New Post has been published on https://www.crownofcompassion.org/2018/12/03/didnt-see-it-coming/

Didn't See It Coming

Didn’t See It Coming (WaterBrook, 2018)

Carey Nieuwhof, a former lawyer and founding pastor of Connexus Church in Barrie, Ontario, wrote Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That No One Experiences in 2018.  First, Pastor Nieuwhof observes that the seven greatest challenges happens every day to people we know – and that includes us.  Usually, though, we’re completely unaware of these challenges, so our implosions often come as a surprise.  Because most people miss the warning signs.  However, if you recognize and heed those warning signs, they serve as God’s gift.  For through this action God spares you from self-inflicted sadness and heartbreak.  Most noteworthy, none of the seven signs – cynicism, compromise, disconnection, irrelevance, pride, burnout, emptiness – need write your final story.

The first challenge, cynicism, begins because you do care.  Hence, Carey notes, most cynics started out as optimists.  Yet, as hurt and fear form calluses around your heart, wariness makes you weary.  Also, guardedness and suspicion evolve into anger and bitterness.  Therefore, hope, the foundation of the Christian faith, provides the antidote for cynicism.  And hope is based on Jesus Christ, not emotion or feeling.  But, Pastor Nieuwhof states, the daily compromises we make create a gap between who we are and who we want to be.  While competency leaves the first impression, character leaves a lasting impression.  As a result, Carey exhorts, keep honing your heart and nurturing your soul.  As Jesus reshapes your heart from the inside out, your love flows more deeply.

Furthermore, although solitude is a gift from God, isolation serves as a tool of Satan.  In addition, the author asserts, the lack of confession  results from disconnection from God, one another, and even from ourselves.  With confession as the conduit to connection, however, you stop blaming others and take responsibility for your own actions.  so, you either choose to make excuses or to make progress.  But you can’t make both.  And to make progress, you must stave off irrelevance with change.  This isn’t soul-level change.  Rather, it means to understand the culture well-enough to speak into it.  Whether his change is externally imposed or internally driven, adapt your methods to best support your mission.

One must exercise caution with the next challenge, pride.  Pride spawns, morphs, and creeps in using methods we often fail to notice.  Unchecked and unaddressed, pride leads to a hardened heart and leaves you isolated.  Thus, to tame the raging beast of pride, practice humility.  Acknowledge everything you possess as a gift from God.  Next, level with yourself and with God.  If you fail to level, burnout may result.  Burnout messes with your thinking.  It’s arena is your thought life.  Unless you include Jesus in the cure, Carey assets, you leave out much potential healing.  Do healthy things to nourish your soul – pray, read the Bible, love deeply.  God wants to bring healing.  Let Him go as deep as He wants to go.

Chitter-chatter, Pitter-patter Pleasantries this And Placate that, come a – Dinner four six, For six, for all, So smile, Quip, laugh And self-deprecate. Self-immolate, Self-medicate And drink a little more. Show them teeth Son, placate and grin, And soon you’ll be Welcomed Home, And soon you’ll be Bludgeoned Elsewhere. 

I love Sublime. Their easy skanking sound and care-free attitudes make me happy. My boyfriend says it is because they are stoners. No lies there. I think this "care-free" attitude is perfectly reflected in this song which I have been playing on repeat in my car. I tend to do that, "kill" songs. Song Assassin, guilty-as-charged. Hey, if a song is rad, I can't help it. Right now, I need chilled music. I have had a cold for over 3 weeks, damn shitting sore throat won't leave my body. Please be gone demon sore throat. My last resort is a course of anti-biotics, to which I am opposed. I hate the meds. I am a hippie when it comes to medication and would rather dose myself with vitamins and herbal remedies for weeks before considering the option of destroying my body with chemicals (says the drunk). So I leave you with the song that has been my remedy for the last month or so. It says the things I have not been able to. As for weeks as I have not wanted to get out of bed... Ah Sublime, thanks for leaving me in a good mood. 

"...I don't wanna watch no porno

I don't wanna play guitar

I don't wanna spank the monkey

I don't wanna go down to the corner bar

And I ain't even got to listen 

To all the stupid shit you got to say

I don't wanna do a god damn thing

'Cause I ain't gonna leave my bed today

I don't wanna

I don't wanna leave my bed today

I don't wanna

I don't wanna leave my bed today

I don't wanna

I don't wanna leave my bed today

Keep on skankin' Ronnie

Skank the night away

But the time is coming

For us all to pay (pay)

I don't wanna eat burritos

Or read about OJ

No, I don't want to get a head rush 

'Cause I aint even gettin out of bed today..."