So how do you feel about me?

Facebook status with a simple question: “How would you describe me in a single word?”

At the moment, none of my 706 Twitter followers have responded. Of my 1846 Facebook friends, only 31 or so attempted to answer the question. Several respondents did so in jest. I saw that coming too! Hah.

Conclusion? People either don’t know to respond because they haven’t been on Twitter or Facebook, for several possible reasons they might not care to respond, or they have no opinion.

Regardless of how many respond, or with what word they chose to respond, this is not the point. What then is it? Well my point is deeper.

As I thought about posting such a question, I found myself intrigued by the thought of discovering what people really thought about me. It was a strong sense of intrigue. But even more so than the intrigue I felt was there a sense of fear.

What… might… people… say? Did I really want to know?

Shoot, one commenter simply stated: “Boy you are asking for it!!!!!!!!!” She was right. I was.

But more than opening myself for scrutiny, I was actually searching for the honest truth. Why? Because I wonder if my assessment of myself is congruent with how others feel about me.

While on one hand, I know I cannot please everyone, nor should I try. On the other hand, what others think about us is important. Sure, people can be wrong about us, but it is also true that we can be wrong about ourselves.

My experiment, though, was doomed before it began. I knew going into it that there wasn’t much of a chance of someone who thought of me negatively actually posting it on my wall for everyone to see. Few and far between are the people who would be willing to be cast in such a light. But truth be told, I want people’s honest assessments.

Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. I’ve been told that a time or two. But that really isn’t what’s at work here, either.

The fact is… if I can be wrong about others then I can be wrong about myself.

This is a powerful admission, but who wants to admit it?

At NMCCH, basketball is a regularity. Tisha throws up an airball, showing everyone her “how not to play basketball skills.”

Of course, there is a very good reason I’m not playing…

Nevertheless, I still keep up with what’s going on at Tyndale. Today I got an email from Adam Sabados, Tyndale’s Digital Media Coordinator, about some Tyndale Giveaways. If you are interested in obtaining free books, click the link I’ve provided and sign up for their Book Club Hub newsletter. You just never know…

Hebrews 13:2 for instance. It packs considerable command force linguistically, but I’ve never heard someone suggest that to not invite someone into their home when they had the opportunity was a sin. Something here has to give. If we looked at Hebrews 13:2 like other passages, nobody would get to heaven. Or, maybe just maybe, grace would actually mean something significant to those who did. But I digress.

Until the last several years, I never put much into Hebrews 13:2. I rationalized it away like I did so many other things. But that changed in one night. Hebrews 13:2 became real to me and I will go to my grave believing that the last half of the passage is, indeed, a real possibility. But that’s another story for another time.

Would we look at people any differently if we believed that maybe, just maybe, those people were more than who we thought they were? What if the panhandler at the exit of the local WalMart was something more? What if the girl with piercings in her nose, eyebrows, tongue and maybe even those some snake bites below her bottom lip was more than the outward would indicate? Is it even possible? If not, what are we to think of Hebrews 1:14?

Any thoughts?

I’ve had mixed emotions about my use of a blogging forum. I got this thing going, jumped in with both feet, but hardly understood what I was doing. I stretched to find a purpose; I maneuvered to discover a niche. Inevitably, frustration would kick in, for numerous reasons, and I would surrender. But of late, I’ve been doing my homework. I finally broke down and got some help, and with an increased understanding about a lot of things, I feel as though I’m ready to commit to this thing once and for all.

Blogging is a form of expression. It allows people to find their voice. I’ve tried to force into a blog what a blog doesn’t necessarily accept. Instead of being an extension of who I am because it is where that is conveniently expressed, I’d made it something altogether different. I’m convinced…that is why I grew frustrated with it.

So I am launching out, starting afresh, and I can’t wait to see what develops!

Doug

Bobby, thanks for the invitation to be a guest writer at Here in the Real World!

Doug

I am also going to pick up where I left off with a post entitled, AGAPE. On the 19th, I am offering a guest post for my friend, Bobby Cohoon, on his blog, Here in the Real World.

So now that I am settling in here, I hope to resurrect this blog a bit!

Chris is a gifted minister for whom I have great appreciation. Thanks for the invitation, my friend!

My favorite feature of the HCSB is how it emboldens New Testament texts that are direct quotations from the Old Testament. It may be a single line, like “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8), which is a quotation from Proverbs 10:12. In the case of 1 Peter 3:10-12, Psalm 34:12-16 is clearly quoted.

In 1 Peter 3:10-12, Peter gives no indication whatsoever that he is quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures. He makes no reference to Psalms or says nothing like, “It is written…” Paul was prone to doing this, but not Peter. He simply includes it in his epistle and if you didn’t know any better you’d think it was original to the New Testament text. But it isn’t.

What’s my point? The Hebrew Scriptures may be more germane to us than we’d ever imagined.  I love studying the Old Testament, but I’m not certain I’ve always given it a fair treatment as it relates to me. When you begin to see how much of it is weaved into the New Testament text, though, as the HCSB so ably does, it sure makes you think about what you might be missing. Moreover, it most certainly makes you contemplate what the New Testament penman might be suggesting by quoting it. It most certainly has caused me to reflect on these things.