest fictional representation of God that exists today.  And he would never, ever act this way.  Can we really imagine a sadistic Superman taking pleasure in the misfortune of mankind?  A picture of Superman attacking mankind whenever it makes any kind of mistake doesn’t mesh with what we know to be true of the character and nature of Superman.  In this regard, I think it is right to declare that God wants us to view Him the same way we view Superman.

A few disclaimers need to be made at this point so that I’m not misunderstood.  I’m not suggesting that God won't ever judge anyone.  The guilty party must be judged for his actions.  Can you imagine a Superman story (or any good versus evil story for that matter) where the villain is clearly in the wrong, and gets off scot-free?  Say the villain has done something horrible like murder an innocent bystander.  But then Superman after capturing the villain says, “That's OK, friend, I'll let you off.  Just do better next time.”  I don't think so.  Too many people want to portray God as someone who will never judge anyone for anything.  I am not saying this!

Secondly, I'm not suggesting that our choices don't have consequences.  Clearly they do.  I like what author H. Michael Brewer said regarding this subject in his book, “Who Needs a Superhero?  Finding Virtue, Vice, and What's Holy in the Comics".  I’m paraphrasing him here, but essentially he said that he does believe that our bad behavior has consequences, it would be silly to think otherwise.  But he goes on to say that God is painted in Luke 15 as a deity who actually longs to embrace and reinstate his wayward child, not hit him upside the head in anger; I think that Brewer is right!  I would add 2 Peter 3:9 as well; which says that God is patient with us.  I'm so grateful for this!

Obviously, I can’t address all the secondary topics related to this subject matter; if I do, it will be another day.  All I’m saying now is that God will not randomly or on a whim punish His children.  Superman doesn’t angrily fire his heat vision at Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, or Perry White when they make a mistake.  Neither will God. 

Kevin

(Jonah 4:1-2)

Let's talk about Superman

The other day, I was looking back at some of my classes at Colorado Christian University this past year.  Back in February, I was taking a great class on creative arts.  The main purpose of this class was to express to the students that everyone on planet Earth is creative in some way.

One week in that class, I gave a Power Point presentation on communication.  In my preparation, I was struck with a bit of creativity as I was trying to adequately express how amazing it is that the God of all the universe actually wants to communicate with us.  He wants to have a close, intimate fellowship with us.  I used the illustration of Superman.

I began by talking about how powerful Superman is.  To the untrained eye, he may not look it, but don’t be fooled, he is very strong.  Superman himself, in an episode of Justice League Unlimited confessed, “I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard.  [I’m] always taking constant care not to break something, to break someone.  Never allowing myself to lose control even for a moment or someone could die.”

Yet, in a wonderful bit of irony, this amazingly powerful being falls in love with Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane.  Lois is a normal human being, so he could snap her like a twig if he chose.  But he would never dream of doing so, because she has a very special place in his heart.  He deeply loves her.  In fact, he loves her so much that Clark Kent (Superman's alias) actually marries Lois.

In the same way, God is powerful.  He could have destroyed mankind years ago, but He would never dream of doing such a thing.  Mankind has a special place in the heart of God.  He loves us and cares for us.  God desires intimate communication with us, just as Clark Kent does with Lois.  This is absolutely mind boggling to me!  I hope this Superman illustration helps better clarify in your mind how amazing it is that God wants to communicate, and have a close fellowship, with you and with me.

Kevin

Real heroes

In my last installment, I mentioned my pastor but I didn't give his name.  I would like to do so today because he is one of my heroes.  His name is Bill Oudemolen.  He is the pastor of Foothills Bible Church and he has been in this role for over 25 years! 

God has given me the opportunity to develop a friendship with Bill - as well as his wife, Jan.  Because I've had the chance to see Bill's life, not just hear about it on Sunday mornings, I want to share some of his admirable qualities.  By the way, here is a picture of Bill and Jan from my own personal photo album...

Really I could go and on and on with Bill's heroic traits, but I'll keep it brief.  I'm impressed with his humility, his integrity, his willingness to stand for the truth, and the fact that he loves his wife, Jan, as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). 

By the way, speaking of Jan, let me also mention that someone has said that behind every great man there is a great woman and that is the case here.  Jan's support, encouragement, strength, and help to Bill is truly amazing to behold!

I think it was John Piper who said that preachers quickly find it is easy to put words together; they know how to talk the talk, but do they back up their words with action?  Pastor Bill does.  In fact, if someone were to ask me to describe Pastor Bill in one word it would be the word authentic.  Some pastors just put on a show (sorry to say it, but it's true).  Bill Oudemolen does not do this; with him what you see is what you get.  He is not only a great preacher, he is also a wonderful man of God.

Kevin Bauer
(Hebrews 13:7)

"Shine the spotlight on God"

We Christians throw out the term glorify a lot.  We say, “I want to glorify God.”  But what does glorify even mean?  There are several helpful synonyms that I’ve heard over the years.  One is from my pastor, who has used the expression “making God look good in our lives.”  I really like this terminology.      

Another helpful synonym is actually a word picture from Chris Tomlin’s book, “The Way I Was Made”.  He writes, “We were created to shine the spotlight on God - to spread the fame of God everywhere we go.”

At Chris Tomlin concerts, there is always a spotlight that is put on him, yet metaphorically, Chris never shines the spotlight on himself in his concerts; he always shines the spotlight on God.  So the imagery in my mind is that there is a spotlight and we can shine it on ourselves, or on God.  This means more than just talking a good game.  It is expressed in much more quiet and subtle ways, such as simply living a holy, righteous, and virtuous life.

By the way, I must confess that I have not arrived when it comes to adequately shining the spotlight on God in my life.  It certainly would be hypocritical of me to declare that I always make God look good.  In fact, I’m challenging myself afresh with this post, my hope is that I've inspired some of you as well.  Let’s shine the spotlight on God in our lives!

Kevin Bauer

(2 Corinthians 5:15)

"Never Figure League"

NBC commentator Al Michaels once called the NFL the "Never Figure League" meaning that we think we know what's going to happen with these football games, but then the most improbable things happen, and we just shrug and say, "wow, I never would have figured on that happening."

That's what has happened so far in these NFL playoffs.  It started when the Seattle Seahawks - a team who won their division, but still had a record of 7 and 9 - defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.  It happened again yesterday when the New York Jets beat the New England Patriots.  I for one (and many would probably agree with me on this) thought the Pats were going to dismantle every team that they played and then blow out their opponent in the Super Bowl, but the "Never Figure League" reared its head again.  Congratulations to the New York Jets.  Congratulations also to the Seattle Seahawks, they lost yesterday to the Chicago Bears, but they were the first to remind us to expect the unexpected when it comes to the NFL.

But you know, as great and exciting as the playoffs have been, I feel it's important to let everyone know how finite the game of football really is.  Yes, someone is going to win the Super Bowl, but then what?  In 10-20 years, it's going to be mostly forgotten.  There will certainly be fond memories of former Super Bowl glory like there is in Denver (and by the way, John Fox, welcome to the Broncos), but football - indeed sports itself - ultimately is nothing but entertainment.  It's a chance for the common man, or woman, to escape the every day pressures and challenges of life. 

I'm not at all advocating that we stop watching sports, far from it.  In fact, there's talk of a lockout (or the better term may be a work stoppage) next year in the NFL and that news makes me very sad.  I want to watch the NFL like I do every year.  All I'm saying is that we shouldn't elevate football and sports to a higher importance than we should.  We need to keep our priorities straight. 

Kevin Bauer
(1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

A new hero

I have been taking an elective college class on Christmas movies.  The class is called “Christmas Films and Literature.”  We’ve watched many Christmas films that I had never seen before.  Believe it or not, I had never seen such classics as “White Christmas”, “Miracle on 34th Street” (the original 1954 version), or “It's a Wonderful Life.”  Please, everyone be kind to me in this confession.  Yes, I am aware that I’ve definitely missed out by not seeing some of these films until now, but it’s better late than never, right?

We were required to write a four to five page paper on any of the films that we watched in class.  I chose “It's a Wonderful Life” because it was my favorite film of all of them.  Once again, I had not seen this movie all the way through until this class.  I had seen pieces of it, such as the very happy ending, but never in its entirety.  Did I ever enjoy watching this movie!  It is going to be a new Christmas tradition to view it.  This is how I concluded my paper on this great movie:

“To sum it up, “It’s a Wonderful Life” has become one of my new favorite Christmas movies.  I would go so far as to say that George Bailey has become one of my new heroes.  Sure, he has his faults, but so does everyone.  George’s devotion to his family, his willingness to stand on his principles, and his incredibly altruistic acts, all makes him a hero in my eyes.”

As I was watching this flick, a title of a book came to my mind: “Discover the Power of One” by Michael Youssef.  That’s really what “It's a Wonderful Life” is all about: the power, magnitude, and influence that just one life can have.  In chapter 1 of the book, Youssef writes, “We must never overlook the fact that just one person taking a stand for what is right – and in turn, voicing and acting on what is right – can accomplish much.”

Kevin Bauer

(Matthew 5:16)

"Whose Line is it Anyway?"

There was a TV show that was on a few years back called “Whose Line is it Anyway?” with Wayne Brady among other actors.  For today, I just want to borrow that title for an important quote.  Have you ever heard this statement: “Whatever comes our way; whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice.  It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right”?

Some of you know these words right away, for others this is perhaps the first time you've ever heard them.  For those of you that don't know this quotation, who do you think said it?  Whose line is it anyway?  Maybe you are thinking a Christian writer like Max Lucado said it, but that's not so.  The surprising answer is that these words came from the mouth of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in Spider-Man 3.

Spider-Man 3 is one of those ‘love it or hate it’ movies.  I happen to be one of those people who love it, but there are those who don’t.  If that’s you, I would ask that don't think about the movie itself, instead think about the words that I just quoted to you (pretend it really is a Max Lucado statement).

The reality is we all make the choice every day in thousands of ways if we are going to do the right thing or the wrong thing.  If this simple quote has had the impact on you that it has had on me, I want to encourage you to keep it with you as a reminder.  Here are those words again:

“Whatever comes our way; whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice.  It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right.”

Kevin Bauer

(1 Peter 3:17)

"Consider others"

I have a lot of favorite Bible verses, but one of my favorites is Philippians 2:3; which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  I certainly haven’t arrived when it comes to perfectly obeying Philippians 2:3, but it is something that I think about often, and strive to put into practice on a daily basis.

What does it mean to consider others better than yourself?  Well, it means that we think about other people's interests and welfare (see Philippians 2:4).  To give a few simple examples, it means opening a door for someone with their hands full.  It means giving the other driver that parking space that both of you are eyeing.  It means letting the person in the grocery store checkout line go ahead of you because they have less items.  You get the idea; it means looking out for others, not just looking out for “number 1.”

In his book, “The Servant Principle,” the late preacher and author Dr. Rick Ferguson tells the true story of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.  Booth was to give a speech regarding his vision for the Salvation Army’s coming year.  Unfortunately, his health was failing, and he was unable to make the trip.  The arrangements were made for Booth to put his message on paper and then telegraph the work to the Salvation Army leaders.  With anticipation, Booth’s work was opened; his vision had just one word written: others!

Kevin Bauer

(Matthew 20:26)

Football talk

People who know me best know that I’m a football fan in every sense of the word.  That is, I am a fan of most of the teams in the NFL.  I concede that I like some teams more than others.  When the playoffs start, I will have personal favorites to win, just like anyone else.  But year in and year out, I’m usually happy for whoever wins the Super Bowl and I can feel sadness for the team that loses it. 

One team I kept an eye on more than I have in previous years is the Cleveland Browns (who sadly only won five games, but one was over the mighty Patriots and one was over the defending champion Saints).  The reason that I watched the Browns closer this year is because of one of their quarterbacks by the name of Colt McCoy.

Last January, Colt was in college.  He played for the Texas Longhorns.  He had helped lead his team to the BCS National Championship game.  Very early in the game, he got hurt and couldn’t go back in.  His team ended up losing the game 37-21 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.  On the postgame show, Colt was interviewed; one of the things he said was this:

“I always give God the glory.  I never question why things happen the way they do.  God is in control of my life and I know that, if nothing else, I'm building my life on the Rock.”

This reaction was so refreshing to me.  It's not uncommon to hear someone thank God after they win a game, but to have the character to glorify God in the midst of a devastating loss (a loss he barely played in) is very impressive.

Kevin Bauer

(1 Corinthians 10:31)

Happy news

It was eleven years ago when I first became familiar with Christian singer Rebecca St. James.  Through the years, my respect and admiration for her has only deepened.  She is one of my heroes.  I say this because she is not just a performer, she is someone who has a strong voice for God.

On 1/3/11, Rebecca announced that she is engaged to be married to a man named Jacob Fink!  By the way, here is the link so you can read the full story, as well as see a picture of Rebecca and Jacob together...

http://rebeccastjames.forefrontrecords.com/news/?id=1831642 

On behalf of the thousands of fans she has (if not millions), I want to congratulate Rebecca and Jacob on their joyous news.  I wish them a very happy life together.

For those of you who don't know of Rebecca's life circumstances, she has been waiting for her spouse for many years (at least all the years that I've been familiar with her life and ministry).  She decided not to force marriage to happen sooner than it was intended.  Instead she chose to live her single years to the fullest until God led her to the person that she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with.  That day has arrived and there are so many people - myself included - who are thrilled for her!

Kevin Bauer
(Isaiah 64:4)

Two movie recommendations

Today I want to recommend two movies to you.

The first is “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”  Not only is this a thoroughly enjoyable movie, it has strong, wholesome, and helpful messages taught in it.  For just one example – there are several others I could mention – the topic of resisting temptation is clearly presented.  Without revealing any spoilers, one of the characters tells the voyagers, “to defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself.”

One of my favorite moments is a declaration that Aslan the lion makes at the end of the movie.  I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it, but Aslan gives Edmund and Lucy the reason as to why they were even brought to Narnia in the first place.  His words made me cry, as they are right out of Lewis’ original work.  I’ve seen this movie three times already, and it’s still in the theatres.  I definitely recommend it!

A second movie that I want to endorse is “Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam.”  This is a DVD that you can pick up at Red Box or wherever because it was a direct to DVD release.  Yesterday, I mentioned Batman: The Animated Series from 1992.  Well, some of the people involved in that series (like Executive Producer Bruce Timm) had their hands in the creation of this movie.  This film is really several short cartoons, including a Green Arrow cartoon, a Jonah Hex short, and a mystery thriller with the Spectre.  Those are OK, but the price of the DVD, in my book, is the main feature starring Superman and Captain Marvel.

In this story, Superman essentially mentors a new hero, Billy Batson who eventually becomes Captain Marvel.  At one point, Billy is complaining to Clark Kent (Superman) about how every time he tries to do the right thing, he seems to suffer for it.  Clark responds, “that’s because good is hard; bad is always easy.”  I like this line!  It reminds me of a maxim that I learned somewhere along the way in my life (and I don’t know who said it), “the hard thing to do is the right thing to do.”  While I don’t think this is necessarily always the case in every instance, I think there is some truth to that statement.  Later on in the movie, Captain Marvel says that he has to “be stronger” than the main villain, Black Adam.  Superman replies, “Then be strong; be good.” 

By the way, if you enjoyed reading my thoughts on some of these movies, you can also see some more reviews that I've written on amazon.com (of the reviews I've written there Spider-Man 3 is probably my favorite).  Enjoy the movies!
 
Kevin Bauer
(Psalm 37:27)

"I have to be who I am"

Almost 20 years ago (1992 to be exact) a new cartoon came out called “Batman: The Animated Series.”  It starred Kevin Conroy as Batman.  It was a big hit.

In one episode, the villain Selina Kyle - A.K.A. Catwoman - was contemplating whether she should return to crime or if she should stayed reformed.  Batman had previously captured her.  The judge was lenient, but then warned her not use her Catwoman guise to break the law.  Ultimately, she decided that she was going to break the law even if it meant going to jail.  Batman questioned her as to why, and Catwoman responded with this statement: “I have to be who I am.”

The reason that I start with that quote on my very first blog is because, as you may have seen from my bio, I am a Christian man.  I’m going to be writing from a Christian perspective.  I’m going to quote from the Bible and other Christian books.  No doubt, I’m going to say some things that you may completely disagree with me on.  But I have to be who I am.  I can’t soften my approach to things simply in an attempt to be more popular or politically correct.

For a while now, I’ve thought about starting a blog.  But I never did so, for several reasons.  The biggest reason is because I’m not used to writing and having the possibility of people criticizing me or attacking my beliefs.  I actually really never knew I had this fear until I began to seriously consider starting a blog.  But again, I have to be who I am.  I’m not going to put on a show and pretend to be someone that I’m not.  The truth is, I’m a Christian, and I’m going write like it.  If you don’t like what I have to say, that’s perfectly fine.  We can agree to disagree on issues.

The issue here is we shouldn’t be mean about it.  So let’s make a deal: the Bible says, “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12, NIV).  You’ve heard that before, no doubt.  It’s the Golden Rule.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  I’m going to use that as a rule of thumb in this new blog.  I’m going to share my thoughts with all the kindness and grace I can muster.  My request is that you would treat me the same way.  Share your thoughts about my work with kindness and grace.  Treat me the way you would want me to treat you.  Fair enough?

In conclusion, I would like to thank several people for their encouragement to share my writing with others.  I want to thank Shirley, my mother Rose Mary, and Mrs. Nicks.  Your words meant a lot to me.

Kevin Bauer

(Romans 11:36)