Open Mic: Bagel 2.0

Open Mic: Bagels

I do not know about you, but I really enjoy an everything bagel with cream cheese on it. It is so good. In fact, it is one of my favorite snacks and breakfast items. Bagels are said to not be that healthy for you, but what do nutritionists really know? What I do know about the healthiness of a bagel is that they are a good source of fiber, selenium, thiamine, iron, and folate. I will not go into detail why it is good to have a healthy source of each of those, you will have to look that up yourself, but just know that bagels are good for more than those reasons too. We as humans are like bagels. We have similar qualities that are needed to help us on our Christian walk and faith.

No bagel I have ever had is bad. Some are unique yes, but still tasty and delicious. There are many flavors of bagels in fact. Some of my favorites are Chocolate Chip, Everything, Cinnamon and Sugar, Blueberry, and plain. Just like there are multiple varieties of bagels, so too are there multiple varieties of humans. Not one kind of human is bad, but we are all unique, and we all give a different flavor to the world. Just like other forms of bagels, we have people of different skin colors, different genders, different sexualities, but all play an integral part of spreading the good news and being a Christian that helps others.

All bagels are formed by taking dough and boiling it which gives you a hard outside and a soft inside. I truly believe that we all need to strive to be more like a bagel. I am not saying that we should be hard and stubborn like the outside and be jerks to the people around us, but being hard on the outside can represent a whole new meaning. We have learned that some bagels are different flavors, but some bagels have items added to them like nuts, seeds, herbs, sweets, and even fruits. I know when it comes to some of the fruit bagels the fruits are mixed in the dough before they are boiled. I inform you of this because why should we be soft in the inside like a bagel?

I think we are called to be soft on the inside because we are meant to love one another. We are supposed to be a good person. Just like a bagel is filled with fruit, we too are to be filled with fruits. Galatians 5:22-23 talk about the fruits of the spirits, and what fruits we are to be made of. They include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the fruits that we are supposed to full of. When we are full of these things we are opening to others, we are more accepting of others, and others will see us in a positive light. These things will help spread the gospel, these things will make us a better person, but we need to be able to protect them.

We need to be hard on the outside to protect these fruits that we have been given by God. It is not to be hard and mean and be a negative person, on the contrary. When we use our fruits they will shine through the exterior layer of hardness so others can see them, but without being protected from sin and life, we can lose our fruit or it can become bitter. We are told to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Our inside is meant to be guarded from the world around us and the things that will destroy us. We will be tempted throughout our lifetime many times, if not thousands or millions of times. We need to be able to say no and block off the sin and still be able to live a life around the fruits that are in us. Galatians also speaks in chapter 5:19-21 the things that can keep us from heaven. It says “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It is important that we are able to say no to these things among other things and be tough and be hard enough to have these things not penetrate our lives.

If we are able to be like a bagel, when we get tempted in our life we will be able to fight off the temptations and still show a life worth living and we will be able to live like Jesus. After Jesus was baptized he went into the desert and there he found temptation by Satan. Jesus was tempted three times by Satan, but all three times Jesus fought off the temptations and remained calm and peaceful and responded to Satan with love. This is the living example of what being a bagel looks like. Fight the sin, but approach life and the ways of humankind which is full of sin with love, peace, and kindness.

We are called to be disciples of God and to spread the good news. Well I must admit that a bagel is not nearly as good without its spread. We need to spread the good news, and in fact the spread for bagels can help make the good news more appealing or tasteful to many. It makes it flavorful, and no longer bland. When we spread the good news, we need to keep in mind that Jesus never was bland but full of flavor. Some people put a lot of spread on a bagel and some put a little. I encourage you as a Christian; someone who is like a bagel, use a lot of spread and make sure there is enough for everyone. Without the spreading of the good news, Jesus’ sacrifice would be limited to only us. That is not what we are told to do “keep the good news.” Rather give the good news.

What flavor of bagel are you?

Heartbeat

Open Mic: Heart Beat

So I was lying in bed the other day, very relaxed which does not happen very often but in the silence of me just lying there, I heard something. Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum…. And this continued. It was neat to be able to hear that noise. That noise is life. That is the noise that God gave us to live a happy life. They say a normal heart beats per minute is between 50 and 100. I have no idea what mine is right now, but when we are not in the ‘normal’ amount of beats it is a bad thing.

I beg to differ! Not saying that doctors are wrong, but symbolically (key word there) maybe they are. I mean think about it, what is normal? That is a whole other Open Mic, but we are Christian. We are not normal, nor do I think we should ever be satisfied with being normal. Jesus himself was not normal. He did not hang out with normal people. Therefore, in my thinking, I am fine without being normal. That being said let us take a look at two ways we can be not normal in regards to our heart beats.

First, it is said that the ‘normal’ heart beats per minute is 50-100, and I would say that we probably all fall pretty close to that. Let me tell you story. When my lung collapsed for the second time in August while in the Hospital I set off all the alarms that were connected to me. I had about four nurses all running in my room. They all woke me and were all scared. I had no idea why. Apparently, my heart beat per minute dropped dramatically from around 66 to 30. That is not ‘normal.’ Why do I share this with you? If you have ever had a spontaneous pneumo-thorax (lung collapse) you know that they do not let you sleep because the nurse have to check your vitals and see how your lungs are sounding every hour. Clearly that is hard to fall asleep with. Well when my heart beat dropped was the one time I actually fell asleep. I was relaxed and in peace. I was content. Think about that, I was not normal when I was relaxed, when I was in peace, when I was content. Therefore being content is not normal in regards to heart beats and life. Philippians 4:11 has Paul saying that he learned to be content. We are meant to be content with our lives. We live these busy lives that we barely get to relax for even a minute. That is what has become normal. Why don’t you become not-normal and be content and relax and be peaceful. Philippians goes on to say that we know that God will provide for us and that is why we can be content. So in this regard be content and be not-normal.

Secondly, there is this thing called an Arrhythmia that is not a normal thing. This simply means that you have an irregular heartbeat. In other words, not a normal heart beat. Once again we see what is normal and what is not. What causes an arrhythmia? There are few things that cause one including, coronary artery disease, electrolyte imbalance in your blood, changes in your heart muscle, injury form a heart attack, and healing process after heart surgery. Can you re-read that last one please! Healing after Heart Surgery.

I don’t know about you, but maybe an Arrhythmia is a good thing. I mean we already know that it is not normal, but it comes after heart surgery. I have been asking God to fix my heart for ages. I want to love like he does. I want to care like he does. It is something that deals with our hearts. When God performs heart surgery on us, we should have an arrhythmia. Once again we should not be normal. After God performs the surgery on our hearts, we will be forever changed. We can longer be the same person, because our heart is not the same. Our hearts will start to sing, shout, skip, dance, all the while being undignified. I do not believe this is what our heartbeat looks like after we have God’s surgery, ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum, but rather what if it was ba-bum, ba-bum, skip, ba-bum, ba-bum, singing…. You get the picture? When God transforms our hearts we have an arrhythmia. Our hearts sound different because they are different. Our hearts start to skip and our hearts start to sing. We know that God wants our hearts so he can work his miracles. 1 Samuel 16:7 says it best “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord on the heart.”

It is your choice to be normal, or not normal. I think the correct term for not-normal is special. You are a child of God and you are special. What is normal? I don’t really care because I want to be not-normal and live for God fully. I want to be content and I want my heart to be transformed and have it understand REAL love. Place your right hand over your heart. What do you feel? Is it a normal heart beat? God is always ready for surgery, make your heart sing, be joyous, be content.