What do pigs have to do with the beach?

So you are going to have bear with me once again, as this post will have nothing to do with the beach. At least I don't think it will. Most assuredly I don't have any plans of speaking about sand, waves, sea breezes, sea foam, fish, crabs, dunes, sunsets or anything else beach related. No instead I plan to bore you all once again with more talk about the realizations I am having regarding the book of Leviticus. I hope you all will bear with these thoughts, and understand very quickly, that these are my thoughts, and mine alone. They may be off base at some point, however I don't think any of these thoughts will lead to a miss directed theological view, or legalism. Instead it is my hope that what you are about to read will give you one more insight into the Bible, that I believe was given to me by God.

We all know, or least most of us know, that the Jewish law forbid the Jews from eating pork. Now in today's society, pork is a common meat, eaten by most every people group, except the Jews. We also understand that Jews received this direction (to not eat pork) through the Law that was given to Moses, and passed down through the ages through the book of Leviticus. There are many other animals that were condemned as being unclean in Leviticus, to include fish with out scales, or any other form of sea life that was without scales, many types of birds (all of which were carnivorous), and animals that do not chew there cud. Probably more information then you wanted to know at the moment, however it is important to our discussion. Hold on to this information for just a moment, as I will come back to it shortly, and this should all begin to make since.

As I was studying several chapters in Leviticus today, I began to see a common statement. Moses would describe a ceremonial act of sacrifice, that of a ox, goat, lamb, or bird, and with each of these, he stated that the fat and the blood of the animal was to be offered only to God. The remaining portions of the animal, either the breast or the leg would be given to the priest for his own use. Now... This at first struck me as redundancy. Each animal sacrifice was to be given basically the same way, allowing the priest to have fresh meat from the sacrifice, but they were still about the same. Then the question hit me! Why would God have instructed Moses to give the remaining portions to the priest, and why could they not have the fat. (This is where you my personal opinion begins) Could it be that God was protecting His people? Could God have been showing through example, what was good for the human body to process, and what wasn't? I then began to take this thought a step further. God was allowing the priests to have the "ham" of certain animals. Now I want you to think about the meat you purchase from the store. What are the things you look for in a piece of red meat. Good color, fat marbling, little gristle, and a good price. Now most of the meat you would purchase is what would be considered "breast meat" of the animal, it comes from the muscle rich area of the animal. However a good roast, like a rump roast would come from the upper portion of the "ham" of the animal. This piece of meat should be with as little fat as possible when you purchase it. There may be a layer of fat on the outside, but the inside piece would have little to no fat. And this thought is what got me to thinking.

God condemned pork for the Jews. In today's culture we eat pork as often if not more often then other meats. And for the record, what makes pork such a tasty meat? The FAT!!! A good piece of bacon, pork ribs, and lets not forget a good ham, all have an abundance of fat in them. Of all the animals we eat on a regular basis, the legs "ham" of a pig has more fat content then any other animal. Could this be why God condemned pork. Was He trying to keep us healthy? Of course we could begin to speak of the same things with the other animals I mentioned earlier. A fish without scales speaks of fish like catfish, bottom feeders, that although they have a lot of muscle, are also full of fat. Carnivorous birds as well, are processing more fat in there systems then herbivores.

So why I am so hung up on this? I'm glad you asked! I have been struggling recently with a statement, that comes from many people that claim that Christians are hypocrites. Their statement is this..."how can you condemn my sin, when there are more fat, lazy, gluttonous Christians in the pew, and we know the Bible condemns gluttony as a sin?" Well, there you have it. How can I condemn one mans sin, when I am just as guilty of being a glutton. I will be the first to admit that I have a real problem with eating. If you know me very well, you know that I am not much a vegetable and fruit eater. I love meat, steak, pork chops, ribs, ham, chicken, turkey, roast, hamburgers, you name it, I like it. And to take it one step further, the greasier the better. I am 31 years old, and if I continue to eat the way I like to eat, I will have a very short life. On top of that I am guilty of gluttony toward food.

I have been reading a book recently that has challenged me to not only learn what I am reading, but to also put into action the lessons I have been learning. So with that being said, the Beach Bum is turning over a new leaf. I need each of you to help me with this, being that it is going to be very difficult for me. Here is the task... I am swearing off pork. This is the first step in a new direction, to make everything that I do a worship experience to God. We are to glorify him in all that we say... and do. Eating is something that we do. May my eating habits bring glory to the Lord.

I hope that I have not grossed anyone out, by the nature of this post. I am looking to each of you to hold me accountable in this. It will be very hard for me. Pork is everywhere, and I love it! However it is well worth this endeavor in order to have a body that is fit to be the "Temple of the Lord".

Until next time:

Clear skies, High Surf, and Sandy Feet.

A Response to the past week!

OK! I know it has been a while since my last post. I have been having trouble coming up with a topic to write about. Isn't it still to early to have writers block? Well anyway... I have been thinking a lot lately about the topic for this post, and I hope that you can follow the rambling that are sure to follow.

So before I can start talking about the "mystery topic", first I have to tell you about the events that have led to this topic. For the past week I have been struggling with, or should I say, pondering God's divine nature. I have been in several different discussions over the last few days where someone has questioned the nature of God. Whether they are questioning his intentions in regard to Law that was given to the Hebrews, or questioning their freedom through "Christian Liberty". Either way both of these scenarios seem to question the Divine nature of God. Then as if I had not been bombarded enough with these thoughts, I was brought to question my own desires in relation to God. You see it is really easy to see the faults of others, and see how they are quick to stretch their liberty with the excuse of grace, or to question the ethical ramifications of actions based on a changing world climate, but how easy is it to place my own life judgement before the one and only Divine God.

So here it comes...

Tonight as I was doing some reading I decided to begin studying the book of Leviticus. Now many of you would ask "why Leviticus, were you trying to make yourself sleepy?" And yes I am aware of the nature of this book. It is full of minute details regarding sacrifice and levitical law, and at times can be read with the same enthusiasm as the genealogy's that we all love reading. However I was on a mission. After one of these discussions I mentioned earlier I was brought to question God's intention with a specific "rule" that many seem to think is outdated, and unjust. I figured I would search the levitical law and find out for myself the context of this rule and try to offer my friend a biblical grounded response to his question. In turn I was given some food for thought for myself, and still have not found an answer to my friends ethical questions.

So the mystery topic is this:

Just how perfect is perfection in the eyes of God?

Scripture tells us that the world was created in perfection, by the will of God who is perfect. Now as we all know, Genesis tells us that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, as they went against the plan of God and became aware of Good and Evil. Now with that being said, it was no longer possible for man to have a walking, talking, communing, relationship with God, because sin placed a barrier between God and man. Now, this is where it gets interesting, at least in my mind. The only way that God could have the relationship with man that He desired, was for man to sacrifice unto God. In a way, the man was paying penance for his sin. This allowed him to be temporarily abolished of his sin, until the next sin. What I find interesting is this... Levitical was very clear on the procedures of offering sacrifice. The bull, goat, sheep or bird was to be perfect, without blemish, and then prepared very specifically and intentionally for sacrifice, then placed on the alter for burning in a very specific way, so specific in fact that portions of the animal were to be burned directly while others were to only be near the fire, and smoked. God did not sacrifice a single detail as He gave Moses the law. He expected things to be carried out in His manner, or they would not be carried out at all.

So, what does all this have to do with me. Well, as I continue to study, and reflect on these previous conversations, I am drawing a common theme. Man is sinful, when placed to his own devices he will almost always sin before choosing the will of God. Then it becomes a matter of the heart. Where is my heart in this matter, or that matter, or better yet what is the central focus of my heart. Do I seek the things of the Lord, or do I seek the desires of my flesh. You see as we continue on in life, it is very simple to live a life that is self serving, especially in today's humanistic society. However that is not what God designed us for. He designed us to have a walking, talking, communing relationship with Him, on this earth, in the present. I fail at allowing this each day, each moment of each day. He has given us the guidelines, but I know I fail to keep them. Often times I find myself thinking that the sacrifice does not have to be specific, because God knows whats on my heart, however He has shown me through the Levitical law, that specifics are just as important as the heart. A heart knowledge is good, but following that heart knowledge with action is what leads to perfection. You see, the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross would not have been worth anything if Jesus had not followed Gods will by going to the cross. His heart would have known God's will. He could have desired that all men be saved from the sins of their lives that lead to death. However, without following God's will in the specific action of dying on the cross, there would never have been the sacrifice.

So here is my question to myself, and I hope that you will reflect on it as well, then act on it. In what ways has God given you specific instruction that you have all heart felt desire of following, and yet there are no "feet" to your thoughts? Secondly, Is it good enough to want to be without sin? is that perfection? or is perfection produced through action?

I am sure that many, if not all of you will be lost through these ramblings, however, this post is just as much for me as it is for everyone else that may read it. It is my prayer that each one of us will choose to seek perfection in God, rather then a hum-drum life of adequacy. May my Christian walk be one that is productive, and not relying on Christian Liberty but instead seeking the face of God on a daily, moment by moment basis, that my heart may change, and in turn my actions be those of God.

Until Next Time:
Clear Skies, High Surf, and Sandy Feet!!!

Just how fast does a storm move?

Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, that you would risk really looking foolish in order to get a chance at it. Well I had one of those experiences today. Fishing has become a do or die for me. I love getting out on the water, casting a line, and waiting for the bite. Well today was the day to go fishing. I'm off on Mondays and my fishing buddy who is retired, will fish at the word go, so we decided to chance the weather (storms were in the forecast) and go out just as long as we could.

Shortly after getting out on the water, we began to hear thunder in the distance, and were watching a storm move from west to east, just north of us. The storm was beautiful, with all sorts of color. Well of course we kept our eyes on the storm, just hoping it would hold out long enough for us to catch a few fish. However, no sooner did we get anchored out in the middle of the bay, and got our hooks in the water, did we witness something that I have never witnessed before. The air temperature dropped 10 degrees in a matter of a few seconds, and we looked north to where the storm had been, and all of a sudden you could no longer see the storm in the distance, because it was on top of us. Mind you the time that had elapsed was literally just a few minutes. Needless to say we pulled anchor, cranked the motor, and took off across the bay to our dock, in hopes that we would arrive safely before the storm took swallowed us up as bait.

Thankfully, about five minutes later we were tied up at the dock and safe from the storm in the shelter of Fishing Buddy's house. Now as any good optimist would do, we planned to wait out the storm, figuring it would only be around for a short time, being that it moved in so quickly, however, three hours later I am writing this post, having given up on the fishing extravaganza.

To be very honest with you, I am quite bummed at the weather. However, I am really thankful that God saw to it to protect us on the water today, and allowed us to make it home, before the storm settled in.

Until Next Time:
Clear Skies, High Surf and Sandy Feet

Sand and Ice Cream

Let me start off by apologizing for my lack of posts this week. Oddly enough the week that I thought would be pretty easy, turned out to be a very busy week. I'm sure I could have posted at some point, but posting was one of the last things on my mind. Anyway... On with the post!
Friday's are days full of family in most families. Many families use Friday night for pizza and a movie, going out to eat, watching ball games, and the list goes on and on. The Beach Bums are no different. Before moving to the beach, my family would be found most Friday nights sitting in front of the T.V. watching a movie that my kids had found, eating whatever Beauty had prepared, and I would be working. This move has changed a lot of that and as you may have already guessed, yes it involves the beach.
You may remember that I confessed in my first posting, that I really have never cared for the beach all that much, at least the sand. However, I am getting to where the toleration is turning into a time that I really enjoy. My wife on the other hand has gone from enjoying the beach to desiring to be at the beach most if not all of the time. So, being that Friday nights are free most weeks, it's very cheap, and we all love it so much, we have decided to make the beach our Friday night tradition. It kinda works like this... I arrive home by 4, we prepare dinner and eat by 5 and are well on our way to the beach by 5:30. This gives us a couple of hours of playtime before the sun goes down. Of course every week I call Beach Beauty before I leave the office to find out if we have plans, and just about every week she says "no, we don't have any plans, but I figured we could go to the beach". It never fails, and I have to say that I am beginning to look forward to this time with her and the kids more and more. So, let me tell you about tonight's adventure.
Our trip to the beach tonight was like most others, we arrived early in the evening and began playing as soon as our feet hit the sand. I was trying my hand at building a sand castle, the girls were trying their hand at helping me, Surfer Boy and Beach Beauty were playing in the water. It was just a normal trip to the beach. Now Sea Breeze has decided recently that she is not very fond of the beach, she has no real reason, however ever time we arrive she begins to ask when are going home? can we leave now? my feet are tired! Basically a bunch of complaints to make us decide to go home and usually we will stay for less than an hour and then head home. Well this evening was wild. As soon as I arrived home from work today I asked Sea Breeze how she was doing today and she said "not good, I have a cold". This is not uncommon for her to tell us this, and there is not anything wrong with her, she is just saying it because she sneezed once about 4 hours before. With that being said, we kind of ignored her, and went on with our plans.

Now that were caught up with the details, back to the story. So we are out there playing, building and just having a great time, when Sea Breeze proclaims that she is done playing in the water, and goes up into the dry sand and begins to cover a very large piece of drift wood with sand. Now anyone who knows Sea Breeze very well will tell you that she is one of the most content children in the world when she is playing by her self. She can entertain herself for hours and never say a word to anyone. Tonight was no different. She began to cover that log, and sat there for a very long time placing handful after handful of dry sand on this log, until eventually well over half of the log was completely covered in sand. We had easily been at the beach for double the amount of time that we would have normally stayed, and she was quite content. Puca Shell was having a blast looking for sea shells and sand dollars, she actually found a whole small sand dollar tonight. Surfer Boy was soaked from head to toe and laughing and giggling with the waves, Beach Beauty was content to stand in the water and watch the shells as they passed over her feet with each passing wave, and I was taking all of this in and enjoying the fact that my family was together, and happy. Anyway... Sea Breeze all of a sudden looks up at me and asks in a somewhat croaky voice "Daddy, can we please go home now?" No complaining, no attitude, just a simple question. As I looked down at her I could tell that she was not feeling very good at all. So we packed up to head home.

So on the way home we find out that Sea Breeze has a sore throat, her voice is getting more and more croaky, and she basically just looks pathetic. Whats the remedy for these ailments? Ice Cream! We just had to stop for Ice Cream on the way home, Sea Breeze needed it to feel better, and every body else needed it just because it's Ice Cream. So, we pull up to the drive in and begin asking each of the kids what they would like. Beach Beauty offers them each either an ice cream cone, sundae or milk shake. Without evening missing a beat Puca Shell asks very seriously "what is a sundae?" Now I have to say, I was taken aback by this question, because she was dead serious. I began to question my parenting skills, asking "where have I gone wrong? how could we have not taught her by the age of 7 what a sundae is?" We of course explained the Ice Cream concoction to her in detail and she decided that a hot fudge sundae sounded like the best bet. Now Surfer Boy was not given the choice in this matter, he was given his very first cone, and boy did he love it. As we drove home he ate, and ate, and ate and ate, until eventually the cone was folded over in an L shape, and the ice cream was all over him, his car seat, and the rest of the damages will be assessed in the morning. The girls of course loved their sundaes! So, here you have it, the newest Beach Bum tradition, Sand and Ice Cream! I hope that each of you have a family tradition that you take part in on a regular basis. Whether you go to the beach, or have meatloaf night every Tuesday, the event doesn't matter, but are you spending a given amount of time each week with your family. As I close I will tell you this. Spending time with your kids and spouse will do more to develop a long lasting strong relationship then anything else will. Some day don't you want your adult children to come to you before walking off into an important decision? Don't you want them to seek your advice and enjoy your counsel? At some point in the future, don't you want your kids to know that they can come to you with anything, and that you will love them, and support them? I think we all want that, and the first step to that is having consistency with them. Give them a time each week to look forward to.

Until next time: Clear Skies, High Surf and Sandy Feet!