Humility versus pride

I've been thinking about humility and pride lately.  I once heard a preacher describe how there's a constant battle in a Christian's life with pride.  I'm inclined to agree with him.  I actually wrote about pride and humility a while back for a writing project I did.  Here's an excerpt of I wrote:

"The antithesis of humility is pride; this is repugnant to God.  To parade around saying, "my talent and ability has taken me this far" is to be blind to God.  He is the one who gave you your talents and abilities.  What is humility?  I'd say it is to boast of God rather than to boast of self."

If we are humble, we stand out, simply because so many around us are broadcasting how great they think they are.  I for one want to be a humble man.  I want to be someone who - as I put in my excerpt I shared with you - boasts of God.

Kevin Bauer

My birthday sentiment

It was on this day, thirty years ago, that I was born.

I actually went back and forth regarding about how I was going handle the blog on my birthday.  I even considered skipping it altogether.  But I decided to basically just say these five words:

To God be the glory!

Whatever I've done that is praiseworthy, I direct the credit and glory to God for it.  Check out these lyrics from Klove.com, I echo these words from Aaron Shust.  

http://www.klove.com/music/artists/aaron-shust/songs/to-god-alone-lyrics.aspx

Kevin Bauer

A day to remember

This afternoon, I had an amazing birthday celebration with family and friends.  For months now, my parents have been planning this birthday party.  I wasn't involved in the planning in any way.  They shrouded everything with mystery.  So I was blessed when I saw that they chose to create a birthday cake that had this message on it: "Happy 30th birthday, Kevin" and "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility value others above yourselves."

They considered who I am as a person, the kind of life that I live, and they chose to represent me in this way.  I'm glad they did; they got it right.  That sentiment from Philippians 2 is the essence of who I am.  This is not to suggest that I always perfectly live out these words, I would be lying if I made such a statement.  That said, I certainly strive every day to obey this admonition.

Kevin Bauer

Checking in with Rebecca and Jacob

Recently, I had fun reading an interview with the newly married Rebecca St. James.  The most interesting section for me was how she described her wedding.  She talks about how, early in the ceremony, both she and Jacob exchanged their purity rings to each other; a vivid non-verbal expression to each other and to all the guests that they were sexually pure.  On page 2, she talks about how there were several guests that told her that the wedding was a very powerful one.  Rebecca comments that it is probably “the purity element that set it apart.”  Here’s the interview link.

http://www.growthtrac.com/artman/publish/rebecca-st-james-marriage-1366.php

I have previously talked about sexual purity in this blog (see the installment I entitled “Some Words from Tony Dungy”), and I think you might find it helpful to go back and read what I wrote that day.  Yet it occurred to me that some people will read this and they will have this question: why is sexual abstinence so important?  To aid me in answering that question, I refer you to this article from Got Questions.org.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-virginity.html

Kevin Bauer

  

Father's Day, 2011

If anyone was wondering why up to now I've only talked about my mother in this blog but not my father, it's because Mom's birthday is in March; Dad's birthday is in September.  But since it is Father's Day, I decided that today would be an appropriate time to brag on my dad.  By the way, here's a picture of him...

Like I did when I was writing my blog about my mom, I'm finding it difficult to know exactly what to say.  Not because there's not enough, but because of the tremedous impact that Dad has had on my life.  That said I will try.

#1: Dad is wholeheartedly devoted and committed to his wife.  James Dobson is credited to have said that the greatest thing that a father can do for his children is love their mother.  I think what he means is providing a good example of how a man is supposed to treat a woman will pay huge dividends in the child's future relationships.  My dad has provided a great example, not only in this department, but in many others.

#2: Dad is a great encourager.  I love a quote by Truett Cathy in his book "It's Better to Build Boys than Mend Men."  He writes, "how do you know if your child needs encouragement?  If he or she is breathing."  My father is certainly an encourager.  He has often told me how proud he is of me and how he happy he is that can call me his son.  As you can imagine, this encouragement really makes my spirit soar as high as an eagle.

#3: Dad is selfless.  I recently watched several episodes of the TV show "Boy Meets World."  The father of that show, Alan, was consistently portrayed as a man who worked hard at his job for his family, then he came home and rather than plop down on the couch and ask to be served, he served.  I remember thinking, "Alan is like my dad."  Dad could come home and ask to be waited on, but he doesn't do this; he chooses to selflessly serve and give of himself.  This is a just a start of Dad’s admirable qualities

Incidentally, Happy Father's Day to all of you father's who read this, and also to those of you who are father figures!  God bless you all.

Kevin Bauer

A shameful display

I'm not really a big hockey fan, but it captured my attention when the Stanley Cup Finals went to a winner-take-all Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.  Boston ended up winning the game and became the champions of hockey.

But shocking images occurred after the game as the Vancouver fans began rioting in the streets.  I just saw some the images for the first time this morning and it is absolutely shameful.  Their behavior was clearly wrong.  The violence, the anarchy, the people they've left in the hospital.  What a regrettable episode.

To me, what makes this even more shameful is that this behavior erupted over something as ultimately trivial as sports.  Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that rioting like this would have been right if it was the result of politics or something that like.  What they did was wrong no matter what prompted it.  But over sports?

I've been keeping an eye on the news regarding a possible NFL lockout.  I've been wondering if there will be a full season, a shortened season, or any season at all.  But even if there is no NFL season, so be it.  I've loved football since I was a very small boy, but sports (including hockey) are meant to be nothing more than entertainment.  It should never, ever get to the point where you go out and injure innocent bystanders in the streets because your team lost.  That is absurd.

Kevin Bauer    

A necessary ingredient for life

I’m sure it’s plain to you that I love to write.  I actually have several reviews written at Amazon.com.  One of the products I reviewed is the movie Spider-Man 3.  I entitled my review “There are many reasons to watch this film.”  I won’t rehash the whole review, but I do want to share one short paragraph that I wrote.

“The topic of forgiveness is a very key theme in this film.  We all need forgiveness at one time or another and I don’t think I ever remember seeing a Hollywood movie where forgiveness is so clearly presented to the viewer.  Suffice to say, this movie is worth viewing for no other reason than to see pure, undiluted forgiveness on display.”

The reason I am bringing this up is because forgiveness is at the forefront of my mind; I had to practice it again today.  The details of what happened are not important (in the grand scheme of things it was a minor offense) but it was painful, and it made me angry.  But ultimately, I made the decision to forgive the person that offended me.

Maybe you are saying, “Kevin, I doubt that you were hurt as deeply as I was.  You already admitted that it was a minor offense.”  As I’ve said in other blog installments, some of you reading these words could tell me stories of the ways you have been hurt that are much larger in comparison to mine.

That said, however, whether it’s a large offense or a small one, we have to remember the words of the Bible.  To give just one example of the many commands to forgive, Jesus said, “If he (that is, your brother) sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:4).  I know that revenge, retaliation, and bitterness are the natural responses.  Yet the Biblical reaction is to extend forgiveness.  Is it easy?  No.  Is it necessary?  Yes.

Kevin Bauer 

A bright star

I’ve felt for a long time that former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner is a bright star.  I don’t say this just because of the amazing things that he did on the football field (not to minimize his career; trust me, as a big football fan I know how fantastic he was).  I’m simply saying, first and foremost, that’s not what defines Kurt Warner. 

I came across a good website this evening.  There are so many fascinating tidbits here; one could peruse the website for hours and hours.  Have fun! 

http://www.kurtwarner.org/

Kevin Bauer

Don't miss the beauty of a season

As you see from my list of interests, I love playing video games.  I have the old school systems like the Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64.  One of my favorite video games from the Super Nintendo is a game that was released back in 1994 called Donkey Kong Country.  Although the plot is weak and silly (Donkey Kong’s prized hoard of bananas is stolen by a group of villains, so he has to get them back), some of the stages from the game are absolutely beautiful.  For instance, there is one stunning level with varying degrees of falling snow.  In my opinion, the graphics are good even by today’s standards. 

I have defeated the game numerous times over the years and so it’s easy for me to mentally look past a level and think to myself, “The next level coming up is fun.”  However, I try to refrain from looking ahead because I’ve learned that if I look ahead to the next level, I inadvertently miss the beauty of the level I’m currently playing.

At times in my life, I have done what I am also prone to do with the levels of a video game.  I look past a particular season or stage of my life, only to miss the beauty of it because I’m focusing so much on the next season.  For example, I might miss the beauty of the single life if I always focus on being married one day.  Desiring marriage is not wrong, of course, but I don't want to essentially blind myself to the gifts of singleness by focusing so intently on married life.

Perhaps what I’ve shared in my life you struggle with too.  You may not be in the same season as I am, but you still get my point.  I say to you what I’ve had to say to myself: don’t miss the beauty of a season.

Kevin Bauer

One NFL player's inspiration

A few years back, I was watching Monday Night Football.  I don’t recall any details of the game (or even the teams) but I do recall a sideline report from Lisa Guerrero.  She talked about an NFL player who had a fondness for Batman, so much so that he got a Batman tattoo.  She mentioned how this player loved Batman because the Caped Crusader doesn’t have superpowers he simply in his words “works hard.”

I did some Internet research trying to discover who Lisa might have been talking about.  While I can’t declare this is the player with one hundred percent certainty, I did find an interesting article on Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green.  This is an older link (it’s from 2001), but I still find it quite fascinating.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/09/26/green010926.html

I certainly think that Batman is the most relatable hero that exists (although a case could be made for Spider-Man, I’d say he’s a close second).  Incidentally, even though I’ve been recommending a lot of books lately, I want to endorse Cary Friedman’s work, “Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life.”  This is a fun, engaging, and applicable book on the traits Batman has that we should consider emulating.

Kevin Bauer

Thou shalt not work nonstop

The late preacher, Ron Mehl, once wrote a wonderful book called “Right with God: Loving Instruction from the Father’s Heart.”  In that book, Mehl goes through each of the Ten Commandments.  Even from the title, one can tell that Mehl’s view is that the Ten Commandments are not given because God is trying to be mean or restrictive; rather Mehl repeatedly says that the Ten Commandments are written out of God's incredible love for mankind.  This is certainly true regarding the commandment not to do any work on the Sabbath.

 At Chick-fil-A, we have a device that we call “headset.”  This is something we wear that enables us to communicate with the cars that pull up to the speaker in the drive-thru to place their order.  Periodically, the battery that we use to power the headset begins to wane.  When this happens, we take the battery out and put in a battery charger, and then we put a new battery in the headset and continue on with taking orders.  Do you already get the application?  Like the headset batteries, we need to have times to rest.  We need to have times, as it were, to “recharge our batteries.”      

By the way, just to clarify: when I say rest I don’t mean just sleeping.  Although sleep is definitely a great gift from God and is vitally important to functioning properly in life, specifically I’m talking about relaxation.  I’m talking about purposefully unplugging from the deadlines, pressures, and challenges of life and taking time to just relax, unwind, and rest.  This is not a waste of time; this is actually a command from God.

Kevin Bauer