go attack your nineveh!

so i recently watched Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and it made me think about the story of Jonah. so here is the link to watch the movie and here's a selection from the first chapter of Jonah :

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." ³ But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. ⁴ Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." ⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" ⁹ He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." ¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) ¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" ¹² "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." ¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

this is the part of the story that i want to focus on. this is the part that makes me think the most.

in this story we have jonah and in this story jonah is one of the biggest prophets of the time. he is popular and when he has something to say everyone drops what they're doing. he has total respect of the people and when he speaks they believe (and it is) coming directly from the Lord. so one time God tells jonah that he needs him to go to nineveh. during this time nineveh is the bottom of the bottom. it's horrible. the city is full of greedy people that don't know right from wrong. anyway, jonah is like yeah right.. i would go anywhere but there.. i can't save those people they're horrible people. God insist that jonah make the journey, but the next day jonah heads out of town to tarshish. (the opposite direction of nineveh) and from there we all know the story.

but in this story jonah is a big part of the faith of the people at the time. they believe what he said to be the word of God. and jonah was a leader for God and a follower of God. he was a prophet because he had a sound relationship with God. but this great relationship failed when jonah didn't want to go to nineveh. for lack of a better term, jonah "rocked the boat" on the great relationship he and God had because he was afraid. he didn't want to waste his time on people he felt we're already a lost cause.

this story makes me reflect on this weekends youth leaders conference. we talked a lot about "servant leadership" and i think that jonah's story is a story of a leader who was afraid to be a servant leader. see jonah was happy in the town he was in. he was even comfortable leaving and going to anywhere in israel. but was afraid and unwilling to travel to nineveh. jonah was afraid to do "God's dirty work" he didn't want to travel to tell people unwilling to listen that they would perish.

i believe that God often puts our faith to very similar tests. tests of servant leadership. God knows when we are faithfully following him and he knows when he can test us. so he sends test to check our faith. in these tests he has a do things outside of our comfort zone. maybe it's that feeling you get inside that says you should go talk to them. or maybe it's a call to stay in the kitchen a scrub a pot.

now those examples aren't examples exactly like jonah's but they are still a call to something that we are uncomfortable with and a call to be something bigger than ourselves.

so maybe the next time you'll think twice about that person you thought was a lost cause. jonah thought nineveh was a lost cause yet the city changed their ways and turned to the Lord. the story of jonah tells all about grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but i think that the bigger lesson is in his leadership.

we can be comfortable in our own leadership positions, but we need to comfortable anywhere. God calls us to be more than leaders. he calls us to servant leadership. it's a big concept but if you can grasp it and, more importantly, but it in to practice you'll be a better person. God is calling you to go sit at the other table in the cafeteria. he is calling you the kid sitting by himself. but the question is how will you respond?

will you be jonah? will you turn and run the other way in fear or will you willingly accept the challenge? will you be a servant leader for God? the choices are yours. do what you please, but just remember you could end up inside a fish for three days!

go attack your nineveh! much love and peace, dmaloney

the value of time and thoughts

this post has been sitting. it's been looking for love. yearning to be posted. every time i try to finish it i change my mind on something i've typed. i've been thinking a lot lately. i've been thinking about life. my future. and what to do about college. i've been doing too much thinking. too much questioning. and i want all the answers because i have a control problem. i like to be in control all the time. doesn't matter where or what i'm doing i like to be in control of things. but i think that i've only made myself think i'm in control. i'm not. God is and when i can truly accept that i'll be living. until then i'm only tricking myself to believe i'm in control. so right now i'm sitting in silence, only to hear the clicking of the keys, and staring at the blinking cursor wondering what do i need to say.. but nothing comes.. from here on out my heart is leading the words written. not my mind. i don't need to say anything. but i always will have something to say. i thought blogging would be a spot to just throw my thoughts down, but now it's become the spot to throw everything down and organize it. i also had the assumption that it would be somewhat of a hassle to blog. i've started blogs before and left them just sitting on the internet wasting space. but this blog is fun to write on. i can't tell you how long i've really despised writing but this blog is fun to write. it's enjoyable and i think i like writing now. if you're reading this mumble-jumble of mess i like to call my blog. thanks. it's nice to think that someone, somewhere reads what i write. it's nice to know that you care about the mumbled-jumbled things that i like to call my thoughts. it has been a busy day and i'm looking forward to resting. i can't help but wonder what all my busy schedule means. does it mean that i'm trying to figure out how to manage time? what does it mean? i'm confused. bewildered. puzzled. i just don't have all the answers...yet..will i ever?

quote of the day:

'until you value yourself, you won't value time. until you value your time, you will not do anything' - m. scott peck

joke of the day:

70-year-old george went for his annual physical. he told the doctor that he felt fine, but often had to go to the bathroom during the night. then he said, "but you know doc, i'm blessed. God knows my eyesight is going, so he puts on the light when I pee, and turns it off when i'm done!"

a little later in the day, dr. Smith called george's wife and said, "your husband's test results were fine, but he said something strange that has been bugging me. he claims that God turns the light on and off for him when uses the bathroom at night."

thelma exclaimed, "that old fool! he's been peeing in the refrigerator again!"

have a lovely saturday. look for nice weather. much love and peace, dmaloney

what's on t.v tonight? joy or suffering?

this came up in bing images when i typed in nj hspa. haha! hspas are finally over. and i'm relieved. i'm pretty sure that i've mentioned how much i despise standardized testing. and after 3 days i was done. and i'm done complaining now.

as i was watching the baby office tonight i was thinking about the gift of children. it's scary and i think that even though the office demonstrates the beginning of parenthood in a fun and laughing matter that it was really true. and after the office was the premiere of the marriage ref. now, i don't know if you're think what i am but does that even make sense.

welcome to the world baby. then bam why do you keep your ex-husband prosthesis in the closet? hmm. what are our priorities? what do we as americans value? do we value the birth of a child and the beginning of a new life or others problems?

this:

or this:

are there more shows on television about suffering and pain or about love and new life?

we need to refocus our views. focus on the joys of life. maybe watching suffering keeps us from realizing our own problems, but let's enjoy life. have fun. laugh and celebrate the day that new life enters your family.

much love and peace, dmaloney

through the eyes of a child

when i think about faith. i can't help but think of the innocence of young children. their naive nature. there inability to worry. last night was one of those times. my brother is eight years old. and last night we were updating the youth board at church and as we were finishing up he said "do you think brian will be proud of you?" and i replied "yeah, i guess bud." he then said "ya know, he's lucky he got sent here." i find the mind of of child interesting. their thoughts. their cares. and their worry-free attitude. kids aren't afraid of roller coasters. driving fast. swinging higher than the sky. or running until they can't breathe. i wish we could all live like that. live without worries. care-free and without doubt. though the reality of that isn't always possible it's a nice idea to entertain. some of us think that being carefree would look like this..

but living out faith out like children is described wonderfully in one of my favorite songs "like a child" by jars of clay. it's about the faith of a child and that the child believes he can climb mountians. he can do anything. that's how we have to live. believing that with our faith we can do anything. we won't fall. we won't cower. and we won't have doubt. doubt is scary. it clouds our judgement. it puts a clear wall between you and God. you can see him but you can't get any closer. his words are faint. so what can we do? well, we can start by living our faith actively and with innocence. doubt-free. give it a try. take a lesson from the children you know. look at their faith. their faith is pure. undisturbed. try looking like this...

curious of what the future can bring, yet perfectly content with you life. not rushing the future.

Quote of the Day:

"a three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of

swings as it does out of finding a small green worm." -bill vaughn

Joke of the Day:

this is a clip from community, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryb2WawuV4g

seize the day. and love. much love and peace, dmaloney