On dieting and faith

Some people I know are still somewhat surprised that I was able to lose about 70 pounds over a fairly short period of time. I went from a size 42 pants size and pushing 270 pounds down to 200 and a 36 size waist.

I'm as surprised as they are truthfully, because I languished for years, feeling my way down different paths that would hopefully lead to the magic land of "weight loss".

I tried following the big-name exercise routines and diets, I picked up every low-fat or diet food I could find. I followed the advice of “experts” in the media. You name it, I tried it and I never saw any change.

Sadly, the same could be said for my faith and ‘walk’. Much like my failed weight loss attempts, I languished for years, trying things my way, relying only on what I considered “experts” (who was I to try to understand the Bible?), and found myself in a cycle with no end in sight.

To make matters worse, in my failed weight loss attempts, I actually found myself more over-weight. In my failed attempts at “finding” God, I found myself further away from Him.

So, what was the big secret, what was the big breakthrough in both fat and Faith? Well, there was no one thing, but a combination of things. Listed here are three major components:

1.     Look, the label says "heart healthy" and "low calorie". Why am I getting fatter by the minute? In researching the paleo/primal diet that I eventually 'gave in' to, I began to understand part of my problem.What everyone was saying was 'good' and 'natural' was actually making things worse. It turns out that yes, sugar is natural and it will also make you put on fat like a grazing cow. And why don’t they tell you that the most common low calorie sweeteners actually make you hungrier. Now, we’ve finally learned that low-fat milk makes kids gain more weight than the horrible devil that is full-fat milk. Common knowledge and marketing were helping to lead me (and a good deal of the nation) into obesity

The same was true of my sin.Everyone else was doing it, right? It's normal, healthy, and common. This can be (and was/is frequently) said of any number of sinful behaviors I was knee deep in. Anger, lust, greed, covetousness, all as common as grass on the ground and my life was silly with it. And sure, these things are normal and common, these sins are everywhere in abundance...but that doesn't make it right does it?

The connection is this; once I recognized the foods that were actually causing me harm and cut them from my diet, the weight started melting off. Once I realized my sin for what it is and turned aside from it, I found myself able to begin to approach the Lord.

2.     Before I could know what I was doing wrong, I had to actually do the leg and book work and do some real research. I read more blogs and websites about the paleo/primal diets than I care to mention, trying to discern the good information from the bad. And finally I was able to discern the secrets to eating and exercising correctly (the secret is no secret; it’s eating and living naturally as we were created to).

Having called myself a Christian for the grand majority of my life, you’d think I’d cracked open my fair share of Bibles through the years. There’s some truth to that, but, I seldom did anything more than just that, crack them open. I’d skim a passage here or there, read The Book of Revelation to try and make sense of it, and then not return to Scripture again for long periods of time, and only then to repeat the process ad nauseum.

But I went to church, right? It turns out that you have to actually do more than ‘just show up’ every Sunday. Crazy, huh?

Sadder still, I can recall very clearly liking a particular church at one point, because they talked about how to handle finances, how to make your marriage better, and ways to help everyone get through their work week.

I recall one pastor who liked to talk about the Civil War quite a bit, but that’s somehow all that I gleaned from his teaching. And, while I still hold a certain love in my heart for the Missionary Baptist way of preaching, let’s be honest, unless you’re really holding on and paying attention, it’s pretty difficult to follow.Not to mention that I generally found myself thinking more about what I wanted for lunch or wanted to do after church.

Now, I can say with an honest heart, when I professed my belief in Jesus as Savior at the age of 12. I meant it. I meant it completely. The problem came with “what now?” I can’t place the blame on anyone but myself, but after that momentous church service and later a baptism,  I had no idea what I was supposed to do. “Recommit” at church retreats or concerts? Not curse? Stay away from drugs and alcohol? Would it help if I even play in a band with vaguely Christian lyrics? I had no idea. So I tried all of that, and by all of that, I mean just what you see on the page. That was the entirety of my game plan.

Was it any wonder that I felt no change? I knew nothing more than before I had professed my faith. That was me from the age of 12 until about 2 years ago.

When I finally relented and said, ok, I’ll actually read the Bible, I’ll truly try to understand it; when I read the words, it was like a great, thick, black veil was lifted. All of this time, it was right there. Was I blinded or confused before and not able to understand it until I was “ready”? I don’t know. But my sin, His suffering, the reason for it, the Father, the Son, His Spirit, the Hebrew people and their journey, it was all laid out to receive. I’d never even attempted to take of it before. I know that now. Though worlds apart in importance, like the revelation about eating ‘diet food’, the SECRET was finally revealed (and the secret was no secret; it’s existing and living and worshipping as were created to).

3.     You might see the signs alongside the interstate that say “PERSISTENCE”. It’s impossible to say it enough, persistence is key. I won’t deny that some of my former weight loss programs might have worked had I been persistent in one form or another. It was never enough that I started down the right road; I had to keep walking down that path. There’s no doubt that if I start eating badly again, that I will be overweight again in no time.After the work and time put in, why would I be so foolish as to do that?

The “narrow path that leads to life” is no different. It’s not enough to start down the path only to give up or to stop and smell the thorny roses (yes, a badly veiled reference to the parable of the sower). Are there bumps and rocks along the way? Absolutely, and when you fall, you have to get back up. Will you walk it perfectly? No. But we should still strive to, (while also making sure that we’re not throwing obstacles in the path ourselves (knowingly or not), because surely there will be plenty thrown to either stop us in our tracks or divert us to the wide and easy road).

Though I don’t subscribe to all of his ideas, Theodore Roosevelt summed it up pretty succinctly “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…” Saul of Tarsus, better known as Saint Paul put it another way “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. Persist and carry on. Do not relent, for “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”.

May God bless you and guide you in all things

Review of Michael Cusick's "Surfing for God"

"Could the growing struggles with pornography and fantasy really be reminding us of our heart’s deepest desire, something greater and more fulfilling than sexual gratification?"

That's the question that Cusick's book attempts to answer. Leading us through his own, shocking at times, struggle with lust, he attempts to open doors and knock down walls; allowing others to enter and find their way to healing. Along the way, he also shares the stories of others, some being friends of the author, and their struggles and addictions and how they overcame their circumstances. 

Interesting stats from the book:

* 25% of search engine requests are for pornography – 68 million per day
* 70% of the hits on Internet sex sites occur between 9-5 on business computers
* Over 50 percent of evangelical pastors report they viewed pornography last year
* Over 70% of Christian men report viewing pornography in the last year

Clearly this is a widespread epidemic, with Christians clearly not exempt from its hold; with the evidence suggesting that, if anything,  we may be even more perceptible to it than the world around us. 

My only criticism is that the book did drag a bit in parts, but it thankfully made a habit of interrupting the slower portions with fairly   profound statements and confessions. 

This book was received as part of the Booksneeze program, asking only a review in return. I have a few friends that I think will benefit greatly from this book, and I plan on sharing it with them.  

Book Review for The Final Summit

Try as I might, I just could not get into this book. A lot of the story seemed too obvious (lots of allusions to the main character being based on Dave Ramsey), and just slow in general. I understand that it's a sequel, but I truly don't see the prequel novel helping my opinion of this book a lot.

The majority of the story takes place in a meeting, and I get enough of those at work. I don't need to read about them when I'm not at work. It's an interesting scenario, but it definitely left me feeling very under-whelmed as the setting for the story.

This book was received through the Book Sneeze program. Most of the books that they have available are Christian-oriented books, but this title was very light on anything I would call Christian principles. As others have pointed out, the author seems to deal with more of a 'self-help' frame of mind that's contrary to the message of Christ. The lack of any real faith-based ideals only further turned me off of the book.

I'm giving it a 2 out of 5 for the occasional interesting part, but I truly didn't enjoy the book very much.

On bringing up children

Something I’ve struggled with is what my idea of fair is in this life.

“Look at what this guy is doing, look at her, look at all of the things that these people are doing! God, they are awful people (in my eyes) why do the desires of their heart come so easily; why do you not punish them Lord?”

And in the same sense, “Lord, yes, I sinned, but it was minor, why do I feel punished to this degree?”

I struggled with this for a long time, somehow trying to justify that “well, my sin wasn’t so bad, I really don’t deserve this...” I struggled for a long time wondering why it felt like I couldn’t get away with even the smallest of offenses. “Lord, why are you so strict on me?”

It turns out if I’d been reading the bible closely, I would’ve clearly seen the reason

Hebrews 12:6 (ESV): For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.”

So, I spent all this time upset at my “special treatment” which I had grown frustrated with, feeling like a child would with a strict parent, when, it turns out, that I was looking at it all completely wrong.

We’re chastised because we’re loved, we’ve been chosen and received. For this we should be glad, for this, we should give glory to God.

This will sound stupid, but God’s “punishment” or correction to me has helped to further strengthen my faith. There is a loving God, who like a caring mother or father wants only the best for their children. When He sees me doing something that is harmful to me, He will discipline me. When he sees me doing something to harm another, He will discipline me. When he sees me about to do something stupid, He will correct me and discipline me.

My frustration has turned to love and understanding.

He expects more of those that are His received and loved children. He expects more of me.

God isn’t “hard” on me, He isn’t a strict overbearing parent, He is a loving and awesome Father who wants His child to seek His way, the true and perfect way.

So, the next time you feel that God has been harsh on you, realize that it’s not a hateful God punishing you, it’s an amazing Father pouring our His lovingkindness upon you.

Intro

This is going to be a catch-all for my thoughts, prayers, book reviews, random things, etc. So, standy by, we'll get this party started soon.