Do What You Want Miley.

In case you live in a cave, Miley Cyrus basically broke Twitter Sunday with her foam hand and vinyl-clad VMA performance with the pervy and awkward Robin Thicke. Blogger Elizabeth Ester called it “predictable” and sums up the whole hot mess here.

The only lyric I remember from Miley’s song was “I do what I want.” Over and over. Wow, what a marvelous idea Miley! Humans, especially 20-year-old girls, fare so well when discharged from any measure of accountability.

So my question is:

Who is advising this woman? And in 18 months, when she wakes up in rehab, will they care? As her team (read: the people making money off her) will surely tweet, “Miley’s in a really good space and she appreciates your prayers,” will she be smart enough to snap out of it and FIRE THEM, so she can become something other than a caricature?

Young women here’s a tip: if anybody benefits more than you do from your “exercise of freedom” they are exploiting you. (Unemployed live-in boyfriends spring to mind.)

Maybe if Miley had a few feminist friends on her team, they might say: “Miley honey, that performance you have planned will debase you as a woman. It’s stupid, it’s lazy and you’re so much better than that.”

Or maybe a few gals from her old Baptist Church in Tennessee might say: “Miley honey, that performance you have planned will debase you as a woman. It’s stupid, it’s lazy and you’re so much better than that.”

Although many people think biblical wisdom is irrelevant and antithetical to 21st century culture, it comes from many mouths and often looks a lot like common sense.

Maybe Miley could take a cue from Justin Timberlake, whose VMA performance was so well choreographed and fun it screamed creativity, discipline and hard work. He was also humble and generous when he received his awards. Guess what? All that is biblical too, and he even received thunderous applause. So maybe the zombies aren’t coming just yet.

This morning Miley tweeted a new slutty pic of herself as if to say, “Ha, I meant to create something that even Hollywood would deride.”

It’s telling the picture was shot from the back.

The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. Proverbs 3:35

This Is Love Dinner – Want to Come?

Love Dinner“When did we quit living the Bible and just start studying it?”  – Jen Hatmaker author of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.

I hope she forgives me if I misquoted her, but I read 96% of Hatmaker’s book 7 while traveling around Zambia, then I left it on the plane.

She’s right, we do spend a lot of energy studying the Bible, which is a good idea, but how much time do we spend actually doing what it says?

Stuff like this:

Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9

The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives. Proverbs 18:7

For if you forgive people their trespasses (their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment), your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14

There are a million little pearls like that, but I picked those for a reason.

At one time, my mind was like a smouldering fire barrel. Every day I stoked up my grievances and burnt heaps of mental garbage. Not surprisingly, some of that toxic smoke billowed out of my mouth and into my environment, where other people wound up charred and sooty.

Now I’m sure that’s just me, you…would…never…

Then I started reading the Bible, and all its talk about renewing my mind, shutting my mouth, forgiving people, not being arrogant and judgmental started to sting, and I realized I could put the fire out if I wanted to. I just had to figure out how.

Luckily Jesus boiled it down to two things: Love and Love.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-40 NLT

I’ve spent the last three years studying the Bible and changing my mind, and today my life is different. But as Hatmaker suggests, is it even about me? Or is that just phase one in a grand design?

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

candles

(Photo credit: rogerglenn)

So what if I quit making excuses and got down to loving God and loving others like I mean it – every day in practical, biblical ways? Would my own lingering broken parts heal up as a result?

And what if, rather than going it alone, I teamed up with seven girlfriends (and a few hundred online friends) once a month, over red wine and dinner? What if there were taper candles and chocolate dessert, good coffee and long communal prayers?

What if we picked one scripture that fulfills Jesus’ mandate and spent the next month just doing that? Forgiving? Submitting? Loving the unlovely? What would that look like, especially over time?

To me it looks like Love Dinner and it’s starting at my house next month.

Want to join us? Like Erin Kirk – Writer or follow this blog by email. Then let me know you’re here in the comment section.

A Prayer for Bucking Horses.

I got bucked off my horse this morning while moving cattle, and I’m mulling two life lessons from it.

I'm not that innocent.

I may look innocent…

Number one: It’s about 70% my fault because when it’s 100 degrees outside nobody feels much like riding. So the horses eat, sleep, and punk around the pasture, until shipping day when we yank them from their early morning slumber and we head out to gather calves.

And none of that’s a big deal until the cows get a little trotty and you’ve got to dig your heels in and get up there and stop them. Well, Prince Cuddles was offended by that, so he dropped his head and bucked me off, perhaps expressing his desire for more regular exercise.

On my way to the ground I had the following thought:

“Oh, this shouldn’t be too bad.”

And it wasn’t, I got up, gave Sam the high sign and got back on.

Lesson Number 2: The only reason I was fairly relaxed about my 41 year-old body hitting the ground was, I prayed about all of this ahead of time.

While hauling the horses to the back side of the ranch, I talked to Jesus about a few people who’ve asked me to pray for them; I asked for horse, human and bovine safety and we discussed marriage, which ranch wives everywhere will tell you, takes a beating on shipping day.

I’m not saying prayer is a lucky rabbit’s foot and nothing bad can happen after you pray, because obviously I still got bucked off. But praying just helps me not worry about outcomes so much. It reminds me that He promised to never leave me nor forsake me (Deut 31:6) and he will command His angels to guard me. Psalm 91:11.

So forget the candles, incense and King James English you don’t need all that. You just need to a little faith that he is who he says he is, and he’s standing by to help.