Yo Schmookie!*

Here’s hoping that you’re having a swell day, but that you’re not swelling!
Are you bent on self-destruction? Have you seen GoodFellas more than three times? Is your goal to blow up tall buildings? There is a bold contrast between the big bad dude and the Real Messiah: “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (Jn. 10:10, Message). Knowing your Creator (the Intelligent Designer) brings joy; thieving brings prison.
Would you rather have plastic furniture or plastic explosives? Have you ever stuffed a space monkey in your trunk? Seeking vitality through pain is not the answer; childlike humility is:
"Truly I say to you, Except you are converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:3,4).
Violence addiction can result in loss of life. Consider this caution from The Ultimate Guidebook, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
There is more to life than support groups and insomnia. Would you rather join the Fight Club or the Righteous Revolution (Mt. 10:34-42)? Is your best friend’s cousin named Parker Morris? Do you love others? Does anyone care about you? Is your twin twin brother named Tyler?
Make soap, not war. You are made in the image of God and have tremendous worth. You should care for your body (take a bath occasionally) and be a good steward of the talents God has given you (cf. Eph. 5:29, Ex. 31:1-5). Getting beaten up is not fun, but self-torture is completely pointless. The Real Book About The Meaning Of Life states, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 Jn. 4:18). Focusing on the needs of others will overcome your feelings of danger regarding yourself. Scrap Project Mayhem and join Project May-all-the-glory-go-to-Him.
Your father may not have been the best role model, but the true Messiah from Nazareth will not disappoint. If we believe in Jesus we can experience the lavish love of God and reach perfection when he returns (1 Jn. 3:1-3). The Prophet (Acts 3:18-23) suffered real pain inflicted by others. Christ bled and died and took the punishment we deserve for our wrong actions and thoughts. If we trust in him we will have eternal life (Jn. 3:13-18).

DON’T FIGHT CLUB RULES:
1) Talk about Jesus (Lk. 12:8).
2) Talk about Jesus more (Jn. 1:40,41).
3) When someone beats you up and says “Stop!” - talk about Jesus (Acts 5:40-42).
4) 2 or 3 should speak at a time (1 Cor. 14:26-33).
5) One day at a time (Lam. 3:19-23).
6) Wear clothes (Gen. 3:21).
7) Meetings continue as needed (Acts 20:9).
8) Each member (even new ones) must perform their function in the body (Rom. 12:3-8).

God made man perfect (Eccl. 7:29), but we now have a messy world since Adam made a wrong choice and ate from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which lead to the great rebellion (Gen. 3). Job suffered for some special reasons and even the weather was against him (Job 1:18,19). Suffering hits us all because we live the a creation twisted by the Fall and awaiting rescue (Gen. 3:17,18; Rom. 8:18-22). Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer points out that even though we all Fall down, man is still noble:

Another question in the dilemma of man is man’s nobility. Perhaps you do not like the word nobility, but whatever word you choose, there is something great about man. I want to add here that evangelicals have often made a serious mistake by equating the fact that man is lost and under God’s judgment with the idea that man is nothing – zero. This is not what the Bible says. There is something great about man, and we have lost perhaps our greatest opportunity of evangelism in our generation by not insisting that it is the Bible which explains why man is
great. [1]

Is cruelty intrinsic to humanity? Schaeffer gives some vital insight here:

We can explain that man is cruel [because of the Fall], without God being a bad God. There is a hope of a solution for this moral problem which is not intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man. If this cruelty is intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man – if that is what man always has been – then there is no hope of a solution. But if it is an abnormality, there is a hope of a solution. It is in this setting that the substitutionary, propitiatory death of Christ ceases to be an incomprehensible concept. … God did not make man cruel, and He did not make the results of man’s cruelty. These are abnormal, contrary to what God made, and so we can fight the evil without fighting God. [2]


Notes:
1) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 278.
2) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 301.

True Stories:
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Proverbs 19:1
Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted (BBE).

“enough with the Schmookie” (rev.)

*If your name is Shmookie (sub “p” for “k” in the Seinfeld episode) or if the content applies, let the shoe fit.

-- Answer to Puzzle for July 2008 post --

The following months have 31 days:  Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Dec