A prophet and king unwelcome in home town

Jesus coined the phrase "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household (Matthew 13:57)." While he was born in Bethlehem, he grew up in Nazareth. People there had a hard time really getting behind the fact that while Jesus was fully human, he was also fully God (of course this was hard for the first 300 or so years of the church, but they always seemed to have the sense of it being true despite taking some time to agree upon the precise orthodox language). They saw Jesus as Mary and Joseph's kid, who like all the other kids, did kid things (though not sinfully-I'd love to see what Jesus was like as a youth!), and now was a grown up telling people he was more than just a dude. So Jesus was not respected in his home town as even a prophet, much less a King, even though he did nothing wrong.

It seems a king is also not without honor except in his hometown as well. Lebron James, aka "King James" returned to his hometown-at least in the vicinity of-Cleveland with a similar reception. Except he received boos instead of disbelief. But these were well deserved boos seeing as he did jilt his hometown on national TV via his self-promoting TV special to head to Miami. The city reflected upon James and his actions, and the best way to dishonor this lesser King. Fortunately they stayed within the confines of the law and didn't need the bail money they had set aside, as some had talked about on Jim Rome's show.

So prophet and king aren't welcomed in home towns. I wonder about priests...Where is Priest Holmes now?

Hot Gloves for Cold Weather

The Christmas lights are up, the snow is falling, and pretty soon we'll be waking up early to de-ice our windshields and salt the sidewalk.  As much as we hate to admit it (except Jen, because she is actually a crazy winter lover), the chilly winter weather is fast approaching.  Don't get stuck fumbling for your keys in the bitter cold, or shivering as you try to drive your car with the ice cold steering wheel!  Keep your digits free from frigid temps with a warm and soft pair of gloves or mittens.  Know someone who needs a little warming up?  A great pair of gloves or mittens can be really handy (pun intended) and would make a really cute gift or stocking stuffer this holiday season.  And, speaking of gifts, don't forget to comment on today's post for another chance to win a prize during our 12 Days of Christmas Gift Promotion!!

Black and elegant, these gloves from Anthropologie are the perfect pair to shield your fingers from the winter chill.  The pearl and jewel embellishments are very retro chic, perfect for your dressier occasions or if you're just feeling fancy.

These teal gloves from Modcloth are bright and fuzzy, perfect for keeping your hands warm and dry on a brisk winter morning.  Plus, not only are the lightweight and practical, they are adorable with their sweet ruffle detail on the cuff.

Beads and bows are just so classically girly that we can't help but adore these Milly gloves. Available in 3 colors, these wool gloves are as warm as they are charming!  Also, bows kind of remind us of Christmas, and, well..if the glove fits..

Send a text or keep your fingers?  Is this what our world has come to with the advent of the iphone and the touch screen?  Well, lucky for you, we just might have found a stylish solution.  Avoid the risk of frostbite with these dainty and super colorful gloves. These pretty gloves are fashion friendly and have a special touch pad on the thumb and ring finger so you'll never have text while glove-less again!

These cute knit gloves from Urban Outfitters remind us childhood fun with their bright gold color and bit of sparkly glitter.  Best of all, these gloves are super thick and warm, with a furry lining to keep your fingers extra cozy.  Let the snowball fights begin!

You'll be saluting in style with these gray military inspired gloves.  The gray cable knit pattern is classic and understated, but the three rows and gold buttons give these gloves just the right amount of personality that we think will pair perfectly with some black boots and your navy blue pea coat.

Planning ahead for some serious blizzards?  We suggest a great pair of gloves like these by Dakine.  Sure, they may be bulky and unattractive, but gloves made for winter sports are waterproof and are particularly designed to keep your hands completely warm and dry for hours!

And, finally, is it a glove? a mitten? It's both! The perfect marriage of glove and mitten, the "glitten" gives you the dexterity of gloves and the warmth of mittens all in one. Target seems to have the largest variety of colors and styles, but you can really find a pair of these pretty much anywhere these days.

Baby, it's cold outside.

XOXO

Jen & Saira

Make up shopping!

Yesterday I went shopping with Gina from House of Doll (http://house-of-doll.blogspot.com/) . There's a crisis as you know and we both visited a little store in my town looking for some offers.
Here's what I bought:

White eye-pencil and blue eye-pencil.

Mascara! (I love the pattern she has outside!)

Eyeliner.

Pink Blush and Duo Brown Blush

The surprise! I haven't seen this until yesterday.. It's black glitter! I'm going to use this on my nails..!

So, here we are... 7 items... 7 euros!! And they really work! You don't have to spent lots of money if you search and find offers and cheap things. I asked my friend and she told me about this store.. Do, the same.. talk with your friends about good offers in your city..

Steve Johnson Tweet Take 3

This is my final Steve Johnson Twitter take. Again, this is not to pile on one man's mistake, but simply to consider our own response to "dropping passes" in our lives. He's probably a cool cat, and he probably loves Jesus just as much as I do. Although, one could make an argument that if his life was so structured as his tweet- he "praised God 24/7" so that good things can happen, and is mad when they don't-that's really not love at all but attempted manipulation. God can't be manipulated like people, so don't try. But I don't want to read too much more into his tweet, so this take is more on the public nature of twitter and facebook.

There is a powerful scene in The Apostle, one of my favorite movies of all time, where Robert Duvall is literally yelling and screaming at God, wondering what in the world is happening to him. The neighbors call up fairly perturbed and ask what the deal is. His mother answers to something to the effect of, "Sometimes Sonny talks to God, sometimes he yells."

God can take our frustrations. He can take our yelling. We don't need to be gentle as though He gets His feelings hurt by us. We just need to couch everything in the fact that He is God, and we are not. He's privy to more than we are, and He love us more than we love ourselves (hard to believe, but true). But with that pre-supposition in our heads (our hearts may be miles away), we can lay our souls bare before him. I think we can even yell and cry out.

But bearing your soul and frustrations before Him is one thing. Bearing your unfiltered frustrations with God and others before the world is another.

Facebook and Twitter can be great things. But they are not good places to lay your soul bare, and air dirty laundry that you have with your spouse, children, siblings, and frustrations with God. Such venues dishonor ALL of the aforementioned. God doesn't do that with us, and he doesn't let others do that to us (Matthew 18). 

Frustrations are best done in real community, not cyber-community. A small group, a close friend, a pastor, elder, are 100% better than Facebook in this regard. These are safe places to be frustrated which don't dishonor anyone. Of course the best person is the person with whom you are frustrated.

Mike Florio of profootballtalk.nbcsports.com, though not a believer to my knowledge, offers some sage advice on what we can learn from Johnson's tweet:

The possible lesson?  Prayer is best left between the person sending it, and the entity receiving it.

Unless your prayer is something that you want repeated throughout generations, like those Puritan prayers in The Valley of Vision, Florio has a good point.

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Steve Johnson Tweet Take 2

Other folks, perhaps smarter, with blogs more well read, have blogged about Steve Johnson's tweet. One thoughtful, albeit lengthy response is here.

Before moving on, I will say that Johnson tried to recant his tweet here. Nevertheless, since his tweet raised some interesting questions, I'm going to give my "take two" on Johnson's shot at God. This take is more aimed at a question, then at Johnson.

You regularly see QB's pointing to the sky for touchdown catches, as well as some who give praise to Jesus for a win. So if God makes you win, then does God make you lose? If God makes you catch the pass, then does God make you drop the pass? If you can credit Him for the win, shouldn't you be able to blame Him for the loss?

Hmmm.....

God is providentially involved in all of life, even evil things which people do to us (Gen 50:20). I prefer to use the word, "allow." He allows us to drop passes, catch passes, remember our spelling words, or forget something on the SAT. He is in charge of all things, and nothing is out of His control. Jesus calmed the storm in Matthew 8, and showing how even weather systems are powerless against his will. But Jesus often lets weather systems run their course too. Are they his fault? Well he did allow them...

At what level was God involved in Johnson's drop (he actually had 5 in the game), I don't know. And I don't care, and neither should we. While football is often the center of our universe, it isn't the center of God's universe. I don't think he cares a whole lot about the outcome of the game. He could run that operation like Angels in the Outfield, or just allow normal cause and effect and differing levels of skills and coaching to be the deciding factor.

The problem is that the one who wins is the one who gets the microphone, and so all we hear is, "Thank you Jesus for this win." We rarely get to hear the loser speak, which is what reporters would do if I had any say. But after Johnson's tweet, maybe I don't want Christian football players who just lost the game get in front of the mic. Twitter, like it or not, is perhaps even more powerful a tool than TV now.

In the end, good receivers, whether Christian or non-Christian, make touchdown catches at the end of the game. They just do. It is not wrong for them to take some credit in making a great catch.

Ultimately, in the end, God allows us to both catch and drop passes. When you catch it, remember who gave you the ability to catch it-whether you mention Jesus in the interview or not. I don't think Christ is dishonored when you don't throw out his name by giving him credit for the win. 

But when you drop it, recognize your part in it all, and then remember who gave you the ability to deal with the drop.

Rani Mukhergi sexy photos